19 Chapter 16

"W-who are you?" questioned Padme as she slowly crawled back due to fear.

"I am Vulkan, the man who helped you earlier on the arena." introduced Vulkan as he stretched out his arm to help Padme stand up.

"Y-you're part of them!" said Padme as she shouted in shock and fear and instinctively crawl back.

"I see, so the Imperium really is here." nodded Vulkan as he sat on the sand.

"Are you not part of them?" curiously asked Padme as she slowly put her guard down realizing that he helped them earlier so he can't be a bad guy, as for her, bad guys don't help others.

"I'm part of them, I'm loyal to my father the Emperor." answered Vulkan as he reminisced his time on the Imperium.

"Has something changed to have yourself out here?" with this information, Padme was beyond mindblown. She's face to face with an alleged prince of the Imperium right now. If this prince is this big and powerful based on what she saw on the arena then she can't possibly imagine how powerful the father of Vulkan is.

"It's something like you, can't comprehend nor imagine." Vulkan shook his head lightly.

At this moment Padme saw the body of a clone which is lying there not moving one bit.

"Did you kill him?" asked Padme inquiring.

"No, I just knocked him out." replied Vulkan with a simple sentience which made Padme nod subconsciously.

As an awkward silence engulfed the two Padme suddenly remembered something as she searched for her blaster pistol. This action caught the attention of Vulkan as he asked her what's she doing.

"What are you doing? Are you searching for something?" asked Vulkan with indifference in his voice.

"Where's my blaster pistol! I need to reach to hangar to help my friend Anakin!" Padme said in urgency as she frantically searched for her blaster pistol. She deliberately used the word. "friend" to describe Anakin as to prevent people from knowing their true relationship.

"Here, ride me, I can get you there faster." said Vulkan as he gave the blaster pistol of the deas cline he killed earlier to Padme. He then showed his back to Padme indicating that she climb up on his back.

"T-thank you." Padme just awkwardly thanked Vulkan as she picked the blaster pistol from the hands of Vulkan and climbed up his back.

"Hold tightly, this will be a bumpy road." said Vulkan as he redied himself to run. Padme just clutched Vulkan's robe tightly.

As Vulkan took his first step, a large amount of sand suddenly has exploded. Vulkan started to run so fast that Padme was having a hard time holding on to Vulkan's robe.

As booms sounded with each step of Vulkan, the sand he's stepping on suddenly caught on fire due to the speed of Vulkan and the friction on the air it's creating. The path Vulkan took

has a burning trail for everyone to see.

Padme was just dumbfounded as she felt the friction of the air slowly burning her face and clothes. Luckily, the body of Vulkan is big enough for her to use as a cover.

They passed by droids who was on their direct path was almost immediately turned to water vapor due to the friction.

Seeing this Padme tucked her body and shrinked it as much as possible so she can use the gigantic, ripped, and muscular body of Vulkan as a heat shield of some sort against the air friction.

In no time they reached the hangar and Vulkan just suddenly stops in front of the hangar door. A large force suddenly hit Padme almost throwing her off of the back of Vulkan luckily Vulkan held her by the wrist to stop her from being flung to the rock solid wall in front of them.

Padme, with dishevelled and messy hair just slowly disembarked from the back of Vilkan and to solid ground. At first she lost her balance as her body was adjusting after that wild ride Vulkan gave her.

"You okay?" asked Vulkan with concern. He loves humanity and will fight for them literally. This is something he developed and his own Salamanders legion also follows this practice. Protect humanity even if it costs you your life. It's evident when he rescued a civilian human from the artillery fire eons ago. That scene earned him the commendation of other primarchs.

"I-I'm fine, thank you" said Padme as she fixes her messy hair and turns her head to look at the hangar as she remembered her purpose. She was too caught with the fast movements of Vulkan, she didn't even thought his speed is achievable by normal means as she thought he must be augmented in some way. Because of that she totally forgot her goal of going to the hangar.

"Anakin!" shouted Padme as she rushed towards the hangar to save Anakin as she remembered her goal once again.

Vulkan at this time didn't know what to do so he just rushed together with Padme towards the inside of the hangar. Vulkan realized that he had blown his cover way too many times already that these group of people will surely search for him. So he thought might as well use them to contact the Imperium and try to return home.

Inside they saw Yoda helping the two who just regained their consciousness. When Anakin saw Vulkan he lost his dizziness and immediately reached for his lightsaber and put his guard up.

"Who are you! Why are you with Padme!" questioned Anakin as he slowly moved forward and introduced Vulkan to his strike range.

"Anakin calm down! He saved me earlier! He didn't do anything to me!" shrieked Padme as she tried to stop Anakin from killing himself. She experienced first hand what the man Anakin is trying to challenge. He's a man far beyond anything he can imagine. Moving in incredible speed, so fast that it managed to turn the sand into glass while leaving a burning trail.

"Padme, are you sure? He looks untrustworthy and you said he's part of them!" shrieked Anakin as he looked at the eyes of Vulkan directly. The moment he did it, he was filled with absolute fear. The red eyes of the man in front of him looked like that of the man who managed to kill thousands or possibly millions. It screams deadly rays.

"It's true! So calm down and you're still injured!" said Padme as he walked towards Obi-Wan to calm him down and check up on him. Anakin just turned his lightsaber off and walked back to the position of his master.

At this moment Yoda slowly walked towards Vulkan as he sized him from head to toe.

"Vulkan you must?" asked Yoda which momentarily confused Vulkan due to the weird wording but he quickly regained his composure. Vulkan was momentarily shocked but he quickly regained his composure. He may have a hate for xenos but he only hates those who hurts humans. So Yoda for him is pretty fine as he, if he's not mistaken, helped Anakin and Obi-Wan in front of him.

"I am Vulkan, and you must be?" introduced Vulkan to the green Grand Master.

"Yoda, I am. Follow me you shall." said Yoda as he signalled for Vulkan to follow him. Vulkan realized that this small man must've something know something about the Imperium.

They left the hangar as the rescue team of Mace Windu arrived and extracted the injured.

"Where is Master Yoda?" asked Mace as he scanned the whole surrounding.

"He went with Vulkan somewhere. Presumably to have a talk." answered Padme which made Mace instinctively search for him.

"Extract them and come back later! You five, follow me." said Mace to the clones as they started to scour the whole hangar for Yoda and Vulkan. Mace has no trust to someone like Vulkan who's allegedly part of the Imperium.

Currently, Yoda and Vulkan has reached the highest part of the hangar to overlook the nearby battlefield. Yoda sat down on the edge and so does Vulkan.

Wind strongly blew, having the robes of the two sway with it.

Yoda looked at the battlefield near them as he said with sadness.

"Death, too much death. Victory can't be called." Yoda shook his head as he looked at Vulkan waiting for his opinion.

"How many do you think died on this battlefield?" asked Vulkan as he brushed the sand and dust from his face.

"Hundred thousand?" answered Yoda with a good estimation. He looked at Vulkan for any change in his expression. He expected that Vulkan should not feel bad for the number of deaths as the Imperium he's part was a moving death reaper who literally exterminated millions without blinking an eye.He thought that they must've literally no regard for sentient life and only sees them as numbers. But his next answer made him shocked.

"It is sad that such a large number of humans died but it can't be evaded as this is a war." replied Vulkan simply. This made Yoda categorize him as a good guy from the Imperium at least. He thought he might've been exiled due to his differences on the normal beliefs and practices of the Imperium which will explain on why is he here. Yoda understood that this is war but he still can't call such a phyric victory. But the answer of Vulkan made him realize one thing. This Imperium is highly militaristic and understands war better than they can.

At this moment, Mace Windu arrived with the clone commandos as they the clones immediately surrounded Vulkan, intending to arrest him.

"You're under arrest!" said Mace as he ordered the clones to handcuff Vulkan. Vulkan just looked at Mace emotionless as he held out his hands waiting to be handcuffed.

"Mace, do this you can't." protested Yoda.

"Master this is for our own safety! He's too dangerous to be left without watch! He's also part of that Imperium so we'll gather information from him." said Mace to Yoda which once again insisted.

"Dangerous he may be, harm us he do not." rebutted Yoda.

"It's fine, I'm willing to go with you." said Vulkan as he realized that this is a great opportunity to have the Imperium know that he still exists and possibly have them rescue him. By going with the jedis he's already broadcasting his location to them and will only need to possibly wait a couple of years due to bureaucracy.

...

Coruscant, Jedi Temple...

The battle of Geonosis has ended and the higher ups of the Trade Federation and Count Dooku has escaped. The jedi was also made aware of the master of Count Dooku, Darth Sidious.

Right now, Vulkan is being held on one of the special prisons of the Jedi temple. Though Vulkan can easily break out of this puny room they call a prison, he chose the other answer. The Imperium surely has already been made aware of his existence and they will eventually get him out.

A sound on the door was heard as it slowly opened revealing the figure of Yoda with Mace, Obi-Wan, and Anakin as escorts.

"Vulkan, come with us you will. Questions we have, answer you will if possible." said Yoda as he ordered the guards to handcuff Vulkan which was nodding.

They slowly walked on the hallway with Vulkan in tow. Anakin decided to ask something bothering him since they met.

"Who are you really? What's your purpose?" asked Anakin which made the group stop and have the embarrassed Obi-Wan scold his student.

"Anakin, stop." scolded Obi-Wan as Anakin nodded.

They restarted their walk and eventually reached a meeting room of some sort.

There, they sat down on the seats and Vulkan also sat down on a fairly small seat for him.Yoda decided to start the questioning.

"Vulkan, tell us, who are you?" asked Yoda.