8: The Phantom Menace

[A/N: Thanks so much on your support for my OG story "Vortexbound" and to show my appreciation, here is the long-awaited chapter where Damian's story truly begins!]

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Damian wasn't playing it risky since he was fully aware that it was during this façade of a blockade which the Trade Federation set up over Naboo that set into motion the rise of the Galactic Empire. He knew that Palpatine was pulling the strings in the shadows and through him, the Sith would find a way to return to the wider galaxy-causing countless lives to suffer under his oppressive regime. This was the day where in the height of their power, the Jedi would be plunged into a galactic war and unable to handle other affairs-creating a cascading effect which led to their eventual downfall.

This time, Damian didn't plan on causing too much interference in the timeline unlike most other fanfictions he had read before where the protagonist wantonly changed everything just because he could. He did have plans on doing the quest his System offered him when he first arrived, but this was something he would have to do outside of the purview of both sides of the Force.

Damian could not afford to risk having both the Jedi and the Sith catching wind of his existence yet until the time of the Galactic Empire rose to power. That meant he would need to be as stealthy as possible for the next two or three decades and he had a feeling using his System will prove useful in that scenario-along with his cultivation.

Arch kept an eye on all of the newsfeeds on the HoloNet and progressively keeping Damian up to date, but even the sapient AI understood his new master wasn't like the people who reside in this galaxy. He had a type of immortality even those who wield darkness in their souls strived for and Arch knew it wasn't without cost.

As for that cost, neither of them knew what it was. At least not yet.

"Do we have any news on the two Jedi yet?" Damian asked Arch while preparing to plan out his next few decades.

"No, master," Arch began to reply before a small section of the command room was bathed in the soft cerulean glow of a holocommunicator. Obviously, Arch pulled it up. "However, I have successfully hacked into a secure communication channel going towards the Federation's flagship."

This communication channel Arch got into without any difficulty was the same broadcast frequency as the one used by Nute Gunray to contact Palpatine to discuss their plans. Damian did turn to look at the scene displayed before him and immediately recognized it (from the movies) that this was the part where Gunray was discussing with Palpatine and Maul about the blockade over Naboo!

"We cannot be seen or heard in this, yes?" Damian asked Arch with both a cautious yet inquisitive tone.

Arch nodded in response. "Due to the Voidship's superior technology and magitech construction, we are able to sufficiently spy on them without them noticing. Would you like me to record this conversation?"

Damian nodded lightly in response as it was crucial to monitor and preserve as much record of these conversations as possible before they are locked away by the Empire. As Arch began to record the conversation between Nute and Palpatine, Damian did feel like there had to be more to this and swiftly pulled up the novelized viewpoint of the Star Wars franchise which were strangely archived in the ship's databanks.

Needless to say, Damian had been caught off guard by this small revelation, but it was Arch to came to the rescue by informing him that there were various novelized and video formatted media surrounding various franchises and their canon timelines within the databanks. It covered from the Star Wars franchise to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even anime like Overlord, Black Clover, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (A/N: I'm using the English/American version of the anime's title since I'm based in the USA. Sorry for those who prefer the original title in Japan and Asia!), and That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime. Frankly, there were some franchises Damian had no idea even existed that were in his ship's databanks which made him hope that after completing the quest he had, he could take some time to read or watch them to get a handle on their lore.

After learning about that, he pulled up the only quest in his [Quest Log] at the moment.

==+==

[Campaign Quest: The Phantom Menace (Part 1)]

You have entered the galaxy sixty years before Rey ushered in a new era of galactic peace by defeating Sheev Palpatine-also known as the Fall of the Final Order. As a Remnant Soul assigned to this Variant Timeline, your journey begins two months before the Trade Federation's illegal blockade of Naboo. From here, you will have to gain levels and cultivation tiers in order to upgrade your abilities and break past your limitations in order to ascend past this Galaxy into other Variant Timelines.

Before you can ascend-however-you must begin to make this Variant Timeline your own.

-Objectives-

1) Spend two months preparing for the blockade: 1/1 (Completed)

2) Find a way to save Queen Amidala from the nefarious plot set up by Darth Sidious: 1/1 (Completed)

3) Escape from Naboo with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-wan Kenobi: 0/1

4) Divert Anakin Skywalker's fate as Darth Vader OR Do nothing: 0/1

5) Kill or delay Darth Maul's mission: 0/1

-Rewards-

1. Instant Level Up

2. 1x [Old Republic Starship Voucher]

3. 2x [Old Republic Companion Voucher]

4. 1x [Lightsaber Upgrade]

==+==

'It should be simple enough to displace the queen while keeping to the original timeline of events-especially considering my current skills,' Damian thought to himself as he simply wanted to rely only on his cultivation first before doing anything with the Force.

He had a strange feeling that any skills in relation to the Force may manifest themselves when the time was appropriate. Even now, Damian could feel there was some kind of breakthrough just barely out of his grasp and needs something to push past that boundary.

It was at this point that Damian was on the verge of finally breaking through to the second stage of the [Mortal Refinement] realm and manifesting his first skill set as a cultivator as well as a Force user. When he goes up against Maul on Tattooine, there would be no chance in Hell that the Phantom Menace will survive the onslaught of the Remnant Soul.