Private Those Who Wonder are Often Lost

[Kyric]

Jedha
Forgotten Ruins
Inosuke Ashina

A body shouldn't have surprised Kyric anymore. Not even a body as freshly dead as the one propped up against the ruined stone before him.

It's not that he was the morbid type. Far from it, really. Work just demanded this sort of thing from him. Alliance Marshals handled crime all over Galactic Alliance-controlled space—drugs, slave trading, murders... the works. And the young kiffar worked his fair share of those cases during his four years of service to the Alliance. Poor fools like the sun-burned corpse before him popped up everywhere, for any number of reasons. This one didn't look much different.

Kyric stepped closer and prodded the unmoving body down onto its side. It fell with a muted thud into the sand. A few cred chips fell from his pouch, along with what looked to be an untouched death stick. Water sloshed about in a capped canteen strapped to his belt.

What are you thinking?

Probably the best opportunity to get rid of a dangerous asset. Kyric squatted down to examine a series of three blaster holes in the back of the man's padded jacket. Whoever killed him left a lot on him. It makes me think it happened quick-like. Maybe even during the storm this morning.

Do you think it's a coincidence?

Is it ever?

There was silence for several heartbeats before the kiffar received an answer.

Fair enough.

Kyric rolled his eyes and turned the man over again. He took enough of what remained in the canteen to fill his supply and left the remaining contents for the next unlucky fool to stumble upon the body. No one ever said one man's misfortune had to be everyone else's problem.

He turned away from the corpse, shielding his eyes to allow him a slightly less pained view of the ruined span of once-civilization ahead of him. The kiffar could only begin to imagine what beauty must have graced this sand-stained hellscape before a series of whimsical chirps sounded atop his spamel. He turned to see the Chieftain, his father's old BD unit, peering down at him while hopping impatiently from one foot to the other.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it old man," Kyric took a deep breath, then launched himself up from the sand. A subtle whoosh accompanied him as he quickly scaled the long-legged creature's towering body. "Dad never could get you out here to record this old temple, huh?"

BD-8 shook his head rapidly, his vibrant exterior lighting dulling at the mention of their fallen kin.

Kyric scooped the droid up and placed him comfortably in his lap. "Don't stress it, little dude. You and I both know he'd be happy to see you continuing the work you two started together."

The droid weakly nuzzled against the kiffar and went silent. Kyric could occasionally feel him shift in the way a human would, almost as if sobbing silently to himself. It wasn't the first time the young vagabond had noticed flashes of human behavior in his father's lifelong companion. Unfortunately, seeing it didn't make it any easier to understand.

Unsure of what else to do, Kyric gently placed his gloved hand atop the droid and focused on directing the spamel toward a distant span of stone bridging.

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

Centuries of vacancy, yet the Force remained strong here. Echoes of the temple's destruction endeavored to seep into Ashina's mind, but Ashla's presence hushed them into indignant whispers. A deep breath leveled his psyche, olfactory senses assaulted with several centuries worth of sand and dust smothering the chamber's atmosphere. Retrieving a personal comlink from beneath his robe, Inosuke began a slow stride.

"Jedha, the very Temple once used by the Hidden Path. The Force is strong here, but no unbroken traces of its former purpose remain... I wish you could see it." A small chime resonated from the communicator as the message was sent. It'd be hours before Henna Ashina would receive the message from such a distance. The message was laconic, even as far as long-distance correspondence was concerned. Ashina was merely holding up the agreement that still allowed him these excursions.

What can I find here? Inosuke wondered. Passing through different chambers he observed the architecture and blemishes from the temples' previous ravaging. They invoked no insights. He took another deep breath, eyes closed, and he was fully open to Ashla. Every unique sensation of the Force here was noted, but again no insights. Footsteps continued, easily navigating the halls despite abstinence of sight.

Vacuous multitudes, Inosuke thought. Nothing I don't already understand. It turned out, there was much to find here, countless things to discern from the very presence of this place. Unfortunately, not a single thought was epiphanic or even slightly eye-opening.

Eventually, the Jedi made his way back to the same ingress from where he'd commenced his walkthrough. Lowering to sit cross-legged on sandy steps, he drew from his cantine before producing the communicator for another message, "Still looking."

Rest would do him well before moving on.

 

[Kyric]

Hours may have passed before Kyric and the Big Chieftain finally cleared the sweeping path of sandy ruins between them and their target. An ancient hideaway that was known to have housed a fledgling archive after one of the many Jedi Purges.

Not that Kyric was expecting to find anything of note after all this time. His father's files dictated the existence of a Jedi Enclave here on Jedha during the late Jedi Master's lifetime. Kyric could only assume they would have already made off with anything worthwhile from this place. No, he was here for an altogether sillier reason. One that plagued every young force sensitive in this wartorn galaxy they called home.

Self-actualization.

To no one's surprise, things weren't getting any easier as Kyric grew older. And unlike his illustrious father, and the rest of their found family, the young kiffar didn't have that same spark. Ryv made it clear to him that the life provided to Kyric and his siblings was paid for in blood.

Where did Kyric fit into this galaxy if he wasn't supposed to be like his father?

That was the big question he hoped this forlorn ruin could answer.

Are you done?

Kyric massaged his temple. What?

We didn't stop at the last few corpses. Why?

Other than the fact most of them were buried in more sand than I care to move, there's no reason to. This is a criminal organization that's seemingly turned on itself. Bad payday, maybe. Power play? Most likely.

How can you be sure?

I can't, but it doesn't matter. So long as they pay us no mind, I don't see a reason we can't get on amicably.

Yeah, good luck with that, Kyr. I'm sure the bloodthirsty bandits will play nice.

That was a fair point to make. Kyric ignored it and continued ambling forward on his slowgoing spamel. He kept that steady pace until an explosion rocked the earth beneath him. The creature panicked and immediately bucked back. The kiffar acted quickly, looping an arm around the Chief before kicking off the creature's flank. He landed with a soft grunt. BD-8 wriggled out of his grasp and whirred relentlessly. The droid's metallic frame lit up like a Life Day Festival as it set off toward the temple in a hurry.

Kyric started after the droid only to falter a few steps in. Thick gray-black smoke drifted out of a massive hole in the stony cliff face. Huge chunks of rock littered the stretch of sand between the two explorers and the site of the explosion. What really caught the kiffar's attention was the slowly descending transport ship bearing some amalgam of Sith and Imperial regalia.

"What is going on?"

Inosuke Ashina

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

A notion of danger wrested Inosuke from the half-conscious depths of his meditative rest. As the ground quaked, his eyes opened just in time to witness a violent eruption of sandstone and the rolling pillar of smog that followed. A sinister presence twinged at his senses, and the master rose to his feet unphased. Ashla drew Inosuke's eyes to an oncoming vessel, which he easily pinned at the source of the forceborne stench that accosted his otherworldly perceptions.

They're looking for something. With a great leap, the Force carried him onto an architectural surface near the smoldering tip of the Temple's mother cliff face. Now early level with the vessel, hair and robes undulated behind the force of atmospheric propulsion. Nothing to find but me.

Another presence drew his eyes in opposition to his previous thought. Casting his gaze down to the sands beneath, he witnessed a man traversing through the maze of rubble caused by the explosion. For a moment, the strangers would make eye contact. However, Inosuke's image was quickly erased from the view of the individual beneath him. Another explosion, preceded by fiery streaks of ordinance despoiled the very spot where the master had stood.

 

[Kyric]

"Is that..." Kyric watched a distant form rise swiftly above the rubble. The figure remained still long enough for the two to make eye contact and shake the young man from his stupor. "It's a person, BD!" he shouted after the droid as he gave chase. The Chieftain whirred back at him in answer. "Were you able to get a good look at them?"

The droid's singular beep put the beginnings of a plan to rest immediately.

It didn't take long for Kyric to catch up to his much smaller companion. Scooping up the droid like before, Kyric breathed deeply and braced himself. BD-8 clamped down on his shoulders in answer. And in an instant, the world blurred around them. They flashed forward in a hurried race to reach the temple before the interlopers could block off his path.

What the hell is going on here?

Relax, Kyric. You're smarter than this. What do you know?

As the transport vessel landed and lowered its ramp, soldiers clad in shades of black, gray, and red descended to the sand. Rifles were brought to bear on the approaching Kyric and the leaping Inosuke. More ships buzzed overhead, each one adorned with the same dark heraldry.

[ Solipsis, huh? Whatcha think, kid?' ] Resolve's voice cut through the whirring storm of thought.

I think we're actually in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kyric ducked beneath a loosed blaster bolt and dipped behind a chunk of stone. Rather than dash out the other side, he ignited his father's saber and doubled back. The trick gave him enough time to take three steps before two soldiers opened fire. His emerald blade lashed out, easily deflecting the oncoming attacks as he weaved between the chunks of temple and cliff. I think that person I just saw is in danger. Hell, I think Jedha is in danger. We need to get a message to Auteme .

"Chief, find somewhere safe and call the ship. Tell Aunty A something bad is coming to Jedha."

And with that, the kiffar unceremoniously whipped around and launched his droid in the opposite direction like a shotput–force-infused strength and all.

"Good luck, buddy," Kyric offered the droid one last glance, then continued his trek toward the temple proper.

The stream of blaster fire made the whole ordeal much harder than necessary. The added bonus of surprise bandits appearing in the gaping hole in the cliff didn't help either. What could only be some form of chain blaster rapidly fired into the field of arriving ships made any form of headway virtually impossible as Kyric found himself quickly surrounded by more transit ships.

That's unlucky.

Inosuke Ashina

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

Every possible avenue of Inosukes demise became precognitive cues for evasion. As he surged across the nascent battlefield, stepping, weaving, and ducking, his mind remained clear. He appeared from the curtain of smoke in a single fluid twirl. His movements gave labor to the old Ashina principle; Water does not think, it is always perfectly decided. The master's river of motion crashed against landing soldiers with violent indifference. A glimmer of old steel against the rays of the desert sun foretold the sundering of their weapons. Striking limbs followed, cracking helmets and stunting every attempt at retaliation.

A red blade appeared behind a screen of dust, swinging an enraged trajectory toward Inosuke. A blue counterpart appeared from his fist, meeting the inevitable with an effortless parry. A follow-up strike emanated a blood-curdling sizzle, Ashina steel sundering plasma and magnetics.

"What!?" A voice shouted with disbelief.

One blue blur later, the very lips that had shouted rolled lifeless in the sand along with accompanying features. Inosuke turned, and began deflecting blaster fire from every conceivable direction. Flourishes and spins carried his trajectory again, from assailant to assailant. An outstretched arm on a final twirl caught a mass of rubble in the force, and heaved it toward the chain blaster emplacement.

A final glance toward the presumably allied individual behind the motions of active deflection heralded a request, "With me."

 

[Kyric]

[ You erred by taking so much time with the droid. ] Resolve chided him. The spirit of his late father's saber was never one to mince words–especially those used to spell out Kyric's shortcomings.

Kyric didn't grace the weapon with an answer. His focus remained on the encircling troops, and boy, they sure didn't make it easy for him. Soldiers darted in and out of cover, firing in bursts of three to five from opposite sides of the kiffar. Those not directly engaged with him moved into a better position, preparing to fire.

Hey, Kyric swatted an incoming bolt into another before diving down to avoid the rest. At least we have some cover. Silver lining.

[ I hate you. ]

Fair enough.

A surge of malignant energy rolled over the battlefield alongside the snap-hiss of a Sith's blade. Kyric felt his darkest feelings rise within his chest, coiling around his heart in a way that made it painful to breathe. He suppressed his fear long enough to claw through the sand and find cover beneath a towering pillar leaning against a slab of uneven rock.

And just as suddenly as that darkness emerged, it vanished.

An icy coolness rolled over the battlefield in the swordman's wake as the Sith's head landed at the peak of a dune. It rolled out of sight, forgotten by Kyric as the stone Inosuke threw flew through the air, crashing into the small turret embankment with remarkable precision. With a sudden break in the battle, Kyric scrambled back to his feet and nodded rapidly at Inosuke.

"Yeah, man, whatever you say," Kyric re-ignited his saber, the viridescent blade of Resolve glimmering with otherworldly power. He made no attempt to hide his awe at Inosuke's display. "I, uh- think we're caught in something completely by chance. This looks like a precursor force to a Mawite assault. Well, the more organized kind. Without all the freakish cannibalistic marauders."

It was abundantly clear Kyric was out of the loop of the greater galactic stage, even if he was half right.

"I'm Kyric. Kyric Karis."

Inosuke Ashina

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

Inosuke maneuvered himself to have his back to Kyric's. As the pair were slowly surrounded by the offloading of transport occupants, their dual defense proved far more efficient than any river. "New Sith," Inosuke corrected flatly, batting a bolt back to its sender. "Reconnaissance," he stated, confirming Kyric's assumption about a precursor force. "A poor point of scrutiny, this place, unless they are looking for something likewise."

Foes closed in on the pair, only to perish one after another in the face of their combined efforts. Two sith closed in on Ashina's side, combining their efforts similarly. A quick hand blocked the arm of the first red streak, forcing the assailant's momentum into an overhead flip. Holding his lightsaber over his shoulder, Inosuke parried the second strike, turning from his previous maneuver to slice the abdomen of the second enemy while still controlling the arm of the grounded other. Viscera spilled from the cauterized split in the Sith's torso, quickly losing consciousness. Pivoting, Ashina skewered his grounded opponent before releasing his arm, crimson saber still ignited until the limb went lip.

A flourish returned the master to a ready stance, noting the additional slain around him he presumed Karis responsible for. Epicanthal eyes slowly swept across the host of their remaining foes. Slowly, Ashina's cerulean blade drew a line in the sand, immediately superheating it to a molten glass-like state.

"Flee or perish." It would be their first and final warning.

 

[Kyric]

"New Sith?" Kyric asked aloud, his attention fixated on an approaching warrior. Their black cloak and crimson saber were an obvious sign of their loyalties. "New Sith," he repeated, this time with a surety.

Even as the tip of Resolve flew up from the kiffar's low guard and parried away every lowbrow Sith's favorite opener, Falling Avalanche, Kyric felt a smile take root. This is what I'm talking about! His blade flashed inward, knocking aside the acolyte's follow-up, before Kyric pressed forward in a blur, shoulder-checking his opponent a dozen steps back. Their body hit the floor in a roll and crashed out of view behind a wall of blaster-bearing soldiers.

"C'mon!" the kiffar shouted. "See if you can kill me!" A force-imbued howl echoed across the field, kicking up a cloud of smoke and sand to their south. The riflemen opened fire without another word.

A rain of scarlet hellfire soared across the sands in a fervent bid to kill the rogue Jedi in their midst.

Kyric reversed his grip on his blade instantly, shifting the base form of Shii'cho into a strange facsimile of Shien, only, the boy's movements within the force felt congruent with the Determination Form. His strikes were wide-sweeping, seeking out two to three bolts at a time. He lacked Inosuke's precision, only going so far as to direct the attacks away from them, not back to their sender.

Out from the cloud flew a chunk of stone the size of a personal speeder. Kyric took his saber in both hands and struck down. Super-heated plasma met stone in a violent sizzle. The blade carried through to the other side, where Kyric sent a burst of telekinetic energy. The boulder separated in two and flew perpendicular to their initial path.

From behind the boulder, crimson light flooded the kiffar's vision.

Emerald sword met ruby blade as Kyric's third parry set the acolyte's eyes ablaze with hatred. The following attacks sent reverberations through his arms, but Kyric was on a roll at this point. His blade swept out left, feinting, forcing his opponent's blade back into guard. When the acolyte mirrored their guard and stepped back, Kyric pressed his advantage. He hammered them with blow after blow, each one driving them down inch by inch until they were forced down to one knee. The Sith's earlier hatred vanished. Desperation flooded Kyric's senses as he felt the acolyte's tumultuous emotions in their fevered search for their master.

Not one to press his luck, Kyric side-stepped a hurried attack and buried his lightsaber in the acolyte's chest. He booted the corpse away and moved back into place at Inosuke's back.

_________________________________________________________________
​

Meanwhile...

He threw me. That brat actually threw me. BD-8 plummeted down from the sky for a few short seconds before activating his thrusters. They allowed the droid to control his descent long enough to avoid the errant blaster fire sent his way. He landed with a cat's grace, easily falling into a spirited dash as he hurried away from the battle. At least he had the sense to put me outside the ring of ship-

The Chieftain skidded to a stop and turned back around immediately. You little bastard! Bd-8 bounced back and forth. His lighting flared between shades of blue, green, and red. This is your fault, you know! How am I supposed to keep my promise and protect YOUR SON when he's just like you!? Big dumb idiot.

Beeping frantically, BD shook his head and decided to keep to the plan. Kyric was right. He had to warn Auteme. Ryv always said she would know what to do. He activated the remote beacon implanted within him by his creator. Paired to a second within 'Her Grace,' the beacon would draw their dusty old X-Wing to Big Chieftain's location in minutes.

I can't believe I let that kid convince me to hoof it rather than fly.

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

Some heeded the warning, but those who didn't saw the fulfillment of Ashina's word firsthand. With every stroke, the menagerie of limbs and cadavers grew around the pair of Jedi. It wasn't long before the last of them changed course, their transport ships ascending in retreat.

Cerulean plasma hissed away, returning to the master's hilt. A deep exhale quelled the bloodborne surge of battle. It only took a few seconds to return to his usual composure. "They will be back," Insouke asserted, hair and robes dancing the torrent of sand kicked up by atmospheric propulsion.

An odd choice of target. Why?

Inosuke turned to Kyric, expression blank and placid as if they hadn't just killed over a dozen people. Questions arose internally about why this young man was here alone. How fortunate for him that Inosuke had been here. Things could have easily been a lot worse had Kyric been alone. Nonetheless, Inosuke was perhaps mutually fortunate for Kyric's presence. Where the Master lacked any meaningful line back to Coruscant, Karis might have it covered.

"Have you the means to contact the council?"

 

[Kyric]

Kyric mostly did... nothing.

Inosuke was more than a match for the foolish few who thought to stand against him, so Kyric turned his attention to the scene.

Why this place of all places? He eyed their surroundings, deflecting an errant blaster bolt from the master's side absentmindedly. They've already taken Tython and Empress Teta, effectively robbing the Alliance of its birth-states. What more could they take? The freaking Holy City?!

"Oh, kark!" Kyric bolted upright only to notice Inosuke had finished off their attackers. When the atrisian addressed him, the younger man met his gaze. "Yes, sir, er- master!" he pointed back over his shoulder at the distant sight of an approaching starfighter. "The Chieftain is moving to contact Aunty Auteme as we speak. Wait!" he facepalmed into his gloved hand. "It's the Holy City! I think they are targeting the Holy City."

Stepping away from Inosuke, Kyric pulled out a tiny holo-projector from his jacket pocket and threw it into the sand. The device whirred to life, unveiling a holomap of the Core.

"I don't think this is new Sith," the kiffar murmured. "This is targeted. It's rooted in the past, look here," he pointed to the blacked-out space that once belonged to the Alliance. "The Grayson Imperium." he motioned to Coruscant. "Ground zero for the Alliance. Ground zero for new beginnings." The boy spoke as if the facts were laid bare before them both, yet to any sane person he would appear to be grasping at straws.

Dammit, kid. Yer' as sharp as yer' pa.

Kyric grinned. "I don't think Jedha is the goal, master. I think it's their first move."

__________________________________
​

Meanwhile...

" Auteme,

It has been years since we've stopped by, forgive me. You know how Kyric is. Too much like his father, unwilling to admit he is good enough of a son to go home to you, but alas, I must be quick.

There are Sith forces here on Jedha. The Will of the Force brought us all here in preparation for something far darker. Another master currently stands beside Kyric on the battlefield. I cannot be certain, but I believe it may be Ishida's errant brother, Inosuke. We will continue to look into this matter further. I fear greater forces may be returning from the past, my friend.

Please move with haste.

I cannot fail him again,

The Chieftain "

To anyone watching, this scene would be quite amusing. A tiny BD unit jumping back and forth, beeping and squeaking furiously at a tiny holo-screen as if the galaxy itself hung in the balance.

Once finished, the starfighter would rise into the sky once more.

Auteme

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

"Yes, sir, er- master!"

"Ashina," Inosuke apprised flatly.

The Chieftain is moving to contact Aunty Auteme as we speak."

A subtle tilt of the brow broke through an otherwise vacant countenance. Chieftan? Aunty? Inosuke didn't demand elaboration. He wouldn't have had the opportunity anyway, with Kyric immediately onto something else. Listening to Kyric's conclusion, eyes directed across the projection, it was clear Ashina was working out something in his head concurrently.

"I don't think this is new Sith,"

"If not Kananite, what else?" he challenged, tone betraying the notion requiring an answer. If these were Dark Imperial doings, as the transport ships inadvertently indicated, it could only be New Sith. "The Alliance is evacuating Coruscant, moving administration to Fondor-" Coruscant was the obvious next step once Tython fell. An attack this far on the fringe would be far from expected. "They could not possibly anticipate this," he added, clearing up his previous statement.

Inosuke took a moment to discern the whereabouts of the Holy City, casting a gaze onto the horizon in the applicable direction. "I foresee we have little time, Karis. If your 'chieftan' is truly dispatching a warning, we must not waste time. NiJedha awaits."

 

[Kyric]

"We can rely on BD-8," Kyric answered in step. "He saw the Third Sith-Imperial war through to the end, side-by-side with the late Sword of the Jedi." The kiffar clipped his saber to his belt and followed after Inosuke. "It doesn't matter. You're right. My ship should fit us both, but it'll be a tight squeeze." Her Grace swept down from above as if on queue.

The old Saber-Class starfighter was in much better condition than the boy's father could ever manage. Maynard and Loske wouldn't let him fly till she was spotless.

"The Sith have been more the hammer to the scalpel for a while now. This is different" Kyric motioned the Chieftain closer. The droid obliged and scurried over to the two Jedi. "Show me Dad's file on Fossk."

The droid straightened, his ocular lenses shifting within place as if caught entirely off guard by the request. He hesitated a moment longer, then the holo-projector within his frame whirred to life. A web of information took shape around them in a myriad of moving pieces. Soon enough, the image of Darth Solipsis overlaid atop the former senator.

"Maybe I'm crazy, but the way the Sith are behaving is reminiscent of him."

It shouldn't be possible. Dad was wielding Cotan's soul-sealer.

Crazier things have happened.

Kyric looked back up at Inosuke after a second-too-long of silence and continued. "Maybe one of his apprentices has proven more competent than the rest. I dunno." Kyric deactivated BD's holo-projector. "I read through everything my dad ever collected on Solipsis a thousand times over."

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

Scores of holographic details contained commensurate parts of familiar and revelatory knowledge. There was so much he didn't know about the enemy, so much he either hadn't been permitted or hadn't needed to uncover just yet. Inosuke's dealings with the Maw's higher echelon had been limited to a series of infrequent clashes. Their subaltern warriors were the bulk of his experience, given his sacred charge as Blade of the Meek. Prime movers were scarce amid the massacres they orchestrated.

Details were a luxury he hadn't required, it was the bigger picture that dictated his blade; the only Sith to be suffered were dead Sith. There was no place for intercession or petition in the throes of slaughter. Every piece of the reports that flickered before him seemed to further justify the ways of the New Jedi in a time before their unceremonious degradation.

"Maybe one of his apprentices has proven more competent than the rest. I dunno. I read through everything my dad ever collected on Solipsis a thousand times over."

"Sith are made of lies, Karis. There is no pattern but malice." Inosuke moved toward Her Majesty, hoisting himself into the interior. "Do not waste time pouring over the details. For now, the result remains the same, their return is imminent."

 

[Kyric]

"Sith are made of lies, Karis. There is no pattern but malice."

That... did that make sense?

[ Your father was of a similar mindset. The only thing you could trust a Sith to do is wrong. ] Resolve echoed one of Kyric's father's favorite phrases.

I need to think on it.

Kyric climbed up after the Jedi Master. It wasn't easy to make the single-seat cockpit accommodating to their guest, but the kiffar kept the Chieftain lodged onto the terminal, away from their latest ally. The droid chirped excitedly at Inosuke in greeting.

"Do not waste time pouring over the details. For now, the result remains the same, their return is imminent."

"Identifying the source of the attack would better prepare us for the attack. We know Khainite forces show a preference for rampant Sithspawn and mindless super soldiers, whereas Solipsis' forces showed a much more controlled use of their savages." Kyric challenged the Master this time with a broad grin. His intentions lacked the malice of their most hated foe but radiated a genuine curiosity and enjoyment as he shifted the conversation to strategy.

The X-Wing rose slowly, shifting in a circle as BD-8 programmed their flight path to NiJedha. The thrusters gained a surge of power and the fighter roared off in a straight shot to the Holy City.