Fusion Online

Chapter 12: Christmas on Naboo

The date is December 24, 2021 with the time being 11:00 P.M. It's been almost two years since the Explosive Nebula have been killed in a dungeon, and three years since this horrific game launched. Ian still hasn't gotten over it. He just been more and more depressed, and the only thing he has to remember Jessie and the others by was by a mere picture and a recording of Jessie saying a few things and then humming a short song. This, however, hasn't stopped him from participating from any raids. Heather has been a huge help from keeping Ian from making idiotic decisions and becoming a loner once again. Once Ian thought about suicide, just a thought that popped into the back of his head. Heather gave him a slap of reality and stopped that thought from growing any bigger. Jackie also helps, from giving him moral support to trying to cheer him up, such as the time when Ian almost gave up on fighting. Jackie immediately told him how awesome he was at that and how he should keep ok fighting. Leif does her best in keeping Ian's self-esteem up by repeating the story of how he saved her. Nothing major happened, but Ian always had a sad and dark expression shown in his face. Just hearing about the story made Ian feel better at the way he viewed himself. Artie and Darcie...well...they always invite Ian to do a few raids. Ian always has fun while doing them but looses his spirit after the raid, no matter how big the reward was.

The Senate Commando's have been, by far, the most successful alliance. They had one of the best player's, The Swift Striker, also known as Heather Rogue. They have freed many planets from the clutches of the Empire, CIS, Covenant, and Prometheans. They have defeated one of the Deadly Seven, Asajj Ventress. She fell in combat in the planet Dothamir while fighting Heather's Company, the Soldiers of Freedom, and Ian Stalk. This battle was won two weeks ago, and ever since, progress has been slow. Since Christmas and other holidays are around the corner, not a lot of people wanted to fight. Other just gave up and decided to live in the game like if they have always lived in the game.

"Hey Ian." Heather says, smiling at him and sits next to him. Heather is outfitted with a white winter jacket with purple trimming on it, white sweatpants with same color trims. Her hair is pulled back to a ponytail. Ian is seated on a bench in Naboo's Capitol plaza, his clothing being a black and gold winter jacket with matching sweatpants. The city around him is covered in light snow, Christmas lights hanging and placed around shops, stores, restaurants, and even the Capitol. Ian and Heather have grown to become very close friends.
"Oh...hey Heather." Ian replies nonchalantly. "What? Are you not happy to see me?" Heather says, acting hurt. "W-what? N-no! Not at all. Not all." Ian quickly says, not wanting to upset the beautiful commander. "I see. So anyway, I brought you some hot chocolate." Heather replies and takes out two hot chocolates from her inventory and hands one to Ian.

"Thanks." Ian happily takes the mug and sips out of it. "What have you been up too?" Ian asks, sparking a conversation. "Not much. Ever since you defeated Ventress. Work has been slow. Not a lot of players want to fight anymore, the enemies haven't launched any attack, not even a skirmish." Heather yaks on about what's been going on. Ian closely listens, not missing a single detail. Most people would have lost tracked and stopped caring, but Ian keeps on listening. "So how's Jackie's weapon improvements coming along? She's my friend and so I want to know if she's been doing her job right." Heather asks her question. Ian takes another sip out of his hot chocolate before answering. "She's improving a lot. She has fixed all my weapons and managed to improve them even when they are supposedly at their highest." Ian tells about Jackie. Heather giggles a bit. "That's good to hear." She says, drinking her beverage. "Yea. Also, did you heard about the new Sword Update?" Ian asks, wanting to hear Heather's thought about it. "Yup! I even got a Commando Droid Vibroblade." She says, showing off a little. Ian chuckles, he enjoys talking with Heather. "How about you? Did you get a sword?" Heather curiously asks. "No. Not really." Ian replies, finishing his drink. "What do you mean 'not really', you probably have the best sword in the game! Is it an energy sword? I'm betting it's a golden sword." Heather speaks her mind, not holding back anything she has to say about his 'not really' answer. "Ok fine. You want a better answer, well here it is. I didn't get one cause I prefer range weapons." Ian states his reason, placing the mug inside his inventory. "See? How hard was that." Heather says in a 'ha I won't tone.