It began like any other day.
People poured their coffee. Scrolled their feeds. Complained about traffic. Laughed at memes. The world spun as usual.
Then the sky cracked open.
Without warning, a fleet of massive ships tore through Earth's atmosphere—blocky, hulking silhouettes that eclipsed the sun. Strange. Geometric. Alien.
They weren't from Earth.
They weren't of Earth.
The Trade Federation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems had arrived.
In orbit above a system not listed on any Republic star charts, a Lucrehulk-class battleship hung like a silent god. Its commander, a cold and calculating droid brain, scanned the system. Countless planets, but only one teeming with life.
Earth.
Within minutes, probe droids deployed. Vulture droids screamed through the upper atmosphere. Droid landing ships gathered in formation.
Down below, Earth remained unaware.
Horizon Ridge High School
Principal Wes Anderson kept his voice level as he spoke over the intercom. Years of military service trained him to stay calm when others panicked.
"All students and faculty are to return home within the hour. This is a city-wide emergency."
No details. No hysteria. Just enough to get them moving.
No one questioned it—not yet.
But Carson Adams did.
He was already several steps ahead, digging through Discord servers, scanning shaky satellite images, watching livestreams before they were deleted.
> Vulture droids. B1 battle droids.
Ships straight out of Star Wars.
Except this wasn't a movie.
This was real.
And they were landing.
Carson bolted the moment dismissal was announced. He ignored texts. Ignored teachers. Ignored the voice in his head telling him this couldn't possibly be happening.
Fifteen minutes later, he burst through the front door of his home.
"Dad? Mom? Anyone home!?"
"We're in the kitchen," came his father's voice.
Relief flooded him.
But when he stepped into the room, the expressions on his parents' faces told him everything. His father—a decorated U.S. Army veteran, still active in the reserves—was going to war.
Not a war against human enemies.
But one born from someone's imagination.
A Conversation That Changed Everything
They sat down.
Carson unloaded everything he knew.
He laid out the CIS fleet structures. Droid attack patterns. Command relays. Weaknesses. He even explained how the Trade Federation handled supply chains.
His father didn't laugh.
Didn't interrupt.
Didn't scoff.
He just listened.
Every detail sank in like a soldier memorizing a battlefield. And when the call finally came…
The house fell silent.
The uniform came out of the closet.
The duffel bag was packed.
The last dinner was quiet.
Carson stood by the door as his father left for the front lines of a science fiction war.
The door shut behind him with finality.
The world would never be the same.
Broadcasts and Battlefields
Days passed. Whispers turned into headlines. Then headlines became a national broadcast.
The President appeared on every television, phone, and screen across the country.
"We—and the world—are under attack by invaders from space."
There was no softening the blow. The veil of fiction was ripped apart. Star Wars wasn't just a movie anymore.
Los Angeles had fallen.
So had Chicago.
And New York.
Droids roamed city streets. Entire blocks were reduced to rubble.
People screamed for answers. For hope. For help.
As the broadcast ended,Carson turned and quietly left the room, heading for his bedroom.
He reached beneath his bed and pulled out a stack of old books—visual guides, tactical breakdowns, and schematics he'd memorized over the years as a fan.
It felt ridiculous. Like the setup to a fanfiction story.
But here he was—living it.
What if this is during the Clone Wars?
What if the Jedi show up…?
The thought made his heart race—not just with hope, but fear.
Because if the Jedi were coming…
Then so were the Sith.
And then all the things he read from the many books and comics he had collected came to mind and those thoughts caused him to stay up many nights.
A few more weeks had gone by and there hadn't been any news and the invasion hadn't come to their city but that was about to change.