Author's Notes:

Spoiler warning: This story has some exposition in it that that spoils some of the story in Star Wars the Old Republic. You have been warned, so watch a Youtube video or finish the game yourself.

Anyway, enjoy!

‘Oh the carriage just had to be too small.’

I laid on top of the medical carriage with my waist strapped to the roof with rope. The two tusks from the Aper Major laid beside me strapped to the carriage as well, acting as my only company. The griffin escort that flew with us kept their distance and kept the carriage surrounded from all sides. They pretty much ignored me when we got in the air and I was left with nothing but my thoughts and a starving belly the whole trip.

When the medical carriage arrived, the medical team was quick to get the princess in the carriage and tend to her injures. The guard escort drew spears on me and told me to keep away, thinking that I may have had something to do with the princess’s injuries. Luckily both the Princess and Boreus stepped in, and told them everything that happened. When they finished telling them the story, they all looked at me with astonishment and respect. Then they did the strangest thing and started begging for my forgiveness, one even went so far as to drop to the ground and bowed to me. Suffice it to say, I was very confused. One second they were angry and suspicious of me, then they hear of how I slayed the Aper Major, and they couldn’t revere me enough.

I asked the princess’s what was going on but she told me that she would answer my questions when we got to Horaca. When Boreus and I tried to get in the carriage with the princess, we quickly realized that my new oversized body would make the carriage too cramped. I had no accurate idea how tall I was now, but I was a giant compared to the griffins. Princess Falca seemed to be the tallest griffin when the med team picked her up and I compared her stature to the rest of them. She was the tallest but even then she barely came up to my waist, but I bet if she were to stand on her hind legs she could come up to my chest at least.

The med team needed room in order to tend to her highness and kept me out, but Princess Falca refused to leave me behind. Boreus came up with the idea to strap me to the roof, and when I and nobody else could come up with any other ideas, we decided to go with it. My armor thankfully kept me warm in the higher altitude and my only view was of the sunny sky directly above me. When clouds became too boring for me, I fell deep within my thoughts and considered recent events.

‘I’m not sure whether to be thankful or worried that my sister is possibly here with me. I’m glad that I may not be alone, but I’m sad that my sister got stuck here with me as well. If she got sent here, then she may have gotten turned into her costume too. If that’s the case then good, it should help her survive until we find each other. Heh, my sister as the great Undyne, she must be having the time of her life.’

“NGAHHH!” Spears flew across the cell embedding themselves into the stone walls sending off sparks and debris from the impact. Two royal guards stood outside the cell fretting as the human turned monster practiced her magic. Although at this point it looked like she had moved on from practicing and was just having fun. The guards’ now started shaking when she let out her terrible laugh.

“FUHUHUHU!”

‘Now since I just saved a princess’s life, that’s likely going to earn me a few favors. Favors that I can use to help find my sister. Although that may only take me so far, the griffins of Griffinstone showed the griffin race to be a greedy and prideful race,’ I thought until I felt a disturbance from inside the carriage. I could sense that Princess Falca was suffering from her wounds and it hurt me to know that she was still in so much misery.

‘The Princess was a stark contrast from the griffins I saw in the show. She showed humility when she admitted to her kind that she couldn’t defeat the Aper Major, and could have stolen the glory for defeating the beast by lying. It would have been easy, a battle worn princess’s word would have been much more credible than a total stranger with barely any wounds. Speaking of wounds, I should tend to my bruises first when everything’s settled down. I shouldn’t test out the Dark Side when I’m hundreds of meters in the air.’

My belly ached and I immediately changed my mind.

‘Scratch that, beg the griffins for a feast, and then tend to the bruises.’

A few more minutes passed and I thought about nothing but food the entire way. I wanted to taste juicy and cooked meat, cakes the size of dinner tables, and chocolate milk shakes to wash it all down. I was brought out of my food induced stupor when one of the griffin guards landed next to me and yelled over the wind.

“We’ll be approaching the crown city in a few moments, we’ll be descending soon so be ready.”

He took off after I nodded my head in understanding. I shifted around in the rope tying me to the carriage to make sure it was secure and sat up to get a view of the city. I winced a bit as my torso flared in pain from the movement but brushed it off. The city of Horaca was laid out before me and I felt my jaw fall off and drop to the carriage roof.

It nearly matched Canterlot in grandeur, and rivaled most human cities with its size. It sat next to the ocean north of it, with buildings made up of stone and steel making up the bulk of its size with thin roads interwoven between them creating several districts. In the center of the city, a massive city square filled to the brim with griffins contained dozens of wooden stalls that suggested it was a marketplace. Making up most of its northern section laid a vast harbor with hundreds of wooden boats either coming in to drop off cargo, or shipping off to sail east or west. The most amazing part however, was the cloud city above. Dozens of plump clouds floated separate from each other with different cloud buildings large and small resting on top. Griffins and airships flew between each cloud and it all instantly reminded me of Cloudsdale. Horaca was a city with another city right on top of it.

My attention was then drawn towards the southernmost section of Horaca on the ground, where a massive castle was nearly walled off from the rest of city. Four white stoned towers sat opposite of each other connected to a large main building. The towers each had a different colored roof including gold, red, white, and royal blue. The main building looked more like a refined citadel with unattended ballistae lying around the ramparts and large open terraces fixed in different positions. A landing strip positioned between the walls and the castle seemed to be our destination as the carriage moved towards the castle.

We finally landed and I moved to untie myself from the carriage as more griffins flew from the castle towards us. They looked like more medical personnel and they hesitated before approaching the carriage. When the carriage door opened, Princess Falca was moved out on a stretcher and the new medical griffins quickly moved to help. Just as I hopped off the carriage, the princess called for me.

“Jack, please come with us, I would like to speak with you as my injuries are attended to.”

I nodded my head before responding. “Of course your highness, should I just leave the tusks here or should I…,”

“That won’t be necessary sir, I’ll take care of the tusks for you. You’re trophies will be safe in my care until you’re ready to retrieve them,” Boreus interrupted as he hopped on top of the carriage.

“Thanks,” I said as I walked off with the medical entourage towards the castle. Two guards opened up some side gates and I was met with a brightly lit stone passage. Green light emitted from small crystals embedded in the walls and I kept up with the med team as we headed towards what looked like a private emergency room.

“My deepest apologies for introducing you to the castle in such a manner. I promise you that the other parts of the castle are much grander than the medical quarter,” the princess apologized.

“Oh that’s fine your highness, tell you what, as soon as you get better you can show me around yourself. Also, you’ll get a nice view of my face as my jaw drops from all the splendor this place has to offer,” I said flashing her a smile.

She smiled right back as we just got to the emergency room. The room was filled with dozens of other empty beds, private screens, and medical equipment that sat next to white wooden walls. The princess was laid down on the first bed and the team of griffins swiftly moved about to hook her up to their equipment to check her vitals and opened up cabinets to take out some weird gel encased in thick plastic.

“I’ll keep out of everyone’s way as you guys work. I’ll be over in one of the corner beds if you need me your highness,” I said but the princess quickly responded.

“Wait, I have plenty tending to me. You two, he was wounded as well, go tend to his wounds immediately,” she ordered.

“Oh I’m fine your highness, I can take care of my own injuries. Please, I insist you take care of yourself first,” I implored.

She looked at me with an uncertain stare but I smiled and smacked my hand to my chest to show her I was fine. It hurt like hell, but I was really interested to see if I could heal my own injuries with the Force.

“Very well, alright then doctor let’s get this over with,” she said as the leader of the med team blocked her from view with the privacy screen.

I went to the far corner of the room and sat down on one of the beds. I crossed my legs and closed my eyes to think about how I used the Dark Side during the fight. When the Aper Major attacked me, I initially felt fear build up and it nearly paralyzed me when I thought about all I had to loose. That fear however, quickly led to anger and I felt more power than I ever did in my entire life. I never felt so much rage until that moment, I’ve obviously been angry before but that instinct to kill was never that strong. I’d thought about how I’d make bullies and my other enemies hurt before, but I was always able to keep my primal urges in check. There was no filter in that fight, I only thought about how much I wanted to kill that beast and it was only till after the deed was done that I actually started to think straight. I needed to feel that rage again, I need feel that power it offered and try to channel it with the Force.

I thought about my parents, I thought about how I’d just lost everything that I knew. It all finally hit me at once, my family was gone, my future was gone, and my whole life was gone now.

‘I lost everything.’

Grief was all I felt now. I thought about all the things I wanted to do when I got out of college. I wanted to visit my ancestral countries from both my mother’s side and father’s side. I wanted to see Japan and walk around Tokyo. I wanted to camp with my sister in the Outback and see all the wildlife both dangerous and cute.

‘Everything I ever wanted to do is now impossible and it’s all his fault. It’s all that fucking vendor’s fault. He did this to me!’

I felt the Dark Side again and I nearly lost focus from the sheer power it gave me. I held on to my anger and tried to focus the Force to do my bidding. I wanted to get rid of this pain in my chest and demanded that my body heal itself. It was so incredible, the Force bent to my will and I felt the damaged blood cells beneath the skin collectively heal themselves and continue to run thru my veins. The pain was gone and I decided to test out whether or not I could get rid of another pain. I remembered how Starkiller from the Force Unleashed was able keep himself alive for over a week without food by using the Force. My stomach ceased its aching as I willed the Force to provide all that I needed.

“Jack are you alright,” a worried voice called out and broke my concentration. I opened my eyes to see Princess Falca still in her bed alone with the splints replaced by a weird red gel that completely covered both her hind leg and right wing. The sight of her worried face drained the anger right out of me and the dark energy was gone.

“Oh yeah…uh…I’m fine, just thinking about a few things,” I answered her.

She didn’t look convinced.

“Jack you’re crying, I can see the tears from here. Please come over here and tell me what’s wrong.”

I didn’t even realize I was crying and I was hesitant at first, but I realized that she may be the only living thing that cared about me right now. I was all alone and she looked like she may be my only possible friend in this world.

“Yeah…okay,” I wiped my face and got up to move across the room and sit on the small bed next to hers.

“You sat there for nearly an hour. After the med team finished their work I sent them away so they didn’t see you like that. What were you thinking about?” She asked

“I sat there for that long? Wow, I guess I went into a deeper meditation than I thought. I was initially trying to use my powers to heal my bruises, but they required some… less than happy thoughts.”

She looked at me with a worried look. “Your powers require you to put yourself into emotional stress? I’ve never heard of magic like that.”
I chuckled a bit before responding. “I call it the Force, it’s something that I thought was myth before I got here. It’s a long story, do we have time?"

She nodded and I began to tell her my story.

I told her about me and where I came from. How I came from a world where things like the Force and griffins were but tales to entertain in books or movies. Her face could not have been more shocked when I told her that a television series chronicled the lives of the Elements of Harmony. I told her about my life and how I just started my freshmen year in college and just got a pause in my second semester for spring break. My older sister had just gotten her pilots’ license and we wanted to celebrate by going to a con to play new video games and show off some new costumes we made of certain video game characters. We both grew up with cartoons and video games, and we loved to celebrate with them. Then I told her about the vendor that may have sent me here and my mood turned sour.

“So you believe that this…merchant… may be the reason you were sent here and gained all these powers?” Princess Falca asked.

“It’s all I got right now. Although, it could be that some unknown cosmic event sent me here for all I know. What I do know is that everything I knew is gone now and I’m in a griffin kingdom within a world I once thought was complete fiction. Heh, I didn’t even know that the griffins had a kingdom anymore. The show just showed me a crumbling Griffinstone with impoverished and angry griffins.”

Her face turned downtrodden and I immediately tried to apologize.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No, no, it fine. It’s just sad to think about the once great kingdom of Griffinstone. My grandfather used to tell me so many stories about the great kings who kept our people unified and ensured griffin prosperity for so many generations. But your ‘TV show’ showed you the truth, Griffinstone is now just a black mark in our people’s history, instead of unifying one.”

She stared down at her gel covered wing and sighed. I tried to continue the conversation by asking her a question.

“If I may ask, what happened to the griffins after the idol was stolen? The TV show didn’t go into specific details. It just showed that griffins lost their pride and unity with no king to lead them anymore.”

This actually seemed to cheer her up a bit when she looked at me again.

“I would be honored to tell you of my kinds’ history, even its darkest moments. When that monster Arimaspi stole the idol of Boreas, it left all the old royal Houses, including mine, in an uproar. King Guto was seen as too weak to rule the heart of our kingdom, and he was too slow to stop the infighting when the Houses grabbed for power. My grandfather saw it all in his younger years when his mother sought to make the Shattered Isles independent once again like in the days before King Grover. It sparked a civil war, and only two royal Houses came out of the conflict with enough land to call themselves rulers of a kingdom.”

“My House, House Hialla, retook complete control over the Shattered Isles and took enough of Griffinstone’s old territory beyond the Hyperborean Mountains to call them colonies on the main continent. The other House was House Ridara, and they took control of vast lands surrounding the northern Blue Star Mountains. When the last of King Grover’s line died in battle trying to stop the war, both Houses agreed to leave Griffinstone and the Hyperborean Mountains alone out of respect for the old dynasty.”

“To this day though, both House Hialla and House Ridara have been at odds since the end of the war. House Ridara seeks to unify the griffin race once again with sheer military might, and rule absolutely with no other Houses to challenge them. My House just wants to lead the Shattered isles and colonies in peace, and continue our kingdom’s steady economic growth. My great grandmother secured an alliance with Celestia and our trade fleet has continued to stay the largest in the world. Because of the alliance, our economy rivals the Griffinstone kingdom before the war and has kept peace between the Houses for over a century. House Ridara hasn’t dared to challenge Celestia without a fully unified griffin people, and hopefully it stays that way for another century.”

I sat there completely fascinated by what she said. My major was biochemistry in college, but I wanted to take on a minor in anthropology because of my slight fascination with how human societies developed. To hear a society’s lore from one of its own leaders felt too good to be true.

‘They sure as hell didn’t mention any of that in the episode. However, they did say that Twilight’s book was a little outdated.
’

“Wow, they showed none of that in the TV show. It mostly showed Equestria’s history since it revolved around the Elements of Harmony,” I said as she finished.

“I still find that very baffling, your world has viewed my own for years and you’ve always thought of it as fiction? You probably shouldn’t tell anygriffin else, less you keep them in constant fear of being watched. Anyway, you also said this Force you use comes from another work of fiction as well?” She asked.

I started to get really excited, Star Wars was my favorite sci-fi series and I couldn’t wait to test out all the new powers I still had left to explore. I tried to think of a small summary of the series before I told her.

“Yes, the Star Wars saga mostly focuses on the conflict between two different types of Force users a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. The Jedi, champions of the Light Side of the Force, are always in constant war with the Sith, lords of the Dark Side of the Force. The lore of the story has constantly expanded and even to the day I left, more of the galaxy’s story was being told in movies and games. The best I can say is that the Force is a lot like the magic of your world and I can manipulate the Force to do my bidding. I can use the Force to an even greater degree when I harness it with the Dark Side, it was actually how I was able to defeat the Aper Major.”

“So would that make you a Sith then?” She asked curiously.

I seriously considered this before answering her.

“No, I don’t think so. True Sith Lords are much crueler and probably would have left you to die in that clearing. Like the name implies, the Dark Side usually creates some vile people, however it isn’t entirely evil. The Dark Side relies on a person’s emotions in order to obtain great power. Powerful emotions, like fear and anger, are often how they obtain their power and this can lead them to committing cruel acts. The Light Side requires a person to seek out peace and tranquility while distancing themselves from emotion and ties to other people. Both sides have great strengths and weaknesses, and both can’t exist without the other. At best, I’d say I’m a Dark Jedi right now, so that means I haven’t completely obtained all the power the Dark Side has to offer.”

“Still though, your power is quite impressive. You say you went to the convention as a certain Sith in particular. Who was it?” she inquired.

“Well, the character I became was unique because he can be created in so many different ways. The character I made in the game was my version of the Sith Lord Wrath. He was the embodiment of an Emperor’s wrath and later became the Empire’s wrath when that Emperor betrayed both him and the Empire he fought for. Later my character became the Outlander when the Sith and Jedi were crushed by an Eternal Empire that conquered the galaxy. Lord Wrath brought together an alliance from a galaxy torn apart by war and defeated the Eternal Empire to bring about the largest peacekeeping force the galaxy had ever seen. At the end of his story, Lord Wrath had become a Force user that could embody both the Light and the Dark and used his new understanding of the Force to defeat his old master.”

Princess Falca seemed to be as fascinated as I was when I listened to her people’s history.

“That’s quite a tale, you’ll have to tell me more about these wars amongst the stars. If you now inhabit the body of such an individual, no wonder you were able to defeat the Aper Major,” she said and this reminded me of a question that I’d been meaning to ask.

“That reminds me, why were you trying to kill that beast alone in the first place?”

She paused before responding and her posture seemed to get a little defensive. She seemed to be arguing with herself in her head before she sighed and relaxed before answering.

“You deserve to know, after all, I’m the one that dragged you into that fight in the first place. To understand why I sought to kill the beast, you must first understand how royal griffins can ascend to the throne. When the current ruler of the isles reaches the old age of 65 one of their cubs must be chosen to take their place on the throne by both the monarch and the majority vote of the lesser nobles in House Hialla. Cubs of the royal family must gain prestige and notoriety in the form of deeds that benefit the kingdom to obtain votes. These deeds can range from creating beneficial trade deals with a foreign power, to winning great battles that keep the griffin people safe. The significance of these deeds are judged arbitrarily by both the reigning monarch and the nobles. My deeds have been lacking compared to my sister and father is just 3 years away from turning 65.”

Her eyes drifted away from me and turned downcast towards the floor.

“My elder sister has been far ahead of me since the day I learned how to fly. Even after 3 years of military service and nearly 4 years of devoted public service, my sister is still leagues ahead of me. When rumor reached me on the Summer Island that an Aper Major had returned to the Isles, I thought I had my chance. The star beast is sacred to our people because it was my ancestor Hialla himself that slew the beast the first time. The Aper Major made the Shattered Isles inhospitable to griffins due to its connection to the volcano and the ash that ravaged the isles. Hialla’s tribe was fleeing the continent because of the wendigo’s constant harassment and the isles seemed like the only choice. When the whole tribe’s warriors couldn’t defeat the star beast, Hialla fought the beast by himself and won. He led many griffins to the isles and laid the foundations for my House. Henceforth anyone, with a witness, who slew the Aper Major whenever it reforms will be given the title of Warden of The Isles. It would have ensured my rise to the throne.”

Her eyes traveled to her spear resting against the end table next to her bed, and slowly picked it up to show me. It looked a lot like a Japanese style naginata spear.

“This spear was used by Hialla to slay the Aper Major and its enchantments still run strong to this day. The enchantments will constantly keep the spear sharp and its tip will allow it to pierce nearly any magical barrier. Only magic or magical weapons can hurt a star beast and I thought my speed and agility would bring me victory. I just didn’t expect the beast to be so clever as to fake being tired and leave itself open to spring a trap.”

She handed me the spear and I was surprised at its balance. The metal butt at the end was heavy enough to balance with the blade portion, and the length of the spear was as long as the princess standing on her hind legs. After I ran my fingers along the blade I handed the spear back to her.

“So Boreus was with you to be your witness? So why-Wait, I just realized that Boreus was named after the Idol. Why does Boreus have the same name as an artifact that unified a species?” I asked confused.

Princess Falca laughed at my quick change of subject.

“My butler had parents with high standards from what I understand. However, his name is spelled with an e instead of an a, I think his parents were trying to be clever and it left poor Boreus with standards he couldn’t possibly live up to. And yes, he was supposed to witness me defeating the star beast, but in my haste, I left him behind when I found the beast’s trail. He does try his best though and I’m lucky to have him as a servant.”

I felt an angry disturbance in the Force, and it was coming right towards the emergency room.

“Someone’s coming,” I warned the Princess.

In just a few seconds, the door burst open and an angry griffin marched in growling. She was larger than any griffin I’d met so far and she looked like she had the same feline and bird characteristics of the princess, except with gray feathers instead of dark brown and yellow ones. She stared at me for a couple seconds before she caught sight of Princess Falca and rushed next to her bed.

“Falca! You stupid, stupid cub, why in all of Tartarus were you trying to fight an Aper Major? How bad is your wing? Will it heal properly? Wait, is that Hialla’s spear? Did you take that from the father’s armory? You stupid cub, do you realize how-“

Princess Falca interrupted the raving griffin.

“Sister! I’m fine, let me speak, the restorative gel will accelerate the healing process to less than week. And yes, I did take the spear, but you know damn well why I did all this Takada!” she said with fire in her eyes.

“Is the throne really worth that much to you? You would willingly go and do a suicide mission just to prove yourself!?” Takada fired back.

“It’s apparently worth more to me than all of us, since I’ve actually learned how to govern our people while you still spend your time in the military chasing pirates.”

“We are not having that argument again, especially in front of a foreigner.” Takada said as she scowled at me.

“He’s less foreign to me than you Takada. He saved my life, in fact, by saving my life, he’s done more for me than you ever did in my ENTIRE LIFE!” Falca yelled.

The two siblings glared at each other for a while before Takada reached over and jerked the spear from Falca’s talons.

“I’m taking this to the armory and you and father are going to have a long talk when he returns. And you,” Takada said as she pointed the spear at me, “Are coming with me. You have some explaining to do.”

‘Like hell I am. I’m not going anywhere with some loud mouth griffin, even if you are Falca’s sister.’

“I apologize, but no. I refuse to leave Princess Falca’s side until she tells me to.” I answered as calmly as I could.

Takada seemed ready to blow up with all that anger I sensed in her.

“I don’t think you fully realize your situation. YOU are illegally trespassing on our lands, and even if you did save my sister, you will still do as I say. I will chain and collar you like an animal if I have to. So I will say this only one more time. You are coming with me, NOW!” she ordered.

I felt like diplomacy wasn’t going get me anywhere with her so I stuck with my convictions.

“Kinky, but my answer is still no,” I stated.

It seemed like I pushed her over the edge but Falca thankfully intervened.

“Jack, I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine, just go with her and get everything settled. Takada, I brought him here and he’s now my friend and responsibility, so you will do well to make sure that nothing happens to him. Understood?”

Takada got control over her anger and answered her sister.

“Understood, now come with me…Jack.”

Takada turned and moved towards the door while I got up from the bed. Before I got to the door I turned around and waved goodbye to Falca. She smiled and waved back.

Both Takada and I were walking down the greenly lit corridor until we came across a patrol of guards. She handed the spear to one of them and told them to return it to the armory. We walked in silence until we started to get closer to the entrance the med team and I entered the castle from.

“So I take it that you were one of the objects that fell from the sky last night?”

“Yes I was,” I responded keeping my answers short and sweet.

“Do you know of the two other objects that fell?”

“Possibly, one of them may have been my sister, but I don’t know what the other may be.”

“Unless your sister is a giant hunk of metal, then I don’t know what it is. The other object that landed on the island was found by one of my Father’s scout teams before he left the isles. He left me in charge of securing the object until he returns.”

“Why did the king leave?”

“It’s none of your business foreigner.”

We walked out the entrance to find a whole platoon of armed griffins standing outside on the landing strip with a large carriage that looked more like a military transport. It was entirely made out of metal and had small openings instead of windows. A griffin stood on top with a small ballistae attached to the roof, and six griffins stood in front ready to carry the carriage into the sky.

“I want you to come with me to see if you can identify the object and its occupants. Unknown creatures spewed forth from the object when the scout team got too close. One seemed to be literally made of metal and fired off warning shots with some weird weapon. The other creature was something the scouts never saw before. It was black with feathers sticking out of its head and chased after the scouts on four legs before they flew off. Do you have any idea who or what these creatures are?” Takada asked as we got closer to the metal carriage that thankfully seemed large enough to fit my size.

‘This is starting to sound very familiar.’

“It sounds familiar, did the scouts say anything else?” I asked

After a few moments she answered me.

“They did, they said that the metal creature called one of them a…meatbag.”

As soon we got in the carriage and took off, I told Takada about the creatures and object that was mostly likely my ship model turned spaceship. She asked how I could lose an airship that big but I told her I was sent here against my will and had no idea that the ship even came with me. I told her that the metal creature was my droid companion HK-55, and of course, she asked me what a droid was. I told her that a droid was a machine programmed to protect me and do my bidding. She said it sounded like a golem and we moved on to the second creature.

From her description it sounded like my favorite mount from the game came with the ship as well. I told her that it was my pet varactyl and that she was harmless. Takada didn’t look like she believed me so I offered her a proposal.

“I’ll go to the object and get them to peacefully stand down. No one has to fight, I’ll see if I can get my ship off the ground and I’ll leave the isles peacefully. Obviously you don’t want me or the ship here, so I’ll take my ship and find my sister on the continent.”

“No deal, that ship landed on our territory, so it is now property of the kingdom. WE, are going to go to your ship together with my soldiers. Then you are going to get your pets to stand down and fly it back to Horaca to be impounded,” She said unfairly.

‘So it’s going to be like that huh, and HK is no pet.’

“That will end in disaster, if HK-55 sees you surrounding me with a whole platoon of fifty soldiers, he’ll think you and your soldiers are a threat. How about this, you and I will go to the ship with at least ten of your best soldiers while the rest watch from a safe distance. I’ll still go with you back to Horaca, but the ship is mine. Princess Falca said herself that I was her friend, and I don’t think she'll allow her savior to have his property stolen from him by her own family.”

She scowled at me for a few seconds as she considered my counter proposal.

“Very well, but it’ll be fifteen of my soldiers instead.”

“Deal”

We spent a few minutes of the trip silently staring at each other. On all fours Takada seemed to be half a head taller than her sister. From her attitude and heated debate not too long ago, I could tell that she was completely military in character. She was probably used to issuing orders and having people follow them without question. I had a certain respect for the military because of my sister’s goal to join the Air Force back home after she got out of college. As soon as she got her pilots’ license, Katy was sure of her goals and I was proud to support her every step of the way.

‘I should probably give Takada a little respect. It takes a lot of courage to lay down your life for others.’

While I was trying to think of a way to break the ice between me and her, Takada spoke up.

“I know it may not have seemed like it, but I’m really glad you saved Falca. You saved my sister and for that I’m thankful.”

I was a little stunned at her change in attitude but I quickly tried to respond.

“You’re welcome, and just so you know, your sister really did hold her own against the Aper Major. She left a ton of scars on it before she got hurt.”

Her eyes drifted off as she considered my words. After a minute passed by she spoke to me again.

“I don’t doubt my sister is strong, but as the evidence shows, she still shouldn’t have fought the star beast in the first place. Also, from what my soldiers say, you were the one to claim victory over the beast. My father is just going to loooove you.”

I tried to ask her what she meant by that, but two knocks from the roof stopped me.

“We’re here, get ready to go,” she said ending the conversation.

As soon as we touched down I got out and checked my surroundings. We seemed to be on the island coast as my boots hit sand and I looked around to find the sun starting to set towards the horizon, signifying that it would get dark soon. I detached my helmet from my belt and put it back on so I could see the mini map in case I got lost. The helmet seemed to be passively scanning the landscape as I moved around the island and it had a more detailed, but still incomplete, map of the landmass.

Takada lined up her troops and we all followed her into the forest behind the beach. I looked up and saw the volcano beyond the tree line quite a distance away and wondered if I could have ever found the ship if I even knew it was here. A little clock under the mini map told me we spent 17 minutes marching until Takada ordered us to halt. Apparently we were getting close to the ship and she got 15 soldiers together like she promised. We started to march again and I got a glimpse of the ship.

It was surrounded by trees but I could see the black and white metal of the craft. When we started to get closer I started to hear beeping. I asked Takada to stop and we all halted. She looked at me waiting for an answer but I didn’t pay attention to her as the beeping continued in my helmet.

Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep

‘What the hell is that, is that a phone?’

My hands stretched across my helmet to find the source of the disturbance until it suddenly stopped altogether. Takada was getting impatient.

“What is going on, why have we stopped?”

I was about to answer her until I saw a flash of blue light and an innate instinct with the Force kicked in. My lightsaber flew into my hand and I activated it to stop the blaster bolt before it hit Takada in the head.

“EVERYONE GET DOWN,” I screamed as I saw more blaster bolts. I watched each bolt fly thru the air in slow motion and I predicted easily where each would land. My hands were a blur as my stance got into Form 3 and deflected 4 more bolts and sent them towards the trees. I stood there in silence waiting for more, but after 20 seconds nothing happened. Then the silence was broken when a familiar voice sounded off from one of the trees next to the ship.

“Joy: It really is you master!”

I recognized HK-55’s robotic voice and method of speech. I quickly took a peek behind me to see all the griffins laid down on the ground and Takada looked pissed.

“HK-55 stand down now.”

“Confirmation: Of course master, deactivating base defense protocols.”

A gold and black bipedal killing machine dropped from the trees and landed 10 meters away from the group. His blaster rifle rested in his arms pointed to the ground and the glowing red eyes scanned me and the rest of the griffins as they got up.

“Apology: Master, when you and the feathered meatbags came I thought something must have been wrong when you didn’t pick up your com link. So I assumed you were under distress and tried to quell the meatbags. I’m sorry that my assumptions were wrong.”

Takada came up to me barking mad.

“You said that he wouldn’t think we were a threat if we came in a smaller group. So why in Tartarus did he try to kill us!?”

I turned to talk to her but HK responded first.

“Justification: Like I said, master wouldn’t pick up his com link and you were possible threats to master’s safety. Besides, my blaster was set to stun and you would have instead ended up unconscious. My gracious master values life and had set my settings to pacify possible threats instead of killing them. Your welcome.”

“Your wel- oh you little piece of trash, I will rip you apart.”

“Declaration: You will not succeed.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH.”

I put my lightsaber between them and tried to end the dispute.

“Princess Takada I take full responsibility for what happened. I didn’t respond to his communications and he jumped to conclusions, I’m sorry. But, I did pacify him and no one got hurt. Let’s continue towards the ship and get it back to your city. Alright?”

She glared at me before she took a deep breath and calmed down.

“Fine, but one more incident like this and the deal's off. I’ll call in the rest of my troops and I’ll drag you and your golem back in chains. Understand?”

“Crystal clear.”

I deactivated the lightsaber and hooked it back on my belt. Takada watched the blade retract and I smirked at her amazement of my favorite weapon.

“So you had a weapon on you the entire time,” she stated.

“What? You wouldn’t have been able to take it from me even if you tried.”

We all walked towards the ship and the sun had just set and the moon flew thru the sky. Now that I knew it was Celestia and Luna controlling the celestial objects, it made much more sense in how they moved. We made it to the Fury’s crash site and found it imbedded in the earth with fallen trees collapsed on its left side.

“Depressed: Oh master, the ship has been left in such a sorry state since you disappeared. That miserable protocol droid wouldn’t stop whining.”

“Pride: However, I kept us all here safe and ready for your return master. And your mount helped a little.”

Just as he said that I felt a happy presence with the Force, and my favorite cave varactyl came running down the ship’s entrance ramp. She ran right towards me and it didn’t look like she was slowing down.

“Hey, hey, hey, easy girl don-“

She tackled me off my feet and proceeded to lick my helmet when I hit the ground. In any other circumstance I’d be scared shitless, but my connection to the Force told me that she meant me no harm. I patted her feathers and just let her enjoy her happy moment.

Takada and the other griffins just stood there awkwardly and after a few seconds I thought it was time to get her off. I tapped her beak and ordered her to get off and she unhappily complied.

‘She’s much cooler to see in person.’

I heard metal footsteps clank down the ramp and looked to find my meek little protocol droid 2V-R8.

“Oh master, it’s so good to see you again. I’m terribly sorry about the ship, but I performed as well as my programming allowed me. Please don’t deactivate me,” The droid pleaded.

“You’re okay 2V-R8, just tell me the status of the ship,” I ordered.

“All systems except the hyperdrive are in perfect working order master. Also, your equipment and collections are safely secured in the cargo hold. The ship however won’t be able lift off unless we are able to remove it from the ground. I wasn’t designed for such labor.”

‘Of course the only way to travel the galaxy was broken, how convenient. It just keeps making more and more sense that someone sent me here instead of something’

“Alright, we’ll set up a team to come out and get your ship out of the ground tomorrow. Let’s head back to my soldiers and go back to the city, but you can’t bring any of them with you.” Takada spoke out as 2V-R8 explained the situation.

‘I got a better idea.’

“Actually hold on, I think I can get it out.”

“Really, how?” she said unbelievably with a smirk on her beak.

“With the Force of course.”

My eyes traced around the massive ship and I actually wondered if I could do this. I searched my feelings and thought about the one thought that brought me so much anger. The vendor that took away all I loved.

My right hand stretched towards the ship and I felt the Force surround it. The weight nearly buckled me, but my anger demanded that I continue on. The fallen trees fell off the side of the ship as it started to lift up in the air and the Dark Side gave me the strength to keep going. A few moments later, the ship was completely free of the earth and floated in the air. I looked for a spot to put the ship down and I Force pushed some fallen trees out of the way with my left hand to make room. I carefully set the ship down and it rested evenly on the ground. Yoda would be proud.

As I turned around, I smirked underneath my helmet as I found 2V-R8 clapping and the griffins with their mouths gaping.

“Well done master, simply well done,” praised the protocol droid.

“Statement: You are a testament to which all Sith should strive for master.” HK said as he moved towards the ship and up the ramp.

Takada was still amazed by what I did and, I had to admit, so was I. I broke her out of her astonishment when I asked her if she was coming.

The ship was just like it was in the game. Everything from the holoterminal to the galaxy map was where it should be, and it all seemed to be in tip top shape. My cave varactyl headed towards the cargo bay and I left her to join HK-55 on the bridge. Takada’s soldiers were wandering around the main area of the ship and 2V-R8 kept telling them to stop touching everything. I admit I was tempted to touch everything as well, because I felt like I just had a wish come true.

Takada herself joined me on the bridge and I began to worry if I could actually fly this damn thing. Luckily more images and new memories made their way into my mind and all the controls started to make sense. I recognized the ascent controls, the hyperdrive activation switch, weapon controls, and the sensor array. I turned on the ship and I felt giddy at hearing the ship roar to life.

“Let’s get out of here. The rest of your troops will follow us back to the city right?”

Takada was a little alarmed by how the ship roared and she got her composure back before she answered me.

“Yes, when they see the ship, they’ll follow us back to Horaca.”

“Okay, and don’t worry I know how to get back to the city.” I said leaving Takada surprised.

My mini-map had scanned our path from the city and it’ll be a simple matter to follow the directions. My hands toggled the ascent controls and I nervously felt the ship fly into the air. When we ascended above the trees I activated the engines to start propelling us forward, and we started our ride back to the crown city. The landmass of the island quickly passed underneath us and Takada and I could not have been more amazed.

“This…This is absolutely amazing, I never would have thought that something like this was possible! Airships are nothing to this ship's size, yet it moves faster than anything I’ve ever seen.” Takada said watching through the viewport in front of us.

“Statement: My design for combat is much more unique and sophisticated than this ship. I think you should be more amazed by me,” HK said from the co-pilot’s seat as Takada and I ignored him.

“Yeah, it really is amazing what science can achieve isn’t it.” I said as Horaca came into view.