Star Wars: Galaxy of Disharmony

Republic Acclamator-Class Cruiser Rising Dawn: Entering unknown system; 370 days after Battle of Geonosis

The Rising Dawn quaked as another violent charge of energy surged through its hull. On the bridge, Captain Jan Aldair grabbed a nearby rail to steady himself while the rest of the crew worked furiously to maintain the course and keep systems from failing more than they already had. The bridge was dark, illuminated only by the emergency lights, but filled with the noise of the scrambling crew and the blaring alarms. Aldair put a hand to his head and began to rub his temple in a vain effort to stave off the splitting migraine from the repetitive alarms.

“I want two things!” Aldair barked, “A status report and for someone to shut off those karking alarms!”

Another quake sent the crew scrambling for support as several of the clone ensigns worked almost violently at their stations. A “Chuba!” seethed from Aldair’s lips as he held the rail to keep from getting friendly with the floor. His frustration was eased slightly as the alarms finally went silent, leaving the windowless room to flicker in the emergency lights.

“Captain,” one of the ensigns reported, “a majority of the primary systems have completely failed including communications and shields. Weapons are-”

“I don’t care about weapons!” Aldair exclaimed to the young clone. “Weapons are of no use right now. Just tell me the important stuff.”

“Y-Yes sir,” the clone stuttered as he returned to his monitor. “There is some minor damage from detonated ordinance on the lower decks but nothing too severe.”

“Discharged by the energy surges no doubt. What is working?”

“Engines are at fifty percent power while life support is down to thirty percent and falling. Sensors are fluttering at five percent power which will leave us blind in minutes. Finally, several non-essential systems are still barely functional with some at less than a percent of power.”

Aldair put a hand to his chin and rubbed the short hair follicles of his early stage beard as he tried to think of a plan. But the mounting variables kept any plan at bay. He needed something to look at and more intel in general. He moved towards the command console as he issued his orders.

“Get as complete a scan of the system as you can and send the information along with the status report to my console. Divert power from non-essential systems to the life support to buy us some more time.”

He pulled up the status report and looked it over as he awaited the system scan, noting the numerous system failures and minor damage. Once the scan was complete, he activated the holo projector and looked over the new star system. Behind the Rising Dawn was a large nebula that circled the entire system, a system of one medium size, yellow star and a single planet with one moon.

His complaints at exploring an uncharted region of the galaxy were put on hold at the bizarre sight. Never had he seen any system with a single planet, much less one with a violent nebula surrounding it. The nebula would explain the energy surges but everything else made no sense. In his entire career as a captain in the Republic Navy, he had flown through a few nebulas but never one quite like this one. The rest defied logic. His thoughts were interrupted by another report from another clone ensign.

“Captain, sensors are just barely alive! We’ll go blind in seconds!”

“Point us towards the planet and let us drift for a bit!” Aldair bellowed from the back. “Conserve engine power for now until I have a plan of action!”

“Yes sir! Adjusting course now!” the navigator responded.

Aldair looked over the status report once more to assess the situation. With engines losing power, they would likely give out before a safe landing could be achieved. Without shields a landing, much less a safe landing, was a stretch in and of itself. Dwindling life support meant they needed a plan of action soon otherwise the entire crew would end up as space debris along with the ship.

His internal debate was interrupted once again by another report. “Captain, sensors just failed! We’re flying blind!”

Aldair pinched the bridge of his nose as his frustration boiled even more. He had survived pirates, bounty hunters, and even Black Sun. There was no way he would allow himself or his crew to die because they ran out of air, crashed into the planet, or even hit the sun. Yet the problems continued to mount and dead sensors only left him with one option to get any farther. He keyed the ship’s internal coms.

“Captain, I need you on the bridge five minutes ago!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose again, trying to calm himself. The situation at hand called for a clear head and calm nerves if he was going to keep these men alive. He stared at the holo image of the system alongside the status report, tearing apart his mind for an answer. He never had been good at quick thinking, preferring to have everything planned far in advance. But a blind jump and a system structured outside the norm would throw off anyone.

The sound of the turbolift opening sent a spike of anger through him as his thoughts were interrupted yet again. This time however, he eased his mind when he saw the clone officer enter the bridge. The trooper stopped in front of Aldair and brought up a sharp salute as he stood firm as durasteel.

“Captain Alpha-53, reporting as you ordered, Sir!”

The trooper standing before the Captain was a fully armored ARC Trooper, the elite of the elite. His helmet held the small antennae shaped device that was his range finder and his polished armor bore the red stripes of a clone captain. A red command pauldron sat on his left shoulder and a dark gray, red trimmed command skirt hung from his waist which came down to his knees. A strap stretched across his chest from the pauldron to his right hip which held a pair of thermal detonators. Hanging at his thighs were a pair of blaster pistols, a now common sight amongst elite and officer clones.

Fully armored, the ARC Trooper stood shoulders above Aldair and his imposing figure caused the ship captain to shift and straighten his grey navel uniform. The quick glimpse of a vibroblade hidden under the command pauldron proved that this soldier was a force to be reckoned with. Aldair had worked with a few clone commanders over the last year but this elite soldier put him on edge like no other could. This was the impression that a clone trained by Jango Fett himself could give.

“At ease,” Aldair said, trying to put aside his tension and focus on the task at hand. “Don’t worry about decorum right now. We have more pressing matters to attend to.”

The ARC eased his stance as Aldair motioned to the command console. “This is what we have so far. Minimal life support and dying engines, so we need to act fast. Shields are gone and we’re flying blind so we have dwindling options for survival. We need a plan of evacuation and I have enough things to focus on just keeping us alive long enough to do so.”

The ARC bent over the console and removed his helmet, placing it to the side, before looking over the full report and system scan. His fingers danced across the keypad as his eyes darted back and forth. His face showed no emotion but Aldair could practically feel the electricity his brain was generating as he planned. The trooper had been brought on board as a consultant for the mission due to his expertise at planning on a moment’s notice as well as his experience in unknown territory and operations behind enemy lines on multiple occasions. It took less than a minute before he stood up and replaced his helmet.

“I take it you have a plan,” Aldair said, shocked at the speed he managed to absorb, process, and plan an evacuation.

“Yes, and we need to move quickly.”

“I couldn’t agree more. You’re in charge of the evacuation. I’ll try to get us close enough to pull this off.”

“Sir?” the clone said, almost shocked at the response.

“We’re flying blind and, I hate to say this but, I can fly this thing blind better than any clone here. I may not have the quick learning like you but I do have the piloting experience to pull this off. Now get moving.”

“Yes sir!” the clone said, giving a sharp salute and making his way to the turbolift.

Aldair moved to the navigation station and nearly yanked the young ensign from his seat. “Sorry son but I’ll be taking over this from here on. You may have been trained from birth but that’s only ten years of training. I still outclass you by fifteen years of experience so I’ll need you to move.”

“Y-Yes sir,” the ensign said, rather taken aback at the captain taking the helm.

Aldair barked to the bridge. “All commands still come from me! All non-essential personnel make your way to the lifepods and prepare for evac!”

He eased into the seat and brought up the system scan, calculating their current location to the nearest meter he could. His mind raced as the calculations flew through his head. Despite not being one for snap tactical decisions, he could still calculate faster than practically any droid or nav computer he had encountered. Some had said he had a special gift, even a connection to the Force. But Aldair had always dismissed the idea that he could have been a Jedi just because he was an excellent pilot. He never was one to believe in the mystic anyways.

“Now then, let’s see if I remember how to fly this tub.”

Ponyville Observatory; 5:00 am

Lyra Heartstrings leaned back in her chair and gave a long sigh of exhaustion. She stared up at the large telescope she sat in front of with a weary glance and spat out a frustrated raspberry. For the entire night she had sat up watching the night sky for anything new or out of the ordinary, and she had found it. A quick flicker of light in the sky and then nothing. She had searched the rest of the night only to see the same night sky that always hung above her head.

She lazily reached over to her coffee cup without even looking only to knock it off the small table and spill the final drippings across the floor of the observatory. With a sorrowful glance she watched the last drops drip out of the plastic cup. She groaned less at the spill and more at the fact that there had been so little left anyways.

Tired from the night and desperate to find something else before the night truly ended, Lyra stood and started walking towards the coffee pot at the other end of the small observatory. She lazily charged her horn causing a mint green aura to surround the empty cup on the floor. The cup gently levitated into her hand just as she reached the pot of cold brew. She hated cold coffee but desperately needed something to keep her going for a bit longer.

As she sipped the cold liquid, she looked over a flyer advertising a picnic for the members of the Ponyville Astronomers’ Society, a group she had just barely managed to join. She had always been fascinated by the idea of something beyond the stars but had always been viewed as a nutcase, even by her friends. If she didn’t find anything tonight, nothing would change.

With the sun beginning to peak over the horizon, Lyra went back to the telescope and decided to take one final glance at the sky before calling it a night and getting some much needed sleep. She was going to find something, she could feel it.

As she peered through the telescope’s eyepiece, her heart began to sink ever further down as she scanned the sky which grew steadily brighter from the morning sun. Desperation to find the light flicker again drove her to scan for the next hour. Hope faded and she was about to call it quits when something caught her eye. A small flicker of light blinked in the steadily growing light of the morning sky, hardly visible but there nonetheless. Lyra centered the telescope on the light and focused the lens in an attempt to get a clear view but only saw the light slowly blinking in the sky. Excitement built up inside as she had possibly found the mysterious light once again, or maybe something new.

Several minutes went by as the light continued to blink in a rhythmic pattern and make its way across the morning sky. The initial excitement began to dwindle as confusion took over. Lyra struggled to think of any logical explanation for a light passing across the sky, even if it was related to the initial flash she had seen earlier in the night. She increase the magnification to its maximum to try and solve the mystery of the light, only to discover that it was comprised of multiple flickering lights. Her brain steamed as she tried to comprehend the new discovery and continued her observation.

After almost another half hour, the lights dwindled in the morning light and a strange object revealed itself. A bizarre triangular shape materialized from the flickering lights, both exciting and worrying Lyra. Some thing was in the sky above the quaint town of Ponyville. But there was no way of telling what it was just yet or how to tell others what she had seen without them thinking she was crazy, again. For now, all she could do was watch the object gently glide across the sky.

Castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle; 7:00 am

Discord wandered through the halls of the new castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle, listening to the gentle alternating tap and click of his feet echoing off the walls. He pondered over his life as he looked around at the purple crystalline walls, still bare and showing their young state. He had once been the great master of chaos and ruler of Equestria feared by all. Yet his reign had been rather short and his second attempt had been even shorter. Over time he had shifted sides multiple times and now he stood as a friend to the young princess and her friends.

“What a strange life for the very embodiment of chaos, eh?” he said aloud.

He stopped for a moment to stare out the window at the morning sky, his thoughts drifting to the strange feeling he had had during the night. Another strange tingling sensation sent the draconequus into a wobbling fit, lasting for but a second. Whatever was the cause of these feelings, it was drawing closer. He looked up at the sky once more. Something was no longer coming, it was already here.

As the being of chaos, any change in the light or dark was felt by him. But what was the cause of this change? Whatever was here now, it was the cause. No. Only part of it. Something else, something more, was coming. Discord could feel intrigue build within, as though his old self was resurfacing. A sinister smile etched its way across his face as a slight giddy laugh breathed out from his teeth. Something was here and something more was on its way.

“Oh so much fun we shall have,” he whispered to the morning.

“Discord?!” The cry of the young Twilight Sparkle snapped the draconequus from his musings. “What are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Fluttershy for the night.”

“Well I was and now I am here. The night is over correct?” Discord countered, shifting his smile into a one of innocence and pity.

“Ugh, whatever,” Twilight said, throwing her arms up and turning to leave. “Next time you should let others know when you are dropping by, even if they are your friends. It’s called courtesy.”

“I will try my best to remember that,” Discord said as the young princess left for her daily tasks.

With the young princess gone, Discord returned to his thoughts. There was something different about the young alicorn. Though she did not show it, something weighed heavily on her mind, as much as the thoughts on Discord’s mind now. He stared back at the morning sky. For better or for worse, life on Equestria was about to change drastically and soon. His smile of intrigue returned with full fervor.

“Oh so much fun indeed. I can hardly wait.”