Chapter one: Star-fall part 2

The Republic Battle cruiser Star-Arrow, glowed like a gem in the large sun as it traveled through the system. The long ship was studded with several fins along its body, curving in high arcs, with a thick crescent shaped head and two large square shaped engines at its end that blazed with fiery energy. Along its long, thick body, were dotted several large, double barreled cannon-like objects that, fixed to circular studs, rotated regularly in circular patterns. Colored the deep red and white of the republic space fleet, the ship carved through space swiftly, like an arrow loosed from a bow. The engines roared with power as it ploughed on through its journey. The sun that the ship was flying around, glowed with the sustained rage of a star in its prime, throwing off giant loops of fire. None reached the ship however as each time the shots of fire got close to the metal work, blue light, almost like a shell, appeared wherever the heat touched it, shielding the ship from the fire. The long cruiser continued on its way, like a gigantic metal fish, swimming its way through the vastness of space. Slowly however, the blasts of energy propelling the ship began to lessen, until the engines shut down. The propulsion stopped. The ship slowed. Then it ground slowly to a stop.

Admiral Kern frowned as he stood on the bridge. Several humans, mixed with a few other species of the republic wandered across the bridge, checking the screens around the bridge for data. The low babble of talk echoed around the bridge, some in the basic language for humans, others but mixed with other, more exotic languages. Kern's ship had been traveling for what accounted to 3 weeks now. It was harder to tell out here on the outer Rim. But the Republic needed the exploration missions. Since the end of the Jedi civil war in 3958, the Galactic Republic had been desperate for more resources. It wasn't like the Jedi were around anymore to keep the peace. But something was off. Just a few seconds ago, the ship had shut down its engines. Then its weapon systems had shut down completely. It wasn't right. Kern didn't like it when things went wrong on his ship. Not in a cascade failure case. The ship had been checked and double checked before it had left the republic. The human hadn't felt this sense of unease for a long time. Not since....The human turned to look out of the view-port. The glass window showed a planet. It was an odd looking thing. Larger than most of the planets in the galactic sector, it was dotted with large splotches of land, some colored green, some brown. Kern shook his head. Straightening the golden star on his jacket, Kern to the door. The large circular door slid apart with a hiss. The rectangular ship was lit with large light strips fixed to the ceiling. Kern noted the worried look on his crews face. Things hadn't been the same ever since...he'd booked a seat on the ship.

"It can't be him." Kern mumbled shaking his head. "Since when was I this worried about stuff like...exiles...." Kern bit his lip. It had been a habit ever since he was a kid. As he wandered down the length of the ship, the captains thoughts strayed to the bottle of Corellian Whiskey that was stashed under his desk. His private quarters were just next to the bridge. Maybe he would go back after visiting the passenger. A few shots would get him...Kern stopped. He couldn't think about drinking at this time. As he wandered down the ship, he took in the familiar smell of engine oil and the clinking of wrenches as the technicians made their rounds, attempting to fix the problems the cruiser had developed. It was always the same in ship life. A daily round of technical difficulties, sleepless nights and the smell of engines. Kern shook his head, smiling. Despite its name, the Star-Bow wasn't the most glamorous of ships but Kern felt a strong attachment to it.His walk had taken him to a door centered about the middle of the ship. He reached out to knock on the door but hesitated. Something about going into the room made him hesitate. The passenger had been booked before they'd left but why the passenger was allowed on Star-Bow was something his superiors hadn't bothered to told him. As a model soldier, Kern didn't bother to ask...but despite it being an order, Kern had felt the urge to ask his superior who this passenger was. Nobody ever booked passage on Republic war cruisers. It wasn't done. Kern, mustering his courage, reached up and knocked on the door. His knuckles made a loud clanging noise on the metal door. No answer came from the inside. Kern grunted in annoyance, pressing the keypad set into the door. There was a click and the door slid open.

A rather unpleasant smell hit his nostrils. A mixture of fermented alcohol and...Kern wrinkled his nose. Unless he was very much mistaken, the smell of waste was what was hitting his nostrils. Kern took a step into the darkened room. Several bottles clinked around his feet. The single light shone from the small desk in the corner. A robed figure was slumped over at the desk, the face hidden in shadow. The smell of alcohol was emanating from the figures robes. Kern sighed to himself. Still no response. Shaking his head, Kern turned from the room and walked out. The door slid closed again. Kern felt his impatience rising. If he wasn't a model soldier he would have dumped the drunken fool on the first abandoned moon they came too. But...he supposed orders were orders. Kern made his way back up the ship. Perhaps he would go to his cabin and get the Whiskey. Even being near the passenger had revolted him. The Admiral shuddered. How anyone could choose to live like that...he had no idea. Kern stopped dead. Something smelled wrong. It wasn't engine oil. It was smoke. Now he was actually focused on the ships corridor, he could see that thick clouds of smoke were pouring out of rents in the walls and floor. Kern looked about. He knew if he could find a technician, then he'd be able to find out what was wrong. But there was no-one in sight. Apart from the hissing of the damaged machines, the corridor was silent. That was unnerving. Silence on a battle cruiser was something that always unnerved Captains. When things were silent, that meant there was nobody to maintain the ship. Nobody alive. Kern knew what he most do at once. He'd run to the bridge, check what was happening and resolve it.

Kern took a step forward. Then screamed as pain shot through his chest. Kern fell to his knees, still screaming. He had just enough sense to look down. A sword was sticking out of his chest. Kern felt the pain spike as who-ever was behind him ripped the sword from his body. The Admiral fell forward, his hands attempting to stem the rapid spread of blood across his uniform. Crimson liquid poured out between the fingers, drops hitting the floor. His vision began to blur. Kern grunted in pain, trying to roll over onto his side. Then he screamed again as the blade stabbed him through the back. His vision darkened as the blade stabbed Kern again and again. Blood fountain-ed, spraying across the walls, staining the whitewash walls red. Kern was dead before the blade stabbed down for a fourth time. The figure standing over the dead, admiral, clothed in black robes stalked past Kern, pausing only to wipe the blade on the motionless admirals, already bloodstained uniform.

The figure in the foul smelling room of the Star-Arrow raised its head. The hood of the stained robe fell back slightly, allowing the figure a brief glimpse of the room. A pale of brownish-green eyes shone out from underneath the ragged hood. The foul but familiar smell of Alcohol, waste and...The figure paused for a second. Blood? He could smell blood. That was new...and not entirely welcome. The figure reached down underneath the desk, exposing a pale skinned, five-fingered hand. The was a scraping noise and the figure pulled a sword from under the desk. It was a simple sword, with a bronze cross-guard and a handle made of stiff brown leather. The figure rose unsteadily to his feet using the sword for support. He had a bad feeling he knew what was going on. Just as this thought entered his head, a loud voice sounded outside his door.

"He's in here! He's in here! Kill the exile! KILL THE JEDI!"

"C'mon Girls we're gonna miss it!" Pinkie Pie called as she climbed the hill. The Pink Pony's Poofie mane and tail bounced as she bounced up the hill, just behind the town of Ponyville. Since the meteor shower had been announced, the ponies of ponyville had been frantically trying to look for the best spots to see it. Though Pinkie Pie's famous happy-go-lucky attitude was starting to wear the pink earth pony's companion down. The purple unicorn that was standing behind Pinkie, frantically setting up a telescope gave a hearty sigh. Twilight Sparkle, the well-read but slightly knowledge obsessed Unicorn pushed a few strands of her purplish mane out her eyes, grinning over at Pinkie.

"We know its soon Pinkie but we still have a few minutes before..." But the Unicorn was interrupted as a cyan blue Pegasus landed next to Pinkie with a loud Thump. The rainbow mane and tail quickly identified the Pegasus as Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus chuckled slightly as Twilight, whose telescope had been blown over by the force of Rainbow hitting the ground, gave her a scolding look. "Do you have to do that Rainbow? Now i'll have to spend another five minutes setting it up!" The Unicorn groaned, casting her battered telescope a defeated look. Rainbow simply chuckled, whilst Pinkie-Pie, in typical Pinkie Pie fashion, started laughing rather hysterically, falling to the grassy floor and kicking her hind legs into the air, so that her cutie mark, three balloons of varying colors, flashed once or twice. The Unicorn frowned in annoyance. "Really?" Demanded Twilight but the tirade she was clearly wishing to say, was interrupted once again by the arrival of two more mares. One was an orange earth pony with a whitish blonde main and a stetson hat positioned on top of her head, slightly hiding her leaf green eyes. A set of three apples was emblazoned on her flanks. The other was a unicorn with Alabaster white fur and a purple mane and tail that was expertly curled in several places. Three diamonds were emblazoned on this mares flanks. The Unicorns blue eyes narrowed slightly in bemusement, at the sight of Pinkie Pie, rolling around on the floor, kicking her legs with laughter. Twilight gave them a cheery wave. "Rarity. AppleJack." The Unicorn said cheerily. The two new arrivals smiled and waved their own hooves back at them.

"OOOH!" Yelled Pinkie, who was still on the floor. The others turned to look at Pinkie, confusion on their faces. Pinkie was pointing with her hoof up into the sky. "Look at that!" The Pink Pony said, an expression of rapture upon her face. The rest of the group turned to look up at the sky. It was one of the meteors. Twilight frowned as she watched the ball of flaming light scorch across the sky. The Unicorn was pretty sure that the shower report had said that the shower wouldn't be arriving for another forty minutes. It was with a sense of shock therefore, that Twilight saw that this meteor was different. The meteor wasn't flying, safely across the sky. It was coming down. It was aiming straight for Ponyville! Twilight, Rainbow Dash, AppleJack and Rarity, as though by an unspoken agreement, began to run down the hill, back towards their home-town. But too late! The flaming projectile crashed down, right into the center. There was a colossal explosion. The five ponies stopped as they watched as a ball of fire was spat up into the sky, followed by a thick plume of smoke. The five mares looked at one another in horror, before starting to run. The five weren't sure what they would find but they all hoped that nobody had been hit by the meteor.