Into a Galaxy at War (Bounty Hunter Edition)

Spike was skateboarding home from school, another long eight hours sitting on a hard plastic chair talking about pig farms and the wonders of methane. When his phone rang, he saw a text from his mom that said, "Hey honey, can you stop at the convenience store and pick up some milk?"

Spike sighed, "Figures I'm the one who has to pick it up while I'm heading home from school." He texted his mom back saying he'd get the milk.

Shortly afterward, he got another text that said, "Dear sir or ma'am, your NRG System has arrived at our store. Please pick it up at your earliest convenience."

Spike smiled, "Sweet, the NRG system I preordered is here! Once I get the milk I've got to go pick it up!" he skateboarded to the convenience store and got the milk before heading over to the game store, seeing his friends, Thorax, Gabby, and Starlight Glimmer there too. He waved to them, "Hey guys, you got the NRG too?"

Thorax nodded, "Yeah, I got SWTOR bundled with it."

Starlight smiled, "What a coincidence, that's the same bundle I got!"

"Same as me! What about you Spike?" Gabby asked

Spike nodded, "Yep, it looks like once we get off the starting planet, we can join a guild together. I'm going Bounty Hunter."

As Spike and his friends split up on their way home, Spike went into his house and said, "Mom, I've got the milk!" before putting it on the kitchen table and heading to his room.

As Twilight Velvet called out, "Thanks honey, how was-" before noticing Spike was gone, "-school? He's got another video game hasn't he?"

Spike's sister nodded, "Probably, that's the only reason he ever skips dinner is to play a new game. I think I heard him on the phone with the game store to preorder something called the NRG Virtual Reality system."

Night Light sighed, "I don't understand why kids today need to spend their lives in front of a TV or computer. When I was your age-"

Twilight sighed as her father rambled on, just trying to focus on reading the book she chose for her book report at school, Princes and Pirates.

As Spike started his game, he put the VR helmet on and was introduced to the game by a computerized voice that said, "Thank you for purchasing the NRG Virtual Reality System. You have chosen Star Wars the Old Republic as your game. Entering character creation... Please choose your class, species, and gender."

Spike spoke, "Class: Bounty Hunter. Species: Chiss. Gender: Male"

As Spike made his character, he felt a strange surge go down his spine, and the computerized voice said, "If you have felt a strange feeling going down your spine, it means you have been successfully linked with the game. This link cannot be removed until the game is beaten. Please enjoy your game."

Spike's eyes widened, and as he felt himself fading into unconsciousness, he quickly wrote a note explaining his predicament. As he finished the note, he fell to the ground, out cold.

At the dinner table, Twilight Velvet kept yelling, "Spike! Pause that game and come down for dinner!"

To stop her mother's yelling, Twilight said, "I'll go get him, he probably has the volume on his headset so loud he can't hear you." As she walked up to Spike's room, she screamed when she saw him lying on the floor, running over to him and shaking him, "Spike! Spike! Spike, wake up!" she saw his note, and here eye twitched, before screaming so loud that downstairs, her father's glasses cracked.

Night Light and Twilight Velvet ran up to their son's room and when they were shown Spike's note, Twilight Velvet burst into tears while Night Light looked at the box of the NRG VR System and said, "Seems like they scammed Spike and anyone else who bought this system. They put disclaimers about this, but it's so tiny you can barely read it." holding a magnifying glass up to the text and reading it, "The NRG Virtual Reality System's VR headset cannot be removed until after the main story of the selected game has been completed."

Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened, "Are you saying Spike's stuck in there until he beats the game!?"

Night Light nodded, "That's exactly what I'm saying, and because of this disclaimer, we can't sue the company on reckless endangerment charges."

Twilight Velvet wiped her tears, and asked, "Is there a way we can see how Spike is doing?"

Night Light took a look at the owner's manual and said, "Looks like there's a hookup that'll let us." before hooking the wire from the VR headset to the TV and pressing a button on the remote, allowing them to see what Spike was seeing.

Spike was in the opening Bounty Hunter cutscene where he meets Mako, Braden, and Jory. Brayden introduced Spike, "Team, this is the man we're pinning all our hopes on. Best shot I've ever seen and nerves of steel. He's Great Hunt material. What do you say, hunter, ready to meet your team?"

Spike smiled underneath his mouth guard, "My team, I like the sound of that."

Braden chuckled, "Get used to it, to win the Great Hunt you'll need structure, intel, that's what we're here for, you do more of the actual hunting than us. Let's do introductions officially. This is Mako, a little genius I picked up on Nar Shaddaa, she provides intel and handles all the technical equipment."

The girl with cybernetic implants smiled, "Hope you're as good as the old man says."

Brayden continued, "The big bruiser is Jory, he provides muscle and security for our base of operations."

The Nitko spoke in his native language, but Spike seemed to understand every word. "I am at your disposal. Feel free to make us all incredibly wealthy and famous."

Spike smiled, "Cute girls and big guns, I'm sold."

Braden nodded, "Good, now let's get down to business. We're here cause the Great Hunt has been called. Lil' Mako here is the most rabid hunter fan this side of Geonosis, and even she doesn't know what the Great Hunt entails."

"I do know the names of every Great Hunt winner though, Bloodworthy, Jewl'a Nightbringer, the Defenestrator."

"Every hunter who's won a Great Hunt has gone on to massive riches and glory, that's why we're here." Braden explained

Spike chuckled, "You can keep the glory, I just want to be rich."

Jory raised his glass, "To a man who knows that credits and credits alone are how the galaxy works."

Mako started explaining more about the Great Hunt, "The Great Hunt is made up of two groups, the Mandalorian elite, and freelancers sponsored by influential crime lords."

"Considering I'm no Mandalorian, I'm guessing we have a plan for getting me a sponsor?" Spike asked

Braden nodded, "You bet your blaster on it. Nem'ro the Hutt runs this stinky little town. But first, we need to get you situated as a big-time hunter, as far as the locals know. Mako will spread rumors about your off-world exploits, but you need to take down someone big and local to get attention. Mako-"

"Already on it, Braden got one of the worst of the worst. Vexx, Corellian, he's wanted for robbing 15 Imperial military pay stations."

Jory rolled his eyes, "Out of all the places to get credits, what sane person would rob an Imperial pay station?"

Spike's nodded in response to Jory, "Even I'm not that desperate for credits."

Mako continued, "Vexx has a safe house in the heart of the madness. That'll be fun."

Braden explained, "A rival Hutt is making a move on Nem'ro's territory, it's dangerous poking around in there, but it's our only shot. Raid Vexx's safe house and see if there's anything we can use to track him down."

Spike nodded, "If you'll excuse me, I have a safe house to shoot up." before leaving into the Poison Pit lobby.

When the cutscene was over, he went into the main room of the Poison Pit Cantina and saw a group of players talking. He heard a voice he recognized, "Spike! Is that you?" before a Rattataki Imperial Agent walked over to him and said, "It's me, Starlight. I must say, this is the last thing I expected, getting sucked into the game. I looked for Thorax and Gabby, they must be on Korriban, so it's me and you against Hutta. Do you think we'll be able to get out of here in one piece?"

Spike nodded, "As long as we don't do anything stupid, we should be able to get out of here. I can't imagine what kind of mob this will cause in the real world. My parents are probably worried sick now that I'm stuck here."

Starlight wiped a tear from her eye saying, "Yeah, I already miss my family, I mean, I've been without them before, but not like this. I hope they're all right."

And so Spike has found himself forced into the world of Star Wars the Old Republic. Armed with his wit and a blaster, he starts his quest to escape the game, by beating it. Will he be able to make it?