War on Falling Stars

Time is a funny thing.

I used to think like many of the shorter lived races. I used to think like a human girl, fresh out of college. That the world was my oyster, and that I had all the time in the world to enjoy it. I've learned quickly from that mistake. Time waits for no one, even someone who doesn't age. It is a ruthless old dictator, and will beat you over the head and thrust you into situations that can end YOUR time. Permanently. Forever.

The Clock doesn't play favorites, no matter how much you may think so. Another thing I learned, though this one took longer for me to understand, I'll admit. Even people of considerable age like me, ones you would think Time favors, can end up dead and gone, or turned to dust on some rock or even fuel in a damn sun. All in the blink of an eye. Of course, some, end up as just ghosts of their former selves, or destroyed by their inner circles.

Time is a funny thing, like that bastard always says.

Like I now always say.

...End of entry.

I turned off and placed the holo-recorder down on the table, then walked out of my quarters through my ship towards the bridge. Even with my ship being on the larger side, it didn't take long. Reaching it, I glanced briefly out at the large expanse of space just outside the window.

I could see the planet of Rishi outside, the mostly blue oceanic pearl of space spinning consistently as my ship approached. I studied it for a short while, memories of past bounties and hunts here filling my mind. Even a few memories of how I first found this place came to mind, making me smile thinly. I shook my head not long after.

"I really am getting old if something like this leaves me so open to nostalgia," I admonished myself. I stretched a bit, then walked out of the bridge and towards my armory to put my armor on.

The last thing I wanted to do was to walk into a pirate infested planet without my gear, after all.

A strange but no less familiar ship soon touched down in a shoddy landing zone made of simple wood reinforced only lightly with durasteel beams, the only things keeping the landing platform from falling into the deep waters every time a ship landed. The ship itself was predominantly steel blue, and obviously heavily modified. It looked similar to a needle, with a ring at it's back that seemed to act as a stabilizer, and thrusters coming out of the back of the 'needle'. All the internal lights, literally all of them, shone a deep cyan.

As the ship touched down, a small man watched in awe. He eyed the ship for many reasons. For one, it looked like something a bounty hunter would own, or at least some kind of mercenary. For two, it looked expensive as could be.

It was heavily modified, different from almost all other starships known to him, both in design and modifications. The paintjob was sublime, mostly if not entirely unblemished, a textbook beauty of a ship. There were more guns than what he'd expect from it, as it looked mostly like a cargo ship of sorts. Six guns were on it in total, two on the top and bottoms, and two each on either side, with those on the sides looking just...different. Alien. Foreign. They did NOT look like any standard design he had seen. That, and over all the entire ship gave him a severe feeling of utter wrongness. Not bad, per se, but just...wrong. Different, even. Otherworldly. Ultimately, however, he found it far less interesting when he saw who stepped out.

After the ramp lowered, his eyes widened at the figure stomping down it. It was a hulking figure of heavy, silver-colored armor, with some cyan paint along the top of the chestplate, and the faulds - yes, faulds - were similarly colored, with what seemed to be a simulacrum of a gambeson underneath the faulds with a slightly lighter cyan color to them.

The helmet looked almost entirely primitive, like a medieval knight's helm, yet, it held a similar style of visor that Mandalore the Preserver once bore; straight, and angular, like a 'T'. A jetpack rested on the back, a sniper rifle attached to it via magnetic clamp, what looked like a strange vibrosword hanging not on it's back but from a sheath at their waist, and on it's hip was what seemed to be a heavily modified Blaster pistol. As a whole, the entire armored figure screamed of the words 'Ancient Mandalorian'.

The pirate stared at this newcomer, before said newcomer pulled their Blaster out and to his surprise, fired not a blaster bolt, but something far louder that hurt his ears, leaving a ringing in them. After the man was clutching his ears in pain and the bay door of the strange Mandalorian's ship closed shut, the Mandalorian walked towards him without any other words. As they made it to the diminutive green skinned man with geometric black tattoos on his face - a Mirialan - they produced a hefty purse of credits right at his feet.

The figure didn't even look at him as he stared at the purse at his feet.

"Payment for your silence. Expect another, heftier payment if it remains silent when I get back." The voice was modulated heavily, so much so it was hard to make out any kind of gender or even race, but at the very least it was in the galactic language of Common. As the Mirialan man watched the Mandalorian walk off, he could only stare.

But of course, he wasn't going to let good money pass him by. So, he snatched the purse up and took up position near an alleyway by the ship, keeping a keen eye out for any...'unwarranted' onlookers from his makeshift client. This was Rishi after all, and of course...he couldn't let good money pass him by, right?

My mouth was set in a thin line as I looked over the shopping list on my HUD. Ammunition for the plasma portion of my blaster was going to be the easiest to get, obviously, as ammunition for blasters was as common as could be, but the secondary portion would be harder. Solid rounds were hard to come by in this galaxy, even on a planet like Rishi.

Same went for the crystals I needed for my ship's guns.

One of them was cracked and definitely would be a liability if I didn't replace it, but finding a crystal that large wasn't going to be any easier than finding solid rounds for my blaster. Nar Shadaa might've been an easier place to find such things, but to be honest Rishi was far more safe, in spite it being more of a pirate hideout than the Smuggler's Moon.

Nar Shadaa was too hot of a location to visit any more than rarely nowadays regardless. However, there was one shop I knew well, and one that usually stocked crystals of the size I needed, so thankfully I wouldn't have to go far for that item.

Even as I looked over my list, I kept a keen eye on my surroundings, and kept my senses alert. Rishi may have been safer, but it was still a lawless haven for criminals. Taking chances was a recipe for disaster here, more often than not. Just...a little less so than Nar Shadaa.

Ramshackle houses and buildings of old wood and sheet metal were all around me, the whole town situated on a remote pier, their grime and oil gleaming in the light of the Rishi sun. All in all, it looked like a stereotypical seaside slum. Rishi had such slums in spades, and was thus a hotbed of pirates, criminals, and more. I turned my attention back to my list.

Let's see... I also need at least five hundred pounds of raw materials...hmm, what to choose this time...maybe just some wood? I'd stay mostly low profile that way. After all, not many buy wood in bulk. Hm. Wood, then.

And it seems I need to refill my water tank for the shower and sink. Hm. Well, that should be relatively easy. Same goes for the materials needed to restock the food processor, though I'll have to deal with average fare, likely, since this is Rishi. Not many pirates with a refined palette, after all.

Many eyes were on me, and I could feel each wayward thought as I passed all the myriad peoples around me. Many of them were obviously wary; a Mandalorian, in other words, an obvious bounty hunter, walking the streets of a town full of criminals and outlaws, many likely with prices on their heads? There was no way I wasn't drawing attention.

I needed to get my shopping done quick.

Descending a shoddy, rickety wooden ramp and turning right into a market, I made my way towards a certain shop and entered it's confines quickly.

The innards of the shop were lined with shelves upon shelves of various gemstones and crystals, so many and in such variety that the untrained eye would almost think that more than half of them were decorative. To a degree, they'd be right, as many of the natives of this planet came to this shop for that very reason. However, for the off-worlders, like myself, we came here to buy focus crystals and the like.

The rest of the shop's interior lived up to it's owner's tastes; in other words, the ceiling was littered with bowls of still burning incense and tribal symbols or small animal skulls hanging from ribbons or cords. The few windows at the front of the shop almost always brought in light that bounced off the many colorful gems and crystals, creating a kaleidoscope of colors in the shop's front.

I only briefly admired it all before walking through to the counter, which was covered in a patterned, orange fur rug. A single bell sat on it, along with a primitive register hewn from bone but packed with the more advanced tech we off-worlders showed the natives ages ago. I rang the bell once, and soon after a voice rang out.

"Be right there!" the familiar voice of the shopkeeper called from the back storeroom. I waited patiently, and soon after the feathered form of a Rishii emerged from said back storeroom, cleaning their three-fingered, feathered hand of oil with a much too dirty rag. The greying Rishii's eyes brightened up as she saw me. "Ah! So good to see you again, Shaper!" She approached the counter, smiling at me as best she could with her weathered and scarred beak. "How long's it been? A year? Two?"

"I see your memory is as failing as ever, Brighteye," I said flatly. "It's only been eight months."

Brighteye snorted. "Well, keep up that attitude and I'll revoke that lifetime discount I gave you." I rolled my eyes as she stared me down before she laughed. "Alright, enough of that. What do you need this time?"

"Two focusing crystals, preferably in the Gunship weight class," I replied, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Brighteye hummed, looking behind herself at the storeroom she'd just left. "Well, I think I got a few of those left in stock somewhere back there..." She looked back to me. "...Still, that's quite the request. It's not easy getting crystals of that size, you know."

"And I know that you have some. Cut the prattle."

Brighteye clicked her tongue. "Killjoy. Any preference on color?" I shook my head. "Alright then. I'll have those brought out to you in a moment." She licked her beak. "First, though-"

I dug into my pocket and dropped a hefty sack of credits on the counter. "Payment, right?"

Brighteye snatched the sack up quickly, giggling to herself. "You know me so well, dear!"

I rolled my eyes. "You're predictable to a fault, Brighteye."

"And you're still as much of a stiff as I recall. Honestly, when you killed that captain-" Brighteye began, frowning at me.

"Just get me my crystals, Brighteye," I interrupted with an annoyed sigh.

She huffed. "Fine, fine." Turning and pocketing the sack into one of the many pockets on her worn apron, she walked into the storeroom once again.

I waited for a few moments as the sounds of the elderly avian woman rummaging in the back room were heard, before an entirely new sound was heard, followed by a profound feeling of a disturbance in the Force.

"Wha-?! Get back here you little- Gah!" Brighteye's voice was accompanied by the sound of many gemstones clattering to a hardwood floor, rapid footsteps, and the screeching of metal being pulverized.

Jumping over the counter, I rushed into the storeroom to see Brighteye nursing a dislocated arm-wing, surrounded by collapsed shelves and fallen gems, and a clearly punched through garage door, where a small form was running off with one giant crystal tucked under one unnaturally giant furry arm.

"Looks like I can't ever escape work..." I muttered, before rushing after the retreating form, hopping through the hole in the garage door and out into the alleys.

The cloaked form looked back, seemingly having sensed I was behind them, before picking up speed and jumping far higher than they should have been able to, landing on the roof of a building before running off again.

"A Force user?" I wondered aloud, before calling upon the Force myself to propel me upwards and onto the building, just as the thief had.

As they hopped from rooftop to rooftop, I decided to activate my jetpack and fly overhead, giving myself the advantage in our little chase. They looked up at the sound of my jetpack's roar, and promptly hopped down into the alleys yet again. Clicking my tongue, I barreled down after them. Speeding through the alleys, the thief tried to toss whatever they could find back at me, and took sharp and random turns in an effort to lose me.

Whoever this thief was, they knew what they were doing. That, or they were desperate. I barely kept up, and a few times had to hack a trash can in half with my blade so that it wouldn't knock me out of the sky. Needless to say, I would need to wash my armor after this. Still, how could they move so fast while carrying a crystal weighing nearly a ton?

One errant trash can finally scored a hit on me as I was distracted by that thought, forcing me to the ground and allowing them to slip out of sight. Growling, I got back up.

"Getting old indeed," I groused to myself before I focused my mind for a brief moment, then let out a breath and took off after the thief yet again. This time, however, my speed was enhanced, the Force pouring power into my legs as I ran after the thief.

Breaking out into the streets, I briefly saw them dart into the alley across said street, and rushed after them, pushing the pedestrians out of my way as I did. I swiftly caught up to them, and, stretching out my arm, I fired off a grappling hook.

To my surprise, it latched onto not their body, but their tail. As they yelped and fell, they dropped the crystal and even returned their arm back to normal.

"Stealing from me was a mistake," I intoned as I walked up to them, pulling on the grapple hook and bringing them closer. I glanced to their tail. It looked far too familiar.

The thief turned around, finally revealing to me their visage...and making me stop in my tracks. It was a young girl, an older teen...but she was of a race I never thought I'd find in this galaxy, or even this universe. A race I'd given up looking for. She looked almost exactly like an anthro Tanuki, with blonde hair in a wispy bob cut, complete with the ears of a Tanuki, a button-like black nose, brown fur and a poofy tail. Her left eye was a striking silver, and the other was an icy blue.

She looked up at me in fear. "P...Please don't hurt me!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "I... I just needed the money! I-I-I haven't had food in weeks, a-a-a-a-and no one will hire me and...!"

She continued to babble on tearfully, but all I could think of was how this was possible. It shouldn't have been possible. I could sense the strength, the power, within her. She was gifted in the Force. But even if that wasn't unusual, what was was the fact that she had pulled off moves that only should have existed in Brand New Animal. She even looked like it's postergirl, Michiru, if you didn't count her eyes and hair color. For all intents and purposes, she was an anomaly.

...However...she could also be a key. A key to helping me figure out a question I'd had since I arrived in this galaxy.

"-Please don't hurt meee!" she wailed, crying openly.

Frowning, I knelt down to her. "What is your name, child?"

She blinked. "Hieh?"

"Your name. What is it?" I repeated.

"E-Emica. Emica Hiroto," she said shakily, looking up to me with mild confusion. 'A Japanese name... Fitting, I suppose.'

"And how old are you?" I pressed.

"T-T-T-Twenty six," she replied. Hm. Intriguing. She looked like a teen. Looking away, she curled in on herself as more tears fell. "I...If y-y-you're g-g-gonna rape me, just...just get it over with already!"

I frowned. I almost forgot that this armor was bulky enough that it tended to make one assume I was a man. The voice modulator didn't help, either. I shook my head. Enough ruminations. "I have no interest in your body, child." I offered her my hand. "What I want, is to become your master."

"...Hieh?"

Author's Note

Credit for the second bit of art goes to Cal Santiago. Find him here! No, I do not own it, no, he did not draw it for me. I am simply giving him credit where it is due. And so that I don't have angry people comin' after me.

I also do not own the song for the intro of the story, nor do I plan on doing a written out intro like I have done with my other stories. Why? It doesn't fit the theme of this story.

Hope you all enjoyed it, though!