Ven Allusis let out a long calm breath as he let himself drift out of meditation.

As his eyes opened, he found the dull gray metal walls of his quarters. He sat on a simple meditation mat in the center of the room, listening to the faint hum of the Venator. The engines were no longer in use, but various other systems were still running.

Over the many months he had been onboard, he had gotten used to the hum. It was almost calming. Allusis took a deep breath, then slowly got to his feet. There was still much to do, and the day was only just starting.

It had been two days since they landed on this planet, and since his first meeting with Princess Celestia. They had both talked, but decided it was better to do so once they were both better prepared. So Allusis had suggested meeting in two days, which would allow him and the clones to secure the ship.

Celestia readily agreed, as it would give her time to inform her subjects, and made sure no one got near them. She even assigned some of her guards to patrol five miles around the ship, making sure no one tried to get close.

This was now considered a military area, and Captain Nemo and his men had made sure to secure the perimeter, and set up their security. Although neither he or Allusis thought any attacks were likely, the security of the ship and the men were of utmost importance.

The ship was now secure, and the clones had settled into their new duties. More importantly, the wounded were being taken care of now, while the dead had been gathered. Allusis frowned, knowing despite his losses being so few, it never made the loss of good men easier.

For now, his focus had to be on establishing working relations with the Equestrians, and finding a way to contact the Republic. So far there had been no such luck. They had tried to catch any signal out there, and while it sometimes seemed they could catch a glimpse of some kind of signal, it always slipped away from them.

Allusis could only assume they were in the unknown regions of the galaxy, but he had no way of knowing exactly where. He could try to send out one of his ships, but without knowing where to send it, he could risk losing the pilots in a fruitless effort.

No, for now it was better to take his time, and think about a plan. In time, he was confident they would find a solution. Until then he might as well make the best of things.

His meeting with Princess Celestia today was good. Her diplomat had come daily to answer questions, and give reading material to a protocol droid Allusis had tasked with gathering information about the world. The talks with Fancypants had been interesting, and the reading material the droid had translated from their books had helped.

Obviously Allusis had responded in kind, having his droid make a report that Fancy could take back to Celestia. It would help bridge the gap, and fill in the basics of their two worlds.

There was a soothing ding coming from the door com, indicating someone wanted to come in. "Enter," Alussis said as he picked up his brown robe.

The door slid open, and in stepped his clone captain. "Morning, sir."

"Nemo," Allusis greeted with a nod. "Anything to report?"

"We are ready to leave for Canterlot, General."

Alussis nodded. "Very good. I will meet up with you shortly," Alussis informed his captain, and then paused. "Any updates on Talek's condition?"

Nemo frowned, and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. He is stable, but he is still in a coma."

"I suspected as much. How are the remaining men of the 481st legion settling in?"

"Pretty well given the circumstances..." Nemo tried to hide it, but Allusis noticed his frown deepening ever so slightly, his eyes turning away.

"You may speak freely, Nemo. You know that."

Nemo looked up at his Jedi General. Allusis had been an excellent General. Nemo knew how much he cared for them all, despite being clones. He treated them as brothers, trusted them, and shared in every hardship. He deserved trust in return, he had proved that a long time ago.

"There has been," Nemo hesitated for a moment as he searched for the right words to use. "Rumors, or grumblings from the men of the 481st..." Allusis raised an eyebrow, but he didn't speak, so Nemo continued. "Apparently Talek Thren pushed them pretty hard, and pushed for some aggressive attacks."

Allusis didn't like the sound of that. He folded his arms inside the large sleeves of his robe. "Did he mistreat the men?"

Nemo shook his head. "No, I wouldn't go that far. However from what they are saying, he pushed the attacks, and ignored solid advice. It was how they ended up surrounded. If we hadn't come to their aid when we did, they would have been destroyed."

Allusis nodded, mostly to himself. "This was after master Lupai Ores's death?"

"Mostly, sir. Apparently even before his master's death, he seemed eager to push for attacks." Nemo's frown deepened, but this time he hesitated only for a moment, then looked Allusis directly in the eyes. "They had disagreements, even an argument. Apparently master Lupai wanted to evacuate much sooner, but when she died, Talek insisted on staying."

"I see," Allusis said, then sighed. "He wanted revenge..."

"That seems to be the case, sir." Nemo said, his voice equally worried. "The 481st boys mourns master Lupai's death, they say she cared for them deeply..."

Allusis smiled just a little. "That sounds like Lupai," he said with a small hint of sadness. He was thankful they had managed to recover Lupai's body, but with them stranded he knew he couldn't bring her back to the Jedi temple for a proper funeral.

If needed, they could do it here. It would give the 481st a chance to show their final respects to their Jedi General, but he knew he couldn't do it before Talek was awake. Allusis would need to have a talk with him when he woke up, but that was for later.

"Thank you for telling me, Nemo." Allusis said, inclining his head. "We will address this later, for now we can only try and make the 481st comfortable, and make them feel welcome. They are our brothers in arms, so I trust we can take care of them."

Nemo gave a firm nod. "Yes, General."

"For now, we need to get going. I'll meet you in the hangar shortly, be sure we are ready to take off when I arrive with my Padawan."

"Yes, sir." With that, Nemo turned on his heels, and walked out.

Allusis took a moment to himself. The path ahead was unclear to him, the Force felt strange to him, but not unfamiliar. He had to trust in the Force, as he sensed the days ahead would be critical.

Celestia stood in the courtyard, waiting along with her diplomat, and council members. At any moment now, their stranded guests would arrive in one of their flying ships.

It wasn't without a certain amount of trepidation that she waited. After all, the universe just became infinitely bigger than she could have ever imagined. The ship, the aliens, all of that was world turning enough, but from what Fancy had reported, it was much bigger than anything she could ever have imagined.

A galactic war? A clone army, machines built for warfare. Planets with billions of lifeforms, so many cultures, so many potential enemies, so many potential allies.

If everything they had been told were true, she was glad she had one of these Jedi Knights here. Although, she had no way of knowing if what they had been told were true or not. She would just need to have faith in this Ven Allusis.

On the day of their meeting, she had found out master Allusis's student had saved two of her ponies in Ponyville. That by itself spoke well of them, but that didn't mean she could fully trust them. Not yet at least.

There was still much she didn't know, but she would learn...

"Your highness," Captain Iron Hoof said, nodding to the sky.

She looked up, and saw two of those flying ships. The small crowd around her let out small gasps. They had heard about the aliens, seen their massive ship from afar, but seeing them up close for the first time, that was something else.

Far away, at the main gate, she noticed flashes of lights. The press were there, taking as many pictures as they possibly could. Captain Iron Hoof had doubled the guards on the walls, and at the gate, not wanting to take any chances. This was a diplomatic meeting between two worlds, and she would not have it disturbed by some daring journalist.

The flying ships had their sides open, revealing not just master Allusis, but a younger looking Jedi who Celestia assumed was his student. The rest among his group were more of those white armored soldiers. The second ship had a few small crates, and more soldiers.

When the ships landed, the Jedi stepped off, making their way towards Celestia, along with three clones following behind them. The rest stayed with the ship. Celestia could feel the unease among her council members, knowing they were still undecided what to think of these newcomers.

Allusis and his companions stopped at the foot of the stairs, and he and his student bowed respectfully. "Your majesty, an honor to see you again."

Celestia inclined her head in recognition. "The honor is mine, master Allusis. Welcome to Canterlot. I assume this is your student?"

"Yes," Allusis answered. "This is my Padawan, Liam Valar."

On cue, Liam bowed again. "It's an honor, your majesty."

Liam was young, not much older than Twilight, Celestia noted. She favored him with a smile. "I've been told that you saved two fillies near Ponyville. I must thank you for your gallantry."

Liam shook his head. "I only did what had to be done, majesty. I could not leave them to be harmed, or worse. It is not the Jedi way."

"I'm gratified to hear that," said Celestia. "Well then, shall we?"

She stepped aside, and gestured to the open doors to the palace. Her ministers all stepped aside, allowing Celestia to walk in front with the two Jedi, and one clone. The two others stayed back with the rest.

Celestia walked side by side with master Allusis, while his student walked a step behind his master. She could tell the two Jedi studied her palace, although she wasn't sure what they thought of it.

As if sensing the question, master Allusis sent her a small smile. "Your palace is very impressive, your highness."

She chuckled. "I would guess this isn't the first one you have been to?"

"No, it isn't," Allusis admitted. "It isn't even the biggest. But each palace says something about their rulers."

"Oh?" Celestia tilted her head slightly. "And what do you think Canterlot palace says about me?"

"I don't know enough about pony culture to give you an exact answer, your highness. However, I would say your city, and palace is in the center of everything. A beacon of hope to your subjects."

She smiled, "that is a generous reading." Celestia said, "and perhaps it is close to the truth."

They came to pass one of the larger doors, entering a large room that had been set up for their talks. The seats had been set up in a square, like if they were sitting at a long table. Celestia had a central seat at one end, while the Jedi and their clone sat at the other.

To their right and left were a row of seats reserved for her ministers. There was no table between them, but instead an open space where they could stand, if they so wished. Each seat was very comfortable, with arms rests so one could sit and relax as the talks went on.

As they sat down, Nemo took his helmet off and placed it on a small side table beside his seat. Everyone in the room had a small side table beside their seats, some of them already having papers on them. Celestia knew her ministers wanted to go through all sorts of legal matters, but she hoped she could avoid most of it for now.

"Everybody comfortable?" Celestia asks, trying to sound casual and hopefully ease the tension in her ministers. From what she could see it didn't help. Thankfully the Jedi looked more relaxed, which was more important right now. "So once again, I'd like to bid you welcome to our capital, master Jedi."

Allusis inclined his head. "And we once again thank you for all you have done, your highness."

Celestia sent him a smile. "As I'm sure you can imagine, we have a lot of questions. Our whole understanding of the universe has suddenly changed rather drastically."

"I can imagine so," Allusis said, with a small hint of seriousness.

"Then let us cut to the chase."

One of the ministers spoke up. It was Celestia's minister of foreign relations who spoke up. A plump little unicorn stallion by the name of Scribble. He looked rather nervous even levitating a napkin to his forehead.

"I think the most pressing issue right now is to learn more about this war between your Republic, and this Confederacy." Scribbler said, looking increasingly nervous. "What exactly do the Republic expect from us?"

Allusis leaned forward a bit, looking at Scribbler with a calm expression. "Nothing, minister."

Scribbler made a snort, which was unlike him, Celestia knew. "Do you expect us to believe your Republic does not want something from us?"

Allusis shrugged. "Until we came here, minister, we had no idea of your existence. If the Republic were to contact you while helping us, then it would only be to establish diplomatic relations."

"How would th-"

"If I may," Allusis cut in as gently, yet firmly as he could. "As things stand right now, I am unsure what exactly would happen until we learn more about our whereabouts in the galaxy."

The minister of trade leaned forward, interested. "How so, master Jedi."

"Space travel is not as straightforward as traveling on land or sea." Allusis glanced at Nemo. "Captain."

"Yes, sir."

Nemo reached into his utility belt, and produced three small disks. He held them out with one hand, and Celestia watched as Allusis made a slow hand motion. She watched with fascination as the three disks floated into the air, and gently landed in the middle of their seating arrangement.

The disks were spread out in a triangle formation, and after just a moment, they started to project light into a single point between them. Celestia watched as maybe a meter above the floor the beams of light met, and created a large holographic galaxy.

Celestia watched as the galaxy gently spun, giving them all a good look. She could see millions of tiny stars, with the hologram growing slightly brighter at the very center.

Nemo pushed a button on his wrist, and lines started to appear, dividing sections of the galaxy from the center and outward. There was text floating in each divided section, but it wasn't a language Celestia knew.

Allusis stood, and moved closer to the hologram. "This is the known galaxy, and how we have divided everything. The closer you get to the center, the more we know, the more we have explored. The farther we move out from the core, the less we know."

He gestured with his hands at each section. "We have the core worlds here, which has the capital world of the Republic. Then we have the inner rim, the expansion region, mid rim, the outer rim, and wild space."

Everybody in the room listened, unable to really wrap their heads around just how massive the universe was, and how small their own world now seemed.

"As we move out into these regions, the less we know. Beyond wild space, which has barely been explored so far, we have what we call the unknown regions." He paused to make sure they were all following so far.

"We don't know what is out there. We have not mapped out anything, we have not explored, and there are likely millions of systems who like you, have no idea about the Republic, or what is going on in the galaxy."

Celestia started to see where this was going. "And you are unsure which of these regions we are in?"

Allusis looked at her, then nodded. "Yes. The trouble we are having right now is to establish communication with the Republic, and determine our coordinates." He let out a long tired sounding sigh. "We are starting to think we are in the unknown regions."

Minister Scribble narrowed his eyes. "And what does that mean for us with the Republic?"

"In the event we do get in contact with the Republic you will be so far away that official relations will take years, perhaps centuries to fully be explored." Allusis turned away, and moved back to take his seat as the holographic image vanished again.

"Even so, right now the Republic is at war, and unless your system is located in a strategic position, you should not look forward to deep diplomatic ties for some time."

The room went silent for several moments. Celestia couldn't tell if her ministers were happy, relieved, or disappointed. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure what to think right now. There was still so much she did not know.

"And all these systems," Celestia then continued. "They are all in this Republic?"

Allusis shook his head. "No, some systems prefer to be independent."

"Like these, what were they called... Separatists?" Celestia pressed.

For a moment, Allusis hesitated. Celestia didn't think it was to deceive her with an answer. The older knight looked thoughtful, as if considering his answer.

Finally his eyes met hers. "The answer is complicated, your highness. If it was simply a matter of leaving the Republic peacefully, then I don't believe the Republic would be at war. But the Jedi feel there is much more to this war than what we can see..."

Celestia narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she leaned back in her seat. "Please," she said, gesturing for Allusis to continue. "I want to know everything you might be able to tell me."

Author's Note

I hope you guys are enjoying the story. I know there hasn't been any cool battles yet, but I am giving this story more room to grow.

As for the short chapters, it works better for me like this. I can separate it easier, and write the chapters with more ease.