STAR WARS / FiM: Realms of the Heavens

by Tathem_Relag

Chapter Eight: One Last Chance

Location: Everfree Imperial Encampment
Local Date: 12/11/3
Galactic Standard Calendar Date: 28:3:33
Local Time: 12:27
Coruscant Standard Time: 00:26

Major General Davar Aerin was in the middle of overseeing preparations for the establishment of the permanent garrison when the alicorn sisters arrived. It hadn’t taken the Imperials long to realize that the Everfree Forest was the only place they could establish a base and enforce an exclusion zone. Their unwittingly traitorous informant had given them significant insight into this planet. Some of it was obvious falsehoods that were no doubt the result of being fed nothing but propaganda since birth – suns decidedly do not orbit planets, for example – but most had proven factual, even as outlandish as it seemed.

Equestria’s environment and weather were highly controlled for the inhabitants’ benefit through an innate Force ability of the flying subspecies that somehow allowed them to interact with clouds as if the loose collections of water vapor and particulates were individual solid objects. However, this forest seemed to have some sort of superstition surrounding it, and it had been allowed to go unregulated. Since few of the natives dared enter the place, establishing the base there would allow them to operate without alien supervision.

Now, however, it was starting to seem unlikely that they would even get the chance to begin laying down the foundation. Noticing Celestia’s scorched fur and the shards of glass tangled in Luna’s mane and tail, he had been tempted to joke that they looked like they’d lost a fight with a vidscreen. He had been dissuaded from that course of actions by the facts that they wouldn’t have known what a vidscreen was, and that they already looked murderous.

“Would you like to explain, General,” Celestia asked, cold fury in her voice, “the assassination attempt we just survived?”

“Assassination attempt?” he echoed back, genuinely confused. “What in Chaos are you talking about?”

“Do you expect us to believe that this ‘Inquisitor Malen’ isn’t associated with you?” Luna snapped. “He was one of you humans!”

Aerin groaned. “That wasn’t supposed to be – you know what? I hate diplomacy.” He looked over his shoulder, back toward the camp. “Zem! Zem, get over here!” A blue-eyed, blond-haired human in a brown variant of the Imperial uniform walked over. “Introduce yourself, and let these two know what the Inquisitor was supposed to be doing. I don’t want to deal with this.” The general stormed off.

The new human watched him for a moment with an annoyed look on his face, then turned back to the alicorns. “Well, then. I’m Captain Zem Orramas, Imperial Diplomatic Service. I’m… not sure what this is all about, but High Inquisitor Malen Valerious was assigned to ensure that an Imperial edict mandating the establishment of a database of all Force-sensitives in the Galaxy was properly carried out on this planet. Judging by the looks on your faces… I’m guessing something went wrong?”

“Went wrong?” Celestia exclaimed in a rage. “The very first thing he did was to try to strangle my sister using magic!”

Orramas frowned. “Surely he isn’t that stupid. You can live without oxygen, can't you? I seem to recall something about a thousand-year banishment to this planet’s moon?” A sudden look of distress crossed his face. “Oh, no. You didn’t kill him, did you? The Emperor really doesn’t appreciate his most elite operatives dying.”

Celestia responded with a negatory shake of her head. “He teleported away before we could subdue him.” Her expression got even darker. “And how do you know of Nightmare Moon?”

He crossed his arms. “Oh, we have our sources. Some of your subjects have lips that’re a bit looser than maybe they should be. You should probably look into that – or don’t. It sure makes our lives a hell of a lot easier. Anyways, I don’t think the Inquisitor was trying to kill your sister; I think he was trying to intimidate you. They’re used to being feared everywhere they go. If you showed him anything other than absolute, terrified deference, I’ll bet he was furious. No-one defies an Inquisitor, not if they want to keep their heads.”

The two sisters looked horrified. “Keep their heads?” Celestia whispered. “They kill pon– people – just for being a little disrespectful?”

He laughed humorlessly. “Or if they’re just in a bad mood and want a little stress relief. It’s not like anyone can stop them, after all.”

“But they’re under your command!” Luna exclaimed. “Order them not to, and throw them in the dungeon if they disobey!”

He gave her a sad smile. “No, they’re not under military control at all. The only ones they’re beholden to are the Grand Inquisitor, Lord Vader, and the Emperor himself. The rest of us just have to do what they want and hope we don’t end up in body bags.”

“That’s an awful position to be in,” Celestia admitted, “but if anything, it just proves how evil your Empire is, if such people can gain so much power and be held utterly unaccountable. I think it’s time for all of you to leave, now, and never come back.”

“No! Please!” Orramas begged. “You’ve seen the worst of the Empire – the brutality of the military, the corruption in places of power – but surely your nation isn’t perfect either! And even if it is, there are other nations in this world that aren’t, and you’re willing to work with them! You’ve gotten a bad first impression, but the Empire isn’t all like that. We’ve got scientists, doctors, engineers, inventors, merchants! Quadrillions of normal citizens just trying to make a living. We’re a complex society like any other. Please, just give us one more chance.”

Celestia looked away, torn between the crimes she had already seen the Empire commit and her desire to believe that there’s good in everypony. Eventually, her kindness won out over her suspicion. “All right. One more chance. One. But first – what was that about a list of… ‘Force-sensitives’?”

“Ah, yes. Twelve years ago, a group of Force-users called the Jedi who were sworn to protect the Galactic Republic – the Empire’s predecessor state – used the chaos near the end of a war to try to assassinate the Republic’s leader and take power for themselves. That betrayal led to the Republic being reorganized into the Empire in order to better protect against rebellion, the Jedi Order being declared illegal, and the Jedi being hunted down and either killed or forced to swear allegiance to the Emperor. As a part of the efforts to prevent anything like that from happening again, all Force-sensitives – those with the potential to use the Force – are to be identified, placed on a watch list, and, if necessary, either recruited or put down before they can pose a threat. It’s harsh, I know, but the people are sick of war, and they’re willing to accept any measures necessary to keep them safe.”

“Put down.” Celestia repeated, disgusted. “War. How can you talk about killing so casually?”

“It’s how the universe works, Your Highness. I’m sorry, but it’s true. That war I mentioned lasted for three years and killed trillions. Due to the sheer size of the galaxy, over twenty million beings die every second. Most people have just learned to accept it.”

“I won’t let you ‘put down’ any of my little ponies.”

“Of course not, Your Majesty,” Orramas replied, making a placating gesture. “I’m sure none of your subjects would take any action that you would oppose, so there won’t be any need for such… drastic actions. Still, with your permission, we’d still like to have that list… just in case.”

“No. I’m letting you stay. Don’t push your luck.”

“Ah. Of course, Your Highness. I’m sure we’ll manage without it. It’s been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope we can talk again later under less… unpleasant… circumstances.”

“I said, don’t push it, Captain. I expect that you humans will be on excellent behavior from now on. For your sake, I hope we never have to speak again.” Still scowling, the two sisters flew off.

“Well done, Captain.” Inquisitor Valerious emerged from his Cloak next to the officer. “They didn’t even demand my execution. I trust those rather… unflattering remarks about the Inquisitorious were only made to placate them?”

A bead of sweat appeared on Orramas’s forehead. “Of course, Inquisitor. I would never even dream of questioning my superiors.”

Malen gave his cold grin. “Of course you wouldn’t. You were far too well selected and trained for that. Now, let’s see what we can do to cause some revolution.”

Comments

[Battle154]

Malen gave his cold grin. “Of course you wouldn’t. You were far too well selected and trained for that. Now, let’s see what we can do to cause some revolution.”

Hmm, A revolution he said. Indeed, lets see how it goes.

[Mr Dorito]

The Imperial Officers should just kill this Inquisitor already. Even they don't like them.

[A Somewhat Decent Writer]

Holy shit, the Empire are actually smart in this fic, they're trying to start a revolution so they can dethrone the Princesses and establish their own government.

That's actually something I haven't seen the Empire do in most fics, at most, their just the plain old "I'm the bad guy and what I do is bad!" trope.

I look forward to the rest of this story, it's actually good despite the grammatical errors.

[Kaiser change name]

I think Tia and lulu are lucky their not dealing with a real sith. I.E Vader

[yellowest butter]

Malen gave his cold grin. “Of course you wouldn’t. You were far too well selected and trained for that. Now, let’s see what we can do to cause some revolution.”

A revolution you say? Now we're cookin!