//------------------------------// // We're Not So Different, You and I // Story: Trust Once Lost: Far Far Away // by Greenhorne //------------------------------// "That depends, Little One." Starkiller responded, "On who and what you are." The Clone twitched, causing the alien to flinch. Looking at the small creature triggered memories impressed deep within his mind. They weren't his own memories, but those of Galen Marek. The former Apprentice of Darth Vader had a far worse time training with the Sith Lord than the Rogue Brother ever had to experience. One of the many trials he had been subjected to involved raising a pet, loving and nurturing it. The Jedi avoided emotional attachments; not so with the Sith. Starkiller had an exceedingly strong connection with his Koth-Wolf pup, a distant relative of the Loth-Wolf if he remembered correctly. His master was pleased at this - all the better to test his apprentice's resolve. Galen had called forth his most loyal companion and, at his master's instruction, he locked eyes with the pup as he plunged the sith dagger into its back. Confusion, fear, pain; he could feel the pup's struggle through the force. It whimpered and reached out to him for help even as he twisted the knife in it's back to end it's suffering. In this way Galen proved his dedication to the only one he could consider a Father. In this way his connection to the dark side of the force grew stronger. These were the memories of the original, not his own experiences, yet the memories were a part of the clone's fundamental sense of self. He had not been born, but grown fully formed and freed from the cloning vat with the memories of the original locked within his brain. He could sense the fear bleeding off the small creature in front of him, but it did not try to run. "You are... Not native, yet... You know me, or you know of me..." It wasn't a question as it was a statement. Lightly seizing hold of its head, the Clone started to slip deeper into the young alien's terrified mind, rummaging through it as he searched for any answer it could give him. "Tell me, Little One... How do you know of the Emperor?" Green was at a loss for words. Trapped in the worst way possible, being questioned by a man who could read her mind. Unlike her previous 'interrogation' on her arrival in Equestria, this time she wasn't concerned with convincing anyone she was sane. "Why wouldn't I know who the Emperor is?" Green asked, "He's the one who leads the Empire, right? With all those triangle ships filled with guys in white armour?" Green had no idea how skilled this force user was at reading minds, but she could feel his 'magic' forcing its way into her head. She guessed that if he learned that she knew of his universe as a fiction that he would just think she was crazy... or maybe kill her for knowing too much about the sith plot to take over the galaxy. No no no! She wanted him out of her mind and her magic responded to her desire with an increase in thaumic pressure, which pressed on the tendrils of force energy he was projecting into her body. When he immediately loosened his grasp on her head it was clear that he had noticed her resistance. Damnit! She hadn't meant to do that. "Please don't kill me!" Green yelled as she wrenched her head out of his grasp. Green used her magic to quickly chill the Sith's visor, causing it to fog as she made a mad dash for one of the doors in the room. The burst of force energy came as a surprise, momentarily stunning Starkiller as he was thrown out of the creature's mind. Shaking his head, he could hear the cry and the sounds of the galloping alien. While temporarily blinded, his helmet's internal systems activated, soon leaving his eyes unobscured as he saw the last evidence of Green's escape, that being her retreating form. Drawing on his own connection to the Force, he went after her, taking long measured steps as he watched her scramble away. "There is no escape," He echoed his Master as he walked the short distance, summoning his Lightsaber to his hand. "That... Was an error, little one. But it will only become a mistake if you fail to correct it." Stretching out his hand, his clawed fingers roughly grasped the neck of the green Pony, lifting her to face him. "Think carefully on your words now, or I shall become very cross." When Green felt the man's fingers grasp the scruff of her neck she was terrified, but as she hung in midair she felt her whole body relax. Everything was going to be fine... Wait, no! She had to focus. The Sith, perhaps unbeknownst to either of them, was holding Green as a mother cat might carry her kittens and it was triggering the same reflex in her. Stay awake! Focus! Green laughed awkwardly as she hung limply in the Sith's grasp. "Uh, sorry about trying to run away," She yawned, "I thought you were going to kill me." Green gave her best sheepish expression. "You're uh, you're not going to kill me, right?" Green had trouble keeping her eyes open, and she had to fight the warm fuzzy feelings she felt towards the armour-clad dark-side warrior in front of her. She yawned again and felt herself beginning to drift off. The Clone frowned, displeased at the casual nature the alien switched to as he was, ultimately, holding her fate in her hands. Shaking her back and forth slightly to keep her awake, he carefully studied the small creature. Juvenile, quite clearly. A fairly stocky build, not really used for agility or brawn. Though the small horn on the top of her head seemed to be a natural weapon; it lacked any sharp point, with a fairly blunt tip. He didn't recognize the species, yet it seemed to know of the symbol painted on his shoulder and of the Emperor. It was force sensitive; the strong reaction he had gained as he tried to probe her mind, combined with the blast of force energy the creature had projected confirmed that. "What are you, Little One?" He asked quietly, tilting his head at the almost sleeping youngling. "It shall have to wait for a later time, we must move on." Keeping a strong, yet careful, hold on the child, the warrior tucked her close to his chest as he entered the elevator, both of them soon on their way out. When the Sith released his grip from the back of her neck Green noticed that she was now being held against the man's chest as one might carry a puppy. She was uncomfortable, pressed as she was against the hard armour, and she bristled at the indignity of being treated like an animal, but she feared what the Sith might do if she complained. The man was shaking her in what she thought might be an attempt to keep her awake, but she decided the best course of action would be to feign sleep. If he wished to, the man could no doubt tell that she was awake with his mind reading ability, but she was confident that she would notice if he tried to invade her mind again. This situation, while far from ideal, was not as bad as she had feared. The Sith seemed more curious than hostile. She still expected an interrogation in the future, but for now she wasn't in immediate danger. For an uncomfortable amount of time, the lift groaned and stretched as it pulled both of them upwards. Starkiller still kept his lightsaber close at hand, still in it's fused form, though it would be woefully cumbersome to wield while holding a living creature were they to encounter anything hostile. Speaking of it, the small equine seemed to be pretending, even with her mind active as a snowstorm on Hoth. Though the Clone resolved to let her continue her trickery if only to discourage any more escape attempts. He still held on tight, though. She had information that could prove valuable from what he had gleaned from her mind. Images flashed in front of him, of creatures he had never seen before, yet held an odd semblance of many things from his own universe. Beings with a connection to the Force stronger than he had ever seen before, powerful enough to move celestial bodies from their orbits through their will alone. It was something he would have to look into further, that was for certain.