4: A New Journey
Aboard the Iron Fist, Inquisitor Cia stood at her place on a long black conference table, blue hands folded simply behind her back. Around her, at various other spots at the table stood or sat the holograms of almost two dozen other beings: all members of the Inquisitorius. Most were human, as was to be expected, but there were other species with representatives in attendance as well. An eyeless Miraluka called Jerec – once a Jedi Master, now an Inquisitor in the Emperor’s service – was among them. Another alien was a tall, pale Pau’an individual with a curious double-bladed lightsaber who had never deigned to reveal his name, preferring simply to be referred to by his title. The ranks of the Inquisitorius were one of the few places nonhumans could reasonably expect to rise to prominence in the human-dominated Galactic Empire, their talents with the Force serving to counter the subtle but distinct bias that permeated the Empire’s ranks.
“Twenty-two,” rang out the voice of one of the human males once everyone they were expecting had entered into the holoconference.
“Thirty-six,” Cia declared her own count of Force-sensitives picked up on her brief inspections.
“Fifteen,” came another voice.
“Fourty-five,” said another Inquisitor.
And so it went for the next few minutes, the gathered dark-sides soldiers of the Empire each declaring their tally of captives to be processed, openly stating for all to hear the exact number and species of their prizes. And then it came to a process that was little better than barter, each Inquisitor offering certain numbers of captives or prime training grounds to their fellows in bargains not terribly different from those made at Zygerian slave auctions. Each Inquisitor knew that to train the most powerful, or most numerous class of recruits would give them a substantial edge in the oft-cutthroat politics of their order. Or perhaps, if Lord Vader or Emperor Palpatine were particularly impressed with them, a promotion.
In this particular arena, Cia had a notable advantage: no one had ever really dealt with equine species whose members comprised the majority of her captives before. They were so obscure, and had been involved in galactic affairs for such a short time, that she was able to play them up in the eyes of her fellows without ever strictly lying about what she thought their capabilities were. Mentioning that they already had training in the ways of the Force – though not the dark side – only increased their perceived value in the eyes of several other Inquisitors. By the time that the impromptu bartering was done and the various courses of action settled, she had come away with a large number of potent inductees and a training ground noted for its deep historical affinity with the dark side. The perfect place to produce many powerful servants for the Empire.
When the last of the holograms around the conference table faded away, Inquisitor Cia walked away with a smile on her face.
Elsewhere on the Victory-class Star Destroyer, Princess Luna was considerably less happy.
“What dost thou mean that we cannot leave this cell?!” she raged at the man in an Imperial Navy uniform, flanked by two Stormtroopers. “Dost thou know who we are?!”
The man, who had identified himself as Lieutenant Zsinj, looked at her like she was some kind of idiot. “You are an inductee into the Imperial military. And I meant exactly what I said: you are confined to this detention cell until new orders are issued.”
“We shall have thy head for this,” she swore through gritted teeth. “We are royalty! We will not be treated so disgracefully!”
“Yes, well,” the man rolled his eyes. “You may feel free to take it up with the Inquisitor if she deigns to visit. In the meantime, my task was solely to make certain that you were conscious and relatively undamaged.”
“By jabbing us with an electric prod?!”
“Yes,” the lieutenant turned his back on her. “My mission here is accomplished. Feel free to rant and rave at the walls of this facility if you wish, but I suggest a more cooperative attitude. It will get you further in your new career.”
“How dare thee?! We are not some toy that thou canst-”
But Lieutenant Zsinj had already walked straight out the cell’s door, which sealed itself shut behind him.
For some minutes, Princess Luna followed his “suggestion” screaming her lungs out at the uncaring metal walls about the sheer indignity of her position. She had given so much in service to the Empire to protect her home, and still they demanded more! It was an outrage, and she felt few qualms about expressing as much in a very vocal manner. Her cell echoed with the booming sound of the Royal Canterlot Voice.
Eventually, however, it dawned on the princess of the night that absolutely no one was paying attention to her screams. It was, perhaps, the one thing that was even more humiliating for the alicorn than being trumped: being ignored. With her voice worn thin from shouting, Luna slowly began to settle herself against the hard and uncomfortable bed that the cell provided.
She could already tell that it was going to be a long journey.
“And who might you be?” asked the bored-looking man behind the processing desk at the Los Pegasus Imperial spaceport.
“Ziara Blane of the Imperial Army Engineering Corps,” Princess Twilight Sparkle answered, doing her best to suppress the profound unease she was feeling. “Departing Equus on cargo transport A3-479.”
“I don’t recall anything about any Ziara Blane on that ship’s manifest,” the man, whose name plate read Private Secris, said, looking down at a datapad below him. “Let me see here…”
Twilight waited nervously and with baited breath as the Imperial before her scrolled rather casually through the data on his device. Now was the time that all the practice she had done modifying Imperial data caches would be put to the test. If the cover identity and orders she had inserted into their system less than an hour ago failed to pass muster, she might well be arrested on the spot or worse. She resisted the urge to swallow – too suspicious. She wouldn’t fail her planet again. Couldn’t fail her planet again.
“Ah,” the man said after around half a minute, though it seemed much longer to the alicorn wearing a human form. He looked up at her. “You appear to be something of a last-minute addition, Engineer Blane. Captain Rakis sent you, did he?”
Twilight nodded. “He did,” Rakis was an Imperial Army Captain based on the other side of the planet, and consequently unlikely to actually be contacted for verification or inadvertently spoil the party by turning up in person.
The man looked closer and frowned. “Though he appears to have done so rather recently. In the last few hours, apparently. Care to explain?”
“We had a dispute, sir.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A dispute?”
Twilight leaned in close and whispered. “Of a rather “personal” nature, if I may say so.”
His lips formed a silent “o”, before glancing back down at the datapad. “Well, whatever the exact circumstances of your departure, everything looks to be in order, Engineer.”
Twilight smiled and resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief, turning and preparing to head further into the space port, to where the enormous supply freighter she had selected as her ride waited.
“There’s just one more thing,” Secris said before she could.
Twilight turned back to him with a slight shiver up her back. “Yes, sir?”
“I simply have to conduct a few simple scans of yourself and your baggage. Standard exit procedure and all,” he chuckled lightly. “Nothing too intrusive.”
Twilight forced a smile and nodded. “Of course.”
“Stand over there, please,” Secris gestured towards a moderate-sized booth extending from a spaceport wall. “And we’ll get this through in a moment.”
The alicorn stepped into the designated space, pulling the small hovercart containing a few pieces of luggage along with her. She held her breath as the advanced alien technology swept over everything within, a blue light running over both herself and her things. Private Secris looked down at the datapad before him for some few moments, before gesturing for her to step back out. Releasing a breath lightly from her mouth, Twilight did so.
“Well,” said the Imperial after a moment of examining the results. “Everything looks to be in order…”
Twilight’s shoulders relaxed a little, a she let out an inadvertent sigh.
“Except…”
Her muscles tensed back again, and the disguised alicorn prepared to call on her magic if need be.
“You have a life form in one of your bags,” he said, pointing to a box piled atop all the others. “Let’s have a look.”
Reluctantly, Twilight removed the box from her hovercart, straining slightly under the weight in this unfamiliar body. It was somewhat different from the one she had had in the land on the other side of the magic mirror – the proportions and center of gravity were altered, and her limbs were thicker. Thinking about the other world made her wonder how her friends’ duplicates, that cute guitar player, and Sunset Shimmer were doing over there. Better than Equestria was, she hoped.
Private Secris pried off the top of the box and looked inside. “Why?” he asked. “Do you have a fat purple lizard in your luggage, Engineer Blane?”
Twilight resisted the urge to defend her dragon friend’s dignity. “He’s a pet, sir. I picked him up in the jungles of this backwater and just haven’t been able to put him down since.”
“And so you are attempting to smuggle him offworld?” He raised an eyebrow. “You surely know that the unauthorized removal of potentially hazardous lifeforms from the Unknown Regions is against Imperial regulations.”
“He’s quite harmless,” Twilight assured the man. “I’ve had him for quite some time.”
“And fed him far too well, it would seem,” he commented. “I do believe you, Engineer Blane. You seem a good subject of the Emperor to me. Nonetheless, rules are rules. I’m afraid I must-”
Before Secris could go any further, he found a fifty credit chip slipped into his palm – more than week’s salary for a man of his lowly level and station. He froze up, staring blankly down at it.
“What’s say,” Twilight immediately leaned in conspiratorially. “That we make nice and forget the regs? Just this once.”
Private Secris looked down at the credit chip in his hand, then back up at Twilight, then at the chip again, and the back up once more to the disguised alicorn. His hand swiftly closed into a fist and disappeared beneath the desk.
“Everything looks to be in order,” he said with a smile and considerably more enthusiasm. He tipped his hat to Twilight. “Have a safe and pleasant journey, Ms. Blane.”
“Thank you, Private,” Twilight curtsied as best she could in the trousers of an engineer’s uniform, before grabbing her hovercart and pulling it past the desk. Now she was into the spaceport proper, and nothing remained between her the bulky cargo vessel that was their way off of Equss.
“Fat purple lizard?” came a slight but evidently annoyed hiss from the box. “Pet? This is so degrading.”
“Shhh…” Twilight hissed, before leaning in close to hurridly whisper. “Spike, I promise that if we succeed and make it back you’ll be more than compensated. I will personally guarantee you get anything you want as a reward.”
“Aw, you know I’m not doing this for perks,” responded the small dragon.
“Still,” said the alicorn princess as they entered into the hustle and bustle of the spaceport’s main terminal. “You have my word.”
When the time came that Princess Luna was at last let free of cramped cell of the bowls of the Star Destroyer, she found to her total lack of surprise that it was with no more concern for her comfort or dignity than any other part of this trip had been. She was without ceremony shaken awake from her troubled slumber by two Stormtroopers, then lead without a word through the depressingly-grey corridors of the Imperial ship. Everything around her was the same miserable-looking architecture that so defined the construction of the Galactic Empire, the humans scuttling about in the same manner as their machines did.
At last, the two silent, white-armored soldiers conducted the alicorn princess into a docking bay, and up the ramp into what she recognized for an Imperial landing shuttle. There were other sapients already inside when she was fastened into an uncomfortable seat, and more filed in throughout the next few minutes, until at last the space around her was nearly full. Lastly came the loathsome Chiss Inquisitor who had abducted her in the first place. Shortly thereafter, the shuttle’s ramp closed behind her and the engines began to whine.
The shuttle's descent through what Luna presumed was the planetary atmosphere was bumpy, uncomfortable, and loud. It reflected, Princess Luna felt, the unstable collective mood of those that rode within it. Some, like herself, seemed to positively ooze anger or resentment at their situation. By way of contrast, others seemed to be positively excited about what was happening, whispering frantically amongst themselves. Still more appeared frightened, nervously glancing around and up, or reciting prayers to various deities. Finally, a small number of the sapients weren't showing any kind of emotional reaction at all, simply sitting back and observing.
Most of the shuttle's other occupants were humans, but there were members of other species that her reading allowed to identify as Togruta, Falleen, Gran, Bothan, and Duros. And of course, Luna thought with gritted teeth, there was the hateful Chiss woman who stood imperiously above and in front of them all, hands folded behind her back, luminescent red eyes observing and judging them. Her blue face was a mask of indifference with a vague undertone of scorn.
The mood in the shuttle grew only more agitated as it seemed to pass through the worst of the atmospheric turbulence, smoothing out considerably. Luna spent the ride curled against her seat in the corner, refusing to give anyone from this horrible galaxy the privilege of conversation with true royalty unless absolutely necessary. They did not deserve it.
It was when the shuttle touched down on the planet's surface, when the whine of the engine was dying away, that the black-clad Chiss female held up a single hand for silence. Almost instantly, she was obeyed, even the most eager conversationalists shutting their mouths and giving the alien woman their undivided attention.
The power, Luna reflected, of fear.
"Acolytes," she said in her resounding alto tone, the sound of her voice echoing easily in the confined space. "We have arrived. This is the planet where you will become what your Empire needs you to be..." she paused for effect. "Or you shall be found to be unworthy. Be honored, for you have been selected to come here because of your great potential. Be humbled, for this is ground sacred to the dark side, and those who prove themselves lacking here meet fates that are often... unpleasant."
Behind her, the shuttle's landing ramp was extending, revealing a sunny, sand-covered landing pad. Powerful winds could be seen blowing clouds of red sand through the air and heard whipping up into the spacecraft. They felt unpleasantly dry.
"Welcome," the Chiss continued. "To Korriban."
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Well fuck for the 100th time.
But it's Moraband
Still, spooky sith ghosts should make for some interesting story opportunities.
Korriban?
Ooooh nooooo......
woot woot
Peace is a lie!
Twilight in human form? That'll end well.
Twilightxhuman shipper senses tingling....
Warlord Zsinj!!!
Love the cameo appearance of The Inquistor (from the Rebels cartoon) and Zsinj (EU).
Does this mean the fic plays in a universe were the Disney canon and the old canon are merged into one? Or will it play in only one of the canons and the appearnces of these chracters are really nothing more than cameos?
5637077 As long as it doesn't add the ridiculous aspects of the EU im fine!
5637080 Thankfully the vong and sun crusher and the worst parts of Travis are decades down the line and won't matter.
5637066 yes this must. it be a must.
cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/55933045.jpg
5637083 Aww... but I liked the Vong.
But yeah some things in the EU were just a big pile of BS.
RUN!! Fly into the cold darkness of space and be frozen like a Popsicle, anything is better than this!! Oh, and P.S.? EXCELLENT Star Wars Rebels reference.
5637077
I am doing my best to merge the canons, though I reserve the right to tweak with things if it means a better show.
5637101 I don't want to consume the discussion of this, but in short: BDSM rape aliens that cheat on pretty much every rule in the setting with biotech have no place in muh romantic pulpy retro space opera.
5637138 Well you don't have to worry about that, since the Vong war didn't start decades after the last movie.
5637122 There isn't much in the Disney canon apart from the Rebels and Clone Wars cartoon series and the movies. Does this mean Twilight is going to meet the Rebels cast?
5636947 Moraband was one of the many names Korriban had in it's long history.
5637151
There's also A New Dawn and of course James Luceno's Tarkin, both of which I have read. I will be taking elements from any of these to use as I see fit, though the majority of the material is obviously going to come from older canon by sheer numbers.
5637066
5637096
That needs to happenHappen, this must.I hope there won't be gratuitous shipping just for the sake of it. I have seen to many fics with out-of-the-blue shipping who added nothing.
Thankfully, Twilight didn't try to present Spike as a baby Jedi...
Just you wait, imperials, for time will come when Equestria will buck back!
5637151 exactly the point I made
5636947 In every other piece of Star Wars fiction, it is, has, and always will be Korriban.
5636377 collegetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/chewy.gif
That where Vader keeps his cereal? 8D
If anyone from the Star Wars universe were to be in this, I would hope for HK-47. Simply due to the fact he is a psychopath who loves to kill and Equestrias bias towards robotics who love to kill would clash with that. However, three thousand years can't be good for a droid so it's near impossible for the most certainly destroyed droid to make more than a passing reference in Korribans History of The Sith Lords and Their Favorite Killing Methods.
5637483 Empire brand Sith Flakes.
Dude you have a LOT of free time for this book you know that? Can i ask why?
I could see Luna with a lightsaber: the deadly blade bolted to the remains of her horn as she flails her forehead at her opponent with all her might...
Ah good old dusty Korriban. Basically Mecca for any aspiring dark side practitioners. Hopefully, Luna will visit the Valley of the Dark Lords and meet some ancient Sith ghosts and maybe even get an adorable pet Hssiss.
5637209 Equestria will meet the same fate as Alderaan!
5637661 Twilight could meet the IG droids!
IG seven something and the four IG 88s!
5637181 Did the Clone Wars ended earlier due to Greivious being stuck in Equuis for weeks?
Aside from Rahm Kota and the Separatist holdouts are there any big anti-Empire groups active?
Why is Zsinj a lieutenant? Wasn't he an Admiral in Return of the Jedi? Doesn't he command his own ship at this point after killing his mother?
5635278 Starkiller?
5635980 And Ten years of Imperial subjugation on Equuis! By that time ponies would be used to fight the rebels! Twilight doesn't have ten years! By that time so many ponies become Inquisitors than it would destroy any chance at success!
This chapter did not have enough of the letter Z in it. I'm so disappointed.
My god.... Luna is so prideful it hurts!!!
5638463 At this point in galactic history, all the ghosts in the tombs of the ancient sith lords on Korriban are dead and gone, for real this time.
EzraxTwilight
5638724 At this point in Star Wars History, there were still a few non-humans in the Government, it was when the senate was dissolved when Humans were in total control of the Imperial Government.
5638796 you could say the same about Star Wars in its actuality. The old movies don't need the new ones to make sense since basically everyone introduced in the prequel movies is dead decades before 4, 5 and 6 take place. I think like 4 characters in the prequels are alive in the older movies.
5640152 If you say so. My knowledge of the Star Wars expanded universe is patchy at best. I was simply going off of what I knew when I played KOTOR I & II.
5637574 You mean someone like Khem Val?
Ahh! Korriban. I remember that planet well.
Hehehe another awesome chapter well done!
Good going Twilight, you sly mare you~
5637483
I wonder what Sith eat for breakfast every morning.
Sithy-O's?
5758907 It's apparently "Moraband" in canon now, which is a shame
Sith Luna beez a comin'... Tis going to be awesome!
5969587 CURSE YOU J.J. ABRAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First off, love the reference to Dark Forces II and to the Rebels cartoon, great job.
Twilight waited nervously and with baited breath
then lead without a word through
1. Bated.
2. Led.
5969587
Actually, "Korriban" is still canon; it's just an ancient name for the planet which, by the Clone Wars, had come to be known as Moraband.