Bounty Hunter Anon

by Sunny Solaire

The Force

“Well, let’s just start out with the basic question, Master Jedi. Build from the ground up." You say. "What is the Force?”

You’ve heard about what the Force supposedly is, but you don’t really know what it ‘is’ is. You’re confused. Hopefully, she can shed some light on this subject for you in a way you can understand.

”That question has no simple answer, I'm afraid." She replies. "The Force is a metaphysical, omnipotent power that emanates from all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and holds the universe together.”

“So it’s just a huge ball of… invisible power?” You ask.

She tilts her head back and forth once. ”In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“But how does it make it so you can make objects float or shoot lightning from your hands?" You ask. "That’s all I thought the Force was. That, and you being able to… ‘sense’ when someone was nearby.”

”Those are just two different aspects of the Force that you’ve described, Anonymous.” She says. ”There are four philosophies of the Force that the Jedi teach. There is the Living Force, the Unifying Force, the Cosmic Force, and the Physical Force.”

"I've never heard of those." You reply. “What about the Light and the Dark?”

”The Light Side and the Dark Side are aspects concerned with the moral compass." She explains. "The Light Side emphasizes using compassion and selflessness with the Force, while the Dark Side emphasizes selfishness, anger, and hatred. The aspects that you’ve observed and described are the Physical and the Living.”

Okay, so, moral compass…

“So, there’s more than one Force?” You ask?

She shakes her head. ”Not exactly. The Force is a single body. These aspects are simply different parts of it that do different things. Much like your own body; you have arms, legs, and a head, but they all connect to each other to form your one, single body.”

You hum as you nod at her. That makes much more sense.

“So, is the Force is alive?” You ask.

”Yes.” She nods.

“So how do you sense others and use your powers? What do these aspects have to do with that?” You ask.

”As I said, each aspect of the Force plays a different role." She continues. "The Physical Force deals with one’s ability to manipulate the environment around them, the Living Force deals with the energy of all living things in the universe, the Unifying Force deals with the entirety of space and time, and The Cosmic Force deals with the being becoming one with the Force after their death.”

You hum. “I see…”

You’re not quite sure what to think about all this. It is some pretty deep stuff, after all. While it does seems far-fetched, at the same time, it kind of makes sense. You still don’t understand how it all works, but you'd like to understand it. Unfortunately, you probably never will. You are not a Jedi. It is nice to have her explain some aspects of her beliefs and practices though.

”Have I answered your questions Anonymous?” She asks.

You think for a moment. “A few. I do have another question though. What if someone uses both the Light Side and the Dark Side? Is it possible to use the Dark Side for good?”

She gives a small sigh before answering. She's probably been asked this question before. "The biggest difference between the Light and the Dark is that the Light Side focuses on tranquility and compassion toward all beings in the galaxy. In contrast, the Dark Side focuses on individual passion and strength.”

“Being strong is important and necessary for survival in this galaxy.” You say. "I know that fact personally."

”There are many strengths that exist, Anonymous." She replies. "Strength in the desire for control, power, and glory for the sake of simply having it, however, is a path to the Dark Side.”

“That doesn't answer my question though." You say. "What if someone uses that power and control for good?”

”The intentions for desiring more power may be good at first, but it can quickly lead to temptation. All who receive power fear the thought of losing it to another. It is this fear that eventually drives the individual to become angry with others that they see as potential usurpers to their power. That anger eventually leads to hatred. It is then that many will most likely suffer from the user’s hand, which is contrary to the Jedi way of the Force.”

You hum again and ponder on her words. Biased as they may be, she does make a good point.

She continues. ”While the Dark Side may give the user quick, immediate strength in a dire situation, it is like a drug. One time may feel right and will not do much, but that one time can lead to a self-destructive addiction if you feed it any more. The temptation for power by giving into the Dark Side for even a small moment is simply too risky, and the Jedi oppose using it under any circumstance.”

You look back at her. “Too risky?”

”The lure of the Dark Side is difficult to resist." She says. "It takes a greater form of strength to resist it and continue on the path of Light.”

You pause as you think this over. You don’t agree with everything she’s saying. Power and strength have gotten you far in life. You'd like to think you're a good person, if on the aggressive side a bit.

Then again, this is the Force you’re talking about. It’s not like everything she’s saying applies to you completely.

You nod. “Alright, I can see how that makes sense.”

”The Force is ultimately the one who gives the Jedi his or her power." She explains. "Without it, there would be nothing in the universe. The Dark Side makes one think that they can possess all power; and by extension, all of the Force, which is impossible.”

You stay silent as you think about this whole thing. Absolute… Total power sounds good, you have to admit, but if the Force is the one who grants this power, and the Force is everywhere, then the ones who follow the Dark Side want something they can’t ever have.

It does make sense.

“…I still don’t understand everything, but I think I can start to see how it all works out.” You say.

”Fear not." She replies. "I do not expect you to understand it all after one conversation. There are many aspects of the Force that even the Jedi do not understand, and may never truly understand.”

It is a big subject. That doesn't surprise you.

Thinking about it more, you’d probably be one of the biggest tyrants in the galaxy if you could use the Force. Which, that brings another topic to mind.

“I do have another question." You begin. "How come everyone can’t be a Jedi? Or, at least, sense the Force? Why can’t I sense the Force like you?”

She hums and stops walking. You stop as well and look around. You’re standing in front of the medical bay.

”I believe the answer to that question can better be answered in here.” She says.

You look inside to see Sunset, Applejack, and Nurse Redheart exit the back room of the medical bay. Sunset looks a bit confused.

Applejack smiles a little at you when she sees you. ”Hey there, Anon.”

You give her a little nod. “Hey Applejack… Sunset?” Sunset looks up at you, but she still has that look of confusion and disbelief on her face. “What’s wrong?”

She just shakes her head slowly. ”Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”

You look to Nurse Redheart and she steps forward. ”When we patched you two up, we took samples of your blood to check for infections. We found nothing wrong with either of you, but we also ran a Midi-chlorian count and found something interesting.”

You shake your head. “I'm not a biologist. What’s a Midi-chlorian?"

Maud turns to you. ”Midi-chlorians are microscopic life forms that reside in the cells of every living being in the universe. These Midi-chlorians are connected to the Force itself, and, when their numbers are high enough, allow their host to detect the Force as well.”

You pause for a moment to think this over. Microscopic beings inside your body that are connected to the Force…

You turn back to Nurse Redheart and she’s looking at you with a small smirk on her face.

"No way…" You begin. “…Are you saying I'm sensitive to the Force?”

She takes a deep breath and pauses before answering. ”No.”
…
“Oh…” You say.

Well… That could’ve been interesting. You're almost dissapointed. Nothing special about you.

She pulls out a datapad and looks at it. ”Your Midi-chlorian count was just over 2,500. That’s about average for humans. Sunset on the other hand…”

You both turn to look at Sunset, who is simply staring at you. ”I’ve got almost 5,000.”

You raise your eyebrows at her and Nurse Redheart chimes in. ”Which means that she is sensitive to the Force. In theory, she could sense it and use it like the Jedi do if she was extensively trained.”

Maud speaks to her. "If you had been born in the Republic, you would have been considered for Jedi training when you were a child."

Wow. Lucky her, not being forced into the life of a Jedi. Still, that's pretty amazing.

She gives you a confused look. She's clearly uncomfortable with all the attention about this. "…It’s not a big deal, Anon. I’m still me.”

You chuckle. “I know you are, but still, this is kind of cool.”

You just had a huge lesson on the Force. This is all a bit fascinating.

Maud picks up on her apparent confusion and steps forward. ”Sunset, Anonymous and I just had a good talk about the Force. I explained a few things to him.”

She turns to Maud, looking shocked. ”You got HIM to listen to you about the Force?”

The Jedi nods. ”He actually asked me to explain it to him.”

She looks even more shocked and turns to you with this wide smile on her face. ”Look at you, Anon! Getting an open mind!”

"Oh boy..." Now you're the center of attention. She giggles as you pinch your eyebrows together. “Look, it’s been a very strange, very eventful day, alright?”

She smirks and folds her arms. ”Alriiight, whatever you say.”

You scoff and grin at her sarcasm before looking back at Applejack, Nurse Redheart, and Maud.

Applejack stands there with a smile and her hands on her hips. ”Well, I'm glad we got this whole thing all sorted out, you two. Sorry again about everything.”

You hold up a hand and wave it. “No need to apologize. It was a misunderstanding. Nothing more.”

Maud gives you a small smile and Applejack clears her throat and claps her hands together. "Well, we should be comin’ out of lightspeed about any time now. Ya’ll can head back to your ship and go on your merry way.”

Wait, lightspeed?

“Where are we going?” You ask.

Sunset turns to you. “Kashyyyk. They’re doing something there.”

You hum and nod. A bit inconvenient for you, but it’s fitting for everything else that’s happened today.

You turn back to Maud and Applejack. “How do we get to the hangar?”

Maud tilts her head slightly down the corridor. “This way. Lieutenant Applejack and I will escort you.”

The four of you head down the crisscrossing corridors of the cruiser until you walk through the large door to the hangar that you came in through prior. Along with the multitude of soldiers and workers repairing ships or doing their business, you see your ship on the opposite side, along with the energy field separating you from the vacuum of space outside. As you enter the hangar, you see the blue backdrop of hyperspace fade as the cruiser slows down to enter realspace. Once the ship slows down, the lush green planet of Kashyyyk, home of the Wookies, comes into view.

You take a deep breath at the sight of your beautiful ship, sitting there all ready to go. It could almost bring a tear of joy to your eye. Despite everything that’s been brought to your attention in the last few minutes, you’re tired and still want to get the hell out of here.

”I instructed my guys to put all your confiscated stuff in the main hold of your ship, Anon.” Applejack says.

You turn around to face Applejack and Maud, giving them a thankful nod. “Thanks. Thank you both.”

Applejack smiles and gives you a nod in return. Maud just stares ahead blankly as if in a trance. You’re about to ask her what’s wrong when a communicator on Applejack’s wrist beeps.

She looks at the tiny screen and hums. ”That’s Captain Shining Armor, I gotta take this… Real quick though, Anon, Sunset, it was a pleasure to meet ya’ll.”

You and Sunset shake her hand once more. “Likewise.”

She smiles and turns back into the corridor. ”Safe travels!”

You grin as you watch her leave before turning to Maud. ”Take care, Anonymous and Sunset. May the Force be with you.” She gives a small bow before walking over to another part of the hangar rather quickly.

She didn’t give either of you a chance to speak.

“That was weird.” You comment.

”Yeah.” Sunset nods.

You pause for a moment before turning back to her. “Did you sense anything wrong with her?”

She smacks your arm hard and scowls at you. ”Don’t you start with any of that, Anon. This changes nothing about me.”

You just laugh at her and make that cute little grin appear on her face again before she laughs a bit as well. You love teasing her.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea.” You say with a smile.

”What?” She asks.

“Let’s go to Alderaan for a vacation together.” You reply.

She smiles and claps her hands excitedly. ”That’s a great idea!”

You both smile and start walking toward your ship, passing soldiers and crew members alike on the way.

You let out a sigh and crack your neck. “Oh, what a day…”

You’re about halfway there when a small, one-man ship enters the hangar to your left, right next to your ship and lands rather abruptly. Something is up.

The ramp lowers and, not two seconds later, a young woman with pink hair comes scrambling out. A Mirialan. Her yellow skin and facial tattoos makes that obvious. She's wearing a labcoat that appears to be torn in a few places. She reaches the deck of the ship and collapses onto her hands and knees before looking around the hangar frantically.

”A-Applejack! Applejack, where are you?!” The look on her face is one of complete and utter terror.

You hear the stomping of feet behind you and you turn to see Applejack and Big Mac both running over to her, each with looks of panic on their faces as well. ”Fluttershy! What happened?! Where’s Twilight?!”

You and Sunset both look on at the scene, but continue toward your ship. Fluttershy and Twilight… Those were the ones Maud talked about when she sensed the disturbance in the Force before.

”What do you think is going on?” Sunset asks.

You shake your head. “No idea… It doesn't concern us though.”

Applejack crouches beside her to help her onto her feet. She’s panicking so loudly that you can hear most of what she’s saying, even from this far away.

”W-w-we were… we were d-doing our routine checkup when they broke free… -started attacking a-and killing everything…” She stammers.

The noise of the few Republic personnel gathering around her starts to drown most of her speech out. You’re just a few steps away from your ship now.

She continues. ”…infecting whoever they could find… about to pass Mandalore when I…”

You stop dead in your tracks as you reach the exit ramp. She said something about Mandalore. You turn to Sunset, who has the same look of concern on her face as well. She heard it too.

Immediately, you both run over to the girl, shoving people out of your way until you reach her. “Hey!” Once she’s in your sight, you crouch down in front of her and stare directly into her tear-stained eyes. “You! What did you just say?!”

”Eeep!” She squeals and squirms backwards at you startling her.

You grab her shoulders and pull her back to face you. “What did you just say?! About Mandalore! What’s happening?! What did you just say?!” You’re practically screaming at her and she whines as another tear rolls down her cheek.

”Anon! Get back!” You feel Applejack try to pull you away, but you shake her off and stay in front of the girl. You hear Sunset trying to hold her back as well.

“It’s Fluttershy, right?” She looks at you and nods while trying to hide herself behind her long pink hair as best she can. You try to lower your voice a little. “Fluttershy, I have to know. What is going on? Is Mandalore at risk?”

She quickly nods again. “Y-yes…”

You stay locked onto her. “From what? What is threatening Mandalore?”

She sniffles and her lip quivers as she stares at you with the purest expression of dread and fear in her eyes. ”R-Rakghouls…”

Author's Note:

A Jedi meditating on the secrets of the Force.

A Midi-chlorian.

Fluttershy, timid Republic scientist with a kind heart.

Comments

[Toilet Sprinkle]

Really enjoying this! My self-insert loving side is bummed it’s only Sunset that’s sensitive, but I’m still super interested in where this goes.