Long Live The Rebellion

by The Phantom Joker

Not-So-Aggressive Negotiations

Chapter II: Not-So-Aggressive Negotiations

Starkiller first felt his head aching something awful. After a few seconds, it was made worse by the introduction of voices ringing in his ears. He tried to open his eyes. Through the blurriness, he could make out the colours of Kota, his friend and teacher. His vision focussed, as did his hearing. Seeing the scars over Kota's face and around his greyed-out eyes, he remembered how he was blinded, how it was Starkiller himself that blinded him with Kota's own weapon.

"...killer! Wake up, boy!" he heard Kota say. Starkiller groaned in pain as he tried to lift his head. He then felt Kota's hand support him and help him up to a seated position.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"In civilization, so to speak. We landed on an inhabited planet. The people are equine in nature. Well, most of them. We're currently in a prison cell. Understandable seeing as how we're the first off-worlders they've ever encountered." he explained.

"So this is first contact?" Starkiller asked.

"Simply put, yes. I think they've given us special treatment since I've shown no aggression towards them and I think my blindness has played a part in it too. Knowing you, if you were conscious at the time, we'd probably be on death row," he joked.

"I'd like to see them try," Starkiller mused. It wasn't until the fact that he was in a prison cell settled in that he realised that he was sitting on a bed of some sort. "Did they take our lightsabers?" he asked, looking to the old man.

"Yes, but don't worry. We'll get 'em back soon enough." he replied. There was a moment's silence between them, and Starkiller couldn't help but look into Kota's unseeing eyes.

"Well, while we've got this time together, Kota... I've been meaning to apologise to you about something for a while. Just never seemed to get around to it." Starkiller began.

Kota turned his head toward Starkiller's location and smiled. "This is about my sight, isn't it?" he asked.

Starkiller hung his head in shame. "Yeah. I don't mean to make excuses about it-." he began but was cut off.

"Boy, I don't expect you to apologize for doing what you thought you had to do at the time. As a Jedi, you have to learn to take the bad with the good. Yes, I lost my eyesight. Yes, eyesight is a useful tool in a Jedi's arsenal, but it also has its limits. No doubt you read Sith Holocrons as Vader's apprentice. There was a Sith Lord named Darth Traya who allowed her eyes to atrophy, yet was still able to see through the power of the force. She was living proof that eye sight is not mandatory for one to be a Jedi or a Sith." Kota explained.

"Yes, I think I remember her. She was one of Revan's many teachers, right?" Starkiller inquired.

"That she was. I imagine that alone made her legendary, for Revan is a being to either be feared or respected, depending on how you view him. You know, in a way, you remind me of him. You've both had more than one master, you've both been Jedi and Sith, you both had droids designed to kill, and you're both even associated with blind old people." A chuckle was shared between them before the cell doors opened with a rattle and a clang. Starkiller looked over to find two bipedal equines clad in gold plated armour, holding metal swords in their hands. One of the equines had wings, while the other seemed to lack any sort of additional limb.

"The Princesses will see you now." the winged one said. Starkiller and Kota both made their way to the gate where their hands were shackled together.

"Kota?" Starkiller groaned under clenched teeth.

"Don't worry, boy. No harm will come to us if we just do as they say. Think of the cuffs as a security measure." he replied. Starkiller huffed, but did as he was told. Even as a Jedi, Starkiller found it difficult to talk through things. He was a man of action. No doubt a remnant preservation tactic from his training as a Sith. Regardless, he fought the urge to make a break for it and followed Kota and their guards through the prison which turned out to be a castle dungeon.

The two of them were led to a large room filled with equines. Starkiller noticed that some had wings, others had horns, and then there were the ones with neither. What threw him off most were the four at the end of the room wearing what he assumed was the equine form of regalia. They bore both wings and horns and all but one of them were taller than all the other equines in the room, varying in height. Starkiller assumed these were the Princesses.

"Just let me do the talking, boy." Kota whispered.

"No arguments here." he replied, beginning to plan his escape route in the off chance things should things go pear shaped. They were brought to a halt roughly ten feet from the Princesses.

"Thank you, Guard. I think we can remove the shackles for the duration of this meeting." The tallest of the four said. She was a pearl white equine with golden regalia and a chromatic shimmering mane and tail wearing a golden dress and heels.

"Your highness, for safety reasons, I wouldn't advise that course of action." the guard objected, but Starkiller had already removed his shackles upon suggestion and handed them to the guard. Kota sighed.

"You couldn't wait for them to do it, Starkiller?" the old man scolded.

"Tell me which is worse; the prisoner obeying the orders of royalty, or the guard second guessing the order?" he asked to no one in particular. There was an amused chuckle from the white one.

"Quite right, Mr. Starkiller. Feel free to remove your own shackles, sir, seeing as how my guards are so adamant on opposing me in front of guests." she offered. As Kota began to remove his shackles, the guard who had challenged her bowed down.

"I meant no disrespect, Princess. I am merely concerned for your safety." he said.

Kota passed his shackles to the nearest guard and addressed the one that spoke. "If it's any consolation, my friend and I are what's known as Jedi. We are part of an old order that strives to maintain peace and stability throughout the galaxy. We've no intention of causing trouble for you," he clarified. A dark blue Princess wearing a lighter blue regalia with a similar starry themed mane and tail to the white one spoke up, holding out one of Starkiller's lightsabers.

"If you are supposed to be keepers of the peace, then why would such beings carry weapons?" she demanded in an accusatory tone.

"Should you not ask yourself that question regarding the guards? They too are keepers of the peace and yet they carry weapons," Starkiller replied.

"What happened to 'let me do the talking'?" Kota whispered over to his friend.

"She asked a stupid question, I couldn't let that be." Starkiller whispered back.

"Please, let us drop this topic and get down to the business at hand," the white one said.

"Perhaps we should start with Introductions, Princess." Kota suggested.

"Very well. Would you like to do the honors?" she offered. Kota smiled and bowed down to her.

"My name is Rahm Kota. I am a Master of the Jedi Order. As I said before, we are keepers of the peace. This is my former apprentice and my friend, Starkiller. He is a Jedi Knight." Kota said.

"A pleasure to meet you Master Kota and Knight Starkiller. I am Princess Celestia. This is my sister, Princess Luna," she motioned to the dark blue equine to her left. "Next to her is our niece, Princess Cadence," she motioned toward a pale pink mare with a trinity of colours in her mane and tail, though unlike Celestia and Luna, it didn't shimmer and ripple, nor did the fourth Princess'. "And to my right is Princess Twilight Sparkle. She's a recent addition to our family. Formerly my own apprentice, now my new niece.”

Each Princess addressed made different gestures. Luna seemed to be judging them, greeting them with a simple 'harrumph'. Princess Cadence seemed as calm and collected as Celestia and simply bowed to them with a smile on her face. Twilight Sparkle was completely different towards them. She seemed barely able to contain her excitement. Or maybe it was fear, Starkiller had difficulty telling.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, I must ask what these tools are used for?" Celestia asked, taking Kota's lightsaber out into full view.

"Princess, those are exactly what you called them. For a Jedi, those are merely tools used to defend ourselves and others should push come to shove. To anyone else, they could be considered a weapon." Kota replied.

"And exactly how do they work?" Princess Twilight asked.

"Simply put, Princess; they act as an extension of our arms, much the same way a sword does, only it's virtually weightless, save for the hilt which you are currently holding. I'd explain how they're activated, but given the way you're holding them, if you succeeded in working them, you'd impale yourselves." Kota said. Both Luna and Celestia threw the weapons forward. Starkiller and Kota both caught them. As one had the other, they quickly swapped them and holstered them. Now Starkiller just needed the other one.

"Perhaps my friend could demonstrate to you how to effectively use them?" Kota offered. Starkiller stepped forward. The guards began to feel restless and motioned to intercept him, but Celestia waved them off.

"First off, where's the other one?" Starkiller asked. Princess Twilight reached behind her and revealed his second lightsaber to him. Starkiller extended his hand and the lightsaber flew out of Twilight's hand. The sudden liveliness of the tool caused Twilight to gasp in surprise. The lightsaber found its way to Starkiller's hand and he drew the already holstered saber. With enough room between him, Kota and the Princesses, he activated both lightsabers, revealing two beams of plasma with a white hue. The weapons hummed a low vibrant tone.

Needless to say, all four princesses were curious, while their guards were on the brink of a heart attack. "As Kota said, the blades themselves are weightless, making it harder to wield than a metal blade, because there's a decent chance that if you tried any fancy tricks with it, you'll misinterpret the balance of weight in the hilt and nick yourself... if you're lucky. Jedi are trained to use these tools as if not more effectively as any sword,” Starkiller explained.

Among the four princesses, Twilight Sparkle was the most fascinated by these tools. Kota observed their reactions and smiled inwardly. "What else would you like to know?" he asked.

Meanwhile...

Deep in the farthest reaches of space, on the massive Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, an Imperial Officer approached an imposing figure who stood a couple of feet taller than the officer, and was clad in black mechanical life-support armor with a sleek black helmet that made him sound as though he were snoring with a bucket on his head, or perhaps more accurately, as though he were breathing through an iron lung, and a long black cape that flowed behind him. A lightsaber hilt hung at his belt.

Sensing the officer’s approach, Darth Vader spoke, the vocabulator that served for his long-since burned away tongue and throat giving him a deep and menacing voice. “The explosive device aboard the Rogue Shadow has detonated?”

“Yes, milord. However, it seems as though the ship made a jump to hyperspace to a random series of coordinates as a result of the blast. And I’m afraid we have no idea where it’s gone. We can neither confirm nor deny that the test subject and Kota have been destroyed,” the officer replied.

Vader remained silent for several moments. He knew that neither his creation nor Kota had been killed by the bomb his spies had snuck aboard the Rogue Shadow while it had been refueling and stocking for supplies. Problem was, he couldn’t get an exact location without meditating.

“Leave that to me,” Vader finally replied before stalking away to his private meditation chamber.

Author's Note:

And thus concludes Chapter Two! You know, guys and gals... it feels good to be home again. It really, really is... but, just because Joker Enterprises has picked up here again, that doesn't mean I am abandoning my current schemes on my new playgrounds. I have so many wonderful things planned for both this site and those new playgrounds...

But, I digress. If you guys liked what you saw here, then be sure to like, follow, and comment! And remember: dying is easy, comedy is hard!

Comments

[Cyrus Colter]

Rahm Kota is indeed the kind of guy to be able to see the obvious excitement to learn from Twilight despite being physically blind.

[Mkchief34]

Nice job! So far so good!

[Darth_krayt]

You should let Spike become starkiller's Apprentice because he has a mass of connection to the force because the force is energy field created by all living things it's around us and penetrates us and binds the Galaxy together

[The Phantom Joker]

10472020
Oh, don't worry, Spike will be getting Jedi training with the rest of the Mane 6. Trust me, I got this.

[Darth_krayt]

10472022
You're right I shouldn't have doubted you are the Joker let's put a smile on that face

[The_Lost_Somebody]

Loving both of these Starkiller stories you've put out. I'm really excited to see where both of them go. You have my thumbs up, anticipation and excitement. Keep up the great work.

[zachary12]

nice work.

[Madness18]

10472020
That sounds like duct tape, it has a good side and a bad side and binds all together

[nightshroud96]

Will Spike be trained too?

[nightshroud96]

10472022
How will that go?