A/N: I don't own Star vs. the Forces of Evil or Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Chapter: Welcome to Mewni

Marco kept his eyes closed as he inhaled slowly, holding his breath for a few seconds before exhaling. He needed complete and total silence for him to connect to the Force as he reconstructed his two lightsabers through its power. He had been taking apart and rebuilding his weapons for almost two hours now as he remained sitting in crossed-legged position on the floor of his quarters as the ship he was on moved through Hyperspace. It was in these small moments of communing with the Force that made him feel truly at peace.

Peace, now that was something that the galaxy was in sort supply of these days. Ever since the Clone Wars had began, peace was almost felt like an illusion or some fairytale told to those who believed it was a real thing. Like all Jedi, Marco knew that peace could be achieved through a connection to the Force, however unlike his Jedi brethren; he did not believe that this senseless conflict would end well for either sides of the war and feared to think what might become of the Jedi Order one the war was over—if they won that is.

Master Kota once told him he was too young to this cynical, but war had a tendency to make one age mentally. Marco had only been twelve years old and had just begun his training with the Jedi Knight known as Rahm Kota as his Padawan when the war broke out between the Republic and the Separatists and since that time he had been fighting one battlefield to another alongside his teacher and his militia, seeing such horrors of war no child should ever see in their entire lifetime. Now fourteen years old, he had become quickly battle-hardened by this seemingly self-destructive conflict and only found solace through the serenity of the Force. However, it was becoming increasingly hard to find the time to train and meditate with the fear of having your head getting blown off in at any given moment.

Currently, the two Jedi and their militia where headed to their newest destination on behalf of the Republic. The planet they were traveling to was known as Mewni, a lush, forest filled planet that was located along the Mid-Rim that and for the most part managed to stay out of the war until now. According to reports, the planet was in the midst of a civil war between the royal family and some little upstart named Ludo, who claimed that he was the rightful ruler of Mewni. In a bold yet predictable move, Ludo allied himself with the Separatists and had gained a bolster in his military power thanks to the legions of droids that where sent by Dooku to help him overthrown the royal family.

Kota and Marco where the closest military force to Mewni and where instructed by both Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi Council to give the people of Mewni their support and help them defeat Ludo and his new droid army. While Kota, his student and his militia where up for the task, there was major problem: Kota's army had grown smaller during the past few battles and was now only down to at least eight hundred men and women under his command. Kota never liked the idea of using Clones, he saw them as unfit for battle; hence why he created his own militia to fight the armies of the Separatists, but it was hard to recruit good soldiers in these times and even harder to find time to train them.

It was then that the Chancellor offered a garrison of his own Clone Troopers that acted as the defenders of Coruscant to join them. Despite his master's distrust in the clones, Kota needed men to fight at once. So he begrudgingly accepted the offer of the troopers and soon enough, a garrison of at least twelve-hundred cloned soldiers were brought to him from the heart of the Republic. However, when they arrived, they came with an extra solider that Kota quickly grew to respect: Captain Wilhuff Tarkin.

As he nearly completed putting the final pieces together on his lightsabers, a sudden knock on his door broke his concentration and sent his weapons falling to the ground. He quickly put the pieces together by hand before opening the door to reveal his master standing before him. His master was a human like him; who despite his age was very well-built. He had his graying hair tied in a top-knot that kep it from keeping his face and a narrow-pointed beard on his chin. He wore an armored chest piece over his Jedi tunic and kept his lightsaber strapped to his back.

"Why did you keep your door locked, boy?" Kota said with a small laugh "Were you looking at those twi'lek holo-vids again?"

"Oh nothing big master, just trying to attain inner peace with the Force" Marco replied sarcastically "But thank you so much for just barging in and keeping me from doing that—very helpful in my training—Master Yoda would be so proud"

Normally a Padawan would be scolded for speaking to his master in such a tone, but Kota was not like most Jedi. The relationship between the two Jedi was like that of a farther and son, sure Kota could be a little hard at times, but he knew when to pull it back and give his student a chance to breathe and praised him for doing good at his training, saying that the Force was stronger with his Padawan then it was with the Jedi Knight when he was his age. He had even given his student his old Jedi white robes that he had worn in his younger days an adventurous traveler of the stars as a birthday present.

"We're coming out of Hyperspace now, we'll be taking a landing party to Mewni shortly" Kota continued as his voice became more solemn, as if he had something he did not want to say to his student

"Master, is something wrong?" Marco asked

Kota gave a deep sigh before making his way into his padawan's room, closing the door behind him as he did.

"Look Marco…I figured you should hear this from me before you hear it on the news" he began in more hollow voice

Marco's stomach tightened with worried anticipation for what he was about to hear. Kota usually referred to him as 'boy' most of the time and only called him by his name when he was being serious with him.

"What is it, master?" the young Jedi asked in a worried voice

Kota gave another sigh before answering him.

"Master Toffee is dead" he informed him in a saddened tone

The words Marco had just heard hit him like blaster shot through his heart. Jedi Master Toffee was the one who had found Marco as an infant and brought him to the Temple to learn the ways of the Force. It was Toffee who also not only started Marco's training at a young age, but also the one who introduced him to Kota for him to be his Padawan. Marco idolized Toffee as his personal hero and wished to be a great a Jedi as him someday. To hear this news would've emotionally crippled a normal person and while the Padawan was saddened by this, he did not break down.

"He was killed on Mygeeto during an ambush" his master solemnly continued "His body is being taken back to Coruscant to be cremated"

Marco looked away from his master and toward the ground as his mind still tried to comprehend the death of his hero. How could a master of the Force just be killed off in some random ambush so easily? It made no sense to the boy, but he kept his sadness and anger in check with another deep breath.

"I'm sorry Marco" his master said as he put his hand on his shoulder "Look, you can stay up here on the ship with the troops for a bit while Tarkin and I handle all the boring political stuff with the king and queen"

"No, no, I'm fine" Marco assured him "Master Toffee's become one with the Force now, the best we can do for him is keep going and win this war"

Kota gave him an uncertain look, as if he was able to look past his Padawan's words and see that he was hurting on the inside, but if he did, he said nothing on the matter. Instead he only gave his student an understanding nod.

"Spoken like a true Jedi" he said to him with a small smile "Come on boy, lets go meet the locals"

While the rest of army was still inside the cruiser that hovered over Mewni, Marco, Kota and Tarkin headed down to the planet first via dropship in order to speak with the king and queen and discuss where their troops should be placed. It was almost becoming routine at this point with two and their militia: go to a planet, fight some droids, have some friends die along the way, repeat. Marco was becoming so numb to the whole thing that he had started to sink himself further and further into his training and meditation rather then spend time with the members of the militia such as his two friends Alfonzo and Ferguson, thinking that it would be better to stay away from them then be standing over their graves.

Marco had to admit, Mewni was much more beautiful to look at then the past few worlds he had been on. It was a lush, forest world filled huge mountains that seemed to hold up the sky and rivers filled with crystal clear water running through bright green valleys. Despite how breathtaking the scenery was, he knew that this seemingly glorious paradise would soon become a charred battlefield in the coming months.

"Such a beautiful place…" Tarkin said more to himself then to Marco in a hollow voice as they surveyed the surrounding landscape from the dropship "It's a pity that'll it'll no more then dust soon enough"

Captain Tarkin was interesting man to say the least. When he first arrived with the clone garrison, both Kota and Marco didn't know what to think of him. According to his records, he was a solider who had enlisted at a young age to fight in the Clone Wars and quickly rose through the ranks to become a captain while he served under Master Even Piell until his untimely death during a rescue mission at the maximum security prison known as The Citadel. Since then, he had been the head of the Clone Troopers on Coruscant and a favorite of the Chancellor.

Aside from Anakin Skywalker, Tarkin was not well liked among the Jedi Order, who stayed away from him and—for lack of a better word—condemned him. However, the man who was considered to be too cold hearted and violent to work with by the Order found a strange kinship with Kota and his pupil. Like Skywalker, both Jedi had come to the conclusion that their ways of inner serenity had no place on the battlefield and had to separated their beliefs in order to get the job done in the name of democracy—only pulling back when it came to defended the innocent. Tarkin's military prowess and calculating mind bounded well with the guerilla-style fighting that Kota and Marco had used in their campaigns.

Soon the dropship came upon a large and elegantly built castle that overlooked a large village below it, no doubt this was the home of the king and queen of Mewni. After getting clearance to land, the dropship set down on a landing pad that was behind the castle. As the trio stepped out of the dropship, it gave the Padawan a chance to see the castle's beauty up close.

However, his sight-seeing came to an abrupt halt when the rulers of Mewni step out of their magnificent home to greet them. They were of course, walking with two of their guards on each side of them, ready to defend their two with their very lives if need be. The king was a short wide-shaped man with a long blonde beard on his face while his wife was much taller with darker hair and much a slimmer build to her.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Master Jedi" the queen greeted

"The honor is mine, your highness" Kota respectfully replied with a bow of his head before introducing his companions "This my Padawan Marco Diaz and Captain Tarkin"

"Look my dear, his apprentice is no older then our daughter" the King pointed out

"He certain is an adorable one, isn't he?" his wife added on

Marco grimaced at that remark. He hated it when people took one look at him and saw a young boy and not a Jedi in training, but in due time he would show these two that he was not some child. He glanced over to Kota, silently asking him for help, but all his master could do was shrug his shoulders and gave him quizzical look as a way of telling him to just deal with it before turning his attention back to the rulers of Mewni.

"And just where is your daughter, your majesty?" the Jedi Knight inquired

Just then, the group heard the sound a speeder-bike came roaring up to landing pad at top speed with what looked a girl dressed in a bright blue dress and a black helmet riding atop it. The speeder rocketed toward the newcomers at beck-neck speed until came to a sudden stop only a two feet away from where Marco was standing. The rider of the bike climbed off it and removed her helmet to reveal a girl who looked about Marco's age with golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes smiling cheerily at the Padawan.

"Hiya!" she said happily "Sorry if I nearly ran you over. I'm still trying to get used to the breaks on this thing"

"Master Jedi—that would be our daughter, Princess Star Butterfly" the queen deadpanned, clearly embarrassed by her daughter's entrance before looking at her "Star, this is Rahm Kota and Marco Diaz, they are the Jedi that have come to help us"

"Wait—he's a Jedi to?" Star replied before looking the Padawan's way with a smug look on her face "Aren't you a little short to be a Jedi?"

Normally, Macro would be defending his title of a Jedi (and his height) from such an insult right about now, but right now the boy couldn't even make words at the moment. The princess's blonde hair shined like the sun that was bouncing off it. Her blue eyes were as bright as Corillian diamonds and her smile nearly made his heart skip a beat or three. The girl's milk white skin was nearly flawless—except for a little red dot on the side of her forehead.

Wait, hold up—red dot?!

Acting on instinct alone, Marco Force-pushed the princess several feet backwards just as a bolt of blaster struck the ground where she once stood before anyone could say anything about his sudden assault on the girl. The sniper fire made everyone ready themselves for combat or in the case of the king and king; panic and run back into the castle with Tarkin and the royal guards whiled keeping them covered with blaster fire from captain's gun. Marco quickly traced the line of fire from where the blaster was shot to where it was fired from and traced it upwards toward the castle.

Knowing that its cover was blown, a commando droid who was blending in with the many statues along the castle rooftop slowly rose up from its hiding spot and took aim at the Jedi who had ruined its shot. Marco snatched on of his lightsabers from his belt and ignited its purple blade just in time to deflect another blaster shot from the droid's rifle. During this time, Kota had already activated his own lightsaber and already Fore-jumped up to where the droid was and ran toward it while it kept its optics on his Padawan. The machine sensors picked up another being closing in one it and spun around just in time to see a flash of green energy decapitate it.

Just as the droid fell to the ground below in a broken heap, four more machines of the same design rose up from their hiding spots along the castles statues and descend on the Jedi Knight with blasters in their robotic hands. Marco took hold of his second lightsaber with his left hand and activated its purple blade as well before leaping onto the castle's wall to aid his master. The commando droids where on a higher vantage point then the Jedi were on the castle and began to rain blaster fire down on them, Kota and his student deflected the laser shots with their weapons.

Suddenly, two of the droids rushed down to where Marco was as they kept him pined with their firepower. Once they were close enough, they quickly put their rifles away and each took out a vibro-blade that was strapped to their backs and clashed with the boy's lightsabers. Kota made several attempted to assist his student, but the other two droids kept him from going anywhere.

The young Jedi kept pace with the droids swings, which were precise and deadly. They had managed to get on both side of him and he was starting to have to move his arms in two separate directions. In a flash he put the base of his two sabers together and gave a quick twist; interlocking them in the process. Now the Padawan had a saberstaff at his disposal. With his combined weapons, he was able to keep up a better pace with his opponents weapons, for every thrust they threw at him, he parried with great precision.

Soon enough, the Padawan had the droids on the ropes, making them fight defensively now until he managed to slice off the arm of one droid that was hold his vibro-blade with one end of his saberstaff before twirling around and cutting it in half with the other side. The second droid rushed at the young Jedi with its weapons to cut him down. Marco reached out with the Force and crushed the commando droid's head, killing it instantly.

The two droids that where battling Kota split up, while one kept the Jedi Knight pinned down with a barrage of blaster fire, the other jumped off of the castle and down to the ground. Marco saw why it had left it's comrade behind; for hiding behind her speeder-bike was Princess Star. the droid knocked the bike aside and aimed it's blaster at the girl's head, however just before it could squeeze the trigger, the princess suddenly wiped out a blaster pistol and put two well placed shots through the machine's chest.

Marco was stunned to say the least, he had always assumed that royalty would not dirty their hands with such tactics, but the princess of Mewni was clearly unlike any other else of royal descent he had encountered before. About this time, he heard the sound of a lightsaber cutting metal and looked to see his master dispatching the final commando droid.

"I'm getting to old for this shit, boy" Kota mentioned as he deactivated his weapon

Marco switched off his saberstaff and separated the two parts before he and his teacher jumped down to check on the young girl.

"Are you alright, Princess?" the Padawan inquired, despite knowing the answer

"You tell me?" she replied in a matter-of-factly tone before putting another blaster shot through the droid's head

"That was amazing!" Marco cheered "You just dropped that droid with two shots! I've never seen a princess do that!"

"I know my way around a blaster" she informed with a smile "By the way, if your gonna fling like a rag-doll, give me a heads up next time?"

"Oh! Right—sorry about that!" the young Jedi apologized with a small blush and a smile in embarrassment

Kota could feel his Padawan's emotions rise up as he spoke to the girl. In the past few months, he had watched his student become much more sullen and withdrawn from everyone around him. The Jedi Knight knew that the war was taking a toll on Marco on a both a physical and mental level and it filled with relief to see him smile again—something he had not seen on the boy's face for nearly five months now. an idea was staring to form in the old warrior's head.

"Star Butterfly!" her mother's voice rang out in anger as she and the others who found the shelter during fight stepped out once again "that was one the most reckless things you've ever done!"

"Meh, I wouldn't even put it my top twenty—but that's just me" her daughter mused aloud

"This castle is solely lacking in security" Tarkin addressed "Once our troops are stationed, I'll have a small detachment of clones to watch over the royal family"

"We can protect the king and queen just fine" one of guards sharply defended

"Oh yes and you're doing a bang up job so far" the captain remarked with a voiced dipped heavily in sarcasm "You allowed five commando droids to seek onto the castle grounds who nearly killed the princess in doing so. Excellent job gentlemen, you should all be rewarded"

The guard grumbled a few less then kind words about Tarkin under his breath, but was then silenced by a raised hand by the king.

"We'll allow this, Captain" the king answered "But I want a security detail for my daughter at all times for her first and foremost"

Before his daughter could speak up, Kota cut her off.

"I'm way ahead of you, your highness" he began before motioning over to Marco "Which is why my Padawan will watch over your daughter as her personal bodyguard"

"WHAT?!" the two teens shouted in disbelief

"Master—you can't be serious?!" Marco demanded "I should out on the battlefield with you!"

"And I can take care of myself thank you very much!" Star protested

"An excellent idea, Master Jedi!" the queen agreed as the ignored their detests to the idea "Then it is decided—"

"No! It's not decided!" her daughter shouted

"Your student shall protect our daughter" she finished before shooting the girl a glare at her child "And that's final!"

With an irritated huff, the princess stormed off into castle without saying another word. Meanwhile Marco remained outside to have a few choice words with his master on his decision.

"This is ridiculous, master!" he criticized "the princess can protect herself and if she does a security, then just have Tarkin's clones watch her like he said"

"Your right boy, maybe she doesn't need a hero" the Jedi Knight began gently as he put his hand on his shoulder "But what she does need is a friend. I want you to be that friend for not just her sake, but yours as well for yours, do you understand?"

Marco looked back at Star as she walked away, making his heart flutter at the sight of the girl once more. The Jedi forbid their knights to fall and love since it was form of attachment, but this wasn't love—at least that was what he told himself—this was simply interest at a girl who had never encountered before that he didn't have to worry about dieing (at least on the battlefield anyway)

"Very well master, I'll do it" he begrudgingly agreed with a nod "But I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win a war"

With that, the Padawan quickly caught up with the princess who shot a glower to back off—which he did—but only a few feet behind her before continue to follow her into her lavished home.

"I have to agree with the boy, general" Tarkin mentioned "He would be better off on field then protecting a single girl"

"True, but he needs this" Kota countered "That boy has seen and done things that no one his age should ever do, he could use some companionship in his life"

He looked back once more to see his student looking back at his student to catch a quick glimpse him following up the princess into the castle with much more softer look on his face.

"And who knows" the old warrior mused in his mind "Maybe it'll turn out to be much more"

On the far east of the planet there stood another castle that was surrounded by dead and decaying plant life that had been poisoned or harvested in by a powerful war machine with the soul purpose of crushing the ruling class of Mewni and bringing in a new regime. While the castle in the capital was a dark and dilapidated building that held a tyrant who had dreams of dominating the planet and doing away with the ruling class.

His name was Ludo, and not he was rather displeased that his attempted assassination on the royal family today had ended in failure; so much so that he had contacted Count Dooku himself to address his said displeasure to the one who have given him the droids personally. This servants and followers watched as he activated his holo-projector to speak with the head of the Separatists.

"Lord Ludo, what an unexpected surprise" The Sith greeted in a droned tone "I trust my droids pulled off the assassination with little trouble"

"No they didn't! They we're all destroyed by two Jedi!" the small tyrant shouted at the holo-image of the Sith Lord "You assured me that those commando droids would get the job done, Dooku! Now they'll no doubt double their security at the castle!"

The image of Dooku glared back at him with annoyance in his eyes.

"You should be more mindful of your words, Lord Ludo" he advised in calm demeanor

A sudden pressure clamped down on Ludo's throat, making him wheeze and gag for air. The other creatures who served under Ludo's command looked on him horror as their leader was being Force-choked by someone who was on the other end of the galaxy.

"I might take them as an offense" Dooku coldly continued

"D-Duly—Ack!—n-noted sir!" the short warlord

After a few more seconds of strangling the would-be king to get his point across, the count released his invisible hold on him, giving Ludo a chance to catch his breath.

"But yes, the arrival of Rahm Kota and his student may prove hazardous to our conquest" the Sith Lord furthered which is why I'm sending you someone who can deal with them"

Just as he had said that, a tall figure wrapped in a dark cloak stepped into the short tyrant's throne room. Ludo's men fearfully took a step back, already weary of whoever this stranger was. The stranger removed his black hood to face his face to Ludo and his men.

"Allow me to introduce our newest alley in the war against the Republic" the Count announced "The former Jedi Master Toffee"