Yes, you're reading this correctly. A Final Fantasy XII and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed crossover. My Brain Buddy, The Giant Daifuku, has influenced me into starting random crossovers of my own—and so I dedicate this chapter to her! I'm a serious Star Wars fan, and I've been waiting so long to do a fan fic about it. I know I've got two other stories in progress right now, but this one has been bugging me. I needed to start writing it. Well, actually, I missed writing Balthier's point of view. See what happens when you write really long stories? You get...bored.

Anyway, reviews are appreciated.

Being dragged along on one of Vaan's pointless hunts was not in the day's plans, nor was getting lost in the Henne Mines.

Balthier peered through the closed gate with a scowl on his face, resting both of his hands on the cold metal. His betelgeuse gun was hanging off of his belts, and the danjuro dagger was carefully placed beside it. Drumming his fingers on the gate, he wondered what would happen if he managed to shoot the thing down. No, Fran would not be happy with him if he got himself blown up. And, besides that point, it wouldn't be right to allow himself to just give up like that when there were still many things left to do.

Help the princess reclaim her throne, cut the ties to his own past, and continue on with his sky pirating life. It all seemed easy, yes, but all the hunts and "treasure hunting" escapades were slowing everything down.

As soon as he found the others, the first thing he was going to do was shoot Vaan. The boy needed to learn a lesson or two about handling hunts and the like.

Frowning, Balthier turned his eyes toward the gate switch at the wall's corner. There were four gates in the room, and the only open one was the one he had just walked through. It seemed far too easy, just flipping the switch and opening one of the gates. Something wasn't right.

Nonetheless, he reached over and grabbed the lever, nearly slamming it against the brick wall. However, the moment the gate to his right began to open, a trap door from above swished opened and a large group of flans fell. Balthier stepped back against one of the gates and reached for his betelgeuse. No—his bullets wouldn't even piece the fiends. The danjuro blade, too, would barely scratch them.

He dug his hand into the pouch on his belt, pulling out a warp mote just as the flans came closer. He prepared to throw it at the fiends, holding it up, but the mote exploded into powder in his hand. Dust clouded his vision, and the next thing Balthier knew, he was being warped to some place of which he knew that he would have no knowledge.

Groggily rubbing his eyes, Balthier pushed himself up from the floor and leaned against the wall. After he dusted the warp mote's powder from his vest, he stumbled out into the larger section of the hall. The first thing he noticed were the countless number of bodies surrounding the area, all wearing similar white armor, though some wore gray suits and caps. There were burn marks across their bodies, though from what Balthier couldn't tell. Some of them had even lost their heads, he noted with a grimace.

He turned around, taking slow steps, but as soon as his body moved he was face-to-face with a young man holding a glowing blade of red. His eyes were strikingly dark, and his armor was torn and clotted with dirt. He raised the glowing blade behind him, preparing to strike Balthier down. A voice coming from the comm-link around his wrist stole his attention from the sky pirate.

"Eclipse to Starkiller. Any success in the mission?"

The young man scowled. "Kota's gone," he murmured, "and I'm on my way to the ship."

"I'll prepare us for take-off, then."

The comm-link turned itself off, and Starkiller turned his narrowed eyes back to Balthier. However, the sky pirate held in his hands one of the pistols that had belonged to the unfortunate soldier at their feet, and aimed it at Starkiller's face.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Balthier demanded.

Starkiller only stared at him, the glowing blade held at his side. "I don't have time for this."

"Neither do I. Though it would be helpful if you were to tell me at least what area this is in Ivalice. I can find my way back to my ship on my own, then." There was a pause between the two of them, apart from the constant whirring of what appeared to be a ship. "This...is Ivalice, isn't it?"

"No, this is above the planet Nar Shaddaa. A TIE factory?"

Balthier squinted. "You're talking nonsense..."

"I could say the same to you."

The comm-link on his wrist started up again. "Starkiller. Where are you?"

The man-in-question rolled his eyes. "I'm held up at the moment," he snapped. "Any problems with the ship?"

"You didn't rig this place to self-destruct, by any chance, did you?"

"I did. Why?"

The woman made a scoffing sound. "You better get back here quickly, then."

Starkiller turned off the comm-link—permanently—and gazed at Balthier once more. The sky pirate still held the pistol at the ready, and with another roll of his eyes, the young man shut off his glowing blade, turned around, and proceeded to walk away. Balthier, though cautious, followed him.

"Self-destruct?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "I do hope you have means to escape, boy. It would be a tragedy if I were to die here."

"Well, then I guess this'll be tragic," Starkiller spat. Judging by the way he clenched the hilt of his deactivated blade, he wasn't too pleased with the way things had turned out.

"I think not. I need transport off this...place and back to my world."

The young man said nothing, and only continued on his fast-pace toward what Balthier believed to be the docking bay of the factory. As they went on, it seemed as if Starkiller was trying to do all he could to get rid of the sky pirate without killing him as he tried to do before, but all attempts were unsuccessful. At last they reached Starkiller's ship, the Rogue Shadow, and in the control room of the ship a woman, giving the two men a confused look, stood.

The two boarded the ship, and the moment Starkiller walked into the control room, the woman moved in front of him and blocked his path. She wore a jumpsuit uniform with a cap covering her blonde hair, though her shirt was particularly low-cut. She must have been the pilot of the ship, obviously. Her narrowed golden eyes found their way to Starkiller's face after looking in Balthier's direction.

"A man?" she asked, her accent sounding much like Balthier's. "Starkiller, I thought your orders were to—"

"Leave none alive," Starkiller cut off, scowling. "Yeah, I know. This guy just followed me when—"

"There's no time. We've got to leave before this place blows up!" She turned toward Balthier and pushed him into one of the seats behind the controls. "Stay seated and don't say a word. We'll figure out what to do with you once we're out of here."

As soon as the woman regained the controls, the doors behind the ship opened, revealing an endless sight of...space? Balthier nearly stood up from his seat when we saw the vast area before him, but one stern look from the woman changed his mind. The Rogue Shadow soared out of the factory seconds before it burst apart, and then the ship jumped into a faster speed, the stars becoming lines across the sky.

Balthier leaned against the back of his seat, shutting his eyes until he felt someone grab the front of his vest and pull him up. It was Starkiller, of course.

"Who are you and where are you from?"

The sky pirate, still slightly dizzy, tried to look him in the eyes. "Haven't I told you? I'm from Ivalice, and my name is Balthier."

"Starkiller, let the man go," the woman interjected, standing beside them with her hands on her hips. The young man released his grip on Balthier, turning away.

"If he's caught, he won't be the only one getting killed."

"Then he won't get caught." She looked at Balthier, eying him. "Now, Balthier, was it? If we're going to somehow manage to not get ourselves killed due to this mishap, then you're going to have to do as I say. I'm Juno, by the way. Juno Eclipse."

Balthier waved a hand at her, resting against the side of the chair. "Pleasure."

"As soon as we return to Vader's ship, you and I will stay here on the Rogue Shadow. Starkiller will get his next mission, and then we'll be on our way. As long as we can keep you out of Vader's sight until we can drop you off somewhere, then I think we'll do all right."

"And I'm to believe that all I can do now is follow the two of you, instead of searching for a way back to my world?" Balthier crossed his arms. "Listen here, darling. I do not care about whatever yourself and this killer of stars have to do. All I want is to wake up from this dream, and return to where my leading lady is waiting. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must take my leave."

He brushed past Juno, heading down the hall. Starkiller grasped his arm and pulled him back, where his fist ultimately came in contact with the sky pirate's neck. Balthier's muscles gave out, and he collapsed into the young man's reluctant arms. His vision began to cloud as he heard the two speak.

"This is getting out of hand," Starkiller murmured, draping one of Balthier's arms around his shoulders.

Juno sounded concerned. "You aren't thinking of turning him in to Vader, are you?" she asked. "You may be his spy, or apprentice, or whatever—but we can't leave a man, who is obviously lost, out here on his own. It's not right."

"Then if he's caught, it'll be your head that falls."

"Fine by me."

Her footsteps faded away when she left, and all Balthier could hear as he drifted to sleep was the quiet cursing from Starkiller.

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