A/N: Well, since no one bothered to review my other stories, I thought I'd try something new and see if it gets any response. This is a different style of writing than either of my other two stories. I think I like this style better, actually. I have a long storyline planned out for this character, one that goes well beyond just this game. We'll just have to see how it turns out. If you like it, tell me, otherwise you most likely see anything besides the game. Please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or Sandman.
Star Wars: Reincarnations of the Old Republic
Prologue
Death is an interesting experience. Well, mine was, at least. I really can't say what it's like for anyone else. I expected something along the lines of heaven, hell, oblivion, etc. Something I definetly didn't expect was to be looking down at my own dead body.
And the cause of death? Something else I wasn't expecting. I was walking home from college… Oh, I guess I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? My name's Alec Griffith. I'm about 5'9" with dark red shoulder-length hair and ice blue eyes. Up until the, shall we say, unfortunate incident, I was a 21 year old college senior. My car was in the shop, hence the walking home. Back to the story, then.
I was walking home, which luckily wasn't that far from the school. The route included an empty field that probably hasn't been used for anything in over 5 years. It was dark and cloudy, and I knew that a storm was coming, so I was trying to get home as quick as I could. Alas, it was not to be. I was walking through the field when the thunder started. I quickly hightailed it, not wanting to be caught in an open area if there was going to be a thunderstorm. I guess God, or whoever, didn't care, since at that very moment I was struck by lightning. I mean, come on, what are the odds? Anyway, that brings me to where I am now, some sort of ghost or spirit, staring down at my own fried body. I guess I'm taking this pretty well, aren't I? I can't explain it either, I just don't seem as upset as I should be.
"There's good reason for that, you know," I heard a voice say.
I turned around and saw the speaker. She looked to be a normal, if very pale, teenage girl. She had black hair and wore a black tank top and jeans. An Egyptian ankh was hanging from her necklace.
"So who would you be?" I asked.
"Oh, I already think you know the answer to that, but to keep things simple, call me Didi," she replied.
She was right, I did know who she was, or at least I think I did. "Alright, so what next?" I wondered.
"Well, like I said, you have a good reason for not being too upset about dying. That's because, unlike most people, you're a little different."
I raised an eyebrow. "And exactly how is that? No matter how 'different' I am, dead is dead."
"Right, for most people. But you're kinda special. There's no way you would know this, but you're actually a reincarnated soul," she informed me.
I was understandably shocked by this revelation. Didi continued talking, seeing that I was unable to.
"It's strange, really. The person you're the reincarnation of isn't from this dimension. I think this is the first time it's happened this way. I'll have to ask my older brother about it," she reflected. "Anyway, your so-called 'death' here gives me the chance to offer you a choice, something I normally don't do."
Finally coming out of my daze, I warily asked, "What kind of choice?"
"You have two options. First of all, you can stay dead, and take your chances with what comes next. Before you ask," Didi added, "I can't tell you what that is. Your second choice," a blue portal opened beside her, "Is to step through here. This leads to the dimension where your previous incarnation lived."
Naturally, not really thinking it through, I moved in the direction of the portal.
"One more thing you ought to know," Didi warned. "If you choose the portal, you're effectively rejecting death. You have to understand that this means never being able to die. No matter how much you might later come to want to."
To a simple guy like myself, this sounded like a great deal. Never dying? That's like the wish of every person on Earth, and it could happen to me? It's no choice at all. Plus, I'm somewhat of a sci-fi fan, so this appeals to that part of me as well. "I want to see what's through there," I pointed at the portal. Ah, how little I knew.
"Alrighty. Hope you don't come to regret it. As a last gift, if you will, I'm going to help you out a little. Once you're back in that dimension, you might begin to remember some things from your past life. Since they speak many different languages there, I'm going to unlock a few of your memories right now. Only the language ones, though."
Didi came up to me and motioned for me to lean down. When I did, she softly kissed my forehead. Even knowing who she was, I still blushed slightly.
"Well, there you go," she said, stepping back.
I walked up to the portal. Before entering it, I said, "I really don't know what to say right now, so I'll settle for 'see you later.'"
I stepped through. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was, "Will you? I guess we'll see."
Chapter One
I woke up to find someone shaking me. I looked up at the person and saw it was a woman a few years older than me. She had blue-gray eyes and long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She was actually quite pretty.
I groaned and slowly stood up. I looked at myself and saw I was wearing the same outfit I had on before my death earlier: my red leather duster over a gray shirt and black jeans.
I turned back to the woman. "Uh, hi?" I said. She looked unamused.
"Care to tell me how you just fell out of a pool of light?"
"It's a long story, and you probably wouldn't believe it," I told her.
She raised an eyebrow. "I was a smuggler before I was asked to join this mission; I've seen some pretty strange things. Try me."
"If you insist, but don't say I didn't warn you." I don't know why, but I trusted her, so I proceeded to tell her the events that happened to me earlier.
"That's pretty unbelievable," she said after a while.
"Yeah, well, you asked," I muttered.
She shook her head. "I didn't say I didn't believe you. For some reason, I do. I think you're telling the truth, as far-fetched as it sounds."
"Huh. Alright then," I said, amazed that she didn't think I was certifiable. "You know, I don't even know your name," I remarked.
"Oh, it's Aryn," she said.
"I'm Alec," I told her. "So, since you believe my story, do you mind filling me in on where we are, what's going on, you know, little things like that?"
I listened as she explained everything to me. Apparently I was on an actual spaceship near the planet Taris, in a galaxy rife with populated star systems. They call it the Galactic Republic. I can't explain how cool that is to me. Unfortunately, the galaxy is in a sort of civil war. A former Jedi (somewhat like warrior monks, from what I understand) has taken control of a lot of the republic's men and ships and turned them against the republic. Malak, that's his name, has fallen to the dark side of the Force (an energy that sounds something like chi) and become a Sith Lord. He controls a huge fleet and also has an army of Dark Jedi under his command. Malak used to have a master named Revan, but he turned on Revan, who was apparently killed. The ship we were on, the Endar Spire, was carrying a Jedi Padawan (another word for apprentice) named Bastila, who was integral to the war.
"That's interesting," I murmured.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Aryn said. She pointed to a backpack on the ground. "That fell out of the portal with you."
The hell? It wasn't my backpack, that was still (probably) back with my dead body. I bent down and noticed a note stuck to it. It read "Don't open later. You'll know when." Must be from Didi.
"Whatever," I said, dropping the note.
Suddenly the ship jerked.
"What the hell was that!" I shouted.
"I think we were hit by something," Aryn replied.
The room's door opened to reveal a blonde man in a uniform, named Trask. He explained that the Sith were attacking the ship. Some had boarded, apparently looking for Bastila.
"Spectacular," I muttered. He turned to me.
"Who are you, anyway?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter, let's just go!" Aryn interrupted. She pulled out a sword. "Here, hope you know how to use one," she said to me, handing the weapon over.
I took it and went through a slow kata. Huh, when did I learn that? Must be one of those recovered memories.
Before leaving the room, I put on the backpack. The three of us then fought our way to the Spire's bridge. For some reason, I did fairly well, and by that I mean not getting slaughtered like a lamb. Once again, I must assume that some of my past self's memories involving fighting are ingraining themselves in my mind, since I know I never took any sort of martial arts lessons. We came into contact with the ship's captain, a republic commander named Carth Onasi. He advised us to make for the escape pods, seeing as the ship was about to go down. Our plan did have one hitch. We were about to leave the bridge when we were ambushed by a Dark Jedi. We stood no chance against him and his lightsaber. Trask, brave man that he is, sacrificed himself to hold the Sith off while Aryn and I escaped. I'll be sure to toast his memory after this is over. I don't know why I'm not more upset about Trask's death. My past self must have seen a lot of people die, I guess. After a short trip through the starboard section of the ship, complete with programming a droid and hacking (which they call "slicing") a computer, we arrived at the escape pods. I got my first look at Carth. He was unshaven and had short brown hair. He wore a brown jacket with black pants and boots.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, upon seeing me.
"We don't have time right now!" I shouted. "I'll explain everything when we're safe!"
After Carth's reluctant agreement, we piled into the last escape pod. That old saying, "Three's a crowd"? This is what it really means. I was the first one in, followed by Aryn, then Carth at the end. It was pretty embarrassing; I was shoved against a wall and Aryn was pressed up against me. When I accidentally caught her eye, we both blushed and quickly looked away.
"Uh oh, this doesn't look good," Carth announced.
"What's the problem?" Aryn asked.
"It looks like we're in for a rough landing," Carth answered as we broke Taris' atmosphere. Everything went black soon after.