After about a month or two of working for the emperor of Provincia for passage off the middle age world, Ahsoka Bonteri… or Fulcrum, as she called herself to mask her true identity from her husband's enemies… had finally won the emperor's favor. That's when he decided to grant her request for passage off world. HOWEVER, it wasn't as technologically advanced as the rest of the galaxy would expect and a lot of the flying clipper ship's more advanced functions relied on a trained and authorized Provincian magician to be on that ship. So, she had to have a Provincian escort as well as a crew. Hyper-drive generators didn't exist on Provincia… so it'd be a long trip.
Upon getting on board the ship, Ahsoka could see the crew staring at her as if they'd never seen a woman before. She did her best to ignore them as the first mate approached. He wore red garments with a white trim over his chainmail armor and spoke in a somewhat jolly voice. "Welcome aboard, milady! We're all set to weight the anchor and set the sails whenever you're ready to leave for Rhen Var. That IS where you're going. Am I right?"
Ahsoka nodded her head. "I'm ready," she said. She wanted to make it back to her beloved Lux Bonteri as soon as she could. With that, the captain gave a set of orders and the anchor was weighed shortly before the solar sails were set. The second mate was wearing black clothing with a white trim over chainmail armor as well… even though his helmet looked more Norse than Celtic. As for the Captain… he wore white linen with a black trim over his armor, carried a sword and spear with him, and had the kind of helmet that completely masked his face. The crew, save the cabin boy who was a frail and skinny young boy with a shy attitude, were all made up of fauns… being half human and half goat.
Now, as the voyage began, the faun up in the crow's nest spotted some more advanced ships coming their way and yelled, "Huttese boarding craft approaching on the port side!"
Ahsoka rushed to take a look for herself. She glanced off in the distance and saw he was right. She put her fingers over her lightsaber hilts. But the captain yelled, "Mann the catapults!" He was prepared to put up a fight against the approaching pirates using outdated weaponry. Ahsoka thought this would end badly and shook her head a little. As the two catapults on the port side of the ship began to fire their first round of five boulders each at the boarding craft as it got closer and closer… they missed. The enemy then successfully got onto the ship as more boarding craft were dispatched towards the flying sailboat. Ahsoka wondered who was behind this attack, but immediately ignited her lightsabers and engaged the thuggish brutes that came on board in combat, holding them off well. She sliced some of them with her sabers and pushed some off the ship with the force. Some of the crew began to fight the pirates as well. Meanwhile, the captain took the helm and began steering the ship. Up until then he seemingly failed to notice a black hole at 2 o clock. But in the midst of the battle with the pirates, he was distracted enough to let them end up going a little too close to it for comfort. But as Ahsoka finished up fighting the pirates… it was too late. They found themselves being dragged into the black hole! Despite trying to make the ship lighter by throwing half the cargo off, it was all of no use. The ship and its entire crew were dragged into it!
Ahsoka found herself saying her prayers… and wishing she could have seen her husband just ONE MORE TIME. "Be strong Lux…" She muttered to herself as if she were talking to him. She didn't want him to die and suffer the same fate she thought she was about to endure. She wanted him to go on living. The galaxy needed him. He was a symbol of hope to all those who cared about freedom. Then the last thing she remembered seeing before passing out was a couple of cloaked men who seemed to be using some Provincian magic to try and keep the ship from falling apart, as it went into the black hole….. and out a worm hole, waiting in another corner of the galaxy.
When Ahsoka woke up on a strange planet in an uncharted system, she could sense they were still in their own galaxy. But she couldn't tell where. The ship had been wrecked, but not totaled. The sails were too tattered to be used any more. There also seemed to be some places on the haul of the ship which needed repair. In any event, the surviving crew needed water and provisions… and there was PLENTY of those to go around, from the look of things. Domesticated animals in a herd could be seen grazing in the distance next to a small pond and a cave. There were crops out in the far distance. Obviously they'd been shipwrecked next to a farmer's homestead. The captain looked at the cave, which had a rather large opening to it. While the magicians worked on trying to fix the ship's haul, the crew and the first mate went with Ahsoka to check out the cave to see who owned the herd. "Maybe he would let us trade something of ours for a few of his animals and some of his crop? We need some food."
"One way to find out." Ahsoka said. Her mind was still on the fact that she needed to get back to Lux, but she stayed focused on the task at hand just well enough.
As the party of 10 crewmembers… excluding Ahsoka and the first mate, who was named Urylicus… entered the cave, they found an entire set of very oversize furniture in there. A 20 foot cauldron for cooking, a 42 foot bed, a 28 foot chair… you name it! The technology was ancient, but way oversize and just effective enough. "Judging by the size of this bed and the cauldron, there must be a lot of them," the first mate said.
Ahsoka turned around with widened eyes as the light behind them was blotted out by a looming 40 foot shadow at the entrance of the cave, as she replied… "Or ONE BIG ONE." The creature standing in front of the cave entrance was 40 feet tall, weighed probably 16 tons in mostly muscle, had the body of a Trandoshan but the head and wings of a bizarre carnivorous insect of some sort, and in place of its hands it had spiky drill like cones that ended in a sharp point. It seemed to be huffing and puffing in a fury upon sight of trespassers. It started to stomp up and down and raise its weapon like hands into the air quite aggressively. "Make that one big ANGRY one!" Ahsoka added.
Then as the crew members gazed in horror, the big brute rolled a huge rock door over the entrance… blocking their escape. As one particular faun reached for its bow and arrow, the monster saw what it was doing and fired a beam of magma like lightning at him, from an oddly shaped horn in the middle of his head… which instantly roasted the poor bloke alive. Another faun tried to charge at him with his sword, but quickly got stomped on by the giant's foot. Ahsoka motioned for the others to stand down. They were clearly no match for it like this. "You're not going anywhere, puny little peeps!" It bellowed in a garbled and almost robotic yet mildly thunderous voice as it inched closer. "Who are you?" It asked, looking at Ahsoka.
Ahsoka knew she'd have to think her way out of this one… and save what was left of the crew she came in with. She used her disguise name to introduce herself. "I am called Fulcrum. This is my crew. I'm sorry for intruding, great one. We were only meaning to…"
The giant interrupted and seemed a little calmer. Ahsoka could sense a feeling of grim pleasure in their host as he said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Megalon… and I want to play a game with you. The rules are, make me happy and you live." He then ordered them to drop their weapons. So they did. The monster brushed the pile of weapons into a bag nearby. Where they were dropped. Then he ordered them to start cooking some of his meat. They did so rather hastily, but still did it well. As he ate the first few servings, which Ahsoka served to him while flattering him with somewhat glorifying compliments, he spoke up again. "Good! Good! Make me happy, and you live!" He chuckled then said something rather foreboding. "Hmhmhmhm! For a while, anyway"
Next thing she knew, Ahsoka found herself polishing his drill hands. "There you are, mighty Megalon. Shiny and silver again. " She smiled, despite the growing tensions in her. Admittedly, she was normally called snips by her former master for a reason. But she could be a kiss up, if it meant saving her life.
"Hehehehe!" The monster giggled. "I like YOU, Fulcrum. You make me so happy. You show me such respect! Hehehe! I'll eat you last."
Ahsoka then replied, without losing her friendly and delightful smile, "But we've made you happy. Why not just let us go?"
Megalon answered, "You won't get very far, anyway. There's only one way off this planet. Through an asteroid field… and that's where you'll hear clan of witches called the singing sisters."
"Singing sisters? Now I'm curious. Would you mind telling me about them? If it's no bother to you, of course." Ahsoka leaned her head over to listen to him talk some more.
"Their song drives pilots and solar sailors crazy. Smashes their ships into the rocks!"
Ahsoka's eyes widened. "But why?"
"Who knows? ALL DEAD. Hmhmhmhm! Believe me. You won't get off this planet, even if I let you."
"I see." She crossed her arms then got to her next task. Singing him a lullaby. She picked the one she and Lux would sing to their daughter, Mariah Bonteri, when she was only an infant. Before Megalon allowed himself to start sleeping, though… he put their weapons away in a high spot in the cave and then lied down on his giant bed. But when Ahsoka made sure he was fast asleep… she used the force to grab the weapons and silently give them back to the crew. She ordered them not to risk trying to kill him, though… since there could be more of his kind on this planet who would hear him crying in pain. Then she used the force to remove the barrier from the cave entrance. The 8 crew members and the first mate dashed out… and Ahsoka followed them quickly. Because their exit was just noisy enough to make sure Megalon would wake up!
The bug faced behemoth charged outside as the first mate gave orders to the crew to turn and fight. Ahsoka turned to face the monstrous Megalon as he took off from the ground and started to zoom in on his Beetle like wings towards the crew's position. He flew a lot faster than the faun's goat legs could run away! But as he started to fire a blast of fiery lightning at Ahsoka from his horn. She absorbed the blast by deflecting it away with her paired lightsabers. "Fulcrum! I don't know how you escaped my cave. But you still won't escape me!" Megalon yelled angrily, then he spat out a red hot lava ball at her. She back flipped away from it, just on time.
The first mate told the crew to fire at will with their bows and arrows. "Give him a volley, then fire at will." So, they started shooting back at their gigantic pursuer. The arrows had SOME effect… but not much.
Megalon grunted painfully upon being hit by a few but then his attention turned to the crew. He tried to fire a blast of lightning at them to roast them all in a single spread of deadly heat. But Ahsoka used some of her newly acquired skills, which she had spent so much time away from her family and training on Dagobah to learn, to put a force barrier around every faun left alive. The force fields worked… and the heat ray proved useless. Megalon tried to fire a few magma balls at them, but that failed too. They fired another round of arrows at him. Megalon grunted in pain again, but still didn't die. Then he stopped hovering in the air and planted his feet on the ground rather violently. That's when Ahsoka told everyone else, "Get back to the ship. I'll handle him." Reluctantly, they did as she suggested.
As the crew got back to the ship, the captain gave orders not to leave without Ahsoka. "She's the reason we set sail. We'll see she gets to Rhen Var safely. She's doing her part in saving us so we can do ours in transporting her home," he said.
The monster fired a few magma balls at her. She jumped or rolled out of the way of every one of them. He tried to roast her with his heat ray. But she was too nimble and quick for him to keep up. He started to get annoyed. Then he started to stomp towards her slowly but aggressively. That's when she began to charge up to him. As she was within five feet of him, he tried to stomp on her. But she changed the direction of her charge right on time, as if the force was on her side like never before. After getting out of the way, Ahsoka used on of her sabers to slice his right ankle. He cried out in pain but started to turn around. But by then, Ahsoka had ran up a rock wall, bounced off of it, and stabbed him in the lower back. He cried out again and tried to throw her off by spreading out his wings. It worked, but she immediately caught onto the branch of a nearby tree, swung on it, then flew back at him and stuck a landing on his lower arm. He tried to swat her with his other hand… but she leaped off in time to let the spiky drill wound him by hitting his flesh. By this time, Megalon was just furious! But now she had come to his face! She carefully positioned herself on the crown of his head and cut off the horn which he would use to fire heat rays. The she came around front and slashed her sabers frantically against both his buggy eyes. Now, he was blinded, and wounded enough to the point where he would probably have NO luck chasing her… or anybody else, for that matter. With that, Ahsoka hopped off of him, landed on her feet and turned to see him clawing air as he roared in excruciating pain. But before she ran to rejoin the crew and move on, he heard where she had landed on her feet, turned in that direction, and fired a magma ball at her! But she used the force to stop it in mid-air, and sent it flying back at his face! It went right in his mouth… then she saw smoke fumes come from his maw, after he swallowed it. Then, as if he were unable to take his own medicine, the 'mighty' Megalon let out one last groan, fell backwards, hit the ground so hard that he shook the earth beneath him upon impact… and died right there.
With her enemy vanquished, here… she casually walked back the ship…. which had, by this time, been fully repaired. Upon her return to the ship, they set sail again. Ahsoka was quick to warn them about what Megalon had said about the singing sisters. With that, they all made sure to put wax in their ears. However, Ahsoka was curious to know what their magic spell or enchanted song was like. How did it work? What was the secret that allowed the singing sisters to be so successful in killing everyone who tried to get on or off the planet? The wormhole incident had allowed them to get past the first time very easily. But the trip out would be much less sudden. The Provincian wizards chained Ahsoka to the mast of the ship and disarmed her. No sooner had they done so, Ahsoka started to hear whispers in the atmosphere they were trying to exit as they sailed past the asteroid fields on either side of them.
As the sound grew somewhat louder, Ahsoka's force sensitivity allowed her to know there was danger present. But she could have sworn she heard Lux's voice! It was pleading for her to come closer to one of the asteroids. "Ahsoka! My love! My dearly beloved!" Ahsoka's judgment started to become clouded by her emotions, and she almost forgot about what was REALLY going on. Then the voice continued, "I've been looking everywhere for you. I'm over here! Please come back to me! I've missed you so much!" His voice sounded overjoyed to see her again, but also sad that she'd been gone so long. That tugged at her heartstrings.
Then she heard the voice of her daughter, Mariah. "Mommy! It's been forever since I saw you! Come rejoin us! We're just down here!" Ahsoka's chest tightened. She couldn't stand to listen to this and do nothing… but then she remembered what Megalon said, calmed herself down, and started to mediate.
Instantly upon clearing her mind the sounds she heard changed. Although they kept saying the same things as before, the voices sounded less like her family and more like a clan of nasty old hags that wanted her and her crew to die. Then she looked at the asteroids on either side of the ship and saw the late monster's warning was absolutely true. This wasn't the end of her trip back to her husband and daughter. This was the home territory of a clan of witches. So, for the rest of the ride, she had no further difficulty avoiding temptation.
As they exited the asteroid field, the cabin boy asked her what she heard. She told him, "The voice of my husband and my daughter. Only, it wasn't them."
Then the cabin boy replied, "Oh."
"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Ahsoka asked, to be friendly.
He replied, "Cedric."
"Nice to meet you." She gave a smile and started to keep a conversation going with him. He explained how he lost both his parents at an early enough age that he didn't even remember them. He worked as a cabin boy to survive, and he was very lucky to have that job. But, aside from a few clothes and one or two material possessions, it was ALL he had. Eventually, Ahsoka asked him, "Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to have a family?"
He slowly nodded his head. "It's the only thing I'd trade away my job for." Then he scoffed. "It's just the one thing I want that I'll never have."
Ahsoka felt great sympathy for him. But as he looked down and sighed, she lifted his chin back up and said, "Don't ever lose hope. No matter how dark things seem, there's always a chance of things getting better." Cedric looked up and thanked her. She smiled at him and got a smile from him back.
The next day, the captain said he could see a planet straight ahead after looking through his telescope. Ahsoka recognized it as one of the planets in this galaxy. It was Dantooine. She knew she was on the right track. She then met with the first mate and decided what the best way to get to Rhen Var would be, from here…..