CYOA - The Voluntold Chronicles

by Abyssal Angel

Choose Your Own Adventures usually imply a choice, right? Not so much here. RNG controls the location, and our Test Subject has a week to prepare for each jump. Will he survive? Or will the multiverse claim yet another victim? DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

4. Chapter 4 - Star Wars Episode I

When the blackness faded next, it was to the sight of two robed figures staring at me.

"Uh... hello?" I said, mentally cursing myself for not wearing my armor instead of my regular clothes.

"Who are you and how did you get aboard this vessel?" one of the men said, while both of them lowered their hoods in tandem.

I blinked in shock at the sight of Qui Gon Jinn and padawan Obi Wan Kenobi, my mouth falling open slightly. "Oh buck me..." I whispered.

"My master asked you a question," Obi wan spoke up, his hand inching towards his waist.

I raised my hands in surrender. "I got selected by some kind of system to get placed into new... universes for lack of a better term, every week. I didn't choose this, and I can tell you right now, I do NOT want to be here. Not without some kind of super powers anyway..."

"Peace Obiwan," Quigon spoke, "He's telling the truth. Unbelievable though it may seem."

"Yes Master." Obiwan stated, his hand going back to a resting position.

"I am Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and this is my Padawan Obiwan Kenobi. Might we know your name, traveller?" Qui Gon asked.

"My name is Matthew, and um... this is going to sound weird, but... You two aren't heading towards a diplomatic meeting with the trade federation about a blockade are you?" I asked, hoping and praying I was wrong.

"We are actually." Quigon answered.

"Buck me sideways!" I cursed, thinking aloud, "I would have to end up showing here now wouldn't I?" I said, mentally cursing the blasted system I was stuck in.

"Is there a problem?" Quigon asked.

"Yeah, but unless we've got an hour or two till we get there, I won't have enough time to explain it." I answered.

Quigon shook his head. "We were actually just about to step out of the airlock. We're already on the Viceroy's ship when you appeared."

"BUCK!" I cursed, thinking quickly, "Ok, quick, do you guys have a device that'll allow me to survive poisonous gas for an extended period of time?"

Quigon's eyes searched my face before they hardened and he nodded, "Padawan, go get an extra rebreather for our friend."

Obiwan looked over to Quigon and their eyes seemed to convey a whole conversation in a few seconds, before Obiwan left the room.

"I take it negotiations are going to fail then?" Quigon asked me.

I shook my head, "More like they're not even going to begin. They'll guide you to a room, gas it, and continue on with their invasion plans while they send droids to make sure the gas killed you. When that ultimately fails, you'll fight your way to the bridge, where they'll close the blast doors, and while you're trying to cut your way through, they'll call up destroyers with shield generators to fight you, prompting you to flee to get to the surface and save the Queen. On the way you'll run into a Gungan that I really don't like, but is unfortunately a big key in dealing with this situation decisively. You'll need an in with the Gungans and unfortunately he's the best way for it."

Quigon nodded as Obiwan came back with a rebreather that I stuck inside one of my pockets, and an extra brown robe for me to throw on over my clothes and effects.

"Come Obiwan. It seems our friends in the Trade Federation aren't interested in negotiations. We'll split off at an opportune moment and make our way to the surface." Quigon told him, though I think he spoke up more for my benefit.

"Yes Master," Obiwan said.

The two turned and headed towards the ramp, Quigon saying to me, "Follow us, but keep silent and behind us at all times."

"Understood." I agreed, falling into step with them. I wanted to change into my armor at this point, but I realized that'd probably not be a good idea at the moment, since they're supposed to be a diplomatic team, and having someone in armor along with them would be a faux pas.

Following the two down the ramp, we were lead by a droid into the ship itself. By an unseen signal, Quigon raised his hand and caused the droid to drop. Immediately the two ran down an adjacent hallway and I followed, running hard to keep up.

Eventually we got into the bowels of the ship, and the two paused while I caught up.

"We'll need to double our way around to get to the droid docks. I'm sure by this point our ship is compromised." Quigon stated.

"Do we have a few minutes to spare?" I asked.

Quigon nodded. I immediately pulled off my backpack and started stripping my clothes as quickly and methodically as possible, trading them for the undermesh and armor of the UNSC marines. hooking my assault rifle and shotgun to my back and shoving my clothes into the backpack, I slung it back on and took my pistol in hand. "Ready to go." I said.

The other two nodded and we carefully snuck through the ship. Considering the loud report of a gun would be very audible, I kept behind them and hoped that the soft hum of any lightsaber use wouldn't register.

Luckily, or by the Force as is the case, we didn't run into anything, and we ended up in the droid hanger.

"You were right, my friend. It appears they are preparing to invade." Quigon said.

"We need to warn the Queen, "Obiwan said.

"You're right. Time is running short." Quigon said.

Keeping particularly quiet, the three of us snuck onto one of the transports being lucky to be able to stick together.

Once we were on the ship, I marveled as the very slightest shudder went through the lander, and it began to dawn on me that I'm in space. Space! I felt slightly giddy at the thought. Maybe I'll be able to actually see the stars when we get off this planet and see the tunnel of Hyperspace form!

We were in the lander for a while before Quigon moved and I followed him out, dogging his heels as we slipped through the trees. Unfortunately some droids spotted us and gave chase. Still, I stuck to Quigon like glue, but we got separated from Obiwan.

Quigon ended up taking down the droid with deflected blaster fire. I didn't trust to be able to hit the thing going at that speed, nor did I want to waste ammo, so I didn't fire.

Eventually we did, unfortunately, run into Jar Jar and reunite with Obiwan. For the most part, I just stayed quiet and followed along when Jar Jar offered to take us to Gungan City. Luckily with the third rebreather, I was able to follow along, and though it was a pain to keep my eyes open, I forced myself to and followed after into the rather amazing underwater city. Not quite Atlantis, but it's still quite the sight.

As in the movie, we ended up negotiating for a Bongo Submarine, Quigon called in the life debt to save Jar Jar, and we were off. I sat back and tried to ignore Jar Jar screaming in my ear as we were chased by giant fish. I couldn't help but snort at Quigon's 'There's always a bigger fish' comment, to which he grinned back at me while Obiwan subtly rolled his eyes.

The four of us then entered Theed and got out of the sub before it got swept away. We snuck along until we found the Queen, and I felt rather like a third wheel, or fourth if you count Jar Jar, as the two Jedi did most of the work in getting us out. We eventually ended up on the Nubian Cruiser, blasted past the blockade while sustaining damage that R2D2 were able to get us out of, and we went to Hyperspace.

Now enroute to Tatooine thanks to the damage, I went and found a room that I could relax in and sank to the ground, leaning against the wall with a sigh.

Thus Quigon and Obiwan found me like that about half an hour later, just resting and trying to recover from the utter insanity of everything we'd gone through.

"Are you alright my friend?" Quigon asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. Not quite as exciting as getting chased by a Leviathan, but that wasn't nearly as drawn out as this adventure was. It's nice to finally have a break."

Quigon nodded and settled into a cross legged stance in front of me and seemed to settle into meditation. I looked over at Obiwan curiously, wondering if he'd do the same. Obiwan did settle in, but instead of going into a meditation, he said, "Now that we have a few hours to spare, my master and I would appreciate if you'd tell us more about how you knew what was going to happen. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a Jedi with a power of foresight even greater than Master Yoda's."

I shook my head. "Nothing like that. Before I ended up getting caught up in this whole business of getting transported to a new universe every week, I was just a regular guy who liked reading, watching movies, and playing video games. I... think that translates over to you guys with holovids and... hologames?"

Obiwan nodded, and I continued, "Well, where I'm from, there's a 7 movie series called Star Wars, the very first movie of which, or at least, the first movie chronologically starts out with you two going to meet the Viceroys for negotiations and things obviously don't go to plan. For the most part, up till now, things have pretty much followed the standard for the movie, so I guess you could say that I know A future, the most likely future that would've happened if I hadn't shown up."

"Do you know the Trade Federation's reason for this blockade?" Obiwan asked.

I bit my lip and nodded, "Yeah... but you're not gonna like it. And quite frankly, I'm not sure how much to tell either of you. The way things went in the original movies... Things turned out really horrific, but in the end, a lot of things were better too. And, well... what I tell you, taken to its logical conclusion that you two would probably try to stop it, might not actually be the best for the galaxy as a whole."

I stopped and sighed. "I really hate being in this position, of looking at the big picture and trying to decide what could be better and what could be worse depending on how I interfere, or whether I even should interfere. It'd be so much easier if I had the ability to just solve the problems myself, but life is never that easy..."

"It rarely ever is," Quigon spoke up knowingly. "I feel in this case it might be best if you listen to your heart and let it guide you as best you can. Whether things end up worse or better is up to the will of the Force. Attempting to control fate, when it is at its core, uncontrollable, will only lead you to ruin."

I nodded and sighed, "Fair enough... I don't know if it's that easy, but this is a little over my head, and I'll only be here a week, so as long as I don't die in that time, I should be ok for the most part. Begging your pardon though, I don't think I can trust the Force in this instance. One of the biggest problems you're currently facing is one of the worst Dark Lords of the Sith in the known history of this universe."

Quigon frowned, while Obiwan's eyes widened. "That is troubling news indeed. But why would that preclude you from trusting the Force?"

"Well," I said, "To put it simply? The dark lord, Darth Sidious, is infecting the Force itself with his presence, encroaching everything in shadow, obscuring all Jedi's sight of the future, infecting certain Force sensitive's with false glimpses of the future, prompting them to act in ways that lead them closer to the dark, and worse, using the very way you wield the Force against you. Jedi infuse their very beings with the Force and let it guide them. Since you're taking in the Force entirely, you're also taking in his Dark influence, and it's infecting every Jedi, slowly but surely. Soon enough, it won't be long before the Jedi are doing things that are morally questionable, driving away many prominent members of the Jedi and straight into the hands of Sidious, Dooku being the most infamous example of that, and ultimately leading to an attempted assassination by Jedi against a high ranking political official, that no matter which way you look at it, will end up with a HUGE public backlash against the Jedi whether it succeeds or fails, and an enterprising Dark Lord can spin the situation to make the Jedi public enemy number one and authorize the hunting down and destruction of all Jedi everywhere, but the worst part?"

"What could possibly be worse?!" Obiwan asked, visibly aghast at the bleak future I'd painted.

"The worst part is that all this may very well be the will of the Force. There's a prophecy that the chosen one will bring balance to the Force. But the thing is, what is balance? In this day and age when the darkside chokes everything and infects the minds of the Jedi as well, many have argued that true balance is impossible to achieve without the destruction of both the Jedi AND the Sith, causing the whole thing to start over, which the Chosen One does ultimately achieve in the end, and we're on our way to meet said Chosen One right now."

Silence met my pronouncement. After a few minutes, Quigon stated, "I need to meditate upon this."

"Master..." Obiwan said, "If the Force itself is tainted..."

"I know, Obiwan. I feel the truth of his words. I will meditate and glean what I can using both the Force, and my own mind to decide what is right in this instance." Quigon said firmly.

"If it helps," I offered, "I don't know if this is a thing, but it stands to reason if Sidious can infuse the Force with his presence, then there might be a way for a Jedi to do the same, creating a pocket of the lightside of the Force, free of his presence. Maybe such a technique might be available in the Jedi archives or in one of the secret enclaves of the Jedi that no one but a Jedi should know about? Unless Sidious' reach is so vast that he's already wiped out any mention of either to prevent such a thing from happening. I'd imagine if there were such a thing, having the light side of the Force infuse an area would be like casting a light over a dark area, and he would end up being thrown into sharp relief, no longer hidden, and I'm sure that's the last thing he wants."

"Do you know who Darth Sidious is?" Quigon asked.

"I do," I said nodding, "Which... I guess it doesn't matter if I tell you or not. He'd probably pick it out of my head that I know the instant we get to Coruscant, so it'd probably be best if we got to the Jedi Temple and rallied the masters to take the guy down. As it is, he's powerful enough to take on either Mace Windu or Yoda by themselves and win."

"Who then?" Quigon asked.

"The Senator for Naboo. Cos Palpatine." I answered.

Quigon frowned. "Do you know his motive in having his own planet put under blockade?"

I nodded, "It's to force the Queen Amidala into a position where she is desperate. Ultimately, he's aiming to become Chancellor, and normally, when Amidala gets to Coruscant, Palpatine would convince her that the senate can't do anything and that a vote of no confidence for the current Chancellor is called by the Queen. Desperate, she would do it, it would go through, and using the sympathy garnered by the current situation, Palpatine will ascend to become Chancellor, and conveniently be as tied in being able to help in the situation as the previous Chancellor was. Amidala will then go back to Naboo, enlist the Gungans to serve as a distraction for the Droid Army while a number of hot shot pilots and the Chosen One himself go up and destroy the control ship for the army, thus neutering the Trade Federation blockade. Granted, the Chosen One going up wasn't intentional, but in this case, it's probably safe to say it's the will of the Force, all things considered. After Palpatine becomes Chancellor, he plans to orchestrate things to cause a rift in the Republic. By this point, the Jedi Dooku would be fed up with the Jedi's lack of action in taking a more active role in finding the Dark Lord of the Sith and would break away from the Jedi, and with the help of his friend Palpatine, would resume the role of Count of his home system, then become the figurehead of a breakaway faction in the Republic that are dissatisfied with the current government. Of course, Palpatine would have his hands tied, or so he would claim to Dooku. Granted I doubt he'd fall for it for long, but then, by this point, Palpatine would've poisoned him enough to turn him over to the Dark Side and cause him to become Darth Tyrannous, his new apprentice after Obi Wan here slays his current one in a fit of righteous anger over the death of his own master. Obi Wan would then go on to take on the Chosen One as his padawan as your dying wish, which, while the two would draw close like brothers, would ultimately infect their bond, not just by Palpatine, but by the underlying resentment between the two for how the two ended up together in a training bond in the first place."

Quigon nodded and stood up. "I fear I will need a break before I can hear anymore. I need to process everything you have told me and meditate before I can come to a decision about any of this. Obiwan, come with me please."

Obiwan nodded, looking a bit shell shocked and numb, as the two got up and left the room. I sighed, wondering if I did the right thing, but decided ultimately it was out of my hands now. More importantly, I need to figure out what I can do in a week being stuck alongside these guys that'll help me survive in the future.

Of course, it'd be nice to get my hands on a blaster. Not exactly sure on the ammo count bit, but the fact they fire slower than a bullet and are easily visible makes them terrible weapons. Their sheer lethality against armor and the possibility that an energy cell for one could possibly last for a long time would at least make it an excellent hold out weapon. Not to mention they're at least quieter than a gun, but that's not saying much.

A lightsaber might be nice, but I'm not sure where I'd get one of those. Lifting one off of a Jedi just before I disappear would be a super jerk move, and trying to get one from Maul would be tantamount to suicide. Although...

As I considered plans for what to do in the future, time passed, slowly but surely. Eventually we did end up on Tatooine. I saw the group off the ship, the same crew leaving, though Quigon seemed more... grim than usual, and Obiwan a lot more worried, though he did an admirable job of hiding it when he thought no one was looking.

Just before they left, I pulled Quigon aside and told him, "Trust me. If you do nothing else, free them both. It doesn't matter how, just be aware that you need to free them both."

"Free who?" Quigon asked intently.

"The boy and his mother." I answered simply.

Quigon's lips thinned, but after a moment, he just nodded and the group left. I'm still not sure what the heck Jar Jar was thinking joining them on a desert planet when he's clearly aquatic and used to a temperate zone at best, a jungle at worst. I'm not about to stop him though. In movie or real life, Jar Jar Binks is incredibly annoying. Not gonna wish death on the guy, but I will curse George Lucas to the end of time for sticking him into the story.

A day passed. I spent my time keeping busy playing with a Nubian blaster I got my hands on. It's small, silver, and reminds me of one of those cheesy 60's alien blasters. A few questions placed to the crew and I learned that I had my hands on a ELG-3A blaster pistol, mostly known as a hold out weapon, but still pretty useful for its discreet size, stun setting, capability of blasting the head off of most droids, and 500 shot capacity. Evidently the silver model I found came standard issue on nearly all Nubian security ships and in their forces.

Not to stand out more than I already did though, I ended up having to find Obiwan to ask how one reloaded the thing, or if it was just a use and lose weapon once you exhausted its power supply. What followed was a confusing mass of technical details that only after I asked him to boil it down did it become understandable.

Evidently nearly all blasters come with a gas cartridge and energy cells. The gas cartridge is standardized to have a 500 shot capacity, and each energy cell charges the gas up to fifty times, meaning 50 shots per energy cell. So you can run through 10 energy cells before you'd have to replace the gas cartridge. Considering the small size of both this 'diplomatic blaster', the energy cells, and the gas cartridges themselves, I could probably carry a hundred of the things and have ammo to spare for years, all in the space of just one of my cargo pockets.

Unfortunately, my conscience wouldn't let me just steal one unless it was for an immediate use emergency. Still I needed something that would work for me considering the worlds I may end up visiting in the future. Luckily it seems Obiwan was an understanding sort and after an explanation of why I needed it, he not only helped me to keep the blaster I had, but got me a spare, plus a huge chunk of gas cartridges and power cells to carry on my person. I couldn't thank him enough for that and spent a good amount of time familiarizing myself with my new weapon. While it's not the most ergonomic thing ever, I figured retooling the outer casing to fit in my hand better would work, and it wasn't even that hard either. Evidently most ships have a microprocessor in what amounts to their garage/tinker room or whatever you want to call it. Soon enough I had both matte black and looking more like my original glock, though more tailored to fit my hands comfortably. I kinda wish I could take the micro processor with me, but considering it's the size of a large table... Yeah, not happening.

Eventually a delivery came to replace/repair the hyperdrive for the nubian cruiser, and I did my best to help with that... Which was primarily staying out of the way and just watching seeing as their technology base was so out of my league at this point, I'd do more harm than good with my lack of knowledge on the basics of how much of anything worked in this universe, tech wise. I'm lucky enough the microprocessor was so user friendly, and even then I STILL needed Obiwan to walk me through it.

Of course, it doesn't help at all that none of the writing these guys use is in English. It occurred to me then that galactic basic and english should probably not sound the same. Is there some kind of universal translation going on? I can only begin to guess at this point.

Eventually the Hyperdrive was fitted and fixed, and I stuck to Obiwan to keep track of Quigon's ETA. After I determined they were a mile out, and learned that Quigon had pulled through and gotten Anikan's mother released as well, I went outside to wait, my heart pounding in my chest as I readied to try and enact one of the few plans I could think of to change things near immediately.

Eventually I spotted a speck in the distance, and I used my borrowed electronic binoculars to zoom in on it. Coming into focus through the device, I could see that it's Anakin, Quigon, Shmi, Padme, and Jar Jar. Anakin and and Quigon were lagging slightly though, due to the kid's small size, and Shmi was partly between the four, wanting to stay near her son, which is understandable.

Making my way towards the group, I pulled out my shotgun and kept my eyes peeled around on the horizon.

Then, partway to the group, I spotted another speck in the distance. I broke into a jog, forcing myself not to grip too tightly on my gun as my heart pounded and I kept looking between the group I'm heading towards, and the black dot that is slowly but surely getting bigger, swiftly becoming a speeder bike with a black robed figure on it, on an intercept course to the group.

I watched as the speeder bike veered slightly to come in from behind and I narrowed my eyes as I tracked it. The front of the group passed me and I told them they need to double time it to the ship now. I could tell they were tired, but I think they sensed the urgency in my voice because they picked up the pace.

I glanced over at Quigon, and he nodded, his face grim as we continued towards the ship at the same pace as Anakin while the rest hurried on board.

Any moment now...

Any moment...

Abruptly, Quigon turned around and yelled, "Anakin! Drop!"

I turned around as well, back pedaling to the side as I lead the shot and with the adrenaline going in me, time seemed to almost slow down.

Almost... almost... there!

I fired a shot, and Darth Maul leapt off his bike early, activating his lightsaber along with Quigon, who met his blade.

Chambering the next round, I fired again, and Maul broke off from Quigon and blazed his lightsaber around.

Unfortunately for him, Jedi reflexes don't make him fast enough to catch buckshot traveling at well over the speed of sound. He might intercept a few, but he can't deflect them, nor can he block them all.

I pumped round after round, but Maul can only dodge a shotgun so much from close range, and closing range wasn't doing jack since Quigon would intercept him, and while I was being careful to not hit him dead on, I was not stopping my shooting for his sake. Unlike Maul, Quigon could afford a bacta bath for the few pellets that get him, so he wasn't serving as the appropriate shield Maul was hoping for.

Between a Jedi and the slugs flying his way and piercing his limbs and torso, Maul couldn't keep up, and ended up with a lightsaber to the gut.

Quigon then deactivated his lightsaber, and clutched at a particularly bad spot where I'd winged his ribs. Now that the adrenaline high was dropping off, I could finally hear the ship whining up and looked over to see it touching down again.

Walking up to the body, I pointed my shotgun at the Zabrak's face and pulped it. "Come back from that," I muttered, then frisked him, taking a now identified cred chip, his lightsaber, and a few other doohickeys that I couldn't even begin to name, plus the armband I remembered him using to remote control some of his tech.

Unfortunately, upon removal, it started to make a whine and flash. Alarmed, I chucked it as far as that sucker could go and dove to the ground behind the body, taking Quigon with me.

The explosion kicked up a ton of sand and gave me a headache along with rattling my bones and leaving me feeling weary. Standing up, I looked down at what was left of Maul and cursed. Of course the body would be booby trapped. Probably to remove any evidence in case the bastard fell, so that no evidence of the Sith existing could get out.

By this point Obiwan had run out of the ship, followed by some crew, and Anakin. Obiwan shot me an unreadable look, while Anakin just looked fearful as I stowed away my shotgun. As I looked down at the body, wondering what to do with it, Obiwan called, "The droids will handle it. Along with all of it's effects."

I looked up to catch Obiwan looking pointedly at me, then flick his eyes down to my pockets where I'd stowed the lightsaber and cred chit. I frowned and asked, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get some kind of spoils out of risking my life to kill the guy who would've killed him." I said, pointing at Quigon.

Again, Obiwan's face became unreadable, as some emotion flashed behind his eyes. "I'll give you three," he finally responded, "I don't think you'd care much about regulations, so I'll just say, traps, returning the favor I gave you, and finally, knowing as much about the Force as you do, do you really want to use a lightsaber infused with the Dark Side?"

My expression twisted into one of distaste, and I promptly emptied everything I pocketed from the Sith onto his corpse. Sighing, I nodded to Obiwan as I passed the group, who nodded back. I paused next to the gurney carrying Quigon though, looking at the wounds he received. He'll live. I know he'll live. But...

I followed them onto the ship, passing a few droids heading out that were probably going to make sure nothing else explosive was left and get the body on board for examination by the Jedi Counsel.

I followed after Quigon into the medbay and watched as his clothes were removed and winced at the sight of the holes in his flesh. "He'll pull through... right? He'll be ok?"

Obiwan's face softened, "Yes. My master is nothing if not resilient."

I nodded, while Anakin's face scrunched up in confusion, still standing close to Obiwan and away from me. "Why did you do that?" he asked me.

I turned to him, and wondered what to answer. Obiwan, instead said, "Quigon would have died to that creature. Matthew's actions may have injured Master Quigon, but ultimately, he saved his life."

"Quigon wouldn't have fallen to that guy!" Anakin defended childishly, but added on quietly, "...Right?"

"He would have Anakin. Maybe not now, but in the future, yes, he would have." Obiwan answered, more firmly than I would've expected. I know they have the Force and all, but I didn't think it would account for my words enough for Obiwan or Quigon to believe me enough to defend my actions like this.

Anakin seemed rather subdued at Obiwan's answer. After a few moments while the medbots worked quietly in the background, dressing his wounds and applying bacta patches, Anakin turned to me, then said, "...Thank you for saving him."

I flinched slightly and looked away, "Don't thank me... Not for that."

"Why not?" Anakin asked, his young voice challenging but also confused.

I looked back at the kid and sighed, "Because my motivations weren't purely altruistic. I wanted that lightsaber the Sith had. I won't lie and say that was my sole reason to attack the Sith though. It's true I wanted to end the threat he poses and save Quigon's life, but even if that were my sole reason, I still wouldn't want to be thanked for that. Saving a person's life, no matter how small or grand, should be as easy as breathing and any thanks sought after for it is just pride talking. By the same token, killing someone and making sure they stay dead so that they aren't able to harm another person in the future... no thanks should be sought for that either. Killing should never be easy, nor is it something to take pride in. The moment I do either, I hope someone's around to smack sense into me or point it out, lest I become the very monster I seek to protect others from. Do you understand?"

Anakin seemed to think for a moment, then slowly nodded. "I think so..."

"Not a bad attitude to have, even for a Jedi," Quigon said quietly, now awake.

"Master, are you alright?" Obiwan asked, as Anakin reacted to Quigon being awake, along with Padme and Captain Panaka who came in as well.

"As well as can be expected Obiwan, do not worry yourself," Quigon told him.

"Yes Master." Obiwan said, nodding, though he couldn't stop the small smile on his face.

"Hey..." I said stepping up, "I'm really sorry about all this... I didn't want him thinking he could use you as a meat shield... It was hard enough hitting him already without him going directly behind you. Had to make sure he didn't do that..."

"It's fine, my friend, though I hope you don't see the need to use slug throwers anymore... If they're all that wildly inaccurate, you would be much better off with a blaster." Quigon said, chuckling and wheezing slightly, as he held his side. Guess it hurt to laugh at the moment.

"Ah, to be fair..." I corrected him, "What I used was a shotgun. They have a cone of fire and spray pellets in a wide area. Perfect against him since I know the Force wouldn't let him block them all, and no Sith is faster than the speed of sound, Force precognition or not. All he could do was minimize the effect of the shots against him, dodge some, and take the rest, and with him being distracted, he couldn't just go at me to cleave me in two either, so thank you for that."

Quigon nodded, "A most... formidable weapon... and I suppose the rest of your weapons are as dangerous?"

I nodded.

"Perhaps you would be willing... to demonstrate their use for the counsel... when we get to Coruscant?" he asked.

I nodded, "If that is their wish, provided we get there in the next five days."

"It will take at most another day to reach Coruscant using a Hyperdrive. We will be there with plenty of time to spare," Obiwan answered for him.

I nodded, "Just keep in mind what I told you. Might be best if we go straight to the temple if possible."

The two nodded, as Captain Panaka stepped forward, "About that, now that we're directly on our way to Coruscant, we've established communications with the capital. The Chancellor himself wished to greet us as soon as we reach planet side."

I flicked a glance to the two Jedi as they did that 'conversation in a glance' thing again.

Finally Quigon looked to the two and answered, "I fear that may not be possible. Information has come to our attention of a sensitive nature that will need to be taken to the council immediately once we reach the planet. It is a matter of safety for everyone involved that we go directly to the temple to resolve this matter."

"Surely it is not so dire that it would preclude our meeting with the Chancellor. My Queen would be most displeased if this hurt our chances to take her people's plight to the senate and see it resolved." Padme stated, a touch more regally than she should considering she's currently in her 'just a handmaiden' disguise. As it is, I pinched the bridge of my nose and resolved to ask the Jedi why they put up with the rather silly facade, considering she's rather bad at it.

"Rest assured..." Quigon said, "The Queen's protection and the safety of her people... are my top priority right now," he assured her.

Padme pursed her lips, but nodded, somewhat mollified.

At this point Captain Panaka spoke, "Master Jedi, if you would, I'd like to speak to you alone about your... assailant,"

Padme nodded, taking that as her cue. She held out her hand, "Come on Ani, I'll show you where you can stay while on the ship."

Once they were gone, I turned to Panaka, "Did you want me to leave as well, or did you want my input too?"

"I would prefer to speak with the Jedi alone," Panaka stated firmly.

I nodded, glanced at the two Jedi, then left the room, debating within myself whether to bring up the potential security breach that is the Queen's bad acting and when.

A few hours passed as I wandered the ship, determined where Anikan was staying, got the cold shoulder from Padme, though no explanation for the treatment, and went to the work shop to scan one of my shells for the shotgun and have the microprocessor create more ammo. Once that was done, I decided it couldn't hurt to make some more copies of my other ammunition just in case while I have the opportunity to do so.

While I worked, Quigon entered the hold and I turned to see him while the machine with its automated processes worked. "Oh good! You're up. That's always good to see."

Quigon nodded, stepping up to me and watching for a moment as the micro fabricator created more ammunition for me using the base materials available on the ship.

"You seem troubled, my friend," Quigon said after a few moments of silence.

I shrugged, "Kinda hard not to be. Every moment, we're heading closer towards the worst Sith in ages. Toss in the fact that I still don't know if I did the right thing by telling you as much as I did... If I may speak frankly, I don't really approve of the way the Jedi Order exists as it does now. It's not my place to really critique you guys, but there must be some kind of problem if the Force itself feels that to be rebalanced, both orders need to be irrevocably changed from what they are now, even if it means their destruction... Though to be fair, referring to the Sith as an Order feels more like an oxymoron than anything."

Quigon's lips quirked into a smile, "Quite. Still, seeing as you have such an outsider's perspective, plus with the indepth knowledge you seem to have of our galaxy, it may prove enlightening to get your opinion."

"Or aggravating," I countered. "If I were to give my opinion, I would be pushing myself into taking the stance of hoping to see you changed, and I personally don't see that happening. I'd rather save myself the headache."

Quigon was silent for a moment, then nodded, "If that is the way you feel, I won't press you. Still, wouldn't it be worth it, if you changed the minds of at least one?"

I shrugged and sighed, "Or hardened the hearts of several... Still, I get it. To put it simply, from my perspective, the Jedi order has two major faults, one being a lack of flexibility to change overtime as the universe changes around it. Stagnation in any form is generally not healthy. Change is the only constant in the universe and those who resist it are generally fools."

"And the second?" Quigon asked.

"The second is a policy enacted by the Jedi Order many years ago out of fear, one which I know for a fact is entirely hypocritical and a key component in the fall of several Jedi, including the chosen one himself."

Quigon frowned as he began to look concerned, "And what policy is this?"

"The policy against personal relationships, particularly those of a romantic nature." I answered.

Quigon nodded thoughtfully, "I assume you've thought much on this. Do you disagree that relationships can lead one to the Darkside of the Force?"

I shook my head, "Not at all. There is always the danger of falling into grief if a loved one dies or leaves you. I agree that for some, it would be good for them to avoid romantic entanglements. What I disagree with is the fact that it's a Jedi wide policy enforced on everyone. Each person is different, and the choice of engaging in a relationship or not should be a personal choice. Some people would do well to avoid relationships. Others trying to do the same though will find an integral part of themselves suppressed and that is never healthy. Like a volcano being corked, it will eventually explode whether you like it or not. The fact that the policy was enacted out of fear also flies in the face of the core doctrine of the Jedi on top of it."

"What would you propose be done then to minimize the chance of those in relationships falling to the dark side then?" Quigon asked curiously.

"Settle down," I answered simply. "Love happens. The best thing to do when it does happen, for anyone really, is to be taken off the active roster for missions and given posts that minimize danger and distance to the family. Those in a relationship that are settling down into a family unit are almost perfectly suited for teaching positions and guarding the homefront, namely the temple itself. The medical profession is always needed as well, and I'm sure Jedi healers would be extremely sought after since they would be able to do things medbots can't no matter how advanced they get, short of making a robot that can utilize the Force."

"Doing all that minimizes the possibility of loss by a large margin, not to mention keeps those Jedi close by in a unique support system that is almost perfectly suited to help any grieving Jedi to help master their feelings and achieve the peace in their life that they need to move on. An emphasis to all Jedi that they're not automatons and that they do have emotions and that the code isn't supposed to mean that Jedi should be emotionless would also be a good thing, since I know for a fact that idea has circulated in the temple already and is as wrong as it is horrifying in its implications. Jedi should be kind and understanding and supportive. The idea that emotions don't exist would preclude kindness, understanding, and being supportive of one another, turning you all into a bunch of robots that can't understand and connect with the universe around you, which is really bad since Jedi are supposed to be the peace keepers and negotiators of the galaxy. Kinda hard to do if you can't even connect with those you're supposed to be protecting."

Quigon nodded along, listening as I ended up falling into a rant against the whole situation, since it bothered me so much. Once I realized I'd gotten on my soap box though, I ducked my head. "Sorry... I just feel really strongly about this and want more than anything to see the beginning of something so terrifying in such a powerful and good group to be curtailed before it's too late."

"I understand," Quigon said soothingly, "It is hard not to take a stand against what you see as wrong when you come across it. Thank you for sharing your views with me."

I nodded slowly, "You're welcome... Still, sorry to rant at you..."

Quigon smiled slightly, "It's fine. If you don't mind, I would like to meditate on your words and consider what I will say when I see the council."

I nodded, but before Quigon could leave, I asked, "Um, do you mind if I ask a quick question before you go?"

Quigon turned back to me, "Certainly."

I nodded gratefully, "Why haven't you or Obiwan spoken up about the Queen's ruse? It's not very good, and she won't know any better until it's pointed out to her or her head of security so the problem can be fixed. Otherwise when the disguise is truly needed, it's not going to hold up to muster very well."

"I understand your point," Quigon said, "Neither I or Obiwan have said anything because in this day and age, such a disguise will never pass muster to those who are observant or have stayed around the Queen for long periods of time. Did you realize who the Queen was at the time when you first saw the... movie, showing this?"

I shook my head, "To be honest, no. But in hindsight, it was obvious, and I was around the same age as the Queen when I first saw the movie. Since then I've heard several opinions from those who were adults at the time who saw through the ruse almost immediately. Too many times the fake Queen will look to Padme to shake her head or nod to know what stance to take on something. In cases like that, a simple code should be decided, something small, like crossing fingers or drumming them, or coughing or something. That and maybe more practice using peripheral vision, since looking directly at her or flicking her gaze to her is kind of an obvious tell as well."

Quigon nodded, "Excellent points to be certain. I see no reason not to bring them up to the Queen herself or her head of security if you wish."

I nodded, "Mind if I bring Obiwan along? Otherwise I'm just some guy who happens to be with the Jedi. Having a Jedi agreeing with me will at least lend some credence to my words so they don't dismiss me out of hand."

Quigon nodded, and I went to find Obiwan and explained to him what I wanted to do, and that Quigon approved. Obiwan agreed and I went to Panaka, seeing as the Queen herself seemed to have a problem with me at the moment. Panaka listened, slightly alarmed that we'd picked the true Queen out so easily and promised to bring it up to her as soon as possible.

Once that was finished, I found myself at a loss for what to do for the rest of the trip. I could now understand Anakin's desire to go to the cockpit and quiz the pilot on everything. What do you even do to pass time in space?

I ended up wandering a bit, before I got my hands on a holoreader and attempted to decipher the writing system a bit. Didn't take long for me to get frustrated with that. Moving on to trying to plan things made me realize that outside of a blaster and maybe picking up some bacta patches for myself, which I did as soon as I thought of it from the medbot on board, I didn't really have anything too crazy I wanted to do in the Star Wars universe. Maybe if I were here for longer than a week...

But no, I'm only going to be here for about 4 to 5 more days. I don't have the Force to play with, no chance of getting my hands on a lightsaber, and I can't exactly pack a droid or a starship into my backpack.

Out of of sheer boredom, I ended up playing with the microfabricator most of the time. I had the idea to cut out my ammo problems by taking a page out of Mass Effect's book and sheering off bits of metal from an ammo block, then accelerating it to high speeds using mag rails since I don't exactly have eezo or any sort of tech here that can change mass on the fly as far as I'm aware. Still, while I didn't get very far with it, it was at least interesting, and I did at least make a really crude mag rail cannon that shot the equivalent of nails. Wouldn't take it into combat if my life depended on it, but it's a nice proof of concept. Maybe if I ever go to the Mass Effect universe, I'll combine what I learned here with how the tech works there and find a way around that stupid overheating system. Thermal clips were stupid, and illegal or not, anyone with enough intelligence and a device like this fabricator could get around the issue easily enough with some tinkering.

Speaking of, I wonder if there's anything I could do to modify my new blasters? Unfortunately research into that died before it started since any crew member would tell me to search up something on this galaxy's equivalent of the internet, the holonet. What is it with this universe and sticking the prefix holo before everything?

Shaking my head, I racked my brains for something useful to make that I haven't already made for myself. A few ideas crossed my mind, such as a tricorder or pipboy, though I'd honestly prefer a Mass Effect Omnitool if I want to go that route. Unfortunately Star Wars holographic technology isn't all that great. Ironic considering the 'holo' thing. Still, a pipboy with the sensors of a tricorder has potential... and to quote Guy from Galaxyquest, I don't know if everywhere I go will be particularly safe for me to breathe, so it'd be good to know.

Hm... maybe I could recruit the resident boy genius to help me? Leaving the area I'd mentally dubbed the machine shop in my head, I started wandering around and found Anakin curled up under a blanket, talking to Padme who was kneeling in front of him. I hung back, not wanting to eavesdrop and piss the Queen off further. Not sure what she's got against me, though if I had to guess, she's probably not to keen on my actions that resulted in Quigon getting injured.

After waiting, Padme eventually got up and left, though she startled slightly when she noticed me standing there. I gave a small smile and a wave and she gave me an unreadable look but at least nodded cordially before leaving.

Sighing and shrugging, I walked over to Anakin. "Hey kid."

"Hello," he responded.

After a few seconds of silence, I scratched my head, "Ah, sorry... I'm not very good at starting conversations... Anyway, I was just trying to make something earlier, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help out? Although..." I paused, looking over his form, "If it's more time to sleep for you, then that's fine, it can wait."

Anakin shook his head, "I'm just cold, that's all. What are you trying to make?"

"Kind of a portable, wearable computer I guess. I heard you're a whiz at building droids and stuff, so I figured if anyone on this ship could help me and wasn't utterly busy with whatever, it'd be you."

"Why don't you just get a holopad or something?" Anakin asked curiously.

I shrugged, "The few I've seen aren't really what I'm looking for. I wanted something that I could wear on my arm or something so it would be hard to lose and I could just use it quickly. Honestly, if it were a simple wristband that projected a screen above my whole arm, that'd be amazing, but I don't know if something like that could be pulled off..."

Anakin's eyes scrunched thoughtfully as the gears in his head turned, "You could probably do that... But you'd need a bunch of special parts to get anything you could actually use..."

The next few hours passed with Anakin and I talking shop for the most part as I bounced ideas off him and he came back with how it might be possible with such and such part or microchip or sensor or whatever. Eventually we ended up in the machine shop, working on a few things. I'd still need to buy a few parts, but it was easy enough between me and Anakin to design a kind of rugged brace that could be further upgraded in the future, but for right now would emit a fairly low res holographic screen that could be interacted with and while it couldn't do much, it is a nice proof of concept. And with Anakin's work on C3PO, he even figured out how to give it a basic AI suite when I asked, though it was more a VI than anything.

I'd be able to access the holonet now, but that's about it. Not that I particularly care to. Anakin's face when I admitted when I couldn't read the written form of Galactic Basic, which turned out to be an alphabet called Aurebesh, was completely shocked.

"What mudball did you come from?" Anakin asked, bewildered.

"A planet called Earth, which, ironically, translates to dirt, so mudball isn't actually far off." I said, amused, to which Anakin snorted.

"Well, if you plan to make any use of this computer, you better learn. I programmed it in aurabesh." Anakin pointed out.

I sighed and nodded. Anakin took pity on me and decided to help me out, giving me a crash course on the subject. Foreign languages have never been my strong suit. I still don't know how or why Basic is exactly like English, but Aurabesh looks more like runes. To my surprise though, once we started, I quickly realized that despite the characters of aurabesh having weird names, for the most part, they correspond to the letters of the alphabet. There were extra letters, but those mainly counted for double letter sounds like 'sh' and 'oo' and 'ch'.

Knowing that, I quickly made a cheat sheet, writing down the corresponding letters of the alphabet below each one in aurabesh. After I explained to Anakin what I was doing, he shrugged and said, "Well, maybe having the computer in your own personal language no one recognizes might help you out," and proceeded to program in the corresponding letters of the alphabet, including the double letter characters when I showed him how certain letters came together to form the new sound in English. The end result was a personal holographic computer fit to my wrist, the size of a pipboy, but a projector like an Omnitool. It still had Aurabesh in it, especially since I still wanted to learn it, as Anakin had a point. If I kept my computer in a language only I could recognize, it could only help me.

I also ended up finding and installing a wireless earpiece in my ear, allowing me to get status updates of my surroundings directly from the computer, though I quickly made sure to tell it only to tell me about dangers hazardous to my health or the health of those around me.

The only downside to all this would be power. Eventually the power would run out since I wouldn't have access to the kind of power the Star Wars universe has after roughly 4 more days. Explaining this to Anakin without giving away the fact I wasn't from around here was difficult, but he accepted that I wouldn't be able to access normal charging ports for a long time, and after thinking about it, altered my pipboy/omnitool/personal computer, that I'm probably just going to refer to as my Piptool from now on, so that it could charge itself via solar energy, and installed a port that would let me attach my new ear piece, and even a power cell for my blasters so it could get charged.

Knowing he could do all that, I mentioned the possibility of also adding a way to charge energy from motion and heat, in case he could do it. Unfortunately Anakin didn't know how to pull that off. He only knew solar energy in the first place due to Tatooine being in the 'ass end of space', his words, and sometimes normal power cells were hard to come by, so they had to make due sometimes with the most abundant source of energy on the planet, sunlight.

After thanking him profusely for the aid, Anakin wrangled out of me stories of my world and the places I'd been in return. So I took the opportunity to tell him about things that could hopefully help him in the future, coaching it in parables he might learn from.

A seeming lightbulb going off in my head lead me to mention women troubles among the stories. He didn't seem as interested, but he was curious enough at least when I mentioned in loose terms how pregnancy is supposed to work for the woman, wrapped up in tales of silly misadventures of guys I'd heard about. I also brought up the idea of false prophecies and self fulfilling prophecy by mentioning Harry Potter to the kid. Hopefully that might nip any issues he might have in the future in the bud. Honestly, if he'd just been armed with knowledge of how pregnancy was supposed to work, he would've, should've, realized, that half the crap he saw of Padme having problems and dying from childbirth probably wouldn't have happened if he'd known how big of a deal stress can be and that turning bloody evil is pretty darn stressful on a pregnant woman! Nevermind that those visions he got were probably straight from Palpatine anyway.

The last few hours getting to Coruscant were spent this way. Eventually we did enter system though and the two Jedi came to get us, and we ended up seeing the giant city planet with our own eyes together, which naturally boggled Anakin's mind, having never seen such a thing. I'll admit, having only seen it on the big screen, it was pretty incredible for me too.

Quigon called ahead, and got emergency landing permission at the Jedi Temple. Once there, we followed the Jedi until Quigon and Obiwan finally met up with some Jedi council members I didn't recognize plus Mace Windu.

Things kinda became a bit of a whirlwind of activity at that point. The majority of us were ushered to guest rooms in the temple, though afterwards some of us, namely I and Anakin, hung out in a kind of foyer area. I guess after spending a few hours working together on my Piptool, I'd grown on Anakin a bit, since he still seemed eager to talk to me, especially about all the incredible things he was seeing. I was right there with him on that, since it was my first time seeing it too, and he had a surprising number of insights being a native to the galaxy about the area that I hadn't noticed. I'll admit, his main go to exclamation of 'wizard' was still annoying, but he actually didn't say it all that often. Either that, or being force sensitive, he noticed my hidden annoyance and avoided saying it too much for my sake.

Eventually though, far faster than I thought, I was summoned to the council chambers. I had a Jedi escort who transported me up an elevator that afforded a view of some of Coruscant as we travelled up, and I spent the time marvelling the skyline. The guy then left me in a waiting room just outside the council chamber, easily recognized from the movie.

Thankfully, I didn't have too long to wait, as the doors swished open to admit me into the room. Once inside, I found Quigon and Obiwan standing together in front of the council, which seemed to have a full attendance, though here and there were still holograms of those attending.

Looking around, I noted to myself that I'd probably been under scrutiny from this group since I got here, probably even more so once it became clear from Quigon what he'd learned from me.

Coming to stand next to Quigon, I settled for standing at parade rest and waited.

"Hm... right Quigon is," Yoda said, after scrutinizing me for a bit, "Strange in the Force, feel you. Admitted dimensional traveler, you are, yes?"

I nodded, filing away the bit about feeling strange in the Force. Makes sense in hindsight I suppose, if the Force is composed of midichlorians or whatever, and me not being native to this galaxy, or this universe for that matter, would likely mean I don't have any midichlorians to speak of.

The council then proceeded to question me on various things, all of which I'd already told Quigon, but I guess they wanted to hear it directly from me. Once we got to the bit about Sidious though, I paused in my retelling, and asked, "You guys would do well to go neutralize Palpatine now, by the way. I guarantee he has a way of finding out what goes on in these meetings, and the longer the time takes between learning about him and arresting him, the higher the chance he'll find out he's busted and disappear. Or worse."

"What could possibly be worse?" one of the Jedi masters asked, eyebrow raised.

"The guy has plans within plans." I explained, "I seriously doubt he doesn't have some kind of contingency for stuff that happens. It would surprise me even less if he's already implementing some, since if he didn't get a message of some sort about his apprentice falling, I'd be extremely surprised."

The others in the council shifted uneasily as they traded glances. I'm not particularly surprised. We are talking about a Sith Lord right under their noses after all.

"Right you are, if as powerful you say, Sidious is." Yoda said. "Go I should, with Master Windu and Master Ti. Right this wrong, before made worse, it is. Reconvene this meeting at a later time, we should."

The others of the Council agreed, and seeing the dismissal for what it was, I headed out with Quigon and Obiwan as some of the Masters headed out as well, though I didn't see Yoda, Windu, or Shaak Ti leave this way.

As we travelled down the elevator, I scratched my head and looked over to Quigon, "Could you enlighten me about something?"

"If it is within my ability, I will do so." Quigon stated, turning his attention to me.

"Well," I said hesitantly, "To be honest, I kinda expected a bit more resistance. More skepticism at least. What I've got to say is pretty incredible after all, and yet you all are reacting to my words as if it's a foregone conclusion that I'm trustworthy. I'm not saying I'm not, but it's still a little odd..."

"The simple answer to that is your Force presence," Quigon answered. "While it's true you're not from this universe, you aren't without the Force, and it's very telling. Remember your own words, when you spoke of the shadow that infects our sight? Your own Force presence, while different, is like looking through a window at a clear day, when we'd grown used to seeing nothing but the thickest smog. Through you, the Force almost sings of your honesty and allows us glimpses of what you say as you've seen them, and the Force corroborates your words. We would be fools to dismiss that, especially seeing the darkness for ourselves that enshroud the rest of the galaxy that we can now clearly see, thanks to you."

I blinked, wide eyed. "Oh." Was all I could think to say, a bit busy mentally cataloguing what he told me and its implications. I am now even more glad that we avoided running into Palpatine and that I hadn't hung onto that Lightsaber. I'm still a bit skeptical over compartmentalizing the Force between Light and Dark like this, but I won't argue that only focusing on one aspect of the Living Force, namely the parts of it generally associated negatively, such as anger, fear, and hatred, would be bad. I'm not about to try preaching embracing the Force as a whole to the Jedi though, especially with all my knowledge of the Force being entirely theoretical up to this point. They kinda need baby steps and it'll be hard enough for them as it is to accept the idea of relationships not being bad, let alone everything else with it.

I do kinda wonder though if I couldn't give myself the ability to use the Force by giving myself a transfusion from Anakin. With my luck though, I'd probably catch some kind of local disease that normal medicine wouldn't account for or whatever. And for all I know, medichlorians aren't even something transferable by blood anyway.

Things after that kinda toned down for the most part. I ended up staying in a room for the most part. Found out through the holonet and from the Jedi later that Palpatine was killed while resisting arrest, and that Windu died in the fight. Not really sure how things are going to go from here, but I've been offered by the Jedi to stay here for the duration of my time in the Star Wars universe.

I decided to take them up on that. They didn't really need me for anything else after all, and with Palpatine gone, the Trade Federation blockade around Naboo essentially fell apart.

Finally, the day before I would leave came. Qui gon, the newly knighted Obiwan, and his potential future padawan, Anakin saw me off and made sure to stuff my pack with more rations and bacta patches. I still had more ammo for my blasters than I knew what to do with in my pockets, and while I didn't get a lightsaber, ultimately I decided it probably didn't matter, since I wouldn't be able to utilize it effectively anyway. Would be too worried about injuring myself or others to use it for anything more than carefully cutting things open.

Just before I disappeared, I did remember to mention that they should look into Kamino and the cloning processes there, especially since cloning limbs and organs to replace those lost should really be stupidly simple considering their tech base.

Then I disappeared from their world.