Hey guys! I am here with a very very strange fanfiction! I got inspiration for this after watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the cinema (awesome movie by the way) and I then wrote this in the following hours. So yeah, this isn't set in the Star Wars universe, but it is set in a galaxy much like that in Star Wars. This includes a good chunk of genderbending, by the way

Also, if you are confused by the names:

Tori = Fem Lithuania
Lukas/Luke = Norway
Lia = Fem Iceland
Abel = Netherlands
Carlotta = Fem Cuba
Bella = Belgium

And place name pronounciation:

Krios = kr-EE-ohs
Daerna = DARE-nah
Mauriti = MORE-ee-tee
Aralos = ARE-ah-loss
Fynkn = f-IH-nn (Silent k. I'm evil)
Nyma = NEE-mah

Also, Poland and Canada have taken a few queues from their 2p characters in this. You'll see.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

The Many Worlds Between Us

Block 41, Room 9
Krios District,
Reycass

Matthias grinned as he flicked through the notes – their most recent payday. His teammates all shared lazy grins. The group had been working together for a while now – some had known each other years, though they did have a few newer members. They had grown accustomed to working together, and always shared the money out equally, no matter a member's age or needs. They all put in equal effort, so they all got equal compensation. Matthias glanced up at their client, nodded in confirmation that there was enough, and then showed him to the door.

"So, you think we'll be able to get that droid with that cash?" Gilbert asked from where he was slumped on one of the couches. Berwald, who had counted the money over Matthias' shoulder, nodded wordlessly at him.

Matthias Kohler, Berwald Oxenstierna, Gilbert Beilschmidt – and his younger brother Ludwig, Feliks Lukasciewicz, Alfred F. Jones, Antonio Carriedo, Francis Bonnefoy and Ivan Braginsky. Together they formed the group of deadly bounty hunters known on the streets as the Shadow Seekers. They were nearly unstoppable, able to find people long believed to have died or been killed. No-one had escaped their clutches as of yet, and Matthias – as the group's leader – intended to keep their record perfect.

The group lived together, too, so most costs they shared between them. Their most recent savings project: a TR5 droid. It was one of a kind, and they were trying to gather enough money to pay for it before it could be purchased by someone else.

Alfred grinned, sitting up as he pumped his fist in the air.

"Hell yeah! TR5 here we come!" Francis rolled his eyes at Alfred's immaturity, muttering about how he should be less childish. Nothing any of them said would ever work, though. The nine of them were all different ages. Feliks, Matthias and Ludwig were among the youngest – all being 19 years old – Alfred was 20, Gilbert, Francis and Antonio were 21, Ivan 22 and Berwald 23 – which made the intimidating man the eldest. However, it wasn't about age in this business, but rather experience and skill. It was for this reason that Matthias was the leader, having been honing his skills since he was 7, and actually hunting people since the tender age of 11. He'd practically grown up a bounty hunter, which was what made him one of the most skilled.

Feliks was the same. The boy could fool you into thinking he was ditsy and stupid, when in reality, his mind was something to marvel at. He understood human nature, having been driven to the depths of depravity when he was just a child living on the streets of the Krios District. Among others, he acted ridiculously fruity and exuberant, but when with his closest friends, he was himself. That is – intelligent, witty and sly. It was for these reasons that Feliks was Matthias' second-in-command.

Matthias turned to stare out the window. Reycass was a heavily urbanised planet, with little of it's natural environment left. However, it's natives, the Anval, seemed to prefer it this way. Matthias could understand why. Reycass was a very dreary planet, with constantly overcast skies, cold weather and few flowers and a substantial lack of beauty. Since it had become urbanised, however, it had transformed into a bustling city-system and centre for trade and employment. It wasn't a bad place to live, and the Krios District (though no-one wanted to admit it) was filled with bounty hunters, black market traders and other undesirables. This might be a place to avoid for some people, but for those undesirables, it was a hive of activity.

Matthias grinned at Alfred.

"Mmhmm, TR5 is soon to be ours!"

Mauriti Settlement,
Vyls Desert,
Aralos

Tori cursed, turning the pitiful stack of notes over in her hands. She knew that what she had salvaged had been worth more than this, but Reyka, the merchant to whom she sold, seemed determined to rip her off every opportunity he got. She'd spent all day out in the desert rummaging through the remains of a recent fighter droid that had crashed a few hundred kilometres from Mauriti. After hearing about it from a straggler, she'd rushed to the site, removing as many parts as she could, stripping the whole thing of any valuable pieces. Selling to Reyka was always risky, but this time it hadn't been worth it. The Gharvich had robbed her, once again. Tori genuinely wasn't sure why she even tried anymore.

She was one of only a few humans here, and the only one from Daerna, that was for sure. She wished she could leave this damned planet, but she felt a strange attachment to it. She'd lived here since she was 8, and as rough as living on the desert planet was, she had grown used to the weather and the way of life around here. Aralos was a rather lawless planet, though, filled with criminals, castaways and countless seedy figures. She was sure she'd much prefer to be back on Daerna, her native planet. She was born there, and still remembered the green forests, inland seas and snowy mountain ridges. The air had been clean and the people friendly.

Of course, Daerna was in the middle of a war right now, ever since rebel vigilantes had risen up against the Saijan Empire, who'd annexed the planet about 10 years ago. That was the reason she'd left in the first place. Well, been forced to leave. Many had fled when they'd heard the Saijan Empire was what was coming for them. Things hadn't worked out for Tori, though. Her parents had been killed in the invasion, and her older brother, who'd taken her to Aralos, had died when their craft crashed. Left penniless and homeless, she'd made a life for herself in Mauriti.

Sighing, Tori stood, reflexively brushing dust off her garb. She wore leggings, a long-sleeved tunic, lace up boots and desert robes – all in pale colours that helped her blend in with the sand. Her hair, however – long, wavy and dark brown – sometimes gave her away, though, which is why she often wore a scarf wrapped around her head and mouth to conceal it. Tori always tried to attract as little attention as she could. She was already stared at in Mauriti for her green eyes. Better not add her unusually dark hair yet pale skin to a list of reasons to gawk at her. Most of the time, humans with dark hair usually had dark skin to accompany it. Nyma, a planet in the Rychtor System, was known for it's native darker skinned humans. Tori could always have bleached her hair, but it wouldn't have lasted long, and then people would just have assumed her to be from Fynkn instead of Daerna. Fynkn was known for it's pale skinned, pale haired and dark eyed native humans. And people from Fynkn were rarer here than Daernics.

Tori could only dream of escaping this damned place, getting somewhere better. She was only 18, she had her whole life ahead of her, but she already felt like she was standing in front of a barrier. Like she would never be more, never experience more than the barren landscape of Aralos. As much as she might hope, there weren't a great deal of ways to get off the planet. And even if she did, what would she do then? Go back to Daerna? It was in the middle of a war, and she had no living relatives that she knew of.

Face it, Aralos is your only future.

Rykkné Plains
Aralos

Lukas uttered a low growl as their bags once again slipped from their positions hanging either side of his saddle. Lia didn't even bother to tell him to cool it this time. Obviously she could either understand her older brother's frustration, or she couldn't be bothered. Knowing Lia, it was the latter. Lukas was just so sick of having to shift them. Normally he was a very calm and collected person, he'd even been accused of being emotionless more than once. Which was ridiculous. Lukas had plenty of emotion. He just chose not to share it with others.

Plus, the two had been travelling through the Rykkné Plains for close to a week, and Lukas wasn't sure if they'd left them yet or not. Aralos in general was a confusing planet, and trying to navigate it was near impossible. Glancing over at his sister, Lukas wasn't surprised to see Lia fiddling with an expensive-looking watch. She'd probably stolen it. Most of the things his sister had were stolen. Of course, Lukas had no problems with this, as he was the one who taught Lia to steal in the first place. Times were tough, and people had to survive by any means. Neither of the siblings cared for the people they robbed. Lia was usually the one to do it, though, as her older brother was a mechanic, and could get good money from fixing machines and the like. They only really fully relied on theft when it was absolutely necessary. Yes, the two were unsympathetic, but they weren't heartless.

Lia kicked at her mount, which had begun to slow down. Her elder brother shot her a look.

"Don't kick the poor beast. It has carried you all the way through the Plains. We need to rest them anyway."

Muttering her dissent, Lia pulled sharply on the reins and swung down from its back, quickly tethering it to the ground so it wouldn't wander away.

The pair were silent as they unpacked a few things to be more comfortable. Lia wanted to go on about how the Plains couldn't possibly go on much longer, but she simply couldn't say the words. Try as she might to be confident and uncaring, she still possessed a deep-seated fear that nothing they did would be worth it. That they would be unable to help the Galaxy. She would never say this to Lukas, though. The boy spent enough time going on about how they were lucky to be alive, that caution was the main focus here and that Lia needed to hold her head high and act like the woman she was born to be.

But Lia wasn't a woman. She didn't feel like one. She was only 15. Lukas was 18, it was easy for him to tell her to act like an adult. As she thought it, her brother looked her way, muttering something under his breath in Fynknian before raising his head.

"Lia. Look up."

Lia blinked, before obeyed the evident command in her brother's voice.

"One of those bright lights up there is Fynkn. Our home. Our planet. Our right. Are you going to let it slip away? Let the Saijan Empire keep our people hostage and annex our cultures?"

"Fynkn is your planet. You're the heir, not me."

"Lia." Lukas grabbed his sister's hand, gazing at her with the same emotionless, slightly unnerving expression as usual. "It is ours. It is the Bondevik's."

"I know, but – ". Lukas cut her off.

"It is meant to be ours, and one day, it will be ours. Giving up will not make that happen. Who will fight the enemy if no one is willing to pick up a weapon? Who is willing to sacrifice if no one wants to give anything up? And how will we reclaim our home if we are not even willing to try? Lia, even if we die, we will have tried, at the least. We stay concealed, we get to the Resistance. And we try."

Lia met Lukas' eyes.

"Why, though?"

Lukas softened, sadness taking over his features.

"Because, Lia, it is the only thing we can still do."

City of Akrim
Incanda

Lovino ducked under the coils of wire stretched out over the top of the ledge, weaving through large boxes and freight containers and past discarded blasters and other broken machinery. Wriggling through a narrow gap between two stacks of old droid parts, he finally got through to the small alcove in the wall. Upon seeing that his younger brother was asleep, he couldn't help but scowl. Not bothering to wake him gently – instead choosing to roughly kick him in the side – Lovino moved back a little as Feliciano jumped awake.

"Ow! That hurt, Lovi!"

Lovino growled.

"Whatever. And remember, you're not meant to call me Lovino, idiot! It's Ilario now! And remember, you're Luciano."

Feliciano nodded guiltily. It was that moment he noticed the darkening bruises on his older brother's face. His eyes widened, and he rushed over to look at them. Lovino protested when Feliciano gently took his face in his hands, but relented after Feli started to gently press a wet cloth to it. As much as he hated being coddled, Lovino couldn't deny how good it felt on his throbbing face.

"You shouldn't do it. I know it makes good money, but you get hurt so often." Feli muttered.

Lovino rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but…" he pulled a roll of notes from his pocket and waved them in front of his brother's face. His eyes widened. It was a lot of money. Feliciano bit his lip and continued to clean his brother's face up.

"Still…"

Lovino shook his head.

"It's fistfighting, not bounty hunting. I'm not going to get mortally wounded. Besides, the bastards that call themselves fighters are so weak it's pathetic. I can easily beat them. And again." He waved the money again for emphasis. His younger brother shook his head slightly, sighing.

"Feli, Grandpa and the rest of Syhvva is stuck under the tyranny of those Saijan bastards. We can't worry about me getting a few bruises and scrapes."

Feliciano sighed.

"I know, but still. I feel so useless. You always put me first. You never give yourself an opportunity to be selfish. I don't know how you do it."

Lovino blinked, surprised.

"I remember what it looked like when we had our home ripped from us. You're the only one who'd stick by me through all this. And you're my little brother. It's in my nature to be protective."

He turned away slightly. "Anyway, pack up your things. We're headed to Herr Sector. We have enough money for bribing this time around. Might have to cut our food consumption down a bit, though."

Within minutes the alcove was clear, no sign left that anyone had ever been there.

The two brothers moved silently, toward the docking bay, and, (hopefully) onward to Herr Sector.

Fleet 42 Docking Bay
Resistance Base
Nyma

Matthew pulled the helmet off his head, blinking slightly. He gave Abel a lopsided grin. Piloting was something his tall friend excelled at. It wasn't Matthew's forte, personally, but he enjoyed it.

Shaking his head slightly at how easy he adapted from ship to ground, he passed the helmet back.

"I'm still impressed. How you manage to do that so easily…amazing."

Abel gave him a rare, cocky smile.

"They do call me one of the best pilots in Nyma, you know."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Like hell they do. You're good, but you're not that good."

Abel put on a fake pout.

"Oh, why don't you ever let me rejoice I my own talents? You are such a cruel creature."

"Because, if I didn't bring you down a few levels, you'd be the most conceited person in the Galaxy."

Abel cocked his head to the side, then gave him an 'innocent' smile.

Laughing at his friend's antics, Matthew pulled the suit off, glad to pull his own clothes back on. The pilot suits might have been better suited for the machines, they were quite uncomfortable.

He and Abel had known each other for years. When Matthew was 10, he'd been separated from his family after raids in their district. Abel, only three years older than him, had found him and taken care of him for a year until they were both taken in by the Resistance and trained to fight the Saijan Empire. Matthew was now 21, Abel 24, meaning that the pair had known one another for twelve years, which was longer than Matthew had known his own parents and brother. He would find it depressing, but he honestly felt more attached to his friends in the Resistance than he did the faltering memories of his family. He did miss his home planet Rywan every now and then, but he easily got over it. He still remembered as a young child, and his first years in the Resistance, he'd been almost invisible because of how quiet and timid he was. Over time, though, he came out of his shell, became more confident. Many people in the Resistance knew his name now, and he'd made some of the best friends in the Galaxy.

"So how'd you go?" he heard a familiar voice shout. Grinning, he turned to Carlotta Machado, a pretty Nymian girl who had become one of said friends. She was, as usual, wearing a black midriff shirt, faded blue pants and boots, with her frizzy black hair pulled into a high ponytail.

"He actually didn't do that badly, for a trainee." Abel said from over his shoulder. Carlotta's eyes widened.

"Trainee?" she grinned, before punching him in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me you were training to be a pilot? That's awesome Mattie!"

He grinned, though rubbed the spot where she'd punched him. He quickly dismissed her claims that he'd be an amazing pilot, and began walking with the two back to the barracks.

"So how's Bella? Her stomach better yet?" Matthew asked. Bella, Abel's younger sister by 5 years, had been slashed in the stomach by shrapnel during an explosion on Daerna.

Carlotta nodded. "Yeah, she's a lot better. She'd even back to complaining about the lack of chocolate here."

Abel waved his hand. "She'll be fine."

The trio snickered among themselves about that. Bella harboured an intense passion for chocolate, and didn't try to conceal it. She was often going on about how it should be illegal for Resistance bases to stock no chocolate. It was a joke among their squad that if Bella was able to complain about the chocolate situation, she would be completely fine. It was quite true, though, which made the whole situation funnier.

"Oh, we've got a reconnaissance mission soon, just thought I'd warn you." Carlotta said.

"Really? Where?"

"Aralos. There'll be a Saijan fighter refuelling there. We need to get on board that ship while we can."

"What in the worlds would the Saijan Empire want with a planet like Aralos? That place is a bit of a dump, isn't it?"

Carlotta nodded. "Yeah, but not like we have a choice, right?"

The other two nodded.

Aralos, Matthew thought, that should be interesting.