XD At the very least, three people like my story. That's good. Well, regardless, I'll keep doing this, unless I get massive hate.

So, again, read and review. Please. I want to know what I can do to improve as a writer.

"This is a very unimpressive city."

Kira sighed, turned to Strel, and looked at him with exasperation. "There are no flying vehicles, nor any Jedi, or practically anything else we have on Coruscant. Still, it's better than what we could have hoped for in a crash landing on an alien world."

Strel shook his head slowly. "I'm still not convinced." Then he smiled. "Well, at least we have an advantage over other people here," he said, putting a hand on the lightsaber attached to his belt.

"Why are you suspicious? Who would want to betray us, if they don't know us?"

"I don't know. But I'm wary nonetheless."

Kira turned her head away, trying to change the subject. "So…this is Times Square…the heart of this 'New York City?'"

"Flashing lights aren't all that impressive. I've seen better. But-" he added, glancing at Kira, "it's gotta be a marvel of technology compared to what some of these people have seen."

Indeed it seems like it, Strel observed, seeing all the people here. But why are they all…human?

"Don't ask me, Strel."

Strel faced her. "How did you know I was thinking that?"

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Thinking? You said that out loud! Loud enough to get people around us to look at you-" she smiled, "like you're not from this galaxy.

"Ha ha, ha ha," Strel sarcastically replied. "Are you hungry? I'm starving."

Kira nodded. "Yeah, kind of. Where should we stop?"

Strel glanced around. They were out of Times Square and into an area he didn't recognize. "I don't know. Let's see if this 'Macy's' has any food."

The two walked into a towering building-or at least, Strel tried to. He stepped back, startled, as the doors didn't open automatically. With a slight bump on his head, he turned to face a laughing Kira and said, "There goes that plan."

Kira wiped a tear from her eye. "Where's this Jedi observation of yours? All you need to do is-" and walked at the door. With a slight push, the door rotated and allowed Kira in. Through the glass, she mouthed, "This."

Strel carefully pushed his way through, avoiding the stares of people around him. With an embarrassed glance at Kira, he said, "Let's see what they have, hm?"

They went up to a man with a small bottle in his hand. "Excuse me, do you know where we can get a bite to eat in this store?"

The man glared at Strel as if he were insane. "There's a McDonald's on one of the top floors, pal."

Strel smiled politely. "Thanks."

As he walked away, the man muttered under his breath, "Dumbass."

Strel ignored him.

A moving staircase was in front of them. Strel observed a sign on an extension in the wall. "Well, from what I can gather, which is nothing, we should go…up?

And that they did.

Eventually they got off on a floor with a McDonald's clearly visible. Strel turned and remarked, "Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Kira sighed tiredly. "We've been at this for roughly an hour. Of course it wasn't hard."

"Never mind then. We might have to wait a little longer." Strel pointed towards the large line of people in front of the counter.

After fifteen minutes of waiting (semi) patiently, they got up to the counter.

Strel took the initiative. "Yes…I would like…that." He pointed at the sign.

The cashier looked over his shoulder a few times. "Um…what?"

Strel tried again. "The thing with the…meat…in the middle…and the…bread?..."

"Thanks, buddy, that helps. Look, guy, we got a line, so make a decision quick, or we've gotta kick you out."

Strel cried, "That first thing on the menu!"

The cashier sighed in relief. "One Big Mac meal? Alright. That'll be…six dollars and twenty-seven cents, please."

Strel checked his pockets. "How much is that in credits?"

The cashier gaped at him? "What, are you from Star Wars? Gimme six dollars or get the hell out!"

Kira nudged Strel out of the way and placed a few green slips of paper on the counter. "You'll have to excuse us for that. My friend here is slightly…disabled. Here's your money."

A hand reached out, grabbed the money, and put it in a machine. "Thank you. Your order is thirty-four."

Kira took Strel by the hand and let him away. Immediately Strel turned on her. "Disabled?" he whispered angrily. "What, am I to go around as a retarded man from now on?"

Kira couldn't retort back, for a call of "Thirty-four!" came from the counter. "Excuse me," she said, and left. She came back thirty minutes later with a tray of food.

"Excellent." Strel sat down. "Thanks." He opened his wrapper to find a very poor version of what he had seen on the menu. He warily took a bite of it. After a thoughtful minute of chewing, he commented, "Well, at least it's better than the junk that comes out of the synthesizer."

"True." Kira took another bite.

All of a sudden Strel's head pounded. He shook his head and got up. What? The Force…is…disrupted?

Kira looked at him nervously. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah. This could be bad." As casually as he could, he made his way to the window and looked out. There seemed to be nothing but a stampede of humans making their way down the street; but Strel's refined senses caught onto a suspicious-looking figure in a black robe, blending into the people.

"Kira?"

"Yeah?"

"We need to go. Now."

Kira stood up. "Then let's not waste any time. What did you see?"

Strel only shook his head as he sprinted to the stairs. "I have a bad feeling we've been followed…"

The assassin Vasirai stood among a throng of people in Times Square, waiting for the right time to make his move. He had promised his master a Sith conquest of the alien planet, and he was about to make good on that promise. Time to show these puny beings the true power of the Force.

Standing on neon red bleachers and amplifying his voice with the Force to almost an ear-shattering level, he cried out, "People of this great city, I hereby issue you a warning; run, and you may be spared!"

A man next to him took his hands away from his ears and asked to a woman next to him, "Is this a movie filming?"

The assassin turned to the man, smiled, and replied, "You tell me, friend." And with blinding speed, he grabbed the man by the throat, spun, and hurled him into an advertisement for what looked like a fountain drink. The man hit the sign and almost exploded as electricity coursed through his body and he was fried in an instant.

"Holy Christ!" the woman cried as she attempted to run, before Vasirai gestured with his hand and she met the same fate as the man before.

He turned to the stunned mass of people before him, shrugged, and remarked, "You were warned."

Everybody simultaneously screamed and ran. The assassin smiled. This was his idea of fun. Raising his hands over-dramatically, he raised two vehicles with the Force and threw them into the crowd at roughly terminal velocity. The resulting impact exploded the car and about a thousand other people, clearing a burning walkway for the assassin to walk through.

He reached onto his belt and extracted his lightsaber. Igniting it, he flourished in a traditional Djem So style as a lethal bar of crimson plasma extended from his wrist.

"Fire!" cried a male voice, and the Force guided his blade to intercept and return the bullets being fired at him-

Only they didn't return to the officers, instead disintegrating on contact as the small bullets of lead met with the blade of his lightsaber. Stunned for a second, that could have been the end of Vasirai, but his reflexes saved him. Aided by the speed of the Force, he rolled forward, avoiding the bullets.

"What? What happened! Keep firing, dammit! Kill the man!" cried what looked to be the chief of security. A flash of red and that problem was taken care of as the man fell to the ground with a small hole in his head.

Vasirai brought his lightsaber up to guard. "You sure you don't want to think this through?"

The remaining men confirmed that.

Three seconds later, they were dead.

Vasirai stood taller than ever, a surge of power coursing through his veins. No one will stop me. This is too easy.

All of a sudden Vasirai was knocked away from the corpses by a massive force, and he found himself laying on the ground. He jumped up quickly and turned toward where the push had come from. He found himself looking at two Jedi, lightsabers out and at a guard.

"So," he said, giving a quick flourish, "the Jedi survived?" He smiled with malicious intent. "I intend to correct that problem."

Strel observed the black figure before him through the cross of his blue and violet blades. "Who the hell are you?"

"Who I am is not important." The man didn't move an inch.

"Then how did you get to this planet?"

The figure shook its head and spoke in a teasing voice. "Now, now, that's a secret I cannot reveal." A black flash came across Strel's vision, and where Kira once was was the robed figure, standing casually. Kira, however, was flying towards the unforgiving walls of a building. Strel dived out of the way as the figure lunged and used the Force to slow Kira's impact-he hoped.

The man spoke again. "And if I leave you two alive, you might figure it out yourself," he stated, stepping forward in time with the words. Strel could do nothing but get into a defensive position and wait for an attack.

And then hell broke loose.

The figure lunged, almost invisible to Strel's eye. Only through sheer luck did he raise his blades quick enough to deflect the initial assault. With each step, the man put more pressure into his attacks-it was all Strel could do to not trip and stumble as he retreated through the streets and swarming people. Lightsaber blades met with a crackling hiss as the assassin flurried and then struck at Strel's head. Strel met the blade with one of his own and tried to strike at the man's legs. The man stopped for a second, giving a pause in the action. In those few seconds, Strel had almost lost, and he was out of breath and tired. The man, however, had seemingly lost nothing due to fatigue.

"Finally, a strike against me? I respect you a little more. Still, however powerful you are, you will be slaughtered. Your female friend didn't stand a chance against me, so what makes you think you will? You are weak and pathetic, and soon, will be dec-"

He was interrupted as a brown boot met squarely with his face and he stumbled back. He looked up, snarling, to meet stares with the Jedi, lightsabers at the ready, angrily glaring at him.

"Don't you even-dare mention her! I'll kill you!"

The Jedi was almost boiling with rage. Perfect. Angry Jedi don't put up much of a fight.

"What happened to the Jedi way of pacifism and peace?" he teased, pointing his lightsaber at the Jedi. "I thought you had more self-control than that! But, seriously, show me your best moves. Use your rage to strike me down. You can do it!" he exclaimed, provoking the Jedi, twisting him around his finger.

"The Sith deserve their death for all of the destruction and hatred they bring to the galaxy!" Strel cried, jumping into combat and going on the attack. It looked like Strel was doing well as he attacked using everything the Jedi had taught him. He struck with a lightning-fast flurry of blows, trying to trip this man, aiming for both the head and the legs, coming in from two sides at once, and anything else he could think of.

Anything to pay the bastard back for what he did to her.

Then Strel overswiped, not caring what he did through the red veil of rage that was obscuring his vision. He tried to correct himself, but the assassin chopped down and made contact with Strel's arm. He screamed in agony as white bone protruded from his forearm and sunk to the ground. With nothing more than a thought, the assassin Force-pushed him against the wall, almost breaking Strel's back. Helpless, he could only watch as the assassin lept in for the kill, blade aimed at Strel's chest-

And then the assassin was gone, apparently knocked out of the way by-

"Kira!"

Kira grabbed his good arm. "There's no time-we have to get out of here! Run!"

Together, they sprinted for the only sanctuary they knew in the city.

"Blast!"

Vasirai struck down a man running away with his lightsaber, venting his anger on the people of the city.

They got away from me!

The Force pounded through his body, and he released it in the form of white-blue lighting that dropped many civilians to the ground, twitching and screaming in blinding pain.

And many people would die until his anger died out. And maybe a few after that.

"Easy, there."

Jenna had wasted all of her anesthetic trying to knock Strel out, and had put him in an improvised cast for the moment until real medical help could arrive.

"How're you doing, Strel?" Kira's face was filled with worry.

Strel tried to smile. "Well, my arm hurts like hell…"

Kira shook her head. "Only you, I guess."

Strel laid his head back on the pillow. "Thanks for saving me…I thought you had died…"

"Well, I've come to like you over the course of this adventure so far, Strel," she said. She took his hand and added, "And I'm not about to let someone I care for die."

Strel smiled and closed his eyes. Kira stammered out, "Not, uh, like that…I mean…"

But Strel was apparently asleep.

Kira stood up and avoided Jenna's knowing smile as she headed to her room.