the holonet

[Private Message to Liriael; Visible to Jupiter]

Can we meet? There's someone I think you should get to know.

I still can't believe this is real. I'm not sure when I'll get used to it, either.

Caine?
Are you still out there? Last I heard you were one day away... let me at least know  you're doing ok.

I'm worried sick.

I figured I'm doing myself a disservice if I don't look to make gains wherever they're available. So to those of you from the Rift - are any of you well-versed in technology? Not just in general, but as it relates to cybernetics and, specifically, human enhancements.

[Jupiter]

I'm about a day out from the meeting point. Don't think anyone followed me.

[filter: Youko Kurama]

Do you know anything about carnivorous plants?


[filter: Cloud Strife]

Are you still on Naboo? I am passing through Naboo regularly and I have not forgotten that I owe you...something. Something that is not a ride at a carnival, but equivalent.


[filter: Clint Barton]

There is a game that is played on the planet I am visiting with floating ring targets that move around very quickly and randomly.

Sadly, it is played with spears, not arrows.


[filter: Caine Wise]

I saw this on the wall of a space station (before the authorities scrubbed it away):

It was a crude picture of a stormtrooper, juggling the five planets in the system. And underneath it said "Order is what they call it when they drop the biggest one First."

I know, it's not really funny, but it made me laugh.

Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down, tells ya she’s hurtin’ ‘fore she keens, makes her a home.

She needs a crew. She needs a home. She needs to fly again.

Been busy for a while. Haven't had the time to check the holonet. I'm assuming there's still a problem with people wanting to blow up planets.

[Liriael]

You doing okay?

So it seems that I'm back to studying a manual. Again. First the stuff I had to learn about the nations within the Intergalactic Commonwealth (and all the... "Rules for being a good Entitled". Nope, still not Queen Elizabeth.), now I've been given this... "Immigrants Handbook". I mean... would a Lonely Planet be too much to ask? Maybe with a normal vacation attached to it? Highlight on "normal"? Sure, I shouldn't ask too much. Technically speaking I'm an alien. Being born on a ship in the middle of Ocean does that to you, according to the Immigration. Isn't this highly ironic? I can turn it upside down as much as I want... but I'll always be an Immigrant. Only here I'm legal. So much for aunt Nino's prediction that I was destined for great things. I always, always said it: astrology is total bullshit.

According to this booklet, out there it's dangerous. Ha! Big news indeed. I suppose I should've gotten used to the danger, but now I'm on my own, someplace far away from home. Vladie says I'm smart - another one of the countless reasons why I'm unmarried, but I'm still voting for the fact that showing up at a date smelling like toilet detergent tends to scare potential boyfriends away - yet what am I supposed to do for a living? The nice officer said I've been given a salary to get by for about six months, so I have some time to figure it out. No more toilet scrubbing, thank you very much.

It seems I even have a place on my own. Hell, yeah! Privacy, at last! I love my family, but sleeping with your mom and aunt for all of your adult life can be... a bit overwhelming. Of course, the soft snoring has the magic power to make the nightmares go away. If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into you, according to Nietzsche. I can still see his eyes sometimes when I go to bed. I guess recovering from some bruises takes longer. There isn't a band-aid for your heart or your brain. Well, I have this pretty handsome splice that will definitely get mad at me for getting lost... somewhere in the universe, but it's not my fault. He can't be mad at me, can he? I didn't do anything. Maybe I should've asked the nice officer to write it down on paper for future records. Damn.

All right, focussing on the bad stuff won't make it go away, so for now I should try to understand what the heck I'm supposed to do here. Think positive. Think positive...
Oh! Yeah. I got this smart..thingie. Looks like a tablet.
Feeding your internal nerd: check.

Hello. My name's Jupiter Jones and I have a compulsive tech-shopping problem.

No. I absolutely refuse to believe this is happening. I'm dreaming and I'm gonna wake up in my own bed any minute now.

This berated Sci fi hell is not real.

Amazing..

This world, this place, the people! Where do I even begin! Of course I blamed father at first, but I don't think this is his doing. I wouldn't put it past him to have some secret other worlds. Maybe even thought this was my punishment for leaving hell, but this place is too amazing to be punishment.

Anyways, I'm Lucifer Morningstar, and yes I am that Lucifer; the devil, prince of darkness, ruler of hell, whatever you might call me in whatever world you're from. But, it doesn't seem like this universe has a devil or angels and demons. Bit strange, but who am I to complain. Maybe now I can live my life how I want to live it. I do see that there are Jedis and Sith that have some power and what's this thing about the force?

I say we all celebrate this new found world and say goodbye to our old lives! Besides, who could resist a good party.

[Filtered Against the First Order]

Coruscant's a little too much like home for comfort. Crowded, noisy, smells terrible if you get enough levels down.

I have been thinking about war. It is hard not to when everyone around is also thinking about war, or planning for it one way or another.

I have only seen a small part of this galaxy, and only traveled a little. But I already know that the map is not the territory in some very important ways. Sometimes it takes a long time to get somewhere close, or a short time to get somewhere far away, because of the way the stars are arranged and the way that the routes must go.

And this, this unexpectedness between map and reality, it makes me wonder:

What is war like in this galaxy?

I have seen wars that were fought street to street, with guns or with missiles or with tanks. I have seen planes flying to battle, seen explosions far up in the sky. I have abandoned homes in ruins, and half starved when food was unable to arrive on roads that have been destroyed or that are guarded by enemies. I have run from snipers and taken long detours through basements and tunnels propped up with beams from the ruins above, where the bullets cannot penetrate. I have seen all this and more. I have fought

That is war, where I come from.

But I understand that the strategies change with the weapons that are used, offense and defense in a perpetual race. Or perhaps I should say offense and defense and the people just trying to avoid getting killed.

It is hard for me to imagine war in this galaxy.

Do battles take place in space, where there is room to maneuver? Perhaps the one who holds the space around planets holds everything? But space is a cold and dead place, so perhaps space doesn't matter so much as planetary support and control on the ground?

Is there such a thing as a front, in a galactic war? Do armies (navies? space navies?) advance across the galaxy like a wave, or do they more usually jump from place to place in more unexpected ways? Do you expect surprises, or slow grinding advances that cannot be stopped?

...I assume that destroying planets is not ordinary.

Is there anything else to look out for, in war as it is practiced here?

[Liriael's Crew]

I'm going to the medcenter. You coming?

The message has a jumble of letters between each of the words

Caine..Ccassie...hellp

[Blocked from any First Order and sympathizers]

Four people....after all the millions who died in the Hosnian system, it shouldn't hit so hard. But somehow, it just felt like the first real battle has started.

What kind of work is out there for someone with military training? Pay's not important. I have other concerns. If you plan to sign a contract with me, there are going to be questions, and it's in your best interest to answer them honestly.

I suppose it would be too much to ask that an alternate universe be better put together than the one I came from.

Luke

I hear congratulations are in order. A son? Ben? That's wonderful news. I feel like I missed so much that I didn't ever get a chance to see happen.

Han

Our kids are here. Our kids, Han.

I have a question for those of you who are more familiar with Naboo than I am. What would you recommend I see or do while I'm still here? There's so much history on this planet alone, and I find myself at a bit of a loss as far as where to start.

Let me get this straight. This galaxy is governed by a Republic. Or it was. Apparently, humans still can't avoid going to war with each other. Or other species. So at least that's stayed the same. And you've got problems with remnants of an empire that used to control everything. But no problems with Entitled, no armies built up from splices, no planets seeded for harvesting.

Oh, and you've got a wormhole you can't close or aim anywhere randomly spitting people out on a space station.

Have I covered everything important?