He takes a seat, sitting cross-legged on the soft grass. A raised eyebrow prompts me to sit down as well. And, in the most simplistic language he can muster, he explains to me that the galaxy is ruled by a single, powerful Empire that spans the entirety of the known world, bringing peace and prosperity to even the poorest of sectors, all operating under a kind and powerful leader called the Emperor.

“Whoaaaaa…” I breathe. Holy heckles. The whole galaxy is explored? Everybody is at peace?? That’s so neat! “And-, and you are an officer of this Empire??”

At this, Typhin grins proudly. “Of course. I was trained at the Lothal Academy for Young Imperials and later at the officer training program at the Corulag Academy. Though that was many years ago.” He frowns spitefully. “My personal origins in the Outer Rim sadly made me a prime candidate for the 101st Task Force. Otherwise, I would have never willingly come to the Unknown Regions, even if it was to track down a potential Jedi threat.”

That is. A lot of things I know exactly nothing about. Lothal? Corulag? Outer Rim? Task Force? With so many unknowns, I decide to just focus on the final detail. “What’s a Jedi threat?”

He eyes me for a second. Watching for any indication that I might be joking. Since there’s none, he continues. “To explain the Jedi I must explain the Force, which I cannot do easily as I am no Force wielder myself. It is an invisible power that allows masters of it to do various things. Jedi use it for evil. They aim to overthrow the Empire and return an evil rule to the galaxy. They are deceitful and rebellious, bringing chaos wherever they go.

“In the days of old, they built many buildings and temples dedicated to themselves and the creation of more Jedi. We received a distress call of sorts from one of these Jedi temples. Rather, we were alerted of a security breach, broadcasted on a formerly Jedi-only frequency. It would seem, in our search for a phantom, we may have lost an entire Freighter, including all my fellow crewmates on it.”

He gives me an odd look. “...And you’re entirely sure that there were no other survivors?”

The feeling of holding a hundred cold hands slips through my mind unhindered. “Yes, completely.”

“...Very well. My own survival was enough. You’ve done well to rescue me, Mort.”

I smile. “Anytime, to make a friend!”

He scratches his chin a few times, looking down on me with his very, very blue eyes. “Say, would you truly like to be my friend, Mort?” I nod without hesitation. “Really, now. Would you care to join the Empire, under the condition that I become your friend?” Uh. That sounds kinda weird, but I mean-, Typhin is a pretty nice guy, so… I nod again. He smiles a thin smile. “Good. Then, you’ll help me escape this place, won’t you?”

“Um, yeah? I don’t think this place is safe. Very safe.”

“Good. Would you happen to know any way of communicating with the outer world? I take it this planet isn’t completely desolate, if it can house a creature such as yourself?” Typhin asked, standing up. In turn, I stand up as well, wobbling a little on my (only) two legs. Balancing on over a dozen is much easier.

“Well, sir, I don’t much live here. This is the only place with air. Nearby. I live more in the asteroid field.”

“Is that so?” Typhin wanders over to where he’d left his spacesuit and starts clothing himself in it, but before he does so fully, I notice a little something.

“Sir! You found the cylinder?”

Typhin glances down at his chest, where two code cylinders sit snuggled in one pocket. “Yes. Well, I owe you for it, really. Without this, I’d have lost my credibility as a Commander.” I approach him where he stands, rising up on my tip-toes to truly face the cylinders. As well as the little plaque-think right beside it. Three red squares above three blues squares. I lightly poke it, letting it make a “tick tick tick” sound. “-That would be my rank insignia plaque, indicating my rank as Commander.”

“Whoooaaaaaa, cool!” I look up at him, my eyes starry and my grin as wide as the moon. “You’re a big deal, huh?”

Typhin scoffs lightly, but I notice the faint blush on his face easier than anything. “Heh, no, nothing so impressive. I am merely the second in command at the 101’st task force, after all. I have nothing to brag about.” Though, going by his smile and the glimmer in his eye, it’s clear that he’s proud of where he’s gotten.

In a minute or so he’s got his spacesuit back on, and once he’s got the helmet back on his head, everything seems ready.

I look up at him. “Will the oxygen last?”

He pokes his helmet a few times. “The oxygen in this thing can last over 24 hours, and should it start running out, I ought to be able to return here in time.” He looks me over for a second where I stand in the nude. “I suppose you’ll need no protection?”

“Not in the least, sir!”

He shrugs and starts heading towards the cave my tail is coming from. I follow.

-Hm? Seems like Typhin is sort of… fiddling with his helmet or something? Poking at the sides. The helmet makes a few beeping noises in return, and, as far as I can see from the outside, a bunch of squiggly and straight lines appear inside his helmet.

“Whooaaa, what’cha doin’?” I ask professionally, moving closer to him to get a better look at what’s happening in his helmet. It’s really hard though since he’s much taller than me.

He glances down at me, eye sharp and unfocused. “I’m scanning the surroundings. Forgive my bluntness, but I cannot trust your word on the state of things inside this place.” I guess I can respect that, I mean, I barely know anything about where I am, so he’s right not to trust me right off the bat, I wouldn’t either. Even then, I feel just a little sad. He turns his eye back to the beeping and flashing inside of his helmet, focusing on it, watching as written language I’ve never seen before flashes past. His eyes widen and he stops in his tracks.

I stop as well. “Everything alright?”

A thrilled, shy smile pricks at his lips and he tears his eyes from the words in front of him to meet my eyes. “Kyber crystals,” he says breathlessly. “There are kyber crystals in here!” His face erupts in a barely subdued expression of joy, mouth hesitantly twisting into a hopeful grin while his eyes shine brighter than I’ve ever seen before.

With such strong happiness in my face, how can I not follow along?

“Wow, that’s great, sir!”

He gives me a look. “I assure you, Mort, under the pretext that you do not know the name of the Jedi, I can already recognize that you cannot possibly know what a kyber crystal is.”

Uhuh. Uhuh. Sure!

I nod broadly. Yup, yup.

Typhin sighs and turns to face one of the icy walls. “This scanner is not equipped to ensure the location of the kyber crystals, they can detect the presence of them. However, going by my own knowledge, they should reside within these walls.” A dry chuckle escapes his lips as his fingers graze the wall. “Heh, why, if I can only inform the Empire of this…”

Hm. Interesting. Kyber crystals. Cool name. No idea what they are. Kyber. Crystal. Crystal?

I step up to the wall Typhin is caressing weirdly. This may or may not work, but I’m here to try it!

Running my soft hands over the wall, I quickly find a crack. The tips of my finger slip inside, and then I push. It’s hard. Way harder than I thought it’d be, but with some grand effort and a few weird looks from Typhin, I crack open a piece. Typhin’s eyes widen just a little.

-Ah, there’s one!

A little white crystal shimmers enticingly inside the crack I made and I waste no time grabbing it and extracting it from the wall, holding it up to Typhin like a kid who found a yellow ladybug. “One of these?”

In the time it took me to grab a crystal, it seems the man in question went two shades paler than before. It might be the sparse lighting though. I’m really not sure.

Before doing any other kind of reaction, Typhin pokes a few buttons on the side of his helmet, turning on what seems to be a little headlamp. He carefully grabs the crystal out of my hand, places it between his thumb and forefinger, and holds it up to the light, squinting one eye shut like some sort of professional jeweller. After a few seconds of his visor showing even more rolling text, he brings the crystal back down. Looks me in the eye. “Indeed, one of these.”

Oh! Nice! “That’s good sir, there are plenty of these in this cave!”

A smile lingers in his eyes. “Then the death of my crewmates and my arrival here has not been in vain, supposing I survive this ordeal.”

“I’ll make sure of it!” I promised, raising my hand in a small salute.

He affixes me with a hard gaze and for a moment I remain frozen in the salutation. Is it-, did I-, was I not supposed to salute? Am I doing something wrong? It kind of feels like a sudden change shot through Typhin, his back straightening, his face going cold and rigid.

He moves closer to me. Towering over me. “I’ll assume ignorance over insult. Are you attempting to salute me?” Uh. Uh. Uh. I try to say something but bite off almost half my tongue instead. “I’ll take your silence as an affirmative. Saluting a higher-ranking officer is not necessary in most cases, but should you do so, you must do it like this,” he straightens my right arm, brings it right in front of me, and makes it point straight ahead before raising my hand so that the palm faces outward, “and then say either ‘hail the Empire’ or ‘hail the Emperor.’ Is that clear, Mort?”

My tongue has healed back. “Uh-, um-, yes, sir!” He nods at me, encouraging me to finish the salute. “H-, hail the Empire!”

For some reason, it feels like I’m denouncing the glorious republic of Finland by doing this, but it also feels sort of coo-,

“Good.” Typhin gives a faint smile. “At ease.”

I fall back into a relaxed posture. Phew. This empire business might be a little more complicated than just following this dude around.