At the back door of an inconspicuous clothing store in Disney's Star Wars Theme Park, a young woman quickly slipped into the cloak of a smuggler, tying her belt while looking back at her two companions who were dragging the knocked-out store clerk behind the counter.
After a while, the younger male companion came out, looked around, and upon finding that no one was paying attention to them, said, "Our spaceship has completely crashed. To leave this planet, we need to find a new one."
"Rey! Rey!" An old voice came from within the clothing store. The young woman, referred to as Rey, hurried in.
"What happened? Finn, where did you take him?" Rey turned her head to look at the young man beside her. The man was also changing into a smuggler's robe, while the older man standing beside did not need to change his clothes, he was already dressed in tattered clothing.
The old man came over with his weapon in hand, looking at the two young people and said, "The clerk was talking about the Galactic Congress with someone who seemed like a pirate before we knocked him out."
"The Galactic Congress?!" Rey looked surprised, "Wasn't that decades ago? Are you sure he was talking about the Galactic Congress of the Galactic Republic?"
"I couldn't have heard wrong," the old man said with conviction.
"Do you remember the light we saw while driving the spaceship?" Finn started talking, "Solo, have you ever seen such a light?"
The old man referred to as Solo shook his head. During his long career as a ranger, he had never seen such a sight before.
"Didn't we possibly travel back in time?" Rey mentioned with a headache, "So the Galactic Republic still exists, and the Galactic Congress hasn't disbanded yet."
"Whether it's true, we need further confirmation." The ranger old man, referred to as Solo, looked around and said, "Hurry up and get dressed. We need to grab a pirate."
The two young people looked at each other and quickly got dressed. The three of them left the clothing store together.
Just after they left, blue fluid began to ooze from under the floor where the clerk, whom they had knocked out, laid. The fluid slowly covered him, and his eyes reopened.
Then he pulled out his mobile phone and said to the other end, "Director, I've memorized all the lines, there shouldn't be any problem... Don't worry, I let the Symbiont control my heartbeat and brainwaves. They definitely won't be able to tell that I'm faking it."
"Alright, I understand, but I'm genuinely worried about those alien pirates. Are you sure they won't blow their cover?"
The trio who hastily left the clothing store first circled around to the back door of the pub, hoping to find some drunken revellers stumbling out. After waiting for a long time without any appearances, a group of peculiar-looking humans tried pulling them in for group photos.
They thought this was a special custom here, so they didn't think much of it, and finally, they entered the pub.
The seasoned ranger Solo quickly zeroed in on a relatively small pirate, and the trio followed him to the corner of the balloon shop.
It happened to be the scorching part of the afternoon, the place had no shade and was deserted. When the pirate got there, he was drunk and began to vomit against the wall.
Soon it became apparent that he was more than just drunk, he was allergic to something in the drink, he was coughing and scratching his throat, but after a lot of grunting, he didn't manage to swear once.
Finn, the youngest and strongest among them, seized the opportunity and rushed forward, choking the humanoid pirate in one quick move.
The pirate was already feeling queasy, and this sudden choke caused him to gasp for breath. When he woke up, he found himself lying in a shady spot behind some rocks, with three oddly-looking humans staring intently at him.
"Cough, cough," the pirate coughed violently for a few times, wiped his mouth with his hand, and squinted at the people in front of him, "Who are you?"
He reached for his weapon, only to realize that besides his underwear, everything else had been stripped away. Clearly, these three guys were professionals. After the pirate spat on the ground, he said, "Well done, just say what you want."
"Do you know about the Galactic Senate?" The young Rey clearly couldn't wait. As soon as the pirate started talking, she hurriedly asked her question.
This question stumped the pirate. He stared at them for quite some time before asking, "The Galactic Senate? Do you mean the Galactic Council?"
It was clear that the two words they were saying were not the same. The one that starts with 'S' means a true congress, while the one that starts with 'C' essentially means a 'committee' - a small difference in meaning.
However, because of the unusual starting words, this minor difference in meaning was not very noticeable, and both sounded like some leadership organization in the Milky Way.
"Tell us everything you know," Solo drew his weapon, looked coldly at the pirate.
Upon seeing that he had a real weapon in his hand, the pirate swallowed and said, "You've really stumped me. I don't have much dealings with them, but our boss doesn't have a good relationship with them."
"Who is your boss?"
"I can't tell you, I... Alright, alright, don't get excited. The leader of the Ravager Team is Yondu. Judging by your expressions, you must never have heard of him, you must come from other galaxy clusters, right?"
"Get to the point!"
"I don't know what you want to hear, the only thing I can tell you is that the Galactic Congress is, in fact, an interstellar leadership organization within the Milky Way. The Lower House is led by councilors from the local civilizations of the Milky Way, while the Upper House is overseen by high civilizations from the Star Area and supervisors from the Three Great Empires."
"And then there was a guard of some sort... Guardians of the Galaxy? But haven't heard about them for many years now."
Solo instantly widened his eyes, speaking softly, "The Jedi Order?"
The other two young people looked at him. Solo had a reminiscent expression, then began, "You might not know much about the history of the Galactic Empire, that was back in my younger days."
"During the Galactic Republic period, there was a special force known for their bravery—champions of the Milky Way galaxy's peace and security— they were known as The Jedi Order."
"Every member of the order was a master of the Force. They served the Galactic Congress, and the most famous among them was my friend, Skywalker Luke."
"The Jedi Order?" The pirate seemed confused.
The others only saw his mistakes in certain names as him being ignorant, but all the general structures were correct.
Indeed, the background stories of Star Wars and Marvel share a great deal in common. In some places, it could even be seen as a direct tribute, especially regarding the Galactic Congress and the origin of life.
In the history setting of Star Wars, Celestials exist as well. The setting is not too different either—they were once majestic giants. After the Celestials' era, life in the Milky Way galaxy evolved over an extended period.
Solo asked repeatedly, and the pirate narrated some facts precisely, struggled through some, and completely bluffed through others. They could only reason out some clues based on his fragmented language.
"We may be near the end of the Galactic Republic era," Solo pondered, "The Congress isn't entirely collapsed yet, but corruption is proliferating, and inhabitants of the more remote planets are getting glimpses of the breakdown in order."
"So the Galactic Empire comes next?" Rey, flipping through the scarce historical knowledge in her brain, asked uncertainly.
Solo nodded; he too was reviewing the history of the past. In the end, it's simple—every system would ultimately become rigid, devoid of its initial ideals. With the Galactic Republic's fall, the various measures taken began to be tainted with private desires.
After a series of main story arc events, Sidious finally became the chancellor of the Galactic Republic. But could a republic based on the Congress reach the pinnacle of power?
Given this situation, any ambitious ones in such a historical period would make the same decision—restoration.
This chancellor named Sidious, like many dictators in history, secretly amassed a large army of clones.
When the army approached, members of Congress had no choice but to place all their hopes on the chancellor. Thus, he amassed power akin to a feudal monarch.
Then, this Sith Emperor corrupted Anakin, the Chosen One, creating one of the most iconic villains in sci-fi film history—Darth Vader, the father in the iconic "I am your father" gag, and Skywalker Luke's father.
Solo and Skywalker Luke were good friends, part of the Star Wars trio. Though he has aged in this era, he still has vivid memories of the adventures from his youth.
Suddenly, he remembered that the Sith Emperor might be planning a terrifying Clone Wars for greater power. The war could last for years and claim countless lives.
Realizing this, he could no longer sit still. Suddenly standing, Solo looked at Rey, "This is your destiny, child. We must go to the Galactic Congress and stop the Emperor's plot!"
The other two were somewhat perplexed, as they had no idea about what had transpired thirty years ago. But Solo didn't have time to explain. Quickly striding toward the pirate, he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him. "Where's the closest spaceship? Tell me!"
"I...I...how would I know?" the pirate replied with a troubled expression. "I'm a foreigner too. Why don't you ask the locals over there?"
The pirate pointed towards the back of the rocks, where a boy, holding a drink and a balloon, had just walked by. He seemed like a visitor who had just finished a ride and was going to find his parents in a nearby store.
Seeing that he was a child, Solo calmed a bit. He thought this could be a good idea. The locals, although acting strangely, seemed friendly. Perhaps they could get some information from them.
The three quickly walked around the rocks without wasting time on the pirate. As a result, they bumped right into the boy.
"Oh!" The little boy was stunned. He fell on his bum. Upon standing and seeing the three oddly dressed people front of him, he was not scared and even jumped up cheerfully.
The two younger people in the group shared a glance. Rey, the friendlier looking one, sighed lightly, adjusted her facial expression, and squat down. Placing her hands on the boy's shoulders she said,
"We are lost strangers, child. We may need your help. Would you be willing to help us?"
The little boy blinked, then an excited expression appeared on his face as if he thought of something. "Of course, I'm willing. What do you need help with?"
"We're looking for a spaceship". Rey looked back at her two companions, speaking hesitantly. She didn't hold much hope. How would such a young child know where a spaceship is?
But unexpectedly, the boy immediately jumped up excitedly and pointed in a direction, "You must be looking for that one over there, there's a big spaceship you can ride!"
Following the direction the little boy pointed, they saw a familiar spaceship behind a circle of rocks.
This sight evoked many memories in Solo, this spaceship was once known as the fastest in the Milky Way galaxy—the Millennium Falcon, which he and his old friend Luke once rode in.