Fanfic / Rebel King

”You don't go to bed expecting to find yourself somewhere else. Especially not in a different body.

Or in one of your favourite franchises.

I'm not sure how I got here or why, but I think I've fallen in with a good crowd.”

Rebel King is a XCOM 2 / Star Wars Rebels crossover Self-Insert fanfic by Arratra, in which he finds himself in the Star Wars galaxy in the body of a Viper King. Things quickly escalate from there, where he finds the hideout of a deceased Jedi and his abandoned astromech partner, escapes from a bunch of Stormtroopers, and finally stumbles into the meeting of a young boy and a Rebel cell. Soon, Arratra finds himself involved in events that will reshape the galaxy and beyond, as he and his new team work to bring down the Empire.

The original fic ends at the end of Season 2, and a sequel fic that starts after a Time Skip, Rebel King: Alliance Rising is up now.

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Rebel King contains examples of:

• Addictive Magic: Averted for Psionics, at least for Templars; the sensation of absorbing energy for Focus is described as not being pleasurable, something Arratra is thankful for due to a worry over exactly this.
• All There in the Manual: A lot of supplementary information can be found in the thread, including in-universe "research reports" by XCOM researching Star Wars tech.
• An Arm and a Leg: The Grand Inquisitor loses his legs at the end of his fight with Ezra, Kanan, and Arratra at the broadcast tower. The only solace is that afterwards, Darth Vader doesn't give him very long to bemoan it.
• An Ice Person: Being a Viper King gives Arratra cryogenic venom. It's referenced in his In-Series Nickname/Code Name, Chillfang.
• Animal Sweet on Object: While Hera is waiting in the Phantom, concealed by a signal jammer, she and her ship are suddenly investigated by a swarm of local critters, who mistake the signal from the jammer as their mating call.
• Ascended Extra:
  • After being rescued, Ephra and Mira Bridger join the Spectres as a Communications Officer and Medic respectively, supplemented with XCOM training. The latter even gets a medical degree.
• Ascended Fanboy: Being a self-insert fic, this goes without saying.
• Attractive Bent Species: See Chick Magnet below.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: With the other Spectres successfully escaped, Darth Vader turns his attention to the now-stranded Arratra, planning to figure out the secrets behind his psionics, but Arratra instead jams the Fang of Surik under his own chin and prepares to turn on the blade, choosing to die than give the Empire any intel. Luckily for him, his psionics suddenly open a Psionic Rift and allow him to escape.
• Blinded by Rage: As the Spectres escape with some high-value-individuals, the Inquisitors give chase, but the Fifth Brother is too furious to check if his craft had been sabotaged. He only realizes it when the Force screams at him, a second too late.
• Big Damn Heroes: Aside from the canon Wookiee rescue, XCOM makes an unexpected appearance to rescue the Spectres from a Chryssalid swarm.
• Chekhov's Gun: In Chapter 40, in an almost-throwaway line, the Spectres are given Mind Shields to prevent certain sensitive knowledge being taken from their minds by subversive elements in X-COM. This isn't brought up again until Chapter 75, thirty-five chapters later, when the Mind Shields end up saving the Spectres from an Elder attempting to mind-control them.
• Chick Magnet: Much to Arratra's dismay, the last known Viper King was a genetically perfect specimen and had a tradition of collecting a Sultan-esque harem, and now that he is around, all the female Vipers in XCOM want a piece of him. While Arratra is put off by the more forward advances, the shyness of one of them, Ssimiss, does catch his fancy.
• Cool Sword: After Arratra‘s lightfoil is broken by the Grand Inquisitor, he finds a broadsaber in the Lothal Jedi temple... more specifically, the Fang of Surik.
  • After defeating the Grand Inquisitor and capturing his lightsabre, Kanan and Ezra use the crystals to build themselves a lightsabre-pistol and a collapsible lightpike/shockstaff respectively.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Ever since becoming a Templar, Arratra has focused on training his psi-blades, with Volt and Mindfray as his ranged psionic options. He regrets focusing so much on them and too little on the more esoteric techniques when faced with Darth Vader. He later learns from the experience and incorporates more techniques like Inversion and Void Conduit into his repertoire.
• Damsel in Distress: Ssimiss becomes this when Maul hijacks the shuttle she was on and takes her hostage, forcing Arratra to come save her. To add to that, he used a Mind Probe to pull everything she knows about his psionics from her mind, including everything about XCOM and its locations in the galaxy. Justified in that she is a Medic Specialist, and to stand up to an enemy Force Adept requires specialized training and/or equipment that she doesn't have.
• Death by Adaptation: Jedi master Oppo Rancisis survived Order 66 in canon and his fate after that was never revealed until Obi-Wan Kenobi. Here he’s confirmed to have been killed on Garel.
  • Senator Trayvis is killed by a stray shot from a stormtrooper.
• Die or Fly: Just as Arratra is preparing to commit suicide rather than fall to Vader and let the Empire learn about his psionics, XCOM or the Rebels, his psionics suddenly open a Psionic Rift, which allows him to escape to Camp Sigbin.
• Double Tap: Arratra finishes off the Elder with two shots to the chest and one to the head, after blasting him with an Ionic Storm and crushing his lower half with a stone slab.
• Endearingly Dorky: Arratra first notices the Viper named Ssimiss when she hides her face behind her GREMLIN drone upon seeing him, and he thinks the reaction is adorable. Later, he finds that all Vipers apparently have a crush on him, and he finds Ssimiss's shyness more appealing than the more outspoken attitudes of the others.
• Enemy Mine: Arratra and the Spectres find temporarily allying with the Imperials a palatable option whenever they encounter Elders and Chryssalids. One notable example is allying with Maul and an Inquisitor when investigating the Sith Temple on Malachor, which had been co-opted by the Elder.
• Energy Bow: The Spectres come across a Dathomirian energy bow, which Arratra takes and gifts to Ezra.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: At least to the Force Sensitives present; when Vader and his TIE Advanced make their dramatic entrance the Sith Temple on Malachor, three Chryssalids manage to jump up at him and cause his Force presence to startle. Of course, he immediately cuts them down, but still.
• Gun Nut: Arratra has shades of this, having picked up a tendency to collect interesting weapons (including the lightsabers of both Inquisitors he and the crew have personally defeated). Unlike most examples, he doesn't always keep these weapons.
  • He also seems to have infected Ezra, as the young padawan now has multiple weapons of his own. By the time the sequel starts, his loadout includes his lightsabre-blaster, his lightpike/shock staff, a Dathomirian Energy Bow, and a Separatist shield (with the intention of upgrading it to a hard-light shield when he has the chance).
• He Knows Too Much: Arratra reaches this conclusion when Maul starts gloating over how much information he'd torn from Ssimiss's mind, including about his psionic techniques, XCOM, the Tempest, and all their resources in the Corusca galaxy. As such, with no way to reliably imprison him, Arratra declares that he can't let him live.
• Hero of Another Story:
  • A second XCOM team comprising of the Viper Reaper Sarissa (callsign Scarlet), the human Reaper Leon Callahan (callsign Wraith), and the human Psi-operative Zack Bartlet (callsign Wiz) explore the Star Wars galaxy and gather intel and tech for XCOM, under the guise of bounty hunters.
  • Cal Kestis and Merrin are helping the Commander root out the Atlas Conspiracy in the upper echelons of XCOM and Earth's government, while the rest of his team are helping XCOM in other tasks.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Governor Pryce's decision to use mission recorders with sensor artefacts that made convincingly editing it extremely difficult comes back to bite her when the Spectres are able to get their own - essentially unaltered - recording of Gal Trayvis' death out first, long before the Empire's version is ready.
• Human Furniture Is a Pain in the Tail: Arratra sometimes encounters equipment that just isn't built for a 10-meter-long Snake Person, like spacecraft cockpits and Bacta tanks.
• I Have Your Wife: The situation when Maul captures the shuttle Ssimiss was on, and then uses her to draw Arratra out in revenge for what happened on Malachor.
• I Kiss Your Hand: Arratra does this to Ssimiss right before his first departure from XCOM, making her blush right through her scales.
• Internal Reveal: Chapter 26 has the Spectres finding out about Order 66 and what caused the Clones to betray the Jedi.
• It Works Better with Bullets: Arratra was fully aware that Senator Gal Trayvis would go for his S-5 to try and hold him hostage, so he removed the gas cartridge and ammo beforehand.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Arratra has to contain his excitement when he meets the Rebel Fulcrum, and finds out that she's actually Ahsoka Tano.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Implied. Whatever force brought Arratra to the Star Wars universe also seems to have erased his memories of Rebels, with him having feelings of deja vu but being unable to place why.
• Mêlée à Trois: The encounter at Malachor devolves into this between the Rebels, Vader, and the Elder's forces.
• Mercy Kill: Arratra kills a temporarily-allied Inquisitor with his ice venom, not only to make the death faster and gentler, but also to prevent the Chryssalid venom from turning his body into a gestation sac.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
  • Similar to Canon, Minister Maketh Tua, while not mistreated directly, is so fearful for her life due to Vader's casual execution of Aresko and Grint that she betrays the Empire.
• Moment Killer: Zeb has a habit of interrupting any Ship Tease moments between Arratra and Ssimiss.
• No-Sell: The psionic technique Fortress provides immunity to environmental damage (and explosives). As a side-benefit, this also includes Force-based telekinesis such as Force Push, due to how they function, as Arratra is led to realise by Qui-Gon's Force Ghost during their dialogue in the Lothal Temple.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • While exploring the seemingly-abandoned Temple Ship, the Spectres encounter Chryssalids and an Elder. Cue Arratra cursing.
  • A somewhat downplayed example when the Spectres encounter the Berserker Queen in a Training Centre simulation.
  • Arratra almost freaks out when he hears confirmation that they've caught Vader's attention... and then the man himself shows up at the end of the chapter.
  • Two in rapid succession in Chapter 73, with a Chryssalid Zombie showing up... and then an Elder shows itself. Arratra is dismayed by the former, and horrified by the latter.
  • A partial subversion in Chapter 75: The Elder they've encountered announces that they've fallen into a trap and uses an area-effect mind-control... only for it to do nothing to the Spectres thanks to their Mind Shields. It still catches most of the Imperials present, however.
  • Maul has one in the sequel, when he pushes Arratra straight past Unstoppable Rage and into Tranquil Fury - which as a Sith he didn't even think was possible.
• Outside-Context Problem: Psionics are very much an unknown for the Empire, similar to the Force but distinctly different. The Grand Inquisitor and even Vader are caught flat-footed by Arratra's use of psionics more than once.
• Parrying Bullets: It's to be expected with Jedi and blaster bolts. Similarly, Templars and their psi-blade shield.
  • Subverted with the Bolt Caster; the Grand Inquisitor very narrowly avoids death when he attempts to block a bolt, only to discovers that trying to block a physical projectile like a magnetic bolt with a lightsaber bisects the projectile, but leaves you with the two halves still flying your way.
• Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Arratra often takes this stance early in the story to use his Mindfray ability.
• Reduced to Ratburgers: While talking with Senator Trayvis, Arratra claims that he’s been eating raw loth-rats to help stretch the crews food supply. He actually has, but not only for that reason.
• Royal Rapier: Arratra initially makes use of a lightfoil as a melee weapon, to make use of his amateur fencing skills.
• Self-Insert: A core part of the premise of the fic.
• Spared by the Adaptation: XCOM’s liberation of the Lothal prison camp allows for the survival of many more of its prisoners, including Ezra’s parents.
• Spit Take: Bradford does this when he hears that Arratra claiming the Darksaber in battle has made him de facto ruler of Mandalore.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: Aside from Arratra's preferred sidearm, which has a multi-payload dart-launcher which also doubles as a grapnel, he also has a modular blaster that serves as a pistol, assault rifle, sniper rifle, and ion blaster.
  • Ezra's canon lightsabre-blaster is also present.
  • After defeating the Grand Inquisitor, Kanan and Ezra build new weapons using the crystals from his lightsabre (captured by Arratra). Kanan's is a lightsabre-blaster that refines the concept from Ezra's, while Ezra's is a lightpike that doubles as a staff with one electrified end.
• The Stations of the Canon: Though the Spectres still go on several of the same missions as in canon, many events go differently or are expanded on.
• Translator Microbes: Early parts of the story have Arratra referring to a datapad with translation software when talking to Droids. The members of the crew that can't understand Binary later receive translator earpieces that makes such translation much smoother. Chopper later wonders why these earpieces aren't common practice.
• Tranquil Fury: Arratra enters this state when Maul captures Ssimiss and pulls all the information about XCOM and their resources from her mind, using every technique at his disposal to smash through his defenses while retaining an icy, focused fury. Maul, who was expecting the detached dispassion of the Jedi or the Unstoppable Rage of the Sith, is completely taken off-guard. When Ezra and Kanan notice Arratra's icy presence in the Force, their XCOM allies outright name-drop the trope.
  Wiz: We call that 'Tranquil Fury'. Or 'the Zen of Rage'. A level of sheer anger so great that one goes straight through wild rage… and comes out the other side.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: The Grand Inquisitor fails to acknowledge how much the crew have improved between their encounters. When he fights them at the broadcast tower he is quickly overwhelmed fighting them 3-on-1.
• Villainous Breakdown: Maul completely loses his cool when he sees Arratra in a Tranquil Fury do what he himself just failed to do: wield the Darksabre.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapters 10 - 13 has the crew of the Ghost find an Elder Temple Ship, run into XCOM, then cross a Gateway to another galaxy and make a formal alliance with XCOM, inducting Arratra as their liaison.
• Wham Line:
  • Chapter 70 ends with the reveal that Arratra has an in-universe counterpart... of his old human self.
  • Chapter 18 of the sequel ends with Sato calling in with a report.
    Sato: We have been attacked. The one called Maul boarded one of our ships, and captured it, before escaping. [...] He has Sergeant Ssimiss!
  • And in Chapter 21 when Fenn Rau reveals the significance of Arratra claiming the Darksaber in battle:
    I see… Then you are its rightful wielder. And… Given events during the Clone Wars… also the de-facto rightful ruler of Mandalore.
• Wrong Context Magic: The psionic technique Volt may look very similar to Force Lightning, but acts quite differently; trying to parry it with a lightsaber just causes the energy to chain from the weapon to the wielder.
• You Are Not Alone: During their talk at the Jedi temple, When Kanan admits he doesn’t think he can teach Ezra on his own, Yoda reminds him that the rest of the crew is there to help him.
• You Have Failed Me: Vader kills Aresko and Grint for their incompetence after XCOM frees the captives at Lothal’s prison camp. He then turns his attention to the Grand Inquisitor.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Arratra orders the other Spectres to escape while he holds off Darth Vader, because he knows that as a psion, he's of the most interest to the Empire.
• You Will Not Evade Me: One common trick of Arratra's is to lash out his Viper King Multipurpose Tongue, grab a target, and yank him in to impale him on his blades, either his lightfoil, his Templar psi-blades, or the Fang of Surik.