Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous, Voss orbit
Captain Zoellen furrowed a brow as she looked at the display. One of the Republic ships had chosen to pursue them into orbit. She was in charge now that both her superiors had been incapacitated but she had been ordered to return to Imperial space immediately. With most of her guns facing the opposite direction, the small corvette had the cruiser at a disadvantage. One that Captain Zoellen knew how to compensate for. She ordered the helmsman to perform a 180-degree rotation and reverse engines. This way, the forward batteries would face the oncoming corvette. Undoubtedly, the Pubs would flee in the face of such firepower. And if they didn't they'd be destroyed, all while Venomous would continue on its course. She smiled at her own brilliance. It took more than the Force to win battles.
Captain Zoellen watched the display as her ship turned to face its pursuer. They weren't slowing down. She ordered power to shields and told the gunners to fire as soon as they were in weapons range. It looks like their cargo was important. The corvette came under fire the moment it was in weapons range but it didn't return fire. Shots from the batteries bounced off the bridge shields of the smaller vessel. The smaller ship seemed to be approaching faster. It closed the gap between the two ships but didn't fire a shot. It dawned on Captain Zoellen just what the enemy was planning, one second too late. If she had the Force, she might've seen it coming. Then again, probably not.
The Thranta-class corvette's hammerhead features made it look more like an arrow than the flying creatures with huge wingspans that they took their names from. The Redemption may have been smaller than the bulky, triangular Imperial cruiser but what it lost in mass it made up for in speed. The arrow side just under the bridge of the Redemption smashed into the Imperial cruiser's bridge with so much force that both ships were sent into a slight spin. The hulls of both vessels buckled and the arrowpiece that had smashed into Venomous broke off completly. The bridge had been narrowly missed by the impact but the bridge's control of the ship was now very much inoperative. While both ships were now more or less disabled, the hangar bays of the Redemption opened up and drop ships flew towards the crippled Imperial vessel.
Kess was knocked to the floor of the hangar deck. She'd gone down there to check on her cargo, maybe do a little interrogation with the prisoners but cleary the Republic wasn't giving up so easily. She tried to contact the bridge but got no response. The Republic must've had reinforcements that just jumped in. Captain Zoellen hadn't been fast enough for some reason. They should've been in hyperspace minutes ago. She made her way to the transports where the prisoners she captured were. They were both hyperdrive equipped but she'd only be able to fly one of them out. Of course, she picked the one that held the VIPs.
Kess opened the shuttle doors and when she entered she was immediately blasted by a loud voice. "RELEASE US THIS INSTANT!" Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot voice. Kess grabbed her ears and cursed. She turned off the sound filters of her helmet and entered the cockpit. She looked out the viewport to see Republic assault shuttles entering the hangar deck. She'd never get out of there now. She quickly turned around, her mind racing. Her mission was about to end in failure. If she couldn't get off the ship with her prisoners, she'd have to destroy them. She unlocked the hoversled that contained the big white one, the leader if the guard's information had been correct. She had tricked the gaurd into giving up the information but based on how regal the creature appeared, she had to believe it was accurate. She pushed the hoversled with the creature in stasis out onto the hangar deck and into the halls of the ship as Republic troopers piled into the ship.
Virko's sled had been knocked over when the two ships collided and the stasis field had been deactivated. It was then easy enough to pick the locks on his restraints. He had to dislocate his hands but clearly the Empire wasn't familiar with Voss anatomy. He slipped out of his stun cuffs and then popped his wrists back into their proper position. As he exited the shuttle to see the Imperial Agent carting off one of the creatures. He had to stop them. The Empire wouldn't harm another innocent while he could do anything about it.
Brazon drew his rifle and jumped out onto the deck of the Imperial cruiser, Commander Carwin right beside him. Ramming the enemy ship had pulverized their guns and communications, now all that was left was to get the prisoners out and off the ship. They should still be nearby but time was of the essence. It was just then the Jedi appeared before them. "You've really got to stop doing that." Brazon said to Master Zequill. "Quickly, we must secure the prisoners and get them back to Voss." "Right, let's move!" Carwin announced. Behind them, the hangar blast doors closed. "Blast! Imps have locked us in." Carwin said. "They're magnetically sealed. There's no way we'll be able to blast through those." Brazon said. "We'll get the prisoners out on the escape pods." Carwin suggested. "It's too risky; if they get the guns back online they'll vaporize the pods before they enter the atmosphere." Brazon said. "We have to take the bridge. It's the only way." "We have to move fast. Free the prisoners first."
"RELEASE US THIS INSTANT! SURRENDER OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!" Brazon fell to the ground as he heard the familiar voice. "It's okay! We're here to get you out!" Brazon said back. "That's right you are! And release my sister you fiends!" "We're not with the people who captured you. We're trying to save you!" Brazon deactivated the sleds one by one. "How do we know we can trust you?" Luna asked. Brazon looked at the purple one. "All I want is peace. Remember? I wanted to protect your world, your peace." Twilight nodded. "I remember. I see now why."
"Now hold on a second, yer sayin' we're on a ship with a bridge?" Applejack asks. "Bridges go over the water, ships go on the water." "It's a different kind of ship and there is no water. We're in space." "We're IN space?" "Yes." Brazon answers. "Well, now I think I've seen everything." "They took the princess! I don't know where but one of them took her and the thing she was in out of the shuttle! We have to rescue her!" Twilight says. "This ship is huge, we'll never find her if we just randomly search. If we take over the bridge, we can use their security systems to find her." Zequill says. "I'd guess a ship with a bridge would be pretty big." Applejack says. "We'll need your help to get out of here. Please, can you help us?". Brazon realized he was essentially asking innocent civilians to fight the Empire. But there was no other choice. If they were going to live to see peace, they would have to fight their way out. This was the only way they would get out of this. "I trust you. We'll work together to find the princess and get out of this." Twilight said. The others nodded in agreement. "Thank you." he said.
"All right, Donair Squadron on me, the rest of you protect the hangar and get the rest of the prisoners out." Carwin announced. "Shining, stay here and protect them." Twilight said to her brother. "Not a problem." "The rest of us will get to the bridge and find the princess. All right everypony, let's move." Brazon for a moment wondered if it was Twilight or Commander Carwin that was in charge. He followed both out of the hangar into the ship. Things were about to get interesting.
Donair Squadron lead the ponies down the corridors of the ship to the bridge. The Imperials still hadn't mustered any defenses but occasionally a wayward Imperial would run into them to get blasted by either Brazon or Commander Carwin or got knocked down by Master Zequill. They ran up to a turbolift to the bridge and keyed the pad at the side to open the doors. The doors slid open to reveal no lift but a shaft that seemed to go down forever. "Spast. The bridge is up there but it looks like the lift got knocked out when we rammed them." Carwin said. "I think we can handle that." Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy picked up Brazon and Carwin by the wastes and carried them up the shaft. "I was going to say we could just use our grappling hooks but I guess this works too!" Carwin said as he was being lifted towards the bridge. Luna carried the others using a a magic spell with Zequill on her back. Brazon tried not to look down as he ascended rapidly.
The group exited the turbolift shaft into a corridor that lead directly to the bridge. Brazon and Carwin checked the corners with rifles drawn as the group quickly advanced on the door. They reached the door to find it was a blast door, not quite as thick as the hangar blast doors but still too much to blast through with a rifle. "Radio back to the hangar. Tell them we need some satchel charges up here and-" "I think I can handle this." Luna said as she strode between them. Her horn glowed a dark blue and then the door did the same. Luna gritted her teeth and her eyes became slits. The door began to buckle as if it was being pulled inward by two giant hands. It ripped open and the two pieces snapped off and fell to the floor. "There we are. Onward!" Luna announced. Brazon and Carwin stepped through first.
The bridge was a big area but appeared to be completely empty. Consoles for the crew were in two large lowered pits that ran parallel to the bridge with a walkway in the middle leading to the main viewports. The blast shields on the view ports were down because of the attack but no one was at the helm, or any of the controls for that matter. Brazon and Carwin made their way across the main walkway with the ponies behind them. As they did, a grenade dropped down from the ceiling. Zequill pushed it into right side pit with a swipe of the Force. It exploded, a flash of light erupted and Imperials sprang up from behind the consoles with weapons drawn but some in the pit were blinded by the flash. The ones on the other side fired right at the group from behind computer terminals. At such close range, they couldn't miss but Twilight and Rarity were faster, using their magic to create barriers that reflected the shots. Luna created a barrier on the opposite side and Carwin and Brazon used them both for cover.
"Grenades sir?" Brazon asked. "Good thinking." Carwin answered. Brazon and Carwin threw grenades into the two pits, but these weren't flashbang grenades. They exploded, taking out systems consoles, computer terminals and the Imps that were using them as cover. After quickly examining the bodies, they walked over to the main controls at the end of the bridge. The console had a blastershot right through the center of it. "Now this is a problem. These are the main controls of the bridge and it looks like they've been blasted." Carwin said. "I can't access security with the controls like this. I can slice Sith consoles but repairing them is beyond me." "Please, help me." A voice said behind them.
Brazon and Carwin spun and pointed their weapons at him in one motion. Zequill had his saber drawn. The Sith Lord Lahk stood in the doorway, clutching his stomach. "I mean you no harm... please, I... I... I can't make it stop." Niether Brazon nor Carwin lowered their weapons until they noticed what the Sith Lord was talking about. He was crying. Tears were streaming down his face. Brazon had never been more confused and amused at the same time. A Sith Lord, in front of him, crying. He found that more unbelievable than the collection of brightly colored four legged aliens behind him.
"Please... make it stop. I can't stop the pain." "You're emotions are no longer under your control it seems." Zequill said as he lowered his saber. Carwin and Brazon lowered their own weapons. "What must I do?" The Sith asked in a weak tone. "There are Jedi techniques for calming the mind. They can help you control your emotions." Zequill said calmly. "Is that what you mean when you said there is no emotion there is peace?" Lahk asked. Zequill nodded. Lahk utters something between a chuckle and a cough at the remark while still weeping. "You win Jedi. Please, teach me." "I will but first we must use this terminal to access the ship's security systems." "I can help you do that." Lahk said.
Lahk approached the terminal and took off the blasted display. He began repairing the console. After a few seconds, the main screen lit up. "There. Now we can access security." "You sure have some interesting skills for a Sith Lord." Brazon said. "I'm usually sent out to break things like this. I learned how to fix them in case I ever needed to undo the damage I caused." Lahk said. "This would be the first time I've ever used them though." he admitted. The console turned on and began cycling through various images through the ship. After a few seconds, the image froze in engineering. The camera zoomed into a hoversled parked next to the reactor core's main console. Kess looked up, smiled and waved at the camera as she held a gun to Princess Celestia's head.
"Attention Republic and alien forces. Transfer control of the ship to the reactor core terminal or I will execute this hostage." Kess said as she knelt down and stroked the mane of the imprisoned ruler. "You're bluffing." Brazon said at the image. "If you kill, you'll have nothing to bargain with." Kess frowned and turned back to the terminal. On the viewscreen, another figure appeared from behind the hoversled.
Virko lept at Kess, saving Princess Celestia as he'd saved Luna. Kess dropped her blaster and it skidded across the floor. Virko delivered a punch to Kess's jaw and tried to grab her head. In one motion, Kess drew a knife and slammed it into Virko's side. He gasped as his body was sapped of strength. She pushed him off of her and grabbed her jaw. She snarled at the young man. She returned to the terminal and began typing in console commands. Alarm klaxons began sounding and the lights of the ship turned red. She looked up at the camera and smiled, bleeding at her lip a tad.
"I've just disabled the reactor core's safety protocols and set it to overload. Surrender control of the ship to me or we will all die." Kess declared. "I don't think she's bluffing now." Lahk said over the sounds of the alarms on the bridge. "What do we do? We'll never get to engineering in time." Carwin said. The lights on the bridge flickered and an automated voice began speaking, "Warning. Critical systems failure, main reactor overloading. Evacuate immediately."