Jedi Master Creax sat back in his chair, thinking of the events to come. The Republic, despite his requests, sent two Corvettes to assist him, each one carrying at least one half of a battalion. He still had several days before they would reach the planet, so he took his time to meditate and prepare himself for the possible trials to come. Unlike the imperials, who did a blind jump into hyperspace, they had to use the mapped routes for fear of going into a sun or moon. Even though he didn't believe in it, they were lucky.
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Shining Armor trudged through the swamp, his eyes darting back and forth, all too aware of the creatures that lived there. The constant sound of the swish-slosh resonated in his ears as the troops moved through the swamp. They had barely been able to hold onto the trail of the violent criminals.
“Sir!” one of his scouts far ahead shouted. “I think you should see this.”
Shining Armor rushed ahead, looking around, only to see nothing but trees and bog. “What is it?” he asked, continuing to glance around.
The soldier pointed to the ground in front of them. Shining realized the ground before them wasn't swamp, but a part of a body. A giant Hydra's body, to be precise!
Several of his soldiers gulped, severely worried. Evening Shining Armor was a bit concerned if this bunch of guards could go through more of this? What would happen if they came across more than a few in this travel?
A little bit of Kira's smile showed through her mask while she gazed through her binoculars. Already, with such little effort, they had them almost running terrified. Now for a little fun.
Taking a thermal detonator in her hand, thus activating it, she threw it in the direction of the ponies, allowing the force to carry it farther. She smiled as it landed.
Boom!
The sound from the blast was easily heard behind the bushes, the vibration felt under her feet. The sound and shock waves quickly spread out over the portion of the jungle it landed it. The jungle shook before abruptly becoming silent again.
“Let's go,” Kira said to the men behind her. She turned and walked away from the scene, now having sent their message.
Her soldiers followed suit moving through the brush silently, except for the occasional crunch of leaves. The two stormtroopers, who called themselves “Deck” and “Six,” kept their rifles at the ready, obviously nervous about this forest's more aggressive inhabitant. Several of these tried to even make them their meal. As for the Pilot, he remained rather Silent, keeping his Imperial Pistol at the ready.
This amused Kira, for it had to take a lot more than fairytale creatures to defeat her. The forest was alive with plenty of creatures, both large and small. Kira preferred it that way, due to less annoyances she would have to deal with.
“Master.” A mechanical voice took her out from her thoughts.
“Yes, what is it?” she asked, her gaze on the droid.
“I am detecting a fire, with one life sign by it.”
“Well, let's go there and pay them a visit, shall we?”
******
Nate gradually made his way to the farm, being very careful not to catch the attention of those three, little... what did they call themselves? Crusaders? Huh, what a funny thought, Nate wondered.
He finally cleared the tall grass, looking at the large orchard. Now that he could see for himself, it looked a lot bigger up close. The apples looked quite good, he thought. Nate stared at the bright red and very delicious looking apple.
Beep, beep. His movement tracker went off, warning him of a single entity approaching from the East. Great, just what I need. He groaned, looking for any cover, since a tree isn't the best cover one can find.
Scanning his surroundings, something caught his eye. A tree house? he thought, wondering at his lucky. He ran like hell for it.
Running up the ramp, Nate prayed it could hold his weight, since it looked a little small for his size. He opened the door, dashing inside and closing the door behind him. Drawing his rifle, he waited, listening for any sound.
******
“Sir!” an officer shouting, running up to Captain Adjess and the Sith.
“Yes?” the captain asked, turning to the officer, a short blond boy no older than seventeen.
The boy swallowed before continuing, looking like he thought he was on death row—which, if you angered the Sith, you would be. “Scanners have detected a large number of bio signs heading for the village of Ponyville, which is where our teams are supposed to be,” he finished, panting.
“What kind of lifeforms?” the Sith asked, his eyes boring into the officer.
“Um, ah, they have genetic markers of... Bugs, sir,” he said, standing at full attention.
“How many?”
“I would say a hundred, sir.”
“Have our squads ready to be deployed, in case our teams need assistance.”
“Yes, Sir!”