//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Assassination attempt. // Story: Star Wars: Among Terror // by RadioBug15 //------------------------------// Habro= MLP. LucasFilms= Star Wars. Among Terror= me motherfucker! (I did some research and decided that Among Terror takes place in 1 BBY, since he was taken in by Sidious in 23 BBY, he was trained by Sidious for 4 years, served with the emperor as an assassin and bodyguard for 13 years, and was on the run from him for 5 years, leading to 1 BBY.) The Death Star was a weapon of unlimited power, the ability to annihilate entire planets, but inside was Emperor Palpatine, sitting in his throne, frowning as he heard the news of Deimos's disappearance instead of death. Lost him in the unknown regions, he had thought to himself when the retreating TIE pilots returned and reported that Deimos's cargo ship and a transport Imperial gunship containing dozens of armed stormtroopers. Sidious was infuriated, Deimos was always clever, managing to survive a battle against Vader and three Shadow Guards, this had to call for more extreme measures. "Mara Jade..." he called out through the force. Day five in Equestria. Through years of training by Sidious himself, he has harnessed the power of fear into his enemies and respect through the T-Legion (a division of gray-armored stormtroopers that Deimos had lead before their rumored murder by Vader) , but nothing prepared him for meeting the Princess of the sun. Chariots were pulled into Ponyville, the chariot door opened and a tall, white, slender Alicorn emerged from it, her rainbow mane flowing despite the lack of wind, she looked down on him and Sana, he sensed the same power that he felt earlier five days ago, so he masked his Dark Force aura. "Welcome to Equestria, I am Princess Celestia," she introduced herself, her guards wary of his presence. Sana kneeled in respect, "I am Sana Un'iomen, Jedi Knight of the former Galactic Republic." Deimos instead stood perfectly straight, not wanting to bow, "I am Darth Deimos, former Sith Lord of the Galactic Empire." A Lord and a Knight? Almost brings me back to the age of chivalry, Celestia smiled, but she turned her head to see the elements, each of them sporting a negative emotion across their face: sorrow, fear, anger, and annoyance. "What's wrong?" Celestia asked them. "Not to be rude but-" "He's is a jerk!" Rainbow interrupted, causing him to grin slightly. "He's a liar," Applejack stated with disapproval in her voice, his smile widened. "He's so... cruel," Fluttershy whispered, Deimos's smiled increased enough for the Princess to notice it, she frowned at him. "Is what they say true?" she asked him, no more secrets, no more lies, Deimos thought, he had to rely on fear to control others around him. "Unfortunately yes, but I mean no harm to you or your subjects, I give you my word, and I give you the word from my former Jedi roots, not my most recent faction," he said, dropping the mask that disguised his force powers, he couldn't help it, he loved playing a game of chance, of risk and danger, it was why he was also a former Jedi scientist. "And mine," Sana said, readjusting her blindfold after it almost fell off. Celestia had managed to do everything in her power not to flinch, he was the one that had given off the dark energy, this time he bowed to her, she had many options that she could do: trap him in stone, but not in front of her subjects, banish him, or learn more from him, he did give her his word, she then looked to Applejack. "Is he lying?" she asked the earth pony, she shook her head. "No, ah think he was just toyin' with us the first time," Applejack concluded, earning a dark smile from Deimos and a frown from Sana. Learning it is then, Celestia mentally sighed, one was of the light while the other was of darkness, but it wasn't darkness like Tirek, who was cold and corrupt, but of authority and necessity, not evil. She then forced herself to smile, trying to ignore his dark presence, "Why don't we take this to the castle, I would like to ask you some questions besides the ones that my pupil Twilight has already answered, can you assure me that you won't cause a scene in the kingdom?" "We won't," Sana said, answering the question for Deimos. "Good," Celestia replied. One hour later... Deimos asked no questions in the castle, he just admired the place: a throne, stained glass windows showing pictures of history, the sun princess walked over and sat on the throne with another, possibly a sibling at her side; he faced them both with guards at his sides. "You'll need to remove your weapons, Twilight's letter stated that your sabers were dangerous," Celestia said, Deimos growled under his breath and removed his lightsabers, levitating them to a guard, who set them in box, Sana did the same. "Now, why are you here?" Celestia asked. "We were here by accident, our ship was being attacked by Imperial Stormtroopers, this was the closest planet that we could land on, we have no intention of causing harm, well probably not Deimos," Sana explained. "I actually take that as a compliment, I have been in many wars," Deimos replied. "Thou also said that you were a Lord, and she was a Knight, how hath thou taken part in war?" the sister said, Luna asked Deimos. Deimos now understood, "Our names mean nothing of royalty, but of honor and fear, well fear on my side actually, I formerly served both the Jedi Order and the Sith Order, Sana formerly only serving the first." "What are the Jedi and the Sith?" Celestia asked. "The Jedi Order is a group of Force-sensitives that use the light side of the force, using it for peace and justice, they believe that personal attachments and emotions will lead them to the Dark Side of the Force, which is the path of the Sith, while compassion, described as unconditional love, is what they live by," Deimos explained. Sana then spoke, reciting the Jedi Code: There is no emotion, there is peace, There is no ignorance, there is knowledge, There is no passion, there is serenity, There is no chaos, there is harmony, There is no death, there is the Force. The Mane 6, looked at Sana in awe as she recited the glory of the Jedi Order. "That is the code we live by, for peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony, and the light side of the Force," Sana bowed. "The Sith order, on the other hand, uses the dark side of the Force, a more submitting and almost seductive opposite compared to the light side, does that remind you of anyone Fluttershy?" Deimos turned and looked at Fluttershy, watching her blush furiously. "So in a way, you're evil?" Celestia concluded, her guards tensed up at the statement. "'Evil' is a word used by the ignorant and the weak. The dark side is about survival. It's about unleashing your inner power. It glorifies the strength of an individual, Darth Zannah said that, although I tend to disagree about the term Evil, which is actually pretty normal, for the Force is not evil, only it's user is, she got the rest of the description right," Deimos explained. Celestia had frowned at the idea of the Sith, but what made it worse was this. Deimos inhaled and spoke: Peace is a lie, there is only passion, Through passion, I gain strength, Through strength, I gain power, Through power, I gain victory, Through victory, my chains are broken, The Force shall set me free. Reciting the Sith Code, he looked at Celestia, her eyes filled with concern. Celestia concluded that the Sith and Jedi led different philosophies, one of peace and the other of passion, but Deimos was formal and orderly, despite his views on the Sith and the fact that the Elements rightly accused him of cruelty, it was as if he enjoyed risks and had little to no fear. She liked the Jedi better. Deimos then looked at the ceiling, he looked at Sana, "Did you feel that?" "Yes," Sana answered. "What is it?" Celestia asked them. "I sense something dark heading straight towards us, get ready Sana," Deimos then used the force to retrieve his lightsabers, but the blades within the box didn't move an inch. "What the-" "The box is enchanted so that anything in there is isolated from the rest of the world," Celestia explained. "Well? Unlock it!" Deimos yelled, but before Celestia could respond, a ship broke through one of the windows, a smaller Imperial ship floated above them until several Shadow Guards emerged from the ship and finally a red-haired girl. "A land where animals are dominant? Quite pathetic?" she said, she turned and looked at Deimos, she removed her lightsaber and activated it, giving off a purple hue, the rest of the Shadow Guards did the same, only this time instead of wielding staffs, they used normal lightsabers. "Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand I presume?" Deimos said, mockingly bowing. "Lord Deimos, Sidious's old apprentice," she said, getting into a fighting stance. "Leave this planet Mara, you don't want to fight me," Deimos said, Sana walked over to him and stood at his side. "You've gone soft with the natives I see, this will be easy," Mara taunted "Whoever you are, please leave this planet, you are a threat to the Equestrian Kingdom," Luna yelled. "Stay away from this princesses, this is my fight and mine alone," Deimos informed Luna and Celestia. Deimos then took off his robes, revealing his full appearance, dressed in light battle armor and gloves, but revealing some civilian clothing, his face was pale, eyes burning a dangerous amber, black hair with some graying in it while sporting a goatee, 57 years old and was still in peak condition as a Jedi Master and a Sith Lord. "I highly doubt that," he said, taking out his elongated saber hilt, "Sorry Celestia, I had to hide this one if the need ever arises like this," he activated the lightsaber, giving off a red glow. Deimos launched force lightning at her, but she blocked with her lightsaber, Mara then attacked, trying to strike at him, which he dodged with ease, trying to force choke him, which he shrugged off with ease, he then struck at her, which she managed to block. "You've gotten better Mara Jade, but you must always remember that I was trained personally by Sidious himself, you are just his assassin, sent to do lowly jobs for him," Deimos then lifted his lightsaber to block a Shadow Guard that attempted to kill him from behind, but he flicked his wrist and the Guard's head turned with a sickening CRACK, 1 down, 4 more to go, he took the lightsaber and handed it to Sana, who grabbed it and began striking at the Guards, Mara then shot force lightning at him, which he absorbed into his right hand. "You forget dearie, that I am a pure embodiment of terror, you cannot kill fear," Deimos taunted, she then struck at his lightsaber then delivered a swift kick to the knee, causing him to bend. "But it can be suppressed, permanently," she scowled, she raised her lightsaber to deliver the killing blow. "Stand down," a voice said behind her, holding a lightsaber to her neck, she had finished off the Guards. "Sana Un'iomen, one of the last Miraluka Jedi since Knightfall, I don't have time for you," she flicked her hand back, Sana went hurtling into a box, the same one that held the lightsabers... "You would be surprised Mara, I am full of surprises," Deimos scoffed, Mara raised an eyebrow. "Well it would have to take a miracle to save you," she said and brought her saber down on him, but there was something wrong, very wrong, for her. Deimos had grabbed the lightsaber blade with his own hand, he lifted the blade from her grasp, taking the hilt along with him, he then used the force and took apart the lightsaber and took the crystal. "Huh, violet is very rare these days," he said, taking the crystal as if nothing had ever happened. "How-" "Mandalorian steel gloves can't do much, but it can block lightsaber attacks, now-" he then lifted her off the ground and brought her towards him, "-You will go back to Sidious and report to him about your encounter with me, tell him that you failed and deserve whatever punishment he sees fit, the only thing I like about him now is that he is very cruel," Deimos commanded, using his makeshift Stare and Mind Trick, she only nodded got on her ship and left the planet. Deimos sighed, at least nopony and nobody died, this one of the first battle he had in years that didn't result in unnecessary deaths, well except the Shadow Guards, they had it coming for them. Sana then handed him his lightsabers, she had used the force to open the box, he took the rest of the lightsabers and added them to his collection, he then walked over to Celestia, who had a priceless look of shock on her face. "Now that that's been taken care of, do you have any questions?" he asked her. And she did have questions, a lot.