• Published 23rd Mar 2015
  • 769 Views, 10 Comments

Gone Wrong - HerpicusDerpington



The Galactic Empire takes an interest in a planet in the far reaches of the Unknown Regions after it is observed that the star system revolves around it. It's suggested that a sentient species inhabits it. A task force is sent to investigate.

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Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Okay, to get one thing out of the way: at the end of the last chapter, I mentioned that they would be using phase one dark troopers. To avoid confusion, I meant phase three's and I went back and changed it.

Also, I'm going to post one of those blog thingies all the good authors always do about this story. Check it out if you want, I'd love to talk about this with anyone who's enjoying reading it so far. Any feedback, etc, I'd love to hear it as always.

The Dark Trooper Project was an interesting project, to say the least. Run by General Rom Mohc, it set out the develop the next generation of stormtroopers and battle droids. Originally, it was assembled to deal with the shortage of experienced troops for the Empire. The so-called "phase zero" dark troopers were clone cyborgs, transformed using the same technology as used on Darth Vader, aged veterans returned to peak condition with cybernetics. However, many phase zero dark troopers couldn't cope with the state of being more machine than man and attempted suicide. It was shut down and succeeded by the official Dark Trooper Project.

There are three phases of dark troopers - one, two, and three. Phase one dark troopers were little more than robotic skeletons, wielding a retractable vibrosword and a blast shield, as well as being equipped with basic artifical intelligence. The phase two dark troopers were where the success really began. Considered the main stage of the project, they were equipped with a jump back and a devastating assault cannon capable of firing 400 plasma shells before reloading. Their success was proven when a small number of them brought down a rebel base on Talay. The phase three dark troopers were the last and most powerful generation of exoskeleton droids. It dwarfed even the phase two dark trooper, and was intended to be the armor of the next generation of stormtroopers. It was sometimes even classified as a bipedal tank.

Phase three dark troopers' armor is made from the nearly indestructable phrik, mined on the moon Gromas 16. Their capabilities - both offensive and defensive - would be relevant in what was developing on the planet surface below. They learned quickly that despite the technological superiority held over the equine species, even in their stormtroopers, the magic the ponies possess can overwhelm troopers quickly. The royal sisters, it was also found, were the individuals responsible for moving the sun and moon around the planet. A large number of their population can use their Force-like magic, and the princesses of the land can wield it... very well. The mere idea of these candy-colored horses being dangerous, sentient, Force-wielders is laughable, but real. And perhaps the use of dark troopers - phase three, no less - may be overkill, but this plan had its own purpose.

The Dark Trooper Project was promising, but still not yet complete. The phase two dark troopers were successful enough, but phase three dark troopers took the cake - however, they were still new. The sadistic minds of the Imperial officers involved in the operation were not only going to get their troops back, but they were going to use this situation as an opportunity to test the new robotic supersoldiers against living opponents.

On the command deck, the flurry of activity was nearly overwhelming. The Executor-class vessel was nearly the only ship that remained in Equestrian orbit, joined by only a few Imperial-II class star destroyers that were, in turn, making last-minute hyperspace coordinate adjustments. It would be some time before the super star destroyer left orbit, though. In the ship's massive hanger bays, two phase three dark troopers were being moved to a Sentinel-class shuttle for their voyage to the Equestrian surface. The officers on board eagerly awaited to get the operation underway, if not to collect new data on how the dark troopers function in real combat. If estimations were correct, however, there would be little resistance.

...

Back in Canterlot, the captured Imperials continued to wait tirelessly in their medieval cell, not knowing whether or not anybody would be coming for them. The waiting was killing them. With every minute that inched along, the prospect of hope seemed increasingly far-fetched. To Jaster, one of two Stormtroopers unfortunately part of EBR-001, the entire situation seemed impossible. Being imprisoned by candy-colored horse things was one of the last things he expected to experience in the Empire. He felt embarrassed and ashamed, to be honest, but as the other trooper, Kherr, kept telling him,

"They took us by surprise. You know we could've slaughtered them had we expected it."

Jaster shook his head and exhaled at Kherr's statement. He still feels like an idiot for letting any of this happen. As one of two Stormtroopers tasked with defending the entire group, he felt it was partly his fault.

"Quiet down, murderers," the royal guard stationed in front of their cell said. This didn't help Jaster's attitude. He didn't know what exactly happened with the other two crews, but he was starting to get quite an idea that something very bad happened. Jaster reasoned that they hadn't done anything wrong, though, and that they should be able to speak and try to mend the situation.

Suddenly, the distinct clacks of horseshoes could be heard coming in the direction of their cell. The Imperials all turned to face the bars and were greeted by a midnight blue alicorn - Princess Luna. She looked down at all of them with disdain in her eyes. Jaster figured this may be his only chance to speak up, but as soon as he even slightly parted his lips, Princess Luna spoke in a certain voice:

"Silence, scum. We didn't come down here to bother listening to your wretched voices. We've come to let you know that the crime your kind has committed against Equestria is among the worst possible. You've murdered several of our guards, and yet you still had the gall to speak to us as if nothing was wrong. Now we know of your true colors, and it's a wonder our sister wishes to speak to you all personally in time. If it were up to us, you would be executed on the spot. Know this: things won't end well for you."

Jaster began gawking the moment the words your kind left her mouth. Was this implying she knew that they, in particular, were not responsible for the murders? She contradicted that by explaining how they somehow had the gall to speak to the royal sisters after murdering their guardsponies - as if they could be in two places at once. Maybe they don't have the whole story, he reasoned. Surely the other crews wouldn't kill these ponies mindlessly. Something had to have happened, a series of misunderstandings.

Princess Luna continued to glare at the humans. Kherr was growing increasingly uneasy, and Jaster was only getting worse. He could barely handle what was going on.

Just then, a loud explosion could be heard above them, in the throne room. The room shook slightly and Princess Luna's eyes widened as she stared up at the stone ceiling. The Imperials were as confused as Luna was, until they heard a robotic voice crackle some distance away:

"Dark troopers... release."

All of the Imperials looked at one another while grins absentmindedly stretched across each of their faces. They continued to grow as Princess Luna silently turned and dashed back in the direction she came, shouting for her sister as the sound of her royal horseshoes lessened in volume. It seems like help had arrived after all.

Upstairs in the throne room, the royal guards and even Princess Celestia herself stared in awe at the metal behemoths that stood before them. Moments earlier, the solar diety was conversing with her high-ranking guards about the situation with the Imperials. A lot was on their mind, and the sheer fact that they had gotten over the shock of meeting a real alien species was surprising. What had happened with them was disturbing and would be troubling to deal with. However, it looked to Celestia like taking a technologically advanced civilization's troops hostage was not a good way to deal with the situation at hand.

These monstrosities stood several feet taller than even Celestia herself, and the unmoving glare from their glowing red eyes made everypony in the room growing restless as each second passed. The strength of these soldiers must be immense to completely obliterate the throne room doors, but the scratchy metallic voice that emerged from them made it clear that they weren't organic creatures - but then just what were they? Celestia should've expected the unexpected from a space-faring alien species, but as they demonstrated more and more technologies that ponies didn't even understand, she knew that it may be better to bow to their will for now. A royal guard leapt in front of Celestia, assumed a defensive stance, and spoke:

"Halt, creature! In the name of her majesties, cease your actions immedi-"

His sentence would forever be left unfinished as one of the dark troopers no less than vaporized the guardspony with a blast from its integrated wrist blasters. All of the ponies in the room, including Celestia, gasped and quickly realized they were wildly outmatched. That is, if it weren't for Celestia's magic. She rose from her throne and her horn lit up as she charged up a blast of magic, and hurled it at the dark troopers. The results were half-expected; when the smoke cleared, the dark troopers stood where they'd been previously, unmoving but unharmed. Celestia's eyes widened as their phrik pauldrons peeled away, revealing three PLEX rocket tubes on each arm.

Celestia quickly dropped to a bow, and the royal guards looked stunned, but quickly followed suit. They didn't know what that was, but if Celestia's magic could barely touch them and they could vaporize a pony instantly, they didn't want to figure out what this trick up their sleeve was. Celestia rose her head, staring at the dark troopers, and opened her mouth to speak.

"We surrender! We deeply apologize for what we have done, but we only felt it right after what your soldiers did to our people. Please don't hurt my little ponies any further. We will give your men back if you pledge to leave us alone, we can't compete with your technology."

The Imperial officers in orbit watching the feed from the dark trooper's view almost felt bad. They felt, however, that the dark trooper's weapons were more than effective against organisms, demonstrated as being capable of tearing something apart with a single blast of the wrist blasters. In other words, this little experiment of testing the dark troopers' capabilities was over, but they still had a purpose in Canterlot.

One of the dark troopers simply spoke, "Release our troops." Celestia quickly nodded and sent for a guard to retrieve the prisoners, but as he reached the door on the far side of the room, it burst open, knocking him aside. On the other side of the door was a very angry blue alicorn, horn glowing and eyes locked on the foreign invaders. She thrust herself into the air and her horn grew brighter.

"STAY AWAY FROM OUR SISTER!" she shouted, before releasing a strong blast of magic aimed at one of the dark trooper. It was strong enough to knock it over, temporarily disorienting it. The other dark trooper snapped its head in Luna's direction as its eyesgrew an even deeper shade of crimson. Celestia felt her heart drop like an anvil.

"Threat detected.”

The standing dark trooper rose its arm as it made a click-clack sound and unleashed a plethora of lasers in Luna’s direction. All of the ponies in the room held their head down as the loud shots roared above them. Celestia felt tears form in her eyes.

The world slowed down as Princess Luna’s body was torn apart.

Comments ( 3 )

5968681 this is The Empire you're talking about. Should that come as any surprise?

6687981 Yeah, that still is probably better than what the actual Empire would do, let alone what is in this fanfic.


And now, I really wanna take my own stab at a Star Wars x-over....

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