//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: The Assault // Story: Star Wars: The Snuggle Protocol // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// It had been a day since Bold Squadron's attack on the Imperial convoy. They had expected to return to base heroes. Even Reena, who was usually just happy for a job well done, was expecting at least a little bit of celebration and congratulations. What they returned to instead was a firestorm of outrage. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" "Puppies first, now kittens?! You Rebels are the worst!" "Didn't you think to scan those freighters first? What were you thinking?" Ponies and Rebels were now fighting each other, arguing and shouting throughout the base. Princess Luna was still supporting the Alliance, but even she seemed to be drawing criticism now. The Alliance was divided on what to do. In the midst of their confusion, Bold Squadron had been grounded pending a full investigation. The decision was not only a blow to morale but operational status. Reena sat on the edge of her bed, not sure what to do. She didn't even feel like looking at her photo album at that moment. They'd followed orders, risked danger, performed well and went above and beyond expectations. It had been tough on all of them, but they'd gained so much and even with damage, it would have been considered one of the Alliance's most successful missions. And then the headlines had been released. News, talk shows, holonet broadcasts, all blasting the Rebels for destroying an innocent convoy. A convoy full of kittens. However outrageous it was, the evidence had mostly been destroyed. The convoy and even the Star Destroyer had given them more questions than answers- both had been filled with more soap. Curiously, they had also all been abandoned. Even the pink TIE which had given them so much trouble had mysteriously ejected its escape pod before it could be captured. The escape pods hadn't been recovered, but there were records of launches in each of the ships' computers, so the only theory Rebel technicians had was that the pods were hyperdrive-equipped. Grex knocked on her door again. He had a distinctive knock. "Come in." Her boyfriend walked in. She didn't look over at him; she already knew how he felt. It was how the entire squadron felt. "Hey, Reena." "Hey," she said back, finally looking up at him. "No sandwich?" "Nah... I wasn't hungry." "I know the feeling." She stood up. "They get any more news about the convoy? What happened to the escape pods?" He shook his head. "Nada. Couldn't find 'em. But we did find out something strange with that Scout Trooper we picked up, the one I stunned. It was a droid." "A droid?" "Yeah," he nodded. "A protocol android of some kind programmed to think it was a Scout Trooper. Javen took it apart, said he hadn't ever seen anything like it." Reena looked puzzled. "Why would the Empire be using droid troopers?" "I don't know. It doesn't really help our position, though. There's not much left for them to investigate... what do you think will happen to the squadron?" "I don't know," she admitted. "I'm not sure you'll ever have to address me by my rank again. Or callsign." "That's bullshit and you know it," Grex said. "Grexter..." "No, Reena," he pulled her around to him, "you know they're wrong. Intel dropped the ball, yet again and we take the blame. We shouldn't be ground- Red Squadron shouldn't be grounded for this." "What do you think we should do?" she fired back. "Go AWOL? Take our ships and retaliate?" "Why do you think I'm like that? I'm not proposing we go and level the nearest Imperial base, but there has to be SOMETHING we can-" "There isn't, Grex, and you know it," she said sternly. "We have a duty to the Alliance, to-" "What duty? The Alliance grounded us, remember? For doing our jobs!" "That's enough, lieutenant!" "We should be out there investigating and you know it! You care more about the Rebel Alliance than you do anything else!" "SHUT UP, GREX!" she yelled. And they were both silenced by the outburst. They stood in her room, him facing her and she facing her wall. They both wanted to help each other, both wanted to do something. But it felt like there was nothing they could do. "I'm gonna go to the hangar," Grex said, finally. "It's where I belong." "Grex-" "I know, I'm still grounded. I'm not going AWOL or stealing a ship," he said, opening her door again. "They just got a new Y-Wing in- a BTL-M9 Y-Wing. It's a two-seater with some pretty powerful laser cannons. I'm going to go check it out before they try to add any Doritos logos to it. I'll see you later." They didn't kiss, didn't hug, they did nothing more. Had either of them wanted to? Maybe. But the door closed behind him, leaving her alone once again. A while later, she went out into the briefing room. The lights were dimmed and Avin, Bandwidth, Brullen and Sonders were watching a movie on the projector. "So, if she's a princess in this world, she's a principle in the other one?" Avin asked. Bandwidth nodded. "Yeah, seems kind of like a downgrade to me." "Hey, principles can be powerful," Brullen said. "And scary." "Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Sonders chuckled. Reena leaned on the back of the couch. "So, what're we watching?" "Equestria Girls," they all answered. "The first one. There's like... four now, or something." "And they're making more," Bandwidth said, cracking open a soda with his hooves. "Interesting idea, parallel universes and all." Avin leaned back. "Eh, if you like crossovers, I guess. Kinda sounds like fan fiction to me." They all slowly turned to him, eyebrows raised. *BAAAAM* BAAAM* Two explosions. The base shook, the lights flickered and the projector switched off automatically. A moment later, the classic whawwmp sound of the alarms began blaring. "Emergency, all personnel, Sigma Base is under attack! Repeat: Imperials are attacking the Base!" Another explosion shook them, nearly knocking them all to the ground. "That one was close! They must be using TIE Bombers!" "What're we supposed to do?!" Avin shrieked. "We're still not allowed back in the air!" "All flight-certified personnel report to stations, prepare for immediate takeoff! Repeat: all pilots, scramble!" The phrase "scramble" was literal for pilots; it meant get to their craft as fast as they could to counter the threat of immediate air hostiles. Upon hearing the word, Bold Squadron's training automatically kicked in and they got their asses up as quickly as possible and ran down the corridor in a panicked, disorderly fashion, Reena at the front. They rounded the corner from the corridor of the briefing chamber to the hangar. Almost to the hangar, another explosion, even closer than before, knocked them all to the ground. The lights turned off. "Emergency crews to main hangar entrance! Emergency crews- *Krssssshh*" Smoke was filling the hallway. Coughing, Reena got up. "Is everyone okay?" "My leg..." Brullen said, grabbing his knee. A piece of rubble collapsed over him. "I think my leg is broken." "Grex! Grex was in the hangar!" Avin yelled. Reena walked up to the hangar entrance. The door opened only partly; the way behind it had collapsed. The entire hangar had collapsed. She felt anger, rage unlike anything that had ever hit her before. She balled her fist and smashed it on the door so hard it dented the metal. "All of our fighters were in there! Y-Wings, B-Wings, everything!" Sonders said. "If they're calling in the emergency crews..." Bandwidth said. Reena shook her head. "They'll never get here in time. I have to get to the armory. Get Brullen to the medical wing!" "But Captain-" "That's an order! Go!" she bellowed. She broke into a run back the opposite way, to the troop barracks. There would be anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapons in the troops' armory, the only defense against whatever the Empire was sending at them without their fighters. She stormed into the armory. Most of the weapons racks and lockers were empty, every available gun in use. She was able to find a spare A-280c rifle and a single thermal detonator. Not much to work with, but she also found an ion cell for her rifle, which would make it more effective against vehicles and allow it to bypass shields. She also found another interesting item: a jump pack. Jump packs were similar to jet packs except they weren't for sustained flight. They jetted the wearer up to a certain height and then used micro thrust to cushion the landing, good for gaining elevation quickly. She put it on, just like wearing a backpack, and then ran out of the barracks. More shocks reverberated through the base as she sprinted down the corridors. The blasts were closer together; whatever the Imps were hitting the base with, they were hitting it hard. Lights flickered as she ran but she didn't pass anyone else. The entire Sigma Base staff must've been engaged. There weren't even as many updates over the intercom any more. This whole thing had been a surprise attack. She finally got outside. The vehicle pool was full of overturned speeders and makeshift barricades. Rebel troopers and ponies fired back against stormtroopers in the tree line of the Everfree Forest. Javen Brasch and a few pilots from Red Squadron were among them; he managed to blast a couple of the stormtroopers. But there were no TIEs overhead. The things that had been blasting Sigma Base were large and metal, towering above the trees and the battlefield. Imperial walkers. Two All Terrain Armored Transport, called AT-ATs, were firing from the edge of the forest at the Rebels. It was a smart tactic for the walkers: keeping their legs obscured by the trees meant the towcable strategy using T-47s wouldn't work. And without the Rebels' starfighters and assault craft, they had no way of countering the Imperial armor. Except for one. Where are Fluttershy's animals when we need them, she thought to herself. Reena ran. Using the vehicles to get as much cover as she could, she ran in a wide arc around the vehicle pad to get back to the walkers. The stormtroopers and the walkers were too focused on the Rebels and ponies using the barricades for cover to notice Reena flanking them. If there was ever a time for the Force, she hoped it was with her now. She got close enough to one of the walkers. The ground shook and the air smelled like burnt ozone as its massive cannons hammered Sigma Base and its fortifications. She only had one shot at this. Reena crouched just a bit, activated her jump pack and jumped. "AAAAAHHHHHAAAA!!" she screamed as she rocketed up and then back down. By some miracle, she landed on her target: the back of the AT-AT. It wasn't moving, thankfully so she had a shot at this. She ran across the top to the front 'head' cabin of the walker, being careful not to fall. The vehicle kept shaking under her as it fired. Carefully, Reena loaded the ion cell into her rifle. She stepped up to the head of the walker and aimed her gun just behind it. She squeezed down on the trigger, firing a spray of ion-charged blue blaster bolts at the neck of the craft. Aiming and steadying herself, she kept firing. She fired until the ion cell was completely drained at the same spot. And finally, she saw the results of her work. "HaHA!" she laughed triumphantly. The armor in the neck had been pierced just a bit. Climbing down onto the neck, she took out her thermal detonator. Concentrating, she activated it, slammed it in the walker's broken neck armor and then jumped off, activating her jump pack again. "GAAAAAHHH FUUUCCK!!" she yelled. She landed in the tree line and dove into a bush. The AT-AT exploded, showering the trees with flaming debris. The walker fell forward, collapsing on its decapitated frame in a smoldering heap. Reena got to her feet and thanked whatever lucky stars were shining down on her that none of the debris landed on her. "Freeze, Rebel scum!" The words made her stomach freeze. She spun around. A squad or stormtroopers were in front of her. Behind them, the other walker had turned to face her and was aiming its cannons directly at her. She swallowed, slowly raising her arms. She cursed herself for not getting someone, one of her squad to watch her back for her. A burst of lasers blasted the side of the walker. The AT-AT's midsection exploded under the assault, the firepower from the lasers so strong it blasted the walker over. The stormtroopers in front of Reena were stunned by the sudden turn of events and Reena realized she was still holding her rifle. But before she could even lower it to fire, the stormtroopers were all cutdown by more laser fire from above. Reena looked up to see a gold-and-orange colored Y-Wing flying overhead. She smiled, beyond relieved that once again, he had come to her rescue. Reena ran back to the vehicle pad. The new Y-Wing landed right in front of her and the canopy opened revealing the face of her friend, her boyfriend. "I'm sorry, but... I just had to take it out for a test-flight. The keys were right there," Grex said, apologizing from the cockpit. She climbed on his craft and clambered to the cockpit without saying a word. She knelt down into the cockpit, grabbed Grex and kissed him so deeply he nearly fell back in his seat. They didn't break the kiss until Grill, Grex's astromech, finally bleeped. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," Reena said. "I love you, you goofy son of a bitch." "I know, I-I love you too," he said in a bewildered voice. Grill beeped again. "I know, buddy, I know." He reached into one of the Y-Wing's cupholders and pulled out a brown scroll. "Reena, we got a message. It's from Twilight- Owlowiscious delivered it." "Why didn't she just call?" Reena asked, taking the letter. She read it quickly... and she realized what it meant. "You said this thing is a two-seater?" "Yeah, but-" "Then lean back, I'll be your gunner," she said, climbing into the gunner's seat behind him. The new BTL-M9 Y-Wing had two twin-laser turrets: one on top in place of the ion cannon and one underneath in addition to the two forward laser cannons on the nose of the craft. The gunner's seat was designed to give the gunner finer control over both the turrets and the heavy ordinance while the pilot focused on flying and controlled the two forward laser cannons to blast what was ever directly in front of them. She pulled down the canopy the moment she got in. "Wait- what about clearance? Authorization?" Grex asked. "Are we even gonna leave them a note?" "Nope," she replied, setting up her controls. "I'm putting in some new coordinates. Let's get going before they tell us not to." "Heh, that's something I'd say." "I know," she said. "So let's get there before I regret it." They lifted off in their new Y-Wing, flying off towards the north.