//------------------------------// // Finale: The Saga Continues // Story: Star Wars: The Snuggle Protocol // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// The truce lasted about a week after the party and then the Empire started blockading Equestria. Task Force Defiance became divided between Sigma Base and the fleet in orbit behind the moon. This made things difficult because they never knew when Imperial ships were going to show up right over Ponyville. Despite the increase in Imperial activity, Grex was happy, delighted with himself as he flew his new M9 Y-Wing. "So what are we blowing up today?" "Space station," Reena's voice came through his headset, serious as ever. "Ooooh, gonna get to paint something big on my fuselage right off the bat, nice." "Haha, yeah, it'll look great with our Doritos logos." "Euuugh," Grex groaned in disgust. "Don't remind me about that." His console began beeping- his sensors warning him of inbound contacts. "Looks like we got our first patrol. Keep it tight and low-risk. That means you, Grex!" "Copy Bold Leader," Grex said. He was getting better at putting his game face on when going into combat, though he still was never too serious. The problem with TIEs and going after larger Imperial targets like space stations was the attrition; even small amounts of damage incurred from TIE Fighter patrols made it easier for a space station or capital ship's weapons to hit you. And it was going to take all of them to take out a space station. The TIEs came at them from the starboard side, vectoring towards them from their patrol route. It was likely they weren't even the only patrol but if they eliminated them quickly, they would still be able to destroy the station before they all converged. The TIEs opened fire and their shots missed at maximum range. As the enemy squad closed in, the Y-Wings banked and rolled into a turn that took them away from the TIEs' attack path. This forced the TIEs to bank and follow them. Being maneuverable and faster than the Y-Wings, they were able to do so easily. They lined up with the flanks of the Y-Wings and closed in to line up a killing shot. The lead TIE Fighter, also the TIE squad leader, raced towards the rear of one of the Rebel ships, eager for the first kill. That was when he exploded. Too eager, the TIEs had been to pursue the Rebel ships and they didn't realize that only half of them had leveled out. The other half of Bold Squadron, led by Grex, had continued the turn and quickly wound up on the tails of the TIE Fighters pursuing their squad mates. Grex and his half of the squadron then easily blasted all twelve of the TIE Fighters to bits. They had been easy targets while trying to line up their own shots. "Textbook, Grex, good job! Good job, everyone!" Reena cheered. Her voice even had a trill of excitement in it, making him smile. She was doing her best to work with him and he with her; she knew he needed the encouragement and he knew she needed to loosen up. They were covering for each other in more ways than one, which is what teammates did. "We're coming up on the space station," Sonders announced. Out his viewport, Grex saw the space station come into view. The large, gray structure in space resembled two fans connected at the center. The station had six arms- three for each of the fan-blade like attachments. And most of the arms had either an Imperial cruiser or a transport attached to them. "More TIEs incoming!" "Light 'em up! Push through them!" Bold Squadron stayed the course this time. The second TIE Squadron had been launched from the station itself and came straight for them. The weaved while remaining in formation, a risky move but riskier would be giving time to the station's gun crews or the cruisers. Their Y-Wings opened fire together, unleashing a storm of orange lasers at the TIE Fighters. The second squadron of TIEs was vaporized before they even stood a chance. But the TIEs were never the threat. Now, they had a clear path to their main target: the Imperial space station. The Imperial Axe Star-class Mark-One space station was the standard space station used by the Empire throughout the galaxy. They were often deployed to fringe worlds and on hyperspace lanes where traffic was frequent in order to refuel and resupply freighters, transports and Imperial warships, as well as exude the dominance of the Empire. Rebels nicknamed them "pinwheels" or "snowflakes" because of their shape... and their fragile construction. "Ahh, a pinwheel!" Grex exclaimed. "Been a while since we took out one of these!" "You still remember how to take them out?" Reena asked, both serious and playful at the same time. Grex grinned. "Well, let's shoot at it and see if it comes back to me." "Good plan." It was easier said than done, though and they all knew it. There were no TIE Fighters between them and the station now. Unlike the Imperial fighters, the station was almost solid reinforced durasteel backed up with heavy redundant shielding. It had backup generators in case it suffered power loss and bristled with the real threat to Y-Wings: towers. Not only that, the Imperial cruisers could add their own turrets to the defense of the station, making it more than a formidable target. Finally, the Axe Star Mk. 1 also came equipped with an energy projector that could fire beams and destroy smaller satellites and ships instantly. It was very much like a miniature Death Star. And just like a miniature Death Star, it had a single, critical weakness. "Full thrusters, throttle up now!" Reena ordered. Bold Squadron raced towards the center of the structure, all twelve of their M9 Y-Wings like a single arrowhead aiming at the heart of the base. The weak point was the center where the two "spokes" of the pinwheel connected. Enough damage to it and the station would split apart and explode. "Watch those towers! Watch those towers!" Reena yelled. Turbolaser towers were the more of a threat to Rebel starfighters than anything else in the Empire's current arsenal. Unlike TIEs that could be predicted, Imperial turrets often fired seemingly erratically and then would suddenly become accurate. Not only that, the towers' lasers were far more powerful than a TIE's, were effective at longer distances and were difficult to track. Sometimes, a tower would fire a twin burst from its cannons and then wait to track before firing again, or would change directions and seemingly track another target while lining up another shot. Grex stared at the tower. The tactics of towers made them tricky, even trickier when you were flying right at them. The space around them began to explode and Grex's cockpit was illuminated by green flashes. "Almost there... stay on target!" Reena ordered. "All wings, standby proton torpedoes!" Grex armed his torpedoes. The center of the station loomed ahead. Their formation spun while keeping together, barely any amount of space between them. It was the only way to dodge the sheer amount of fire being thrown at them. They came in, spinning in between the arms of the space station, aiming straight for the connecting spoke. "Bold Squadron, open fire!!" Streaks of fire raced from the Y-Wings towards the center of the Axe Star. But before even a single one of them hit, a massive green beam shot up in between the proton torpedoes and their target. All but two of the torpedoes were vaporized by the green beam. The two remaining explosives shook the station but did not penetrate its tough armor. Bold Squadron blew past their target. "What?!" "Energy projector! They're using the energy projector to cover the base!!" Sonders yelled. "Oh, crap!" Grex juked right along with the squad to dodge the edge of one of the station's arms. "They didn't do that last time!" The squadron continued towards the edge of the station, still under fire from its guns. "What do we do now?!" "I don't know!" Reena admitted. "We can't get close enough to take it out with that projector covering it!" Sonders said. "We can't just give up! That thing's between us and Equestria now!" "Only a few more seconds before the next TIE patrol comes in..." Grex racked his brain. "We have to think of something... anything!" He rubbed the side of his head over his helmet. Even if they came back on the same attack vector, they'd need all their torpedoes combined precisely on the same spot to penetrate through the station's thick armor. And every moment the towers tracked them, the more accurate they became. "Does anybody have any ideas?!" A voice crackled through his headset. "Hit it again." "What?" "Who said that?" "Unauthorized broadcast on private channel." "Hit it again." The voice repeated. "Who is this?" Reena asked. "A friend. I have your back." The seconds of silence that followed felt like an eternity. Did they really go on the word of a stranger in the depths of space? It could have been an Imperial, it could have been someone on the station trying to trick them, it could have been anything. But Reena chose to go on it. "Pull back around, ready second round!" Reena ordered. "We're hitting that thing one more time!" Grex couldn't help himself but ask, "Are you sure about this, Reena?" "I am," she said back. On her wing, Bold Squadron arced back towards the space station, repeating their same maneuver from the opposite side. As before, the space between them and the structure was lit up with green flashes and explosions. But they arrowed right for the center, spinning around to avoid every shot fired at them. "Bold Squadron, fire!!" Their proton torpedoes leapt from their ships again, right for the center spoke. And this time, there was no green beam to intercept them. The squadron raced past just as their torpedoes collided with the center of the base, exploding and ripping through the hull and armor. The reactor, buried somewhere underneath all that armor, began to go critical as its core systems sustained far more damage than it was designed to endure. The Axe Star exploded. Fire erupted from the core of the station and spread out to the arms. Smaller explosions rippled across the length of its hull, breaking it apart. Finally, the two hubs of station exploded one after the other, blasting the entire structure to pieces. The few cruisers and transports that tried to dislodge were incinerated by the blast. In an instant, there was a double-star high above Equestria. "That's the stuff, right there!" Grex cheered. "It worked! We did it, we actually did it!" "WAAAHOOOO!" The entire squadron let out their own cheers. "I am definitely painting that on my fuselage!" Grex said, ecstatic. "You'll have to share it with me," the mysterious voice crackled through again. "Who's that? Who is this?" His console beeped again. More inbounds but unlike before, it was just one. A lone TIE. As they flew in formation, a pink ship with heart-shaped wings joined them, filling in the back. "Cadence!" Reena exclaimed. Princess Cadence's TIE Romancer formed up with them. "Can't let you guys have all the fun, can I?" "Cadence," Grex said, exhaling. "Thanks for the assist." "So you were the one who distracted the energy projector for us?" The princess smiled. "Guilty as charged. You guys should know by now; it doesn't matter how good you are. Sometimes, we all need help from our friends." Reena nodded. "We'll remember that... next time." "Next time," Grex agreed. "So, you want me to paint half that space station on your fuselage?" "Sure," Cadence replied. "You can paint it over the Doritos logo." Grex frowned at that comment. Together, the Rebel Alliance's Bold Squadron flew back to Sigma Base, having just destroyed an Imperial space station... and gained a new member.