//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: My Little Old Republic: The Ord Mantell Deception // by AidanMaxwell //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Inside Mount Avilatan Rainbow Dash trotted back into the cell room to find Pinkie Pie and Lemon Drop still embracing where she’d left them ten minutes before. She shook her head and sighed. “Are you two done yet?” “What?” Pinkie’s head popped up from behind Lemon’s shoulder. “Do we need to be somewhere?” “Uh, yeah, we need to regroup with my men, find the Wonderbolts and defuse that bomb. Remember? The one you promised me you’d help me find?” Lemon looked down at Pinkie solemnly. “You really do need to let go of me now, Pinkie.” “But—” Then he gave her a stern glare that caused her to drop her voice to a murmur, then go completely silent, her head lowered slightly. Rainbow blinked, unable to comprehend something stopping Pinkie Pie like that. She huffed in surprise. “Right, well, umm, let’s get moving.” “Oh, for sure!” said Pinkie as she leapt to her hooves and started toward the door. “C’mon, Lemon! We need to get you to safety so we can find a huge bomb.” “You mean that ZR-57 they’re getting ready to transport off-world?” Lemon replied aloofly, shakily standing up on his own. “It’s in the main hangar down the hall from here, I think. That’s where it was when I got here, at least.” “Wait,” Dash said, shaking her head. “How do you know what their plans are?” “That Imperial jailer you guys blew up told me.” “Imps? Imperials are taking the bomb? No wonder they’re here on Ord Mantell!” Dash’s eyes widened. “Imagine what they could do with a bomb that size.” “They could race a kamikaze shuttle into the Senate Tower on Coruscant,” Lemon offered as he trotted past Dash. “Or hit a military base on a contested world.” “Gee, thanks.” Dash followed Lemon out of the room, and together they entered into another large chamber, similar to the one Twilight had been injured in. This one was devoid of life, save for Pinkie, who stared at a large computer monitor that was split into multiple screens. On one, the ZR-57 was clearly visible inside a large hangar, where dozens of workers busily performed preflight checks and prepared the bomb for departure. Another showed several Republic soldier corpses in a large stone chamber. Dash’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “My men!” she screamed. Pinkie looked at her with a pained frown and misty eyes. “Dashie, I—” “Those were the best soldiers in the galaxy!” Dash shouted at the screen. “Who killed them?!” “Probably the real best soldiers in the galaxy,” Lemon mused. Dash wheeled on him and leveled her gun on his forehead, eliciting a shriek from Pinkie. “What did you say?” “Grunts are nowhere as good as commandos, Sergeant,” he replied calmly, pointing back at the screen. Dash turned slowly back to see, much to her horror, Spitfire, walking toward the shuttle where the ZR-57 was being loaded. She was chatting with an Imperial overseer as though they were the best of friends. “That’s the mastermind behind this whole scheme, right there.” “But... but Spitfire is a Wonderbolt!” Dash said, aghast. “None of this makes any sense. We need to get in there!” “I know the way,” Lemon said. “Follow me.” “Oooooh no, mister mister.” Pinkie grabbed Lemon’s ear as he started to walk away, yanking him backwards. “You’re hurt. We’re taking you back to Twilight so she can have you examined.” “No way!” he protested. “I’m not gonna sit by and let you get hurt when I can—” Pinkie gave him a look that caused him to drop his voice to a murmur, then fall completely silent. He nodded solemnly and whispered in her ear before turning around and going back toward the landing pad. Confused, Dash looked to Pinkie with a blank expression. “What just happened?” “I told him to go back,” Pinkie replied cheerfully. “And he told me the way to the hangar.” “But you just stared at him. You didn’t say anything.” “Yeah? So?” Dash blinked again. “Wow. I can see you two are close. You should totally tell me the story behind you two when we get out of here.” Pinkie inhaled, a smile creeping onto her face. “Oh, totally! I can’t wait to tell you. It’s a gem.” “Yeah, well, this comes first. C’mon, let’s go find Spitfire.” “Okie dokie lokie, Sergeant!” Pinkie gave Dash a salute and followed after her, and together they marched deeper into the volcano. The next room over contained the riddled corpses of Dash’s squadmates, each one shot and unceremoniously left lying on the rocks they’d used for cover. Beyond them, the room narrowed once more, then opened into a massive hangar bay. Despite having seen everything through the cameras not even a minute ago, Rainbow Dash still couldn’t believe her eyes. There, in the center of the hangar, was Spitfire, in full Wonderbolt armor. Surrounding her was a mixture of Imperial soldiers and the remaining Wonderbolts. Lieutenant Soarin saw Dash and Pinkie before the rest. “Oh, hey! Well, if it isn’t the Sergeant!” At his remark, all four of the other Wonderbolts turned to look at Rainbow Dash, their faces a mixture of delight and anxiety. “Glad you didn’t get shot on the way in, at least. Did those rebels give you trouble?” “What the hay is going on here?!” Dash screamed at the top of her lungs, her cheeks red with fury. “I come all the way out here to save you guys, and here you are, all chummy with Imperials! Explain yourselves!” Pinkie Pie put a hoof gently on Dash’s shoulder as Spitfire broke from the group and sighed, peering at them with sorrowful eyes. “I guess this is more than you were ready to see. Look, Rainbow Dash, let’s be brutally honest with each other. The Republic has all but abandoned Ord Mantell. These rebels got a hold of our best bomb, and they send us to get it. What they don’t send is proper equipment and gear, good food or clean water, or even decent living conditions. No holovids or galactic network streaming for our downtime. Nothing. “We may be the best of the best, but we’re nothing without good equipment. So we decided to defect. If the Republic can’t even help its finest, how can it save the people it’s sworn to protect all across the galaxy? It can’t, is the answer, so ending this so-called ‘war’ is the only way to finally ensure peace and safety to the galaxy. The Imps made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.” “So you’re behind everything!” Dash said. “You brought the Imperials here, you supplied the Seps with Imp tech, and you killed and kidnapped all those people? You even had them try to kill me and the others!” “The ends justify the means, Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire replied, unphased. “If you had survived, which you obviously did, we were gonna try to recruit you to our true cause. Otherwise, you would just be another number on our list of reasons to hate the Republic.” “It’s just like an Imperial to kill innocents, but you? A Republic soldier? How could you?” “Don’t play innocent, Sergeant. The Republic is just as guilty of innocent casualties and horrendous decisions as the Empire. Why do you think this ZR-57 is even on Ord Mantell?” Spitfire motioned to the large bomb being hoisted into the air by a large crane. “The senate voted to drop the bomb on the island and wipe out the insurgents. If we hadn’t coordinated the Separatists and brought in Imperial support, every stallion, mare and foal on Avilatan Island would have been vaporized.” “And some of the nearby settlements around the coast, too!” Surprise added from the back. “Look, all we want is to end the war,” said Soarin. “And if you share our sentiments, you’ll come with us. What do ya’ say, Sergeant?” Dash wrenched her shoulder from Pinkie’s grip, which caused every Imperial in the vicinity to raise their rifles toward her. She looked around at them and gritted her teeth. “This isn’t peace. This is betrayal! All you’ve accomplished is getting more innocent ponies killed.” “Rainbow Dash, open your eyes!” Spitfire pleaded. “Even poor Twilight could see it. The situation on Ord Mantell is dismal at best, and the Republic isn’t doing anything to help it. Surely you’ve noticed all the good technology around here has been Imperial, not Republic. They have the drive to end this war where the Republic does not.” The last argument struck a cord with Dash, causing her to bite her tongue for a moment. Even in the short time she’d be on Ord Mantell, she had noticed a serious deficiency in funding for the loyalists, and even for the troops. Not wanting to think bad of the Republic she served, however, she offered her counterargument. “This has nothing to do with drive, it’s about resources. And the Republic has put a lot of resources into your squad, so this seems like a pretty bad way of thanking them.” “You wanna talk resources?” Spitfire replied confidently. “At least the Imperials are given the proper equipment to do their job, but the Republic left us high and dry. Do you remember that spy, Bellis? And his wife? The Republic got a request from Lieutenant Sparkle for financial aid, and she was denied because Bellis was our recruit, not a contracted agent. Things like that happen all the time here on Ord Mantell. We know the Republic can help, because we’ve seen them do it. What makes this planet any less worthy of aid than, say, Coruscant?” Rainbow Dash looked away, two tears dripping down from her closed eyes. Spitfire took a step backwards and turned sideways, as though she was preparing to leave. “Please, Sergeant, come to your senses. We don’t want to kill any more good soldiers today.” “I’ll bet you didn’t give my squad this choice,” Dash muttered acidly. “Their deaths were unfortunate. Yours would be, too.” “Hey, Commander,” Soarin interjected. “Our flight’s leaving, nowish.” “Very well.” Spitfire raised her hoof and waved it around in a circle. At her signal, every Imperial guard lowered their rifles and filed toward a nearby shuttle, where the crane was lowering the ZR-57 into its berth. “This is your last chance, Sergeant. Come with us, and help us truly make a difference, or stay here and die for a Republic that doesn’t care about you.” “Burn in hell, Spitfire.” Dash wheeled around to see who had said that just as a shot blew past her head and connected with Spitfire’s. She froze for a second, then toppled limpy to her side and laid still. All four of the other Wonderbolts reached for their weapons as Dash was yanked backwards by Pinkie Pie, who dove to cover. They crouched behind a nearby durasteel crate as blaster fire erupted behind them. “Pinkie,” Dash muttered, “that was... a very odd thing for you to do.” “They took my Lemony,” she replied cheerfully. “and the Republic saved him. I know who I’m rooting for.” “I thought I helped you save Lemon.” Pinkie merely winked at Rainbow Dash before she stood up and galloped away, drawing some fire as she dove again to cover. Using her as a distraction, Dash peered around her crate and loosed two shots at her former squadmates. One of the shots pierced Soarin’s armor, causing him to stumble and limp away. Surprise, Needles and Fuse all took notice of this and reacted by focusing on Dash, forcing her behind her box again. A bead of sweat dripped down her cheek. She slid into a crouch, holding her gun to her chest. Blaster fire echoed off the back of the crate as thoughts stormed through her mind. Even if they were traitors, Dash didn’t want to fight her former squadmates. But as fire blew past her and explosions erupted nearby, she knew she didn’t have a choice. Slowly, she scooted toward the center of the crate and pushed away from it, spreading her wings. With one mighty flap, she leapt onto the top of the crate and took aim, firing a grenade round at the hooves of Fuse. The surprised stallion flew backwards and landed against the side of the shuttle behind him, dead. Surprise took notice of Dash’s tactic and galloped forward to engage while Needles began to back away, looking for Soarin. When he turned around, Pinkie Pie was holding a pistol level with his forehead, and he had enough time to blink before she discharged a round through it. Surprise used her wings to leap onto the crate and glared at Dash with a devilish smile. “It’s a shame. You were a super fighter.” Dash replied by firing her gun at Surprise, who ducked the shot and bounced forward. She pinned Rainbow Dash down, both combatants dropping their rifles in the tussle. Surprise reeled back a punch and slammed it across Dash’s face. A second punch dazed her for a moment before she finally brought her hooves up to her face. When she did, however, she felt a punch connect with her gut and she curled upward to cradle herself, nailing Surprise in the jaw with the top of her head. Both Pegasi fell backwards, yelling in pain. Dash recovered first and reached for her belt, grabbing what she thought was her knife. In her dizziness, she pulled and primed a semtex. Eyes wide, she shook her hoof and, to her horror, found it was stuck to her coat. It was in that second that Surprise slowly sat back up, and Rainbow Dash saw her chance. She spread her wings and ran forward, slapping Surprise across the face as she leaped over her head. Airborn, Dash pushed herself forward with her wings and slid into the metal floor. An explosion echoed across the hangar, and when she rolled onto her back, she saw the top of the crate blown apart, bent and contorted from the detonator. A loud roar drew Dash’s attention away from what she thought had been an awesome stunt to see an injured Soarin in the cockpit of the shuttle. The crane holding the bomb was not even detached yet, but the vessel rose from the ground and began flying away regardless. Pulling on the metal cables, the ship dragged the crane onto its side and snapped itself free, escaping through the hangar door and flying away into the sky. Rainbow Dash, alone in the evacuated hangar, dropped to her knees and stared into the sky, mouth agape in horror. “No...” ===== Pinkie Pie crawled on her belly across the metal floor toward the sole escape pod on the other side of the hallway. Imperials crowded the back room while a wounded Lieutenant Soarin sat in the pilot’s chair. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out a time bomb and placed it over the door of the escape pod, setting the timer for twenty seconds. Nineteen. Eighteen. “Whoops!” she whispered. She hadn’t meant to start the timer yet. Quickly, Pinkie pulled out two flashbang grenades, armed them, and threw them, one into the back room and the other into the cockpit further up. After that, she wheeled around and opened the escape pod door just as two small detonations echoed through the ship. The muffled cries of the Imperials could still be heard from inside the pod. Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen. She jammed her hoof against the release button and felt the whole ship lurch as the ancient escape pod ejected from the bay. Through the viewport, Pinkie could see the shuttle lurching back downwards, as though the pilot was not seeing properly. She giggled to herself at the thought. “Serves them right,” she said to herself. “Meanie-heads.” Ten. Nine. Eight. Pleased, she turned around to look at the course of the escape pod. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest as she saw the looming Mount Avilatan just ahead of her. The shuttle had not yet broken the atmosphere when she’d ejected, which meant her fall was much shorter than she had anticipated it would be. With little reaction time to steer the pod, her first instinct was to jump into the pilot’s chair and strap on the crash webbing and watch. Watch, helplessly, as the pod careened toward the rocky cliffs ahead. Three. Two. One. ===== Tears of anger streamed down Rainbow Dash’s face. The bomb had gotten away, along with a ship full of Imperial commandos and Soarin, who had been the only member of the Wonderbolts to survive. “I didn’t come this far to fail! No!” she cried. Above, the sky turned a sickly blackish green and a large, noxious cloud appeared. Moments later, the sound of an earth-shaking explosion nearly blew Dash’s eardrums out. She looked up to see what had happened, only to have her attention drawn to an escape pod falling rapidly toward the mountain. It collided with a spire and ricocheted back toward the island, spinning several times as it continued to fall. Rainbow Dash stood up and galloped toward the edge of the hangar door to get another glimpse of the escape pod. It had come to rest of the beach at the foot of the mountain, the escape hatch stuck upside down in the sand. Smoke rose from the hull, superheated from its rapid entry mid-atmosphere. Shedding her armor as fast as she could, Dash spread her wings and took to the sky. It was the first time since she’d arrived on Ord Mantell that she’d flown, and the wind in her mane exhilarated her in a refreshing way despite everything that had happened that day. She slowly glided down to the beach nearly a half a mile down and landed in a trot on the sand meters from the escape pod. She walked up to it and kicked it with a hoof. When no noise emanated from it, Dash began digging at the sand, pulling it toward herself and shoving it away. After a few minutes, the escape pod began to tilt backwards, and using her own strength, she flew up to the top and finished pushing it over. A high pitched scream elicited from within as it slammed into the sand. “Pinkie Pie?” Dash said, surprised. “Let me out! Let me out!” came the frantic reply. Dash looked down at the door of the pod and twisted the hatch release. Even before the door was opened fully, Pinkie bolted from within and leaped into a nearby bush, where she wretched any food she’d eaten that day. “Dizzy, Pinkie?” She came out of the bush with a green face that sported a victorious smile. “I’m alive. That’s what matters.” One wobbly step sent her giggling into the sand, where she proceeded to lay on her back and stare into the sky. “We did it, Sergeant... We saved Ord Mantell.” Rainbow Dash smiled, then laid down next to Pinkie Pie and likewise turned toward the open blue sky. The twin moons stared back at them from orbit like giant white eyes, unblinking and unmoving. They stared up at them until a Republic transport came to investigate the crash site and carried them back to Fort Garnik. ===== The newly instated Commander of Fort Garnik, a resolute stallion with many years of experience behind him, raised his hoof level with Twilight’s face and pointed it at her accusingly. “This is all your fault, Lieutenant!” “My fault?” Twilight echoed, aghast. “How can this be my fault?” “You should have been aware of the motives of your fellow squadmates,” replied the Commander. “Surely you could have seen their schemes coming, considering how much time you spent with them.” “I didn’t spend any time with them!” “It’s true, Commander,” Rainbow Dash interjected. She hated seeing Twilight berated for something clearly not her fault. “Neither of us were aware of anything unusual.” “Well, somepony has to take the fall for this, and it’s going to be one of you two!” The Commander put his hoof up to his chin and closed his eyes. Twilight looked pleadingly up at Dash, who shrugged back at her. “But that’s not my decision to make. You both will be transferred to Coruscant, where you will report to General Garza for reassignment. I need to step outside. It’s too hot in here.” “Take your time,” Rainbow Dash muttered, eliciting a chuckle from Twilight. Her attitude had greatly improved in the short time after the raid on the volcano base. After Twilight had gotten back to the fort, she’d reported an Imperial presence on Ord Mantell. More Republic reinforcements had arrived shortly after and wiped the place clean of enemy resistance. Now, both ponies were alone after a rather harsh debriefing session. “I don’t like the new commander.” “Not really our problem anymore,” Twilight replied offhandedly. “We’re being transferred.” “Lieutenant? Commander Spitfire wasn’t completely wrong. In some ways, the Republic doesn’t give the right kind of support when it needs to. Ord Mantell is in the situation it’s in because we can’t afford to maintain it, right?” “Not necessarily.” Using her horn, Twilight pulled a datapad from a nearby crate of confiscated Separatist crate. “We’ve been getting what we needed the whole time. Spitfire just saw it fit to distribute some of our supplies to the Separatists and the Imperials.” Dash nearly tripped in her haste to grab the datapad. Sure enough, printed right on the front was a holo receipt detailing a massive order of fresh food, weapons and supplies, all of which had ‘Fort Garnik, Ord Mantell’ as its destination and listed as ‘delivered to Wonderbolts.’ “Go figure. She said the situation on Ord Mantell was the Republic’s fault, but it was hers all along.” “Yes. If the locals never got fed, and all the soldiers got hungry, everyone would eventually defect to the Empire, and the Republic would lose Ord Mantell. She had us all fooled, even you, right to the very end.” Pinkie Pie and Lemon Drop trotted into the room just as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were exiting. They stood at attention before the soldiers with sarcastic grins on their face. “Hello, Pinkie Pie,” Dash said with a smile. “Lemon Drop. Good to finally meet you for real.” “The pleasure’s all mine, Sergeant,” Lemon replied. “You kept an eye on Pinkie while I was gone.” “Well, more like she kept an eye on me.” “Regardless, you have my sincerest thanks.” Dash looked to Pinkie. “So, what now?” “We go to Coruscant, silly!” she said with a giggle. “I’m under contract with you!” “Well, about that...” Slowly, Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder, halfway to a hug. “You’ve been a good friend, and a decent traveling companion. But you don’t need to stay any longer. I told you I’d let you go at some point, so... yeah. Go ahead and go.” “Now wait just a minute,” Pinkie replied. “What if I don’t wanna go?” Dash blinked. “We talked it over, me and Pinkie,” Lemon clarified, “and we want to stay under contract with you. The profits we will make from this agreement aren’t as needlessly excessive as our previous employments, but this idea of a legal trade seems appealing in wartime. Plus, Pinkie’s taken a shine to you, Sergeant.” “You helped me find the one thing I cared about more than money when no pony else would,” said Pinkie, a tear rolling down her cheek and a smile on her face. She nuzzled Dash affectionately. “I can’t thank you enough, Dashie!” “Aww, shucks, Pinkie. You’re my friend. Of course I helped you.” They smiled at one another for a brief moment before Pinkie’s lips tightened and her eyes shot open fully. “Oh! Did I mention we stole a ship from the Separatists?” “You did?” Twilight said nervously. “We were supposed to have detained and impounded any Sep vessels.” “You missed one,” Lemon said with a chuckle of his own. “Yeah, and it’s almost as nice as the Defender we ripped off that Jedi back on Quesh!” Pinkie giggled. “So we can give you a ride to Coruscant!” “Thank you,” Rainbow Dash said quickly, putting a hoof up to silence Twilight, who had taken a step forward to engage Pinkie about the ship. “We’ll accept. I’m glad you got your ship replaced.” “Me too! Soooooo, are you ready to go?” “Almost. I have one last thing I want to take care of before I say goodbye to Ord Mantell.” ===== Talloran Village The doorbell on an unassuming house rang twice before a young mare with tear stained eyes answered the door. “What do you want?” she screamed. “Ma’am?” Rainbow Dash said slowly, holding her hooves together nervously. “It’s me again.” “Oh, you,” the mare muttered. She spat on the ground in front of Dash. “What do you want?” “I understand the Republic has not been kind to you these last couple days. I’m here to make sure you aren’t forgotten.” “Forget it. The Republic already denied me a claim for compensation.” “I don’t follow every order I get.” Rainbow Dash reached down to the ground where a small pot lay. Inside was a mash of credit chips. “We took a collection from the nearby villages. This is for your husband’s service to the Republic.” At first, the mare glared at the pot. But her face slowly melted as she took it from Dash and counted the amount. “There’s over ten thousand credits in here...” “It’s all yours,” Dash whispered. “Bellis... was a good stallion. I regret not meeting him, but he saved the life of every pony on Avilatan Island. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, for the sacrifices you both made to keep us all safe.” The mare looked up to see Dash trotting away, but made no motion to stop her. All she could do was weep and smile into the small pot of credits until a stock brown freighter shot into the sky from the Fort, flew over her house, and disappeared into the evening stars.