//------------------------------// // 46: Major Trouble // Story: Empire and Rebellion // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// The stillness of the dark hallway was broken by an explosion of force. Chunks of duracrete and durasteel the size of boulders were flung like children’s toys as an indignant alicorn rose from the rubble. A wave of dust, swept along by the raw force of her anger, sandblasted what little was left clean. Wings flared and eyes glowing, Luna gazed on the empty hallway with wrath-filled expression. That insolent whelp had defied her yet again! She, the princess of the night, the most selfless and noble of all the alicorns! Twilight talked of doing the right thing in the right place, but where had she been when Luna had faced General Grievous in ill-fated Canterlot? Where had she been when Luna had been shot, beaten, and sent to die in the cruel sands of Korriban? What torments had she endured, that she sought to pronounce judgement on her superior? She preened her perfect feathers and deemed herself righteous for her dangerous naivety, heaping scorn on the princess who had endured far more than any other for embracing effective tactics! It was insult beyond toleration, and she would not abide it! She would hunt that whelp down, make her know the truth of the universe if she had to carve it into her very bones! The galaxy was hard and cruel, and the rules that civilized and gentle folk like ponies played by meant nothing here. To succeed, to bring down the Empire and restore freedom to Equestria, there was no option but to fight the darkness with the cleansing fire of righteous rage! To do whatever was necessary, no matter how much it hurt her precious morality. And she, Princess Luna, was the only one who saw the truth of the matter. To her fell the burden of shedding all restraint, all weakness, and the shackles of empty idealism. To suffer and overcome, that others might not, was her duty and her honor. To see it besmirched by a soft-headed ignorant child was too much to bear. She would blast that self-righteous indignation from Twilight’s face with her Force waves, sear the simpering naivety from her brain with bolts of lightning, carve off those accursed hands that dared themselves raise themselves against their better, drive her sword right through- Luna blinked, then rubbed her head. No… she didn’t have time for this. Twilight was but a distraction now, a vexing one to be sure, but a sideshow nonetheless. She had plans, plans to destroy Vader and Sidious, plans to burn the Empire to the ground and annihilate all who would do her nation harm. And right now they were in serious danger, and she mustn’t tarry overlong. She would see Twilight again, she felt sure of it. The Force would make it so. She would make it so. Eyes a natural blue once more, Luna turned away and ran. To her thoroughly-unspoken relief, when Luna returned to the still-smoldering hangar bay she sensed a dark and familiar presence amongst the ashes and scrap. When her eyes saw nothing, she closed them and reached out with her mind. She could sense other minds too, rigid and disciplined and far too close for her liking. “Is this theater truly necessary? The Major summoned reinforcements, it won’t be long before this place is swarming with the Imperial Security Bureau and you would do well not to be here when it is.” “And miss a chance to show my hospitality to my new ally? Now what kind of a man do you take me for?” “Someone who hates as much as I do.” “You overestimate yourself.” “You underestimate me.” “Mhm, perhaps. Time will tell.” “Are you going to posture at me or are you going to tell me how this went before the Emperor’s slaves arrive?” “Perhaps you might tell me how your little hunt went. I sensed your rage even from here.” “I found the foolish idealists responsible for destroying this ship and slaughtered them to the last,” Luna answered. Maul was the last sort of person she wanted having even the slightest knowledge of Equestria. “They won’t be an issue any longer.” “Well, judging from the ripples in the dark side and your battered body they must have put up quite the fight.” There seemed a distinct smugness to his tone. “Are you certain you’re up for facing Vader?” “I faced you and we know how that went, so why don’t you tell me?” “I say you have a long way to go.” “Vader needs machines to so much as breathe,” Luna answered confidently. “He’s weaker than he seems.” “Don’t be foolish,” he snapped. “He may be more machine than man but he is far stronger than almost any other wielder of the Force. If he is to be brought down, it will take careful planning on both our parts.” “I quite agree. Which is why I came to find out how this stage of the plan went. Did anything survive the explosion?” From wherever he lurked, Maul chuckled a little. “Did you know that I considered betraying you?” “You would not be a Sith if you hadn’t.” “I am not a Sith,” he hissed. “Once a Darth, now just Maul. The Sith abandoned me, and I will make them pay dearly for it.” “As is only right,” Luna nodded. “But time is short. The artifacts?” “Most of them were annihilated in the explosion. Millennia-old parchment rarely holds out well against thermal detonators.” Maul chuckled again, though this time with a hint of bitterness. “But…” Luna felt her heart quicken. “But what?” “But some treasures are more resilient.” “Out with it already! What survived?!” “Such impatience. You must overcome that or Vader will draw you in, wear you out, and cut you down like a mad dog.” “Your mildly-hypocritical advice notwithstanding, we are genuinely short on time.” “Hmm, fair point. Very well, when I searched through this wreckage I found something. Some might consider it an omen, really. A pair of Sith holocrons, scorched and battered but operable… I think.” “One for you and one for me,” Luna mused. “Poetic, is it not? Almost as if the Force was giving us a sign. A benediction of the dark side.” “Perhaps. Or perhaps it is simply meaningless chance.” “Either way, it is a boon to us both.” “It looks that way.” “Quite. We do not have much longer, so there should be but one more thing left to attend to, I think. When we go our separate ways, we will need a way to stay in contact with one another.” “I have just the thing…” Only a few minutes later, Luna strode confidently out one of the dilapidated spaceport’s main entrances, now a bustle of activity. Several guns were tracking her already from grounded gunships and sniper positions set atop nearby hills or buildings, but none of them dared to open fire. She was far too recognizable for that. “My lady,” came the all-too familiar sound of Major Celebraine’s voice. The plain-faced man had obviously been sweating, his brown hair was mussed, and there were visible patches of ash and dirt on his ordinarily immaculate white uniform, but otherwise he looked in rather good shape for a man that had just gone through a firefight with an alicorn. Especially considering how little had been left of Crest and his Stormtroopers. Luna narrowed her eyes. “We’re establishing the perimeter now,” he stepped out of a gunship where he and several other ISB officer had been examining a hologram of the general area. “Soon this place will be locked down and we can-” He got no further, because in the blink of an eye Luna’s lightsaber flared to life and flew forth. The spinning crimson blade crossed the distance in a heartbeat, controlled precisely by its mistress' will. And sliced both of Celebraine’s hands right off. Luna gave a slight smirk as the man’s emotionless façade crumbled like a broken fortress. He toppled over backwards with an anguished wail, curling up blindly around the charred stumps that had previously been his forearms. His fellows shouted in alarm, several backing up franticly. One reached for a pistol, but a wiser officer grabbed his arm and wrenched it away before he could get himself killed. The princess could feel the burning hate in the gut of distant sniper with a bead on her head, the yearning to pull the trigger and damn the consequences. Their petty hate was utterly inconsequential. Almost casually, she retrieved her lightsaber and continued walking as if without a care in the world. In but a few short strides she loomed over him, his fellow Imperials not daring to lift a finger to stop her. The red blade illuminated the Major’s face, heavily flushed and scrunched up against the burning agony, his maimed limbs held protectively about his stomach, as if that could do anything. He seemed to hear her coming, judging by the way his head turned. “Go ahead and do it, schutta,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “I won’t give you the satisfaction of-” “Give me one reason,” she leveled the point between his eyes, “Not to kill you for incompetence and cowardice right now.” There was a sudden change in his emotions. Bitter defiance became sudden relief and puzzlement. His eyes snapped open, meeting hers despite the burning plasma not an inch from his nose. “What?” “You heard me. Convince me.” Celebraine’s eyes widened, then scrunched up again against the agony. She could feel his mind racing, trying desperately to work her angle. Luna gave him a few seconds. “The… report…” he managed, biting down on his lip. “You’re not as stupid as you seem, Major.” The alicorn replied. “The aftermath of this incident will say exactly what I want it to say, understood?” “Urgh… yes… anything you… nrgh… want.” “Maul did this,” she whispered into his ear. “And no one else, understood? It was his cohort that spitefully attacked the ship for their master when it became clear I was too much for him. And it was your incompetence, and yours alone, that permitted the destruction of Vader’s artifacts. I slaughtered Maul’s minions and drove him off. This is what the ISB will determine, with the aid of you, the sole surviving eyewitness. Am I correct, Major?” “…yes.” Celebraine managed a weak nod. “Good,” Luna smirked. Killing the man now, however gratifying it might have been, might well be counterproductive. Vader would undoubtedly be furious at the loss, and if this man was already dead would have no one to lash out at but Luna. If he was alive he could be made into the scapegoat for any of the mission’s failures. If someone had to be strangled, better it be him. A small part of the Luna that had been wondered if she was going too far. The next instant she quashed that thought under a torrent of pain and anger. This man was of the Imperial Security Bureau, a truly monstrous organization even amongst the ranks of these alien beasts. He and all the other existed but to enforce the cruel will of a tyrant through blackmail, torture, and murder, sowing terror, misery, and paranoia amongst their many victims. He and all his ilk deserved nothing but pain and death. “Take this man back to your headquarters,” she commanded the other ISB officers, extinguishing her lightsaber. “And see to it he gets treatment and appropriate prostheses…” she looked down at the shivering, mutilated man. “But no anesthetics during the surgery, I think. I don’t want failure to become too comfortable.”