Quick note: From now in the story will be told from 1st person perspective. I find it easier to write like that and it allows me to expand more on character's thoughts.
--Chapter 21--
Before The Battle Begins
"Rarity, I really think this is a bad idea..."
"Be quiet Rainbow! I will not forgive the words that have been spoken!" Rarity shouts at her friend. The pathetic excuse of an armor she made looks like it is about to fall apart every time she makes a quicker move. "That rude and style-less rust bucket dared to bad mouth not only the work of art that I have created, but the fashion as a whole! I will never let that slip!"
"Rarity, trust me on this... You don't want to piss this thing off..." The rainbow pony continus to beg her friend to not do this. Not surprising since she got to experience HK's not so gentle touch. It's doubtful she will stop being afraid of the droid anytime soon.
"Not only will I make him pay for the mockery he committed, but also for hurting you, my dear friend! Get ready droid! I am about to tear you apart!" Looks like the little mock fight I allowed them to have is attracting some attention from the townsfolk. Good. The humiliation will help with making the point.
"Observation: Your anger appears to be a result of your subconscious realization that my statement was in fact the truth." Rarity only gets angrier after this. "Suggestion: I believe that you should reconsider your career choice meatbag. My analysis of Punyville's job market has revealed that there is an open position for a garbage collector."
"You... You..." The fury in the unicorn's eyes can only be compared to an angry wookie. "You rusting piece of garbage! I will turn your ugly face into a... a..." Seems like she can't think of an insult.
"Request: Master, can I kill her please? Just a little bit? I've been daydreaming about it for the past 4327 seconds." The crowd that has gathered gasps at droid's blunt statement.
"No HK, you can't kill anyone until I say so. You are however free to make this moron realize just how much of a liability that 'armor' of hers really is. You can use any means necessary as long as her combat performance will not be degraded." Sakri, who's standing next to me is waiting in anticipation. From the look on her face I can tell that she's driving some sick sadistic pleasure from watching the situation unfold. "Aren't you getting a little too excited about this? Shouldn't a Jedi knight stop a fight like this before it escalates too far?"
"Hehe... A Jedi knight probably should... Shame I'm just a padawan, huh?" She crosses her arms in front of her. Some ponies notice her missing hand and start talking. There's been quite a few rumors going around since Pinkie's party. Most were surprisingly harmless, but I still dismantled each one I heard about. "Look! It's about to start!
I turn my attention back to Rarity and HK. The droid was mostly insulting the mare all the time, while she was left speechless and utterly incapable of biting back. "E-Enough of this!" Her outburst sounded more desperate then anything. "Take this!" Rarity finally decides to throw the first punch. Her horn starts to shine and after a short second, a magic projectile bursts out of it and flies towards the assassin droid.
The droid in question doesn't even seem to register that an attack occurred. "Choke on this!" Another attack follows. And then another one. And another one... HK just doesn't bother to react in any way. He just stands there and looks down at the unicorn. As if taunting her. A tactic that proves to be quite effective at pissing off the mare.
"Grrrrrrr..." She growls in frustration. "Fine! I'll just have to get close and personal with you!" She charges straight towards the droid. All the training I've put her through clearly payed off. Compared to how she was when I met her for the first time, now she can certainly use her strength properly and without hesitation. However...
"!!!"
...That means noting in this situation.
Small wheels in HK's feet activate just in the right moment and leave Rarity running into nothing as HK moves to the side. "Nice!" Sakri shouts next to me. The droid then proceeds to catch one of the wings that decorate Rarity's attire and lifts her up.
He spins her around a couple of times, making her scream like a little kid before throwing her into a hay pile nearby. "Quarry: Are you perhaps done embarrassing yourself meatbag?" Rarity pulls herself back on her hooves and immediately faces the droid with a look of absolute fury. She is about to scream at him again, but suddenly she notices that the wing HK grabbed has broken off. She lets out a scream of horror that only seems to amuse the droid. "Statement: I meant to do that."
For a second I could swear I saw her eyes shine yellow. "Curse you! I will kill you dead!" Rarity charges at the droid yet again, screaming in fury.
The result of this charge is exactly the same as before. Rarity lands in a pile of hay with her outfit missing another wing.
"I feel like this is going to take a while..." I say as I turn to Sakri.
"Yeah... Shame I didn't make popcorn..." Sakri says with genuine regret in her eyes.
"Here you go!" A pink hoof extends itself from between us, holding a bowl full of popcorn.
"Awww. Thanks Pinkie, you're a life saver!" She grabs the bowl with her remaining hand and using the force started to eat. "You want some?" She turns to me.
"No..." She doesn't accept that answer and shoves some of it into my mouth anyways. "Will you ever get bored of this?" She starts to shake her head. A smile adored face as she stuffed herself full of popcorn.
"This is way too much fun." She swallows. "By the way, where is Shaw? I didn't see him today."
"He's on 'Intrepid' with Luna. They're checking if we can use the ship's cannons in any way." I suddenly hear my comm-link ringing. "Falcon here."
"Commander, this is Shaw reporting in." I step away from the crowd. Sakri seems to struggle in deciding whether to follow me or keep watching Rarity being publicly humiliated by a crazy assassin droid. In the end she decides to keep watching after seeing Rarity landing face first in dirt.
"What have you two found?"
"We have one cannon operational. Well, it doesn't really work right now, but I can fix it." I hear his sigh. "That being said, we only have one shot at best. And the thing is stuck so we can't really pick where we shoot. Not that the targeting computers work anyways..."
"So in other words, it won't help."
"Not necessarily commander Falcon." I hear Luna speaking out. "I can create a one way portal from above the cannon to wherever it will be needed. Somepony will have to mark the target for me though. I will create a signal rune and give it to you but how you get it to the necessary place is up to you."
A plan quickly formed itself in my head. "That's good. I have someone who can handle this. Falcon out." I turn off the comm-link and turn back to the HK's show.
A week has passed since then. For the entire time of preparations I've left the Element's training to Tracker while I focused all my attention on preparing for the fight itself. Now it was time to put all that preparing to the test.
According to our allies from Lucid's hive, Chrysalis has already moved her changelings out. Their attack will start in two to three days, and that means it's time for us to move out and get everything ready. Me Lucid and Shaw have loaded the gunship with all the equipment we could manage to fit in and took off to the hive. That is not everything we plan bring, but one flight would not be enough.
"Lucid, how far away are we?" I ask the joiner in the back of the gunship as I pilot it. He's been absorbed in conversing within the hive-mind for most of the flight.
It takes him a short while to snap out of the trance he's been in. "If not for this machine I would say we still have at least a day of traveling to look forward to. But looking at how fast we travel, I think we'll be there in about 10 minutes. The cave where my hive resides is somewhat hidden so I will tell you when to land."
"Good. Any news about Chrysalis?"
"They're moving at the pace you predicted. The village that was in their way has been burned to the ground."
"Good thing that Luna evacuated it."
"You think Celestia might take this seriously now?" Shaw speaks up.
"Doubt it. There were hundreds of wounded and 26 dead after the attack on Canterlot and she still tried to make piece with Chrysalis. I don't think one small village that was evacuated will be enough to push her into acting accordingly."
The joiner sighed. "I'm glad we managed to get your help. You have no idea how grateful the Hive is for what you're doing."
"And to think we shouldn't be getting involved in any local conflicts..." I muttered to myself. "Shaw, you got this list ready?"
"Almost. But it's not like I'll need that stuff in an hour. There is enough for me to do as it is."
"Don't underestimate the speed with which a group of workers can operate." Lucid cut in.
"We'll see about that. But anyways, make sure to bring Twilight here. Having someone to help with coordinating everything will be a huge help."
"Really? I thought you just wanted to get some time alone with her."
"O-Of course not! She's nothing more then a good friend!" Shaw argued.
"Who said anything about you two being more then friends?" He suddenly went silent after my response. "Admit it already. You have a thing for her."
"I can confirm that." Lucid cut in again. "I can definitely sense intense emotions that are struggling to surface in both of them." Shaw just sat there silently.
It took him some time before answering again. "Blast it... What am I suppose to do with this..." Seems like he finally stopped denying it.
"Just go for it." He starts to stare at my back. "As long as you won't let that interfere with your performance I have no problems with it. Hell, as far as I can see having someone like that will be beneficial to you. And from what I know there are no rules that directly prevent us from getting romantically involved. Not that it would matter here."
"Speaking from experience, sir?" he chuckled.
"Who knows..."
Shaw took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine. I'll try to do something about it. But only after we deal with this Chrysalis."
Soon enough we reached our destination. I landed the LAAT in front of the cave entrance and had everyone leave the gunship. I looked around the empty area. The entrance into the cave was pretty wide and I could see several tunnels that drill into the mountain. The whole place was surrounded by cliffs from left and right. The only ground way to get here was through a forest that spreads directly in front of the cave.
"No welcoming committee?" I turn towards Lucid. As I expected, he is already deeply connected to the hive mind and unloading the gunship with magic.
"We are not sure what you mean by this."
"Doesn't matter I guess. Shaw knows the whole battle plan so I'm going to leave the preparations for him to handle while I move the rest of our equipment here. Help him the best you can, alright?"
"It shall be done. We leave ourselves in your capable..." Lucid seems to focus on my hands. "...digits."
"Hands... Those are hands..." I turn towards Shaw. "Alright, I'll be leaving now. Do your best friend." He passes me the list he's been making throughout the flight here. "I'll bring your girlfriend here." I say as I undoubtedly leave him with a massive blush hidden behind his helmet.
Within the next couple of hours I moved all equipment and personnel to the hive. Almost all. Applejack and Sakri were still waiting in Ponyville. The farmer was supposed to go there couple of supply runs before, but for some reason she was hesitant and started making up excuses just to delay going to the hive.
I decided to land directly in front of her apple farm and talk with her. I could see Applebloom and her two friends waving from their little clubhouse in the middle of the orchard as I flew above it. Applejack's brother and grandmother were outside, looking at the gunship with a mixture of surprise and weariness.
They were probably afraid of me landing on something important. I made sure to land away from apple trees and anything they might find important.
After I settle the gunship on the ground, I open the cockpit and jump out of the pilot seat. "Hello there."
"Are ya lookin' for Applejack?" The older mare asks and I nod in response. "She's sittin' behind the house. Dunno why, but she's been thinkin' 'bout somethin' for a while now." The mare lets out a sigh. "Ya sure you can't tell us where yer taking mah granddaughter and son-in-law?"
"Unfortunately, no. But don't worry, they'll both be back in one piece. I'll make sure of it."
"Ya better do... Otherwise ya'll have one angry granny out to get ya, sonny."
"Heh, I'll keep that in mind."
I leave the two just as three fillies run out of the orchard. Like Granny Smith said, Applejack is sitting by herself on a swing behind her house. I remove my helmet and approache her. "What's wrong?" I spoke up to get her attention. Apparently a gunship landing in front of your house is not enough to have her stop thinking.
She looks up at me. "Oh, it's ya Falcon. Is it time to go already?" I nodded. "Eh... Well, guess there's no delayin' it anymore, huh?"
"We're not in that much of a hurry." I sat on a swing beside the one she was sitting on. "You gonna tell me what's wrong or should I guess?"
She stayed silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Ah guess Ah'm nervous... About several things." She sighed. "Ah know others are nervous too, Ah mean, we'll be fighting changelings again. But that's not what Ah'm worried about..." She bit her lip. "It's about my Ma... and youngest sister."
"What about them?"
"I dunno... Part of me is happy that Ah'll be able to see them... Hell, it feels like I'm turning into Pinkie at times. But then I start thinking... And Ah realize that Ma's been in a comma for the past years and Ah've never even seen my sister... Ah feel like Ah'll just end up being a stranger to them. Ah know it's dumb and all. We're family, how can we be strangers, right? But still... Ah..." She sighs deeply again. "Ya have any thoughts 'bout this?"
"You have no idea how many times I've been thinking like you're thinking now." I straighten my back and cross my hands in front of me. "Back when I was still a cadet on Camino I've been thinking about it a lot. I think it started when I saw the tanks with all those clones inside for the first time. Thousands upon thousands of tanks with the exact copy of me in each of them..." Now it is my turn to sigh.
"I've been calling other cadets in my class brothers, but what it really meant? There were hundreds of thousands of us there, each with the same face, voice... So I started thinking about it a lot. What it means to be family? Can I really call all of them my brothers?"
"And? You got the answer?"
"Eventually. It was during the first battle of the clone army. The one that started the whole war. Battle of Geonosis." I started to rub my eyes. "This was hands down one of the biggest failures of our side. We might have won, but the losses were astronomical. The whole battle plan was crude and flawed. We were fighting in open spaces with zero cover. And on top of that, they made Jedi into leaders just because they could use the force I guess.
Don't get me wrong here. I think that most Jedi became excellent leaders after the war started, but during battle of Geonosis they were just... stupid." My hand pressed against my forehead. "They were peacekeepers, not warriors. They still technically are, and at the time they had absolutely zero idea on how to lead troops. They had us charge directly at the enemy positions with no idea how that would end up. That plan might have worked if they were leading an army of lightsaber welding Jedi instead of a bunch of normal people with blasters.
The whole battle didn't even have a real objective. It was just 'kill this old fuck, maybe it will stop the war'. It was then that I realized something. As I looked around and saw all those people with the same face and voice as me, die in thousands for no reason, something came to me. I thought, 'I don't want them to die like this'. After that I decided to yell down the stupid Jedi that's been leading us straight to our death and took over command of the squad that was assigned to him."
I jump off the swing and turn towards her. "In that moment I accepted all of them as my family. I might not know every single one of them and I never will, but I would rather die then let them all down. 'You don't choose your family, the family chooses you' as Sakri's master once said. And as far as I can tell, you have two people you share blood with in danger of getting slaughtered by a power-hungry bug and her army. What are you gonna do about this?"
She simply smils at me. "Thanks commander. I needed that." The mare gets off the swing and walks alongside me towards the gunship. "You are surprisingly caring for someone 'bread for war'."
"One of my many charms." I jump back into the cockpit as Applejack says goodbyes to her family and gets inside.
"Am I the last one left?" She asks from the back.
"No, Sakri is still somewhere around. Can't find her anywhere though and she's not answering my calls." I decide to try again. "Sakri, this is Falcon, do you copy?" As before, no answer. "Eh, Twilight said she gave her a gift and she was so happy that she went of somewhere to play with it."
"Did you check in the warehouse?"
"Yeah, she's not there. She never liked being in confined spaces anyways." I start to think. "Hmm... maybe Twilight will know more." I switch the communicator to contact Twilight. "Twilight, this is Falcon, do you copy?"
"I hear you loud and clear, sir. How can I help you?" She answers after a short moment.
"I'm looking for Sakri right now, you have any idea where might she be?"
"Perhaps..." She starts chuckling for some reason. "When I said she went of somewhere I actually meant that she's practicing the use of a little toy I made for her."
"You're not helping Sparkle. You gonna tell me where she is or not?"
"How about you sit down and let the Force run through you? You might sense her if you try. Think of it as part of your training." She starts chuckling again.
"Training, huh? Well I've got training for you too." I could almost hear sweat running down her face. "You're gonna be doing push-ups until I get back there with Sakri. And I will allow myself to remind you that you currently have an entire hive of changelings watching you, and I will ask them if you took even a slightest break. Now start pushing!" I disconnect, not letting her talk back.
"Ya gonna try this sugarcube?"
"Might as well. Gotta put all that spiritual training to use one day, right? Might as well be now." I close the cockpit and take a deep breath as I lean against the back of the seat. I close my eyes and spread arms on my legs. After another deep breath I concentrate, just the way Twilight and Luna have been teaching me.
It doesn't take long for my senses to become unnaturally sharp. I can easily hear Applejack's heartbeat, but that's not what I'm looking for right now. Where could this damn women be... I think to myself, and just as I begin thinking about her, I feel a gentle tug from the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. "Alright I think I have her."
I immediately start the engines and get the gunship off the ground. Fluttershy's place is rather far away from the town but with LAAT it takes less then a minute to get there. Applejack stays quiet for the whole ride, probably went back to thinking.
Once we close in on Flattershy's cottage I quickly spot a blue flare moving fast around the large flat area behind the building. That's probably Sakri doing some lightsaber practice.
I land the gunship in front of the cottage and leave the cockpit. "Wait for me here Applejack, I'll go get her." The mare nods and goes back to thinking while I start to calmly walk in Sakri's direction. However once I get closer, I quickly notice something out of place in Sakri's appearance. My pace increased without me even realizing it.
Soon enough Sakri notices me and waves her hand at me. Her right hand. The one Grievous cut off... "Hey Falcon! Look at that!" She starts to juggle several rocks with just her right hand to show off. I quickly notice that the hand in question in much different than what a normal hand looks like.
For starters, it's partly transparent. It glows with a light blue light, but i can clearly see through it. In that regard it looks similar to a unicorn's magic aura. There is also a metal bracelet-like thing attached to the tip of her natural hand, covering the stump Grievous left her with. "What the hell is this?"
She laughs in response, still joggling rocks in one hand. "Neat, huh? Twi made it for me and taught how to use it. She said it works by using my natural magic reserves to create 'hardened magic'. It takes some focus to create that hand, but it works and feels like a real thing!"
"'Real thing' my ass. You realize you just dropped all rocks and are now joggling air, right?"
She looks at her hand, which as I said is now joggling nothing. "Hehe, it happens sometimes. For some reason non-organic matter can slip through it if I don't focus enough. No problems with my lightsaber or organic stuff though." She looks at me and suddenly smirks. And I don't like it when she smirks like that. "Actually, that gives ma an idea..."
Her smirk only widens as she starts to approach me. Before I can react, she uses her Jedi speed to get in close and presses her new hand against my crotch. The hand naturally bypasses the armor and grabs her target. "What the hell are you doing!?" I scream as I jump back, blushing madly.
Surprisingly, as I look at her a blush quickly spreads on her face too. "That felt warmer then I expected..." She moves her magic hand to her face and starts to sniff it.
"Don't sniff it you damn pervert!"
"Nah, this thing doesn't smell like anything no matter what I do..." Her smirk returns again, though her blush doesn't disappear. "Guess I'll have to go with alternative methods..."
"Maybe after we're back... Right now we kinda have a battle to win..."
"Oh, right. I completely forgot about it." She approaches me again, this time without her smirk, just a genuine, soft smile. "And since we probably won't have an opportunity to do this for a few days..." She grabs my helmet with both hand and takes it off.
She drops it on the ground and jumps hungrily onto my lips.
"Commander, this is Tracker."
"I copy. What's the mission status?"
"I have a visual on enemy forces. They are currently resting. I can't get close enough to tell their exact number though. I was already almost spotted by a patrol.
"Any signs of Chrysalis?"
"I've seen her few times but I had no opportunity to take her out. Should I stay and observe them?
"No, get back here. You'll be needed tomorrow during the battle. Falcon out." I disconnect the comm-link as I stare into the night sky.