//------------------------------// // Chapter 45: First Impressions // Story: A Forgotten Trooper // by TheIronPone035 //------------------------------// Strider dove out of the way of the blaster fire, ducking behind a few control panels. The droids quickly re-aimed and unleashed another wave of plasma bolts at the trooper. Strider kept his head down as the plasma bolts flew above the control panel, or struck the other side of it. Strider quickly peaked around the corner of the panel and fired at the droids, but his blue plasma bolts only left their armor singed. That didn't deter him, and he continued to unload his DC-15S on those clankers. One well aimed shot by Strider struck one of the droids in the head, but the armor around it kept their important mechanical parts from being damaged. "These clankers have got tough armor!" Strider stated to himself, ducking back behind the control panel to avoid another wave of plasma bolts from the droids. Strider fired a few more shots at the droids, before reaching into his utility belt and retrieved a thermal detonator. He chucked it at the droids, the spherical device landing right at their mechanical feet. It detonated, causing an explosion which sent both droids flying through the air and into a wall. Strider took this opportunity to rush over to the communication panel. "This is CT 5162 reporting from an unknown base on the unmarked planet named Equis. I'm a surviving member of the Venator cruiser which had been surprise attacked by Separatist forces. Requesting immediate evac from-" Strider cut himself off when he realized that a plasma bolt had struck the panel, severing the connection with the Republic station he had reached. Strider was about to start cursing at the situation, but a plasma bolt from one of the droids forced him to abandon that and retreat from the room. The surviving droid removed itself from the wall and went over to a working control panel. They flipped a few switches before hitting a red alarm button. "All security forces, intruder alert. Intercept and eliminate!" "Repeat. All security forces advance on intruder in sector seven!" The droid's voice echoed through a few speakers around the hallway that Strider was running down. The lights flickered on, glowing a dark shade of red. "CAN'T I EVER CATCH A BREAK!?" Strider shouted in anger at the situation he was in. Turns out that once again, the force had heard him and decided to shoot him in the foot. Strider turned a corner and spotted several more armored droids advancing towards him, blasters already firing. Strider dove against the wall of the hallways entrance and threw another thermal detonator which promptly landed at the droids feet, before exploding. Strider once again took off running down the now dimly lit hallways of the base, desperately trying to find the exit. Little did he know that the force wasn't planning on being cruel to him forever... Princess Luna took a step onto the snow covered lands, feeling a chill instantly run through her hoof. But she trudged on, approaching the strange structure her guards had found during their flight. "Thou shalt follow behind us." Princess Luna instructed, opening what seemed to be the front door with her magic. The princess and the four lunar guards were instantly greeted with the noise of an alarm, causing the guards to spring in front of the princess in a protective stance. After a few minutes of waiting, the princess advanced into the building, much to the shock of her guards. "Your majesty, we do believe tis not safe within this structure." One guard exclaimed. Princess Luna looked over at the guard; "Art thou scared of a little alarm?" "No your highness." The guard answered instantly, giving her a salute. "Then we shall advance." Princess Luna stated, trotting into the structure with her fear pushed into the back of her mind. Inside the structure, the only light source was dark red lights that were emitting from glowing rectangular shapes on the ceiling. The whole place seemed to be made out of steel, along with several bits of technology that were much more advanced than anything Princess Luna had seen, even after returning from her banishment. "What is this place?" One guard questioned, eyeing a flashing panel of some sorts. "Don't know, but I don't like it." Another guard answered, holding a spear at the ready. "Both of you silence yourselves, we haven't the faintest clue for what's in store for us." The guard that had talked to Princess Luna earlier exclaimed. Right as those words left the guard's mouth, an alien sound echoed throughout the halls. It sort of sounded like a blast of magic, but Princess Luna could tell it wasn't. The crimson red rods flying through another hallways backed up her assumption. "Everypony behind us." Princess Luna ordered, watching the other hallway like a hawk stalking its prey. That was when several strange looking figures emerged from the hallway, each one decked out in a set of dark blue armor and holding strange looking black devices. The figures spotted the group of ponies and pointed their black devices at them. "Intruder alert in sector two." "We meant thou no harm, we are Princess-" Princess Luna couldn't finish her sentence as a red bolt of light shot from the figure's device in their hands. Princess Luna instantly rose up a shield which blocked the bolt with ease. All four guards scrambled in front of the princess, spears pointed at the figures chests. "Least let us finish before striking!" Princess Luna barked at the figures, who only responded with more of those red bolts which struck her shield. Part of her was very annoyed at these creatures for not even giving her the chance to speak. She was a princess of Equestria, and attacking her was treason of the highest order. Besides a few...nevermind that. The other part of her mind was actually controlling her mouth, causing a slight grin to spread across her face. Ever since returning from the moon, she had seen that any type of action seemed to of been resolved, leaving some of her begging for a fight. And now, she had an excuse to do so. "On ourt mark, through thou's spears." Princess Luna instructed. Each guard got ready, aiming directly at the figures. Their metal spears were glistening red from the light above them, ready to strike. "Tis are final waning, stop this merciless act and thou shall be shown mercy." The robots continued firing. "NOW!" Princess Luna lowered the shield just as the guards threw their spears. Each spear shot through the air like lightning, each one meeting their designated target. Sparks flew from the figures as they fell to the ground. One guard went over to one of the fallen creatures, looking it over as he grabbed his spear. "What in Equestria are these things?" Princess Luna levitated one up from the ground, trying to see if it looked familiar in any way. She scanned it, shocked to realize that the thing wasn't alive at all. Now she knew that a spear to the chest would be lethal, but the armor these figures were wearing would of at least given her enough time to heal them if necessary. But the figure was completely devoid of any type of life force, not even having a single trace of magic. The other guards had removed their spears from the fallen figures, resulting in sparks flying from the openings the weapons had made. One was about to comment on that, but wasn't able to get the words out before a red bolt struck his side. Everypony stared in horror as the guard fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Princess Luna instantly rose up another magical shield, blocking any other bolts. Another guard rushed over to the injured one, removing their armor that didn't seem to have blocked the bolt at all. "He's alive, but he needs serious medical attention!" The guard exclaimed. "Everypony fall back, we shall heal them the second we have time to do so." Princess Luna exclaimed, her magical shield starting to break from all the bolts it was taking. Two guards abandoned their spears and hoisted the wounded guard onto their backs, before rushing down the hallway in hopes of finding somewhere safe. The final guard and Princess Luna followed, both dodging several more red bolts which narrowly missed them. Strider heard the sound of plasma fire in a hallway near him. He changed directions and rushed down another hallway. He rounded a corner just in time to see a group of ponies fleeing from several droids. "HEY! CLANKERS!" Strider shouted, trying to get their attention on him instead of the ponies. The droids changed targets, firing at Strider who ducked behind the corner. He fired at the droids, managing to destroy a few of them before he had to fall back. Strider took off running down the hall in the direction the ponies had been running. Droids fired at him from behind, one bolt narrowly missing Strider's head. Strider rushed over to a set of crates and ducked behind them, before opening fire on the advancing droids. The DC-15S was able to slow them down, but their armor kept most of them from getting destroyed. Strider abandoned the cover as he ran down another hallway which led him to a large circular room that had several hallways in each direction. Strider spotted the group of ponies, three of them watching the remaining halls while a tall dark blue one was tending to a wounded one on the ground. One of the ponies spotted him, shouting to the others before charging at him. Strider dodged the charge, raising his hands in the air. "Wait wait wait! I'm not a droid!" Strider said, watching as the tall dark blue pony rose from their spot and trotted over to him. For some reason, they looked familiar. "Thou art the creature my sister informed us about." The tall pony said, their voice sounding female. Strider quickly took notice to the fact that this pony had both a horn and wings, much like Princess Celestia. Wait, didn't she say something about talking to her sister about the war?" "Is your sister Princess Celestia?" "Correct, we are Princess Luna, ruler of the night." Princess Luna exclaimed. "But now is not the time for introductions. One of our guards has been heavily wounded, give us a few moments to heal them." The princess's horn ignited, casting a green glow around the fallen guard. Strider watched as what looked like a plasma bolt wound get suddenly healed to perfection. This world really is magical isn't it? Topic for another day, right now, they needed to get out of this place. "Do you have any weapons?" Strider asked. "We had spears, but we had to leave them to carry are wounded." One guard responded. "Then take these," Strider instructed, tossing both the blaster pistol he had found in the armory, as well as the DC-17 Pistol he had. "your gonna need them to survive, but give them back once we're out of here." Two guards caught the weapons, looking them over curiously. Princess Luna finished healing the wounded guard and went over to Strider. "Does thou't know where thy exit it?" "I honestly don't know. This place is like a maze with all the halls looking the exact same and no signs pointing anywhere." Strider answered. "But I have an idea." Strider went over to a panel on the wall and removed it, letting the large piece of metal hit the ground as he began fiddling with a few wires. It didn't take long before he had the right set of wires, which he hooked up to the holoprojector he had. "If this place is running on emergency power, then if I just wire this into the central system..." After a few tweaks, a projection of the base appeared above the holoprojector, much to the shock of the guards and princess. "Alright, the exit is that way. We don't have much time, so we better get moving." Strider exclaimed. The group took off in the direction of the bases exit, narrowly missing a rather large group of droids that had just stormed the room they had been it.