Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1)

by Barrobroadcaster


Wrath: Returning the Favor

A bolt of ion energy lanced through space and struck the Chimaera. Sparks exploded on the ship's hull as a build-up of energy overloaded its systems. The ship had tried to pull away at the last second and was now in a slow spin. The rest of the Golden Oakes Library's defense system now had a perfect shot to fire at the Star Destroyer's vulnerable underbelly.

On the bridge of the ship, Dan stood, arms folded. "Well... remind me to ask Vice Grip how he got the security system's targeting array to work. Before I kill him."

"Get the thrusters online!" Thrawn roared.

"Main power has failed, Admiral! Auxiliary power is not responding!"

"Reroute through the secondary conduits! Now!"

Ships like the Danfiant and the Chimaera had multiple backup and safety systems. If one failed or needed to be shutoff for any reason, another could easily take its place. Some of these systems were meant for only short-term use in emergencies, and others could be used for longer. A ship like a Star Destroyer needed to have many redundant systems in place- Thrawn's flagship was no exception and a capable commander knew how to get the most out of their vessel.

The ion cannon was such an effective weapon because of its ability to disable all of these systems at once. Designed by Rebel technicians specifically for the purpose of destroying the Star Destroyers, they were very good at what they did. The cannon mounted on the Golden Oakes may have been purchased by Dan from the Pone Depot catalog, but it was just as effective. It may have even been more effective since Dan upgraded it.

The lights on the bridge failed one by one. Outside, the moon was beginning to come up and greet them. The ship would crash and in all likelihood, explode.

"I've got no helm controls! Admiral!" Panic was in the helmsman's voice. Despite the discipline Thrawn maintained, the fear was evident. Under normal circumstances, Imperials under Thrawn's command, at least, showed no fear or emotion, even in the face of death.

Thrawn rubbed his neck again. Still sweating. These were not normal circumstances.

"Admiral, all the power conduits are overloaded!"

The blue man charged over to the display. "Engineering, activate the emergency batteries. Reroute main power through the batteries, that should clear the conduits," Thrawn ordered. Power conduits were like power substations on a ship. The ion cannon's surge flooded the electrical systems, including the conduits, with charged energy. Too much energy for the ship to handle, the conduits could rupture, and were usually built in places to suppress the damage should that happen, but again, the ion cannon was effective because it was designed to overcome that.

The cannon just threw so much energy at the target that it was overwhelmed. Much like Dan.

Dan walked up behind Thrawn. "So, asking for a friend here, where are the life boats on this particular ship? I think you call them escape pods, same thing? Where they be, muffin man?"

"Shut up," Thrawn said through gritted teeth. He wanted to ignore the man, but he was having trouble maintaining control of himself. And his ship.

"Engineering is connecting the batteries, sir!"

"Purging conduits... now!" A loud hum pulsed through the ship, along with a shudder. The lights flickered on, then off again. They all looked around, crew and bystander alike, waiting to see what would happen.

The displays and emergency lights shut off. Then, they all felt a sudden feeling of weightlessness. The artificial gravity had failed.

"Controls are... gone! Sir, there's-"

"Enough! I can quite see that, commander now..." he was about to give an order but as the feeling of zero gravity took hold of him, he suddenly realized he didn't have one to give. "I..."

"Sir?"

He turned his head to Dan. "You were... wondering where the escape pods were." Outside, the bow of the vessel was plunging, dipping low as proximity to the moon pulled the ship downward into its surface. Without the safeties, the reactor would absorb all the damage of the impact, rupture and go critical. Which meant explode in a giant fireball.

Dan, Phoenix, Twilight and Rarity looked at the grand admiral. Mixtures of fear, expectation, hope on their faces. Thrawn saw that in the expressions of his crew. He uttered words he never expected himself to utter, floating helplessly on his own bridge, Thrawn said,

"I don't know what to do."

Whatever confidence Dan had was gone as well. He nodded once. "Let's-"

Another shudder rocked the ship. Suddenly, the ship began picking up again. Not under its own power, by from something else.

"Captain?"

"Nothing from engineering, sir. This... is something else."

None of them saw it, but their rescuer didn't really care. He jammed the targeting system on the library long enough to get a lock onto the ship with a tractor and while it wasn't ideal, it was enough to tow them away from the moon. The smaller ship, crewed and piloted by precisely one man, was used to situations like these.

By the time the Chimaera had been towed to safety, the systems of the ship were working again. Although still somewhat damaged, the vessel could at least move under its own power.

"Repairs are going to take some time, sir," Captain Rigel said.

"I'm aware of that," Thrawn said, snapping a bit too much.

Phoenix walked over to him. "You okay, Mr. uh, Thrawn?"

"No, not as much as I'd like to be."

"Who saved us? Who slash WHAT saved us?" Dan asked. "Whoever it is, I owe them a... what's the opposite of punching? A handshake? I owe them a 'nice job.'"

The doors to the bridge slid upward, revealing to Dan his answer.

"I don't take courtesy- only credits," Boba Fett said.

"Well, I don't have any of those, so-"

"Not yours." Boba walked through the middle of the bridge. Passed the confused-looking ensigns and crewmen, passed an only-slightly surprised Thrawn, passed Dan and the others, up to Barro.

Barro met Boba halfway. "Took your sweet time, didn't you?"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "You could've taken the express rate."

Barro grinned. "How about a discount for repeat business?"

"No."

"Right then. The money's in my fighter- follow me."

The two of them departed, just as mysteriously as they had arrived.

"Right, you two just go off and play with each others' asteroids. Thrawn, I need you."

Thrawn sighed, then walked up to Dan. "What is it?"

"I need to know where the escape pods are."

"That's not necessary. The ship isn't in danger any more."

Dan nodded. "I know. It's for a plan."

And Dan disclosed his entire plan to Thrawn. For the first time since arriving in the Equestrian star system, Thrawn felt good about their chances.