The ship rumbles violently for a second and the console flashes red in front of you. You've just been hit.
"How are we looking?" You ask.
Sunset shakes her head as she presses a few more buttons. "We could be better. That beam in the hangar that fell on the ship damaged the power regulator. The hyperdrive isn't going to be charged for a while."
You growl under your breath.
"Can I fix it?"
She shakes her head again. "Not unless you're willing to go outside."
Damn. You're going to have to hold out until the hyperdrive is charged.
The ship rumbles again as you take another hit, much more violently this time. The alarm starts blaring and a few more screens flash red.
Sunset looks to another screen. "No!"
"What happened?!" You ask.
"Our hyperdrive is out!" She yells.
Your eyes widen and you look out the window. Countless Sith fighters are flying all around you, either dogfighting Republic ships, firing on their cruisers, or focusing on you. You'd expect the Republic to be firing on you as well, but they're far too busy with the Sith right now.
Sunset flies around a nearby cruiser, just avoiding impact. You stand up and examine the damage to the hyperdrive on another screen. It doesn't look too bad. You could probably fix it from inside the ship, but it would take a little while. Odds are you won't last long enough out here though. The Sith are decimating everyone and everything out there.
"What's going on?!"
You turn around quickly to see Rainbow and Twilight standing at the doorway to the cockpit, grabbing onto the wall and looking panicked.
"The hyperdrive is busted! We can't jump!" You reply.
"Can you fix it?!" Rainbow asks.
"If I had time, yeah!"
They both look out the viewport window. Sunset flies around and weaves through formations of fighters. The ship takes another hit.
"I can't shake these guys, Anon!" Sunset sounds panicked.
Rainbow keeps looking out the viewport for a few seconds before her eyes widen. "Wait! Wait a second!"
She moves between you and Sunset and stares outside at something. You look outside as well, trying to see what she's seeing.
She pants softly. "I can buy us time..."
You and Sunset look at her. "What?"
She nods, grinning a little. "I can buy us time! Enough for you to fix the hyperdrive!"
She pushes past you and sits down in your seat. She leans over and presses a button in front of Sunset, giving her control of the ship.
"Wha- Hey!" Sunset exclaims.
"What the hell are you doing!" You shout.
"I need control of the ship!" Rainbow says. "I'm getting us out of here!"
Rainbow, now piloting, twists the ship in a roll while simultaneously flipping around. She turns around and finds a small opening between a pair of cruisers. The computer flashes red as one of the fighters behind you locks on and fires two homing missiles.
Rainbow merely glances at the screen before pressing another button and grabbing the controls. "Hang on."
She rolls the ship again, much faster this time. You grab onto the back of her seat as you feel yourself being pulled off to the side. Twilight grabs onto Sunset's. It's making you a little nauseous.
You notice on the computer that the two missiles are twisting around each other with the ship. After a few seconds, they crash into each other and explode behind you.
"Ha ha!" Rainbow laughs.
"Woah." You breathe.
Rainbow's good at flying. Very good.
She waves her hand. "Yeah yeah yeah, I know! I'm awesome! Don't you have a hyperdrive to fix?! I'm gonna need it!"
Right. She's proved that she's capable.
You nod. "Okay. Sunset, stay here with Rainbow! Twilight, you're with me! I might need your help!"
She nods and the two of you run back into the ship, leaving Rainbow and Sunset behind.
---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA-t0X1btew
Rainbow licks her lips as she maneuvers around some debris coming off of a damaged section of the Republic cruiser. She's cutting it close. Way too close for comfort.
She doesn't even break a sweat though. It's insane.
"Rainbow, where are you going?!" You shout.
She breathes slowly, yet shakily as her eyes narrow. "I'll show you when I find it..."
Another section of the cruiser explodes in front of you and Rainbow expertly moves around it.
Finally, she points. "There!"
You look to where she's pointing. Just ahead is a gathering of glowing clouds. It's the heart of the Maw Nebulae.
Your eyes widen in horror as you realize where she's going. "Rainbow, are you kidding me..."
She shakes her head as she flies toward the cloud of gas. "We don't have a choice, Sunset! It's our only way out until Anon gets the hyperdrive fixed!"
You pound your fists on the console. "If you want to survive the Kessel Run, a hyperdrive is ESSENTIAL!"
She spits right back. "Well, you better hope your stupid boyfriend gets it fixed then!" You look outside the viewport as Rainbow accelerates toward the heart of the nebula. "Your ship handles decently enough, and it's fast, which is good. I'm planning to get pretty close to the Maw's black hole cluster."
With a damaged hyperdrive?!
You're pretty sure you can count on one hand how many times in your life you've been legitimately scared. This is starting to be one of those times.
"Rainbow, please! You can't be serious! Our hyperdrive is busted!" You desperately remind her.
She just smirks as she continues forward. "Sunset, chill out! I've done the Kessel Run lots of times! In my ship! We'll be fine!"
You turn your attention back to the oncoming nebula.
"Besides, it's not totally busted, it's just damaged. Here." You look at the hyperdrive's status as she points to it. "We won't be able to jump to hyperspace like normal, but we should be able to go fast enough to get closer to the black holes and gravity wells without too much risk."
You keep looking at the damage report, and the ship rumbles again. The scanner indicates that there is one Sith Star Destroyer giving chase, along with a number of small fighters.
"If the Sith follow us into there, they'll be sucked up by the black holes." Rainbow says. "If they're smart, they'll stay away."
You take a shaky breath. If she doesn't know what she's doing, you're dead. If you kill her now and try to find another way, you're probably dead too. If she does know what she's doing, then it will be an amazing story to tell.
This is the only option you have available that doesn't guarantee death.
"You had better know what you're doing, Rainbow Dash..." You say.
"I do!" She shouts, frustrated. "I did the Kessel Run in 14 parsecs with my ship, The Sonic Rainboom! It's the galaxy's top record! No one is ever beating that!"
Rainbow pilots the ship into the heart of the nebula, avoiding an oncoming asteroid. The ship's scanner crackles and pops as you fly deeper into the cloud of gas. You can't see anything but vapor and tiny bits of debris flying past you. Occasionally, lightning flashes outside as the clouds of gas conduct with one another and you see a bit more in front of you, but not for long.
"Shut off the navigation system and scanner. They're useless now. Divert their power to the engines." You do as she says and the scanner shuts off. "See if they've made any progress on the hyperdrive."
You contact Anon on the ship's comms. "How's it coming, Anon?!"
Anon answers a couple seconds later. "It's coming! We stopped the damage from getting worse, but it's not fully operational yet!"
"Keep on it! Hurry!" You hang up and contact Applejack and Big Mac. "Are they still on us?!"
"A few!" Applejack replies. "That Sith cruiser's still followin' us, but we're holdin' 'em off as best we can!"
Rainbow chuckles a little beside you. "Idiots..."
You turn back to the viewport and see a big open spot of complete blackness off to the left. It's surrounded by clouds of gas that glow purple and red, and swirl around spots of darkness in space.
It's the black hole cluster...
You swear you can feel yourself being pulled to the left side of the ship slightly. Rainbow had better not get too close, or it's all over.
"What in tarnation is that?!" Applejack exclaims over the comms. She must have seen them too.
"Black holes." You reply. "Lots of them."
Anon comes on the comms a second later. "Wait, did you just say black holes?!"
You nod. "Yes. Rainbow's doing the Kessel Run."
One of the screens on the control console beeps. The hyperdrive has partially been restored to working order. Rainbow smirks and presses a few buttons before hitting the throttle. The ship lurches forward, moving closer to the black holes.
You grip the seat and feel the first signs of real panic as the gravity takes hold of you a bit stronger.
---
You frantically look around as something pops in the hyperdrive, creating a small shower of sparks. "Damn it! Come on!"
You open it up and look inside. Everything looks fine! It should be working!
"What happened?!" Twilight asks.
"I don't know! I can't see what's wrong!" You shout.
Twilight hasn't been much help, but you really can't blame her. She may be good with technology, but she isn't a mechanic, by any means.
"Hand me the hydrospanner!" You command.
You look to where the sparks are coming from. A panel looks like it's loose. Twilight hands you the hydrospanner and you start taking it off.
Come on, Anon. You can do this.
Once the panel is removed, you look inside at all the wires and switches, connecting to fuses that act as conduits for some of the ship's systems. You focus on the sparking wire. It leads to another part of the hyperdrive that you haven't checked yet. The ship's fusion reactor.
You open up another lower panel and take your first good look at the reactor.
You violently exhale. "There's the problem!"
---
The comms on the wall beep a few seconds later. "Sunset, it's Twilight! Anon figured out what the problem was! The fusion reactor had been partially disabled! He can activate it again!"
Thank the Force.
"Okay, great! Tell him to fix it!" You say.
Rainbow had been making short pulse jumps right next to asteroids and debris as she flew dangerously close to the black hole cluster. She was handling the controls like a pro, and pushing what little power the hyperdrive had to its limit.
News of the hyperdrive being fixable makes you realize something. Once Anon fixes the ship's reactor, it won't be fully functional unless the ship's engines reboot. If you want to survive this, you're going to have to shut down the ship's power.
Right next to black holes...
"Once the reactor is fixed, I'm going to shut off the ship for about ten seconds." You say.
Rainbow turns to you. "What?! Why?!"
You look back at her. "We won't be able to get to hyperspace until we do. It's our only shot at getting through this alive."
"Look, I'm all for thrills, but this is cutting it close! Even for me!" Rainbow says. "We're surrounded by black holes! We can't shut off the power!"
From behind, Maud sets her hands on both of your shoulders.
"It's alright..." She says calmly. "The Force is with us."
That is surprisingly comforting to you, right now.
Rainbow looks back at the Jedi for a moment before looking back to the viewport. Now she's nervous.
You press a few buttons on the console and prepare to shut down the ship. Maud takes a deep breath behind you.
A few seconds later, Anon's voice comes on the comms. "Sunset we're clear! The reactor is fixed!"
Here goes nothing...
You close your eyes and shut down the power.
The creaking ceases and the ship's electrical systems go dark. The lights go off and everything whirrs down. Rainbow takes a shaky breath beside you. Your arms slowly rise a few inches off the ground all on their own. The ship's gravity generator is off.
Ten seconds. That's all you need.
There's a slight vibration in the ship and you feel the black holes' gravity strengthen.
"Sunset..."
You ignore Rainbow and continue counting in your head.
Three... Two... One...
You quickly reactivate the ship. The lights come on, the engines whir up, and the system comes back to life.
Rainbow looks around and grabs the controls again. "The hyperdrive is up and running. Full power!"
Excellent.
"Get us out of here then, Rainbow!"
She smiles and maneuvers the ship away from the black hole cluster. She hits the throttle and blasts away as hard as she's able. A few moments of hard acceleration later, the ship gets free from the cluster's pull. All that's left to deal with are the asteroids.
You divert all nonessential power to the forward shields and take control of the blaster cannons. You shoot any asteroids that could potentially get in your way while Rainbow moves the ship out of the Maw. Applejack and Big Mac continue firing from the gun turrets.
When you're free from the nebula, you turn on the navigation system and chart a course to a random nearby system. It doesn't matter where. Once you're locked on, Rainbow hits the throttle again and the hyperdrive whirs up.
Seconds later, you all blast off to hyperspace.
---
You take a deep breath as the ship evens out and stays still.
You and Twilight both breathe a collective sigh of relief. "That was too close..." She pants.
Damn right it was.
"Thank you for your help, Twilight." You say.
She nods slightly and exhales.
The two of you pant softly for a second before standing up and heading back into the main hold. Everyone is shaking slightly and panting, but they all look relieved. Except for Pinkie.
She is clearly still very distraught. She's leaning on her armrest and crying. Maud slowly comes out of the cockpit, still limping from her battle and takes a seat next to Pinkie again. Pinkie leans over on Maud's shoulder and holds her hand.
Maud rests her head on Pinkie's slightly. For the first time since you've known her, she looks sad. Not quite as sad as Pinkie, obviously, but sad nonetheless.
How can they not be? They have just discovered that their sister had turned to the Dark Side and was now an apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith himself.
From around the corner, Applejack and Big Mac step into the main hold a few moments later. "Whew... Glad we're outta that mess."
"Eeyup." Big Mac says.
Applejack takes off her hat and rubs her hair a little, shaking off the ride through the Maw. "Master Maud, are ya okay?"
Maud looks up at Applejack softly for a moment, her tired eyes showing defeat and distress on them. "...No."
Applejack frowns and puts her hat on again. "Who was she?"
Maud pauses for a long time before answering. "She... She's our sister..."
Applejack covers her mouth. Fluttershy and Twilight both gasp softly.
Pinkie sniffs and looks up at Maud. "You... You didn't have to kill her...did you?"
Maud shakes her head and closes her eyes. "She's still alive... She's...so full of anger and hate... I can feel it..."
You can't help but think that she's going to be trouble for you in the future.
"This is bad..." You all look to Twilight. She looks scared. Worried. "...There's no way the Republic can stop the Sith this time. They're... We're outnumbered. Outgunned. Outmatched. Everything."
Around you, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Big Mac all look down slowly as the gravity of the situation sets in.
Twilight continues. "Clearly, Anon and Sunset are onto something. The Sith wouldn't have openly attacked us if they weren't. They trapped us all there, and now they've made their move. They weren't able to kill us this time, but we don't have the numbers or resources necessary to fight them... They're... They're going to kill us all."
There's a long silence among you all.
"We must trust in the Force." You all look over at Maud. "The Force has a destiny for us. For all of us. We must trust in it."
Twilight sighs.
That couldn't have helped. It's just the same old indirect Jedi-speak.
"I can't help but think that we're doomed..." Twilight whispers softly.
There's another pause.
"No..." Everyone looks up at you. "No, we're not... Not yet."
In Twilight's eyes, you think you see a small flicker of hope appear for a split-second.
"We're going to stop the Sith. Without your Republic to keep them in line, they would have taken over the whole galaxy thousands of years ago. Right now, your Republic is crippled. The Sith believe they have a golden opportunity."
Applejack shakes her head. "Anon... I don't think there's a way outta this... We... All we can do is fight our hardest until..."
She doesn't want to finish her thought.
You finish it for her. "If you were to fight them now, then you'd be going up against impossible odds, you're right. You'd be staring death in the face."
Applejack pauses and Twilight speaks up again. "What exactly are you saying, Anon?"
From behind, you hear Sunset approaching with Rainbow. "He's saying that we're going to get help."
Everyone looks at her. She stands beside you and nods. She looks a little shaken from the ride, but she's okay.
You nod back at her and set your hands on your hips, addressing the group once again. "To stop the Sith, you'll need an army. Your Republic's military is practically useless. If they go against the Sith now, they'll lose."
Sunset continues. "Fortunately for you all, we happen to have the best army in the galaxy, composed of the best warriors in the galaxy. You're all looking at two of these warriors now."
Twilight's eyes widen slowly and she sits up in her chair. "You... You don't mean..."
"Sunset and I are going to try and get help, Twilight." You say. "We're going to speak to Mandalore."