"Anon, how're we gonna get past that security checkpoint?" Applejack asks.
You glance over at her for a moment before turning your attention back to the road. Good question.
"Well, Pinkie is going to be in the disguise. She could talk to them." You suggest.
"Oooh! I have an idea to get past them!" She says. "I could hit them with the old Jedi Mind Trick! You wouldn't believe how many people that works on!"
Mandalore looks over at her. "Jedi?"
Uh oh.
"Former Jedi, Mandalore." You say.
He stares at her as she continues putting on the Sith armor. "Interesting..."
He says nothing else as he keeps watching her.
Pinkie looks over at him and stops moving for a second. Her smile fades and she uncomfortably resumes putting her disguise together after a few moments. He never stops watching her.
Rainbow clears her throat. "Mandalore, I have a question."
Finally, he looks away from Pinkie, much to her relief. "What is it, Rainbow?"
"Why don't the Mandalorians like the Jedi?"
Oh boy, here we go.
Mandalore huffs. "Let's just say that we disagree with each other on how to solve problems, among other things. The Jedi are powerful warriors who prove to be excellent opponents in combat. Despite this power, they are weak. Their self-destructive path of pacifism has led the Republic into a state of complacency that has driven the galaxy to the chaos and rampant lawlessness that we see now."
Pinkie silently continues putting her disguise together. She isn't smiling anymore. Applejack looks back at Mandalore for a moment before looking forward again. There is a slight scowl on her face.
Rainbow inquires further. "Well then, what about Revan? I thought he was a Jedi. Anon hardly shuts up about him though. He says that we are supposed to respect him, even though he killed Mandalore the Ultimate."
"Revan was different." Mandalore explains. "He made a choice to act rather than wait, like the Jedi Council wanted. Mandalore the Ultimate led our people against the Republic, because we wanted to prove our strength against the mightiest army in the galaxy. At the time, that was the Republic. We threw everything we had at them and lost the war, only because they had Revan. Mandalore the Ultimate was the strongest warrior we had, and even he could not stand against Revan's battle prowess over Malachor V. He was magnificent. Unlike the Jedi of today, he chose to be the change he wanted to see happen in the galaxy."
You can't hear well enough, but you swear that Pinkie mumbles something under her breath about Malak and the Jedi Civil War.
Mandalore looks around for a second before looking back at Rainbow. "Maybe later, I'll tell you more about Revan and the Jedi. I'm sure Anonymous can tell you a few things as well. He knows a little bit about the Jedi too."
Specifically, how to kill them. You know what he's getting at.
Mandalore doesn't like Jedi at all. You can't think of many Mandalorians that do.
He continues. "For now though, let's focus on the task at hand."
"I agree." Applejack blurts out, not looking back at him. The scowl on her face is as clear as day, and her nostrils are flared. She is not pleased by this conversation.
Pinkie nods with her, silently.
You'll never tell him this, but you're glad Mandalore stopped talking. He's not wrong in the slightest about the Jedi. They are weak, and that weakness has brought nothing but problems to the Republic and the galaxy. However, Applejack and Pinkie don't see it that way. You need them to stay on your side while you're here.
Apart from the loud rumbling of the engine, the rest of the ride is silent and uncomfortable amongst you all.
A minute or two later, you drive around a rock formation and up a small hill until you're overlooking the factory. The road continues straight forward and leads right to it. They should be able to see you now, so you casually continue your drive. You don't drive too fast, but you don't dawdle either.
"Pinkie, how's that disguise coming together?" You ask.
She walks up beside you, putting the gloves on her hands. She's completely dressed in the Sith armor except for the helmet. "It's together, Anon."
"How does it feel?" Rainbow asks.
Pinkie twists and turns as she looks at herself. She bends her legs a couple times and wiggles her shoulders a little to get a feel for the armor.
"Eh, it's not the best. It's fine though." She turns and looks at her backside. "The armor is ugly, but I do like the way it makes my butt look!"
"Oh my." You chuckle.
Keep your eyes on the road, Anon. Pretend Sunset is here.
Applejack smiles and shakes her head at her joke. "Well, at this rate, we'll be at the factory within a few minutes, so I'd get your story put together, Sugarcube."
"Faulty comms unit." You say.
Pinkie looks at you. "Huh?"
You nod. "That's the first thing that popped into my head. Use your Jedi Mind Trick to convince them that we need to head to maintenance."
She considers it for a moment and shrugs. "Sounds good to me."
She puts the Sith helmet on and grabs one of their blaster rifles before standing at attention while she waits for you to drive to the factory.
"Remember to try and avoid any fightin', Pinkie. We're outnumbered by a lot. Just get us in there in one piece." Applejack says.
Pinkie nods. "Don't worry, Applejack. I've got this." The Sith helmet is making her voice sound mechanical and distorted, but it's still obviously Pinkie's voice.
You drive the transport up the road and toward the main gate. A few comm lights flash on your instrument panel, but you ignore them. Your comms are supposed to be out.
The factory is incredibly massive. Now that you're closer to it, you can see much more detail. The main structure is surrounded by industrial buildings and complexes, all of which look to manufacture the virus or house slaves or something. You aren't sure from here.
Surrounding the buildings are a number of statues of people. Ancient Sith Lords, most likely. A part of you wonders which ones are here. Revan and Malak probably wouldn't have statues, as their conquest didn't take them to Khar Delba, as far as you're aware.
Revan is a favorite subject of history for you, but your knowledge on the history of the Sith Order themselves is severely lacking, you admit. You can probably only name a couple Sith Lords, and that's only if you think really hard. It doesn't matter though. This place will be a crater by the end of the day, hopefully.
The central spire of the factory itself looks like a recent addition. It's rising up from an ancient pyramid that has little to no industrial or technological enhancements to it. It's just made of stone. That must be the source of the strong Dark Side energy on this planet. Everything else looks like it was just built around it. You wonder what Sunset would be feeling like right now if she were here. She's Force-sensitive. Maybe she would be a bit iffy like Pinkie is right now too.
You sneak a look over at Pinkie. Her helmet is off again, and she's staring ahead at the factory with a worried expression on her face.
"Are you okay?" You ask.
She blinks and looks at you for a second before looking down at the helmet in her hands. She nods slowly. "Yeah. I'm okay. I think."
You look ahead again as you approach the main gate. You can see a pair of Sith troopers moving in front of the gate with their weapons at the low-ready. They're probably cautious as to why you haven't answered their communications.
"I need you to be really ready, Pinkie. You're up." You say. "We need to get in here as peacefully as we can."
"Okay." She gulps. "Okay, I'm okay." She nods and puts her helmet back on. As she walks to the door, she takes a few deep breaths and whispers something to herself. "There is no emotion... There is peace..."
Mandalore and Rainbow move out of her way and hide as best as they can. If the Sith outside see you or anyone else in here, your cover will be blown.
Once you finally reach the gate, the Sith Trooper outside holds his hand up to order you to stop the vehicle, which you do. As you come to a complete stop, one of them moves over to the door where Pinkie is, and she opens it up.
From outside, the Sith starts speaking to her. "Trooper! Why didn't you answer our communications?"
Pinkie clears her throat. "The blizzard or something knocked it loose. We couldn't talk to anyone. We came back for repairs."
The Sith pauses for a moment. "That's unusual. If it passed inspection, it should have been sturdy enough to make it through a blizzard."
Pinkie shrugs. "I agree, it is weird. I'll take it up with the maintenance guys and find out what's going on, if you could let us through. I've got a patrol to be on right now."
The Sith pauses for another moment, looking around at the vehicle.
"...What's your operating number?" He asks suspiciously.
You tighten your grip on your blaster, ready to spring into action. Come on, Pinkie. Do your thing.
Pinkie casually waves her hand in front of the Sith. "You already know my operating number. I'm fine."
The Sith freezes for a moment before replying. "I... already know your operating number... You're fine."
You let out a breath of relief you didn't realize you were holding as Pinkie continues speaking to the Sith.
She waves her hand again. "Thanks! Now, if you could show us how to get to maintenance and let us move along, we'll get this whole thing figured out!"
The Sith nods. "Maintenance is toward the left side of the temple. Building E-12. It's a large building. You can't miss it. You're free to move along."
Pinkie nods back at him as he ushers your vehicle to move through the opening gate. You press down on the gas and the transport moves forward. Pinkie moves back inside and closes the door behind her again.
"Whew!" She exhales. "That was close!"
Applejack looks back at her with a smile. "Nice work, Pinkie Pie!"
You shake your head slowly. "I am shocked at how many people that works on."
Pinkie giggles. "The galaxy is full of weak minds, Anon! It was a huge help for me back when I first started stealing!"
You chuckle as you proceed forward into the Sith base.