Walking through the numerous halls and passageways of the Death Star, Starkiller lead the group of Stormtroopers holding Princess Leia and a struggling Sunset Shimmer hostage. Leia was in complete shock after watching this massive orbital station completely obliterate her entire home world with a single shot. Sunset, on the other hand, was completely furious. She had seen and done her share of many horrible acts in the past, but never before had she witness an entire planet explode. She struggled against the Stormtroopers’ grip, as they dragged her along.
“Let me go!” She yelled. “I swear when I get free, you’ll all going to pay! I’ll grab Tarkin by the throat… I’ll rip his head off… I’ll make him watch as I tear the rest of him apart!”
“Silence, prisoner!” One stormtrooper demanded.
Eventually, the group reached a four way of different halls with one section of Stormtroopers taking Leia back to the detention block. The others dragged Sunset back toward the hanger to return her to the Imperial City. As they walked, Starkiller allowed a few troopers to march ahead so he could walk alongside Sunset. Looking around quickly, he leaned over toward Sunset.
“Don’t get up till I tell you,” Starkiller whispered.
Sunset looked at him in confusion.
“What?” She asked.
Starkiller quickly shoved her, and she felt to the ground as he grasped the bolt of his lightsaber and ignited the blade. In one sweep, he quickly cut down the stormtroopers in front of him. The two behind him noticed and quickly aimed their guns. Being greatly skilled in the force, Starkiller grasped the weapons with a force grip and whipped them aside before cutting the last two in half.
The now dead troopers laid along the ground, as Sunset Shimmer stared in shock over what took place. To say she was confused was most certainly an understatement. Starkiller quickly deactivated his lightsaber, quickly helped Sunset off the ground, and lead her down the hall.
“What the heck just happened?” She asked confused.
“Don’t talk, just walk,” Starkiller responded.
Before Sunset can retort, she quickly goes against it. She keeps quiet despite having so many questions. Why did he strike down his own troops? What was going on? All major questions that will have to wait. Meanwhile, Starkiller leads Sunset down the hanger where the shuttle to the Imperial City waited. In a quick flash, he pulled Sunset aside to speak with her.
“I assume you probably have questions,” He spoke, stating the obvious.
“You could say that…” Sunset nodded. “How about we start with what the heck happened back there?! I thought those were your troops!”
Starkiller sighed, as he looked Sunset in the eyes.
“Tell you the truth, my master and I don’t approve of the Emperor’s Death Star,” He admitted. “We never believed it should have been built, let alone fired. Soon as I saw the devastation that occurred, I was horrified.”
“But I thought you always sided with the Empire.”
“Perhaps, but I don’t side with a mad ruler who seeks to cause chaos for the sake of chaos. I may be a Sith, but I have morals.”
“Then… what happened back there…”
“Was me choosing exactly who I want to be,” Marek interrupted. “I will never serve a mad Emperor.”
Sunset immediately formed a smile on her face, so elated she took absolutely no notice of standing on her tip-toes to quickly give Marek a kiss on the cheek. This shocked both Starkiller and her, as they stood there looking at each other in complete shock. Starkiller was about to say something, when suddenly he felt a strange sensation flow through him. Sunset noticed this, facing him with confusion.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
“I sense a presence of the force drawing near,” Marek responded. “Matter of fact, I sense many.”
The idea of force sensitives heading their direction made Sunset’s eyes widen with joy.
“My friends!” She cried. “They’re coming! I have to find them!”
Just as she turned to run, Starkiller quickly snatched her wrist and held her in place.
“Let go!” She snipped. “I have to find them!”
“Don’t you understand where you are right now?” Starkiller asked. “This is a heavily guarded fortress. You go anywhere here without me, and you’ll be shot immediately.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Sunset asked.
“Just do as I say, work with me, and we may just get out of here alive.”
Sunset looked deeply into his eyes, before sighing to herself. Deep down, she knew he was right. Running through this place was a sure fire way of winding up dead. So far, he kept her alive throughout this entire ordeal. Perhaps following his plan was the best course of action.
“What do you have in mind?” She asked defeated.
“You must board the shuttle,” Starkiller informed her. “My troops will escort you back to the Imperial Palace.”
“You’re sending me back to be locked up and tortured again?”
“I promise no harm will come to you, so long as you do as I say. You’ll be locked away only temporarily; when I return, we’ll work together to free you.”
“What about my friends? They’re coming all this way and I won’t get to see them.”
“What if I could ensure there’s a way for them to receive a message from you? This way they’ll know you’re alive.”
“How?”
Starkiller reached into his robes, pulling out the small metallic device and held it out toward her.
“This is a holo communicator,” He explained. “You need only record a message into this, and I can ensure that your friends find it here.”
Sunset looked down at the little device in the young Sith’s hand, before tuning back to him with a nod.
“I will get you back home…” Starkiller concluded. “I promise…”
<>
Meanwhile, in the conference room of the Death Star, Imperial Officer Cass stood before Governor Tarkin and the evil Dark Lord Darth Vader.
“Yes,” Tarkin spoke.
“Our scout ships have reached Dantooine,” Officer Cass informed. “They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems.”
“She lied!” Tarkin growled. “She lied to us!”
“I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion,” Vader replied.
“Terminate her… immediately!” Tarkin ordered the officer.
The officer delivered a salute to Tarkin, before turning away to inform the others to carry out the execution order.
<>
Deep in hyperspace, the Millenium Falcon is about ready to emerge. A strange surreal light show surrounds the entire ship as everyone inside brace themselves.
“Stand by, Chewie, here we go,” Han said. “Cut in the sublight engines.”
Han pulls back the control lever. Just outside the cockpit window, the stars begin streaking past, seemingly decreasing in speed before drawing to a complete stop. Suddenly, the starship began to shudder and violently shake about. Asteroids race toward them, battering the sides of the ship.
“What the hay’s going on up there?” Rainbow called out.
“Talk about bumpy ride!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.
“Aw, we’ve come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower,” Han groaned. “Some kind of asteroid collision. It’s not on any of the charts.”
The Wookiee flipped off several controls, seemingly very cool in the emergency. Luke and a few Equestrians climbed their way into the bouncing cockpit.
“What’s going on?” Luke asked.
“You didn’t overshoot us past Alderaan, did you?” Twilight added.
“No, our position is correct, except… no, Alderaan!” Han answered.
“What do you mean, no Alderaan?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.
“It’s got to be here,” Spike looked around. “Where is it?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, kids,” Han explained. “It ain’t there. It’s been totally blown away.”
“Blown away?!” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But how?”
“Unless…” Pinkie pondered anxiously. “Maybe during Hyperspace, we traveled so far into the distant future that the planet’s core eventually burned up so bad that the whole planet suddenly exploded like a star!”
The group slowly turned toward Pinkie Pie.
“What? I read astrology too…” Pinkie pouted.
“Alderaan’s been destroyed by the Empire…”
The group turn their heads back as Ben and Storm Shield moved into the cockpit behind them, just as the ship began to settle down.
“Just as Ben and I feared…” Storm added on. “The Empire must’ve discovered that the plans in R2-D2 were to be sent to Alderaan. By the time we eventually got on our way… they must’ve reached the planet before we did.”
“Meaning…” Spike wondered fearfully.
“We’re too late,” Ben spoke regretfully.
“The entire Starfleet couldn’t destroy the whole planet,” Han argued. “It’d take a thousand ships with more fire power than I’ve…”
Suddenly, a signal starts flashing against the control panel and a muffled alarm starts humming.
“Now wut?!” Applejack asked.
“There’s another ship coming in,” Han observed.
“Maybe they know what happened,” Luke thought.
“It’s an Imperial fighter,” Ben spoke.
Chewbacca barked his concern, as the rest of the group looked out. A huge explosion burst outside the cockpit window, shaking the ship violently. A tiny, finned Imperial TIE fighter raced past the cockpit window.
“It followed us!” Luke pointed out.
“No kidding!” Spike yelled.
“No, it’s a short-range fighter,” Ben corrected.
“There aren’t any based around here,” Han noted. “Where did it come from?”
“Does it matter where it came from?” Twilight asked. “Let’s just get out of here before it blows us to smithereens.”
“Right… like ‘one’ tiny fighter is going to blow up the Millenium Falcon?” Han asked sarcastically. “Please…”
“It sure is leaving in a big hurry,” Luke observed. “If they identify us, we’re in big trouble.”
“Not if I can help it,” Han spoke, determined. “Chewie… jam it’s transmissions.”
“Han, maybe we should just let it go,” Storm suggested. “It’s too far out of range.”
“Not for long…”
The Millenium Falcon zoomed away into the vastness of space, following the Imperial TIE fighter. Tension mounts as the ship gains on the tiny fighter. In the distance, one of the stars becomes brighter until it is obvious the TIE ship is heading for it. Ben and Storm Shield stand behind Chewbacca.
“A fighter that size couldn’t get this deep into space on its own,” Ben observed.
“It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something,” Luke added.
“Well, he ain’t going to be around long enough to tell anyone about us,” Han assured.
The Equestrians look closely and see that the TIE fighter was losing ground. The distant star ahead can be distinguished as a small moon or planet.
“Look!” Twilight pointed. “It’s headed for that small moon.”
“I think I can get him before he gets there…” Han spoke. “He’s almost in range.”
But the closer they travel, the more they can see that the small moon began to take on the appearance of a monstrous spherical battle station. Ben and Storm’s eyes widen in shock.
“Oh no…” Storm groaned.
“What is it?” Twilight asked concerned.
“That’s no moon!” Ben spoke. “It’s a space station.”
“It’s too big to be a space station,” Han argued.
“They did it…” Storm gasped silently. “They actually did it…”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Luke spoke.
“Yeah, me too…” Fluttershy uttered nervously. “Can we please leave now?”
“Working on it…” Han spoke. “Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power.”
The ship shuddered and the TIE fighter accelerated away toward the gargantuan battle station.
“Captain Solo… why are we still moving towards it?” Rarity asked.
“We’re caught in a tractor beam!” Han answered. “It’s pulling us in!”
“But there’s gotta be something you can do!” Luke insisted.
“There’s nothin’ I can do about it, kid. I’m in full power. I’m going to have to shut down.”
“Let those bucketheads bring us in!” Rainbow threatened. “They’re not going to take us without a fight!”
Ben Kenobi places a hand upon Rainbow’s shoulder.
“You can’t win,” Ben warned. “But there are alternatives to fighting.”
“… Fine, let’s do it the ‘easy’ way.”
As the battered starship towed closer to the awesome metal moon, the immense size of the massive battle station becomes staggering. Running along the equator of the gigantic sphere was a mile-high band of docking ports into which the helpless ship was dragged toward.
<>
Through the port doors of the Death Star, the helpless Millenium Falcon was pulled past a docking port control room and huge laser turret cannons.
“Clear Bay twenty-three-seven,” A voice over the intercom spoke. “We are opening the magnetic field.”
The ship was pulled through the port doors of the Death Star, coming to rest in a huge hanger labeled ‘Docking Bay 2037’. Thirty stormtroopers sand at attention in the central assembly area.
“To your stations!” An officer ordered, approaches another. “Come with me.”
Through the hallway, stormtroopers race to their posts and enter Hanger 2037. A line of stormtroopers march toward the ship, ready to board, while the rest stand with weapons armed to fire.
“Close all outboard shields!” An officer ordered. “Close all outboard shields!”
<>
In the conference room, Tarkin pushed a button responding to the intercom buzz. Darth Vader stood behind him.
“Yes,” Tarkin spoke.
“We’ve captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system,” A voice responded. “Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley.”
“They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess,” Vader spoke. “She may yet be of some use to us.”
<>
Later, at Docking Bay 2037, Vader and a commander approach the troops as an Officer and several heavily armed troops exit the spacecraft.
“Unlock one-five-seven and nine,” A voice over intercom ordered. “Release charges.”
“There’s no one on board, sir,” The officer informed. “According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned.”
“Did you find any droids?” Vader asked.
“No, sir. If there were any on board, they must have also jettisoned.”
“Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of this ship checked.”
“Yes, sir.”
Then Vader stopped, looking around as if he was able to feel something.
“I sense something…” Vader spoke. “A presence I haven’t felt since…”
Vader turned quickly, leaving the hangar.
“Get me a scanning crew in here on the double,” The officer ordered. “I want every part of this ship checked!”
<>
Inside the hallway of the Millennium Falcon, a trooper ran through the hallway heading for the exit. In a few moments, all was silent.
“There’s no one here,” The Trooper spoke.
The muffled sounds of a distant officer giving orders finally fade. Suddenly, two floor panels popped up as Han Solo and Luke emerged. Ben Kenobi stuck his head out of a third locker, whilst a few of the Equestrians peek from their individual hiding spots.
“Boy, it’s lucky you had these compartments,” Luke sighed.
“I use them for smuggling,” Han spoke. “I never thought I’d be smuggling myself in them.”
“This is ridiculous,” Spike groaned. “We gotta get outta here!”
“Even if I could take off, I’d never get past the tractor beam.”
“We need to find the controls for the beam and turn it off,” Storm added.
“Leave that to me!” Ben spoke.
“Damn fool,” Han muttered. “I knew that you were going to say that!”
“Who’s the more foolish… the fool or the fool who follows him?”
Han shook his head, muttering to himself while Chewbacca agreed. Twilight gazed out toward their only exit from the ship.
“First thing we got to do is sneak out of that ship and past those troopers,” Twilight observed. “Applejack, what do you think? Applejack? Rainbow?”
Twilight Sparkle turned but neither of the girls peeked out. She looked around until she heard a moaning noise. She peeked down toward the bottom of the floor panel where Luke and Han emerged. Rolling her eyes, Twilight Sparkle peeked her head above the opening.
“Girls, we don’t have time for this now!” Twilight called out.
Lifting up over the opening, Rainbow Dash and Applejack peek out from the floor panel. Rainbow Dash chuckles lightly, as Applejack adjusts her hair.
“To be continued…” Rainbow replied.
<>
Back in the main forward bay, crewman carrying a heavy box board the ship past the group of stormtroopers guarding either side of the ramp.
“The ship’s all yours,” The trooper informed. “If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately. Alright, let’s go.”
The crewmen enter the ship. Suddenly, there’s a loud crashing sound from inside the ship.
“Hey down there!” A male voice called out. “Could you give us a hand with this?”
The stormtroopers enter the ship… and a quick round of gunfire was heard.
<>
In a very small command office, near the entrance to the ship, a Gantry Officer looked out his window and noticed all the guards are missing. He activated the commlink.
“TX-four-one-two, why aren’t you at your post?” The Gantry Officer spoke. “TX-four-one-two, do you copy?”
A stormtrooper emerged down the ramp of the ship, waving to the gantry officer, and pointing to his ear indicating his commlink isn’t working. The gantry officer shook his head in disgust as he headed for the door, all while giving his aid an annoyed look.
“Take over,” The Gantry Officer ordered. “We’ve got a bad transmitter. I’ll see what I can do.”
As the officer approached the door, it slid open revealing the towering Chewbacca. The gantry officer, in a momentary state of shock, stumbled backward. With a bone-chilling howl, the giant Wookiee flattened the officer with one blow. The aide immediately reached for his pistol but is blasted by an Imperial Trooper… who turned out to be Han Solo. Ben and the robots entered the room quickly, followed by Luke, Storm, and the girls also dressed as stormtroopers. Spike was the last to enter, though how the Empire missed a tiny puppy crawling by nobody knows. Luke Skywalker removed his helmet.
“You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it’s a wonder the whole station doesn’t know we’re here.”
The rest of the girls proceeded to remove their own helmets.
“Maybe they already do,” Twilight sighed.
“Yeah cuz Mr. ‘Shoot First, Stealth Later’ over there can’t keep his finger off the trigger,” Rainbow added.
“Bring them on!” Han challenged. “I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around.”
“Then you’d be really bad at those stealth shooter video games,” Pinkie shook her head.
“We found the computer outlet,” 3PO called out.
“Excellent 3PO!” Storm approached. “Let’s find out where we are.”
Ben began to feed some information into the computer, as a map of the city appeared on the monitor. He began to inspect it carefully, as 3PO and R2 looked over the control panel. Just then R2 found something that made him whistle wildly.
“Plug in,” Ben commanded. “He should be able to interpret the entire Imperial computer network.”
R2 punched his claw arm into the computer socket, as the vast imperial brain network comes to life, feeding information to the little robot. After a few moments, he beeped something.
“What’s he saying 3PO?” Fluttershy asked.
“He says he’s found the main computer to power the tractor beam that’s holding the ship here,” 3PO translated. “He’ll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor.”
The computer monitor flashed readouts.
“The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave.”
“If that’s the case, the best strategy is to get to the closest terminal,” Storm advised. “Given how big this station is, saves us all the trouble.”
Ben studied the data on the monitor readout.
“I don’t think you can help,” Ben spoke quietly.
“What?” Storm faced Ben.
“I must go alone.”
“Whatever you say,” Han shrugged. “I’ve done more than I bargained for on this trip already.”
“I want to go with you,” Luke insisted.
“So should we,” Twilight Sparkle added. “We can’t let you go by yourself.”
“Be patient, kids,” Ben advised. “Stay and watch over the droids.”
“But I’ve trained for this sir,” Storm insisted. “I can…”
“They must be delivered safely, or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan,” Ben informed the group. “Your destiny lies along a different path than mine.”
Storm Shield lowered his head and released a sigh, knowing deep down Ben made a point. As the door opened, Ben looked out before turning back toward the group.
“The Force will be with you… always!”
Ben adjusted the lightsaber on his belt, as he silently stepped out of the command office. The Equestrians looked on worriedly, watching him disappear down a long grey hallway. Chewbacca barked a comment, while Han shook his head in agreement.
“Boy you said it, Chewie,” Han remarked, facing the group. “Where did you dig up that old fossil?”
“That ‘old fossil’ is one of the greatest Jedi Knights who ever lived!” Storm argued, offended. “You’d be wise to show him the proper respect as a warrior and a great man!”
“Yeah, great at getting us into trouble.”
“I didn’t hear you give any ideas…” Luke pointed out.
“Well, anything would be better than just hanging around waiting for him to pick us up…” Han replied.
“Who do you think you are?” Rainbow confronted Han. “Just because you’re some big shot space pilot or whatever, that does not give you the right to—”
Suddenly, R2 began to whistle and beeped a blue streak. Luke and the others approached him.
“What is it?” Luke asked.
“I’m afraid I’m not quite sure, sir,” 3PO replied. “He says, ‘I found her’, and keeps repeating, ‘She’s here’.”
“Well, who… who has he found?”
“Is it Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked, her face brightening. “Is she here?”
Artoo whistled a frantic reply.
“Princess Leia…” 3PO translated.
“Ohh…” Twilight sighed sadly.
“Hold on!” Applejack spoke up. “The princess is here?”
“Princess?” Han asked. “What’s going on?”
“Where the hay is she?” Rainbow asked.
“Level five,” 3PO answered. “Detention block A A-twenty-three. I’m afraid she’s scheduled to be terminated.”
“TERMINATED?!?!” The Equestrians shouted.
“Oh no! We’ve got to do something!” Luke insisted.
“What are you talking about?” Han asked.
“The droid belongs to her,” Luke informed. “She’s the one in the message…”
“And… if Princess Leia is here,” Twilight thought, realizing. “Then surely Sunset Shimmer must be… we’ve got to help them!”
“Now look, don’t get any funny ideas,” Han warned. “The old man wants us to wait right here.”
“Han does have a point,” Spike spoke. “If the stormtroopers catch us roaming down their halls, they’ll put every one of us down!”
“But now we know they’re here,” Twilight argued. “R2-D2, check and see if there’s a path to that detention block.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Han argued.
“They’re going to execute her!” Luke reminded. “Look, a few minutes ago you said you didn’t want to just wait here to be captured.”
“Luke’s right,” Rainbow agreed. “Either we go out there and rescue our friends… or we stay here and leave them to die!”
“Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind!” Han argued.
“But they’re going to kill her!”
“Better her than me…”
“Well, aren’t you just the big hero!” Rainbow spat sarcastically.
“Look kid, I didn’t come here to rescue a princess or your friend alright?” Han retorted. “I was hired to get you guys off Tatooine, to Alderaan, and that’s it. As far as I’m concerned, once I get back to my ship, I might just leave you all here.”
“She’s rich…” Luke pointed out.
Chewbacca growled and suddenly Han’s attention turned to Luke.
“Rich?” Han repeated.
“Yes. Rich, powerful!” Luke emphasized. “Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be…”
“What?”
“Well more wealth than you can imagine.”
“Absolutely-posilutely!” Pinkie nodded rapidly. “Why you’ll be so and famous, they’ll start making motion pictures about you!”
Han Solo turned toward Pinkie Pie with an eyebrow raise. Aside from finding Pinkie’s babbling odd, something still bothered him.
“I don’t know,” Han spoke. “I can imagine quite a bit!”
“You’ll get it!” Luke insisted.
“I better!”
“You will…” Twilight ensured. “You help us get the Princess and Sunset out of the Detention Block, you can have all the money you can ever ask for and you’ll never have to put up with us again.”
“All right, kid,” Han sighed. “But you better be right about this.”
Hen turned toward Chewie, who gave a short grunt.
“All right princess,” Storm spoke, approaching Twilight. “So what’s your plan?”
“Well, if we’re going to find Sunset Shimmer and Princess Leia, it’s not wise to leave the droids defenseless,” Twilight explained. “Ergo, the best we can do right now is split up into two groups. Half of us will look for our friends, while the other half stays behind and keeps the droids safe.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“You, Rarity, Storm Shield, and I will go with Luke, Han Solo, and Chewbacca.”
“That won’t be a problem, Twilight,” Rarity nodded.
“What about us?” Spike asked curiously.
“Spike, I think you should stay with Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie to guard 3PO and R2.”
“Not a bad idea,” Applejack agreed. “We’ll handle any stormtroopers that try to cross us. Right y’all?”
“I uh… I think so,” Fluttershy nodded worriedly.
“Now… what are we going to do about furball here?” Rainbow motioned to Chewbacca.
The wookiee growled at the cyan colored teen, slightly offended by that remark.
“Uh… 3PO, hand me those binders there will you?” Luke requested.
3PO hands Luke the electronic cuffs, and the young man cautiously approached Chewbacca.
“Okay. Now, I’m going to put these on you…”
Chewie released a hideous growl, sending Luke back. Before the beast can get confrontational, he felt a gentle grip on his arm and turned. Fluttershy shushes him softly, as she caresses his arm feeling the tension go down.
“It’s okay…” Fluttershy cooed. “I know you don’t like it, but we need you to play along.”
“Han, I think you better put them on,” Storm suggested. “Aside from Fluttershy, he trusts you more.”
Luke sheepishly handed the binders to Han.
“Don’t worry, Chewie,” Han reassured. “I think I know what he has in mind.”
The Wookiee faced Han and Fluttershy with a worried, frightened look on his face as the man binds him with the electronic cuffs.
“Master Luke, everyone!” 3PO called out. “Pardon me for asking… but, ah… what should we do if we’re discovered here?”
“Easy,” Rainbow smirked. “Just lock the door.”
“And hope they don’t have blasters!” Han added.
“That isn’t very reassuring,” Applejack frowned.
“One more thing,” Twilight spoke up. “In case we do run into trouble, let’s all meet back near the Millennium Falcon.”
“What are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Let’s do this!”
“Yeah! SUNSET SHIMMER, HERE WE COME!!!” Pinkie Pie cried out.
Her friends quickly covered her mouth and shushed her violently.
“You have to keep your voice down, Pinkie!” Storm advised quietly. “We’re in enemy territory!”
“Oh… sorry,” Pinkie Pie smiled sheepishly.
Luke, Han, Storm, and Twilight’s group put on their armored stormtrooper helmets and start off toward the giant Imperial Death Star.
“Try to be careful, Dash!” Applejack called out.
“Hey, come on!” Rainbow smirked, putting her helmet on. “It’s me, remember?”
<>
Near the elevator tubes, Luke’s group tried to look inconspicuous in their armored suits while waiting for a vacuum elevator to arrive. Troops, bureaucrats, and robots bustle about ignoring the group completely. Only a few give the giant Wookiee a curious glance, but otherwise suspicion was at a low right now. Finally, the tiny elevator arrived as the group enter one-by-one.
“I can’t see a thing in this helmet,” Luke complained.
“And you thought Twilight’s eyesight was bad enough,” Rainbow joked.
“Oh shut up!” Twilight snipped.
A bureaucrat raced to get aboard, but Han signaled him away. The door to the pod-like vehicle slides closed and the elevator car took off through a vacuum tube.
<>
Meanwhile, several Imperial officers walk through the wide main passageway. They pass several stormtroopers and a robot similar to C-3PO, except with an insect face. At the far end of the hallway, a passing flash of Ben Kenobi appeared, disappearing down a small hallway. His appearance was so fleeting it’s difficult to tell if he’s real or just an illusion. No one in the hallway noticed him.
<>
Entering the Detention Security Area, the group step forward to exit the elevator, but the door slid open behind them. The giant Wookiee and his five guards enter the old grey security station. Guards and laser gates are everywhere.
“This is not going to work,” Han whispered to Luke, under his breath.
“Why didn’t you say so before?” Luke asked.
“I did say so before!”
“Just stay frosty…” Storm advised. “Be ready…”
The elevator doors open in the Detention area. A tall, grim looking officer approached the group.
“Where are you taking this… thing?”
Chewie growled a bit at the remark, but Han nudged him to shut up.
“Prisoner Transfer from Block one-one- three-eight,” Storm informed.
“I wasn’t notified,” The Officer replied. “I’ll have to clear it.”
The officer goes back to his console, to punch in the information. The disguised girls noted only three other troopers are in the area. Luke and Han survey the rest of the situation, checking all the alarms, laser gates, and camera eyes. Han unfastened one of Chewbacca’s electronic cuffs, and shrugged to the group, like a silent signal. Suddenly, Chewbacca threw his arms out knocking a trooper back and unleased one of his ear-piercing howls. He grabbed Han’s laser rifle.
“Look out!” Han shouted. “He’s loose!”
“He’s going to pull us all apart!” Luke shouted.
“GET HIM! GET HIM!!!” Rarity shrieked.
The startled guards are momentarily dumbfounded, as the five troopers pulled out their laser pistols and blasted away. Their barrage of laser-fire missed Chewbacca, but hits the camera eyes, laser gate controls, and the Imperial guards. The officer, last of the guards, fell under the laser fire just as he pushed the alarm system. Han rushed to the commlink system, which is screeching questions about what’s going on. He quickly checked the computer readout.
“We’ve got to find out which cell Sunset and the princess are in,” Twilight spoke. “Han, can you find anything?”
“Here it is…” Han pointed. “Cell twenty-one-eight-seven. You go get them; I’ll hold them here.”
“Hold on Sunset!” Rainbow called out. “We’re coming!”
Luke, Storm, and the girls raced down one of the cell corridors, while Han handled the buzzing commlink.
“Everything is under control,” Han informed, sounding official. “Situation normal.”
“What happened?” A voice over the intercom asked.
“Uh… had a slight weapons malfunction,” Han answered nervously. “But, uh, everything’s perfectly all right now. We’re fine. We’re all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?”
“We’re sending a squad up,” The intercom informed.
“Uh, uh, negative. We had a reactor leak here now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak… very dangerous.”
“Who is this? What’s your operating number?”
Han blasts the commlink, exploding it.
“Boring conversation anyway… Luke! Girls! We’re going to have company!”
<>
“Sunset!!!” Twilight called out, passing the cells. “Sunset it’s me, Twilight! Can you hear us?!”
Rainbow Dash zipped as fast as she could toward the cell Han Solo mentioned and skid to a stop before that very cell.
“It’s this one!!!” Rainbow shouted.
Luke approaches the front of the cell and blasted the door away with a laser pistol. When the smoke cleared, the group could see the dazzling young princess-senator. She had been asleep, and now looked at Luke with an uncomprehending look on her face. Luke, stunned by her incredible beauty, stood staring at her. If she could see beneath his helmet, his mouth hung open.
“Aren’t you short to be stormtroopers?” Leia asked, breaking the silence.
“What?” Luke spoke. “Oh… the uniform.”
Luke and the group proceed to remove their helmets, coming out of it.
“I’m Luke Skywalker,” Luke introduced himself. “I’m here to rescue you.”
“You’re who?” Leia asked.
“We’re here to rescue you,” Rainbow Dash corrected.
“We’ve got your R2 unit,” Rarity added.
“And we came here with Ben Kenobi,” Twilight concluded.
“Ben Kenobi is here?!” Leia gasped. “Where is he?”
“Just come with us and we’ll explain on the way,” Storm spoke.
Luke, Storm, and the girls lead Leia out of the detention block and back toward the direction to the hangar. As they ran, Twilight looked over toward Leia.
“Princess, I was wondering,” Twilight spoke. “Have you seen our friend Sunset Shimmer anywhere aboard this place?”
“Sunset Shimmer?” Leia asked back. “You know her?”
“Yes, we’re her best friends,” Twilight nodded.
“We came here looking for her,” Rainbow added. “We thought she’d be with you.”
“Do you by any chance know where she is darling?” Rarity asked.
“I haven’t seen her since we separated some time ago,” Leia answered. “My guess is she’s either somewhere still aboard or she’s been taken back to the Imperial City on Coruscant.”
“Then for our sakes, I hope we’re not too late,” Twilight hoped.
<>
Inside the conference room, Darth Vader paced around the room as Governor Tarkin sat at the far end of the conference table.
“He is here…” Vader confirmed.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi!” Tarkin guessed. “What makes you think so?”
“A tremor in the Force. The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master.”
“Surely he must be dead by now.”
“Don’t underestimate the power of the Force.”
“The Jedi are extinct; their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that’s left of their religion.”
A quiet buzz on the commlink disrupted their conversation.
“Yes,” Tarkin answered.
“Governor Tarkin, we have an emergency alert in detention block A A-twenty-three,” The intercom’s voice confirmed.
“The princess!” Tarkin realized. “Put all sections on alert!”
“Obi-Wan is here,” Vader confirmed. “The Force is with him… and he’s not the only one.”
“If you’re right, they must not be allowed to escape.”
“Escape is not his plan. I must face him… alone…”