“Are you sure about this, Chessk?” asked Lyra.
“Of course I am, little Jedi. The life debt that I owe you demands that I keep you safe,” Chessk replied boldly.
“But there are more than a handful of Jedi here who are capable of taking care of themselves and each other. And Master Kavar is with us too, remember?” Lyra argued. However, her words did little to convince her companion not to join her.
“No, little one. My duty is here, to the Jedi I swore a life debt with,” Chessk countered. “The Scorekeeper will never forgive me if I forsake the one who saved my life. Nor would I forgive myself for letting this opportunity to redeem myself slip by.”
Hider observed the duo’s conversation from a distance, along with T3-G4. A moment ago, he received direct orders from Jedi Master Kavar. Apparently, the Mandalorians have made landfall in another mountain range that was a distance away from Equestria. How fortunate it was for the ponies; however, this mountain range is home to one of the most dangerous animals on the planet. Bugbears, the Princess called them. Creatures that had the body of a full-grown bear but also had insectoid-like features like a stinger and a pair of wings.
The thought of such creatures existing sounded weird at first, but the galaxy had its fair share of odd-looking creatures. Creatures that Hider had seen a lot during his smuggling years. Still, the thought of a large animal having both bear and insectoid-like features sounded creepy.
“What next? Talking Kyrat Dragons?” Hider mumbled to himself.
Overhearing this, T3-G4 let out a confused whirring sound. “No, don’t worry about it, tin can. I was just talking to myself,” Hider assured. He leaned back onto the cool metal plating on his ship as he continued to observe Lyra and Chessk’s conversation. The former was still pleading with the latter not to accompany her.
“Chessk, please! You don’t need to worry about me so much. Hider’s the one that you will need to help out,” said Lyra.
“Forget about it, kid. If the big guy is dead set in helping you, then let him do it. Asking him to go away or help someone else will go against that life debt of his,” argued Hider. “It’s probably for the best anyway. As much as you Jedi might prefer fighting with your lightsabers, but it's good to have someone with a battle rifle watch your back.”
“But Hider, don’t you need someone to manage the Omega’s gun turrets? If I recall correctly, both turrets can be manually operated by two people.”
“The turrets can be operated by the navigation terminal in the cockpit. Though I admit, controlling the turrets from there won’t be as effective as a person operating it. But it ain’t a big deal. As long as those things work, I’ll be good to go.”
T3-G4 gave a snarky bleep in response. “No need to rub it in, tin can. We all know about your work in fixing the second turret. Uh… thank you for that by the way,” Hider said.
“I’m surprised, Louhun. To think you and the droid are capable of showing companionship,” Chessk replied with a smug grin. “Have you gotten soft on us or is it because you’re actually grateful for all the good work Geefour has done for you?”
Hider rolled his eyes. “I’m not mincing words, big guy. Droid or not, if someone is deserving of praise, I’ll complement the guy.” Reaching into his jacket, Hider pulled out a small brown pouch. “Thermal Detonators courtesy of the Republic Navy. Uncle Saul offered me some when I mentioned we had a demolition expert. Ya want ‘em, big guy?”
“It’ll be my pleasure,” said Chessk as Hider threw the pouch of explosives in the air. After snagging the bag, the hunter stuffed it into one of the many pockets on his utility belt. “My thanks, Louhun. May the Scorekeeper watch over you in the battle ahead.”
“I don’t need some divine being to watch over me. The only thing that’s going to get me through this day is pure skill. Nothing more, nothing less.” Hider smirked as he and Geefour went back to the Omega. Before he climbed on top the boarding ramp, he gave Lyra one last look. “Hey, kid. Promise me you’ll give those Mandalorians one heck of a fight, okay? This will be the biggest fight of your life, so do everyone here a favor. Don’t hold back. Give it your all.”
Lyra replied with a silent nod of her head.
“Good. And if you happen to run into that Khal guy from earlier, make sure you kick his ass this time. I know you Jedi aren’t particularly fond of revenge, but the guy nearly killed you. Best if you return the favor if you know what I’m saying.”
“Hider, we don’t even know if Khal is here. For all we know, he could possibly be participating in the battle out in space,” berated Lyra.
“Perhaps. But given the circumstances and all the crap we’ve experienced; I wouldn’t put it past the realm of possibility. And besides, you Jedi always say that the Force is always set in motion. So maybe, just maybe, the two of you meeting on the battlefield here is predestined.”
Lyra frowned. “Don’t lecture me on the Force, Hider. No offense, but a carefree person like you could never come to understand its power.”
“Is that so? Well, I’d make sure to keep your words in mind if the Force ever flows within me. Who knows, maybe having powers like yours will bring me good fortune.”
T3-G4 buzzed irritably in response. “I… guess you got a point there. If I had a shred of the kind of power the kid and her master had, I’d probably abuse the heck out of it,” Hider said as the Omega’s boarding ramp began to close. The droid buzzed again, causing the former criminal to gape at it with raised brow. “Wait, you think the Jedi actually hunt renegade Force users? That’s ridiculous! If there were Jedi Inquisitors in the Order, then we’d know… right?”
Hider blinked. If there were rogue Jedi or Force Sensitives in the galaxy, what would the Order do? Would they hunt them down till the ends of the galaxy, or is there a special unit in the order that deals with matters like that? It was a question that deserves an answer. One that Hider would most certainly want to know due to his journalistic nature.
But the beeping of an irritated T3-G4 snapped him out of his thoughts. “Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about a couple of things, that’s all,” Hider replied. The droid wasn’t buying his excuse, however, as it continued to berate the man. “Settle down, will you? I’ll get the ship moving already, just hold on.”
Heeding the droid’s words, Hider immediately bolted for the ship’s cockpit. Following the Sun Princess took a decent amount of time. He hadn’t heard from his uncle for a while now, and that concerned him if he had to be honest. Granted, there is a possibility that he might be overthinking things. This is his uncle after all. A Fleet Admiral in the Republic Navy no less.
Still, it’d be wrong for him to not expect the worst-case scenario. Especially after what he had heard from the Navy a while ago. With a Mandalorian flagship destroyed, and a crazy thousand-year-old magical equine taking part of the fight above, who knows what kind of dogfight he’d get into.
One thing’s for sure, it’d definitely be worth writing an article about the fight in the future. The amount of credits he’d make over desperate readers would be tenfold. He just had to make sure he’ll survive long enough for the Republic to win.
“Here’s to hoping,” Hider muttered.
Upon reaching the cockpit, the former smuggler dove straight for the captain’s chair. Now seated, he immediately pressed two buttons on the navigation computer, causing the ship’s engines to roar with life. With the Omega ready for takeoff, Hider took the steering wheel and tilted it backward, allowing the ship to slowly float in midair. And with one final push of a button, the ship soared into the air.
As he flew closer to the planet’s empty black skies, Hider could see the explosions going off. The colors of red and orange lit the night sky like a firework display on Coruscant. Seeing this spectacle made him wonder if the ponies living here can actually see what’s happening. It may have been nighttime, but the skies were completely clear.
“Princess Sunny is going to have a field day with this cover up,” Hider said to himself just as his ship flew directly into the planet’s atmosphere.
The initial acceleration was slow at first; however, Hider could feel the speed of the Omega intensify as his body began to pull back into the leather seating. As this happened, he felt the heat of the planet’s atmosphere pierce tears through his skin. Normally, flying through an atmosphere was harmless; but given the ship’s current rate of speed, there was an increase of temperature. For the most part, it only affects the ship’s cockpit. However, the Omega had a built-in cooling system that prevented the worst from happening.
As the atmospheric pressure settled, Hider once again found himself in orbit. But he wasn’t alone. The booming sounds of laser cannons and the violet streaks of red and orange signaled that he was in a warzone.
Despite the danger he was in, Hider took his time to observe his surroundings. It was a bit risky leaving his ship out in the open like this; however, he wanted to get a glimpse of the situation. And since he’s nowhere near the fighting, now would be a good time to observe his surroundings.
From a distance, he could see the once menacing Mandalorian flagship burning and alone. Explosions were going off one after the other, tearing the mighty ship apart. At this rate, it looks like nobody will be able to salvage that ship for scraps regardless of who wins this fight.
But that wasn’t the only flagship the Mandalorians possessed. From a distance, Hider could see two more behemoth sized starships that matched the one that was destroyed moments ago. They were still putting up a fight, and in terms of numbers, the Mandalorians had dozens of more starships than the Republic Navy.
However, the opposing fleet appeared to be somewhat disorganized. A common naval tactic is to group starfighters into squadrons and work together as a team. But the Mandalorian fleet barely held itself together. To Hider’s shock, he could see enemy starships fly away from their squadrons, allowing a few easy picks for the Republic Navy.
Separating yourself from your naval squadron was a horrible mistake. A mistake that could get you berated or even kicked out of the navy. By not working together as a team, a pilot can run the risk of getting themselves killed along with their entire team. And to see this much disorganization from the Mandalorian Navy was surprising to say the least.
Can the loss of a single flagship drain the morale of an entire naval force so quickly? Hider pondered on that question, but quickly snapped back to reality as he saw a large blue beam that came straight from the moon itself, destroying a few starfighters on both sides.
Oh yeah, he forgot about her.
Hider took a glimpse at the planet’s only moon. Although its size wasn’t anything noteworthy, the image of a unicorn equine implanted on the moon’s surface surprised the pilot. If anything, that image had all but confirmed that the Mare on the Moon fairy tale existed.
“Give credit where credit is due, I guess. Looks like the ponies were right on this one. I just hope Princess Moony over there hasn’t done too much damage to the Republic Navy yet,” Hider said to himself as he picked up a headset on top of the navigation computer. “Better call uncle and ask how the fleet is doing.”
Just when he put the headset on, however, Hider spotted something in the distance. Squinting, he saw a starfighter flying about on its own, with three more fighters on its tail. The latter were firing upon the helpless starship as its pilot flew for his very life. But who was the aggressor: the Republic or the Mandalorians? It was something that Hider needed to find out as he pressed his foot on the gas pedal.
When he eventually got closer to the action, the color of the flailing starship’s metal plating gave off who was being attacked. A Republic starfighter, one that had survived the blast from Princess Moony earlier, attempted to retreat. However, he was quickly chased down by three Mandalorian ships who had also survived the blast.
Acting quickly, Hider jerked his ship’s steering wheel up, meeting the aggressors head on. With a click of a button, he fired the Omega’s dual turbo lasers directly at the three starships. One fled after the laser grazed his ship. The other two were immediately destroyed.
Welp, that’s one good deed done for the day. Hopefully, that pilot will be okay. “If I ever get the name of that guy, he’s going to owe me a drink,” Hider said just as his comm-link established a connection with the Praetorian-Class frigate his uncle was on. Before he could say anything on his headset, a gruff, militaristic voice could be heard on the other line.
“This is the Republic Navy Praetorian class frigate, the Sunrider. Identify yourself this instant, over!” commanded the voice on the other line.
Hider rolled his eyes. It wasn’t surprising that his uncle would act so professional, but did he really not recognize the Omega’s comm signature? They literally had a conversation a while ago. Oh well. Might as well play the part.
“This is Captain Hider Louhun of the ship, Omega. Permission to speak to Fleet Admiral Saul Karath,” Hider replied in his comm-link.
Almost immediately, his uncle replied back. “Ah, Hider. Good to see you’re finally joining us. I take it that the escort mission was a success?” Saul asked.
“Yes, uncle. The ponies are all safe.”
“And the enemy escape pods? What became of them?”
“We managed to locate them. Apparently, they fell in some sort of mountain range that is northeast of the pony nation.”
“Are the citizens in danger of any attack from the enemy?”
“No, not yet. According to the Sun Princess, the mountain range is home to one of the most dangerous beasts on the planet. Bugbears she calls them. They apparently have the physicality of both a bear and an insect.”
There was a moment's pause on the other line before Uncle Saul finally said his piece. “An animal with the physicality of both a bear and an insect?” the Admiral asked. The stuttering in his words made it seem as if he didn’t believe Hider’s words. “First we hear about this Nightmare Moon and now this? I swear, this planet is getting weirder and weirder.”
“Oh, come on, uncle. There are other planets in the galaxy that have creatures weirder than this one. Remember Felucia? Now that is one messed up planet!”
“Focus, Hider. We’re in the middle of a galactic war here.”
“Hey, don’t lecture me! You’re the one who brought up how this planet is weird,” Hider replied as a smug-like smile grew on his face. “Anyways, what’s the current situation? Last I heard, Princess Moony over there was busy blowing up Mandalorians.”
“Technically, you’re right. But that’s only half the story, Hider. While it is true that our little moon princess has scattered the Mandalorian fleet, she has fired back on our ships too. Including this frigate.”
“Wait, seriously? I saw her destroy some of our starfighters, but I didn’t know she fired at your ship. Was anyone hurt?”
“Relax, Hider. Her beams only grazed our shields. From what our engineers can guess, the beam slowly loses power the farther it travels. With that knowledge, we determined that the best course of action is to pull our fleet away from the moon and allow the moon princess to do her thing. Our starships will clean up on whatever is left of our enemies after.”
“No offense, but you guys aren’t doing that good of a job. The fleet allowed a few escape pods to land onto the planet.”
“I’m aware of that failure, yes. The moment we sent out a few starfighters to intercept, our little moon princess got in the way. We lost Yellow squad because of her. That pilot you saved earlier is the only one who survived.”
“Damn it. So what do we do?”
“Now that our forces have been stabilized, we are in position to attack. Hider, I want you to group up with Red Squadron. Assist them in any way you can in destroying the two remaining Mandalorian flagships.”
Hider grinned mischievously. “Oh, I get to destroy a flagship, huh? Well you can count me in, old timer. So, where is Red Squadron anyway?”
“They are flying in front of my frigate. Hold on, Hider. We will link you up with their comm-link shortly,” replied Admiral Karath. But as Hider waited on his uncle, he heard a slight ping sound on his comm-link. Usually, that sound means that someone is trying to contact him. Nothing too strange, but who on earth would do such a thing in the middle of a warzone?
Needing answers, he pressed a button on the ship’s navigation computer to answer the call. “This is Captain Louhun of the Omega speaking. Who is this?” Hider demanded. To his surprise, however, he was greeted by the sound of beeping noises. From what he could hear, the beeping was droid binary.
Immediately, he recognized the caller. “Unless it’s some emergency of some sort, now really isn’t a good time to be contacting me, tin can. Spit it. What’re you calling me for?”
Shockingly, T3-G4 began to spaz out several bleeps and whirls that made it difficult for the former smuggler to understand. This only annoyed Hider, however, as Geefour’s continuous beeping made him believe that the droid was wasting his time. So rather than start a pointless with the tin can, he decided that it'd be better that he’d just hang up on the thing and let it be.
Before he could do that though, one final beep from Geefour made Hider stop in his place. He blinked. “I’m sorry, could you repeat what you just said again, tin can? Your stupid rambling from earlier made me hang up on you, so I wasn’t paying attention.”
Hider heard Geefour beep angrily at him from the other line but paid no attention to it. If the droid wanted to tell him something important, then it should’ve gone straight to the point instead of flooding his comm-link with pointless chatter. As the droid slowly settled down, it began to explain the situation it found itself in. When it finished speaking, Hider’s jaw slacked.
“What the kriff? Why would she… how did she… why that stupid little pony!” Hider shouted in anger as he slammed his right hand onto the navigation computer. He would come to regret his decision though as he immediately recoiled as soon as his hand made impact on the computer’s metal surface. Kriff, his hand is going to be sore after all this.
Just as he blew on his right hand, his comm-link began to beep once again. Another call was coming in; however, Hider knew for certain that it was his uncle, so he immediately picked up the call.
“Hider, what’s wrong?” his uncle shouted on the other line. “We lost connection with you for a second there. You mind telling me what happened?”
“Sorry, uncle. I had to disconnect because my droid contacted me. Said it was an emergency,” Hider replied with a sour taste in his mouth. “I’ll get straight to the point, uncle. I got a straggler aboard my ship. I’m not sure how she did it or how she went unnoticed, but one of the ponies that was part of Captain Impact’s crew is on my ship at this very moment.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“Believe me, uncle. I’d like to know myself,” Hider said as his lips curled into a frown. With his extra passenger onboard, what exactly is he going to do? The most logical choice would be to board his uncle’s frigate and boot that pony off the ship. At least she can be safe there and wait out until the Republic wins.
“While I understand your frustration, Hider, I must also inform you on some intel I had just received,” continued Uncle Saul on the other line. “Apparently, our hypercomms have detected some ripples in hyperspace. I’d assume that our reinforcements are on the way. However, Republic ships aren’t the only ones that we managed to detect. Hypercomms caught a handful of ships coming from the direction where our enemies appeared.”
“Oh, great. So, enemy reinforcements are coming too, huh?” Hider replied with a groan. “Looks like I have no choice. Uncle. Link me up with Red Squadron now.”
“What about your straggler? Is it wise to keep her on board?”
“I was planning on docking inside your frigate so I can kick her out, but there’s been a change of plans. If Mandalorian reinforcements are coming, then we don’t have much time. Better for me to link up with Red Squadron now and take out the remaining flagships before more trouble arrives.”
“That would mean the pony is under your protection, nephew. If you are to perish, she would as well.”
“Aw, I’m hurt, uncle. Out of everyone in our family, you alone should know that I’m not some random shmuck of a pilot,” said Hider as his lips curled into a while smile. “I assure you, Uncle Saul. I’m getting out of this battle alive. And I will keep that pony safe.”
There was a brief pause on the other line before Admiral Karath spoke up again. “Very well, my nephew. My crew will link you up with Red Squadron as fast as they can,” said the Admiral. “Go and bring glory to the Republic.”
“Will do, Uncle Saul. May the Force be with you.”
Hider smirked. I always wanted to say that out loud. Guess I gotta thank the kid for her little preaching about the Force.
As the former smuggler pressed his foot onto the gas pedal, the cockpit door behind him suddenly popped open. Looking back, he saw T3-G4 standing alongside the pony straggler. How this mare came on board, he did not know. Heck, he didn’t even bother to even look at her. At the very least, she now has front row seats to the greatest show she’s ever going to experience.
As the mare stepped forward, Hider’s mischievous grin grew ever so wider. “Hey there, Private Candy. You mind explaining what you’re doing on my ship?”