//------------------------------// // Waiting for the drop // Story: Of War and Friendship // by DocDelray //------------------------------// Lieutenant Feltan narrowed his eyes on the panicked members of his bridge crew. While others scrambled back and forth, he remained resolute and calm, focused singly on the one emotion he felt at this moment: rage. What else could be expected? The incompetence of one man had opened the door to their enemy. When this whole debacle was over, he was going to execute him personally. The only silver lining he could see to this whole mess was after they had overwhelmed the fools in their hangar bay they could recall their troops and start rolling this pathetic orb with blaster fire, “I want a status report Ensign, and what is taking my line to Commander Teth so long!?” “Sir, security forces have reached the hangar doors, it seems they have been sealed from the other side, torches are being deployed to pry them open!” One young member of the bridge crew frantically replied. “Communications are down, sir; someone has managed to slice into our systems!” Came another frightened voice. “Then vent the damn hangar; space them!” Feltan snarled back. “It’s no good; they have full control of systems there!” “Damnit, deploy counter slice measures!” Feltan was starting to lose his patients. “We’re trying sir; they’ve dug themselves in too deeply.” “Tell the security teams to forget the torches, they’ll take too long,” He was done playing games with these intruders, “Just blast the doors open!” Bay two had quickly been turned into a defensible position in the short span of time. The help of both Luna and Twilight’s combined telekinetic abilities, as well as Traycn’s raw strength made the task go by quickly enough to keep Torb in a pleasant mood. His mechanical eye allowed him the luxury of keeping tabs on the enemy beyond the sealed doors, “They’ve given up on trying to cut through… That probably means…” His flesh and blood eye went wide in fear as it dawned on him, “Take cover now!” Several of the powered doors that connected the hangar to the rest of the ship exploded outward in a hail of sparks and heated metal. Behind the calamity a hail of blaster bolts cut burning paths through the smoke and debris. Within seconds the scent of ozone hung heavily in the air as bolts of energy cut back and forth across the wide open expanse. Epsilon had managed to entrench themselves well before the doors exploded outwards onto them. Overturned crates and supply caches made for excellent make shift barricades against the hail of blaster fire. The doors made a perfect funnel as well, limiting their enemy to only entering a few men abreast at a time from three locations. Torb watched this all play out with a bemused grin across his face, tactics would always win out over brute force and sheer numbers. Several bolts from above grabbed his attention, dragging it to a catwalk system hanging over the bay. A contingent of troopers had managed to take this high ground; if they were allowed to keep this advantage, the team would be routed with ease, “Traycn, Sparkle, bring down that catwalk, now!” The Lieutenant’s voice rang out clear and commanding over the firestorm that ragged around them and took a clear effect on the pair. A bright aura sparked to life around Twilight’s horn as she scrunched her eyes shut in concentration, in seconds the same aura encased a portion of the walkway. To similar effect a concealing compartment on Traycn’s arm snapped back to allow a wrist mounted rocket to slide into place. Taking careful aim the explosive snaked through the air, striking and tearing apart a vital support for the catwalk as the aura-wrapped area tore itself away from the supports. In a panic the Troopers above them scrambled for cover and at the very least a steady place to stand. Twilight watched in surprise as the metal wires were snapped and torn asunder under a relatively light application of her power. She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as several of the troopers were merely incapacitated. The prospect of ending another being’s life clawed at her mind as she focused her magic to further wrest the last of the catwalk from its hold and smashing it into the far side of the bay. To Twilight’s shock, Luna seemed less appalled by the idea as the translucent spell blade carved with ease through an unlucky attacker who managed to close the gap. The battlefield, weapons and even opponents she faced now were far different than those she faced thousands of years ago but the thrill seeping into her bones was the same. In truth, she welcomed the challenge the weapons of these aliens brought to the table. The luminescent crescent that hovered beside her deftly followed her mental commands, soaking up blaster fire before carving a swath through the air to slice into her chosen target. Traycn loved this chaos. The smell of ozone scorching his nostrils, the defining roar of blaster fire and the sounds of energy bolts breaking against armor plates, all of this served to satisfy the bloodthirsty monster he embraced. His heavy rotary blaster sang its song of anger bolt after bolt, a rage-filled scream that sounded like a symphony to the Taung. He found himself standing back to flank with the Princess of the Night as the battle pressed on. The pair regarded one another with a brief glance of approval before returning to the blood lust before them. He cursed himself for starting to find a reason to like this monarch. From behind the barricade Zex and Arkanna found themselves in the all-too-familiar situation of returning fire to a growing number of enemies. Behind one of the crates curled in a ball, Fluttershy buried her head under her forelimbs, trying desperately not to scream in terror. Zex shot the cowering Pegasus a dirty look from behind his visor, “I told you she wasn’t ready for the field.” He growled into his com. “Would you just focus on the hundreds of guys trying to shoot their way in here,” Arkanna snarled back, “I’d kinda like to say I survived my first truly FUBAR mission!” “She doesn’t have the temperament for th-“ Zex’s words fell short as several blaster bolts scored direct hits against his chest and shoulder armor. Falling backwards onto the ground he could feel the searing heat through his body sleeve as the pain from the blow ran through his spine, a few curses managed to escape past the pain. A pink and yellow blur suddenly filled his vision as he felt himself being dragged further behind the barricade. The Corporal found himself being propped up against a heavy crate as the near hyperventilating Pony savior muttered the steps he’d spent the afternoon beating into her over and over again, “I can do this, I can do this,” She continued to repeat to herself as she tried to pull his helmet off. “Fluttershy, I’m fine,” Zex managed to cough out, “Their blasters aren’t going to penetrate my beskar’gam.” Beneath his visor he couldn’t help but smile softly at the look of relief on her face, “You pulled me out of the fray to catch my second wind though; very good, Cadet.” Arkanna glanced back at them with a smirk before letting lose another volley, “Hope the Captain is having an easier time than us.” To the rear of the ship, the hallway connecting the hangar bay with the engine room was not a long trek by any stretch of the imagination. The small number of security forces hunkered down within the hall however made things move less than quickly. As Kad and Kell entered the hall they took notice of the six troopers holding the room. The pair gave each other a look from behind their visors and new exactly what was on the other’s mind. With an excited grin, Kad ignited his saber and immediately went on the defensive, blocking and deflecting bolt after bolt of energy. His marksman brother kept close behind him using the energy blade’s defensive wall to his advantage as a moving cover. Between the blocks he brought his rifle up around Kad’s shoulder and let fly a precise shot that scored deep into his target’s chest. The armor penetrating bolt tore open the body armor with ease. Between a few more blocks he took a knee and let off another shot that flew true into the visor of another enemy. Behind them Rainbow Dash watched this frightening display, her jaw on the floor. She kept herself close to the wall and as out of sight as possible. The armored Pegasus hugged a support beam that ran along the wall, biting her lip as she searched her mind for some way she could help her new allies. Under her breath, she cursed her hooves and lack of magic; how was she supposed to help them if she couldn’t even use a blaster? This expertly-trained tag team maneuver had taken the due years and countless battles in similar settings to perfect. The hard work showed as they whittled their enemies to the final pair, who clearly were tired of wasting their ammo as the both simply dropped their weapons and deployed gauntlet mounted blades. With a quick motion, the charging pair was sent sprawling violently into the locked blast doors at the end of the hall. The unrelenting Force energy behind the assault shattered their spines on contact with the three-inch-thick durasteel door, leaving man-sized dents in it. The three of them regrouped at the halfway point as suddenly a door beside them slid open. On the other side, a man clad in standard Deathwatch fatigues was on his way out of the room, whistling to himself and carrying a datapad under his arm. Upon seeing the armored and armed assailents he froze in his tracks and looked the three of them over. Without a word, he simply took a step back into the bathroom behind him and let the door shut. Once more or less safe, he proceeded to press the lock button and return to sitting on the toilet, reading his datapad once more. All three shared a confused look before shrugging it off and heading for the blast door. In no mood to waste time, Kad began plunging his saber into the major support sections of the thick metal blast doors. Behind him, Kell kept a close watch on their rear from behind his scope, taking a few pot shots into the main fray. Neither took much notice of their Pony charge who gave the dead troopers around them an uneasy stare. She could feel her lungs begin to deflate rapidly as she looked over the crumpled figures around them. Silently, Rainbow gave thanks to Celestia that they were all wearing full body armor, making the sight of their corpses less “personal”. The groan and whine of weakening metal filled the air as Kad worked his saber blindly through the machinery. With a loud screech the door began to slump, and with a satisfied smirk he summoned up another onslaught of Force energy to slam into the broken blast doors. The massive metal slabs exploded outwards into the engineering bay, taking what few security forces they had with them. The few surviving stragglers were easily picked off with blaster fire as the three of them stormed the engine room. Rainbow was in awe at the massive amounts of machinery that filled this room. What looked like miles of tubes bristled with energy as they snaked their way out into the rest of the ship. At the far end, casting an eerie blue glow upon the rest of the room was the heart of the entire mechanism, spinning turbines and humming with power as it supplied life to every corner of the ship. Kad motioned to his brother, “Vod, hit the main terminal an’ start muckin’ things up. Rainbow I want yo-“ A large, clawed hand grasped Kad by the back of his armor and proceeded to lift him into the air and chuck him into Kell. Pulling themselves upright, they beheld the imposing sight of a rather large Trandoshan: Standing at least seven feet in height, its body beneath the darkly patterned scales was one of thick, solid muscle. He let out a low hiss as his sharp, red eyes narrowed on the pair, “Sssso, you think you can come into MY engine room and kill MY men do you?” Reaching behind his back he proceeded to produce a pair of sharply curved vibro-knives. Licking his chops in hunger, he flicked the safeties off and let the blades hum to life, “We’ll jusst sssee about that.” A blue blur slammed into the large creature, sending it into a maze of conduits, “I’ll keep him distracted; you guys hurry up with the plan!” Rainbow called out to them, hoping the fear she felt deep down wasn’t cracking into her voice. Taking a deep breath, the Pegasus took off like a shot to engage the enemy three times her size. Kell brought his rifle up to his shoulder, ready to let lose a torrent of blaster fire until his brother’s hand rested on the barrel, “Vod?” “We gotta use the time she’s buyin’ us.” Kad lamented despite the bad taste it left in his mouth, “How long ya think the others can hold the hangar!?” With an annoyed growl, Kell relented and shoved his travel pack into his brother’s arms, “You set the bombs, I’ll take care of the terminal.” On all four hooves, Rainbow came to around halfway up the midsection of an average human; compared to the Trandoshan she barely came up to his waist. He gave the small Pegasus an enraged glare, “Ssso you’re one of the quadrupedss.” “And you must be a Diamond Dog’s rear end.” She said with a smirk, summoning up some much-needed boldness. “Little creature, I am going to kill you, ssskin you, eat your meat and then offer your bonesss to the Ssscore Keeper.” He said, licking his fangs in anticipation as he twirled the blades in his claws. That admittedly shook Rainbow slightly; no one had gone to those exact lengths to threaten her, “Yeah, well you’ve gotta catch me first, ya buck ugly!” Feltan had let this abuse go on long enough. He needed this situation brought under control and he wanted it done right now. Leaving the relative safety of the bridge, he intended to bring an end to the chaos personally. His full armor donned, he gave his gauntlets a quick test flex before the lift opened up to the crowded hall of troopers. Upon seeing him, his men quickly made a path for the Lieutenant. Unphased, he strode out into the chaos, giving the battlefield a quick survey. Immediately his gaze zeroed in on the Equestrian fighting by way of luminescent blade that hovered protectively around her. A sneer etched across his features beneath his visor as reinforcing plates and thick supplemental armor dropped from his gauntlet to encase his fists. A satisfying roar of sparking energy leapt about his hands, and with a burst of his jetpack, Feltan was sent airborne over the hangar bay. A roaring over the sounds of blaster fire drew Luna’s attention to the ceiling, just in time to see Feltan’s assault. Her crescent blade of magical energy just barely managed to stop the attack, but sent the Princess back several steps as she regained her composure. This human now had her full attention as the blaster fire around them suddenly faded into the background. Pressing in deeper, Feltan’s shock gloves managed to let loose a burst of energy that knocked the crescent away. Taking a step back as well, he brought his arms up as he dashed forward to let loose a quick volley of blows, electricity sparking from the metal plates over his knuckles. To his surprise, the quadruped was able to hold her own as far as avoiding his blows and stopping them short of their target with the aid of her levitating weapon. One satisfying blow landed hard against the side of her face, letting loose a burst of energy into her. After the blow connected, the Alicorn Princess merely gave a chuckle as a small trickle of blood escaped the side of her mouth, “Thou may be worthy of my time human.” Feltan’s eyes went wide as the glow around her horn became more intense and a second blade appeared from thin air. Leaping back with surprising speed, the brawler created a much needed distance with his opponent, “Well now, this is getting interesting.” Rainbow was starting to really hate this close-quarters stuff. The tight spaces of the conduits and support structures around her felt like the walls were pressing in on her every second that went by. Things were made all the worse by the angered lizard with a pair of knives that cut through everything they touched like it was made of thin fabric. Her opponent had overwhelming strength and weaponry on his side, but Dash knew she had him beat in terms of speed and maneuverability. She played back the Captain’s fight in the swamp against Traycn; the comparison of the two filled the mare with a sense of pride in her skills. Ducking and weaving about the room, she managed to keep the raging reptile on a leash as she laughed a few taunts at him, “Come on, you’re so slow! Guess you Deathwatch losers aren’t much against Ponies who fight back, are ya!” It had the desired effect as his arm swung in a wide arch, leaving him completely exposed to the Pegasus. Finally going on the offensive, Rainbow let loose a buck with all her might into his knee. A shrill roar of pain and the satisfying snap of bone filled the mare’s ears as she watched him fall to one knee, unable to stand any longer. Letting out an enraged hiss the Trandoshin flung both of his blades at the speedy Pegasus. The curved blades flew through the air just as Rainbow was charging in for another assault. Spotting them in time, she used her inertia to direct her hooves to the wall, running along the bulkhead’s surface. Leaning at a sharp angel in hopes of avoiding the weapons, she held her breath as they flew past her, one blade just barely scraping along her shoulder armor, leaving a shallow gash and taking a small bit of mane with it before both buried into the support beam behind her. Adrenalin surged through Rainbow Dash as the fight looked to be completely in her favor now. Riding the high she ducked in past an angry swipe of his claws and delivered another hard blow from her hooves to his gut. With a flap of her wings she shot up past him with a kiss good bye from her forelimbs. Using the ceiling for leverage, Dash kicked off with all her might and speed, rocketing a blow across the Trandoshin’s face. Her celebration was cut short however, as a claw grabbed her hind leg tightly in a vice-like grip. Before she could yell out in protest, another grabbed her harshly by the tail and swung her hard into a wall. The blow knocked the wind out of her as she coughed to refill her lungs with precious air, when she felt something grab her by the back of her armor and yank her violently upwards. The Trandoshan snarled with pleasure as he began to unleash a number of hateful blows into the Pegasus’ face, sides, stomach and chest. Rainbow could feel the heavy blows even through her armor. Her limbs flailed about as she did her best to protect herself from the blows that rained onto her, but she could feel her strength starting to fade along with her confidence, “Ah, I mussstn’t damage your hide too badly; the Sssscore Keeper would look poorly on sssuch a thing.” With a chuckle, he threw the limp Pegasus across the room, “I’m betting they brought a few more of you with them didn’t they?” He taunted her as he rose to his feet, “Maybe I can get away with having sssome fun with you before I let you die,” With a painful roar he forced his knee back into place with a loud pop, “Then I’ll collect your friend’sss hidesss asss well.” A hungry sneer etched across his features as he stalked towards the Equestrian, “Jussst imagine the feassst I can create from all of you,” He took great pleasure watching her painstakingly crawl away from him, “Yesss, that isss it prey, ssscurry away from me, let the fear marinate your very sssoul before you die.” Reaching out he took Rainbow Dash harshly by her mane and pulled her back hard. She let out pained grunt as he yanked her backwards like a school yard bully tormenting somepony for small differences. Rainbow hated bullies. As he yanked her backwards towards him, she spun around to face the Trandoshan whose eyes went wide with shock as a cold feeling entered his chest. Looking down in shock he saw the source of his pain was one of his discarded knives gripped tightly in the mouth of the Pegasus. Rainbow glared up into the look of disbelief in her tormentor’s eyes. Disbelief quickly replaced itself with a look of rage and hate as he raised his arms to deliver a deadly blow. Biting down harder Rainbow managed to hit the safety on the knife causing it to hum to life. The look of shock returned to her enemy’s features as she gave a quick upwards burst of speed from her wings. The vibro-weapon carved through flesh, bone, muscle and scale like they were nothing, splitting the Trandoshan at an angle from the middle of his midsection up through his right shoulder. Dash shut her eyes tightly as she felt the warm spray of blood splatter across her face. The metallic scent clawed at her nostrils as the taste trickled through between her bared teeth begging her to gag on reflex. Landing overtop of her dead opponent, she watched the now glassy eyes as they stared at her, lifeless. She bit down harder on the hilt of the weapon as she breathed heavily between her teeth and nostrils, fighting to keep her stomach under control. The firefight in the hangar bay continued to rage on as the rest of Epsilon fought to keep control of the area; too many of Deathwatch’s numbers were pouring in now, and starting to take up more advantageous positions of fire on them. Twilight hugged the back of a crate as she felt the blaster bolts impact one after another into it. She could feel her fur standing on end as the energy began to charge the air around her. She watched as her new friends fought tooth and nail to hold their ground against the ever-growing odds. Her gaze settled on the Princess as she engaged one of the enemy in single combat, a dance of death that forced her to remind herself that Equestria’s borders weren’t made with kind words. Biting her lip, she ventured a glance around her hiding spot and was greeted with a sight that sent chills down her spine. An enemy soldier was deploying a rather large tube-like weapon. Twilight ventured a guess that this was no blaster as he steadied himself and took aim at the ship. “No…” She breathed out as a wall of smoke escaped the tube at both ends and a smaller metal tube riding a jet of flame burst out. Twilight immediately remembered the weapon Traycn had used on the catwalk and a cold pit formed in her gut. Swallowing hard, the Unicorn shut her eyes tightly as she took off at a gallop towards the ship. “Twilight, stay in cover blast it!” Torb screamed at her over the comlink. A soft purple light encased her horn as she ran through the hail of fire. In a bright white flash the young mare vanished and reappeared atop the shuttle. Focusing all of her energy into her horn, Twilight created a wall of energy around the craft as she held her breath, bracing for impact. The missile exploded against the side of her shield, sending a shockwave of pain through the Unicorn’s body. Twilight let out a scream of pain as the shield shattered from the massive hit. Breathing heavily, her eyes began to blur, watching helplessly as the trooper fired off another round, this one aimed right for her. She shut her eyes tightly and braced for another impact, holding her breath as she expected the fiery end. A loud clang in front of her drew her attention to the mass of red blaster-scarred armor that placed itself between her and certain death. Several armor plates on his left arm began to shift and rearrange till a strange new device was brought in place from its hiding place beneath the armor. With a flash, a wall of energy formed in front of the arm, creating a shield. Taking a knee, Tryacn brought the shield around between them and the incoming missile. The explosive shell hit flat against the energy shield, engulfing the roof of the shuttle in a ball of fire and smoke. The trooper looked on, pleased with himself as his comrades patted his shoulders and helmet in congratulations. From the smoke a whistling noise rang out as a massive axe cut a path through the air landing square in the offender’s chest. The force of the blow sent him hard against the wall behind him, pinning him into it. Tied to the handle, a pair of small round devices that beeped in anger and filled the other troopers with despair, “Thermal detonators, hit the de-!” Was all that escaped their lips before the area became a ball of fire. Twilight strained her eyes against the smoke and heat to see the red and charred black figure standing over her. Traycn’s left arm had been all but destroyed, its remnants hung from the socket as chunks of metal clinging to cybernetic muscles and wires that fed into the jagged hole below his shoulder. Parts of his armor had been scorched black from the explosion, as well as half of his helmet had been all but torn asunder, tearing deeply into the side of his face. She was speechless as he regarded her with a sidelong glance before hoisting his heavy weapon with his remaining arm and returning to the fight. Kad placed the last charge on the side of the complex machinery that made up the frigate’s engine, “Vod, all done here!” Kell’s focus was fully engrossed with the main engine’s systems, “Just about got it, I need someplace to send this crashing down.” Kad looked over to the nearly hyperventilating Rainbow Dash, “Dash, we need a location to drop this bird.” There was no answer as she stared at the dead body before her. In her mind there was no sound, not even her own pounding heartbeat, let alone the nearly defining roar of the engines. She could barely make out someone calling her name through the filtering shock when a hand took her by the collar of her armor and pulled her away. Face to face with the Captain she finally came back to reality, “We need a place to drop this thing Dash, snap out’a it!” Letting out a steadying sigh she clipped the knife to the belt around her mid section, “Y-yes sir, I’m on it sir.” Her voice shook with every word. “Rainbow, how many settlements are in these badlands here?” Kell questioned as he tapped the screen. “Only a hooffull, and even then they’re few and far between.” She answered back as she tried to wipe some of the blood from her face. The marksmen looked from the bloodied Pegasus to the split corpse behind her and let out a whistle, “Nice kill babe; might make a Mandalorian out’a you yet.” Kell remarked as he started punching in commands and then sliding Torb’s “gift” into the open port. The engines behind them started to roar and groan loudly as their energy reverberated off the walls around them, “That should do it.” Kad tapped a button on his wrist, causing the charges’ indicators to shimmer, dotting the room with red lights. Turning to leave, Kad sent out a message over the comlink, “Torb, charges are set and the ship is on its way down, we’re pulling back to you!” Feltan had been a champion shock boxer since he was a juvenile, over the years he had kept up his skill becoming faster and stronger for it. With the expert timing that came from years of training, he ducked and weaved his way through the slicing blades. Several managed to scrap shallow cuts into his armor, even scoring gashes in the gaps between the protective plates. The Princess was clearly no stranger to the art of combat either. Her own form was dotted with tell tale signs of scored blows against her armor. Having spent a thousand years in exile, she had played a pivotal role in the forming of her nation. Never having been one to lead her forces from the safety of the general’s tent far from the true battle, she had always found her home at the very front of the conflict. It was here that her battle hardened magic was put through its paces. Blade met knuckle as the pair continued to square off. Luna could barely hold back a smirk as the thrill of battle seeped through her bones; behind his visor, Feltan shared the same look. Neither one had felt pushed like this in ages, in Luna’s case, centuries. A panicked voice over his comlink tore at Feltan’s attention to the fight, “Sir, the ship!” Gritting his teeth, Feltan forced the Alicorn back several paces as he took a defensive stance, “Damnit boy, do I need to hold your hand!?” “Sir, no, you don’t understand!” The fighting all around them was brought to a sudden halt as the ship began to shudder, “We’ve lost control of the engines, we’re on a direct course with the planet! All attempts to regain control have failed; we’re going to crash!” A cold realization fell over Feltan as he watched the knowing grin on Luna’s face grow. They played him; SHE played him. Kept him distracted and locked in the hangar bay while they set the ship’s own engines on a collision course with the planet. Snarling out several curses in alien dialects the Lieutenant retreated from the fight with a burst from his jet pack, “Give the order to abandon ship, regroup with Teth at the capital city!” Kad and his team returned to the hangar in time to catch the last leg of the firefight as they rejoined the rest of the team. Twilight and Fluttershy both were more than relieved to see their friend return safely but were taken aback by the crimson smeared across her and the distant look in her eye. “No reunion speeches? Good,” Kad blurted out as he made a beeline for the shuttle, “If you all’d kindly step aboard I’d rather not be here when the bombs go off!” Feltan made his way to the bridge of the ship through the panic-stricken crew that fought against the rapidly changing gravity to get to an escape pod. He wasn’t surprised to see the bridge empty as he fought against the growing tremors to reach the fire control station. Punching in his authorization he brought the ship’s auto cannons under his direct control, “You will not bring this ship down so easily.” Kad and Kell both took the controls for the shuttle craft as they punched in their commands as quickly as they could. The space beyond the atmospheric shielding was a wall of fire as the ship began entering the atmosphere. Giving one another a look of concern from behind their masks the pair drifted the small craft through the shielding and into the burning atmosphere. Arkanna gave Fluttershy a cocky grin from behind his helmet, “What’d I tell you? Like riding a comet to the ground.” Fluttershy was too far away for his words to reach her. Every inch of her told her she should be frightened out of her mind, that she should be curled up in a ball hoping against all logic that something would save her. But all she could do was stare sadly at Rainbow Dash’s blank slate expression. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!” Kad snarled as the air around them suddenly became filled with capital ship blaster fire. From the fire control station on the bridge Feltan let out a chuckle of joy as he watched the tiny shuttle bob and weave to avoid the massive ship guns, “That’s right, run you little cowards!” Several rounds managed to score hits against the shields and even soak the damage through into the ship itself. The vessel began to shake violently as the Skirata brothers fought to keep control of the decent. A small flashing red light on the board drew Kell’s attention, “That is not good.” “We’re falling through the atmosphere while being shot at, how much more “not good” can it get!?” Twilight exclaimed as she wrapped her forelimbs around a hand railing keep from bobbing around. “Like, ‘Oh man oh man, we’re all gonna die’ not good.” Kell replied as he fought with the controls. “Can thou get us to the surface?” Luna inquired calmly as she watched them work at a fever pitch. “Don’t worry ‘bout that your highness, gettin’ to the ground ain’t the issue,” Kad told her, “The state in which we get there, that’s up for some debate.” “What is it with you and crashing ships!?” Arkanna called out sarcastically. “Never had this problem till you showed up!” Kell replied dripping with venom. As the timers on the explosives reached zero, every single one of them went off at once creating a chain reaction throughout much of the ship. Feltan stumbled as the shockwave threw him into the nearest control station. Wrapping his arms tightly around it, he watched the ever-approaching ground come hurtling closer to him, “Well… damn.” The tiny shuttle bucked and rocked about as the dying engines gave way to gravity’s uncaring grasp. Warning lights went off all over the cabin as someone yelled out to brace for impact. The cloudy sky began to give way revealing a jagged mountain range. Despite the panic driving situation the Princess stood tall and calm through it all, “Captain Skirata, Twilight Sparkle, I will need your help, immediately!” As the tiny craft rocketed towards the angry ground below a soft azure glow began to engulf the vessel. Within, the Princess and Twilight’s horns glowed brightly as Kad stood beside them both, his hands resting on their shoulders as he focused the Force into both. Slowly it began to break free of gravity’s pull, their descent slowing. Inside, sweat began to form on their brows as all three fought tooth and nail to keep their concentration from slipping. Eventually the ship started to lift slightly and no longer cut a downward angle towards the ground. Lifting slightly, it started to make a smoking path through the mountains into a wide open valley within them, guarded by the impassible mountains around them, acres of land untouched by any form of sapient life. A lush, green field dotted with trees and a lavished lake of fresh water. Under any other circumstances it would look like a paradise in the rolling mountain field; right now, it just looked like a landing zone. The shuttle made its descent into the valley, inching its way to the ground little by little. As it touched ground, the belly of the ship began to scrape against the grass and dirt as it kicked up a trail. Eventually the vessel skidded to a stop after cutting a shallow trench along the valley. With the danger gone, the trio was free to break their concentration. Kad fell to one knee as he started to feel the backlash of Force energy rippling through his body. Likewise, the Princess stumbled into Traycn’s massive form, quietly thanking the small favor for avoiding the ground. Twilight would have found herself collapsing into the ground if not for Zex catching the mare. Kell looked back at all the passengers as he removed his helmet, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for flying Air Skirata, please return your tray tables to their upright positions before disembarking. Just a reminder; please don’t bother trying to get a refund as there will be none. Once again, thank you for flying Air Skirata, please get your shebs off the ship and have a pleasant day.”