//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Logic and Friendship. Roger! Roger! // by Anaylze //------------------------------// OOM-340's senses suddenly came back to him as his body reactivated and was dropped from the landing pod, followed by 4 other B1 Battle Droids. As they began to unload the Probe Droids and prepare them, he took in his surroundings. He was in a dark, jungle-like forest with vines, sounds of animals, and a dirt covered floor packed with thick bushes. He brought his left hand up to the side of his head and activated his commlink. "This is OOM-340 reporting on a safe landing of Group Alpha on the planet." he said in his high-pitched voice.  "OOM-466 reporting Group Charlie landing!" Came another voice  "OOM-621 of Group Delta Reporting!"   "OOM-226 of Group Echo Reporting!"  "This is OOM-227 of Group Bravo! Sorry for the delay!" Another droid began. "Wait, we have movement. Oh, hello there little wooden canine lifeform! What's your na-AHH IT BIT MY FINGER!" The sound of an E-5 Blaster being fired was heard over the radio "We have more of them! Alpha Group requesting help!"   "Roger, Roger!" OOM-340 shouted, turning around to see the group had successfully unloaded the Probe Droids and sent them off to scout. "Follow me, squad Bravo is encountering hostiles"   "Roger, Roger" the B1s all said in unison, and they hurried off the Bravo Group.  "What if some pony got hit?" Flutter shy said, with a high amount of concern in her normally quiet voice.  "Flutter shy, I'm sure no pony got hurt" Twilight said, hoping to deter her friend from heading into the dangerous Ever free forest late at night.  "But what if some pony did? They could be in pain!" She cried.  "Alright, alright, we'll go check, but we're not staying any longer than we need to. I already overslept today, and I don't need to again. I'll go put Spike to bed and we can go."  "Aw come on Twi!" Spike complained.  "You're a baby dragon and you need your sleep, I'll talk to you about it in the morning, ok?" Twilight said, giving a smile and a hug.  "Alright, alright I'm going"  "Don't forget to brush your teeth!"  "Yeah, yeah"  "Oh, he's just so precious, my little Spikey Wikey" said Rarity.   Twilight turned around "Alright, who else is going on this little late-night adventure?"  "I could go up for an adventure, it sounds like fun!" Pinkie said.  "Ah need to get back, but ah want to make sure your safe sugar cube," said Applejack  "I'm no chicken, I'll come along. It's not like the forest is scary or anything" Dash said in a somewhat fake sounding voice of confidence.  "Well,", Rarity began "Ladies need to get their beauty sleep, I really should be getting back"  "Ooh! We got a scaredy cat" Rainbow Dash teased "you're scared of the forest!"  "I am not!"  "You are so!"  "I am not!"  "Then prove it, come along! Unless you are too chicken!" Smirked Dash  "Oh IT. IS. ON!" Rarity said in her dramatic fashion.  They headed down the stairway of the castle and out into the night, into the forest with a thousand stars above them…  OOM-340 hurried though the brush with his squad behind him. They were 15 feet from Bravo Groups location and could hear and see the Blaster Bolts being fired. They reached the clearing, and the scene was a strange one.  There was Bravo Group, or what was left of it, fighting against a pack of vicious wolf-like creatures, but what made them strange was their appearance and composition. They appeared to be made almost entirely out of wooden logs and sticks, with bright green glowing eyes and leaves as eyebrows. There was a large pack of them attacking Bravo Squad, who was backed into their landing craft. Two on the edge of the clearing were fighting over a destroyed B1 Battle Droid, one grabbing at the neck and the other at the arm, before the head tore off and the one began to chew on it like a bone.  Frightened and disgusted at these creatures, OOM-340 yelled "OPEN FIRE!" And his troops did as they were told, blasting the pack, and killing several of them. When the wolves died, rather than simply falling over, they exploded into small shards of wood. The pack leader turned to face them and charged at OOM-340. OOM-340 squeezed the trigger on his E-5, which was set to automatic and let out a blast of shots into its face, causing it to explode in front of him. The other wolves appeared notably angered by the death of their pack leader, and some became more ferocious. 3 more charged at OOM-340 and his squad but were quickly blown apart, launching shards of wood everywhere.  "That didn't seem so hard" said OOM-340.  Moments later the shards of wood began to reassemble, floating together and forming 4 more of the wolf creatures.  "Umm, what?!"  They all began to charge at him specifically. OOM-340 flinched and it looked as though he was about to become a new chew toy until suddenly a volley of Blaster fire came from under the pod, killing 2 of the wolves and scaring the other 2 into retreat.  "Don't let them retreat! Blast them!" OOM-340 ordered.  As the wolves began to retreat into the forest while under fire from the rest of the squad, OOM-340 walked over to the pod. Hiding underneath, were the remains of Bravo Squad. There were only 2 B1s left, and they both stood and saluted OOM-340 when he approached.  "Where's OOM-227?" He asked.  "Destroyed sir, along with B1-8863 and B1-3662. We're all that's left. Well, that and our Probes. I guess you're in charge now?" one said  "I'm the commander now, you're my units now. Gather your supplies and follow us. We have exploration to do" OOM-340 ordered.  "Roger, Roger"  Already deep within the Ever free, Flutter shy and the group made a B-line right for the nearest impact, which was made by Group Alpha. They stepped into the notable shady area and were all shocked at the sight. A large tan cone shaped craft suspended by 4 "arm" like prongs was lodged into the ground, and there were several crates on the ground, all empty of whatever contents they contained.  "Ooh! What a doozy!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, excited by the sight "what if we get to make new friends?! OOHICAN'TWAITTOMEE-"  Pinkie was suddenly interrupted when Applejack shoved her hoof into her mouth  "Quiet Sugar cube, were not alone!"  "Um, he-hello?" Flutter shy said as she walked nervously up to the large craft, with fear in her voice. "Is there anyone in there? Are you hurt?"  "Flutter shy, I think it's empty, whatever was in it is gone." Twilight said.  Applejack walked up to the craft and gave it a light kick "What the hay is this thing anyhow?"  Rarity walked up to the craft to join Applejack in examining it  "I'm not sure, but it's terribly unfashionable. It's so silly colored, and mechanical! It lacks any kind of elegance."  "I hate to interrupt every pony, but I've found something" Dash said, floating over.  "What did you find?" Twilight asked  "I think I found some tracks of some kind."  The group followed her over to a patch of ground that was bare dirt. There were strange footprints in the ground, and there were several sets of them, with them all being identical.  "I think they went off this way" Dash said, pointing a hoof towards a small path through the brush.  "I don't know why, but I feel like we're being watched" Pinkie said "my Pinkie sense says so!"  Twilight had to agree, she did feel as though she was being watched, she had that creepy feeling.  They were being watched, but by what they didn't know. They couldn't see it. But it could see them.  Above them in a tree branch attempting to blend in was a Viper Class Probe Droid. The droid zoomed in on the group, to get a better view of them so the feed on the ship would pick up better detail. Suddenly a pink blob appeared in front of the camera, which quickly came into focus as Pinkie Pie, who shouted "HELLO!". The Probe was startled by this and fell out of the tree, falling onto the ground in front of the group. They all stared at it for a moment, and it stared back. Rarity screamed at it, terrified by its spider-like appearance, before it quickly leapt back up into the air and quickly raced away, giving above the ground making strange noises.  "Okay, now ah think ah'm seein' things, did anyone else see that big metal spider?"  "Is it gone?!" Rarity asked, peeking out from behind the ship slowly.  Dash, silencing a laugh assured her that the metal spider was gone, and she slowly came back over to join the group.  Twilight turned to face them  "I think we should follow it" she said.  "Why in Celestia's name would we do that?! Darling, that thing is creepy! Isn't that right Flutter shy?"  "Um, well it could be considered kind of cute in its own way."  "I think we should follow it girls, it has to have some relation to this strange craft" Twilight said  "Oh alright. But I'm not going to get near it!"  The group headed off following the tracks…  Kraken watched the feed as a Probe Droid was observing a group of the creatures. He was surprised that they spoke basic despite being completely cut off seemingly from the rest of the Galaxy. He was trying to calculate the odds of that when suddenly a pink blob appeared in front of the lense startling the Probe, screaming "HELLO!" and causing it to fall to the ground and run off. Kraken was disappointed that the Probe had been seen, as it ruined the ability to hide their presence. However, it could have been worse as if they had captured the Probe, then he would be forced to imitate a self-destruct function to prevent them from examining it. He needed to preserve resources, and he would need to find a way to replenish troops if his reserves would become depleted. He calculated that the planet likely had metal ores and other materials under its surface, and that they could be potentially mined to gain resources. However, to build Droids, they would need a foundry. That would require construction and a place. Kraken moved that thought into his memory banks for later, deciding to function of the situation at hand. He held out a hologram projector in his hand and contacted Alpha Group.