//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Assault on the Dome // Story: Sunset Shimmer's Saga: Call of the Force // by Kenobiiii //------------------------------// Later The Gauntlet, As the Gauntlet heads towards the Imperial Dome for their attack, Sunset Shimmer could only sit and watch the Partisan troopers lended to them finalize their blaster configurations in the Common area. Captain Bonthra,(whose first name is Helena) had brought a dozen troopers along with her to aid their mission in freeing the prisoners. The Partisans, varying of different races and species, had a hardened, apathetic look on their faces, as if they had witnessed the full horrors of war, perhaps scarring them for life. Sunset didn’t need to use her psychometric powers to know that they lacked compassion in them. Kara had said that battles sometimes left scars that weren’t visible and these men were living proof of that, scarred for whatever they may have witnessed or done to them that turned them into merciless and ruthless soldiers. The troopers didn’t seem to take notice of Sunset, with most of them either configuring their blaster controls, or occupied with themselves. Helena on the other hand was addressing Gerrera through a disc-shaped holopad which she held. “We’ll strike both sides at the same time. That way we can catch the Imperials off-guard.” said Gerrera’ hologram. “Copy that, Saw.” Helena intoned to him, agreeing with him before ending the holographic transmission and placing the holopad in her back. Just then, footsteps could be heard coming from the Cockpit, revealed to Kara. “ We should be arriving at our destination soon.” Kara informed Captain Bonthra. “ That’s fast considering the longer route we’re taking.” Helena added, mildly surprised that they were approaching their destination. “That’s because I’m the pilot of this magnificent vessel !” Came Zeko’s voice from the cockpit, crediting himself for it. Prior to leaving the base, Saw had told them to take a detour route, bypassing the Everfree Mountain Range as part of his plan for a two front assault to divide the Imperial forces while his team struck from through the Everfree range. “I have to ask,” Karl, who had been assisting the other troopers, had taken interest in the rifle blasters wielded by some of them and turned his attention to Helena, “Where did you guys get those Clone Blasters ? Didn’t the Empire discontinued production of them ?” He asked. “You’ll be surprised to know what you can find on the black markets of Nar Shaddaa for reasonable pricing.” The Captain regarded him steadily as she answered her. As they spoke, Kara noticed Sunset, sitting by the food table all by herself, sipping a drink of blue milk as she merely gazed at the others. However, while her eyes might be directed at them, her attention wasn’t. Kara could see the bothered look on her padawan’s face, something was bothering her. It couldn’t be about the mission, Kara thought. In her eyes, Sunset Shimmer was a strong and capable person. She headed towards her, towards the end of the crowded Common Area where she was seated,intending to find out what’s troubling her. “You alright Sunset ?” She asked in a concerned tone. Sunset was a bit startled upon hearing Kara’s voice so close to her. She had not noticed Kara, being so indulged with her thoughts. “Yea..I’m fine..” She answered in a slightly stammering manner in trying to shrug off her startled feeling. “There’s something troubling you, it’s written all over your face.” Kara said,in an unconvinced tone. “Is it the mission ?” She further asked. “It’s not about the mission, it's just that, my friends, they insisted on coming along and I feel a bit bad for leaving them behind.” She sighed and resigned to the truth. Sunset knew that downplaying how she felt was not quite an option. “You didn’t want to involve them in this, remember ?” Kara reminded her of her earlier decision. “I haven’t changed my mind about that, but was it right of me to say no to them even when they wanted to ?” Sunset remarked. “Believe me kid, you made the right call on not bringing your friends along.” Sunset turned her attention to the source of the female voice, which turned out to be Helena, who walked towards them. She had apparently been eavesdropping on their conversation. “ Your people are not ready for that kind of action yet but they better be soon.” She added. “What do you mean ?” Sunset asked. “I’m saying that your friends better learn to prepare themselves to fight back in the long run,” said Helena. “Fight back ?” Sunset exclaimed incredulously before continuing, “My friends aren’t soldiers or rebels to wage a war. It’s unfair to force them into something they aren’t . I’m not going to do that to them.” Though slightly impressed by whom she previously thought to be a timid girl, Helena wasn’t going to back down so easily. “You think any of us had a choice ? “ She snapped back, “All of us here are a part of this Rebellion because we have to. Most of us aren’t as lucky as you are to have been able to save the people you care for. Almost all of us have lost something we cared about to the Empire, either it's our home world or family members or even both and we’re here to avenge them and to for those left not to lose what they've got. It’s about the right thing to do, not what choice.” [1] While Kara didn’t admit it, she agreed with every sentence Helena said sans the avenge part. With the Imperial Occupation of this planet set to begin, she knew that Sunset can’t be fighting for them forever. They’ll have to stand up and learn to fight for themselves eventually. It was a reality that Sunset had to be made aware of, that she can’t keep fighting for friends forever. “So how did you end up in this Rebellion ?” Karl pointed out to Captain Bonthra. Helena took a deep breath before the Zabrak turned her attention to Karl and regarded him, “ Back in my home world, I served under the local Planetary Police Corps. Then the Empire came and disbanded local enforcement agencies, replacing them with stormtroopers. Overnight, Iridonia [2] lost its independence and fell under Imperial Control. I saw my people, Zabrak brothers and sisters, being oppressed and stripped of their sense of pride and freedom, forced to their knees.” She continued. “ That’s why I joined the Partisans. Zabraks are a proud race. We bow only to ourselves, not to some self appointed Emperor.” “You can say that again,” Karl intoned at her speech, agreeing with her. Before Kara could say more, she heard a beeping noise coming from her comm link, with an incoming call coming Zeko back in the cockpit. She answered and spoke, “What is it, Zeko ?” “You guys might wanna come up here.” Zeko’s voice called out through the comm-link. “We’re coming,” Kara said before ending the transmission before heading towards the cockpit, accompanied by Sunset, Karl and Helena. Sunset wondered what it was that the Ardennian was calling them up for, but she was sure it wasn’t something good. As soon as they headed up to the cockpit where Zeko and R5 were flying the ship, did she get a good look at what they were up against. They were coming up on Canterlot City, which to Sunset’s slight relief was left untouched by the Imperials, but located at the horizon was the massive mushroom shaped Imperial Dome [3] , it was large enough to dwarf the City below. Sunset’s jaws dropped upon seeing the structure with her own eyes. It was much larger than she had expected it to be, overshadowing Canterlot City, perhaps to symbolize the Empire’s newfound dominance over this primitive world. “That is one big Dome, alright.” She said, still unable to comprehend the size of that thing. “That’s not all,” Zeko nervously pointed out towards three Imperial Star Destroyers that were parked in the sky not far from the City in an imposing manner, with the dark evening clouds partially concealing them, giving an even more intimidating look. The Destroyers stood between The Gauntlet and the Dome. If Sunset didn’t know any better, the manner in which the Destroyers were positioned from the City (Being not directly above it but instead on the fringes) seemed off. It was as if the Empire had some other sinister plans that had yet to be known to her. R5, in a series of binary beepings, lamented at how badly outnumbered and overpowered they are with the Destroyers in the picture, and that their chances of victory were slim if not, zero. “You’re right R5,” Zeko agreed with the droid’s assessment, “ Looks like we severely underestimated the Empire’s defenses.” “ Surely there must be a way to get past the Destroyers without being detected.” Kara said, slightly perturbed by them. “Kid you know this place well,” Karl turned his attention to Sunset, “ Is there a way to get past them ?” Sunset thought hard for a solution. This rescue mission would be over quickly if the Imperials spotted them. She looked upon the City ahead and a solution came into her head. “Zeko,” She directed her attention to him, “Fly us low through the City, the skyscrapers should be able to mask us from their scanners.” Said Sunset. “I’ve got a very bad feeling about this.” Zeko declared before doing as told by Sunset, bringing the Gauntlet to the level of the city below, flying in between the multiple abandoned buildings to avoid detection. As the Gauntlet flew through the cover of the tall skyscrapers of Canterlot City(Which paled in comparison to the Imperial Dome ahead) Sunset had a clear bird’s-eye view of the now deserted streets of the City’s Central Business District below as they flew past it. The streets, once bustling with activity as businessmen and women thronged the streets, heading either to one of the various banks or commercial companies situated in the district. The business and financial activities that transpired in that district formed the backbone of Canterlot’s economic prosperity and growth. The streets were now devoid of the vibrant life it once had and replacing it was a sense of abandonment. Vehicles were left stranded , some on the roads and some on the pavements with their doors left open, as if the drivers hastily exited their cars, panic stricken. The street, and the whole of the City by extension looked like it was a ghost town, empty of the people that once lived there. “That was some fast thinking, kid.” Helena commended Sunset for her idea of flying through the city to avoid being spotted by the destroyers. Sunset couldn’t care less for her praises, her attention was towards the abandoned city below. She could only hope that everyone else was still alive. “We’re coming up on the dome,” Zeko intoned as the Gauntlet successfully managed to avoid being detected with their target right ahead of them. As they approached the Dome, its outer defenses became clearer to them. Guarding the entrance was three AT-ST Walkers, four anti-air turbo lasers based on Sunset’s count and at least two dozen stormtroopers with some of them manning E-Web cannons. “I don’t like the look of this.” She said warily, her doubt about the chances of victory in this mission increasing steadily. Despite Gerrera lending his troops to help them deal with the Imperial defenses, seeing them with her own two eyes made her wonder if they were enough. She wasn’t alone who thought that. “That’s some pretty heavy defenses alright.” Zeko noted his tone is similar to that of Sunset. “I seriously doubt we can even make it past the front gates without getting killed even with our reinforcements.” Karl pointed out. “It's gonna be a problem getting past those troopers and walkers,” Kara concurred with Karl. “You call that a problem ?” Helena voiced out, unfazed by their defenses,”Those defenses are nothing compared to what we faced on Umbara.” She exclaimed proudly. It was quite clear to the Gauntlet crew that Helena and perhaps the rest of the Partisans didn’t share their anxiousness about the Imperial defenses. In fact they seemed eager to fight the Empire head on. “Well I’m sure as heck glad you think this is nothing but how are we supposed to begin our attack if they could see us coming ?” Zeko sarcastically and cynically asked, hoping to get at least some sort of reaction from the Zabrak. “Just wait for the signal,” Helena answered with a level headed voice, as if everything was going according to plan.“What signal ?” Sunset asked. She soon got her answer, in the form of an explosion coming from the opposite side of the Dome. A large and loud explosion erupted on the other side of the Dome, the portion where Saw’s team was meant to attack. The team didn’t have to guess what was the cause of the explosion, which seemed to have drawn the complete attention of those on their portion of the Base. “That’s your signal,” Helena boasted to Zeko. “Looks like there’s no turning back now,” Said Zeko about the explosion that happened in front of him. With that, the attack has officially begun and there was no turning back from it. “I guess everything still goes according to plan ?” Sunset asked, waiting to see if there’s any change of plan from anyone. She hoped not, but then again, in their line, things don't always, if not most of the time goes according to plan. “Ardennian, use your ship’s guns to take out those walkers while you swoop in, I’ll go and ready the others.” Helena told Zeko before heading down back to the common area. “Alright but I have a name you know, It’s Zeko !” Zeko bellowed frustratingly to Helena for generalising him by his species. He was used to being called the name of his race by some xenophobic Imperials but it took him off guard to hear it coming from a non-human like himself. “Don’t take it personally, dude,” Karl sought to comfort him through words. He quickly shrugged off the frustration and proceeded to direct R5 to activate remote gunner controls. He narrowed his eyes onto the ship’s targeting screen, “I have a lock,” He said as he locked on to the AT-ST walkers before hitting the fire button with his first pair of hands. A set of proton torpedoes fired from the Gauntlet’s cannons, headed straight towards the unsuspecting AT-ST Walkers, blasting them the moment the torpedoes struck it. If there was one flaw with Imperial Machinery was its lack of shields for most of their vehicles. The shields were sacrificed for more effective and powerful firepower. It was also forged in the belief that no one would dare challenge their superior firepower. The double blast took the stormtroopers, still reeling from the explosion from the other side, by a surprise, with the shockwaves from the blast sending those closer to them tossed off. It took a while for the Imps to fully comprehend that they were being attacked before those on the railings above scrambling toward anti Air cannons. “You guys better get out now before they fire those Air cannons or if tie fighters show up,” Zeko cautioned Kara and the rest. “ You got it,” She acknowledged him before turning to Sunset and Karl, “Let’s go.” Sunset and Karl nodded at her before following her down to the Common Area. Back at the Common Area, the other troopers were all readied up with their hands on the blaster rifles trigger, waiting to fire at the first stormtrooper at sight. Helena stood at the front of them all, closest to the boarding ramps, it was clear she was about to lead them. Karl quickly rushed towards the ship’s armory to get himself a blaster rifle from their past raids. He was already armed with a simple blaster but for the gunfire they were about to get into, a rifle would be better suited. In his absence Helena, being the Captain of the Partisan team addressed them, “ Let’s show these amateurs how a real Rebel cell fights,” in a not so veiled mockery at the Gauntlet crew. Karl then returned with a more suited blaster rifle just as Bonthra finished giving her so-called ‘motivational’ speech. “Hey kid, try not to get slaughtered out there,” One of the men, a human male crudely joked to Sunset. She paid that nerf-herder no attention, instead she waited for the ramps to open, her heart already pumping adrenaline to the rest of her body. The moment arrived, the ramp doors opened, revealing the Base entrance. “FOR FREEDOM !!” [4] Helena screamed fiercely as she took charge of the Partisans, leading the equally enthusiastic men into battle. “They certainly have courage alright.” Kara intoned at their determination as they jumped out of the Gauntlet to fight. The trio were the last to dash out of the Gauntlet with their blasters up and firing ahead. For the first couple of seconds, everything was chaotic, red streaks of blaster fire were being thrown in all directions and Sunset found it hard to locate the enemy and fire at them. At the rate the exchange of laser fire was being thrown, she was almost certainly sure she had wasted some shots fired at nothing. She eventually identified the stormtroopers firing at the landing team ahead of the blast doors, where they had all gathered. Imperial stormtroopers are infamous for overwhelming their opponents by outnumbering them despite their bad aiming and mediocre military proficiency. With their front pushed back, the Imperials formed a defensive perimeter along the blast doors, their only entrance to the base as it slammed shut. Sunset and Kara took cover behind one of the collapsed, destroyed AT-ST walker from the incoming fire, while Karl took cover with the rest of the Partisans who were using the multiple crates lying around as cover. ‘Perhaps the Imperial’s general messiness has its advantages after all,’ Sunset thought to herself about the crates scattered about, being excellent spots for cover. As soon as the Rebels had disembarked from the Gauntlet, Zeko and R5 pulled away just before the Anti Air cannons could be used to fire at them. Sunset admired the ferocity shown by Helena and the others as they attempted to push the Imperials even further. Despite being lesser in numbers compared to the stormtroopers, the Partisans showed fury as they gained momentum against the stormtroopers, as if they were the ones with the advantage. They fought as if they had nothing to lose, and in doing so made them a terrifying force in the eyes of the stormtroopers. “FOR THE REBELLION !!” Bellowed a large sized Devaronian soldier as he raised his heavy repeating blaster cannon towards the troopers and fired, shooting down a number of troopers with the powerful weapon. It wasn’t long before they lost their momentum when Imperial reinforcements arrived from the blast doors, strengthening their forces. The stormtroopers, who realized they outnumbered them, quickly went on the offensive, with some troopers manning the E web cannon to provide cover fire for the advancing stormtroopers. The E-Web did its job by pinning the Rebels, Sunset and Kara included to their cover spots, even successfully shooting one or two of them down. Even the Devaronian trooper was forced back to cover, his blaster being no match for the E-Web. “Well that was a quick change of tide,” said Karl about the situation, though nobody could hear him due to the blaster fire noises. “We’re being pinned down !” Sunset voiced out as loud as she could to Kara, hoping to get her attention, which she did. “Our blasters are useless against that E-Web,” Kara pointed out to the heavy blaster cannon, “ Use your lightsaber, Sunset. It’s the only weapon that can save us now.” Kara placed her blaster back at her holster before pulling her lightsaber that hung from her waist belt and held it in her right hand. Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise upon this. Her master was about to break the number one important rule she had always emphasized. Kara was about to raise up with her lightsaber on her hand before Sunset grabbed her hand, stopping her. “What happened to not revealing ourselves to everyone ?” Sunset asked. Kara turned to her, a small smile appearing on her face, “ A wise person once told me to not live in the past forever, “ [5] Kara said to her before winking. Sunset immediately let her hand go, she realized her master was referring to the advice she gave her by the stream, not stopping her further. Kara raised up and ignited her lightsaber, the sound of its ignition drew the attention of the Partisans and Karl, who gasped upon seeing the legendary weapon long associated with an Order once thought to be nothing more than a myth. Helena could only thick of one word when she saw Kara wielding a laser sword, “Jedi,” Kara stepped out of her cover, with her lightsaber raised to the level of her shoulders. Sunset swore that the stormtroopers stopped firing for an extremely brief moment, taken aback by the woman wielding a laser sword in front of them. Like Helena, they too are startled to see a Jedi once thought to be extinct. They soon got over their startledness and started firing again, this time their shots directed at Kara instead. From their perspective, a lightsaber wielding maniac was more dangerous. They were right. Kara deflected the shots using her blue lightsaber, swinging her blue saber to each incoming laser streak, its energy deflecting it either towards the direction it came from or a random one. She managed to deflect some shots back at the trooper who fired it, piercing their white armor and killing them, with their own shots. The stormtrooper manning the E-web directed the cannon towards her and fired, in a vain effort to blast her to oblivion. Kara simply extended her hand forward towards the incoming streak, calling out to the Force which answered her. The blaster bolt suddenly came to an abrupt stop in the middle of its direction towards her, shimmering as if some invisible energy fielding was holding it from reaching its target. For what seemed like moments, both the stormtroopers and the Rebels stared right towards the frozen blaster bolt, completely speechless over the very defiance of the law of physics happening right in front of their eyes. Sunset on the other hand awed in amazement over her master’s ability of freezing the shot. Kara then released her hold over the bolt, but not before pushing it back towards its source. The bolt shot straight back towards thE E-web, blasting it into oblivion and taking out the trooper that manned it. With that, the other Rebels lead by Helena got back out from their cover and laid fire to the now disadvantaged stormtroopers. Sunset, knowing that Kara wouldn’t be able to hold off the shots for longs, quickly pulled her lightsaber and ignited it, before rushing to her aid. ‘Just remember your training,’ She said to herself as she deflected incoming blaster shots alongside Kara, both master and apprentice fighting side by side. “We’ll lead the way !” Kara yelled towards Helena, who nodded in response. She knew well enough to let the Jedi do their job. “Push forward!” She ordered the others as they joined in the momentum generated by Kara and Sunset. For Sunset, applying what she had learnt during training seemed to have paid off, with every deflected shot striking a stormtrooper down. As they pushed closer towards the blast doors, Kara used her lightsaber to slice the remaining standing troopers, their armor no match for the penetrating power of a lightsaber. Sunset deflected a laser bolt from the last standing trooper back to him, clearing the platform of stormtroopers for good, securing the platform. Kara proceeded to slash the door controls with her lightsaber, opening up the blast doors, revealing the inside of the Complex. “Not bad for your first battle with a lightsaber, Sunset,” Kara commended Sunset. “Looks like my training has finally paid off after all,” Sunset acknowledged her praise. ‘If only Rainbow Dash could have seen the action put up by her,’She thought to herself. “Saw, we’re moving to phase two of the plan.” Helena said to her comm link before turning it off and turned her attention over to Kara and Sunset, “ I’d never thought I would get to meet a Jedi, much less two.” “The galaxy is always full of surprises,” Kara retorted back. “ Apparently so,” Helena admitted as she continued, “ With two Jedi by our side this fight will surely be ours,” She said with confidence. “ I won’t be too overconfident yet. We still haven’t found or freed the prisoners.” Karl said in a more cautious manner. It was uncharacteristic of him to say that. “Let’s find them then,” Sunset intoned to them. Helena turned her attention over to the other Rebels under her command. “ Everyone, let’s move, “ She ordered. The Rebels wasted no time in entering the Complex. As they headed for the Prison cell section, Sunset found that each alleyway inside the Complex to be similar in terms of its looks, general dullness, and basically everything else. ‘It’s practically impossible to not get lost in a place like this, with all turns looking exactly alike with no differianting aspect.’ Sunset thought. Luckily they had studied the layout of the base prior to their attack and were able to navigate their way around with the Imperial Siren echoing throughout base(.Imperial Siren Sound 1 hour, 22 minutes, and 52 seconds). They did short work with unsuspecting stormtroopers running into them as they made their way. “The Detention Centre is over there,” A human Partisan soldier pointed out a right turn coming up. However, before they could make it, an Imperial stormtrooper squad numbering more than a dozen ambushed them, forcing them to make a stand. Sunset and Kara ignited their lightsabers to defend themselves from incoming blaster bolts. With the stormtroopers cutting them out from the main route to the Prison Cells, the Rebels were forced to improvise. “ We’ll distract them. You guys head for the Prison cells and free the prisoners !” Captain Bonhra yelled towards Kara and Sunset due to the heavy sound of blaster fire being thrown around. “What about you guys ?” Sunset asked, sounding slightly concerned for them, even though she’d barely known them. Helena turned towards her and gave her a smirk, “Kid, fights like this are what we’re good at. So let us do our part and you do yours.” Sunset nodded back as she, Kara and Karl broke off from the main group. After what seemed like forever of running into stormtroopers in every corner and igniting their lightsaber to deflect their shots or fire back in the case of Karl, the trio finally found the Detention Center, which was guarded by a mere two stormtroopers and and a uniformly black cladded Prison Officer manning the Cell controls panel in the center of the corridors. Upon noticing the intruders, the troopers fired at them while the Officer attempted to lockdown the facility and call for reinforcements. Kara who was leading Sunset and Karl went on the offensive against the two troopers, parrying off their blaster shots before slashing the white chest armor of the first trooper, killing him before extending her hand and used the Force hold the blaster bolt fired by the second stormtrooper midair before propelling it back to him, striking him right on his chest armor. ‘ Since when did Kara become so cool ?’ Sunset thought to herself after seeing her master in full action. There was certainly still a lot more for her to learn. The officer picked up blasters from the panel and tried to fire at them with one hand while others tried to frantically raise an alert but were stunned by blue concentric shots fired by Karl. Once sure that there weren't any other Imperial personnel in the cell aside from the prisoners, Kara turned her attention towards the control panel, “ Karl, help me slice this thing,” Karl nodded and headed towards the panel to assist Kara in deactivating the ray shields. “Sunset, watch our backs will you ?” said Kara but Sunset didn’t pay attention to what her master said. Her attention was on the dozens of cells holding her own people that stretched an entire corridor. They were filled with innocent people, whose heads were down, unsure of what lay ahead of them with this so-called new government of theirs. As she walked past the cells, with a crimson red ray shield separating her from the inmates, her heart sank, the thought and sight of her own people, some whom she called friends imprisoned in a place like this, was just too much. Sure, her main group of friends was safe back at the Partisan base, but there were many others she still cared for and regarded as friends, and unfortunately, they weren’t as lucky. As she walked down the hallway, one particular cell caught her eye. In it was a girl, around her age with neck long grayish blue violet hair. She had a sort of grayish skin color with light turquoise iris. She was sitting on the bench-like structure in the cell, staring into the dull walls in the cell, with an almost blank neutral facial expression, as if she felt nothing. Sunset recognised her immediately as Maud Pie, the polar opposite sister of Pinkie Pie.“ Here I am, imprisoned inside a tedious alien prison where my equally boring life will come to an end, how ironic.” Maud spoke to herself in her usual monotonous tone. “Maud, don’t worry, I’m here to save everyone,” Sunset called out to draw her attention. Maud turned to the source of the familiar voice, her eyes only widening very slightly upon seeing a familiar face, “ Sunset Shimmer, you’ve finally returned after vanishing for over three months. Pinkie and her friends had spent all the time they had searching for you, “ She said, indifferent by Sunset’s appearance before her tone became slightly more concerned, “ Where is Pinkie Pie ? Is she safe ?” She asked. “Don’t worry about your sister. She and the others are safe and sound.” Sunset assured Maud of Pinkie’s wellbeing. Maud merely stared at her, with a small smile creeping into her face, disappearing as soon it briefly appeared. “ Sunset Shimmer, is that you ?” Came another familiar motherly voice from down the hallway, a couple of cells away from where Maud was, one that Sunset undoubtedly knew who belonged to. Sunset rushed to the cell where it came from, finding Principal Celestia and her sister, Vice-Principal Luna sharing a cell together. Sunset was filled with joy to see the human counterpart of her former mentor, one that she equally respected and has helped them countless times in the past, alive and well. “Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, you guys are still alive !” She shouted in joy. “Were you expecting us to be otherwise ?” Luna pointed out in a manner that Sunset found it hard to make out whether she was being sarcastic,or serious or even both at the same time. After all, she was known for being crude at times. Sunset was at a loss of words on how to respond to that question. “Forgive my sister, Sunset.” Celestia took a step forward to defuse the apparent tension between them in a more diplomatic tone, “She’s just a bit stressed about our current predicament.” “She’s not the only one who feels that way,” Sunset turned towards the voice behind our finding that it belonged to none other than Sour Sweet, their on-off friend/rival from Crystal Prep Academy. She shared the cell opposite Celestia’s cell with other Crystal Prep students that Sunset recognised, amongst them being Sugarcoat, Upper Crust and Lemon Zest. “Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat ?? You guys are here too ?” She exclaimed, slightly surprised to bump into them. “ Why, were you expecting us to be somewhere else other than here ?” Upper Crust incredulously said. “ We’ve been looking for you for the entirety of summer vacation and you show up out of nowhere when all of us have been imprisoned by some kind of Galactic Empire ?” Sour Sweet snided. “ Sounds a little suspicious if you ask me,” Sugarcoat concurred. “ I know how it sounds, but I’m here now to break everyone out of this prison.” Sunset sought to dispel the Shadowbolts' views but Sour Sweet merely scoffed at it, “And how exactly are you gonna do that ?” “ This should about do it,” Karl intoned as he bypassed the security measures of the Detention facility. Just then, the red ray shield that previously acted as a transparent barrier separating the prisoners from the hallways deactivated, leaving the cell entrances open for the former prisoners to walk out. For at least a few moments, only a handful of people put their foot out of their cells, with others too started with the sudden change of events that happened. It wasn’t long for them to comprehend it and soon, entire hallways in the prison center were filled with people, former residents of Canterlot City and its surrounding suburbs. There were at least a few hundred people that filled the prison corridors, at least based on what Sunset range of vision. ‘That’s a lot of people,’ Sunset thought as she squeezed through their bodies to the Control Panels which were at the center of the detention facility where Karl and Kara were. One could easily get crushed in a crowd like this if not careful enough. “There is no way we can fit all these people into our ships and there’s no time for airlifting them group by group.” Karl remarked about the crowd. Kara thought for a second on how to get everyone out before she turned to address the crowd, “ Everyone Listen up !” She said, loud enough, silencing the previously mumbling crowd. “ We are here to rescue you. Now since we don’t have space to fit every single one of you to our transports, you people are gonna make a run for it by yourselves while we distract the Empire.” “Where do we go now ?” Vignette Valencia [6] pointed out, while the others seemed to agree with her. “ To our base located beyond Mount Everhoof. It’s a safe place for everyone from the Empire. Head through the city on your escape and no matter what, do not stop until you reach the base.” Sunset told the crowd out loud. The crowd at first showed a bit of hesitancy about the plan, murmuring to each other, unsure about their trustworthiness. There wasn’t much time for an internal debate and they had to act fast. “You heard her, people, let's go !” Kara shouted at them in an ordering manner. The crowd finally got the point and began to move in the direction pointed out by Kara. All it took was a simple push to get them moving. “Well that was persuasive,” Sunset added on how an order was able to get the crowd moving. Just then, Karl noticed a red beeping light coming from the control panel, indicating a system breakdown. He quickly pressed a few buttons on the panel, accessing the Prison’s computer system to find the source of the breakdown. “What’s the problem ?” Kara asked, knowing full well she wasn’t going to like the response. “Carabast, there’s a malfunction on cell 8-3. It’s a solitary confinement cell.” Karl intoned as he tried to fix the problem. “What kind of malfunction ? And can you fix it ?” Sunset further queried. There was silence on Karl’s part for a moment as he tried to fix it but the red beeping still remained. “ The cell door is jammed, it won’t open up remotely. Someone has to manually reset the door controls and open them.” said Karl. Sunset thought for a short moment before replying, “ I’ll do it. You guys lead the others out of here,” “ Alright. Don’t take too long and be careful.” Kara agreed with Sunset, who nodded at her before heading off to Cell 8-3. Cell 8-3 was located at the tail end of the prison hallway far off from the other cells, and unlike the other cells where only a ray shield acted as a barrier, this particular cell had a black door that separated Sunset from whoever that’s in there. There was also another blaster door opposite the cell that was sealed shut which didn’t appear to be a prison cell but something else, one she didn’t intend on finding out. “ I wonder who it is that the Empire deemed for solitary confinement ?” Sunset said to herself as she thought of a way to unlock the door via the door control panels situated beside it before giving up and ignited her lightsaber, using it to slice the control panels. Sunset had never been the one for patience and definitely not at a time like this. With the controls sliced, the blaster door raised open, revealing a dull gray room with a similar coloured bench that extended from the wall. On the bench was a girl, around Sunset’s age, with pale bluish skin and light gray hair that some would consider as white. She was lying on the bench when the door in front of her opened. She pulled herself up from the bench to get a proper look at the person standing ahead, recognising her immediately, “Sunset Shimmer ?” “Trixie Lulamoon ?” Sunset exclaimed in surprise almost soon after she did. Trixie headed towards Sunset while at the same time composing herself. After all, she can’t be seen as defeated. “Firstly, it's the great and powerful Trixie, never call me by last name.” Trixie regarded Sunset in her usual egoistic and proud tone before she continued, “ Secondly, where have you been all this time and what are you wearing ?” She said, this time with a slightly more concerned tone. Following the events of the memory stone, Sunset and Trixie had found themselves as unlikely friends despite not seeing eye to eye with each other on a great many things and Trixie’s excessive boasting. “It’s a long story…. how did you, of all people, end up in solitary confinement in the first place ?” Sunset answered and shot a question to her, curious on what she did. Trixie can be annoying, but she was never one of violence. “ I just kept demanding those white douchebags to let the great and powerful Trixie go or face my wrath.” She boasted. “So you basically annoyed the Imperials into tossing you in here ?” Sunset, intoned unsurprised. “ I wouldn’t put it that way, more like silenced for voicing out my civil rights.” Trixie added, a bit embarrassed. “ Some things just never change, uh Trixie ?” Sunset said, amused by her reasoning. “Old habits die hard.” Trixie bragged further, giving a small nudge to Sunset. “Come on, let's get out of here,” Said Sunset as her expression turned serious. The time for jokes is over. Trixie nodded before she noticed something behind Sunset, “WATCH OUT !” But it was too late. Before Sunset could turn her back, she had already felt a metallic hand grabbing her by the neck and tossing her to the ground hard. She then felt a pressure being exerted on her back that was pinning her down. Sunset managed to turn her head slightly around to see who it was that was pinning her. With its right metallic feet on her, was an Imperial KX series security droid [7], with an intimidating height of at least 216 meters facing her while standing. The Security droid had its right feet on her, pinning her down the ground. “Unauthorized personnel detected” The security droid spoke in a stoic male voice through in-built audio receptors. “Do not resist arrest or you will be subdued.” The droid warned in its stoic voice. Sunset struggled to free herself from being pinned by the security droid but its feet were pushing down strongly, making it almost impossible for her to even get up. Due to the nature of her body being pressed onto the ground, Sunset wasn’t able to reach her lightsaber that was hanging by her belt. Just then, Trixie lunged toward the security droid in an attempt to distract it. Sure enough, the droid’s attention soon shifted to Trixie, turning around and grabbed Trixie by her blue coat and lifted her up in the air, letting go of its pin on Sunset. “Prisoner 8-3 stand down and cease hostilities.” The droid intoned. Trixie wasn’t going to give up so easily. “ Let go of me you non-organic douchebag !!” Trixie yelled as she struggled to break free. With the security droid engaged with Trixie, Sunset managed to pull herself back up to her legs. Seeing Trixie in danger, she extends her hand forward and uses the Force to push off the droid, which was violently onto the sealed blaster door behind, dropping a very startled and confused Trixie. The security droid quickly pulled itself back together after its violent bump and slammed its fist onto a red button on a control panel located on its left side, causing the blast doors behind Sunset to close up, effectively trapping them in the now shortened corridor. The Droid then charged towards Sunset with its pair of hands opened up as if it was about to embrace her, but its intentions are nothing less than deadly. Sunset however, this time was prepared. She ignited her lightsaber and the moment the droid was close enough, she used her saber and cut off both of its droid’s arms with ease before going for the killing blow. She used her lightsaber and stabbed through the droid's chest, penetrating its systems and severely damaging its systems, enough to terminate the droid. The saber penetrated the metallic skin with ease, leaving a small burnt radius around the stab site. The Security droids, its systems down, collapsed to the floor with a loud bang, lifeless as it should be. Meanwhile, Trixie was completely speechless as she watched Sunset take down a humanoid robot twice her height with some kind glowing sword with ease. “ How did you do that ?? And what is that glowing sword you carry ?.” She exclaimed . “ Like I said, long story,” Sunset then turned her attention towards the sealed shut blaster doors around them, “That droid has us trapped.” “Why don’t you use that sword of yours to cut through those doors ? It worked well with that thing.” Trixie pointed out the amputated, stabbed security droid on the ground. “ There’ll be a dozen stormtroopers waiting for us on the other side. We’ll be walking right into a trap if we do that.” Sunset brushed off Trixie’s idea and continued to search for another means of an exit. “Up there,” She pointed out to a ventilation shaft located above their heads, “ We’ll use the ventilation shaft.” Sunset instantly ignited her saber and sliced through the cover, revealing the narrow shaft. “This is such a stupid plan,” Trixie scoffed upon seeing the narow shaft she had to climb into. Sunset leaped and pulled herself into the confined shaft. Due to the nature of the ventilation shaft, with its width and height being no more than 10cm, Sunset was forced to lie low on her body. She squeezed herself into the shaft before extending her hand down for Trixie. “Come on, I’ll pull you up.” She intoned at her. Trixie sighed for a moment, realizing there was no other option before she grabbed Sunset’s hand and Sunset pulled her up into the shaft. “Move forward, I’ll tell you when to stop.” She said to Trixie as soon as she pulled her up. It was an uncomfortable journey as Trixie crawled through the narrow ventilation shaft, with Sunset right behind. There were tubes running concurrently beside them, occasionally letting out warm air, with numerous beeping lights coming from temperature regulators, a common find in ventilation systems. The narrow, confining nature of the shaft made Trixie's stomach sick. “This shaft is making me feel claustrophobic.” She spoke. “Just a little bit more, We’re almost there,” Sunset intoned but Trixie was far from convinced. “ Are you sure you know where we’re going ?”. ‘That was a good question,’ Sunset thought to herself. She soon sensed an opening ahead, their way out of the shaft. “There’s an opening ahead, can you see it ?” She asked. Trixie’s eyes narrowed on the air vent ahead. “I see it.” She answered Sunset as she headed towards the small ray of light coming from the air vents. As soon as she was close enough to the air vents, Trixie closed her right hand fist and slammed it as hard as she could onto the air vent.The air vent broke and fell onto the ground. With an opening, Trixie and Sunset wasted no time in getting themselves back to the ground from the shaft. The moment her feet touched the ground, Sunset took a good look around her surroundings, finding herself in the middle of an Imperial hallway somewhere in the Complex. She had absolutely no idea where exactly she was but at least there were no stormtroopers or security droids closing in on them, for now. “ Open space !! Finally !!!” Trixie let out a huge breath of relief after being forced to crawl through a narrow shaft. Sunset grabbed Trixie’s arm and pulled her towards her, “Keep it down will you ?” She said, in a mildly agitated tone, “You’re gonna alert the whole base to where we are.” Trixie however, was indifferent to Sunset’s warning. “Whatever,” She scoffed and released her arm from her hold. Sunset then noticed her comm-link beeping red. She picked it up and brought it close to her mouth before answering the transmission. “ Sunset, are you alright ?? The Prison Blaster doors have been magnetically sealed, we can’t get to you. Stay put, we’ll try to find another way.” Came Kara’s voice, with the sound of countless blaster fire being fired coming from the background. Sunset Shimmer pressed a button before speaking, “ Don’t worry, Kara. We had a run in with a Security Droid earlier but we got out using the ventilation system.” “We ?? Who’s we ?” A mildly surprised tone came from Kara. Sunset turned her head towards Trixie before answering that question. “ An old friend. Give us a moment, we’ll regroup with you guys.” Sunset stated. There was silence on Kara’s end for a moment, other than intensifying blaster fire noises in the background before she replied, “That’s a negative. The rest of us are dealing with heavy Imperial reinforcements here .” “ Looks like the Empire has wised up to our plans. What about the other prisoners ??” Sunset further queried. “They’re making their way out as we speak. The Partisans, Karl and I are covering their escape.” said Kara. Sunset let out a sigh of relief for a moment before she spoke, “That’s some good news at least. Where do we meet up then ??” “Stick with the plan, We’ll rendezvous at the extraction point.” Kara intoned. “ Copy that.” Sunset agreed with Kara. “ See you there. Good luck kid.” Kara wished before she ended the transmission. “So what exactly is the plan now ?” Trixie queried as soon as Sunset placed the communicator back into her vest pocket. “Now, we're just gonna have to find a detour route to the platform we came in.” Sunset answered Trixie in a somewhat unsure tone as she looked around, trying to make her way. “And I suppose you know the way around here ?” She queried further, far from being convinced. “I’ll …. make it up as we go.” Sunset said in an indecisive manner, her frustration at Trixie’s constant questions building up. “ So you’re telling me you don’t know your way around here ?” Trixie exclaimed before she continued in a sarcastic manner, “ Well isn’t that just great. So much for this great escape plan of yours !” Sunset has had enough of Trixie's cynicism. “Listen Lulamoon,” She said, much to Trixie’s ire but she still continued, “ This is what we’re gonna do. If you want to live, you’re gonna do and follow what I say without any questions or your sarcasm. Is that clear ?” Sunset regarded her steadily, her frustration noticeable. “If I want to live ? Of course I want to live, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Trixie snapped back at her. “I suppose we’re in agreement then,” Sunset said and continued, “Follow me” . “Do I have a choice anyway ?” Trixie lamented quietly before she followed Sunset’s lead.