//------------------------------// // 12. Arrival // Story: Star Wars: The Droid Chronicles // by Stalin with Da Spoon //------------------------------// [Alpha Headquarters Landing Pad, Previously known as Castle of the Two Sisters. 7:00 PM. 2 BBY, Galactic Sector D-6.] The Sheathipede-Class shuttle activated it's spotlights with them shining down on the landing pad below it, as the two pilot droids ran the necessary calculations before beginning the slow descent downwards. As it approached the pad, it's landing legs slowly emerged from underneath it, before it stretched out and allowed it to the touch down on the ground, lightly rocking while one of the pilot droids called out to the passengers. "We have arrived, sir!" General Kalani nodded, as he stood up and watched the back door of the ship slowly lower down to reveal a line of B1 battle droids all saluting him. At the end would be Captain 9164, or rather his copy, while he saluted as well. "Welcome to Alpha Headquarters, General!" "Thank you Captain, now then, where are the... Ponies at this current time?" "Oh, there with the Colonel and Major." "Ah, I see that 5264 finally got his well deserved promotion?" "Yep, Colonel gave it to him soon as he arrived." "Good, now could you please take us to them?" Kalani said with his two commando droid guards stood beside him. "Roger roger!" 9164 said, before leading them into the elevator, before closing it as it descended down to the floor below. [Alpha Headquarters, Main Control Room.] The automatic door to the room opened as the Lieutenant Colonel walked inside, along with the original 9164, Alpha team, and the ponies, while they all looked around in awe. What was once the throne room had been converted into a massive control room, with large computers and terminals around the room being operated by droids. A large metal hexagonal pillar stood at the center of the room, large computer terminals surrounding it with cables and machinery ran up into the ceiling, connecting to the communications satellite up top. Sounds of mechanical beep and whirring could be heard, while droids could be seen still setting up consoles, tweaking settings, and running cables across the room, as Pinkie nearly tripped on a cable herself. "Sorry!" The droid running the cable apologetically said. "It's fine!" Pinkie happily said while she quickly regained her balance. As the group walked past the communications uplink, they looked to see a large hexagonal holographic table at the center of the room, displaying a model of the planet, as well as the massive Blade of Serenity in orbit, as the ponies gawked at it's size. "Wow... It's that big!?!" Rainbow said she was visibly astonished. "Indeed, it is one of the largest classes of ship within the confederate navy." "Wow... And this table is just like the map back at the castle, except more advanced and detailed!" Twilight said with wonder in her eyes as Pinkie waved her hand through the hologram, watching it fizzle at her touch while she giggled. The Colonel proceeded to walk over to the map as he stood over it's control console, pressing a few buttons to enlarge the Dreadnought as they watched in awe. "The Blade of Serenity is known as a Providence-Class Dreadnought, equipped with a massive variety of offensive and defensive systems, as well as an impressive suite of aerial craft and ground forces." He said with models of Vulture fighters, Turbo Cannons, Shield Generators, and Battle tanks appeared on display, as Twilight wrote down several sketches and notes. The ship was then cut in half to display an internal view of all the technical rooms, storage bays, machinery rooms, and manufacturing plants, including the massive store of hibernating droids onboard. The ponies stared astonished at the intricate insides and machinery of the massive Dreadnought, it's technology completely foreign to them. Luna herself was just dumbfounded she hadn't sensed the darn thing in orbit of the planet, she could feel and listen to the stars for Faust's sake, why didn't she sense this!?! "As you can see, the Blade of Serenity is equipped with the most advanced Confederate naval technologies, and is capable of standing to any type of modern battle cruiser. It also has an army capable of repelling any sized force in the galaxy." "Wow... And you are certain this is true?" "Indeed, my calculations are one thousand to one." "Sounds accurate to me... And how many droids does this vessel currently hold?" "Our total currently active crew rests around nine hundred to a thousand active officers and enlisted crew, along with 1.4 Million droids currently de-activated within storage." All of the ponies jaws collectively dropped, literally in Pinkie's case as her jaw hit the floor before she rolled it back up. "H-how is that possible!?! How do you fit so many droids in such a tight space? Isn't it like being crammed in a sardine can?" "Thanks to droids being able to compact themselves during de-activation, as well with it being combined with ease of storage, compartmentalizing and safely storing the droids within the ship's cargo hold is easy. Of course, having them all active at once would be only detrimental to operations, so they are typically only activated for ground operations, such as many of the droids you see here." He says, as several of the working droids all wave at the ponies before returning to their jobs. "I see... And how exactly did you get these droids down here from your ship? We didn't see any... Landing pods, I believe they were called?" She said turning to 5264 as he nodded. "That is because we utilized landing shuttles to transport our troops and supplies down here. And as I was recently informed, the general himself has arrived by shuttle earlier, and should be arriving right about... Suddenly, the door to the control room opened, before two imposing looking commando droids holding their rifles stepped through, before making way for a rather imposing figure, as they walked through the door and left the ponies astonished. General Kalani somehow managed to match even Princess Celestia in terms of height, his menacing stature and walk putting the ponies slightly on edge while they gazed into his three orange eyes. His almost regal color scheme on his chassis gave off a sense of authority, and the way he walked with his servos behind his back made him seem professional. And as he finally reach the ponies and looked to the ponies and their slightly worried faces, he spoke in a menacing and almost monotone voice. "Greetings, ponies..."