//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Star Wars EQG: Episode 1, Harmony of the Force // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Flash Sentry stared at the two people that had just appeared through the doors of the mine he and his friend were attempting to overthrow. Flash looked them over and realised they were both a type of being known as equestrians, but the species wasn't what had his most attention. Instead, it was the laser swords the two of them were holding. The blue and green swords were the type of weapon only one group were known for using, which made Flash's heart stop as he couldn't believe he had actually run into two of them. "Are you...jedi?" The two stared at him for a moment, clearly unsure how to reply to his question. They were more focused on the laser sword he was holding. "What if we are?" The male asked before pointing at Flash's weapon, "where did you get that Lightsaber?" Flash frowned as he looked at the sword, whilst the male turned to the female. "Twilight, you know this guy? He looks about your age." Twilight shook her head, "I've never seen him around the temple." Flash looked back at her, "who are you?" He knew this was gonna be a long and awkward conversation, but he also knew he didn't have time to explain it right now. That realization was shared by the other two, as a bunch of droid sounds once again filled the air. They were coming from the surrounding tunnels, making the three of them be on edge. "I'll explain later. Right now, we've got some robots to cut up." The two frowned at one another, still wanting answers but also knowing they needed to focus on saving the kidnapped hostages. As such, they stepped up on either side of Flash and readied their Lightsabers. "I'm guessing you're the cause of the alarms we heard?" Twilight asked, Flash nodding with a sheepish look. "Yeah, sorry about that. Springer and I were trying to hack into the control room and accidently set it off." Twilight was about to ask who Springer was, but Flash turned his attention towards the metal box that was nearby. "How's it coming, bud?" "Almost through," Twilight looked through the door and saw the robot dog she had seen earlier. "Once I'm in, I should be able to switch off the droids and manacles." The jedi both realised what the pair were up to, as the droids finally arrived on the scene. As soon as they were in sight, the machines started firing at them. Flash and the two charged forward, using their Lightsabers to shield themselves until they were close enough to start cutting the robots down. Flash used the same techniques he had before, catching the two's attention. "Form one?" Twilight asked, wondering where the heck this boy had learned a jedi sword form and become so proficient with it. It was clear from watching that his way of using it was slightly altered, but it was effective. "Who is this guy?" Her attention was then drawn back to the droids she was fighting, the girl using a slightly different style of sword fighting then Flash was wielding. The same was true for Shining Armor, who seemed to have a more steady fighting style. Instead of being fast and attacking in a flurry of motion, Shining's movements were more precise and he didn't waste energy with pointless movements. Twilight, whilst able to defend herself, clearly wasn't as good a sword fighter as Flash and Shining. In the time it took her to cut down one droid, the other two managed to beat three or four. Instead, she thrust her hand out and caused several droids to be thrown backwards by an unseen grasp. They each slammed into the walls and broke apart, Twilight then grabbing several other droids the same way whilst defending herself with her Lightsaber. Inside the box, Springer continued to work on breaking into the security system. And finally, he managed to do just that. "YES!" He cheered, "I'm into their systems. Now to switch off all the droids." The others heard this and expected the robots to fall to the ground. But what they didn't expect, was for the lighting above them to suddenly go off and for them to be dropped into complete darkness. Only the lights of their swords allowed them to see everything, whilst giving the droids a target to shoot at. "Springer!" Flash cried, barely managing to avoid the blaster fire. "Sorry," Springer called out as he tried to find the light controls again. It took a few moments, in which time the three were forced to fight blind, but he managed to get the lights back on. As he did, Flash managed to slide along the ground to avoid some lasers and cut the legs off several droids. This caused them all to fall and accidently shoot one another, whilst Twilight turned some of the droids around so they were pointing at each other as they fired. Shining managed to block several more blasts and as he was about to slice one in half, the droid's lights suddenly turned off and they all went dead. "Got it!" Springer cheered, as the robots all fell to the ground and were completely defenceless. Flash sighed as he switched off his Lightsaber and moved over to the box, Shining and Twilight following him as he jumped into the control room. "Way to go, bud. Now, try and switch off the manacles." "No problem," Springer smirked before the lights went off again. "Oops." The lights switched back on and after a few more beeps, he nodded. "There, the manacles should be deactivating." As he said that, he switched on several screens and they were shown security footage of the mine. And sure enough, the slaves all found their control manacles deactivating and falling off of them. The slaves looked shocked and quickly revelled in their freedom, whilst Shining noticed several apes in armor that did not look happy. "Does this control room have a way announce stuff throughout the whole mine?" "Um?" Springer began looking and nodded, "yes it does. There should be a microphone somewhere." They looked around and Twilight found it, holding it up for her brother to take. "Alright. Send this out on all channels." Springer looked to Flash, who nodded telling him to do as Shining said. Springer opened the channel and Shining began to speak. "Attention hostages. You may have noticed your manacles have been released. Please don't use this as an excuse to go nuts and rampage. If we're going to get you out of here, we need order." "What's he doing?" Flash asked Twilight, who smiled. "Establishing himself to them." "I am Shining Armor," the man continued. "Jedi Knight. I have come to help free you and that's what's going to happen. All of you, try and make it towards the entrance. And if there are any slavers who are down here, thinking you can regain control, then forget it. We won't let you get away with such an apoorant act. So do yourselves a favour and surrender." He put down the microphone as Springer continued to look through the systems. "I'm logged into their security feed. There's no monitors in here to show you, but the slaves are heading this way. And they're fighting back against the captors that are trying to regain control." "What about Ryduck and the other kids?" Flash asked, surprising Shining and Twilight. "Are they okay?" "I see them. They've been let out of the cages and are heading this way." Flash sighed in relief, then turned to the Jedi as they gave him a look. "Those kids all live in the same area as me. They were kidnapped and that's why I came. I was trying to save them." "They live on this planet?" Shining asked. "A bunch of the slaves lived here. The Storm Brigade have been terrifying the people living here for a while. And nobody's able to fight against them." "That's horrible," Twilight frowned. "Well don't worry. We're gonna free those kids and get them back home to their families." "Thanks," Flash nodded. "Though I doubt that'll keep them safe." This confused the siblings, "this entire planet's practically under the Storm Brigade's heel. So unless you Jedi are planning on taking them all down, these kids are gonna stay targets. Unless you're willing to take them and their families off planet." "They'd be willing to leave?" "They live in the slums," Springer stated. "Trust me, not a great place to live. If they could afford it, they'd have left this planet a long time ago." Flash nodded whilst the siblings shared a look, only for Springer to notice something. "We got problems." "What's wrong?" "The elevator's been called up. Some kind of master control is blocking me from stopping it. The Storm Brigade must be coming to try and regain control." "Great," Flash growled, "now what do we do?" "I'm not sure," Shining frowned. "That elevator up might be the only way to escape." "It might not be," Springer told them. "I'm looking through the mine's mapping systems and I think I've found a way out." "How?" "There's a large shaft located in section eight of the mine that goes in a steady incline for several miles. The end of the shaft is only a meter or so below the bedrock. If we break through it, we'll have a clear route to the outside." "Except for the few trillion tons of sand that would come raining down on us," Twilight points out. "There are a bunch of shafts coming off of this one that we can hide in. The force of gravity would push the sand passed those shafts and continue to fill the mine. We'd be safe and have a way out." "Then that's what we'll do," Shining grabbed the microphone as Springer opened the channel. "Everyone listen. We have a new plan. You have to get to the tunnel in section eight. It's blocked off now but we have a way to open it up. Get there, quickly." They waited as Springer watched through the security footage. "Looks like they got your message," Springer announced. "They're heading that way now." They nodded as Springer continued, "but the elevator's reached the top. The reinforcements will be here any minute." "Then let's not stick around," Flash stated. The others nodded and Springer unplugged himself from the computer, Flash letting him back on his back. Once he was in backpack mode, the three rushed out of the control room with Springer giving them directions on how to get out of there. "Question. You said you had a way to open the passage up. How?" Shining smirked before holding up one of his arms, showing he had some kind of wrist mounted computer on it. Pressing a few buttons, it formed a hologram of a ship. Outside the mine, hidden within the dunes of the desert, the ship Shining and Twilight had arrived on was parked. But suddenly, the ship's systems activated and the engines began to power up. The ship slowly began to lift itself off the ground, blowing the sand away as it did. One of the consoles then lit up with words appearing on it. 'Pilot Tracking System Online'. "The Shooting Star's on it's way." "The what?" "Our ship," Twilight explained. "When it reaches us, Shining will use the weapons on board to blast the tunnel open. Then we can escape." "But there's almost ten feet of sand between your ship and the rocks?" Springer pointed out. "Are its weapons gonna be enough to blast through that?" Twilight and Shining smirked at one another, only to then hear sounds coming from up ahead. As they turned a corner and arrived at a circular intersection, they saw a bunch of aliens running down several more corridors. When they saw them, the former captives held up the mining tools they now had as weapons and prepared to charge. "WAIT!" Shining cried, hoping to get as much of his voice to them. "I'm Shining Armor." The slaves looked surprised by this, Shining holding up his Lightsaber as if that was meant to prove them wrong. The slaves didn't look convinced, but then someone pushed their way to the front. "FLASH!" It was Ryduck, Flash's eyes going wide as he, Synch and several more of the children ran towards him. "Guys!" Flash ran out and hugged them, "are you okay? Those creeps didn't hurt you, did they?" They all shook their heads, Flash sighing in relief. "Okay. Now let's get you out of here and back to your parents." He stood up and turned to the slaves, "you can trust us. We're the ones who undid your manacles." The kids told them he was telling the truth. "Look, we're gonna get you out of here. But to do that, we're gonna need you to follow us." The slaves all shared a look, then turned back to them and nodded. "Alright," Shining stepped forward, "now let's get out of here. Springer, lead the way." Springer nodded and told Flash to head down one of the corridors, Flash running ahead of everyone as they made their way through the mine. As they did, several more slave groups joined them until they were a large group that was having trouble keeping ahead of whoever was coming after them. All they could do was hope whoever was leading this group, wasn't the smartest cookie in the tin. Back at the entrance, the elevator reached the bottom and opened up. The Storm Brigade's leader stepped forward, holding a large blaster in hand as he wore a bunch of strong looking armor. The rest of the ape creatures were also wearing similar devices, as the leader put on a pair of shades. When he did, they started glowing and allowed him to look through the walls of the mine. Eventually, he came across a large heat signature. "Ahh, there you all are." He charged up his weapon, "remember to keep them on stun. We don't want to do any permanent damage. I want these slaves back mining before the sun's up. Got it?" "YES SIR!" The cried before charging forward, ready to recapture their hard caught mining equipment. Springer continued to lead them through the mine until, eventually, they came to the opening of another tunnel and Springer stated that this was the entrance to the mine. "Alright," Flash stopped and turned to everyone. Shining and Twilight stepped up next to him, Shining holding up his computer. "Is it here?" "Should arrive in about one minute." Shining then turned to everyone else. "Listen up. This tunnel is closed off and we're gonna use our ship to blast a hole in it. When that happens, a whole lot of sand is gonna start pouring in here." This got the slaves worried. "Don't worry. We were told this shaft has several tunnels that you can hide in. We'll blast the mine open and let the sand pour in. Once that happens, everyone make a break for it. Okay?" They all nodded as Shining and Twilight began to lead the slaves up the path. But Flash stayed behind, looking around and catching sight of several strong looking slaves. "Hey, you guys need to stay behind!" The slaves stopped and looked at him, "it might take them time to get us out of here. If the Storm Brigade show up, they'll start blasting us. He have to give the others the time they need." The slaves all shared a look, clearly not happy about being the last one's out. But it was better then not getting out of there at all. So, they all nodded and stayed where they were. Eventually, the last of the slaves made it into the tunnel. Flash headed up it along with the other strong slaves, all of them holding their tools ready to fight. Up at the front, they reached the end of the tunnel and found it ended just like Springer had mentioned. "What now?" One of the slaves asked, as Shining checked his arm guard again. The ship should be right above him, the Jedi Knight turning to his sister and nodding. Twilight took a deep breath and sighed before placing her hand on the wall, the purple skinned girls focusing to reach out and connect to the sand. As she did, Shining changed the hologram to a screen. The image it showed was of a large plain of sand, this being footage from his ship's external sensor. As he watched, Twilight continued to focus. "What are you doing?" One of the slaves asked, only for Shining to smirk as he showed them the image. They all saw his gauntlet and watched as part of the desert began to move. "My sister's moving the sand away." More and more sand began to spread apart from itself, forming a circular hole in the desert. "Once the hole's big enough, we're gonna blast it with our ship." He looked down the tunnel, "everyone get inside one of the side tunnels. You'll need to protect yourself when we blast this place wide open." The slaves didn't argue and did just that, as Shining looked around for Flash and the others slaves. As the rest of the escapes began to file into the other tunnels, Flash and his group of strong slaves prepared themselves. Springer was sending out scans to tell when they were about to have company. And sure enough, one scan detected something. "They're coming." Flash activated his Lightsaber and stepped forward, as footprints filled the air and signalled their opponent's arrival. The leader of the Storm Brigade was at the front and when he saw Flash and his laser sword, his eyes went wide. "Jedi?" He started firing at Flash, who used his Lightsaber to block the laser. The others started firing as well, but Flash just kept blocking more and more of them. The others slaves wanted to help, but her forced to jump into a tunnel to prevent themselves from getting blasted. Flash could only remain on the defensive and as he did, the Storm Brigade got closer and closer. "Hurry up!" Flash yelled back to the others, hoping their little plan was gonna be underway soon. Twilight groaned as she forced more and more of the sand away from the rock. Shining watched the video and saw that the hole was almost big enough. "You've almost got it!" He told his sister, as the last of the sand was pushed away from the rock. "Alright, let it go!" Twilight did so, the pair hoping the sand wouldn't fall back atop the rock. "Let's get to safety." Twilight nodded and they ran down the tunnel, getting into the first side tunnel they could find. Shining activated the weapons systems on his ship and targeted the hole, making sure to charge them up as much as possible without making them explode. "Everybody ready?" Twilight called out, making Flash realise the blast was coming. "And here...we...GO!" Shining hit fire and the ship launched the lasers, which flew into the hole and exploded. At the same time, the entire mine shook violently. "What's happening?" The leader cried, only to hear a rushing sound. "What was that?" Flash deactivated his Lightsaber and ran into one of the tunnels, as the rushing sound got louder. Seconds later, sand exploded down the tunnel. Much like Springer had suggested, the angles of the tunnels meant that all the sand ended up rocketing down the main passageway. As such, the Storm Brigade quickly found themselves staring down a tsunami of sand that rolled towards them at forty miles an hour. They all screamed and tried to run for it, but the sand quickly caught up with them and they were pushed back down the way they came. The sand kept passing the other tunnels, so much so that those inside them fear the sand would end up settling and they would become trapped. But to their relief, the flow began to soften and the sand level slowly went down until the entrances to the main tunnel were clear. "Everyone okay?" Flash asked when he got out of his tunnel, with everyone else coming out and appearing no worse for ware. "Let's get out of here!" Shining cried, the others nodding before they began to rush up towards the exit. Flash stayed behind, focusing his attention back on the sand filled lower section of the mine. But once he was absolutely sure nobody was coming out to get them, he followed the slaves up the surface. What they didn't know, was that someone had managed to survive the sand tsunami. On the other side of the sand blocked tunnel, someone's hand exploded from the pile. This was followed by another hand, which clawed against the ground to pull the one they belonged to out of the sand. The leader of the Storm Brigade gasped as he managed to breath, pulling himself free of the sand and coughing. "They won't get away with this," he growled before taking out a communicator. "All ships, scan the area around my signal for any life signs above ground. Destroy them!" Twilight and Shining were some of the first out of the tunnel, the hole blown in the side of the mine allowing them to climb up using the sand ramps that had formed. As they got out, the Shooting Star a short ways away. Then they looked back at the tunnel that the slaves were flowing out of. "We can't fit all of them into the ship," Twilight pointed out. "You're right," Shining frowned. "Get the kids on board. I'll try and figure out what to do." Twilight nodded and started telling the children to make their way towards the ship, whilst Shining tried to figure out the best thing to do for the rest of the slaves. It was still night, but the sun would rise in an hour or two. If they didn't get these people someplace safe, they would either day of heatstroke, dehydration of be captured again when the Storm Brigade recovered. He watched as more and more slaves filed out of the tunnels. He then tried to find Flash, but the teen was nowhere in sight. Shining wasn't the only one who noticed Flash's absence, as Ryduck also noticed. He was waiting to board the ship, but was too worried about his friend. "What if he didn't get away from the sand in time?" He asked, deciding to head back towards the mine. However, halfway to it the person in question ran out of the cave. "Anyone else in there?" Shining asked him, Flash shaking his head. "Good. Now we just have to worry about what to do with all these people." "We sure could use some more ships," Flash sighed as he tried to think of what to do. But before he could, they all heard a sound that made them look up. Doing so revealed four ships flying towards them, all being about the same size as the Shooting Star. But they knew that this far away from civilization, they couldn't be friendly. And sure enough, the ships all opened fire. The lasers rained down on them, making the people scream and try to run. But the only place to run was back into the mine. Back into their prison. Flash and Shining both activated their Lightsabers, but realised the blasts from these ships were too powerful to block. Meanwhile, Twilight managed to get the kids on board the ship. There was only one that wasn't accounted for. "Where's my brother?" Synch cried, making Twilight look back. Ryduck was running for his life, the lasers exploding the sand around him as he tried to get back to the ship. But one laser hit the ground close to him, the shockwave knocking him flying. His screams filled the air and Flash heard them, the teen looking around and gasping when he saw who was in trouble. Twilight was about to run to him, but Flash got there first. "Come on!" He cried, but another ship launched a laser that flew straight towards them. He sensed this coming and looked up, right as the laser got in closer. Twilight gasped, flinching since she didn't want to see them be destroyed. But there was no explosion from that area, making her open her eyes. When she looked back, she was in for the shock of her life. For the laser was suspended right in front of the two, having formed a red orb that was vibrating right above them. She knew what this was, but it couldn't be possible. Shining was also shocked by this, the man looking over at his sister and trying to see if this was her doing. But it wasn't. In fact, the one who seemed to be doing it...was Flash. The teen's arm was out stretch, the orb floating right in front of his open hand. A look of great concentration could be seen on his face. "That's it, Flash!" Springer cheered, as Flash let out several grunts. And as another ship flew by, he roared before swinging his arm around. The orb moved with him, flying off in another direction and slamming into the ship. This caused it to explode against the vehicle and make it fall towards the ground, crashing into the sand as it did so. Flash fell to the ground in exhaustion, panting as Ryduck picked himself up. "Flash...how did you do that?" But before he could try to answer, another laser exploded near them as Shining rush up. "Come on!" He cried, grabbing their arms and pulling them towards the ship. Several of the escapees had fled into the ship, packing it full. "Twilight, activate the EMP field generator!" Twilight nodded and rushed into the ship, pushing through the people inside until she reached a section of the ship. She started flipping several switches, as Flash, Shining and Ryduck reached the ship and got inside as well. As soon as they did, Twilight activated something. An antenna extended from the top and when it did, it sent out a blast of energy that struck every other ship trying to blast them. When they did, those driving the ships found their controls going dead. They all cried out as they tried to regain control, but nothing worked. One by one, they crashed into the sand and slid through the dunes. They were all completely dead, now nothing more then just hunks of metal. With the laser rain stopping, the slaves once again began to leave the mine. Shining, Flash and Twilight all left their ship, Flash telling Springer to stay inside since it was the only place he wouldn't be shut down. They each looked around and saw the ships that had crashed around them, the pilots all beginning to pull themselves out of the ships. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Shining asked his sister, who nodded back. "What?" Flash asked. "Those ships should be able to carry all these people," Twilight explained as she took out her Lightsaber. "I think we should discuss compensation for what these Storm Brigade goons did to these poor people." Flash smirked, liking that idea. They all held up their Lightsabers, as the Storm Brigades pulled out their own weapons. And so, the three charged forward. Back at Klugetown, the families of the slums were trying to repair their damaged homes as best they could. They could only hope that by the time they were repaired, their children would be back. But they held little hope of this, given who Flash was going up against. They all knew it was more likely for them to never see Flash or any of their children ever again. And that broke their hearts. However, as the sun began to rise, one of them noticed something being illuminated in the distance. A ship. They all moved to the edge of the rock, as it flew closer towards them. And it wasn't alone, as a bunch of identical ships appeared behind it. The ships flew closer to Klugetown and whilst one remained level, flying only a few feet off the ground, the other ships took to the skies and flew higher and higher. Eventually, they flew out of sight whilst the first ship came to a stop right next to the rocks and landed on the sand. The people living in the slums watched in confusion, until someone stepped out of the ship. Flash Sentry walked out into the sand, looking up at the rock that he had called home for over two years. He saw his friends and neighbours, all staring down at him looking hopeful. He then smiled before looking back at the ship, as Ryduck and Synch walked out. This was followed by the rest of the children, making the parents scream seeing them. The adults quickly began climbing down the rope and when they reached the bottom, they ran to hug their children. "Oh, my babies!" The ortolan's mother sobbed as she held both her children, whilst the father turned to Flash. "Thank you." Flash smiled, "I'm not the one you should be thanking." He turned back to the ship, as Shining and Twilight stepped out. Shining walked forward, looking like a general about to address his troops. "Everyone, listen up." The slum livers focused on him, curious about who he was. "My Name is Shining Armor. I'm a Jedi Knight sent to investigate slavery going on on this planet. Be assured, that we're going to investigate these acts. But for now, the lot of you are still in a lot of danger." "Didn't you stop the Storm Brigade?" One of the men asked. "We stopped this group. But who knows how many more of them there are out there. Until we can be sure this slave trade has ended, there's a chance you could all be attacked again. That's why, I'd like to offer you the chance to leave this place." That statement shocked them all. "Your friend, Flash, told us how you would happily leave this place if you could. My sister and I are happy to give you transport off of this planet." "Where would we go?" One of the men asked. "Well we'll be heading straight to the Planet of Canterlot. The Jedi will be happy to house you until you can figure out what to do with your lives. You can either stay on Canterlot to try and make a life there, find transport to another planet, or try to make enough money to get your own ship and go wherever you want. It'd be up to you." The people all shared looks, the individual families beginning to discuss what they should do. Shining and Twilight returned the ship, Flash following them as Springer was still on board. After a minute or so, Ryduck and his family began to make their way to the ship. They got on board, the father speaking up. "We would like to go with you, if that's okay?" Shining nodded, as another family arrived and said the same thing. One by one, each of the slum living families agreed to get on board. "Looks like that's everyone," Flash smirked once the last group boarded. Twilight had gotten them all situated in the two cargo holds, since it would be a bit of a long voyage. The families didn't have much room in the two cramped spaces, but they were used to that sort of living. Shining was busy doing pre-space flight checks, the Jedi eyeing Flash and his Lightsaber as he did. He knew he should ask about it, but with everything that was going on he needed to focus. It appeared Flash intended to come with them, so there would be plenty of time to ask who he was. Twilight stepped out of the cargo holds and as she did, she spotted Flash and Springer looking around the ship. "Wow," he whispered, "this place is really awesome. Best ship I've been on." "It's nothing special," Twilight smiled. "how many ships have you been on?" "Including this one? Two that could actually fly." Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that. But before she could ask, Shining's voice called out. "We're ready to take off!" They looked around to see him heading towards the cockpit, the three of them heading there with him. Shining sat in the main pilot's seat with Twilight sitting next to him. Flash sat on a chair behind them as Springer pushed himself onto the last one, Shining activating the ship's power and causing the engines to power up. Flash smirked as he felt the ship vibrate, looking out the window to see the desert below moving away as they lifted out. This was gonna be a fun trip. Or so he thought. Suddenly, the console beeped and Shining barely had time to read the warning light before the entire ship rocked. An explosion occurred above them, likely caused by a laser hitting the outer huel. "What the heck?" Flash cried, "what was that?" They got another warning light and Shining reacted as fast as he could, hitting the boosters and making the ship rocket forward. Another laser flew down and would have hit them had they not moved, the blast instead making the sand explode. They all looked up and saw a ship flying above them, its gun trained upon them. It was another of the Storm Brigade's ships, the three realising they must have had more. But who was flying it?" "You're not getting away!" The leader of the Storm Brigade roared, as he opened fire on the ship. The Shooting Star managed to avoid these attacks, as it swerved back and forth and even did a barrel-roll. It attempt to get higher into the air, but he accelerated and the ship got above the freighter to block its rise. "You tried to make a fool out of me. You ruined my operation and put me in a very dangerous situation. You will make up for it when I throw you all down that mine." He fired again and hit several parts of the ship. The four held on as the ship rocked, Twilight getting several warning signs from her computer. "The shields are holding but we can't take another blast like that." Shining nodded, looking up to see the ship preparing to fire again. It only had blasters on the bottom of the ship, so they would be safe if they could get above it. But with this ship keeping them from doing that, they would have a hard time escaping. Unless... "Hang on!" He cried, pulling on of the leavers down. This caused the Shooting Star to rocket to a stop, causing the Storm Brigade ship to zoom ahead of them. He then punched it and the ship flew forwards and upwards, getting above the enemy ship before it could adjust itself. "Twilight, get us ready for hyperspace!" Twilight nodded as she started typing away at the console, plotting a course to their intended destination. But before she could finish entering the coordinates, the opposing ship spun around so its guns were pointed upwards and fired. The laser slammed into the bottom of the ship and caused several explosions, rocking the ship as alarms went off. "Uh oh," Twilight gulped. "What?" Shining asked. "That blast just took out our shield generator. If we enter hyperspace without a proper shield, we'll be ripped to shreds." "Can you fix it?" Flash asked. "Not from within here. If we wanna repair it, we'll have to land and go outside to do the repairs." The ship shook again, as another laser hit them. "Oh yeah," Flash nodded. "I'm sure that guy will let us take a ten minute break to fix up the ship he's trying to damage." The ship rocked again, "isn't there anything we can do?" Twilight frowned. "Not unless you know how to fix a shield generator, and have a way to keep yourself from falling off a moving ship being blasted at." It was then that a cough filled the air, making them look down and see Springer. They all realised what he was insinuating. "Can your droid really fix our engines?" Shining asked, Flash frowning at him for both doubting Springer and treating him like he was just some machine. "Yes I can." The droid leapt off the seat and floated down the corridor, Flash and Twilight going with him. And as Twilight took Springer to the ceiling hatch, Flash headed for the cargo hold. "What's going on?" Ryduck's father asked, as a the ship rocked again. "Our Storm Brigade friends can't seem to take the hint!" Flash cried, holding onto the side of the door to stop himself falling over. "Don't worry, we're gonna get you to safety. We promise." "You ready?" Twilight asked Springer, who stopped hovering as his feet glowed. "Magnetic clamps on!" He announced, Twilight nodding before she activated the hatch. A glass container dropped down from the ceiling, trapping Springer inside before he was lifted into the air. The hatch opened and he was pushed outside, the robotic canine praying his magnets were strong enough. Shining had flown back down towards the planet, having spotted a large rock field that he hoped to use to outrun the other ship. The Storm Vessel fired, but The Shooting Star swerved around a rock to avoid it. Springer pulled himself along the outer haul as he did, reaching the underside as Shining pulled up to avoid crashing into a large rock. "Careful!" Springer cried, the force of the wind almost pushing him off the ship. But he managed to reach the damaged area that had a large hole in it, the droid's body compartments opening up to unleash several tools that he started using to repair the damaged systems. Flash and Twilight returned to the cockpit, as Shining continued to try and escape this insane pilot. "Over there!" Flash then pointed to a hole in the rocks, "looks like a tunnel system." The siblings didn't like the idea of flying in a confined space, but another near miss made them decide to use it. Shining flew them into the entrance and sure enough, it was a tunnel system. But there was one problem. "I need a sonar sweep." "I'm trying," Twilight hit several buttons. "But that blast must have also damaged the sonar." The light from the entrance was fading. Soon enough, they would be in pitch darkness. If they didn't do something soon, they were gonna crash into something because they couldn't see. Flash was staring into the darkness and as he did, he sensed something. "Turn left!" Shining didn't argue and did so, turning enough to avoid smashing into the rock wall that had just appeared. "Right!" Shining did so again, bringing them into another tunnel as the storm vessel followed and tried to blast them. "Straight up!" Twilight looked back at him, shocked to see he had his eyes closed. He wasn't seeing through the darkness. 'The force is heightening his sense of direction,' Shining realised when he saw this to. 'That's hard to do, even for an skilled Jedi. Who is this kid?' "Left! Right! Turn us on our side!" Shining swerved them and they flew through a narrow passageway, the other ship doing the same. As this was happening, Springer was getting closer and closer to repairing the shield generator. "Almost done." The shipped rocked and he almost lasered the wrong part. "Do you mind? Droid trying to work here." A laser then nicked the ship again, doing a tiny amount of damage. "You guys better lose this guy before he breaks something else I have to fix." Flash could sense something up ahead and had an idea. "Get ready to shoot straight up." "When?" Shining asked, but Flash remained silent and felt out through the force. The siblings were impressed he could do this, since this wasn't something a Jedi with his experience should be able to master. But they could sense he wasn't going to let them down, so waited for him to speak. But as they did, the ship behind them fired a few more shots and almost hit them. If they didn't get out of its way soon, they were gonna take too much damage to even fly." The Storm Vessel began to draw in closer and closer, as the targeting sensors locked on to their main propulsion. "I have you now." "And," Flash extended as the pilot hit the trigger, "NOW!" Shining shifted the ship upwards and it curved, managing to get into a hole in the ceiling, seconds before the laser fired and exploded in front of the ship that had been chasing them. The smoke caused by the explosion blinded the pilot, stopping him from seeing the curve that was coming up. "WOW!" He cried at the last moment, pulling to the left but not before the side of his ship ground against the rock. As he did, several alerts came up. One of them saying his shield generator had been damaged. "NOOO!" He roared, attempting to get out of this rock and find his prisoners. The Shooting Star shot through the tunnel and as it did, a light appeared in front of them. A way out. "Yes!" Shining cheered, as Flash opened his eyes and Twilight smiled. As they did, an alert came up that caught their attention. The shield generator was back online. They could go to hyperspace. "Twilight, set a course." Flash got up and headed over to the hatch, stopping by each of the cargo holds and telling the others they would be off this planet soon. They all cheered for this, as he reached the hatch and opened it up for Springer. The droid was lowered down, the hatch closing as he did so. When he hit the ground, the glass retracted and Flash smiled at him. "Springer, you did it bud." He hugged him and Springer patted his shoulder with his head, showing his own joy. The ship shot out of the rock and flew straight up into the sky, breaking out of the planet's atmosphere. As they did, the storm vessel escaped through another hole. The ship scanned for the Shooting Star and found them in orbit, as its warp engines were beginning to power up. "NO!" The pilot shot up and tried to chase them. If he could get in close before they jumped, he could still blast them out of the sky. But before he could get close enough, the ship vanished in a whoosh of motion. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" As the Shooting Star flew through hyperspace, the children were in the cockpit staring at the majesty of it. They were all amazed and wanted to see more, but their parents told them it was time for them to rest after the busy day they had had. They all moaned, but were brought back to the cargo bay. Flash watched them go, happy that they were safe and could now start a new life somewhere better. And not just them. He knelt next to Springer and patted him on the head. "It won't be long now bud." Springer nodded. But before he could say anything, he noticed Shining coming up behind them and raising his hand. Suddenly, Flash's Lightsaber flew off his belt. The teen gasped as he felt his weapon fly into the hands of this stranger. "HEY! That's mine!" "This is the weapon of a Jedi," Shining stated. "You're skilled with it, sure, but you're not a Jedi." Flash glared at thim, along with the rest of the freed slaves. Twilight then stepped up to him. "You can use the force," she pointed out. Flash frowned as she carried on, "and you've been trained in saber combat. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were Jedi. But I don't know you. So who are you? And who taught you to use the force and a Lightsaber?" Flash remained silent for a moment, then knelt down and patted the droid on the head. Springer nodded and suddenly, the bone shape on his front opened up to reveal a compartment. And inside that compartment was some kind of flashdrive that Flash picked up. He stood up and moved over to the Jedi, holding the drive out to them. "My name is Flash Sentry. And you're right. I wasn't raised in your Jedi Temple. But I was raised to be a Jedi." Twilight took the drive and looked it over, realising it was meant to be placed in a holo-imager. "What's on this?" "I don't know," Flash shrugged. "It was given to me by my master. He told me that if I ever met a Jedi, I was to hand that to them with the instructions that it's meant for the Jedi High Council." "And who is your master?" Shining asked, crossing his arms. "A powerful Jedi that would have gone missing almost two decades ago. He was a member of the Council before he went missing. Master Grand Hoof." Shining and Twilight's eyes went wide, the pair clearly knowing that name. They looked at one another, then back at Flash. Clearly, there was more to this teen then they originally believed. What they didn't know, was that this meeting would affect their lives and the lives of many more in the galaxy. Many systems away. In a dark corridor, someone was marching through it towards a location. This figure was equestrian, based on their hooves and horn, but their features were hidden beneath black leather clothing that covered their entire body. Their head was covered by a black mask, with an forehead lump to hold their horn inside. On their belt was a black and gray Lightsaber, the figure walking with great purpose as they turned a corner towards a set of large doors. Guarding these doors were a pair of creatures that looked equestrian, but had insect wings and bits missing from their horns. They were wearing black armor over gray suits and carried long spears, the pair standing to attention as the figure approached. They didn't even give them a second glance, as they walked passed and pushed the doors open. These doors led to a large throne room, cloaked in darkness with only a few torches providing the little amount of light that filled it. And at the back of the room, a large throne sat atop a small staircase. And sitting upon that throne was a figure in dark black and gray armor, with a red cloak trailing down his back. The figure reached the bottom of the stairs and knelt, then spoke in a muffled voice. "Lord Sombra." The figure leaned forward, their face appearing within the light to reveal another equestrian. They were gray, with black hair and a red horn on their head. "Solara." The figure reached up and pressed something on the side of their mask, causing it to open up and allow them to pull it off their head. Doing so revealed a young equestrian woman with orange skin and flowing red and yellow hair. "Report." "One of the Storm King's mining operations has been compromised. Reports say that Jedi were the cause of the issue. I'm afraid all mining on Shikoya has ceased." The one named Sombra growled at this. "That fool was an idiot for using slaves on that planet. Should have used droids. He had better find a new source of ore and fast. I will accept no delays." The one named Solara nodded, "what of our other projects?" "No word yet from Tirek or Doom Raizer," she replied. "Chrysalis is currently completing the training of our next batch of soldiers. They should be ready within the month." "And what of Armalum?" "The last he checked in, he appeared to be on schedule. But I haven't heard anything from him since." Sombra nodded as he leaned back. "You had best be ready, Jedi. Soon, the sith shall rise and your old ways shall be left in the dust where they belong." He laughed at this, as the teen girl replaced her helmet. When it was in place, her eyes glowed red.