The volcanic planet was in a frenzy, as many ships and speeders were flying across the land.
The reason was because a group of criminals had been sent to the coliseum and seeing them fight to the death, was one of the best forms of entertainment they had on this planet. Once you went into the arena, the only way out was to be the last man standing. And even then, Wydorm could still melt you if he decided to.
It was currently night time and the battles would begin first thing in the morning. Now, all those fighting could do was sit and wait.
This included Shining, Iron and Skybreaker. The three Jedi were still trapped in their cell, unable to do anything except wait for their time to fight. But when that time came, they weren't sure they would be able to do anything.
Their night in the heat cells had really done a number on them. They were still dehydrated and they hadn't eaten anything in almost two days. They were running on empty.
"Still think Flash is gonna find a way to save us?" Iron asked, Shining frowning.
He wanted to argue, but his mouth was too dry and his stomach too empty. A part of him was starting to think Flash wouldn't save him. Had he simply left with Soarin to take the book back to Canterlot?
Suddenly, the doors opened and someone stepped inside. That somebody was a guard, who looked a little worried as they made their way towards the three. They were carrying three plates of food and as they reached the cell, they quickly placed the plates through a slot in the cell.
"Here," he told them, "eat up. You'll need all the strength you can get." The three rushed over and quickly started eating the food. "Be quick. I've gotta get those plates out of here before anyone else comes."
This caught Skybreaker's attention. "You're not supposed to be giving us food. So why are you?" The guard replied by removing his helmet and revealing who was hidden underneath.
"Flash!" Shining cheered. "Great. Get us out of here."
"I can't." Flash looked up at the cell's lock. Despite this place being rather old, the jail cell was cutting edge. An electronic lock he wouldn't be able to use The Force on, even if that suppression gem Skybreaker had wasn't causing him to be powerless at the moment. "I don't have a key. The head guard's the only one who has one and he constantly checks to make sure he has it."
"Great," Iron growled as he stuffed some food into his mouth. "So we're still stuck in here."
"Not for long," Flash stated. "Soarin and I are gonna get you out. We have a plan to free you guys. But it's gonna take some time." He looked around before taking out a large bottle of water, which he was just able to slot through the bars. As the three began to drink, Flash explained his plan.
"That's insane!" Skybreaker told him.
"I know. But you're gonna have to trust me. It's the only way to get out of here and not be chased all the way back to Canterlot." The three frowned, clearly not liking this idea. But they didn't have any choice.
"Alright," Shining nodded. "We'll trust you. But be careful."
Flash nodded and held out his hand. "Give me the suppression gem. You're gonna need every advantage you can get tomorrow."
"This thing has given us nothing but trouble," Iron stated. "Just throw it in the nearest lava pit you can find."
"We still need it," Skybreaker told him as he handed Flash the gem. "If we try to escape and they scan the ship on the way out, they'll know we're Jedi and blow us up. We need to keep our midi-chlorians down." Flash pocketed the gem and took the empty plates and bottle. "Alright, Flash, we're trusting you. We'll do what we can, but this had better work. If it doesn't, being trapped here will be the least of our worries."
Flash nodded and put his helmet back on before heading. The three caged Jedi could only watch, waiting for morning to come. But with their bellies full and their thirst quenched, they were able to get some sleep to make sure they were well rested for what was to come.
Flash continued to sneak through the coliseum, quickly disposing of the food and bottle before someone could see it.
Once that was done, he began to make his way out of the coliseum. He had finally found a map and had memorised it, so now he knew exactly where to go in order to get where he needed to be. So, stepping out the other side of the coliseum to where he had entered, he stepped up to the edge of the mot as the guards on the other side extended the bridge.
Once he was across, he made his way towards an area surrounded by several tall hills.
This area was surrounded by ships. Small transports designed to work by remote and autopilot. If the coliseum was damaged or attacked, the ships were meant to evacuate everyone in there.
He snuck down towards one of the ships, whilst using his gauntlet to contact The Wonderbolt. "Soarin? Soarin, are you there?"
"I'm here. You okay?"
"I'm fine." Flash found one of the ships was open and stepped inside, making sure nobody saw him as he entered. "Listen, I'm gonna send you some codes and you need to reprogram Pixel to make it your new identification code."
"What? Why?"
"This coliseum apparently has some anti-aircraft cannons. If you fly too close to the coliseum, you'll risk being blown up." He sat at the controls and started typing away at them, eventually coming across the ship's identification codes. "the cannons are programmed to ignore certain codes. One of which I am sending to you right now."
"But I don't know how to reprogram my identification code."
"Springer does. Just give him these codes and he'll be able to reprogram the ship's code. Just be sure not to delete your old one, or getting out of here will be impossible. If we run into a border patrol ship, we need to have the same code we came in with. Otherwise, they'll know we changed it. And there's never a good reason for changing a ship's identification code."
"Got it. Are you sure this is gonna work?"
"Not really," Flash frowned. "But it might be the only way we all get off this planet. Either we all escape, or we all end up dead. It's just as simple as that." Soarin said nothing, clearly not liking the idea of being killed. "At least you're in the safest spot. If things don't turn out right, you'll still have a chance to get out of here. Get the book we took to the Jedi Council and tell them what happened. They may even believe you about the deal we made."
"I don't care about the deal we made. If I leave you guys, I might never be able to look at myself in the mirror again. I care about staying alive, but living with a bunch of guilt isn't something I'll enjoy. So you'd better survive this. Understand?"
Flash smirked. "Understood. Don't worry, I have no intention of dying today. Flash out." He cut the call, whilst also sending over the codes he would need. Now he had a bunch of work to do, which he needed to complete before sunrise.
Morning came and everyone looking forward to seeing the carnage had arrived.
The coliseum quickly began to fill, the crowd cheering as they waited for the fun to begin. Vendors were even walking around, selling alien food that looked like something a nerf would vomit up on a stick.
In the VIP box, Wydorm entered and sat down. As he did, several people that worked for him stepped up. "Still no sign of Rimarun?" They shook their heads, which made Wydorm frown. "We may have to assume that he is no longer with us. If that's the case, we'll make these criminals' deaths the punishment for his loss."
"Yes sir," they nodded as Wydorm stared down at the arena. It wouldn't be long before they tasted justice.
Skybreaker, Iron and Shining had been led out of the cells and taken to another area.
When they arrived, the head guard turned to them. "Get yourselves kitted out. The people want a good fight." They glared at him. "And don't think you're getting out of it. The only way out of this room leads out into the arena. And if you refuse to exit, we'll fill the room with poisonous gas."
"Really have all your bases covered, huh?" Shining smirked, as the guards opened the door and threw them all inside.
They looked around and saw the room was full of basic armor and old weapons. "Not exactly the latest in high tech gear." Iron picked up a spear and tested it out, "balance is all wrong."
"They don't want us to survive," Skybreaker picked up an axe. "Just live long enough to put on a good show." He grabbed some armor and tested it out. "We have to buy time for Flash's plan to work."
"And if it doesn't?" Iron was still unsure if this idea would actually work.
"Then let's show them they made a mistake messing with us." Shining picked up a shield and drew a sword. The other two nodded and got to work, finding the best armor that would fit them and testing the weapons to make sure they wouldn't break. Eventually, they were all wearing body armor, helmets and shin guards. It wasn't the best, but they should at least survive.
Back outside, Flash was making his way through the coliseum. He needed to make sure everything was ready for when he made his move.
He stepped out into the seating area and looked up towards Wydorm, as the alien leader of the planet picked himself up and moved to the front of the box. "Today, we have an event that I'm sure nobody will forget. Several criminals, apprehended in an attempt to steal our planet's secrets. They've admitted to being in league with filthy Jedi, coming here to steal information for them."
The people booed at this, Flash frowning as the gate began to open.
"Now," Wydorm continued, "we will enjoy their futile attempts to survive against the coliseum's host of different obstacles." Flash looked down and saw his friends, the trio stepping out into the area decked out in terrible armor and carrying things that barely passed for weapons.
The crowd booed again, Shining, Iron and Skybreaker looking around to take in their environment and make a plan. They seemed to be saying something, but Flash couldn't hear them. Hopefully, whatever was waiting for them to fight wouldn't be too much of a problem.
He shook his head and continued towards his target. The faster he completed the job, the less time those in the arena had to fight.
Wydorm looked down at the Jedi, who stared up at him. "Criminals. I am a lenient man. Give up the location of your conspirators and I will allow you a simple and much less painful death."
"Nice try," Skybreaker told him. "But you'll have to try harder to scare us." Wydorm sighed and sat back, waving his hand to show he was done trying to get info out of them.
The servants spoke to someone on the radio and the far gate began to open, the three Jedi readying their weapons as it rose upwards. As it did, a roar could be heard coming from the gate. The three stood ready, as more roars filled the air. They quickly realised that whatever they were fighting, there wouldn't be just one of them. Shining lowered the face plate on his helmet and held up his shield, wanting to be ready if something flew at them.
Suddenly, a trio of four legged creatures shot at. They were wolf-like in appearance, but had a tail more akin to a scorpion with a long blade on the end of it. They quickly started racing towards the three, who readied their weapons to fight against them.
But suddenly, they all shot to the side. One went one way and the others went the other way, the three picking up speed as they circled around them.
This forced the three to stand back to back, Skybreaker and Shining raising their shields whilst Iron held his spear at the ready to strike. Then, one of the creatures shot forward and tried to claw at Skybreaker.
He managed to use his shield to block, but the creature's tail then shot down and almost stabbed him. However, he was able to deflect with the side of his axe before swinging it downwards. The blade's tip cut into the wolf's head as it pulled away, creating a small cut that made the beast roar in pain.
It staggered back, a long cut running down its head. But nothing that would kill it right away.
Another wolf charged at Iron and the Padawan swung his spear along the ground, causing a cloud of dust to form between them. And when the wolf flew through it, the dust got in its eyes and blinded it.
Iron ran over and as the creature tried to get the dust out of its eyes, he thrust his spear towards it.
But the wolf seemed to smell or hear him and leapt back, only to fall into the centre trench and roar as it disappeared. But Iron leaving the others had made him open to being attacked by one of the other two wolves, the uninjured one charge with its blade tail ready.
Shining saw this and leapt in front of Iron, his shield blocking the blade but getting a serious dent from the impact.
He pushed the tail away and kicked the creature in the face, knocking it back and allowing Iron to thrust his spear into it. A mighty howl filled the air, as the creature quickly succumbed to the injury and fell to the ground. Those in the stands booed, as Skybreaker spread his wings.
He took to the air, happy to see his time in the heat cell hadn't damaged his robotic wing. But as he flew higher, he looked up and felt something above him. An energy field of some kind.
He tapped his axe against it and a force field suddenly appeared, being projected over the entire arena. Makes sense, given how many alien races had wings. There would be no flying out of there until the energy field was brought down.
Skybreaker glanced at Wydorm and noticed several guards armed with blasters, all of which were pointed at him.
He flew back down, as the two remaining wolves attacked Iron and Shining. But both were able to fend them off and when the one Skybreaker hurt tried to stab Shining, he blocked with his shield and swung his sword to try and cut the tail off.
The creature jumped back, but Skybreaker took the chance and threw his axe down.
The weapon embedded itself into the creature's back, making it howl in agony as Shining took the opening and stabbed it in the chest. Skybreaker flew down and pulled the axe out of its back, right as Iron tripped and fell to the ground.
The wolf leapt on him and he barely managed to raise his spear, using it to keep the beast from biting his face off.
It roared at him, as it pushed down harder and harder. But Iron used every bit of his strength and threw the creature off of him, right as Skybreaker threw the axe and stabbed the creature in the chest.
It fell back, unable to fight anymore due to its wound. Skybreaker then flew down and used his axe to put it out of its misery, as the crowd booed.
Wydorm stared at them, clearly interested in their skill. "No matter. They'll fall eventually. We just have to keep pushing them." He ordered the next round to start.
The blood was barely dry on their weapons, when the gate began to open once again.
The Jedi nodded at each other, not wanting to be surrounded like before. So before their next opponent could rush out, the three ran over to a different hole and climbed down into the tunnel. The crowd booed at this, calling them cowards as they waited for the next fight to begin. And soon enough, a bunch of round droids came flying out of the gate.
There were around twelve of them and each one looked like a mechanical eye, with arms on the side holding drills, buzz-saws and other tools that would be dangerous in the wrong hands.
The eyes began flying around the place, scanning it for any signs of life. The crowd yelled out at them to look in the holes, but the machines either couldn't hear them or wouldn't listen. All they did was keep scanning the place, with one eventually moving to scan the tunnel.
But before it could complete the scan, Iron's spear came flying out and stabbed its camera.
The Padawan leapt out and used the drone to smash two more down, then swung his spear around to send the machine flying off the end and crashing into another. This was when Shining and Skybreaker leapt out, both using their shields to destroy a drone's camera.
Without the camera, the drones just kept flying around out of control. Two even crashed into each other.
The crowd continued to boo, as the three dodged the drills and buzz-saws before attacking with their own weapons. The drones soon dropped like flies and the three were once again standing back to back, panting as they saw the final machine hit the ground.
No sooner was the last drone destroyed, did the gate open up and the three turned to it. They had no idea how many more opponents they had to face. But they hoped Flash would start that plan of his before it was too late.
Flash walked through the stadium, having spent the entire fight heading from one section to the next.
He spotted his next target, a guard dressed just like him. He nodded to the guard, who was standing watch over an area of the stadium. "Sup." The guard nodded back, as Flash focused all his concentration on the guard. "You will leave the stadium and not come back for the rest of the day."
The guard tilted his head. "I will...I will."
Flash doubled his efforts, feeling a stronger will than the others. "You will leave the stadium and not come back for the rest of the day."
"I will...leave the stadium and not...come back for the rest of the day." He began to head towards the exit and Flash sighed, glad that had worked. He had managed to get a good number of guards to leave the place, meaning there wouldn't be as many people to fight off when this happened.
Eventually, he found the room he was looking for and headed inside. When he did, he found himself staring at a large machine that was humming and buzzing with energy. "Perfect." He stepped forward and started examining how the machine was designed. "Gotta rewire this without causing it to shut down." If he didn't and someone noticed the field was done, he would be in serious trouble.
After a few minutes of looking over the controls and circuitry, he had a fair idea how the machine worked.
As such, he carefully pulled out one of the wires and jammed it into a new place. This was followed by a second wire, then a third, fourth and fifth. He had to be careful which wire he yanked out, since pulling out the wrong one could cause the field to expand and crush his friends.
He slowly completed more and more of his alterations, wishing Springer was there to double check his work. But since he wasn't, Flash had to trust in his own skills to get it done. "Hold on guys. I'll get you out of there as soon as I can."
Shining had lost count of how many opponents they had faced.
After the drones, they found themselves fighting a giant praying mantis monster. After that, it was a large bird that spat acidic drool. There were more monsters, but Shining was too exhausted to properly remember them all.
The three stood there, exhausted after defeating so many opponents. They were thankful Flash had given them food and water the previous night, since there was no way they could have survived this long without them.
A bunch of drones were currently cleaning the field, picking up whatever remained of those the three had already defeated. It gave them a minor rest, but the machines worked fast and were soon finished cleaning the field of everything except them.
As the last droid left, Wydorm picked himself up and spoke to them. "I'll admit, you've impressed me. Nobody has ever survived this long within the arena. None without losing body parts, anyway." The three had some minor cuts and bruises, but nothing they couldn't heal from. "But now, I'm afraid your time is drawing near."
"How many more opponents do we need to beat to get out of here?" Shining asked, as Wydorm laughed.
"You seem to be misinformed. You're not fighting for your freedom. You're fighting to survive. And you'll keep fighting until you can fight no longer. And against this next opponent, I believe that'll be soon." He sat back down, as the gate began to open up again.
As it did, something large and heavy started moving towards the arena. "Whatever comes out of there, we can take it." Iron and Shining nodded, as their opponent busted his way through the gate.
"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" It was the tiger alien, kitted out in his own armor and carrying a large mace in one hand and morning star in the other.
"Oh," Skybreaker's confidence wasn't so high anymore.
The tiger man saw them and smiled. "Oh, this is too perfect." He pointed his weapons at them. "They told me if I killed you, I'd be let off. Knowing that it's you, I'm gonna enjoy this even more." He let out another roar before charging, swinging his morning star around as he did.
The Jedi all leapt to the side, Skybreaker flying up whilst Shining jumped down into the trench and Iron pointed his spear at the beast. The tiger swung its mace around and Iron was able to dodge it at the last moment, whilst thrusting his spear towards the tiger's arm.
But whilst it stabbed into his flesh, the impact was too much for the staff and the wooden handle broke apart. "Useless!" Iron cried, as the tiger roared in pain and was forced to release his mace.
He staggered back and used his teeth to grab onto the spear, pulling it free of his arm before spitting it out. He glared back at Iron, who managed to pick up the mace. But it was so big, he needed both arms to carry it. No way was he going to be able to swing it around successfully.
As such, when the tiger swung the morning star around, all Iron could do with the mace was hold it up defensively.
The impact sent Iron flying back and he crashed into the ground, sliding along it and almost falling into one of the holes in the arena floor. He groaned, as the tiger prepared to attack him again.
But before he could, Skybreaker flew down and aimed an axe slash towards the tiger's back. But the beast man leapt to the side to avoid the attack, as Shining leapt out of the trench and swung his sword towards the tiger's head.
The beast used the chain of his flail to block the blade, as Skybreaker helped Iron to his feet. Shining was forced to back off, for fear of losing his only weapon like Iron had. The three glared at the tiger, who could still use his stabbed arm despite all the blood pouring out of it. They weren't sure how much longer they could keep this up. If Flash didn't do something soon, they would all be in trouble.
Back in the field generator room, Flash had finally finished rewiring the generator. If he had done it right, Wydorm would be in for a surprise when he tried to flatten his friends.
Flash quickly activated his gauntlet and managed to connect to The Wonderbolt. "This is Flash. How far are you guys from the stadium?"
"We're about a minute or so away," Springer replied. "You ready to do this?"
"As I'll ever be," Flash nodded as he made his way towards the VIP box. Along the way, he arrived at the spot he had hidden the Jedi suppression stone. He wished he didn't still need it, but he would have to do the rest of this without using The Force. "Let's do this." He arrived at the door and with all his strength, managed to kick it open.
Wydorm, his servants and the guards in the booth all jumped at the sudden intrusion. Flash used this surprise to knock out the two guards in the room, grabbing their blasters before pointing them towards Wydorm.
The alien slowly stood up and took out his death stick. "Let me guess. You're a friend of those three in the stadium."
"That's right," Flash nodded. "And you're gonna let them leave."
"And how do you intend to do that?" Wydorm asked. "You think holding me at gunpoint will mean I'll let your friends go? Hardly. You're not the first person to try that. I'm not afraid of dying." Flash smiled, as a noise filled the air. "What?"
Everyone looked up to see The Wonderbolt, flying over the coliseum.
"Why isn't that thing getting shot down?" Wydorm asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. "I'll blow this place up before they have a chance to escape." Flash looked worried, as The Wonderbolt's docking ramp opened.
Soarin leaned out of the ramp and threw a rope down, only for it to hit the barrier keeping the fighter inside the stadium.
Wydorm laughed at the sight of this. "Nice try, but your friends aren't getting out of here. And your ship will soon be a giant pile of flying scrap." He took something else out of his pocket and pressed it, the energy shield coming visible as the command was sent to lower it so the warriors were pinned to the ground.
But then, to Wydorm's shock, the shield completely vanished. "What happened?" One of the servants asked, as Wydorm looked shocked.
The Jedi all looked up and saw the shield vanish, causing the rope to fall down even lower. Not so low that it hit the ground, but still low. "That's our cue!" Shining stated, as he and Skybreaker threw their weapons towards the tiger.
The beast man leapt back, barely avoiding getting stabbed, as Skybreaker grabbed the pair and lifted them into the air.
"STOP THEM!" Wydorm roared, but discovered many of his guards were gone. "What's happening!" He watched, as the three reached the rope. Iron and Shining grabbed onto it, whilst Skybreaker flew up to the ship. As he did, Soarin pointed his blasters down and fired at anyone who tried to fire at them.
Wydorm growled and turned back to Flash, only to see the Padawan throw something at him.
That something was a disk, which struck his hand and knocked the detonator control out of his grasp. Flash then ran forward and leapt out of the booth, grabbing the detonator and landing on the extending hoverboard.
Wydorm glared at him, as Flash held up the detonator and pressed the button.
A massive explosion rocked the entire coliseum, as Flash reached the rope and grabbed hold of it. The stadium shook before the whole thing suddenly fell several meters, the only thing holding it up having been destroyed.
The stadium smashed into the bottom of the mote and just as Wydorm had said, the bottom shattered and lava began to spill out.
The tiger alien watched his enemies climbing up a rope, only to then feel an incredible amount of heat coming from the ground. This made him look down and see the trench of the stadium begin to fill with lava, which spilled out onto the battlefield as the rest of it began to melt.
Realising how much trouble he was in, the cat ran over to the wall and leapt up. Digging his claws into the side, he pulled himself upwards until he reached the top.
The audience began to panic as well, whilst the Wonderbolt started pulling away from the stadium. Wydorm saw this and glared at the ship, then used a device in the room to speak out to the stadium. "Everyone relax. The ships we have for evacuation should already be on their way."
Sure enough, a transport ship had appeared close to The Wonderbolt. It looked ready to start gathering the audience, but then one of the anti-aircraft cannons took aim and fired. Everyone was in for a shock, when the ship was completely destroyed. And as more ships approached, the cannons took aim and fired.
"What?" Wydorm cried, then glared up at the person currently climbing up the rope out of his stadium.
Flash panted, as he pulled himself up the rope. Shining and Iron had reached the top and were waiting for Flash to get there before the ship shot off. But as the arena filled with lava, the heat began to rise and Flash found himself starting to sweat. And the shockwaves from the exploding ships didn't make things easier.
As he got closer to the ship, he suddenly felt the rope move. "WOW!" He cried, almost losing his grip and holding on for dear life. He looked down and was shocked to see Wydorm, who had somehow jumped the large distance and reached the rope. The alien growled up at Flash, as he began to climb up and looked angrily at him.
"I won't let you get away!" He cried, climbing higher and higher. He was climbing much faster than Flash was and would soon reach him.
"I got this!" Soarin pointed his blaster at the man, but the rope was wobbling too hard for him to get a lock. "Damn it! Can't get a clear shot."
"There's gotta be something we can do!" Iron yelled, as Soarin suddenly had an idea.
Wydorm was only a few feet away from Flash and as they both got closer to the ship, he reached out to try and grab Flash's boot. "Do you realise what you've done? There's no way we'll get everyone out of the stadium in time. You've sent them all to their deaths."
Flash looked down and saw that more of the stadium was being filled with lava. The audience had managed to get to the top of the stadium, with one side of it leaning against the edge of the mote. They started climbing out, but there was only so much space there for everyone to escape with.
Wydorm glared at him. "You're responsible for all this pain, fear and destruction. And I won't let you get away with it. You're no better than those filthy Jedi."
"I am a Jedi!" Flash announced, as he dodged another swipe from Wydorm. "And I'm not proud this had to happen. But if it was the only way to save my friends, then I'll learn to live with it."
"You won't have to for very long. I'm going to throw you into this lava and the rest of your friends will share your fate."
"I don't think so!" They both looked up and saw Soarin, who was holding something in his hand. A vacuum device. "You can have your friend back!" Soarin threw the device down and Skybreaker leapt out of the ship with it, Flash smiling as he swung around and let go of the rope.
Wydorm saw this and before he could do anything, the vacuum slammed into him and he was thrown down towards the lava.
At the same time, Skybreaker caught Flash and used all his strength to lift him up to the ship. The damage done to his wing made carrying more than himself for too long a challenge, but he managed to get to the ship just before the servos gave out.
Shining and Iron caught them both and pulled them in, as the ramp closed and the ship began to fly off.
Wydorm and the vacuum fell more and more, the vacuum having bounced off Wydorm and shifted its direction to a more diagonal path. This caused it to hit the side of the coliseum and shatter, resulting in the being inside becoming free.
Rimarun exploded into a large cloud of shadows, which swirled around out of control before retaining his humanoid form. But Wydorm wasn't so lucky and with one final scream, he fell into the lava.
Rimarun saw this and looked away, not wanting his last memory of his boss to be him melting to death. His scream of agony would always remain with him, though, and he looked up towards the ship that was now flying away. He glared at them, swearing revenge. But first, he had to escape the lava. As such, his body morphed into a shadow that raced along the ground.
He eventually reached the crowd, as more and more of them were fighting to try and escape.
Rimarun reached this crowd and unleashed a bunch of tentacles, which wrapped around the people at the back and lifted them into the air. He kept doing this, carrying more and more people into the air as he approached the edge of the coliseum.
When everyone was raised by one of his tendrils, he moved over the rock that made up the coliseum's wall and stretched the tendrils towards the edge of the mote. Once there, he started dropping people and eventually, everyone except him had escaped.
And as the lava engulfed more and more of the stadium, Rimarun merged all his tendrils together and transferred the rest of himself over to it. Eventually, the last piece of his retracted into the rest of him and formed a humanoid shape.
Everyone turned towards the stadium, which melted more and more into the new lava pool. And as it did, the lava started spilling over the sides. "We have to leave this area!" Rimarun announced, with nobody ignoring him. They all began to run towards their speeders and ships, as one of them turned to Rimarun.
"Where's Wydorm!?" They had been so focused on escaping, nobody had noticed what had happened.
"He's dead!" The shadow being pointed to the sky. "Those Jedi killed him." Everyone gasped, shocked that they were Jedi and shocked they had killed their planet's leader. "They killed him for attempting to bring them to justice. They attempted to kill us for simply being here. Those monsters are now attempting to flee, stealing our secrets."
The crowd roared in outrage, as Rimarun stared up at the spot the ship had disappeared to.
"You won't get away with this. I'll find a way to make you all pay. I swear it."
Up on the ship, everyone was feeling the exhaustion of the last few days.
They knew they couldn't relax. Not until they left this sector and got back home. "You might wanna take it easy," Springer stated. He was watching Iron, Shining and Skybreaker, as they drank as much water as they could possibly drink. "It's a long way back to Canterlot and I don't trust this ship's water recycler to restock our supply."
Iron turned to him. "You spend a night in a heat cell, barely get any sleep and fight in a death match, then get back to us about how much water we use." Springer shook his head, as he returned to the cockpit.
There, Soarin was doing his best to get as far away from the planet as possible. "You guys think we'll be okay?"
"I'm not sure," Flash replied. "I'm hoping everyone was so focused on getting out of the stadium, they won't be able to come after us until we're long gone. But all it'll take is one of those guys to have a communicator and we could have a whole fleet coming after us."
"Flash is right." Skybreaker stepped into the room, carrying a large bag of chips. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible. Soarin, what's this ship's top speed out of hyperspace?"
"Hold on." Soarin grabbed a leaver and pushed it forward. The next thing everyone knew, the ship was rocketing forward and they almost fell over. "Heading for the closest hyperspace corridor now." He started scanning for one, whilst the others picked themselves up. "But we're still a good way away. We might not make it to the corridor before a ship finds us."
"We'll deal with that when it comes up," Skybreaker announced. He then turned to Flash, "you did manage to get our Lightsabers, right?" Flash nodded and gestured to the area they had kept the blades, Iron and Skybreaker heading over there. At the same time, Springer opened his compartment and Shining retrieved his Lightsaber.
Having his weapon back in his hand made Shining feel much more comfortable, the Jedi quickly attaching it to his belt. As he did, he noticed Flash looking a little sombre. "You okay?"
"Jedi are supposed to protect life," Flash replied. "We're supposed to be the ones keeping the peace and allowing everyone to live together. But do I have the right to call myself that, after what I did? Because of me, who knows how many people burned to death."
"Flash," Shining frowned, "you didn't have a choice. Yes, I wish there'd been another way to get us out of there. But it's clear, Wydorm wanted to make sure we couldn't get out of there. Blowing the place up was the only option. If you hadn't, people would have stormed the arena trying to stop us."
"I guess you're right. But still. I'm gonna be carrying this for the rest of my life."
"Join the club," Shining replied. "Every Jedi's done something they're not proud of. Sometimes it's a mistake they had to carry and learn from. Other times, it's something they had to do for the greater good. It's like Celestia once told you. We're not gods. We make mistakes. What matters is that we learn from them. It's carrying these mistakes that'll help you become the Jedi you want to be. It keeps you humble and makes you wonder if your idea is a good one."
Flash nodded, understanding what he meant by that.
But before anyone could say anything else, the entire ship suddenly lurched forward. "WOW!" Flash almost fell over, as Soarin worked to get the ship back under control. "What was that?" The ship lurched again, as warning lights came on. "Soarin?"
Pixel's screen suddenly appeared and started yelling things in Soarin's face. "We're being attacked!"
Iron and Skybreaker arrived, as the ship lurched again. "Someone's blasting at us!" Iron cried, as Springer connected to the computer systems and changed Pixel's screen. Doing so showed the image from one of the ship's rear view cameras. And there, it showed the ship that had scanned them the first time they had arrived.
"What do we do?" Flash asked, as the ship fired another shot.
But Soarin wasn't letting it shoot up his ship again. He made the ship do a barrel roll, the Jedi all crying out as they were thrown around the cockpit. It had allowed them to escape getting hit, those the Jedi's eyes swirled and some looked a little nauseous.
Skybreaker pointed at him. "Don't...do that...again."
"Well then you'd better get to the blasters and stop that guy from firing at us again." They frowned at this, since they doubted The Wonderbolt's weapons were in any better state than the rest of the ship. But seeing that they had no other choice, Shining and Flash rushed towards the area where the ship's asteroid cannons were located.
Flash climbing up to the top of the ship, found the blasters were similar to the ones on The Shooting Star. This meant he was able to quickly figure out how they worked and powered them up, Shining doing the same with the bottom blasters.
The cannons folded out and the two started firing at the ship, which showed itself to be much more agile than The Wonderbolt. As they fired, the ship zigged and zagged, weaved and even did its own barrel roll. Nothing they did allowed them to hit the ship, making them frown.
"This guy's one heck of a pilot," Shining stated. The ship replied by shooting at them again, Flash and Shining choosing to blast its lasers so they wouldn't hit them. The lasers slammed against one another and exploded, creating a shockwave that pushed The Wonderbolt forward and caused the ship to lose control.
They hoped that would cause the ship to crash into something, but the pilot soon regained control and kept up the chase.
"How much further until we're out of the sector?" Shining cried, but Soarin didn't answer. That made Shining think they were still a ways away from getting out of there, meaning they had to keep this ship off them for a while.
Flash also thought that and as he looked around, he spotted a bunch of asteroids off in the distance.
He quickly turned his blaster in their direction and fired, hitting one of the ones at the back and destroying it. The explosion knocked the asteroids flying, many in the direction of the other ship.
Said ship began flying around them, focusing its blaster fire on the rocks and allowing The Wonderbolt to fly further and further away. "Nice one, Flash!" Shining cheered, Flash smiling as he continued to watch the ship attempt to escape the onslaught.
Eventually, the last asteroid was destroyed and the ship found itself a few hundred miles away. Soarin was able to push the ship back to full speed, as the other ship worked to catch up. But as it did, Shining spotted some more rocks close by and followed Flash's example.
He fired at them and the rocks were blown towards the ship, which was focused to shoot them down or stop to wait for them to pass. The Wonderbolt gained more ground because of this and Soarin found a hyperspace corridor, which wasn't too far away. "We're almost there!" He cried. "Just a few thousand more miles."
"Throw some more asteroids their way!" Skybreaker cried, but Flash and Shining couldn't see any more asteroids.
"What do we do?" Flash called out, as the ship began to gain on them again.
"Just keep firing." Shining shot at the ship and Flash followed suit, the two trying their best to keep the ship as far away from them as possible. But the ship still managed to avoid all the blasts whilst catching up to them.
All the two could do was keep firing at the ship, focusing on keeping the lasers it was firing from hitting them. But one managed to hit part of the ship's thruster and the Wonderbolt suddenly started losing speed.
"Not good!" Soarin cried, as he tried to push the ship back to full speed. But they just kept going slower and slower. "Do something!"
Flash and Shining both panicked, as they tried to think of a way to stop it. And as the other ship fired at them again, Shining saw an opening. "FLASH! Blast those lasers!" Flash did just that and as the lasers collided, Shining fired his own shots in a circle.
When the lasers collided, they exploded and the ship moved to avoid the shockwave. But in doing so, it flew into the path of the laser circle. Before the pilot could respond, one laser struck it and an explosion sent the ship flying off in a random direction. It wouldn't blow, but the smoke coming off the ship indicated that it was in a bad way. They wouldn't be following them for a while.
"Got em!" Flash cheered, the others sighing in relief.
Soarin smiled, as Pixel appeared to tell him something. "We've just passed the sector border. We're out of Cabraille." Another sigh of relief filled the ship, as The Wonderbolt continued to fly at its weakened speed. Luckily, the damaged thruster wasn't needed to go to hyperspace.
The rest of their journey was pretty uneventful. There were no other ship attacks before they reached the corridor and once in the light-speed river, they were home free.
The trip back to Canterlot was long and several times, they heard a sound in the ship that made them worry they would explode. But eventually, they arrived back at the planet and Springer uploaded the ship's original identification code.
They flew straight to the temple, Skybreaker giving Soarin clearance to land there and get his ship fixed up.
As soon as they arrived, they were met by several members of the Jedi Council. Celestia was one of them and as soon as she saw the state they were in, she had them sent straight to the Medical Centre before they could even show her the book.
And that was how Flash found himself laying on a hospital bed, Fluttershy using a scanner to make sure he was okay. "I'm fine," he assured her. "The others are the ones you need to worry about. Compared to them, nothing really happened to me."
"Maybe," Fluttershy told him, "but you're still running low on a few key vitamins and proteins. You said you've spent the last few days in a flurry of activity?" Flash nodded. "That explains it. You've barely eaten or had any sleep. You need to spend the next few days recovering before you can be cleared for active duty. But you're right. Compared to the others, you're fine."
Sitting atop another bed, Shining Armor was being cared for by Cadance.
The omni Jedi smiled at her patient, as she hooked an IV drip up to him. "Of course you found a way to end up in a coliseum, fighting a bunch of monsters in a hundred degree environment."
"What can I say," Shining smiled. "It's a gift." Cadance rolled her eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him. Iron and Skybreaker were also receiving treatment, the lot of them confirming to be fine once they had had enough rest.
The doors of the medical bay opened, Celestia and Luna stepping inside and smiling at them. "And how are our favourite fugitives?"
"We're fine," Skybreaker told her. "And fugitives is the right word. We probably have wanted posters all over Cabraille by now. I don't think we'll be able to head into that sector again."
"Soarin neither," Flash agreed.
"Yes," Luna turned to him. "About your pilot friend. Why is he asking us to completely fix up his ship?" Everyone turned to Flash, who gave them a nervous chuckle.
"Anyway," Celestia turned to Skybreaker, "I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to find anything whilst you were there."
"On the contrary," Skybreaker gestured to a bag he had brought with him. Celestia brought it over to herself and she opened it up, pulling out the book they had...acquired from the library. "That book is full of the same symbols we found in the temples. It's possible you might be able to discover something from it."
Celestia flicked through the pages, shocked by this discovery. "Amazing." She smiled at them. "You've done a fine job here. With hope, this may be our chance to defeat the Sith once and for all. Get some rest. You've earned it." They all nodded, as the two masters left the hospital wing.
"Any idea what any of this is?" Luna asked, with Celestia shaking her head.
"No. But hopefully, some of these new symbols will be somewhere in our database. If we can figure those out, we might be able to uncover what the symbols we've already acquired are." She closed the book, letting out a sigh as she did so. "I'm starting to regret sending Twilight on that mission. She's got a real eye for these kinds of things."
"She won't be that long," Luna pointed out. "I'm sure she'll be back soon. The mission wasn't too far away." Celestia nodded, as she looked up at the sky through a window. She couldn't help but wonder what Twilight was up to right now.
Several sectors away, Twilight was riding a large transport ship through the galaxy.
Said transport was absolutely huge, large enough to fit thousands of people and millions of tons of cargo. She had been sent to act as extra security for the ship, alongside Applejack and Heather. The three had been sent to make sure nothing happened to this ship, since there was a chance the Sith might attack ships heading for Canterlot.
She made her way through an area of the ship that was an open floor plan, where the passengers could walk around and enjoy themselves as they travelled between planets. Applejack and Heather were waiting for her there.
"Find anything out of the ordinary?" Twilight asked, the girls shaking their heads.
"Nope," Applejack told her. "Everythin' seems fine."
"Same here," Heather agreed. "Maybe this time we'll get a mission that won't end in utter insanity." She looked around. "Just stay on guard. There's no telling what could happen if we get complacent." The others nodded as they headed off, completely unaware that they were being watched.
Off to the side, leaning against a pillar, a young equestrian woman was watching them. A young woman with yellow-orange skin and hair that was a mix of red and yellow. She was dressed in a purple top, orange skirt and leather boots on her hooves with a leather jacket on top.
She stared at the three with a smile. "Perfect."