//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Star Wars: Battle for Equestria // by Creative_Spark //------------------------------// Chapter 6 New Friends Izan Kerner looked out the view port of the bridge. Hyperspace truly was a sight to behold, it had a ghostly, almost beautiful presence. He stared at it until he was brought out of his thoughts by a young Lieutenant at his side. "Sir, we are going to need to change our course soon, to prevent any unwanted attention of the the area. Our navigations officers have plotted several safe stops along the way. It will prevent any rebel sympathizers from following our trail and ambushing us." the Lieutenant said. "That will take us almost twice as long to reach our target." Kerner said. "Apologies, Captain, but this operation needs to kept top secret, and this is best why to do that." the Lieutenant said. Kerner sighed "Very well, carry on." he said, clearly displeased. The Lieutenant saluted before walking away. Idiot, Kerner thought to himself. "Sir incoming communication for you from the Emperor." the comms officer said from the crew pit. "I'll take it in my quarters." Kerner said, walking to the exit of the bridge. If the Emperor had contacted him, this was either just for a progress report, or it was very bad for him. Kerner entered his room and hit the button on the hologram communicator. A blue, three dimensional image of the Emperor appeared before him. Kerner bowed, "My lord, it is a pleasure, what is your command?" Kerner said. "Captain Kerner, I wish to know your progress on your mission." the Emperor said. Kerner cleared his throat, "We are proceeding on a scattered course to avoid detection, but we will reach the planet, possibly more prepared, my lord." Kerner said. "It is good that you took the precaution to hide your movements, Captain. That is a sigh of brilliance." the Emperor said. Kerner was taken by surprise, "Thank you, my lord." he managed. "Contact me when you have reached the planet, I wish to be kept informed." the Emperor said. "Yes, my lord, for the glory of the Empire." Kerner said as he gave a salute. the Emperor's image dissipated, leaving Kerner alone with only his thoughts. Kerner smiled, I may just get a promotion yet. he thought. *** The eight individuals sat in awkward silence, neither sure what to say to the other. Kal had begun meditating, and nobody was going to disturb him. Maverick had replaced his helmet earlier and now sat with his back to the wall, arms folded across his chest, trying to get some lost sleep when something nudged him. He looked up and saw Twilight standing over him. "Excuse me, but I wanted to ask some questions, if you don't mind?." Twilight said. "It's no problem, ma'am, what would you like to know?" Maverick said. "Well, you're a clone, right?" Twilight asked. "Yes, all of us, except the Jedi, are, ma'am." Maverick replied. "How many of you are there?" Twilight asked. "Originally there were millions of us, but years of battle have decreased that number. Now it's closer to the hundred-thousands of us." Maverick said. Twilight's eyes widened, "Millions?" she asked shocked. "Yes, we were meant to be the army of the Republic." Maverick said. "Why so many?" Twilight asked. "Because our enemy could produce mass numbers of droids in a single week, but we were better than them because we can think, and droids can't." Maverick explained. "What are droids?" Twilight asked. "They're like robots, programmed for a variety of tasks." Maverick said. Twilight cocked her head to one side. "Machines." Maverick said, simplifying his description. "Oh. Are all droids bad?" Twilight asked. "No, ma'am, just the ones programmed to kill us." Maverick said seriously. "I see." Twilight responded. At that moment, Kal's eyes opened and he stood up, heading for the door, there hadn't even been a knock. He opened the door to reveal five other four-legged individuals, all different colors, white, orange, pink, cyan, and yellow. "Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie." the pink one said excitedly, not even seeming to be fazed by the fact that any normal being wouldn't have opened the door without some sort of announcement. The pink one, Pinkie Pie, looked past Kal to the clones, before running up to them each in turn and lifting their arms or legs, "Oooo, you're shiny, can I get some shiny armor too, can it be pink, no, maybe gold, oh wait, what about purple, I like saying the word purple!" she said as she ran from one clone to another, during this time the yellow one had disappeared for Maverick's field of vision. "Pinkie, stop bothering the soldiers." Twilight said. "Yeah Pinkie, this ain't no time fer tomfoolery." the orange one said. "Awwww, but I wanted to get some shiny armor." Pinkie said, a little downcast. "Well, maybe Rarity could make you some." the orange one suggested. The white one with the purple hair, most likely Rarity, looked shocked as she turned to the orange one, "What?!" she exclaimed. The orange one nudged Rarity in the side with her front leg and gave her a look, "Uh, I mean yes, of course, Pinkie." she managed. Pinkie's face lit up again, "YAY!" she exclaimed, throwing her front legs in the air. "Wait a second, Twilight, did you say that these things are soldiers?" the cyan one with the multicolored hair asked. "Yes, I did." Twilight said. "Really. Well how do we know they're not here to fight us?" the cyan one asked. "Because, if they were here to harm us, they would have done it by now." Twilight said. The cyan one folded her front legs across her chest, "Well don't say I didn't warn you." she said, unconvinced. Twilight sighed, shaking her head, and swept her right, front leg across the other five of her species, "These are my friends." she said. "I'm Applejack." the orange one said. "Name's Rainbow Dash." the cyan one said. "Rarity." the white one said. "I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie shouted. There was a pause. "Hey, where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked. The others looked around confused before Applejack looked behind them, "Found her." she said, sidestepping to her right, revealing a quivering heap of pink and yellow. "She really needs to work on her hide-and-seek skills." Pinkie said shaking her head in disapproval. The quivering mass on the floor shifted, revealing half of a face, the other half covered by pink hair, she let out a squeaking noise as soon as she noticed her discovery. "She's shy... very shy, but I'm sure she'll warm up to you all." She said looking at the six clones and the Jedi. At that moment Kal looked at the door, "I believe we have another visitor." he said.