Chapter 8
Supplies
Maverick and his men had tromped through the forest to their landing zone where They found their Nu-Class attack -shuttle, surprisingly it was still in one piece.
"Sparky, do you think you can rig her to fly?" Maverick asked.
"Well, sir, I don't know how far she'd get, but it might be possible." Sparky replied, sliding his upper body out from where he had been working.
"Just do what you can." Maverick said, before motioning for sparky to continue.
"Berk, what does our weapons hold look like?" Maverick asked.
"Everything's in order, sir." Berk replied.
"Does everything work?" Maverick asked.
Berk shrugged, "Should." he replied.
Maverick shook his head "Should might just get us killed. Check everything." Maverick said.
"Yes, sir." Berk said.
Maverick turned on the commlink in his helmet, "Jax, how's everything going at the General's camp?" Maverick asked.
"Everything's going good, there's some really interesting kit here, but I won't ruin the surprise." Jax said.
"Alright then, we're going to try getting the old bird running again, see you soon." Maverick said, closing the link.
***
Kal followed the princesses down the corridors of the castle in the city he now knew as Canterlot. It was an amazing city, it reminded him a little bit of Coruscant in a way.
"I must say, you have a very beautiful city." Kal said, looking all around at the different tapestries and works of art that lined the hallway.
"Thank you, I have maintained it for a thousand years, and would hate for it to be destroyed by battle." Celestia said.
Kal nodded, "As would I." he said.
"Master Nevaar, I need you to be a military leader and my adviser. Can you handle that?." Celestia asked.
"Please, call me Kal, and yes I can handle it. I was a general in the most recent war." Kal said.
"Alright... Kal." Celestia said, seeming unsure of calling him Kal.
Kal gave the Princess a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, Princess, I won't let you down." Kal said.
Princess Celestia smiled, "I know." she said.
***
Maverick stood waiting for Berk and Sparky to finish their jobs. Sparky came out of the engine maintenance area of the shuttle, wiping sweat and engine lubricant from his face with a rag.
"What's the word?" Maverick asked.
Sparky gave a thumbs up, "Good to go sir, it was a lot easier to check now, without all the smoke and steam in there." he said with a smile.
"Good work, Sparky. I'll need you in the cockpit's navigations position, Berk isn't very good with it." Maverick said with a grin.
"Yeah, he'd probably position us in a mountain." Sparky said.
Berk walked in at that moment, "What about flying into a mountain?" he asked confused.
"Never mind ,Berk. Does all the equipment work?" Maverick said.
"Yes, sir, everything is in tip-top-shape." Berk said.
"Alright, we're flying out of here, so strap yourself in." Maverick said.
"Finally, I'm getting tired of walking everywhere." Berk said slumping down in the closest passenger seat.
Maverick sat down in the pilot's seat and pressed the button to elevate the chair to the controls.
Maverick turned on his the ship's internal communication, "Berk, are you set down there?" he asked into the microphone.
"Yes, sir, ready when you are." Berks voice said back at him.
"Sparky, are we good to go?" Maverick asked turning his head to look behind him.
"Yes, sir, ready when you are." Sparky said.
Maverick started up the shuttle's engines, they gave a groan and then sparked to life. He heard sparky let out a long breath. Maverick's eyes scanned the console in front of him, everything seemed to be working. He engaged the repulsorlifts and watched forest disappear from the veiwscreen.
"If we get out of this mess, remind me to give a very big "thank you" to cygnus spaceworks." Maverick said.
"Noted." Sparky said.
"Here we go." Maverick said shifting the shuttle into flight mode.
***
Twilight had followed Jax, Lockdown, and Vek to Kal's camp, and was watching them move objects to the edge of the forest where Kal had told them to move the house. They pulled out things that Twilight had never seen, and probably would never see again.
"What is all this stuff?" Twilight asked curiously.
Vek turned around, "Weapons, food, power cells, tools, and other necessities." he said.
"Oh, do you mind if I take a look?" Twilight asked.
"Not at all ma'am." Vek said.
Twilight walked over to a pile of objects, and used her magic to levitate one of the objects in front of her. The object she picked up looked like it was some sort of framework. It was long, with some flat pieces of metal on it's sides, and a cylindrical piece of metal in the center.
Twilight inspected the device, noting all of it's controls. Twilight found a switch and flicked it into what she assumed to be the "on" position. The device whirred and the cylinder in the middle began pulsing with blue energy. She found another switch near the base the device inside the handle. Twilight didn't see any harm in activating it, so she pressed it. the device hummed and the cylinder gathered a ball of the blue energy before releasing it. The ball of energy flew out at a tree and exploded with a sound like a miniature sonic boom, shattering the tree and three others around it. Twilight dropped the devise out of surprise. She turned around to find Vek laying face down, with his hands over his helmeted head.
"Vek?" Twilight asked.
Vek jerked upright, "All due respect ma'am, please just look and don't touch." he said.
Twilight smiled sheepishly, "Sorry." she said.
At that moment Twilight hear something completely unfamiliar to her, and it seemed to be getting closer.
"Waits that sound?" Twilight asked.
Vek turned his head, and took off his helmet. Twilight could see the broad grin on face.
"That is a good sound. It meant reinforcements during the war." Vek said, looking up at the sky.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation, but received none. Twilight then followed Vek's gaze and saw what looked like a huge bird gliding toward them from the forest.
"Vek, what is that thing?" Twilight asked nervously.
"It's our shuttle, that's how we got here. It's good to see it again." Vek said.
The shuttle came closer, and landed gracefully for it's- size and shape, in Twilight's opinion. The door at the front of the shuttle opened to reveal Maverick, Sparky, and Berk before they descended the ramp.
"You look surprised ma'am, must be the ship." Maverick said.
Sparky turned his head and saw the splintered trees, "And it looks like you've been familiarizing yourself with the weapons." he said, pointing at the remains of what had been four trees.
"Nice shot. You might just have a place within our group yet. I might even have to call you General now." Berk said, not feigning his approval in the least, as he inspected the arboreal carnage.
Twilight grinned sheepishly again, "I wasn't really trying to do that." she said.
Maverick, Sparky, and Berk began to help move equipment with the rest of the clones. Twilight helped too, but made sure she kept well away from any weapons to prevent a repeat of her previous mistake.