Chapter 9
Training
A whole day had passed, Twilight had gathered every able bodied local to learn how to fight. Maverick and his men had been training the locals, ponies they were called. The ponies had surprised the clones, they were actually very capable melee fighters, though they would need to know how to use a blaster as well as melee weapons. Those lessons started today, and they started early. The first pony to step up for target practice was a female, grey in color, with blonde hair, and golden, yellow eyes which were quite unique. She stepped up to the weapons rack.
"Choose your weapon." Jax said.
"What kinds of weapons are there?" the grey pony asked.
"Lots of them, we have DC-15 blasters, a Geonosian sonic blaster, a Z-6 rotary blaster, a Bowcaster , a Trandoshan ACP array gun, a concussion rifle, an E-5 carbine, and an ACP repeater." Jax said.
(in order)
Maverick noticed that a white female with blue hair perked up when Jax said the word "sonic".
"Um, I'll take one of those DC thingies." the grey pony said.
"Long, short, or a pistol?" Jax asked.
"Um the long one, I guess." the grey pony said.
"Excellent choice." Jax said handing her a DC-15 rifle.
"Alright, all I need you to do is hit that spot in the middle of that straw target. Think you can do it?" Jax asked.
"I'll do my best, mister." the grey pony said.
"Alright then, take your aim and pull the trigger. Take as much time as you need, there's no rushing a good shot." Jax said, miming the action.
The grey pony nodded.
Maverick noticed that some of the ponies ducked-in-cover, and he walked over to one of them, "What's the matter?" he asked.
The pony lifted one of her hooves away from her eyes, "That's Derpy getting ready to shoot now, she's the most uncoordinated, clumsy pony ever." she said.
Maverick looked over at the grey female, now identified as Derpy, and watched carefully. She took a few deep breaths, letting each one out slowly. She went for the trigger and fired the blaster. The bolt of energy struck the target dead-center.
"What the-? how did-?... Do it again, I don't believe in beginners luck." Jax stammered.
The ponies who had been taking cover were now glancing up to see what had happened. Some of them gasped in shock, other's mouths hung open.
Derpy took some more deep breaths let another bolt fly, directly into the center again, leaving another scorch mark.
"Are you satisfied Jax, or are you going to make her do it again?" Maverick asked before laughing.
"I concede defeat, nice job. You are now under my personal command." Jax said, clearly pleased.
Some of the ponies cheered and clapped for Derpy.
"Who's next?" Jax called out.
The pony who came forward was the white one with the blue hair and sunglasses. She looked over the weapons.
"Which one's the sonic?" she asked.
"That one there. Not going for finesse then are you?" Jax asked pointing it out.
"Nope, just noise. Oh, you'll need more targets." she said.
"Alright then." Jax said motioning for Vek and Berk to position some more targets.
Once Vek and Berk were out of the way, Jax gave thepony the go-ahead to fire. She opened up on the targets like an expert, ripping several holes through each them.
"Music to my ears." she said, before putting the blaster down and walking away.
***
The blaster training continued, nearly getting someone shot a couple of times, but other than that Maverick felt good about their chances in the coming battle. Pinkie seemed to favor the Trandoshan LJ-50, Twilight favored the DC-15a, Rainbow Dash simply loved the Z-6 rotary blaster, Applejack favored the Trandoshan ACP array gun, Rarity took a liking to the elegant Wookiee bowcaster, and Fluttershy didn't seem to like any weapon except the DC-17 hand blaster pistol.
"Nice job everyone. Now who wants to learn about rapid entry?" Maverick asked.
"I like the sound of that. What's rapid entry?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"An excellent question. Rapid entry is where where you place an explosive device on a door to blow it open, or you do it quietly by slicing the control panel." Maverick explained.
"What is slicing?" another pony asked.
"It's basically using tools to override electronic devices." Sparky said.
"I'll take the explosives, sounds a lot quicker." Rainbow said.
"Alright. Those of you who want to learn slicing, go with Sparky. Those of you who want to learn explosives, go with Berk. If you want to learn both, follow me." Maverick said.
***
The rapid entry training went well, all things considered, nobody from either training group had gotten injured, or even come close to it. That was a true surprise, especially with explosives involved. There were a few ponies with a true knack for slicing, Twilight was one of them, and also a light-brown male who had a device tat seemed to bypass electronics without even touching the components.
***
Kal walked through the hallways of Canterlot Castle to the throne room, were princess Celestia was waiting for him. though he had been down these halls before, they still ceased to amaze him. Kal walked up to the double doors to the Throne room were two guards stood on either side. The guards opened the doors as he approached. Kal nodded politely at the guards. The throne room was quite large, and reminded Kal of the Jedi temple on Corruscant. The room had many stained glass windows depicting ponies that looked very similar to Twilight and her friends. Princess Celestia was sitting on the throne watching Kal. He walked up the steps to the front of the Throne and knelt on one knee respectfully, with his head bowed.
"Your Majesty." Kal said.
"You may rise, Master Jedi, you do not need to be so formal." Celestia said.
"As you wish, Princess." Kal said standing up.
"I called you here to learn more about you, if that would be alright?" Celestia said.
"It is no inconvenience, Princess." Kal assured her.
"Alright, I would like you to tell me-" Celestia began before Kal held up a hand.
"What if I show you instead?" Kal asked.
Celestia raised an eyebrow, then nodded.
"If I may?" Kal said indicating the stairs leading up to the throne.
Celestia nodded, "Of course." she said.
Kal ascended the steps, until he was face-to-face with Celestia.
"Now, I'm going to need you to relax and open your mind." Kal said.
Celestia nodded, and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths, "Alright." she said.
Kal could feel the calm and ease of Celestia's mind. He then reached out with both hands and placed his fingers around Celestia's temples. Celestia gasped slightly, but she relaxed again.
"It's alright, you're safe." Kal said, just to reassure her.
Celestia didn't respond.
Kal began to let his thoughts flow through his mind and into the princess's. Once in a while Celestia wold would make a a noise of surprise, or a tear would roll down her cheek.
"Such pain. Such loss. How did you survive?" Celestia asked.
"Some days I ask myself that question... I have no answer." Kal admitted.
"All of those lives lost. And after that, those bonds of war broken, destroyed. Such Betrayal." Celestia breathed.
"Yes, but from that, we must learn to trust ourselves. Not every soldier will fight for his own will, but only for what they are told." Kal said.
Celestia nodded, "I would be honored if you would take up your title of general once more, and fight for us." Celestia said bowing.
Kal extended his hand the princess. Celestia put her hoof into his hand, and Kal lifted her up.
"Princess, the honor would be mine." Kal said.
Celestia smiled, they began talking about their plans for the upcoming battle.