//------------------------------//
// The Seven Starships 
// Story: Obsidian Flight: Crisis In Equestria 
// by EldritchNexus 
//------------------------------//

In the Frozen North of Equestria, A group of ponies in protective gear gathered around a large mound of ice near the summit of one of the Crystal Mountains. In the ice was a strange object that none of the individuals present recognized. One of them, a particularly muscular earth pony, smashed the ice open with his strong hooves. He looked down to see what the object was.

"Hey, that looks like something out of Saddle Arabia, don't you think?" He said to the others. "Actually, never mind. I'm probably thinking of something else."

"What should we do with it?" another pony, a unicorn, asked.

"Simple." A third voice announced. "You will give it to me."

Neither the earth pony nor the unicorn knew who their companion was, nor why they were journeying up the mountain together in the first place. Now their tensions were running high, and they wanted answers from this stranger as soon as possible. It didn't help matters that this mysterious individual was just about to leave now that this object none of them knew about was finally in their possession.

"Come on now, you aren't just going to walk off with that thing without paying us anything, are you?" the first pony questioned. "We almost got frozen to death getting up this high up the mountain with you."

"Oh, fine. Take your precious little bits." the third said, dropping two small bags in front of the other two ponies. "I have no real need for them, anyway."

"Thank you." the unicorn said flatly, visibly annoyed. "Now seriously, what do you want with that...whatever it is...anyway?"

"I know a certain Princess that might be interested in this." the third explorer said. Before mysteriously disappearing with the object into the darkness, the stranger's voice called out to them: "If you survive the climb back down, you can come with me to Canterlot. You can find me down at the lodge."

And then there was silence, apart from the cold winds. The two explorers just stood there for a few moments, until the unicorn realized--

"Wait, you had our climbing equipment!" he shouted. "Come back here now!"

"Great." the earth pony said. "Does this mean we'll have to roll our way back down in a giant snowball again?"

"I'll start rolling it, Nose Nip." the unicorn said, grumbling as he began using his magical horn to make a snowball that would roll in place until it grew to the size they needed.

"You do that, Frosty." Nose Nip said, before absent-mindedly looking up at the stars above.

Among those stars, a fleet of seven military starcruisers flew together in a rough V-formation, with the largest on the far end of it. This was Obsidian Flight, one of the finest Republic fleets to ever participate in the Clone Wars.





Jedi Knight Naat Reath stood on the bridge of the Venator-class Star Destroyer Bestial. She was wearing dark brown Jedi robes, with a pale blue tunic and a modest layer of fiber armor underneath. She and Captain Terra North were conversing with a holographic projection of Jedi Master Mace Windu.

“General Windu, our scout probes in the Baroonda system have detected an unusual amount of Separatist activity on the planet Baroonda.” Captain North reported to the Korun master. 

Captain North was an accomplished Republic Navy officer in his mid-thirties. He was fifteen years older than the young blonde Jedi that stood beside him on the bridge, yet since Naat was a Knight of the Order, her status as his superior officer was without question.

“I have also heard of this, Captain North. But can you offer any reason as to why you are bringing your entire squadron with you?” inquired Master Windu’s projection. “You must understand that, unless the Separatists have a fleet of capital ships obstructing your path, the Chancellor may see this operation of yours as overkill.”

Mace Windu himself, of course, wasn’t actually on the bridge with them; He was currently sitting in a Republic Army forward command center on Dantooine, having eliminated the Separatist presence on that planet. He in turn was speaking to holographic projections of Naat Reath and Captain North.

“Please, Master Windu. You must give us the benefit of a doubt.” Naat Reath assured the Jedi Master. “I mean, I couldn’t fail my first major military operation as a Jedi Knight, could I?”

Naat was once the Padawan learner of Echuu Shen-Jon, who was in turn the Padawan of Master Windu. Naturally, she felt the need to assure her former master’s master that she would not fail as her master did, nor would she die in battle like her brother Stam did on Geonosis.

“You must keep yourself focused, young one.” Mace Windu said, concerned. “Many Jedi have lost their minds, even their lives, to overconfidence. You must not allow this to become a weakness.”

“With all due respect, master…” retorted Naat. “I don’t think Master Echuu would have lectured me like this after I concluded my training.”

There was an uncomfortable silence, before Master Windu frowned, and bowed his close-shaved head. Naat Reath was immediately taken aback by her own comment.

“I am sorry, Master Windu.” She said, solemnly. “I just miss him so much.”

“So do I, Naat.” said Windu, in the same tone. “It was tragic to lose him like that on Krant. He was truly one of the best Jedi I had ever trained.”

“And the best master I could ever ask for.” Naat Reath added. “But thanks to him, Sev’Rance Tann is gone, too. So at least his death wasn’t in vain.”

Windu looked up to the projections of Naat and Captain North. He knew that Sev’Rance Tann was one of the most feared military leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and one of the more dangerous members of Count Dooku’s Dark Acolytes.

“Indeed, it wasn’t.” he stated to the young Jedi Knight. “And I think he would’ve been proud to see his apprentice become so strong and independent.”

But in fact, Echuu already made this clear to his apprentice back on Krant. For he had not truly died in his lightsaber duel with Tann, but went into exile after temporarily falling to the Dark Side of the Force. Naat knew about this, but was instructed by her master not to inform the Council of his exile, and to leave him behind on Krant.

“Thank you, Master Windu.” Naat Reath said with a smile, before turning over to Captain North. 

“Ahem…Captain, let’s continue our report, shall we?”

“Of course.” Captain North said, clearing his throat. “I would not deem the usage of Obsidian Flight in its entirety to be overkill, General Windu. I would consider it insurance.”

“I see. Speaking of which, how many ships are coming with you, and what are their classes?” Windu asked, returning to his inquisitive state.

“Besides the Bestial, we have six Acclamator-class assault ships, each with the usual complement, and also General Reath’s own Delta-7 starfighter.” The Republic captain explained.

“Fair enough, Captain.” said Mace Windu. “If you brought more than one Venator-class along on your operation, that would have been overkill.”

“We won’t need another one, anyway.” said Naat Reath. “We have the 182nd Legion and a squad of Advanced Recon Commandos attached to our Acclamators. They should be able to handle any ground forces that the Seps throw against us on that planet.”

“Then good luck, young Padawan.” Mace Windu nodded in approval. “And may the Force be with you.”

The holographic projections on Dantooine and the Bestial vanished. Captain North walked over to the edge of the bridge’s crew pit, and spoke to the engineers below.

“Is our fleet in position?” He questioned, in the same inquisitive tone as Master Windu. “Are the coordinates set?”

“Yes, Captain!” an ensign below replied. “All ships are present, and we are all set for the jump to Hyperspace.”

“You heard him, General.” Captain Terra North said, turning his head to Naat Reath. “Give the order, Master Jedi, and we’ll go to lightspeed.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time!” said the blonde Jedi. “Take the fleet to Baroonda now!”

The engineers copied the order and distributed it through transmissions to the other six warships, and together, the seven starships were voluntarily plunged into the cosmic blur that is Hyperspace.