//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: My Little Old Republic: The Ord Mantell Deception // by AidanMaxwell //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Fort Garnik, Republic Command Post entrance Rainbow sauntered out of the command post and gazed longingly in the direction of the cantina. Pinkie Pie bounced toward her as if right on cue, her stowed blaster pistols jiggling inside their holsters on her leather belt. “Hi, sleepyhead!” she giggled. “Ready for bed?” “Can't sleep yet, Pinkie,” Dash replied with a yawn. “We have more work to do.” “Whaaaaat? Of all the not-cool, unfun, super-lame things they could do, they give you more work?” “Yep. Got a bomb threat or something to deal with.” “Okie dokie lokie! Where to, Sergeant?” “Gotta find a refugee named Mirru.” Dash peered down the roads of Fort Garnik, overshadowed by the buildings in the setting of Ord Mantell’s lustrious sun, in search of the mysterious refugee she was looking for. “Problem is, he may not be awake, or anywhere near here. He's supposed to be at the refugee camp, but it's late, and he’s probably asleep.” “Oh, Mirru? I know Mirru! He's over that way!” Pinkie pointed a hoof in the direction of the speeder port, where one lone pony stood apart from the crowd. He fumed angrily in the refugee camp center, pacing anxiously in a circle. “But-...How did you know that?” “I know everypony, silly! C'mon, I'll introduce ya'!” Pinkie bounced away, and Dash trotted after her in confusion. They came to a halt in front of some crude tents, erected in a desolate lot near the edge of the fort. One pony stood on a rocky outcropping overlooking the trail that led from the fort to nearby Oradam Village The pony Rainbow assumed was Mirru took notice of the Sergeant and stepped back. “Oh no. Not this again,” he moaned. “What, you people didn't have enough fun beating me up at the fort? You gotta come beat me up here, too? You're nothing but thugs in uniforms, and your bosses are going to hear about this – your boss' bosses, all the way on Coruscant.” Dash had no idea what the pony was talking about. She bobbed her head sleepily toward Pinkie and grimaced. “Say what now? I've never seen you before in my life, dude.” “Mirru, this is Sergeant Rainbow Dash, from Wonderbolt Squad,” Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically. “You can trust her, just like you trust me!” “Yeah, what she said,” Dash replied with a yawn. “I just wanna know about this bomb thing you mentioned earlier.” “Oh, so now you want my information?” Mirru retorted. His expression rose from anger to uncertainty, but his mood remained hostile. “I don’t feel like talking to you. I got beat up really bad today by your friends at the command center, so they can go find their own bombs for all I care.” “Mirru!” Pinkie Pie interjected hurriedly, “we're not your enemies! We want to help the innocent ponies who live here in the fort and make them safe-y wafe-y.” “And what about me, huh?” countered Mirru with an unfriendly hoof gesture. “Things ain't that easy out here for me. I need some assurance that this will be, shall we say, ‘mutually beneficial’. How much does the Republic value this information, huh?” Dash's face went from groggy and bored to unbelievably savage. She lunged forward a half step and lifted Mirru off the ground with her hoof, dangling him over the nearby cliff. The fall did not seem horribly far, but it was far enough to spark fear. “Look, pal, I haven't had a wonderful day, myself, and I'm not in the mood to negotiate a price with you. I can't stand your type! You don't even care about others, you just want money!” She tossed him to the side like a ball of trash. Then she threw a chip worth about ten credits toward him, letting it fall just short of where he sat. “Here. Take it. Give me what I want so I can get as far away from you as I can.” Mirru, staring wide eyed up at the Sergeant, pointed a hoof toward the darkened road leading to Oradam Village. “T-that way. Just down the road. Please, I’m sorry, don’t beat me again!” “Fine,” spat Rainbow. She took two steps forward and leaped from the short cliff, spreading her wings to slow her decent. Her armor creaked as her hooves landed firmly on the dirt road below. Pinkie bounced down next to her within a second, not landing as gracefully due to her lack of wings, and together they trotted down the road toward what appeared to be a small canyon. It stood just high enough to keep trooper transports from finding another route, and just wide enough to prevent them from coming through two at a time. Perfect place to ambush a convoy, Dash mused. Blasted darkness. Can’t see a thing. “Dashie?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Did you mean what you said back there?” “Every word!” seethed Rainbow. “I can't stand information peddlers like him! Anypony who puts their own selfish desires before the safety of others should never be trusted.” “Isn't that what I did?” Dash’s face dropped into a stern grimace. “...In a way.” “So, do you...” Pinkie sniffled loudly and rubbed her nose. “Do you not like me, Sergeant?” Dash turned around and looked back at Pinkie for a moment. She stared into the smuggler's sad, pleading eyes for a moment before she turned away with a huff. “I thought you knew that.” The smuggler did not reply. Her head drooped low and her eyes shut in sadness. “Yeah, I guess I do...” “Look, we’ll talk about this later,” Dash said quietly. “Just follow me and keep quiet. We-” A blaster bolt narrowly missed Dash, streaking over her head and away down the street behind her. Instantly the trooper rolled away into cover, finding a flat spot behind a rock to duck behind. Pinkie also dove to cover, landing in a crouch behind a fallen tree before firing three rapid shots from her pistol. Dash was about to call out to Pinkie when a few more shots blew past her with too little clearance for comfort, forcing the trooper to duck again. Three Separatist ponies crouched behind a slab of metal debris twenty meters ahead of her, firing on them both from behind cover. Dash lit a thermal detonator and peered over the rock she'd taken cover behind. Their cover was just in front of a blown out space vessel, an unmarked transport of unknown origin. Judging by the state of the wreck and from the disrupted earth around it, Dash knew it was a freshly downed ship, no older than a week or two. The ship’s boarding ramp had come undone, and the it was lying on its side so that the inner sections could be hidden inside. These Seperatists had more than likely been scavenging for parts. Dash hurled the grenade over the rock with all her strength, aiming for the area beside the enemy’s cover. An explosion rocked the slab of metal backwards, revealing two of the soldiers to be dead, their armor pierced clean through by shrapnel. The third bled profusely from his wounds, even missing flesh in multiple places, but he managed to survive the blast. The pony retreated into the bowels of the downed spacecraft, limping with every step. Pinkie, who had since been pinned behind her cover, rolled forward and primed her own grenade. “Get out of there!” she shouted. Charging forward, Pinkie raced into the open and chucked the grenade into the torn opening of the hull. After a few seconds, a violent explosion rocked the craft to the side a bit, blowing an entire section of the hull away. Dash watched in shock as the slab of metal that had once been the boarding ramp tilted forward and crashed loudly to the ground, revealing two sections of Separatist attire strewn violently inside the hollow shell of the ship and a horrible amount of blood dripping from the nearby walls. “Pinkie, what was that for?” Dash asked. “We could have captured the wounded one alive!” “I wasn't gonna let him desecrate this holy ground,” Pinkie replied sadly. Her eyes betrayed an inner pain that Dash couldn’t identify. “This was my ship, the one that I arrived on Ord Mantell in. It's the reason I'm still here, Dashie.” “What, your ship?” Pinkie opened her mouth to reply, but stopped short for a moment before she said anything. “...I, uh...yeah. My ship.” Dash looked at her disapprovingly. “Pinkie, what's bugging you?” “What do you care, Sergeant?” she moaned, flicking her tattered hat back. Behind it were two sad, bulging eyes that blinked back painful tears. “You don't even like me. I just don't feel like explaining anything to somepony who isn't my friend.” “Friend?” Rainbow repeated slowly, clenching her hooves together so tight that they started to pale. “You're a smuggler! I thought you smuggler types only deal in business relationships. Since when do you care about me, anyway?” “Sergeant, please hear me out, okie dokie?” Dash blinked at her, but remained silent. “I'm not ruthless,” Pinkie continued, “or uncaring. I want friends and I care about ponies, just like you do; just like I said to Mirru. Who those ponies are is a short list, because of my work, yes, but they're still my friends!” “Name one, then!” “...I thought you might be one...but I guess I was wrong.” Dash couldn't figure out why she was feeling so angry at Pinkie. She'd been forced to hire the mare and interact with her all day, but even though they may have not seen eye to eye, they definitely weren't mortal enemies. “I, uh...what would make us friends? In a day, you’d managed to coerce me into hiring you AND you stalked me all the way around Ord Mantell and back! You just want money to buy a new ship. That’s the only reason you’re still here, or so I thought.” “I told you, Dashie-” “Stop calling me that!” “...I told you, Sergeant, you hired me on your own! I didn’t force you to do anything. You could have just gone without me.” “I would’ve been creamed!” “Exactly.” Pinkie took two backwards steps away from the ship and turned to face Rainbow. “Yes, I need money, but that’s not the only reason I chose to work for you. When I met you, I thought you were really nice, up until you stormed away. I wanted to get to know that side of you, and that’s why I followed you. But I won’t force you to be my friend; if you want our relationship to stay ‘purely business’, then okie dokie lokie. I’ll be super duper quiet and let you work.” Dash’s heart sank. She may not have treated Pinkie fairly, but she’d never considered her feelings about it. The whole time, Rainbow had assumed the smuggler was just along for the ride. “But, Pinkie, I-” “No, Sergeant, it’s alright. I understand. You’re tired, I’m annoying, and we both just need some sleep. Let’s get this done and hit the hay, alrighty?” Pinkie started to trot away, further up the road, when Dash suddenly groaned. “Pinkie, I’m sorry!” The smuggler stopped, but didn’t turn around. “I am. I’ve been treating you like dirt all day. You didn’t make a good impression, but I shouldn’t treat you unfairly based on a bad business deal. We’re friends...” Dash clenched her teeth at the word, but didn’t stop talking. “...and I should treat you like one.” “...You mean it?” Dash looked away, shaking her head in disbelief. She was out of her mind. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Just stop crying, okay?” Suddenly Pinkie turned to face Rainbow, her smile glowing like the luminescent moon in the growing dusk. “Yay! I’m so happy you changed your mind, Sergeant-” “Please,” said Dash, putting a hoof in the air to silence her, “don’t be so formal. We’re friends.” “Dashie?” “Yeah, alright, I’ll let you call me that every now and then.” Dash finally returned the smile, but when Pinkie did not reply, she dropped it into a curious frown. “What?” “I’m sorry I coerced you into hiring me. I thought you needed the help more than you realized.” “I did, though. I can see that now. Thank you for caring about me, Pinkie Pie.” The smuggler bounced up to Dash, grinning ear to ear, and put a hoof around the trooper’s shoulder playfully. “Of course, silly! What are friends for?” “Yeah, yeah, okay. Enough of this mushy stuff.” Rainbow turned her head to scout further down the road for more Seps, but her gaze got caught on the twisted wreckage of the downed vessel. “Oh, you told me there’s a story behind this mess. What was that?” “Oh, right!” Pinkie perked up and rotated to stare at the ship with Dash. “This was my ship. Me and my partner were smuggling weapons down to the surface, and the Republic lackeys at the fort took us down with their AA guns. Apparently the transponder was on a long list of wanted criminals and no-good delinquents.” “No offense, Pinkie, but I find it hard to believe you’re all that bad of a pony.” “I’m a criminal! Really! Just ask my partner!” “Where is this ‘partner’ of yours? I haven’t seen you with anypony else.” Pinkie’s smile faded. “I, uh...well, I’m not sure. I’ve been trying to find him, but the poor stallion just sorta disappeared. We crawled from the wreckage of the ship and were instantly apprehended by the Seps. They took our shipment of weapons and locked us in a fort near Mannett Point. My partner showed me how to escape, but he had to stay behind to cover me.” “Wow.” Dash sighed, shaking her head. “I...I had no idea. Were you close?” “Oh yeah! We still are! I don’t believe he’s dead yet. Anyway, I managed to get to Fort Garnik and I’ve been trying to find employment with the Republic for some credits. I don’t like the Seps; they’re big meanie-heads who stole my shipment and ponynapped my friend. Otherwise I wouldn’t care who I worked for. But the Republic doesn’t like me, either, so it’s been rough.” “We should go look for him, then. We can file a missing pony report at the fort, try to get a lead on...what did you say his name was?” “I didn’t,” Pinkie sang. “Oh, don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, he’s okay. I don’t know where he is, but when he helped me escape from the Sep base, we both knew he was staying behind. I hated to leave him, but a girl’s gotta work, and that’s the business of being a smuggler.” “So...he sacrificed himself for you, and you won’t even try to rescue him?” Dash held back an unkind insult in an attempt to draw out Pinkie’s reasoning on the issue. She didn’t want to accuse the smuggler of not caring, but it almost sounded like she didn’t. “...Well, we’re partners, Dash. He was a smuggler, too. Don’t get me wrong, I care about him, but he’s probably already escaped on his own by now; very capable sort of pony. And he specifically told me not to worry about him, so I’m not going to. I hope I can see him again, but I’ll ‘soldier on’ without him.” Then Pinkie burst into mirthful laughter at her pun. Dash grinned also, more at Pinkie’s reaction and less at the actual joke, and trotted up the road. It was finally dark out, the sun shining its last burst of light as it slowly crawled below the horizon. The bombs were not far from the downed spacecraft, and they lit up in the dark with large flashing red lights. They were strategically hidden behind rocky outcroppings and under fauna, and would have been virtually invisible during the daytime, but the darkness made them easy enough to locate. Out of the six bombs placed along the road, none of them were guarded. As Dash walked cautiously back to the Fort in the dark, with Pinkie at her side, she considered just how lucky they had been that the Separatists had not set guard patrols in the night. The journey back was much less interesting then the journey there had been, but once the fort lights came into view, neither pony cared even slightly how much fun they’d had; they were just relieved to be back. Dash walked up to the command center for what felt like the umpteenth time that day and busted through the front door. Twilight was standing in front of the large monitor at the back of the room, facing away from the Sergeant. When she got a closer look, Rainbow noticed that a picture of Twilight’s back was on the screen; as the unicorn turned around to look at her, she realized she was looking at a video feed coming from her suit’s camera. “Welcome back, Sergeant,” Twilight said curtly. “You got the bombs disarmed, even if you did waste a lot of what could have been vital time crying about missing smugglers and making friends.” “Oh, lighten up, Twilight,” Dash replied with an indifferent shrug. “Bombs are gone, and nopony’s gonna die now.” “Well, with the day you’ve had, I’d say you’ve earned a good night’s sleep. Rest well, Sergeant, because tomorrow’s going to be much worse than today was.” “I’ll be ready.” She yawned sleepily, stretching her hooves into the air. “But yeah, sleep first.” Twilight simply shook her head and turned back to the monitor in silence. Rather put off, Rainbow turned to leave the command center when a young pegasus filly jumped in front of her path. She had orange hair and a purple mane, barely old enough to be a Private by the looks of her, and was just a little too eager to see Dash. “Hey, you’re a Wonderbolt, aren’t you?” asked the filly. “I, uh, yeah I am,” Dash replied slowly. “I’m Private Scootaloo. I’m an officer in training, sir.” Then the filly, Scootaloo, saluted Dash, who returned the motion much more groggily. “I was wondering -- you seem less uptight than those other soldiers in your squad, and I’ve got a problem I need to talk to somepony about.” “Alright, kid, shoot, but I’m tired, so make it quick.” “Will do. Listen, I’m under the command of a totally corrupt officer: Lieutenant Virk. He’s scamming everypony in his command, and nopony’s doing anything to stop him. He forces us to kick up to him to get safe postings. Credits, weapons, stuff we pilfer from the Seps...everything! And when you don’t play along, he puts you on the most dangerous patrols on Ord Mantell. He’s gotten really good ponies killed.” “That’s real bad, kid, and I’m sorry, but what can I do about it tonight?” “I don’t know,” Scootaloo admitted, “but you’re in Wonderbolt squad. You’re older, and more experienced. Maybe you can talk to somepony important, and see what you could do?” Twilight, at that moment, appeared beside Dash and saluted the Private. “I’ve heard enough. You’re under the command of Lieutenant Virk? Are you certain about his involvement in illegal activity?” “Oh, for sure, Lieutenant,” replied Scootaloo anxiously. “Well, I heard everything from Dash’s camera, and what you’ve said matches our records of this pony’s assignments. I’ll file a formal report tomorrow morning, Private, but neither I nor Dash can do anything about it tonight. Go get some rest, and we’ll work this out later. Dismissed.” The Private, slightly dissatisfied but grateful for the help, nodded quickly and trotted away toward the sleeping quarters down the elevator. Twilight turned to Dash with a knowing glance. “She’s not made any complaints yet, but that wasn’t the first report I’ve heard on this Virk character. It’s going to be a while before I can get anything convicting.” “If it’s as bad as she says,” Dash pointed out, “then time will only get more good soldiers killed.” “I can’t speed up this process, Sergeant. Not without hard evidence. A few casualties on dangerous patrols is not enough to say he’s sentencing ponies to death.” “This whole planet is mad...” Rainbow turned to leave and was stopped by a firm hoof on the shoulder. “What?” “Just get some sleep,” Twilight reminded her. “And, I know we didn’t get off on the right hoof today, so I hope we can put that past us.” “Sorry I sorta told you off this evening,” Dash replied. “Well, you’re more right than you think. I’m definitely not a ‘combat’ type.” Dash just nodded sleepily and stalked out of the Command center. Immediately she turned to the right and followed the road up to Avilatin’s Rest Cantina, where Pinkie Pie waited impatiently for her new friend to arrive. Together they ascended the stairs to the second floor where Pinkie’s reserved room was. “Oh, oh, oh, Dashie!” Pinkie blurted suddenly. “We should totally have a slumber party!” “A slumber party?” Dash repeated sleepily as she fell face first into her pillow. She mumbled something incoherently into the pillowcase, which muffled her speech. “I mean a party where we sleep. That’s what a slumber party is, silly.” Rainbow didn’t reply, and instead rolled onto her back and began pulling her armor off. Each piece was drenched in sweat from the day’s activities, and in a few places scorch marks and battle scores had already tainted the otherwise undamaged new suit. Dash thought of them as accents, something to be proud of rather than hated, and counted them in her head as she peeled off the individual plates. Down to her undersuit at last, she threw the last kneeguard onto the floor adjacent to her bed and grabbed the covers, pulling them over her body. Pinkie, who was sitting upright on her bed pulling her boots off, looked over at Dash excitedly. “So, Dashie, can we talk about something before you go to sleep?” But the Sergeant had already nodded off and was snoring peacefully, much to Pinkie’s dismay. Without another word, the smuggler finished undressing and likewise slipped into her bed covers, drifting into dreamland for the night, where she had a strange vision of her former companion locked away in a jail cell. He was bruised and beaten, being tortured by Separatist ponies. The disturbing images caused Pinkie to toss and turn uncomfortably all through the night.