Chapter 3
Spark of Resistance
Mirta was in the middle of cleaning her armor when her grandfather barged into their shared suite in the castle
“So how did it go?” asked Mirta. About a week ago, open revolt had broken out since the assassination of Fancy Pants. Though in most areas it was demonstrations in the street that were quickly broken up by Solar troops, the city of Trottingham was a different story. A group who call themselves the “Lunar Republic” used the chaos of the demonstrations to gain control of the city. Local troops tried regaining control but resistance was surprisingly strong. [Celestia is near sighted], thought Mirta, [She saw the advantages of taking out Fancy, but not the consequences.] Rumor had it that Celestia was getting ready to send in the Sienar mercs. It got her scared, which means a potentially better deal for the mandalorians.
“Our organized forces will be arriving in about two months, free lancers will start trickling in before then. We’re not bringing as many tanks, Sienar has plenty of walkers. Canderous assault tanks would be over doing it in this style of warfare. A flight of besuiliks and pilots will be included, Celestia purchased more for herself, I have no idea who’s gonna fly them. And our fleet was deemed unnecessary, which was expected seeing that Sienar shits Star Destroyers.”
Now for the most important question. “How much?”
Boba flashed Mirta one of his extremely rare smiles. “A lot.” Was all he said.
Mirta was a little apprehensive. “So that’s it. We are committed?”
“Yeah…what’s wrong?”
“It’s just…I have a bad feeling about Celestia, the way she casually killed that man for boring her. It seemed very…sith like.”
“And that’s a bad thing? I worked for Vader all the time, he was always fair and paid very well.”
“She’s not like Vader. Vader would kill his troops if they failed them, but he would always look out for them. Celestia seems too indifferent about the lives of her subjects, unless they are entirely committed to her, like Cadeus.” Of course she would look for any opportunity to vilify Darth Cadeus. He through the galaxy into a Civil War, caused the death of the billions, and killed thousands personally, including Boba’s daughter. Add to that the fact that he is one of the dreaded Solo’s. Except for Jaina thought Mirta, wondering how her friend was holding up two years after she was forced to kill her twin. “And the Princess Luna would be like Jaina,” Mirta pointed out. “It’s just like the war, except we are on the other side for some reason.”
“It was personal with Cadeus.”
“How many people have to die before it becomes personal with-“
Boba quickly cut her off. “Keep your voice down,” he ordered.
“I just have a bad feeling about it all.” After everything Mirta has been through two years ago, she really did not want to go through it again, especially on the wrong side.
Boba sighed, “Whether you believe it or not, I do understand.” He sat next to his granddaughter, Mirta knew it was the closest thing to grandfatherly affection Boba could physically show. “Mandalore needs the work though, so until she actually betrays us, we’re committed. Now, I am going on assignment, a place called Trottingham.”
Mirta knew about Trottingham. Shortly after Boba’s now infamous assassination of Fancy Pants, LRE forces in Trottingham rallied the angry citizens and took the city. Celestia’s response was to send in the mercenaries to take back the city by force, [A little too aggressive if you ask me]. “While you’re gone, would you mind if I did a little sno-…research into Celestia’s reign.
Boba nodded. “Just don’t get caught.”
The best part about the aliens coming to Equestria was all of the new reading material. They brought many novels about the outside galaxy that were converted from aurebresh to the equestrian alphabet. Twilight spent much of her free time in the library learning about alien worlds and cultures. It was a great escape from the turmoil Equestria was going through. One stallion dies and ponies immediately assume it was Celestia’s doing. And now, tragically, those same ponies will probably die, [they shouldn’t have betrayed their loving princess like that].
She currently sat in a nice comfy chair in the library, reading a book about the recent history of something called the Jedi Order. Celestia did not exactly approve of Twilight learning about the Jedi, but it was one area where she was willing to ignore her teacher. [I wonder why], thought Twilight, [they seem so similar to us]. She had just finished reading about the return of Rahm Kota, and was now moving on to a mysterious figure known only as Ghost. Not much is known about him, only that he was a part of the deepest, darkest depths of rebel intelligences, and is rumored to be the son of a Jedi who survived the Clone Wars.
She was just getting to the part about Luke Skywalker’s emergence when she spotted the alien named Mirta out of the corner of her eye. [Ok Twilight, you didn’t exactly make a good impression, but now you have a second chance]. Admittedly, she was afraid of the mandalorians [from what I have read, that is pretty common], but at the same time she was extremely fascinated by them.
“Hi Mirta”
“Hello…Twilight is it?”
“Yep.” There was an awkward moment of silence, Twilight wasn’t exactly proficient at conversing. “So…What are you doing in the library. It’s the last place I’d expect a bounty hunter. N-n-not that bounty hunters don’t read. I am sure they are great readers.” [Come on Twilight, keep it together].
Mirta did the last thing Twilight expected, she smiled. “It varies from hunter to hunter. The good do. I am actually here to learn more about Equestria.”
[Score!] Twilight thought to herself. “Well, what do you want to know?”
“Everything”
Though they didn’t quite get through everything, Twilight and Mirta sat there for hours talking about Equestria’s history, Magic, the coup, and the outside Galaxy.
“You seem…skeptical, Mirta,” commented Twilight.
“I just have a bad feeling about this all. Ba’buir thinks I am over reacting.”
“Ba’buir?”
“It’s Mandalorian for grandfather.”
“Oh…you two don’t seem like the typical Grandfather/Granddaughter.”
Mirta nodded, “Mostly because two years ago I was trying to kill him.”
Twilight was taken aback by that. [By Celestia, these people are insane]. “But…why?”
“Long story, and a tragic one.”
“Oh…” another awkward moment of silence followed. They seemed to be common in Twilights conversations.
Finally Mirta broke the silence. “What were you reading?”
“Oh, it’s about Jedi. I know mandalorians don’t like Jedi.”
“Most Mandalorians,” corrected Mirta, “One of my best friends is a Jedi.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Jaina Solo. Han Solo’s daughter, ever heard of him?”
“Um…I don’t think so.”
Mirta laughed at that, “Boba would love you.”
“Oh non-sense,” said the severely aged pony, “ah’ll be fine.”
Apple Jack couldn’t help but worry as she watched her grandmother rocking back and forth in her chair on the porch, even though the patrols have moved away from the farm a week after Ezio arrived, she did not want to leave Granny Smith. She tried convincing her to let Applebloom stay, but she would hear, she figured the LRE base would be safer. [Yeah, until the imperials find our base]Apple Jack thought to herself.
“Yer uncle Fritter and yer cousins will be by any day now,” continued Granny Smith, “b’sides, ah’ll slow ya’ll down. Now Git!”
Apple Jack bowed her head in submission, [She’ll be fine], she tried to convince herself [uncle Fritter can take care of her, and Big Macs reputation will keep the imperials off the farm]. Though she would rather he be here to do it personally, she would rather to have never been in the situation in the first place. But the Lunar army needs Big Mac, and Big Mac needed her.
She didn’t hear the door open, or the footsteps, but all of a sudden Ezio was right beside her, facing Granny Smith. “Signora Smith, I wanted to thank you again for your hospitality.” Said the assassin, all charm.
“T’pleasure was all mine, you come back and visit some time, ya’hear.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
Apple Jack gave her grandmother one last hug, then headed inside to retrieve her sister. “Applebloom!” she yelled up the steps, “Git on down ‘ere and say goodbye t’granny, we’re leaving.”
“Ah’m comin’, big sis, ya’ll don’t need to yell.” Applebloom came down the steps half sprinting and half falling. She was clearly excited about finally going to the LRE base. She was even happier that she would finally get to see Scootaloo again. Just like many other things, the war divided the Cutie Mark Crusaders, though there division was caused only by distance. It has been awhile, but she still couldn’t figure out why Twilight would betray her like that. [She is smart, she knows what Celestia is doing, but she went any way. She is just as bad as the rest of them].
They left the house and took a short cut throw the orchard to the Everfree forest.
“What is the plan” asked Ezio
“Plain’n simple, we hike through the forest until we reach the base. The goin' in the forest is kinda rough, a lot of animals who’d eat us in a heartbeat. It is a two day hike, so we’re gonna have to stop somewhere to sleep. Think you can handle it?”
Ezio gave her a smile and pretended to be offensive, “you wound me my friend. I may look old, but I can sprint the whole way if need be.”
Apple Jack laughed at that, “Ah’d like t’see that.”
They hiked through the forest all day. Ezio regaled Applebloom with stories of his youth, either unaware or apathetic to their current situation. [By the way he took out those troops last week, he has nothing to worry about]. He might have been right about sprinting through the forest, for a man of his age he was extremely light on his feet, [hell, he’s extremely light on his feet for a man of any age]
The passed by the poison joke fields without incident. Upon hearing about their effect, he went back and carefully picked a few. When asked by Applejack what they were for, she responded “I’ll think of something”. Past the poison joke field was the abandoned hut of Zecora.
“We’ll rest here tonight,” said Applejack, “At first light we’ll all make for the canyon.”
After camp was set up Applebloom fell right asleep. “Ah look at that,” said AJ, “The poor little thing must be exhausted.
Ezio seemed to be unaffected by the cuteness of the situation, he was busy studying the walls.
“What is this place?” he asked Applejack.
“This here is…was the hut of Zecora, have you met her yet?”
“Should I have?”
Applejack was slightly taken aback by his ignorance, then realized between his rescue of Derpy and now he hasn’t had enough time to become acquainted with the figures of the New Lunar Republic, [I shocked he so willingly helped us out]. “She’s a Zebra. Luna’s second in command, even Whooves and Clopton have to answer to her.”
“And she doesn’t mind us staying in her home?”
Apple Jack shrugged, “She ain’t usin’ it.”
Ezio nodded. “What do you do in the LRE?”
“Me? Ah’ma grunt. Sergeant Apple Jack of ‘Big Macs Marauders’, my brother’s platoon.”
“A good unit I assume”
“Good? Ha! We’re the best. We make Celestia’s Elite Guard look like lil’fillies.”
“Pride in your unit it is good, but do not become overconfident my friend,” advised Ezio, “Have you fought in any battles.”
Applejack was a little ashamed to admit it, but she has never seen combat, neither have most of the ponies in her platoon. “Well...ah…We have trained a lot…And my brother saw a lot of fighting before he was kicked out of the Solar Empire’s army...”
“The first time you kill a man is the hardest,” said Ezio solemnly, “but you get used to it after a while. My advice, never take it personally, when you do it leads to a dark place.” Ezio just stood there, staring at nothing. Finally, to Applejacks relief, he spoke, “Don’t let me worry you, I am sure you will do well.”
They awoke that morning, ate a quick breakfast, then followed a nearby river upstream. After following the stream for the better part of a day, Ezio halted, deploying his hidden blade. “We are being watched.”
The rustling in the bushes gave away a flash of color. Ezio retracted the hidden weapon, drew his sword, attaining a combat stance, legs spread wide sword arm bent to hold the familiar weapon in front of his body. Applejack turned to face away from Ezio, drew an alien weapon out of her holster, held it in both of her hands, and aimed down the sights of her gun. The assailants quickly surrounded the two, aiming their alien weapons and glowing swords at Ezio. They were wearing the blue uniforms of the LRE.
Apple jack relaxed and put a steady hand on Ezio’s shoulder, “It's okay sugar-cube,” she said soothingly, “It’s just procedure. A brown Earth pony with bulging muscles approached Ezio with a sack. Ezio gave him a look that could melt the coldest steel, and the pony backed off. Apple Jack looked over and saw what was happening, “It’s okay, we can trust him”. Only then did Ezio sheathe his sword.
A few hours later they arrived at the base with their escort. Ezio had only seen a small portion of the base when he first arrived, and he was amazed by the size and complexity of it all. The base was a semi-circle housed in a canyon, the outside consisted of temporary looking structures, no more than glorified tents, packed against a crumbling wall, inside the wall were a number of ancient looking buildings no more than two stories high, packed together, all surrounding a large, sturdy looking building built into the face of a canyon. with various ponies running around. It reminded him of Villa Auditore. Apple Jack noticed Ezio’s awe. “If ya’ll think that’s impressive, ya’ll should see the underground portion. That’s where all the fun stuff is”
A young Pegasus riding a scooter whizzed by, “SCOOTALOO!” yelled Applebloom with glee. Startled, the young Pegasus lost control of her scooter, and crashed right into Clockwork.
The two Pegasus went crashing down together. Scootaloo got up, seemingly unaware of the older pony she nearly killed. “APPLEBLOOM!” she screamed, with a huge smile on her face. The two girls ran to each other and embraced. Then they started jabbering to each other faster than Ezio comprehend.
“Gosh darn it,” Clockwork said mildly. His younger looking companion was helping him up.
“Curses Clock, damn you!” commanded Leonhardt, “A bucking kid runs you over, an old man, over and all you can manage is ‘gosh darn it’.”
“I am okay, thank you for asking, and don’t call me old. You remember the accident. Aged me thirty years. Besides, it is just foals being foals.” Clockwork turned to Ezio and Apple Jack. “Ah, you are back ahead of schedule, good work Apple Jack. Luna has requested our presence, I am sure she will be happy to see you. Care to join us?”
“Ya’ll don’t cause no trouble, ya’hear,” Apple Jack yelled after her sister as her and her friend ran off. “That’s Scootaloo,” clarified Apple Jack “one of mah sisters best
“Why is she in a uniform?” asked Ezio.
“’er father, Skater, is away commanding at Trottingham, and ‘er mother died in child birth. The princess asked her to become a messenger to help keep her mahnd offa her father.”
The four of them walked into the large building in the center of the base. To Ezio’s surprise, it was not a building at all, only a façade. It was simply a decorative entrance to an elaborate tunnel system that stretched far into the canyon wall. The tunnels had smooth walls and were well lit, with ornate looking pillars set at intervals. Obviously a lot of effort was put into constructing them.
“What is this place exactly,” asked Ezio
“The holdfast of Lord Everfree.” Answered Clockwork, “He was a sorcerer and banner man to Canterlot. He was an evil, evil man, he cursed the forest upon his death. He built this labyrinth so he could commit his unspeakable experiments without arousing the suspicion of the crown. About 3,000 years ago, I think, he rebelled against the crown, but was immediately defeated by Celestia-"
“Wait,” interrupted Ezio, “I am assuming there was another Celestia in your kingdoms history. She cannot possibly be that old.”
“Believe it my friend,”
“And Luna?”
“That is open to debate, she was born a few thousand years after Celestia, but then was sealed away in the moon. It’s a long story.”
“Celestia forbid you bore him even more,” quipped Leonhardt. “Really Clockwork, with all of your reading, you are such an egghead.”
“Maybe if you read more and drank less your portals wouldn’t have failed as miserably as they had.” Leonhardt opened his mouth to respond, but he kept silent, preferring not to risk further embarrassment at the hands of Clockwork. The frail looking scientist turned to Ezio, “We still haven’t exactly figured out what happened. Leonardo seems to be having trouble with some of our spells too.”
The four of them arrived at a large metal door. Waiting outside was Derpy and a male earth pony with his arm draped around her shoulder.
“Ah, Derpy,” greeted Ezio warmly, “I am glad to see you made it back without harm.”
Derpy smiled, “I just wanted to thank you again,”
“As do I,” chimed in the other pony. He had brown hair and yellowish brown skin. He clasped Ezio’s hands “The name is Whooves, Doctor Whooves, I am the head of intelligence here. Derpy is my wife.”
“Pleasure.”
“I am forever in your debt.”
“It was no problem my friend, now shall we proceed.”
“Of course,” Whooves turned to Apple Jack, “Your brother is inside with the Captain.”
“Thank you sir” responded Apple Jack.
They entered into a circular room, simple in design, with a round glass table with a glowing orb in the center. Apple Jack went over to a large pony, who Ezio assumed was her brother, and the gruff looking man standing next to him. Already seated at the table was Leonardo, an older, but still strong looking man in a military uniform with many decorations, and a black skinned woman with white stripes [or is it white skinned with black stripes] Ezio pondered to himself. “Zecora, I presume.”
The woman gave Ezio a half sinister smile, “Ezio, we finally meet. Now please, have a seat.”
There was one thing missing from the scene, Luna. “Where is the princess?” asked Ezio.
“Shortly after you left, she departed for Appleloosa on what we like to call an I and I mission, Inspect and Inspire. She returned about an hour ago and should be here soon.”
Whooves and Derpy sat next to each other, Leonhardt and Clockwork sat to the left of Leonardo. Ezio sat to the right of his friend.
“Having fun?” asked Ezio with a smile on his face.
“Ah, Ezio, welcome back. I have been very busy. Studying this fascinating place and its technology. Did you know they are really close to having a self-propelled flying machine? Imagine that, a flying machine that won’t require strategically placed updrafts. Now the aerodynamics of the contraption is off, but if we incorporate my original design, we might be able to get it to work.”
“As long as I don’t have to test it out, I remember what happened the last time I helped test one of your inventions.”
“Now, now, Ezio, you were fine, weren’t you?”
“I was, but the cat was a different story.”
Luna burst into the room, flanked by two of her guards. She was dressed more like a prince than a princess, wearing a navy blue tunic and trousers, with a darker color cape draped across her shoulders. “Ezio, we were worried about you, we are glad you returned safely.”
“Thanks to Apple Jack,” said Ezio, “She sheltered me until the patrols left.”
“Thank you for your service sergeant. Now, let’s get down to business.” She took a seat in the ornate looking chair between Zecora and the general. “General Cloptton, how are our air superiority issues fairing.”
The General cleared his throat. “As you all know, we have been having trouble accumulate the resources to create a sufficient air force to go up against the Solar Empires. We have managed get a hold of three more airships, bringing the total up to seventeen, but we lack trained individuals to crew them. We do not have enough Pegasi to harass SE airships, and those that we do have cannot match the skill of their SE counter parts. Just yesterday we lost an entire squadron to the Wonder Bolts, they did not even take a casualty, and if the mercenaries get involved with their starships we are…Excuse my language…bucked.”
“We may have a solution to our air problems,” Leonhardt interjected. “As you know princess, me and Clockwork-“
“Clockwork and I” corrected Clockwork.
“Shut up.” Leonhardt snapped at his partner. “ME and Clockwork have been working on a machine that will allow non-pegasi to fly. While we still haven’t successfully reversed engineered one of the aliens star fighter engines, Leonardo here has helped us create an aerodynamic fuselage that can be propelled using magic. It will consist of a two unicorn crew, a pilot who will use magic to move and steer it, and a gunner to use destruction magic. It won’t stand a chance against a star fighter, but is more than capable against an airship, and should be able to tear a Pegasus apart.”
Luna nodded, though it was quite obvious that she was still skeptical. “We mean no offense to you Leonardo, but can we trust your engineering skills.”
“I can vouch for him,” Ezio interjected. “I have flown many of his flying machine prototypes personally. While the earlier ones were…unsuccessful, later models flew perfectly. I put the birds to shame.”
“Well, there is one major aspect we are all overlooking,” said Whooves cynically, “That is manufacturing. Right now we have no factories and no natural resources. All we have right now is Clockwork and Leonhardts warehouse, and while I do not doubt either man’s skills, there is no way for them to produce that many on their own.”
“You forget doctor,” said Luna. “We have a manufacturing center now. We control Trottingham, their factories, resources, and recruits.”
The ponies were silent, each looking at the other, trying to figure out what to do.
“Um…Princess,” Derpy said timidly. Ezio noticed her nervousness, which made him worry. Luna was very informal, and none of the ponies seemed nervous about talking to her, least of all Derpy, [This can’t be good news]. “I…there is a problem, with Trottingham I mean…”
“Yes?” asked the princess in suspense.
“When I was in the SE base in Ponyville, I information on troop deployments, Celestia is massing for her air fleets for an attack on Trottingham....the mercenaries are in charge of the ground operation.”
Ezio could physically see when Luna lost hope. She slouched back into her chair, her hand rubbing the base of her horn. “When?”
“Two days from now,” answered the Doctor.
Cloptton’s white skin was now pink with rage. “Damnit! Why wasn’t I notified.”
“Because you would have rushed off with the army to attack, leaving the base defenseless and more than unlikely, revealed it to the enemy.” Said Whooves, somehow remaining calm.
“Don’t put that on me Whooves, I’m in command of the military, I have the right to know.”
“And I am in command of Intelligence; it is my right to give information to whomever I see fit. I told Zecora, Skater knows, and we got as many re-enforcements there was we can.” He turned to the princess, “it may not be enough…”
“Everypony, please leave.” Asked Luna.
“Does that include our alien friends, who are not ponies?” asked Leonhardt, as he got up. “Because if they’re stay-“
“Out!” commanded the princess sternly.
All of them, except Zecora, departed from the conference room. Once the door was closed and they were in the tunnel, Clockwork turned Leonhardt, “You know Leon, you can be so bucking stupid some times.”
Leonhardt snorted, “’bout time you cursed.”
[How could this happen. We were so close. Now all of those people, our people are going to die. It was our job to protect them, but we failed]. Luna sat there for a while, her face buried in her hands. No one else was in the room but Zecora and two of her body guards flanking the exit. “What do we do Zecora? There is no way our insurgents can hold off a merc ground assault and the air fleet above the city. If we send out the army, then the patrols will find our base within a day. If we do nothing, then thousands will die.”
Zecora sat there for a moment in thought. “Though send our army we do not dare, we must show our troops that we still care. In Leonhardts and Clockworks fighter we must trust, hold the mercs off until it’s finished we must.”
“That is the problem, how do we hold them off until it is finished. All of our insurgents don’t amount to half the fighting capabilities of the mercenaries.”
“Princess, you are thinking big when you should be thinking small. Once you do, you will know who to call.”
With that, a potential solution came. “Quality over quantity,” said Luna to herself. Zecora nodded. Luna turned to her guards. “See if Rompson is still out there, tell him we wish to speak to him.”
The guarded saluted and then left to fetch Rompson, returning less than a minute later with the gruff, olive skinned unicorn. His short, silver hair was dirty, and his usually short beard was longer, clearly he just came back from the field before the meeting. “Princess,” he greeted, without going to attention. Usually that would warrant some form of discipline, but Captain Rompson was valuable enough to get away with such insubordination.
“Captain Rompson, is your company assembled?”
“Two of my platoons are still out in the field, they are on their way back now, should be back in a day. Big Macs Marauders are here and ready to go.”
“Good enough. Send them to Trottingham, once you’re other platoons return, you will follow them. Then our Trottingham resistance cell is led by Colonel Skater, he would have likely set up defenses, but they cannot hold off the imperial air fleet and the mercenaries by themselves. Once you are in the city, expect it to be blockaded and expect to be cut off from aid. You must hold out until Leonhardt, Clockwork, and Leonardo can finish their fighters to break the blockade.”
“My soldiers are the best of the best princess,” said Rompson in a voice that could alone force an entire legion to surrender, “We won’t disappoint you.”
“Good luck Captain,” said Luna grimly. She knew she was more than likely sending Rompson and his ponies off to their deaths. It was one aspect of ruling she would never get used to. “And be Safe.”
Boba surveyed the city. [Nice place, I’d by real-estate here, if it wasn’t burning of course]. Trottingham was built on a delta, with bridges connecting. It was paved with cobblestone with quaint two to three story cottages packed together. It was the kind of place coruscanti tourist would go nuts over. Now it was burning. Sienar mercenaries, garb in their black armor, were everywhere, the First Solar air fleet was over head, and of course, there were the bodies.
Ignoring the curious stares of the mercenaries, Boba went in search of the section commander. He found him just outside the control center, enjoying a nice bottle of wine. [Kriffing mercenaries]. The commander noticed by Boba, and tried in vain to make himself presentable. “Fierfek, it’s really him,” he said to himself. The man extended a hand towards Boba, “Mandalore, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Name’s Gavin Brenner, I’m a huge fan.”
Boba ignore the hand. [I can already tell I’m going to hate him]. “What’s the situation?” asked Boba, all business.
“Oh..yeah. These ponies knew we were coming, they are heavily fortified, and we don’t have any armor to route them out with. Them magic ones keep on messing with our equipment too.”
[These ponies are out gunned with inferior tech. They should all be corpses by now…Kriffing mercs]. Boba took a moment to sum them up. They looked professional enough, Force knows they were well equipped. Most of them were human, which is typical for Sienar, though there were some non-humans sprinkled here and there, including a Trandoshan and a Wookiee staring death at each.
“Are you sure those two are okay together in the same squad?” asked Boba. Trandoshan’s and Wookiee’s are known for their viscous feuds.
“Oh, them? Yeah, no, they’ll be fine. That squad is actually going to be making an attack at one of the LRE emplacements now.”
“Let me see the battle plan.”
There wasn’t much to see. There were only two approaches, a frontal one with cover, and a side one where the enemy was exposed, but is a choke point for anyone trying to attack them from that direction. The plan was pretty straight forward; harass the emplacement from the front. The LRE ponies were using light weapons, nothing the mercs armor couldn’t handle. Respectable strategy, for people without jet packs. “You get that Trandoshan and his chaingun on their flank, I’ll keep the ponies distracted.”
Boba used his jet pack to get to the rooftops. [They never look up]. He hopped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to limit the use of his jet pack, taking advantage of his fibercord whip. He needed to conserve fuel for what he was about to do.
Ten minutes later he was in position, waiting for the signal from mission control. He took a minute to survey their defenses. They had metal emplacements set up on the main road leading to a large stone building. The building itself was a fortress and will be hard to storm, but what was important now was to get rid of those emplacements so Brenner can get the rest of his mercs up the main road. To the left of the emplacements was a narrow alley way, enough for a squad to move through, but of course they would be stuck in there and be easy shooting for the ponies. That’s where Boba came in. One jetpack equipped soldier can cause a lot of problems behind enemy lines, especially a mandalorian. Boba can keep their attention while the squad moves up the ally.
He heard two clicks over his comm. The signal for go. He dropped down from the roof top and activated his jetpack. He saw a group of five ponies clumped together, perfect target for a missile. He fired the missile and didn’t watch to see what happened, he knew it hit its mark when he heard the dismayed screams of his opponents. He continued to maneuver and fire.
Suddenly, his jet pack shut off, and Boba went crashing to the ground. A blaster shot glanced off his armor while he was getting his bearings. He quickly ran to cover. “Brenner! My jetpack shut off. What happened?” Boba screamed into his comm.
“Must be a unicorn nearby, look for a colored glow coming out of one of the ponies.”
It took Boba less than five seconds to find the unicorn. He popped out of cover and fired, hitting the unicorn right in the chest. Immediately his jetpacks systems came back online, and Boba was airborne again.
But something was right. All of the fire was direct towards Boba, and the squad in the alley was nowhere to be seen. “Brenner, what the hell is going on?”
Brenner’s frantic voice came across the comm, “Abort! Abort!”
[Kriffing mercs]. Boba shot skyward, over the rooftops, and came down three blocks away, behind enemy lines. He went parallel to enemy lines away from the emplacements, then headed back to the control center. When he got back, it was chaos. The Wookiee was going berserk, a group of his comrades were trying to calm him down. Boba knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway. “What happened?”
“He shot the Trandoshan. I am surprised, he waited this long, they’ve been together in the squad for a long time. I knew they didn’t like each other, but there were no fights or anything.”
Boba shook his head, raised his blaster one handed, and put a blaster bolt right between the Wookies eyes. “So unprofessional” was all Boba said. He took a look at his braided Wookiee scalps hanging from his shoulder. [At least I’ll have another scalp to add to the collection].