The Battle of Canterlot (II)
“Again, Luna,” Celestia said.
The night princess nodded eagerly, putting her horn to her lips once more and giving the signal for a second round of aerial attack. Once again, the pegasi of Canterlot launched into the air and began to dive bomb the droids attacking their city. This time, however, the B-1s were pressed from both in front and behind, and their stream of reinforcements had been shattered by the Republic’s dramatic arrival. Hit from in front by the Royal Guard, from behind by the Jedi and clones, and from above by the flight of Equestrians, the battle droids crumpled like paper.
As she swooped down through the streets of Canterlot, burning away the hateful machines from her city, Princess Luna spotted Master Kenobi. He looked as though he had been burned, badly in some places, but his face was a mask of determination. And his reflexes appeared to have been slowed not at all, deflecting blaster bolts from a dozen battle droids at once before bowling them over with a single gesture of an outstretched hand. His lightsaber cleaved through mechanical bodies like a scythe through what, and very soon he had carved his way straight through the Separatist line and to the positions still held by the Royal Guard. They at first regarded the Jedi Master and his clones a bit warily, but when they turned aside from the ponies to continue cutting into the droids, they gave smiles and even a few ragged cheers.
After the streets of Canterlot had been scoured clean of the mechanical scourge, Princess Luna made it a point to assist in the medical evacuation of the wounded. There were far too many, soldier and civilian alike, who had been badly injured in the Separatist assault. Her heart bled to see many of the ponies she had come to know among the corpses or the wounded. Civilians had been afforded no more mercy than the soldiers, with stallions and mares, adults and foals alike shot by the pitiless droids. Even her distant and rather annoying nephew Blueblood had had the courage to don ancestral armor and fight, only to have much of his foreleg blown off by a blaster bolt. As she watched him carted away on a stretcher, struggling not to cry out in agony, Luna felt her respect for her relative rise immensely.
As soon as she had made certain that the injured were being taken to the dubious safety of Canterlot Castle, Luna next sought out Master Kenobi from the air. Between the smoke rising from the burning buildings and equipment and the many hundreds of clone troopers taking up position throughout the city, it was not an easy task. Eventually she spotted him in the midst of conversation with her sister on a burnt-out Canterlot street, surrounded by a ring of troops from both the Republic and Equestria.
Both leaders took notice when Luna landed inside the circle, with Obi Wan turning to greet her.
“Your highness,” he said respectfully and with a slight nod. “I-”
He got no further, for Luna marched right up and slapped him across the face with a single armored hoof, knocking the Jedi from his feet.
“Luna!” Celestia snapped, hurrying to assist Kenobi even as the clones around them leveled their guns at her sister. “What are you doing?!”
Princess Celestia offered herself as a support while Obi Wan regained his feet, rubbing a now prominent red spot on his cheek. He leaned on the solar alicorn momentarily, signaling his clone troopers to lower their weapons. They did so, if somewhat reluctantly.
“That is for dragging us into thy war!” Luna snarled at the human. “We are a peaceful people, and now because of thee and thy admiral our lands doth lie in ruin! Thousands are dead because of thy Galactic Republic! And now thou hast-”
“SISTER!” Celestia’s Royal Canterlot Voice was enough to halt Luna’s would-be rant in its tracks. She looked back at the man leaning on her and her voice adopted a much more motherly tone. “Are you alright, Master Kenobi? Do you require medical attention?”
“No no,” Obi Wan waved his hand. “I’m quite alright, I assure you.” He glanced up at Luna. “Her highness has quite a powerful arm.”
Luna snorted as Celestia gently released the human, Kenobi resuming his upright posture and folded his arms in front of his chest. Celestia’s gaze fell back on her sister and her continence became wrathful. The solar alicorn marched directly over to her sibling, grabbing her ungently by the neck and pulling her so close that Celestia’s mouth was all but inside Luna’s ear.
“Idiot!” she hissed at the night princess. “You blind little fool! It does not matter why this has come about or what role he played in it! All that matters right now is that he and his army are all that stands between this city and annihilation! So you will show. Some. Bucking. Respect! Am I clear?”
As best she could while in a virtual headlock, Luna nodded meekly.
“Good. Now shut your foal mouth and let me do the talking. Understood?”
“Yes,” Luna managed.
Celestia released her sister with a snort. Luna shook her head to be rid of the uncomfortable feeling that comes with having several hundred pounds leaning on one’s neck. By the time Celestia turned back to Master Kenobi, her face was again pleasant and her tone warm.
“Master Kenobi, I should like to apologize for my sister’s rudeness. Please forgive her, I’m afraid the battlefield has quite got the better of her temper.”
Obi Wan shook his head. “No, I completely understand. I can certainly see how one might seek to blame us for this,” he sighed. “For what it is worth, I am sorry that this happened to you.”
“We do not blame you,” said Celestia with a slight glare at her sister. Luna cringed back. “It is the Separatists’ doing, not yours. You came to help us when you did not need to, and for that we are grateful,” she bowed her head a little.
“Your sister is partly right. Some of the blame for dragging your world into this must fall on us, and for that, I apologize. If Dooku hadn’t shown up when he did…” he shook his head.
“Dooku?” Celestia asked.
“The leader of Separatists. He showed up above your planet with a massive fleet and broke Grievous out of prison,” he rubbed a burn mark on his neck. “Defeating me in the process.”
The two sisters glanced at each other. “Grievous is free?”
Obi Wan nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. And he is here. Now.”
Luna swallowed, remembering the promise cyborg had made the last time they had seen one another.
“You have come to try recapture him, then?” Celestia asked.
“No, I have come because your people stuck their neck out for us, even if under circumstances I find extremely objectionable. It is our moral obligation to defend you in turn. If Grievous or Dooku can be captured here, it is merely a bonus.”
“What of the combat in space?” Celestia inquired. “Can we expect another round of orbital bombardment?”
Obi Wan shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Not today at least. The Separatist fleet has been severely reduced and is on the run from our forces. Admiral Tarkin assures me that the pursuit is going well. There shouldn’t be any more trouble for your nation from that quarter at the very least,” his expression saddened. “But I regret to report that the Separatists appear to be indiscriminately bombing other parts of this planet as they flee. This has forced our ground and space assets to split up. I am afraid we will be receiving no more assistance from there for some time.”
The sheer ruthlessness of such a tactic stoked the already roaring fire of Luna’s anger. Inside, she burned to hunt down and destroy anypony so utterly disregarding the sanctity of life. Beginning with Grievous.
“What of those ships that brought you? Where have they gone?”
“Either shot down or departed for other fronts,” Kenobi informed her. “There are quite a few droid armies on the march in your nation, and we are trying our best to stop them all. However, our clone troopers are seriously outnumbered and stretched very thin. General Grievous appears to be withdrawing air support from other armies to secure the skies here, so we’ve sent our own out to try and make a difference elsewhere. It will do you little good to win here if the Separatists burn down the remainder of your kingdom in the meantime.”
Luna nodded. That seemed sensible to her.
“But does that not trap you in here with us?”
“It does,” Kenobi acknowledged. “But this is war, your highness. We’re all prepared to die.”
The way he said that made Luna feel both respectful and a bit frightened at the same time.
“Sir!” came the voice of a clone trooper in orange markings.
Kenobi turned to look at him. “Yes, Commander Cody?”
“The clankers are on the move!”
The Jedi’s lightsaber erupted into a blazing blade of blue.
Up the now-devastated mountain road to Canterlot marched the army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. With dozens of Vulture droid fighters soaring protectively overhead to secure the sky, thousands of droids trampled the burnt corpses of their predecessors as they climbed. AATs took the lead, followed by ranked super battle droids. Enormous four-legged homing spider droids occupied the center of the column, while nimble squads of commando droids covered its flanks. After another long column of B-2s, a second group of heavily-armored AATs brought up the rear.
General Grievous marched alongside his droids, firmly encased in the middle of the vast column. Several MagnaGuards surrounded him protectively, spider droids looming menacingly at his back. Commando droids darted here and there ahead of him, ensuring his way was clear. Count Dooku had opted to take a more restrained approach, hitching a ride on one of the rear tanks to spare his limited energies for the actual engagement. Grievous was frankly surprised the count had come at all – it was very rare he personally took to the battlefield alongside the cyborg general.
At the head of the droid army, the first AATs pressed themselves through the shield and immediately opened fire. Their target was not any one individual or unit, but rather the already-devastated outer walls of Canterlot. Their heavy laser cannons and multiple projectile tubes unleashed a barrage of missiles that slammed into the damaged marble in a series of spectacular explosions. It was Grievous’ intention to level the walls altogether, so that the droids could flood the city more quickly and with fewer chokepoints. And, of course, because utterly destroying a city down to its foundations was very satisfying.
The droid army came to a virtual halt while the tanks blasted the walls, the only real movement coming from the commando droids, which were swarming over the AATs with their blasters pointed skywards. Grievous did not intend to allow another pegasi flight to take out his heavy tanks before their work could be completed. More commando droids rushed the shattered main gate, their goal simply to head off any ground-based counterattack. A pair of clone-carried rocket launchers on the wall took out as many tanks, but they were quickly forced to put their heads down or lose them by the commando droids.
Soon, with noises that sounded almost like groans of protest, the ancient enchantments holding the walls of Canterlot together were overcome by sheer firepower. Holes were blasted one at a time into the white marble, ancient towers toppled over into so much rubble. Chunk by chunk the great structure came apart, crumbling before the advanced weaponry of the Separatists. Those clones and ponies attempting to man them either retreated as they began to crumble or else simply perished alongside the age-old architecture.
Grievous gave the signal, and the first column of super battle droids advanced in accordance with the cyborg’s battle plan. They marched around the AATs, which were to remain where they were and focus fire on the distant silhouette of Canterlot Palace. Meanwhile, the B-2s were to march directly into the now-open city and engage the enemy head on. Scores of commando droids remained behind to guard the tanks from any attempt at counterattack. He would put the enemy in a double bind: try to stop the AATs from taking apart their palace piece by piece and allow the B-2s to advance unhindered from the air or else focus all attention on the super battle droids and allow their potential fortress to crumble behind them? They hadn’t the numbers to do both. Once again, overwhelming waves of machinery would allow Grievous an enormous advantage.
As the column in front of him advanced into Canterlot, Grievous let out a malevolent laugh.
Princess Luna watched in mute horror as the ancient walls of the city were being blasted apart. Inside, she yearned to lead another aerial counterattack against the tanks, but her sister quickly moved to put a stop to such a notion.
“No, Lulu,” she shook her head. “We are not going to charge those machines. We would be decimated.”
Her sister had a point. The droids perched around the tanks were almost as numerous as the entire aerial corps they had left.
“But if we do not,” Luna argued. “Will the infernal Separatist devices not simply stay back and take our city apart one building at a time, while we sit helpless and do nothing?”
“No, they will not.”
“How dost thou know?”
“Because they are on a schedule, Lulu,” Celestia said. “Grievous knows as well as we that he only has so long before the Republic’s forces in orbit are able to descend on his armies. We’ve just seen what happens should that occur. He will want his army inside our shield as soon as possible. Our task must be to hold them back. We will need all our strength for it.”
“But, Tia-”
“Lulu,” Celestia broke off observing the battle to look her sister in the eye. “Do you trust me?”
“I…” Luna hesitated, desire to take action warring with her sister’s words inside her. “Yes,” she said after a moment.
“Then please listen to me.”
Luna sighed. “Yes, sister.”
As Celestia predicted, the ranks of the super battle droids had immediately resumed their advance as soon as the wall had been brought down. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of grey-armored killing machines advanced into Canterlot proper. Their wrist-mounted double blaster cannons unleashed death onto both the Republic and Equestrian forces as they marched forward, not bothering to stop for even a second. They trampled over any of theirs that fell without hesitation, determined to continue their march until there was nothing left before them.
The AATs, meanwhile, had remained stationary. They rotated their main guns towards the architectural masterpiece that was Canterlot Palace, and began to open fire. Red laser blasts soared above the city to impact on the palace’s walls and towers. Luna felt the floor rattle slightly underneath her as the explosions shook the tower the two sisters stood on. She looked up at Celestia.
“Order the evacuation of all above-ground palace structures,” Celestia said grimly. “Get the wounded out as quickly as possible.”
Luna swallowed, hesitating. She did not want to so casually abandon their home.
“A palace is just a palace, Lulu.”
General Grievous strode through the shimmering pink shield without slowing down. It felt a bit like pushing through some sort of gelatin, and it was rather hard to imagine that this was the thing that had thwarted his orbital bombardment. Still, that meant he got to do the killing in person, so he wasn’t going to complain too much.
MagnaGuards at his side and a pair of massive spider droids following directly behind him, Grievous stomped over the scorched rubble that had once been Canterlot’s outer wall. It was littered with the broken remains of droids, clones, and ponies alike, but the cyborg could not be bothered to care and instead followed the ranks of the super battle droids into the city itself. He found that he liked what he saw. The buildings that he passed were shattered and scorched or outright on fire, their doors torn or blasted open and the inhabitants mercilessly butchered. Broken droids and dead bodies littered the streets and the homes and the stores alike.
All in all, it was a pleasing sight to behold.
Not too far into Canterlot Grievous spied ponies in the air. They were making dive bombing runs on an area not two blocks from where he stood, using both lightning and small explosives to tear into the advancing ranks of the super battle droids. Clones and unicorns were taking advantage of the air support to double down on their improvised barricades or simply shoot the disoriented droids before they could recover.
“Open fire!” Grievous commanded the spider droids, as well as the squads of commando droids behind them. He pointed a clawed finger into the sky. “Target their flyers!”
The sky was filled with blaster bolts as the black-armored commandos did as they were bid. The spider droids’ weaponry was anti-vehicle in nature and so not as easily usable, but the two droids managed to each fire both their upper and lower guns, putting four continuous laser beams into the air. Pegasi began to drop, one by one, as the blaster bolts found their mark. Most of them had the good sense to vacate the immediate airspace as it was flooded with deadly energy blasts.
Most of them.
A certain group of pegasi, dressed in blue uniforms rather than the golden armor the bulk of them wore, made the extremely bold or particularly stupid decision not to break off. Instead, they changed course, flying low to the ground and using buildings for cover to avoid the worst of the droid’s fire. Lightning impacted on one of the spider droids and it staggered, visibly crackling with electricity. But the droid’s systems had been hardened to survive Republic ion weaponry, and the enormous machine was able to right itself before it could topple over. Commando droids jumped and flipped nimbly onto nearby roofs to give themselves a better shot at incoming ponies.
For a moment, Grievous was puzzled as to the strange behavior of these equines, until the answer hit him: he had been a guest here for weeks, and there were many pictures of him in the media. Someone up in the sky had recognized him. So, they wanted to take out the enemy commander, did they? Grievous reached for one of his weapons.
Let them try.
There was an explosion on a nearby roof, toppling commandos from their perch, several in pieces. The droids around Grievous were firing frantically upwards as several pegasi zoomed over his position, dropping several glass orbs filled with strange substances. Wherever these smashed into the ground, they exploded in vicious-looking fireballs, tearing the mechanical Separatist soldiers to pieces.
One of the glass orbs hurdled through the air directly at the cyborg general’s position. Grievous simply reached out his hand and caught the rather delicate sphere with surprising dexterity and grace. Immediately he hurled it right back at the equine who had tossed it. The blue-covered pony had almost no chance to react before she was consumed by the fiery explosion of her own weapon.
Grievous chuckled at the sight.
The attempted attack on the cyborg general had been costly for the ponies. Of ten that had dived in, four managed to pull up, blaster bolts trailing them the whole way. Three of these opted to break away, flying back towards the safer airspace deeper into the city. One showed no such common sense or basic survival instinct, choosing instead to come around for another pass, this time directly at the cyborg himself. Commando droids fired at her en-mas, but to Grievous’ surprise she was able to dodge around the wildly flying blaster bolts in a truly incredible display of agility and control. Grievous narrowed his eyes at the incoming equine and grasped a different weapon.
It was well-known that General Grievous was a superb swordsman, one of the few beings in the galaxy capable of wielding a lightsaber without the need of the Force to guide him. What was less well-known was that the cyborg was almost as capable a marksman.
Grievous fired a single shot from his blaster pistol. The red laser bolt traveled almost straight up with great speed. It impacted precisely where he had aimed it, on the joint between the pegasus’ right wing and the rest of her body. The well-targeted blast outright tore the wing off, sending the screaming, smoking pegasus right into the cobblestone street. She impacted with a tremendous thud.
The cyborg raised a hand to single the rest of the droids to halt, marching over to examine his downed foe. Incredibly, she was still alive, if barely. Blood was leaking from all over her torn blue uniform, and her legs were twisted in clearly unnatural positions. Her body was shaking wildly, though to her credit the pegasus had ceased her screaming. Perhaps the most unexpected thing was the fact that Grievous found that, up close, he actually recognized this particular pony from some inane picture he’d been shown during his weeks in Ponyville.
“Spitfire, isn’t it?” he said, activating a pair of lightsabers and making a scissor formation around her neck. “What a surprise to meet you here! Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!”
The equine managed to turn her head just so slightly towards the cyborg, her brown eyes peering out from behind broken flight goggles. Despite the evident pain, her expression was one of pure defiance.
“Buck… you…” she managed, and spit at Grievous’ feet.
The cyborg rolled his eyes. “How original.”
Then the two lightsaber blades came together, and off came Spitfire’s head.
Princess Luna made yet another dive bombing attack on the droid army. She swooped down on a Canterlot street filled with advancing super battle droids, bathing the whole thing in a burst of blue flame. Even the durasteel shells of the B-2s could not repel the extreme levels of heat her mystic fire unleashed, with several of them literally cooking from the inside out, or even exploding like demented piñatas as their electronics went completely haywire. Most of the area was cleared of enemies in mere seconds.
As the princess pulled herself skywards again, however, she saw that some of the droids – the ones far enough from the epicenter of her strike – had survived. Where a sane man or pony might rethink their strategy in the face of such lethality, the notion never even entered the processors of the war machines. They immediately resumed their advance, firing on the Royal Guard Luna had assisted, with more already pouring from an adjacent street to take the place of those that had fallen.
All across Canterlot, the story was the same. Endless ranks of super battle droids marched forward in full parade formations, firing at will and not stopping until they were dead. Their lack of will to live, though it made them careless of their own casualties, was a distinct benefit in that they gladly pressed forward through narrow alleys and prepared kill-zones without hesitation. As it had been with the B-1s, there were just so many of them, but these machines added to that the bonus of being considerably tougher than their smaller cousins and having their weaponry built right into their arms. It was like a scene from some horror film: the zombies just kept coming, no matter what anypony threw at them, no matter how many of them fell, completely obvious to pain and injury. Add to all of this the fact that the Royal Guard was already worn down, and you had a recipe for a rout.
It was Master Kenobi and the Republic’s clone troopers that kept the situation from devolving quite so much. They were experienced veterans of the Clone Wars, and had fought many battles against the Separatist Army. They knew the B-2s in and out, with their simplistic programming and heavy armor. More importantly, they knew just where the weak spots in that armor were. Their blasters were more effective than pony magic or melee weapons, dispatching hundreds of battle droids that came at them. Their presence, and the stoic fortitude they displayed in the face of overwhelming numbers, made all the difference in the world for the equines’ morale.
Master Kenobi himself was virtually a force of nature. Defending one of the city’s main roads with only a small number of clone troopers for backup, he deflected a truly incredible number of blaster bolts every second, sending a number of them right back into the super battle droids. Any that approached his position, as so many did with the courage of the mindless, were cut down with his blue lightsaber, their charred remains littering the street at the Jedi Master’s feet.
But it wasn’t enough. For everything they had done, for all the many droids they had cut down, it still wasn’t enough. Luna gritted her teeth defiantly in the face of this realization, but everywhere she could see it was the same story. The droids just kept coming and coming in endless waves, winning ground inch by torturous inch, but winning it nonetheless. Each time one was cut down, more surged forward to take its place, gradually overwhelming any defenders that tried to stand in their way. Their blasters fired nonstop, cutting down ponies and clones alike as they advanced. Even Master Kenobi was having to slowly retreat down the city street, lest his forces find themselves flanked or even surrounded by the B-2 legions.
Even as Luna made ready to launch herself down to attack the enemy once more, she was desperately trying to come up with some new trick, some better tactic or special surprise.
For if nothing changed, Canterlot was doomed.
General Grievous stood amidst the broken corpses of a squad of unicorns in the golden armor of the Royal Guard. The very last pony in the unit, a white unicorn with a short orange mane writhed helplessly in his one-handed grip, his helmet gone and horn brutally amputated. The other hand held a lightsaber with a humming blue blade.
“Heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha!” Grievous laughed at his captive’s plight. “Enjoying the view?” he mocked. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to see your precious city burn any longer.”
With a grunt, Grievous jerked his lightsaber blade upwards and straight through the unicorn’s heart. His body spasmed briefly as the plasma burned through his vital organs in microseconds, before falling still into the permanent embrace of death. The cyborg tossed the carcass aside carelessly, igniting his second lightsaber once again.
Grievous stomped forward through the remains of the hastily-constructed barricade the Royal Guard had been defending, crushing the wood and metal alike under his talons. Following him came a great procession of MagnaGuards, B-X commandos, and B-2 super battle droids. He soon slowed to allow the minions to get ahead of him, unwilling as ever to risk his well-being for the sake of mindless automata. The super battle droids surged out in front, while the others remained clustered around their leader. Soon a group of them rounded a street corner, whereupon there came the immediate sound of blasterfire.
The cyborg allowed a few more B-2s to enter the danger zone ahead of himself before rounding the corner in person. What he saw both surprised and amused him.
Down the corpse-choked street, defending a large barricade not a stone’s throw away from the walls of the palace itself was none other than Shining Armor. That irritating prince who fancied himself a warrior, and brother to Twilight Sparkle. He was nothing more than a fool who knew nothing of the truth of war, but Grievous was glad to see him nonetheless. Killing the white unicorn stallion would make for entertaining sport, and strike a blow directly at the princesses’ hearts besides.
But, as the sheer number of droid bodies piled up near his barricade showed, that would not be an easy task. The barricade itself was much larger and better manned – with both ponies and clones – than any of the others the cyborg had yet seen. More important, however, was the shimmering dome of pink magic that surrounded it. Blaster bolts exploded against it without harm. The droids that walked through the magical defense were immediately gunned down before they could even bring their weapons to bear. Of course, being brainless machines, that didn’t stop them from marching straight through it anyway.
Grievous raised one hand, and immediately all of the droids on the street ceased moving where they were. Fearlessly, he marched right through the gaggle of machines between him and the pink bubble, walking right up to the front of it. He knew that they couldn’t attack him through it any more than he could them. Shining Armor stared out at the Kaleesh cyborg with hatred in his eyes.
Grievous folded his arms behind his back. “Oh look,” he said, mockingly. “It’s the little draft beast that thinks it’s a soldier! Can you imagine that?” he pretended to ask a MagnaGuard. “A pathetic beast of burden that actually thinks it can be a warrior!” he threw back his head. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Shining Armor gritted his pearly white teeth. “Why don’t you come in here and say that to my face?” he snarled.
“If you’re the big tough warrior prince, why don’t you come out here and face me?” Grievous taunted him. “Man to man! Winner takes all!”
“Why don’t you come in here and I’ll fight you? I’ll give my word of honor that it will be one to one.”
“Why don’t you come to me? After all, I’m the big bad alien warlord invading your city. And…” Grievous allowed the word to hang in the air for a moment. “The man who killed your sister.”
Shining Armor’s expression, already wrathful, became almost apocalyptic. He leaned forward against the barricade to such an extent that one of his own men felt the need to put a hoof on his shoulder to keep him from falling over it.
“What did you just say?!”
“You heard me,” Grievous taunted. “I killed Princess Twilight Sparkle. Gutted her like a fish. It was slow and painful. She was begging me for death with tears in her eyes before the end.”
All a lie, of course. He hadn’t even seen her since the day he’d departed Ponyville. But Grievous knew a psychological weak spot when he saw one.
Shining Armor looked ready to run screaming at the cyborg general. His body tensed up, seeming ready to pounce…
And then it deflated.
“You’re trying to trick me,” he said. “You’re an honorless cur. The moment I drop this thing you’ll order your droids to kill me and all my men.”
“Huh,” Grievous was slightly impressed. “Good guess.”
Shining Armor only growled.
General Grievous activated the comlink built into his wrist. “Deploy the droidekas to my position at once.”
The street echoed with the sound of the cyborg’s laughter.
Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi was under heavy fire. Super battle droids by the score marched down the Canterlot street, each and every one of them firing at him nonstop. Many of the red bolts he dodged, many he deflected with his lightsaber, but far more simply missed. Missed him, that is. The corpses of more than a few clone troopers could testify to the droids’ collective accuracy.
Slowly but surely, he and his ever-shrinking unit were being forced back. The light side of the Force flowed freely through his limbs, lending them strength and vitality, but he was still only human. Many droids had fallen to him or his men, but many more were still coming. Such was ever their way.
It was as Kenobi was retreating a few more steps that he felt the presence of a powerful darkness. It was very familiar to the Jedi. It was very close.
Count Dooku.
Kenobi waited with baited breath for the count to stride forth from among his droids or leap from some nearby building, only half focusing on deflecting blaster bolts in the meantime. He waited. And waited. And waited.
At last he reached out with the Force again, seeking out the count’s signature. It was still there, in the city, but it was further away. Dooku couldn’t have failed to sense him, Kenobi realized. Not when they had been so close together. There was only one explanation.
Count Dooku was after something else.
The rolling forms of the droidekas – also known as destroyer droids – raced through the rubble of much of Canterlot to converge on their cyborg general’s position. Extremely expensive to produce, the machines were consequently very rare and usually kept back for when they might have the most impact.
Like right now.
Half a dozen rolling machines came to an abrupt halt, unfolding from their ball-like traveling mode into the three-legged standing position they used for battle. Two arms, each ending in twin blaster cannons, unfolded from their bodies to point forward. Most important, however, their semitransparent deflector shields powered up, encasing all six of the lethal machines in small protective bubbles.
General Grievous pointed one finger at Shining Armor and his men.
“Kill them all.”
The droidekas scuttled forward on all three legs. Their pace in this state was slow, but it didn’t matter here. They pushed through the unicorn’s shield at a snail’s pace, their passage making serious ripples in the magic bubble.
And then they were in, and the killing began.
The destroyer droids opened fire at a truly phenomenal pace, all twenty four of their blaster cannons loosing destructive red bolts into the barricade at almost point-blank range. Explosions tore chunks from the fortification and from soldiers without discrimination. All within attempted to return fire, raining magic and blaster bolts and physical projectiles down on the droidekas.
All failed.
The energy shields protecting each killing machine were battle-tested and proven against all but the heaviest of personal weaponry. They were more than up to the task of dealing with rifle fire or primitive projectile weaponry. Ripples covering their shields as the attacks of their foes were harmlessly absorbed, the droids advanced.
In mere seconds the droidekas had blasted apart the crude barricade. Relentlessly firing their guns, the three-legged menaces clambered over the ruins to fire down at the unicorn prince’s rapidly-diminishing force. Clones and ponies alike perished rapidly, until very soon Shining Armor stood alone in a secondary bubble of his own hurried creation. Blaster bolts were harmlessly deflected or simply absorbed, but the droidekas moved rapidly to surround the heavily sweating unicorn. All six stood in a full circle around him, firing constantly in a bid to overwhelm his defenses.
Grievous had his eyes narrowed. It would not be long now.
And it wasn’t.
One moment the droidekas were pounding heavily on the captain’s shield with their blaster cannons, the next the unicorn stood high on his back two legs and bashed his front hooves hard into the ground. Spikes of stone shot up from the very ground beneath the legs of all six droids, taking advantage of the one spot their deflector shields did not cover. The sharp-tipped pillars impaled the droidekas through their vulnerable heads, destroying their processors. All six went limp all at once, their shields fading to nothing.
Shining Armor’s own defenses flickered and died around him as his magic reserves dwindled, exhausted by the power required to cast his spell and defend himself from such an intense assault at the same time.
“I learned that one…” he said through gritted teeth, breathing heavily. “In the Crystal Empire. You’d be surprised… what kind of combat magic those crystal ponies could… come up with… when they put their… minds to it.”
Grievous blinked, genuinely impressed by the unicorn’s showing. He hadn’t thought the prince had it in him to best a half dozen of his best shock troops. He put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment.
“Alright,” he said, drawing two lightsabers. “You’ve earned the right to face me in single combat. Use it well.”
With that, General Grievous stormed forward, sabers at the ready. Shining Armor was still panting with the effort, but gathered pink energy around his horn and fired it at the cyborg in a concentrated beam. Both lightsaber shot up to make an X in front of the general’s body, catching the magic head on. It diffused harmlessly across the plasma blades, and then Grievous was charging again.
Shining Armor took several steps back while his horn glowed once more, still trying to catch his breath. This time, an elegant-looking blade of pure magical energy took rapid shape in front of the unicorn.
Just in time to block a double overhand power blow from Grievous. The three blades clashed together in a shower of sparks, but the magic did not break. Grievous pressed down hard with his cybernetic strength, forcing the magic blade back several inches. Shining Armor’s body was taut with effort, but gradually his sword ceased moving towards him, holding back the general’s strength with his own.
Suddenly, Grievous released the pressure, ducking under the upswing of Shining’s blade and making a one-handed stab for his chest. The unicorn scrambled backwards, clumsily bringing his blade around to bat at the lightsaber from the side. He ducked under the second swipe to his head, which sheared off a portion of his ceremonial helmet instead.
As he blocked the hurried counterattack with both blades, Grievous might have smiled. Whatever else he was, it was evident to the cyborg that the unicorn prince was no duelist of any serious caliber. Perhaps he had focused too much on his defensive magic and not spent enough time in a practice ring. Either way, Grievous knew just what to do.
Shining Armor made an overhand swing, which Grievous caught with both blades. He allowed his arms to be pushed back slightly under the pressure. The unicorn promptly overcommitted, doubling down on the mystic blade’s power and trying to press it down onto the cyborg’s head.
Which left him vulnerable.
Grievous’ right foot shot out, grabbing the prince’s head in his talon. Before he had a chance to react at all, Shining Armor found himself hoisted off the ground, lifted over the general’s head, and smashed headfirst onto the cobblestoned street. His concentration thoroughly broken, his conjured blade faded to nothing. Before the unicorn could recover, Grievous brought one of his lightsaber blades down.
Slicing off Shining Armor’s horn.
The unicorn prince and captain of the Royal Guard screamed his agony as the most fundamental organ for use of his magic was violently amputated by burning plasma. His body convulsed wildly under the strain, sparks flying from the charred stub that had so recently been a proud white horn. His eyes scrunched up against the overwhelming pain, he could do nothing as a mechanical hand reached down and seized him by the throat. Grievous lifted Shining Armor up to eye level with triumphant malice in his eyes.
“Heh heh heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA!” Grievous laughed at his crippled opponent.
Shining Armor bit his own tongue to keep from screaming again before slowly forcing his eyes open bit by bit. Blue and yellow stared at one another.
“How pathetic,” Grievous taunted. “The little draft beast thought that because it could beat a few machines it was a true warrior! Hah!” he laughed again. “You are nothing! Your city is nothing! Your nation is nothing! Your whole species are nothing! Do you understand?” he held up his blue lightsaber blade mere inches from the unicorn’s neck. “I will kill them as I kill you now. Die knowing that you have failed, and that very soon all your kind shall follow you into-”
“Put him down, Grievous,” came the sound of a very familiar voice.
General Grievous turned his head. There, landing just beside the walls of her palace, was the armored but unmistakable form of Princess Luna.
“Gladly,” he answered, tossing the crippled unicorn aside without a second thought before turning to face the alicorn. His second lightsaber flared back to life in his hand, blades blue and green humming audibly.
“I’d rather he watch you die.”
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O Captain My Captain.
Uh oh, Rainbow Dash is going to be pissed!
Starting to worry this just a very detailed 'Kill all the ponies' story I seen from time to time on here. Would be nice for the Separatist to get at least fucked over in some way...and no the Republic just joining in doesn't count. All that did was kill a bunch of the weak droids which doesn't amount to jack.
While the ponies had lost Discord, a huge chunk of their population, have other parts of their world getting blown to bits, and so on.
Though I would have figured the Separatist had pissed off the dragons enough for them to get involved by now, because even if the dragons don't care for the ponies. They would be less than happy to have themselves, their broods, and or their hoards blown to kingdom come. Not like they can't contact one another and figure out what is going on...unless the sending messages via fire is a strictly Spike thing.
And I KNOW there are enough dragons that if they showed up it would not end well for the machines, that Dragon Migration ep for MLP gave a rather good idea that there are a LOT of dragons.
All in all I'm sort of meh now about this rather one sided brawl...and yes one sided cause the other side is only taking out mostly Super Battledroids but not anyone or thing of real interest. Hell haven't even put a scratch on Dooku or Grievous...
I never understand how it would be possible for geniuses to be dumb. Again and again, you see the antagonist, the "evil genius/mad scientist/brilliant general/whatever" doing something incredibly stupid at the end which results in their death about 97% of the time. In the same chapter as the villain managing to storm the impenetrable fortress through some genius method, he promptly tells the hero exactly what to do to stop him, then leaves him alive, like some dime-a-dozen purse snatcher. I've grown tired, and seeing a "cliffhanger" like this is to me as the monthly bills are to the single mother. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe something will change this time around. Maybe this'll be a story I can cherish, recommend, and remember for the rest of my lucidity.
But then again, the North Koreans had the same hope.
This feels like Pony War Porn. >_>;;;
Ah'm sorta confused on how a plot would develop...
LOL I love it. one of my favorite things in this world as far as fiction goes is realistic culture shock XD
5594147
Which one?
5594196
If all I were interested in doing was killing all the ponies, I would have had the orbital bombardment work perfectly. As there have been quite a few who have explicitly not been killed, I'm wondering where you get idea that that is my intention.
But yeah, I have a story to tell, and deaths are a part of it.
5594211
Grievous gloats because that's his personality. He really likes rubbing his superiority into his opponents before killing them. He did it in the very first chapter, and he did it twice before conducting a execution in this chapter. Why do you expect him to do anything else?
Then the two lightsaber blades came together, and off came Spitfire’s head.
Anyone else find it interesting that they named a skilled flyer after a world war two fighter plane?
5594254>>5594254 Pony and other Equestrian casualties need to reach at least a million for this to be realistic.
Ponies can't defeat Greivious, unless Cadance, Luna and Twilght all fall to the dark side.
If Dooku loses, without killing Kenobi or the diarchs, I WILL call bullshit!
5594289 I find it ironic considering the story.
5594147 I actually felt bad for Spitfire. If she only knew how futile charging Grievous was she might have lived longer. Sadly not so. She was one of my favorite characters too.
5594254 What I can't wait to see is what Luna will do to defeat Grievous. I'm still convinced she'll try to appeal t his warrior nature. To no end I believe. Wonderful chapter. A bit graphic but I like how it was done. Nice job with using Grievous's cruel nature. You kept him true thus far to his actual character along with the rest of them. You continue to impress me. Now Luna shows up and what you do next... I can't wait to see.
5594254 Oh the deaths I get and I wouldn't mind it much at all, but it just seems like only one side is suffering any losses worth noting. As I've yet to see any of the major players for the Separatist even get a scratch or suffer any wearing out. Feels one sided to me but just my opinion.
But I'm not gonna vote down your story or what not over it. As you at least making it interesting to read as oppose to some stories like this.
How much do I need to know about Star Wars to enjoy this fic?
As much as I want the Republic and Equestrian forces to win... Am I the only one enjoying the way they die? Great chapter, btw!
A war takes a new meaning when you put names you now
great chapter.
I have the feeling that that Luna will fall to the dark force influence rather than dying
Uh oh... Epic swordcrossing duel detected ahead!
Earlier, Luna has proved she was tough and could even dent Grievous' armor with her hooves (not to forget the headbutt in his face). Now she'll show him what she can do without restraint. Go Luna!
With the wide array of spells shown by alicorns and unicorns in canon, I think it's realistic and a good idea to have them also have magic sword summoning, not just forceshield and magic beam.
Again, the death of ponies, named ones included, was to be expected in a crossover with Star Wars.
5594457
Maybe because, aside from being well written, they face their death like true warriors, with courage and defiance, and for a good cause. Your names shall never be forgotten, ponies and clones!
5594530
Or, maybe, she'll show Grievous what is a true warrior.
5594432
Not too much. Though, if you're asking that then you'll probably have to look some things up (mostly droid types).
No Grievous, kill him now! Kill Shining Armor now! Im gonna be so pissed if Shining survives...
5593913 Eh, I'm not mad or anything. Text doesn't always convey the tone of speech we originally intend.
5593355
Even so, it still didn't feel like they were doing all they could. That was my main point.
I would've thought Grievous would end Shining right in front of Luna before fighting her. At least he got most of the Wonderbolts. I especially enjoyed how he took down Spitfire.
Also, even though Luna is one of my favorite ponies. I really hope that Grievous is able to take her down. I know I'm gonna get some hate for that comment but think about it. Every once in a while it's good to see a story were the bad guys win in the end. This way we can have a sequel with the equestrians and the Jedi fighting to free their world.
5594845
The question is, would it be good for this story? If yes, how to make it good?
Grievous and Dooku plan to kill them all, no prisoners nor slaves. Were they defeated, how would the few survivors do to make it? What would happen next?
Luna vs. Grievous: Fight of the Century!
5594147 My thoughts exactly.
5594866 I'd say the best place for the survivors to regroup would be deep underground where they can't be reached by orbital bombardments. And since Grievous ordered his remaining ships to indiscriminately fire upon the entire planet. I think it's safe to say that the other races that inhabit their world will give the equestrians their support to take revenge against the CIS.
Luna is doomed
5594270
Watch Clone wars season 5 Episode 2 in it Obi wan and others have to train a group of rebels. Like killing a destroyer droid by slowly rolling a grenade through its shields. I haven't found any other way to kill one with its shields up...
Leave it to Celestia to kiss ass. Luna was in the right to slap Kenobi for strong arming them into this mess.
This battle is like an equeatrian version of thermoply except Instead of spartans its ponies
Funny how, in a nutshell, revolved around a misunderstanding that equestria was threatened by fuckin Tarkins. Seriously
Awwww... I wanted Grievous to end Shining Armor in front of Luna :/
Grievous needs to die. Like, right now!
I've been having a hard time on thinking about how this story will end. If Luna dies, then it'll effect the ending drastically. We haven't seen any major star wars heroes die yet, so it'll be interesting to see it happen if Grevious does die. I'd personally prefer Grevious to win because I honestly respect him more for his dark past (note: Luna is my favourite princess so I'll probably be sad either way) but Luna better die with honour!
If she does lose
This isn't a crossover....this is a NIGHTMARE! !
5595005 Get a bigger shielded robot to crush the shield!
Yay let the freaking horses die, and let luna get gutted out like a fish by the market!
5594931
Um. It's too early to say that yet. I would just wait for the next chapter to come up before I can say anything.
I feel a Mane six kicking Grievous butt thing happening soon.
5595695
Too soon to say it. We have to wait and see.
5595049 Tarkin is such a sweet little saint isn't he?
Here, get an epic theme for "Luna Vs Grievous" and maybe also for "Celestia VS Dooku"!
Or for a more 'duel sounding' theme :
I'll stop there.
I'm hoping that the clones get some reinforcements, and Yoda, this story definitely needs Yoda.
Oh shit, looks like we've certainly got a...
Duel of the Fates.
Why did nobody make this joke yet?
5595214
And, you know, lasers.
The Spartans have lasers.
This is pure, unadulterated fandom wank. And not even the good kind either.
5595397 Let's wait until the next chapter is up and then you can say it. Ok?
5595695 would that even work? Grievous is like 90% metal... Do the harmony magics work on inanimate objects? XD
Next chapter: the betrayer gets her just reward.