The Imperial Ace

by Navanastra

Chapter 8: Bird Shooting

Chapter 8: Bird shooting.
Edited by: Chrome Masquerade, Rainbowblitz

“Ugh, this is just going to be impossible.” A Pegasus guard named Storm Cloud whined as she and her partner continued to fly far west from Whitetail Woods in search of the missing Wonderbolt captain, like all the other groups around the area.

Her partner and superior Sky Sword frowned, as he was forced to listen to the newly enlisted guardsmare’s continuous complaints for the last hour, and at this rate his eyes would come loose from rolling so much!

‘Really? If she’s complaining about this, then how the buck is she going to cope when things really start hitting the hay?’

He was secretly wondering how the hay she even got through initiation training. But that doesn’t matter, as he is already stuck with her and not somepony else. It’s as simple as that. Thus, he was acting both as her mentor and partner in this search and rescue operation alongside some other rookies and veterans.

He wanted to groan, but decided to just sigh instead, to hide his growing annoyance. ”Well, whining and complaining about it isn’t going to make this search mission any easier, let alone faster.” He argued, in hopes of getting her to finally pipe down and just focus more on the job at hoof.

Sadly, though, that wasn’t really the case, as the young guardsmare continued to complain like a little filly. Then again, according to her records -as far as Sky Sword could recall- she really only had been with the guard for just about a months now and just recently passed through her enlistment training as well. How? Well physically she did quite well, only her sense of patient and focus was something to desire, which is basically the main reason why she was picked to participate in this little search and rescue mission in the first place.

To help her teach patients and focus as far as he was told, something she has a really long way to master as far as he was aware.

‘A really long way.’ he thought to himself.

“This area is HUGE! How are just two ponies going to properly scout through all of it to just find one pony?” The rookie kept on asking as the two kept on flying at a low altitude.

Sky Sword had to admit, she had a bit of a point there, but he would be damned if he’d ever openly admit that to anypony! Especially to a rookie.

He was about to answer her question when, all of a sudden, a bright blue streak struck the private right against her side, causing her to spasm painfully for a moment before going limp and falling down towards the ground like a wet sack of rocks.

Sky was momentarily stunned before he almost immediately managed to regain his control thanks to his training and years within the guard.

“Storm Cloud!!” He tried to call out before a second streak suddenly zipped passed the falling guardsmare’s body and making its way directly towards him in impossible speeds.

Sky didn’t even had time to flinch as the streak of energy impacted him directly on his forehead.

He was quickly stunned, as electric currents immediately overloaded Sky’s nervous system forcing him to spasm just like the rookie before his vision promptly turned to dark as everything around him swiftly ceased to exist.

He never even got the chance to scream, or even get a chance to determine where these bolts were coming from before the world turned numb.

But, unbeknownst to him, his attacker was actually an alien from outer space, leaning against a large tree trunk as it casually observed the two plummeting ponies he just took out.

Only one thought was going through this alien's mind as the two eventually disappeared under the forest's canopy.

“Bird stunning. ‘It’s a great pastime activity’, Hedge says. Personally I don’t see the point.”

………………………………………………………………………………………

“So… how come you haven’t tried making your way back to either Cloudsdale or Ponyville after that alien named… Riggs bandaged you up?” Cloudchaser questioned as she ominously kept watched the campfire in front of her. A campfire made of the dead remains of Timberwolves - an encounter and event that still made her shiver a bit, whenever she carefully thought about that one particular event.

In that case, watching the burning remains of these vicious beasts might not have been the remedy to dispel those images from her mind. But then again… it was kind of awesome as well haven watched that alien make almost insultingly short work of those Timberwolves.

“Are you serious?” Spitfire replied with a” are you serious” kind of look and while pointing out her injured wings.

Cloudchaser just smiled sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck. “Oops. Yeah, forgot about that.” She replied before relaxing once more.

A moment of silence ensued as the two simply sat there next to one another, enjoying the flickering light and the crackling sounds the campfire was producing.

The silence was initially broken by Cloudchaser once more as her mind produced yet another question out of the blue. “So… what exactly happened to you?” Cloudchaser asked, which, in turn caught Spitfire off guard.

She quickly began to feel nervous for some reason. She could just as easily tell her that the storm completely caught them by surprise, but there was far more than just that.

Then again, she also had to eventually explain herself to both Soarin and Fleetfoot as well. A conversation she was NOT looking forward to, in all honesty.

She had done some really questionable and dangerous crap in the past, but what she did prior to all of this was easily the peak of her own hubris and stupidity.

Yes, she was fully ready to openly call herself stupid on this one. How could she not? Especially since it was an idea that nearly costed her life, if it wasn’t for some random outer space alien that literally swooped down and saved her sorry flank.

She may be somewhat of a stubborn, thickheaded and prideful individual thanks to her life achievements and just overall characters, but even so she still just hated the idea of ever openly lying to her friends, even if it was for the greater good, or the preservation of their friendship.

Spitfire just sighed. If she is planning to get clean with both Fleefoot and Soarin on her bullcrap the she might as well start with a pony who is Fleefoot’s cousin.

“Well...” She began. “Have you heard about the big storm that was raging above Whitetail Woods a couple of days back?” Spitfire asked as she kept her gaze fixed on the ground below her.

Cloud just nodded. “Well, yeah. One hay of a storm, and the main reason why you got separated from both Fleetfoot and Soarin, from what I have heard. What about it?” She responded.

Spitfire just lowered her head even further as she knew that what she was about to tell her is most likely going to shock her. “Well… that whole storm thing was my fault. I ordered it from the weather agency secretly so it will intercept us during our training flight.” Spitfire admitted solemnly.

Cloudchaser, obviously, was shocked. If what she said was true, it would mean that not only did Spitfire deliberately got herself and her 2 best friends in mortal danger, but she also had her hoofs in staging it as well. All while not telling or even mentioning it to anypony.

But why though?

Cloud was just bewildered as her brain was busy processing the short but still shocking information she was given by the Wonderbolt Captain herself.

“But… but why? Why the hay would you do that? Storms in such a level are very dangerous, especially for fliers! So why in Equestria would you set something like that up and not even tell a soul about it, especially my bucking cousin?” She pursued angrily, which in turn made Spitfire feel even more guilty about her actions as she still refused to look Cloudchaser in the eye.

“Well… have you already heard of the difficult Hurricane Pass stunt that is to be openly performed in the Las Pegasus Aerial show that has been scheduled to be staged in 2 months from now?” Spitfire asked, which in turn confused the wild-maned mare beside her, especially after that bomb she just dropped a moment ago.

Aside from that, Cloudchaser once again was forced to just nod as she did remember having read the posters and ads marketing this event on walls and billboards.

“Well… yes… yes I do. ‘A very spectacular and difficult pact aerial show’ is what the ads say about it. Again, what has this to do with anything?” Cloud responded.

Spitfire nodded as she thought about the best way to word her next explanation before she just mentally decided “buck it” and said, “Well a lot actually.” Spitfire began as she lifted her head, momentarily gazing over to the little Droid in the distance -it was welding something on Riggs’ ship- before looking back down onto the ground. “For starters, as you may know, the Hurricane Pass maneuverer requires a lot of heavy and strong air turbulence in order to pull off, which is why the aerial show was staged to take place in-between mountain passes that basically make up the east side of Las Pegasus. Natural air tunnels where battering winds coming from the sea are funneled through.” Spitfire explained as she slowly lifted her head once more to look at the stars above them as she continued on. “Well, long story short, I just wanted to perfectly prepare for that particular stunt. Especially since it was also going to be a very first time me and my team would openly perform it in not so control environment like we used to. If we have the strength and coordinations to power through an actual full-blown hurricane, then the Hurricane Pass maneuver shouldn’t really be that much of an issue, or so I had hoped…” Spitfire then sighed as her head once again fell. “Once again, I let my own overconfidence and pride do most of the thinking for me, which is why I didn’t bother to even tell my two best friends about it in the first place as I felt confident in our abilities and years of expertise. Why? Well...to be honest...I don’t know. I guess...I was just thinking about really testing these two as obviously knowing that a storm was on its way give somepony chance to physically and mentally prepare for such a challenge. Once again, my own overconfidence at play.” She continued on. ”I made mistakes like these back in the past allot, but never with such fatal results.” She sighed once more before turning her head to look at her bandaged wings and overall her still-injured back in general. The sight of it making herself feel even more dumber than she already did. Making her -in essence- feel even more guilt for having kept all of this from her two best friends, not to mention putting them into mortal danger as well.

Then it hit here. “Wait…I…I actually have no idea what happened to both Fleetfoot and Soarin after I got flung away from them during the storm!” Spitfire realized as panic quickly began to rise up inside of her. Both physically and mentally.

Cloudchaser noticed this as she looked at the suddenly distressed mare with concern. “Uh… Spitfire? Are you…” She tried to say before she got interrupted.

“Oh dear Celestia! Fleetfoot and Soarin! I have no bucking idea what happened to them when I got separated from them!” She shouted in panic as she suddenly stood up on all fours, completely ignoring the pain from her injuries.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down Spitfire… Both Soarin and my cousin are fine Both me and sis immediately visited them after we heard what happened. The two are fine, injured but fine.” Cloudchaser butted in before things could get out of hoof.

Though this thankfully did the trick, as Spitfire quickly mentally -and visibly- calmed herself as she sat back down. “Really? Oh, thank Celestia for that.” She sighed before hissing a bit.

“Darn! My back.”

Cloudchaser was just relieved that she managed to calm her down quickly before she might have done something she was sure Spitfire would regret. If her cousins stories about her freak out are to be believed.

“Beep boop boop beep chirp.”

Both Clouds and Flits ears perked up as they turned their attention to the source of those beeps and chirps. It was none other than the Blue and white ball shaped Droid dubbed BB-5 by its owner.

How the HAY this ball of metal managed to just manages to silently creep up on them was beyond the mares, especially given the fact that he is made of metal.

“Jeez! For the love of Equestria, stop doing that!” Spitfire complained while Cloudchaser was busy giving him the stink eye.

Obviously still sore from the whole “Grabbing her from the air” thing.

Spitfire sighed. “Well, whatever. What is it?” She casually asked while leaning her head back against the tree trunk she was sitting against.

The droid didn’t need to answer, as someone else did it for him.

Or rather something did.

Both mares’ ears immediately perked up as the rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs quickly entered their senses. On instinct, both of them jumped up to all fours, worrying that it might be even more Timberwolves or even something worse than that.

Those fears were swiftly quashed, though, as it turned out to be nothing but the black armored alien himself. Though that relief promptly turned into shock and slackened jaws as they see what he was casually bringing with him over his right shoulder.

………………………………………………………………………………………

“Great. Originally only planned to scout out the area around the camp some more and to finally try out this pastime sport Hedge constantly kept jabbering about. Instead I come home with two extra natives to babysit. More wood for the fire, I guess.” Riggs mentally commented as he simply and casually strode by the two slack jawed mares and one very interested looking droid.

To be honest, this really wasn’t the most unpredictable collapse of a plan he ever had in his career. But then again, no plan really survives first contact to start with, especially in wartimes. This is just the chaotic nature and unpredictability that life can have as a whole.

That includes having mistaken alien birds with alien natives, and the fact that he just wanted to personally try out a type of sport his squad mate Hedge always used to talk about.

“Mistakes were made. But then again, at the moment I couldn’t really care less either. Especially since I didn’t kill them by accident. Just stunned them” Riggs thought to himself as he holstered the two golden armored natives by their tails before easily dropping them off onto the ground to act as a future problem.

One of them might have groaned a bit during the somewhat rough release, but other than that these two stayed unconscious nicely, which meant less things to momentarily care about for Riggs.

Again, Riggs could just -hopefully- rely on the other two to do most of the talking for him, as he wasn’t really in the best mood for any diplomatic relations. And if things do go south somehow, he at least still has his weapons and a shovel to use.

“Let’s just hope that it won’t come to that, otherwise first contact with the native leaders of this world might end up same as the last.” He thought to himself.

If that happens then he could truly say that he’d be stuck here for a very long time, unless his squad were actively looking for him already.

Which they probably were, since he is missing, from the discussed rondevu point there where supposed to meet on when the battle went far south above Coruscant.

Which it did.

But again, if he was still in the same galaxy, that is.

Riggs dispelled those thoughts. He had obviously more pressing things to focus on at the moment, like still believing in the concept that he still can somehow fix the hyperdrive himself despite the lack of obvious spare parts to use.

But then again, improvising is halve the life afterall.
Riggs was about to make true to that philosophical statement when a certain mare didn’t threw a wrench against it as she finally managed to snap out of her road kill like expression.

“What the…? Where in Celestia’s name did you get these two Royal guards from?” She asked, which in turn forced Riggs to gaze in her direction with a raised eyebrow under his helmet.

“Wait, these two are members of your planet's military?” Riggs questioned before he gaze went back to the mentioned personnel, still sleeping away their “stunning” experience.

“At least that explains their golden armor, then. Hope it’s more ceremonial than actually made for combat, otherwise that would just be ridiculous for so many good reasons.” He wondered as a set of hooves quickly moved closer to him.

Those sets of hoofs belonged to none other Spitfire, as she was visibly panicking.

“Oh, dear Luna! Please don’t tell me that you killed them! Please, for the love of the sky above don’t tell me you shot them with one of your magic projectile weapons!” The mare pleaded, a question which was shared by the other native as well -though not as vocally, as she was still looking on in shock.

Riggs just kept his gaze locked at the two newcomers. “Actually, I did.” He casually answered, but before Spitfire could say anything or panic even further, he continued. “But not with deadly force. My Rifle was actually set to stun when I shot them. So yes, they are very much still alive, besides some minor scratches and bruises because of their fall.” He casually explained, which did the trick on easing the tension. Spitfires tensione, not his.

Spitfire quickly relaxed and sighed with relief after hearing that. And after having taken a closer look at these two new ponies, she could actually tell for herself that these two were actually A OK, if there breathing and twitching was anything to go by.

Furthermore, this at least proved her hope that this Alien named Riggs wasn’t so bad after all, despite his previous acts and seeming lust for violence.

But then again, he is a soldier -or a warrior- after all, from what she could observe for herself. She never really tried to ask him personally, simply because of the fact that she still felt somewhat wary about him. Plus, accidentally insulting an alien equipped with high tech magic-like weapons who has the ability and ferocity to take on a whole den-worth of Timberwolves all by himself is obviously not a very good idea. Not really high on her to-do list for sure.

Especially when she still has a life to live herself.

Though one thought immediately struck her. “So wait... this, then, obviously means that ponies are actively looking for me? Which also means that there might very easily be more guards searching around this area?” Spitfire thought to herself in realization before her expression quickly turned into worry when she looked up at the big black alien in front of her.

“I don’t know if I should feel relieved or worried about this?” She mentally questioned herself as she imagined a few scenarios about what could possibly happen when more of these Pegasus guards showed up or managed to stumble upon this very obvious and hard to miss camp from above. Mostly because of the monstrous and very alien looking ship parked right beside it.

Most of those thoughts made her panic level rise once more, as many of them revolved around what Riggs was capable of. A lot of fire and explosions, not mentioning the body count.

Which placed another realization into her conscious mind that wasn’t really helping all the stress she was definitely going to deal with in the future:

She might very well be the only bridge between Equestria and a possible alien invasion. Granted, she may not know a lot about Riggs and his abilities in general, but she very much knows that if there is one, there’s definitely whole lot more out there then you can possibly count.

Things just got a lot more deep then she was mentally prepared for, and it all started with a stupid self-centered idea that nearly cost her her life. And possibly those of her best wingponies.

Why the buck didn’t she pull a Soarin that day and simply stay in bed like most simple minded ponies? Why? Because she wasn’t one of them; that’s why.

“Buck my life right now.”

Riggs, on the other hand, was not having such life crises. The only problem he really has was just how to get off this blood rock and back into the vastness of space. Into hyperspace, that is. To be able to jump and get himself back into familiar territory.

Riggs eventually just murmured, “Anyway, back to fixing up the hyperdrive. The sooner I can get off this rock, the better for everyone.” He declared, as he just left the two be the way they were.

He was fairly confident that the two guards wouldn’t cause too much trouble, especially since he left their crude iron swords and spears somewhere deep within the forest.

Spitfire, on the other hoof, had a completely different opinions regarding this newly developed situation.

Spitfire was stunned. “W-Wait. You... You can’t just leave like that after you brought them here!” She tried to call after him, which didn’t work.

“Uh…I…I think one of them is waking up already.” Cloudchaser called out, which got everyone's attention. Especially the little Droid who was eager to scan them as well, if the faint glow on one of its lenses was anything to judge by. And, judging by the tone of the moans, this one sounded female.

Spitfire’s eyes widened. “Oh buck, oh buck, oh buck! What in buck’s name am I going to say? What’ll I do?” she once again started to panic before a thought suddenly came up.

“Cloudchaser?” Spitfire immediately called out, in the hope of not having to do this crap herself.

“Nope. It’s all on you now, boss.” Cloudchaser replied almost immediately as she shook her head.

Spitfire frowned. “Can’t even rely on a fellow pony for help.” And with that mental complaint, the guardsmare drowsily began to open her eyes slowly.

At first she blinked, before coughing a few times and giving off a hiss at the end.

“What in (*cough!*)… What in Celestia’s name happened? What… (*hack!*) why the buck do I feel so sore and...drowsy?” She groaned with her eyes still shut.

Spitfire just sighed in defeat, as she knew what she had to do. She wasn’t expecting this to go easy to be honest. But then again, nothing really had been, since these last couple of days.

So why stop now?

“Hey… don’t worry. You are fine and safe at the moment. Well… as safe as you can get, I hope.” Spitfire gently said as she glanced in Riggs’ direction for a moment before focusing back on the guard before her.

Judging by the tone of the voice, though, she does seem to be rather young one to be part of the guard. Which would most likely mark her as simply a trainee, if that was the case.

Spitfire remembers her own beginnings as a private before eventually joining the Wonderbolts, but that’s a flashback for another day. Right then, she had much more pressing matters to focus on, like this young mare slowly waking up and looking up at her with drowsy eyes.

The mare blinked a couple of times before she realized who exactly it was she was looking up toward.

Her eyes immediately snapped open. “You… you… you’re Captain Spitfire, aren’t you?” The mare quietly questioned in utter surprise, despite the awkwardness of the situation.

Spitfire just nods slowly which in turn caused the mare’s eyes go even wider than they were before.

She immediately tried to get up, but only managed to get a hiss and groan out of her muzzle as she promptly collapsed back onto her back with an audible *clunk* sound.

“Great…again, what the heck or hay I am going to say? To just flat out tell her that she and her partner got shot down and then brought here by an alien from outer space? But then again, I don’t really have to say or do much of anything. All she has to do is look around her. And besides that, how am I going to present my side of the story to them in a non-awkward or revealing way whenever they start asking about it? Can these last few days get any more complicated than they already are?” Spitfire thought to herself before a frown promptly formed on her muzzle as she quickly realized what exactly she just did on the last sentence.

“I totally just jinxed myself didn’t I?” She sarcastically thought before smacking her forehead with one of her hooves.

“Uh… excuse me?” The Guardsmare suddenly voiced again, which forced Spits to cease her self-flagellation.

Spitfire shook her head. “Ugh. What am I doing? I should be helping her, not beating myself up in front of her. Yep… things are juuust becoming worse than a normal pony would would like. I really should stop complaining about it at this point and just suck it up like a real mare. Great… now I am making kinky remarks as well. Just help her you stupid filly.” She mentally chided herself as she moved toward the downed mare, to maybe help her up.

She reached a hoof out towards the guard, which she slowly grabbed with her own. With a bit of a pull -and a pair of groans from both injured mares- later, she was finally up on all fours once more, although a bit wobbly.

Spitfire Sighed. “Hey, you alright?” She asked out of instinct as the mare seemed to still be dazed and sore.

The young mare just nodded after a while before looking back up. “Y-yeah… but… I… I can basically ask the… same thing to you as well… miss… Spitfire.” She pointed out in between pants which in turn made Spitfire look back on her bandages before switching back at her and rubbing the back of her neck.

“Well… yeah. Kind of. it’s a super long and confusing story, trust me.” She cut herself short in the hope of not having to rely on telling her everything right then and there.

Spits really wasn’t in the mood for a long-ass explanation any more, especially since all she had to do would be to turn herself around and let the shock hit her.

It’s actually kind of comical, the way she was facing away from all of this alien junk that is practically just right behind her. Almost funny enough to make Spitfire grin, even just a little bit, which the mare unfortunately quickly noticed.

“Uh… why… why are you… smirking?” The mare asked in confusion, which in turn forced Spitfire to drop her uncalled for smirk from her muzzle.

Cloud Chaser, on the other end, just facehoofed.

She was about to respond when all of a sudden the most girliest scream ever echoed through the air, which made both mare jump on the spot.

“AAHHH! WHAT THE BUCK IS THAT? WHAT IS IT DOING? DEAR CELESTIA, GET IT THE BUCK AWAY FROM ME AHHHHHH!!!” The stallion guard who was thought to be still unconscious shouted in utter panic with the little droid right in front of him.

Trying to scan the poor stallion with his red scanner to try and get more data on his race. Especially since he was the first MALE native, so far.

The young mare just looked on completely horrified, while Spitfire on the other end was just looking at this scene completely dumbfounded at just how good the ball of metal is in just creeping up on somepony without anypony noticing.

“How the hay did that thing sneak up on that guard without anypony noticing it? I was literally facing his direction the entire time!” Spitfire thought to herself as the poor stud was still panicking his armor off.

Too bad his golden armor did nothing in regards of keeping BB-5 from scanning his biology, but then again he had more important problems to worry about than that. He now had to deal with a prototype Astro droid whose own sense of curiosity is more important than any level of decency.

Though it had nothing to do with programming errors.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Riggs momentarily stopped his tinkering as the echoing scream entered his ears.

“So one of them is female just like the first two then. Good to know, I guess.” He thought to himself before going back to his more pressing problem.

Looking over his busted hyperdrive and realizing the real problem he currently has. “Well crap, I knew that this was going to be a major issue.” He thought as his eye continued to scan over the burned out hyperdrive in front of him. His worst fears realized.

“Without the necessary spare parts, this thing is as useful as a drained power pack. And if the Information I got so far from the first two are 100% accurate, then it really means that I am going to be stuck on this rock for a really long time.” He thought to himself with dismay, as he frowned and gritted his teeth.

“BLOODY DAMN IT!!” He cursed as he slammed his fist against the outside frame.

“Well, all I can hope for now is that the rest of my team are actively looking for me as we speak. Especially since I didn’t arrived at the discussed rendevu point like planned. But even so, it’s still going to take a while, which also means I was right with my previous prediction.

“I really hate being right sometimes.”

At this point it was pretty much final. He was marooned as it was, and there was nothing he could really do about it at the current moment besides sit down, bunker up and blast anything that identifies itself to be a threat and hope that he doesn’t have to rely on just straight out put the forests around him to the torch.

Hope for this planet's creatures, that is.

This was certainly one of the things that his years within the Imperial army didn’t prepare him for. How to get yourself un-stranded on a world that has no access to anything technology-related whatsoever, especially with a busted hyperdrive.

“Well, besides that, at least anything else on my fighter is still pretty much functional. So at least I have that going for me.” He thought to himself as he slowly began to calm himself down.

A rational attitude can find solutions towards problems faster after all, even though his problem pretty much revolved around somehow getting his hands on the right spare parts. But maybe he could still somewhat try to manufacture these spare parts for himself, if this planet has the right materials for them.

Which shouldn’t be that much of an issue thanks to allot of hoarded information -and also “somewhat stolen” plans- stored on his ships database. One can always hope for a possible solution, after all, in the end.

Riggs just scratched his head as he finally decided to accept his current position for what it was.

“One question, though...” He mentally asked himself as he finally closed the hatch to the hyperdrive behind his ship. “Should I stay out here in the wilderness or should I actively try to search for civilization on this damn rock like how I originally planned to do?” Riggs mentally mused as he turned his gaze back toward the spot where he left all of those natives behind to mingle amongst themselves.

Including his droid and some of his supply containers.

“Actually, on second thought, maybe keeping a bunch of overly emotional natives with half of my supplies might not be such a good idea. The last thing I need is for them to start breaking things and sticking their appendages in places they don’t belong.” He thought as he watched one of the golden armored natives to try and take off, only to land back onto the ground as BB-5 was basically doing the same thing he did with the wild-haired violet one.

Good thing he remembered to replace his hookshot system with a new set.

How the little guy managed to accomplish such feats of precision he didn’t know, but at least it’s good for amusing situations, that is for sure.

“Huh… what’s that?” Riggs wondered as a constant beeping made itself known to him. Judging by the way it sounded and the direction is was coming from it must have been his helmet, right next to the closed hyperdrive hatch.

It’s much easier to work on a starfighter engine without the limiting vision of a combat helmet, after all.

Riggs was about to pick his helmet up when a spear suddenly slipped by his vision and harmlessly buried itself into the ground right a little further away from him.

Riggs just blinked in confusion until all his questions were quickly answered. .

“By the name of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria. Stand down, foul creature, and surrender yourself immediately.” A stern voice from above suddenly commanded which did the trick on subduing Riggs questions.

As a response Riggs just frowned, before he casually turned his gaze upwards to see who exactly is stupid enough to just openly attack him first without any warning.

Riggs’ brows rose in both slight surprise and intrigue as gazed upon the scene in front of them. Or above to be more correct.

Goldenly clad armored flying natives, wielding very primitive-looking ranged and melee weapons made of wood and iron. Not just one or two of them, but a whole BUNCH of them.

“Let’s see…1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…. 30. 30 flying Goldilocks boys in total.” Riggs mentally counted as he just eyed the big group of “guards” with mild interest and a bit of an artistic criticism. Mostly aimed at the head guy who was wearing a more ornate set of armor and helmet in comparison to the rest of the group. The style and design of the helmet reminding Riggs allot about the old Senate commandos from before the Empire.

The lead Native’s frown deepened as Riggs simply just stood as if he didn’t heed his command. “Didn’t you hear me, foul creature?” He shouted, obviously very annoyed by Riggs’ uncooperating nature. “I said, stand down, surrender yourself and face arrest and trial for the crimes you have committed on Equestrian soil.” He repeated himself as the pony guards around him slowly readied their weapons.

Riggs, on the other hand, was more confused at the Guard’s statement than anything else he just said, as he just raised his eyebrow in the guard leader’s direction.

“Crime? What kind of crime?” Riggs curiously questioned, which in turn caught all of the Natives up above completely by surprise as they did not expected this... thing to be able to speak Equestrian fluently, let alone speak at all.

The leader of the Guards shook his head before his glare returned in full force, aimed directly at the Storm Commando below him.

“Crimes for not only attacking and injuring members of the Royal Guard, but for also abducting them as well. Not to mention foalnapping and holding two other citizens of Equestria prisoner. The princesses will judge and find a suitable punishment for you once you are bound and chained like the disgusting beast that you are.” The lead guard explained.

Riggs was still unimpressed and groaned in annoyance. “For starters…” Riggs began as he crossed his arms, ”I didn’t “kidnap” anyone. the Yellow one.” Riggs pointed a finger at her direction.” I found injured and half dead in the middle of an open meadow when I first arrived on this rock of yours.” He explained before pointing at Cloudchaser.” While the wild-haired violet one came over here on her own damn terms. You can ask them yourself, if you want to have some confirmation of my story.” Riggs explained, before he rest his arms against his thigh instead.

He continued. “Also, isn’t that what your quote-unquote “guards” are for, anyway?” Riggs question as he crossed his arms once more while aiming a raised eyebrow at the collection of natives up above. ”To personally take the hits so your everyday citizens don’t have to? How exactly is that even a crime to begin with?” Riggs queried, which again took some of the flying guard completely by surprise.

The leader, of course, was not impressed, as his mood just lowered with every passing moment this thing kept talking. “Enough of this!” He declared as he pointed his golden glad hoof at Riggs direction. “Surrender yourself now, or we will use force. Also, all of your items will be confiscated and processed as well, once you are rotting inside a cell like the criminal scum you a…..” He tried to threaten before a deafening screech and a blinding flash stopped his speech as everything on him quickly became numb.

Soon, one of the 30 guards was stunned, unconscious and down for the count as his heavily armored body fell down onto the ground with an audible thud.

To say the remaining guards were shocked would be an understatement.

“I am sorry, but you lost me at the whole “confiscating my stuff” part just now.” Riggs openly declared with a deep tone as his Blaster was still pointed in the direction the wannabe tough guy used to be.

Luckily for the guard, Riggs still had the decency to at least switch his DL-44 to stun before shutting him up. Riggs was still far from interested in committing murder these locals, unless he really has to or gave him a damn good reason to do so. Like touching his ship, which is why he immediately shot that guy in the first place. That, and he didn’t liked his character. All talk, no muscle.

That, and the fact that some of those containers possessed items that are designed to explode when you push a certain button on them. His way in trying to prevent these natives from blowing themselves up. You could say.

Riggs re-holstered his blaster as he looked at the still-shocked collection of guards in above of him before switching over to there downed leader, crossing his arms.

“Also, I don’t take orders from a bunch quadrupeds flying around in gold while swinging around sticks and Iron paddles around them.” He declared before looking back up the still flapping guards above him. ”So. If you really want me so badly, then you better get your asses down here and WORK for your right to chain me up.” He challenged before another thought quickly crossed his mind that just seemed far more appealing to him at the moment, as he reached back to his holster.

“Or I can give you all the same treatment as your -now out cold- leader over there and just be done with it. Would sure save me a lot of headaches, especially since I already have a pretty bad day as it is.” He casually announced, giving them all a challenging look.

One of them eventually managed to shake the shock away from his system as he immediately glared daggers at the Storm Commando below, tightening his grip around his spear as he shouted. “You monster! You will pay dearly for you transgressions! Everypony, CHARGE!!!” He shouted, which caused everyone to spring into action as the entire company of Pegasus guards charged the lone Commando.

“So I guess its option two then.” Riggs casually thought as he quickly went to work in utterly humiliating the supposed “”””Equestria’s finest”””” with almost comical ease and precision.

All the while. three mares -and one stallion bound and hiding behind one of said mares- were watching the spectacle in utter fright and bewilderment at just how easily this alien soldier from outer space made It seem.

One of them was even secretly looking at this with utter fascination as well.

“So… bucking... cool!”

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Well, Elite Pilot VS Elite Guards, that will be a interesting fight for sure. I think BB-5 is a little bit too Curious, but that makes him more cute for me.

[Mr Dorito]

8160199
*Elite Pilot vs A bunch of children playing guards

BB-5's antics makes me want to hug it

I can imagine them holding Riggs hostage, but then Grand Admiral Zaarin's fleet shows up.

Actually, don't let him get captured. Let him beat the fuck out of all of those guards.

[Bronycommander]

8160577 I agree, BB-5 needs to be hugged!

[thewookie1]

What the heck is Riggs going to do with 34 ponies?

Poor Spitfire is going to have a lot of talking to do.

[Bronzer]

So, they voiced their intentions of arresting him for nothing presumably as an excuse to steal Imperial technology...they really don't like their species, do they? I mean, they seem dead-set on getting themselves exterminated. This is why in real life humans would go raiding the alien explorers or whatever or steal their stuff: because it's a great way to initiate hostilities easily avoided. Oops, no, wait, I meant it's why real life humans would not raid the alien explorers or whatever. Because, duh!