• Published 28th Jul 2012
  • 6,223 Views, 257 Comments

Of War and Friendship - DocDelray



Mandalorians and Ponies working together to stop the Deathwatch, what could be better than that?

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The long night, Part 2

Deep in the darkness of the woods three black clad figures made a slow crawl through the brush. Black visors scanning the area just beyond the tree line, behind their masks the pitch black was burned away by advanced optics. Scouts from the Deathwatch had made their way through the forest following the hoof prints left behind by several locals. They were ghosts slinking through the shadows and melting back into them as they examined the ruins ahead of them from the other side of the gorge.

Their arrival had not gone unnoticed. High above them from the most complete tower at the back of the ruins, Kell watched them methodically through the scope of his rifle. His finger sat eagerly at the edge of the trigger as he watched them, “Strills are sniffing about the nest.” He muttered into his com.

“Keep an eye on ’em, vod.” Kad’s voice replied back, “The rest of their pack shouldn’t be too far behind.”

“Gotta admit, real hard not to take one of their buckets off from here right now…” His crosshairs danced over the forehead of rearmost scout, “Give them a damn good reason not to try and sneak in here.”

Udesii vod, udesii; there’ll be plenty to shoot at soon enough.” Kad reassured him.

“Copy that…” Kell sighed in a defeated tone.


At the rear of the ruins an eerie silence hung heavy in the air as everyone, man and pony alike, waited for the coming storm just on the horizon. Make-shift battlements had been scraped together from the long fallen pillars and any other stone works time had discarded. Care had been taken to ensure the civilian charges would be kept safe as they remained huddled behind a stone barricade.

Zex, Arkanna and Torb had been delegated the task of keeping the rear secured, a task Kell had gleefully taken advantage of to create numerous jokes about. Arkanna gripped his rifle tightly as he tried to steady his breathing and pounding heart. Beneath his gloves he could feel his palms surfing on an ocean of sweat. His mind raced endlessly, putting him more and more on edge.

“Arkanna, you alright? I’m reading some massive spikes in your heart rate.” Zex’s voice chimed in over the com.

Arkanna cursed under his breath at the person who came up with the remote medical interface built into their armors, “Huh? Uh, yeah. I’m fine, never been better.” At least he was kind enough to use a private channel and not broadcast it to everyone on the team.

“You’re nervous.” Zex shot back at him.

“I’m not nervous, why would I be nervous?” Arkanna snapped back at the medic.

“Your first time facing odds that are stacked against you, no retreat, low chance of survival; I’d be nervous, too.” Zex’s response was like a shot to the gut.

“Okay… maybe that would make me nervous.” He reluctantly replied.

“Keep a brave face for their sake, we don’t want them thinking for a second we can’t handle this.” Zex advised.

It actually hit a cord with the young Private. In their position he would be ten times as frightened as he is now. He was their only defense and the only way they were going to walk away from this. Arkanna felt almost no confidence in their survival of this half-baked plan the Captain and Traycn had come up within a matter of a conversation. But he had to make them believe he did. Looking over his shoulder at the four mares he gave them a thumbs up, grateful for the helmet that hid his more than forced smile. The root of the gesture was probably lost on a race that had no fingers to begin with, but the message seemed to get across as a few small smiles crossed their faces. Turning back to keep watch on the hallway, he started to feel a bit more confident, not just in the plan but in himself. These quadrupeds were starting to grow on him.


High in orbit above the still-unnamed planet, the attack frigate of the Deathwatch was a knife hanging over this unsuspecting world. The rear hanger of the ship slid open, allowing a far smaller craft to depart. Aboard this drop shuttle a small contingent of Deathwatch troopers sat eagerly anticipating the fight to come.

“So the scouts’ve confirmed our quarry’s location, gentlemen.” The trooper wearing a Major’s insignia stated, “We will be dropping into the ruins ahead of our main force. Our job is to bloody and bruise these sons of mynocks so the rest of our boys can march in and execute them quickly.”

“Major, I heard there might be some locals in the area - what do we do about them?” A Private spoke up.

“Tagline Teth has set up is they were taken hostage and then killed by their captors. So you see them, put’em down and try and make it look like an execution.” His superior answered back.

“Too bad, I heard these things aren’t that bad to look at.” A Corporal chimed in.

“Didn’t you hear that from Mackers? You know that guy has a thing for Bothans, right?” His comrade chided him, “I wouldn’t take his word on how good a female looks if I were you.” Laughter built up from the soldiers alongside a number of colorful comments.

“That aside, ain’t all this a bit much Major,” Questioned one of the troopers, “I mean, we six plus twenty guys on the ground, all to take down a couple of guys?”

“These men are Spec Ops, son,” The Major replied as he looked over his pistol, “Rumor has it they’ve been through some of the wildest osik the galaxy’s thrown at ’em. On top of that they’re supposedly ranked among the top six of the Mand'alor's best and we’ve confirmed that at least one of them is a force user. We are treating them as a high level threat, even if we do outnumber them.”

The shuttle cut a fiery path through the sky as its engines tore a loud roar through the silent night. Her pilot kept a tight level field with the tree tops, skimming along towards their destination. The trees began to thin slightly as they rapidly approached the ruins - below and behind them, a host of troopers trudged through the darkness, each man eager for the battle just within sight.

As the craft neared its destination, the side doors quickly slid open with three men to each side ready to deploy. Beneath them the ruins sat quietly, the long-since dilapidated roof would give them easy access for a jet pack deployment - but looks are usually deceiving.

The moment the shuttle slowed to a stop over the target area, several warning lights began to flash in the cockpit. Pilot and copilot both tried to locate the source of this alarm only to spot it too late, “Missile, missile, break off!”

An anti-armor round designed for taking out tanks, walkers and in this case drop ships, slammed into the side of the cockpit. The warhead tore through the armored plates, glass showering the two with molten durasteel and shrapnel before engulfing them in a ball of fire. As the ship was rocked by the resulting explosion, several of the soldiers onboard managed to bail out, igniting their jet packs in free-fall to keep from slamming into the rocky ground below.

Only one man wasn’t so lucky, a Private that had been knocked on his back as the ship began its death spin over the gorge just outside the ruins. Trying desperately to pull himself to his feet as the increased force of gravity and stomach-churning spin threw him about the cabin till a weapons crate came loose from the wall and pinned him to the back of the ship. Over the sound of the dying engines he could hear the Major’s voice over the com screaming at him to bail out, just before the shuttle became his grave.

“Bail out Private, bail out now!” The Major shouted into his com only to be answered by the sight of the burning wreckage slamming into the rocks below, “Dammit! All units hit the groun-“

The words stopped short from his mouth as a blaster bolt from somewhere in the darkness pierced his helmet. His body became a rag doll drunkenly rocketing through the air out of control propelled by his jet pack.

In a panic the remaining four quickly made for the ground and cover of the ruins as the next in line of command took charge, “Sniper, get to the ground and head for cover!”

The trap was already sprung, though. Heading into the ruins themselves was the reaction Kad and Traycn had been counting on. Outside and across the sheer cliff side the ground forces had amassed. Having witnessed the shuttle vanish into the rocky depths and then one of their fleeing comrades taking a sniper round to the head, these troopers were more than ready to spill blood. From their position across the bridge they could hear the sounds of blaster fire and the flashes from the grime-encrusted windows.

Within the ruins themselves, Kad brought his saber down across the midsection of the last unfortunate Deathwatch standing. The golden blade of energy left a brightly burning slash over his enemy’s chest as he toppled lifeless to the floor. There was little time to take in the moment as Kell’s voice rang over the com, “Don’t unpucker just yet boys, we got incoming!”

A split second after Kell’s words touched his ears an explosive round from the outside slammed unforgivingly into the barred front door. The shockwave sent the force wielder toppling head over heels through a rain of splintered wood and rubble - rolling to his feet, Kad dove behind a thick piece of stone moments before the main hall became alight with blaster bolts cutting through the smoke, “I think phase one is going well!” He called out over the exploding conflict.

Traycn waded into the fray grinning with intent behind his visor as he brought his large rotary blaster to bear and leveled it with the large hole in the front of the castle. Pulling back the firing mechanism the barrel began to spin, creating an angry growl as it warmed up before spewing bolt after heavy bolt of energy through the gap. The sounds of screams from beyond the dust and debris only served to egg on his blood lust and fury as the Taung let lose a war cry over echoing blaster bolts.

“Would you look at that, Tray’s mood finally improved!” Kell snickered over the com before letting another few blaster bolts fly from his long rifle.

Kad hugged the mass of fallen stone work that was kind enough to soak up the enemy fire with remarkable ease. He had to hand it to the Equestrian stone masons of old, they certainly knew how to make them strong. An armor plate on his wrist slid back as a pair of blaster barrels slid into place with a satisfying click. Bringing his arm over the wall, Kad let lose several blind shots in rapid succession, “Just s’long as he keeps shootin’ in the right direction!”

“I hate to interrupt your fun Captain,” Torb’s voice came in over the coms, “But you might want to start pulling back before you get overrun. We want them inside the ruins for this plan to work after all.”

“Maybe if we ask them real nice they’ll let us pull back.” Kell stated in a cheerful tone.

Kad glanced behind his shoulder at a still standing pillar bringing a small smirk to his features, “I think I got us an out. Tray, Kell, keep me covered will ya!”

Igniting his saber, Kad took a running start through the blaster fire as bolts of energy whizzed past him, a few lucky rounds managing to singe his armor. As his allies laid down a covering barrage he pushed himself through the force to add more speed to his sprint. With a focused swing Kad’s light saber pierced the marble with ease, cutting the lower half from the base. The easy part done, Kad reached out with the force till he felt the pillar in his grasp and began to wrench it free - with a motion towards their enemies, the stonework hurled through the air.

Panic gripped the Deathwatch troopers as they began to flee from their assault for fear of being crushed beneath the marble onslaught. The once exquisite stonework forcefully wedged itself into the jagged hole, stemming the assault. Following his comrade’s lead, Traycn unloaded a volley of blaster bolts into the surrounding walls and ceiling causing the hole to collapse in on itself.

“We’re pullin’ back towards your location. Keep an eye out for any of ‘em that got wise an’ found another way in.” Kad relayed to the rest of the team, “Vod, time to abandon that lil hidey-hole’a yours. I’ll meet ya on the roof.”

Kell was already scanning through the chaos below looking for another target, “Haar’chak vod, you always have to cut my fun short.”


At the rear of the ruins the sounds of fighting echoed off the walls, permeating the tension hanging in the air. Arkanna had heard his commanding officer’s orders over the comlink and sadly, it brought him little comfort. In the back of his mind he kept telling himself Zex’s advice over and over again: keep a brave face, even if you don’t believe it. They need to see them confident and damn-near invincible. Problem was, all this waiting for the fighting to start was starting to tear at his nerves.

A prodding at his back leg moved his attention to Rainbow Dash standing behind him, “Hey, you’re Arkanna, right? I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help you guys out.”

Not getting shot came to mind rather quickly, “Uh, Rainbow Dash, wasn’t it? You wanna help us out, just stay behind the barricades and keep your head down. We can handle this.”

From behind the carefully-lain rubble, Twilight Sparkle called out to her friend, “Rainbow, get back over here. These men are soldiers, let them deal with this!”

“Ugh, I can’t stand all this sitting around, though! It’s driving me crazy!” The anxious Pegasus shouted back.

“Rainbow, you’re still injured. Get back behind the barricade.” Zex ordered, “You haven’t healed from your injuries yet. I won’t allow you to muck up both mine and Tenderheart’s hard work piecing you back together.”

Grumbling to herself, she turned to trot back to her friends when something hot zipped past her cheek. The scent of ozone and burnt fur and hair filled her nostrils as fear froze her mid-stride. A blaster bolt struck the ground ahead of her in a descending line from where the side of her face had been caressed. Everything came to slow motion as she heard the panicked cries of her friends and felt the stinging pain of her ribs as an arm looped around her mid section and hoisted her off her hooves and dragged her to cover.

“You may want to keep your head down, my dear,” Her Chiss rescuer stated in a surprisingly calm tone.

A split second later the room was filled with the roar of blaster fire from the far side of the hall - a small detachment of the Deathwatch troopers had found an alternate route into the castle ruins. Blaster bolts lit the darkened room with flashes of red as they flew back and forth from either side.

“Hey, Zex!” Arkanna called out to his comrade as they returned fire.

“Yeah?!” The medic answered back between bursts.

“I’m not feeling nervous anymore!” He shouted in a sarcastic tone.

From the Deathwatch line, a bold trooper charged forward toward the barricades. On his approach he was easily cut down but his true aim was made very clear as a small metallic object let fly with his dying breath. Hurtling though the air, a cold lump formed in Arkanna’s stomach as he realized where it was going to land: right in front of the ponies.

Breaking from their line, the Private took off in a dead run after the arcing explosive as it flew through the air. In his head he kept cursing himself, Stupid stupid this is so stupid! Blaster bolts burned through the air around him as he charged forward after the grenade, This is how people get killed on their first missions, this is where you’re gonna die you idiot! His arm outstretched for the hurtling bobble as his fingers closed around it, No dammit, I am not dying here - I won’t die here! Coming to a stumbling stop, he cranked back his arm banking on the already built up momentum just as the grenade started to let off a warning screech, I won’t die here and neither will they! Forcing every bit of strength his arm his muscles could afford, he hurled it towards an already cracked window. A proud smile came across his face behind his visor as the device detonated safely outside the room, “Yeah, that’s how we do things in the Protectors!”

“Get back into cover you fool!” Torb’s voice rang out over the com bringing him crashing back to earth.

It was now that Arkanna realized he was standing in the open near the barricade they’d constructed for the ponies. Turning back to the fight the Private felt a something slam into his chest plate. It was hard and angry, no feeling or remorse behind it as it knocked the wind out of him and sent him sprawling to the ground, This is where you’re gonna die you idiot, he began scolding himself again.

Everything was blurry for the next few moments. His eyes fought to refocus as his lungs worked hard at moving air through his body once again. Arkanna’s mind raced with questions as he fought to regain composure on the situation. What happened, I was shot. Are you dead? No, I’m not dead yet. Why aren’t you dead? Reinforced armor plating absorbed the blaster bolt. He felt something around his chest - a pressure. It wasn’t from the blaster bolt - this was different. It was pulling him somewhere. He could make out a faint voice over the sounds of the firefight, the voice was at the far end of the tunnel, distant from him. Every second his mind began to focus and the voice came closer until it was right on top of him, almost literally. It was full of worry and fear, “Oh no oh no oh no, don’t be dead, please don’t be dead!” Fluttershy?

His vision returning to him he could make out the readouts on his HUD. Beyond that was the wet eyed Pegasus that had pulled him to safety, pleading for him to show some sign of life, the visor didn’t help much with that. His hand moved to rest behind her head causing her to freeze up with a look of shock gripping her cerulean eyes. Arkanna guided her forehead to rest against the forehead of his helmet, “I’m alive, mesh’la… I’m alive.”

“I told you he was fine!” Zex yelled out from the front of their defense line, “What could I know about it though. I only have a readout on my HUD detailing every squad member’s physical condition, heart rate and even armor integrity.”

“If you’re done resting your laurels Private Kershom, then kindly help us push back these ruffians!” Torb barked at him.

Wincing as pain shot through his chest and back, Arkanna pulled himself to his feet and used the overturned stonework for support. Bringing his rifle up to bear, he rejoined his comrades in keeping their enemy back when he noticed - oddly enough - the small group they were engaged with was starting to let up on their assault.

From the Deathwatch line a loud cry rang out as a body was sent flying through the air as a ragdoll being discarded by a child. With a bone jarring crack, he landed limply in front of Epsilon squad. Crashing through the enemy troopers the all too familiar mass of red beskar plates charged through taking a pair of men with him as he slammed them both into the ground. To the dismay of both sides, the sound of metal bending under the sheer might of the warrior’s cybernetic fists sent a shiver down everyone’s spines.

A pair of weapon mounts sprung to life upon the hulk’s shoulders, their droid-controlled targeting systems picking out enemies and letting loose a rapid volley into their shattered line. No longer holding the advantage, those remaining quickly fled back into the ruins to find the rest of their team, the sounds of blaster fire nipping at their heels.

With a disapproving snarl, Traycn watched his prey scurry off into the ruins, “Bah, Sith boot-lickers make for better opponents than these dar’manda!”

“A pleasure you could join us, Traycn. Truly we would be lost without your might and skill.” It was hard sometimes to tell if Torb was being serious or condescending, his tone almost never changed.

“Time is running short.” From his belt, Traycn produced a small device consisting of a single button. With no explanation or hesitation he pressed down the button atop it, sending the detonation command to a pair of explosives hidden on either side of the room’s only surviving entrance, causing a collapse and sealing the rear hall. “It is time to leave.”

“What do you mean time is running short?” Twilight asked as she trotted up to the crimson titan, “How are we supposed to leave, anyway? You just sealed this chamber.”

Without a word, he walked past the Unicorn and her questions till he stood at the back wall. The armor plates around his arm began to shift and slide as hidden mechanisms hummed to life and revealed themselves. Several plates moving to provide added strength and defense to his knuckles others moving to clear the path of ventilation systems as a loud humming from his arm grew with intensity. Traycn brought his fist back and unleashed a heavy blow upon the stone wall. Upon connecting, a burst of energy was let loose from his knuckles, creating a burst of gravity at the center of the punch. The coupling forces cracked and fractured the stonework crumbling much of it into brittle clay, “That is how, lady Sparkle.”

The ponies were rendered speechless as they stared at this display of strength and technology, but also at the slight hopelessness of this escape plan. Just beyond the newly formed “exit” was a sheer drop down into the foggy depths of ravine, and far beyond that lay their salvation. The only problem was…

“That’s way too far to jump!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, a sudden twinge of fear in her voice. “Even if my wings were at one hundred percent, me and Fluttershy couldn’t carry us all across that gap!”

“And there’s no way I could teleport everypony at one time!” Twilight added to the fretting.

Torb from the corner of his visor kept a close watch on Luna: she seemed unfazed by the situation. This only added another note to his ever growing mental dossier on the so-called Princess of the Night. But they had more important things to take care of right now, “Kad, Kell, the rear chamber had been sealed off and we are about to make for the other side. What is your status?”

“We’ll meet ya on the other side, now haul your shebs over there!” Was the Captain’s reply from the coms.

“But how do we get across? It’s just so very far!” Fluttershy pleaded as she stared out over the expanse, her knees starting to shake.

Arkanna rested a hand on the small of her back seeming to calm the shaky Pegasus down, “Fluttershy, I need you to do me a favor, okay?”

Looking into his visor on the verge of tears as the endless stress weighed down on her fragile form, “I… I think I can…”

Arkanna pulled her closer to him as he held her tightly to his chest. The sudden closeness brought a bright tinge of red to her face, her heart beating violently against her rib cage as she heard him whisper into her ear, “Don’t scream.”

Before anyone or anypony could react, Arkanna with Fluttershy tightly in his arms leapt through the jagged gap in the wall. Frozen in shock and confusion, the Pegasus did little to resist or fight. What confused her most, though, was the fact that she still fully trusted he wouldn’t let her come to harm. Whether on purpose or subconsciously Flutteryshy brought her forelegs around Arkanna’s neck to hold herself tightly to him. The jetpack on his armor screamed to life, propelling them across the gap and coming to a sliding stop in the wooded area on the other side.

The remaining ponies stood slack-jawed as they witnessed what looked like a suicidal plunge and then suddenly the pair were rocketed to the other side by a ball of fire. With little time spent on explanation, Torb and Zex scooped up Twilight and Rainbow Dash and proceeded to repeat the process.

As Traycn approached Luna she quickly cut him off by spreading her wing against him, “I require not thy assistance.” What seemed like a quick skip propelled the Alicorn across the gap with a swift flap of her wings, landing with surprising grace.

Traycn’s entrance, however, was less dignified as the large jump jets required to propel him lobbed his form across the breach. His heavy form leaving a small crater as it connected with the earth below him.

“Where’re the Captain and the Staff Sergeant?” Zex questioned as he scanned over the assembled.

“They would do well to hurry, not much time left on the counter.” As if on cue from Traycn, the entirety of the ruins became alight with a massive explosion. Fire burst from every nook and cranny, spilling from every hole and crack.

“No…” Twilight stared in horror at the destructive display before her as a cold voice in the back of her head pointed out none of this would have happened if she and her friends hadn’t followed after them.

Zex shook his head with a sigh, “I wouldn’t give them a funeral just yet, ma’am.” He said, pointing to a pair of objects rocketing across the night sky.

“What is that?” Rainbow inquired as she watched the twin balls of fire.

“That would be our Captain and Staff Sergeant… acting like children rather than grown men.” Torb replied.

Traycn’s landing was suddenly made all the more professional - Kad and Kell unceremoniously came down in a sharp arc and coming to a rough skidding stop through the dirt. The landing itself would have been fatal if not for an application of force powers on Kad’s part.

“Are… are they alive?” Twilight asked sheepishly.

Zex stood over the pair and gave them both a quick kick in the side, immediately getting a reaction as they tried to pull themselves up, “Yeah, they’re alive, just stupid.”

Kad looked to his brother coughing in pain, “Why do I let you talk me into osik like that?”

“Hah, like the doc said, you’re just stupid.” Kell gleefully replied through the pain.