Cards on the table
How could this have happened? Who was to blame for such an unforgivable debacle? This question plagued Teth’s mind as he watched the fiery wreckage of his precious frigate pierce the far horizon. The Commander of this force of Deathwatch troopers bared and gritted his teeth as he fought to control his anger. In the distance he could see the streaks of escape pods raining down from the sky; their downward arch would put them relatively close to the city, at least. Under different circumstances, the view might be considered beautiful; the way the fire of re-entry danced off the hull of the ships in the hue of the dying sunlight, perhaps even romantic.
Holding onto his anger, he gripped the balcony railing till he felt his knuckles go white beneath his gloves. Teth desperately wanted someone to shoot over this; just one expendable peon to blast a hole through was all he really wanted. Over his shoulder, he heard the ever familiar hoofsteps of the ever troublesome monarch, “Commander Teth, you don’t seem well.”
Her tone grated against his mind, he could hear the empty concern she made little effort to conceal from him, “No your highness, it would appear I have very little to feel well about…” He had to keep control, there were still cards to play, “Do you see that fire in the distance, or the objects raining from the sky?” He gave pause till he was sure everything had sunk in “That, your highness, is my ship, crashing through your atmosphere.”
Much to his fury the Princess remained silent as she watched him bite down on his growing rage, “Somehow those rabid dogs got aboard my ship, killed their way into the engine room, and managed to crash it into the planet!”
She continued to hold her tongue and watch the Commander as he raged on further, “To make matters even worse I’ve been receiving com chatter from the survivors that they had received help from several of your own people.” He quickly closed the gap between himself and the Princess, keeping his dagger eyes piercing into her own cold emotionless eyes, “First you keep my hands tied at every turn and now your own people are giving aid to these terrorists. What is it you’ve been withholding from me, Celestia?” Teth snarled between his teeth.
Over her shoulder several of the royal guard were clearly agitated by Teth’s sudden boldness. A motion from her wing signaled them to stand down, “Commander Teth, I believe it is time you and I had a talk.” Her words reflected the ice of her stare.
He ventured a glance past the Princess to her guards, they were clearly still on edge and anything but happy about this alien acting so boldly towards their monarch, “I agree, Princess Celestia.”
Sparking wires, loosened maintenance panels and cracked readout screens. A sight Kad was begrudgingly becoming quite accustomed to, “Ain’t askin’ for excuses here Tray, just whether or not ya can get it back in the sky.”
Traycn gave a snort as he continued to work elbow-deep in the shuttle’s systems, “Getting back in the sky will be an easy task Alor’ad,” With easy effort he yanked out a burnt up piece of the guidance system and tossed it aside, “Keeping it in the air, that will take skill.”
Kad gave his comrade’s shredded shoulder pauldron a pat, “If anyone can do it, it’d be you, Tray.”
“I’ve done more with less.” The battered behemoth chuckled as he continued his work, literally single handed.
Kad strolled outside the ship to where the rest of his would be team was situated. A small fire had been built to give them warmth and light to fight back the chilling mountain air. He quickly noticed everyone’s attention was on the night sky as hundreds of white streaks cut across the black veil. A quick sift through his optical controls brought the built in electro-binoculars in his HUD up. Zooming in on the objects he let a sigh, “Haar’chak…”
“What do you see, Captain?” Twilight inquired with a confused cant to her head.
“We got escape pods, an’ plenty of ’em to boot.” Kad stated as he motioned to the raining lights. Using his finger he traced the general path of the escape pods, “Least we got a good idea where to find the town from here.”
The Unicorn scholar made her way to his side and watched the balls of light fall to the ground. She suddenly wished her own visor hadn’t zeroed her vision up close to reveal the full silhouette of the falling objects. Knowing each of those balls contained armed and now very angry enemy soldiers filled her gut with a ball of ice, “Do you really think we can save everypony, sir?”
Kad gave a sigh, he’d been wondering when that accursed question would come up. Pulling his helmet off, he took a knee beside Twilight and tilted her visor band to her forehead to look her in the eyes, “I ain’t about to promise you that, Twilight; from this point on, things are gonna get real dangerous, an’ folks are gonna get hurt an’ probably killed.” To his surprise there was no shock of revelation in the young mare’s eyes; she had been expecting this but needed to hear him say it, “One thing I will promise you, is that your brothers an’ I are gonna do all in our power to see you girls through this an’ send those sorry core slugs packin’.”
A weak smile spread over the Unicorn’s face as she nodded in agreement, “I understand sir, and we’ll do everything we can to help.”
“Speakin’ of help…” Kad pulled himself back to his feet and moved to address the rest of the camp, “Alright folks, ain’t no time to rest, soon as Traycn get’s our bird floatin’ again we head out.” He motioned to Arkanna, “Private, you an’ Cadet Fluttershy take stock of our ammo an’ weapons.”
Arkanna snapped off a quick salute, “Aye, sir!”
Kad turned to his Alicorn employer, “Your highness, if you’d be so kind, think me you an’ Torb should go over the last details of our plan.”
The Princess gave him a courteous nod, “Of course, Captain.”
A small smile across Kad’s face as things started to feel less hectic and chaotic, he always loved that nice lull after a firefight, “Rainbow Dash I want yo-“ It was then he noticed they were short a Pony, “Where in the haran is Cadet Dash?”
Those eyes were burned into her now. A cold dead stare full of hate and anger, frozen forever in her mind, screaming at her from the shadows of her mind; reminding her over and over again that she killed him. She killed him, nopony else; she stabbed the blade through his gut and tore it up through his torso and split him open. She’d been coated in his blood and still reeked of it, despite having dunked herself in the lake as soon as they had landed. She still tasted it on her tongue, no matter how many times she had tried to wash her mouth out in the past hour.
The adrenalin, the rage and the unease of combat had long since left Rainbow Dash’s body, leaving her burnt out and used up. No longer able to ride on the high of her own surging blood, her stomach finally gave way. What little she had eaten since the start of this adventure purged itself out of her gut and onto the grass floor of the isolated forest. She was thankful nopony had seen her sneak off to the far side of the valley; the last thing she wanted was for the others to see her like this.
Her mind wouldn’t stop replaying what had happened. Those heavy blows strike her exposed face and armored body; their hate and rage penetrate through the plates to sting her. His taunting words cut into her mind as he laughs at her pain and promises to visit even worse to her friends. She could see the knife he threw just moments ago stuck in the floor panel in front of her. She hears his heavy foot falls as he strides towards her, laughing and taunting her. He believes she’s crawling to safety but all she’s doing is getting the weapon and gripping it tightly in her mouth. She feels his claws grasp her tightly by the back of her mane; in this instance everything goes red.
She returns to the valley, the taste and scent of vomit is heavy on her senses. Her eyes sting with tears and sweat as she stares in disbelief at the ground. There is only a brief moment of peace before her stomach begins to contract violently again forcing her heave up even more. They come stronger and angrier as her mind forces her body to punish her repeatedly for her sins. Her punishment is interrupted by a hand resting on the back of her neck and pulling her mane out of her face. Sobbing a bit, her attention pulls away from the ever-growing pile of throw up to find Kell standing over her, “T-thanks…”
Nodding to her, he guides the Pegasus away from her mess and offers her the canteen on his belt. Breathlessly thanking the marksman, she falls to her haunches and lets the water splash out over her tongue before giving her mouth a good cleaning rinse and spit. As the warrior beside her removes his helmet, she does everything she can to avoid looking him in the eyes.
Taking a seat on the ground beside her he produces a flask from his belt pouch and offers it to her, “This’ll get the taste outta your mouth.”
With no hesitation, Rainbow took a quick drink and quickly regretted it. A scorching lash spread over her mouth and tongue as it burnt any other taste from her mouth. Wincing in pain, she handed it back to him with a gag.
Chuckling, he takes a quick swig from it, “Hah, not for everyone, I guess.” He gave the sulking Pegasus a glance, “So, wasn’t the same as killing those plant critters was it?”
She shook her head quietly as the guilt started to gnaw at her again, a life was ended, hopes and dreams snuffed out at her hooves. Rainbow stared at the ground, hoping the answer might be there in the dirt before her, “I… I didn’t want to kill anypony…” Those eyes glared at her again, “He would’ve killed me and everypony else…” They stare through her, accusing her, hating her, “I didn’t have a choice, I had to kill him!” She screamed into the ground as tears started to well up in her eyes.
Kell placed an arm around Rainbow Dash’s shoulders and brought the Mare close beside him. In response to the act, her forelimbs wrapped about his torso as she began to weep into his chest plate, “I’ll be honest kiddo, the first one is always gonna stick with ya.”
She stared pleadingly up at him, “How, how do you do this? None of you ever get phased by this; how can you kill somepony and just move on?”
Kell took a long drink from his flask as he stared off into the distance, mulling over Rainbow Dash’s question, “Dash, would you like to know how I got this marking here?” He traced a finger along the scar tissue pattern of a bull’s-eye etched into the side of his head.
Silently, she nodded a yes to him as she stayed latched around his midsection. With a sigh, Kell began his tale, “See, all started back when I was just a spotter fresh outta basic and ready to show my stuff to the Protectors. Fresh-faced and only sixteen years old, I got paired with this older fella named Gazack; he was a good man. While on patrol we got ambushed by some bandits that thought they could set up shop in a ghost town.” Kell’s eyes start to become a bit more distant as the story progresses, “Gazack took a blaster bolt to the side of the head and went down. In a panic I scooped up his rifle and took aim on the guy that got him. It was some kid, had to be about the same age as me or even vod at the time. I saw him and he saw me, time stood still for a second as we quietly prayed the other wouldn’t shoot. His shoulder twitch a hair, his finger started to tighten on the trigger, so I shot. Got him right in the forehead.”
He looked back to the quiet Pegasus, who had thankfully stopped weeping, “Shortly after I took the shot, the rest of our squad showed up and cleared the remaining bandits out. To celebrate my graduation from fresh recruit to bloodied marksman, I burnt this mark into the side of my head.” His finger traced along the pattern thoughtfully, “It always reminds me of that kid who could’ve gotten me.”
“How… How long ago was it?” She finally spoke up.
“Let’s see, I was sixteen at the time so, twenty six years back.” Kell remarked as he took another drink from the flask, “Been killing ever since.” He glanced at her confused and horrified expression, “Honestly it comes down to one of two things, either they kill you or you kill them.”
Rainbow returned to gazing at the ground, “The Captain told me something like that…”
With a sigh, Kell mussed her mane, “Look Dash, your first kill is gonna stay with ya for a long time; they always do. When you fight for a living like us you have to get used to it. From the time we learn to walk we’re taught to fight and that eventually we WILL have to kill.”
She remained silent for a time as she gave this some thought. It baffled the Pony; she’d lived a somewhat carefree life peacefully in Equestria, save the occasional world-ending crisis. The idea there were entire planets of beings that learned from the time they were foals how to fight and kill was albeit a frightening concept. Suddenly Kad’s words came back to haunt her, ‘How far would ya go to protect everyone an’ everythin’ ya loved and cared about?’ She started to understand what he was telling her now.
Traycn let out an angry grunt as he switched out the burnt out systems; the lack of an arm made the task less than graceful. Letting out a long stream of curses in Mando’a, he attempted to continue his work as best he could. The sound of hooves on metal brought a growl to his lips; the last thing he needed right now was to deal with these things. Glancing back, his sharp eyes pierced Twilight who’d approached him nervously.
“Uhm, Sergeant Traycn… Do you have a moment to talk, sir?” She managed to stutter out.
With a bored snort he returned his attention to his work, “If you must Cadet, just be quick about it.”
“I… I wanted to say I was sorry… If you hadn’t tried to save me your arm would…” She bit down on her lip as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.
Traycn refused to tear his attention away from his task, however, “I didn’t jump in the way to save you.” He responded cold and flat, “I only jumped in the way to save the ship.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment as this information struck her hard. Slowly her mind made sense of it; after all, he was willing to kill her to get at the Captain. Why would he care if Deathwatch killed her, either? Shame and embarrassment seeped into her face as she thought about how stupid she was to think this monster cared about anything.
“However,” He continued as he kept his attention on the work, “I should be thanking you.”
Her eyes snapped to him in surprise, “Thank me?”
He begrudgingly grunted in agreement as he twisted another bolt into place, “You threw yourself into the line of fire long before I did. You saved this craft and then you helped it land.” Reluctantly he looked back at her finally, “For these actions… I thank you.”
Twilight still hung her head dejectedly, “I still feel like it’s my fault you lost your arm…”
The Taung warrior gave her an annoyed snort, “And just where were you on Sargolla during the ambush?” He finally turned to face her completely, “When did you take up the Sith light saber that severed my arm?”
She felt her-self take an unconscious step away from him as she bit her lip trying to find the words, “I… I…”
He closed the gap between them and nudged her with the jagged metal stump that at one point had been his left arm, “I lost this limb long before I ever met your pitiful kind, Twilight Sparkle. It can be replaced, again.”
She fought back the urge to turn and leave as his eyes tore her apart. Her gaze managed to look past him towards the mass of components that had once been the primary flight controls, “It looks like you have a lot of work here; I could help with that you know, I’m very good at technical stuff.”
Traycn was more than a little surprised by her suddenly chipper tone. Reluctantly, he looked between her and the mass of junk that used to make up the ship; he then looked to the jagged scrap where his arm once hung. The hardened warrior hated to admit it, but he needed help to finish his task, “I will… Tolerate your presence, little sister. But if I feel you are becoming a nuisance I will not hesitate to break your neck.”
With a triumphant smirk her horn began to glow with a dull aura, the same energy began to encase a number of tools that had been scattered about and now lifted in the air around her, “Great, let’s get to work then!”
Arkanna and Fluttershy sat beside one another, going through the duffle bags of equipment and weaponry the team as a whole still had. The Private tried to make sense of how she could occasionally hold objects single hoofed; he could understand it if she wasn’t wearing the customized underlay over most of her body, hooves included. Maybe it was some kind of limited use of the Force; it would explain how they claimed they could walk on clouds.
She canted her head in confusion as she held the power pack out towards him, a small tint of red forming under his stare, “Uhm, Arkanna… Is everything okay?”
Snapping out of his random thoughts, he gave her a nod, “Huh? Oh yeah, just fine. Go ahead and throw that one in with the burnt out packs.”
As they continued with their inventory, Arkanna could feel the pang of guilt starting to swell in him again. The light veil of silence that had begun to nestle between them only served to make it worse for the Mandalorian. With a sigh, he finally broke the quiet, “Fluttershy, I uh, I just wanna say I’m sorry…”
“What for, Arkanna?” Confusion gripped her tone.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he fought to hold down the right words, “Well, for dragging you and your friends into this fight. For all the trouble we’ve caused, and are still gonna cause… Mostly for what happened back in your village…”
“Oh, that…” She stared down at the half charged power pack in her hooves nervously, “I… No, it’s okay, I’ve mostly forgotten about it, really.” She declared with a forced smile.
The Private wasn’t buying it though, “It wasn’t right for me to snap at you like that,” He said with a heavy sigh, “It’s just that, there are a lot of bad memories latched onto that scar along my neck. I let those memories come out when you started questioning me about it and well… I was wrong to act that way, sorry.”
Swallowing down a bit more courage, she placed a hoof on his hand while looking up to meet his eyes, “Tell me, please.”
Arkanna was reluctant to let her know his more than sordid past, but her azure eyes pleading with him to bare his soul had begun to break down his defenses. Finally he couldn’t deny her any longer, “Alright, fine; but it isn’t a pretty story.” He gave her a sharp stare before starting his tale, “Not every Mandalorian out there is a decent person; hell, Deathwatch is proof of that. My old man was a real good example of how far someone could fall.”
His tone started to become a bit more agitated on the subject of his father, “He would get real angry sometimes, just to be mad; then he’d go drink himself stupid and take it all out on me.” His fists clenched down tightly on the grass as he kept the story going,
“He’d come home blind drunk and mad; that’s when he’d come find me and take it out on my hide, used to beat me just about every single day. Eventually I just got sick and tired of it; I wanted to stop him once and for all. I started the fight this time, got him good and angry then ran into the woods near our home. I waited in a ditch for him to run by then snuck back into the house where I found his old blaster rifle.”
His eyes started to become distant as things progressed, “I waited with it aimed at the door, my arm was killing me trying to keep it leveled, was so scared I almost wet myself. Then I saw him in the doorway; I held my breath as I squeezed the trigger, the kick from the rifle sent me flying back into the wall and knocked the wind out of me. The bolt missed him by a mile but shattered the bottle in his hand, and now he wanted blood.”
Unconsciously he reached up with the other hand and touched his neck before pulling down the fabric over his neck to let his scar show, “He took me by the hair and dragged me into the middle of the room, started yelling at me; I couldn’t make out the words through the slurring. Next thing I know he takes the broken bottle and slashes me across the throat. My shot was heard by some passing MPs though; they stormed the house and tackled that stupid drunk and rushed me to an ER.”
His hand dug angrily into the ground as the events continued to play over and over in his mind. He hated coming back here, hated reliving this moment in time. Arkanna braced himself for what he knew was coming next: the pity would be in her eyes, she’d start giving him words of sorrow and sadness just like everyone else. It always sickened him how so many people always thought they had to feel so sorry for him when they learned the truth.
When he looked to her, however, he was shocked to see none of that present; instead of sad, pitying eyes, he saw kindness and warmth. He could feel his face starting to heat with a sudden rush of blood as his gaze became riveted with her own. Gently her hoof rested atop his hand, sending a calming wave through his arm and releasing his grip on the soft loam. A soft smile came across her features as she leaned in close and nuzzled his neck, which served to turn the Private a bright crimson as he started to feel his pulse quicken at the unexpected affection.
“It doesn’t have to hurt anymore.” She whispered before pulling away.
Arkanna could feel a bit of wetness starting to form at the corners of his eyes as her words danced their through his ears. Coupled with the bright red clinging to his features, he found himself wishing he still had his helmet on. He would give anything right now for the concealing glare of the T-visor. Clearing his throat and his mind, he shook off the sentimentality of the moment, at least for the time being, “Alright mesh’la, we… We really need to get this done.”
Fluttershy watched him quickly return to the task of inventory, wearing a kind smile. She rejoined the effort of taking stock of the dwindling ammunition, but she couldn’t seem to remove the smile from her face.
The throne room of Canterlot Castle has played the battle ground for many a political war throughout the long history of Equestira. For centuries, the fate of the nation has been decided in these white marble halls. Now was no different, as the possible fate of the planet itself was being quietly wagered in this battle of iron wills.
Teth stared down Celestia from across the room. Surrounded by the royal guards, he could feel the would-be trap starting to close in around him. He playfully mused that they must not trust him, anymore. A pair of Earth Pony guards stood ready to cut off any attempts to move in closer to the Princess, while a pair of the Unicorn breed were at his back. The only opponent he cared about was the Alicorn, however, “An awful lot of security for a conversation, Princess Celestia.” His gaze narrowed harshly on her, “On the subject of security, you wouldn’t happen to know the whereabouts of my bodyguards, would you?”
She didn’t even bat an eye as her cold stare stayed fixated on Teth’s, “They are being detained for the moment, Commander Teth. I wish to discuss a rather disturbing letter I received recently.”
His stone-faced stare began to crack slightly as a brow raised, “And what did this message have to say that brought so much alarm?”
In a flash, a scroll appeared before her, suspended in the same telekinetic aura around her own horn, “It would seem one of my subjects wanted to break her silence on an altercation that occurred several days ago in the Everfree Forest. The letter states that she and several of her friends were violently held against their will by a group of soldiers that fit the description of your own men,” Her tone began to rise a bit with anger as she continued on, “According to this source, they called themselves Deathwatch. The timing puts it just before your arrival here in Canterlot.”
Teth scoffed at these accusations, “Deathwatch; a rather bold claim your highness. Just how reliable is this person? After all, your own subjects are beginning to lend aid to the very terrorists we’re trying to subdue.”
Her visage betrayed nothing of what went through her head; she wore a mask that had been tempered in the fires of debate and dispute for centuries, “So you have claimed as well. What proof do you have of this dissention amongst my subjects?”
Reaching onto his belt, slowly, at the risk of agitating the guardsponies any further than they already were, he produced a holodisc projector. Pressing a button on the side of it, he summoned up the image of an armored Unicorn mare ducking and dodging through blaster fire before vanishing in a flash of a light. Tapping another button, the video rewound and froze on a clear image of her form and face, “This video was forwarded to me moments before the destruction of my ship; this young lady was among the force that invaded the ship and attacked my men.”
His eyes stayed fixed on Celestia’s and as he’d hoped they betrayed something, “Your highness, you know who this girl is don’t you?”
Her mask began to slip from her as a coy smile came to her lips, “Of course I know who she is; how could I ever forget my star pupil and holder of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle?” Behind her eyes, things quickly began to fall into place and the deceptions fell away, “Commander Teth, the Elements of Harmony would never turn on their kingdom, let alone their Princess. Your game ends now Teth, I ask that you surrender peacefully.”
The Unicorns behind him began to slowly advance as the Earth pair lowered themselves into a stance ready to pounce. A telekinetic aura engulfed his sidearm and carefully removed it from the holster, the weapon floating back to one of the Unicorns. The second moved up closer to Teth’s side with a pair of shackles floating beside him. Teth kept his gaze fixed on the Princess, no longer wearing a visage of calm emptiness; now all he showed was rage and disgust, “Do you really think the Deathwatch so easily subdued, your highness?”
Celestia shook her head sadly, “Do not resist, Commander; you cannot win.” She urged him with surprising kindness in her voice.
Taking his helmet from his belt, he let his face disappear behind the glare of the T-visor, “Gar mirdir ni dinuir laam, aruetii.” He hissed at her as he clenched his fists tightly at his sides.
The guard hovering the shackles was a bit hesitant at this show of defiance, but a glance at the Princess made him feel a flood of confidence. What could a lone alien do against an immortal? His question was answered quite harshly when he strayed too close to him. With speed that even left the Princess at a loss for words, Teth quickly closed the gap with his jailer and buried his elbow as deep into the front of his neck as his strength could afford.
Teth’s violence was not without purpose and method. As he let lose the vicious assault, a small, cylindrical object was tossed into the air. Over his shoulder, the flashbang went off with a blinding white light and ear shattering pop. As disorientation gripped the room, he quickly made a beeline for the Unicorn holding his blaster pistol. His arms wrapped around the head and neck of his target with practiced ease; though alien to many of the creatures he had used this technique on, the general principles were the same. With a quick twist, a satisfying snap filled his ringing eardrums as the Unicorn went limp and fell to the ground.
Blaster in hand, a triumphant smirk formed over his face. With no mercy or hesitation, Teth let fly several blaster bolts into the remaining guards; their armor did little to protect them from the force of the alien weapon. The bolts of energy scorched deep black marks into their bodies as they fell to the floor in mid attack.
A sneer etched onto his face at the more than outraged look in Celestia’s eyes as she glared murderously at the human. To his side, the Unicorn with the smashed windpipe was starting to painfully stir and bring himself to his feet. Without a care, Teth let a bolt strike the stallion square in the chest dropping him back to the ground, “Alone at last, your majesty.”
The entire castle seemed to shake with Celestia’s anger as the marble floor beneath her began to crack and shatter, “I wanted to end this peacefully, Human; but it would seem you prefer suicide!” Her hoof slammed down hard into the stone surface releasing a burst of golden hued energy that tore across the ground towards Teth.
Diving to the side, the Commander barely avoided the force of her attack as it tore a marble pillar behind him into dust and crumbling debris. Rolling to his feet, he quickly started darting across the room, letting fly several blind blaster bolts that the Princess easily avoided. The ground behind him continued to explode from Celestia’s retaliations nipping at his heels; cursing under his breath, Teth took to the air with a burst from his jet pack.
Zipping through the air, he produced a handful of disc objects that fit easily between his fingers. Coming to a sliding stop far from his opponent, Teth let the small objects fly from his hand. In mid-air, serrated blades sprang from their sides and began to spin at a high speed, propelling them through the air.
Celestia easily deflected the bladed discs with a swat of her powerful wings, toppling them off into the floor and pillars. Teth used this distraction to dart through the open, letting fly another volley of blaster bolts, the piercing energy projectiles connecting harmlessly with the wall of golden energy around the Princess.
Rage burning in her eyes, Celestia telekinetically tugged Teth towards her by his neck. The Human was helplessly torn across the throne room along the ground till he found himself pinned with a hoof on his chest and blaster hand, “I have had enough of this, Commander; stand down or I WILL kill you!” She had little time to make good on her threat as a pain pierced her from behind, sending a shock through her entire body.
Luna guided her hoof over the holographic layout of the castle grounds, “I believe the highest concentration will be here, near the main hall and courtyard. However, I believe we can bypass this if we-“ The Princess of the Night stumbled a bit as her sentence skipped mid-beat.
Kad quickly moved to her side, “Your highness?”
Shaking slightly her mouth was agape in horror as she quickly pushed away from Kad’s embrace, “No, Celestia!” With little explanation she rushed away from the warriors and spread her wings wide. With a flap she took off like an ebony rocket vanishing into the night sky, the force of her take off digging a small crater into the soft soil.
Kad called out to her uselessly over the comlink, “Luna, this is what he wants, fall back!”
The single sting was but a prelude to the furious hive of hornets that dug savagely into Celestia from behind. Her skin beneath her fur tingled numbly under the barrage; she could feel the numbness cutting apart her nervous system and draining her body. An angry glare behind her found three of Teth’s troopers firing on her.
Summoning up her will, Celestia let lose a wave of energy with a swipe of her wing in their direction, the force of the blow toppling the troopers head over heels. A sharp pain in her neck drew her attention immediately back to Teth; a device on his free wrist was aimed at her, and a small dart clung to the side of her neck. She could feel the poison working quickly through her battered body as the last of her strength was being sapped away. With everything she had left, Celestia reared herself back on her hind legs to bring her forelimbs down to stomp in Teth’s head.
Teth used her weakened state to his advantage, though. Launching himself forward into the Princess and throwing off what balance she still had, he sent the Equestrian monarch toppling to the ground. Teth stood proudly over the weakened Alicorn as he motioned to one of his men, “Inhibitor collar, now!”
With no hesitation, a trooper took a knee beside the Princess and snapped a large metal ring around her neck. A loud whine and hiss came from the device as it quickly went to work; tiny needles within the collar created a constant supply of mind-altering drugs that would keep her lethargic, while various other devices and built-in electronics disrupted neurological functions. In whole it was intended for subduing powerful Jedi, in theory it should work on a power house Princess.
“What took you so long?” He snarled at the troopers as he began to weigh his chances if they hadn’t shown up when they did.
“Sir, we hit heavy resistance during our escape,” The one wearing a Corporal insignia replied, “We lost Tanner, Hallsy and Ballrock.”
Teth sighed in annoyance at this news, “Blast, they were good men,” Turning to the stained glass window, he activated the all-channel function of his long range comlink, “To all loyal soldiers of Deathwatch, our charade has ended. Begin taking the capital city; kill everyone who resists.”
Looking back to his men, “Get ready; the other one won’t be far behi-“ Shattering glass rained down from overhead stopping Teth’s words flat as the ebony-armored Alicorn smashed her way into the throne room.
Luna came down hard, shattering the floor under hooves as a dark blue flash moved around her form, her blade cutting through the air and slashing through the three troopers in her way. Catching sight of her incapacitated sister sent a burning rage through Luna’s veins, “How dare thee strike down a celestial sister; thy suffering shall be legendary for thine sins!”
As her blades bore down upon the Human he made no motion to avoid them. In a flash a weapon familiar to the night sister was summoned to his hand. The gleaming blade of purple energy that sprang from the device’s hilt held her weapons at bay as sparks of energy erupted from their clash, “Princess Luna was it; you have no idea the depths of MY sins.”
With the aid of her wings she propelled herself away from Teth, she could feel a power welling up around him, “You… You are like the Captain.”
Beneath his mask he sneered at this conclusion she had drawn, “The good Captain Skirata and I are worlds apart,” He leveled the tip of his saber pointed directly at her chest, “As you shall soon see.”
Each mirrored the other’s movements as they quickly rushed forward meeting blade to blade again and again. Luna’s crescents danced about the air around her slashing away and deflecting Teth’s own assaults. The Human kept surprising pace with her as he wielded his saber single handed, preferring to strike with swift flicks of the wrist. This seemingly fragile style served him well as he managed to keep just out of her reach just as she kept out of his.
“You move so gracefully Luna,” Teth joyfully commented as he danced around her meeting strike for strike, “Join me and I can make you far more powerful than your sister.”
Her blades interlocked with his saber to hold him in place, “You would bargain for thy life now?” She snarled at him, “I had suspected thee a coward.”
“I bargain to make you something more than just a mere Princess of a meaningless world,” His foot caught her against her chest plate with a swift kick freeing himself and forcing her backwards, “I am offering to make you a queen feared across the galaxy, I can taste the hatred and darkness that clings to your heart.”
He could see his words taking an evident affect on her as her attacks began to come with increased ferocity, “You spoke of my sins, but perhaps I should speak of yours,” He called out as a spell blade barely missed his neck, “Princess Luna, or would you prefer Nightmare Moon?”
A vicious glare passed between the pair as her attacks began to come more savagely, “You will be silent deceiver!”
The wild and angry blows sent the Deathwatch Commander on the defensive as he fought just as hard to fend her off, “Yes, that’s it, give in to your anger. Let it awaken the darkness that lingers within you.”
“There is no darkness within me,” She counter pointed as she countered another blow, “It was purged by the Elements of Harmony!”
“Why do you deny the truth?” Teth danced past another wild swing with a taunting blow from his hilt to the side of her face, “It taints you; even now I can feel the hate filling your heart and soul. Embrace the dark side; let the hate flow through you!”
Her anger finally came to a boil as she lashed out with both blades in a wide arc aimed for his head, “ENOUGH!” The room around them shook with the very force behind her voice. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized her mistake, there was little she could as Teth ducked under the attack and moved in past her defenses.
From the tips of his fingers arcing bolts of dark blue lightening flew through the air striking the Princess hard. The onslaught of electricity lashed and tore at her forcing her to her knees. The scent of burnt flesh, hair and fur filled her nostrils as a maddeningly blinding pain filled every corner of Luna’s body. She let out a cry of pain as her muscles began to spasm uncontrollably.
Only for an instant did the unrelenting pain finally subside. Several arcs of electricity still danced about her armor as her lungs struggled to refill themselves and bring strength back to her limbs. A metallic snap filled her ears coupled with a new found pressure around her neck. Panic began to take hold as she felt what little strength she had regained slip away from her. Desperately she tried to summon forth her blades but to no avail, no matter the spell or technique her mind found it impossible to focus and call forth the energy needed to create even a simple levitation.
Kneeling beside her, Teth ran a hand through her flowing mane of stars as he removed his helmet to look her in the eyes, he happily drank in the look of hate and rage that they spilled forth towards him, “For beings your own people mistake for gods, you both certainly fall to mortal frailties.” He ran a finger along the inhibitor collar that clung tightly to her neck, “Struggle all you like your highness, the device around your neck and the neck of your sister was designed to restrain the most powerful Sith and Jedi in the galaxy.”
Through the shattered window, the growing sounds of screams and blaster fire could be heard rising up from the streets. Teth continued to stroke the mane of the ever weakening Princess Luna, “In my time here, I have passed the hours reading up on your people’s history,” The song of chaos grew stronger and louder, “In all the time Canterlot has stood as the capital city of Equestria, not once has it ever fallen to an invading force.” A cruel smile slid over his face before he rose to his feet, leaving Luna to watch helplessly. He began to ascend the dais leading to the throne, “I am rather proud to change history itself for you!”
He took a seat upon the throne, lounging back in the massive seat designed for the full size of the Alicorn rulers, placing an elbow on the arm rest and bringing his hand to his chin with a wicked glint in his eye. Luna could swear for a moment they tinted a dark red as he happily listened to the sounds of Canterlot burning.
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Arkanna x Fluttershy my OTP.
1271095
I love how something I did at random gets such love.
1273503
Heh, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story just as much, also I highly encourage flagrant use of the comment box.
i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/6/19/6GMqK7WA4EmI_92IcyC3Jw2.jpg
ONCE MOOORE THE SITH SHALL RUUUUUULE EQUESTRIA!
Wow, I was originally going to hold off commenting till I had finished reading the story but the finishing of this chapter hits close to home for me. I guess I would be satisfied if I died raging against whatever fate was trying to end me but to be left limp and powerless as everything I love is torn down around me? Sends a nasty shiver up my spine.
As for the Badlands being unpopulated? Hope that's true and the changelings aren't living there either or they could gunning for revenge over the tens of thousands of tones of burning wreckage that was dumped on them.
Think of all the poor little nymphs!
Also unsure about magic and the Force being related. Personally I prefer them as distinct and separate but I guess that just comes from it contradicting my own head canon on how magic in Equestria works.
Either way it's been a good read so far. Hope the rest is as entertaining. I'll soon find out I guess.
... At least they where tricked?
I just get sick of the Royal Sisters being practically goddesses, but every fic seems to highlight them getting their asses kicked by someone who should be obviously weaker than them. When do they get the chance to save they day, does it ALWAYS have to be the protagonist?
... I'm just complaining now, I'll shut up.
And once again the most powerful monarchs are completely and utterly USELESS!