• Published 28th Jul 2012
  • 6,222 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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Now it's a party

The rays of light muffled by thick grey clouds clawed their way through the stained-glass windows of the palace dinging hall, casting dull colors across the floor. Teth brought the warm cup of liquid to his lips, giving it a sip as he looked over the latest reports. He had to admit, it was reassuring to have Hrask’s forces supplementing his own. The data-pad in his hand gave a detailed readout on supposed profits from the newly acquired “cargo”. With what had been loaded onto the ships just above this world already, Deathwatch stood to make a hefty profit off this detour - especially with slaves of such a unique quality. The credits would fund their war for decades.

Though raised in what could be called a noble family, Teth had never been much for the opulence that came with great power. This gilded room and its extravagant decorum was enough to make the hardened warmonger’s stomach churn. He was, however, thankful for the lovely view of the expansive forest far below the mountain. The natural and true elegance of this world was indeed a marvel to behold.

The sound of boots coupled with the tiny trot of hooves drew his attention away from his data-pad and thoughts as his newly taken in sons were guided in by their escort. A smirk came across face as he took in the tiny Equestrians standing before him: They looked very smart in their newly-fitted uniforms of dark grey, “Good afternoon children,” He said with a warm smile, “Come, have a seat.”

As he motioned to a pair of empty chairs, the young colts cautiously made their way to their seats. On an unseen cue, several of the troopers assembled in the dining hall moved to place a freshly prepared meal before the boys, “Eat up my sons, we have a big day ahead of us.” The pair gave one another a worried look before returning to the meal, staring at it as if it had just said something out of the ordinary.

Teth let out a chuckle as he watched them, “It isn’t poisoned.” He stated playfully as he took a leafy green from one of their plates and popped it into his mouth, chewing it up and swallowing it down, “There’s no reason I would adopt you both only to kill you.”

Giving them both a reassuring pat, he began to stroll the length of the room in open thought, “It is important that you both know what is expected of you as Mandalorians; most importantly though, as Deathwatch.”

Anvil’s curiosity began to get the better of the young colt, “But, what does any of that mean? We’re both Unicorns and, well… We aren’t anything like you.”

Teth chuckled at this naive statement, ruffling the foal’s mane, “Being Mandalorian is not about race, nor is it about species or even gender. It is an ideal, an ideal that bands peoples of all walks of life together as warriors and as family.” His words echoed with pride that swelled in his chest, “We are known throughout the galaxy as the most elite fighters, highly sought mercenaries and bounty hunters. It is said that a single platoon of Mandalorians is worth an entire regiment of the Fel Empire’s feared Stormtroopers. There was a time when the entire galaxy quaked in fear at the very mention of the Mandalorians, when every star system bore the deep-running scars of our wars. But this was… a time before…”

His voice began to lose its solid pride, growing more in anger. “Before traitors like Jaster Mereel and cowards like Duchess Satine sought to break us with the reforms of their new ways. Before the Commando Codex sought to tie our hands, and before the so-called New Mandalorians and their pacifist ways turned us into nothing but shells of our lost glory. We were the most feared force the galaxy over, and now the false Fett and her Neo Protector reformists sit in power, making nice with the rest of the outer rim while breeding her Force user army and sitting atop the largest armada in the galaxy.”

Turning to face his children, Teth looked between the pairs of large, curious eyes, “As Deathwatch, it is our duty to revive the true spirit of Mandalore. It is our duty to bring the people back to the old ways, to make the galaxy remember why it should fear us.” Placing a hand atop both of their heads, he continued his speech, “This is our legacy, my children; your legacy.”

The entirety of Canterlot violently shook with a loud rumbling bang. Hammer and Anvil screamed in terror as the shockwave crawled its way through the walls around them. They could feel a heavy form over top of them, the sudden cover bringing a strange calm to the pair. Opening their eyes, they were both equally shocked to find Teth protectively shielding them with his body.

As the rumbling subsided, Teth pulled himself from his protective posture and turned a rage-filled eye towards the nearest trooper, “I want a status report, immediately!” Over his shoulder, Teth could hear the sound of the glass door to the balcony being forced open and the familiar heavy fall of boots.


At the center of the city, all activity came to a halt as the shockwave rippled through the streets and alleyways. Every trooper was on high alert as a huge plume of smoke rose from the direction of the main gate. One tall and imposing figure bearing the markings of a Captain tried to make sense of the chaos, “Gateway, give me a status report, over! I say again, does anyone over there read me? Over.”

With a frustrated growl, he turned his attention to the nearest soldier he had, motioning toward the smoke, “Take squads five and twelve and investigate, I want to know what’s going on over…”

His words began to trail off as his gaze shifted to a small puddle on the ground. The shockwave from the explosion had come and gone, but the water rippled and vibrated. It was then that he noticed a growing noise in the distance; it was a rolling thunder that shook the ground as it drew closer. Slowly, he turned his eyes to the edge of the city square and saw them: a wave of Equestrians a few hundred strong galloping at full speed towards their position.

The slight wave of panic seeing this technicolor sea crashing towards them was quickly shaken off as the Captain began bellowing out his orders on the coms, “Firing positions! Take firing positions and mow them down!” These would be his last orders - a blaster bolt seemingly from nowhere slammed into his neck sending him toppling to the ground.

Far across the battlefield behind the charging lines, Gallant proudly floated his blaster rifle in front of his face, staring intently down the sights with a smirk. Tolik let out an impressed whistle at this feat of marksmanship, “Now I know for sure you should’ve been born a Mandalorian.” He snickered, slapping the pony Sergeant on the back.

A hail of energy bolts exploded from the Deathwatch line, sending hordes of projectiles down range into the more than hapless front line of the attacking ponies. What few blasters the ponies now possessed rang out in retaliation against their enemies, creating a crossfire of bright energy bolts.


High above the planet, Hrask stared out over the world below him from the bridge of his dreadnaught. Dark thoughts, as always, began to creep into his mind as he watched the pretty blue and green orb spin along its axis. It would be so easy to simply obliterate this garden world, with all the ships under his control and the lacking technology of those that called it home. He mused about how it would be like stepping on a bug.

“Sir, we have a report from the ground teams,” The slightly shaky voice of the communications officer spoke up.

The Admiral gave a wave of his hand signaling him to continue as he continued to watch the planet below, “They’ve come under fire; it appears the locals have begun to fight back in force,” The com tech continued, “They have blasters and appear to be surprisingly well-organized, and there seems to be a group of Mandalorians mixed in with them.”

“What clever creatures they are. If they want to fight a war on our level, then we shall accommodate them,” Hrask stated to no one in particular, “Load up gunships seven and twelve with the hunter killer droids for aerial drop, and no heavy weapons. I’d rather not take any chances with something like that perched on the side of a mountain.”


In the far distance it was easy to hear the echoes of blasterfire with as deathly silent the rest of the city was now. It sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine when her mind touched on what the sounds of chaos meant. She needed to focus on something else, anything else; if she didn’t, she might break down and cry at the thought of so many dying right now.

Her mind immediately locked on those eyes: confused, hurt, and begging her for understanding, just a small sliver of knowledge to shed light on her plight. No; she couldn’t go there, not yet. She had to keep it within reach, though; it would drive her through the abandoned city and to the palace. If she gave in to it now, she’d lose her need and drive to fight, she needed something else, “Shining Armor, if you’re here, does that mean Cadence is here too?”

Her brother seemed more focused on their task at hoof, but as always the voice of his sister brought the stallion back to reality, “No, thank Celestia; she was away to Trottingham on royal business.” A weak smile came across his lips, “Funny thing is, I was going to catch an airship and meet her today.”

Twilight’s stomach began to churn as one question in particular started to claw at the back of her mind, “Mom and dad?”

Shining Armor shook his head sadly; this was one he didn’t want to answer, “I don’t know…” He said with a heavy sigh, “Deathwatch has been too heavy in the residential district for us to scout the area. I’ve kept the area where their ships keep landing under constant watch but… I haven’t seen them loaded onto any of the ships.” The guard Captain did what he could to keep his voice steady and confident, “But that doesn’t mean anything, Twilee, you hear me? It doesn’t mean anything.”

Kad had been traveling ahead of the pair, his close proximity made it hard not to overhear most of the conversation, “So, this Cadence; she your girlfriend?”

Shining Armor was hesitant to answer at first, preferring to keep these off-worlders at a distance, but a little small-talk might break the growing tension in the air, “My wife.” Was the flat reply given in return.

Nodding knowingly, the Mandalorian said, “Got a wife an’ son waitin’ for me back on Concord Dawn, myself. We got a nice homestead there; real quiet, kinda like this world,” He ventured a glance back at the stallion, happily drinking in that look of inner conflict those massive eyes failed to hide. A mix of wanting to maintain his distrust and decided hate, and the sudden realization that they were in many ways a lot like one another, “Ya got any wee sprats yet?”

The stoic knight began to crack a bit in embarrassment at the question, “I, uh, no. Cadence and I don’t have any foals as of yet, Captain.”

Kad couldn’t help but smirk a bit as he learned the right buttons to push, “Lemme tell ya, ain’t no feelin’ in the whole void like the high ya get when ya learn you’re gonna be a buir, a parent. When I found out Shin’ima was pregnant I couldn’t stop grinnin’; creeped the osik outta my squad at the time.” The warrior recalled proudly.

Curiosity began to get the better of the stallion despite his best efforts, “So how old is your son?”

“He’s ‘bout seven an’ a half; goes on an’ on ‘bout how he’s gonna become a Mandalorian Knight like his father. Go ‘round the galaxy protectin’ our people an’ such.” Despite the mask and the slight mechanical sound of his helmet’s speaker, it was easy to guess the wide smile on his face.

Twilight fought to hold back a chuckle as the Captain continued on, even giving Shining Armor a few pointers on fatherhood. The ring in his voice brought a soft smile to Twilight’s face as she started to see a new side of her commanding officer. He had his flaws, but beyond them was a loving husband and caring father who loved his family. It brought with it a slight ache to her heart as her mind touched on the ever-growing dark inside her own head as of late. What if everything didn’t go as planned? He may never see his wife and son again. Her gaze drifted past Kad to Zex far ahead of the column; there was so little she knew about these Protectors. For example, what about Zex? Did he have a special somepony waiting for him? A family perhaps; or just somepony depending on his return, hoping and praying that he would come home alive? The curse of her mind expanded this thought even further to their enemy, Deathwatch: it was made up of aliens just like the ones she stood beside now. How many of them had families? How many had loved ones waiting for them back home, never to see them again?

She cast her eyes in the general direction of the still-raging blaster fire. Biting down on those feelings, Twilight pushed such thoughts out of her head. If not, then she might not have the courage to do what had to be done. A heavy weight settled upon her back; she could feel it was greatly restrained, or else it might have crushed her beneath its mass. Straining her eyes away from the flashes of a light far off and her neck upwards, she beheld the massive form of Traycn standing over her and looking out towards the battle’s direction. Through the crack in what was left of his helmet’s visor after the missile attack, she could see his sharp golden eye gleam with a hunger and ferocity that made her somehow feel envious.

“Take heart Cadet Sparkle, these Equestrians stand on the brink of history,” He said proudly as he motioned over the cityscape, “they fight with heart and die with honor.”

“I don’t think I’d like the view from a mountain of corpses…” She replied with a bitter tone.

“History is written in blood, the planets formed by bone. You would do well to learn this fact, little sister.” Traycn snorted in retort as pushed past her.

Despite what he might have thought, his words had reached her. The young mare knew for a fact from her studies that peace only lasts so long, and that no border is ever truly safe. This was history playing out before her, what would very well become one of the most important moments in their entire world’s history. It had been the entire time, her perception fogged by rose-colored glasses. Beings from another world had come to their planet: first contact, and the first conflict with them. Sometimes it felt like being an Element of Harmony was in a way a curse with how often these world-changing events came up.


Deathwatch’s firing line let loose volley after volley of blaster bolts across the square, tearing into the charging ponies. What few weapons the Equestrians had stolen answered back in turn, giving their compatriots some form of cover across the killing field. What few that made it through the enemy line made the brief victory count.

One lone, dark-coated earth-breed mare with wild, red curls braved the barrage of energy bolts overhead, her once-beautiful form now marred by burn marks and cuts. A lucky bolt managed to strike her back leg, sending her sliding into a rubble pile, providing some protection. Pain ran through her back leg, begging her to stay put. Looking to the side, she watched a stallion she used to get her coffee from daily fall over dead as several bolts tore into him. She never knew his name; she saw him every day and never once asked his name. Gritting her teeth, she found the strength to get back up, fighting off blinding pain and pulverizing fear as she forced herself to push along the ground beneath the burning wall overhead.

Crawling her way to the enemy barricade, she thanked Celestia under her breath that she hadn’t been spotted. Over the sound of blasters she could hear one of the aliens just above her yell out, “Grenade out!”

Closing her eyes, she braced herself for what she was about to do. The moment she heard the metallic ringing, she forced herself over the line to tackle the trooper with grenade in hand as she let out a defiant cry, “For Canterlot!” In a bright flash and loud pop she, the trooper and four of his comrades were removed from the galaxy. Her last thoughts were on that colt she watched die, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t recall his name.


From the opposite end of the fire fight, Torb watched as everything played out through the built in electro-binoculars of his HUD. Things were moving far too slowly, his volunteers were fighting with everything they had but it just wasn’t enough to make good headway. Switching on his comlink he connected to their only unfortunate hope of winning this, “Mackers, what is your status?”

The defector’s voice came in loud and clear, “Approaching target now.”

“Be quick about it, we’re at risk of losing what ground we’ve gained.” The Chiss snarled over the com.


Behind the warehouse containing the captured citizens, a small team consisting of Mackers, Yazan and the Pegasus freedom fighter Spitfire took a brief second to prepare themselves. The fire-gold flyer looked down indignantly at the bonds she was being forced to wear for this ruse, “I really don’t like this plan…” She grumbled as she gave the chains a test tug.

Yazan glanced back at her grinning beneath his visor, “You’re just mad because you have to play the slave.” He stated teasingly.

Mackers gave his comrades a quick glance, “Here goes nothing…” With a quick motion of the optic controls he patched into the all too familiar coms of his former compatriots, “This is Hunter four, we are bringing in a fresh one; hold fire. I say again, hold fire.”

They held their collective breaths until a voice came back over the comlink, “Door is open, Hunter four. Bring in the merchandise and be quick about it; hostiles are making a mess out front.”

Despite the mask, Mackers radiated a sense of victory at the sound of this news, “Copy that, making approach now.”


As more ponies were cut down by constant blaster fire, a new sound drew Torb’s attention as it roared to life over the fighting. Turning his attention skyward, he watched a pair of combat shuttles lower themselves from the clouds. His visor quickly zoomed in on the objects overhead, a sly smirk coming to his features as he watched their doors open and prepare to drop their payload, “How very clever of you.”

Fancy looked between Torb and the sky, his eye straining to make out what the Mandalorian was seeing, “What do you see?”

“Just what I was hoping for,” He stated with a laugh.

Metal racks extended from the sides of the ships and began releasing metallic, oval-shaped objects. These mysterious pieces of equipment free-fell from the sky, impacting behind the Equestrian line, sewing much-needed panic as they buried themselves into whatever, and in two cases, whoever they landed on. This initial shock was turned into cold fear as the unscathed outer shells began to shift and move, rearranging until the shell formed layers of armor over an alien construct. Long, thin limbs like metallic skeletons tipped with long talons and sharp curves to their forms all brought to a head by a bright red cyclopic eye.

One weathered Pegasus stallion found himself staring up in breathless shock and awe at the towering metallic monster. The bright red eye in the center of its head burnt into him unblinkingly before everything was ended. With speed beyond the scope of flesh and bone, one razor-tipped claw came crashing down upon the pony with no remorse and no hesitation.

Fancy Pants watched in absolute horror as what seemed like hundreds of these monsters took shape around the battlefield and started attacking every pony in sight, “Forgive my ignorance but how is this something you would hope for!?”

Taking his pistol in hand, Torb could barely contain his smile as he took aim on the nearest attacking droid, “Just watch,”


Yazan and Mackers roughly lead the restrained Spitfire into the holding area. All three doing their best to keep up the appearance of captors and captive; this came easier for some than others. The Twi’lek gave the mare a hard shove with the butt of his rifle when she started to slow a bit, “Come on four legs! Keep moving or I use the barrel, next time!”

Muttering under her breath, Spitfire fought the urge to drop her chains early and just attack the blue-skinned alien. Her thoughts shifted to more important things, however, as they entered the area the ponies were being kept. Make-shift holding cells had been set up along the walls, containing what looked to be hundreds of frightened ponies of various breeds and descent. They had been packed tightly, four to a cell. The doors to each holding pen had a number of wires running along the metal; before she could question what they were for, she watched a mare accidently rub up against the cell door, receiving an electrical shock in return.

Spitfire sighed sadly as she looked over all the ones that hadn’t made it underground. The Lost Ones, as she’d taken to calling them. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how many had already been taken off-world, slaves to these barbarians. She put her thinking on hold as a pair of troopers made their way towards them.

“Hey, you two chose one helluva time to come back,” He motioned towards the echoing sounds of fighting, “The locals decided to finally grow a back bone.”

“We noticed,” Mackers replied, “Had to kill three others before this one finally surrendered to us.” He nudged her forward roughly to add emphasis.

It was then that the trooper noticed something off about this Equestrian, “Hold up, why aren’t her wings secured?”

Spitfire smirked from ear to ear as she gave the nearest one a playful wink. Before any reaction could be made, she quickly launched herself into the air with a swift flap of her wings. Once at eye-level with his visor, she swung the chains around his neck before darting straight up with another flap of her wings. The chain tightened with the swift movement, filling the air with a loud snap before the Deathwatch trooper went limp.

Following her lead, Yazan swiftly leveled his blaster with the other trooper, letting loose a volley into him. Several bolts of energy slammed into his target’s chest, his armor’s strength failing him as they tore into the man beneath the plates. The force of the barrage sent him flying backwards onto the ground with a loud thud.

Chaos quickly gripped the holding area; six more troopers entered the room with their weapons ready, drawn in by the sounds of blaster fire. Yazan and Mackers quickly dove behind the nearest objects they could find before they began to let loose several blaster bolts at the new enemies. High above them all, unseen in the rafters, Spitfire undid the loose binding around her legs and quickly sought out a target. Crouching down with her wings spread out, she became a bolt of lightning streaking towards the earth at the speed of light and crashing into her chosen enemy.

All the while, the frightened captives watched helplessly as this battle raged just beyond their bars. Several stallions and mares began shouting out words of encouragement to the would-be saviors. Some even risked the pain of electric shock as they kicked at the doors and walls of their cages.


Fancy Pants looked worriedly between Torb and the metallic monsters ripping into their comrades, “What is it you’re planning, Torb?”

As the Chiss removed his helmet, he gave the upper-crust Unicorn a childish grin, “I wouldn’t worry too much, dear boy,” He tossed the helmet towards his compatriot, “Hold that, will you? Damned thing tends to cause interference.”

With no warning, the Chiss aimed his pistol towards the nearest droid and began firing at it, the small-caliber blaster bolts striking harmlessly against the armored plates of the automaton. Its red optic quickly glared in Torb’s direction, having forgotten about the cowering mare it had cornered. With an excited laugh, the strategist let fly several more bolts, “That’s right, I’m over here!”

Fancy went wide eyed as this suicidal act played out before him, “Have you lost your mind!?”

“Only some of it,” Torb happily retorted as he fired a few more shots at the droid, “That’s right, focus on me; chase down the high end threat!”

Letting out a metallic growl, the droid dropped down to all fours and began to gallop towards the offending Chiss. Torb fired off a few more bolts, seeming to not notice or maybe just not care as they struck uselessly against the droid. As it got closer it lunged forward onto the Mandalorian, pinning him to the ground; this did little to change Torb’s seemingly-positive attitude about the situation.

“Good, just needed you in range,” He said with a sneer as he stared into the single bright red optic.

As its claw raised to skewer him like it had several Equestrians, Torb’s cybernetic eye began to glow bright red. The droid came to a complete stop as its eye twitched about in a confused manner. Fancy stared in awe as the metal monstrosity sat unmoving, poised to strike and end the life of the organic in its claws.

Unseen by Fancy Pants or anyone else observing, was the battle being raged on an electronic scale. The cybernetic enhancements plugged into his brain allowed Torb to remotely slice any electronics within his range; this droid had just put itself well within his striking distance. With some quick thinking and swift adjustments, the Chiss was able to easily outwit and outsmart any of the built-in failsafes and countermeasures. Moments later, the droid removed itself from atop Torb and sat upon its haunches like a pet awaiting a word from its master.

With a sly smirk Torb sat up and looked over at the very confused and dumbfounded Fancy Pants, “What… What just happened here?”

Torb tapped the metal plate on the side of his head, “We had a meeting of the minds.” Brushing himself off, Torb rose to his feet and looked his new “pet” over, “Ah yes, this is a very good day; do you know what this is?”

Fancy could only shake his head no, the words refusing to come to him, “This, my friend is a series sixty seven hunter killer class heavy combat droid.” Torb stated proudly as he ran a hand along the sleek frame, “High impact-resistant alloy frame, cortosis weave armor plating, super heating vibro cell enhanced claws, anti-personnel flechett launcher as well as a rapid-fire heavy blaster, both arm-mounted by the way. But all these bells and whistles aren’t even the best aspects of the droids.”

His eye began to glow a bright red along with the droid’s eye, “Every single one of these droids are linked via a wireless network.” Once more the electronic warfare raged under everyone’s noses, “It means that all their minds are one. Every droid sees, hears and knows what the others know. And all I needed was one droid, to corrupt this network!”

Throughout the battlefield the droids stopped their onslaught, frozen in mid-motion as their programming began to twist and reshape to their new master’s will. Much to the confusion of the bloodied Equestrian resistance fighters, the metal demons quickly turned and began to charge towards the Deathwatch line as a pack of hungry wolves catching the scent of blood.

One of the troopers stared in disbelief as their weapons began to turn on them, charging towards them and showing no signs of stopping, “Ion weapons… Get us some damned ion weapons up here!” He called back to the rest of the troopers further behind the battle line, trying to break the sense of panic and keep some semblance of order.

A heavy metal form crashed into him rapidly digging its claws through his armor till satisfied that the target was terminated. The plates along the droid’s arms slid back as a pair of blasters shifted into place. Swiftly moving through the now-enemy line, it began spraying bolt after bolt in rapid succession from one arm while unleashing punishing, wide bursts from the other.

Fancy watched in morbid fascination as the tide seemed to turn in the blink of an eye. A small tinge of sorrow crept in as he watched the Deathwatch soldiers were torn apart one after another. His gaze shifted to the only one remaining beside the pair as it looked between the Unicorn and the Chiss, “And… Why did this one stay behind?”

“I wanted a pet,” Torb stated happily as he stroked the droid’s head, much to his amusement the droid responded like any animal leaning into his touch.


“Would you please repeat that, Private?” Hrask’s voice dripped with barely restrained anger at this latest bit of news.

“The, uhm, droid network has been sliced, sir,” The unfortunate Private working the com-station stammered out, “We… Have lost control over the droids.”

“And the kill command?”

“No effect, sir…”

Hrask gave a guttural growl over this information; he was half-tempted to simply kill this peon cowering before him. Before any such therapeutic slaughter could commence a frantic voice called out from one of the bridge’s stations, “Admiral Hrask, we have hyper space signatures incoming!”

Turning his visor quickly to the main view port he watched as a force of ships two times the size and strength of his own suddenly appeared. His eyes narrowing on the largest vessel at the head of this fleet, upon seeing the garish depiction of a strill gnawing on a skull he knew who was leading this charge, “Fett…” He snarled as his hand tightly gripped the hilt of his sword.

“All ships, full power to shields, take up defensive pattern phalanx!” Hrask barked to the still-panicking bridge crew. He could hear them relaying his orders to the rest of the ships and their commanding officers, “Sound the full retreat for our ground forces, we are leaving this system! Somebody down there bring me Teth, I want that idiot alive!”


As Kell and Arkanna forced their way through the balcony doorway everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. They had expected to find a few Deathwatch forces inside, but neither of them thought they would find this. Here in front of them was the man they had been chasing after for the past week. This man, who had shot down their ship, hunted them like animals and killed hundreds of unarmed civilians. And now here he was, standing right in front of them, Commander Davian Teth himself.

Acting on instinct the pair quickly let loose a volley of blaster bolts into the handful of troopers protecting Teth. Catching them off-guard, they were able to cut down the bodyguards in short order before leveling their weapons on Teth. Kell could barely withhold a smile as he started to move towards his prey, “Well, well, well - what do we have here, rookie?”

Arkanna started to move along the opposite side of the room to keep the target flanked, “Looks like the jerk what’s been causing us all kinds of trouble, Staff Sergeant.” Arkanna tightened his grip on his weapon as they closed the gap.

Teth didn’t bat an eye as the Mandalorians moved to either side of him, “Gentlemen, I don’t believe I invited you to lunch.” He stated casually as he reached for his cup of caf, “Honestly, where are your manners?” He motioned to the pair of colts sitting behind him, clearly frightened by what was going on around them.

“Says the man with a blaster pointed at him,” Kell happily reminded him. The sound of soft sobbing drew the assassin’s attention away from Teth to the strange sight behind him, to the pair of colts in freshly-pressed uniforms cowering together behind him. He quickly bit back a number of choice words at this sight, settling instead upon, “Who are they?”

“My sons; I can trust you to leave them out of our affairs, yes?” Teth answered back in a calm tone, still sipping on his caf.

This whole thing was giving Arkanna a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something felt off about all of this: how calm Teth was, it was unsettling, “Sir, shall I secure the prisoner?”

“I’d rather break his face then toss him off the cliff side, but vod wants him alive.” Kell complained to no one in particular, “Cuff ’im.”

As Arkanna cautiously slung his rifle, he reached onto his belt and produced a pair of binder cuffs, “Put your hands behind your back.” The Private ordered.

Teth stared through the young man’s visor to the eyes beneath, sending a chill through Arkanna’s spine, “Is all of this hostility necessary? I’m unarmed, after all.”

“Your hands; put them behind your back, Teth.” Arkanna ordered again, his voice starting to crack with apprehension and rising in pitch.

Teth smiled at how on-edge he seemed to be putting the young soldier, “Are you afraid, young man?”

“I said put your hands behind your back!” Arkanna repeated with a clear sense of agitation in his voice.

Something about all of this gnawed at the back of Kell’s head. Why did this whole thing seem so familiar to the sniper?

Teth closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply, setting his cup back on the table, “Yes, I can feel your fear, growing inside of you.”

Kell’s eyes went wide as the freighter carrying the realization crashed into him violently, “Rookie get back!”

It was too late for either of them. With a swift motion, bolts of electricity flew from the tips of Teth’s fingers and danced over the bodies of the Protectors, their screams of pain echoing off the walls of the dining hall as pain beyond anything they’d felt burned away at their minds and bodies. This agony created a song for Teth’s twisted ear to dance to as he let out a hearty laugh. Motioning upwards, the pair was lifted into the air by the bolts of dark-side energy made manifest.

With a swipe of his hands, the pair of Neo Protectors was cast through the stained-glass windows of the dining hall with a loud crash. The motionless bodies were flung far and wide beyond the edge of the balcony. Slowly, Teth turned to face his children, “That, my sons, is the power that fear can grant you.” Over his shoulder, a pair of shadows moving like wind chased after the ejected Mandalorians.