Ending4,251 words

Riot

Author's Note:

I'm sorry this took a while to make; been busy with RL, and I've had a bit of a writing block for this. But I think I've got a plan for the rest of this, which hopefully should come underway. Thank you all for your patience, and hope you enjoy! ^^

Thanks again to Scholars for proofreading!

“And what do we have here… Applejack and Rainbow Dash. It’s nice to see you again.”

“… Who are you?” Rainbow and Applejack asked.

“Hmm. Maybe not,” Commander Dust shrugged off. “Either way, your attempts to stop production are cute, but sadly, not enough.”

“Why are you even helping them anyway?” Bon Bon questioned, trying to keep her head away from the blaster barrel at her neck.

“Because the Empire offered something more than the Storm Empire could ever offer; real purpose. The Storm Empire and the late Storm King were all just jokes,” Dust scoffed, pacing back and forth in front of them. “And, I’d like to point out—if you think I’m going to just stand here and monologue to buy you all some time, you’re an idiot.”

“Well, worth a shot anyway,” Bon Bon deadpanned.

The commander hit the com device on her wrist. “SC-483, report to the guard staff. We may have to open some new cells for our prisoners; no, wait… yeah, keep them in there. Dispatch some guards at once.” The commander waited, but there wasn’t any reply. “SC-483, come in.”

There was an audible static coming from the com, until someone finally picked up.

“I apologize commander, we had some technical difficulties. The Mandalorian intruder had sent in her droids to take over the office, but they have all been scrapped.”

Lightning smirked at Bon Bon who just kept scowling at her.

“Excellent work. Now, can you handle dispatching guards?”

“I’m sorry commander, we have no guards available.”

Lightning’s smirk faded. “Why? Where are they?”

“I’ve sent them to pursue infiltrators. The five adults are not alone.”

“Of course they aren’t. Hmm... would they be some possible young recruits that the sergeant ranted about being out of uniform and late?” Lightning continued to question with a sinister smirk on her face.

“Affirmative. The troopers are searching for them as we speak.”

"Good. Find them, fast." Lightning shut off the coms. "In the meantime... perhaps we can spend a little time getting to know each other," she said with a sadistic smirk as she showed the blaster on her side.

Unbeknownst to her; she wasn't going to get her chance. R2 watched the situation unfold, hiding behind boxes and with a raised eye from his dome, spying on their movements. Quietly he reported to the others, hoping they would hear him soon...

It didn't take long for Sandbar and the others to recognize they had been spotted. They moved as fast as they could, trying to keep their cover as best as possible, but they had to run on a few occasions. Ocellus and Flurry however had the most trouble; seeing how out of place Flurry was amidst everyone else.

Luckily, the two of them moved just in time for two officers to step off the tram system they had been looking for, and stepped on without difficulty. As Flurry and Ocellus stood in the tram, one more person stepped inside. A dark colored woman with black hair walked in, standing next to Ocellus. The doors closed, leaving the three people inside as the tram took off for another section of the base. Awkward silence filled the room as they stood there, holding onto the safety straps. The only sounds filling the room was the tram riding over the rails to the destination.

Flurry and Ocellus were keeping their absolute best when it came to being quiet to blend in, but Ocellus sensed something was off. There was only two occupants in the room with them; one Imperial astromech who just stood in front of them, and the woman who just joined their tram. However, Ocellus smelled something… wrong. She awkwardly stood a bit closer next to the human woman, keeping her head forward with the same neutral face as hers.

“Officer, I am usually more polite than this, but could you please stand a few inches away? You’re invading my personal space,” the woman asked, rather formally as she looked ahead of her.

“I apologize…” Ocellus leaned forward to read her credentials, “Commander. I smelled something.”

“Oh? Smell what?” The commander asked, still not removing her eyes.

Just then, the tram stopped moving. Everyone almost fell, and the Changeling gazed at the source of the sudden halt. The Imperial behind them had flipped a few switches and dismantled a section of the tram's internal parts to prevent them from moving temporarily. The woman stepped forward, and slowly pulled out her blaster from her pocket, forcing Ocellus and Flurry to quietly prepare to pull out theirs…

Only to immediately be whiplashed as the woman fired a shot straight into the astromech’s dome, executing it on the spot. She whipped it back in her pocket, and turned to look at Ocellus before pointing a blaster up at Flurry.

“Um… why’d you shoot the droid?”

“Ocellus, it's me! I didn't think it'd be hard to recognize me," she said, dropping the stone cold demeanor and looking very chipper.

“Take who, wait, what, what’s happening?” Flurry complained.

The woman in front of them changed her shape, no longer resembling the Imperial, but rather a Clawdite with several cuts and bruises present on her head and face. Ocellus gasped in joy. “Mogwai! It’s you!”

“She’s who now?” Flurry puzzled.

"She's one of us, she's a Rebel! Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Captain Mint had been trying to find ways to get us all out of here, but they didn't work. She got me out though, so I decided to stick around see if there was anything I could do to try and help, or slow down the projects. Not much I could do though," Mogwai sighed.

"Well we came to the rescue, at least, for now. Some of our friends just got caught," Ocellus feared.

"I heard. And I have an idea," the Clawdite proposed. "What's the plan here?"

"Right now; destroy the generators," Ocellus explained. "Why, what do you want to do?"

"If your friends are caught, you're gonna need help getting them free. I did find some information on one of their higher ups, and I think this woman might be your best aid on buying them time."

The Clawdite reached to her side, pulling up a small holodevice. The projection displayed itself for Ocellus and Flurry to see, both of them staring in confusion.

"Okay, are you pulling our legs right now?" Flurry's eyes narrowed.

"I'm serious. This woman is the Fourth Inquisitor, I don't know who she is in relation to the General, but I have a feeling she's someone important to General Shimmer," Mogwai explained.

"How do I know you're serious?" Flurry questioned.

"Flurry, I promise, she's on our side," Ocellus reassured, patting her shoulder. She looked back to her Clawdite ally. "Sorry, she's new. But are you really sure?"

"Yes. And I really recommend we go right now if we're going to save them," Mogwai responded, her skin morphing back into the woman she looked like before.

Flurry was flabbergasted. "You're just going to leave me alone, by myself, to break the generators?"

"Yes," Ocellus nonchantly said, her body slowly morphing into the figure she was studying on the hologram.

"... You realize I have no freaking clue how to set a bomb, right?"

"It isn't that hard," Ocellus reassured. "And we can let Gallus and Smolder know where you are so they can help."

"But Ocellus, I... I've never done something like this! I can't just go out there alone! What if one of those Mandos spot me? Or worse; what if they shoot me down before I get a chance, I... I'm a coward, let's face it," Flurry sighed, plunking herself down on the passenger seat on the tram.

The Changeling stood in front of her, brushing her shoulders to bring her attention back. With a warm smile, Ocellus lifted her friend off the seat and gave her a warm hug of affection. Flurry embraced her back, still shaking at the thought.

"You could have backed out at any time, but you didn't. You could have blown our cover, disobeyed orders, sabotaged us, or not offer us a ride back home... but you didn't," Ocellus informed. "You can do this. I know you can."

Flurry let out a soft sigh under the helmet, looking back with determination. "I'll do it. Just promise me you'll stay safe."

"I promise. Good luck."

Fixing the small damage she had done, Mogwai got the tram back to moving again as it clicked on the rails, moving to the generators. Only a few minutes remained until the tram would arrive, and Flurry was doing what she could to mentally prepare. She took a few deep breaths to calm down, and even pushed down on a few pieces of her armor that were popping out more than they should. She checked her blasters, both of them were clean and ready to go, no overheating. Coms still functioned, she was more than ready to go.

The doors opened, and Flurry could see more beach surrounded by crystal clear waters that surrounded the beach. Stepping out, her boots left prints in the sand as she made her first steps towards the main generators. They weren't that imposing, but Flurry had second thoughts going through her brain again. Covered in armor and various metals, it was extremely well built, clearly made to withstand a lot of punch. The teenager however didn't run back, she knew lives were at stake. She had to keep going.

Pulling out the bomb, she began to type in the controls to turn it online. A few seconds later, the tram that carried the trio began to run backwards, going towards the main island so Ocellus and the Clawdite could carry out their distraction. Ocellus, much like Flurry, mentally prepared herself for their change and plan, and transformed with a flash, hoping she resembled the woman that Mogwai intended for her to look like.

The five adults still remained in the compound, bound by electrocuffs that encouraged them not to struggle and try to escape. Lyra and Bon Bon both stood strong on the outside, but inside, the two were panicking. They had no idea if Flurry Heart was safe, nor could they find out if she was caught. The best they could do was just sit and wait, praying she'd be okay.

"I'm surprised you aren't resisting very much, Mandalorian," Lightning observed, as she paced, waiting for a response from the patrol teams. "I would have thought you would want to charge at me by now, I am desecrating your people, am I not? You may not be saying it, but I can tell the type a mile away."

Bon Bon rolled her eyes, still not saying a word.

"Can't talk, or won't?"

"I've kinda gotten used to being in a situation like this," the Mandalorian shrugged off. "This isn't exactly new ground for me."

"Hmm. Fair enough," Lightning casually shrugged, not seeing any fun in engaging with her anymore. "But what about your wife, she have anything to say? Or are you going to resist as well?"

"Again, used to being caught. Sides, I met my lovely lady in cuffs," Lyra playfully giggled.

"... Okay, I'm not even going to ask you further, you're weird," Lightning shivered.

Sunset just raised a brow as she stayed there on her knees, shifting uncomfortably. Shrugging it off, she lifted herself up briefly to move her legs out and to sit with them crossed, nearly getting the soldier behind her alarmed.

"Relax, I'm just moving my legs around, hard on your knees," Sunset rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me, Commander. But we have a visitor," one of the officers interrupted.

"I don't have time for this right now, you can tell Captain Phasma to wait," Lightning brushed off.

"Our visitor isn't Captain Phasma."

The doors opened up, allowing the newly arrived personnel to show. Stepping forward was Mogwai; staying in Imperial disguise as she approached the compound. She gave a silent nod to the commander who gave a nod back. The Clawdite moved to the side to allow the real visitor to come forward and reveal herself; a woman with dark azure skin and cream-white hair. Dressed in dark robes with Imperial markings on the shoulders. She stood silently, observing everything around her, calculatedly. She got a few guards to give her a salute, a sign of quiet respect.

Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack, Lyra, and Bon Bon all looked back, four of them looked with wide eyes and gaping jaws. They gasped slightly, recognizing the woman who was there. Sunset's breath was shaking, something Rainbow and Applejack picked up on instantly. Bon Bon however, was in the dark, but she didn't speak out of fear of being shot.

“O-Oh. Um, Sister. I didn’t expect you to be here. She was supposed to warn us when she’d be inspecting the facility, right?”

"Um, we just got the message a few minutes ago, Commander. I was trying to tell you, but you threatened to axe my head off if I interrupted," one of the Death Watch soldiers explained.

"... Oh. My mistake then," Lightning corrected herself.

Sunset was confused. She knew the woman in front of her was Trixie, at least what she thought was Trixie. Why was she referred to as ‘Sister’?

"Has she been scanned for any hidden bugs or possible contamination?"

“I believe so. But we checked the scans for security sake, it is her," Mogwai reported, showing the datapad in her hand.

“Oh… well, um, Inquisitor. Fourth Sister, whatever name you want, we are more than halfway ready. We do have some prototypes out on display for you to observe, and my men have just captured these intruders. Jedi, believe it or not. Would you like us to perform a test on a Defender? Or would you like to operate one yourself while we guide you?”

The stranger was continuously quiet, looking at her with a blank neutral expression, watching her calmly, silently. She then took several steps towards the backs of the five prisoners, all of whom turned as best as they could to see who was behind them. Rainbow and Applejack couldn’t believe their eyes, but they didn’t say anything; wondering if the next few words they spoke would get someone shot.

The familiar face slowly looked down at them, completely still. She stared at them, her eyes slowly looking like purple lusterless spheres. Everyone was confused, worried, and a bit uncomfortable as well with how quiet she was behaving. This was extremely unlike her, unless there was the possibility she had been broken or hurt, or maybe she had changed? Maybe she was smarter than she appeared.

“Trixie… is that really you?” Sunset felt her hands shaking in the cuffs, and her breathing was shaky just as much.

“She’s not Trixie anymore, Shimmer. That’s a name long of old. She’s now one of the highest ranking officials of the Galactic Empire," Lightning chimed.

Trixie stared intently at Sunset Shimmer, almost coldly but horrifically. It was like it wasn’t even her anymore. But then, Trixie turned her attention to Lightning Dust, giving her that same cow-eyed blank stare. Awkward silence filled the surrounding area, with Commander Dust coughing for a moment to make some noise, any that she could get to fill the void.

“So… um. Inquisitor, can we um… is there anything you request?”

The overwhelming silence and lack of words from the visitor were now starting to make her feel uncomfortable as well. Something didn’t feel particularly right with her, this wasn’t like the Fourth Sister in the slightest. Bewildered, some of the guarding massiffs near some of the guards perked up, starting to notice something weird, and were pacing back and forth as if they sensed something. A portent. Danger. But yet, it was so odd.

The confirmed Inquisitor remained a statue, as a soft but purring growl emitted from her. But the massiffs soon sensed something wrong, and they began to growl as well. The growling continued to build as the pacing from the massiffs continued. Nervously. Faster, encircling. Hissing and snarls grew, and the lack of response was driving the massiffs into a frenzy.

The Fourth Sister’s fingers twitched and she gazed right at the guard dogs intensely. Those soulless dead eyes weren’t enough to make them whimper or cower, and they just continued to snarl and growl, smelling something wrong.

The desk receptionist on the outpost continued to work as ordered, occasionally helping the troopers locate and find their workstations. She didn’t pay any mind to the sounds of grunting outside, nor the recent calls about Rebels being found; frankly it wasn’t her job to do anything but to sit there and make sure everyone that was a part of their program was signed in.

She soon heard a new sound, marching metal footsteps walking into the room and standing in front of the desk. She was protected by a strong sheet of glass that protected her from possible threat if anyone were to do so, but it wasn’t being fired or shot at by anyone. She looked up briefly, taken aback by the strange assassin droid who just marched inside.

“I have collected more Rebellion fugitives. I was told that your commander was here, where is she?”

“Look, droid, if you got more, I’ll let them know, but I’m going to have to ask you to wait outside with your prisoners,” she shrugged off, realizing this was just plain business.

“Subparagraph eighteen of the Bondsman Guild protocol compels you to immediately produce the rewards.”

“Look you walking stick, I only get an hour a day to use the bathroom and get food, now shut up and wait outside!” She suddenly snapped, standing up from her chair with flared nostrils.

"That does not seem logically possible for any organism to operate."

The nurse droid didn’t move any further, but instead gazed at her. His scopes turned around at both different hallways. They analyzed closely at the environments ahead, using some thermal scanners that were embedded into his scopes. Then, IG-11 looked at the woman at the desk rather ominously.

“I will return.”

Spinning around, IG-11 marched out of the office leaving her confused. This walking stick actually complied and didn’t fight with her? And a non-Imperial droid at that? Huh. What luck. Ignoring the clearly strange activity, she just sat down and pulled up a small holopad, which had multiple articles about current activities going on in the galaxy. Frankly, she only got so much freetime in the Empire, she was going to take advantage of it.

Just then a woman in Midnight trooper armor marched up to the desk. The receptionist didn’t care, and just sat there in her chair, enjoying her article, or at least, what the trooper assumed she was.

“Ahem,” she interrupted.

The receptionist looked up with a disinterested face. “What?”

“I wish to file a complaint.”

“You do realize I’m on my break, and it’s going to be a lot of paperwork?”

The Midnight trooper didn’t budge from where he stood. The receptionist growled as she slapped her holopad down and pulled out a different one that actually had work related information stored.

“Fine. What’s your complaint against?”

“Over the past few weeks, me and some of my troopers have been constantly trying to prevent the Rebel prisoners we have in our concentration camp—”

“—You mean temporary dwellings for reassignment?”

“—It’s a concentration camp, but whatever. We’ve been busting our butts off trying to keep them from escaping, and despite us always succeeding in keeping any from escaping, they keep knocking out at least two to three troopers every time. We could use more men, we’re getting a little short-staffed.”

“—Do I look like a Kaminoan? Look, I’ll put in a work order to call for more conscriptions, but we’ve got bigger problems than having a few short-staffers. Our Mandalorian partners have had to put down over eight people for breaking out into a musical number an hour ago,” the receptionist said, sounding bored with every syllable she uttered.

“Can we at least get some Mandalorians to help us out?”

“You’re a big girl, you can solve the problem yourself,” she snarked.

“You suck as a receptionist, you know that, don’t you,” the Midnight trooper sneered under the helmet as the entrance doors opened again.

“Look, they don’t pay me enough to just sit here and make sure you all are clocked in for your shifts. Just go deal with them…” the receptionist looked up and her pupils shrunk. What she saw next made her stop talking almost entirely. The same figure had walked into her office again, this time holding a bigger blaster than what was seen strapped to his belt.

“I’m not just going to deal with them, we need more men! Why are you just standing there—”

A powerful hand came down and slammed on the trooper’s helmet, thrusting her body down to the ground and slamming. The helmet might have been made for protection, but it didn’t protect the trooper from the massive concussion she received from the metallic fist that came whipping down.

The receptionist pulled herself out of her chair which proved to be a huge mistake, as the assassin droid's skinny arm reached out and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her in the air. She gripped Eleven's fingers trying to pull him off her neck, but his strength was unmatched.

"I am going to rephrase my question. Where are the prisoners being held?"

"Ack! I can't--agh! Tell you! I'll-agh, be shot!"

"That is not a reason to terminate an underpaid employee," Eleven calculated. "Where are the prisoners?"

"Agh! Ack-ack, courtyard! Courtyard! Go--ack! Down the-rrrr--hall! It's a cou--agh! You're choking me!"

IG-11 let go of her, letting her breathe again. She coughed heavily as she tried to get oxygen back down her throat, still in pain from the droid's tight grip.

"Down... down the hall! Take a few lefts!" The receptionist pleaded. "Please don't kill me!"

"I do not have desire to terminate you. You are unarmed. But I recommend you take any personal belongings and depart this base at once. You will not want to stay here when it explodes," Eleven summised as he followed the direction she provided.

"I understand! Thank you!" She shouted as the droid walked past.

Marching down the hallway, IG-11 scoped the surrounding area as he began his walk to the Jedi. His fingers clutched a DC-17 interchangeable blaster in one hand, and a single Westar-35 blaster pistol, both prepped and ready to fire. Two Imperial officers stepped out of one of the doors with their weapons cocked, wondering what all the commotion was, and IG-11 didn’t hesitate to blast them both down, watching them hit the floor.

“Blaster shot! Who was that!?”

Another trooper saw Eleven and fired at him, getting a potshot at his shoulder plate, and the assassin/nurse fired back. He didn’t hit him, but he did notice two more armed guards in the two doors on both sides. He moved to the right, and shot at the Imperial who was going to pull out his blaster, and then shot at the woman on his left who fired a blaster shot to his shoulder.

Two more officers shot at the assassin, almost hitting his central wiring unit. But IG-11 didn’t go down, he turned his attention back to them and fired back. One of them went back into another room for cover, but it didn’t stop the walking tank from coming.

A simple officer sitting at his desk looked up in shock, and this time IG-11 switched his weapon from kill to stun, taking out the officer from the field, and even hitting the second one that appeared from the wall. But when another trooper shot at him, his weapon went from stun to kill and he fired a shot into the trooper’s chest.

He looked up ahead, finding another source of power to disable, and he marched forward, completely unscathed and unmoved by the numerous amount of troopers that were coming his way. His claws snapped at the power box, ripping off the panel.

“Freeze!” Another trooper shouted, pointing a blaster at him.

“Orders, unverified. Please repeat,” Eleven ignored, as he snapped another cable.

“Don’t tamper with those cables, you’ll—”

“—Orders unverified. If you do not repeat your orders, I will have no choice but to self-destruct.”

“Wait, what!?”

IG-11 snapped the last few bits of cable and turned around, looking at the trooper. His chest opened up, showing a small orb that was blinking red.

“Wait, no no no no no, don’t blow up, you’ll take us with them!”

"Repeat designation or be destroyed. Repeat designation or be destroyed," IG-11 repeated this code multiple times as he marched at the trooper, scaring him enough to run back before his bomb exploded. Now that he was gone, he could go back to his mission. Once the doors were finally open, he began to run down the hallway, moving faster to help his friends in need.

“Commander, pardon my judgement…” one of the Death Watch members said, keeping a reign on the massiffs who were still acting antsy around the presence of the Fourth Sister. “… I think something’s wrong with the dogs.”

Sunset was about to speak up, until she saw Trixie’s hands make soft gestures against the side of her body. Hand signals in fact. It wasn’t something she could always read, but she was able to decipher the code being given to her…

Suddenly Trixie’s jaw lowered, but no voice, not hers, came out. A long, deep howl emerged from the back of her throat. A rumbling growl crossed with a high-pitched squeal, it created an ear-splitting combination far too loud for such a small body. All of the Mandalorians were covering their ears, even those who were helmeted, the noise level was too much for them to take. That screech was almost resembling the supposed roars of the mythical Krayt Dragons on Tatooine, at least according to those who told their stories.

Mere moments after this thing that clearly wasn’t Trixie stopped screaming… a series of blasterfire engaged from the opening doors. IG-11 marched outside, firing at the Mandalorians who were cowering from the loud noises. A few of them went down straight away, not fast enough to pull out their blasters, but some of them did start to move once they saw him. ‘Trixie’ stopped roaring, and pulled out a blaster herself, firing at some of the other Death Watch soldiers and taking cover behind some barricades. IG-11, seeing the adults were now away from the troopers, fired single blasts at each of their cuffs, letting them get free again.

Using the Force, Sunset yanked the blasters away from Lightning Dust, giving them back to the rest of the group. Standing next to IG-11, everyone stood together as a hailfire of blaster bolts flew through the air at one another. The Fourth Sister's form vanished into thin air as Ocellus made herself clear, taking cover behind some crates where Sunset was taking cover behind.

"Sorry we didn't warn you, General!" Ocellus cried as a blaster bolt hit the wall in front of them, not hitting their heads. "I was trying to remember the hand signals, but I got them all messed up!"

Sunset didn't answer, but just moved up to fire at another Death Watch trooper. She threw her back down against the crate as she tried to keep herself together, her heart now racing faster than before.

"General, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine! Sorry, that... we'll discuss that later, let's just focus on keeping their cover!"

Ocellus and Sunset moved out of hiding as they stood with the rest of their friends.

"I need my lightsaber!" Applejack yelled.

Speak of the devil; flying by around the corner came R2, Cheep, and Spike who raced into the courtyard. All three of their domes opened a panel, as lightsabers came flying out of them. Sunset grabbed hers first, then Lyra grabbed hers, and soon Applejack and Rainbow Dash got theirs.

Lightning growled with fury. "Kill them all!"

"But commander, shouldn't we--"

"--I don't care what Midnight or any higher up would say, finish them so we can get this nuisance out of the way!" Commander Dust barked, slapping the shoulder in the back of the head.

"Yes commander," he begrudgingly obliged, turning his focus back on the Jedi.

"Sorry we're late!" Spike apologized, moving behind a barricade.

"Just glad you're here now! Come on, let's kick some butt!" Rainbow smirked, swinging her lightsaber around to deflect the many blaster bolts that were coming at her head.

Everyone stood together as one line, trying to maintain each other as they fended off the troopers that were coming in from the shores to help. Regular Midnight troopers, Imperial officers, more Death Watch, and even shoretroopers were coming in to fight.

Lifting a few crates with the Force, Rainbow Dash and Applejack flung them towards a group of shoretroopers, knocking down a few with the heavy weight, but still having a few others who evaded the assault. Sunset Shimmer, preferring to use her blaster over her lightsaber at this moment, whipped it out and fired multiple shots at Lightning Dust who bounced them off with her armor, barely flinching from the fire. This only made the commander fire back at her, forcing Sunset to duck.

Taking a chance to do some damage; Spike communicated with Cheep, and the two began to move past the soldiers so they could attack from behind, not being noticed during the firefight. Bon Bon, twirling her WESTAR-35s around, fired like a gunslinger on Tatooine, hitting the fake Mandalorians from various sides, even from the air despite being grounded. Lyra in turn, stood beside her and helped block some of the blaster shots that were coming at her, allowing her to try and take down as many as possible. Unfortunately, she couldn't evade the blaster bolt to her unprotected thigh.

"OW!"

"Bonnie!" Lyra cried.

"I'm okay, just keep blocking," she winced, trying to keep her balance as best she could, despite the pain.

Whipping past them to another barricade, Spike rolled on the compound ground with his middle wheel, his two back legs flailing behind him as he sprayed fire from his nozzles, burning at least two of the Death Watch soldiers on fire, setting a third Imperial officer on fire as well. All of them tried to run or find a way to get rid of the flames, but it was too late; the heat and pain overwhelming them all, and they collapsed to the ground.

Cheep rolled past another barricade, seeing a small group of Midnight troopers who were huddled close, firing too many shots at Applejack who tried to deflect them. The shots were too much, and the farmer received a painful one to her arm, sending her falling to the ground.

"AJ!"

"Chirp churrrrrrrrp!!!!!"

Cheep opened a panel on his head, releasing a nozzle. Out the nozzle came a lime-green dose of smog that clouded the area he stood in, spraying the Midnight troopers. All of them were coughing up hard from the stench, powerful enough to make them collapse onto the ground and pass out from the fumes. None of them died, as Sunset said before, but they were out for the count.

"R2," Sunset ordered. "Contact G-G, where is he?"

"Bweep boop boop," R2 verbalized.

"Found what!?" Sunset ducked again.

"Bwoop!"

"Okay, hopefully Flurry can get them... wait a minute," Sunset realized. She looked at the Changeling who kept her arms held on the barricade to try and shoot the Midnight troopers. "Did you leave Flurry by herself?"

Ocellus's wings drooped, and her ears flopped. Slowly turning her head, she had a guilty smile on her face as she gazed at the disapproving glare of her commanding officer. "Um... y-yeah, about that...??"

Bon Bon threw her back against the barricade on the other side of Ocellus, trying to take cover with them. Lyra just stood beside them, deflecting the blaster bolts with her lightsaber.

"Where is Flurry, she's supposed to be with you!" Bon Bon asked, ducking her head from another blaster bolt.

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Ocellus, care to answer?"

Ocellus still didn't say anything, her face said it all. But Sunset still wanted to hear it.

"Ocellus?"

"... okay, I left her alone to blow up the generators!"

"You IDIOT!" Bon Bon shrieked.

"I'm sorry, I was trying to save you guys so they can focus on us! I thought me showing up would direct all of their attention to me, and let her do her job!" Ocellus protested, shooting at another trooper and failing.

"Then we better keep them focused so she can finish the job," Lyra affirmed, blocking another bolt. "Eleven, keep going!"

"Yes ma'am!"

The assassin droid spun around like a cog, his upper torso kept spinning around as his arms twisted to fire at different troopers from various vantage points. A few bolts bounced off his body, but nothing critical. Some of his shots hit their targets, some dodged them. He still stood his ground, forcing the troopers to evade his radius of hailfire.

As the battle continued, Lighting Dust stood on a few crates, trying to kill her opposition from a higher point, but with no luck. She got a few potshots at Eleven, and even slashed the side of Spike's dome; but no real damage to any of her enemies. Just then, one of the troopers beside her hit the side of his helmet, overhearing a transmission coming in.

"Commander! There's a child trying to destroy the generators," the trooper reported over the laserfire.

Lightning was about to reply until Ocellus flew above them, and fired at another Death Watch soldier next to her. Looking up, Lightning's eyes locked onto the Changeling that buzzed around them, trying to draw the attention of everyone on the ground.

"Send a soldier to finish her; I'm going to take care of a bug," Lightning relayed.

Jumping up, her jetpack activated as she flew up into the air, pursuing the Changeling that went flying above the factory, trying to draw the attention some more. Whipping around the smokestacks, Ocellus spun around as she made another run towards the troopers on the ground, blasters at the ready.

Her ears twitched as she heard a jetpack flying above, and she spun herself upside down to take a look, nearly yelping as the commander tried to take a swipe at her with a dagger. Ocellus moved out of the way just in time, and the two combatants flew around each other, trying to make an attack on one another but not succeeding.

Hovering on two opposite ends, Lightning and Ocellus glared at each other as if they were two bounty hunters ready for a showdown in a shanty-town on Tatooine. The fight could be seen by anyone outside, and even Flurry got a look at the two colorful specks in the sky, hovering above the compound. The Death Watch commander twirled her daggers around and charged forward, intending to pin the bug down like she would be put on a display board, but the Changeling was more swift, moving out of the way in time.

Ocellus, using her blaster, fired a few shots towards the commander, who had either got out of the firing range, or deflected it with the armor on her wrists. Quickly, the Changeling buzzed as fast as she could, trying to get away from the brawny grips of the commander. Looking back down, Ocellus got an idea--

"AAGHHH!!!"

--for about two seconds. Her entire body, losing control of her flight pattern went spinning out of control as she hurled towards the ground like an X-Wing about to crash into a ship. And with a loud thud, she slammed right into the beach, with Lightning Dust smirking at her fallen prey. And floating down gently like a feather was a small snippet of a wing, in the shape of a triangle coming down and flowing into the waters to be swept away.

Her nosedive wasn't unnoticed however; Sandbar, Silverstream, and Yona all watching as the fight continued. They desperately wanted to go and help her, but a bigger problem was on the horizon as a jetpack trooper was flying towards the dunes where the generators were sitting.

"Gallus, Smolder! You want something to do? Flurry needs help, can you keep any guys with jetpacks off her?" Sandbar asked.

"Are you kidding? About time, I wondered what all the fighting was about!"

"We're on our way!" Smolder promised.

The main power station buzzed, and Flurry looked up with the most determined face. Those massive cells were providing power to all the prisoner’s shackles and gates, she had to get them free. Taking her WESTAR-35 out, she aimed it towards a set of powerboxes that controlled the power. No wasting time dealing with switches, this had to be shut down. Ocellus was counting on her, and so was everyone else.

She pulled the trigger, sending several sparks sizzling up the massive energy plant. Seeing it wasn't enough, she fired it again, and pulled the trigger several times, making the sparks bigger. She slammed the box with her foot for an extra kick, hoping it would add to the damage. Unbeknownst to her, that one shot was starting to have an effect. The lasers on the massive camp that trapped the prisoners was starting to act a little fuzzy, no longer starting to have the strength they once did. The prisoners inside the camp were starting to notice as they looked to one another. Even Yona, Sandbar, and Silverstream were getting an idea. They saw Flurry trying to shoot at the power box nearby, hesitant and afraid of getting massive electroshock from the impact.

Gallus and Smolder watched from above as Flurry kept adding damage to the generators, showing sparks sizzling more and more above, shortening out.

“Keep shooting it! It’s working!” Gallus called.

“You sure Sunset didn’t tell me to simply turn it off!?” Flurry protested.

“If it can be turned off, it can be turned back on! Just keep firing!" Smolder shouted.

“Well… ooookay!” Flurry pulled the trigger again. And again! And again!

Little fires were starting to spread, and energy sizzled and surged throughout the generators, and it was overtaking them. Not enough power could be spread or maintained, and it began to affect the entire base. Trams stopped moving, doors opened everywhere. The gates that held the prisoners were now shutting down, leaving no lasers to hold them in. Sandbar, Silverstream, and Yona all gasped with excitement. The guards who were around turned, wondering what was going on, and were confused when Sandbar decided to throw his helmet down, showing his face to the prisoners.

Noting their work, Flurry, quickly ran far from the generators as possible, and fired off a few more random shots, hoping some more damage would do the case. She kept running across the shallow waters, kicking water up behind her, all in an attempt to keep running. Luckily Smolder and Gallus swooped in to lift her up just in the nick of time, as the generators began to tremor the grounds around them, sending a massive explosion that blew all of them towards the grounds where the prison camp was. The three of them slammed into the sands before rolling across the metal grounds, getting the attention of the others.

Quickly getting up, Flurry turned to see a man towering over her; Death Watch. With a blaster pointed at her, Flurry tittered as she raised her hands to surrender.

“Oh… heh, heh. Sorry, my bad?”

Flurry was grabbed by her armor and thrown like a ragdoll, sending her rolling across the ground and right to where Sandbar’s group was sitting.

“Ow!”

“Flurry!”

The Mandalorian guard growled as he pulled out a blaster, ready to shoot her and her little friends who were huddled around her, trying to keep her safe.

“Bad move, child. You should have stayed away…”

He was ready to shoot her, but he felt someone pat his shoulder. He looked beside him, seeing a smirk coming from a rather buff Zabrak man with bigger horns than most Zabraks would see in their life time. And on his other side was a Devaronian woman, just as much buff as the man.

“I wouldn’t try killing the child if we were you,” the Zabrak said, rather sinisterly.

“Otherwise… he and I are going to need to be a bit rough.”

Not even seconds passed, and the Mandalorian guard was thrown halfway over the slave camp where he slammed right into a pole, face first knocking him. The rest of the prisoners who stepped out of their barracks saw as their bonds began to shut down and fall off their bodies, no longer able to give them paid through electric shocks.

Men, women, enbies, unspecified genders, everyone was getting out of their little huts with excitement and an uproar of delight. Flurry stood back up, with the help of Silverstream and Yona who made sure she could stand without falling over, and they looked at the slave camp. Everyone inside the huts had stepped out, and were standing together as one giant group, ready to fight.

“Are they… they okay?” Flurry asked.

“This little girl right here, and her friends,” the Zabrak man hollered as he joined his fellow prisoners. “They saved us! They set us free!”

Everyone let out a big cheer, making Flurry a bit bashful from their applause.

“You’re alive!”

Gallus and Smolder landed right beside the group moments after Flurry reunited with the other three. The Yakyakiee ripped her fake shackles off and stood before the rounded up prisoners, rallying them with the loudest voice.

“Do Rebels want to escape and save our friends!?” Yona bellowed.

“YEAH!!!!”

“Then Yona say, we go save friends and kick Imperial butt!”

Everybody at once all charged out of the caged entrapment and went straight towards the main building of the base. They had some serious words they wanted to exchange with their ‘bosses’, and they had been waiting a long time to say them…

But before the group could join them, they noticed one particular Rebel was standing near one of the cabins. He waved to them, gesturing them to come over. Curiously they ran back inside, and could see why he didn’t leave. The beaten, bruised, and hurt woman that tried so desperately to help them escape was laying on the ground, severely injured. It didn’t look like she could take much more abuse.

“No… Mint…” Ocellus whimpered. She quickly rushed over, picking up her arm. Her little hand felt her wrist for a second, and then she sighed with relief. “She’s still alive,” she noted, and then noticed her chest was still going up and down, showing signs of breathing.

“She’s hurt badly,” the Lurmen said as he stayed close by. “I won’t abandon her.”

The woman slowly looked at her friend, almost sound like it was hurting just trying to breath. “P-Please… go… g-go…”

“No. I’m not leaving without you,” he said, insistent. “But I can’t carry her out on my own.”

“I can help get her to safety, I can at least find a safe place to move her,” Silverstream said. “The rest of you guys should go join the fight, I’ll be there shortly!”

With a team effort, Gallus and Silverstream carefully picked up Mystery Mint, moving out of the cabin. The Arisian picked up the woman with her arms and began to fly up into the air to take flight. Now that Mint was safely moved, the rest of the group ran out of the enclosure and went to go join the rest of their fellow Rebels who were going to begin a riot.

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Star Wars Episode IV, Rise of the Rebellion - FourShadow

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