Star Wars: The Droid Chronicles

by Stalin with Da Spoon

19. The Battle of Canterlot

[Canterlot Castle, 7:05 AM. 2 BBY, Galactic Sector D-6]

"Watch your fire, don't hit any friendlies! Protect the delegates!" 5264 shouted over the created a cacophony magic discharges and blaster fire which echoed through the city and caused many ponies to panic, the four droids firing E-5 blasters towards the changeling infiltrator who returned fire with blasts of green energy from their horns. In the castle courtyard Princess Luna and Chrysalis dueled with their magic and procured blades, their power and ferocity equal to each other as their ferocious battle dragged.

In the streets below the royal guard were seen panicking and regrouping to try and respond, only to find some among them suddenly being engulfed in green flame and their true changeling forms revealed, causing the guard to be bogged down fighting what they were thought were their comrades while civilians shed their disguises and reeked havoc in the markets and square.

"We can't keep this up, when is support getting here!?" 2197 shouted, ducking out of cover to fire his blaster and hitting a changeling dead center in the chest, the wound causing him to be launched back into the courtyard below. "Were the only droids in the city and I doubt we can fight an entire horde by ourselves!"

"Indeed, our odds of success against a large scale enemy force are... a thousand to one!" 7262 shouted, quickly turning his attention to blast a Changeling who was attempting to sneak up on Princess Skystar, who squawked as the bolt zipped by her head.

"Aren't those odds a bit hopeful?" 3956 said, shifting his sights up as took aim at several changelings firing their magic from above and bombarding the castle, knocking a couple out of the sky.

"Well, the actual odds would be demoralizing, so I prefer to not say!"

"Well it doesn't matter, command said reinforcements are en-route, so we just gotta hold out! For now we need to make sure the delegates are safe and secure!" 5264 said, turning only to see one of Grover's diamond dog bonking a Changeling over the head and flinging them out a window with ease. "Or at least cover their flanks." The droid then heard a buzzing on his comms buzzing as he answered. "OOM-5264 reporting!"

"Good news Major, support has arrived!" The voice of OOM-9164, which version the major could not tell, rang out over the comm link as the droid looked up to see multiple gunships escorted by vultures suddenly fly overhead, one of them descending into the castle courtyard as it's cannons took aim and fired towards Chrysalis, who snarled and ducked into cover.

"What type of foul sorcery allows you to forge these savage metal beasts?!" She said, firing a bolt of green magic into the gunships armored front, which only prompted it to return fire with a missile, the detonation launching Chrysalis and some of her changelings away. She groaned, rubbing her head before sending a signal to the rest of her changelings in the castle to fall back as she flapped her wings and flew away, barely avoiding the gunships cannon fire.

"Hey, don't go calling our gunships beasts!" Said one of the droids deploying from the racks mounted to the bottom of the gunship, quickly unfolding and securing the area as they pinned down changelings and blasted with stun shots. "Neutralize the changelings and take them prisoner, then secure the castle and the delegates!" The squad leader said before turning and looking to 5264 as he saluted. "Were under your command sir, 9164-A and B are busy helping to take back the city!"

"Roger roger, make sure the castle's clear and we'll move out to support them!"

"Roger roger!" The droids scattered out and swept across the area, zapping any changelings they spotted before 5264 turned to the delegates.

"Alright everyone, this is our time to move on out of here! 7262, guide them to a safer part of the castle."

"Roger roger!" 7262 said as he turned and gestured for the delegates to focus their attention on him. "Alright, stick with me and you'll make it through this!"

"We shall stand beside you." Grover said, his diamond dog guards moving him with swiftness as the delegates left the room in a hurry, 7262 leading the way and checking the halls. 5264 turned to see princess Luna glide down to the ground in front of him.

"That foul Chrysalis and her armies have scrambled away from the castle, they no doubt mean to take the city and trap the delegates inside. We trust you have the means to beat them back?"

"Roger roger ma'am, we just received reinforcements. In fact I think I hear the second wave!" He said as the droids in the courtyard looked up in conjunction with Luna as four more gunships soared overhead and into the city, flying through pillars of smoke towards their destination. 5264 then looked back down and got the attention of his troops. "Alright ya clankers, let's go save the day!"

A loud collection of 'Roger roger''s rang out from the droids as they all grouped together into a squad and moved towards the castle's main entrance, Luna leading the way as she rushed through the winding corridors, blasting the changelings who attempted to ambush her and her allies. Soon they came to the main doors as Luna threw them open with her magic, just in time to see several changelings get strafed by the blaster cannons of a Vulture droid soaring overhead, the changelings being blasted back into walls and into piles of rubble as a gunships deployed a squad of super battle droids, who's intimidating forms towered over the changelings and pushed a few to surrender, the rest receiving a quick stun shot to the face with the exception of one receiving an outright solid punch.

"IWemust say, you truly are skilled warriors, wielding your weapons of light and fire."

"Well ma'am, we were built for war, it's in our programming. Although I think the reason were doing a lot better than usual is because they don't shoot back, least with blasters. Now then, let's get to it, secure the main plaza and ensure the castle is defended!"

"Roger Roger!" The droids rang out. Luna couldn't help but internally sigh, the droids battle cry and affirmation signalling this would be a long and arduous fight, but it was still one she would gladly take part in.

---

"Deploy imminent, brace for combat." The cold voice of the HMP gunship spoke as it's laser cannon provided suppressing fire, clearing the landing zone within the town square as it rapidly descended and moved in a one eighty motion, turning it's rear to the enemy as it's racks emptied, dropping four curled up super battle droids, before they activated as they stood up, cocking their blaster cannons before taking aim at the changelings surrounding them, firing high powered blasts as the HMP retreated into the air, firing a few more bursts from it's cannon before withdrawing, flying right past a squadron of vulture droids sweeping through the sky.

SB-2094 re-adjusted his targeting protocols, coordinating his shots with his squad mates as he hit a precise shot on another changeling, blasting them into a crate of apples and other assorted fruits. "Criss cross, apple sauce." 2094 said in his cold tone as SB-1374 groaned.

"That was stupid."

"Hey, I am not programmed for humor."

"Shut up and focus on fighting."

"Killjoy." Despite their petty dispute the square was quickly cleared of hostile changelings, with them either fleeing or surrendering due to the sheer intimidating aura of the super battle droids. "Command, SB-2094 reporting, Cervil squad has taken control of main town square. Requesting new orders." 2094 said as he spoke over the comm link, with TF-3749 quickly responding.

"Confirmed, your new orders are to provide support in retaking the banking district. Our troops have confirmed the enemy is attempting to steal large amounts of the Equestrian bit reserve. This cannot be allowed to occur."

"Roger roger." 2094 nodded to himself before turning to his squad. "New orders confirmed, move out."

"Roger roger." The squad spoke in unison as they marched through the streets, with ponies hiding inside their shops slightly poking their heads out to take in the sight of the intimidating battle droids. Rounding about a street corner they quickly raised their blasters to fire on a few more changelings, the loud discharge of laser fire ringing through the streets. The green aura lighting the horns of the changelings burst as bolts of magic struck the droids, and yet the bugs found themselves befuddled when the only form of damage was a slight burn mark on their armor, before they were promptly blasted.

One of the changelings thought this battle was already lost, and decided to turn tail and run, but quickly found himself staring down a OOM-droids blaster barrel. "Hands where I can see em, hole legs!"

"That sounds a bit racist, sir." A B1 droid said as he walked up beside his squad commander.

"Oh, well my bad, but still, look at those legs, how do they walk?!" He said gesturing to the changelings legs and the presence of several holes in them.

"Probably magic."

"Yeah, probably." The OOM said before he set his blast to stun and quickly knocked out the quite confused changeling who had attempted to slink away during the droids discussion. "Alright, ensure the area is secure, then we'll move to regroup and secure the market district, command says civilians are pinned down there!"

"Roger roger!"

---

"All fire teams concentrate into the lower urban centers and districts, central area has been secured and reinforcements are currently inbound! Also, be advised, vultures will be running gun runs on clusters of hostiles, be ready to mark targets and make sure no civilians get caught in the crossfire!" OOM-9164-B shouted as he looked over the holographic display of Canterlot, red markers indicating enemy changeling positions with blue representing droids and yellow representing allied ponies, all scattered across the map as markers showing gunships and vultures zoomed over the map. A holographic image of General Kalani appeared on a holo-projector next to the map.

"Operations Commander, report." 9164-B quickly looked over and saluted the hologram, who saluted back.

"Sir, our forces have managed to secure over a quarter of Canterlot, and allied reinforcements are rallying for a renewed offensive into hostile controlled sectors! We've got droidekas deploying into the most heavily occupied areas, and AAT's are en-route!"

"Excellent, ensure that no matter what the city does not fall. And while I do not care for the ponies finding the permanent elimination of their enemies distasteful, I recommend we leave some alive for interrogation. I have already contacted 9164-A to requisition the construction of beta base for the containment and interrogation of hostile POW's."

"Understood sir. Also, we have reports that the elements of harmony have arrived and are currently engaged with Queen Chrysalis, alongside Princess Luna. Should we divert forces to assist?"

"Affirmative, deploy a squadron of commando droids, drive off or eliminate the enemy leader and the enemies offensive shall falter or outright collapse."

"Roger Roger, diverting now!" Kalani's hologram vanished as 9164-B quickly tapped on a blue icon, zooming in as it shifted to show a commando droid's head, before dragging the icon to make a path toward two icons, with one depicting the elements of harmony, and the other showing Chrysalis' horn. A buzz was heard on the comm feed as the commander answered. "Commando squad, report!"

"BX-984, captain of special response squad dagger, orders received and we are moving out."

"Good, ensure that mean old hag gets a full taste of the Confederacy's might!"

"Roger roger." The link cuts as the commander groans, turning back to the map.

"I didn't sign up for this... I just got cloned a few days and now I'm commanding a whole dang battle! Well... I am a commander... So might as well get used to it. Besides, least I'm not fighting on the ground."

---

The distant sounds of blaster fire was momentarily drowned out by the screeching whistle of a vulture droid squadron soaring above, followed by two gunships carrying additional droid forces as they flew towards the upper urban sectors still seeing heavy fighting with changeling remnants. An eerie silence then fell, only broken by the occasional sound of distant combat before quiet metal clanking was heard, a BX-series commando droid stepping into view, holding their blaster as they raised one hand to give a signal for three other commando droids behind him to stop.

BX-984 poked his head out of the alleyway they stood in, looking both ways and ensuring it was clear. And then he signaled for the squad to move forward, and they moved quickly and quietly, watching all angles and potential ambush points as they moved through the streets. 984 then turned to one of his subordinates and spoke in the baritone and emotionless voice common among commandos. "Requesting ETA."

"Approximately five minutes according to orbital scans sir."

"Understood, remain alert, hostiles could be around us." The droids all nodded to the captain as they continued on, turning off into an alleyway, taking any available shortcuts to ensure they reached their objective in time-

Snap!

The sound of broken glass being stepped on triggered the droids to quickly all aim in the direction of the sound, the two in front kneeling down to give the droids behind them a better shot while providing cover, as 984 activated his advanced scanners, his vision turning red as a single were highlighted, hiding behind overturned planters and pots. The captain then turned, non-verbally communicating via hand signals. 'One potential threat, allegiance unknown, hold fire until verified.' The droids nodded and allowed the captain to speak up. "Come out with your hands up."

Stepping out of cover was a lone unarmed changeling, keeping their hands high as they surprisingly followed the order issued by the captain, before showing a small smile as they spoke. "Uhm, I do apologize for scaring you, but I was hoping if you could allow me to assist you." The commando's looked at each other in suspicion before the captain turned back.

"What is your purpose for aiding us?"

"Well, to be frank, Chrysalis is a tyrant who rules over us changelings with an iron fist, and she outright refuses to consider simply asking for love, or having us changelings love each other! That's why I want to help you, so she stops bullying the ponies and we can one day dethrone her!"

"... Your reasoning is logical. You may assist, although we would like to know your name."

"Oh, yes, it's Thorax, nice to meet you mr..."

"Commando Captain BX-984."

"... Uhm, can I just call you captain?"

"... Acceptable. Now, we must move immediately, time restrictions require quick movement." The commando droids nodded to their captain, as they quickly continued their run through the alley, Thorax following behind as he silently hoped they weren't too late...

Author's Note:

I apologize for the latency, I had to go on this long trip and that combined with burnout did not help my case, but hey, I'm back and feel better than ever.

Also, sorry if it's a cliff hanger, I wanna make sure 20 is dramatic. Even if I take a long ass time to make the second half. Man I never should've started writing, I ain't built for this.

Comments

[Jest]

Just because you leave on action doesnt mean its a cliffhanger. Weather or not its a cliffhanger is dependant wholly on if you leave the fate of a character or something as important as that, in limbo right before it would be resolved. We're still a bit out from that resolution so don't feel bad.

[MarioBrony]

Amazing battle! The changelings already have bitten off more than they can chew, and Thorax is among the heroes ranks now! Chrysalis better hope the droids are in a good mood when they go on the counter attack!

[Booster Spice]

General Leave enough alive for interrogation gives a whole new meaning to the term, give the bugs a pasting.

[Black--Soul]

Amazing chapter, rather surprised the Changelings don't use smoke screens to try confuse and disorienting the incoming air forces if the Droids.

[Black--Soul]

The clone army did only good because they had overpowered weapons, the puppet master as secret ace of the war and a lot of preparation time.
The Empire will have cheaper mass produced weapons, more troops, but less trained and worse armor assets.
Also no say in the new CIS command structure.
If the Equis population join the rebellion or the star wars yuuzhan vong war with a Droid army, they be a major game changer.

---

SB-2094 re-adjusted his targeting protocols, coordinating his shots with his squad mates as he hit a precise shot on another changeling, blasting them into a crate of apples and other assorted fruits. "Criss cross, apple sauce." 2094 said in his cold tone as SB-1374 groaned.

I found it funny

[RanBro]

No worries dude, you're doing good work. Your time make a good story as much as I'm pretty sure everyone here would love it, if it were to come out quickly, we rather have a good story with good quality work. It being pumped out.and be shitty