Chapter 14: Homecoming
The Gauntlet
Traveling through Hyperspace
As the Gauntlet raced through the vortex of hyperspace, Sunset Shimmer couldn’t stop worrying about the fate of her beloved friends back home. She feared that she may be too late to save them from the clutches of the Empire, that her friends might already be in some forsaken Imperial prison or worse, a Slave Camp like the one on Kashyyyk. She couldn’t bear the thought of her friends being chained up and forced to wear the inhibitor collars the Wookiees wore. It was enough to break her emotionally. Still she tried to present a stoic expression, hoping to hide the pain and guilt of leaving her friends behind from the rest. However, she didn’t hide it well enough as her master Kara could see the state she was in right through her. “ It doesn’t have to take a Jedi to know that you’re upset.” She said, not unkindly. “I’m just worried for them. It’s my fault they’re in this mess in the first place.The Empire is after me, not them.” Sunset muttered quietly, but enough for everyone else in the cockpit to hear. “Ah, don’t be so hard on yourself kid.” Zeko tried to comfort her, albeit in his usual satirical tone. “Yea, I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you.” Karl concurred with Zeko. While their remarks did help slightly placate her worries, there was still the question on the next course of action once the girls were saved.
While her main priority was the safety of her friends, the bucket doesn’t just stop there. There were also others back in her home world that she cared about and she couldn’t afford to simply abandon them but yet the Gauntlet lacked the capacity for a large-scale evacuation and by then, it would be too late. Returning home posed this dilemma to her, whether to act selfishly by saving just her friends, or act righteously by trying to save everyone else, putting them all at risk of being captured by the Empire. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the beeping coming from R5 who was plugged into the Gauntlet’s navigational computer. The droid was informing the rest that they were approaching Utthar and this was echoed by Zeko. “ We’re approaching our destination now. Better strap yourselves in.” Zeko used one of his arms to flip a switch, and the ship dropped out of hyperspace, revealing ahead of them, the planet Utthar.
Outer Rim Territories/Wild Space Border
Utthar
Jumping out of hyperspace right to her currently besieged home world, Sunset could stare in disbelief over the number of star destroyers over the planet, which numbered even more than the destroyers that blockaded Kashyyyk. In addition to the destroyers, there were also dozens of smaller Cruisers and Transport ships shipping heavy vehicles to the surface from the destroyers. As for the others, the sight was more than enough to startle them. This was way bigger than they expected it to be. “On second thought,” Karl turned to the bacon haired girl, “You might want to start worrying again.” He said warily. “We’re too late.” Sunset muttered quietly. In fact, it was the only words she could bring herself to say upon seeing the large fleet above her home. All the worries she had returned, more concentrated than before, as if it came back with a vengeance. “That’s a lot of ships alright.” Zeko said before turning to R5, “ R5, set the modulator to mask our entry.” His orders were followed with beeping noises coming from the droid affirming the instructions given. “ It's a full scale Imperial invasion. They’re seizing the planet.” Kara said as she stared towards the Invasion fleet.
“What are we going to do now ?? My friends are in danger !” Sunset cried out, her call was nothing short of fear and desperateness. “Don’t worry padawan, we’ll get them out of there.” Kara attempted to calm her. “We’ll have to scoop them out of there. Where do you think they’ll be ?” Karl asked. His idea of an airlift was perhaps the only tenable one at this point. The problem was however, Sunset had no idea where her friends currently are. They could be in Canterlot city, or the Everfree forest or somewhere else looking for her. “But they could be anywhere.” She said incredulously. “Kid, give me an exact location. We can’t be flying around the planet looking for them with the Empire on our tail.” “But I don’t have an exact location.” Sunset asked. “Use the Force.” Kara pointed out, “Let it guide you to your friends.” Seeing that there was no other way of finding her friends, Sunset took her master’s advice. She extends her hand forward and closes her eyes, reaching out to the Force. Through it, she focused on her friends, the people she cared for so much. Her focus was strong and undivided as she felt the energy flowing through her. At the height of it, a vision manifested in her head. It was blurry and fuzzy but she managed to make out what the Force was trying to show her. ‘They’re at the mall’ That was what she had sensed. Her friends were at the mall, their usual hang out spot. “ I know where they are.” Sunset said to the others, “ They’re at the Canterlot City Mall.”
“Canterlot Mall… I have it on my scopes.” Zeko said as he set the ship’s navi computer to the location Sunset had declared. It took a bit longer than usual for the computer to find it due to the surface of the world never having been mapped before. “Then that’s our target.” Kara intoned to him. Silently agreeing with it, Zeko with his four arms, piloted the Gauntlet to the surface, flying past the large destroyers in its path, in hopes that the signature modulator will mask the from Imperial scanners. As they flew past one of the destroyers, Sunset suddenly felt a sudden chill creeping within her. She couldn’t describe how it suddenly appeared out of nowhere but she knew the feeling. It was one that was seeded in anger, hate and most of all Darkness. She could feel it creeping in, and it was coming from the destroyer above. The most unnerving of all however, was that this darkness whoever it was being emitted from, sensed her presence and expected her return. It was as if her return was something the darkness wanted from her. Feeling rattled by it, Sunset turned to Kara in hopes of seeking her master’s wisdom, only to find that she was as equally rattled as her. Kara too had felt a dark, sinister presence as they flew, a presence she had never felt before, but one she knew meant trouble. She saw Sunset’s eyes and knew she too had felt the chilling presence. “Let’s get your friends and get out of this system as fast as possible.” She said in an unnerved tone. Sunset silently nodded.
If this chilling presence could unnerve Kara, she could only imagine who or what was causing it. Only she knew that it was here for either her or her friends and that she needed to get as far away as she could once her friends were saved. The Gauntlet flew past the star destroyers in orbit and headed down for the surface. As soon as they cleared the clouds, they came upon the currently besieged Canterlot City. Sunset could only look helplessly at the city she once called home being laid siege by the Empire, with Star Destroyers occupying the sky with Transport Shuttles [1] ferrying Ground vehicles to the surface. Sunset couldn’t find the words she wanted to say about what she was seeing. It was too painful to describe it. “This is what the Empire does to countless other peaceful worlds. They show up with their large ships and impose themselves by way of intimidation and fear.” Karl said indifferently. “That’s what they do.” Kara concurred. Sunset Shimmer looked down at the city below, doing her best to pinpoint the city mall. ‘ Funny.’ She thought to herself. In all her time spent in Canterlot City ever traveling through the portal, she still found it hard to recognise structures she would’ve walked past or hung out in the past. Eventually, she finally recognises the large glass dome shaped structure.
“Over there, that’s the mall.” She pointed out. Before Zeko could steer the ship to the direction pointed out by her, came a warning from R5 about incoming enemy ships. Sure enough, there were Tie fighters pursuing them. The fighters made their position known by firing at the Gauntlet, targeting its engines. While the shield deflected it, it was enough to send the interior rumbling from laser fire shots. “ We have Tie fighters after us, So much for our cover.” Zeko said as he steered the Gauntlet away from the mall, more determined to lose the fighters on his tail. “ What do you expect when we’re the only non-Imperial ship flying around here ?” Karl pointed out cynically. “ We’re too much in the open out here. We need cover.” Kara intoned before turning to Sunset, “This is your turf Sunset. Where do we head to find cover ?” He said. There weren't many places she could think of as an ideal place to seek cover from the pursuing Ties. Just then, over the horizon, she found her answer. “Over there,” She pointed out to the tall mountain ranges covered in mists surrounding the city, “We can lose them in the mountain ranges.” Zeko seemed unconvinced of this idea however, “ There ? It’s suicidal trying to navigate through misty mountains. We won’t last a second flying through it.” “ That’s longer than surviving out here.” Karl snapped back. “We’ll be flying blind in there !” Zeko argued back at Karl. R5 too agreed with the Ardennian of the risks of flying past a mountain range. “You won’t be.” Kara pointed out, siding with Sunset, “I’ll guide you through the Force.” Zeko gave the young Jedi a startled look, “ You’ll guide me ? That’s very assuring.” He said sarcastically. “You got a better option ?” Karl asked. Seeing there was no other choice to lose the increasingly gaining Tie’s on the Gauntlet, Zeko grudgingly agreed to Sunset’s idea and steered the Gauntlet to the mountain ranges.
“ I’ll man the cannons.” Karl said as he got up from his seat and rushed to the back to man the turrets. As the Gauntlet flew towards the fog-covered Mountains, Sunset was beginning to doubt her own idea. ‘Maybe Zeko is right about flying past mountains,’ She thought to herself. After all, the Zephyr Heights Mountain Range[2] is notorious for its tall and largely uneven structures, making it hard to navigate through.it was also often surrounded by thick mists, reducing visibility to a bare minimum. It wasn’t an ideal place to fly, but there weren’t any other choices. That didn’t seem to deter Kara though. “What do we do now ?” She asked her master. Kara turned her head to her, “Just remember your training.” With that, both master and apprentice reached out to the Force. The Gauntlet flies into the mountain ranges, with R5 noting that their scanners have been scrambled due to atmospheric disturbances around them, it was no surprise to Zeko though. The mist shielded his visibility to a great degree, causing to fly blindy in the fog. “I won’t be surprised if we die today.” He lamented at the state he was flying in. Sunset kept her focus undivided by what's ahead, letting the Force guide her instincts. She could sense the ice capped mountain capes surrounding her, yet shrouded by the mist. ‘She then sensed a mountain peak ahead, and they were heading right for it,’ “Make a quick right…” She waited for the right moment for the opening to appear, “Now !” Zeko makes a quick right turn, avoiding the peak. Of the five Tie’s pursuing them, one was unfortunate enough to miss the opening, crashing to mountain peak, resulting in an explosion.
‘ One down, four more to go,’ Sunset thought to herself. Her small pat to the back was interrupted by Kara, “Level out and turn to bearing 0.5,” She ordered the Ardennian who did as she said, steering the Gauntlet to the said bearing with the help of R5. The turn sends two Tie fighters crashing into separate mountains, with the remaining two narrowly making it through the past bearing 0.5. Karl, who was manning the cannons, could only watch as the Gauntlet slendering though the mountain ranges, with the Ties struggling to keep up with them, with three having already been claimed by the intimidating mountain range. “Whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it !” He cheered to the others below. They didn’t pay much attention to Karl’s cheering, instead more focused on navigating safely through. Kara, whose connection to the Force has never been this strong in a long time, sensed another incoming structure ahead. “ Climb to point 6, now !” She directed him. Zeko pulled the steering as close to his chest as possible as he leaned back on the seat, sending the Gauntlet steeply shooting up from the mist, past a peak before diving back into it, losing another Tie fighter to the mountains in the process, leaving just one left behind them. Karl, who was manning the back cannons, had his eyes on the lone surviving fighter. “ One more left. Leave it to me.” He said as he targeted the cannons towards the last Tie. He waited for the Tie fighter to unwittingly appear in his targeting scopes and as soon as it did, he opened fire. The red laser fire from the turret managed to successfully hit one of the two vertical panel shaped wings of the shieldless fidget, sending it crashing below the mist. [3]
“ We’re all clear !” Karl called out to the others back at the cockpit, feeling victorious. He wasn’t the only one who felt as such. “ I’ve gotta hand it to you girls. If it weren’t you two, we would have been done for.” Zeko admitted that their crazy plan had worked after all. “ It’s more of your impressive flying skills that kept us alive, Zeko.” Sunset said modestly. She wasn’t really the type to boast over her accomplishments. However, her sense of hurrah quickly dissipated and was replaced with worry for her friends. They had been preoccupied with getting rid of the Tie fighters to the point that her friends were off her mind for a while. Now with the ties off their backs, the thought of her friends were slowly creeping their way back into her mind. “We’ll need to head back to the city and get my friends.” She said to the others. “Already on it, kid.” Zeko steered the Gauntlet away from the misty mountains towards the flat plain ahead where Canterlot laid. “We gotta hurry.” Came Karl’s voice from the back, “ It won’t be long before they’re back on our tail.” He said, referring to the Empire sending more Tie’s after them. After all, it wasn’t difficult to find them on a primitive planet like Utthar. It didn’t take long for them to get back on their original trajectory to the City mall. “Don’t worry Sunset.” Kara consoled her padawan, “We’ll get your friends out.” R5 responded to that with a series of beeps that sounded skeptical. He was concurred by Zeko, who equally sounded the same, “ I won’t be too sure about that.”
Zeko pointed out to the mall, which was surrounded by Imperial stormtroopers and gunships. They appeared to have particularly surrounded a group of adolescent girls with a lone boy standing out with them. They had their blasters trained at them, including the gunships with their front turrets pointed right at them. It was as almost as instantly Sunset realized that it was her FRIENDS in addition to Flash Sentry that was surrounded by the stormtroopers. Her heart immediately sank deeper than it has ever been. “That’s my Friends !!” She cried out. “ Jeez, someone’s in a bad position.” Zeko remarked sarcastically at their state, however he was greeted with dirty looks coming from both Kara and Sunset. Even R5 would have done so given the fact astromech don’t come with Sentient-like eyes. Realizing he may hit a raw nerve, Zeko tried to instead offer a solution, “I think I might have an idea on saving your friends,” he said as he turned on the ship’s intercom, connecting himself to Karl. “ Karl, you see those Imperial Gunships at our 12 O’Clock ?” “ I have them on my targeting scopes,” Came Karl’s voice through the intercom. “ Shimmer’s friends are down there. We’re going in for the scoop. Take out those gunships.” Zeko said through the intercom. “Affirmative on that.” Karl’s voice came. “ Once Karl takes out the gunship’s, you and I will go and get them on board.” Kara told Sunset, who simply nodded. Zeko goes in for the swoop at the mall.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, thanks to her super speed brought Flash away from the imminent danger he was in to the rest of the girls. “You alright Flash ?” Applejack asked the shock stricken boy. “Never better, Applejack.” Flash panted out, still coming to terms with everything that happened so fast. “What are we going to do now ?” Fluttershy meekly asked. Before she could get an answer however, they were interrupted by a voice which sounded as if it was slightly muffled, “Hands up Savages !” The girls turned to the source of the voice only to find that they had been surrounded by what appeared to be at least a dozen of white armor cladded beings with some kind futuristic looking weapon pointed at them as a whole. They wore identical helmets, similar to the designs of their white armor. They donned similarly designed helmets, and as such, one couldn’t tell the difference between the other if they were placed side by side. The girls could only wonder what or who was behind the helmets.(For all they know, these beings could be Clones or droids) Rarity would offer a rather critical comment on the design of their armor if not for the fact they had never before seen firearms pointed at them. If that wasn’t enough, they had air support in the form of two gunships with a pair of half folded solar panels at its front beside the cockpit with its two front turrets pointed in their direction. In other words, they were cornered with nowhere to escape. “I won’t say it again, Hands Up !!” Came the trooper, who had an orange coloured shoulder pad which distinguished him from the rest, probably marking him as the leader, his tone even more agitated than before. “Alright calm down there fellas,” Applejack spoke to them in a calm but yet nervous tone, “We surrender.” Applejack raised her hands up, walking the talk. She was soon joined by the others including Rainbow Dash, who all raised their hands up. Even Rainbow knew any reckless heroic attempts would very likely backfire on them, with disastrous results. “Please, don’t hurt us.” Twilight naively said as she raised her hands up, her fear more evident than Applejack’s. [4]
Just then, a double red streak of what appeared to be laser fire, as if coming from nowhere hit the left gunship, taking both the troopers and girls by surprise. The streak of red laser did enough damage to it to send the gunship spiraling with a trail of smoke towards a nearby building, before exploding upon impact, sending shockwaves which could be felt on the ground. Almost immediately, the second gunship was struck with the same streak of laser fire, sending it crashing in flames. “What the heck is that ?!” Rainbow Dash pointed to the direction where the red streaks came from, where in its place was an oddly looking spaceship with peculiar wing designs.It was a simple deduction that the laser streaks came from the spaceship, which seemed to be heading to them specifically. “Who are they ?” Fluttershy asked meekly, referring to their unexpected ally. As the ship came closer, its cannons started firing again, this time, it fired on the ground troopers, taking a few out. They fired back with their blasters, however their shots did almost little to no damage towards the incoming ship. In the midst of the exchange of fire, some of the shots from the ship came dangerously close to the girls causing them to jolt backwards, not without yelping. “Take Cover !!!” Shouted the Trooper with the orange coloured patch to the others as they were heavily suppressed in terms of firepower by the star ship. At this point the ship,which was descending towards them, was randomly firing, and the girls were in the line of it ! “ I’m guessing foe.” Applejack said to Fluttershy’s initial question earlier.
“ Be Careful !!” Sunset cried out to the Gauntlet’s intercom to Karl, “ You might just hit my friends with your reckless shots” Her tone iced with controlled anger at how Karl was firing at the stormtroopers surrounding her friends. They were, most of the time in the line of fire, putting them in high risk of being struck by laser fire. “ I’m doing the best I can !” came Karl’s voice through the intercom. It didn’t matter though, as Zeko soon leveled out the ship, bringing it as close as possible to the ground for Sunset to disembark and get her friends onboard. With the Gauntlet almost leveled up, R5 urged Sunset and Kara to hurry up. The droid was supported by Zeko, “ R5’s right. It won’t be long before they find us.” He said. “You got it Captain,” Kara said to Zeko, referring to him as the pilot of the ship before turning to Sunset, “ Come on, let’s go get them.” Sunset and Kara got up from their seats and quickly headed to the back where the ramps are. Once at the boarding ramps, they waited for the doors to open and for the ramp to extend downwards. “ You ready ?” Kara asked. “Since when are we ?” Sunset saritically dismissed the question, to which Kara chuckled. Just then, the Ship’s doors opened, revealing the remaining stormtroopers and her outnumbered and scared friends as the boarding ramp extended downwards. ‘Showtime’ Sunset thought to herself.
As the strange ship leveled out, just merely a meter or two above the ground, the girls could only wait anxiously to see whoever it was, their savior or otherwise. “ I’d guess we’ll find out now.” Twilight remarked on Applejack’s earlier assertion, pointing out to the doors of the strange ship located at its side, which opened, followed by a ramp extending downwards, acting as a bridge between the ship and the ground below it. Appearing out of the ship, was a woman, cladded with what appears to be a simple smuggler attire( based on Rarity’s initial deduction) suited for easy and flexible movement. Her biological traits were similar to theirs with her skin color being somewhat similar to Applejack’s. Her brown coloured hair was ruggedly tucked up behind. She jumped off of the ship and landed on the ground with her two feet. She pulled out a pistol looking weapon from her holster on her left leg and started firing at the troopers. Red streaks of blaster fire came from her blaster and striked the white armor of one of the troopers, presumably killing him. What really caught their attention however, was the next person to appear from the ship. It was someone they never even at the slightest thought to see at the moment. “Sunset Shimmer !!” Pinkie Pie shouted out loud, perhaps the loudest she ever was. A mixture of happiness and confusion filled their hearts as they saw their long lost best friend appear from a spaceship. Like the woman she came with, she too was dressed in a similar manner, one Rarity found it a bit severe but she didn’t care. All that mattered now was that Sunset Shimmer is back, or at least a version of her.
Sunset was also equally happy to see her friends again, but she had to focus at hand. Like what Zeko had said, they didn’t have much time.They needed to hurry. She quickly made her way to her friends, taking out any stormtrooper that stood in her way thanks to her blaster. As soon as she made her way to her friends, the girls moved en bloc in an attempt to hug their beloved friend, “Sunset Darling, we have no idea..” Rarity was cut shot by Sunset who raised her arm at her stopping her from talking, “No time to explain. Get on the ship now !” The girls were perplexed over what Sunset had said. “But..” Twilight's sentence was quickly cut short as Sunset took out her blaster and fired at a stormtrooper behind them, sending a red streak of laser fire straight to the trooper’s chest. The girls had their jaws dropped instantly and were unable to process what just happened. ‘ Was this person their Sunset Shimmer ?’ They thought to themselves. Regardless of which, reality is that they were stuck in the middle of the crossfire between Sunset, her apparently new friend and the white armored troopers. For them, doing as she said seemed like the only option there was. They covered their heads( Rarity used her geode power which allowed her to manifest a diamond shield which she used to protect her from blaster fire,) as they dashed into the ship, with Sunset and Kara laying cover for them. They managed to take out a number of stormtroopers before they retreated back to the Gauntlet as the ramps recoiled back and the metallic sliding doors slided shut as soon as everyone was boarded.
“ Is everyone accounted for ?” Kara asked pantingly. Sunset turned to her friends, who were obviously petrified over what had just occurred, Fluttershy in particular looked as if she was about to throw up (Even Twilight to a certain extent did too). They were at a loss for words, trying to make sense of everything that occurred so quickly. She counted all six of them, seven if included the equally confused Flash Sentry. “ They are,” She responded to Kara in a similar manner. Boom ! They could hear the exploding sounds coming from outside, which was followed by a tremor that could be only felt coming from the floor of the ship. The tremors caused Rarity to almost lose her balance, mostly thanks to her high heels. “ It looks like they’ve found us.” Kara said, referring to the earlier noises caused by a new wave of Tie Fighters. Without saying it, she rushed to the cockpit, and was followed by Sunset. Applejack finally brought herself to ask the questions they desperately needed answers to. She extended her hand and grabbed Sunset by the hand as she followed her accomplice. “ Sunset honey, what’s going on here ?” She asked in a worried tone. “ I’ll explain later. Stay here and don’t touch anything.” Sunset stressed on the last part as she freed herself from Applejack’s grab and continued her path to the cockpit, leaving the girls and Flash back in the common area. “ Do you girls have any idea what’s happening right now ? Flash asked. Rainbow Dash turned to the popular guitar enthusiast , “ We're as clueless as you are Flash.”
“ Is everyone on board ?” Zeko asked as Sunset and Kara made their way to the cockpit. “ Yes.” Sunset answered him, “ Let’s get the heck out of here.” She continued “ With pleasure,” Zeko muttered as he and R5 pulled the Gauntlet up and flew away from the mall. Zeko steered the ship towards the sky, intending to fly out of the planet. “ Incoming !!” Kara pointed out towards a lone Tie Fighter that was on a collision course towards the Gauntlet. The lone fighter, set on a straight course towards the Gauntlet flew at high speed towards it. As it got closer, the Tie opened fire, firing green laser fire at its target. “ Strap yourselves in.” Zeko intoned to the others as he maneuvered the ship to a sudden left, away from the Tie fighter’s trajectory before making full spin, by which its tall upper fin rammed into the defenseless tie fighter which did not see it coming till it was too late, destroying it. It was a carefully calculated spin by Zeko. He had to wait for the perfect moment for which the Tie was at just enough range from the Gauntlet for the spin to do its trick. Many other factors had to be taken into consideration, such as engine power and stabilizers before spinning. As such, it was a maneuver that he used sparingly, in the pressing of circumstances.
Back in the Common area, The girls and Flash tumbled across from one part of the room to another as the Ship made a full 360 degrees spin. “ Is everyone okay ?” Applejack asked as she rubbed her hand on her aching forehead which had earlier made an impact on the metal walls of the ship. The pain stung her painfully but Applejack has been through worse pains before. “ What kind of horrible flying is that ??!” Rarity bellowed as she was pulled up by Rainbow Dash who lended a helping hand to the fashionista. “ I think I’m gonna be sick.” Twilight groaned as her face turned somewhat faintly greenish in color. “You’re not the only one.” Flash intoned, his expression also similar to Twilight’s. Meanwhile back in the cockpit, “ Looks like we have the Empire’s attention alright.” Sunset remarked about the suicidal Tie fighter that tried to attack them head on back in the cockpit. “No surprise there.” Zeko said before turning to R5, “ R5, increase power to the shields and thrusters.” It was followed by an affirming beep by the droid. “We’ve got a couple of Imperial gunships on our back.” Came Karl’s voice through the intercom. With a heavy pursuit behind them, he struggled to counter them. Just then, one of the gunships fired its front cannons at the gunner position, rendering the Gauntlet’s cannons stuck in one fixed position, unable to move. “Carabast,” Karl cursed quietly at the predicament he’s in.
“ Where is Sunset anyway ??” Rainbow Dash asked as she gripped her hand tightly on the nearest object she could find. The floor was shaking continuously as a result of the tremors caused by times the ship was hit by laser fire- one which seemed to get more frequent. “ If that’s even our Sunset Shimmer to begin with.” Applejack said as she attempted to comfort a terror stricken Fluttershy. It struck her so badly that she was unable to open her tightly shut eyes. Just then, the girls could hear footsteps coming from the back. They turned to the source of it, to find a man, with brown messy hair and fair skin appearing from the back alleyway. Curiously, this man had somewhat a similar skin and hair color to the girl that accompanied Sunset and was even dressed in a similar manner. His attire however, better suited his scruffy looks. The man didn’t notice the girls as he headed straight towards the same narrow room that Sunset disappeared into earlier. He was grumbling to himself- words which the rest couldn’t make out as he was mummering, before he took notice of the girls and stopped. They both exchanged glances for what seemed like minutes before Pinkie Pie found the words that the others were thinking.
“ Who are you ?” She asked. The man glanced at the others, thinking for a reply before he answered. “ Good question. If we ever survive this mess, I’ll tell you.” He snided before he continued to make his way to the small room Sunset entered, disappearing from their sight soon after. “ Did he just say IF we survive ?” Twilight asked, clearly rattled by what the stranger had said. “ I’ve just met your colorful friends back there.” Karl said to Sunset as he entered the cockpit. “ What are you doing here ? You’re supposed to be at the back manning the cannons !” Zeko lambasted. “ The cannon’s got hit. It’s stuck in the forward position !” He shouted back. “ This day just got much worse than it already is.” Kara groused. “Not if I have anything to say about that.” Zeko said as he attempted to steer clear of their pursuers. Just then, as the Ardennian attempted to shoot up into the sky steeply, the Gauntlet came to an abrupt stop, as if it was being held in some kind of invisible force, preventing its thrusters or engines from providing a forward thrust. In other words, the Gauntlet was stuck in mid air. Back in the cockpit, R5 beeps erratically about their situation, “ Yes I can see that !” Zeko frustratingly bellowed as he repeatedly pressed multiple buttons on the controls with his four arms to break free. “ What’s going on ?” Sunset asked, a sense of worry building up inside of her. “ We’re caught in a tractor beam lock by that Light Cruiser.” Kara said as she tried to break free of the lock by pushing buttons on the controls, pointing out to the Imperial cruiser [5] ahead. The Gauntlet seemed to be drawn closer and closer to the cruiser, as if it was pulling it.
“ This is not how I thought I'd go down.” Karl leaned back towards his chair, resigning himself to their predicament. “ There is NO way I’m going down like this !” Zeko frantically pressed random buttons across the panel with his four arms in an attempt to increase the thrusters, or literally anything to break free of the Tractor beam. It seemed like all hope was lost, Sunset’s efforts while noble was on the verge of being proven futile as now, they all were about to be captured. Just then, the Light Cruiser was suddenly struck by a streak of red laser fire that caused heavy damage to the Cruiser. The damage was enough for the Imperial Cruiser to lose its tractor beam lock on the Gauntlet, setting it free and restoring its flight controls. “ We’re free !” Zeko exclaimed happily, seeing all the controls coming back to life. “ LOOK !” Sunset pointed out a barrage of laser fire being fired towards the Cruiser, dealing severe damage to its mattle. The barrage came from a non-Imperial ship, descending at high speed from the sky. The starship, which had two wing-like retractable strike foils that was positioned in a backward facing manner, probably for easier and faster maneuverings. It appeared to have somewhat of a U shaped design. [6] It swooped in from above, dealing damage to the Light Cruiser before leveling out.
It wasn’t the only one. On the Gauntlet’s scanners, multiple small beeping dots appear, indicating the presence of more close by. “Scanners are picking up multiple non Imperial signatures,” Kara said as she tried to make sense of it. It wasn’t long before they got their chance to see them. Multiple ships of various classes and designs appeared on their flank, with at least three of them being similar to the first U-shaped transport shuttle that attacked the Light Cruiser earlier. The unexpected crowd opened fire on the Tie fighters and Gunships that were on their tail, destroying them all, relieving the intense pressure that was on their backs. The star ships, which upon a closer view seemed to have been heavily modified for quick agility, provided somewhat of an escort to the Gauntlet. “ Who are these guys ?” Sunset asked aloud. While she was grateful for their unexpected allies for saving them, it still begs the question as to what they are doing on a world which had not been heard of by the galaxy at large. From the looks of it the ships appeared to be either some kind of Rebel cell or pirates, she hoped it wasn’t the latter. “ Whoever they are, they’re my new best friends,” Zeko remarked about their unexpected allies. Just then, Karl, picked up an incoming transmission to the Gauntlet, it was coming from one of the shuttles outside, “ We’re being hailed.”
“ Put it through.” Kara said, to which he did. “ Looks like you were in a tight place back there, S-161 Gauntlet Stinger,” Came a raspy male voice from the ship’s comms on the controls. Sunset could tell from the voice, that it came from a middle aged male, possibly older, with a hoarse voice. “ Thanks for the assist back there. “ Kara said to the voice, appreciating their help in dealing with the Tie fighters. “ Don’t thank me yet.” The husky voice said, “ The Empire is quickly consolidating themselves and has blockaded the planet. There’s no escaping this world for now. I’m sending you coordinates. We'll meet in person over there.” The transmission then ended on his side. R5 then received a set of coordinates being sent to the Gauntlet. The droid then sets the new coordinates over to the navi computer to triangulate its location. “ They’ve sent us coordinates to some forest sanctuary far from here.” Zeko said as he looked to the path the navi computer had created. Sunset however, was skeptical about these ‘new’ friends, “ Can we trust them ?” She asked. “ It’s not like we have much of a choice here.” Karl responded.“ Still we must practice caution with our new allies.” Kara said, to a certain extent expressing Sunset’s hesitancy. It was a valid point that her padawan had raised. In this day and age, trustworthiness is scarce. “ Like us, they too might have an ulterior motive of coming all the way out here that doesn't necessarily align with ours.” She continued as the Gauntlet flew to their next destination.
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