Chapter 11
Within the Jedi Temple, news of the recent mission was spreading like wildfire.
The Jedi Council had called an order wide meeting, with everyone from younglings to the most experienced Jedi Knight being summoned to be given the news. Luna, being the most experienced Jedi that had been present, had given the announcement with Celestia going over the follow up measures.
To say everyone was shocked to learn about the Sith was an understatement, the Knights realising this could be a serious issue whilst the younger members were letting their imaginations run wild.
In one of the courtyards, Spike, Scootaloo, Sweetie and Applebloom were sitting together and discussing the Sith. Scootaloo spoke up. "I heard, that Sith have the power to raise the dead. But the bodies they restore have no souls. They're just filled with evil and walk around like zombies." She mimicked a zombie, Sweetie shivering.
"Stop that," she cried. "I don't wanna imagine fighting something like that."
"I doubt we'll ever fight anything like that," Spike pointed out. "We don't even have our Lightsabers. By the time we're ready to go onto the front lines, the other Jedi will have probably beaten this Sith." The girls hoped he was right, but also knew there was a chance they could be joining the front lines sooner than they thought.
"We're not that far from our gatherin'" Applebloom stated. "Once we have our Lightsabers, we'll have ta compete in da'h tournament and maybe get our Jedi masters. What if the Sith ain't beaten by then?" They all frowned, the young Jedi looking rather worried as they clearly feared for their future.
At that moment, Twilight and Rarity walked into the courtyard. Twilight was tapping away at a tablet, a frustrated look on her face as she seemed to be struggling with something. "Twilight!" Spike called out, the girl stopping and turning to them. "Are you okay?"
Twilight sighed as they moved over to sit beside them. "Just annoyed that I can't figure out what these ancient symbols mean. I've run them through every decoding and language processing system we have, but they keep coming up empty. Whatever this script is, it's in a language that was never used by the Jedi Order."
Rarity nodded. "Or it could be so old that it was used before the Jedi had the means of cataloguing stuff like this."
"Do you really think it's that old?" Sweetie asked her sister, the two cat girls sharing a look whilst Twilight sensed the worried emotions radiating off the younglings.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked, "you see scared or something."
Spike rubbed the back of his head. "We were talking about the chances of us one day having to fight a Sith."
"Oh," Rarity made a noise, "don't be silly darling. You four are a long way off from being ready to fight something like that. Twilight and I aren't even there yet."
"But Flash fought that Sith?" Scootaloo pointed out.
"That was a case of wrong place, wrong time," Twilight replied. "Trust me. None of us are gonna end up fighting a Sith any time soon. The Knights will be the ones to deal with it. By the time we're knighted, the Sith will be a thing of the past." The younglings hoped they were right, but there was still a feeling that things wouldn't be so easy.
"Speaking of Flash," Rarity turned to Twilight. "I think I saw him heading to Celestia's private meditation chamber. Any idea what that's about?" Twilight shook her head, since this clearly wasn't an unusual thing.
As the Jedi Grand Master, Celestia's role was to help any Jedi, be they Padawan, Knight or even Master. Though Twilight was her direct student, Celestia trained anyone she felt needed special guidance. And given what she had heard happened during the mission, she could guess what Celestia wanted to talk to Flash about.
Inside her private room, Celestia sat across from Flash.
The two were kneeling on the cushioned chairs, Flash waiting for Celestia to speak. "Do you know why you are here?" She finally asked, with Flash shaking her head. "You are here because you have suffered many a great loss in your life." Flash frowned. "First, your parents. Then, your friends and home. And finally, your master."
Flash sighed. "You want me to get over their deaths?" He asked. "To not care that they're gone."
"No," Celestia shook her head, "of course not. Many people in the galaxy believe that Jedi are emotionless robots. But we allow ourselves to feel emotions as much as anyone. You cared about the people you lost, so of course their deaths would hurt. All Jedi have gone through that pain before." She sighed. "I have lived for over three hundred years. I've seen many friends and loved ones move onto the next life. If I hadn't allowed myself to feel the pain I felt at their loss, I wouldn't have the emotional strength to lead this order like I have."
Flash nodded, understanding. "So...what am I supposed to do?"
"When Grand Hoof died, you were in a life or death situation. You didn't have time to mourn him when it happened. And I doubt you were able to properly mourn him during your time on Shikoya, or since you've come to the temple. You must mourn him. Let yourself feel the pain of his loss and overcome it. Only then, will you be ready to start the process."
"The healing process?" Flash guessed.
"Partly. But that is something more you must learn. Something all Jedi must learn before they are ready to become Knights and Masters. You must learn to detach yourself from your emotions."
"But you said Jedi are supposed to feel emotions."
"Indeed. But you must not allow your emotions to control you. During your battle with Solara, Shining stated she attempted to goad you into losing your temper. You were able to hold yourself back, but would you have been able to keep it up if she kept attempting to anger you?"
Flash thought about it and how angry he had been, when Solara mocked Grand. If she hadn't left when she did, there was a very high chance he would have lost control.
Celestia seemed to notice this and nodded. "Our emotions can be used against us, if we allow them to control us. That is why, during missions, we work to detach ourselves from our emotions. We don't completely cut ourselves off, but we tune most of it out until it is but a whisper. Then, when the mission is over and we are no longer in danger, we allow ourselves to feel those emotions again and deal with them in a healthy way."
Flash nodded, understanding what she was saying. It made sense. Not to ignore one's emotions, but to quell them until the time was right.
"But your emotions are not the only thing you must learn to detach yourself from. As wielders of The Force, our connection to the galaxy is stronger than any other's. Through The Force, we Jedi can wield powers some would think impossible."
"Really?" Flash asked, "I wouldn't think moving things around would be seen as that strange."
"I'm not talking about simple Jedi abilities," Celestia smiled. "There are many powers that the common Jedi cannot hope to achieve. You've seen such abilities, like when First or another Medical Jedi healed wounds." Flash nodded. He knew something like that was far beyond his ability. "That is a more common but still special form of Force Ability. And there are other, more unique abilities, that Jedi can learn. Some Jedi have had the power to see the memories of objects they touch, whilst others have been known to actually teleport themselves to different spots in the Galaxy through The Force. But all of these abilities require you to reach a higher state of connection to The Force. To not be bound to the physical world"
"What do you mean?"
Celestia smiled. "Can you tell me the difference between a bond and a bind?" Flash shook his head. "A bond is something that links two individuals, but allows them to remain free and untethered. But a binding restricts. It keeps you tied down and unable to let your soul be free."
"I...I still don't understand."
Celestia thought for a moment, then nodded. "My sister and I are close. We share a bond, as siblings and as former master and student. That bond is strong and allows us to remain connected, even when we're light years apart. We share a bond, but are not bound to each other. Should a time come where I must shed my mortal form and become one with The Force, I can do that without a second thought. If I could not allow myself to do such a thing, for fear of not wanting to leave Luna or anyone else I care about, then our connection would be a binding that restricts me."
"So...you could just up and leave at the drop of a hat?" Flash asked.
"It's not like I'm desperate to do it," Celestia countered. "But I know there may come a time when my physical form will only hold me back. And when that time comes, I must be ready to become one with The Force when and if I need to."
"And leave everyone behind?"
"It's like I told you. Even if I'm not physically there, the bond I share with those around me will mean I'll never truly leave them. Even after I die, we'll remain connected through the Force. And this is what you must strive to achieve. To forge a bond with those around you, instead of a bind that may leave you trapped in every way."
"I don't know if I can," Flash stated.
"Every Jedi thinks that," Celestia told him. "And it isn't easy. That's why so many Jedi are unable to awaken the rare abilities I mentioned before. Shining Armor has been able to do this with many beings that he cares about, but I can sense he is binding himself with his emotions to a select few individuals."
"Twilight and his parents," Flash guessed as Celestia smiled.
"And others. It can be most difficult, to let yourself not be bound to those closest to your heart. Love is a difficult thing for Jedi to process. That's why it was forbidden for so long. But whilst it can become a shackle that controls us, it can become one's greatest source of power if used to forge a true bond."
All of this bonds and binds talk was giving Flash a headache. But he knew Celestia wouldn't be telling him any of it, if she didn't think it was important to him.
"Where do I start?"
"As I said before, you must first go through the proper process of grieving for Grand Hoof and all the others that you lost on that day. Only after you have come to terms with their deaths, can you move forward and begin to detach yourself from the physical world."
Flash took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew this wouldn't be easy. It might actually hurt. But he had to do it or he would never be able to improve as a Jedi. When he faced that Solara Sith again, he would need to be ready.
In another part of the city planet, Cadance and Thorax were making their way through the streets.
The pair soon arrived at the location they had been sent to investigate, a large bank that handled all the credits in the planet's sector. Cadance looked up at the building, having never been inside a bank before. Jedi didn't really have a need for money, so it was rare for a Jedi to ever be seen in one.
She noticed a familiar cruiser located beside the building, the Jedi Knight letting out a sigh as she stepped inside with Thorax behind her. And sure enough, there he was. Standing there talking to the man in charge of the bank.
"I'm telling you, it's them!" Lightning frowned, "they've finally shown themselves to be the criminals they really are." He then noticed the pair and glared at them. "Ah ha!" He walked forward, "returned to the scene of the crime. I didn't think you Jedi had a conscience, but I won't complain." He took out a pair of cuffs, but Cadance stepped backwards.
"Wow!" She cried, "what do you think you're doing?"
"Arresting the thieves that stole from this bank," Lightning replied. "I know it's you. All the evidence points to you Jedi."
"Really?" Cadance raised an eyebrow, "I'd love to hear why you think it was us. Other than the fact that we're Jedi. Where's your evidence?"
"You are the evidence," Lightning pointed at her. "Why else would you be here? Criminals always return to the scene of the crime."
"We're here because the bank contacted us," Cadance replied. "They asked us to come and help investigate the heist." Lightning turned to the bank manager, as if asking if this was true.
"Yes," he nodded, "I thought they could help."
"You idiot!" Lightning growled, "all you've done is give them an excuse for being here. Now, when I find more evidence of their guilt, they can say it happened whilst they were here."
"More evidence?" Cadance asked, "where's the evidence you had before we got here? Either explain your reasoning or leave so we can do a proper investigation."
Lightning glared at them. "Oh, I'll show you the evidence." He began to march towards the back of the bank, Cadance, Thorax and the manager following after him.
As they did, Thorax turned to Cadance. "Does he really think, that someone would want to return to the scene of a crime they committed?" Cadance shrugged. "I mean, what kind of idiot would go somewhere they'd be likely to get caught in?"
Outside the bank, a large group of people was gathered around.
They wanted to see what had happened and were unable to go any further, thanks to the security barricades that put a forcefield around the building. As such, all they could do was stand there staring at the building. This included three suspicious looking individuals. One was a green skinned human, with brown hair and a beard wearing expensive looking clothes and even a platinum watch.
The other was a silver skinned young man, whose body was a cross between a bat and a human. He had bat ears sticking out of his yellow hair and a bat nose on his face. He was wearing strange looking clothing, a black sleeveless hoodie that had tears running down from the armpit and stopped right before the bottom. He also wore brown shorts, with openings on the insides all the way up to his crotch, and black running shoes.
The final one, was a tall alien that looked like a humanoid rhino. He was gray in colour with a streak of black hair on his head, wearing a brown T-shirt and white running shorts.
The green skinned man stared at the bank and chuckled. "This is my favourite part of this job. Making those security idiots look like fools. We're standing right here and those chumps have no idea."
The bat guy turned to him. "Maybe we should get out of here before they start trying to find us."
"What's the rush?" The green skinned man laughed. "We didn't leave any evidence behind. They've got nothing linking us to this crime. Just sit back and relax." The other two shared a look, both wondering if their boss had gotten a little overconfident.
Back inside, Lightning had led them to the back of the bank.
There, a large metal door was wide open. On the other side of the metal door were a bunch of computer servers, which were all beeping and blinking.
The manager turned to the Jedi, "this is where we keep all our republic credits. Thousands of accounts, each one only accessible by the owner of the account. At least...they're supposed to be only accessible by the owner. Unless..."
"Unless someone gets into this room and gets direct access to the server," Cadance nodded. "So how much was lost? They couldn't have gotten all of it."
"No," the manager nodded. "But over seven hundred accounts have been completely emptied. And whoever did it seemed to have no real target. They took credits from accounts with millions in it, or accounts with barely over a hundred. They didn't care who they bankrupted, they took everything in them."
"Geez," Thorax whistled, "that's kind of hardcore."
"Stop patting yourself on the back," Lightning stated.
"Still think we're the guilty ones?" Cadance asked, "what exactly led you to this conclusion?"
Lightning stepped over to the door and pointed to it. "This vault is one of the hardest things in the galaxy to break into. It requires three different access keys and a physical key unlock. Bypassing the access keys isn't impossible, but getting an exact copy of the physical one would be impossible. And the only way this door could be opened without it, is if someone was able to move the tumblers and locking mechanisms that are inside it."
"I see," Cadance nodded. "So you think a Jedi used The Force to move those mechanisms."
"What other way is there?" Lightning asked, glaring at her as Cadance stepped towards it. She and Thorax began to examine the door, as if expecting to find something Lightning had missed. Or hadn't bothered looking for.
"And how long after arriving did you decide to blame us?" Cadance asked. "Because if you had bothered to do your job the right way, the bank manager might not have felt the need to contact us." Lightning glared at her, as she turned to the manager. "Can you come here for a moment?" He nodded and stepped forward.
When he was close enough, Cadance grabbed his arm and held it up to the metal door. Doing so caused a watch on his wrist to be revealed, Cadance staring at it as she held his hand against the metal. And after a few moments, she nodded and let his hand go.
"What did you do?" Lightning asked, as the manager stared at his watch. Then he looked puzzled.
"My watch has stopped." Lightning looked at the time piece and sure enough, the hands remained where they were as the second hand kept vibrating in place.
"It'll start again in a minute," Cadance replied. "The magnetic field is just causing it to stall for a little bit."
"Magnetic field?" The manager asked, as Thorax took something out of his cloak. A small metal screw. Why he had it, nobody knew. But as soon as he let it go, the metal whizzed over to the door and stuck to it.
"The door's been magnetised," Cadance explained. "Likely by the high powered magnet the criminals used to move the tumblers inside. Bit of a design flaw, to be honest. Maybe next time, don't use a metal that's magnetic." She turned to Lightning, "that's how they opened the door. Either they were trying to frame a Jedi, or doing it just so happened to cause them to mimic our abilities. But either way, you're wrong about us being the culprit."
Lightning frowned. "A likely story. You probably magnetised the door to cover your tracks."
"Why do you hate us!?" Thorax frowned, only to flinch when Lightning turned to glare at him. "I mean...you always try to blame us for something. Why are you obsessed with making us look like the bad guys?"
"Because you are the bad guys. Going around, swinging your stupid laser swords around. Tricking people into thinking you're here to help, when all you do is cause problems. You even had me fooled once, but I saw through your deception. And I'm gonna find a way to prove who you really are. Power hunger tyrants." With that, he marched out of the bank.
Thorax sighed, "what is with that guy?"
"It was before your time," Cadance explained. "I was still a youngling when it happened. The temple was attacked and a lot of Jedi died in an explosion. The blame fell on a Knight who was always known as a bit of a loose cannon. Doom Raizer. Lightning's father."
Thorax looked shocked, "his dad was a Jedi?"
Cadance nodded. "Lightning didn't inherit his father's connection to the Force, but he was still close to his father. But then his Father was accused of being the culprit and taken into custody. But before it could go to trial, he escaped and disappeared. No one's seen him since. And later, it was discovered that another Jedi was responsible. But by then, it was too late. Doom was gone and Lightning lost his father. A few years later, his mother died. Many people think it was grief."
"So he blames the Jedi for taking both his parents away, even though his own father was a Jedi?"
"Pain can twist a person in many different ways," Cadance replied. "But right now, we need to focus on finding whoever stole the credits from this vault. If we don't, a lot of people will be in serious financial ruin."
Thorax nodded and tried to think. "If someone was using a powerful magnet to get through this door, they must have been affected like the door was. Or at least, whatever they were wearing might have been affected. Maybe we can search for another magnetic field in the area."
"Not a bad idea," Cadance nodded. "Well need something that can scan the area for the field. I wonder if Shining would mind lending us a hand with the Shooting Star?" Thorax smiled as he watched his teacher take out her gauntlet and start messaging him.
What neither of them realised, was Lightning had also had the same thought as them about the magnetic field.
The security officer had returned to his cruiser and began setting it to scan the area. "Like I'm gonna let those Jedi look for the ones who did this," he gritted his teeth. "They'll probably blame the wrong guy and ruin someone's life." He finished the adjustments and took to the air.
But no sooner did he start scanning, the device picked up a magnetic signal. Two, in fact. One coming from the bank and the other, coming from just outside the building.
He used the scanner to pinpoint the location and turned his cruiser towards the location, then switched on a spotlight that illuminated a part of the crowd below. "Attention citizens! All those within this light will remain where you are. Any attempt to escape will be seen as a declaration of guilt!"
Cadance, Thorax and the manager ran out of the building, only to see three individuals suddenly run away from the light. This made Cadance smile. "What's that you were saying, about nobody being dumb enough to return to the scene of the crime?" Thorax looked shocked, as Lightning chased after the largest of the three escapees. "We'd better go after the other two." She dropped her cloak, allowing her wings the freedom of movement to fly.
Thorax did the same, as a pair of insect wings folded out of holes in his robes.
The pair ran forward and leapt into the air, both flying after the other two criminals before they could get too far away.
Lightning chased down the rhino alien, his speeder much faster than the bulky slow creature.
But before he could try and shoot a net or a laser, the rhino suddenly turned and rushed into an alleyway. "Nice try," he laughed. "But that alley's a dead end!" He turned into the alley, his cruiser just big enough to fit, and watched as the rhino charged towards a large stone wall between the two buildings. "I got you now!"
He expected the rhino to simply stop, but he didn't. Instead, he sped up and got into a tackling position.
Lightning's eyes went wide. "Wait!" But he didn't and smashed into the stone wall, which broke apart like it was made of toilet paper. Lightning could hardly believe it and was so shocked, he almost forgot his speeder wouldn't fit through the new hole and barely managed to keep himself from crashing
Cursing, he pushed his cruiser into reverse and the ship moved backwards out of the alleyway.
"You're not getting away," he growled as he flew up and over the buildings to search for the giant alien. But the rhino had disappeared.
Cadance and Thorax continued to fly after the other two suspects, who continued to push through the crowds. But running was never going to outrun something that could fly and the Jedi soon caught up to them.
But just as they were about to swoop down and tackle them, the pair suddenly split up and went in two different directions.
Cadance frowned, unsure if she should let her apprentice chase the criminal down himself. But when she glanced at Thorax, she could see the determined look in his eye. "You get that one!" She pointed to the bat alien, "I'll get the other one!" Thorax nodded and they split up, chasing after the two criminals as they ran down different areas.
The green skinned individual had run down an alleyway, which was very narrow and barely fit him.
Cadance tried to fly in after him, but her wingspan was far too wide for her to fly through the alley. And when she looked up, the buildings were much too tall to fly over without losing him. As such, she was forced to drop to the ground and chase him down on hoof.
And it seemed, the man was much more agile than her. He was able to jump through and around the many obstacles littering the narrow alleyway, allowing to get more and more of a lead over her. Cadance carefully jumped over a metal box connected to the two buildings, then ducked under a tube and carefully made her way between a bunch of wires between them.
By the time she was halfway through the alley, he was running out the other side and was out on the street. "Later, loser!" He disappeared into the crowd, as Cadance groaned whilst continuing to make her way through the alleyway.
The humanoid bat continued to run through the streets, Thorax remaining hot on his trail.
They ran into a park area and Thorax landed, his wings feeling tired and forcing him to continue the chase on foot. They rushed through the park and eventually made their way to the very edge of it, which happened to be suspended over a fifty foot fall over an opening to the lower sections of the planet.
The bat reached the barrier that kept civilians from falling over the edge and leapt onto it. "Stop!" Thorax cried, as the criminal turned to him. "You don't wanna do this."
The crook smirked. "Yeah. Actually, I do." He leaned back and fell over the edge, Thorax gasping as he jumped up and looked over the barrier to see him fall.
The bat man smiled as he stared at Thorax, then put his arms down by his sides and brought his legs together. And when he pulled them apart, his arms suddenly doubled in length and had somehow transformed into a pair of wings. And when he pulled his legs apart, a membrane was now between them.
These new additions caught the wind and he was suddenly gliding through the air, spinning around and watching where he was flying.
"Seriously?" Thorax asked, looking down at the area below the park. The drop was a good few miles and Thorax's wings were already tired, but he knew he couldn't let his master down. So with a deep breath, he jumped off the barrier and began to fly after the criminal.
The rhino alien smashed his way through another wall, looking around to make sure nobody was around to see him.
He let out a sigh and began walking, wanting to just disappear into the crowds. But when you're as big as him, that was easier said than done. So long as he didn't do anything to draw attention to himself, he should have been fine.
However, before he could find a crowd to hide inside, something shot down from above.
It was some kind of missile, which transformed before it hit the ground and morphed into a small satellite dish, on a round pole and X-shaped stand. Three more flew down and landed around him, forming a square as the satellites sparked. The next thing he knew, they unleashed twin ropes of energy that hit each other and formed a square around him. And this energy then flew upwards to form a bunch of walls, which then curved and met a satellite dish sticking out the bottom of a sector security ship.
"Gotcha!" Lightning voice cried, "surrender and come peacefully!"
The rhino roared and started charging at the force field, smashing into it and getting zapped as he was pushed back. But that didn't stop him and he started punching the field, Lightning smirking as he expected him to wear himself out.
But then he got warning lights. "Seriously?" He asked, seeing the shield's integrity was beginning to weaken. "That's not good." He frowned, seeing he had no other choice. He undid his seat-belt and opened the speeder's cockpit before leaping out.
The rhino looked up, as Lightning used a chord coming out the side of his speeder to propel down. He moved through the barrier like it was nothing, swinging towards the crook as the villain tried to punch him. But Lightning did several impressive gymnastic skills, to avoid the punch and land on the rhino's shoulder before leaping off.
As he did, he pulled out a pair of blasters and pointed them at the alien. He started firing a barrage of rapid fire energy pulses, which slammed into the alien and made him roar. But it was more annoyance than pain, as his tough skin protected him from the laser shots.
He charged forward, attempting to tackle Lightning and crush him against the energy wall. But Lightning dodged to the side, firing his blasters at the alien's legs hoping to slow him down. But again, his strong hide made damage from the pistols almost nothing.
"Alright." He pressed a button on his blasters and with every press, a line of lights came on. Most of the lights were green, but the very last one to come on was yellow. When he did that, he fired and a more power blast exploded out. It struck the rhino and made him flinch, Lightning firing more and more shots as he did.
The rhino roared in actual pain, the blasts actually hurting him. But instead of collapsing, his rose both fists and smashed them into the ground. The impact was so great, Lightning was thrown backwards and slammed into the wall of the cage.
He flinched at the energy that zapped him, whilst one of his blasts was thrown from his grasp.
The rhino stomped his feet into the ground several times, preparing to charge with all his might. As he did, Lightning began to recover from the shock and looked over at his dropped blaster.
There was no way he could reach it before the rhino slammed into him, a momentary wish to have Jedi powers entering his mind. But then he shook his head. He didn't need The Force to defeat this guy. And as the rhino charged, Lightning raised his remaining blaster and pressed the button.
All the lights came on, with the very last one being bright red. And when he fired, the energy blast was so strong it caused the blaster to break apart. And when it struck the rhino, the explosion it caused knocked the rhino flying back. The force of the attack was so great, the beast's horn broke off as he fell to the ground.
Lightning panted as he pushed himself up, moving over to check on the crook. To his relief, he was still alive but out cold. He sighed before pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet, causing the energy field to disappear. "One down. Two to go." But in the time it took to capture this one, the other two probably got halfway through the city. Finding them was gonna be next to impossible.
In one of the skankier parts of the city, the green skinned alien sighed as he arrived at a rundown warehouse building.
Heading inside, he smiled seeing a large server in the middle of the place. A server that was holding all the credits he and his team had stolen. "Nice try, Jedi. But it takes a real genius to capture me."
"Guess that makes me an extra real genius, then." He spun around as was shocked to see Cadance, standing at the entrance to the warehouse. "Since not only am I gonna catch you, but I've also found all the credits you stole. At least, that's what I'm assuming is on that server." She frowned at the sight of it. "Kind of old fashioned. You're really using that to store all those credits?"
"So what if I am?" He asked, as he rushed over to a table and grabbed a laser pistol.
Cadance smiled as she took out a silver Lightsaber, with black around the bottom and in a ring in the centre. "Because, that model was known for being glitchy. Try to store too much data on it and the whole thing will crash, erasing all the credits stored on it." She quickly ignited her sword and a pale blue blade extended. "Do yourself a favour and give it up. Let me return the money to the people that actually own it."
"I don't think so." He started firing at her, but Cadance deflected the blasts with her sword and didn't even seem to be trying. She just walked forward, the man glaring at her. "Stay back!" He cried, firing at her but she still had no trouble protecting herself.
He growled, realising he wasn't gonna be able to stop her. But then, he smiled and pointed his weapon at the server. "Go ahead. Cut me down, or try and capture me. I know you won't be able to stop me from destroying this thing." Cadance gasped. "If I can't have all those credits. Then nobody can." She frowned at him. "If you don't want to bankrupt all those poor people, put your weapon down."
Her frown turned to a glare. "You're despicable." She extinguished her Lightsaber and dropped it to the ground. "Happy?"
"It's a start," he smiled before looking her over. "You know, I've always wondered what a Jedi woman looked like when she wasn't trying to look all dignified. Why don't you open your robes and give me a look." Her eyes went wide, as he laughed. But that was a mistake.
The second he moved his blaster away from the server, Cadance reached out and grabbed the table with The Force. The next thing he knew, he was getting slammed to the ground and his weapon was thrown from his hands.
"What the hell?" He cried, trying to get up. But the table refused to budge.
Cadance picked her blade up and ignited it, pointing the weapon at him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut something very important to you off." He gasped, looking absolutely terrified. Cadance smiled. "That's what I thought." She had captured her target. And hopefully, Thorax was okay.
Back in the Canterlot skies, the bat was flying through the air without a care in the world.
The Jedi has fallen behind and he had been able to get as far away from the bank as possible. There was no way he was going to get arrested. "Hope the boss managed to get away." Considering he and the rhino had no idea how to access the credits in their server, the boss was key to them living on easy street from then on. "Maybe I'll need to bring in a tech geek to get the credits out."
"Maybe you'll meet some in prison!" The bat looked up and saw Thorax, diving down towards him from above.
The Padawan yelled out, as he tackled the humanoid bat towards the ground. The pair cried out, as they struggled with one another and eventually slammed into the side of a building. Both groaned as they bounced off it and kept falling, Thorax managing to spin them around and point him towards the ground.
The bat screamed as he saw he was about to smash into some hard ground, but managed to wrestle the two around before kicking Thorax away. The pair spun through the air and hit the ground, both rolling to a stop.
"Ow," the crook moaned. He picked himself up and tried to spread his wings, but one of them exploded with pain and he was forced to return them both to arm mode. "You little brat!" He reached for his belt and took out a metal knife, "I'll make you pay!"
Thorax tilted his head. "You do know I'm a Jedi, right?" He reached for his belt and took out a silver Lightsaber, with a dark gray band around the centre of it. With a flick of the switch, a green blade extended out of it. "Do you really wanna do this?"
"So what if you've got a fancier weapon?" The bat charged and slashed at Thorax, but the insect humanoid dodged the attack and swung his blade. Years of training allowed him to move it in just the right way, so that it cut through the metal knife and only the knife. "What!?"
"I warned you!" Thorax then leapt back and thrust his hand out, causing the criminal to be sent flying backwards. He screamed as he smashed into the side of a building, the impact causing him to hit his head.
He grunted and fell to the ground, going limp as he groaned.
Thorax kept his Lightsaber at the ready and moved towards the criminal, carefully kneeling down and checking his pulse. He sighed in relief, glad he hadn't accidentally killed him. And just as he was wondering what to do with him, his gauntlet beeped. "Thorax," Cadance answered, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Thorax replied. "And I caught the guy we were after. Not sure what to do with him, though."
"Don't worry. I'll contact sector security and have them pick him up. Wish I could be there, but I'm holding my own criminal down at the moment." Thorax smiled at this, happy to hear Cadance had managed to get the guy they were after.
Later, back at the bank, a large group of Sector Security Officers had arrived to take the criminals away.
They had also moved the server over to the bank, the manager looking at it in shock. "I can't believe they used this piece of junk to hold our customer's precious credits. Do they have any brains?"
A high ranking security officer stepped over to Cadance, Thorax and Lightning. "Big Score, Rickashay and Boulder. They have several warrants out for their arrest in multiple sectors of Canterlot. You've done the planet a great service this day"
Cadance nodded. "We're just happy we were able to get the credits back."
The officer nodded before turning to Lightning. "Officer Blitz. Glad to see you put your issues with the Jedi aside to get the bad guy."
"I didn't ask for their help," Lightning stated. "And I didn't need them. I could have caught those crooks by myself." He headed back towards his cruiser, glaring back at the Jedi as he did.
"What a jerk," Thorax frowned.
Cadance sighed. "He's only hurting himself. Hopefully, one day he'll be able to put what happened behind him." She then smiled at Thorax. "Great work back there. I might not have been able to see it, but I'm sure I would have been proud if I had."
"Thanks. But I really need to work on my flight endurance." Cadance nodded, as they began to head back towards the Jedi Temple. "I don't get it. Why would my race even have wings if we can't use them for very long?"
"Who knows," Cadance sighed. She saw Thorax look down, upset, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. I get it. Not knowing where you're from can be hard. But you were found by the temple for a reason." Thorax nodded, as he thought about his life up until this point.
When he was just a baby, he had been discovered by a bunch of Jedi Seekers. He had been alone, malnourished and barely alive. They had saved him and before they could think about giving him to some orphanage, the Jedi had discovered his connection to The Force. As such, he had been taken into the Jedi Temple and raised by them. But that still didn't help him know who he was.
His species had never been seen before. There was no record of them in the Jedi Database and the planet he had been found on, was completely abandoned. Growing up, Thorax had always wondered who he truly was and where he had come from. But, he had never felt alone. For there were many different kinds of aliens in the Jedi Order, some being the only members of their species apart of it. So he never felt like the odd one out.
"I just wish I knew what my species was called," Thorax stated. "Just a name, or something to work backwards from." Cadance nodded, as they continued to the Temple.
Flash continued to sit there, his eye closed as he remembered that day.
Suddenly, the entire event replayed in his mind. Grand's Lightsaber being destroyed, running for his life, finding the ship and the attacks by the soldiers. Then, he saw Grand fall after being hit. Flash holding him in his arms, as he took his last breath and became one with The Force.
Tears flowed from his eyes, the pain from the memory feeling like a thousand needles shooting through his heart.
Celestia sat across from him, giving Flash a sympathetic look. "I know it hurts. But you must face the pain you have pushed aside for so long. Only then, will you be able to heal yourself and learn to detach yourself from the world when needed." Flash kept panting, the memories of the event still replaying. And eventually, it was too much.
"NO!" He jumped away from the cushion seat, his eyes opening before he rubbed them against his sleeve. "I...I can't. It's too much."
"Maybe," Celestia stated. "But you can't stop now. Even if you leave this room and try to stop yourself from thinking about it, the floodgates have been opened. You must now face this pain. Fighting against it will only cause it to last longer and be more damaging."
"I know that," Flash nodded. "But, it's still so hard."
"Nobody knows that more than me," Celestia assured him. "My sister and I have been through this process more times than we can count. I lost my first master when I was just a Padawan. He disappeared whilst on a mission and I never heard from him, or the Jedi he was with again. But that's nothing compared to what you felt, I'm sure. You were actually there and saw it." Flash nodded. "Everything you had was lost that day. Not just your master, but the people you grew up with."
Flash nodded again. "And now I know the ones responsible are working with a Sith. Who knows what happened to them. They could be dead. They could be captured. They...they could be..."
"I know," Celestia nodded. "But none of what happened is your fault. And Shining told me what you said on the mission. How you didn't want to lose anyone to these people again." Flash nodded. "I'm sorry to tell you, but that's impossible to do."
"What?" Flash asked. "What do you mean? We were able to save everyone from them."
"Yes. But we both know that wasn't the last time you, or any other Jedi will run into this group. They will show up again, I'm sure of it. And when they do, sooner or later, someone close to us will end up falling to them. Maybe not during the next conflict, or the one after that. But eventually, it will happen. No matter how strong of a Jedi you become."
Flash's hand scrunched at his pants. "Why have these powers, if we can't use them to protect everyone?"
"We are not gods," Celestia told him. "We're just individuals who, for whatever reason, have been given extraordinary abilities. But that doesn't make us unstoppable. Having The Force, doesn't magically mean everything we do will turn out how we want it. It can help us achieve our goals, but in the end the universe does not play favourites. You can try and make things work out how you want it, but you need to be willing to accept failure when it happens. Can you do that?"
Flash thought about it, unsure how to answer. He thought about all the people that had welcomed him into the Order, even though he wasn't raised there like them. He wanted nothing more than to keep them safe. But could he accept failing to do that?
"I don't know," Flash sighed.
"Then you have a lot to meditate on," Celestia told him. "And until you can accept that, I think it would be best if you stayed out of missions. At least for now."
Flash nodded, understanding her view on this. "Okay. Thank you, Master." Celestia nodded and excused Flash, the teen heading out of the room and making his way through the temple.
As he did, he happened to pass a window that looked down into a courtyard. There, he spotted Twilight and Rarity, alongside Spike, Sweetie, Applebloom and Scootaloo. They were talking with one another, as two other individuals stepped into the courtyard. One was Cadance and the other was her student, Thorax.
Flash saw the group meeting up and began to laugh, as Thorax seemed to be telling them what he and Cadance had been doing. The insectoid Jedi leapt onto a bench and mimicked what they had been doing, Flash wishing he could be down there joining in on the fun. But he didn't think it was such a good idea.
He was still feeling the pain Celestia had helped him begin to process of getting over, which he assumed didn't make him great company. As such, he decided it would be best if he kept his distance from them. He knew they would simply worry about him and he didn't want to ruin their fun.
He headed back to his room and when he got there, Springer was nowhere in sight. That made sense, since Shining had wanted the droid's help doing some maintenance on the ship. Instead, he simply laid on his bed and tried to sleep. The images of Grand's death once again played in his head, Flash attempting to block them out. But Celestia had been right about the floodgates.
Again and again, the events would replay and Flash would feel the pain. But each and every time, the pain felt less and less. Flash didn't know if that was a good thing. But if he was going to get over it, he would need to let all the pain of that event burn itself out within him. Then, he could start remembering the good memories of Grand instead of just the bad ones.
Even so, he also couldn't help but think about the bug troopers that had attacked them. Who were they, really? And where did they come from?
In a dark corner of the galaxy, on a hidden planet somewhere, there exists a large black castle.
Said castle was made to resemble a spiked termite mound, with many towers that were bent and curved at different portions. Holes could be seen covering the place and around it, there was nothing put wasteland.
Bug troopers marched through the wastelands, on patrol to make sure nothing entered their castle.
The inside was built to be a giant maze, with many winding tunnels that should have been impossible to navigate. The area actually inside the castle had many halls and barracks, along with an armoury, food stores and even a throne room of sorts. But below the castle, were many catacombs full of the exact same thing. Cocoons.
Inside these cocoons were life forms of differing stages of development. Some were the size of babies, whilst others appeared to be fully grown. Some weren't even fully formed, looking more like something one would see on a sonogram.
Chrysalis marched through a tunnel full of still developing embryos, her wings out and stretching as if preparing to fly.
She stared at the cocoons and frowned, seeing the backs of her creations. "Still no wings. Looks like another set of ground troops." She stared at the many cocoons, frowning. "I don't get it. Why aren't the clones developing wings?"
"Mother." Chrysalis turned to see another being moving towards her. It was a smaller version of her, though this one appeared male, with purple eyes and a red sail running down the back of his head. "The newest batch of soldiers are ready to leave gestation."
Chrysalis nodded. "Thank you, Pharynx." The soldier nodded before noticing her worried look.
"Is something wrong, mother?"
"We still can't seem to produce winged clones. All the clones we've created are, unfortunately, grounded." She placed a hand on the cocoon. "If our race is to flourish, it must reacquire all the abilities we once had."
Pharynx frowned. "I'm sorry, mother. I wish I knew how to help you. But I'm a soldier. Not a scientist. Perhaps the science your master gave you was...insufficient."
"Maybe," Chrysalis frowned. "Or maybe my DNA is still being affected by the plague." She looked back at her wings, then at the purple wings on Pharynx's body. Both looked strong, but could barely keep them aloft longer than a few minutes. "If only your brother was alive. The three of us together might hold the genetic that would allow us to figure out where we're going wrong."
"I'm sorry I'm not enough," Pharynx bowed. "Is there anything I can do?" Chrysalis shook her head, "very well. I'll...I will go make sure the soldiers are ready for hatching." With that, he left and Chrysalis turned back to the cocoons. "I'll find some way to restore our people. Even if it costs me everything."
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We finally meet Big Score, Rickashay and Boulder, Banshee's recurring villain OCs…. I actually came up with making Rickashay a Bat-like humanoid and Boulder a Rhino-like alien when Banshee decides to have them in Star Wars story.
I know some of you still think Lightning is a jerk but can you really blame him for hating on Jedi? For those who didn't understand the reference, Doom's story is a reference to an arc where Ahsoka was framed and Jedi Council made her life a living hell as they didn't believe her innocence.
Once Anakin proves her innocence, Jedi Council tried to have her back for the order but Ahsoka rejected their offers because not only they never apologized to her (especially Mace Windu claimed it was "part of the trial") but they never believe her to begin with and they almost executed her if weren't for Anakin… she felt betrayed by them and for that, she ultimately leaves the order…. Her leaving the Order is what causes Anakin's relationship with the council to be strained and his turn to the dark side.
So yeah, Doom Raizer is basically what if Ahsoka really becomes Sith and letting her resentment toward Jedi Order get to her.
Lightning really hates Jedi for not believing in his father and ruined their life… would you hate the Jedi if they drove your parents away like they did with Lightning?
What would you do if the Jedi Council drove your parents away after your parents get framed for crimes they didn't commit? You probably would hate Jedi like Lightning did.
Oh, brother. That guy really needs a reality check.
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I suppose not, and as Maul tried to say, their hypocrisy is what caused their downfall. The Jedi really were slowly lost in the Dark Side, they were just too blind to see it.
This was a fun character building chapter. While Flash tries to deal with the pain of losing Grand and his loved ones, we get some focus on Cadance and Thorax as they investigate a bank robbery and are forced to deal with Lightning. I enjoy seeing Thorax as Cadance's apprentice, and it is interesting that he has no idea what his species is, which also gives us some dramatic irony knowing how he is connected to Chrysalis and by extension the Sith. I can understand why Lightning hates the Jedi, since his father went through the same thing Ahsoka did, but he's letting his hate for them get in the way of his job to an extent since he's trying to blame them for everything.
That is pretty creepy. I think the Night Sisters did something like that once.
I am reminded of the very important quote "Miles, the hardest thing about this job is... you can't always save everybody."
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Nice, any prediction for Sunset (it is mentioned Man 7 in the tag so she will show up at some point)?
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I Think she did show
Hint hint red sword
So, it looks like Flash, Thorax, and Lightning are the focal points of this chapter. I wonder if their fates are tied in this story.
I forgot to mention this last night, but Celestia is better at giving good mental health advice than Yoda in Revenge of the Sith.