As the Rebels work to build their forces, the shadows of the Empire start to loom over them once more...
The battle against the Empire continues for the Rebels, and many familiar faces start to emerge from hiding to join the Rebellion to fight. But as the Rebels work to build their forces, the shadow of the Empire continues to loom over them...
In the vast emptiness of space, four navy ships were drifting about; a Bunkerbuster, a modified Nebulon-C frigate, a Kuat Drive Yards cargo frigate, and a Mon-Calamari cruiser. All of them were shining lights down on an asteroid field below them. Several parts and pieces of destroyed ships and the station that once was here was now nothing but scrap. The Rebels among this small cell had received a distress signal that required their help, and now they were investigating the remains.
A small collection of X-Wings and A-Wings deployed from the Mon-Calamari cruiser, turning on their searchlights as they dove closer for a look.
“Cobalt Leader to Arcanas, we are beginning our search,” the leading X-Wing hailed to the cruiser.
“Roger, Cobalt Leader. Please be advised of asteroids, and look for any surviving escape pods or starcraft. We may have injured men out here.”
The ships began their search, moving towards the destroyed station. Lights shined through one of the windows which had been broken, now showing tons of rubble and debris floating inside the room that once had gravity. Unfortunately there was also the gruesome sight of some men floating, bodies now frozen solid from the cold vacuum of space.
Slowly turning away to continue the search, the pilots caught sight of something else that caught their eyes. An X-Wing of some kind, although a very peculiar model. Two thrust engines on the front of the fighter that looked like it could split in half, and to their surprise, it looked like a pilot was inside the cockpit.
“Cobalt Leader to Arcanas, we’ve found a single fighter out here. But the pilot seems… dead,” the leader responded. “This is very strange X-Wing design.”
The admiral on board the Arcanas looked at the holoprojector in the middle of the room with the others, taking a look at the projection of the X-Wing that was spotted.
“I’ve never seen this model before,” the admiral responded. “Is it one of ours?”
“Negative sir. The database indicates the Rebel Alliance has no record of any X-Wings with this model,” a technician responded, checking the computer system.
“Hmm. Well, guess there’s nothing we can do now. We’ll have to report to Yavin IV and let them know that the distress signal was a lost cause,” the admiral said, regretfully. “All ships return to the Arcanas, we’re departing home.”
“Understood Admiral. All ships return to home base.”
One by one, the A-Wings and X-Wings rose from the asteroid field to depart for home. The leader’s X-Wing was the last of all, not realizing or sensing something smacking on the back of his ship. All of the fighters flew into the hangar bay of the Raddus, and one by one, the fleet ships jumped into hyperspace. The cargo ship left first, then the bunkerbuster, and then the medical frigate.
The Arcanas was last to leave as the engines were primed to leave. And with one push, the ship jumped into hyperspace, away from the aftermath. What the Rebels failed to notice however was the strange X-Wing model starting to rise up from the asteroid field, engines humming idly in the quiet space. And with a single calculation, the strange X-Wing jumped into hyperspace…
THE WAR BEGINS! Months after the destruction of the evil Empire's TIE Defender factory, efforts to gain victory over one another are pushed to the brink, with the Rebels losing more than winning.
Young FLURRY HEART and the Heartstrings family, now accepted as Rebel allies, continue to fight alongside their new friends, while trying to learn new ways of the Force from General SUNSET SHIMMER.
On the quiet world of Terra, we find our heroes undercover as they plan to find out what the Empire's next big project is, unknowing that friends and enemies from the old wars are slowly emerging from the stars...
Terra
Many worlds across the Outer Rim were extremely dangerous; where as so much as the wrong move would mean the end of your existence. Talk to a stranger, make a bad deal, con someone, kidnap, murder, anything could make or break you. Very few planets had calm and polite populations; Terra was one of them. Surrounded mainly by green lands and massive oceans that covered 40% of the entire planet's mass.
While Terra had populations all over the planet, the most popular small town to live in was over in Doomea. It was a small town, with only roughly a thousand and one hundred residents, but it had everything that the residents could ever need; good schools, banks, restaurants, entertainment, homes, strong economy.
The inhabitants of this world, the Terrans, also made coming here a relatively nice time. The Terrans were very warm, very welcoming to just about anyone who came down here. Well, mostly everyone. One potential group of people were making things difficult for them, and they needed help removing them from their planet.
One of the people happy to help was General Sunset Shimmer, not wearing her standard robes or uniform. Instead she was donning a button-up shirt and a skirt, more casual than she would be wearing nowadays. But for her assignment, she had to dress that way. She sat at a café table with another Rebel; Zeb Orellios. He was wearing cargo shorts and a shirt with a collar, also blending in with the fashion of this world.
“In position, how is everyone?” Sunset whispered into her hidden com.
“We’re in position, General. Remind me again why we’re going casual again?”
“We can’t let the Imperials know we’re here. Just stick with your posts until we have confirmation of where they are,” Sunset ordered. She and Zeb both held newspapers in their laps, acting as if they were reading them to keep their cover continuing.
Just then, the waiter came by to deliver their order. The Terrans were very skinny people, with either grey or green skin. But the most distinguishable characteristic of them all were their balding foreheads and bulbous solid black eyes. But despite their freakish exterior, they were still decent people.
“Hello my name is Jarvis, I’ll be your server today,” the man said, holding a pen and paper. “What might I get you two today?”
“I’ll take the simple waffle order please, with a side of juice,” Zeb asked.
“Make that two, but with milk instead of juice,” Sunset added.
“Very well you two. Just wait right here, I’ll be back with your orders,” he said, taking the menus.
Now that they were back to the mission, the two of them held their newspaper covers again.
“I’m sorry I got you lumped with me,” Sunset apologized. “I know I’m not your first choice of partners, but…”
“It’s alright, General,” Zeb acknowledged. “Besides, I’m actually okay with this assignment. It’s a nice change, and I needed something peaceful after a while.”
“Hera’s baby keeping you up?”
“Partially,” Zeb admitted. "I know the baby's not afraid of me, but nothing I do can get it to go to sleep. I just needed a break from it."
"Well you picked the right assignment, Zeb. Only thing we have to worry about now is--oh no..."
"What? Spy? Criminal?"
"No! Worse!" Sunset yelped, eyes glued to the newspaper. "New petition against tax again!?"
--
Elsewhere in town, more Rebel agents were staying in their assigned posts as part of the cover. At a public pool, Bon Bon, Lyra, and two other women; a Nitko and a Kyuzo, were all laying on beach chairs aligned in front of a pool. All of them were taking the cover of sunbathing, with tanning sheets in all of their arms, but their eyes kept looking everywhere, periodically checking for any suspicious activity.
“See anything Honga?” Bon Bon asked.
The Nikto woman’s left eye peered to her right, and she slightly turned her head, acting as if she was staring at one of the signs on the walls. “Negative.”
“What about you Shor? Anything?” Lyra continued.
“No ma’am. If there’s any suspicious targets we’re looking for, they’re not here,” the Kyuzo woman replied. “On the plus side, the sun’s doing wonders for my skin.”
Lyra slowly reached for her drink, taking a small sip as she kept looking around. For a brief moment she set her drink down and she reached for Bon Bon’s hand, interlocking her fingers with hers.
“So how long have you two been married?” Honga asked, moving her head back at the Equestrian couple, still laying back.
“About seventeen years now,” Bon Bon smiled.
“It’s nice to see you two still together,” Honga replied.
“Thanks. You’re trying to find that special someone?” Lyra asked.
“I guess. It’s not exactly easy though, having all the horns in my face,” she admitted with a disappointed expression.
“Just give it time. Love isn’t an immediate thing, these things take time and patience,” Lyra said, smiling softly as she kept her hand on her wife’s hand.
“Beach Team, come in,” Sunset interrupted.
The Nikto woman raised her wrist. “We’re here Sunset. Nothing to report, unfortunately. We’ve been sitting here for half an hour, so far nothing suspicious aside from the one creepy lifeguard who keeps gawking at the Terran women across the pool from us.”
“Understood. Just keep your eyes open and your ears listening in. Sunset out.”
“Soda Pop Company, possible suspect is coming into the diner. Keep a look out,” Sunset whispered.
The local diner was bustling with teenagers, it was their hotspot for them to hang out after school and get some food. The floors had a checkered pattern, there was a jukebox in a corner playing some old tunes in Basic by mostly human artists, booths were lined in red, and it was just an all around great place to hang out.
Flurry Heart, along with Sandbar, Yona, and Ocellus were sitting at one of the booths, infiltrating as high school students to blend in with the crowd. Sure the other-worldy species sitting here stood out like a sore thumb, but the planet was open to species of any kind. All four of them were dressed in casual clothes like the teenagers; sporting jackets, dresses, skirts, pants, etc.
“Okay so I have a question,” Flurry asked, “What’s your favorite food?”
“A burger with meat with a side of a Triple-Topper Twirlshake,” Sandbar replied.
“Twilar’s the spokeswoman for that. She’s the Triple-Topper Twi’lek Girl,” Ocellus pointed out.
“Mmm, she used to be,” Yona shrugged.
“Was that something you ate every day?”
“Not really. My mom was a school teacher, and my dad used to be an officer for the Republic, we weren’t rich, you know?” Sandbar said, shaking his head. “Ocellus, what about you?’
“Hmm. Well back on Alveare, my family and I loved the Virkon plants that grew in our farms. Those were soooo good,” Ocellus squeed with joy. “But since I left and joined you guys, I think my favorite has to be the Golden Crisps, those little honey-covered crackers?”
“Ah, right, yeah,” Flurry nodded.
“It’s more of a once in a while snack. I try to savor them,” Ocellus explained.
“Well it’s not the favorite, but one of mine is Mantell Mix, covered in artificial butter and Quarren salts,” Flurry’s mouth watered just thinking about the food. “The snack vendors on Tatooine always had those on race days.”
“Sounds delicious. Yona?” Ocellus asked.
“Mint flavored ice cream,” Yona said rather straightforwardly. “Sandbar bought me snack after we escaped Empire together, helped cheer me up.”
Sandbar blushed a little. “Heh, heh…”
“Oh, hang on, I think I see the Imp,” Flurry whispered, noting a strange white male approaching a phone-line on the wall. He rotated the wheel on the line, and picked up the piece to speak into it. She didn’t turn her head, but instinctively, the group held up their menus to blend in with everyone else. Unbeknownst to the Imperial, Flurry could see his reflection thanks to a bit mirror that hid a camera in the diner, mounted in the corner of the ceiling.
“… yes, everything’s in position… yes, we should be ready… no, I don’t want any further delays,” the officer said. “… LRC-034, I do not want to hear excuses. If there are any Rebel insurgents, send a squad to take care of them at once. These inhabitants don’t want anything to do with us, and we don’t have enough to take over. … What are you… wonderful. Look, just lock down the facilities until I arrive. Make sure the data does not leave the computer, we don’t need them obtaining anything.”
The Imperial hung up, and then swiftly turned around before tilting his nose up at the lower life forms around him. He didn't even notice a few particular species that had been sitting at one of the booths.
"Sunset, the suspect just left. There aren't enough forces to take over this planet, fighting them should be easy... I think," Ocellus whispered into her comlink.
"That's not like the Empire to not have enough forces on demand... we'll stay vigilant though," Sunset replied. "Just finish up whatever meal you have and then come meet us at the pinpoint."
The outpost was indeed not as heavily armed as Flurry and her friends had overheard. Their base relied too much on being isolated from the populous, especially since the planet was completely unaligned with both Imperials and Rebel Alliance. There was no way that they could think the Rebels would just come here, but they were wrong. Standing at atop one of the towers, one of the officers oversaw the valley through some binocs, scanning for anything peculiar. His scope then tracked a woman, descending upon a cliff, holding a device in her hand.
"Captain, there's someone in the valley. It's... just some woman," the officer noticed.
Sunset Shimmer stood on a small cliff, overlooking the Imperial base that had been set up in the valley. By her count, they had several AT-Ats, a few AT-STs, some TIES, and a huge army. She was beginning to wonder whether or not the help she had enlisted would be enough; but she couldn’t waste time. And standing on top of the fortress was the Imperial commander who could see the general
With the Imperial’s attention turned to her, Sunset spoke as loud as she could into the megaphone.
“Aaaah!” Sunset shrieked. “Raah! Braa baa baaa!”
“… what did she say?”
Sunset was confused; why did the megaphone turn her words into gibberish? Looking at the device, she rolled her eyes and flipped a switch on the settings.
“Attention Imperials! I am Sunset Shimmer, speaking on behalf of the Terran people, as an ambassador,” she declared. “I bring a message on behalf of the Terran populus; we come in peace. We do not want your war on our world. Leave now.”
The Imperial commander scoffed. “Who does she think she is? Give me the responder unit.” A piece of equipment was handed to him so he could reply back. “Miss Shimmer. I am afraid we cannot do that; Terra is now under Imperial occupation, this world has no authority.”
Sunset coughed into her megaphone which made a loud sound that echoed. “I will not repeat. Rescind all forces… or there will be consequences.”
“You and what army? If you think I’m blind, I’ve seen your little spies all over that small town. What army could this planet possibly have?”
The Imperial commander couldn't see her face, but Sunset had the most smug smile. She stood there still smirking while her kama swayed in the wind. Her attention turned to above, waiting for the right time. An entire portion of the sky above them flashed with a loud booming sound, as if a thunderstorm was about to come where they were. But it made no sense, there were clouds, but no heavy storm clouds.
Several cracking sounds echoed across the air. Pieces from the sky started to break apart like someone was breaking the sky, quite literally apart. Pieces of shell fell from the sky, and the flashing and thunderclaps continued to boom. The Imperial forces on the ground looked up, completely flabbergasted by the strange phenomenon occurring above their heads.
The cracks continued to form, making more circular shapes connected through several lines like a grid. And the cracks continued to spread across the sky, directly above where they all stood. Then, the cracks began to pull apart and spread. Several beaming lights leaked through the breaking cracks, and the flashing skies began to change; now they weren’t showing a clear sky with a few clouds. The atmosphere underneath the cracked grid changed to sleek dark gray, like undersides of a massive dock or ship. The circular formations began to hover down from the grids, revealing disc shaped saucers that hovered above the valley. Two of them came down, then three, then four. Countless saucers were spinning above the land as the planet’s natural light shined through the massive and clear sky fortress.
Also flying through the cracks were several A-Wing fighters, ready to join. It didn't take long for the outpost to deploy all of their TIEs, wanting to wipe them from the sky. Although truth be told, some of them were beginning to realize the enemy had outnumbered them from firepower alone. But the mission was still needing to be done; they had to be stopped.
As the TIEs charged forward at the A-Wings and Terran saucers, the ground forces made their move. Several Terran tanks, moving alongside Rebel speeder-bikes raced towards the outpost. Many of the vehicles were being helmed by both the planet's populous and Rebels, as Sunset watched on her bike; Flurry Heart racing on a speeder-bike with a Terran sitting behind her, ready to defend her if any of the Imperials were to chase.
The only heavy tank the Rebels had on hand was a T4-B model, which raced alongside the others with a decent speed. The Gigoran woman clinging to the turrents whooped and hollered, twirling her blaster rifle around in the air as the tank raced.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack hung onto the back of a few speeder-bikes,waiting to jump when it would be time. Soon as they got closer to the gates, the two of them jumped into the air and pulled out their sabers. Confidently, the two of them charged forward, blocking the multitude of blaster fire that was coming their way. A few Rebels with jetpacks joined the assault, including Lyra and Bon Bon, covered in their Mandalorian armors. Lyra blocked more of the shots with her saber, while Bon Bon and a few other Rebels fired like gunslingers in a bar on Tatooine.
"As long as our boys are in the air, we should be able to get the information!" Lyra shouted, looking up to see another A-Wing bite the dust. "But on the other hand, additional help would be nice!"
Outside of Terra, three ships popped out of hyperspace, lined up together in formation. Leading in the front was a N1 starfighter, painted in purple instead of traditional yellow. On it's left was an Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor, painted blue and yellow, held in a hyperspace ring. The last ship, hanging on the right was a YC-123B transport hauler, still stark white with red streaks on the side.
All three ships punched it, diving straight down to the planet's surface, hurling itself towards the atmosphere. Engines were roaring with power, and the pilots in each of the vessels held on tight, making sure they kept a sturdy grip and not lose control. Several lights and alarms went off in each, as they rattled through the bustling storms above the planet's atmosphere, but it didn't last long. Once they had escaped, the three ships were greeted to a beautiful sun-shining day above the valleys where the main populous was located, and off in the distance they could see multiple explosions coming from the battle.
Together the three ships punched it again, racing across the skies to help the Terrans in the sky. The saucers continued to swoop and soar, firing at the TIE fighters who were overwhelming them rapidly. Another one of the Terran saucers went down, spinning out of control before slamming into the ground. One of the A-Wings spun around, being chased by two more TIE fighters. Just as it looked like the Rebel pilot's life was about to be over, one of the TIEs was shot down, and the other one was soon taken out as well. Looking out the side, the A-Wing pilot saw three new ships joining the battle, firing at the fighters.
"General! We have unknown reinforcements!"
"What!?" Sunset perplexed. Looking up, she saw the new ships joining the battle. And out of the blue, Sunset swore she was hearing synthesizers mixed with rock and roll as the ships began to join the battle. Her heart raced, and an excited grin crept on her lips as she looked at them fight.
Go! Mighty Rainbooms! They’re rising together to fight for what’s right everywhere! Mighty Rainbooms! Protecting their friends from the shadows of the evil Empire! Rainbooms!
The Naboo fighter spun around, barely getting hit by the beams of green that raced past it. The R6 unit sitting in the port chirped with a panic, but the pilot inside reassured the droid that they would be safe. Pulling the trigger, a few lasers fired out of the main cannons, taking out one of the TIEs successfully. Deciding to do a little more damage, the fighter launched a photon torpedo, completely reducing another TIE.
Swooping around the valley, the ship swung around the outpost, dodging all the blaster fire and allowing the fighters to do more damage than she would. Unbeknownst to them, the troop carrier was taking it’s chance and moving towards the ground for a landing, avoiding being shot. Slowly it sat down and landed close to where the Rebels were moving in, blocking an escape route for the Imperials to take. The bolts danced on the armored doors, but no damage was done.
Warriors of justice and friendship Rise! Mighty Rainbooms! Attacking the masters of darkness with one mighty force! Mighty Rainbooms! Guarding the galaxy from all forms of danger and dread Rainbooms! Standing for freedom and friends
The interceptor spun around, looking straight at the huge mass of TIE fighters that were racing towards. There had to be at least ten, maybe fifteen, oh who knows, the pilot lost count, they kept growing. But with an excited grin, the fighter lined up with the hyperspace ring locked on, looking straight at them.
The power in the ring hummed, and the clamps that were locked onto the fighter unlocked, charging straight towards the TIES. Unbeknownst of them, several hidden panels opened up on the ring, with multiple red blinking lights. And just when they were about to get a shot on the mystery fighter--
KABOOM!!!!
A massive explosion engulfed the mass of TIES, a sesmic charge spreading out in the sky with a sound that echoed throughout the valley. Everyone could look up and see the ring of blue transparent energy above as it reduced the enemy to cinders. Sadly the interceptor couldn't escape a lossless victory as one more TIE from the left came around, firing a shot directly into the engines of the interceptor.
Smoke and fire erupted as the fighter hurled towards the ground. Soldiers quickly ran out of the way just in time, and watched as the cockpit popped off the ship. A single person was seen ejected out of the fighter before the crash, watching a parachuted person move down into the forest.
Deep inside, the rest of the troopers who were trying to put up a good fight were quickly overrun, many of the Rebels and Terran soldiers pushing through their defenses.
"Sir, we can't hold them any longer!"
"No, keep pushing forward!" The lieutenant ordered, rather arrogantly.
"Are you blind!? They have won, and you don't realize it," the captain snarled. "All troopers, retreat at once. The Rebels have overtaken this outpost, we will win in our next battle."
Despite being conditioned to follow orders without question, they didn't argue with the captain. They had to leave now, they couldn't stay here and die. Joining their captain, the remaining troopers ran out of the control room moments before Rainbow Dash and Applejack's troops could bust in. Both veterans aimed their blasters at the lieutenant who looked more smug than anything else.
"Alright now, we got questions and you have answers. We know ya'll were illegally minin' resources from this planet for your project. Where was all of that coaxium goin'?" Applejack grit her teeth.
"I'm sorry, but that's none of your concern... Rebel scum."
And before Rainbow Dash could interfere, the man bit down hard and a sizable electric shock pulsed through his body and he dropped to the ground; dead almost instantaneously.
"... dang it," Rainbow growled.
The rest of the Imperials who had escaped moved outside, trying to push through the rest of the battle without drawing attention or being shot at. They just had to slip through the forests and get to the tarmac just beyond. But before the Imperials could escape, the troop carrier landed on the grounds in front of the outpost, forcing the Rebels to get out of the way. The remaining Imperials looked at the front of the transport, not able to see or recognize the pilot that sat in the cockpit above. Just then, the doors on the carrier slammed open, sending a soft thud to the ground as they opened.
No one came running out of the transport, and they seemed oddly vacant. And this carrier this wasn’t Imperial by design, or color scheme. But some noises inside the cargo holds sent shivers down their spines. The group heard growling noises coming out of the transport, very animalistic in tone. Sunset and the rest of the group ran outside to try and prevent the others from escaping, but instead found them defensively in front of the transport that showed up out of the blue.
Soon thereafter, the Naboo starfighter flew above them, roaring across the sky. But then, something started to emerge from the troop carrier. A gurgling noise accompanied by some growling. A three-toed foot clamped onto the metallic door-ramp, tapping against the steel. The rest of the body emerged, showing a large animal with sharp talons on it’s claws and toes as it took in it’s surroundings. To the Midnight trooper’s surprise, it was an Equestrian raptor, a dark blue one at that.
The animal gurgled and let out a soft call to the air, calling for attention as it took notice of the Imperials who were pointing guns. With a big jump, the raptor leapt into the air and pounced one of the troopers to the ground, pinning him down and preventing him before he could fire his weapon. The raptor growled and snarled at the man, threatening to snap it’s jaw at his face. The others were ready to fire at the wild animal, until some more animals start to come out of the hold….
A trio of grey anoobas ran out of the transport, snarling and hissing at the troopers. Individually, each of them tackled a trooper and snapped their jaws at their faces, trying to get them to fight. The troopers unfortunately didn’t stand a chance against the stronger animals; little to no training did not help them. And it wasn’t long until a group of massiffs joined the anoobas, standing in a half-circle formation to block off any avenues of escape for the personnel staff, even getting in front of the other Rebels who were standing in guarding positions as well.
Two more of them tried to leave, until a massive Equestrian Everfree Forest bear walked out on all fours and then stood on it’s hind legs, roaring and waving their arms up to show how massive they were in comparison. The personnel members threw down their weapons and backed off, knowing they were outmatched by the stronger animal. The last one, a captain, tried to find a way out, but there wasn’t anything. She contemplated shooting herself with her own blaster, but found it was out of her holster. Looking back, she saw a bird was chirping and whistling, having gripped the blaster during the chaos. Understanding she had no way out, she raised her hands up to surrender.
Sunset’s heart raced to see all of these animals around her. Who could have even brought them over here? But then she looked at them again. Raptors. Anoobas. Massiffs. Birds. Bears. A few critters who were late to join the party, but stood with the rest of the animals. Only one person came to her head that could wrangle all of these, and it was enough to gasp and cup her mouth in delight. Could it be…?
The animals, while keeping the Imperials trapped, all turned their heads at once hearing her gasp. Sunset froze, now out of fear. These animals could kill her on the spot without a second thought, and she had no idea what their intentions were. And her heart rate elevated when the raptor let go of the unconscious man it had tackled and slowly walked towards her with curiosity. Sunset tried to keep herself calm and not panic, having faced only two of these raptors before on Equestria; and remembering how poorly that experience had gone for her.
The raptor sniffed her, softly gurgling and gazing at her eyes.
“Heh… uhhh… heyyyyy?” Sunset tittered.
The raptor backed up and let out a soft call into the air, as if he was calling for someone’s attention. And without warning, he rubbed his head up against Sunset, almost in an affectionate manner. The general was confused, especially by how the raptor purred against her. But carefully, she lifted her hand up and slowly moved it towards the raptor’s head, patting it.
Slowly stepping out of the dropship that released the animals was a masked woman. Most of her pale-yellow skin was exposed to the warm summer breeze, but she still adorned pants, boots, and a tank top. Armor was present on her shoulders, with one gauntlet on her arm, armor that belonged to the Wookiees of Kashyyyk. A sash hung from her belt along with a lightsaber. Her face was masked, but her relaxed standing as she looked to the Rebels made it clear she wasn’t someone to be worried about. Her head turned to see the other two guests who were walking towards them.
Two mystery pilots; both of them were wearing helmets that covered their entire heads, obscuring any physical features or appearances beneath. One of them looked like she was possibly a Togruta, with the head-tails visibly sticking out of the helmet; although the pure-white face and blue eyes made it clear she wasn't Togruta. That face was familiar to a select few, and words didn't need to be expressed. Only one person they know could have come up with an elaborate disguise...
And last of them all; dressed with a simple cyan blue tank top and skirt, with her magenta-pink hair poofing up like an inflated balloon, a radiant smile was given to them by another old friend. Some bands holding the back of her hair together while the front just moved back to normal. And that smile? That big excited smile was something they couldn’t help but smile back at. There was no way they couldn’t smile at that.
On board the Mon-Calamari cruiser, the Vigilant, the crews and troopers began to settle in for the journey back to home base. While most of the troopers who were exhausted from the fight went to go rest up, or go to the mess halls for some needed grub, Sunset Shimmer along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash stayed out in the hangar bay where the technicians and engineers worked on repairing starcraft. Parked on one of the spaces was the new additions of the troop carrier, and the Naboo starfighter. Even the Sweetie Drop was taking a rest inside the hangar bay area.
Sunset was too busy giving Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie a huge hug to be bothered by the fact she was covered in dust and scrapes from the fight.
“I missed you girls so much…” Sunset whispered with joy in her voice.
“We missed you, too,” Fluttershy squeaked, still embracing the hug.
Eventually Rainbow Dash and Applejack joined in for another longer hug, not wanting to let them go again.
“Oh it’s so good to see you all again,” Rarity cooed, trying not to cry from joy. “I can’t tell you how many days went by and I just wanted to call you.”
“I know,” Sunset wiped a happy tear from her face. “But I’m glad you all are back, I’m guessing you got my message?”
“Mmmhmm,” Pinkie appeared out of nowhere, now dressed in more casual clothes; a tank top with a Jedi-like skirt hanging above her pants and blue boots. Her hands were holding onto a tray filled with some small glasses of delicious looking ice cream, which everyone accepted, except for Sunset who raised a hand to say ‘no thanks’. “After we got your message, we’ve been trying to find each other for the past few months, and well, here we are.”
“Either way, I’m glad to have you gals back. I missed fighting you all,” Rainbow smiled, enjoying her ice cream.
“I must say, Rainbow Dash, that new arm looks wonderful,” Rarity observed. “It looks better than when we first got your replacement.”
Rainbow flexed her arm around. “Thanks. Though I think we kinda need to bring up the elephant in the room here… did you change species?”
Everyone looked back at Rarity again. No one spoke up on it, but all eyes were locked onto the Togruta tendrils she had hanging down her head.
“Oh-pftt, Rainbow Dash, honestly, I think even you would know that would be impossible to do,” Rarity poised. She lifted the headpiece off, showing a hairnet firmly placed down on her head. Untying the back, her hair poofed up before behaving back into the normal style that everyone remembered her having, curls and all. Although there was one visible gray stripe now streaked on one of her curls. “Having a disguise is helpful when trying to hide from the Empire, especially any unsavory customers in the galaxy…”
"Yeah, but there's one other thing that's bugging me right now. What happened to um... your, uh..?" Applejack hesitated.
The girls looked back, and all jaws slacked on the floor. Rarity reached back and brushed her hair a bit before her hand met her left ear, feeling a sizable chip no longer present.
"Oh, you mean my ear?"
Everyone nodded without making a sound.
"Oh, that's nothing, darlings, I'm alright. I can still hear you all perfectly," Rarity reassured.
“… know what, fair enough, I can’t argue with that,” Rainbow shrugged. She sat her ice cream down on the seat next to her (at least what was part of the seat since she was using an old crate), and felt a soft nudge at her feet. She looked down, and she stifled a gasp. Her eyes teared up, and she was trying hard not to freak out. “N… No way…”
Fluttershy picked up the animal on the floor, lifting it up so Rainbow Dash could see him fully; an old tortoise looking at her with the sweetest, warmest smile a tortoise ever had.
“Omigoshhesstillaliveandokgimme!”
Fluttershy giggled as she carefully gave the animal to Rainbow Dash who immediately hugged him like a plushie. “I missed you so much buddy, I’m so glad you’re ok! W-Where did you find him?”
“I may have taken a stop down at Equestria and picked up a few of my animals,” Fluttershy shrugged. Almost immediately, a bird flew down and sat on her head. And then another bird perched on the small wooden rod that was prodding from one of her shoulder armors. “Ok, maybe more than a few,” she tittered.
Just then, their eyes watched as Spike rolled around the corner, with R2-D2 tailing close behind. Almost immediately, Pinkie yanked Spike up and gave him the biggest hug, somehow having the strength to lift him up.
“HI SPIKE!” Pinkie squeaked.
“Dah! Pinkie!” Spike yelped, his arms flailing.
And two seconds later he was dropped to the ground with a thud, as Pinkie immediately went to hug R2-D2 as well.
“Hi R2!”
“Bwoop boop!”
Spike pulled himself back up on his feet, and was given affectionate hugs from both Fluttershy and Rarity, this time more softly.
“Oh Spikey-Wikey, it’s so good to see you again!”
“Heh, it’s good to see you too, Rarity,” Spike replied, embracing her back.
"Oh, before I forget, there is someone else I want you all to meet. Well, a few," Sunset continued, looking at the Jedi and Mandalorian couple walking together.
A small squeeeeing sound came from Pinkie Pie as she saw her old friend.
"Hi Lyra! I missed you!" Pinkie scooped her up in a big hug, making her giggle.
"It's good to see you too, Pinkie," Lyra hugged her back.
"Oooh, and who is this lady?" Pinkie asked.
"Bon Bon, I'm her wife," Bon Bon introduced.
The three new arrivals were taken aback by this news.
"You're married?" Fluttershy asked.
"No, I just decided to spend my whole life with her cause I wanted someone to ba--yes I'm married," the Mandalorian deadpanned, getting a soft squeeze from her partner's hand. She looked back at Lyra with the cutest smile as she kissed her on the cheek. "And I don't regret one second of time with her."
"Aww, how romantic," Rarity cooed. "I'm glad you two found each other. And I'm especially glad to see you're still alive after all this time," she said, directing her eyes to Lyra.
"Not just us. You know Twilight's niece, Flurry Heart?"
"Y-Yes?" Fluttershy asked, worryingly.
"She's alive. She's with us, and well... she's our daughter," Lyra said, awkwardly.
"I thought she had perished a long time ago," Rarity asked.
"No, she's still alive. And more importantly, she's with us, and she's safe," Lyra confirmed, watching Flurry sit by the Sweetie Drop with some of the Team Six members. The group was having a few laughs, enjoying a few celebratory snacks for their victory, even if it was a hollow one. Lyra and Bon Bon's hands intertwined as they watched her, hearts warming at the sight of their daughter being so happy.
The rest of the Jedi looked back; Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all taken aback from how different she looked. Now they all remembered her as an infant, but to see her on the cusp of turning eighteenf, and looking like a young fighter? This was a new sight for them to take in for sure. Still sporting the clone trooper arm guards, work pants covered in dust and mud, and wearing a casual tank top.
"I wouldn't recommend crowding her right now," Lyra advised. "And I especially don't want any of you mentioning... you-know-what."
"What do... ohhhhhhh righhhhhttt," Pinkie remembered. "Yeahhhhh I don't know about you, but she has to know at some point."
"... No," Lyra bluntly said.
"Lyra, I know it's scary to imagine how she will react or feel, but you know something? It might make things better for you if you told her the truth. And it might make her better too."
Lyra's eyes narrowed at Pinkie. "Pinkie. I like you. But ARE YOU INSANE!?"
"No," Pinkie shook her head innocently.
"I... no. As long as I'm alive, we're not telling her the truth, she will hate us forever!"
"She'll be more mad if she knows you've been lying to her all this time--"
"--Enough!"
Lyra and Pinkie's eyes moved back to Sunset who looked like she was ready to explode. "I do not know whether it will makes things better or worse if she finds out, but that isn't important, and the last thing we need is more drama, got it?" She grit her teeth on that last remark, making both warriors shut up.
"Yes ma'am," both Lyra and Pinkie squeaked with fear.
"Thank you."
Awkward silence beheld them, until Rarity cleared her throat to try and change the subject. “Perhaps it is time we get caught up. What exactly has the Empire been planning?” Rarity asked.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. The past few months, we’ve just been delaying shipments of weapons, stopping invasions, rescuing people in need of help, that kind of thing. We got a tip from an inside source telling us they had some big plan going on, but they erased all the data before we could get more information on them,” Sunset paced back and forth.
“Hence why you were fighting on Terra,” Pinkie surmised.
“Exactly,” Sunset confirmed. “And since they erased all the data there, I need to go visit an old contact of mine to see if she’s picked up anything new.”
“Mind if we tag along? You could use the extra hand,” Applejack offered.
“I dunno, she’s kinda… well…” Sunset hesitated. “Kijimi’s not exactly fun nor welcome for us.”
“We’re wanted fugitives who just came out of hiding; we’re used to no longer being accepted by everyone,” Rarity rolled her eyes. “But more seriously darling, we should help you. Nothing wrong with extra numbers after all…”
“Well… I suppose having more hands would be nice,” Sunset considered.
“Come on, Sunset, we’re your friends, we’re back, let’s do a mission just like old times!” Pinkie pleaded. “Pleaseeeee????”
“Ohhhh alright,” Sunset playfully rolled her eyes. “You girls can come along.”
“Yay,” Fluttershy quietly cheered.
“But we need to get you three registered,” Sunset looked at the new additions, pointing at each of them. “It’s a safety thing; and it helps us keep track of how many of us there are.”
“And uh… maybe we can get lunch?” Rainbow Dash asked with a titter.
“… Didn’t I tell you to eat before we left?”
“Hey, you took the café seats, I was scouting with Applejack!”
Sunset raised a finger and then drooped. “Fair enough, I suppose lunch wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it’ll give you three a chance to get acquainted with the Rebels for a little bit.”
“Um, Sunset?” Fluttershy interrupted. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought all the animals with me?”
Sunset looked back at the open hangars of the troop carrier. The animals were all taking a nap, adorably sleeping in their own little nests and spots inside. Although the raptor was still freaky, it was nice to see it too, got along with the others without wanting to snack on any of them.
“I don’t think that’d be a problem. Although I’m not sure how many veterinarians we have in the Rebellion.”
“Actually, I was hoping they could work as a form of animal therapy. With how stressed out we all are with the war, I think it’d be a good idea for these animals to provide the stressfree care and affection we all need from time to time,” Fluttershy smiled warmly.
“That’s… actually not a bad idea,” Sunset grinned.
“I mean it’s working for Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy chuckled, seeing how happy Rainbow was snuggling Tank.
Soon after the cruiser arrived back to Yavin IV, everyone moved their stuff out and got ready to settle back in. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all got themselves registered and provided with passes to ensure the Rebellion could still mark them as allies just in case. Fluttershy moved her troop carrier to one of the hangar bays, in an empty space with plenty of room for her animals to hang out and chill without bothering anyone.
Eventually, Flurry Heart was properly introduced to the new arrival Jedi with plenty of warm welcomes from them all; especially from Pinkie Pie. Despite the fear of the assassin droid, no one hacked apart her family members of former Storm Army association. But the time for lunch was getting closer, with everyone's stomachs rumbling. The group was just about to move to the cafeteria, until Sunset stopped hearing a voice on her com device.
“General Shimmer.”
“Yes Captain, what is it?” Sunset asked, hitting the answer button.
“I’m down by the tarmac, and I think you need to see this. Someone brought in an X-Wing, but it doesn’t belong to any of us. This looks… just come down here.”
“Oookay… on my way," Sunset replied, hesitantly.
Following her, the rest of the Jedi Six walked with her down to the tarmac again to check out the strange vehicle. Nearby, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Flurry were sitting next to the Sweetie Drop in lawn chairs, enjoying the chance to sit still for a little bit, all the while embracing the warm sunshine that reflected on their pastel-colored skin.
And indeed, they could see what the captain was talking around. Surrounded by a bunch of technicians, engineers, parked underneath some trees, was an X-Wing. But this X-Wing wasn’t like anything they had ever seen, no one made this model. The engines looked like it split into halves, it was cleaner and sleeker, like it had just gotten fresh off the assembly line. Colored in golden yellows and purple highlights, with various tattoos plastered on the wings.
“Does this X-Wing belong to any of you?” One of the technicians asked, looking at Sunset and the Jedi Six.
“No, it doesn’t. We don’t have this model, this looks new. I don’t remember sending any commissions for new X-Wings…” Sunset thought.
“Okay, well what about any of you?” He pressed on, still wanting a direct answer.
“I trashed my ship back on Terra,” Pinkie said with no shame or embarrassment.
“I took the troop carrier,” Fluttershy added.
“I flew here in an N1 Starfighter,” Rarity projected.
“Lyra and Bon Bon took the Sweetie Drop to get back,” Applejack added.
“Well, we checked with everyone in the database, this ship doesn’t belong to anyone, yet someone came here. We’ve been conducting searches for the pilot, but there hasn’t been any sign of ‘em,” he continued.
Sunset looked at the ship again, studying the detail some more to see if there was something she was missing. She did notice another graphic; a sigil of a treble clef crossing with a diamond. Something about it seemed… familiar. Somehow. But she didn’t know what it was.
“Keep searching. In the meantime, we better look for our guest as well. If this ship was manned by someone, they can’t be too far gone. Keep your coms intact, eyes and ears open. Don’t let anyone get a drop on you,” Sunset ordered. “We--”
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh-ahhh
Sunset stopped. "Did anyone hear that?"
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh-ahhh
“Okay, am I crazy, did that song sound familiar?” Sunset feared, pulling out her lightsaber without turning it on.
“I heard it too,” Pinkie whispered, trying to listen again.
Everyone looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, until all eyes slowly turned around, seeing a figure emerge from the forests. Slow heels marched along the tarmac towards them, as if the figure didn't have a care in the world. Their body shrouded in a dark cloak, covering any physical appearances, with a Phase I clone trooper helmet obscuring their eyes; the blue paint faded from time.
Not hesitating, all six Jedi pulled out their lightsabers, igniting them one by one. Fluttershy's blade was shaped like a spear, with a small blade extended at the end of the staff, a bright green hue. Rarity's weapon, shaped like an ancient katana, sparkled with diamonds as the blade extended with baby blue. Pinkie Pie's sabers were in the form of two axes; each of them lighting with blue and pink respectively. Applejack's more simple saber was pulled out in defensive position. Rainbow Dash's double-bladed saber twirled around as she got into a fighting stance. Last of all, Sunset Shimmer stood with her blade, in an upright and determined position as if to give a warning.
The figure kept marching towards them, humming their ominous song ever more. Just then, rows of Rebel personnel and soldiers charged out of the base, surrounding the X-Wing and the group of Jedi. Lyra, Bon Bon, Flurry, and a few members of Team Six joined them as they surrounded the mystery figure.
“Who are you?” Sunset growled. “Take off the helmet.”
The stranger didn’t speak, but complied with the order. Her hands grabbed the helmet, pulling it off slowly to let her auburn curly locks appear from the hard helmet. And when she took it off, the girls gasped in shock and awe. That same light gold skin and magenta eyes, giving them that same, familiar seductive grin she was known for, still somehow looking fabulous even with the massive claw marks that stretched across her face.
“Sunset Shimmer. We meet again,” she greeted.
Sunset and the Jedi next to her couldn’t believe their eyes. That face was all they needed to know who she was.
“General, do you know this woman?” Admiral Raddus asked, raising one of his eyes.
“Yes, I do. Sith apprentice, Adagio Dazzle,” Sunset said, introducing the intruder to the Rebels.
“Formerly Sith, General. I’m just Adagio Dazzle now,” the Siren replied, nonchalantly. "I'm no longer aligned with them."
“I thought you were dead after the entire galaxy-wide Jedi purge,” Rainbow asked, putting her hands on her hips. “The Empire said you were dead.”
“Your reports of my death were greatly exaggerated, Rainbow Dash,” Adagio said, pulling off a black pilot glove to expose some metallic fingers wrapped around a black fingerless glove. “I escaped with some minor damage to the due, and now I am here. So lovely to meet all of you.”
Adagio looked at the temples her ship was so close to, taking in their structure. “I must say, I admire your choice for a base. This rustic, earth-meshing with technology, it’s a nice little place you have,” Adagio said with a confident smirk. And then over to Lyra and Bon Bon who stood by with Flurry, acting on protective instinct. “I take it she is yours?”
“If you go near my daughter, I will not hesitate to end your life,” Lyra growled.
“I don’t wish to harm her, I do not involve myself in hurting children. Besides, that's not why I'm here; I want to make a real friend, one that won’t stab me in the back,” Adagio said, still keeping that confident flair.
“Cut the crap. What’s the real reason you’re here?” Captain Sentry growled, speaking up.
“I know we’ve had our grievances in the past, and I’ve tried to inflict pain and misery upon you all during the Clone Wars. But as far as I know, the Clone Wars is over, and the Empire is the new threat. I believe the old saying goes ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. So, I thought I would come to all of you in hopes to join your side,” Adagio said.
“Yeah, right,” Rainbow scoffed.
“I’d sooner let Jabba the Hutt join the Rebellion than a witch like you,” Applejack glared.
“I don’t give a womp rat’s behind what she has to say. What could she possibly offer that we would want anyway?” Sunset scoffed, turning her back on her.
“Derpy Hooves is alive.”
Sunset froze in place, like someone shot her in the back. Those words coming from Adagio Dazzle, she knew it had to be something to spite her and make her angry. She knew this former Sith too well. The fiery-haired girl gave her an evil glare with one eye. “Don’t even joke about that, that’s not even a little bit funny.”
“I am not joking. Derpy is alive, she survived Order 66, along with a few others.”
Sunset thought more and more. She still wasn’t sure if she should have believed her or not.
“If you have a punchline Adagio, just use it.”
Adagio still looked at her with a serious face, not breaking into laughter or smirks at all. “There is no punchline, Sunset Shimmer. Because it is not a joke.”
Now Sunset wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. Curious to hear where she was going to go with her words, she gave Adagio her full attention.
“You’re serious aren’t you? You’re saying Derpy is alive?”
Adagio nodded.
“And why should we believe you?”
Adagio waited for her to finish, and then looked at Flurry, feigning some somberness in her voice. “Look at you all. You all have a team. You have each other. I have nothing. I’ve lost everything. I have nothing more to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore…”
“If you think I’m going to fall for that Adagio, you’re dead wrong. You’ve manipulated me before, it’s not going to—”
“She’s not dead you idiot!”
Adagio reached into her side, which made everyone cock their weapons.
“Will you relax, I’m getting my projector,” Adagio rolled her eyes, pulling out her handheld device. The holoprojection turned on, revealing a planet on the display. “Ajan Kloss. Not too far from this world. Jungle environment, best place other than Sorgan to find krill. Popular in the summertime, perfect vacation residence, and popular to Trandoshans for sport. But she is located here, and she’s not alone.”
“And how do you know she’s there?” Rainbow folded her arms.
“I took a stop there to buy some food from local farmers. But when I wandered about, I saw a very interesting structure made out of old Republic vehicles, along with a handful of clothes that I can imagine belong to her; especially since none of the villagers are close to her figure. And I believe the last time I checked, she was living with a handful of men.”
“And you’re telling all of this to get on our good side?”
“If you’re not willing to trust me, then I’m just going to have to earn your trust. I know none of you are stupid enough to just let me waltz on in, so I thought if I did everything I could to be supportive to your cause, maybe I might get a chance at redemption.”
Sunset and the girls looked at each other, each one silently shrugging or giving some expressions that showed clear distrust. Even Pinkie Pie didn't like the idea of bringing her on, but Sunset let out a sigh. Her friends may not have trusted her, and she herself didn't believe her either. But if she was telling the truth, even if it was on the tiniest chance of possibility, she'd have to.
“Okay Adagio. You want a chance to prove yourself? We’ll give you that chance,” Sunset agreed. Adagio smiled briefly, but stopped when she felt the metallic cuffs slapped on her wrists. She could move her wrists slightly to reach, but not that far. “… But until you do, I’m afraid you’re going to have to wear those for a little bit,” Sunset said, rather sternly. “Only as a precaution; don’t want you wandering around with a possibility you could be lying. We have a rather unfortunate history with letting Dark Siders being free.”
“I’d argue with you, but you are much more fair and forgiving than the Empire. I’ll agree. I must admit, it’s not my first time being in cuffs you know,” she said suggestively, giving a naughty wink.
“Yeah, let’s not delve into any of your personal private times, can we? We do have non-legals here, I’d rather not them hear what you like to do in your off time.”
“Oh, hush. I wouldn’t dream of it; not near the seventeen-year-old of course,” Adagio said, noting Flurry’s disturbed and confused face. “But to the other adults…” Adagio chuckled lightly. “Oh I can certainly turn a few heads.”
“Whatever,” Sunset rolled her eyes, stepping away from Adagio. “Lyra, Bon Bon?” The married couple looked at Sunset. “I know we just got back, but do either of you mind going on a quick search mission?”
Lyra shrugged and Bon Bon gave an affirming shrug as well.
“I’m okay with that. Need us to take the Siren here?” Lyra deadpanned.
“Yes please. And if you need to, please take some more numbers with her. She may have given herself to us to start anew, but I don’t trust her,” Sunset sighed.
“You were a Sith at one point, weren’t you?” Adagio called.
“Apprentice. I chose to join the Jedi on my own free will,” Sunset explained.
"We'd be happy to investigate Sunset, no worries. We just a few more volunteers, and we'll be good to go," Lyra looked around.
The surrounding Rebels said nothing as they glared at Adagio. No one volunteered, or made a peep to the rest of the group. Winds whistled in awkward silence, accompanied by one person in the background coughing, and another blowing their nose.
"Oh come on, we can't go alone, pleaaaaaseeeeee?" Flurry begged like a six-year-old.
"... Begging like a child actually worked? Okay, that's not a good lesson to let me think will work, just saying," Flurry puzzled.
Several minutes later
Everyone awkwardly sat outside the tarmac, eating lunch. The conversation was lackluster, so to speak. Adagio Dazzle's prescence didn't help matters either, and even she kept her mouth shut except when enjoying some deliciously cooked meals. Sunset and the rest of the Jedi had daggers glaring right at the Siren, and Adagio just kept eating as if nothing was wrong. Despite the fact she was in cuffs, she had enough wrist movement to enjoy her food without it being a hassle or inconvience.
"Mmm. This is tasty," Adagio wiped her lips. "My compliments to your chefs."
No one responded.
"... Okay, this is really awkward, um. I'm just going to eat in the ship, let me know when you're all ready to go," Flurry deadpanned, getting away from the group.
Adagio Dazzle casually walked towards the Sweetie Drop with IG-11, Gallus, and Smolder marching behind her, adding extra security to make sure she didn't pull any fast ones. Everyone was expecting annoyance from the added precaution, but she still remained calm and casual as if none of this was bothering. Even her demeanor felt genuine, and not a facade.
Lyra and Bon Bon waited by the cockpit, flipping the switches to prepare for take off.
"All crew members in?" Lyra asked into the coms.
"Cheep, G-G, Eleven, Gallus, Smolder, Adagio, and I are all here and accounted for," Flurry replied back.
"Great. Now strap yourselves in, we're getting ready for take off," Bon Bon finished.
At the same time, Sunset Shimmer and the rest of the former Jedi Council were gathered and heading off into their own freighter for Sunset's mission. Spike and R2 followed behind them, moving into the vessel. Each of the Jedi strapped themselves in so they were safe, all the while Sunset and the droids moved to the main cockpit. A pilot was already sitting inside; a dark, tall, sleek droid with slender arms and legs that reached controls beyond most humans reach.
"I trust everyone will stay in their seats and won't move about when we prepare for liftoff?"
"Yes, K2. Everyone is safe."
"Would you like the probability of them completely disregarding safety?" K2 asked.
Sunset, R2, and Spike all slowly turned their heads to glare at him as he focused on the general.
"It's high."
"Let's just get going."
"It is very high."
The ship's engines rumbled and shook, making everyone a little jittery from the shakes. But eventually, the freighter pulled itself up into the air and took off for the skies, leaving a trail of dust behind it. The Sweetie Drop wasn't too far behind, both ships leaving together into Yavin IV's atmosphere before both moving in their own separate directions.
"We'll be in touch if something goes wrong," Sunset said into the coms. "Just be careful about Adagio. I want to give her a chance, but somethig still feels off about her."
"You're not the only one, Sunset. We're keeping the cuffs on her like you said. I just hope she wasn't lying about Derpy."
"You and me both. Let's just stay optimistic on this one. Over and out," Sunset smiled.
"See you in a day or two, Sunset. May the Force be with you."
Sunset pulled the lever, priming the hyperdrive engines. Light flashed outside of the ship and with a single jump, the freighter holding Sunset Shimmer and her friends left Yavin IV, now on their way to meet the contact. At the same time, the Sweetie Drop left a few minutes later, punching it into hyperspace as well, moving their way to Ajan Kloss, hoping their old friend was still alive after all this time.
Lightning surged above the barren lands surrounding the fortress Midnight resided. Despite the intensity in the skies that was dangerous to ships smaller than a snubfighter, it didn't strike at the ground unless a metallic rod directed its path.
Inside the castle was just as protected as the Star Destroyers that hovered above the atmosphere. Lightning echoed, with very few tremors that shook; only creating mild annoyances to the officers working. It especially wasn't annoying for the teen who entered a large empty room, shrouded in a cloak. A few white lights turned on, making the darkness showcase many metal plating reinforcing the floors and walls.
The teen stood silent, slowly breathing in and out. Inhale and exhale, as her master had instructed many times before. Quiet filled the room as she calmed her mind, listening carefully.
Click.
She moved her head to the side, facing a barren wall. Just then, a pair of metal feet slammed onto the ground behind her. And another. And another. And another. All four pairs of feet moved around her, before the hands of the guards began twirling their batons around, each of them sparking purple electricity from their ends. The droids were all repurposed IG-100 Magnaguards, warriors from the Clone War long ago. Once they fought for the Separatists before they were turned to the Storm Empire, now they served as training droids for the teen in this fortress.
The first one twirled his staff around at the student's head, forcing her to duck and roll to the side, igniting a simple red plasma blade. She brought up the blade in a defensive position, just as the second guard swung his electrostaff down, blocking it. Once he was locked on target, she pushed back with her strength before lifting up her hand, throwing the guard across the room into a metallic spike that was protruding out of the wall.
The third Magnaguard swung from behind, making her quickly turn around to defensive position, locked in a battle between one force of strength versus another. The first guard was about to attack just as she was vulnerable, but the student let herself go with enough strength to allow the guard to swing, and straight at her third opponent. The attack was short, allowing the apprentice time to charge forward and slash the first guard's head clean off, and make a strike through the red glowing eye in the chest, ensuring it wouldn't come back online.
Stepping to the side as the fourth guard charged forward, the second one was coming towards her once again. Changing tactics, the student waited as it got closer before holding her blade like a dagger, pushing it straight into the chest of the oncoming guard, making sparks fizzle and a series of malfunctioning beeps emit from the voicebox.
Now all that remained was herself, and the fourth guard. She stood up, turning around to face the fourth. It turned into a standoff, one against one. Her eyes tensed as she quickly became attentive towards her foe, who was taking several steps forward to begin a running charge. Twirling the staff around, the Magnaguard got ready for one final blow; but the apprentice made no step nor change in her stance.
The Magnaguard was getting closer and was about to lunge at her, until it was locked in the air by an unseen force. It kicked and struggled to charge, but an energy prevented it from striking. The apprentice looked forward, a pair of golden eyes glowing sinisterly as it focused on the droid. Both hands lifted up, palms open before slowly closing with clenching muscles.
Sparks began to burst all around the droid's body, his head looking with fear as parts and pieces were flying off his structure. Plates were falling apart, and bolts bounced on the floor. Just then, some of the plates started to crush from within, breaking as if someone were denting them with a blunt object, and the eyes turned to shattered glass. All of the pieces that began to break were being forced against their joints, twisting and turning into a metal pretzel before being crushed into a sphere of garbage, no longer resembling the droid that once stood.
A soft breath emitted from the student as she calmed herself down, having used much of her energy to try and destroy it. The only thing left on her mind was whether or not she had done well today.
The doors opened up. The figure standing outside the room marched into the room, artificial breathing echoing to kill the silence. Midnight herself looked at the damage done to the Magnaguards, disarmed and defeated with no means of rising back up right away. She looked to her student, her breathig still echoing.
"Well done, my student. You have passed another test."
The hood came down, revealing a pink-skinned girl with golden curled hair, a chipper smile on her face.
"Thank you, Master. You really think I passed?"
"I do. I saw your performance; moving swiftly without causing too much destruction, channeling your hatred into just your enemy and not the environment around you, and you have successfully defeated your enemy and ensured they won't rise back up right away. You're getting stronger with the Dark Side, Luster."
"Thank you, Master," Luster bowed.
"Now, have you gotten any breakfast?"
"... um... no," Luster hesitated.
Midnight's head tilted forward. "My apprentice, what have I told you?"
"... Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," Luster defeatedly said.
"You need your strength in battle, but you also can't start with an empty stomach," Midnight's hand softly rubbed her student's shoulders like a mother. "Now go get yourself something to eat, I will call the cleanup crew."
"Yes, master," Luster nodded before making her exit.
Shortly after she left the facility, she went back to her quarters to grab a few personal items. It didn't take long for her to find them, and soon she started to walk through the fortress halls. Stepping out of her wing, she entered a hall with a few guards posted at a few doors, and a few troopers standing by, awaiting orders from any superior officers. Luster took a deep breath before walking forward, past a few of them.
"Hey Luster," one of the Midnight troopers greeted.
Luster smiled adorably as she stopped in front of one of them. "Hey RC-2351."
"Ready for a rematch later today?"
"Of course, love to!" Luster squeaked.
"Sounds good to me. Getting breakfast?"
"Yeah, I kinda neglected to get some food," Luster blushed.
"Alright then, I'll let you go about your business," the trooper nodded.
"Bye!" Luster waved as she set off again. Turning left, she gave a small nod to two particular guards; clad in red armor and cloaks; black visors resembling the shape of Mandalorian warriors with more angular visors. The two of them didn't move from position, but did get a resounding nod to Luster as she went past them, recognizing the student of their employer.
Just around another bend, swinging past a small squad of soldiers were two officers; one Equestrian and a black human, talking to one another.
"I heard supposedly Lady Midnight herself has an interest in Dathomir," the Equestrian said, picking up where their conversation started.
"What can be so important down there? Isn't that place crawling with witches and voodoo?"
"No idea. Supposedly the Storm King led a raid down there back in the Clone Wars and wiped them out, but I wouldn't know, I wasn't there," the officer replied.
Luster stopped in her tracks, turning back around to step in briefly. "My master is interested in Dathomir?"
"Possibly."
"Hey, don't get her hopes up, you'll just disappoint her," the other officer said, sternly but calm.
Luster shrugged off the remarks. "It's okay. I'll believe it when my teacher gives me the okay. See you two around."
The student finally made it to the front doors of the spotless cafeteria. While most of the Empire's resources for food was reliant on simple rations that provided the nutrients their soldier needed, the cafeteria on Midnight's castle was a little more special; the food provided had more substance and above all, flavoring, something the lowest of ranks could only dream of tasting.
Luster's first stop was the drink station, settling for a healthful dispense of blue milk in a medium-sized cup. Next came her actual meal. Freshly cooked stacks of griddle cakes steamed from the hot plates, with a variety of toppings including syrup, fruits, and small portions of butter. Last of all were her utensils, and soon she found a spot to sit down, not bothering any of her collaborates within the mess hall.
Most of the tables were open for anyone to come and sit, but the student chose to just sit by a table with some officers sitting around. They didn't mind her presence, it was rather refreshing seeing the bright and chipper student every now and again, especially in a dreary fortress such as this one. Besides, the Inquisitors never sat themselves among 'their kind', mostly because their ranks were higher.
Despite the company, the ones surrounding her today weren't very interested in talking to her, judging by the disinterested expressions as they averted their eyes. But in turn, Luster also put on a disinterested expression, focusing on her breakfast. But for the rest of the hour, Luster internally wondered if anyone would accompany her, or want to spark a conversation. Or if there was anyone here or outside of the Empire she could talk to...
Elsewhere in hyperspace, the freighter holding Sunset and her friends was moving at a steady speed. Despite hesitation from Fluttershy and Rarity, Sunset reassured the girls that K2-SO was more than capable to drive them despite being an Imperial droid. Realizing they still had hours ahead, Sunset led the girls out of the main cockpit down a hallway through the ship. The fiery-haired girl was desiring some much needed catching up time, and this trip was the perfect chance to have it. Besides, K2-S0 was in control, he could keep the ship stable while they were in hyperspace.
“Can we make an agreement?” Sunset proposed as she led the girls down the hall to the living area on the freighter.
“Sure,” everyone agreed, following her.
“One; I want us to become friends again like we used to be, and for us to find ourselves and bond with each other whenever our free time permits us. Can we agree to that?”
“Yeah,” the girls agreed, not having any complaints about that request.
“Two; I want us to watch each other’s backs, as well as those of our allies and people we may not understand. We’re in this war together, and we should help each other. Can we agree to that?”
“Okay,” everyone answered, still on board with her terms.
“Three; I want us to be completely open and honest with each other, so we can clear any drama amongst ourselves, and keep our heads focused where they should be, and not have any animosity towards each other. I also want you guys to make friends with people within the Rebellion, even if it might be shocking and painful.”
Sunset poured the last of the blue milk into the cups and slowly pulled the tray over to the booth. Pinkie and Rainbow pushed chairs from the small control station built into the wall and sat across from the four girls who sat in the cushiony booth.
“Okay, now that we have that out of the way… I honestly don’t know where to start, I'm still too happy to see you guys,” Sunset squeaked, getting a giggle from her friends. It was adorable seeing her so happy.
“What have you guys been up to all this time?” Rainbow asked, leaning back in her chair.
“Yes, please, tell us!” Sunset insisted.
“Pinkie, why don’t you start us off,” Rarity offered.
“Okay!” Pinkie chirped. “Wellll, I kinda went off to the edge of the universe for about five minutes, I got really bored. I bounced over to Daiyu, but I couldn’t find work there, I didn’t want to make money in spice. I tried working on Ord Mantell, but no business opportunities for me; at least, not for someone who used to be associated with… the Republic,” Pinkie emphasized sadly. “Buuuut I did manage to settle down on a nice spot over on Carpenthia! The people there are really nice to me... and, well, someone else I haven't had time to mention."
“Funny you say that, we actually have a few Carpenthians in the Rebellion,” Sunset forewarned. “I’ll admit, I did find them a bit creepy when I first met them. I know that’s their natural skin, but they look so rotting and decaying, I was honestly wondering if I needed to call a doctor,” she shivered.
“Eh, it’s not new to me,” Pinkie shrugged off, taking a sip of her milk. “It did take some time to get used to not fighting anymore. Especially when the Empire rose up.”
“Yeahh…” everyone sighed.
“What about you, Fluttershy?” Applejack interjected, wanting to pick up the conversation.
“I stayed on Kashyyyk. The Wookiees took me and gave me a home,” Fluttershy replied. “They even gave me this armor to welcome me into their kind,” she said, gesturing to the shoulder and chest armor. “But when the Empire started to attack Kashyyyk I had to run. I tried to fight back, but they just kept coming. Even after escaping, I tried to do what I could to help free them from prison camps, but I can’t do any of it on my own. So, after that… I was just on my own.”
“In a troop carrier?” Sunset asked. “That’s not exactly something I’d imagine you driving in.”
“I went down to Equestria to hide again. All the animals I took care for managed to bring me to safety, and I wanted to keep them safe as well. So, they showed me an abandoned troop carrier on a landing pad. It basically became my house, and so I just kept flying around, trying to find a home. Until I got your signal.”
“Uh-huh,” Sunset said, understanding.
“What about you, Rarity? Where’d you go?”
“I tried to find an apartment on Naboo, but the prices inflated to an absurd degree, and the Empire inflicted its will on everyone, I had to get out! I thought about going back home to Equestria and going back to Ponyville, but the Empire went there too!” Rarity complained. “And I hope she’s okay but, I… I…”
And everyone braced themselves for another freakout, knowing how much Rarity over-exaggerated. This however was definitely not going to be an exaggeration.
“MY HOUSE WAS RUINNNNNNEEEEDDDDDD!!!!” Rarity wailed, hitting her face against the table. “My entire house, burned to the ground! I was HOMELESSSSSSSSSS!”
Pinkie softly patted Rarity’s back, frowning.
“Wait, if you were homeless, where’d you go?” Applejack asked, wanting to know more. "And what about Sweetie Belle?"
“I DON'T KNOW!!!! I tried to find her, but she wasn't there! I hope Sweetie Belle is still okay, but I couldn't find her, or my mum and dad. I had no choice, so... I went to Daiyu! I had to get a small apartment filled with rats, and I couldn’t even fall back on making clothes! All the major clothing factories in the galaxy weren’t opening, and I was a wanted criminal! I had to go for a.. less than classy line of profession,” Rarity shivered.
The girls didn’t like the sound of what she was implying.
“I had to make spiceeeeeeeeee!!!!” Rarity wailed some more.
“… okay, that’s not at all what I thought you were going to say,” Rainbow winced.
“Honestly, Rainbow—” Rarity went in a complete 180 to suddenly calm and uptight like this was a daily occurrence. “—I am much more classy than to put myself through debauchery. I could never dream of it!” She said, sticking her head up in a rather snooty behavior. And two seconds later after taking a sip of her drink she went back to wailing like a child. “—But I still had to make spice! Do you know how hard it is to make something that makes you sneeze and crazy?”
She slammed her fist against the table. “I could have made so many unique dresses, vests, pants, outfits to help people blend in and stay hidden from the Empire and protect them from predators! And the only job available was spice! Can you even imagine!? Not making food, clothes, furniture, fixing spaceships. All of these possible openings, and all of these things people need and like… And they like CRACK!!!”
The sound of squeaking wheels rolled into the room as Spike pushed a small ramp from the corner towards the table. And he slowly rolled to the top of it, finally meeting at everyone’s eye levels.
“Sorry, just wanted to make sure K2 still kept on course. What are we talking about?” Spike asked, his little claws holding each other.
“Pinkie's caught up with the Carpenthians, Fluttershy's living in a troop carrier, and Rarity became a crack dealer,” Sunset bluntly answered, not beating around the bush.
The response was enough to make Applejack spit-take across the wall, hacking and coughing.
“… I think I need context, but I’m not going to ask right now,” Spike rubbed the side of his dome.
“But we are catchin’ up, at least tryin’ to,” Applejack quickly wiped away the milk that was spat against the wall. But when she sat back down, she remembered something. “Say, we never really heard what you’ve done since we’ve gotten back together.”
“Yeah, what gives Spike? Come on, what have you been doing since the end of… well?”
“Girls, I’m not sure he’s comfortable going into that detail,” Sunset feared.
“But if you want to, we are more than willing to listen darling,” Rarity reassured.
“No, it’s… it’s okay,” Spike said. “Sunset knows, but I can tell you myself.” The astromech sighed for a moment, sounding a bit sad to be telling this story. “After the war ended, I kinda lost myself. I stayed with Flash since Sunset went off to Ord Mantell with R2. For a while, I tried to make myself useful in more peaceful work, but I just couldn’t. Some months passed, and Flash and I agreed to try and help Jedi who were still out there and in hiding.”
A hologram projected in front of them, showcasing several wanted pictures of Jedi who had survived Order 66. The girls only recognized some of them; Ahsoka Tano, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Mystery Mint, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Melody, to name a few.
“But with each rescue we attempted. With each passing Jedi we found and tried to help… it always ended the same.”
New photos displayed, showing profile shots of select Jedi from the Equestrian Jedi Temple; Watermelody, Velvet Sky, Tennis Match, Indigo Wreath, Brawly Beats, Sandalwood, and even Micro Chips. All of their posters marked with big X’s over their pictures.
“They died. Captured. Executed publicly. We were always too late, or one step behind the Empire.”
The pictures continued to flash, showing more friends that had died throughout the years. Friends that the girls couldn’t have imagined getting killed, or even the Empire having the chance to wipe them out. And the list of names didn’t help either.
Spike turned off the holoprojector and sat quietly for a second. “After a while, I just… I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to hope or think we’d have somewhat of a chance to help anyone. So I just… went offline.”
There was a solemn silence around the table. Sunset understood this well, but everyone else? No one had any idea what had gone on.
“Spike…?”
“You… went offline?”
“Oh Spike…”
Spike sighed. “I just, I didn’t know what else to do! I couldn’t help anyone, all I did was make things worse, and every time I did try to help, something horrible went wrong, and it only furthered why everything just wasn’t worth it. And don’t tell me that wasn’t the answer, because what else was I supposed to do!?”
The astromech stopped himself before he yelled more. His friends didn’t deserve that, he didn’t need to go off on them.
“You’ve held that in for a long time, haven’t you?” Applejack frowned.
“I’ve had to live with this every day for the past sixteen years. All of you were gone, I barely knew Flash. I thought I was better off being a piece of junk rusting in a corner that didn’t hurt anyone than to be someone who just made things worse.”
A solemn bit of silence filled the room once more.
“W-Well, I mean… we’re back together now, right?” Pinkie asked, trying to find some way to spin this conversation into a positive direction. “And now that we are, we can definitely stop Darth Midnight for real this time.”
“Yeah… we could,” Spike said, unsure of what the outcome would be.
“Bwoop boop.”
R2-D2 rolled around the corner, wanting to be a part of the conversation.
“Oh, hey R2. Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you back there,” Spike rubbed the back of his dome awkwardly. “I’ve uh… I needed to speak to them.”
“Beep. Beeep brrrt boop brrrt.”
“Thanks buddy. I appreciate it,” Spike acknowledged.
“R2, how much farther are we til we arrive?”
“Bweep boop brrrt booop,” R2 replied.
“Perfect!” Sunset climbed out of her seat (literally), throwing herself across the table and back on her feet just to run up to the cockpit. The girls were left a bit confused and disgusted by their food now splattered on the floor and the ground.
“You could have just asked us to get up!” Rainbow shouted as Sunset went to the cockpit. “Just saying!”
The ship jumped out of hyperspace, outside of their destination; the Mid-Rim world of Kijimi.
Kijimi was surrounded by mountainous landscapes. Weather conditions consistently cold and icy. Thick blankets of snow draped across the mountains and cities. Populations were limited to citizens looking for home away from Imperial regiments, and criminals looking for work regardless of the job. Thievery, villainy, and debauchery of all kind were present here; while not on par with Tatooine, it was still aplenty.
The transport landed softly outside of the main city, hidden behind the cover of some mountain rock. The door opened up, and the group walked out. The first to exit were the Jedi, all draped in hoods and ponchos to cover themselves; somehow even Rarity managed to get a hoodie for the Togruta headdress she applied before stepping out the ship. The group had no clue if anyone would recognize them or not, but the more conspicuous they were, the better. And right behind them was Spike, R2, and K2-S0.
“Well, here we are. Kijimi. Not the most popular place in the galaxy, but it’s a place,” Sunset said, adjusting her poncho.
“Who’s this contact you got here, anyway?” Applejack asked, adjusting her hat.
“Her name is Ackmena, she’s a good person to talk to. A bit sarcastic, but only if you ask her stupid questions. Now remember, we must blend in,” Sunset summarized. “You guys,” she said, looking at the droids, “stay with the ship.”
“I can blend in. I’m an Imperial droid, and this city has numerous Imperial occupants,” K2 suggested.
“Maybe so, but if you’re seen walking by, they might question what you’re doing and where you’re going with us, and frankly I didn’t have enough time to conjure up an alibi,” Sunset replied.
“We’ll be back soon, darlings!” Rarity cooed, waving to them, hiding her eyes behind a pair of glasses.
K2 just stood there awkwardly, looking back at Spike and R2. “I suspect Imperial occupations are going to find them before they even set one foot into that bar.”
R2 just blew a raspberry at K2, rolling back inside the ship.
“I’m capable of finding them on my own, thank you very much!”
--
Under the guise of cloaks, the Jedi Six walked into the cold, snowy, city. The wind blew harshly, making their faces sting as they trudged along the cobblestone steps and streets, despite some covering their eyes with goggles. Around them, they could see civilians minding their own business in winter wear just like them. Some of them were the usual races you’d see; human, Ithorian, Twi’lek, Rodians, etc. And to her surprise, she saw a few Talz species, and some Kyuzos.
And while the wind blew cold, the girls felt a few short bursts of warmth flow right past them. In the alleyway next to them where some garbage bins laid, they could see some people huddling near some burning canisters, presumably hobos or homeless people trying their best to make do with what little they had.
“I can’t believe there are still regions of the galaxy that have to deal with this kind of environment,” Rarity whimpered, looking at a poor little Twi’lek girl trying to stay warm next to her father. She stared for a moment, depressed by the sight. The others could see her looking back at them, but they nudged her to keep moving.
“I know you want to help them, but we can’t right now,” Sunset said, sadly. “We need to keep moving.”
“Yes, I… I suppose we should,” Rarity sighed, walking away.
"I promise when this war is over, and we get the New Republic in place, we're going to ensure things like that don't happen to anyone ever again," Sunset said, with a little seethe in her voice.
"Sounds like you've had experience," Fluttershy inquired.
“I know what it's like to be in poverty, hoping to find a home. Takobo, Tatooine, Lothal, Coruscant. It wasn’t until I made a mistake of going to Garel City, somewhere, I don’t remember the planet, but that’s where Tempest found me and took me in,” Sunset explained, looking around them.
The girls took another turn, walking into a path that could lead to four different ways. One up a flight of steps leading higher up the mountain city. Another just leading to another street. A third path that cut directly into a bar. And the last direction that just went further below the city which was where they just walked up.
Before they could think about making another turn, they froze in their tracks. All of them heard a very audible click of a blaster priming. Mainly at Sunset Shimmer, as she felt a barrel at the back of her head. Slowly she raised her hands up and turned her head to look at whoever was pointing the gun. It was not someone she knew, but Sunset knew straight away the mystery voice was armed. She was clad from the neck down in a burgundy jumpsuit with bronze straps and braces up and down her arms and legs. Over their head she wore a shimmering gold helmet with a black visor that obscured her face.
“It’s been a long time since a Jedi came waltzing into this cesspool,” said the woman behind the battered gold mask. “I thought, ‘hey, they’re not stupid enough to come back here’. Apparently I was wrong.”
“How do you even know I’m a Jedi?’ Sunset questioned.
“You’re doing a poor job of hiding your weapon,” she continued, gesturing to the glaringly obvious weapon on her belt. “And that goes for all of you.”
“What if we just happened to steal… those…” Rainbow and the others finally saw who was aiming the blaster at their friend. At first, she didn’t know what to think. But without restraint, she started to snicker. “Um… what are you wearing?”
And Pinkie was snickering as well.
“It’s a spacesuit,” she said, not showing any signs of laughter.
“You look like you’re auditioning for Coruscant’s Top Model!” Rainbow burst out laughing, with Pinkie cracking up as well.
And the masked woman replied by shooting a blast into the ground near her feet. “One more joke and I blast your brains into the snow. I don’t think that would be a pretty image.”
Pinkie giggled. “She was complimenting you, silly!”
“Is she always this stupid?”
“No I’m—hey!” Pinkie glared.
“She’s not dumb, she’s our friend. And who are you?” Fluttershy folded her arms.
“You won’t live long enough to find out. Now I have a question for you—” And when she clicked her blaster again, several more masked figures in similar style appeared out of nowhere to join her. “A few years ago, a Mandalorian did business with me. And I know she was with a minty green Jedi, something you ladies would know a lot about. Where are they?”
Silently, the Jedi exchanged glances. They knew who she meant. But it was not like they were going to flat out reveal who they were.
“Look, ma’am, I don’t know who you are,” Sunset began, lowering her arms. “I’m sorry that a Mandalorian did something lousy here, but I have no control of it. We’re looking for someone. Do you know where Ackmena’s bar is?”
“Even if I did know, I still wouldn’t tell you.” The woman’s head turned, hearing several communications a few blocks away. She looked over, seeing a few Imperials talking to each other, chatting about random things. “And you just bought my ticket off this planet…”
“Now, listen, let’s talk about this darling,” Rarity insisted, stepping forward. “We just want to discuss this—"
“Jakangah!”
“--Oh well,” Rarity sighed.
Sunset swung her leg around, kicking the weapon out of the woman’s hand. And she made another swing when she was about to pull out a second gun. Rainbow Dash Force-slammed one of the gunmen against a brick wall, with a blanket of snow falling on his body. Rarity and Fluttershy yanked the weapons out of a few hitmen through the Force, and then waited as Pinkie and Applejack performed a few powerful punches to throw them to the ground.
And as the leader of the pack tried to get back up, she was met with a blue lightsaber blade ignited and pointed at her face.
“I’m going to try this again. Where is Ackmena’s bar?” Sunset tried again.
“You’re insane if you think I’m going to give you an answer,” the leader grunted.
“Maybe we shouldn’t do this out here,” Rarity said. “There are a few Imperial patrols coming our way, we don’t want to be seen.”
“So what do we do with her then?” Applejack asked, looking at the helmeted woman.
--
“Girls, this is a really bad idea!” Sunset stressed.
The group was now deep in the basement of this stranger’s home. All around, there was a bunch of spare parts and machines around; a droid workshop. Computers, wiring, all sorts of equipment integrated into the stone walls and floors. And as for the woman that tried to sic her gang on them? She was now tied to a chair, hands and legs all tied, and a blaster pointed at the back of her helmet to keep her aware that any sound she made would get her shot.
“Did we really need to tie her up?” Fluttershy questioned.
“She was going to call the Empire, wasn’t she?” Rainbow shrugged off, leaning against a metal shelf that thankfully did not rock or fall from her weight.
“Even then, I don’t think kidnapping was the best option,” Rarity frowned.
“Don’t worry, we aren’t going to be here that long,” Applejack replied. She looked to Sunset. “Wasn’t there something that you were looking for? Didn’t you have a plan?”
Sunset turned around to look at her friends, standing still in complete silence. She was quiet for a moment or two, thinking. Her friends were waiting for her to say something, anything.
“… I completely forgot why we came here.”
All of them collectively facepalmed.
“Wait, agh, sorry. Ackmena, we need to find Ackmena,” Sunset rubbed her temples. “Sorry, I kept thinking about where an Imperial might show up.”
“Well, we should be asking her questions,” Rainbow glared at the tied up woman.
Fluttershy pushed Applejack’s blaster away from the helmeted woman’s head. “Okay, we’re going to try this again. Please tell us where we can find Ackmena’s bar? … And do it in the next five minutes, we can’t stay,” Fluttershy pleaded with those beautiful blue eyes that anyone could get lost in.
And Pinkie extended a lightsaber, holding it out and pointing at her with a straight face. “You have the right to wear gold, so please tell us what we need to know!”
The woman groaned in exhaustion. “Fine. You need to go a couple of blocks up the stairs and make a left past the neon sign. Do not step into the building with the Xesh’s on them, that’s the strip club. You’ll find a bar a few stores past it, facing off into a frozen fountain.”
The girls looked at each other, nodding approvingly.
“Now was that so hard?” Applejack asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“It was,” she glared.
Pinkie walked behind her with her lightsaber still out, and the woman’s eyes closed, waiting to hear the slash. A slashing sound was heard, but it wasn’t against her body or her skin. Instead, she felt her hands no longer held together and coming loose. Slowly she pulled them out, gripping her strained wrists.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
“You’re free, silly,” Pinkie said, putting her weapon away.
“Why?”
“Well, why not? You helped us!” Pinkie replied.
“You’re not going to kill me, or rip my skin off my body, or… rip my skull out as a trophy?”
Now all of them were looking at her with disturbed faces.
“I don’t know what kind of people you hang out with, but that’s not what we do,” Applejack shook her head.
“Miss, you helped us with information we needed. We weren’t going to keep you locked up in here, we’re not Sith Lords,” Rarity said, waving her hand around. “Come, come, everyone. Let’s go find Ackmena.”
One by one, everyone walked up the stairs and left the woman as she got back on her feet. Rarity was first, then Rainbow Dash, then Fluttershy, and Applejack, then Pinkie Pie, and last of them all was Sunset Shimmer. But before she left, she looked back at the woman in the red jumpsuit.
“What’s your name, again?”
The woman was hesitant to speak, but after thinking momentarily, she spoke again. “Zorii. Zorii Bliss.”
“Thank you, Zorii Bliss. I hope whatever business you have here continues to run smoothly. May the Force be with you,” she smiled before leaving. And all the while the woman in the burgundy jumpsuit stood there, baffled by what just happened.
Why didn't they kill me? Why were they being nice to me? ... Kidnapping me still, but no hate? No anger?
The trip on board the Sweetie Drop was… awkward, to say the least. Lyra and Gallus sat in the pilot seats keeping the ship in hyperspace, while the rest of the crew stood around to keep an eye on Adagio. They were gathered in the family ‘living room’ of sorts, with Adagio sitting at the holochess table, while everyone else either sat in a different booth away from her, or in the computer chair. Smolder leaned against a wall, staring at their ‘prisoner’, all the while Bon Bon sat in her chair, glaring at the new arrival with guardian eyes, ready to pounce if she made a wrong move.
Flurry Heart was over in the kitchen, getting herself and some of the crew members some snacks, mostly out of a request from her mother to keep her far away from the Siren as possible. Despite being in handcuffs, Adagio’s mood didn’t change. She just casually leaned back in the cushioned booth, legs crossed looking very comfortable.
“Does anyone want to sit; I can scoot over if you’d like?” Adagio offered.
“No thanks, I tend to make it a habit to not be within a few inches close to potential predators,” Bon Bon snarled.
Adagio rolled her eyes. “If you think I’m going to do something harmful to your daughter, forget about it. I have no desire to hurt her."
“Kind of hard to forget when you’ve learned about every ounce of history and horrid acts that you’ve done,” Bon Bon said, keeping her arms folded.
“And just what have I done that could be so bad?” Adagio asked, still casual.
“Oh I don’t know, being a Sith?”
“Former Sith, Mandalorian. I switched sides when I discovered I had no purpose within their cult,” Adagio shrugged.
“Attacking Jedi?” Bon Bon added.
“I was young and naïve, I still believed I had potential to be a Sith,” once again, she was calm and casual with her responses.
“Well then how do you explain a certain event on a casino world?” Lyra asked, walking into the room with a manifest. Gallus followed her right behind, joining her to take a break from staring off at the flashing hyperspace view.
“What casino world?”
“Canto Bight, do I have to spell it out for you?” Lyra grit her teeth.
“And just what did I do? Outside of maybe having a bad lay, and a drink or two?” Adagio asked, folding her legs again.
“Well, gathering the reports that the Rebels had on you, both current and old,” Lyra said, flipping through. “You apparently decided to slaughter a bunch of patrons and guards inside the casino and incited a riot. And apparently had used a stolen X-Wing to obliterate many of the buildings.”
“… And?” Adagio asked, not caring.
“Okay, I loathe Canto Bight as much as the next guy, but I just want to ask; why? Why were you there to begin with?”
Adagio blinked as she looked at the Rebels and shrugged once again. “I was bored.”
“… Bored. You were bored. So you just decided to get drunk, have a lay, then slaughter a bunch of people, because you were bored?” Smolder asked, smoke blowing out of her nostrils.
“No, I decided to get drunk, slaughter people, and then I’d have a bad lay,” Adagio corrected with a shit-eating grin. However, that did not make the former Jedi happy. “Do you want me to give more reasoning? Alright,” she said, thinking for a second. “Those billionaires were ugly.”
“That’s not a reason,” Gallus puzzled.
“Actually, in this case, I’ll give you that, those people are kinda ugly,” Smolder shrugged.
“Smolder!” Bon Bon snapped.
“What? They are, have you seen them! Everyone looks so bloated, they wear too much makeup, and the games aren’t even that fun! And I don’t even understand this, they’re so… so… xenophobic. If you don’t look like them, you’re out. Also they kinda keep child slaves…”
“And that’s another reason I was down there,” Adagio added. “I didn’t just go down there to slaughter the ugliest scum in the galaxy, I had a purpose in mind,” she said, giving a bit of a proud smirk.
“That is?” Lyra questioned.
Soon enough, Flurry came around the corner holding a tray with some cups, a kettle, and a plate of cookies. “Would anyone like some blue milk and cookies?”
“I would,” Smolder asked, snatching a cookie.
She set the tray down on a side-table, pouring some milk into the cups. “Adagio, do you want one?”
“Oh yes please, thank you,” she said, not joking or passively this time. It was brief, but even the parents had to admit, they did hear some genuine gratitude from her. Flurry passed a cookie over to her, and accepted it. “Anyways, what was I saying… oh yes. So, I was on the run from the Empire. I knew they were going to want me dead, since I no longer had relevancy to the old ways. So, a few months ago, I decided to initially settle down on Canto. After all, a sexy thing like me could make some good cash there, and at first, I was taken in by the place. It was just sooo gorgeous. I made a good living performing, singing in jazz lounges… even had some fun doing dances around a few poles if you know what I mean,” she winked.
They did know what she meant, but it didn’t change their initial faces or current stances. Gallus and Smolder were still keeping distance, wanting to listen carefully if she was going to try anything. Flurry was still standing with a tray of cookies and milk, listening with some curiosity mixed with disturbance. Lyra and Bon Bon however were praying that the next thing she said wasn’t going to be too graphic for their almost 18-year-old child.
“However, as time went by, I started to notice something. Any real conversations I had were non-existent. Sure, the endless seas of humans, bloated potatoes and snout-faces talked of politics and activity of the Empire… but there wasn’t anything else. You may think whatever you want of me, but there is more to me than a former Sith who yearned for power,” Adagio said, acknowledging the clear disdain that had come from the two parents.
“I find that hard to believe, but go on,” Lyra said, allowing her to continue speaking.
“After a while, I just started to become bored. Everything started to look the same. Any charm that once existed was starting to vanish… And then something else had kicked in. Everyone around me had nothing to them. There was no charm. There was no personality, no activity, nothing of substantial value to them. The ones who owned Canto Bight were nothing more than self-absorbed, narcissistic, exploitive, assholes. And then when I looked further, any familiarity that the rest of the galaxy had was gone. No meiloorun fruit snacks, no Nuna legs, no sexy Twi’lek girls, no hunky Trandoshans, nothing of familiar comfort or valuable substance existed here in this boring town.”
“Oh gee. What a shocker. A place full of super rich jerks who exploit the lower-classes is actually a bad place,” Lyra deadpanned with a dead-eyed stare. “Do you have a point to your story, Adagio, or are you just going to tell us that being rich was just sooo boring?”
“Yes, please, go on about how being rich became so boring, while we were trying to make sure we got enough credits to pay for groceries in the next month,” Bon Bon snarked, folding her arms.
“I have a point, if you will allow me to explain,” Adagio said, starting to sound a bit angry herself.
A moment of silence passed, until Flurry spoke up. “Adagio, please, can you tell us more?”
Adagio slowly breathed in and out, letting go of that anger. “Of course, young Flurry. Now where was I…? Oh right,” she cleared her throat. “So, I finally saw the true colors of the place. It made me depressed, and so I decided to drown my annoyance with the strongest alcohols they had. And since I was a former Sith apprentice, I decided to use my anger to go on a bender… word of advice, do not drink before you try and start a riot. Because, well…”
--
“Aaaaahhhh!” Adagio yelled/slurred. She held her lightsaber with a tight grip and started to swing it side to side, making multiple slashes as she could. “Think you’re so pretty!? I’ll show you who’s the real beauty here! Ahhhhh!!!” She kept slashing and slicing everything in front of her—
--But to the patrons who were not drunk, all they were seeing was a drunk woman slicing and slashing at a perfectly nice wall like a moron. Some of them stood around, staring at her with confusion, others were laughing. A select few were horrified that someone who they had known for awhile started to wreck something so beautiful.
It wasn’t until the policemen walked in and shot her with the electric darts did they finally tame her and get her to drop. But it didn’t stop her yelling as she flailed her arms up at the ceiling. “I’ll get you, you laughing little bastards! You’ll regret watching me strip!”
“That’s real nice ma’am, but you’re under arrest,” the officer deadpanned, dragging her by the arms across the floor.
--
“So after my failed attempt at a bender, I got tossed in jail. It didn’t last for long mind you. But as I was in prison, I heard talk from some of the guards about several group of Rebel organizations causing some trouble for the Empire. And then, it hit me… a chance for me to turn a new leaf, and a way to put the Empire down a peg. So, I tricked the guards into letting me free, and so I set off to give Canto Bight a little taste of vengeance.
“And you did so by inciting a riot in a casino?” Lyra asked.
“Sort of. I wanted to catch your attention, and judging by that report you read, it seems my actions did. I decided to try and do something nice for once and my life; I slaughtered some of the more powerful members in the casino, I hacked apart their piss-poor excuse for a game parlor, and just to top it all off… I decided to use one of your own ships.”
She flickered her hologram device on, showing a model for an X-Wing type, only difference in the ones they had were the engines that unfolded with the wings.
“I found out that one of the billionaires wanted to pitch a design for a stronger, faster, more swift X-Wing fighter than the ones you currently possessed. So out of spite, I erased all data of the file and took their prototype for a spin… and blew up a few buildings in the process. I must admit… I think I brought out its true colors that night.”
She let out a soft giggle, thinking back to before, and looked at everyone around her. Innocently, she ate a piece of her cookie, and judging by her noises, it sounded like she enjoyed it. “This is delicious, did you make these yourself?”
The Sweetie Drop jumped out of hyperspace, orbiting a moon with green land masses and a few oceans. Moving down to the surface, the crew got a better view of the world around them. It had much resemblance to Yavin IV; plenty of jungles and forestry as far as the eye could see. Mountains that arched with cliff dwellings, waterfalls, and caverns. Rivers stretching around the forests with plenty of krill and other sea animals often caught for the purpose of consumption.
A clearing was found for the ship to land, the engines whinding down after the long journey. The hatch opened up, and the group walked down. Gallus was first to walk out, being exposed to the sounds of birds singing in the air. “So what is this planet’s name again?”
“Ajan Kloss, or something,” Smolder said. Her nose twitched and she felt her sinuses become tickled. “Ah… Ah… AHCHOO!” A burst flame escaped her breath as she accidentally set a patch of flowers on fire. “… Sorry.”
“Now you understand why I said not to park here,” Adagio pouted, walking out of the ship with her arms folded. “I told you these parts of Ajan were filled with allergy-inducing plants, but noooo, you had to pick a spot where you would be hidden.”
“It’s called playing smart, honey!” Bon Bon snapped, stomping down the ship in her Mandalorian suit. Quickly she put the helmet on, and saw Flurry Heart come down in a standard set of pants, short-sleeved shirt, and armored vest. “Lyra, come on!”
“Agh, hang on!” A loud clang echoed inside the ship. “Ow!”
Lyra tumbled out of the ship with an oddly clean and shiny gold helmet strapped to her head with a black visor retaining most of the face, and with a fin out of the back of the head. “Bonnie… why did you take this from that Zorii girl?”
“Because she tried to rob me,” Bon Bon explained, keeping her arms folded.
“This wasn’t worth stealing! This thing is tight, it is pinching my neck, it’s heavy in the back, how did she wear this thing?”
Lyra yanked it off her head, throwing it to the ground with an angry toss. And it certainly left it’s mark, showing visible pink teeth marks around her neck.
“Oof. You were not kidding,” Gallus hissed.
“No, no I wasn’t,” Lyra feeling her neck. “Ow.”
“Your partner steals parts from droids, and you draw the line at that thing?” Adagio asked, raising a brow. “You could melt that helmet down and turn it into gold.”
“At least Bon Bon does something with the parts she has, at least fixes her friends,” Lyra scowled. “Unlike you who just steals from clones you murder on the spot.”
“Used to!”
“Can we please get on with this?” Gallus snapped, breaking their fight.
“We don’t have all day, the weather looks like it’s going to rain!”
“Right, right,” Bon Bon said, composing herself together. “Okay, let’s get going. IG-11, you coming with?”
“I am right behind you,” the assassin droid replied, marching right behind.
“Great, come on everyone, let’s go.”
--
The jungles of Ajan stretched all around them. And all around them as they pushed past trees, flowers, bushes, and ledges, they could hear the sounds of the jungle all around them. Birds chirping in the distance, some nearby animals, and many other sounds you’d hear in the wild jungles.
“So tell us something, Adagio. Why are you helping us? I know you told us why back at base, but what’s the real reason for you helping us?” Bon Bon asked. “I heard stories about you from my wife.”
Adagio looked at Lyra with a little smirk. “You’ve told her little lies about me, mmm?”
“If by lies, you mean stories about you massacring members and associates of the Republic and Storm Army, then yes, I have,” Lyra glared.
“Oh come now. That is the old me, I haven’t killed anyone… today.”
Lyra rolled her eyes. “Just shut up and show us where she is.”
“Maybe if you parked closer, I could, but you chose to park so far away, so this means we’re going to need to go on a little bit of a hike,” Adagio pointed out, now sticking with a straight face. “There should be a village not too far from here, that’s where I found the path to Derpy’s location. I must admit, for such a clumsy Jedi, she made herself quite an abode.”
Lyra and Bon Bon rolled their eyes, forcing Adagio to just keep walking. Up ahead they could see Gallus, standing there. Rather… stiffly.
“Gallus, you see anything?” Bon Bon asked.
There was no reply. It was almost… deafening.
“Gallus? Are you okay?”
Flurry quickly skipped over to where he stood, and he didn’t even react to her presence. Almost as if he was caught in some sort of trance.
“Gallus?”
The Griffon finally snapped out of it, catching her attention.
“Are you okay, bud?”
“Hmm, what? Sorry, I thought I heard something,” Gallus quietly remarked.
“What do you mean?” Smolder asked.
Gallus’s eyes shifted all around, looking for the source of the noise he swore he saw. Nothing was in sight, but he could still feel something wasn’t right.
The group pushed through some more trees, occasionally having to cut their way through. When they made another turn, everyone stopped to look in awe. In front of them was a cute little village, bustling with inhabitants. Children laughing and playing, adults wandering around to attend to their jobs or personal business. The houses and buildings were made with assortments of bamboo, wood, adobe, metal, and many other various materials.
“Would this be the village you were describing?” Bon Bon said, pushing Adagio forward.
“Yes, this is the place. Unfortunately, I never went to her home. I only learned she was alive after seeing her come through here,” Adagio explained.
“If she even is alive,” Gallus folded his arms.
“Tough crowd, aren’t we?” Adagio mused. “Well if you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask one of the folks here? I’m sure someone will be amenable.”
Curiously, the group trudged forward through the village, passing by the citizens. The Rebels had to give these people credit; it was amazing how well they constructed these homes with just the materials laying around here on the planet; even with the inclusion of other-worldly materials, like the Tatooine colored adobe, or the ship metal.
At the end of the town, they found a small shack with an open door. Walking inside, there was an Ithorian with a metal translator device near his mouth to communicate. The floors were padded down with metal sheets, the walls made of adobe, and some bamboo acting as extra paneling near a display window at the front. Even on the window that faced farther deep in the jungle.
“Welcome,” the man greeted. “I see we have some new faces. And hello again, Miss Dazzle.”
“Hello,” Adagio nodded.
Inside, the group could see a wide variety of knick-knacks, weapons, trinkets, all sorts of antiquities. Helmets from various eras of time, even current helmets being used in the present. Blasters, jewelry, small antique busts of famous historical figures, old toys, you name it, this man had everything.
“See anything you like?”
“I think I like just about everything,” Smolder admitted, completely in awe.
“That’s what I like to hear,” the Ithorian man smiled, if he was, no one could ever tell with their kind. “My name is Dok Ondar, and this is my place. If you see something you like, I’m the man to ask.”
“Actually, I did have a question to ask, Mr. Ondar,” Lyra interrupted, stepping forward.
“I’d be happy to answer. What do you need?”
“First, I’m sorry that we’re not really… customers, I guess. We’re looking for someone in particular….”
As Lyra spoke, Smolder and Gallus took a long around, even Flurry. The group eyed some helmets mounted on one of the walls, seeing a variety of helmets adorned by clone troopers from long ago; Phase II, scuba, scout, slicer, assassin, commando, etc. Even Stormtrooper helmets were available on the wall for potential purchases.
“Think you’ll get a helmet? Maybe you can get a Mandalorian helmet to match your moms,” Gallus said with a cheeky grin, elbowing Flurry’s shoulder.
“Oh hush,” Flurry playfully shoved. “I haven’t even thought that far. I’m not even sure if I even want any of these, none of them scream… me.”
“What about this one?” Smolder asked, pulling a helmet off from a shelf; a TK trooper helmet to be precise.
“No, that doesn’t really fit me. And no, it’s not the sizing problem,” Flurry corrected.
“—You better not break any of that,” Bon Bon said overtop of them, despite not looking at them.
Bashfully, Smolder put the helmet back on the shelf, not wanting to anger the store owner.
“… about my height, eyes facing opposite directions…?” Lyra asked.
“Ohhh. Her? Yeah, I’ve seen her. She came here once in a while to trade; got some great old pieces of Stormtrooper armor from her she collected,” Dok answered.
“So she is alive?”
“I would hope so. I admittedly haven’t seen her in the past few weeks. Don’t know if she’s busy, or just isn’t feeling like coming down to visit, but I hadn’t seen her come by. I did however get frequent visits from the few men living with her.”
Lyra and Bon Bon both had confused looks, and then gazed at Adagio. She just plainly shrugged her shoulders at that comment.
“Who exactly are these men?”
“Family, I suppose. All of them look pretty closely alike. They come down here every so often to trade with the rest of our village,” Dok continued to explain, twiddling his fingers on a small bust that had dust on it. “They even helped me out with fixing up some of the damage my shack had gotten during a storm at one point. Real nice boys.”
“How old would you describe them?”
“Physically, I’d say roughly 25. But I think facts would say otherwise.”
“And Derpy’s suddenly living with a bunch of them? Is this some kind of… um…” Lyra questioned with some scary implications running amok in her brain.
“It’s not that kind of living arrangement, honestly! The places people's minds go to…” Dok shook his head. “Those boys are the sweetest, kindest guys I’ve met in a long time. Especially for humans; much kinder than those Imperial slogs who drove me out of business on Ord Mantell.”
“Where are they? Where is Derpy, any of them?”
Dok looked out the window, gazing at the old path that went farther through the rainforest. “Follow that trail for about 20 clicks. There will be a fork in the road, take the left. You’ll find a mansion made out of Republic metal,” the shopowner explained. “But I must warn you. These men you’ll find… you’re a Jedi, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Why?”
Dok’s eyes looked around, almost as if he knew something but wasn’t going to say it. “Well… they’re not exactly the type of men you’d probably want to see.”
“Why is that?”
“I better not say. Better you see for yourself,” the Ithorian answered. “I just sell antiquities; I don’t want to get involved in any potential… issues. Say, is there anything else I can help you with? Beads, Twi’lek dolls, old books? I have great deals and prices for everything.”
“How much are the helmets?” Smolder asked.
“Smolder! We’re not here to shop!” Lyra argued.
“I brought my own money, I swear!”
The group continued their search, following the advice of the Ithorian shop owner as they progressed. Nearby animals continued to wander, climb, swing, and fly all around them in continuous nature.
Making a turn around a corner, the group all froze when they saw a sight that almost gave them a fright. Sharp sticks ripped apart from trees, mounted up in the ground, holding several helmets of departed troopers of old. Stormtrooper and Phase II clone trooper helmets, with faded paint, worn away by time.
“Curiouser and curiouser…”
The group kept trudging forward, but Flurry stopped momentarily and looked behind her. There wasn’t anyone out here, but something felt off. She felt a disturbance in the wind, feeling like something else was here.
“Flurry? You coming?” Gallus called.
“Oh, yeah, I’m coming!” Flurry said, turning around and running up to catch up with the group.
The group made another turn on the path, and Lyra almost jumped with a squeak. Another series of sticks mounted with more helmets mounted.
“Sheesh, how many heads did she collect?” Smolder asked.
Not wanting to be frightened any longer, the group kept walking on their trail, looking at the trees all around them. This was one heck of a jungle, that’s for sure. Nothing like the forests on Yavin IV, or Sorgon. Just then, the team heard something rustling in the woods, like something was moving about.
Lyra pulled out her lightsaber and Bon Bon twirled her pistols around, ready to shoot. The noises got louder and louder, like something big and ferocious was coming their way…
Out of the bushes was a fluffy gray loth-cat with a few black spots all over its body. The kitten looked up at the new people and sat straight up, mewing softly.
“Awww…” Flurry melted.
Even Adagio couldn’t help but gush. “Okay, that’s adorable.”
Flurry squatted down, sticking her hand out to let the kitten sniff her. The cat was curious, sniffing her hand for a few seconds and looking at her curiously. And very affectionately it started to paw at her hand making adorable little noises.
“Eeeee, it’s so cute!” Flurry squeed, picking up the cat and giving it a soft hug. “Hi there little buddy.”
“Flurry, put it down, you don’t know where that cat came from,” Bon Bon said.
“But he’s adorable!”
“Yes, and he could also… wait a minute,” Bon Bon stopped. She walked up to Flurry, looking closer at the kitten in her arms which was enjoying the attention, judging by the purring sounds. Around it’s neck, she could see something bright red around it, along with a little metal tag. “This loth-cat has a collar.” Her hand moved underneath it, looking at the tag written in Aurebesh. “Whiskers.”
“Someone’s adopted it,” Lyra thought. “But right now, we can’t find the owners. We need to find Derpy.”
Mew.
The loth-cat jumped out of Flurry’s arms and onto the ground, prancing along the path to where they were about to go. Tilting it’s head like it wanted them to follow it.
“I think he wants us to follow him!” Flurry said. “Come on!”
She led the way, with Gallus and Smolder running after her, and eventually Adagio running too. Lyra and Bon Bon both equally shared a look of fear, and so they darted after Flurry to make sure their daughter didn’t do anything stupid.
After what felt like hours of walking, the group stopped in a clearing, where cobbled stones and metal torches arched to create a path. But what caught their eyes wasn't the structure, it was what they saw on their left.
“Is that a hot tub?” Gallus asked, raising a brow.
Smolder and Flurry kneed down, putting her hand in the water to feel the pool of water, connected to a machine that was turned off. Smolder didn't react, but Flurry hissed and immediately pulled it back. “Sheesh, that’s scalding!”
“There’s your answer,” Bon Bon said. “Even then, I’m still not sure we’ll… whooooa.”
Everyone froze in awe at the sight before them. A large house was found in the trees, but this wasn’t like any of the other farm houses or dwellings in the jungle. This house was made entirely out of junk; old Republic walkers sat as the foundation base, and several platforms and boxy-homes were held on top of it, including a ramp/ladder to climb up it. Some walker and gunship hulls were in pieces, held together to keep it all connected in the junk that it was. More platforms sticking out with some tarps and more pieces of metal for cover, most likely from the rain.
Off the ledge of one of the railings, some eyes gawked at some more clothes hanging on a wire to dry. Similar to the ones that Smolder reported before.
“Who built this place? This is quite a homestead,” Bon Bon said, looking at some of the drying shirts.
A group of boots clanked on the second floor of that makeshift home, walking out onto the ledge of the mansion. All of them the same height, bodies, and facial features. Two of them shared a short black hairstyle, one had a short blond-cut style, another had a full head of hair, mustache, and beard growing, and the last had no visible hair, aside from the mustache and a short but visible braided ponytail out the back of his head. All of them were wearing warm clothing, shown by the black tank tops and spandex shorts, held by white belts.
“Pfft. Just a bunch of similar looking… guys,” Gallus rolled his eyes.
“Well armed similar looking guys, I might add,” Smolder corrected.
The five men stared down at them, analyzing them individually. One man who had a cybernetic eye whispered, “That’s Heartstrings, she’s alive.”
“That’s her?” The middle man whispered back.
“Yeah, I know her, but I don’t know anyone else,” he answered.
Despite the small distance, Lyra could hear them each talking. She didn't understand who they were, but as she thought more and more, her heart started to pound. Five men; same faces. Same voices. Even the same body builds. "No... no, that's impossible... they can't be."
“Hey, hey,” Bon Bon whispered, squeezing her partner’s hand. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”
“Well let’s find out,” the middle man said. Each of the other lookalikes nodded and turned their attention back to the Rebels, keeping a stern glare down, to show any lack of fear they had.
“What do you want?”
“We’re looking for someone," Flurry spoke up for the group. "Do you know someone named Derpy Hooves?”
The man with the braided ponytail spoke up. “I’m sorry?”
“Um… Derpy Hooves?” Flurry repeated.
The men looked at each other, clearly unsure and with some disagreeing faces. The man in the middle, silently decided to continue the conversation, in hopes of driving these trespassers away. “I’m sorry, but Derpy Hooves doesn’t exist anymore, she’s dead. Died a long time ago.”
Lyra’s heart sank and she glared at Adagio. “Liar.”
“I am not lying, Jedi! Ask 7567 over there!”
The middle man piped up again. “What did you just say? I haven’t heard those digits in… wait. That’s my birth number!”
"They're clones!" Lyra growled. "Everyone, get back, now!"
But one of those men, one with a cybernetic eye, didn't react to the Jedi's reaction. Instead, he took notice of Adagio who was among this little group. “Wait a minute… the Siren! She’s come for revenge!” He pointed a pair of pistols at Adagio, ready to kill.
“Bubbles, no!”
“Just try and fire on me!” Lyra was ready to go full bore. “I dare you, come on!”
“Hey, wait, wait!” Flurry raised her hands up. “We’re not here to attack you! We just want to talk!”
“And what about the rest of them? That one is a Jedi!” The man at the end snarled, pointing at Lyra.
“Vargas, listen! They aren’t the ones who betrayed us, remember?”
The clone slowly set his gun down, sighing heavily to try and calm down.
“I’m sorry. We haven’t seen another Jedi in… well, a long time as you can imagine,” the man in the middle said.
“You don’t say…” Smolder deadpanned.
Ignoring Smolder’s sass, Flurry tried to see if she could salvage the situation. “Anyways, my name is Flurry. That’s Gallus, Smolder, Lyra, Bon Bon, and, well, you clearly know Adagio,” Flurry hesitated. “Nice to meet you, um, 7567,” Flurry said, struggling to remember.
“Actually, my name is Rex. Captain Rex. Captain of the 501st Battalion. These are Commanders Bubbles and Hurricane, Corporal Mix, and trooper Vargas.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Flurry smiled. “But wait, is Derpy really--?”
“We said she was dead because we didn’t know what your intentions were. Derpy Hooves is still alive,” Bubbles confirmed.
“How are you all still alive, and so young? If memory serves correctly, by this time-span, I would assume all of you would be, well, elderly,” Adagio asked, raising a brow.
“If not dead,” Bon Bon added.
“We’ll explain everything. Would you all like to come inside? I’m afraid we have a storm coming on the front, you wouldn’t want to be stuck out here. It’s going to rain pretty hard tonight.”
Judging by all the nodding faces, it was clear they were saying yes. Everyone walked up set of steps, taking it up to the second floor of the makeshift mansion. And the clones came down, opening up the doors for them to come inside.
“Wipe your feet on the mat, Derpy would prefer that guests have their feet clean and not track any mud,” Bubbles advised.
Once inside, everyone wiped their feet (even Adagio did so) and surprising them more, was a small rack to the side with some blasters mounted. “May I also ask that you please put any of your weapons here?” Bubbles asked, albiet indignantly.
“How come?”
“We’ve had guests before, and frankly we like to take precaution on who we invite in. It’s a safety thing,” Bubbles said sternly, but softly.
Flurry turned her weapons in first. Then Gallus, and Smolder. Lyra was hesitant to respond, just looking straight at the clone, still shaking.
"If anything happens to my weapon...," Lyra threatened quietly. Slowly she set her lightsaber down on the rack, and Bon Bon turned in her blasters.
“Vac tubs are down the hallway,” Bubbles said, gesturing to the first hallway on the left.
“I’m gonna go use them, be right back,” Bon Bon said, walking down.
Bubbles led the company through more of the house, taking them down another hallway. Some things hung on the wall, looking more like objects for display. Some pictures were about, most of them of Derpy and a clone company with bright blue paint on their armor on various planets. Flurry especially caught her eye on a pic of the young Jedi posing for a silly picture next to Bubbles with a deceased Rishi eel.
After leaving that hallway (and sliding past a ladder leading to the next floor above them, they found themselves into the kitchen/dining area. A massive circular dinner table made out of wood, held above some stone and pure tree that had the floor built around it, lit by warm yellow. A few plants set up in little pots, and over against a wall was a mantel, hanging above a giant telescreen. On the mantel were a few random objects that the company assumed had held sentimental value.
“Quite the setup,” Gallus commented, looking around.
“Yeah, I mean it’s, well, just a cozy, humble little place,” Vargas said softly.
Bon Bon finally came back from the bathroom, finding her way to the dining room. And at the same time, Smolder was looking over to the balcony, seeing some clothes hanging on a clothesline. Although she did question the pair of female undergarments as she pulled them off the hangar, looking at them.
“Um… any of you have any lady friends over?” Smolder joked, stretching the underwear.
“That would be Derpy’s.”
“Dah!” And Smolder flinged it away from her hands. “… I just touched some old lady’s thong, great.”
“I wouldn’t really say old,” Bubbles pointed out.
Smolder just backed up from the balcony, not wanting to touch anything else (not that she should have been), almost backing right up in the hallway. Behind her, in the darkness of the hall, a small red light flickered with an activation sound, making her jump. She jumped back into the light, fists up in a fighting stance. But the source of the light did not respond the same way.
A pair of boots walked down that hallway, coming into the dining room, revealing herself in the light. Light gray skin, and flowing blond hair. Some leftover scars and bruises from years of experience, but still visible was a friendly face. Dressed in the same black spandex and a few pieces of worn out clone trooper armor she had worn during her last few days in the war.
“Bubbles, who are these people, I don’t… Lyra?”
The Jedi gasped. “Derpy? Is… is that really—?”
A wave of emotions washed over the blond Jedi. So many memories of fighting alongside her resurfaced, so many wonderful times they had together, hanging out with their friends, and making new ones with people they met on several planets and the clones they fought alongside. And then the pain, the agony that came when Order 66 hit the galaxy; so many Jedi brothers and sisters lost to the ambush, and losing so many loved ones after. And now one of them was back; one of them was still alive, and someone she treasured very, very much.
Lyra moved in a little closer to try and offer a hug, wondering if that would break Derpy’s trance. Without even needing to speak, Derpy swooped in and yanked Lyra in a big hug, holding her tightly. Lyra didn’t even resist, she just held one of her closest friends in a warm embrace.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Lyra said, holding her.
“I missed you too. I thought after… I…”
“As long as I exist, no one is doing anything to her,” Bon Bon said with pride.
Derpy’s eyes blinked, still facing opposite directions. “A Mandalorian?”
“I don’t think you two have formally met. Derpy, this is my wife, Bon Bon. Bon Bon, you’ve heard of Derpy Hooves, haven’t you?”
“I believe so. You’ve told me many stories about her,” Bon Bon smiled. “Oh, and this is our daughter, Flurry Heart.”
“H-Hi,” Flurry greeted.
Derpy smiled. “Nice to meet you, little one. I can’t believe you’ve gotten so big, I remember when you were just a baby.” She ruffled up her hair, making her giggle. She turned her attention to the last few members, but growled at one particular one. “You.” A pistol cocked and pointed straight at Adagio. “What is she doing here?”
“You know her?” Gallus asked.
“Me and Bubbles know her especially well. She killed one of my troops and tried to sabotage our mission, my first mission! And…” It took her a while to notice, but she saw something else. “You… still have his helmet…”
She kept her blaster pointed at her, and raised her other hand. She let her palm open up, showing how worn out the fingerless glove was; raggedy and full of holes. But keeping her hand up, she tried to levitate the helmet off Adagio’s head.
Nothing happened. Everyone stood in awkward silence, watching as she stood there, waiting for something to happen. Her face made various expressions, getting more and more frustrated as she tried to use the Force to lift it up. But still, nothing happened. Adagio just stood there as well, although she found her angry faces more adorable than threatening.
Lifting it up, she placed the helmet by her hip as she looked at her with a raised brow and a smirk.
“Lost your touch?”
Derpy’s face turned red with embarrassment and anger mixing together. She tried her hardest, but she couldn’t get the helmet away from her clutches. Upset, she let her arms down and swung around, kicking the helmet out of her hands violently, letting it roll on the floor to Bubbles’ feet. Adagio was truthfully surprised, she hadn’t anticipated the surviving Jedi to be a bit more physical.
“That helmet belonged to their brothers. It doesn’t belong to you,” Derpy glared. “Get your own helmet.”
Adagio snorted with derision. “Oh, so you’re a sister to them now? You’re not even bred in the same lab as them—agh!”
And in a complete 180, Derpy had slammed Adagio against the wall, pinning her up with her bare hands and with flared nostrils. She was furious, even scaring the clones in the process.
“Don’t you dare talk about them that way!”
“Derpy, I know this is hard to believe, but she’s on our side. She’s agreed to a partnership to help us against the Empire,” Lyra said, trying to calm down her friend.
“How do I know she won’t just turn on us and try to kill us the first chance she gets?”
“If I wanted to kill you all, I would have done it by now, swiftly and painfully,” Adagio snarked back, resisting the urge to push Derpy away from her with her feet. “And if you want to know how we even found you, it’s because of me. I found you, and I thought the Rebels would want to know of another survivor of the Order 66 ambush. I know we’ve had our grievances in the past, but surely you can look past them for a little bit, can you? After all I thought a Jedi didn’t hold onto such things as anger…”
Derpy was now snarling. “Lyra…”
“That is enough,” Bon Bon said. “Adagio, if you’re going to be helpful, I would recommend you shut up RIGHT. NOW.”
Adagio playfully exaggerated her terror. “Oh noooo. Well I guess if I won’t stay quiet, then you’ll have to make me then, won’t you?”
“I don’t think you heard me,” Bon Bon glared.
“Hey, hey! I love fights as much as the rest of you, but this isn’t why we came here,” Smolder said, trying to break up the fight. “Weren’t we going to talk? You know, about… you know?” Smolder asked, not finishing the sentence.
Bon Bon sighed, throwing her head back. And even Lyra let out an upset sigh, scrunching her temple with her fingers. “Right. Derpy, we came here because, well, Adagio was telling the truth. We were looking for you, and to be honest, I am happy that you’re alive. Kinda terrified, but I’m happy.”
Derpy tried to keep that ferocious stance on Adagio as she kept her pinned, but slowly her hands let go of her. Adagio wasn’t held down anymore, but she still smirked.
“I must admit, I am rather impressed. I didn’t know a Jedi had that much passion, wasn’t aware they were allowed to have such things.”
Derpy glared at her still. “You don’t know anything about me. And I…” she looked at Lyra who remained concerned for her old friend’s situation. “… have other things going on.” Derpy’s hand was still shaking from the anger, but she slowly began to simmer down. “I’m sorry. I’ve… It’s been a while,” Derpy said, her anger melting away back into joy. “Oh, but please, sit, sit.”
Derpy invited them back to the massive dinner table with the clones, and Gallus and Smolder just stood with Adagio with exasperated faces.
“So no introduction, we’re just… okay, sure whatever, we’ll just stand here, waiting for your reunion to end,” Gallus rolled his eyes.
“Sit, please,” Hurricane said, pulling up two chairs for them.
The two smiled and sat down at the massive table with the rest of them, all the while Mix was helping Bubbles in the kitchen, preparing a meal. As they sat with the others, they could smell the fresh foods being cooked in the kitchen, enough to make their mouths water. And as Rex had predicted, the rain was hitting harder. They could hear the rain dance on the plated roofs and awnings outside; but they were okay, they were inside, they weren’t getting drenched.
“So I don’t understand, the clones were bred in a laboratory, right? And their growth was sped up so they could be part of the war, how are they still so young?” Bon Bon asked.
“Even then, after Order 66 commenced, I thought every Jedi had been eliminated. How did you survive?” Lyra asked, sitting back down with Flurry and her wife.
“I’ll explain everything, I promise," Derpy reassured.
As lunch was served to the guests, Derpy began to explain her story. She went into immense detail regarding the strange occurences that had happened during her end on the final day of the war. How her soldiers had turned on her, forced to by a hidden inhibitor chip that had been implanted in their brains since creation. Derpy then went on to explain how she and her remaining troopers had to bury all of their fallen soldiers during the escape, her words sullen with each description.
"... Wow," Gallus said, in awe. "I'm... I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how that's gotta feel."
"You weren't there, it's okay," Vargas reassured. "But yeah. Losing all of our brothers hurt us. And sure, we lost many of our brethren during the war, but after that? It's hard to move past something like that."
"But something doesn't add up," Bon Bon asked. "How are the five of you still so young? You never explained that."
"I... I'm not proud of this," Derpy sunk in her chair. "After some time, I may have sorta... pushed them to go into cryogenic freezers for a bit. I kept them online for over a decade, and when I found this world... I freed them. We worked together to make our home; along with the help of the village."
"But why?"
Derpy took a sip of her drink. "They never got a choice to live how they wanted; a life without fighting or war. I wanted them to have that chance."
The Mandalorian couldn't help but smile wistfully at the thought. "That's how me and Lyra thought when we raised Flurry. We were caught up so much fighting, and after everything... we just wanted to have a chance to live."
"And you chose to hide on Tatooine," Smolder rolled her eyes.
"We didn't exactly have much choice, dragon," Bon Bon snarked.
"But you took that chance to get the life you wanted," Hurricane interrupted, fingers moving to get any crumbs out of his beard. "That's something I respect; especially Rex here."
"Not at first, Hurricane," Rex corrected. "Let's not forget; we didn't just abandon everything we stood for."
"Your right, we didn't. And look what happened; we lost," Mix glared.
"The Empire was growing, they outnumbered us..."
But as the conversation continued, Lyra heard nothing but silence, the conversation dying in her ears with only her heart beating as she weakly ate her food. Derpy's company was good, but being surrounded by clones still in their prime? Her heart raced at the thought of what they could do at any moment, but didn't. She so desperately wanted to get away from them and just take her family and friends back to the ship, never to return to this planet.
Instead, she just quietly got up, taking her leftovers to the kitchen and sat them down next to the sink. And without another word, she moved herself to the balcony, protected by the awning that blocked the rain. Her hand stroked an awning's post, eyes looking forward at the rain dancing on the trees and the ground. The sounds calmed her down, bringing her back to reality once again. She knew the others would see her soon and get worried; but right now, she was going to enjoy her only moment of stress relief outside in the humidity.
Following Zorii’s directions, the girls found the bar. Inside, they could hear music playing from the band over on a small stage with plenty of elbow room for the musicians to play. Plenty of tables and chairs for all the patrons that came here to drink their troubles away. Soft blue neon lights shining around the bar, and mounted trophies on the wall; either animal heads, skins, helmets of clone or stormtroopers, or other oddities that someone would find value in. Some holo-screens were also around, showing current sports activities from around the galaxy; droid-ball, Sabaac, podracing, you name it.
And standing behind the bar counter dealing with a Chagrian customer was the woman they needed; an older woman with gray hair in a red outfit, looking as if she was done with everyone’s B.S.
“Well I’m not going to be rich with customers like you, I thought I told you to drink faster than that. Well at least you’re steady,” she sighed, going to get another drink from the bar. She heard it, but she didn’t see it happening; the girls, one by one, pulled themselves up at the bar, sitting on the stools.
“Hello, Ackmena,” Sunset said simply. She adjusted her arms, making sure she didn't bump into the cloaked patron next to her.
The woman knew that voice anywhere. Turning around, she saw a familiar face. One that did not bring much sourness to her world, but a nice warm ray of sunshine. “Hello Sunset, darling how are you doing?” She said, reaching over for a brief hug. Sunset giggled as she hugged her back. “How goes the Rebellion leadership?”
“It’s going really well, actually. We just got more additions to our alliance,” Sunset smiled, gesturing to the Jedi next to her.
“So wait, you’re Ackmena?” Rainbow pointed with a raised brow.
“No, I’m Anakin Skywalker in drag,” she deadpanned. “Now can I get you anything?”
“Can we take a couple of those?” Sunset pointed to a particular drink on the wall; the Jawa Juice.
The bartender grabbed the carton and poured some into six individual glass cups for all of them, sliding them down the table for them all to grab. The patron in the cloak took one last sip before stepping off his chair, leaving the bar and lessening the chances of a conflict with the Jedi.
“So tell me, Sunset. Are they Jedi just like you?”
“Shh! Not so loud,” Rarity whispered. “We don’t know who could be listening.”
“Listen, the only thing the patrons in here are listening to are either blaster fire, the droid-ball game, the vomiting on and off in the vac-rooms, or the loud noises of happy hour,” she replied. “None of them are going to be paying attention. Besides, I have security to keep an eye out,” the bartender gestured to a buzz droid up on the ceiling, clinging and watching the patrons party below.
“But to answer your question, yes, they’re Jedi like me. And there are actually two others like them, well, one and a half,” Sunset explained. “But we came here to see you, how is business running here?”
“Well we’ve had ten people die in here in the past month, so it’s hunky dory,” she said with a very displeased look on her face as she poured another drink to the next customer.
“Are you upset you’re stuck here instead of Tatooine?”
“No, I’m upset because Mawhonic lost another race on the Boonta Eve Classic,” Ackmena said, with a bit of deadpan in her voice.
“Aww, he lost again?” Pinkie frowned.
Ackmena stared at Pinkie, blinking only once as she held her glare.
“She doesn’t exactly grasp sarcasm, just warning you ahead of time,” Sunset interrupted before the snarky barkeep could speak again. “Still though, why did you even come here, I never understood.”
“The Empire’s been shutting places down. Ever since they started inflicting their will in Mos Eisley, I just couldn’t stick around anymore. I run bars by my own rules, and I’m happy I’m still making money here. Thankfully the Empire hasn’t been so picky with my place here,” she said, multitasking. She served another drink to another nearby customer, and mixed up some fruits in a blender for the next order. “Now what else are you here for?”
Sunset looked over her shoulder. She looked at the various patrons who were busy dancing, partying, laughing. They were too occupied with their own activities to notice her, thank goodness. Even Fluttershy and Applejack looked over to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Sure a few men had a few lovey-dovey faces as they saw the ladies, but that was it.
I can put up with a few smitten kittens, but no more than that, Rarity thought internally. “So, um, Sunset tells us you have some information about the Empire. Did you hear anything juicy?”
Ackmena washed out another cup before setting it on the rack. “I have. Although I’m not sure now is the best time to tell you.”
“I thought they would be distracted by the bar activities,” Pinkie tilted her head.
“For now. But every once in a while, there’s some Imperial who likes to come in, either to scare my customers or to throw a fit like a child,” she replied, decking her head out so she could check to see if anyone was around.
Around the corner, one of Ackmena’s assistants came by with a tray of drinks for a group who were playing Sabacc in a private room.
“Shall I put this someplace?”
“No Rose, go to the corner and open a stand,” she pointed to the outside door with a straight face, still not expressing any other emotion outside of ‘I am so done with these people’. Rose however got the message, and went to the game table to hand them their drinks. “Listen, I can’t talk about too much, but I will say this. I have been hearing reports from the Empire that they have finished work on a secret project. They’re planning something; something big.”
“Anything specific?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t know. The only thing I know is that they say when their testing is complete, they will finally make the galaxy bend to their will,” the woman replied. “But if you want something a bit more detailed, I heard they had gathered a large shipment of crystals.”
“Crystals? What kind?” Rarity asked.
“I don’t know. Only thing I know is that they gathered them from some planet called Ilum.”
Sunset set her drink down. “Wait, Ilum, is that right?”
“It is. Why?”
“Ilum is the only place in the galaxy to find Kyber Crystals. Every generation of Jedi have gone there to get those crystals,” Sunset explained.
“What’s so special about those crystals?” Ackmena asked, checking on a pulse of another patron who had fallen asleep at the bar. Her attention wandered to a fresh rag, scrubbing at a few dirty spots on the bar counter, trying to get them away.
“They’re the power sources for the lightsabers. But if the Empire isn’t using them to power lightsabers for a Sith Army, then what could they be using them for?” Rarity continued, rubbing her chin.
"Maybe they're harnessing them for a machine, something that requires a lot of power. The question is... what is it?" Sunset thought, tapping her finger on the counter.
Rainbow Dash however, had her mind set on a different subject matter. "Say, Ackmena, is it? Do you ever get any bounty hunter customers in here, or spice runners?"
"I do. This place is popular for them, they often come here to meet with potential clients for payment; the public setting and my eyes prevents the possibility of any deals going violent," Ackmena answered.
"Do any of your customers happen to be ladies in red jumpsuits and gold helmets?" Rainbow asked.
"I see you met Zorii Bliss then," Ackmena put together. "She's a regular in here; just wants off planet. Been stuck here the last fifteen years."
"Only fifteen? Yikes," Rainbow hissed.
"Compared to the others in here, most of them wish they only had fifteen. In fact--"
Just then, there was a buzzing sound coming from the doors. Now most of the patrons had to be let in through by a bouncer, (most of the time checking if anyone was armed or if they were someone Ackmena never wanted), but this time, Ackmena hereself stepped from behind the bar to check out the call; most people never even used the buzzer.
“Alright, alright, I’m coming, sheesh,” Ackmena said, taking her time as she mockingly took slow to the door.
She hit the button to let the door slide open. Standing on the other side was Captain Phasma with several Midnight troopers by her side.
“Step aside—”
And Ackmena shut the door on the captain without a second thought. With an angry buzz, Ackmena opened up the door again. “Do you not know who I am?” Phasma snarled.
“Well of course I do, that’s why I slammed the door in your face,” she said sarcastically with a smile.
“Let me in, now.”
“Go hug a landmine,” And Ackmena slammed the door in her face again. She dropped the sarcasm when she looked over to Sunset and her friends. “You’re not going to want to stay here that long, the Empire is here.”
"Wait, now!?" Rarity shrieked.
"Yes!"
"We got what we need, bye!" Sunset said quickly before tossing the cup to the side of the bar. All of the girls quickly ran out of the bar as fast as they could, going out through the back doors to avoid being seen. Ackmena stared at the huge mess left on her counter, rolling her eyes passively as she began to clean up again. Another day, another mess, same old thing.
The door buzzed again, but this time, brute force slammed the doors wide open, with Captain Phasma slowly stomping inside. She observed the bar, seeing patrons just sitting and drinking like nothing had happened. Of course, there were a few who were cowering quietly at the sight of the Imperial; they hated them just like everyone else, but they didn't want any trouble here with them.
The Midnight Trooper captain turned towards the woman behind the bar, who was still busy with the cleanup.
"Can I help you?" Ackmena asked, as if she hadn't done anything wrong.
"We are looking for any Rebel cells that have come through here. An old barmaiden such as yourself must have seen them come through."
"Oh yes, they did. About an hour ago," Ackmena lied with sarcasm dripping with every word. "But now I've hidden them again, so you can find them."
"I do not appreciate your reluctance to help us."
"Why would I lie? I have nothing to hide," Ackmena sassed with a smile.
The captain's helmet was rattling and she snarled underneath. "I grow tired of your false niceties, bug. Now tell me the truth; where are they?"
"Captain," a trooper interrupted. "Trooper DG-423 just spotted them going through the city, should we cut them off?"
"Don't let them leave; keep them there long enough for the Inquisitors to take care of," Phasma ordered. She looked at Ackmena with a shaking head. "Why must you detest the Empire; we provide you with work, and yet you choose to stay here in this slum hole."
No more words were expressed, and so the captain departed the town bar.
Elsewhere, the Jedi were running through alleyways, streets, and anywhere they could to get far away from the bar and from people. No sense in dragging innocent civilians, bounty hunters, or more of that gang that Zorii girl had if they were that serious on turning them in. The cold air stung their faces as they ran for it, winds howling in the night sky. Fluttershy was thankful her cloak was long enough to cover her bare skin, all the while wondering how Rarity's montral headdress didn't fly off her head.
But their luck just about ran out the moment they turned around the bend. All six of them ground their heels against the cobblestone when they looked ahead. Multiple Midnight troopers were marching down the street, led by their captain who spotted the group upon their run. Looking at their odds, the girls all gave a shrug and pulled out their sabers one by one for a fight, standing together in the town's square.
The commotion had died down since the Midnight troopers left, and the atmosphere finally returned to normal once again. The door to the bar opened with nary a buzz; the spice runner the girls met earlier walking inside. Everyone was still drinking, laughing, playing games, whatever. The ruckus that had occurred with the Midnight troopers had long passed. No one paid any mind to her as she walked in, parking herself on the counter. Not even Ackmena paid much mind to the animal skin blanket she had wrapped around herself. Kijimi would freeze anyone who came here unprepared for the harsh weather.
“Ackmena,” Zorii spoke.
“No snorting the spice in here, I don’t want to clean up more overdosed junkies,” Ackmena said, scrubbing out a juicer.
“I’m not doing any lines of spice,” she snarked back. “I wanted to talk.”
Ackmena put the clean juicer back on the blender machine, putting in some more fruits for the next drink order.
“What about?”
“Have you seen any Jedi come through here?”
“Yeah, they came through here half an hour ago. Why?”
Zorii looked around, making sure no one was watching her. And seeing that the coast was clear, she spoke. “I wanted to find them. I found them in the streets, and they were looking for you. I wanted to take them in—”
“—And get enough money to get your bubbly purple butt off this cesspool?” Ackmena finished. Zorii didn’t speak again, mainly because Ackmena kept going. “You’re not the first person here I’ve seen try to pay their way to escape this place. But if you ask me, there’s only one way you can leave.”
“And what’s that?”
Ackmena turned around to look back at her, leaning over the bar and staring her straight through the black visor on her helmet. “I don’t think you want to know. Because I’m telling you now, it doesn’t involve spice.”
“Then what is it?” Zorii insisted, getting a little impatient.
“You’re going to need to leave with the Jedi,” Ackmena said.
Zorii was about to speak up again—
“—Before you talk, let me say something. I know not everyone believes in the Jedi, and not everyone believes they were good. But those girls that you failed to take down, they’re some of the nicest people you will ever find. Not many of those exist. And I think if you want to get out of here, you should join them. And before you argue, I want to ask you something else; what did they want with you when you failed to take them down?”
“All they wanted was to find you. They could have killed me, but they didn’t. They should have just blasted my brains in the snow.”
“Did it ever occur to you that not everybody is like that?” Ackmena asked.
Zorii was about to finally speak, only this time… she didn’t. Ackmena didn’t interrupt her again, and she let Zorii think about her question. Truth be told, the spice runner didn’t think about that before. And with every gang that hired her, every boss she had, every master she knew, no one had any form of kindness in the thirty plus years of her life.
“Listen. Before you walk out that door, I want to give you one last piece of advice. There aren’t that many genuinely good people in this universe. Those girls? I recommend you go with them. They spared your life because they are the nicest people you will ever meet. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life rotting here? If you want to live, go help them. You haven’t lived until you fought side-by-side by a Jedi Knight.”
With that said, Ackmena started to focus on serving the rest of the patrons in the bar. Zorii looked at her gloved hands one last time, and she walked out of the bar. Standing back outside in the snowy night, she looked around her. A few flaming barrels in some of the alleyways, showing homeless people trying to stay warm. Looking at them reminded her of her teenage days, wanting to run away from poverty and gain fortune and glory.
She reached into the back of her head, opening a small compartment. A small sliver of gold credits pulled out, and she looked at them in her hands. She made some credits, and she had been saving up for her chance to leave. But then her mind thought back to all the major bosses that she had been forced to work for. She was promised more pay, more credits, enough to get her carcass off this planet. But with every passing year, it seemed as if her credits only decreased more and more. The more she saved, the more she ended up needing to pay for food and ammunition.
Well she had enough. No more rotting, no more wasting her life away doing pointless run after pointless run. Today was going to change. And she knew just what to do first. She looked over to an alleyway, seeing an innocent little Twi’lek girl trying to stay warm in the alleyway, hidden under a blanket next to her presumed father.
She walked towards them, and the little girl cowered in fear at the scary lady. Zorii understood why, but slowly she opened up her palm, offering the father and daughter the gold credits in her hand. None of them saw, but she was softly smiling under the helmet.
“This should be more than enough to buy a home. A real home,” Zorii softly said, waiting for them to take it. Slowly, the father’s hand extended out and took the credits, and looked at her with a thankful smile.
“T-Thank you.”
“Stay safe. And don’t worry. Things will get better. I know they will.”
She nodded at them, and she jogged up the steps to another street. She looked back one last time, and smiled under the helmet. She didn’t know what they would be doing, but she had hope they would be okay. For now, it was time to find the Jedi. She knew they weren’t too far from here. She turned her head to the right, seeing a group of Stormtroopers running, some halting as they called for reinforcements.
“Haven’t lived til you fight with a Jedi huh? Well… let’s fight with some Jedi.”
Everywhere, all around, Midnight troopers were coming in to box them in, trapping them against the two buildings. They blocked every blast as they could, taking out a few Midnight troopers here and there. But their numbers were overwhelming them, there were too many of them to count.
“They don’t stop coming!” Pinkie squealed, blocking another laser shot as she was getting boxed In with the other.
“They’re everywhere!” Applejack said, bouncing between blocking with a saber and shooting them with a blaster
It looked as if their situation was bleak. But just then, they heard more gunshots coming from the street on their left. Midnight troopers were dropping, and soon some of them turned around to fire on the individual killing their troops. To the Jedi’s surprise, it was Zorii! She stood in the street in a confrontational pose, holding her blasters in the air clenched tightly. Once they were clicked, she charged right at them, guns ablazing and not hesitating to take out the troopers that were attacking. They dropped like flies, and with the addition of her precise shots, the Jedi started to hit more of the troopers, finally eliminating them from everywhere they attacked.
Once they were down, the Jedi put their lightsabers away and looked over to Zorii, smiling at her.
“Nice shootin’, partner,” Applejack complimented.
“Thanks,” Zorii nodded, slipping her blasters back in her holsters.
“You helped us. Why?” Sunset asked.
"You could have killed me, and you didn't." Zorii shrugged her shoulders, almost nonchalant. "Frankly, that's a point in my book now." Her head dipped, as she admitted, "Second, I'm done running spice. I'm wasting my life here." She lifted her up again, to look Sunset square in the face, "So, I guess if none of you mind... I'd like to join your little resistance movement. Rebels, right?"
“Exactly,” Sunset confirmed. “And I say, welcome aboard.”
“Just like that?” Zorii asked, completely baffled. “You’re going to let me in, just like that? Why?”
Sunset walked towards her, making Zorii step back in fear. Sunset’s hands slowly rested on her shoulders, but she looked straight through the visor and into her eyes with the warmest face she could offer.
“Everyone deserves a second chance. And I’m willing to give you that chance.”
Zorii once again was surprised. But happy on the inside. Just then, they heard the clanking sound of footsteps, and an Imperial security droid came walking around the corner with a weapon in hand, and out of fear, Applejack fired with her pistol-half of her lightsaber, shooting the droid right in the central processing-unit.
All of them gasped when they saw who she shot, and Applejack yelped.
“Oh sweet Celestia, what did I do!?”
The security droid’s eyes went out, and it dropped. And out of nowhere, another one of the same model walked out, staring down at the fallen droid. Only he didn’t react right away. He looked at the shot droid and raised his head up to stare at the group of women in front of him.
“Did you know that wasn’t me?”
All of them sighed in relief (except for Zorii) that he was still alive.
“Well…”
“Um…”
“Sorta…”
“Nope!” Pinkie yelped loudest of them all.
“Who is this?” Zorii asked, ready to pull out her gun.
“Relax, he’s with us. Zorii, this is K2-S0. K2, this is Zorii, she’s now on our side. Now what are you doing here, I thought I said to stay on the ship,” Sunset said, putting her hands on her hips.
“You did,” K2 acknowledged. “But I thought it was boring and you were in trouble.”
A running Midnight trooper tossed a grenade at them, but K2’s movements were swift and his hand caught the grenade.
“There are a lot of explosions for a group of women blending in.”
He threw the grenade straight back at the Midnight trooper who tried to run, but was too late. A massive explosion was set off, engulfing the trooper and killing him instantly.
“… You’re right. I should have just waited on the ship,” K2 stated, looking at the dead body.
“Is he always like this?” Zorii asked.
“Yeah. But he means well,” Sunset smiled.
“Dang it, K2!” A little voice shouted from one of the alleys.
“Brt bweep bweep brrrrtbop.”
The Jedi stopped when they heard those voices.
“Spike? R2, are you two back here?” Sunset called out.
“Shoot, um… no, no we’re not!”
“Responding to them is not going to convince them you’re gone,” K2 replied.
“Guys, come on, get out here,” Sunset called again.
Shyly rolling out from the alleyway was Spike and R2-D2 who were grumbling at K2.
“We tried to stop him,” Spike insisted.
“Your lie is unconvincing,” K2 snarked back.
“Enough!” Sunset threw her arms out. “Look, we got what we needed, so let’s get out of…”
The general suddenly stopped all of her thoughts, dropping dead silent. She felt something in the wind, something wrong. Not only in the wind, but she felt a disturbance. A dark presence looming on the right, standing in the middle of the street. She turned her head towards the presence, with the rest of the girls turning around to look where she was looking at.
“Oh no,” Fluttershy gulped.
“What? What are you looking at?” Zorii asked, looking at the same dark alleyway.
Suddenly, a red blade shined in the darkness, and another blade shone as well. Two figures emerged, staring straight at the group of ten. Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other before smirking and turning back at them.
“Two of them, huh? Okay, that’s not so bad,” Rainbow smirked, pulling out her double-bladed lightsaber out for a spin.
“Six of us against them should be fine,” Applejack agreed.
One by one, the rest of the Jedi activated their lightsabers. Pinkie twirled her axes around with a crazy grin that just screamed excited. Fluttershy kept a steady focus, using her famous stare technique as she locked onto the Inquisitors, twirling her bo staff. Last of all; Rarity gripped her katana-saber with no fear in her eyes.
“Two of them against the six of you. There’s about a 26% chance of failure,” K2 summised.
“Droids, Zorii, go back to the ship,” Sunset ordered. “We’ll hold them off.”
Not questioning orders, the four of them got ready to leave until—
“Ah, ah, ahh…”
Sunset’s pupils shrunk and her heart started to beat. Slowly turning around, she saw a new figure walking out another alleyway, red eyes glowing in the shadows. Two red plasma blades emitted as they unfolded out of the dark.
“Leaving so soon?” The new figure taunted with a smirk under the mask.
“Uhhhh… who is that!?” Pinkie pointed her axe at her.
“I forgot about her,” Sunset worried. “That's the Grand Inquisitor. Zorii, go, now!”
“We’re not leaving without you,” Spike insisted.
“We’re not leaving yet, Spike! Just go! We’ll catch up!”
“I don’t even know where your ship is parked,” Zorii asked.
“We do. Come! There’s a 76% chance of us surviving if we actually run instead of standing around,” K2 suggested, attempting a run down the block. R2 and Spike immediately spun around and rolled quickly after K2 to go back to the ship. Not seeing any other chance, the spice runner hiked up her boots and ran after the droids to join them.
The Grand Inquisitor watched the four of them run for it, before a droid detached from her back, hovering in the air. Several claws extended out and snipped together, showing intent to attack. "Keep tracking those four; we'll send troopers their way, but do not deviate from your path."
The droid made a chirping sound and so it hovered in the air and began to fly right after them. The girls' hearts sunk when they realized the danger the droids and their new friend were in, until Applejack tightened her hat and began to run.
"I'll keep 'em safe!" Applejack shouted before disappearing into the city.
Sunset stayed in defensive formation as the now three Inquisitors circled around the Jedi.
"All members of the Council of Friendship back together again; how sweet," the Grand Inquisitor continued. "And one traitorous apprentice leading the revolt."
"I gave up the Sith title a long time ago, Nightbird. If you're going to taunt me, get your facts straight," Sunset finished before charging forward.
The Inquisitor brought her sabers up and crossed the blades together in an “X” shape, easily catching Sunset’s strike. As the two grappled their weapons, trying to break the other’s guard, Rainbow Dash surged forward with her saberstaff held high; but the Fourth Sister intercepted her with a downward sweep of her own lightsaber, forcing the Jedi to parry.
At the same time, the Second Sister lunged at Rarity with a malicious laugh, and the glamorous one of the Jedi Six had to dodge back to avoid being bisected. The other two Jedi instinctively split up, each to help a friend: Pinkie spun her axes as she rushed in close to help Rarity push back the Second Sister; while Fluttershy moved, quiet as a ghost, to try and circle around to help Sunset against the Grand Inquisitor.
Pinkie threw the axe in her right hand towards the Fourth Sister, who had been pressing the attack against Dash. However the Dark Sider, with a speed brought only by the Force, side-stepped the projectile attack, and then activated the double-blade function of her lightsaber. Pinkie pouted, as she shifted the axe in her off hand to a ready position, and moved to get in close for a swing. The Second Sister, who had been probing Rarity’s guard with several small, quick strikes; suddenly broke away from her to pull Pinkie Pie off-balance with the Force, and launched a strike at her back.
Rarity leapt to knock the Inquisitor’s blade away, even as Pinkie flailed to regain her balance and move away from the Fourth Sister, who had begun to advance on her, spinning her saber blade like a buzzsaw. Meanwhile, Sunset had been pushed back by the Grand Inquisitor, and now stood on the defensive. She feinted once, and then slashed at her opponent’s right arm to try and take it off, but the leader of the Inquisitors managed to deflect her strike.
Sunset growled, the Force around her agitated, as she tried to calm her mind and the fear that seemed to hum in the air, like an electric charge, all around. Fluttershy, throughout all of this, had moved in a counterclockwise circle around the duelists, until she was nearly directly behind the Grand Inquisitor. She gathered her courage, readied her lightsaber pike, and then thrust the metal end of her staff at the back of her adversary. Nightbird grunted, stumbling at the impact; Sunset seized the moment to lunge forward again, striking for her enemy’s right hand once more. But, with an agility that would have been impossible for a normal human, the Inquisitor righted herself, and caught the attack with her saber blade. Sunset growled, her temper rising as the fight continued on.
“Too slow,” Nightbird sneered, shaking her head in disappointment. “I expected more from the great Sunset Shimmer.”
The Fourth Sister made a move to swing for Sunset’s legs, but Rainbow Dash intercepted her, and the two of them locked blades with a crackle of red and blue plasma. Time seemed to slow down for the prismatic Jedi, as she thought hard and fast about the ongoing standoff. Three Dark Siders versus five Jedi, and none of them were getting anywhere fast. And the longer this stalemate continued, the more likely that Imperial reinforcements would arrive, and turn the tide completely in the Inquisitors’ favor. She had to even the odds somehow.
Rainbow’s eyes flicked around the area, as she tried to calm her thoughts, and let the living Force guide her. Her gaze flicked from an alleyway, over to an abandoned storefront, and then up to a rooftop. A light even flickered on top of it, almost as if saying “notice me!” Dash grinned, and suddenly broke her deadlock with the Fourth Sister to fall back, and leap to the side and out of immediate range of the fight.
“Hey, bucketbrain!” she hooted to her opponent, “You want me?” Dash raised her artificial arm, and shot a grappling line to the edge of the rooftop. It went taught, and then with a jerk, she was whisked into the air.
“Come and GET me!”
The Fourth Sister snarled under her breath, spinning her saber blade in agitation. Giving chase, she raced forward, and leapt high into the air; the Force propelling her two stories up onto an overhang, and then again onto another ledge, as Rainbow Dash pulled herself up over the top of the roof and out of immediate sight. As she ran across the rooftop to leap to the next one, and hopefully draw her opponent further away from her friends, Rainbow Dash found herself hoping that this would actually work, and that they’d all make it out in one piece…
Through the cities, Zorii and the droids moved as fast as they could, avoiding bounty hunters, civilians, and Imperials at every turn. Spike kept the lead, trying to find the safest way back to the vessel, but the constant turns and changes in direction made it hard to navigate.
Mistaken for a safe turn, the group turned around a corner, and there enough was a small squad of Midnight troopers communicating with one another. Their attention was soon grabbed by the four fugitives they had been targeted to find, enabling them to give chase.
"I know this street, come on, follow me!"
Zorii led the group through an alleyway, leading behind the back of another store.
“That is a bad idea,” K2 said, running after her.
“What else are we supposed to do!?”
Sure enough, the Midnight troopers kept chasing them, and they saw the group of four run into one of the low-class shops. One of the troopers opened up the door, running inside with guns at the ready. The troopers pointed them around the store, looking for the fugitives, but they were not in sight. There was a Gran, but he had his hands up, clearly only interested in shopping. There was a Twi’lek woman and a Gungan, they two were shoppers. The only other person they saw was a Mimbanese woman who snarled at them.
“Did any of you see a woman in red or three droids?”
Unbeknownst to them, the four of them hid in a closet behind the Mimbanese woman. However, the closet was so small, trying to cram them inside was a pain. K2 was basically trying to hold onto the wall and squat a little. Poor R2 and Spike were trying to cram themselves against the walls and not move a muscle, and Zorii ended up having to cling onto K2’s body and not slam herself against the door.
“This is very uncomfortable,” K2 murmured.
“Now you know how I feel,” Zorii grumbled.
“Let’s just hope this pays off. Otherwise, I’ve got a little toy I wanna use on them,” Spike whispered.
“… how are you able to talk, anyways?” Zorii asked.
The group waited for a second. The closet door opened, with the Mimbanese woman in the way.
“They’re gone. But I suggest you run while you still can, they won’t fall for the lie forever,” she said.
“Appreciated. Thank you, Grundal,” Zorii said, squeezing out of the closet.
Taking their chance, the group moved out of the closet and into the streets again, only to find a few troopers outside waiting. Their numbers weren't massive, thankfully. Taking her chance, Zorii whipped out her blasters and started shooting at them. She ducked behind some flimsy piece of cover, with a few blaster sparks bouncing off the trashcan cover she was using.
K2-SO decided to step in as well, grabbing one of the troopers with his bare hands and slammed him down against another soldier before reaching for his weapon. A blaster shot hit him in the shoulder, but it wasn't enough to do damage. K2 reciprocated the attack with a blaster shot at another trooper, striking a central nerve that made him drop to the ground.
A few more troopers remained as Zorii and K2 worked together to combat against them, taking out two more in the process. Spike and R2 however didn't stay hidden behind the building's doors, instead, opting to move past them to try and attack. Spike rolled out with his middle wheel, his legs hovering behind him as he spun around. Two nozzles extended from his torso, and massive bursts of flames spread to two more troopers, engulfing them in flames as they tried to run away from the pain, but ultimately couldn't. R2's retaliation was using a zapper tool, and striking the officer in the leg, immobilizing his ability to run for a temporary time.
Looking back, the officer was ready to destroy the droid with all of his might, but R2 struck before he had a chance. The officer was tazed again, and he dropped to the ground. Six troopers and an officer down for the count, the group started to pick up the pace again. But before they could move any further.
"Oh dear. I believe we have a problem in the air," K2 noted.
Zorii looked up, seeing the probe droid spying on them. Grabbing her blasters, she fired them like crazy, trying to take care of the robot, but with no luck. Extending its claws, it dashed down and threw itself against Zorii, pinning her down. K2 was ready to step in, until a powerful force lifted the probe into the air and away from the spice runner. Turning their heads, Zorii grinned under the helmet to see Applejack finally arrived, holding the probe in a vice-grip pose, keeping it locked in place.
"Sorry partner, but you ain't comin' with us," Applejack declared. Her hand clenched into a fist, crushing the probe droid internally and externally, falling to the ground as a massive dent. "Y'all okay?"
"We would have been fine, with or without your interference," K2 replied. "Not that anyone cares."
"Come on, y'all! We gotta keep movin'!" Applejack ushered.
With the Fourth Sister led away from the group, Pinkie and Rarity were able to focus on the Second Sister. Two to one, both sides were on even ground in terms of power. Pinkie swung her axes around like a madwoman, making the Inquisitor unsure of how to fight her opponent. She swore this Jedi had a lot more intelligence to fighting than just going straight at her.
Taking her chance, she moved her saber to try and stab her, only for Pinkie to jump out of the way and throw one of her axe-sabers towards the Inquisitor. The blade swung around and lodged itself in a brick wall, missing the Sister entirely. Using the Force, Pinkie yanked the axe right back to her hand, clenching it tight. She hacked at the Sister some more, getting her to block with her double-bladed saber.
"Hmm... Oooh! Rarity, I have an idea! Give me a minute!" She said, zipping away in a flash. "Can you hold her there for just a wee bit, okay thank you!"
Rarity wanted to protest, but memories of Pinkie's antics flooded her memory, making her giggle. Knowing her, she had something dastardly to fight; Rarity would have no problem keeping her occupied for just a minute.
The Second Inquisitor let her double-bladed saber spin around like a fan, slashing the ground as she moved herself closer to Rarity to attack. Rarity looked for a chance to intervene or deflect her strikes, not seeing a chance to make her move. But as she was pushed further, the Inquisitor took her chance and stopped spinning her blades, raising it up to attack.
Rarity held her katana out, blocking the attack against her. Grinding her heels against the cobblestone, Rarity pushed the Second Sister back, and extended a hand out, using the Force to push her farther from her space.
"I never liked fighting, not even in the Clone Wars, it's just never been my thing..." Rarity stated, adjusting her fake montrals. "But if you ever hurt my friends...," her eye twitched as she focused her glare. "I WILL RIP YOU TO PIECES IF YOU TOUCH ONE HAIR ON ANY OF THEIR HEADS!"
Rarity pushed the Second Sister back some more, making her foot slide over a button that had been placed on the ground. A loud beeping sound started to rapidly emit, and the Sister turned around to the source of the noise. A bright pink cannon was mounted on the ground, and aimed right at her.
A spark was lit on the end of the wick, and a massive explosion of confetti blew into the Second Sister's face, sending her flying back. But when she turned around, she was met with a bazooka aimed at her head again, courtesy of Pinkie Pie looking at her with a crazy grin.
"SURPRISE!"
Pulling the trigger, another explosion of confetti and streamers fired in her face, throwing her off balance. Despite the protection of the helmet, she was so close to the weapon that her ears started to ring, making her groan from the pain as she held onto her head.
Pinkie and Rarity stood back, defensively waiting for her to get angry and attack. But the Sister never did, instead, her hands reaching for her helmet were furiously trying to yank it off her head, as if it was stuck. One final tug and the helmet was removed before being tossed to the ground, revealing the face beneath the mask.
But when the woman underneath was revealed, Pinkie let out a big gasp in shock. Rarity's jaw dropped to the ground.
"Oh... ohhh... OH FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!!!!"
Fluttershy brought up her lightsaber pike, activating its blade just in time to catch and deflect a strike from the Grand Inquisitor’s lightsaber. The kindhearted Jedi locked blades with her opponent, working to keep her opponent from overpowering. Sunset joined in, catching Nightbird’s other lightsaber in a lock, and together the two Jedi reached out to the Force to push the Inquisitorius’ leader back and away. Nightbird, if she was impressed by their resistance, did not show it; instead, she responded in kind.
Briefly deactivating her own sabers, she thrust out her hands, and the living Force screamed as a telekinetic blast slammed into both Jedi and knocked them off their feet. Fluttershy was the first to get back upright, but the Grand Inquisitor didn’t let up: she made a sharp sweeping gesture with her left hand, and another Force push knocked Fluttershy up and away. She tumbled through the air to bounce against the wall of a nearby tenement and dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Sunset grimaced, wiping some blood from her lip, as she stood back up and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She brought up her saber in an overhead guard, willing herself to work through the pain and let the Force move through her. The general brought her saber down in a mighty forward strike as Nightbird advanced; the Inquisitor brought both blades up to deflect the blow, and for one moment as both sets of lightsabers rebounded, the space between the two fighters was open to attack.
Sunset Shimmer tried to bring her blade back down for another overhead swing, but in the instant it took to redirect the momentum of her lightsaber, Nightbird was just a little bit faster. The Grand Inquisitor’s dominant lightsaber flicked out, like a stinger, and the tip of the plasma blade burned into Sunset’s right shoulder. With a winded scream, Sunset dropped to one knee. Her arm spasmed from the agony of the burn and the hole left behind, but she refused to give up. She would not let herself fall. Not like this…
Nightbird shook her head, in a parody of sorrow, as she brought up her lightsaber and held the tip of the blade towards Sunset’s throat. “Not at all what I’d been hoping for,” she mused, “I came here to slay a legend of the Clone Wars. Instead I found a washout with her best days far behind her.” Sunset grit her teeth, and bit back several choice Huttese oaths. She tried to raise her arm, bring up her saber again, but it may as well have been made of wood for all the good it would have done her. The Grand Inquisitor flicked two fingers out, and the Force slammed Sunset like a cannonball, lifting her off her feet and pinning her against a wall. Sunset Shimmer, General of the Rebellion, choked, wind knocked out of her, as she felt the Dark Sider’s will keeping her stuck in place; the feeling was like being submerged in something foul and decayed, and it grew heavier and heavier by the second as she struggled to try and break free.
Behind the dark mask covering her face, Nightbird was grinning like a nexu about to pounce. “Oh, do yourself a favor and stop struggling,” she almost cooed, sauntering towards her trapped opponent, “It’s all over for you now.” Nightbird’s eyes, behind the dark red lenses of the Inquisitor’s helmet, were glinting like those of a spice addict about to get their next fix. She could feel the other woman’s desperation, her fear, through the Force, and she savored it. Savored it so much, that she quite forgot about the other, fainter presence, that had come back, and had retreated into the shadows nearby, waiting for the right moment.
And just as Nightbird brought her blades out and slashed them preparatory to what would be a killing strike, Fluttershy stepped out of cover, and threw her lightsaber pike like a javelin.
Nightbird screamed, as the plasma blade struck her from behind, and sliced through her right shoulder in an instant. The Grand Inquisitor’s dominant arm dropped to the ground, still clutching its weapon in its still-twitching fingers. Fluttershy scrunched up her face at the grisly sight, and at the thought of inflicting such pain on anyone, even a Dark Sider, but she willed herself to focus on helping her friend. Sunset, the Inquisitor’s hold on her having faded with the loss of her arm, picked herself back up to a standing position, and half-limped, half-ran, to stand at Fluttershy’s side. Together, the two Jedi watched Nightbird stagger and turn to face them. Her posture unsteady, her breathing ragged; the Grand Inquisitor was livid with rage as she seethed, through gritted teeth: “Why don’t you Jedi ever, ever, STAY DEAD?!”
Nightbird started to make a move like she was about to charge them, but Fluttershy summoned her pike back to hand with the Force and brought it up with a simple but elegant flourish, and the Inquisitor halted. Maddened with pain and fury as she was, the Dark Sider could see from the steely looks on her opponent’s faces, that this was a fight they had no problem finishing for good. “I’m not going to kill you, even if Rainbow Dash really thinks I should,” Fluttershy said, warningly. “But if you keep chasing us, you will lose that other arm.” She let out a short breath, and added, “So please… don’t.”
Nightbird ground her teeth behind her mask, her lightsaber trembling violently in her remaining hand. Thoughts of murder and retribution danced in her mind, but even with the red haze over her vision, she knew that to attack would be a fatal mistake. She watched the two of them, Jedi healer and Rebel general, move for the rooftops, and swore a thousand times over that when she next caught the two Jedi, she would inflict vengeance that would make Darth Midnight herself weep for them.
Rainbow Dash leapt the space between another set of rooftops, still doing her best to lead the Fourth Sister away from the rest of her friends. Though she was beginning to wonder, in spite of herself, how much longer she could keep going; her heart was hammering in her chest, the breath burned in her throat, and her legs were aching, an all-too-unwanted set of reminders that she was not the young Jedi she’d once been.
When I get out of this – not if, when, she would NOT think that way – I’m never slacking on exercise again, Rainbow swore to herself as she approached the edge of the current building she was on. She braced herself for the jump, timed it as she closed in… and then let the Force flow through her, as she pushed off and soared over the gap. She landed rough, stumbling, and nearly fell; Rainbow wondered for a split second if she might have twisted her ankle. Then she heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber activating and hurried to draw her own blade, barely in time to catch the Fourth Sister’s strike.
“So, this is the mighty Rainbow Dash?” taunted the Inquisitor, pushing her blade against Rainbow’s, forcing the other woman back. Rainbow Dash knew that the Sister was trying to knock her off balance, and resolved to beat her at her own game: she drew on as much of the Force as she could, and flicked out her hands to send the Inquisitor back, almost knocking her over the side of the ledge of the building they were on. (To Rainbow’s disappointment though, the Fourth Sister didn’t fall, and managed to right herself just in time.)
Rainbow Dash brought up her saber in a guard stance, her blade angled low in a resting position; ready to snap it up to deflect any strikes at an instant. As the two of them took a moment to ready themselves anew, Dash pondered her next move: withdraw further? No, that had been too close a call already. Leap in close and try to hammer her back and over the side? Risky, even for her taste. Old memories of the last time she had tried a relentless attack on a Sith flickered through her thoughts, and the spot where her prosthetic arm met her shoulder ached.
“Scared, Rainbow Dash?” the Fourth Sister sneered, as she raised her lightsaber in a mock salute.
“You wish,” Rainbow huffed, as she planted her feet and braced herself for whatever would come next. The Inquisitor activated the second blade of her saber, and let the twin plasma beams spin like a buzzsaw as she stepped carefully forward. Rainbow knew that this was a display, meant to intimidate her; she scowled and tried not to let the anger cloud her focus.
There is no emotion, there is serenity...
Their lightsabers met in a clash of colors; blue and red sparks hissed as the Fourth Sister moved and lunged around Dash from one side to another. Rainbow swung her saberstaff to deflect the oncoming strikes, but she was tiring, bit by bit. The standoff on the ground, and the chase across the roofs, were taking their toll, and she knew she was paying for it. And then, quite suddenly, that toll came due in another way.
The Fourth Sister angled her blades, spinning them again like a buzzsaw to hammer at Rainbow’s guard; the Jedi tried to break her attacker’s offense with a pushback, but the Inquisitor sidestepped her lunge, and in the few seconds Rainbow was off balance, flicked out her saber, and cut through Rainbow’s prosthetic arm just beneath the shoulder. Rainbow gasped in pain, and staggered, gaping in shock as she saw her limb once again laying on the ground like so much trash.
The Fourth Sister grabbed her with the Force, and slammed her down to the rooftop, pinning her in place. “Aww. Did I break your arm?” the Inquisitor cooed mockingly, “What a shame, it looked so nice…” The Fourth Sister brought her lightsaber blade down and swiped it through the wrist of the severed arm. With another flourish, she then cut through the elbow of the prosthesis, before stabbing her blade through the handle of Dash’s lightsaber, cutting it in half. She finished up by scattering the pieces with the Force, clearly savoring every moment of the act.
Rainbow watched, helpless and sickened, fear pressing in on her more and more by the second. She was trapped like an animal in a snare, and the hunter was just toying with her now. “I’ve waited months for this, Dash,” the Fourth Sister said, her voice now dangerously sweet, “Ever since Tatooine. I’d say it’s a shame it had to be this way, but, eh, you know…” She shrugged one shoulder, then brought up her saber and spun it around, before swiping it against the rooftop, sending sparks flying over Dash’s prone, paralyzed body. She was gearing up for another swing, maybe this one to be the killing strike… Her heart racing, Rainbow tried to think of some way out. The Force had not abandoned her yet, she would not die like this. And as she thought, suddenly she recalled something from the mission to Scarif from previous months…
“She’s not Trixie anymore, Shimmer. That’s a name long of old. She’s now one of the highest-ranking officials of the Galactic Empire."
The words hit her like a thunderbolt, and Rainbow knew what she had to do. “Stop! This isn’t you!”
The Fourth Sister paused, for a fraction of a second, before slashing again and sending another burst of sparks at her. She brought her saber up, high, like an executioner at the chopping block…
The blade froze, its wielder twitching in shock. The Force seemed to shudder around them, the Inquisitor’s psychic grip on her prisoner slackening, and Dash struggled up, pulling herself into a crouch.
“What did you say?” the Fourth Sister hissed. She held up her blade, pointing it right at Rainbow’s heart.
“I said I know it’s you, Trixie,” Rainbow Dash repeated, heavily. “That’s your name, that’s who you are. Not an Inquisitor, not a ‘Fourth Sister’… you’re a Jedi, like me.” She raised her remaining hand, and held it up almost in way of offering. “You’re a magician, you liked to show off what you knew to the younglings—”
“No,” the red blade shook, its owner’s voice hissed quietly.
“This isn’t you. Not the real you,” Dash pressed on, pleadingly, “You loved fireworks shows and those peanut butter cracker snacks. You liked to rib Twilight about spending all her time in the Archives. Your best friend is Starlight Glimmer—"
“Shut up.” The masked face shook back and forth. The red blade swiped to one side, but it did not stab at the Jedi standing across from its wielder, and so Rainbow continued: “We never got along, I know that, but I also know that you are better than this! You are not an Inquisitor!”
“It doesn’t matter who Trixie was!” the figure in the dark mask and Inquisitor’s garb screamed. The red lightsaber clattered to the ground, forgotten. Silence fell, for a long moment. Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything, as she slowly, carefully, approached the Inquisitor, and reached up her hand to their mask. She wondered if she was doing the right thing, the smart thing, or if she was about to die, but she did not stop; she had to see this through. She reached out, and pressed her fingers to the mask, and the Force whispered to her, and she felt for the release mechanism that would disconnect it from the rest of the helmet. The person in the garb of the Fourth Sister did not resist.
There was a faint “click,” and then the mask came away, and Rainbow saw the face beneath. Once-bright blue skin, a face that had grinned and boasted lively expressions, now bore a muted color, and a sullen, exhausted look. The eyes were a murky, tainted yellow, devoid of the old pride, the old cheer. Her face bore the marks of long-ago cuts, some of them horribly surgical looking in nature. There was a healed, but still notable, burn mark, left on one cheek, that puckered the edge of her mouth there.
Trixie, once great and once powerful, looked at Rainbow Dash for a moment before averting her eyes. Without the mask, it was like all of her previous anger and viciousness had been bled away. What was left… was little more than a shell of a person. Rainbow stared at that faded, wounded face, and her eyes watered. “Trixie,” she said, her voice rough, and she put her hand on the other woman’s shoulder, and tried to bring her into a hug. Trixie froze for a moment. And then she melted into Dash’s grip, throwing both arms around her, shaking like a leaf.
There was a rustle of movement behind them. It was Sunset, and the other Jedi, having followed Rainbow’s Force signal up to the rooftop. They stopped at the sight of Rainbow, her arm missing. Pinkie nearly drew her axes, but Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder, and shook her head in warning. Rainbow Dash didn’t pay attention.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, to the broken woman clinging to her. “It’s okay. You don’t have to fight anymore. It’s okay…”
“Do you know, what they did to me?” Trixie’s voice was little more than a whisper. Yet in the quiet that had settled over Kijimi City’s rooftops, it seemed to carry like a full bellow. “Years of misery, agony… they tortured me. Broke me, broke anyone else they wanted f-for the Inquisitorius. They broke me again and again, took me apart until I let them put me back together as… whatever I am now.”
Tears were running freely down her face, and the woman who had been the Fourth Sister looked, more than anything, like a child who had been hurt and didn’t understand what had just happened. “I remember, but I don’t… know anymore. I’m not… not what I once was.”
She suddenly let go of the embrace, and pushed herself away from Rainbow Dash. Trixie’s mouth twitched, and she said, in a dazed, brittle voice, “I’m not her. Not anymore. It’s too late.”
Sunset tried to step up. "Trixie, w--"
"It's too late, Sunset!" Trixie growled with fury in her eyes. "It doesn't matter if I leave with all of you, they will never accept me. I'm dead!"
The Inquisitor was shaking a little bit, from the anger and fear washing together. She looked at the girls around her, slowly breathing to calm down.
"I don't have much time. But I need you all to listen carefully; the Empire is building something. Something big. The Defender project you destroyed is nothing compared to what they have planned for you all."
"What, what are they making?" Rarity questioned.
"A station. Bigger than anything you can possibly conceive. They're moving it outside of Dath..." Trixie trailed off. There wasn't any reason for her to just suddenly stop, but when she looked to her left, her breath started shaking with her body. The girls looked towards that direction, but they didn't see anything; not even an Imperial or Inquisitor in sight. Trixie took a small step backwards, horrified by something only she could see, the sounds sending chills down her entire spine.
But what the rest of the Jedi saw frightened them more. As if coming out of nowhere, a silhouetted figure seen only by the moonlight, stood on the building across from them. Her cape swished and dropped from her shoulders, before the figure leaped from the canopy they stood on. She stepped into their vision, her breathing echoing through her filters.
The girls looked at each other, then back at new arrival.
"Sunset... is that--?"
"--It's her," Sunset confirmed.
Midnight focused on the girls as she slowly moved behind Trixie.
"I have been waiting a long time to see you all again. Unfortunate that we aren't on the same sides," Midnight greeted.
"At least we stuck together," Pinkie growled. "The only thing that was tearing us apart was you."
Midnight said nothing more. Her saber ignited, finally breaking Trixie out of her trance. Realizing what was to come, she looked at her old friends one last time before giving them one soft if bittersweet smile. A pained groan followed as a bright red blade was seen prodding out of her heart.
Trixie was gasping for air before the blade deactivated, leaving a gaping hole in her chest where her heart once was.
"Pr... Promise me..." Trixie wheezed. "S... Stop her..." She dropped to her knees. "Stop... the Empire..."
"We'll bring them down," Sunset whimpered. "I promise."
"T... Thank you," Trixie wheezed. "Now, I... I am finally... free..." she said with a grateful smile as she dropped to the ground, her last bit of energy finally escaping her body.
Midnight looked back towards the Jedi Six, not moving a muscle. Realizing they had no choice, all six of them dashed to another rooftop, running as fast as their legs could take them, leaving Midnight to stand there.
"All Inquisitors, bring the Jedi down. And do not fail me," Midnight ordered.
Sunset didn't say another word during their escape. As all of them leapt, dashed, and ran across the rooftops of Kijimi City, they did not dare look back. No one had expected to see their former friends here tonight, nor were they ready for Trixie's departure. Despite their loss, none of them could express even a little bit of sadness right now; War, bringing on so many deaths of friends and family over the years had left them all numb to the pain.
But inside, Sunset was screaming at herself. They were so close to getting an entire clue, and now they were back to square one with barely a hint at the Empire's plan. A station? What kind of station, what were they even making? She'd have to investigate this some more, provided they all would survive this chase. The Inquisitors were catching up to them, their agility on par with the Terrialian Jango Jumpers.
Only a few more rooftops and awnings left and they would be home free. The Inquisitors were dangerously close, ready to slash them once they had the chance. Just as they made it to the next rooftop, the Jedi's ride soared across the sky and moved itself down above the last building just off the edge of the mountain. Zorii stood at the bottom of it, waving for them to come on board. One by one, the Jedi climbed inside, with Sunset being the last of the group. Looking behind her, she watched the Inquisitors continue to give chase until the ramp closed up, sealing everyone inside. The Inquisitors all leapt up, using their blades to spin around like rotor blades, added with the Force to propel them.
But it was too late; the freighter blasted off into the skies and into hyperspace, leaving Kijimi behind. All the while, the Inquisitors growled at their failure. Midnight wasn't going to be happy about this, and who knew how she was going to take their failure this time.
Lyra stood on the second platform ledge, arms hanging over the railings. Thankfully she wasn’t pelted by the rain, underneath the tarp that kept her dry. She stared at the forest across from her, hearing the sounds of some nearby critters minding their own business, enjoying their natural habitat. And over near a pond, she saw a small little dock with some baskets and fishing tools. She lightly chuckled, but her smile died in seconds.
“Mom?”
Lyra broke from her quiet, looking back to see her child having stepped out on the balcony with her.
“Yeah kiddo?”
“You’ve been quiet ever since we ate dinner. Is something wrong?”
Lyra scrunched the bridge of her nose with her hand. “Flurry, I do not feel comfortable being around those troopers.”
“Why? They seem like nice guys. I mean they all look the same, but they’re nice,” Flurry asked. “Is it how they’re dressed?”
“No.”
“Well, what’s wrong with them?” Flurry insisted.
“Kiddo, what happened between them and us was a long time ago, and I’m not sure that’s something I will ever get over,” Lyra said, with a bit of animosity in her voice. “You don’t understand. They are dangerous. They could—”
“—Derpy trusts them, doesn’t she? And I thought you trusted her,” Flurry interrupted, putting her hands on her hips.
“… I do.”
“Well then what is wrong with them? I don’t know why you hate them so much, but they seem like good guys to me. And if Derpy trusts them, shouldn’t they be fine? I thought Derpy was your friend…”
Flurry pouted and looked away, folding her arms as she just stared out into the forest. She listened to the rain dancing on top of the cover. It was a nice sound to listen to, and she did admittedly enjoy hearing it, much nicer than the sounds of all of the explosions and battle cries.
The minty green Jedi’s eyes looked at Flurry, observing her returned cold stance. She looked back out at the forest, and spoke.
“It was another day in the Clone Wars…”
Flurry perked up, and she turned around to listen to her mom speak.
“… at least, for my Jedi friends. A long time ago, I decided to leave the Jedi Order because I could not devote my life to more war and fighting. I left and that was when I chose to stay with your mother, and live with her for the rest of my life. She made me happy, and it made me happier that I had an actual family, I felt like I had real purpose for once. And raising you was something I never regret, not even during the worst days.”
The teenager didn't interrupt, as much as she wanted to ask what all this had to do with clones.
“Anyways, your mother and I found some means of making money during the final days of the war, and we were doing very well for our own. Unfortunately, we had ourselves some tough luck and got caught between a battle between some Stormies and my former clone comrades. Bon Bon and I chose to stick around to help out a little bit, mainly just to get some of our fighting kicks in and keep the Storm Army off our backs.”
Lyra lightly smiled. “I must admit, it felt nice to fight with them again. I had lost my entire battalion when I was trying to protect you from them, and that was when I first met your mother.” Her smile then faded away into a frown. And underneath the doorframe was Gallus, Smolder, and Commander Hurricane who wanted to listen in. “But, something changed that day.”
As Lyra thought more and more about it, she swore she heard explosions echo back in her head from that day. Sounds of lightsaber swings, blasters firing, explosions, cries of droids and clone soldiers being killed left and right.
“Without warning, I suddenly felt this… disturbance. I felt as if something was wrong, a sharp pain hit my head, and I felt a disturbance in the Force. I couldn’t understand what it was. I didn’t know what happened until your mother said something. To this day, she doesn’t understand how or what, but she heard something inside her helmet. Someone ordering the clones to… ‘Execute Order 66’.”
Flurry still wasn’t understanding. But then she saw her mother’s hands start to shake as she leaned on the railing.
“The clones… without so much as another word or warning, suddenly primed their blasters and pointed them at me. And one them… oh God…” her voice cracked. “One of them turned on you while you were in your crib. He almost… ohhh…” Lyra’s eyes were now watering and a wave of Force started to shake and rumble around her.
“Mom!”
Flurry grabbed her mom, pulling her out of her small trance. Lyra’s powers stopped, and the ledge stopped trembling. She wiped her eyes clean, and cleared her voice to try and keep talking.
“If it wasn’t for your mother, you would not be alive today. I have not forgotten that day, that day where they almost killed you…” Lyra choked. “We… we ended up fighting our way back to our ship and went on the run. Soon we started to hear a bunch of news reports all over the galaxy; clones turning on their Jedi generals, orders being sent out to hunt down any Jedi survivors, and the Republic was being turned into the first Galactic Empire to ‘unite’ the galaxy as one.”
Flurry’s expression softened and she moved in to give her mom a much-needed hug. Lyra sniffled a bit, and she accepted the hug, wrapping her arms around her daughter.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about, you did not know any of this happened,” Lyra replied, holding her shoulders and staring at her straight in the eye.
“None of us had a choice,” said a new voice; Hurricane had come out onto the platform. He walked out onto the ledge to join them, with Lyra still defensively moving to protect her daughter. Hurricane however did not argue with her. “I know this hard to accept, but none of us had a choice.”
“We were all told that one day, we would be free from the war, and when it would be over, we could be free men.... and look at where we are now," Bubbles added with a heavy sigh.
Lyra turned her head, not wanting to give the troopers any more attention. Both commanders looked at each other inquisitively, until Derpy stepped out on the ledge. The two troopers silently nodded, and stepped away, allowing their friend to talk to her more privately.
“Lyra?”
The former Jedi looked up, noting Derpy’s worried expression. “I didn’t mean to make you upset. I’m sorry.”
Lyra sighed again, and this time she gave Derpy a brief hug. “Derpy, you have nothing to apologize for. I was expecting people, but I wasn't... I wasn't prepared to see war veterans."
After breaking from the hug, Derpy looked back to Flurry. Then back to Gallus, Smolder, Adagio, and then to Bon Bon who all gathered together on the balcony as well. Lastly, she moved her head back to Lyra.
“So, why have you come back here?”
Bon Bon was the one who spoke up this time. “Derpy, we need your help. Adagio was surprisingly telling the truth about you being alive, and we want your help in our Rebel alliance. Well, you and your clones.”
That sentence made Derpy frown, closing her eyes. “No.”
The Rebels were shocked. “No?”
“Why not?”
"I can't go back. I don't have the Force, I'm not strong, and I don't have it in me to fight anymore," Derpy explained.
"We've worked with way less," Bon Bon shrugged off.
Derpy's sad face turned more into a stern glare. "You aren't hearing me, are you. I said, no. Actually..." she stopped for a moment. "Come with me. I want you all to see something," she said, leading them back inside the house.
The group followed Derpy and company down a path behind their house. But she didn't say what specifically she wanted to show them, wishing for their eyes to see first.
“Derpy, I don’t understand, what was it you wanted to show… Oh… my… gosh…”
Several tree stumps left in the open, with the rest of the tree it was once part of, cut away to create this massive field. A few paths made with stone and cut concrete led into an open clearing, surrounded by benches and several markers. Derpy led them down one of the paths, and everyone started looking at the various stone markers around them. All of them looked polished, made from a shiny rocky material. But what drew their attention to these, were the names that were listed on many of these markers.
Lyra, upon looking at just one, felt her heart sank. She recognized these names, and not in the best of ways. Her partner could feel her sadness growing, squeezing her hand and her shoulder, and giving a loving hug from behind, making sure she felt that she wasn’t alone.
“Sometime after our escape, I did some research/hacking into every remaining Alliance archive I could, downloading every file on everyone we had lost so I could keep track of them all... and so I didn't have to go chasing after friends who had died. Once I had all the information… that is when I started making these,” Derpy said.
The Rebels looked towards one stone beam, eyes lingering down the list of names that were right there, open in front of them.
In Memory Of Those Who Fought To Protect The Peace
“Clones, Jedi, senators, civilians, anyone that we called a friend… I made sure their names were placed. The Alliance may not exist anymore… but as long as these markers stay, so do their memory, and the tragedy of everything they fought for.”
Flurry and her moms felt a wince of pain in Derpy’s words as she continued. Then her eyes looked at another wall, with a smaller list than the others.
“Ace. Bolt. Bounce. Coil. Fuse. Knight. Mohawk. Patch. Stinger. Stretch. Tap. They weren’t just any soldiers to me… they were family. Even during the hardest of times, I felt as if they were always there for me to make me smile. And I was there for them when they needed it too. And when Order 66 came… they were gone. Just like that.”
Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas all shared equal frowns as they looked at that same column, that same list. Good soldiers who always followed orders without question… now nothing more than more bodies added to the expendable troopers that the clones were thought to be.
Flurry Heart stared at another marker, looking at more names. Derpy came back around, standing next to her.
“We may have been trying to be peacekeepers… but in the end, it was for nothing. Everyone who just wanted to defend innocent people, everyone who just wanted to do what was right... they’re gone.”
Lyra walked up next to Derpy, noticing a small tear leaking down her face. Her hand gently hesitated, but she slowly moved and wiped it from her face, with Derpy’s artificial eye whirring to look at her. The Jedi looked over to the married Force-user, still carrying that same look. Lyra softly nudged Derpy, and pulled her in for a hug, longer than the one she gave upon realizing she was still alive.
“Derpy…”
Derpy pulled out of the hug, and looked back at the markers, gazing at them with an emotionless stare; sadness and anger melding together.
“I’m happy you’re still alive, Lyra. I really am. But I’m done fighting. I’m tired of fighting, I’m tired of killing, I… I just don’t want to do this anymore. And if something happens to my best friends, if something happened to any of the last loved ones I have left in my life, I… I don’t know what I’d do.”
Lyra wiped another tear from her face, hearing her softly whimper, trying not to cry.
“Oh, Derpy… Hey, hey, look at me,” Lyra said, lifting her chin to look at her. “I understand you don’t want to fight. And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But you should know that we are still alive, and we’re not alone. There are others who survived the Order 66 ambush. The Rebels that we are now serving alongside, we’re all fighting to put an end to the Empire, to stop Darth Midnight, and put an end to everything she started. We’re fighting so that the lives of everyone who died in the Clone Wars are not in vein. We are not alone, and you are not alone. You are never alone.”
The survivor hadn’t heard those words in a long time. Truth be told, after hiding for fifteen years, and only freeing the Clones several months ago, she had felt like she was alone. No one to talk to, no one who understood her pain, aside from her brothers. However…
“I’m sorry. I’m not going back,” Derpy answered, still standing her ground.
“… Are you kidding me!?” Smolder snapped. “We come all the way out here to look for you, and you don’t even want to come back? You seriously don’t want to bring them down?"
That last remark made the poor girl snap. Derpy gave the Draconoid a heavy glare, and she breathed heavily, trying to keep herself contained. “You think I didn’t try to stop them? Do you honestly think I didn’t try to fight them?”
She marched towards the Draconoid, towering over her. “I tried to fight. I almost died, more times than fighting Stormtroopers, Umbarans, and battle droids. I fought them, only to try and escape and survive, and to make sure that the clones who had no choice could survive to the next day! And you know what happened? We LOST!”
Smolder was now regretting making that comment towards the veteran. “We lost, all of us. The entire war amounted to NOTHING. And you know what happened to all the clones? After being forced to kill the Jedi? They lost Kamino!” Derpy looked at the brothers who didn’t look as saddened by her, but the pain was still visibly there. “They just… lost their home. After the Empire thought they outlived their purpose; they just… destroyed it. Sure, some clones made one last stand to try and fight back, but do you know how well that went?”
Derpy was almost on the verge of breaking down. A single tear went down her face as she thought back.
“They had to kill their own brothers. They had to watch as their own brothers killed each other,” Derpy gestured to the five brothers near her. “And not only did they have to watch as their own brothers killed each other, they had to watch as the very Republic they swore to fight for, turn into an empire that we didn’t want to become… and then that very empire destroyed their home. Their bloodline is gone. Their brothers, are just… gone.”
Smolder's nostrils puffed more smoke, shaking her head.
"Well then that's all the more reason to not stay here and come help us so this doesn't happen again. Wouldn't all of the cl..." Gallus stopped himself. "Wouldn't all of your brothers want you to avenge them for everything they fought for? So they didn't just die for nothing?"
Derpy wanted to argue. She couldn't. Instead she just looked away, shamefully. Gallus was right; and she knew it. But she couldn't bring herself to agree.
"Enough," Lyra decided. "If Derpy and the... boys," she said, with hesitation, "don't want to come back, they don't have to. We're not going to drag them into this again." She looked at Derpy with a wistful frown. "I... I guess this is goodbye."
Derpy was frozen. She looked down, in shame, still clutching her exposed left arm. Bubbles patted her shoulder, giving a little bit of comfort, at least what he could provide. Lyra still wanted to try and push, but she realized it was going to be futile. Her friend had suffered enough, and she didn't want to make her feel worse. She cared for her friend, and if she had to move their separate ways, then so be it.
"Eleven, Cheep, G-G," Lyra spoke into the coms. "Is the ship still safe?"
"Okay. We're on our way back, stand by for us when we come back. And if you detect any proximity that isn't us, let us know."
"Chirp chirp!"
Lyra set her arm down, gesturing for her crew to come with. One by one, they turned around to get ready to leave, not looking back at the fallen Jedi or the retired clones. All except for Smolder and Gallus. The two of them still stayed there, looking at them with disappointment.
"Just so you know; we thought the Empire would leave us alone because our planets was out of their way. But they came for us too. How long do you really think you and your family will have before Midnight's forces decide to put their mark on your world?" Smolder asked before rejoining Flurry and company. Gallus didn't say anything else, just moving quickly to come back to the others.
Once the group was far gone, Derpy and the boys were left there, just standing. Most of them were unsure of what to do, or what to say. Some were hesitant to the idea of coming back, they didn't want the Clone Wars final days to repeat and make it all for naught. Others were considering going back. But Derpy was the most conflicted of all, still standing there as shy as ever.
Bubbles stayed with her, looking out at the vast jungle as far as they could see.
"If you want to go back, I'd be more than happy to join you again. I followed you into battle before, I'd be willing to join you again," Bubbles offered with a friendly smiled.
"I... But you all deserve a life away from war. I don't want that being all you know. They didn't even give you skills or anything to prepare you to retire! Just remembering poor Fireball and Nemec," Derpy whimpered.
"--Derpy," Rex decided to interrupt. The 501st captain turned to her, getting both her and Bubbles attention. "We were made for war; it's what we were bred to do. I know you want us to make our choices, and I respect that. But right now... I want to make a choice; I want to go back. The Empire's done enough; and I'm not just going to stay here and let them continue to reign. Whether you join me or not, I'm going."
Derpy looked back at the jungle. Then she looked back at the home she had crafted together with the friends she had made here on Ajan. She didn't want to leave it... but so many people were going to suffer if she didn't help. Lyra needed her help. With a slow sigh, she rubbed her face with her fingerless gloved hand. She looked forward, and her eyes narrowed.
The walk through the jungle was quiet again, aside from the chirping of birds and bugs around the group. Lyra sulked throughout their walk, with Bon Bon trying to keep up with her and provide some comfort, even if it was just by holding her hand. Adagio was slipped back into cuffs again, with Gallus and Smolder making sure she kept moving. Flurry just walked in the middle of the group of six, feeling awkward about the situation.
“I’m sorry Mom,” Flurry said, trying to break the silence.
“Hmm?”
Flurry quickly skipped a few feet closer, walking side by side with her mother. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted her back. I’m sorry she’s not coming.”
Lyra patted her shoulder and pulled her close for a small squeeze. “You have nothing to be sorry about, kiddo. It’s her choice, if she wants to live here, then she deserves that freedom. She’s suffered enough. Still shocked how the clones aren’t making her suffer but… it is what it is.”
“At least with the Republic, she had something of a purpose. But I suppose trying to find purpose again in a post-Republic time is rather… difficult,” Adagio said, rather passive-aggressively.
“I’m normally restrained, but frankly Adagio, you’re being a bitch,” Bon Bon sneered, not looking back.
“Am I wrong? You saw how she looked, even I don’t need to be a narcissist to see that,” Adagio protested, rolling her eyes. “War does things to you.”
“We get it, Adagio,” Lyra said. “Now do us a favor and shut up.”
“Just like back at her house. I admire the fire,” Adagio clicked her tongue.
“Adagio, if you don’t shut up—”
“—Oh no. I guess I’m being a little naughty, aren’t I? Why don’t you just—ack!”
And without warning or even hesitating, Adagio’s entire body was lifted in the air and she was slammed against a tree, body pressed against it like she was strapped down despite her hands being all that was cuffed. Adagio tried to break out, but couldn’t. Lyra’s gaze had turned from mildly annoyed to deadly furious.
“I have had it up to here with your antics, Adagio. The only reason I took you along was to show me where she was, and guess what? Even if you were right about where she was, our entire trip meant nothing!” Lyra barked.
Adagio still didn’t back down. “I’m still a woman of my word! And I thought anger wasn’t the Jedi way.”
Lyra growled. “So that’s how we’re going to behave? Okay. Let me show you my way.”
She lowered her closer to the ground and pulled out her lightsaber, igniting the blade and pointing it towards her face. Adagio pulled her head back as far as she could, no longer laughing. That anger was genuine, and she was on the bad side of this situation.
“If I had my choice, I would have just ended you the moment you arrived. And judging by your massive background and role you played in the Clone Wars, I wouldn’t have hesitated. What was that you had said earlier? You have nothing.”
Even Bon Bon took a stand with her. “And for the record Adagio; my wife is not a Jedi. So all those little rules and wisdom that you read from a single piece of text, means nothing to her anymore.”
Adagio was quiet, slowly nodding in understanding.
“Oh, I’m sorry, what’s that? No more wisecracks, no more funny jabs at my history or perhaps the most horrible thing that’s ever happened to the galaxy? I didn’t think I heard them all! I’m just dying to hear more!” Lyra deadpanned.
“You’ve made your point!” Adagio yelled. “I’m sorry!”
“Yeah, I don’t think you are—”
“MOM, PLEASE!” Flurry begged.
“—Guys, stop!” Gallus pleaded, trying to break their silence. “What are you doing!?”
And to attract their attention, Smolder let out a breath of fire that caught Lyra and Bon Bon’s attention, just from the light. “Look, I know you’re pissed, but guess what! It’s her choice, you wanna be mad, be upset at Derpy for wasting your time and coming here! I haven’t been around this woman long enough to have a hate-scale for her, but all she did was show us where we were supposed to go; even in spite of her annoying comments.”
Lyra and Bon Bon halted their actions. The Draconoid had them beat.
“Now let’s stop with the death threats, and get out of here. I don’t wanna be here any more than you do,” Smolder suggested.
Lyra let out a sigh, slowly breathing in and out. She didn’t say anything, but she did turn off her lightsaber and softly let Adagio back onto her feet. Lyra gave her another glare, and then moved forward again.
“Oh and if I hear one more word out of you; I’m slapping a gag on your mouth,” Lyra glared. “And don’t even think about adding any suggestive or lewd comments on that, there’s a not-legal child around you!”
And despite the awkwardness of the situation, the group begrudgingly pressed forward. Flurry truthfully was scared of how that situation had gone down, fear paralyzing her voice the moment Lyra behaved more aggressively. She didn’t need to look at her mom’s face to feel the anger and sheer power that had emanated through her body.
However, as they walked through the forest some more, they failed to notice a pair of floating but transparent blue lenses flashing on one of the tree arms behind them, watching them march through the path. The eyes watched them for a few more seconds, softly clicking from their spot.
The noise was enough to make Adagio suddenly stop in her tracks and look behind her. Gallus and Smolder stopped as well, but didn’t remove their weapons from being aimed at her.
The family in front of them stopped as well, noting Adagio’s sudden freeze.
“Hey. Let’s go,” Lyra said, starting to lose her patience. “Are you deaf?”
“Stop,” Adagio quietly said. Her head turned left and right, looking around in the trees. Nothing. Nothing in sight.
“What’s got you so jumpy all of the sudden?”
“We’re not alone,” Adagio said, taking a few steps backwards. “I know your trust in me is lacking, but I would recommend freeing my hands right now.”
Now Lyra was getting stiff too. She looked around, moving at the same speed Adagio was. Her eyes bounced all around, trying to look for something. She felt a disturbance in the Force, feeling something unnatural and off. Slowly she backed up, trying to look around her.
“Someone’s here. She’s not wrong,” Lyra whispered.
Everyone instinctively pulled out their weapons, trying to look around. They could hear some more silence around them, but the words of Adagio and Lyra combined had them scared. Who or what was this thing that supposedly is here? A monster? An animal? A person? What?
“We need to just—ag-gagagagagagaahhhh!” Lyra shrieked, feeling several jolts of electricity running through her body, and collapsing onto the ground.
“Lyra!” Gallus shouted.
Bon Bon was about to shriek as well when she saw a laser blast fire into a bushel near a tree, and instinctively she pulled out her guns to fight. Knowing how much of a risk it was, Bon Bon fired a shot at Adagio’s cuffs to give her a fighting chance. Smolder and Gallus got into fighting positions, and Adagio whipped out her knives. Even Flurry as she pulled out her lightsaber. That shot came from somewhere, and they were going to fight.
Everyone listened carefully, looking all around them for something, anything that could have shown a hint of where the source was. And as they listened, they heard a strange clicking noise - almost like the pincers of a massive insect. Everyone spun around, looking for the source of the noise, it had to have been from somewhere.
The clicking continued yet again, and this time another bolt came flying out, this time zapping Adagio, sending powerful jolts through her body. She screamed as the electricity was pulsating through her skin, until she dropped to the ground. Not dead, but the shock was powerful enough to render her unconscious. Scared for their lives, Smolder, Gallus, and Bon Bon started blasting at the source of the blast, taking note of where it had come from. But blasting the branches and the arms of the trees didn’t do a thing, as nothing visible came into view.
That is until an unknown force out of nowhere pummeled Bon Bon to the ground, sending the same jolt of electricity through her body again. This time however, Gallus and Smolder could see something translucent in front of them, and opened fire, seeing a few sparks bounce off of whatever they shot. Suddenly, lights flashed in front of them as a figure finally emerged from a cloaking device. A hulking creature covered in armor and a metal mask, with the skull of some unidentified species on his left shoulder. A cannon sat on his right shoulder, and they could see long tendrils flowing out of his back, dark silver ones at that. Skulls of his victims dangled like trophies, and badges of random factions stitched into his kama.
“Get him!”
Gallus charged first to fight, but the masked hunter was prepared. He got out of the way as Gallus lunged, but was tackled to the ground when the Griffon came running back. Gallus tried to pin him down, but it was no use as the hunter kicked him off of his body, and fired several shots out of his shoulder cannon.
"What the hell are we fighting!?" Flurry asked as the monster attacked. "Wait a minute! Multiple tendrils..." she noticed a few spots over the man's body as he whipped around. "Genetic spots... this guy's a Nautolan!" Flurry identified.
The identified species could only growl at them, refusing to use real sentences to talk to his prey. His shoulder cannon primed and fired a stun blast at Gallus, subduing him for the count, leaving only Smolder and Flurry left.
"Okay, well that narrows that, but who exactly is he?" Smolder yelled, spitting fire out of her breath, hoping to burn some of that armor off his body.
Flurry deflected some of the shots from the predator's shoulder cannon, but she couldn’t deflect the shots back at the hunter’s body. At the most, she deflected them towards some empty patches in the ground, away from her friends but that was it.
Smolder took her chance with the hunter distracted and flew straight towards him. Sadly her effort was for nothing. The hunter held his feet into the ground and grabbed Smolder’s charging arms, clutching them tightly as he threw her to the side, slamming her against a tree. She hit the ground with a thud, the wind knocked out of her. Flurry felt her heart racing when she saw Smolder was knocked down as well. Even more when the hunter turned its head towards her, clicking underneath the mask.
Realizing the odds were against her, Flurry ran as fast as she could as the Nautolan stood there, creepily watching her run. With a button press, the hunter activated the cloaking device and leapt up into the trees, ready to continue the chase. Gallus, still not knocked out but in severe pain, pulled himself up as best as he could, watching as an invisible force leapt through the trees, fearful of what would happen if he got closer to his friend.
--
Flurry panted and heaved as she ran through the forest, desperately trying to run. Her friends and family were all knocked out, at least she hoped, and she was all alone. There was no escaping, and she didn’t remember where they parked the ship. She couldn’t even contact IG-11, no way he could reach her in time. In the midst of her running, she threw herself into a hollow space beneath a log to hide.
She tried to be as quiet as she could, hearing the clicking coming from the hunter. She listened as the hunter’s feet leapt on top of her cover, fighting the urge to scream. She cupped her mouth and listened to the sound of the creaking above her, praying that her cover would collapse from his weight and crush her. The log moaned from the feet grinding into it, until it finally stopped making noise. She was shaking, and she still kept her hands covering her mouth to silence any breathing or loud hyperventilating. She could see a glimpse of the Nautolan's bare feet stomping away, before running off into the jungle to continue his search.
While he did run, she didn’t remove herself from her cover. There was no way she was going to run out in the open and attract more noise towards her. She looked down at her wrists, and stopped. Only now did she realize she still had a com device attached, and slowly turned it on, whispering in a hoarse voice.
“Please… someone… anyone, please help me…!”
But that was soon proven to be a terrible decision. The Nautolan stopped running, hearing the faint sound of a transmission device clicking. He turned his head around, softly growling underneath as he turned around and slowly walked back towards the direction of the sound, looking for the source of the call.
Unbeknownst to the hunter, he was being watched. A few eyes were seeing him from multiple spots in plain sight, spying on his movements. Hiding behind a fallen tree, a Phase I clone helmet with a baby blue pattern on the top peaked up, staring at the hunter. Her disheveled armor was dangling off her shoulder, but she quickly pushed it back up, before it slipped off a little more. A small antenna stuck out from the side of the helmet, as it was extended down over where the eye would be peaking out. The bounty hunter’s body was detected with the eye-finder, watching his every moment. The figure raised their wrist to speak into the com device.
“Vargas, Mix, take the left side, hide behind the cargo crates. Bubbles, Hurricane, take positions from the awnings. Rex, can you flank him from behind? Use the flash bombs.”
“Right away, ma’am. Nice touch on the flash bombs,” Rex complimented.
“They were a gift from an old Jedi, I think they’ll be useful here,” the masked trooper replied.
The hunter kept getting closer to the source of that transmission, looking for any tech or radio waves of any kind through his helmet. He clicked some more under the helmet, snarling and looking all around. The helmet’s infrared vision kept scanning, but there was nothing in sight. But all the while, Flurry stayed put, still cupping her jaw to keep herself from screaming or panicking. Her heart raced for what felt like 100 miles a minute, she felt like it was about to pop out of her stomach.
Her chance to escape came very soon, as without noise or any kind of warning, the hunter turned around and was met with explosion of smoke hitting his face. Now under the mask, his face was protected, but he couldn’t see thanks to the bomb. And it did not help that more smoke bombs were being thrown at him, clouding a good chunk of his vision.
“Showtime boys!” Rex hollered.
Now with the hunter distracted, Mix and Vargas popped out and held their guns on the crates, firing several shots towards the hunter, hitting him in the shoulders and chest. The hunter growled as he tried to clear away the smoke, and even firing several blasts from his shoulder cannon at random directions, but the clones weren’t hit.
“Get down!”
Mix and Vargas ducked, watching as a blast flew right over their heads.
“That was a close one!” Vargas stated.
“Now how about we make him mad?” Hurricane cracked a grin under the mask.
The smoke was clear, and the hunter growled in anger, looking around for all the targets. His shoulder cannon fired at where Hurricane and Bubbles were, who got out of the way from the blast.
“Remember boys, we can’t let him near Flurry Heart, keep him distracted,” a voice yelled from their coms.
“Why spoil the fun? We haven’t been shot at in years!” Hurricane grinned, blasting at the bounty hunter again.
Vargas snuck up behind the hunter while he was distracted, thwacking him at the back of the head with a massive bat. The hunter growled and swung his claw around to try and slice the clone’s skin open, but failed as Vargas dropped to the ground to duck. The distraction worked again, as Rex and Bubbles shot at the hunter with their pistols, charging forward and standing together in attack positions.
“Argh!!” The hunter growled.
Hitting a button on his wrist, he raised a shield up to block as many shots as he could. And despite how many shots he blocked, the Nautolan hunter still got hit in a few vulnerable areas which made him cry out in pain and anger. Realizing how enraged he became and the shoulder cannon visibly charging, Vargas tossed a smoke bomb to create a distraction.
Out of anger, the hunter’s shoulder cannon started to fire like mad towards the group, but thanks to the bomb, his shots went at random directions, unable to track where the heat sources came from that weren’t his own. But the distraction was perfect timing, as Derpy reached into the log, grabbing Flurry's attention.
"Flurry, it's me, Derpy! Come on, I'm gonna help you get out of here!"
Recognizing the disheveled uniform, Flurry crawled out of hiding to join up with Derpy.
"Go! We'll keep him distracted, get her to where the ship is!" Rex ordered.
"Okay, thank you! All of you!" Flurry graciously shouted.
She took Derpy with her and the two of them escaped into the jungle, turning their hops into urgent running, hoping to get far away from the hunter's scopes.
Once the smoke cleared, the hunter looked around with quick haste, trying to find his target. All he saw were the clone troopers who were surrounding him again. Bubbles swatted him in the back of the head with the butt of his blaster, before Rex punched his helmet with a rock, making a sizable dent.
He dropped to his hands and knees from the attack, giving all of them the chance to kick him down even more. All five of them kicked and punched him, working to overpower him and keep him down. Hurricane pulled out his blaster, setting it to stun, but the hunter was quick to respond. He swatted at his hand, kicking the weapon away, before punching Mix and Vargas out of his vision.
The troopers weren't knocked down, and were soon rejoined by Smolder who soared above, breathing fire on an empty patch behid him to block him off from escape. Gallus hovered next to her, aiming his blaster rifle at the predatory intruder, set to kill.
Lyra, Bon Bon, and Adagio joined not long after, moving in between the clones as they locked on target. Weapons were primed and ready to go to unleash all kinds of pain on this monster.
"Who is this guy!?" Lyra and Bon Bon screamed.
"That's what we want to know!" Gallus and Smolder yelled simultaneously.
"All we know is he's some freaky Nautolan," Smolder continued, snorting smoke from her nose. "Seriously, I thought Trandoshans were bad, this guy's in a competition with them!"
"Alright, where is she!?"
The hunter didn't say anything, at least not with his own voice. He stood there, claws out in a pose that screamed 'come at me'. One voice did come through, echoing Lyra's.
"Where is she? Where is she?"
"Errgh! Where's my daughter, you freak!?"
The hunter still didn't change his position. Bon Bon twirled her blasters forward, aiming at him.
"If you don't tell us where Flurry Heart is, I swear to Celestia's spirit, I will put a bolt through your brain and your hunting days will be over, tail head."
The hunter's pose hadn't changed. But then, as everyone was ready for another fight, the hunter loosened his stance, standing up straight. His helmeted head looked to the right, clocking in on two heat signatures running to the edge of the cliff that this section of the jungle was sitting on.
Ignoring the group, he leapt up to the trees and began to jump across them, running from the Rebels. The combined team of Rebels and clones pursued him without question, running as a group as they tried to lock onto the hunter and not lose him.
Across the jungle was Flurry Heart and Derpy, still trying to run from the predator as he lunged across the trees.
"Okay, Flurry I need you to listen to me. I have an idea, but it's very risky! We're going to go further, and slide down that path just up ahead!"
"What!?"
"It'll drop us into a riverbank, we can hide from him there, the cold will block out his heat signatures, I'm sure of it!" Derpy theorized.
"Well... okay, I got no other idea!"
Without seeing where she was going, Flurry tripped and started to slide down the hill as Derpy said. Not too long after, Derpy threw herself forward, sliding down on her belly like a penguin from the northern regions of Equestria. Her speed accelerated as she caught up with Flurry, who was trying not to freak out at how fast they were going.
"I forgot how fun this was! Wheeeeee!" Derpy squeed with excitement, all the while Flurry just looked at her with worry for her sanity.
I'm about to die with a 42-year-old woman who doesn't want to fight.
Both Flurry and Derpy fell off the paved ‘slide’, right off the edge of the waterfall. No longer at an angle, they were falling straight down, going right down into the riverbank below.
“Put this on!” Derpy warned, giving her the scuba mask she had taken with her.
“What!?”
“Just do it!”
Flurry, realizing she had no choice slipped on the scuba mask just in time as she and Derpy splashed into the riverbank. But it wasn’t going to be over for long. Once the masks were applied, both Flurry and Derpy swam towards the bottom of the riverbank (despite it not being deep enough for them to take a deep dive), and pressed themselves behind some rocks for cover. Despite the bright light, they had enough cover to hide.
Another force came splashing down in the riverbank and descended towards the deeper part of the bank; the hunter. Both Derpy and Flurry softly breathed in the masks, praying and hoping that the hunter wouldn’t see them. The Nautolan swam around, slowly gazing and searching. Derpy peaked her helmeted face through a crack in the rock to gaze, and saw him floating there, looking around. He didn’t don the mask right now, and he didn’t need it anyway. His tendrils floated and waved as he gazed all around him. No sign of where the target had hidden. It didn’t matter. He had done what he needed.
Slowly, he swam back up, emerging from the riverbank, sinking his feet into some of the mud and stone, and getting back up on dry land again. He picked up his helmet which he had set on a rock, putting it back on his head. Slowly he hissed as he looked back at the riverbank, applying a scanning vision with the mask. They were in there after all.
It still didn’t matter to him. Knowing his mission was done, he marched into the jungle, leaving only his nasty footsteps behind as he made his way back to his ship.
--
Some time after he had vanished, the recovered Rebels and the Clones ran down to where they last saw Flurry, standing at the edge of the riverbank.
“Are they in there?” Lyra asked.
“I’ll take a look,” Vargas said, placing a scuba-trooper helmet on his head. He slowly walked into the river-bank and dove right in, kicking the water behind him with his flippers. Everyone backed up, feeling the big splashes the clone had kicked back at them, and so they waited.
They waited for a moment or two, until finally faces emerged from the water. Vargas was first, and then Flurry who took a big breath of air once she took off the scuba mask.
“Flurry!”
Lyra didn’t hesitate running into the water, she was just happy to see she was okay. She yanked her daughter up and held her in a big hug.
“Thank God, you’re okay…”
“Mom, I’m okay, I promise,” Flurry said softly, hugging and shivering.
“How did you even get away?” Gallus asked.
“I wouldn’t have gotten away. Honestly, thanks to the clones,” Flurry said with a smile, getting a few smiles out of the troopers, “and Derpy, I would have been skinned alive if it wasn't for them. I thought I was dead!
Vargas took his mask off. “If he wanted you dead, he would have just shot you.”
“You think so?” Flurry asked.
“I know so. If you want someone dead and you have that chance, you take it. Whoever that Nautolan was, he didn’t want you dead,” Vargas concluded. "I have a feeling he was contracted to come find you."
“But if he didn’t want to kill her, then what did he want?” Bon Bon questioned.
Just at that moment, Derpy finally emerged from the water, hair now completely sopping wet and laying limp against her armor. She took the helmet off, also taking a big breath of air as she slowly pulled herself out of the water. Everyone’s attention turned over to her as she slowly walked up, shivering just like Flurry.
“Uh.. anyone have some t-t-towels? I think I should have taken one of the scuba-trooper suits,” Derpy squeaked, shivering as she stood.
--
After some time, everyone finally loaded onto the Sweetie Drop to head back to Yavin IV. The ship took off from the jungle grounds, and the clones took one last look at the jungles. Their new home was going to be left. But maybe when this was over, they could finally return to it again. Maybe…
The ship took off into the atmosphere until it finally made it into space. Once the appropriate distance had been made, the ship took off into hyperspace to go back home. Inside, everyone was settling in once again. The clones along with Derpy had brought a few trunks to take with them, stuff they considered necessary to bring along; some extra guns, ammunition, medical kits, stuff that would be beneficial to not just themselves, but even the Rebel Alliance. They even brought a few blank clone trooper suits for them to customize however they pleased. After all, they were Rebels now. They could do whatever they wanted with those suits; and some of them wanted to have brand new suits for battle.
And for every possible contingency, they brought scuba, scout, and space suits as well. The only rule Derpy insisted on was that the clones stuck with Phase I helmets, to remind everyone of the good old days before the fall of the Republic, and the faces of the troopers who would then descend to the Midnight troopers. Outside of that, the clones had free range to do whatever. Currently inside the ship, the clones were just hanging out. Vargas and Mix were playing the chess game, while the other clones took seats in the booth area with Flurry. Adagio had been ordered to keep her distance, courtesy of Lyra, and while she didn’t sit with them, she did smirk and stare at them like a creepy stalker.
“Can you stop staring at us?” Bubbles asked, sounding a little impatient.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help but stare at the bubbles painted on your helmet,” Adagio joked, walking away from the room to go somewhere else.
“… Is she always like this?” Bubbles questioned.
“I don’t know, I only met her this morning,” Flurry shook her head. “Oh do any of you want something to eat or drink? I do have cookies and blue milk.”
The men exchanged a few grins. That sounded great to them.
“Sure, kid. Yes please,” Rex asked.
“Coming right up,” Flurry smiled, getting up from the booth to go to the kitchen.
As the clones sat, Hurricane turned his blank Phase I helmet to face him, having placed it on the table. He stared at it momentarily, thinking back to all of the battles from the past. He would be happy to give it a fresh paint job, matching his old battalion's colors from long ago. But he still couldn't help but wonder how a particular someone would think upon seeing him back...
“What are you thinking about?” Rex asked.
“I don’t know… I guess I hadn’t considered what to really say to General Dash,” Hurricane commented. “The last time I saw her, I was…” he sighed. “Wasn’t in the right state of mind.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Hurricane. You need to stop blaming yourself for something that wasn’t in your control,” Rex said, sternly but calmly.
“I know I should. But I just have this feeling she’s probably going to shank a lightsaber through my heart if I come anywhere close to her,” the commander stated.
“Think of it this way,” Rex started. “Out of all of the clone commanders and captains that used to fight alongside the Main Council, you’re still alive. You survived and escaped, the other commanders and captains aren’t here. And unlike them, you have a chance to make amends and start things over with her again. I don’t.”
Hurricane glanced over to Rex, and gave him a soft but sincere smile. “I understand. I’ll see if I can make things right with her." He looked at the lenses of the helmet, frowning softly. "I hope."
After her shower, Derpy got back in her modified spandex and clone armor, and sat in the gunner’s seat to stare off into space. There wasn’t much to look at aside from the utter blackness, but it was calming to see no starships or cruisers outside. It had been so long since she had fought in the war, and it was rare to see space so empty.
Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas came around the corner, seeing Derpy sitting at the end of that hall. They joined her in the small but still spacious corner of the gunner’s area, standing beside her as they looked around.
“How was your shower?” Bubbles asked.
“It was good. I needed it,” Derpy confirmed. “Are Lyra and Bon Bon being nice?”
“They… we’ll work on that,” Mix said, not giving a straight answer.
Derpy sighed with disappointment.
“Oh, hey. Look up there,” Bubbles pointed. “See that nebula up there?”
Outside the gunner window, the ship was passing by a massive nebula that glowed brightly like the morning dawn's light. The sight made Derpy smile, remembering a time when she and a pilot squadron had to fly through a nebula to make it to another destination.
“Oooh! Look! That nebula, I think I know that one! It’s the uh, the uh, b-b—”
“—Balmorra Run,” Vargas realized. “That’s the Balmorra Run!”
“That’s the nesting ground for the giant Nebray Mantas, isn’t it?” Derpy continued, getting equally excited.
“I flew through that!” Vargas said.
“You flew through that?” Derpy asked.
“Yeah! Well, okay, a long time ago. I was assigned to a gunner’s position to help General Skywalker in destroying the Malevolence. We had to fly through there as a shortcut,” Vargas explained. His eyes then saw something else. “Wait! Look!”
Something large was emerging from the nebula. Several tendrils floated behind the objects as they emerged from the bright yellow and orange anomaly. Wailing noises echoed in space as they flew out, and the Baker’s Batch could see a big blue body with small eyes.
“Are those… purrgil?” Derpy gasped like a little girl.
“I think so. I only heard about these things, they’re massive!” Mix said, moving closer to the glass to get a closer look.
The animals sung in the open space, swimming right past them despite not being in water.
“Karabast! Everyone, brace yourselves!” Lyra shouted from the cabin.
“Not intentionally! Just let them pass us, they’re harmless,” Derpy insisted.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive! I think? Master Fluttershy said these things don’t intend to cause trouble, just move with them,” Derpy pleaded. “Please!”
Lyra let out a sigh through the internal coms. “Okay, we’ll move with them.”
“Thank you!” Derpy squeaked.
The purrgil didn’t surround the ship or try and get in their way. They were just swimming in their own little school right by the ship. Derpy and the Baker’s Batch looked at them with awe and wonder, watching as they sung together, flowing gracefully in space.
“They’re so… what’s the word I’m looking for?” Derpy asked.
“I think one would use ‘majestic’,” Bubbles answered.
“Yeah! That. I can’t believe I never saw them in any of our missions,” Derpy pressed her face against the glass, trying to get a better look.
“It’s hard to believe that for such a cruel universe, there’s always something beautiful beyond the horizon,” Bubbles said, watching a smaller, possibly younger purrgil swim close with its mother.
For the next half hour, the four of them just stood there, watching the pod of purrgil swimming past them. Mix even swore one of them was staring right at them the entire time they passed by the ship. The sight was calming to all of them, and for once that day, they all felt at ease.
The cockpit's status however was very different. With Lyra and Bon Bon back in the pilot controls, both of them were looking to each other with worry and concern. Deep down they knew they should have been happy they received more allies to be a part of the cause; having more soldiers as the Empire cracked down harder was a good sign. But having clone troopers back? Lyra could only imagine how the rest of the Rebellion was going to act once they saw them. Or worse, what would happen when the former Jedi Council saw them...?
With everyone in hyperspace, the group finally had a chance to sit and calm down. Sunset and K2 stayed in the pilot seats while the rest of the girls in the cockpit chatted to each other, with R2 and Spike present as well. And Zorii just sat uncomfortably, wrapped up in the animal skin blanket. She was visibly shivering and shaking, even if she didn’t make much noise.
“Zorii? Darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she said, rather quietly.
“You look and sound cold,” Fluttershy observed.
“I’m just not used to warmer conditions,” she said, still trying to stay warm. “Still reeling a little bit from the outside.”
“Sorry the heat’s not inside the cockpit, I keep putting in a work order to get it fixed, but it keeps getting pushed back by several weeks,” Sunset apologized, just gazing at the flashing of hyperspace around them. “You’re welcome to hang out in the kitchen or the living area, it should be warmer in those spots.”
Pinkie Pie zipped away without warning, and then back over to the masked woman with a coffee mug in her hand, extended to Zorii. “Here. Hot chocolate is always the answer when you’re feeling cold.”
Slowly she looked up at the very eccentric Jedi, but she hesitantly put a hand out and took the mug she offered. “I… don’t know what to say. No one’s offered me anything aside from money.”
“Well, it all changes today!” Pinkie squeaked.
Her other hand tapped a button on the side of her helmet. The girls were curious and moved closer, wondering who it was underneath the mask. Sadly, they didn’t get a chance, as all they saw was the bottom of the mask transform and reveal the mouth hidden underneath. All they saw anyway was a light purple skin and lavender lips as they took a sip of the hot chocolate. She slowly moved the mug away and wiped her mouth momentarily.
“This is good. Thank you,” she said, softly smiling. And that smile was enough to make the rest of the girls return the expression.
“So what are you under there? You’re wearing a mask, but just based on lips alone, you don’t seem freaky or having anything necessary to hide,” Rainbow asked, trying to til her head to see if there was any glimpses of other features besides her lips.
“Rainbow Dash, in this cold and unforgiving universe, masks are a necessity for some who need to do what they can to survive,” Rarity said, defending the spice runner. “Although I do have to ask, how heavy is that thing? It doesn’t look very… comfortable.”
Zorii looked at her, still letting her mouth be exposed. “It does its job. Besides, I’ve worn this thing for many years, I’ve gotten used to it.”
“But why hide, what’s there to hide?”
“When you’re stuck on a place like Kijimi, you need what you can to hide,” she explained. “You can’t exactly trust anyone in the Outer Rim, especially when most people you meet try to screw you over, sell you to a gangster as a slave, imprison you… need I go on?”
Everyone was quiet for a moment or two.
“Nope.”
“Nah, I think we get the picture.”
“How long will it be until we arrive to your base or whatever?” Zorii asked.
“Should be about two hours or so, so until then, just kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Also there’s a vac tube down the hall if you need it,” Sunset pointed behind her without looking.
“Thank you,” Zorii acknowledged. “So, is there anything I should know before we arrive?”
“That depends on what kind of races you can tolerate,” K2 asked, tilting his head back to look at her.
“I have no prejudices, if that’s what you’re asking,” she replied.
“Well then I should warn you about the girls you’re currently with. They’re Equestrian,” K2 said, continuing.
“And?”
“No one’s given you that warning? I do not understand why no one ever warns anyone about this. Well, you should take note of this now for the future; Equestrians have a habit of singing. And breaking into surprisingly choreographed musical numbers at random,” K2 explained. "I would also recommend not tuning in to Buried Lede’s podcasts. Very angry, and despite his status, his opinion on the Jedi and everyone who participated in the war isn’t a kind one.”
Zorii didn’t know how to respond. “Um… okay. Is there a reason they like to do that?”
“It’s in our nature!” Pinkie squeaked, zipping from the ceiling for no reason at all. “Also we sang a song in Ackmena’s bar before the Midnight troopers could kill us!”
Zorii’s head looked up. “How are you even hanging from the ceiling, how did you get up there?”
“The less asked, the better your life will be.”
R2’s dome shook back and forth, sighing. “Brt brrrp berp berp brrrp boop.”
“Agreed,” Spike replied.
“If anyone minds, I think I may need to use the refreshers,” Zorii said, standing up and setting the hot chocolate down.
“Just down the hall,” Spike pointed out. “Swing past the living area, it should be on the left.”
“Thank you,” Zorii said, walking down the hallway to take care of her business.
Once she stepped away, Sunset let out a bit of a sigh as she leaned back in her chair, hands grasping her face, no longer able to keep herself composed.
“Sunset? Darling are you alright?”
“No,” Sunset moaned. She spun around in her chair and looked at the girls with a face that no longer looked non-chalant but now expressed trauma and fear. “I… it's my fault."
"That wasn't your fault, you didn't kill her," Applejack reassured.
“She was our only chance to find out what the Empire was planning!” Sunset suddenly snapped, making them all jolt. "I didn't step in, I didn't help her, and now Trixie's dead! She's dead because I wasn't there for her, and we're now back to square one with figuring out the Empire's newest project!"
Sunset groaned as she spun her chair back around, looking out into space. "Look, let’s just focus on making sure we get back home before I screw up anything else today, hopefully we don’t get yanked by any gravity wells on the way back,” Sunset’s voice turned more stern and angry.
"Sunset, it isn't your fault, we didn't know Twilight was going to show--"
"--Midnight," Sunset corrected. "That... that wasn't Twilight. Not anymore."
“Darling, you understand we just want to help. We’re not trying to make you upset—”
“—I’m fine, Rarity!” Sunset suddenly snapped! “Just…” she stopped for a second, recognizing how mean she was starting to sound. “Just… leave me alone right now.”
The rest of the girls didn’t want to leave. But it was clear Sunset wasn’t in any state to talk some more, so they decided to step out of the cockpit to let her breathe. Maybe once she had some time to calm down she would be more receptive, but not now. The uncomfortable silence filled the cockpit once Sunset was by herself, with the exception of K2SO. The droid looked at her briefly, eyes studying her now tense posture and shaking demeanor.
“You’re making a grave mistake getting upset with them,” K2 informed. “Perhaps you should tell them how you've been feeling before your emotional state deteriorates and you chase more of your friends away."
Sunset slowly turned her head and glared at the former Imperial droid, daggers forming in her irises.
“But what do I know? My only intellect is in strategic analysis.”
After exiting the vac-tubes, Zorii wandered back out, trying to adjust her suit again. She kept yanking on the part of her gloves and her hips making sure none of the leather was bunched up or riding up on her.
“Hey Zorii!” Pinkie greeted, somehow coming from the ceiling.
“Ah!” Zorii yelped. “Please, don’t do that. I would have drawn my blaster on someone if they did that.”
“But you didn’t!” Pinkie pointed out, plopping off the ceiling and on the ground. “Anyways, while we’re going to be in space for a while since we have a few hours until we get back to Yavin IV, I had an idea on some fun we can have while we’re on the road!”
“Fun?” The spice-runner questioned.
“Yeah! Didn’t you ever have fun on Kijimi?” Pinkie asked, not liking her potential response.
“Well… I don’t know. Fun isn’t exactly something I could afford to have, if I wanted to stay alive. Honestly dipping my body in nice hot water after a long day was the closest thing I had to any real fun.”
“Wh… never? You didn’t do anything fun growing up?”
“No. My ideas of fun were considered childish. It was either ‘grow up’ or ‘stay a baby’.”
Pinkie’s hair suddenly deflated. “You… you weren’t allowed to fun? Not even as a little girl?”
“I didn’t have much going for me, Pinkie. Where I’m from, you weren’t allowed to have fun, nor were you allowed to just be a little girl. You weren’t allowed to be yourself, or receive some form of unconditional love, no, no, it was something you had to earn! Because something as simple respect just couldn’t be given naturally!” She suddenly growled.
Pinkie took a step back, now afraid of what this woman was about to say or do. But it wasn’t until Rarity and Applejack walked into the area did they make Pinkie’s comfort better.
“Uh… how much did you hear that?” Zorii asked, concerned.
“Darling, we heard enough. You weren’t… allowed to do anything?”
“No.”
“Did your parents even know how ya felt?” Applejack asked.
That question finally did the thing. Zorii’s fists clenched and were visibly shaking. They didn’t see her face, but the rattling on the back of her helmet was enough.
“No, there’s nothing to tell. It wouldn’t matter if I told them anything, nothing I said mattered! What would I even say to them now?” She said, starting to pace back and forth now. “I wish you helped me when that neighborhood bully put permanent slash marks on my face, I wish you didn’t put me down when I wanted to show you how fun dancing was, I wish you let me get a lothcat so I have some fragment of joy in my life, I wish you didn’t teach me how to smuggle spice because that’s not what girls do! And you know the reason why I could blast like a little girl at six, it’s because I AM A GIRL.”
None of the girls ran away. They stayed in the room, waiting for her to finally let everything out. They could hear her breathing heavily as she tried not to break down in front of them.
“You’ve held that in forever, haven’t you?” Applejack said softly.
Zorii couldn’t bring herself to speak, still trying to breathe and not explode. But the farmer knew just what to do; she walked towards her and pulled her close, holding her in a hug. The spice-runner was worried when she got that close, but stopped trying to fight her when she felt Applejack’s warm embrace.
“Easy… I’m right here,” she whispered.
Zorii slowly moved her arms up and embraced her back, hugging her tightly. Applejack could feel the spice runner trembling anxiously, a feeling she knew all too well. She let Zorii hug her for a few more minutes, at least as long as the new Rebel needed.
"Okay... I think I'm okay," Zorii said, breaking out of it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you all, it was uncalled for, and... I don't know where that came from."
"That's okay, sweetheart," Rarity reassured. "But just know, if you want to talk about it, we will listen. And if not, we won't pry you any further."
"I... thank you," Zorii sighed. "Although if it's all the same to you... I think I need to be alone for a minute," she said, looking for a space to sit.
"There's some bunks down the hall," Pinkie pointed. "Oh, actually..." she reached into her bag, pulling out some devices from Equestria; a headset and a cassette player with a cassette already loaded. "Listen to this; it's always helpful to listen to music to calm down after a stressful day."
Zorii wanted to push her gift away, no reason someone would be this kind to her, no one should be. The only response she was accustomed to with screaming or letting loose was people telling her to 'smile more' or to 'stop complaining'. The lack of those replies and instead offering to help or listen was... strange. Wasn't it?
"T... Thank you," she said, softly, accepting the player.
Walking off to a separate section of the freighter, she found one of the bunks; two of them clearly designed for some of the Jedi in mind; as shown by the bedsheets covered in graphics of their marks they always had blazed on their outfits. But regardless, she just slowly slumped into the empty bunk covered in party balloons, no longer feeling the energy she had earlier. Slwoly her fingers reached up to grip her helmet, the back of it letting out a hiss as she pulled it off her head.
With a sig, she removed her gloves and put her blasters down, along with her boots. Reaching for the player, she looked at the tape inside, reading the label. Curiousity enticing her, she put the headset on and lowered the volume, closing her eyes as she allowed the music to fill her world as she sat still, slowly drifting asleep...
Some folks like to fight for land Others like to fight for friends But if it means that we'll save the day Well I'mma fight til the end
Punching out of hyperspace, the freighter arrived outside of Yavin IV ready to descend to the surface.
"Yavin IV, this is Amity's Hand, sending you clearance codes now to land," Sunset spoke into the coms.
"Amity's Hand, we have received your codes. You are clear to land."
The freighter's engines thrust towards the atmosphere, brushing past the clouds until it saw the base just up ahead. Inside, the girls were getting ready to gather their stuff to get off, with the exception of Pinkie who knocked on the bunker door.
"Zorii! We're here!"
".. mm, hmm, wha, what? What's going on?"
"We're here!" Pinkie chirped.
"Give me a minute!" Zorii was heard fumbling on the other side, adjusting her boots and gloves to go back on her body. And there was also various clicking and whirring of metal, Pinkie could only guess she was getting her helmet back on. The doors opened, with Zorii looking ready to step off. "Sorry, I think I passed out," Zorri apologized before handing the headset and tape player back to Pinkie. "Thanks for lending me this, it was... rather nice," she said, earnestly.
The freighter landed back on the ground, and some crewman came out to welcome the girls back. Sunset Shimmer was first to come out, along with the droids. And eventually the rest of the Jedi came out, with Zorii Bliss slowly emerging with them.
“General Shimmer, welcome back,” General Dodonna welcomed.
“Thank you, Dodonna,” Sunset nodded softly.
The older gentleman looked at the woman in the fur-skin cloak and gold helmet. “May I ask who is your new friend here?”
“General, this is Zorii Bliss. She’s agreed to join our cause. We helped her escape Kijimi, and she helped us fight off the Imperial forces,” Sunset explained. “Have you heard back from the Heartstrings company?”
“Negative,” he shook his head. “We tried contacting them, we haven’t heard a thing.”
“Well I have some information to share, come on, let’s take it inside,” Sunset said, walking with Dodonna into the base.
The others stood with Zorii for a moment, thinking of what to tell her or give her something to do.
“Zorii, darling, I know you were cold on the ship, but it isn’t so cold here. You don’t need the fur coat, no matter how lovely it looks on you,” Rarity suggested.
Acknowledging her words, Zorii slowly removed the fur coat, letting Rarity lightly fold it up nice and neatly. And to the spice runner’s surprise, Rarity was right. It wasn’t cold. She didn’t feel so chilly anymore. In fact when she walked around on the landing pad, she felt the sun touch down on her. It felt nicer than Kijimi; a sensation she had not experienced in such a long time.
“It’s… not cold. This is oddly nice,” Zorii smiled underneath. She looked at Rarity. “Are there other planets out there who are just as nice as this one?”
“There are. Some nicer than others,” Rarity admitted. “But perhaps if I get the time, I could compile a list of the best planets to go to. There are so many out there that are just so gorgeous.”
Zorii smiled even more, despite it not being visible. “I would love that. Now then, as long as I’m here, do you require me to do anything? Clean some weapons, ships, maybe run diagnostics, kitchen duty, what do you want me to do?”
“Come with me,” Applejack suggested. “I think maybe you should get more acquainted with the base first. Get registered, meet some of the folks you’ll be working with.”
“Fair enough. Lead the way.”
And so, Applejack and Rarity walked together with Zorii into the base to show her around for a needed tour. Meanwhile, Sunset met up with General Dodonna in the briefing room to discuss her latest findings, with K2-S0, R2, and Spike by her sides.
“I think that mission went rather well,” K2 replied.
Sunset glared at K2. “You know, sometimes I swear why no one has deactivated you.”
“Because you would be wasting opportunities for infiltration missions, and I’m one of the best droids you can ask for.”
Sunset sighed. “Anyways, General. I’m afraid our mission on Kijimi went less than smooth.”
“How come?”
“Let me explain. Ackmena told us the Empire has a brand new project. One that is almost done being made, although she has no idea what it is. The only thing we know is that apparently this project will finally make the galaxy completely obey their rule, whatever that means,” Sunset rubbed her chin. “The Fourth Sister mentioned of their weapon is something related to ‘Dath’, whatever that means, although any chance we have of learning more is lost.”
Dodonna was intrigued. “Why?”
“Because the Fourth Sister is dead,” Sunset admitted. “Midnight killed her before we could get any information. And now with her gone, we lost a potential lead to this new weapon.”
“We’ve been losing leads left and right, Sunset. We’ll figure something out,” Dodonna said, understanding her position.
"General," one of the technicians called. "We've received clearance from the Sweetie Drop, they've returned."
"Good, hopefully they have better news. I'll go make sure there isn't any issue down there," Sunset said, not letting anyone else have a chance to speak up. She just walked out briskly and left the rest of the staff alone to conduct whatever business they still had to attend to.
The Sweetie Drop’s legs unfolded and parked on the landing spot, the hatch opening up with Lyra and Bon Bon being the first to come out. Sunset and the rest of the girls soon ran out to greet them as they started getting out of the ship.
“So, how did it go?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“Well… we have good news and bad news. The good news is, Adagio was telling the truth, so I think we can trust her… for now. But yeah, Derpy is alive, and she’s back,” Lyra began.
“Eeeee! I’m going to have to make a ‘Welcome Back’ party!” Pinkie squeed.
“That’s wonderful news, darling,” Rarity clapped her hands. “Though wait, what’s the bad news?”
“That’s the other thing… she’s not alone. She brought company with her, and they aren’t exactly guys you all would want to see,” Lyra said with a bit of a sneer. “Let’s just say they brought up some… rather traumatic memories that I’m not over.”
“Trandoshans? Weequays?” Sunset asked. “… You didn’t by chance get tricked into a cult--
“—We didn’t bring a cult with us, Sunset,” Lyra said, rather flatly. “But well… know what, I can’t even bring myself to say it, I’ll just let you see for yourselves.”
The girls watched as some legs climbed out of the ship, those first legs being Flurry’s, then Adagio’s, and then Gallus and Smolder’s. G-G and Cheep rolled down the ramp and to the ground to join them, standing by as they awaited for the clones. Rex’s footsteps were first, as his feet were the first to touch the ground of the Rebel base. But when that same armor, and familiar Phase I helmet made it’s appearance to them… the girls all froze in fear. It couldn’t have been, that was impossible…
And then some more walked down. Bubbles, Mix, Vargas all came down to the floor, holding their weapons down so they didn’t scare anyone as they came out. And last of them all, Hurricane. The Jedi Six were in shock at the sight of them; and not in a good way.
“No… it can’t be… it’s not over…” Sunset’s voice started to shake, hearing sounds of distant blaster fire from long ago.
“Stay back! All of you!” Rainbow yelled, igniting her lightsaber.
The other Jedi did the same, turning on their lightsaber blades in defense and out of fear. The clones backed off, holding their hands up to show they weren’t armed.
“Still think it’s a good idea coming back to the fight?” Bubbles muttered to Rex.
So many questions went through the heads of the Jedi. How could there still have been clones alive? How was it even possible? Worse, were they still under the influence of Order 66? Were they still willing to turn on them so quickly?
As for the clones, they were honestly surprised to see there were still Jedi around that had survived. There was some relief to see this, but now all of them were second-guessing as to whether or not they should have even come here if this was the welcome they were going to get. In retrospect, they weren’t expecting anything warm, but this was not what they had in mind.
“Why did you bring back clones!?” Rainbow snapped, trying not to panic.
“Wait, stop! We’re not here to attack any of you,” Rex protested. “None of us have inhibitor chips, we’re safe!”
“How can you be safe? You all were ordered to wipe out the Jedi!”
“We didn’t have a choice! None us knew we were going to be used like that!” Mix argued.
The tension was still among everyone, the clones still kept their distance just like the Jedi. Rex looked over at Hurricane, giving him a silent nod. The commander understood, and so, he took his chance. Slowly, he took his helmet off, revealing the same face that Rainbow had fought beside so long ago; now with a big bushel of a beard. Rainbow still kept her distance, even reaching for her side-arm weapon if he was gonna get closer.
“General…” Hurricane paused, changing his mind on how to speak. “Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow didn’t react.
“A long time ago, when I had become your commander, the only name I knew was CC-7827. My brothers could not find me a name, and neither did I. But after our first mission, you picked a name; you called me Hurricane. You called me Hurricane because you said I reminded you of one of your planet’s founders, known for strength and resilience. That stayed with me ever since the start of the war to the very end, and I never forgot.”
Rainbow didn’t know what to say. His words caught her off guard, but she still stood in a warrior pose, unsure of how to handle this. He spoke truth, and it didn’t seem like he had any intention to kill her.
“I… we…” Rainbow said, trying to find the right words.
“Get away from the clones, now,” Sunset grit her teeth. “They’ll kill us all!”
“These clones are—”
“—brainwashed, ready to kill us—”
“—THEY’RE FREE MEN!”
Everyone stopped shouting as they looked at the source of the voice, yelling at them. Derpy Hooves was the last of them to come down from the ship, slowly approaching them. But she didn’t look like herself, no. She had redressed in the clone trooper suit that she cobbled together back on Ajan Kloss. The girls watched as she stepped down, while the Heartstrings family stood off to the side, waiting for everyone to lower their weapons. No way they would get involved on this, at least until they would have to. Needless to say, it shocked them all when the more spandex-revealing trooper took off their helmet, revealing that same friendly face and hair; wall-eyed as she was from birth.
“Derpy?”
The blond Jedi’s eyes focused on Sunset Shimmer.
“Sunset.”
Some more awkward silence passed between them.
“You’re… alive,” Sunset said, trying to figure out how to start a conversation. Frankly speaking, she didn’t know how. What could she even say after being gone for all this time?
“Yeah. I am,” Derpy stated.
And more awkward silence.
“Derpy, darling, why… why are you dressed like them?” Rarity asked, getting some glares from her fellow Jedi and the clones.
Derpy didn’t respond right away, and instead looked down at her hands. She looked at her bare fingers, wiggling through the fingerless gloves she applied to her hands for combat. Then she looked back at her old Jedi friends. Realizing she wasn’t going to answer that, Sunset instead spoke up. “It’s… it’s so good to see you again,” Sunset interjected, trying to see if she could get a smile on the wall-eyed girl. And it did work, seeing the adorable smile Derpy had on her face. She was also so dang cute, whether it was just being herself.
“Thank you,” Derpy acknowledged.
“So… you… have been, um…”
“—Living with a handful of men, as I did suggest,” Adagio said, playfully purring.
“Hush you!” Smolder elbowed the Siren.
“I can assure you it is not that kind of relationship as she seems to be implying,” Bubbles glared.
And once again, there was another vow of uncomfortable silence.
“How… how did you escape? How did you even live all this time?”
Derpy was quiet, but quietly spoke. “Ajan Kloss. The Empire never came near it; which meant a perfect home for me… and my brothers.”
Sunset couldn’t even believe what she said. Brothers?
“I never wanted to come back. I only agreed to come because Lyra is my friend; and she needed help. But now…” her eyes almost looked normal as she glared at Sunset, but they did. She took a step forward, fists slowly balling up. “I’m starting to have second thoughts.”
Some more accompanying silence was among the others.
“… So,” Pinkie interrupted awkwardly. “Um. They haven’t aged a day.”
“Derpy, I… wh…w… may I ask, why are you… um—”
“—If you’re asking why I’m living with clones, it’s because I value them like my own family. They’re all I have. And they’ve done more for us than I can even imagine,” Derpy said, softly this time. “And I’m going to say this.”
She took a step forward, her wall-eyes looking right at Sunset. “I only came because Lyra’s daughter was in danger. I held that little girl when she was just a baby, and I swore I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her; especially predators who come charging at her with intent to kill,” and she stepped further, which forced Sunset to take a step back.
“I don’t want to fight; I gave up fighting a long time ago. But I’m willing to come back, because Lyra told me you need everyone you can. But I’ll only come back under one condition…” she looked to her brothers who were standing there, who were now having equally disdaining expressions just as much as the rest of the Jedi Six. “If I’m coming back, then so are they. If you don’t want them… then you can forget about me staying.”
More silence arose among the two sides. Jedi vs clones, negative emotion ready to bubble up and explode at any second. Adagio, for once, stayed quiet and didn’t say anything to set anyone off, instead choosing to take a temporary vow of silence. Sunset had considered protesting, but she was still trying to reel herself from another big surprise today, this was becoming too much for her.
No more words were expressed between either side. Derpy just simply walked away into the base, without another word. The rest of the clones soon joined her, with Hurricane looking wistfully at Rainbow Dash before moving to join the rest of his brothers. Rex was the last to leave, and took the longest to leave. He considered speaking up, but ultimately decided not to. Everyone was too mad right now to consider having a peaceful conversation.
Sunset let out a sigh. “I… could have handled that better.”
“You’re not seriously considering, I mean… they, well… they tried to kill us!” Rarity whined.
“Because they were under control of an inhibitor chip. Like it or not, they didn’t have a choice in how that particular factor played into your survival,” Smolder said with some snark, folding her arms. “Look I’m not sure I’m on board for having a bunch of look-a-likes with us, but they saved our butts back in the jungle from a hostile predator.”
Sunset rubbed her temple. “I’m still not sure. I thought I had moved on but—” Sunset stopped. “Wait a minute--saved you from what?”
“A predator. A hunter, some Nautolan with trophies all over him, armed to the teeth,” Gallus reported. He flicked a hologram on, showing the image of who they had seen.
“Oh dear… I recognize him,” Fluttershy feared. “Sleestak.”
“You know him, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked.
“He's a hunter. Takes from everyone; Republic, Separatist, gangster, he even kills innocent woodland creatures and makes them into trophies,” Fluttershy glared with grit teeth. "They were all just a big game to him!"
Sunset silently thought about their situation for a moment, seeing the two concerned parents who were folding their arms, waiting for a response.
“We’ll have to look into him later; the important thing is Flurry is still safe,” Sunset said, reassuring the parents fears. “We have bigger priorities.”
“Looking into whatever Trixie was tell—”
“—Figuring out what we’re going to do about Derpy and the clones,” Sunset suddenly derailed. Her eyes looked back at the troopers and Derpy who were still walking over to the registration offices.
“… Oh. Okay, that’s important too,” Pinkie awkwardly replied.
“We didn’t have a choice, it was either leave with all six, or don’t come back with anyone,” Lyra shook her head.
“Well, we’ll have to deal with it, I suppose,” Rarity sighed, looking back at the troopers. “I suppose since it is only five of them, it won’t be too bad. There aren’t any other clones in the Rebellion that we know about, do we?”
“Not that I’m aware of, and I want to keep it that way,” Sunset said, firmly. “Oh, has our new ally gotten herself registered?”
“You found a new trooper?” Lyra asked, her interest suddenly piqued.
“Sunset!” A familiar voice shouted. Bon Bon recognized that voice instantly, enough to jolt and turn around. “The advisor was kind enough to prepare a bunk for me, which I appreciate. And he offered two potential jobs, but I wanted to talk to you about… them…”
Complete silence fell between all four adults. That is until both Bon Bon and Zorii shouted in unison.
“YOU!”
Following up their shout, they pulled out their blasters at each other, ready to shoot. Not surprisingly, the two adults had attracted everyone’s attention.
“Uh... did we miss something?” Gallus asked.
The spice-runner snarled. “I guess she hasn't told you. We used to do jobs together on Kijimi, until she decided to up and leave me.”
The Mandalorian held her stance. “I didn't sign up to become part of a drug cartel.”
Lyra stayed by her wife, kicking part of her jacket aside to show the lightsaber on her belt. She didn’t draw it, but she wanted the drug-dealer to know she was willing to swing.
“You’re the Jedi. Glad to finally see your face, I didn’t recognize you with the hood on. Who is she? Your lover?
“Try again, Bliss.”
“You… ohhh. So you two are together now? I'll admit. I didn't think you swung that way.”
Bon Bon shrugged her remark off. “Neither did I, but guess what? I do. Now, I'm going to make this clear honey. I don't know what you're doing here, I don't know what business you have here, but lemme make this simple. This woman here, and that little girl over there... they are my life. And if you think about talking, or touching... or getting anywhere near them, then you better listen to these words; I have no problem going back to prison.”
There was some… more awkward silence than before. Everyone surrounding them was dead silent, not sure how to defuse the two acquaintances. But it seemed like their presence wasn’t necessary as both bounty hunters slowly put their weapons away, not pulling them out to shoot one another.
And only one voice spoke up; Pinkie Pie’s. “You know, maybe bringing her back here wasn't such a hot idea...”
Far from Rebel and Imperial eyes, hanging in the lawless Outer Rim was a single freighter drifting in space. Power was still present, but the occupant inside was winding down after a long day. Walking into the cockpit, the figure marched past a wall with several pieces of disturbing ‘art’. Trophies from all over the galaxy were mounted, including some pieces of armor and several badges.
Among the trophies were skulls of various animals like a nexu, a reek, a mynock, several anoobas, etc. Armor remained plastered, belonging to various clone trooper battalions along with a few odd ones from random mooks and mercenaries no one would miss. But he also had collection of more recent trophies; badges. Badges belonging to various Rebel factions and cells across the galaxy, ones that the current ones on Yavin IV never knew about. Pegasi Insurgency. Irontail Railway. Storm Revolutionaries. Separatist Sympathizers. Partitionists. Partisans. Sectorists. Many, many, many cells that were nameless to the common word.
Looking around as his victories, the hunter clicked, deciding to pull off his helmet. The mask went down, exposing his face in the light. Tendrils remained loose as they had been before, but as he stepped forward, new features unveiled. Sunken-in eyes, with various scars permanent on his cheeks, lip, and under one of his brows. He clicked some more as his bare feet met the warm feeling of the fur rugs that led to the pilot chairs.
A small med patch was applied over his cuts as he healed himself, clicking more as he grabbed another helmet to take a break from his previous ones. Just as intimidating as the others, but providing more breathing. With a click of a button, a new hologram projection came through, showing an Imperial in an officer’s uniform.
“State your business, bounty hunting scum.”
The Nautolan clicked some more as he looked at him, slowly leaning forward. “Tell your master, Sleestak has information to provide to the employer.”
“I do not have any frame of—”
“—Step aside, Captain,” a new voice entered.
A Grand Admiral outfit stepped forward, dressing a colored woman with a harsh gaze. “Sleestak, I presume. Midnight herself told me to anticipate your call.”
“I have information to report to her directly,” he said, slowly tapping his nails against the console. "Mission completed. I'll be on my way to meet her, personally to relay some information. We can discuss payment... later."
Dinner that night became extremely awkward with the new faces joining the crew. Bon Bon took her helmet off (no longer caring about who saw her face anymore, thanks to living with Lyra), and she just stared at Zorii across from her with a ‘you-are-dead-to-me’ glare. Zorii did not take her helmet off, only opening up the panel to let her mouth be visible as she ate. Everyone else around her just ate awkwardly, not sure what to say to break the tension. Even Adagio had to admit, this was a rather awkward dinner.
“Is this the worst dinner you’ve been at?” Flurry whispered over to Adagio.
“I haven’t been invited to any family dinners, so I’ll say no,” Adagio whispered back, taking another sip of her Jawa Juice.
Even the clones felt awkward sitting at the table. After they had gotten registered and cleared to join the Alliance, they weren't sure what to do afterwards. They did get settled into their new rooms (Derpy even got to have a room with her brothers), but looking for something to do after that seemed futile, since they were completely new, and they still felt unwanted. Some did want to upgrade their armor, or at least have a change in uniforms to make them more personable, but were too afraid to speak up about it.
“Maybe we should just go sit at another table?” Bubbles suggested, ready to stand up.
“No, no no,” Bon Bon said, putting her hand out. “It’s fine, we’re still having a nice dinner, aren’t we?”
“… This is really awkward,” Derpy squeaked.
“Agreed. Maybe we should just eat somewhere else—”
“Don’t,” Bon Bon said with a soft growl.
“Okay then,” and Vargas immediately sat back down. “Sooooo anyone want to talk about anything?”
“Can I ask something?” Derpy raised her hand.
The Jedi Six all collectively gasped and sighed in relief.
“Yes!”
“Please, say something!”
“Absolutely!”
Derpy cleared her throat. “I uh, I hope no one minds… I kinda brought my cat with me.” And poking out from Derpy’s lap was her pet; Whiskers.
Mew.
And more awkwardness continued. It was enough to make Rex groan. “You know what?” Rex said, pulling out from the table and grabbing his tray. “I think I’ll go eat my dinner somewhere else, if no one minds.”
And so the former 501st captain left the mess hall with his dinner half-eaten. Derpy was about to protest and beg him to come back, but she didn’t. She could tell he wasn’t feeling welcome, and if he wanted to be alone for a bit, she wasn’t going to argue. Not wanting any more time spend in the seething angst of the new arrivals, Rex just went back into one of the main hallways where more Rebels were wandering about. Luckily there were a few benches nearby for sitting, so the captain just settled himself down on one.
Out of the way, Rex could sit in peace and enjoy the last bits of his sandwich. He was seen by a few Rebels, but none of them bothered him, thankfully.
“… --Well how was I supposed to know? I told him his hair gets stuck in the drain!” A familiar voice ranted.
The golden-plated protocol droid himself, C-3PO was stumbling about, upset about something. Rex couldn’t help but smile, he remembered him anywhere. He was about to say something, but the droid kept waddling away.
“I can’t talk right now, I’ve got to find Princess Leia!”
And Rex slowly died down and just laid his back against the wall he was against. So he was being ignored for now, no issue.
“Bwoo boop?”
Rex perked at that chirp. He recognized that binary beep anywhere. And when he looked to his left, his face lit up at the most familiar droid he had ever known.
“R2?”
The astromech unit sounded almost excited for a second as he rolled up to him. As the astromech’s dome swiveled back and forth, looking at him in full, he wiggled in excitement, beeping something that clearly sounded happy. Even the captain had a good chuckle as he put his plate aside and patted the astromech’s face.
“It’s so good to see you, R2! I thought I was long forgotten.”
“Bwoop boop. Brrr-brrr-brrr bup.”
“I’m glad you still remember me, R2,” Rex smiled, patting him. “What have you been up to all this time?”
“Beep. Bweerp boop.”
“Fighting the Empire, huh? Well I’m happy to say I’m coming back to join you and everyone else here,” the captain responded. This clearly made R2 happy judging by another happy wiggle on his legs. “Hehe. Say, by any chance is General Skywalker around?”
R2 shook his dome. “Bwoop boop. Brrt brrt bop brrt.”
“Ohhh, right… yeah, I forgot he had left a long time ago,” Rex chuckled. “I assume General Kenobi isn’t around either?”
“Bwoop bwoop.”
“Thought so,” Rex nodded. “Well… is there any chance she’s still around? Ahsoka, is she…?”
R2’s beeping slowly got quiet, and sad. “Bwoop… bwooop…”
“She’s… gone?”
“Bwooop…”
Rex frowned some more and his head lowered slightly. “Oh… if only she had known, I… I don’t know.”
One of R2’s panels opened showing a small little claw extending. Trying to show some form of companionship, he slowly gripped one of Rex’s fingers, lightly tapping his hand. Even if most of the friends and allies he knew once before weren't here, he was still glad to at least have some still around.
Midnight's Castle
“How is this possible?” Midnight questioned in her cold, low voice. She didn’t yell, but her tone was more than clear to understand she was upset. The Grand Inquisitor, Captain Phasma, Commander Dust, Luster Dawn, and the Second Sister were all cowering in fear as they stood in a straight line together, getting chewed out by their leader.
“You had the Jedi right where we wanted them. Capture should have come easily. Lost locations of Rebel cells due to incompetence… and yet the Dark Trooper forces on Ferrix, and Luster, my student who isolates herself from all of you and barely leaves the planet, is the only one who has something other than an excuse.”
Midnight then glared at the Grand Inquisitor, growling softly in her mask.
“You were bested by two Jedi. They should have been easy prey for someone of your caliber. Do not fail me next time. Or else that arm isn’t the only thing you will be losing,” she threatened, gazing at Nightbird’s new artificial replacement.
“Yes, Lady Midnight,” Nightbird apologized, quietly but calmly.
Midnight then walked over to the Second Sister, focusing on her. “Well, Sister? What is your excuse?”
The Second Sister looked down in shame. “I… have none, Lord Midnight. The Fourth Sister and I did not anticipate Sunset’s numbers, and we were defeated. And the Fourth Sister has been… terminated.”
“How could you three lose against a two Jedi?” Midnight scowled, turning away from her Inquisitor.
Nightbird looked over to the Second Sister, tilting her head at her hesitantly. The Second Sister gave her a glare, shaking her head no defiantly.
“Is there something you two are not telling me?” Midnight interrupted.
Both of them locked up.
“We, um… well…”
“They… uh…”
“Phasma. Luster. Dust.”
The three of them raised their heads up, standing up straighter than ever.
“You are excused. I wish to speak to these two alone.”
Not hesitating, the three of them walked out of the room to go attend their tasks they had to get back to. Now the only people left in the room was Midnight, Nightbird, and the Second Sister.
“Now… is there something you two would care to tell me?”
“The rest of the Equestrian Jedi Council are alive. The other two the Fourth Sister and I encountered on the Tatooine were there, but now the other three are back," the Second Sister explained.
Nightbird pulled out a hologram, displaying a few images of the Jedi that they encountered. Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack were already known to have returned. And then new images displayed; more old friends of Sunset Shimmer. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy. Former members of the Jedi Council presumed dead, now appearing on her holoscreens like a ghost.
“So, it is true. Sunset is uniting all her old allies to come and fight. Smart. Bold. But futile, regardless. Go.”
The two Inquisitors understood, and so they turned around and left the room, letting the doors close behind her. Midnight was ready for another moment of peace, but that didn’t last long. The doors opened up again, and Midnight was greeted to the sounds of clicking and snarling. The hulked up Nautolan assassin who attacked the Heartstrings group not too long ago was back, covered in bruises, but still standing strong.
“Sleestak. You have returned,” Midnight stated.
The Nautolan clicked and growled underneath the mask, standing there before her.
“Tell me you have good news.”
The Nautolan stopped clicking and growling. Reaching for his side, he grabbed a small bottle before lifting his mask up slightly to drink. After a moment or two, he cleared his throat and spoke. A voice that sounded monstrous, and yet calming at the same time.
“Abducting one of them was harder than anticipated. They were ready for me, and they called for more help on Ajan Kloss. Some woman, and five men who look-alike. However, I did learn the name of one of the Rebels responsible. The daughter of the minty Jedi and Mandalorian; they said her name was… Flurry Heart.”
There was silence. Midnight did not move.
"...We're done here, then. You’ll receive your payment before you leave."
The bounty hunter left the room, making Midnight in isolation. Midnight stands still, her eyes locked on the window before her, as memories come back to her - remembering Shining and Cadence, and their happy little baby whom she had known so very briefly...
"Flurry Heart... After all these years. You still live."
Ferrix
Multiple bodies laid strewn all inside of Hotel Rix, one of the few hotel residences for the people in town. Nearby Gavalox Communications, the place was a modest, if humble abode of temporary dwelling. However most of the residents or people who came there to stay had fled the scene long before blaster-fire came down inside the building. Heavy footsteps marched up a flight of stairs, coming from a hulking droid. Imperial model, the Dark Trooper, were the newest makes of Imperial weaponry dispatched by the Empire. No longer wasting human lives, and instead relying on the strength of droid intelligence for their designs.
While the Empire kept their ground forces to just people and the very elite Death Troopers, Dark Troopers only became necessary when all other soldiers failed in their operations. And to their design; Dark Troopers were impossible to take down. Fortified armor, swift detection censors, and their feet were equipped with jet boosters for flight modes. These experimental troopers were now occupying Ferrix's main town, with many of the civilians running in terror from the troopers. While Midnight troopers would open fire upon civilians who ran from them, these troopers didn't fire at them; only if anyone was caught with arms of any kind.
One of these troopers, who had laid waste inside the Hotel Rix, was looking for the last remaining Rebels who were occupying this residence. Twelve troopers in total; all of them didn't stand a chance. Now only two remained, oh they tried their best to attack, but their blasters were useless against the armors. Most conventional weapons wouldn't work, forcing the Rebels to think more creatively about how to combat against them, most of their attempts barely getting a scratch. But now they had one last attempt to truly stop it...
Drawing the attention of the Dark Trooper away, the captain of the cell stood in one of the cell's rooms; armed and ready for a final stance. He had been waiting for it's attention to come to him, as part of the plan. And in the nick of time, the Dark Trooper's metal boots marched towards the door-frame of his room, going inside to confront him. Raising the blaster, the trooper got ready to fire and end another target.
But as the leader was about to be shot, the Dark Trooper met heavy blasts from the back end, followed by a plasma-blade shanking right through the main central processing unit. The trooper looked down before it's legs collapsed and it fell onto the floor with a heavy slam. Standing there, still in the stabbing position was the last trooper of this cell; an Equestrian woman in clone commando armor, with adobe sand armor with red and blue shades, and a few orange-yellow highlights. Two vibro-daggers were extended, having struck directly into the main circuitry of the droid, cutting directly into the power.
"If that was just one trooper, I don't want to imagine what the rest of them are like," the commando stated, looking at the finished kill.
The captain pulled himself up, looking through the small windows. Throughout the town, Dark Troopers were marching, looking for any Rebels nearby. To make matters worse, many of them were pushing civilians against the walls, even slamming some of them through; more brutal than the Preox-Morlana Corps.
"We need to get out of here," the captain ordered. But when he was set to leave, he saw something else. A Dark Trooper walking in the center of the main road; Rix Road as many called it. He was marching towards the hotel they hid in, his feet slamming against the orange sands. This trooper however looked way different than the others; much more... human, than the others, if you could even call it that. One of the red lights in it's eyes stopped working; with two sets of horns present on the head. The shoulder armors were covered in badges, nearly impossible to tell how many there were. Even a kama was wrapped around it's waist, warrior style.
"Correction; you need to leave. Go back to the ship, and head back to base. Tell them the operation on Ferrix has failed," the captain ordered.
"What will you do?" The commando worried.
The captain looked back with a heavy sigh. "I'll keep their focus on me; buy you some time. You must go."
"Sir, I can't leave you! If you stay, so do I," the commando insisted.
The captain looked back at the commando, looking into her amber eyes. "If you stay, you'll die with me. You need to escape, so you can live to fight another day. This isn't running from the fight. You must go, I promise I will be safe, Zap Zap."
The commando let out a small breath of shaking anxiety. She didn't want it to come to this, but she understood the dangers she was in now. If she didn't leave, she'd die with the rest of her friends who had sacrificed themselves to fight til the end. Realizing what needed to be done, she put her helmet back on her head; the tinted blue light replaced with yellow; horns also adjacent on the dome.
"Now go, I'll keep them focused. May the Force be with you," the captain said, one last time.
"Godspeed, Captain Zanatas." And so, the commando ran out into the hallway to go through the back entrances of the hotel, hopefully getting far away as possible. Hiking up his boots, the captain grabbed his gear and made his way down the steps of the hotel. But his walk took much slower than normal; looking around the hotel, he wanted to take in the residence's sights possibly for one last time. Many memories were made in this base, some happy, some depressing, but he would take them all with him wherever he would go to from here.
Making his way to the entrance, he stepped out and stomped his boots into the ground, ready for a fight. The Dark Trooper across the road continued to march, almost intentionally slow as if he was taking in what he saw before him.
"So you're the captain of this cell. You have such a beautiful world. A community thriving in harsh environments with very little abundance of life, I commend you all for your fortitude," the trooper taunted.
"Terrorcolt," the captain growled, looking forward. "I was warned about you."
"Then you know you won't leave this planet alive," the trooper concluded. "Where every sloppy Inquisitor fails, I complete what can't be done. The Dark Troopers are reserved for when all others fail, and we never fail our mission."
The trooper and Rebel captain now stood several feet away from each other, almost ready for a standoff. Pacing to the left, the leader of the Dark Troopers kept its gaze to the fleshling, menacingly so.
"My master grows tiresome of inept failure from sloppy officers and arrogant Inquisitors. Surrender now, and this town doesn't suffer for your crimes."
"The only crime committed is from you; scaring these civilians into submission. It didn't work when the Empire came before, it's not going to work now. I'm sure someone as smart as you remembers the riot at this very road?"
"Mmm, I do," Terrorcolt continued. "Such a waste of soldiers; completely missing the uprising before their very eyes. But I'm going to make sure that never happens again..."
And without hesitation, the Dark Trooper fired a powerful plasma-blast from his wrist, striking directly across the shoulder and into a lung. The captain gasped and wheezed from the strike, watching as his arm was now dangling loosely from the open veins and insides now about to come apart at the seams. With one last breath, he dropped to the ground, scaring everyone who had witnessed this extremely grotesque murder before them.
The Dark Trooper marched forward and gazed at his prey, still as if no thought or remorse had entered the processor. Then, turning around, he faced the rest of the townsfolks who were beyond mortified. The Empire was brutal to them before, but this was much more than their usual tactics. This was becoming a horror show with this set of troops around!
"I'll make this clear to you all; a new decree from the Empire has been announced. If anyone is found harboring Rebel, insurgent, or partisan activity, even if so much as look at them... you will not be spared the fates of this cell who thought they could hide on your beautiful world. Refusal to abide by this law, or give us locations of any partisan activity... we make you suffer like so many othersalready have..."
Yavin IV
The next morning following the awkward dinner, everyone was pulled to do a morning workout with Sunset Shimmer; it only consisted of going for a short run/race to get the blood pumping for the new day. But the animosity from the night before was still present with all parties not saying much in terms of words. Lyra and Bon Bon stayed with the Jedi group, while Flurry tended to hover around between them and the clones, not bothered by their existence.
By the end of the race, only Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Rainbow, and the Heartstrings family had 'won'. Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all out of shape; fighting was one thing. Running was another thing. Derpy and the clones however remained as a group, instead going at the race like a brisk jog; getting the blood pumping, but not hurting themselves so they wouldn't be out of breath.
Soon after all members were done with their workout, everyone started to make their way to the showers. Sunset and some of the girls walked inside, noting a few other of their comrades were showering as well. Not that they paid any mind, they were teammates after all.
“Hey Numa, how are you?” Sunset said, claiming one of the spots for the shower.
The Twi’lek woman acknowledged her presence with a nod. “Ba'enik, go toyi t'ary .Dan?”
“Doing okay. How’s your uncle by the way?” Sunset asked, applying some of the shampoo to her hair.
“Nie clo gu, arni'soyacho toe banirkan,” Numa smiled softly, rubbing out the last bit of soap to her tails.
“Hi Numa,” some of the other girls nodded as they claimed their own individual spots within the shower walls.
Numa waved back to them and grabbed her towel, walking over to the lockers to finish cleaning herself up and get dressed.
“… So did anyone know her?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I do. She was a little girl when the Storm Army attacked her home-world,” Sunset nodded. “Joined our side when the war with the Empire began.”
Everyone gave a few nods and ‘ahhs’ and ‘okay’s before going back to getting clean.
“Say, didn’t we see Hera earlier? Where did she go?” Rarity asked.
“The baby kept her up at night, so I suggested she try to get some extra sleep before working,” Sunset replied, getting the last of the shampoo out of her hair.
Sunset stopped scrubbing herself for a second, eyes looking up to the ceiling and thinking.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know, I feel like I’m forgetting something…”
“Say, where did Derpy go? The showers shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Rarity asked, scrubbing the soap between her armpits.
--
At the same time, Derpy and the boys had finished up their workouts and were getting ready to clean up. The clones walked towards the showers first (not acknowledging the sign that said Men) and Derpy followed right behind them. That is until Flash Sentry stepped out of the showers and blocked Derpy from going inside.
“Uh, Derpy? Where are you going?”
“I was going to shower,” Derpy answered.
“Derpy, the blue banners mean men only,” Flash said, pointing to the sign. Derpy only tilted her head in confusion. “The red banners mean women, the blue banners mean men, the yellow means unspecified gender.”
“Oh,” Derpy blinked. “I thought… huh. Never mind,” Derpy skipped over to the women’s shower room.
--
Derpy finally emerged in the showers, albeit a bit bashful as she walked in. Not that she hadn’t seen people in the nude before, but mainly because she was still reeling from the idea that the showers and locker rooms were not unisex around here. “I thought the showers were for everyone.”
“… Oh now I know what I forgot,” Sunset realized. “Sorry Derpy, I meant to say something earlier. I hope that wasn’t too confusing?”
“No, it’s okay,” Derpy brushed off with a smile. And then she set foot into an empty space, courtesy of Pinkie Pie being done with her shower.
“Wait now I remember. Where did Adagio go?” Sunset asked.
“I already bathed,” Adagio said, peaking her head out from the side, leading to the lockers. “I got clean earlier, better to be prepared for whatever you may ask me to do and whatnot.” And she poked her head back to the lockers to finish getting dressed.
“Okay, that answers that, but where’s Zorii?”
And that question was answered with a bare woman with lavender skin walking into the showers, claiming one of the free spaces. The spice runner tested the hot water for a second, and eventually started to get clean. “Ohhhh… that feels nice,” she said, sighing softly into the mask. “Never had many nice hot showers like these on Kijimi…”
“Careful, Rarity just might faint,” Rainbow teased.
Instead, Rarity let out an overdramatic gasp. “Oh good heavens! No hot showers!? How do you ever stay clean!? More importantly, how do you still look ravishing without any—”
“—Rarity, I dealt with drugs,” Zorii deadpanned. “Looking good was not a priority to me.”
“Just don’t take too long, Zorii,” Sunset advised, grabbing her towel. “Can’t afford to waste good water.”
“Understood,” Zorii nodded.
“Shouldn’t you take the helmet off? Isn’t it hot in that thing?” Applejack asked.
“… I rather not,” Zorii admitted.
“Zorii, you’re not gonna get clean if you keep that thing on all the time. Besides, we’re your friends now. Whatever you look like under there, we are not going to judge, alright?”
Zorii thought their words over while she scrubbed her pits, unfazed by her words. But she still didn’t bother to remove her helmet.
“… Alright. But I’m just sayin’, you should get that helmet cleaned at somepoint.”
Applejack finished her shower, and grabbed a nearby towel, walking off to the locker rooms to get dressed. Zorii waited patiently for the girls to leave, sighing softly to herself. Hesitantly, she reached to the back of the helmet, unclicking a switch to pull it off her face. Despite her being out in the open, exposed to any other girl who would walk in, she just focused on herself, making sure she was completely scrubbed and clean for the day. She even did her best to ignore the looks from the others who saw the permanent scars on her face, years of abuse out in the open for all to see.
Once they got their breakfast, Derpy and her clone brothers sat at a table for them to eat. The food was surprisingly good. Most of the food they had to eat as their time as clone troopers were, less than great. Sure they provided all the nutrients that they needed, but they tasted extremely bland, as opposed to the many colorful foods that were all throughout the universe. And while the Rebels did continue the usage of rations, they did at least have some colorful alternatives. Mostly thanks to the help of Dexter Jetster, and the multiple cooks from Equestria.
And of course, living in the few months with Derpy did get them a chance to try a variety of real, honest-to-god, delicious foods. Currently they were all enjoying some wholesome blue milk, with some space waffles and syrup.
“Hmm… now that’s the stuff I live for,” Mix grinned, enjoying the sweet aroma of the foods. “I’m going to have to learn how to make these waffles at some point.”
“I heard Dexter’s open to teaching people. Perhaps there’s an opportunity there after all,” Bubbles pointed out.
“Still preferred that time on Naboo,” Mix said, taking a sip of milk.
“Which I still don’t understand, you said the chef just suddenly left?” Rex questioned.
“Left and quit. I barely said a word to him, and yet he quit,” Mix said, confused.
“Well luckily that was seventeen years ago. We do not have to worry about angering chefs again… I hope,” Derpy squeaked.
As they ate, some Rebels passed on by, sitting at other tables as well, enjoying breakfast and waking up. One of the newest faces eventually came to get breakfast; Zorii. She held a tray in her hands, with the assortment of waffles and blue milk. She looked around for a place to sit. Sure there were a few options available, but she learned on Kijimi to never place yourself in an area where you aren’t wanted.
She questioned whether to just sit on a floor by herself, or maybe just going to her assigned quarters, but she soon saw someone hailing for her. Derpy of all people stood up, waving to her to come over. The spice runner was surprised to see them offering her a seat. But realizing she had no other options, she walked over and parked herself next to Derpy.
“Thanks for the seat,” she said, softly.
“No problem. We’re all new here, we need each other,” Derpy innocently smiled.
“Maybe,” Zorii said, not smiling. The only part of her face they could see were her lips as they curled up. “I know I’m new, but I swear it feels like everyone’s judging me.”
“I think that would be us they’re staring at,” Vargas pointed out. “Bon Bon mentioned you used to be a spice-runner, right?”
“Drug dealer, yeah,” Zorii confirmed.
“Compared to us, you’re not the biggest outsider to join the Rebellion,” Vargas pointed out, taking a sip of milk.
“You… oh, wait a minute. That Jedi partner of Bon Bon’s mentioned you five were clones, right? Weren’t you all soldiers in that war with the Storm Empire?”
“That is correct,” Bubbles nodded. “And that war ended very quickly.”
“With no one winning,” Derpy added, shaking her head.
“I don’t understand. The war ended, and no one won? If none of you won, then who did?” Zorii asked.
“It’s a long story,” Rex said, holding his hand up. “One that I think would take too long to explain over breakfast.”
“Fair enough,” Zorii said, sipping some milk.
“I must admit though, I do think it’s odd that you’re okay with us. Everyone around here’s done nothing but give us weird looks like our faces are on backwards,” Mix questioned.
“Considering that it’s been well documented how we all just turned on the Jedi and killed them all, I can’t blame them for looking at us like that,” Rex said, noting a few Rebels who gave them some nasty looks.
“Either way, I feel more comfortable talking to you six than I am anyone else. … Especially that Mandalorian.”
“What’s your trouble with her, anyway?” Vargas asked.
“Let’s just say she and I didn’t leave each other on good terms,” Zorii said, weakly chewing on another piece of waffle. “She wanted to just steal jewelry, I was dealing drugs, you know.”
Derpy blinked. “I don’t. Everyone keeps telling me to stay away from spice,” she tilted her head.
“For good reason,” Bubbles said, patting her hand. Derpy might have been older, but she still had that sweet innocence that the clones appreciated about her.
Their attention was drawn to two Rebel girls; a Devaronian and a Rodian, who were passing the group of newbies. By the looks on their faces and words said, it was clear they weren’t too happy about them.
“Those are clones. You know from that old war?”
“Didn’t they wipe out the Jedi?”
“And force Shimmer and the other Generals into hiding? Yeah, that’s them. Can’t believe General Shimmer’s even thinking of letting them back in. That cross-eyed Jedi sure, but them?”
Derpy growled softly as they walked away.
“Derpy, it’s fine. We’ve gotten used to being seen as nothing but curses,” Bubbles said, begrudgingly. Frankly, he didn’t want Derpy to go all out on them, not that they saw her go too far.
“But it’s not fair. None of you had a choice, it’s not your fault—” and Derpy took notice of one of the waffles on her place got stuck to one of her fingers. “Oh no.” She threw her hand backwards, which did manage to get it off… and slap right in the back of the head of the Rebel girl who just mocked them earlier.
“Errrh… who threw that?” She grunted, looking backwards.
Derpy slowly sunk in her seat.
“You? What the hell, lady?”
Derpy gulped. “S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to throw it, it got stuck on my fingers.”
The Devaronian growled. “You will be sorry.”
“Hey, hey,” Bubbles intervened. “Easy there, friend. It was an accident. I’d suggest you just move on about your day, and leave us in peace.”
Some silence was among them. The little dispute caught the attention of some of the others in the mess hall who were trying to eat. The two Rebel girls glared at the other Clones who were giving them glares back, even Zorii as she looked at them, still helmeted. The two Rebels glared still, until the Devaronian woman scoffed.
“Just keep your distance, lab rats,” she grunted.
Turning around, she and the Rodian walked away. This however did not sit well with Hurricane who’s face turned into anger. The moment the two were far from the group—
BAM!
A lunch tray was slammed right at the back of the Devaronian’s head, clattering against the ground. The action got the attention of the entire room who all saw, and the two Rebels turned to look at the source. Commander Hurricane, who held another lunch tray with a shit-eating grin.
“Oops,” he said smugly.
“THAT’S IT!”
“Oh yeah!!!” Hurricane shouted, chucking another tray towards the Rebel. This sent the Devaronian into a fuming rage and she charged at Hurricane. The former clone commander jumped out of the way as she slammed her horns into the wall by accident.
The Rodian man then took his anger out Rex who immediately got out of his seat, tackling him to the ground. Rex didn’t take kindly to his attack and promptly shoved him off. Mix and Vargas nodded to each other as they saw more Rebels getting ready to pick a fight with them. A Snivvian man shoved Vargas, only to be shoved back a lot harder. Mix upped the ante by punching him right in the face, sending him to the ground.
A nearby Klatoonian grabbed a tray and smacked Mix on the head, making him fall. Mix wasn’t knocked out, most likely from how light the smack was, and he pulled himself before he could continue further. Mix punched the Klatoonian back, but the man didn’t appreciate it. He shoved him hard enough to fall onto the table where Bubbles was trying to ignore the fight and eat his breakfast. But now that his pancakes and juice were gone, he growled in anger. Slamming his fist on the table, he grabbed a tray and smacked the Klatoonian across the face.
Poor Derpy tried to back away, but the Devaronian woman was back for more. Zorii decided to step up and help her, smacking her on the head with her helmet. The slam was hard enough for her to fall to the ground, finally subduing her. Derpy looked back up at Zorii, holding her helmet.
“Ohhh… so that’s what you look like under there,” Derpy realized.
“You didn’t see anything,” Zorii ignored, placing her helmet back on her head. And deciding to escalate things even further, she saw one of the Rebels moving towards her with intent to attack, and she grabbed her lunch tray. She swung the tray like a boomerang, flipping him onto his back.
Sunset walked into the open cafeteria with her tray ready, and stood there, watching the fight. Several of the employees and soldiers fighting with each other inside the room, creating a large mess of food and tables, and screaming men, women and genderless beings all around. But not once did she flinch or hesitate to put her food down and move. Instead, she just casually moved herself to a wall table, sliding herself down to eat. The rest of the girls joined her, but were frankly horrified to see her reacting so calm.
“Um, Sunset? You know there’s a big fight happening right now?” Applejack asked.
“My hat!” One of the Rebels yelled, as shown by a fedora hat landing on the group’s table. Sunset just used the Force to levitate the hat and fling it straight back at whoever lost it.
“Yes, I know,” Sunset said, nonchalantly.
“Wh-ju—don’t you care!?” Rainbow asked, appallingly.
Sunset held a finger up, taking a big sip of coffee. “It’s too early for me to step in, and I’ve had to break up fifty-seven cafeteria fights in the time I’ve put together this alliance. They’ll stop in a few minutes and believe me, I have some very strong words to convey. But I need my coffee.”
“… Huh. I’ll admit, this is a side I don’t think we’ve ever seen before,” Pinkie stated.
“Well I’ve never had the need to step in and stopping disputes over things that don’t matter,” Sunset said, also nonchalantly. “Oh, hang on, duck guys.”
Everyone ducked their heads as a piece of waffle hit the rocky wall their table was against, sticking to it like glue.
“That’s a lot of good waffles that Dexter’s made, now gone to waste,” Sunset said, not caring anymore and just eating another piece of her breakfast.
Fluttershy and Rarity looked at the fight continuing, both horrified to see how big it was becoming. Almost everybody was becoming involved, with only a few outsiders just standing by and actually eating. Zorii Bliss was seen trying to eat her food the best she could, but that peace soon died the moment Mix was slammed onto the table, shoving her tray right off the table.
And they could see, understandably so, she lost her patience. She slammed her fist on the table, and grabbed a nearby tray, flinging it like a boomerang and knocking out one of the Rodian engineers in the process. They even watched as Mix and Bubbles threw a nearby Patrollian across a table, sending him sliding across and hitting the floor.
“Shouldn’t we do something?”
“Girls, don’t. Let’s just try to eat before we get forced to engage,” Sunset finished, taking a sip of her milk.
Very hesitantly, the girls continued to get back to their breakfast, trying not to think or look at the fight going on. Though the amount of noises made and yelling did not help matters. Once in a while they looked back to see who else was still fighting, though the numbers stayed the same. But there was occasionally someone new participating in the fight.
“Waffle fight!” Silverstream yelled, chucking the breakfast like rocks.
Food splattered against her fellow rebels, and she got splattered back. But unlike everyone else, she was giggling at how silly this whole debacle was. That unfortunately wasn’t the same for the clones though. Rex kicked some Selkath off his body, while Hurricane jumped off a table, bodyslamming some Nitko to the ground. Poor Derpy was flung through the air and crashed right through the kitchen pickup window, straight into the kitchen. The sounds of kitchenware breaking echoed throughout, and even poor Dexter sounded upset.
“What’s going on out there!?”
And then there was some voices throughout the fight that the girls had to admit made them giggle a bit, shamefully.
“My God man! You’re being slathered in syrup! Don’t you care!?”
Sometime later the clones, the Rebel Six, Lyra, Bon Bon, Flurry, Zorii, Adagio, along with the rest of the Jedi were gathered in a small conference room. Even the droids were present as they stood by, idly waiting for their assignments. Although poor Derpy was just sinking in her chair, embarrassed and worried about what Sunset was going to say. Sure she didn’t intend to hit those passerby’s, but she still engaged in a fight in the mess hall.
Even Flurry had some jitters about what Sunset was going to say. Now she didn’t engage or continued to add fuel to the flames in the fight, but she was still part of the group, and she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Eventually Sunset came in, and everyone stood up, as they naturally did whenever a higher officer was approaching.
“At ease men,” Sunset said, calmly as she walked in. "Now before I begin passing out assignments, I wanna talk about what went down in the mess hall—”
“—Sunset?”
“That’s General, to you,” a woman acting as a guard grunted.
“It’s fine, Jira,” Sunset said, giving her a serious look. “What is it, Derpy?”
The wall-eyed girl slowly stood up, meekly looking down. “If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me. It’s my fault that the fight started in the mess hall.”
Sunset frowned softly, patting her shoulder. “Derpy, it’s fine. I checked the security footage, I saw what happened. Now I don’t appreciate the fact that all of seven of you decided to jump in and continued to egg on a riot,” she said, glaring at the clones and Zorii included, “but this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with a fight in the mess hall. Believe me, after fifty times you stop caring. I’ll talk to those two later, but right now, I wanna make sure we’re all on the same page.”
Everyone was dead quiet, looking at one another.
“I know from yesterday, things were a bit heated. I know it’s not going to be easy to work with, um. Old acquaintances, but the only way we’re going to stay alive is if we work together. I know it sounds cliché, but we’re not going to stand for long if we’re going to be at each other’s throats. This is uncomfortable for myself, as well as all of you. So from now on, I expect all of you, including myself, to try and get along, okay?”
“… Yes ma’am,” everyone solemnly said.
“Thank you. Okay, let’s discuss assignments,” Sunset continued, not wanting everyone to stay in that awkward moment of silence. “Zorii, I put in a request to do a shift over in Hangar Bay 7, you’ll be helping Myria, she’s a Tholothian woman, you’ll recognize her by the head-tails. You know how to do repairs on ships?”
“I do.”
“Excellent,” Sunset smiled. “I’m sure you’ll do great. Just do what she says, you’ll be okay. Alright, Bon Bon, I know you wanted to get some more time in building some more astromech units, you’ll be in the droid-bay. Bulk Biceps just picked up the newest shipment of scrapped droids, I want you to get creative with them,” Sunset said with a fire in her voice.
“Oh I’m going to be swimming in parts,” Bon Bon grinned, getting a giggle from her wife.
“Ocellus, I know you and Silverstream wanted to talk to me after this, so I’ll be sure to speak to you two,” Sunset acknowledged, tapping the console on her datapad. “Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity, I need your help. We need—"
“General Shimmer to the command center, General Shimmer to the command center.”
Sunset looked up at the PA system, and then back at the group. “I’ll be right back, just give me a minute.”
--
Sunset paced over to the command center, passing by some troopers on their way to the training grounds for some more practice. A few turns led her back to the command center, where General Dodanna was waiting for her.
“General Dodanna, what is it?”
“Our technicians picked up a distress signal, coming from the Outer Rim Territories,” Dodonna explained, staring down at the holoprojection.
“Anything new? Anything that requires us to send attack teams or armies?” Sunset asked.
“Actually… I’m not sure,” Dodonna admitted. “This isn’t a typical distress signal. I thought you should come and hear it for yourself. Play it back, Ix’an.”
The technician nodded and rewound the message. After a moment of silence, the recording came through.
“Anyone out there! This is Captain Hiro of the 356th Battalion! I don’t know what happened, I must have been stuck in cryostasis! I’m stranded out here, if there is any Republic frequency, please help me!”
The message abruptly stopped, mostly because of the ongoing static at the end, but it was enough to pique Sunset’s interest.
“Where did this come from?”
The General tapped a button on the holoprojector, displaying a planetary system with several fact-boxes highlighted on the edges of the planet projection.
“Agamar.”
Sunset stopped for a second. “Can you just hold on for a moment?”
Briskly she walked back to the conference room where the others were waiting for their assignments. “Captain Rex? Can I ask you to come with me for a second?”
“Uh, sure. What’s going on?”
Rex followed Sunset out of the room and back down the hallway, trying to keep up with her and go to the command center.
“Our technicians just picked up a transmission; I don’t know how legitimate this is, but I thought maybe you would be the best to judge. Play it back.”
The technician played the message back as Captain Rex’s face turned from curious to shocked. Curiosity had piqued his interest, now he knew what Sunset meant.
“I don’t believe it…”
“Do you know who this Captain Hiro was?”
“Vaguely. He served under Jedi Master Thunderbass in the old war,” Rex replied, folding his arms. “The last mission his battalion fought was the Siege of Borgo Prime. But why is he suddenly on Agamar?”
“Do you suppose after the mission was over, maybe he and the others were called to a possible distress beacon or mission that led them there?”
“It’s possible. Agamar was a site for a battle in the Clone Wars. But I can’t tell if it’s a trick.”
Sunset didn’t hesitate to speak. “Would you mind possibly going with a few others to check it out?”
“I think I can do that,” Rex nodded.
“Excellent. I’ll call Flurry and Lyra, tell them they have a new mission,” Sunset said, clapping her hands briefly as she stepped away.
Lyra was quiet as her ‘crew’ walked with her over to the Sweetie Drop. Bad enough she had to take Adagio with her which she still had no good feeling of trusting, but she also had to take the clone with her? Out of everyone in the base, it had to be him. Yeah, Sunset made a point about his experience, but she still didn’t feel like taking him. At the very least, IG-11, Cheep, and Flurry would be coming along with her. And K2-B4 was still resting on the charging dock inside, so there was some good there.
“Eleven, go on ahead and start the ship,” Lyra ordered.
“Yes ma’am,” Eleven nodded, marching towards the ship.
“So, do you mind if I sit up front with you too?” Adagio asked. “In case you want to, you know, keep an eye on me? Maybe more?” she continued, flirtatiously.
Lyra rolled her eyes. “You’re welcome to sit in the cockpit, but you’re not driving. And need I remind you, you are trying my patience.”
“I didn’t think I was,” Adagio shrugged off, walking behind the assassin droid.
Cheep rolled behind her, leaving Lyra alone with Rex.
“General, er, Lyra, shouldn’t we wait for Flurry to arrive?”
And the former Jedi turned in a complete 180. “Listen, clone,” Lyra sneered. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly thrilled to be working with you.”
“Really? I never would have guessed,” Rex deadpanned, folding his arms.
“I just want to make something clear, trooper; if you ever touch my daughter, if you ever hurt my daughter… I will not hesitate. Let’s just go to Agamar, find that signal, and then get back here. Got it?” Lyra growled, stepping to the side, waiting for anyone else to come to the ship and up the hatch.
The captain, a bit frustrated by how this was going, had to admit he couldn’t blame her for being upset. Still though, it didn’t make their current situation any more pleasant. But realizing that they were missing one person, he just stood at the front of the ship, waiting for their last crew member. Finally, after a minute or two, the captain saw a tuft of purple and blue hair running towards the ship, trying to keep a satchel close by her.
“Hey Captain! Glad to see you’re coming with us,” Flurry apologized. “Sorry I’m late.”
Rex couldn’t help but smile. “It’s okay, kid. You made it.”
“I just got called a few minutes ago, Mom said we were going on a mission. What are we doing?” Flurry asked, walking with the captain onto the ship. “Are we stealing something? Liberating people?”
“I’ll explain on the way,” Rex replied, following her inside.
Now that her crew was assembled, she was ready to leave, only to see Bon Bon and G-G racing after them.
"Oh, sweetie, are you coming with?" Lyra asked.
"Can't, I have some business here to attend to. Besides, Sunset needs me to work on droid repair for a little bit, the current engineer's on sabbatical," Bon Bon explained. "Are you sure you're going to be okay with the captain?"
Lyra looked back at the inside of the ship, sighing softly. "I'll be okay. I just don't want this to drag out any longer than it has to," she said, holding her wife's hands.
"You'll be in and out, I'm sure of it," Bon Bon smiled, moving a hand up to stroke Lyra's cheek. Lyra adorably leaned into her wife's embrace before pulling her in to kiss her on the lips. Bon Bon's eyes slowly closed as she embraced the kiss back, holding her longer than ever. The two of them stayed there for what felt like an eternity, not wanting to let go of the sweetness of their love.
"You stay safe, okay?" Bon Bon requested. "And if you find any droid parts, bring them back for me, I'm feeling an itch for creativity."
Lyra giggled. "I promise, Bonnie." She gave another kiss to Bon Bon's cheek before hiking up the ramp to the Sweetie Drop. With her mood lifted and a smile on her face, Bon Bon and G-G watched as the family ship lifted off the ground and raced off into the atmosphere, setting off for Agamar.
"So, what do you say you and I do a little repairs?" Bon Bon asked, looking to the R4 unit. G-G only responded by shaking with a happy sounding beep. "Heh, I thought so. Come on buddy."
The Imperials ruled much of the galaxy with an iron fist, living up to the many things said in passing through the Rebels ears. If anyone stepped out of line for the slightest inconvenience, you would be searched, or looked at with suspicion. Obey their cause, obey their laws, they wouldn't give you any trouble. At least, that's what most of the citizens in the Empire hoped would be the case. Of course very few would be lucky if the average Imperial soldier didn't decide to harass them out of nowhere.
As, unfortunately to say, with the exception of the rich and the very few lucky, life for the citizens was miserable. Poverty in some places was still rampant, as taxes increased to fill the Empire's coffers. The officials that enforced the Empire's grip were corrupt as sin, with very little redemption. But not everyone in the populace saw them this way. Some people, either through radicalization, harsh treatment, or lack of stimulating brain cells saw the Empire as the salvation they needed after the Republic's days. Others, not so much.
Here on the desert city world of Jonsior, Imperials monitored activity like the Royal Guard; close eyes on everyone and anything that stood out like a sore thumb. Some folks learned to ignore them. Some were more annoyed by their presence, and others wanted them to leave and never return.
Outside in one of the public squares was a regular human in civilian clothes, waiting patiently for a friend to arrive. He had been asked to meet him outside there to talk, away from some family members that he had been watching over. Just then, said friend had finally arrived; an Equestrian man with blue skin and dark black hair.
"Brash Bolt, what's going on?"
The Equestrian shook his head as he glared at him, folding his arms. "Do you care to explain why, when I asked you to babysit my little girl, you decided to take her to an Imperial rally?"
"What's the problem?" The man asked.
"Bombate, I asked you to not take her there, and you did it anyway, why?"
"It's good for her," Bombate protested. "She needs to know what's happening in the galaxy, the Empire's here to help us."
"I didn't ask for my friend to go and take her to a rally that's full of hate," Brash growled as he turned around, trying to pull himself together and not make a scene. Troopers were around in the vicinity, no point in attracting unwanted attention by being noisy.
"The Empire is not about hate, it's about peace and security, they just want to help us--"
"--By scaring away anyone that's not human? By, telling us that the various species from all over that come to our world to visit or to find work, that we should be afraid of them? That we need to fear that we don't understand?" Brash continued to snap.
"I'm not saying the other species here are bad, they're the good ones!"
That statement alone got a few heads to turn towards him; and not in a good way.
"Oh, okay, so they're all bad then. I suppose those Rebels that have been recruiting various species are bad too, huh?"
"Yes, they are! They attacked garrisons, factories, destroyed bases!" Bombate argued.
The Equestrian was ready to reply with quick haste but calmed himself down before he continued. "I won't deny that. But I'm not on board with being scared; especially when those Imperials that you've idolized have terrorized some of our best friends."
"All of that is nonsense, they're working for the insurgents," Bombate continued to prattle on, almost sounding like a robot as he said it. "Those Rebels keep saying they're evil, they're making things up!
"Do you even hear yourself?" The other man asked, growing increasingly frustrated. "Look, I don't know what med nogs you have been drinking, but you are romanticizing the Empire to an absurd degree."
"You know I'm right! And I have a responsibility here, to protect my kids, the kids in my classrooms! What if those Rebels attack the schools?"
Now Brash had enough. This was getting too much for him to handle, and it was clear his friend wasn't going to listen. No sense in talking to a repeating computer. "You know what... forget I said anything," Brash groaned, starting to walk away. "Don't come near me, my daughter, or near my house."
"You don't understand them!"
Brash halted in his steps. The few people that were watching this conversation were waiting for him to keep walking away, or come back and charge. Instead, Brash Bolt turned around and looked at his former friend with a sneer before slowly walking towards him. "And what don't I understand?"
"The Empire provides jobs, helps us when we need it, so what if they tighten security a bit? Can one ever be too aggressive in preserving order?"
Brash's fists started to clench. "Yes... yes they can. They've fed you so much sludge that you don't even realize it's seeping out of your ears."
That finally did it. Bombate stood up and threw a massive punch to the Equestrian man's face, making everyone gasp. The few troopers that were around had their attention grabbed, starting to move towards the possible fight.
"Alright, that's how it's going to be? So be it!"
Brash Bolt punched the man back before tackling him to the ground. He bare-knuckled boxed him in the face before the human man pushed him off, now rolling around with him as the two of them tried to wrestle and pin each other down. Everyone winced and cringed from how hard the punches were being thrown, seeing the blood starting to come from the fight.
"Hey, hey, stop it!" A woman came forward, a Quarren one at that, tried to get closer but a Midnight Trooper stopped her from going foward. "Sir, they're going to--"
"--We'll take care of it, you and everyone else stay out of harm's way," the trooper responded. "Just go about your business."
Not antagonizing the troopers, the woman did as she was told and stayed back, quietly watching the fight continue to unfold. Not surprisingly the fight continued to escalate, as the human got the upper hand and started wailing on the Equestrian relentlessly. He punched him harder and harder, his fists becoming more bloody with every punch.
"Being a part of the Empire will make our home better than it ever was!" Bombate screamed.
"And wh... wa..if th... what if they... re... reb.. bel?" Brash was starting to lose consciousness over how hard his former friend was beating up on him.
"Then the Empire will help control the impure! That's why they're here, to help us become a better world, to make this planet great again! It's why the Empire is BETTER! THAN! YOUR! STUPID! REPUBLIC!" He emphasized his violent nature with each punch he added, now starting to bring the life out of his friend.
When he finally stopped, he felt his heart pounding against his chest. Looking down his hands were covered in blood. His friend laid on the ground, skull no longer staying intact from the blows. Ringing filled his ears as he finally started to realize the gravity of what he had done. Everyone around him looked at him with fear, standing far away as possible. Turning ahead, he saw a few Midnight Troopers starting to box him in, and an officer speaking to another captain. The officer gave a nod and turned towards him.
"... S-Sir, I didn't--"
"--I'll ask the questions, young man," the officer spoke. "Your acts will not be easy to forget today. But my soldiers heard you, fighting back against someone who was very much anti-Imperial protesting, am I right?"
"... W-Well--"
"--Am. I. Right?"
"Y-Yes sir. He was... he said you were monsters. I keep trying to tell him, and... he's not going to respect you now," Bombate struggled to talk clearly.
"Hmm," the officer said, not caring about the dead body in front of him. "Sadly a price to be paid for fishing out the dissenters. But I believe you could be beneficial here for the Empire; no one will speak out against you now if your strength helps us. Work as a volunteer perhaps?"
"I... Y-Yes, of course! I would love to!"
"Good, you start tomorrow at 6. Get cleaned up, and troopers, I want this mess cleaned up as well," the officer ordered.
Walking away, the officer and the Midnight captain spoke to each other as soon as they were far away. Not that any of them noticed, but there was an additional set of ears listening in on them. "Are you sure we should let him stay?"
"He's unstable but strong. If he can instill fear to keep them in line, there may be some use for him until he runs out of it," the officer stated. "We'll make it clear we're here to stay. There is no resisting us, and to just embrace. In the meantime, make sure the public is fully aware of the PORD, we've recently got the transmission and we need to spread the news."
"Yes sir," the captain replied before setting off in his own direction.
As soon as both of them were gone, the Quarren woman who had moved far away got up from her table before slapping a credit down to pay for her meal. Quickly running as fast as possible, she moved down several alleyway spaces to find a spot far enough from the Empire's eyes.
It took a few more turns but eventually she found a spot where no one would see her and she could speak in peace. She moved to another alleyway, far from the Imperial eyes, rolling her eyes in disgust at the actions she saw. Once she saw she was alone, she reached for her side and pulled out a closed circuit hologram communicator, one she made in her off-time.
"Bullet Bill, come in. Come in, Bullet Bill."
Through the other end of the device, an image came through. An Equestrian Rebel with a long trenchcoat and wide-brimed hat dressing him, while his mustache, beard, and ammo bandolier were very prominent.
"Toz, I hear ya partner," the cowboy replied, lifting the brim of his hat up so his eyes could meet hers. "What in tarnation is goin' on down there?"
"I need help to get out of here, it's... it's bad. The Empire's just going to keep pouring down here, and i just watched a man beat another to a pulp, and the Empire did nothing. If that was me, I... I can't stay here, please, I need help."
"Now don't you worry a thing, little lady," the man replied. "Come down to the station, and I'll be there to get you. We'll go straight back home, I promise. I'll round up the others, let them know we're gettin the kriff outta Dodge."
"Okay, thank you, Bullet. I... I really appreciate it," the Quarren woman finished with a warm smile.
Yavin IV
After dispatching Lyra's crew to do their job, Sunset came back to the waiting room where the others were sitting, having waited quite a while for their assignments.
"I am so sorry everyone, I don't mean to keep you waiting any longer, we're going to try and finish this and then you can get going, sound good?"
Everyone gave some resounding nods, not having any disputes over it.
"Okay, great. So, lemme just double check, told Zorii she's got Y-Wing repair, Bon Bon's in the workshop, okay. So, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, I need you three--"
"--General Shimmer, can we please speak with you?"
Sunset's eye twitched. "General Dodonna, can this wait? I'm still giving out assignments..." she grit her teeth with every syllable.
"General this is important, just need two minutes of your time."
Sunset tried her best not to get angry, her face turning redder by the second. "Give me two minutes, sorry!" And marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
--
In one of the monitoring rooms, General Dodonna stood, waiting patiently for Sunset to arrive, along with another individual who wanted to speak up. Finally, Sunset came through the doors, her boots marching loudly like an elephant from Equestria.
"Alright, I'm here, what is it?" Sunset asked, growing impatient.
"Battletrap has something he needs to show you," Dodonna gestured to the Equestrian wearing clone-commando armor, though with much more bulk and armored plating added than necessary. He stood there, holding a tablet device with a concerned face.
"What is it?" Sunset asked.
The commando before her passed her the tablet device he had on his person, showcasing the local news. A lot of tabloids, local wanted ads, but the biggest headliner was in the main center of the article. Sunset's eyes moved across the article as she read, quietly reading aloud.
"As of today, the PORD act has been enabled... anyone found harboring Rebel activity will be charged, possible subject to... execution!? ... Any criminal act, with even indirect effect on the Empire, will henceforth be branded a Class One Offense. All prison sentences are immediately re-evaluated. All outstanding fines and levies are to be paid in full..." Sunset's face turned white. "I-I don't understand, when did this happen?"
"Toz and Bullet Bill sent this to me," Battletrap replied. "Ever since we've started to gain popularity, the Empire wanted to bite us back for it. If we weren't careful before, we'll need to be now."
"I... okay," Sunset said, unsure of what even to say. "Thank you, Battletrap. You're free to go back to your business."
"Thank you, General."
With that news now taken in, Sunset had to stop for a second. She wanted to speak with Dodonna but instead, just looked at him for a few seconds and walked away. She made it into the halls, thankfully where he was out of sight and planted her back against the wall, eyes closed shut as she tried to steady her breathing. She didn't want to show it in there, but reading all of that made her heart start to race harder than ever before. She hadn't experienced this level of stress in a long time. Now she had read plenty of Imperial's fearmongering works before, something she had grown used to. But a new law in place that was going to hurt everyone she knew and loved on a wide-spread scale was... something else.
"... enral? ... boss? Boss!!"
Sunset snapped out of it, confronted by a face of a concerned officer who was walking by. "Are you okay?"
It took a solid minute to come up with a response before pushing herself forward. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine Masha, thank you. I... I'm just gonna... yeah," stammering without another word, leaving a worried officer watching her leave.
--
Sunset came back to the room, albeit more quiet this time. She took a moment to take a deep breath and calm down, not wanting to panic in front of friends and allies.
"S-So," Sunset choked. "Assignments, right, so we--"
"--Sunset, are you okay?" Pinkie asked, frowning. "I can hear your heart racing."
"I-I, wha--no, no, I'm fine," Sunset denied. "L-Let's just--"
"Sunset, I'm hearing your heart as well, what happened?" Rarity asked.
"I'm fine!"
Sunset had to stop herself. What was she doing? Snapping at her friends, that wasn't professional, nor was it needed. They were only concerned, they didn't deserve to be yelled at. All of them were taken back, that didn't seem like someone who was okay.
"C... Can we please just finish this so we can get to our jobs?" Sunset asked, very lowly. Everyone quickly nodded. And like a light fixture, a smile quickly turned back on. "Great! So, Zorii, ship duty. Bon Bon, droid assembly. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, I need you check in with Dexter and the other chefs in the kitchen, make sure we've got enough grocerries to feed the army for a few more months. If need be, head to the shopping centers on Batuu or neighboring systems to grab some more supply. And if there are enough people there, then some of you can go help the Wonderbolts fix up some X-Wings."
"Sounds good to me," Rainbow agreed.
"Great. Applejack and Rarity, I need you two to do a quick inventory check of uniforms, I know it's not glamorous, but any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. And Rarity?"
The former fashionista lowered in her seat, ready to get yelled at again.
"If you have any ideas for uniforms for other environments or ways to improve them, I'm open to hearing them, and you can help make some new designs for us."
And Rarity's eyes lit up like diamonds. "I thought you'd never ask!"
"Commander Hurricane, I have an assignment provided by one of our strategists, Omega, she says she wants to talk to you and wants your help with target practice," Sunset continued. "Derpy, Baker's Trio, I... I'll admit, I haven't thought of anything to give you four yet. Oh, wait. Derpy, you made a request for armor changes?"
"Well, um, I wanted to see the armory and see if maybe we can customize our suits? I-I mean, we're not in the Republic anymore, right?"
"Well... I don't see why not, sure. You four can go to the armory, try on anything you want. Ocellus, I know you told me you wanted to do an assignment with the rest of your team, meet me in half an hour and we can talk. Sound good?"
No more complaints were given.
"Alright, you're free to go, and I've got to bash my head--ahhga, I mean, um d-do my work. Work, right, sorry, just... just get to work," and she rushed out of the room.
"Okay, I'm getting a little worried about her. Has she always been this stressed?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's hard to tell. When Applejack and I got here, she was really happy. But lately, it seems like Sunset's just not... Sunset."
"We're gonna have to talk to her sometime, she doesn't seem okay. Though I suppose maybe we should focus on our assignments for the time being?"
"Fine by me!" Pinkie chirped. Everyone got up out of their chairs--and very quickly stepped out of the way to let Hurricane pass first. The clone commander looked at them and sighed softly before grabbing his helmet and leaving the room.
"Do you think we were too hostile when they came here?"
Opening the doors, the clones and Derpy looked in awe at what beheld them. Rows of various pieces of armor were all around them; from the current to older. Armors from clones, the Storm Troopers, and even a few blank templates of the current Midnight Troopers were all around. Even pieces from rogue hunters that were left behind or taken from kills or bought off; either way, there was so much room for customization for the group now.
"So, where do we start?" Mix asked, clapping his hands together.
The group got to work, trying out various pieces of armors and clothes to see what fit them. Derpy felt a little bashful stripping off the armor from her spandex-clad body, but thankfully the boys were kind enough to look away as she tried on some of the pieces.
Stepping out of one of the rooms, she came back with some new additions to her armor. An range-finder piece equipped to the side of the helmet, a pauldron hanging off one of her shoulders, and a kama that had seen some better days; but still blue to match her armor. She did a cute little twirl, making the kama swish like a skirt just happy to find her armor now complete with what she wanted.
Mix, now wearing pants and a kama matching a Phase II desert trooper, kept trying to yank up one of the armored boots over his foot but couldn't get it through, trying not to lose his balance. Without another hand, he wound up slamming into a shelf which came flying down on top of him, all the helmets and shelving slamming on top of him. Groaning from the pain he looked up, and caught sight of one helmet that stared back at him; a blank, white, shoretrooper class helmet. He lit up seeing it, not even worried about the possible damage to his body.
Vargas adjusted a cloak through the gaps of his armor, creating a poncho out of it as it hung off his back and attached through the few straps connected to his belt. In addition, he found himself wearing a different set of pants; standard military, more comfortable and less chafing than the armor, and allowing for more flexibility. And to the side, he saw a helmet that fit him perfectly; a tech specialist helmet with a flip-down visor for long-range scanning and language translation.
Bubbles during all of this found pieces of outdated Phase I ARC trooper armor; and with the help of Derpy, he managed to get the new pieces onto his body without difficulty. Pauldrons on both shoulders, black kama with holsters, and a newly applied Phoenix Squadron style logo blazed onto the armor as an insignia for his alliance with the Rebels.
Not too long after, all four of them were painting their new helmets; each of them carrying the same blue markings as their battalion's colors. Bubbles still kept his famous bubble marks on one side, but applied a Rebel graphic on the blank side where paint had not been applied.
All four of them stepped out of the armory, where some of the Jedi were awaiting to speak with them, and were taken aback by the new changes in armors, each of them standing more proud and excited than they were when they arrived.
Half an hour later, Sunset met with Ocellus and the members of Team Six outside of one of the monitor rooms, walking with them. "So, what did you want to propose?"
“Well, um. I was wondering if maybe I, along with my crew, we could maaaaaaaybe conduct a supply run? There's a ship-breaking yard in the Mid-Rim territories that used to break down thousands of ships from all eras. The last time I worked there, they still had plenty of munitions and supply left over; strong enough for full-frontal assault."
"Hmm... Well, I suppose since you and the others don't have any current assignments, that would be fine by me. How much crew do you need for something like this?" Sunset asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Hopefully not a lot, buuut I was thinking maybe... the six of us, a few officers, pilots, mechanics, some astromech units, and any other assistance. We also need to borrow the old Consular-class cruiser, and if it's okay with Bon Bon, we'd like to borrow G-G for a few days."
Sunset rubbed her chin. "Well... I suppose that wouldn't be too much of a problem. Although I wish to make a request."
"What's that?"
"Take Derpy and the Baker's Trio with you. If this shipyards has any Republic tech, they will know how to handle it. Consider them as... advisors," Sunset thought. "Sound fair?"
"Sure!"
"Perfect. I'll go let the crews know to have that ship prepped for you, and you can go ask Bon Bon if she's willing to let her friend go with you." Sunset walked briskly away to get that information to the people who needed it.
Yona just looked at Sunset leaving with a deadpan face. "Why does Yona think general just wants to dump scary clones on us so she doesn't have to deal with them?"
"It's not a problem, we could use the older eyes," Sandbar said with some hope.
"Well, if we're gonna get going, we better talk to Bon Bon first," Gallus urged, getting the group to follow.
--
In the workshop, Bon Bon was hard at working, head covered by her helmet as she worked on refurbishing another astromech unit for repair. A few more screws and bolts put back into place, and the head was finally adjusted.
"Alright, Leefive, you should be good to go," Bon Bon patted her dome.
"Bwoop boop," came from the appreciative R6-LE5 who rolled out of the shop and back outside to the tarmacs so she could get back to work. Passing by was none other than G-G, holding a small tray with a snack for Bon Bon. She had been hard at work, and the astromech always knew when she needed a break.
"Oh, thank you buddy," Bon Bon cooed, accepting the drink and snack. She gave G-G a friendly pat on his head. "I really appreciate this."
"Bwoop boop," G-G answered. "Brrrt brrrt bep bop."
Just then, Team Six came into the workshop, meeting a very greasy, sweaty, Bon Bon sitting on a bench enjoying some water, and a small assortment of salted nuts.
"Heyyyyy, Bon Bon," Sandbar started, almost uneasy. "Would you uhhh, be okay if we asked for something?"
"That depends, what do you need?" Bon Bon looked back at the former Midnight Trooper.
"Well, it... can we borrow G-G for a few days?"
"Bwoop oop?" G-G blanked.
"Why do you need him?"
Sandbar froze. "Well, it's... um..."
"RG-G1 is tough astromech," Yona emphasized by clapping her cloven palms together. "Tough astromech is friend, and Team Six need additional help if mission goes sideways."
"Hmm..." Bon Bon thought. "Well, I suppose you can take him along, if, and I mean only if he wants to come with," she said, looking back to the astromech.
The R4 unit looked side to side, thinking for a second. Then after a moment or two, he shook side to side with an excited array of beeps and binary tones, making clear he was happy to come along with the crew.
Derpy and the Baker's Trio were given the orders to go tag along with Team Six. Luckily they did not waste any time, and quickly packed whatever they thought they needed for the trip; weapons, ammo, and whatever snacks they could bring with. Everyone followed the group to a tarmac farther from the temple, where a massive consular ship was parked. The ship had been salvaged from an old junkyard, once a proud fighter in the old war with the Republic and the Storm Empire. The red paint was no longer vibrant, but faded with time.
On board, a skeleton crew of minimum capacity manned every station required, with an additional set of at least of 20 more passengers; consisting of pilots, medics, engineers, soldiers, and droids for emergency situations. Team Six, along with the Baker's Trio made it on board, everyone taking seats as the ship prepared for liftoff.
"Where to, Captain?" The head pilot asked.
"Bracca," Sandbar answered.
"You got it. Yavin IV this is Krayt's Head, setting course for Bracca."
"Roger Krayt's Head, you are cleared for liftoff, good luck out there," the tower crews replied.
The ship took off into the upper atmosphere, watched by a lone clone trooper, face still scraggly with a full head of long hair, mustache and beard. He watched as the crew left, before turning around to go talk to this 'Omega' person who so wanted to speak with him. All the while, Rainbow, who was helping push some more food crates onto a cart to be unloaded, watched him step back inside.
She still hated seeing him around. Bad enough it was clones, but Hurricane? Even if he had survived the war, the mere fact that he was back; that she had to share a base, let alone a planet, with him... Rainbow Dash grimaced, feeling her stomach clench. Her head ached for a moment, and she wanted to snarl at the sheer injustice of it all. But no. She couldn't give into anger. The Clone Wars had ended with the Empire's rise, but Rainbow Dash was still a Jedi. She would not give in to those feelings. She turned away from the sight of the clone, and focused on loading more food crates onto the cart. She carefully kept her eyes lowered, determined to avoid meeting his or anyone else's gaze.
Pulling out of hyperspace, the Sweetie Drop reduced speed as it made way to the atmosphere to the Agamar system. Punching through clouds, the freighter found itself flying above a barren, rocky planet that seemed almost desolate. No signs of life of any kind except for the structures a few miles ahead of them. A massive CIS supply vessel laid dormant in the wastelands, near multiple Quonset buildings, aligned as if they were a small community. All of which lay to one side of a structure, equal parts fortress and hangar, still standing after all these years.
Finding a spot to land, the ship gently set on the ground with a ramp out, allowing the flesh and blood Rebels to leave first.
“Well, here we are. Agamar,” Adagio declared, stepping out of the ship first.
“Another dustbowl of a planet in the Outer Rim,” Lyra said, following suit.
Captain Rex and Flurry Heart were the last to follow, with Cheep and IG-11 about to follow behind.
“Stay with the ship, guys. We might need to alert Yavin in case of an emergency, and we don’t know if there’s anyone here who wants to blow up our only ride home. If we don’t come back or respond in the next half hour, hour or so, contact home and send a distress signal.”
“Chirp chirp chirp churp!” Cheep saluted.
The assassin droid and astromech went back inside, allowing the group to go forward. To their surprise, the place looked like there was someone, or at least, a couple of people who had lived here. A few buildings were intact, despite their old structure. Speederbikes and landspeeders were parked on sidings, a few empty crates about.
Flurry’s eyes shifted around, not moving her head to alert any possible strangers.
“Mom. I’m getting a feeling we’re not alone,” Flurry said, quietly whispering.
“I sense it too. Something about this place doesn’t feel empty,” Lyra agreed, looking around.
Passing by a few more of the smaller dwellings, the group walked inside the massive hangar. Inside was just as rundown as the runway and other remaining barracks/buildings. Parts and boxes laid strewn about, there were a few droid parts in pieces all around. It was just an all-around mess.
“Sheesh. Look at this place,” Flurry said, stepping inside, her voice softly echoing. “The Clone Wars must have been really hectic.”
“Hectic isn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe it,” Lyra said, rather seriously. “Now then, trooper. I don’t suppose you know anything about Agamar, or what this place was?”
“As far as I know, there was a battle here during the Clone War. Not that I participated in it, but that is the extent of my knowledge,” Rex answered.
Flurry felt her leg bump into something. Looking down, she saw a tan droid head on the ground, curved in shape. “Whoa. Is this an original battle droid head?”
“Huh?” Rex looked back. “Oh, yeah that is. A piece of the original class, anyway.”
“So that would make the commando droids we have on the Sweetie Drop…?”
“Upgraded soldiers for later in the war,” Rex finished. “But for an outpost like this, the place would be crawling with those droids. We called them clankers.”
Flurry giggled. “Clankers. So how many do you think you blasted?”
“I don’t know. Hundreds, thousands. Maybe tens of thousands. I never did count, unlike some of the boys,” Rex admitted. His head darted around the hangar, looking closely for something, anything that stood out.
Flurry stopped momentarily in their walk, noticing something long and triangular sticking out from behind one of the cargo crates. But she was too far away to get a good look, not that it mattered since her crew was walking away from her. But she did get a good view at what was up at the ceiling. She couldn’t make it out, but she swore she saw what looked like massive droids hung from the ceiling.
“Personally, I can see why some of your fellow brothers counted them. Earn the right to brag and boast, flaunt your success over others,” Adagio purred. “It makes good competition for war, after all, you need to find a way to have some fun, otherwise you’d break.”
“Now where exactly is this soldier who called us?”
Suddenly they heard the sounds of doors sliding open. The doors in front of them, leading to a deeper corridor of the abandoned base revealed a figure inside. Stepping out of the darkness was a white boot, connected to a white suit. Padded armor underneath a black spandex suit, the uniform of the Clone Army. A simple helmet attached to his head, with soft green stripes across the arms and the helmet. But something was off with how stiffly this trooper moved...
“I have a bad feeling about this…” Rex muttered.
“Captain! I was afraid you would never come. I’ve sent the signal for weeks, I was afraid no one ever get here.”
The group froze in place.
“So… what’s your name, trooper?”
“My… name?” He said, confused. “Right, right, it is… um. CT… 55… 97.”
“That was Jesse’s number, trooper. What is your real name?” Rex ordered.
“Sorry Captain, my real name is… um…”
Adagio rolled her eyes, but she felt something tingle down her spine. She turned her head, eyes moving all around, feeling a sense of unease. Some small noises echoed inside this abandoned outpost, but something inside gave her the feeling she wasn’t alone just like Flurry Heart felt.
“Why don’t we just go deeper inside, trooper. You have other comrades who are alive, correct?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then how about you show us then… trooper?” Lyra emphasized, stepping forward, making the trooper step back.
“Roger roger.”
Rex didn’t hesitate, he pulled out his pistol and shot the trooper in the helmet, killing him instantly. Flurry Heart let out a panicked scream, horrified by the fact the captain shot one of his own men.
“Rex!? What the hell!?” Flurry panicked.
“Relax…” Rex nonchalantly said, squatting down to the trooper. He pulled the helmet off, revealing not skin, but fried circuitry of a black commando droid. “Just as I thought; commando droid. Used the same tactics on me and Cody down on the Rishi outpost a long time ago.”
“Commando droids?” Lyra intrigued. “Wait. Rex, if they did this before, what followed after that?”
“Well, it was followed by an ambush, and if that was just one… Oh no.”
Everyone came to the same conclusion, just based on how quickly everyone stood together, all of them facing their backs against each others, holding up their weapons. Clicking and metal noises echoed throughout the hangar, sending shivers down everyone’s spines.
“Stand your ground. If there’s possibly more still online, we need to be—agh!!”
A stunning blast hit Lyra’s body and she fell to the ground. Another one zapped Adagio, and she too fell to the floor. The last shots hit Rex and Flurry who all dropped to the ground. Rex was getting near to passing out, and he swore he heard someone talking…
“I can’t believe that worked! We never captured anyone in years!”
“We haven’t captured anyone in forever…”
And in seconds, Rex’s vision went to black as the stun blast worked over his entire body, along with the others.
Flurry’s eyes slowly opened up, wincing at the bright light that flashed in the room. She tried to block it with her hand, but she couldn’t. She felt something hold her arm down, not allowing her to move. And when she looked behind her, she saw her wrists were held in place by magnetic cuffs, and so were her feet. Bound in cuffs, on her knees with no means of getting out so easily.
“No, no, no, come on,” Flurry struggled, trying to get her arms out. “I gotta get out of here, I gotta—”
“Flurry, calm down!”
Flurry looked next to her, Lyra was locked into a similar position as her. Hands and legs shackled so they wouldn't be moving.
“Mom, we gotta get out of here," Flurry panicked.
“Stay calm, kiddo, we’re going to be okay,” Lyra reassured in a calm tone.
“How can you stay calm about that!?”
“I’ve been detained before,” Lyra replied, looking back at her hands locked behind her. “This isn’t new to me.”
“But we’re still not on the bright side of this situation,” Rex groaned, sitting next to Flurry. He however had his hands locked forward, and his legs left free.
“Definitely not new for me,” another voice hissed from next to Lyra. Flurry looked over and saw Adagio Dazzle was also held in place, just like the rest. “I’ve been on both sides of this situation; the best thing to do is play along.”
“Relax, we’ll get out eventually. Just be a little bit,” Lyra said.
“I’ve been awake for an hour now, and we’re not getting out so easily. Do you not even realize who’s holding us?” Adagio asked.
“No. Who?”
Adagio glared over to the doors, snarling at the skinny, metallic warriors who stood guard. A curved head, similar to those tan battle droids she destroyed when she turned rogue, only this one looked much more advanced.
“Wait a minute, commando droids, how are they still online?” Lyra asked, squinting.
“Mom, we brought our commandos with us, right?” Flurry asked.
“Those aren’t ours...”
“Not just them, Jedi,” Adagio warned, looking at another figure who was approaching them. Someone rose up from a command chair in the middle of the room, looking much more buff than the commando droids, and the regular looking battle droids. A super tactician droid, with dark green paint and faded yellow streaks. And as it turned around, its face revealed two red eyes with a middle eye looking piece. It stomped towards them, and finally halted.
The droid looked left to right, looking down at the prisoners that were locked up tight. His legs creaked as he leaned forward, looking at Flurry Heart.
“Uhhh, heyyy??” Flurry tittered.
The tactical droid said nothing, just observing her. His hand moved up with more loud creaks and winces, which only made Lyra mad.
“I swear if you hurt my little girl, I will melt you down and make sure your type can never be built again!” Lyra threatened, trying to fight her wrist locks.
The tacticial droid however didn’t touch or grasp at Flurry’s face, thank goodness. But instead, took a few steps backwards and paced in front of them.
The tactical droid paced back and forth in front of the prisoners, his joints wincing with every movement he made. “Near the end of the Clone Wars, designated Separatist droids significantly outnumbered Republic units.” And as he paced, he looked at Captain Rex’s repainted Phase I helmet which he clutched in his hand. “By my calculations, our probability of being defeated was only 23.6%.”
“Who are you, anyway?” Lyra asked.
“I am General Kalani,” the super tactical droid introduced.
“Great. Just what we need right now,” Rex groaned.
“Is that bad?” Flurry asked.
“Extremely. This tactical droid’s extremely intelligent,” Rex shook his head, then turned his attention to Kalani. “After Clone Order 66, all of the droids were given a shutdown command. How are you even operating?”
“The Jedi betrayal ended the war for most of the galaxy. Word of the Storm King's defeat reached us, but here on Agamar, I assumed it was a Republic trick and so I prevented the shutdown command,” the general replied in his usual monotone voice.
“You’re the one who sent out that clone distress signal, aren't you?” Lyra glared.
“Correct, Jedi. By sending that signal I knew your units would have to come to save your allies. But I did not calculate the visit would come until after seventeen years, nor did I anticipate only one clone to arrive,” Kalani observed, getting a glare from Rex.
The captain struggled to move his wrists, trying to break free from his restraints. “Well it doesn’t matter how you did it, and it certainly doesn’t matter if you were trying to spring a trap or not, the war is over! Now let us go!”
“Negative, Captain,” Kalani disagreed. “I calculate that this will be my only opportunity to end the Clone Wars as I planned, with a victory for the Storm Army.”
Captain Rex was appalled. “What do you want us to do? Surrender?”
“On the contrary, you have already lost,” Kalani said, this time with a bit more aggression in his voice.
“No, we haven’t,” Adagio spat. “You think Rex is the only clone trooper left? You clearly need a reality check.”
All of the battle droids turned their attention to Adagio, including the tactical droid who slowly stomped towards her. “Explain.”
“I’m saying, there are more clones than you think, and you clearly are out of touch with the reality you walking scrap pile,” Adagio sneered.
“If there are more clones, then they will need to come and perform a rescue. Now we can have a real battle,” Kalani concluded, walking away from Adagio to pick up a blaster.
“Battle? What are you talking about?” Lyra asked, a little scared by what he was saying.
The general stopped, and turned around to face them again, hands behind his back.
“I originally wanted you to fight, to prove whose tactical strategies were effective in battle. But now that I know more clones remain alive, we can have a complete set of components to make this last battle,” Kalani said, starting to walk out of the room. “Unit CD-546 and CD-547, make sure they do not escape. I must make contact with their forces. Their ship will be sufficient enough to send a signal.”
The two commando units nodded before standing in front of the containment fields, letting the general leave the room. Realizing what they needed to do, the group struggled with their restraints as hard as they could, trying to break free. Rex however had an idea. His legs were free, and he could still move his wrists, slightly. If he could just disarm the droids, he could have a chance...
Realizing what he had in mind, the group remained silent as the captain slowly got up, trying to avoid making a sound to alert the commando units. Adagio made a move as well, reaching for the tops of her boots. Her wrists were locked, but she could still reach her hidden knives. Pulling one out, she slid it behind her, creating a scraping sound. Rex quickly got back down on the floor as the commandos looked behind them.
"Do not make any sudden moves, clone," the commando threatened. "It will be better for everyone if you stay still."
"Sorry, one of my legs ached," Rex stalled, moving his legs into a crossed pose. "Just needed to stretch for a brief moment."
Not finding any other reason to watch, the two commandos turned forward again. Moving behind him, Rex grabbed the vibro-blade that Adagio had slide and stood up again. Taking his chance he kicked the back of one of the commandos and stabbed the other one with the blade into the main power source.
The other commando who was kicked went back up and fired a few shots at Rex, forcing him to dodge behind Kalani's chair. Luckily he saw the weapons had been placed there, kept out of their sight. Grabbing a blaster, he got back up and fired two shots into the commando's head, finishing him for good.
Quickly running back, he fired at each of the Force-users cuffs, freeing them all one by one. Lyra and Flurry got their lightsabers back, while Adagio grabbed her extra set of blasters.
"They'll probably send a couple of others up here to check on them," Rex thought. "We should get going as fast as possible."
"Agreed," Lyra concurred. "And if they're going to call any others, we need to stop that tactical droid before he does. Now let's move--"
"--Wait, hold on," Rex stopped. "Kalani is a war machine, built for tactical strategy. There's no way he wouldn't predict this," the captain thought. "Leaving us guarded by two commandos and leaving me an easy chance... he wants us to escape."
"Okay but why?" Flurry asked.
"He's had this planned for a long time. He wants to win, that's what he's programmed to do. The only way we'll stop him is if go against what he'd plan for us."
Lyra would have rolled her eyes or groaned, but she didn't. While she had problems with the clones, she still knew how great they were in the field and wasn't going to question Rex's intellect or wisdom.
"So, how do we counter that?"
"We split up, throw off his game. He'll have to divide his forces, he can't send them all at once if we're split," Rex suggested.
"As much as I love throwing off their strategy, we can't. We don't know the layout of this structure," Lyra pointed. "We're gonna have to just fight as hard as we can and find a way to break off his strategy when we know how much he has against us."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Adagio nodded, priming her stolen blaster.
"Then let's get a move on," Lyra ordered.
All four of them ran out through the doors and entered the hallway. Not surprisingly, there was a large group of battle droids there, waiting for them.
"Blast them!"
Lyra and Flurry pulled out their sabers, blocking their attacks while Adagio and Rex took cover behind openings in the walls. Both of them peaked their heads from the cover before consistently swiping out and in, taking potshots at the battle droids.
"Been a while since I've fought clankers!" Rex shouted over the fire.
"Miss fighting them, trooper?"
"Can't say I'm against it!" Rex bantered, taking out two more coming their way.
Flurry blocked another attack, deflecting the blaster bolts away from the group and towards the ceiling. One of the bolts came back and hit the droid's head, dropping one. Taking her chance, Flurry yanked the blaster out of another's hand before slicing the head off with perfect precision. Adagio's eyes locked on target, taking out all of them with head shots through very short but well-timed bursts of laser. She smirked when she watched the last one fall, crying out in agony.
Taking their chance to keep moving, they heard the sound of marching towards them, coming across a new wave of battle droids; B2s. Heavily armored, with blasters locked into their arms. All of them unlocked a single arm and aimed them at the squad, forcing them to take action again.
The super tactical droid had made his way far from the top to the ground of the hangar. He along with a handful of droids were marching towards the Sweetie Drop, traversing through the little shanty-town that surrounded him with a few battle droids behind him. Raising a finger to his head, he tapped into a comms to speak.
"We have Jedi intruders," he spoke.
"Don't let anyone leave, but don't destroy their ship," a voice spoke on the other end. "I want to see who invited themselves here."
"Understood," Kalani answered.
--
The others soon enough found their way to the ground, running out of an elevator that still functioned back to more hallways. The sound of metal rolling across the floor made their heads turn in all directions, looking for the sources. Not long enough did three droids rolling across the ground appear, all unfolding into curved droids with bubble shields to protect themselves.
Quickly running, the group ran from the blasts, deflecting them back at the droids as best as possible. Taking their chance, the droidekas rolled after them, catching up fast.
"Flurry, get ready!" Lyra warned.
Flurry waited until one of them got closer, just a little closer and--
SHUNK!
Flurry's lightsaber emitted and slashed through the rolling droideka, with Lyra slashing apart the second one. The last one stopped rolling, unfolding itself back and resuming fire to the group. Lyra and Flurry continued to block the attacks, while Rex and Adagio charged forward. Taking their chance, Lyra and Flurry grabbed some nearby debris, throwing it at the droideka to force it to charge, bouncing it off the shield. Taking the bait, the droideka started to roll again until Lyra and Flurry, working together, stopped the droid mid-roll and crushed the droid to prevent it from continuing.
Rejoining the group, they made their way back through the hangar, only to be greeted by a wave of battle droids marching towards them. Most of them were marching per usual fashion, but some of them were wobbling, acting very stiff as they marched to their imminent destruction.
"Fire, fire!"
The group scattered to evade being mowed down by the onslaught of blaster fire, with Lyra and Flurry being the only ones standing to deflect the shots. They hit back against a few droids, but there were still plenty coming. Thankfully Rex and Adagio had other ideas. Looking to the sides, they found some crates that hadn't been moved, either intentionally or by accident, it didn't matter. Inside were plenty of leftover droid poppers that had long been stolen by a retired clone company.
Taking the poppers, Rex threw a couple of them overhead, past Lyra and Flurry as they got to a few droids, zapping a few of them. Adagio however upped the ante by taking a whole arsenal of them through the Force, and flung them forward at the droid, making them all look down. Several loud beeps were emitting at once, and it took them completely by surprise as a wave of electricity wiped the droids out, zapping them all to the ground.
"Nice shots you two," Lyra complimented, looking forward. "Keep an eye out for any more waves, usually they keep on coming..."
But to their surprise, there weren't any more waves.
"... or they don't," Lyra thought. "This seems unorthodox. They keep sending them, wave after wave until they mowed us down. Why did they stop?"
"What if that's what they want?" Rex inquired. "Kalani has had a long time to think about this, he probably thought about every possibility that would come if he sent in waves. And by the looks of things," he surveyed the hangar they stood in. "He cannot waste every resource he has on us. He has to play it smart."
"Smart or otherwise, he's only getting closer to stealing your ship," Adagio interrupted. "Which means, time is gone standing here."
"Right. Come on, let's move!"
All of them set off on the run, except for Flurry Heart. She paced forward to look at the battle droids, picking one of them up. It was steaming from the zap, sure, but something else she noticed caught her eye. The joints on the arms and the legs looked rusted, not enough oil or any oil at all kept them moving. How long had they been on this planet?
She was about to focus back on running with her family, when she heard something through the Force. Her eyes looked up and gazed at one of the dwellings on her left outside the hangar. To her surprise, she saw a little girl, a decade younger than her, held close by her father. Both of them looked at her afraid, stepping back as they saw her. Flurry didn't understand at first, until they saw her lightsaber. And then she looked at the droids that she and the others destroyed. Confusion washed away into realization as an epiphany reached her brain.
Quickly assessing to herself, she paced for a moment, trying to think. What could she do, what could she do? Her mom and Rex had history with these droids, old wounds that scabbed over and never healed. But this fighting? The Empire was the real threat, they couldn't just fight here against a foe that had... wait. Battle droids.
She looked back up, and looked back at the droids. The biggest smile crept on her face as she had an idea.
Kalani and a small legion of battle droids were getting closer to the ship, ready to board it and send out a signal to bring others like Rex and the Jedi down. If there was still more out there, then they would make a complete set of components for their challenge. Unfortunately they did not anticipate a walking assassin droid coming down the hatch as stiff as always, facing the battle droids.
“Stay right where you are,” the assassin droid bellowed, stepping out of the ship.
“Who are you?” Kalani asked.
“I am IG-11. I am the Heartstring family’s nurse droid, and remand that you stay right were you are,” IG-11 ordered, standing still.
"Stay in formation, assassin droids have a 76% success rate of termination and attack," Kalani ordered.
“What can he do? He’s just a skinny assassin,” one of the battle droids mocked.
But IG-11 heard that, and he started taking a few steps forward. “Are you refusing my request?”
The battle droids weren’t intimidated. “Get out of the way, tin can!” He tried to push IG out of the way, but that was a bad decision. IG-11 grabbed his wrist, yanking it hard and ripping it off his body. “OW!”
And with his other hand, IG-11 grabbed the battle droid and slammed him against the ground, throwing him into the air and on the ground like a wrestler. The second battle droid was ready to open fire but IG-11 swung his claw around, ripping his head off and let his body fall onto the ground. And the last battle droid had just as much luck as the others, with IG-11 picking him up and slamming him against a rock, breaking him into a scrap pile.
Once they were all down, IG-11 turned his scopes back to Kalani and pulled out a blaster.
“I will not repeat myself. Stay where you are,” IG-11 stated.
“On the contrary, IG unit, you are outnumbered.”
From the confines the alleys surrounding the dwellings, a few rolling droidekas came out to join, unfolding as they stood next to the general, unfolding their weapons, ready to shoot on sight. Super battle droids ran out of a few dwellings, along with the regular B1 units who outnumbered the group.
“Hold it right there, Kalani!”
The droids turned their attention towards Lyra and the others who were running after them, finally caught up with them near the ship.
“You’re not calling anyone, Kalani. Because we’re not fighting,” Rex glared, keeping his pistols pointed at the tactician.
“I disagree, captain.”
The droidekas pointed their weapons at the group of four instead, ready to shoot. With tensions rising, everyone was ready to fire until--
“Wait, stop!” Flurry yelped, stepping in between the two. She kept her arms up to both Rex and Kalani, trying to ensure neither one of them fired on each other. She looked at them both, nervously trying to calm them down. “Look, ignoring Kalani’s pride, he doesn’t know what’s going on. He doesn’t even realize the Empire is out there.”
“I am well aware of the Empire’s existence, young Jedi.”
“Well I don’t think you realize how big they are,” Rex interjected, still keeping his fingers locked onto the trigger, ready to fire.
“Which is why we aren’t going anywhere.”
A new voice interrupted, making them all turn their heads. Stepping out of one of the buildings was a human figure, shrouded in dark green pants, a dark blue shirt covering long green sleeves, a poncho, and a mask that covered her entire head, stepped out from one of the dwellings. A blaster was visible in pouches, and her voice was distorted by the mask. Standing by her side were two men in coats and masks with heavy filters, distinguishable from one another.
“And I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere, either,” she said, pulling out her pistol and aiming it at them. Her two men also joined her, pulling their blasters out.
“Who are you?” Lyra asked this time.
“It won’t matter,” she glared from behind the mask.
But before she could pull the trigger, her blaster was yanked out of her hands and into Flurry’s, who then slapped it onto the ground.
“NO! No more fighting! We need to talk!” Flurry insisted.
The woman in mask stopped for a moment, looking at the teen curiously. “You’re a Jedi, aren’t you?”
“No! … Maybe. … a little. Does that really matter right now?” Flurry asked. “Look, um… what’s your name again?”
“I am Tawni Ames; representative of Agamar,” the woman answered.
“I don’t recall any representatives of Agamar. Isn’t this planet supposed to be desolate?” Adagio asked this time.
“It is home. And now you five have trespassed onto our home,” the woman clenched her fists.
“Tawni, wait,” Flurry still stepped up. “We don’t want to fight, we’re not here to steal; we just want to talk. Please… I’m begging you here.”
The confirmed governor looked at her battle droids, still waiting to attack if needed to. She looked at Kalani, who glanced back to her, processing his own internal thoughts on the matter. And back to the group; another Jedi, she could tell by the lightsaber. A clone trooper, cursed men as she believed. And a rather attractive but strange woman with long hair as well.
“We will put down our weapons, if you in turn will turn off yours,” Kalani said, breaking the silence.
Everyone was tense, looking at one another, waiting for someone to strike. Flurry, made the first move. She grabbed her lightsaber, and placed it down on the ground, gently, lifting her hands as a sign of friendly protest. Lyra wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but she followed as well, placing her lightsaber, and her blaster on the ground. Rex then placed his weapons on the ground too. Some of the B1 units lowered their blasters, letting them drop to the ground with a few thuds. Droidekas folded their arms, and so did the super battle droids. The two living men behind Tawni put their weapons away, wanting to follow suit. Last of all was Adagio, who took her knives and her blaster out, dropping them on the cracked domain.
“Speak, young Jedi,” the governor insisted, willing to give this a try despite all of her inner thoughts screaming ‘NO’.
"Not until you all sit," Flurry ordered. She ran back up the family's ship, making loud clattering inside as everyone awkwardly waited for her to come back. Chairs came sliding down the ramp for Lyra, Rex, Tawni, Adagio, and even Kalani along with a foldout table that was unfolded once it hit the ground. Adagio and Lyra looked at each other with questioning faces, as if to silently ask 'is she serious?'. Kalani and Tawni both silently looked to one another, just as confused by what was happening. Flurry only nudged her head to the seats, urging them to still take them. Deciding to humor her, one by one, they all took a seat, even if it was rather uncomfortable to be across from one another. Rex still glared at the tactical droid, even under the helmet.
"Okay, now that we're seated, can we talk?" Flurry asked, standing at the end of the table, looking at both her family and the Separatists. "Good. Look, I know you all think I'm just some kid, and maybe you don't want to hear me. But the way I see it, we're fighting over nothing here. We didn't know there were St..." Flurry had to correct herself for a moment. "Separatists, still here. And we certainly didn't know someone wanted to play one big war game," she looked to Kalani. "But we aren't here to cause problems, and now that we know there's people here... I think we should talk this out, and invite them to join us," Flurry said, looking to her teammates.
"Do you have any idea what they did--"
"--I will never know what it was like fighting in the Clone Wars, I know," Flurry interrupted, sternly but calmly. "I'm not trying to disrespect you Captain, but this isn't the Clone Wars anymore."
The teenager stopped for a moment to recollect her thoughts before speaking again. "The only reason we were able to push through all of those droids is because they're old. If they've been here for this long, no one is taking care of them. Kalani sent a signal to seek us out, yes, I know that. What if the Empire found them first? They would all be dead if we didn't show up first. Imagine how stronger the Separatists will be if they join us in unity."
Lyra was ready to say something snarky, but she stopped. She hesitated as she put her hand up, then set it back down, thinking that last statement over. While her family's unit of commando droids were no more, she had considered the idea a few times of having an army of the dead-named Storm Army units on their side to fight with them.
"We do not have interest in joining forces with the Jedi. Not after you ruined everything for us," Tawni sneered under her helmet.
"Big talk coming from the woman who represented a king who invaded our home," Lyra argued back.
"Ahem!" Flurry snapped, making them both jolt. Flurry took another deep breath, trying not to let any anger burst out. Her fists were clenched but she let go as she took another steady breath. "Okay. I guess I'm going to need to be a bit more blunt, aren't I?"
Throwing her head back and letting out a massive groan she looked at the seated adults with a mild smirk. "So here's the problem. Are you ready for this? You are all the most stupid people I've met in my life," Flurry grinned.
"You want to repeat that to me again, young lady?" Lyra warned.
"Oh I'm not sorry, Mom. And I'm going to keep talking. This, all of this right here... this is why the Empire wins. You keep wanting to push each other down, win this war, 'oh they did this,' or 'they did that', it doesn't matter who started it!" Flurry slammed her hands down on the table. "I didn't want to say this, but I'm going to," Flurry looked to all of them, letting her words become clear to them all.
"The Jedi were wiped out..."
Lyra winced at the harsh reminder.
"... the clones were decommissioned in exchange for expendable troopers and forced to destroy Kamino..."
Rex's eyes closed in sorrow, reminded of the harsh fate his brothers had endured.
"... the battle droids were shut down..."
Kalani simply sat there, head slightly twisting with a click of his joints.
"The Stormtroopers were all taken in under the Midnight regime and given a rebrand. The Separatist government was dissolved, and everyone was either executed, went into hiding, or had a fate worse than what we can imagine..."
Tawni's fists clenched tightly, hiding the growls she let slip under her mask.
"The war ended... but why. If none of you won, then who did?"
The entire table went dead silent. Lyra was deep in thought, her expressions constantly changing between confused and intrigued as she looked to the masked woman across from her. Despite her face hidden, Tawni was also having thoughts of intrigue. Kalani and Rex also shared some contemplation, even if one of them was made mostly of gears and sparks.
Standing straight, Flurry folded her arms as she faced them all. "You've all fought each other for years before. What makes you think that this time will actually turn out any differently?"
Once again, more quiet from the table.
“It appears we have reached an impasse.”
“Indeed, it does,” Lyra quietly replied.
Silence filled the outside of the outpost, with only the sounds of the wind whistling in the air. Everyone just went dead silent as they stared at one another, waiting for someone to make a move.
“Mom. Rex. You two sided with the Republic, right?” Flurry asked.
“Yes.”
“That is correct.”
Flurry then faced the super tactical droid. “And Kalani, is it? You represent the former Storm Army, back to Separatists, along with all parties associated with it, right?”
“Affirmative," Kalani answered.
"And Tawni, you represent the political party, right?"
"I am," the woman confirmed.
Flurry nodded. “What were the original Separatists fighting for?”
“According to my programming, freedom from the tyranny of the Republic,” Kalani monotoned.
“Why were you fighting against them, what drove you to fight them?” Flurry asked.
Kalani was silent for a moment, but then he spoke. “Your mother and captain may speak otherwise. we were fighting for our own freedom. We fought the Republic because of their hubris,” Kalani replied, swiveling, and turning around to face the barren wasteland that surrounded their outpost. “The Senate was focusing only on needs they deemed important, never once thinking about the needs of the many, and so more credits and money were pushed into making the war everlasting. Despite the Storm King’s ambitions, my creators informed me that we were fighting for a noble cause. But with this information of no victories for any battling participants, it seems that purpose is no longer important.”
Rex’s weapons lowered slightly. “We were nothing but pawns. All of us were.”
Everyone went quiet again, exchanging glances with one another.
“Isn’t fighting for freedom what you all were fighting for?” Flurry asked, getting them all to look at her again. “I understand you weren't going to win, but what if we worked together? Midnight’s forces are strong, we’ve encountered them head on. But what if we combined them with the numbers and forces of the droid army, upgrading them with our current weapons, armor, people, so they can stand a chance against them? You all lost, but now is the chance for us to win. This war split us apart, but now we face an enemy that can only be stopped if we work together. All of us. Droids, Jedi, ex-Sith, Clones, everyone.”
Kalani, Lyra, Rex, and Adagio were all quiet as they took in this information. Tawni especially was calm as she sat there, considering her proposition.
"And before anyone says anything, I want to say something else," Flurry interrupted again. "I know it won't be easy to work together. But if we do... we'll make things better for everyone involved. I don't want to lose just because we couldn't put aside our differences. We cannot be like Saw Gerrera or his partisans. The Neo-Republican Collective. The Irontail Railway Legion. The Sectorists. The Storm Revolutionaries. Galaxy Partitionists. Or anyone else just because they didn't like a few people we had on our side. The only way we'll get anywhere is if we work together..." Flurry looked to her mother with a solemn expression. "It's what you taught me."
Now Lyra was really put in an awkward position. She looked at her daughter with a puzzled face, mixed with fear, and confusion. She wasn't sure what to say, or do. She wanted to be the bigger person, but she didn't know how to say it. She was so befuddled right now, she couldn't find a simple way to say it.
Tawni looked to her tactical droid, silently asking for any advice. Then she looked back to the teen. "The last time I was willing to offer my hand in peace, I was shot and left for dead. How do I know you won't do it again?"
"You won't," Flurry sadly replied. "But I am serious about making things right with you and your people."
The tactical droid simply stood up, facing the crew.
“You are against the Empire. I am against the Republic. Now, the Republic and the Storm Empire have become the new Galactic Empire,” Kalani processed.
Lyra and Rex waited for an answer, wondering how he was going to interpret all of this…
“I accept your logic. From now on, we are on the same sides,” Kalani declared. He opened up his palm to shake hands with the captain, having some bits of programming that understood some social cues. Reluctantly, Rex extended a hand as well, and shook the General’s metallic hand as a sign of truce. In turn, Tawni extended her hand, and Lyra shook hers as well.
Rex removed his helmet. “I guess we are.”
Flurry smiled. “Hey, maybe I can defuse an argument after all! So, um, Mom? Now that we’re all on the same side… what do we do now?”
Lyra leaned back slightly as she stood up from the makeshift chair, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around her. The outpost was in the middle of nowhere, with no Imperial probes or spies, or anything that could detect them. And if the Empire didn’t know they were here… they had all the time in the world to try and figure some things out.
“General, Governor. Since we’re going to be working together; may we see what remaining forces you have at your disposal?”
The Krayt's Head flew through hyperspace moving at a brisk speed to Bracca. By now, everyone had settled in for the trip, taking some time to relax.
G-G rolled down the hallway, passing by some other droids who were off to check in to other sections of the ship. Taking the lift, he went down to the lower level, meeting some of the others who were sitting in the lounge.
"Okay, so this yard we're going to, it has every ship from the Republic?" Gallus asked, wanting to get clarification.
"Every type of ship, walker, cannon, everything made for the Republic and the Storm Empire," Ocellus confirmed, bringing up a small holoprojector. She clicked on the button, letting a few images display of the various crafts documented from both sides. It was still hard to believe they were all housed here to rust. "I tore a lot of these things back in the day."
"How do you even know so much about these ships anyway?" Smolder asked.
"After I went on the run, I had to get some work, so I signed up to work for the Scrapper Guild. I got to explore all kinds of ships and machines while I worked there. Well, until the Empire disbanded them," Ocellus replied, her wings fluttering a bit.
"You do realize we won't be able to take back everything though, right?" Smolder raised a brow.
"Yeah, I mean the thought of being armed with all of those machines sounds nice, but this ship can't bring any of them back home. Unless we have a bigger boat, I don't see a way of carrying anything else back," Gallus sadly replied.
"Still doesn't hurt to look. If the Empire doesn't come back there, it means we can make as many trips as possible and take what we want," Sandbar countered with hope.
"Bwoop boop,"
All six heads turned to G-G, who was shaking a bit as he tried to look up at the group from the ground.
"... okay, how are any of you understanding that?" Smolder asked. "He's just giving you random beeps and sounds."
"Brrt bap!" G-G followed that with a raspberry sound.
"Great, you insulted him," Gallus deadpanned.
"It's not a matter of what he says, it's how he says it," Ocellus explained. "And sometimes, you don't always need to know, you can just feel it. You don't need the Force or magic for that."
--
Several rooms over were Derpy and the clones, hanging out in the dining room. Some of the crew members hadn't gotten lunch, so the group were taking turns preparing it. At the same time, some of the fellow crew members who tagged along had gotten intrigued with the legends of the war. Most of the crew consisted of young adults, ranging from early twenties to early thirties, but none of them had ever participated in the war. The stories of the clone troopers battles carried from word of mouth, to curious ears wanting to hear a tale.
This crew of folks was no different, and despite only four crew members here who were going to eat with Derpy and her boys, they were still eager to talk to them. A chance to talk to legendary war veterans wasn't something you could do every day. Among the crew were a human woman shrouded in a Kijimi coat with a full head covering, metal hat, and goggles. An Equestrian woman with her shoulders baring a cutie mark of a colorful crystal. Another Equestrian with his armored chest plates baring a cutie mark of two drama masks in the shape of horses. Last of them was a Nikto man, wearing a pilot's uniform.
"... So we come down, the ship is in flames, we still had the senator safe, and guess who came down to crash the party?" Vargas talked, continuing the story from earlier. "The Storm King himself. Apparently he didn't like how his last shareholder meeting went, and wanted to well... 'cut corners' in a sense."
"Well, what did you do?" The Kijimi woman asked, named Bitra.
"The only thing we could do, we stood our ground, and fought him."
The group was still kept in awe.
"You actually squared off against the King? You four... fought against him?" The Equestrian man, Clever Musings, posed.
"Mmmhmm," Bubbles nodded, folding his arms with a bit of a prideful smirk. "But don't forget, it wasn't just the four of us. We had a battalion with us to combat against him. He didn't bring a saber to kill us, but he was a tough case. Lost a lot of men to him and those clankers."
"Heh. Well at least he's dead, right?" Clever asked. "Can't hurt anyone anymore."
"Yeah... yeah," Bubbles said, wistfully with some remorse. Mainly over the thought of everything that happened after his termination.
Clearing his throat to stop the awkwardness of the conversation, Vargas turned his head back to the kitchen door. "Hey, how's the food?"
"Almost done!" Mix called. "Just need to stir it up a bit more and we should have it out."
A few minutes passed, and so Mix came out of the kitchen with Derpy, holding a huge pot of cooked food. The aroma of the sauce, the cheeses, and the salt and pepper were blending to create a mouth-watering sensation that tickled everyone's noses.
"I bring an Equestrian delicacy, all the way from Ponypei... Spaghetti with meatballs," Mix introduced, showing them the inside of the huge pot. Bowls were passed around, and the two of them passed food to everyone who was going to eat with them. One by one, they took a seat to enjoy their meal, all equally sharing sounds of delight from the food.
"This is... amazing," the Nikto officer grinned. "You cooked this?"
"You have to make more, this is wonderful."
"You're a good cook!"
"I took a few cooking classes whenever I could," Mix added, sitting down as he got to enjoy the delicious food with the others. "All we could ever afford was the rations for daily nutrients, but I longed for a real meal. Something with smell, something with a variety of textures, you know, real food."
"I hear that," came from the Equestrian woman, Prisma who enjoyed more of her meal. "Seriously if you cook again, let me know, because I needed this."
"We've had rations for the past few days, camping out on Mimban for a rescue assignment," Clever added. "So having this? It's wonderful, thank you, Mix."
The clone couldn't help but feel a little pride. He hadn't cooked for many people, aside from his brothers and sister, but sharing his talent with strangers? And said strangers liking what he had to offer? It made him feel a certain sense of pride. Derpy could sense it to, just from the cute smile on her face as she patted his shoulder, affectionately.
Bracca. A junkyard of in-hospitality. One of the most famous sites in the early years of the Empire, completely abandoned. Most of the ships left behind were either intact or in complete disarray. Scrapper Guild subway cars no longer functioned, left to rust on the hover rails. And most of the satellite towers that were used to communicate with nearby worlds were left to fall apart like everything else. The last tower was dangling precariously off the post, until a light or two started to blink.
Several lights blinked as the dish spun around, picking up a signal for the first time in over a decade. Several consoles and equipment that had been left started to activate on their own, running on an autonomous cycle of defense, with no need for a living figure or droid to operate the machines. On the console screens, multiple red flashes, including a grid displaying a ship type was presented on screen to an empty viewer, still marked red. The markings identified a faded Republic emblem on the side, making the system still blink on and off.
On the ground, several large machines started to wince and spin, the servos no longer locking up the mechanisms as they turned into position, raising the cannons up high into the sky, locking onto the perfect angle for trajectory...
Pulling out of hyperspace, the Krayt's Head started to make its way towards Bracca's atmosphere. Shrouded in darkness, the planet certainly did not look inviting for anyone looking to travel. Luckily for the crew, there wasn't going to be any Imperials out here, no one to bother them while they worked.
Unfortunately that short span of relief was quickly cut when they made their way further through the clouds. The cannons on the ground locked on target, primed to find any ship that didn't fit any Imperial or Scrapper Guild profile. And the Krayt's Head? It did not fit the bill. Several turrets spun around, detecting the ship entering the upper atmosphere and primed for attack.
A heavy charge from all of them, and multiple blasts shot up at the sky, striking the thrusters on the back of the consular ship.
"We've been hit!" The pilot, Cassie shouted as she tried to keep a steady grip. "Everyone, grab onto something, NOW!"
More turbo lasers fired upon the ship as they flew down, with another one hitting the defense capabilities on the ship, and more of the thrusters, the last one striking the primary engines. Everyone hung onto whatever they could, but they were hurling towards the surface way too fast for their liking.
The ship burst through the atmosphere until it finally slammed into the barren land, sending rocks and dirt flying right over the transport ship as they dug further and further into the ground. The crew was getting tossed around, slamming into the floors, the walls, against the doors, no one was strapped in safely, which only made the crash-land even more painful until it finally came to an end.
The ship stopped bumping around, and it finally stopped before the sound of people screaming and crashing right through the glass windows. Silverstream’s head was the first to pop up, shaking her head rapidly to get any dizziness away, or at least making sure she was still on straight.
“Is anyone dead?” Silverstream winced as she climbed back up on her hooves.
Gallus pulled himself up, groaning as he stretched, trying to get back on his paws. Smolder and Ocellus's wings fluttered as they stood back up, trying to help the rest of the people inside the room. Sandbar was helped up by Yona, who then went over to where poor G-G was. The poor R4 unit was thrown around like the others, now stuck with his legs in the air, lodged in a door.
"Sorry astro droid," Yona apologized, lifting him back up. G-G shook a bit, rotating his dome around to try and bring himself back to reality before spinning around, chirping as if nothing was wrong.
"We better check on the bridge, you three make sure everyone else is still okay," Sandbar ordered.
The doors had to be pried open as they made it to the bridge, and what they saw wasn't pretty. The consoles seemed smoked, and the pilot was laying limp in the chair. Walking over to her, they felt her wrist, and leaned into her heart, hearing it still beat.
"I'm fine," the pilot, Cassie quietly replied. "Just... need a minute before I can stand up," her bruised face with some blood running down the side of her face said otherwise.
And looking forward, they saw a new problem. The windshield was completely shattered from the crash, anyone could have been tossed out and hurt badly.
"We're stuck for a while," Smolder snorted.
Sandbar frowned. Yona," he spoke into the coms. "Are Derpy and the clones okay?"
"Clones are fine! But Derpy is dizzy!" Yona replied. "Oh, wait no, I think Derpy throw up! ... Oh, never mind! Clever threw up, Derpy is fine! I'll get a mop!"
"Engineers?" Sandbar then switched over to another channel. "Gears, how are the engines?"
"Bad news. The hyperdrive's been totaled. There are still plenty of pieces we can use to make a new one, or refurbish a different one, but the one here is kaput. We won't be going back home for a while."
“Ugh… great,” Gallus groaned.
“Don’t feel bad, Gallus. Yakyakiees say, ‘when Yaks are stuck, we find another way!’” Yona said with some pride.
Yona pressed the button to open the doors, and suddenly the doors just fell right open and onto the ground. No sliding, no unfolding, just flat out fell on the ground.
“Oh no,” Yona worried, her ears flopping down.
“Don’t worry, the ship was already broken when we got here,” Smolder deadpanned, stepping out. She turned around to look at how far the ship had crashed, seeing a giant line that had dug into the rocks right up about where they were. “Wow. We made quite a landing.”
“I've had worse crashes than that," Gallus shrugged.
"Honestly, I've grown numb to crashing vessels. It's became a regular Monday for us," Mix shrugged off.
One by one, the crew members got out of the ship to gather for a meeting. Their injuries were very minor, ranging from a few drops of blood to minor bruises. Nothing fatal, thankfully. Especially for the droids who were a part of the crew.
"Head count?" Sandbar asked.
Yona checked the datapad in her cloven hands. "Hmm." Multiple times she had to look up at the people who were gathered, just to make sure they were there, occasionally muttering to herself. "Cala... Cassie..." And some more incoherent mumbling as she checked. "Bitra, Prisma, Clever, Sandra... I think that's all of them."
The twenty members excluding the clones, G-G, and Team Six stood at ease, awaiting further instruction.
"Okay everyone," Sandbar instructed. "Landing was rough, but the important thing is we're here, and we're safe. The ships engine's totaled, which means we're going to be here for a few days," he paused, letting everyone groan softly. "The important thing is we aren't stranded. If we put our heads together, we should be able to come up with a way to get off this planet. We still have fuel, electricity, plenty of food and water, we can rough it out a few days here."
“Hey guys, check this out!” Smolder hollered.
The team rushed over to where Smolder was standing, and froze when they saw they were close to the edge of a cliff. They looked at what Smolder was seeing, and stood in awe. An entire canyon as far as the eye could see, littered with relics of the fallen Republic and the Storm Empire. Venator-class cruisers rusting, rows of gunships, AT-TEs, AV-7 cannons, stun tanks, turbo tanks, this graveyard had every type of vehicle that had ever been used during the Clone Wars.
There was even a sight of some starfighters that were left to sit on a ledge together; Headhunters, Torrent starfighters, Interceptors, ARC-170s, even the Y-Wing bombers. Even ships from the Storm Army were left to sit and rust; gunships, Tri-fighters, Vulture droids, some Lucrehulks, frigates, there was a ton.
Gallus whistled. “So this is where everything from the old war comes to rest."
“This is why I wanted to come here,” Ocellus pointed out. “There’s so much we can use here for the Rebel Alliance.”
“Shouldn’t all these ships be stripped and reduced to parts by now?” Sandbar asked.
"That's the thing. Once the Empire had enough power to start, they got some help from nearby ship-breaking yards that paid at a more 'reasonable' price. So they just kinda... dissembled the Scrapper Guild," Ocellus hesitated to say.
"So they're all dead? No one is out here?" Bubbles asked.
"Except for those planetary defenses that totaled our ship, yes," Ocellus chirped with her wings buzzing.
"Greaaaaat..." Smolder groaned.
“Yes, and most of them were stripped to be turned into Star Destroyers,” Ocellus nodded. “But I know somewhere out there, there’s ships that still function that can be brought back.”
"Even if we do, we won't be able to bring any back in ours, it's too small," Bubbles pointed. "But maybe..." he looked up. One of the Venators was resting on an old docking station, mounted to keep it held up like an artifact on display. Just like the others, it looked damage as all get out; pieces of metal armor were gone, some holes were prominent, and there was one thruster on the back of the ship that was gone. But despite how worn out and damaged it looked, it was still in one piece as opposed to the rest of the Venators in the yard. "I have an idea..."
"Do tell," Ocellus asked, curiously.
"If that hyperdrive still has functional parts, we can use those and fix one that's possibly still here. That Venator right there," he pointed across the valley. "If the Scrapper Guild stripped it, we can put some parts back in it. There's plenty of parts in this scrapyard we can use to fix it, and there's bound to be some fuel still left lying around, we can siphon it from every ship we find to give that one power."
Ocellus's wings started to flutter at the thought. "And give us a ship to get home, and have a fighting chance against the Star Destroyers!"
"I don't know, that's an awful big job," Gallus was unsure. "I'm not sure we can stay here that long to get it done."
"We've got enough people to fix yours. That number is just enough that we can get some of this equipment running and restore that ship," Mix said with a grin, putting his hands on his hips.
The rest of Team Six looked to Ocellus.
"Well Ocellus? It's your mission, you're in charge. What do you want to do?" Silverstream asked.
The Changeling didn't need any more convincing as she turned to face her allies like a born leader. "We're going to restore that Venator. Grab the rest of the staff, if they're still okay. Search the junkyard, find as much parts as you can and start a pile. We're bringing a cruiser home!"
Back on Yavin IV, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had been helping Dexter Jettster in the kitchen, along with a handful of other chefs from Equestria to help speed up the process of cooking for lunchtime. Many people came to order; staff and citizens alike. It was hard work, but honest work nonetheless, something that made Rainbow feel a little pride as she kept going.
Eventually her time to take her mandated break came and she moved in line to grab food like everyone else. After grabbing her tray, she parked herself in a seat with a few empty seats in front and next to her. The rest of her friends weren't ready to eat yet, they still had a few minutes left for their shift. On her tray, she had a fresh stack of pancakes, milk, and some bacon; only the finest breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals an Equestrian or human could create. She looked around, seeing everyone just chatting idly, eating their lunch, minding their own business.
Not even two minutes passed, and already she was regretting picking this time to get her late lunch. Her former clone commander was getting food as well. It’d only be a matter of time before he’d find her. But to her surprise, the commander wasn’t moving to her table. Instead, he was walking around, looking for a table to sit at. Rainbow felt relieved.
But as he kept walking around, Rainbow had a second glance. She saw some nasty looks from the other rebels at some of the tables. Most of them were full, but the ones that had plenty of spaces available to offer more, the people sitting there were looking at her former commander with some nasty looks. And judging by the small frown on his face, it was clear he wasn’t welcome among some of these people. She didn’t know what to say, but she couldn’t stop herself from what she was doing next. She raised a hand up, getting the commander’s attention.
Seeing her, the commander was a bit surprised. His old general was calling to him? But last time he checked, she wanted nothing to do with him, especially after how she and the Jedi all reacted to just them showing up. But he knew he had no choice, no one else wanted to sit with him. If she was offering a seat, he might as well take it. No where else to go, and his food was getting cold.
Hurricane sat down across from her, but didn’t say anything to her. Just silently nodding to her as if to say ‘thank you’. He didn’t know what to say to her, what even was there to say? He couldn’t just start with ‘hey, sorry I tried to kill you at the end of the war that long ago’.
Not wanting to be any quieter, Hurricane cleared his throat.
“… Hey,” he said, rather meekly.
Rainbow was quiet in her response. “Hey.”
“… I-I can leave if—”
“—Don’t. There’s no chance we can avoid each other for that long, and we’re going to be working together more often, so we might as well get used to being near each other again,” Rainbow deadpanned. She sighed for a moment before sitting up straight. “How about we just try to clear the air, see about starting anew.”
"Sure," Hurricane just said, rather plainly. “… How you’ve been?”
“Um… okay, actually. Doing okay,” Rainbow answered. “How uh… how was your retirement?”
“It was nice while it lasted,” Hurricane admitted. “But it was a nice change from eating the same flavorless rations, risking life and death, and moving under constant fire.”
Rainbow had a little chuckle at that remark. “Yeah. No argument here.”
Clearing his throat, Hurricane’s eyes glanced at her arm. “Um… I didn’t cause that… did I?”
“Oh this?” Rainbow flexed her artificial limb. “No, that wasn’t you. That would be Twilight who did that,” she said, hissing at the memory.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hurricane apologized.
“Don’t be. You didn’t betray everything we stood for. Not by choice, at least,” Rainbow said, realizing how badly she phrased that.
Some more silence fell upon the two former allies as they tried to find something, anything to talk about while they sat and ate. But the more silence passed, the more it became obvious there wasn’t any dancing around their past. And without thinking, Rainbow just dropped the attempts at being friendly, diving straight at the throat with her next question.
“Okay, I want to ask you right here and now, because this has been bugging me for the past sixteen years, and I am going to be more upset if I don’t know. Order 66. Did you or did you not do it by choice, was it the inhibitor?”
Hurricane set down his fork. He knew he would have to answer something like this someday; and it would have been better to just face the music now instead of avoiding it together. They would have to work together at some point, and it was better to answer and open up about their past issues now then on the battlefield.
“Do you want the truth?”
“Yes, I do,” Rainbow said, now starting to wonder if she made the right choice in asking.
Hurricane sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to bring himself together.
“The inhibitor chip never controlled me.”
For Rainbow Dash, it felt like all time had just stopped. Was she hearing this right now? She couldn’t, that was a lie. All the inhibitors controlled everyone, that was their purpose. No one had a choice in Order 66, he had to have been saying it out of guilt.
“You don’t have to lie—”
“—I’m not lying,” Hurricane reaffirmed. “I only learned about the inhibitor chip when I ran into Derpy and the Baker’s trio. I was never controlled when Order 66 came. I made the choice to turn.”
Rainbow felt like she was going to get sick to her stomach. All these years she kept trying to find a way to move past the trauma of the day of the Purge. The thoughts of her former clone commander turning on her no longer made her upset, but it did nothing for her mentally from that day on. But when she learned of the inhibitor chips, she thought there was some relief. Knowing that her commander was forced, knowing he never wanted to turn. But after hearing what he had to say? She wasn’t sure if she should even stay and let him continue to talk. She wanted to get up and leave the table right here and now. But she didn’t.
“I know in your eyes I just became a monster. But it wasn’t easy for me either. All I remember was the day the order came, I felt like I was going to die on that bridge. When the Kaminoans grew us in jars, we were indoctrinated to follow all your orders without question. If we did even one thing out of line, we would be court-martialed, or executed. We had no chances in life, and I knew if I went one way or another, I wouldn’t be able to escape. I didn’t want to target you, but all I could think about in that moment was my brothers. If we didn’t follow our orders, then all of us would be executed for treason against the Republic. It didn’t matter if it was right or wrong… there were forces higher than you, me, all of us. It was either do, or die.”
Hurricane couldn’t stop one small tear coming down his face, his words sounding like he was physically hurting as he was telling her everything.
“… I loved my brothers. They were all I had. And if they had to suffer because I refused to follow orders… then I couldn’t live with myself. I told them to aim several inches away from you; I intentionally gave them false coordinates to fire at you, so you had a chance to live and escape. I knew you’d find a way to escape us; and we could live without being executed for treason.”
Hurricane’s hands were now shaking as he too, thought back to the time from long ago. He carefully grabbed his cup, taking a trembling drink as he tried to keep himself together.
“I didn't know what else I could have done. But then when Derpy and the clones came and found us… they gave me a chance to be free. So I took that chance. I don’t expect you to forgive me, and I don’t think you’d ever want to see me again. But you wanted the truth; and I wanted to tell you after so long.”
Not giving Rainbow a chance to reply or respond, he pulled himself out of the booth and back on his feet. He didn’t look back at her, only looking down at the ground and sighing with pain.
Elsewhere on base, Rarity and Applejack were working in a cleaner's room, doing an inventory check of the uniforms the staff had on base. Pilots, officers, training, admirals, all types of uniforms were around. To Rarity's surprise, she did like how professional they were, and how each of them were modified specifically for whatever species, size, and set of the individual they wore. Comparing them to the stolen Imperial uniforms, she was disgusted by the drabness, and the extremely tight fitting, especially around the collar regions. How anyone got any work done when they wore these was something she was never going to understand.
But checking the uniforms did however stir up a few ideas in her head for some new suits. And maybe some armors if she could ever get the material to make them. However, that burst of creativity was gone in an instant when the door whisked open with a faint screech of metal, and an angry Rainbow Dash marched in, huffing and growling.
"Rainbow Dash? What's gotten you so perturbed?"
"Hurricane, that's who!" The veteran snapped. "Bad enough I have to work with him, now it's going to be impossible to live with him! I was ready to start things over with him, and I just had to ask, just, agh!"
"Had to ask, what?" Applejack tilted her head.
"I asked him about Order 66, and if he had the inhibitor chip installed. Get this, his never worked! Or he didn't have one, I don't know, I don't care! He still chose to try and kill me!" Rainbow's hands slapped at her side. "You know, I could have dealt with it, if he was just under some mind control. It would have been bad, but I would have been fine with that, he was gone for that time, I didn't realize he was taken, that would be fine! You know, all of my troops turned on me the same way he did, Slip, Cade, Fring, Tasks, Poucher, Arch, all of them. But for the longest time, I always thought there was a chance he regretted it."
"... And does he?" Rarity asked, waiting for a chance to interrupt.
"... okay, he did kind of sound like he had guilt for what he did," Rainbow truthfully spoke, throwing her arms down. "But I'm sorry, you shot me, why should I let go of that?"
"Alright, first of all," Applejack flicked Rainbow in the head, making her yelp.
"OW! AJ, what the heck!?" Rainbow snapped.
"That was for askin' him about a subject that he probably wanted to avoid altogether just like you did, you chose to bring it back up," Applejack started. "Second, we can't get mad at the clones anymore. None of that matters anymore, choice or otherwise," she replied, looking back down at her manifest.
"Whose side are you on here, Apples?" Rainbow put her hands on her hips.
"The Rebellion," Applejack sassed back. "Right now, they need us to focus on the Empire, and not worry so much about old wounds. Look, I can't tell you what to do here, Commander Dusty isn't around anymore," Applejack paused. "I think. I don't know where he wound up. But if he was here now, I'd be forgivin' him."
"Wha-cha, I can't even believe what I'm hearing right now. I should forgive him? After he tried to kill me?" Rainbow argued.
"What Applejack is trying to say is we don't have our old clone allies anymore," Rarity interjected. "Those five are all we have. Applejack, Pinkie, all of us aren't going to see them ever again," she sighed. "I know it's hard, but is that all you're going to remember him for? One terrible thing he regrets, out of the many times you two trusted each other and fought together?"
Rainbow paused for a moment to think, but she said nothing. Her fists balled up, and she let out a sigh, her expression still reading angry. She stomped out of the room, letting both Jedi back to work once again. How she was going to deal with this? She had no clue. All she knew was she had to stay far away from him.
The vet wondered who should she go to talk about this. Bon Bon didn't want to be a part of this matter, she was fixing droids. Pinkie probably wouldn't have been helpful for this, maybe. Maybe Sunset could have something to say, or at least, something helpful. Taking an elevator up, she walked across the halls until she found her talking with a few officers in one of the monitoring rooms. She was about to brashfully speak up, but she stopped herself. Taking a moment, she remembered the formalities before stepping inside to talk.
"General Shimmer, I apologize for interrupting ma'am, but may I speak with you in private? It is an urgent matter," Rainbow asked.
Sunset looked up at Rainbow then back to the officers. The general gave them a nod, and they quietly nodded back, agreeing to continue this conversation later.
"Okay Rainbow, what is it?" Sunset asked, eyes half-glued to her datapad.
"It's Hurricane. Sunset, I can't work with him."
"In case you forgot, we can't afford to be picky about the people we work with," Sunset sternly, but calmly reminded, giving her a glare. "It's not like we're going to get a battalion anytime soon."
"Sunset, that whole thing with Order 66? He wasn't brainwashed, there was no chip! He intentionally tried to kill me!"
Sunset looked up at Rainbow, and to her surprise, she had zero negative reaction. No shock or surprise, she looked calm about it!
"... Okay. So he chose to try and kill you. Has he tried to repeat this course of action again?" She asked.
"W... okay, no, he just admitted it to me while we had lunch, but how am I supposed to work with that!?" Rainbow stammered.
"Let me offer another way to think about it," Sunset replied, putting her datapad down. "Remember when I was on the Dark Side? At Tempest's side?"
"Wha, well, that's different! You chose to switch sides," Rainbow protested.
"The same way Hurricane chose to turn himself around and join us again. I can't speak for him, but if he intentionally chose to come back here and opened himself up like that, he's probably trying to start anew, and getting mad at him isn't going to help him, or anyone else," Sunset then looked back at her datapad.
"But--"
"--No, Rainbow. You're going to have to find a way to work with him, regardless of your past with him. You did the same for me a long time ago... why not do the same for him?"
Rainbow just scoffed, folding her arms with some anger still bubbling. The only thing she knew was she was to never get near him, ever again. She was just happy he didn't hear anything that was said, or so she thought.
--
Unbeknownst to her, Hurricane did hear. He stood outside the office, and he could hear her ranting and raving inside. He originally wanted to talk about assignments but after that? No. He didn't want to talk about anything, to anyone for that matter. He simply turned around, ignoring the people around him. To him, he felt like all of their eyes locked onto him, even if they didn't. Truth be told, they were used to seeing Rebels wear various pieces of clone trooper garb that a fully dressed trooper was normal to them.
Getting closer to the elevators, he felt his body shaking more and more. He felt sick, a migraine coming on strongly. The commander's heart pounded a hundred miles an hour, anger starting to boil. He removed his helmet and looked down at it. He repainted his classic scheme, and for what? More guilt? A rebellion that wouldn't accept him? A general who wasn't going to hear his side?
His fists balled up and shook, as he violently slammed his Phase I helmet against the sides of the elevator, multiple times, until he could see it being dented. The walls were getting dented, along with the helmet, until pieces started to crack apart like an egg. He was ready to punch it again, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to damage it again. His palms opened and the helmet dropped on the floor. He couldn't do it any more. No more rage was left in his body to destroy the helmet, or the elevator, he was just tired.
By the time the doors opened, he was holding onto the walls, trying to calm down. A few folks, including officers, gazed at him with concern.
"Trooper, are you okay?" One of them asked.
"... I'm sorry," Hurricane apologized, rather briskly before walking away. The rest of the officers on the floor just watched him leave, curious and bewildered. What could have happened that caused that?
By now, a camp site had been set up for the Bracca team. The ship would never fly again, but much of the inside was still functional. Restrooms, the kitchen, bedding, there was still some function left to be had. But the crew had set up some extra exterior for the outside for their site, setting up some tarps for cover from inevitable rain that would come on of the days they stayed here. A few tables set up, with some chairs to sit and rest, some even having various parts and tools laid about for the crew to grab when they needed them, including some canteens for refreshment and other necessities.
One of the crews had walked down a sturdy steel bridge, leading to a massive rocky lot where multiple Republic vehicles had been parked. Standard walkers, a few turbo tanks, artillery cannons, stun tanks, and many others. Ground vehicles had been separated from flight vehicles which was a bit of a nice plus. Said crew who came down had a few carts out to collect whatever tech or valuables they could find.
The members consisted of Bitra, face still shrouded in her mask; the pilot, Cassie Bishop, who had some patches on her face; Tune Up, who wore an engineer's outfit with rolled up sleeves, and Bifrost, who was wearing old Phase II clone trooper armor supplemented with disheveled cloth wraps.
"Remind me again; specific parts to look for?" Tune Up asked.
Bitra looked at the manifest. "Fuel cells, coils, weapons, anything that hadn't been combed through."
"The Empire is thorough in inspections. They wouldn't miss anything," Tune Up questioned.
"You would be surprised how much the average Imperial officer undermines the intelligence of the 'lesser beings'," Bitra replied.
"Let's just see what we can find. Who knows, they might have some collectibles for us to take," Cassie smirked, stirring the temptation of the others. Collecting antiquities had become a new hobby, in hope of finding some activity to keep the monotony of war at bay. Split into groups of two, the team began their search.
Bifrost slowly breathed in and out, placing her damaged helmet on her face. Most of it worked, though there was a sizable broken gap in one of the eye pieces that exposed her identity underneath. Reaching for her side, she pressed play on a cassette player (one of many technologies that still remained in use from Equestria aside from records). listening to an old pop song from back home that connected to her helmet through a pair of coils.
Bum, bum, bum-ba-da, ba-da Bum, bum, bum-ba-da ah
Music became another key to help the soldiers in the Rebellion stay sane, something calming or energetic to set them in a state that didn't teeter them on the brink of insanity. Some of the classic songs were even remade during the war by some of the musician refugees they had saved, who wrote some of them around to motivate the Rebels and give them hope that was desperately sought out.
Bifrost's foot tapped on the top of the walker, looking around for an entrance to get in. Thankfully some of the sides were torn open, allowing her a means of climbing in and inspecting.
Trot outside and you see the sunshine Something's in the air today Sky is clear and you're feelin' so fine Everything's gonna be a-okay
If you listen carefully On every corner there's a rhythm playing
Her eyes looked around, locking on to a few consoles with some loose wiring. Opening up the panel, she found a few cables and coils that were still intact. Nothing was broken, no damage, they were still in stable condition. With a grin, she started to tear a few of them out, wrapping them up so that she could hold a few at a time.
Elsewhere, Tune Up and Bitra stood inside the cabin of one of the turbo tanks, flipping the switches to see if they could turn it on and check for diagnostics.
Then it happens suddenly The music takes you over and you'll
Like magic, their steady hands together found means of reigniting the vehicle, connecting the proper wiring with the little help of a spare battery pack to give it some extra boost.
Find you've got the music (Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind the music) Got the music in you (Oh, you) Find you've got the music (Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind the music) Got the music in you
The screen readouts displayed multiple pieces of weapons and munitions that were still remaining in the vehicle, showing what little there was left. Not wanting them to be wasted, the two of them worked to grab the last munitions in the tank.
Elsewhere, other folks were doing the same, searching the tanks for munitions to collect for their own. An RA-7 droid with a top and kama wrapped like a skirt helped carry some fuel cells onto a cart, alongside Clever and Sandbar. They had dropped the last batch of fuel cells they could grab, with the addition of the few carts in front of them.
And with a smirk, Smolder, Gallus, and Silverstream came around the corner, pushing three more carts than they were of the supplies they needed. Sandbar just playfully rolled his eyes as he and his group continued to work. Unbeknownst to Smolder, Yona was walking out of one of the walkers with two huge crates of armor that she was holding with both of her arms and shoulders.
Oh, o-o-oh Everypony's sayin' you should learn to express your voice But if talk doesn't seem like it's the answer Luckily you have a choice
Derpy and the Baker's Trio worked like a mining team, grabbing pieces and parts, passing them along to each other onto a lift that still functioned, moving it along to the ridge where the ship had crashed. The lift would take passengers up and down to the edges of the rocky masses, and now they were using it to escort supply to the members that were by the campsite.
Ocellus and G-G, along with a few others stood by as they pushed the carts and supply up, starting to organize them into stacks for them. Fuel in one stack, munitions in another, and so on. Thankfully they were kept safely apart from each other so nothing combustible could ignite and kill everyone.
Find you've got the music (Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind the music) Got the music in you (Oh, you) Find you've got the music (Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind the music) Got the music in you
The hours continued with productivity from everyone as they combed through the walkers and tanks, and by the time it was getting dark out, their assortment of carts had grown by the dozens, with no idea of how many munitions, fuel cells, or other antiquities they had collected.
One thing was for certain, everyone looked proud at the masses they collected. An entire day, and they gotten so much work done, more than they had expected. Everyone felt proud.
Got the music in you Got the music, got the music in you!
Bifrost's finger clicked stop on her player, and she removed her helmet, revealing her sweaty face. "Whoo! Well, I don't know about you, but I think we got our mandated hours in for the night. What do you say we get cleaned up and get some dinner?"
The night sky hung above the campsite, with everyone sitting in their own groups to have dinner. Two sets of campfires were made, with a group surrounding each one. Derpy, the Baker's Trio, and Team Six had their circle, but had enough space for two more individuals. G-G was one of them, along with one other droid who was making her way towards them; the RA-7 droid wearing a simple dress.
"Well, hello everyone," she greeted, her voice sounding rather smooth. "I hope no one minds, I wanted to be cleaned up before we sat down to eat," she poised.
"Fine by me, come on down. You ready to get some power?" Sandbar set a power generator down next to her and G-G. She didn't need their help with the cords, she simply grabbed the cable and placed it into her socket, while G-G grabbed one as well, with both now sharing the same source.
"Hope we got enough, we're gonna need that during the night," Smolder complained.
"We have enough, Smolder. Besides, we took some leftover electricity from the walkers, we can use that as well," Gallus reminded. "Thanks again you four for helping us out," he looked to their new additions.
"Happy to help," Bubbles smiled, accepting the bowl of hot food that had been prepped. He gave it a sniff and sighed. "This smells even better, Mix what is this?"
The newly appointed chef was passing the food around to the rest of the crew. "Moodridian meats with a mix of veggies, some guacamole, and some nice, salty, tortilla chips. I picked up the recipe from the data files, Empressa Comida I think is her name?"
"Oh her, she makes some great food," Silverstream licked her lips. "And this smells so good!"
And ignoring basic table manners she just mauled her food like a hungry animal, her beak covered in some guac and chips. "Mmm... so good."
"Okay, this is wonderful," Smolder agreed, enjoying her meal. A small puff of smoke steamed from her nostrils. "Ahh yeah, that's the hot stuff."
"You're not going to make hot spicy stuff every time are you? I don't want to get sick in the night," Bubbles worried.
"With all due respect, Commander, I've wanted to share my cooking with everyone for the past few months, so that's what I'm going to do," he sassed back, enjoying the food himself.
"It still tastes wonderful Mix," Derpy sympathetically patted. "I love anything you make."
"You're just saying that," the trooper pouted.
"No, I mean it," she adorably hugged him. "Now come on, let's eat."
The dinner conversations at first were a bit dry. Not a lot of possible discussions came to everyone's mind, or at least, something that didn't involve the war. Sure, there were some things to talk about, but given how big the Empire's grip was on them all, it was hard to just think about something for a few seconds. Well, it felt that way at first, because Vargas couldn't keep his eyes off of one particular woman in the group who was dressed more fancy than everyone else.
"Okay, so I got to ask, who... um... what are you?" Vargas asked, pointing to the RA-7 droid.
"I'm a woman, baby. Can't you tell?" She responded with some sass in her tone.
Vargas blinked. "... Oh, well, um, of course. You're um..." he coughed awkwardly. "A very nice, woman. Where did you come from?"
"Manufacturers: Arakyd Industries. Designation: Surveillance under any company orders per assignment. New runtime conclusion; Sandra. New protocols: Fight the Empire in the Rebel Alliance," she answered, still sounding oddly smooth.
"I... see. How did you wind up with the Rebels?"
"One of my old friends recruited me, along with the good General Shimmer. They didn't care I liked wearing dresses, only that I could defend myself and stand up to those Imperial boys," Sandra continued. Her fingers clutched at the cord connected to the battery, making sure it stayed firmly sealed. "Turns out I'm not the only droid who thinks for herself. There are others like me, who've also adopted organic cultures."
"Bwoop boop?" G-G asked, tilting to the side to look at her.
"In more ways than one, streamliner," she purred. "The fact of the matter is, I was originally meant to serve the Empire. My makers claimed it was a faulty program, but I became attracted to certain cultures. Certain cultures that made them disgusted at the ideal of a droid being non-conforming. So when they sentenced me to scrap, I took my chance. Life is too short for anyone to take no for an answer."
"I like you," Yona smirked. "Dressy woman know truth."
"I like your stance. Better to make your own person than following the crowd," Bubbles agreed.
"How did the Jedi even tell any of you apart?" Gallus asked. "I mean, we can tell you three apart, but you get to dress how you want. Don't you guys just have one armor type?"
"We may be clones, but we're still individuals. We picked our names, rather than stay with designated birthing numbers. Why do you think that is?" Vargas asked.
"Makes things easier, I suppose," Gallus shrugged.
"Exactly. Names are more remembered than simple digits. The Kaminoans didn't think so, and neither does the Empire. That's why it's more important than ever to make your choice whether you stay free, or enslaved," Bubbles replied, taking a bite of his food.
Some more silence passed among the group, until Silverstream spoke up.
"Um... what was it like when you four finally left the Republic?"
That got them all to raise their heads. Derpy looked at them, shrugging a bit, but they gave her a few okays to speak up.
"Honestly? We didn't even know what we were doing when we left. We were at the end of the war, everyone was being killed everywhere, we had no idea if we would even live to have a new life," Derpy answered. "So when we took our first steps into being free people... it was kind of scary."
"The first leap is always scary," Ocellus assured. "But it gets better."
"It did. And after I found Ajan, and got our home made... it just felt nice to not worry about anything for once," Derpy cooed. "It was the first time we got to be a family."
Team Six took a moment or two to take in Derpy's answer.
"Well, you're still together, aren't you? That's a family in my eyes," Sandbar smiled.
The rest of the night was enjoyed with nice talks, chats, and idle dinner. And for a while, they didn't have a care in the world other than the people they hung out with. And they wouldn't have traded it for anything else.
All of the citizens were gathered in the hangar bay, alongside the militia of droids. Citizen count was roughly twenty-five people, a variety of species intermingled, but also present were a few children as well, worried about what this town meeting was about. They were outnumbered by the ensemble of battle droids that Kalani had assembled. B1s, B2s, commandos, magnaguards, droidekas, a few buzz droids that lingered on the floor. If this had been a battle in the Clone Wars, they would have been massacred on the spot. They weren’t the smartest, but that many could easily kill them right there and then.
“… Well. That’s uh… that’s quite the legion of droids,” Lyra said, astounded by how many there were.
“By this estimated count, I say that’s about a company and a quarter’s worth of soldiers,” Rex commented.
“We have 42 B1 units, 35 B2 units, 27 commando units, 21 Magnaguards, and 17 droidekas,” Kalani calculated.
"Not factoring the droids you destroyed," Tawni added.
“… I see,” Lyra nodded, looking at the entire group before them. “Well, we can still try to get them to Yavin IV. And as promised; we can provide sanctuary for your people. We have refugee housing for citizens,” she said, smiling softly at the governor.
The Separatist’s expression didn’t change, remaining neutral, but gave an understanding nod. With everyone gathered around a holoprojection, the group along with General Kalani looked at a display of the entire base’s interior and exterior. The map showed everything they would need to see, along with all possible exits, ventilation, everything.
“Well, if we’re going to try and get you guys to Yavin IV, we need to know how much you and your droids will be packing,” Lyra asked, directing her attention to Kalani. “We have enough room to house the citizens, they will be safe in the Sweetie Drop when we leave, and maybe a few droids, but we won’t be able to take your entire army. You have shuttles, right?”
The projection showed an area of the outpost, the hangar bay with a row of shuttles parked.
“We have twenty Sheathipede-class shuttles. But they have no weapons,” Kalani said, pointing to a section of the hangar on the projection, showing the shuttles.
“Maybe not, but they can still get you all out of here,” Rex said, rubbing her chin.
“What about all of your flyers?” Flurry asked.
“Flyers, what flyers?” Lyra questioned.
“When we were exploring, I saw some droids hanging up there," she pointed, showing the hanging droids that hadn't moved from their positions.
"The Vultures. We should be able to move them as well," Tawni continued. "They're short range, but we have several deployer stations that should be able to take them, along with a few gunships and Tri-fighters."
"What about any heavy artillery?"
"We have no cannons, and only a handful of Octuptarra-class droids," Kalani informed. "We won't be able to take them off-world without a ship strong enough to carry them."
"Then we come back for them," Lyra clapped her hands together. "So, shall we help you all pack?"
In no time at all, everyone got to work to consolidate as much as they could. Citizens gathered whatever personal items and gear they had on hand, shoved into suitcases and storage bins that would be pushed up into the Sweetie Drop. Carts and wagons were pushed and hauled back and forth from the housing areas, trying to help gather what they could carry.
One of the B1 units held a manifest, checking off every citizen that had brought items over to check, while Lyra and Tawni worked to push the suitcases and cargos into the cargo bay of the Sweetie Drop. Adagio performed an inventory check on the simple blasters and firearms, seeing how much they had on hand that could still be used to fight. Rex and Flurry however did repair work on a few of the flyers that had been removed from the ceiling. One of them, a Vulture, stood in place as Flurry patched up some loose wiring and cables on the chest.
"Wee-tah, oob bi!"
"No kidding," Flurry conversed. "So you guys have buzz droids? Is that how you took out ships?"
"I always hated those buggers," Rex bemoaned, fixing the final attachments on the vulture's leg.
"Cheep, cheep, cheep," came from Cheep who pushed a cart of some rockets stacked together.
"The special armaments?"
"Chirp. Chirp chup churp choop," Cheep nodded.
"Wee-tak! Bo nichi runa!" The droid asked.
"Don't worry V4-6," Flurry smiled. "You'll be coming home with us, I promise," she patted his head. "We're not leaving you guys behind. That's not what Rebels do."
--
Inside the Sweetie Drop, a few civilians were stacking some boxes in the cargo hold, with the help of a few more battle droids and IG-11. Lyra and Tawni were joining them, pushing them along the inside so they could fit in as much as they could. The work was long and tiring, but it was necessary. And in an hour or two, they managed to get all of the necessary luggage of the citizens, including Tawni Ames, inside.
Both of them sighed as they sat down at the living room booth, out of breath and exhausted.
“I appreciate you offering to help transport everyone. But are you positive they can fit in here?”
“One of the last major missions we had was fitting on the remains of a Rebel cell in here; it was seventy-five people.”
Tawni raised a brow. “… how did… w…”
“Don’t ask, we found room,” Lyra massaged her temple. “But we can still get them in here, I promise.”
“Understood,” the governor said, rather emotionlessly.
Lyra looked at her, noting her sullen demeanor as she sat in the chair to take a break. Thinking for a second, Lyra walked over to the cupboards, pulling out a few cups. Reaching for the fridge, she poured some blue milk into the cups to share, and walked back over, offering it to the woman.
“Blue milk?”
“I only drink on anniversary nights,” Lyra shrugged. “I have that, soda, OJ, purple stuff, lots of drinks from Equestria…”
“Blue milk is fine, thank you,” Tawni said, taking a sip.
Lyra sat next to her, taking a sip as well. “Is… everything okay, Governor? I-I mean, if you’re not okay with leaving, I can understand.”
“No, that’s not what’s bothering me,” Tawni said, setting her cup down. She scrunched her face as she tried to think. “I’m not sure how much your Rebellion is going to be open to me, or my people.”
“Because you’re… ohhh,” Lyra realized, hissing a bit. “Ohhh right… that’s… that’s going to be awkward.”
“Wonderful,” Tawni deadpanned.
“May I ask something though?”
“Might as well,” Tawni sat up straight, laying back in the chair.
“Why did you join the Separatists, or Storm Army, or… you know?”
The governor let out a sigh as she tried to find a way to explain. “I’ve been a Separatist all of my life. We may not share the same ideals as your Republic, but we never had malicious intention toward anyone. All I wanted was for the Confederacy of Independent Systems to remain just that; independent. Not under strict control that took basic freedoms. But when the Separatist leaderships were overthrown, and the Storm King rebranded us… I was ready to leave.”
“Well when you’re under the Storm King’s watch, I think almost anyone would want to leave his rule,” Lyra said with a giggle.
“I only stayed because despite his twisted belief for power, I still believed in coming together with the Republic in peace; ending the wars that the Storm King had started. I even joined fellow senators to pitch such a treaty… but you know what happened? Our plea for peace was rejected, in favor of continuing the war effort,” Tawni sulked. “I learned a valuable lesson that day; peace was never an option for anyone.”
Lyra awkwardly shifted in her chair, gazing at Tawni with an uncomfortable expression.
“When I returned to Desix, I heard the news all over the Holonet. Clones suddenly turning on the Jedi. The Storm King killed in cold blood on Wunderbar. And then my biggest nightmare came true… the Republic being transformed into the Galactic Empire; inflicting themselves on citizens, but worse.”
“They came to Desix, didn’t they?” Lyra feared.
Tawni silently nodded, still not moving from her current position. “An Imperial tried to siege my power, but I captured him with the battle droids. Clones then raided our home, trying to get him back. I wasn’t ready to hand him over, but… this clone. I never knew his name, but he shared similar ideals as me, not wanting to resolve the situation with violence. But it was too late. Next thing I know, I was shot in the chest and was knocked out.”
“How did you not die?”
“I… I don’t know. I didn’t have armor, and I should have died there and then,” Tawni admitted. “When I came to, I… I was alone. I found myself laying in the middle of the castle’s square, and I was still in pain. I tried to look for help, but no one was there. My people were completely gone, my battle droids destroyed, the resources I instructed to be grown were taken… the Empire took Desix. I had no choice but to run… and run,” she admitted. “They eve… they… they took someone I loved, someone who I held dear to me,” her eyes closing as one tear went down her face.
Lyra softly patted her shoulder, trying to offer some comfort, however little she could.
“Kalani took me in, gave me a home when I couldn’t find anywhere else. I vowed to never let my guard down, nor open to anyone who threatened to inflict their will onto me, or my people. It doesn’t matter who I was before. To the survivors of the other Separatist/Storm Army holdouts I was their governor, but to me… I was stupid. I tried to solve a problem humanely, and look where it got me.”
Lyra patted her shoulder. "You're not going to let one bad experience stop you from continiuing to do things in a peaceful way, are you?"
"How will I know it will work again? We may have agreed, but your leaders... they might not be so friendly," she warned.
"Well... then we have to try," Lyra smiled.
She felt a small chirp coming from her com device on her wrist. "Oh, it's my wife. Do you mind if I take this?"
"Please, go ahead. I'm just going to sit still for a minute," Tawni nodded.
Walking off, Lyra headed towards the cockpit of the ship, closing the doors behind her. Sitting down, the Jedi flipped a few switches and turned a few knobs to the proper frequency she needed. Sitting up right, she looked behind her to make sure the door was closed. She even adjusted her hair a bit from the back, making sure none of it was stuck in her collar.
The hologram came through; showing a sweaty, greasy, but still adorable Bon Bon Heartstrings present.
“Hey baby, how’s it going?” Bon Bon asked. “Did you make it okay?”
“Yeah, we did. We uh… we found out the source of the signal,” Lyra said with some hesitation. “Let’s just say when we get back, you’re going to have a lot more folks to repair.”
“Ooh, more droids? What kinds?”
“I… It’s best for you to see yourself,” Lyra sighed as she spun the pilot’s seat around like a bored child.
“Hon? Is everything okay?” Bon Bon asked, setting the wrench down.
“I… I dunno. With how chaotic things have been lately, what with Adagio joining, the clones, and after what happened today? Flurry’s starting to ask more questions about the past, and I’m wondering if maybe she’ll start to ask about.. you know who,” Lyra hinted.
“Ohh…” Bon Bon understood.
“I know I shouldn’t lie to her, I do. And I want to tell her but… now’s just not the time to tell her any of this,” Lyra scrunched her face with her hands. “But I keep thinking she’s going to learn one day, and… we won’t be able to do anything to help her.”
Bon Bon was quiet on the other end of the hologram, trying to think of anything supportive she could say.
“Well, that’s something for us to figure out when the time comes. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be today… maybe not some time after. But when it comes time for her to learn, we’ll be there. We’re partners, babe.”
Lyra looked back at her wife with a loving expression in her eyes. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too. See you when you get home?”
“Of course. Keep that workshop open, we’re gonna have a big order of droids to patch up when we get there,” Lyra winked. “Love you baby.”
“Love you too!”
Lyra flipped off the projector and flopped back in her seat with a small but happy smile. The reality of needing to tell Flurry was stressing, but as she thought more and more, she did realize it would have to happen one day. But if both of them talked to her about it, maybe all of them… maybe they could help her adjust to such a bomb of a truth.
A fleet of Star Destroyers huddled together, standing outside a nearby system for an important meeting. The meeting, while nothing exciting, was important to require the heads of a few ISB members, and a Grand Admiral or two. Midnight, during all of this, was in her quarters. Quietly, she meditated to calm herself, and reach in the Force. She wanted to find Flurry Heart, if she could see her. She would be getting strong in the Force, but it was a matter of when.
However that session quickly ended as her enclosed pod opened up like an oyster, revealing an Admiral standing there, waiting for her attention.
“Admiral Pryde. What is it?”
"We have intercepted a signal coming from the Agamar System. It seems to be a group of Rebels contacting the rest of their alliance with some news. Apparently, they are gathering more allies; CIS allies. I believe this may be the last CIS holdout that we have been searching for.”
“Who sent out that transmission?”
“A Jedi Master, Lyra Heartstrings.”
Midnight knew immediately what to do. "If she's there, so will Flurry Heart. Gather two Star Destroyers, we'll heading there personally.”
“What about our current project? Should we send it to Agamar, we could easily—”
“—We are not going to destroy Agamar. I’ll be coming as well, I want those Rebels, alive. You may destroy any battle droids that are online, they're useless to us now. But leave the Rebels. Understood?”
“Yes, Lady Midnight.”
Hours had gone by, and the Rebel team was making good time. They were almost done with the evacuation, just a few more crates and they would be ready to leave. In the open hangar bay, several battle droids in the hangar started to work as fast as they could, shuffling the cargo crates into many shuttles as they could. They needed as much ammunition and firearms as they could, the Rebels would need these for sure. They even tossed a few of their shutdown allies into the ships as well, hoping to bring back as many as they could.
But as more of them worked, they felt a soft thud hit the ground. And another. And another. The ground shook underneath their feet, even shown more by the oil spill on the ground making vibrations. They looked outside of the base, gazing off in the distance. It was hard to see, but they could see some black specs out in the barren lands.
Two of the droids, dashed forward to get a closer look. One of them held up a pair of binoculars, trying to get a closer look at what laid ahead of them. At first when he zoomed in, he was seeing a giant piece of metal prodding in the ground. But that piece of metal started to move. He looked straight up, seeing what appeared to be a cabin control with a set of turrets attached. Zooming out, the picture became clearer. Several Imperial walkers were marching across the ground, heading in their direction.
“Uh oh... Imperial walkers are approaching. We must alert the General.”
“Roger roger,” the other B1-unit replied, accessing the coms. “General, Governor, we have a problem. There are several Imperial walkers approaching. About a hundred miles across from us.”
"What!?"
--
Tawni looked outside with her binocs, seeing the waves of walkers coming their way.
"How did they find us?" Tawni stammered.
"Well, we weren't going to be hidden for long," Lyra groaned. "We have the citizens evacuated from the homes, but we need to finish refueling the shuttles. Does anyone have any heavy cannons or tanks?"
"We have only a few tanks, and three Octuptarra droids. We won't be able to transport them off-world," Kalani calculated.
"No, but they'll buy us some time," Lyra shook her head. "Send out the Octuptarras. They're big enough to be a target, they'll have to focus on them while we finish."
Tawni let out a small sigh. "I don't want to... but I see no other choice."
"Agreed," Kalani added, before relaying the orders through his com devices. "Activate the Octuptarra units and seal the hangar doors."
The Imperial walkers were always a sight that stood for the mighty force of the Empire. In the early days of the growing development, they once used the former Republic AT-TE walkers, stripped of color and all in stark gray. But as their weapons advanced, so did their desire for bigger, better weaponry grew. And so, eventually came the Imperial AT-AT walkers. Bigger and stronger than the predecessors from the Clone Wars, with the only downside being they were extremely slow. But the slower speed only provided more anticipation for the pilots to approach their goals, and for everyone inside to have a complete strategy prepared.
Leading the walkers was an Equestrian general; Admiral Spears. He had earned many medals and promotions through his multiple victories on a few battlefronts. Now the battlefields he participated in were considerably minor, but they all had ripple effects that led to a larger victory for the Empire regime. Leading the walkers, he focused on the outpost that drew every so slightly closer to them. Locking on, he watched as the hangar doors sealed themselves, locking down from anyone getting in.
"Admiral Spears, what is their progress?" Midnight spoke.
"They've sealed the hangar doors of the outpost. It appears we caught them in the middle of the evacuation," the Equestrian admiral informed. "We're still on approach. And, wait a minute... hmm. My lady, we have some targets coming our way," he looked at the scanners. "Three of them."
"Take care of them, and bring the doors down. They can't stay hidden forever."
Across the barren landscape were three droids, towering the same height as the AT-AT walkers. Three legs, three eyes, and three turrets that fired. With each blaster shot they made, the turrets would spin around for a different eye to focus and take a shot. At first, they were just moving forward in a straight line, until two of them started to break off, going to the left and right. The one in the middle, the leader, kept marching forward, spinning the eyes and turrets around with each shot. It aimed for each one of them at a time, with the blasts ineffectively inflicting damage to each of the hulls of their armor.
"This is a game, isn't it?" Admiral Spears spat. "These are the forces of the almighty Storm Empire? The Rebels must be desperate if they're relying on them."
The walkers fired directly at the Octuptarra in the middle, striking the main central brain and watching it collapse onto the ground with a tremoring thud. The other two remained focused on moving from the sides, moving quickly to intercept. But that plan quickly backfired as well. The one on the left wasn't able to avoid being targeted by the walkers who started to turn around, tilting the body around like an animal and fired multiple turbolasers into the central brains, making a second large explosion that shook the ground.
Tawni and a few citizens gazed out the main window of the outpost, watching the Octuptarras become obliterated quicker and quicker.
"We're losing them fast, how much time do we need?" Tawni asked through her coms.
Inside, the droids, citizens, and Rebels moved faster to finish refueling the ships, pumping them all with the energy they needed. "We're almost done, we just have two more shuttles left to go!" The battle droid called, pulling a massive pipe off one of the shuttle's ports.
And with everyone's help, they moved just in time. They fueled up the ships, while the last Octuptarra stood it's ground.
Turning around to the side of the walkers, it fired nonstop, testing the plating of the armor. Realizing it did no damage, it focused to look lower at the ground, maybe at the feet. Just like before, there was no damage being done to the mammoth of a machine. But as the walkers kept going, the droid noticed something; the neck. The neck didn't look as armored as everything else, maybe that was the key?
Focusing on the twisting neck, the turret fired and got a direct hit onto the neck, making a massive explosion of fire. The walker tried to fight it, but the Octuptarra fired again, taking out the head unit in an inferno. Soon enough the walker's body limped forward and crashed onto the ground. Realizing the weakness, the Octuptarra got ready for round two.
But it was too late. The other two walkers got the hint, twisting themselves around to focus on the droid and fired simultaneously, completely destroying it. The last Octuptarra exploded before the legs collapsed with no power or strength holding it together.
"My lady, their walking defenses have been defeated. Should we destroy the hangar doors?"
"No. We'll be sending in the ground troops to force them out. Their evacuation will commence soon enough; destroy any that try to escape. Stand your ground."
"Yes, my lady," the admiral replied.
Everyone was gathered together, ready to fight. Battle droids, a few citizens, the Rebels, everyone was geared up for a fight. They were listening to the ground, waiting to her another tremoring stomp, the only indication that told them when the walkers were getting closer. But to their surprise, there was none. The ground didn't shake anymore, making everyone look at each other with worry.
Quietly, the hangar was brought to a stand-still, waiting for the next move. The battle droids didn't mutter or mumble, the only sounds were the clicking of their aching joints. Not a sound could be heard, until another rumble started to shake the ground around them. The engines of a ship coming to the ground were heard, opening up the doors, and several running feet pouring out to the ship onto the ground like ants.
"Okay... ready...." Lyra whispered.
Everyone stood ready for a fight, holding their feet down.
"Ready...."
Sweat ran down the foreheads of all living flesh, hearts racing a mile a minute. They were bracing for a fight, possibly a final stand if they had to. But they did not run. They stayed together, and waited.
Following her orders, the hangar doors opened and so the gang charged forward, shooting at the Midnight troopers as they started to flood the inside. While Lyra and Flurry deflected as many blasts as they could with their lightsabers. Rex, Eleven, and the battle droids fired back, moving as commandos, taking cover behind as much as possible, instead of the usual strategy of charging in waves. Tawni and a few other civilians who had blasters joined the fray, firing alongside the battle droids.
“Everyone, get to your ships!” Lyra ordered over the blaster fire.
Battle droids, one by one, started to make their way towards their assigned shuttles in hopes to escape. A few of them were destroyed by the Midnight troopers during the run, but a good amount of droids managed to dash onto the shuttle. Even a few droidekas managed to roll in time to climb aboard for the take off.
IG-11 marched in the middle of the hangar to attract the most attention, and unleashed his ultimate move; a walking tank of destruction. His scopes scanned all around him and his arms moved in all directions to take out as many troopers as he could. Captain Rex got a few good shots in as well, with many of them trying to blast at him, but the years of experience and training kicked in again as Rex evaded their fire like a master.
Joining Eleven, a few droidekas stood by the former assassin droid, protected in their bubbles as they fired at the barrage of Midnight troopers who tried to press forward. Their blasts had no affect on the bubbles, providing perfect cover for the time being.
Two shuttles managed to depart from the hangar, with the thrusters bursting with power as they flew to the air. Soon a third and a fourth managed to leave as well. Right behind the fourth shuttle was one of the deployer stations which took off like a rocket, firing past the hangar and into the skies, avoiding the fire from the walkers on the ground.
“How many did he say were working again?” Flurry shouted over the fire.
“Twenty, I think?” Lyra replied.
“That is correct!” Kalani responded, taking position behind some crates and shooting back at the Midnight troopers.
Three more shuttles started to leave, but one of them was shot by the walkers, and immediately crashed into the ground, exploding upon impact. The walkers shot at the remaining deployer stations and shuttles as they left, but it was too late. They took off into the skies, away from the walkers.
The group watched as the rest of the ships made it into the air, until Adagio spoke up. “Kalani, didn’t you say the shuttles had no weapons?”
“That is correct,” Kalani replied.
“Follow-up question. How can they escape when they have no means to defend themselves?” Adagio asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“Your logic is sound. But my droids have not reported any Star Destroyers outside the planet’s atmosphere,” Kalani replied.
“Uhhh, sir? There are three Star Destroyers out here, we can’t fight it, should we activate one of the stations?” A battle droid spoke from one of the shuttles.
Kalani looked at Lyra and company, who looked a bit fearful, but they gave him a simple nod. The tactician understood and spoke into his commlink.
“Unit B1-268, activate one of the deployers. You will need Vulture escorts to protect the fleet until we join you,” Kalani instructed.
“Roger roger.”
Outside of Agamar, one of the deployer stations stopped flying with the others and froze in place. Six hatches opened up, and a few droids were unloaded; four Vulture droids and two Tri-fighters. All at once, the flyers were activated and they rushed towards their assigned squadron to escort them to safety. As expected, TIE fighters emerged from the Star Destroyer and started to open fire.
Two of the Vultures spun around and charged towards the TIEs, firing their lasers at the fighters. Naturally, the TIEs quickly evaded their blasts and started to circle around to fight back. One of the Vultures extended their heads and said something unintelligible, and it’s four legs extended a little. Four missiles were seen pulling out and they all deployed at the squadron to distract them.
Quickly the two Vultures spun around, but one of them was blown up immediately by a pursuing TIE. The missiles that had been deployed soon started to chase the pilots. One of them successfully hit a TIE, blowing the ship up instantly. Another missile locked onto another TIE, but that missile was eviscerated before it could do any damage.
The remaining two missiles pursued a group of TIES were who about to make chase after the group of droids, but suddenly they collided in front of them and exploded to their surprise. But they saw something emerge from the explosion. At first, it looked like just parts remaining from the explosion, but these looked more round as they flew right at the TIEs. And to their surprise, all of the round balls that flew at them emerged, revealing a group of small, but vicious buzz droids.
"Oh no..." the pilot bemoaned.
Everyone pulled back from the firefight on the ground, evading the onslaught of troops that kept pouring into the hangar. Once everyone was away, they closed the doors behind them, and the battle droids got to work on sealing them tight so they couldn't get through right away. Lyra's eyes looked around; the citizens were all here, Kalani, Tawni, Adagio, Rex, IG-11, and Flurry here too. Cheep was back on the Sweetie Drop for standby, and there was a gaggle of battle droids still here to help provide protection for the unarmed civilians.
Lyra tried to clear her mind for a second and think, but a gust of energy caught her attention. A cold rush, yet no wind. A dark presence, yet nothing the eyes could see. A small gasp escaped her breath, as if she realized something. Something terrible.
“She’s here.”
“Who?” Tawni asked.
“Midnight. She's here.”
“All the more reason to get the hell out of here!” Adagio argued.
“Maybe so, but we still have bots to get off this rock,” Lyra retorted, trying to think. “Okay, what I’m about to do is risky, but it’s one we have to take," she looked to the rest of the battle droids who had finished sealing the doors. "Droids, stay with with the group and cover from the back. Flurry and Adagio, stay up front with Kalani and keep them moving. Rex and Eleven, stay in the back with the battle droids.
"What are you going to do?" Flurry asked.
“I’m going to distract her. I’ll buy you all some time. When you have everyone, contact me so I can join you all. We are going to win this war, no matter what,” Lyra determined. She looked down to her little girl, and she held her close in a small but comforting hug. “I’ll be okay kiddo. I promise. Stay safe.”
Flurry softly nodded.
“Rex, one quick word if I may?”
The captain wasn’t sure, but he gave the okay for the others to keep on the move to try and get everyone out. Lyra looked at the Captain dead in the eye with a heavy sigh, and spoke.
“Captain. If anything happens to me, I want you to promise me you’ll get my little girl out of here alive. She means everything to me.”
“I don’t understand, you—”
“—I don’t know. Look, I’ll be honest, the thought of having you clones back scared me. But not as much as what horrible things could happen to my little girl.”
Lyra held Rex’s shoulders and gave him a straight face. “Please. Promise me you’ll keep her safe.”
The captain could feel her seriousness and worry all rolling together. He didn’t know what was gonna go down, but he knew one thing. He was going to keep her safe, and he was getting out of here alive.
“I promise… Lyra,” he replied.
“Okay. I’ll be back. Hopefully not too long,” Lyra said to the crew. “Tawni, may I borrow some of your droidekas?”
Lyra’s cloak swished in the halls, walking with determination. As she made a turn around another corner, she froze. She felt a powerful sense of darkness beyond the doors across from her. Knowing what was to come, she pressed a button on her wrist-com, calling for her aid.
The doors opened slowly, grinding and hissing as they tried to pull open. And within the darkness, there was some quiet. Until the quiet was filled with the sounds of heavy breathing. Artificial breathing through filters. A figure stepped forward; clad in dark purple and black, mask obscuring the face entirely.
By her side were soldiers in black armor, with a few hints of purple. Their pauldrons were also in purple, and all of them were holding long-range blaster rifles. They had their weapons aimed at her, but Midnight slowly raised a hand, telling them to lower them and to not make a move. Understanding, the troopers lowered their weapons.
“For a time, I thought I had lost all I held dear to me. And now that I know the truth… I believe my meeting with my niece is long overdue.”
Lyra glared at her. “You lost the right to call her your niece a long time ago. I can’t imagine how Shining or Cadence would feel knowing what you’ve done, if they could have lived.”
Midnight was quiet. Dangerously quiet.
“I should strike you down. But… I’m feeling rather grateful, especially since you have trained my niece so well, and kept her alive all this time. We don’t have to end it like this. In fact… all I want is to see my niece one more time.”
“I don’t buy it,” Lyra sneered, still standing her ground but not reaching for her weapon.
“It is an unfortunate accident that she and I are on opposing sides. Our paths will cross soon enough. All I want is to see her before we resume our battle once more.”
Lyra still didn’t budge. “You’ll just convert her to your side. Torture her. Like you did to Trixie. Vinyl. Octavia. Anyone else I should remind you that you hurt?"
“I know Flurry won’t change,” Midnight retorted. “But she is all I have. I deserve to see my last family member one last time.” And then for a brief moment, the distortion in her mask suddenly stopped. She heard a distinct voice, one that she hadn’t heard for a long time. “P… Please… Please Lyra… I just want to see her…”
Lyra could hear how hurt she was underneath the mask. But with a frown and determined glare in her eyes, she still refused to lower her defenses.
“I know you miss her. But I’m her mother. And as her mother, I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if it means I have to fight you.”
Some more silence filled the hallway, as the Purge troopers looked at each other, and then to Midnight. They were awaiting her command to open fire, to end this woman’s life. She wasn’t going to let her just say that, was she?
“It’s a shame that our last meeting has to come to this,” Midnight said, her filtered voice coming back through again. “But before you die, I have more thing I wish to say.”
“What?” Lyra growled.
Midnight was quiet again, but only for a few seconds. “She doesn’t know now… but she will eventually. You can’t hide the truth from her forever. She will have to know.”
“Well as long as I’m alive, you can bet I’m going to do what I can to keep her alive.”
“How long do you think this cover will last?” Midnight pressed.
“Enough! Are we going to fight, or just talk?”
“… very well. If you wish for a fight… troopers. Raise your blasters.”
The Purge troopers raised their rifles and aimed them at Lyra.
“These troopers are a particular kind you fought beside long ago. Made from the very last jars grown on Kamino. I’m sure you won’t have issue handling them.”
“Sleemo, Please," Lyra deadpanned.
Her signal came clear, and rolling around the corners and right beside her was a set of four to balance the four Purge troopers; droidekas. All of them unfolded themselves into fighting positions and raised their bubble shields in defense. In addition, two Magnaguards ran behind her, twirling their electro-batons.
“And I’m sure you remember how much these droids completely mowed down thousands of troopers without difficulty.”
Both sides stood off against each other, glaring at one another. Droidekas clicked, and Purge troopers primed. Midnight and Lyra gazed at each other, standing firmly on the ground, waiting to make the move to fight. Lyra made the first; extending a hand out, she forced Midnight away from her, sliding her across the floors, but not knocking her down on her feet. The Purge troopers took their chance to try and shoot her, only for her to pull out her saber at the last second to deflect them.
The droidekas started to fire, with two of the Purge troopers mowed down from the fire, and unable to get a shot through their bubble shields. Taking a chance, one of the droidekas folded itself up and rolled forward, before slipping back into attack mode to fight Midnight. The leader blocked the blaster attacks without much force, and extended a hand that reached inside the force-field without touching.
The droid inside started to fizz and buzz with electricity until it completely imploded on itself, collapsing into pieces. The other three droidekas continued to fire, while the Purge troopers took cover behind some walls. Taking a chance, one of them threw a thermal detonator on the ground which rolled nice and gently into the shield of another droideka. Several loud beeps occurred, and then the droid was zapped of life, destroying the shield and letting it flop on the ground.
Taking their chance, the Purge troopers moved forward to keep up the fight, blocked by the Magnaguards. One of the guards twirled their baton around as they blocked the blaster fire, distracting him for the time. One of the droidekas took the chance and turned around, blasting a few shots into his back, killing him. But that distraction allowed another Purge trooper to fire at it, getting it's attention.
Turning around, the droideka got ready to roll but during its mid-roll, the trooper fired multiple blaster bolts into the body as it tried to speed up, sending it crashing to the side and falling apart. Lyra, Midnight and three droids were all that remained, as they stood together.
"Your droids will not survive this encounter," Midnight warned, walking towards her. "I would not send them to fight again." Lyra looked at the droids behind her, giving them one nod. Following silent orders, the Magnaguards ran out of the hallway, with the droideka rolling after them to regroup with the others. Now the only ones left were Midnight and Lyra.
Midnight's hand reached for her lightsaber, letting the blood-red plasma blade shine in the dark hall. In turn, Lyra ignited her nature-green lightsaber as she stood in a fighting stance. The hums of both blades echoed as both masters of the Force got closer, but neither one of them made the first move. Both waited to make the first move, testing the waters to see how each other would react. Lyra braced herself, shifting her footing as she brought her blade up, and then feinted, thrusting out in a quick stab at the Sith Lord’s left arm.
Midnight flicked out her lightsaber and almost lazily batted away her strike, and the duel began in earnest. Lyra swiped her blade low, back and forth, aiming to cut Midnight’s legs out from under her, but the Dark Lady neatly stepped back and then lunged forward; her saber stabbing right for her heart.
Lyra pivoted to the right and struck her saber into the side of the wall, sending a cascade of sparks flying out. Midnight didn’t flinch at the bits of crackling heat that fell around her cloak, but pressed onward, implacable as a tidal wave. The Dark Lady of the Empire brought her lightsaber down in one sharp overhead slash; Lyra moved to block the attack and immediately regretted it—the strength in the Sith’s attack made her bones ache like they’d just been struck with a gravity hammer.
Doing her best not to cry out, Lyra sucked in her breath, and thought of Bon-Bon and Flurry. And with a surge of desperate hope, she called on the Force and thrust out her hand, pushing Midnight back. The Dark Lady almost seemed to slide backwards, still firm on her feet, before thrusting out her hand and pushing back. The Living Force seemed to shriek as the two combatants’ wills battered at each other, until, with an almighty bang like a thunderclap, the surge of power stalemated, and both Jedi and Sith were pushed back and away from each other.
For a moment, neither opponent said anything. Lyra and Midnight stared each other down; the Jedi’s golden eyes staring determinedly into the blank dark lenses of the Sith Lord’s mask. The only sound in the corridor was the steady hum of lightsabers, and the faint hiss of Midnight’s respirator.
“When Lightning Dust told me about a young Jedi who took her arm, I was curious as to who she was,” Darth Midnight said, all too calmly, “And when the bounty hunter I’d hired told me her name… I knew it to be true. And for the first time, I did not feel so alone.”
Lyra felt a sick chill creep through her gut at those words.
“You have done me a great favor, taking care of Flurry Heart all these years,” Midnight stated. “I owe you a debt, Lyra. Put away your blade and leave this place, and you and your wife will be left in peace. Otherwise,” she brought up her lightsaber, and calmly traced a simple “X”-shape in the space before her, “I will kill you and everyone else in my way.”
Lyra Heartstrings scowled, and resisted the temptation to make a very rude gesture for her response. “I don’t care what you have to say, or offer,” she snarled. “You’re not getting anywhere near her. Even if I have to die to make that happen!”
Lyra stepped to the left, bringing up her saber to deflect a strike from Midnight’s crimson blade. She moved to slash at the Sith’s arm, but Midnight parried her strike and followed up with an almost dismissive flick of the wrist; the resulting Force push shoving her several feet backwards. The Dark Lady didn’t let up. She came at Lyra with blow after blow, as steady and implacable as a machine, hammering away at the Jedi’s guard. Gritting her teeth, Lyra jumped backwards and pivoted to the middle of the hall, bringing up her saber as Darth Midnight strode towards her. And, as the Sith’s blood-red blade swung down at her mid-level guard… Lyra powered off the blade of her lightsaber. Midnight Sparkle’s swing cut through open air, and even as the Sith moved to correct her momentum, Lyra reactivated her blade and slashed at her opponent’s side.
There was a hiss of plasma and a faint spray of reddish smoke, and Darth Midnight let out a shuddering gasp and dropped to one knee. Lyra had drawn back on instinct after making the strike, and, knowing that to leap in and strike again would be suicidal, brought up her lightsaber and held it high, shifting her stance to the Form III style of dueling. An odd calm settled over her as she watched Midnight rise to her feet again.
The Sith might have been wounded, but she was not out of the fight by any means. Indeed, she might have been more dangerous than before now: the Living Force practically buzzed with a cold, angry energy, as Midnight all too calmly touched one hand to the faintly sizzling gash on her left side. Lyra spotted the faint glint of deep red blood covering her opponent’s glove as Midnight pulled her hand away from the injury.
“I wouldn’t have expected you to use a trick like that…” The Sith’s voice came out quietly, but there was pure menace beneath her words.
“When you deal with bounty hunters, you learn a lot about tricks.” Lyra answered simply. The calm that had settled over her was still present, despite the faint chill that seemed to hang in the air as Midnight brought up her saber again.
“A mistake I won’t make again,” was all that the Imperial war leader said, and then she lunged forward.
The red blade came stabbing forward, faster than a sandscorpion’s sting, and Lyra found herself backing up under the renewed assault. Lyra shifted stances, calling on what she remembered of Soresu from the old lessons and texts, trying to conserve energy and deflect her opponent’s attacks as much as possible. But even with her injury, Midnight’s advance was relentless; if anything, her power seemed to be growing.
A newfound chill seemed to hang in the air as Lyra fought against the Dark Lady. Whether it was some Force power of Midnight’s or some sinking realization of how this was going to end, Lyra didn’t know. Nor did she want to know. All that mattered to her was that she had to slow down her opponent as much as possible. She could not let Midnight take her daughter away. She would not let this madwoman tear her family apart.
The thought of Flurry – and of Bon Bon too – fueled her, and as she deflected another rapid strike from Midnight’s lightsaber, Lyra Heartstrings twirled her own blade in a dazzling array of motions. Her lightsaber whirled around, creating a rapidly shifting shield of vivid green light, and as Darth Midnight paused in her onslaught, Lyra started to feel a newfound sense of hope. And then Midnight sharply brought up one hand and clenched its fingers into a vise.
Lyra Heartstrings froze in her movement, her throat constricting, and her lightsaber slipped from her hands with a strangled gasp, as the Sith Lord’s power lifted her, almost gently, off the ground. “Enough,” was all that Midnight said, before she swiped her hand to one side, and Lyra was slammed against the nearest wall and pinned in place.
The Sith Lady strode towards her, lowering her blade for the moment. Lyra choked, her eyes wide, spots dancing in her vision, but she would not give up. She tried to lift one arm, and gagged as the pressure on her throat doubled----So she reached out with the Force, focusing everything she had—all her thoughts, all her will, all the love and hope she had for her wife and her daughter—on the lightsaber that had clattered to the floor and deactivated.
The Jedi’s lightsaber didn’t move for an instant. Then it shuddered, and then slid along the floor, before it jerked into the air, and whizzed at the back of Midnight’s helmet. The green blade hissed to life, and the Dark Lady of the Empire gasped almost inaudibly as she moved to dodge the oncoming saber—
Her concentration flickered for a moment, and in that instant Lyra sucked in a deep breath of air. She braced her legs against the wall, and kicked off, even as she spun her still-moving lightsaber around to point back towards Darth Midnight. Lyra grabbed the hilt of the saber, and dropped to the floor, rolled forward, and in a second, sprang to her feet to stab right at the center of Midnight’s chest—
SHKKK.
Lyra froze. Her mouth opened in a muted scream, her eyes wide as, in a daze, she looked down to her stomach, and saw reddish steam curling out from the deep gash that Midnight’s lightsaber had just opened at her waist. For half an instant, there was no pain. Then, she dropped to the floor, paralyzed with agony. No… not like this… she had promised Bon-Bon, it couldn’t end this way…
A shadow fell over her, and Lyra’s eyes jerked upwards to see Midnight looming over her. "You fought bravely, like a true Jedi,” the Dark Lady said, her deepened voice sounding almost gentle. “For that, and for Flurry Heart, I’ll give you a quick death.” The red blade raised up high, just like an executioner’s sword, and the universe seemed to come to a halt.
Her golden eyes locked onto Midnight, slowly stepping towards her like a ticking clock. Every second drew closer to her end, and she wasn't ready. Flurry wasn't ready, she had to prepare her, what if she was never going to escape? What if she found out the truth, or worse, what if Midnight manipulated her to the dark?
Lyra's breathing grew heavy as she laid there on the ground, trying to cling on desperately to what energy she had remaining. Midnight's saber grew closer as she hobbled towards her, as multiple images flashed before Lyra's eyes. She looked to the saber, but all time stopped momentarily as a new vision entered her brain.
Slow deep breaths. Feet planted firmly on the ground as multiple Rebels fight around her. Mildly milky white eyes readjusting to get their vision back focus on an unknown figure as a teenager stands into a fighting position. She stays calm, confident, focused. And with an eagerness on her face, she makes the charge to fight...
Lyra's eyes closed with a tear of joy running down her face, accompanied by a smile. The energy of the Force reached out to her, finally taking hold of her.
And Midnight's saber swung down.
Flurry's head went up, turning to look back. The entire crew was behind the hangar, with a bay open for personal ships to be parked at, where the last of the civilians were racing inside. The only people left were a few battle droids, and the main rebels. All they had to do was wait for Lyra to come back and leave, but there was still a delay. The crew didn't want to believe the worst, praying only that she was late, or she had a hard time fighting off some soldiers.
The doors opened from deep within the dark hallways that led to the bay. Flurry and Rex slowly crept forward to look, listening carefully. Artificial breathing echoed inside, with clanking boots. Both Rebels backed up, realizing who was steadily approaching them. Stepping into the light was Midnight Sparkle, clutching her side from pain. Her breathing was still steady, but she did not look like she was going to go down just yet.
Rex looked to see if maybe Lyra was behind her, or if she was on her way. But one look at Midnight's belt made him realize what had happened.
"Flurry, we need to get out of here," Rex spoke.
Flurry glared at the lady of the Empire, standing straight. "Midnight."
The Sith breathed softly as she looked at Flurry, before steadily standing up straight. She didn't attack, didn't lunge. She just stood there, gazing at her, as if she was studying her.
Needing to buy the group time, Flurry charged at her, ready to attack, possibly strike her down. But a powerful force locked her body in place, keeping her still. She tried to fight it, but she couldn't. Midnight stood still, watching her struggle to fight control, then lifted a hand towards her belt, pulling the weapon away from her. The makeshift lightsaber flew to her hands, which she observed from all sides and angles. Solid weight, good metal, a bit junky from the weight, but modified enough that it could be held.
"I see that you've built your own lightsaber. Simple, but effective enough... though your technique needs refining."
Her hand let go of the teenager, and allowed her to grab her weapon back. In anger, Flurry tried to strike again, but Midnight stopped her from going further, locking her in place and pushing her back without hesitation. Flurry had to stop for a second. This woman wasn't striking her. Stranger still, she hadn't done anything to stop her team from trying to escape, everyone was ready to leave, but she didn't stop them.
Flurry looked at her again, a new disturbance in the Force clouding her senses. She didn't know what to think, but something felt off. The way Midnight looked at her, the way she looked at her saber, it felt as if she... knew her.
But Flurry's moment of thought vanished when she looked to Midnight's belt. Her regular saber was on the other side, but the new addition...
Dead silence filled the air. The sound of her heart beating intensely against her chest was all Flurry could hear. She didn't want to believe it, but it was true. She couldn't feel her mom's presence anymore, nothing in the Force told her she was nearby.
She was gone.
Flurry wanted to cry, or break down. But she didn't. If this monster was going to take her mom away, then she would take Midnight from the Empire! Her blood boiled and her fists were clenched, with grit teeth. Rex and the last of the crew waited for Flurry to run back to the ship, but she didn't. They didn't even understand why Midnight wasn't charging at her either. Flurry's hand slowly raised with open fingers aimed to the ceiling above. Several loud grunts and moans of metal echoed inside.
"Flurry, we need to leave, now!" Rex shouted.
Flurry ignored him. Midnight had to die.
She grabbed harder and ventilation started to collapse, falling down and slamming against the ground, beside Midnight. She didn't flinch from the sound, but she did look up when she saw the catwalk starting to shake and rumble. Moving quickly, she got out of the way just as the set of steel holding it up was broken and the bridge swung.
However, some folks stopped her from going further, not that she could. She could only grab a few things from her sight, even desperately throwing containers and crates at her but Midnight barely flinched.
"LET ME AT HER! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!!"
"Flurry, we need to go!" Rex pleaded, holding her with IG-11.
"No, let me go! NOW!!!" Flurry screamed, tears flying off her face.
They pushed and pulled her away, dragging her onto the ship until the doors closed, with Rex slamming the button.
"PUNCH IT, TAWNI!" Rex barked.
Tawni sat at the controls, activating the engines. A burst of flames ignited from the thrusters, and the ship lifted off the ground. The legs folded themselves inside, and blasted out of the hangar, punching through the skies. Holding the controls tightly, Tawni felt herself shaking as she guided the vessel out of the atmosphere, just barely evading the turbo lasers from the Star Destroyers above. The citizens held on tight, with the aid of the battle droids to whatever they could hold, trying desperately not to hurt themselves or break anything.
Out in space, Tawni was greeted by a horrible sight. What started as a big fleet of ships was now reduced to six shuttles, and three deployer stations remaining to follow them. Several Vultures and Tri-fighters were circling around the Star Destroyers, fighting them off as best as they could, but time had run out.
One last ditch effort came from one of the Vultures who charged straight at bridge of one of the Star Destroyers, exploding and shaking the inside of the ship as well. The Star Destroyer started to go down, anchored by the lack of power and being dragged down into the gravitational pull of Agamar.
Hailing the rest of the droids, Tawni watched as they made one final swoop around, coming towards the fleet to get ready to leave. Two of the droids; a single Vulture and a Tri-fighter, docked to the sides of the ship, magnetized in place. The last remaining two went underneath the ship, claming on like an extra set of thrusters.
“All units, jump to hyperspace and follow the coordinates,” Kalani ordered.
“Roger roger!”
“Roger roger!”
The admirals on board the other two Star Destroyers could only stare in disbelief as their lead flagship went down. They couldn’t fathom how one of those outdated rust buckets even fought them! They took out at least thirteen of their ships, shuttles included, how could they have won? They watched as the remaining six shuttles flew past them, along with the three deployer stations behind them above their ships.
The Sweetie Drop was soon to follow, with two remaining short-range fighters tailing; a Tri-fighter and a Vulture. The two ships lined up next to the two docking ports and magnetized themselves on, ready to join the ship to depart. And with all ships sharing the coordinates, one by one, they all jumped into hyperspace and fled the system.
Admiral Pryde scoffed in disbelief, not thrilled with their progress. Just then, a transmission came through.
“Admiral Pryde. How many of them escaped?”
“I’m afraid even with their heavy losses, they escaped. We took out most of their shuttles, only six remaining, but they escaped with deployer stations. And their main ship has escaped.”
“As expected. We did what we came here for. I’ve made my message clear to a particular member on that ship.”
“Should we start trying to track them?”
“No. Let them keep their short victory. I know I should be expecting a visit from one of them in a few days. Stand by while we return to the ship."
In hyperspace, the Separatist fleet stayed steady as they flew together. The Sweetie Drop was now in the lead, with the six remaining shuttles behind, followed by the three deployer stations.
Everyone on board the Sweetie Drop finally calmed down from the escape, allowing them to find places to get comfortable and stay out of the way. While it was weird being stuck in someone’s house, it was still spacious and warm enough for sanctuary. Even the few battle droids that aided their escape were finding spaces to sit down and relax.
Tawni looked around, happy on the inside to see her people were safe, for once. But she wasn’t happy that their escape came at a price. She looked down the hallway, leading to the front where the cockpit was, wondering if she should check on their pilot. The governor looked at the datapad in her hand, then back at the hall. She considered going up there, until Captain Rex walked out of the hallway to talk to her.
“I think right now she needs to be left alone,” Rex suggested. “She’s… not ready to talk.”
The governor leaned back against a bare wall. “I feel like I should talk to her though.”
“I don’t know how much good it will do,” Rex shook his head. “She’s locked up tight.”
“Well, hopefully your friends on Yavin can help her,” Tawni sighed. “I did a quick check on our crew; all of the citizens are here, we thankfully didn’t lose many numbers. Unfortunately during the escape we’ve lost more than half of our shuttles to the Star Destroyers.”
“That’s bound to happen regardless,” another voice interrupted. Adagio Dazzle spoke up this time, stepping in with a tray with some drinks. Rex accepted it, although Tawni politely declined. “How many do you have left?”
Tawni sighed as she looked at her datapad. “I’ve lost track of how many droids were in each of the shuttles, but the pilots of each of them are providing me a head count. We’re down to three deployer stations which means we only have eighteen flyers remaining, not accounting the droids that magnetized themselves to us. And at the moment, we only have thirteen battle droids in this ship."
“And how many did we have to start?”
“I don’t know. I do know we had twenty shuttles… now we only have six remaining,” Tawni said, slapping her hands by her sides. “It’s barely enough for a battalion, at best we have a company with my estimation.”
“Better than none of them,” Adagio shrugged. "We have to work with what we got, and if this is all we have, then we'll work with it," the Siren pulled out a few crates to sit down. "Better strategy than the typical Storm Empire way; kill all that are useless and fend only for yourself."
"I never believed in his ideologies," Tawni shook her head, letting her elbows rest on her lap.
"Then why did you continue to stay?"
"I wanted to believe there was a chance I could make a change," the governor answered; short and quick.
Around the corner, General Kalani approached the group to speak with them. "My gratitude for your help cannot be properly measured, Captain and former Sith," he greeted. "It was not a victory, but a successful strategy, nonetheless," Kalani he looked towards the civilians hanging out in the living area, talking and giving each other comfort from the fear. "We are gracious for your help in escape, Captain. You and the Jedi included."
"You should probably tell her that yourself," Adagio folded her arms.
"I am not going to bother an emotionally disturbed lifeform," Kalani assured. "That action has an 86% chance of destruction."
"Good," Tawni rested her head against the wall. "Though I suppose now we need to ask this; what are we going to do when we arrive? You have Jedi in your Alliance, they will not be so kind when they see us," the governor asked.
"We'll make a stand for you, and your people," Rex reassured, standing up. "And I for one am not going to let General Heartstrings' demise be in vain."
"And where are you going?"
"I'm going to check on the kid, make sure she has company," Rex explained. Passing down the hall, he went past a few more civilians and another battle droid just looking for any spot to stand. Opening the door, she saw Flurry was sitting there with only Cheep for company. She stared out into space, not looking at anyone or anything, with only her hand softly petting Cheep's dome.
"Flurry," Rex spoke, softly as he closed the door. "I'm so sorry," the trooper sat down in the co-pilot seat. "If you want, I can stay here for company, or I could--"
"--It doesn't matter," Flurry said, coldly, trying not to look at him. Her hands were shaking, and Rex could see her trembling with anger and sadness. "I... I need to keep it together."
"Kid, it's okay if you're upset--"
"--I'm fine!" Flurry snapped, closing her eyes. "It doesn't matter! She's dead! That monster killed her, and I can never see her again!"
Rex didn't flinch, nor run away. He knew this all too well, and just stayed there, waiting for her to release everything.
"I heard the stories. I heard how horrible Midnight was, how many lives were taken. How many families were slaughtered, and taken away from innocent people. But you know something? It never really hits you how awful it is, until it happens to you...." she was trying hard not to choke up. "... And she needs to die. I don't care if it's by my hand, or by an explosion, I am going to find Lady Midnight. I am going to find where she lives," she looked at Rex with bloodshot eyes. "And I am going to kill her."
Rex waited for a moment or two, then took his chance to talk. "Flurry, even if you get the chance, killing her isn't going to bring her back. And I'm not just going to let you run off on your own."
"And why is that? You are not my dad," Flurry glared.
"I promised her no matter what happens, I would bring you home safe," Rex informed. Flurry turned her head back to stare off into space, just watching it fly by her in a flash with little care or regard at this point. "But you know something else?"
"... What?" Flurry spat.
"You brought us together. An entire army of clones, battle droids, Stormtroopers, and Jedi could never get along and meet in the middle. But you did. You brought us together. Your mother may not have liked it at first, but she knows it was the right thing to do. You were right."
"All I did was remind you numbskulls that the war was pointless since none of you were going to win," Flurry turned her body further away from Rex. "Just leave me alone right now."
"Chirp chirp..." Cheep pleaded, patting her leg.
Rex wanted to provide comfort, but it was futile. Realizing there was no sense in trying to comfort when she wasn't feeling receptive, he stood up and placed his helmet down. "If you ever need to talk, just hit my com. I'm here for you."
The doors opened and then closed, Rex sighing as he rubbed his temples. How was he going to explain all of this to Bon Bon? Or anyone back home? There was too many things happening all at once, and he didn't even know where to start. No, he had to plan a way to convince them, there had to be a way. And thankfully Tawni and Kalani were here to talk about a plan, he had some adults to speak to.
But as he walked away, he had no idea Adagio was standing on the other side of the hall, listening in on their talk. She had no expression on her face, aside from curious. She looked back at the door, pondering for a moment. But the sound of clanking feet made her turn her head as a battle droid walked past her, trying to find something to do. She rolled her eyes momentarily, until a new voice spoke up.
"Can I help you?"
Nearly jumping, she felt her heart race from the unexpected tone. Looking back, she saw IG-11 standing there, scopes focusing on her.
"No, nothing at all."
The Siren stepped out of the way, allowing the nurse droid to go inside and close the door behind him. Flurry still didn't speak, but IG-11 didn't have to ask to know what was going on. Taking another step, his fingers gently stroked her shoulder, quietly trying to provide comfort. But in a moment of surprise, Flurry got up and pulled Eleven in for a tight hug. The nurse droid wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and patting her back. She stood there, quietly whimpering into his steel-plated shoulder, for as long as she needed him...
After an hour or two of travel, the Sweetie Drop pulled out of hyperspace outside of Yavin IV. The sensors down below from the watchtowers soon picked up on, but worry started to occur when multiple ships pulled out of space alongside it. Multiple flashing red lights, displaying the ship types showed up on the monitoring systems for the watch towers.
"Holy..." the head technician saw.
Slamming a hand down on the emergency button, a loud, blaring alarm sent soundwaves across Yavin IV's entire base, alerting everyone within earshot. Civilians in refugee housing, workers, chefs, staffing, engineers, everyone heard the alarm.
"Attention everyone, we are at Emergency Alpha Levi..."
Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling, listening for the alarm's words. The sound was bad enough, but what was said next made things so much worse.
"... we have multiple Storm Army ships entering Yavin IV's atmosphere..."
Rarity was in so much shock that she dropped her fine china cup, gasping at the same time. Elsewhere, Zorii Bliss, along with a handful of others including Mystery Mint and Bon Bon froze in place, listening for the next set of orders to come through. Bon Bon completely ceased hostilities with Zorii, as both of them focused on what they had to do to get ready for an attack.
"... I repeat, we have Storm Army vessels entering the atmosphere. All refugees please proceed to the shelters for safety; all armed individuals please stand by for immediate action. Panicking is not advised."
Multiple Rebel soldiers charged down the hallways of all species and race, armed to the teeth with blasters, ready for a fight. Even soldiers with repurposed clone commando armor came forward, leading the packs.
Swarming the platforms were the soldiers, taking cover behind whatever they could use; carriers, ships, crates, blockades, anything they could use. The commandos marched forward, standing in the front lines, armed to the teeth with the DC-15 interchangeable blasters; standard issue. Sunset Shimmer and the rest of the Jedi joined the commandos, sabers ignited in a line, ready to hold it if they must. Last to join them was Bon Bon and Zorii, standing at opposite ends of the Jedi group, blasters primed and ready.
Several of the ground staff and engineers fled the scene, moving just in time as the ships started to come down. The first they saw were a few Vulture droids hovering down, the legs unfolding and slamming onto the ground.
"Eetah! Eeva!"
The vultures marched forward, and then moved to the side to allow the rest of the fleet to arrive. Even the Tri-fighter that hooked itself to the Sweetie Drop swooped around and landed in an empty space, with only a few plates of damage shown on the body. The Jedi had way too many questions to ask, but were about to have ten million more of them when the rest of them landed.
First things they saw were a group of Sheathipede-class shuttles, emerging down to the surface all at once. One by one, all of them landed on the massive landing pad zones, powering down as they landed. Steam hissed from some of them as the engines cooled down. Next they saw the three deployer stations which towered over the shuttles by their sheer size. It was enough to send chills down everyone’s spine as they loomed over their ships. But still, no attack. And last of them all was the Sweetie Drop which parked next to one of the shuttles, unfolding the landing gear and powering down.
The General and the rest of the Jedi held their lightsabers out, unsure as to who could have been coming from these shuttles. Were they friends? Were they enemy?
Suddenly, the doors on the first shuttle opened. A group of B1-unit battle droids marched out, making everyone almost jump and panic. But no one shot. They were waiting for the droids to shoot first. Oddly though, none of the battle droids opened fire. Sure they had guns in their arms, but no one fired at the Rebels. In fact, one of them, a commander presumably, was marching towards them and stopped in front of them.
“Greetings! I am Unit B1-268. My commander has sent us out to greet you,” the battle droid announced.
Sunset’s heart pounded against her chest the moment she saw them. It couldn’t have been real, this couldn’t have. She tried to stay calm, but instead of hearing her friends or the people around, she heard nothing except a ringing in her ears. Her surroundings stopped hitting her senses, and all she could hear were sounds of the past. Blaster bolts firing, explosions, the sounds of Republic gunships swooping among a seas of cries of terror, pain, and death.
“No… it can’t be… it’s not over…” Sunset hyperventilated.
As quiet as the girls were at their arrival, they were all thinking the same thing. How many of them were there? The ones emerging from the shuttle, if they were going to attack wasn’t an issue. But if there were more of them?
The rest of the shuttle doors started to unlock. More B1 units emerging with weapons lowered to the ground, joining the rest of the droids who were greeting the Jedi. And soon, super battle droids also began to emerge with them, joining the pack, marching their feet towards the Jedi. Commando droids joined them too, standing in fighting positions but without firing at anyone. Droidekas rolled out of the shuttles, only to just roll up and stand up straight with the rest of the droids, weapons unfolding in normal positions. Magnaguards marched in perfect formation, holding their staffs up in guard mode.
Sunset’s breathing started to sound shaky as she faced them. Any moment her life would have been over if they fired at her, she couldn’t tell how many had come. Her vision started to become blurry as she gazed upon the masses of droids in front of her.
Finally, the Sweetie Drop’s hatch opened. Adagio Dazzle came out first, followed by IG-11 and Cheep. Tawni Ames followed after. They walked past the ensemble of droids, staying on the side-lines. The battle droids in the middle of the massive group moved out of the way, allowing for General Kalani to approach the Jedi general. He said nothing as he faced her, waiting for her or any of the Rebels to speak.
Sunset held her hand up, silently telling every trooper and soldier to hold their position. She wasn’t about to start something she couldn’t finish. Kalani took another step forward, and Sunset ignited her lightsaber blade, sticking it straight out with a warning. Her eyebrows furled as she glared at him, still breathing heavily, trying not to freak out or overreact. The super tactical droid may not have been programmed to understand humor, but he could understand her state enough to take a step back and keep his distance.
The tension was finally broken when Flurry Heart and Captain Rex stepped forward. Flurry said nothing, her face trembling with anger and sadness, trying her hardest not to break down in front of everyone. But she kept herself together as long as she could, and raised her arms out to block the droids, even if she couldn't realistically do so. She stood in front of them with watery eyes but a stern glare, she wasn’t about to let this entire journey mean nothing.
“Flurry, get out of the way,” Bon Bon ordered. “They are dangerous. And where is your mother?”
Flurry said nothing. She didn’t respond to her only other parent, and just looked at her sadly, breaking her guard. The Mandalorian didn’t understand, especially as she looked at the captain.
“Captain, where is she?”
Rex also was quiet, looking down with a sad face. Just like Flurry, he said nothing but looked at her sadly. But when he heard one of the Rebel troopers cocking one of their guns, he raised his hand up, quietly insisting them to lower their weapons. The battle droids didn’t drop their weapons, but finally Kalani spoke.
“New command sequence; lower your weapons and lock up blaster arms. Cease all hostility.”
Following orders, all of the B1 units and the commando droids dropped their blasters to the ground, one by one. The Rebels could not believe their eyes. Even the B2 units turned off their blaster arms and just let their arms hang casually. The droidekas flipped their arms up to turn off their blasters too!
And when they looked at Flurry again, that one look… that one somber look on her face was enough for them to know what had become of Lyra. Bon Bon’s lips trembled and she began to shake.
“No… no…”
Her blasters dropped to the ground. The Jedi slowly put their lightsabers away too, recognizing the peaceful approach the battle droids were using. Flurry walked away from the front of the droids towards her only remaining mother and hugged her, finally breaking down. Bon Bon didn’t know what to say, but all she did know was that she needed to hug her daughter back. She embraced her warmly, holding her close and not letting go.
Not wanting anymore attention on them, Bon Bon and Flurry slowly walked away so they could be by themselves, leaving everyone else to handle the matters on the outside.
“She’s gone, isn’t she Captain?” Sunset asked, having a clear understanding of what was going on now.
Rex's silence confirmed it. Tawni stepped forward, patting Rex's shoulder with some sympathy. "We have much to discuss, General. May we talk somewhere privately?" the governor requested.
Sunset looked at the battle droids again, all of them openly walking forward and introducing themselves to the Rebel soldiers. No hostility from them, no one was pushing, or shoving. The droids were acting very friendly, the exact opposite of how she remembered them. And who was this strange woman who wanted to talk to her, along with the tactical droid?
"Yes... yes we can."
The battle droids remained on the hangar platform, awaiting further instructions, with the civilians. Thankfully there were some humanitarian workers who came out to provide some aid to them, giving food, water, and even providing some oils for the droids to fuel up on. But in an upper hangar, it was clear the revelations had taken their toll. Screaming of anger roared inside, coming from a Mandalorian who was looking for something, anything to release her anger onto.
Looking around, Bon Bon screamed with fury as she grabbed a nearby crate, throwing it against a wall with heaving breaths. The rest of the Jedi stood out of the way, while Tawni and Kalani waited patiently for her to calm down so they could speak. Rarity and Applejack looked at each other distressed, Fluttershy reclused away out of the destruction zone, while Pinkie and Rainbow stood by, ready to help Bon Bon calm down when she was done screaming.
“I should have gone with her, I should have left… maybe she would still be alive. No, she… it should have been me…” she croaked. Bon Bon collapsed onto her knees, cupping her face again. No tears came out, mainly feeling drained from the rage. But Rainbow did see some tattered stains on her clothed shirt underneath the armor padding. Bon Bon tried to stand back up but couldn't bring herself to do so, only sliding to lean her back against the wall, sitting up and leaning her head against the stone, eyes closed shut to just sit still.
The governor’s arms remained at her side, face masked out of her own safety. And despite Rex having seen her already, she felt exposed without it.
“I am sorry for your loss,” Tawni sympathized.
The girls turned their attention to the masked governor.
“No offense ma’am, but… who are you?” Applejack asked, pointing a finger at her mask.
“I am Governor Tawni Ames. And this is General Kalani,” she greeted, getting the tactical droid to nod in response. “We are Separatists. Perhaps the very last Separatists in existence," she said, rather wistfully. "Your friend gave us refuge, and offered us a home here, in exchange for joining your cause and fighting the Empire together.”
“Huh. Well that explains why your droids didn’t shoot us right away. I thought they were gonna fire on us the moment they saw our weapons,” Rainbow shuddered.
“My battle droids have coexisted with Governor Ames people for over a decade; once our truce was made, they ceased all hostilities towards anyone carrying a lightsaber,” Kalani answered. “None of you will be seen as the enemy.”
“… How comforting,” Rarity deadpanned with grit teeth. “But it still doesn’t help our friend is gone. How… if no one minds me asking, how is she…?”
“She sacrificed herself, helping us escape,” Tawni simply answered. “She gave her life, so that we could have a second chance again, and start anew with the Rebellion and fight the Empire. We’re all in this together now.”
“No offense lady, but I’m not sure how comfortable the rest of the Rebels are going to be with a bunch of ex-Stormies here,” Bon Bon didn’t even hesitate with her snark, glaring at her.
“Your judgements are 50% accurate. There will be members who will not be tolerant of our presence. However, data analysis dictates that there are former Separatist citizens and fighters among your Rebellion. In addition to fighters who will not care for the histories of former soldiers, they will be open to us turning anew," Kalani assessed.
"And we do not carry the title of Storm Army anymore. We prefer keeping to our true namesake; Separatist," Tawni corrected.
"Stormie, Seppie, you're all the same," Rainbow spat. "Do you have any idea how many worlds your battle droids conquered? How many people's homes you destroyed, how many planets you starved?"
"All the while your king turns their homes into perpetual stormy darkness," Rarity scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.
"Your armies have also stormed countless worlds with equal invasion," Kalani argued.
"Enough," Tawni intervened, calmly but sternly. "I am not going to deny the Storm King's actions. The truth is, I despised him every day of my life. But when he was finally gone, I thought I was free. And now that I am here, and I've interacted with not just one of your clones, but also one of you, a Jedi," she looked to Rainbow. "You gave me a reason to believe. You gave me a reason to live."
The girls stopped to think. As much as they weren't entirely on board with having the battle droids with them, none of them could see a reason for them not to be there. The Empire's will expanded to thousands of planets across the galaxy, and they weren't at enough numbers for full-scale assaults. But now with the added battalion of battle droids, possibly the very last ones in existence? Suddenly the idea made the girl have pause, starting to wonder how well they could do in battle, possibly.
But not everyone was thinking that way.
“Sunset, you cannot be serious,” Rainbow said, not caring how loud she was. “Inviting the clones back was one thing, but them?”
“Rainbow, we need as much help as we need,” Sunset said, very nonchalantly as she tapped a few keys on a datapad. She wasn’t even paying attention to her friends expression.
“… Stormies!? Separatists!? Battle droids!? Do you even remember the war?”
Sunset looked up briefly with a harsh glare that looked to kill. “Yes. I do. Every day I can’t forget, because something reminds me.”
Now Fluttershy spoke up. “Rainbow Dash! I’m scared of them too, but we should try to make amends.”
“Is that what you wanted to do with Captain Ivy? After he tried to kill you because he was controlled? Or was he even controlled at all?”
“Alright, ENOUGH!”
The entire hangar went dead silent with all parties staring at Sunset. Her fists were clenched tight, the datapad was now on the ground from her dropping it, and her entire body was shaking from anger. The general's face went red, her eyebrows furled, and she didn't even care how far her outburst had ranged.
“I don’t care if you’re scared of them! Lyra gave up her life to bring them here for us to expand our forces! I’m not entirely sure if she was in her right state of mind at the time, but I’m going to respect her wishes and her last actions as a war hero, and bring these Separatists in so they can help fight! This isn’t the Clone Wars anymore!”
Rainbow didn’t speak back at all now. She looked at Sunset with fear, much more than before. Sunset had gotten mad, she was notorious for having serious anger issues. But this? This was much worse than from before.
“We cannot rely on a corrupt government to pop out troopers like candy! We’re on our own from here on out, and we need as much as we can! I don’t care if they’re a clone trooper, a battle droid, or even a Storm Guard! We’re taking as much in as we can, and if you don’t like it, you can leave!” Sunset shrieked, pointing to the outside. “Because I’m trying to keep this entire alliance together by myself, and you whining about everything is not helpful! You want to help me, Rainbow? You want to help me win this war? Well the best thing you can do right now, is put your issues aside and reach out to them like a real Rebel! Agh!" Sunset picked up her datapad. "Tawni, just stay there, I'm talking to the high command, and I'm gonna make sure you get in," she passively said, storming out of the hangar.
There was a long silence from everyone within the bay. Bon Bon still felt like staying on the floor, slumped to the wall. Rainbow was even more shook from Sunset's yelling. Looking to her friends, all of them shared equal looks of concerns. They knew Sunset was notorious for getting angry and raging at things, but this time? This felt more raw than her previous ones, and it wasn't funny in the slightest. They even unanimously agreed that her snapping at Rainbow had gone way too far. The only question was what was happening with her...?
“Impossible!” One of the admirals shouted overtop the others. “We cannot just allow these battle droids back to fight.”
Members of the Rebel High Command were gathered, surrounding a projector table with several other high-ranking officers. Naturally Dodonna and Raddus were among them, standing with Sunset Shimmer as they spoke with not just the other admirals who had been serving for a long time, but also some senators who had aligned themselves full Rebellion.
“You didn’t have issue with the Mandalorian’s house of droids,” senator Bail Organa pointed out.
“She turned them into her own allies, that’s different. How can we expect these droids to not betray us? Do you all not remember the fact they served the Storm Army in the Clone Wars?”" the nay-saying admiral retorted.
“And they served the Separatists before the Storm King’s reign,” another admiral added.
“If I may interject,” Sunset interrupted. “While I’m not too crazy about former battle droids coming back, there’s something else some of us are forgetting. Before the Storm King’s reign, people were a part of the Separatist Alliance for a cause similar to what we’re trying to gain; freedom. Independence from the Republic that some of us once stood for.”
“And we should ignore all their previous crimes against the galaxy?” The appalled admiral asked. “They’re Stormies, through and through!”
Her fist slammed on the table, echoing in the room. All admirals and higher ups that were attending were dead silent, looking at Sunset Shimmer. Her face went from calm to furious. She grit her teeth and glared at the people around her. That same anger that she had been feeling when Rainbow Dash complained came back around.
“Okay... gloves are off. I’ve been trying really hard not to explode, but I have hit my breaking point. We’re not going to ignore any and all previous crimes committed; but we need them. The Empire has been hitting us hard. Need I remind you that the Empire has been cracking down on our activity since we destroyed their factory? The Spellhaus operation, completely in flames. Our cell on Remnicore has been annihilated. The search team that Admiral Raddus found in the asteroid field, had been completely wiped out. Saw Gerrera and his violent tendencies got some of our best men on Jedha, killed. The ensemble of captains and soldiers that wanted to defect to our side on Bonadan, have been killed..."
No one argued with her. No one protested. They could tell she was angry, but with each fact she laid out, it only became more apparent that she wasn't wrong.
"... the multitude of factions that refuse to work with us; Sectorists, anyone?" Sunset spat. "The Empire has been killing more and more of us every day, and I’m tired of losing more men. In any other situation, I would tell you guys to open fire on those battle droids,” she admitted, her voice getting louder with each breath. “But we need the soldiers, the resources, and my friend died getting them here. I’m not going to let her efforts be for nothing!”
After finishing her rant, she slowly breathed in and out, trying to calm down again. Anger was not professional, nor was screaming at her allies.
“I agree with General Shimmer,” Organa said.
“As do I,” General Dodonna added. “And besides, the Storm Army is no more. All forms of leadership are dead, is that right Mon Mothma?”
The short haired senator nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. The Empire took over Storm-Army controlled worlds when they began to expand. The last senator in charge of them has been terminated, and now that we know they still remain, it means Governor Tawni Ames is the last representative, and General Kalani is the last authority figure left of the Separatists and CIS.”
Sunset looked around the council again, getting some looks from others; some were on board, others were not.
“A long time ago, the Storm Army was just called Separatists. They represented the Confederacy of Independent Systems, who only wanted independence from the Republic, to be in control of themselves. How can we call ourselves a Rebellion who welcomes all, if we’re going to exclude a former enemy from our past?”
Now it was at another standstill. Even the admirals who were against the idea started to reconsider their options, wondering when they would ever get a larger force like this again. Battle droids were bad; they believed that for sure. But these battle droids that helped their Rebel allies fight the Empire to come here with civilians they saved?
"Let's put it to a vote," one of the senators spoke up; Senator Pamlo. "All in favor in allowing Governor Tawni Ames onto the council, say aye."
"Aye," came from everyone.
"All in favor of allowing General Kalani at the table, say aye," Bail Organa added.
"Aye," mostly everyone answered.
"And... all in favor, of helping the battle droids adjust to being a part of the Alliance, and give them a new chance at life than war, just like our clones," Sunset finished.
This last request came at a heavily split group; more were for the battle droids being allowed, but there were a few others who were silently against them.
"The ayes have it," Sunset agreed. "Now... if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
"Where are you going? We still have to get them registered," one of the admirals asked.
Sunset stopped. Her fists clenched again but she let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "I have to arrange a funeral procession to help a grieving mother and daughter who just lost their family member. Need I remind you?" She glared.
"... Understood," came from the admiral in questioning. "We'll do our best to welcome the good governor in, and help her people get settled."
"Thank you," Sunset tried not to seethe.
Bail Organa, along with Raddus and Dodonna looked to each other with worry. Even a few senators exchanged worried looks. Someone needed to talk with her and soon...
On Bracca, the salvage team was hard at work, collecting more fuel cells and metal for the repairs. They had started to separate piles neatly, and even found some old construction droids back online to help with the collection work. More and more carts were neatly sorted for sections of the Venator they were going to work on, and the cranes were back into service as well, hoisting up a thruster to the back of the main Venator. Crews worked on the double, fusing the parts and inner workings back together.
Sandbar and Team Six looked at the schematics of the ship, having done scans and surveillance on the ship before getting to work. Multiple red marks were visible on the screen, showing the weakest areas that had higher priority.
"Okay, so we just need that second thruster on the side, and that should be enough for power," Gallus observed. "What about the glass that's destroyed?"
"We've collected more shards to fuse back together, along with replacement metal to seal any loose holes," came from Sandra on the line.
"Okay, good. Let us know if you find anything else," the Griffon finished before hanging up. "Whew. Close call on that one."
"We're not going to be sucked out into space if we fly that thing, are we?" Silverstream worried, scratching the top of her head.
"No, we should be fine, Silver," Gallus rolled his eyes. "The idea is to steal glass from the other ships in the area to prevent that."
"Ohh..." Silver dumbfounded. "Silly me, I guess."
G-G rolled around the corner, pushing another cart over. "Bwoop boop bop?"
"Oh just put that over there, G," Gallus pointed.
The R4 beeped in affirmation, pushing the load of canisters to the side where needed.
Sandbar who had arrived was about to speak up, until a small chirp on his device started to call for him. “Oh, hang on. There’s a call coming in,” Sandbar said, stepping away from the group. He pressed the com device to his ear. “Hello? Oh, General. Hey!”
The others just shrugged; it was probably the general requesting an update on their progress.
“Oh us? Oh we’re doing okay. Our ship’s still totaled, but we’re getting by alright. We’ve made excellent progress on the Venator,” Sandbar nodded. “What’s going on back at home?” Sandbar waited for a reply, pacing side to side as he listened. “New allies? … Huh. Didn’t think we… wait. Wait, what are you saying?”
The concern in his voice caught Ocellus and Yona’s attention first. Sandbar’s pacing stopped, and he froze in place.
“… What? … Oh... that… that’s horrible,” Sandbar’s voice was low. “W-What happened? … Ohhhh… I… Is, is Flurry okay? … Oh…” Sandbar’s hand massaged his forehead and his face as he spoke to her. "I... Yeah..."
Now the rest of his team had their attention directed to him. What was he talking about, this couldn’t have been any good. Was someone taken? Hurt?
“… Well, is there anything you want us to do? We can’t go back, our ship’s totaled, do you want us to find a way to come back to base?”
Sandbar waited for more responses. “Okay. … Understood General. … No, no, of course. We’ll make sure to participate, we’ll set times, we’ll prep the holoprojector, we’ll all attend, I promise. … Okay. I’ll let them know right away. Over and out.”
“Sandbar, what happened?” Silverstream questioned.
Sandbar slowly looked at his friends with a distraught look. “… Lyra was murdered.”
A sullen silence was among the group for a moment.
“Lyra’s… wait, what happened?”
Sandbar cleared his throat. “Lyra, along with Rex, Flurry, and Adagio went to Agamar to check out a distress signal, and found battle droids from the Clone Wars leftover. Apparently they came together in some agreement to join our side, and the Empire found them. They did manage to make it back to base safely but… Lyra was killed, trying to keep Flurry from being taken.”
“I can’t believe that monster…” Silverstream grimaced.
“Poor Flurry…”
“Is there anything friends can do? At least for Lyra’s sake?” Yona asked.
“Sunset plans to host a funeral back on home base this evening. She wants us all present for the eulogy and to give our respects,” Sandbar explained, scrunching his eyes and wiping out a soft tear that escaped. “I just… I can’t believe she’s just gone.”
“Guys?” Silverstream interrupted with a quivering beak. One of her claws pointed to her right, and all eyes turned to see an R4 unit standing there. He had listened to the entire conversation, and he hadn’t made so much as a single beep.
“… Bwoop… Bwoop?”
“Oh… G-G. I’m so sorry,” Ocellus frowned. “She’s… gone.”
The astromech was frozen stiff. No noises were made, and it seemed as if he was possibly taking a long time to process this information. But then his body started to rumble. Steam was hissing out of his head, and his shaking got more and more violent. The only binary beeps they heard were starting to sound more angry. Vengeful.
The R4 let out an ear-piercing shriek into the skies, making everyone cringe and wince as they covered their ears from the intense volume. RG-G1 had never been so furious before, and he was looking for something to focus his hatred on, something to break, something that wouldn’t hurt his friends.
Racing off the side of the ramp that led down to the cliff, he rolled down and pulled out the targeting blaster that extended from his cone. With a powerful hum and quick load, the blaster cannon fired like a rotary cannon towards some pieces of broken metal, smashing the decayed pieces into nothing more but broken waste and worthless parts. The blaster cannon kept firing, and he didn’t give up no matter how long he had been shooting his ammunition.
Finally, after what felt like minutes, the rotary cannon stopped firing. Steam was hissing from the top of the blaster, and he still growled and rattled. He slammed himself into a piece of cargo, trying to push it from where it stood. And he slammed it again, pushing it harder. He arched himself back far enough, and with one quick dash he slammed his body into the cargo and sent it flying off the edge of the cliff into the canyons below…
All the while, Team Six looked to each other with concern. How were they going to break this news to Derpy as well, and more importantly, how was Flurry going to be processing any of this?
The night sky grumbled from the thunder and rain. All of Lyra's closest friends and associates were gathered in an open patch of land, cleared away from trees. A stone cube, decorated with flowers and funeral decorations was in the center. The tomb was marked with Lyra Heartstrings’ Jedi mark which was that of a lyre, and on it were a few pictures; one of her and baby Flurry at Dexter’s Diner on Coruscant, another of her and Bon Bon on Sorgon after a successful rescue mission, another of the two of them in wedding dresses, and a few more showing them, their droids, and Flurry growing up over the years and happier memories.
Everyone was holding a candle or lantern, while the Jedi around held their lightsabers up. Bon Bon and Flurry came up to give two more pieces of memory; from Bon Bon, a small piece of beskar metal, blazed with her mark and Bon Bon’s graphic forged together, something she embedded on her armor after their first mission together. And from Flurry, a small but fluffy plushie that she won for her mom, trying to get her something for a Mother’s Day but had little to no money to get it. But it was a gift that Lyra loved regardless, simply for how sweet her daughter was for trying to get it.
Sunset Shimmer stepped up front, taking the center of attention as she addressed her friends. The Jedi Six, Tawni Ames, General Kalani, Admiral Raddus, Cheep, IG-11, Spike, R2, even the holograms of Team Six and friends all the way on Bracca made it to join the procession. Sighing heavily, she addressed the crowd. There was even a crew of Rebel-aligned Mandalorians who came to show their respects as well; recognizing Lyra as one of their own.
“We are gathered tonight to honor the memory of a fallen friend. We’ve lost many friends over these past few years as we grew our Rebellion, and we never forget those who died to fight for our freedom. And that has never changed. Several hours ago, Lyra and a small team were called to Agamar to search for a lost clone, only to recruit an unlikely set of allies…”
Sunset looked over to a portion of the group, seeing Kalani and a few battle droids participating in the memorial, surprisingly behaved. None of them talked, none of them beat each other up or tried to attack anyone, they were participating like real people.
“… and unfortunately, like many of our Jedi friends… Lyra was murdered by the one who leads them all; Darth Midnight. But I am here, not asking to continue this war with hate… but to continue with the joys of our memories of those we loved, and to honor all they have done. Lyra was not just a great Jedi, but she was a great friend. She was so perky and upbeat, she found the light to any situation, even when it was the most grim. And on top of all that, she was one of the few who accomplished a life-long dream after the war was over.”
Flurry was dead quiet as she listened to Sunset’s eulogy, all the while she just stared at the memorial and leaned her head on her remaining mom’s shoulder, with Bon Bon pulling her close for comfort. Bon Bon hadn't said a word since they started to prepare, nor allowed anyone to see her face. Her helmet remained on her head, and not once did she remove it since she started preparing for the funeral.
“Now before we commence the twenty-one blaster salute, would anyone like to say anything?”
Bon Bon stepped forward, enticig Sunset to move away so the Mandalorian could step onto the podium to speak.
“When I first met Lyra, I was just… soulless. I didn’t care about anyone or anything, other than getting paid. I was hired to bring Flurry to the Storm Army, but I couldn’t do it. And when I promised to take Lyra and Flurry to Naboo, I… I felt this connection, this feeling to them. I couldn’t say goodbye, nor could I let go of them.”
Bon Bon’s eyes were watering up, but no one could see them under the helmet. Despite this, she still kept her voice together.
“Lyra also told me that the Jedi Order forbid marriage from happening… but she didn’t care. We dated long into the war, and out of the blue one day, she, she popped the question. She proposed to me, and I couldn’t say no to her. We got married, and there wasn’t a day that passed where I had any regret in marrying her.”
Sunset and Fluttershy softly smiled as they looked to each other, and diverted their attention back to Bon Bon’s speech.
“And I never will regret nor forget any of my memories with her. The long walks, the picnics, playtime with little Flurry, our fun on Tatooine… and the thing I won’t forget most of all… it’s our first date,” Bon Bon sniffled. “She made it so beautiful… and I didn’t even know what she set out was what I wanted. And she knew it. So… from this point forward. I declare myself to not stop fighting for the memory of my wife, and the memory of everyone we lost. We will win this war. And I know we will.”
She stepped down from the podium, and stood back with Flurry, pulling her close.
“That was really good, Mama,” Flurry whispered.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Bon Bon said back, lifting her mask slightly to kiss her forehead.
“Would anyone else like to say something?”
No reply.
“Very well. May I ask that the Jedi join me, as we give Lyra a proper send off, along with the 21 blaster salute?”
Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and the holographic Derpy (thanks to a flying drone) all stepped up to join the final salute. Derpy had to improvise with a staff, but it worked. Their lightsabers ignited and were raised in the air, all joining together. Very softly, all of them sang a small but beautiful harmony…
This is where the magic happens… This is where the magic lives…
One by one, everyone joined together to sing. Even the droids, chirped along with them.
Our friendships weave together, stronger The bonds grow deeper, lasting longer And the greatest spell there is… And the greatest spell you’ll know…
Is that the magic of friendship grows…
Three men, two women, and two battle droids stepped up, and fired seven shots into the air. Reload and repeat, reload and repeat.
After the funeral, everyone started to return back to the base to get some sleep, as they all needed to get some rest for the next day. They were happy to make the memorial, but they weren’t going to stop where they were.
The only one left standing was Flurry, who stood at the memorial, waiting for everyone to leave. She sensed most of them were gone, but still waited. And when she finally saw them all leave, that’s when she finally snapped. She dropped to her knees in defeat, and cupped her eyes, finally crying in sorrow. She couldn’t stop herself, she just sat there, crying to let it all out.
Unbeknownst to her, just near one of the trees, Adagio watched as Flurry bawled her eyes out. Her magenta eyes didn’t move from her current position, but she eventually left with a neutral face, walking back to the base, with her red glowing lantern held up for light…
The next morning came slowly, with a solemn mood hanging over the Jedi and their closest friends. Flurry helped push some cargo on the tarmac, with very little emotion. She was still drained from the night before, and couldn’t bring herself to feel anything; any reason to keep trying. Getting up from her spot, she walked past some of the troopers who were working on their assignments, still trying to reel themselves in with the sudden new change.
Battle droids were now walking among the base, and despite them being unarmed, everyone was still scared to see them. Most of them at least. Flurry’s eyes watched as a poor B1 unit walked over to help a mechanic push a fuel tank into place, only to receive fear as an answer, unwilling to let the droid help.
The morning podcast on the radio by Rebel announcer Buried Lede wasn’t helping matters either (his talk show had basically become a new gossip channel for Rebels to talk and share thoughts in an open forum, at least, that was the idea). Flurry could tell what kind of rhetoric he was going to say, knowing his stance on the Jedi and the wars in the past. So, not wanting to listen to him rant and rave, she instead opted to put a pair of headphones over her ears, playing some tunes from Equestria in hopes of changing her mood, or at least, blocking the outside sources so she could be left in peace.
“Today’s a day for reflection. For praising the efforts of the Heartstrings family and clone Captain Rex for safely bringing home Separatist remnants to safety… but it’s also for somber reflection, for the loss of a fallen hero, like Lyra Heartstrings…”
Bon Bon wiped sweat from her gloves as she finished the repairs on another astromech droid, allowing him to go free and do his work. Her next patient came in the form of a standard B1 battle droid with arms that were ready to fall off and needed patching. She looked at the droid for a second before closing her eyes, trying not let the memory of her wife’s departure tear her apart on the spot, but instead gripped her helmet to make sure it was tight on her head, unable to come off.
“… a lot of people say I hate the Jedi and blame them for everything. Well, I don’t blame Lyra Heartstrings for any of this. She may have been a Jedi, but she went down fighting to protect innocent people and bring them home…”
Rainbow and Fluttershy walked past some of the passing battle droids who went to go to their new jobs. They wouldn’t be dispatched for battle until they were absolutely okay. But just like Flurry, they had to watch as many of the people around them, reacted to them with fear, not wanting to get anywhere near these monsters from long ago.
“… but it’s also a day to vow; never again. It stops now. We have lost many of our friends and family over the years. Sweet optimists like Karis Nemik...”
Pinkie sat with Rarity and Applejack in one of the hangar bays, with a wave of sadness all over them as they worked on repairing one of the Y-Wings. No one felt like smiling or laughing. Not even Pinkie could find a way to lift their spirits, nothing was funny or amusing to her right now.
“Strong hearts like Kanan Jarrus...”
Other Rebels listened to the podcast; including the Ghost Crew who were unloading new supplies from their ship. All the while, Hera Syndulla was softly rocking her baby back to sleep.
“… or pure good like Ahsoka Tano.”
Captain Rex sat on a step, looking down at his helmet. He sighed heavily, before scrunching his temple. He should have been happy that he didn’t fail, he helped get Lyra’s child home safely true to her wishes. But at the cost of her life…
“Well it stops here. The Empire has made life on us harder than ever… and we can’t let them take any more people from us. Not again. This is Buried Lede, and I hope you all will continue to prosper as we strive to push forward, and continue to amend our troubled past.”
Sunset Shimmer however didn’t feel like attending her work; not now. Instead, sitting at a bar, she just stared down at a cup of cider, taking a shot of it as she slapped the cup down on the counter, wanting to reduce the pain and replace it with a drunken state. Not many patrons were in one of the few bars at the moment, it was just her and the bartender; Berry Blend.
“Hit me again, Berry,” Sunset stammered.
The bartender put her hands on her hips. “General, I’m afraid we are still in the work day, and your schedule says you’re packed right now. I cannot serve you more cider right now.”
“I said, hit me again,” Sunset glared with some seethe.
“Okay. You need to leave, now,” Berry pointed to the door. “Or I’m going to have to escort you out myself.”
"I am a general. When I say hit me, I mean, HIT ME."
Sunset was shoved out of the bar by an angry Berry Blend who wiped her hands clean of any dust from her assault. Sunset now had a bit of a bruise on her face from the punch, but she took the hint. She had work to do, and she couldn't wash her troubles away with hard cider. Zorii walked past her, accidentally getting a waft of cider from her breath, but chose to ignore it. She had work to do, wasn't about to interrupt her.
Walking back into one of the briefing rooms, she met up with Flash Sentry, Admiral Raddus, and General Dodonna who were waiting for her.
"General," the higher ups acknowledged.
"Yeah, yeah..." Sunset passively replied. She had to stop for a second. Shaking her head violently, she tried to force herself back to a sober state of mind. "S-Sorry, I don't know where that came from. So, is Tawni here?"
"Right here, ma'am," the governor walked into the room, removing her mask so the rest of the higher ups could see her again. "I appreciate you all for allowing me a seat at the Rebel Council, despite our past differences."
"We need all the help we can get," Flash nodded. "You said you had some requests you wanted to discuss with us?"
"If this is an appropriate time to bring them up," the governor asked.
"It is," Admiral Raddus affirmed, giving her the okay to speak.
"First, I want to say thank you for providing the citizens of Agamar refugee housing, it is greatly appreciated," Tawni began. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do when we arrived."
"We've housed refugees from all over for safety; they should be okay as long as they're here," Sunset nodded. "What was this other request you had?"
"My battle droids; I understand they don't have the best reputation among the Republic officers, understandably so, especially among former citizens of said Republic. But I had a few proposals to offer to help the battle droids become more accommodated here on base, and maybe give them a chance to start over with your fellow soldiers."
"I'm open to ideas, I'm running on fumes at this point with them," Sunset waited.
"Yeah, she's a maestro at it," Flash said with a bit of a smirk. "Why?"
"Aside from the repair work, I was wondering if I could ask her for some new custom paintwork on some of the droids. They stand out enough as it is, but I wondered if giving them their own personal paint, along with Rebel insignias will not only allow them to be treated better, but give them a chance to explore their own identities," Tawni proposed.
"It's a start," Sunset nodded. "Be warned, it won't take a week for them to be welcomed."
"I will heed," Tawni understood. "Now; what has the Empire been up to?"
"That's the problem, we don't know. They're making a big project, but with very little leads. Shipments of kyber crystals from Illum, and a project stationed outside of some planet," Sunset nodded. "The last person we talked to that gave us any info could barely make out a name, and any chance we have of learning more has been lost..."
Flurry set down another crate for a personnel carrier to haul off, leaving her to her own devices again. Reaching for her side, she grabbed a pair of headphones, placing them over her ears and cranking up the sound from the music player to block out everyone and everything, once again. She walked past the passing engineers, moving back to her family's ship to be alone. Outside the ship was Bon Bon and Cheep who were doing some repair work on top, fixing the damage it had taken during the escape from Agamar.
In one of the hangars, Pinkie Pie, along with Rarity were sitting by a set of crates, waiting for the rest of their group to come back with their lunch. They didn't feel like sitting back in the cafeteria, and instead just wanted to sit above where they could have a nice view of the tarmac. They didn't even mind the sounds of busy PA systems, the droids, or passing by of various workers.
Their eyes looked down, seeing Bon Bon still by herself, hidden away by her mask. Sighing for a moment, they turned around to focus as Rainbow Dash, along with Applejack and Fluttershy came up to see them with lunches in hands.
"Thanks for bringing me lunch, Rainbow. I would have gotten some myself, but I've been so busy repairing all these engines, I kinda forgot, hehe," Pinkie greeted.
"Hey, no problem," Rainbow passed her lunch to the party planner before twisting her metal hand around, extending a kitchen knife to cut her sandwich.
"Has anyone checked with Bon Bon?" Rarity brought up, taking a bite of her taco. "I tried to talk with the poor dear, but she won't let me speak. She just snaps and tells me to go away," the fashionista pouted.
"She needs time, Rarity," Applejack comforted with a pat on her shoulder. "Grief ain't somethin' you move on from in a day. I'm a bit more worried about Flurry though, she hasn't said a word to any of us after the funeral."
"I think she needs to start seeing a therapist, or some form of counseling soon," Rarity agreed.
"You know what I think?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm afraid to guess," Fluttershy looked to her.
"I think maaaaybeeeee we should have been honest with her about her heritage so she could be ready to face her when she came down on Agamar," Pinkie pointed with a bit of a deadpan stare. "But what do I know?"
Applejack sighed. "I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but she's right. We should have just told her. Heck, we shoulda told her six months ago," she glared to Rainbow.
"Hey, don't look at me, Lyra's the one demanded us to stay silent! It's not my fault she decided to just bring back a bunch of battle droids here onto the base!" All four of them were now glaring at Rainbow with a rather 'are you serious right now' stare. Reading the room, Rainbow sighed before speaking. "I don't mean it like that. Lyra did help people, that's what we're supposed to do."
"I know we're uncomfortable and we've had our... ahem, grievances with the droids in the past, but maybe we should focus on just trying to help Bon Bon and Flurry. If we can," Fluttershy suggested.
"How? They won't say a word, and even Bon Bon's closed off. She hasn't taken off that stupid helmet all day," Rainbow looked back.
"Right now, they need time to grieve," Fluttershy advised. "Let's give them space, and we'll check in later. We do have some other problems to worry about."
"Like the fact we still don't know what the Empire is up to?" Applejack asked.
"That, and someone in here needs to work things out with a certain commander," Fluttershy glared at Rainbow.
"Do not give me that look, I am not working with someone who just openly admitted to trying to kill me. First you two, then Sunset, and now you. What could possibly--"
And Fluttershy reached for the side, pulling out the damaged Phase I helmet that had been left behind in the elevator. The visor was now cracked, the paint chipped away, it was completely damaged.
"I found this in the elevator," Fluttershy explained. "I don't know what he might have heard you say, but whatever it is... it's not good."
Rainbow was at a loss for words. She almost was about to speak, but seeing that helmet? She had nothing to say.
"What about Sunset? I dunno about y'all, but she's worrying me bad. I know she's prone to anger, but that anger at Rainbow yesterday... that was somethin' else," Applejack feared. "I... I felt somethin' from that. That dark energy she used to tap into? It felt like that. Not as extreme, but..."
"Well, she is a higher up in charge of a major rebellion trying to undermine the current government power," Pinkie thought. "That job will stress anyone out."
"But it's not just that, it feels like she blames herself for everything that's happened. Like with the Republic fallen, the Jedi turning, all of us having to hide, it... she's not the same friend we helped once before," Applejack looked.
"Well, what can we do?" Fluttershy inquired.
The girls looked to each other, then back down to the docks. Sunset had finally came out of a meeting, and was patrolling the grounds, seeing if there was work to do. She stumbled a little bit, not helping by whatever activity she had done earlier, the girls could instantly guess what that was.
"Keep an eye on her," Applejack advised. "She's startin' to slip, I can feel it. One more thing is gonna make her snap, and if it does, we need to step in and give her a hand with handlin' all those responsibilities. It's the least we can do for her," the farmer looked back at her. "She needs us... more than ever."
That night, Flurry's attempt to go to sleep was impeded by her growing fear, frustration, and irritability. She didn't know what to do with her mom gone, and the past few nights, she could barely sleep. Tonight was no exception. Flurry tossed and turned in her hammock, but she was unable to sleep. She tried sleeping with her auxiliary fan on the highest setting, nothing. She tried to take some pills to make her tired, that didn't work. Stripping to her under clothes did nothing either, it was impossible for her to get any rest. Looking to her side, she saw next to the desk was Cheep, in resting mode, keeping himself available if she felt threatened, or if she needed someone to pet or hug.
Realizing she wasn't going to sleep, she got up on her feet, walking over to the bathroom to try and clear her head. A few lights were still available for her so she didn't slam into everything, guiding her to the mirror. Her eyes darted to her right, and for a second, she had to do a double-take as another figure was standing there behind her. She looked back, seeing no one there in the room with her, not even a droid.
Turning around, the figure was gone, no longer in the mirror. Sighing with exhaustion, she poured some water into her hands and splashed it in her face, trying to wake up some more. Might as well do something else tonight if she wasn't going to get some rest. But when her eyes were cleaned and wide awake, she saw that same figure again, in the dark. Mask, cape, artificial breathing, all there right before her.
"You're not here... you're not here, the others would have sensed you..." Flurry whispered to herself. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise, she had to know it wasn't true, she wasn't here! It was impossible!
Breathing, lightsaber clashes, blaster shots, droids shouting 'Roger Roger', battle cries of flesh and blood echoed in her head, making her hold her ears from the noise. She tried to block out the sound, until finally, she could hear it no more. Looking up, she saw the figure getting closer. Upon instinct, she reached for her saber, and activated it, swinging it behind her as she spun around, perfectly clean cut sending a metal head rolling on the floor. She looked at where the head rolled, her heart racing at a mile a minute when she gazed at the decapitation.
The mask stopped breathing, until a small spark of an explosion went off, revealing the face underneath the mask... her own eyes reflecting back at her. Her heart continued to race as she backed against the wall, collapsing down on the ground. Her breathing intensified as she looked at it, it wasn't real. It couldn't have been real. She tried to calm down, but it was useless. Flurry could only stare at the false illusion of Midnight's decapitated head, with her own face.
She tried to calm down, her heart racing harder and harder, and all sounds died. Multiple figures could hear the sounds however, and came into the bathroom to find her having a panic attack. Warm hands wrapped around her, trying to rub her back to give her some comfort. The ringing in her ear started to die as she was brought back to the real world, looking up at who was holding her. Bon Bon, having woken up by the sudden terror, was here, giving her daughter the comfort she needed. Close to her was Cheep who had been alerted as well, along with the buzz droid, Bee, who had curled up in her lap for some therapy pets.
Flurry's eyes looked back to where she swore the body was, but no longer was it there. Just a regular, clean bathroom with no blood and guts spilled. All she could think about was why was she there... and more importantly, why was her face on Midnight's form?
The next day, Flurry wandered around the main temple base, searching for Sunset Shimmer's office to speak with her again. She passed by the usual slew of Rebel officers, some who gave her a few nods as she went along. She did see a few battle droids here and there, and she gave them a wave as she went along.
She knocked on the door to her office, waiting for an answer. No sound of footsteps could be heard coming to the door, so she pressed the button to slide it open. Looking around, she could see the inside of her office, something that not many people got to see, she always sheltered herself in here whenever she needed to be alone.
To her surprise, Flurry saw the general having fallen asleep at her desk, exhausted on top of everything else. Flurry felt a bit guilty for breaking in without permission, but then she realized. Sunset wasn't awake right now. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to look around for a little bit? Maybe not for personal information, but at the very least maybe she had some memorabilia to hold onto that would be nice to look at.
Sitting on one of the tables, she saw a few framed photographs standing upright. One showed her and the Mane Council in a group photograph, and next to Sunset's side was Twilight Sparkle herself, her auntie. Her smile looked as if it could warm even the gloomiest of days, lavender skin with dark purple hair, with a visible magenta streak. Her classic Jedi robes bared her cutie mark; a mark of a sparkling star Flurry smiled as she brushed the dust off her auntie's face. She looked so happy to be with Sunset and the others... she could barely remember what she had looked like, and there was a photo of her right there.
The next few photos seemed fairly basic; one was taken with a few clone troopers in the early days of the war; in Phase I helmets. Another picture showed her and a clone commander with the standard kama and pauldron. Looking to her right, she saw a few items on the wall that were hung up for display. A guitar, kept in pristine condition, hung nicely. In a glass display, was an orange geode necklace, shimmering with her cutie mark. Tickets for old carnival games. A cowgirl hat in black. A paper cup holding a logo of two pony silhouettes that looked peaceful in a harmonious motion. An old driver's license attached to some keys.
She had to admit, she couldn't help but smile. She didn't know what any of this junk meant, but it was still so cool to see. And in the corner, she saw something that was oddly shaped, hidden under a tarp. Walking over, she gently pulled the tarp down, revealing what was underneath; a mannequin holding a clone trooper suit up. It bared quite a striking resemblance to the trooper that was in one of the photographs...
"Find anything?"
"Eeep!"
Flurry turned around, looking at Sunset standing there, with a hand on her hip.
"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, but you were asleep, I was going to wait until you woke up, but I, just, I um..."
"If you wanted to talk, you could have just shaken me, I don't jump so easily," Sunset reminded. "And I'd also appreciate you not snooping through my stuff."
Moving around her, Sunset grabbed the tarp and put it back over the clone trooper.
"I... I'm sorry," Flurry apologized. "I-I'll just leave, you don't have to--"
"--Now, hold on, I'm not mad at you," Sunset stopped her. "I'm awake, what do you need to talk about?"
Flurry looked back at the tarp for a second before looking to her. "D... Did that belong to one of your troopers?"
Sunset paused before coming up with her response. "Yes. Yes it did," she looked back at it. "He was the last person who tried to kill me after Order 66 came through. I don't even think most of his body survived the explosion when it happened," she shook her head. "I took what I could... don't even know why I kept it, the last thing I remembered was him trying to murder me, and yet... I still have it."
Flurry took two steps back, realizing the wounds she had opened up. Looking around, she tried to think of something, anything to turn the conversation around--
"--Flurry, I can tell something is bugging you, just tell me," Sunset said, this time approaching more softly.
“I… haven’t been sleeping very well,” Flurry admitted. “Every time I try to get some rest all I can see is just her. She’s everywhere, she haunts me in the mess halls, the shop, in my room, I can’t even wash my face in the middle of the night without seeing her. I think I’m going crazy, I… It sounds nuts, I know—”
“—No, no, that is not crazy,” Sunset reassured. “Honestly, I get it. She haunted me for the longest time when I was younger.”
Flurry perked up. “O-Oh. Well… how did you get over it?”
The general sighed. “I’m not entirely sure about that, kiddo. To be honest I’m not even sure if I’ve moved on or not.”
The teen waited for a followup on Sunset’s statement, but got none. Wanting to continue, she spoke some more.
“Well, um… I encountered Midnight again, last night,” Flurry admitted. “I had another nightmare, I went to go wash my face, and she showed up again. I thought she was real, but every time I looked behind me, I saw she wasn’t there only for her to get inches closer to me every time I saw my reflection. And she gave me a warning, she said “I can’t wait to meet you, Flurry Heart”, and… she was just gone.”
Sunset’s face paled and she was stiff. Her eyes looked at the teen, her voice shaking slightly, but not saying anything.
“Um… Sunset, are you sure you’re ok? If I can’t bring it up with you, and I can’t bring it up with mama, then…” Flurry stopped. She hadn’t thought about it before, but her brain made a click in her head. She paced for a second, and then looked at the general, rather inquisitively.
“You know something, don’t you?”
“I-wa…” Sunset snapped out of it. “S-Sorry, I think I had another flashback. W-What were we talking about?”
“Do not play that with me,” Flurry glared. “You know something about Midnight Sparkle, don’t you?”
“I know just as much as you do, Flurry,” Sunset said, rather matter-of-factly.
“Then why is it every time I try to ask for more, you just dodge the subject all together? And it’s not just you. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, my own mama, Spike, and even you keep avoiding the subject all together, why are you so afraid to talk about it with me?”
“Flurry, there is some information that is of need to know. Frankly, you are not in the need to know,” Sunset brushed aside. She was about to set out the door to try and end the topic—
--Until the doors were closed shut by Flurry herself, using the Force. The teen looked at Sunset with a little more anger starting to boil.
“Sunset. Why are you scared to talk about Midnight Sparkle?”
“I am not scared,” Sunset defended.
Flurry eyed Sunset’s body movements. Her hand was shaking slightly, her eyes were not focusing on Flurry for half of that statement, and the lack of confidence in her voice spoke volumes.
“Midnight Sparkle has some kind of personal connection to you, doesn’t she? Is a sister, your mom? Auntie?” Flurry asked.
“She doesn’t have any familial relation to me,” Sunset explained, getting increasingly annoyed. “Now can you please step—”
“—You were up front about who she was when we first met. But any other time I try to talk to you about her, you freeze up. I don’t mean to cause you any kind of trauma, I really don’t,” Flurry said, sympathetically. “But I just want something confirmed so I can move on; how do you know Midnight?”
Sunset sighed for a moment as she turned around. She scrunched her face with her hands, trying to find a way to talk this out but without telling her the truth. She was digging closer and closer, there wasn’t any possible way for her to avoid this conversation, especially if Flurry was going to get a little stronger in her tactics.
“… Okay. Since you won’t leave unless I tell you, I’ll spill it. Midnight… she was an old friend,” Sunset began. She leaned against the briefing table, head limp and staring down at the console, deep in thought. “She, along with Twilight, were the only friends I had when I was first enrolled in the Jedi Temple. Everyone hated me, but those two were the only people, along with Rainbow, AJ, and the others who gave me a chance. I trusted Midnight with everything, just as much as your aunt, Twilight.”
Her voice shook a little as she tried to breathe, desperately trying not to break down at the talk. Flurry could only pat her shoulder with what help she could muster.
“But… I don’t know what motivated her to just up and turn. She took everything we built together, our entire friendship, and just threw it all away,” she continued, this time with a little bit of seethe. Her sorrow eyes turned to anger, and her fists clenched up against the table’s console. “She destroyed an entire temple, murdered thousands of younglings and friends I loved, brainwashed the clones to kill Jedi across the galaxy, and committed an undisputable amount of war crimes that go against everything we stood for! We were blind, we were arrogant to what we had done, but we never threw away what we stood for! She made the galaxy worse than it already was, and it took an entire genocide and a decade’s worth of tyrannical rule to make me realize how AWFUL I am!”
She stopped talking for a moment, still reeling in the anger and sadness she was pouring out onto this child. She looked at Flurry, one tear coming down her face, making Flurry feel even worse for asking. But the teen could only stand there, inquisitively. Clenched fists, shaking voice, more visceral reaction talking about both her and Twilight.
“… I’m sorry,” Flurry weakly replied. “And… I’m sorry for asking this. But I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and right now, I’ve been thinking about it more and more. When you fought her in the final days of the war… exactly, how did she die?”
Sunset’s voice still shook, but she did manage to calm herself enough for a few more words. “Midnight killed her… Midnight killed any chance she had of living a full life, and she took the friend I cared for. She’s gone because of her… and I should have been there to save her.”
Now Flurry’s curiosity was growing. But as she thought some more, she had a small epiphany.
“You know what I think?”
Sunset sniffled as she tried to wipe her face clean. But when she looked back, she could see the gears turning in her head. That look of worry had melted away, and started to turn to revelation, mixed with some anger. Sunset started to feel sweat run down her head. This couldn’t have been happening, how could Flurry be figuring this out? She didn’t say or do anything to give the truth away, could she? She kept that information locked down tight!
“You know what I think?” Flurry asked once again.
Sunset, still trying her best, kept a neutral face. “No. No I don’t.”
Flurry could hear it in Sunset’s voice that she was lying. But she didn’t speak it. Instead, she shook her again with an angry glare, and then turned around, walking out of the map room. Sunset half-expected her to yell or scream at her, followed by her running out of the room in a fit of rage. But there wasn’t any reaction, just a neutral face that mixed with anger and disappointment, cancelling both negative emotions out.
Worried, Sunset left the room as well to try and find her. Somehow in the span of a few seconds, Flurry made much more distance than her, even if the hallways were narrow. Speed-walking, she looked around anxiously, worried where she could have gone. Maybe to her room on the ship? That would probably be the best course of action, maybe she just needed to let out her anger on something to punch or slash, yes, that was it. Or at least, Sunset hoped that was the case.
As she took the elevator down, she tapped her foot on the floor with a new high of anxiety, nonstop.
“Come on, come on, come on, come on, why do these things have to be so slow!?” Sunset worried.
Just then, a small signal went off on her comm device. Tapping the button, she heard a man on the other end talking to her.
“Uh General Shimmer, I think you may want to come out here.”
“Can it wait?”
“No ma’am, we need help with a bit of a problem…” Just then on the other end, there was a loud burst of power blaring. “Ok, a big problem… OKAY PLEASE GET DOWN HERE!”
The elevator opened up, and Sunset’s speedwalk turned into a charging run, trying to get to wherever her help was needed.
“What is so important that you need me right now?”
“Is the Sweetie Drop scheduled to go anywhere?”
“No, why?”
“Well… someone’s prepping the engines and getting ready to leave.”
Sunset swore she heard shatter glass. “WHAT!?”
The general quickly made it to the tarmac, running towards the family’s ship which had closed the ramp behind it, sealing it from oxygen leak. The Sweetie Drop was quiet for a few moments, but Sunset’s worst fears appeared before her eyes. The engines started to purr with life, shaking the ship as it was getting ready to leave.
Several crew members that were nearby quickly got out of the way to clear the area where the ship was going to launch. Sunset wanted to use the Force and just yank the ship down, but that ship was more than she could pull. She was strong, but not enough. Not even the story of how Ahsoka used the Force to try and prevent a Republic shuttle from leaving would give her confidence to stop it.
The ship launched towards the skies, leaving a terrified Sunset who couldn’t do anything but just stand there and watch it leave. No other options available, she raised her comm device on her wrist and spoke.
“Flurry, get back here!”
“No Sunset. This is something I have to do for myself!”
“Flurry, this can be discussed over here and not in space! What will your mama say?”
“She’ll be pissed, but you know what, so am I! I’m going out there! And I'm also going to get Mom’s lightsaber back, it doesn't belong to her! And don’t try to stop me!”
Sunset sighed and groaned louder than before. She was handling this horribly, where the hell was Bon Bon when she needed her?
“Flurry… I swear to God, if you don’t turn that ship around, I’m sending out the tugs and hauling you back here,” Sunset growled quietly.
“I’m sorry Sunset. You can ground me forever when you find me, but I'm getting the truth even if you won't."
The ship's engines purred loudly, just out of range of the tugs. And in a few seconds, the ship jumped into hyperspace, forcing the tugs to break off their plan and fly in opposite directions.
"General, the ship jumped away before we could magnetize," one of the tugs reported.
Sunset's eye twitched. Her heart started to beat more erratically, and she slumped to her knees, trying to hold onto her chest. She felt her heart was about to jump out or explode, and she needed to calm down. Ringing hit her ears as she looked up into the sky, seeing no trace of the ship left and her breathing started to shake. The worst possible scenarios started to play all at once in her head, making her almost on the verge of breaking.
But after taking a moment to calmly breathe, she looked back up, seeing a few concerned engineers looking at her, offering her a hand. She took their hands, getting back up on her feet before silently nodding to them that no other concerns were to be had. Reaching for her comms, she spoke to a private channel, reaching the monitoring rooms.
"All units, find and track the Sweetie Drop. The tracking signal should still be on it, we need to find it and bring it back home. If Bon Bon asks where it is, tell her I sent Flurry out on a supply mission," Sunset spoke into her comms.
"But General, shouldn't we--"
"--I'll tell her later. Right now, this is my responsibility," Sunset interrupted, following it up with a sigh. She held onto a wall, feeling a raging headache start to loom over her as she stared at the ground, tears welling in her eyes. "What have I done...?"
The Sweetie Drop jumped out of hyperspace in the middle of empty space for a moment or two. Inside the cockpit, Flurry flipped several switches and controls, making sure she still had enough power to keep going. What Flurry failed to realize or even think about was where Midnight Sparkle would be. There were several Imperial worlds and occupied planets in the galaxy, but none of them really would have made the specific main base.
Laying back in her chair, she scrunched her face with her palms. What have I gotten myself into? Maybe Sunset was right, I shouldn't have... no. No, she knows something. They all do, and they wouldn't tell me. If they won't, I'll find out myself, no turning back.
For a brief moment, she thought of turning the ship to Bracca, maybe going to see her friends would do her good. She hadn't seen them in a long time, maybe it would be good to reunite with them again. Maybe they would actually give her the support she needed...
Her train of thought came to a halt when a sound entered her ear behind her. The door that connected the cockpit to the main halls of the ship opened. No droids were turned on; IG-11 and Cheep were not on board, and she knew G-G was with Team Six on Bracca. The heeled boots walking in made her freeze, but she quietly reached for the blaster tucked underneath the control console.
“You cannot fight Darth Midnight by yourself, you’ll only get yourself killed. And while the Rebels may not like me, I am not about to let you do something stupid.”
Recognizing the voice made Flurry relax, turning around to look at her stowaway. “You’re not getting me to turn this ship around.”
“I know. That’s why I’m joining you,” Adagio said straightforwardly, sitting in the co-pilot seat.
“What? No, no, no, this is my mission, this is something I need to do.”
“Oh yes, a grief-stricken teenager with barebones knowledge of the Force and Jedi training against the Dark Side overlord of the Galactic Empire. I'm sure that will go just smoothly," Adagio drawled, sarcasm practically oozing from every word.
Flurry had run out of patience and in a complete 180, she whipped out the blaster and pointed it at Adagio. She didn’t even hesitate; knowing the Siren’s history that had been repeated over and over by the time they had met.
“… That’s new.”
“Do you want me to shove you in the carbonite chambers? My mama did not have that for show,” Flurry threatened.
Adagio was rather surprised, and impressed by her boldness. Chuckling quietly, she pushed Flurry’s gun to the side without so much as a smidge of hesitation. “Listen. I get it. You’re mad. You want to exact revenge for your mother’s death. You have all of this anger flowing inside you, this rage and pain that’s just mixing inside, waiting to be released, waiting for that moment where you finally get it all out… I get it. But you cannot just charge in without a plan. Do you even know where her base is?”
Flurry raised a finger, looking deep into space without any emotion on her face. And then her finger drooped. “… I did not think this plan through.”
The Siren chuckled. “Well, luckily you have someone who can help you. As a former Sith apprentice, I know a thing or two about how the Sith think. If you’re going to look for them, they won’t be on any common world.”
"Hold on; why are you so adamant on helping me?" Flurry stopped, raising her blaster again. "How can I trust you?"
Adagio stopped for a moment, and looked at her dead in the eyes. "I can't stop you from your mission. I also can't get you to turn around, I have no lightsaber on my person, and you can easily kill me. I am however going to help you because you need a second set of eyes and ears for someone to listen to, and to plan your investigation. I'm on thin ice with your family enough as it is.. but the way I see it, I have no choice. I either help you... or I die."
Flurry wasn't sure what to say. Adagio was at a crossroads here, she had no real win in this scenario. And there was some perk in her eyes having someone who was going to help her here.
"... okay, if you're serious about helping me; answer me this then. If you used to be a Sith, and this is for a hypothetical scenario, if you wanted total control of the universe, where would you hide your base?"
"Personally, I would want something beautiful that can be used for isolation, far from anyone in the galaxy. Your mother’s friend Derpy, while not a Sith, made a smart move by moving her home onto Ajan Kloss; out of the way, and not a popular place to visit for some people. But, we are talking about the Empire; beauty is always raped whenever their hands touch it. The Sith however, depending on each person next in line has a different mindset of a world.”
“How?” Flurry asked, putting the ship in auto-pilot mode.
“Well, I know the legendary Palpatine once used Mustafar as a base for supposed experiments, even had a pupil who once used that world to keep a fortress there. Another supposed legend, Darth Maul, originated from Dathomir, and that became his home until the day he allegedly died. But if I was in Midnight’s shoes, I’d place it somewhere where no one would expect. A planet devoid of any life, and has nothing but scary atmosphere for every rotation,” Adagio said, rather sincerely.
“Where would that be?”
“Hard to say. The Sith did dominate a few worlds; Korriban, Moraband, Malachor…” Adagio stopped. "Flurry. You have no reason to trust me. But can you, for this one time, trust my instincts?"
"If you're serious about helping me, I'll give you this chance. Why?" Flurry raised a brow.
"Because... I just realized where they're hiding," Adagio tapped a set of coordinates into the ship's computer. The engines started to prime for a jump, ready to go. And before they made the jump, Adagio said only one word, whispered in her classic, quiet, but ominous tone.
The Sweetie Drop finally jumped out of hyperspace, orbiting the dark and cloudy atmosphere that surrounded the Imperial occupied planet of Exegol. In legends, it was said the world was uninhabitable, storms and massive lightning strikes hailing at a constant, never stopping. For many Sith Lords in the past, it served as their capital, far from the eyes of the common man. In the Clone Wars, the only thing anyone knew was that the world was a graveyard for thrill-seekers, people believing that there was more, only to become destroyed in the storms above.
And now, the family owned ship was on its way down to the planet.
"Adagio, are you sure this planet is the place?" Flurry asked, glaring at her.
"One hundred percent," Adagio confirmed, guiding them through. "If Midnight is going to live anywhere, it will be here."
As expected, there were a few flashes of lightning in the clouds, accompanied by booming thunder. But as the lightning flashes came, some sights were made a little clear to the eyes of the two girls. Standing in place while the clouds moved around was a single Star Destroyer, just sitting there. And when they leaned in for a better view, they saw another. And another. And another. An entire fleet of Star Destroyers was right before their eyes.
“Whoa…” Flurry gasped. “That’s a lot of Star Destroyers.”
“Defensive. It would appear as if she was waiting for us... or maybe she's protecting her house."
Flurry gave Adagio a deadpan expression. “You’re not being helpful.”
Their eyes kept moving around, looking at all of the ships that were floating there. They couldn’t see how many were in the clouds, but so far they counted seven of them. Although they had a feeling that there was definitely more of them; and oddly they were spaced out as opposed to being smack-dab close to each other.
“Why aren’t they attacking us?” Flurry asked.
"Unidentified freighter, you are in unauthorized airspace, state your business immediately, over," the admiral said over the comms.
--
One of the captains pressed a button to speak through the channels, closed off to one figure in particular.
“Lady Midnight. There is an unknown freighter descending towards the platforms. Its markings look like the same freighter that escaped Agamar. Should we open fire?”
“No. Let them come through… I know who is on board that vessel. Let them come down. I want to see them personally.”
“Yes Lord Midnight,” the admiral understood. “All Star Destroyer crew, do not open fire. Allow the ship to pass through us, Lord Midnight’s orders.”
“Unidentified crew members, you are clear to land at the outside perimeter of the facility,” a voice said through the coms.
Flurry cleared her throat and spoke with the most masculine voice she could muster, “Uh, yes sir, thank you sir, appreciated.”
As the lightning and thunder continued to rattle the ship, the Sweetie Drop made its descent towards the ground, finding a space on the barren land far enough from the castle on the surface. Once it had parked, Flurry quickly grabbed a backpack, filling it with a few weapons, including some droid poppers to stun any individuals that would come their way.
"Adagio, come on, we gotta get moving, they're going to come looking for us," Flurry advised.
Flurry waited for a response. None. Looking up, she paced down the hallway, listening for her. But then she heard an audible--
THUD.
She raced around the corner, only for Adagio to step out of another room, seemingly adjusting her jacket.
"Sorry, just making sure I was ready," Adagio reassured. "I grabbed a blaster or two from the rack, it won't be much, but it's better than just using my knives."
"Well... alright then, come on," Flurry nodded.
"Shouldn't we bring any droids with us?" Adagio asked.
Flurry stopped and groaned as she scrunched her face. "... The droids are back home, aghhh! The only ones we got are K2, and she's not really going to be helpful, she's not made for battle. Commando droids are totalled, and... wait," she paused. She tapped the button on the side. "Bee, you still around?"
The two of them waited for a sound, hearing chittering of little claws scurrying across the ceiling. And looking up, Flurry saw the old buzz droid climb down onto her backpack, and moving to her shoulder to nuzzle her.
"Hey buddy," Flurry giggled. "You feel ready for a little patrolling?"
"Brrrtt," the droid chirped.
"Okay, let's go," Flurry led the way, with Adagio close behind her.
The hatch lowered, and so the two of them went forward, leaving the vessel, and then closed it behind them. Unbeknownst to Flurry, deeper in the ship, the loud thud came from another passenger on board. A droid, who had been trying to do maintenance while she was engaging in conversation with Sunset, had accidentally been taken along for the ride. Now, he remained subdued and knocked offline, on the ground with his two hands twitching from the surge of electricity to shut him down. Flat on his back, the purple and green droid had no idea who his attacker was... or where she was going.
--
Walking across the wasteland, the wind blew their hair in all directions as they came closer to the castle. Not as tall as the Temple, reigning in at possibly twelve to twenty stories high by estimation. Shaped like an upside down trapezoid, covered in metal, brick, and multiple coils that were fed power by multiple generators and towers in the surrounding vicinity.
Adagio's eyes closed for a moment, feeling the energy from this world resonating with her as she continued.
"Ancient evil lived here once. Now the current model has taken residence," she informed, looking around the land.
Looking forward, they could see a courtyard surrounded by a gate, locked behind giant metal doors. Keypad would no doubt be guarded by a clearance code which they did not have, guards would be inside the courtyard which would overpower the two of them, and they would need a lot of firepower just to bring the doors down.
"How do we slip past them?" Flurry asked.
Adagio's eyes darted around, looking for alternative routes, there had to be something. Ladders? Negative, no sense in climbing. Grappling hooks and steel cables, no. The walls were covered in electro mines, no sense in setting them off, or risking their lives. But when she looked to her right, she did see a grate, unprotected by any prying eyes.
"Here," Adagio led.
Dashing to the wall, Adagio yanked the grate off, and climbed inside first, with Bee scurrying behind her, and then Flurry crawling in after her.
All three bodies moved carefully through the vents, climbing up for a few seconds before moving normally once again. Adagio stopped moving, looking down, seeing a few guards in the hallway below them, listening to their conversation.
"Are we expecting guests?" The first officer asked.
"Supposedly. That freighter that escaped in the Agamar raid just showed up; rather unwise."
"Arriving here, or helping the Seppies?" The officer asked.
"Both. Separatists, they're simple... they breed sad combinations of traits that make them vulnerable to overpowering," the other officer bemused. "The Rebels must be out of options if they are resorting to recruiting remnants from the old Clone Wars."
Adagio looked back to Flurry, silently nodding for them to keep going, trying their hardest to not make a lot of sound as they crawled through the vents. Not surprisingly, the officers below looked up, hearing the sound. Raising a hand up, the two of them stopped, with Flurry cupping her mouth and shaking, trying not to make a sound.
"We got rats again," the first officer growled. "How do we even have them, this planet is desolate."
"There's much more to this planet than we realize," the second one shook her head. "Come, we must contact sanitation, tell them we have infestations."
Once they were gone, both intruders moved again, crawling to the right and finding another room to crawl inside. Lifting the grate off, Adagio hung to the sides as she lowered her head down, her hair flailing out as she looked with upside down eyes, to observe the surroundings. No guards, no droids, no officers. The entire room was stacked with crates of unknown materials. It was perfect for a temporary safe room.
Lowering down, the two of them (including Bee) dropped down. For a moment, the team looked around, seeing the various crates and shipments that were neatly spaced into their own categories. Out of curiosity, Flurry red the label of one of them to see--
"--Frozen meats and poultry," she read. "Okay, neat."
"Let's move," Adagio instructed.
The doors opened, and the two of them checked around a corner for any guards or wandering patrols. They quickly snuck down the hallway, before throwing themselves against a wall, hearing the opening of a door, and watching as two officers went down the adjacent hall, completely avoiding the two of them.
Taking their chance, the duo moved again, and froze on the spot. Multiple boots echoed down the hallway, and they were far ahead. Running quickly, they threw themselves behind a set of doors, shrouded with a dark hallway.
"Whew, that was close!" Flurry sighed. "Adagio, are you sure you know where we're going?"
There was no reply.
"Adagio, come on, I'm not fooling around, what's gotten you..." Flurry trailed off, as she looked. Adagio was standing, frozen in place, gasping, shaking, staring in horror at the hallway around them. Narrow and long, with the only sources of light being the red lights built into the floors, and the glowing orange amber blocks that were in the walls. But when Adagio looked to where Adagio stood, she quickly understood why.
She was looking at two bodies encased in the amber, two faces only she would recognize. Two women, one with pig-tailed hairs, the other with a curly ponytail, permanently facing forward in horror at the fate that would behold them. Adagio's hands cupped her jaw as she tried not to break down, either screaming or crying. Her heart rate increased, and when Flurry looked around, she felt just as much fear. In one of the amber blocks was a Togruta in her mid-forties, with red skin and white circular tattoos, reaching with a hand out in useless protest. Flurry shuddered in fear as she looked at the next one, an Equestrian man with pale green skin and tree-green hair and a hat, locked in place as he just gazed forward with terror in his eyes and jaw.
"H... H-How many do you think there are?" Flurry tried to speak, looking to a child in Jedi robes, scared for his life as he was kept in place.
"..."
Adagio tried to keep herself together, hands shaking at her side as she regained composure.
"Almost all of them. If she had started this after the Republic had fallen..." Adagio's eyes gazed to a Mirilian young-adult with yellow skin and blue eyes, expression permanently locked into anger and hate. "I don't want to stay here. We have a mission to do."
"R-Right, yeah," Flurry nodded. "L-Let's go," she guided them out of the hall back to the door. "And Adagio?"
"Yes."
"... I'm sorry," she quietly said, seeing the two women that Adagio was locked onto. No more words were said as they left the morgue, they had work to do.
Flurry and Adagio tiptoed past some guards, checking for all sections of the hallway to make sure there wasn’t anyone watching. Together the two slammed their backs against one of the walls, hoping to use some of the edges to hide their bodies.
“I’ve been standing guard all day, I need my shift change right now,” a Midnight trooper said, standing at a corner of the open corridor.
“Your replacement will be here in half an hour, just wait,” the other trooper replied.
“I hope so. I haven’t eaten in the past six hours, I’m feeling a little off…”
With their attention drawn to the hallway across from them, Flurry and Adagio sneaked off right past them without getting caught. They didn’t even hear them dash behind them. But then the two Force-users had to hide again, this time from some troopers who were walking by. Luckily the cover of some unmoved cargo crates provided them a spot to hide.
“You heard about any planet locations Midnight has plans for?”
“I heard she wants to go down to Dathomir. Though I don’t think I can stand that place, it’s too thick to see down there.”
“And those nasty witches… ugh,” the trooper shivered in fear. “Just hope no one is down there.”
And once again, their attention was drawn elsewhere, giving plenty of time for the two to sneak on by.
The two of them looked to another set of doors, one that gave both Force-users a sense of raw energy. Dark energy at that. Nodding to each other, they got ready. She was here. The time was now.
The doors slid open, and the two Midnight troopers primed their blasters at the two girls. Adagio, not hesitating, Force-pushed both troopers out of the way. One slammed against a wall, and the other one went towards a pedestal with a small trophy, shattering the glass.
The dark figure standing at the top of the steps didn’t change her position, she knew they would come. Flurry glared up at the steps to the big window, flashing lighting outside casting a shadow for a brief moment. Heads of various divisions were there as well: Captain Phasma who primed her blaster. Nightbird and the Second Sister, igniting their dark sabers into position. Terrorcolt, arms raised up to fire.
Midnight was quiet, and she raised a hand up to them all, telling them to back off. Following orders, they lowered their weapons.
“So you’re the one who destroyed the factory,” Midnight started, still staring out the window. “I must admit, I was rather surprised to hear it coming from a teenager of all people, but… I am also very impressed with your skill.” She turned around, her scary black and purple mask staring down at Flurry Heart and Adagio Dazzle.
“You’re quite an agile fighter. Especially when it came to fighting my forces on Agamar and Scarif.”
Flurry continued to glare at her angrily, ready to attack her right here and now.
“I can feel your anger. It’s… powerful.”
“Enough!” Flurry yelled, pulling out her lightsaber, holding it down ready to swing. And Adagio managed to Force-yank the lightsaber from the Second Sister’s holster, clutching it in her arms. The Sister wanted to grab it back, but Midnight again, held her back, ordering her not to attack.
“You know something, little one. I can feel your hesitation, your unease. You’ve come all this way to find me, looking for the answer to a question that you believe was never honestly given.”
Adagio ignited the blade, ready to attack as well, letting the double blades spin around like a saw. “Flurry, give me the word, and we attack—”
Midnight didn’t let her finish. With a single, sharp gesture, she used the Force and threw Adagio across the room and against the wall, pinning her to the door.
“Don't interrupt." She said coolly, as if Adagio had merely spoken out of turn at a dinner conversation.
“Just stop it! Just tell me the truth!" Flurry shouted angrily, brandishing her lightsaber at the dark lady before her. "Are you or are you not related to me?!”
Darth Midnight was quiet for a moment. Then, she spoke, and her voice was eerily calm. Flurry had the sudden, awful feeling that, despite the break-in to her own fortress and challenge made to her life, that the Sith was the only one here truly in control of the situation. “Before you try to kill me, there is something you must know first.”
Flurry Heart swallowed, and she held her lightsaber back up in a proper fighting stance, working to remember what her mother had taught her. “What?” She spat, trying to keep her voice level.
“Your mother and father truly are dead," Midnight stated simply. "And, assuming that the rebels told you that your aunt Twilight died because of me… they were telling the truth. Twilight Sparkle did die a long time ago, and with her, the rest of the Republic and the Jedi Order."
Darth Midnight paused for an instant, a brief but all too agonizing instant, before she said the words that put a chill into Flurry's bones, and opened a gaping, screaming hole in the pit of her stomach.
"Flurry Heart. I am your aunt.”
Flurry’s heart started racing. It had been the moment she broke into the room, but the beating was increasing erratically. The truth she was so worried to learn, the one thing she hoped wouldn’t be true, was reality.
“Impossible or not, it is true,” Darth Midnight said.
Flurry grunted and yelled as she ran forward, running up the stairs to strike, but Midnight didn’t flinch. She lifted her hand, lightly pushing Flurry back from her, and sending her flying right back on the bottom of the steps leading to her throne. Luckily she didn’t fall, and used her feet to keep herself from falling on her back.
Flurry ran back up again, and Midnight locked her in place before lifting her up in the air.
"You charge without a change in direction or strategy; impulsive," Midnight summarized, pushing her back down the steps. "That's not the fighter I know who used our own ships against us."
Flurry was sent flying down the stairs again, this time without saving a landing. Pulling back up on her feet she growled at the top of the steps, subtly looking around for something to use to throw at Midnight, there had to be something. And thankfully, she did. A metal container just resting idly by the throne, opened up with a few contents was perfect.
Locking on target she lifted a hand up and pulled it forward, sending it flying towards Midnight. The Imperial leader was ready, and moved out of the way in time, letting the contents fall down the steps, just in time for Flurry to almost get a strike on her. Midnight still did not dare pull out her saber, nor did any of the other leaders around her make a move.
"Do we kill her?" Phasma questioned.
"No. This is fight is not ours," Terrorcolt calculated.
Flurry tried to strike her, moving fast as she could, but Midnight was moving too quick for her. She couldn't land a single touch on her, it was impossible! Midnight waited for Flurry to attack again, and caught her when she had flailed her arms forward, locking it in place. Throwing her back she slammed her against a wall, not too hard, but enough to make her feel pinned.
Midnight kept her hand up, holding her there before speaking.
"You learned to change the strategy... and fell back towards a tactic that failed. The Rebels must not be training you well enough to understand that you do not go rushing, looking for a fight."
Flurry struggled to break free of her control but it was useless. Midnight had more power over her, she was unstoppable! Moving her away from the wall, she sent her flying down the stairs again, letting her roll on the floor. The teen got up, she had one more ounce of energy left in her, she had to do something, even if it was one small touch against her.
Looking forward, she looked around again for something to attack, as Midnight waited for her. She yanked two more crates, sending them flying from two different directions this time. Midnight avoided the first one again, but she wasn't ready as a second one came slamming at her back, giving Flurry the moment she needed. She charged forward and stabbed forward, but went too high, her blade cutting into the upper shoulder of Midnight; the dark lady let out a cry of pain and anger at the unexpected injury.
A piece of her shoulder fell to the floor, which made Flurry freeze, did she really get some damage inflicted upon her? Midnight was frozen, not moving a muscle, and the rest of the high command didn't know what to do. Phasma and Terrorcolt primed their blasters at her again, and Nightbird was ready to pull out her blade, but one hand went up, once again, telling them not to move. Midnight slowly looked up at her niece, her face still unreadable under the mask.
Without warning, the click of Midnight's lightsaber activated and swung forward. Flurry jumped back before it could slash her, only for her lightsaber to suddenly surge with electricity and completely die on her. She looked down, finding the hilt of the blade completely severed, making her gasp. Midnight had stood back up, despite the severity of the injury to her shoulder, and sent Flurry flying down the stairs. The fall and tumble were hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of Flurry, breaking her balance. The dark lady's breathing was steady, but pained as she got up, gazing at her exhausted niece.
Struggling to get up, Flurry froze when she saw a pair of boots in front of her.
“Enough games, Flurry Heart,” Midnight declared.
Four Midnight Troopers walked into the room with their weapons locked and loaded, ready to shoot when ordered.
“You called for us, milady?” One of the troopers asked.
Midnight nodded, gesturing to Flurry on the ground. Two of them moved towards her, grabbing her by her arms and yanking her back on her feet. Their grip was too strong for Flurry to resist, added on top of her being exhausted from constantly being tossed back and never getting a single hit on her aunt. Her arms were locked behind her back by their vice-grips, and it only got worse when they slapped a pair of electrocuffs on her wrists.
“Coming here with this Siren was a mistake,” Midnight said, looking her right in the eye. “Adagio Dazzle is a war criminal. Harsh as I am, I know she isn’t here for your benefit. She only looks out for herself,” she looked at Adagio who was now being grabbed by the two troopers, also given a pair of electrocuffs. “Shame she has manipulated you so easily. But this won’t be a problem for much longer… terminate her.”
The troopers were going to ignore her until they saw Midnight hold a hand up, telling them to wait.
“You’re defending her. Why?”
“I’m the one you want, right? You sent out a bounty hunter to find me on Ajan, and he wouldn’t kill me no matter how much he got close to me. And every time I keep jumping at you, you don’t even try and kill me. So leave her alone, just take me instead!”
Midnight was silently thinking. Either Adagio Dazzle had manipulated her so much, or maybe… just maybe this was something else. She thought things over some more in her head; her own niece, the last remaining bloodline of her family was here. She couldn’t kill her, she wouldn’t dare to. And this was the same girl who destroyed one of their most valuable factories. Maybe she could have been useful… maybe it would be better to have her around.
“Very well. I won’t kill her. But that doesn’t mean she leaves.” Midnight looked to the two troopers who were keeping her still. “Guards. Silence her for me. She’s a Siren, I do not need her mind-controlling any of you.”
Adagio didn’t get a chance to talk, thanks to one of the guards wrapping a gag over her mouth to silence her. And without any words to be said, they forced her to walk as they took her away, leaving the room. And as for poor Flurry, she looked up at Midnight with a fearful look.
“As for you, Flurry Heart… I think you will be staying here for quite a while,” Midnight said, this time rather softly. "Oh, but before you're escorted..."
Midnight's hand reached out to the side, raising the buzz droid that had tried to scamper off during Flurry's attempted attack, levitated in the air before her. Flurry looked up at it, her levels of fear raising even more.
"Bee, no...."
"I have grown tiresome of little things getting in my way," Midnight seethed with anger as she clamped her hand into a fist motion, watching as the droid's metal plating and inner workings started to crush from within, forcefully pressing against itself as if it was being compacted by an invisible machine before dropping it to the ground with a thud.
"NO!!!" Flurry screamed. She tried to fight the restraints, but couldn't. Midnight however just stepped forward and lightly pressed her palm against Flurry's head.
"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU MONSTER!!! HOW COULD YOU... how... h... how c..."
A soft wave of energy was flowing through her which quieted her anger, before she was rendered unconscious, accompanied by her head drooping.
“Captain. Take Flurry to a cell. But if she tries to escape, do not harm her. And if I find out you do… you wouldn’t want to know what would happen if you fail me.”
Phasma didn’t change her posture. “Yes, mistress. Come!”
Midnight looked down on the ground, and Force-pulled Flurry’s lightsaber to her palm, gripping it tightly. She looked at it, analyzing the bizarre appearance.
“Constructed out of spare parts, forging it with a simple blaster… and yet,” Midnight examined further, "it worked. She has quite the intellect. Rather useful, I might say.”
“Is that girl really your niece?” the Second Sister asked.
“Yes… she is. However, Sister, I am informing you now, and I will inform Commander Dust and Phasma of this later. No one, under any circumstance, is to know of her relationship to me. To the Empire, she is just another Rebel having been captured. Understand?”
“Yes, Lord Midnight,” the Second Sister agreed.
"What if she's bugged? The Rebels could track her to your base," Nightbird pointed out.
"If she is, the storms are too heavy for a signal from her ship to reach out. But..." she picked up the buzz droid by the leg, watching it's crushed body hanging by a thread. "If one of her pets is here, the rest of them will be as well. Send officers to check the ship for any others, do a full sensor sweep."
"Understood," the Grand Inquisitor nodded, leaving her be.
"What if there's a chance of a signal being sent? Without knowing the exact number of online droids within the vessel, the chances of them dispatching a signal successfully are 742 to 1."
"I know she'll find a way to send a call, either her, or the family's pets," Midnight calmly, but sternly answered. "And if they do, the fleet will take care of them before they touch the ground. Now, I have an important call to make, and I require isolation."
"As you command," the Dark Trooper responded, marching away, leaving Midnight alone to the projector table.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God... OH GOD!!!"
Bon Bon ran right back into the briefing room where Sunset and the Jedi had gathered. Everyone had been working for the past few hours trying to track Flurry and the ship, but to no avail. The ship's tracker was lost, making searching a complete nightmare.
“Ugh, where could she have gone!?” Bon Bon ranted, pacing back and forth. “I should have stayed with her, should have watched her, I… why did she even run off like that?”
The Mandalorian slammed her back into the wall and threw her head back. She slid against the wall again, slumping onto her butt when she hit the floor. Fluttershy frowned softly, squatting down to be at her level, next to Rarity and Rainbow.
“… What kind of mother am I?” Bon Bon whispered, trying not to croak again.
“Now you listen right now, this is not your fault,” Rarity sternly said, interrupting any other thought that could come into Bon Bon’s mind. “But you need to stay calm, we will find her. Is there any place in the galaxy that Flurry likes to go clear her head?”
“Any fun hotspots, vacation places, barren lands to take out anger…?” Rainbow continued to press.
“No, if she was mad, she'd punch holes in the walls, or take it out on Tatooine’s sand dunes,” Bon Bon answered. “I just don’t understand, I know she’s full of grief, but she wouldn’t just leave like that… would she?”
“Grief does a lot of horrible things to people, I’m afraid,” Fluttershy frowned. “… That’s not helpful, is it?”
“I just… what was the last thing she was doing before she left, did any of you see her before she suddenly escaped with my house?” Bon Bon asked.
Sunset who had been quiet the entire time froze in place, not turning around and nervously facing the projector table with guilt.
“Pinkie, what about you?”
“Nope. I tried to invite her to sit so she can have someone to scream at, but she just went to go talk to Sunset,” Pinkie answered.
Now Sunset flinched in place. She grit her teeth, trying not to get mad, on top of everything else that was starting to pile.
“Sunset, what did you say to her?” Rainbow asked.
“…”
“Sunset?” Applejack pressed, raising a brow.
“I… didn’t tell her anything,” Sunset replied. She turned around, trying to maintain a neutral face, but it was getting increasingly difficult.
“Sunset…” Bon Bon’s voice got lower, especially as she stood up to look her in the eye. “Do not lie to me. Flurry saw you, and she got angry. What did you two talk about?”
Sunset took a deep breath and sighed. “Flurry wanted to speak to me about her night terrors, which quickly derailed into a conversation about dealing with death during the Clone Wars. I told her it wasn’t easy, but she kept asking more questions I wasn’t prepared for.”
“About what?” Bon Bon pressed, folding her arms.
“… She asked about Twilight,” Sunset defeatedly answered. There was no dancing around this now, this situation was beyond salvation now.
“I don’t know! She figured it out, or something, she put it together on her own! I tried to stop her, but she left before I could stop her!”
Pinkie was about to step in until she saw a red flashing chirp coming from the projector table she was in front of. A message was coming in with no coordinates displaying the origin.
“Oh that’s just wonderful, Sunset! Really, reaaallly wonderful! Glad to know I can count on you and the rest of you idiots to keep my child safe!” Bon Bon growled to everyone.
“Hey, don’t get mad at us, we’re not the ones who insisted on keeping this a secret!” Rainbow argued.
“Maybe if we had been honest with her from the start—”
“Um, girls?” Pinkie tried to interrupt. “We have a call coming in, we reaaaally need to answer it—”
“—NO!” Everyone shouted.
“Bon Bon, it doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is that we find her, and get her home,” Sunset spun. “I’m sorry we weren’t honest with her, but she didn’t give us a warning that she was going to just up and vanish.”
“… I think we all are to blame right now,” Fluttershy admitted.
“Okay, we really need to answer this call now!” Pinkie snapped.
“I don’t want to hear it right now,” Sunset held a hand up. “Look, Bon Bon, we can just—"
“—Is something wrong, Sunset?” That voice sent chills down Sunset’s spine, along with everyone else in the room. Slowly they all turned around to look at the projector, gasping and freezing up at the person who was talking to them. “You have prided yourself on not letting me gain victory; and yet I find your efforts to fight the Galactic Empire to be anything but successful.”
All eyes turned around to the massive holoprojector. The bust of Midnight Sparkle flickered on the projection, camera kept only to her shoulders and up as she faced them. Her breathing echoed in the room, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
“Midnight,” Sunset hissed.
“I congratulate you and your team for finding the Separatists. It was becoming too easy to hunt them down… I appreciate your Rebels for giving me a challenge.”
“Where is Flurry Heart?” Fluttershy glared.
“She is safe in my care. Lyra and her Mandalorian spouse have done their job; in fact, I appreciate all they have done for her. But now it is my responsibility to care for her.”
“You wouldn’t know the first thing about caring for an individual’s well being!” Rarity spat. “If you put one finger on her—”
“—Flurry is all I have left to my family,” Midnight interrupted, coldly. “The last thing I intend to do is harm her. There will be no modifications or upgrades to her, unlike my Inquisitorus. In fact, I intend to finish her training, to give her the skills that she lacked from the Jedi way.”
“You wouldn’t dare…”
“I will be taking care of her like I should have done a long time ago. I will raise her to be a proper adult, and give her everything your Rebellion couldn’t afford to give her. A child needs to grow up in an environment where she can be cared for, and given the proper nurture and development. If you care for her, you will not find me. You will not rescue her.”
“You realize we aren’t going to just sit here and stew, right?” Rainbow growled.
“I am fully aware. But heed my warning, if you come here to rescue her… you will all die. It would be a shame for the great Jedi Masters to meet their demise after being in hiding for so long. If you care for Flurry Heart you will let her go. She’s in my care now. You have done your job. And to Bon Bon Heartstrings?”
The Mandalorian glared at her under the helmet.
“What?”
“You are forever in my debt for protecting my niece for so long. Should we meet in battle; you will be left alone. But your job is done.”
“She is my daughter!” Bon Bon roared, slamming her fist into a bare spot on the table. “She doesn’t belong to you.”
“She is family,” Midnight repeated. “And I grow tiresome of little things getting in my way.” She stopped for a second to look at her. “Take solace in this. You will not be replaced. As of this afternoon, Flurry Heart will be a new protégé and my successor in ruling the Galactic Empire."
Just like that, the transmission cut off, leaving a stunned silence from everyone. Shaking whispers and racing hearts came from everyone, finally realizing the severity of the situation.
"We're not just going to stand here, are we? We gotta find her, is there any way we can track where that signal came from?" Rainbow looked.
"Ugh, I tried!" Pinkie whinned. "She made the signal close-circuited, I can't track the source! I'm so useless!"
"You at least tried," Fluttershy sympathized. "We just need to find another way to look for her, I'm sure if we all put our heads together, we can find her, right?"
Sunset was frozen stiff, leaning against the table. Her heart beat faster, ringing hit her ears, breath starting to shake.
"Sunset? Sunset are you okay?"
"I... I need a minute. M-Maybe an hour..." Sunset paused. The general straightened her pose before looking to the girls. "Search for Midnight's location, flood it on every channel, I don't care. Getting her back is our priority."
"Sunset, this could take days--"
"--Do you think I don't know that?" Sunset's voice lowered. Now everyone was scared. Whenever her voice got quiet, it meant she was going to get angry. "Do you think I have zero idea of how long this is going to be? For all I know, she could be dead, and Midnight is toying with us," Sunset growled, her fists shaking. "If she kills Flurry Heart..."
Sunset's head raised up, and almost robotically, she walked away from her friends, leaving the room and leaving the adults bewildered. Fluttershy and Rarity looked to each other, Pinkie and Rainbow's jaws were slightly agape, worried sick about Sunset sounded ready to scream at them. Bon Bon was too focused on working on the projector table to listen to anyone. Applejack just stared at the open hallway, where Sunset didn't even bother to close the door behind her.
"Girls... we put it off for too long. I think it's time," Applejack prompted with worry. "She needs an intervention, now."
Hours pressed on, as the search parties continued their work across multiple star charts and galaxies. All except for one; Sunset Shimmer. Her brain collapsed into an overwhelmed state that there was only one place she wanted to go to; straight to the bar. No one else was around, just her, and the bartender, Berry Blend who was still keeping an eye on her.
"You realize I cannot keep giving in to your temptations?" Berry asked.
"Just make it another, Berry. Heaviest."
Berry shook her head with a sigh. "I'll get the stuff from the back, just try not to smash any of my fine glassware, okay?" Walking away, Sunset was left by herself in the blue-lit bar, with the only sound coming from herself as she played with her cup.
Sunset tipped the drink to the side, watching the liquid move around in the direction of the glass’s position. She moved her hand around, watching it move to wherever up was, narrowing avoiding spilling it on the counter. She waited for the bartender to come back and give her a refill on her drink, but he never came back. In fact, looking around, she didn’t see anyone else there but her.
Rolling her eyes, she just took another sip, slowing it down this time. But then, out of nowhere, she heard a strange sound. Whistling. Whistling so clear that it was the only thing she heard, as if all other sounds were put on mute. Raising her head up, she saw that reflecting in the mirror across from her, someone else had shown up at the bar; sitting right next to her. Shrouded in a cloak with a built-in hood, face hidden in the darkness of the hood. The figure took a sip of a drink next to her, before turning to look at her, blood red eyes the only thing visible underneath.
“Well, well. Sunset Shimmer herself. I was wondering if you had run away here again,” the figure greeted, a smile on their face yet not present to her eyes.
“Oh everyone’s met me,” the figure shrugged casually, taking another sip. “One way or another, they all do. Good and bad, rich and poor, everyone.”
“I see…” Sunset continued, rather hesitantly. “How long have you been here?”
“I’ve always been around,” they answered. “I’ve had to meet a few of those comrades of yours in the field lots of time. Unfortunate that many of them went this way… but they fight for a cause that’s important for the many. I can respect that. I just hope you don’t go that way either, senorita.”
Sunset wanted to back away, this person was making her more uncomfortable the way they talked.
“I just want to ask you something, Sunset. Why do you run from them?”
“From what?”
“Your friends,” they replied, eyes blinking in the hood’s darkness. “They’re back, they can help you. Yet you cut them off and refuse to let them back in your life… cutting them off is going to kill you. You need them more than ever.”
Sunset scoffed with an eye-roll. “And you just happen to be the authority on my friends, huh? Okay, well then tell me this, why do I need them so bad if everything’s fine?”
The figure took another drink before speaking. “You still feel guilty over what happened to Twilight Sparkle. It’s not that hard to figure out.”
Sunset froze in place. Only a few people ever knew it was Twilight who had turned to the dark side, not just her friends, but only a select few of the higher ups here in the Rebellion had any clue who she had become. The general slowly scooted away from the bar stool, wanting to just leave, maybe tell someone to stop this creep from harassing her.
“You can’t run away from them,” he said, suddenly appearing behind her out of nowhere. Sunset turned around, her heart jumping from the near surprise. “And if you think just going back here, drinking as a means to a way to forget… you’ll keep doing it, until one day, you’ll have to meet me, just like the others who have gone.”
Sunset's heart raced faster as she felt herself pinned against a wall by unseen hands. “What do you want from me!?”
The cloaked figure was quiet for a second, sighing. One of his hands revealed itself in the light; a sight that made Sunset’s skin crawl, and her heart race. Rotting, decomposing flesh with exposed bone was present. Sunset placed her hand over her rapidly beating heart, feeling as if it was ready to jump out of her chest.
“I want you to live your life to the fullest,” the figure replied. “You’re not healthy right now, and I don’t want you wasting it. I want you to go talk to someone. Go find an isolated spot in the forest outside; Celestia wants to meet with you.”
“S… S-S-She’s dead,” Sunset struggled.
“Yes… she is,” the figure sighed. “I wish she had the chance to live to the fullest; if it wasn’t for that queen. But I have been meeting with her, and many others you once known. They can help you.”
The cloaked form took one more drink and slowly walked past her, whistling audibly and clearly to her as their clear, blood red eyes gazed into her soul.
“Meet with them in half an hour. It will be good for you.”
Following the orders provided by the stranger (with heavy hesitation), Sunset moved herself away from the temples to a secluded area in the forest, into a clearing that provided a camping spot for anyone who wished to seek comfort in the nature. Sunset was far from any of the eyes of her fellow teammates and friends. Her eyes were closed, and her legs were crossed. She let the Force flow through her, guiding her like a pebble on a river. She tried to reach out in the past, but with no avail. Of all the times she needed guidance and help, now was that time.
To help enhance the process, she laid out several spiritual candles from Equestria, a lesson she had learned from Master Twilight in order to communicate with the spirits from before. But it didn’t feel like it was working. Out of frustration, she let out a hard sigh and scrunched her face with her hands. She needed help, now. Her friends and allies of the present and lively can’t help, she swore by it. Yet she still couldn’t contact the spirits.
That was until she felt a change in the winds. The time of day had gone to night, when mostly everyone had gone to bed or started to do their night shifts. The candle lights were almost snuffed, but then she saw glowing specters shimmering with a cool blue glow. The general gulped, and watched as the first spirit made herself present before her… someone she never thought she would see again. One that she ran from all those years ago…
“Ch… Chan… C…” Sunset was at a loss for words. “Celestia?”
The ghost looked at her, warmly smiling at her. “I’m glad I have not been forgotten, my old student.”
Sunset tried to reach for her, but hesitated. She couldn’t touch a ghost, it wouldn’t work. But Celestia could, and the spirit moved forward and gave her student a much needed hug. Sunset just carefully wrapped her arms around her old mentor’s back, feeling the energy illuminating around her.
“You’ve grown up now,” Celestia noted. “I’m so proud of you.”
The former teacher wiped a happy tear from her grown-up student’s face, letting her rejoice from how happy she was to see her again, even if she wasn’t living.
“You don’t look well,” Celestia began to notice. “When have you last slept?”
“I’ll sleep when the war is over,” Sunset said, rather bitterly. But she soon corrected her stance when she looked back to her former teacher. “I… why are you here? Who was that person in the cloak, why did he want—”
“—I asked him to find you. He was… an unorthodox choice, but I didn’t believe you would just follow a messenger at will. I needed someone who you would believe was beyond the current realm you and the living reside in.”
Sunset didn’t even know what to say right now. “O-Okay, but… you know what, that’s going to be tabled, because I have more follow up questions as to who that guy is, but I have bigger things going on.”
“I believe you. But, I’m not alone in my endeavors. The rest of us are here as well to provide aid.”
“Us?”
“Yes. Come everyone. Please, let us talk to her, I’m sure she’d appreciate our company. Come on, no need to be shy,” the spirit gestured.
More orbs of spectral light manifested out of thin air, slowly sitting down on the rocks and logs that had been set around this little campfire. Sunset was surprised to see more; she didn’t think she would have gotten far with this ritual. Many familiar faces appeared before her; old and new. From Equestria’s Jedi Temple, she could see Scribble Dee, Sandalwood, and Micro Chips. And the others? The others that arrived were all from the main temple on Coruscant. Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, Tiplar and Tiplee, Ima-Gun-Di, Kanan Jarrus,… including Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
“Sunset Shimmer, you’ve grown dude! You look great for 43 years,” Sandalwood complimented.
“She has aged gracefully,” Micro Chips said with a little dramatic wave of his hand.
“H-Hi, everybody,” Sunset tittered, still trying to take in the shock to see so many familiar faces. “It’s good to see you all, and thank you for responding to my call.”
“You are still connected to us. And when someone needs help, we will answer,” Master Jinn replied.
“Maybe if we weren’t idiots we could have done so much more for the galaxy,” Scribble seethed, folding her arms. She looked at Sunset, who was taken aback by her response. Scribble wasn’t one of the most vocal Jedi she knew, and to see her suddenly be more outspoken than before? “I’m sorry Sunset. I know you want our help, and that’s not really doing good for you.”
“It’s okay, Vinyl. I understand,” Sunset reassured, still wondering who the heck this spirit was that had done with the mostly mute Vinyl. But as she looked around her, she noticed something. “Wait. Wait a minute… where is everyone else? Master Windu? Tinn? Thunderbass?”
“I felt it was best to assemble only a few people to not make you feel overcrowded, Sunset. Besides, Master Windu believes his words would not be welcome.”, Celestia explained, sitting down at another rock from across her former student.
“Okay, I can understand that, sorta,” Sunset thought. “But there’s another person I want to talk to. Where is Master Yoda? Or, even better… where is Tano?”
“Sunset, Master Yoda and Ahsoka have not become one with the Force,” Kanan interrupted. “I know it. I can feel it.”
“Impossible. Master Yoda never found me or the Rebels, and I know Ahsoka died, I felt it,” Sunset said, standing her ground. She looked at Kanan with a sorrowful face, breath almost shaky. “Please… don’t tell me she’s still alive. Don’t give me hope.”
“Sunset. We don’t know what has become of many of our fellow Jedi. But we know not everyone has become one with the Force like we have,” Master Secura spoke this time. “There are others still in the land of the living who have escaped our fates.”
Sunset was only more frustrated. “But why can’t I reach out to them?”
“I do not know. Perhaps they are in an undisclosed location that we cannot reach them from,” Master Secura said, shaking her head.
“We’re getting off-track here,” Celestia interrupted. “Sunset, tell them why you called out for us.”
The mentor sat back down on a rock across from her, sitting with the rest of the fallen Jedi. Now having the center of attention, Sunset cleared her throat, and spoke.
“I feel like everything is falling apart. The Empire’s been gunning us down much harder than ever before, and there are too many people afraid to take a stand," Sunset stood up, starting to pace back and forth in front of the ghosts. "At the same time, we’ve made some new friends but now I’m more scared of them than the Empire. And on top of that, one of my closest friends was murdered by the one who started the entire downfall of the Republic, and her daughter is now who-knows-where and we can’t find her. I am trying to maintain control and stay calm, but I just… can’t!” Sunset shrieked.
She cupped her face, slowly breathing in and out, almost on the verge of crying. “I can’t keep it together… everyone looks up to me, expecting to know what to do all the time, but I just don’t! How can I ask my friends to understand that I don’t know what to do, when I’m trying to make sure everything isn’t falling apart!?”
She collapsed back on the rock, hands holding her face as she quietly cried, not able to keep herself together.
“Whoa… heavy,” Sandalwood frowned.
Celestia waited for a moment, lifting her student's chin up so she could look at her. Her face was turning red from how much pain she was in, eyes now bloodshot.
"You underestimate your friends' capabilities, my old student," Celestia warmly began, before sitting next to her. "There were times when I was afraid to reach out for help, taking on so many responsibilities that I didn't know if I could handle. In the old wars, there was many times when I didn't know what I could do; Luna and I did everything together, and without her, I... I started to fall apart. So long have I waited to ask for help... and by the time I did, it was too late. My nephew took over for my responsibilities, and I didn't have a chance to return back to find you, or anyone else."
Everyone had to wince at that response, remembering the day that on all channels, reports of Celestia's assassination came through; one of the darkest days in Clone Wars history.
"But you, my student... you still have a chance to ask for help. You can't go back to the old wars and fix the mistakes then. But you can stop them from happening again here in the now. Talk to your friends, tell them everything that is hurting you, I know they will be more than understanding. Twilight believed in you, and gave you the hand you needed, so why would the rest of them not do the same?"
Sunset looked back up at Celestia, her eyes still watery, and ready to break into tears again. But she didn't have the chance to speak further, as all of the spirits looked across the forest.
"I believe our time is up. But, we will come back again should you need our help," Celestia bid her farewell as she stood up.
“Wait, before you go!” Sunset pleaded. “I need to at least know this; there was someone who approached me at a bar, someone who moved faster than me, and I swore he looked dead; he said to come out here to talk, who is he?”
Celestia gave one nod before speaking. “I sent for him personally. As for who he is… there are people whose existences go beyond the plane of logic and reason. The mere knowledge of such otherworldly beings would make it impossible for you to find any rest or solitude ever again. I cannot tell you who he is, that is something for you, and everyone else here in this realm to learn. In the end… he comes for us all.”
And just like that, Celestia left Sunset with more questions than answers for the fate of the cloaked man. One by one, each of the Force ghosts vanished into thin air, giving small but friendly waves as they departed the forest. Sunset could only wonder when she would see them again, or even if she could. She sat back down on the stump, with only the campfire as her company. Crickets continued to chirp, and the sounds of woodland creatures continued to fill the air of the starry night.
“What do I do now…?” Sunset asked, looking up.
Just then, a snapping twig made her jump up with a primed blaster as she aimed it at the woods. She waited for the source to come out and jump at her, wondering who is stalking her out here at this time of night—
“Sunset, put the blaster away! We’re not here to attack!” Rainbow insisted from far into the woods.
Sunset sighed with some relief. It was just her friends, no one dangerous. All of her friends had gathered to come talk to her; Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.
"What happened back there? You just left in the middle of us trying to come up with a plan, you don't just walk off like that," Rainbow Dash demanded.
"And you certainly don't keep your anger bottled up," Fluttershy added.
"Actually, has she done that? The years kinda all start to blur for me," Pinkie admitted with some shame.
"Whatever the case is, we're gonna talk," Applejack put her hands on her hips.
Despite the talk with Celestia from earlier, Sunset didn't feel like approaching her friends with the burden once more.
“So what’s going on, tell us,” Fluttershy insisted.
“… actually, it’s nothing. Just go, I don’t want to bother any of you right now,” Sunset passively replied, hoping they would leave.
Unfortunately for her, they did the exact opposite.
“Hmmm… no,” Pinkie shook her head, planting herself on one of the wooden chairs surrounding the small fire.
“Not happening,” Rainbow agreed.
“We’re sittin’ here, and we aren’t leavin’ til you tell us what’s goin’ on in that head of yours,” Applejack said, crossing her arms. "We're not taking no for an answer, not this time."
“There’s nothing to tell, you can’t help me with this,” Sunset said, starting to get angrier.
“Darling, do you understand what you are doing right now?” Rarity interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. “Do you remember the last time one of our friends pushed us away when they needed them most?”
Sunset wanted to speak up, but she didn’t. She did know, and Rarity was right. She couldn’t argue.
“So, we’re not making that mistake again. We are going to stay here, or we’re going to follow you until you finally open up. And by the way, when I mean we’ll follow you, I mean we’re going to follow you…”
And then Pinkie was extremely close to Sunset’s ears, sending chills down Sunset’s spine.
“Foreeverrrrrrrrr.”
Sunset turned to look at Pinkie, but she wasn’t next to her, suddenly she was sitting back on that wooden stool again, as if she didn’t move.
“How did you do that?” Sunset sputtered.
Pinkie just shrugged. “Now spill it!”
“… Fine,” Sunset sighed, knowing it was no use to argue with her friends. “Since I know none of you will leave, I’ll talk. I… I can’t lead the Rebels.”
“What!?” Everyone said at once.
“Darling what are you talking about?” Rarity implored.
Sunset rubbed her own face as she tried to keep herself together. Pushing herself on her feet she began to pace back and forth, unable to sit still.
“The past few weeks, I have made bad decision after bad decision. First, we failed to get so much as an inkling of info for anything the Empire is working on. And then, I kill the only person who could have given us any information on the Empire, who by the way, was one of our old friends! Someone I didn't think was one of the Imperials, and now she's dead! Dead as an Inquisitor, just how I wanted to see her for one more time!”
The five Jedi were locked onto her as she kept moving back and forth. They could tell she had been keeping this all in, and they were waiting for her to finish, knowing she had to get this off her chest.
“And then, I come back, and find out not only was a former Sith right about one of our friends being alive, but now we have to work together with the troopers who tried to kill us all at the end of the war!" Her foot stomped into a twig, breaking it apart as she turned around.
"And then, another one of my friends died, trying to deliver possibly the last remnants of a battalion from said war, and now, the daughter who I swore to protect is missing, and grief stricken over the loss of her mom, and I couldn’t stop her from leaving, and now she's in Midnight's hands! I have FAILED in what I set out to do!!!" Her arms were alluding to herself with hands almost in the motion like claws.
"Our former friend, murdered one of our friends, and is possibly torturing her niece, in an unknown region of the galaxy, and I don’t even know where she is!” Sunset was nearly about to rip her hair out, and tears were now flying off her face. “I keep making bad choices, and I can’t take it anymore! I’m not fit to be a leader, I shouldn’t be in charge of the Rebels, I should just be wasting away back on Ord Mantell where none of you would have to deal with me or any of this! I just… AGHHH!!!!”
That scream echoed in the forests, sending flocks of birds away from fear into the night sky. Rainbow and the others were a bit taken back from her outburst but they didn’t run. Once they could tell Sunset was running out of energy to harness her stress on, they moved closer as she sat back down on her bench.
Sunset cupped her face again, trying to hide herself from the rest of her friends. “I… I can’t do this. I thought I could do this, but I can’t. I just… I can’t.”
“Ohhh darling, come here…”
Rarity hoisted Sunset onto her feet and embraced her, letting Sunset cry softly into her shoulder. Rarity rubbed her friend’s back, holding her close as she finally let the walls down. Pinkie then joined in for the hug as well. Then Fluttershy. Then Rainbow. And finally Applejack, until the whole group was trying to hold Sunset in a comforting expression of embrace.
“I’m… I’m so sorry…” Sunset whimpered.
“No, you don’t apologize. You have nothing to be sorry about,” Applejack said, soft but sternly as she patted her back.
Once she was calming down a little, everyone pulled out of the hug to address their friend. Her eyes were bloodshot red, cheeks tattered with tears. Fluttershy reached for her satchel, wiping her tears away with a fresh tissue.
“We may not understand what it’s like to be in charge of an entire rebellion… but we do understand right now, you need our help,” Applejack intervened.
“N-No, you—”
“—Ah, ah, ah,” Rarity interrupted. “Sunset, for your mental and physical health, we are going to help you, whether you want it or not. You are not okay, and we care for you. Let us help you. Please???”
Sunset sighed. “I don’t know. You sure you want to be around someone who keeps messing up?”
“You’re trying to run a rebellion by yourself. Do Dodonna or Raddus even know you’re having this problem?” Pinkie asked.
“If they do, they either haven’t said anything, or don’t because I’m so arrogant,” Sunset wiped another stain off her face. “But girls, you… we… are you even sure you want me in charge?”
The five Jedi looked at each other, then back at her.
“Yes,” all of them collectively said.
“You turned yourself around when we offered you a hand at a better life,” Applejack started.
“You chose to become a better person and helped us every day in the Clone Wars,” Rarity added.
“You didn’t take my arm away,” Rainbow casually replied.
“You didn’t burn villages to the ground or turn the clones against us,” Fluttershy stated.
“On top of everything else… you helped us when we were at our lowest. Now it’s our turn to help you again,” Pinkie concluded. “I know all of this is new for you, and it’s new for us, but really… we’ve fought bad guys before. The Empire may be worse than the Republic… but you know something else? I’m kinda glad we’re here.”
Sunset stopped. “Wait what?”
“Well, yeah,” Pinkie confirmed. “We have a fresh start. We’re meeting new people, we learned what we did in the past was wrong. Sure, the Rebellion isn’t perfect… but you have to start somewhere to make a change. You put in all this effort to make sure anyone, anybody, felt like they weren’t alone and deserved to have a voice in this fight, to make sure they weren’t alone when the Empire forced themselves on them.”
Sunset had to stop for a second. She forgot that despite her bouncing and eccentric behavior, Pinkie often had wise advice for the group every now and then.
“Also, if you really think about it, it’s kind of awesome we have both clones and battle droids on our side. We had to fight them both before, and now we’re all working together! We were weak alone… but I bet we can storm an entire Imperial capital with all three forces combined,” the party planner squeaked with excitement.
“There is something rather beautiful about being on the same side,” Fluttershy added.
“Rather karmic if I do say so myself,” Rarity giggled.
“The point is, you shouldn’t have to do this alone,” Pinkie said, holding Sunset in another hug. “We can help you, if you’ll just… um. Sunset?”
Sunset wasn’t responding. Her body was laying limp on Pinkie’s shoulder, and although it wasn’t loud, they could hear some quiet breathing from her.
“Oh dear. How long has she been awake?” Fluttershy worried.
“I checked in with Admiral Raddus, the poor girl has not slept in days,” Applejack shook her head.
“Well that changes tonight!” Pinkie scooped up the sleeping Shimmer in her arms, immediately walking out of the forest with her friends tailing her behind. “Come on, let's tuck her into bed."
--
Sunset was carefully laid down in bed, now suddenly dressed in her pajamas. A fluffy warm quilt knitted by Applejack was draped over her. A comfortable pillow provided by Rarity. An auxiliary fan lent by Fluttershy. A plushie for snuggles added by Pinkie Pie. Last of all; an adjustment for her multiple alarm clocks by Rainbow Dash so she could get the necessary sleep she needed.
One by one they all left her room, the last one being Fluttershy who had to admit she looked adorable when she slept. The doors closed, and the five adults let out a sigh of relief, glad they got their friend to sleep.
“Poor thing hasn’t slept in ages, I can tell,” Fluttershy frowned. “How long has she been like this?”
“Stressed, scared, guilty, angry with herself, take your pick,” Rainbow deadpanned.
“A long time, from what we understand,” Applejack sighed. “I talked with Admiral Raddus and Flash when you were helping her get into her pajamas, apparently this has been happening ever since they brought her back into the fight. Barely sleeps when she’s supposed to, hasn’t been eating properly aside from a few occasions, it’s not a surprise she’s as exhausted as she is.”
“Well I for one am not going to put up with this any longer,” Rarity said with a ‘hmmph’, head held high. “She is our friend, and I am not going to let her make the same mistake as… ahem,” she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Well, you know.”
“No, it’s fine to say it, I think we should all just come out and say it,” Rainbow said, her hands slapping her sides. “We can’t let her make the same mistake. We already lost Twilight, we can’t lose Sunset either,” she said, remorseful as she looked away from her friends.
The girls thought some more, until Fluttershy snapped her fingers. “I have an idea. It’s a big one, but it might help her.”
“Lay it on us,” Rainbow requested.
“I took the manifest from Sunset’s desk that she has lined up for the next few days, and for next week,” Fluttershy said, showing her datapad. “I think since she needs some time from the battlefield, we should take care of her tasks; we’ll all chip in so the work is evenly split.”
Everyone gave a few shrugging nods, not arguing or having anything negative to say.
“I think we can help with that. What are some of the things on her to-do list?” Rarity asked.
“Hmm,” Fluttershy read. “Fixing a few ships, some training and teaching of new recruits, help the Separatists get settled in and find some work, there’s also a rescue mission that needs to be done in four days, with no volunteers found yet, some supply runs, a few intel missions… and she’s trying to tackle all of these by herself.”
“Not anymore she is,” Pinkie folded her arms. “But how do we make sure she gets the mental break?”
“We’ll all chip in on that as well. We’ll take time each day to do a watch on her, and do somethin’ fun with her. We’ll not only get to spend time with her individually, but we can help her get some much needed self-care until she’s back to her normal self again.”
--
“… and that’s why we want to request her be taken off leading until she gets better,” Fluttershy concluded. All five of them were in one of the command rooms, with Admiral Raddus and General Dodonna listening to them carefully.
“She hasn’t been herself, she needs time away. We can help her get better, and all five of us will do shift-changes, taking over her jobs while she’s on sabbatical. Please… we’… we’re beggin’ you here,” Applejack pleaded, rather softly.
Raddus and Dodonna looked to each other, giving a few quiet nods.
“General Shimmer has been out of sorts, lately,” Dodonna thought. “We’ve had to tell her to end her shift more times than I can count. She still feels guilty over her role in the war.”
“Perhaps some good will come if she takes some vacation time. I don’t want to see the day where she collapses from a heart attack,” Raddus agreed. “Are you five positive you can take over her shifts?”
“Positive. All five of us will do our part, never one getting more than the other. R2 helped create a schedule,” Rarity said, showing them the physical worksheet that they had printed out.
Both Raddus and Dodonna read the schedule, top to bottom, and even flipping through the various days that were planned ahead.
“This seems very concrete… alright, in light of the recent circumstances, and as generals of an old war speaking for the health and safety of an ally, we grant the five of you temporary command in Sunset’s position.”
“And as far as Sunset’s sentence goes??? You know, so we can break it to her?” Rainbow asked.
“Hmm…” Dodonna thought before coming up with a sentence. “Due to poor health management, bad performance in a high-risk situation where a minor escaped in a vessel, coupled with admiral concerns, I believe it is best that Sunset’s command is temporarily revoked and she stays as a civilian. All in favor of revoking Sunset's status, say Aye."
"Aye!"
"And against?"
No one responded.
"The Ayes have it. As of tomorrow morning, Sunset Shimmer is suspended of command and will be a civilian until her energy is restored and learns to properly take care of herself. Her command is relinquished to that of the Jedi Five. Case dismissed," Dodonna declared.
