Equipoise: Among the Ruins
At the far end of the narrow dark cavern stood a squad of blue-armoured soldiers. Their blue armoured plates and golden capes identified them as members of the Honor Guard, the personal bodyguards to rulers and acting as the permanent garrison of Canterlot in times of war. A whole squad of Honor Guards suggested they were serious about preventing unauthorized access or unwanted threat to the chamber beyond.
The guards stood still yet kept their undying attention on her, no doubt trying to decide whether the single black-clad figure walking towards them was anything to be alarmed about. This underground entrance was kept hidden from nearly every pony, including those in the high ranks such as military commanders and those who did know of this must be important enough, such as an aide to the rulers of Chancellor. As she got about 20 paces away from the e When Chrysalis pulled over her hood to reveal her true identity, Caedus raised a gloved hand and made a grasping motion. The squad leader raised his own hand as though returning the greeting-then was knocked off his feet as both E-Web supply cables tore free of the power generators and came flying down the corridor with weapon and tripod bouncing along behind them.
The remainder of the squad swiftly moved to firing positions, dropping to a knee in the middle of the walkway or pressing themselves against the tunnel wall, and brought their rifles to their shoulders while the unicorns prepared to cast some spell, seeing how their horns began to illuminate the corridor, possibly a defensive shield or perhaps an offensive spell. Chrysalis smiled.
She sent a surge of green energy down the tight corridor to affect the unicorns. Their horns began sparking wildly and screams were soon heard from the sizzling pain they felt. The non-unicorns with their rifles, unaffected by Chrysalis' magic, opened fire anyway, but most of the bolts went wide, and those that did not Caedus deflected with the occasional flick of a hand. The soldiers were all shocked to see their shots miss the target, their rifles had been trained on the figure in a narrow passage and yet they missed. It was only when they turned back to their rifles did they realize their weapons, like the horns of the unicorns, were
He was still ten paces away when the squad leader pulled his helmet off and, bringing his weapon to bear, began yelling for the others to do the same. Caedus raised his arm, catching the leader's bolts on his palm and deflecting them harmlessly down the tunnel. As the second and third man prepared to open fire, he flicked a finger toward the leader's blaster and sent it spinning into them. It slammed the second man into the wall and knocked the third's weapon from his hands.
Caedus summoned the leader forward with two fingers, using the Force to bring the astonished soldier flying into his grasp.
"I have no intention of harming anyone beyond that door," Caedus said, making his voice deep and commanding. "But I have no time to waste, so I won't hesitate to kill you or your mares. I trust that won't be necessary?"
The sergeant's eyes bulged as though his throat were actually being squeezed shut-which it was not-and his face paled to the color of his armor.
"N-n-no, your h-highness. N-not at all." The sergeant motioned for his men to lower their weapons. "S-s-sorry."
"No apologies necessary, Sergeant," Chrysalis said. "Obviously, you haven't been informed of the new chain of command."
Caedus set the sergeant's boots back on the tunnel floor, then turned to look at each of the others in the squad. He made it appear that he was requiring each man to look into his yellow eyes, but actually he was Force-probing their emotions, looking for any hint of anger or resentment that suggested there might be a hero in the group. He was down to the last two when he sensed a fist of resolve tightening inside one.
"Don't do it, trooper," he said. "There aren't enough good soldiers in the Alliance as it is."
The fist of resolve immediately began to loosen, but the trooper wasn't too surprised to say, "With all due respect, Colonel, we're not Alliance soldiers."
"Not yet." Caedus gave him a warm smile and turned toward the blast hatch, presenting his back to the entire squad. "My escorts will be along shortly. Don't start a firefight with them."
When he felt the squad leader motion the hero and everyone else to lower their weapons, Caedus nodded his approval without turning around. Then he circled his hand in front of the blast door, using the Force to send a surge of energy through its internal circuitry until a series of sharp clicks announced that the locking mechanisms had retracted. A moment later, a loud hiss sounded from inside the heavy hatch, and it slid aside into the wall.
Caedus stepped through without hesitation and found himself looking down on a sunken conference pit where a couple dozen Imperial Moffs-most of the survivors of the slaughter aboard the Bloodfin-were rising to their feet, some reaching for their sidearms and others looking for a place to take cover. Across from them, a small swarm of insectoid administrators from other Verpine hives squatted on their haunches, their shiny heads cocked in confusion and their mandibles spread wide in an instinctive threat display.
"No, please." Caedus extended his arms toward the Moffs and motioned for them to return to their seats-using the Force to compel obedience. "Don't get up on my account."
The Moffs dropped almost as one. Most landed in the chairs they had been occupying, but a couple missed and landed on the floor. Several of the aides standing behind the Moffs' chairs were pointing hold-out blasters in his direction, looking to their superiors for some hint as to whether they should open fire or stand down. Caedus swept his arm up and sent them all flying out of the conference pit onto the surrounding service floor.
"I'm afraid this will be a confidential conversation," he said. "Leave us."
When the aides did not instantly obey, he gestured at one of those who had been pointing a blaster at him and sent the man tumbling out the hatch.
"Now."
The remainder of the aides scrambled for the door, many without bothering to stand. Caedus watched them go, his attention divided between them and the Moffs, ready to pin motionless anyone who even thought about raising a weapon. Once the aides were gone, a simple glance was all it took to send the Verpine administrators scuttling after them, leaving him and the Moffs alone with a single huge Verpine with age-silvered eyebulbs and a translucent patch on her thorax where the carahide was growing thin. She showed no inclination to rise from her position at the far end of the conference table, where she lay stretched along a heavily cushioned throne pedestal.