Stolen Memories: Path to Reconnection

Chapters

Chapter One: Trouble on the Homefront
Prologue
Chapter Two: The Means
Chapter Three: Time For a Change
Chapter Four: The Ends
Chapter Five: The Seeds of Trust
Chapter Six: Unexpected Reunion
Chapter Seven: Signs of Freedom

Chapter One: Trouble on the Homefront

Chapter One: Trouble on the Homefront-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two Months Later.

Location: Metellos, Stratablock Thirteen

Twilight was falling on the Metellos skyline, painting the polluted atmosphere and clouds a sickly apocalyptic orange. Korrik Delwyn picked up his pace, heading back to the rendezvous deeper inside the stratablock. Metellos… even its name brought up thoughts and images of its foul reputation. Known to most by its nickname “Coruscant that wasn’t.”

Despite being located in the galactic core, Metellos went unseen by many and stagnated. As a result, much of the planet has not been urbanized, with most of the surface covered in shabby, toxic regions, septic seas, deserts and heavy industrial centers. It is in these places that nine hundred billion people live, forever working, living and dying in the dark shadows of the cloud piercing stratablocks and floating cities. All save for the few who work for the rich and powerful, who hide away in their floating cities, far above the smog choked skies and ‘groundpounders’.

Now that Korrik was deeper into stratablock thirteen, he decided that he would stop into Janson’s Cantina, a just reward for finishing his rounds of shaking down store owners and the like he thought. Korrik mostly kept to himself but his work in the areas surrounding and inside the stratablock itself gave him a decent reputation. He was the kind of merc known for efficiency, always getting the job done without letting his morals cloud his judgment. Depending on present company, his reputation went either way.

Korrik stepped into the Cantina and scanned the room, apart from the unidentifiable rabble, nothing in the sea of faces seemed to stand out. Various workers of many species intermingled at the many tables strewn around the room, as waiters brought them their drinks and whatever food they ordered. This was a place that the low class could come and forget their troubles, if only for an evening. The layout of the Cantina itself was really just a refurbished warehouse with a small ledge dropping down a few feet that ran the length of the building, dividing the area with the tables from the private booths and bar where the Twi’lek owner Janson stood. Korrik made his way to the bar, took a seat and tapped his hand on the counter a few times to get the bartender’s attention.

Korrik was not a particularly imposing man, he stood at a mellow six feet, one inch tall, which was average for a human, his eyes were a deep brown, his hair short and a mix of red and brown in color with a short matching beard. What did make him stand out however, was his equipment. He wore a piece of Mandalorian Beskar’kandar, a heavy chestplate that comprised of plates made from beskar or as it is more commonly known, Mandalorian iron. It was cumbersome and very heavy but the iron used in its construction made it nearly impervious to strikes from a lightsaber, a trait that was almost moot due to the last wars impact on the Jedi’s numbers. As protective as the chestplate was, it left his arms and leg uncovered and prone to injury, but attached to his hips were two strong deterrents. Resting in their holsters were two Merr-Sonn Munitions model 434 heavy blaster pistols, also known as DeathHammers for their heavy durasteel plating and firepower that rivaled some blaster rifles.

“Ah Mr.Delwyn, done stealing from honest business men for the day?” Janson asked.

“There is no such thing as an honest business on this planet, be thankful I don’t have you in my sights Janson.” Korrik growled. Janson's head-tails twitched as a scowl breached his calm demeanor.

“If Adanar planned to put me out of business he could do better than sending you, you pathetic Kath hound.” A blanketing silence shrouded the bar as they stared each other down before they both began to laugh.

“Ha ha, it’s good to see you my friend!” Janson laughed, raising both his arms in the air.

“What can I get you?”

“I think you know what I want by now Janson.” Korrik said with a smirk.

“What can I tell you that you don’t already know? You got the HoloNet news up there in Krashel don’t you?"

“Ahh but that’s just it my alien friend, I want what the HoloNet won’t tell the galaxy, what’s really going on, the real stuff.” Korrik said as he slid a 100 credit bill across the bar. Korrik knew that Janson worked as a secret information broker for the Exchange and from Metellos he could feed info to them in the Outer Rim within hours.

“Very well Mr.Delwyn, but you didn’t hear it from me. Do you have any specifics? Local happenings or news straight from Coruscant?”

“Let’s start with local news.”

“Okay then, I’ve got word that the Allani Syndicate has been accumulating a vast amount of heavy weapons, they are preparing to hit something big but for now it’s unclear what.” The Allani Syndicate, the crime group who took control of Rishad, the floating city hovering over Stratablock 11 to the southeast. Ever since they moved in, they have been the primary competition of Korrik and his employers, the Dust Angels.

“I don’t know if they plan to hit Krashel or not but I’d let the boss know.”

“Why bother? Even if they did attack us in force there is no way they would get through the cities shields before our defenses wiped them out.”

“Just giving you something to think about Korrik.” Korrik was no stranger to violence between the Syndicate and the Dust Angels. In the early days when the Syndicate first made themselves known, first they began encroaching on the Angels territory, primarily the slums surrounding Stratablock 13. Now the boss of the Angels, Adanar, issued a shoot on sight order for any Allanis on Angel turf.

The Dust Angels made their home in Krashel, one of the more upscale of the floating cities that rested in the sky almost directly above Stratablock 13. Due to the cities upscale nature, it was fitted with stronger defenses and a fully encompassing shield. That alone made the threat of an Allani attack on Krashel laughable, they simply lacked the numbers but now they made up for it with firepower.

“Anything else?”

“Nothing worth what you paid.”

“Then how about the galactic stage Janson?”

“You’ll have to ask Velvet for galactic news, I haven’t got her debrief yet today.”

“Got a helper now do ya Janson? Is the Exchange losing faith in you old friend?”

“You’ll see why they sent her when you talk to her yourself, oh there she is now.” Janson pointed towards the entrance as a Pony stepped in. Her coat was light brown in color and her mane was a soft yellow with white streaks. It was difficult to tell her age as it was with most of the Equine race. What Korrik could tell was that she was of the Earth variant, lacking either wings or a horn. Her clothes covered most of her body, covering her neck, flank and cutie mark leaving only her head, legs and tail exposed.

“A Pony? Since when does the Exchange hire them?”

“We learned long ago that their kind have a great number of uses, from civilian to criminal.” Amazing that they bother with crime at all at the rate the Galaxy is just handing them everything, how long before the Supreme Chancellor is a blasted Pony. Korrik thought. The Pony Korrik assumed to be Velvet walked behind the counter and began preparing her work area.

“Good evening, Janson.” She said casually.

“Black Velvet, this is my friend Korrik Delwyn.” Janson said in a businesslike tone.

“Answer any questions he has to the best of your ability, I’ll get your report when you’re done, good bye for now Korrik.” Janson excused himself from the bar and disappeared into the offices.

“So, my little informant, Janson tells me you know what’s new in the Galaxy at large.”

“I worked to get where I am, Mr. Delwyn, I’ve had nothing given to me. If you want to start this relationship right, then wipe that look of indignation off your face.” Korrik sat back in his seat the look on his face changed to confusion. How did she read me so easily? I’ve only said one thing to her he thought.

“Your thoughts show on your body quite intensely, I can read you like a datapad.” Velvet smirked wickedly, proud to show Korrik her talent.

“So let’s keep it civil shall we? No need to let your prejudice ruin this deal.” She had a point, as much as Korrik wasn’t expecting to converse with a Pony today, Korrik had already paid and he intended to get what he came for. Korrik said nothing for a moment, very much hoping that this Pony was “reading” all the disdain he was trying to express.

Velvet’s expression changed to one of annoyance, she was more annoyed by the man wasting her time than the look he was giving her. Korrik was the first to break the silence.

“What’s been happening in the senate? Any power shifts? New additions? Anything?” Korrik had no idea what he was hoping for. He could influence the events here on Metellos but could do nothing in the grander scheme but it pays to be well informed I suppose.

“I’ve got something interesting…. regarding my own people in fact.” Oh here we go.

“Almost two months ago one of the Elements of Harmony was stolen from its bearer on Mygeeto.” Korrik straightened up for this one.

“Yeah, I heard about that incident, some pirates or something sacked a BIC ship then destroyed it and the spaceport right?”

“I’m not sure I’d call them pirates, there’s no way to tell but the officials said nothing else seemed to have been stolen. Just the Element was taken.”

“Are you saying they attacked with the sole intent of stealing this so called Element?”

“Looks that way, it doesn’t make sense to attack a cargo ship and not take its cargo. I personally think it was an inside job.” Korrik scoffed.

“Seems like a lot of work for little payoff, are these ‘Elements of Harmony’ really so important?”

“They are only the Equine species’ most powerful artifacts, their origin is lost to history but when they are all together they can shift or alter on massive scales. But they can only be used by their bearers and each bearer must embody their Element. Alone they are powerful but together they can change the outcome of wars.”

“Seems pretty important, how’d one of them get stolen in the first place?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, but it’s creating a power vacuum for all the races on Equis, the Griffons, the Zebras and the Minotaurs all might be making a move. The Senates eyes are all on Senator Luna to resolve this issue. I fear the long term effects if the Republic loses the Elements for long.” Velvet’s eyes showed a genuine fear, her faith in the Elements was true.

“Why are your other native races so against you?”

“You should know the general feeling about my kind, we’ve been gaining power too easily we have too much influence blah blah blah. My point being they all harbor some lingering animosity, we all originated from the same world and they along with most of the Galaxy, think the Republic is playing favorites with us.” Yeah, me included Korrik inwardly grimaced.

“Then why report the event if the threat is so great?”

“Princess Celestia tried to keep it quiet, but it was the BIC who reported it. The Princess can’t control them as well as she thinks she can.”

“What about the Element bearer?” Before Velvet could answer, the door to the Cantina flew open noisily.

“There you are Korrik, I knew you’d be in here.” It was Gatrim, the only other enforcer who was planet side alongside Korrik. No doubt he was waiting for Korrik to get back to the shuttle back to Krashel before he got impatient. Damn Devaronian never could wait around for long.

“Gatrim, my favorite spike headed son of a Bantha, how’s things?”

“Stow it Human, just got a call from Adanar, says the boys caught two Equines trying to sneak into the city, and wants everyone back now.” Before Korrik could speak, Gatrim yanked him off his seat and shoved him out the door.

Prologue

Location: BIC transport ship, High Bascule

The ship Pulled out of Hyperspace above the Icy surface of Mygeeto. A small crackle of static followed by the captain’s voices came forth from the ships comm system.

“We have entered Mygeeto’s atmosphere and will be landing in approximately 20 minutes.”

Applejack walked through the halls towards engineering. She had been assigned to the ship as part of her training. Her current mentor and senior engineer, Ratchet, was to teach her how Nova crystals can be processed into strong power sources and weapons for Equine warships.

Becoming a military engineer wasn’t what she planned to be doing, but the stability was something much needed. After two back-to-back wars, the Galaxy found itself lacking in ships and this was her way of doing her part. She reached a hoof up to her neck and stopped when she found nothing there. She didn’t wear her necklace anymore, it wasn’t needed any longer, though she still had it. She closed her eyes and thought longingly about it, a gold band with a large orange gem in the center. The gem itself was shaped like an apple, just like her cutie mark.

“Lost Lieutenant?” a male voice asked.

Applejack’s eyes shot open to reveal a dark blue Unicorn Pony. He was wearing black engineer barding, much like her own, and a pair of tinted goggles hung around his neck. Adorning his muzzle was a large scar starting from his left eye and ending at the right corner of his mouth. His cutie mark was that of his namesake. This was her mentor, Ratchet.

“Please don’t call me that. Ah' ain’t a soldier anymore.”

“Ha-ha… sorry Applejack, did you need something?”

“Yeah actually, Ah wanted t’ know more about what we’re here t’ pick up, the Nova crystals.”

“Anything specific?”

“Yeah, just what makes ‘em so great anyhow? What makes them better than other weapon systems?” Ratchet lifted his goggles from his neck and let them rest across his forehead.

“Follow me Applejack; it’s better to show you.”

Ratchet led Applejack deeper into the engineering deck towards the defense cannons. They passed several crewmen dutifully making preparations for landing, making sure the loaders were ready, and organizing the cargo bay. Applejack and Ratchet continued onward until Ratchet stopped in a room past the cargo bay that looked like a workshop of sorts. Several tabletops were strewn with an assortment of tools and small devices. Lining the walls were power cords and cells of all sizes and variations. But the most distinct object was one Applejack did not recognize. Ratchet took note of the look on the confused mare’s face and walked over to the object and bumped it with his right hoof.

“This here is a power converter attached to a miniature convergence array.”

The look on Applejacks face didn’t change; she rubbed the back of her head and looked directly at Ratchet, her eyes urging him to continue, still not understanding.

“Oh right, ahem, anyways this converter is a scaled down model of those used in the primary guns on a BIC capital ship. As you know, most of our technology is infused with magic. Nova crystals react differently to our magic than they do other power sources. And when our converters are set to the right power level…”

Ratchet activated the converter which began to direct energy to the convergence array. The array had six Nova crystals in it aligned with four at the base of the array, two above the four and one larger crystal at the front. The first four crystals illuminated with a soft green glow as a low humming noise filled their ears.

The humming sound increased as four small beams of prismatic light shot from the crystals and converged into the next two. The light got brighter as the two beams arced out and connected with the last large crystal in front. Next there came a loud booming sound as a much larger beam of energy that shattered the light spectrum creating a rainbow aura around the firing point, was propelled out of the last crystal into any energy shield set up on the far side of the room.

Upon contact, rather than a standard blaster bolt, the beam exploded violently against the shield overloading the emitter and destroying it, the shockwave of which blew Applejack’s Stetson off her head. The effect and unique creation of the blast gave it the appearance that the beam was being followed by a rainbow. Applejack walked over to where her hat lay and scooped it up, placing it back where it belonged.

“…We get a form of a particle weapon.”

“Boy that sure was somethin’.”

“Yeah, and this one is only one fiftieth of what a capital ship’s cannons can fire.” Applejack laughed to herself it looks like a sonic rainboom, just replace RD with energy she thought remembering a certain cyan Pegasus.

“And there you have one of the trademark creations of the Boreas Industries Corporation, the p0n13 Particle Cannon.” Applejack shook free the thoughts from her mind and turned back to the dark blue stallion.

“It’s quite a sight different than what Republic ships are equipped with.” She observed.

Back when she was a soldier Applejack served primarily on ships of the Republics design that were armed with standard Turbolasers.

“But what gives the beam that there rainbow effect?”

“Simple, our magic refracts through the crystal differently than light or electricity would, giving it its unique power and appearance.”

“Ah' see.”

“But even these weapons don’t make us invincible, the Mandalorians can attest to that.” Sparks said as he unconsciously went to touch his scar. He caught himself halfway through the motion and stopped, placing his hoof back on the floor.

“Whaja say?”

“It’s not important; I’m heading back to engineering. I’ll see you planet side.” Ratchet said rather bluntly before leaving the room. Applejack stood in the center of the workshop. Ah' didn’t know he fought in the Mandalorian wars she thought he must be carrying quite a burden.

Applejack found her way back to her quarters on the crew deck. She shared this room with her older brother Big Macintosh, who volunteered to accompany the crew as security. She sauntered into the room towards her footlocker. Among the contents of the locker was one that stood out, her Element of Harmony. She took in her hooves and just held it. The way she held it made her feel that if she put it down she would lose it, just like every other time she held it. Applejack found her strength and put it back in the locker and went to leave but found herself face to face with her brother.

Big Mac was fully dressed in his armor, leaving only his head uncovered. Mounted on his right side just above his shoulder was a large repeating blaster.

“Ya’ll expecting trouble brother?”

“Eeyup.”

“Do ya ever not expect trouble?”

“Nnope.”

“In any case, Ah’m glad yer here Big Mac.”

“Ah' couldn’t let you go alone AJ, Ah' know this aint easy for ya.”

He was right; anypony with eyes could see that Applejack was nervous. She never was good at hiding things from her friends and family, heck she couldn’t even fool strangers.

“Thanks Big Mac, now come on we got a shipment t' pick up.”

Mygeeto, Surface

From the shadows of the spaceport lurked a lone Griffon, the feathers on her head were slicked back and on the ground next to her sat a military grade backpack. She was clad in yellow light armor and ready for combat, watching the skies with bated breath.

“I’ve got a visual on the Bascule. It should be touching down any minute now. Are the men ready?” a distorted voice crackled to life from the Griffon’s communicator.

“Of course Veeta, now your job is clear, move up, meet our inside man, plant your charges and claim my prize. I want that necklace!”

Mygeeto, Spaceport

An hour had passed before the spaceport staff finished their inspection of the ship, taking Ratchet with them. Then another two before Ratchet and the crew took care of the shipment and were ready to take off and head back to Equis.

Applejack didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t what she got. She thought that she would be learning on site, but that was not the case. Rather Ratchet was going to wait to get back to the ships refinery before showing her any more. Suffice to say, it was a boring venture. The checking, double checking and then finally a triple checking of the shipping manifest before they were satisfied.

Applejack, Ratchet and Big Mac began walking back to the ship. The Bascule was nothing special, just an average mid-sized transport ship, semi triangular in shape. When viewed from above it looked like a triangle on top of a hexagon. Adorning its stern were three large engines, while the bow supported several small blaster cannons for defense on either side.

“Well that was all kinds of borin’.”

“Sorry about that, no one said you had to help me with the shipment you know.”

“Help? Hardly. Ah’d say watched is more like.”

“Well, either way it’s better than staying on the ship.”

She couldn’t disagree with that statement. Even if she was no help here, getting off the ship really helped steady her wrecked nerves. Applejack was raised in the large open fields of Ponyville back on Equis, so being in the confined halls of ships in the cold void of space just couldn’t compare to the wide open skies and fresh air of her home.

The trio rounded the last corner to their designated landing area, the Bascule closing its cargo bay doors, its shipment fully loaded inside. From the periphery of her vision Applejack saw a yellow blur flying away from the spaceport. Was that a Pegasus? She thought. Can’t be, too big, tail’s not right. Griffon maybe? Now what in the hay would a Griffon be doing way out here? Applejack’s thoughts were interrupted when the loading ramp came into view.

“Alright, now let’s get to the ship’s refinery. I can show you ho-” Ratchet was interrupted as a massive explosion tore through the bridge of the Bascule. Screams of terror and panic spread throughout the landing area as two more explosions ripped through the ship’s hull from below the cargo hold and crew deck, ending the lives of all inside.

The groaning of the bulkheads and heat of the flames overwhelmed Applejacks senses. She instinctively threw her right foreleg up in an effort to shield herself from a final explosion emanating from the open ramp of the Bascule. Big Macintosh stepped in front of his sister, trying to shield her from the blast, the force of which sent Big Mac careening into Applejack. Applejack attempted to regain herself, her mind racing to understand the event that was transpiring around her. Her vision was blurry and her ears were ringing. Ratchet ran to her side and began shouting, the look on his face one of absolute shock, the blood running down his face from a deep cut above his left eye burning its image into Applejack’s brain. His words came out as low mumbling sound while a heavier booming sound which she recognized as an emergency klaxon thundered throughout the spaceport.

Applejack felt no pain from any wounds, at least not yet. All she felt was the crushing weight of her big brother laying on top of her. Big Mac lay unmoving across her body as she struggled to squirm her way out from under him. Her senses still had not returned but she could feel her heart trying to break free from her chest. But then she felt warm, very warm…..and wet. She looked up as Ratchet was trying to roll Big Mac off her to see that his armor had been torn away and his chest had been partially blown open, blood flowing out at an alarming rate.

It was here that Applejack panicked, she screamed in horror and scrambled in a mad dash to get out from under her brother. She looked up to see Ratchet disappear out of the spaceport. She took her fallen brother’s hoof in hers as her tears fell upon the ground, lightly diluting the pool of blood quickly surrounding them both.

Surviving Ponies and the native Muun rushed back and forth helping survivors and putting out small patches of flame, while emergency ships flew in and began spraying the wreckage with water. Ratchet returned with a first aid kit in his mouth, he dropped in front of Big Mac and threw it open. He reached and pulled out some Kolto from within and immediately slapped it on the massive gash in Big Mac’s chest.

Applejack’s words were stuck in her throat, it was no long term solution but what Ratchet had done helped her brother immensely. Tears streamed down her face as she pulled Ratchet into a hug. He let her cry on his shoulder for a few minutes before a medical crew took Big Mac away for proper treatment. The medics said he was in critical condition and survival was unlikely but Ratchet’s quick application may have increased his odds substantially. Later as the smoke was clearing from the wreckage and the heat went down to non-threatening levels, Applejack, Ratchet and many other began combing the remains for possible survivors and anything salvageable.

“Who would do this?” Applejack asked, her voice slightly cracking.

“I don’t know, but whoever it was must have something against the BIC or maybe Ponies in general, why else attack us? We are such an insignificant target, what could they gain from this?” As Ratchet was speaking, Applejack uncovered the remains of her quarters on the crew deck. She found her footlocker, dented and scorched but intact. She opened it and was greeted with…..emptiness. It was gone.

Chapter Two: The Means

Chapter Two: The Means-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Metellos, Krashel.

The shuttle ride back to Krashel passed without incident. A leisurely fly back to the city Korrik currently called home. He stepped out into the hangar, on the back wall was the symbol of the Dust Angels. Two blaster pistols pointed downward, their handles were replaced with large flowing wings facing opposite each other.

Gatrim and Korrik made their way deeper into the city. Krashel might have been a beautiful city once if the Republic hadn’t abandoned all but the industrial centers. Now it had been broken down by years of shoddy maintenance and apathy. Whilst some buildings and utilities had fallen into disrepair, the Angels made up for it by focusing on defensive and offensive technology. Tall air defense towers with their cannons just breaking the cover of the urban canopy dotted the skyline of Krashel. Yet the city’s greatest defense did not lie with weaponry, but a large city engulfing deflector shield. The shield was projected in two layers, the outer layer being a ray shield to protect from blaster fire and other energy based attacks. The inner layer was a particle shield, in the event that the ray shields were brought down, the second shield would keep attacking ships out of range long enough to allow the city’s defenses to destroy them.

Korrik followed Gatrim into the city’s detention center where hopefully he could learn what had happened. The duo walked inside to just catch a trio of guards being scolded by Adanar’s second in command, Veeta, a Griffon.

“…diots can’t even handle a blue milk run like guarding the sewers then I will personally tear your throats out.” The anger in her eyes made it clear that it was these men who allowed the two intruders into the city.

“But Veeta! It’s not our fault! We were raised on my comlink by Operative Ra-” the man’s words were replaced by wet gurgling as Veeta sunk her talons into his neck. Veeta clamped her claw shut which was followed by a muffled popping sound before she pulled her arm back, tearing the man’s throat out and throwing it across the room. Blood flowed down from the sizable hole Veeta’s claw left in his neck. Within seconds he had toppled to the floor. His gasping and choking finally ended with one last bloody cough onto Veeta’s claws, his life extinguished.

“Now get to your posts!” she growled at the other two men.

“Yes Ma’am!” they responded in unison before scrambling away to their positions.

She stood over the corpse her back to Korrik and Gatrim. The silence was short lived before she spoke.

“Gatrim! Get this body out of my sight.” Gatrim grunted in acknowledgement before grabbing the body by the ankles and dragging it out of the building, smearing a sizable trail of blood in his wake.

“Korrik, I’m glad you’re here. No doubt Gatrim informed you of the two intruders we captured?” she inquired. Her eyes were facing downward, unmoving and uncaring as she wiped her bloody talons on her yellow armor.

“Vaguely yes, all I know is that the intruders are Equine.”

“Then you know about as much as we do. We don’t know who sent them or what their goal was, but we have one in interrogation now. In fact…Gatrim! Get your mudlicking carcass to the interrogation room! It’s about the only thing he’s good at.” Gatrim ran back in and took off down the back hallway to the interrogation room.

“In the meantime Adanar has something special for you. You should go see him. Now!” Korrik nodded, turned and walked out the door.

Veeta always was a mean schutta, but her brutal methods got results fast. Or maybe it was a race inclination. The Griffons of Equis have always been known as talented hunters and brutal fighters, much like the Mandalorians. However unlike the Mandalorians, their numbers are far greater and the amount of Griffon mercs and bounty hunters has gone up substantially.

Korrik made his way back to the shuttle and told the pilot to take him to Adanar’s palace or at least the building he made his palace. The sky view of the city was worse than from the ground. Now Korrik could see all the surrounding slums on the edges of the city. The now dark sky highlighted a multitude of dots of fires burning, illuminating the entire edge of the city.

As Korrik approached the palace, the scenes below got steadily better, instead of people huddled around fires; he saw servant droids no doubt shopping for their masters. Before long Korrik was met with a slight bump as the shuttle touched down on the palace’s landing pad high above the ground. Korrik disembarked and went straight inside, ignoring those who blocked his way, save for one just inside the ‘throne room’ of the palace.

“Greeting: It’s a pleasure to see you again Mr. Delwyn.” Adanar’s HK-50 protocol droid blocked Korrik’s path to meet with Adanar.

“Request: Please turn over any weapons you may be carrying before meeting with the Master.”

“Hello HK.” Korrik unfastened his blaster’s holsters and gave them to the no nonsense droid.

“Observation: All of your weapons Mr. Delwyn, remove the blade from your boot. Addendum: If you attempt to smuggle another weapon into the Master’s presence I will not hesitate to activate my bodyguard protocols.” Korrik did as requested and handed over the blade as well.

“Statement: I’m glad we understand each other, it would have saddened the Master greatly to lose one of his most useful organics.” the durasteel colored droid added before turning it’s attention back the entrance.

As Korrik entered the large open room, to his right on the wall hung an intricate tapestry depicting some kind of sea creature breaching the surface of the water. To his left, a small armament of weapons on display, as well as a beautifully crafted chest with a very Intricate lock. Korrik was greeted by Adanar’s back as he watched an assortment of screens and terminals on the wall that helped monitor and regulate security for the city.

Out of all the screens, the one on the far left drew Korrik’s attention. It was not the image that intrigued him, for the image was from the camera just outside the interrogation room showing only the door. But rather what was being heard that had grasped his interest. A low, almost gravelly voice began protesting about something.

“…ut I don’t underst…id exactly what you tol…e to.” A second voice, which Korrik recognized as Veeta’s replaced the first.

“I know but the pa…wo months have prov…the proble…ngels as a whole.” Adanar’s equipment must have needed maintenance badly as the audio feed for the interrogation room was transmitting with erratic intervals of static. Then the first voice returned.

“But I…pt her off the trail…ong as I could…born she is…what I had…throw the BIC off?” Then Gatrim’s voice breached the static.

“And we…lly appreciate what you…ow you’re a liabil…re to close to her…”

“No! I- AAAHHHHH!” a horrifying scream flooded the audio and was shortly followed by the loud snap of a breaking bone. For a moment all was eerily silent, no one spoke, there were no ambient noises save for the ones that originated from the monitors that Korrik was watching. Then both Veeta and Gatrim exited the room. Gatrim held something in his left hand, Korrik barely had time to identify it, but it looked to be a dark blue Unicorn’s horn.

Korrik was no expert on magic, but from what he had learned over the years was that when a Unicorn Pony’s horn is broken off or destroyed, they lose the ability to use magic, their horns being the conduits from which it flowed. It was a cruel thing to do to such a being, like a Jedi being cut off from the force, a fate worse than death. In the end, with Veeta in the room, death certainly followed anyway for the hapless Unicorn.

“Ahhh Korrik, glad you could make it.” Adanar spoke, his chair rotating around to face forward. Adanar was a tall, thin faced man his hair was black and slicked back, a stark contrast to his pale skin, which made him look like a legitimate businessman. As did the rest of his clothing, but what made him stand out was that his left eye had been replaced with a cybernetic replacement that glowed a low red.

“What was that about? Was that one of the intruders?” Korrik asked, his growing curiosity quickly absorbing any trepidations.

“HK!” Adanar leaned forward in his seat and shouted, and HK-50 walked in.

“Statement: Yes Master what can this unit do to serve?”

“Explain to Mr. Delwyn the situation concerning operative Ratchet.” He said calmly. Something wasn’t right, Adanar was far too composed for having his city infiltrated. There had to be something else, something he was withholding from the people, withholding from the Angels. But why tell me then? Korrik thought. He ranked higher than most, but he was evenly ranked with Gatrim and several others but still a leap away from Veeta or even his lieutenants. What about Korrik made him a person worth telling the truth? In order to know the reality he simply had to sit back and listen for now.

“Statement: Very well, master.” HK turned his attention to Korrik and began.

“Recitation: Approximately two standard hours ago, the intruders gained access to the city from the underside of the floating structure, they entered one of the many drainage pipes that spew the city’s waste to the surface below. After perhaps fifteen minutes the two reached the inner blast doors to the water treatment facility. From there operative Ratchet got on his comm and had the guards at the door open it for him and allow him and the other intruder access. Operative Ratchet worked for the Dust Angels as a mole, as we had successfully planted him in the BIC almost four standard months ago. From here he distracted the guards to allow the second intruder to enter undetected. Nearly one hour had passed before their location was discovered again in the maintenance room of the palace. When discovered, security apprehended the two for questioning. Operative Ratchet was sent to interrogation and the orange mare has been put into isolation.”

“Wait, one of the intruders is one of us?”

“Answer: Yes, operative Ratchet has helped in keeping tabs on the activities of the BIC as well as helped master Adanar to acquire a priceless Equine artifact.” Korrik found his vision falling on the intricate chest he noticed earlier.

“Why did we ‘capture’ him if he’s with us?”

“Answer: Operative Ratchet has been playing companion to the owner of the stolen artifact and has earned the attraction of the BIC by using what sway he had to delay investigations when we attacked one of their transport ships on Mygeeto. Now the operative is in too deep and we need to assess the potential threat the BIC may pose if they can link the attack to us.”

“It was the Angels who attacked the transport ship on Mygeeto? But why?”

“Answer: Perhaps you recall the artifact I mentioned before, Master Adanar desired to possess it with incredible determination. Whatever his reasons were he denied this unit that knowledge.”

Korrik’s mind was in a frenzy of thought. If what Velvet told him was true, then that would mean Adanar had stolen an Element of Harmony. The question was, why? Velvet had said that only the bearers of the Elements can use them. Does that mean simply having ownership of one means you can use it? No, she said the bearer had to embody the Element, whatever that meant. His reasons must have been great if he was willing to outright attack the BIC.

“Adanar are you crazy? The BIC operates independently from the gov-”

“Silence! I know that Korrik, I am not stupid.”

“Evidence suggests that you might be! if they realize what happened then we’re-”

“Enough! It’s been taken care of, our loose end was just tied up.” Adanar motioned to the monitors on the wall behind him. So they did kill him…had to be done I suppose Korrik relented.

“Now we need to deal with the other Pony, that’s why I called you here. I want you to find out how much she knows and see what you can get out of her as well.”

“You want me to? What about Gatrim?”

“Gatrim isn’t firing on all thrusters and was better suited to what I had him do, but you…your style of approach is what I need here and…there’s another reason I called you here. Its time you stopped with the petty enforcing and took a more active role here. I’m making you my newest lieutenant, congratulations.”

Korrik was unsure how to react to this news. He never intended to stay with the Angels for long, as working planet side for so long had begun to bore him, but now? Now he was a lieutenant, and with the role came more duties…and hopefully more excitement. But…

“Why?”

“Because you get results. That idiot Gatrim only works to satisfy his own sadistic pleasures. But you Korrik, you work for more than yourself. It’s an admirable trait to be sure and that’s why I want you as one of my lieutenants.” That much was true about Korrik. The rest of the Angels were not exactly the kind to be counted on for much more than a raid or looking tough.

“I’ll get you all the clearances that being my lieutenant grants. Now get back down to the detention center and see what you can get out of her…and remember the ends justify the means, just don’t kill her…until we have what we want.” Korrik nodded and stepped out the door, leaving Adanar at his desk.

Adanar sat alone in the office before a familiar feeling that someone or something was watching him washed over his senses.

“…Now what do you want?”

“…”

“Yes, I still have it and you will soon.”

“…”

“I would like to know what you plan to do with them, can you even-” Adanar cut his sentence short as twin lines of blood began dripping down his neck from his ears.

“…” a low rumbling sound like that of wind filled the office as Adanar gripped his head covering his ears as if to keep something out.

“Yes! Yes! I understand!” Adanar shouted through gritted teeth.

“…”

“Korrik? He won’t be a problem. He’s a unique one for sure and his loyalty to me is questionable but he won’t try anything.”

“…”

“What? How could you-” HK-50s white visual receptors were suddenly switched off and then immediately replaced with ones glowing a deep crimson.

“Statement: I believe a more direct approach is necessary, don’t you? Master.”

Korrik made the short fly back to the detention center, the time going almost unnoticed as he thought to himself. If he wanted me to do the interrogation then why did he even call me there? I guess promotions are best done face to face, but still what a pain. I suppose this lieutenant thing could be interesting…maybe now I- Korrik’s thoughts vanished as the swoosh of a door opening caught his attention and Gatrim stepped out.

“Ah Korrik there you are, boss called ahead and said you’d be the one to break this filly.” he said handing him the control for the prisoners stun cuffs.

“Good luck and I already warmed her up for ya heh heh.” Gatrim stepped around continued down the hallway. Korrik noticed that he was wearing a brown hat and still held the Unicorn’s horn, only now it was covered in blood. He said ‘I warmed her up for ya’ didn’t take much to know what that meant.

Korrik entered the room; there wasn’t much around, a few bits of equipment here and there with stairs in the center of the room that led down to the containment cell. At the bottom of the stairs was a single durasteel door with a one way viewing window near the top. Korrik looked in and inside there was a lone table anchored to the floor with two chairs and the prisoner leaning on the wall with cuffs around her fore and hind legs. Her blonde mane was a tangled mess of filth, presumably from the sewers she entered from. Her body was a little scuffed up as if she had been lightly beaten. With that in mind, Korrik realized that she wasn’t wearing any clothing. Her cutie mark was that of three apples in a triangle formation of sorts. Korrik looked hard and saw something that bothered him, from what Gatrim had said, Korrik assumed he had tortured her in some way using her companion’s horn. But the presence of fresh blood running down her inner thighs suggested something else.

Korrik steeled himself, opened the door and took a seat across the table from the orange coated Pony. She didn’t even acknowledge his presence, she just stared silently at the floor. Her mind swirled like a storm trying to gauge just how deep a hole she had dug herself into. Ratchet was dead, the horn proved that much and she was alone in a gang controlled city and the only person or Pony who knew where she was had just been killed and the Devaronian used his severed horn to… he hadn’t even asked me any questions she thought.

Korrik saw a lone tear streak down her face and struggled to break the silence.

“…umm so… what’s your name?” she suddenly looked angry.

“After what that backrocket soldier did t’ me that’s all y’all have t’ say!? Muh name is Applejack, ya stupid mouthbreather.” She turned away and continued to stare at the floor.

“…Why did you come here?”

“Ah came t’ get back what’s mine” It was her, she was the Element’s bearer! Korrik thought that the bearers were important figures for the Equine race. He didn’t expect that she’d try to retrieve it herself.

“What do you know of our organization?”

“Ah reckon I’d remember more if y’all took these here cuffs off, they’re a might bit tight.” She held up her forelegs and shook them slightly making the chains rattle. He was unsure about that but if he wanted her cooperation this seemed the fastest way to get it.

“Very well but if I do this you will tell me what I need to know.” Korrik got out of his chair, unlocked them, and released the pair on her forelegs where they hit the floor with the rattling of chains. She immediately stretched herself out as far as she could with one pair of cuffs still restraining her.

“Now Applejack, tell me wh-” Korrik didn’t have time to react as Applejack pivoted on her front hooves and bucked Korrik in the face.

He flew backwards landing on his back as blood bubbled forth from his surely broken nose. A ringing noise flooded his hearing as the massive trauma her kick delivered to his head rattled his brain.

“If y’all try and touch me again, I’ll do more n’ just kick ya!” With a loud bang the door burst open, someone must have been watching the whole ordeal. Korrik watched Applejack drop into an aggressive stance and he shouted.

“No! No… I had that coming, just restrain her and help me up.” The beautiful sound of her cuffs being locked was the last thing he heard from her before he was lifted up and helped out of the room, up the stairs and laid down against the wall near the exit.

“You know, you used to have a pretty face.” Korrik opened his eyes and as the fuzz began to dissipate, the curvaceous form of his companion Areuli Bedi started to appear crouched over him.

“Where would you be without me? I shoulda burned sky away from you a long time ago.” She smirked, drawing attention to some of her facial tattoos.

“Yet here you are still helping me out.” Korrik smiled, the blood running down his face turning his smile into a horrid display of crimson and teeth.

“…She really got you good didn’t she?” That was an understatement if there ever was one. Her hind legs were still bound together when she kicked him putting her hooves close together driving all that force into a smaller area.

“A fair reaction after what Gatrim did.” Korrik needed to talk with everyone’s favorite spike headed crink.

“Why? What did he do?” Korrik didn’t answer right away… or at all, he just stared at the stairs contemplatively.

“Well… let’s get you down to the infirmary and try not to pass out, I’m not gonna carry your damn body all the way there.” Areuli slung one of Korriks arms up around her shoulders and proceeded out into the hallway.

Areuli was a Zabrak and one of Korrik’s closest friends and came with him to work for the Dust Angels. Her forte in stealth and hacking made her a valuable asset to any team. Although not particularly skills, she was a proficient gambler and she had no reservations about using her good looks to get what she wanted. Her four horns grew from the edges of her forehead in pairs, two small one inch horns on the inside with two larger three inch horns on the outside.

Her facial tattoos adorned her tan skin on her cheeks, forehead and around her mouth. The pattern around her mouth had two lines that arced out diagonally from each edge and then turned back inwards, ending at her chin with a third stripe that went down the center below her lips. From under her eyes swooped two pairs of lines that turned and went under her cheekbones. Lastly she had two straight lines on her forehead just above the bridge of her nose the top of each line ending in a semi point, like an up pointing arrow divided in half. Her hair was a deep brown in color and tied in a tight ponytail. She wore a red vest over a dark midriff-revealing undershirt with matching dark pants that clung enticingly to her legs and around her waist was her utility belt.

“Guess I’ll have to try a different approach tomorrow.” Korrik laughed.

“You are so unprofessional. “She laughed back. He had some ideas; after all, the ends justify the means…right?

Chapter Three: Time For a Change

Chapter Three: Time For a Change-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Metellos.

It didn’t take a medical professional to tell Korrik that he was concussed. His vision blurred in his left eye and he was having bouts of dizziness. All was well save for the concussion, but that would heal with time. Unfortunately, as Areuli and Korrik left the infirmary, they bumped into HK-50, robbing Korrik of another shot at questioning the prisoner. Applejack.

HK had told them that Adanar had a mission for him as his new lieutenant. He was to take Areuli and board a small cargo shuttle that was sent down from a larger ship resting in orbit. Adanar had reason to believe the ship was sent by the Boreas Industries Corporation to investigate the attack on Mygeeto. It was Korrik and Areuli’s mission to infiltrate the vessel and hack into their computer systems and alter whatever information they have on the Dust Angels before they had time to organize search parties. A few hours later after bribing several spaceport workers, the duo had been packed into a supply crate with their supplies and were loaded into the cargo shuttle.

“Why can’t we just delete their info completely? Seems easier than taking the effort to throw them off.” Korrik whispered, squirming uncomfortably as he tried to adjust himself.

“This is why they send me, if we deleted it they would know someone was onto them. But throwing them off the trail will buy us time for…something.” Areuli whispered back.

The shuttle jerked slightly as the engines flared to life and thrust the ship into the Metellos sky.

“Sooo… what’s the plan Kor?” Areuli asked.

“Well I brought a stealth field generator for you and I’m going to do my best to move undetected. If I’m spotted, I’ll have this disguise to bluff my way out.”

“What if they don’t buy it?”

“They don’t really have to; I just need to distract them long enough for you to hack into their systems. Then you can help me if I need it.” Areuli didn’t like this plan, Korrik would be caught and detained or worse. In the end she had no alternate plan so she had to accept this regardless of her feelings.

Korrik took the opportunity to slip on his disguise before the shuttle docked with its parent. He thought the possibility of the plan working was high enough. Fortunately, even though the BIC is based on Equis and furthers Equine development above all else, their workers were not exclusively Equine. The soft rumble of the engine powering down came through the cargo hold. Areuli carefully opened the crate that was their transport before activating her stealth field as Korrik made his own way out.

“Wish me luck Kor.” Areuli whispered before finding her way out of the cargo bay.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: A-deck

“Areuli, can you hear me?” Korrik spoke through his communicator.

“Loud and clear, I’m heading through engineering now, maybe find a layout of the ship.”

Korrik continued to make his way through A-deck. He would have no problem hiding in plain sight, the hallways were bustling with a myriad of people and Equines in BIC uniforms attending to their various duties, some unloading the cargo from the shuttle Korrik arrived on. Others however were carrying what looked like arms and ammunition into the room, loading them onto the many landing craft spread throughout the hangar.

“Areuli, we don’t have a lot of time. It looks like they’re already preparing for ground combat.”

“You there!” a deep voice resonated behind Korrik as he turned to see a Pegasus stallion hovering eye level with the human. His uniform covered his chest and most of his body leaving his legs and wings exposed. His hat looked to be more ornate than others and if the markings were any indication of rank, Korrik guessed that this Pony might be the captain.

“Shake your head soldier, your eyes are stuck!” Korrik instinctively went into a military stance and retorted.

“Yes sir!”

“Get down to the armory and help the others get the heavy weapons to the hangar. Now soldier, NOW!”

“Yes sir!” Korrik raised his hand for a quick salute before turning and bolting down the hallway, opposite the direction of the flow of traffic. Now that he was safe for the time being, Korrik decided to check back with his partner.

“Areuli, status.”

“I made it through engineering and managed to find the ship layout and schematics. But I’m stuck in an air vent; if I go any further I’ll trip the alarm system.”

“Ok sit tight, I’ll see what I can do.” Korrik was unfamiliar with the designs of BIC ships so he wandered the halls for several minutes, every turn he made lessened the amount of people he saw. Yet his wanderings paid off and he found a security control room. With all the commotion in and around the hangar, security’s presence was almost nonexistent making it too easy for Korrik to slip in and route power away from the alarm systems.

“Alright Areuli the alarms are down, keep going.”

“Roger that.” Korrik turned and left the room, after several steps down the hall his vision began to blur and his sense of balance almost vanished as he caught himself on the wall before hitting the floor. Dammit! Not now he thought. The side effects of his concussion finally beginning to show themselves. It took only a brief respite for him to be able to stand and walk straight without wobbling, but his vision remained slightly blurred. A minor splitting pain gripped his head, seemingly trading his motor skills for a headache. He made his way down and through more halls partially blind, unsure of his direction.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: C-deck

Areuli finished climbing her way through the air vent and dropped down into a droid maintenance room. Many of the droid models were ripped open and seemingly scavenged for spare parts, their metallic remains were scattered around the room in disheveled heaps of empty chassis. One of which looked out of place.

Among the scraps of maintenance and security droids there was a semi intact frame of what looked to be an owl. But unlike the other droids in the room that had been cannibalized, this one had been shot in the head multiple times at close range. Upon closer inspection she noticed that the owl droids memory core was salvageable.

She set herself to work by first hooking her datapad into the central processor. Whoever owned this droid must have had some very important data stored on it because the level of encryption was far above that of other service droids. Almost ten minutes had passed before she was able to finish hacking the owl’s database. Amid the droids master’s several journal logs and programming sub routines, there was one video recording time stamped from only an hour ago. Curiosity got the better of her as she played it:

“Captain, your orders were to scout the planet and confirm the presence of the target, not engage them.” A brown Pegasus stallion turned away from a line of soldiers and addressed the droid.

“There’s no point in waiting, we know they are here and we will not wait for the rest of the fleet. We are attacking as soon as we finish preparations.” He turned his back to the owl droid, faced his men and continued his speech.

“Alright men, we have a confirmation from the Allani Syndicate that they will help in the assault on the city. After supplying them with weapons they were more than happy to assist, but don’t let this alliance with that pathetic band of fools deceive you. They are just as much the enemy. When we commence the attack do not hesitate to open fire on the Allani’s after we’ve wiped out the Angels. If we don’t, they will only take their place and that is something we cannot allow.” The droid flew up directly beside the captain and spoke again.

“Captain Winds I say again, your orders were to confirm the Angels presence and relay that information back to the strike force and then wait for them to arrive. The Master says it’s imperative that…”

“I’ve had enough of you, you flying metal pest! I don’t care what your Master says! She has no power over me, these are my men and this is my ship! Your Master supplied us information but that was all, this is a BIC operation now. MY operation. But I can’t have you squawking this back to the strike force or your Master now can I?” Before the droid could respond or move the captain raised his foreleg and fired at it, ending the recording in a crackle of static.

Areuli was stunned, not only did the BIC know exactly where the Angels are, they were going to attack soon but they had been coordinating with the Allani Syndicate. This didn’t bode well for Krashel or the Angels. Areuli was halfway through reading entry three of the journal entries when a low rumbling explosion shook the ship above her, followed shortly by the scream of klaxons and a voice from her communicator.

“Areuli, we’ve got a problem!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: B-deck

Korrik had wandered for what seemed an eternity, but in reality only five minutes had passed as he blindly followed one hall to another. His head was still splitting with acute pain so he decided to try and find the med-bay. He had seen no one since before he entered the security room, so safety was of no concern. What was concerning however, was his utter lack of direction. Even if he found the med-bay he wouldn’t know it.

The blurriness in his eyes hid any signs or directions from his recognition. The only way he would find it would be by entering every single room and checking them himself. After checking several rooms and spots on the wall where he though there were rooms, Korrik found the room housing the ship’s main weapon batteries. He was unsure whether he was on the port or starboard side of the ship, but it didn’t really matter.

Arranged on the far walls were three large cannons, each one aimed out into the black through a particle shield. Littered around the base of each cannon were the power cells needed to fire the weapons. Despite the detour, Korrik did manage to find a med-kit in the room and did what he could to lighten his pain and clear his vision. His sight came back slowly and his headache receded only slightly, but any progress was good progress. Speaking of progress, he reached towards his communicator to check on Areuli but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“What are you doing in here Soldier!? Why did you disobey your orders!?” Korrik snapped around and saluted.

“Sir! I though I’d check on the turbolaser batteries just in case we need them for support. Sir!” The captain hovered in closer to Korrik, nearly touching his muzzle to Korrik’s face.

“That’s interesting because Talcyon-class cruisers are only equipped with particle beam cannons.” The smile on the Captain’s face was one of sadistic glee as he reared back and delivered a powerful head-butt to the bridge of Korrik’s nose. Korrik retreated several steps back, his hands moving to try and stop the blood from flowing from his now shattered again nose. The Captain wasted no time in pressing his advantage, taking to the air and flying to collide into Korrik in a tackle. The two hit the floor in a tangled mess of flesh and feathers as they wrestled for control. Korrik was still surprised by the dexterity a four legged race like theirs could possess. Korrik managed to get a grip on one of the Captain’s wings and wrenched the winged Equine off him. The captain recovered midair and hovered above Korrik.

“You can’t escape. You’ve nowhere to run.” He growled, the malice in his voice increasing with every word. Korrik freed one of his blaster pistols from is holster and pointed it at the base of the farthest cannon.

“I don’t plan to.” One blaster shot echoed through the room before it was silenced by the roar of explosions. The cannon exploded in a blast of flame and color as it blew through the ship’s hull. The resulting shock wave knocked the Captain out of the air and slammed him into the far wall with a meaty thwack and the sound of breaking bone.

Korrik too found himself sailing through the air with all the grace of a drunken Mynock before smashing into the floor on his left shoulder. Alarms and lights began sounding and flashing everywhere as the roof let loose its rainfall in its effort to quell the flames. Loud crashing filled the room next when the ship’s blast shields attempted to seal off the breach.

As soon as the crashing ended and the shields locked into place, Korrik tried to push himself up off the floor but failed; his injured left shoulder refusing to support even a fraction of his body weight. It didn’t take long to find a solution to get to his feet and as fast as he was able he fled the room and took off down the left hall back towards the hangar.

“Areuli! We’ve got a problem!” Korrik managed to yell into his communicator before a blaster bolt struck the wall just over his head, leaving a glowing red dot surrounded by a scorch mark on the wall. More bolts soon followed as two pursuers chased him through the ship. One was a Human in the garb attributed to engineers and the other was a yellow Earth Pony. Both equipped with light blaster pistols, the former held one in his hand while the latter had one of the mouth held models made exclusively for their race.

Equine ingenuity at its finest. Since their species lacked hands, they couldn’t use standard blasters or other weapons. So they created mouth held blasters that functioned using a tongue trigger and ‘wrist blasters’ they mount to their forelegs, some of which could take modifications that contained a great deal more than a blaster. The voice of Areuli sounded out from Korrik’s communicator.

“What did you do!?” Her voice tainted with exasperation.

“The Captain found me out, had to destroy a particle cannon! I’m on my way to the hangar but I’ve got new trouble!” Another volley of bolts hit the wall where Korrik stood seconds before, reducing a decent chunk of the wall into molten slag.

“We’ve got more problems.” Areuli added.

“This operation is too late. They know we’re based in Krashel. As soon as they complete preparations this ship will attack and the rest of their strike force is on the way here. They also got the Allani syndicate to help them assault the city. What do we do Kor?”

Korrik’s breath grew increasingly labored as he ran. He had no time to think, he had to lose the two chasing him. He drew his Deathhammer blaster again and turned and fired blindly in their direction. Fate favored him in this moment as the bolt connected with the engineer’s right knee. The bolt burned through his unprotected flesh and separated his leg from the knee down from his body. He barely had time to scream as the floor rose up to meet him in a chase stopping impact.

Stopping his pursuit, the Earth Pony crouched down to aide his fallen and injured partner as Korrik disappeared through the maze of hallways. Not long afterwards, when he was certain he was no longer being chased, he ducked into a maintenance closet and called back to his invisible companion.

“Ok…if what you said…is true then…we need to destroy…this ship.” He managed to say in between breaths.

“It’s not a solution… but if we stop this ship’s attack… we can at least buy Krashel… some time before the rest of them arrive. I need you to go…back to engineering, find the ship’s main reactor... set it to blow and meet me in the hangar so we can get out of here and warn Adanar.”

“Alright, I’d better see you there Kor, stay safe.” A most difficult task that would be, for he had already kicked the Rancor by blowing a hole in the ship. He had to go back out and make his way to the hangar, all the while causing as much chaos as he could to keep attention on him. As far as he knew the crew didn’t know about Areuli and that’s the way it was going to stay. As he stood to leave the soft thud of footsteps sounded from the hall. Korrik waited and listened until the footsteps were just in front of the door to the maintenance closet and he made his move.

He charged out of the closet and slammed into the footstep’s originator. He pushed him all the way across the empty hall into a hard collision with the wall of the corridor. Korrik brought up his knee and caught the man in the stomach. He hunched over clutching his gut, giving Korrik the time to unholster his blaster and bring the handle down on the back of the man’s skull, putting him down for the count.

A sudden impact staggered Korrik as a shot connected and was absorbed by his armor. He turned to see three more men had taken this one’s place. He drew his second blaster and unleashed a flurry of laser blasts at the newcomers. Multiple shots of his connected, felling one of them. However many of their shots were connecting as well, the front of his armor getting hotter as it kept him protected. Korrik charged up the remaining energy from the power cells in his blasters and fired them into the wall just beside his attackers, obscuring their sight of him through a light haze of smoke and sparks. Rather than stay and finish this fight, Korrik pivoted on his feet and took off running the opposite direction towards the hangar.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: A-deck

Areuli made her way back into engineering and immediately set herself to work hacking the control terminal in the center of the room. She inserted a computer spike into the terminal to assault the security measures with garbage data allowing her easy access to the ship’s systems.

Concern gripped her heart as security footage from B-deck showed Korrik trading shots with three men in a hallway. She relaxed a bit when she saw he had managed to escape and flee towards the elevator back to A-deck. In order to make the escape easier for her friend she began locking down certain rooms across A and B-decks. Starting with the armory and barracks, she hoped to minimize the number of men they would send his way.

She felt a smile appear on her face as the security footage showed the startled faces of the dozens of soldiers she had just locked in what would soon become their tomb. The next step for her was to hack into the power systems and begin cutting power to parts of the ship, the first being communications so they couldn’t call for help. Then she vented the hangar, watching through the cameras, as close to ten men were sucked out into the void. Next she cut power from the bridge, engines and primary lighting systems. All that filled the hallways and rooms now was: the low red light of the emergency lights, the sound of klaxons and blaster fire here and there. And now her part was done. She disabled the cooling unit for the main reactor. Before long it would cause a chain reaction of destruction that would rip the ship to scrap.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: A-deck

Korrik growled through gritted teeth as a bolt found its mark and burned into his right arm. He returned fire and dropped the lucky shooter with a direct shot to the head, extinguishing his life. A hot pain lanced through Korrik’s lower back. He turned to see that a red Unicorn mare had rammed him with her horn, piercing the mesh in-between the plates in his armor in an attempt to cripple him. Had it not been dark and had she been a few more inches to the right she might have succeeded.

Every second became agony when the Unicorn began thrashing her head around, twisting and tearing flesh in and around the hole she had made. Korrik screamed and lashed out with all his strength, elbowing the Unicorn in the temple hard enough to knock her away and stumble back several steps.

Korrik’s blood ran down from her horn, dribbling down her face in a disturbing visage of crimson upon scarlet in front of hateful eyes. The fiery mare was not done. She wrapped him in a light blue aura and lifted him into the air. He flailed weightlessly, struggling to break free from a hold he could not touch.

Korrik was helpless as the mare proceeded to slam him into the walls over and over again. Each impact brought him excruciating pain, even if his head didn’t connect with the walls, the kinetic force of each blow echoed into his concussed brain. Instinct possessed Korrik; he took advantage of his weightlessness, flipped in his transparent cocoon of magic and kicked off the next wall and out of the mare’s telekinetic grip.

Korrik had no time to waste; he clambered to his feet and charged the smaller Pony. Fear was clear in her eyes as she stood frozen against the primal fury of his relentless attack. Blow after blow came down upon the Pony; a second stream of ruby red blood flowed down her face from her crushed nose and split lips. Korrik extinguished the fire in her heart with a heavy kick that sent her careening down the hallway, rolling and flopping into an unmoving heap. Now he could continue to the hangar undeterred before the rush of adrenaline was replaced with anguish.

The hangar was a mess of crates and supplies scattered haphazardly around the floor, yet there was not a soul to be seen. Most of the chaos was at the base of the hangar doors. You vented the hangar, clever girl. Korrik’s thought and smile were wiped away when another presence made itself known.

“I told you. I told you you’d have nowhere to run.” The captain stepped out from behind one of the transports, his feathers were scorched black and his right wing was mangled.

“You’ve made quite a mess of my ship. What was it you hoped to do here? And even if you succeeded, it would change nothing. Your friends down on the surface will die, whether or not I live. And I intend to do so.” Korrik gripped his head as his senses were suddenly overwhelmed by dizziness. He began firing wildly at the Captain. Who cantered to the left and right, skillfully dodging every bolt.

A few short strides were all it took to bring the Captain into close combat. With a swing of his hoof he knocked Korrik’s Deathhammer from his hand and sent it skittering into the chaos of clutter that was the floor. From the device on his other hoof extended a small blade which he slashed across Korrik’s thigh, bringing him to his knees. Then he turned and kicked Korrik in the chest, leaving him flat on his back. Korrik opened his eyes to see the Captain’s wrist blaster pointed in his face.

“Looks like I’ll live to fight scum like you another day.” A shimmer of light flashed behind the Captain from Areuli deactivating her stealth field, her blaster an inch from his head.

“No, you won’t.” And she fired. His body landed next to Korrik, the hole in his head still smoking.

“Where would you be without me?” Areuli smiled softly.

“Not in the presence of the most beautiful angel of all.” Korrik smiled back, extending his arm. She helped him up and walked with him into the shuttle they came in on. Areuli went straight for the medical supplies and went to work to mend his bleeding back and leg as well as the shot he took to his arm.

“Ok, let’s get the brix out of here.” She said, hopping into the pilot’s chair, powering on the ship and guiding it out through the hangar doors and out into the space above Metellos.

“By the way this mission wasn’t a total loss.” Areuli added. Korrik was leaning in the entrance to the cockpit.

“What do you mean?” She handed him her datapad.

“Found something you might want to see.” He sat down in the chair opposite hers and examined the datapad. Areuli had found and downloaded the journals of someone identified as T.S., a few stood out.

Journal entry 7:

It’s the loneliness I think I hate most. I haven’t seen my friends in almost three years. Not since the end of the Jedi civil war when we used the Elements of Harmony against Malak. The work we’ve been doing for the last two years here is amazing and could help the Republic immensely. I’ve made some new friends among the researchers here but…It’s not the same. It’s almost impossible to keep up on what everypony is doing and even more difficult to organize a meeting or even a conversation. I guess what I’m saying is…I miss my friends.

Journal entry 11:

Today on the Holonet I saw that a Boreas Industries Corporation ship was attacked and destroyed on Mygeeto and the report detailed the number of casualties and injuries. Among them I found Big Macintoshs’ name, thankfully on the injured list. When I looked into it further I learned that Applejack was there and that whoever attacked them had stolen her Element. I haven’t been able to contact her as she has gone off searching for her attackers and disappeared for the time being. I swear that stubborn Pony will do everything herself if she has the chance. I am going to the local BIC office tomorrow to see if I can help with their investigation and help my friend whatever way I can.

Journal entry 31:

We’ve done it! We have a strong lead on Applejack’s location. We sent one ship ahead of us to confirm if the criminal group known as the Dust Angels that destroyed that ship is indeed on the planet. If my research is correct, then this is where her trail went dead, meaning she is a prisoner or…no… she is fine, I don’t know anypony tougher than AJ. I sent one of my droids along with the scout ship and when we get confirmation the rest of this strike force will assault the group and rescue Applejack. It is with a hesitant heart that I have volunteered to help in the assault. I haven’t done much fighting and I won’t lie, I’m scared but friendship is worth fighting for and with Celestia as my witness I will save my friend.

Korrik was brought back to reality when a small shockwave from the BIC ship exploding shook the shuttle. He only had a little time to think as they entered the atmosphere. This could be his opportunity to leave the Angels. He thought about the situation and decided that he would help Applejack, he hated to admit it but he admired the lengths her friend would go for her. It was time for a change anyway.

“Areuli, I have a new plan.”

Chapter Four: The Ends

Chapter Four: The Ends-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Metellos, Stratablock Thirteen.

“Do you understand Areuli?” The plan he had devised was not one without risk. He couldn’t even fully understand why he felt the way he did. But he had made his decision whether for better or worse.

“Are you sure Korrik? This might attract the Republic’s attention.” Areuli warned.

“I have no doubt that they will hear of it. But they won’t risk leaving the industrial sector and it should all be over before they could call in reinforcements. With the BIC involved it would be in their best interest to stay out of it.” Korrik didn’t know if that statement truly held any weight but the Republic had nothing to gain from it. If they helped one planet with their personal matters then everyone would expect the same treatment.

“Trust me, they won’t involve themselves.” Krashel grew larger on the Horizon.

“I’m not one hundred percent on this one Kor, why bother with this at all?” the answer to that still eluded him.

“Call it a hunch.”

“Really? A hunch? You MUST be chewing the luna-weed.”

“I know how it must sound but have I ever steered you wrong?” Areuli turned and stared at him, narrowing her eyes sightly.

“Let me rephrase that, have I ever steered you wrong intentionally?” she sighed and turned her attention back to the controls in front of her.

“You’re going to be the death of me Kor.” She said somberly.

“If you want to leave… I won’t stop you.” The silence lingered for a moment.

“Where would you be without me?” Korrik released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and smiled.

“Thank you Areuli. Now we have maybe an hour before the attack. I’m going to the infirmary to heal up and I’ll see to it that they don’t hear anything and I’ll try to spring the prisoner. When it starts, go through with your part and we will rendezvous in the east hangar in the Highrise.”

“Alright let’s hope this goes as smooth as you make it sound.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Metellos, Krashel.

Korrik’s side trip to the infirmary took several minutes and relieved him of his minor injuries, everything but the Kriffing concussion. But he didn’t let that slow him down as he hurried to the detention center to speak with Applejack. A few moments of travel later he made it there. One lone guard stood near the entrance. Korrik slowed his pace and approached the guard slowly.

“You there, I need you in the hangar, now.” The guard turned to face him.

“Yeah? And who are you to tell me- Oh! Lieutenant Delwyn! Right away.” The guard walked past Korrik, making his way towards the hangar. I guess that promotion to Lieutenant was good for something he thought. He entered the room and made his way down the stairs to the containment cell. He didn’t bother looking through the window this time, whether or not she agreed was up to her.

“Applejack, I’d like to have a word with you.”

“Ah ain’t got nothin’ t’ say to ya.” She refused to look at him and stared at the wall.

“I really need you to listen. I…I’m going to help you.”

“Ah don’t know what kinda idiot ya take me for. That ain’t gonna work on me.”

“I mean it, the BICs going to attack the city and I want to help you escape. If you don’t believe me, take a look at these.” Korrik slid his datapad across the table to her. On it he had loaded up the logs Areuli found on the owl droid. Applejack warily took the datapad in her hooves and began reading.

“T.S…? Twilight!” Her eyes widened in surprise as a small smile crept across her muzzle.

“Your friend is coming for you Applejack. I want to help you.”

“Why? What’s in it fer you?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. He had already made his decision, even if his motives were unclear.

“I…I can’t say…but please trust me.” In an act of goodwill he took her stun cuff controls which he still had and released both sets. The cuffs rattled to the floor. Applejack looked down at the cuffs then back up to Korrik with Confusion and apprehension.

“Wait here. I’ll come back for you once the chaos starts.” As he turned to leave, she called to him.

“Wait! Ah didn’t get yer name.” He turned back to face her, smiling all the while.

“It’s Korrik.”

“Thank ya Korrik.” He nodded in response and said. “I’ll be back.” Then he continued his way out of the detention center. He made it halfway down the next hallway before running into a familiar steel colored droid with red photoreceptors.

“Greeting: Welcome back Lieutenant Delwyn. Statement: It seems your Mission was a success. Observation: But it looks like you have yet to inform the Master. Contemplation: Is there something you do not wish him to know? What happened on that ship?”

Korrik froze.Does he know? How could he? Oh what do I say!?

“Statement: my long range sensors indicate that the ship was destroyed. I wonder what could have happened to create such an outcome.”

“Do you need me for something HK? I have places to be.”

“Mockery: I’m sure you do Lieutenant. Threat: I advise you tell the Master what transpired aboard that vessel before I do. Otherwise things may turn…interesting.” Korrik stared at the droid and walked around it, going on his way. After he disappeared from sight HK mused to himself. “Commentary: That one is going to be trouble for me. Adanar has failed me, so much for the direct approach. I’ll get it sooner or later. I best move on to the next one before things here get…exciting.” HK-50’s photoreceptors flared and returned to their original white color.

Several flashing indicators on the city’s sensor equipment began appearing on screen. The man working the equipment called for his superior officer.

“Veeta!? You should see this!” The yellow armored Griffon walked into the room.

“This better be important.” A very agitated tone could be heard in her voice.

“Sensors indicate multiple ships are approaching the city in attack formation.”

“Run a scan on the ships and see if we can’t ID them.” Her tone quickly changed to serious.

“Scan results show ship IDs and models matching those used by the Syndicate. But there are others that match…”

“Match what? TELL ME!” the man turned to her slowly, dread dominating his face.

“Ships used by the…Boreas Industries Corporation… they’ll be here in two minutes…” Veeta’s beak curled back into a hateful scowl.

“No…NO! Raise the deflector shield now!” She hit the button to the city’s siren systems and then a second one to broadcast her voice across the city.

“This is Veeta! We have incoming ships in attack positions, all personnel prepare to defend the city!” She turned back to the man at the consoles. “Raise the blasted shields you fool!”

“I…I can’t! They aren’t responding!” The sound of an explosion drew their attention to the edge of the city. Smoke and flames engulfed what was once an air defense tower. Veeta turned and ran out of the security room. I have to protect Adanar! She sprinted out of the building and took to the air. Veeta flew as fast as she could to the palace as the sound of blaster fire filled the air and a swarm of Angel ships took to the skies.

Within minutes the attackers managed to eliminate every air defense tower in the city. The battle was now primarily ground combat and dogfights. Every now and then the burnt out debris of a ship would smash into the streets or buildings. Korrik did his best to avoid the larger pockets of fighting, but against the BIC that would be difficult.

It wasn’t enough that their weapons were superior to the Angels’ but some of their soldiers were Pegasi, making outside cover almost pointless. Areuli had done a magnificent job disabling the city’s shields but Korrik hadn’t expected the attack to be so devastating so quickly. He had managed to scavenge a Pony wrist blaster from the fallen and moved as fast as possible back towards the detention center.

Life sightings were few and far between and he was constantly detoured whenever a group of Angels would call for his aid. It wouldn’t help his plan to have three factions gunning for him so he helped where he could to keep up the act. In the next corridor Korrik saw two Allanis engaging a lone female Earth Pony.

She dropped low and kicked out one hind leg and made contact with what Korrik identified as a Weequay in the knee. The force of her kick was enough to snap the leg at the knee joint and put the Weequay on the floor screaming as he fell. The second attacker looked at the Pony and tried to run away but instead found a blade in his neck. She had thrown the knife so quickly and accurately that the second attacker didn’t even get to turn around before he slumped against the wall, gurgling and choking on his own blood. The Pony slowly walked to where he had slumped, took her knife in her teeth and dragged it through the rest of his throat, spraying blood across her face as she watched his life force drain away.

The fallen Weequay managed to get one shot off at her but it did nothing more than get her attention as she crouched down and watched the bolt sail down the hall. He continued to fire haphazardly in her direction, not a one hit its target. She stood directly over him now, his face paralyzed in fear. The Pony reared back on her hind legs and brought her front hooves down on his skull with a loud crack and an arterial spray of blood from each temple. Korrik stayed out of sight for the time being. There were no Ponies in the Dust Angels as far as he knew, but then again, with the recent revelation and death of Agent Ratchet anything was possible. He stepped out of cover, both blasters raised.

“Identify yourself!” he shouted. She turned towards him and began walking. Her coat was light brown in color and her mane was yellow with white…he knew this Pony.

“Mr. Delwyn, it’s good to see you alive.”

“Black Velvet? What are you doing here?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore; this attack took care of that. But what about you Mr. Delwyn? You seem to have an air of purpose about you.” Damn, I forgot she can read minds or something.

“I…I mean…uhh.” Velvet didn’t need to use her talent. It was pretty obvious what had happened.

“You have something to do with all this don’t you?”

“N-no! What makes you think that?”

“For one you stammered trying to find an answer to my question. Second, if escape was your goal you’re going the wrong direction. Third, I won’t question why you have an Equine wrist blaster that you are trying to hide. And lastly, you’re twitching and sweating like Tol Cressa during the Mandalorian onslaught.” Korrik had no time to waste and tried to shift the conversation.

“We can talk about this later if you’re so bent on asking but in the meantime I don’t have time to waste. It looks like you can handle yourself pretty well and I wouldn’t mind some help.”

“And just what do I have to gain by helping and following you?”

“More than you stand to gain in a hallway of corpses, waiting for the building to fall on you.” She looked to the floor then to the ceiling in thought. While she was thinking, Korrik a few seconds to study her. He could now see her cutie mark, a pair of binoculars. And strapped to her rear hooves were two gauntlet looking devices.

“Agreed. Now, shall we?” She casually waved a hoof towards the next corridor. Their trip to the detention center passed in silence, a siege wasn’t exactly the best time to get to know each other. As expected, there was no guard at the door so slipping in was no problem. Once to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed that Applejack’s cell door was open slightly.

What he walked into was a violent scene. Applejack was covered in splotches of green still-wet blood on her coat and in her mane. Crumpled on the floor before her was the mangled and barely recognizable corpse of Gatrim. Applejack was still breathing heavily, indicating that she had killed him only moments ago.

“Gimme back mah hat.” Her words were dripping with venom through clenched teeth. She scooped her hat off the ground and hatefully spat on his crushed face. She sat back on her haunches, her expression quickly changing to one of calm, her tone of speech coming out dull.

“He came back fer me…Ah had no choice.” She spoke to no one in particular. Justifying it to herself as well as explaining what happened to Korrik and Velvet.

“Come on Applejack, we don’t have time to waste on scum like him.” Korrik may have worked with Gatrim but in no galaxy did he ever like him.

“Ah know…” Velvet stepped from behind Korrik and walked over and sat beside Applejack.

“I know how you feel. Weak, helpless, completely at the mercy of others, alone in the darkness. But you can’t give up, can’t give in, you have to stand tall and strong otherwise you will spend your life on your knees. So stand now Applejack, show the darkness it will not take you and claim your light.” Korrik saw Applejack smile for the second time since he met her. She placed her hat back upon its rightful perch and stood up with a look of fierce determination. “Alright y’all, let’s get a move on.”

“Here, this might help.” Korrik said tossing her the wrist blaster he had brought. She caught it and attached it to her right foreleg before turning her attention to Velvet.

“Thank ya fer the pep talk just now. By the way, who are you?”

“My name is Black Velvet and you’re welcome, I know who you are Applejack, I remember what you’ve done for our people. So let me thank you.” Applejack looked surprised.

“It’s nice t’ see that not everypony forgot ‘bout us.”

“If you Ponies are done, we will have plenty of time to chat later so move your flanks.” Applejack and Velvet trotted up the stairs into the detention center.

“Korrik, ’fore we get movin’ there was somethin Ah wanted to talk to ya ‘bout. Ah know your tryin t’ help and all but Ah need to get mah Element of Harmony back.” Oh right, I forgot that’s why she came here in the first place he thought.

“It’s very important Ah get it back, Ah won’t leave without it.”

“You’re really gonna make me do this aren’t you?”

“You know this here city. Ah don’t. Ah really need yer help.” Korrik looked to Velvet who was already standing at Applejack’s side.

“I guess I’ve been out-voted, and I’ve come this far. Alright follow me.”

They were nearing the palace now. The streets below were practically alight as blaster bolts and rockets danced across from building to building. The battle outside showed no signs of slowing down. The Dust Angels had retreated back into buildings and other defensible areas where their knowledge of the city gave them the advantage. Urban warfare was the name of the game now. The fighting got thicker the closer they got to the palace and combat became unavoidable.

The trio ran into the scene of a human BIC officer ordering two assault droids to execute four Angels. Korrik drew his blasters and fired on the officer, a flurry of bolts burned into his side and chest dropping him in a smoking heap. He was two seconds too slow to save the Angels from death. The droids responded with extreme speed to the death of their master and retaliated without prejudice. Both droids were enveloped in energy shields making hurting them difficult.

Applejack and Korrik began concentrating their fire on the closer of the two, quickly overwhelming the droids shields. Velvet left her cover and galloped towards the now shield-less droid while the second one focused on her two companions. Velvet jumped and slammed into the droid, knocking it on the floor. It struggled to regain itself as it searched for it’s blaster. In its confusion, Velvet leaned forward and bucked the droids head against the wall, shattering its casing in a display of sparks and metal fragments. She turned to see that Korrik and Applejack’s combined efforts had left the second droid a pile of slag.

“Gosh Velvet, and here Ah thought Ah could buck hard but nothing quite like that.”

“It’s not me; I have a pair of modified Dominator gauntlets on my back hooves.”

“That explains a lot actually.” Korrik added. “Alright we’re getting close now let’s keep go-” a lavender blast of energy hit him in his shoulder, knocking him on his back. A second blast lanced out at Velvet who leaned to one side and dodged it. Korrik lifted his head and looked towards his attacker. At the far end of the hallway he saw a lightly armored purple Unicorn mare, her horn glowing with magical energy. She shot a second blast at him which he avoided by rolling to the side as it struck the floor where he lay. Applejack dashed up beside him and blocked the Unicorn’s target.

“Twilight stop!” The energy glowing around Twilight’s horn dissipated and she broke into a gallop and practically tackled Applejack with a hug.

“What were you thinking coming here without telling anypony!? You’re lucky to be alive Applejack! Why couldn’t you tell us?” Twilight was letting her tears fall; never for a second did she loosen her embrace as she cried.

“It was somethin’ Ah had t’ do alone. If Ah couldn’t protect mah Element…mah only connection to mah friends…how could Ah ask y’all t’ help me with mah burden?” Twilight released her from the hug and looked her in the eye.

“When are you going to learn to let your friends help you? You don’t have to solve your problems alone. We will always be there to lend you our strength.” Twilight placed a hoof on Applejack’s chest. “Even if we’re a galaxy apart.” Now it was Applejack who had tears in her eyes as she pulled Twilight back into the hug.

“It’s so good t’ see you again.” She managed to say between sobs. Korrik was amazed by the sight before him. Twilight had traveled far and sacrificed a great amount to come help a friend, a friend she had not seen in years. These Ponies were starting to fascinate him. He knew better than to interrupt their reunion and patiently waited for them to regain themselves.

“Twi, I’d like ya t’ meet Korrik. He’s the fella who set me free and that there’s Black Velvet, Ah guess she’s comin’ with us.” Velvet stepped forward and extended a hoof.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle.”

“Uhh…Thanks?”

“Don’t worry Twi, she’s a friend.”

“What about him?” Twilight added, pointing a hoof a Korrik.

“Call me an ally for the time being. We will have all the time in the galaxy to talk once we get Applejack’s Element and get out of here.” Twilight eyed him suspiciously but this was no time to turn down potential allies she thought.

“Speaking of which, we are nearly there. Let’s hurry before more show up.” The trio of Ponies nodded in acknowledgement and followed his lead. A few moments later they had made it to the high roofed chamber where Adanar spent most of his time. The bodies of enemies and friends alike lay strewn across the room. It was no surprise that the body count here was enormous, this was likely the first target they attacked. As they entered the throne room, they had just enough time to witness Veeta rip two men to shreds in a flurry of talons. Adanar sat watchfully on his throne, weapon in hand and Veeta at his side.

“That yellow armor…It was you! You attacked the Bascule, you hurt mah brother and you stole mah Element!” Applejack shouted.

“Yes, at my order of course dear Applejack.” He had the Element in his hands, twirling it back and forth casually.

“Mr. Delwyn, I hadn’t expected your betrayal. And where is Ms. Bedi? Is she why my shield failed? So I must ask you Korrik…Why?”

“I…I…”

“You what? Wanted to help? Get revenge for her? Seems pointless don’t you think? Just look for yourself.” Adanar motioned towards the window. The city stretched on for as far as the eye could see. The streets below and skies above were rife with death and destruction. Krashel didn’t have long and neither did the residents below the city in the Stratablock.

“Why fight Korrik? You will go down with the city just as sure as I will. Here I’ll make it easy for you. Veeta! Step forward.”

“Yes Lord Adanar?” Adanar raised his weapon and fired, killing Veeta with one shot between her eyes. Everyone in the room was aghast. He stood up from his throne and kicked her lifeless body down the stairs where it came to rest at the feet of Korrik and Co.

“There, Satisfied?”

“You monster!” Twilight shouted. “She was your ally, why would you do that?”

“Ally? No. she was a pawn. A pawn I was ready to sacrifice. And in the end it changes nothing.”

“Give us the Element Adanar. You’re outnumbered. You can’t win.”

“Why Mr. Delwyn? Why do you help them? Do you believe you are getting something in return? More than a pat on the back? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Illusions Korrik, temporary constructs of a damaged mind trying desperately to justify an existence that is without peace or hope. You must be able to see it Korrik. It’s pointless to keep helping them. So why do you persist?”

Korrik froze. That question had been plaguing him since he read Twilight’s journal. Was it truly because he desired peace in his life rather than persistent conflict? What did he hope to gain from this? Friends? A purpose? The answer eluded him. But then something he didn’t expect happened.

“Hey! Leave him alone! He doesn’t need a reason to want t’ help us. All that matters is that he is here for us now. So quit tryin’ t’ get in his head.” Is Applejack…defending me?

“If you want him.”

“You’ll have to go through all of us.” Twilight and Velvet too? He thought. Adanar’s cybernetic eye lit up in a crimson glow.

“Hmph, Very well.” Before a shot could be fired, an explosion tore through the throne room, burying it occupants in rubble. Korrik held his eyes shut but he felt no pain. Twilight had managed to raise a shield over the four of them. Adanar however was not so lucky, lost under a mountain of debris.

“What in the blazes.” Korrik looked out the window and saw a BIC ship engaging two Allani ships. Their truce must have run its course. The palace must have been hit with a stray shot from one of the ships.

“I got it!” Velvet yelled out holding Applejack’s Element over her head in triumph. A rainbow particle blast struck one of the Allani ships outside, sending its burning hulk to the streets.

“Looks like the BIC is looking to finish it.” Twilight mused. Another particle blast struck the far side of the palace, making the ground tremble slightly.

“Let’s get out of here NOW!” Korrik shouted. Fortunately the palace’s hangar was mostly intact and they were able to commandeer a BIC landing craft. It would do to get them to the east side of the city and serve as a disguise to keep the fire off them long enough for them to get to Korriks ship. The BIC’s victory was growing ever closer as their presence in the sky was increasing dramatically and particle blasts from their cruisers fell like rain, destroying every building they hit in a fiery inferno.

They landed the craft near the east hangar and ran. The hangar itself was pretty badly damaged. It looked to have been hit by a particle blast nearly dropping the roof on what few ships and personal fighters remained. Korrik turned to his comlink.

“Areuli! We’re here. Open the entry ramp!” The entry ramp descended and the foursome boarded.

“All systems prepped and ready to go.” Areuli shouted from the cockpit.

“All right, lets burn sky until we see lines!” The engines of the Highrise roared to life and propelled the ship out of the hangar and into the smoke filled skies of Krashel. They made it into low orbit before a squad of BIC fighters were on their tail.

“Someone man the guns and keep ‘em off me while I prep the jump to lightspeed!” Korrik shouted. Applejack and Velvet both nodded and ran to the dorsal and ventral turbolaser turrets. A small blast rocked the ship as Korrik banked hard to the left to try and shake them. Turbolaser fire lit up the atmosphere as they found their target and destroyed one the fighters. The remaining two gave no quarter and continued to pursue the Highrise.

“Divert power to the rear deflector shield, I’ve almost got it.” Korrik ordered to Areuli. One BIC Talcyon class cruiser remained in their flight path. Korrik carefully skimmed the surface of the ship’s hull dodging their fire and avoiding the fighters. Another fighter exploded in a fireball of shrapnel as the engines kicked in and they shot off into hyperspace. Korrik and Areuli both leaned back in their seats, relieved that they had made it.

“So…where are you leading us Kor?”

“I figured since we probably earned the ire of the Boreas Industries Corporation, that we need to lose ourselves for a bit so we’re going where people go to get lost.”

“Oh no…you don’t mean…”

“Yep, the Smuggler’s Moon…Nar Shaddaa.”

Chapter Five: The Seeds of Trust

The Seeds of Trust------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: The Highrise, Hyperspace

The Silence was what bothered Korrik most. Sitting in the pilots chair and starring into the hypnotic blue spiraling of hyperspace was almost calming. Yet there was little time to enjoy it but at least it wasn’t silent. The three new additions to the crew made sure of that. And Korrik had plenty of his own to say.

“You…shot me.” He said slowly.

“Can you blame me? I was trying to save my friend.” Twilight defended.

“So your first thought was to shoot the guy helping her?” He asked.

“I had no idea you were her ally.”

“Twilight, I didn’t even have my blasters drawn, what made you think I was hostile?”

“…er…cus you were… in the city and… *ahem* you weren’t Applejack.”

“How very… single minded of you.”

“I had a goal and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me besides it only would have stunned you.” Somehow knowing that didn’t make Korrik feel any better.

“So… tell me more about you Korrik. I understand you fought in the Mandalorian Wars?” Korrik froze.

“H-how do you know that!?”

“Ya fought against the Mandalorians?” Applejack questioned as she walked into the cockpit. Twilight took a step back looking a little alarmed.

“Umm Velvet told me…I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“What did she tell you Twilight.” Korrik interrupted, his voice carrying a tone of gravity.

“She said… that you visibly carry the scars of the war. That the war holds a lot of meaning for you.”

“How did ya survive Malachor?” Applejack asked. Korrik stood from his seat and left the cockpit, leaving two confused ponies behind him. He walked to the port dormitory where Velvet and Areuli were having a conversation of their own.

“Areuli I’d like to speak to Velvet privately for a moment.” Areuli broke off from her talk and asked.“Can it wait? She’s in the middle of a very good st-”

“Areuli please leave, this is important.” Korrik’s face looked grim, the severity of what Velvet had inadvertently done was beginning to weigh on him.

“Umm… alright, I’ll be in the cockpit when you’re done.” She carefully got up from her cot and left the room, the door hissing shut behind her. The silence was back and it lingered for some time before either one was willing to break it.

“How much do you know?” Velvets expression didn’t change.

“What do you mean Mr. Delwyn?”

“The Mandalorian Wars Velvet! You told Twilight that I fought against them. How. Much. Do. You. Know.” A small smile appeared on Velvet’s face. “I see there’s no avoiding this. You remember that I work, well worked for the Exchange. And you have not exactly been discreet with your past dealings.”

“How could they know? I- I covered myself so well…”

“There is plenty we don’t know and there’s some that only I know. You carry much regret and pain Korrik, I’m slowly piecing it together.” Korrik turned back and looked Velvet in the eyes.

“So…you don’t know what I did?”

“I know how you value trust. If you truly want others to trust you and not betray you, wouldn’t it be best to tell the truth?” She dodged the question but there was some merit to what she said and with the state the republic was in… maybe the time for secrets was coming to an end. It was so long ago, it was the root of why he started to distrust all those around him. If he did indeed want to help his new pony friends, they needed to know more about him, he needed to plant the seeds of trust.

“Alright Velvet, you’d probably figure it out eventually right? You ready for this?”

Korrik walked back to the cockpit and was surprised to see that Applejack and Twilight had not moved the both of them were sitting where he left them. Only now Areuli had joined them. He decided to spare them the whole story, best not to overwhelm them he thought. He wanted to start earning their trust not scare them away. He took his seat back at the helm and stared out into the spiraling blue. Twilight was the first to speak.

“Korrik…I’m sorry if I-”

“It’s ok Twilight, I can’t blame you for asking.”

“So you were a soldier?”

“Given my line of work is that truly so surprising?”

“A little, going from soldier to… criminal enforcer is a bit drastic.”

“Remember that there was a lot of time between the end of the Mandalorian Wars and now.” Areuli and Applejack remained quiet.

“But those are different stories, you asked about the Mandalorians… truth is I never wanted to be a soldier, never wanted to fight them.”

“Then why did ya?” Applejack spoke up and asked.

“I didn’t have a choice, I never had a choice.”

“Why haven’t I heard this story?” Areuli inquired.

“You didn’t need to know now listen up, you may all think less of me after this but some things can’t go unsaid forever. Now like I said, I didn’t have a choice. I was born on Taris where I lived my whole life until 10 years ago. During the riots and panic after the Padawan massacre when that Jedi who killed them escaped Taris, public faith in the Jedi plummeted and amidst the chaos the Mandalorians started their onslaught.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 years ago (3,963 BBY)Location: Taris, surface.

It was early afternoon when the sirens began blaring. The Republic was trying to stop the Mandalorian advance in the Outer Rim Territories and was stretched far too thin in the area, so when the Mandalorian fleet pulled out of hyperspace it took them only a few hours to destroy the few orbiting ships and start landing troops to the surface.

It was in the cities that the fighting was thickest. The Republic garrisons rose to meet the invaders and the whole planet was caught in between. The upper city was in ruin and the casualties were climbing by the hour. My family, my parents, myself and my younger sister Serana, were in the Upper city when they started their landing. I can’t even begin to describe the sight of their Basilisks raining from the sky, destroying every air defense tower and platform in a flurry of turbo lasers.

The air filled with the sound of battle as the sky began to become clouded in smoke and explosions. We ran along the walkways trying our hardest to escape to the Lower city, to a place where there was cover from their bombardment. But the walkways where in absolute chaos, civilians and soldiers alike ran back and forth trying to escape or confront the attackers. Then she fell, I don’t know who or how but I heard my sister shout out to me. When I turned back, I saw her on the ground struggling to stand amidst the sea of panicked civilians. My parents stopped running and watched as I tried to run to her but the moving crowd made it almost impossible to reach her. It was like trying to swim against a current. So I couldn’t do a thing when turbo lasers ripped through the walkway, knocking me back towards my parents. The rest of the walkway began to crumble away, spilling all those people on it, my sister included to the planet surface thousands of feet below. My screams were unheard as my parents dragged me away into the Lower city.

I didn’t see any conflict for the rest of the week as we scurried through the Lower city’s streets, usually one step ahead of the Mandalorians as they began clearing out the remaining pockets of survivors and the soldiers they sometimes harbored. The grief for my sister’s death must have hit my parents all at once; they began to breakdown and shifted their sorrow onto me. For the next few days they started blaming me for Serana’s death, saying I wasn’t fast enough that I could have saved her. So when the Mandalorians finally kicked in our door, they offered me to them in exchange for their lives. They took their offer only to slap a blaster in my hands and tell me to kill them. They said that they wouldn’t tolerate a useless conscript, that it was my life for theirs. I couldn’t do it…at first. I started thinking about the last few days, how they blamed me, how they both turned against me and how they were so willing and almost glad to offer me as a sacrifice for their own survival. I didn’t say anything to them, I closed my eyes and fired.

I spent the next few days as support for my invaders soldiers. They spoke freely of what sectors they had swept and where their forward camps were and would be. I felt the guilt of what I had done and how maybe they were right about me. Even if they weren’t, my family was dead. Because of me. As soon as I got the chance, I escaped and joined the resistance. They were a group of swoop gangs and others who were ready to stand against their oppressors. I brought with me what information I could on their base of operations, supply caches and troop movements.

The resistance leaders devised a plan to take out the person leading the siege, Cassus Fett, at his base in the Jedi Tower. Our assault on the tower was a surprising success but word reached us that Fett was not in the tower and before long Mandalorian reinforcements began arriving and gunning the resistance down. It was around this time that the Republic began withdrawing from the planet, saving whoever they could. After the failed operation at the Jedi Tower, I learned of one of the Republic’s salvage ops and I boarded their escape shuttle. They found me once they hit hyperspace and gave me two options, join the Republic Military or they would drop me off at the nearest planet. I thought back to what I had done and decided that fighting the Mandalorians was the best option. I looked at it as atonement for my actions, that joining the war was the best good I could do, even if it never banished the guilt from my heart. That’s how my new life started and how I learned that no matter how close someone is to you, they are capable of betrayal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Present Day (3,953 BBY)Location: The Highrise, Hypersace.

Silence, how he hated the silence. All across the room the expression was the same, they were horrified, even Areuli who had known him for almost three years now.

“Y-you killed yer parents?” Applejack asked.

“How could you do that? You should have fought for them. Even if it meant you’d die.” Areuli added.

“Don’t think I haven’t considered that. Maybe I made the wrong choice but at the time…I couldn’t forgive them.”

“Is this why you didn’t want to talk about the war?” Twilight asked.

“Partially but the worst part is, that’s not the only atrocity I committed during the war, I did so much.”

“Like what?” the nav computer began beeping.

“Ask me again sometime. Areuli start landing procedures, we’ve arrived.”

Chapter Six: Unexpected Reunion

Chapter Six: Unexpected Reunion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Nar Shaddaa, Refugee Sector

The slow decent into the refugee sector was one of relative ease. No one would question another ship landing in an area too thick with traffic to monitor. The ship touched down and all aboard began preparing to disembark.

“What is the plan here again? You know the BIC probably ID’d your ship. If not, then they could just follow our hyperspace trajectory.” Twilight stated.

“Don’t worry your little pony head. The ID signature on my ship is a fake. Even if they do follow us here, which I doubt, we’ve already landed. It’d be like trying to find one grain of sand on Tatooine.” Twilight wasn’t entirely convinced but at least for now she was appeased.

“There’s more to it than you’re telling us Korrik.” Velvet declared.

“I can’t keep any secrets can I? Fine, yes I have other plans. While we are here I’m going to get in contact with the bounty hunters guild, see if they know anything about the sudden interest your Elements.” Twilight and Applejack shared a worried glance but seemed to accept his leadership. “Actually with that in mind I’ve been meaning to ask, you possess an Element too right Twilight? Where is it?” Twilight brushed a hoof on her chest and smiled, looking down at it as if she were recalling fond memories.

“I left it in my room back on Citadel Station. I’ve been helping the Ithorians there with wildlife importing from Equis as well as the application of magic on integrating certain species.”

“Pfft! Magic.” Korrik scoffed. Twilight arched an eyebrow at him questioningly. “Sorry but every time you Equines refer to the Force as magic it makes it hard to believe you were uplifted by the Jedi.” Korrik said. He walked towards the rear of the ship and hit a button that lowered the entry ramp. The entourage proceeded to walk out into the refugee sector where the concentration of people was staggering. People from many worlds made their home in this cramped, filthy, rundown space.

The sector was in great disrepair, most of the refugees lived in re-purposed shipping containers. Those unfortunate enough to lack the strength or resolve to carve a place of their own had to make their home wherever they could find room. Nar Shaddaa was run primarily by the Hutts so security ranged from nonexistent to overwhelming depending on their interests. The refugee sector however was heavily controlled by the Exchange.

“Even if the Jedi brought us to the galactic stage that doesn’t just erase millennia of culture and beliefs.” Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

“Even so they uplifted you because of your species’ force sensitivity and trained you in their Jedi arts to aid them in the Great Hyperspace War. I would think by now the force would have melded into your terms.”

“I disagree; I think magic and the Force are very different powers.”

“I don’t. If the Jedi are to be believed you unicorns can only manipulate the force more acutely due to that appendage on your forehead.” He said, tapping a finger on the tip of her horn. Twilight pulled back and closed her eyes in annoyance and said

“Grrr! I don’t want to argue philosophy with you. Why is this important?”

“It’s not, now keep your heads down and follow me out of this, we don’t need to attract unnecessary attention.” Korrik said as they casually followed him out of the area. Once out of that dump they made it to the ore open areas where walkways would guide you between the many buildings that offered their wares or services.

“Well that’s a small victory now stay close and-” Korrik bumped into a large male Twi’lek flanked by two war droids.

“Korrik Delwyn, I’ve been ordered to bring you before His Greatness Grota the Hutt, obey or we will escort you there by force.” The Twi’lek ordered. Korrik put his hands up in a show of compliance and nodded.

“Now jus’ what the hay is this all about?” Applejack frowned and asked uncomfortably as the two war droids made their way behind their entourage to escort them where they were needed.

“It was too much to hope that someone would have taken you out by now Grota.” Korrik growled under his breath, clenching his fists.

“What’s going on?” A wide eyed Twilight repeated Applejack’s sentiment.

“…I might have done something to upset ‘his Greatness’ the last time I was here.” Korrik replied.

“Oh, now what Kor?” Areuli whined, bringing her hand to her forehead in an overly dramatic fashion.

“Now’s not the time, Velvet can you… Where is Velvet? Blast it did she run off!?” After everything I told her… she…she tricked me. She didn’t know a damn thing and now she’s running back to the Exchange! She would no doubt run back to her masters and tell them all he had so foolishly revealed. While the Republic was spread very thin, they still had the power to destroy enemies of the state.

“Sithspit! Looks like we’ll have to cooperate for now.” Korrik said his voice low and aggressive.

“Hey tailhead, aren’t you gonna take our weapons?” Korrik shouted to their large guide. The Twi’lek’s head tails twitched in annoyance as he answered.

“His Greatness is allowing you to keep your weapons. He trusts you aren’t stupid enough to try anything now that we know you’re here and have grounded your ship.” Korrik threw his fist down in frustration. It was stupid of him to think fleeing into Hutt space was a good idea. However, Grota might be able to help him again after he repaid his debt to the Hutt. Hopefully the price isn’t one that can only be paid in the pit, which was as good as a death sentence. After a short walk they were all loaded into a small shuttle. Once in the air their path took them into the Corellian sector.

“Where are they taking us Kor?” Areuli asked, her arms resting behind her head nonchalantly as if this were routine. Korrik on the other hand held his head in his hands dejectedly.

“Corellian sector, to Grota’s casino ‘The Wayward Star’.” Everyone shared tentative glances before Applejack asked “That’s good right? A casino don’t sound so bad.” Korrik chuckled to himself. “You’ll change your mind once we get there.”

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked.

“Let’s just say that people don’t go for the Sabacc tables.” Everyone now shared an uncomfortable silence as the ship continued its way into the sector. The walkways were rundown and dirty. Many repulsorlift garbage scows floated between levels collecting refuse and debris leaving most of the sector smelling foul. The gambling industry was the most profitable enterprise for this sector making it a place full of popular hotspots. Just as equally stretched throughout the sector was the criminal element.

Many warehouses in the ill-kept warehouse district served as meeting locations and occasionally the hideouts of the gangs that held a death grip on the sector. Security here, if you could even call it that, was limited to a small port control crew and plentiful bounty hunters. The engines of the shuttle began to power down as the craft touched down on the Wayward Star’s VIP landing pad. The group had little time to observe their surroundings as they were ushered inside. Their Twi’lek escort and his droid muscle hurriedly marched them across the casino floor and into an elevator.

“What are we going to do?” Twilight worried aloud.

“Don’t worry Twilight, this is about me not you guys… I just hope none of you are too attached to me.” Korrik joked. Twilight and Applejack both found no humor in his joke and Areuli slugged him the arm. In all likelihood he was only half joking. Grota didn’t react kindly to his own people when they failed him, what would they do to him, someone who had betrayed and outright stolen from him? He supposed that they would find out very soon.

After a quick descent the elevator doors opened to reveal a large round room with a high ceiling. Surrounding the whole room were viewer’s stands where many people from all walks of the Galaxy stood or sat cheering. Dominating the center of the room was a large transparisteel dome, which itself covered a large underground arena, “The Pit”. Beneath the stands in the arena fought two large beasts, A Rancor and a blue Dragon. Above the stands, relaxing and enjoying the carnage from a balcony sat Grota the Hutt. Korrik was shoved into the stands and forced to sit, as were the others.

“His Greatness does not like being disturbed during fights, so I suggest you enjoy it while you can.” Twilight had a hard time watching the spectacle below. All she could see when she looked at the Dragon was that time when Spike’s greed forced him to grow. It made her really miss him and feel queasy at the same time. Applejack tried her best not to watch thinking that Fluttershy wouldn’t approve if she ever found out. Korrik and Areuli however were unfazed by what was happening below and watched with enjoyment.

The Dragon had it wings disabled by two large durasteel binders to keep it from flying and forcing it to stay on equal footing with the Rancor. The blue Dragon was noticeably bigger than its foe but lacked the reach the Rancor possessed, which it used to rake swaths of scales and flesh away from the Dragons body with its massive claws. The Dragon seemed unfazed by the claws tearing at it as it lashed out with its elongated neck and bit down on the Rancor’s arm, swinging it around to the side and threw it where it collided with the wall with a resounding smack. The Dragon, showing no quarter, unleashed a blast of fire from its maw, scorching and blistering the skin of his enemy. A loud roar echoed throughout the arena as the Rancor charged through the flames and rammed the dragon, pushing it all the way to the opposite wall.

The sight was grisly, past the char it was easy to see the curled and distorted flesh the flames left in their wake, blood leaking through the cracks where skin once was. Another roar thundered across The Pit as the dragon jammed its right claws into the Rancor’s neck. It stepped back, pulling the dragon with it by its claws, its growling growing weaker and weaker. With more agility than a creature that size should possess, the dragon lashed out with it second claw, piercing the Rancor’s throat alongside his other claw. In one swift motion the dragon pulled his claws apart, sending the Rancor’s throat sailing through the air in two different directions. The beast fell to the floor in a pool of its rapidly diminishing life force. There was a great deal of clamoring from the stands as attention drifted from the now lifeless Rancor back to the dragon that slayed it. An awful sound of warping metal could be heard as the restraints on the dragon’s wings began to bend. Down below the sound of clattering chains and binds was heard before a rage filled bellow ripped through the stands. The creature extended its wings to full length and took to the air, climbing in altitude very quickly until it crashed into the transparisteel dome. It hovered just below the dome and stared in the direction of Grota’s balcony. A gust of smoke exited from the beast’s nostrils as it spoke.

“You will pay for this, worm! The last thing you will ever see is my dragon fire AS I FINALLY BURN YOU FROM EXISTENCE!” From the balcony came the unquestionable amused laugh of Grota the Hutt.

“Pacify the dragon and replace the binders for his wings. I don’t want this beast to ever look me in the eye again.” He ordered in Huttese as he turned and slithered through the exit of the balcony. Korrik sat watching as several panels on the wall slid open to reveal mounted carbonite freeze guns. Before the incident was completely resolved, Korrik and Co. were once again forced to their feet and hooves respectively to follow their guide to meet with Grota.

“Korrik, ah think now’d be a good time t’ tell us what this is all about.” Applejack said as they began walking. “And please, tell us the truth.”

“… All right.” Korrik sighed. “I suppose you all deserve that much. The last time I was here I was working for Grota in exchange for a few favors… but something from my past caught up with me. Some… uh… mercenaries had been tracking me and finally caught up with me here. I pleaded to Grota for protection before they arrived and when they finally did, in the chaos that followed, I let my fear get the best of me and I stole Grota’s fastest ship. Killed his second in the process to get it. I imagine his losses were enormous and when he had nothing to show for it he blamed me. I don’t even want to imagine what he thought when he realized I had left.”

“How long ago was this?” Areuli asked. To which he answered. “About six or seven years ago, a little into the Jedi Civil War.” Twilight looked puzzled for a second before asking. “Who was coming after you? And why?” Korrik really didn’t want to bring up the topic again so soon but he saw nothing to gain by keeping them in the dark. Besides, they were all in it together at this point, walking the precarious edge of retaliation from the BIC on one side and the criminal underworld on the other.

“… Truthfully they weren’t mercenaries… the Republic sent Army recon commandos after me Twilight, for retribution.” He started. Before he could expound further he was interrupted by questions.

“Retribution fer what? Did that have sumthin’ t’ do with the Mandalorian Wars?” Applejack asked.

“Partially… look if you want to know more about that it’ll have to wait, I don’t want to talk about it just yet.” Korrik spoke softly looking off away from his companions, a forlorn look in his eyes. Despite their curiosity about him, Applejack and Twilight understood when to let things go… for now.

Areuli on the other hand accepted his statement, crossing her arms in slight irritation. It was hard for Areuli to fathom just why Korrik was willing to tell these Equines anything. She had been partnering with Korrik for three years now and while the relationship did get… unprofessional once… or twice, he was always very reluctant to share about his past. What is it about these ponies that got to him? She thought. What was it Adanar had said? Do you believe you are getting something in return? Do you even know what it is? With that in mind, Areuli started feeling her first doubts about Korrik.

The path to Grota’s chamber showed many signs of classic Hutt wealth. Many lavish tapestries depicting what Korrik could only assume was some kind of Hutt ceremony, hung on the walls alongside extravagant paintings. It certainly had the ability to make one feel unwelcome or out of place but Korrik learned early in his career not to let himself be impressed or intimidated by the opulence of Hutts.

Two heavily armed guards stood on opposite sides of a large steel door at the end of the corridor. As soon as they got close the guard looked to their escort and then to the right and hit several buttons on the door’s access panel and everyone was rewarded with the hiss of the door sliding open. The room to which they were greeted was mostly empty save for the large seat from which Grota commanded. Two more guards stood inside and like their counterparts on the outside, they too stood on opposite sides of the door. As soon as Grota noticed the group enter he laughed deeply and said “Well well, it’s been a long time Korrik, at least by human standards. Thank you for taking such good care of my ship, I dare say it came back better than it left.”

“Cut the phobium Grota, we all know what this is about. So let’s get on with it.” Korrik interrupted, in no mood to hear a self-satisfied speech.

“In due time Korrik, you double-crossing coward. You cost me a fortune by tricking me into fighting the Republic commandos after you. After we killed them the Republic sent a force to find out what happened and I had to release, give up and destroy many of my business ventures to avoid suspicion. I almost lost everything and for that, you will pay!” Grota’s expression showed genuine fury as opposed to the emotionless neutrality that most Hutts possess.

“Grota, look at it from my perspective. What would you have done?” Korrik asked. Trying to justify your actions against a Hutt was like trying to cut down a Wroshyr tree with a vibrodagger.

“It doesn’t matter, what WILL happen is this. I own you now Korrik, you will work for me without question until your debt to me is repaid. And then, only then, after surviving a tournament in the Pit will you be released.” Grota’s tail twitched, whether in excitement or agitation was hard to tell.

“Forget it Grota, I refuse to play your games, kill me if you have to but I will not work for you again.” Korrik crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the unflinching Hutt.

“So be it. Oh but wait, I won’t be killing you dear Korrik, I will kill your friends first. Slowly and painfully while you watch, starting with that one.” Grota stated as he pointed at Applejack. As if reacting to an unheard order, all four of the guards from by the door stepped forward into the room and struck Korrik, Areuli and Twilight in the head with the stocks of their blasters and held them to the ground with their heads up as the fourth grabbed a fistful of Applejack’s mane and forced her to the floor on her back.

“NOO! Get yer hands offa me!” She yelled and thrashed about to no avail. Once he had her legs pinned he pulled out knife and very slowly pressed it against her forehead where a small bead of blood began forming where it touched.

“Wait! Stop!” Korrik screamed. Seeing her like that made him remember the first time he saw her, her body scuffed up from being beaten and the blood dripping down her thighs from…

“I’ll do whatever you want! Just leave her alone.” Korrik lowered his head in a sign of obedience as well as a sign of disappointment in himself. Grota’s laughter filled the room again. “I knew you’d see things my way.” He chuckled. Applejack got back on her hooves and as the guards were about to escort them out of the room Grota added an addendum.

“Oh and because of you refused me before, your little friends now work for me too. Guards get them out my sight and take them to the warehouse.” By now, their group was used to the armed escort but now they had new reasons to feel uneasy.

“That could have been a lot worse.” Korrik sighed in relief.

“Ah don’t see how that wasn’t worse.” Applejack glowered.

“Trust me, there was a good chance he was gonna kill you anyway just to show he was serious. The fact that we are all walking away unharmed…well mostly unharmed is a surprise.” Areuli said, wiping the bead of blood off Applejack’s forehead.

“Looks like our stay here just got extended…indefinitely.” Korrik sighed in exasperation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Telos, Citadel Station.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to let you in, even to retrieve Ms. Sparkle’s property. We run a very tight operation here so please understand that-” the voice of the man guarding the scientist’s apartment block was silenced by the sound of a blaster. The guard fell to the floor dead as someone or something began hacking into the access panel. The intruder was not denied entry as it stepped through the door and found what it was looking for, clutching a golden crown topped with a purple star shaped jewel.

“Commentary: It is only a matter of time before the CSF come to investigate. Droid, bring the crown to docking bay 7 and deliver it to the ship there. Releasing control.” The protocol droid’s photoreceptors turned from red back to white as its programming restarted. The lone droid shuffled out of the apartment block and towards the elevators. The doors opened and three CSF officers stepped out.

“Greeting: Ah, good evening officers.” The droid spoke but none would listen as they jogged past it. It entered the elevator and continued its new primary function.

Chapter Seven: Signs of Freedom

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