Star Wars: The Snuggle Protocol

Chapters

Chapter 2: The Response
Chapter 3: The Empire of Love
Chapter 4: The Alliance of Hate
Chapter 5: The Convoy
Chapter 6: The Message
Chapter 7: The Assault
Chapter 8: The Snuggle Protocol
Epilogue: The Party
Bonus Chapter: The Opportunity
Finale: The Saga Continues
Chapter 1: The Raid

Chapter 2: The Response

2 days later

The soap sat on the table in front of them, no more menacing than it had been when they found it. Twilight and her friends still stared at it, arranged in a half-circle as if studying an alien artifact, which technically it was. For all of Twilight's examining though, it appeared to be just an ordinary bar of soap.

"I haven't found any other places that sell soap like this, so it seems that they were making them in that pyramid-thing," Rarity said.

AJ still eyed the bar skeptically. "Seems like a whole 'lotta trouble just for a buncha soap bars," she remarked.

"WAIT!" Pinkie exclaimed. She reached out with her hoof and lifted it up. "Oh, sorry. Thought I saw something. False alarm."

"All the forest critters were scared of whatever they were doing," Fluttershy said. "But none of them seemed to be afraid of the soap bar. I hope whatever was frightening them is gone."

Twilight nodded. "Whatever they may have been up to, I hope it's over with now."

"What're we gonna do with the soap? Or about that huge hole where the building was?" Rainbow asked.

"The Rebel Alliance said they were sending in a team to handle it, so I guess we can talk to them when they get here," Twilight said.

"Alright," AJ said, leaning back in her chair. "Y'all wanna get something to eat while we're here?"

"Not really."

They were at the local Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in Ponyville, a family-themed pizza restaurant they used as a meeting place recently. Their usual meeting place, Sugar Cube Corner, was frequented by stormtroopers and thus made it difficult to speak freely. Most ponies didn't even visit Fazbear's Pizza because the place was so creepy but neither did the Empire, so it was fine for their needs. Unfortunately, it was even creepier than the building they'd blown up two days ago but they tried really hard not to think about that.

The front doors of the pizza parlor burst open. "What's up?! How you guys doing, y'all enjoy the fireworks?" Grex asked, the first through the door.

Rena thwapped her wingman with a rolled-up paper. "Shut. The hell up, Grex."

"Geez, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Can't a guy celebrate pulling off a mission?"

"A secret mission," Sonder, Gold-Two corrected. "Which may fail if the "secret" part is lost."

"Not to mention the whole town's full of stormies," Avin, Gold-Four added.

"And they're probably on the look out for us considering how much damage we've caused," Payday, Gold-Nine added. Payday was actually a clone pilot, CP-7981 an actual Jango Fett clone from the Clone Wars still flying his BTL-B Y-Wing. The fact he survived and defected to the Rebel Alliance was impressive enough, and he didn't need his wingmen putting that in jeopardy.

"Exactly. We're surrounded by people who wanna kill us and anyone we don't know might want to tell them we're here," Rena said. "So keep your mouth shut."

"Fine, fine, but you can't stop me from smiling about it. Hey guys!"

"Hey," Twilight said, greeting the twelve bomber pilots.

"So what did you guys think? Do we deliver or what?" Grex asked.

"You... certainly did do that," Rarity said.

"All we found was this soap, though," Twilight said, levitating up the bar for them to see. "Was this really all they were doing in there?"

"Eww," Grex said, looking at it. "The Imp logo on it has a heart in the middle. That's just creepy."

"As far as we can tell, it seems all they were manufacturing is soap," Rena said, sitting down on the opposite end of the table with her squad. "The Rebel Alliance is still very grateful for your assistance."

"Woo-hoo... yeah," Rainbow said, half-enthusiastically. "We really got their... soap."

"Hey, you might not think it's that much but that's how it starts. One day, they're making evil soap and the next, evil shampoo," Grex said.

"Has Commander Reknaw checked in?" Rena asked.

Twilight gestured over her shoulder. "He's in the bathroom."

As if on cue, the sound of a toilet flushing drew their attention to the squadron's advisor in the restaurant's restroom. It managed to silence them and they sat awkwardly as they waited for their commander to join them. Kabeze, a green bear wiping a glass even noticed the noise.

"Ah, you've all arrived. Good, good," Commander Reknaw said, adjusting his gloves. The rebel officer spoke with a thicker British accent than even some of the Brits in the alliance. His tone was more upper-crust because he was supposedly an Imperial defector, having turned shortly before Yavin. There was a chair saved for him but he chose to stand, walking around to the head of the table to address them. They all noticed his shirt was untucked and he appeared to be sweating for some reason.

"Commander. We were just going over the details of the raid with Twilight's ground team, sir," Rena explained.

"We've just received more information about the operation," Reknaw said. "I'm afraid the situation is a bit more complicated than you realize. Have any of you seen the news?"

They all leaned forward. "No... what did we miss?"

The commander turned on the overhead t.v behind them. It played a recording of a broadcast from just last night. On the television screen, the leader of the Imperial Garrison on Equestria stepped in front of a blue curtain.

"Good evening and welcome to Late Night, I'm Jimmy Fallon and if I seem like a nervous, less-charismatic version of any comedian, it's only because I am."

"Haha, that's actually kind of funny," Grex said, laughing. He was the only one that did, though.

"Fortunately, we still have better jokes than him, or at least better writers. But hey, at least I can swap working for the corrupt overlords at MSNBC to working for people who really care like in the Galactic Empire."

Rena rubbed the side of her temple. "You can skip the monologue, if possible. Sir."

"Actually, I can't," Reknaw admitted. "The show may be from last night but the rewind doesn't work."

"Oh..." And so, they had to watch most of Jimmy Fallon's show until he finally got to a point where he talked about something relevant.

"Now, I know we don't normally spoil surprises around here but as many of you know, there was a rebel attack last night. This weekend was supposed to be the start of our new "Get Clean with The Empire" campaign but the attack unfortunately destroyed our new Equestrian Environmentally-friendly decorative soap factory." On screen, a picture of a bright pink cake-shaped building was Photoshopped over the black pyramid they'd destroyed in the middle of the green valley. The picture shifted as Jimmy talked, showing the stormtroopers running as Y-Wings parachuted rebels that attacked the factory, setting it on fire. The cake-shaped factory burned to the ground and several CGI models of Counterstrike characters stood around urinating on the ashes.

"Oh, COME ON!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "It didn't look anything like that when we blew it up!"

"It's likely this cowardly, heinous, evil and downright mean attack has set back the Empire's efforts to help everypony make hygiene easier with its new decorative soap line. The factory was completely destroyed by these cruel, cleanliness and freedom-hating rebels and resulted in the deaths of all the valiant stormtroopers stationed there and countless innocent puppies."

"NOOOOOOO!!" Pinkie wailed, "Not the puppies!!"

But even Fluttershy wasn't fooled by the deception. "I don't think there were actually any puppies there, Pinkie."

"Oh. Can we get puppies then?"

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Rena said. "They're blaming us for destroying things that weren't even there."

Twilight's expression turned to one of deep concern. Her eyes were fixated on the soap. "But you did destroy something. The only thing that's left of that factory is a huge crater and the only evidence left is... soap."

"Precisely," Commander Reknaw said. "And unfortunately, we don't have any proof you didn't vaporize a plethora of pups in the raid so it's a possibility at least some in Equestria will believe you did."

Grex covered his head in his hands. "They're gonna hate us. We're puppy murderers."

The recording continued. "And now, to talk about our response to the rebels, I present to you the Imperial governor of Equestria! Phillies and gentlecolts, here's Grand Moff Dinkleberg!" Jimmy stepped back and the blue curtain parted, revealing a gray-haired man drawn by Butch Hartman wearing the standard gray Imperial officer's uniform like Jimmy himself. "Well, hi there, neighbors!"

"DINKLEBERG!!" Timmy's Dad, Gold-Eight exclaimed.

"I know those rebels might've roughed us up a bit but I'm here to say that all of us in the Galactic Empire are still supporting you. We're still strong and we've got great things planned for everypony here in Equestria. A silly little thing like one of our factories exploding isn't going to get in our way, no sir! As far as those rebels are concerned, we're gonna teach them a lesson, by golly and have a lot of fun doing it, too."

"I... I've never been threatened by 'fun' before," Grex said.

"Yeah, I don't like the way he says fun," Applejack remarked.

"So, the Empire's continuing its Hugs for All Initiative as part of the Announced Area Affection Application program of regulation eye-dash-six-oh-six-one-dash-bee. And this weekend, we're proud to announce our first Imperial Affection Day Parade! This event, as you'll read about in your Imperial handbook, is the first of our many new Affection programs designed to strengthen the bond between citizen and government. There will be fun, games, rides and even a raffle all this weekend! And none of those naughty rebels are invited!"

"We're not invited?" Avin asked. "That's all? We can't come to their fair?"

"I don't know if this is a joke or what. It doesn't make sense at all," Rena commented.

"Oh believe me, it's real," Commander Reknaw said. He held up a letter. "I already received my invitation. It's clear they don't realize my allegiance has changed though I don't know for how much longer that will be. At any rate, whatever's happening this weekend doesn't seem like something they want us around for."

"So, what do we do about this?" Rena asked. "And also sir, the raid? Was there any more information about what we bombed?"

He shook his head. "Rebel Command had high confidence that facility was a weapons refinery. Its specifications match other, similar outlets but honestly, it doesn't make any more sense to me than you. Intelligence may have dropped the ball."

"You guys told us it was an evil place," Rainbow said, accusing them. "That that thing was threatening Equestria."

"Wait, why did we listen to you guys in the first place?"

"Because we're nice and you like us," Grex said innocently.

"No," Twilight shook her head. "No, that's not it at all..." Something felt off, off about this whole situation but she couldn't put her hoof on it. And it had something to do with that soap.

"At any rate, the whole galaxy's found out about our raid and through the back channels, it's reached Rebel Command," Reknaw explained. "You blew up a decorative soap factory. That's what it looks like now, and because of this, our requisitions requests have been dropped to the bottom of the list."

"Awwwwww," the pilots and Pinkie Pie for some reason collectively groaned.

The commander held up his hand. "It gets worse. Because of this, in order to get sufficient funds and supplies, we've been forced to seek sponsorship. So, you're no longer Gold Squadron. You're the new Doritos Locos Bold Squadron."

"Oh mai gawd."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Grex said.

"Yay, Doritos!" Pinkie cheered.

"Also, as per Disney's regulations, the Y-Wing is now going to stand for the You're Welcome-Wing to coincide with the release of their new movie, Moana."

Grex's head hit the table, followed by several others in the group. "The good news just keeps coming. What did General Kota say about this?"

Reknaw shook his head. "General Kota is still with the task force in orbit and hasn't been briefed on the situation yet. I'm in command on the ground and your current orders are to investigate this party coming up. Any questions?"

"Can we at least get some pizza while we're here?"

"Dismissed."

They all got up as a group and departed as quickly as they could. Pilots and ponies, all eighteen of them left the pizza parlor and proceeded into Ponyville proper.

Gradually, Grex edged his way forward to the front with his squad leader. "So, what's the plan?"

Rena looked around. Above them, hovering high above Ponyville was a Star Destroyer. A formation of TIE Strikers flew by and a group of pegasi followed them. "The Empire's wanting to be more affectionate with the locals. So, we act like locals, see if we can get invited to that party."

"Uh-huh, okay, good idea," Grex nodded. "Um, how do we do that?"

"We ask them."

Behind the group, Twilight allowed herself to drift to the back of the formation to join her friends.

"So, what's the plan, Twi?" AJ asked.

"I... think we need to do some more information gathering of our own," Twilight said. "Starting with the one who told us to listen to the rebels in the first place."

"And who was that?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Princess Celestia."

Chapter 3: The Empire of Love

Twilight trotted back up to Rena as they all continued down the street. "Hey, um, there's something we need to investigate. On our own."

Rena looked over her shoulder, not breaking a stride. "What is that?"

"Well, it's about the raid," Twilight said. Rena stopped and slowly turned to face her, her squadron doing the same. "There's just something that doesn't feel... right about it, is all."

The dark-skinned human nodded. "I know what you mean." She looked up at the Star Destroyer over their heads. "We've all been fighting this war for a long time. Sometimes, we do wish we could stop."

"She's not speaking for all of us."

"Shut it, Grex. The point is, being a rebel is not easy," she said, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "The Empire's tactics don't always make sense and sometimes, we do make mistakes. But they've done some horrible things, Twilight, to people all over the galaxy. We can't let them get away with that."

"She's right," Sonders added. "Alderaan, Kashyyk, Blockbuster- the Empire's committed a lot of crimes and the list keeps getting longer."

"Wait, Blockbuster?" Pinkie asked, surprised.

"You ever wonder why they all went outta business?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I figured other stuff like Netflix just kinda made them obsolete."

"And who do you think came up with Netflix?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He answered for her, whispering, "The Empire."

"The Empire was behind Netflix?"

He nodded. "Netflix, Facebook, iPhones exploding, DC movies sucking, the Bermuda Triangle, the list goes on. The Empire's been behind it all, always have been."

"Wow," Pinkie said, eyes wide.

"And you guys have evidence of all of this?" Twilight asked.

"Better," Sonders said. "We have a hunch. A really, really good hunch."

"Ohhhh," Twilight said, nodding. "I understand." And in the back of her head, she thought, These guys are fucking dumb or fucking nuts. Probably both.

"We have more than hunches," Rena sternly corrected her comrade. "We know the Empire is responsible for horrible acts, Twilight Sparkle. And we did have intelligence that the Empire was building very dangerous weapons in that factory."

"I understand," Twilight said, taking the human's hand with her hoof. "I just need to know for sure." Looking back now, they hadn't been uncertain a few days ago when they planned the bombing raid. The Empire had built the pyramid-soap plant illegally, forbid ponies from access and inquiry to the area but still, they hadn't done anything overtly hostile. Rainbow Dash was meant to infiltrate the facility to determine what was being done inside and plant the beacon on top if what they were doing was a threat to Equestria.

But somewhere between plan and execution, something had gone wrong. And now, they weren't so sure what they had done was right. The Rebels were positive they were right, the Empire was certain they were right, only Twilight and her friends felt somewhere in the middle.

"We do whatever is necessary. For freedom, for the Alliance, for everyone," Rena said, still confident. "It's what we have to do."

Twilight looked back at her, eyes full of crystal-clear doubt. "You have to blow up soap factories?"

"I think we're done here," AJ said. "C'mon there, Twilight. Let's leave the... these guys to their missions and what-not. We'll see y'all later."

"It was a pleasure meeting you all!"

"Yeah, it was fun! Later!" Rarity and Rainbow Dash waved as they departed. Twilight and friends left, leaving the bipeds to contemplate their own next moves.

Rena checked her chrono. "Get back to base, grab some R&R before mission prep."

"Awww," Grex moaned. "We're in a town. Why can't we just get some R&R here?"

"This is an occupied town," Avin reminded him, "so the longer we're here, the greater our odds of being discovered."

"Never tell me the odds!" Timmy's dad yelled. "The odds are for Dinkleberg! I will get him, and his odds eventually! Do you hear me, Dinkleberg?!" He shook his Butch Hartman-drawn fist at the Star Destroyer hovering over the town. The rest of the squad stared at Timmy's dad, mixtures of concern and disappointment on their faces.

"Okay, yeah, I see why we'd kind of standout here," Grex admitted.

A trio of TIE Strikers flew overhead, engines screeching as they flew over the town. They were following a group of pegasi and being followed by a few more. In fact, it almost looked like the ponies were playing the fighters. The shadows of the fighters crossed over them, the lead edge obscuring Rena for just a brief second as they flew over. She didn't take her eyes off the TIEs even once. "Let's get back to base."

Part of the Rebel Alliance Fleet, dubbed Taskforce Defiance, was located just behind Equestria's moon. The taskforce had been locked in a game of cat-and-mouse with elements of the local Imperial fleet. Every time the Imperial ships chased the Rebels behind the moon, the Rebels would move just a little bit further around the moon, using line-of-sight to prevent firing solutions. It absolutely infuriated the Imperial captains but, at the same time, the Rebels weren't able to launch large-scale operations without the Imperials swooping in to stop them. So, the Rebels established an outpost in the Everfree Forest's ruins to use as a temporary base.

The fleet-to-outpost gave Gold/Bold Squadron the ability to work directly with ground teams and informants like Commander Reknaw. This allowed them to coordinate their attacks more effectively. Of course, they also had to make it through town each time.

"This sucks," Grex stated flatly.

"What- the fact we got bad intel or the fact the Empire's blaming us for it?" Brullen asked.

Grex looked up, sneering. "It's everything." Ponyville had drastically changed since contact with the greater galaxy. There were still plenty of ponies and the iconic cottages and houses they lived in, but there were now aliens, too. Not many of them, but a few bipedal aliens, other humans and even droids walked and hovered throughout the town, enough to be noticed. And where there was a lot of activity, there was the Empire.

Stormtroopers marched through the streets on patrol, some with their own probe droids following them. But they weren't doing what the Empire normally did; in a few places, they were behaving very differently. Rena led the others passed a couple stormtroopers that were showing off their weapons to ponies. As they turned the corner onto Mane Street, they even passed a few ponies who were helping a trooper put up a poster. A propaganda poster against the Rebellion.

Grex stopped to watch them for a moment. One of the stormtroopers, a captain, held up a filly by the midsection so she could tape down the top corner of the poster. He then sat her down and patted her on the back, a job well done. The poster read: FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS REBEL. JOIN THE EMPIRE- SAVE THE PUPPIES.

"Oh, COME ON!" Grex exclaimed. He stomped right over to the poster now that the troopers had left. "Can you even believe this?!"

"Lieutenant!" Avin, his wingman said, grabbing his shoulder.

Before he could shake him off, Rena had already about-faced to him. "That's enough, Grex."

"I joined the Rebellion to be a hero! Now look at us! Look! We're puppy killers. We killed puppies."

Rena sighed. "It's just propaganda. They're just trying to hurt us, make us look like the bad guys. Twilight examined the remains and there were no puppies there- just soap."

"Yeah, this time," Grex grumbled.

"I'm getting pretty tired of your insubordination, Lieutenant Corsa."

"Geez cap, gotta bust me down in front of everyone?" he said, folding his arms.

Rena, despite being shorter than the man, put her hand on his shoulder. She knew she had to get through to him and this was the only way. "I'm gonna be honest with you. I didn't see this coming either. But I'm here with you."

"Are you two gonna kiss now?" Brullen asked.

Sonders pushed his shoulder. "Why? Mad you're not getting any yourself?" The pair joked, the rest of the squad chuckled.

Grex wasn't just the squad's second-in-command; he was also Rena's boyfriend. He smiled at her, though they wouldn't kiss in front of the rest of the squadron, much less in the middle of an occupied town. He patted her hand on his shoulder, nodding, his way of saying "Thanks." Grex knew that she only let him get away with so much just because she was his girlfriend, but he also knew they needed each other. They all needed each other, especially now.

"We'll get through this. Together."

Grex smiled. "Thanks, Rena."

And she smiled back. She turned around and came face-to-face with another group of stormtroopers.

"Hold it right there!"

"All of you, freeze! No one move!" they ordered, guns raised at them. All twelve of them raised their hands and slowly turned to face them.

"Well, good morning, officers! What seems to be the problem?" Timmy's dad asked.

"Problem?" the lead trooper, a captain asked. "I'll tell you exactly what the problem is." He walked right over to them. They were all armed with at least a concealed blaster on them, standard issue, but with their hands up and the stormtroopers' E-11's aimed at them, they wouldn't be able to do much good. Even if they all drew their own weapons, some of them were bound to get shot. Grex was at an even worse disadvantage: he wasn't good with a pistol so he kept an A-295g rifle strapped to his back under his coat. If they found the standard Rebel rifle on him, that would give them all away.

The trooper captain stopped just short of Timmy's dad. For a brief moment, neither of them did or said anything. The trooper's visored helmet stared imperceptibly back at him, and Timmy's dad recoiled nervously. The trooper pointed an armored finger at him.

"It's pretty hot out here. And you're not wearing your standard protection gear."

"Is... is that a problem?"

The trooper nodded. "You bet it is." He grabbed something from his lower backpack. Instinctively, Rena reached for her sidearm in her hidden hip holster. She took one deep breath, touched the blaster and prepared to whip it out and fire.

"You don't have a hat on." The trooper spun back around and put a hat on Timmy's dad's head. "There you go."

"Oh. Thanks!"

"Sky-blue so it doesn't absorb heat. You're welcome," the trooper said. The hat was a blue cap, the Imperial icon emblazoned in the front with the words 'Empire of Love' above it.

"Say, you guys wouldn't happen to like ice cream would you?" The captain spun around and the two other troopers approached his backpack. A moment later, they turned back around with ice cream cones. "Because we have over six-million flavors."

Grex, still behind Rena, raised his hand. "I like ice cream!" She elbowed him in the gut. "Ow! What?"

"How about you there, kiddo?" one said, a female trooper that approached Sonders. "Wanna try the decadent indulgence that is Dark-side Delight? It's the darkest of dark chocolate."

Sonders was the tactical officer of the squadron. His job was to analyze situations, help develop strategies and make sure the squad executed them properly. So, he used a tactic to diffuse the current situation. "Sorry, I'm... lactose intolerant."

"It's lactose-free."

Fuck. "I'm... trying to watch my weight, thanks," he said, patting his stomach. Sonders was actually one of the more physically fit members of the team, liked to jog before and after missions. Still, he smiled and nodded to try and sell the excuse.

"It's sugar-free and non-fat."

"And delicious!"

Sonders felt his defense withering under the tempting assault. The ice cream was in direct sunlight and didn't show any signs of melting. Realizing he was out of excuses, he reached for the ice cream cone.

"Sam, no!" Rena said, grabbing the cone for herself. They all looked at her, even the stormtroopers. "I... like chocolate," she said. Reluctantly, she took a tiny bite. "Mmm, good," she said. She had intended to say the words whether or not they were true, but they had, surprisingly, been very true. Her mind screamed at her to spit it out, that it was some trick or some new Imperial truth serum or mind control agent in the ice cream but it tasted good. Really, really good. She couldn't help but take another bite. "This is really good."

"Your Empire only provides the best."

"Who wants the next one?"

"FREE ICE CREAM!!" And suddenly, ponies from all over town rushed right to that very street corner. Pegasi flew in from above, unicorns and earth ponies galloped up in cloud of dirt, forming lines at the troopers. The stormtroopers began handing out cone after cone to ponies, the squad members, even a couple droids and other stormtroopers.

Grex quickly lined up as quickly as he could but found himself at the back of the crowd. The troopers continued serving; only Brullen, Avin and Timmy's dad of the squad got ice cream. Soon, the crowd began to dwindle and finally, it was Grex's turn.

"Hi, can I get a chocolate-vanilla swirl? With chocolate sprinkles maybe?"

"Sure thing, citizen," the female trooper said, turning around. Cone in hand, she pulled down the lever to dispense Grex's desired flavor. And only a drop came out. "Oops, looks like we're out for today. Sorry about that, citizen."

"But-but, g-gcha-wha-da, but!"

"Looks like we'll need to resupply. Here's a coupon for next time," she said, handing him a coupon. "Have a nice day, citizen! For the Empire!" she saluted and marched off with the rest, leaving Grex holding the coupon.

"But-but-but... why would I need a coupon if it's free?!"

"Aww, ya didn't get any?" Applebloom asked as she walked by, eating an ice cream. "Ah'd offer ya some of mine, but it's almost gone."

"What if it was cider? WHAT IF IT WAS CIDER?!" Grex yelled. Defeated, he rejoined his squad mates as they enjoyed their frozen confectionary treats.

Avin alternating between licking two different cones. "Mmm, MMM. I have to admit, they may be, mmm...mmm-mmm, evil but this ice cream... is frickin' good."

Grex watched them enjoy their delicious deserts with an expression of hardened disappointment. "I actually liked it better when they were shooting at me. I mean, trying to kill me, that was war, but this? This is personal."

"They said they'd be-"

Grex held up his hand to cut him off. "I know. I have my "coupon" right here. Can we get back to base now, Rena?"

"Right, and everyone who partook in the Empire's... ice cream, including myself, will report to the medical officer immediately for full evaluation," she ordered. "Move out."

"Hear that? You lucked out, Grex, no evaluation for you," Avin said, grinning at him.

But the other pilot just continued to frown. "They give free cookies at the end of those evaluations sometimes," he grumbled, joining his squad as they made their way through town.

The speeders to their base were parked on the edge of the Everfree Forest. There were two of them, one for each half of the squadron and they were camouflaged to lessen the likelihood of them being discovered. Unfortunately, it didn't look like the camouflage worked very well because a scout trooper had indeed found the speeders.

"Fantastic. There goes this rendezvous point," Rena said. She and the rest of the squad were crouched behind the bushes at the edge of the clearing where their speeders were. They were so close to them, but if they tried to start them, that one scout would undoubtedly call backup. If he hadn't already.

"He looks like he's just investigating them," Sonders said, looking through a pair of macrobinoculars.

"That's great," Avin said. "Maybe we can take him out before he calls it in."

"Agreed," Rena said. "Grex, you have the rifle. Take the shot."

"Geehh, fine. Making me do this on an empty stomach," Grex said, pulling the A-295g off the back of his flight suit. He took aim at the scout trooper in the clearing, an easy shot with his white armor. He aimed right for the trooper's head.

"Grex? What're you doing?" Rena asked. "Grex, take the shot."

He gritted his teeth. It didn't feel right. He'd done this before, rushed into a warehouse full of Imperials and taken out two stormtroopers with the same rifle he was using now. He'd shot unsuspecting guards even more times, just like this one scout. But this was the first time it hadn't felt right. Maybe it was the fact he'd just been accused of being a puppy-killer, but something did not sit right with all of this.

"Lieutenant, take the shot," Rena said.

He took a deep breath and fired. A bolt flared out of his rifle and struck the scout trooper right in the helmet. It was powerful enough to knock him off his feet and slam his back onto the speeder. He slumped down, motionless.

Wasting no time, the squad made for the speeders. "What took you so long?"

"I... I dunno. It didn't feel right."

"Eh, aiming on an empty stomach'll do that," Avin said, slapping him on the back.

"Yeah, right," he said, following them over to the speeder.

"Hey... he's still alive!" Brullen said. "Grex! You didn't kill him!"

"I know. I set it to stun."

"What?" Rena said, spinning around to face him. "I gave you the order to take him down."

"I did," Grex said. "I set it to stun and took him down. Now, we can take him in and interrogate him."

"I... that's not a bad idea," Rena admitted.

"Yeah, see?" Grex used the butt of his rifle to nudge him off the speeder. "We don't have to kill 'em... or puppies."

"We didn't actually kill puppies. Help me get him in the trunk," Brullen said. They loaded up the unconscious trooper and departed for the base.

Chapter 4: The Alliance of Hate

The Rebel Alliance's Everfree Base, known as Sigma Base, looked a lot like their temple base on Yavin IV. In fact, it looked exactly like it, because it was the same exact base that had somehow been transported from the jungles of the Yavin moon to the middle of the forest in Equestria. Although some questioned how it got here, nobody really complained. It made it easier knowing where everything was already and also most, if not all of them agreed it beat the shit out of Hoth.

Gold Squadron's speeders arrived at the base just as a pair of U-Wings touched down. A group of pegasi immediately jumped out, each carrying saddlebags full of supplies for other resistance groups across the planet. While the unicorns and earth ponies hadn't been as affected by the Empire's invasion, the pegasi certainly had. Cloudsdale, the pegasus city that was forever the home of pegasi, had been destroyed when the Empire invaded. The event had been chalked up as an accident, but there were many pegasi that saw the Star Destroyer hovering over Ponyville as a direct act of aggression and war, even if Princess Celestia had said otherwise. They were among the first to join the Rebels.

"Sigma Base to unidentified vehicles, transmit clearance code."

Sonders got out the commlink to answer while Reena drove. "Sigma Base, this is... 'Bold' Squadron, returning. Clearance code: one-one-three-eight-dash-one-one-seven-oh-eight."

"*snickers* "Bold" Squadron? Is that a real designation now? Eh, whatever. You're cleared to park in back next to my Honda Civic. But don't park too close to it."

"Affirmative, Base. Also, we're bringing in a prisoner- had a nosey scout trooper poking around the speeders. Stunned him and tossed him in the trunk."

"Ugh, fine. We're dispatching security to the motor pool, they'll take care of it."

"Roger, Bold-two out." Another chuckle came through the radio before it cut out. Sonders shook his head; getting used to the squadron's new callsign wasn't going to be easy. His wingman next to him shared his sentiment.

"Bold Squadron," Brullen repeated, shaking his head. "Doritos Bold Squadron. What's next? The Rebel Fleet brought to you by..."

"Hot Pockets, hahaha."

"Heh, yeah, that's a good one. Careful you don't let command hear it; they might use that idea."

"Haha, right."

"Yeah..." They both laughed... then quickly stopped laughing as the realization that their joke could actually happen set in. In just a couple short days, things had been turned upside down for them. Who knew what could happen next?

In the other speeder, Reena drove while Grex and Avin sat in the back with their feet up. She didn't mind; knowing that they would do it anyway and she had to give them a little wiggle room.

"Gotta say, this base beats the crap out of the old one," Avin said.

"What? The one behind the Starbucks in the middle of the Best Buy parking lot?" Grex asked.

"Yeah."

"I dunno, I kinda liked being able to checkout the t.vs when I was off-duty."

"True."

"It gets the job done," Reena said, serious as ever at first. But, she quickly added, "It's definitely nicer than Hoth."

"Warmer, too," Avin agreed. Reena followed the other speeder to the motor pool in the back. If they went out again that day, they would likely take another speeder to prevent them from being tracked. Constantly changing locations, routines and equipment was business as usual for the Rebel Alliance. What wasn't usual was corporate sponsorship.

They disembarked from their speeders as a pair of rebel security guards jogged over, rifles ready. One of them was actually a pony, a unicorn holding a rifle with a levitation spell. It was still kind of unnerving for some of them to see a gun glowing and floating, encircled by magic. They were getting used to it, though and the ponies had already integrated for the most part into the Rebel Alliance.

Grex slapped the trunk as the guards approached. "Yep, one prisoner primed and ready to interrogate. It was MY idea to stun him," the pilot said proudly.

"Great, so any problems, you'll be the one to blame," the pony guard said. They trained their rifles at the trunk of the speeder.

"There won't be any problems. It's one guard," Grex assured them. "I'll bet he'll jump at the first chance we give him to defect." He opened the trunk. The Scout Trooper's arms and armor had been removed and his hands restrained. Unfortunately, they didn't have any restraints for his legs, and when the trunk opened, the scout swung his legs out and kicked Grex in the groin. "Gaulch!"

"I got it!" one of the ponies fired a blue bolt from his rifle and stunned the trooper.

"Grex! Grex, you okay?"

"Fine... from the waist up..." his voice squeaked. The squad now had two bodies they had to carry back to base.

"It's alright buddy, we got ya." Avin and and Brullen both grabbed his arms and carried him between them.

"Hehehe, at least you didn't get hurt anywhere vulnerable, Grexy."

"Fuck... you..."

Avin slapped him on the back. "Aw, relax. We'll get you inside and you can put some ice cream on it," he said, giggling.

"Fuck you... fuck you both."

The squad carried their comrade and their captured scout into the base. Reena, Avin and the others who sampled the Imperials' ice cream made a stop at the base's medical wing for more intensive scans after they completed the usual decontamination and security sweep. There was no ice cream for Grex's stomach or his crotch, so he decided to just walk off the discomfort, which fortunately didn't last long. After they settled in, the squadron finally got a chance for some R&R.

Reena had time to get a shower and a change of clothes. Sigma Base was large enough that they could each have private quarters, unlike some of their other bases, although the rooms were barely big enough for a bed and dresser. She lay on her bed, thinking about the mission, thinking about everything that had seemed so right and then somehow became so horribly botched. It was like her world had been turned upside down but things still stuck to the floor, leaving her looking up at what was from a new position.

She imagined her squad had to feel the same way, more or less. One tiny mistake and now they were questioning just about everything. Rebellions were fragile like that, as were hopes, dreams and causes. But, you could remind yourself of them.

Reena opened a small KOTOR-style footlocker at the foot of her bed. Being constantly on the move meant the things you took with you had to be small. She kept a holoalbum her mother had given her, about the only thing of value she had. She flipped through the pictures of her home planet, a world called Saleucami. The cities on Saleucami were all covered with massive ornate domes to keep out the harsh climate. Inside, the cities were comfortable and cool, green vines and foliage hung from the buildings and white flowers bloomed on the sides of the streets. Some of the plants even glowed, illuminating the stone buildings and their elegant architecture, limiting the need for power generators in the town.

Some of the pictures were just of the city, others were of Reena and her family. She was very young when the Clone Wars ended and the Empire bombed Saleucami for being loyal to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Although the citizens of Saleucami were technically Separatists, they didn't do much to support the CIS apart from keeping a small garrison on the planet's surface. They surrendered the moment the war was over. The Empire responded by bombing their cities, all but the capitol, and enslaved the population. The capitol city was left standing but unoccupied under its dome, like a lost city buried by cataclysm.

The Empire had taken her home because it had picked the wrong side. It hadn't even been her choice or the choice of many others but they'd been punished for it just the same. That's why she made contact with planets like Equestria and felt so strongly about protecting them from the Empire. It didn't matter how far they were away, how remote they were, how much or little they'd done or what side they were on. The Empire didn't care. It would conquer them all and enforce its will upon them, those that resisted would be destroyed. If the Empire even thought they could resist, they would destroy them.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in."

The doors opened and in walked Grex. He was eating a sandwich. "Hey, mmm, hey Reena."

"Hey," she sat up and put her book back. "Finally got something to eat?"

"Yeah. Just reconstituted protein and calcium supplement slices on rye," he said, holding up the sandwich. "But, I got one of those snow cones from the ice Sonders got from Hoth," he said, grinning.

Reena raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought that ice was to help cool the generators."

"Eh, they got enough." He took a seat next to her on the bed; she scooted over for him. He finished his sandwich and for a moment, they just sat together quietly. "So this was our first bad mission."

"It wasn't bad," she corrected him. "It was just another one. We did our job."

"It doesn't feel like," he said, lying back.

She turned around to him, almost in disbelief. "It doesn't matter what it feels like, Grex. It's our job to do what the Alliance needs, whatever it needs, for the good of the cause."

"Good of the cause?" Grex repeated. "That's like saying it's for "the greater good."

She nodded. "It is."

He slid half-up, his expression nearing appalled. "That's something the Empire would say. I mean... that's something they'd usually say. They used the "greater good" and "order" as excuses on every other planet! Why are they doing something different here?!"

"I don't know," Reena admitted. "But I know it's a trick. This is just a new tactic for them, another way for them to deceive the population while they plan something else that will take advantage of them. That's all they ever do."

"What if they're not actually doing that here? What if they actually do some good around the galaxy, do we really oppose that?"

"We support the cause," she said calmly.

"And if the cause ends up hurting the innocent?" Grex asked, standing abruptly. "What then? What if we actually do wind up hitting something that isn't just a soap factory?"

She stood as well. "It's for the greater good-"

He pointed at her, face red against her cold, implacably calm demeanor. "That's exactly what they say, Reena! They say "greater good" after committing some sort of horrible atrocity! You keep saying that, you're going to sound exactly like an Imperial!"

She threw her hands down, balled her fists and shouted, "I was one!" Her face was flushed. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Reena sat down again, looking at her hands. Slowly, she unclenched her fists. When she finally looked up, Grex was sitting right beside her again. He put his arms around her and held her.

He sighed and began rubbing her shoulders. "I guess this is something neither of us signed up for."

"No," she corrected him, still letting him rub her. "I knew something like this would happen. Well, not exactly like this. But mistakes are inevitable. Sometimes, innocents get caught in the crossfire. No matter what side you're on, it happens."

Grex stopped rubbing. She turned to him, looked him in the eyes. "That doesn't mean I condone it. We hit the targets, we don't target civilians and we do our best to make sure we limit casualties. That's the job we signed up for. That's the line we don't cross."

He looked right back at her and asked, "And if we come close to crossing it?"

"We don't."

He might've had another question to ask; both of them somewhat expected that. Maybe they would've filled the momentary silence between them with more words or something that spoke more, like a kiss. But the intercom crackled, interjecting static into their moment instead.

"*snicker* "Doritos Bold" Squadron, to the ready room please, Doritos Bold Squadron to the ready room please." Another voice added, "And bring some Cool Ranch chips with you!"
"Hahahaha!" The intercom clicked off.

They both exchanged unamused glances. "Well, Cool Ranch is the best flavor."

"Ew, I hate corn chips."

Grex shrugged. "They'd make those reconstituted protein and calcium supplement sandwiches go down easier."

The pilots' briefing room was a large amphitheater. The rest of Bold/Gold Squadron had already gathered there, along with some of the squad's support staff. Reena and Grex entered from the corridor to the barracks, and saw that their comrades were already discussing matters important to the Rebel Alliance in a lengthy, respectful debate. Meaning they were arguing about nonsense. They both took a seat close to their friends.

"No way. No freaking way."

"C'mon," Avin said, slapping Bandwidth on the knee. "She's your princess, after all."

The stallion shook his head. "I've seen what Vader can do. There's no way he'd get beaten by Nightmare Moon."

Avin laughed. "That's practically treason, though."

"Yeah Bandy, didn't you know you're supposed to support your local tyrant when we pit them against others?" Brullen asked sarcastically. The brawny, broad-shouldered strongman of the squad stood behind their couch, leaning over the side. "You have a patriotic duty to support your planet's villain. Like how Mr. Turner hates Dinkleberg."

"Oh, I don't just hate Dinkleberg," Timmy's dad said in his usual delightful manner. "As a matter of fact, I hate lots of things. Like traffic, Dinkleberg, weeds, Dinkleberg, property taxes, Dinkleberg, paying homeowner's insurance, Dinkleberg and my next-door neighbors. THE DINKLEBERGS!" he stood and shouted.

Bandwidth folded his forelegs. "Heh, I'll pass. That's a lotta stuff to hate, Turner. Not exactly my cup of tea."

Avin grinned, leaning back. "It's the Rebel Alliance, Bandwidth. Most of us are here because we hate the Empire."

The pony turned to him. "But how do you hate something so... big? Even a person, a single entity is just so much... how do you hate something?"

"It takes a lot of practice," Brullen said, laughing. "After you see them bombard a few cities for "suspected resistance sympathies" or enslave a population, or test a new type of "order enforcement" on unsuspecting people, it becomes hard not to hate them."

"But they have to do some good," Bandwidth countered.

Sonders, sitting across them with a couple others, shrugged. "If they have, we haven't seen it. Any benefit they provide is no different than what the Republic provided, just regulated more heavily and controlled. And there's not much left of that."

The pony shrugged. "Well, maybe I don't understand the Empire. I'm just saying, an Alliance of hate doesn't make much sense."

The main doors of the amphitheater suddenly slid open. "That's because hatred doesn't make sense," Princess Luna said, striding through. The room became silent and all eyes instantly focused on her as she walked into the room. She was flanked by two of her Royal Night Guards, her most trusted guardians. They were wearing advanced armor given to them from the Rebels but painted in Luna's colors. She stopped right in front of the holoprojector in the center of the room. The lights dimmed and it turned on. "Hatred, even love and other strong emotions, do not make sense sometimes. But, they can be powerful motivators when used properly."

"Jedi are taught not to let our emotions control us," Reena said quietly.

Grex nudged her. "What was that?"

She looked down. "Something my aunt told me." They both quieted themselves as the holoprojector began to display images.

Luna walked around the projector. "We've examined the details of your raid two days ago and it appears to have been successful. The destruction of a TIE Fighter squadron and the Empire's unauthorized facility were important steps towards our goal of forcing them to withdraw from the planet." As she spoke, Grex raised his hand. Reena looked at him, perplexed by his behavior. "We have not yet determined what sort of weapons were being developed there, but we are certain the destruction of the factory has halted their production for the time being."

"Umm, hey! Princess Luna!"

"We're currently running analysis on the debris recovered from the-"

"Princess Luna! Hey, Princess!"

She looked at him. Everyone in the amphitheater slowly turned to him. "Yes, Gold-Seven?"

Grex stood. "Hi, my name is Grex Corsa, I'm a pilot." He waited for them to say something, like it was an 'anonymous' meeting of some kind but they all remained silent. "Uh, anyway, so I was wondering about the way the Empire responded."

Reena stood with him. "Yes, your highness, according to our informant in Ponyville, the Empire's countering news of the raid with some sort of propaganda campaign."

"They've never done this before," Sonders said. "Ever."

Luna looked around her, as if trying to address all the questions at once. "Yes, well, we're aware of this new tactic. It's fortunate they haven't responded with something more effective for the time being. This new defensive measure doesn't impair our operations, so they remain unchanged."

"Unchanged?" They exchanged glances, all of them around the room. A few of them murmured.

Reena stepped forward. "All due respect your highness, what if this isn't a new tactic? What if this is actually a real Imperial mandate for... niceness, a new protocol or something?"

"The Empire is not nice," Luna responded, instantly and coldly. The sheer iciness of her reply cowled Reena, forcing her to lower her hand. "The Empire stands for tyranny and oppression. We cannot allow their operations on Equestria to continue."

They all agreed with that, though Reena and Grex were beginning to question where exactly it came from. Neither of them raised any objections, though they both knew they each might've wanted to. They allowed her to continue, not that they could have stopped her otherwise.

"To that end, we are continuing to monitor Imperial activity on the planet. Intelligence suggests they're planning something, a project of some sort to be unveiled at a social gathering this weekend."

"Did you get that "intelligence" by watching the news?" Avin asked, raising his hand quickly after. "Is that where our intelligence comes from? We have guys that just watch the news?" More murmurs among the pilots and crew. Luna's eyes darted around the room again, but quickly refocused.

"Our intelligence operatives gather information from a wide variety of sources-"

"I know," Avin interrupted, "but is one of them like, the holonet news? The one that, y'know, the Imperials watch?"

Even Luna's guards began turning their heads to the accusers, tensing up. They were absolutely loyal to Princess Luna herself and with the slight rise in opposition to her authority, were now evaluating the occupants as threats. She knew this, the ponies knew it but the humans, other species and droids didn't.

Luna gave a single, calm nod. "I know the results of your last mission may seem like they weren't what we expected. But it's the end result that matters. This response is a bit... unsettling, which is understandable. Believe me when I say that we are still progressing towards our goal of victory against the Empire," she said. They didn't object to that. For the moment, questions were settled even if they hadn't been answered.

The holoprojector behind Luna changed, reconfiguring into the shape of an Imperial transport. "We've intercepted some transmissions that indicate an Imperial convoy is on its way to Equestria from Dantooine. As you know, Task Force Defiance was the last one to occupy the old Delta Base, so it's possible they may have somehow tracked us from there." The image of the projector zoomed out to show the moon and Equestria. A path from the planet's surface lead up and around the moon to the transports. "Your new mission is to-"

"Intercept the convoy," Reena said. "Disable the transports so the Alliance can-"

"That's correct, Captain Varsen," Luna interrupted her. Very suddenly, she felt the world shrink as the princess focused on her. "You will disable the transports and their escorts, we suspect two light carriers, and await for a recovery team. In order to keep the location of the Defiant Fleet secret, the transport will utilize a separate approach vector, so it will take time before it arrives."

Reena understood now wasn't the time to question. She felt the three pairs of eyes that focused on her, waiting for any sign of insubordination. She didn't give them one. "Cruisers usually have fighter escort. They might be sending TIEs to replace the squadron they lost during our raid. Will we have any escort of our own during this mission?"

Luna smiled slightly. "You will. Red Squadron, or, as they're known now, Mountain Dew Code Red Squadron, will provide Doritos Locos Bold Squadron with cover during this mission. Flight data will be provided to you en route. Any questions?" None of them made a sound. She panned her smile around the room. "Mission begins at 1600. You have until then to prepare. Dismissed."

The princess and her guards departed while the rest of them remained. None of them spoke a word until they left the room. The doors closed after they exited, the holoprojector switched off and the lights turn on.

"I take it back," Bandwidth said.

"Take what back?"

"She could beat Darth Vader."

Bold Squadron arrived in the hangar. Grex strode out in front, happy to be getting back in the cockpit. Sigma Base's hangar was bustling and haphazard with just a hint of order, exactly how it always was. It was uplifting for the squadron to see. Grex and Avin were practically skipping.

"We're about to embark on a dangerous, secret mission, risking our lives for the umpteenth time in a job no sane person would volunteer for," Sonders said to Reena. "Why is your boyfriend happy?"

Reena smiled. "He loves his job. I can't really blame him for it, being the same way."

The hangar was full of ships- X-Wings, A-Wings, T-47s, V-Wings and V-Wing airspeeders and even a few older Clone Wars craft the Rebels kept in service. Rebel technicians and crews worked to maintain the vehicles and move and organize supplies in the hangar, running in groups or using heavy machinery. Derpy Hooves sprayed and wiped the windows of a parked Delta-7 interceptor until she could see herself in the reflection.

A voice came over the intercom. "Attention, General Syndulla, you parked in a tow away zone again. This is the third time, Hera, and I'm not vouching for you now. The Ghost will be transferred to the impound section. Good luck with that."

A green twi'lek woman ran by them, sprinting to recover her ship. The squad continued on.

"It is good to be going out again," Brullen said. "After the Commander's debriefing this morning, I thought we'd be grounded."

"Or they'd have us out serving ice cream," Reena said, smirking. "I was honestly expecting they'd have us "fight fire with fire" in a counter-propaganda campaign. Command must really want this done quick."

"Ugh, there's always next mission," Sonders said. "This could be another "trap." The Empire could say it was a whole convoy of puppies."

"Don't say that too loud," Reena said. "Grex might-"

"Nooooo!" Grex turned and pleaded. "Not the puppies! Not again!"

Reena pinched her forehead. "Grex, dammit, this isn't a time to be a man-child! Man up, or they'll start making you fly with a puppy as your copilot!"

"Ooooh! That doesn't sound that bad!" Grex said. "I had a dog growing up on Corellia. Can I train him to work the Ion cannons on my Y-Wing?"

Reena groaned. She and Grex were an odd couple, especially during missions. That was how they worked; their two styles conflicted sometimes, but when they complimented each other, they made quite a combination. It was how they acted after missions, in-between raids and operations and jobs for the Rebellion that they really expressed feelings for each other, that they connected. Grex and Reena were there for each other at the end of the day and the beginning of the next, with a few words of support at some times and more when one of them needed it. They loved each other and they were there for one another. That's all they needed.

"Seriously, we're just disabling the transports," Avin reminded them all. "In case you forgot, Ion cannons just shutdown a ship's systems. Any puppies or refugees or soap bars will be fine."

"Unless Red Squadron gets to it first," Reena added. "Make that "Mountain Dew Code Red Squadron." Their X-Wings don't have Ion cannons."

"I really hope those names aren't permanent," Avin said.

"Whatever, I'm just happy to get back to my ship," Grex said. He jogged off towards the squadron's section of the hangar, close to the front. "I'm gonna calibrate my Ion cannons! Let's get going guys, come on!"

Sonders smiled. "He's like a big kid with his favorite toy."

Reena also smiled, agreeing. "He's my kid. Our kid. Every squad should be so lucky."

"Ha," Brullen laughed. "If every squadron had a Grex Corsa in it, I'd be afraid for the Alliance." They all laughed at that and continued walking to their ships.

"What? No! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Grex yelled, his voice echoing through the chamber.

"Grex? Grex!" The squad ran out after him. They rounded the column and parked ships obstructing him and found him kneeling, pounding the pavement with one of his fists.

"No! No, they can't do this! WHHHYYYYY?!!"

"Grex, what is- woah," Reena stopped. In front of Grex, where all their Y-Wings should have been were new ships. The newest addition to the Rebel Alliance's starfighter arsenal, one of the mast advanced, high-tech and sophisticated ships ever designed, twelve B-Wings were sitting lined up and waiting for them. They were all painted red and emblazoned with Doritos logos.

"This can't be happening! It's not fair! What about Grill?!" Grex asked. Grill, or GR-11 was Grex's astromech, which he also used as a makeshift grill for cooking food when someone else used the kitchen. Astromechs were an appreciated and vital part of an Alliance starfighter unit, when said starfighter unit had starfighters which could have astromechs. B-Wings, for all their advancements, were not able to have astromechs, depriving them of the in-flight maintenance and performance-enhancing tweaks and calculations the droids provided. Many, including Grex, considered it a serious design flaw but the expensiveness of the B-Wing alone meant it wasn't corrected.

"Woooooo, B-Wings," Avin said, getting closer to the crafts. "Gotta say, I like the paint job, too."

"Yeah, Grex, what're you complaining about? This is a major upgrade!" Brullen said, happy with his own ship.

Grex frowned, grumping by his own craft's cockpit. "There is a Doritos logo on my viewport."

Reena shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

"There is a DORITOS LOGO ON MY VIEWPORT!" Grex yelled. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SEE THROUGH IT? What am I supposed to do- use the Force?!!"

"Pretty sure that's not how the Force works," Sonders commented.

"Oh, like you'd know. This sucks, Reena. Reena! REENA! This sucks!"

"Okay, yes, that is a bad position for a logo," Reena said. "Just try to peel it off, or something."

"Ewww," Grex said, peeling it off. "It's living behind the residue from the adhesive! It's gonna be all weird and sticky!"

Reena rolled her eyes. "Just deal with it and start your pre-flight, Grex. "We have an easy run to get back in the swing of things, let's just get it done."

"Unnnngggh," he groaned. The B-Wings of Bold Squadron started up and departed from the Sigma Base hangar. Twelve flying wings took to the sky as the sunset, heading into orbit over Equestria.

Chapter 5: The Convoy

Bold Squadron's B-Wings flew up from Equestria, cutting through the blue of the upper atmosphere into the inky blackness of space. They flew with their s-foils closed, arcing up from the planet and banking around the back of the moon. The sleek profiles of the craft combined with their speed and and smooth maneuvers made them almost completely undetectable by sensor equipment. Any Imperial scanner was unlikely to pick up even the faintest trace of their passing. They flew around the moon, disappearing from Equestria's view into the darkness.

"All wings, report in."

"Bold-two, standing by."
"Bold-three, standing by."
"Bold-six, standing by."
"Bold-eight, standing by."
"Bold-nine, standing by."
"Bold-five, standing by."
"Bold-four, standing by."
"Bold-eleven, standing by."
"DINKLEBERG! Errr, I mean, Bold-ten is standing by."
"Bold-twelve, standing by."
"Bold-seven, ermm, um, standing by."

"You having trouble, Grex?"

"Uh, no, uh... just trying to figure out where everything is."

"Cut the chatter," Rena ordered from her cockpit. "Lock s-foils to attack position." The side wings of the rebel craft flipped outward and the entire ship's body rotated vertically.

"Wait, which button is for the s-foils again?" Grex asked.

"The toggle next to the throttle."

"The what? I thought I just hold down the R-trigger until it clicks."

"This isn't a Gamecube, Grex, now get set your s-foils," Rena ordered.

"I can't find the trigger, I've looked all over this throttle!"

"You're not looking for a trigger, you're looking for-" Avin tried to help but he was cutoff.

Rena sighed heavily. "Grex, just get clear. You can figure it out later, we have to complete the mission."

"But I-"

"Get clear and that's an order," Rena, his own girlfriend barked. "Everyone else, form up on me." The ten other members of her squad joined her in formation while Grex's B-Wing broke away, back towards the moon. They sped away from the moon in a wave, heading towards the Imperial convoy's position.

"So, where's our escort?" Brullen asked over the comms.

"Give them a second and... here they come!"

"Bold Squadron, this is Code Red Leader, we're linking up with you now."

"Copy, CR-one, good to have you with us," Rena replied. Twelve X-Wings flew up from the other side of the moon to join their formation. They rose up right in front of the B-Wings, matching their course and taking the lead as the ships assembled one large group. Each of the X-Wings covered one of the B-Wings, flying just in front of them in a display of support and expert maneuverability. Red Squadron, or Mountain Dew Code Red Squadron now, was showing off but they were also showing their support of their fellow pilots. Together, they flew out into open space, to where the convoy would be crossing.

Within seconds of joining up, Rena's sensors pinged with new blips. "Red Leader, I have the convoy on sensors bearing four-four-one mark seven." They were only the smallest of gray shapes against the background of the stars. Rena's scanner showed there were five capital ships: three bulky transports lined up and flanked by two Imperial light cruises. No TIE Fighter support; TIEs lacked hyperdrive so had to be deployed. They were probably at least a few inside the cruisers but for the moment, it didn't look like they were expecting company. The Rebels had the element of surprise.

"I copy, Bold Leader, how do you want to play this?"

Being a bombing mission, it was customary for the bomber pilots to decide on a course of attack and the fighter escorts' to decide on defense. "Hit those escort cruisers with everything you've got, we'll take out the first transport and block the rest of them."

"Understood. Red two-through-six on me! Concentrate all fire on that starboard cruiser! Seven-through-twelve, hit the port cruiser!"

"I copy, Red Leader!"

"Copy, Red Leader."

The twelve X-Wings shot away from the B-Wings, racing towards the Imperial convoy. The guns on the cruisers fired at the rebel ships even before they came into range, illuminating the space between them with green lines. But the nimble fighters of "Mountain Dew Code Red" Squadron were too agile for the Imperial gunners. They closed the distance between them without a scratch.

Red Leader opened fire on the cruiser the moment he was in range. The red lances of his X-Wing's lasers blasted the hull of the Imperial ship, punching through the shields and scorching the armor. He strafed the ship from the starboard side diagonally across up to the ship's bridge, hammering the hull. Behind him, the five others in his formation did the same, combining their firepower to overwhelm the cruiser's defenses and shields. The X-Wings repeated the same strafing maneuver one after the other, ripping into the Imperial ship and doing massive damage. By the time the last X-Wing strafed the ship, the cruisers were damaged and focusing only on the X-Wings, leaving the bombers to target the transports.

The transport ships were doing their best to stay between the cruisers, a defensive protocol. They were lined up bow-to-stern, waiting for the cruisers to pacify the threat. But it was already too late; Rena and her squadron, completely undetected, were already in position.

"Bold Squadron, Ion cannons only! Target the lead transport now!"

Blue bolts leapt from the B-Wings' ion cannons and struck the first transport. Ion energy impacted the transport and electricity erupted on the ship's hull, surging through the power systems of the bulky ship. The blue barrage disabled the transport, causing it to tumble forward as its engines failed. The transports behind it, two slow and still between the two cruisers, were momentarily trapped as they tried to adjust course around the helpless ship in front of them. Bold Squadron weaved in between the transports and cruisers, like smaller predatory fish circling their prey.

"Great work, everyone! Now onto the second transport, stay with me!" Rena said.

Grex, still more or less helpless, was forced to listen to his comrades as they engaged while he was recalled. "We could've done it just as easily in our Y-Wings," he grumbled.

Brullen chuckled over the comms. "Is that Clone Wars piece of junk the only thing you know how to fly, Grex? I thought Alliance pilots had to be able to fly anything."

"I could outfly you in something from the Mandalorian Wars, Brullen!" Grex yelled back.

"Cut the chatter!" Rena ordered. She led her squadron in a sharp U-turn back towards the rear of the formation, taking aim at the transport in the back. "Ion guns, open fire!" As she and her squadron disabled the next transport, Red Squadron kept up the assault on the cruisers. The two halves of the squadrons traded ships with Red Leader hitting the port-side cruiser now. The cruiser's hadn't been prepared for the move; their guns were still tracking the corresponding ships that had attacked them. The X-Wings strafed the cruisers again, this time from bridge to bow, tearing into the vessels' hull.

The cruisers were tough vessels and built to handle attacks from starfighters. But the X-Wings' assault withered them down, and the damage on them mounted. That wasn't why they were doing it, though; Red Squadron just needed the cruisers to focus on them and not the larger, slower B-Wings while they disabled the transports. Bold Squadron blasted through the middle of the formation again, back to front this time and pulled up and away from the Imperial ships.

"Doesn't look like they're launching any fighters," Jav Brishy, Red-eleven said.

"Maybe we got lucky and they departed without fighter escort," another Red Squadron pilot said.

"That'd be a first. Let's hit 'em again, one more time."

With both the lead and the rear transports disabled, the middle transport was boxed in. The bulkier ship wasn't made to make precise maneuvers with any haste and so had difficulty dealing with its tumbling comrade right in its flight path while the other ships forced it along its route. It pulled up and out of the formation, leaving itself exposed to all of the fighters in an effort to escape. Which is exactly what Rena had planned.

"Two down, one to go! Charge cannons to full-power!" Her squadron pulled around again, coming at the transport head-on from above. This was the riskiest move they'd made; diving back at the formation like this, the Imperial cruisers had a clear shot of all of the slower rebel ships. But the cruisers weren't aiming at the rebels because the X-Wings were too busy blasting them to pieces. After the third strafing run from both squad halves, the two warships were too damaged to fire back. Four out of five Imperial ships were listing, helpless prey for the Rebel fleet.

And Rena was about to make it five-for-five. "Gotcha." Her B-Wings unleashed a third volley of blue ion bolts. They pounded against the transport's bow, washing the whole ship in sparking blue energy. The ship's engines failed and it tumbled like the others, out of formation but just as helpless.

Rena smiled. "Great work, great work everybody."

"Wooooo-hoooo!"

"Yeah, that's the stuff!"

"Good job, Bold Squadron. With moves like that, you might just make the name Bold worth it!"

"Haha, thanks Red Leader. You boys were pretty good yourselves, we appreciate the escort."

"Any time, Bold Leader, any time."

Rena led her squadron in a circle around the convoy, keeping a safe distance away from the Imperial ships in case there were any surprises. Red Squadron did the same, the two squadrons making separate circles so their flight paths didn't intersect. This was the easiest part of the job, and the most boring: protecting their quarry before the GR-75 transports came to collect the supplies.

"We have an eta on our own transports, Red Leader?"

"They're waiting for the moon to cover their approach, they'll be along shortly."

"Copy that," Rena said. "We'll stay with you to keep the-" Her sensors suddenly lit up. "Hang on, new contact."

"We see it, too. Whatever it is, it's big."

"Could it be one of ours? Maybe fleet sent in a cruiser?"

"I don't think so- it's coming in from the wrong vector. What do you think it is?"

"Brace yourselves, we're about to find out!"

A massive, grey triangle-shaped ship jumped in. Bristling with turbolasers, point-defense cannons, heavy ion cannons and other weapons from is wedge-shaped bow to the pyramid-like formation at the stern that built up to the ship's bridge, they all knew what it was within a fraction of a second. There could be no clearer, more prominent symbol of Imperial power in the entire galaxy. And it was aimed right at them.

"Star Destroyer bearing point oh-five-two!"

"A Star Destroyer?!"

"Look at the size of that-"

"Cut the chatter!" Reena ordered. She focused on the Destroyer, an angry durasteel beast heading towards them. They would be in range of its guns within seconds. Most pilots would turn their ships and burn their thrusters until they saw lines. But Reena just gripped the stick and narrowed her eyes. "We're gonna take it out."

"What?!"

"Uh, didn't copy that, Bold Leader, say again."

"We're going to take out the Destroyer," she repeated, steel in her voice. "We've all run the sims, we know how hard they can hit. But we have two squadrons and we're not giving up those transports. This is what the B-Wing was made for, this is what we signed up to do. We can do this." There was a pause over the comm frequency. The Star Destroyer loomed. A cold feeling grew in her stomach; if she didn't back her up, if they all turned and fled, she could at least buy them time. She was resolved to make a stand. Fortunately, they all knew it.

"Copy, Bold Leader."

"Copy, Reena, we're with you!"

"Alright!" she said, audibly relieved, "Same as the convoy and the cruisers, just... a lot bigger this time. Red Squadron, keep their guns busy, Bold Squadron, on my wing. We're going to hit their bridge with everything we've got! Let's see what these new bombers can do! Grex! Tell base we need reinforcements!"

Only static answered her on the other end.

"He might be out of range," Sonders reminded her.

"Right, focus on the Destroyer! All wings, charge all cannons and stay tight on me! Red Squadron, sweep the top!"

"Aye, Bold Leader, we're on it!" The X-Wings raced forward again. Within seconds of coming in range of the Star Destroyer's cannons, their formation broke into twelve different vectors, throwing off the tracking gunners just as they fired. The space lit up with green lights as the guns fired wildly.

This was also part of the traditional Rebel Alliance strategy: the more guns a ship has, the more you had to split maneuvers to obfuscate them. The more Imperial guns tracked a single target, the better they were at leading it and the greater their odds of hitting it. So, the nimble Rebel ships split up just as they came in range: four ships to the top-port side, four to the top-starboard side and four underneath. They wove and danced patterns around the Imperial lasers, the result of careful training and lots of time in the simulators, firing on the Imperial warship as they did.

Unfortunately, the Star Destroyer was a lot more ship than a single cruiser. Even the combined firepower of twelve X-Wings couldn't penetrate the Destroyer's triple-redundant shields and extremely heavy, reinforced triple-durasteel armor. If they were alone, Red Squadron would have gone after the Destroyer's weak points- the two shield generators on the ship's bridge and the third on the ship's belly. After hammering all three with everything they had, they would make a run directly at the bridge, the most risky move they could make and try to destroy it. Knocking out the bridge of a Star Destroyer after all three of its shield generators had been taken out would cause a chain reaction, destroying the ship.

But unlike the cruisers, the Star Destroyer began launching TIEs almost the moment it jumped in. Fortunately, Red Squadron was ready for that as well.

"We got this! Light 'em up!" Javen Brasch, Red-Four, was a mechanic as well as a pilot. The brown-haired green-eyed X-Wing flier was also a bit of a neat-freak and took care of all of Red Squadron's ships, right down to the new Mountain Dew Code Red logos plastered on the wings. But he'd also modified the X-Wings so that they were more powerful, more accurate and could hit at longer distances.

Javen started weaving even before the TIE Fighters came into range to throw off early attempts to lock on or track him. Five TIE Fighters came at him in an X-shaped formation. He grinned, seeing easy pickings. Juking up just slightly, he blasted the top-left TIE Fighter to pieces and then pulled right to hit the top-right. Pulling downward, he opened fire on the middle and lower-right one before quickly pulling right and vaporizing the fifth on the bottom-left. In a series of bright flashes, the entire TIE formation had been destroyed and he was throttling past their debris.

But it was only the first group. More began pouring out of the Star Destroyer and he was beginning to get into range of their guns.

Javen throttled his X-Wing through the next formations of TIEs, ignoring the ones who came right at him. As his wingmen came in behind him, he spied a quartet of TIEs breaking away from the rest, going after the bombers. He throttled towards them and blasted the side solar panels off two of the TIE Fighters in a single sweep. He then pulled up slightly and blasted the third in the vertical-diamond formation. The fourth TIE banked around at first to try and get an angle on him, then dove rapidly to try and escape him. Javen came down from above and blasted the final TIE to pieces, pulling back up to take care of the rest of the TIEs.

It would have been difficult if Red Squadron was on their own. Every moment, the guns on the Star Destroyer got better at tracking each individual target, forcing Red Squadron to constantly change their attack patterns. This was where the designation of "Attack Pattern: Alpha" or "Attack Pattern: Bravo" or "Attack Pattern: Delta" came from. But, the X-Wings were not alone, and as they distracted the turrets, Bold Squadron went right for the bridge.

"Bold Squadron, open fire!!"

Y-Wings and B-Wings were capable of using their Ion cannons and heavy ordinance to pierce right through even the toughest enemy shields and armor, even that of Star Destroyers. Blue bolts launched from Bold Squadron's guns, blasting into the hull of the Destroyer. They needed all eleven of them to have an impact on the larger Imperial warship, and even after a single pass, it wasn't completely disabled. Lights along the destroyer's hull began to flicker out and there was more time in-between the lasers firing, an indication that at least some damage was being done to the systems.

Bold Squadron blasted past the Destroyer's bridge, a successful attack run. "We're making progress! Keep it up, Red Leader! We need another pass!"

"We got your back, Bold Leader!"

"Charge again, concentrate all fire on their engines this time!" Reena's B-Wings pulled around again. More blue streaks of ion energy leapt from the cannons and splashed against the trio of engines on the Destroyer's stern. Two of them hit hardest went out almost immediately, the other began to sputter and flare. The ship started to list to the starboard as its engines failed.

"One more time, one more!" Reena ordered, blasting past the bridge of the Destroyer with her squad close behind her. Most of the guns had stopped firing. She pulled back hard on the stick, pushing her B-Wing up in a sharp climb. "This is it, boys! All firepower right on the bridge!"

"Copy, Bold Leader!"

"Command's gonna shit a duracrete brick when they we bring them back a captured Star Destroyer!"

She allowed herself to grin. "It's not over yet, Avin, stay on me!" She felt just a split second of vertigo as she performed a U-turn, turning the climb into a straight dive. They all followed her motion but this time, they spread out along Reena's wing instead of remaining single-file. Together, they unleashed a barrage of ion fire. The Destroyer's bridge was engulfed in a storm of lightning as the bolts rained down upon it. The ionic energy cascaded through the ship's hull, shorting out lights, turrets and systems. The Star Destroyer stopped firing, completely adrift now.

"WE DID IT!! Haha, we did it!"

"WE FREAKING DID IT!!" The squad communications' erupted in cheers. Reena checked her scanners. The Star Destroyer, the transports and the cruisers all drifted helplessly, waiting for pickup by the next Rebel group that came along.

Reena laughed, relief flooding through her. "Great job, great job everyone."

"Let's get out of here before something else shows up!"

"Yeah!"

"Hold up, hold up. We need that transport to get here, right?" Reena reminded them. "Let's pull back and check on the-"

"New contact, new contact!"

"Oh, for Sith's sake!" Reena cursed. "What the hell is it now?"

"It's not jumping in- it's from the Destroyer! New fighter!"

Reena checked her sensors. "New fighters? More TIEs?"

"No, it's a new fighter, it's a new type of TIE-" Red-Eleven exploded in a flash of green. Another TIE Fighter flashed through the debris, racing high above them all. Reena looked up to see the new foe bearing down on them, a type of TIE Fighter she'd never seen before, that none of them had seen before. A pink TIE with horizontal heart-shaped wings. It raced towards them and opened fire.

Chapter 6: The Message

The pink TIE turned with speed and precision that didn't seem possible. It came back down on the dual formation of fighters and blasted the wings off an X-Wing and a B-Wing in a single pass.

"Gaaah, I'm hit!!"

"Sonders!"

"I've lost my port engine!" Sonders' B-Wing spun out of control. There was nothing they could do for him; any attempt to try and save him would make them a target for the new TIE. But apparently, they weren't its target.

"Where is he?! Where is he?!" Reena yelled.

"I can't see him!"

"Wait, he's bearing mark seven-five-five!" The TIE ignored the X-Wings and B-Wings and flew right past them.

Reena's eyes went wide. "The transports! He's going after the-"

Twin glints of light deployed from the TIE's concealed weapons bays. The glints erupted into silver trails and streaked towards the transports. One hit the stern the bulky ships, the other hit the first transport square in the center. For a split second, all seemed to go silent, even in space, as the missiles impacted their targets. The transports then exploded into massive blue discs that cut through everything in massive swathes around them. The blue discs cut through both of the Imperial cruisers flanking them, bisecting each. The transports, the cruisers, all four Imperial ships exploded into bursts of flaming fuel and debris as the two blue waves dissipated. In seconds, all that was left of the convoy was an expanding cloud of burned dust.

"Holy shit..."

"Seismic torpedoes! That TIE has seismic torpedoes!" Red Leader yelled.

Reena's mind raced. A ship like that could destroy the whole squadron, more than the whole squadron. But it hadn't gone after them- it had gone after the transports. And there was still one left.

"Let's get outta here!"

"No!" she ordered, "The last transport! We have to protect it! Whatever's in there's so important it went after it first! Form on my wing, everyone! We're taking this guy out!"

"Copy, Bold Leader!"

"On your wing, Bold Leader!"

The remaining nine X-Wings of Red Squadron and the ten B-Wings of Bold Squadron assembled in a single formation. The enemy TIE was already banking around, coming right at them. "All wings, open fire!"

Just as she said that, the TIE fired another pair of missiles at the formation. The laser barrage from the combined squadrons ripped the missiles to shreds before they could even arm, but the TIE was too nimble. It dodged the laser cannons in side-to-side rolls. Reena was focused on it, tracking with her lasers, holding down the trigger of her guns, hoping to see her shots turn the TIE into a ball of vapor. Instead, she saw it coming right for her.

"Oh, FUUUUUU-" She pulled up just as she saw the green of its lasers illuminate the space between them. The bolts ripped into her fuselage where the engine compartment connected with the lower wing. There was an explosion underneath her that shook through the craft violently, nearly knocking her into the view shield above her. Her cockpit lit up with red with the instrument panel's condition lights, warning alarms blaring.

"Bold Leader!!"

"Reena! Reena, are you all right?!"

She fought to pull her controls upward. It felt like trying to get a bantha to turn over by prying it up with a stick. But, she was able to regain control of her ship again, and made a quick check of her systems. Online, barely, something she was thankful for. "I'm okay, I'm okay! Where is this assho-?!"

"BEHIND YOU!!"

She didn't think- she juked. A burst of green flashed right through the space she'd just been in. B-Wings weren't easy to pilot at the best of times if you were the best of pilots, which Reena was. With the damage, the throttle felt like it was embedded in a block of ice, but still she pushed it, yanking the controls back and fourth with all her might. Her brain raced, trying to mimic the pattern she'd seen the TIE execute in the hopes that it might somehow save her life. She overshot the roll just a bit and her craft began to tumble. "FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" She spun out of control. In seconds, she and her ship would be nothing but free-floating particles in space.

Red-orange lasers flashed past her, just barely missing her. But that wasn't what surprised her about them; no, what surprised her was where the direction they were coming from. The lasers came from the front.

"FUCK YOU, MAGENTA-DICK!"

"What?!"

"HYYAAAAAAHHH!!" Grex shouted through the squad comms. His lasers ripped through the new pink TIE, blasting through its hull. The ship's engines exploded, shearing off the back ends of the heart-shaped wings and sending the front end tumbling through space. "Ha HA! That's what you get for messing with Bold Squadron!!"

"Grex!" Reena shouted, relieved. "You son-of-a-bitch, Grex, you finally got your B-Wing working?"

"Yeah, I found out how to get the landing gear working," he said. And that's when Reena saw him in his ship, Grex's favorite ship. The starfighter he belonged in. "Went back to base and swapped it out for my Y-Wing. Sorry it took me so long- the techs wouldn't let me leave unless I had the Doritos logos printed on the hull!" He flew by her, his ship sporting fresh red paint and Doritos decals on the nacelle domes.

"Hahaha," Reena couldn't help herself from laughing. "Never been happier to see an advertisement for corn chips."

"Hahaha, yeah, I know. So, where's Avin?"

"Do I have to answer?"

"Oh, there you are, "buddy." So, what's that you said about my Clone Wars POS?"

"Keep him away from me!"

"There you are! Come here, let's see which ion cannons are more effective!"

"HELP! Someone get him off my back!"

Both squadrons laughed as Grex in his Y-Wing chased Avin in his B-Wing, a happy sight for all of them after a tough mission. They recovered Sonders and the disabled X-Wing pilots and waited for the Rebel transport to arrive. The transport, a GR-75, showed up shortly afterward, a welcome sight for all of them. They were happy there were no additional surprises for them.

"Wow... an actual Star Destroyer. What do you think command's going to say when we show up with this?"

"They're gonna ask what you were doing while we are capturing it!" Brullen said to Grex, causing an outburst of laughter from both squadrons.

"HEY! I wouldn't have had to go back and change ships if I'd just been allowed to fly my Y-Wing in the first place!"

"Or if you knew how to fly anything else worth a crap."

"You want some too, Brullen? I'll zap all your asses if I have to!"

"Oh gawd, keep him away!"

"Heh, have fun, boys. You've earned it," Reena said. "I don't know what Command will say when they see this, but I plan on putting all of you up for a medal because of this."

"Woo-hoo!"

"Sounds good to me, Captain!" They all celebrated the news. It made her feel good to know she could give them at least something for all their hard work.

"I know one thing for sure," Avin said, "There's no possible way they could hate us after this!"

Imperial Headlines:
Rebel Terrorists Attack Helpless Kitten Convoy!
Innocents Ambushed in Heinous Rebel Attack: Imperial Aid to Kittens Destroyed!
Malevolent Rebel Pilots Murder Innocent Kittens in Space over Equestria!
Talk Show Host Fired due to Accusations of Incompetence!
Emperor Palpatine Releases Sixteen New Ways to Please Your Man!

The next day
Canterlot

If Ponyville hadn't changed much since making contact with the rest of the galaxy, then Canterlot had changed even less. It was still full of the same upper class and wealthy ponies, those connected to the royal family or something else, that it always had. The streets were the same cobblestone walkways that Twilight had grown up walking, the same ivory-white white buildings and ornate architecture lined every street. Just now, there were stormtroopers among them. And the stormtroopers were giving out ice cream.

"Fresh ice cream! Perfect for a hot day!"

"Absolutely free! Come get your Impirice cream now!"

Ponies lined up around the block. The stormtroopers handed out free balloons, free flowers, even free iPhones and Androids. Android phones, not actual androids.

"Seems like everypony 'round here's happy with the Empire," Applejack remarked. "Them snowmen guys sure like giving out free stuff."

Rainbow Dash hovered in front of the group as they walked, her forelegs folded cutely against her chest. "They didn't have to go messing with Cloudsdale. Or imposing a curfew."

Fluttershy, the other pegasus was in agreement with her. "The animals are still frightened of them. I don't know if we should trust them."

Pinkie Pie, however, seemed to see things differently. She carried a stack of trays full of ice cream and free food, balloons tied to her tail and saddle bags full of phones. "Did you guys check out the 501st?! They're giving out free iPads!! I GOT TWO!!" she exclaimed, holding up one somehow with her free hoof. It was jet-black and had an Imperial Stormtrooper helmet on the back inside the insignia of the Empire. "You want one?"

Twilight gently nudged it out of her face. "Thanks Pinkie, but you might not want to get too attached to all that stuff. It still might be evil."

The pink pony, however, was already gleefully indulging in several of her ice cream cones at once. "The what might be what now?"

"Well, at least you're enjoying yourself," Rarity said, smiling. It seemed the Empire's arrival had divided the Mane Six as well: the Earth ponies were embracing them, the pegasi were staunchly opposed to them, and unicorns were somewhere in the middle.

"We'll find out more soon enough," Twilight resolved. "Whatever the Empire is up to, we'll uncover the truth soon enough. Who knows? Maybe they actually are trying to benefit Equestria," she said.

"If you say so, darling. We're right behind you, as always."

They continued down Canterlot's main street, Canter Way. It was an ancient street by pony standards, a road that over time, branched out to form the streets that lead to the rest of the city. It might have been by design or by convenience, but all roads in the city, and in Equestria, connected to Canter Way. And Canter Way led to Canterlot. Just as with Ancient Rome on Earth, all roads led to Canterlot in Equestria. Pinkie had a chance to finish her ice cream as they walked.

A pair of stormtroopers walked towards them from the gates of the castle courtyard.

"Hi there, citizens!"

"Hi, stormtrooper!" Pinkie exclaimed. She ran up to the trooper and hugged him. It made them all a bit uneasy at first, some of them expecting the trooper to lash out violently. But the white-armored biped simply returned the hug.

"Aww, there's nothing like a hug to make a bright day even brighter," the trooper said.

Pinkie giggled. "You bet!" She cuddled up to the stormtrooper's white armor, his gauntlet brushed through her mane and she giggled again.

"Would anypony else like a vertical physical affection embrace?" the other asked.

"Vertical what-now?" AJ asked.

"Haha, that's the technical term for a hug, citizen!" the trooper answered. "As part of the Empire's new Spread the Love Initiative, we're here to share a message of love and tolerance!"

"Love and tolerance?" Twilight repeated. For some reason, those words, those concepts, resonated deep within her. Ever since the raid, she had suspected that they might have been wrong. Now, she was beginning to think that was the case.

AJ and Pinkie both hugged the troopers. Pinkie's ice cream-mouth smudged on the trooper's armor, but it didn't look like he minded.

"Take care, citizen!"

"Remember- the Empire loves you!" they both said, and walked away. They headed down the street and it wasn't long before the two stormtroopers stopped and hugged another pony, even helped him load his wagon. Twilight and her friends watched them for several long moments.

"They lie about stuff, they push us around, and then they act... nice?" Rainbow Dash said. "I don't get it. Are they trying to impress us or something?"

"Maybe they are," Twilight said. She didn't have any other answer. She didn't even have a strong theory. She led the rest of her friends back on the same road to Canterlot up to the castle, hoping to find some semblance of clarity along it.

A few Imperials were even in Canterlot Castle. Dignitaries, ambassadors, consuls, gentries and the like all admired various things about the castle and the courtyard. Pony guides and even some of the Royal Guards mingled and interacted with them, sharing their cultures among one another. They laughed, they joked, they had a good time. It seemed hard to believe that these could be the same people the Rebel Alliance had shown had destroyed an entire planet, enslaved entire populations and oppressed countless beings. Could they have been talking about a different Empire?

But then, why did the Empire lie about it? Why had they pushed the pegasi around, forced Cloudsdale out of the way for their huge ship to hover over Ponyville? And where had that Star Destroyer gone? There were too many questions and not enough answers. Twilight did her best to keep track of all of her questions as she and her friends entered the throne room.

Princess Celestia sat on her throne, her aides at her side. Quills and scrolls levitated before her but something else was along with it: a datapad, a device like the iPad but with more of a focus on storage and processing than connection and recreation. She was recording information from the scrolls into her datapad.

"Um, excuse me?" Twilight asked. "Princess?"

The princess didn't look up to acknowledge her. "Ah... Twilight Sparkle. My student," she said, almost stoically. "And your friends. How are you?"

"We're um... fine," Twilight said. "How are you?"

"I am fine," Celestia responded. "How goes our operations with the Rebel Alliance?"

They all looked shocked by the question. "Uh, you really think it's a good idea to say that... out loud?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, yer majesty, I don't think that's something we need to go advertisin', all due respect."

"It's fine," she assured them. She finally looked away from her scrolls at them all and smiled. "I wouldn't be speaking freely here if I wasn't sure it would be safe."

"Oh. Well, that's good," Pinkie said.

"Okay..." Twilight said. "Our operations are... proceeding. We're a bit unsettled by the way the enemy's reacting."

She ignored her last comment. "You destroyed the factory?"

"Yes..." Twilight admitted. "The Rebels did. But afterwards-"

"Good," Celestia cut her off. "Princess Luna has updated me they conducted another operation just yesterday. At the rate things are going, the Empire should realize Equestria is not worth the effort soon and leave. You're to continue working with the Rebels until that's accomplished," she decreed, returning to her work.

"Um, your majesty?"

"The sooner you get started, the sooner we'll be rid of their influence."

"Excuse me," Twilight said, finding her courage. Celestia finally set down her scrolls, her quills, the datapad and gave Twilight her undivided attention. "Your highness, I don't think this is the best way to deal with the Empire."

Coming from any other pony, it might have been considered an act of insubordination. Twilight, however, being Celestia's most faithful student, was almost always able to offer her humble opinion to her mentor. But, it was clear, this may not have been one of the times it was accepted.

The objects around the princess levitated away, each floating upward to an assigned place on its own vector. Celestia stepped down from her throne and approached Twilight and her friends. They all did their best not to back away from her. "My most faithful student Twilight," she began. "What is troubling you?" she asked in a soft voice.

Twilight did her best to compose herself. "Uh-um, well..."

"Is this about the propaganda, Twilight?" Celestia asked. The tall princess shook her head gently, causing her other-worldly mane to wave from side to side. "My student, my friends, we must not trouble ourselves just because we didn't get the response we were expecting," she said to them all. "Keep to the plan and we will prevail."

"I... I think..."

"It will be fine, Twilight."

"I think we need to rethink things," Twilight forced herself to say. Behind her, her friends were struck silent. "I think it's possible that the Empire might actually be doing things that are... beneficial."

Celestia paused for a moment. She seemed to almost look through Twilight, the kind of expression a bird would have when looking at a windmill, or how a cow would stare at an oncoming train. And she said, "No, they're not."

"What?"

"The Empire is evil, Twilight. That's what they are. It's just that simple," Celestia replied softly.

"What if they're not?" Twilight asked. "What if they're trying to turn over a new leaf, to change and do some good in the galaxy?"

"They're not," Celestia said.

"But-"

Celestia hugged Twilight abruptly, cutting her off. Twilight was reluctant to hug back, but then fully embraced the embrace. She felt her concerns melt away, for a moment it was even scary as the warmth of the hug entered her mind. It soothed her, making her almost feel like a filly again. Celestia had always been something of a mother to her, not unlike her own mother. But she wasn't her mother. She was her teacher, her mentor and her friend. No matter what position she held, she could always talk to her and voice her opinion. Couldn't she?

Twilight held onto the larger princess, resting her head on her neck as Celestia did the same. They both closed their eyes... and somehow, Celestia's thoughts became Twilight's. The purple unicorn felt her opinion dissipate, her own views suppressed with every inhale of Celestia's ethereal mane. It smelled refreshing, calming almost like...

Soap. Twilight's heart began to race. Something was happening. Something wrong, and she knew it. What had she been talking about? What had she come here to do? Why was she here? Her mind was full of pinkish mist, cluttered with aimless love and affection, love without a bond, love without a purpose. Fake. False. Empty fluff and smiles. It filled her head, and she found herself struggling to find her own thoughts, like being trapped in a web of incredibly sweet lies, so sweet they stuck to her and clung to her body and mane. She couldn't move.

Frantically, she searched, desperately trying to connect her thoughts among the clutter. She found them, thankfully still there, underneath the web but shining through it. It was with the concern she felt, her own beliefs and ideals at her core, linked to her friends. She remembered where those beliefs came from, from her friends at her side, and was able to get through. Twilight kept it hidden though, and did not break from the hug.

Finally, Celestia released her. "Go now, my student. Save the kingdom. Save the dream." She turned and went back to her throne.

Twilight bowed. "We will, your majesty. Farewell." She and her friends left, not speaking a word until they had left the castle grounds entirely. Even as they returned to the streets of Canterlot, they didn't feel comfortable discussing their encounter with the princess. Who knew who might be listening in?

"Can we get some more ice cream while we're here?" Pinkie asked.

"We have ice cream back at the library, Pinkie," Twilight said.

"Awwww but not Imperice cream!"

"Let's just get going there, don't need anypony makin' a scene," Applejack said. She and the rest of Twilight's friends dragged her back to the train station, dragged her on and off the platform and onto the train, and finally dragged her through Ponyville back to the Golden Oakes Library. The Imperial Star Destroyer was no longer overhead, and neither were the TIE Strikers or any other Imperial craft. There were still stormtroopers and Imperial droids patrolling the streets, but it seemed like their ships were gone.

Finally, within the sanctuary of her own library home, Twilight felt safe to speak. "There's something wrong with the princess."

"Yeah, she definitely didn't seem like herself," Rainbow said.

"And WHERE have you guys been?!" A voice demanded. "Have fun on your trip to the capitol?" Dan, Twilight's human friend and guest asked.

"Hey Dan," Twilight said, followed by all of them in the same greeting. The pale-skinned human wore a black shirt with the word JERK emblazoned on the front, a proud statement of both fact and irony. He was well-known for his aggressive and assertive nature, something that was actually very welcoming right now.

"Any visitors while we were gone?" Twilight asked.

"Had a couple salesmen I told to take a hike," Dan replied. "We also got a package from the Ponyville Laboratory or whatever. It's on the couch."

"Thanks Dan," Twilight said. "I knew the library would be safe with you here."

"Yeah," the human replied in a disgruntled tone. He returned to the couch and sat down, reading a newspaper. "This place could use a security system if you really want to improve things."

"I'll keep that in mind," Twilight said.

She and her friends took it up to her room and opened it privately. "It's the results of the soap I sent in to get tested, the one we recovered from the factory!"

"What does it say, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Does it give any reason as to why the princess is acting... strangely?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight's eyes went wide. "The soap... it's from the Crystal Empire!"

"The Crystal Empire?!" they all exclaimed.

She looked over the report. "I was right. The soap, it's magical somehow. We have to get this information to the Rebels."

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike's voice came from downstairs. "We have more visitors!" Frantically, Twilight and friends tried to copy the message. But it was already too late.

A pair of stormtroopers barged through the door of Twilight's room. "Hi there, citizens!" Unlike before, the troopers had guns. "I'm afraid you're gonna have to come with us."

"Owlowiscious!" Twilight called. She raised up the note. Her faithful pet owl flew down from his perch and snatched it. "Take this to Reena! Go!"

"Is that an owl? He's adorable!" The stormtrooper said. Strangely, the stormtrooper didn't try to fire at them. Owlowiscious burst flew out of the high window, carrying the message tightly in his talons. He flew to the Everfree Forest, towards Sigma Base.

Chapter 7: The Assault

It had been a day since Bold Squadron's attack on the Imperial convoy. They had expected to return to base heroes. Even Reena, who was usually just happy for a job well done, was expecting at least a little bit of celebration and congratulations. What they returned to instead was a firestorm of outrage.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Puppies first, now kittens?! You Rebels are the worst!"

"Didn't you think to scan those freighters first? What were you thinking?"

Ponies and Rebels were now fighting each other, arguing and shouting throughout the base. Princess Luna was still supporting the Alliance, but even she seemed to be drawing criticism now. The Alliance was divided on what to do. In the midst of their confusion, Bold Squadron had been grounded pending a full investigation. The decision was not only a blow to morale but operational status.

Reena sat on the edge of her bed, not sure what to do. She didn't even feel like looking at her photo album at that moment. They'd followed orders, risked danger, performed well and went above and beyond expectations. It had been tough on all of them, but they'd gained so much and even with damage, it would have been considered one of the Alliance's most successful missions.

And then the headlines had been released. News, talk shows, holonet broadcasts, all blasting the Rebels for destroying an innocent convoy. A convoy full of kittens. However outrageous it was, the evidence had mostly been destroyed. The convoy and even the Star Destroyer had given them more questions than answers- both had been filled with more soap. Curiously, they had also all been abandoned. Even the pink TIE which had given them so much trouble had mysteriously ejected its escape pod before it could be captured. The escape pods hadn't been recovered, but there were records of launches in each of the ships' computers, so the only theory Rebel technicians had was that the pods were hyperdrive-equipped.

Grex knocked on her door again. He had a distinctive knock. "Come in."

Her boyfriend walked in. She didn't look over at him; she already knew how he felt. It was how the entire squadron felt.

"Hey, Reena."

"Hey," she said back, finally looking up at him. "No sandwich?"

"Nah... I wasn't hungry."

"I know the feeling." She stood up. "They get any more news about the convoy? What happened to the escape pods?"

He shook his head. "Nada. Couldn't find 'em. But we did find out something strange with that Scout Trooper we picked up, the one I stunned. It was a droid."

"A droid?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "A protocol android of some kind programmed to think it was a Scout Trooper. Javen took it apart, said he hadn't ever seen anything like it."

Reena looked puzzled. "Why would the Empire be using droid troopers?"

"I don't know. It doesn't really help our position, though. There's not much left for them to investigate... what do you think will happen to the squadron?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm not sure you'll ever have to address me by my rank again. Or callsign."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Grex said.

"Grexter..."

"No, Reena," he pulled her around to him, "you know they're wrong. Intel dropped the ball, yet again and we take the blame. We shouldn't be ground- Red Squadron shouldn't be grounded for this."

"What do you think we should do?" she fired back. "Go AWOL? Take our ships and retaliate?"

"Why do you think I'm like that? I'm not proposing we go and level the nearest Imperial base, but there has to be SOMETHING we can-"

"There isn't, Grex, and you know it," she said sternly. "We have a duty to the Alliance, to-"

"What duty? The Alliance grounded us, remember? For doing our jobs!"

"That's enough, lieutenant!"

"We should be out there investigating and you know it! You care more about the Rebel Alliance than you do anything else!"

"SHUT UP, GREX!" she yelled. And they were both silenced by the outburst. They stood in her room, him facing her and she facing her wall. They both wanted to help each other, both wanted to do something. But it felt like there was nothing they could do.

"I'm gonna go to the hangar," Grex said, finally. "It's where I belong."

"Grex-"

"I know, I'm still grounded. I'm not going AWOL or stealing a ship," he said, opening her door again. "They just got a new Y-Wing in- a BTL-M9 Y-Wing. It's a two-seater with some pretty powerful laser cannons. I'm going to go check it out before they try to add any Doritos logos to it. I'll see you later." They didn't kiss, didn't hug, they did nothing more. Had either of them wanted to? Maybe. But the door closed behind him, leaving her alone once again.

A while later, she went out into the briefing room. The lights were dimmed and Avin, Bandwidth, Brullen and Sonders were watching a movie on the projector.

"So, if she's a princess in this world, she's a principle in the other one?" Avin asked.

Bandwidth nodded. "Yeah, seems kind of like a downgrade to me."

"Hey, principles can be powerful," Brullen said. "And scary."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Sonders chuckled.

Reena leaned on the back of the couch. "So, what're we watching?"

"Equestria Girls," they all answered. "The first one. There's like... four now, or something."

"And they're making more," Bandwidth said, cracking open a soda with his hooves. "Interesting idea, parallel universes and all."

Avin leaned back. "Eh, if you like crossovers, I guess. Kinda sounds like fan fiction to me." They all slowly turned to him, eyebrows raised.

*BAAAAM* BAAAM* Two explosions. The base shook, the lights flickered and the projector switched off automatically. A moment later, the classic whawwmp sound of the alarms began blaring.

"Emergency, all personnel, Sigma Base is under attack! Repeat: Imperials are attacking the Base!"

Another explosion shook them, nearly knocking them all to the ground. "That one was close! They must be using TIE Bombers!"

"What're we supposed to do?!" Avin shrieked. "We're still not allowed back in the air!"

"All flight-certified personnel report to stations, prepare for immediate takeoff! Repeat: all pilots, scramble!"

The phrase "scramble" was literal for pilots; it meant get to their craft as fast as they could to counter the threat of immediate air hostiles. Upon hearing the word, Bold Squadron's training automatically kicked in and they got their asses up as quickly as possible and ran down the corridor in a panicked, disorderly fashion, Reena at the front. They rounded the corner from the corridor of the briefing chamber to the hangar. Almost to the hangar, another explosion, even closer than before, knocked them all to the ground. The lights turned off.

"Emergency crews to main hangar entrance! Emergency crews- *Krssssshh*"

Smoke was filling the hallway. Coughing, Reena got up. "Is everyone okay?"

"My leg..." Brullen said, grabbing his knee. A piece of rubble collapsed over him. "I think my leg is broken."

"Grex! Grex was in the hangar!" Avin yelled.

Reena walked up to the hangar entrance. The door opened only partly; the way behind it had collapsed. The entire hangar had collapsed. She felt anger, rage unlike anything that had ever hit her before. She balled her fist and smashed it on the door so hard it dented the metal.

"All of our fighters were in there! Y-Wings, B-Wings, everything!" Sonders said.

"If they're calling in the emergency crews..." Bandwidth said.

Reena shook her head. "They'll never get here in time. I have to get to the armory. Get Brullen to the medical wing!"

"But Captain-"

"That's an order! Go!" she bellowed. She broke into a run back the opposite way, to the troop barracks. There would be anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapons in the troops' armory, the only defense against whatever the Empire was sending at them without their fighters.

She stormed into the armory. Most of the weapons racks and lockers were empty, every available gun in use. She was able to find a spare A-280c rifle and a single thermal detonator. Not much to work with, but she also found an ion cell for her rifle, which would make it more effective against vehicles and allow it to bypass shields. She also found another interesting item: a jump pack.

Jump packs were similar to jet packs except they weren't for sustained flight. They jetted the wearer up to a certain height and then used micro thrust to cushion the landing, good for gaining elevation quickly. She put it on, just like wearing a backpack, and then ran out of the barracks.

More shocks reverberated through the base as she sprinted down the corridors. The blasts were closer together; whatever the Imps were hitting the base with, they were hitting it hard. Lights flickered as she ran but she didn't pass anyone else. The entire Sigma Base staff must've been engaged. There weren't even as many updates over the intercom any more. This whole thing had been a surprise attack.

She finally got outside. The vehicle pool was full of overturned speeders and makeshift barricades. Rebel troopers and ponies fired back against stormtroopers in the tree line of the Everfree Forest. Javen Brasch and a few pilots from Red Squadron were among them; he managed to blast a couple of the stormtroopers. But there were no TIEs overhead. The things that had been blasting Sigma Base were large and metal, towering above the trees and the battlefield.

Imperial walkers. Two All Terrain Armored Transport, called AT-ATs, were firing from the edge of the forest at the Rebels. It was a smart tactic for the walkers: keeping their legs obscured by the trees meant the towcable strategy using T-47s wouldn't work. And without the Rebels' starfighters and assault craft, they had no way of countering the Imperial armor. Except for one. Where are Fluttershy's animals when we need them, she thought to herself.

Reena ran. Using the vehicles to get as much cover as she could, she ran in a wide arc around the vehicle pad to get back to the walkers. The stormtroopers and the walkers were too focused on the Rebels and ponies using the barricades for cover to notice Reena flanking them. If there was ever a time for the Force, she hoped it was with her now.

She got close enough to one of the walkers. The ground shook and the air smelled like burnt ozone as its massive cannons hammered Sigma Base and its fortifications. She only had one shot at this. Reena crouched just a bit, activated her jump pack and jumped.

"AAAAAHHHHHAAAA!!" she screamed as she rocketed up and then back down. By some miracle, she landed on her target: the back of the AT-AT. It wasn't moving, thankfully so she had a shot at this. She ran across the top to the front 'head' cabin of the walker, being careful not to fall. The vehicle kept shaking under her as it fired.

Carefully, Reena loaded the ion cell into her rifle. She stepped up to the head of the walker and aimed her gun just behind it. She squeezed down on the trigger, firing a spray of ion-charged blue blaster bolts at the neck of the craft. Aiming and steadying herself, she kept firing. She fired until the ion cell was completely drained at the same spot. And finally, she saw the results of her work.

"HaHA!" she laughed triumphantly. The armor in the neck had been pierced just a bit. Climbing down onto the neck, she took out her thermal detonator. Concentrating, she activated it, slammed it in the walker's broken neck armor and then jumped off, activating her jump pack again.

"GAAAAAHHH FUUUCCK!!" she yelled. She landed in the tree line and dove into a bush.

The AT-AT exploded, showering the trees with flaming debris. The walker fell forward, collapsing on its decapitated frame in a smoldering heap. Reena got to her feet and thanked whatever lucky stars were shining down on her that none of the debris landed on her.

"Freeze, Rebel scum!"

The words made her stomach freeze. She spun around. A squad or stormtroopers were in front of her. Behind them, the other walker had turned to face her and was aiming its cannons directly at her. She swallowed, slowly raising her arms. She cursed herself for not getting someone, one of her squad to watch her back for her.

A burst of lasers blasted the side of the walker. The AT-AT's midsection exploded under the assault, the firepower from the lasers so strong it blasted the walker over. The stormtroopers in front of Reena were stunned by the sudden turn of events and Reena realized she was still holding her rifle. But before she could even lower it to fire, the stormtroopers were all cutdown by more laser fire from above. Reena looked up to see a gold-and-orange colored Y-Wing flying overhead. She smiled, beyond relieved that once again, he had come to her rescue.

Reena ran back to the vehicle pad. The new Y-Wing landed right in front of her and the canopy opened revealing the face of her friend, her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, but... I just had to take it out for a test-flight. The keys were right there," Grex said, apologizing from the cockpit.

She climbed on his craft and clambered to the cockpit without saying a word. She knelt down into the cockpit, grabbed Grex and kissed him so deeply he nearly fell back in his seat. They didn't break the kiss until Grill, Grex's astromech, finally bleeped.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Reena said. "I love you, you goofy son of a bitch."

"I know, I-I love you too," he said in a bewildered voice. Grill beeped again. "I know, buddy, I know." He reached into one of the Y-Wing's cupholders and pulled out a brown scroll. "Reena, we got a message. It's from Twilight- Owlowiscious delivered it."

"Why didn't she just call?" Reena asked, taking the letter. She read it quickly... and she realized what it meant. "You said this thing is a two-seater?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then lean back, I'll be your gunner," she said, climbing into the gunner's seat behind him. The new BTL-M9 Y-Wing had two twin-laser turrets: one on top in place of the ion cannon and one underneath in addition to the two forward laser cannons on the nose of the craft. The gunner's seat was designed to give the gunner finer control over both the turrets and the heavy ordinance while the pilot focused on flying and controlled the two forward laser cannons to blast what was ever directly in front of them. She pulled down the canopy the moment she got in.

"Wait- what about clearance? Authorization?" Grex asked. "Are we even gonna leave them a note?"

"Nope," she replied, setting up her controls. "I'm putting in some new coordinates. Let's get going before they tell us not to."

"Heh, that's something I'd say."

"I know," she said. "So let's get there before I regret it." They lifted off in their new Y-Wing, flying off towards the north.

Chapter 8: The Snuggle Protocol

They arrived in the Crystal Empire in the middle of a rainstorm. They would've used it to mask their approach if there were air patrols, but there weren't any. No TIEs or Star Destroyers or any other presence of Imperial activity in the Crystal Empire. In fact, oddly enough, there weren't even ponies in the Crystal Empire.

"Strange," Grex said. "I'm not picking up any signals. No life readings, no contacts on sensors, nothing on scanners."

"It is strange. There's supposed to be millions of ponies here," Reena said, checking her own sensor readings. "Where could they be?"

They flew around the Crystal Palace, longtime symbol of the Empire's power and unity. "I guess that's one thing they have in common with the Galactic Empire."

"What's that?"

"They both like those huge towers. I remember seeing pictures of the ones on Coruscant," Grex said.

Reena looked at the tower. It was a massive crystal pillar, so tall it seemed to challenge the sky itself. Indeed, it was very similar to the buildings the Empire favored. And there were other similarities, too. The Empire prided loyalty, unity, strength through discipline and common purpose. But those weren't necessarily bad things. They were strong concepts, character that was so strong, it shone through to the surface. Sometimes, it was all you could see, that one trait a person exemplified. What was different was underneath, just like this tower.

"I'm still not getting anything on sensors. Where could the ponies have gone?" Reena asked.

And that was when Grex saw something. Not on his scanners, but out the window. "Uh, Reena?"

"There's no signs they were enslaved or abducted, no signs of uprising or-"

"Reena?"

"What is it?"

"Look."

And she looked up. Behind the the Crystal Palace, towards the far edge of the city, was another black temple-shaped building. Just like the one they had destroyed in their raid. Except, there were no stormtroopers near this one.

"So... when we blow that one up, what kind of cute, innocent animals do you think they'll say we slaughtered this time?" Grex asked.

"That... structure might contain the only evidence that we didn't slaughter innocent animals," Reena said.

"Alright, so I guess we can't shoot our way in." He did a flyby of the structure. "I'll set down on the north side."

"No," she said. "Drop me off on the roof."

"Do what?!" Grex turned around as much as he could to try and look at her. "Reena, you're going to need me in there!"

"No, I need you out here. If anything happens to me in there, it'll be up to you to get help. You're the only one who can fly the ship."

"That's not true. Grill can get it back to base."

"*Vreet-wrooo-vreee.*"

"See? He agrees with me."

She shook her head. "Grill can't access the weapons if TIEs try to intercept him. Look," she turned back as far as she could to look at him. They were able to look in each other's eyes from the side, good enough. "We're here. We're doing things your way. But please, we need to do this part my way, okay?"

"I do trust you," he said. "And I know. We're taking a huge risk. With the Rebellion, with Equestria, with everything. Okay, this part, your way."

"Thank you," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "You know why we work so well together?" she asked.

He smiled and answered, "Because we know how we work."

They circled the building one more time. The structure's material prevented deeper scans, a clear sign that someone didn't want anyone to know what was going on in there. Grex dropped Reena off on the roof and took off again, rain still lightly pattering down. He engaged the floodlights on the Y-Wing and the spot lamp on the lower turret, keeping an eye on her from the air. Rifle held tightly, she made her way to the center of the structure.

Rainbow Dash's infiltration of the structure had provided them with at least some intel of how to get in and out, if in fact they were the same. There was a door on the side to access the roof, Reena entered using it just as Rainbow Dash had the last one.

The outside of the building was jet-black and the inside was more of the same. The door closed behind her, muffling the sound of the rain. She was on a catwalk of some kind, overlooking the bowels of the complex below. There were conveyor belts around the walls of the building but none of them were running. The catwalk led to stairs that reached the floor. Reena followed them.

There were no computers or control consoles that she could see, unless they were somewhere else. The air did smell like soap, so that may have been an indication she was on the right track. As she neared the floor, she recognized a familiar sight on a platform in the center of the room: a pink TIE. It looked just like the one that had attacked her, except undamaged. It must've been some kind of prototype they were testing.

"Grex? Grex, can you hear me?" She tried her commlink. Only static answered her. "Grex, if you can hear me, I think I found another of those TIEs like the one that attacked us. Looks to be same model." Again, only static answered her. It must've been the building's walls again- blocked scans and communications. Definitely a bad sign. Everything about this yelled TRAP at her, but still she pressed onward. She finally saw soap bars like those from the first building, in bins close to the platform.

She hopped onto the platform to get a closer look at the TIE. On closer inspection, its solar panel wings weren't solar panels but some kind of crystal. There was a single display screen hooked up to the wings by a pair of wires. It read: TIE Romancer X2. She had to assume that was the name.

She tried her comms one more time. "Grex? The TIE that attacked us is definitely here. I think it's a-"

"You shouldn't be here," a voice told her. She turned around... and came face-to-face with another pony princess. Cadence.

"Princess Cadence?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the one asking that question," Cadence replied. Reena suddenly felt her start to tingle. Her extremities felt weightless. "What are you doing here?"

"Your majesty, I'm investigating this building. This ship, the soap, what's going on here?"

"I'm protecting my Empire," she answered. She lifted Reena up with her magic. "I'm protecting the Crystal Empire."

Reena couldn't control her legs or arms. She was pulled into the air like a giant hand had grabbed her. "We're not... we're not trying to fight the Crystal Empire! We're... fighting the Galactic Empire!"

"The Galactic Empire is the Crystal Empire," Cadence said. "They are joined now. They are one and the same."

"That's... that's not true!" Reena groaned, protesting. She tried to kick her legs but the magic held her in place. She couldn't even try her commlink or raise her rifle. Her hands wouldn't budge. "Equestria is helping us! Princess Luna, she supports the Rebel Alliance!"

Cadence's expression didn't even change. "An amusing deception. But now, I think it's time you stopped lying to me." Her horn glowed.

Reena activated her jump pack by twitching her heels, the only part of her she still had some amount of control over. The pack spouted fire from its jets and broke her free of Cadence's grasp. The pack launched her up onto the catwalk, landing her on her stomach.

"Your boyfriend won't be around to save you this time!" Cadence said. "Now I'll finish off what I started in orbit!" She flew up to the catwalk.

But Reena already had her rifle ready. She shot Cadence, point-blank range with a stun bolt.

"Ah!" The princess shrieked and fell over. The stun setting had worked, thankfully.

Reena grabbed the railing, pulling herself up. She walked over to Cadence and checked her, making sure she was alright. The pony was stunned, but otherwise unharmed. She checked Cadence's pockets and strangely enough, found another bar of soap. Suddenly, someone behind her started clapping.

"Assaulting a superior officer. Assaulting royalty, that's a new one. You definitely don't disappoint. Of course, you never did."

She turned around to see a familiar face. Her commanding officer. One of them, at least. "Commander?"

Commander Reknaw stood at the other end of the catwalk. He held a blaster pistol aimed at her. "Hello, Captain. Or should I say, Bold Leader, now? But then, for how much longer?"

"Commander Reknaw... you're behind this?" she asked, backing away.

"This and many other things. Drop the gun. Lose the pack and anything else you're carrying," he ordered. She complied.

She raised her hands and put them behind her head. "Commander... why? You defected. Like me. We're part of the Rebel Alliance now! We should be trying to liberate Equestria from-"

He smiled. "But Reena, I'm still part of the Rebel Alliance. I'm doing everything I can for Equestria, to help them stop the Empire."

"What?"

"The Galactic Empire was trying something new on Equestria," Reknaw explained. "I knew about it, I informed Princess Luna about it. This part of the Empire, under Grand Moff Dinkleberg and Grand Moff Regulus were trying to actually win over the population by being nice. So I had to stop them."

"They were... what the hell are you talking about? The Empire actually WAS trying to be nice and helpful for once?! WHAT WAS IN THAT ICE CREAM?!"

He laughed. "Hahaha, Reena, it's just like you and Grex. You both have so many differences, you forget you also have similarities. It's quite touching. But you're the leader because of your commitment. It's why I did this, Reena- I have a commitment to the Rebellion. Not officially, but what Alliance command doesn't know will absolve them."

"You lying asshole." Reena felt her fists ball up. "You have a commitment to help people. To help ponies, to free their world from tyranny! Not impose your own version of it. The Empire was actually trying to do some good here, we should've left them alone!"

"And lose a planet? I think not," Reknaw fired back. "Kindness... love... affection. It's just another ploy, Captain. Look at this Empire, this Crystal Empire, does the exact same thing. These ponies use love to galvanize their workforce, to enforce order and unity. No Empire can ever truly be a good thing. You know this, Reena. What they did to your home. So, I did what was necessary. To keep you on the right track. I taught you the Snuggle Protocol."

"You made us fire on the innocent," she said through gritted teeth. "Were those newsreels right? Did we actually bomb puppies?"

"Ahahahaha," he laughed again. "Don't be ridiculous. That was a little bit of propaganda. That, along with the soap as a bit of 'encouragement' was enough to keep the course. When I found out the Empire planned on being nice, I hijacked most of their operations, had them impose the standard curfew and take control of air traffic, then I took control of their broadcasting stations. Even the Grand Moff and Kimmel were affected. Because, this isn't actually soap," he said, holding up a bar for her. "It's Crystal Empire crystals. Charged with negative emotions from this reconstructed Sith Temple."

"Why do all of this?" Reena asked, exasperated. "Why go to all of this trouble? To get the Alliance to fight... love?"

"Yes," he said flatly. "The most dangerous weapon of all... love. Given at the right place, the right moment to the right person, coming from the right heart... a single gesture of unconditional love can do damage to the strongest campaigns. It can end them. It can end wars. And this war... MUST continue."

She shook her head. "Not here. Not where innocent people, innocent ponies could get hurt. The Rebel Alliance doesn't target innocents or civilians!"

He smirked again. "Now who's been listening to propaganda? The war's already here, Reena. We brought it with us, you brought it with you. What do you think your boyfriend's going to do when he finds out you were shot by an Imperial for trespassing?"

Reena swallowed again. This time, she didn't think Grex would be coming to save her. She didn't think anyone would be coming to save her.

The Commander tripped. "Aargh!"

"Run!" Cadence yelled, grabbing hold of his leg. "Run, now!"

"Get off!" He fired wildly. The pony princess was fighting, her body still half-stunned but her alicorn strength struggled to shake it off. Reena ducked as a shot hit above her head, she turned and ran.

The commander stunned Cadence again. "I still may need more of your 'soap', so don't make me regret that!" He chased after her, weapon still drawn.

Reena bust out the door to the roof again. "Grex! Grex, where are you?! Dammit!" The storm was starting to slack up but she saw no sign of Grex's Y-Wing.

"Yes, call Grex in to airstrike this place! It'll only give me a chance to issue more headlines!" Reknaw said, exiting the building behind her. "If only you could get through this, to see what this meant to the Rebellion!"

She didn't raise her hands. "This is more than just the Rebellion! The Rebellion stands for something, don't you understand that?"

"Wrong, Reena! The Rebellion's just about opposing the Empire, about hatred! That's all it's ever stood for- people like you and me that hate the Empire made this Rebellion!" Reknaw yelled. He raised his pistol. And an acorn hit him in the cheek. "What?" Another one pelted him, and another. "Where the hell is this coming from?"

Reena felt her heart soar a bit. "Grex... it has to be."

"This changes nothing! Die, traitor!" He aimed at her and fired.

And the bolt was deflected. Twilight Sparkle appeared between Reena and Reknaw just in time to summon an energy shield... and reflect the blast.

"Nooooo!" it hit Reknaw in the shoulder. He fell to the ground and was quickly covered in a pile of acorns. The barrage covered him completely, until not a part of him was uncovered. He was buried in a pile of nuts.

Twilight turned around. "Reena! Thank goodness we got here in time. Are you o-"

She grabbed the purple pony. "Thank you. Thank you, so much. I'm sorry... involving you in all of this."

Twilight's friends gathered around her in that instant. They were all holding bushels of acorns. And they all came in to hug her.

"It's okay," Twilight said. "I know you'd do the same for us. Because we're friends."

She nodded happily, either crying or eyes-drenched from the rain, no one knew. "We're friends. No matter what side we're on. We fight for each other."

"Speaking of," Twilight looked over her shoulder. "We also have Grex to thank. He told us you might need backup."

"Did he now?" Reena asked, looking up at her boyfriend's Y-Wing as it landed. "You're sure he wasn't planning on blowing up the place instead?"

"I heard that!" Grex said over the Y-Wing's loudspeaker. The canopy opened. "There's just one problem with that," he said, running over to her.

"What's that?" Reena asked, grinning.

And he grinned right back. "My superior officer hadn't ordered it yet." They kissed one more time in the rain, surrounded by all their friends.

"Well, let's get everybody out of here so we can blow up this creepy building!" Reena said.

"We'll take care of Commander Reknaw. I think he'll need to spend some time with some soap... different not-evil soap, though," Rainbow Dash said, lifting him up.

They all prepared to leave. The ponies left the building premise with their prisoner in tow and Grex and Reena boarded their Y-Wing and took off. Just before Grex and Reena were about to blow the structure, a new contact appeared on their sensors. They both knew who it was immediately.

"You guys didn't forget about me, did you?" Cadence asked, flying her TIE Romancer.

"Heheh, nah, we were waiting for you to get started!" Grex said.

"You want to do the honors, your majesty?" Reena asked.

"With pleasure." The two ships opened fire on the structure. Grex banked the Y-Wing, allowing Reena to aim both the laser turret on the top and the laser turret underneath at the dark building. Cadence in her TIE Romancer flew up and then dove down, hammering the facility's roof. Their combined firepower blew the black temple to pieces, reducing it to burning rubble. The sinister soap, the Sith metal, all of it was gone. They then flew back to Ponyville together.

Epilogue: The Party

The next day, the Empire had their party, just as they said they would. And the Rebels weren't invited. The Empire had live music, games, rides, it was a massive carnival. There were holograms, smoke machines, free food and drinks, a concert featuring bands from around the galaxy, it was great. The entire town of Ponyville partied and the stormtroopers and Imperials danced with ponies.

And the Rebels danced with them. Twilight and the Mane Six stuck close to Bold Squadron, checking out everything the Empire had to offer. They just hadn't gone as Rebels that night.

"PINKIE!" Grex yelled.

"GREX!"

"THEY HAVE FIFTY-THREE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CAKE!"

"I KNOW!" The pink pony exclaimed, just as excited.

"I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WERE THAT MANY KINDS OF CAKE!"

Pinkie nodded. "I have much to teach you, my young padawan." They both ran down the street, trying out various treats from the stormtrooper party troopers. Owlowiscious and Spike followed them, carrying ice cream.

Avin, Sonders, Brullen, Javen and Timmy's Dad participated in a dunk contest against Grand Moff Dinkleberg, Jimmy Kimmel and Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadence. They dunked Commander Reknaw, the recently exposed Rebel spy in a tub of Mountain Dew Code Red. He was not exactly pleased, but had to admit things had worked out well for him, all things considered.

"So... I guess the Empire's going to be here a little longer," Twilight said, walking side-by-side with Reena.

"Eeyup," Reena said. She looked up at the Star Destroyer in orbit, their prize they returned to the Empire. The sight of it didn't anger her any more, because she knew there was something inside that mighty oppressive ship. And that might not have been all bad. "I was wrong about them. They're not all bad... not the ones here, at least. Elsewhere," she looked beyond the Destroyer, to the stars beyond. "Elsewhere, I'm not so sure."

Twilight nodded. "We'll be ready. You've helped us a lot."

"You've helped us," Reena said. "Just by being our friends." She hugged the purple pony.

"And it is with great pleasure that the Empire announces it is lifting the curfew on Ponyville- permanently!" Dinkleberg announced from the loudspeaker. "And after much consideration, Cloudsdale has been approved to regulate air traffic throughout Equestria once again!" There were cheers from everyone- pony, Rebel and Imperial alike.

The party continued. After a while, Grex finally caught up with Reena after sampling every flavor of Imperice cream available. "Hey Reena."

"Hey Grex. Enjoying yourself?" she asked.

"Oh, you know it."

"Hahaha," she giggled. "So you think peace with this part of the Empire might actually work? That you can be around these guys and not try to blow something up?"

Grex shrugged coyly. "Maybe. We'll have to see. But, about that last part..."

"You didn't."

He looked away bashfully. "I had to."

"Grex..."

"Hehehe," he giggled. "What can I say? It is my job, after all. In fact, you should be able to see the results soon. In three... two... one..." The ground shook. For a moment, they were all surprised. The vibrations reverberated through them all.

And then, they saw it: fireworks launching from Sigma Base, just over the horizon.

"Awww, so that's what you meant. That's very sweet, Grex."

"Yeah, me and Javen and Bandwidth set it up. Another mission accomplished for Bold Squadron," he said, putting his arm around her. A large firework erupted in the shape of the Rebel Alliance symbol. And very quickly, another series of fireworks shot up to form the words: THE REBEL ALLIANCE LOVES PUPPIES. AND KITTENS. AND FREEDOM.

"You just had to make that clear, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," he nodded. "And it represents us, when you think about it."

"How's that?" she asked skeptically.

"Well, we're Bold Squadron now, right?" He pointed at the fireworks. "That looks pretty bold to me."

She nodded. "Indeed, it does." They joined their pony friends and Rebel squad mates in a group hug, the boldest statement of them all. The message they shared was love and friendship. And it always would be.

Bonus Chapter: The Opportunity

A few hours before the party...

The Rebel Alliance Lucrehulk-class carrier, the Investor, was engaging a group of Imperial cruisers. The massive ring-shaped ship moved steadily behind Equestria's moon towards three arrowhead-shaped vessels. Captain Camro Varhom stood at the helm and engaged the forward turbolaser batteries on the Investor. Orange bolts raced through space and blasted the cruisers to pieces.

Nearby was the MC-128-class ship, the Cooperation, a massive Mon Calamari ship shaped like an oblong torpedo with four half-disc like protrusions protruding from its sides giving the ship an x-like shape. Four turbolaser cannon blisters were situated in front, arrayed in an X on the cone-like bow of the vessel. Admiral Brammer Rask, Camro's sharp-bearded commander, directed the fire of his own ship from the bridge command console, leaning over it and guiding both ships at once.

Admiral Rask's ship sped ahead while the Investor broke off to engage more freighters.

"You won't be setting up another blockade while we're around," Camro remarked.

"Captain, sir!" his comm officer said, spinning around in his chair. "Priority message from Equestria, sir!"

"Put it on, ensign."

Princess Luna's image appeared in the holoprojector. "Attention all Alliance personnel! We have reached a cease-fire agreement with Empire. Your orders are to disengage at once and fall back to defensive positions."

"Well, that's convenient," Camro commented. "Ensign, relay back to Princess Luna that the Investor confirms and acknowledges."

"Aye, captain."

"At least we stopped them from setting up another blockade." Camro pulled the Investor around and flew it away from the moon, back into Equestria's orbit. What no one on his ship had noticed was that the Imperial cruisers were actually part of a different Imperial group all together. In front of them were a group of Imperial transports heading for the planet.

At the same time, Bretton Macer and his gunner Gevin Darus were in the middle of a dogfight. Brett's helmet had two green triangles imprinted on either side, a testament to his commitment to protection. Gevin's helmet had a pair of crossed swords on either side, marking his commitment to vigilance. Piloting and gunning their M9 Y-Wing through space high above Equestria, they were giving the new Imperial reinforcements a warm welcome. As Green Leader and Green-Two, they were engaging the TIE Fighters the latest Imperial freighters had deployed when it jumped in.

A trio of TIE Fighters approached them in a vertical-diagonal line. Bret fired the frontal laser cannons and blasted the lead TIE to bits. Behind him, Gevin was already working the topside and underside turrets on the craft to track the other two. He blasted the top TIE with a burst of laser cannon fire while their astromech, W3-4V "Weaver" controlled the under cannon and blasted the the lower TIE. The two ace Rebel pilots then engaged their thrusters, forming up with their wing mates to attack the Imperial freighters.

"Green Squadron, on my wing! Let's show this new ship how we say hello!"

"Copy, Green Leader!"

"Copy, leader!"

Two X-Wings in his squadron formed up on his wing. They closed in on the first freighter, guns hot. Brett and Gev's Y-Wing flew by the freighter, strafing its hull with their underside turret as they made the pass. The X-Wings blasted both the engines of the small freighter, causing both of them to fail.

"Great shot! Get ready, Gev! Let's take out the engines on the next one!" They closed on the next freighter in the formation.

A light beeped on Gev's console. "Cap, we got a call coming in!"

Brett turned his head around. "From who?"

"Oh crap... sir, it's from the higher ups." He put the call through.

"Attention all Rebel fighters! Disengage and return to base at once!" Princess Luna said.

"Oh boy... uh, Green Squadron, disengage!" he ordered. He pulled his Y-Wing up and off its attack vector, leading his squadron away from the freighter. Mysteriously, it didn't fire back at them.

"We have achieved a truce with the Empire. At this moment, a cease fire is in effect. All Rebel forces are to return to base. The Alliance will not break this truce," Luna's message continued.

"What do you think this is about?" Gevin asked.

"I'm not sure," Brett said. "I guess we'll find out soon, though."

Green Squadron's ships turned away from the freighter and flew back to Sigma Base. The Imperial freighters, now unescorted, changed their course and took a different path down to Equestria's surface, one towed the other. On the side of the ships' hulls were two logos: one for Doritos and another for Mountain Dew on each.

At the same time...

Two Imperial AT-ATs were attacking a Rebel outpost. Stormtroopers closed in on the small Alliance storage depot, built out of an Equestrian windmill close to Appleloosa. The huge walkers fired new weapons- lightning lasers at the entrenched Rebels. A twin pair of bolts from the lead walker blasted a speeder, blowing it in half. One of the Rebels tried to fire back with a missile launcher but the rocket didn't even hit it.

The new lightning lasers on the walkers used high-voltage electricity along with the regular blasters to create a beam of coherent heat, light and electricity. The result was a weapon that could pierce through any shield and do massive damage to electronics underneath, even causing power surges in local grids. It was a devastating weapon to add to the Empire's arsenal.

Sergeant TD-725, or Groy Makker, as was his given name, was enjoying the newest Imperial toys. Groy's helmet had a pair of crossed lightning bolts on either side, while his copilot's helmet had the words THIS SIDE UP written on it upside down. He only regretted that the electrical feedback made it so they couldn't use the air conditioning when firing the lasers, so they had to roll the windows down. Although it was a bit dangerous, it was more comfortable than keeping them rolled up, and besides, the Rebels never fired at the vulnerable neck of the walker anyway.

"Hey... hey Groy?"

"What?"

"We got a holocall," his copilot, TD-811 Margus "The Dupe" Dupreegan said.

Groy reached over and turned on the holodisplay. "Attention all Imperial Forces, this is forward command. You are to cease fire and return to base, repeat: cease fire and return to base. Failure to comply will result in immediate disciplinary action."

"Oh, boy," he turned off the weapons. The Rebels, likewise, had stopped firing. He then started turning the walker around and led it away from the Rebels. Not a single one returned fire.

"The heck was that all about?" Dupreegan asked. "We're in the middle of combat and all of a sudden, peace breaks out?" he shook his head. "How the heck does that happen?"

"I really don't know man, no one tells us anything," Groy said. He rolled up the windows and turned on the A/C. "At least we can use the air conditioner now." As the walkers left the Rebel outpost, the Imperials didn't notice them unloading crates. The crates had Doritos and Mountain Dew decals on the side.

After the party...

Commander Reknaw climbed his way out of the dunk tank. He was under Imperial guard, having been recently exposed as a Rebel spy, so he wasn't allowed a holocommunicator or anything else. But, he still had one on him. After the party was over and the ponies, Imperials and Rebels had all had their fun and went back to their homes, and Pinkie's mandatory after party had relocated to Sugar Cube Corner, Commander Reknaw asked the troopers escorting him back to the Detention Facility if he could use the bathroom. Fortunately, neither decided to keep an eye on him in the restroom.

He got out a small holocommunicator from a concealed place on him and turned it on. He typed in the secret code to unlock it and after a few moments, it turned on.

"I've been compromised," Reknaw said. "The Rebels and the Imperials are currently in the middle of a... truce. I don't know how it will effect the mission."

The holographic images of Flim and Flam appeared in front of him through the communicator. Flim was wearing a Doritos shirt, Flam was wearing a Mountain Dew shirt. "Fortunately commander, my brother and I are perfectly prepared for such an outcome. Rest assured, our plans are proceeding well," Flim said.

"But, the sponsorships. How are we going to get them to rely on us more if they're not at war?" Reknaw asked.

Flam grinned. "My brother and I have it all taken care of, my good man." Both of the salesponies smiled sinisterly. "After all, peace gives us plenty of opportunities," they said, laughing. And Commander Reknaw laughed as well.

To be continued in the next installment: Star Wars: The Dark Vector...

Finale: The Saga Continues

The truce lasted about a week after the party and then the Empire started blockading Equestria. Task Force Defiance became divided between Sigma Base and the fleet in orbit behind the moon. This made things difficult because they never knew when Imperial ships were going to show up right over Ponyville.

Despite the increase in Imperial activity, Grex was happy, delighted with himself as he flew his new M9 Y-Wing. "So what are we blowing up today?"

"Space station," Reena's voice came through his headset, serious as ever.

"Ooooh, gonna get to paint something big on my fuselage right off the bat, nice."

"Haha, yeah, it'll look great with our Doritos logos."

"Euuugh," Grex groaned in disgust. "Don't remind me about that." His console began beeping- his sensors warning him of inbound contacts.

"Looks like we got our first patrol. Keep it tight and low-risk. That means you, Grex!"

"Copy Bold Leader," Grex said. He was getting better at putting his game face on when going into combat, though he still was never too serious. The problem with TIEs and going after larger Imperial targets like space stations was the attrition; even small amounts of damage incurred from TIE Fighter patrols made it easier for a space station or capital ship's weapons to hit you. And it was going to take all of them to take out a space station.

The TIEs came at them from the starboard side, vectoring towards them from their patrol route. It was likely they weren't even the only patrol but if they eliminated them quickly, they would still be able to destroy the station before they all converged. The TIEs opened fire and their shots missed at maximum range. As the enemy squad closed in, the Y-Wings banked and rolled into a turn that took them away from the TIEs' attack path.

This forced the TIEs to bank and follow them. Being maneuverable and faster than the Y-Wings, they were able to do so easily. They lined up with the flanks of the Y-Wings and closed in to line up a killing shot. The lead TIE Fighter, also the TIE squad leader, raced towards the rear of one of the Rebel ships, eager for the first kill.

That was when he exploded. Too eager, the TIEs had been to pursue the Rebel ships and they didn't realize that only half of them had leveled out. The other half of Bold Squadron, led by Grex, had continued the turn and quickly wound up on the tails of the TIE Fighters pursuing their squad mates. Grex and his half of the squadron then easily blasted all twelve of the TIE Fighters to bits. They had been easy targets while trying to line up their own shots.

"Textbook, Grex, good job! Good job, everyone!" Reena cheered. Her voice even had a trill of excitement in it, making him smile. She was doing her best to work with him and he with her; she knew he needed the encouragement and he knew she needed to loosen up. They were covering for each other in more ways than one, which is what teammates did.

"We're coming up on the space station," Sonders announced.

Out his viewport, Grex saw the space station come into view. The large, gray structure in space resembled two fans connected at the center. The station had six arms- three for each of the fan-blade like attachments. And most of the arms had either an Imperial cruiser or a transport attached to them.

"More TIEs incoming!"

"Light 'em up! Push through them!" Bold Squadron stayed the course this time. The second TIE Squadron had been launched from the station itself and came straight for them. The weaved while remaining in formation, a risky move but riskier would be giving time to the station's gun crews or the cruisers. Their Y-Wings opened fire together, unleashing a storm of orange lasers at the TIE Fighters. The second squadron of TIEs was vaporized before they even stood a chance.

But the TIEs were never the threat. Now, they had a clear path to their main target: the Imperial space station.

The Imperial Axe Star-class Mark-One space station was the standard space station used by the Empire throughout the galaxy. They were often deployed to fringe worlds and on hyperspace lanes where traffic was frequent in order to refuel and resupply freighters, transports and Imperial warships, as well as exude the dominance of the Empire. Rebels nicknamed them "pinwheels" or "snowflakes" because of their shape... and their fragile construction.

"Ahh, a pinwheel!" Grex exclaimed. "Been a while since we took out one of these!"

"You still remember how to take them out?" Reena asked, both serious and playful at the same time.

Grex grinned. "Well, let's shoot at it and see if it comes back to me."

"Good plan."

It was easier said than done, though and they all knew it. There were no TIE Fighters between them and the station now. Unlike the Imperial fighters, the station was almost solid reinforced durasteel backed up with heavy redundant shielding. It had backup generators in case it suffered power loss and bristled with the real threat to Y-Wings: towers. Not only that, the Imperial cruisers could add their own turrets to the defense of the station, making it more than a formidable target. Finally, the Axe Star Mk. 1 also came equipped with an energy projector that could fire beams and destroy smaller satellites and ships instantly. It was very much like a miniature Death Star.

And just like a miniature Death Star, it had a single, critical weakness.

"Full thrusters, throttle up now!" Reena ordered. Bold Squadron raced towards the center of the structure, all twelve of their M9 Y-Wings like a single arrowhead aiming at the heart of the base. The weak point was the center where the two "spokes" of the pinwheel connected. Enough damage to it and the station would split apart and explode.

"Watch those towers! Watch those towers!" Reena yelled. Turbolaser towers were the more of a threat to Rebel starfighters than anything else in the Empire's current arsenal. Unlike TIEs that could be predicted, Imperial turrets often fired seemingly erratically and then would suddenly become accurate. Not only that, the towers' lasers were far more powerful than a TIE's, were effective at longer distances and were difficult to track. Sometimes, a tower would fire a twin burst from its cannons and then wait to track before firing again, or would change directions and seemingly track another target while lining up another shot.

Grex stared at the tower. The tactics of towers made them tricky, even trickier when you were flying right at them. The space around them began to explode and Grex's cockpit was illuminated by green flashes.

"Almost there... stay on target!" Reena ordered. "All wings, standby proton torpedoes!"

Grex armed his torpedoes. The center of the station loomed ahead. Their formation spun while keeping together, barely any amount of space between them. It was the only way to dodge the sheer amount of fire being thrown at them. They came in, spinning in between the arms of the space station, aiming straight for the connecting spoke.

"Bold Squadron, open fire!!" Streaks of fire raced from the Y-Wings towards the center of the Axe Star. But before even a single one of them hit, a massive green beam shot up in between the proton torpedoes and their target. All but two of the torpedoes were vaporized by the green beam. The two remaining explosives shook the station but did not penetrate its tough armor.

Bold Squadron blew past their target. "What?!"

"Energy projector! They're using the energy projector to cover the base!!" Sonders yelled.

"Oh, crap!" Grex juked right along with the squad to dodge the edge of one of the station's arms. "They didn't do that last time!" The squadron continued towards the edge of the station, still under fire from its guns.

"What do we do now?!"

"I don't know!" Reena admitted.

"We can't get close enough to take it out with that projector covering it!" Sonders said.

"We can't just give up! That thing's between us and Equestria now!"

"Only a few more seconds before the next TIE patrol comes in..."

Grex racked his brain. "We have to think of something... anything!" He rubbed the side of his head over his helmet. Even if they came back on the same attack vector, they'd need all their torpedoes combined precisely on the same spot to penetrate through the station's thick armor. And every moment the towers tracked them, the more accurate they became.

"Does anybody have any ideas?!"

A voice crackled through his headset. "Hit it again."

"What?"

"Who said that?"

"Unauthorized broadcast on private channel."

"Hit it again." The voice repeated.

"Who is this?" Reena asked.

"A friend. I have your back."

The seconds of silence that followed felt like an eternity. Did they really go on the word of a stranger in the depths of space? It could have been an Imperial, it could have been someone on the station trying to trick them, it could have been anything. But Reena chose to go on it.

"Pull back around, ready second round!" Reena ordered. "We're hitting that thing one more time!"

Grex couldn't help himself but ask, "Are you sure about this, Reena?"

"I am," she said back. On her wing, Bold Squadron arced back towards the space station, repeating their same maneuver from the opposite side. As before, the space between them and the structure was lit up with green flashes and explosions. But they arrowed right for the center, spinning around to avoid every shot fired at them.

"Bold Squadron, fire!!" Their proton torpedoes leapt from their ships again, right for the center spoke. And this time, there was no green beam to intercept them. The squadron raced past just as their torpedoes collided with the center of the base, exploding and ripping through the hull and armor. The reactor, buried somewhere underneath all that armor, began to go critical as its core systems sustained far more damage than it was designed to endure.

The Axe Star exploded. Fire erupted from the core of the station and spread out to the arms. Smaller explosions rippled across the length of its hull, breaking it apart. Finally, the two hubs of station exploded one after the other, blasting the entire structure to pieces. The few cruisers and transports that tried to dislodge were incinerated by the blast. In an instant, there was a double-star high above Equestria.

"That's the stuff, right there!" Grex cheered.

"It worked! We did it, we actually did it!"

"WAAAHOOOO!" The entire squadron let out their own cheers.

"I am definitely painting that on my fuselage!" Grex said, ecstatic.

"You'll have to share it with me," the mysterious voice crackled through again.

"Who's that? Who is this?"

His console beeped again. More inbounds but unlike before, it was just one. A lone TIE. As they flew in formation, a pink ship with heart-shaped wings joined them, filling in the back.

"Cadence!" Reena exclaimed.

Princess Cadence's TIE Romancer formed up with them. "Can't let you guys have all the fun, can I?"

"Cadence," Grex said, exhaling. "Thanks for the assist."

"So you were the one who distracted the energy projector for us?"

The princess smiled. "Guilty as charged. You guys should know by now; it doesn't matter how good you are. Sometimes, we all need help from our friends."

Reena nodded. "We'll remember that... next time."

"Next time," Grex agreed. "So, you want me to paint half that space station on your fuselage?"

"Sure," Cadence replied. "You can paint it over the Doritos logo."

Grex frowned at that comment. Together, the Rebel Alliance's Bold Squadron flew back to Sigma Base, having just destroyed an Imperial space station... and gained a new member.

Chapter 1: The Raid

Twilight Sparkle focused on the enormous building in with her binoculars. From this distance, it looked like a gigantic, black pyramid rising up out of the center of the green valley it was situated in. The top of this pyramid was flat except for four spike-like pillars on the corners, one of which was topped in a satellite dish. White-armored guards, stormtroopers patrolled both the roof and the perimeter of the building so Twilight and her friends observed from a good distance so they wouldn't be spotted.

"Well... it definitely looks out of place," Twilight said.

"Creepy," Applejack added. "Did they build that thing here or just drop it?"

"Maybe they dug it up," Pinkie said, looking through a kaleidoscope. "Maybe it's the ancient tomb of an evil pony emperor and they're trying to resurrect them to takeover Equestria again!"

They all stopped for a moment, lowering their binoculars to turn to Pinkie. "What?" she asked her accusers, "It could be possible, couldn't it?"

Twilight shrugged. "Maybe. It certainly wasn't here a week ago but we don't know what it is. Or what they're doing inside of it."

"Probly up to no good," Applejack said. "Why else would they be so sneaky about settin' it up here, in the middle of the Everfree Forest?"

Rarity nodded, swatting a bug on her neck. "I agree wholeheartedly. Whoever would come to such an uncivilized place simply cannot be here with good intentions."

"We're not sure of anything yet. Until Rainbow Dash gets back, we don't have any evidence of anything they're doing or why," Twilight reminded them. She looked at the Imperial building through her binoculars again. "They definitely don't have permission to be here though, and the Rebel Alliance said it's evil... so I guess we'll find out soon," she said, uncertainty heavy in her voice.

Behind them, the only one of them who wasn't looking at the building was the one who felt most unsettled about it. Fluttershy didn't have to see the ominous structure to understand its presence there; it was visible all around them. She petted a squirrel on her foreleg, comforting the creature as it shivered. "The animals are scared," she said. "They're frightened by something, something that wasn't here before."

"Ya can tell 'em it won't be here for much longer," AJ said, looking back through her binoculars at the base. "Cavalry's coming soon."

High above them, just outside of Equestria's gravity well, their backup approached the planet. The Y-Wings of yet another of the Rebel Alliance's Gold Squadrons soared through space towards the planet, just barely cresting the edge of the moon as they did so. Their pilots flew in three diamond-shaped formations of three, angling towards their destination like arrowheads.

"Still not seeing your friend," Grex Corsa, Gold Seven. "You sure about this intel, Rena?"

"Positive," his wingman's voice came back over his headset. "She'll be there and the intel will be good." Her voice was ice cold, as it always was on a mission.

"Great. Is she waiting to the last minute to set up the beacon?"

"It'll be ready when we need it. In the meantime, looks like we have some company headed our way. TIEs, incoming." As the planet grew larger, a group of dark shapes eclipsed the colorful world beyond. As a group, they turned towards the squadron in one precise maneuver.

"Did they get tipped off or something? You think they know about us?"

Grex smiled. "They're about to. Almost thought I'd have to go the whole day without shooting something." Gold Seven's Y-Wing shot forward, breaking formation to engage the oncoming TIE Fighters. At twelve-to-one, the odds would be against him but thankfully, they wouldn't be for very long. As the first TIEs came closer, Grex fired his laser cannons before the oncoming craft were even ready. The lead TIE was vaporized in an instant and before the formation could adjust, he cut his angle downward and blasted the wing of the one flying at its angle. Just as the second TIE exploded, the others lit up the space between them with green laser fire.

But Grex's Y-Wing was already out of their line of fire, flying under their formation through the hole he'd made and circling around them. He banked left, circling back around the formation and saw a third TIE banking towards him in the opposite direction. For a split second, the two faced each other, turning inward before Grex's lasers blasted the TIE to pieces.

"YES! Yes, did you see that? Rena?"

"I did. As well as the four that are on your tail."

"Oh crap!" he dove his ship just as a stream of green blasted the space where he'd been. His wingmen racing behind them, they each vaporized the pursuing craft. In less than a minute, the enemy TIE squadron had been destroyed.

"Ha, thanks, Rena," Grex said, catching his breath.

"Not a problem, Seven. And Grex?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Gold Leader while we're on a mission."

"Oh, yeah. Gotcha, boss- err, Gold Leader," he said, saluting even though he was in a cockpit. Gold Squadron formed up again and turned back towards the planet.

On the roof of the building, Rainbow Dash was fulfilling her part of the mission. She snuck around the stormtroopers and hid in spots where she could to evade being spotted, crawling along her belly. She was wearing her sneaking suit which helped blend her into the color the building but the troopers still would notice her if they saw her moving or were close enough. It wasn't easy, but eventually she made her way to the center of the roof where she was supposed to plant the targeting beacon.

She pulled it out of her backpack. "Twilight? Twilight, I'm in position," she whispered into her headset.

"Okay. Just set it up and get out of there, quickly!"

"Right, umm..."

"What is it?! What's wrong?!"

"How do I turn it on again?"

The sounds of her friends' groans filled her earpieces. Rainbow winced, feeling a bit guilty that she hadn't paid close enough attention to her instructions. "Set it so the dish is pointing towards the sky and then press the red button on the base."

"Oh yeah, thanks," she said, hastily complying with her instructions. "I got it!"

"Great, now get off the building! Get away from there now!"

"I'm on my way!"

"Hey! You there, stop!"

"Ulgh!" Rainbow swallowed hard and froze in place. She could feel the troopers' weapons trained on her spine.

"Turn around, now!"

She turned to face them, slowly. Four stormtroopers aimed their blasters at her. But behind them, she saw the targeting beacon she'd set up still broadcasting. They must've mistaken it for something else or not noticed it was there. That meant the rebels' attack was still coming and she had seconds to get off of the building before it became a smoldering crater!

"Hands up! Err, hooves up, now!"

"I... can't," she said. She raised her wings, preparing to fly and braced her hind legs against the roof. Her teeth were gritted; even though she was the fastest pegasus in Equestria, was she fast enough to get away from these troopers before they fired at her? She knew she had to try because if she didn't, she'd be destroyed along with the building.

"I said get your hooves up! Now!" the stormtrooper repeated. But again, she didn't comply. "This is your last warning, get your hooves up now or we'll-" An acorn hit him in the side of the helmet mid-sentence. "What?"

"Where's that coming from?!"

"We're under attack!" Acorns pelted the stormtroopers by the dozens. The nuts rained down on the guards, even causing one to trip on them as they landed on the roof around them.

Rainbow Dash grinned. She didn't know exactly who or what was causing the distraction but she had an idea. And she was thankful it was there. Not wasting the opportunity, she spun around and dove off the building and used the momentum to get wind under her wings and take flight. And not a moment too soon; just as she took off from the rooftop, the sky burned as the rebels' bombs descended on the factory. One of the stormtroopers, covered in a pile of acorns, had enough time to look up before the bombs penetrated the roof right in front of him.

Explosions destroyed the roof of the building. Rainbow Dash raced down the side as the structure erupted into flames, cascading debris and fire down after her. Just before she hit the ground, she pulled up from her dive as the Imperial pyramid exploded in a massive fireball of smoke and twisted metal.

Rainbow cheered as she saw her friends waiting for her on the hill at the edge of the Everfree. "WOOOHOOO!!"

"Rainbow!!"

Near Twilight and the others, an army of squirrels were manning catapults that launched acorns. Fluttershy was directing them. Rainbow landed near her friends and immediately was embraced by a group hug.

"You guys! Did you see that?! Did you see how awesome that was?!"

"It was! The building was all BLAM BLAM and you were all REEEEERRRR WOOOOOSH!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Twilight said.

"That was very dangerous indeed, Rainbow," Rarity added.

Applejack just batted the notion away. "Aw, shucks, nothin' our girl here couldn't handle!"

Rainbow blushed at the praise. "Well, I did have a lot of help," she said, looking over to Fluttershy and her special artillery brigade. The yellow pegasus simply smiled, happy to have helped out her friend. "We really took it to them! Those bomber guys totally leveled the place!"

"Whatever they were doin' down there, we put a stop to it."

Twilight nodded. "We certainly did. But we still have to investigate to make sure there's nothing else going on."

"Right! I'll get right back there!" Rainbow said, about to dart off again.

AJ grabbed her by the wing before she could. "Hold up there, Rainbow. Let's wait till that fire dies down a bit, shall we?"

"Hehh, that might be a good idea."

It wasn't long before the building's wreckage was safe enough to get near. Rainbow was he first to arrive on the scene, quickly followed by her friends. They still kept their distance from the structure, just in case it was still dangerous but there wasn't much of it left. The pyramidal structure had been mostly reduced to a crater with large chunks of burnt and twisted metal scattered around it. The center was just a smoldering dent in the ground with no signs of anything left.

But there was something else, scattered amongst the debris, something they weren't expecting.

"Um, guys?" Rainbow said, hovering above one on the ground. "Is that... what I think it is?"

Scattered around the crater and amidst the refuse were brightly-colored objects. Twilight and company approached the one Rainbow Dash singled out, examining it.

"What is it?"

"Some kind'a super weapon?"

"It could be a biological weapon," Rarity said. "It could be something they were planning on contaminating Ponyville with."

Twilight levitated up the object with her magic. She rotated it and looked at it, finally noticing an indentation on the side.

"What is it, Twi?" AJ asked.

"It's... soap."