Star Wars: The Clone Wars Elements

Equestrian space, outside orbit

"Keep it tight, fast, and follow me, boys! Stay close to the ships!"

"Copy!"
"Copy!"

One of the things CT-Gamma 2727 liked most about his V-19 Torrent was the extra blue and green stripes he painted on its wings. One of the other things he liked about his customized starfighter was the modified thrusters that gave him better control and maneuverability while maintaining speed. Not only that, he also liked the special capacitors for his two blaster cannons that gave him extra range, firepower and penetration and only meant sacrificing a couple concussion missiles to attach them to his ship. Yes, it was safe to say that he liked his starfighter.

What Gamma 2727 did not like was his nickname.

"They're coming around, Flap!"

"I got 'em." Gamma-2727, "Flap" toggled his blasters, put his crosshairs just ahead of the Vulture droids coming around the side of the Venator and opened fire. His wingmates did the same, and a stream of blue laser fire turned the squadron of Vultures into explosions of space dust.

"Good call, Flap."
"Good call, Lead."

Of course it had been a good call. Droid starfighters tended to mimic opponents and their formations unless otherwise programmed. Understanding the droids' programming was the key to reading their actions, taking the next step and vaporizing them before they did the same to you. Flap was good at that, good at keeping his pilots alive, good at modifying their starfighters using 'surplus' parts and making sure they did their job. He was possibly one of the best squadron leaders in the Republic Navy because of these things, especially when survival in a V-19 was so poor.

And they called him Flap because he made his V-19's wings look like they were 'flapping' once. That, and he spent a lot of time fixating on the maneuvering flaps, tinkering with them. It improved their performance greatly. So the name had stuck and that irked him. He would've preferred a nickname like Fixer, but it was taken, would've preferred a name like Gage or even Oddball, also both taken, would've even preferred a name like Brick which was shared with a mercenary.

"More behind us!"

He yanked back hard on the throttle, pulling his ship into a tight loop, far tighter than most other fighters. His squadmates followed suit. As they came back down again, he opened fire with his blasters, destroying the lead Vulture droid of yet another formation. But another formation was behind that one.

"Full-stop!" The formation of six V-19s stopped on a dime. Three more formations of Vulture droids came around the other side of the Venator to flank the ship and hit its engines. Right where the ship was most vulnerable.

And right into their line of fire. "Let 'em have it!"

Blue laser fire ripped apart the first formation. They barely had to pivot slightly upward to unleash another barrage on the group behind that. Finally they spread out to hit the third formation before it closed the gap, using their weapons' modified range to tear them apart.

The Vulture droids exploded, a few spun out only to explode seconds later but not a one hit a Republic ship with lasers, fuselage or otherwise. The airspace was droid-free.

"Green-Leader to Adjudicator, you are clear."

"Copy, Green-Leader. Good job out there, Flap."

"Errrgh." Possibly the best starfighter pilot in the entire GAR and he had the worst name. The one thing he couldn't modify. He pulled his ship around and decided maybe he'd ask to swap names with one of the gunship pilots when he landed. Whoever said clones couldn't trade names?

Equestrian outer orbit, Resolute bridge

"Adjust heading to port two-five-nine! All deflectors to double-front!"

"All batteries, forward-fire! Light the lane up!" ordered Commander Nim. Both he and Yularen knew their options just became drastically few in number. Defensive was the only play they could make. Other commanders, other naval officers might have been slower to react and right now, seconds mattered. Admiral Yularen had only one move he could make that could save his ship.

He didn't hesitate. "Full reverse! All thrusters, emergency thrusters, full reverse!"

The Resolute lurched backwards like someone had attached a rope to the back. Throughout its decks, troopers, deckhands and droids were jolted by the sudden maneuver. The Adjudicator and the Merciful followed suit, and with all three ships facing inward, the formation began to spread out as they reversed rapidly. The spearhead attack of the Separatists would have to choose one of the three Republic capital ships to target or divide their firepower. As the Munificent frigates weren't as powerful as Venators, they would have to stay together to concentrate their firepower if they wanted to bring down the Republic ships' shields quickly.

Of course, they remained together and of course, they continued charging forward- right at the Resolute.

"Shields are down to sixty percent! They're closing in!"
"Another wave of Vultures approaching!"

They couldn't outrun them, even if they weren't in reverse and they couldn't turn to race to the nearest hyperspace vector. The Separatists were attacking quickly, hungry for a kill. They must've planned out the exact point the Republic would arrive in, planned this strike perfectly.

Yularen wiped sweat from his forehead. It was time to for something unconventional, but what?

"Admiral..." As luck would have it, that something came to him.

"Your highness, the escape pods-"

Shining Armor and Cadence both approached him, not frightened, but determined. Determined to save them, somehow.

"Admiral, Princess Cadence and I are going to try..." he looked at Cadence, momentarily concerned? Uncertain?

But Cadence was not uncertain. "We need you to direct all your ship's weaponry... umm, upward."

"Upward? Vertically?"

"Yes," they both nodded.

"Your highness-"

"Right now!"

Yularen and Nim exchanged a single glance. The admiral nodded and the order was given.

"All batteries, target point zero-zero degrees! Prepare to fire!"

Shining and Cadence held each other tightly and closed their eyes. Their horns glowed brightly, bright enough to illuminate the bridge.

Yularen had heard of the Equestrians and their abilities. Wasn't too much different from the Force, which he also didn't understand. He knew they could produce shields but how was a shield going to help them? Their own shields were breaking. In fact, at that moment-

"Shields at fifteen percent!"
"Batteries primed!"

Could they trust the ponies? There was no other option; they had to.

The admiral had to shield his eyes. "Whatever you're going to do-"

"Almost..."

"Do it now!"

"NOW, ADMIRAL!"

The admiral shouted, "FI-"

And in that moment, silence filled the location he was just in, silence and empty space. The ship, the crew, Shining, Cadence and their daughter, all had vanished in an instant. The laser fire from the Separatist cruisers would have broken through the Resolute's shields to tear holes in her hull but instead, they simply shot through the void and dissipated. The Republic cruiser was gone.

And instantly, it reappeared directly behind the formation of Separatist frigates.

-RE!!"

The Resolute was now facing with its starboard facing Equestria... and its batteries directly at the aft of the enemy ships. At point-blank range. The moment Yularen gave the order, the eight heavy cannons all delivered a full broadside from their barrels directly upward. Blue turbolaser cannon fire ripped through the engines of the Separatist ships, punched through fuel tanks and turned the skeletal-looking ships into burning skeletons. Two of the ships were destroyed in seconds, one per each broadside while the other ships scrambled to come about.

"What... in blazes..."

"Sir?"

"Ahhm, target the port cruisers, hit their engines! Ahead full!"

Yularen almost couldn't believe his eyes. The Munificents must have been running with their own shields at double-front, leaving their backsides completely exposed for a naval spanking. As the Resolute sped forward, its cannons tore apart the afts of two of the other frigates, disabling them as they attempted to turn hard to port.

The Adjudicator and the Merciful took advantage of the situation and charged ahead. As the other ships turned to face their target, they were caught in the side by salvos from the other Republic ships.

It was all over in under five minutes. The entire formation of eight Separatist Munificent-class star frigates, powerful vessels in their own right, were all charred hulks and debris. The few Vulture droids that remained drifted, some confused, and would eventually all burnup on reentry without input from their control ship.

Ten minutes later, the Republic ships were back in formation above Equestria, flying away.

"Make your heading nine-point-nine five, ensign." Yularen let out a sigh of relief and added, "Prepare for jump to hyperspace. Nav, put in coordinates for Outpost 8."

"Aye, sir." The helmsman sounded almost as relieved as he did, but clones tended to keep their composure better.

At that moment, Yularen didn't care. But he did have to thank his guests. "Prince Shining, Princess Cadence, I-"

Both of them were laying on the floor, out cold. Their daughter, Flurry Heart, shook them, worried and unable to express it.

"Ship... out of danger...?" Shining Armor asked, looking up at the admiral, eyes full and weary.

Admiral Yularen smiled and gave a gentle nod. "Yes. Thanks to you both."

"Oh... great," he said. Face flush, voice weary, if they hadn't been there the whole time, Admiral Yularen would've said they'd both just ran a marathon.

"I don't think... I don't think we should do that... again," Cadence breathlessly said.

"We'll get you all to the medical bay. We'll be en route to Coruscant in a few hours."

"Niiice... is there food there?"

In a tight formation, the trio of Republic cruisers sailed at almost a crawl to the edge of the system, preparing to hyperspace jump out. They'd had enough surprises. Nowhere in space was safe even without the galaxy at war. A single shuttle departed for Equestria with a pair of escort V-19s to inform General Skywalker.

Making difficult decisions with the lives of those that made difficult decisions was the life of an admiral. The prince, princess and their child would have to be in the Republic's custody, his charge, for now. The safest decision was the best for all of them and there were too few safe places in space.

"Sir! More hyperspace contacts jumping in!"

Yularen spun on his heels. "Where?!"

"D-Directly a-head!"

"My... word."

Three new ships jumped in right in front of them. No, nowhere in space was safe.