Chapter 30
Flash was still in shock over what he had just discovered.
Many of the slaves that were currently working down Voltus' mine, were people that had been likely captured on the forest moon Flash had been born and raised on. For two years, they had been held captive by the Sith and now they were being forced to work for Voltus.
"Not for long," Flash told him. "We're getting them out of there. We just need to come up with a plan."
"Exactly. First, we need to figure out how to tell them help is here. In a way that doesn't give us away. Any suggestions?" Flash thought about it and remembered something.
"Springer. The robot you're controlling. Does it have a light or something you can make blink?"
"Hang on...no," the droid announced. "It does not. Why?"
"The caphex, Milieus. He tried to teach me morse code when I was a kid. I never mastered it, but he probably still remembers it. If we can get to him, we can give him a message in morse code."
"Smart," Thorax stated, "but Springer doesn't have a light to make the code with."
"No," Springer nodded, "but I might have something else."
Milieus was hard at work, breaking up rocks from the wall.
He sighed, his body screaming at him to stop. But he couldn't. If he did, he would likely get zapped by the control ring on his ankle. He had to work until he either dropped or they found what they were looking for.
As he broke away another piece of rock, one of the work droids rolled up to him. The slave feared he had done something wrong, but then noticed the machine put down the empty box it was carrying. It then held up its arm, which was tipped with three L-shaped claws that connected at the tips.
The claw then opened before it shut again, making a tapping sound, and repeated the process in a way that made some kind of rhythm.
To anyone else, these clicks would be meaningless. But to Milieus, they were a message. "You're here to help." The robot nodded before clicking a word. "S...P...R...I...N...G...E...R. Springer?" His eyes widened. "Springer. Springer, the droid. Are you...controlling this machine?" The droid nodded again. "Flash. Is he with you?" The droid nodded again. "I can't believe you're here."
Springer was about to make another message, but another droid began to move towards them.
Milieus got back to work, slamming his pick-axe into the wall. "If you want to free us, you need to get these control shackles off of us. All it'll take is one push of the button and everyone wearing them will be dead in seconds." Springer clacked a message at him, as the other droid passed. "I don't know where the control is. The one who sent us here, gave the control to the one in charge. It's probably in the mansion on top of the mountain."
Flash frowned at this, since they had yet to hear anything from Shining and Cadance.
Ever since the pair had entered the mansion, their communications had been cut out. This was likely due to some kind of signal blocker inside the mansion, keeping their gauntlets from connecting to one another.
"I'm starting to get worried," Thorax stated. "They should have realised their coms are being blocked by now. But they haven't left or even tried to leave. What if they've been caught?"
"Don't worry," Stax told them. "Shining and Cadance have been through worse situations than this. If they've been compromised, they'll find a way to get out of there. Or to signal use if they can't." Flash hoped Stax was right. There was no telling what might happen, if Voltus had figured out who they really were under their disguises.
Cadance groaned as she opened her eyes, her numb body's feeling slowly returning.
As it did, she realised she was sitting in some kind of chair. It was made of wood and her arms were cuffed behind her back to the struts, whilst her hooves her tied to the legs. She looked down and sighed in relief, glad that she was still wearing her normal clothes.
She then looked around and realised she was most likely in Voltus' room, as a large bed was in one corner of it. She dreaded to think of the horrible things that happened in this particular room. But she had more important things to think about. Like Shining's location and state.
"Ahh, finally awake." She looked around and saw Voltus, sitting behind her on a desk. "I must admit, you certainly surprised me. Taking Nano's form and identity card. I'm guessing he's still alive and just sleeping somewhere. Did you use the same trick on him that you tried to use on me?" Cadance said nothing, as Voltus stepped around her. "Don't wanna talk? That's fine. I don't need you to talk. I'll just have your boyfriend tell me where the other Jedi are."
"He'll never talk."
"Oh, I doubt that. You Jedi care about each other too much. If torturing him doesn't give me the answers I want, threatening you will certainly do the trick."
Cadance let out a chuckle. "You really think you've won. I don't know where Shining is, but he's gonna escape and come save me. But maybe I'll save him the time and free myself." She started wiggling her fingers, attempting to undo the shackles locking her to the chair. She even considered using her unbound wings to fly up and crash the chair on the ground, shattering it.
Voltus chuckled, as he moved to take an item off his desk. "Impressive little device." Cadance looked around and saw the holo-collar she had been wearing in his hands. "I love my pets to be properly collared. But I've got something even better than this for you to wear."
"What?" Cadance didn't like the sound of that, as Voltus showed her something else. A gray collar. "What is that?"
"A little something my father sent me to test out. It's still a prototype, so it doesn't give me full control. But I'm sure he'll be interested to see how well it works on Jedi." He started walking towards her, Cadance panicking at the sight of it.
"Stay away from me!"
"You know, our client warned us about Jedi. That they should be killed the moment we find them. And I agree, for the most part. But killing such a beautiful specimen would just be a crime. Not when I can control you. I'll settle for just controlling your actions. When the completed collar is made, I'll have control of your mind as well." With that, he placed the collar around Cadance's neck and she cried out as it locked into place and activated.
"Shining," she whispered, "hurry."
Shining groaned, as he felt himself beginning to come around.
His body was still kind of numb, but he was pretty sure he could move it. And as he woke up, he realised his arms were up above his head and his wrists were starting to hurt. And when he looked up, he found he had been chained to a pipe sticking out of the wall and was hanging from it.
His feet were still on the ground and he pushed himself up to a standing position. He shook his head, whilst his wrists continued to hurt despite no longer holding his weight.
He looked around and found he was in some kind of cellar. There were shelves full of food products, along with bottles of alcohol. The place was lit by a single light and besides Shining, was a small sink that the pipes were likely connected to.
He pulled on the chains, trying to get the pipe to break. But whoever made them knew what they were doing and these things weren't breaking, which meant he was stuck.
He then spotted the screws that were holding the pipes in place and smirked before closing his eyes, concentrating on them. Slowly, they began to turn and unscrew themselves from their spots. He slowly loosened them up, all the while praying Cadance was safe. If Voltus had done anything to her, he would make him pay.
Before the screws could be undone, the sound of a door opening made him stop.
He turned to the stairs and spotted someone walking down them, one of the ape-like soldiers appearing with a blaster in hand. "Ahh," the creature stated, "finally awake. Good. Now maybe we can get some info from you. Your lady friend wasn't very informative."
"Where is she?" Shining growled, "what have you done with her?"
"She's fine. But she won't be for long, if one of you doesn't give up some information. We know you're not alone here. Where are the other Jedi? Tell me and your death will be swift. Don't say anything and not only will you feel pain unimaginable, but your girlfriend will be sent off to the Storm King. And trust me, she would rather be dead than become one of his girls. Now, are you gonna tell us anything or not?"
Shining's answer was to pull on the pipe with all his might. And thanks to the unscrewing of the screws, it flew off the wall and slammed right into the ape's head.
"AUGH!" He fell to the ground, as Shining used The Force to pull the blaster from his grasp and point it at him. "We have a jail cell. I always tell them, put the prisoners in the jail cell. But they say nah, just chain them to the wall." Shining fired the blaster and the stun blast knocked him out.
As he slumped to the ground, Shining quickly checked him over and found his keys.
He undid the shackles and began to head up the staircase, blaster in hand as he prepared to battle his way through the mansion in order to save Cadance.
Stax and Thorax continued to stare at the mountain, as the ape guards appeared to be upping the security around the place.
"What's going on?" Thorax asked, as more and more apes appeared looking ready for a fight. They mostly focused the brunt of their forces around the entrance of the mine, making Stax frown.
"I think they know we're here." Thorax looked shocked, as Stax zoomed in using his binoculars. He spotted one of the apes, doing something to the elevator. "They're making sure nobody can escape. This is bad."
"Shining and Cadance must have been found out," Thorax cried. "What do we do?"
"Subtlety's clearly out the window. We're gonna have to go in guns blazing. Flash. Bring The Shooting Star. We're gonna need to blow their ships up before they can get into the air. Thorax and I will do what we can to deal with the guards and get the elevator up and running. Then, we'll work on getting the remote controlling the slave rings."
Thorax gulped, clearly worried about fighting against so many opponents. But he didn't have any other choice. "Let's do this."
"We're on our way. Springer's gonna have to disconnect from the other bot, because I'm not gonna be able to fly and use the weapons at the same time." Stax nodded. For now, they would deal with the enemy and leave the slaves where they were. There was little chance of them getting hurt down there.
"We have to be quick. If Shining and Cadance have been compromised, Voltus will likely try to use them as hostages. We need to take out his forces so he doesn't have much backup. Let's do this thing!" Thorax nodded and the two headed over to their speeders.
The machines powered up and they began to fly across the desert towards the mine, both taking out their Lightsabers and preparing to do battle. They were so fast, the apes didn't have time to notice them and react in time.
As soon as they were close enough, they started attacking the blasters of the guards. They hoped that once their weapons were taken care of, the guards would give up and retreat.
They managed to destroy several blasters as they rode around, only to finally find themselves getting fired at by the remaining weapons. Their speeders were hit and the two were forced to leap off of them, the machines flying wildly until they exploded and sent scrap everywhere.
The apes ran for cover, whilst the Jedi continued to battle any guard that braved the metal rain and fired at them. The two managed to hold their own, but they knew they wouldn't be able to hold on forever. They would need reinforcements eventually. Hopefully, Flash and the others would arrive soon.
Back in the mansion, Shining was making his way through the halls.
Several guards were laid out on the floor, having been zapped by his stun gun. He ran through the many halls and whenever he reached a door, he kicked it open and checked inside. Sometimes, there were guards that he quickly stunned. Other times, there were servants that screamed and begged for their lives.
"Where's Cadance!?" He cried, as one of the girls fell to her knees.
"She's upstairs!" Shining frowned, but left them and headed for the stairs. He ran up as fast as he could, as several guards appeared at the top. They shot at him, but he was able to leap up and over the lasers before firing back at them.
Soon enough, they were all stunned and falling down the stairs. Shining landed and ran through the hallway, stunning three more guards until he reached the room at the end of the hall. And as soon as he kicked the door open, he saw something that was truly shocking.
Voltus was sitting on a comfortable couch on the far side of the room. And sitting in his lap was Cadance.
The omni had an upset look on her face, as Voltus had a hand on his waist. From what he could tell, she wasn't restrained in any way. "Cadance, what's going on?"
"You escaped faster than I expected," Voltus told him. "I didn't even get to play with my new toy. Oh well. We'll have fun after you're dead." Shining pointed the blaster at him, but Cadance was acting as a shield. For some reason, she remained sitting where she was. But the look on her face was one of pleading.
She then raised her head, letting Shining see the collar around her neck. "Let her go."
"I don't think so," Voltus smiled. "In fact, I think I'll have her be the one to end you." He then took something out of his pocket. Cadance's Lightsaber. "Do whatever you need to do to make this work, then kill him." Cadance looked like she was trying to resist, but she took the weapon and removed a power cell from her pocket.
Placing it inside the weapon, she ignited it as she got up off Voltus' lap.
"Cadance," Shining stepped around the room, "fight it."
"I'm trying," Cadance cried. "But I can't." She suddenly shot forward and slashed as Shining, who managed to avoid it at the last moment as Voltus laughed. "You have to-"
"No talking," Voltus stated. "Kill him with your mouth closed." Cadance's lips were sealed tight, a frustrated look appearing on her face as she continued to slash at Shining. All Shining could do was dodge, as Cadance's blade sliced through part of his bed. "Watch it. That wood is imported!"
Shining kept dodging her slashes, as he tried to think of a way to save her.
He turned to Voltus and fired his stun blaster at him, the satyr jumping up as the blast hit his couch. "HEY!" He cried, as his couch was burned. "I loved that couch." He quickly moved, so that Cadance was between him and Shining. "Kill him already!"
Shining kept dodging Cadance's attacks, but he quickly found himself getting backed into a corner. Cadance was giving him a look, her eyes moving down towards his blaster. Was she telling him to stun her?
Shining wasn't sure he could do that, but he also couldn't protect himself much longer. But before he could try, he noticed something sticking out of Voltus' pocket. His Lightsaber.
As he reached the corner, he held a hand out and the sword flew out of the satyr's pocket. "NO!" He cried, as the blade landed in Shining's grasp and ignited. He managed to swing it around at the very last minute, blocking Cadance's attack but still getting overpowered since one hand was holding his blaster.
He dropped the weapon and grabbed his own, pushing back against Cadance and managing to throw her away before charging at Voltus.
"WOW!" He pulled out his blaster and fired, but Shining deflected the attacks until he reached him. He then slashed the blaster in half and thrust his hand into Voltus' chest, causing him to be sent flying backwards. He crashed into the wall and cried out in pain, the impact knocking something out of his pocket.
Shining noticed this and saw it was some kind of remote, which he quickly picked up as Voltus moaned. He was about to tell Cadance to get up, but Shining was in front of him before he could do anything. "Tell her to stop attacking." The Lightsaber was pointed at his chest and he realised Shining just needed to push a few inches to do unthinkable damage.
"Stop attacking!" Cadance froze, as Shining glared at him.
"How do we remove the collar? I'm assuming you can't just take it off."
Voltus sighed. "You have what you need to take it off in your hand." Shining raised an eyebrow, as he looked over at the remote he had picked up. "Just type in the collar's frequency and hit the off button." Shining couldn't detect any deceit, making him think this really was how he freed Cadance.
"What's the frequency?"
Voltus growled. "You really think you're gonna get that info out of me? Do you even think you're gonna get out of this place alive? The second you step out of this mansion, my guards outside will realise you don't belong here. I don't care how strong you are. There's no way you'll get out of here alive. I have a ton of ships waiting outside. Even if you use Nano's speeder, they'll chase after you and blow you to smithereens."
Shining frowned. He was right. He and Cadance were in serious trouble. With the holo-collars offline, they couldn't walk out of there. And Voltus had likely informed the rest of his guards about them. They were surrounded on all sides and had no way to escape.
"You're not gonna hurt me," Voltus told him. "I'm your only way out of here. You need me alive." Shining glared at him, wishing he had a reason to cut an arm or two off.
But suddenly, a massive explosion shook the mansion. It was coming from outside, as something blew up out there. The explosion caught Shining's attention for a moment and as he looked out the window, he saw The Shooting Star.
The ship flew around the mountain and fired at all the ships currently on the desert floor, several of which looked like they were packing some serious firepower.
But they wouldn't get to use it, as Flash and Springer blew them all to bits. They then flew around to the mine entrance, where Stax and Thorax were still battling against the guards on the ground.
Stax swung his Lightsaber around with a single arm, his real one, using it to cut through the guards' weapons and leaving them with no way to fight back. And if any tried to attack him without a weapon, they were met with a rather interesting surprise. Stax's robotic arm had transformed, the hand having folded apart to reveal some kind of laser blaster.
The ones that got too close found themselves getting hit by the laser, crying out as they were zapped by it before crumbling to the ground. They would live, but not be able to move for several hours.
Thorax didn't have a laser blaster and was forced to fly above the ape-like guards, his weak wings already straining as they kept him safe in the air. And the few guards that still had their blasters, fired at him. But he deflected them into the disarmed guards, stunning them as well.
"Thorax!" Flash's voice called out, "I'm coming around. You're looking tired, so come take over firing the weapons on the ship." Thorax didn't argue and as The Shooting Star flew around the mountain, the insectoid Jedi flew towards it.
The loading ramp descended and Flash was standing there, Thorax flying over before the pair high-fived. Flash then leaned over the edge and fell off the ramp, dropping a few hundred feet like a missile.
The guards saw him falling and some tried to fire at him, but Flash managed to shift and roll through the air before drawing his Lightsaber. He deflected a blast and it exploded in front of him, the shockwave slowing him down as he approached the ground. And soon enough, he slammed his feet into the sand and slid to a stop whilst cutting through several more blasters.
Thorax ran into the ship and as Springer flew around, the bug Jedi arrived at the asteroid blasters and powered them back up. Just in time, as several ships were flying towards the mountain. It seemed someone had called in the cavalry.
The Shooting Star flew towards them and the ships started firing, Springer doing a flip to avoid getting hit as Thorax fired. One of the ships was quickly disabled and crashed into the desert, sliding across the sand and coming to a stop as the others continued the fight. But Springer and Thorax were able to swing around fire at them, disabling the weapons and engines.
Back inside, Shining smiled at Voltus. "Looks like we won't have to worry about getting out of here. Now, the frequency."
Voltus growled, but gave him the control frequency. Shining quickly typed that frequency in and hit the stop button, causing Cadance's collar to beep before coming off. Cadance gasped, as she finally had control of her body again.
She quickly ripped the collar off and used her Lightsaber to cut it to pieces, then rushed over to Voltus with her blade ready to cut some important bits off of him. "Give me one good reason to spare you."
"Um..." Voltus gulped, "I'm...full of info. I might know something you need to find out. I could be a valuable resource."
Shining sighed. "Unfortunately, he's right. We need him alive." Voltus sighed, as Shining's sword almost touched his neck. "But if you try anything, I won't hesitate to make you wish you were never born." Voltus growled.
"If anything happens to me, my father will make you regret it. He can afford to hire the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. He won't stop until you're hanging from his wall, a warning to all those that try and cross him."
"He can try," Cadance stated. "But we can handle anything a crime boss throws at us. Now get up." Voltus stood up and as they made their way towards the exit, Shining summoned the stun blaster he had dropped earlier.
They began to walk through the mansion, the guards there still stunned and unable to do anything to save their boss. They headed downstairs and as they did, servants crept out from their hiding spots. "What are you going to do with him?"
"Take him to Canterlot," Shining stated. "Shikoya is part of the republic and slavery is illegal in the republic. He'll be questioned and then, he's going to jail for the rest of his miserable life." Voltus frowned, clearly not liking that idea.
"What about us?" One of the girls asked. "With him gone, we'll be stuck here. You have any idea what these guards might do to us once their leader is out of the way. And even if they don't, we might be sent to the Storm King." All the girls looked terrified at this thought, whilst Shining and Cadance shared a look.
"We can take you away from here. You can come with us to Canterlot. Once there, we can help you decide where to go or what to do." The girl's fears were suddenly replaced with hope, the lot of them smiling whilst Voltus frowned.
But before any of the girls could answer, he rushed forward away from Shining's blade.
Shining's eyes widened, realising he had been distracted. Before he could catch up with Voltus, the satyr alien grabbed one of the girls. She screamed, as he held her tight and held her head in his meaty hand. "One wrong move and I snap her neck like a twig." The girls looked horrified, whilst the Jedi glared at him. He slowly stepped backwards, clearly planning to leave the building. "Now, I'm walking out of here. And if you try anything..." He didn't need to finish the sentence.
"Coward," Cadance told him. "You won't get away with this."
"Only one way to find out if you're right." Shining and Cadance tried to think of a way to save the girl, but there was no way to do it that didn't put her at risk. This was bad.
Down on the ground, Flash and Stax stood back to back.
The guards had all been disarmed and had no way of fighting them. Several tried to rush the pair, but they both used The Force to throw them all backwards before Stax shot his stunner at a few more. It was clear they were the ones in control of the situation, with the guards still standing seeing no other way of winning this fight.
Up in the ship, Thorax and Springer had one final ship to deal with. But that ship was hot on their tail and Thorax couldn't get a clean shot. The ship was powering up an extra powerful shot, which Thorax called out to Springer to dodge.
The robotic dog made the ship barrel-roll the moment the opposing vessel fired, the energy blast barely missing the Shooting Star. And instead, it happened to slam into the side of the mountain.
Suddenly, the entire mansion shook and Voltus lost his balance.
Luckily, he didn't have a good hold on the girl's head so his hand slipped off it. Cadance and Shining didn't hesitate to use this chance, Cadance grabbing Voltus' other arm with The Force and pulling it away before Shining performed a Force Shove on the satyr.
"AUGH!" Voltus was sent flying back away from the girl, whilst the others made sure to stay away from him so he didn't use them as a hostage.
Voltus struck the ground and groaned, as Shining and Cadance ran towards him. He tried to get up, but Shining had forced him to the ground and wouldn't let him up. However, there was something beside him that Shining and Cadance hadn't noticed.
Before they could stop him, he grabbed a stun blaster off the ground and fired.
The Jedi were forced to dodge this, but this caused Shining to lose his grip on the satyr. Voltus quickly rolled to his feet and ran for the door, randomly firing behind him. He made for the door, hoping to find a way to escape the Jedi. Maybe one of his ships was still operational.
Outside, Springer dodged another blast from the ship and tried to find a way to get it in Thorax's sights.
He dodged left. Dodged right. Did a barrel roll to the side, all the while Thorax tried to fire back at the ship. He kept missing, the other ship able to avoid all of the blasts. And as it began to charge up its weapon again, Thorax noticed the ship was remaining perfectly still.
Springer moved the ship into position and Thorax fired, the other ship not moving to avoid it. Instead, it fired its own super powerful laser. That laser destroyed the Shooting Star's blasts and almost hit them, Springer barely managing to avoid getting hit.
Thorax almost threw up with the insane move Springer pulled, but an idea formed in his head. "Springer, I might have a way to get that thing off our tail."
"I'm all ears!" Springer cried, as the ship prepared to fire again.
"Cut the propulsion, now!" Springer didn't know what he was talking about, but did as instructed and killed their forwards engines, causing the ship to lose a lot of its speed. This allowed the other ship to shoot ahead and thanks to the two's position, it flew right over them.
Despite no longer having a target, the ship's weapon fired forward and hit nothing. As it did, the Shooting Star flew above it and Thorax unleashed multiple shoots into its engines.
The whole thing exploded and the ship fell towards the desert, crashing into the sand. "Alright!" Springer cheered. "How'd you know that would work?"
"They were funnelling most of their power into the weapon when it charged. Everything except the forward propulsion was offline whilst it charged. And since the weapon's spin radius was about three thirty degrees, I realised the only spot it had defenceless was its backside.
"Nice catch. Now let's get back to the others. Hopefully, they're all okay." The Shooting Star spun around and flew back towards the mountain, which was still suffering from the earlier blast.
Large sections of the mountain's side had been destroyed by the blast. And even more of it was beginning to break apart.
At the mansion, Voltus ran out of the building and looked around. There were no guards outside and all the speeders were gone. Even Nano's speeder was missing, having been blown apart by the earlier blast.
With the Jedi on his tail, he turned to run around the back of the mansion. He hoped to find something that could help him, or possibly a route down to join with his remaining guards, but that plan was quickly shot in the foot.
As he ran around the back, he found a large portion of the mountain behind the mansion was missing. Blasted away by whatever had struck the mansion. There was now a large section of the place just gone, with a drop roughly ten meters down.
He growled and turned to go back the way he came, but he stopped when Shining and Cadance could be seen.
The two Jedi stood there, ready to fight. Voltus prepared his blaster, whilst praying for some way out of this. That prayer appeared to be answered, when the mountain shook. The rock that made it up had been destabilised and was beginning to break apart.
The girls that had been in the mansion screamed, wanting to get off the mountain. But there was no guarantee they could get off in time.
Then, Cadance noticed a ship approaching and smiled before opening her coms. "Cadance to The Shooting Star. Are you receiving me?"
"Cadance!" Springer replied, "you're okay! Thank goodness. We lost contact when you entered the mansion. Are you alright?"
"We'll be fine once we're off this mountain. It's starting to break apart. We're gonna need a pick up."
"We're on our way." Suddenly, Voltus started firing his blaster at them. Shining quickly blocked it and stood in front of Cadance, looking ready to end this fight.
"Cadance, you help the girl onto the ship. You might need to fly them off." Cadance nodded and the girls ran back around the mansion, whilst Shining and Voltus stared at each other. "It doesn't have to be this way. Drop your weapon and you can escape this on our ship."
"Chained up, awaiting questioning and trials, I'll bet." Voltus raised his blaster again. "Thanks. But I'd rather kill you and take that ship for myself." He started firing and Shining ran forward, blocking and dodging the shots with ease. He then started slashing at the satyr, who barely managed to avoid getting his head cut off as he threw several kicks in Shining's direction.
Shining easily avoided them all and whenever Voltus tried to get past him, he jumped to block his escape and tried to cut him.
The two seemed to be at a stalemate, with Voltus unable to escape him and Shining unable to get the hit he needed to stop the fight. They were forced to continue the dance, all the while the mountain shook and broke apart.
As this was happening, The Shooting Star flew up beside the mountain and hovered right next to it. The loading ramp lowered and Thorax stepped out, spotting Cadance and the girls whilst gesturing for them to get on.
The women glanced down at the gap between the mountain and the ship. Some ran forward and leapt over the gap, easily clearing the gap and climbing up into the ship. But others were too afraid and needed the Jedi to help them over, as parts of the mountain began to break off and fall towards the desert below.
On the ground, Flash and Stax saw the mountain beginning to crumble.
The guards started running at this, none wanting to risk getting crushed. But Flash and Stax had to stay where they were. "We can't let any of those rocks crash down on the elevator!" Stax started fiddling with his arm blaster. "If even one of them damages the lift, those prisoners will be trapped down there forever!"
Flash asked what they could possibly do, only for Stax to raise his arm blaster and fire.
The laser that shot out of it struck the rock falling towards them, the whole thing getting blown into dust. "Wow." Flash had no idea his arm packed such a wallop. But instead of firing at the next one, Stax used The Force and pushed it away.
Realising that such a blast probably drained a lot of power from the arm, Flash nodded and used The Force as well. He pushed another rock into one next to it, shoving them both away from the elevator. But they couldn't do this forever. They needed the Shooting Star's blasters to destroy the rocks, but it was obviously busy right now.
Shining continued to fight against Voltus, keeping him in place and avoiding the stun blaster.
"RAAAAAH!" Voltus cried in frustration, firing multiple shots at random. These shots missed Shining by a mile and when they hit the ground, they caused the weakened rock to break apart even more. The mountain kept shaking and his mansion was beginning to crumple apart.
At one point, Shining leapt back and spotted the girls boarding the Shooting Star. There were only a few left. Once they were safe, Shining wouldn't have to worry about Voltus getting by him.
The satyr roared again and charged forward, but Shining used The Force to push him back all the way to the edge of the mountain's footing. More of the rock fell away from it, whilst parts of the top began to pull away from one another.
Shining almost lost his footing and Voltus was unable to pick himself up. "Voltus!" He cried, "this place won't last much longer. We need to get out of here. Give up already!"
"Never!" Voltus cried, only for the mansion to fall apart and collapse towards him.
Shining gasped and tried to pull Voltus clear, but part of the rock broke off beneath his hooves. He cried out and fell, managing to grab hold of the edge with one hand. Meanwhile, Voltus ran to try and get out from below the collapsing mansion. But his footing also broke away and he fell over the edge as well.
He barely managed to grab onto the side as well, both he and Shining letting out grunts as they tried to pull themselves up.
Shining had extinguished his sword and attached it to his side, allowing him to use both hands to pull himself up. But the rock was still shaking and he could feel his grip lessening. At any moment, they would both fall and be lost in the rocks crumbling off the mountain.
But at that moment, the last girl had gotten onto the Shooting Star and Cadance looked over to Shining. When she saw he was nowhere in sight, she took to the air and flew around the collapsing mansion. And when she saw what was happening, she gasped.
"Shining!" He looked up and saw her flying towards him, "hold on!" She flew as fast as she could, whilst he did his best to keep himself hanging on. But Voltus saw her and had other ideas.
"If I'm going down, you two are joining me!" He had managed to hold onto his stun blaster and fired at Cadance, the omni Jedi barely managing to dodge them. But this kept her from getting closer, meaning Shining had to hold on longer.
But before he lost his grip, the rock Voltus held onto broke off. The satyr roared as he fell off the edge of the mountain, along with several sections of the rock. He disappeared into a cloud of dust, Shining watching him vanish with wide-eyes.
And as The Shooting Star swerved around the mountain, the rock he held onto broke off.
"SHINING!" Cadance cried, as she saw him fall down into the dust cloud. She tucked in her wings and dived in after him, as Thorax, Springer and the girls watched in terror.
They waited and feared the worst, as the cloud continued to show no signs of them. But then, just as they were about to give up, something shot out of the smoke. Cadance, Shining gripping her arms as she pulled him up.
Both panted, Shining in terror and Cadance in the strain of carrying them both. They both glanced back and saw the mansion and the top of the mountain collapse, whilst The Shooting Star flew closer to them. Cadance threw Shining into the loading ramp and landed, falling to the ground exhausted.
She then looked up and the pair stared at one another, both smiling as they mentally thanked the other for saving each other.
"Hang on!" Springer cried from the cockpit, as the ship suddenly barrelled around to dive down towards the entrance of the mine. This sent everyone spinning and suddenly, Shining found himself slamming into a wall with Cadance falling on top of him. The pair stared at each other, feeling the heat rising to their faces.
Flash and Stax were both exhausted, as Stax used the last of his arm's power to destroy a large boulder. But there were still several more falling towards them.
Flash tried to push them away, but the rock was just too big.
He fell to his knees, exhausted. Stax sighed, his arm going dead. They knew they should move out of the way, but the thought of abandoning those trapped below them made them both stay where they were.
Stax placed his real hand on Flash's shoulder. "You did good, kid." Flash smiled at him, as they looked up at the approaching rock.
But before it could crush them, the Shooting Star appeared right above them. Thorax was up at the top gun, shooting the lasers as fast as he could. The beams flew up and disintegrated the giant boulder, along with the rocks above it. The ship kept firing, destroying anything that threatened to crush the elevator and trap those trapped inside.
Finally, the last rock was destroyed and the rest of the mountain had crashed onto the other side. The dust and sand from the collapsing mountain filled the air, Flash and Stax needing to cover their mouths to keep from choking. They had to rush to the ship in order to get inside and not choke to death.
They waited for the dust sand to finally settle, using the Shooting Star to shield the elevator so it wasn't buried. When the storm finally died down, everyone got out of the ship and checked the place out.
Springer reconnected to his other droid, finding that the slaves below the mountain had been worried something bad had happened. All the other droids had gone dead, allowing the slaves to start working on getting their shackles off. The control manacles had all miraculously unlocked before the droids died, the others realising it had happened when Shining had freed Cadance from her collar.
Once the sandstorm was over, Flash managed to get the elevator working again and the slaves began to file out of the mine. They were all armed with their shovels and pickaxes, ready to fight any of their captives still around. Luckily, Stax had foreseen this and they had all moved to a safe distance.
Once the slaves calmed down, they headed back to them and announced they were the ones that had saved them. Many of the slaves didn't believe them, until Milieus spotted Flash and ran over to him. Flash and he hugged, the rest of his friends from the forest moon happily reuniting with them and Springer. That seemed to calm the others down, Stax promising to get them all off the planet.
Unfortunately, the Shooting Star wasn't big enough to accommodate that many people.
"I'll be staying here with them," Stax announced as they prepared to leave with as many as they could carry. The girls from Voltus' mansion and the slaves given to him by the Sith, would be heading back with the Jedi. They hoped at least one of them would know how they could find where the Sith were located. And if not, they would at least get to return to their families.
"We'll send a ship as soon as we get back," Cadance stated. "These people will be sent anywhere they wish to go in republic space. Hopefully, they have homes they can return to." Stax nodded, as they looked over the destroyed mountain. "You think there's a chance he survived?"
"I doubt it," Stax stated. "It's a miracle you two survived. But you need to be careful." Shining and Cadance frowned. "You might not have meant it, but you caused the death of the Storm King's son. He won't just forget about this. I've heard about what he's done to those that have crossed him. If he finds out you were there when his son died, he'll seek revenge."
"I understand," Shining nodded as he turned back to the ship. "If he tries anything, we'll be ready." Cadance nodded, as they boarded their ship. They headed to the cockpit, as Flash and Springer were busy catching up with their old friends.
The ship began to take off, Shining glancing out the window at Stax. The pair smirked at one another before the ship flew up and out of the atmosphere, with Flash finally arriving at the cockpit and sitting behind Shining.
Thorax turned to him. "So, how'd you enjoy being back in your old stomping ground?"
"The place is as bad as I remember it," Flash stated. "But I guess it did reunite me with some of my old friends."
"Do they know anything about where the Sith might be?" Cadance asked, but Flash shook his head.
"No. When they were captured, they were stunned and woke up in a cell on a ship. When they were transferred, they were kept in cages with no windows. They went to some kind of dead planet, but they didn't get a look at it from orbit. And apparently, when they were sent here, they were also moved in the boxes. They had no idea where in the galaxy they were."
"That's disappointing," Shining frowned. "But even if they can't help us find the Sith, let's be thankful we managed to get them out of there."
"Yeah," Flash nodded. But then he frowned. "But there's still more of them out there. Milieus said there were lots of people taken prisoner on the forest moon. They were all sent to the same place, but only a few of them were brought here. The others are still being held by The Sith."
"We'll find them," Shining assured him. "The Sith can't hide forever. When we find them, we'll take them down and free everyone they ever captured." Cadance and Thorax nodded, making Flash smile. He was glad that he had the Jedi's support. No matter where his friends were, he would find them and free them. And he would make the ones that hurt them pay.
Armalum walked through the dark corridors of Sombra's castle.
He approached the doors to the throne room and pushed them open, stepping in to find Sombra on his throne. The Sith lord did not look happy. "You summoned me, Lord Sombra?"
"The mine you recently visited, has been destroyed. And Voltus is dead." If Armalum had a face that could move, surprise would have been on it. "I sensed it through The Force. The Jedi were responsible. I don't know how they discovered the mine's location, but they managed to destroy it and killed Voltus."
"I see." Armalum nodded. "Honestly, Voltus is no big loss. I always sensed he was of little importance. But the mine is another story. Shikoya has the largest deposit of Vack Stone we've been able to locate so far. Not being able to mine it there is...troubling."
"True. But it's not the only place with the stone. I will need you to redouble your efforts to find more."
"I won't rest until I find it," Armalum nodded. "But might I ask, how close are we to completing the construction?"
"Actually, closer than you think. That last shipment of Vack Stone was rather strong. We were able to refine it into a large amount of the material we needed. If we can find another deposit of the same quality, we should have the gate complete in no time at all. Then, it'll just be a matter of getting the keys."
"And how is Solara doing in that regard? Did her last transmission have any good news?" He saw a look of annoyance on Sombra's face, the droid fearing he had upset him by asking.
"Her last transmission was...lacking. She's either having a hard time getting what she needs, or she's intentionally stalling on retrieving the key."
Armalum nodded. "You think the Jedi are getting to her?"
"I don't know. If they are, she will come to regret it. I've put too much work into her, to let the Jedi get their clutches on her. She belongs to me and she will always belong to me, until the day I die."
Armalum chuckled. "Is this what they call, tough love?"
Sombra smiled. "What kind of father would I be, if I didn't discipline my child when she does something she's not supposed to?" He looked up at the ceiling, as the memories of training Solara rang in his head. All those years of teaching her to become the ultimate Sith would not be wasted. Even if he had to go to Canterlot and get her himself. She would remain his valuable pawn.
Back on Canterlot, the team had returned and were giving their report.
"Vack Stone?" Luna frowned, as the Council looked over the info Shining had managed to gather before their cover was blown. "I've never heard of such a thing?" He turned to Celestia, "sister?"
"I've never heard of it either," Celestia read through the reports. "But if the Sith want it, it must be important."
Skybreaker turned to Flash. "You lived on Shikoya. Ever hear anyone talk about this stuff?" Flash crossed his arms, obviously trying to think of an answer. But then, he shook his head.
"Sorry. Whatever this stuff is, I never heard about it. Once I got to Klugetown, I stayed there the whole time until I went to save my friends and met Shining. Whatever this rock stuff is, nobody I knew had anything to do with it."
"Unfortunate," Celestia stated. "We need to figure out what the Sith want with it. It might be important to understanding their plan."
"I thought we already knew of the plan?" Another master replied. "That key they have is their plan, is it not. This rock must be connected to that."
"That may be a possibility," Celestia nodded. "But you don't know Sombra. His plans were never so straight forward. If he had a goal, he would make several plans to achieve that goal. This rock may be connected to the plan he has with the relics. But it might be part of an entirely different plan, for if their objective with the relic is thwarted."
Luna sighed. "So much is unknown. We can't hope to try and stop whatever they're doing until we know what they actually want to do. Until then, we're stuck reacting to whatever they do. We need more info in order to perform a counter offensive."
Celestia nodded, as she turned back to Shining and Cadance. "How are the hostages you managed to free?"
"They're okay," Cadance replied. "I gave them all a check up on the way back. Aside from being forced to work beyond what their bodies can take and being underfed, they're otherwise unharmed. Some rest, food and possibly a bit of therapy should be enough to help them fully recover."
"I see," Celestia seemed to be thinking for a moment. But then she shook her head.
"What are you thinking?" Luna asked, everyone turning to the grand master.
"Something I wouldn't think of doing under normal circumstances. I definitely won't do it to someone who's been through so much. It wouldn't be right."
"Do what?" Flash asked, as Celestia sighed.
"As you know, The Force allows the wielder to do many amazing things. This includes connecting to another's mind, allowing us to make suggestions that a weak mind will easily accept and obey. But another thing we can do, is look into the memories of those we connect with."
"We can read minds?" Flash asked. "Why have I never heard of this?" He turned to Shining, who seemed just as surprised as him.
"It's a highly advanced technique," Celestia replied. "And not one I enjoy using. Invading someone's mind against their will, making them relive memories so we can see them as well, goes against what the Jedi promise to protect. If the target does not wish us to see anything and fights back, the struggle could cause serious damage to their psyche."
"Yeah, that does sound bad." Flash then realised something. "But what if it's not an invasion? What if the target lets you into their mind? If they don't fight you and let you see their memories, would that be okay?"
Celestia hummed. "I guess it's possible. But your friends have been through a lot. Would they really be willing to relive it?"
"When I told them I would find the rest of our friends that were taken, they promised to help in any way they could. They might be hesitant, but it couldn't hurt to ask them." Celestia nodded, knowing it was a good idea.
"Very well. I'll ask them. But if they say no, I won't force them to undergo the reading." They all nodded, knowing that was the right thing to do. Hopefully, one of them would be willing to help them find the truth and have information the Jedi could use to find and stop the Sith.
There was no telling what madness those fools would try next. They needed to be stopped once and for all.
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Good news! They rescues the slaves and Voltus is dead!
Bad News! They now have to deal with the Storm King for getting his son killed.
Anyway, for now, they finally stopped that mining operation for good.
See you on next week!
So many things, and Sombra's plan is in motion. For the engines of fate are soon in their favor
Yes! Another successful mission. Shining and Cadance did a great job working together and saving each other. I'm just glad that Shining got that collar off of Cadance before Voltus did anything too bad to her, since apparently all he had time to do was force her to sit in his lap. Though his death will definitely anger his father the Storm King. Since the Sith already know he's dead, I bet they can easily tell him the Jedi killed his son.
It was good that Flash and the others managed to save all the slaves and servant girls. Hopefully, whatever Celestia goes looking for inside their minds can help them find something about the Sith. Part of me is wondering though, what if they somehow ended reading Sunset's mind? I know it sounds unlikely, but what if somehow accidentally it happens and they find out she's lying to them?
Speaking of Sunset, Sombra referred to himself as her father. I don't know how, but given we know she shares half of Celestia's DNA, my guess is that must make her the "mother". I wonder if it is possible that Sombra created Sunset by combining his and Celestia's DNA? I'm not sure if that technically would make her a clone or some other term though.
Dang! I wonder what is happening on Sunset's end of the story.