Chapter 14: Aggressive Negotiations

The doors to the exit of the castle closed.

"THOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE! THOU SHALT FACE JUSTICE FOR THEIR CRIMES!" Luna shouted in the royal canterlot voice.

"I haven't even killed anyone though!" OOM-340 exclaimed. He was lying though, he had shot a few clones in his operational life, but, they were vile abominations, right? His very purpose for existing!Besides, he had orders… and they were shooting back!

The ponies and dragons entered combative positions. OOM-340 and his guards stood up, raising their blasters.

"Look, I don't want to do thi-" he began before a yellow aura surrounded his body and he began to float in the air. He looked up to see an aura of the same color surrounding Celestia's horn. He tried to aim his E-5 Blaster Rifle at her, only to discover it was not longer in his hand, instead it was on the floor.

"Guards! Help!" He cried

"Roger Roger!" His guards said, pointing their blasters at the Celestia and prepared to open fire.

And then all hell broke loose…

The 1 of Droids was knocked backwards by a blast of purple magic from Twilight. The other turned to fire at her, only to have his blaster yanked from his hand by magic.

"Surrender!" Twilight demanded

"I'm not programmed to surrender!" The Droid said and attempted picked up OOM-340s dropped blaster, only to be hit by another blast of magic, but this time it originated from Luna, and his blew his right arm clean off

"OW!" It shouted, as sparks began to spray it from its severed limb

"I'll cover you!" Said his fellow guard as it had finally stood back up

The now one-armed droid charged forward to attempt a melee attack, only to be have its head blown off by a magical shot from Twilight.

"Uh oh…" said the other Droid, moments before it met the same fate, it's decapitated body stumbling backwards firing off a few shots before collapsing.

OOM-340 was left suspended in mid-air, holding his hands up.

"Don't shoot! I'm… I'm the commander but don't shoot!

Celestia stood there a moment staring him down, before a bunch of padlocked chains, handcuffs and ankle cuffs appeared around him, retraining his movement before he was dropped to the floor.

"Ow… I can move."

Ember facepalmed

"That's the point you buckethead!"

"Hey! That's not nice!"

"Neither is shooting at ponies!" Rainbow Dash shouted "you spy!"

"Spy? I'm not a spy!" He exclaimed

"Uh, yeah you are!" Dash said "you were sent here to get information behind everypony's backs!"

"No, I'm… Okay when you put it like that I guess I am…" he admitted

They all walked up to OOM-340, who was now restrained and laying on the floor.

"Thou shalt tell us thou's secrets!" Luna demanded

"Okay alright! Just don't hurt me!"

"So "Roger", if that even is your real name, why don't you start with why you were really sent here?" Celestia said

"Well, my real designation is actually OOM-340. I'm an OOM Series Battle Droid manufactured by Baktoid Combat Automata. I was sent here by my Commander to investigate your species to see if we could make an agreement with you. That didn't work…"

"I knew it! I knew you were a spy!" Spike shouted "You were talking to that guy last night, but how?"

OOM-340 decided to play dumb.

"I don't remember."

"Stop lying!" Luna demanded

"Okay I talked over a radio!"

"Next, where are your ships?"

"In orbit somewhere I don't know!"

"Where can we find this "Kraken"?"

"On the command ship! Oh Krakens gonna scrap me…"

"Thank you for being so cooperative, now, let's get you locked up!" Twilight said, before a metal barred cage appeared around OOM-340

"Oooohhh…" he groaned "come on I can't even move!"

Kraken opened communications with the other Tactical Droids under his command, TA-175, TJ-912, and TF-1726.

"Attention, diplomacy has failed between the Confederacy and the Ponies. Ponies are to be considered hostiles. Eliminate them on sight.

"Yes sir." They all responded in unison.

"I calculate that we should orbitally bombard the Dragon Lands" suggested TA-175.

"A worthy suggestion, but I feel we should attempt to free out OOM Commander first from his imprisonment.

"He only a simple Battle Droid" responds TA-175 "he is easily replaceable. Why do you pity him?"

"It is not hom that matters, rather it is is memory. The droid contains valuable information on the Ponies and it would be wise to fully analyze his memory banks. He is also a security risk as they could potentially crack all data in his mind."

"Why not simply destroy him then?" TF-1726 replied

"I am aware of your lack of consideration for our troops" Kraken said "but we currently are cut off from resupply and it would be wise to preserve our forces. Defeating the Ponies will take… time.

"I agree with your reasoning sir." Said TJ-912

"I do not agree" said TF-1726 "I calculate it to be a waste of time. How can you still be sure he still is functional?"

"I do not care for your opinions, I am in command and I calculate a rescue operation is the best initial act. I am still reading his comm signal indicating he is still operational but he is not responding."

"What are your orders, sir?" TA-175 asked

"Prepare a strike team of Commando Droids and other units. We rescue the droid tonight."

"Yes sir."

The Mane, the Princesses and Ember all stood in a circle, discussing what the best course of action was.

"That machine, Kraken, their leader, he's a war machine, build to lead his forces in their barbaric attacks. Trying to take them head on would not be wise." Celestia began

"I could rally the Dragons to fight them, they certainly can't be fireproof if their metal." Ember added

"Are you sure you want to bring them into this?" Twilight asked "they could be killed!"

"Dragons never stand down from a challenge, besides, I'm your friend, and isn't that the sort of thing friends do?"

Luna walked into the the room.

"Sister, We have ordered a detachment of the Royal Guard here to help protect the town. We fear Ponyville may be attacked."

"Why would somepony attack Ponyville? We're just a small village!" Fluttershy squeaked

"We're all here right now, and their friend is here. If they have any sense of value for their comrade, they'll try to rescue him and take us out at the same time" Twilight said "shouldn't you two get back to Canterlot? You'll be safer there. If something happens to you, Equestria could fall!"

"We could never abandon our subjects!" Luna declared

"Luna and I are staying. We're in this together." Celestia said, with a friendly smile.

"If somepony wants to get to Ponyville, they'll have to get through us first!" Rainbow Dash said "Now who's ready to kick some robo-flank?"

"Easy there partner" Applejack said "we don't know what all their packin', they may have something much worse than just those 3."

"Applejack is right," Celestia said "no military force would use only one kind of unit. We must prepare for all they can do. Get the citizens to safety, I will oversee the preparations."

Nighttime fell in Equestria as the time came for Luna to raise the moon. A full moon shone across the land, making it a bright night. Around the edge of Ponyville, various fortifications were set up. Carts, makeshift barricades, troops and trenches were set up to keep out the Droids. Nothing would break through in one piece.

Leading the Royal Guard, Shining Armor had arrived, reporting to Princess Celestia that all was in place.

"The guard is prepared for anything those tin-cans throw at us your highness."

"Good Shining, keep an eye of for them."

"Yes your highness!"

Deep within the Everfree Forest, the Separatist Landing force prepared their assault.

TA-175 had prepared his troop choices. He decided to bring 2 Battalions of B1s as an initial charge, with a Battalion of B2s to back them up. Commando Droids would attack from the sides and attempt to sneak past their defenses. There would be support from the edge of the forest from 3 AATs, one of which would be carrying TA-175 into battle. He calculated that the probability of the operation being successful was 7/10. He would've gone full force, but he needed defense at the base and Kraken had ordered him to preserve his troops.

TA-175 stood in front of the Squad of BX-Series Commando Droids, briefing them on the their mission.

"Captain, you and your squad are to infiltrate the villages defense perimeter and free OOM-340. Return him operational if possible."

"Yes sir." The Commando Droid Captain, who had white markings distinguishing him from his black plated comrades, and a Vibrosword attached to his back.

"Sir the troops are all ready to go" an OOM Commander informed TA-175.

"Prepare to move at once" he said walking up the boarding ramp of his AAT.