//------------------------------// // What Lies Beneath // Story: Secrets of the Darkness // by Silent Running //------------------------------// Chapter One: What Lies Beneath -------------------------------------- “So there’s your plan Commander, pretty straight forward if I do say so myself.” Admiral Becker stood at the head of the table, around him only a few souls sat with a look of incredulous uncertainty. “So let me get this straight sir, you want the Tyrant Sword to probe the surface of a barren moon for something we aren’t even sure is there? Are you sure the sensors are actually fixed?” Becker smirked, “Commander, have I ever steered you wrong? And why would your CO do something as foolish as deploy one of our best assets on a wild goose chase?” Becker’s deadpan attitude about the entire thing could only garner chuckles from the other people sitting at the table. “Nice Carson, there you go questioning the Admiral again.” Jack Silverback, a grizzled veteran who had seen far more than his share of operations these past many decades couldn’t help but smirk at the way events were unfolding. Who would have thought the crew of one of the USC’s premier fighting vessels would find itself playing explorers and diplomats far from home and far from any known USC space? Admiral Becker however was far more composed when dealing with the hotheaded commander who only recently had been given command of the USS Tyrant Sword. Compared to the Vector, the Tyrant Sword is a small assault cruiser amongst many inside the confines of the Vector; remarkable for being completely unremarkable. “Silverback, that’s enough. You’ll have your moment to shine soon, I promise. Carson, we’ve known each other for how long? Come on, we have work to do, I need you on board for this.” Becker sighed long and deep as he looked out the digital glass window. Below them was this new planet. It was so familiar yet so alien at the same time. Home to the land of “Equestria”, if he remembered correctly, inhabited by sapient quadrupeds who were still in a pre-industrial stage of development. “Truth be told there are so many unknown variables right now. We are far from anything and we have been out here puttering about looking for something that is not there. Now we are back making small talk with a race of sentient ‘ponies’ who have skills beyond what should be considered logical and acceptable... How long has it been since we made first contact?” “Six months sir, that sounds right,” a much younger female voice chimed in from the back corner of the table. There a young Squad Commander assigned to the Grid-Omega Raider division who also happened to be a ranking field officer on the Tyrant Sword was sitting. Up until this point she might as well have been completely invisible to the others. The three men who were around her had decades of experience and had served in countless campaigns together. Ultimately it was more than mere chance that had united them all again on the Vector. “Can someone please remind me why the Raider is here?” Silverback beginning to show serious impatience managed to blurt out. Several eyebrows raised at the sudden angry outburst from Silverback. They were not amused. “Because sir, I requested her presence considering she will be leading this whole thing when we do go out there.” Commander Carson who was not afraid to defy the much higher ranking Silverback was now clearly annoyed at his superior’s blatantly cavalier attitude about this meeting. He may have been one to question bizarre operations but he would never act in such a crude and unprofessional manner. Becker had issued some unusual requests before, but he knew the man for decades and had never been steered wrong. “Jack, that’s enough, I believe your part in this meeting is over. You are dismissed.” Becker was no longer playing around with his second in command. Silverback had been quite irritable lately, however protocol dictated he be present for special operations assignments like these. Without saying a word Silverback exited the room, deliberately knocking shoulder pads with Commander Carson, who made no attempt to retaliate as it would be an ill advised decision. “I swear Silverback is really starting to become a pain in my ass. He has been on people for petty things lately for as far as I can see no reason. Not to mention he has serious issues with us even talking with the ponies.” Becker sighed, “I’m worried Carson, people are starting to get uneasy on this ship. Atlas has been delivering unsettling news from around the ship too.” “Forgive me for asking sir, is Atlas your personal eyes and ears?” Carson couldn’t help but ask this time. He had heard rumors from time to time but dismissed them as hearsay amongst a jittery crew with no experience with the augmentees. “I don’t like to put things in such a way Carson, Atlas is a good man. He isn’t out to get anyone and he has done what I have asked of him without question. He also successfully opened up discussions with the Equestrians. It’s a tremendous risk having him on board, I know. I can only hope his abilities and duty here, now will change their opinions. I also don’t know if he can ever leave the confines of my ship. You know what will happen if the USC proper finds out about him...” Becker had a sobering look on his face as he stared at nothing in particular. “I’ve got nothing against him sir, I was just light infantry when the augmentees were purged. I knew a couple, had to hide that fact damn well for so long.” Carson spoke up after a moment. “It doesn’t matter anyways at the moment. Who the hell even knows if we can find our way out of here.” Becker looked grimly at the two other soldiers in the room. “You keep that to yourselves, you understand?” The two in unison were quick to respond “Sir!” “Alright then Commander, we have a mission to achieve. While you explore whatever the hell it is we saw on the lunar surface, Atlas and I will continue our discussions with the Equestrians. Oh and Carson, I know how much you love to go all lone wolf with your ship and try and save the world. Please don’t do anything too rash, and please keep me updated more than what is required.” “I won’t let you down Admiral, we’ll play it by the book.” “Good! I’ve already ordered the Tyrant Sword prepped for departure to save you the trouble.” Becker smiled in a trusting manner only a ranking officer could achieve. “Thanks sir, I owe you a drink. One last thing sir, why me?” “Because you are the only ship commander on this damned vessel I can trust to tell me exactly what I need to know. That’s why I keep you around.” Carson saluted and the two officers departed the room leaving Becker alone as his gaze once again turned to the planet below them and the moon peeking out from the shadow of the planet. “What the hell are we getting ourselves into?” -------------------------------------- “All systems show green sir, we are cleared for departure!” An excited technician happily announced. The Bridge of the Tyrant Sword was alive with activity. For months the ship had been laid up in drydock undergoing emergency repairs after it took a beating when the Vector made an emergency jump six months ago. Now the updated cruiser was ready for its first major deployment of this new tour of duty. The crew was visibly excited as they had been assigned crude and mundane tasks that were unfitting of a ship's crew during the down time. There was little for them to do onboard the Vector when they weren’t in their own ship after all. “Alright then Lieutenant, take us out, and keep it clean.” Commander Carson sat patiently in his helm chair as the massive ship began to disembark from the vast metallic canyon that was the Vector’s primary ship bay. It would take several minutes for the cruiser to maneuver its way through the myriad of other ships assigned to the Vector that at the moment clogged the ship bay. “Once free, it will only be a few minutes until we reach the satellite. We have been tasked with performing a thorough flyover of the surface and map the entire thing. Admiral Becker still suspects the Vector’s sensors are faulty in some way.” Carson was not talking to anyone in particular as he began to state their initial objectives. He pulled up a holographic folder marked clearly ‘CLASSIFIED’ and quickly opened it up. Inside the folder was a wealth of information from what little intel had been gathered by the ground teams. “Mare on the moon, nightmare moon... what does it all mean?” Carson quietly said to himself, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking at. He accessed the ship’s central comms system. “This is Commander Carson, I need the intel officer and ground forces commander to the bridge immediately. That is all.” Several of the technicians at their posts looked up at him. Carson was quick to notice their quizzical looks at the unusual order. “I’ll explain everything as soon as they get here. We have a lot to go over before operations formally kick off. In the meantime, keep your heads on. I know it has been awhile since we last got to take the ol’ girl out for a proper spin.” The Tyrant Sword began to accelerate away from the Vector’s protective gravity shield and began its brief trek towards the planet’s only natural satellite. They would first need to establish a ranged orbital evaluation of the moon before coming in much closer to perform a thorough study of the surface. Commander Carson was busily going through the digital pile of intelligence documents only half listening to his crew enamored with the unusual nature of the documents. “Sir we are ready to approach the.... uh.... oh my.” Carson stopped what he was doing and looked up at the massive panoramic monitors in front of them. There as they began their initial ranged pass of the moon, a massive structure began to appear as they rounded the satellite. Carson dismissed the documents and walked closer to the virtual windows. The two officers he called for entered the room with no one taking notice. “What in the hell are we looking at?” Carson was stunned at what they were seeing. There emblazoned on the vast surface of the moon was the start of a structure of some kind “Are we seeing this right? Is this a joke?” “No joke sir, this is what we have been trying to learn about from what little time our ground teams have had in Canterlot. Everyone er.. ahem.. everypony down there who is supposedly ‘in the know’ seems to have little information about the lunar surface. The ignorance on these geographic oddities is astounding... almost deliberate.” The intelligence officer, Captain Halidon, was now standing next to him looking at the massive structure that jutted out from the moon’s barren surface. Carson chuckled. “Becker was right, the old man has still got it. Alright everyone back to your posts, we still have a job to do.” The Tyrant Sword found itself eclipsed in the shadow of the moon as the crew looked on with uncertainty at the ancient structure they had just stumbled upon. Commander Carson looked around and noticed the bridge crew was still standing focused on the image before them. He sighed and smiled. “Who knows what lies beneath. Only one way to find out.” “It is a little unsettling sir.” Halidon finally said after a long bout of calm. “What do you mean? It’s not THAT far fetched from our past operations.” “That’s just it sir, I mean, these are fully completed structures... on a barren moon. There is nothing natural that could even hope to stand a chance out here. The radiation, the cold, the goddamned vacuum of space.” Halidon shuddered at the thought. “So maybe we need to suspend our belief of what we know. What I’m trying to say is, maybe whatever built these is not natural...” “What are you implying sir?” “I have no idea. Lieutenant, take us in for a closer look. Everyone back to posts, the mission begins now.” Carson sat back in his chair as the ship’s interior lighting switched to combat status. As the Tyrant Sword began its slow descent towards the lunar surface, they could see the ruins truly massive proportions shrouded vast areas in complete darkness. Beyond their visual range, and beyond their sensors range. The darkness however has always been home to mystery and uncertainty. Why was this darkness so unnatural and unsettling? Commander Carson planned to find out. The vast lunar surface dominated their view as the operation began in earnest. With my sincerest thanks to: Kriegor Menelaus Redz SembrBrony217