//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Hunting Accidents 
// Story: The tale of an Exile 
// by KRissCHu573 
//------------------------------//

*view - a golden space station above a desert planet*

Khalai Space. High orbit of Dylar IV. Orbital station Hoketa 7-JI, main storage facility for the asteroid mining. The doors of a metalic golden hallway slid open, four unicorns passing through. 

Two were gray stallions, clad in gold armor, with blue crystals emitting energy through lines in the armor. Each carried a golden staff, which had a similar crystal embedded into the head. One’s mane was black and the other’s was a darker shade of gray. The eyes of both of them were a pale purple. 

The third member was a light blue coated mare, with a dark blue and white striped mane and white eyes. She was dressed in a black tunic with golden lining. The last one was another mare with a royal white coat, light pink mane and crimson eyes. Her choice of clothing was golden-lined white robe, which matched her coat, and was also inlaid with blue gems. The clothes covered all of their cutiemarks. 

The white mare led the group, while reading a holographic file, coming out from a golden stick-like device. She groaned loudly, before tossing the device behind herself, the blue mare catching it, after which she asked. 

“Ma’am?” 

“Those damn pirates have raided another cargo ship with a good load of minerals from the outer ring field.” The white mare replied. 

They were nearing another door. 

“What are your orders?” The blue mare inquired. 

Her superior sighted and then began giving instructions. 

“Erina, send another request to the High Matriarch to send us more forces.” 

The door slid open to reveal a luxurious bedroom, with a large glass wall, giving view to the void of space. Then the white mare continued. 

“That’s it for now. I am not to be disturbed for the rest of the solar day.” 

Next she entered the room, the door closing shut behind her. Erina worriedly looked down at the ground, before turning to walk towards the communication room. The white mare was backed up against the metal door, breathing slowly, with her eyes closed. Then she took a deep breath, allowing the Khala to ease her nerves. 

Her room consisted of a king-sized bed with several big cushions, and pale pink silk sheets. In the left wing of the room was a wardrobe, and a couple of feet from the bed was a small tea table, with three wine glasses, a jug of wine, and three chairs. She walked up to the table and poured herself a glass of red liquid. She raised it and took a sip, after which, looking down in the glass, she spoke in a slightly cheerful tone. 

“You can stop with the hiding. Don’t take this ‘shadow’ business too seriously.” 

The air in a dark corner next to the entrance door began to move, making a blurry figure in the air, which then became a gray unicorn stallion, with green eyes, his mane was a darker shade of gray. He wore a bluish-purple cloak, brownish silver lined vest, which was crossed by a golden chain with a green crystal embedded in it. His fore legs bore golden warp blade gauntlets with green crystals. Despite his attire, his cutiemark was shown – a black spot with a guideline, forming a pony’s form, raising a warp blade, it being in the color of the crystals on the gauntlets. The stallion made a step forward as he addressed the mare. 

"Sorry Amaka, but being your personal bodyguard, as well as your errand boy isn't exactly a care-free job."

She turned towards him, and said with a sly smile. 

"Perhaps. But you volunteered to be my personal Shadow remember?"

"I think you're using the word volunteer a bit too liberally. I only did so because Moon Sight’s family was “randomly selected” for relocation to the unprotected outer mining stations. Strange how such a relocation happened so soon after you found out her brother was in the Dark Order." He returned with a deadpan.

"And I relocated your sister’s family for you as a gesture of gratitude for your lifetime of service." Amaka spoke with a light tone. 

That did not amuse the stallion, so he only stared blankly at her. Seeing that, she took another sip, before continuing.

“You could have always told higher command about it Karn.” 

“When you have buried the information too deep in your brain, that even when being connected to the Khala no one could see it, what worth is the word of a dark templar, next to that of a low matriarch?” He replied. 

“Aww…that’s sweet. You still recognize authority. Good.” Amaka stated as she took another sip from the wine. 

“I suppose you didn’t call me forth for just small talk.” Karn said questioningly. 

Amaka lowered the glass and spoke. 

“Straight to the point then. There is a pirate group – The Lost Vikings they call themselves…” Distain was easily felt in her tone. “…that have been harassing our cargo ships on the outer rings, stealing the stock and causing the death of multiple innocents. I want you to track down their leader and kill the bastard. Examples need to be made.” After that statement she gave a light smile. 

“Yeah, before I do that…” He began. “You have just enough troops to protect both the station and the mining locations that were ASSIGNED to you. Why reach out and put so much at risk?” 

"The material gathered here will help the war effort. I'm simply taking initiative for the greater good of the Khala." Was the reply. 

“Yes, and that has nothing to do, with you winning favor within the higher hierarchy” Karn deadpanned again. 

“Who? Me? Do something simply for personal gain? And coming from my own shadow. You wound me Karn.” Amaka said, placing a hoof over her forehead, playing out a drama scene.

‘You have no idea, how much I’d enjoy that.’ He thought to himself. 

Because he was not connected with her in the Khala, it appeared as if he had trailed off somewhere. Noticing this slight distraction, Amaka got his attention. 

“ANY way. I expect you to perform ALL of your duties to the letter.” She emphasized on the ‘all’. 

She then turned around, leaving the glass on the table. After which she took off her robe, left it on a chair, and climbed onto the bed, dressed only in her fur. Her cutiemark was a serpent-like stretched scroll. She looked at him and said in a tired manner. 

“I had a rough day, so I won’t expect any less from you.” 

That made Karn sigh, after which he headed towards the bed, dropping his cloak.

________________________________________________________________________________



*view – heavily forested planet, with three space stations orbiting it*


Unclaimed space. Brokas Hur – abandoned ancient terran storage world, population – minor, exiles and convict settlers, planet constantly harassed by pirates. A pub in a small settlement, in the middle of the woods. The tables were occupied by a few ponies, each keeping to themselves, or to their company. 

On the bar were sitting a brown pegasus, wearing a blue work suit, a pair of goggles and a yellow minor’s cap. He was downing a bottle of beer. Next to him sat what seemed like a gray unicorn in a black cloak with a hood over his head, only his muzzle and one hoof revealed his fur color. He was sipping from a small glass of hard cider. On the other side of the counter, the barman – an orange earth pony stallion with a light brown mane, was cleaning a mug. 

The door to a stair case, which led up to the second floor with the bedrooms, slid open, and from it two earth pony mares, one was yellow with a blue curly mane, the other was a mint green with a red mane tied into a tail, and a light pink pegasus mare with a chrome blue mane came out. All three of them quickly trotted to a back room behind the bar with tears dripping from their eyes. After them walked out a red pegasus stallion with a greasy black mane and magenta eyes, and was dressed in a greenish-black leather suit. He was walking on his hind legs, and pulled up his zipper as he addressed the barman. 

“Wowhee. Veron your girls are top dollar.” 

“Yeah…anything for one of the Lost Vikings…” His voice was filled with spite. 

“Maybe someday I might come along with the boys, they’ll surely like ‘em.” The stallion sneered. 

He received no reaction from the barman, so he simply said. 

“Well, I’m off to make a delivery. See ya’ll later.” And walked out of the building. 

“Disgusting son of a bitch. Him and all of those shits he goes around with.” Veron stated, then spat on the floor. 

Nobody from the customers did anything. All of them knew that despite the old stallion’s words being true, those pirates were bad business. About a minute after he left, the cloaked figure downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. Put the glass and five bits on the counter and walked out as well. 

The red stallion made his way towards his ship, which was landed close outside of the settlement. It was a black drop ship based off the medivacs. When he reached the drop door, someone tapped his shoulder. 

“Who the buck are you and what do you wa-” 

Just as he turned around a hoof struck him right in the face, knocking him, belly first, on the ground. His assaulter got up in a two legged stance, stepped with one hoof on his victim’s back and grabbed one of his legs. He then began twisting it, making the red stallion yowl in pain. In several moments of progressing the clutch, a loud crack forced a shout of pain, which was heard throughout the area. As his victim squirmed, the cloaked figure once again dropped on four hooves, stomping and breaking the other leg, receiving another shout. With that, the red stallion turned on his back and looked into the green eyes shining in the black void which was his attacker’s face. 

“Wh-wh-who are you?! What do you want with me?!” He cried out, tears of pain pouring from his eyes. 

“Where is your leader?” The figure demanded. 

The stallion coughed, before yelling. 

“He is going to BUCKING KILL YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH!” 

The little feat of blind rage brought a smile onto the figure’s face. 

“What’s so damn funny?!” His victim enquired. 

“Oh nothing, just the satisfaction of seeing a scumbag like you…not…die happy.” The attacker said, before thrusting a green warp blade through the stallion’s chest. 

After a few coughs of blood his body was left limp on the ground. The figure opened the drop door and entered the ship, placing himself in the pilot’s seat. He took off the hood, revealing himself to be Karn. After pressing a series of buttons, a feminine robotic voice spoke. 

[Mission logs access denied. Eye scan requested.] 

Then a small eye shaped hole, glowing with a blue light, opened on the right wall. That made Karn groan in frustration and after facehoofing he got up from the seat. A red vertical red light slid to the left inside of the hole, and then to the right, after which the ship’s adjutant spoke again. 

[Eye scan successful. Mission log access granted.] 

“Well, at least he was useful for something.” The templar sighed, before throwing the head of the stallion out of the ship. 

After pressing several more button sequences, a green holographic image of an earth pony stallion appeared from a projector. 

‘Alright, listen Gup. We blew one Khalai ship, but we didn’t have the inventory to pick up the stock. There are about a dozen crates with Khalai power cells, and we got intel that they were carrying one of those custom made guns their DT boys use. The boss would really like to target practice with it.’ 

A smile crept on Karn’s face as the recording went on. 

‘He’ll be waiting for you to pick up and deliver the stock on Meinhoff. And don’t go for another one of your stupid detours again! Seriously man, those are going to get you killed someday.’ 

“Huh…guess the poor dumb buck should have listened.” The dark templar quietly said, after which he spoke to himself. “Let’s bring this baby’s cargo back to the station, and then get going to Minehoff.” 

Next he started up the ship. It levitated several dozen feet in the air, before the engines burst it into space.


________________________________________________________________________________


*view – desert planet, covered by multiple specs of green and orbited by several space stations*

Consortium space, planet Meinhoff. The Gallows was as busy as any large planetary starport. The city, build next to it, was surrounded by multiple greenhouse farms. Among the crowd seven stallions, standing next to cargo truck, were looking around. Five were in full mech armor, while the other three were dressed in greenish-brown worker suits. 

All of them were on all fours, but even the three not armored ones had mech limbs, ready to shift into a two-legged stance, and had a gun on their sides. The three not armored stallions were a white pegasus, with a red mane, a night blue earth pony, with a black mane, which had a two white stripes running across it, and the one on point was a brown earth pony, with a darker brown mane. 

A large shuttle landed several meters away from them. A door on the side of the ship dropped open, making a small ramp. Then four unicorn stallions started unloading crates. They too were dressed in greenish-brown worker suits with long sleeves, and all had goggles. One was blue, with a white mane, the second was yellow, his mane a fire-like mix of orange and red, the third was purple, with a dark brown mane, and the last one was gray, with a darker gray mane. That caught the seven’s attention. After the first crate was unloaded, the gray unicorn walked up to the brown stallion and asked. 

“So, where do you want these?” 

“Say what?” The earth pony confusedly returned. 

“What do you mean what? Special delivery, Khalai stock. Ring any bells?” The unicorn continued. 

“Where is the guy who was supposed to deliver this?!” The stallion demanded, stomping his hoof. 

“Yeah…he’s sorta dead.” The guy replied casually. 

“HE’S WHAT?!” The earth pony exclaimed. 

Then the unicorn brought his hoof up. On it was a holographic projector, which turned on, showing the green see-through image of a stallion walking to his ship. The next moment a hooded figure appeared, tapped the shoulder of the stallion, and as he turned around smacked him clean on the ground. After that, the figure pulled out a warp blade and thrust it through the stallion. 

Then the holograph changed, showing the interior of the ship. The hooded figure was sitting in the pilot’s seat, and was holding something in front of a scanner. When done with it, the mysterious pony threw the thing away, making it clear that it was the stallion’s head. Then the stranger fiddled with the controls, and a small version of the brown stallion who was currently watching this appeared. 

All of a sudden something made the figure turn around in his seat, and then it fell on the ground. In a moment a unicorn holding a gun in his magic grip appeared in the holograph, after which it ended. The two stallions looked at each other. 

“Your boy kinda bailed on the job. We took care of the problem and since his mission log was open, and we heard what the deal was, we thought we’d make the delivery, probably get the pay? Also, not bad being on the Lost Vikings’ good list.” The unicorn said with a smile. 

The brown stallion gave him a questioning look, before asking. 

“If you decided to make the delivery…I take it you have the “special” stock?” 

The gray pony sneered, before raising his hoof. The blue unicorn walked to them, carrying a 3 foot long suitcase, and tapped it as he smiled. The earth pony cracked his lips as well, before addressing the gray unicorn. 

“You got a name bub?” 

“Arzaim. And you?” He replied, after which he stretched his hoof forward. 

“Rawly.” The stallion replied and shook Arzaim’s hoof. 

He took another glance at the other three unicorns, then back at their speaker and spoke. 

“Load up the crates in the truck and tell your boys to wait up here. I’m sure the boss would like to meet you personally.” 

“You heard the man boys. Lance give me the case.” 

The three nodded, and after handing Arzaim the case, they began loading the crates onto the truck. 

“Hold on a sec.” One of the armored ponies said when the unicorns loaded the first crate. 

Then he opened it, and after seeing the power cells, with a pleased humph he closed it, and motioned for them to continue. Then all seven, plus the gray stallion entered the truck and drove off. Now left alone, the three unicorns got back to the ship as they conversed mentally. 

‘That guy is way too full of himself. Telling us to wait for him to get back.’ The purple unicorn thought. 

‘You know how dark templar are. Because they are not restricted by any form of honor, they think they are the most unstoppable thing in the sector.’ The yellow one added as he spat on the ground. 

‘As much as I agree with you guys, and as much as I dislike them, the black shits are pretty decent when it comes to combat. And this one has been around the matriarch for a while now. He’s bound to know a few tricks. Let’s just give him a day, or so, long enough time for him to kill the pirate, bail out and then cover his tracks.’ The blue one spoke up as the voice of reason. 


________________________________________________________________________________


In the truck, a questioning was undergoing. After about ten minutes of riding, Rawly’s curiosity regarding this stranger could no longer be held, so he began assaulting him with questions. 

“So, why’d ya even go after our boy and that DT?” 

“When you see a hooded figure following somebody, don’t you want to go along and see what you can benefit from that?” Arzaim returned. 

“I see.” The brown stallion said, before shooting another question. “Why are you and your boys with that shuttle? Gup’s ship not good enough for ya?” 

“Nah, just a safety measure. The Khalai somehow managed to track him down, so we changed ships to certify ourselves that no we were in the clean. Well, clean from any dark templar following us at least.” The unicorn replied, after which he gave a hearty laugh. 

“Smart.” Raw complimented. 

After that he gave another question, only a slightly different one. 

“You ever considered not just having a well oiled organization as ours as an ally, but actually progressing inside of one?” 

“Oh, no, no, no. Sorry bro but I must decline. I am a small fry, smuggling myself a living, and it’s a quiet life. I’d prefer to keep it that way.” He refused, shaking his head in decline. 

In about an hour the vehicle came to a stop in front of a small building. They were met by about ten guards clad in amor suits, ready to shoot down anyone who did not have a proper invitation. After receiving a gesture from Raw, they let the eight passengers, one carrying a suitcase, pass through them and enter the building, while they began unloading the crates. Despite its outer looks, the building was larger on the inside. They walked down a large tunnel, passing by multiple guards. Five minutes of decent and fifteen minutes of walking through a corridor later, they passed through a metal door, which led into a spacious metal hall. It had a double staircase, which led up to a balcony. On it stood a dark green unicorn stallion. 

His mane was black and it went down to his face, forming a beard, and had one golden eye, the other was covered by an eye patch. He was wearing a brown vest and darker brown pants, lined with metal. Arzain stood at the center of the hall, a marine standing on each side of him. The boss looked down at the new guest and asked questioningly. 

“Who are ya? Where’s the guy who was supposed to deliver the stock?” 

“Yeah, there’s been a slight change in plans regarding that boss.” Rawly said, before continuing. “But, this fine fellow…” He put a hand over the gray unicorn. “…took it upon himself to bring you…this.” 

Next Arzaim opened the suit case, revealing a golden gun, with several green crystals embedded in it. One end was thinner, for the projectile, and the other one was for the user to put in his hoof. Then the brown stallion took it, and presented it forward. It got enveloped in a blue aura, and levitated itself up in the pirate leader’s hooves. He put it on his right hoof, and admired it. 

“Aye, marvelous work.” He began. “T’be honest Ah never thought a dark templar would bring me his gun.” He sneered. 

The gray unicorn’s expression grew cold. All of a sudden, the seven ponies who walked him in took on their two legged stances, and the two armored pirates on his sides grabbed his forelegs and stood him up on his hind legs. The other five pointed their rifles and pistols at him. Next one of the stallions holding the unicorn took off his goggles, revealing his empty green eyes. 

“Now, may I have the pleasure of knowing who Ah’m to thank to for this marvelous gift?” The boss said, gesturing at the captive with his free hoof. 

The gray unicorn scowled at him, before replying. 

“Name’s Karn. And you’re the dirt bag, who’s been harassing the Khalai cargo ships of the Hoketa 7-JI station…” He said. 

The green unicorn tipped an invisible hat. 

Then the templar continued his statement. 

“And the dirt bag who I am going to kill in the next minute.” 

That made everybody in the room laugh. When he stopped himself, the boss spoke. 

“You’re funny, Ah give ya that. See, you’re not the first DT I’ve had to deal with. She was very…informative regarding you guys.” He chuckled. “Though she had a bit of a hard time talking, if you catch mah drift. Just gatta keep yer arms where I can see ‘em and you’re as safe as bunnies.” 

Karn’s face was the living embodiment of non-amusement. 

“How did you find out I was a dark templar?” He asked. 

“Ah like to keep track of mah delivery vehicles. Rather suspicious for one of them fly into Khalai space.” Was the reply. 

“What are you talking about?” The templar enquired. 

“Forgot to check the fuel tank, didn’t ya?” The boss gave him a witty smile, before continuing. “Me and my fuel supplier have this deal, he places tracker nano-bots in the fuel.” 

In return he received a cold glare. That made the green stallion sigh, after which he pointed the gun at the templar with the words. 

“As much as Ah’m enjoying this conversation, it’s ‘bout time we end it.” 

Just as he was about to fire, a sly smile crept onto Karn’s face. Just when the boss fired the gun, it started making a quiet hum for about two seconds, after which it exploded, taking off both of the stallion’s arms and sending him back first on the floor. The explosion also sent a giant cloud of smoke at the ponies down the stairs.  Karn jumped, twisting his back so his hind legs were at the level of his holders’ heads and kicked them. When the two fell on the ground, their assaulter tore off his suit, with his magic, in mid air, revealing his usual attire – the brown vest, crossed by a golden belt, the purple cloak on his back, and then summoned his two warp blades. 

The next moment, still in mid air, smoke surrounded him and in an instant he vanished, then appeared behind one of the armored ponies, cutting him in two through the gut. Upstairs, the green unicorn slowly limped to a control panel with a microphone. He pressed a button with his muzzle and then yelled into the microphone. 

“SECURITY! THE GUY WHO ENTERED THE BUILDING WITH RAW IS A DARK TEMPLAR! TAKE HIM OU-” 

Something grabbed him by the neck, turning him to face Karn, who spoke with a note of spite in his tone. 

“Here’s a helpful tip regarding dark templar. We’re taught to lie our whole lives…and we’re damn good at it.” 

“WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE GUN?! It’s supposed to work no matter if you are a Khalai or not!” The pirate yelled. 

Then the gray unicorn leaned forward and calmly said. 

“Who said I delivered it in full factory condition.” 

Then he got up, and spoke in a more cheerful tone. 

“On a side note, guns are stupid.” 

Next he thrust his warp blade through the stallion’s face. Several gunshots whistled past his head. Karn looked down and was met by six stallions ready to blow his brains out, and they made another attempt. Before the bullets reached him, he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. In a moment he reappeared behind one of the mech suited pirtates and cut off his arm, letting him drop on the ground screaming in pain. That made the other five turn at him, and started firing once again. Karn teleported behind another one, grabbed him, and started to use him as a meat-shield. 

Once he was filled with a clip full of bullets, the templar threw the unlucky bastard, toppling another armored guard and one of the guys in suits. As they attempted to get up, he teleported next to them, and shoved both of his blades through them. The only ones left were Rawl and one of the stallions in suits. They were in the two ends of the room. Karn smirked, after which he vanished from his position. 

The two stallions started to franticly look around, their trigger fingers itching on the pulls. Suddenly the templar in question appeared from behind-under Rawl, cutting off his left leg from the crotch up to the kidney, after which he fell on the ground. The last man standing was pointing his gun at the unicorn, his mechanical hands shook violently. The templar gave him a smile, and then vanished in a cloud of black smoke. 

The white red maned pegasus did not stay for the party. He ran for the door, but in his rush he couldn’t operate the controls properly. He felt a cold chill on his right, after which he heard a whisper in his ear. 

“Boo.” 

Next, the stallion felt the warm sensation of a warp blade being stuck in his midsection. As he crumbled to the ground, Karn stood up on his hind legs above him. He was proudly grinning, when all of a sudden after two gun shots, a sharp pain in his left shoulder made him kneel. He turned back and saw Rawl, clutching his gun, with death cold eyes locked onto him. The dark templar teleported right in front of him, and kicked him in the head, sending him into a nearby wall. The brown stallion did not get up from that. 

As Karn clutched his bleeding shoulder, the large door to the room opened, and over a dozen guards, armed with gaus-rifles ran in and opened fire. In his current condition he didn’t stand a chance, so the dark templar did the only thing he could, he teleported as far away upwards as he could, not caring where he would end up. He appeared next to an elevator on the floor above the room he was in. He limped inside, pressed the button for the highest floor, and as the doors shut, he leaned against the metal wall. In the mean time, when he vanished, the armored pony who led the group of guards, brought his wrist to his helmet and spoke in it. 

"This is Prary Dog blue! The DT bailed on us! Commence facility lock down! Jam the doors and block the entrances! Seal the bastard in!" 

The order was heard through the entire facility...even in a certain elevator. 

"Seal me in, huh?" Karn questioned, as he pulled out a small golden device with a red button. 

He dropped it on the ground and pushed the button, while saying. 

"Seal this!" 

Deep down in the pirates’ lair, the crates full of Khalai power cells started to beep. Under the thin layer of power cells, the crates’ actual cargo – many photon bombs, hidden beneath a false bottom, detonated, decimating the entire facility, and making the ground slightly rumble, but not enough for anyone on the surface to feel it.

All that was left for him to do now was to reach ground level, and make a clean escape. A monitor in the elevator's wall showed that he had reached the last underground floor. Once out, only about ten meters stood between him and the surface.

However, when the doors opened, he was met by another group of armored guards.

"That's him!" A stallion shouted, before continuing. "Take him down!"

Mustering whatever strenght he had left, Karn managed to make another blind teleport upwards, dodging a wave of bullets. This time he found himself above ground, near one of the greenhouse farms, which unbeknownst to its owners was situated on top of a secret pirate lair. The sun had already started to set, but it was still very hot.

After a few moments of catching his breath, Karn slowly tried to walk. As he reached several meters from the dome of the farm, the heat, the amount of blood he had lost and his drained from the teleporting stamina took their toll, and he faceplanted on the ground. 

“Oh my goodness!” Someone yelled in the distance. 

It sounded like a mare. The unicorn managed to make out a black figure galloping towards him, but before it could reach him, his vision vanished and he blacked out.