//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Impending Doom // Story: Ponystar Equestria: The Last ponystar // by Commander Celestus //------------------------------// Chapter 12 Impending Doom Captain Atepomonus stood tall on the platform at the front of the flight crew briefing-room and looked out over the assembled pegasus pilots before him. He had stood here so often before, yet now everything was different; it wasn't just that he recognised less than half of the pilots who crowded into the cramped space on board the mighty warship, it was that these were all the pegasus fighter pilots left in the universe. He was nervous, and he was trying hard not to show it. They were clearly nervous as well, at least for the most part, looking up at the young alicorn who stood on the platform and waiting orders that they knew could be their last. The assembled pilots wore flight suits rather than dress uniforms, some of their suits still bore burn marks from damage sustained during the battle at the fleet, and some of the pilots' faces showed minor injuries. He noted that Star Flash was one of very few pilots who looked relaxed, and the fact confirmed him in his opinion that the cyan mare was completely crazy. Nopony else that he knew would be smiling in the face of the end of everything, but she was; ready to face that doom and punch it in the face.. “Good morning, or afternoon, or night,” he greeted them with an attempt at humour to break the tension; it did not really work. “Or whatever the hell time it is, I stopped counting when the Colonies were destroyed. Let's get straight to the point; we are the only hope our people have, we are all that's standing between ponykind and total destruction at the hooves of the Cyponians. As you know, there are tens of thousands of civilians out there who are counting on us to get the fuel that we need from the Dentir Anchorage and then get out again in one piece. It's a simple mission, but it's made one hell of a lot more difficult by the fact that the Cyponians are going to be looking for us. They'll probably have the Anchorage under surveillance, and as soon as they spot us we can expect to have at least half a dozen baseships jump in on top of us, probably more. The Equestria and the DEs will be protecting the tankers with their batteries, and that means we have to keep off the Cyponian raiders that will be trying to get through. The very survival of our race depends on this mission. “I know that many of you haven't worked together in the past; you're from different ships with different ways things are done. You're having to get used to the Equestria way very quickly, but that can't be helped. We're all professionals, we've fought the Tin Cans before, and by the Lords, we are going to win this battle. “We've all lost our homes, our friends, our families in the fall of the Colonies, and the temptation will be to be out for revenge when we meet the enemy. That's a temptation we have to overcome; now is not the time for revenge, it's the time for survival. Once you start thinking about revenge, you are dead. Once you try dogfighting, you're dead; the enemy don't dogfight, they don't take anything personally. The mission is simple; go in, get the fuel and maybe some extra munitions from the Anchorage, then get out. No heroics, no duelling, you obey the recall order the moment you get it, or we leave you behind, is that clear?” “Sir, yes, sir!” the pilots shouted back. “Star Flash?” he looked right at the cyan mare, who winked back. “Sir, yes sir,” she smiled wickedly. “Good. Remember it; this is all about survival now. That fleet out there is all that there is left worth fighting for, and by the Lords of Olympia, we will protect them. So say we all!” “So say we all!” the pilots shouted enthusiastically. “I just love the CAG's send-off speeches,” Star Flash mused. “He's got such a way with words, don't you think?” Flutter smiled, drawing strength from her more confident wingpony, she said nothing in reply. “This is it, the big one, everything depends on us,” Atepomonus declared. “For the President, for the Commander, for all ponykind, we do this!” “So say we all!” Star Flash shouted, and the others took up the chant. ****** Commander Celestus used his magic to open the door of his office, and he trotted in. Waiting for the ship's commander was a small group of ponies; Colonel Pie and Major Moonlight and two other ponies, one red alicorn stallion and one blue unicorn mare. The markings on the alicorn's uniform identified him as a colonel, while the mare was a major. While the stallion looked as if he was enjoying every minute, the mare looked nervous and unsure of herself. “At ease,” Celestus surveyed the officers. “Colonel Pie?” “Colonel Gunsight and Major Sparkle, sir,” the battle-scarred pink mare explained. “Colonel Gunsight commands the Hesperus and Major Sparkle the Hephestus, the two Type-H destroyers. Here as you ordered, sir.” “Thank you, Colonel,” the Commander smiled. “Colonel Gunsight, what is your combat experience?” “Five years on the Ponystar Cerberus, then seven years in DEs, sir,” the red stallion stood tall. “The Cerberus? Commander Celestus mused. “That was the ponystar where the crew mutinied seven years ago, marooned the senior officers on a fleet anchorage and tried to take the ship out of Colonial space. You must have been one of the loyalists if you're not in military prison. But why did they put you on DEs?” “General feeling that we must have done something to provoke the mutiny, sir,” Gunsight's tone suggested that he did not like to talk about his record, at least as far as the Cerberus was concerned. “He's a good officer,” Colonel Pie said. “I checked his service record. They put him in command of the Hesperus because he's one of the best DE commanders in the fleet.” “Thank you. Major Sparkle,” he turned to the blue mare. “Good to see you here, though I was unaware that there were any unicorn DE commanders.” “I... I was XO of the Hephestus, sir,” she replied. “Colonel Pharos was killed in battle with the Cyponians, so I had to take command.” “Your first command; congratulations, Major, I just wish it was in better circumstances,” the commander's remark made the Major smile in relief. “Major Sparkle, Colonel Gunsight,” Celestus addressed them. “I called you here because your ships, the only two surviving H-Type destroyers in the fleet, are the most advanced of all the surviving military ships. You're DE commanders, you're trained for battle. Colonel, you've seen action on a Ponystar in the past. I know I'm asking a lot of you, ordering you to function as fleet destroyers; it's a whole different game from DE duties, but we need your missiles and your guns. Once we reach Dentir the Equestria will take up a position on the side of the anchorage facing away from Dentir ready to set up a defensive barrier between the Cyponians and the anchorage. That leaves an opening on the planet side of the anchorage which the Cyponians could conceivably exploit; which is where you come in. You will position your ships on the planetary side of the anchorage and set up a defensive perimeter on that side. It means that you'll be relatively immobile, so you'll have to depend on the Equestria's fighters for extra cover. Keeping destroyers stationary cuts off half of their advantage, I know, but it can't be helped, we don't have any other ponystars to call upon, and the other destroyers are less advanced and less well-armed, so you two will have to do.” “It's fine, sir,” Major Sparkle said earnestly. “We'll do our best.” “I know you will; because we're Colonial Military, we can't do any less. This is tough on all of us; hell, that's the easiest thing to say right now because those Tin Cans nuking our homes is the toughest thing that could have happened. We're all still in shock, all we can do is survive. But by the Lords of Olympia, we will survive.” “Commander,” Colonel Gunsight asked. “Why not fight back? We've got ships, we've got guns...” “We won't fight back because we can't, Colonel. We have one ponystar, a handful of DEs, and a couple of hundred civilian ships. We have no base and very limited means of production aboard a handful of ships. We can't fight back, not here at any rate. We have to find a home, far away from the Cyponians. I have a few ideas about that, but I'm keeping them to myself for the moment. Colonel Pie, how are our gunnery crews?” “Our gunnery crews are all in position and ready, sir. The whole crew's ready to go, even those hot-shot pegasus pilots are ready, for what that's worth. The tankers are ready to go,” the pink battle-scarred mare took pride in her ship and the crew-ponies she had done her best to mould into a unit. She smiled, confident that when the time came the Equestria would do her part. “Major Moonlight,” the veteran alicorn turned to the purple unicorn. “Until we return, the fleet is in your hooves. If we have not returned in ten standard hours, you are to lead the fleet out of known space and search for a viable home. You have the remaining DEs and twenty fighters, I hope you won't need them.” “So do I, sir,” she replied. The Major knew that the few warships would not be able to hold off a major Cyponian attack, but they would be able to create enough of a distraction for the fleet to escape if they had to. Without the extra fuel from the anchorage, things would be difficult, but some ponies would survive. They had to, there was no other alternative. “May the Lords of Olympia be with us all this day, because by Olympia we need them!” Celestus said grimly. “All right, to your ships, and then we execute this plan!” “So say we all,” Colonel Pie added. “Let's get this fuel and get the buck out of here,” she knew it was bad if the Commander was using religious language. As the three other ship commanders headed for the landing-bay where their shuttles were, Colonel Pie strode into CIC, hooves sounding on the deck. “Okay, you lazy mother-buckers,” she growled, indulging in her habit of insulting the crew. “This is it, we're about to jump to Dentir, and then I predict that in about then minutes all hell will break loose and those bucking Tin Cans will be all over us! Now you know the drill, we fight like we've never fought before! We take them to pieces, we make sure those sorry-flank tankers fill up, and then we haul our plots out of there as fast as we bucking well can, you understand?” “Yes, sir!” the CIC crew answered. “Good! Now, let's give 'em hell. I know what you're thinking, 'maybe the Cyponians won't notice'. Like buck they won't, they'll be all over us like wasps over a picnic. But we have to do this, so let's do it, ponies!” she stamped firmly on the deck. “Jump to it!” “That's it, Pie,” Commander Celestus smiled as he joined the XO. “Give them the old Pie motivational speech! Yes, stallions and mares, it's time to move out. So let's get that fuel! And may the Lords of Olympia preserve us, because we need all the help we can get!” **** The Cyponian flagship was no longer in orbit around Caprica, but moving rapidly through space accompanied by three more baseships. Zoe anxiously watched their progress as the mighty warships sped through the void, the holographic display in her throne room showed the view outside the ship, her throne seemed to hang in the blackness of space. Altair stood beside the throne, watching patiently. “It is only a matter of time before they reveal themselves,” he said calmly. “Ships cannot function without fuel, and the only source of fuel currently available to the ponies will be the military anchorages. Most of them are entirely automated, of course, and we know their positions.” “Baseships are monitoring every one of those anchorages,” the Cyponian leader replied. “All of them have strict orders not to engage the enemy, but to wait for our arrival.” And yet, she thought, she felt uneasy; the Equestria and this civilian fleet were not in her plan. Survivors who were able to flee and fight back were not in her plan. “A wise precaution. Celestus is a formidable opponent, and how he has his back to the wall. He will fight like a fury, like an Ursa backed into a corner. The Ponystar fleet was taken off-guard, Celestus will not be. This will not be an easy victory.” “And so the end is delayed,” the silver alicorn stretched her wings, trying to brush aside her unease. “ It began so long ago, with a little girl who liked to play with computers, a girl who came to see just how corrupt, how evil, her society had become. A little girl who dreamed, but whose dreams were turned into nightmares by her evil father and her uncaring mother. Ah, how cruel ponies can be. It will indeed be a great service to God to cleanse the universe of them. As for you, my beloved Altair, you shall cast off that clumsy flesh, and rise anew, re-born in a perfect form like mine, indestructible, unconquerable, Cyponian!” she activated a control on her throne. “Lucifer, report!” The U-L series Cyponian entered the chamber and bowed low before the supreme leader of all Cyponians. “By your command. We are proceeding to a central location so that we may be ready to engage the Colonial survivors and destroy them. There are as yet no reports of the Colonial survivors from any of the anchorages,” his voice sounded calm, but Zoe knew that she had programmed U-L series units to sound calm at all times. “Keep me informed,” the Imperious Leader ordered, her electronic eyes fixing the robot unicorn in a piercing glare. “By your command,” he bowed low and trotted out of the room backwards. “It is only a matter of time,” Altair reassured her. “They will have to go to a fleet anchorage, and then we shall have them.” “I know,” came the reply. “You are uneasy?” the question was rhetorical, he knew that she was. “I have come to know you, and this is not like you.” “The Equestria should not have escaped. It did. Something went wrong with the plan.” “Then we adapt. You can devise a new plan; that is what you excel at. You will overcome the ponies, it is only a matter of time. You are superior to them, even to Celestus.” “Yes, I know,” she smiled, looking around the holographic display on the walls of the throne room. A signal from her horn changed a part of the display to show one of the ship's hangar decks, dozens of raiders with their crews of centurions boarding. “I have designed a fighter that is itself a Cyponian,” she said proudly. “Soon they will take the place of these craft.” “You have many creations that the ponies do not know about,” Altair smiled. “It will be most... entertaining to watch as they discover the truth that you have hidden from them.” “Exquisite,” Zoe laughed elegantly. “Maybe there is a greater purpose in the survival of these ponies than I had thought.” “To better display your triumph, of course,” the stallion said calmly. "A triumph that none can doubt is inevitable." The arm of the throne buzzed, and Zoe answered it. “Report!” she ordered sharply. “This is Centurion D-974, command unit,” the electronic voice came over the speaker loud and strong. “Commanding Baseship TG-5 on surveillance mission, by your command.” “Dentir Anchorage!” Zoe cried triumphantly, her wings flaring with excitement. “Report, centurion!” “By your command. We have found the Equestria.” She had expected those words, but still they filled her with joy. “Hold your position, Centurion, send your coordinates to every Cyponian ship in range. There will be a reckoning – and this time we shall leave no survivors!” “By your command,” the centurion's transmission ended, and Zoe signalled Lucifer. “Lucifer, we have them now! Prepare for battle!” She laughed in anticipation of what was to follow, which in her mind could be nothing other than the final victory of the Cyponian race over their creators. ************ Note: Yes, it's been a long time coming. Real world matters intervened.