Future Tactics - The War Games

by TheFullCrumb

Chapter 14 - Dead Echoes

“Keep your eyes peeled. That transport can’t have gone off the beaten path that much.”

“Roger, Eagle Lead. Flight confirms we are nearing the coordinated of the missing vessel.”

Twilight stood on the Command Bridge of the Solus Invictus, her eyes darting around at various screens while they checked the distress signal they had encountered. Gallick’s Graveyard was the region it beamed from, and from the looks of the signal, it had been Torassi in nature. At the first mention of a rescue mission using the newly constructed Coalition Type 17 Interceptor – the C-T17, or the Catball, as a few of the crew had nicknamed it – Rainbow Dash had volunteered her flight team for duty, the others springing into action as soon as they could.

“Scans show severe deterioration in the hull of the craft, almost like gravity shear. But that would only make sense if there was some kind of gravity well in the area. Julia, how’s their engagement pattern looking?” The tomboyish, mousey-haired human Navigator nodded, tapping various symbols as her hands appeared to basically float beside Ditzy’s, her eyes darting as she took in as much information as possible.

“They’re doing fine, ma’am. They should be- wait, how is that possible... Commander, long-range sensors just picked up a planet or planetoid of some kind! Looks shielded, like, heavily shielded.”

“I’m seeing it too. Looks uninhabited, but we can’t read anything through the shield. That barrier might show us the existence of a race we haven’t met yet.”

“It could also be an Orohdo stronghold, too, ma’am. Cyber-freaks taking this ship? It would be like Christmas day for the no-jaws.” Julia glanced over at Ditzy, tapping a few icons on her side to help her control better with her eye condition. Bringing up an icon, Julia sent a telemetry-based image of the ship in distress, what appeared to be some sort of refitted Torassi frigate, the portions where weapons bays would have been having been ripped out and replaced with habitation areas. Particles in the image detailed out the escaping atmosphere, which would explain why their attempts at communication had gone unanswered.

“Keeping our eyes open- hold up, approaching coordinates. Looks pretty bad on our end over here. We’ll try docking with the available shuttle ports, see if we can’t see what attacked her, and if there are any survivors.” The communications channel clicked off, signalling the wing’s final approach. Four blue triangles on the telemetry screen locked onto the massive signature of the Torassi transport, symbols blinking above each as they locked into place. Twilight tapped a call icon on her display, bringing up communications with Isaac Humphries.

“Hey, Isaac? You’ve still got your team ready to go, right?”

“Yeah, why? Expecting trouble?”

“I’m hoping this doesn’t turn into a double rescue mission.”

--------//|0|\\--------

“Opening airlock intersection. We’ll meet at the central hub, Eagle Lead. Good hunting.” Rainbow Dash cycled her connection, hearing the tell-tale hiss of passing oxygen. With a heavy sound of hydraulic fluid moving, the airlock door rotated open, the iris-like door locking itself down before Rainbow entered. Tapping a few buttons on the side of her C-T17, she felt a weapons harness secure itself into convenient portions of her pressure suit, the connections synchronizing and locking before it displayed on her HUD. The modified UEC RK-5F slotted into its designated connector, the interface itself linking with Rainbow’s MIS device. She bit her lip, keeping an eye on her oxygen rate. At her current level of consumption, without reconnecting to the Interceptor, she would have around 5 hours of oxygen, give or take a few hazardous scenarios she could imagine.

“Airlock cycled. Moving to hub. See you there, Eagle Squadron.” Tapping her hooves together, she felt the telltale click of her mag-boots locking onto the damaged plating beyond the airlock. The C-T17 was a beautiful, well-designed machine, but the sight on the other side of the airlock door had her pausing carefully. With a quick thought passed, her suit’s helmet lights flickered on, the batteries kicking in as she saw the length of the corridor. She had not met the Torassi on Nexus Station, but she was well-informed as to the sheer size of the reptilian aliens. With a push, she demagnetized and slowly floated through the airlock hatch, passing by what appeared to be... something, though what it was appeared to be dead. From the teeth, the tail and the claws, she assumed it was not one of the Torassi, nor one of their pets.

“Copy Eagle Lead. Eagles 1 and 3 are at hub. Awaiting yourself and Eagle 2. Eagle 2, are you reading?” Rainbow heard a disconcerting hiss across her suit’s radio, her fur standing on end as she continued to pass by claw marks and weapons fire. Her suit scanned a Torassi Defence Turret, sliced into 17 pieces, almost like confetti.

“Eagle 2, respond, please. Eagle 1, I’m almost at the hub. Once I’m there, go check on Eagle 2. Maybe their radio didn’t engage again.” Floating past a couple of doorways, she glanced carefully, her lights hovering over floating trays, what appeared to be meals, and what she assumed was Torassi remains. With a sigh, she touched down, slowly walking towards the hub at the centerline of the ship. With a breath of relief, Eagles 1 and 3 were still there, looking around.

“Ah, Eagle Lead. Good timing. Still nothing from Eagle 2.”

“I figured. Let’s get suit-cams linked up. We’re out of radio contact while inside the transport – hull’s polarized against radio transmissions for some reason. Link Lead.”

“Link 1.”

“Link 3.”

As the three cameras displayed themselves on her helmet’s faceplate, Rainbow looked side-to-side, whistling at the damage. Eagle 1, nodding and turning, left up the damaged corridor leading to Eagle 2’s C-T17. Lifting up her foreleg, she tapped a brace, bringing up a map on her MIS’ HUD, displaying the approximate location of the Command Bridge.

“3, this way. We’ll make our way to the Command-”

“Lead, this is Eagle 1.”

“Go ahead.”

“Eagle 2 is dead.” The silence from all 3 was palpable as Rainbow and 3 looked at each other. The atmosphere of the ship suddenly felt a lot more hostile than it had previously. With a thought, the trigger bit flipped up inside Rainbow’s suit, linking to her weapon harness as the RK-5F cocked itself, ready to fire.

“Cause of death?”

“Well... it’s sort of hard to tell? There’s not that much left to identify.”

“I’m sorry, what.”

“Exactly what I said, ma’am. I’m literally looking at what’s left of her head. Whatever it was put a hole through her Interceptor, too. Cockpit’s compromised. I don’t think she even saw it coming.” Rainbow sighed, trying a connection to the Solus Invictus even through the hull polarization. The tell-tale static of a non-functioning connection had her turning her sights to other thoughts. As she tried to piece together what could have possibly happened, she felt scurrying across the metal of the deck plating, like something was moving faster than its size should have allowed.

“Eyes up. We may have hostile contacts. Eagle 1, return to hub. We’ll make our way to the Command Bridge and figure out what exactly this ship is, if not an actual transport.”

“Eagle 1 acknowledges. Returning.”

“Ma’am, may I speak freely?”

“Go ahead.”

“Whatever this is, it ripped through a Torassi hide like a hot knife through butter. I don’t think we want to be around to see what it looks like.”

“Agreed. Eagle 1, what’s your-” Before 1 could respond, Rainbow watched as his suit cam shifted, something with a lot of teeth, claws and suffering aimed directly at him. Blood sprayed out in bubbles of liquid as his suit’s cam went dark, whatever the thing was seemingly having had destroyed the battery pack. 3 looked at Rainbow, her eyes wide as she glanced around.

“Ma’am?”

“Motion trackers. Turn ‘em on, now!” A circular display popped up on her faceplate, displaying two signatures at the moment. “Okay, cover the rear, I’ll cover the front. If you see something, chances are its whatever killed 1, 2 and the crew of this ship. Shoot to kill, okay?”

As 3 took position, Rainbow bit her lip, sighing as she proceeded along the dark, looming corridor, the only light shining being 3’s and her helmet lights. The only feeling they could sense was the shuddering of the deck plating from each and every step, the recycled architecture foreboding and alien. As they passed room after room, Rainbow began to get a sinking feeling, as if she had been led into a trap. She could swear glowing eyes were staring at her from the dark, chittering and creeping. Her suit detected a sign, and auto-translated the Torassi letters into the sign for ‘Command Bridge.’

“Here. Door. Get it open, I’ll cover you, 3.” 3 stowed their weapon, withdrawing a plasma cutter from a pouch on their side. As the light from the cutter flickered off the walls, Rainbow started to understand why she had felt so apprehensive. Organic webbing and nodules covered the ceiling, where the Torassi corpses were strung up like presents waiting to be opened. As she watched, a clunk from behind her alerted her to 3’s finished breaching plan. Stowing her own weapon, she helped push the powerless door open, sliding through after 3. As the door began to close up due to hydraulic pressure, something shot through the doorway, like a tail of some kind, thrashing about. The door hitched, hissed and slammed completely shut, severing the tail and letting it bleed yellow blood all over the floor.

“I don’t think that was a Torassi.”

“Willing to bet on that, 3? No? Good. Command console’s over here.” Re-arming their weapons, the two almost crawled to the console, keeping themselves as quiet as possible despite the clanking of their mag-boots. Attempting to push any of the large buttons around the console had no effect, as power seemed to be dead, leaving Rainbow Dash mentally scratching her head on how to proceed. Almost as if by sheer chance, one screen lit up, a flashing blue ‘Play Recording Y/N’ displayed. With nothing else to see or control, Rainbow tapped the Y on the screen, watching a recording as a shudder ran through the ship. Glancing around for a couple of seconds, she refocused her attention on the recording before her. The recording was from one of the corridor security cameras, detailing out the last minutes of the Torassi defenders. Claws, teeth and almost impossible things lashed out, cutting many in half, blood and organs pooling on the plating. As she watched, a hand reached past her and tapped the screen, pausing the recording. Spinning in place and almost losing her grip on the floor, she came face-to-face with Isaac, the human holding a finger to his helmet in a gesture of attempting to stay quiet.

“We’re here to extract you. Where’s the rest of Eagle Squadron?”

Rainbow just stood there in deafening silence, her eyes glued to the ground as Isaac put his hand on here back, sighing as he looked around.

“What happened to them, Dash? Where’s the rest of your team?”

“D-dead. Killed by whatever killed the crew here-”

“Graawl.”

“W-what..?”

“Graawl. Dammit, I didn’t think they’d made it off of Eurasia, but these are Graawl Cleavers, nasty little gremlins that can shear through battleship-grade alloy. Though, if Cleavers are here...” He trailed off, motioning towards the door. As Rainbow watched, multiple Security officers slowly made their way inside, prepping what appeared to be some kind of chemical thrower. Watching Isaac, her eyes tracked as he withdrew a dataslate from a hip pocket, tapping on it as he slowed down, looking directly up.

“Isaac?”

“Oh. That’s why the comms weren’t getting through. Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, we’re leaving. Now.”

“W-why-”

“Because what’s left of the crew is going to soon come for us. We’re dealing with a Graawl Composer, and I don’t want to be... here. Stay very... very... still.” Isaac slowly took a knee, lifting his sidearm out of its holster, the small weapon charging slowly. Motioning for the others to slowly move towards the door, he reached backwards, tapping his hand until he felt a handle, and tugged. Sliding out of the control console was a drive, of sorts, and Rainbow had a feeling she was looking at the Torassi equivalent of a ship’s black box.

“Isaac? Isaac...”

“Ah, shit.”

Glancing back at Rainbow Dash, Isaac looked around, seeing forms fold out of the walls. Rainbow watched in horror as the forms twisted, melting and merging until they came together as something not-human in nature. It looked human, but it was definitely not from how it was shuffling. Eyes glowing blue, lines running between them almost like circuits, and other small lights began to shine off of the not-human.

“Isaac, I’m going to do something really reckless, okay? I know you wanted us to be ready for anything, but I’m going to try something that I have no idea if it will even work. When it happens, you’re going to need to get everyone out.”

“Dash, what are you-” With what felt like a whoosh, Rainbow speared through the not-human, her forehooves cleaving cleanly through the mounds of flesh and sinew that made up the creature’s core. A heavy sloshing sound slapped onto the deck, though muffled as it was with the limited atmosphere that was being retained. Leaping backwards, she landed her hind legs hoof down directly onto the creature’s ‘skull,’ splashing gore and ichor across the decking. She could not be certain, but she swore it looked like she had crushed a Changeling, of all things. Smiling, she turned, only to let out a shriek as she felt her left wing and hind legs get pierced, the not-human having sprouted, rather rapidly, bladed tentacles.

“Everyone, run! It’s feral! Archer, toss me that flamethrower!” Isaac, with what ounce of willpower he could muster not to run at the sight of a creature that disgusted him, the vile concoction of a diseased hive-mind, lifted the chemical sprayer and grimaced.

“Isaac, just run!”

“No one gets left behind, not even reckless, self-important idiots like you!” With a squeeze of the trigger, ignited chemicals doused the creature, melting away the spines and blades embedded in Dash. With as quick a motion as he could muster, Isaac lifted Dash, cradling her as he attempted to lash her suit to his. Checking her RK-5F, he ripped the harness off, the device useless where it had been hit. Glowing spots began to increase around him as he finished tying off one more cord, lifting a severed Graawl tentacle-blade as he tried to run.

Outside the Command Bridge, it was pure chaos. Cleavers jumped, leaped and outmanoeuvred his Security personnel, slashing and cutting as they jumped between walls. The Graawl he remembered were not immune to the effects of hard vacuum, which meant something was very, very wrong with everything.

“Isaac, just-”

“Shut up Frost and let me save you!” Rainbow looked up, seeing the sheer panic and fear in Isaac’s face as she bounced along on his chest, watching as he fired round after round out of his sidearm. He had abandoned the flamethrower, opting to use his momentum to get to the waiting shuttle. As he neared, lights locked onto him, scanning him quickly before locking onto targets behind him. Several of his Security officers were missing their helmets, half of their faces... altered in some fashion – ponies with dragon-like skin on one side, and humans with almost insect-like features. The lurching motion of them prompted a hail of gunfire as he pushed off the plating, letting physics carry him into the waiting craft.

“Solus Invictus, this is Assault Shuttle 7-1-Bravo. We have all remaining personnel aboard. Recommend immediate destruction of compromised transport.”

“Acknowledged, 7-1-Bravo. Etheric Cannons are locking on – return to minimum safe distance.”

As the shuttle pulled away, and the medics aboard went to work on Rainbow Dash’s heavy injuries, Isaac took his helmet off, rubbing his face. He had called Dash by the name of an old comrade, Frost. The memories were so close, similar, like he was repeating the same history again. Shaking his head, he slapped his cheeks, trying to regain some form of composure as he watched the transport be vaporized by powerful blue blasts of energy, the destruction soundless from where he sat.

“Chief Humphries.”

“Sergeant. What’s going on?”

“You brought a piece of one of those creatures. We’re going to put it inside a containment chamber until we get to the Fortress. Also, Warrant Dash is currently unconscious – we had to put her into a medical coma until we can operate on her in the Infirmary. If the barbs of those creatures had been in her any longer, well, the damage looks acidic. I’m quite certain she would have been melted like corrosive liquid on bare flesh.”

Isaac looked down at his hand, the tentacle-blade still gripped in it. Sighing, he handed it off, placing his helmet back on his head and settling in for the ride back to the Fortress.

--------//|0|\\--------

“Two members of Eagle Squadron dead, eight Security personnel. Considering what you’ve said before, we managed to survive our first encounter with the Graawl.”

Isaac was barely paying attention as he looked through a window at the operating theatre below him, the surgeons working diligently to remove any residual Graawl pieces left inside Dash. A cart next to them carried cybernetic prosthetics, the first of their generation: two legs and a new wing. The damage had been quite severe, from what he had seen, and her left wing had required amputation for the severity of the residual Graawl infection. One of the surgeons motioned to Isaac, pointing at the intercom.

“Hey, doc. How does she look?” The unicorn surgeon shrugged, sighing over the intercom as he breathed slowly.

“Honestly, Chief Humphries, she’s lucky to be alive. That database from the Miner’s Defiance about the Graawl was most helpful, but it’s still beyond our medical expertise. Considering the replacements we have to give her, I’m not sure if the Warrant would be happy.”

“Considering that your Coalition never actually experimented with integrated cybernetics on so small a scale – I know the MIS devices are small, but they still rely on bio-tech circuits running from the brain to wherever the chip for the main interface is implanted. She’ll have to get used to them.”

“Human cybernetics, Humphries?”

Isaac turned quickly on the spot to face Twilight, the latter having donned a more casual affair compared to her normal uniform. Sighing, Isaac turned back, letting her stand beside him. In silence, the both of them watched as the new limbs were attached, the oversized hoof of the new cybernetic legs twitching as the nerves connected. As they watched, the wing twitched, stretching to full length before snapping into position at Rainbow Dash’s side. Grimacing, Isaac took a seat, shaking his head and rubbing his face with his hands.

“It’s not like we have the necessary materials for research of such minute degree. I’m impressed Applejack and Fluttershy were able to adapt the old Mark 7 cybernetics design for connected to your species’ nervous system. They say they’ll be running her through first steps in a couple of hours, but I... I need to-” Isaac toppled over, exhaustion clawing at his consciousness as he embraced the sweet sleep of unconsciousness, Twilight tilting her head as he started to snore. Breathing a sigh of relief, she glanced down once more, shaking her head at her friend. The erstwhile pegasus would not be walking on all fours like she had before, and Twilight knew of a unicorn that would revel at the opportunity to help her figure out her new situation.

--------//|0|\\--------

“Come on, Dash! Just like me! One, two, and-” A lime-green unicorn chuckled as Rainbow Dash toppled over once more, attempting to readjust to a new height compared to her previous stature. The human-type cybernetics were not entirely compatible with quadripedal motion, and she was having a hard time processing it as she attempted to stand again.

“Lyra, I’m not going to be able to walk or sit like you with... these! I’m a freak! I can’t even fly-”

“Who told you that you couldn’t fly? Ground combat, sure, but that’s why you were supposed to go in with Clone Avatars and Clone Guards, not actual flesh-and-blood crewmembers.” Rainbow looked up to Twilight and, of all people, Trixie, entering the Rehabilitation area they were currently training in. Twilight sat in a wheelchair, her legs covered with a blanket, Trixie behind her wheeling her around. Sighing deeply and stretching, Twilight looked around, before motioning Trixie forward.

“Why is she here?”

“She’s our AI Specialist. Actually, I think she has something that might help out with your little... problem.”

“What could she do that I can’t?”

Motioning Trixie forward with her head, Twilight leaned back, closing her eyes for a moment. It was like pulling teeth to get Rainbow Dash to admit she needed help, but Trixie was their best at what she did. With a grimace, Trixie let her essence flow between herself and Rainbow, almost as if she was knitting something together. Twilight knew her magic, her innate ‘etheric abilities’ were far stronger, but while she was more of a blunt instrument in most cases, unicorns like Trixie and Rarity were far more adept at minute details, a fact she was rather not fond of mentioning.

“You’re having difficulty with the cybernetics because you are being forced to adapt to them, instead of the cybernetics adapting to your... ‘essence’ would be the most effective word. I’m attempting to ‘meld’ the machinery of the limbs and your own etheric flow. It’s like- urgh, that stung – attempting to connect a pump to a living, beating heart. You don’t know how- yeesh, it’s like a maze of twisted channels – difficult it is to do, but we’ll figure something out. Hold still, please.” With a grunt, and a shudder, Trixie fell to her haunches, panting as her horn extinguished its connection. Smiling weakly as she looked up, she witnessed as Rainbow tested her legs again, standing carefully as they moved without having to force the movement, like she was using her own legs. The cybernetic wing snapped open, slowly closing as she tested its response time.

“Commander, what’s- whoa.” Entering the room, Isaac, along with Chief Nurse Redheart and Fluttershy, stared slackjawed at the newly enhanced Rainbow Dash. Musing to himself about how he now knew how the Equestrians felt because of his height, he looked up, his eyes straining as Rainbow stood a new foot and a half taller than him. She was wobbling slightly, but as far as he was concerned, she was probably tougher than anyone else combined. He was about to ask his question when he took a good, long look at the legs.

Her hybrid legs.

Legs that had, previously, during installation, looked like human appendages, and now looked more like her old hind legs, but longer, sleeker, and more robust, as well as including improved balance, from what he was watching. He chuckled, looking back at Twilight before his question returned.

“Commander, why in the name of the Nine Heavens are you in a wheelchair? I know for a fact you can fly, and you have functional legs, so why the wheelchair?” Her response, which he had not been expecting at all, was to remove the blanket covering her legs, showing cybernetic mounts on stumps of what used to be hind legs. Reaching behind him for a seat, he sat down, burying his head in his hands. He had known a few transhumanists in his time, people who would attempt to ‘transcend’ their humanity through technological marvels, though most of them were either dead or Orohdo drones, unfortunately. But Twilight was not... whatever the Coalition had for ‘transhumanism.’ Still, she had willingly removed her hind legs, and was apparently in the process of getting new cybernetic limbs to ‘upgrade’ herself. At least, that was what Isaac was assuming.

“I wanted to understand what Rainbow was going through. The procedure for myself was... a lot less painful than I would have thought. They’re fabricating the limbs right now. Apparently, due to my high Etheric Index, I’m more likely to overload and detonate such a piece of technology. We needed to be sure with Rainbow, as she won’t be able to overload them as readily as me. Trixie already knows the spells needed to interface the machine to the organic, so we’re good on that front-”

“Commander Sparkle, incoming message from the Messier Interstellar Commission. It’s our next match.”

Blinking a couple of times, Twilight sighed, shaking her head as she looked over at Isaac. Watching him shrug, as if to tell her It’s not my crew, she grumbled, pulling out a dataslate from a pouch on the side of the wheelchair, tapping a few symbols and bringing up the Representative on her screen. The perfect-faced human who was a little too perfect blinked into existence, wearing the ridiculous sunglasses that kept his eyes from being seen.

“Ah, Commander Sparkle. I was just wondering if you were available. We have a match ready to go for you, over on the planet of Casparia. It’s an uninhabited ice ball of a world, but that’s not all. Your opponent is The Solace of Dawn, a Thalrazyne Battle Fortress. You’ll get your first taste of true extraterrestrial combat in this environment.”

“You’ll have to give me some time to think. We’ve had a few... incidents-”

“We’re well aware of the now-upgraded Ms. Dash. Her cybernetics would be the rage of all Technophiles across the galaxy, if they were mass-producible. Alas, not the day. You will have 3 days to decide. Remember, your world is on the line here, seeing as it still holds the galaxy’s largest selenium deposits ever seen. Bye-bye for now, Commander!”

“I hate that guy so much.” Twilight glanced up to see Rainbow crossing her forelegs, standing almost human-like with her new appendages. Chuckling, she slid the dataslate back into the pouch on the wheelchair’s side, and closed her eyes. Trixie raised an eyebrow, looking between everyone.

“Am I the only one here who thinks that whatever he is, he is definitely not an AI?” Eyes turned to stare at Trixie as she shrunk backwards, wondering if she had said anything wrong.

“It’s not like we have a choice, though. We stop fighting in their War Games, we lose Equus, and everyone alive on it. Isaac, send a message down to Applejack. Tell her we’re going to need Iron Will’s Warsuit reconfigured for mass deployment – we don’t have the MAR-1 Manticore technical documentation, so we’re limited there. Don’t give me that look, Isaac; it was a Cradle experimental tank, the Mobile Assault Recon Tank, Series 1. It looked like a Manticore, so a lot of ponies nicknamed it that. Rainbow, we may have access to air deployment this time. Go check with our pilots, make sure they’re up to speed in the simulators – we’ll have to reconfigure them for Command and Control interfaces.”

“So, it’s happening again.” Twilight glanced over at Fluttershy, frowning as she breathed in.

“Yeah. Go warm up the Cloning Tanks – we’ll need our full complement again.”

--------//|0|\\--------

Twilight walked onto the bridge, feeling her new appendages under her. With her new height and walking platform, she had realized that she was unfortunately needing a new uniform, and as Rarity was available, she had given the seamstress a new idea and was given the first set of trousers that she had ever worn in her life. Moving slightly, she constantly felt like she had to adjust them, keeping them free of the whirring portions of the cybernetic enhancements.

Pushing that out of mind, she glanced around, feeling the silence that had come over the Command Bridge. Breathing slowly, to keep herself centered, she leaned over, surprised at the balance and reaction time of the new legs she bore. Tapping several icons, she brought back up the image of the Representative, reconnecting the line between the Commission and the Fortress.

“Ah, I see your stature has increased as well. Should we tell Akane Zvaro-Jun about your new... measurements for your merchandise?”

“No need. This isn’t about merchandising.”

“Ah. So, you wish to agree to the match.” Looking away, Twilight felt the sudden urge to bury her face in her hooves, an urge she did not quite understand as she looked at the Representative. Something about her new height gave her a weird sensation, one of an interesting power dynamic. Pushing that to the back of her mind, she returned to the conversation.

“Yes. No tricks, no funny business, we’re here to compete.”

“Ah, excellent. Information packet has been sent. May the odds be ever in your favour, Commander.” With that, the Representative signed off, leaving Twilight with a plethora of information to peruse over. A time limit of a single standard month had been given to get to their destination, so she felt nervous, though others would not see it.

--------//|0|\\--------

“You checked the sample twice, right?”

“Yes, three times in fact.”

A human and a Changeling Princess discussed findings as they stood over a monitor and a scanning platform, their eyes widened in both surprise and horror.

“And the readings are accurate?”

“Sir, I would not tell you if it was not potentially a security risk.”

The human lifted a vial of distilled organic material, biting his lip as he narrowed his eyes.

“What about the others?”

“Minotaur, Gryphon, Changeling, Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth Pony, Alicorn. Even human was checked. All but human were confirmed partial matches to the sample you brought back.” The human buried his face in his hands, trying not to grumble as his mind spun around old memories and battles.

“But what you’re saying is...”

“What I’m saying is that even if the genome fits, there is no way that she, or I, or the rest of them, could have any correlation in this generation.”

“Then we do the next step.

Time for a proper history lesson on an age-old enemy of the galaxy.”