• Published 19th Sep 2012
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Homeworld: Equestria - hiigaran



Finding himself in an uncharted system, the Captain of a military vessel ends up on a strange planet

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14: Betrayal

A crowd of engineering crew gathered around one of the many large conduits that lined a section just outside of Harmony’s primary fusion generator. One by one, the frantic cries and flailing hooves drew an increasingly larger crowd towards the source of the commotion. The chief engineer zipped back and forth behind Captain Soban, who for the past few minutes had been tearing out wires and snapping fixtures.

“Hey stop, Cap—why are you—come on, that’s going to take ages to fix!” the screams continued from the uneasy unicorn.

Soban ignored the panicked protests, opting to continue forcibly removing a heavy cylindrical object. Eventually, he left the crowd of dumbstruck engineers without a word, dragging the object on the ground and causing an ear-splitting scraping noise of metal on metal.

A while later, he successfully trekked almost half the ship’s length to the construction bay, still dragging the object callously. “Spanner!” Soban barked up at the griffon, who had been busy on a nearby scaffold. “Down here, now!”

Wasting no time, Spanner skidded to a halt in front of the Captain, a trail of grease shimmering on the ground behind him, where he had originally landed. He eyed the large, shiny object. “What’s that—”

“Standard tracking device”—Soban raised a hand to silence the griffon—“used on all Hiigaran-designed vessels. It securely transmits its location to those with the clearance to view such information, such as Captains of command ships. I want you to attach a small power source to it, then jettison it into orbit.”

“I can get it done in a few minutes”, Spanner heaved the device onto a nearby workbench. “Mind if I ask why, though?”

“We’re going off the radar. That’s all I will say. Haven’t got the patience to explain everything right now,” he spat.

“Uhh, alrighty then. I’ll let you know once I’m done. Will that be”—Spanner looked behind him to find himself alone—“all?”


“Where have you been, sir?” Zenith carried a hint of annoyance in her voice, as she spotted Soban entering the bridge. Ignoring a folded note he dropped on her station, she continued. “Everypony has been worried about—”

“Not now. Don’t care. Set coordinates for the location on that note, and prepare the fleet for immediate hyperspace.”

“Where are we going?”

“Just set the coordinates,” Soban insisted, tapping the side of his leg impatiently. “Notify me once we arrive. Midnight has the bridge until then. And destroy that note once you’re done.”

“But …” Zenith snorted irritably. Soban had already left.


“Firelance!” the continuous knocks upon the door persisted. “Open up already!”

A muffled, unintelligible combination of grunts and shouts served as Firelance’s reply, as he unlocked the door to his quarters to find …

“Z—Zenith?” the pegasus tensed up. “Uhh, isn’t it kinda late to be making house calls? Or early? Or—wait, what’s the time?”

Zenith rubbed her eyes. “Around four in the morning, by our standards. I don’t have the exact time on me. May I come in?”

“Uhh, sure. Just ignore the mess.”

Zenith grew wide-eyed upon the sight of several empty cans and bottles strewn about upon the floor. “I think ‘mess’ is an understatement. Haven’t you heard of a bin?”

“Bin’s full. Just haven’t had the time to bother cleaning up. I’m exhausted!” Firelance added, with a stretch of his wings. “Wanna drink?” he held out an unopened bottle of a suspicious liquid.

“Is that alcohol? Aboard this vessel?”

“I wish. I know, I know, we can’t drink here. Relax, it’s non-alcoholic beer.”

“I don’t suppose you have something a little less … putrid?” Zenith sat at the small table near the bed.

“Not anymore. Mel cleaned out the cider days ago.”

“That’s actually why I’m here.”

“For cider?”

“You idiot. It’s the Captain. His behaviour is concerning me. I was hoping since you know him better than anypony else, you might be able to shed some light on—on something. He has been really elusive since yesterday. Pretty much after interrogating those Raiders.”

“He told our security team to wait outside while he questioned them, but none of us dared to say anything when he came out to dismiss us. The look upon his face was … hay, it wasn’t furious, but we all knew it was boiling inside him. I could be wrong about this, but I swear he also looked like he was about to cr— … nah that doesn’t sound like him.”

“What happened then?”

“Dunno. We had all left by then. I don’t even know where he put the Raiders.”

“You don’t think he’s going to do something rash, do you?”

Firelance shrugged. “You tell me. Where’s the ship heading?”

“I have no clue,” Zenith sighed, propping her head up with a hoof, and shutting her eyes. “He gave me some coordinates, but the location was … well, it appeared rather insignificant. Pretty much the middle of nowhere.”

“How do you know?”

“Checked the galactic map,” she mumbled. “Just a few scattered dust clouds, and some small asteroids in the area.”

“Huh,” Firelance pondered. “Sure there weren’t any hostiles? Any installations or fleets at all?”

Zenith remained silent.

“What about Hiigarans? Could just be another meeting, right? Then again, if it was, why would the Captain not say that? Zenith? Zenith? Zee?” the pegasus prodded the non-responsive Zenith, sighing to himself. “Great.”

Firelance looked around his quarters, searching for a viable surface to use as a makeshift bed, though gave up shortly after, opting to place the deep-sleeper upon his own bed. Dragging the covers over Zenith, he sat on the side of his bed, and sighed once more. Guess the floor might look a little inviting if I moved those—hey, what the—

The pegasus broke out of his musing and gasped, as he noticed a pair of hooves wrap rather tightly around his waist. Hie eyes followed the hooves towards the still-sleeping Zenith, and bit his lower lip. Okay, this is a little awkward. Maybe if I wiggle out by … Dammit.

Hey, a book! I think I can … just … about … reach … Yes!

‘The Extensive Guide to Hyperspace Phenomena’? Where the hay did this come from?


The several hours that had passed for Firelance felt to him like days. Still sitting in the same position he became trapped in, he barely noticed his alarm going off, and he nodded off and jerked himself awake several times over the early hours of the morning.

The occupant of his bed stirred and groaned for a moment, before freezing at the sight of her surroundings, and the location of her hooves. As her eyes shifted upwards, she could make out the familiar cobalt-blue coat and fiery mane of the pegasus who sat with his back to her.

“Umm … Firelance?” Zenith withdrew her hooves slowly.

“Mmm?” the pegasus grunted.

“What, uhh … what exactly am I doing in your bed?”

“Fell asleep.”

“Aaannnddd why were my hooves around you?” she pushed herself up, rubbing a blurry eye.

“Dunno. You did that. I couldn’t move.”

“I—wha—?” Zenith blushed, quickly changing the subject. “Why didn’t you wake me, then?”

“Didn’t want to. You looked like you needed your sleep.”

“Well you certainly need it more than I do right now. You should probably take the day off.”

“Can’t. Supposed to be on duty in … an hour.” Firelance continued staring vacantly ahead.

“Not if you’re going to be asleep at your post, you’re not! I’ll find somepony to fill in for you, tell them that you’re feeling ill or something.”

“Thanks. I apprecia—”

*THUD*

Zenith shook her head at the sight of Firelance sprawled across the floor. With great effort, she managed to lift the drooling pegasus up and onto the bed, before making her way out.

“Thank you,” she said, as she closed the door and hastily returned to her own quarters to prepare for the upcoming day.


“Good morning, Midnight.”

“Zenith,” Midnight Oil acknowledged with a nod, bringing his gaze back to the hypnotising light show of hyperspace.

“Anything interesting happen last night?”

Midnight shrugged. “Eh, not really. Well, actually … This was the first night some of the Elements of Harmony spent sleeping in their cores. The pink one kept sleep-talking, and it bled through the speakers. You heard her?”

“I don’t think so,” Zenith approached her station. “Why? What was she saying?”

“No idea. Mostly just a random combination of words.”

“Maybe she was having a weird dream. We all have those every now and then.”

“Fifty bits says that prolonged exposure to her dreams would send Princess Luna herself into a mental asylum.”

“And fifty bits says you shouldn’t be talking behind somepony’s back, when they reside in a device that lets them hear and see everything.”

“Fortunately, I suffer from an acute case of chronic apathy.”

“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” Zenith giggled, well aware of Midnight’s demeanour. Dismissing her night-shift replacement, a teal earth pony by the name of Stadia, she briefly scanned the screens at her station. “Looks like we are approaching our destination. Wonder where the Captain is.”

“He’ll be up soon enough.”

“So you were able to contact him?”

“Nope, but he’s usually around for an arrival.”

“Alright.” Continuing to catch up on any new information at her station, she noticed an icon at the corner of one of her screens. “Hey, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are several messages for you from construction.”

“Well aware of them. That nutjob griffon has been whining all night about those damn cores taking up his precious space. Like he expects me to do something about it!” Midnight ranted. “Last I checked, the messaging system was not intended to be used for flooding my inbox thing with an unfixable issue I’m well aware of.”

“Well, you can always let him know that.”

“Oh I intend to. As soon as my shift is over, I’m heading down there to let him know what I think.” Looking around the bridge, Midnight hummed. “Odd. Coming out of hyperspace, and the Captain still hasn’t—”

“I’m here, I’m here,” the latecomer stumbled onto the bridge. It had been clear from his unkempt image and baggy red eyes, that Soban had been slaving over something during the night. “Report, Zenith.”

“Uhh, hyperspace successful. We have arrived at … wherever we are,” Zenith stared in confusion at the barren void around Harmony.

The Captain headed to his seat, as Midnight started to get up. “No, no. I’ll need you to remain for a while, Midnight,” Soban reached for the comms. “Flagship Harmony to shipyard Nabaal. Nabaal? I know you’re out here.”

Just off Harmony’s stern, the giant construction vessel materialised into view, and Captain Elohim Nabaal’s reply followed. “Soban? What are you doing here? You’ve just contaminated several hours worth of readings for our experiment!”

“You know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important,” the agitation in Soban’s voice was apparent. “Is your construction bay empty? I require your assistance with a couple of things, one of which involves modifications to my ship.”

“Sure. Fine,” Nabaal grumbled. “Might as well take a break before starting all over again, I guess. Go ahead and dock when you’re ready.”


“So, what can I do for you?” Nabaal sat in his office with Soban. “I take it this is not a social visit?”

“We have been betrayed, Elohim. The Turanic Raiders knew exactly where to find us.”

Nabaal blinked. “I’m not sure I follow. Betrayed?”

“It wasn’t mere coincidence that a large fleet of Raiders happened to come across us during our meeting, and I refuse to believe they had the means to employ a device powerful enough to stop even Sajuuk from entering hyperspace by themselves.”

“They had what? No, that’s definitely no coincidence. An experimental gravity generator of ours was ‘misplaced’ several weeks ago, matching those capabilities.”

Soban scowled. “How do you lose something that bi—never mind. Did anyone from another fleet dock with your shipyard around that time?”

“Too many to point fingers. We’ve poured through the surveillance data, but whoever took the device had managed to edit out anything suspicious. As far as internal footage was concerned, the device was there in one frame, then gone the next. Luckily, we had all the necessary data to simply reconstruct the device and continue our studies, but such a security breach? And to top it all off with the news of all the Admirals as well? I’m truly worried about what’s happening to us.”

“Wait, what about the Admirals?”

“Assassinated. All of them. Within minutes of each other in different parts of the galaxy. Happened just yesterday. The navy is in turmoil, especially since everyone has degraded into their mindless bickering over who becomes the new Fleet Command. Hiigara is looking to the Captains for their replacement now. In fact, I am one of two possible candidates for Fleet Command.”

“Who is the other?”

“Captain Paktu.”

The blood drained from Soban’s face.

“Mel? You alright?”

“That son of a—that explains everything! That’s why he wanted Karan out of the way!”

“Why he …” Nabaal frowned. “Mel, what are you implying?”

“Shortly after the Raider battle, my fleet retreated, inadvertently dragging a Raider corvette with us. Interrogation revealed Paktu staged the whole damn thing. He hired the Raiders to do his dirty work, and I’m willing to bet he also stole your device and authorised the assassinations. The bastard wants to seize power!”

“I— I don’t know whether to feel—No! No, that’s just not right! After everything we have been through, it comes down to such barbaric, despicable—” Nabaal paused, taking a deep breath. “We have to do something before this gets even more out of hand. This could tear our people apart.”

“I’m working on it, but I’ll need your help. Once your men have modified my vessel to house six hyperspace cores, I’ll need you to install that new cloak generator you guys have been working on.”

“But that device is still in its testing phase! Granted, it’s in late testing, but there’s still no guarantee it will work effectively under combat conditions.”

“It looked pretty effective to me when I arrived,” Soban folded his arms. “Besides, when has Nabaali technology ever failed, even in testing phases?”

“But— … I suppose you’re right,” Nabaal faltered. “Well, we’ve already begun on the core housings, so it shouldn’t take more than another few hours to get the generator in place. We will need at least seventeen hours for calibration and testing, though.”

“Can it be done with the shipyard in hyperspace?”

“The construction can, but the calibrations would have to wait until we drop out, so we can release your vessel.”

“Good. Then your fleet is coming back to Equestria with us right now. If Paktu is set on becoming Fleet Command, he will want to eliminate anyone that poses a threat to him, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him get near you!” Soban hammered a fist on his chair’s armrest.

“Is that wise? Wouldn’t you just expose a civilian world to unnecessary danger?”

“Two words: Lunar strike. That system is probably the safest in the galaxy.”

“Ahh, right, right. Well in that case, I’ll make the necessary arrangements and let you know when we will leave. I assume you will be back aboard your ship?”

“Actually, I was planning on spending some time on your firing range. Been meaning to get some practice in. Just one other thing, though. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, so you should remove your tracker, stick a power source on it, and just leave it out here. If Paktu sees you above Equestria, he might get suspicious. If you receive transmissions from anyone, relay them to me. There are very few people I can trust right now.”

“Got it, Mel. If there’s anything else you need, my men are at your disposal. Effective immediately, my fleet is under your command. Only a few frigates, though. I had to commit most of my fleet to the Hiigaran Defence Fleet, after the Raider incident.”

“Better than nothing. I’ll take my leave, then.”


“Twelve-point-four seconds. Your best time yet!”

“Still not good enough,” Soban berated himself, turning to the officer who had been observing him. “ Record is a solid nine.”

“For what it’s worth, the average here is twenty-two seconds. Would you like me to reset the course?”

“No, no. I think I’ll take a break, Lieutenant. Dismissed.”

Soban parked himself on a nearby bench, stretching his aching muscles after countless attempts at a short, yet challenging combat obstacle course. A short break later, he found himself searching for the rifle he was sure he had placed on a nearby table.

“Looking for this?” Firelance appeared, balancing the weapon on a hoof.

“What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear you should all remain aboard Harmony,” the Captain took his rifle from the pegasus. “Thanks.”

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are the rumours I heard around here true? About the Paktu dude, that is.”

“I’m afraid so. You know, it’s funny … He and I were in the same classes, back when we joined the navy. He was always this arrogant prick people only tolerated because of his capabilities, but I don’t think anyone expected him to do what he did.”

“Bloody backstabber. If there is one thing I hate, it’s treachery, especially if it’s treason. Dunno what I would do if I found out somepony went against the Princesses like that, but I’m sure it would involve a broken beer bottle lodged in the offender’s flank.”

“Heh,” Soban let out a weak chuckle at the mental image. “Three-dimensional cutie marks. There’s an interesting concept.”

“That, it is,” the pegasus joined in with a chuckle of his own. “Now, you mind explaining what it is you’ve been doing for the past three or four hours?”

“Have I been here that long?”

Firelance nodded.

Soban shrugged. “Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess.” After a long pause, he added. “Look, I have to apologise for my unusual behaviour recently. I just—I just needed some time to process everything. I’m not exactly short-fused when it comes to my temper, but after what I found out ? I think you can understand why I just wanted to be alone for a while.”

“Well if that look on your face after finishing with those Raider folks is any indication of the wrath that would follow, I’d certainly want to steer clear of you for a while as well! Oh, hey, what ever happened to those Raiders, anyway?”

“Airlocked.”

“Damn, dude. You don’t mess around.”

“The galaxy is about to be wiped out, and my people are killing each other in petty power struggles. Can’t afford to mess around. And I sure won’t be messing around with Paktu once I get my hands on him.”

“Careful now. I may not know much about your military, but I don’t think you’ll be able to just go and buck him up. Doesn’t he have a large fleet with him, or something?”

“To quote a famous Hiigaran: ‘You cannot consider your spirits yet tested if you accept only those battles where victory is certain’. Whether by our guns or my hands, in the name of Karan and Hiigara, I will have retribution.”


“Hyperspace successful. Stand by for launch, Harmony,” Nabaal reported.

“Couplings disengaged. Trajectory is good.”

“Harmony is away. Thanks, Nabaal,” Soban replied.

“We will begin the cloak generator calibrations in a few minutes. My boys will handle everything. Just hold position abeam our vessel, and everything should go smoothly. You should have that destroyer built by the time our calibrations are done, as well.”

“I’ll be sure to get a crew ready. Soban out.” Within moments of cutting communications, the sound of Luna appearing had caused the Captain to turn around. “Princess Luna,” Soban acknowledged the new arrival. “Impeccable timing as always.”

“Captain. Would you care to explain what that ship and its fleet is doing here?”

“Not here. My office.”


“I must protest, Captain! This is an Equestrian vessel. Please do not misinterpret what I am saying to be callousness, but Hiigara is merely a trading partner of ours, not an ally whom we are obliged to assist with their internal affairs. It is also rather clear you feel strongly about this, too. I cannot allow you to use our resources to fuel what may be a personal vendetta.”

“Personal? With all due respect, ma’am, the man is responsible for the assassination of Fleet Command, not to mention several high-ranking officers, and several hundred others.”

“I understand you feel you are bound by duty, but I cannot and will not agree to placing the lives of my subjects in harm’s way, especially when they already carry that risk,” Luna grew increasingly agitated. “Do you—do you have any idea of the concern that lingers in my mind every day? Every day when my subjects, the best and brightest, no less, are out there in the unknown, and well out of my protective reach? In the short time Harmony has been in service, it has already been through two major battles, and you expect me to give you my blessing for a third? One which by your own admission, is expected to be against a fleet at least four times the size of our own?”

“You underestimate your own subjects, Princess. Are you aware how outnumbered we were in Kadesh? The abilities of a single pony were enough to protect us.”

“As I recall, Harmony was in a pretty serious state when you returned.”

“Forget the damage, ma’am! One pony was able to protect us long enough. We may not have an entire crew that can do the same thing, but look at everypony, and see how well they perform their tasks. Five Hiigaran engineers can’t compete against a single Equestrian one. Fast, effective, efficient. The three words I would describe my crew.”

“You’re dodging the issue, Captain.”

“I’m getting to it. Your concern is that our fleet will be put in harm’s way, correct? That another battle will break out, and we might not return from it? I understand that concern. It’s the same concern I have had for every crew member under my command, even well before you and I met. There is a reason why I have never lost a member of my crew throughout my career. So if you’ll permit me to bring up the galactic map …

These blue dots represent every single Hiigaran vessel and installation. I’m actually breaking several major regulations by showing this to you, but to hell with them. We have bigger problems. Now, we are located here”—Soban placed a finger on one of the three arms of the galaxy—“and Paktu’s fleet is here,” he continued, dragging his finger to another arm on the opposite side of the map. “As you can see, he is currently with his entire fleet, but he is a creature of habit. Every twelve standard days, his fleet splits up to patrol the outer Hiigaran territories. With this new cloak generator, we can intercept him at one of his usual waypoints, and slip in undetected. If we’re compromised, Shining Armour can protect us until we retreat.”

“And what do you plan to do once you ‘slip in’?”

“He will answer for his crimes. Princess, you have to understand this is for the greater good. For both our people. With him in power, forget about any relation between us. With him dealing with the Turanic Raiders, you’ll want to keep a vigilant eye on the night skies. With him—”

“I see your point, Captain,” the Princess heaved a heavy sigh. “Very well. It is with great reluctance that I allow you to pursue this criminal. Heed my words, though. As I have said to you once, I will hold you responsible for the fate of my subjects.”

“Understood. Now, I still haven’t forgotten your request for easier crew transportation from before. I’ve requested a transport vessel to be built from the Shipyard, small enough to dock in our construction bay. If you’ll head to the shipyard, you can outline any details for a landing zone on the planet, for when the vessel is built. There will of course be a delay, as a destroyer and carrier will be built first, followed by the remainder of the hyperspace inhibitors for your defence grid, but once the carrier is ready, the workload will be split between the two, so it shouldn’t take more than a few days.”

“I shall have to discuss a landing zone with my sister first. In the meantime, I wish to speak with Twilight Sparkle in private.”

“Sure. You’ll find her in the research lab. Deck five, section forty-three. Do you need directions?”

“I think I can figure it out on my own, thank you.”

“Alright. If you need me, you know where to find me,” Soban made to get up. “Ahh—Oh, right! Forgot to ask you one other thing. Do you have eighty new crew members to transfer to our third destroyer? It’s currently under construction on the shipyard.”

“We have more than enough crew trained now to properly rotate everypony in the current fleet. I think most of them are on standby, so they would be ready to go in two hours, if need be.”

“That won’t be necessary. Try to bring them aboard in fifteen hours. The destroyer should be done shortly after, and the fleet leaves for Paktu in seventeen.”

“As you wish. Now if you’ll excuse me …”


“Well, as far as I can tell, everything appears to be calibrated right down to the picometre, and all subsequent testing indicates the device is working as it should. Beyond expectations, actually,” Nabaal reported with pride. “Given the immense power available from your conventional systems and five cores … in theory, you can run the cloak generator indefinitely.”

“In theory?” Soban raised an eyebrow at the viewscreen.

“Well I haven’t taken into account the immense heat created as a by-product of the generator. On any other vessel, the generator would shut down from depleted power reserves long before the heat reaches dangerous levels, which is why a more sophisticated cooling system was never designed. I suppose you could increase cooling output beyond what it was designed for, but I cannot guarantee reliability past one-hundred and twenty percent. I’d estimate fifty minutes before having to shut it down. Forty-five, just to be safe.”

“That might not be enough time for what I had in mind. Anything else we could do to extend that?”

“Well, short of me designing, building, and testing a larger cooling system, you could reduce the coverage area, so the generator uses less power. Bring it down to a one kilometre radius, and you should get another twenty minutes. You’d need to keep a tight fleet formation, though. If you must, you could force large quantities of cabin air through the generator. Problem is, that heat won’t be contained, so you would be facing a ship-wide heating. Given the size of your ship, and the amount of air you would have to force through the generator, you’d probably get no more than ten extra minutes, before conditions become uncomfortable.”

“That should help. Thanks, Elohim.”

“My pleasure, Mel. Especially if my creation helps you to take down that bastard! Now go. And don’t forget my frigates.”

“Not going just yet. They’re still finalising everything aboard the Phoenix.”

“We’re pretty much ready when you are, sir,” destroyer Phoenix’s Captain reported. “Twenty-six torpedo tubes good to go!”

“Very well,” Captain Soban paused to identify Nabaal’s frigates. Huh … Elohim likes his Taiidani references in ship naming. “All ships, fall in. Timberwolf, abeam port side. Ursa Major, starboard. Phoenix, dorsal position. Torpedo frigates Cor and Jasah, ventral position. Flak frigate Arth’an Saari and ion frigate Kapella, take up dorsal and ventral positions with Phoenix. Maintain a tight formation, and remain within the cloak generator’s area of effect at all times. Coordinates set for the Hiigaran-Vaygr border at Tandall Gate.”