Getting home in one piece was proving to be a tedious task.
The steam powered vessel, SS Gale Force, cut through the frigid icy unsympathetic waters sluggishly. Sailing through North Sea was treacherous. Among its foamy waves was rusty debris of fallen ships.
Its naval captain, Pipsqueak, hunched over elongated control panels. His face grimaced with stark determination. If he had any choice, he would have been in his cozy armrest chilling next to a fire hearth. He definitely wouldn’t be stuck at some crazy sea environment with impending storms.
Taking a quick glance at the various photographs of his decorated self, Pipsqueak recalled the honor of being able to complete any given task. A perilous task of steering this heavy hunk of steel home shouldn’t be a major problem for him.
Until this forsaken moment, that is.
Twisting and turning in his seat, he opened a small window screen, checking any possible messages from HQ. As before, there was not a single message in the system inbox.
Pipsqueak was annoyed. Shifting his eyes, he found the plastered information on the display intriguing.
HQ has been unresponsive in their wave signals. There were no messages since the last departure from the docks. Maybe they had given up hope. Maybe they had run out of reinforcements. Whatever the excuse was, it might be a wise choice for them. Looking at the terminal interface, it was not hard to figure why.
Plastered red crosses dominated its grid squares. Each red mark splatter represented one destroyed allied ship. Elsewhere, enemy ships indicators filled the rest of the chart. The ones SS Gale Force wrecked had been everything but many.
He was sent to die.
The enemy has been an intelligent one. Swift and deadly was its game. A previous sneak attack minutes ago had crippled the ship’s field defense system barrier. In response, Pipsqueak ordered a fresh barrage of missile strikes, except they hit only thin air and skidded across the water before disappearing into the ocean depths.
His brows furrowed. He slammed another hoof unto his armrest. Pipsqueak hated the idea of losing. Defeat meant a certain level of humiliation, torture, plus other unthinkable thoughts.
“Well, Pipsqueak, is that the best you can do?” he muttered to himself softly. “Think fast!” Perhaps, he should review the situation at hoof again. His hoof started to wrap around a tea cup. Some hot tea might do his nerves some needed calm.
Without warning, shock waves spread across the floorboard, jolting him to his senses. Pipsqueak released the teacup, which smashed into tiny fragments upon contact. Instinctively, he rubbed his neck’s lucky charm for luck.
SS Gale Force shook. Shuddered.
What was that? Was the enemy getting closer? Gripping the speaker tube, Pipsqueak barked an urgent command.
“Ensign Scootaloo. Status report.”
No response. He pronounced with a louder tone.
“I repeat. Ensign Scootaloo. I need your status report.”
“Captain, Ensign Scootaloo is dead.” Assistant Head Engineer Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked through the microphone.
“What?”
“The missiles tore through the AA turrets, taking out the speed capacitors. Entire system has been fried. Scootaloo was the one controlling those turbines.”
Pipsqueak frowned, as SS Gale Force trembled. Glass exploded, and he crossed his hooves in a bid to protect his face.
“Transfer some energy into the spare turbines. I want her to run at full speed.”
“Direct hit!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, “Our shield reserves are getting low, dropping down to less than thirty-five percent function capability!’
“Can’t you use unicorn’s magic to reinforce the shields?”
“I’d love to, Captain. But this game doesn’t allow that.”
“Sweetie Belle, I want you to commerce firing. Return fire!”
“Umm, Pipsqueak? We ran out of ammunition. I spent too much of the bits on the ship’s design yesterday.”
Reality sucks.
Pipsqueak tapped a hoof at his chin, weighing several options. Mentally he thought of several risky scenarios. Either way, any method he chose would be a difficult choice. His jaw clenched. No way he was going take it any longer. Silently he prayed for any pony to salvage the situation. Any pony.
“Not even Rainbow, one of the top veteran players of this season could help us.”
“Rainbow?”
As if on cue, the control room hatch door burst open, revealing a cyan Pegasus wearing a shade of sunglasses.
“No fear! Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!” She paused, for the usual dramatic effects.
But Pipsqueak only stared back into her pink eyes, seeing only unreachable mountain perks in them. His face pallor drained.
“Our Triple Shield Magnetic Cores has been hit! We need immediate action. Shields now down to fifteen percent.” Sweetie Belle remarked over the speaker.
Rainbow scanned his face, waiting for some sort of response. Perhaps he was not persuaded of her awesomeness. The brown-patched pony only buried his head deeper into his outstretched shoulders. Rainbow trotted up to him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Take a look.”
Raising his head, Pipsqueak directed her gaze towards the screen. He pointed a hoof at the various golden triangles representing enemy warships beacons surrounding the vessel.
“Looks like some familiar pony’s battle formation. Activate coms link. Let’s see who it is.”
Rainbow responded by pulling various windows using the visual touch screen, tapping a few commands. Plunging a circuit lever, a visual image of the enemy’s commander appeared.
“What in tarnation! Rainbow! One moment ya here, and the next on the Young’un’s side!”
“Applejack, you nearly won.”
“Rainbow! Play fair!”
“Thanks for the new coordinates, Applejack.”
She switched off the transmission, fizzling away the belligerent image of the orange pony.
“Trust me on this one.”
“How did you get in here?”
“Scootaloo figured you might need help.” The cyan pony smirked while producing a reddish copper key card from her saddlebags. She plunged it into the system’s core slot, entering the specific coordinates with other minor details.
Pipsqueak’s eyes widened. Rainbow Dash might have their interests at heart, but even if she did wrong, she was clearly more experienced than him.
“Isn’t that cheating? That’s an illegal patch of code and -”
“It’s called strategy. I’m getting tired of her gaining the top spot in the game’s ladder every single time.”
Pipsqueak groaned. Rainbow continued to press the 'confirm' button on screen.
“Trust me.”
There was a clink sound, as the system’s Artificial Intelligence started to reinstate SS Gale Force to its former glory. Previously broadening holes closed in. Its defense mechanism pumped electrical currents, strengthening the ship’s shield. New ammunition missiles started refilling in the ship’s storage. It was perfect for a counterattack.
Rainbow pulled the microphone tube towards her.
“Sweetie Belle. Reload one of the new torpedoes into the slots.”
“Aye, Rainbow.”
“Return fire.”
Rainbow smiled as she watched the top grade torpedo launched from SS Gale Force. The sleek missile buried itself into Applejack’s main battle cruiser, ripping the hull apart. The enemy vessel ballooned into columns of crimson flames.
Gradually, the rest of the enemy's ship indicators faded quickly from the radar screen.
“Game over.”
But Pipsqueak was not sure. A nagging feeling began to unease him. He gulped in deep breaths of air. Folding his hooves, he knew that home was still a good thousand miles away to be considered safe.
***
For a good hour, SS Gale Force resumed its naval course without interruption. Clear skies, crystal clear waters, no sign of further enemy activity.
Just then, the alarm sirens rang in SS Gale Force repeatedly. Various vessel crew members scuttled, racing to their workstations. Temperature readings became inaccurate as thermostats numbers jumped from minus fifteen degrees to positive twenty degrees to some random figure.
“Captain. I’m reporting strange signal readings from beneath the ship. Our ship communication devices seemed to be going crazy! Everything seems to be moving on it’s own!” Sweetie Belle bellowed in horror.
“Maybe its another enemy sneak attack.” Pipsqueak suggested, “A new magical monster perhaps?” Taken aback, he thought the answer be a fairly obvious one. Nothing happens without a reason.
“Captain, according to the game’s wiki, we are supposed to be in a safe region. No monsters.” countered Sweetie Belle.
“Pony feathers!” Rainbow’s face turned ashen. Her jaws dropped. “Applejack must have reported our ship to the new GM!”
“Nonsense. GMs usually do nothing but -”
Before Captain Pipsqueak could complete his sentence, everything went black for all crew members of SS Gale Force.
***
The next day, GM Twilight Sparkle broadcasted a new system message in game, warning that disciplinary actions will be taken against any attempt to cheat in the game…
~FIN~
Credits:
Edited & Proofread by n