//------------------------------//
// Plans Are Laid 
// Story: Cosmic Lotus 
// by Goldfur 
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Previous experience with the Swarm taking over planets had taught the Federation that the enemy would spend several weeks consolidating their foothold there before continuing onwards.  Although this meant sacrificing a potentially useful world to them, it allowed Federation forces to concentrate their efforts on the first two new fronts.  All leave was cancelled and the maintenance cycles on the fighter craft were accelerated to cope with the threat.  In spite of this, they had to draw some fighters from the blockade which spread the remaining ones very thinly.  Star Fleet Command realised that they had been guilty of complacency.  With the Swarm seemingly stopped by the blockade, a semblance of normalcy had grown and the ongoing efforts to deal with their foe had been scaled back to allow for other pursuits.  Now though, the Federation Council instructed the Department of Defence to give production of new fighter craft and training of pilots to fly them its top priority level. Across the many Federation home worlds and colony planets, the repurposing of civilian industry and workforce to support the war effort continued to accelerate.

The griffon and unicorn volunteers coming from Equus were an enormous boon.  While the fighter craft only needed basic maintenance such as refuelling between missions with major service required only on a monthly basis, pilots needed rest.  Fighter ships could be turned around in less than half an hour, but the beings that flew them needed to eat and sleep.  Between a crash course in flying the unfamiliar spacecraft and the addition of a second seat for a unicorn mage providing offensive and defensive magic, the Equian pilots quickly took up the slack without incurring losses due to inexperience.  However, no one believed that the new status quo would last long, and those fears were confirmed only a couple of months later when yet another Swarm incursion was detected coming from a new direction.

Nevertheless, enough time had been bought for the combined efforts of Equus and the Federation to produce the first of the new hybrid fighter craft.  Ambassador Alexa Mountaineer had been given new instructions soon after the discovery of the first new Swarm fronts to hasten negotiations and make any reasonable concessions to secure the full support of their new allies.  House Path, having already been engaged for months in full-scale preparations, was first off the mark, providing the initial surge of pilots.  Classes were already underway for many more, and construction of the PS-1 (Pegasus Special) model had already started rolling off the assembly line.  These were adaptations of Equian aircraft controls mated with Star Fleet spaceship designs to enable the spacecraft to take advantage of the superior flight abilities of the pegasi.  They were not pretty ships – time to refine details simply was a luxury they could not afford.  However, they had the benefit of both Federation technology and Equian magitek and were perhaps the most manoeuvrable warships to ever be launched.

Meanwhile, other magitek devices were being developed in Pif’s laboratories and hastened into production.  The biggest problem was providing magic shielding for Star Fleet’s larger vessels.  Newly developed mana shields were now being installed in all new fighter craft, and a retrofitting program was underway for the older ships.  While the unit could not create a field as strong as one created by a unicorn mage, it provided enough protection to allow a nimble fighter to survive a limited number of mana blasts and escape to recharge.  Their biggest flaw was that they were utterly inadequate for the task of defending Star Fleet’s bigger battle craft, and a joke when applied to ships such as Admiral Kline’s Pegasus.  The problem was not just a simple matter of upscaling the shields – too much mana actually interfered with the ship’s systems.  Apparently, the machine-generated fields lacked the sophistication of an alicorn or unicorn controlled one, and the thaumaturgists did not have the luxury of time to research a more elegant solution.  Instead, an alternative was found.  Enchanted armour plating was developed that could absorb the raw mana blasts and redirect a large proportion of it into the batteries of a magic-based weapon.  This could then fire coherent blasts of more sophisticated spells back at the enemy, disabling their ships.  It had been hoped that this would enable the Federation forces to capture more of the enemy to study them and their spacecraft.  However, just as when the Swarm's vessels had been severely damaged, they self-destructed, frustrating Star Fleet Command mightily.

The Swarm quickly realised that the mana blasts that had been so effective until then were now a liability when used against capital ships.  While enough hits on the fighter craft could overwhelm the mana shields, the Swarm ships could never get in enough hits to accomplish this, and soon the use of the mana beam was discontinued everywhere.  As usual, once one part of the Swarm learned something, the rest immediately knew as well regardless of how far away they were.  The Federation desperately wanted to discover how they did this and were immensely disappointed at not making any progress in their research. The few Swarm specimens that had been captured had since died of starvation, apparently unable to even think to feed themselves. Scans of the bodies and brains with the Federation’s most sophisticated instruments had not yielded any clues into the method of Swarm communication.  There was a major benefit to the new shielding advances – now all classes of Fleet’s warships could go into battle.  This came at just the right time to take the strain off the pilots of the small fighter craft, providing a bit of breathing space as more of the allied ships were built, both in Federation and Equian shipyards.

With travel restricted within Federation territory and deep space exploration completely unfeasible for the moment, Wandering Path and the Cosmic Lotus were limited in what they could do.  The starship was tasked with ferrying newly graduated pilots to Chakona, and from there they were assigned to the various ships that needed them most.  Although the Lotus was comparably slow, the travel time was not wasted.  The ship had been refitted with fighter simulators and all the pilots continued their training assiduously during the couple of days that it took for the Equian ship to get to its destination.  Unfortunately, this meant that the scientists that normally worked on the ship had to be relocated.  The Stellar Federation Council offered the scientists suitable alternative posts in exchange for the Equians’ services, and that had drastically reduced the crew’s numbers.  House Path had supplied several more to help with the running of the ship, but as many skilled Equians were now involved with the war efforts, the majority of the newbies were changelings from the Chrome and Blue Hives.

Wandering still interfaced with the all the changelings, acting as the network’s hub.  Without Galena to take up the slack, this was entirely his task once more.  The alicorn decided to take advantage of this and began a think-session similar to Pif’s mini-network of research drones.  His thoughts concentrated on the mission with Destined that took them onto a Swarm ship.  With the changelings in the network picking over even the tiniest detail in his recollection of the event, he hoped to discover something new and useful.  The session finally ended with frustration though.  Wandering found Starry watching him with great concern.

“Are you alright, Wander?” she asked as she put a wing around him to draw him into a hug.

Wandering sighed.  “I’m fine but disappointed.  Star – we need to visit another Swarm ship.  We’re missing something vital – I just know it!”

“Easier said than done, husband.  Can we even get Destined to help us again?  He’s awfully busy now.”

Wandering shook his head.  “No – we have to do it without the time-freeze.  My special talent can’t work through it, nor can our scrying spells.  We need to do a reconnaissance mission in real time.”

Starry stared at him as if he had just grown two heads.  “Are you nuts?  Don’t you realise how dangerous that would be?”

“Of course I do!” he snapped back.  “However, we are never going to get anywhere with the Swarm if all we do is react to them.  We need to be proactive and push them back.  Ultimately, we need to stop them swarming all over the galaxy.  However, we know next to nothing about them.  How does one Swarm learn what the other Swarm discovers?  How do they seem to have an unending supply of ships to throw against us?  How do they control them?  Why are they utterly single-minded in their efforts?  Why do they always suicide rather than surrender?  These and other questions need to be answered!”

“Yes, they do, but is a suicide mission the right way of going about discovering the answers?”

“It shouldn’t be a suicide mission.  A well-chosen team can do it.  One person to concentrate on shielding, while the rest use their special talents and equipment to learn as much as possible in an undamaged ship that won’t blow up while we are travelling around inside.”

“For how long?  Might they treat the invasion of their ship as an excuse for suicide also?” Starry pointed out with a frown.

The stallion nodded.  “There is that risk.”

“But it’s not dissuading you?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Then I’m coming along on this hare-brained mission of yours if you manage to get it going.  Somepony has to protect you from your folly.”

Wandering gave his wife a fond smile and kissed her.  “Thanks, love.  I knew that I could count on you.”

Starry sighed.  “Okay, who else did you have in mind?”

“A thaumaturgy expert to detect any other possible uses of magic, and a technology expert for starters.  I was thinking of asking Mom for the former if she would be interested now that we don’t have the services of Cosmic Dawn.  And for the latter, Helen Baines has proven very adept at interpreting alien technologies.  We’ll have to ask Admiral Kline if shi would be willing to volunteer.”

“I know Mama Twilight has been wanting to learn more about the Swarm too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she agrees to this mission.  I’m not so sure about Helen though.  Shi’s a technician and engineer, after all.”

Wandering shook his head.  “Helen is an officer in Star Fleet, and by definition, a soldier.  Don’t count hir out so easily.”

“Ortzi will freak out once he learns of it.”

“Hopefully, that won’t be until after the mission has been completed.”

“He’ll never forgive you if something goes terribly wrong.”

“If something goes terribly wrong, neither of us are likely to be around to incur his wrath.”

Starry rolled her eyes.  “With that lovely thought in mind, which other sacrificial lambs do you want with us?”

“I was thinking one of the Federation telepaths.  They have some powerful ones on Chakona.”

“Hoping to discover the secrets of the Swarm’s communications, I guess?  You realise that they still don’t fully comprehend changeling networking yet?”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s worth a try.  Speaking of changelings though, I was thinking of asking Fifi to be on the team.”

Starry thought about that.  Fidelitas ‘Fifi’ Path was not only the daughter of Long Path and Queen Carpacia but also a powerful Red Changeling Princess with strong tactical skills.  She would undoubtedly throw herself at the opportunity to gather intelligence.  “Good idea.  Any others?”

“I don’t want to make our group too big, and I think I’ve covered all the bases.  I’ll be scanning every living thing on the ship, and the ship itself in an effort to add to the data.”

“Just as long as you never try to take on the form of a Swarm,” she reminded him.  “Like you told me – you don’t just take their shape, you become what you imitate.  I don’t want to lose you to them.”

“Don’t worry, Starry.  For the first time ever, I’m not curious about what it would feel like to be another creature.  Besides, if I did become one, there would be the risk of them learning everything that I know, and that would be disastrous for everyone.”

“Yeah, it would.  Equus’ great advantage is that we know and understand magic where none of the other players in this drama does.  That must never change.  Anyway, when do we do this?”

“I’ll ask Admiral Kline as soon as we get to Chakona and drop off our load of new pilots.  I’ll have a talk with Mom straight away though.  Maybe she will have some suggestions to add.”





“Are you nuts?  Have you no idea how perilous that plan is?” Boyce exclaimed.

Wandering arched an eyebrow at him.  “That sounds awfully familiar; have you been talking to Starry already?”

“I don’t need to talk with anyone to know how risky that idea is.  The first time we boarded a Swarm ship, it was already disabled and Prince Destined had used a time freeze so that we were effectively in and out in seconds.  Now you want to try the same thing with an active ship in real time.  That’s just crazy!  And need I remind you about the Swarm’s willingness to sacrifice any unit that is compromised?”

“But it would get vital information that could potentially turn around this war.  You’ve just detected yet another incursion by the Swarm from a different vector, and you know in your gut that there will be more.  Star Fleet is barely on top of the current situation, and even though both Equus and the Federation are ramping up their efforts, you already suspect that you are going to get overwhelmed eventually.”

“We will, but I notice that you didn’t include yourselves.”

The stallion looked away from the human, gazing resolutely at the floor.  “There’s growing demand among the Equian Council for us to close off the portal and isolate Equus from the war.”

Boyce frowned.  “That would stop the supply of the vital magitek equipment needed to keep abreast of the incursions.  I thought House Path was one hundred percent backing us?”

“House Path still is, but it can’t defy the World Council in that matter.  While we would still give support via teleportation, we would be extremely limited in how much we can bring that way.”

“Have you told the Council that war has a habit of coming to nations even if they choose to stay out of it?”

“We have, but since they learned that Equus is 18,000 light-years from the Federation, they believe they would be safe.”

Boyce snorted in contempt.  “For starters, we don’t know how far the Swarm territory already extends towards Equus, and secondly, the Swarm may be slow, but they are inexorable.  Equus may be safe for now, but not forever.”

“We’ve been arguing the same thing, but fearful civilians and their short-sighted elected officials don’t always think logically.  That’s why we have to be proactive about dealing with the Swarm.”

Boyce leaned back in his chair with a sigh.  “You know, I kept the secret of Prince Destined’s ability to manipulate time from almost everyone, but I had to include it in my report to Port Admiral Namatjira.  Do you want to know what he ordered me to do?”

“I’m betting that I can guess.  Go on.”

“He wanted me to find out if Destined could go back in time and stop the Swarm before they became a threat.”

“Des would never do that.   Even tiny modifications to the time-stream can result in enormous changes later, and not necessarily good ones either.  He has taken on the task of being the guardian of time, but even he admits that it will take hundreds of years before he will be confident about manipulating it.  During the Temporal War, he was forced to take action, but since then he has been very careful in the practice of his ability.  He told me about the demonstration that he gave you – a harmless loop back in time of a few minutes, but he agonised over using that same power to save the life of a pegasus.  His decisions can have vast consequences, Boyce, and it’s usually the unanticipated ones that can cause the biggest problems.”

“No need to lecture me, Wandering.  I pretty much figured that out for myself before I had a private talk with Destined.  His answer was short and to the point.  He said, ‘No, and don’t ask again.’  Thankfully, I don’t think he was offended.”

“It’s not the first time that he’s been asked to intervene that way.  Some people asking have the purest of intentions, but many do not.  He has a policy of politely declining everyone, and only talks about those requests with us if he feels that we should know about them.”

“Fortunately, he didn’t regard the time-freeze the same way.  Otherwise, we would be at an even greater disadvantage than we are now.”

Wandering nodded.  “Correct, but that’s why we need to go back and learn more.  It’s risky but vital.”

“You’ll have my full backing, Wandering, even if it’s a crazy stunt.”

“Thanks, Boyce.”





While the mission was approved in principle, circumstances prevented Wandering from proceeding with it immediately.  Another incursion drew resources away for a while until Fidelitas’ new changeling squadron took them on.  She used the Cosmic Lotus as a base and they met the Swarm light-years away from the colony world that was threatened.  The Argonaut, another starship the size and class of the Pegasus, had acted as the carrier for the squadron and had rendezvoused with the Cosmic Lotus at the chosen intercept point to deploy the new fighter craft.

A huge advantage that the Swarm possessed was their superior communications.  Knowledge was passed between their ships virtually instantly, enabling them to take instantaneous advantage of the Federation’s weaknesses.  The changeling squadron was Equus’ answer to that problem.  Fidelitas acted as the hub of the squadron network, replicating the Swarm’s ability to communicate.  However, the changelings had one advantage over the Swarm – the princess was a superior strategist and tactician.  The Equian forces took down the enemy in record time, hugely impressing the crew of the Argonaut.  The changeling pilots soaked up the admiration and friendship of the crew, replacing the energy that they had expended during the fight and so much more.

This had been a smaller incursion by the Swarm used as a test of the new unit.  Star Fleet was under no illusion that all battles were going to be that easy, but the Argonaut had not deployed its regular fighter forces this time.  The next battle would be fought with the combined forces against one of the Swarm’s major fronts, and it would not be anywhere near as easy.  However, with the changeling squad now assigned to the Federation warship, its effectiveness was greatly increased.





The opportunity finally came a few weeks later when everything coincided to put Wandering’s plan into action.  The Pegasus arrived at the Equian shipyards to pick up the first complete unit of PS-1 fighter ships.  The new pegasus-modified craft replaced a number of the regular fighters which the shipyard took to be serviced and upgraded.  Mach Spectrum was in the launch bay as the new ships were brought aboard and their pilots disembarked.  He spotted a familiar face and trotted over to the mare as she flapped down to the deck.

“Hey, Stratus Bolt!  Finally got here, I see.”

The pale blue mare with a short-cropped straw-colored mane smirked at him.  “Some of us don’t have claws to grab those cumbersome Federation controls, Mach.  Now that we have some decent craft, we’re going to show you how to really fight a space battle!”

“Mind if I take a look?  I’ve been really curious about these PS-1s.”

“Go ahead and drool with envy,” she replied with a laugh.

Mach flapped up to the cockpit to peer inside.  Unlike the fighter that he flew, most of the flight controls were incorporated into sleeve-like arrangements for the wings of their pegasus pilots.  This allowed them to fly more instinctively than with the hand controls.  Only the weapons system was manipulated by hoof – a far more natural method of fighting for the winged ponies.  The fighters were unlike any others too.  While there was no air in space, the ship nevertheless had wings.  These, however, were designed and enchanted to act against the universal mana field in a similar way to aerodynamic ones.  The Equian fighters were the first to be created to genuinely ‘fly’ in space.

“Any chance that I could try flying one of these?” Mach asked enviously.

“Not without a few weeks of training on them first,” Stratus Bolt replied with a smirk.

Mach looked thoughtful and then shot her a sharp look.  “Am I mistaken, or were training simulators also being brought aboard?”

The mare rolled her eyes.  “Yeah, you got me there.  But I don’t make the training schedules, so don’t count on getting any hours on one anytime soon.”

“I was the top Wonderbolt performer before becoming a fighter ace – just try to stop me from getting it soon!” the hippogriff proclaimed.

Stratus Bolt shook her head in resignation at her friend’s boast.  “Okay, but you’re not getting one today.  So – where can a mare get a drink on this tub?”

Mach flapped down to join the mare.  “I know just the place!”





The Pegasus stopped at Chakona to take aboard Wandering and Starry, several Chrome Changelings, and the other members of the special team.  Twilight Sparkle was already aboard, having joined the ship after it had finished taking on the new fighter craft.  The Argonaut rendezvoused with them so that Fidelitas could transfer between the ships, and a golden-furred skunktaur telepath beamed aboard to join them.  Helen Baines was already aboard, of course, and the team gathered in a meeting room to discuss the plan of action with Boyce, Rosepetal, Midnight, and Dust Storm, the leader of the pegasus unit.



After introductions were made, Wandering said, “The first part is up to your fighters, Admiral.  After we engage the Swarm, one of their ships has to be isolated.  That’s your special task, Captain Dust Storm.  While the regular fighters do their usual work, we’ll be counting on your pegasi to keep the target ship away from the others and make sure it’s not destroyed.”

“No problem, Captain Wandering Path,” the pegasus mare replied confidently.  “I’ll rehearse tactics with the squadron on the way to the front.”

Wandering nodded.  “Once we have the target ship isolated, I will teleport our team aboard.  Once there, Starry’s primary responsibility will be to shield the team while Mom and I will be the back-up.  This should allow the rest of us to concentrate on what each of us does best.  Helen, from our previous mission, we think that there is little technology that is familiar to you, but you have proven so adept at integrating Federation and Equian technology that we hope you will pick up vital clues to their systems anyway.  Mom – Princess Twilight Sparkle – will be doing a similar evaluation for magic-based systems, although what we have seen so far seems to be in the nature of using existing magic resources rather than creating them.  We may learn otherwise though.”

The stallion looked at the skunktaur next.  “Zane Ashland, you will hopefully be able to confirm that they are using some form of telepathy, but I am aware that you have difficulty with changeling-style networking, so you will also be working in tandem with me as I can interface with that type of network.  However, that may be a double-edged sword.  While the captured specimens were not able to affect me, there is a chance that a ship full of them can.  So keep a mental eye on me.”

Zane regarded the stallion gravely.  “I am a T5-rated telepath and I am familiar with forms of mental domination.  I will be alert for both direct and indirect attacks.”

“Thank you.  I will be concentrating my efforts on detecting other life-forms aboard the ship.  So far we know that they use at least two natural creatures as tools – the mana beasts and their living starships.  We suspect that there are more.  Starry will be using her equipment to scan for technological equipment, and she, Helen, and I will compare notes after the mission.  Lastly, Princess Fidelitas will also be listening for changeling-style networks, but also be observing the Swarm and their response to the invasion of their ship.”

Fidelitas nodded acknowledgement and then took over the briefing.  “That brings up an important point – we do not know how the Swarm will react, but given their paranoia and their proclivity for self-destruction, it is very likely that our window of opportunity will be very limited.  We must all act hard and fast, and also be prepared to deal with them suiciding while we’re still aboard.  With all due respect to Starry’s ability to shield us, we must not rely on it totally.  We may be forced to split the team, but Twilight or Wandering must be part of any group that does not have Starry in it.  As Wandering may be a weak point, as he has already indicated, it is preferable that Twilight be the first alternative.  Do not dawdle over anything that is not your particular field of expertise.  Do not assume that because something is in that field, that it can’t cause you problems or harm.  We’re going into this mission because we know so little about the Swarm, and that means that we’re ignorant of many potential dangers.  So don’t take unnecessary risks, and remember that a battle is still going on outside where some random factor may upset our plans.  Dust Storm, you will be responsible for keeping us informed of developments outside the ship.”

When the changeling had finished, Wandering resumed talking.  “To sum up – focus on your task, work swiftly, and watch for problems.  Any questions?”

“Yes,” Midnight spoke up.  “Why aren’t you taking any Security personnel?”

“We’re not without strong defensive capabilities, Commander.”

“But you’re all supposed to be concentrating on your special tasks.  You might need someone specifically there to watch your backs.”

“Are you volunteering?”

“I suppose I am.  I have an average empathic ability that may be of use also.”

Wandering looked at Boyce questioningly.  “Admiral?”

“Commander Midnight is correct.  I recommend that you take hir along.”

Wandering nodded.  “Very well, Commander, you’re in.  Zane, please stay and test out mental interfacing with myself and Fidelitas.  Everyone else – we have three days before we reach the nearest battlefront, so make any preparations and get plenty of rest.”

The Admiral and Commander Rosepetal excused themselves too, and when the three were alone in the meeting room, Zane spoke up.

“Captain Path, are you certain about forming a gestalt with me?  Many people are uncomfortable with being mentally naked to another person.”

Wandering grinned.  “Due to my heritage, I am the only pony that can fully integrate with a changeling network.  Believe me, I am more than familiar with the concept.  I am currently acting as the hub for all the Chrome Changelings that came aboard the Pegasus with us, and Fifi has linked with me also.”

The changeling Princess matched the alicorn’s smile.  “My herd brother speaks truly.  I may be a Red Changeling and he the son of a Chrome, but Wandering Path is universally accepted by all hives as a hub nearly as strong as any changeling Queen.  You may be in for a surprise.”

Wandering continued, “But it’s because I am a pony that your telepathy should work with me too.  I can act as the interface between two kinds of mental communication.”

“Very well, let’s try this out.  I formally ask your permission to enter your mind, Captain.”

“Granted, and call me Wandering.  We’re going to get a lot more intimate than first names.”

The skunktaur smiled and nodded.  “Indeed, we are.”  Hy then placed a hand on the stallion’s withers and reached out with hys mental faculties to touch Wandering’s mind.  Hy found accessing it easy, drawn readily into the depths.  Then hy reached the core of Wandering’s being and the mental viewpoint exploded into a complex web of thoughts, memories, and processing data.  The skunktaur was almost overwhelmed by it all.  Hy had been part of multi-telepath gestalts before, but this was substantially different.  While those had been cooperative efforts with a unified purpose, this seemed like the changelings were just an extension of Wandering’s mind.  Hy could see, hear, and feel everything that each member of the gestalt experienced, and hy quickly had to throw up blocks to prevent information overload.

“Welcome to my world, Zane,” came the mental voice of Wandering Path, echoing through all the conjoined minds.

All that Zane could think of was that hy was going to have a write a new chapter on telepathy once this mission was over.  Maybe even a whole book!


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