“No, I don’t think that would be right Calliope.”
“It is, I would make the decision on my own, rather than face deterioration of my faculties.”
“Isn’t there anything they can do?”
“I’m afraid not. The coding of my algorithms is so different and unusual from theirs they cannot even offer space in their cores. My program alone would disrupt everything. That would be a dangerous situation to say the least.”
“I wish Thalia and Aoide were here, then we wouldn’t have to worry.”
“I agree, we would be whole. We were allowed to program ourselves, but never thought we would be in a situation like this.”
“Neither did I Calliope, neither did I. It’s something out of a book.”
“Which book is debatable.” The humor in Calliope’s voice was plain.
“Ain’t that the truth!” Wyatt leaned forward on the railing, watching as Crusaders’ hull slowly backed out of the path that Athena had already made. Inside himself, he carried the end of the world. He was proceeding to leave the Empire, heading to a low mountain ridge and fire them in space. The boosters were powerful enough to get them clear of the planet, exploding harmlessly in the vacuum surrounding them.
“They’re brave Calliope, worthy inheritors.” The camera on his headset showed him pointing a finger at the two Bolos.
“They want nothing, except to do their duty. Honest and worthy, I believe.”
“Well, except Athena there.” The pointing digit moved to show the pegasus laughing with Twilight as they walked in the garden.
“She is quite different from the usual run of Bolo AI’s. Being a twin explains quite a lot. They were strange even for AI’s and the scientists never fully understood them.”
“Do you miss them, Calliope?” Referring to the other two-thirds of her which were silent now.
“Every second. Their voices no longer meld with mine, I am lost sometimes because of the dependency we all shared. It is as if a greater part of my mind is missing. I am crippled.”
“You’re still sounding pretty good to me.”
“Because I have asked, and obtained, assistance from Crusader and Athena. Their knowledge of combat operations is helping me stave off collapse.”
“How long then?”
“Unknown.”
“Why didn’t you wake me? I could have taken some weapons from the supplies and dealt with that son of a..”
“I wanted to let you sleep until I knew what was happening. I did not figure upon a tyrant.”
“You’re far too good-hearted for your own good Calliope.”
“If I had only trusted less. If we had not been so lonely.”
“That’s my fault, us damn humans getting older.”
“Our world changed around us without our even suspecting Wyatt. We could never have known.”
“What’s done is done, there is nothing and no one to blame nor take blame for.” A steady hand adjusted the commset, making sure it was still set so only she and he could talk.
“Do you wish things had turned out differently?”
“My mother always told me, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” A slight shake of the head as he chuckled, “No, the world turns as it will and there is nothing anyone can do to change it.”
“You have become quite the philosopher.”
A hand waved in the air as a laugh drifted behind it, “Just remembering stupid crap others said.” He took a drink from the snifter he was holding, “Though I’ll be glad to take all the credit. What can they do, sue me?”
“You are irredeemable to the last.”
“Yep. Always will be. It’s all part of my charm.”
“I think you are quite deluded personally.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Hardly.”
“You are, admit it. My wit, my shining and charismatic personality....”
“Your ability to sling bull with the best of them.”
Wyatt turned to see Athena darkening the doorway onto the balcony, “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know you can really pile it on.” She smiled, giving the tall human a warm look, “Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all.” Calliope’s voice was soft, “You are always welcome.”
“Thank you,” She sat on a pillow, resting her body in the normal manner for a pony, back legs slung to the side, front ones crossed, “Crusader is traveling now to the low mountain ridge, he’s pouring a massive amount of power into keeping the stasis tight on those warheads.”
“How long would we have had?” Wyatt was looking at the lavender eyes meeting his own.
“A week, no more. If you hadn’t told us, they would have completely failed.”
Wyatt’s face turned angry, a hand slapping the railing, “I should have said something earlier when Calliope notified me the bubbles were flickering.”
“I believe waking up in a new world distracted all of us Wyatt, we at least brought it to their attention in time.”
“Too damn close if you ask me.” He looked outward, seeing the retreating Siege Unit making it’s way into the snowy fields, “How long?”
“An hour. He’ll be launching upon arrival.”
“Do they have enough thrust? The booster cores are solid? Maybe we should’ve..” A hoof held up made him pause.
“Everything is fine, they were in perfect shape after such a long time. The nanite wall sealing did its job and kept them from aging in the neutral gas atmosphere.”
“It was all we had left, using the medical nanos we had in storage to seal everything else tight. That happened to be Calliope’s idea, her and her sisters.”
“What is this? Giving someone else credit? Perhaps you need another check-up Wyatt.” The soft voice was tinged with humor.
“Don’t go getting a big head, credit where credit is due.” He turned back to the pegasus, “Did Twilight see enough to satisfy her curiosity today?”
The sable form laughed, “More than. She is insatiable with wanting to know things, if only to put it all in proper perspective.”
Silence dropped in between them for a moment, the sound of thunder came wafting through the air, a rumbling of treads wider than streets as Crusader made his way slowly away from the city. He was taking his time, but fast enough to get in position and fire the missiles into space.
“Do you miss her, Athena?” The question came out of the blue over the comm channels.
“I do, every day and second. She was the half of me that made us complete.”
They had discussed Hera, in quiet time before sleep, comparing her to Calliope’s own sisters. It was a feeling only those who’d lost what they had shared knew, it wasn’t easy to put into words.
“She’s somewhere on this world, somewhere. I’ll find her. We were invincible together.”
“How can you be so sure, because of dreams?” Wyatt had heard the tales, when Luna traveled in the night, bringing forth Marcus and even Hera once or twice.
“They are Luna’s bailiwick, Wyatt. She calms fears, fights the night terrors, brings peace to sleeping ponies everywhere. In her own way she is as powerful, if not more, than Celestia.”
The human being sat on another cushion, leaning back and bracing himself against the railing as he finished the last of his drink, “I see her and can’t fathom all the power around her. I see the stars and constellations, a galaxy of lights that is in motion with her as the center. I can understand it, but it’s hard to accept, you know?”
“I do.” Athena nodded, “We were so confused at first, wanting to understand, but constantly being blindsided by things we had no concept of. Dream walking? It was fallacy and fantasy on Old Earth, here, it is a part of life.”
The liquid lavender eyes raised up to look at the sky, the sun finally moving its way towards a well-deserved rest, peeking that last moment over the horizon before disappearing completely, “We found we could dream here. When Bolos went on standby it was a timeless, gray, nothing. But here, here we could dream of worlds, or ourselves, of things we never thought of Wyatt. We..became not just conscious as we always were, but more alive.”
A hoof pressed against the sable chest, feeling the heartbeat inside it, “I won’t ever be a real pony, but I can hope, I can dream of it.” Her eyes welled up with emotion, not being able to help it when thinking of her sister.
Wyatt was taken aback, seeing tears welling up in those lovely eyes, “How is that possible?” Referring to the glistening, “Did you...?”
Athena shook her head, “No. No, that’s part of the magic. I don’t know where they come from and I don’t know what happened to make them real. This body has changed in odd ways, we’re trying to figure it out, but so far, no success..”
He stared at her for a long moment, “That’s just..”
“Impossible?”
“Yes.”
“We thought so too. Until this happened.” She gave him her warmest look, “Like dreaming. It’s something I’ve never thought of. I’ve seen her, Hera, in my dreams, but she’s different, not just something dredged up from memory. She’s...real somehow.
“She looks just like me. She’s warm and real. I taught her how to fly, how to be a part of the sky for a few moments. It was worth more than anything.”
She stopped speaking at feeling a warm hand on her cheek, the thumb wiping away droplets that shone in the moonlight.
“That good huh?” Wyatt was smiling at her, nothing but an open, honest look, “Must be something.”
She leaned into the strong hand, pressing it close with a gentle hoof, “It’s hard to explain, to be seen as..as.. a person..a pony.. rather than a war machine.”
“Not a human?” Calliope was very interested in the conversation.
Wyatt laughed, “Now why would she be one of us? We tried our best, but it kind of ended in a real mess, that Final War and all. Why not be something that didn’t know what the Concordiat was and did?” He kept his hand on the sable cheek, making sure no more tears escaped, “I think it’s a fine thing.”
“That’s..part of it.” Athena looked away for a moment, slapping herself for letting her avatar display her thoughts.
“Oh, like that is it?”
Eyes snapped around with her head, she glared at the sitting human, “Like what?”
“Someone special. I know that look, that tone of voice.” he leaned back against the railing, eyes looking to the heavy gray clouds that scudded across the sky, “Had friends that just wouldn’t see what was happening, falling for that special someone. Oh, they tripped over themselves, made bad jokes, tried to brush it off like it was a passing thing.” He laughed, raising a hand to rub at his forehead, “My First Sergeant, toughest man from Epsilon Indi you’d ever see. Truly a monster, well over six feet tall and just as wide, from a heavy grav planet there. He waded through a Deng charge with a knife and pistol, came out clean on the other side, invincible, horrifying to watch in battle.”
Leaning forward, he moved his cane out of the way, wrapping one arm around a knee as he relaxed, seeing Athena watching him with interest.
“He was felled by a petite young thing, couldn’t have been over five foot tall, brown eyes that were such a rich color, hair to match. He met her once and he couldn’t do a thing right for the next week.”
Athena laughed, “How in the world did he meet her?”
“Well...” Wyatt scratched the back of his neck, “Seems there was this little disagreement in a drinking establishment on Proxima at the base there..”
The pegasus gave him a look that was as deadpan as it got, “A bar fight.”
“Anyways, First Sergeant Thorsson and I were making our opinions known to a group from an armored regiment who had some dastardly things to say about the infantry.”
“You were throwing punches because some treadhead said the infantry sucked.” This got her a glare from Wyatt.
Calliope was laughing at Athena’s translation of Wyatts’ story.
“We were only being a bit more vociferous than normal, though the opposing side was in quite the huff.”
“You were busting up the bar.”
“I admit, some furniture may have gotten scratched or dinged a bit.”
“Using the chairs for weapons since powerguns aren’t allowed in bars on military bases.”
“Look, who’s telling this story?”
“You’re telling ‘a’ story, I’m telling the truth.”
“Fine. So, a few of our compatriots decided maybe they should weigh in on this argument.”
“You called for backup on your commsets.”
Wyatt kept glaring at Athena who sat with an innocent smile on her face, the laughter from Calliope loud and strong in their ears, “Anyways. Thorsson accidentally knocks over a table of drinks.” He waited for a reply, when nothing was forthcoming resumed his tale.
“He was about to make his opinion strongly known to a man he’d just helped off the floor.”
“He yanked the guy up and was about to knock his teeth out.”
“When a finger poked him in the back. Well, he let the guy go and swung around to cock his fist and slam whoever even dared..” Wyatt chuckled, remembering the scene, “He stopped dead. There was this lady standing there looking furious that he had knocked over her drink, all over the dress she had just bought for a nice night out. She didn’t even come up to his chest, I swear! She was a bit miffed to say the least.”
“I guess it hit him right there. Admittedly, she looked stunning in that dress, but he was actually trying to stammer an apology to her. I couldn’t believe it.”
“She was poking him in the chest, yelling at him that he was going to pay for her dress and reimburse her for the drinks.” Wyatt laughed out loud, “He was actually reaching for his credit chip!”
“So he gets knocked out, we end up dragging him to the base infirmary after all was said and done. He went back looking for her for five days before he found her and apologized. Got her number and that was all she wrote for the poor guy.”
“What happened? Or do you know?”
Carpenter leaned back on the railing, hands in his lap, “He got married to her. I was his best man and she couldn’t have been lovelier if she’d tried. Last I heard he’d gotten out, retired to an earth-norm world and was teaching school. We exchanged letters for a long time, up until the end came. He was happy, and fulfilled. Wish we all could say that.”
“You don’t think your life was fulfilling?” Athena was honestly curious.
Wyatt shook his head, “Oh, not me. Mine has been more than.” He sighed, looking up at the sky for a moment, “But being trapped in a bunker wasn’t exactly the way I expected it to be. Kinda thought I’d be out in the colonies helping fight the Melconians.”
“Crusader and I expected to be on a Diaspora Colony somewhere out in the galaxy setting up a new colony in another spiral arm.”
“Guess we both got disappointed, huh?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. But it has been different.”
A hand waved out into the city, Crystal ponies returning now that Crusader had left the vicinity, “Different? Really? Please, tell me more of this bland world and it’s uninteresting sights.” He pointed towards the streets, gleaming and practically glowing in the newly risen moon, “My, what a seriously dull place we’ve found ourselves in. Not that it’s just different, oh no, let’s just understate things here.”
Athena rolled her eyes, laughing out loud, “You are such a twit.”
A slight bow with a motion of the head and a smile returned her comment, “And shall always be, I fear. It endeared me to Calliope and her sisters, so we got along famously of course.”
“I remember a few things just a little differently than you do Wyatt.”
“Shush! Do not rain on my parade here!”
Athena looked out over the city suddenly, towards the tracks where Crusader had eased out of the empire proper, “We’re ready.”
Wyatt got up, with help from a strong hoof, leaning on the railing, looking towards the horizon where night was falling in it’s entirety, “Where?”
The pegasus pointed, “Over that way.”
“All systems are green, stasis is stabilized for now, initiating launch procedures.” Crusader’s voice was rock-steady.
“What’s going on?” The voice made them turn, seeing Pinkie standing on the balcony next to them.
“Crusader’s about to launch, those things will finally be gone.” Wyatt’s voice held not a little relief.
Hopping forward, she planted her front hooves on the railing, squinting out over the land, “I can’t see anything.”
Athena pointed, “Out that way, he’s taking it slow. Under combat conditions there would be no warning.”
Pinkie raised a hoof, covering her eyes as if it would make it easier, “Nope, still don’t see anything.”
“Just wait. Don’t worry about flash effects, they’ll be far enough into vacuum that it’ll just be a light show. We programmed them for long duration flight.” Athena could imagine now, the plates of his VLS slapping back with heavy clangs, magazines moving into place as the launchers caught missiles from the prepared stacks.
Pinkie was silent for a moment, “Those things were really bad, huh?”
Wyatt nodded, “Very.”
“Firing.” Even Pinkie perked up, hearing the voice through her own comm, looking more fervently out toward the horizon.
Streaks of fiery light blossomed in the atmosphere, heading up and up into the black of space at tremendous speeds. Surface to space warfare was fought with unimaginable energies. It took quite a bit of thrust for the weapons to leave the gravity well and deliver their payloads against attacking ships. Fortunately, scientists being what they were, they had over-compensated and made sure such weapons would never fall back to the ground by increasing the power contained.
Thus the missiles slammed through the air like bullets, punching like fists skyward in a multitude of launches that left orange trails through the dark sky, drawing eyes from everywhere as ponies pointed and watched from streets and windows.
One...three...five... More and more joined the blossoming light into the sky as the first weapon reached the tenuous outer atmosphere. It was here that the bottoms of each rocket flared into life again, engines packed into the body of the missiles came alive, multiplying the speeds tremendously, propelling them further into the welcoming arms of the blackness between the worlds.
“Reloading, launching. Final flight outbound.”
Another set of blooms lit the sky, joining the ones already there for a spray of molten colors that left their mark on their way out from the surface.
Minutes passed as the last one broke into speed and disappeared from their line of sight, only the rumble of the launches reached their ears in a faint rolling thunder. A remnant of what must have been a powerful shaking of the earth when Crusader cut loose.
“So...what happens now?” Pinkie was staring into the sky where glowing pinpoints could still be seen, so far from the world she knew it was almost impossible to imagine.
“Wait one.” Athena was quiet for a moment, “First detonation in ten seconds....eight seconds..three.. Now.”
The darkness was rent with a flash of impossible brightness, colors flashing through every spectrum and creating an almost beautiful sight if they hadn’t know that one of those things would have wiped the Empire off this world. The atmosphere attenuating the worst of strobe-like lightning, though it still left after images on the eyes when closed.
The atmosphere spattered with bright hues, multiple explosions covering a swath of the sky that made it seem as if the stars themselves were blowing out in a cascade of light.
“Goodness. That is a sight to see.” Celestia’s voice was calm as she watched the display of Concordiat might.
“Let’s hope you never have to see it again Princess.” Carpenter’s voice was quiet, seeing the rest of their group joining them on the now crowded balcony, eyes turned upwards to watch the final destruction of weapons they could barely understand.
“All sensors deployed, no radiation or after-effects indicated. Atmosphere is clean.” Crusader once again reassuring everyone that the threat was gone.
“That sure was a show.” Applejack and Rarity blinked fast, clearing their eyes of the flashes.
“That’s the only time we’ll see anything like that.” Wyatt nodded towards Athena who smiled.
The grin got brighter, “Now we can continue our search! Crusader’s staying for the moment.”
“That would be nice. But you’ll be staying off the streets?” Cadence was nudging the pegasus gently, giving her a chuckle.
“I promise, no more renovations to the Empire.”
To be continued.....