Chapter 7
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They use any means at their disposal to achieve their goals, no matter how reprehensible. – Article on Krogan Battle Masters, “Galactic Codex Essentials Edition”, 2183 CE
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Sev felt his armor support him like a seat as he was lifted out of the cell and moved into another room. Celestia hadn’t bothered to do the heavy lifting this time; she was absent, actually, and the job had been handed over to about a dozen horned ponies. The corridors had been so filled with them that it looked like a central street in rush hour.
This new room had a wooden table in the middle of it, bolted to the floor. The walls were white. The floor was solid stone. There was only one exit and entrance – a wooden door with a gate of iron behind it. Interrogation.
He was dropped onto a tiny chair, which instantly crumbled under Sev’s 1 ton weight.
Sev chuckled as flakes of wood drifted downwards around him. Even sitting down on the floor, he could still look across the table at eye-level to the interrogator.
The interrogator was a purple, horned pony – his VI identified her as a ‘unicorn’ – with highlighted purple hair. It looked female in comparison to the guards flanking her; both white. One had a red coat covering his upper torso, and seemed to wear no armor, but the other was covered from head to rump in full gold armor. Both of them were unicorns as well.
The red-coated one looked to be an officer, a high ranking one at that, according to the gold trim on his clothes. Yet he didn’t look particularly strong or fearsome. Sev snorted in contempt. In krogan society, or what remained of it, command was established through fear of the officer or respect for his prowess in battle. This officer was probably promoted based on family connections.
The other male did not appear to be too special. He was a large specimen, dwarfing even the male officer. Amongst the three, the purple one was the most dangerous, however. She had at least the biotic capability of the other two combined.
The purple one took a seat on the other end of the table, closer to the door. She was flanked by the males, both of whom glared at Sev. He ignored them and focused on the female.
Across from him, Twilight was examining Sev. Now that the alien was exposed under the light of the interrogation room, rather than hidden the murky gloom of the Everfree, she could see the features on its surface clearly. It was encased in a smooth, matte maroon outer carapace that was also scored with several lines placed in neat rows. In between slabs of red shell, flexible material similar to black silk lay underneath. The alien had an oddly shaped head that seemed to extend to its lower back. Its two eyes didn’t have irises or the like; instead, they were yellow-orange discs that sat flush with its shell. Twilight was reminded of changeling eyes. This one appeared to be some sort of insect.
The alien’s upper torso appeared to be wider than its lower legs; how could it stay upright? Its upper limbs ended in grippers similar to three claws. Its lower limbs were similar in shape to bear paws.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, protégé of Princess Celestia,” she said, voice high but wavering slightly. Try as she might, she could not suppress a shudder as she took in the creature’s size and what it had done to the chair. “And you are…?”
Sev continued to look at her for a few seconds, before realizing that she was talking to him. “Sev.”
Twilight jumped back a small distance as the deep rumble of Sev’s voice reverberated around the small room. She squinted slightly. “And you represent…”
“Myself.”
“So – who are your companions?” Twilight asked, head cocked to the side and eyes wide.
“My employers.”
Twilight sighed. “Not one of many words, hmm?”
That wasn’t really a question, Sev thought. “Where is my equipment?”
Twilight had been instructed not to reveal any information to the ‘guest’, and she really didn’t want to disappoint. She deflected the question with one of her own. “Why did you torch the grove near the Caves of Harmony?”
Sev stayed silent for a while. Caves of Harmony? What name is that? He settled on, “We had to land our shuttle. Where is my equipment?”
“Shuttle?”
Sev sighed, and said nothing. He pulled up a holographic picture of a Kodiak shuttle.
“I assume the dead manticore was your fault?”
“Manticore?” Of course, that animal. “Yes, I killed it. Where is my equipment?”
Twilight shuddered. “Why?”
Sev rolled his eyes under his helmet, but of course Twilight couldn’t see that. She frowned at his silence, before speaking. “So…where are you from?”
There. Then they’ll ask what I am. Then they’ll dissect me. Well, at least I memorized the way out when they brought me in.
Sev sighed in response, all the while bringing up the omni-tool. The flash of orange light startled all three ponies. The two males lowered their heads until their horns lined with Sev’s head, while Twilight slowly crept forwards towards the hovering display.
Sev ignored all of them and brought up the codex, a basic repository of information. He highlighted the planet ‘Tuchanka’.
Tuchanka, the krogan homeworld, boasts extreme temperatures, virulent diseases, and predatory fauna. Around 1900 BCE, the krogan discovered atomic weapons and promptly sent their planet into a nuclear winter. The majority of the population retreated to underground bunkers, and krogan culture slipped into a dark age dominated by tribal clans.
In 80 CE, decades into the Rachni Wars, the Salarian Union made first contact with the primitive krogan and initiated a "cultural uplift" to shape them into a modern army capable of confronting the rachni. During this uplift, the salarians constructed the Shroud facility on Tuchanka to shield the planet from harmful forms of solar radiation. Later, during the Krogan Rebellions, reproductive rates were curtailed by the genophage, ensuring the krogan remained a species in decline – and Tuchanka a desolate wasteland.
As the omni-tool helpfully intoned this information in a steady, monotone voice, Sev noticed Twilight clambering onto the table and creeping ever closer. Didn’t she know about personal space? He clenched one hand into a fist, ready to slam it into her face.
Luckily for her, she noticed and jumped backwards almost a meter, landing awkwardly on the table edge, with her forelegs draped across the tabletop and her hind legs upright. She groaned. Interrogations were definitely not fun, even if the subject was alien.
The officer strode around the left side of the table to Sev. He stopped a sizable distance away from those massive arms. “You don’t touch her, got it?” he roared, making the question sound more like an order than a request.
Captain Armor had read the report that the General had sent him; the alien was highly dangerous, and under no circumstance was any guard to approach it alone. Only recorded weakness was magic. Good thing he wasn't a normal guard, Armor thought grimly. With two powerful mages, the alien should know not to attempt anything stupid.
He remembered his failure to protect his wife-to-be, and how she'd suffered in the caverns under the city whilst he cavorted with an impostor. He wasn't going to fail again.
Sev growled. He had never responded well to orders. That was one of the reasons he’d left Tuchanka and the Blood Pack to work as an independent mercenary. Now this tiny alien expected him to obey! After a moment’s pause, he chuckled. At least the officer had guts to go closer to him. Not many humans or salarians could do that.
The officer’s eyes widened as he heard the chuckle, and the guard moved in on the other side of the table to flank Sev. Meanwhile, Twilight was trying to calm the officer down – maybe they’re related? Good to know – but it wasn’t working.
“Where’s my equipment?” Sev said, over the drone of the omni-tool. The officer and guard stopped for a moment, before the guard leveled his horns at Sev.
“We’ll give it back when we determine it’s safe,” the officer snarled, flicking his ears. Sev noted how similar the action was to a turian’s mandibles.
Sev snorted. “Don’t piss in my ear and tell me it’s raining. Where is my gun?”
At this the officer’s face scrunched up in an approximation of a human frown; his horn began to flare up, as well as the guards; and Sev could see Twilight’s face, eyes widened, pupils as tiny pinpricks, ears splayed back, rearing away from the scene; but he focused on the guard. He pushed forwards with his legs, pumping all of his energy into the swing of his right arm.
Through the roar of adrenaline flooding his bloodstream, he could savor the sights of the impact in slow motion; the guard’s eyes widening as they focused on the metal closing on his face; his mouth opening slowly, much slowly than Sev’s arm was moving; and then Sev felt a small resistance on his right forearm as the armor met the guard’s face, and a spray of blood shot out of the guard’s mouth, crimson against the white wall; but his head kept going, supported by Sev’s forearm, into the wall; and a red splatter appeared at the point of impact; the guard stood awkwardly for a millisecond, before slumping onto the ground, a red trail following his head down to the ground.
Twilight stood in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening. Everything had gone so wrong. Even now the guards outside were rushing in, all unicorns, ready to deal with the alien – Sev – who’d drawn blood in front of her.
Sev grabbed the guard by the head and whirled around, and just as the officer shot a stasis field at his location, he let go; and he watched as the body of the guard swung around like a massive, fleshy boomerang before slamming into the officer’s side. The hit was indirect, Sev noted – I need more practice for that – but it had the intended effect. The officer crumpled under the weight of his fully armored subordinate, but before he could react Sev pulled him out of the pile by the neck and held the officer in front of him. The officer wheezed.
Sev faced a veritable legion of unicorns; aside from Twilight, there were an additional 20 guards that lined up behind her. No matter. He had a hostage. Now he had at least some leverage over his captors.
They’d also left the interrogation room door open, in their haste. Sev’s helmet VI warned him of a few more biotics outside – probably unicorns as well. The only aliens on this planet that he'd encountered so far that could somewhat hurt him. He had to admit that his captors weren’t stupid. No doubt some of them were already off to warn Celestia. He had to move fast.
“Do as I say or I’ll snap his neck,” Sev roared, waving the officer around in front of him, just as the omni-tool finished blabbering. The room was deathly quiet after that, the silence only broken by the officer’s wheezing.
“All of you, come into this room. Leave the door unlocked. Line up against that”–he pointed to the back wall–“wall. Get to it.”
The officer nodded as well. Or, at least, he tried to. The pressure around his neck was making it difficult to breathe, let alone move any neck muscles.
His subordinates, all golden armored guards, followed Sev’s order, as well as Twilight. Sev moved around the outer area of the room, keeping the officer in between the ponies at all times. That way, any unicorns that tried to use biotics on him would risk friendly fire.
Twilight’s face showed pure and utter horror as she saw her brother being dragged out of the room, lifted by his neck. Why did I agree to this?
Backing out of the room, Sev closed the interrogation room door. The iron reinforcement gate behind the door appeared to be locked using several keys, of which Sev pulled out of the pockets of the officer.
Sev didn’t ask the officer for where his gun was. There was too much of a risk that the officer would lead him into an ambush. He could always replace the gun.
The guard at the entrance to the jails had his jaw so open upon seeing the pair that Sev could have put his fist in his mouth cavity. It was a pegasus, according to his onboard systems; a creature that could fly. Sev didn’t know whether this alien could cast biotic fields, so he edged past him into the exit, keeping the officer in between.
Without his gun, the best chance of escape would be through stealth or coercion. His massive bulk prevented stealth, so he would have to keep his hostage alive until he was back at the ship. Assuming they hadn’t left without him already.
Sev remembered the route to the entrance of the castle. He also remembered that there were a ton of ponies running around, especially in the entrance section. That meant he’d have to go through another entrance, unless he wanted to face a battalion of troops and their leader. At least that would be a fun way to die. They’d close in on him no matter what; he was too different to hide in this place. All that changed was how fast the noose tightened.
He needed to get out of the castle fast. Inside the castle, he was restricted to the corridors and rooms – outside, he had a whole city of alleyways and holes to hide in, at least until his employers got there. If they bothered at all.
There had to be a servant’s entrance. That would probably be near the servant’s dormitories, if they were on-site, or near the back or the sides, hidden away so that the higher-class wouldn’t see servants exiting and entering. Problem was, it would take ages to find one.
Sev weighed his options. No doubt the group of unicorns he’d locked up had broken out by now – biotics were notoriously useful. He was also closer to the main entrance…
What’s life without a bit of risk?
Well, it would be safe.
He sighed and kept walking forwards, towards the main entrance. When he’d been jailed, they’d brought him in a manually operated carriage that landed in the front garden, in between the outermost gate and the castle’s main door. Thanks to his wide field of vision, he could see the number of guards stationed – two by the gate and two by the door as per standard operating procedure. A total of 4, along with roving patrols in the sky and on the grounds.
He’d had tougher jobs. Really, the only unknown here was Celestia, and maybe that purple one, Twilight. Still, they’d have to contend with the distance he would put between himself and them.
He spotted the entrance, a massive golden archway that was open to the outside. To the left, a staircase led upwards, and then to opposite sides of the top floor – to the right, the archway. He couldn’t see nor sense anyone near the railings on the floor above, or on the staircases.
Huh. Odd.
He charged out of the archway, entering the castle gardens – vibrant green meadows interspaced with a multitude of colors, marred through the center by a paved stone path that led directly to the outer gate. As he went under the arch, he saw the two guards next to it jump, eyes widened; but he didn’t stop to savor the sight.
A dull ringing sounded out from somewhere in the castle, and the guards by the outer gate started to close the gate by way of a mechanism. Sev increased his speed, tilting forwards to use his head and shoulder as a battering ram, and clamping his hostage to his side.
10 meters. He would be at the gate in 6 strides.
One of the guards looked up, puzzled at the source of the shaking ground; he found a massive monster bearing down on the gate, and by extension, him. All that Royal Guard training evaporated from his mind as he jumped to the side, covering his head with his hooves in a prone position.
The other guard noticed his comrade’s reaction and stopped for a moment.
That was enough for Sev to charge through the half-closed gate. The gap didn’t fit him, of course, but he didn’t stop. He slammed into the gate bars, the officer clamped to his side under the crook of his arm, and the gate burst open, the metal warping like putty on impact.
Shining Armor squeezed his eyes shut as the golden metal bars of the gate rushed closer and closer at him. He tried to compress himself to his captor’s side, to avoid being splattered on the bars. How ironic. Killed by the security features I set up. He was limited in how much he could move, however; ‘Sev’ had gripped him such that his horn pointed out in front of them, meaning he was staring at the floor if he looked forwards.
Armor heard a massive bang as the gate-doors sprang outwards, and a jolt of pain shot down his horn from the tip. Shocked, he looked up at his own horn. Or what remained of it.
The horn tip had broken off on impact with the gate. The stump of the horn was rough, like the end of a broken stick, and he could see small blue sparks fly off the broken end. After the immediate shock, the pain had throbbed into a dull haze, and Armor fought to stay awake as his brain told him to give in and sleep. His brain won the battle after 10 seconds of internal fighting.
Sev hadn’t stopped running. There was a path that lay adjacent to the castle, apparently heavily trafficked according to the number of ponies on it. The land next to the castle walls lay bare for about 50 meters, before suddenly coming to a Victorian-era style mansion that lay on one side of the path. On the opposite side of the road, another mansion stood. This one was in Tudor style, according to Sev’s omni-tool. The homes of the rich.
Down that path, Sev could see additional, smaller streets that branched off the main road, most likely leading to other areas of the city. From his time on the chariot, he could remember that the city was built on the slopes of a mountain, the castle at the very top, and the slums at the very bottom. In between lay the middle class, represented by blocks that got more ornate and larger the higher up the mountain they were. He’d also spotted a grey line snaking from this city to the approximate area of the landing site – a road or a railway system. Either way, it pointed towards his way back to orbit.
The rich area had the least ponies in it, and was also the most open. Against enemies with control of the air, he’d be spotted instantly. Sev resolved to get down the city as soon as possible. He’d have a better chance of hiding in the slums, where blind alleys and tunnels would be plentiful. Furthermore, the guards and leaders probably wouldn’t risk friendly fire amongst the larger population in the slums. Hopefully.
He noticed that the officer he’d taken hostage had stopped shaking, and appeared to have his eyes closed. Either he was dead, unconscious or it was a trick. No matter. He wasn’t difficult to carry anyways.
He ignored the stares of the ponies that stopped to gawk at him as he rushed down the main path. They weren’t in his way, so he didn’t bother himself with them. Some of them, the ones with wings, shot out into the sky in the direction of the castle. If this continued, he’d be leaving a trail of citizens reporting his last known location, giving the guards a rough route.
Still, he couldn’t do anything about that without any gun by his side. Unlike most krogan mercenaries, Sev chose to carry only one weapon or two around with him, rather than the usual four. He preferred to master his weapons. The Striker had been his first gun, given to him by his father, and it was the one he’d used in the Blood Pack, before striking out as an independent…
What am I doing? Reminiscing? I’m getting soft. Damn it.
He heard the VI beep, and glanced upwards. A small group of guards, these ones with wings, flew overhead. He knew he stuck out on the street, being almost 3 times the height of the locals.
One of them banked to the left and flew back to the castle. The other two stayed high above Sev, circling like two herbivorous, 4-legged vultures. Smart. That way, they can keep track of me while one of them relays info back to command.
The road soon split into two paths, both with shallow staircases. A cast-iron railing kept the populace from slipping off the paths into the roofs of the buildings below. Sev wasn’t worried about that.
The railing was approximately a meter high and broke apart like cardboard when Sev charged into it, letting him and his hostage fall 2 meters onto the sloped rooftop of the building below.
The roof crumbled beneath him, splintering into wooden shards that fell alongside Sev. Evidently, the roof had not been built to withstand a 1 ton weight travelling at speed. He crashed into the flooring below – the room he was in appeared to be a bedroom of some sort – before an ominous creaking sounded out from the wooden floorboards below.
Now that he’d stopped running, he looked around. The walls were white plaster, clean and well maintained, and some paintings of landscapes and portraits hung on each wall.The room had a white closet inset into a wall, and on the opposite wall was an open door. Behind that door lay a shower system. There was also a two-person bed, made from hardwood, but the white sheets were tousled only on one side. The other side had a pony sleeping under it – a female one, with a horn.
Sev clambered to his feet just as the pony awoke. She propped her head on the top of the headboard, staring at him – an alien being covered in dust, taller and bulkier than a Diamond Dog and currently holding the Captain of the Unicorn Guard by the neck.
She started to scream as Sev stood up – and the creaking floorboards couldn’t bear his weight anymore, and crumbled, sending Sev downwards another floor.
This time he landed on hard stone. Looking upwards, through the hole in the bedroom and the one in the roof, he could see one of the flying ponies, still circling. They evidently thought he was still in the building. He was, but he wasn’t planning to be there for long.
He was now in a kitchen area, apparently, looking at the stove, kitchenware and coolant-based fridge. White countertops surrounded him, and there was a pony in front of him as well – a unicorn. This one had a small stature and was wearing an Earth-style cooking apron.
Come to think of it – everything here seems to be related to humanity. Did human civilization and this one get the same progenitor? Oh well.
The apron-wearing pony gasped and reared back, exposing his chest and belly. Big mistake. Sev slammed a fist into his sternum and he fell back against a countertop, unmoving.
Sev stomped out of the kitchen, armored boots clacking on the floor, and found the main door. In between him and the aforementioned door was a male unicorn – likely the other occupant of the bed on the floor above. He wore a human-style suit and tie, as well as a monocle, and looked like he’d never been to a gym in his life.
So Sev chose to ignore him, charging directly at the door like a living battering ram. The doorjamb splintered under the force of the impact. The door whipped to the side in an arc, but luckily for the property owners, the hinges held. The door itself rebounded slightly at the end of its arc; such was the speed at which it had moved.
Sev was out none too soon. Behind him, three airborne chariots filled with biotics – unicorns – approached. He kept running. According to the restaurants and housing around him, this area was the upper middle-class zone, which meant that he’d made it one third of the way down.
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“Hey there,” Levin said, sitting against the side of the shuttle. The bodies of the guards had been dragged behind the vehicle, but there was still a trail of red smeared across the airlock floor.
He’d discussed second-contact details with Riana. General advice told him to make himself as small as possible, to reduce apparent threat, whilst retaining the ability to defend oneself. Thus, Levin had his assault rifle cradled lazily in his arms.
The orange pony turned and gasped, rearing back a little. “What are you – I – you’re one of them!” Levin recognized her as one of the civilians he’d seen back in the forest – the one with the hat, at the front of her group.
According to the translator, she had a thick accent; Southern USA, 2000 CE to be precise. Levin was grateful for the auto-translate feature.
Both of them examined the other.
Levin saw an orange, wingless and hornless pony, which his VI simply tagged as ‘pony’. She was definitely female, according to high pitch of her voice compared to the officer from earlier.
Applejack saw an alien covered in blue, shiny shelling. It resembled a wine glass that had two limbs extending from the rim of the bowl and two longer legs that shot out from the bottom of the foot. A head seemed to be floating above the bowl part of its body. It appeared to have talons for hooves.
“No, really?” Levin deadpanned, rolling his eyes despite knowing that the pony would be unable to see the gesture. “Can you point me to a place called ‘Canterlot’, by any chance?”
Applejack jumped a bit as she heard the alien’s voice. It was odd, like there were 2 voices speaking over one another, saying exactly the same thing – the only difference being that one voice was deeper than the other. She couldn’t tell what it was.
“Yes, I could,” she said, facing him. She’d hunched down and started pawing at the ground while she spoke. “But why do you want that information? Well?”
Aggression, Levin noted. And I was just asking. Huh. Maybe I should start shooting next time, see where it gets me.
“Well,” Levin started, and then paused to think. My friend was…no, she’ll connect me with Sev and she won’t tell. I really want to visit because it sounds nice…yeah, she’ll definitely buy that. “I have some unfinished business there.”
The orange pony cocked an eyebrow, slowly standing back up. “Really? You did ‘business’ in a place that you didn’t know the name of?”
Levin mentally swore. “Yeah. Look, can you just point me to it?” His talons started tapping out a rhythm on the side of the rifle.
“Things don’t add up. You’re lying,” she said, eyebrows furrowed.
Levin exploded. “I never lie! I’m not that low!”
The orange pony stumbled backwards, ears folded back against her head. She’d never heard such a response from anypony she’d ever accused before. They’d attempt to deny the claim that they were lying in that one situation – she’d heard all variants of ‘I’m not lying’ – but she’d never heard somepony say that they never, ever lied. And with such conviction! She could hear it even through the alien’s odd voice.
Levin took several deep breaths at the pony’s reaction, shaking his head. He’d overreacted, again. He was a turian, for Spirits’ sake! He should have more self-control than that!
Then again, that accusation was unwarranted. She should have known.
Really? Even when no one told her of turian culture?
Dammit. They’re all like humans. You’d expect different cultures have different ideas about what’s right and wrong, but no…
After an awkward pause, the orange pony shifted her weight from one side to another. “You didn’t need to take it like that…”
Levin sighed. “Never mind, I’ll ask someone else. Thanks for nothing.”
Applejack blinked as she heard those words. She’d always been seen as dependable and loyal. That was part of who she was. She snorted. “You’re not a nice fellow.”
“No, I’m not,” Levin replied, standing up.
He turned to the shuttle and shut the outer airlock door with his omni-tool. The orange pony stood speechless as she witnessed the large metal door sliding downwards until it met the ship’s flooring with a clunk.
“That went well,” Levin remarked over the radio.
Riana sighed in response. On the headset, it sounded like a burst of static. “To be honest, that could have gone in any direction. She could have lied to you. Even if she did reveal a location, we wouldn't know whether or not she was telling the truth, and we’d be wasting our time.” She paused for a moment. “I have an idea.”