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08/17/2090, 06:00, 5 miles off of the coast of Manehattan, Approx. 1 days travel to the storm.
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Veil's quarters were dimly lit, the usually harsh white LED lights now dimmed to a soft blue-ish hue. Some pre-war country songs played from the stereo at a respectable volume, the southern drawls and banjo music was unmistakable in that regard.
The mare on top of him let out a sigh as she rolled off onto the soft mattress, her fur matted with sweat. A thick musk permeated the air as Veil buried his muzzle into her mane, breathing deeply.
Pulling away from him, the mare's turquoise coat glinted in the soft light being cast upon the two of them. Looking at her partner with half lidded eyes, she spoke softly, her tone salacious and seductive. "So, cowboy-" She leaned forward to whisper into his ear. "-Ready for round two?"
He gave her a lopsided grin as he kissed her deeply, the mare leaning into the kiss. Pulling back after a moment, he spoke in hushed voice. "Dew, you already know I-" An intercom in the wall beeped loudly, the sound akin to that of a shrill alarm. He frowned as his, and Dew's, ears splayed back.
Rolling out of his bed with a huff, he trotted over to the intercom, pressing down on a large blinking button. Immediately after, the speaker above it came to life, the bored voice of Astral Star’s voice ringing out. "XO to the bridge. I repeat, XO report to the bridge."
He snorted. "Yeah yeah, I heard you. Be there in fifteen." He hit the button roughly, silencing the intercom entirely. Walking back towards Dew, he gave her a quick kiss. "Looks like we'll have to continue this another time. Next month?"
Stretching out like a cat, her blonde mane covered most of her face, only one eye peeking out to look at Veil. She sighed out a reply. "I suppose... You had best make it worth my while though." Climbing off of the bed, she whispered into his ear as she retreated back to her quarters, sending shivers down his spine. "You and I both know the price of... Getting caught"
He stood there as she walked out of the sliding doors, staring at the wall. "I guess we do... I guess we do." He muttered as he turned and walked into his bathroom.
Trotting up to the sink, he glared at the mirror. Roughly swiping his razor and shaving cream from the small compartment in the wall, he set about making himself look presentable.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, on the bridge.
Veil strode through the large, reinforced doors with as much dignity and composure as he could muster this early in the morning, his face bearing no emotion other than the subtle annoyance which could only be displayed by a stallion who had just been blue-balled.
The bridge was in what could best be described as a state of nervous excitement. The storm, previously a blot at the edge of the horizon, now sat a mere day away from the Cirrostratus, and it was a leviathan in the scope. Veil ran the numbers through his head, stopping mid-stride. "Must be tens of kilometers across.... Dear Faust, what in Tartarus are we flying in to?"
Indeed, what sat in front of him would be considered a Pegasi's worst nightmare. Dark grey, nearly black storm clouds crowded together tightly, seeming bound together by jagged bolts of lightning that stretched across each cloud like a spider web. Booms of thunder rang out like a dragon's roar, vibrating the ship's hull slightly as the sound washed over them.
It shook him to his core.
Ironhoof ruffled his feathers, looking back towards Veil with a steely-eyed look. "What do you make of it?"
Veil let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, the air itself tickling his throat as he spoke. "I don't quite know, Sir. I've never seen a storm like... That before."
The Captain snorted, stomping loudly to get everypony's attention, glaring at the brewing vortex of destruction that lay ahead of them.
"Full steam ahead, we don't stop for anything."
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08/17/2090, 09:18, Siege Platform C.I.C, Approx. 1 days travel to the storm.
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Dew Drop frowned as she scanned through various lines of code on a larger terminal near the back of the control room, occasionally typing on the keyboard to delete strings of faulty code. There were a few other ponies in the room, working on repairing a central terminal. They would mutter to each other every few seconds, asking for their fellow to take or give some tool or widget.
It was roughly ten minutes later when she felt a wingtip poke her shoulder. Snorting angrily, she whipped around quickly, nearly undoing the bun that her mane was in. It was one of the senior engineers, his fellows packing up their tools into their utility bardings' saddlebags.
The frigid white stallion coughed. "'Ey there, we got those batteries fixed like y'all wanted us to, 's well as the reactor terminal o'er there. Need anything else?"
She sighed. "No, Frosty. I don't. The only thing I need is for this bucking terminal to cooperate with me!" She shouted, slamming a hoof onto the desk and startling most of the nearby pegasi. She was about to start shouting again when she noticed something... Peculiar. The terminal had rebooted itself, loading into the user interface normally, displaying no error messages or glitches on the screen. She felt her eye twitch. "Oh you've gotta be bucking me right now."
Frosty Gust sat there with a deadpan look on his face, patting Dew's back with a wing. "Nnnnope! That totally just happened." He facehooved before continuing, "just... Just go grab some coffee. I'll get Grid Lock down here to do the rest of the terminals. Celestia knows he'll take care of it."
She huffed, crossing her hooves. "Not before letting us all know just how bucking great he is," She sighed out, brushing Frosty's wing off of her and hopping out of her chair, walking towards the exit. "Should be chow time right about now, boys! Make sure you and yours get to the galley before the food runs out!"
He nodded, cracking his neck and drinking deeply from a thermos that was clutched under his other wing. "A'ight. We'll get over there soon, right boys?" A series of "Yups" ringing out in reply.
She gave them all a look of appreciation before pushing open the door with a shoulder, rushing up the large flight of stairs. Reaching the top, she leaned against the wall and panted for a minute, basking in the cold air of the A/C units and cooling matrices that permeated the Siege Platform. Every cloudship had them, but they were far more prominent and much more powerful in Thunderhead class vessels. This was due to the enormous amount of heat generated by the four gargantuan plasma lasers that rest beneath the main body of the Siege Platform, and the dedicated reactors that powered them.
Bringing a hoof in front of her face, she checked her watch, muttering a swear as she realized that breakfast was being served in about five minutes. Forcing her body to move once more, she rushed through the halls, giving a quick apology whenever she bumped into one of her fellow sailors.
Sliding to a stop in front of the elevator, she slammed the call button and slumped against the wall. Gasping for breath, she reached up to hit the button again, her hoof stopping halfway as the elevator door opened. Scrambling inside, she allowed herself to relax, the elevator beginning its ascent.
She sat in an uncomfortable silence for a couple of long, torturous minutes. Half a decade back, Ironhoof elected to scrap the speakers in the elevators for parts, taking away the elevator music that a lot of them had become accustomed to, her especially. Most of the tracks played were songs from her home town of Fillydelphia, and the first few days of silence were tough on her. It didn't sting as much these days, but she still felt a pang of melancholy every time she entered the elevators.
She snapped back to reality as the elevator doors opened, and hurriedly began sprinting through the large corridor leading to the galley. As the large, clearly marked doors grew ever closer she flared out her wings and flapped them strongly, stopping just a muzzle-length away from the door. She whipped her head around, and was immediately hit with a wave of confusion. There were no other pegasi around. She frowned, muttering to herself. "Even on busy days, the halls are never this empty... What the hay is going on?" She shrugged, entering the galley, which was louder than she ever remembered it being.
She felt her eyes bulge out as she marveled at the sheer number of ponies stuffed inside the large room. "There's gotta be half the crew in here!" There were an exorbitant amount of ponies inside the mess hall, and while she was no expert even she could tell that the room was nearing full capacity. The air was abuzz with excitement and joviality, and the room was filled with a cacophony of voices engaged in fervent and vigorous discussion.
She found herself wandering over to her usual table, pushing through the gaggle of bustling pegasi and squeezing into her usual spot. Her usual crew was right where she thought they'd be, with Sky Sweeper and Dusty Moon wolfing down what looked like omelettes, talking to each other with their mouths full. They noticed her out of the corner of their eye, and waved her over, pointing out a third plate piled high with her favorite items on the menu.
She trotted over, taking a seat beside them. "So, what's got everypony all riled up?" She asked, devouring a piece of hay bacon.
Dusty was the first to speak up, gulping down a mouthful of food. "He looks like shit. Night shift must have gotten hit with another water ration," Dew thought to herself. And it was true, the stallion's black coat had seen better days, as had his flamboyantly purple mane, both of which were slick with sweat and visibly greasy. There were dark bags under his eyes, though his expression was still visibly mirthful as far as she could tell. She was broken out of her train of thought by the sound of his voice. "Other than another water ration? Word from the grapevine says lil' miss Priss got her shit kicked in by Old Timer." He said, both proving her assumption correct and catching her attention.
"Really? Well, she had it coming to her, but are you sure that is what's got the crew in an uproar?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. This wasn't the first time she'd heard of Vespa being reminded of her place in the chain of command, and she doubted it would be the last.
Sky Sweeper chuckled, shaking his sandy mane. His rocky road coat was, in contrast to Dusty's, much more well-kept. "Nah, surprised you haven't heard. Tomorrow's the day that the Mendacious 'sposedly sank, 'ccordin to Ace."
Dew's eyes widened, and she nodded furtively. "Oh! How err..." She tapped her hoof on the table frustratedly for a moment, before a wave of clarity washed over her. "Profound! How profound!" She blurted out, before giving out a sigh of relief.
Dusty chuckled, lightly punching her shoulder. "Exciting, isn't it?" He asked her, resting his cheek on his hoof.
Dew chewed the inside of her cheek, not quite sure of how to answer that question. "I guess... I just hope this isn't one huge mistake."
She felt a heavy wing rest itself on her shoulder. Looking back, her eyes met two large, crimson orbs, shrouded by locks of white mane. "You and me both, sister. You and me both."
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08/17/2090, 23:55. Deep in the bowels of the Cirrostratus, 12 Hours travel to the storm.
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Aquila stepped inside of her power armor, the metallic exoskeleton reacting the second all four of her hooves had made contact with the reinforced horseshoes, tightening around her body. She felt a prick at the base of her neck as she finished pulling her helmet over head, the systems linking directly into her nervous system, her vision now overlaid with a H.U.D. It gave her the sensation of weightlessness.
All around her, fellow marines mimicked her actions. It had been difficult sneaking the power armor away from the shops without Ironhoof's watchful eye noticing, but they had managed it.
It was time.
"Alright everypony, let's do this."
Inside the central surveillance room.
A stallion sat in a reclining chair, surrounded by the various monitors and screens linked to every camera throughout the ship. He nursed his cup of coffee, barely kept awake by the precious ambrosia. He spotted something odd out of the corner of his eye. "Why the hay would an armored marine squadron be waltzing towards the bridge?"
His hoof began to hover over to the alarm button as he watched their advance. "Good question!"
He whirled around to face whoever had spoke, only for his entire world to become pain and agony as he twitched and seized off of his chair, and into unconsciousness.
Grid Lock chuckled, pulling the jury rigged taser probes away from the stallion's neck. "Make fun of me for bein' half zebra again, geezer. See where it got ya?"
He sat in the chair, twirling to face the monitors. He retrieved a black hoof terminal from a pocket in his vest, the LED lights only serving to accentuate the black and green coloration of his fur. He saw Aquila, always at the head of the pack, look into a camera and nod to him.
Pressing a hoof to the button that toggled the ship-wide speaker system, he spoke, leaning into the microphone.
He tapped an icon on his hoof terminal, and as every camera feed winked out he spoke, the sound of power being cut to the majority of the ship reaching his ears.
"Grid is goin' dark. Operation is a-go."