//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: An Unwelcome Visitor // Story: Star Trek Online: Sacrifice - Part I // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// "And together you and I can rule the Galaxy, make things the way we want them to be!" Choices. You have to make choices in order to survive. They can be choices for simple situations, and other times the decision you make could end your adventure just like that. I made risky and heart-stopping choices during my adventure in the Wasteland, I chose to help Gawdyna Grimfeathers and her group against Shattered Hoof's old leaders, I chose to take another Party Time Mintal to do some convincing so I could have my memories removed, thus removing my weakness that the Goddess could use against me and my friends, and I chose to stay in the S.P.P. and stop the Enclave, giving my friends the chance to live the lives they deserved in the process. And now that I was in the city of Taloraan, I had to make another choice, one that didn't just hold the fates of my friends back home, but perhaps trillions upon trillions of other worlds as well. --------- I landed Wedge's starfighter on a large circular platform that looked big enough to hold a Starfleet runabout, a long pylon that acted as a walkway held the platform to the building. I opened the cockpit of the ship and hopped out, taking my visor off and putting it into my saddlebags, to think I managed to fly that large thing down here and not get shot down while wearing this.... yep, I was crazy! Well, to be fair you were being chased by a ship that was bent on killing you, you didn't have time to take it off. The little pony in my head defended as I looked to the end of the platform, on the other side were two guards, a third exiting out of a large pair of doors and walking my way. From what I could make out, he was wearing a blue uniform and hat, and as he came closer, I could see red bands on the wrist sections of the shirt. As I trotted over to the guard, he called out to me, "Hello, you aren't one of our scheduled arrivals, may you please state your business?" I gave a polite smile as I told him the situation. "Okay, I know this sounds hard to understand, but I'm a member of a special defense group called the Universal Alliance, I've just escaped from an enemy vessel in orbit called the Lukara, and this fighter was stolen by them before I took it back. The original owner of the fighter is Commander Wedge Antilles, and he's onboard one of the ships that has followed the Lukara here to stop her." The officer gave me a surprised look. "Well, you are right, that is difficult to believe, but with what we've found out, I have no choice but to believe you. We had recently detected another fleet in orbit, but our satellites didn't make them out as Alliance or Imperial." Those must've been the two sides clashing above us right now. As we both started to walk towards the doors, I spoke to the guard. "Yeah, that makes sense. Well, if it isn't much trouble, I'd like to find a place to stay until my buddies up there can get me out of here, the Lukara's crew put a device that prevents me from being beamed out, so I'm on my own." "I'm sure we can do that." The guard said as I gave a thankful smile. That smile was broken as another guard raced out the door of the tower. From what I could make out, he seemed to be in a panic as he raced towards us. "Sir! Our satellites have shown several of the unknown vessels speeding towards the surface, I think they're going to attack!" The second officer said to us, my smile fading. "It must be J'ula, let me see if I can call my frie-" I was cut off as I heard a surge of energy behind me. As I turned, a Klingon warrior started walking towards us, pulling out a sword-like weapon and pressing a button on it, the device unleashing blades of energy. I gasped as I saw the warrior and his (her?) new weapon, I'd never seen a soldier like this before, sure, they would've had the more basic bat'leth designs of the mid-23rd Century, but none of them had energy blades, and they didn't wear helmets like this one I saw, I assumed this was one of J'ula's elites. "Oh, fuck me with the moon!" I said in annoyance as I turned to my friend, it just doesn't seem the world will give me a break today. "We need to run, that soldier will kill us!" The two of us started running as my companion replied. "Let's get you someplace safe!" He then looked to the two door guards in front of us. "You two, cover us!" The guards nodded as they took positions behind two small barricades that were on the middle of the platform, pulling out their small pistols as the Klingon elite walked towards us. As my escort and I entered the building, I took a look back. The guards began their defense as red laser bolts shot out of their pistols, later being deflected by the elite's blade. "Oh great, he can deflect laser fire! Could today get any worse?!" It would seem so as one of the bolts were deflected in the direction of one of the guards, the bolt hitting him right in the chest. He was surely dead. The elite then walked up to the second guard, deflecting more shots until he was close enough to strike at the guard with his blade, killing him instantly. "LADY J'ULA DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE!" The elite warrior said in a muffled, mechanical tone. I could tell it was a female voice by how it sounded, despite the distortion added over it. My friend and I then continued down to the right of the tower, looking for the nearest elevator. "We need to get lower into the city!" I said as we saw one of the elevators, my friend tapping a panel right next to it to open the doors. The moment they opened we ran inside, my friend pressing a button that read "LEVEL 4". The elevator started going down faster than I expected as we took a breath, my friend looking to me as he spoke. "There's another elevator that will take us to the lowest area in the city," He pulled out a small circular device before pressing a button on it. "Here." The device showed a blue colored hologram of a large structure held by a large pylon, with a small walkway higher up on the structure, all of it surrounded by a spherical wall. I nodded as the elevator finally stopped, opening to reveal a lower area of the city. We were outside again, but there were buildings all around us. My friend an I ran out of the elevator and stopped, looking for another elevator around us. I then heard a loud roar above us and looked up, two of J'ula's Birds of Prey had followed us down and were firing on the city, no... no they wouldn't dare! I turned back to my friend as he found our target. "This way!" The two of us ran to our left, the next elevator in our sights. As my friend pressed a button on a console, the elevator's doors opened. We quickly stepped inside and the doors shut, the elevator moving downwards to our destination. As we moved, my friend pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it. I assumed it was some kind of communicator. "Tavin to control, set the city on high alert! We have an intruder in the city and she's after one of our visitors, lock all elevators with a security code and have it sent to all units!" "And get everyone evacuated, I think the invader's friends are trying to destroy this place!" I said to the communicator as another voice spoke up. "Understood, be careful. Control out." As the device shut off, my friend and I waited, the elevator sliding down for a few more minutes until it stopped, the doors opening into a dark room with white and red lights. "Let's get up to the upper section, follow me!" We both raced out of the elevator and into the hallway, reaching the other end within half a minute. [||||] We reached the top of the structure after almost two minutes of riding another elevator, the doors opening to another hallway. We made our way to about two thirds of the hallway and saw a walkway ahead, small beams with red lights set up along the railings. "This is one of the city's air-processing vanes," My comrade said as we took a look around, absorbing the sight and feeling the wind around us. "Not many people come down here other than maintenance teams." As I listened, I kept my head up, not wanting to look down while being this high on the structure. I also heard some metal scraping behind us, but I assumed it was from machinery built into the walls. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Tavin, smiling as I spoke to him. "Thanks for helping me out. If it wasn't for you, the Alliance could've lost a valuable asset." Tavin smiled back, "My pleasure. Once things clear up above us, we can get out of he-" He stopped as we both heard the door open behind us, pulling out our weapons and standing still. When nothing came out after a few seconds, we put our weapons away, Tavin turning back to me as he spoke. "Hmm, must've been a malfuncti-AAGGHH!" He gasped in pain as the elite impaled him through the back, her body appearing behind a shifting green field of energy. She was wearing a stealth suit! "No!" I said in shock as I pulled out my disruptor pistol and fired several shots, all of them hitting the warriors blade before she swung down on the gun, cutting it in two. I pulled out Little Macintosh and took aim. The last bullet in the gun went into the blade, but the elite grunted, I surely hit her somehow. My excitement was over as soon as it had started as the elite swung again at Little Macintosh, the barrel of the gun being cut off from the rest of the weapon, both pieces falling to the floor. "NO!" I yelled again as I pointed a hoof to my precious gun, the elite took the advantage and swung a third time, slicing at my Pipleg. I screamed from the pain as I clutched my wound, my forehoof hitting the ground between me and the elite. The warrior pointed her weapon's blade at my head, I lurched my head back as she spoke in a low voice. "You can't fight me, don't test my patience, equine." She said as I grabbed Little Macintosh and my dismembered arm in my magic, putting the former into my saddlebags as I scooted backwards towards the walkway's edge. "You have shown some formidable skill on our flagship, little one. You could have a higher potential in our ranks, you won't have to live by a rulebook that permits the corruption of history!" The warrior said as I glared at her, tears welling in my eyes from the pain in my cauterized forearm. "I wouldn't dare side with monsters like you! You disrespected one of my friends, killed innocent people! What makes you think I would want to side with you?!" I said back at the elite angrily, reaching onto the large beacon at the end of the walkway. "To save your friends, Littlepip." I heard a voice I hadn't heard in ten years from behind the elite, who stepped out of the way to reveal our new visitor. My pupils shrunk as I saw him, he had a red coat and a pair of robotic legs on the back half of his body, along with a black mane and tail and a cybernetic eye. He also had a Pipbuck, slivers of red running along the edges of it. The last detail I noticed was the cape he wore around his neck, the number "101" bore on the side of it. My grip felt weak for a moment, but I steadied my grip as I spoke to Red Eye. "No.... no, you died, at the cathedral... I KILLED YOU!" Red Eye gave a faint smirk as he replied, "It was nothing J'ula couldn't fix." "one was a member of a large group that was lead by the entity known as "The Goddess", he has been rescued from a dishonorable death at the hands of one of his enemies the people of this world know as the "Light Bringer". He has shown his gratefulness at our rescue and we have repaired his body using our gifts from the entity called "Na'kuhl"." I remembered from the audio log I listened to as I buried my head into the beacon, crying from the pain and from the knowledge that one of the Wastelands most notorious enemies was back, alive and well with us. "Littlepip, you could do so much more with what you've become. You could bring the Wasteland back to it's former glory, there wouldn't have to be a war that destroys our land. Your friends could have the lives they deserve... We could be friends." My old nemesis monologued as I looked down for once, the ground was far down, but I thought I saw a few vents down below. "Please Littlepip, there is nowhere else to run." Red Eye said as his elite guard stood at the ready, making sure I don't try to fight back. "..Oh yeah?" I replied as I slowly let go of the beacon, falling to the vents. I swore I saw Red Eye frowning down at me, disappointed that I refused his offer. I looked away as I fell into one of the vents, sliding through the cylindrical tube that guided the air to where it needed to go. I eventually stopped sliding as I reached a hatch, looking around as I tried to relax. I then heard a beep as the hatch started to open. "Oh no." I said as I slid through the vent, another hatch opening and leading to the underside of the city. I hit one of the antennae, yelping as I felt pain in my lower areas. I saw my falling arm and caught it again in my magic, bringing it up to me as the hatch above closed. Thank the Goddesses it still worked, I tapped the Pipbuck fused into my dismembered arm as I tried to locate a friendly frequency. As I searched, I heard several loud booms above the city, the Klingons were destroying this place, and I would die here. I pulled out an earbloom as I found a frequency, the signal coming from Wedge's ship. I listened as he talked to the Harmony. "Wedge to Harmony, I've acquired my ship and am returning to the ship." "Any sign of Littlepip?" Twilight's voice sounded through the earpiece. "No, I'll take anoth-" He stopped as I heard him holding his helmet. "Under the city." I heard a chorus of female voices say as Wedge spoke up again. "I know where they are, I'll get her and head back once I have her." He said as I heard the ship turn around. "Hold on, R5." I could hear the droid beep as I pulled my earbloom out, hearing the voices again. "Call this our repayment for your rescue attempt." The voices of the three alicorns I saved on the Lukara said as I gave a faint smile. "Thank you." I said quietly to the voices as the city shook, another hit to its upper area. After a few minutes, I saw a small ship heading my way. I put my earbloom back on and listened as Wedge's ship flew to my position. "There she is." The starfighter flew over to me, stopping right under me as the back window of the cockpit opened. "Hop in!" Wedge said as I let go of the large antennae, landing hard in the back seat as I spoke. "Go!" Wedge closed the cockpit and we flew, the city above us starting to fall. The ship went to full speed as we barely passed under the city's edge, flying upwards towards the sky. I forced myself up to look at the city of Taloraan, it was burning, buildings collapsing and flying apart as the city's artificial gravity failed, sending everyone left on that city to their deaths. To my sides, I saw several civilian ships flying up with us. I smiled as I knew there would be survivors. "All civilian ships, meet at these coordinates!" Wedge said as he tapped his console, sending the Harmony's location to the ships. The clouds covering my view as we left Taloraan's surface. When the clouds cleared, I saw the Harmony and the Stratus' fleet. They were stationed right above us as we flew closer, avoiding the enemy ships and weapons fire from what was left of the two fleets. A Bird of Prey flew towards us, firing several disruptors at us before several Phaser beams hit its hull, the ship breaking off as the Aquarius came into view. I owed those kids a drink when I was all fixed up. "This is the Harmony, we're opening the shuttlebay doors!" Twilight said through Wedge's console as he banked, leveling his ship with the Harmony as we entered the shuttlebay. I put my earbloom back on as I changed the frequency to the Lukara's comms. I heard Red Eye's voice speak up. "What's our status?" The cyberpony said as one of his officers replied. "Our tractors are ready, the blockade is standing by." "Excellent, ready our boarding parties, and find Littlepip, I want her alive." "Yes, Sir." The officer said as I removed my earbloom, tapping my communicator and speaking. "Littlepip to Bridge, the Lukara's blocking us with their fleet. They're trying to capture us!" I said as Wedge's ship landed, my body bouncing up slightly from the landing gear's recoil. I heard the princess respond back. "Understood, we'll find a way through them. Rarity, can you extend our repulsor beams?" "Yes, it'll take some of our weapon power, but I can do it." "Excellent! Get it set up quickly. Apple Bloom, ready the warp drive!" "Ya got it!" I heard Apple Bloom say as the cockpit opened, myself being levitated out by one of the ship's unicorn medical officers. Steelhooves, Blackjack and Fluttershy were also there, all of them gasping with shock as they saw my dismembered Pipleg. "She need's medical attention, quickly." Wedge said as Steelhooves assisted me in walking to the nearby door, Fluttershy carrying my cut off arm with her wing. I grabbed my earbloom again as I looked to Fluttershy. "M-Mind if I borrow that?" Fluttershy nodded and handed me my arm, I grabbed it with my magic and changed the frequency to the Harmony's bridge. "The Aquarius has re-docked with our ship, repulsors ready!" I heard Rarity say as I felt the Harmony accelerate towards the blockade. "Now!" Twilight said as I heard the repulsor beams go off, the enemy fleet being pushed away from us. "The path's clear, warp drive's ready!" Rainbow Dash said as my friends and I neared the door to sickbay. "Engage!" Twilight ordered, and a few seconds later I felt the ship shake for a moment, the shaking ceasing as the Harmony and its allies jumped to warp. I took a breath as we were finally away from the battle, Steelhooves and I keeping up with the rest of our group as we entered sickbay. I laid down on a bed and rested, Steelhooves standing next to me as I handed Fluttershy my dismembered Pipleg. "Oh dear, how did this happen?" The yellow Pegasus asked as I replied. "It.. got cut off by a melee energy weapon." I said as I tried to get comfortable. "Her pipbuck was also fused to her arm during one of our earlier missions back home." Steelhooves explained to Fluttershy. "Well, I can remove it if you want, but I may have to take it apart." Fluttershy said with a frown. "There's data on it. I'll extract it all, then take it apart." I told the medical mare as she nodded, handing me the Pipleg as I began the process. "I'll stay with her, she needs someone to be here for her." Steelhooves said as he sat with me, watching as I started the download. I looked to my old friend and said, "I'm so happy you're back with us." I said as I laughed softly. As Steelhooves cocked his head at me I answered his curiosity. "We've both had a hell of a day, haven't we?" Steelhooves joined in the laughing as he replied. "Yeah." As the download completed, I handed Fluttershy my arm and she began her work. I laid my head down as sleep caught me, Steelhooves sitting by my side as I shut my eyes. I needed rest, we all did. I'd succeeded in my mission, and we all had to take a break before continuing in our pursuit of J'ula. As I let myself fall to the comfort of sleep, I smiled faintly as I thought, "I sure fucked her day up, didn't I?"