Chapter XXXIII
Princess Celestia rushed into the room, and stopped short as her eyes took in the Omniscope. She had never dreamed of seeing the thing actually running, and seeing the human face in the globe was somewhat disconcerting. “I… was told that the snakes finished the soul?” Celestia said as both her sister and the unknown human face turned to look at her.
“Yes, sister, and our friend Wealthy Protector has already detected the enemy. They are approaching fast, though not incredibly so,” Luna said, before gesturing towards the globe displaying the ships in question. “Wealthy Protector has judged that, given their current speed, they should arrive at our planet within the next two days.”
Celestia was puzzled by this information. “...Why do they move so slow? Given what we know, this cannot be the fastest they can move. If it is, then they would take eons to cross the distance between stars!”
“My excuse, but is most likely caution,” the luminescent human head chimed in. “They hiding. They using invisible. Is most likely that they slow moving to avoid detect. Probably not appear there either. Probably spend several days sneak, move slow, no detect.”
“Which means that they don’t know that we know they’re here. At last, some good news,” Celestia said as she moved closer to the orb. “Wealthy Protector, could you show me where they are in relation to my sun?”
“I’m sorry, dear sister, but they are already too far in,” Luna answered her sadly. “Our first line of defense is already broken, and should you use your sun as a battering ram, you may very well cook us in the process.”
While this was horrible news, it didn’t seem to bother Celestia in the slightest. “That is hardly an issue. Wealthy Protector, please do as I requested.”
Wealthy Protector did just that, showing both the sun, the planet, as well as several small, white arrows to designate the ships which would have otherwise been completely invisible due to the sheer scale of the theater of war. There was even a white ring showing the predicted path of the sun, which pleased Celestia greatly. “Here requested view, along with path sun. As see, sun cannot hit without come danger close.”
As he did this, both Celestia and Luna approached the globe, though while her sister’s eyes were locked onto the glowing sphere, Luna’s eyes never left Celestia’s face. “Sister, what are you planning? Surely you do not intend to bake us as well?”
“That is not what I was intending in the slightest, Lulu. In fact, I was planning on letting them pass at first,” Celestia said as she watched the enemy fleet grow closer.
“Wait, what?”
Celestia’s expression did not shift in the slightest, though Luna couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of satisfaction from the older alicorn. “Tell me, dear sister, how much do you know about stars?” Celestia asked.
“They are… well, they are large balls of fire, burning brightly in the sky,” Luna said after a few moments of thought.
“Close, but not quite accurate. A star is a place where elements are fused into other elements. Fusing elements creates a lot of power, and sometimes a star must vent that power in a display that would make even Discord blush,” Celestia stated as the corners of her lips turned upwards. “While I cannot speak for other stars, my star is particularly petulant. It releases its energy in fits of rage without warning, or it sometimes stews in its own anger, dormant and relatively cold for hours, days, or sometimes hundreds of years.”
“Ah, sun explode. And fluctuation mean sun red smallfolk,” Wealthy Protector said, his voice sounding intrigued. “But how is helping?”
“Because, for over a thousand years, I have grown quite close to my charge...” Celestia said cryptically. “And right now, my star... is… angry…"
“Celestia, what-” Luna started to say, but stopped short when, without warning, the sun princess’s tail and mane suddenly ignited, and her horn and eyes began to glow as brightly as the very star she controlled. The heat coming off of her felt like an oven, and for a moment, Luna worried that Celestia might lose control.
Then her sister began to speak, and her voice shook Luna to her very core. It sounded distorted and otherworldly, with a deep rage that lurked just beneath the surface. “When I grew angry, Celestia would soothe me, to calm my rage. When I grew sullen and petulant, Celestia would cheer me, to share my warmth with her precious ponies. Over the centuries, we have grown to know each other well. We know that our little ponies are in danger, and the wrath these invaders have enkindled in us is far greater than any we have ever felt. Show me thine adversaries, that we may smite them. Show us our enemies, that their ashes might be scattered across the stars. Show us these invaders, that their infestation might be cleansed in holy fire.”
Celestia, or whatever was currently in control of her, locked her eyes onto the globe that showed where the enemy fleet was, and if anything, her eyes grew even brighter. “There thou art. Enjoy these last few precious moments, for mine consort has her eye on thee. Thou shouldst flee while thou hast the chance, for all that awaits thee here is a fiery death.”
As Luna watched in fear and awe, she noticed the sun in the globe begin to accelerate along its orbit. Before she could register what that meant, a light at the edge of her vision caught her attention, causing her to look out the window, and watch in silent wonder as her sister’s sun quickly began to rise on the horizon…
* * *
High General Inos stepped out on the bridge of his ship, The Emperor’s Triumph, his antenna low, showing that he was deep in thought. "Lieutenant Cava, report."
"Everything is quiet, sir. The enemy is still investigating The Aurora. As our ambush team reported, she's basically destroyed. All her escape did was alert the two that we were coming."
Inos nodded in satisfaction as he made his way to his chair. "Has that blasted star made any deviation from its path?"
"No sir. Star is still on the same course and velocity ever since we dropped out of hyperspace," Lieutenant Cava said. "Besides, even if the quzin were to move it towards us, we're already well within the orbit of the star around the planet. If they wanted to use it on us, they'd cause irreparable damage to the planet they're trying to protect."
General Inos sat down without much ceremony, his antenna perking up with curiosity. "We're already inside the orbit? When did this happen?"
"About four hours into your sleep cycle, sir. It was… wait a minute…" Lieutenant Cava stopped as he typed a few things on his console. He then looked up to his general, alarm in his gaze. "Sir, the star has accelerated far beyond its projected speed! It has not deviated from its orbit even slightly, but it will be behind us within a minute!
"They've spotted us. Decloak, raise shields, power up armor and begin evasive maneuvers. Lieutenant Zveil, open a channel to the fleet."
General Inos counted to three while he waited for the com channel to open, then cleared his throat. "This is General Inos. The enemy has spotted us and has-"
"Sir, something is inbound on The Crucible from behind, moving fast!"
General Inos glanced briefly toward the lieutenant who said that, before his eyes went back to the main screen. "What? Is it reinforcements? Magnetic mines? Show me what's happening!"
The viewscreen flickered, then displayed an image that caused General Inos to stand up and stare in disbelief.
"By the Battlewatcher's domain…" the helmsman whispered in horror.
* * *
Princess Celestia looked out with eyes made of magic and thought at the broad expanse of space before her. The void was endless and pure, speckled with stars that shone like diamonds on a canvas of black velvet, its sheer beauty enough to take her breath away.
However, the princess was too focused on her task, and would not be dissuaded by such petty distractions. Her partner had its eyes on her target, and while she could not see through her own eyes anymore, she could feel where it was looking, know without a shadow of a doubt that her prey was there, lying in wait as they continued on their course to harm her little ponies.
They shall suffer for their insolence... her partner whispered in her ear.
She moved herself along her path, to close the distance between herself and her quarry. As if in response to her presence, the empty space seemed to distort, until a number of ships materialized where once there were none. Celestia could sense power welling up inside each of the vessels, could feel the barriers of energy they were desperately trying to erect to prevent her judgement.
All they did was make themselves larger targets.
She spread her wings, and took off in pursuit of her prey. She felt her form separate from the star, her wings and hooves made of fire and fury as she galloped across the vast expanse. Her eyes were set upon the closest ship, it being one of those crescent bird-of-prey-style ships, the ports on its back glowed brightly as it desperately attempted to flee from the death that chased it.
Without pause or remorse, she plowed into the fleeing vessel. She felt the defensive barrier push her back, its very purpose and design made specifically to protect its progenitor from fires such as her. However, it was not made with intelligent fury in mind, and as such, only managed to hold off the alicorn princess’s rage for a few seconds at best. The second the field failed, she was there, ramming through hull and engine, burning steel and wire as she exposed the fragile occupants to the cold, relentless terror of the void. As she crashed into the vessel, she briefly felt air flow around her fiery form, heard the screams of her victims, before all was made silent and cool again as she passed through to the other side, leaving nothing but a gaping hole and ionized metallic gases in her wake.
Her rage wouldn’t be sated with one ship, however, and without missing a beat, she immediately turned towards the next closest target. This one was larger, more cylindrical, and deep in her heart, she knew it would be a vessel whose sole purpose was to round up and kidnap her little ponies. Screaming in rage, she charged at the vessel, her hooves leaving fiery prints behind her as she galloped through the void. The ship increased its speed, clearly intent on either outrunning her, or dodging clear of her fiery rage. In fact, all of the ships were increasing their speed at a rate that made her seriously doubt her ability to destroy them all. Some would slip through her net, and draw close enough to her world that she could not follow.
She did not care, though. Her rage burned too brightly for her to care, and as she rammed horn first into the ship before her, she knew that her rampage had only just begun.
* * *
Captain Hazalk couldn’t believe his eyes. It was as if a fiery god had spawned from the star itself, and was doing its level best to destroy every ship it encountered. It was still quite a ways off, maybe two to three hours journey at the fastest his ship could do without tearing a rift into the fabric of spacetime, but it was getting closer, and Hazalk’s ship had some of the best sensors and telescopes that the krin had ever invented, allowing him and his crew to easily follow the carnage on display.
And by every god his ancestors had worshiped, the sight he beheld was truly a wondrous and terrible one. Silently, he offered a prayer to whatever god was watching over him, thanking him for convincing the equines below to not turn this terrible power upon his little ship.
“Sir… I’ve… I’ve finished my calculations,” Lieutenant Talian said, trying desperately to swallow her panic. “...and based on how fast the… the fire horse is moving, it’ll kill twelve ships before the front-most ship reaches the lunar orbit.”
Hazalk nodded slowly, not blinking as he watched the majestic, terrifying entity prance through eternity. “Yeah… that sounds about right…” he muttered quietly.
“Sir… do you think they’ll be able to clean up the rest with the moon?” Talian asked hopefully. “If it is anything as impressive as what they can do with the sun, it could knock them out of the sky before they even get here!”
Hazalk just shook his head sadly as he sunk lower into his seat. “From what I’ve been told, there are restrictions on this kind of thing, which if you ask me, is both a blessing and a curse. I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I did get the chance to ask a few questions about what we could expect. While they can indeed accelerate the moon far beyond anything we thought possible, there will be too many entering the orbit at the same time. It’s more than likely that half or more that make it past that fiery god will make it past the moon, which will leave at least fourteen ships for us to handle. We’ll still have to fight, but expect to abandon ship at some point.”
“But sir, what’s to stop the natives from bringing the moon closer?” Yvtil asked curiously. “And what’s to stop the fire horse from coming closer, too?”
“For the fire horse? I don’t know,” Hazalk responded honestly. “However, the equines made it very clear that there were limits to what they could do with the moon and the actual sun. Some kind of safety measures implemented in whatever hocus-pocus they use to control all that, making it so they could only bring the two so close, or push them so far away. It’s most likely the same thing with whatever that thing is.”
Hazalk’s statement was punctuated with the fiery god-horse reaching another ship and plowing straight through it. It must have hit something critical this time, because this one exploded almost the moment the horse hit the ship.
“Well, at the very least, we can assume that the traitor’s fleet would have been significantly reduced…” Yvtil muttered, before letting out a nervous laugh.
“Yeah, at least there’s that…” Hazalk agreed. The krin captain continued to watch the spectacle for a few minutes, before shaking his head and turning away. “I’ll be in my office if you need me. Let me know the moment the first ship reaches the moon.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Yvtil said as the captain quickly left the bridge.
* * *
It has been stated by many individuals from many species and races that all wars are won in the mind. The morale of troops have made or broken campaigns, and many invading armies, far superior in numbers and technology, have been completely routed when primal fear overtook and destroyed their resolve.
This was a lesson that the krin imperial forces had learned time and time again, and it was a factor that the upper echelon of the empire had spent forty long years attempting to eliminate. At the height of their power during the war, their latest breakthrough in wetware technology had allowed them to completely override their subordinate's fear and self-preservation instincts, to force them to fulfill their duty to the absolute best of their abilities.
The downside of this technology, besides the obviously horrendous override of free will, is that the process to install it is time-consuming, expensive, and dangerous. There are only a small number of krin doctors capable of performing the surgery, and I would note that most of them did not side with the emperor after he fled. Automated medical facilities capable of installing such hardware are even harder to come by, and such resources are exceptionally difficult to obtain for an emperor cut off from his throne. The war was less than a decade ago, I would guess that such tech would be outside of his scope. If not, then why use The Destiny Ascension? A ship that was, at least on paper, a confederate ship? No, I do not think he has access to that technology. At least, he does not have unlimited access to it.
However, such technology does exist, and before his exile from the throne, the emperor had already begun rolling out the new upgrades to all of his officers. They had even come to me and my crew, hoping to install the new implants into us, as our ship had won him many victories on the field of battle. “It would make us unstoppable,” they said. “It would win us the war,” they said.
“At what cost?” was my only reply.
I didn’t know it at the time, had thought that my ship was supposed to be the prototype, but he apparently had rolled out the new upgrades to a large portion of his officers. It’s why so many of our ships followed him when he fled; they literally had no choice in the matter. He had planned to eventually pass along the new wetware to the rank and file soldiers, but he was ousted before he could even begin.
I surmise, then, that this is why they didn’t turn tail and run the moment that first ship was destroyed by that fiery god of war. If it hadn't been for their implants, then I’m certain that the entire invasion would have been broken right then and there.
But the emperor is a cruel and selfish master, and his generals are monsters in their own right. I know too many of them, and I know that they would stick to their plan regardless of losses or innocents. The krin under his command are merely pawns in the grand strategy, and if their lives could purchase the secret of magic, then it is a price he is willing to pay.
So come they did, like moths to the flame. I do not know if the rest of the crews on those vessels have those implants, or even know what is coming, but I would guess that they don’t. Their lives mean nothing to the emperor, and it would not surprise me in the slightest if the only warning those poor souls had before their lives were snuffed out was the smell of burning metal and the sound of explosive decompression. Even when the ships made it within the moon's orbit, and the deadly hunk of rock whipped itself around and smashed its warp field into ship after ship, tearing matter apart as the warped, twisted space encountered the stiff inflexible hulls of the imperial krin fleet, they still came, meat for the grinder in the emperor's mad war for power.
By the time they pushed through to the planet, the emperor's fleet had taken a mighty toll. Fifteen ships survived the righteous fury of the alien horse people. Fifteen, out of forty.
I would like to say that I was shocked and appalled at the senseless death on display, but I was not. I had been under the empire's employ before, even talked to him face-to-face. I knew full well what the mad, self-proclaimed Voice of God was capable of. My hesitation to the equines during the war council wasn’t because I thought they might flee, but because I knew they wouldn’t.
I didn’t want to break them. I could see it in their eyes, I knew how they had treated the lone survivor of the crash. They might think to save some of the monsters coming to kill them. I had to keep them in the dark, had to lie by omission, so that they might fight to their fullest.
I know what I did, and I do not excuse myself. The blood of the brainwashed is as much on my hands as it is on the emperor’s. However, I value our lives far more than those puppets, and for this, I do not regret what I did.
This isn’t a war for land, for power, for life or ideals, and hasn’t been for a long, long time. I had realized this the moment that Agent Covarlor had entered my office and had ordered my entire command staff to receive implants and upgrades. I had wavered somewhat in the past on this whole war, but my allegiance was set the moment I had pulled my pistol and gunned that evil gutless wretch down.
This war is a war for the mind, and even now, as I and my crew climb into our escape pods, and our once faithful ship burns around us, I still do not waver on that decision I made all those years ago.
Magic might frighten me. The quzin are unknowable, their actions unfathomable, but I would still choose them over the monster who would gut my brain and my will in a heartbeat. I place my trust in them, and as my pod falls through the atmosphere of this alien planet, I pray that I survive, if only for the chance to finally put that mad dog who calls himself emperor down myself.
-Captain Hazalk, personal log.
* * *
Captain Hazalk looked up from his tablet towards the monitor, the small pod he and his command crew had piled into shaking somewhat as they entered the planet’s atmosphere. It looked like they were going to land in a field south of the castle on the mountain. This was fairly good news, as it would allow him and his crew to reconnect with their native allies.
He just hoped that they would remember that not all the krin coming out of those pods were evil, kidnapping psychopaths.
“We’ll be landing in a matter of minutes. Remember, check your position, reconnect with your fellow crewmates, and assist the locals in any way possible,” Commander Yvtil ordered over the radio. “Good luck out there, and may the Battlewatcher smile on us today.”
“And if he doesn’t, give him a reason to as you take as many of the bastards as you can with you,” Hazalk chimed in. “Make him take notice when you reach his throne and tell him just how many of the soulless wretches you took down with you, make him know that you are a hardened warrior, and that the halls of Valja are your just reward for a life well spent, and a war hard fought. Know that I expect to see each and every one of you before we open those doors and announce our arrival, and that I’ll gladly vouch for all of you when we all stand in front of that throne. Good luck, and may all the gods grant us strength this day.”
We’re going to need it… Hazalk thought, right as the green field on the monitor rushed up to meet them.