"You're a believer, and a fool! Just like my brother!"
Danger.
We face it many times, both in easy and difficult situations, they can cause a minuscule amount of harm, or in the worst cases, they can cause your demise.
I faced many of these perils in the Wasteland. I dealt with slavers and raiders who wanted to cut my tongue out if I didn't keep my mouth shut, I faced a group of alicorns who, if it weren't for Steelhooves, would've slaughtered me and my friends, I faced mutated parasprites that would eat you alive, I faced the terrifying force of the hellhounds that could slice me up at Old Olneigh, and I struggled to survive with my friends in the malicious Everfree Forest.
But as we all made our way deeper into the Star Forge's core, we'd be facing the most dangerous creatures and enemies we'd ever faced in our lives.
--------->
As we reached a large, circular door at the end of the hallway, we stopped again, myself turning around as I took a double check of our equipment. Velvet Remedy had been given a wide beam Phaser rifle during our gearing up on the Harmony. Calamity, with some tweaks and modifications and assistance from me, had made a hybrid battle saddle with one Phaser cannon and one of his old bullet-firing guns. Xenith had went for a more melee-based weapon and chose a Vulcan lirpa. It was a long staff with smooth but sharp blades and had a stump for knocking back enemies. We all knew what Steelhooves was capable of, for the most part at least. I was equipped with Little Macintosh Mk II and my upgraded Pipbuck, which had the broadcaster placed in it's slot. I also had some photon grenades, hyposprays, shield charges, and power packs, things all of my teammates had in their saddlebags as well.
As I finished overlooking our team's weapons, I spoke to my friends with determination. "All right, when we head through that door, there could be anything on the other side, so we should stand guard at all times. We must also keep an eye on our ammo, we'll be lucky if we get any spares during our trip. And lastly, stick close, no matter what, if one goes, we all do. We can't afford to lose anyone in our group this time." I looked to Steelhooves as I said that part of my speech, both of us remembering Maripony as he nodded. "Are we all clear?" I received nods of agreement before finishing. "Good, now let's do this."
We all walked through the door, and were instantly surprised by the change in the room. I don't know if they built this as a special part of the station, or if it was a modified section of it, but the room was different than the rest of the halls and rooms we've been in. The room's material had a chrome color and there were some black lines and markings along the walls. As I looked further into the hall, I saw a transparent floor that covered a pool of lava. At the end of the hall there was a different kind of door on the wall, it had a blue field of energy around it.
We slowly walked through the room, myself lifting Steelhooves over the glass floor as we heard a familiar screech behind us. I turned and saw a Metroid flying towards us, Velvet shrieking in fear as I grabbed the thing in my magic.
"Hey Lil'Pip, do ya think that new gun o' yers will hurt that vermin?" Calamity asked as I pulled the gun out, pulling it's trigger before a cloud of blue shot out, freezing the Metroid before I levitated it over the metal floor and let it go, the small thing shattering to pieces upon its impact with the ground. I let out a sigh of relief as I held the gun out, joining my friends at the strange door before speaking.
"Well, now we know what this baby does." I said with a smile as I looked at the door, wondering how we could open it. As I tapped the shield, it didn't shift, I would've grunted in frustration had Velvet not pulled out her Phaser rifle and shot at the door, the shield opening as we were allowed into the next hallway.
I looked to Velvet as she responded to our surprised expressions. "What? It's got to open somehow." I smiled wryly as I looked out into the next room, there was now a thin walkway over exposed pools of lava. I saw another Metroid fly at us it hissed, myself pulling out the freeze gun and firing, the thing turning to ice before dropping it. It broke into ice shards as we all walked across the walkway. As I lifted Steelhooves across the pool of lava, I heard an explosion from our left, a small ball launching out and bouncing before it shifted in shape, a new armored humanoid shaped being landing on the walkway. The majority of the suit was purple, with a little bit of red on the upper torso and yellow and black on the lower section. The suit also had a helmet with a glowing blue visor. I gasped as I saw one of her arms was a cylindrical cannon.
The being stood elegantly as it looked around, turning to her right to see us as a female voice spoke from it. "I take it you're all supposed to be the assault team?"
"Yeah, we are." I said to the mysterious being as I asked her, "Who are you?"
"The name's Samus, I'm a bounty hunter from one of the many universes the Alliance was tasked with defending."
I smiled as I asked Samus another question. "How'd you get here?"
She scoffed as she answered. "It seems the enemy has a price on my head every day, I was captured by J'ula and placed aboard the Enclave thunderhead Victorious in her brig. That is, until the ship was taken by the Alliance recently. As I was freed I asked to be beamed to the Star Forge to help destroy it, so when the shield was opened, one of your ships helped get me aboard... and that's how I got here."
I nodded as I spoke to our new friend. "Well, stick with us, we're on our way to deal with Red Eye and destroy the station, and your help would be greatly appreciated."
"Like we had a choice on that, kid." Samus replied with a chuckle as she took the lead, all of us following her as Velvet spoke to her.
"Well, if you could give some insight on what this place is, that would help."
Samus kept her eyes on the path as she spoke. "This place was modified to hold the other Metroids J'ula's forces captured. This is supposed to be a replica of Tourian, a base on the planet Zebes in my universe. We should all keep an eye out for more Metroids an-" Samus was interrupted when Calamity let out a yelp and jumped into the air, hovering as he rubbed his flank. As we looked, we could see a burn mark on his right flank as he spoke.
"What the hell just hit me?!" We all looked around as Samus answered him.
"Rinkas, they shoot out of those ring-shaped outlets on the walls and ceiling." We looked to our right as we saw one of the outlets, a black ring on a block of chrome colored metal.
As we walked up to another door, this one boasting a red color, Samus continued. "Also, there are four door colors, blue is universal, red takes missiles, green requires super missiles and yellow can only be opened with power bombs." We all gasped as Samus fired five small missiles at the red door, which opened as the final missile hit it. I gulped as I prayed we didn't come across a yellow door, we probably wouldn't have much space to use such a weapon.
As we passed through the door and into the room, three more Metroids flew at us. I levitated the freeze gun up and fired, freezing the ugly leeches in midair, falling and hitting the ground a second later.
As we continued on through the room, Samus asked, "Where did you get that?"
"We found it in a room a good walk from here, I'd say it was a good find." I said as the bounty huntress replied.
"Indeed it was. Fortunately, I have an ice beam on me, so if you run out, you'll have me to help." I smiled as we stopped in front of the next door, a green one. We all stood back as Samus fired a green-tipped missile, the door opening as the missile hit it.
"The doors are changing in color, we must be getting close." Steelhooves said as we saw several platforms above us, going up a few meters high. We grunted as we thought of a way to get up.
"I can lift you all up there, but by no more than two at a time." I offered before the blue alicorn responded.
"No, we'll lift you in our magic, sister, you will carry Samus up with us." The purple alicorn nodded as Samus mounted her, all of us lifted in the other two's magic as we floated up.
As we flew slowly around half of the platforms, we heard another cry above us and saw two strange creatures fly at us. They looked similar to the Metroids, but the organs of the thing were on the belly now, a shell on top with a head in front. The thing's head had three claws around a small mouth with teeth, two red eyes between them.
Samus fired her ice beam at the creatures, both of them turning to ice after at least eight shots. Her alicorn flew out of the way as they watched the two creatures fall, both shattering into little shards as they hit the floor below.
As we passed over the last platform, I saw a strange mound of flesh holding onto what I assumed was the door to Red Eye and the core. I shrieked in surprise as a part of the mound opened, an eyeball looking at us as Samus came up, pointing her gun at it. The creature exploded into fleshy bits and pieces as the bounty huntress shot it with a super missile, the blue door being revealed as we landed.
I tapped my Pipbuck as I checked my map, Red Eye, along with several other life signs, we're on the other side of this door. I took a breath as I looked to my team, Samus lowering her gun as she spoke. "It's as I feared, they're evolving."
"Evolving? You don't mean..." Velvet said as Samus answered her.
"Yes, they can change to different stages, ranging from the basic stage to Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and Omega Metroids. The ones we just saw were Alphas." We all shivered at her words, myself taking another deep breath as I spoke up.
"Okay, he's just beyond this door, everyone ready?" My friends nodded as they held their weapons, Samus lifting her gun up again as I turned and spoke once more. "Let's kick some ass."
The door was blasted open by Samus' arm cannon, all of us charging into the room as the door shut behind us, a grey color bore on it's shield. We stopped as we saw the large room, it was an enormous room with a few ring-shaped platforms connected by four walkways. All of the platforms were surrounded by faint orange shields that rose from under the platforms all the way to the ceiling, the center platform being stood on by Red Eye, a strange pillar-shaped device providing a small brighter shield around his platform.
As we stopped on the large balcony, Red Eye looked at us, meeting our angry faces as he tapped one of his hooves on the ground whilst speaking. "Bravo, Littlepip, bravo! I had not expected to see you make it this far through our greatest weapon. Oh, and I see you've brought a friend, that just makes things even more exciting!"
"You'll be rotting in a cell when we get over there, Red Eye! You can't hold us off forever!" I said as we watched him, the cyberpony ceasing his hoof-tapping before laughing as he replied.
"Of course not, eventually, you could reach me by dealing with those consoles, and I would be finished." He said as he walked slowly over to the center console, a smile building on his muzzle before he continued. "But the question isn't if or when you'll reach me, rather, it is if my new associates can stop you." As he said that, he tapped the console before several more enemies beamed into the room, circling the rings around Red Eye as we took in our new guests.
There were several Klingons alongside several Enclave pegasi and soldiers in white armor, the armor was of a similar appearance to the armor worn by the Lukara soldier, but there were some subtle changes. For one thing, the helmet made it look like the soldiers were smiling.
Though I was surprised by the sudden reinforcements, my color faded as we all heard a growl behind us. We turned to see a large creature standing over us, it had a large, armored body with two legs and arms, the latter boasting two claws. The head was grotesque, it was long and had a mouth with several sharp fangs around it, five red eyes on each side of its face.
Velvet looked as if she had soiled herself as we all stared at the thing in fear, the creature roaring in our faces as I gulped, Samus standing in front of us as she whispered, "I'll deal with the Omega Metroid, you all take care of Red Eye."
We all nodded as we turned back around to face the enemy soldiers, all of them pointing their weapons at us as Red Eye spoke again. "You should count yourself lucky, Littlepip, I'm only holding them back by the tail. If you surrender now, I'll call off the backup, and we will spare your home and its people."
I shook my head as my friends stood together, the alicorns pulling out their lightsabers as I spoke to my old nemesis. "We'd rather have our graves soiled on than join you."
Red Eye frowned sadly as he replied. "Hmm, that is unfortunate, you and I could've been rulers of a much bigger, stronger empire than your Alliance... but I suppose I have no other option." He then pointed a hoof out, his soldiers facing us as he ordered them. "Deal with them."
As they began firing their weapons at us, we charged at them, the alicorns flying in front of us and deflecting the laser fire as we engaged our targets. I focused on one of the armored soldiers, firing Little Macintosh at his escort as I jumped over him, bucking him hard to the near-invisible wall that was the force field. As his body slumped, I turned to face a group of Klingons coming at me, I picked them all off with magic shots save for one, who was holding a bat'leth like the one I saw at Taloraan, I pulled out one of the lightsabers from my saddlebags, turning it on as our blades clashed. We dueled for a few seconds before I spun my saber around, trying to pull off the same move my alicorn friend did earlier. The attack worked and his blade broke in two, the warrior hitting the floor as I struck the blade into him.
I turned to see Velvet firing at one of the armored soldiers as another group of Klingons raced towards her. As she turned to see them she pulled out her tribble Pinkie Pie gave her and held it in front of the Klingon's faces.
"Feast your eyes on this beast, fiends!" My friend said as the tribble screeched, the Klingons staggering comically. Velvet's Phaser rifle then lifted and fired a shot wide enough to hit them all at once. As they fell to the ground, she chuckled as she spoke again. "Hmph, scared of a little furball." She then pet the little animal as she spoke to it. "Sorry if I didn't give you any attention during our trip." The tribble cooed as she pet it, then put it back in her saddlebags as she rejoined the fight.
I looked up to see Calamity flying around the room, four armored pegasi firing on him as he did a loop. The green alicorn grabbed one of the dead Klingons' pistols and bit down on the trigger, firing at one of the Enclave soldiers as they fell, their body falling to the ground a moment later. Using the new distraction, Calamity flipped around and fired both his weapons on his saddle, striking down the other three flyers in seconds.
I ducked as I saw a red laser bolt fly over my head, one of the armored soldiers running at me. I fired Little Macintosh as a bullet struck his armor, the soldier falling to the ground a second later. I then ran at the last armored soldier behind him and tackled him, firing a bullet into his head not a second after.
As I looked around again, I saw Xenith striking her lirpa against the metal blade of another Klingon's bat'leth, the two clashing for a moment until she smacked the butt of the weapon into the Klingon's head, knocking him to the side. As he tried to get up, Xenith swung the blade at his head, decapitating the warrior with one clean strike.
As I observed the room, I noticed that we'd taken care of the first wave, the other two platforms were barren and sealed by the force field around them. I looked around as my friends (excluding Samus) rejoined me, all of us seeing a console on the left side of the first platform. We ran to it as I tried to lower the first force field, Red Eye speaking to us as he tapped his console. "It's unfortunate that I have to use them, but they should make quick work of you." He said as he tapped his console again, the force field dropping as several new enemies beamed in. There were about seven Xenomorphs and two Arachnids in the area, they all had little triangular devices on them, as if they were being controlled by another force.
"Enjoy your meal, my pets!" Red Eye chanted as the creatures came at us, Steelhooves opening his two cannons as he fired a missile at the two giant bugs, which exploded in a gory mess as he was tackled by one of the Xenomorphs.
"Steelhooves!" I yelled in fear as I grabbed the little fucker in my magic and threw him off, another one charging at me as I pointed Little Macintosh at the second one and fired. As the second Xenomorph dissolved into a pile of goop, I saw Calamity firing at the Xenomorph I threw, its body parts and acid blood spilling out everywhere. A good splash of it hit the joint on Steelhooves' left cannon, the large weapon falling off of his suit as he turned to shoot another Xeno.
I yelped as I was tackled to the ground by another one of the creatures, its sharp tail pointing at me as I looked at it. I moved my head out of the way as the tail struck down, hitting the ground under me as it tried to strike again, my head moving a second time. As the second strike missed, the monster opened it's mouth, its second one slithering out as it tried to bite my face off.
As I moved my head away from the attacking mouth the creature was struck by a Phaser bolt, being vaporized over me as I looked to where the bolt had come from. Velvet had saved me, but had left herself exposed as another Xeno came running at her.
"Velvet! Get out of the way!" I screamed as I grabbed my friend in her magic and threw her out of the creature's way, myself still in the way. I grabbed the creature in my magic as I threw it across the room, the beast hitting the orange force field as it got up swiftly. I saw the creature's head snap the other way as another blue field of magic grabbed it's head and twisted it, breaking the thing's neck. The blue alicorn stood by me as I got up, pulled out a hypo and injected it into myself.
As I raced to Steelhooves, he scrubbed off some of the drying acid as he spoke. "I'll be fine, just one less gun to fight with." I nodded as we raced to the second console, tapping it as I heard Red Eye speak again.
"Oh, and Steelhooves, your services are no longer required of us. We've built our own drones in your image!" He said aloud, laughing as he tapped his console, eight more enemies appearing in the room as the second force field dropped.
There were two green alicorns in between six armored ponies, or at least, that's what the latter looked like. They had a similar look to Steelhooves, save that the armor was entirely green and the visors were a bright red color. These must've been the droids Red Eye spoke of.
The new drones were fast with their weapons, but Steelhooves was faster, his one gun firing missiles at four of the drones, each of them exploding into pieces as my friend dodged the incoming disruptor bolts. The two alicorns engaged in a magic battle with the two horned alicorns, the purple one fighting alongside Steelhooves as my friends and I took cover behind an orange, hexagonal shield I deployed in front of us.
As another one of the drones exploded from Steelhooves' weapon fire, I looked to Red Eye's shield as I tried to grab the console's controls. When nothing happened, he looked at me as he responded to my futile effort. "Oh, and don't try to use magic through my shield, Littlepip, this shield generator is foolproof!"
As he turned back to the console, I looked to Velvet, Calamity and Xenith, their faces filled with worry as I spoke. "His shield may be able to stop magic, but I have one thing he can't hold off." I lifted my Pipbuck as I pointed to the small device in the slot.
"The broadcaster?!" Velvet whispered as I nodded. "But that will hurt you and the rest of us if we use it!"
"I was able to save Steelhooves using this thing, so I'm sure it'll work on that shield generator." I said with hope in my voice as they looked to each other.
After a moment, they nodded as Calamity spoke for them. "Alright, but just don't git killed up there, ya hear?" I nodded as I got up and galloped over to the middle of the second platform, grinning as I heard Steelhooves blow up the last drone soldier.
As Red Eye turned to me, I gave a smug look on my face as I spoke up. "Hey Red Eye, I think you forgot to deal with one little problem."
The little pony in my head laughed as the stallion's face was wide with shock. "No, you wouldn't." I responded by turning on the broadcaster, the noise filling the room as I screamed, I could hear my friends and the Omega Metroid scream from the pain as well, Red Eye grunting as he fell to the floor. I forced a smile as the shield around Red Eye went down, Little Macintosh lifting in my magic as I fired.
Despite the blood in my eyes blocking my view, I could see the shot hit the generator, exploding as Red Eye covered himself with his robe. I turned off the broadcaster as I wiped the blood from my eyes, Red Eye doing the same as he got up. He pulled out a unique-looking pistol before I shot a magic bolt at him, his Pipbuck hoof and the gun melting away as he cried out in pain. I gave a slight smirk as I saw his injury mimicked my dismembered hoof at Taloraan. I hope he knows how I felt when that happened. The pony in my head said with satisfaction as I trotted over to him, my friends meeting with me after they recovered.
I looked to see Samus jump onto the Omega Metroid's head, blasting several icy laser blasts into its mouth until it screeched one final time, the monster's body falling to the ground as Samus jumped, somersaulting in a ball of energy until she landed near us. Nearby, I could see our alicorn friends standing over the two enemy alicorns, the blue one looking to us as she nodded, signaling me to deal with Red Eye while they take care of their evil sisters.
I looked down at Red Eye, the stallion grunting in pain as he looked back at me. "W-well, you all seem to have more skill a-and luck than I ever could have." We all glared at him as he spoke once more. "Why not end this torment? Shoot me.... and it'll all be over. The Wasteland will be safe, and I'll truly be out of your manes."
I stood over him as I replied. "As much as I'd like to splatter your brains across the floor, it's not my job and, honestly, that wouldn't be justice." I pulled out a small device, energy-based shackles generating from it's sides as I grabbed his hindlegs, the injured stallion upside down as I spoke again. "As a member of the Universal Alliance, I'm placing you under arrest." Then, standing him upright, I looked into his eyes as I said, "You've got a lot to answer for when we leave." My friends smiled as I held him up, looking to the purple alicorn as I spoke once more. "Can you watch him please?" The large mare nodded as she left her sisters to watch our captive.
As I trotted over to the console, Velvet spoke up. "So this is it.... This is where we end it all."
"Yep, just take down the shields, set the self destruct and we'll be out of here." I said as I looked at the console, mesmerized by it. For a single console, you could do a lot from here, you could build a ship, not to mention a whole fleet, activate shields and weapons, self-destruct, etc.
As I looked to the screen of the console I saw a large number of ships listed in the creation station, Red Eye was trying to launch the fleet as he distracted us. I tapped a few buttons on the console as I deleted the list, cancelling the launch.
"So, we just activate the self-destruct and-" I stopped as I thought for a moment, earlier in the battle, we lost Admiral Stone's cruiser, the U.S.S. Chestnut. And seeing that there was still juice in the creation booth for another ship...
"Wait! I've got an idea." I said as my friends looked to me with confusion. "There's still juice for another ship, if we can call the Harmony and tell them to send data for the ship, we could rebuild the admiral's ship! She could also work as our escape route!"
My friends looked at each other as they considered the idea, all of them looking at Velvet Remedy as she gave their answer. "Well, that sounds like it could work. It'd be nice to do good with this massive structure for once."
I smiled as I tapped my combadge, the device chirping as I spoke into it. "Littlepip to Harmony, do you read?"
Twilight's voice spoke through the small badge. "Affirmative, the battlefield is clear of enemy vessels, and the Lukara has escaped. What's the problem?"
"We've captured Red Eye, and we want to ask you something. Can you send us the schematics and details of the Chestnut? I believe we could kill two birds with one stone if we rebuild her using the Star Forge." I said as the princess replied with surprise.
"Well, if you can get yourself aboard before the station blows, then we'll do it. Otherwise, the plan's off."
"I can access many more functions and systems from this one console, Twilight. We'll be fine." I said as Twilight replied again.
"All right, we're sending the data now. Let us know when you get out of the Star Forge. Harmony out." As the signal cut out, I looked to the console to see the data show up on the screen. I tapped the schematic and set it up for construction. As I started to initiate the job, a message popped up.
"Excess energy remaining, use in construction of current plan or discard?" I wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but I tapped the confirm button as the work started. We heard several rumbles as the Star Forge performed its duty, myself tapping the console to view the construction bay. We watched as two large mechanical arms moved back and forth, a field of energy shifting as it took the shape of the familiar Excalibur class cruiser.
As the construction finished, Red Eye spoke up again. "Such power.... and it's about to go to waste, just like that."
"Hey, be thankful you won't be owing Starfleet for the loss of one of their ships." Velvet snarked back as she looked to me, the now fully constructed U.S.S. Chestnut sitting in the launch bay as she spoke. "So, are we ready to do this?"
"Yeah, let me get a map first." I then tapped the console as I pulled up a map of both the Star Forge and the Chestnut, the latter's bridge being zoomed onto as the green alicorn spoke to us.
"My sisters could teleport you there, it will strain us, but we'll all be on the ship once it's done." I nodded as I looked to the tall mare's sisters, the captive alicorns in cuffs as they stood behind them. As the two unharmed alicorns stood in front of us, I tapped the console as I deactivated the Star Forges shields.
"Alright, now we just set the self-destruct, and...." I said as I tapped the console, setting up the self-destruct before the room's klaxons started blaring. The noise sounded like a wail of some kind as I turned around, the alicorns generating a field around us as I spoke. "We've got five minutes, should be enough time for us to get out." My friends all nodded as we disappeared from the room, abandoning the large station as we headed for the Chestnut.