Nikolai walked furiously down the bridge, the metal floor clanging with his every step. All around, monitors flashed red with symbols of destroyed warships, joined in a brilliant display by the distant flashes dotting the room's windows. He eventually reached the front consoles.
"Sir, the reports you've requested have just arrived!" a young technician shouted suddenly from her post, holding up a datapad.
Nikolai didn't bother turning around, instead typing something into one of the computers. "Which ones?"
"Umm, first wave RSU deployments, Sir!" replied the technician as she lowered the tablet.
"And?"
"We've got... nine hundred and fifteen reporting back, one thousand eighty four KIAs, and one MIA."
Nikolai's fingers briefly froze above the holgraphic keyboard. "Shit...," he whispered, frowning; it was getting worse and worse by the minute. Nikolai sighed and turned around, pointing at a crewman as he did so.
"Yun! Hail admiral Eriksson. We need to turn this thing around, and I think I may just have the trick..."
Celestia held her breath, head involuntarily retracted, mouth just barely open. This was it then - THIS was going to be the most important moment in Equestrian history, and who knows for how many years to come. Every action, every tiniest gesture now could be crucial.
Celestia took a few breaths, trying to calm down. Eventually, she forced herself to take a glance at her sister, despite all heart and mind warning her not to take sight off the alien. Much of the initial shock on Luna's face was now all but gone, replaced by curiosity as the Lunar Princess watched the newcomer with fascination in her eyes, head tilted slightly to the side. It was clear she recognized it as the being from before. Taking one more breath, Celestia decided to follow her sister's example and turned to the alien, prepared to attempt at least some kind of interaction. As she did so though, she could not help but shiver at the creature's appearance. It wasn't that Celestia was scared of it, no, not at all - in fact, she was pretty confident they could hold their ground against whatever the alien may throw at them if hostilities arise. It was something different - how foreign and utterly cold the being looked. Just as Luna had described during the trek, it was bipedal, its... skin black ears to hooves. Or at least Celestia assumed it was skin, and she couldn't really tell since every aspect of the creature was so similar, although as she gazed at it longer and longer, the surface of its body appeared modular, so maybe 'scales' would be a better term. Then, there was the head.
Oh, dear sun, the head.
The creature's head was unsettling. Very unsettling. It wasn't at all different from the rest of the body though, and that was what made it so terrifying. It looked exactly the same as the rest of the body, completely flat, completely black. No expression. No emotions. No distinct characteristics at all. While other things about the creature looked foreign, it could not be missed, no matter how much one would want to ignore it, that the alien had no face.
Truth be told though, the creature's uniformity made it's entire body look like a giant black blob, and so getting any details was harder than it would normally be.
The newcomer was resting its head on some silver-black device, grasping it with its claws from below. Celestia was unsure about the purpose of this stick-like machinery, but the hole in its front made it appear dangerously like a miniaturised version of her ceremonial cannons from Canterlot, and needless to say, that fact did not fill her with optimism.
Putting on as neutral of an expression as she could, Celestia slowly took a small step towards the alien. Behind her, she could sense the Royal Guards tensing up.
"Welcome. Can you understand me?" she asked slowly, clearly voicing every letter, though she highly doubted it would yield any resluts
"Welcome. Can you understand me?"
"You got that?"
"Of course, but I'll need more data to say if it's speech. I can attempt to get some via the scan, but no promises. By the way, I'm still waiting for permission."
"I know. Try to get that data. Permission granted, begin the scan in five."
"Solid copy. I still don't like it though."
"Noted."
After a few seconds, Celestia sighed. The creature only tilted its head slightly, seemingly in confusement, and it was clear it was not going to answer. Truthfully though, the Princess didn't expect anything else; after all, it was an alien being - by now it was basically certain - so how would it ever get an opportunity to learn Equestrian? Straightening up, Celestia lightened her horn, careful to mix up the spells in the right way to get her desired effect. Before she could get the two parties to understand each other though, something... unexpected happened.
When the glowing aura appeared, Celestia's keen eye noticed the creature wincing slightly. At first, she didn't think much of it; after all, it could've been nothing, and even if it wasn't, it was perfectly reasonable to assume the being could be surprised - it didn't seem to have a horn, so it only appeared natural to Celestia that this race must've had other ways to manipulate magic. With these thoughts, she continued the spell.
But after what couldn't have been longer than two seconds, the previously dormant contraption to their right, which Luna had stated the creature was earlier trapped in, suddenly woke up from its slumber. With no sound at all, blue lights appeared on its sides, casting some insight into how the interior of the machine looked. The lights blinked, then again, and again, and finally, all of a sudden, failed to ignite. After an unusually long pause, they briefly flashed once more, this time accompanied by a low humming noise, and suddenly, without any warning, a blue... 'sheet of light', or maybe 'wave of light' shot out from the machine and started running over the ponies.
To say their response was calm would be a blatant lie.
The guards' reaction was as sudden as it was chaotic. A few shouts, sounds of colliding golden plates, and soon the entire Solar contingent was out of formation, backing up a few steps at a time, unsure whether or not to run, not knowing what to point their spears at, the alien or the contraption. Simultaneously, loud rustling came from the bushes around, but ultimately there were no sounds of hooves, meaning the Lunar force was not about to let go of their discipline.
When she saw the light, Celestia thrust her eyes open, but as Luna quickly turned to face the contraption, Celestia focused on the creature in front of her instead. While previously completely still, almost frozen even, now the alien quickly put its claws up, stepping a little backwards, as it placed whatever it had been holding on its back. The arms, now forward, moved up and down, up, and down again, as the creature quickly turned to face the one pony that was still paying attention to it - Princess Celestia, and although she couldn't judge from the faceless head, it's body's movements were more than enough to conclude that. To Celestia, the alien's intention was clear, no matter what species or culture it hailed from. It wanted to assure them there was no danger.
Of course, Celestia had no guarantee that it was being honest, or that the gesture even meant what she had assumed it did, but quickly decided to go with it for now. What better choice did she have, anyway?
Suddenly though, an indigo aura flashing in the corner of her eye snapped Celestia back into reality. Luna, with clenched teeth and a mixture of shock and anger on her face, now faced the alien machine, ready to erase it out of existance in her first instinct. Already tensed up in case the alien was insincere, Celestia didn't waste any time. Everything slowed down around her. She only had a split second to react, and she would not waste it. Whatever was currently going on, she would not allow Equestrian relations with this new species to be destroyed; not yet, not for possibly no reason. Clenching her teeth, Celestia turned around, lighting up her horn. In no time, she covered the few steps separating her from Luna and strongly nudged her in the back, her speed, not yet fully nullified, only adding force to the jabs. Convinced she wouldn't be able to get her sister's attention in time though, Celestia squeezed her eyes as she released the accumulated magic, creating as strong a shield in front of Luna as she could to give it the best possible chance to stop the powerful Lunar magic.
Thankfully though, its strength was never to be tested.
Having received a fairly strong hit, Luna must've either realised from its direction who it had come from or simply reacted on first impulse, as in a split second she looked first at Celestia, then at the alien. Seeing its completely frozen form, now defensive and harmless, her expression immediately softened, the indigo aura vanishing from around her horn. Turning to Celestia, Luna blushed as she nodded apologetically with understanding in her eyes. The Solar Princess responded with a smile, lowering the magical shield.
How incredibly close to distaster they had just come was... nigh incomprehensible. But now, having avoided it, hopefully they'd be able to-
"Aaagghh!"
Without any warning, a blue ray of magic shot towards the alien from behind the Princesses, illuminating the meadow as it went. The creature, facing the opposite direction, rolled its previously frozen form out of the way at the speed of light, but even then was unable to dodge the beam. It impacted the base of one of its limbs, thrusting the being backwards in the middle of its stunt. Before it hit the ground though, the creature was able to regain control, and rolling over the shoulder (at least if you go by griffon terminology) it was back on its feet in a flash, though this time in a far lower position, one hind limb forward and the other held back.
Celestia's mind once again went into overdrive, and one that could make the previous feel like mere crumbs. Everything halted around her; not slowed down, no - maybe technically, but the truth was, for Celestia the world was not moving at all, even her absurd heartrate all but frozen. Eyes wide open, she noticed the alien reaching out for the cannon-like machinery from before. Immediately, a grave thought dawned on her.
This is the beginning of a war... We are starting a WAR.
However obvious this conclusion was, its sheer gravity caused Celestia to shiver. She knew she had to react quickly if she wanted to have any hopes of stopping the imminent catastrophe.
Celestia turned left. Immediately, she saw a grey-coated Solar Guard, bent forward, his teeth clenched and eyes narrowed. Next to him, Night Lightning stood terrified.
In a fraction of a second, Celestia had to make a decision. Paradoxically though, if it wasn't for the circumstances, the choice would have probably been much harder.
Attack? Two options.
No, possible apocalypse. Yes, one injury; one death.
dea-ath... No, my little pony...
Petrification. Quick, effective, message sent: we are with you.
And like that, only a split second after the original attack, Celestia released her own beam of magic. Just before impact, the guard turned in its direction, mouth wide open, but it was already too late. His silhouette, frozen in the terrified stance, was thrust backwards, its side hitting the ground on the barren clearing. Following Celestia's train of though, Night Lightning levitated the rogue guard above the meadow to present their point even better. The rest of the contingent froze in place.
Celestia didn't waste any more time with the affair though, quickly turning her head back. She needed to know the alien's reaction. Her sister in turn tensed up, taking up a much more secure stance, ready to take up a fight if it came to one.
The creature seemed to mirror Luna's actions in a way, once again frozen in place holding the strange machinery in its claws. It didn't attack, but neither did it look calm, seemingly ready to do so at a moment's notice. Its head shifted slightly, and Celestia suddenly realized it had previously been in fact looking at the floating Solar guard. Or at least it seemed so, as the strange anatomy still greatly confused her. But if it truly was the case, then it meant their response had worked. For now, it had worked.
The blue lights on the contraption to Celestia's right blinked one final time before at last merging with the darkness inside. Only then did it really dawn on the ponies - the blue wave was gone.
Celestia took a deep breath, trying to silence her beating heart a bit, as right now it barely allowed her to hear her own thoughts. It worked. For now, it did. They had avoided the crisis. But now, to the worst part: trying to somehow overcome the obvious distrust between the parties.
Somehow, Celestia felt it won't be an easy talk. But then again, how could she know? It was possible that none of Equestrian behavioural patterns applied to the alien, maybe even not in the slightest. But honestly, this thought filled Celestia with even more worry...
Stanley couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was doing what he could to remain still and focused, at least when it was possible, but the spectacle unfolding before him was simply unbelievable. Light generation? This he could work with, there were many species capable of that. Laser beams shooting out of the head? Uhmm... implants, maybe? Very strong implants, and lots of dentures? Maybe. Telekinesis? No way in hell.
Other than that, Stanley was really starting to doubt his situation. He had been confident he could hold his ground, but after receiving a glancing hit with that laser beam, he really started to question it. The armor held, sure, but the damages it sustained were FAR greater than comfortable. Absurd amounts of energy had to be redirected to support the microshields around his left shoulder, to the point where the rest of his body was left almost defenseless, and the nanobot population on his chestplate took a very huge hit. That, and his personal drone already laid amidst the sea of debris inside the pod, which didn't help the situation, to say the least.
However much he would like not to admit it, if he was cornered by a dozen of these horses in open space, he would have been in serious trouble. But then again, when was it any different? It was his job to make sure he IS NOT cornered in the open. By anyone.
Stanley grasped his rifle even harder, waiting for Selina to speak up. At least they had managed to complete the deep scan, which might shed some light upon the series of mysteries at hand. Stanley inhaled deeply. He had the creatures at gunpoint, ready to shoot any of them dead at will, but quite honestly the main reason he was still holding back after that direct assault, aside from the desire not to spoil relations with a probably-sentient race so quickly, was that he was sincerely unsure of their capabilities. Maybe he could take them, but maybe not, and that was enough.
"Alright, I've got the results. Gathered as much as I could, but the pod is still not entirely functional, so we'll have to work with what we have," Selina finally said, breaking the mortal silence. Stanley sighed with relief.
"Roger that, tell me what you've got."
"Well, limited brain scans suggest they're sentient."
Stanley rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I've already pretty much figured that out."
"Good for you. Now on to something you may like: the same brain scans, coupled with some of the shouts and that one line... well, let's just say it was speech earlier. And now I've got a translator. A very basic one though," continued the AI, tone almost unchanged, barely moved by Stanley's comment. The trooper allowed himself a small chuckle as he nodded.
"Okay, give it to me then." Stanley's HUD flashed yellow, indicating a significant data transfer. "Anything else you can tell me?"
"Nothing important for now. I may have a theory on where we are though, but I want to run a few tests first, just to double-check."
"Copy that. But what about the levitation?" replied Stanley, still just as perplexed, although like usually he barely showed it. He had to raise an eyebrow though, as Selina remained quiet for some three or four seconds - a worryingly long time considering no reason had been stated.
"Sela?"
"Unknown," she answered quickly, as if she had specifically been waiting for an opportunity for a fast response after missing the first one. Something utterly impossible for an AI.
Stanley once again attempted to raise an eyebrow, but as it was already up, he had no choice but to just keep it that way instead. He decided to ignore the AIs unusual behaviour though, and moved on to the main topic.
"Ro... ger? Anyway, I've got the translator running, one press of a button and it goes through external." Stanley took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this."
With that, he slowly stood back up from his crouch, weapon still at the ready, and took one small step towards the two tallest horses at the front. The white one had already begun to light up its horn once again, but as it noticed Stanley standing up, it immediately ceased to do so, presumably to avoid provoking him. Now it only stood there, tensed up, but strangely calm at the same time. Ready to respond to Stanley, but try to initiate interaction itself as well. Not thinking much, Stanley decided to provide it with an excellent opportunity to go with the former.
"Here comes."
"Yeah. Remember the protocol: establish contact, gather information, achieve your goal. Although with so little data it's quite hard to tell which protocol to go with. I picked the 'Stranded Encounter' version, but who knows if it's correct," replied the AI, advising Stanley one last time. The trooper sighed.
"Well, certainly not me." He slowly moved his hand to the base of his helmet, stopping just short of a small, circular button. "Okay, here comes." With one press, Stanley activated the external speakers.
//Possible anomalistic tendencies concluded
*Confirmation requested - result: [[APPROVED]]
*Inquiry for testing system launch
*Inquiry sent
*System starting
Available modes of action: 1778/255644
!WARNING! - critical testing system failures.
*WARNING discarded
*discarding confirmed
-Testing system launching
*Critical error - LAUNCH FAILED
*Brute Force Protocol requested - awaiting result... done
*Emergency code 10023389110003337 919000188 verified - SUCCESSFUL
*Brute Force Protocol confirmed
*Testing system opening...
-|Course of action choice pending|
//Calculations in progress
-running 1778+ calculations - elapsed time estimated: 3.00000076 ns
-1778/1778 calculations SUCCESSFUL
-Activating testing protocol 135A
-Activation confirmed - systems starting
-Redirecting power - administrator permission needed - inquiry sent...
-Answer received - [[AFFIRMATIVE]]
-Redirecting power...
-Power check: sufficiency - YES // Testing protocol 135A starting...
//Activating power node 13C - DONE
//Activating power node 71H - DONE
-analyzing systems - ONLINE
-Control data requested...
-opening archives - !WARNING! - DATA CORRUPTED
*Emergency data bank access requested... approved
*Emergency data reconstruction requested... approved
*Emergency data reconstruction in progress... done
//Control data ready
-Preparing testing scenarios
*5007 scenarios ready
-Tests starting
-Start confirmed - starting...
-5007/5007 power transfer tests complete
*Generating report... done
*4998/5007 matches
*9/5007 unexpected results
*repeating tests...
-5007/5007 power transfer tests complete
*Generating report... done
*4998/5007 matches
*9/5007 unexpected results
//SPECIAL PROCEDURE INITIATED
-Generating tests... done
-Test 1/5 finished
*Result - GREEN
-Test 2/5 finished
*Result - GREEN
-Test 3/5 finished
*Result - GREEN
-Test 4/5 finished
*Result - GREEN
-Test 5/5 finished
*Result - RED
//Slight laws of physics distortion detected
//Hypothesis confirmed - ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
-Checking emergency database...
-Match - NOT FOUND
-Universe uncharted
//!IMMEDIATE REPORT REQUESTED!
-!WARNING! - no folds in vicinity
-Luger devices not found
-Curving devices not found
*ERROR - contact NOT POSSIBLE
-Inquiry: check for alternate solutions
-Inquiry [[CONFIRMED]] and [[APPROVED]]
-Checking for alternate solutions - calculating...
-FOUND
Lanre ran back to his post, a large adrenaline supply in his arms. After the last injection his desk's stock had ran out, and as automatic refill was temporarily out of service, he had to take a fast trip to bring more himself to continue operating efficiently. Normally he would have already finished for today, but since a couple hours ago the Swarm launched a counterattack, everyone's been basically working around the clock. Still, Lanre was glad he'd only been assigned to the captain's bridge for this operation, as he could hardly imagine how chaotic everything must have been on the admiral's. Even here though, goggled-eyed faces watching rows of fingers dance quickly on various panels were hard to ignore; the still air smelled with sweat.
Sitting down, Lanre quickly got to work. Biting his lip, he skimmed through the multitude of reports and contact requests that had arrived, most of which had already been taken care of by his associates. As he was about to respond to a data request from Fire Control A though, something else cought his attention.
A blue-green labelled report. Top Priority with immediate contact request. Deciding his priorities in no time, Lanre proceeded to superficially read the headings - he had to properly assign it after all. The more he read though, the more... weird the report appeared.
RSU reporting back... okay, alive, but Top Priority? Let's see... Stranded, location - outside 01... wait, what?... First contact... species analysis gives back-
Lanre's jaw nearly hit the floor, as his eyes widened like saucers.
Oh my god... oh my GOD...
Without hesitation, Lanre sprung up from his desk and like antelope rushed through the room, smashing his coffee-filled cup on the floor doing so.
A miserable silhouette reached the footing of the metal-red throne, shadowed by the reflector lights, which seemed to care little for mere servants of their true master. Similarly, while not necessarily in literal darkness, the rest of the room was clearly overshadowed by the majestic object at its back. The people inside, while seemingly comfortable with the throne's presence, had also fallen victims to its unseen pressure, working hard, yet quietly, struggling to succeed, but without complaint, stone-faced all the time, with only a tired sigh or two echoing through the room every ten seconds or so.
And all of that caused by the nearly-regal design of this ancient warship, still built based on even more ancient patterns.
A ship that was now, quite curiously, serving as one of Coalition's flagships above Sazana, refitted and modernised.
The silhouette stopped in its tracks and looked up, towards the figure occupying the massive, grey-red throne. Compared to it, it appeared almost comically insignificant. Saluting, it relayed its message.
"Sir! A RSU trooper has been found missing!"
The figure atop the throne gazed down at the messenger unamused as it lifted one of its hands to its beard. After a few seconds, it replied.
"Why do you keep informing me about things such as one missing trooper?"
The technician blushed a little, embarrassed by his own foolishness. Truthfully though, the obvious mistake wasn't really his fault - normally they'd just send a report, and only the temporary power fluctuations onboard prevented them from doing so - or at least made it harder, causing walking these few dozen meters from the consoles preferable for a while, according to Engineering. Besides that, the technician wasn't even from communications, he was just chosen for this one task.
"My oversight, Sir! We just got an emergency message from the RSNS Constitution. A previously MIA RSU operator just relayed scan reports. Admiral Stratoi requests conference as soon as we fix the power. That's all we know, Sir!" clarified the man, having regained his composure.
The figure on the throne narrowed its eyes, keeping its hand to the beard.
Another talk?
"So the fool thinks it important enough to engage the whole admiralty?" it murmured. After a few seconds, it continued louder. "Very well. I may question his methods, but I trust his judgement. Tell the comms teams to be ready once the power arrives. My orders from before still stand, relay them simultaneously. I do not approve of emergency messaging."
The technician stood perplexed. "B-but why, Sir?"
"Because I prioritise full combat efficiency!" boomed the figure from atop the throne, as it involuntarily bent forward slightly, making its white uniform sharply reflect the lights around.
The technician trembled at first, before quickly catching himself and standing at attention. "Y-yes, admiral Eriksson, Sir! My apologies, admiral, Sir!"
As he said it, the man turned around facing the big windows, flickering with explosions and stray laser beams, and ran towards his post.
With the external speakers activated, remembering what had happened the last time he had surprised them, Stanley took a deep, loud breath to hopefully get the horses used to actually hearing him before he spoke up. He didn't meet with much of a reaction though, and rolling his eyes in resignation, slowly put his left arm back down from the base of his helmet, tensing up as he internally prepared for another standoff.
Worst of all though, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything to say. The previously seemingly menial task turned out to be much more challenging. How do you even start a discussion like that? Diplomats are for this, not soldiers. Not these soldiers.
Deciding to go with his gut, after what felt like ages, Stanley finally spoke up, careful for his voice not to be too booming.
"Attention," he took a small pause allowing the inevitable shock to fade a bit from the alien faces. "Indentify yourselves and your associates."
The smaller, indigo horse was the first to react, although even that took a good while. It put one of its hooves, which it had previously lifted in shock, back on the ground, and briefly looking and the bigger one with uncertainty, broke the silence.
"W-who art thou?"
"Identify yourselves and your associates," repeated Stanley, flicking his rifle's safety off as visibly as he could, not really all that concerned about whether the aliens understood what he had just done. He did however make a mental note that the translator... somewhat worked. Even if for some reason it converted to Shakespearean English.
Before the conversation continued, Stanley heard Selina's voice once again ring in his head. "Remember the third point: achieve your goal. Try to be friendlier. How are you gonna get their help getting back to Coalition space like that? And you may very well end up needing that help."
Stanley sighed, rolling his eyes. He once again switched to internal speakers, this time through his neural network. "Alright, but I can't guarantee anything. I don't like bullshit like this, it's not what I've trained for." Before Selina could reply, Stanley switched the speakers back, clearly indicating what he wanted to focus on for the moment.
Meanwhile, gesturing for its indigo collegue to wait, the taller horse took a few small steps towards Stanley, taking the conversation over.
"Greetings. I am Princess Celestia, diarch of Equestria and Raiser of the Sun. This" - the horse, a 'she' as it seemed, gestured to the indigo figure on its right - "is Princess Luna, diarch of Equestria just as I am, and Raiser of the Moon." A smile appeared on the white horse's face, but although it looked genuine, Stanley could not imagine it was not being forced. "We are accompanied by our Royal Guards, and I think it is safe to say that the entire Kingdom welcomes you kindly," she continued, nodding, as she briefly glanced at the levitating guard, eyes slightly narrowed. It wasn't hard to conclude what she meant with that.
Stanley nodded, prompting Celestia to carry on. He kept his weapon raised, but switched the safety back on, making sure the horses see it well. He also noticed Selina must've been actively improving the translator, since its products were now much more modern.
Either interpreting Stanley's gesture correctly or just flat-out ignoring it, the 'Princess' spoke up again. "Now, if introductions are due, I think it's only fair you give us your name."
Well, it wasn't exactly fair, as Stanley was a high-ranking Republican operator, and these aliens had exactly no authority over him. According to almost every protocol, he had full right to just ignore the request.
But all these protocols also included a section advising soldiers to take common sense into account.
Having already evaluated his situation multiple times, the trooper didn't really ponder the choice at all.
After waiting a few long, quiet seconds, Stanley lowered his rifle.
"Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Martin of the RSU Second Battalion," he replied, deciding it was time to make a real step.
You want me to 'achieve my goal'? Establish contact? Well, I'll be damned if I don't try.
Stanley attached his weapon to the lock on his back and, standing straight, extended his arm to the alien horses, careful not to point at one particular 'Princess' but both of them instead, hoping to avoid showing disrespect. For a while he wanted to depolarize his visor, but that thought quickly faded, as he realized how shocking his face could potentially be to the horses. Avoiding chaos seemed to be most important, considering what had happened before.
At first the aliens didn't seem to know how to react, a confused frown on their faces, but Stanley hoped they would eventually get the idea, so his arm remained in place. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the two 'Princesses' exchanged glances and the shorter one, 'Luna', made her move. She slowly closed the distance between herself and Stanley, briefly stopping in hesitation mid-way, before mirroring his gesture with her front hoof.
Stanley could feel Luna shiver slightly as his fingers embraced her limb, and with the corner of his eye saw Celestia tensing up. Even though she still managed to maintain her small smile, it was clear she was paying close attention to the trooper, ready to act at will.
Deciding to go more safely, Stanley slowly and calmly shook Luna's hoof. After he let go, the 'Princess' immediately examined her limb, but it didn't take her long to figure out there was no hidden motive in the motion. Putting her leg down, Luna cast a small smile. As this was probably the first time he had seen her do this since the talk's beginning, Stanley involuntary felt relieved - point one's been completed.
Unbeknownst to him, a tall, white horse just next to him shared the feeling in its entirety, even if for completely different reasons.
Admiral Eriksson shook his head in disbelief. It couldn't have been right.
"So you're trying to say that a stray soldier, somehow stranded during his drop, discovered a sentient alien race that is, of all things, biologically compatible with psionics? And furthermore, said soldier did it outside our own dimension?" the admiral's eyes narrowed. "Even you cannot be foolish enough to believe that, Nikolai. Do you realize how utterly improbable that is?" Eriksson bent slightly towards the holographic screen protruding from his throne. "Very," he finally hissed.
Nikolai sighed in resignation, lowering his head. He had expected the talk to be hard, for the report truly was improbable; plainly impossible even, but his fellow admiral openly questioning its correctness was just irritating, to say the least. It was a discussional stalemate, and for the most idiotic reason. Looking once again at the cyan screen in front of him, Nikolai responded.
"As I've already stated, this report is unlike anything we've seen, but there is no questioning its accuracy. Selina?" he asked, briefly glancing at the ceiling. Immediately, another voice joined the conversation.
"That's true. I only managed to get in contact with... 'me' for a couple of seconds, but it was enough to exchange some data. The pod's systems are beaten up, but the mutual reports of various of them leave no doubt - the conclusion is correct. The laws of physics are slightly distorted; you wouldn't notice that if you were there, but they are, differences in energy transfers leave no doubt. This is no anomaly that could transpire in our world," Selina stated matter-of-factly. "And the deep scanners work perfectly, there's no reason to doubt them - the race is compatible with psionics. Also" - she switched to her trademark playful tone - "I have to congratulate 'myself' on finding a way to contact us. Using energy fluctuations and exploiting these newfound distortions to create a temporary rift was truly creative."
"Yes, truly," said Nikolai, unamused. "And I don't think anyone here realises the importance of the situation at hand! Don't you know what humanity had to deal with during the Psionic Crisis?" - he continued, adressing primarily the non-human members of the conference. "If we had means to control such power-"
"It could be the way to end this entire war, once and for all," an alien, insectoid figure cut him off. It rythmically blinked its four eyes a couple of times, before continuing. "The Uimdar fleet has decided. As Supreme Commanders of the Uimdar contigent, the House of Kauragmi declares its support in the name of the Great Uimdar Kingdom," it stated, but with little actual enthusiasm in its voice.
"And, for once, the House of Zag agrees," murmured another uimdar in a decided, but discontented voice. Nikolai nodded his thanks, before once again adressing Eriksson.
"It's only you now, admiral. Surely you understand that-"
"That this might be our key to victory? The same has been repeatedly said about Defense Line Epsilon. I have said that about Defense Line Epsilon. And just look around! The very first attack, and we already have trouble holding positions," Eriksson cut him off, a tinge of venom in his voice.
"That's why we need a new solution. Even if we win today, it's now clear Epsilon won't be the saviour it was meant to be. Entire grid around Sazana will be shattered, and if they were able to launch a counterattack of this scale, then they're perfectly capable of doing so again. And that means, that-" replied Nikolai as calmly as he could before being cut off by the AI.
"That similar attacks can occur along the entire perimeter. We won't be able to hold them off, we're already redirecting incomprehensible forces to hold back this one onslaught. Even if we are though, there's no way the following assaults, which without a doubt will come, won't break through the already-devastated lines. They will."
Nikolai, previously annoyed at Selina cutting him off, only nodded, confirming her words - she basically summed up what he had wanted to say after all. Eriksson, however, remained silent, staring blankly into his screen. Nikolai spoke up once again.
"Admiral, our contingecy plan is facing imminent failure... If we don't find a solution soon..."
"Checkmate," added another alien commander. Nikolai nodded once more.
Eriksson slowly put his arm, which had previously been supporting his head, back down. He took his time to make an answer.
"Do you... think I do not understand all that?" Eriksson asked slowly. "Because I do. I do realise the data's correct, I do realise the Epsilon Plan's about to fail. But don't you think it's awfully convenient that a one-in-a-billion- no, quintillion chance encounter just when we need it most saves us from certain doom?" he continued, gradually rising his voice. Seeing where it was going, Nikolai tried to end Eriksson's train of thought.
"Admiral-"
"All I'm saying," the admiral continued, not letting himself be interrupted. "Is that we're going to be wasting resources. 'But we are sure!', I hear you say. Yes, we are sure. I've seen the reports. We have all seen the reports. In contrary to what you seem to have thought, I never questioned their correctness. Something is not right here, I can sense it. There are no blessings in the real world, commander, and neither are there miracles. And even if this is indeed a miracle, a solution to our problems, you are actively proposing to waste resources there. And no, the resources won't be insignificant. Everything is significant. Absolute Strategic Priority has allowed us to, through super-accurate calculations, distribute strategic resources in the perfect way possible, with no restrictions at all," Eriksson rambled, faster and faster, as emotions, although suppressed, quickly grew inside him.
"And did that doctrine fix anything?" Nikolai chimmed in, stone-faced.
"No, but it made things better," answered immediately Eriksson. Nikolai bit his lip. "And now, now we're abandoning it? Just like that? Even if acting like this is in line with Absolute Strategic Priority, there are no calcuations yet, and thus we are ignoring the doctrine. You don't know how situation on that primitive planet will develop. You don't know how much resources we'll spend there. All I'm saying is that, even if this is indeed the key, we should utilise these resources in a different way!" Eriksson finally finished, nearly shouting by the end. After a few seconds of silence, one of the alien admirals spoke up.
"What other way do you have in mind?" he asked in a slightly mocking, but at the same time genuinely curious voice.
"Triangulating their signals," answered Eriksson without hesitation. "Locating their homeworld, headquarters or whatever, and cutting off the head!"
"Admiral...," began Nikolai, sighing as he shook his head. "We've already been trying to do that for almost three centuries. There are reasons it's not working out."
"We already have a green light from the High Command. We just need unanimity among the admiralty," Selina chimmed in, once again joining the discussion.
Eriksson brought both arms to his mouth, narrowing the eyes. "I know these reasons, Nikolai," he hissed, seemingly fully ignoring Selina's statement. "I also know, just as well as you do, that it's getting better in that regard. Much better." Eriksson sighed as he closed his eyes. An immense silence overtook the admiralty, broken only by an occasional projectile striking one of the flagships, sometimes followed by an admiral losing balance and shouting a few orders at their bridge crew. Noone dared to reignite the conversation though, letting Eriksson ponder his choice.
After a minute or two, the admiral sighed once again, shaking his head. "I approve of the operation," he said, prompting a sigh of relief from Nikolai. "But I demand the triangulation efforts continue to the fullest possible extent. That also applies to all other Coalition actions, already planned or not; it is not to negate the Absolute Strategic Priority doctrine any more than absolutely necessary."
"I think we can all agree to that," Nikolai replied with a small smile, prompting a wave of confirmations from other members of the conference. "Alright, then it's decided. I think we can call it a day; I'll proceed to carry the operation out as soon as I can. Farewell and good hunting."
A wave of "good hunting" echoed through the bridge, followed by each of the admirals terminating their connection until only Nikolai and Eriksson remained on the line.
"Good hunting, admiral. May your operation go well, I wish you that. Good hunting," said Eriksson mockingly, before hanging up himself. Nikolai sighed as he gestured to Yun to turn the holographic screen off. He then turned to the fleet's AI.
"Selina, prepare to open a temporary rift to our stranded soldier. I'll personally relay him his new orders, maybe that'll show the importance of this undertaking," he said calmly, still very glad they were able to convince Eriksson in the end. However unlikely the report may have looked, it seemed to be correct beyond any doubt. And the things it stated really did seem like blessings.
"Of course, although it might take a while. The second 'me' managed to open a rift just stable enough to relay pure data, and even that only for a few seconds. We've got access to specialised equipment here, but opening a rift still seems problematic. I've already done preliminary tests, and although I've got optimal fold coordinates and the rest calculated, the process seems much harder than usual. Something from the other side may be blocking it, but we need more data to confirm that. Anyway, I'm confident I'll be able to pull it off, just give me some time. But look at the bright sides: you've got a good while to practice your speech," she said, finishing playfully. Nikolai chuckled.
"Yeah, I'll make sure to do that," he said, before gesturing to Selina that it was all he had wanted. Her holographic screen with a soundwave disappeared and the blue LEDs around the bridge flickered, like Selina would often make them do.
Nikolai chuckled once more, loosely preparing himself for the upcoming talk and already thinking about the operation he himself took the burden of organising.
"I'm glad we've been able to come to an understanding after the... incident," Celestia said with a smile as she shook Stanley's hand. The soldier nodded.
"The feeling's mutual," he replied, letting Celestia put her hoof back on the ground. Before he could ask about at the horses' purpose however - what he should've asked at the very beginning - the smaller horse, 'Luna', chimmed in as she turned to Celestia with a tinge of worry in her voice.
"Sister, if we want to succeed, we shall hurry! The sun's already high and the trek long. If we delay any longer, our subjects might notice!"
Celestia's smile faded from her face as she turned back to Stanley.
"Yes, my sister is unfortunately right. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, just as we do ourselves, but that'll sadly have to wait. For now, we should set off at will if we want to avoid further complications - both for us, and for you. We understand you may not trust us yet, but believe me that keeping your arrival a secret requires moving to our Castle immediately."
For a while, Stanley stood in place, a little dumbfounded. Did they really think he'd allow them to take him somewhere, just like that, having nothing to say whatsoever? Because if they did, they were dead wrong, although he had to admit their reasoning made sense while also seeming believable. Other than that, the interruption paradoxically caused him to get his answers. Answers which he had pretty much predicted anyway when he learned the aliens he was facing were some sort of rulers. Otherwise, he doubted his second sentence would ever be something else than 'State your purpose'.
There were a few conclusions he could draw from the statements though. First, it was most likely a pre-first encounter world, as otherwise contact with aliens wouldn't cause such chaos amongst the populace. Second, they were pretty far from civilization, so if he agreed he would end up separated from his pod. Firmly separated.
Suddenly though, a series of messages from Selina appeared on Stanley's HUD.
Messages that were... interesting, to say the least.
'Hypothesis confirmed: location outside 01.
Admiralty contacted and informed.
Call pending.'
Now, that indeed was interesting. Shocking, but... interesting. It meant one crucial thing - there was no way a species using golden armors and spears will be able to help him get back from ANOTHER DIMENSION, telekinesis or not. Stanley sighed quietly.
Knowing he'd have to pick up the call soon, the soldier decided to at least finish the current phase of the conversation.
"Sadly, I'll have to refuse. Returning to Coalition space is now my top priority," he said, already anticipating the answer. He was doing this more to demonstrate his situation to the horses than anything else.
"And does thou posses means to do so yourself?" asked Luna, more with curiosity than irritation.
"No."
"Then sadly I think we cannot help you either," replied Celestia instead, shaking her head. "We may be able to assist if you come with us, but only then. I apologise, but you must understand that as diarchs of these lands we can't allow you to roam them freely, nor can we allow news of this encounter to leak to the populace. Let's just say they have a habit of... slightly overreacting," Celestia said smiling, in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit. "You can ask questions along the way, but now we really should leave."
Well, this pretty much decisively confirmed the horses' purpose, and their reasons did seem believable.
Stanley weighed his options. Being stranded on an alien planet with potential enemies - the aliens if he refused - knowing his exact location didn't sound too good, especially as this was an alternate dimension, so it may take a good while for help to arrive. On the other hand, agreeing seemed to provide opportunity to complete, at least partially, point two and cement point one. Obviously, Stanley wasn't going to leave his pod in the middle of nowhere while he relocated, and thus briefly wondered how the horses could be able to take it with them, but it didn't take long for his eyes to accidentally meet the floating guard.
Oh, thought Stanley. Of course.
The trooper sighed. This was all so utterly against everything he had went with for his entire life. Even despite the horses' unusual abilities, he was confident he could ran off if he wanted, with his weapons still with him (oh, he was NOT going to give them away) and the dense forest around, but even then he would still be making his situation worse by effectively getting rid of his pod. And, of course, in his book he was still basically willingly becoming a prisoner.
SO. UTTERLY. AGAINST.
But however he thought, this idiotic choice seemed to be the best one. Stanley sighed once more. He really didn't like this. Knowing he'll have to answer the call anyway, he decided he'd present the situation to Command and hopefully at least get their approval.
"I understand. Excuse me for a while, but I need to talk this demand over with my superiors. I assure you it will not take long," he finally said, addressing the alien Princesses.
Luna looked like she was about to protest, but before she could do anything, Celestia raised her hoof. "By all means, but I ask you to hurry. As I've already said, time is sadly not on our side today," she said with a smile, before turning around and gesturing to one of the guards, who immediately started shouting something at the rest. The 'flock' chaotically moved into some sort of formation, but as most of its members were entirely unable to take sight off of Stanley, the situation looked almost comically. Stanley was sure he could hear Luna sigh at the display, hesitant to even glance at the glaring indiscipline.
Meanwhile though, the trooper himself didn't waste much time, immediately starting to walk towards his wrecked pod. He was going to answer the call from there, even though it didn't really matter, since he would actually be talking through his armor. However, he doubted just silently standing in place for a few minutes before claiming the exchange is over would make the horses more comfortable, so he decided to at least pretend to be using the big piece of technology. This way he'll also be able to give them another reason to take the pod if a simple demand doesn't work.
Having positioned himself inside the debris-filled vehicle, the trooper switched to internal speakers and addressed Selina. "Alright, patch me through. Lock the armor and black the visor, you've got control over the exterior while I'm out."
"Hear you loud and clear. Stand by," she immediately responded, before beginning her work. In a single second, Stanley's entire field of view blackened, and a plain cyan rectangle appeared in the middle. After a few more seconds, Selina spoke up once again. "Stabilising..."
A large 'CONNECTION SUCCESSFUL!' caption could be seen, and soon enough, a familiar silhouette appeared.
Actually, the silhouette was too familiar to feel comfortable. Stanley's eyes involuntarily widened.
"A-admiral Stratoi, Sir! Reporting for duty, Sir!" he shouted, stuttering at first. Why would someone of such a high rank contact a single trooper, even an RSU?
The admiral however looked dangerously serious. "At ease, soldier," he said, trying to cast a small smile, but failing to overcome his troubled frown. "I'll get straight to the point, as we don't have much time. Our connection isn't very stable, and there's a lot to say." As if on cue, the image shimmered, confirming the admiral's point. Nikolai sighed. "You may be wondering many things; what happened to you, how you ended up where you did, but the truth is, we don't really know ourselves. Not yet. But what we do know from your AI's reports is that you've encountered a yet-uncontacted alien species. Now, you have seen them display some... peculiar abilities, and you may have wondered what you were looking at. From the reports, I know Selina said she had no data about it, but that's not true. She does." The screen shimmered once again, prompting the admiral to repeat his sigh. He bit his lip, bending forward slightly. "Lieutenant Colonel, your clearance level is being raised to three-dash-five. With it, read up on the Tectonic Crisis when you're able to, but for now, it's enough for you to know that this kind of power is far greater than you can realise. Incomprehensibly greater." The screen shimmered again, this time much more. One of the technicians on the admiral's bridge turned to Nikolai, shouting.
"Admiral, we're losing connection!"
Nikolai grunted, before quickly turning back to Stanley. "Soldier, we're barely holding them back here. Epsilon's failing. We don't know if we'll be able to hold Sazana. We need to get these aliens on our side. That's all you need to know, it's now top priority. In the name of the Coalition High Command, I grant you limited diplomatic power," he said quickly, some of his words barely understandable through the static
"Stabilising's failing!" exclaimed the same technician from before.
Ignoring him, Nikolai continued, even faster than before. "Talk t- -em. Get - -o like you. T- them ab- us, but -t -ate, repeat, don't nego-. Wait for the dip-. We're com-ng. Need to es-bli- a secure fol-. -re having -fficulties. We're count-in- on you, sold-. Good lu-" before Nikolai could finish, the transmission cut off, a big 'CONNECTION LOST' caption in the middle of the cyan screen. Stanley knew the disruptions were worrying, but he also knew something else: despite the static, he had heard the entirety of the admiral's message. He had his orders. And now, there was little doubt left - he had to go with the horses.
Sighing, Stanley got ready to exit his pod, already preparing for the difficulties ahead of him. And for some reason, he felt that the coming days would be absolutely full of them.