The night had stretched on for a while as the Fortress shuddered through another Tunnel, the ship shaking and creaking as it blazed through the space between universes, the engines rumbling as Twilight stepped out of the cafeteria. Her conversation with Isaac had gone on for almost 8 hours that night, as they talked and discussed about the Thalrazyne culture, religion, and their general isolationism. Each new topic had brought up a debate that had drawn the attention of the others in the cafeteria, including a few other humans who had themselves had encounters with the Thalrazyne ‘Death Fleet’ as it was nicknamed.
As she departed her quarters, her memory of the conversation from 3 days previous still fresh in her head, she sighed, levitating a dataslate beside her and tapping through the information about their destination, a Hub station known as The Nexus, or Nexus Station. The list of nicknames for the station were as numerous as the businesses contained within, and a few of those nicknames Twilight noted as rather colourful and not at all indicative of the actual structure itself.
“Twilight! Going over the shopping plan for Nexus Station?” Twilight turned to see Starlight galloping quickly, her hooves clanking against the steel plating. Rolling her eyes, Twilight breathed slowly, watching her friend come to a quick stop. Starlight was beaming proudly until she saw Twilight’s expression. Her own face sank until she looked down and realized why Twilight was staring at her so oddly.
“Starlight.”
“New battle armour from Rarity. Supposed to help us in case of enemy boarding, but they haven’t had that kind of match in centuries. But-” Twilight shoved her hoof into Starlight’s muzzle, shaking her head.
“You’re my second-in-command, Starlight. I’m going onto the station, and you’re in command here.”
“But, Twilight! That’s so boring!” Shaking her head, Twilight looked down the corridor towards the bridge, staring thoughtfully.
“Look, I’ll take two of the humans with me. They’re more accustomed to combat aboard stations, so it will be… better, I think.” Twilight hugged her friend tightly, comforting her before she turned to leave. “The humans also had an idea for how we can make Iron Will’s War Suit work! Check with them in the vehicle bay!”
Starlight watched her friend gallop down towards her own quarters, letting out a breath she had not realized she was holding. The stress of helping Twilight keep up with her day-to-day was not as easy as she had hoped, as Twilight was easily distracted if someone had new information for her to learn – the curse of a bibliophile, she reminded herself. The whole learning incident about the Thalrazyne was definitely something she was going to have to help Twilight curb if she was not to be easily swayed by anyone with new information, considering how little they actually understood about the universe as a whole. With a sigh and a smile, she started moving towards the Bridge, shaking her head and chuckling softly as she left Twilight to her own devices.
--------//|0|\\--------
“I told you, there’s no way your theory would hold water! Vasili, the fact is, there is no way that the Fortress on the broadcast was the Kepler! It’s too long, the engines are wrong, and the Kepler did not have the massive split down the center between the main modules! It can’t possibly be the Kepler and you know it-” A young woman, her brunette hair in a taut bun behind her head, was about to continue the argument when the bald man she was speaking with, Vasili, starting waving his hands and pointing out the window.
“Abigail, quiet. Look outside! You ever see a drive signature like that before?” Abigail turned to where Vasili was pointing to see the massive tunnel into what looked like nothing, witnessing a massive vessel slow down almost immediately upon entering Realspace. Nacelles on the sides of what appeared to be prongs glowed blue around their edges as the entire vessel turned slowly. Before she could respond, Vasili was pressed up against the glass, almost like a child seeing his first battleship. As the realization dawned on her, she quickly joined him at the window, watching the ship slowly come towards them until the size of it was unmistakable.
“No… it can’t be...”
“Abby, I’d recognize those drive nacelles anywhere. Come on! If the Fortress survived, then there’s a chance more of the crew is still on it!” With a jump and a hop, he motioned for her to follow as they sprinted out of the observation deck they had been seated in, running past stalls for various items, from food to firearms. Abigail knew when she was beat in speed, but she also knew she could not let Vasili out of her sight. With a laugh and a jump, she pushed herself to go faster, smiling even more as she chased her friend down to where they assumed the Fortress would be docking.
“I can’t believe it. After all this time...”
--------//|0|\\--------
“Nexus Station docking procedures in progress. Automated handover is… completed. Clamps are secured. Welcome to Nexus, Solus Invictus.” Twilight smiled as the announcement came over the P.A. system, her own mind running with all the possibilities she could encounter off the ship. Checking her dataslate, she smiled at the credit count the Fortress had been assigned. The Committee had not skimped on making sure their entry into the War Games was as smooth a transition as possible, even if it had been at what amounted to the barrel of a gun. She chuckled, reminding herself of the plan she had devised, and laughed.
“Something’s got you excited, Twilight. Could it be all the new things you’ll learn onboard the station? Maybe stuff that could help you in your love life?” Twilight sputtered as Deadwood, one of her navigators, trotted past, laughing as he tightened an old Gryphon leather jacket he normally wore over himself. “Heh. Once a bibliophile, always a bibliophile.”
“Hey, get back here!” Twilight chased after her navigator, leaving her other friends behind as Rainbow Dash chuckled. Applejack was flanked by two of her Cradle Engineers, with two humans sporting security armour and light rifles following behind. Twilight’s own precaution had become moot when she had forgotten for a moment what she was in charge of. Watching the two chase each other around, her friends smiled and chuckled at the rather out-of-place moment.
Twilight slowly made her way back, out of breath from following around the admittedly-fast navigator, who seemed to know her every move as he dodged her. Tapping her on the side, he smiled, tossing her a dataslate that she caught in her magical grasp.
“I’ll go make sure the others are ready to go, Commander. Keep you and yours safe. I’ll worry about the rest of the Command crew.” Twilight sighed, smiling to herself as she turned back to her friends.
“What? I told him to stop calling me-”
“A bibliophile. Nothin’ wrong with havin’ a thirst for knowledge, sugarcube. I reckon you got yourself a mighty fine idea of what you’re gonna do on the station. Rarity and me, we’re gonna check up on their blueprints. I’ve got a right powerful need to see something new.” Twilight nodded, letting the two of them move off with their escorts. Two CSF troopers galloped up, vacuum suits sealed and ready as they saluted, their weapon harnesses tight against their bodies. Motioning to Pinkie and Fluttershy, they nodded at Twilight, taking up their positions as the second of the Command team exited the gangway, squeezing past some rather squat lizard-like humanoids, the heads of the strange group covered with breathing masks and hoods. As she stared, something tapped her on her back, causing her to back up into what she could only consider almost like a solid wall. Turning back around, she looked up to see Isaac Humphries suited up in what appeared to be one of the standard human Battle Armour suits. He only had his sidearm, but Twilight could assume from how he held himself that he was more than capable with just the one handgun.
“Commander, I’ve been tasked as your escort. Rainbow’s going to be leaving with her new pilot team when she is done in the simulators. I’m still rather interested as to why you let her have the final say – my pilots are more than up for the challenge.”
“It’s less that your pilots are up for the challenge and more that they’re not up to her challenge. Rainbow Dash loves speed, loves to go fast, and she wants to see how hard she can push herself, her pilots and the new interceptors we’ve been developing with your assistance. We still need new power plants to be able to fuel them appropriately, but that should not be an issue. One of the major things is the new production facilities we need built. It should not take longer than a month to get all of our new facilities installed, but I’m worried.”
“Commander?”
Twilight ignored Isaac as she looked across the gangway, noticing several odd hooded figures watching her intently, something about their appearance very much off as she was watching. Turning back to Isaac, she was about to say something when she turned around to look for the strange beings again. She stopped for a moment, her heart skipping a beat as she noticed they were missing.
“Commander, is something wrong?” Twilight jumped turning around to see Isaac kneeling down, worry visible on his weathered face. Breathing slowly, releasing the tension she had not realized was building, she smiled quickly, trying to dispel her own fears as much as Isaac’s worries.
“No, no. Nothing’s wrong. Just a little… on edge is all. We’re about to be the first Equestrian crew to step foot on Nexus. It’s a big deal, honestly.” She trotted on ahead as Isaac sighed, keeping his hand close to his sidearm.
“Steady yourself, Isaac. She doesn’t understand how dangerous these places are. Hopefully she doesn’t have to learn just how dangerous they can be...”
--------//|0|\\--------
The various stalls spreading out before the many newcomers, as well as the throng of the crowd, did very little, if anything at all, to dissuade the powerful curiosity filling the Equestrian crews’ heads. Food stalls promising everything from printed meat to hydroponics vegetables were lines up, languages from differing cultures mingling in the air, becoming a massive cloud of noise and cacophony. Twilight had stopped by one of the food vendors, eyeing up a particularly delicious looking sweet pepper skewer. The smell had drawn her like no book had ever before as she let her MIS implant link up with the station’s main language database. The skewers were only a couple of credits each, which made her stomach rumble slightly at the thought.
As she stared, the vendor, a large reptilian humanoid more akin to one of Equus’ dragons than something more like a Thalrazyne, smiled, motioning to their stock. The language translated as the speaker having a male gender in their speech from the language used.
“Chi wa? Chi wa ta’to Kinwa jo?”
“Yuta kin’lah wa ta’to jo.” A voice from behind her startled her as she turned to see her human escort, Isaac, clasp his hands together in a simile of a greeting, the reptilian returning the gesture. “He’s a Torassi, one of the most prevalent merchant species in the galaxy. I don’t think your little translation is up to snuff, but he did ask if you were interested in those pepper skewers.”
“Y-yeah. Uhh… ‘Yu’ta kin’wo janwa?’” The uproar of laughter from both the Torassi and Isaac made her back away for a minute, before the translation package caught up with her speech. In her vision, the Torassi language was fairly guttural, and each syllable could vary in meaning depending on what tone you use and how fast you said it. Her sounding out the sentence had changed the meaning from, ‘Yes, I would very much like one,’ to ‘Your monkey is like one.’ Biting her lip, she breathed in deeply, about to speak when Isaac clamped his hand around her muzzle.
“All right. Once is funny, twice is insulting. Use the ship’s database after this, learn some Torassi. Yuta kin woja n’wa. Ujo.” The Torassi vendor smiled, lifting two pairs of skewers up and handing them off to Isaac, who motioned to a nearby set of tables. “I’ve been to Nexus a fair amount. Jer’tana there is always good natured, but it’s a cultural thing for them – screw up the language once, it’s a big joke with them. Screw it up twice, and they take it personally. Then again, I doubt you’ve seen as many races clustered in one place as you have here.”
“T-That’s true, actually.” Twilight’s ears flattened against her head as she lifted the skewer to her mouth, taking a slow bite as she watched everything around her. “Mmm, that’s… really good. How-”
“Torassi chili sauce. What most species think of as garlic sauce, what we think it tastes like, is actually one of the hottest peppers in this sector. The Guji Pepper, to be precise. Some dumbass of a farmer thought he could grow something onboard one of the Torassi trade-ships that passes around, and while he thought he was growing garlic, the Torassi had accidentally given him cross-bred seeds. The Garlic Guji was what resulted. That’s the pepper in between those Juja slices.” Twilight swallowed another bite as she stared at the peppers.
“So, Guji peppers are a common thing, while these Garlic Guji peppers are more an accident that the Torassi turned into a profitable market. And the Juja is the-”
“Yeah, it’s the sort of rutabaga-like slices. They grill them with some salt, and some pepper, and the flavour alone is enough to send some people into a shock.” He stood up, looking down the hallway, silently narrowing his eyes as his hand drifted to his sidearm. Twilight turned, seeing those same odd figures in masks and hoods that she had seen earlier. No one else turned to look, which either meant that they were a common sight, or no one was paying them any heed due to how varied every race was in fashion and culture.
“I… I saw those figures earlier.”
“Yeah. The robes are familiar, but I can’t place it. Let’s get going over to the War Games section. I’ll get these wrapped up in Transfer Foil.” Twilight nodded, not entirely sure what ‘Transfer Foil’ was, and looked up at the signs. Her link to the station was, admittedly, very slow, but she could still get her bearings while she walked towards the vendors for the Games. Some of the items for sale piqued her curiosity as she scrolled through a list, noting various armoured vehicles and Constructor templates.
“Isaac, I’ll… meet you over there. There’s a lot to go through.” Isaac barely heard her as he haggled with the Torassi merchant over the price of the skewers, trying to drive the price the Torassi said back down to the station standard price. As she turned a corner, he looked over, his mind racing as he watched his charge simply vanish into what felt like thin air. Drawing his sidearm, he tapped quickly onto his earpiece, connecting him with the Solus Invictus’ security detachment.
“Yeah, this is Isaac Humphries. We’ve got possible- yes, I know that- wait, multiple crew members have reported seeing them? Well, they’re following the Commander, and she just disappeared into the crowd! Get two teams of four kitted up and ready to go- I don’t care if you have to move the literal universe, just get moving!” He turned into the crowd, holding his breath for a moment as he started to wade through the mass of beings. “I hope I’m wrong… I really hope I’m wrong...”
--------//|0|\\--------
Twilight turned around, looking in every direction to see if she could find Isaac, as she had been told that they were not to stray too far from their escorts, since Nexus was a Free Port, and that meant a lot of shady dealings. Panic began to rise in her throat until she felt, rather than heard, a voice in her head. It was calming to her anxious mind, however, and very easy to follow as she slowly turned, following along. Her eyes felt heavy and watery as she plodded along, a dopey grin spreading across her muzzle as she looked up, her mind barely registering the derelict area of the station, barely even registering who she was standing in front of.
“Ah, this one appears to be unmarred by the radiation of space travel. This one looks perfect… perfect enough to join in our unity.”
“This one agrees. She will abide in our unity, and know the truth of the universe.”
Somewhere in the back of Twilight’s mind, her own self was screaming, trying to tell her to run, to do anything but listen. However, whatever was going on, she was oblivious to her own sense of danger, seating herself in a chair that she found herself being strapped to. Shouting in the background did little to invade her happy moment as the robed, masked being touched the side of her face, watching as she leaned into the unfamiliar feeling.
Before she could say anything, the head of the being burst open, two individuals in battle suits leaping over nearby railings and firing burst after burst of shells into the strange figures. As she watched another one of the beings go down, she snapped back to reality, watching two of the beings screech in an unearthly wail, their hoods and masks disappearing to display a being marred by extensive cybernetics, their faces naught but dark holes, metal frames creating a circular shape on the outer edge. Her own survival instincts kicked in as she struggled to release herself from the chair, the escaping beings almost vanishing as they left.
Breathing heavily, she watched as the two newcomers removed their helmets, one of them a young human woman with a tight bun on the back of her head, and a grizzled human male with a shaved head. One trained their rifle on the hatch where the beings had disappeared through, while Twilight took in more of her surroundings.
The deck was pockmarked with what looked like some kind of energy burn, with cargo crates strewn everywhere. Twilight could assume at one point the area had been some kind of storage alcove, but the purpose had long since passed into obscurity.
“Vasili, I think this one’s that new Commander we saw on the broadwave earlier! You know, on Julian Sisco’s show!” The male, Twilight noting him as Vasili, crept closer, drawing a medical kit from a pouch Twilight had not noticed previously. Opening the kit, he unpacked a small wound cleaning kit, dabbing on small portions of one of her fetlocks. The cold, burning sensation was something she was not partial to, but she kept quiet. Her saviours might well be her captors, for all she was aware of, but they had saved her life.
“W-What were-”
“Orohdo. Terrifying creatures. They’re the end result of what happens when an entire civilization hooks themselves up to what they call a ‘God Machine,’ and quickly discover that they no longer can procreate, stuff like that. Okay, well, no one really knows, but-”
“Abigail White!”
“What?!”
“Stop terrorizing her and undo her restraints! Orohdo cyber-drones aren’t known for being in such small groups. If they’re so small, they’re not pushovers like your typical one.” Twilight winced as Abigail removed her restraints, letting a small tear roll down her face as she felt blood rushing through her veins. Her MIS display bugged out for a minute, displaying a loading symbol before it rebooted itself.
“H-how-”
“Did they get in your head? Your little implant, sweetie. They can override the safety precautions of almost any interface, uplink or implant. It’s one of their little quirks, and one of the reasons they were forbidden from any Free Ports!”
“Abby...”
“Vasili Zharkov, shut your mouth! It’s bad enough that we ended up in the equivalent of a cryogenic deep freeze after the emergency teleport from the Kepler, but-” Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked at both of them, her MIS loading up the pertinent information in her vision. Vasili Zharkov, the male, callsign ‘Red Fist,’ was an accomplished Combat Engineer, although his record was over a millennium out of date. Abigail White, the female, callsign ‘Blue Falcon,’ was very much the opposite of Vasili, a decorated Defense Engineer, with a psych profile of almost absolute calm even when under pressure.
“D-Did you say the Kepler?” Vasili and Abigail stopped to stare at Twilight, their eyebrows raising almost in unison as Vasili tapped a part of his clothing, revealing an old patch that was faded, but showed the remaining outline of 6 letters, the familiar planet-and-sword emblazoned in chipped vinyl as he turned away after seeing where Twilight’s eyes had locked onto. Abigail turned away as well, fingering a thin scar along her throat as she also glanced away.
“Y-Yeah. We mentioned the Kepler. It… it crashed over a millennium ago… on what we thought was an abandoned planet. Our Commander activated the Fortress’ Emergency Evacuation Teleport system, transferring everyone’s… well, I guess being would be the most appropriate term, into data streams, and beamed them into subspace. As far as myself and Abigail are aware of, we’re the only two survivors. We were tight-beamed on accident through satellite systems, and wound up bouncing between satellites and communications systems for most of the time we were… indisposed-”
“Commander Sparkle! Thank the Nine Heavens you’re all… right. What the hell… who are you two, and why is there a dead Orohdo on the deck plating… with its head gone?” Isaac skidded from his dead sprint as he holstered his handgun, two teams of security officers approaching from differing directions as they secured the perimeter. He approached the two humans, seeing them attempting to hide the symbol of the Kepler on their uniforms from him.
“Isaac, you can stand down. These two actually saved me from that… thing.” She motioned to the sparking corpse on the ground as she turned back to Abigail and Vasili, sighing as she grimaced, realizing how much explaining she would have to do. “And… in regards to the Kepler… well, you probably saw her coming in to dock.”
The utter silence as the two humans felt their mouths open wide in shock was almost palpable, their minds attempting to come up with a coherent response for the information they had just been presented. Vasili’s mind drew a complete blank, while Abigail managed to get her shock under control, her eyes blinking quickly as the information processed in her brain.
“The… The Solus Invictus… she’s-”
“Yes, Abigail. Rebuilt and upgraded… somewhat, but she’s still the Kepler.” Twilight shifted her uniform, displaying the Equestrian Coalition symbol. The planet was different, but the planet-and-sword symbol was unmistakable to the humans. Vasili choked back a sob as Abigail smiled in her happiness, looking at everyone around them as Isaac turned to his security details, motioning them to leave the trio alone as he proceeded to follow them out.
“But… we thought-”
“She crashed in the desert. Took over a millennium for our world to even rebuild the reactors. Once that happened… well, I think our work speaks for itself, doesn’t it? The only thing is that our kinetic field projectors, unfortunately, are still the stock ones the Kepler came equipped with. They’re about a millennium out of date – the amount of times we’re saying that word is astounding – and they’re definitely not up to dealing with the rigors of the Tunnel Drive Commander Sparkle devised.” Twilight turned to see Deadwood slowly walking up, a wide grin spreading across his face as he adjusted his security armour, his expression souring as he continued to shift it. “Rarity’s work is commendable on the suits, but the self-fitting portion still doesn’t work. Feels like I’m wearing an armour slab. Anyways, I was able to direct the security details here. I… may have been following out of a morbid curiosity.”
“You exist as a four-legged font of exposition, don’t you?” Vasili stared at Abigail as she glared at the orange unicorn, her eyes ablaze with a small amount of anger at the unwelcome intrusion into the discussion. Vasili sighed as he knelt down, his own massive size dwarfing the unicorn. Deadwood backed up slightly as his eyes followed the human down, his smile fading as he looked at the male human.
“I’ve got a photographic memory, lady.” He leaned out from in front of Vasili to shoot Abigail back an equally-as-furious glare. “I couldn’t forget anything even if I tried, and that information told you what happened to the Kepler, didn’t it?”
Vasili raised his finger, trying to think of a counterpoint before deciding against it – the unicorn was right, after all. The Solus Invictus had been the exact same shape and size as the Kepler, albeit with her field projectors… down, and her maneuvering thruster bays running somewhat hotter than normal – his mind attributed it to technology that needed to be rebuilt – but she was still what she was, and despite all efforts to prevent it, a large grin spread across his face. Abigail turned to him as he smiled, feeling her own face responding in kind. Their home, their life had returned to them, and all they could feel was the fact that it was waiting for them, wanting them to return. Waiting for them to regain their lost time. Deadwood looked at the massive human’s eyes, watching the tears starting to flow before mouthing a silent Oh, backing up and moving around the man to move back towards the entrance to the derelict area.
“Navigator-”
“Commander, you’ve got your hooves full here. I’m thinking these humans might have a few… offers for you. I mean, you are flying what used to be their home, right?” With a shake of his head and a chuckle, Deadwood was gone, leaving Twilight alone with Vasili and Abigail once more. The two humans turned back to the Equestrian Commander, their eyes filled with an eagerness that set Twilight’s ears back against her head as she shied away from them, her eyes widening as she suddenly felt like something threatened her.
“I’ve got an idea, Vasili.”
“Let’s hear it, Abby.” Abigail walked slowly towards Twilight, holding her hand out before Twilight stopped backing up. “Look, Commander, we’re not going to hurt you. Actually, quite the opposite. We… we want to join you. We’re not good for much except fighting, and Vasili and I are Clone Avatar Commanders. Some of the best of our generation, though that might be a, well, millennium out of date.”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked at both of the humans before her. She noticed their pleading eyes, their unconscious scratching of a thin scar on the exact same area of their necks, and their darting eyes. She let herself relax, breathing slowly as she stood back up, realizing she had been scooting along the floor as she tried to back away from them. Their eagerness, at least to her, was more out of a loyalty to a Commander they knew was long-gone, but it seemed like they considered the ship itself to be an extension. As she let her thoughts worm through her head more and more, it dawned on her that she was talking to a man and woman who had seen when the Everfree Desert came to be. In the history of the world, as Celestia had shown, the Everfree Desert had once been a vibrant jungle, full of life, and then strange pillars fell from the sky, and the jungle turned to sand, and dust, heat baking the land and cracking the earth. Of course, it was a history she had needed to pry from her mentor after she had been given access to the Kepler archive to see how everything happened, but it was something she knew better than Equestria’s history. In some cases, she mused, it was far more accurate than their own history, including weather data, species research and the exact details of how the pylons worked.
“L-Look, you’re both very nice people. I know you’re eager to join me, but-”
“Abigail, I figured this would happen. She’s not going to take us just because we were on the Kepler during her match with the Dawnhammer. Hell, she probably has no idea why everything is happening the way it is for her, why the Committee even spared her world.” Vasili knelt down in front of Twilight, his eyes level with her as he drew in a breath, steadying himself.
“W-what are you talking about?”
“Your world, Commander. It’s the richest world ever recorded in regards to selenium. From supplements to steel, selenium is how this galaxy runs. Credits get you tech, but selenium buys you power. As long as you are participating in the Games, your world is under your Fortress’ jurisdiction. But should the Committee get it into their heads that you aren’t playing along on their galactic chess board, slice! You’re targeted by whoever they choose as their attack dog. Your world, they’d probably send an Enforcer, one of their massive craft. Burn everything, pave over it, and declare it a Mining Enclave to attract workers.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped as Vasili finished speaking, her mind spiraling into overdrive as she strove to consider what words she could say in the face of what she knew. However, she could not say anything, as Vasili was right. Of course, some of it she felt was his own personal anger against the Committee of his day, but she could not deny she shared some of his anger, the anger of having to play along like a puppet on a string or her home would be destroyed. It was infuriating for her, and Vasili’s words drove home a powerful point she had been wanting to ignore for a short while – her own success was at the whim of a group of enigmatic individuals that threatened her into cooperation or she would lose everything.
Breathing slowly, letting her heart calm down, her eyes burning with tears she had not known were flowing, she locked her eyes with Vasili, her anger visible as Abigail backed away, her own face one of shock and fear.
“V-Vasili, she’s… she’s starting to smoke! What the hell did you just piss off?!”
“Abby… she’s angry, but not at me. Not at me, are you, Commander?” With a slow motion, he put his hand on her head, wincing as he felt the sheer amount of heat flowing through his hand but biting his lip, pushing through the pain and attempting to reassure Twilight that he knew what she was feeling. “I’m angry too, have been for a long time, but humans don’t start bursting into flame out of anger, Commander. We’ll see you back on the ship. I’m sure that Navigator of yours will like to take us along with him, considering we saved his boss.”
Leaving Twilight with her smoking uniform and a slightly stunned expression, they walked briskly away, glancing at each other before they found they were out of sight. With a heavy sigh, Abigail leaned down on her knees, breathing quickly.
“You fucking idiot, Vasili! The Equestrian quadripeds are Etheric-class sapients, and you just about barbecued the both of us! Hell, that would have set off the safety systems of the station and directed everyone to evacuate!”
“But I didn’t, and they aren’t active. Let’s face it though. We’ve got a chance, finally. She’s primed and ready to blow, and while that’s not healthy, she’s got a target for that anger already. We’ll figure something out later, but let’s get to the Fortress. I’ll feel better when I see the state of the old girl.”
--------//|0|\\--------
“’Locked down for conduit reintegration?!’ What the hell did you do to the Fortress?!” Twilight turned the corner to see Vasili and Abigail staring impatiently at the detail of security ponies standing at the airlock that led to the Solus Invictus’ main deck. A laser grid across the doorway alerted her to the repairs that were happening, along with the holographic Warning, Repairs Underway sign that floated over the imposing grid of light.
“Her conduits were damaged, and we had to run lines through the actual corridors. Our conduit patches overloaded in many areas during our first match, meaning that we could not maintain full thrust during Tunnel Drive deceleration. Of course, you’re welcome to join me for some time while we wait for the conduit repairs.” Twilight motioned back towards the Games vendors, the various Constructor templates giving her some unique ideas as the information scrolled across her vision. “There’s enough time for the repairs that we can take some more time to look at the sights?”
Twilight stiffened as a hand tapped her on the head, letting herself loosen up as she saw Isaac standing beside her. Shaking her head, she looked up at her security escort, seeing the security armour he had donned missing, his personal uniform displaying the Miner’s Defiance logo, though his old Fortress was no more. Giggling quietly, she turned away as the two former Kepler crew began to bicker, their voices fading into the din of the marketplace.
“So, why them?”
“Sorry?” Twilight looked back up at Isaac again, seeing the quizzical expression on his face as she continued towards the Constructor vendors. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.”
“Why those two? You’ve got excellent Avatar Commanders, and with Rainbow Dash taking a break from her Avatar Command duties to command her new pilots, you’ve got more than enough takers thanks to my crew. Why them?”
Twilight stepped up to a counter, tapping a display to scroll through a list of kinetic weaponry while she pursed her lips, biting lightly as she thought.
“Because they know how I feel. They know how mad I am. And their records from the time show their combat effectiveness to be far higher than anyone on my crew, present company included. Ah, here we go, ‘Automatic Firearms.’”
Isaac sighed, looking around. His eyes fell on a fair amount of the Games vendors, a majority being Torassi. The various beings roaming around, he could tell several were nothing more than mercenaries, looking for new gear from the Fortress market. Turning back to Twilight, he noticed her floating two data-sticks next to her, mentally reminding himself that her species had a naturally powerful Etheric field not restricted by a need for an Etheric Amp compared to a majority of species in M83. He could read the chips decently enough, and recognized both of the weapons, though he was somewhat concerned as to how UEC rifle technology had made its way into common usage. The RK-5 was old, but it was reliable, and the RK-5F that Twilight had selected was the current mainstay of the UEC Navy, a robust if not very good-looking rifle. The other one drew more of a curious thought, an old Terran Coil Rifle design. He had no doubt she had an idea in mind for the man-portable version of the ship-based Coil Gantries of many ships throughout the galaxy, but what it was, he could not fathom.
“Ship upgrades are over here, Commander. I’m thinking a new R&D section would be incredible – the Solus Invictus doesn’t exactly have a decent enough science lab for the kind of research you could be doing. Also the upgrade to your manufacturing system, that’s on the list that Applejack provided. ‘VMC Material Refineries, Zvaro-Jun Manufactories,’ those are some of the things. Also the field projectors.”
“VMC? Zvaro-Jun?”
“Oh, right. Valhalla Mining Corporation and Zvaro-Jun Technologies Corporation. Two of the largest corporations for refining and manufacturing. Zvaro-Jun is based off of Eurasia, while VMC is based off of the ice-world Valhalla, famous for their blue-steel that’s actually used in a fair amount of vehicle technologies. Trading with them, if you can get there, would be incredibly beneficial. Ah, Fortress expansions. Cha wa’to? Kin’lo ta’je juta n’wa ta nijo. Uto’ajo?” Twilight watched as Isaac bartered with the vendor, a female Torassi who seemed to be pushing a far harder bargain than the cook she had met. Then again, the female seemed very annoyed by what to her seemed like a small human, the Torassi matriarch – her translation software had pointed out her age in her speech – grunting in mocking laughter every once in a while.
“Ota’jo kin’lah wojo tah!” Both Isaac and the Torassi turned to face Twilight, who stared them both down. She was still not in a great mood, and the arguing that the Torassi was presenting was very much becoming somewhat personal. The matriarch glared at her before she grunted in what was genuine laughter, spreading her lips in a facsimile of a smile. Isaac started laughing, smiling as he looked back at the vendor and gave her a thumbs up.
“I wanted to make sure she was keeping up with the pronunciation, Tar’jen. But I wasn’t expecting that! Such language from you, Commander!”
“W-What? What did I say?” Twilight glanced between the two before Isaac procured three more data-sticks, pocketing all of them.
“Honestly, Commander, you’re better off not knowing. The insult… it doesn’t translate well. What you thought you were saying was ‘Both of you, knock it off,’ right?” Twilight’s quick nod confirmed his suspicions as he shook his head, leaning back and taking a deep breath. “Well, I’ll tell you the closest phrase in Terran English. Basically, due to your child-like grasp on their language, you called us both, well… ‘Butt-fucker’ was the best I could think of. There’s no real translation for what it means, but just be glad Tar’jen here has a great sense of humour. Just make sure you leave the Torassi to me, hmm?”
“Is-aac, purple one’s grasp of Torassi, be somewhat good compared to your first time.” Twilight’s ears perked up to the stilted English leaving the mouth of the Torassi matriarch, her smile never leaving her face as she held out a fourth data stick to Twilight, letting it float into the alicorn’s Etheric field before she sighed, turning back around. “Pur-ple one’s Fortress get Torassi Order Hub. Get Torassi template deliveries. Data-stick have blueprint. On the house.”
Nodding quickly, Twilight trotted away, seating herself at a nearby table and laying the data-sticks out in front of her. Isaac slid the ones he had bartered for into the pile, leaning back in his chair before he slid a dataslate in front of her. Smiling, she lifted the tablet to her eyes, her smile only fading when she realized that the Solus Invictus’ dataslates had no data-stick reader. Isaac, watching her furrow her brow in frustration, chuckled as he pulled out a different device, one that looked very industrial and boxy, smiling as he plugged in the RK-5 data-stick.
“Commander, your dataslates are incredible, but my Miner PDA can read those fairly easily. RK-5F, standard automatic infantry rifle. Good rate of fire, reliable. This template was… provided by the UEC? How the hell did that Torassi manage to swing that? The UEC is notorious for being ham-fisted about their technologies, and that includes their rifles. Let’s check the Coil Rifle, then. And… designed by the… New Earth Coalition? Who in the Nine Heavens is that? No matter. You’ve grabbed some good stuff here, it seems, Commander. By the way, those expansion data-sticks, if you take them to the dockyards, they’ll install those for you. Probably should make it quick before they get too into the repairs. There’s a lot more to discuss, but we can table it for now. I need to get the rest of the crew situated before anything else happens.” With a nod, Isaac took his leave from the table, leaving his PDA with Twilight, the green text on the PDA fading as it slowly worked its way into sleep mode. Staring after the human, she noticed that his uniform, while the shoulders had the Miner’s Defiance emblem proudly emblazoned on them, the symbol of the Solus Invictus covered the entirety of the back of his uniform. It fit him rather well, for an older male, considering what she understood about human anatomy. There were… documents she had passed over, for reasons that she preferred her friends to never know, that explained odd human habits, including some oddities in their mating behaviours. When that had slid across her vision during her research, she had nearly spit out the entire mouthful of coffee she had been in the process of swallowing before she read some of the titles. She shuddered at the memory, hoping that some of the liquors for sale in the marketplace would allow her to forget the agony that she felt inside every time she would think of the titles.
“Commander, we’re heading up to the Habitation Deck. You know, for a human, his musculature is quite unique. It’s had some modifications from outside sources, and- you’re not even listening. Twilight? Twilight!” Twilight snapped back to reality as her thoughts were derailed in their entirety, a pink hoof waving in front of her as Starlight waved her hoof, trying to get Twilight’s attention. “Look, I’m well aware of some of the more… interesting titles you’ve been researching, but the Hab Deck is calling us. I, for one, could use a good sleep in a bed that wasn’t mass-produced in a military factory. The others are up there already.”
With a smile, Starlight departed, joining a group of the Command Crew that populated the Solus Invictus’ bridge, her voice mingling with the others as they gossiped and chatted, several accents blending into a cacophony of noise. Shaking her head, Twilight galloped to catch up with them all, listening to their stories as they entered the nearby station lift. Sighing, she tried to let her mind wander to more pleasant times, though everything that was going on was something of an adventure to her. First time to space, first time to meet aliens, first time to see an alien marketplace. To her, it was a smorgasbord of new ideas, new technologies, and new specialties.
“Incoming message for: Commander Sparkle, Priority 1.”
Twilight glanced down at one of the forelegs of her uniform, noticing the built in communications device that was currently beeping rapidly. A picture of the logo of the Zvaro-Jun Technologies Corporation was rotating slowly, the message apparently coming in directly from the main office of the Tech-Corp. Sighing, she lifted her hoof to lay it in a horizontal position in front of her, activating the main comm-link to Zvaro-Jun. As she connected, the screen lifted up to face hers directly, the image of a middle-aged female human – her implant tagged her as a Eurasian, one of the planets of the UEC – came through, albeit rather stilted.
“Ah, Commander. I was wondering when you’d visit Nexus. I take it the Commander of the Miner’s Defiance steered you towards our manufactories, hmm?”
“Y-Yes. Quick question, what is this call in regards to?” The woman on the other end of the line laughed, a hearty, yet hollow-feeling noise due to the comm-link’s video-compression.
“Why, sponsorship, my dear! Any Commander worth their salt has sponsorships to keep her Fortress afloat. I’m willing to offer a Zvaro-Jun Mark-VII Manufactory for your Fortress in exchange for a merchandising deal. It would be far superior to the simple Mark V that you’ve most likely traded for from one of those Torassi merchants. They’re incredible salesbeings, but they do like to make sure you buy, and at their prices, rather than your own. I can even throw in a shipment of Valhallan blue-steel if you prefer.” Twilight looked around at the others, realizing that they had not even heard her start talking to her comm-link. Sighing, she turned back to the video-feed, raising an eyebrow as she thought hard about what the woman was offering.
“What kind of ‘merchandising deal’ are we talking about, Miss…?”
“Oh, how rude of me! My name is Director Akane Zvaro. My family has been in possession of Zvaro-Jun for the last… four centuries, I would think? So, the merchandising deal. It involves us licensing your likeness to produce promotional items for resale. None of the items would be put into production without your say, of course. Standard business practices, but you are the new Commander, the one to sponsor! Corporations will be sending you invitation after invitation. I know the Valhallan Mining Corporation will be offering you somewhat of a similar deal, but in all of my dealings, my dear, I’ve had nothing but 100% satisfaction-”
“Director Zvaro. What a pleasant surprise. I would have thought Jupiter Armaments or the VMC would have been first.” The woman on the other end of the comm-link started laughing as recognition dawned on her face, eliciting a startled reaction as Twilight turned around. Isaac stood behind her, his arms crossed, his face showing some annoyance that she had not even realized he was around.
“Well met, Humphries. We at Zvaro-Jun remember the fine work you did for us while commanding the Miner’s Defiance. Your action figures are still a current best-seller in the planets of the Janus Accord. I would have liked to continue the line of toys, but you know business politics – it has to be the new thing out there or else it won’t sell.”
“Toys?” Isaac looked down at his charge, Twilight’s eyes lighting up at the prospects offered to her. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he knelt down, bringing his face level with Twilight’s comm-link. The warm smile from Akane caused him to step back for a moment, before he settled into a comfortable neutral expression.
“Zvaro-Jun produces not only the manufacturing plants for Fortresses, but they also are the general best choice for your first merchandising deal. My crew and I had an entire series of action figures that were popular. People like the underdog, or the newcomer. However, by the time of our match, Commander, we had not been popular for some time, and we were simply… old news. It’s how business works. Now, there’s her,” he motioned to Akane, who folded her arms in an annoyed expression, sticking her tongue out, “or you can go with Jupiter Armaments. However, Jupiter Armaments is more likely to ask you to be far more bloodthirsty than you would care to be. Think it over, don’t make a decision right away. Anyways, I’ve got the collection on file, if you want to see the quality of the work?”
Twilight nodded, pulling out her dataslate as Isaac tapped several icons, logging into the cameras in his quarters. She started to speak up about them before he waved his hand, tapping it closer. Each one of the figures showed more of the crew of the old Fortress than she had known existed, although it did dawn on her that a good portion of those people had been on a memorial her crew had lifted from the Miner’s Defiance, the one that was placed in a prominent area on the Terrace level. There was multiple individuals she recognized, including the helmeted individual simply titled as Reaper. She knew the man, and he never removed his helmet, no matter the situation. Isaac tapped the control on the dataslate, shifting the camera’s angle higher until he found what he was looking for – a figure of a younger version of himself.
“Ah, those were the days, Commander. 200 some-odd people together in one voice to show the galaxy we were something to be feared, fire under our asses and lightning in our hands. We thought we were invincible… but then we got old. Those of us who took Isshiki Biotech regeneration offers are those who are left. This is more of a memorial to my crew than the slab of metal you retrieved from the old Fortress. Each one of those people, I could talk to you about them for days. Barton loved nachos, and would talk for hours about the history. Samantha could strip down and rebuild a rifle in under ten seconds, but she was afraid of the dark. Aisha was… she was a good friend to everyone on the crew. Kinda like a mother to us… all. Sorry, just thinking about everyone I made the journey with.” Isaac stood up, watching the deck plating slowly go past the edge of the elevator and sighed as he looked around. “I can tell you one thing, Commander. I never get tired of this station’s Hab Deck.”
Twilight spun around to watch as the view opened around her, walkways to every region as all manners of beings walked and talked. Some scooted by on hovering transportation pods, while others stopped to admire the greenery growing in the designated areas. Most of the ponies in the elevator crowded to the window, making excited noises as they fawned over all the trees and flowers. Mentally reminding herself that despite the natural nature of the plants, each plant was placed artificially, and was not in fact a native species. She kept her own excitement to a minimum as it came together, watching her crew continue to crowd each other to see and point.
“Every crew’s first visit to a Hab Deck is the same – undiluted enthusiasm. With the right sponsorship, you can experience this on that barren Terrace of yours. I’m thinking that you’re considering the same things, aren’t you, Commander?”
Twilight sighed as the lift slowly came to a stop, looking up at the skylight above the Habitation Deck. Stars stretched on forever as she watched the various small glowing trails of different ship drives , the reds, blues and greens like a rainbow of interstellar proportions. The rest of the crew appeared to have already been moved into a section marked as ‘Fortress Crew,’ Isaac escorting the remainder inside as she stopped to look down at her comm-link again. Akane looked rather impatient as she sat there, tapping her fingers on the table in front of her. A merchandising deal was something that had been broached to her before, but Twilight was still uncertain about that aspect of the War Games. It still stuck in the back of her mind that there had to be some reason behind it all, but with a quick breath, she silenced her own misgivings and stared with a strong glare at Akane, narrowing her eyes.
“If I agree to this, the blue-steel will need to be delivered to the Fortress.”
“Done.”
“You will use only those who agree to supply their likeness in your merchandising efforts.”
“My dear, it feels to me that you were not listening before. I promised you that nothing would go into production that was not approved by you beforehand. My marketing team already has a bit of a title for the figure line, if you would not mind me showing you some promotional material? Oh, don’t look at me like that. Being prepared is the first thing to know about the corporate world. Now, you and your friends are definitely more for the market of younger children, which is a definite market we’ve wanted to tap into for a while. It would be a while before we even have a small amount of items for you to peruse through and approve, so regardless of anything, we will be sending you our end of the deal first.”
The deal sounded as fair as Twilight could consider, despite all of her misgivings that rose once more. The ability to get their likeness printed into the molded plastic that formed the action figures of the crew of the Miner’s Defiance, it was something that made a small part of her giggly in anticipation. With a practiced breath, she kept herself from outwardly hopping, though she knew she did want to, if only a small amount.
“Okay. Okay. So, you won’t put anything into production that isn’t approved by me, a Mark VII manufactory and a shipment of Valhallan blue-steel are going to be provided, and your sponsorship will last… how long?”
“For the entirety of your participation in the Games! We here at Zvaro-Jun believe that loyalty is tantamount to good business. A good business partner deserves a good deal, and a good deal displays good loyalty. If you accept, I’ll ask for yourself and a small portion of your crew to pass along full-body external scans of themselves, and yourself of course, so that we can input them into our machines, and produce a limited-run figure line. ‘Coalition Groundbreakers’ is the work-in-progress title. So, my dear, do we have a deal?”
“Yes, Director. We have a deal. I’ll transmit the details later. For now, my friends and crew need to sleep.” With that final statement, Twilight cut the transmission short, stopping to look over the railing. The trees stood tall, though she noticed almost indiscernible flashes of blue lightflitting between the leaves of each plant, tiny enough to be mistaken for a trick of the light.
“Nano-Caretakers. Every station has them for the Hab Deck. I’m going to take from your expression that you took the deal. Akana Zvaro may seem shady, but she’s the genuine article. Never had a single complaint from any of her business partners.” Isaac smiled as he glanced down at Twilight, watching the dimming lights of the Habitation Deck frame her face in a soft yellow light. Kneeling down, he turned her to face him, his eyes locked onto hers.
“I-Isaac?” Twilight could feel her face get warm as she felt his hands resting behind her head. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but she was certain that he was not trying to do anything, just get her attention.
“Look, Twilight. You’re going to have to get used to the fact that you’re a part of this now. Yes, Akane will look out for you, it’s how she is. Your crew will look out for you out of admiration and respect. And, frankly, you handled yourself better than I expected in the marketplace.” Turning to his side, he sat down beside her, watching the N-Cs glow brighter, like a thousand fireflies floating in the recycled air of the station. “I’m getting old. I’m older than most regular humans, have been for years. That’s Isshiki Biotech for you. But here’s the thing – my crew are my family, my brothers and sisters. But to be honest, I’ve never had a friend. You came along, Commander, and showed yourself to be just what we needed. I speak for the humans on your crew when I say that I thank you for being just that.”
“Isaac?”
“Commander?”
“Could you just… sit with me a bit? It’s been a long day, and I’d love to sit and watch the Caretakers… float.” Isaac turned to her, chuckling a bit before patting a spot beside him on the walkway plating.
“Then have a seat. Take in the moment, just have fun. It’s going to be a long couple of months.”