Four months later
“Of course Rainbow would pull that maneuver! She’s always being more and more reckless! Ooh, pass me some more of those Terran noodles. I’m just dying for their tastiness!” A crowd had gathered around a large holographic screen, a simulator battle broadcast to the entire area. Icons displayed across the top and bottom of the display denoted who belonged to which group, two teams going head-to-head as simulator pods shook and rolled, their hydraulics creaking and groaning under the strain of one very fired-up Pegasus.
“I’m glad the humans showed Pinkie how to make these… ‘Ramen Noodles,’ I think they called them? Oh, thank you darling. Anyways, where was I? Oh, right. Rainbow is being reckless. Starlight, dear, Rainbow has been getting far faster and more agile in those interceptors than any known being, and someone was watching her practice. I do believe they are going to, shall we say, ‘eat their words?’” Rarity chuckled as she relaxed, her Fabricator jumpsuit having been replaced with a form-fitting casual uniform usually reserved for more special occasions, but she felt it necessary to make certain she was the height of fashion, even if she was far away from her stores on Equus. A small transmission to her fellow store manager had allayed her fears that without her there, the fashion she was bringing to her home would not be able to grow and change. Her compatriot had reassured her that, in fact, was not the case. Sassy Saddles’ glowing report of newly hired managers to control the myriad of boutiques that now fell under the Rarity’s Boutique name had elicited a feeling of immense pride in her friend, though, Rarity did have misgivings, some shared with Twilight after the latter had accepted a merchandising deal with one of the larger corporations in the galaxy.
Of course, it also led to moments like the one they were currently sharing with the actual Director of Zvaro-Jun herself. Akane laughed and sat at the edge of her seat as she watched an interceptor improved with Zvaro-Jun Micro-Powerplants almost fly literal circles around the human ships. She had been privileged with a conversation with Twilight, talking about enhancing reflex speed and inherent instincts that gave Pegasus pilots a far better edge than human or clone pilots. Her work spoke for itself as numbers displayed on the screen. Some of the patrons watching the battle tossed popcorn at the screen, multiple small round robots cleaning up the tossed foodstuff almost as soon as it hit the floor.
“Rainbow’s Raiders take the match 3-1! This match today has been brought to you by Zvaro-Jun Technologies Incorporated. Feel the technology of the future in your grasp today. Official sponsor of the Solus Invictus.”
Twilight trotted in, the clacking of her hooves immediately muffled by the carpet of the viewing room. She looked at the screen with a smile, before raising an eyebrow at Akane, the latter turning to face the waiting Commander. Before either of them could say anything, a cerulean blur entered the room, stopping at a nearby locker to remove her helmet and flight suit. Stretching herself out, Rainbow looked at herself in the locker’s mirror, running her hoof through her shorter hair. A month previous, she had gotten her long mane caught in one of the simulator pods’ emergency releases, and had decided that from then on, her hair would remain short to prevent any accident of that nature from occurring again.
Twilight nodded to her friend, her eyes drifting to the emblem of Rainbow Dash’s personal flight unit, the Raiders. While she was loathe to let Rainbow continue to use such a grotesque symbol on her flight uniform, she had to admit the impact the team symbol of a sword sticking in a skull had on the Equestrian pilots.
“Automated handover complete. Solus Invictus, you are clear to proceed. May the Nine Heavens be with you. Safe journeys. Your distance to La-Grange Point Alpha-25 is 6 light-seconds. Nexus Docking Control out.” Twilight looked over to her Navigators, who both nodded in response as they left their seats, galloping out of the viewing room and leaving the rest of the Command Crew seated still. Rainbow turned back, her eye glowing brighter as she loaded up information from her simulator battle.
“You know, Twilight, those two humans are good. I mean, for humans. But Vasili and Abby, they’ve got reflexes almost like a young Pegasus filly. Former crew or not, they’re good. And that’s me saying that. That bugs me a lot.”
“All it means is that you’ve found other members of the crew to train, Dashie! Besides, you’re totally better than Vasili’s Vikings. That old craft couldn’t even touch the Interceptor Applejack and Rarity designed!” Pinkie popped up between the two of them, cradling a plate of cupcakes on her head as she glanced at her friends. Twilight smiled as she accepted the silent offer of a delicious confectionery treat, Rainbow quietly lifting one from the plate as well.
“Ah, a Pinkamena Delight. I am forever grateful to have been introduced to these. Commander Sparkle, if you would?” Twilight turned around to come face-to-face with Isaac, backpedaling quickly in surprise before she smiled and breathed slowly, calming herself. Over the several months the crew had found themselves more or less stuck at Nexus Station, he had become a bit of a beacon of calm to her, a friend outside of her own experiences. Someone to discuss and debate with, and to enjoy the sight of the stars passing by, or to help refine the tactics they would need in various situations. Twilight could feel her face heat up slightly, but glanced around, ascertaining that, no, her friends had not noticed she was, in fact, blushing.
“Y-Yes. Is it that time already, Isaac?” Isaac nodded in response, motioning towards the door as hushed voices behind them seemed to be gossiping about the friendship between the two Commanders. A couple of the words Twilight caught had some reference in common with bizarre acts of passion that, even if they were warranted, posed a significant impossibility. Isaac raised an eyebrow at her as he led the way away from the viewing area, walking towards the nearest Mag-Rail boarding point.
As they stepped aboard the Mag-Rail, Isaac took a seat, sighing as he looked up at the ceiling. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling the tight skin of his neck, and the thick gray hairs growing from his head.
“Mag-Rail, Engineering. Wait, make it the Manufactory.” A confirmation beep was all he needed to lean back, letting Twilight take the seat next to him. Looking back down at her, he smiled, letting her lean against his shoulder. Three of the months they had been interacting more and more, he had found she relaxed best when she could lean against a friend of hers. It warmed his heart that she felt so secure around him, almost as if he had a daughter. She had told him a good portion of her life, Isaac reciprocating in kind with stories of his own. The common hobby for a majority of the crew was something he was not entirely comfortable with, as he had heard multiple mentions before of some of the Equestrian crew members ‘shipping’ Twilight and him. Once it was explained to him, he smiled as he laughed about the whole situation. No matter how they all felt, he knew he did not see Twilight like that. She was a capable mare, and she was very much in control, and to be honest, he was more comfortable thinking of her like a daughter instead of the odd statements he had heard when they had eaten together a few times at the cafeteria. Of course, it did not matter to him what any of them thought. He had caught a few glares from one of the Navigators, Deadwood, which he had normally attributed to some kind of resentment, but after learning of the whole perception of himself and Twilight, he had realized the glares were ones of jealousy and envy.
“Mag-Rail stopping at Hydroponics Level.”
As the Mag-Rail slowed to a stop, the doors hissed open, revealing Deadwood. He stood there with a smile as he almost hopped aboard. Two saddlebags filled with dataslates adorned his back, the orange fabric of the bags themselves matching with his coat almost perfectly. Twilight raised an eyebrow as he took a seat across from them, his eyes never leaving the dataslate he held between his hooves. As he tapped with his hooves, scrolling through the various reports, Twilight stared for long enough that he felt her eyes upon him.
“Commander, if this is about why I’m not using magic-”
“I’m sure even you-”
“I don’t have magic, Commander. I’m not a normal pony, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Deadwood sat in silence as Twilight’s jaw dropped. She had never seen or heard of any Unicorn not having access at all to the magic that was a part of their very essence. She subconsciously felt around with her own magic, trying to ‘see’ his own field. It was something she was starting to learn slowly, but it allowed her some modicum to assist the medics with ascertaining different problems.
However, when her magic touched Deadwood, it was almost as if it recoiled, bouncing off of him. He looked up, raising an eyebrow as he shook his head, muttering to himself as he checked math equation after equation, line after line. The amount of math he was clearing through was something that Twilight had not seen any other member of the crew do, besides Ditzy Do, her second Navigator. It seemed to be a favourite pastime of those in the Bridge Crew to challenge themselves with more advanced mathematics like a sort of contest.
“Commander, I know what you’re doing, and as I said before, I’ve got no magic. Hasn’t stopped me yet,” Deadwood sighed, not even looking up from his dataslate as he spoke. Isaac raised an eyebrow as he and Twilight sat in silence.
“Deadwood, what-”
“Computer, Main Terrace. I have some deliveries to make. And for the record, Commander, don’t bother. It’s not worth it.”
“Mag-Rail stopping at Main Terrace Level.” Deadwood stood in silence as the Mag-Rail came to a halt, the doors hissing open to reveal no one waiting. With not a word, he stepped out from the Mag-Rail car and let the doors slam shut behind him without even a look behind him. Twilight felt a little stinging sensation in her eyes, barely blinking until Isaac tapped her shoulder, bringing her back to a focused reality. Wrapping his arm around her, he let her lean into him as she sniffled slightly at the touch, snuggling underneath his arm.
“W-Why do I get the feeling that he hates me, Isaac?”
“He doesn’t hate you Commander. I’ve read his file. To be honest, I’d be distrustful of anyone around me if I’d been through what he’d been through. You… have read his file, right?” When Twilight shook her head in the negative, he sighed, lifting his dataslate and bringing up the personal history of Navigator Deadwood. Letting Twilight grasp it in her etheric hold, he sighed as he turned away. He knew what most beings’ reactions would be upon reading the sheer amount of pain the individual in question had been through. Considering the idyllic nature he assumed of Equestria, there was still a fair amount of parallels to the nobility of Earth back in the Ancient Medieval era, where many used to think that it was a much more civilized era. No one believed that anymore which suited him just fine.
Twilight read slowly, poring over each word as she sucked in air.
Subject: ‘Deadwood.’ Nicknamed for the Dead Woods he was found in when he was a young colt. Survived a fire that he could not have caused, burns marking areas underneath the false mane he wears as to not bring any attention to his own past.
Father and mother were Jack Orange and Emerald, an Earth Pony and Unicorn respectively. Guard investigations into their deaths led Cradle/Coalition investigators to some of the most influential nobles in Canterlot. They were dealt with accordingly for first degree murder – they had murdered her under the auspicious excuse of ‘purging the outsiders.’
Deadwood refuses to allow anyone, or anypony, to examine his magic-less condition, as he finds the prodding through the etheric plane rather uncomfortable. It also brings up painful memories that he would rather not discuss with even the ship’s therapist.
Recommendation: Let Deadwood do his job, providing melatonin supplements to help him get some sleep. Regular sleeping pills are a no-go after a week of testing – they simply do not affect him.
Additional Note: How this guy survived the life he went through, I’ll never know. But I’ve the utmost respect for a fellow survivor. He does his job to the best of his ability, working excellently alongside Miss Do, but he’s very anti-social. He works, and then returns to his quarters. I’ve heard reports that he mutters something about needing a ‘stiff drink.’ Maybe we could try and get the recreation deck back online? - Humphries
As she finished, Twilight felt more tears stinging her eyes as she quickly wiped them away. Deadwood was not one who had to be recruited, she was aware of that much, but something she had learned only recently was that he had actively sought out the Cradle after coming across one of their soldiers in Canterlot, and volunteered. His recruitment statement had included the statement that Equus was never going to feel like home for him, and he wanted to find home somewhere out among the stars.
“H-How has this never come up-”
“Commander, you’ve been given briefings on every individual on this ship, my own men included. Deadwood’s was left out because he requested it. He has said to many instructors that he works best when left to his own devices. You’re not going to get an answer out of him, regardless of how hard you push. It’s just how it works, unfortunately. Celestia apparently knew of his particular… predicament, and pushed for advanced training for him-”
“Advanced training? But what did he do for-”
“Best cartographer in all of Equestria. You actually see a lot of his maps used a lot, apparently. Even the Royal Guards are fans of his.”
Twilight tried to refute the information she had just been given, until she remembered an odd signature on the corner of a multitude of maps that they had used outside of her Coalition service, and even the ones that they used during training. Each one had that distinctive ‘DW’ on the corner, but she had assumed it was something different than Deadwood. It still shocked her slightly, but something clicked in her mind as she tapped different symbols in the dataslate to bring up telemetry and sensor data about the Solus Invictus’ journey thus far. A smile spread across her face as she looked at where they were headed for their destination – the Zvaro-Jun Dockyards near the planet of Deepwell. According to tourist information, Deepwell had massive sinkholes that you could take an anti-gravity gondola down into, and see the blood-red waters fall into massive underground chambers. Apparently it was one of the best locations, and the Zvaro-Jun business venture near there was no coincidence, considering there was a special mineral in the water that helped to stabilize the merger of etheric fields with advanced technology.
“’Sapphire-class Catalyst Ore.’ What’s Sapphire-class?”
“Ah, the Catalyst Ore reactivity charts. The discovery of the Etheric Plane, the underlying power network of the universe that many species tap into for their abilities, your kind included, also heralded the discovery of special ores that reacted different upon a merger with a receptacle. What that means is that-”
“Those with etheric-field-enhanced abilities would find themselves able to interface those exact abilities with the device in question?” Twilight smiled as Isaac nodded. “Before I forget, I have a good idea. Something that might help Deadwood at least do something that isn’t just work. It’s a little bit of study, but for a Cartographer of his skill, I… I think he’s up for the task.”
Isaac smirked as he saw Twilight prance around, the dataslate jotting down every detail of the explanation of why she would have him create star charts based on their journey, including the drift calculations. He knew she was excited to get to studying again – he had read her file, and understood just how much of a bibliophile she was. Of course, she was trying to rope him into helping her, but he shook his head down at her as he stood up.
“This is something for a Commander to do. Sure, it might make him smile for once, but that’s for another time. Besides, we’re at the Manufactory deck.” Twilight turned around to see the location marker of the Mag-Rail pod indicate their arrival, as well as the tell-tale dinging of the approach alert. Slowly standing up, she exited the pod, Isaac following closely behind.
Since their upgrades and rebuilds at Nexus Station, the Manufactory had been a hub of activity in preparation for their next upcoming match. While they had not received any sort of official notion, Twilight, and by extension Applejack and her Engineers, had been hard at work preparing the new devices, and invariably the new weapons and items that Twilight had selected from the merchants aboard the station. Some of them were proving fruitful, like the NEC Coil Rifle, proving to be far better than the Coalition Armaments Long Rifles that they had been using before. The UEC RK-5F, which Twilight continuously had to remind herself that it meant Rifle Kinetic Class 5, was proving to be more of a challenge due to a weird copy-protection on the data. A request had been sent back to Tar’jen to ask for a way to unlock the data so they could use it, as Isaac had explained that she was one of the more important members of Nexus Station’s Torassi Trade Commission, and she would not be pleased to find that one of her own merchants was attempting to scam people with copy-protected blueprints.
However, none of their technology was the reason Twilight was moving to the Manufactory. Instead, it was more of a pet project she had been collaborating on with Applejack in order to redesign the Etheric Projector she had designed before, but had understood her own design was worse than experimental in its singular test.
“Ah, sugarcube. I reckon you’re here ‘bout the Etheric Rifle?” Applejack leaned out from behind a nearby wall, her face streaked with grease, her eyes heavy with lack of sleep, but her face shone with happiness and pride. Twilight silently embraced her friend with a smile, following Applejack to the testing area that had been included with the Zvaro-Jun Manufactory. The range spread out before her as she watched several other unicorns activating weapon harnesses with the round tube-like protrusion of the Etheric Rifle, while Earth Ponies fired off more of the Coil Rifles that were being worked on. With a nod to her staff, Applejack pulled Twilight behind a nearby Plexiglass wall to witness the test.
“I’m assuming those aren’t the actual engineers, and they’re safe up in Medical hooked up to the Amplifier?” Applejack nodded slowly, holding out a set of goggles for Twilight to wear.
“You’re going to have a mighty big need o’ these ‘fore they test that there Etheric Rifle. Design’s got a few complicated bits, runs off of a Magicite battery, but that there is why Zvaro-Jun’s director is givin’ us a personal tour of Deepwell, and giving us first right-of-refusal on shipments of Catalyst Ore. Mighty nice of her. Reckon she’s lookin’ at a couple shipments of Sapphire-class, which suits our project something fierce. Hold up.” Applejack ducked down and pressed herself against the deck plating, Twilight raising an eyebrow until she saw the Etheric Rifle begin to glow. With a sharp squeak and a drop, she closed her eyes as she heard the muffled explosion, green goo dripping down on her from the ceiling. Applejack raised herself up as well, her eyes tracking the dripping to its source.
“Sugarcube, I’m thinking we need that Catalyst Ore something awful here. That there’s the third test where the clone’s gone up like a driftwood barn in a forest fire!” Twilight opened her eyes, staring up at the source of the dripping gel, her gaze drifting over to where the clone had once stood, noticing a shimmering field erected around the scorch mark that remained.
“Definitely going to need some reinforcement in the firing chamber. We’ll need that Catalyst Ore for sure. Send the requisition up to me when you’re ready… and maybe ask for Maintenance to come down and… clean this up?” She smiled weakly at Applejack, the latter simply snorting as she turned to look at the clone wielding the Coil Rifle. The weapon harness had simply been modified from the existing designs they already had logged into their own database, and the simple modifications necessary had barely needed any adjustments for pony physiology. The two of them watched the clone approach the wall, letting small mechanical arms decouple the harness from the reinforced suit that was standard for any of her crew wearing such a harness.
“Commander to the Main Terrace. There’s been an… incident.” Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she stared at Applejack, the latter nodding as the former galloped away as quickly as she could. Isaac stood by the Mag-Rail pod, wearing a Security suit with what she assumed was some kind of incapacitation device in his hand. The helmet held the swirling colours that many found themselves using more and more, the obscuring design a bit hard on the eyes.
“Isaac-”
“It’s Deadwood. Now, before you start… someone or something attacked him. I’m to escort you to Security Control to review the pertinent data. Let’s get going.”
--------//|0|\\--------
Twilight watched the security camera footage as her expression hardened. She had initially suspected that Deadwood had been the instigator of the incident, but the evidence before her had her anger rising, a deep, resentful anger that felt hot in her core, but it made her sick to her stomach. Two individuals had entered the lavatory on the Main Terrace, the one for the male portion of the crew, but only one had left. If Twilight recognized the Gryphon that had left when Deadwood had not, she was not indicating it.
“We’ve identified the Gryphon in question-”
“Oscar Stoneclaw. A scion of House Stoneclaw. Reports have come in before about his attitude towards ponies, and now towards humans. Take a team, bring him here.” Isaac rubbed the back of his neck as Twilight stared at him, her gaze boring into him. “Is there something you want to say, Humphries?”
Isaac’s eyes widened as his gaze met hers. He could see the anger and the fury, but he could also see the pain that was showing through. He stepped to the side as a struggling Gryphon was brought into the office. He silently motioned for his officers to release the Gryphon, but also to guard the door.
“I am a member of House Stoneclaw! If my father… heard...” His voice trailed off as he saw the expression on Twilight’s face, his own brain attempting to create some sort of justification for his actions, but none would come.
“Oscar Stoneclaw. Sit.” He complied, his own heartbeat threatening to explode out through his chest. His expression of fear and confusion was nothing that Twilight had not seen before in other people aboard the Fortress, but to her, this was a far more important situation.
“C-Commander?”
“I would like to talk to you about Navigator Deadwood-”
“Oh, that unicorn pansy? If he had just used his magic, he wouldn’t-”
“He doesn’t have magic, you featherbrained idiot!” Twilight slowly settled back behind the desk, breathing slowly to attempt to calm herself down. “Your actions have led to Navigator Deadwood’s hospitalization. You have no evidence to the contrary, and I have only a couple of options. Would you like to hear them?”
Oscar sat there, completely dumbfounded. His brain attempted to reconcile the information it had just received, but nothing could justify the meaning of it all. A unicorn’s magic was like their very lifeblood, and a unicorn without magic was just like a Gryphon without wings. His body slumped forward as he stared at the floor beneath his claws, his own mind wishing that the deck itself would swallow him whole, and render him non-existent.
“The Commander asked you a question, Stoneclaw. Or would you prefer that myself and my security personnel take our options with you?” Oscar stiffened up as he saw the smirks around him of the Gryphon, pony and the human security personnel. His brain stopped, his very essence realizing the dire situation he found himself in. Seating himself on the chair that sat in front of the desk inside the Security Control office, his breathing became shallow as his pupils narrowed. He glanced down at his claws, realizing he was shaking. He was a Stoneclaw, one of many in a long line of proud kings and princes of the Hegemony. But the unicorn in front of him had him shaking more than a newborn fledgling.
“W-What are the options, C-Commander?” He felt the words leave his mouth even before he could stop himself, realizing that his own fear was starting to cloud his mind. A soft chuckle startled him as he kept his eyes locked with Twilight’s, her face twisting into an impish grin.
“Well, you put a member of my Command Crew into critical condition over nothing more than your own superiority complex and horrific pride. We’ve had reports of your actions multiple times, but I have left it up to Security for the most part, as it did not directly impact the full functioning of this Fortress. But you have hospitalized one of my Navigators, the ones responsible for swift calculations and making sure our stellar drift is within tolerance. Because of your actions, Navigator Do has to pull double-duty, meaning that she is going to be far less effective, and that means that the entire Fortress is affected. You get what I mean, don’t you?”
“Y-Yes…. ma’am.”
“Good. Your two options, as of this moment, are to either resign your post aboard the Solus Invictus, as I will not have anyone aboard this vessel who can’t think before they act, and charter a shuttle at Deepwell to take you back to Equus, where you will explain to your father, Titus Stoneclaw, a prominent member of the Equestrian Coalition’s Council, why you were removed from your post. And trust me when I say that I will provide you with a courier who will bring all pertinent information to him. Your second option is to be reinstated in Maintenance at the lowest rank I can possibly give you without a full court-martial. As a member of the Coalition Security Forces, formerly the Cradle Security Forces, I have that much power, especially seeing as we are not within superluminal communications distance of a comms buoy. Now, it’s your decision, Oscar. Isaac and his security forces can be very… creative.”
Oscar’s expression grew ever more blank as he stared at the ground, his face a mask of pain and embarrassment. If he took the option to return to Equus, it would mean that his father would know of what he did, and would strip him of all but his imperial title. It would also give various factions within the Hegemony the legitimacy they had been longing for, the ability to claim that the Stoneclaw lineage had ruled the Hegemony for far too long. However, if he remained aboard the Fortress, he would end up as the lowest-ranked individual onboard.
Twilight watched Oscar’s expression twitch, smirking as she watched him stew over the options in his mind. She knew she had to set an example of how she was going to deal with cases like this, and there were very few options she was prepared to actually act on. The two she had presented him with, however, were the ones she was most comfortable with offering. The database from the Kepler’s time had detailed out that such an action was considered under the terms of mutiny and in such a case, it was a Commander’s choice if the person lived or died. She had read on the various types of summary execution that had been a part of that vessel’s time, continuously reminding herself that even though the Solus Invictus was a new ship, it was still built with the ancient Fortress’ spirit within her. She knew Isaac understood the letter of the law, although she also knew that he was loathe to actually act on the section of the Treatise of Command she had shared with him that dealt with such barbaric practices.
“M-Ma’am?”
“Yes?”
“I… I will remain aboard the Solus Invictus. If I was to return to Equus, I would suffer far worse retribution from my father than I would aboard this vessel-”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Until we finish the transfer from Rarity’s department to Maintenance, you are on 24/7 house arrest. A security officer will march with you to meals, and will march with you back to your temporary quarters. You will have limited contact with any other members of the crew, and I will make sure that Maud Pie, the current head of Maintenance, knows who is joining her ‘merry band of misfits,’ as she so put herself. Officers, take him to his temporary quarters.” Salutes were thrown up around the room as Oscar was silently led from the room, leaving Twilight and Isaac alone inside the Security Control office. As she watched the automatic door hiss shut, the hydraulics pressing down as Isaac took a seat in front of her.
“Sometimes you don’t have a choice, Commander. We’re not… entirely down a Navigator. I can go tap Ensign Ripley to cover for Deadwood until he’s recovered.” Isaac’s eyes met Twilight’s as she looked up and locked her gaze with his.
“Y-Yeah, that should be… good.”
“Are you all right?” Isaac and Twilight turned to the doorway to see a wheelchair roll through the doorway, a smirking unicorn being pushed in by one of Fluttershy’s medics. “Right, I’m supposed to be laying down, dying. Don’t you remember what I told you, Commander? Not having magic hasn’t stopped me yet.”
Twilight opened her mouth and shut it quickly, before glancing over at the medic. The medic nodded back, approaching Twilight with a dataslate. Tapping the main display, he brought up the medical report for Deadwood’s admitting and his subsequent treatment. Scrolling through the long list of medical jargon and terminology, she noticed the recommendations to restrict Deadwood’s activities, preventing him from operating as a Navigator for upwards of several months as his wounds healed. A medical hologram floated up from the dataslate, displaying the lacerations on his side, and the fact that the actual wounds did not penetrate deep enough to cause serious damage, but the pain-shock had been enough to put Deadwood out for the count, according to the data.
“He is a lucky stallion. If he had not been wearing his flight suit, he would have-”
“Wait, he was wearing a suit underneath his uniform?”
“Yes, ma’am. Rarity does good work, and her reinforcement of the combat and flight suits has actually led to a much better outcome than what could have happened before. However, Chief Fluttershy’s recommendation is that he does not serve in an active capacity for now. That recommendation is also in the report you see in front of you, and from your expression, you’re a little uncomfortable with some of the information. Don’t worry too much, as the time will simply pass by quickly enough.” The medic saluted as he returned to Deadwood’s wheelchair, where the latter was humming to himself, unfortunately still somewhat sedated, if Twilight was reading the situation correctly. Her eyes followed them out as she sighed, laying her head down on the desk. Isaac quietly chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling as he covered his face with his hands.
“I’ll be honest, the fact that he’s still somewhat functional is a little funny to me, but I do understand the seriousness of what’s occurred. I’ll go get Ensign Ripley and let her know that she’s on temporary Navigator duty for now.”
“Thank you, Isaac. I’ll… I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure thing, Twilight.”
--------//|0|\\--------
The halls were quiet as Isaac walked the corridors of the ship. Gryphons and ponies were avoiding each other after the incident, which he had done his utmost to make sure that his security personnel had not let the news get out. Unfortunately, it seemed that someone had let slip what had occurred, and it had sabotaged relations throughout the ship.
Normally, it would not have concerned him, but as he made his way down to the crew quarters where the other remnants of his crew resided, he realized that no matter how much he attempted to make it ‘not his problem,’ he would have to deal with it sooner or later. The amount of differing species aboard the ship was somewhat mind-boggling, and it occurred to him that if a single event could cause such a divide, then who was to say what could cause an all-out mutiny or civil war.
“… then the Commander looks up from his plate full of simulated eggs, and smiles as he says, ‘Egg-zactly!’”
The laughing from the crew quarters brought a small smile to his face until he turned the corner and saw the incredibly varied crowd listening to Vasili and Abigail tell stories.
“Of course, he could not stop there with the puns. For about a week, everyone had to endure a bad pun every time they passed him. We were too busy training until someone brought down breakfast with the most horrified look on their face. His terrified eyes met with mine as he stated - and this is not verbatim, this is word-for-word - ‘The Commander wanted you all to have this… cracking good breakfast.’” The crowd that had gathered around the two of them broke out into hearty laughter, Gryphons leaning on Ponies as friends hugged each other, and new friends were made in the venue of storytelling and comedy. He took a seat near the edge of the group, leaning back as he watched the crowd’s reaction. To him, it seemed that either the news had not reached them, or they had heard, and simply did not care. He leaned more towards the second option, though he mentally noted it was more likely wishful thinking.
“And here’s the former Commander of the Miner’s Defiance!. So, have you got any good stories?” Isaac stiffened up as a crowd of eyes fell on him, glancing around as he rubbed the back of his head.
“I, uh, I don’t exactly have any really funny stories...”
“Aw, come on! I’m sure the legendary Isaac Humphries has something good!” Isaac was about to open his mouth when one of the shift supervisors entered the area, smiling until he lifted his dataslate, tapping the time.
“Next duty shift. Zharkov, White, you’re on training duty with SIS officers. Some of them can’t even hit the broad side of a barn, so it would be a good idea to get going. Dismissed!”
Isaac sighed as he stood up, his eyes darting from side-to-side as his eyes fell upon Ensign Ripley, one of the younger members of his former Fortress’ crew. Approaching her, he was about to speak when she raised a hand, pulling the hood portion of her flight suit back to let her short hair out. Isaac observed her as he remembered the description that many of his crew had had of her. ‘Tomboy’ was the most common descriptor, although it was not entirely incorrect. She was not conventionally attractive, but her attitude towards relationships, in regards to her attitude towards not wanting any sort of non-professional relationship, had intrigued many of his crew members. As he watched, she scratched at a new scar on her neck, lightly glowing circuits barely visible against her skin. Setting down her dataslate, she turned and smiled.
“Ah, Commander-”
“Remember, Julia, I’m not your Commander anymore. Just Isaac or Humphries will do.”
“Sure thing, Isaac. I’m guessing this is about the temporarily open Navigator position?” Isaac silently nodded as she tapped the screen of her dataslate, scrolling through various reports before touching the edge and deactivating the display. “I’ll take his place for now, but I don’t know how her Command Crew will react to having a human as one of their Navigators. From their perspective, we’re the aliens, if you remember. I’ll report to the Commander as soon as I can.” Isaac stood ramrod stiff as Ensign Ripley left the room, sighing as he remembered the other part of his crews’ opinion about her, the ‘blunt honesty.’ Shaking his head, walking out of the room, he returned to the corridors, closing his eyes and breathing in relief as the lights changed to their artificial night-time configuration. The day/night cycle had been a modification added at Nexus Station, and it was one that many had been very thankful for. It was set to the rising and setting of the sun back on Equus, though, as far as he was aware of, the main rulers of the world ‘controlled’ the very orbits of the sun and the moon. It was something of a scientific curiosity of his, that someday he would have to travel to their home system and see for himself what that would look like. To him, it seemed more like they used their Etheric field manipulation abilities to rotate a planet that was tidally locked instead of the sun and moon orbiting a planet. Stellar physics just did not work that way.
“I… saac?” Isaac looked up from his musings to see Twilight slowly walking around, a cup of steaming coffee floating beside her as she took careful, measured sips. From the expression on her face, he could tell she was on the verge of passing out. With a quick motion, he lifted her slowly as to not let her drop the hot coffee all over herself, and let her rest her head against his shoulder as he carried her back to her quarters.
“Don’t worry. You need some rest. You’ve been working harder than all of us combined, and you need a break.” With a quiet hiss, the doors slid open, Twilight’s personal quarters a mess of dataslates, books, notes and empty disposable coffee cups. Settling her down into her bed, he slid the covers up to her neck, smiling as he turned to leave. As he stepped forward, he felt something tugging on the back of his uniform, turning to see Twilight’s etheric grasp pulling on his shirt.
“Big… brother...” Twilight quietly mumbled as Isaac sat down beside her, patting her head gently as he watched his Commander squirm into a better position. He adjust the bed-covers to accommodate Twilight’s wings, letting her relax as he hummed an Old Earth lullaby, letting his voice quietly let out the words that he remembered from his own childhood.
“ Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby.
Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay.
And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow.
Bless you with love for the road that you go.”
He rubbed behind Twilight’s ear as he heard her start to quietly snore, her face relaxed as he stood up, letting her fall deeply asleep before he smiled at her again. The amount of stress she was under, he understood how much she dearly missed her own sibling, but he had to tread carefully, as he knew how much she idolized her older brother, and he did not want that sort of attention put on him. He had enough attention anyways from those who were insinuating that he and the Commander were fraternizing, and despite the fact that the galaxy was more progressive than it had been years ago, he still needed to follow the rules of the Fortress. He did admire her, though, for her sheer tenacity and determination, which made her hold a special place in his heart, and as he held his hand on the edge of the doorway, he noticed a frame holding a photograph. Most of the crew that he had seen with those frames held pictures of family, of loved ones, or of those they admired, but the photograph was something that gave him pause.
Stepping towards the desk, he lifted the frame, tracing the edge of it until it processed. She had the photograph of his first tactics training session with her framed and sitting on her desk like some kind of trophy, or memento. To him, it had been something far less important, as he knew she was not as good a tactician as many of the Fortress Commanders he had come up against. However, it seemed that, to her, his advice and his counsel was something more in her mind. Placing the frame back on the desk, he smiled, gathering up the used coffee cups and departing. He would have to ask her about it later, but the time was not in his favour to ask. Dumping the cups in the nearest Trash Recycler, he yawned, his own exhaustion creeping up on him. Rubbing the back of his head, he sighed and turned back towards his own quarters, feeling almost as if he was dragging himself along. The amount of activity that had happened within a single day was something that he was sorely unfamiliar with, but it still felt far better to be in command of a security detachment rather than a Fortress. Some things just worked out better in the long run, at least, from Isaac’s point of view.
Turning again back towards the direction of his quarters, he passed by a muttering Julia, pausing a moment before his mind caught up with what she had been muttering under her breath.
“Julia.”
“I-Isaac?”
“You were doing it again, that thing you do when you’re nervous or stressed. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Let’s get some coffee at the cafeteria, and I’ll tell you all about it, hmm?” Isaac silently nodded as Julia led the way towards the cafeteria, the doors hissing open as the cook on duty slid two hot cups of coffee onto the counter before either of the humans could even ask.
“Seems to be your kind’s favourite drink. I get it, but don’t drink too much, aye?” Snatching up their respective mugs, Julia and Isaac took a seat at one of the many empty tables, the night-cycle duty-shift barely making up a twentieth of the crew’s capacity. Julia glanced around quickly before downing her entire mug of caffeinated goodness, sighing in relief as she finished.
“So, what’s on my mind, hmm? It’s been less than two months since our match, yet we’ve integrated into this crew far smoother than anyone could have anticipated. And now I’m being tapped to temporarily replace one of the original crew’s actual Navigators due to some prissy asshole’s superiority complex that put that Navigator in a wheelchair for several months. It feels like some big shoes to fill, honestly, sir-”
“Remember, I’m not your Commander. You can call me Isaac, Julia. And I understand your feelings on the matter. I wouldn’t have grabbed you though if I thought that anyone else could do the job as well as you could. You’re one of the best I’ve seen, and your aptitude for the job is on par with the Equestrian Navigators. Deadwood and that grey one… shoot, I think I should know this one? Anyways, the both of them are crazy talented when it comes to that position, and the only other person on board with even that remotest of talent is you.” Isaac watched as Julia started to sputter, holding up his hand before he continued. “Look, you’re one of the best pilots I’ve ever known, and this is me, trusting you once more to keep us all alive. ‘Defy all expectations, and burn the true path,’ right?”
“Yeah… burn the true path. I get what you’re saying, Isaac, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not nervous. I’ve seen the speed at which either of those Equestrians do their jump calculations and its almost impossible to follow. Well, it would be impossible for anyone but me- oh, you’re good. Okay, I can see how this conversation will fully play out. You won’t hear a peep out of me, Isaac. ‘Defy all expectations, and burn the true path,’ indeed. See you in the black.” Julia stood up, drawing out a dataslate from a pouch on her side, tapping various symbols and retrieving a mathematics document. “I might as well try and get in on their odd pastime of trying to solve the unsolvable.”
“See you in the black, Julia.” Isaac stood up, taking both his and Julia’s mugs back over to the meal counter, the Equestrian at the counter smiling and nodding without saying a word. Taking the mugs, he tossed the liquid into a nearby Fluid Recycling Receptacle, adjusting his cook’s hat before it accidentally fell in. With a nod, Isaac left him to his devices, returning to the human quarters on the Fortress. The silence almost felt deafening, despite the low rumbling of the engines as the ship continued on its way through its variation of subspace, or at least, what Isaac assumed was subspace. He knew that Void-Drives were very much dangerous to use, though the reason why had been lost several millennia before. The Tunnel Drive, though, still amazed him with the use of the fundamental etheric force. The history archives detailed out every attempt at interstellar travel, even the intergalactic Gate network that the old Terran Ascendancy discovered in their waning years, but nothing came close to the feeling of wrong that occurred whenever the Fortress spun up its Drive.
“Still got that feeling of wrong, huh?” Isaac looked around before settling his eyes on a Gryphon peeking out from around a corner. Their uniform designated them as one of the Vehicle Technicians in the main Vehicle Bay, which meant that they were directly under the Matriarch’s jurisdiction. As he watched the Gryphon turn the corner and move towards him, he could tell by the thinner tail and the sashaying of the rear legs that it was a female, but which female, he was not entirely sure of. There were so many crew to know, and he preferred to stick with his security personnel. Just enough responsibility without all of the headache of commanding an entire starship. Of course, her white feathered head and dark brown body elicited a sort of recognition, but he could not recall the name for the life of him.
“I guess. I don’t feel it as readily as all of you, but you’ve got that… I guess mild sedative? What was its name again?”
“Coltix. It’s called Coltix. And trust me, you should have seen what happened after our first Drive test. A good fifth of the Command Crew had to be treated for depression, chronic anxiety, and some developed schizophrenia from the experience. We’ve got the ones worst off situated in a separate cryogenics bay, apparently, but I’m no Medical Division worker. I’m just a Vehicle Tech. Speaking of vehicles, how does the Solus Invictus stand up to the scrutiny of one of the main species of this space-faring universe?” Isaac winced when the Gryphon stated humans as a ‘main species.’ It was no secret, to most of the remainder of humanity, that they were a minority on the intergalactic stage. The Milky Way was all but closed-off, with the main Gate between that galaxy and M83 patrolled heavily by a force marked with N.E.C., a faction that no being had any real recollection of as far as he was concerned. Of course, his own personal archives did not deal with extra-galactic political scenarios, so for all he knew, they could be the Terrans from humanity’s cradle, the Earth.
“Yeah… I wouldn’t call us a ‘main species.’ There are more Thalrazyne, Torassi and Iiaynsin in this galaxy than any other species. Of course, there’s others, such as the moth-like Chunari, but they mostly work as engineers and technicians rather than soldiers. I don’t think a man-sized moth is very intimidating, anyways. But in regards to all that, I’ll swing back around and reiterate, humans are not a main species in this galaxy… or any galaxy anymore, for that matter. I’d tell you if I could, but there’s a lot of history that humans have lost since everyone lost contact several millennia ago with Old Earth.” Sighing, Isaac looked away, spying the Mag-Rail station not even a few minutes walk way. “If you want to know more, you’d have to get access to a Terran archive, but those are only in the Milky Way galaxy, and if the legends and myths are to be believed, humanity died out in that galaxy a long time ago. Eventually, we’ll all die out, with the sheer drop in birth rates, and we’ll be yet another galactic footnote, like the Unaffiliated Worlds Alliance.”
“Unaffiliated Worlds Alliance?”
“Yeah, a bunch of old war veterans and crackpot scientists who thought they could survive in M83 without aligning themselves with the Committee. Couldn’t get far without them, either. You’ve already had a decent run-in with them, otherwise your planet would have probably been harvested for its plentiful amounts of selenium.” The Gryphon raised an eyebrow, clacking her beak a little bit in what he assumed was a facsimile of the human habit of smacking lips when one was trying to think of a response. Of course, her facial expression was pensive, as she considered the information.
“… did you serve with the UWA?”
“Once upon a time, I guess. I was told to join the Games to train my people, train soldiers, scientists, leaders, people that could make a difference in our little war… I guess the fact that I’m one of the last living remnants of that organization shows how well that went. No one can really stand up to them, and no one really wants to anymore.” Isaac rubbed his face with his hands, an old nervous habit whenever he talked about his past. “But in regards to your question, the Solus Invictus is an impressive fortress. Not quite as intimidating as the Mars-class Fortresses I’ve seen around, but still impressive. The Mars-class Mobile War Fortresses are the popular model currently, followed by the Wyvern-II-class. The Nibiru-class Mining Fortress that I used to command was not something you normally saw, being quite literally a Mobile Mining Platform. MMPs like the Miner’s Defiance had to be almost rebuilt from the ground up if they became a Fortress.”
“So, basically a rock with engines?”
“Basically. Anyways, I’m going to turn in for the night. You want to talk more, we can later, Miss...”
“Gilda. Honorary member of Clan Steelwing. Have a good night, Isaac Humphries.” With that, Gilda turned to leave, Isaac turning back towards his quarters as he grasped the dog tags that hung around his neck. The lighting darkened as he returned to the human quarters, most of the other human members of the crew having long since gone to sleep. Taking to his bunk, he sighed as he lay down carefully on the soft mattress, its comfort something he was still getting used to. Such softness was never something you normally thought about, but his mind drifted to it, wondering if it was simply set up that way, or if it was down feathers or something entirely different. With a heavy sigh, he succumbed to his exhaustion, letting the darkening lights take him to the nightmares he knew would come from the Drive’s abnormal activation.
--------//|0|\\--------
“Realspace Transition in 1-0 minutes. All crew to your stations. Repeat, all crew to your stations.” Isaac awoke to Julia’s voice broadcasting through the P.A. system, announcing the nearing end of their almost four-day journey. Fitful nightmares had kept him in a heightened state of apprehension, though he had been given two days to rest and recuperate before he would be needed. Rolling over, he was met with a claw and a cup of coffee, the Gryphon from before smiling as much as she could while holding the disposable drink container.
“I was passing by on my way to the Vehicle Bay, and I was kind of thinking you’d need-” Isaac quickly grabbed the cup, downing it in a single gulp before he sighed, stretching as he stood up.
“Good coffee. Thanks. So, what’s the occasion, Gilda? Normally I’m not visited by one of the non-human members of the crew, and that includes our Commander.” Gilda nodded, stepping out of Isaac’s way as the latter began a series of stretches to limber up.
“Good coffee for new friends. I’m not one that a lot of the others talk with, or even get along with. I used to be… arrogant and prideful, but that was before the Coalition Security Forces training. I’ve been told I’m a prodigy with vehicular systems.” She demonstrated her coordination during her speaking with a twirl of her wrench through her claws before continuing on. “Besides, you’ve been called for several times. Considering how muted some of the announcements have been from down here, I can see how you missed them.”
“Someone was paging for me?”
“Yeah. You were to report to the Main Hangar to do a check before departing with Miss Zvaro-Jun down to Deepwell. There’s also the dataslate I was ordered to bring for you – we have a Command Transfer request from Equus about a ship called the Bastion. It’s definitely Gryphon-designed, with the long, box-like shape and the powerful Ion Engines. Oh, right. You didn’t know that my race developed and perfected the sub-Drive engines that the Solus Invictus uses, did you?” Isaac shook his head in the negative, noting to himself that he needed to read up more on the construction notes of the Fortress. Gilda chuckled as she watched Isaac become engrossed in his thoughts, about to speak when the announcement rang out.
“Realspace Transition commencing. All hands, brace for exit of Tunnel. Repeat, all hands, brace for exit of Tunnel.”
“Looks like we’re at Deepwell. Hopefully that ship of your people’s is here, Gilda. I think I’d like to see what-”Isaac braced himself as the Fortress decelerated, the uncomfortable thrumming of the Tunnel Drive disappearing into so much background noise as the crew bolted for their duty stations. Some medical staff galloped past, the Unicorns holding IV bags in their etheric fields as they took unconscious individuals to the Infirmary. Some had some decently bad head wounds, but a couple of the Pegasi that were carted past on hovering stretchers were far worse off, wing bones broken or an eye pierced by something. As one medic passed, Isaac grabbed her uniform quickly, bringing her muzzle directly in front of his face.
“U-uh, wha-”
“What the hell happened?! That wasn’t a rough deceleration, so what did this?” The medic desperately tugged out of Isaac’s grasp, backpedaling until she was at a safer distance from the human. Her eyes were wide as the realization dawned on him. The wounded being taken past all had some kind of scorch marks, suffering indicative of electrical burns.
“A-a conduit blew! Down near the simulators! Mechanics were adjusting the devices when one of the new conduits overloaded! I-I can’t stay, there’s too many wounded!” Before Isaac could speak, his arm’s implant began to beep rapidly as a message started to come through.
“Humphries, where the hell are you? Security is already on site, but we’re dealing with sabotage!” Isaac stopped, looking back at Gilda. Her eyes went wide as she tried to think of what could have happened.
“You want to help out new friends? Then grab your tools and meet me in the Simulator Center. I don’t think this has to do with Stoneclaw and his apparent superiority complex, but I hold no such hopes!” As Isaac sprinted away, his face set once more in a grimace of pain and anger, he looked at the ponies, Gryphons and other races around him. As the world began to fade into so much background noise, as the crowd faded into a blur around him as he tried to rush faster and faster, with a sudden jolt of adrenaline, he woke up.
Sitting up in his bed, he touched the wall nearest to him, bringing up an automatic display. At 23:05 ship-time, it was late, but the events of the previous day were still fresh in his head. Silas Stoneclaw was still in custody, and no sabotage had occurred. There was no transition for another four hours as far as he was aware of, which meant that the last hour or so had been one hell of a lucid nightmare. Glancing around, his eyes settled on a familiar Gryphon asleep on one of the empty bunks across from him. With a weak smile, he slid quietly off of his own bunk, creeping over and tapping her head.
“Huh-wha… oh, Isaac. I just had a terrible-”
“Nightmare? One where someone sabotaged the conduit in the Sim-Center?”
“Yeah, but how’d-”
“I had the same nightmare. It was so...” Isaac trailed off as he looked around again. It was quiet enough during the night-cycle aboard the Fortress, meaning that the graveyard duty shift was at least doing their jobs properly.
“Vivid. Like you were actually there-”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“If it’s checking the Sim Center, Isaac, I’m right there with you.”
--------//|0|\\--------
The Simulator Center was dark and silent save for the occasional buzzing of the electrical circuits in the room, leaving Gilda and Isaac grasping high-power flashlights as they did a quick sweep of the area. While their fears were allayed initially by the darkness, their fears became confirmed when they found one of the panels open and a small device inserted into the side of one of the secondary bypass conduits for the Tunnel Drive’s coolant system.
“Breaching charge. High-tech from the looks of it. Nothing like what your Coalition has. This looks more like-”
“Human technology, doesn’t it?” The sounds of rifles cocking sent a cold shiver down Isaac’s spine as the hairs on his neck stood on end. He could recognize the sound of UEC kinetic rifles locking their firing pins into position anywhere, and two were cocked back and ready to fire. With a slow motion, he stood up, turning to face two individuals that, if he did not know their actual names, he would have not recognized them at first with the suits they were wearing.
“Abigail White, Vasilis Zharkov. Let me guess-”
“Yeah. Nightmare about someone sabotaging the bypass conduit?”
“What she said.” Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose as he tapped on his wrist, sending a command to return the lights in the Sim-Center to day-cycle status. As the lights grew brighter, the extent of the supposed sabotage grew more evident, more panels around the room torn off the walls with those same breaching charges tacked onto each one. Abigail slung her rifle, approaching one as she held a personal scanner.
“Looks like it itself wouldn’t be enough to breach the conduit, just damage it enough to create an overload and flood this room with spent coolant. They’re mining charges, like the sort that-”
“The Miner’s Defiance once carried...” Isaac trailed off as he fell to his knees, his eyes wide as saucers as the implications weighed down on him. Old mining charges were notorious for their variable explosive radius, but they were wholly unreliable in regular applications outside of mining. The ones he now witnessed were set with a delicate hand, by someone with an incredible eye for detail. He only had two explosives experts, and one was a person he had never really- Isaac stopped, the thought dawning on him of the identity of the saboteur.
“What is it, Isaac?”
“Stand up slowly, and make sure you don’t make any sudden moves. Our saboteur is still here.”
“Of course I am, Humphries. Did you think I would leave such an important task to chance? Prophetic dreams aside, you all could not have- urk!” A purple glow enveloped a shimmering form as it lifted into the air, struggling and squirming as a bleary-eyed Twilight Sparkle entered the Sim-Center. Her expression was one of annoyance, and when the shimmering stopped, and she realized who she was grasping, it shifted to one of pure, unadulterated anger.
“Ah. I guess dreams don’t come true, do they, Reaper?” The man with the swirling helmet chuckled as he was gripped tightly, Twilight’s etheric field spreading further around him as he was restrained. Isaac brushed past Vasili, quickly grabbing the man’s sidearm before almost leaping to where Twilight was slowly putting Reaper down. Heavy breathing issued forth from him as he held the handgun to Reaper’s face, the pain and betrayal evident on his face.
“Ah, anger. An emotion I no longer exhibit. It’s just like that Stoneclaw brat. Did you know he actually tried to defend that Navigator of yours? Of course, you can’t really fight what you can’t see, but still, that Navigator could, even without magic. But am I getting ahead of myself? I think I am. You see, those charges won’t break the conduits as you surmised – the spent coolant running through them as the Tunnel Drive cools will burst the weakened conduit housing. Of course, that’s all a moot point now, isn’t it-” Reaper grunted as Twilight tightened her grasp. She could almost feel his blood pumping through his veins, his grimace as he tried to put on a brave face underneath that helmet of his. She desperately wanted to kill him, to tear him apart for what he had been working towards. However, the fact of the matter was that she needed to know who he was sabotaging for, why he was doing it-
“Okay, I’m done with this shit. Fucker’s gotta die.” Before Twilight could utter a word, a rifle shot echoed throughout the Sim-Center, a neat hole in the very center of Reaper’s helmet. A whistling sound issued forth from the helmet as it disengaged, displaying a creature that none of those present were familiar with in the slightest. It looked human, but just like the Committee Representative, his face looked too perfect, almost engineered, like a machine fresh off the assembly line.
As the body slumped in Twilight’s etheric grasp, footsteps and galloping hooves echoed throughout the corridor as security personnel pushed their way inside, aiming weapons around before locking onto the now motionless corpse of the human formerly known as Reaper. Breathing slowly, Twilight fell on her hindquarters, her eyes welling up with tears as she watched the second dead human she had known being carted away by security personnel. Isaac slowly knelt down beside her, gently placing his hand on her head and scratching behind her ears.
“I know you wanted to know who he worked for, but when you’re face-to-face with your enemy, sometimes you can’t hesitate. I hate to admit, but Vasili was right. The man tried to destroy the Solus Invictus. On a Human or Thalrazyne Fortress, that would have at least had you facing either an airlock eviction or a quick trip in a pod down to an uninhabited world. However… Abigail, Vasili, they come from a different time, with a different way to deal with things. We’ll deal with this, but -” Isaac stopped as he felt himself get hugged tightly from two different directions, Twilight squeezing him from the front, and Gilda hugging him from behind. Chuckling softly, he slowly stood, looking at his security personnel with an annoyed frown.
“Sir, we-”
“What were you doing? Sleeping on the job? If your response time was any slower, we may have been dealing with a Drive Breach scenario! We will be running drills for the next several days, since all of you seemed to be more inclined to not put any of your fellow personnel on the night roster! I will be going over, in meticulous detail, the importance of ship-board security! Now, move out! Every critical area must be secured! Go, go, go!” Seeing the security ponies scramble elicited an eye roll from Isaac, though the same reaction coming from his human security personnel was alarming, to say the least. He would have to instill discipline in them at some later point.
“Realspace Transition in 2-0 minutes. All hands, to your stations. Repeat, all hands to your stations. Maintenance teams, stand by. Medical teams, stand by.” The sound of Julia’s voice over the ship’s broadcast system was a bit of a relief, though Isaac was still annoyed at the situation. Reaper was both an incredible explosives expert and an adept unarmed combatant. His mind wandered back to the Miner’s Defiance, wondering if any of the random complications his Fortress had undergone had more of a sinister undertone than he had previously thought. Pushing those thoughts away, he focused his mind on the task at hand. As he tapped the implant in his arm to double-check that the singular VIP was secure in her quarters, an error message appeared as he desperately tapped across the screen, checking as many areas as he could access cameras for.
“I-Isaac? What’s… what’s wrong?” Isaac glanced up with a panicked look in his eyes, swallowing deeply as his gaze met with Twilight’s.
“It’s… It’s Akane Zvaro-Jun. She’s no longer aboard the Solus Invictus.”