All I could hear from within my tiny metal prison were the terrifying explosions and magic I could hear going off all around me alongside the constant muffled yelling of my wardens from outside. And with my hooves and wings bound in strange metal and magic, All I could do was curl up as best I could and wait while my wardens finished up with whatever they were doing. And hope that once they had finished that they would be too tired to do anything more with me.
I looked up in a panic at the smooth metal door of my prison when a particularly loud bang came from it as I heard one of my wardens yell something out from right outside. For just a moment I was convinced it was one of my wardens about to come and get me despite whatever was going on outside and I sucked in a breath. Nothing more ended up happening and I breathed a very quiet sigh of relief that they weren't coming to get me again just yet. There was no obvious way to open it from either side and yet whenever my wardens wished it to open it did as they wished. And when it came to me the doors would simply stand there, locking me within unless one of them wished to move me.
Somehow an even louder explosion echoed within my prison and I nearly screamed at the sounds of it, barely managing to bite into my lip to try and muffle it the best I could. If I screamed again they might have reason to come in and the last time they did that... Just the very memory of what they did to me caused my body to begin shaking and I nearly began crying. I forced myself to not and curled up even tighter than before to the point where I could feel where my restraints had bound me to begin to hurt. Why had I ever gone by myself to fetch that stupid ball...
I flinched as the most violent explosion yet rumbled throughout my prison, the very metal walls around me rattling from the force. The moment afterward, time seemed to freeze, the only things I could hear were my own subdued breathing and the slight hum of the far too bright light above me before it suddenly flared red then simply vanished. Not a second later I found myself forced against the wall beside me. My body seized up in fear and I scrunched my eyes shut.
I wanted to be home again. I wanted to cuddle up against my momma and poppa and never let go.
The Kestrel
“Critical hit! I repeat, critical hit from our burst lasers! Sensors are now detecting critical malfunctions in that slaver scums ship. I- oh yeah their ship’s definitely breaking apart now.”
Teron breathed out a sigh of relief as Veran called out over the ship's comms that they had won against the slavers. It had always been nerve-racking piloting a ship and simultaneously being the one to maneuver it around in a fight, though with the critical information they had acquired it had only become more so. Thankfully, at least this time, he had avoided everything but a few stray shots that got past the shields. He slowed the ship down while shifting it towards the now-defunct slaver ship.
“Good work Veran, glad to see your aim is as good as ever. Nox, how're the shields looking now?”
“Shields are now restored back to full functionality. Hull has suffered some minor permanent damage but otherwise, the Kestral is back to full functionality. I am now currently relocating to the storage bay now and getting ready to prep it to bring in anything useful that might've been left on the slaver's ship."
“Thank you Nox, I’ll bring the ship in a little closer before we all meet up there. With any luck, there will be some good finds among the scrap that we can actually make use of. And maybe some identification on any bodies of the slaves we can recover so we can at least make sure they aren't forgotten. It's not much, but we can at least make sure they're remembered.” It was a sad fate what happened to those slaves during the battle but as much as he hated it, he wasn't about to give in to the demands of those slavers for a tribute. He carefully maneuvered the ship so that the wreckage would now be within range of their mechanical arm before setting it to auto-pilot to keep up with the drifting wreckage and getting up to head over to the storage bay.
Veran voice crackled over the comms again just as he began his journey. “Hey captain, I ended up doing a preliminary scan before heading over and I think we have a fully intact pod among the wreckage. I'm not seeing picking up anything specific within it nor am I seeing any life, bless the souls of those slaves and damn those slavers, but something’s good has got to be in there.
Teron mulled in thoughts as he made his way over for a moment before responding. "A good find Veran. Meet up with me and Nox in storage and point it out for us. The less time spent here, the better.”
“Will do captain."
It was very dark and quiet in my prison now. So dark I couldn't even see anything and it was so eerily silent now. Were my wardens... gone? I felt hope swell slightly within me before I clamped down on it. They’d done this disappearing trick before, and I wasn’t going to fall for it again. The last time... I shivered as I thought about it, never again. So I waited, curled up in a ball while I listened for whenever they might return.
Time passed and slowly I found it harder and harder to breathe even as I took deeper and deeper breaths. Why was it so hard to breathe now and why was it getting colder. So cold. Before I knew it I was having to gasp for air but even that offered no relief. Why was it so cold? What... what was happening. I... so cold.
Teron whistled as he looked upon the pod they had recovered from the slaver's ship. It was a miracle that it had stayed fully intact despite the battle, but it was a miracle he'd gladly take. He looked over to Nox who was currently interfacing with the storage bay's control panel as he guided the many intricate parts in a fraction of the time it would take a human. He was quite glad he had them aboard, engi's as a whole were a good people despite the mysteries of their strange mechanical yet biological existence and their leaders were still doing whatever they could to help the Federation despite the iron grasp the resistance had managed to pull over almost all of Federation space.
Veran came up beside him smiling, another man wearing the Federation uniform just like him who served as the Kestrel's weapon master and the third of their motley three-man crew. The ship was severely undermanned but considering the circumstances, three would have to do. "So captain, what do you think they had hidden away in this pod? I personally think it's some sort of secret weapon but I'm curious about your thoughts."
Teron shrugged. "Honestly, as long as it's something we can use I'll take it. We need everything we can get if we're actually going to succeed."
Veran nodded. "That's fair enough. Hey Nox, how much longer until you can pop that thing open?"
Nox didn't look up from the interface as he responded. "Approximately fifteen seconds from now. All the protocols have been satisfied and we are merely waiting for the ship to finish integrating the pod's door into its system before it can pop it open."
Veran nodded, and just like engi had said, they didn't have to wait long before with a whir the pod's door slid open to reveal something that none of them had been ready for. For inside lay what seemed to be a small purple miniature horse slumped on the ground and bound with simple metal restraints in multiple places. And it looked like it had been alive before lack of oxygen had taken them in the pod despite the sensors not having picked up any life at all earlier.
For a moment Teron and Veran could only stare in shock at what lay within the pod while Nox looked on with the emotionless gaze of an engi. Teron snapped out of it first. "I- Nox! Get that horse thing over to the medbay, now! I'm not sure what it is exactly and if it's carrying any sort of disease you'll be immune to it. Veran, with me to the medbay observation room! We need to get it active and prepped for treatment. Whatever it is, it hopefully hasn't been too long that we can't at least save it. Let's move people!"