Year: 2495 - 4 Years Ago
Location: Equus System (Unexplored Space)
The stars twinkled in the vast ocean of space, silence filling the void as the large, earth-like planet orbited around it's nearby sun. Away from the growing chaos that was happening a few light years away, the world of Equus resided in isolation due to the current technological state of the many species and empires spread all around the planet. While there would be conflicts here and there from time to time, the nations and populations across Equus had not bore witness to the horrors that were occurring far away from their home.
But, as time would see it, the peace would not last for much longer. As the sun began to set on the Equestrian continent, the silence was broken by a large squadron of dark starships. Five of them bore bladed wings and two double-barreled cannons underneath their main hull, a purple glow emitted from the engines of the craft.
Three of them bore a different design from their escorts. At the sides of the bulky craft were two sharp wings with a cannon under each of them. On the dorsal section, four long fins extended out from the ship, and behind that was a long, tail-like section wielding six red pods underneath.
As soon as the ships zapped into the system, they swiftly began turning towards the planet nearby. The advanced technology that was rumored to be here according to a few scout ships would finally be in their grasp, and the enemy they had been facing for years would finally be snuffed out of existence.
At least, that was what the Komplex pilots believed, as another fleet arrived on the scene. Most of the newcomers, about six of them, were similar to each other. The front of the ship had a cockpit facing ahead of two large engines on the ship's side. On top of it were two racks of missile launchers, four in each one and painted with a light green color on the tip of each missile. Behind that and two large wings were a pair of large engines, two sets of fuel tanks and four fins spread around them.
The other three ships were different, and larger than the squadron of fighters escorting them. In between a large, bulky section that held the cockpit were two pylons carrying a large engine on each one. Behind it was a long section that formerly housed a small tank for ground missions, but was now carrying a box-like cargo container for recovery, something that would serve in the dropship's current mission.
Thanks to the intel provided by their own scouts, the pilots and commanders of the Forge would finally acquire the one bastion of hope they would need to combat the Komplex and end the war for good. But now, the enemy was here too, and they would have to fight them off in order to succeed in their mission. But the ancient technology they were sent to find were not the only task to fulfill, the scouts also reported large populations across the planet, and if the Komplex beat them there first, who knows what they would do to the natives there.
In the cockpit of one of the dropships, the pilot tapped a button on his control panel before speaking to the other fighters. "All right, everyone. You know the drill for this sort of trouble: dispose of the Komplex ships as fast as possible, and don't let a single ship reach the surface."
"Looks like there's a few troop transports, too." Another pilot said through the comms as a few of the Komplex fighters turned towards the incoming Forge squadron.
"Then let's take those ones out first!" Another excited pilot said gleefully, eager to blast the ships full of bots to space rubble.
"That sounds good, but don't get cocky, who knows what they have in store for us here." The dropship pilot said once more before finishing with, "Now, arm your missiles, everyone."
"Yes sir!" The squadron replied unanimously as four of the escorting fighters went ahead of their dropships, three of the Komplex fighters speeding towards them.
"Scarabs incoming!" One pilot said as another replied after him.
"Well handle the fighters, Tam, can you take out those transports for us?" The female pilot asked before her fellow pilot in question answered her.
"Ya got it, just keep me alive for a sec!" At that, Tam tapped a few buttons on his panel before it began beeping, signaling a lock on seconds later as the scarabs began firing red laser bolts at him and his peers.
Returning the favor, Tam's escorts fired back green bolts at the scarabs, both squadrons evading each others' attacks as Tam rolled around two of the incoming bolts. As his screen beeped a higher pitch a moment later, Tam pressed the buttons on his flight sticks before six missiles shot out from above his cockpit. Hoping to add a little distraction, the pilot fired several laser bolts at the dropships ahead, which began to fly erratically. Tam considered himself and his colleagues lucky that none of the bolts hit the missiles as they struck two of the now split up transports, one of them exploding a bright, fiery orange while another was sent spinning into one of the escorting interceptors, destroying both of them.
"Whoo! Nice one, Tammy!" The female pilot said as she formed up with Tam, the two now firing several more bolts at the two evasive scarabs as he replied.
"A tad crazy, but I think our luck hasn't run out yet, Vey." Not a second after he said that, Tam looked back to the trio of dropships, his excited expression turning to one of horror as two small Komplex ships appeared seemingly from the black of space, two missiles firing from one of them before striking one of the dropships, obliterating it in mere seconds.
Tam had regretted his poor choice of words as the lead dropship pilot spoke. "Locust stealth craft! They must've been hiding within that assault force!"
The two ships glowed a vibrant gold before vanishing completely out of sight, prompting a reply from Tam. "Keep an eye out, they could be anywhere with those cloaking devices on them!"
As the two Forge pilots broke off and continued their pursuit of the attacking scarabs, one of the stealth craft decloaked behind Tam's fighter, a missile detaching from one of it's launchers.
"TAM! BEHIND YOU!" Vey cried out as the missiles flew at Tam's ship.
Without wasting a second, Tam throttled his flight sticks forward, sending the ship forward like a rocket. As the missile pursued him, Tam flew towards the last Komplex transport and looped around it, the missile striking the enemy ship's hull as Tam flew away from the bright explosion produced from the weapon.
"There goes the last troop transport!" Tam said as another stealth craft decloaked ahead of him, only to be shot down by another ship.
"You're lucky you got us here with you, Tam, that bot almost shot you down!" Vey said in an almost scolding tone as she formed up beside her friend.
"Thanks, though. I owe ya." Tam replied as the two fighters flew back up to the lead dropship, the remaining scarabs and locust forming up once more as they sped towards the planet.
"They're heading for the planet!" The pilot of the second dropship said worriedly as his escorting dropship's pilot spoke up.
"Follow them, we can't let them reach the surface!" Without another word, the remaining Forge starships sped after the Komplex, hoping to prevent whatever disaster the Komplex would cause down below...
-Stratusburg-
The sun was slowly setting above the distant mountains as sunset was approaching the town of Stratusburg, most of the town seemed quiet and empty, barely anypony was out and about their homes or shops, save for one building.
At a large, decorated park near the town, a huge gathering of ponies was present. Mares, stallions, foals, so many ponies were here for a special occasion. Today was the day one of the town's residents, Golden Flare, would be marrying the love of his life, Swift Light. The two had fawned over each other for a long time, as the townsponies could attest. While her crush wasn't a pegasus, Swift adored Flare for his skillful effort in fixing and driving the zeppelins visitors would use to see the beautiful town they lived in. He even managed to get one zeppelin that got caught in a hazardous snow storm back home last Hearth's Warming.
As for Swift herself, Flare admired her fast reflexes when guiding her wingponies for weather duty, not to mention the tasty treats she learned to bake as a filly. He seemed to recall one day where the fillies were surrounding her for more of those delicious strawberry cupcakes she made for the foals at the party.
And today, they would both commit to a new life, one where they could live together and, perhaps, start a family in the town. And as far as Flare and Swift knew, everyone in the town wanted to be here to celebrate. Looking at the mirror in front of him, Flare fixed his buttons on his suit as one of the bridesmaids trotted over to him. "Your friend's all set, how're you holding up?"
"Just need to fix this one button, Star." Flare replied as he fixed said button on his shirt. Then, taking one more look at the mirror, he smiled in satisfaction before turning to face his friend. "Alright, I think that should do it."
Star nodded with a smile as she trotted over to him, the two of them then trotting out onto the stage, the crowd looking to the two as they stopped in front of another pony in the center of the stage.
As Flare looked beyond the crowd, he saw her: a gorgeous mare in a wedding dress. She bore a whitish-pink coat with a gold mane and tail, her two cobalt blue eyes returning his gaze as the mare began trotting over to the stage, a single stallion and Flare's closest friend, Thunder Show, escorting her.
As the two reached the stage's edge, Thunder Show stopped behind Swift as she stood herself onto the stage in front of Flare, the two looking into each other's eyes warmly as the mare in front of them began the proceedings.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two in mare-trimony. For many moons, these two have come to know each other more and more as the days went by, and as that time passed, they have become more than friends. Not just that, but everypony here has helped that bond grow, and today is the day that we celebrate this growing bond."
Looking to Flare, the mare spoke again. "Golden Flare, do you take Swift Light to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do." The stallion replied with a pleasant smile as the mare looked to Swift.
"And Swift Light, do you take Golden Flare to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"Swift Light returned Flare's gesture as she replied to the mare between them. "I do."
The mare smiled at the two before finishing. "Then with that said, I hereby pronounce you Mare and Colt!" And with that, the two kissed passionately, the crowd before them cheering and applauding the site for a good moment before the two broke their kiss.
As the applause died down, the mare in between Flare and Swift opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as she heard an odd sound from far away. After a moment, Flare and Swift's ears perked up as they took notice of the noise, which slowly grew louder as whatever was making that sound was getting closer.
Next to Sweet Star, her sister, Dawn, looked up to her sister. "What's that noise, sis?"
"I... I don't know, sweetie." The mare replied worriedly as the crowd began to look around.
The crowd's curious scans were halted by Thunder Show's cry of fear. "Up there!" He said as he pointed a hoof to a spot in the sky, the crowd following his direction to see.... something strange. What seemed to be several dark objects in the sky flew at a terrifying speed towards the town, the sound getting louder as they approached.
Swift held Flare's hoof as she asked him. "What are those things?"
Flare was about to speak to her, but his words died in his mind as the strange objects unleashed a flurry of red energy at the town. Several of the buildings near the park were struck by the bolts, exploding in a bright blaze as the strange objects flew overhead, many in the gathered crowd screaming at the horrific sight before them.
"We're under attack!" One of the mares in the crowd cried out as Flare looked to Thunder.
"Get everyone to the train, we need to evacuate!" The stallion nodded in agreement as he flew over to the crowd to get them ready for evacuation.
"I'll help get everyone to the trains, too." The newlyweds held each other in an embrace for a moment before Sweet Star and her younger sister trotted over to them.
"Flare, can you help me get the patients in the hospital to the trains?" Flare nodded without hesitation before the trio began trotting out to the burning town, Sweet Star grabbing Dawn and placing her on her back as they all raced down the streets to the hospital.
As the three ponies galloped through the burning streets of Stratusburg, Flare heard a loud zoom overhead before stopping to look up, his two companions doing the same as they saw a closer view of one of the attackers. The thing seemed to have large, sharp wings, and a tail splitting into four more tendrils.
At least, that was all that could be made out from the object as it sped past them, firing at another building on the other side of the town. As the building exploded, the trio continued their gallop to the hospital up ahead. The trio's gallop was once again cut to a halt, however, as one of the dark objects flew around, flying right at them.
"Look out!" Flare cried out in horror as the object flew at them, a section of it glowing an angry red as it prepared to fire.
But instead of a fiery death, the object exploded in the air, the shockwave blowing the manes of the three ponies far back as another object flew over them. As the trio observed the newcomer, Flare noticed a different look to this one. It's armor was a brighter grey, a faint tint of blue on some sections of it. It's hide emitted a blue glow as it flew over the trio, who all watched it fly away before they once again drew their focus to the hospital.
As the three of them continued onward to the hospital, they all saw the building in question partially shrouded in smoke from the other destroyed buildings. Their smiles still held upon seeing it, however, as they could now get all of the patients inside out and to the train station.
As the three of them stopped to get their bearings, Sweet Star looked to Flare as her sister hopped off of her back and stood next to her. "Okay, I need you to help me with the patients laying in the stretchers, we have to get them all out and take them to the train, it'll be an agonizing process, but what else can we do?"
"I'll do all I can, Star." Flare replied as the mare looked to her sister.
"And you, unless I tell you to do otherwise, you stick close to me while we do what we need to do to save everypony in there, understand?"
The filly nodded in agreement, but she quickly let out a horrified scream upon seeing one of the dark ships fly towards the hospital. As Flare and Sweet Star turned to look, they both shared Dawn's horrified gaze as they watched the attacker fire several more bolts of energy at the hospital, the building exploding as debris shot out from the blast.
"NO!!!" Sweet Star cried out in terror as she stared at the destroyed building, her body frozen with fear as Flare snapped out of his terrified trance and trotted over to her.
"Star, we can still save the others, let's get back to the station!" It took her a moment, but the mare was able to overcome her grief and reply to her friend.
"Right.. right, we should head back." With that, the three ponies turned and began to make their way back to the train station, Sweet Star once again carrying her sister on her back as they made the perilous trip through the nearly destroyed town.
As they galloped, the view started to become smoky, more explosions and bright red and green flashes above seemed to indicate something else was happening, and that thought was even more apparent as one of the dark ships spiraled down into one of the last intact buildings, both being engulfed in the blaze that followed as the three ponies continued onward.
Within a few minutes, the train station was visible, smiles growing on the trio's faces as they felt the nightmare seemingly coming to an end.
"There it is!" Flare said aloud as his friends looked to the train, Swift Light looking back to them as she waved a hoof out.
"Over here!" The newlywed mare yelled to the incoming trio, but they all stopped as Flare looked over the train in horror.
"Swift! Get away from the train!" The stallion cried out too late as one of the dark ships flew towards the train, shooting several red bolts of energy at it. Not a second later did the train explode, car by car. Swift didn't have a second to realize the danger she was in as the car closest to her exploded, sending her flying into a pile of burnt debris as Sweet Star and her sister screamed in terror.
"SWIFT!!!" Flare yelped horrifically as he and the two surviving sisters raced over to her, the mare seemingly still from the impact the crash had caused. As they got next to her, they could see several fresh wounds and blood starting to pour from them. Flare was horrified by the rather large wound in Swift's stomach, blood pouring out from it as Flare sat down, holding his wife in his arms.
"Egh-...F... Flare?" The mare choked out as Flare looked into her eyes, tears welling up in them as he spoke to her.
"Don't let go of me, I'm gonna get you somewhere safe, I promise!" The stallion said to Swift as she tried to speak, only for Sweet Star to speak up.
"Those wounds look bad, if we're going to get her to safety, we need to hurry!"
"No." Swift croaked out as she began to cough, blood spewing out of her mouth as she tried to find words. As she weakly opened her eyes, she looked to Flare and his friends, the mare forcing a smile as she spoke. "F-Flare....please, I-I don't think I'm going to-"
Flare cut her off. "Don't say that, I'm not going to lose you here!" He almost yelled before whimpering, a tear flowing down as he said, "Please."
Swift could only stare weakly at her husband as she tried to speak once more. "Flare... I-ugegh-....p-romise me one thing...." The stallion nodded as she said her last words. "..Keep your friends safe.... pl-plea...." She tried to speak further, but she began to hack and cough from the blood filling her throat as Flare held her.
"No, no no NO NO! SWIFT, PLEASE! DON'T GO!!!" Flare whimpered in vain as he held his dying wife, the mare choking up a few more times before falling limp, not an inch of movement from her body as Flare croaked once more. "...S-Swift?"
It was too much, unable to control himself, Flare buried his face into his wife's chest, sobbing loudly as Sweet Star held her sister tight, both shedding tears as they mourned the loss of the former's wife.
After a long moment of sorrow, Flare croaked again. "*sniff* Oh no...." The sound of burning buildings was interrupted by a loud noise from above, a bright light prompting Flare and the other two mares to look up at whatever was hovering over them. After a few seconds the light lowered itself to the ground, stopping when it seemingly landed on the dirt road underneath.
As the light dimmed, Flare got a good look at what had landed in front of them. It looked like some kind of alien ship, one unlike any he'd seen in his life, in between the large cockpit were two racks of missiles, a few of them having been fired at whatever it had been fighting up in the sky.
As he shakily stood up to face the strange ship, his grief slowly dissipated, replaced by burning anger. If these were the ones who caused his wife's death, he'd fight them until they shot him dead, assuming they had some kind of ray gun on them to use.
But those hateful emotions were sent spiraling out of his mind as a door on a cube-like section in the back of the ship opened, two bipedal creatures stepping out and running over towards the trio. As they neared them, one of them spoke up. "Thank God we found you, we have to get you all out of here! It's not safe!"
Dawn Star started to trot towards the two beings, but was stopped by her sister, who questioned them warily. "Who are you? What did you do to our home?!"
"Us? More like what did we try to stop?" The creature retorted as he waved his arm around the now burning city before repeating, "Now if we can stop arguing, let's get out of here before the smoke takes us!"
Flare was hesitant, but seeing as there was nowhere else to go, he forced himself up and steady, placing Swift's body on his back and joining up with Sweet Star and her sister as they followed the aliens into the ship.
As they entered the spacious section in the back of the vessel, the door began to close as one of the creatures spoke to them. "It's not much, but it should do until we get you all somewhere safe."
Flare set his wife's body down on the floor as the door shut, a clean white light filling the room as the other being went through an open section that lead to what must have been the cockpit. As he trotted over to Sweet Star and her sister, he called out to the other officer, who stopped as he heard his voice. "Who are you?"
The officer took a breath before answering, taking a seat as he began to explain the situation. "I'm Commander Haggs of the Forge. We tried to prevent an attack by an enemy force known as the Komplex." He started to point out through one of the windows showing the now burning city of Stratusburg. "If you're looking for who caused this mess, it's them."
Flare and his companions gasped in shock as Dawn asked Haggs, "But why? What did we do to them?"
"As far as I know, nothing." The Forge officer looked out to the window before continuing, "But from what we can tell, they were after something that lurks in this place, and they must've attacked to clear up any witnesses."
"What were they after?" Sweet Star asked the commander.
"From what our intel says, they believe there's some ancient weaponry belonging to the UJU KON, they inhabited the galaxy long ago, but when they mysteriously vanished, they left behind many powerful devices to be found... And if the intel's correct, then the Komplex has discovered some of that tech here on this planet." He took a breath as he finished with, "Unfortunately, we're not in the shape for digging artifacts. After that little scuffle up there, we've got to get back to base as soon as we drop you off somewhere safe."
Flare took his gaze away from the commander, looking to the view of Stratusburg, which burned brightly in the night before looking to his deceased wife once more. These Komplex beings, these.... monsters, they had taken everything away from him, all the ponies he cared about, his home, even his wife. If he was going anywhere, then it would be up there with the Forge.
"Actually, I think you can just make your way back right now, cause I'm coming with you." Flare said to Haggs, who looked to the stallion in puzzlement.
"What do you mean?" The officer asked before Flare replied.
"Everything I have, everything I cared about," Then, turning to look at his wife, "...Everything I loved... it's all gone. If you drop us off somewhere, there won't be a future for us after what happened here. And even if there were, I'm not going to just forget about what happened here let those... Komplex butchers take more lives away." Looking to his friends, then back to Haggs, he finished with, "So take me with you.... please."
Sweet Star added her own decision into the conversation. "I agree with Flare, we're the only three ponies we have left, and if we're going anywhere, then we're going with you."
Haggs looked to them for a moment, then after taking a glance to the cockpit, he made his decision. "Pilot, change of plans, set course straight for base, our friends here are coming along with us."
"Yes sir." The pilot replied as the ship started to shake, indicating it's take-off procedures were commencing. After a moment, the orange glow from outside became a dark black as the ship slowly but surely began to exit the planet's atmosphere.
As the ship steadied in flight, Haggs looked to the group once more, sharing the pained expression as he concluded his chat with the trio. "I'm sorry we couldn't save everyone there, and I understand if this change is difficult." The trio looked to the commander in understanding as he finished. "But, if I may, allow me to say.... Welcome to the Forge."
Flare forced a smile as he replied. "Thank you, Commander."
"It's the least we can do after what happened back there." Sweet Star added as Dawn sniffled a little, still shaken from the traumatic incident down below.
Flare's expression returned to a sorrowful one as he asked Haggs, "I think we'll need a moment, we... we had a rough day back there."
"I understand, if you need us, we'll be in the front." The trio nodded as he made his way back to the cockpit, the trio lying down together as Dawn sobbed into her sister's chest.
Sweet Star looked to Flare, who wiped his eyes as she spoke to him. "Flare... I'm so sorry about Swift."
"It's fine, Star... It wasn't your fault." Wrapping a hoof around the two mares, he continued. "But, now that we're safe, we have the chance to give those murderers some payback. I don't care if it takes years, or whatever jobs we get when we arrive at their base, if it helps in stopping the Komplex, I'm all in."
Sweet Star returned the gesture, holding Flare's free hoof as she replied. "We'll be with you all the way, Flare."
The widowed stallion smiled hopefully as he leaned into his friend, both of them shutting their eyes as they tried to rest for the time being. Indeed, the road would be rough, there would be tests, struggles, and even more pain to suffer through. But Flare was sure that someday, wherever he and his friends would be, they would eventually give the Komplex a taste of their own medicine. But, for now, all they needed was rest.