//------------------------------//
// Act V: Build to Battle 
// Story: Snap Ships: Battle for Equus 
// by Admiral Wyatt Stone 
//------------------------------//

-Equus System, Orbital-

Golden Flare pulled his control sticks back as he saw the Komplex mothership, slowing his fighter down as he examined the area. Near the moon in orbit was the Apollo, it's heavy cannons taking aim at the large enemy mothership nearby as loads of fighters engaged the Komplex attack ships. There were so many in the area Flare felt he couldn't count them all, though he could spot several sabres around the battlefield, along with a few trident gunships taking on the large scorpion dropships.

All in all, the battle had heated up since he was down on the planet below, and unless he did what he had to do, it would all be for naught and the Komplex would not only take the only friends he had left, but his homeworld as well.

Focusing his grip on the controls, Flare looked to Aegis as he asked, "Aegis, can you get me a scan on that mothership? I want a weak point for us to hit."

"Already on it, boss. Gimme a sec." The robot replied as Flare tapped a button on his controls, accessing the fleet comms as he overheard the chatter from many pilots around the field.

"Fire! Keep up the pressure on the orbital perimeter!" One female pilot ordered as another male one spoke up after.

"Don't even let them breathe on that planet!" Flare looked to the large mothership as he listened in on the transmission, seeing several fighters flying around the sector as they fought the Forge ships.

After a moment of watching the battle, however, Flare raised an eyebrow as he saw all of the Komplex ships break off from their opponents, fleeing back to the mothership as he watched in puzzlement.

Said puzzlement was apparently being shared by the other pilots nearby as one spoke up. "Are they... retreating?" 

Flare seemed to ponder the idea, but his eyes were brought back to the mothership itself, seeing a bright purple surge of energy flashed around the exterior of the mothership.

Flare stared at the enemy flagship in surprise for a moment, only to look on in horror as several more electrical beams charged up around the mothership's hull.

His horror was amplified to a much higher degree as he watched the mothership charge up a good bit longer before unleashing an enormous wave of energy, decimating any and every fighter that was unfortunate enough to be in range. Flare's comms were overwhelmed with the screams of each of the pilots that were hit before being replaced by static.

"NO!!!" Flare cried out fearfully as he watched the Apollo, which was struck by the shockwave as well, though instead of exploding in a bright blaze it was instead shoved away from the mothership, drifting in space as several zaps of energy flashed around the damaged battlecruiser.

Tapping his console, Flare entered the comms network as he spoke worriedly to his peers on the Apollo. "Flare to Apollo, come in! I repeat, come in!"

The stallion pilot felt a small wave of relief hit him as he heard another voice. "Apollo here, we've been pretty banged up here from that shockwave! Weapon systems are down, and defensive plating is at critical integrity! What's your status, Lieutenant?"

The feeling of relief died as quick as it had come as Flare replied. "My friends and I have acquired the UJU tech, some of it's been installed into my ship, a stealth device and some kind of singularity weapon!"

"Excellent, Flare, can you give us a hand here with that tech of yours?" The Apollo captain asked as Flare responded.

"I think so, if I can get close enough to fire this singularity driver at the mothership, we might be able to cripple it, if not outright destroy it."

The captain seemed to ponder the idea with swift haste as he replied to Flare. "That sounds like a good idea, but hurry, our sensors indicate they're preparing for another wave!"

"What about you guys?" Flare asked as he watched the Apollo drift away from the field, then looked back to the mothership as the captain replied.

"Other than you, we've ran out of fighters to send out. You're on your own."

Flare gripped his controls as he replied once more. "Understood command, Flare out."

As Flare lifted a hoof to tap the fleet comms off, Flare could hear the voice of Dawn Star, who had stayed aboard the Apollo during his trip to the planet below speak to him. "Go get'em, Flare! I believe in you!"

The stallion smiled at the filly's words as he held his hoof over the button for a moment, then returning it back to his right control stick as he prepared to thrust his ship into the battle.

"Aegis, give me all the power you got and feed it to the engines, we're going full throttle at them!" Flare said to his robot friend as he did his work, Flare thrusting the flight sticks forward as he spoke to him once more. "And hold on!"

With that, the sabre shot out from the planet's atmosphere, hidden from enemy eyes and scanners as Flare tried to intercept the mothership.

As Flare guided his ship towards the Komplex structure, he squinted slightly as he saw a small set of ships flying close to his flight path, the stallion becoming alert as he saw what the new arrivals were. "Sawfly minelayers!"

Flare flew upwards above the incoming ships as he avoided the newly laid mines behind them, keeping his focus ahead of him as the mothership became slightly more close to his position.

"My scans say there's more of them up ahead! Watch out!" Aegis said as Flare spoke back to him.

"And the mothership?"

"Just a little longer on that!" The robot replied as Flare saw several more sawflies flying near his current path, the stallion rolling around as he narrowly dodged the mines laid onto the battlefield.

"Good thing they aren't locked onto us, just don't touch them and we'll be fine." Flare said to himself as he continued flying, his ears perking as he heard Aegis speak up to him.

"Got it, the mothership's power core extends all the way down through the lower section. If we can break it open with that weapon of ours, we might just win this thing!"

Flare smirked as he asked his partner, "Distance?"

Aegis tapped his console as he got a numerical counter, which decreased rapidly as their sabre inched ever so closer to the mothership. "We're about 1200 meters from weapons range, boss."

"Keep me informed!" Flare replied once more as he saw another wave of sawflies ahead, flying downwards to avoid their deployed weaponry behind them before steadying his flight path towards the mothership.

Flare almost screamed as he saw another wave of minelayers ahead, this time they were flying in a vertical formation, giving the stallion pilot almost no time to prepare as he rolled his ship to the right, slipping right past a set of mines laid behind the Komplex ships.

Flare looked around for a moment, not taking a moment to breathe as he kept his focus on reaching the mothership.

"800 meters!" Aegis said to Flare as he flew past two sawflies, not having to dodge the mines they were laying behind them as he sped onwards towards the Komplex warship.

Flare experienced another wave of panic as he saw more sawflies heading into his flight path, narrowly evading collision with them only to swiftly take notice of a squadron of incoming scarabs just above his ship. Flare jerked his ship downwards a little as he just barely missed them before steadying his grip on the controls, flying further towards the mothership as he looked out to the field of space ahead of him.

Another squadron of sawflies were heading into his path, once again in a vertical fashion. Gripping his flight sticks, Flare rolled to his right as he slipped past the Komplex minelayers, barely avoiding collision with the last one behind him as he sped closer to the mothership. Flare felt a spark of hope within him as he noticed the closer proximity he was not at near the mothership, but that thought was stopped as another minelayer squadron flew near him. Rolling to his left, Flare once again dodged the incoming squadron that was now laying mines behind him before wiping the sweat off of his brow.

"500 meters, just a bit more!" Aegis said as Flare noticed another wave of sawflies, flying above them as he dodged their freshly dropped mines. He prayed that they wouldn't have to keep this crazy flying up for much longer as he tried to keep focus on speeding towards the mothership.

Flare's prayers were answered for a short moment as he didn't see any minelayers ahead, but of course, it was only for so long as he spotted another squadron up ahead. Flying downward, Flare dodged the incoming squadron as Aegis spoke up again.

"200 meters!" Flare smirked as he took in the numbers, just a little more and this little operation of his would be finished.

The mothership was much closer now, Flare could see the large structure much better at this view, but he didn't have time for sightseeing as he spotted another sawfly squadron. Diving down again, Flare avoided collision with the enemy craft with ease, but then ascended upwards as another set of pre-deployed mines were seen just up ahead of his ship.

After dodging the set of explosives, Flare heard the que he had so desired to hear. "We're in range! The weapon's all yours, pal!"

Not wasting a second, Flare pressed his joysticks' triggers before the large UJU driver opened up, the cylindrical weapon inside the launcher being shot out towards the mothership.

As Flare pulled back his control sticks, he watched as the device activated, glowing a bright gold as it began to spin outrageously fast. Taking a bit of caution, Flare pulled the throttle sticks further back as he backed his ship away from the device, which began to pull on the mothership as the stallion looked to Aegis. "What's the status of the mothership?"

Aegis sounded confident as he replied. "I think it's working, the exterior hull near the device is being pulled off." Then, seeing a high energy signature on his console, he looked to Flare in horror before continuing. "They're preparing to fire!"

Alarmed, Flare turned back to the mothership as sections of it began to flash with purple energy, the flashes becoming more prominent as Flare closed his eyes, bracing for his demise.

But, when he noticed the light fading, Flare took another look to see that the energy surges had stopped, a large purple explosion appearing on a section of the mothership as the red crystal structures started to lose their color. 

Turning to Aegis, he asked him, "What just happened?"

The small robot gave a thankful grin on his face screen as he answered. "...It worked, it damaged the mothership's core significantly as it pulled more and more of the exterior armor apart!"

Taking in the information, Flare smiled as he looked back to the mothership, more explosions appearing around it as Flare sped forward, pressing the firing triggers as he called back the device.

"Let's get out of here!" The stallion said as he slowed his ship down in front of the shiny driver, which hooked itself back into it's large launcher just as Flare thrusted his flight sticks at max throttle once more. Turning the ship around back to the planet, Flare's ship and the Apollo's hull reflected a bright purple glow from the mothership as it continued breaking apart thanks to it's damaged core. After a good punch of speed upward, Flare squinted his eyes as the light became almost blinding, the mothership exploding behind his fighter as he slowed down, turning his ship around to get a better look at the sight behind him.

Flare smiled as he saw a large field of debris that was once the mothership floating out into space, the deployed minefield below his ship exploding as the sawflies that layed them began to seemingly drift off into space like the mothership's debris.

"Did we win?" Aegis asked as he turned to look at Flare.

"Yeah... I think we did." Flare said as he began to laugh in excitement, Aegis letting out a whoop of his own as the two celebrated.

After the moment of excitement had washed over them, Flare heard a beep from his control panel, indicating someone was trying to call him over the comms. Tapping the button, he could see two screens open up, one showing the captain of the Apollo, while the other showed Sweet Star, Twilight and her friends looking to him with smiles as Sarun spoke from behind Star. "That was quite an explosion up there!"

"Yeah, almost got blinded up here." Flare replied with a laugh as the Apollo's captain spoke up.

"Well done, Lieutenant Flare. If it weren't for you, we probably would've been turned to space dust over here."

Pinkie jumped into frame as she added, "Yeah, and on top of that, you saved Equestria 'cause of that up there!"

The Forge pilot smiled warmly as he replied to the captain. "Just doing my job, everyone."

Twilight smiled as she gave her thoughts to her friend. "Nonetheless, you did amazing up there, and we're all proud of you."

"Thank you, Twilight." Flare responded as Sweet Star spoke up.

"We'll get ourselves ready and meet you back at the Apollo, Pinkie's been eager to meet everyone up there."

"Do you really think we will be burned away so swiftly, rodent?" Another, unwelcome voice emerged through the comms as Flare's ears perked, Aegis sounding worried as he spoke to his maker.

"Uh, boss? I'm picking up another ship emerging from the rubble, and it's coming right at us!"

The stallion gripped his controls steadily as he looked to his friends. "Guys, keep the hangar open for me," Then, turning his ship around towards the mothership's wreckage, he finished with, "..I'm not coming home just yet."

Seeing as they couldn't convince him to think otherwise, the two parties looked to Flare in concern. "Be careful out there, Flare!" The captain said as Sweet Star spoke in urgency.

"Hold him off, Flare! We'll be up there soon!" The medical mare then began to make her way towards the nearby gladius dropship behind her alongside her friends as the signal cut out, leaving Flare and Aegis alone to confront their new enemy.

"It's about time you came to me, now why don't we settle this like real stallions would, or, men, as my pals say it?" Flare said with slight embarrassment as he pushed his throttle sticks forward, speeding towards The Immortal's ship as it flew towards the Apollo.

"Enough of this pitiful effort!" The Komplex commander said in anger as he tried to spot Flare's ship, which was nearing his position as he finished with, "I'll destroy you, Golden Flare, if it's the last thing I do!"

"We'll see about that, butcher!" Flare responded in a similar tone as he prepared to decloak, permitting him the ability to fire as he closed in on The Immortal's wasp.

Aboard the Apollo, Dawn Star watched through one of the exterior screen ports on her console as she witnessed the imminent battle, feeling a little worried for Flare's safety as she watched The Immortal's fighter close in towards the Apollo.

Pressing a button on his controls, Flare pressed the triggers as his ship decloaked, firing a concentrated wave of green bolts at the enemy craft. Almost all of the shots struck the fighter's hull as Flare sped past The Immortal, tapping the cloak back on as he began to turn for another pass.

Dawn watched in awe as her friend's ship vanished after delivering the sudden blow, cheering in excitement with a few of the other officers watching from the windows as she rooted for Flare. "Get him, Flare! You've gotta do it!"

Her messages couldn't be heard by Flare however as he continued speeding into the starry void beyond, preparing for another attack. The stallion seemed to take pleasure in his opponent's frustrated growl as he began to turn his ship back towards the slowing wasp. Tapping the cloak button and taking aim, Flare fired another round of shots at The Immortal, hitting the starboard wing several times before it broke off, Flare narrowly dodging past it as he tapped the cloak back on again.

The Immortal seemed to sound impressed at his opponent as he spoke to Flare, who sped up high into the stars again as he prepared for yet another attack pass. "It seems I have misjudged your kind by much more than I expected, you have discovered how to use the awesome power that the UJU technology possesses." 

"You might as well give it up, Immortal, do you really think you can shoot down something you can't even see?" Flare retorted at the Komplex commander as he turned his ship around, preparing for another pass as his opponent spoke up.

"Well, as you're about to find out," The Immortal replied as his ship began to roll around slightly, it's dorsal side turning to face Flare's ship before he finished his sentence. "I've learned to do just that."

Pressing the triggers, Flare fired another wave of laser bolts at his opponent, once again damaging the previously repaired turret at the back as he sped towards The Immortal's ship.

The Forge pilot would realize his maneuver would be a terrible mistake, however, as a small device launched out from the wasp, reaching a good distance away from the fighter before exploding near Flare's ship. The stallion cried out in pain as he was flung around in his cockpit, the shockwave sending him flying across the battlefield as sparks and smoke bled out from the sabre's armor.

Dawn yelped in horror as she watched Flare's ship spiral through space, the damaged fighter emitting smoke as she witnessed the ensuing fight outside the Apollo.

Flare grunted as he tried to grip his controls, shaking his head as he heard The Immortal speak once more. "Ah, and so it ends, while you showed me promise as a warrior, I'm afraid this effort of yours was a futile one."

Flare tried moving his control sticks, but his sabre wouldn't move. Looking to Aegis, he opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped as The Immortal spoke up once more. "Now, you die."

Looking out his window, Flare could see a single missile shoot out from The Immortal's wasp, flying right at him as Aegis spoke up. "Well, it was a nice run we had, right boss?"

Flare looked to his friend one last time as he replied. "Yeah... Yeah it was." The two looked away from the tense sight above them, Flare closing his eyes as he waited for death.

But death would not be taking his life today, as another flurry of green bolts shot out at the missile, destroying it before it could hit Flare.

The voice of a familiar mare spoke through the comms as the stallion's eyes opened in surprise. "Get away from him, you monster!"

"Sweet Star?! What are you doing?!" Flare asked in surprise as he looked out his ship's window, a gladius dropship being escorted by two other sabres and a trident flying past him as his friend replied.

"Saving you two, that's what I'm doing!" As Flare's rescuers flew around The Immortal's starship, Flare looked to Aegis as the little robot returned the gesture.

"Aegis, can you get us moving again?" Aegis said as he tapped a few buttons on his console before replying.

"Sure, I can get our emergency thrusters to turn us around, but it won't get us far."

Flare smirked as he spoke to his friend. "Well, seeing what's happening up there, we won't need to." Looking out his window, he could see the trident gunship fly past the damaged wasp, the two aft turrets firing at it's aft side before the engine exploded, leaving The Immortal dead in the water as it sat in it's place.

Holding onto his triggers, Flare sat in his seat as his allies flew next to his ship, surrounding The Immortal as Flare's ship slowly turned around to face him.

The Immortal grunted in frustration as he spoke once again. "Agh, defeated... by a bunch of natives! This... this is impossible!"

Twilight sounded stern as she spoke to the Komplex leader. "Yeah, well, you may have your powerful ships and advanced weapons, but there's one thing Flare and the Forge have that you don't!"

"And it ain't that fancy UJU tech we found back there!" Rainbow yelled at The Immortal through the comms as Flare spoke up.

"No, it isn't. It's the magic of friendship!" Flare said with a smirk as he looked to Aegis, mouthing a word to him as the robot saluted in understanding. Then, turning back to the wasp ahead of him, Flare continued. "Also, my not-so-immortal friend, usually we ponies don't like to take the life of another in the face of judgement." 

Flare turned back to Aegis as the robot spoke up. "Missiles are ready, boss!"

"But after what you did to us, and to my home, I think it's time we make an exception." Then, taking hold of the control sticks, Flare spoke once more to The Immortal. "See ya in Tartarus, space freak!" 

With the press of his triggers, Flare fired a single missile at The Immortal's wasp, the Komplex commander letting out a final cry of anguish as his ship was struck right in the cockpit, the rest of the fighter exploded, breaking into several pieces as the fiery purple blaze subsided, Twilight, Sweet Star, and the others letting out cheers of victory as they watched the ship burn away.

As the blaze subsided, Rainbow cried out in excitement once more as she spoke to Flare over the comms. "Woohoo!!! That was some nice flying over there, buddy!"

"Ayep, y'all really gave him somethin' to remember!" Applejack added as Flare let out a laugh of his own.

Taking a deep breath, Flare looked to his allies, smiling at the sight of them as he replied to them. "Yeah, but I wouldn't have made it without you guys." Looking out into the stars, the stallion felt a comforting wave of peace as he added, "...And, after that little ordeal... I feel like I finally fulfilled a purpose I swore to accomplish a long time ago."

"Yeah, I can tell, cause Vapor and I are proud of you, pal!" The voice of Sky Stinger said as Flare looked to the trident at his right, the stallion waving to him from the turret window as Flare returned the gesture.

Then, hearing a zap of static on his comms, Flare looked down at his control panel to see the Apollo's captain and Dawn Star on the two screens, both of them looking to him warmly as the former spoke to Flare. "I think we can all agree when I say that in defeating one of the Komplex's most powerful commanders, you have done quite a great service for the Forge, not to mention one for your home planet as well."

"Yes, and Flare?" Sweet Star said over the comms as Flare replied back.

"Yeah?" The stallion looked over to the gladius transport at his left as his marefriend continued.

"I think if she was here, your wife would be proud of you for what you did there." Flare watched as Star trotted over to the cockpit of the Gladius, the mare looking out to him through the window as they both smiled warmly.

"Yeah, I think she would." Flare said as he broke eye contact with Sweet Star, turning to face the two screens below him as he looked to Dawn Star on the second screen with a cheeky grin. "And when I get back, I'm gonna give this little filly a big ol' hug!"

Dawn giggled a bit as the Apollo's captain spoke to him once more. "Well, what are you waiting for? The hangar's opened up for you all."

Flare smiled sheepishly as he replied to the captain. "Yeah, only one problem." Moving the control sticks around, Flare showed the Apollo's captain that he couldn't move, prompting the trident to his right to slowly fly above him before Tam spoke up.

"Don't worry, old friend. We'll get you back home in no time." As he said that, a small hook descended from the gunship, latching itself onto Flare's ship at the aft.

"Thanks, Tam." Flare replied as the gunship began to pull Flare's sabre around, the damaged ship turning as it's escort pulled it back to base.

"Ooohh! I can't wait to meet everyone aboard your ship, Flare!" Pinkie Pie said over the comms as Flare replied.

"Yeah, you're gonna have one heck of a night, I tell ya." The stallion laughed as Twilight spoke through the comms as well, the Apollo getting closer as the other ships followed Tam and Flare back to the carrier.

"Oh, about that, before you guys leave, I have something special I want to do for you back in Canterlot tomorrow."

"Oh?" Flare said with a raised eyebrow as the Princess of Friendship answered his curious words.

"The Forge won't be the only ones to celebrate with you and your friends. Do you think we can send a ship down to the city to prepare for a party down there?"

The Apollo's captain responded warmly. "Unfortunately, we don't have any other ships to spare after that battle, but once you're all on board, we'll get those dropships you're in ready for that task."

"Good enough for me, uh... what should I call you, sir?" Twilight said in confusion as she tried to prompt the captain to give a name for her to use.

The captain stifled a laugh as he replied. "Captain Hales, ma'am."

"Thanks, Captain Hales, that works much better now." Twilight replied as she laughed in embarrassment, Flare and the other pilots joining in with her as they flew back to the Apollo. After all that had happened that day, Flare felt that him and his friends could use a good rest. He also felt comfort at the fact that in destroying The Immortal and his fleet, he had avenged all those who had died all those years ago. Of course, as Flare would find out the next day, the celebration would be a good bit longer than he would expect.