//------------------------------// // 35: The Beginning And The End (Part 3) // Story: Homeworld: Equestria - The Silent Hunters // by hiigaran //------------------------------// Beneath the baserunner, most of the team stood guard, relaxed, yet alert. Hearing hoofsteps approach from an entrance to the vehicle depot, Shadow faced the sound and tightened her grip on her pulsar. Sighting the final member of their group, Shadow lowered her weapon and nodded at Glare. “Find anything else?” Glare sighed. “I wish I could say I didn’t. Everything Khamari said about this base’s research was true. The ADWs, the ability to create hyperspace windows in a planet’s atmosphere, and the controller technology. The details behind the controller’s functionality was particularly disturbing.” Though his headgear obscured his expression, Khamari’s voice carried confusion and surprise. “What are you talking about?” “You didn’t know?” the mare asked flatly. “You didn’t know what the foundation of that technology was?” “Apparently not, judging from your tone. Was it not based upon salvaging operations at the Ghost Ship, as I had assumed?” “That’s only half the story. According to some of the earliest research notes I skimmed over, a Raider fleet came across some debris that got caught in a planetary orbit; a piece of an old Kushan frigate’s armour plating. The debris itself wasn’t of significance. Rather, a red paste that coated it.” “Beast biomass,” Khamari stated in disbelief. “Mmhm. A team of Raiders placed the debris in a containment field to prevent it from spreading, then constructed a research base in an isolated part of the galaxy, far from any lifeforms. This research base. Fortunately for us, they were either careless or arrogant enough to keep all backups on site. As far as I can tell, we’re about to destroy the only copies in existence of these notes.” “Is that wise?” the Gaalsien enquired. “Perhaps there may be crucial data that can be used to counter this technology.” Glare knocked on the side of her helmet. “My camera recorded everything I could find. What I meant to say was that the Raiders would essentially have to start from scratch after today. Or at least, figure things out with whatever devices they have already built and fielded.” At the back of the group, Bon Bon had not recovered from the revelation, and had stood aghast throughout the conversation. “So let me get this straight. Someone decided it was a good—no, sane idea to bypass natural planetary defences against the Beast — which would burn them up in re-entry or deal fatal damage from impact — and land it safely on the surface? Nobody thought the risk of it escaping containment and devouring the planet to be an issue?” Glare shook her head. “Apparently not. To make matters worse, a containment field requires power … which we’ve knocked out.” The blood drained from Bon Bon’s face. “Oh no.” She quickly faced Khamari. “Tell me the backup power in this building would keep it running.” “Up until the backup power runs out, yes. We should be long gone by then. Do we at least know where it is held, Glare?” “Yeah, about that.” Glare paused, pawing the ground before meeting everyone’s eyes again. “You all know where the last of the Gaalsien and Raiders were, right? Remember that big cylindrical device in the centre of the room where they took cover? According to the logs, that was it.” “And we spent a decent amount of time shooting at it,” Bon Bon pointed out. “Several parts fell off it too, which means we might have damaged it enough to allow that sample to escape. Lovely.” A brief silence hung in the air, as the reality of the situation set in. Glare stomped a hoof and issued her next order. “Alright, everyone into the baserunner. If that thing gets loose, it will spread fast.” None of the others needed asking twice. Glare watched the others climb into the vehicle, and looked behind her for a moment before following. Ascending to the entrance platform, Glare pulled the round metal hatch up, turning the rotary handle until it locked in place. Following the rest to the top deck, she and the others crowded around Khamari, who seated himself at the primary controls. With the baserunner already at idle power, Khamari added power to the collective propulsor controls, causing the vehicle to ascend and sustain a hover. Setting his forward power, the baserunner accelerated, colliding with the vehicle depot’s closed doors and ploughing through the thin panels of metal and thermal insulation. Free from the research base, Khamari put several hundred metres between themselves and the structure, before coming to a stop and facing their objective. Every occupant pulled out a detonator from a pocket or pouch, and in one synchronised motion, squeezed. The research base erupted with multiple explosions, as large chunks of its black exterior blew open in some places. Shortly after, the top floors collapsed, cascading down upon the lower floors, which in turn collapsed in a domino effect. As the floors fell, the remaining structural members were pulled down, and what little remained of the exterior structure collapsed inwards. “Good riddance,” Khamari commented at the levelled rubble, now spewing thick, dark grey smoke high up into the atmosphere. “You think that was enough to destroy the sample?” Glare asked. The Gaalsien considered the possibilities. “I believe so, but I’d rather not take the chance. We should detonate the ADW regardless.” “Agreed. Let’s deal with that turret control centre first. We’ll arm the ADW as soon as we secure our route out of here.” Altering heading, Khamari pointed the baserunner at their final destination and brought the vehicle to cruising speed. Floating near a pair of turrets, some of his passengers took a closer look at the features of the closest turret. Single, long barrel with a counterweight, partially hidden atop its main structure; a tall minaret, as black as every other structure encountered. A small entrance extended out like a short hallway from the round base, but otherwise remained featureless externally. Khamari however, kept his eyes on something on the horizon. “Looks like a small sandstorm developing in the distance.” Noticing the concerned look on Glare’s face, he clarified, “However, it doesn’t look at big as the one we passed upon arrival. I wouldn’t worry much about it, even if it passes through.” At the back of the group, Swift rummaged through his bags. “Uhh, fellas? We do have enough demolitions to destroy the control centre, right? I'm coming up empty here.” Looking at each other, most gave and received shrugs or uncertain expressions. At once, everyone rifled through the contents of their bags, until Shift called out, “Got one here. Catch.” Bon Bon produced another explosive and passed it to Swift, “I have one more.” Swift looked around at everyone. “That it? No one else has anything? This might complicate things.” “Two charges should disable the defences well enough for them to not be a threat,” Khamari reassured everyone. Shadow’s ears twitched at two words. “Well enough?” “There is a server room in the control centre,” the Gaalsien explained. “Take that out, and the turrets lose auto targeting. There will also be a large networking conduit that leads underground and out to each turret. Destroy it where they diverge, and you sever connections for manual remote control. That should be enough to get us out in one piece.” About a hundred metres from another dome-shaped structure identical to the power station, Glare ordered Khamari to stop. “This will do. Any idea what to expect inside?” “Fewer personnel than the research base, but I’d imagine they’d be better armed, and prepared. Only one way in or out, and that’s through the front door. Given that they’ve been monitoring our approach, they’ll be ready. Multiple floors built as rings around the side of the dome, with an open central area. Plenty of defensive coverage for them that would have us completely surrounded from all sides.” “We don’t exactly have an abundance of time,” Glare stated. “That fleet in orbit will pick up a large cloud of smoke over the base sooner or later, assuming they haven’t noticed the first plume, or the loss of comms contact already. Any ideas before committing to a frontal assault?” Shadow hummed. “Perhaps. Do you still have any of those cameras you’ve used to find suitable teleportation sites?” “I’m afraid not. Speaking of, I should swap my helmet's memory card with someone who will stay. Can’t risk losing the backup.” Bon Bon being the closest candidate, pulled her helmet off and removed her storage device. “Right here.” Exchanging equipment with the unicorn, the officer secured her helmet back to her pressure suit. Shadow continued contemplating alternative ideas. “Alright, take me down to the entrance with Swift and Shift. They'll provide suppressive fire while you escort me further in under the protection of your shield. Once you can identify the centre-most part of the place to teleport me to, send me in, then get everyone well clear of the structure. The rest of you can stay here. Any objections?” Obsidian decided to ask what everyone else was thinking. “Just what exactly do you plan to do?” “It’s like you said. You’ve only seen me wield three out of four elements, so today is your lucky day. Oh, and I almost forgot. Sparky, give your launcher to Shift.” With a small hint of a grin, Obsidian said, “And you have a problem with me being vague every now and then.” “A little taste of your own medicine,” the zebra responded with a grin of her own. Turning to Bon Bon, she added, “You know what’s coming. Don’t spoil it for him.” Bon Bon’s expression went through a variety of stages, starting at confusion, before realising what her comrade had in mind. “Don’t wear yourself out too much.” “I don’t expect another fight after this. Whenever you’re ready, Glare.” Her horn alight, Glare disappeared with Shadow and the pegasi. Those who remained aboard watched, as the four figures flashed into existence near the control station’s entrance. Taking the lead, Shadow raised her pulsar and shot out every camera she could find on the structure, before directing the pegasi to assemble a few metres from each side of the entrance. Positioning herself ten metres ahead of the doors, she waited until the unicorn moved up. “Break it down, Glare.” Channelling energy to her horn, Glare identified the hinges on the double doors that blocked their path. At two-second intervals, she blasted her helical beams three times per side, punching large holes into the doors and their frame. Before the doors could topple over, Glare’s signature golden orb manifested at the tip of her horn, and she flung it beneath herself and Shadow. With her shield established, the pair watched as the doors hit the ground with a loud thud, and immediately sighted six Raiders and a Gaalsien pointing weapons at them. Glare and Shadow stood their ground as the hostiles started firing, making little more than minor scratches on the unicorn’s barrier. After several seconds of ineffective hits on the shield, the Raiders held their fire. Keeping her head pointed straight ahead at the Raiders, Shadow spoke into her comms. “Shift. Your turn.” Shift took flight, hauling his bulky weapon with a little difficulty. Ensuring line of sight remained broken, he manoeuvred around for a dive and high speed flight just above the ground, and twisted his body to aim abeam his flight-path. Feeling the wind flowing over his wings, the pegasus gauged his airspeed and predicted the motion of the launcher’s projectile. Pulling the trigger, his one-shot broadside nudged him in the opposite direction, while the plasma ball flew away from him, maintaining some of Shift's momentum. The projectile hit its mark, making it past the door frame and striking the right side wall near the Raiders, before any of them had survived long enough to realise what happened. While Shift circled around to land by the right side of the door frame, Swift took position by the left, aiming his pulsar down the short entrance hall. By the time Shift landed and swapped his plasma launcher for a pulsar, his brother confirmed no additional soldiers in the immediate area. “… Oh, but they’re around,” Swift continued. “They’ll definitely be setting up an ambush past this choke-point.” “They’ll all be aiming there, too,” Shadow added. “Think you can get me into position from here, Glare?” Glare zoomed in on the interior with her headgear. “Too much clutter in the way to be certain. We might have to move up a bit before I’ll feel comfortable sending you in.” “Understood. Swift, Shift, hold position until Glare retreats, then do the same. We’re moving up.” Dismissing her spell, Glare conjured another orb, and sent it forward, where the entrance transitioned into the main interior. As soon as the barrier appeared, the pair proceeded into the building, using the unicorn’s shield as cover. Upon arrival, they sighted several more Raiders further in, all of whom opened fire in an attempt to pierce Glare’s barrier. Glare searched through the semitransparent shield for a suitable destination. Beyond rows of tables, cabinets, and other overturned pieces of furniture haphazardly thrown to impede their ingress, the unicorn decided on one location close enough to the centre of the structure, yet far enough away from the Raiders that had fortified the area. Describing the position to Shadow, Glare awaited the zebra’s approval before proceeding. Shadow appeared to smoulder, radiating heat and glowing ember-red along her darker stripes. “I’m ready when you are. Remember, once you’ve teleported me in, get out immediately. No hesitation. No delays. Understood?” “Got it.” Re-positioning, the pair emerged near the centre of the structure. The golden flash caught the attention of all nearby Gaalsien and Raiders, but by the time they moved to take aim, Glare had already disappeared. A fraction of a second later, the air surrounding the zebra ignited violently, and a raging blue fireball expanded rapidly, burning all in its path. Those closest to Shadow managed only to fire a couple of rounds in her general direction before being consumed, their cries audible for mere moments. Aboard the baserunner, the only indication of what had just happened was a column of fire that shot out from the entrance, curving up slightly into the sky as it dissipated. Excluding Bon Bon, the sight shocked everyone, unsure exactly what had happened. After an uneasy silence, a breathless Shadow made contact through comms. “Control centre secured. Glare, could you bring Khamari here to confirm the appropriate components have been destroyed?” “Will do,” replied Glare, appearing soon after inside the baserunner. “Ready, Khamari?” Standing, Khamari nodded, waiting for the unicorn’s magic to take effect. Finding himself beside Glare at the building’s entrance, he immediately noted a hot draft of air surging from the structure. Following Swift and Shift inside, he noted much of the debris and furniture was on fire. As he looked up at the distant ceiling, he could see all the smoke had gathered at the top, trapped. The layer thickened gradually, descending toward the ground floor. Looking around, the remains of several control stations lined the wall at one end. Open-area office spaces and cubicles sat charred black and warped near another part, plus basic living and recreational spaces resembling anything but. Khamari’s eyes however, landed upon the melted debris of server hardware up a flight of stairs, protruding from the wall to the floor above. While the Gaalsien set off in that direction, Shift whistled as he looked around, before addressing Shadow, who remained standing at the centre. “Buck me, you did all this? We should have cleared the research base like this!” “The base was too large and closed-off. Besides, that took a lot out of me.” Collapsing onto her back, Shadow took a moment to recover. At the same time, she opened her comms again. “Lightning? Are you still with us?” After a pause, the pegasus’ voice answered, “Still here. How’s everything on your end?” “Primary and secondary objectives completed. All three major structures have been destroyed, and we are ready for extraction. Look for the dome with a large vehicle parked outside it.” “Copied. En route shortly.” Finishing her inspection of Shadow’s handiwork, Glare moved up to her, freezing as she got close. “Uhh, hey, Shadow?” “What is it?” Shadow responded, not bothering to look up. “You’re … missing half an ear.” Shadow blinked, bringing a hoof up to her left ear to find that it did indeed have a significant portion missing. “Must have been when I released my spell. Surprised I didn’t feel it.” Grimacing, she added, “Now that you’ve brought it to my attention, that is no longer the case.” Withdrawing her hoof, she inspected it for red stains. “Am I bleeding?” Glare moved in for a closer look. “Doesn’t look like it. Pulsar round would have cauterised it, I suppose.” Managing a tired grin, the zebra laughed her injury off. “Little souvenir to remind me of the fun we’ve had here, then.” Returning from the upper floors, Khamari announced, “Hardware seems destroyed. I’m satisfied with safe passage out of here.” Shadow nodded. “Thank you, Khamari. Glare, could you return us to the baserunner?” “Of course.” Ignoring a mild headache from her previous spells, the unicorn prepared another and returned her group to their vehicle. Clearing his throat, Khamari made for the ladder to the cargo compartment. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be preparing the ADW.” “Arm it whenever you’re ready, Khamari,” Glare ordered. “We won’t be waiting long.” “Should I ask about the missing ear?” Bon Bon piped up, eyeing the zebra. Shadow gave a nonchalant reply as she leaned against the nearest wall. “The Raider’s aim was a few degrees off.” “Ha! Of course. Alright, what’s next? How do we get home, Glare?” “Not exactly original, but”—Glare shrugged—“same way we got here. Get to orbit, take the Lamaat, and jump out to Torri Gate. From there, we can gate out to Kyre Gate, near our planet. We’ll have to use conventional drives after that, as I doubt we’ll get through our home’s hyperspace inhibitor network. With any luck, someone from the Equestrian Navy will find and pick us up, saving us the longer journey. Should be a day’s travel.” Bon Bon considered the plan and found no major flaws in it. “What if we can’t make it through the gate? Do we have an alternate route?” “If it comes down to that, Nocreen Gate is an alternative, but it might extend our trip home by several days, depending on what we can get out of the Lamaat’s hyperdrive. If we can’t take any gates and are forced to rely on our hyperdrive alone, then the duration may be on the scale of weeks.” Bon Bon nodded in approval. “Good. You’ve planned ahead.” Khamari shouted from below. “ADW is armed. Longest I’d feel comfortable setting the countdown for is two hours. If anything survived from that Beast sample, we can’t risk it spreading this way to take control. I’ll disable the console upon activation, too. Won’t do much for the Beast, but it would stop any potential survivors from halting the countdown.” Shift squinted at something outside. “I think I see our ride on the horizon.” Pointing a hoof at a shimmering dot, he added, “Yep, that’ll be Lightning.” On queue, Lightning Dust established contact over comms. “Glare, I got your vehicle visual. You teleporting in?” “Affirmative.” “Copied. Positioning for a hover ahead.” Leaning over the railing, Glare shouted back down to the Gaalsien, “Alright, Khamari, two hours sounds reasonable. Start the countdown and join us up here.” Without replying, the Gaalsien entered the final keystrokes into the weapon’s console and climbed the ladder back to the top deck, arriving just as the gunship came to a hover close enough to see its pilot waving. As Glare started channelling magic through her horn, something caught her eye in the sand behind the gunship. Moving as if it were a liquid, the sand rippled, giving way to something underneath as it neared the two vehicles. Immediately, her horn fizzed out. “Lightning, break off and climb! Break off and climb!” Before gaining sufficient altitude, a familiar giant leaped out of the erupting sand, striking the gunship’s aft with enough force to veer it off course. Tumbling beyond the visual field of the baserunner’s external windows, the crew heard a loud impact shortly after. “Lightning!” Glare cried. No reply. Focusing on the creature, Glare realised from its injured eye that it was the same kudaark they encountered earlier. It turned its attention to the baserunner and snarled. Though missing an eye, it still saw well enough to recognise the vehicle’s occupants, and moved to charge, quickly building momentum. Khamari reached over and put the vehicle into a full reverse, though his efforts were in vain against the sprinting quadruped. As the crew braced for impact, a pair of dull bangs sounded in rapid succession, as something struck. The first hit sand. The second hit flesh, then sand. Opening their eyes, the baserunner crew found the kudaark lifeless and headless, lying metres from their vehicle. Lightning’s gunship came into view shortly after, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief, and for Khamari to set propulsors to idle. “You had me worried, Lightning,” Glare started. “You alright up there?” “Yeah, sorry for the silence. Comms were pretty low on my list of priorities.” “Understandable. Status report?” “Took a nasty hit against the sand, but evidently, managed to get airborne again. Pressure hull shows intact, but the ventral turret and several engines are throwing up errors in here. I’ll need to land and inspect the damage.” “We have an armed ADW in our possession, and less than two hours to reach minimum safe distance. Let us know how we can assist.” “Copied. Stand by.” Nudging the gunship down, Lightning attempted as soft a landing as she could on the sand. Allowing the ship to settle and sink slightly into the ground, she shut down the vessel, exiting shortly after with a bag of tools slung under her. Gliding down toward the rear of the ship, she dropped her bag in the sand as the others teleported beside her. Admiring the kudaark’s handiwork, Swift whistled. “Wow, those claws sure are something, if they can rip through an engine like that.” Shift joined in. “Oh hey, check that out. Some of those bristles managed to pierce that bit there. The hay are those bones made of?” Lightning raised an eyebrow at the twins. “You two seem a little too relaxed at the fact that your only way off this planet is currently grounded, while a weapon of mass destruction is ticking a few metres away.” Swift waved a hoof in dismissal. “No point panicking if it doesn’t help. Can we repair the damage?” “Some of them should be possible.” Pointing up at one of the gashes in the engine block, Lightning commented, “I see a few severed lines we can patch up with the gunship’s repair kit.” Following the direction of Lightning’s hoof, Swift caught a glimpse of something arcing, sending a small shower of sparks out. “And the others?” “Nothing I can do about them. We’re going to have reduced thrust, which will make our return to orbit a challenge. I’ll likely be burning full on the other engines, which means higher fuel consumption on tanks that weren’t full to begin with. I’d crossfeed, but something tells me a bit of what’s torn up over there would be that. Doubt we’ll have enough time to fix that.” “Righty. Chuck us some tools, and tell us what to do.” Working under the burning sun, the group attempted a hasty patching up of the most important engine components, managing to restore most of what had not been irreparably damaged. Calling out their time spent working on repairs at ten minute intervals, Glare announced their fortieth minute. “Lightning, we need to leave now. Even if we can’t get every engine online, we’re risking ourselves if we don’t make it past minimum safe distance.” “Plus, I’m fairly certain we’ve all received a lifetime supply of vitamin D here,” Swift panted lightly, tossing aside a piece of loose armour plating, while fanning himself ineffectually with his wings. “The sooner I can get out of this BPS and have a shower, the better, because I'm marinating in this. Really sealing in the flavour.” “Okay, first, that’s just gross, Swift. Second, well aware of that, Glare,” Lightning called out, her head and forehooves buried in a tear between engines. “Give me a couple more minutes, and I should be done here. You can all get strapped in while I finish up. And get Shadow to go through the pre-start checks, but until I’m back, hooves off that engine master switch.” Disappearing, Glare left Lightning to her own devices, while Swift and Shift returned their tools to the kit and flew off. Wiping grease from the matted fur on her hooves, the pegasus secured a loosely fitted tube over a severed pipe, clamping it at both ends. Finding the tube slightly oversized, she muttered a few swear words and re-adjusted the tube, stuffing random debris around the original pipe. “Shady repair work, but that ought to do it. I hope.” Tossing her tools back into the bag, Lightning took flight and entered the gunship. Closing the cabin door behind her, she found Sparky and Shadow sharing a seat once again, along with Khamari and Bon Bon. Glare and Swift had seats for themselves, while Obsidian and Shift remained standing. Confirming her passengers had their helmets secured with good seals on their pressure suits, she donned the one she left beside her seat. “Well, that’s the best I can do out there,” Lightning reported. “Managed to get another engine repaired, though I use that term loosely. It will either work, or … well, I won’t comment on the alternative. You two going to get strapped in?” Shift shook his head, “Nah, I think I’m gonna take the risk and stand. I’ll just hold on to something.” “Same,” Obsidian added. “Your funerals,” Lightning replied with derision, while lowering herself into her seat. “If we decelerate hard, the back of my seat will have an imprint of your face, Shift.” Turning to the changeling, she continued, while pointing at the hull wall to her left. “And yours will probably be somewhere there. Shadow? Pre-start complete?” Shadow nodded. “Engine master switch remained off, and associated procedures thereafter have not commenced.” “Good.” Finishing the pre-start checks, Lightning proceeded to start each engine sequentially. As expected, one engine failed to start after building up power, while a second did not respond at all. After the ship systems stabilised as best they could, its pilot read through the master and caution reports. “Engines are running about as well as can be expected, and yeah, that ventral turret is definitely out. Other than that, I’d say we’re space-worthy. On your orders, Glare. We getting out of here?” “Take us back to the Lamaat,” the unicorn answered. “The sooner, the better.” Careful with her application of thrust, Lightning eventually brought engine power to maximum and climbed. “The Lamaat’s position in orbit is not ideal, so we’ll need to stay in atmosphere for a bit. We enter orbit now, and we risk exposing ourselves prematurely. We should be good to fly below the tropopause until I have the correct flight-path.” “As long as we’re out of the blast radius, you can do a joy-flight around the planet, for all I care,” Shift remarked. “You’re forgetting that we’ve just advertised something is seriously wrong on the surface by arming that ADW,” Shadow pointed out. “No doubt the fleet in orbit will investigate.” “Are investigating,” Lightning corrected. “And they have an hour’s head-start on us.” Grunting, she struggled with the gunship’s controls. “Damn, this thing handles funny. Every time I compensate, some other flight characteristic decides to mess with me.” After another adjustment, a pyrotechnic flash caught her attention ahead and to her left. Loud metallic clangs rung across the hull soon after, as the gunship was peppered with shrapnel. “Turret fire!” Lightning yelled. “Hold on tight, evading!” Shift managed to tighten his grip around a pair of support rails, before the gunship banked hard to the right. “What the buck, Khamari? I thought you said the turrets would be down!” Seemingly unbothered by the danger, the Gaalsien calmly replied, “I said they’d lose auto targeting and remote control.” Humming, he came to the only possible conclusion. “That means a survivor must be at one of the turret sites, controlling it directly.” Lightning raised her voice. “We’ve got other problems. Sensors picking up hostiles descending twelve o’clock high in re-entry. Brigands. Some on intercept vectors, some likely moving to flank.” After a quick glance at her comms stack, she also announced, “Aaaaand comms are being jammed. They know we’re here, and they think we’re a larger group than we are.” “ETA?” Glare asked. “Weapon’s range in ten minutes, tops.” Pulling into another turn, Lightning aimed for their destination once again. “We’ve got no choice. We’ll have to push past them.” “Are you crazy?” Glare’s voice cracked. “Their missiles will knock us out of the sky before we get a visual on them. Assuming that turret doesn’t get us first.” “What do you suggest? Dive and turn back? Great idea, let’s hang around the superweapon set to detonate in an hour.” “Alright, but what are you going to do, then? We’re down a turret, engines are damaged, and I’m fairly certain our armour can’t withstand more than a couple of missiles, if that.” “We could land somewhere beyond minimum safe distance.” Swift offered. “Any terrain we can hide in?” Lightning shot Swift’s suggestion down as well. “And then what? We’d be swarmed by search parties.” While the group debated, Obsidian thought of his own alternatives. None seemed perfect, though they were the best he could come up with. Going with the one he thought would work the best, he interrupted the others. “There is one way you might be able to make it out of here alive. No guarantees, though.” Busy pulling extreme manoeuvres while ordnance exploded around them, Lightning took a moment to speak. “I’m all ears.” “Turn around. Keep yourself out of Brigand range as long as you can, and continue evading the turret. I’ll deal with both problems at once. With any luck, I’ll have cleared a path for you to return to the Lamaat.” “But that means you—” “I know what it means. Either you come up with a better plan in the next thirty seconds, or I continue. Who has the last of the demolitions?” Swift hesitated. “Yeah, right here.” Passing the charges and detonator over to the changeling, he waited for Obsidian to finish stuffing them into his pockets, then gave him his pulsar. “You're sure about this?” “Wait, how are you supposed to get back?” Glare asked. Glancing around at the others, she saw them exchange knowing glances. Looking back at the changeling, all she managed was, “Obsidian?” Glare watched, confused when the changeling released a cloud of energy. Something was different this time, however. Expecting his energy to snake toward herself or Khamari, it formed a cloud around Obsidian instead, growing in size and vividity, until it obscured the changeling’s body. Before she could react, the mass of energy forced its way into her, overpowering every sense shortly before she fell unconscious, limp in her restraints. Looking over the unicorn for a moment, Obsidian blinked hard, before turning to Shift, as he secured his pulsar to his side. “When the time is right, tell her I’m sorry, alright?” “Uh, y-yeah. I can do that.” The pegasus glanced back at Glare. “She okay? What did you give her?” Hitting the door release mechanism, Obsidian looked back at Shadow, as the cabin rapidly lost pressure. Loose, light items danced in the air, and a light fog of condensate formed, getting sucked out shortly after. Before the howling wind could enter the cabin and meet everyone’s ears, he simply replied, “Everything.” Spreading his wings, the flow of air caught on them, and pulled Obsidian out. Orienting himself toward the research base, Obsidian looked back as Khamari shouted his name. To his surprise, the Gaalsien had jumped overboard behind him. Flying around to intercept Khamari, Obsidian caught him in his hooves and continued his flight down to the surface. “The buzz is wrong with you?” Obsidian berated the Gaalsien, as the pair repositioned so that Khamari pressed himself to Obsidian’s back. “What if I couldn’t hear you?” Tightening his arms around Obsidian’s barrel ahead of his wings, Khamari explained, “Without you to sustain me, I’d soon perish. Better I follow you down to assist however I can.” “The rest of my kind could have sustained you if you made it back to my planet. I’m not the only one who can—no. No point arguing about it now. I guess you’re stuck with me.” Steadying himself in a glide, Obsidian spied the sandstorm that had brewed earlier, heading for his destination with mere minutes from passing through the region. Altering his heading for the weather system, he turned his head to the side, yelling over the sound of wind rushing past the two, “When you said that particular storm would not be a problem for us, how certain were you?” “It’s a little bigger than I expected, but it won’t cause harm to your suit. Still, I would not recommend removing your helmet inside it.” Deciding not to respond, Obsidian continued to descend. After a few minutes, he spoke up again, “I’m going to dive. Hold tight.” Pitching down, the changeling felt Khamari tighten his grip around him once more, and the pair dropped through the front of the storm. After a few quick flaps, he pulled his wings closer to his body, while pushing the feelings of intense fatigue and hunger to the back of his mind. He could feel it. His body screaming to metamorphosize into his more colourful brethren, while his mind battled against the process. Must … feed … Obsidian was damned if he were to perish here as one of them. Riding the sandstorm front, the changeling picked up speed, descending through the last few hundred metres. Visibility dropped to less than a hundred metres, but he followed the marker on his heads up display, trusting the heading and distance readouts. As he got closer, his wings resumed their buzzing, pushing him ahead of the storm and into good visibility once more. Sighting five dots near his target, the changeling adjusted his approach and aligned with two soldiers standing by each other. Dropping altitude, he pulled back into the storm to conceal himself, before spreading his wings straight and levelling off at neck height. Cutting effortlessly through the pair, Obsidian dropped a demolition charge near the other pair, and snatched the final soldier into the air, before any had realised what happened. Feeding off the soldier in his grip, Obsidian extracted every last drop of energy he could, before discarding the desiccated husk. As the body fell from the sky and disappeared into the storm, the changeling pulled out his detonator, and took care of the other two soldiers. Landing by the turret, Khamari released his grip on the changeling, and the two moved to assault the turret. Breaking down the door to the control room, Khamari aimed at a single desk beside a short staircase. Firing, he dispatched the Raider hiding behind it and advanced aggressively, with little regard for personal safety. As Obsidian entered, the pair looked up, following the stairs up the open room to a second metal grated floor, where the turret operator and his controls were located. Taking out the operator with two rounds to the chest, Obsidian performed a quick sweep of the area before he flew up and pushed the lifeless soldier to the ground. Looking up, Obsidian found nothing but air conditioning ducts hanging from the ceiling. Based on how far away they were, he concluded there must be an additional floor or chamber above, though failing to find any kind of access from his location, he took his place at the turret controls. “Okay, it’s just a big turret. How hard could it be to work this thing? Azimuth, inclination, that’s definitely to fire. Sensors. Where are sens—ah!” A large screen ahead and above Obsidian displayed a sensor manager and several blips. North-west of his position were four contacts, each labelled with altitude and unique transponder codes. The broad formation headed south-easterly towards a single contact. Khamari eyed Obsidian, who visibly relaxed upon seeing the gunship still airborne. Deciding to fortify their position just in case, he barricaded the entrance with several metal containers that had been stacked neatly at a nearby wall. Obsidian’s attention was drawn to the screen directly ahead of him. An array of data overlayed the turret-mounted external camera feed, including arrows pointing to contacts out of visual range. Taking hold of the side-stick, Obsidian rotated the turret towards the direction of four arrows clustered in the top left corner of the screen, until they were replaced with a pair of brackets each. Ahead of each target’s flight-path was a cross, surrounded by a circle. “Seems simple enough,” Obsidian muttered. Aligning the targeting reticle with one of the crosses, Obsidian fired. A boom and a rumble shook the structure, as a high-explosive round accelerated to several times the speed of sound. After six seconds, one of the four contacts disappeared from the overlay. The sensors manager above showed three contacts remaining from the cluster, each diverging and performing evasive manoeuvres. Looking back at the camera, the crosses corresponding to each contact moved about, adjusting to the instantaneous velocity of the corvettes. “Okay, perhaps not as simple as I thought,” Obsidian groaned. Firing off another round, he saw no change on sensors. Swearing, he waited for the turret to reload and recharge, keeping a close eye on any patterns in the vessels’ flight-paths. Several additional rounds whizzed towards the formation. “Buzzing hell!” Obsidian shouted, missing again and again. “Why don’t I just pick a random spot to—” Obsidian stopped, counting only two contacts after firing once more. “Okay, I’ll take it.” Khamari looked back at Obsidian “How are you doing up there?” “Halfway there. Looks like Lightning has realised what’s going on down here, as she’s no longer evading. If I can keep the Brigands evading instead, Lightning should be able to fly around them, and back to the Lamaat. They should—oh, buzz me, two more contacts just appeared on sensors.” “More Brigands?” “Probably. Similarly sized, anyway. Coming from the south. Only … they’re not heading north to join the others.” Khamari hummed. “Let me guess. They’re heading our way.” Swinging the turret around, Obsidian simply answered, “Yep.” Firing, he managed to take one contact out straight away, before the second started to evade. Firing a couple of extra rounds that both missed, the changeling noted the Brigands nearest to Lightning’s ship had resumed a direct course to their target. Rotating once again, Obsidian aimed at a Brigand and fired, scattering its remains across Kharak’s skies. With the final pursuing Brigand back to evading, Obsidian once again took aim at the rapidly approaching contact that threatened him and Khamari. Though the sandstorm prohibited any useful definition of visual range, sensors eventually identified the ship as a Thief type corvette. Obsidian fired. Missing, he fired again. Firing a third time, a glancing shot struck without detonating. Debris spread out from the engine block, and the Thief lost altitude, spiralling lazily. Crashing near the turret, the impact was felt inside the turret’s control room. Sighting the vessel at the very edge of visual range, Obsidian determined the vessel landed mostly intact. Attempting to finish off the downed corvette, he found the turret stopped short of a few degrees declination. “Great. The turret doesn’t rotate down below the horizon, and I’m seeing motion at the crash site. I think we can expect company.” Moving up beside the changeling, Khamari took a look at the screens. “I’ll hold them off as best I can. You worry about that last Brigand. If we survive, we might be able to take that Thief. At least to clear the blast radius.” “That’s a big ‘if’,” Obsidian replied, while Khamari left for the ground floor. Returning his hoof to the side-stick, he paused, noting an interesting quirk with the angular limitations of the turret. “We might not be able to finish that Thief off, but the other turrets around us can be targeted.” Still climbing, Lightning made a beeline for orbit. “That Brigand is still catching up to us, but I think we should reach the Lamaat before it gets into range. Once we’re weightless, I’ll program a route for the autopilot, and we’ll jump overboard near the Lamaat.” Shift did not feel confident with Lightning’s plan. “Mare, if you think I’m going to float in space as Raider target practice, you’re sorely mistaken.” “First, we’re too small to register as contacts on their sensors. Second, this will convince the Raiders that we’re still aboard the gunship, which will lead any nearby Raiders away from the Lamaat. Third, I’ve already had to live through floating in a suit and being Raider target practice, so shut it,” Lightning barked back. Scanning one of her screens, some good news greeted her. “Last Brigand is off our sensors. Obsidian and Khamari have cleared the way for us.” Behind Lightning, she heard a stirring. Glare mumbled as she came to. “Ow, my head. Where—where are we?” “Heading back to the Lamaat. We’re safe now, thanks to …” the pegasus trailed off. “We’ll be home soon.” Looking around, Glare quickly noted an obvious figure missing from the cabin. “Wait, where’s Khamari?” She bolted upright when another was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Obsidian?” An uncomfortable pause hung in the air as Lightning thought of an acceptable answer. Failing to come up with one, she settled for the direct approach. “They stayed behind to keep us safe.” Panic setting in, adrenaline surged through Glare. “Wha—on the planet? We have to go back!” “There’s not enough time,” the pegasus countered. Looking at the timer she set for herself back on Kharak’s surface, Glare disagreed. “If we turn back now, we can get them before the ADW detonates.” “We can’t risk th—” Teleporting next to Lightning, Glare grabbed the pilot by her pressure suit. “We’re NOT leaving them behind,” she growled behind gritted teeth, her horn sparking menacingly. Shift approached the unicorn from her right. “Glare, they did what they did to get us out of there. We turn back now, and their efforts would have been for nothing.” Swift rose from his seat, and moved to Glare’s left. “He’s right. Turning back now would—” he stopped, noting the unicorn levitating and re-attaching his side bags and pulsar to himself, then his brother. “What are you doing?” Glare’s horn lit up once more. “Spread your wings, both of you. Lightning. You will turn back.” Firing from his position behind the turret’s entrance, Khamari had no choice but to retreat further into the structure, falling back behind his container barricades. Counting at least twenty Raiders, the Gaalsien had only managed to wound one, as suppressive fire rained down upon him. Obsidian dealt with other problems; having cleared the area of airborne targets, the changeling made to assist Khamari, when another pair of contacts appeared, converging on his position. Striking one down, he continued firing at the final contact, while Khamari threw the last demolition charge in the entrance foyer. After a brief respite, the firefight broke out once more. Khamari, now with the advantage of funnelling the Raiders through a choke-point, yelled, “Now would be the perfect time to assist, Obsidian!” “What makes you think I’m not?” came the changeling’s reply. “I’m the reason you’re only dealing with twenty.” “‘Only’. I thought you were the one without a sense of humour.” Firing from cover, Khamari waited until additional raiders pushed through the foyer, before detonating his charge. Blasting apart the entrance, the interior became exposed to the elements, and the whistling howl of the sandstorm entered. Moving to higher ground, Khamari climbed the stairs toward Obsidian, still firing at the last contact. As he neared the top, he spied at least twelve Raiders moving through the rubble. The closest two aimed at Obsidian, his back still to the aggressors. “Obsidian, move!” Diving to the side without question, Obsidian narrowly avoided a pulsar round that punched through the back of his seat. Looking back at where he had sat moments prior, the pulsar rounds tore through the turret controls and main screen, rendering the interface useless. Peeking out from behind a large tool chest, Obsidian could see Raiders wading through the debris toward himself and Khamari. Ducking before another round could hit him, he concentrated. Vanishing in smoke, the invisible changeling had mere seconds to close the gap between himself and the Raiders, and took flight. Wings beating furiously, Obsidian ignored the additional sounds of pulsar strikes on metal. As what sounded like falling debris met his ears, he made the decision to attack a pair of Raiders that brought up the rear, dispatching them silently with his wing blades as his spell wore off. Skidding to a halt, his hooves dug into the sand as he turned back to face the rest of the Raiders, all of whom noticed nothing. Ten targets. Leaping into the air, Obsidian flew vertically and hovered twenty metres above. Analysing the distribution and spacing of the Raiders, he picked out an isolated member that would not be noticed by the others, and dived. Levelling off with wings at neck height again, he made a single pass and returned to his position above. Nine. Noticing the Raiders had ceased fire, Obsidian’s eyes snapped to Khamari’s position. Lying near the top of the stairs with a cracked respirator and bleeding from the head, the Gaalsien was surrounded by segments of air conditioning ducts. Unconscious or dead, Obsidian saw it as irrelevant. Either way, the changeling was now alone with his last stand. Selecting a flight-path that would cause the most casualties, Obsidian dived again. Approaching the first Raider from behind at a slight angle, Obsidian made a shallow right bank, keeping his target on his right. The impact of his progressively dulled blades still did the job, though he yawed more violently to the right. Turning sharply to the left to compensate, he aligned his left wing to the next Raider, this time using the ensuing left yaw to swing around, striking a third with his right blade. Six. The black blur appeared in the peripheral vision of half the remaining Raiders, and their subsequent shouting alerted the rest. By the time the first half had pointed their weapons at Obsidian, the charging changeling had eliminated two more, and used the third to absorb several rounds intended for him. Taking the third raider as a body shield, he took off into the air, while the one in his grip struggled. As Obsidian readied to drop the Raider from a sufficient height, he gasped, as something sharp lodged into his side. Immediately releasing the Raider to his demise, he found a handle protruding between the cartilage plates that resided above his left lung. Dropping altitude quickly, he moved to position the turret between himself and the final three Raiders. Landing, he assessed his situation. Eyeing the knife lodged in his side, his right hoof moved shakily to the handle. That’s definitely worse than Canterlot. A steady flow of crimson dripped down his pressure suit, staining the sand beneath him. Deciding not to risk bleeding out, he left the knife in place, despite the shooting pains whenever his torso made the slightest motions. Coughing, he saw a few red drops hit the inside of his helmet as he tasted iron. Gritting his teeth, he hovered cautiously around the turret. Finding the three Raiders, he retreated as they fired, landing around the corner and covering up his blood trail before disguising himself as a small pile of random debris. Taking shaky, shallow breaths, he stayed put, resting for a moment. Sighting the Raiders around the corner, the pair drew nearer, pointing their pulsars at him for a moment, before deeming the illusion harmless and moving past, continuing with their search. Obsidian waited until the Raiders were as close as possible. Readying his pulsar, he flared out his wings and charged the rear-most one, closing a three-metre gap. Dropping his disguise, the flash of green dazzled the Raider as Obsidian delivered a slash that missed its mark. Striking the arm, the Raider yelled and dropped his weapon, while the changeling whipped around behind him, firing his pulsar at the others. Hitting them both in the chest, he bucked off from the one in his grip, finishing him off with a final round to the back. Zero. Securing his pulsar, Obsidian took a moment to inspect his side. The bleeding had intensified, making it clear he had cost himself valuable time with his attack. Applying indirect pressure, he hovered slowly around, back to the turret’s interior. Finding Khamari still lying at the top of the stairs, the changeling landed near by, and inspected the Gaalsien. Finding a pulse, he looked outside, off into the distance. The downed Thief was only a short flight away, and the timer on his VMUI indicated eighty-three minutes had elapsed since the arming of the ADW, giving him a glimmer of hope. It’s a longshot, but why not? Standing over Khamari’s body, Obsidian did his best to hold the Gaalsien in all four hooves, before taking flight. Pushing through the pain and intense heat, he headed for the Thief, hoping it was both empty, and intact enough to fly clear of the blast zone. Clearing the building, gusty crosswinds started pushing the changeling around, as he continued for the vessel. Focused on the Thief, a searing pain enveloped Obsidian’s right wing, as a flash of blue streaked past. He cried out, losing altitude as he went into a spiral dive, and his grip on Khamari a few metres from the ground. Falling head-first into the sand, the changeling was dazed, unable to make out anything more than a few metres ahead through his blurry vision. Looking to the right through his now cracked visor, he shakily extended his wing, or what was left of it after a large hole burned its way through the trailing half. The trailing blade had also been obliterated, with only a small fragment intact at the wing root. Grasping at nothing by his side, he realised he had lost his pulsar in the fall. The sound of shouting caught the changeling’s attention, and he turned to face two additional Raiders, both of whom had their weapons pointed at him. Coming to the inevitable conclusion that there was no escape, Obsidian sat in the sand and raised his forehooves in surrender. Stopping short of Obsidian, the first Raider shouted an order to the second, pointing at the changeling, who remained still as the Raider approached. In a flash, Obsidian used his remaining wing to slice across the approaching Raider’s torso. With one fluid motion, Obsidian rolled to the side, pulling out the knife in his side, and throwing it at the other Raider. Returning fire narrowly missed a hind hoof, merely singing the skin, but the Raider fell shortly after, as the knife pierced his chest. Wheezing, Obsidian placed a hoof over his wound and applied as much pressure as he could to stem the flow. Turning around, he continued heading for the Thief. Sighting Khamari’s body thirty metres away, he made his way toward him first, taking one leaden step at a time on three hooves. Overhead, several blasts sounded, followed by impacts at the Thief. As it exploded, Obsidian stood still, in disbelief. You cannot be buzzing serious! Falling on his haunches, the changeling gave up. His vision continued to blur, and he swayed for a moment, before toppling over onto his right side. As he heard the roar of another Thief’s engines come to a crescendo, he could feel the vessel touch down. Exiting the vessel, many more Raiders approached Obsidian, completely surrounding him. Despite his state, the Raiders remained several metres from the changeling, closing in only after one of the Raiders issued a command. Taking a step forward, the Raiders were knocked back when a large golden barrier materialised around Obsidian. In an impeccably coordinated feat, Swift and Shift landed hard, just ahead of Obsidian, carrying Glare. Released from the twins’ grip, the unicorn moved immediately to Obsidian’s side. Though his eyelids were heavy and his vision offered no more than a bright yellow blob, Obsidian knew the sound of that spell, and the one who stood over him. “What … are you … doing here?” “I’m getting you out of here. I wasn’t going to leave you behind.” Applying pressure to the changeling’s wound, Glare shouted, “Shift! First aid kit!” Tossing Glare one of his side-bags, Shift kept his pulsar ready while Glare levitated equipment out in a frenzied blur. Haemostatic sprays and dressings, surgical tape, chest injury seals … One by one, the unicorn’s increasingly reddened and shaky hooves applied and secured each item, while the twins and the Raiders watched. “You’re going to be fine. You-you’re going to be okay. See? No more bleeding.” Looking to Obsidian for any reaction, Glare found a vacant stare and no reply. “Obsidian? Obsidian!” Frantically going through the changeling’s vitals on his VMUI, time stood still for her. “No pulse. H-he’s got no pulse!” Placing her hooves over Obsidian’s heart, she began chest compressions. “Shift! Shift, help me!” “I don’t have any—” “Just help him breathe!” Glare shrieked, throwing more of her weight into each compression. “Don’t you dare give up now, you stupid bug!” Removing his helmet, Shift moved to Obsidian’s head, detaching the changeling’s soon after. Giving Obsidian breaths at regular intervals, he and Glare attempted resuscitation. Minutes passed, and the Raiders continued to hold their position outside Glare’s barrier. Every so often, one would test the shield by firing a single round into it, while its occupants continued their revival efforts. As they came up on fifteen minutes with no positive indications from Obsidian’s VMUI, Swift put a hoof on Glare’s withers. “I think it’s time to stop.” The unicorn shrugged Swift off, tears streaming down her face. “N-no, just a bit more.” Exhausted, her compressions slowed, though she persisted. “Glare, he’s gone. I’m sorry, but if we don’t leave soon, our fate will be his.” With one final compression, the unicorn stopped. As reality hit, her tears flowed freely as she wailed without a care to her audience. Swift made to move immediately to Glare, but was stopped when Shift shook his head silently at him. Opting to give Glare more time, he stepped back. As the unicorn wept, her eyes met those of the nearest Raider, and grief mixed with rage. Her horn sparked once. Then again. Energy coursed through her, and it felt as if the ground itself started to rumble. Swift and Shift instinctively made themselves a smaller target, lowering their heads and crouching low, though neither was sure why. They soon found out, as Glare cried out, and unleashed the deafening wrath of a star. Countless helical beams blasted radially in rapid, uncontrollable succession, as if they were rays of light, and the unicorn was the sun itself. Tearing through her barrier, the beams pierced the surrounding Raiders, the blasts continuing for another half minute, long after their screams were silenced. Glare’s screams turned to those of agony, as the spell took its toll and eventually depleted her. As the spell died out, she fell to the ground beside Obsidian, curled into a ball and clutching her head with a whimper. Silence fell. Even the winds themselves seemed to come to a standstill, leaving only a ringing in the ears. Swift and Shift raised their heads, mouths agape. Around them stood pairs of steaming legs, the bodies which they were once attached to completely vaporised. A scorched ring of decimated land gouged a trench into the sand, which slowly refilled from its surroundings. The Thief that had landed near by had all but been erased, leaving a small piece of lower hull in the sand as evidence it had ever existed. In the centre of it all, the group remained where they were as the wind picked up, and the sandstorm started to close in on them.