//------------------------------// // 1. A ship called Duna // Story: FsDC: Cannon Fodder // by MoondustIsPoison //------------------------------// LunOS Version 0.24.2 56,294,995,342,131,200 bytes free. [debug@localhost ~] > sudo quick_test_ Password: ************ Verifying Processor stack ############# Passed Verifying AI Integrity############### Passed Warning: Scheduled maintenance overdue! Please contact System Administrator [debug@localhost ~] > sudo defrost -a -s_ [10%] [15%] [25%] [35%] [50%] [61%] [78%] [98%] [99%] [DONE] >Defrost successful, Time Since shutdown, 12y : 04m : 15d : 03hr >Ship Avatar connection re-established, Diagnostic passed. >Handing off control to AI, Please wait. [debug@localhost ~] >_ A flurry of sensor warnings flickered across my conscious as I felt myself creep back from the void of deep hibernation. my fuel tanks were empty, I had multiple hull punctures, no fuel, no ammo, and my main engines were seized.... no wait... they were missing.... just peachy. A few more warnings popped up as the rest of my body woke up and immediately activated emergency backups. the projections on my cockpit glass flicked to life and I looked around. I found myself lying down with my head on the ground, through my side cams I could see some scaffolding set up in various spots around me corresponding loosely to where I was reading damage... I could also see one of my port thruster assemblies sitting on the ground nearby. Was I finally being put out to pasture? Though if that were true, why would anypony bother rebooting my AI if they were just going to kill me? my eye projections fell onto a grey-green pony standing a few paces from my nose. I groaned while I blasted some jets of air at my windscreen to remove the thick layer of dust that had accumulated. I let out a dejected sigh,.. my neglected hull seeming to groan in unison. "Oh.... it's you. Did you want to say goodbye before you put me down? Or would that be too nice of a gesture for your tiny meat brain to compile" I huffed with an unimpressed glare. Stone Throw was one of the few ponies that hadn't been wiped from my memory banks for security reasons... I didn't like him much. Stone Throw used a hoof in a vain attempt to blow away the cloud of dust I'd kicked up before he responded. "Actually no... As unlikely as it seems, Someone actually bought your snarky ass... even paid us a bit extra to get you somewhere resembling spaceworthy, She's gonna be here in a couple hours to do the paperwork and meet you in person... so at least try to behave, I'm sure you don't want to be here just as much as I'd rather have a fat stack of bits in your place." "Ha ha... very funny.... you think I wouldn't notice being half disemboweled? How in the name of princess Luna's plot am I going to get my chunky self anywhere near space without my engines?" Stone Throw rolled his eyes. "Your main engines are in the shop being fixed... should be strapped back to your sorry rump soon enough... once i get you to walk over there of course." I rolled my eye projections and slowly eased my way up onto my hooves. Dust and dirt rolled off of my softmetal hull as I carefully stood up, making extra sure that I wasn't going to damage the ground power umbilical cables keeping me alive. Even more warnings flickered on as my actuators complained about power draw or burnt motor coils. I tossed the offending errors in a back corner of my mind with the other 700. Stone Throw stepped aside and got into a small vehicle that was parked a few dozen pony-sized paces from where I had been sitting, I wasn't sure why, but I really wanted to step on the car... or maybe eat it... I wasn't sure. Despite my urges, I resisted so as to not loose my one chance to get off of this hell-world I looked around and subconsciously shuddered as my gaze wandered over dozens of other dormant ships slumbering in the bone yard to either side of me, all neatly arranged in rows, every one with plastic wrap over their windows and big plugs bolted over their engines. They all remained dreamlessly slumbering as their bodies slowly decayed in the blistering desert heat. To stay focused I temporarily suppressed my VSTAA's aversion, fear, and disgust signals. With only just barely enough power being pumped into me to run my actuators and processor stack, I couldn't exactly spool my HFMP to counteract my mass... if it was even still working. Each huge hoofstep thundered against the hard packed earth and kicked up a small dust cloud. I was nowhere near the biggest multi role ship on the market, but I was definitely far from being light, I shuddered to think what my hoofsteps would do to a paved road... or a pony.... I meandered my huge frame into a dilapidated hangar a good distance away from the droves of slumbering ships. A few smaller ships lounged off to the side of the hangar, at least two or three of them gave me strange looks as I slowly strode past. I couldn't blame them though, it was probably like watching a disemboweled corpse walking into a doctor's office. I stepped into the hangar and knelt down in a marked out spot on the ground, off to the side I could see what looked to be the rest of my main engines on stands being worked on by a few scattered ponies in high-vis vests and hardhats. I looked around the dingy hangar, my bright pink eye projections following where I was looking with my internal cams. A pony in a hard-hat approached me from off to the side. "Boss wants to see your avatar in his office, client's arriving a bit sooner than expected." she declared toward me. "Understood, Give me a little bit to reboot it... I'm not entirely sure how well it's fared." "Just don't keep him waiting too long..." The worker trailed off as they wandered away I connected into my avatar-self and waited an uncomfortably long time as the neglected android frame rebooted... When it finally got enough power from my severely under-volted mana-grid It linked it's control functions into my AI stack and started sending back all of the sensory data it was collecting. The charging dock unceremoniously dumped my avatar out onto the floor. giving me a good look at the sad state of affairs inside of me. panels on the walls were missing or beginning to peel off, the air was thick with dust, and It smelled burnt. "Yeesh I'm a mess... It'll be a miracle if I make it to space again." I muttered to myself, being careful not to mirror it with my actual body. I wandered forward to my throat corridor and lowered my head so I could more easily walk out of myself. I watched the softmetal walls around the cramped corridor move and undulate with my movements... I wondered if on newer ships they ever covered that up... From what was left of my old memories I could recall at least twelve instances of ponies mentioning it's apparent unpleasantness, or being visibly unsettled by it. Personally I didn't see why it was such a big deal, there was still a walkway so nopony had to walk directly on the squishy part... there were even guardrails! and lights! What more could they want? Paintings!? I walked through the already open airlock leading into my mouth and looked around. Up above was my cockpit , sealed behind a small auxiliary hatch in the roof of my mouth. A quick flip to the internal cam showed that it was a bit cluttered, but otherwise more intact than a lot of my other sections. I refocused most of my attention back on my avatar, Since I didn't need much processing power to just walk around, I decided to get the rest of my processors working on a full diagnostic of my systems. I walked forward into my muzzle and opened my mouth. Like most ships, I did have 'teeth' there, though whereas theirs were usually purely for appearance, mine had been modified... probably for the last combat role I'd been in, but I couldn't confirm as the memory had been wiped. Instead of a large decorative panel, my mouth was full of discrete, replaceable teeth made of thick, sharpened armor plating, they even had tiny serrations. I found it somewhat infuriating that I could remember that I found it fun to bite ships in combat, but I couldn't actually remember the details of any encounters I used them... Somepony had clearly been sloppy when they were giving my memories the axe. I stuck my tongue out to allow my avatar an easier time exiting before shutting myself back up and meandering my avatar-self toward the office. I gave the door a gentle nudge and stepped into the heavily air-conditioned space. "What was your name and tail number again? Also mind telling me your model and configuration so I can make sure my database is correct?" Stone Throw said without even so much as a hello.... or even a vaguely welcoming grunt. He sat behind a beat up metal desk with a chunky, probably outdated terminal sat on it surrounded by pen cups and random trinkets. A dingy picture of an older mare sat in a small frame in the corner. "Duna, Tail number AT- 2666, configuration AC-230 Superpython heavy Gunship, CQB configuration." I recited flatly. "Alright... Matches my books close enough... Go find a seat and try and make yourself look... uhhh. You know what scratch that, just sit down somewhere and stay there until I get back. And I swear If i get any sass out of you while your buyer is in here, I'll scuttle you myself" "Understood... Not like I wanna loose my chance to leave your fat-ass behind on this rock." I rolled my eyes. causing Stone Throw to grumble a little as he plodded his rotund hindquarters out of the door I found a worn out cushion on the floor and plopped myself down on it. With my avatar mostly situated I redirected a few spare processor cycles to monitoring my ship-self's cams. Pretty much every access ramp and hatch I had was open to allow passage for a veritable swarm of ponies and equipment... I tried to ignore the tingly feeling coming from my crotch and rump area.... as well as the strange feeling of having so many ponies running around in me all at once... Was this what passenger ships felt like all the time? did they like it? I flicked through my interior cams and stopped when I came across a couple of ponies trying to pry open the door to my armory with a crowbar, I knew they'd probably never get through with that, but I didn't really want them coming back with better tools... I listened in on their conversation before intervening. "... I told you we shoulda' got the cutting torch... this hatch is really friggin thick" A brownish mare said with a somewhat urgent tone to her voice. "I know I know... Just keep quiet... we'll get that in a sec... I really hope the payoff is worth all the hassle." A tan and green stallion muttered under his breath. "You know I can see and hear you right? Protocol states that unauthroized beings are not allowed in the armory..." "and what are you gonna do about it?" One of them said with a sneer. I silently cursed the fact that there wasn't a working holo-projector in that section with which to project an image of me rolling my eyes. Instead I just unfurled the interior turret from the ceiling and pointed it at the pair. " My defense protocol also states that I am required to defend the armory from intruders with lethal force if necessary... If you don't want to end up as a biofuel slurry in the next fifteen seconds I suggest you leave... Better make it fast, i'm starving!" I said over the single PA speaker near them. As expected Both ponies scrambled away as fast as their clumsy hooves could get them... I was almost disappointed that I wouldn't get to taste pony smoothie. I wondered if the different colors tasted different. I paused for a second... Was I always this morbid? After not receiving an answer from the void, I quietly tucked those thoughts into a deep dark corner of my memory banks where they wouldn't cause any problems. From one of my aft cams I could see the dust cloud of another Plone touching down outside. She was a pretty small little thing. A krait Mk1 with a shiny sky blue paintjob that looked almost new... definitely not the kind of craft you'd normally see in such a remote place. She knelt down and opened her mouth, allowing four ponies to exit, two of them dressed in suits looked to be security, another one was a soft pink color with a curly blonde mane and a sunhat, the other was a splotchy grey pony with a deep purple, blue, and pink mane tied back in a ponytail, she wore a loose fitting grey utility jumpsuit. I watched them walk through the hangar past me and toward the office, The grey and purple one looked over me as she passed. I pretended not to notice and refocused my primary view to my avatar just as they stepped into the room. "Ladies, This is Duna, as you've already prepaid, I'll just get on to the interview for the sake of legality." "Hello Duna... I am Lady Shivu Taan, head of the Taan Trading Company, to my left is the pony who is to be your new commander, Miss Europa." "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, I'm pleasantly surprised that you've decided to purchase me." I said kindly... at least I hoped it sounded kind... I hadn't exactly been able to do much socializing for the past decade on account of being incredibly busy being dead. "To get the ball rolling, for what reason did you choose Duna here" Stone Throw said with a more official tone about him. "As of late my cargo convoys have fallen victim to repeated and brutal pirate attacks, my ships are fitted purely for cargo, so their weapons are minimal and they lack fighter support... to avoid loosing cargo capacity over the matter I decided to purchase a second hoof military ship such as her to escort my herd on their trade routes. By choosing her I can also marginally increase my convoy's overall cargo capacity. "I see, Now Duna, What are your thoughts on this" "If I get to haul cargo and shoot pirates, I'm happy... heck I'd be happy just getting off the ground again... being mothballed is boring." I said excitedly. "And what are you outfitted with that can help accomplish this?" "In cargo configuration I have about ten percent more carry capacity over the standard model's maximum, in my current combat configuration I have several custom weapon and maneuvering assemblies which separate me from a standard python. Instead of two class two hardpoints, and three class three hardpoints, I have four class threes, and a single class four. I also have several high power gimballed fusion maneuvering rockets on my back, and in my legs and flanks for faster and more complex maneuvering than a standard model. "That's quite the arsenal... especially for a python... Why were you built in such a way?" Europa piped up, clearly somewhat fascinated I was a variation on the Python jumbo, which was commissioned by the Federal navy as an upgrade to the standard python to increase modularity and capacity. As for why I was built.... Ive got no idea... That part of my memory was scrubbed. From what I remember of my previous service, I was used mostly as an armed resupply and troop transport ship for the feds cruisers and carriers. "Seems like a waste of such a special ship, wouldn't something like a Constellation or Anaconda be better for that?" I fought the urge to blush at her 'Special Ship' comment... Thankfully I could conveniently disable that feature. "Beats me. But now that I've got a new lease on life, I might actually get to do what I was built to do" "And I can finally see the galaxy through somewhere other than a simulator or a passenger seat" Europa smiled. ""Well you two seem to be getting along well enough... If it's fine with you Stone, once I sign off on the transfer of title I'll be leaving Europa here to get acquainted with Duna until repairs are complete, Once she's space-worthy, have her contact me and I'll send coordinates for her to follow." She grabbed a tablet and stylus from Stone's desk in her magic and scribbled a signature onto the form displayed onscreen. "Now if you'll excuse me, Ad-astra and I need to get moving onto my next appointment, Ta ta now!" Lady Taan turned and headed for the door. "You realize we don't exactly have any room and board available right? the repairs are going to take at least two days if not more." Stone asked Shivu Taan before she could exit completely. "Duna has quarters for her commander, right? Would it not be logical to put her in there?" "If she was a new ship then maybe that would be an option, but Duna's been sitting out in the elements for over a decade, So it's debatable whether it's even livable at this point." "I'll leave it up to you, If you need more funds or supplies delivered to ensure it is livable, just send a message and it will be solved promptly" The two ponies continued talking as they walked out into the hangar, door shutting behind them. "She always that pushy and inconsiderate of ponies?" I asked in a hushed tone. "Yeah.. Doesn't really help that she's my aunt... she uses it as an excuse to boss me around and speak for me... and she's always been dismissive of other ponies. At least now I won't have to deal with her constantly breathing down my neck once I'm at your helm. " "Hopefully we don't have to deal with her nonsense too much... I'm glad she bought me, but If she was gonna be my commander... uhh... to put it lightly, My Friendship drive wouldn't have enough power to go anywhere" I whispered to her. Europa looked at my avatar for a few moments before speaking again. "I've noticed you're a lot more chatty and way less ... how shall I say... Uptight, than most of the ships i've been in... Why is that?" Europa Asked. "My spaceframe was laid down about forty five years ago... unless my clock is wrong. I'm guessing most of the ships you've been on haven't been around for nearly as long?" "No probably not... Does that make a difference?" "Kinda works a little like a pony growing up... I think... we learn stuff, pick up habits, and our personalities evolve past the base archetypes we're pre-loaded with, Sometimes we even pick up accents. older a ship is, the more pronounced that becomes" "I guess that makes sense." "So... What'd you do before becoming a commander?" I asked, trying to learn a bit more about my soon to be commander. "Mostly accounting and dealing with clients over comms. Got really bored of that so I Swapped over to TTC's commander program and got certified so I could get put on a ship when they had one available. The recent pirate problem seems to be my lucky break. Before it was looking like it'd be ages until I'd get a command since i'd have to wait until somepony retired, or we got another freighter in the fleet... both of which weren't likely." "Yeesh... and they gave you a shitbox like me as your first command... your aunt must hate you" I joked. "Oh stop it, You're not a shitbox... I think you're just fine" Europa giggled. This time I didn't disable the blush protocol.