Fayt had never been more thankful for safety restraints on ships than he was now. Since the ship’s engines scrambled after taking a hit from a Vendeeni torpedo, there was no escaping from an inevitable crash landing on the planet of Elicoor II. The crash had also torn a large gash into a city of stone where they landed. Thankfully the restraints protected the occupants of the now scrapped ship from being flung around.
Once the wreckage they were riding came to a complete stop, the restraints deactivated, allowing the occupants to move freely again.
Mirage brought up a screen to show the area they crashed into. Fayt could tell right away that they crash landed on another underdeveloped planet because of the wood and stone buildings around them.
“Just our luck, we landed right in the middle of a city on an underdeveloped planet,” Fayt groaned.
“Not to mention our systems are shot and the helm is outta wack,” Cliff added. He then put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “Welp, guess we either wait for Twilight to pick us up or wait for Maria to show up with the Diplo.”
“Are you sure Twilight managed to track us here? We did have to perform an emergency warp to who knows where.”
“I’m sure she has her ways,” Cliff dismissed casually. He turned to Mirage, “In the meantime, Mirage, see what info you can scrounge up from the database.”
Mirage nodded and started pressing buttons, displaying info she quickly found. “The second planet in the Elicoor System has an axial tilt of thirty-two point six degrees and is point eight astronomical units from its parent star. The gravity is zero point nine G.
“Other than the fact that its atmosphere is mostly comprised of noble gasses such as neon, instead of nitrogen, it has an atmospheric composition which closely resembles that of Earth. Which means that the air is breathable.
“According to my data, the technology level on this planet is around seventeenth century Earth. Although the planet is registered in the Galactic Atlas as an underdeveloped planet, it appears to be in a constant state of conflict, so there are no figures for the total population of sentient beings.
“As for the area we crashed in, we don’t have any detailed information, like government. This is a pretty large city of sentient beings.
“External temperature is minus five degrees Celsius. Both falling and deposited snow have been detected.
“We also know that there are two major continents on this planet: this one and one to the east. The eastern continent appears to have a slightly higher civilization level.”
The onlookers slowly began to disperse as a group of armored soldiers approached the remains of the Klausian ship.
“We appear to be surrounded by the local soldiers,” Mirage noted. “What do you want to do?”
“Not much we can do,” Cliff sighed. “The Eagle’s scrapped and fighting our way out isn’t an option since our less-than-subtle arrival will likely draw most of the city’s soldiers on us. Even I would have trouble with those numbers. At least we’re still in one piece.”
“For now, maybe,” Mirage commented.
“All we can do now except head outside and see what happens.”
“Hang on,” Fayt interjected. “Even minimal contact with the locals is a violation of the UP3. There’s no telling what they’ll do to us down there.”
Cliff rolled his eyes, “In case you haven’t noticed kid, we’ve already made contact, forcefully I might add.” He placed a hand on Fayt’s shoulder to try to reassure him. “Besides, I have a hunch they won’t kill us right away.”
“How can you be so sure of your hunches?”
“Just trust me on this, my hunches are always right.”
“How about that time we almost crashed into that asteroid because of a…hunch?” Mirage jabbed.
“That was one time…” Cliff moaned. Fayt gave Cliff a deadpan look.
“So what do you think they’ll do to us?” Fayt asked.
“Probably we’ll be taken prisoner.” Fayt’s deadpan reaction continued. “Besides, I have another hunch that Lyra will come rescue us pretty quickly.”
“How can you be so sure of someone you just met?” Fayt asked.
“Just trust me on this.” Cliff turned to Mirage, “Mirage, after you make your escape, scout around and find a way to contact the Diplo. Don’t put yourself in danger trying to hook up with us.”
“Mirage isn’t coming with us?” Fayt asked.
“Nope. Wouldn’t make sense for all three of us to head out there at once. Can’t have all three of us sitting in prison. She can use the cover of darkness to make her escape.”
Fayt had no choice but to go along with Cliff’s whims since there were no other options left for them. He resigned himself with a sigh as he and Cliff walked out of the only barrier between the cockpit and the world beyond.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Twilight asked.
Robert and Ryoko nodded, “Yes, we must return to Moonbase to make the necessary preparations,” Robert said.
Twilight nodded grimly. “Alright, after I transport myself and everyone else to the planet’s surface, this ship is programmed to set course for Moonbase. It will return to us afterward. The round trip will take a few days so everyone needs to be prepared for spending that time planetside. We may have to make camp, depending on the circumstances, so make sure we have enough supplies.”
Everyone nodded before splitting up to make their own preparations. Lyra took Sophia to the armory to craft her a pair of wrist blades like the ones she wore. Just as she suspected, Sophia found the new blades to feel right. Since they had a few minutes, Lyra gave her trainee her first lesson in using the blades. Peppita made sure to limber up in preparation to face her future foes. Twilight read up on everything she could find on Elicoor. Just because she knew of a few things on the planet didn’t mean that she knew the current state of the people there.
Once everyone was ready, with Lyra rushing off at the last second to fetch Sophia’s training orb which earned her an eye roll from everyone, they headed into the transporter room and teleported to the surface, leaving the Leingod couple alone on the ship.
“Since we’re alone now, wanna enjoy this time to its fullest?” Robert asked.
Ryoko smirked, “Sure, this might be the last chance we get before we face the end.” Her sultry expression told Robert that whoever was going to clean the room they were headed toward was going to demand a raise.
Twilight and the others appeared on a mountain path. A snowstorm was blowing in the area and anyone without enough protection was going to suffer from the harsh, freezing winds.
Twilight kept a warming spell on her at all times while Lyra’s psychic barrier kept the cold away from her. Sophia had a high tolerance for heat and cold, something Lyra attributed to the infestation within her. Peppita was a Velbaysian who were a tough race whose physical capabilities were near the level of Klausians. She could easily tough out the cold.
Twilight looked around to see where they were. When she didn’t discover any nearby people, she turned to the others. “Alright, the scans showed that the ship carrying Fayt, Cliff and Mirage crashed in the middle of the nearby city. The civilization level is around seventeenth century Earth so no using tech unless our lives depend on it.
She looked at Lyra, “Sneak around town and eavesdrop on conversations. No matter where we go, there will always be gossipers talking about recent major events. I’m afraid the rest of us aren’t going to be much use in the city. I’d be suspicious just wandering around while Peppita and Sophia are still children and will likely be treated as such which would be counterproductive here.
“We will huddle up in a nearby cave and alert you if we see anything unusual on our end. When you discover their whereabouts, see if you can rescue them. If not, let us know and I will teleport us in to assist you.”
Lyra nodded and activated her Shadow Walk before heading into the city.
A few minutes later, Twilight’s group looked out from the nearby cave and saw a covered wagon being pulled by two equine-like creatures with thick ram-like horns. The driver was a purple-haired girl wearing a black uniform that seemed unfit for the cold weather which struck Twilight as suspicious.
The wagon stopped just before a bridge that led into the main city. From inside the wagon another woman, who was dressed the same as the other woman, jumped out. This one had strawberry blonde hair.
Twilight’s ears had better hearing than normal people so she was able to hear a conversation from the two. They appeared to be waiting for someone called “Lady Nel” and they mentioned something called Aquaria in the context that it was a place.
Twilight brought up a map of the continent and learned that Aquaria was a nation that bordered the nation they were currently in, named Airyglyph.
Based on the context from the conversation, it appeared that the two nations were in conflict with one another.
For these two to be on the doorstep of their enemy’s capital city, they must be here on some sort of stealth mission. What they were after, they didn’t say.
Still, whatever they were after, Twilight had her own pair of targets to extract from the city. She just hoped Lyra was okay.
Lyra’s search was met with mixed results. While some citizens were verbal about rumors, some claimed that it was punishment from some divine being named Apris. That person was quickly shut up since apparently worship of the being was forbidden in the city. Some ended up getting drunk trying to make sense of what they saw and became useless for info as they ended up getting smashed on alcohol and spoke with a slurred speech.
Luckily, there were some guards who were mouthy enough to say out loud that they had captured two men and took them to the castle for interrogation.
“Two men?” Lyra thought. “Does this mean that Mirage isn’t with them? I hope she’s alright.”
Still, now she knew where Fayt and Cliff were. It was only a matter of sneaking into the castle and finding out where the dungeons were.
Searching the castle proved trivial and a hassle at the same time. Since the guards had no way of detecting her, she had free rein of the place. The fact that the place had a labyrinth of doors didn’t help though.
At some point, she spotted some important looking people around the castle. One had grayish brown hair and wore a regalia and crown that suggested that he was the king of the country. Another had hair of a similar color to the king but wore plate armor and a red cape. He had a sneer that begged for Lyra to read his mind.
Lyra did so and discovered that his plans were to convince the king to go to war with a nearby nation and claim the lands for themselves. Despicable as he was, his plans had nothing to do with her.
Another important person appeared to be an elderly man in his winter years. He appeared to be concerned about something. One look into his mind told her that the other man, Duke Vox as she read, was being quite foolish and disapproved of his methods of interrogating the prisoners.
This had Lyra concerned that Fayt and Cliff’s stay in the castle dungeons had been as unpleasant as could be.
There was also a sadness that could be felt from the old man, but this was directed toward another person, Albel. The old man felt sad for the person and what he had become.
One last person was seen leaving the castle. This one had wild spiky black hair with blonde highlights. Part of his hair was tied into two long, thin tails that extended to his knees. He wore a purple, short sleeveless top and plate shoulders. He had an iron manacle around his neck. He had a red string that tied together a yellow belt that held his purple skirt. Most interesting of all, aside from his katana, was that Lyra could tell that his left arm was a prosthetic claw.
One look into the man’s thoughts told her that he thought as dangerously as he looked. She could sense arrogance that masked an inferiority complex and…overwhelming guilt?
Lyra decided not to look into it further as she still had to find her targets. If she and the dangerous man crossed paths, she may be tempted to knock him down a peg or two.
She then noticed another figure wearing a cloak sneaking around the castle and avoiding the guards. It was obvious that she was not the only unwelcome guest in the castle right now, given the behavior.
Lyra followed the figure through a door that she guessed would lead her to the dungeons. The figure concealed herself in the shadows and avoided the patrols, but Lyra had a thousand years of experience with the shadows so it was still easy to track the person.
She followed the figure to her targets where she overheard Fayt and Cliff talking. Apparently, Cliff was confident that Mirage snuck into town a long time ago. He was also confident that Lyra was going to bust them out soon which made the Pony Templar smirk.
Cliff then frowned as he looked toward the soldier guarding the cell as he noticed something. “Looks like Lyra isn’t the only one looking for us,” he commented.
Confused, Fayt looked at the guard in time to see a blade sticking out of his chest. He collapsed as the blade was pulled out. The cloaked figure stood next to where the guard fell.
“Friend of foe, I dunno. But there’s someone here.” Cliff and Fayt got up from the floor of the cell to address the figure.
The figure removed her cloak and draped it over the guard as he faded. The woman before them had bobbed red hair and wore a black shirt with gold lining. Her short skirt was of a similar design. She wore a leather belt that wrapped around her midriff. Her leggings and shoes were as black as her outfit. She wore a black and dull blue striped scarf around her neck. Fayt also noticed that she had scarlet writing on her thighs and arms.
“You have two options: accept my conditions and live, or refuse and die here,” the woman offered.
Before she had time to react, the woman quickly found the edge of a blade touching her throat and she felt another blade poking her back. “I don’t appreciate you coercing my friends,” the pony behind her whispered.
Cliff looked at Fayt and smirked, “Told ya.”
The woman’s surprise turned to confusion, “An Airyglyph assassin? Wait, you said ‘friends’? Who are you? How did you sneak up on me? I was certain I wasn’t being followed.”
Lyra smirked even if the woman couldn’t see it, “I have many years of practice. Now, here’s the new deal: you can help me break these two out of this city and we can negotiate, or you can be stubborn about your own terms and I will sell you out to the guards while I escape with these two. Oh, and don’t try anything stupid or you will see how good my reflexes are.”
The woman knew she was in trouble at the moment. If she was as experienced as she claimed, then she stood no chance against her. The fact alone that the assassin could sneak up on her left her believing that she wasn’t bluffing. She could only hope that she could still accomplish her mission despite losing her negotiating power.
“Very well,” she muttered with reluctance.
“Slowly then,” Lyra said before she slowly removed her blades from the woman’s neck and back. The woman slowly turned around to face her would-be assassin.
Her eyes widened when she looked at Lyra. “What…what the hell are you? I’ve never seen anything like you before.”
“I’m a Pony, that’s all you need to know for now. Behave and I’ll tell you some more things about myself later. Now, let’s see about releasing them.”
The woman nodded and placed a hand on the cell door lock before a magical circle appeared around the keyhole and the sound of a small explosion was heard a moment later as the locking mechanism was destroyed.
With the door opened, Lyra moved into the cell and observed the two prisoners. They had a number of bruises and what appeared to be marks from a whip. While it appeared that they were roughed up, they still seemed fit to continue fighting.
With precise movements, Lyra quickly sliced apart the restraints binding Fayt and Cliff.
Fayt approached the woman, “You requested our cooperation, but what does that entail?”
“You two were riding that strange lump of metal that landed in the city, correct? We want your technology.”
“Our technology? We can’t let you have that!?”
“Can we save the negotiations until after we escape the enemy stronghold?” Lyra demanded.
“Good point. We can talk all we want once we’re outta this hellhole,” Cliff agreed.
“But…” Fayt argued.
Lyra’s expression turned deadpan as she stared at Fayt, “Do we need to have a repeat of what happened at the evacuation facility?”
It wasn’t hard for Fayt to figure out that she meant when Sophia knocked him out and carried him to the shelter. Fayt gave up the argument with a sigh.
“Good boy,” Lyra said with a satisfied smile. “Now lets–”
The argument was interrupted when some voices were heard down the hall. They did not sound relaxed which meant that they knew something was going on.
“They’re changing the guard already?” the woman mumbled. She looked at Fayt and Cliff, “You two, I hope you have some fighting experience because you’re about to get some. I can tell that your friend has plenty of that at least.”
“Don’t you worry about us, you could say we’re above average,” Cliff boasted.
“Hang on, I can’t fight with my bare hands, I need some kind of weapon,” Fayt offered.
Nel picked up a sword belonging to the dead guard and handed it over to Fayt. “Will this do?”
Fayt nodded and took up his combat stance as he prepared for the enemies around the corner.
With a little spare time before the guards arrived, the four introduced themselves. The woman introduced herself as Nel Zelpher.
From around the corner came a number of soldiers along with a man that Fayt and Cliff were familiar with. He was someone who appeared to be eating well and wore no shirt and black pants. His face was concealed by a black leather mask and he carried a whip.
Lyra looked at the man with a raised eyebrow. “Is that the dungeon master or some guy who got lost on the way to a BDSM party?”
The soldiers were stunned with confusion before they stared at the inquisitor who was just as confused by that question.
The four capitalized on the confusion. Fayt assaulted some of the guards with a flurry of slashes from his sword and cut them down, Cliff invoked one of his techniques where he charged up his fists with electricity and started flinging powerful punches that electrocuted some of the guards from inside their metal armor. Nel finished the rest of the guards by casting an Ice Needles spell on them which froze them solid before she sent a sharp wave of air pressure which caused their bodies to shatter.
“Y-you think you can get away with this?” the inquisitor questioned. “I’ll take care of you myself, you and that freakish lum you have with you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lyra said. “But I’m going to assume that was your attempt at insulting me.” She dashed forward and was upon the inquisitor before he could react. She then cut the whip off at the handle, disarming her opponent.
The inquisitor then tried to punch her with his bare hands but only hit an image. His confusion continued as he received a large gash in his back. He turned around to find nobody there before he received another large cut down the length of his arm. He then began flailing his fists around, hoping to hit his target. His attempts were in vain as he continued receiving deep cuts. In his panic, he failed to realize that a small amount of void energy was preventing the cuts from bleeding.
After a minute, Lyra appeared next to Fayt and the others and the inquisitor was out of breath and covered in deep wounds. He roared as he charged at Lyra before the mare closed her eyes and turned around. The energies covering his wounds faded and the wounds began gushing blood. It took five seconds for him to bleed out and vanish. This reminded Lyra that they were still in a virtual universe.
“That was payback for torturing Fayt and Cliff,” she muttered.
“You really are as skilled as you look,” Nel commented. “Anyway, reinforcements will be here any minute. I know of a way out of the castle that avoids the guards.” She pointed at a barred shaft in the wall toward the ceiling.
“Looks like a tight fit,” Cliff noticed.
“Don’t complain, it widens out further in. We just need to squeeze through that first part.”
Cliff climbed up to the shaft before he ripped the bars off the opening. Given his bulky size, he had a lot of trouble getting into the hole in the wall. Fayt followed who was followed by Lyra who had to take extra care not to scrape her horn on the tunnel walls. Once she was through the small tunnel, she entered a cavern that she noticed had a lot of ice and running water. Nel exited the tunnel last.
Whatever the place was, Lyra could sense a lot of dark energy in the area and that meant that they were going to have to fight through some creatures living in the area.