//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Luster's first days in space // Story: Book 2: Operation Black Abyss // by efug25g //------------------------------// In the present, 5 years after the assassination of Empress' Vanista and Lord Hampt..... Inside the crew quarters onboard Willis' battlecruiser, Luster Dawn enters her room and drops off her gear onto the floor before she sits on her seat, leaning forward towards the desk in front of her while taking out a pen from her backpack. As she starts writing her journal entries on her diary, she explains in her own words over what she had been through with the UFF and the Equestrian Royal Guard accompanying her during the first few missions in space. The young unicorn makes several notes to herself to keep her mentor Queen Twilight informed of the current situation at hand. Journal Entry-Day 12: After spending 12 days outside of Equestria and into deep space with Willis and his crew, we along with the unicorn Guard Captain Blaze Stars and his Royal Guard detachment, have managed to overtake an enemy concentration camp owned by the FSC in a red-sandy planet known as Bloody Dune. It was a hot desert where most of the prisoners held there are being forced to work underneath the red mountains inside their concentration camp. Most of them were dehydrated and malnourished after me and my friends are able to neutralize all enemy resistance there. Thankfully, I was able to transfigure a large construction vehicle into a huge tank filled with water, attaching a small spigot to it. Most of the prisoners that we freed from their restraints immediately ran straight to the huge water tank as they took huge gulps from it. It was pretty chaotic to think that those guys were totally desperate in hydrating themselves after working in the mines for only Twilight knows how long. About 25 prisoners were safely onboard our ship right now, feeling happy and at ease that they are heading back home to their home planet Liarush. Most of these prisoners happened to be boar-like alien humanoids that live in tribal villages in a jungle-like environment. They call themselves that Hoglians, primitive boar creatures that live a semi-intelligent society where they hunt and forage food from the jungle swamps in Liarush. Day 15: When we arrived at Liarush, one of the Hoglians snorted in a squealing delight as if they are trying to congratulate us for rescuing them from captivity. It turns out that he introduced himself to me and my friends as Lord Rusk, the chieftain of the Hoglian tribe. I may not understand his grunting, squeals but thankfully, Captain Willis used the translator on him but in a private area where I was ordered to wait outside of. Day 16: Willis informed me and the rest of our men and my friends that Lord Rusk has received reports of a group of alien pirates are stalking him for a few nights outside of his tribal village. He explained to me, relaying his conversation to Lord Rusk, that they are wearing crude armor plates made out of scrap metal they salvaged from their attacks upon unwary traveling vessels. In fact, they captured some of his tribesmen earlier only to sell them to the FSC for loads of money. Because of this their hostile presence, Rusk could not leave his village for any reason, nor can he let any of his people go out to do anymore hunting. So, me, Willis, and a team of UFF marines and Equine Royal Guard were scouring the southern swamp lands for the known last location of the pirates. Day 17: We managed to neutralize the pirate threat looming near Rusk's doorstep. They were spotted near an abandoned Sectanium battleship that was half-sunken in the swamp. Afterwards, Sergeant Jetfire of the Pegasus guard division uncovered a wide, medium-sized crate contain some strange alien technological artifact that appears to be used for some sort of weapon. When I used my magic to do a analysis scan, it was muttering an ancient alien language that I couldn't decipher especially with the translator. All I could see through my subconscious mind is a set of runes glowing in bright orange-red for a few seconds before it disappeared. We decided to take our leave from Liarush, bidding farewell to Lord Rusk and his fellow tribesmen before we set a course to UFF HQ in the planet, Atlantais which lies in the western sections, 200 light-years east of Equestria. Day 20: For the past three days during our voyage to Atlantais, I started to have nightmares of seeing some dark, shadowy entity appearing from the secured alien technology we found back at the shipwreck in Liarush. It was reaching it's long arms out to me as it grabbed me by the face with it's huge hands, reciting an black, frightening speech. I don't know what was that all about. However, I could feel my head swirling in darkness as the runes are appearing all over my body. Before I knew it, I was being possessed by something evil. Just as when it was getting worse, I finally woke up from my nightmare, breathing rapidly as if I was in a panic that something is happening to me. All at the same time, Willis appeared from outside of my room to see if everything is okay. I told him that I had the worst nightmare ever. He also had the same nightmare too about a dark entity coming out of the alien artifact we secured on our ship only to possess him. The Captain can only hope that we will uncover what the weaponized artifact is used for. For now, he ordered us not to go anywhere near it until we reached our destination. After writing down her latest journal entry in space, Luster takes out a scroll to write down her findings revolving around the mysterious, alien weapon artifact that she found in Liarush. Once she used her magic to teleport her message scroll to Queen Twilight, Luster heard a distant rumble coming outside of her room. *RUMBLE!* As the Luster's room shook violently, she started hearing the alarm beep abruptly as the lights are turning from yellow to red while the horns started blaring all over the ship she is in. "Attention all creatures and aliens. We're being ambushed in space. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Report to your stations asap and await further orders!!!" The PA voice boomed from the speakers. Leaving her diary on her desk, Luster gets out of her seat as she grabbed her combat gear from her bed. The moment she held her blaster rifle up to her left side with her magic, Luster sees Captain Willis appear from the corridors. "Luster, we have a FSC cruiser getting ready to board us. We need you to help us out here!!!" The Captain ordered the unicorn. "I'm on it!!!" Luster acknowledged as she held her gun with her magic, cocking it before getting ready to shoot some enemies. Not a moment too soon, Willis drew out his blaster pistol from his sheath before he and Luster went down the corridors to meet the FSC soldiers head on.