It was often said, especially by those who were more inclined towards superstition, that it was a bad idea to stare directly into Travel-Space. Though by far the most popular form of long-distance travel, the otherworldly, multicoloured kaleidoscope feel of the experience had left many uneasy and wary, leading to all sorts of speculations. By stark contrast, Sunset rather enjoyed looking at it. Like every graduate of the academies, she had studied this a great deal, but rarely had she experienced it first-hand. Now, here she was, witnessing it through the viewscreen of her very own ship. She smiled as she leaned back into her captain's chair, listening to the sounds of all around her as they went about their respective duties and assignments. Eventually though, she turned to Rarity, who was still reviewing communications logs. "Any word from the outpost?"
Looking back to her, Rarity shook her head. "Alas, no. I told them we were coming, but they haven't responded yet."
Sunset considered that. "Well, we are in a new ship, Rarity. Could it just be something wrong with our side of things?"
Rarity, borderline offended at the implication that any communication tech wasn't pulling its weight, replied. "I assure you, Sunset, everything is in working order. Either their own tech isn't working or they simply haven't bothered to respond."
Looking ahead to the viewscreen again, a small pang of concern started to creep into Sunset, after which she glanced to the other side of the bridge, where Twilight was looking at her own monitors. "How are AJ's adjustments to the engine holding up?"
Looking back to her, Twilight actually seemed pleased to give her report on that front. "Whatever she did to them, they seem to be working just as well as she said. I don't think I've seen speeds like this in any of the simulations."
"Heh, I'll say!" Rainbow remarked from her pilot's chair. "This baby's flying like nobody ever flew before! We'll probably set a record for one of these trips or something!"
Leaning forward, Sunset smirked. "Just don't get too excited, Rainbow. Remember, we're a science and exploration ship, not a racing vessel."
Rainbow shrugged. "Nothing in the rulebook that says we can't be both, right?"
As if on cue, Twilight again turned on her chair, this time looking to Rainbow and pulling a small book from her pocket, which she displayed for all to see. "Actually, for a number of reasons, it is in the rulebook!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes, but while Sunset took a certain degree of amusement from the interaction, her thoughts soon turned to the task at hand, as the voice of the ship's AI chimed in. "Now approaching destination."
Sunset looked up. "Thank you, Pinkie."
Twilight frowned slightly. "I thought we agreed that naming the computer wasn't happening?"
Though a touch uncertain, Sunset eventually mellowed. "Meh, I kinda liked the name idea."
Rainbow snickered under her breath. "Hehe, score one for me."
But, there was a mission to undertake, and so all looked on as the image of Travel Space soon became the regular sight they were used to, that of vast blackness with a myriad of bright stars. They were at the very edge of the Equis system now, and before long their eyes noticed the tiny, shining dot right in the centre of the screen. It was the orbital outpost, the demarcation point beyond which lay the unknown and the alien. Looking to Rarity, Sunset gave a nod, and the former understood the silent instruction, pressing several buttons on her console. After a moment, she turned back to her captain and nodded, giving Sunset leave to start speaking. "Outpost Alpha, this is Sunset Shimmer, Captain of the Phoenix. Since getting here was our first mission, I don't think I'm wrong in saying we're all pretty happy to see you." She waited for a minute to see if she'd get an answer, but after a quick glance to Rarity, who shook her head, the young captain looked again to the viewscreen. "Outpost Alpha, this is Captain Shimmer. Do you read us?"
More silence, and this time Sunset just outright walked over to Rarity's communications desk. "Anything?"
"None," Rarity answered. "They're definitely receiving our message, but nothing's coming back."
"Are they ignoring us?" Rainbow asked with some mild irritation.
Another shake of the head from Rarity. "No, it's not that. It's..." Slowly, her eyes widened, and she turned to her leader. "It's a communications jam!"
It took only a moment to understand what her officer was telling her, and so Sunset rushed back to her chair, swiveling it to Twilight's direction. "What do the scanners say?"
Looking to her monitors, Twilight soon narrowed her eyes. "I'm getting something. A vessel right on the edge of our scopes. I'm not reading any kind of registration."
Sunset showed greater concern than before. "Pirates?"
Twilight looked back to her. "Uncertain."
Again, Sunset turned to the viewscreen. "What's the status of the outpost?"
"It seems it's undamaged, save for the communication block," Twilight explained.
"Wait!" Rarity exclaimed, getting everybody's attention. "I'm getting something. It's garbled, but I think the outpost is getting something to us!"
"Put them up!" Sunset ordered.
Her command was carried out immediately, as the viewscreen now turned to a very static-heavy image. But as the seconds passed, new images began to make themselves known. Figures, human in their shape, becoming clearer and clearer. The voices, however, were still a mess to make sense of. "We...couldn't...need to...got hit...can't track..."
"This is Captain Shimmer!" Sunset called to them again. "What is your status?"
This time, the message was clearer to hear, though the images still suffered from static. "We read you, Phoenix! Everyone here is alright, but we've just been hit. Communications were knocked out by that ship and we've just managed to get it back and running again."
"Who attacked you?" Sunset asked.
"We don't know!" the outpost officer answered. "As soon as they appeared on our scanners, we hailed them. They didn't answer, and instead sent a shot out that rendered us unable to call for help."
A cursory glance at her chair's monitor revealed that they had the right of it. Some small device had indeed been embedded in the side of the outpost, no doubt having been made to inflict some sort of communications malware to their systems. Sunset, taking that information in, nodded solemnly, before looking again to Rarity. "Send word to Command about this." After seeing Rarity nod back to her, she then addressed Rainbow. "Think you can catch up to them?"
Her pilot beamed, looking like she'd been given the best news of her life, and so gave her captain a wink and a thumbs up. "You bet!"
Twilight snapped her head towards Sunset. "Wait! We can't chase them! We're not designed for pursuing criminals and pirates!"
Sunset looked to her. "The rest of the fleet is in the middle of maneuvers on the other side of the system. By the time they'd get here our targets will have escaped. Besides, given how far away they are already, we're the only ship fast enough to catch up to them anyway!"
Twilight grimaced, but eventually sighed, acknowledging her commander's reasoning. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe we can transfer some power from nonessential systems to our weapons. Since, again, we weren't meant for combat, they'll need as much of a boost as we can give them."
Another nod from Sunset. "Alright then." She pressed a button on her chair to address the crew as a whole. "This is Captain Shimmer. Prepare for engagement! This is not a drill! I repeat, prepare for engagement!" Though aware that she'd likely caused a small panic among her crew, she knew she had to let them know what was coming. Taking a breath, she gave her next command. "Rainbnow...do what you do best!"
Cracking her knuckles, the pilot chuckled before getting to work. "Yes, Ma'am!"
Within seconds, they were zipping back into Travel-Space, returning to the brightly-coloured menagerie of images upon their screen. The situation and the mood was tense, but they knew they had to be on their toes for this. They didn't know what they were rushing into, but they also knew that they couldn't allow this attack to go unanswered. It took only a minute for this particular jump to get them where they needed to go, and thus the viewscreen returned to its normal sight of space, with Rainbow pointing straight ahead. "Thar she blows!"
There, right in the centre of the screen, was the offending vessel. From the looks of it, it appeared to be an old, modified cargo freighter, though it was certainly a lot more spry than most models of that type, managing to fly away at a decent speed. "Hail them!" Sunset ordered.
But before Rarity could do so, Rainbow yelled out. "INCOMING!!!"
There was indeed a shot fired from the enemy ship, and Sunset was not going to take any risks as to how strong it was. "Raise shields!"
Her order was carried out swiftly by Twilight, who managed to erect the defensive, yet invisible barrier of the Phoenix just in time. Although, its status as unseen was only until the projective collided with it, at which point where was as rippling effect to indicate its presence. The missile, by contrast, was not so durable, having exploded upon impact. Sunset breathed a sigh of relief, feeling grateful that the attack hadn't done anything, but she assumed a more professional stance as Rarity called out to her. "Captain...they are trying to hail us."
Sunset's eyes narrowed, and she considered that for a moment before gesturing to the main viewscreen. "Alright then, let's see what they have to say for themselves."
Rarity nodded, and shortly afterwards the screen changed to that of what had to be the crew of the other ship. The interior looked just as old and patched together as the outside, with the crew looking like they more than suited that kind of environment. By contrast, the man at the centre, a rather well-dressed gentleman with a styled hairdo, smirked as he addressed the Captain. "Greetings, fellow spacefarers!"
His demeanour was friendly, but Sunset knew it was only surface-level. He was putting on a false diplomacy, but even with that in mind Sunset knew she had a duty to remain cordial unless given cause not to. "This is Captain Shimmer of the Equis vessel Phoenix. Identify yourselves and explain your actions."
The man shrugged with fake innocence. "I do apologise, Miss. Our ship is old, as you can tell, and or weapons systems malfunctioned. I do hope nobody aboard your fine ship was hurt?"
Sunset maintained her calm, at least for now. "No harm done. But I ask again, who are you?"
"Ah," the man said. "I am merely a travelling merchant. Far be it from me to take up the time of a commander of the Equis fleet. So, I shan't bother you any longer. My crew and I will simply be on our way."
Naturally, Sunset wasn't having it. "You know, we've just come from a nearby outpost that was recently attacked. And here you are, an unregistered vessel, just a stone's throw away from it."
The man chuckled. "My dear Captain, I assure you, it is mere coincidence that we were in the area. I mean, surely you have no reason to suspect us of foul play?"
"We do now," Twilight called out, getting everyone's attention. "I took the liberty of running your image through the Equis network's database." She got up from her station, pointing straight at him. "You're Doctor Caballeron! A criminal wanted in at least a dozen systems!"
Instantly, Sunset's head snapped back in the direction of the viewscreen, followed shortly by her folding her arms. "And if I recall right, one of the things you've been charged with is smuggling illegal weaponry, such as communication dampeners, yes?"
Caballeron blinked. "Yes...well...we're certainly not up to anything bad now. It's just me and my two crewmen."
"Really?" Twilight asked with skepticism in her voice. "Then why do our readings indicate there are four lifeforms on your ship?"
The man's reaction was instant, and the transmission ended, leaving only the image of his ship, which was now turning away from the Phoenix. Everyone got back to work in just as fast a time, with Twilight taking further readings and relaying them. "They're powering up their engines. If we don't do something now they can get to Travel-Space soon!"
"Weapons?" Sunset asked.
Rainbow looked back to her. "We can fire, sure, bit I don't wanna if there's someone being held prisoner over there."
Sunset nodded. "Agreed. Target their engines. We can at least try to keep them here." Her orders were carried out as soon as she'd said them, and within moments a single stream of blue light shot forth from the forwardmost point of the Phoenix, hitting the opposing vessel in its rear. After a few seconds, the latter ship began to cease its movement, with clear damage to the hind sections. "Report!" Sunset called out.
"No sign of any harm to the lifeforms on-board," Twilight answered. "But they can still fight back if these scans of their weapons are anything to go by!"
"Let em fire if they want!" Rainbow declared. "In case you forgot, their little pot-shots were useless against our shields!"
"Be that as it may, I'd rather not let this fight drag on longer than it has to," Sunset countered. "Twilight was right when she said this ship wasn't meant for battle. If we can bring this to an end quickly, then we should." She quickly glanced around the room. "So, any ideas?"
"I think I might," Rarity announced. When all had turned to her, she explained. "I studied communication blockers like those nasty toys of theirs back when I was training for this posting back home. I know what they do to interfere with a ship's signal systems. And I also know that those same tricks can disable a good deal more than that."
"You think you can hack their ship?" Sunset asked.
"She might," Twilight assured her. That ship they're using? It's a repurposed civilian freighter. Their system protections aren't as good as ours, so they'll be more susceptible to infiltrations."
Nodding to her science officer, Sunset then looked back to Rarity. "Then by all means, bring them down!"
"Heads up!" Rainbow called. "They're not going down without a fight!"
Sure enough, she was right. But this time, the enemy ship wasn't bothering with just sending communication dampeners like they had before. This was a straight-up pulse stream, much like what they themselves had used not long ago. The only exception was that this one was bright red in its colouring. As with the previous attack, it collided with the shield, and while it did not penetrate, there was enough impact to send a slight rumble through the vessel. "Target their weapons!" Sunset ordered.
"Aye-aye, Captain!" Rainbow responded. And so a second burst shot from the front of the Phoenix, hitting the area where the opposing shot had come from. Rainbow smirked and punched the air with delight. "Direct hit! They're not going to do anything to us now!"
Sunset nodded, then looked to Rarity. "How's it coming?"
"Almost...there....and...got it!" the communications officer replied.
Looking ahead, Sunset saw that the effect of her systems tampering was taking effect immediately, with many of the lights on the ship beginning to flicker, as if no longer able to stay alight. Twilight, having been monitoring the situation, turned to her captain. "It worked! Systems are failing all over their ship!"
Sunset frowned. "Life support?"
Twilight sighed. "Yes, that too."
A solemn nod from the young captain, who then pressed a button on her chair's armrest. "This is Captain Shimmer to teleport officers, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Captain," a voice called back.
"I want everyone on that ship transported off it before it's too late. Send the bridge crew to the brig. As for the one in their hold, send whoever it is to the medical bay for Fluttershy to look them over."
"Understood, Ma'am!"
As soon as the command had been given, Sunset watched as the last of the lights on the ship finally went out. After just a moment, there was a beeping on her armrest to indicate that there was an incoming message, which prompted her to press the button again. "Did we get them?"
"We did," her subordinates replied. "The criminals are secure in the brig.
"And their prisoner?" Sunset asked.
"Um...you might want to head down to the medical bay, Captain. I don't think this is what any of us was expecting."
With a remark like that, Sunset got up from her chair immediately, turning to Twilight. "You're with me."
Twilight followed her commanding officer away from the bridge and towards the elevator they'd arrived on, leaving Rarity as acting commander in her absence. The two stood in silence for a time as they watched the monitor of the elevator, seeing themselves descend further and further into the ship. Eventually, the doors opened again and they began walking down the hallway with haste. Both of them were quiet the whole way, no doubt worried about what state this unknown prisoner was in, given the reactions of those working the teleports. Eventually, they made it to the medical bay and entered, seeing it for the first time. It was a pristine white room filled with all of the medical equipment Fluttershy had been hauling earlier. And speaking of whom, the good doctor was here, turning to them with concern. "Captain!"
"How's the patient?" Sunset asked.
Fluttershy nervously poked the ends of her fingers together. "Well...um...see for yourself."
And so she stood aside, revealing the one in question. Sunset had been fully expecting some bound or injured person now unconscious upon one of the medical beds. What she had not expected however was to find, of all things, an egg. Largely lavender in its colouring with dark purple spots, it was about the size of their heads, now resting gently upon the aforementioned bed. Sunset looked to Twilight, who was equally surprised, before exclaiming their shared sentiment. "What...is this?"