The Copernicus Incident

by Rocktavia

Chapter 0: Postscript

November, 2533

Sounds of chaos and discord came in through the radio. Echoes of a desperate war.
At least it would be over soon. Some voices I recognized and could pick through the haze. It was tricky to stay awake in my condition, but keeping the radio on 'All Allied Forces' would have made it somewhat easier, gave me something to focus on— But it really just pissed me off. It seemed we were losing. Badly.
“Captain, come in! Captain!”
“Royal Guard's breaking off! The Elements have to be protected! WHERE IN EQUESTRIA ARE OUR REINFORCEMENTS?!”
“All Equestrian Union troopers, fall back to rally point Delta Five! I repeat! Fall back to rally point Delta Five! ”
“This is Griffon Field Command! Whitebeaks, push forward and cover the Human retreat! Winterclaws, break formation and head for the Guards! Fight with honor, Griffons!”
He won. In truth, I really should have seen this coming. He wanted me to come here. I was too stupid to see that I was being played. I glanced a few feet over to the still, silent form of a recently killed man. He’d had a longer life than most humans- No, scratch that. He'd had a longer life than the average pony. The average pony, be they Unicorn, Earth Pony, or Pegasus, could boast of a lifespan of 200 years. Nano-Aug'd humans pushed the human lifespan to almost 150, but this man had lived for six hundred and sixty-six years. Obviously, the so-called "Everlasting Demon" bled and died as much as the rest of us did. Granted, it took a lot to take him down.
         “Computer, Diagnostic report.” I croaked.
         My powered armor analyzed itself with what little energy stores it had left and then a familiar voice emitted itself through the speakers in my cockpit, stating a bunch of data that I already knew.
“Structural Integrity Critical. Energy Stores Critical. Upper Servomotor Assemblies Critical. Lower Servomotor Assemblies Badly Damaged. Primary Power Stores: Depleted. Emergency Power Stores: Five Percent. Warning: Self-Repair Systems Compromised. Warning: Environmental Hazards Detected, User In Danger.”
My mind spun, barely acknowledging the computer’s voice as my memories came back to me. Where did I go wrong? Was it just me or was it… something else? Something that happened 500 Years ago? In truth, I don’t know. But if I were to make an educated guess, I’d say it was mostly Grandpa. Especially with what I’d learned recently. The Archives, the Temple of Humanity…
My name is Captain Tarquin Lozo, de facto leader of the settlement of Humanity’s Crest… And I’m totally about to die.
If I could tell anypony in the world right now, it would be her.
“Computer, get me an uplink to Humanity’s Crest.”
“QEC Subsystem Damaged, Unable to transmit. Short-range Radio Only.”
“A- Anybody… Computer, get me anybody.” With the computer clearly not understanding my meaning, I coughed out another command with what was left of my damaged lungs. "Rights, get me Rights."
“Tarquin! Cap, come in.”
That was Rights, my commander on the ground. The audio was spotty at best. It sounded like they were getting hit hard down there.
I frowned and depressed the comm button on my helmet.
“Tarquin here, what’s the situation?”
I knew the situation already, but protocol was protocol.
“Tarquin! Thank God! What's happening?!”
My left hand found my face. I let out a soft gasp as I realized it was thoroughly burned. Trying my damnedest to ignore the pain that just my touch had inflicted, I responded to Rights.
“Rights… I stopped him. But he’s rigged the Ruby to explode. I can’t stop it from here.”
“What about the-”
“The escape plan didn’t work.”
An explosion that was a little too close for comfort reminded me my time was short.
“It's sealed shut, there’s no more coming through. Just… just hold your ground and push the rest back to their ships.”
“Roger that, Cap. Sending a transport to you ASAP.”
“Negative, just leave me.” I coldly said.
“What?! Tarquin, you can’t make it out of there alone!”
“I know. But you can’t spare the ships for a full escort. And that’s what it’ll take - I’m deep in Darkness Territory.”
There was silence on the other end as she probably struggled to accept it.
“I guess you’re right, sir.”
“Just… keep fighting. For me. And tell her I’m sorry I couldn’t make it home.”
“I… Of course, Tarquin. Harmony be with you.”
A tear forced its way out of my eye. Huh, I guess my tear ducts worked after all.
“And with you, Commander. Godspeed.”
“Cap, good lu-” Static came through as my Radio finally crapped out.
Resigned to its fate, my body crumpled against the chair. With nothing else to do, I fumbled about in the cockpit for a brief moment, looking for something. Finding my quarry duct-taped under the right console, I smiled.
A Cuban Cigar. You know, I’d never been much for smoking, but it was something of a tradition among the hot-shot pilots of these walking tanks that if they finished a mission with impossible odds, they’d light one of these up.
I think this definitely qualified as ‘Impossible Odds’.
I popped my survival lighter out of my pocket and held the gizmo up to the tip, almost immediately gagging on the smoke.
“Fuck me sideways with Twilight’s forehooves, that’s awful! The hay were these crazy Armor-Jocks thinking?!” I yelled out to nobody in particular.
I snuffed the cigar out on the front panel. Not like I would be around long enough for Donnelly to reprimand me for dirtying one of his precious machines. I noticed the dash had a metal plate on it. Having nothing better to do while waiting for death to find me, I idly read it.

I was rapidly interrupted by a deep voice sounding out over the ship’s internal communications array. The voice was distinctly male and equally synthetic. Must have been the ship's computer core.
“Warning: Quantium containment failure. Detonation in 5… 4… 3…”
Inside the jury-rigged bridge drive of the ship, a heart-shaped ruby with a cerulean core sparked slightly, then erupted in a blaze of hellfire and quantum turbulance that ripped the ship - and me - apart.

In Darkness We Die.