//------------------------------// // The Harsh Reality // Story: [Forlorn Ascension]|[Rites of Dominion] // by Desrium //------------------------------// "Phew!" Phineas breathed, allowing himself to sit and rest after his latest foray into alien technology. He rested his back against one of the containers' wall, his helmet lying on the floor a foot or so off to his side. Scattered around him were various bits of devices he salvaged from the Draconix, the metal littering the floor of the weapon maintenance hold. The bulk of the reclaimed Spell-core disruptor had been integrated with the phaser cannons, leaving only the scrap. Tsubar would have probably melted the refuse down. Phineas frowned a bit when the mechanic crossed his mind. Him and the four others who accompanied him aboard the Desolus, three of which were now counted among the departed. Just when he was willing to change his ways -to allow himself to connect with those around him- he found himself thrown back into the pit of loneliness he had spent so many years in. Such was the cruel ways of fate! "It really has been too short..." Phineas mumbled, his mood dour. His victory over the Draconix and his ever increasing efficiency at combat did little to numb the pain he felt for those he was so close to counting as his friends. No matter how hard he fought, he would never be able to get them back. No matter how hard he fought, he wouldn't be able to get any of them back, those he left behind centuries ago. He could only hope Tsubar and Uolix have fared well in their escape pod over the five days that passed. That was all he had left of his former companions. Aside from that, he was left to his lonesome with his pledge. Live decently, fight for what he believed was right. And according to him, any and all under the Hoof-Talons banner had a target on their heads. "It's good enough," he thought, clinging to his dedication to it. It would be his sole drive to continue living. To continue fighting, as daunting as the odds may be. He was just about finished gathering the scrap from the floor when he heard a peculiar noise. He cocked his head, pulled his long mane from his ears and listened for it, mildly surprised when he did hear it again. It was like a cross between a chime and a ping. He looked around and spotted a terminal that had just folded out of the wall, its flat screen flashing with an alert. Phineas arched a brow and trotted over to it. Proximity alert: Unknown entities approaching he read on the screen. "Impossible... it's freezing outside. Did other Hoof-Talons find me? Did the ones controlling the Draconix survive the crash!?" In an instant Phineas' austere condition changed to that of a hot blooded survivor. He took a quick moment to synch his PDA up with the shuttle so as to ensure he would get such warnings directly next time and then rushed back to retrieve his helmet. He slid it on, the HUD reappearing in his sights. *** He raised his PDA to his face and looked at the projection of the offending characters. They were a short bunch, even by pony standards. They looked like small mounds because they wore such thick coats, puffy and rubbery. They were bipedal and in addition to their heavy coats, they appeared to have helmets on their heads, mostly covered by their hoods. On either side of the helmets were small lamps. Phineas almost broke out into laughter. He was prepared to fight for his life! These things looked like...marshmallows! A small bunch of marshmallows fighting their way through a snowstorm on a planet of constant cold! "Its like... if one of them fell they would keep on rolling until they became a giant snowball!" the silver stallion muttered to himself, stifling his laughter. "There you go again Phineas, always assuming the worst..." It was not long before the canopy raised and lowered. Phineas dropped from the ladder and landed in the deep snow with a crunch. He was pretty sure he wasn't standing on the actual ground of the planet and that he was simply standing on harder-packed snow. Less than a yard away were the three aliens that had come to see him. For a change, Phineas was the first to speak. "What are you and... what are you doing out here? What are you doing on this planet?" Phineas inquired. The lances of light from the helmet lamps swept across him as the small beings looked at each other, as if silently conversing amongst themselves. Phineas could see that their view screens were tinted a dark shade of green and that they had straps running diagonally over their chest where they had silvery pistols holstered. Their coats were all a silvery-gray color, glistening in the light of the lamps. It was only a few seconds before the one at the middle replied with a startlingly deep and loud voice: "We are known as the Ghanax, pony-stranger. My fellows and I are taking refuge on this world, for Hoof-Talon forces have occupied this system. Or... we were; we came to investigate the light in the sky and the explosion hoping our fears would be for naught but it appears we were justified in our suspicions." "Er... what?" Phineas queried. "Yes, for now you have brought them here, pony-stranger." "But I defeated them! You won't have to worry about the Draconix-" the stallion began to say, when the Ghanax off to the far right spoke. "The Draconix does not encompass the entirety of the Hoof-Talon occupancy in this star system. There is a legion of ships monitoring this sector of space and you destroyed one of them here. The others are bound to investigate." "But how would they know?" Phineas countered. "It appeared to be alone when I engaged it..." "Did you battle it above this planet?" the Ghanax off to the far left asked. "No. It was fleeing... here..." Phineas replied, his responses slowing down as he started to piece together what the trio was getting at. "... Aw damn. It called for help, didn't it?" "More than likely," said the Ghanax in the middle. Phineas cursed silently. He was so caught up in his rage that he did not consider such a thing at the time! And now these three were going to have to deal with the repercussions of his short sightedness- "What are we to do? If Hoof-Talons is converging on this planet, then we cannot leave without running the risk of attack. If we stay, it is only a matter of time until we are discovered," the leftward Ghanax questioned. "I do not know," the Ghanax at the right responded. "Even if we were to take the chance and retreated, they would still follow us to wherever we may hide next. I worry that the rest of the crew will not manage under such stress," "Wait... there are more of you here?" Phineas asked abruptly. The Ghanax merely nodded. He cursed himself further. "Damn it all!" he thought, fighting the urge to kicking at the snow. In his mind, he already knew what he had to do. He could not allow the Ghanax to suffer for his mistake. "Go back to the others," Phineas said as he turned back to the shuttle. "I hope it's not too late..." "Pony-stranger?" the figure at the middle asked, daring to step forward a few small paces. "I refuse to let harm befall you and your peers for my actions!" Phineas proclaimed over his shoulder. He brought up his PDA and ordered the shuttle's screen to rise. "You are-?" "Going to lead them away from here. They would want me, after all. I was the one who did that." The stallion gestured to the crater with a hoof. "But pony-stranger,!" the two others said as one, stepping forth as well. "They will kill you!" "One pony is a lot better a price to pay than your entire group," Phineas thought. Without further delay, he jetted back into the cockpit and started to prepare for take off. A gust of howling wind sent flurries whipping across the icy surface. "Pony-stranger, tell us your name, so that your selfless deed will be remembered and honored. We Ghanax do not take sacrifice lightly," said the alien at the center. "My name is Phineas. Phineas Startrot," said the stallion in the gray armor. "Selfless? Maybe. Sacrifice? I don't count on dying any time soon!" he shouted. The canopy came down thereafter. The engines started up, screaming and screeching. Another layer of snow was flung up into the air as the black and white shuttle started to ascend and its landing skids folded into its hull. It angled itself towards the ominous clouds above and with a flash of purple, the shuttle blasted off toward the blackness. *** The shuttle sped across the outer limits of the world of cold, rays of blue-white light extending over the distant horizon. Its vertical stabilizer was stowed away. Inside, Phineas sat anxious, ready to react to everything and anything. He was expecting a blockade -an armada even- countess ships poised to strike him down at any moment like an insignificant gnat. He was ready to dodge beams and orbs and whatever else would be waiting for him. The harsh reality was that he was not too far off. As abroad as they were, the tell tale signs of numerous ships of various sizes and classes were already being registered by the small vessel. Phineas' sensors picked up on enormous spikes of energy dead ahead of the agile craft. They all matched the Hoof-Talons signature, prominent and powerful. Boastful and terrifying. An allegiance of scumbags and psychopaths that held the galaxy in their claws. For the briefest of moments, Phineas thought he saw the Iopteryx at the head of the coming wave of ships. It was mind bogglingly huge to have been visible from so far away, the fluttering of its incorporeal wings spanning hundreds of miles. Its tendrils writhed and undulated, reaching out for things unseen. The points of light amidst the deep blueness sparkled and twinkled in a hypnotic fashion. But the phantom Star Terror was gone just as swiftly as it appeared and whether or not it was reality or a machination of a mind under duress was something the stallion could not be bothered with thinking about for the time being. He was looking at oncoming death. He had to throw off the legion, keeping them off his tail while leading them away from the Ghanax hiding away planetside. "And hopefully, not endangering any more innocents." He put full power to the engines, spectacular white trails left behind the shuttle as it banked around the cloud-choked world and shot off into oblivion. Even after the shuttle itself had faded from view, its exhaust shone like twin stars in the backdrop of space. "There. That should be more than enough to grab your attention," Phineas thought, sitting back in his seat and releasing the breath he had been holding. He had come so close to being caught in a battle he had no hope of winning. "You'd best enjoy it, Hoof-Trots. That's the only freebie you'll get from me. Maybe. Until I fuck up again." As harrowing an experience as it could have been, this encounter was a learning experience at the very least. One thing was perfectly clear: restraint was paramount. He could not lose himself to his primal instincts while fighting the Hoof-Talons. Doing so left him blind to a clear and present danger and by extension, put the lives of others in peril. Phineas thought that was utterly unacceptable. How could he live with himself knowing his pursuits put others in harm's way? He couldn't. There was a certain line he tread upon, one so incredibly narrow; it was all too easy to cause catastrophe with good intentions.