//------------------------------// // CH1 // Story: MLP FIM/Halo: Towards the broken dawn… // by Evident Disaster //------------------------------// MLP FIM/Halo: Towards the broken dawn… AN: I know that this is probably going to get much fire for including two of the most controversial content, which is going to be violence, which I do for many stories on FF.net, but the other one being anthropomorphic-ponies, I know that there’s a ton of arguments being flung over the whole length of the fanbase. Which has really ‘saddened’ me about why the community opposes them, aside from the horrible artworks and sexualisation and etc, I can understand that. But I’m going in this because the symbolism of the human and the ponies are very important in understanding what difference is. Comparison of the cultural and sociological sides are also critical, which I’d rather not divulge much now about it. As a fanfic writer who’s made well over 24 stories some of which have been good others still a WIP, I believe that this fic should be worthwhile to try and produce. And also a warning before I begin, the fic is about the UCAF, not the UNSC. A slight difference from the main story line, if you’d like to know more about the AU that I’ve created you can go search for it at, there’s no actual story behind it, but this just fills you in on some minor things. http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2496373/Evident_Disaster I don’t know why the one on my profile doesn’t work, so just use this link. Let the story begin. (Also please note that the story format keeps on changing for some odd reason when i post and this is 8000+ so i'll adjust it in a while.) XXXXXX CH1: Age of acclimation… (AN: BTW this isn't necessary to read, but going through it would give you a bit of an insight into the history of the UCAF, it should help clear a few things up and you’ll be surprised at how much history of the UCAF actually exists, you can ask about it but the story is very long and very hard to talk about as it goes roughly 3000 years in length and can cover a number of things.) UCAF chronological data- ACCESS GRANTED Date of admission- Published 2221- Updated 2521- Modified 2555 /Memo/ -Dr Valerie E Haley To those who read this chronological archive of the UCAF you may require to read the UCAF foundation records and past ICA records in order to understand this, please note that all archives were accessed and modified by me, and any confidential data seen may or may not be factual as there have been continuity issues through the UCAF archives since 2399. All data regarding specific structures and organisations will be recorded in their own separate sections, please also note that this shares archived data on past organisations and records involving the military, economic and historic events and timelines. This information must not be allowed to fall into unwarranted hands due to the sensitivity of the information. To those who read this, the future is not set, however the past is, heed this warning, and do not make the same mistakes… Semper Fi. /END/ Index Archives Factions: Note that some may not exist while others may have disbanded In the beginning of the new colonies of the Nova Stratus region, there were over 80 known factions in control of the region of space; throughout 2221 the UCAF recorded the 8 main power factions: Pop: 46 billion, 890 worlds, unknown amount of systems Imperial Arcadian Empire: The Arcadian Empire was once built over the ruins of a past race that utilised space FTL teleportation; the Arcadians decided to ignore trying to understand the super advanced technology and simply accepted it as a gift from fate. The Empire structured itself on militaristic and imperial beliefs since the early 5th century when the first Arcadians witnessed the first king travel through the gateways with his armies to ascend into godhood. It wasn’t until much later that it was discovered to be a teleporter and began to spread news of the new king, and thus over 500 years the Arcadian Empire has stretched far even though not being FTL capable, it encompassed over 172 planets and 5 dozen systems by 2225. Human Unification Organisation: This faction of power was infamous through the Nova Stratus records as being completely immoral in practices with medicine and genetic manipulation, especially through the early 24th century. The Human Unification was a movement and ideal based on a single mind and body, not literally but metaphorically it meant to bring the human race under one banner and to bring the colonies to improve themselves by adapting their beliefs of improvement through health and genetics, their beliefs were well met, but not widely accepted. The HUO began expansion just 75 years before 2225, it reached over 93 worlds, but had severe restrictions due to non-FTL abilities, but it could communicate to other planets through a unique technological device found on their planet, this communication allowed access to dozens of worlds, but made things arduous as it took years to convince many, and those with them were not as loyal as they had yet to show themselves until 2225. Imperial Orussian Imperium: The Imperium of the Celestial Tundra is what Orussia essentially means, the Orussians had been formed during the 8th century and continued to evolve into the state that it is, however it is unique due to its amazing bit of genetic evolution. The Orussian people originate on their world of Icarus, frozen tundra of a planet, but they live in underground super cities constructed millennia before their existence, it was said that their gods shaped and created them to do their will. The Orussiuan people were initially suspected to have been cloned, on closer inspection that rumour had become somewhat true, in the earliest days the ICA found that the Orussians were using an alien technology that allowed them to be cloned at nearly instant speeds, it aged the clones to a certain degree before releasing them as perfect replicas, however in the years the Orussians phased out the use of clones as there was no longer a need. Orussian space from records indicated that they possessed 123 worlds. Independent Colonial Coalition: ICC was not only a formidable power during the early colonial era, but the fact that they had the largest coalition of planets was frightening. The ICC had formed during the late 9th century as the planet of Callistan began to advance; the Callistians had unified and advanced rapidly in technology and science putting their beliefs in religion behind for idealised morals and ethics and beliefs which suited their society. The Callistians recruited a number of neighbouring systems through talk and began to advance into modern 21st century technology by early 11th century, they had covered the areas of technology faster than that of earth, however during the period which became known as the ‘colonial age’ the Coalition fell apart at the seams as many new colonies wished for independence. For 400 years the ICC was engrossed in civil strife and war, and eventually it fell into a dark age of space. ICC did not reform until late 18th century and only during the 19th did it fully recover to begin again with efforts to reconnect with lost ties. The ICC first developed AI in 2101, and created cybernetics in 2021. ICC planets numbered roughly 180 worlds, however many factions that splintered decreased the numbers down to 50. Neo Koslovic Separatists: NKS was formed about the same time the ICA was formed and was kept marginally controllable, the NKS however had many flaws in ideals and beliefs and most of the reform was half hearted corrections that worked well to suit certain colonies to join, the efforts it took the NKS to form was staggering and highly costly, the NKS did not survive with its neo communist beliefs as it died out in early 2312. Planets under NKS influence were roughly 45. United Republic of Calisto: URC was amazingly the wealthiest faction out of the Nova Stratus factions and it was the most developed faction surpassing the ICC, but it was not as expansive as the ICC or the IAE, it took the efforts of the Calisto Strata Cluster 400 years to get to a fully developed point and the URC required to buy most of the FTL technology from the ICC when they encountered each other during the late 18th century. URC was initially 30 systems and 130 worlds but developed heavily into 80 systems and 210 worlds by the end of the 23rd century. Arian Systems Movement: ASM was notoriously a heavy left hand fascist ruled dictatorship, Arian Molvic was an imperialist ruler who believed heavily in the strength of his people, but also his blood, he was supposed to have died during the 17th century, however with certain technology he had managed to stay alive and active, his rule had been nearly absolute, if it weren’t for the many new factions which opposed him during the rise of the 19th century where the ICC and the many rebellion forces began to push forwards with a war on his rule, he was not killed until a single 4 man team infiltrated his palace and managed to slay him in 2332. Number of planets under recorded history is unknown… Independent Colonial Alliance: ICA was the foremost impressive force of Nova Stratus region because of its FTL and colonisation ability, the ICA formed in 2225 with its position on Anomia and 12 new colonies, it began to garner support over the whole region boasting new technologies from an empire far away on a planet called earth, and thus the ICA began integration in a short 25 years. It continued to expand until it was stopped by the ICC and the IAE during the late 23rd century. The ICA formed 80 worlds and moved upwards since. Races: This must remain absolutely confidential for the security of the human race and beyond it Fenrisson: An indigenous species connected to the world of Valence, their discovery was not made until the 15th century by ICC colonial explorer ships. The Fenris have no intentions to join the human race as they had lived in isolation for many millennia, the ICC did not attempt to force borders open and simply remained passive. The Fenris race did not join the human race until late 2400s where the planet suffered a disastrous famine caused from heat of the local star, it had a minor solar flare which lasted 3 months and destroyed over 60% of crops and caused heavy instability in the planet’s ecosphere. Timeline: 2250-2350 ICA formation in Nova Stratus was welcomed by many, the formation of the first new faction since the HUO centuries earlier, the ICA formed with the intent to bring a democratic social order and wealth to the worlds of Nova Stratus, its 110 ships and 1.1 million colonists met with the first Anomians who lived on the new capital and integrated the pre-space capable race into its own. The ICAF was later formed in 2263 in order to defend against possible raids from pirates and slavers. ICC and the ASM began a conflict when the planet of Vekta was invaded by ASM forces, the ICC responded with a massive fleet strike and soon the far western regions of the Nova Stratus region was engrossed in a war of attrition, it would not end until late 2341. URC and HUO form a pact of trade in order to maximise their economic standing as the ICC colonial conflict progressed, the pact would last until the rise of the Advent order and the Imperial Vindicators of 2371. IAE makes a calculated move to engage the ICA in the south east regions of the Nova Stratus regions, the factions face off in a heavy warzone and soon finds themselves battling on equal terms. The ICA only has the advantage of space FTL and weaponry while the IAE only possess the ability to utilise ground troops. The first conflict alerts the ICA to its fragile situation and makes the ICA council partake in a future plan to protect its space. 2350-2450 The ICC becomes united as it celebrates the victory over the ASM and the death of Arian and his rule, the support for the ICC rises and changes in power gives way for change to order. The ICC begins the next stage of development as it moves to unify the western regions of Nova Stratus. 2370 marks the beginning of change as the URC encounters a mysterious unexplored region of Nova Stratus, this isolated region reveals 64 worlds under the control of the Imperial Vindicator Order which had taken root nearly a millennia before. The IVO was formed by the ruling emperor Kisage Hotari his empire had been formed through the use of alien technology in 1250. The IVO keeps at distance until offers of trade and expansion are revealed, the IVO accepts in late 2371 when the URC offers to show them regions of recently conquered ASM systems. ICAF begins rapid expansion across all front as helps in reconstituting the many ASM worlds, the expansion of the ICA grants it access to over 61 worlds and 30 systems, it had covered as much ground in technology as the ICC, but still did not possess a formidable military. IAE began its intervention into the expansion of the ICA and the confrontation of the IVO, this move made the Nova Stratus region breach a tension point as the IVO found the intrusion an act of stupidity and challenged the IAE in 2375. The First Colonial War-2375-2385 The ten year period saw to the end of minor instability as the IVO began its first major step into Nova Stratus, and its first major stride into forming the UCA, the IVO engaged in the war with no belief over pride or greed, but purely on the basis of honour. The war went through 50 systems and on 60 worlds; it totalled 18 million lives and 360 billion credits worth of reparations from the IAE to the IVO. The ICA made contact with the IVO in 2378 and joined the war, the IVO granted the ICA access to military power and technology as well as access to the legendary Vindicator Order. It was at the end of the war that the ICA suggested a combined effort to unite the colonies and bring proper order to all factions with their assistance, there would no longer be conflict, maybe minor apprehension to the idea, but it would work well with the IVO. The IVO joins the ICA and forms the ICAF… Second Colonial War-2415-2445 The remnants of the IAE formed into the Neo Imperial Arcadian Empire, and begin another war, the URC step in to assist as hundreds of URC worlds are annexed and the ICC also join. The war goes for over 20 years and brings into play the advanced technologies of the ICC and the IVO creating the MKI Hayabusa powered armour variant suit. The war rages on until the Orussian military joins from its years of isolation. The war escalates with the defeat of the Arcadian Emperor, Magnus Derion on Theta Arcadia. 2450-2525 The UCA is formed in the aftermath of the SCW as the ICA no longer was capable of being independent as it had encompassed over 5 major factions of power and over 1200 planets in 2450, the UCAF begins mass expansion and colonisation up until the covenant war. However things did not stay normal, in 2455 the UCAF was contacted by the Office of Naval Intelligence of the UNSC and was asked into aiding in possible future plans it required. The UCAF was sceptical in accepting the ONI or the UNSC as it had long since ended its ties with earth. But the role of the ONI seemed too good to ignore, the UCAF accepted the terms and conditions and integrated and formed the ONI on Anomia, Hyperion Point base. 2500 The birth of Valerie Haley and the initiation of Project Delta One- 2520 The preliminary stage of development of the Spartan Alpha project and the final steps of Project Delta One, the initiation of Project Rey and Forge 2525 Completion of all assigned task and programs… XXXXX /Memo/ -Aniston Grey- UCAF Rey Project Director “To those who maybe hearing this message, I warn you about what you will hear and what you will read, this is no story of great honour or faith this was survival, and I’ll be damned for those who condemn the actions we took in order to save the human race from extermination at the hands of the covenant… we did not sit on our asses and do nothing, we took the war to our enemies, with fire and vigour, we shall ensure that mankind will live to see the future, even if we do not make that journey. I say this now, ‘I have become death, the destroyer of worlds’.” Project Rey: The Rey project was by far the most disturbing project ever undertaken, this child known as Rey -0149 was taken as a child and then genetically cloned with a psychic membrane in his frontal lobe, his genetic augmentations were meant to keep his mind in communication with the other Rey clones, however he suffered severe trauma and went into a coma. His body was cryogenically stored and 5 more clones of him were created in order to test the psycho telepathic communications link. The link was proven to be highly unstable as the many Rey individuals shared memories and emotions, but also their same creator, their mother. Rey then began to show signs of psychosis amongst the young group as their minds drifted into the mind of Rey-0149 and began to relive dead memories; the ONI took action to severe the link and begins a neuro-telepathic connection to a quantum core in order to avoid any future incidents. The units after the connection began to act normally passive and engrossed in training, their controlled belief was to die serving and then to end up with their creator in the afterlife, or the quantum core in which their fragmented existence is sent to after their initial deaths, however there was a severe down side to this adaptation, the neural link made the effect of one of the units dying and sent a psycho impulse to all other units warning them of their brothers deaths and making them relieve their deaths inside their own minds. The ONI did nothing to subdue the effects and observed intent on figuring out the working mind of the young Rey clones. Project Alpha: “They show greater promise than that of Orion, and they show much to be offered to save humanity, it is a cruel truism that I must do this in order to save lives by destroying theirs, but it is a necessary evil that is inexcusable and for what may come I shall eventually pay for it, but till then they are my children, my legacy to humanity for better or for worse, the judgement is made by us as humans to decide upon it. I did what I believed was right, even when they suffered; I did it because it was necessary. Mind, body and soul…” Valerie Haley 2525- A Choice page223 Project Alpha was named in the alpha stages of the Spartan program; it was formed after the failure of Orion and was then used as a template to test the gene-enhancements for the SPII program, Alpha was made in order to ensure that the SPII did not fail, however there were substantial differences in the two programs, the UCAF had funded enough to have 750 candidates aside from the 75 that the UNSC could only afford, the reason being was due to the sheer amount of resources available by the UCAF and the number of highly related gene-strands of precursor DNA that was in the human race in the Nova Stratus region as many humans had been originally altered by the forerunners. The UCAF had all candidates tested and evaluated over the period of 6 years had had them all take a 3 step initiative into becoming Spartans, the fact remained that some of the chemicals and procedures were far too deadly to perform all at once and it was advised to the ONI that doing so would kill the subjects faster, the process taken by Valerie Haley proved the best option as the program had plenty of time. The program proved fruitful if not somewhat gruelling, the program produced 690 available Spartans from the 6 year training program and it was less suspicious as to the SPII program, many children were selected from orphanages and certain locations, there was also the fact that those children taken from families were either compliant or unaware of the circumstances involved with their children. The Alpha project moved swiftly and deftly through to the final stages without flaw. And the program reached its intended goal by the end of 2524 to begin the Ascent Program. Project Ascent: The Ascent was meant as an inspiration to the new generation at the beginning of 2525, the program was to provide the new powered armour of the UCAF to the Spartans, and it was also to provide Project Rey with the advanced combat skeletons which had been in secret development in the Prodigal System from early 2520. The MKIII series armour was an early prototype suit required to be piloted by a single Spartan occupant, it was a streamlined variant that shaped exactly to that of their bodies, the only flaw was that the suits had bulky designs and irregular joints, it was based off of the Powered Armour of the Vindicators Order, but had to be adapted with the EOD from the Union Specialists program in order to compensate for the lack of shielding from possible enemy fire. The Ascent Project also featured the research of the MVF-01 series suits, the Mobile Versatile Frames were made as an external support force for the Spartans, it possessed the firepower that the Spartans lacked as well as the shielding, but it could not create a body shield only a bubble area of effect shield. The MVF was first seen in use in the Prodigal system in the first month of the war, there were records that indicated further use, and then afterwards the suits became obsolete during the fall of 2535 when the Mobile Suit program took place. XXXXX Military branches: Helldivers: The elite and lethal Helldivers were introduced in 2370 by the ICAF adapted from the original ODST branch of the UNSC; the helldivers were created to be as deadly and as efficient as the ODST. However the helldivers worked as spearhead and assault forces for the majority of the war, and were used in almost every battle/campaign. The helldivers are consisted of teenagers who enlist from specialist cores of the UCAF military academies and are voluntary. However others join for many varying reasons. The helldivers have a history of having members who are unstable or emotionally distressed, it is uncommon to have too many psychologically effected marines, however many are overlooked because of their skills and experience. The helldivers reputation is never taken lightly, especially by the elites of the covenant, the recorded battles between the elites and the helldivers had become something of myths to the covenant. XXXXX Pop: 76 billion, 1780 worlds, 1500+ systems Timeline-2525-2555 2525- January UCAF troops are moved to the Prodigal and Haven’s Gate, suspicion to many beliefs that there would be an expedition into the further reaches of space garner much support and thus masks the hidden agenda of the UCAF HIGH COM in its pursuit of hiding the truth of the situation. Spartan Alpha is moved to Haven 2 days later and begins the final armament procedure before they reach Seti Etha. Prodigal final checks completed and all MVFs had been fully prepared, only 1 capable pilot is used in the program and is set out to test in field. 5th of January brings the heralds of unknown contacts in orbit over the Haven System, the UCAF respond by attempting communication, the reply is. “Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instruments.” UCAF engages in space combat, the UCAF fleets are heavily armed and manage to fend the covenant off from taking the planet on several occasions; however planet side operations revealed heavy combat and action on the planet. UCAF marine Mitchel Walker of the Marauders independent division is called in from his previous station in orbit aboard a UCAF cruiser to help in a classified mission. 18th of January the Spartan arrive on Prodigal Eta and encounters the Rey program and Dr Haley, the Dr requires to give all Spartans the armour Ascent units and then asks for assistance in evacuating all Rey units to escape craft in order to continue program, Rey Unit 201 is left behind and ordered to self-destruct once all UCAF ships escape, the unit complies and is killed in action, the first clone casualty of the war. 21st of January, Major Mitchel arrives in the Eastern Verge, he is ordered to aid in the location of a special forerunner beacon and is tasked in retrieving the technology to be sent to ONI Section III, his mission soon spirals out of control as the facility he enters is infested with a hostile parasitic entity known as the flood, his platoon is wiped out shortly and he and 3 others manage to reach the safety of the main complex, however surrounded by the flood and the covenant he soon finds no other option aside from sending the message and ending the facility, he activates a quantum purge inside the station core and sucks the station into oblivion with the flood and the covenant. Through the rest of the year, the covenant press to engage the UCAF, battles prove to be highly costly on both sides as they are nearly equally matched, the covenant fleet masters agree to bring forth their finest commander, grand fleet overseer Tol’ree Moteree, the devised operation heralds the name of the first exalted crusade. 2526-2531 The UCAF lose over 200 light years and over 400 planets are either destroyed or rendered lifeless, more than 8 billion die within less than 5 years and over 1.9 billion soldiers of the marauders and reserve forces. The UCAF initiate military protocol and command, all military academies were to provide youths with military mandatory classes and training, all colonies were to have an immediate defence force in order to stop any chances of the colony’s demise. The UCAF military standing was at roughly 3 billion, with 175,000 available warships and vessels. Spartan Beta begins the recruitment of more than 1500 new Spartans and advanced MKIV armour is placed into production. 2531-2540 UCAF casualties mount as the war progresses, the UCAF colonies are cut nearly finely in half at the middle of the Nova Stratus region, 490 light years had been lost, 29 billion had been killed and a million youth a day were being killed to fight the enemy covenant on the front lines. Child soldiers from ages up to 12-17 were being recruited near combat zones and guerrilla fighting becomes fierce in the region of the now known dead zone, the Daedalus Crusades. 2535 sees the change in the war as the MS program takes hold in the western regions and the eastern flanks, the UCAF begin a massive counter offensive using MS units. The war takes a significant turn, as also the UCAF brings forth the many new Spartan troops, the Beta program brings out over 2000 troops into the war and begins mass escalation in the war. 2539 brings out the covenant’s own MS program to bear and the war begins to stagnate once more, the UCAF finds itself at a kill to death ratio of 1:7, the UCAF only suffering 1 for almost every 7 of the covenant’s own. The war continues as it had until 2545… 2540-2551 UCAF begins the slow build up till operation Overlord to which the UCAF would spearhead a massive attack upon the covenant planetoid to kill and wipe out the hierarchs of Divine Resolve, the Spartans receive further upgrades and new forces appear. Covenant renegades begin to harbour support and the war takes a turn for change. 2545 brings into motion the massive assault, the UCAF bring to bear over 11,000 ships upon one of the 4 command planetoids of the covenant, the mass assault breaks the covenant grasp in a major sector and kills one of the prophets. Another flees into the depths of space and is pursued by the UCAF Spartan team Sigma. Sigma encounters a forerunner planet in the unknown regions of Nova Stratus; the planet of Reverence’s Grace is discovered. UCAF forces engage in battle with the covenant, and also locate the forerunner known as the Inheritor, his revelation of the human race and the forerunners changes the beliefs of the prophet of Amity who seeks to change the covenant, Amity vanishes from the Nova Stratus region and takes with him his most loyal troops in order to reform the covenant. The prophet of Reverence takes his forces and steals the location to a forerunner ultra-dreadnought and begins to hunt for its location, the UCAF soon follow behind to deal with the rogue covenant leader and the covenant forces soon fall into civil war. All 3 planetoids are isolated however their forces manage to build a heavy resistance to the UCAF approach and the UCAF wait until the end of the hunt for the rogue prophet in order to regroup. 2550 the final battle rages after the discovery of the dreadnought Light of Grace, Himitsuki and his fellow Spartans of the specialist division of Alpha fight the covenant and the flood in the region and successfully eliminates the prophet and destroys the dreadnought in the process, Himitsuki and his forces are reported as MIA. XXXXX (Start here…) 2551/7/3: UCAF Operation: Aurora Cascade Aurora Cascade was planned just prior to the destruction of the forerunner super dreadnought, the massive scale attack upon the covenant was to eliminate the stronghold of each major population of covenant forces and force the covenant into withdrawing or scattering into the pockets rather than concentrated forces. The attack began in June, but the operation had come at a high cost, colonies within surrounding regions had felt the effects as the covenant scattered in all directions, many hitting small isolated colonies in the Nova Stratus region which had been widely ignored until the operation. The UCAF immediately reacted by deploying forces to counter the splinter forces, however the attacks continued even with the presence of the UCAF fleets and security. In one Segment of UCAF space, the 445th support fleet engaged the covenant in a heavily contested system. The fleet mainly consisted of reserve vessels manned mostly by young officers and new crewmen; each crewman was trained but not experienced. That changed when they engaged the covenant, the following battle ripped through the system like wildfire as Magnetic Accelerators and Plasma Projectors ripped through the blackness of space. Golden eruptions of light covered the length of the void like newly blossoming stars; from the far end of the system the UCAF engagement had lifted to evacuate the colony of people. As much as the covenant was trying to stop the evacuating ships, the UCAF continued to retaliate to cover the colonial vessels. As the last of the vessels took off into a portal of light that was slip-space the UCAF vessels began their standard withdrawal of dispersion missiles and torpedoes. The dozens of support vessels scattered into slip-space with the covenant closely pursuing. One of these vessels was a heavily armoured UCAF Iron Clad class Corvette. XXXXX UCAF Corvette- Iron Wright Alarms rang across the ship as the corvette shook violently, crewmen ran to their stations trying to monitor the situation as the vessel continued to push forwards into the depths of slip-space. The ship’s shields were about to give out from the indicators across the vessel, crewmen prepared for an emergency transition out from slip-space while others headed to combat stations. In the lower hold of the ship, marines jumped into their standby stations, if the alarms were right it was either fight or flight, but a corvette against a covenant destroyer would be outmatched. Marines jumped into pods and others prepared for a mid-transition drop, the marines would be tossed into slip-space to ensure that they survived to fight another day. It was a risky move but better than them being killed aboard a ship, they’ll give the covenant hell later on. As the alarms finally hit emergency stations, the marines rushed even faster into their pods and others into lifeboats. The ship took blows to the hull, breaches began to appear across the vessel, and the commander in charge of the ship ordered all personnel to abandon ship. The first were the pods, as the marines had slip-space capable pods, they’d be able to make a safe trip while the ship was too slow to exit slip-space. In those pods, the marines braced as they were ejected one by one into slip-space. Emergency supply pods and equipment were dumped as well, once they left the ship continued on as it took fire, the commander had ensured that those who survived would be able to survive. Hopefully survive… XXXXX Region near the Verde Strata Planet: Unknown Continent: Equestria Time: 7:20 PM Upon a golden throne held above upon a regal platform, one of the rulers of this beautiful kingdom sat upon her throne, she listened patiently to another noble finish his constant droning of taxes on housing in Equestria and the land value of places in Manehatten and Trottingham. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had been upon this throne for the past 1000 years, dealing with the nobles and corporate big wigs, she’d have just said. ‘I don’t care…’ But no, she didn’t be rude to her subjects, even if they were a literal pain in the ass. Her pastel skin smooth and regal as ever, the long flowing hair of the princess glimmered gently in a non-existent breeze. The feminine figure of the ruler was interesting, she had wings that sat tucked behind her, and she couldn’t stretch them at the moment. She also had a long and sharp looking horn protruding from her forehead. These features were enhanced as the princess’s own figure was nearly glowing, slender hands and feet, elegant and refined. She wore a tight fitting set of leggings which were the colour of her skin and a tube top stylized with her cutie mark, and she had silken elbow length gloves. This was princess Celestia, the regent of the sun and second ruler of the kingdom of Equestria. She had spent most of her day in court, listening to the nobles and politicians and other people come and go with arguments and discussions and news and plans and projects all vying for her attention and recognition. She hadn't much else to do, and Luna her sister was busy in her room researching the skies and catching up on Equestrian history, not to mention searching through archives on space. Celestia in her mind smiled at the thought, her sister was catching up with the world and soon she would, and the sooner the better, having all these nobles to deal with her by herself was a bit of a pain in her flank. She listened for another 10 minutes with her poker face continually in play, in truth she stopped listening about 30 minutes before and was just picking out what the male stallion was saying. The stallion finally finished and urged. “Your highness, you must understand that another loss in the financial district cannot be afforded, as soon as a new stimulus can be provided, will help the flailing businesses to recover from bad economic turn outs for a period for them to recover.” “That’s understandable Mr Calculus, however, I feel that it is necessary to remind you, that our spending in the financial district was the very reason that those businesses are in trouble, at the moment I’d have to attend a meeting with the treasurer before addressing this situation as a critical stimulus may just cause further problems.” She replied aptly. The stallion acknowledged and thanked her for her time, he left and the court finally closed. Celestia sighed; she could have had a better day looking at the clouds pass overhead rather than another 9 chains of corporates going at her about the economy. She stood up at full height 6ft5 and yawned. She walked down and out of the throne room and to her room passing her guards who bowed respectfully to her; she acknowledged them and continued on. It was as she reached the doors to her room that she was suddenly surprised to see. “TIA! I need to speak with you!” Luna said as she entered into the room. Celestia almost stumbled backwards from the outburst of Luna and asked in confusion. “What’s happened?” “There’s something happening, and I can feel it, we must head to observatory right now!” Luna urged uncertainly. Celestia hadn't had such a conversation since when Discord appeared and Luna was nervous about what the fate of their world would be. Celestia decided to agree and go with her; if it was urgent then it was something she’d deal with straight away. Never make the same mistake twice, in the case of what had occurred 1 thousand years before. The regal pastel alicorn followed her dear sister away to the observatory that was Luna’s private room. Luna was in regards to Celestia, the most cherished thing in the world, right next to Twilight Sparkle and so many of her students and ‘children’. Luna was family though and someone she had failed to save one time before, in a debacle that almost destroyed the planet. Luna was a bit below Celestia’s height at 5ft9; she had a deep navy coloured skin with a patch of her flank with spots of black and her cutie mark of a crescent moon. Her hair was a beautiful mix of gaseous stars that flowed in a wavy manner much like Celestia’s. Luna had a horn similar to Celestia’s and wings, not fully matured, as she had only recently returned from freeing herself from Nightmare Moon. Luna wore a pair of wrist braces which were silver and marked with her cutie mark; she had a pair of fingerless gloves on which showed her beautiful smooth hands. Her backless shirt was a little lighter than her skin, and she wore a satin short skirt which went up to her knees. She had a posture a little less to that of Celestia’s considering her years of isolation without any pony to speak to nor rule over so it made sense that she hadn't adapted the same sort of attitude with ruling the kingdom. Celestia had to remember to start teaching her more on public addresses. Upon reaching the spire where the observatory was, they entered into Luna’s room, Celestia found that the room was indeed looking rather interesting, considering she hadn't remembered putting that much in here when she gave the room to Luna. She could feel the rolling of dear Stargazer in her tomb from the mess that Luna caused. She smiled at the thought of her old friend and put focus upon what Luna was trying to tell her. She followed Luna to a book stand where she began to toss a couple of books around trying to search for the one she needed. Celestia looked around at the room, Luna had been busy in short time, but what caught her eyes were the amount of maps and strange pictures of swirling light and meteor showers. Her thoughts were interrupted as Luna yelled. “Ah ha, here it is!” Celestia looked at what Luna was holding, it was a grey book with a number of constellations on the front cover, and it was written by Stargazer. Celestia perplexed, Stargazer was known for was her theories of space and the many theories of anomalies and what might be in space, but that was about 250 years ago. Today Equestrian scientists had discovered a number of new things, such as the constellations and the distance of stars in the night skies and still confusing theories as to why the planet doesn’t seem to move by itself. But the ideas of Stargazer were long forgotten, they had either been proven or disproved, there wasn’t much left for researchers to look into even with their best pony Hawking thinking through the levels of space that might be out there. Luna flipped through the book and went to the telescope and beckoned to her. “Tia you need to see this.” Celestia went over to the telescope as Luna adjusted it for her and gave her the book on which page she found. She looked at it and wondered what it was, the book stated. Inversion- Subspace rifts… When an object or mass moves fast enough it creates a field around itself and begins to rupture space, it dives and skims into a level of space called subspace, see page.332. This field of subspace however is different as once the object immerses itself it isn't entirely stable, as once observed an object believed to come out of subspace at velocities that ripped apart a comet 650CE (Classical Era). It is hard to determine how subspace works, but I intend to keep this theory as a possible record on what it might be. Please note that if subspace fields occur, look for a mass accelerating into a swirl of light, or an object that begins to pull itself out of some sort of rift, it may take some time as an object can vary in effect of subspace. Celestia looked over the small section of the book and was just perplexed. “You’re trying to tell me that there’s a subspace rift?” Celestia asked. Luna looked at her with a mix of bemuse and uncertainty, she replied. “Yes, but I wasn’t too sure if that was it, the location of the rift is located in low orbit over the planet. If you need evidence then look here.” She gestured to the telescope. Celestia wasn’t a pessimist and neither too optimistic, she was rather in between, unless there was enough evidence for her to have faith in. She looked in and inside hoped that Luna might be right, and what she saw was rather impressive. A number of small swirling bits of light were in orbit, they would probably hurt to look at too long, but from what she could tell the swirling bits of light weren’t moving and they were no illusion. Those were definitely matching the description of what Stargazer had written; the only thing was that nothing had yet to exit. “Well I can’t say for sure, but that has to be a rift, nothing else would make much sense, the light, but I do have to admit that whatever might be coming doesn’t seem to be large. But whatever it is, it broke the speed of light, and managed to immerse itself into subspace. Do you think this is worth tracking Tia?” Luna asked. Celestia wasn’t sure, Stargazer had seen many things, and of course some of them were real others were still theoretical and a few were disproven. Celestia could feel something from that anomaly; she decided it was worth the wait. “Yes, but I would have rather alerted the Equestrian Astrological Society first Luna, they maybe more savvy as to the circumstances of the anomaly. But I do believe that this is something important if it is a rift.” Luna seemed to brighten up a bit at her sister’s opinion. “Thank you Tia, I’ll send for the society in the morning.” She replied. “Very well sister, do please be careful on your observations, Stargazer had a bit of a habit of ignoring some discrepancies in her findings and ended up with an array of responses and theories which took years to solve.” Celestia joked before hugging her sister good night. Celestia departed keeping her eyes on the skies; the faint glow of the rift was visible if barely, she guessed she and Luna would have to investigate further on the subject once they rested. XXXXX That night the strange light in the skies brightened as it intensified, only one pony was aside from Luna was watching the skies that night. Down in the small laid back town of Ponyville, inside of a large magical tree home a single unicorn mare watched the strange light with curiosity and excited interest. She had a smooth lavender skin with long purple hair with a stipe of pink and purple eyes; her horn was slender and not as long as that of any other unicorn. She wore a pair of pants which stuck close to her form and had a sleeveless shirt on which also hugged to her form rather comfortably. The mare observed from her telescope the beauty of the night but more intently the anomaly she had discovered in the records of Stargazer the dreamer. That was what Stargazer had identified as an anomaly of space, when an object pierces subspace with mass and generates its own subspace field and then dives into the unknown, or so the theory went. Ponies could one day do the same with their own technology and be able to travel the stars in such a manner, but that day would still be a fair ways off, ponies had only just gotten into the advancement of the computer and the internet. And TV had been around for just 50 years, the age of technology was slowly coming around, and ponies were finding that magic couldn’t always solve problems. Earth ponies wanted to be able to fly so they invented airplanes, then when they couldn’t swim they made boats, and now they wanted to communicate by some other means they made the radio and telephone and now the internet. Carriages had gone out of fashion in some years, except in Ponyville and Trottingham, the airplane couldn’t land on Pegasi constructed cities and places so it was still a WIP and technological innovations in communication were hard pressed for adjustments for cities and rural regions. There was still so much to discover and so much to do and so little time, Twilight hoped that ponykind doesn’t forget its most valued roots. Friendship was still around and ponies were happily getting along, the Griffon Clans had been slowly phasing out over the years, and old dragons were becoming rather rare sights nowadays. Spike being one of the few young dragons out and about had been rather interesting in becoming a new guardian for the dragons, once he got of age in about 400 years. Speaking of which, the young dragon was asleep in his bed. Spike had grown a little bit in the past 3 years, he was about her stomach height now and getting bigger, soon enough he’d be able to sleep in the guest bed or with her. Twilight turned her attention back to the night skies once more, curiosity seemed to edge its way into her mind. What was coming? She observed carefully at the light and watched until something did happen… XXXXX UPDATED (And that breaks the moment folks, I got to get back to work on some other stories and a few requests I do hope you’ve all enjoyed this first chapter into this new story and yes, they are anthro and I do think more humanized but I’m not too sure. I’d advise you that if you know of Slugbox the artist, then you’ll get the idea where I had conceived the pony characters human forms from, but used a more sensible means of dressing them. I dunno, I’m not into fashion, so I need a list of clothes to help me understand what exactly I’m trying to say. So if someone can help me with that, I’ll really appreciate that.) On another note, this new story is intended to be more drama, a little bit of action and more into what contrasts there are to that of the UCAF universe I’ve built for my original universe, it’s on FF.net and the link is at the very beginning. I’ll see what else I can do for this fic, so see you all around.