//------------------------------// // The Remnants // Story: [Forlorn Ascension]|[Rites of Dominion] // by Desrium //------------------------------// One last panel was put back into its place, then bathed in a magical glow that made it light up hotly. After a few applications of the Magi-Flux Harmonizer, the silver stallion smiled and pulled himself away from the instrumentation panel of his shuttle. His helmet was resting on an especially bulky terminal while he wore the rest of the gray spacesuit. "Well that should take care of that," Phineas muttered to himself as he inspected his latest modification to the spaceship. In addition to solving the problem of his craft lacking a proper communication device, he added something more... pressing concerning the matter of his continued survival in space. He put the Harmonizer back in his toolbox and then climbed into his seat, leaning back into it and sighing contently. Phineas tapped a button on his PDA and a soft whir of machines hidden behind the cockpit's walls became audible. Shortly after a tray slid out from his array of consoles in front of him and from a slot in the machinery came a white tube. It plopped onto the tray softly and in a most unimpressive manner, but Phineas' smile broadened. He took the tube, popped open the cap and began to squeeze its contents into his mouth: the nutritional gel that he had come to take a liking to. Having a supply on board his ship meant he didn't have to make pit stops on every planet that may have had some wayward, backwater settlement on it whenever he grew hungry and the best part was that he didn't even need a spoon! When he was finished with his meal, Phineas pressed another button and a small aperture opened off to his left. He tossed the empty tube into the chute and let the recycling system tend to it. He put his forelegs behind his head and grinned. He couldn't have remembered a time when he was so... relaxed. He hadn't needed to fight for his life in recent days. In fact, acquiring the parts and food stores to make his little delivery system had been surprisingly simple. "Just goes to show that a few repair jobs on a fringe world goes a long way, huh Phin?" the stallion said to himself with a certain smugness in his tone, looking out at the multitude of lights dotting the darkness outside of his view screen. The star map projected onto it showed that the shuttle was coasting away from that sector of space, leaving a network of trade routes and a web of drone-ships patrolling the area for unlawful activity. This time of reprieve from his many struggles would soon prove itself to be transient, as is the way most things are. The fight Phineas swore to fight was not one that ended with any victory. Rather, it only extended further with every new enemy that appeared as many close encounters on various hive worlds would stand as testament to. However, not every one of his victories were certain... and old foes hungry for revenge promised to be his most harrowing opponents to date. *** Phineas woke up to the chiming of his PDA, sitting up in his cot and bracing for the sudden brightening of the lights. He brought the device up to his face and looked at the alert his ship was informing him about. "Distress signal...?" Phineas asked himself groggily, rubbing his eyes with his other hoof. He brought up the holographic display, the sphere of light punctuated with representation of the stars and territories in the galaxy. One star a several parsecs away from his current position had a red pulsating triangle marking the general origin of the beacon. The fact it was on the very edge of Harmony controlled space made Phineas assume it was the work of pirates acting on the outer limits of authority, striking while there was still a chance of escaping the automated enforcers. "We'll see about that!" he growled, a flash of determination in his eyes. With rehearsed swiftness he suited up and sped to the cockpit. He strapped himself into his seat, linked up to the ship's controls and prepped his warp drivers for jump. Phineas was certain he'd be able to catch the perpetrators and put an end to their nefarious deed, but just as he was about to enter the fray, the signal disappeared. He wasted no time in committing to warp, the bubble of energies surrounding the ship before it shot off into the void of space. He had to act quickly, for he feared the craft being assaulted was crippled or already destroyed. *** Phineas' arrival at the star system was marked by a burst of light exploding in all directions, the black and white ship hurtling out of the prismatic blast toward the first energy signatures he detected. One of them alarmed him greatly, for it was one he recognized. It was a large Hoof-Talon vessel, perhaps a carrier or something of the sort; and with its presence came a slew of unfortunate implications. "The plan failed. There are still Hoof-Talons out there," was the thought that disturbed Phineas the most, resonating in his mind and quite near petrifying him. He sat at his controls, frozen, almost desynchronizing with the ship as he rocketed toward the scene. A warning of critical synch-levels was what roped Phineas' focus back to the matter at hoof. "Right then," he told himself. "how they escaped the telemetry-honing is something you'll sort out later. Right now, you've got something more urgent to deal with!" As Phineas drew closer to the conflict, he saw two ships looming over a lush planet that seemed almost uniformly jungle based across the landmasses on one hemisphere. The planet was blocking its star, so its light were spires towering from a bright crescent which gave way to shadows. Of the two vessels, one was a burning husk. Phineas could see from its punished exterior that it had been subjected to all kinds of weaponry, from focused energy projection to ballistics and high ordnance explosives. In a maintained state, the craft would have been a long and roughly egg-shaped; with a smooth hull, rounded bumps and hubs providing mounts for its turrets and other offensive weapons. As it was now, however, it was blackened and torn. Its hull was shredded and perforated and in some parts, the bare supports of its internal structure was exposed. Spans of girders were bent and seared but had yet to fail entirely, keeping the decimated bulk together; though barely at that. The other ship on the other hoof -the one that was supposedly under attack if the distress signal was to be believed- was in perfect condition. Its forward end was like an arrowhead, sporting a pointed tip which broadened out at the rear and transitioned to a narrower portion the rest of the way to the ship's main thruster. Extending from its starboard and port sides was an array of solar panels directed towards the sun, creating magnificent shades and sunbeams behind and around them. It seemed to be more of a scientifically inclined ship, with no visible weapons to speak of. Needless to say, Phineas found it all to be a confounding juxtaposition. *** He approached the situation as sensibly as he could, first by opening communications with the surviving ship. "What is the meaning of your distress beacon?" he asked. No response. He elaborated with his next message about a bit more than half a minute later: "You appear to have destroyed an upper scale Hoof-Talon vessel in a matter of minutes... it's just a bit strange you would request assistance if your ship has that capability..." No response. Phineas' confusion quickly turned into safe cautiousness. Something wasn't right here, that was obvious. But what was- "You." The stallion's breath caught in his throat at the voice. There was a grating, raspy quality to it that Phineas recognized. It was the voice of a hybrid... something he thought he would never hear again. He was already piecing the scenario together in his head: a Hoof-Talon ship bombarded by raids, escaping the collective wrath of the many races in the galaxy. While managing to avoid outright destruction, the ship was no longer able to sustain its crew and thus they went after another, one that would not raise the hostilities of those that now outnumbered them exponentially. "As the sole remaining force of our once-great kind... we vowed to find and reap vengeance from the instrument of our ruin... but it turns out you came to us..." In the way of this, Phineas came to recognize a set of truths. The Hoof-Talons were on board the science vessel, having teleported onto it and seized it as their own; its original crew was probably dead... or kept alive for the explicit purpose of experimentation and torture; and to top it all off they recognized the pony that proved integral in the collapse of their empire of terror. "... Aw fuck..." he thought. "You have a penchant for defying the odds, federation pony..." "I see my reputation has spread a bit more than I expected, eh?" Phineas replied, attempting to hide his growing anxiety. He did not like where this was going. Without acknowledging the quip, the Hoof-Talon continued: "... then come here and finish the war that you started. We will be waiting... as well as the vermin we have taken as our spoils. But hurry... I do not think they will last too long..." When the transmission was cut, all that was left in the cockpit was dead air. Lives were at stake... and Phineas was being challenged personally! "Fine. If you want me, then fine. Just know what it is you're messing with when you take on a stallion named Startrot," Phineas growled beneath his breath as he brought the shuttle in for approach. He couldn't risk engaging with his cannons and missiles, but as an entrance on the underside of the scientific vessel began to open, Phineas blasted the ship with twin disruptor beams, causing the door to cease function just when it was almost finished moving. He flew into the holding bay, knowing that he would not be trapped inside the ship with the band of hybrids. That is, until they restored the Spell-core...