//------------------------------// // Mission 3: Return to Kharak // Story: Homeworld: Equestria // by Maelstrom //------------------------------// ~~ Time in Hyperspace: 1 day, 5 hours, 32 minutes~~ ~~Location: Crew quarters~~ “GO AWAY DITSY!” a mare’s voice shouted from behind a locked door “No. You have to talk to somepony.” The grey Pegasus replied to the closed door, “I’m worried for you.” “I don’t have to, and don’t be. I’m fine” “No you’re not, you haven’t left your room since the memorial for the crew on the Kar’Selim. Please, just come out.” “Fine, I’ll be out in a minute.” True to her words the door was opened and a pony that looked somewhat like Eclipse walked through. “By the Maker! What the hell did you do to your Mane and Tail!!?” Eclipse’s usually long flowing mane and tail where roughly cut to half their original length and dyed orange and purple as opposed to its natural silver. “I cut and dyed it, isn’t it obvious?” “Yeah, but why?” asked Ditsy with a confused look on her face. “Why not? It’s just hair.” Replied Eclipse bluntly, “Anyways, I just wanted a new look.” “Still, isn’t that a little extreme? I’m not saying you don’t look good like that, it’s just the sudden change is a little shocking.” “Well then you might want to have a seat for the next part.” Eclipse said as she motioned toward her bed. As she waited for Ditsy to get comfortable, she sat on a cushion opposite her bed. “So what’s so big I have to sit down for it? You gonna tell me you had a crush on me or something?” Ditsy asked with a sly smile. “What? No! I’m not a filly fooler and you know it!” “So what is it then?” “I- I’m quitting the fleet.” Replied Eclipse looking down, unable to keep her friends gaze. “YOU WHAT!?!?” Exclaimed Ditsy, jumping off the bed and advancing on her friend,”Why the flying fuck did you do that? I thought it was your dream to be in the fleet!” “You wouldn’t understand...” “It’s got to do with your brother, doesn’t it?” “...” “I know you’re hurting Eclipse, but this won’t help anything. I can’t say I know what you’re going through, cus I don’t. But what I can tell you is I’m your friend and I’ll always be here if you need me.” “Thanks Ditsy, but I’ve already spoken to Captain Spitfire, and she terminated my enrolment. I’m just a civ now, and as soon as we get to Kharak I have to disembark.” “Oh. And when were you going to tell us?” “To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I guess when we were a few hours out.” Eclipse replied sheepishly. “Come with me.” Ditsy got up and pushed her friend out into the hallway. “Uum, Ditsy? Where are you taking me?” “To Dash. You have to tell her” ~~10 minutes later~~ ~~Entertainment Deck~~ “Ok, So what’s so important that I had to stop kicking Maelstroms flank at Battlepong to hear?” Asked Dash with a look of slight annoyance, “By the way, I like what you did with your mane and tail Eclipse, it makes you look about 20% cooler. Though you’re still nowhere close to being as awesome as me!” “I quit the fleet Dash...” replied Eclipse, looking at the floor so as not to see her lead’s reaction “I know, Spitfire told me a few hours ago. I was hoping this was you coming to tell me you changed your mind.” “I’m sorry Dash, but I’ve made my decision. When we drop out in 30 hours I’m going back planetside.” “Fine. Just know one thing though. Your brother would be disappointed with you.” With that Dash turned and walked off. ~~29 hours, 26 minutes later~~ *Ship wide announcement* >> Hyperspace exit in 5 minutes *End of announcement* ~~Location: Shuttle waiting room~~ Eclipse sat waiting for the drop out of Hyperspace reflecting on the events of the past few hours. After her meeting with Rainbow Dash, she had gone and told Maelstrom as well and his reaction was much the same as Dash’s, not that she had expected any different. After that she had gone back to her room and spent the rest of the trip packing her few possessions into her saddlebags and getting some sleep. Waking with still a few hours to go before the drop she showered and got some food in the mess hall. She then proceeded to go to the flight deck waiting rooms. Looking up to check the time to drop she noted it was 30 seconds to drop. She walked over to the Port veiwscreen so as to see Kharak as soon as they dropped out *Ship wide announcement* >> Stand by for exit to Kharak *End of announcement* As soon as the Mothership entered normal space, everypony looking at a veiwscreen was greeted with a sight none of them would ever forget, a sight which would haunt their nightmares for the rest of their lives. The space nearby Kharak was suddenly torn open and a blue gateway deposited the Mothership in the exact relative position it was in before it had left the system 4 days earlier. >> No pony’s left... Everything’s gone... Kharak is burning! *Ship wide broadcast* Kharak is being consumed by a firestorm. The Scaffold has been destroyed. All orbital facilities destroyed. Significant debris ring in low Kharak orbit. Receiving no communication from anywhere in the system. Not even b— >> Wait! >>On the maintenance frequency. >>I’m getting a signal from the Cryo tray systems in orbit. >>One of them is suffering a massive malfunction. *CIC and flight deck broadcast* The Cryo trays are under attack! Defend them! Scramble all available fighter craft! *End Broadcast* *Mission report* We were able to capture two of the frigate class vessels that where attacking the Cryo trays and we destroy the other two, but not before they were able to destroy one Cryo tray. Engineering and research were able to reverse engineer frigate class vessels of our own but the subject vessel had to be completely taken apart. Research is currently modifying the control systems in the second ship to allow for our pilots to operate it. In the study of their computer systems a mission data recording was found that shows the destruction of Kharak as well as the Galaxial co-ordinates that the fleet that destroyed Kharak jumped to. The enemy pilots were discovered to be, bipedal reptilian beings and were interred in the brig. The captain was interrogated for several hours. From the interrogation we learned that a frontier fleet patrolling the borders of a vast interstellar empire was dispatched to destroy our planet. The captain claimed our people had violated a five and a half thousand year old treaty forbidding us to develop Hyperspace technology. Extermination of our planet was the consequence. The subject did not survive interrogation. The remaining crew all committed “suicide”. Their corpses have been sent to the research ship for xenobiology studies. *End of Report* ~~Journal of Starlight Eclipse~~ Date: 3rd of Garaan, 5493 CR I don’t know what to say... My family is gone... I am the only one left... I am now of the “Kiith-Tau.” The Clanless. Of the 600500 ponies now onboard the Mothership 73% are now “Kiith-Tau.” 600500 seems like such a large number, but when you say that’s all that left of our people, one realises we are an endangered species. Considering that Kharak’s population was just short of 30 million at the last census. That leaves us with just 2% of our people still alive. Stuck in an incomplete colony ship. May Sajuuk have mercy on us all... ~~End of entry~~