Several floors above, in the hangar stretching inside the large gaping mouth of Searo's Hold, the alarm was blaring the loudest. Metal mares ran to their stations, barking orders at one another.
Along the furthest edge of the loading platform, a mare ran between two or three parked manaships to join a guard who was looking out upon the mountainous landscape lit up by sunset.
"What is it?!" the mare shouted a she came to a scraping halt. "Why's the alarm going off?"
"There is an object approaching rapidly," replied the other mare, gazing out through a pair of binoculars being gripped in two metal-laced hooves. "It's flying faster than regulated approach speeds. That's why it set off the alarm."
"Then why not blast the vermin out of the sky?!"
"Because it's not vermin," the guard said, lowering the goggles as a dark shape loomed in view along the north horizon. "It's one of ours."
The mare looked at her. "One of our sisters is returning?"
The guard nodded. "The mana signature matches Searonese technology."
"Then why is she approaching so quickly?" The other mare's brow furrowed. "Could she be injured? Being chased?"
"I'm going to go with the injury."
"I see..." The mare smirked as she produced a blade from her forelimb. "Then I suppose we are fit to punish her for her failings."
"She could put up a good fight." The guard gestured. "See the markings on the ship?"
"What about it..."
"It's Aeterna's vessel."
"Aeterna? Pffft. She does nothing but pick on farm ponies in Aurum! She deserves to have some sense flayed into her!"
"If she could land the thing first."
Both ponies stared, their ears flicking.
The sunlight glinted off the swiftly approaching vehicle.
"Uhhh..." One of the mares blinked. "She isn't... She isn't slowing down..."
"Strange..." The guard squinted. "From the looks of it, all of her armaments are loaded—"
Just then, the air lit up with a dozen different bursts of steam. Rocketing on mana-propelled thrusters, a salvo of missiles flew into the wide entrance of the hangar. Ships exploded. Chunks of ceiling support beams fell. Fuel tanks lit up in flame. The air echoed with screams of metal mares being flung left and right.
The two mares at the edge of the platform threw themselves to the ground. Without stopping, the slender manaship throttled into the flaming passage. It landed as well as a stone could skip across a lake, grinding to a stop and knocking aside bundles of fragile loading equipment. With a spray of sparks, it finally slid to a stop, but not without firing off another spray of missiles into the far corner of the place.
Yet again, more chunks of rock fell from the inner throat of Searo's Hold. Metal mares scampered to put out the flames. All was chaos and smoke.
It was under this veil of mayhem that the side doors to Aeterna's manaship slid open.
Grunting, the two closest mares stood up and energized the lengths of their suits. Bright beams of light shimmered from their leg joints as they protruded weapons of every imaginable shape from their limbs and approached the vessel.
"Aeterna!" the guard yelled. "Explain yourself before we cut out your tongue and make it dance for us!"
With a grunt, a muscular stallion leapt out of the manaship. Landing on three limbs and a wooden crutch, Crimson glared at the two mana-powered warriors.
The mares blinked, then seethed.
"I don't know how in Searo's name you infiltrated a bounty hunter's ship, breeder, but you're going to pay with every inch of your skin."
"You'll find that I'm severely wanting of a damn," Crimson retorted. With a stomp of his hooves, he shouted to the wartorn air. "Mr. Tweak! Anytime you're ready!"
"Right..." Tweak climbed out of the ship, along with three fellow crystal ponies from Aurum, all armed with translucent manarifles. "I hate the look of this place already. Come on, boys. Light's out on this crudhole."
Then, joined as one, all four crystal ponies concentrated. A brilliant aura danced between them. Then, with a great pulse, they expelled their energy outward in all directions.
The lights above flickered and died. Parked manaships lost all power. At last, several of the surviving equipment along the fire-lit resources of the hangar fell like limp tree branches.
"Gaah—What—?!" The guard suddenly collapsed to the floor, her heavy armor spitting up sparks. "What is this sorcery?!"
"Nnnngh!" The mare beside her struggled in vain to lift her weapons. "Can't move... what...?"
The guard glanced up at the crystal ponies... and at the natural glow wafting off of them. She gulped. "Awwwwww crud."
Crimson spat and charged her. "You said it, lady." His one good forelimb flew like a mallet across her mouth full of fragile teeth.