Not much was said between Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo the rest of the shuttle ride. Rainbow Dash didn't really know what she could say at the moment. She did feel bad about not letting Apple Bloom know that the warden was her father. It wasn't entirely her fault. Rainbow Dash had only found out recently when she was looking for Scootaloo, and a guard referred to her as the warden's daughter. A part of her thought it would be a good idea to let Apple Bloom in on the latest development, but she was told to maintain radio silence until the jail break was in progress.
That and Rainbow Dash was confident the Warden himself would be in no real danger. She assumed he would have ran to the command center and bunkered down behind the blast doors until the situation was contained. Tragic as it was, there was little anyone could do about it now.
The shuttle was now passing over a mountain range. While they were no longer in the most northern reaches of the planet, they were still rather high, so it was too cold, snowy and windy to safely fly. The air was also rather thin, so the breath mask on their suits would be essential at the moment. Rainbow Dash couldn't wait to get the suit off, and still worried the kill switches might turn back on any moment now, but Apple Bloom assured her there was no way they would be able to reactivate the kill switches by remote.
"Ok squirt, get ready to jump!" said Rainbow Dash as she opened the shuttle bay doors while the vehicle was still in motion.
"Why are we jumping here?" asked Scootaloo. "There is nothing but snow and ice."
"They're probably still tracking the shuttle, and will send marines after it once they start disconnecting transports from the battle net. Right now all the shuttles are still wired to the network and can't turn on, so that'll delay them. Once they're disconnected though, it won't take long for them to come after us." explained Rainbow Dash. "The shuttle will continue flying south east on auto pilot. We're going to travel south west to throw them off. We have another ship waiting for us a long ways off."
Before Scootaloo could ask anymore questions, Rainbow Dash jumped from the shuttle and disappeared into the snowy white mist. Scootaloo took a deep breath and followed. Fortunately her training prepared her for combat drops in all forms of weather. She activated her jet pack and, for the most part, made a successful landing, though she did find herself buried in the snow. Rainbow Dash quickly found, gave her and helped to pull her out.
"I see you covered combat jumps" said Rainbow Dash. "We still have a long way to travel, so lets get moving."
"They couldn't just meet us up here?" asked Scootaloo.
"The DSP might still be able to track ships coming and going. They'll just look at every ship that was along that shuttles flight path and assume that's the one we escaped on. We're going on foot a long ways from here until we're a safe distance from the flight path. I hope you're up for a long hike squirt." said Rainbow Dash.
"Do we have to still wear the suits?" complained Scootaloo.
"Only if you don't want to freeze to death up here." said Rainbow Dash. "that and these things are expensive. I plan on keeping mine once our contact cuts out the kill switches."
That was what Scootaloo was really looking forward to. Finding whoever was responsible for this, and making them pay. "So, what can you tell me about our mysterious benefactor?" asked Scootaloo as she kept pace with Rainbow Dash.
"That's... a rather personal matter between you and them when you meet face to face." said Rainbow Dash. She would rather not be involved in what was about to go down between two life long friends. All Rainbow Dash was interested in was getting her and her sister off world, and into Consortium Space where they could sell off those data logs for a fat profit.
Scootaloo was annoyed by the cryptic response, but she was willing to wait for vengeance. It would only be a few hours she hoped. After about three hours of hiking down the mountain, the weather finally started to clear up, and it seemed like clear skies to the ship.
"Squirt, we're in for a long flight, you'd better use the bathroom now before we take off" suggested Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo complied and made her way over behind a rock. There was only one portion of the suit that had a release for obvious reasons.
With Scootaloo out of sight and sound, Rainbow Dash changed radio frequencies to make contact with Apple Bloom. "This is Rainbow Dash, we made landfall right where you told us to and are about to take off towards Tom."
"Good to hear." said Apple Bloom. "Your sister can't wait to see you again."
"Right, well I only got a couple of minutes of privacy, and there is something you need to know" said Rainbow Dash.
"It can't wait?" asked Apple Bloom. "The less radio chat the better."
"It can't. I need to know right now, what happened to the warden?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"He and most of his goons retreated to the command center where they thought they would be safe. I opened the doors, and let the inmates rip him apart" replied Apple Bloom with pride.
Rainbow Dash's heart sank when she heard those words. "Well... you might want to keep those details from Scootaloo kid."
"Why" asked Apple Bloom. "You saw the videos, that man was beating the crap out of her every day in the training room. He pulled her aside just about every day to torture her personally."
"Yeah, about that... remember how he constantly took her into his office for hours at a time?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"You said he was probably demanding sexual favors" said Apple Bloom.
"Yeah, I might have been to quick to assume" replied Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash, what is it?!" asked Apple Bloom.
"The warden was her dad. You just helped murder her father" said Rainbow Dash quickly.
"That's not funny. Don't even joke about that!" shouted Apple Bloom.
"I wish I was joking" said Rainbow Dash.
There was silence on the radio for a moment before Apple Bloom could respond. "You couldn't tell me that beforehand!?" she shouted in anger.
"I just found out! You said maintain radio silence! I didn't think you were going to try to kill the guy!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Well what the hell do I do now?!" asked Apple Bloom.
"Don't ask me kid. This is between you and Scootaloo. I did my part, I expect you to do yours and cut out this kill switch when I get back alright? She's on her way back, I got to go." Rainbow Dash cut the feed before Apple Bloom could make a retort.
"All set" said Scootaloo. "Let's go meet our mysterious friend" she said eagerly.
"About that kid... I know you are upset about what happened to your father."
"Let's not talk about that right now" demanded Scootaloo.
"No I have too. I know you're angry, and when we meet our friend, you might want to do things. I won't judge you for whatever action you take but..."
"What is it then?" asked Scootaloo.
"Before you go blowing off any ones head, I need you to promise me you'll let them remove my kill switch first. You might want to consider the same for yourself. After that, do as you will. I just want out of Dominion space ASAP' explained Rainbow Dash.
"Fine, they remove the kill switches, then I kill the bastard" said Scootaloo. She fully intended to kill Rainbow Dash as well, for not only the role she played in her father's death, but for murdering Card Shark the way she did. The kill switches would work to her advantage. Rainbow Dash would be unarmored, and her benefactor would be working on the suit, leaving Scootaloo with the upper hand.
Another day had passed, and Sovereign was still no closer to convincing Rain Sight to release him. She was displeased that he didn't want to let her in on what had happened between him and Seeker when he ran away, but at least she didn't threaten to use interrogation to get it out of him. The fact she hadn't killed him, or handed him over shows he must have been making some sort of progress, or else she would have turned him in days ago.
Sovereign couldn't help but wonder what happened to Sweetie Belle. He just left her at the starport to chase after a pick-pocket. What the hell was he thinking? She was probably worried sick right now. He needed to escape, but he was certain it wouldn't be by talking his way out. He needed to find the controls.
It was late night, Rain Sight was asleep, while Sovereign was supposed to be asleep. Karn was on duty, so if he was absolutely quiet, Sovereign could have free reign of the house to look for the release to his inhibitor. He had already checked each night, but had made no progress. He did however notice she constantly disappeared into the basement. She would go inside, disappear without a trace, then reappear, sometimes hours later. Sovereign assumed where ever it is she disappeared to, it had to lead to the release of his inhibitor.
Sovereign slowly made his way down into the basement in hopes of finding a clue as to where she had been going. For the most part, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Boxes, a table or two, laundry machines and shelves filled with movies. Whatever he was looking for, he knew it had to be in here somewhere. He just had to think like his enemy.
Ok I'm an Imperial mare. By default I'm psychotic and violent... I love drugging my dates... I spend all day watching movies, wasting time on social networks, reading fanfics, playing video games, and watching videos on the internet all day. In any other faction, I'd be considered a loser with no life who still lives with my dad. That's probably why I'd have to drug stallions in the first place, because there is no way in hell she'd ever get anyone to come over willingly! Sovereign paused for a moment realizing he had just let his train of thought get derailed. Wow... this is getting really personal. Think Sovereign think. If I had a prisoner in a state of house arrest where he has free reign over the house, I would probably keep the release somewhere he would never look. Sovereign looked up at the shelf filled with movies. Clever girl.
Sovereign began taking down the movies one by one, looking for any sign of a clue. As he got to the bottom of the shelf, he noticed the rug it was on seemed a bit uneven. Sovereign shoved the shelf over and removed the rug, revealing a hidden door in the floor. He lifted the door and made his way down the steps. Inside he found what appeared to be an old bunker of sorts. The place seemed ancient, perhaps even pre-extinction era. So this is where she has been going?
Sovereign began exploring the dark room, though without a source of light, exploration was slow while he waited for his eyes to adjust. He also could have sworn there was someone else in here with him. He needed to hurry. It might have just been paranoia, but he suspected Rain Sight was aware of his presence in the bunker. As he aimlessly traveled from room to room in the bunker, he noticed a light in the distance. It must have been from a computer of sorts, perhaps the same computer that held the release switch?
Sovereign eagerly rushed to the computer in hopes of finding his freedom. Upon finding the computer, he was disappointed to find that it naturally had a password lock. Ok, once again, think like an Imperial... what is this mare's favorite movie?
Sovereign typed in the words, theymostlycomeoutatnight only to be met with an access denied. Sovereign tried another password, fivebyfive and for a second time is met with an access denied. Rule of thumb was the third attempt would lock him out, then it would be game over. Got it! he thought to himself. Finally he typed in, gameoverman, which resulted in an access granted. Sovereign smiled in triumph for a moment, followed by a feeling of dread. Khalas Light, I've been spending way too much time with these people if I can remember those quotes. I'm becoming one of them! I need to get off this world.
Before he could tinker with the computer, he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. Sovereign looked around and picked up a metal rod in his mouth, getting ready to possibly bash Rain Sights head in. He hid behind the wall, getting ready to swing at her as she turned the corner. She had grown on him, and he wasn't in a hurry to kill her, but he needed to get out. Hopefully a good knock out would be enough.
Before he could finish his line of thought, a scythe sliced through the wall, barely missing his head. "What the hell are you doing in here?!" he shouted as a zergling turned the corner and growled at him. Sovereign was not ready for this. Had he been an earth pony, perhaps he would have had the raw physical strength needed to take it on, or a Pegasus speed. Right now he was just unicorn with no magic, and a metal rod in his mouth.
Oh crap! he then realized he had just dropped the rod when he shouted. Calm down Sovereign. You have the knowledge of a thousand dead Templar in your head. Granted the fact they died meant they might not have been particularly good Templar, but perhaps now is a good time to learn from their mistakes.
The zergling leapt at him while Sovereign jumped to the left, then delivered a buck to the zerglings side. He quickly picked up the rod and smashed it against the zerglings head three times, but the rod failed to pierce the carapace. It only seemed to enrage the monster as snapped at his rod and broke it in half with his teeth.
Sovereign turned around and took off running, concluding he had no effective means of killing the creature at the moment. He turned his head back to see the zergling was dizzy and was wobbling its way out. While he might not have killed it, he did inflict enough injury on the zergling to slow it down. As he turned forward again, Sovereign was met with a steel fist to the face.
He awoke seconds later to find the zergling with two scythe blades against his neck, threatening to slice his throat open if he tried to escape. He also noticed Rain Sight standing over him with a syringe in her robotic hand. "Sovereign..." she said staring at him with emotionless eyes. "I thought I told you to go to sleep. Let me help you with that." She jammed the syringe into the side of his neck rather painfully.
"Damn it Rain! That is... not... how you... do..." Sovereign passed out before he could finish his sentence.
The zergling retracted his scythes and received a tickle under its chin from Rain Sight. "Sovereign... what am I going to do with you now?" she asked.
Lyra had just gotten out of her bed and was ready to relieve her partner of the next watch. Up until now the trip home so far had been uneventful. The shuttle was cloaked, so they didn't expect much trouble as they passed through Consortium space. The shuttle was an extremely expensive ship, Dominion cloaking technology always is.
In addition to being able to turn invisible, it also had to be outfitted with heat sinks to minimize heat output to avoid detection, as well as sound dampeners to avoid sonar. This cost of just one of these little shuttles was easily enough to build a couple dozen fighters, but one of the perks of working for Dominion Intelligence was you always had the best equipment bits could buy.
Unfortunately the heat sinks did have to be dumped every now and then, or else the crew would fry inside their own ship. This was usually done right before and after a jump, which left them vulnerable to detection. The cloaking field generated tremendous heat output, so the ship rarely ever activated its cloaking unless it was a close encounter. Space was a big place, so as long as they didn't give off their position on any long range scanners, it was unlikely anyone would notice them with the naked eye.
However they had spotted more and more Diamond Dog ships each day, and it seemed likely they were on the look out for them. There were still a number of jumps left to travel, and what is worse is the next warp beacon was now being puppy guarded by the Diamond Dogs (no pun intended). Recently the heat sinks had reached their limits, and they were forced to dump them before reaching the next beacon. As a result the entire area had been swarming with ships the last couple of days, one of which was a Khalai cruiser.
Lyra had a good idea who was on that ship.
At the moment, they were hiding inside of an asteroid field by the warp beacon. They had shut off the engines, and just about every other system except the life support and the cyro cell holding their Dark Templar prisoner. That would slow the rate of heat build up, to the point of a few days as long as they kept power use to a minimum. All the two could do was hope the Diamond Dogs would move on before the heat sinks filled.
Lyra couldn't help but wonder why the Diamond Dogs would side with the Khalai. Regardless of the reason, she was confident they could wait the Diamond Dogs out. It seemed her prayers had been answered as she watched the Diamond Dog fleet prepared for a mass jump to the next beacon.
Only the Radiance was left behind, most likely to guard things on that side. Unfortunately, preparing for warp does take a few minutes, more than enough time for that cruiser to disable or destroy their shuttle. Not to mention they can't jump with the heat sinks filled or they risked blowing out their engines. It seemed either way, they were stuck on this side of the beacon until the Radiance also decided to move on.
As her partner was about to go to his cot, the two of them received a transmission. "I know you're out here. Listen, we have nothing against you personally, I just want that Dark Templar back. Hand her over, and the Diamond Dogs will cut off their pursuit." said Starsong.
Lyra decided not to respond. Doing so would require her to activate the cloaking in order to keep them from tracing the signal, which would generate too much heat. "Come on now, let's not be difficult. I'm not upset you never called back or anything, I just can't let you take her. I know you're out here. We have plenty of food and supplies, and can simply warp in more if needed. You on the other hand probably won't last that long. There is no reason to die out here."
The two continued to ignore the message. Her partner simply helped himself to a cup of coffee while Lyra casually filed one of her hoofs. "This guy just doesn't know when to give up does he?" asked Lyra. Her partner gave a shrug and took a sip from his drink.
A third message was now received. "Ok I see how it is. Dominion Intelligence are cowards, I get it," said Starsong as he mocked them. Lyra was actually laughing at his pathetic attempts to goad them into doing something irrational. Didn't he know who he was dealing with? They were Dominion Intelligence, the most feared branch of the Dominion military in the sector. They would never fall for something so childish. "I guess that what happens when you idolize a coward," he continued. That last line actually got to Lyra. He had better not been referring to who she thought he was referring too. "You know... because James Bond was a bitch," said Starsong.
Lyra's partner immediately spat out his coffee, while Lyra gave off a loud "What!" Her partner was breathing heavily trying to control his anger, Lyrs's eyes were burning as a tear fell down her cheek, her hooves shaking in rage. "I guess its not a big deal," continued Starsong. "He was clearly a work of terran fiction. Just like John Wayne and George Washington."
That was the last straw. Nobody dares insults the greatest agent in the galaxy's history in front of Dominion Intelligence without blood being spilled. Didn't he know the title of James Bond was carried by the greatest agent of each generation? It was like a mask given to the best of the best, a legacy that would never die, and instead lived on to inspire continuing generations of DI agents. This insult to DI's honor would not go unpunished.
Starsong turned off the hail and gave an alert to the rest of the crew. "Red alert. All Templar to their station. I want security teams all over the ship, nothing gets in or out." he ordered.
One of his crew had to ask, "Captain... why are we going to red alert? There is no one out there, and if there was, I doubt they are going to attack just because you did some name calling."
"You have your orders, carry them out," he demanded. He understood why they doubted him. He would have thought it was childish as well a few weeks ago. But linking with Seeker did give him great perspective on Imperial mentality, particularly how they practically worshiped certain Terran legends of old.
"Captain we have something on visual," announced a crewmen. "It's a crate. I'm getting a reading from inside. I think its a... cryo cell. One life form on board. It's our Dark Templar sir."
A wave of relief was felt throughout the ships Khala. It appeared their mission was a success. Starsong knew better though. They would not relinquish the prize so easily. He was playing a deadly game with these two, and they had just made the first move.