Captain Echo Sparkle
Equestrian Navy
E.S.C Twilight Sparkle
Tuesday, March 14th, 2126 CR
Approaching The Bardock System
“Sir, we’re five minutes out. Your orders?” announced Dragonfire, as the Twilight Sparkle pulled out of Hyperspeed. About an hour had passed since Echo’s ship had been diverted to Bardock, and a sense of anxiousness had built up within the crew. Looking around the bridge, Echo thought for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Alert the rest of the crew that code ‘Calm’ is in effect. I want the Twilight Sparkle invisible until we know what we’re facing,” Echo replied, his voice firm. Code “Calm” was a certain set of orders for stealth cruisers, which basically meant that all stealth systems were to be engaged, and radio silence was to be observed.
Dragonfire nodded, quickly flipping on the ship’s intercom system. “All personnel, code ‘Calm’ is in effect. I repeat, code ‘Calm’ is in effect. Report to assigned stations at once,” She stated.
The sound of various systems turning off and on filled the ship, followed by a green light on Echo’s Captain’s Panel flickering on. Echo clapped his front hooves together, and then hopped out of his chair. “Alright, now the fun part begins. Eyes forward, the station should be coming into view any moment,” He exclaimed, a rather cheerful tone in his voice.
The bridge went deathly silent as the ship slowly drifted toward its destination. It took a few moments for the planet of Bardock to come into view, but what the crew in the bridge saw shocked them. Echo’s eyes widened, and he slowly lowered himself to a sitting position. “Sweet Celestia...”
Bardock Station had been violently split in two, with various dots surrounding it, most likely debris from the crippled space station. Floating near the space station was the large, bulky form of the E.B.C Manehatten, a huge hole blasted clean through the center of the ship.
The bridge was deathly silent for a few second, before Riverside finally spoke, “What.....what the buck happened here?” exclaimed the aqua blue earth mare, a shaky tone in her voice. Nopony could answer that question, and a sense of fear suddenly came over the crew.
It took Echo a few moments to recover, but he quickly got back into his captains chair. “Get me closer to the station. I need to piece together what happened here,” He announced, a firm tone in his voice. His command was met with silence for a few moments, before Dragonfire turned to face him.
“You’re insane Echo. You honestly want us to continue flying toward the planet? Do you not see that Bardock station is bucking CUT IN HALF? Do you seriously want US to end up like that? I say we turn around, and call in the 2nd Strike Fleet instead of putting all our lives in danger,” shouted Dragonfire, a rather angry tone in her voice. Several quiet gasps emanated from several of the crew members, as all eyes turned to face Echo.
Echo sat quietly in his chair, staring at the gray mare that had challenged his authority for a few moments, finally speaking a few moments later, “There shall be no debate, and our course will not change. Do you understand me, Dragonfire?” he said, his voice somewhat quiet.
Dragonfire glared at the Captain for a few moments, then spun to face her station. “Yes, sir,” she growled.
The bridge was silent for a few more minutes, with nopony willing to say anything to break the silence. However, the silence was soon broken when Riverside cleared her throat. “Captain, I’m picking up a distress call from the Manehatten. Should I play it to the bridge?” she announced, her voice quiet. Echo nodded, lifting his head to face the main holoscreen. A few seconds of silence passed before the transmission started playing.
“...Captain Carter of the E.B.C Manehatten. We’ve been attacked by an unknown enemy, and have been severely damaged. We’ve lost primary power, and are currently relying on emergency generators. Casualties are estimated to be around 2000 dead, 150 critically wounded, and 200 lightly wounded. We won’t last long without help!” announced a rather gruff sounding stallion, clear desperation in his voice. Echo frowned, thinking hard about how he could help the Manehatten.
The bridge hung in silence for a few moments, until Echo finally spoke,“Dragonfire, get me Lieutenant Bright Soul,” ordered Echo, making sure to keep a neutral tone in his voice. Dragonfire nodded, pressing a few buttons on her console. A few moments later, a brown unicorn stallion with brown eyes and gray mane appeared on the holo screen.
The stallion quickly saluted, and cleared his throat. “I saw what happened to the Manehatten. What do you need sir?” he asked, his voice flat.
Echo nodded, straightening up a little in his chair. “Lieutenant, I need you to gather a team of Marines, and get them to Hanger 3 ASAP. Understood?” Echo explained.
Lieutenant Bright Soul nodded, quickly scribbling something down. “Yeah, I can get a team ready to go in ten minutes. Anything else?” replied the Lieutenant, his gaze returning to the Captain.
Echo shook his head, before smiling. “That’s all I need right now, thanks Lieutenant,” Echo exclaimed, before pressing the button on his chair to end the transmission.
The bridge remained silent for a few moments, until Riverside cleared her throat. “Shall I hail the Manehatten?” She asked, her voice shaking.
Echo shook his head, leaning back in his chair, and pressing his front hooves together. “Whoever attacked the Manehatten would probably detect our hail, and lock on our signal. We’ll just have the marines tell Captain Carter that we're here,” Echo replied, his voice neutral. Riverside sighed, before nodding in acknowledgement.
After that, nopony had anything left to say.