//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: Echoes of the Past // Story: Reign of Fire // by greenboozed //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Echoes of the Past Location: 17 miles above Equus Local Time 12:00 pm 16 hours after crash landing Both fleets engaged each other in earnest; the Berenians slowly gaining the upper hand. It had been an hour and a half of continuous fighting and both sides were tiring. The Lugolavian fleet slowly started to diminish until only a few ships remained. The Gortoss closed in for the kill. “Surround them and continue broadsiding!” Kael Taylor commanded. The Imperial Berenian Navy ships formed a large circle around the few Lugolavian ships and pounded them with round after round of broadsides. The barrage was effective and the last remaining ships began to tear apart. “Sir, I’m detecting multiple escape pods leaving their ships. What are your orders?” An ensign asked. “Destroy them. We can’t risk them getting to the planets surface. There can be no survivors.” Kael responded. “They just left our weapons’ range sir. It would be impossible to hit them from this distance.” “Dammit! We have no choice, follow them to the planet’s surface. I want five ships to follow me in. The rest should stay in the atmosphere and wait in case things go wrong.” “Yes, sir.” Zephyr barely managed to dodge the falling debris. After he regained his composure, he continued his climb. At last he reached the escape pod and pulled himself in. After he saw the other marines do the same, Zephyr activated the escape pod with his transponder. His ship slowly fell apart beneath him, reminding him of the waste of the three hundred fifty marines that died fighting to protect him. Shaking the thought out of his head he launched the escape pod. The battery powered rockets ignited and flung it away from the burning ship. “Lets try to coordinate a landing zone, guys. I really don’t want to get separated. Also, try to avoid population zones. I don’t want to have another problem.” Zephyr told the surviving marines. “Yes, sir. I’ve found an uninhabited area, about thirty miles east of the densest city.” “Ok, set coordinates for there. We should be another five minutes until we break through the atmosp-” At this moment Zephyr’s escape pod was hit by a large amount of debris. He was thrown upwards to the top of capsule and knocked unconscious. “Commander! Commander…” Unknown Location on Equus Local Time: 11:30 am "You failed me again, Shadow Caller!" The Hierophant yelled in his face. "I'm sorry, your excellence. Von's arrival ruined our plans. Give me one more chance. Please." Shadow Caller begged. "Hmm, I guess, but your next failure will be your last. Understand?" "Yes, my lord…" Shadow Caller sighed. Location: Berenia's Imperial Palace Local Time: 7:00 pm Zihark stared into his blank com screen. His boredom was at its highest yet. He prepared to lay back down and fall asleep when the screen flashed. Someone had sent him a message. -Zihark. You are requested in the war room. Urgent Meeting. Voi has fallen- Those last three words sent a chill down his spine. Voi was the most prominent spaceport in the outer-planets. The news visibly shocked him. He put on his robes and left the room. "From the reports that came in it sounds like they did an accurate hyperspace jump right underneath our Orbital Battle Defences. Those who were infected turned on the uninfected. It became a slaughter." Alston Mirkado, one of the three High Command Lords explained. "Thats impossible. No virus has that type of knowledge. If G-617 g fell within two hours and Voi itself only lasting about twenty minutes; a pathogen of that magnitude could wipe everything out!” Zihark yelled in frustration. “Do we know of any survivors?” High Prince Hugh, the younger brother of Zephyr asked. “Only two uninfected ships escaped. Both were light freighters. Everyone else…” Alston stopped there. “Reports say the infected ships haven’t left the G-617 g system yet, my lord.” Alston continued. “What should we do, brother? Hugh asked. “We have twelve fleets on standby, correct?” Zihark questioned the others. The group nodded their heads. “Jump to any and all systems near the G-617 g quadrant. The virus cannot escape.” “Yes, my lord.” They all replied. Location: Equus Local Time: 1:00 pm Unnhh…. damn, that was a nasty hit I took. What was that thing that attacked me. AND why can’t I see!?!? Zephyr opened his eyes. Oh. Thats why. I think I’m going to just stay silent for a second. Standing over Zephyr was the odd creature he had met on his first day in Equestria. What was his name… oh! It was Von. Beside Von was a blue colored pony with a rainbow mane and Twilight Sparkle. “What is he? I’ve never seen anything like him before.” Von asked, a little nervous. “Well, he isn’t from Equestria, thats for sure. He says he came from space. I mean, he did almost kill me when he crashed into the ground. Not on purpose of course.” Twilight replied. “Does he have a name?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Yeah, he said it was Zephyr Darkwing. He’s what they call a Gortoss.” Von looked him over. The Gortoss was badly injured with what looked like a broken ankle and his large wings ripped in several places. Zephyr’s eyes were open but seemingly glazed over giving him the appearance of someone paralyzed. “We shouldn’t tell the rest of town. It could cause a panic.” Twilight told the others. “I agree. It would probably be best if he laid low for a while. If he can still keep his pony form than that would be for the best.” Von responded. “Those creepy hooded ponies worried me, they seemed to have an odd interest in Zephyr.” Rainbow Dash responded. “Yeah, we should keep an eye out for them, I have a feeling they will be back.” Von replied. *** Location: Vashj’ir Temple, Equus (Pronounced Vasheer) Local Time: 1:30 pm The Hierophant walked up to an ornate slab. In his hooves was the Music Box that Shadow Caller had retrieved earlier. After placing it on the table, he closed his eyes and began to chant. Each time he repeated the phrase, mist poured out of the box and seemed to surround the area. “Zerus…” An ominous voice resonated through the temple. The Hierophant opened his eyes in shock and immediately stopped. Above the music box was a humanoid figure, but it was see-through and looked like an apparition. “Is the Optimus on Equus?” the Apparition asked. “Yes, my lord. We should have him in our grasp soon.” The apparition looked Zerus over, and grimaced in disgust. “Why do you still hold that form?” The figure snarled. Zerus was a black unicorn with deep maroon eyes and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face. His muzzle was slightly gray and his hooves were the same. He was very tall, nearly the size of Celestia herself. Even with his foul mood Zerus still carried himself highly and normally looked down on his followers. “I was attacked in this form and can no longer change back to my original body. It’s of no importance… plus it helps me to blend in with the local species of this planet. Although I do miss being able to use my hands… and feel the rush of wind in my face.” Zerus replied. “Hm, well we will have to make do. Bring me the Optimus as soon as you can. And… I felt the presence of more of your kind on this planet. What luck we were given, you Gortoss can never stay away from Him after all.” The Apparition mumbled. “...” “No matter, we must accelerate our plans because of the arrival of the Berenians. I must wake Him. Unfortunately, it will take a couple of months. This should buy us time.” The figure materialized a beautiful locket out of the mist enveloping the room. “You know what to do. Now go.” The figure handed Zerus the locket and then faded away. “There is no turning back now, sorry Zephyr… but I can never forgive you for what you did… Never.” Location: Two miles east of Canterlot Local Time: 2:30 pm The wind blew the grass covering the field wildly and only got worse over time as five enormous ships slowly descended onto the plain and silenced their engines. A large ramp lowered down from the largest of the group and Kael Taylor walked out of the ship. “Set up a base camp here, Commander.” He said turning towards another Gortoss. “Yes, sir.” The Berenian troops began to immediately build defenses and buildings. Luckily they had brought a prefabricated Barracks, which was a large easily deployable military building that took barely ten minutes to be fully operational. They unpacked auto-turrets and other defensive structures. When Kael thought everything looked in order, he began to brief his troops. “We don’t know what to expect here so stay on full alert. Our top priority is to locate and acquire Zephyr. The secondary objective is to capture or kill the remaining Lugolavian forces. I want to avoid civilian centers if possible, but I’m pretty sure that won’t happen. Several sentient races populate this planet, the most prominent being an equine variant, although I don’t have much information on them. What I do know is that their government is a monarchy, led by two princesses.” “There are several other species, but it shouldn't be something to worry about. I want long range scanners setup and constant patrols starting tomorrow. If you have any questions, ask me later. I’ll be in the barracks.” With that, Kael stepped down from his makeshift podium of a rock and walked into the barracks. Location: The Castle of the Two Sisters (Everfree Forest) 48,000 years in the Past “My king! We must get you and her highness to safety! The city will fall within the hour!” A heavily armored pegasus exclaimed, having to yell over the ear shattering artillery that reigned down upon the capital of Equestria. The throne room they resided in constantly shook. “You would have me abandon my people in their darkest hour? I think not.” A tall alicorn of immense stature and pride responded in a mixture of anger and defiance. The equine was enormous and resonated power. There was a large explosion far off in the distance, followed by a lull in the screams of the bombs and artillery. The sound of small arms fire grew ever closer. “The Gortoss have broken into the city! You need to leave now!” The nervous pegasus nearly yelled. For the first time in his very long life, the alicorn was surprised. “Take my wife and daughters, ensure they survive. I will stay behind and hold them off. Make sure they have their crowns.” He quickly answered. Deciding to not push the question further, the pegasus bowed and then motioned for twelve guards to follow him. As soon as they left the room a large dent appeared in the enormous steel door that led into the building. The alicorn stiffened. All of the fifty guards immediately raised their weapons. In their hooves were intricately designed swords and bows. After a minute of pure silence, the door was bashed down and blaster fire poured into the throne room. Twenty of the guards fell immediately with another ten falling mere seconds later. The survivors threw themselves behind cover and returned fire. However, it was all in vain. Two minutes after the fighting started, it ended. The guards froze mid motion; their bodies lifeless and useless. The alicorn king looked in horror as his people became nothing but statues. His attention was soon drawn elsewhere. Floating over the rubble of the gate was a being that made the king tremble in fear. “Ah, your majesty.” The being mock-bowed. “Vashj'ir…” “I’m surprised that you are still here. I would have expected a coward like you to leave earlier. No matter, I’m not one who wastes time. Hand over your daughters and I will consider letting you live. Otherwise…” Vashj’ir motioned to his Gortoss guards. There was a unique resemblance between the dark being and his followers. They were created in the image of their maker, after all. The guards raised their weapons and took aim. “We will never surrender to a beast like you, nor will I tell you where to find your quarry. You are a blight upon this universe Vashj’ir… a blight that needs to be removed!” The king replied, anger taking over his voice. Before the dark god could react, six jewels materialized around the alicorn. The gems then combined into one and shot a rainbow beam directly towards Vashj’ir. With no time to avoid the attack, the god merely braced himself for the imminent blow and was hit directly in the abdomen. He looked down as he felt wet in the area, only to see his own blood beginning to flow. Even the king was surprised. “That’s IT! I’ve had enough messing around! IT’S TIME YOU DIED!!!” Vashj’ir screamed in pure rage. The dark god’s eyes glowed with an ominous maroon aura and his body began to be surrounded in fire. The alicorn began to charge another beam as his adversary did the same. A dark orb materialized in the god’s hand and he immediately raised it and pointed it at the king. A ring of energy surrounded the orb and a chaos infused beam flew towards the alicorn. This caused the king to launch his own attack with the two beams meeting in the middle of the room. “The Elements of Harmony may be strong… but not nearly strong enough!” Vashj’ir gloated as the rainbow beam was slowly pushed back, the middle ground between the two attacks getting closer and closer to the Alicorn. The king tried to hold his attack as long as he could but knew it was in vain. With one final effort, he was struck by the chaotic laser and thrown into a wall. The alicorn collapsed in a heap on the ground, although he was still alive. “Fool, did you truly think you would even stand a chance? This could have been so much easier if you wouldn’t give in to stubborn pride.” The god shook his head in disappointment. “I… will do anything to stop you… even if it means my own death…” The alicorn rasped, barely clinging to life. “What was that? I couldn’t quite hear over your pathetic tone-” Vashj’ir grinned, but was cut off mid-sentence a moment later. In the span of what seemed like a second, the Elements flew over to where the king lay, merged once more and glowed with immense power. The alicorn’s horn lit up and in that moment, an explosion of tremendous power erupted, completely disintegrating him and knocking the god back eighty feet into a wall. It was such a powerful blast that it could be seen from space itself. 1 minute earlier… In a secret-chamber located in the castle. “Mommy, will daddy be alright?” A dark blue alicorn foal looked up at her visibly distraught mother. “Yes, Luna dear. I’m sure he’ll be fine…” She sighed and looked down at her concerned daughters. “You don’t sound so sure, Mom.” “He’s been in many stressful situations before Tia, I’m confident he’ll be okay.” She responded to her white foal. However, the queen soon felt a strange disturbance and without a second thought, immediately cast a shield on her two daughters. A second later, the enormous explosion casted by her own husband consumed her. … The castle and surrounding city lay in ruins… “Those… cursed stones, damn him!” A bloody and horrifically wounded Vashj’ir cussed as he felt his very life draining. He looked down at his hands and noticed that he was fading slowly but surely. The god could barely move and struggled to climb out of the pile of rubble he lay in. “Dammit... I won’t let my plans be all for nothing. I need to ensure my survival, but how…?” An idea came to his mind, one that was very dangerous and could very well be the end if it went wrong, but Vashj’ir knew that it was the only way that he could survive. I must split myself; separate mind and body… to ensure my continued existence.