//------------------------------//
// Distress Call 
// Story: Lost In the Stars 
// by Crabs_of_steam 
//------------------------------//

Since the night before, Nico and Luna has been working on constructing a distress beacon the moment they first woke. Nico assigned Luna to collecting wood for the beacon. When she asked what to use to gather wood, Nico went to his ship and came back with a battleaxe that was half his size. "Here," He said as he threw it to Luna's hooves, "And don't slice off your head." 

As Luna left to collect wood Nico went to his ship once again to gather all the supplies he needed to make the dish. He grabbed two bars of silver, ten bars of copper, ten bars of iron, and 150 pixels. Nico clapped his hands and said, "My days of hoarding is finally paying off." Nico went into his ship one last time and came back with looked like an anvil. He placed all the bars on the top of the device and activated it. Within seconds, the bars started to melt. He poured the molten metal into mold. For the next hour, Nico hammered and shaped the metal into a dish for the beacon. 

By the time Nico was done Luna came back with a hundred logs levitating in the air. "Nico, I have retrieved some lumber! What should I do now?" 

Nico heaved the dish from the, hissing from the heat of the freshly forged metal, and placed it on the dirt. "I gotta say, you work really hard. Just cut some of the logs into planks."

Nico walked to his ship and brought out a large orange device and held it with two hands. Luna stared at Nico to see what he was going to do next. Nico aimed the orange device at the dirt mound that buried his ship and pulled the trigger. Slowly, dirt particles began to lift up into the air and drift towards Nico. Hundreds upon a thousand specks of dirt flew into Nico's millennium side-pocket. Trees, unearthed from the dirt, fell off to the sides. 

Luna was flabbergasted to see such a spectacle. She stopped her work and approached Nico. "How are you doing that?" She asked.

Nico's eyes remained focus. "It's thanks to this baddie," said Nico as he patted his orange device, "The Matter Manipulator. Manipulates anything that matters. No matter what size, this thing will break anything down into a molecular scale and store it in my Millennium Side-Pocket. Here's another thing." Nico released his finger, causing all the dirt in front of him to fall to the ground. He flicked a switch and the device emitted a blue laser. Nico aimed the laser at the ground and pulled the trigger. Instantly, cube of dirt formed in the place of the laser. "The Matter Manipulator can also reassemble materials into compact cube, excellent for building." 

Another hour has passed by and the duo has long since returned to their work. When Luna felt that she was done she searched for Nico to see what he was doing. As Luna was looking for Nico, she noticed that the ship was unearthed but still remained tilted forward. She walked towards the ship to see Nico on the side of ship atop one of it's weapons. He wore his helmet and had a blowtorch in his hand. Thousands of sparks flew into the air as Nico slowly cut the metal connecting the giant weapon to the ship. The ship ached as the giant weapon then fell off the ship and landed on the ground with a massive thud. 

Nico saw the Alicorn staring at him. "Oh Luna, can you do me a big favor?" He pointed at the fallen weapon. "Can you lift this up for me?" Luna focused her horn on the weapon and lifted into the air. Nico jumped to the ground and directed Luna on how to direct the weapon. "Lay it next to the ship, and make sure that it's pointed outward." When it was finished the weapon was at the side of the ship's rear and was aimed at the sky. 

"What is all this for?" Asked Luna.

"Oh, just a precaution," responded Nico

"A precaution? For what?" 

"Space pirates. Trust me when I say they are in my ass. They prey on the weak, so naturally they're attracted to distress beacons like a moth to light. You see flying saucer, that spells trouble in bold letters." 

"You don't think that they might...." 

Nico sighed, "Maybe, maybe not. I don't know what could happen. One time I went to a planet in the Alpha Sector and made distress beacon to attract pirate ships and shoot them down for their molten cores, which are very valuable and useful. I was armed with a bazooka, you know a rocket launcher. I activated it and hid. When I saw a shadow, I fired at it and shot it down. As it turned out, the ship I shot down wasn't a flying saucer but a Hylotl spaceship! Not only did I had to fix their spaceship, I had attend their peace seminars for two months! So let's be careful and not just fire at anything that comes from space. I'm gonna make a detonator for the weapon ,then the beacon. When I'm done I want you to hide in the forest."

After an hour, Nico completed arming the massive weapon as well as constructing the distress beacon. The beacon was placed close to the ship to insure that any ship hovering above will be hit by the weapon. The dish was supported by wooden planks and had a crank at its side. Nico shouted to Luna "Get ready! I'm gonna activate the distress beacon!" Nico began to turn the crank. The dish began to rotate and make a beeping sound. Nico rushed to the forest where Luna was hiding. He grabbed a tiny detonator that laid next to Luna. The device had a single red button and a yellow wire at the end that went all the way to the ship. "Now we wait." said Nico. 

After waiting for a few minutes, Nico and Luna heard a whirring sound. The trees began to shake and the dirt moved with life as a massive flying saucer was descending from space.  

The flying saucer was layered with grey metal plates top to bottom. Red lights moved along the side of the ship. What shocked Luna the most was seeing a penguin operating the flying saucer. The penguin was within a small glass dome cockpit operating the ship with two red levers. 

"Yep," whispered Nico, "Definitely a pirate. Just wait till it's above the distress beacon."   

The flying ship flew over the woods looking for the one who sent the distress signal. When it was hovering over the the beacon, Nico wasted no time and pressed the red button on the detonator. A rocket whooshed out of the weapon and struck the underside of the flying saucer.    

The entire ship was engulfed in both a blinding light and a hellish flame. The sound of the explosion deafened the ears of Luna and Nico. Luna shielded herself from the light and the flak, while Nico just stood and watched the scene with a smile that stretched to each cheek. 

The ship crashed to the ground and was now a simmering husk of metal. The whole ship was burnt black and there was no sign of the penguin that piloted the ship. 

Nico clapped his rapidly hands. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He walking to the crashed flying saucer to salvage it of its molten core. When he was halfway there, fifty flying saucers suddenly appeared. The whole forest shook as if they were in a massive storm. Their combined sounds made it near impossible for Nico to hear himself when he said to himself, "Shit!"  

He was afraid to move. Any sudden movement, and he could get blown to smithereens. Nico drew out his sword and prepared for the fight for his life. "Okay," He murmured to himself, "Don't believe that this the end. Just fifty flying saucers operated by penguins thirsting for my blood instead of just one. Nothing unique, just another day in the galaxy."