The warp-gate slashed closed behind me. My fighter uncurled, the coherence field flickering to life as the mobile systems launched, a cloud of tiny shards exploding from the cockpit. They began orbiting around me as my comms fired up.
"Spike, come in!"
"I'm here." My voice was oddly calm. I hung in a void of stars, my tiny ship the only thing shielding me from the barrage of weapons raging through space. "Give me a sitrep, guys."
"Bad, very bad!" Ember yelled. "The Chao are hammering us here! Fang and Talon are in trouble, Jag and Claw are out of the game!"
"Right." I hung in space, trying to orient myself in the cabin after the jump. Cords of symbiotech lashed through the cockpit, yanking me into the pilots chair. I felt my senses expand as the systems logged me in, connections slamming into place one after another as I interfaced. I grimaced as the scene sprang clear to me; our tiny wing was up against an Eris-class cruiser, and a full compliment of Drakon fighters. I kicked the drives online, yanking power away from the jumpdrive and pouring it into the Electronic Counter Measures. I sighed in relief as the ordered fields sprang from my mobile systems, knocking away a half-dozen critical strikes. "Form up on me, dragons! We need to work together!"
I absent-mindedly powered up my weapons. The circuits squealed as warp-ice burned off, but I ignored the noise. I grinned as my wingdrakes fell into formation.
"Hold tight; we need to get closer!" The thrusters thumped, and our tiny ships leaped forward, slicing through the fray.
Lasers and missiles sung around us, but we danced through the sky like leaves on the wind, impossible to catch. We spiraled and turned, moving as one. I targeted fighter after fighter, and together, we pierced through the perimeter.
"What in blazes are you planning, Spike?" Fang yelled. "We need to get out of here!"
"We're not running," Ember snarled back. "You know what's at stake!"
"We can't stop that!" Talon screamed. "That's an Eris class cruiser! Just look at it! We need a destroyer here! Fewmets, we need a battleship!"
"No, we'll be fine." My voice was ice. "We're doing this ourselves, and we're doing it now." I flexed my jets, cartwheeling away from a spate of missiles. As we talked, Talon's weapons seared through another Drakon, his beams shredding the enemy's dark metal into lifeless jags.
"You're crazy, Spike." Fang's voice was flat. Despite the calm I heard, his fighter was a storm of violence. I grimaced as he rammed an enemy fighter, the shards of his envelope snarling into a drill which ripped through his opponent. "I know crazy."
"Are you sure about this, wing leader?" Even Ember sounded doubtful. "We can take these little guys one-on-one, but that?" I felt his ECM flicker, brushing a strike aside even as he scrambled his target's systems so thoroughly the enemy fighter went dark, tumbling helplessly away. He finished it with an absentminded shot, more auto-target than actual skill.
"We've got no choice!" I snarled. "Look, you know we've got to do this. They've got the numbers; they were already tearing you up before I got here!"
"Let's get 'em." I jumped, as another fighter snapped into our formation.
"Jag?" My eyebrows rose.
"Claw's here, too." The new fighter flexed, and I realized it was actually two fighters, the mobile systems from one supporting the other. "We'll be fine. Let's do this!"
"Right." I drew the fragments of my fighter close, the flexible field that kept my strike craft coherent flickering under the strain of acceleration. We lanced through the void, a trail of shimmering energy streaming behind. The Drakon fell behind quickly, but more rose ahead. My sensor net expanded, the symbiotech funneling a welter of impressions straight into my brain. The cruiser soared before me, a few kilometers of plasteel and monofiber, dozens of discrete weapon systems locking on as we entered range, hundreds of fighters streaming from its bays.
"Are you just going to ram the thing?" Jag sounded curious, but I could sense the tension behind his words.
"Well, not just." I smirked, baring my fangs as we rocketed closer. I bent my skills to targeting, barely paying attention as my wingdrakes sliced and diced the approaching fighters.
I winced as a shot slipped through my defenses, a bolt of plazer fire screaming along my hull as the mobile systems danced away from the trajectory. A quick check showed no serious damage. I carefully threaded us through the gaps and holes in the their perimeter, wheeling this way and that to loop away from enemy fighter wings and barrages of weapons fire.
"Right, listen up, drakes!" I howled into the comm. "We're here because we're the best, and we're going to win this! We're taking this fight straight to the enemy, and I mean right to them! Brace for impact, because this is going to be bumpy!" I set a half-dozen locks, and slammed the execute button. My pilot's chair flexed, wrapping around me to cushion the impact. I heard a few gasps over the intercom as my comrades ships followed suit.
"Foolish little whelps." A voice snarled over the radio. "You really think a half-dozen puny fast-attack craft can stop a cruiser?"
"Hell yes." Claw's voice was level. "You have no idea what we're capable of, because you've never seen us working together. Here we go!"
I braced as we slammed into the cruiser's shields. My fighter clenched around me, the coherence field yanking the mobile systems in, hiding them behind the cockpit. My wingdrakes came through behind with a series of thumps. There was a moment of stillness, and then we hit the cruiser. This time my mobile systems swarmed forwards, locking into a spinning formation that sliced through the steel. My heart leaped into my throat as we slowed, and for a second I thought I'd miscalculated, but then we were through.
"Holy crow.." Jag's voice was soft as he realized what I'd done. "This is the drive bay!"
"No duh." Ember's voice was hard. "These things are, what, thirty percent empty space?"
"Singularity drives need that." My voice was exultant. "Now, boys, let's make 'em feel it."
Within moments, the cruiser powerplant was a smoking ruin. My plazers seethed across the interior of the ship. My wing cartwheeled behind me as we swung and looped, directing ravaging energy beams at anything vulnerable.
"Right, that's it." I narrowed my eyes as the cowling around the singularity started to crumple. "We need to bail. That thing's destabilizing. Ember, take point."
"Aye aye." My wing locked onto his fighter, and spun for the hole we'd made. Leaving was easier than entering, and in moments, everydrake was out.
I hung back a second, watching to be sure the job was done. As the drive started glowing, I knew we'd finished what we came for. I turned to go, but my ship jolted to a halt.
"No." The enemy's voice snapped from my radio. "I'll take at least one of you with me."
My eyes widened, as I registered tractors on me. My ECM surged, my thrusters blasted, but it was no good. My tiny powerplant couldn't compete with a cruisers reserves, even with their main drive going critical.
"Spike?" Jag's voice pulled me from my frantic attempts to escape. "Spike!" His voice cracked as he registered what was happening with my ship.
"Get out of here, go!" I yelled, frustration sharpening my voice. "If you're not past the blast radius—"
"Hold up, drakes, let's give the boss a hand." Fang's voice was calm.
"No!" I howled. "Go!"
"Sheesh, don't bust a vein," Claw snapped. "We'll do it from here. Grab him, drakes! Aim for the planet!"
I blinked, as my wingdrakes mobile systems powered up, fields reaching back for me. A half-dozen tractors snagged my cockpit. I grinned, as they whipped me forward, barely managing to break me away from the tractor immobilizing me.
"That's all we can do. Survive, boss. We're coming for you."
I triggered jump mode as the acceleration tore at my consciousness. My ship was in shambles from the forces; control was impossible. But Jag had done well; he'd managed to send me hurtling towards the only friendly thing in space, the brilliant blue-green orb we'd come here to protect. The simbiotech unlinked, while my acceleration couch scooped me up and wrapped me in its snug embrace. I blacked out before I hit the atmosphere.
"Odd." Twilight peered through her telescope, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "Those flashes are too high to be meteors, and too quick to be astronomical." She nibbled the edge of her hoof thoughtfully, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"Honey, go to bed!" The call wafted up the stairs, and Twilight sighed.
"Yes mom!" She carefully made one last note in her journal, and took one more longing glance at the sky before turning towards the stairs.
Screeeeee….
She was halfway down the stairs when she heard the shriek. Looking up, she saw something glimmer through the still-open door. Her eyes snapped wide as she realized it was flaming, falling from the sky, and headed right for her.
"Aaaah!" Her horn flared in panic. Unsure of what to do, she blindly lashed out, magic pouring away from her unguided. The best she managed to do was imbue it with the idea push.
Eeeeeeee….
She dropped to the floor, throwing her hooves over her head and cowering as it drew close with impossible quickness and unimaginable noise. The shrieking swelled immensely, filling the world for a moment, before cutting off with a huge CRASH. The floor shook, tossing her down the stairs. She rolled, bumping and banging to the bottom, as pieces of masonry and debris rained around her.
Finally, stillness came.
Shaking, she managed to pry an eye open. High above, a brilliant flash lit the sky bright as day for a second.
What she saw stole her breath away.
Where the stairway had been, was a giant sliver of black glass. It was smoking, some parts still glowing red-hot from the heat of its entry. Here and there pieces were missing, scars and wounds open on its glossy skin, revealing strange patterns and mechanisms.
Click!
"Eeep!" She leaped back as something moved. A section on the bottom peeled back, puffing vapor. She watched in fascination as an interior compartment was revealed. There was a glimpse of strange shapes, more unfamiliar mechanisms. Something inside slithered and heaved, and with a thump, a figure was heaved out.
"Twilight!" Her father came galloping down the hall. "Are you okay? What…" His voice trailed off as he glimpsed the strange purple humanoid lying on the floor. "What… what the hay?"
"H…help." Both of them took a step back as the figure stirred. "Please."