//------------------------------// // Chapter IX // Story: What I've Done // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter IX Captain Hazalk sighed as he sat down in his chair. His computer terminal was already up and running, all that was required of him now was to input his passkey and receive his orders. Yet, he hesitated. For all he knew, the Hiarch was part of this conspiracy and would allow Ilisk to walk free. Since the Hiarch is the highest authority among the Krin, wouldn't that make me the traitor? he thought nervously. He shook his head at that, trying to shake the distrust he felt. It was just paranoia, and he knew it. He also knew precisely why his paranoia was turned up to eleven, too. Everything about this mission had set him on edge. Nothing was as it seemed, everything had consistently gone wrong, and he had been shot. That last one had a more lasting effect than he would care to admit. It wasn't the first time he had been shot by any stretch of the imagination, though it was the first time he had been shot by someone under his command. It was with some trepidation, then, that he brought up the video file that contained his orders. The screen in front of Hazalk went black, then was replaced by the scarred face of Hiarch Perivel, his upper hands clasped on the desk in front of him. “Hello, Hazalk. I received your report, and I must say that I am both appalled and relieved over what has happened. I am appalled that the old guard would risk the destruction of our people in another war, and I am relieved that you survived the underhanded attack of the traitor Ilisk.” Hazalk breathed a sigh of relief at this. At the very least, he wouldn't have to fight against his own government. "Anyway, I have taken your recommendation concerning Magistrate Quazal into consideration, and agree with you,” Perivel said, leaning forward a little as he spoke. “Arresting the Magistrate would prove counterproductive, especially if it turns out that Ilisk was lying about his involvement. That being said, we cannot rule him out as a member of this conspiracy, and I have authorized a full investigation into Quazal. Rest assured, if he is involved, we will know. Now, on to your orders.” At this, Hazalk straightened up a little, his attention riveted to the screen. “As regrettable as the treatment of the survivor of The Destiny Ascension was, you must still find and acquire it. Once you have it aboard your vessel, you are to bring it to the Quzin world Zutai. There, our allies will hopefully be able to fix the damage that the science team aboard the Ascension did to it, as well as find some clues as to whom was responsible for its terrible treatment. We have already sent a message to the Quzin High Prophet, explaining all that has happened up to this point. They will receive that message not long after you receive this one, so expect them to send an escort sometime in the near future.” Well, how in the world am I supposed to get Subject-38 on board? Hazalk thought in confusion. “You mentioned that the victim has found both allies and asylum on the world it currently inhabits. We urge you to use discretion in this matter, and to do your best to preserve the lives of both the natives and the target in question. Current doctrine of removing obstructions in the theater of war no longer apply, as this is now an official mission, and this world is under Quzin protection. Needless to say, they would react negatively to any hostile action taken against either the natives, or the victim thereon.” Hazalk groaned, knowing that he had already 'taken hostile action against the natives'. That is going to be quite the hurdle there, he thought to himself, rubbing his antenna with a claw. “I know that you may have already made some mistakes before you uncovered the truth, and I will not pretend to be able to tell you how to handle this situation. However, I trust you enough to leave the matter to your discretion,” the Hiarch said with a shake of his head. “As to the wreck, see if there is anything left of the computer core to salvage, and bring it home. Other than that, leave the rest behind, and cooperate with any Quzin ships that may come your way. Let them have the final say in how that mess is to be handled, with the sole exception of that computer core. As you carry out these orders, however, be warned: We don't know the full extent of this conspiracy, nor do we know who is involved. It is entirely possible that these traitors have already sent forces to collect their little science experiment, as well as to remove you from the picture. We have dispatched the Aurora to reinforce you, but it is advised that you treat any Krin ship that you encounter as hostile, other than the Aurora, as they will have no other reason to be in that sector. That is all.” With that, the Hiarch's face faded from view, simultaneously filling Hazalk with hope and dread. He knew the captain of the Aurora, so he knew that he could be trusted. However, Hazalk still had no clue on how to proceed. As he sat their, mulling over this new information, he heard a knock on his door. “Come in,” Hazalk said, straightening his shirt a little. Commander Yvtil entered with a salute. “You wanted to see me, sir?” she asked. “Oh course, Yvtil. Have a seat,” Hazalk said, gesturing towards the empty chair in front of his desk. The commander took the indicated seat, and looked at her captain with interest. He just sighed, and shook his head. “Commander, we have a bit of a problem. While we are no longer trying to 'recapture' the victim of the Ascension, we still need to get it on board somehow, without causing any further loss of life,” Hazalk said, shaking his head in frustration. “The Hiarch has already sent a missive to the High Prophet, explaining our current situation. However, it won't get there for at least another week. Maybe even two. With that in mind, it may take some time before the Quzin send a ship. In the mean time, our orders are to get Subject-38 to a Quzin medical base.” Yvtil shook her head, lost in thought. “And I take it you have no clue how to go about doing this?” she asked pointedly. “Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated, yes,” he said with a sigh. Yvtil groaned as she leaned back in her chair. “Well, diplomacy would be the most obvious choice of action, but that has its own problems.” “By 'problems', do you mean that everyone down there probably thinks we're ravening, psychotic monsters?” Hazalk asked dryly. “I was actually going to point out the language barrier, but your point is valid too,” Yvtil replied. Hazalk groaned loudly at this while thumping his head noisily against the desk. “This is a nightmare. We can't send extraction teams either without risking losing them, since they will only have non-lethal options in dealing with the locals.” “And that's not even counting the fact that we're looking at a civilization that is capable of producing something on par with a Void Knight,” Yvtil reminded him. His answer to that was to simply groan louder. “We could wait until a Quzin ship shows up...” Yvtil suggested. "That's no good. We also need to get our claws on the Ascension's computer core before they arrive. At the very least, we need to pull anything sensitive that it might contain. As terrible as those people were, and as subversive as they were, they were still an official Krin science team. They were probably working on a lot more then just this, not to mention that that core might contain a few state secrets as well,” Hazalk said, not moving from his position on the desk. There was a long pause as she mulled over this information. The captain was right. They had to act before the Quzin's arrival, despite everything going against them. We could probably leave Subject-38 where it is, but we still need to retrieve the more sensitive equipment, she thought to herself. “...Well, why don't you sleep on it, see what comes to you in the night?” she asked, finally breaking the silence. “...” “Captain... you have been sleeping, haven't you?” she asked him, her voice disapproving. “...” “Sir, you're not thinking clearly, and you'll make mistakes if you keep going like this. Go get some sleep. In fact, go down to medical and have the good doctor give you something to knock you out for at least eight hours. I'll continue to monitor everything, and inform you if we encounter any trouble,” she said, giving him the stink eye. The only answer he gave her was a loud snore, signifying that he had already passed out. Yvtil just chuckled at that, and got up to leave, dimming the lights as she opened the door. “What am I going to do with you, sir?” she asked the slumbering warrior. * * * “That's... that's just... horrible...” Fluttershy said weakly. “That's not the worst of it. It is entirely possible that these fiends will do the same to us,” Shining said gruffly. “We need to come up with a proper defensive strategy. Would it be possible to stop them from even coming by using the sun and the moon?” he asked the Princesses. Celestia just shook her head at that. “We could, but unfortunately, without knowing where their vessels are, we would be relying upon luck with our strikes.” “My sister and I have discussed this at great length, and we feel it would be wise to put our best minds towards finishing Starswirl's Omniscope,” Luna said with a nod of her head. “With it completed, we would be able to pinpoint their location, even if they were invisible.” Twilight squeed at this, her face twisted into a look of absolute joy. “Really? Because I've always thought that that project had so much potential in terms of learning about the universe around us!” she said, bouncing about with glee. “I just can't wait to see it in action!” The others seemed not to share her enthusiasm with this new development, if their blank faces were anything to go by. “Not to detract from that idea, but why can't we just use the Elements?” Rarity asked curiously. “Unfortunately, the Elements are bound to Equis, and are therefore bound to its magical field,” Luna said with a shake of her head. “If our enemies chose to simply burn our world from beyond this field, we could do nothing to stop it with just the Elements. Also, even if our enemies decide to attack us where we could use the Elements to their greatest effect, we will still need that Omniscope to allow you to pinpoint the location of your target.” “Well, what in the hay is an Omniwhatever? And how will it help us find that ship?” Applejack asked in confusion. “I've got a better question,” Rainbow Dash said, glancing around, worry in her voice. “Where's Pinkie Pie?” The assembled ponies quickly looked around, trying to locate the eccentric pink mare. However, she was no where to be seen. * * * Something was... off. I wasn't really sure how I knew this, seeing as how my eyes were closed, and I had been asleep just seconds before. However, as I had stated before, I had learned to trust my instincts a long time ago. Even though I had no reason to suspect anything, I still knew that something was wrong about the world around me. Tentatively, I peeked open a single eye, praying that I was wrong about... whatever it was. If I was right, however, I knew I was truly screwed. I'd put up as much resistance as a newborn kitten, less so considering that I had just come out of surgery. As my sight swam into focus, I realized that the whole world in front of me seemed to be dominated by a massive wall of pink. In the center of that wall, I could see two pools of blue that stared into my one open eye with barely restrained glee. “GHAH!” I shouted, quickly rolling backwards off the bed and onto the floor. The Pink One merely giggled at this, then bounced up onto the bed to look down at me with a grin that would have shamed the Cheshire Cat. She said something in her bizarre language, and I just looked up at her in confusion. “I'm sorry?” I asked, completely confused at what was happening. She just giggled again, then bounced off the bed, disappearing from view. I grumbled incoherently at this, trying my best to crawl back into bed while The Pink One did... whatever it was that she did. Honestly, the strange creature confused me to no end, and I still wasn't completely convinced that she wasn't merely a figment of my imagination. Strangely, my arms seemed to be a lot stronger than they were earlier today. They still hurt, and were still incredibly shaky, but I found that getting back into bed was easy, and I could probably have walked around as well without much difficulty. As interesting as that was, I didn't really have time to think about that, because the second I threw the blanket back over me, The Pink One had reappeared, carrying a slice of cake in her front hooves. She said something else in her musical language, and I just took the cake, trying to figure out where it had come from. “Um... thank you?” I said, still unsure about what was going on. She just squealed at this, then began to bounce around the room spouting gibberish. She then stopped, pointed at me, pointed at herself, rotated her front hooves around each other, then jumped up, throwing confetti everywhere as she landed in a kneeling pose, her form looking distinctly strange on a horse. I'm not entirely certain where she got the confetti from, either. To be honest, I wouldn't have been surprised if she had just conjured it from the aether. At this point, I couldn't contain myself. The scene was just so strange, so surreal, so ridiculous, that I started to laugh. It wasn't an ordinary laugh, either. This was the first real laugh that I had made in well over six months. It just felt... so... good, to finally be able to laugh. My sides began to hurt, yet I continued to laugh. Tears started running from my eyes, yet I continued to laugh. My body shook with pain, yet I continued to laugh. I'm not sure how long I just stayed there, laughing with The Pink One. Somewhere during this time, she had climbed up into my bed next to me, laughing all the while. I was eventually able to calm down, though, allowing me to throw an arm over her withers, pulling her into a rough bear hug. She squealed at this unexpected move, but quickly recovered by returning the hug. “Thank you. Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself,” I said, tears still freely running from my eyes. She said something then, and while I could not understand the language, I still understood the meaning behind those incomprehensible words. You're welcome. * * * Doctor Tender Care patiently checked and double checked her notes. So far, the ~human~ had been making a steady recovery, but something wasn't quite right here. Everything looked as it should have, but that was just it. He was getting stronger, despite the fact that his immune system was attacking his extremities. It just didn't make any sense. By all rights, his immune system should have been weakening, not to mention that his arms should have taken on an even sicklier hue. However, signs were all pointing towards him making a full recovery. And she was having a hard time trying to figure out why that was a bad thing. As she mulled this all over, she heard an urgent rap on her office door. “Come in!” she called, wondering who could possibly be calling at this hour. The door opened, probably with a little more force than was intended, to reveal a breathless Doctor Level Head. “Care, you won't believe this!” he said excitedly. “What's the problem?” she asked, worry bleeding into her voice. “I ran a DNA test on the patient's alien extremities, and I found something strange,” he said, tossing the folder he had been levitating onto the other doctor's desk. Tender Care picked up the folder and began leafing through it with interest. “I'm still not sure what I'm looking at here. These things are supposed to be alien, even to our patient, so I'm not even sure what I'm-” “It's different,” he said, taking a gulp of air as he tried to get his lungs back under control. “It's different from how it was when we first ran a scan. I need to run a few more tests, but I think your regeneration spell had more of an effect on them then we initially believed.” Tender Care's jaw dropped as she noticed the subtle differences in the ~human's~ DNA. “Run another test on the arms and legs. For good measure, run one on the point where they join his body, as well as one on his 'normal' flesh. Whatever this is, I don't think it's normal or healthy for him,” she said grimly.