"Is that all you really know?"
"Yes madam, we could only get so much with that sole camera," Light Pulse answered, as we looked over a series of pictures of the world discovered. After receiving the news from Twilight, I quickly selected a team made up of some of my best recruits, but not all in case something horribly goes wrong. Thankfully, I had the foresight to write down all possible training instructions I could think of into a notebook in case I met an early demise. The next day, a group of carriages arrived to take us to the base where we were going to be outfitted with environmental suits that the scientists designed.
As my chosen squad, which consisted of Dusty Skies, Golden Sword, Citrine Lemons, Starlight Glimmer, a changeling named Driftwing, and a griffon named Godfrey, were suiting up behind me as I waited for the custom suit made just for me to arrive. Eyeing the pictures of some kind of grassy landscape under a night sky, I spotted no significant signs of potential carnivorous plant life. However, I knew that pictures can only get us so far. For all I know, the plants could be ten feet below the surface, just waiting to spring a trap on their unfortunate prey.
"What are you plans for our first mission madam?" Golden Sword asked as he came over after he finished suiting up. The environmental suit looked like some kind of loose rubber suit that covered the entire body, with only some kind of glass front for the face. The suits also had an oxygen tank on the back, enough to provide sterilized air for twelve hours, even if the used engaged in vigorous physical activity during that time period. There were suits ready for earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, but there weren't any designed for griffons, so Godfrey was only partly suited up until the scientists could come up with a suitable replacement.
"There's not much of a plan really, just explore a two-mile radius around the portal, gather up soil, air, and plant samples while observing the general environment. We will also be taking any readings the scientists deem necessary. Duration is unknown, since we're going to have the portal open at all times. That means we have a quick means of escape if we encounter anything dangerous. However, Dusty Skies and Godfrey will be going up into the sky to take some long-distance photos so we can get a better understanding of our surrounding area," I answered.
"Is there any possibility that we will encounter something that wants to hurt us?" Citrine asked. While the mare was building up some backbone after about a year of training, she's still prone to being a bit fearful when a situation gets rough.
"There's always a possibility, hence why we're going in armed with the latest rifle models and personal shielding. But look at it this way, you're more prepared for your first foray into another world than I was," I replied, causing Dusty to look at me with some curiosity.
"Just how prepared were you when you went on your first mission?"
"I wasn't. No weapons, no defenses, no training. I just went through and got lucky enough to not get killed," I nonchalantly replied just as another scientist came into the room, carrying a crate with her magic.
"Your gear is ready, madam," the scientist replied before setting the crate down. Nodding my thanks, I started to suit up while Godfrey was finally provided some gloves for his claws.
"Remember one thing troops: none of us is ever going to be truly ready for everything that could happen. So if you think something’s off, or even if you are just confused, do not be afraid to report to me or anyone else. We need to stay aware of everything around us at all times, and we can't drop our guard for even one moment. Caution is our friend today, so if you think you're being paranoid about something, you're probably just right about it. Anyways, if anyone wants to back out now, speak up." Getting no responses, I continued, "Very well, it's time to see if all your training will pay off or not today. Let's get moving."
"That was... disorientating," Driftwing said as he held his head in his hooves after going through the gate.
"I would call you a weakling, except Golden and Cirtine are feeling the same effects," I dryly replied as I scanned our surroundings. So far, I have only spotted rolling hills covered with green grass that was a little over half a foot tall, but I wasn't going to take any chances since the native wildlife could be invisible or crawling on their bellies for all we know. It appeared to be daytime, considering that everything is brighter than what was presented in the photos.
"Ummm... madam... I think we may have a problem," Dusty said, drawing my attention to her.
"What is it?"
"It's awful bright... but I don't see a sun, only moons..." Dusty answered, drawing the attention of everyone.
"Moons?" Godfrey asked, looking up into the sky along with everyone else.
"Stop sightseeing people! We have to keep on our guard!" I shouted, forcing everyone to return to standard procedures, which were to view everything with suspicion. I shot a glance up at the sky, seeing that Dusty was right since I only saw a rather large blue moon with a smaller red moon beside it. "It's bright cause of the amount of light reflecting off the moons. Remember, this isn't Equus. We don't know what kind of day cycle this world has, besides how seasons work on this world. But that isn't our concern right now, so focus on the mission on hoof. Starlight, start setting up the equipment the scientists sent us. Dusty, Godfrey, into the sky now. Golden, you stay with Starlight so you can keep an eye out while she's working. Driftwing, Citrine, you're with me. We're going to explore the desired area as a group, so stick close and no wandering off cause you found something shiny. The sooner we get the mission done, the better."
Giving me a nod since I find salutes ridiculous, Dusty and Godfrey shot off into the sky as Starlight started to unpack the crate of gear that we brought through along with us. Citrine came over to my right side, while Driftwing took to my left. Sadly, he couldn't hover since the scientists haven't came up with something that could properly protect changeling wings while allowing them to fly, so Driftwing had to use a unicorn suit instead.
"So... this isn't the first time you went onto a world that had moons as a major source of light?" Driftwing asked in a hushed voice, knowing that we had to keep quiet as to not attract any potential threats to our position.
"A few times. One is bound to come across weird things if they live the life I have," I answered while taking a few plant samples as we moved along with my magic, placing them in special saddlebags that we were all carrying that had an airtight seal on them.
"Are we bound to do things like this again in the future?" Cirtine meekly asked as she gathered a soil sample from a particularly odd looking patch of ground.
"Most likely. If this world suits our purposes to serve as the front line for any possible interdimensional war, then any other potential world could serve as a colony for Equus in the future. It would be good to have all of Equus's sapient species to populate several worlds, so that if something happens to Equus, the species can live on still."
"You think something may happen to Equus?" Cirtine asked with a bit of fear apparent on her face.
"Eh, it's a possibility, but don't ask me for the odds. It's just better to be safe than sorry," I simply replied. "Now stop with the yapping and focus on the job. I would like all of us to survive this mission."
"You know, for our first mission, it wasn't that bad," Dusty said while we endured as we returned from that world before entering a decontamination room. We spent about eight hours exploring the area and making observations, but strangely didn't come across any wildlife, nor anything else that wasn't grass.
"Yeah yeah, you lot just got lucky," I replied as I eyed the automated devices that surrounded us as we entered the room. "What is all this stuff for?"
"It's for you and your team to be checked for any harmful toxins, parasites, bacteria or potential viruses. Haven't you been through decontamination before?" Light Pulse asked from behind a window.
"Never have been, but to be honest, I rarely saw my employers face to face. I guess they didn't care if something came along with me that could be dangerous, mostly cause it would just affect the lower classes," I answered as we all were being scanned.
"Sweet Celestia, the more I learn about your past and the society you belong to, the more grim things sound to me. Is there anypony that is benevolent from where you came from?" Light asked while taking on a slightly disturbed expression.
"Well, there is a species that call themselves the Deviations. They tend to be friendly and have a preference to help other species, though they are only a small faction in the scheme of things. So they could only do so much, while the rest were either apathetic or just downright cruel," I replied while we stepped into an area to be sprayed down.
"That's... good to hear, though that is a strange name to hear. Is that a translation or is that their direct name?"
"A translation, no one knows their species' true name."
"Hmm... peculiar. Do you think they use that name to showcase that they are unlike the other factions?"
"Can't say for certain, I even heard a rumor that it was in relation to how their species came to be. Though they are certainly a weird species to encounter," I idly replied as we were being dried off by heated air before we walked into an area that is closed off by the rest of the room by a plastic wall of sorts.
"They are?"
"Yeah, I actually saw one once, all covered in either a kind of powered armor or cybernetics. Never saw their organic forms, if they actually possess one. They just look like large, bipedal metal lizards that glow from some parts. Though a former acquaintance of mine said they met one that was large and a bit hostile, and had fire coming out it's back for some reason."
"Former acquaintance? What happened to them?"
"They died," I dryly answered, causing Light to blink in shock before averting his gaze. "Eh, don't worry about it. Like I said, the person was just an acquaintance."
"Well, have you observed anything of significance during your mission?"
"Well, it appears that the world doesn't get any direct sunlight," I answered as I set aside the saddlebags in a marked area. "Somehow, a moon or something is blocking the sun, however there are two other moons that reflect enough light to sustain some life, at least." I elaborated after seeing the expression of confusion on Light's face.
"How did you know that something might be blocking that world's sun?"
"Simple, we were there long enough for nightfall to have occurred, and saw in the middle of the night sky a circle of darkness that moved across the sky. I don't know how a system like that works, but I'm thinking that the odds of that world being used regardless of potential hostile wildlife has increased," I explained while I took off my suit.
"What makes you say that?"
"A world where the moons are the primary source of light? I'm pretty sure that Princess Luna will be ecstatic upon hearing that news, so it's obvious that she's going to insist on us using that world in the end," I replied, causing a couple of my recruits to roll their eyes at me for that comment. Though I really hope that we do get to use that world, the two or three moons that world has would be excellent for placement of orbital defense structures, if we can pull it off.