//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Cleaning up. // Story: Project Sleipnir // by Aprion //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Clean up. The main view screen at the front of the command center showed a panning view of the battlefield. The frozen landscape was cracked in many places, spider-webbing outwards from the points of impact. The giant patch of scorched earth from the dragon's fire breath was still boiling and bubbling in places. The stone running molten. The grass around it burned, but fortunately the remaining snow kept it from running out of control and sparking a valley wide wildfire. The camera turned to the fallen form of Sol Invictus. The machine was completely inert. The lightning barrage and the resulting electromagnetic overload had completely fried the machine's more delicate systems. Recovery would take a while. Twilight Bit her lip as she thought about that before speaking up. “Stand down from combat alert status and drop the shield. I want rescue teams out there immediately. Recovery of the pilots is top priority. Medical crews are to stand ready. Once the pilots have been evacuated I want recovery teams topside to tow the Sleipnir back to base.” A chorus of affirmatives went up around her as the command crew began to relay her orders. Moments later a virtual swarm of vehicles began to emerge from exit points around the city. Ambulances in the lead followed by heavy construction equipment like cranes and bulldozers to clear debris and make way for the tow crew to drag the machine back to base. A number of Pegasi rescue teams flew above the vehicles. Making a beeline for Sol Invictus cockpit. One of the side screens lit up to show Pinkie's face. The earth pony was clearly worried. “Are they okay Twilight? I can't reach them on the radio.” “Their equipment is down Pinkie, we'll know soon.” Twilight replied as calmly as she could manage. She tapped a button and the angle of the camera widened to include Minuette and Vinyl as well. “I want you girls to take your Sleipnir back to the launch bay. Use gate five so you won't get in the way of the rescue teams.” They gave a tired aye and Twilight couldn't help but notice how haggard they all looked. They kept shooting worried glances towards their fallen comrades. Pegasi were now crawling all over the machine's head. Manually prying open the emergency access hatch. She cleared her throat to get their attention and gave them a tired little smile. “And girls...You did good.” ********* Pain, so much pain. Applejack couldn't recall the last time she had hurt this much. The cockpit was dark, save for what light filtered in through the armored windows. Half of them were buried in the ground. “Is everypony okay?” She managed to groan out. “I think I sprained my wing.” Dash moaned beside her. “If you can complain about it you're obviously okay.” Orchid said from behind them. Applejack chuckled lightly before doubling over in pain. “Ugh, don't make me laugh, it hurts to laugh.” There were noises coming through the hull and suddenly there was a faint tapping on the canopy window. A green coated Pegasus wearing a rescue vest was tapping against the glass, trying to get their attention. A minute or two later one of the emergency hatches popped open. ****** Back at the command center one of the screens lit up, showing the face of nurse Redheart. “Please report.” Said Twilight. “All pilots are alive commander Sparkle. Miss Dash has a sprained wing and some cuts and bruises. Orchid is much the same, mostly cuts and bruises. Applejack suffered two broken ribs when part of her armature gave out and slammed into her. All of them are being loaded onto the medical transport as we speak for treatment back at base.” “Thank you Redheart, keep up the good work.” “Commander.” Redheart saluted before the transmission cut off. Twilight rubbed a hoof across her temple. Now that the crisis was over she felt the first signs of the onset of fatigue. “If anypony needs me I will be in my ready room.” Twilight said before she left the control center. The ready room was a small office just off to the left of the command centers control room. It held a desk, Twilight's personal library and a small cot in case she needed a quick power-nap. She entered the door with a groan. She felt bone tired but could not afford to rest just yet. There was too much to organize and coordinate as well as an after action report to write. She dreaded the small mountain of paperwork that involved. A cup of coffee held in a telekinetic field suddenly entered her vision, and when she looked over her shoulder she saw Cadance standing in the doorway with her horn lit. “You looked like you needed it.” Cadance said with a small smile. “Thank you.” Twilight said gratefully as she took the cup from Cadance and sipped from it appreciatively. “I swear without this stuff I would have keeled over long ago.” “Just make sure to catch up on sleep later.” Cadance admonished with a smile. “Noted.” Twilight said with a smile of her own before looking back to the screen. “So how did we do?” Cadance asked. Twilight let out a sigh, “As well as could be expected for a first fight I suppose. Though we did suffer more equipment damage than I would have liked, injuries are minimal and fatalities zero. I call that a victory in my book.” “I hope the council of nobles will see things the same way.” Twilight grimaced as if she had just smelled something foul. “Those pencil pushers can gripe and moan about our operational budget all they want. I won't spare on expenses when lives are at stake. We have sacrificed so much already, and they want to bicker about bits? To the dragons with them all.” Cadance placed a comforting hoof on Twilight's withers. “I know how you feel, but annoyance or not we need them to keep things running. You can't do it all on your own.” “She could have.” Twilight said in a quiet voice as her thoughts drifted to her mentor. “And she would also be the first pony to tell you not to.” Cadance said gently. “I miss her Cadance. She was my rock and anchor. Whenever things got tough I knew she would just be a note away with guidance or answers. And now she can't give me either. I'm doing the best I can but I'm so, so afraid. One mistake, one wrong order and ponies will die.” “You seemed to have everything well in hoof back there.” “I can't show weakness in front of the others.” Twilight said whilst shaking her head, “If I break down in front of everypony they will panic. And that would be disastrous!” “Breathe Twilight, breathe.” Cadance said calmly. Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I'm sorry, Cadance, it's just that... I never asked for any of this. To become a princess. To lead ponies, let alone lead them in a war against the single most destructive force Equestria has ever faced. I know you and Luna and even Sunset are by my side and carry your share of the burden, but sometimes.... sometimes I still feel like I'm carrying the world on my back.” She let out a shuddering sigh. “I wish Celestia was here.” Cadance stepped up to Twilight and wrapped her in a hug. “So do I twilight. So do I.” ********** Applejack was glaring at Pinkie Pie with a pained expression. Currently they were all down in the medical station. “Ah told you no hugs pinkie, ah got two broken ribs here.” she said, pointing at her taped up barrel. “Sorry, sorry,” Pinkie said sheepishly, “I'm just so glad you girls are all okay. We were super duper worried after the fight was over because the radio didn't work. And I was all, oh no what if they are hurt or worse, and Minuette was all, it's gonna be fine, but I couldn't stop feeling worried, and I don't like feeling worried because it makes my tummy all bleh, and gurgly and butterfly filled and..” “Okay okay ah get it Pinkie, but were fine. A little dinged up but nothin' some good old time and care won't cure.” “Good thing we wore those pilot suits, Redheart told me our injuries would have been way worse without them.” Orchid said. “Ah will admit, ah was skeptical about them fancy duds at first, but if a few busted ribs is all I gotta endure thanks to them I'm all for em.” “Plus they are very snug.” Pinkie said cheerfully. Applejack chose to ignore Pinkie for the moment. “Has anypony seen Dash?” “She went topside as soon as the doctors finished with her. Though she seemed to be sulking.” Minuette chimed in. “Probably feeling bummed out that she can't fly for a few days with that wing sprain ah reckon.” “Oh no, I can't let Dashie sulk all day. I must cheer her up with some cake!” And with that statement the pink pony disappeared out the door, leaving behind a trio of bemusedly smiling mares. ********** The noise inside hangar bay four was deafening. The hum of magical crystals and the whine of electrical engines was everywhere as they strained to haul the enormous weight of the wrecked Sol Invictus into the dry dock with a combination of conventional cranes and magical levitation. Sunset Shimmer observed the work crews with narrow eyes from below her hardhat. She was currently standing on one of the high catwalks so she could oversee the entirety of the hangar. A clipboard and pen floated in her telekinetic grip. She was not a happy pony at the moment. As the chief engineer it would be up to her and the work crews to get the massive mecha back in working order. A task she did not relish at the moment. She already had her hooves full trying to complete Sleipnir number three on time. They were going to need it now more than ever while Sol Invictus was out of commission. “How's it looking up there Silver Spanner?” Sunset shouted to the tangelo colored unicorn with a spanner cutie mark. The mare in question popped her head out of one of the maintenance access hatches to give a reply. “Well the armor plates are salvageable. Most of the drivetrains and actuators are damaged. The right fore leg is a write-off and the electronics are one ginormous cluster-buck after that mother of all lightning storms.” Silver shouted, sounding way too cheerful. She absolutely loved fixing things, so to her this was like hearth's warming came early. Sunset fought the urge to facehoof. “Give me your best estimate. How much dock time are we looking at here?” “Well the mechanical and electronic components alone are going to take two to three weeks at minimum to fully check and replace. And that's before the magi go over the magical parts of the systems. We're looking at a solid month in the docks before she's back in any kind of fighting condition, but I'd reckon closer to six weeks if we want her back in pristine condition. Sunset sucked on her bottom lip. A month was a long time, and six weeks was worse. Who knew when the next dragon might pop up. It could be months, days or five minutes until the next one decided to head north over the mountains. “Get started as soon as she's secured and bolted down, I'm going over to bay one and find out how much longer it's gonna take to complete work on Hurricane Force. Twilight said they would hopefully finish it today. If we can make that deadline we can put her crews to work on fixing up Party Cascade. That way I won't have to divide the crew working here between the two and we can hopefully chip some time off that estimate.” “On it!” The unicorn replied with a cheer and ducked back inside the machine to continue her work. Sunset set off at a brisk trot. It was going to be a long day.