The Imperial Ace

by Navanastra


Chapter 3: Contact

/Chapter 3: Contact/

“Riggs, go take your siblings and hide in the basement, quickly!”

“But…but what’s happening? What is all the noise and rumbling out there? Is there maybe a…”

“There is no time Riggs, listen to me. Take your brother and sister and hide in the basement.

“But, why?”

“THERE IS NO TIME, DO AS I SAY NOW!!”

“Oh...ok i will...i think they at the bag playing and...”


“THE RAIDERS ARE HERE, TAKE COVER!!!”


“Wha…what? What is happeni..." And the dream collapsed with the boom of an explosion.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Riggs eyes suddenly shot open as he awoke from his dream.

He sighed, getting his breathing under control as he looked around. He quickly realized that he was still sitting within his cockpit, probably having dozed off at some point during his flight as he was still gliding around this unknown world scanning the area for any signs of civilization.



Glancing over to his left to review the results he was disappointed to know that during his little nap none of his instruments had managed to pick up anything of interest, although was still somewhat pleased to know that his scanners were still doing their secondary purpose by mapping out the area around him which would certainly prove useful later.

“A planet this fertile and lush must certainly be populated or hold some sort of civilized life forms one way or another. Or maybe they are too primitive for my instruments to pick them up.” Riggs thought to himself.

Taking an opportunity to look over to his navigation computer, Riggs began to type in some commands and numbers on its keyboard to once again try to pinpoint his exact location.

Checking over every possible sector within the galaxy that he was facing at after he made the hyperjump eventually ended up fruitless as his computer could not pinpoint his actual location on the galaxy via maps or stored data.

As far as he know, he might no longer be in his galaxy entirely, or hopefully just somewhere deep within the “unknown regions”, the outer edges of the known galaxy that were mostly unexplored even at this modern age.

Tossing his stifling helmet behind his seat and carefully rubbing his still sleepy eyes with his right hand, Riggs began to switch off his autopilot in order to regain manual control over his spacecraft once again.

He quickly decided with a tired groan that an landing was necessary, not just because he was tired and needed to set up camp so that he can finally get some proper rest, but also because to both expects and repair the damage on his ship and to finally find out what when went wrong regarding his hyperdrive engine.

At this point he was basically sick and find anything or even anyone at this point as he quickly decided that a landing was necessary, both to expect and assess the damage on his ship but to also lay down somewhere and rest rest some more after everything that has transpired so far.

The only problem at his plan was that the area below him was completely unsuitable for a craft of his size to land anyway. Mountains, cliffs, canyons and thick forests without any clearings were the most dominant sights that greeted him.

But finding a good flat open clearing where he could land safely and set up camp can’t be as difficult as trying to find a source of civilization on this damn planet…right?

Pushing these trivial thoughts out of his mind and grabbing the controls while slowly increasing the power output of his engines, Riggs could feel the familiar sensation of going Mach 1 in an atmospheric environment as clouds and the landmass below him began moving past him at incredible speeds as he commanded his scanners to find a large enough surface area for him to land on.

“Hmmm…what do we have here?” Riggs thought to himself in curiosity and intrigue as his scanners quickly picked up something while he was about to re-enter a new command.

A sudden red triangle displayed itself on the top corner of his scanner display indicated as an “unknown target” moving along a heavily overgrown area, at least 50 km from his position.

“Hmmm…interesting, a nice change of pace to be honest. At least something rather than nothing. According to these numbers it’s a huge target definitely something worth investigating. Finding a good landing zone can wait for now. Plus it will give me something else to do than just sit here and fly around.” Riggs mentally noted as he turned his Defender at the blip’s general direction, increasing the power output even more, causing him to go beyond Mach 1 as the mighty roar of his twin ion engines began to dominate the skies around him and speeding him towards his designated target.


………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Somewhere down on the planet)

“For the love of…ugh…*huff…how…how can this monstrosity still keep up with me…in all this thick undergrowth? For buck sake…my…my chest…my everything…” Spitfire panted out with heavy breaths as she galloped through the underbrush, the dragon still close on her tail.

Spitfire’s lungs felt as if they were made of lead as she pounded through the thick underbrush, jumping and dodging her way through the dense forest despite her heavy injuries. Jumping over oversized roots, ducking under bushes and branches, and avoiding incoming tree trunks while the monster behind her was just stomping and knocking everything down that dared to stay in his way.

The earth underneath it shook and cracked under its massive form as trees were turned into nothing but splinters, the beast’s enraged roars causing even the very air around it to vibrate under its might.

Her body was overwhelming her with pain as she continued to try her best to lose this beast.

The adrenaline she had accumulated since the beginning of her run was long gone at this point, forcing her to once again feel every single injury within her body and making her to grit her teeth from the intense pain and sore muscles.

“I…I can’t keep this up…I need to…hide somewhere. I can…already feel my injuries…getting…getting worse…please, dear Celestia…I need to find…a hiding spot.” Spitfire thought to herself as the pain in her chest was getting worse and worse with every passing minute.

She really needed a place to hide and fast as her body was almost ready to just give up on herself as both her injuries and fatigue were quickly eating away at her. Only her sheer willpower and determination to live were still keeping her going at this point, but neither were an unlimited resource..

“The…there…a…a ditch…I can hide in the ditch and behind these large bushes…yes…finally something good…I…I just hope that the thing doesn’t see me jump in there or my flank is cooked for good.” Spitfire thought as she quickly ran towards the ditch, the leafy canopy concealing her movements from the dragon’s prying eyes..

Sliding under a bush and dropping down into the earthly hole she immediately laid herself flat onto the ground keeping her injuries in mind and holding her breath as she waited for the beast to stomp past her.

The beating of her own heart was the only sound in the cramped space, her struggling breaths making no sound as she focused on the one noise that could spell her doom. Her hoof shaking as the thunderous stomps of the beast were growing closer and closer towards her.

She desperately wanted to run again, desperately wanted to get as far away from that thing as possible. But common sense and sheer will was keeping her natural instincts in check as she knew that if she jumped from her hiding hole, the monster would kill her.

Never in her entire life was she more afraid than she was now, even more so when one of the trees near her began to creak in distress as the dragon’s bulk forced its way past it, knocking the tree over in a shower of leaves. Only the low ditch and the bush above her keeping her hidden and safe from the prying eyes of the massive beast and she pressed her hoof against her mouth to keep from crying out in terror.

All she could do was wait and pray as the beast was literally above her, it’s monstrous muzzle swinging this way and that as it searched for its prey.

“If only I could still fly...I could have flown away and been back home in no time. Oh dear Celestia my wings, are they ever going to heal? Am I ever going to fly again? Am I even going to live long enough to see the next day? This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have used the storm as a training exercise. The powers of nature are too powerful to be messed with like that. Now look where it got me.” Spitfire thought with regret as she tried to stay quiet.

The dragon outside her impromptu hiding place suddenly stopped just mere meters away from her. Spitfire could hear the beast sniffing the air to try and pick up her sent after its prey suddenly disappeared from its eyesight.

Inwardly, Spitfire was in panic mode as she quickly realized that her back fur and mangled wings were still covered in her dried up blood, a scent easily be picked up by the dragon’s sensitive nose and threatening to give her position away.



“Please don’t smell me please don’t smell me please don’t smell me please don’t smell me….” Spitfire constantly repeated frantically, her heart racing a million miles per hour as she could only wait.

Spitfire quietly let out a sigh of utter relief as the monster slowly stomped its way away from her. She was about to get her herself back up again and take her first step when all of the sudden a massive crack sound began to echo its way all around the forest.

Spitfire literally force at the spot as she realized what that sound was, and looking down to one of her hoof quickly confirmed her dreaded suspicion. Her hoof had stepped onto a large brittle branch.

“Oh you dumb stupid piece of…” Spitfire began to swear until a sudden roar pulled her back to the severity of reality.

“Oh for buck sake…not again.” She squeaked out, turning her head and meeting the dragon’s smouldering gaze.

The burning anger within the dragon's eyes showed that it had quite enough of all this shenanigans and she watched as the the beast’s chest slowly swelled to an abnormal size.

Without even thinking about it Spitfire jumped out of the ditch as fast as her badly beaten body could and not a second too soon as the entirety of the ditch and its surroundings were quickly bathed in an inferno of scorching heat. The rock melting flames scorched and burned everything in its path, melting the very earth and rock underneath it.

Spitfire was stunned by the path of burning destruction that was laid before her, a large trail of the forest was practically gone, including her hiding spot she just stood in a few seconds ago. The idea that her very own body could have been part of that if she hadn’t moved as quickly as she did sent unpleasant shivers down her spine. She could only marvel and shake in both shock and fear at the destructive power that dragons held.

A sudden rush of air filled the new clearing, the flames dimming as the oxygen they craved was sucked greedily into the dragon’s maw. The scales on its chest sparked in a reddish glow, telling Spitfire everything she needed to know.

Moaning in pain and desperation, she turned and galloped for her life,barely managing to avoid another torrent of flames aimed directly at her, burning off parts of her mane and tail and completely incinerating the vegetation in front of her.

With a clear and unhindered path forward, Spitfire gunned it. Without the risk of tripping or slowing down for anything, she had a good chance of survival, as long as she could gain the distance. She realized this at the moment the dragon did, and it quickly began to stomp its way after her, letting out more geysers of flames from its massive jaws and burning more of the forest around it.

Spitfire could feel her chest burning in pain and the rest of her body was following suit as she was pushing herself further than she ever had in order to hopefully stay alive. She could already taste the bittersweet salty tang that was her own blood as continued to push her aching muscles, coughing out some of it as the air filled with smoke around her making it hard for her to breathe and to see. The pain in her barrel was becoming unbearable as the effect of the smoke inhalation on her injury caused her to almost choke on the air itself. The air was quickly becoming toxic with fumes, as the yellow mare sprinted through the curtains of smoke.

Thankfully, her surroundings clearing up somewhat as she suddenly emerged into a wide open rocky field. The forest she had just vacated had been replaced with a colossal wall of smoke and fire, the gigantic blaze covering the air around it in its soot and choking gray smoke.

She could still hear the roars of the dragon within the inferno as she continued to gain distance from the forest’s edge.

“Yes…finally…I finally managed to lose him…thank Celestia…now if I could just keep going a little bit longer…I…I can find…a nice…quiet spot to stay…low…until…” Spitfire began as she continued to run but stopped as she skidded to a halt to prevent herself from falling off a steep cliff after she cleared a small up climb.

“What…a…a cliff...? Why is there a...cliff here? This is really bad…I need to…ahhhhh….buuuuck…what the…..ahhhhhh.” Spitfire groaned as sudden jolt of pain in her chest caused her to collapse to the ground clutching it with her fore legs as she grit her teeth.

A sudden cough caused her to spill out even more blood from her mouth, staining the grassy mound she laid on in the reddish liquid as she cried out in immense pain.

Her injuries were finally catching up with her, the exertion and smoke inhalation taking its toll. She had pushed her body too far this time and she could definitely feel it now.

“I…I’m…I’m still going to die, aren’t I?” She thought to herself as she could watch the dragon in the distance slowly emerging from the forest.

At this point, there was no more running for her. She was broken and weak, her body injured and in serious pain, her muscles soreand burning from the fatigue, her spirit broken as she realized that there was no more escape for her this time.

There was nothing she could do now, she was done. Tears of regret began to flow down her cheeks as she could only watch in as the dragon moved closer and closer, snarling and growling all the way as it prepared itself to deliver the final blow. The massive scales on its chest were glowing red as the heat inside the beast built up once more, ready to deliver another inferno towards its victim.

“Somepony…anypony…please HEEEEEEEEELP!!!!” Spitfire shouted, yelling as loud as her abused lungs would allow, hoping that somepony, anypony, might come and help..

She closed her eyes, bracing herself and simply accepted her fate as she took her few last breaths before the cold embrace of death would take her.

But death never came. Spitfire opened her eyes, and gasped in shock. There was a second dragon, speeding towards the clearing at incredible speeds. The dragon’s attention had been captured by the new arrival and it bellowed its displeasure to the winds, unwilling to let the new arrival steal its hard-earned kill.

With a massive *WHUMP* the dragon’s wings flung open and it began to rise into the air, ready to challenge the new dragon. The winds created by each beat sent clouds of dust and ashes flying across the meadow and Spitfire had to shield her eyes from a blast of miscellaneous objects.

The new dragon was slowing as it reached the clearing, apparently interested in her pursuer. It’s three wings barely moved as it passed the clearing before curving back around towards them. The noise it made was deafening, Spitfire’s ears folding back futilely to try to protect against the sonic assault as the strange dragon screamed overhead with the howl of a banshee. As it returned to the clearing, the terrible howl reducing drastically in volume, Spitfire noticed something else. Each wing was tipped with a pair of vicious talons which seemed to merge seamlessly into the main body of the wing. It certainly was a strange dragon.

As it turned, she noticed something even stranger. The dragon was emitting a huge amount of heat, a reddish glow was emanating from the rear of its bulbous head, expelling a constant stream of light so hot that the air behind it rippled.

“What…what in Luna’s name…” Spitfire whispered. This was no dragon, this was something else. Something alien. It’s hide shone in the few rays of sunlight that managed to filter through the curtain of smoke, it's banshee wail drowning out the growl of the dragon. She flinched back in surprise as the dragon unleashed a huge torrent of fire from its maw with a terrible roar, aimed directly at the foreign object above it.

To her complete surprise the object actually dodged the gust of flames that the dragon shot at it, the air suddenly beginning to feel very, static, very electrifying. The very hair on Spitfires back suddenly stood, making her shiver.

Spitfire’s mane was standing from her head, the grass crackling in an otherworldly storm. The dragon either didn’t notice or didn’t care as it rose ponderously from the ground, blasting fire in all directions. The strange object dodged them all, it’s single great eye glimmering as the flames reflected off its glassy surface.

There was no warning, no build of flame or magical energy. One moment the object was simply hanging there, impossibly maneuvering around the gust of flame. The next moment, six bolts of green lightning leaped from the object’s wings with a terrible screech. The world went white, and Spitfire knew no more.