//------------------------------// // 15 - The Station // Story: Harmony Among The Stars // by tom117z //------------------------------// Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Personal Log, September 30th, 3382 AD. We are on final approach to the system containing the abandoned sharin space station, and the species the station’s former inhabitants were observing. I must admit, the scholar inside me is squealing like a filly right now! A species in early development of their own civilisation! The possibilities for their future, and the progress they have already made… I cannot wait to see for myself! Then again, the Princess in me is keeping the scholar in check. At the end of the day, however much I would like it to be, we are not here to view the locals. We’re barely sputtering onwards as our last few crystals are ready to give up the ghost at any moment. This station hopefully… no, NEEDS to have some crystals aboard. Xal says we’re looking for any containers marked as ‘Dilithium Storage’, or anywhere else they would be found… I’m sure Xal will know where we can find them if there are any to be found. If it doesn’t have any and is just a dead weight hanging around in orbit of the planet, then we’re sunk, simply put. At that point we would be forced to continue on at sub-light speeds towards home, but with our enemy, those rogue gaecha, likely not far behind us the crew may not be so keen on that idea. I have already heard whispers… Most believe we will find what we need at the station, that I will lead them through. They sometimes place too much faith in me, I feel. The curse of being a pseudo ‘goddess’, I suppose. But some others are not so optimistic. To some, the idea of a perfectly habitable planet is seeming quite enticing right now. Should we fail to find what we need, some may choose to stay behind. And I don’t know if I’d be willing to stop them. If too many were to leave the ship would struggle to function, and there is also the current inhabitants we really should not be interfering with… But can I ask them to make such a trip with no FTL? While we are still be hunted? Celestia… that station better have what we need… ES Harmony The field keeping the ES Harmony at FTL would fluctuate wildly at random intervals, shaking the ship in a way akin to a low-yield earthquake would shake somepony’s family home. Each time it occurred the crew would fear it would be the last, and that the ship would finally lost its faster-than-light capabilities. But, somehow, thus far the remaining few crystals had held in there as if clinging on to life for the sake of those living aboard the vessel they were a part of. Engineering was being manned by all available engineers, many having obtained little sleep the past two days as they worked to keep the field stable, trying every trick in the book and a few new ones to prolong the FTL for as long as possible. Desperation was on-set. But it also filled them with determination. They were not going to let the crystal finally give out without putting up a fight first. However, their fighting seemed to have paid off. “We’re approaching the station,” Nimble Star reported to the Princess. “Dropping from FTL in five… four… three… two… one!” The ship jolted lightly as they came to a halt, a planet easily becoming visible on the viewscreen. It was Class M, bright green and blues were pleasantly rolled out beneath the swirling clouds high up in the sky. The planet had two moons, and none of them showed any signs of mass population centres. There were no city lights showing on the side of the planet currently at night, not a single shred of industry could be spotted anywhere. This planet was still shiny and new, along with the single sapient species on the surface they still had a long future ahead of them. Princess Twilight has never seen a planet from above like she was seeing this one with her own eyes, so fresh and without the cities easily seen from Equus’ orbit. But the moon… It had been a long time since she had seen a moon like that too, not since her early days before space travel and starships. Twilight couldn’t prevent a small smile forming at the sight. “Life signs?” “Various types of fauna and flora, but I think I see the species Xal told us about,” Iynx stated. “About an overall population of little over a million, spread throughout various villages across a continent or two. They’re barely out of the Stone Age, probably only just discovering bronze for tools.” “Imagine it,” Twilight muttered in awe. “When we were this young, the planet still orbited the sun naturally, and the moon around the planet. Long before the three tribes, long before Celestia and Luna, their mother Faust or even beings like Discord. Not even the ancient temples discovered by Daring Do would have been created. The beginning of a new story in our wide universe.” “All due respect, your highness,” Iynx interrupted. “But… the station?” Princess Twilight chuckled. “You're right, forgive an old mare’s fascination. Is the station on scanners?” “It is,” she confirmed. “Though… I’m not getting any power reading from it. As far as I can tell, it’s dead. Hanging in orbit with the power of momentum and gravity alone.” “That hardly means there aren’t any stabilisation crystals aboard!” Nimble protested. “Besides, they weren’t exactly going to leave the lights on when they left, were they? I’m sure all we have to do is find the right switch and find the cargo bay,” “We won’t know until we go over there,” Twilight stated. “You all stay here, but have Xal meet me in the teleportation room. We will go over and find out if there is anything to be found or not.” But first, there was something else she had to do. “Engineering?” Twilight called out into the intercom on the captain’s chair she was standing beside. “We are about to head over to the station, how is the situation down there?” “Bad,” Silver Wrench responded. “If we try to jump again, there is a good chance the crystals will give out then and there. Even if we did get to FTL, we’re going to have hours at most before we run out of luck.” “Don’t worry, we’ll get those crystals,” Twilight assured. Xal stepped into the teleportation room, where a device akin to a transporter his own kind used was located. It appeared to be powered by some kind of crystal containing a ‘teleportation spell’ donated by the very alicorn waiting for him inside, rather than using the various complicated systems transporters used aside from some systems to boost the range and allow for targeted coordinates. It also, according to his research, was more instantaneous than the traditional transporters he was used to. The spell also made materialising in a wall from being inherently fatal; rather than your atoms becoming one with it you would replace the mass already there. Bad if it’s deep in a wall with no air, but simply embarrassing if you were half in and half out. He really hoped the operator knew what they were doing. Either way, Princess Twilight was already putting the final touches on her suit as he went to collect his own, which had already been brought to the room. “We’ll be placed directly in the middle of engineering,” Twilight explained as Xal readied himself. “First thing we need to do is find out if the reactors still work, and if so turn the station online.” “Should be simple if there is anything in them,” Xal responded. “I can lead us to the command centre from there where we can get the cargo roster and see if there is anything left.” Xal finished putting on his suit, which was designed for an earth pony but was able to fit him nicely. “I’m ready to go when you are.” Twilight nodded, turning to the operator. “Chief, prepare to teleport us.” “Aye ma’am,” the Chief responded. The door to the teleporter slid opened, Xal and Twilight placed on their helmets as they took their places around the crystal. Their HUDs activated and oxygen filled up the suit. Once all was set and ready, Twilight nodded towards the operator and they began imputing the various control. The crystal in the centre flared up with Twilight’s own lavender magic as its mana reached out towards the two within the chamber. After a moment, a lavender flash consumed them both, And they were immediately plunged into complete darkness. “Xal, can you hear me?” Twilight called out. “I can, Princess,” he responded. “My suit is holding up well, though the lack of light or gravity is disorientating.” “Activate lights and magnetic hooves,” the Princess ordered. Their helmet light activated, which Twilight added to by casting a spell creating several small lavender lights which she spread throughout the room. Both of them were pulled to the ground, able to stand properly at last. The room they were in was large and industrial, pipes and large devices were spread about intermingling with the station’s generators. “This is the place,” Xal stated, moving towards an inert console. He read the writing which Twilight still didn’t understand without a spell, making a mental note to learn the language when they got back to the ship as Xal had learnt theirs. “This isn’t what we need,” he commented, moving towards another console at the other end of the room. “Ah, this is it. From here we should be able to turn on power, if anything remains in the reactors at least.” Xal adjusted a few dials as Twilight watched on. Once he was satisfied everything was how it should be, he pressed against a giant lever on one side of the console and moved it forwards. The moment he did, the screen on the console lit up and touchscreen control systems activated as the main computer booted up. The room remained dark for a few moments as the duo examined their surroundings, until a large bang heralded the reactors activated fully and all the lights suddenly snapping on in an instant. The sound also indicated the atmospheric systems were coming online. “So, there is something left in these reactors after all,” Twilight noted. “How are the oxygen generators going?” “Unfortunately,” Xal began as he looked at the readout of all the systems coming online. “Oxygen levels don’t seem to be rising that much, it’s mainly carbon dioxide being pumped. They must be damaged somewhat.” “We had better keep out helmets on then,” the Princess said. “What about other systems?” “We have enough power to last us a few hours, but that is all,” Xal explained. “We had better work quickly.” “Princess?” Iynx’s voice came in over the communications systems in Xal and Twilight’s helmets. “The whole station just lit up, was that you?” “It was,” Twilight responded. “No need to worry.” “Just asking, because the station scanned us.” Twilight frowned. “Scanned the Harmony?” “Automated systems,” Xal stated. “As long as you don’t prove a threat, the automated defences should leave you alone.” “Comforting,” Iynx said with no effort to hide the sarcasm. “We’ll keep you posted if things change.” “Roger that, Commander,” Twilight concluded. “Come on Xal, we need to move.” The two turned off their magnetic hooves as the station’s gravity systems were now somewhat online, and move on from engineering into the corridors beyond. Neither could deny it was quite eerie how quiet everything was, aside from the occasional hum of machinery in the engineering section. Even that died away as they moved towards the command centre. Xal kept checking displays every now and then to make sure they were heading the right way, and under his guidance they both eventually ended up at the command centre. As the doors opened up they were met with a large room with a large window at the other end giving a breathtakingly stunning view of the planet. Stations lined the space in neat rows, all facing the massive window. “The window allows this room to double as an observation deck,” Xal said as they entered. “Though if we were to input the right commands you would see it also acts as a large display and view screen too.” “Seems structurally unsound to have such a large window here,” Twilight observed. “It’s heavily reinforced,” Xal explained. “That, and this is the most heavily shielded section with extra generators allowing this rooms shielding to keep up even if the rest of the station’s fail. It is how most research stations are designed, but not military ones.” “Well I suppose research stations aren’t meant to see combat,” Twilight conceded. “And you cannot argue with that view.” “Indeed,” Xal said with a nod as he moved to one console in particular. After a minute of browsing, he gave a huff of frustration. “Damn it,” he muttered. “There are no crystals in the cargo bays!” “What?!” Twilight went to double check the display while casting a translation spell, seeing he was correct. “This can’t be! Are there any other places the crystals could be located?” Xal shook his head regretfully. “No.” Twilight bit her lip as she closed her eyes in thought. For all of this only to come back empty hooved, this was bad… “Well, are there at least other materials we can use?” she asked, looking back towards the console. “How about…” Xal noticed the Princess trail off. “What is it?” “According to this, the last of the crystals were offloaded only a few weeks ago…” “Wait, what?” Xal urgently went to check the logs, seeing that was indeed the case. As he examined the log further, and he was able to identify the vessel that had offloaded them. “A Sharin Scout Ship has been here recently, named the ‘Interceptor’. What’s more is that the starship apparently never left the system, but is currently landed on the planet below.” “So more of you species are here?” Twilight asked. “Well, that’s great isn’t it? We can enlist their help, come to an agreement.” “Maybe…” Xal sounded uneasy. “Xal? What’s wrong?” “It doesn’t make sense… Why come back here?” he asked rhetorically. “And what’s more, why land on the surface? There are a great many rules forbidding landing on the surface of a primitive world with early stage civilisations emerging. It’s illogical for any in our navy to do so, and then go on to stay for several weeks at that!” All of a sudden, Princess Twilight felt herself sharing his concerns. “That is strange…” she said cautiously. “What do you make of it?” “I can’t say at this time,” he stated. “However, they do have the crystals we desire. And if they are up to no good, we cannot let them continue. I cannot let them continue…” “You have a duty,” Twilight noted. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this. For now, let’s return to the Harmony. I suspect we’ll need a larger away team for this...”