Chapter 1 - Starry night
Chapter 1 - Starry night
It was a warm and peaceful summer evening in Sweet Apple Acres. The sky was completely cloudless, allowing a perfect view of the constellations. Millions, if not more, of shining stars filled the heart with wonder and the mind with questions.
Three little fillies, a yellow earth pony, a white unicorn, and an orange pegasus, were happily laying on their backs on the soft grass close to each other, enjoying the wonderful view of the night sky.
Tomorrow would be the start of the new school year, so the fillies had made sure to enjoy their last hours of freedom from homework and lessons, playing and having fun in each possible way they could imagine.
Now, tired and happy, the Cutie Mark Crusaders watched the stars, hundreds of thoughts forming in their young minds.
“It's really beautiful, don't you think?” Sweetie Belle commented without leaving her gaze of the sky.
“Mhm,” Apple Bloom agreed.
The three friends remained silent for a few minutes before Scootaloo spoke up. “Hey, girls?”
“What's up, Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked the pegasus.
“You ever wonder what's up there?"
"Like what?"
“Maybe somepony up there is wondering what it's like here."
Apple Bloom thought about it."Ah guess,” she finally said. “What ya think 'bout, Sweetie?”
“It makes sense to me. I mean look,” she said while waving her hand at the stars. “There are so many. There must be somepony at least on one of them.”
The fillies remained silent, reflecting about the implications.
“Do ya think we'll ever meet 'hem?"
"I hope so. Don't you?"
“Ah don' know. You Scoots?”
“Who knows? The space is huge. Maybe one day,” the pegasus said. “Maybe one day,” she muttered under her breath, while a shooting star raced through the sky.
On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons
The universe. The unlimited expanse of space that fascinates all sentient beings ever since they began to look at the stars. Filled with wonders and secrets that not even the mind of a poet could even conjure. Galaxies full of supernovas, asteroid belts, and other celestial bodies are interspersed with vast stretches of pure vacuum, forming a unique spectacle.
Of the many wonders that possibly exist, the planet Asgard is one of the most amazing. At first glance is appears to be a rocky planet with conditions ideal for life and a moon orbiting around it like so many others in the universe, but a closer look would reveal something incredible about its true nature. More unique than rare, Asgard is a planet whose sun orbits around it, as theorized by the geocentric theory. The origins of this peculiar and clearly unnatural astronomical phenomena are dated back to a remote era, but the secrets behind are lost forever, along with its creators.
The universe. A place full of beauty. A place full of mysteries. A place full of dangers.
The tissue of reality was brutally ripped when the CCS-class Battlecruiser Last Sunset reemerged from slipspace transition, lacking the usual fluidity typical of the Covenant ships. Instead of slipping from a small and clean hole in the fabric of space-time, the mighty battleship looked like it had been thrown by a menacing chasm, similar in shape and feature to a black hole. The return to reality wasn't the only thing to look wrong. The ship itself was in terrible conditions. There were several breaches in the hull from which atmosphere leaked, half of the lights were turned off or flickered irregularly, and the trail of plasma sticking out from the belly of the ship made it seem what was once a powerful space-predator to a wounded shark.
If the external condition of the ship would appear critical, what was happening in the inside looked more like a living hell.
The Sangheili(1) Shipmaster Vraal Rutaen sat on his command chair on the bridge of the battlecruiser, an expression of pure rage painted on his face. His golden armor was reflecting the crimson light of the alarms, giving him a spectral and terrifying appearance accentuated by his exceptional height. With his two and a half meters, Vraal would be able to look directly in the eyes of the deceased Arbiter Ripa Moramee... a thing that he'd once done; quite a disturbing experience considering that then the Hand of the Prophets was an arrogant, mad, bloodthirsty and heartless bastard. But this is another story...
“Cursed Jiralhanae(2)!” he roared with hate, slamming his fist on the chair's arm and leaving a dent with his formidable strength. 'The fault of all this is of those beasts,' he thought, wondering how a simple exploratory mission in a Forerunner installation was become one of the worst missions in his whole career.
The Battlecruiser was patrolling a system near a Sangheili colony on the edge of the Joint Occupation Zone in search of pirate activity, when they had received a short distress signal coming from a UNSC vessel. Apparently, the human research ship had stumbled upon a Forerunner installation orbiting around a gas giant in a previously unexplored system. Preliminary studies had shown that the artifact worked as a slipspace portal, just like the one on Earth that lead to the Ark, but before the science team could perform further investigation, two Brute ships had appeared in the system and attacked the human ship.
Realizing the importance of the discovery, the Shipmaster had ordered to jump at the coordinates of the distress signal, but unfortunately it was too late. The UNSC freighter had been no match against two CRS-class cruisers, but the Sangheili had been all too happy to retaliate, obliterating the smaller warships in a storm of plasma and energy projectors. Satisfied to have avenged their allies, the Shipmaster was about to send a science team on the Forerunner installation to collect data, but suddenly a small fleet had just appeared on the outskirt of the system. They were not common Jiralhanae raiders, but something far worse.
Banished.
Vraal knew what to do. He was outnumbered and sure has hell he would have not allowed such technology to fall in the hands of Atriox and his followers, so he had ordered to destroy the installation using antimatter bombs.
Unfortunately, the explosive charges were detonated too soon, exactly when the cruiser had begun the slipspace transition. The massive energy emission generated by the destruction of the Forerunner artifact had interfered with their navigation systems, sending the ship to a completely unknown location.
But one problem at a time. What pressed Vraal more now was the condition of his ship.
“Damage report!” the Shipmaster roared to be heard over the sound of alarms by his crew. The officers on the bridge struggled to keep their balance while the ship was shook by the explosions, but they managed to maintain their positions in front of their stations.
“Shield disabled, primary weapon systems non-operating.”
“Structural damages in the bow section. Breaches reported in different sections of the hull.”
“Automatic navigation systems non-operational. Manual controls react late.”
“Hangar Four completely depressurized. Fires reported all along the ship.”
“The crew reports several victims and injured. Medical teams in action.”
A loud explosion, stronger than any other so far, reverberate along the ship, making it tremble to the point that it seemed it was about to break in half.
“By the Rings, what was that?” the Shipmaster asked to his second in command.
“Sir, that was one of the methane refilling stations near the Unggoy(3) compartment,” the Ultra Haka Guwakai responded with his usual unperturbed tone. Haka was an expert blademaster able to remain calm and concentrated even in the most dangerous situations thanks to his analytical mind. The Ultra wore an ornate white armor with a crested helmet and a crimson cloak, making him look like a knight of the medieval Sanghelios.
Vraal closed his eyes and hung his head in a brief display of respect for the members of his crew that had just died, before the voice of his second in command brought him back to the brutal reality. “Shipmaster, according to the sensors, the temperature in the area subjected to the explosion is increasing. If the fire reaches the main methane deposit, we risk losing the ship.”
“Seal the section and depressurized it. Without atmosphere, the fire will die,” the Shipmaster ordered with a heavy heart.
“But sir, some of our brothers are still trapped there!” the officer to the systems, Sesa Rakal, objected.
Yes, Vraal was aware of that. But the lives of the rest of the crew were at stake and even though he knew he would regret it, he was also aware that there were no alternatives.
"You heard the Shipmaster. Do as he said," Haka said in a low menacing tone to Sesa, looking at him with his glacial eyes. Another thing that distinguished the Ultra was his sense of duty and loyalty, even for the most difficult orders. Discussing the orders of the Shipmaster with him was comparable to a death sentence.
The young officer gulped and activated a series of controls, locking the section invaded by the fire while opening the doors of the hyperbaric chambers, allowing the air to disperse in the space.
“The fire is out, sir,” Sesa said barely louder than a whisper.
“It was the right thing brother,” Haka said, placing a hand on the shoulder of the other Sangheili. The officer looked at him, the nodded slowly and returned his full attention on the controls of his station.
“Sir, incoming transmission from the engine room,” Huru K'Teer, the communications officer, said.
“Excellent timing,” mumbled the Shipmaster. “I hope they have good news. On the main screen,” he ordered.
Soon the image of the engine room appeared on the screen with a Sangheili in the foreground. The Sangheili, a female as indicated by her short stature and her physique less powerful if compared to her male counterparts, wore purple spec ops armor with electric blue decors on her helmet and shoulders, that identified her as a member of the Seekers of Truth, the new order of Zealots whose purpose was the scientific research and the maintenance of the technology.
“Tarya, report,” the Shipmaster asked.
“Things are going pretty bad, sir. We've lost a lot of plasma before being able to bypass the main line, the temperature of the main reactor is critical and if it wasn't for the guts of the Huragok(4) the FTL drive would have caused a slipspace rupture in the middle of the ship,” she said looking toward something outside the visual field of the camera.
Just then a floating Huragok appeared in the background, engaged to help a pair of technicians to re-align a plasma coil. There were a series of sparks and electrics shocks. The Huragok gave a shrill whistle backing suddenly, followed by the two Sangheili just in time before the coil exploded violently.
“Zero, are you alright?” Tarya yelled with concern to the creature.
The Huragok, Zero Losses, gave her a reassuring whistle while he helped one of the two technicians to his feet.
A new alarm filled the air. The female Sangheili swore under her breath. “We just needed this,” she hissed.
“What's happening?!” the Shipmaster asked.
“The emergency protocols have been activated and now the repulsor engines have entered into forced shutdown.”
“Sir, without the engines we can no longer maneuver the ship,” the fist pilot, Voro Matkrol, noticed.
“I am aware of this obviousness, Voro. Bring the sensors online again. I want know what we have on our route.”
“Aye aye, sir,” the pilot said. He fumbled with the controls until he was rewarded by a loud beep. “Sensors operating again,” he said, shortly before forming a scowl under his integral helmet. “Sir, we have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” the Shipmaster asked, already knowing that he was not going to like the answer.
“Our current vector is directing us towards the surface of a moon.”
Vraal mentally wondered if the universe hated him. “ETA?”
“Less then ten minutes before we reach the limits of the gravitational field. Exceed that limit, in our current conditions, we'll not have a way to escape the gravitational force.”
The Shipmaster reflected for a few seconds before addressing Tarya again. “How long till the repulsor engines are fully operative again?”
She turned toward the Huragok. “Zero?” The floating creature moved his tentacles and emitted a series of whistles. Tarya shook her head. “He said it would take twenty minutes.”
“We don't have so much time!”
“I know that, but he said that otherwise the engines will explode!”
The Shipmaster began to reflect intensively, trying to come up with a plan to save his ship and his crew. With the current state of the FTL drive they couldn't even perform an emergency slipspace jump, the attempt to would simply result in them disappearing in the non-space, as it happened to the Long Night of Solace during the siege of Reach.
'I have to save the ship, even if this means I have to go out and push- wait.' His eyes twinkled when the idea came. "Voro, would a sudden change of route with a push strong enough be sufficient to avoid being caught by the gravity field and instead take advantage of the slingshot effect?”
The pilot tilted his head, then answered with caution. “Theoretically, yes, if the angle is correct.”
“Can you perform such a maneuver?”
“I'll do my best, Sir.”
“Excellent. Tarya, I need you to ask the Huragok if we can generate a force pulse using the left thrusters without overloading the reactor.”
It took a few seconds for the Sangheili female to understand the plan. “I see. The pulse would be enough to change the route, but short enough to not damage the engines,” she said with appreciation.
“Precisely.”
Tarya caught the attention of the Huragok and explained the plan to him. Zero tilted his head to the side, but eventually shook it up and down in agreement.
“We'll do our best, sir.”
“Good luck, Tarya.”
She simply nodded and cut the link.
“And please, be careful. Niece,” he whispered inaudibly.
Tarya and Zero hurried toward the lower section of the engine room, knowing that each second was crucial. The Sangheili jumped from a catwalk, landing gracefully on the floor five meters lower to save time. Her companion merely floated in mid air after her.
<You know, you might have used the stairs,> the annoyed Huragok remarked in his native language.
“Pff, you're just jealous of my physical abilities,” Tarya replied while continuing to run. “And besides, I cannot simply float in the air like you.”
Zero couldn't see her face because she was in front of him and was wearing a helmet, but knowing Tarya, she was certainly smirking.
'Sangheili. Always ready to demonstrate their skills,' he thought with a mix of amusement and disbelief while shaking his head.
It took them a couple of minutes to reach their destination, a narrow maintenance duct barely wide enough to allow a Sangheili to pass. At the end there was a control panel that allowed the user to bypass the safety protocols of the engine. With some luck they would be able to set up a thrust pulse without blowing up the ship.
“All right, here's the plan. I'll remain here to control the reactor values while you enter the instructions in the terminal in the duct,” she instructed the Huragok.
At the same moment, the tunnel was filled by voltaic bolts and cascades of sparks. The explosions and the violent vibrations must have damaged the protection of the circuits of the generator and the presence of ionized gas in the air was allowing the high voltage to generate a small scale electric storm in the conduct.
“... On second thought, I will go in the tunnel while you remain to control the values.”
<What?! You're not talking seriously,> Zero exclaimed, clearly shocked. <It's too dangerous, those electric bolts will kill you. I should be the one to do it.>
“Speaks the one whose body is a sack of helium and hydrogen.”
<Tarya->
“It’s just thirty meters. My energy shields will protect me during the process and if I'll have difficulties, you can assist me by radio.”
The Huragok emitted a sound similar to a bleat, expressing his disapproval. <It's a lie, and you know that. Just one of those shocks is enough to discharge the shields and fry you inside the armor.>
“I know my friend. But we both know that there's no other choice. If I don't take the risk, the whole ship is doomed,” she said while stepping toward the tunnel.
<Wait!> Zero said with urgency. When Tarya turned, he handed her a small device using one of his tentacles. <You will need it.>
She smiled when she recognized it. It was a shields enhancer, also known as Invincibility equipment, a device usually used by Jiralhanae Chieftains to resist even the most devastating attack, at least for a small amount of time. How the Huragok was in possession of it was a complete mystery.
Nodding her thanks toward Zero, she took a deep breath, then activated the device and ran into the duct.
She ran at the maximum speed her legs allowed, ignoring the lethal electric charges that hit her body. The voltaic bolts danced across the surfaces of her armor in a visual display that was beautiful as it was deadly, spreading to her skin resulting in a tingly feeling. Tarya was aware if it wasn't for Zero and his device, her shields would have been drained already and she would be dead.
Halfway, a panel as large as her chest exploded from the wall on her right and hit her at the shoulder with enough force to push her against the opposite wall. She ignored the pain and resumed to run, aware that it was only a matter of time before the Invincibility device became exhausted, leaving her exposed to the high tension.
It took her a few seconds to reach the control panel, but it seemed much longer to her. Time seemed to slow down as she moved her hands on the controls, barely conscious of her surroundings.
The sounds of the alarms, the vibrations of the hull, the smell of ozone, these things were barely recorded by her brain. All of her world revolved around the terminal. She mustn't make mistakes. She couldn't make mistakes.
The holo-signals flashed and she heard a loud beep. It worked!
“Zero, alert the bridge that it worked, NOW!” Tarya shouted while she ran toward the exit.
The Huragok whistled through the intercom, giving a green light to Voro.
The pilot wasn't waiting for nothing else. As soon as Voro received the authorization from the engine room, he activated the propulsors. It was the moment of truth. If the pulse was too low, the angle would be insufficient and the ship wouldn't be able to escape from the gravitational field of the moon; if it was too strong, not only would they not be able to use the slingshot effect but the already strained reactor would explode.
It was a clash of titans, technology against nature, engines against gravity. The Cruiser trembled, trying to escape the gravitational field of the moon, the vibrations were strong enough to nullify the effect of the inertial dampers and give trouble to the gravitational plates.
Tarya was almost out of the maintenance duct when the floor tilted twenty degrees, sending the young zealot to clash against the wall with violence. She struggled to maintain her balance and not stumble, when suddenly a massive electric shock hit her. The over-shield device managed to absorb only a fraction of the electricity before exhausting its effect. She screamed in pain when the electricity crossed her body after effortlessly draining the shield of the armor.
The world became a mass of blurry spots while she lost consciousness. The last things she was able to see before hitting the floor were what looked like a pair of long tentacles head towards her. Then, only blackness.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
997 users online
164,138 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons
Halo Reach references...Halo Reach references everywhere.
Ultra is best Elite armor.
I like where this story is going. Keep up the good work! I hope to see the next chapter pretty soon.
You had me at Halo References. :)
Interesting. Usually it's humans meeting ponies, not covenant. But I can see the Elites realizing they're stuck on Equestria and making the best of their lot, plus if they get to defend ponies from Brutes I'll cheer.
And you have a female Elite character... and she's special ops... AWESOME! Please don't kill her off!
3897504 Mine was a subtle reference to this scene from Halo 2
th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/328/4/0/this_is_not_your_grave____by_halo_yokoshima-d5m0tf3.png
The first halo crossover where our lead is a covenant. Its gonna be a good read.
Tentacles reaching towards her?
...
I've seen enough Hentai to know where this is going...
Reader's Note:
No shit, Sherlock
5084426
38.media.tumblr.com/41b34a74f90884907864f2acc507a10c/tumblr_mfk10q5dQS1r0t5gco2_250.gif
THE JOKE WAS USED ENOUGH!
5778710
Not all Halo fans are as obsessed as we are. Many of them don't know the species names, just the game slang. It's not as obvious as it seems, so don't harp on it.
In other news, this story is already excellent, and it reads a lot like the canon Halo novels. There are a few awkwardly written bits, but with some minor revision, this could go from awesome to spectacular.
I see what you did with that opining, that what the best commercial reference
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Halo_7d1cd3_2730074.jpg
i.imgur.com/Z6oKxjk.jpg
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/81/04/a8810423bbac9a78e673f1cc7f5a29fd.jpg
i.imgur.com/4xELcCM.jpg
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Halo_7d1cd3_2730074.jpg
i.imgur.com/Z6oKxjk.jpg
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/81/04/a8810423bbac9a78e673f1cc7f5a29fd.jpg
i.imgur.com/4xELcCM.jpg
5801739 that was a reference to halo 3, wasn't it? DAMNIT HOW COULD I MISS IT? IM LIKE THE BIGGEST HALO FAN EVER!
6398546 of course he can't swim in that thing, it's made out of titanium! He can jump, but not that high meaning that if he were to try to swim in it he would have great difficulty doing so. The melee thing can be explained as you get pushed down and thousands of pounds of metal land on top of you, crushing you
Engineer? Did I miss out on something from halo 3? Got no idea what those are unless they're the bug like things from halo 2 you always saw flying around in groups
8026103
There first appearance in game would be halo 3 odst, though they did appear much earlier in books
8026103
The bug things are the drones, and the drones are mean sons o’ bitches
8930105