A Man and an Army

by Saffron

Mutiny Part One

------------------------------------ Execution Chamber Balcony ------------------------------------

Richard was surprised, happily so, that Midnight was able to easily end the life of another. Why? Because he saw potential in her and this confirmed it. He could see the hunger in her for more. “Wonderful!” He clapped. Her eyes locked onto his. Even though her face was concealed he could see her smile.

“You monster!” Torches crying mother lunged at him.

She didn’t make it two steps before she was pinned by Kirsten. Albert and Crystal took defensive stances in case others were so inclined to pull something similar.

“How could you be so heartless.” The mare lost her will to resist and went limp under Kirsten, sobbing.

“Get off of her!” Her husband angrily shouted tears still coming down his face. He was ready to attack.

“Kirsten, at ease.” Richard ordered.

“Yes, sir!” She backed off of the mare.

The stallion ran over to her. “Violet, are you okay?” He caressed her in his hooves, his anger replaced with concern.

“No.” The mare whispered. “Our son is dead.”

“Captain, I would like to have a word in private.” Celestia calmly spoke.

“Of course.” Richard could see past her calm exterior, she was pissed and disgusted. The reason why was obvious. He should have controlled his emotions better. It was inappropriate, but he could care less for the headless bastard. He followed Celestia out from the balcony into the corridor. “Yes.”

“What was that?” Celestia cooly asked. She was good at hiding her true feelings. He could barely read her.

“A mistake, on my part.” Richard sighed.

“A mistake?” Celestia replied sarcastically. “What you did was reprehensible.” Her anger was starting to show. “A mother and father just lost their son! And you had the nerve to applaud his death in their presence!” Celestia sighed and regained her composure. “I do not know much about you or your kind. Your customs or history, but I cannot see any civilized or advanced race, like you claim to be, able to find that behaviour acceptable.” Richard hadn’t felt guilt for his actions, but she was making him feel uncomfortable.

“I regret my actions, what I did was unwarranted, but he got what he deserved.” Richard replied. “That fool risked the lives of his fellow guard and got several killed. If you hadn’t stepped in when you did… there would have been no survivors.”

Celestia couldn’t argue. Torch could have easily had all the guards with him killed. She may not have agreed with the punishment, but it was fitting. “Hopefully your actions don’t have consequences.”

------------------------------------ The Commander ------------------------------------

Hours seemed to go by quickly. So much was happening in a short period of time. Of course under the current circumstances it was to be expected. The main goal at the moment was fortifying our position. This was being done in a few ways. The first was the installation of several planetary defense systems. Most of which were clustered way to close together. As long as we maintain our position over the Equestrian continent the cannons would be able to provide support, however limited that may be. Second was actual fortification. Placing nine large planetary shield generators across Equestria. There were only enough to shield about half of the country… so if things did go south? The diverse range of sentient species would plummet. It was enough to guarantee a fall back position at least. Finally, the four defense satellites in orbit. They are practically our last line of defense if we were to retreat behind the shield. The planetary defense cannons might be able to do some damage to the frigates, but the battle cruiser would ignore the cannons. Just like shooting a .22 at a tank.

Black Jack was also helping. Jane was instructing her to make use of her network. It was a gamble that was paying off. Stockpiling supplies, spying on foregin nations, and creating various strong points in Equestria should they be needed. It was slow going but some progress was being made. Most of this was prepping for local issues rather than being useful for our current priority, but it still needed to be done. She didn’t need to know that though.

There was also a complaint made against the captain of special operations, from Celestia no less! Richard fucked up and I know it is gonna bite me in the ass later, but there is no point in crying over spilt milk. That issue could wait.

Also Ace was coordinating troops and equipment on the planet. It was a lot of work but it was being done efficiently. Thank god for officers. The biggest project underway was setting up a fabrication plant, once it was finished we could start producing drones, weapons, vehicles… really anything if we had the raw resources to convert, but it would take weeks to finish. Most construction was taking place in the Everfree forest away from prying eyes.

“Commander we have a situation.” Ace called over my comms breaking my train of thought. He sounded worried. “Our scouts are detecting weapons fire inside the Alperion.”

“Did you hail them?” That was a bad sign. Everything was going to smoothly of course shit was going to hit the fan.

“They are receiving our hails but are not… hold on.” Ace went silent for several seconds. “You need to get up here now.”

God dammit. “I’m on my way.” I quickly got out of the chair I was sitting in and began rushing through the corridors to the bridge.

“Sir, batteries one through seven are ready to fire.” The weapons officer replied just as I entered the bridge.

“Shit.” What I saw on the screen before me confirmed my suspicions. One of the frigates was high tailing away from the battle cruiser while the other was laying as much fire into it as possible. The battle cruiser was currently not engaging the frigate. Its shields were absorbing the abuse from the much smaller frigate.

“Commander, we think there has been a mutiny aboard the Alperion.” Ace spoke.

“Sir, we are receiving an emergency message from the retreating frigate, priority one.” The comms officer relayed.

“Patch it through.” I ordered.

“Longbow this is Hydra One, are you there?! We need emergency support!” The voice on the other side was frantic.

“Longbow copies, what is your situation?” Ace replied.

“There is a power struggle happening aboard the Alperion! We do not know who is leading it. We need assistance, allied forces onboard are outnumbered!” Static then overtook the comms.

“Hydra one? Do you copy?” Ace tried getting through.

“Sir, comms are being jammed.” The comms officer replied.

“Fuck.” Ace paused for a second to think. “Lock onto the Alperion’s main engine. Prepare batteries one through three to fire.”

“Sir the Alperion’s weapons are powering up!” The navigation officer alerted.

“Are we in range?” I asked.

“Yes commander.” He replied. “But they are not targeting us.”

It only took a second before we saw who the unlucky ones were that were in their sights. A bright flash over took the view screen. A bright beam tore through the dark ether vaporizing anything unfortunate to get in its path, mainly the frigate that was giving covering fire for its comrade. The once whole ship was now cut in half. Various internal and external explosions continued further tearing apart the remains.

“Sir, they are charging their main ion cannon for another shot!” The weapons officer announced. “Batteries one through three locked onto the target and ready to fire!”

“Fire.” Ace ordered coldly.

The ship vibrated ever so subtly as the massive volley of rockets soared through the dark expanse at mind boggling speeds. The objects quickly got out of sight as they soared for their target.

“Thirty seconds to impact.” The weapons officer relayed. “Enemy countermeasures are being deployed.”

Thousands of drones began emerging from the battle cruiser like a swarm of bees ready to shield the ship.

“General, the missiles are being locked on by the Alperion’s cannons.” The weapons officer continued. “Ten seconds to impact. Cannons are now firing.”

I went over to the bridge's main window to watch the fireworks show. In what felt like no time flashes erupted in the distant darkness lighting up the expanse before me. The explosions were massive. I looked over at the main viewer but only a bright white screen was shown.

“Getting confirmation…” The weapons officer paused. “One missile impacted the main engine. The shielding negated all damage.”

“Ace, send everything I want that ship turned to dust. Forget recovery, we cannot risk this planet.” I said, malice dripped from every word.

“What?” Ace asked. “If we do that we won't have any…”

“Are you questioning my orders?” I turned to face him, my eyes showed murderous intent.

“No… Commander.” He hid his fear well but he knew I was in no mood to be questioned. “Prepare all batteries for a continuous volley.” Ace hesitated for a moment. “Unload everything we have.”

I knew his concern, this order would practically make us sitting ducks. However, this was the only chance we had to take down the Alperion. We didn’t have time.

“Sir, the main ion cannon is targeting our main…” The weapons officer didn’t have time to finish.

A blinding light erupted from the distance. In a mere moment we were hit. The impact rocked the ship. The force caused me to fly into a wall hitting my head hard.

My ears were ringing from the explosion. I unsteadily made it to my feet before falling back on the ground. I barely made out what the was being yelled over the alarms.

“... DOWN! WE HAVE MULTIPLE HAUL BREACHES IN SECTORS… through D9.”

“MULTIPLE CASUALTIES… ASSISTANCE IS.”

“ALL BATTERIES… PREPARE…”

My consciousness was fading. I couldn’t make out who was saying what it was all coming in pieces. I can’t pass out now. I threw up the contents of my stomach. I felt a warm liquid on my face, I put my hand in it and felt a warm sticky substance. I pulled it away and saw blood. That's when I felt an intense shaking beneath me. I looked out the now cracked main window seeing that a fresh volley of missiles were being fired. That's when I felt something on my back. I turned to see Mimic. He was saying something but I couldn’t hear him over the warning klaxons and shouting. I tried to make it to my feet again, this time feeling an intense pain in my right leg. I looked down to see my lower leg was bent backwards and blood was seeping through my clothes getting on my armor.

The alarms were shut off that was when I was able to start making things out.

“We have confirmed two hundred eighty six deaths and more injured are still being reported!”

“Damage control teams are spread to thin, focus on critical areas.”

“Rescue teams cannot get…”

There was too much happening around me. My nausea was coming back with a vengeance.

“Commander, we need to get you medical attention.” Mimics voice came into focus. “Can you stand up?”

“My leg is broken.” I answered him. “I think the bone is sticking out, I can’t walk.” The pain was obvious in my voice.

“Commander!” Ace yelled out now noticing me on the floor. “Shit, we need medics on the bridge! This is a priority!”

I was beginning to feel light headed. I looked down to see blood pooling around me. “Commander what happened?” An all too familiar voice popped into my head. “Your vitals… sir you are losing too much blood.” Jane sounded worried.

“I didn’t think you cared.” I laughed weakly.

“This isn’t funny, you need to conserve your strength.” She paused. “Your body isn’t healing itself fast enough. The damage is too extensive. You need immediate medical attention.”

I felt an extreme tiredness begin overtaking me. My vision began blurring. “Jane.” I said weakly. “I am getting pretty tired.”

“Don’t fall asleep!” Odd, she sounded emotional. “Medics are almost here. Just stay with me.”

“I… don’t think I can.” I felt my body getting cold. “It is so cold.”

“You can’t leave me! Just stay awake.” She sounded… frantic… scared.

I smiled. “You are one of my best friends, I hope you know that.” My thoughts were becoming cloudy.

“What?” She sounded surprised.

“You were… always there… for me.” The last thing I saw before everything went dark was two blurred people coming toward me.

Author's Note:

As I said in the last chapter things are starting to heat up now. Hopefully everything turns out okay for the Commander... hopefully. Anyway, stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of this chapter in Mutiny Part Two. Any feedback on this chapter would be nice and if you are interested in getting a character or OC in here you still can! Just click here for more details.

Comments

[Saffron]

10484096
That is his end goal yes, but anything actually relating to that is quite a bit away and in all honesty I might not include it in this story. Some elements might come into play later and be referenced about the council and the Commanders plans but I do want a sequel to this story, which would be the conquest of the Galaxy and/or overthrowing the Council. This story focuses mainly on the Commanders actions in Equestria (and maybe the local solar system) not the galaxy at large.

[Nemesis Prime]

fun fact I have spent over 5 hours looking for the story because I forgot to add it to my favorites

[Nemesis Prime]

 Keep going this was amazing  I love the idea   and please continue