Homeworld: Equestria - The Silent Hunters

by hiigaran

15: Radiation (Part 1)

Amarok positioned itself in low orbit, cutting its engines and subjecting its occupants once again to weightlessness. In its briefing room, the clicks and zips of fasteners filled the compartment. As the Infiltrators performed their final equipment checks, they deposited their bags into one of several small equipment crates beside the pressure doors. Being the first to finish, Obsidian simply inspected the contents of the other open crates, a small frown on his face as his eyes jumped between the containers.

Taking a break from organising the contents of her side bags, Shadow noticed the changeling’s expression and floated towards him, securing her mag boots when she got close. “Is something wrong?”

“Not sure.” Obsidian grew silent. He looked at the first crate, labelled ‘Rations’. Nothing out of the ordinary there, even if the crate was almost half his size. The adjacent crate seemed fine, too; camping and survival gear, plus supplementary medical equipment. Then his eyes landed on the third and largest crate, holding LR-48s, 68s, a disassembled 98, plus explosives and two J8s. “Why does it feel like there is more to this mission than what we’re being told?”

“What makes you think that?”

Obsidian fidgeted with the neck seal on his BPS while he thought of a reason. “I don’t know. I mean a week-long supply makes sense for what I expect would be a three-day journey, and the J-eight would help when targets are too close to be marked for orbital strikes, but why is the nine-eight necessary? Or the extra demolitions for that matter. Ten proximity mines? For what?”

Shadow shrugged. “Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.”

“I guess. But if we’re using that logic, we might as well have dropped into the field with something like those armoured assault vehicles with the rotary cannons. Then we wouldn’t need that fourth crate filled with camping gear.”

“I assume we were given all we could get with time being the limiting factor. Remember what I explained to Swift?”

“Still. As much as I think the twins are a pair of feather-brains”—Obsidian turned towards the twins at the far end of the room, both of whom were balancing smoke grenades on the tips of their snouts—“their comments did make me wonder. What’s so significant about this signal nobody aboard Amarok has any clue about?”

“Alright, let’s get a move on,” Eclipse raised his voice as he poked his head into the compartment. “We need you all geared up ASAP. The sooner you leave, the sooner we can finish.” Returning to the seat next to the infiltration tunnel, he immediately went through the insertion procedures.

“I think we’re good to go here,” Obsidian called out, looking to the others for confirmation. Exiting the compartment, he moved up beside Eclipse. “How exactly are six of us going to fit in the aircraft? Thought those were two-seaters.”

“The Forge’s modifications were more than simply replacing what little armour it had with ceramics and a power absorption layer,” Eclipse explained. “All non-essential hardware, including weapons were removed to make room for four extra passengers and your cargo, and the engine was replaced with one compatible with both space and atmospheric flight. Now I won’t lie, the flight will be anything but smooth. From what I’ve been told though, Sparky is an excellent flyer. He will take command of the Forge for the duration of the atmospheric flight.”

“Sparky, huh? Never would have guessed. Right, let’s get this over with then.” As soon as the tunnel activated, and its beam was stable, Obsidian ascended the ramp and went through, emerging in the aircraft at the other end.

The modifications to the Forge were distinct, clearly out of place with the rest of the aircraft. The two original seats were side-by-side, and their flight controls were supplemented with additional inputs and readouts that stood out from the original equipment. Two additional rows of seats were welded behind and progressively outboard in a delta configuration. With the last of the Infiltrators rising up through the floor, Obsidian turned his attention to the back of the cabin, where several wall-anchored straps were attached to secure their crates.

As Swift and Shift secured the cargo, Sparky strapped himself in to the left seat at the front, while Shadow did the same on the right. Obsidian took the left seat in the last row, and Glare seated herself just ahead, leaving the twins to settle in to the remaining seats while Shadow went through her checklists.

“Psst! Hey, Shift,” Swift whispered.

“Yeah?”

“If Sparky’s got flight experience, doesn’t that mean he’s talked at some point? I mean, I don’t think comms are effective when you just grunt, eh? Unless you grunt in horse code.”

“Oh yeah. Always wondered what he sounds like.”

The occupants lurched into their seats as Shadow released the couplings securing the aircraft to Amarok. The lower hull of the destroyer dropped under their field of view as the zebra continued to ascend away from it, revealing a faint planetary ring in the distance.

Swift leaned closer to his brother and continued whispering. “Five bits says he’s got a filly’s voice and that’s why he never talks,” he snickered.

“Amarok, Forge is clear,” Shadow’s voice cut in.

“Copied,” Quasar’s voice returned through a loudspeaker. “We’ve positioned ourselves to provide you with the simplest entry, so you’ll need to perform a retrograde burn until your periapsis matches the planet’s mean radius of five-six-one-two klicks. Your mission area on the other side of the planet is approximately five-zero metres above sea level, so this should be a reasonable approximation when factoring atmospheric drag. Once you’ve entered the atmosphere, adjust velocity as needed and begin your search for a landing site. We’ll keep this channel open for the duration of your mission.”

“Understood, Amarok. Adjusting heading to retrograde,” Shadow replied, yawing the aircraft until it faced the opposite direction, and causing everyone’s harnesses to strain slightly as they experienced a moderate centripetal force. “Initiating de-orbit burn.” Pushing the throttle to full, a brief high-pitched whine came from the engines, before the interior reverberated with the engine’s continuous blast of combustion.

This time, the force of acceleration pinned the occupants to their seats as the aircraft continued to rumble. “I see … inertial dampeners were considered … ‘non-essential’,” Glare commented through gritted teeth.

“I don’t think the original design ever had any,” Shadow shouted over the thundering roar.

By the time the Forge had finished its burn and returned to a prograde heading, Amarok was no longer visible, and had likely travelled past the horizon. Relieved at no longer being subjected to the immense forces of acceleration, many of the occupants loosened their restraints slightly, remaining somewhat in place in the weightless environment.

“Guess we have a few hours to spare,” Swift remarked, unbuckling himself and floating towards the front. “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘S’.”

“Space,” Shift answered immediately, floating up beside him and looking out at the view.

“Yep.”

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘P’.”

“Planet.”

“Yep.”

“I sp—”

“Guys, can you two just … not be yourselves for the duration of this flight?” Glare pleaded.

Rolling their eyes, they both turned towards the unicorn. “You must be single, right?” Swift asked.

Glare blinked, thrown off by the random question. “Umm … yes? Why?”

“Because despite how attractive we might think you are, you’re just sooooo boring!” Shift continued, rolling through the air as he finished.

“I’m … just going to ignore that.”

“Look, all we’re saying is that you might wanna to loosen up a bit. I doubt you’re gonna like staying alone for ever, or worse, hooking up with somepony with a stick up their flan—”

“Knock it off, you two,” Shadow raised her voice. Pulling out a small pack from a nearby stowage, she threw it behind her at the twins. “Go play cards if you’re so bored.”

Catching the deck, Shift looked down at the colourful packaging, then back towards Shadow. “In zero G? How’re we supposed to do that?”

“You’re a creative pair. Figure something out.”

Pulling a few cards out, Shift held them out in front of him and withdrew his hoof. The cards hovered in place and rotated slightly, their motion dampened and eventually halted by air resistance and the surrounding cards they collided with. “Yeah, this could work. Dealer’s gonna have to sit on the deck somehow though. Who’s in? Five card draw?”

Sparky’s ears perked up. Releasing his restraints, he floated towards the twins and sat on the aisle just ahead of the second row with his legs crossed. Even while sitting, his head touched the ceiling enough to keep him from moving about.

“Heh, I figured the stereotype about diamond dogs and gambling was true,” Shift chuckled. “Not sure what we’re betting with though.”

“Flank whoopings, if I see any betting going on back there,” Shadow interjected, not taking her eyes off her instruments.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Shift pulled a face behind the zebra, before turning back to the others. “Oi, Siddy! You wanna—” he cut himself off, sighting the changeling with his eyes closed and mouth slightly agape. “Sleep. Never mind. What about you Glare? You in?”

“Uhh, I’ve never played any card games before.”

Swift leaned towards Shift, shaking his head in dramatic disappointment. “It’s worse than I thought. Righty, get your yellow butt over here. It’s time somepony showed you—”

Shift jammed a hoof into his brother’s mouth. “Yeah, I don’t think so. I’ll show her how it’s really done!”

As the pair started arguing, Glare felt a heavy tap on her shoulder. Looking to the side, she saw Sparky nudging her, before he beckoned her towards him. Undoing her restraints, she settled beside the diamond dog, floating prone, while the twins paused and looked at the two.

“Alright”—Shift shrugged—“I guess she’s picking the mute as her mentor.”

Sparky’s only response was to raise his middle digit at the pegasus.

---

“Obsidian, wake up.” Glare prodded the changeling. “We’re starting to skim the atmosphere.”

Yawning, Obsidian stretched, his body contorting and cracking on occasion as he did so. His team appeared to be strapped in, with Swift and Shift unusually silent after losing multiple times to Glare and Sparky. The two simply sat in their respective seats with their hooves crossed, a subtle pout on their faces.

“Transferring control,” Shadow announced. “All yours, Sparky.”

Looking outside, Obsidian found the blue layer of gas around the planet had risen to their level, with the aircraft aligned on the horizon, rather than the orbital path. Off in the distance, a wall of grey clouds flashed menacingly at regular intervals with arcs of purple and blue. Before any of the three could comment on what dangers the weather system held, the surrounding air started heating the Forge’s ceramic layer, bringing with it increasingly higher levels of turbulence. While the aircraft allowed the atmosphere to reduce its speed, Sparky continued to adjust the pitch and roll of the craft, until it descended to a lower altitude and finally became subsonic.

As more of the clouds came into view, Shift leaned forward. “Faaaaark, that’s gotta be the worst looking weather system I’ve ever seen! Whaddaya think Swift?”

“Think I’m gonna need to tighten my harness, that’s what I think. I’ve never seen a cumulonimbus that big in my life.” The pegasus pulled at his straps, visibly nervous about the countless overlapping clouds, each with their trademark anvil-shaped tops. “If these behave like the CBs back home, you’re looking at some powerful down-bursts and up-drafts. And where there are CBs—”

“—there’s hail. Judging by the size of those clouds, huge chunks of hail,” Shift finished. “Like two kilo lumps. Shadow, I really think we oughta fly around these clouds. Or even risk going under them. Anything but through them.”

“This weather covers the entire continent. We wouldn’t have the fuel to make it anywhere close to our objective if we deviate from the optimum flight-path,” Shadow replied while monitoring the primary flight display. The instruments indicated they were approaching forty thousand metres, with speed stabilising at approximately one hundred and sixty metres per second. “Okay Sparky, we should be safe to jettison the ceramic armour whenever you’re ready.”

As Sparky flipped the plastic guard and hit the switch underneath, multiple minuscule charges embedded within the armour detonated, cracking it enough for the airflow to blow away the crumbling remains and expose the darker power absorption armour underneath. As they continued down and over the edge of storm, the up-drafts made themselves known, pushing the aircraft up with force, before weakening and causing the aircraft to drop. The cycle only intensified as they flew closer and skimmed the tops of the highest clouds.

The Forge’s occupants almost jumped through their harnesses as a bolt of lightning struck with a resounding boom. Pressing her face against the side of the canopy, Glare could barely see where they had been hit. “Uhh, you think that was harmless to us? Isn’t that what this layer of armour is for?”

Visibility soon became non-existent, as the sky turned grey. Sparky relied on his instruments to keep the aircraft pointed in the right direction, while fighting forces that attempted to wring them like a wet towel. Glare appeared nauseous and Obsidian gripped the sides of his seat tightly, while the twins were visibly sweating.

A second bolt struck the starboard wing, and the aircraft veered off-course for a moment. Sparky seemed to be the only one not bothered by the strikes, though even Shadow appeared concerned as a third and fourth struck in rapid succession on other parts of the fuselage. At one point, she and Glare yelped as an apple-sized lump of hail shattered against the canopy with a deep crunch. Small shards of ice slid off as trace amounts of water from the impact quickly froze. Proceeding further into the clouds, the six could hear hailstones striking other parts of the aircraft with increasing frequency.

“Shadow, how are we—buzzing—how are we doing with altitude?” Obsidian asked, fed up with the countless times his head had knocked against the side of the interior each time a particularly violent gust threw the aircraft sideways.

The zebra struggled with the small readout, as the turbulence grew intense enough to wildly jolt the occupants. “We just passed fifteen thousand metres.”

Another strike hit the starboard wing. Craning her neck, Glare could see the rest of the wing. To her horror, the point where it had been struck was glowing white-hot, and the wing bent upwards briefly, before the outer half completely separated, swallowed up by the surrounding clouds, while the Forge banked in towards the damaged side.

“Okay, that’s not a good sign,” Glare’s voice cracked. “Sparky, I don’t suppose you’re still able to land what’s left of this thing?”

As they passed five thousand metres and broke through the cloud base, they finally had their mission area in sight. Sparky still showed no signs of stress as he managed to keep the aircraft stable, despite missing a large portion of a wing. As Sparky began to approach the location of their objective just past the industrial area, another alarm sounded.

“Radar lock?” Glare barely made out a flashing warning on the panel between Shadow and Sparky. “That’s … not what I think it means, is it?”

Confirming her suspicions, a flash of light appeared on the ground ahead of them, and a small object took off, leaving behind a large plume of smoke in its wake. Cutting his engine thrust, Sparky pulled the aircraft into a tight turn, stalling it as he did so, while the incoming missile raced past and circled around. Recovering with only a few thousand metres to spare, he attempted another turn, this time dodging the missile by metres. The remaining intact wing eventually gave way, tearing itself free from the rest of the aircraft as the weakened structure could no longer take any more abuse.

Multiple alarms shrieked at the pilots, as they fell the last thousand metres to the ground. Glare’s screams drowned out the twins’. Obsidian could see the unicorn’s horn working in panic, sparking and fizzing out as she made multiple attempts at a spell. Within seconds, the aircraft tumbled through several tall buildings and impacted a large patch of soil on the other end, sending a cloud of dust and smoke into the air.

Shortly after, the pursuing missile followed, incinerating the immediate surroundings in a fiery explosion.