Cold Scales

by Konatra

First of Many

Spines' transition from metal back to flesh was instant but clearly not at the same time as she found herself seated and surrounded by her units and her father. They circled her with their blank stares aside from Solaris' worried gaze.

Slowly Spines processed the information in her head and almost instantly started panicking "The Void ship is going to take off!" She tried to get up in haste but came to the crushing remembrance that she was still without her limbs. Calmly, her father put his hoof on her shoulder.

"But you said you already destroyed the command deck, and that was hours ago." The androids around them also seem to chatter in confirmation that the threat was long over.

'Hours?' She had no memory of something like that, in fact, the last thing she recalled wa- "...Can you remind me what happened after the first earthquake, I think I hit my head pretty hard back there..." She needed to know if what she saw back there was true.

Solaris looked at her quizzically but nodded. "When I woke up an android placed your unconscious body with me and took off towards the Void ship, for some time I focused all the healing magic I could on your injuries until..." He seemed unnerved recalling this part. "You suddenly sprang to life, but you didn't seem to hear my voice no matter how much I called...and then you grew these black limbs and took off faster than any land creature I've ever seen." Spines' took this in while nodding, so it was true. "Not long after you had returned covered in this acid-like blood, you told your soldiers to hunt and destroy any Void while taking control of the enemy control center, but your voice was distant...completely numb. After that, you just collapsed when your limbs disappeared and here we are now."

She had to think about this while not freaking out. Silently she took a breath and remembered how her soldiers were on the verge of euthanizing her back when Ponyville was under siege, under the idea her body may have been 'lost'. The important thing was she was still here and aware of her existence. "How goes the subjugation of the enemy Void ship?" For now, she had to assess the current issues before her.

One of her battle commanders sprang lit up in an interesting show of jubilation for an android. "We crush them like the bugs they are, their petty numbers are no match for our superior technology. We'll have the ship wiped clean by this planet's cycle end." Spines took note of its vivid body expression and more fluid vocabulary, another advanced android like Bek perhaps? She had to keep a list of the 'unique' soldiers in command at some point.

"See to it the ship is stripped of its vital components so it will never be of harm to us again Commander..." Her HUD gave her the name "Dynamo."

Said Commander nodded. "Pending your approval, the tech bots would love to strip that hunk of rubble into something of value. Meaning our engineers are ready to repair our hull and the mass fusion core plus various build stations for the soon-to-be expansion project on the planet." It seemed excited at the prospect of 'bigger ventures'.

"I'll want a full document on what is pending for R&D first but you may begin stripping that nightmare for hull repair." Dynamo saluted and marched off. She waved off the others with various orders to upkeep the ship, except for the lead in biological hazard control. A unit named 'TO-77' she already named 'Tox'. She brought up an unusual level of severity in her question. "The body of the Void Leader, or what remains of it, I need to know what's being done to purge its presence before its blood gestates some new horror. She knew what a lot of void blood could conjure, but what of a corpse?

"Not to worry General for the Void has been swiftly vaporized and remains scrubbed. It was now time for Spines to relax, the nightmare was finally over, the Spawn, Void Ship, and Commander all dealt with no casualties. She hoped Tendrix was proud. "One thing to note General, the corpse of the Void did not the specifications of a High Commander."

Like ice, she froze. "Excuse me?" She felt a new ball in her chest form up. 'It can't be...'

"DNA signatures match to that of a mere 5th Rank Sergent wearing the battered armor of a Commando" It said so nonchalantly but to Spines she felt as if the world was caving in on itself...

How could it be possible that something with a mid-rank such as Sergent, be able to cause such destruction? If what Tox said is true then a single ship of these things could take over her world overnight. She remembered the things Tendrix said, wars, ships, and soldiers that destroy worlds. It made her realize just how big everything was now and just how powerless she seemed compared to it. "By Solaris..." She needed Tendrix with her more than ever now, she needed guidance or at least some sense of direction on what to do next.

Then she mentally slapped herself, she needed to stop looking to others to do her job for her. "I'm the only one who has the means to even try to fight them off." Then she wondered if there was any point. The Void seemed to not exist anymore, she found it odd that no survey ship has come back to rescue their massive ship, for that matter why didn't Tendrix ever get rescued by his army if he was such a big shot hero? Perhaps both armies killed each other off eons ago.

Still, she had to fortify her power across the land like she always intended to, form an alliance with her Father's land and become a powerful and advanced nation...and to do that she had to stop feeling sorry for herself and get back to work. If by chance the Void were to ever return she needed to be ready.
First thing first, she needed a new suit.

Comments

[RanBro]

yos i love it