Star Trek Online: Darkness Rising

by Admiral Wyatt Stone

Chapter IV: A Dangerous Trap - Part I

U.S.S. Equestria

Mid-Warp (1 hour after departure)

The stars zoomed through the sea of space as three starships flew in a 'V' formation towards the vast unknown, ambient silence filling the space around them as they soared to their destination. The bridge, despite being operated by several officers, was as quiet as a theater as the crew and guests locked their eyes on the screen, waiting for the ship to stop at the planet ahead of them. Twilight stared at the screen for a long moment, pondering over Terrak's message, the Tzenkethi had been making these strange attacks on primitive worlds recently, walking on their so-called "Path of Violence", but it seems that this traitor of theirs wants to help and expose the large death-bringers for their crimes. But something was swirling within Twilight's mind, what if they arrive and a large armada of ships are waiting to attack them? What if they come and they find their targets dead from an enemy ambush? She was feeling quite unnerved at the thought, but stopped when Spike turned to her. "Twilight, I've gotten a bit of data that might be helpful, it seems that a famous Klingon General named Rodek was a Tzenkethi war veteran back in the 24th Century, and it seems that he's wanting to help out with our problem over at that planet, is that a problem?"

Twilight gave a smile after a moment as she said, "Send him over to us, I think I could use a bit of experience with the Tzenkethi for this mission." Spike nodded as he tapped a button on his built-in chair console before a small tablet-like device appeared at the armrest's side and the dragon started to tap a few keys on it.

Twilight then heard Rainbow Dash speaking to her as she looked to the pegasus pilot. "Twilight, we're arriving at the planet now."

"Rarity, would you start your scans, please?" Twilight said to the unicorn as she answered.

"Understood, Twilight." She tapped her console several times as Twilight looked to the viewscreen to see that the stars slowly started to reshape into tiny dots and a planet near a large yellow star filled the screen, the planet seemed to have no moon orbiting it, and the planet itself seemed to look earth-like, Rarity spoke up after her console beeped. "The planet is a Class-M world, atmosphere contains a fair amount of oxygen, there's several lifeforms roaming the surface, as well as marine life in the oceans." The unicorn said as she gleamed with anticipation at trying to learn about the creatures down below.

"And what about our friends? I don't see them anywhere." Twilight asked as Rarity checked her scans once more.

"I'm... I'm picking up two starships down on the visible continent, specifically in a forest-like area of the land." Rarity answered as Dash, Flash and Twilight gave puzzled looks to their friend.

"Two? Did they come across some ancient ship on the planet or did they bring another friend to the party?" Pinkie Pie asked as she looked at the planet on the screen.

Twilight gave a stern look as she spoke to the party pony. "Pinkie, try and hail the ships down there, I want to see if we can talk to them."

Pinkie nodded and started to tap her console a few times before Dash looked to her with a worried look. "Um, Twilight, I'm picking up a strange anomaly right near our ship, I think it's near our stardrive section."

Twilight grew a worried look as she responded. "Put it on the screen."

Dash turned to her console and tapped it a few times as the viewscreen changed to show the underside of the ship, along with a red area that quickly changed to show a small, blue cylindrical object, which changed back to red upon the data for the object being read.

Twilight then gave a horrified look as she noticed what the object was, raising her voice, she turned to Dash and yelled, "Emergency maneuvers, no-" Was all that she could say before a loud explosion occurred outside of the ship, the bridge shaking violently as everyone held on to their consoles, Dash's parents letting out low cries of fear as she spoke up.

"It was a mine! Our port side has sustained major damage, hull breach on Deck 18, damage teams are repo-" She stopped when she looked to the viewscreen, several ships appeared over the planet at rapid pace, eventually amounting up to 17 ships, one of them seeming to be a dreadnought behind all of the other ones. The ships were colored in a very dark grey hull color, almost looking completely black to their eyes, the ships all turned towards the Equestria, speeding faster than a gekli creature hungry for space dust as they prepared to attack.

"I knew this was some kind of set up!" Dash yelled in anger as she swiftly set up her console.

"Shields up now, target the lead ship, give it everything we've got!" Twilight ordered as Dash replied to the Princess.

"I can't get the shields online, whatever they hit us with, it must've damaged the shield emitters!"

Rarity gave a worried look as she spoke up. "Let me see if I can get some power from Life Support to help us ou-" She was interrupted when Sweetie Belle cried out in worry.

"Guys, they're locking onto our phaser arrays and torpedo launchers!" The crew looked to see the Tzenkethi ships approaching the ship, the orange beams and red balls of light coming from the ship soon halted as the ships fired a flurry of green beams and orange projectiles at the ship, hitting several areas of the ship until the only lights were the weapons from the Tzenkethi ships, which continued their assault as Twilight's eyes shrunk in shock.

"Dash, pull us away with every bit of power we have, get us over to the Amarillo before they can tear us apart!" Dash nodded as she tapped her console and the ship jerked to the left and turned to face the two escorting ships, but the ship suddenly shook with force as they heard crashing and explosions coming from another area of the ship.

Twilight then grew annoyed as she asked Dash, "Why aren't we breaking away?!"

"AJ, what's up with those nacelles?!" Dash yelled to Applejack as she checked her console with Applebloom.

The two farm-girls grew horrified looks as they gave their answer to the Princess and the pilot. "We aren't going anywhere girls, they've cut our wings off!" Applejack said as she tapped her console and the viewscreen changed to show the aft side of the ship, the pylons on the ship were being shot at by the ships, eventually breaking off of the hull and drifting off into orbit.

Rarity then grew into a state of panic as she looked and her console again and spoke loudly. "Those maniacs, one of the ships is closing in fast on the shuttlebay!"

Twilight then wiped her forehead as she tapped her console and gave her next order. "Security, I want all decks on alert, send assault teams to the shuttlebay and have them ready, don't let them get through!" She then tapped her comms panel again as she looked to Trixie and Dash. "Dash, Trixie, get down to Deck 3 and hold the line near the bridge!"

Dash nodded before Trixie looked to Starlight and motioned her to follow behind, Scootaloo joined in and the four entered the turbolift, which closed as they waited to arrive at Deck 3.

~U.S.S. Equestria Shuttlebay~

The area was bustling with noise as several officers and soldiers gathered at the edge of the shuttlebay, standing their ground near the entrances as they waited for the ship to arrive. The troops were all wearing EV suits in case things were to get dicey, holding several different weapons in their hands as they stood ready to strike. Troops were still coming through the doors of the room when the shuttlebay doors burst apart, and a small mound of hull filled the area, the ship didn't waver the troops, however, as they still stood on the floor of the ship while the unremoved shuttles were sucked out into space.

Several command officers were giving orders to their troops before a small section of the ship was cut into from the inside and shot away from the ship seconds later, but the soldiers didn't have time to react as a wave of green bolts of energy shot out from the opening, hitting several soldiers and killing them swiftly as the troops started to take cover. When the shots became less rapid, the remaining soldiers broke their cover and got a good look at the attackers, they were larger than an average human, and seemed to have large arms at their sides, as well as wearing grey colored suits that lit in purple as they stepped out. Wasting no time, the soldiers lit the area up with phaser fire as they struck a few enemy troopers, but the Tzenkethi were already tearing them apart as they quickly took out most of the remaining troops. One soldier smacked one of the officers attacking him physically off of him as he quickly tapped his weapon and aimed it at the last line of troops, the weapon firing a blue wave of energy that forced the soldiers to the ground unmoving.

The soldier then lifted his arm up and tapped the wristband on it before speaking in a deep, distorted voice. "All of the defenses have been taken care of sir, you are clear to board." He then turned back to the ship as a being stepped out of the opening moments later, he was wearing similar armor like the others, but he seemed to have a slight amount of gold on the armor, as well as two bulky gauntlets that seemed to look like wrist blades.

He then gave a low growl as he spoke to his men in a low, but vicious manner. "Tear this ship apart until you find what we need, kill anyone that tries to interfere with our plans." The soldiers then turned and went towards the shuttlebay doors, some of the equipment being sucked out as they started to enter through to the other side, the leader then stood and held his ground alongside his two guards as they waited for enemy reinforcements to arrive.

................

The decks were in near complete darkness as the turbolift doors opened, two pegasi and unicorns emerging from the inside as they readied themselves for combat. Dash held her phaser pistol in her hoof as the others took position near a few broken pieces from the walls and ceiling, Scootaloo pulling out her tricorder and tapping a few buttons before speaking up a few seconds later. "I'm picking up several enemy troopers heading towards sickbay, Fluttershy won't last long if someone doesn't cover her flank!"

Dash snarled in annoyance as she looked to her sister-in-arms as she responded. "Well, let me see if I can get to Twilight, keep a lookout." Scootaloo nodded and pointed her rifle at the hallway, keeping an eye out for the Tzenkethi while Dash tapped on her communicator. "Dash to Sparkle, bad news, Fluttershy'll be pinned down if we don't get someone to help her out over there, should we head over there or call in another squad?"

"Try and get there before they can, Dash, get her and her team out of there and then continue holding the line."

Dash smiled as she finished her talk before keeping focus on the hallway. "Got it, Dash out."

Behind the two mares, Starlight could see an officer pinned under a broken piece of metal from the ceiling, worried, she ran over to check the officer. Pulling out her scanner, she tapped a few buttons on it and waited for a moment before she got her results. "He's still alive, but very faint." She then gritted her teeth as her horn then glowed in a turquoise aura before the piece of hull lifted and was moved over to a clear spot before the aura faded and the metal fell to the ground. Starlight then used her magic again to lift the officer onto her back and began her walk back to the trio before she heard Trixie speaking in a panicked tone as she pointed a hoof towards the window nearby.

"Starlight, RUN!" Starlight looked to the window to see a small Tzenkethi ship speeding towards the hallway, coming closer to their section of the ship before the mare raced to the group, Trixie tapping a wall console as she stood behind them. A force field activated in front of the four equines as the ship tore through the hull, the four ponies all being knocked to the ground from the impact of the ship. Fortunately, the force field remained active, but the ship was dangerously close to them, about a few meters away. A section of the hull was cut into from the inside and shot off seconds later before several large troopers came out of the opening and examined the area.

The four equines all got up and took cover as they took a peek at the hallway, seeing the troopers standing within it, Starlight then turned to Dash and asked her, "Now how are we gonna get there in time?! They've cut off the quickest route!"

Dash frowned as she answered her friend. "I think it's safe to assume that the shuttlebay is lost by now, if they're doing this... I don't know what else we can do."

"We still have Fluttershy to help out." Scootaloo said before Dash replied.

"Right, let's go!" The four ponies then looked around for another way through, they saw another hallway near the turbolift that followed down to the inner sections of the ship, smiling, Dash and the others ran into the hallways without hesitation, hoping that sickbay was still under control and their friend was alright...

.....................

On the bridge, Twilight kept her eyes on the viewscreen, the fleet was distracting the larger ships in the enemy fleet so far, but some of the smaller ships were trying to make suicidal runs at the ship, trying to crash into it. Fortunately, the Amarillo kept them away from the Princess' flagship as the battle continued on. Applebloom was attending to the helm console as she spoke to Twilight. "Those ships are packin' a mighty punch, I don't know how we'll be able to hold them off for much longer!"

Twilight gritted her teeth as she looked to Rarity. "Rarity, how're those shuttles? Are they out yet?!"

"They should already be launching by now, let me see if I can get a visual." Rarity said as she tapped her console a few times before the screen changed to show the aft section of the ship. Several small ships with red and blue as the only glowing colors were leaving the damaged, but still operational shuttlebay, but several Tzenkethi ships were firing their weapons at the small ships, obliterating them with ease as more kept flying out from the ship.

"They're killing our crew, Twilight, they're not even trying to beam any of them off of the ships!" Rarity said with horror as they watched the shuttles take more and more shots every second. Pinkie Pie then gave a worried look as she looked at her console before turning to Twilight.

"Twilight, one of those meanies is targeting the bridge!" The Princess gasped as the screen then changed to show a large Tzenkethi warship, most likely a dreadnought, hovering over them as it's torpedo bay glowed a bright red as Bow Hothoof yelped in a panic.

"They're gonna kill us! We need to get outta here!" Twilight grew stern as her horn glowed, everyone in the room vanished upon a bright pinkish-white flash in the room, leaving the bridge empty as the warship fired, the torpedo blowing the bridge away seconds later.

In sickbay, Fluttershy was attending to several injured officers along with her staff members, near her were several of the gathered visitors that came with Bow and Windy on the tour. Fluttershy pressed a small device against an officers shoulder, a hissing sound being heard as the mare released the pressure placed on him. "There, I think you'll be okay now." The officer then stood as he began to continue his task of protecting the medbay while Fluttershy turned to the group of civilians, noticing two of them, one being a mare with a whitish-orange coat with brown hair and a baby bottle for a cutie mark, while the other had a brown coat and orange hair and a orange and white cap with a green spinning piece on it, she trotted over to them and pulled out a small tube that contained a colorful liquid and began to place it into the device. "Now, this won't hurt a bit, Mr. Mash."

She placed the small device on the Button Mash's forearm, the device once again making a hissing noise as she began to pull the device off of his arm. A second after that, however, a bright flash appeared in the room before Twilight and the rest of the bridge crew as well as Bow and Windy appeared within the room. Fluttershy gasped in surprise at first, but grew worried as she trotted up to the Princess and asked her, "What's wrong? Why aren't you all on the bridge?"

Twilight gave a frown as she answered the medical mare. "The Tzenkethi fired a torpedo at us in an attempt to stop the ship, had it not been for my magic, we would've been dead." Fluttershy and the others gave panicked looks and horrified gasps as Button Mash spoke.

"We're not gonna die, are we?!" He said as he started to tear up, Sweetie Belle trotting over to him as Twilight spoke.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Twilight turned towards a wall console near the door and trotted over to it, tapping it as she spoke. "Sparkle to Dash, are you OK down there?"

"Yeah, we nearly got crushed by another ship here, but we're okay. We're heading to sickbay right now, we've got wounded here!"

The group gave worried looks as Twilight replied to the speedster pony. "Good, that saves me some trouble, and... you may want to get ready for a rough ride, we won't be staying onboard long."

"What?! What do you mean, Twilight?"

"I'll explain when you get here, just get here as quick as you can, Sparkle out." Twilight turned off the comms panel before tapping a few buttons on it again and speaking once more. "Attention all hands, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, as of now..." She looked to her friends before continuing. "..I herby order all hands to abandon ship, I repeat, abandon ship. Get to the escape pods and keep yourselves alive until a rescue comes for us.... Sparkle out."

She turned the comms off once again, turning towards her friends, who all had shocked faces as Rarity spoke. "You.. you can't be serious, Twilight."

Twilight gave a solemn look as she replied. "I know, Rarity, I don't want to either.. but the Tzenkethi have taken out our weapons, shields, and the bridge, and even if the battle bridge on the stardrive is intact, we can't use it without the nacelles anyway... we have no choice."

Rarity started to hold tears in her eyes, but wiped them away as she responded. "Well... so be it then, I'll miss this ship."

"So will I, Rarity, so will I, now Fluttershy, do you have everyone fixed up and ready?" Twilight asked the pegasus as she answered.

"Yes, there's a few survival kits and suits that I have in that storage compartment over there, if I can have enough time to get everything ready before the Tzenkethi get to us, I think we'll be set." Twilight nodded as Fluttershy turned to the mentioned compartment and, along with a few other officers, began to open it and grab supplies out from it. Twilight then turned to the doors of sickbay, waiting for Dash and her team to come through them soon....