Chapter 2: Picking up the Pieces
Skrtch skrtch skrtch skrtch skrtch.
Sergeant Roux adjusted the power cell of his sidearm for the third time as he attempted to ignore the rising sense of unease and claustrophobia that fought to overwhelm him, despite the massive open space of the nearly empty chamber of the retrofitted rescue Anaconda. Alongside him, his partner, Corporal Maeve stood with her rifle at the low ready, her face hidden by her helmet and her posture just as rigid.
Skrtch skrtch skrtch skrtch skrtch.
Corbin's free hand lightly traced the seam connecting his helmet to his suit as his heart rate quickened. In front of the two, the rescue team continued their work on opening the malfunctioning escape pod, the prying tool most commonly referred to as the "Jaws of Life" biting deep into the metal shell along the seams that connected the hatch to the main structure.
And beneath the screeching sounds of pressurized hydraulics and shearing metal was the source of the tension. The sound of repetitive and frantic scraping coming from inside.
The portly medic in charge of the rescue tapped a few commands into his data pad and turned to the security team as he wiped a bead of sweat off his head. "Alright. The second casualty has been secured and is on her way to the Tun hospital. Time for pod number three. Just like before. Let me know when you're in position and we'll start."
SGT Roux, already positioned at the head of the pod brought his weapon to bear and turned to his partner, who gave a nod from her position at three o'clock. He then returned his attention to his aiming point and gave an affirming motion. "We're ready." He said.
"Copy. Breach in thirty seconds."
No more than five seconds into the countdown, the containment vessel let out a heavy popping and clacking sound, causing everyone around to jump. Corbin let out the breath that caught in his throat and tried to put it out of his mind. 'Don't think about it.' He thought. 'It's just a normal rescue. Third one of the day. Nothing new. Nothing to be worried about.' To the crew, he tried to keep his voice steady, "Hold position. Prime weapons. Moving to amber."
No one said it, but it was on everyone's mind. A strange derelict ship appears out of nowhere, all but a few crew members dead, it gets blown up in an ensuing battle, and an undermanned federal rescue is tasked with opening a series of escape pods, one of which was malfunctioning and making strange noises. It was the perfect set up one would experience in a poorly crafted horror sim. All the way down to the repetitive scratching sound coming from within.
"Twenty seconds." One of the medics wiped a glob of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and readjusted his grip on the lever. Ever so slowly, the breaching tool extended from its base towards the seam of the hatch.
Corbin's breathing quickened; his helmet stifling.
"Fifteen seconds."
The Sergeant couldn't take it anymore. In one smooth motion, he tapped a command onto the wrist-bound interface of his suit, retracting the helmet into his collar with a hiss. His eyes briefly darted over to one of the medics who looked at him questioningly before returning to his objective. "I'm fine. Keep going."
"Ten seconds."
"Sergeant..." Maeve spoke out to her superior, who glanced her way. "Ten thousand credits if whatever's in there jumps out and tries to eat your face."
Corbin fought the urge to groan as the countdown reached zero.
Rarity was often seen by those around her as somewhat of a drama queen. Whether it was a mismatched ribbon or an unsatisfied customer, she took her shortcomings very seriously. Even her closest friends sometimes commented on her over-the-top swooning, though none could deny that she was more than capable of channeling it into creative energy. Some would even say that she thrived off of the stressors that came with owning a business targeting the clientele of the Canterlot elite.
However, if there is one thing that Rarity lacked, It was phobias. Rainbow Dash had her fear of failure, Twilight her fear of all things slithery and cheesy, and Fluttershy her fear of ... well everything. But Rarity? Sure, she had a disgust of all things dirty and unsanitary bordering on fear. But full-blown phobias? She couldn't recall ever falling into a blind panic outside of the few life and death scenarios she and her friends dealt with to save their land.
Which meant her current scenario was new territory for her.
Her cage was cylindrical in design, large enough for her to breathe but do little else. Tiny blinking lights embedded into the wall above her just outside her reach, but aside from that, what it looked like was anypony's guess. The pressure around her remained constant, unyielding as she attempted to move one way or another. Her tail was twisted around her hind legs binding her already limited movement. The walls around her pockmarked with balloon like cushions rubbed irritatingly against her fur, pinching and twisting her both her coat and the skin beneath as she attempted to thrash about. Her world was one of complete darkness, with a single window barely the size of her head as her only beacon of light.
Even that was of little comfort. A heavy tint coated the glass preventing all but the slightest amount of light to pierce the darkness of her prison. Earlier, she could see the stars outside the window as multiple pinpricks of light, but even that disappeared eventually as something collided with the outer surface with a series of metallic clangs and whirs, which eventually devolved into a steady rumble.
Her heart pounded against as each time she thrashed she felt more confined and her breathing became more labored. "Please!" She cried, "Somepony help me!" Despite her unyielding confinement, she continued to struggle, thrashing about to and fro scraping her hooves on anything and everything she could get a hold of in an attempt to find purchase. On one of her more frantic motions, her horn jammed into one of the cushions, piercing the soft fabric, and with a resounding pop, impacted hard on the unforgiving surface beneath it.
Crack!
Pain lanced through her head and she jerked back only to smash the back of her head into the opposing wall. Stars exploded across her vision and her stomach dropped, a heavy wave of nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Her body spasmed from the sensory overload causing her to lurch forward once again. "Let me out... Celestia... Luna... Please..." The unicorn braced her forehooves against the wall as she spoke, pushing harder and harder as the moments ticked by. "Let me out. Let me out! Let me out let me out LETMEOUT!" Her voice crescendoed until she was screaming at the top of her lungs, her eyes flooding with tears. Her barrel heaved with wracking sobs, putting more strain on her already labored breathing. The walls continued to close in around her, smothering her, suffocating her with its unyielding presence. She dug her teeth into the deflated fabric in front of her and began yanking frantically, ready to chew her way out if she had to---
--- Suddenly, a large claw with two fingers tore through the wall in front, coming a hairs width from spearing the side her muzzle.
The mare's skull collided with the back wall a second time, the pain dulled by another rush of adrenaline as she let out a high-pitched shriek of fear. 'This is it.' She thought as she let out a sobbing hiccup. 'I'm going to be devoured by a monster!'
The spindly appendage continued its intrusion, rotating in place for a moment before viciously digging into the wall and revealing a duet of seams on the front side of her prison where light began to leak through. The young mare's heart dared to swell in hope at the possibility of escape.
A few seconds later, a series of loud pops vibrated her cage followed by the sounds of tearing metal and the entire front was torn apart at the seams. The hatch now free of its bindings flipped outward with a groan.
Rarity dug her hooves into the newly formed hoofholds and lunged out into the open air only to find herself in yet another predicament. Instead of dropping to the floor as she had anticipated, she ended up continuing in her original direction of movement, flying forward in a straight line.
Well... Maybe it was less like 'flying' and more like being shot out of a party cannon, since she ended up slamming into a massive figure dressed in a tight--and in her opinion as she thought back on the situation, horribly out of style-- black one piece suit hard enough to force the creature back a step. Instinctively she latched onto her new anchor point by wrapping all four hooves around its fish bowl like head. Both quadruped and biped let out their own unique scream--equally high pitched-- followed by an even louder bang and a cacophony of unintelligible shouts.
*"Alien!"*
*CRACK CRACK!*
*"Cease fire Corporal! Cease fire!"*
*Its on my face! Oh God it's on my face! Get it off! Get it off!*
*"I regret everything!"*
*"The hell is that thing!?!"*
As her alien hoofhold thrashed about, grasping blindly at her fur in an attempt to pull her off, Rarity hunkered down, clenching both fore and back legs in a vice-like grip tight enough to make an Earth Pony proud. Unfortunately, the alien proved to be equally resilient as one of its clawed limbs found its way to her head and dug deep into her mane, yanking hard and snapping her head back in a single violent motion. The unicorn whinnied in pain as her grip quickly faltered and she was violently swung in a wild arc and released into a head over hoof tumble. Her world spun wildly several times and the poor unicorn shrieked as she scrambled about with nothing to grab hold for the second time in twice as many seconds.
A moment later, yet another limb latched onto her, this time halfway up her tail, arresting her momentum with a solid jerk, followed by a heavy but warm mass pulling her into a tight embrace, effectively pinning her to its chest. Tear filled eyes looked deep into the dark chocolate brown visage of yet another Minotaur-like creature, this one much larger than the pair rescued in Equestria. Rarity breathed a sigh of relief and smiled weakly at her rescuer until another wave of nausea and fatigue overwhelmed her before her vision went dark.
Chief of Police Chen Sui Leng exited the bathroom damp and extremely tired, one towel wrapped tightly around his waist and another draped over his shoulder as he rubbed one end lightly through his speckled gray and black hair. His feet slapped quietly on the cool metal floor as he made his way through the narrow hallway of his apartment towards the bedroom. He paused a moment and turned off the hallway light before he opened the door slipped through as quietly as possible so he wouldn't wake up his wife, changed into a pair of sweatpants and tossed the towels into the hamper, only to realize her absence for the third straight night in a row. He sighed as he climbed into bed and laid an open palm on the cold pillow beside him.
Work was keeping them both busy, it seemed.
The day for the Tun Federal Security Services was a long one. Not only did the fifteen hundred plus member department have their usual two hundred Patrol routes that required 24/7 manning, they had added another three investigations to their current eighteen, not to mention the twenty ongoing sting operations and three security escort missions.
And to top it all off, higher had the brilliant idea of scheduling a clandestine delivery of new ship-borne weapons without even bothering to inform him of its schedule. Luckily it arrived without incident, but that was beside the point.
All in all, Chen was tired.
Which also meant he was easily irritable, proven by the growl that escaped his lips upon hearing the alert from his personal AI break the silence with all the subtlety of a gong. "Commander Leng. Urgent voice communications request from Department Headquarters. Master Sergeant Smith requests telepresence immediately."
With a groan his left hand fumbled across the nightstand until it came across a small L shaped device. He clumsily brought it to his face and typed in a few commands before affixing it to his ear. "Secure tele-presence connection to HQ. Attire, duty uniform. Authorization Chen rho 6."
His vision lit up in an orange tinge and the meager bedroom fell away as his perception folded in on itself.
Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away Master Sergeant David Smith stood patently in front of an empty desk deep in the recesses of the the orbital Station Tun's Wort. His posture was indicative of the of a member of the Federal Navy, rigid and steadfast with so little perceived movement, one might mistake him for a robotic assault unit in Security garb.
He continued to wait for several minutes until finally, the floor in front of him lit up in an orange glow. "Tele-presence transfer in progress." The AI stated in a monotone Victorian accent. Smith took a small step back and a hard light holo image came together from the ground up revealing Chief Leng clad in his usual duty uniform. The Holo-me glared at the Senior NCO.
"Sergeant." He stated firmly. "I take it the night shift isn't going as smoothly as expected."
MSG Smith took the glare in stride and extended his hand in greeting. The hologram reciprocated with a firm handshake which left an electric tingle on his palm several seconds after separating. "You could say that. We have a serious incident report that requires your attention." He replied. "We just received a conflict report, number 21 879 in the nav beacon patrol sector."
Chief Chen's console lit up at the dictation and the holo-me took a seat behind his desk. "What 's the Situation?"
"Coordinated pirate attack. Two officers involved. An Anaconda compromised the security feed at the Nav Beacon by dropping a jammer while the rest attacked, a ship of unknown origin."
"Status of our pilots?" He asked as he began to skim through a series of short reports, most no longer than a few sentences. At first glance, none of them seemed to be of any particular interest. All of them seemed like the typical SITREPs that were sent after pirate encounters. Contact times, number of ships involved, etc. His brow furrowed at the lack of any obvious evidence.
Smith glanced at his own notes. "CPL Maeve received a few minor lacerations and her ship will require extensive repairs, but other than that, no injuries reported. SGT Corbin was able to hold off the Anaconda while the corporal attempted a ship rescue. As for collateral damage, we have one unidentified ASP Explorer destroyed, along with two pirate ships eliminated. The rest fled when the jammer went down."
Chen brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Please. Could you just cut to the chase and tell me why this couldn't wait till tomorrow?"
The senior non-commissioned officer scratched at his stubble, a look of slight discomfort creasing his brow. "Well... we recently received a few unusual video reports from the FSS pilots, as well as the current rescue ship on site. Perhaps it's best if you take a look at them yourself."
Leng scrolled to the first file labeled 1158 and selected it for playback. A second Holo screen appeared to his left showing a cockpit view of the tiny, yet nimble Viper Mark III under the control of one CPL Maeve Gelin.
*The young pilot slowed to a stop as she reached the derelict ship, the sound of tapping keys echoed off the interior as she hailed the derelict vessel. "This is Corporal Gailin of the Tun System Federal Police Department. Are you in any need of assistance?" The moment she released the mic, a horrible screeching sound came out over the speakers. The young pilot winced and cut the feed, ears ringing from the interference.*
*"Warning. Federal communications lost. Security notification system unavailable." The Verity COVAS system drawled.*
*No sooner did she register the alert, a torrent of pulse laser fire slammed into her ship, battering her shields from above and below. The Achenarian native swore and spun her ship, rocketing away, weaving to and fro in a desperate attempt to allow her shields to recharge from its recent pummeling. Sparing a glance at the her radar, she noted a pair of blood red solid triangles flashing white.*
*"Sergeant! Tangos on my six! Two Eagles with rapid fire pulse hardpoints! Shields at less than half! I need backup!" Her only response was that same squelch of radio interference, further confirming this was an orchestrated attack. *
*Maeve slammed the control stick back as the pirates closed in --spinning her in place without losing momentum-- and let loose a barrage of multi-cannon fire. The super-heated rounds struck true, shredding the closest enemy's defenses to near collapse before the pair broke off in opposite directions*.
*Without letting up on her fire, She quickly hit boost in her new forward direction and gave chase to the more vulnerable target, only to flinch as another ship --this one a Cobra MK III-- blitzed right past her and let loose a torpedo on the helpless ASP Explorer*.
*The explosive lanced through the void and struck the port side of its hull just behind of the canopy, exploding in a flash of white twisting the ship sideways* *and reducing the point of impact into a shredded mass of metal and wires. The pirate immediately followed up with a volley of heavy cannon fire.*
*Maeve swore repeatedly as she gave up chase on her quarry and looped around, locking onto the latest and biggest threat. Her rounds ricocheted off the pirate's shields, each impact igniting a bright flash of blue, though only doing a fraction of the damage to its energy reserves compared to the Eagle. The Cobra ignored the barrage and continued its onslaught, showing a determination far beyond that of a typical pirate.*
Chen watched passively as the Viper cut a hard turn, a heavy grunt the only evidence of the g-forces being subjected to the pilot. The onslaught continued to rage for almost a minute, with dips and turns, and other various maneuvers as she tried desperately to force the criminal away from its quarry. On the left side of her display the heat on her ship rose steadily, and soon steam began to rise off the console. Yet the Achenarian continued to fire heedless of the risk. *"C'mon! Focus on me dipshit!"*
*The Corporal let out another expletive as the computer let out a loud squawking alert just before a explosion rocked her vessel hard, taking her by surprise. Sparks flew on her console as one of her internal compartments was reduced to slag, causing a minor secondary explosion inside the cockpit, sending several shards of shrapnel into her right arm. The eagles had returned in force with an ally, yet another Eagle, blindsiding her on the starboard side with a heavy missile.*
*The pilot grit her teeth and boosted away only to swear again and instinctively duck down as the very Cobra she had been shooting at suddenly went flying over her ship in an uncontrolled end over end flip, coming less than a meter from the transparent palladium of her canopy. When she banked left to come about, the ASP Explorer came back into view.*
Encircled in a perfectly round bubble of rapidly expanding violet energy.
Chen paused the video, a pair of raised eyebrows the only sign of his surprise.
"We've no records of the technology used." Smith said, fully aware of the unspoken question. "At first we thought it might be a custom job on a bi-weave setup due to the color of the field. However, the Salvage team has already collected what was left over of the Shield generator and dismissed the possibility. From what they can tell, it was just one of your run-of-the-mill class D generators that's been stripped down for exploration."
"Class *D*?" Chen repeated, his tone inflection a mixture of confusion and blatant disbelief on the findings. He was very familiar with the use of bi-weave shielding and the plethora of modifications used to enhance them, both legal and illegal. While being somewhat less durable then a typical C-Class Shield generator, it was extremely popular within the Bounty Hunter and pirate communities due to its much faster regeneration rate. But this one, outside its similar color scheme, was drastically different to anything he had encountered before.
Not only did it retain its purple glow, obscuring the exploration vessel to the point that all that could be seen was the outline, the hard light construct expanded outward rapidly from the cockpit like a balloon into a perfect sphere that was nearly double the size of the ship.
Typically, any energy Shield would shimmer into existence barely a few meters above the hull, tracing the structure of the ship before phasing out of the visible spectrum. Theoretically it was possible to extend the protective field out that far if -- and that was a big if -- the generator was large and powerful enough.
But a Class *D*?
Despite the list of questions piling up in his mind, he resumed the video. Quickly, the Cobra righted itself and flew back into the fray, now firing everything it had on its hapless target. Both small and heavy ballistics rained down on the energy barrier mercilessly from its cannons and multi-cannons, creating a shower of sparks that lit up the area. flecks of purple shards could also be seen breaking off, spinning wildly before dissipating into the void. The security pilot continued her assault as well, her own rounds striking true against the pirate's defenses.
Sadly it wasn't enough. Huge cracks spread across the purple shield, an anomaly that again raised the curiosity of the old Captain, and before long the entire sphere exploded into millions of glowing fragments that covered the entire area in lavender light. The subsequent rounds fired made short work of the canopy, shredding the transparent palladium and decimating the entire front of the cockpit while a few stray shots from the cannons struck an exposed fuel line on the top of the ship. A few seconds later, a series of small internal explosions rocked the ASP before it was ripped apart in a blast of light.
*"Nonononono NO!" Maeve shouted. Her right fist slammed into the arm rest just short of the flight stick.*
Chen found himself focusing on the trembling fist of the pilot and the ragged breaths that could be heard. It was something something he'd seen all to often in his time on the force. He'd experienced it himself on several occasions. That feeling of failure --of guilt-- for not being able to do what was expected of him and watching helplessly as someone else paid the price for that failure. He made a mental note to schedule the pilot for an appointment with the mental health provider assigned for triage incidents once she returned to base.
Suddenly, an alert of incoming missiles caused the pilot to return her grip to the flight stick. Taking an instinctive glance at the Viper's condition and the radar, The officer counted no less than six incoming missiles and what appeared to be a torpedo fired from one of the hostiles heading towards her. Despite already knowing the outcome of his men, he wondered how she was going to get out of this situation. In her condition there was no way she would survive such an onslaught.
A moment later he got his answer as all seven projectiles flew right past her, with no action from her part, and collided with the topside of the Cobra's weakened shields. The first two explosions collapsed the energy field surrounding it allowing all that remained to strike true against the hull, eviscerating it and exposing the vital power plant contained within, ultimately causing it to share a fate much worse than its victim. While the ASP was ripped asunder from the ignited fuel lines, the onboard system must have been operational enough to sever the connection to the tank, preventing complete destruction of the superstructure itself. But with the Cobra, not only was the power plant destroyed, the COVAS must have been disrupted enough to prevent such a safety measure. Combined with the fact that the majority of the fuel lines converged at that location, there was nothing left to stop the cascade effect that ultimately turned its sixteen ton fuel tank into a sixteen ton bomb.
The detonation that followed was spectacular to say the least, the shock wave alone sending the small Viper into a tumble, ultimately leaving nothing left of the pirate ship but scraps of metal.
Chen paused the video again. "Do we have any idea who fired on the Cobra?" He asked.
MSG Smith skimmed his notes. "From what we can tell, it came from one of the three Eagles. Sensors indicated it was the same that attacked pilot 1158 in the first missile attack. As of now we believe one of the pilots turned on his allies to acquire some of the cargo on board for himself."
It was at that time that a tiny flash of red and blue at the bottom left of the canopy caught his eye. He immediately zoomed in and enhanced the area.
There drifting in open space sat a pair of objects he'd never seen before. Two identically shaped orbs of light, one blue and one red. "What the hell are those?" He wondered aloud.
The NCO shook his head. "No idea. The pirates were able to snatch them up before we could regroup."
Chen frowned in reply. "The technology is definitely worth a support request to Federal R&D, but I'm still not seeing why it couldn't wait till tomorrow."
Smith gave a wry smile. "The technology wasn't the reason I called you." A second video file popped up on the screen over the top of the current display.
The old chief gave the NCO an odd look and hesitantly tapped the display icon released by the Federal rescue ship on scene.
The new scene appeared to be taken from one of the medic's body cam. Chen watched as a pair of hands manipulated the excavation device as it was wedged into the seam of the hatch of the escape pod with a loud pop and screech of metal. The whine of the hydraulics must have been deafening since the sound from the video alone was enough to cause MSG Smith to turn away with a finger plugging one of his ears. Fortunately it was short lived.
*The front quickly began to warp under the pressure as several rivets popped, flinging the hatch open hard enough to rebound back open had one of his men hadn't lowered her weapon to grab it before it snapped shut again. *
*No sooner did the Security officer take hold of the hatch, there was a flash of white and purple as a strange creature leapt out, crashing onto the corporal knocking her rifle's aim toward the ceiling before she could bring it to bear. The surprised woman shrieked and squeezed off a round, sending all Personnel scattering for cover, including the medic's camera.
*The feed quickly devolved into chaos; a cacophony of shouts and jerking camera motions, most of the time showing no more than the side of the pod and the occasional limb of another medic taking cover nearby. Suddenly, a musical trill echoed through the room and the camera looked up to see a streak of purple hair fly overhead, a result of the creature being flung away from the corporal.*
*"I got it!" Someone yelled, and no more than a second later, the lead pilot came flying into view, the propulsion system on his suit creating several glares on the camera lens, obscuring most of the scene. But from what he could tell, the man grabbed the creature and pulled it against his chest in an effort to restrain it.*
Finally, as the commotion died down Cheng was able to get a good look at the Federal Security officer and the animal he captured. It was relatively small compared to the pilot, barely coming up to his lower abdomen in length, covered from top to bottom in fur of pure white that was marred by dark smudges along its shoulders and under its disturbingly expressive eyes. Its hair and tail were a rich purple in color, both meticulously stylized in large looping curls, the tail stretching far beneath the creature's rear hooves. Finally, growing out of its forehead was a small blunted horn the sam color as her fur..
*The creature slowly craned its neck up and looked at the FSS pilot, its muzzle opening wide--*
*"Blraahghaghaghaghagh!"*
Chen slammed his finger on the pause button so hard that it overrode the physical properties of the selection screen, sending his entire hand through the hard light construct. The video feed froze right at the moment SGT Roux was struck in the face by a vile stream of orange, green and brown liquid. Cheng looked at the NCO, his brow now indistinguishable from his hairline. "You're kidding, right?"
MSG Smith rubbed the back of his head and let out an awkward laugh. "Yeaaaaaah." He said. "That was the other thing I was wondering about. Any ideas on a proper conclusion for this report? Aside from the obvious 'Officer puked on by unicorn'."
Corbin floated there, eyes closed and face distorted in disgust as he held onto the now limp creature, his face covered in bile with huge globs floating about randomly around him.
"Sergeant! Are you alright?" One of the medics asked from 'below'.
'I'm fine Doct--. Gahgg! Oh God its in my mouth!" He gagged and spit out a glob that tasted disturbingly like apples.
The medic belted out a hearty laugh. "Well, come down! Lets get a look at you to be sure. Simmons! Put the lifeform in one of our empty crates and take it to the med lab. We'll take a look at it once we clean up the biohazards here."
The thrusters on Corbin's shoulders rotated slightly before firing off with a burst of blue light and the Sergeant slowly decended to the ground. As soon as his boots snapped to the floor, he felt someone tentatvely grab hold of the creature and relented as they pulled it from his grasp. A towel was then placed into his hand to which he immediately brought it to his face.
"Don't rub it. Just blot. We have no idea what it was that it sprayed you with or what it could do." The medic warned. "It could be a defense mechanism."
"One that tastes like fruit?" Corbin mumbled skeptically, though he did as requested until he felt like he could open his eyes again. When he did, he looked around to regain his bearings. To his left a crewmember closed the lid on a container and took off towards the belly of the ship while another grabbed a zero-g vaccume and headed towards the mess still floating above them. Near to the opened capsule, a pale CPL Maeve held tight to the hatch seemingly trying to get her own breathing under control.
"What was that thing?" He asked and the chief medic gave a shrug in return.
"I dunno. I'm puttin' my credits on the bizzare love child of a horse and rhino or something." Came the reply. "Look, why don't you head over to the sterilization room and get yourself cleaned up." He then handed Corbin a large sealable bag. "Put your Remlok in here and take it to the lab when you're done. We got a bunch of spares you can use if you don't mind orange. I'll have Simmons show you the way with the vac, just in case you end up leaving a trail."
"Wonderful."
Roughly half an hour after the breach, Corbin floated through the narrow hallway of the Anaconda alone in a bright orange spare Remlok suit, his soiled gear sealed and secured under his left arm. In his right he held a small holo tablet skimming through his video feed from the attack. He drifted downward as he reached his destination, his mag boots pulling lightly against his legs when his feet neared the floor and snapped to the ground with an audible clack.
The sliding doors of the medical bay slid open with a rusted scraping sound and Corbin walked inside. He glanced around the fairly large room, taking in his surroundings mostly out of habit. The place was old and battlescarred, much like the rest of the ship, with metal plates welded together haphazardly all over the walls on the starboard side -- covering old wounds the once mighty Anaconda received in its heyday as one of several military flagships. -- A thick, uneven coat of dull gray paint covered the protrusions as well as the original plating, giving the ward a surprisingly dirty feel to it, despite the almost overwhelming smell of disinfectants and sterilizing agents in the air.
The Federal Security pilot made his way down the rows of hospital beds to the back where he came across a mid sized bio-hazard container affixed to a simple metal platform welded to the 'ceiling'. As he worked to unlock the latch, his comms chimed and he opened the latest report from the men scouring the debris.
*Recovered Black Box Manifest.*
Corbin skimmed the research team's report on the pilot records and crew until he found a list of names. From there he began to count.
One...two...three...four..." He muttered, his stomach churning as the count grew ever higher. "Damn." Corbin ran a hand through the tight curls of his short black hair. Eighteen personnel were listed on the roster. "Good God. And we were only able to procure three pods. And only two had actual people on board."
His fist clenched, causing the sealed bag containing his dirty flight suit to bulge on either side of his hand before he tossed it unceremoniously into the vault. The package impacted the interior with a wet plap and began to float back out until Corbin slammed the door shut. The pilot let out a shuddering sigh and looked up at nothing in particular. 'I'm in for it now.' He thought sullenly. 'No doubt Maeve's gonna throw all the blame on me again. And this time I'm not so sure she's wrong.' He thought back to the battle and pulled out his holo-pad skimming through the video records hoping to find something to use, or at least twist, to aid in his defense should he end up going before a disciplinary board.
Rarity returned to the world of the living with a horrible splitting headache and an even worse taste in her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes only close them immediately as the dull lighting caused another stab of pain that lanced through her horn and into her skull. "Heavens me..." She groaned tiredly. "I feel like I've been kicked in the head by a minatuar. Is it cider season already?" She reached out a hoof and pawed blindly in the direction of her vanity that housed some mild pain medication. "Sweetie Bell?" She called out. "Could you be a dear and fetch me a glass of water?"
The steady hum of the room was all that replied.
"Sweetie Belle?" She called out a bit louder, wincing at the upward inflection in her own voice. Again there was no answer. She let out a sigh and reached out with her magic to open her drawer, only for her her horn to let loose a torrent of bright blue-white sparks along its spiral, giving the unicorn a heavy dose of magic backlash.
"Ahh!" The fashionista let out a cry of pain as her body spasmed from the feedback. She bolted upright, all vestiges of fatigue evaporated as memories from her recent experience rushed back to the forefront of her mind.
The alien flying machine.
Princess Celestia blasted away in a flash of purple.
A giant sun, larger than anything she'd ever seen.
A deafening bang, throwing her world into chaos.
The rushing wind, followed by a terrifying silence.
A shove of telekinetic energy.
The walls of a metal tomb enveloping her.
And through the tiny window of her prison, Twilight reaching out with a bloody hoof, her face---
'Oh by Celestia! Her face!'
She quickly threw off the modest blanket and leapt to her hooves only to have them leave the ground, sending her forcibly crashing into the ceiling. Another bolt of agony from her injured horn assaulted her, forcing her to instinctively curl in on herself as she ricocheted into another surface. As she pinballed around the tiny enclosure, each bump bled off a portion of her momentum which ultimately left her floating in the middle while scrabbling with her hooves in a vain attempt to get a hoofhold. Wide panicking eyes whipped around frantically. 'No!' Her mind screamed. 'Not again!
"Twilight! Applejack!" She called out, her voice becoming more labored and frantic with each name. "Pinkie?!? Fluttershy!?! Rainbow!?!" Tears began to condense around her eyes, blurring her vision. "Spi--ike!?!" Another wave of dizziness overwhelmed her causing the dragon's name to break upon leaving her muzzle. The world around her peripheral faded to a milky white and she felt her mind dull, sinking back into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.
'No!' She shook her head, scattering teardrops around her and took in a deep breath through her nose. "Get control of yourself!" She admonished. "Your friends need help! You're not going to do them any good crying like a little foal."
Rubbing the remaining moisture from her face with a hoof and forcing herself into the mindset of the seamstress, she closed her eyes and took another deep breath and uncurled herself while keeping her limbs tucked tightly to her barrel . When she opened them again, she took in her latest enclosure, a small white box with barely enough room for her to stand up and turn around. Five of the six sides appeared to be translucent, as she could make out several distorted shapes that looked like they could be from some type of bizarre alien furniture. In one corner, there appeared to be a pair of metal hinges. The sixth side, however was dark, with no light able to come through. 'At least its bigger than the last one.' She thought.
Interestingly enough, on the 'bottom' of the cage was the single blanket she had been wrapped in when she woke up. Crinkled and bunched up as it was, it had all the appearance of a ball of tin foil, its reflective covering giving Rarity a distorted view of her rather unkempt appearance. While the idea of a reflective piece of linen was at best confusing and at worst a crime against fashion, the most intruiging aspect was that it appeared to be immune to her current 'floating problem'. Upon further inspection, all four corners appeard to be firmly affixed to the ground; no hooks or other devices visible to the naked eye to give her a clue on how it worked.
As she pondered this strange design choice, a sign of movement caught her eye. A large silhouette unlike anything she had seen thus far had moved into view and was steadily growing larger by the second. Whatever it was that was beyond her cage, it was orange and massive.
And getting closer.
Her tenuous hold on her still overwhelming fear began to slip and the unicorn scrambled about in the air to get a hoofhold on the blanket.
The moment her hooves finally made contact with the makeshift anchor, she heard the metallic snapping sound of a latch being released and the door slowly opened. The mare frantically yanked on the fabric, its corners holding just well enough to allow her to propel herself head first into it's confines.
Corbin was brought out of his musings by a crackle of electricity and flash of light, followed by a pained squeak and a few hefty thumps. He turned to his left towards the source of the disturbance where a somewhat large translucent storage container was affixed to the wall at around the height of his shoulders had he been standing on the floor. In it he could make out something moving about inside. A white blob could be seen through the material, twirling about in a blind panic trying in vain to regain its equilibrium.
His curiosity getting the better of him, he made his way towards it.
He moved his hand to the bottom right corner, bringing up a small orange Holo control panel where he released the locking mechanism and unlatched the door.
The chief medical officer looked up from his work as the lights above dimmed and flickered sporadically, a heavy buzzing sound following the display. He leaned to the side and tapped a button on the nearby station. "Nel, could you get ahold of the engineering crew? Looks like the distributor is on the fritz again."
*Skkkt* "Good copy. We'll get a crew on it after recovering the debris." The radio crackled in return.
After closing the commlink, he returned his attention back to his patient sitting accross from him in a zero-G chair. "Sorry about the interruption. Please, continue."
The Achenarian native fiddled with the pair of gloves in her pale hands. "Well... once we breached to pod, I grabbed the lid to keep it from closing. And that's when it had its way with my face." She bit lightly on her lower lip, the corners of her mouth twitching upward as she struggled not to grin. "Didn't even buy me dinner."
The doctor paused in his typing to look at her, a flat look etched across his weathered face.
*Thump!* *Crackle* "UAWAHAHA!"
Corbin yelped as a bright blue bolt of what looked like a slower bolt of electricity blasted the door open. His body spasmed before he found himself launched backwards, sending him flying a good few feet before the back of his legs collided with a medical cot. He toppled head over heels off the edge and dropped to the floor with a thud. He laid there a few seconds breathing heavily, stunned. His right hand twitched sporadically, the feeling of pins and needles overwhelming most of his senses. Slowly he rolled over and took a shuddering breath. When he sat up few seconds later, he groaned rubbing his head gingerly. "What the hell just happened?" He wondered as he slowly got back to his feet.
A sound that could only be described as a high pitched musical warble drew his focus back to the container, its hatch now wide open. The twitching white creature was currently burrowed partway beneath the emergency blanket with its rump sticking out, its rear legs extended straight up which ended up putting its back into a painful arch. Its stylized purple tail was hiked and rigid, its edges poofed outward without completely ruining the coifed design. He also noticed for the first time a trio of blue diamonds stamped on its rump --for some reason--. And in the front poking out of the blanket was that little blunted horn with what looked like a nasty crack, lined in what appeared to be liquid silver pooled around running down the center of its length.
The creature let out a pitiful whine as its body pitched sideways, falling out of the container and landing on the floor with a muffled thump.
Corbin jumped back the moment he saw it move, only to find himself suddenly off balance, forcing him to grab hold of the cot's handrail to stay upright. He paused for a moment, bringing his free hand to his face and looked at it strangely. He quickly activated his commlink. "Hey doc."
A moment later, the radio crackled to life. "What can I do for you Sergeant?"
The pilot looked at the quivering alien nervously. "You know how you mentioned it could have a defense mechanism?" At the medics affirmation, he continued. "Well, I think it just hit me with something. You might want to come see this."
Meanwhile...
Galactic Coordinates: Taranis Sector
*Encrypted Transmission Sent. Priority Level: Bravo.*
*Target Location: Janszoon Depot / Distance: 6,491 meters, 2143 X, -0091 Y.*
*Request: Anonymous docking / Interstellar Factors / Repairs.*
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noice
10424302
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it.
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRNpgmru8BB_sG5mqMMrQ37f06q7mId9GaQKQ&usqp=CAU
not liking the vagueness on what happened to the others one bit
10424796
Understandable. It'll take some time, but the others will be introduced in the next few chapters.
I like how it's building up right now. Unfortunate that it could take a long time for more chapters.
10426063
Yeah, I got to make sure that pay off lives up to the Journey.
Very much liking what I see so far! Hoping we get another chapter soon :)
10498720
Thanks! I'll do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.
Just discovered this story and I must say I appreciate the attention to detail throughout.
Any ETA on the next chapter Commander? o7
10727497
Thank you so much for the compliment!
I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to my writing, so I have a tendency to rewrite huge swaths of each chapter. Combine that with my busy IRL schedule, it can take a while. I've got most of the next chapter written, so I'd say it's about a month or so till release.
Thanks again! o7
Just wanted to stop by and let everyone know that both my story and I are not dead. I'm currently deployed and will get back to my writing upon my return.
See you in the black. o7