Warpony 3k

by boredhooman

Preparations

Low Baltimare, Holy Equestria

Rainbow Dash almost screamed as she shot straight up in her bed, only restraining herself for the sake of the sleeping form next to her. She quickly glanced at the clock. Damn, I only have a few minutes. She took a peek around the room, finding her clothes as she got off the bed.

She glanced around the dark, cheap apartment she found herself in. She wasn’t usually one to stay out, but when there are some rather cute ponies, some things just needed to be done. Hurriedly slipping on her overcoat, she gave one last look at the stallion behind her as she slipped out the door.

She hated to leave him after such a short time, but she was the Element of Loyalty, after all. She had a duty to do.

---

Harmony Square, High Canterlot, Holy Equestria

She arrived at the front gate to the Departmento Inquisitorum without incident, with the exception of several stares from the guards and passing office workers. However, she ignored them and continued into the building through the large and imposing double doors.

She went at a quick pace to the top floor, where Twilight’s office was. This area was restricted; no one but the Ministers and their personal guards were allowed up here. She briskly trotted past a space marine of the Knowledge Keepers chapter, who stood stone-still at attention. She eventually reached the large door, the insignia of the Inquisition begging to be pushed open. She obliged.

She walked to her chair at the central table, filled with various holograms of maps, statistics, profiles of numerous individuals, and, more recently, samples of ‘mass effect’ technology. This ‘element zero’, or unobtainium as the common name, was very interesting to the Minister of Military. There were numerous possible applications, such as power armor light enough where a pegasus could take full advantage of its abilities, making pegasus Space Marines a viable idea. Maybe this could allow jump packs to be smaller and more compact to aid in close-quarters fighting. Lost in thought, it took her a second to notice the other Minister giving her an annoyed stare.

“You’re late,” Twilight said with a hint of annoyance.

“Sorry, I was... caught up.”

“Mhm,” came the reply. “Anyway, we’re in a bind. The Citadel races’ ‘mass effect’ technology is far above our own. There are currently negotiations for element zero-based technology, especially with the quarians.”

“So what do you need me here for? And why in person?”

“Security measures. I don’t want any poss-”

“Yeah, yeah, no one to intercept the call,” she said flippantly, waving a lazy hoof through the air. “Because we all know there are spies listening in on every vox transmission on every frequency.”

“This is serious, Rainbow! If the Council or Terminus systems get wind of this, there could be disastrous effects.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway,” she replied, “what do you want?”

“Military, Rainbow,” Twilight answered. “I want what you think of the Council’s military compared to ours.”

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “Well, our most immediate threat would be from their MACs, which have hundreds of kilometers on us. Their ships are vulnerable up close. Their defensive measures depend on shields which don’t even block energy weapons, and their point defense is a system of lasers designed for torpedoes. I’m in the process of making sure ships patrolling near Citadel space are outfitted with lascannons. If we get into knife range, probably by tactical warp jumps, we can punch right through their armor and they will barely make the paint melt.”

“And ground combat?”

“Again, they are reliant on shields which don’t block lasweaponry, and we have lasguns by the billions. We get unobtainium-based tech equivalent to at least the humans’ pre-contact level and we will roll right over them!” she finished, smiling to herself.

Twilight gave her friend a suspicious glare. “I hope your... confidence is not unfounded, Rainbow.”

The Minister of Military, however, paid her no attention and briskly exited the room, ideas forming in her head. What she said in there? Completely off the top of her head, and those ideas just might work. If she put some serious thought and research into this, she could make something magnificent. With the help from the quarians and humans, she could very possibly make Equestria safe for the first time in nearly three thousand years. She could secure a place for Equestria in the galaxy. She would establish a shining light for a dark galaxy and bring peace even if it meant conflict in the short term.

---

Joe’s Breakfast and Diner, Zakera Ward, Citadel

“I’m gonna tell you right now, we don’t have hay!” the bartender yelled as Malleus Inflictum, Blood Raven of the Imperium of Equuleus walked into the restaurant. The pony turned to regard him.

“I’m just here to meet someone,” he stated.

The bartender waved the pony off before filling a mug for a customer. “Sorry, there’s just a whole lot of you asking for your foods here.”

Indeed there is, Malleus noted. Around him he counted well over a dozen ponies, all in various states of interaction, stance, and intoxication. Most of the ponies, civilians judging from their uniforms, wore different colors or slight design changes depending on their position.

“Trader ship came in.” a voice chimed in behind him. “Crew got shore leave and most of ‘em came to this district.”

Turning around, the young space marine eyed the speaker. A pale-skinned human, male, slightly taller than average, looking to be around late twenties to early thirties greeted his sight. He had very short hair, a thin beard and dark gray armor decorated by a simple red stripe on the right arm. Military, experienced, something told him the human was one to be respected. The man grabbed the bottle in front of him, gulping it down before standing up to greet Malleus.

“Staff Commander John Shepard, Alliance Marines and Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance,” he said, holding his hand out to shake. Malleus calmly shook it, remembering his brief overview of common human behaviors.

“Tactical Marine Malleus Inflictum, Third Company, Second Squad,” he replied.

“I’ve read your resume.” Shepard said. “I have no idea what these ‘Eldar’ and ‘Chaos’ are capable of, so I’m going to assume that you’re some crazy badass to your species.”

“Compared to the majority, you could say that. However,” he explained, “not to the Astartes as a whole. That... honor would be reserved for the First Company, the Chapters’ veterans. I’m in the Third, just a... grunt as some would say.

Shepard raised his eyebrow, which struck Malleus as curious. “First company is veterans? How’s the rest organized?”

“Second through Fourth are simply filled in as needed, with the Fifth being the training regiment of initiates.” Malleus finished.

Shepard thoughtfully nodded his, before sitting back down and inviting Malleus to as well. “Numbers?” he asked.

Malleus, fearing he may break the bench under his weight, remained standing before answering. “Two hundred fifty per Chapter, divided into one fifty a Company, and then ten per squad.”

“How many Chapters?” Shepard asked.

“Twelve.” Malleus answered before receiving a stare from the commander.

“So,” Shepard began, “three thousand of you? Isn’t that a little much?”

“If spread out among our worlds, there’s about three each. In fact, most are in combat on the frontier worlds against Chaos, Tyranids, occasional Dog band, and Eldar, although the Eldar haven’t been as much trouble as of late,” he answered. “Three thousand is actually a fairly low number.”

Before Shepard could inquire further, his omni-tool lit up, alerting him to the time. “Sorry, Malleus,” he said, “we have to get to the Normandy. Follow me.” With a last gesture with Shepard’s omni-tool to pay for the drinks, the two marines set off towards the docks.

“Mally,” Shepard continued as they exited the bar, “you mind if I call you that?” A harsh stare was all the answer the commander needed. “Anyway, might want to start remembering your CQC. First stop is Feros, a city-planet of Prothean skyscrapers.”

Malleus turned his head to Shepard. “Feros? I think I’ve heard that before.”

“You probably did.” Shepard replied. “Been all over the news, ‘Geth invasion continues!’ Well, I think they have something we want.”

Malleus nodded. He could use a new mission to get his mind off of things, especially after Graia.

---

SSV Normandy, Citadel Docks

Malleus’s bunk was underneath another xeno’s in the crew compartment. Tali’Zorah nar Rayya, if he remembered correctly, which he always did. Tali was an odd one. During a brief tour of the ship by the commander himself, Tali was diligently slaving away at the engine’s computer, mumbling numerous calculations and phrases to herself, reminding him of the dragon techpriests. So focused, in fact, that she did not notice the three-quarter ton Marine and still-armored human walk up behind. Upon being startled by a tap to the shoulder, she shrieked, clutched tightly to the railing holding on for dear life, and had to catch her breath afterwards. Then immediately upon seeing Malleus, she immediately changed her demeanor, trying to get different looks at his armor and asking about it. He thought it funny how one could change her mind so easily.

Upon gaining a proper view, he noticed a few oddities about the quarian species. The most prominent was the suit. It was reminiscent of traditional Trottarnian dress, where the harsh sun and wind would force anyone who wished to venture outside to cover from head to hoof, causing the citizens to dress decoratively to differentiate each other easily. Instead, the quarian suits were designed to protect the wearer from any foreign contaminates which would cause their weak immune system to go into overdrive. Hopefully, a deal could be struck between the Imperium and the Flotilla, and things would soon change for the quarian species.

Getting back to himself, he quickly unlatched the locks in his armor and placed it in a special container, bidding the machine spirit a good rest. He then turned and trotted out the door. Upon reaching the elevator, he entered and pressed the button to descend.

He reached the bottom to be greeted by the young quarian. “Hello, Malleus.”

“Greetings, Miss Zorah,” he returned, stiffening his posture to a more formal stance. “I understand you wished to see me?”

Tali gave a curt nod. “Yes. Shepard wanted me to outfit you with a kinetic barrier for your armor,” she informed, keenly looking him over. “You, uh, you don’t have to be so formal.”

Malleus loosened his stance in compliance. “Kinetic barrier? A sort of personal energy shielding used to protect against physical weapons traveling above a certain velocity, correct?”

“Yes, actually. In fact, I may be able to use a more powerful model, seeing as your armor is powered.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“A large power source for a large power drain, much larger than the standard portable batteries. If I can syphon a fraction of it, you can have many times the strength of other barriers.”

“That’s clever of you,” Malleus complimented. “Unfortunately, it is unlikely to work.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Tali asked in confusion.

“I am not sure my armor’s machine spirit will be pleased with such meddling.”

Tali blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Machine spirit. The spirit that inhabits any sufficiently advanced piece of machinery, as proclaimed by the Adeptus Mechanicus,” he explained.

“What.”

“To tamper with it without preforming the proper rituals and incantations could lead to disastrous results.”

“What.”

“Indeed, I have personally seen even battlefield repair jobs malfunction at the wrong time. Personally, my armor and weapon have performed admirably so far,” he recalled in pride. “In fact, there are many times they should have failed yet continued to function.”

Tali stared blankly at the pony. “I should go.” She left.

---

Unknown Space

The massive Marathon Class super-heavy cruiser finally ended its treacherous journey, exiting from the Immaterium in a state of disrepair. Nearly three quarters of the outer plating was gone, burned away in a surprise attack by an enemy the Imperial warship could have never imagined. Most bulkheads had been automatically sealed upon decompression, leaving few unfortunate souls to perish while saving many more.

The bridge had suffered from several explosions when the enemy’s weapon tore through the ship. The acting commander of the ship, Nocta Vigilum of the Lunar Wolves, braced herself against the railings of the bridge. The unease one normally felt from traveling through the impossible dimensions of the Immaterium was gone; after an amount of time, one simply ceased to feel the effects. Her clear mind helped cope with the stressing situation.

“Somepony get those fires out!” she commanded to nopony in particular. She pointed to the stallion working the local vox channel. “You, get a status report from all stations!” She turned to one of the mares studying the navigation map. “Any idea at all where we are?”

“No idea, ma’am,” she solemnly answered. “However, Empresses help us, we may be able to decipher a quadrant and general location.”

“A quadrant is the best that can be done?”

“Ma’am, we were just spit out of the warp after a nearly blind jump to escape from the unidentified hostile,” the mare defended. “Honestly, we should all be thankful we are alive and mostly in one piece.”

“Very well,” Nocta replied. She sighed deeply, trying to sort out the situation. Her subordinates had taken over their assigned duties, each one efficiently guiding the ponies under their command and leaving Nocta free to think ahead. First thing she should do was attempt to identify the hostile.

“Bring me up any scans we have on that ship,” she requested. In seconds, a single grainy image popped up above the holographic projector in the center of the bridge. It was utterly alien to her. Organic shapes suggesting a Tyranid bioform, but random pieces of some metallic material put that idea to rest as the Tyranids were incapable of using technology. “What can anyone tell me of the weapon used to disintegrate our hull?”

“Some type of particle beam, ma’am. A stream of molecules traveling at near-light speeds, far faster than anything the Imperium has come up with so far.”

“I know what a particle beam is,” she snapped back. “But I do wonder who could have produced such a weapon.” She examined the long, bulbous shape. It was essentially a giant tube with what appeared to be a honeycomb cut up and strewn liberally across the central cannon and engine. “And how they sneaked up on us...”

---

Standard Galactic Codex: Organizations: Adeptus Mechanicus

The Adeptus Mechanicus, formerly known as the Draconic Dominion, is Equestria’s closest and oldest ally. Upon the onset of the Pony-Eldar War, the small collection of clans scattered throughout Equestrian territory were gathered together in a deal struck between Queen Celestia and the numerous clan leaders. The reclusive but technologically advanced dragons would become the technological and manufacturing arm of the UESC. Now, hundreds of years later, they have grown considerably and incorporated more religion and ritual into their works as time went on. Instead of only dragons, the different races of ponies have been allowed into their ranks.

The typical techpriest is half organic and half machine, some more the latter than the former. They worship a god, called the Machine God (alternate: Omnissiah or Deus Mechanicus), who is said to be the embodiment and bestower of all knowledge and technology in the universe. For many in the Imperium of Equuleus, this belief conflicts with the orthodox theology of the Imperial Cult where the only god of ponykind is Amos. But since the Adeptus Mechanicus is vital to the survival of the Imperium, conflict over this issue is often avoided by the Mechanicus' willing conflation of the Machine God and Amos, and the Machine God's avatar in the physical world being the Empresses themselves. This compromise truly satisfies neither believers in the Adeptus Mechanicus or the Imperial Cult, but it keeps the peace between the two faiths and the Imperium functioning.

The Mysteries of the Cult Mechanicus:
-Life is directed motion.
-The spirit is the spark of life.
-Sentience is the ability to learn the value of knowledge.
-Intellect is the understanding of knowledge.
-Sentience is the basest form of Intellect.
-Understanding is the True Path to Comprehension.
-Comprehension is the key to all things.
-The Omnissiah knows all, comprehends all.

Author's Note:

Thanks to Dozy Dreamer for prereading.

Comments

[Adam95F]

Awesome another chapter.

Love it.

[kiri2tsubasa]

Maybe my eyes glossed over it, but were the ship dimensions the same as the Imperial Navy?

[boredhooman]

1299082
No. I'm using Halo ships in this. I figured 40k ships would be a bit overpowered. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should be able to find the ship type/class early in its introduction in the prose. Just go to the Halo wiki and search there.

[boredhooman]

1361882
Remember, it's based off of the Imperium, and has the history of Mass Effect to take into account. The only canon I intend to stay faithful to is ME. Also, I'm making Nightmare be the god of corruption, inspired by Nurgle and Slaanesh (I'm sure you can see what those two gods have to do with it) and Discord the god of... discord, inspired by Tzeentch and Khorne (Discord is a surprisingly good planner, and Khorne likes to just fuck shit up). By the way, they are lucky they exist at all, considering the whole "harvesting" thing, so there are no real threats from passing daemons during Warp travel. Same deal with the Halo portion. I'm picking and choosing what I want from it, such as the space ships. I figured 40k ships would be a little OPed when dealing with ME, and I decided to base the foundation of the Imperium on the UNSC because of creative laziness to give them a reason not to steamroll over the Council races: they've been in a war for survival for a thousand years and has only recently been turning in their favor.

And the Zerg are the Tyranids. The language had evolved in the thousand years between the prologue and first chapter.

[Adam95F]

I do not have any advice to give other than continue the story, I know this doesn't give you much if anything at all to work with but I would like to see this story continue and be awesome again, it's already awesome just needs to continue.