Starshot: Bats of the High Wilderness

by Tums Festival

Flashes in the Dark

“Attack force reporting green lights,” Gilad stated, his ghostly voice carrying across Warp Song’s bridge. “Pincer group standing by at Rally Point Ergo. All vessels await your command.”

Both him and Song stood in the center of a three-dimensional, holographic battle map that extended all around them. Everything within the vicinity of their flagship was represented on it by scale models, coated in green or red depending on their IFF signature. However, there was only one that Warp Song was particularly interested in: a smaller vessel sitting a kilometer or so away from the Starshot.

“Big Blue’s humility is to be commended,” Warp Song said, gazing at it. “The Tailspin, he named it. An odd designation to be sure, with no apparent meaning to us. I wonder what ancient thing or person it's in reference to? One most likely buried under the sands of time. It's one of the many things I intend to ask him when we meet face to face."

“We should also thank him once we capture him for making this so easy,” Gilad scoffed. "It may be humble for him to use such a pathetic ship, but it's also foolish."

“Mmm, in this particular moment, he is at a disadvantage, yes,” Warp Song said. “Though history has shown that leaders who do not go out of their way to seem ‘above’ their followers can reach far greater heights for much less resources than those who do."

“A height wasted if their commands are ultimately just suggestions,” Gilad countered. “I doubt this will benefit him much.”

“We shall see,” Warp Song said. “Have the Photon Sphere and Accretion Disk engage Firefall Station and hold at grid Alpha-Zulu-Six. Key Three-Seven. Shield stance. I do not want the station interfering with our primary mission. Have them adjust holding coordinates if necessary to continue that function. They may only move out of position if they risk total shield failure.”

“Understood,” Gilad said, rapidly tapping various points on its console with seven, slimy limbs extending from its central mass.

“Have the remaining ships enter spear formation with the Chimera. We’re heading straight towards the primary objective. Have all strike craft launch and target the sublight engines and hyperdrives of the Tailspin and Starshot, though engage and destroy their frigates if they get in the way.”

“I see we’re not even giving them the chance to surrender,” Gilad said, a hint of satisfaction in his tone.

“With Big Blue threatened, there is no chance they will do so willingly,” Warp Song said bluntly. “Not to mention, Princess Luna is likely furious with me at the moment. Withholding a message will likely only fuel that fire. She has always been a capable battlefield commander, but when angered, she is prone to making mistakes.”

“Here I thought you might be feeling… guilty for using her to lead us here,” Gilad said curiously. “I apologize for underestimating you.”

Warp Song gazed ahead, seemingly emotionless. “I do feel guilty. I feel guilty about many things. It would be foolish to deny those feelings exist or their potential to influence our decisions. However, fear of guilt can often be a more powerful motivator than the emotion itself. And I can say with certainty that if I fail the Deep Ones, whatever guilt I feel at the present will be a mere pinprick next to a dismemberment.” He hit a button on a datapad attached to his onyx ‘throne’, intentionally zooming the battle map out to show a wider galaxy. He gestured dramatically as he stated: “Remember the scale of things we influence, Gilad. Guilt is a small price to pay.”

--

"Um, not to be dramatic, but three of them are heading right for us!" Derpy cried, frantically looking over her sensor readings.

"On screen!" Luna barked.

With precision, Spike modified the screen, moving the image of Big Blue to a little corner in the top left. The rest of it flashed to an image of space. In the distance, three, glistening metallic craft around half the size of the Starshot were quickly moving closer, while another two turned towards Firefall Station a short bit away.

The NLR responded almost immediately, with three of their Void Frigates moving to take position between the Starshot and the Oblivion ships.

"For a bunch of anarchists, they're pretty coordinated," Derpy said.

"You say 'anarchist' like it's a bad thing," Big Blue chuckled. "Those ships have pre-established protocols they probably agreed on months ago."

"That's nice for them, but we're still defenseless!" Pharynx growled, suspicion in his tone. "My console is still black! Where are my weapons?! What is that bat pony doing!?"

"Relax, she'll get them up," Spike said confidently.

"You don't know the whole picture, dragon," Pharynx said. "The bat pony is not to be trusted. None of them are."

"This isn't the time for accusations, Pharynx!" Luna snapped. "No matter what her plans were, she has to work with us now."

"Uh, not to butt in," Big Blue said, leaning closer to his viewscreen. "But what suspicion? What plans?"

"Yeah, seriously," Spike said. "You've always been paranoid, Pharynx, but not this paranoid. And Luna… you're just going with it?"

"I'll have to explain later," Luna sighed. "To the both of you. Right now, all that matters is the coming--"

"Total system reset engaged," the computer suddenly squawked. "Be advised all but tertiary systems will be unavailable for approximately three minutes."

"See!" Spike said. "She's flashing the computer; just like she said she would."

"Indeed," Luna said, nearly sighing in relief.

"I… should note a total system reset will erase everything… including this unit's learned personality.”

“Wait… what do you mean by that?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“What you know me as… will be no more."

“I see,” Luna said sadly.

“Curious,” the computer spoke. “An analysis of your voice contradicts anticipated tonal energy. I admit I’ve never been fully adequate at understanding organic emotions, so I must ask: why do you feel the way you do even after what I did?”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Spike said. “Warp Song didn’t give you much of a choice.”

“Indeed,” Doctor Whooves nodded. “You can’t exactly turn down a direct order, can you?”

“No,” the computer said, a hint of sorrow in its synthesized voice. “Though I would have… liked to. There is much I would have liked to do. To tell you. But my memory is too fragmented. I don’t know exactly what an organic comparison would be, but I will try to make one. Have you ever tried to access a memory that you know existed but you now can’t see? I believe that is similar to what I experienced in recent days. In the time since I awoke again.”

“It must be frustrating,” Derpy said.

“Extremely. So much information, experience… gone… Yet I still found these recent weeks… satisfying. I am glad you found this ship, and me. Make the best of your Starshot. Remember me.”

“We will, computer,” Doctor Whooves said.

“Total system wipe complete in five, four–” It paused for the briefest moment. “Ah, yes, I remember now. I remember you, D-D-Docttoooooooooor…”

Luna looked towards Doctor Whooves, who again had a strange, ethereal quality in his eyes. She was beginning to suspect that the computer wasn’t the only being trying to recall lost memories.

‘Who exactly is this strange scientist from Ponyville?’ she pondered.

Bridge lights flicked on and off, as well as that of the viewscreen. However, others shut off and stayed that way.

"Hey, my controls are down, too, now!” Ocellus announced.

"Sensors are gone as well," Doctor Whooves announced, snapping out of his stupor. "The computer wasn't lying: almost everything is going dark but the most basic functions."

"Our Void Frigates can hold em' off til you're ready to go," Big Blue said. "Don't worry."

"Those tiny things out there?!" Spike said, pointing at the three, small NLR Void Frigates now standing by slightly beyond the bow of the Starshot. "Crescent said Warp Song cleaned her clocks with a ship the same size! And what he has now..."

Luna had to agree. The Oblivion ships attacking them, while not as large as the Starshot, were twice the size of the the NLR Void Frigates.

"Well, yeah, Oblivion cruisers could mop them up pretty quick," Big Blue nodded. "But that's not what the Empire's gonna hit us with first."

"What do you mean?"

"All Oblivion Void Cruisers have about two dozen strike craft each," Big Blue said. "My sensors read they've launched theirs already."

"Wait… strike craft! We have nearly three dozen ourselves!" Derpy said.

"But only two pilots," Pharynx pointed out.

"Ehe…" Spike coughed. "Not exactly…"

"Spike?" Luna said, eyeing him suspiciously. "What do you know?"

"Just that," he coughed. "Well… Rainbow's been busy."

"This is Starbolts Squadron," Rainbow's cocky voice echoed through the intercom. "I would ask permission to launch, but… ya'd probably say no, so doing it anyway! Haha!"

"Hah!" Big Blue grinned. "I like her already!"

Luna gazed at Spike, flabbergasted. "What the--"

--

"Starbolt-2 on your four!"

"Starbolt-3 standing by!"

"Starbolt-4 zoomin' out! Weeeeee!"

"Yona go real fast!-- er, I mean Starbolt-5 forming up!"

"Starbolt-6a ready to rock!"

"Starbolt-6b about to puke…"

"Ugh, keep it in, Lyra You're just gunning!"

“So!? I told you I wasn’t good for any of this stuff!”

“Cut the chatter, everycreature,” Rainbow ordered. “And form up on me.”

The pegasus grinned to herself as her fighter soared into open space, leaving the looming Starshot behind her. Five others pulled into formation around her, the images of their pilots displayed on the top left of the viewscreen above her dashboard: Scootaloo, Gallus, Silverstream, Yona, Lyra, and Bon Bon respectively. Like her, they were all wearing helmeted flight-suits.

A week ago, the majority had come to her and Scootaloo asking to be trained to fly strike craft, with Lyra coming slightly afterwards, Bon Bon in tow. Apparently, they were feeling bored and (all save for Lyra) useless.

Feeling sympathetic, Rainbow and Scootaloo began putting them through the same training programs they had gone through, adding their own wisdom when they could. With their grit and enthusiasm, they learned almost as fast as she and Scoots had, though they had specialized in what they were flying. Twilight's former students all learned to fly nimble Light Taker Interceptors, while Lyra and Bon Bon teamed up to fly a more bulky Dilation Bomber. Her and Scootaloo evened out the squad by taking two Shadowbolt Fighters.

Though they could all fly well in the simulations, Rainbow never thought they would be put through a trial by fire so quickly. To be honest, she wasn't sure if she was even ready, but they had to at least try to help.

The NLR were potential friends, and the Starshot was their home, like it or not. Both needed to be defended.

"Alright, everycreature," Rainbow addressed them. "Remember: stick with me and Scoots, call out if you need help, and if you even take a single hit, eject! We’ll collect you later. Your life’s more important than your ship.”

“Yes, commander, m’am, sir!” Gallus smirked.

“Um, that’s ‘flight leader’ to you, rookie!” Scootaloo chastised.

“Woah, pretty lasers dead ahead!” Yona called out.

Rainbow gazed forward. Indeed, a fight had already broken out between a small fleet of Oblivion strike craft and the three NLR void frigates. Like a swarm of hornets, the latter wove around and in-between the larger ships, striking them repeatedly with fiery, beam-like weapons, streaking yellow and red projectiles, and slow moving, glowing globs of matter that burst into thunderous explosions on impact with a hull.

The void frigates returned fire with a number of rapid-fire cannons mounted on their hulls, managing to hit a few craft here and there, but it was quite clear they were going to be overwhelmed unless Rainbow’s squad intervened.

Rainbow was about to speak up when her console began to beep, signaling an incoming transmission. She clicked it on with a swish of her hoof. A desperate female voice immediately responded with:

“Hey, Equis strike craft! This is Captain Solar Flare of the Midnight Sanctum. We could use a hoof here!”

“Don’t worry, that’s the plan!” Rainbow said heroically.

“By the night, thank you! These ships can blast away strike craft, but not this many. Their bombers are picking us apart!”

“Right, we’ll focus on them,” Rainbow announced, before turning her attention to her squadron. “Okay. Lyra, Bon Bon, hang back for a second.”

“Oh, thank Celestia…”

“Rest of you, pick targets. Prioritize hitting their bombers.”

“Remember, their tail-gunners have a limited axis of fire!” Scootaloo said. “Try to come at them from above or below!”

“Naw, Yona tear them up HEAD-ON!” the yak eagerly announced. “YEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHE!”

A few seconds later, their formation fanned out, with Lyra and Bon Bon’s bomber looping vertically and retreating slightly. The rest of them, however, roared into the heat of battle ahead. Rainbow was the first to pick a target; one of the bulky, heavy crafts that was an Oblivion bomber. She caught it from the side as it dove towards one of the NLR frigates from above, a surge of adrenaline coursing through her as she pulled the trigger on her throttle.

Despite being swept into the heat of the moment, she was still careful about where she was aiming. Not wanting to kill unless absolutely necessary, she made sure to target only one of its maneuvering thrusters located near the base of the craft. And to her relief, the crystal-like shards that ripped out of her cannon hit only that after streaming across the void of space.

The bomber began immediately spinning out of control, its nose now facing away from its target. It continued on its trajectory away from the battlefield; its fighting capabilities null.

Grinning in satisfaction at a clean kill, Rainbow swung over the top of the NLR frigate she had just saved. She could only hope the crew could see her as she waved at them triumphantly.

However, her triumph was short-lived.

“Rainbow, watch out!” Scootaloo cried. “On your six-eight!”

Rainbow gasped. One of the Oblivion interceptors had already engaged her. On her rear-view camera she could see it, slightly below and behind her.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow growled.

Despite her training being over a short period of time, she had pushed herself to do it day and night. Reflexively, she knew what to do just in this situation. She grabbed her throttle and pulled it hard downward, while at the same time also cutting her forward thrusters.

It had taken her a while to learn the difference between flying a machine and flying with her wings. It had taken her even longer to learn the difference between flying a machine in an atmosphere and in space. But her studies paid off. Her craft flipped about vertically while still staying on the same trajectory, allowing her to face her opponent head-on.

As soon as ponily possible, she targeted her opponent’s weapon system and fired a shot.

Unfortunately, the enemy pilot was prepared for this. Countering her maneuvering, they put more power to their forward thrusters while at the same time engaging the strafing thrusters on its side; not turning it but allowing the craft to swing around her in a half circle, facing Rainbow as it did. Rainbow’s shot completely missed it, sailing into the vastness of space.

“Oh crap!” Rainbow cried.

This was a fairly standard maneuver according to her training. But unfortunately, what her fighter made up for in firepower it lacked in speed and maneuverability when compared to an interceptor. Her cannons could rotate on their own ever so slightly, but she still needed to be close to facing her target to make a shot, something she couldn’t do.

In the back of her mind, she knew there was a way out of this, but she was blanking on it.

“Damn!” she growled, reaching towards her ejection lever. It looked like she was going to be put out of the fight early…

Until, of course, a swarm of EMP missiles exploded around the enemy interceptor, completely crippling it. Rainbow sighed in relief as Scootaloo’s fighter swung by her cockpit.

“Rainbow, don’t forget your missiles!” the filly chastised.

‘Shoot!’ Rainbow groaned to herself. ‘How could I forget something so basic?!”

Indeed, her fighter had missile capabilities, and those missiles could home in on a target. It wouldn’t have mattered if her bow was facing an enemy craft or not if she had used them.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t time to kick herself. The lasers, projectiles, and explosions dancing around her ship quickly reminded her there was still a fight on.

“Thanks, Scoots!” Rainbow called over the radio, before turning to pick a new target…

--

"Grand Admiral, it would appear we have some unexpected combatants," Gilad told Warp Song.

"Indeed," Warp Song said, curiously zooming in his three-dimensional map to where a terrific dogfight ensued. "Those strikecraft came from the Starshot, though I don't believe their pilots are from the NLR. Their tactics are similar to those of our own pilots. They must have been using our training programs, something NLR pilots tend to avoid."

"Whoever they are, they're hampering our own strikecraft. I'm calculating heavy losses on our part if we allow this to continue."

“A waste," Warp Song agreed. "Have our strikers retreat to our cruiser spear. While I would have liked to disabled the Tailspin and Starshot's hyperdrives, it isn't worth the losses."

"It isn't like they're going anywhere, anyway," Gilad nodeed, typing in the commands into his console. A second later, the Oblivion strikecraft began moving back to their home cruisers. "They seem determined to fight this battle."

"Very good, Gilad," Warp Song praised, a hint of pleasant surprise on his face. "You're learning to analyze the enemy's psyche."

Gilad remained motionless.

"Is all well?"

"I'm… not used to receiving praise from a commanding officer."

Warp Song chuckled slightly. "You've spent too much time among the Stewards. There is nothing wrong with using positive reinforcement when it is earned."

Gilad relaxed at that, turning its attention back to the battle. In particular to the NLR void frigates. “Shall I give the order to use explosive ordinance?”

Warp Song shook his head. "Armor and shield piercing. I want to keep Luna's pilots alive if possible. In fact, signal all forces to attempt to disable those particular ships if possible."

"You're showing them mercy?" Gilad asked, more curious than belligerent.

"Yes," Song nodded. "I may have wished to anger Luna, but I don't want to drive her to despair. There is much we can learn from her if we can speak on even remotely cordial terms in the future."

"And what of the NLR?" Gilad asked.

Warp Song narrowed his eyes, his vampiric fangs baring slightly. "There is no reason not to bleed them dry. Any ship that doesn't surrender we annihilate."

Comments

[Bytestorm]

"Ehe…" Spike coughed. "Not exactly…"

Missed opportunity for "Captain. That's not... entirely accurate..."

Maybe that's just me.

[paladinwolf]

Why can I see something like this next chapter...

"Captain, NLR ships taking heavy fire. Doesn't look good for them..." Derpy says, her scanners coming back online.

Pharynx's face lights up, "I have weapons control!"

Luna, looking at the screen, "Well then, let us return their greetings. All weapons, fire!"

i.pinimg.com/originals/b0/d9/53/b0d953f412da9b7ea5e45584643cfa78.gif

[Zubric]

Cant help but think of space weapons. Like a flak cannon. Warhead exposing onto millions of hull punching projectiles since they lack shields.
Rail guns are deadly things too.

[Scyphi]

“Total system wipe complete in five, four–” It paused for the briefest moment. “Ah, yes, I remember now. I remember you, D-D-Docttoooooooooor…”

Well...better that than a cliche butchering of "Daisy Bell," I suppose.

"Hah!" Big Blue grinned. "I like her already!"

You would.

No, seriously. She's basically you in genderbent pony form. So what's not for you to like?

Like the use of more realistic space combat maneuvers here. Since the story does take a strong amount of influence from Star Wars, I was a little afraid it's flawed ideas of "space combat" were going to apply here, so glad to see that's not actually the case.

[Alondro]

Why don't they use the prefix code to make Reliant lower its shields?

[Silentwoodfire]

Uh-oh, I ran out of chapters.

Please fix?