2: The Fourth
>PRE-START LEVEL 4 SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
>
>PRIMARY POWER: ONLINE
>AUXILIARY POWER: ONLINE
>LIFE SUPPORT: ONLINE
>MAIN DRIVES: ONLINE
>MANOEUVRING THRUSTERS: ONLINE
>WAKE-JUMP DRIVE: ONLINE
>DORSAL FLAK CANNON: ONLINE
>VENTRAL FLAK CANNON: OFFLINE
>WEAPON SUB-SYSTEMS: ONLINE
>INERTIAL DAMPENING SYSTEMS: ONLINE
>NAVIGATION: ONLINE
>SENSORS ARRAY: ONLINE
>HULL INTEGRITY: WITHIN ACCEPTABLE TOLERANCES
>
>ANALYSIS COMPLETE
>
>BEGIN STARTUP SEQUENCE
>
The grounds of Canterlot vibrated lightly as several thousand tonnes of metal groaned to life. After the crude clamps of the dock decoupled from Manaan, the frigate drifted lazily away from the castle while maintaining altitude. Though atypical behaviour, Captain Soban had been overly cautious during the entire process. A failure of either the fusion power plant, or the ion-drive engines would send Manaan and its occupants spiralling down to their deaths.
Convinced everything seemed to hold, the Captain plotted a course towards the plains referenced in Twilight’s novel while maintaining a relatively slow speed. Although a flak frigate could cruise at almost 600 kilometres an hour with no drag, Captain Soban kept velocity to a minimum, at least initially. This allowed him to carry out further examinations of primary and secondary systems, and it gave the makeshift crew some extra time to learn as much as they could about their stations through observation. A strict ‘do not touch’ rule was enforced unless ordered otherwise. Somepony inadvertently firing a flak shell or jettisoning volatile equipment could spell gruesome disaster for anything caught within the blast radius.
As Manaan proceeded further away from Canterlot, Soban reminisced over the events of the previous weeks. A major part of him knew that trusting a group of strange creatures to run his ship was downright insane. On the other hand, had he not done so, his only other alternative would have likely been to spend the rest of his life on this planet. A fate the Captain secretly did not mind.
Despite suspecting impaired judgement, these ponies had too much enthusiasm and joy, along with such unique personalities, that Soban could not come up with a single reason not to trust them beyond their inexperience. Even in the interviews he held for his potential shipmates, the Captain enjoyed meeting each new member, partaking in especially long conversations with several ponies, some of whom showed much promise. Each new member was as special and fascinating as the last, and he couldn’t help but grin foolishly as he replayed many moments in his mind.
He broke out of his reverie when he noticed Twilight and her friends, remembering why they were on board in the first place. “So, Elements of Harmony, huh?” Soban addressed the six mares who had been watching the scenery roll by them below. “I’m not sure I fully understand it. From what I’ve read, it sounds more like a weapon, than objects that actually maintain harmony.”
Twilight stepped forward. “Well, not exactly. The magic behind it is complex. It’s not as if anypony can pick up an Element and use it. The Elements of Harmony only work when all six ponies have the defining characteristics reflective of whichever Element they use. Even if one of the six do not meet that criteria, the Elements will fail completely.”
“So it has a few safeguards. It still sounds like a weapon. Perhaps one activated by the good intentions of the users, but a weapon nonetheless,” Soban retorted. “Suppose you are forced to use the Elements against your will, or are manipulated and convinced that something evil is actually the right thing to do. Elements of Harmony, no more.”
“I … suppose,” Twilight hesitated. “I can’t see that ever happening though. The Elements are kept safe with the Princesses and would only be used with their express permission.”
Soban shrugged. “Anything is a possibility.”
“Are you implying something about our Princesses there, Cap’?” Rainbow Dash zoomed towards the Captain and hovered mere centimetres from his face.
“You must be the Element of Loyalty,” Soban smiled. “I respect that quality in a man. Or mare. Regardless, no, I was not implying anything, but part of my job is to analyse things from multiple perspectives and look at all possibilities, no matter how improbable or insignificant.”
“Easy there, fella,” Applejack tugged on Rainbow’s tail. “Ya don’t wanna tick off the alien with the big spaceship thingy now, do ya?”
“It’s not that big,” Rainbow Dash huffed.
Captain Soban chuckled. “True, this is only one of our frigate class vessels. It’s the third smallest class of military vessel we use. However, our battlecruisers are almost a kilometre in length. Bigger isn’t always better though. Sometimes speed is more important.”
Rainbow folded her forelegs. “Well there’s something we can agree on.”
“Speaking of which, I think it should be safe to push our drives to their limits …”
According to Manaan’s readouts, no anomalies or noteworthy issues arose as the Captain ordered the slow and steady speed increments to maximum drive output. Despite the amateur repair work, the engines responded beyond expectations, only falling short of their true potential by a small percentage. Soban attributed this to atmospheric drag, rather than any shortcomings from the power plant.
“We still have about an hour before we arrive in the general region,” Soban commented. “You’re all welcome to use any of the crew quarters if you’d like, or you can stick around for the weapons tests.”
“I think I shall retire to one of your suites,” Rarity announced. “I’m not one for explosions, loud noises, and the like. Please inform me once we have arrived,” she finished, stepping off the bridge.
“I … think I’ll do the same,” Fluttershy added, slinking out after Rarity.
Twilight’s eyes darted across the skies. “Now, are you sure about this, Captain? If there are any pegasi nea—”
“Relax Twilight, the ship’s sensors can pick up heat signatures, small objects, radiation and almost anything else you can throw at them. Now unless pegasi have cloaking technology … well, that’s another issue. Uhh, Equestria doesn’t have cloaking technology, right?”
Twilight shook her head, while Soban notified his weapons crew over the internal communications system.
“Nova, Firelance, are you two ready down there? Let’s start off with a manual control of the cannon. Rotate it all the way around and then up and down ninety degrees.”
“Sure thing, Captain,” the gruff voice of Firelance replied.
…
“Perfect, everything looks normal over here,” Soban remarked, as he focused on a readout displaying weapons information. “Now load and fire a single shell at that small cloud, slightly above and to our right. Seven degrees starboard. Remember to select the correct distance, or the shell will detonate at the wrong time. I’ll slow us down for an easier shot.”
“Cannon loaded. Aligned, aaaaannnd …”
The sound of a single muffled blast echoed throughout the interior of Manaan as the flak shell accelerated out of the topside turret at high velocity towards the small cumulus cloud, detonating nearby and tearing the cloud into numerous smaller chunks. Applejack and Rainbow Dash cheered, while Pinkie Pie bounced around Twilight, who merely flinched at the momentary light show.
“Nice aim, Firelance,” Soban remarked. “You were off by two or three degrees, but the blast still took care of it. Now Nova, load another round, set the turret tracking back to automatic and target the next cloud.”
“But the nearest one is over four hundred metres away!”
“That’s not a problem. We can shoot even further if we wanted to.”
“Alright, the system is tracking, and the cannon is good to go.”
“Fire when ready.”
Compensating for the speed of the frigate, the turret deviated a fraction of a degree from the cloud situated abeam the warship, launching the next shell shortly after. Direction and distance were calculated to near perfection, as the shell entered the heart of the cloud, obliterating it in a brilliant display of pyrotechnics.
“Great work you two! You’d make fine gunners! Let’s try some more challenging targets …”
“Alright, playtime is over. We’re approaching our destination. Start scanning.”
Although referred to as plains, the area Manaan begun a search pattern around was more akin to a desert with rocky plateaus and mesas randomly scattered throughout the region, along with the odd cactus littered here and there. It didn’t take long for the sensors to return a positive result, through considering the size of the contact, no ship could have missed it.
“I—I think I have something. Something really big!” Zenith, a copper-coated Earth pony on navigation and sensors reported. “Thirty-nine degrees port, approximately fifty metres underground and … one hundred and fifty metres in length!”
“Sounds promising,” Soban replied. “Let’s do a quick flyby first, then set down nearby and check it out.”
Manaan’s sensors indicated the object was situated within a nearby mesa, one with anomalies in its composition. As Manaan set itself down on top, sending a cloud of sand and dust in to the air, it was clear this was no ordinary mesa. The long, low echo heard even from within Manaan suggested whatever they had landed on was neither solid, nor rock.
“Nova, you and Firelance should keep the flak cannon ready,” Soban ordered, before turning to the others. “Twilight, you and your friends meet me at the armoury. I’ll get Rarity and Fluttershy. Everyo—Everypony else, stay at your stations.”
The Captain split off from Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie shortly after exiting the bridge, as he made his way towards the crew quarters. Inspecting each room, he eventually found Fluttershy, knocking lightly and eliciting a barely audible ‘eep’ from her.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Have you seen Rarity? We have arrived.”
“Oh, well she is in the, umm … big room.”
“Big—my quarters?” Soban sighed. “Alright, let’s go get her.”
“So, what are we doing here?” Fluttershy trotted beside Soban. “Twilight didn’t really explain much.”
“Ahh, I’m not sure, actually. All we know is that your Elements might somehow be connected to whatever it is we have come to investigate, so Twilight must have figured you might be useful together. I don’t know, this whole Elements thing and ‘magic’ is all new to me.”
Soban approached his quarters, purposefully knocking hard upon the open metal door as he spotted the white unicorn sprawled over his bed in a most unladylike fashion.
“WAHAHA! Captain Soban! Do you not know it is rude to disturb a lady while she is resting?”
“No offence ma’am, but you are in my quarters, and you did ask me to let you know of our arrival.”
“You could have at least made a little less noise,” Rarity pouted. “Besides, your bed is sooo much more luxurious than those abominations in the other rooms. How can you live with yourself, knowing your crew suffer like that?”
“I’m not the one who designed this vessel,” Soban shrugged, as he motioned Rarity to follow him.
The other four mares were casually conversing outside the armoury when Soban arrived with the other two in tow. As he searched for equipment, he addressed his new exploratory team. “Here’s the plan: Whatever we landed on seems to be metal underneath, so it’s not a natural formation. It’s not completely solid either, so something might be within. We will disembark, search for an entrance, then take a look around inside.
Removing a pair of elongated devices from locked stowages, Soban offered one ot each unicorn. “Twilight, Rarity, take a pulsar rifle. I doubt we will need them as this place was probably abandoned thousands of years ago, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Keep that safety lock on, unless I tell you otherwise, ensure you don’t accidentally squeeze the trigger with your magic, and under no circumstances are you to point your rifles near any of us. Best keep it pointed at the ground when not in use.”
Levitating her rifle closer, Twilight nodded. “Got it.”
“What about the rest of us? I want a cool gun too!” Rainbow Dash piped up.
“Sorry Rainbow, but unless you have fingers or telekinetic abilities, there’s no way you will be able to pull the trigger on one.”
“Ahh ponyfeathers!” Rainbow stomped a hoof on the ground.
“Everypony should also take a headset, and a pair of night-vision goggles. They aren’t designed for your heads, but I think they should still fit well enough to work. I’ll take a few glow-sticks as well—”
“Ooh, no need! I brought my own!” Pinkie reached around behind her and pulled out a large bundle of glow-sticks. “I also brought a turntable, some speakers and wide selection of music for an emergency dance party!” she continued, pulling out and returning each item in succession.
“Where do you keep all of that?” Soban paced around Pinkie in a futile attempt to locate her possessions.
“With me, silly!” Pinkie bounced away towards the airlock.
Soban opened his mouth, before Twilight stopped him, with ‘don’t ask’ written all over her face.
“Okay, let’s get a radio check. Can you all hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Ah-huh.”
“Yup.”
“Aye-aye, Captain!”
“Indeed.”
“Umm …”
“Excellent! Nova, you reading us all in there?”
“Loud and clear. We’re ready for anything!”
“Hopefully you won’t need to be,” Soban responded, resting his rifle on his shoulder. “Alright ladies, let’s fan out. Look for anything on the ground indicative of an entrance.”
The moment Soban finished his sentence, Rainbow Dash took off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake while Pinkie Pie zipped around in anything but a methodical fashion and the others went searching in their own directions. Although it was impossible to get lost on the flat top of the mesa, searching almost five hectares of land was a challenge in itself.
Fifteen minutes later, Applejack called out from the edge of the mesa, “Captain! Ah think there’s somethin’ over here!”
The entire group rushed towards Applejack, who had been tracing out grooves in the ground. By the time the others arrived, she had finished creating the outline to a large square hatch, roughly four metres each way.
“Now how do we get in? Ah can’t see no door handle or keyhole,” Applejack added, while Soban cleared the dirt and sand away, placed his ear to the hatch and hit it with his fist several times at different locations.
“Well it’s definitely an entrance of some kind, so we should be able to open it somehow.” Soban stood up and dusted himself off, before turning to Twilight. “You should be able to teleport in and find a way to open it from the other side.”
“What?” Twilight stepped back. “Oh, no no no, I can’t do that. If I don’t know where I’m going to appear, I might end up in a wall!”
“Trust me on this, Twilight. This door is no thicker than my arm. See where I’m standing? I want you to appear two metres underneath me. If there’s no light inside, your rifle has a torch on it. Look around for some kind of controls, or a panel nearby. If you can’t find one, come back out and take us inside anyway.”
“What if it’s just a long shaft in there? I could hurt myself!” Twilight retorted.
Applejack snickered. “Take Rainbow with ya, then. She won’t have a problem if there’s a—heh, long shaft inside.”
“Ahh, shut your hay hole, AJ!” Rainbow snapped. “She’s right, though, Twi. I should probably hold on to you in case there’s a long drop, or something.”
“O—Okay, then I think I’m ready.” Twilight gulped. “One … Two … Thr—”
*POOF*
Soban tapped his headset a few seconds after the unicorn and pegasus disappeared in a bright purple flash. “Twilight? Can you hear me?”
…
“Yes. Yes I can. Give me a moment.”
A low grumbling noise accompanied the sliding motion of the hatch as it parted, the vibrations causing nearby pebbles to dance, and dirt around the frame to fall in to the cavity that was revealed, sending Twilight into a coughing fit as she tried to fan away the cloud of sand and soil. As the airborne particles settled, Soban descended the short stairwell within, while the others followed suit.
“Interesting. This place has power,” Soban muttered. “Nice work Twilight. Now all of you, get behind me and stay close. Pinkie, drop a glow-stick here please. We’ll need it if one or more of us get lost.”
The brilliant, fluorescent green glow-stick put Hiigaran military-grade glow-sticks to shame, as it provided a source of light that illuminated a significant section of the long, narrow passageway. Captain Soban held his rifle at the ready, while the nervous six remained behind him, with Twilight bringing up the rear and occasionally scanning the area behind her. Eventually, the group reached the end of the passageway, stepping on to a large round platform. A small console stood in the centre.
“So, what now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Now?” Soban hummed. He looked over the symbols printed on the console’s buttons for a few seconds, before stating, “We go down.” As it became all too obvious they were in an elevator, he pressed one of the buttons and waited for the machine to come alive.
A low whine reverberated throughout the elevator shaft as the platform descended sluggishly. As the floating surface arrived at its destination after a couple of minutes, the ensuing silence was broken only by the quickened breaths of Twilight, and Fluttershy’s racing heartbeat, as all seven briefly remained motionless. Despite the pitch black darkness interrupted only by each rifle’s beam of light, and the eerie uncertainly of being alone, Soban pressed on, taking step by cautious step.
“Pinkie, another glow-stick over here, please.”
The group headed past several corridors, as Soban glanced briefly at each passageway, heading down one as his eyes became fixated on a faint glow that emanated from a large room nearby. As they entered, they doused their lights on the source of the glow. A large collection of consoles, panels and various other electronic devices greeted them. Soban inspected everything in detail.
“I’m going to hazard a guess that this is some kind of control room,” he began. “But controls for what? I haven’t got a clue. Who knows what these d—NO NO PINKIE, DON’T—”
With a glow-stick in her mouth, the living incarnation of a permanent caffeine high pushed random buttons and played with levers and sliders as if she were the DJ from Soban’s welcoming party. By the time the Captain had restrained her, a pair of rusty metal shutters on the windows at the far end of the control room retracted, revealing a massive chamber. A single object stood within it, no doubt that which Manaan’s sensors had detected. The lack of significant lighting only resulted in the visibility of the object’s rough outline.
“Whoah, what is that thing?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head to one side.
Soban frowned. “I’m not sure. I think it’s a ship. We need more light. I wonder if any of these—”
“Ooh, I bet these turn on the lights!” Pinkie piped up.
“Hey, what did I just say about—you did, didn’t you?”
“It’s working, isn’t it? Look!”
Captain Soban turned around in time to witness the lighting within the gigantic chamber turn on systematically. As each light activated, the object became increasingly visible, until its outline and larger details were further defined.
The wide but shallow object would have been just about rectangular in its frontal profile, were it not for two roughly half-oval voids on each side that gave the object a striking appearance of a pair of thick prongs on either end. In the centre, nestled between the two pronged sections, sat a large round dome.
“Kiith’s blood!” Captain Soban gasped, dropping his rifle.
He refused to believe what stood majestically in front of him. Despite everything he had known, everything he and every other Hiigaran believed, there he stood, within the presence of the fourth ancient hyperspace core.
“Captain?” Fluttershy gently prodded the catatonic Soban with her hoof. “Captain, are you alright?”
Soban was speechless, his mouth agape.
“What’s the big deal?” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “Your ship is way cooler anyway.”
“You—You don’t understand,” Soban finally spoke up. “That is no ship. That is a device allowing ships to travel vast distances through space. A hyperspace core. Bu—But this? This makes no sense!”
“Can somepony please tell me what is going on?” Rarity spoke up.
Soban shook his head and returned to reality. “Later. Our objectives haven’t changed. We need to retrieve that core. The core got in, so there must be a way out. Perhaps a—”
“Got it!” Pinkie yelled, slamming her hoof on another button, causing the entire complex to rumble, as a pair of massive doors opened up above the core.
“Alright Twilight, get us back up to the surface,” Soban ordered, picking up his rifle. “We need to find a way to get this core back to Canterlot.”
Due to the sheer size of the core, ferrying it back with Manaan was simply impossible, so the next best alternative was conceived.
“Twilight, you remember how my ship ended up in Canterlot, yes?” the Captain began. “That is, with the Princess moving it there from the forest? Well I’m going to ask Princess Celestia to do the same thing with the core. I’m sorry you six weren’t needed today,” he continued while he powered up Manaan’s drives. “I’m sure you all had better things to do. The least I can do is to take a detour and drop you all off at Ponyville before I return to Canterlot.”
“Now do you mind explaining what happened down there, and why this ‘core’ of yours is so special?” Rarity enquired. “I shan’t consider this a wasted day if I have an explanation at the very least.”
“It’s a long and complicated story,” Soban began. “Many millennia ago, an ancient race known as the Progenitors thrived in our galaxy. It was they who forged the hyperspace cores. Everything we know suggests only three cores were created. This made sense, considering a Progenitor ship named after the god Sajuuk, which is our current flagship, contains a triangular section near its engines. Well, it’s a hexagon that looks like a triangle, but that’s irrelevant. Within this section, three hollow pits house a single core each. No historical evidence has ever even hinted the possibility of a fourth core. Here, I can bring up a video of Sajuuk …”
At almost five kilometres in length, the enigmatic ship could be more accurately described as an astronomical cannon strapped to an engine. Sure enough in the aft section sat the triangular compartment where the cores themselves powered the vessel. A path of exterior components zigzagging along each side of the behemoth served as tracks spanning the distance between the core section and the business end of the super-weapon.
As its cannon charged, a sparkling, golden aura travelled the path, ultimately lighting up the entire track as the phased cannon array unleashed the wrath of the ship’s namesake, completely penetrating the hulls of several vessels unfortunate enough to get caught in the beam.
“Cool! What kind of alien monsters did you have to battle to take that thing?” Rainbow asked, punching the air with her forehooves.
“It was abandoned. In time, the Progenitors disappeared from our galaxy. Perhaps from war or disease, we don’t know. As they faded away, many of their creations became lost in our galaxy, including Sajuuk and the cores. Eventually, different races discovered the cores, bringing gifts and curses with them. Sajuuk was obtained recently when another race waged war to steal our core, and another race’s, so they could awaken and take Sajuuk for themselves. Those who owned the first core sacrificed the last of their people to save us from the automated Progenitor ships that pursued us relentlessly. They gave us their core, and in the final stages of the war, we defeated the enemy flagship and obtained Sajuuk.”
“I’m guessing that explains your confusion as to why a fourth core exists, and what possible purpose it might have, yes?” Twilight asked, to which Soban nodded. “Hmm …”
It was well into the afternoon when Manaan approached Ponyville. Captain Soban decided to fly around the town rather than over it to avoid bothering the locals with the deafening noise of five ion-drive engines, as they set down at Sweet Apple Acres. One by one, the bearers of the Elements disembarked and said their goodbyes, until Twilight remained.
“Captain, do you mind if I return to Canterlot with you? I might have a few theories on this fourth core predicament, but I will require some information on the Progenitors from your ship’s computer, and a visit to the Canterlot archives.”
“Sure. I’ll be waiting on the bridge if you want to say goodbye to the others. See you another time, you five!” Soban nodded at the other mares as he left.
It didn’t take long for Manaan to resume its journey towards the capital. Though Soban was curious as to what theories Twilight had, she refused to divulge any information, as each theory seemed more far-fetched than the last. Instead, she poured over the data stored on Manaan’s computer for the duration of the trip.
Upon arrival, Princess Celestia stood ready to greet the Captain and his crew, while the noise of the approaching vessel attracted a crowd of onlookers. Though Celestia expected all to disembark, only Twilight and the Captain emerged. After a brief explanation of the events that had transpired, the Princess boarded the frigate while Twilight headed off.
Captain Soban broke the long silence after Manaan had left Canterlot for the second time, “Princess, do you mind if I ask you an odd question?”
“Not at all. Ask away.”
“You seem almost too comfortable with some alien flying around your land in a giant killing machine, going so far as to assist me with the retrieval of a powerful artefact. How do you know I won’t just turn on you once I have a way back home? In fact, how do you know my fleet won’t suddenly appear in the sky to destroy your planet? I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but we do have a massive technological advantage over Equestria and there are plenty of valuable resources here. Basically, why are you helping me?”
The princess did not answer immediately, staring outside as she formulated her reply. “Technology is not the only form of power, my dear Captain. It may be yours, but ours stems from magic, something that takes many forms. Even harmony, friendship, unity, and love are forms of magic, all more powerful than you think. In fact, such magic is underestimated by many, becoming the downfall of several evils who have threatened Equestria. While I would never welcome a conflict between us, we would most certainly present a challenge for all who would oppose us.”
The Princess paused, removing her gaze from the pristine landscape and turning towards the Captain. “As for you? At the end of the day, you are lost and trapped here. You have come to trust us as much as we have come to trust you. The proof is all around you, with the ponies who have enthusiastically agreed to run your ship. If and when you reunite with your people, our cooperation would serve as a foundation for good relations between us, and that can only be beneficial to us both.”
“I’ll admit even now, I don’t see such magic to be particularly powerful, even if there are some useful things you can do, but I’ll take your word on it. Still, I can’t say I’m convinced this is actual ‘magic’. There has to be a more scientif—”
“Captain, can you, uhh … Can you take a look outside and confirm something?” Nova’s nervous voice suddenly rang through the bridge. “I’m seeing a bunch of dots on my screen ahead of us.”
…
“ALL STOP!”
Manaan whined and pitched down slightly, as the engines brought the vessel to an abrupt halt. Sensors picked up multiple contacts on closing vectors, already within visual range. A detailed scan of the flying objects revealed all too familiar details of nine ships approaching in formation. Each ship was smaller than Manaan and had the suggestive appearance of two smaller ships combined to create the top and bottom section of a larger vessel. Soban knew better, as the bottom section was an engine, while the top section contained a rapid fire plasma cannon, and a device used to attach itself to larger objects.
“Movers. This complicates things,” Soban muttered, turning to Celestia. “Time to see just how powerful this magic of yours is, Princess. I have an idea …”
The shrill alarm of battle status rang throughout the ship, signifying the first real test of Manaan and its crew against a threat. Captain Soban took a deep breath and paused momentarily, before issuing the orders.
“Ahead full! Nova, Firelance, get that flak cannon fully loaded and target the lead craft! Fire only on my command.”
“Y—yes Captain!” Nova replied.
“We will be in their weapons range within twenty seconds … ten seconds … three, two, now, Celestia!”
The skies rumbled as Manaan materialised directly behind the delta formation of movers and unleashed a hailstorm of anti-fighter munitions upon the lead craft. The movers broke formation in retaliation, repositioning themselves for their counterattack. With just a few well-placed hits spelling certain death, Soban and Celestia worked together to weave between targets, repositioning in flashes to remain clear of the movers’ firing arcs.
The drawn-out battle continued, as Manaan fired relatively ineffective shells against the toughened hulls of the movers. Eventually, the hostiles started to plummet into the desert with each passing minute, until the skies were clear.
“Last mover down!” Zenith called out.
“We’re safe, everypony!” Captain Soban communicated to all on board, a chorus of cheering resounding throughout the frigate. “Couldn’t have done it without you, Princess. Princess? You alright?”
Princess Celestia had difficulty standing, swaying and panting as Zenith guided her to a seat. “I’m fine. J—just exhausted. Please don’t make me do that again.”
“I don’t think I’ll have to. Sensors show nothing nearby.”
“What were … What were those things?”
“They are one of the computer-controlled ships designed to maintain larger Progenitor vessels and installations. They are also designed to attack any foreign technology. We probably woke them up earlier when we entered that facility, and they must have been guarding it since.”
“Are there any more? More importantly, are they a risk to my subjects?” Celestia asked, a look of concern plastered on her face.
“I cannot say for certain. Being computer-controlled, they are predictable, and from other encounters, they have been shown to attack almost all at once. If there were more, they probably would have arrived by now. Whether they are a risk? They prioritise attacks based on how advanced the foreign technology is, so my ship would be in greater danger than anything else. We can discuss this later though. Are you up for one last teleport with the core?”
“Yes, I think so. I can keep the core somewhere temporarily while I commission some extra scaffolding to hold it near your docking area.”
“No. Keep it close, but away from any populated area. If more movers arrive, lives may be put at risk. Don’t worry about my ship, I’ll see you back in Canterlot.”
Captain Soban lowered Manaan in to the mouth of the core’s chamber, allowing Celestia to leap off the ship and glide down towards the core. Within seconds, a flash of light enveloped her and the core, leaving naught but an empty cavity within the artificial mesa.
“Alright crew, mission accomplished. Let’s head home. Nova, Firelance? I don’t know about you guys, but I could go for a good drink right about now.”
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Okay, C2 is up. I'm saying it now, I like C1 better. Also, for those who haven't played the game, this chapter introduces a significant chunk of stuff from the game, allowing you to understand more about the HW universe. Fans might just find those sections to be unnecessary add-ons.
*shrug* Can't please everyone.
Woo! The plot thickens!
Were other Progenitor ships warned, hmm?
This promises to be quite intriguing!
Especially the moral conflict on the issue of killing.
Here's a mind-fuck for you: Pegasi would make better fliers of the Higaaran fleet due to the fact they are used to navigating in all three dimensions.
Cheers
GM
Interesting story sir, can't wait to see what your plans for this story will be.
MOVERS!
Fourth Core!
WOOT!
Great job man, Keeping it canon with Homeworld 2 and MLP. Sweetness to the max.
(What are the colors of the Manaan again? I want to draw a scene of the battle of Movers over equestria.)
Gotta say as a side note, when i got to the Karos graveyard for the first time, the junkyard dog and the movers scared the living crap out of me. Took me awhile to formulate a plan to defeat them. It was intensive.
keep up the plot twists and its odd how the movers went so close to the planet, wherever they came from, to attack the frigate.
(IDEAS!)
I wonder if its possible to incorporate magic talismans to increase the effectiveness of the frigate.
From a game perspective its possible. Adding a Cloaking talisman or an Energy Talisman would theoretically work as a module as if on a battlecruiser.
Im just being a fan boy of Homeworld. I play at least once a week. (for a 2003 game, in 1920 x 1080p, It looks gorgeous)
And for those that dont know or have not played homeworld.....here is the frigate in general
http://images.wikia.com/homeworld/images/8/88/Assault_Frigate_Blueprints.jpg
1337033
Hey, Hey Hey. Back the fuck up.
That's Teal'c's line.
1337697
Regarding the colour scheme, all Ferin Sha ships, being Sobani, have the black and red scheme (refer to mission 2 of HW2). However, I'll leave the colours to the imagination here. In C1, it was mentioned that the outer layer of armor was burned off during entry, so the paintjob would have been a little more than scratched!
As for other possible additions, I'm going to steer clear of that for one reason only: Mary Sue. Obviously the good thing about this story is that none of the characters (including Celestia) can be as such. However, as the frigate is one of the central themes (if you will) of the story so far, I need to watch out with making it overly powerful (hint for the next chapter?).
Also, while that is what the frigate looks like, the information on it is incorrect. It was called the assault frigate prior to the release of the game, before they changed it to be a specialist anti fighter ship, and hence, 'flak frigate'.
1337828
It's official! Teal'c is disguised as one of the mane 6! Now you just have to figure out which one...
1338085
Yes i remember the color scheme and his orginal ship was acually a marine frigate. (but who cares! its your story!)
also i didnt care for the stats in the link that i provided, it was just to show the shape and look of the ship if people never played homeworld 2. And now if you will excuse me, Im gonna draw up that battle with the movers.....
1338108
Yup, a marine frigate, though I mentioned why he was in a flak frigate somewhere in the beginning of the first chapter.
I wish I could draw...
This is so awesome!
And epic and stuff! ^^
Like the dialogue. You've done an excellent job with the ponies' personalities as well haha. Imagining them all on a giant ship and Pinkie pushing all the buttons and messing up everything is amazing.
Again, this is coming from someone who's never played Homeworld. Keep it up, Hiig.
The legendary forth hyperspace core!
You sir, have made me play HomeWorld 2 again. You're glorious you know?
Ps... Who else read the system analysis in the hiigarian mothership voice?
"...Auxilliary power disabled
The mothership is standing down"
After Bentus, Balcora is the saddest scene of the game, especially as the PoH drifts off.
EDIT: Also, HW2 with the REARM mod is bloody amazing. If you havent played it, do so. Such a well executed mod
1338085 fluttershy. she has the deep voice.
1341330
Thats it, we need an animator to ponify this scene!
134135 I was disappointed with that scene; he didn't say Indeed.
Actually, canon puts the Battlecruiser at around 5-6km long, corvette class craft at around 44m long, and fighters the size of modern jets... with the 'Banana' (mothership) being a ~26km tall monster of machinery, armor, electronics, etc.
Other than that, damn fine job. Damn fine.
For some reason, ship size has been disputed quite a bit, especially on the Relic forums. I suspect the dispute came about from the way the lengths were measured, along with using the door of the heavy corvette in the final cutscene of HW1 as a scale based on human dimensions. Even in the images below, you can see that while the dreadnought lengths are the same, Sajuuk is closer to about 4.5 Km in the first image, whereas the second shows it to be just under 4. I kinda saved myself the hassle of being specific by writing the generic 'almost 5 km length' in the chapter, though. I can provide a few links below, showing what the general consensus is on sizes (because it's quite hard to get an accurate measurement in game with the move function):
http://pacifistguild.org/media/upload/eve%20vs%20homeworld%20ships.jpg (MASSIVE IMAGE)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b389/CrossroadsInc/Storage/sizechart4.gif
Also, because my current computer is too crappy to run HW2, i had to find a very rough indication of the distances from YT, which agrees with the images above:
http://imageshack.us/a/img819/1343/screenshotfrom201209262.png (check the move order distance)
Yay for excessive analysis!
Hmm, maybe I should just shut up and thank you on your compliment instead...
1338085 The Stragate posts brought me in. The story got me to stay.