Salvage a Better Life

by law abiding pony

11: The Order of Business

If Trireme’s broken hulk cast a shadow over its survivors, the massive ruin of Ponipolous cast a pall over the whole system.

The Akira slowly maneuvered around the bleak metal graveyard. In the stillness of the bridge, the three ponies could almost hear the long gone cries of the dead and dying. The two cathrex however, could actually hear it. A scant few radios, sputtering out weak signals from dying batteries, cried out in distress.

Massive pylons and berths that once housed hundreds of cargo vessels now sat ruined and cold. The frozen hulks of broken fuel and water tanks were haloed by ice clouds. Scores of factories took advantage of the emptiness of space for their operations. All of them were now lifeless, sitting naked to solar radiation. Sprocket’s lip quivered at the profound loss of the arcology, and tried to imagine what it all looked like before the war. The life, industry, and hope, all of it had been burned away by a war she still didn’t know why it began.

The worst damage had been reserved for the garrison and the various weapon emplacements. All of it had been atomized, which in turn had led to the further break up of the station. Only the dense cloud of tractor mines had kept the mass of twisted metal from falling down towards the moon below.

While the ponies remained focused on tracking and avoiding the debris and occasional body, the two cathrex nervously eyed the mines that had marooned them years ago. One such mine drifted by them, the steady IFF pings it sent their way caused their fur to stand on end. While it did nothing to calm their nerves, the mines ignored them every step of the way.

After hours of slow thrusting into the heart of the ruins, the Akira came to an unceremonious stop. Wiggly brought up a mental checklist while the others prepared the ship for their absence. Alongside that checklist, Wiggly recalled the map of Piniopious they had pulled from the net. “Alright. First order of business is to seek out which AM storage tanks survived the battle.”

Mote was halfway out of her chair, but her tail was still connected to the interface near the base of her seat. “Would it be safe to send out drones?”

Thinking it over, Wiggly grew cautious. “I know the mines will not target individuals in suits as per war crime laws. But drones are fair game, and our code box is limited. The mines would likely tractor them into debris or otherwise destroy them. We’ll have to do the scouting in person.”

At that, Mote severed her direct connection with the Akira, and left to prepare while Morales was still in the middle of draining his tank. “Do you think we have the spare power to also search for food stores at the same time?”

Wiggly’s stomach growled, fiercely enough to draw the attention of the others. Trying to hide her face with her mane, Sprocket nodded sheepishly. “Probably not a bad call. I doubt there’s any lack of food. From what I heard, the shortages didn’t start until a few months after Ponipolous was destroyed.”

With the more immediate needs sorted, Winter Gale floated over Wiggly as the pegacorn was deep in thought as she tried to plan further ahead. “What about weapons? A number of parts were stripped out, and I can’t tell if we can replicate them.”

Live Wire waited patiently for the two cathrex to exit the bridge, only for all of them to come to a stop at the grim question. Flashes of the Cloud Jumper’s destruction dominated his thoughts. “I’m sure something can be done. Once we get some fuel and food, I can hunt down the resource stockpiles.”

Even more incensed by those very memories, Wiggly’s wings pressed tightly against her barrel. “We have a lot a work to do, but let’s not lose focus.” She twisted around to meet everyone’s gaze. “We fix the ship first. Then we leave and go straight to the C’Zar system. We slap our heads together and find some way to put Mote and Morales in front of Flurry Heart. She’s the closest High Queen right?” she asked, turning to Winter Gale.

At the alicorn's name, the thestral shuffled uncomfortably. “She - is. Yes.”

Clapping her hooves, Wiggly moved on, choosing to ignore the odd reaction. “Once you two talk it out with her, we’ll see if she’ll give us a mass nullifier to bring back here. After that, the fleet can deal with the pirate filth. Once it is all said and done, the galaxy is our oyster. Any objections?”

“I do,” Live Wire chimed in with a glint of anger coloring his face and tone. “The Akira is an overgunned monster isn’t it? I say we personally get some vengeance for the Cloud Jumper.”

Terror struck the two cathrex, yet Winter felt the worst of it. The moon and gravity crushing him was bad enough, but for Wire to actively seek battle was the last thing she wanted. “Absolutely not!” SHe stood firm against his accusatory glare, and continued before he could get a word in. “Even if we get the Akira shipshape, we’re a skeleton crew at best, and both you and Wiggly are not sailors.”

“Flurry Heart would give us a crew and more than enough supplies,” Live Wire countered just as firmly. “You could train us to fight.”

Winter tried to take a warmer tone, but she remained firm as iron. “I’ve been teaching you to defend yourself, not wage war.”

Wiggly coughed loudly. “Look, bro, I get it. I want some revenge too, but we’re sitting in the only ship in the Initiative that can go FTL by itself. Even if Mote and Morales were onboard with fights they have nothing to do with, we can get our revenge by sicking the home fleets after them.” Wiggly climbed over the chairs to stick her muzzle into Wire’s ear. “Besides, there’s no telling what we’ll find. We might get to take out some Rubies anyway.”

Gritting his teeth in sudden regret, Wire glanced at the cathrex before nodding sluggishly. “Yeah, sure. Got it.”

With the matter settled without their interference, Mote let a chill run through her before she quietly dragged Morales away from the bridge before anyone could ask them anything more about fighting with the Akira.

---

Thaddeus’ flotilla was well on its way back to base, and far outside any pony patrols. While the former fleet admiral kept a tight ship as his old dignity resurfaced, he allowed some levity all the same.

Not that he could join in. Thaddeus was a strong believer in the isolating nature of command, leading him to linger in the CIC alone. With no alerts requiring his attention, Thaddeus was rereading the memoirs he wrote on and off again between his drinking binges. And that had produced literature that churned his sober stomach.

A virtual thumb hovered over the delete button, as shame over such vulgar and irresponsible scrawl would be an embarrassment in his attempts to fully pull himself free of the muck. Yet part of him wanted to keep it all as a reminder of his lowest point.

A decision would have to wait. Ringing in his ear was a call coming from the moon base. Thaddeus banished the loathsome memoirs, and straightened up a bit before answering. Yet instead of the expected face of the Commodore, it was a vaguely familiar griffon tom. The bird looked smug, superiority veiled behind a halfhearted attempt to like he respected the disgraced centauri.

“Ahh, Admiral Thaddeus it has been far too long now hasn’t it?” The red feathered griffon fell quiet, watching the centauri closely.

He wants to see if I remember him doesn’t he? A name never came to him, so Thaddeus played it off. “Indeed, or else I’d remember you.”

A disappointed laugh left the caller. “Oh I’m sure you would have, had you been sober.” The caller looked the admiral over with a studious eye. “By the looks of you, sobriety is a new companion. My name is Gladius of the Code. I am the good Commodore's information warlord. I served aboard your flagship before the fall.”

Thaddeus’ eyes widened in recognition, and he leaned forward with renewed interest. “I knew you looked familiar. Glad to have a name to your face again.”

The hacker didn’t develop any warmth to his lagging expression. He steepled his claws while his two camera-like eyes refocused on Thaddeus. “Save your cheer, because I bear potentially grim tidings. The Commodore is in one of his do-not-disturb moods, and your standing is on the mend if word is to be believed. So you will be the first to actually see this.” Gladius went about typing some commands off camera. A new screen appeared depicting a close up of a vessel silhouetted by the gas giant Thaddeus had left behind. “Does this ship look familiar, or at least similar to any navy you know of?”

Using hand motions to pull the screen up close to his eye and zooming in, Thaddeus was left perplexed. He immediately presumed the triple-decked yet compact vessel was a frigate. Shortly after, what seemed to be green coloring broke away as the vessel turned via thrusters. The primarily white coloration with plentiful sky blue highlights spoke to him of a vessel that toed the line between civilian and military life. However, what put all manner of civilian purpose to rest were the abundant armaments.

“By the ancestors,” Thaddeus cursed under his breath. Four destroyer grade turrets and six smaller ones. “That thing is comically over-gunned for its size.” He fixed the griffon with a displeased glare. “Are you taking me for a lark? You imposed some fantasy ship and act as if it’s real.”

Rather than confess or look insulted, the griffon only became more grim. “There are people I will mock and tease, and if this were last month you’d be one of them. But not today.” He pointed at the video feed. “This is real.”

Still in disbelief, Thaddeus only gave the odd vessel a dismissive look. “How did you come by this footage?”

Taking a deep calming breath, the griffon let the video keep playing as the frigate sluggishly moved away, but the camera remained focused on it. The griffon nervously scratched at his feathers, and accidentally plucked one. “I suppose I can tell you. Not long after the freighter you took down landed at the Inny shipyard, the ponies launched a whole swarm of probes to all of the existing ruins. I’d wager it was to keep tabs on that crew or to see if we had broken the minefields as well. Unfortunately for them, a mole of mine was able to create a back door for me. I see everything the probes send to the Innies. I tried to make sure to block this ship’s existence, but these probes weren’t really a priority for me, and a notification might have slipped by.”

The straightforward candor and amount of effort the hacker put in was starting to worry Thaddeus, and he took renewed interest in the mysterious frigate. “Between the support spaces, ammunition feeds, and-” Thaddeus hesitated going into too much detail with a griffon he had little faith that he could understand him. “It has the staying power of a heavy fighter. You seriously believe this vessel to be real?”

“I believe it is a threat.” Gladius brought up a transmission coming from the ship. “It’s broadcasting something using Initiative frequencies and encryption. My money’s on it being an IFF code for the minefields.”

That locked Thaddeus’ attention in a vice. “An Inny naval code?!” He zoomed in on the vessel once more. The aerodynamic shape was passed off as an aesthetic design choice as he didn’t expect the frigate to actually enter an atmosphere. Why is it not using its main engines? Then he saw it. A gaping hole was visible on its dorsal side. If he was going to put a reactor room anywhere, it’d be there. So it’s only on backup power. That calmed him a bit after studying the damage. “Ah. So even if this vessel is more than some lost rich man’s yacht, it is quite fragile.” He pointed at the hole. “See this? I’d wager that was done by a mine. Maybe two or three. Whoever that is, they are not very resilient. My question though, is why would a mine strike them in the first place if they have an IFF code… What about us? Were there any of our ships in the area besides my own?” I’d like to believe I would have spotted it if that ship was there at the time.

“‘Afraid the Commodore was using your own crew to keep an eye on you, admiral, not extra ships,” the hacker replied with a half-hearted jab. “If we did have other ships there, it’d be news to us.”

Eventually, Thaddeus checked the vessel’s heading and realized it was going straight for Ponipolous. “A curiosity to be sure. Unfortunately, I can’t intercept it before it reaches the minefield, so I will still be heading for home. If you can, keep me apprised of its activities.”

“Right.” Gladius seemed displeased, yet did not give voice to it. “My question is where did it come from. If I find that out, I’ll let you know.”

Nodding firmly, Thaddeus continued his study of the strange ship. “And I will focus on discerning their purpose.” And how to fight it.

Gladius ended the call, but the data feed from the compromised probe remained. As minutes turned to hours, Thaddeus became enraptured by this new puzzle before him. So…are you a threat, or are you a toy?

Comments

[PixelBat]

Damn, barely back into it and already the crew has eyes on them once more. They truly can't catch a break huh.

Hopefully they'll be able to fully restock and repair before anyone comes for them

[Pensive]

Reading the 1st book is not truly required, but it will give context you might otherwise miss.

...

Well buck, too late now.

[Pensive]

I get the feeling that if a conflict does arise between the ponies and the new alien species it’ll be a bit closer to a cold war with both sides afraid to fully commit to full war until they can nullify each others advantages. Aside from the occasions proxy war the conflict as a whole is probably going to be peer-to-peer combat.