Space Spiders. Why is it always space spiders?
"Ok, that's all the scrap parts we can use from that." I said as my crew finished moving the last salvaged components. we'd found a derelict freighter and had spent the better part of six hour stripping it of usable parts. Thank goodness for that cargo arm, it makes salvage so much easier.
"Whew," Dash sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "That thing had A LOT of missiles"
"I know, I'm exhausted" added Spike.
"Error: you expended nearly zero energy." Grimlock pointed out.
"He's right Spike, all you did was ride around on his back." Twilight said.
"Yeah, but you guys took so long I missed snack time." the little Engi said. Good old Spike: always thinking with his stomach.
"I didn't even know Engi ate anything." Pinkie chirped happily as she shot across the cargo bay. Her ability to do that confused me to no end.
"Of course we do." Spike replied indignantly. he was a little sensitive about being treated like a robot.
"Engi aren't machines, Pinkie. They're cyborgs. Well, they're more robot than not, but they're still cyborgs." I explained.
"OOOOH, I'll make snacks." Pinkie said as she morphed into her ball form. she then shot upwards into a light on the ceiling and disappeared. I looked to Dash, hoping she could explain what her old friend was up to.
"Pinkie likes to cook." Dash said, "I was surprised that she could."
"Is she any good at it?" Spike asked.
"I'm not really sure. She usually eats all the stuff she makes." Dash said as we headed for the lift in the center of the room, "She has quite the appetite."
"That actually makes sense." Sparks said, "I've been doing some research on the Zoltan and I found something very interesting."
"Really? You? Doing research?" I asked jokingly. Twilight playfully punched me in the shoulder.
"Oh, shut up. I found out that Pink Zoltan are actually very special. She's almost exactly like a normal green Zoltan, but her energy matrix is unstable; that's why she changes brightness so often. That's also why she needs to eat so much: she expends energy almost twice as fast as a human or Engi." The lift lurched as it began to raise us to the living area of the ship.
"Is that why she's a little..." I made a few circles next to my head.
"It's not doing her any favors."
The lift reached the living area of the ship: a section that sat on top of the combat center that housed living quarters, and all the other amenities a ship would need for prolonged spaceflight.
"Hey, is there any reason why Pinkie is going crazy in the kitchen?" Victor asked as we made our way there. As the last door slid open, we saw the pink Zoltan darting around the room like a bullet.
"Incapable of tracking target" Grimlock said as his head tried to follow the blur. She'd shoot from one point to another, briefly return to her humanoid form, then morph again and repeat.
"How the hell is she doing that?" I asked. The Zoltan stopped, her blue eyes locking on us.
"Oh, hi guys." she said happily, "I made cupcakes!"
She pointed to the table in the center of the room, where a plate piled with what looked like cupcakes sat. The only difference being they were glowing a faint green.
"Uh, Pinkie? Why are they glowing?" Spike asked.
"Old Zoltan recipe." She said, "C'mon, try one."
I grabbed one of the cupcakes and looked it over. If it weren't for the odd glow, they would look delicious.
"Do you not like it?" Pinkie asked, her color darkening quite a bit. I couldn't let her be this sad and besides, the only ingredients on the ship were safe for humans.
Please don't kill me. I thought as I took a bite. The cake actually tasted really good, very sweet with a touch of spice.
"Mmmm. Actually, that's not bad." I said as I swallowed the bite, "Why is it spicy though?"
"Oh that's the secret ingredient." Pinkie said as she ate one of them whole, "Just a smidge of FTL fuel."
I froze. Did she just...
"D-did you say...*gulp*...FTL fuel?" I asked, hoping she was kidding.
"Yepper, it's great on everything." The Zoltan said with a smile.
"Victor, am I gonna die?" I asked
"It's entirely possible to ingest FTL fuel and live, but not much." he replied cheerfully.
I watched Spike climb onto a chair and take one of them. With his built-in scanner, he looked the baked good over.
"It looks like the amount of fuel is just below the lethal dose." Spike said as he took a bite, looking like he was analyzing it as he chewed, "And it does taste good."
The rest of the joined us and her Zoltan cupcakes were a huge hit. As we sat around the pile of cakes, we began asking the mysterious crewmember about herself.
"So Pinkie, how exactly did you get up here so fast?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, that's easy," she replied, "I just zoomed through the ship's power conduits."
"You can do that?" Dash asked as she finished her cupcake "I don't ever remember you doing that before."
"You just never saw me do it, Dashie." she said, "How do you think I always showed up behind you?"
Dash thought for a minute, then her eyes got bigger as though he mind had just been blown.
"This explains a lot." The pilot said.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't do that too often though, Pinkie." Victor chirped, "That felt really weird."
"Inquiry: how do you two know each other?" Grimlock asked. For a battle droid, he really did show an interest in others.
"I took some freelance work as a Trident pilot, escorting freighters." Dash said, "Turns out, Pinkie can knock out the electronics on a ship, just by being angry."
"Oh now THIS I gotta hear." I said as I leaned back in my chair. This little Zoltan could knock out an entire freighter?
"One of those mean ol' Mantis kept saying I looked delicious." Pinkie recounted, "It started to creep me out, but Dashie jumped in to stop him."
"Inference: You attacked, but were overpowered by, the Mantis?" Grimlock guessed.
"Exactly." Dash said, "It was going well until I saw they had wings."
"When I saw that big old bug trying to hurt her, I just got really angry and accidently blew up the power core."
"Yeah, but it stopped that big bug from eating me." Dash said as she put an arm around the energy being, "And let's not forget: it was AWESOME!"
"Pinkie, I beg of you: please don't do that to me." Victor said, his happy voice masking the urgency of his plea.
"Oh, don't worry Victor, I'd never do that to you." Pinkie said with a giggle. We talked, laughed and ate for a while, but as usual, Victor interrupted our break.
"I know you guys are having fun and all, but I just picked up a distress call from a nearby mining colony." the A.I. said, "Would you like to respond?"
I just sighed.
"Go ahead." I said. A large screen folded down from the ceiling and flashed to life, showing a grainy picture of a frantic looking Rockman. at least I think he was frantic, it's a little hard to read a Rockman's expression.
"This is Base Commander Igneous of mining outpost X32." he said, his deep voice confirming my suspicion of urgency, "Requesting immediate assistance from anyone in range."
"This is the Starship Requiem," I replied, "What's the problem, Igneous?"
"It's all gone to hell here. Somehow, Space Spiders got in and are tearing the place apart. They already took out the automated defenses and most of our security teams and are getting close to life support. We need help or we're as good as dead."
"Understood Commander. We'll be there as soon as we can."
The screen blacked out and retracted back into the ceiling. We all got up from the table and made our way to the lift.
"Victor, plot a course for that outpost." I commanded. I sent the lift to the combat level, just under the living area.
"You got it." He replied as the elevator started to move.
"So," Dash said, "Space Spiders."
"Yep, again." I replied.
"Do I have to come for this one?" Pinkie asked nervously, "I'm not so good at the whole 'fighting' thing."
"Actually Pinkie, I have a special job for you." I said as the lift door opened to the Combat Center, "I need you to use the base's power network to get to the survivors."
"Ok, um, why?" She asked.
We entered the weapons bay and went to a door past my gun console. Inside was the armory; not as well stocked as I'd like, but it would do.
"You are going to help protect the survivors." I said, "They need someone who can keep them hopeful while the rest of us clear a path."
"Happy I can do." she said with renewed vigor.
"We know." everyone said simultaneously.
"Alright, Grimlock, you're the tip of the spear." I said to the drone. He responded by priming his cannons.
"Extermination protocol engaged." he said.
"Sparks, Dash; we need all the help we can get, so you two are coming."
"I'll need a gun." Dash said. I flipped a switch on the wall and it spun around, revealing a wall of rifles, pistols and shotguns. I grabbed a Carnivore Shotgun and spun the top loaded cylinder.
"Pick your poison." I said. The pilot grabbed a Shredder submachine gun and a Predator pistol. Twilight took a pistol as well, but she wasn't really planning on using it.
"Spike, you're staying with Victor..."
"In case you need a quick exit?" Spike finished for me. Apparently, I say that a lot.
"Time to destination, twenty minutes." Victor said. I moved to another panel and grabbed a pair of vests.
"Here, carbon nanosteel armor. Built-in kinetic barrier generator." I said as the humans took the armor. I grabbed the third vest and put it on, then felt the tingling of the energy shield wash over me as the kinetic barrier kicked on. All three of us took a headset and synced them to Grimlock's combat software.
"Everyone ready?" I asked. Each one said yes. We all headed to the airlock, just in time for the arrival.
"We're here!" Victor sang. Docking to the station now."
"Roger that, get ready people." I said as I readied my shotgun. I heard Dash load a clip into her gun and Twilight was focusing her mind for her PK attacks.
"OK, I'm docked and linked into the power systems." Victor said, "Go ahead Pinkie."
"Okie Dokie Lokie." She said as she phased into the floor. I contacted the Base Commander.
"Come in Commander Igneous, This is the Requiem. Do you read?"
I heard Static over my communicator, but it cleared up.
"This is Igneous, I read you." The gruff voice replied
"My crew and I are standing by to help." I said, "What's the situation?"
"Deteriorating quickly." the Rockman said, "Unless you have an army, we need to evacuate ASAP."
"Understood, one of my people is on her way, we'll meet up with you as soon as we can."
"WHAT IN THE...!" a voice said, probably from behind Igneous, "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM!?"
"That would be my crewmate." I said. "She's there to help keep you alive until we get there."
"Hurry!" The now frantic Commander pleaded, "I can hear them outside."
"Acknowledged." I said before cutting the connection. I looked to my allies, "Let's rock."
The Airlock door opened with a hiss...or maybe that was the huge eight legged freak behind it. I raised my weapon to my shoulder and fired twice, shredding the creature. We followed the battle drone into the infested station, killing spiders as we went. Dash was surprisingly good with an SMG for a pilot and it never got old watching Twilight throw enemies around like ragdolls, or zap them with psychic lightening. Grimlock, though, was in the zone: his cannons swept all opposition, reducing spiders to curled up and charred corpses.
"Nearly there." I shouted over the gunfire. I could see the large steel blast door that Pinkie and Igneous were. We approached the door and turned to hold the position while I contacted the Rockman again.
"Igneous, Open the door." I ordered as I knocked the cylinder out of my shotgun, quickly replacing it with another. The hydraulic door groaned, then opened slowly. We fell back behind it and the door slammed shut again.
"Holy shit." I gasped, "That's a lot of fucking spiders."
"Good to see you made it." I turned to see the Rockman I'd been talking to as well as a few others: Human and Engi, most likely miners or technicians.
"Igneous, I presume?" The Rockman nodded.
"Hi Clayton." Pinkie chirped as she shot over to us.
"So Are any of you security?" I asked the Commander.
"A few, but most of us are just workers."
"Ok; Grimlock."
The battle droid opened his back panel revealing a small cache of handguns. I grabbed a few of them and handed them out to the humans and Engi, they were too small for the Rockman to use anyway.
"Ok, we open that door and come out guns blazing." I said, "Then we fight our way back to the ship."
"You're insane." One of the humans said, "There's no way we can make it."
"Then you can stay here and take you're chances against the Spiders." Igneous growled. I like this guy.
"Estimated chance of successful evacuation: 86%." Grimlock said, "Estimated chance of survival: 11.3%."
"Ok, I get it."
"Igneous, Open that door." I said as we all took our positions, "Everyone follow the robot, but stay together."
the door ground open again to an army of spiders, Grimlock opened up with everyone else and we began the push back to Requiem
"Victor, get the door ready to open." I ordered as I shot another spider. Pinkie might have said she was not a fighter, but she could dish out some damage with her energy pulses. I also watched the Rockman destroy a few spiders with his stony hands. We pushed to the Ship as I covered the rear.
"Let's go! Move it!" I ordered as I waved people in.
"HELP ME!"
I saw a Spider grab one of the Engi. Thinking Quickly, I charged at the bug. I swung the weapon and nailed the spider in the face, staggering him and allowing the cyborg to run to the safety of the ship. I fired and killed the spider than made a run for the ship.
"OPEN FIRE!" I shouted as I entered the airlock, we needed to hold them off while the door closed. All the workers raised their pistols and fired a wave of slugs, scaring off the Spiders. There was a long silence as we all caught our breath.
"Well that was fun." I said as the ship disconnected, "Anyone up for another go?"
Stats
Page generated in 0.012 seconds
Total duration
802 users online
1,284,768 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Good chapter! I am really starting to enjoy this story and look forward to more adventures in your MLPFTL universe!
3836885
I'm glad you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it.
Do you have any suggestion who I should add next? I'm at a loss and can't decide.
3841218 Well, I don't know about any plans you may have, but seeing some Rebels would be cool!
My only other thought at the moment is to sometime in the future meet Rarity the Crystal, just because you seem to be on a trend of creating all of the characters based on their alien counterparts. Just a thought!
THIS IS GREAT! Epicness!