"Oh Celestia, how many of us are left?!"
"Five... just five. How many did we start with?"
"Between twenty and thirty, what the hell are these things? No matter how many we drop they keep coming!"
"Get a grip! We have one option, frag the ship. It's the only way to stop them!"
"The bridge, we have to move fast to keep them from pinning us down!"
"No, not we. I'm going, you take the survivors to the nearest escape pods."
"No, hell no. FUCK NO! THAT'S SUICIDE! You won't make it by yourself!"
"Not up for debate! We may have the same rank, but we both know we need to get these civilians out!"
"...Damn it. You better make it out of there alive!"
"You worry about yourself and the group. I know what needs to be done..."
"Coming out of slip space now, target ten minutes out." The pilot announced over the comms. "All hands prepare for dock procedure."
A soldier laid on a cot in one of the residential suites, shaking off his newest recurring nightmare. The time had come for the crew to get into gear. The sooner they got done, the sooner they could leave. A familiar face walked through the door and gave a salute. "Lieutenant Gunner, you ready to go?"
"Yeah, Private Gage, let's just get this done. I don't want to be here too long." I'm sick of this line of work, and all of this space travel is working my nerves. And would it kill them to make these ships a bit less depressing. Sterile, neutral colors covering the walls. What I would give for a vacation...
"Don't worry, it's just a typical repair mission. Take the nerds to the broken stuff, have them fix it and get out. Simple." Private Gage was the greenest in the detail, only two years in the field. He had yet to see much real action.
"Never assume it will be that easy. You've still got a lot to learn here."
"And who's going to teach me? You? The one who's about to retire?" He snapped. Hot headed and sharp tongued as always.
"Watch your tongue, I have the most experience here and I am the highest ranking member in the squad. I can also recall a number of times where I saved your ass." Gunner retorted. "When was the last time? Oh yeah, two months ago on Kellion against those radical terrorists."
"Hey, that's going a little far. I almost lost a leg out there to a frag."
"Oh, right. You almost lost a leg. Well, count your blessings. Next time might not be so lucky. Have you seen this?" He pulled of his left glove to reveal a mechanical hoof.
"Gunner, what is that? A prosthetic? When did that happen? How did that happen?! You are one of the most paranoid soldiers to set foot on the battlefield! There's no way anyone could have done that to you!"
"That's what happens when you assume a job is going to be simple. You may have a few years of experience, but that doesn't mean much. Each and every mission can be fatal, don't let your guard down, ever." He slipped the glove over the metal hoof.
"Yes sir." Gage gave a salute.
"At ease, soldier." Gage did as instructed.
"Target in sight, ETA three minutes."
"Ready for another day at the office, Private?"
"Yep, gonna be such a fun day."
"That it is, get your suit and weapons. Get the squad together on the bridge, too. I want to check everyone to make sure their good to go." I can't afford any mistakes like last time. I will not lose anybody here.
Gunner forced himself off the cot and over to the locker on the adjacent wall. He opened the locker to reveal a full body suit hanging and his trusted weapon leaning against the wall. His MK-II Engine Pulse Repeater, the weapon that kept him alive through so many battles.
He pulled the suit out and stepped into each of the four legs. The suit was pulled up over his torso and fitted over his coat. He slung the repeater on his back and stepped through the door. "Gunner, you all right?"
Gunner turned to see another squad-mate down the hall. "Corporal Tungsten, I'm fine, how about you? Ready to get to work?" Tungsten was an experienced soldier. He and Gunner had been in plenty of fire fights together. A scar below his right eye was a reminder of their first encounter.
"I'm ready sir, but the private told me that you have a prosthetic." There was a hint of fear in his voice. "Please tell me he's making up stories again."
"Not this time," Gunner sighed. He took of his glove again revealing his replacement hoof.
"What the hell happened on your last mission? The one that you didn't tell us about, the reconnaissance of those newly discovered systems."
"Wha- How did yo-" Gunner was cut off.
"Because your service records are pretty easy to track. You never did take cyber security very seriously. Now, what happened?" Tungsten wasn't going to let it go without a fight.
"Something that I hope to never speak of. Seriously, it's probably better if you didn't know." Even if you did believe me, it wouldn't matter.
"You're seriously going to hide it from us? That's not how you normally handle-"
"Corporal, drop it." Gunner cut him off, covering his hoof once more. "If it becomes important, then I'll tell you, all of you. Right now, we need to join the rest of the squad."
"Yes sir, of course sir."
The two headed for the bridge, passing a few technicians on the way. The halls were lined with equipment for any repair job that would be needed here. Plasma cutters, pneumatic torches, rippers and other tools could be seen in the piles coming to the bridge. The door projected a blue circle with the word 'unlocked' showing in white.
"After you Lieutenant." The corporal stepped aside allowing his superior to walk up to the door and press the interface before the door slid above into the wall. Gunner immediately noticed the pilot and the sight passed the thick glass. The view seen through the glass was the same old black space littered with white dots. A ship started to come into view, much larger than the repair vessel. It was a cargo transport, the name 'Volantis' was in white against the steel grey exterior. Most of the lights are out, something must be wrong with the generators.
"Have you hailed them yet?" Gunner asked.
"Doing that now Lieutenant, but I don't tell you how to carry your rifle." The pilot retorted.
"Fair enough."
"ECT Volantis, this is the repair vessel 'Helios' requesting permission to dock. Do you copy?"
The response was silence, not even static.
"ECT Volantis, this is the repair vessel 'Helios' requesting permission to dock. Do. you. copy?"
Again, nothing. No one bothered to pick up the phone.
"Looks like their communications array might be out." A mechanic commented, "Should we just dock?"
The pilot turned to Gunner with a confused expression, seeking advice. "We might as well, didn't come all this way to turn back because we got the cold shoulder."
"Right, moving in and... remote docking protocols have taken over." The ship lurched forward toward a hangar bay. "She's looking good, thirty seconds to dock."
The vessel slowed as it approached the opening on the ship's starboard side. Once inside, the pilot cut power to the engines and created a soft thud as it made contact with the floor. "Sync your rigs with the ship," The Lieutenant advised. "No one leaves without a clean bill of health."
Both soldier and technician alike followed the order. Each pressed a button next to the chest and a blue bar flowed across the back shortly after. The techies are good, Gage, Tungsten, Cutlass, myself and Joule. Yep, that's everyone.
"What do we need to do this time?" Gage asked, absentmindedly.
"First, we escort this group to the malfunctioning parts of the ship." Gunner explained. "Next, make sure everyone's all right inside. Third, if everything checks out, we get out. That's it, but don't think that's an excuse to let your guard down. No one wanders off alone, and no one goes outside of our radios' range."
"Yes sir!" The group answered in unison.
"All right, helmets up and weapons at the ready. Just check your fire, no need to have any 'work-related' accidents." A metal plate popped up from the neck of the veteran's suit and began to wrap itself around his face and covered his head, and finally, wrapped around his horn with multiple plates of armor. A number of lights stretched across the helmet's front side to help the user see in low light environments. Hopefully, I'm just being really paranoid right now.
The ten personal group walked onto the catwalk leading from the Helios and took their first steps on the Volantis.
"Shouldn't there be a flight crew here waiting for us?" A techie asked.
"If communications are disabled, then the crew is probably scrambling around to fix it." Tungsten answered, "If we find the array, odds are we'll find someone."
With no objections, the group moved in the usual formation. The five soldiers surrounding the VIPs, each with rifle at the ready. The silence going through the empty bay was deafening. The massive room seemed to go for miles before they reached the door on the far side.
"So what's the fastest route to Communications?" Gage asked.
"Not sure," Tungsten replied. "If we can find a diagnostic interface, I might be able to find out. As well as, see how damaged the ship's systems are."
"Sounds like a plan, where would we find one? The Flight Lounge?" Gunner inquired.
"That would be the first place I would check." Tungsten answered.
Wordlessly, the group walked up to the door and the Lieutenant activated the interface with the door sliding into the wall to the left. The doorway opened up to a lobby area, completely deserted. They must need every hand possible to repair the ship. Just what happened here?
"Ah there's what we're looking for," the Corporal walked ahead to an interface on the far wall.
"What are we looking at Corporal?" Sergeant Joule reared up his rifle.
"I...I don't know. These readings, they don't make any sense..." He tapped and slid his hooves over the panels.
"What do you mean?" Joule pressed.
"Well, from the exterior, could you tell the ship was damaged?"
"No, it looked like it's structurally intact."
"Exactly, but according to this, the ship has taken a lot of damage."
"Define a lot," a techie broke in.
"Well, here's the most important parts: Engines are offline, the ship has about ten percent fuel and that's bleeding out quickly, generators are unrepairable, the communications array is offline with the main satellite heavily damaged, ventilation system is shut down. And the hydroponics wing is sealed off so we're on a limited amount of air. Life support and the tram system are the only functioning parts of the whole ship."
"How the hell...? What do we do? Where do we start? Can we even get this all fixed?" Gage asked question after question hoping for an answer.
"Private calm down, if we take a minute we can get this figured out." The corporal assured him before turning to the engineers. "What do you all think is top priority?"
The group huddled together for a moment before one spoke up, "What's closest to our current position?"
"Uh... most of it's on the other side of the ship. Engines are close, but according to the diagnostic reports, they need to be replaced. Something hit them pretty hard."
The group returned to it's huddle for another moment. The same engineer as before replied, "Communications first, if we can reestablish broadcasting and receiving from other ships, then we can have the proper tools and manpower come here to tackle the more critically damaged parts of the ship."
"Sounds like a plan, hopefully someone else is there working on repairs." Gunner confirmed.
"One can hope," Tungsten commented before shutting off the panel. He joined the group again as the approached another, larger door, leading further into the ship.
The group slipped through the opened door, following a hallway until it opened up to the tram station. Before anyone could speak, a tram approached from a monorail system. Instinctively, the soldiers readied their weapons and the techies slipped behind cover. The tram door opened, revealing a single civilian, covered in blood with a plasma cutter in their grip. They must have been terrified because the second they saw anything living, they opened fire madly!
Before the squad could return fire, Gunner took the weapon in his grey aura and pulled it above the civies' head. "Hold your fire!"
Author's Note
This was inspired by a gaming binge I've been going through recently. This is my first dark and violent story, please rate and comment accordingly.
"W-what the hell? Did you get our SOS transmission?" The poor bastard asked, based upon the blood covering his suit and his nervous behavior, they must have been through some pretty traumatic experience.
"SOS? The ship has been radio silent since we made the slip space jump." Tungsten explained.
"Damn it! That piece of shit still isn't working and there is no way I'm going back there again!" They stopped the ground, creating a dull thud against the floor of the tram car.
"Whoa, calm down. What's going on here? How is the ship so damaged? What caused this?" Gunner couldn't help throwing question after question hoping to get one answer.
"I don't fucking know! It was in one of the storage containers, when that thing got out all hell broke lose! Now I don't know who else is even left! You gotta get me out of here!"
"We'll take care of you, don't worry," Joule promised, in a calm tone. Joule was the diplomat of the squad, always quick to negotiate and a little hesitant on the draw. "Just answer me this, what is 'it' that broke out of the container?"
"Some kind of creature, the thing broke out and just started killing everything! It slipped through a vent and has been roaming the ship killing anyone near it! There might be more but I haven't been down in the hull to check, not since it broke out!"
"Okay, Lieutenant, I'll take him back to the ship. Hold the train for me, will ya?"
"No problem, Sergeant." The two slipped through the doorway before slipping out of sight. "Okay, what do you guys think?"
"Something obviously happened here," Gage pointed out. "And if what he says is true, then everyone on this ship is at risk of being attacked."
"What do you guys want to do?" The Lieutenant inquired. "Fall back to the shuttle or try to investigate just what the hell happened here?"
"I vote to investigate," Gunnery Sergeant Cutlass answered. He was very quiet most of the time, so when he spoke, it was to be taken seriously.
"Okay, Gage? Tungsten?"
"If the gunny wants to stay, I'm good to go," the Private answered.
"I think it'd more interesting than sitting on the ship with that nervous wreck trying to figure out what they saw."
"You're all crazy, after what that poor trauma case described, you want to go exploring!?" One of the engineers proclaimed. The others hesitantly agreed, not one of them wanted to stay on that ship.
"Okay, so we take you guys back to the ship and have the pilot wait outside of the ship. While we figure out what happened, you five try to get that civilian's head straight."
With no objections, the group retreated back to the Helios. Joule stood on the catwalk as they approached. "We packing up sir?"
"No sergeant, just dropping off the less... combat-tested of our group." Gunner held a fore hoof up to his ear as the engineers slipped up the catwalk, "Pilot Thruster, do you copy?"
"Yes Lieutenant, what can I do for you?" He replied through the short-range radio.
"We're dropping off the eggheads, once their on board we need you to launch the ship and stay just outside of the Volantis. If we have any complications, look for a flare to come out of the docking bay to signal we need a pickup."
"Not a problem sir, good hunting."
"Hopefully, we won't need it." Gunner lowered his hoof and turned to the rest of the detail. "We're heading inside to see exactly what's happening. Starting with the comms array, and remember something might be on the ship so stay alert."
The group slipped across the deck as the Helios fired up the engines and slipped through the opening in the bay. Cutting the size of the group in half allowed for quicker movement through the rooms. They made it back to the tram station again and this time everyone was on edge.
"Sir, can we even fix anything on this ship?" The Private asked.
"Good question," the squad leader turned to Tungsten. "Can a bunch of soldiers really fix anything on this ship?"
"Considering how you and I both started off as engineers, I'm pretty sure we can do something."
"There ya have it private, now let's get moving. Unless, you guys want to start a campfire here." The squad gave a few laughs, humor helped cut down on the anxiety of their job.
The five stepped in the tram and a blue interface glowed across from the sliding double doors. A blueprint of the ship was displayed, each vital part of the ship was shown to have a tram station. The corporal stepped up to the panel and slid his hooves over the front of the ship and selecting what appeared to be the bridge.
"The comms array should be close to the bridge," Tungsten explained. "So long as the design of this ship follows the others..." He tapped the bridge section, and the tram responded by sliding the double doors shut and giving a jerk before sliding in the direction of the bridge. During the trip, everyone took a breathe and started talking about life back in Equestria.
"So private, still have that sweet little thing from Manehatten back home?" Tungsten asked.
"Yeah, she's talking about us getting an apartment together."
"Wow, sounds like she's tightened the leash," Joule joked.
"Well what about you? You have anyone to go home to?"
"Yeah, I have a mare back home. Been seeing her for a couple months now." The sergeant turned to the squad leader. "What about you Gunner? Surely you've got a sweetheart back home."
"No I don't Joule, not really looking for one either." He replied, his tone a little colder than intended.
"You're kidding, right?" Gage blurted.
"Nope, my job takes priority. Just no time to go looking for love."
"Sir, with all do respect, that's the stupidest thing you've ever said," Tungsten commented.
"So all of you have been able to find someone while going on mission after mission?" Tungsten, Gage and Joule all nodded in agreement, all eyes fell on the gunny. "Cutlass?"
"I don't want to talk about it," his words could have turned steam into ice. And silence consumed the group until the tram came to a stop with a sudden jolt. The doors slid open and a ding came from the speakers of the tram.
"Gentlecolts, welcome to the bridge." The corporal announced as he stepped of the tram.
The station looked identical to the one they left. The five moved to a hallway, noticing a vending stall sitting at the edge of the hallway. Stores and living vendors had been deemed obsolete on space vessels in the year 2440. The replacement was a machine roughly the size of a portable restroom that carried a wide assortment of tools, medical supplies and, for security personal, weapons and ammo. The thing was outlined with a yellow case and the holo panel in the center displayed the word 'Store' plain as day.
"That might come in handy," Gage mused.
"So long as you didn't forget your wallet, Private," the Lieutenant joked.
The squad moved down a hallway to a large door. A display on top of the door read Atrium and the display on the door was blue and read Unlocked. Tungsten tapped the interface and the door slid open revealing a large room with glass walls revealing the star dotted expanse around them. An elevator sat in the center of the room that went both up and down. A few feet from the doors of the elevator, a body laid motionless, it was unclear if the pony was dead or alive.
"Hold up," Gunner gestured with his hoof to tell his squad to stay put. He walked over to the body, it laid on it's stomach and face pressed against the floor. When he got closer, he noticed distinct slashes in the victim's back. A blood trail lead from the elevator, they must've been crawling for their life. He turned the body over to see that something had violently punctured the chest. Damn, what the hell did this? He directed his gaze to the rest of the squad and drew his hoof across his neck signalling the pony was deceased. He rejoined them quickly, "Something definitely killed the poor guy, slashes across the back and a lethal stab wound in the chest."
"Dear Celestia, do we stick to the plan?" Joule asked.
"Yeah, the elevator leads to the array, right Corporal?"
"Yeah, it's one floor beneath us."
"Then be mindful, we should show some respect for the dead."
The five tiptoed past the body on their way to the elevator. They headed to the lower deck, hopefully we can get that thing online. I wonder why the guy on the Helios couldn't get it fixed. The doors creaked open and the five readied there weapons. Again, nothing greeted them, friendly or otherwise. They slipped down the hallway, noticing several locked doors down each side of the it.
"Wait, I hear something." The leader called for silence, several distant thuds progressively grew closer. It sounded like it was coming from inside the walls. "Something's coming, get ready."
The soldiers reared up on their hind legs and leaned against the walls, slipping their rifles around and aiming them down the hallway. As abruptly as the thudding started, it stopped. Four of the five exchanged confused glances, Gunner just kept aiming down his sight. His laser guided sight trained on the center of the hallway, ready for anything. Well, almost anything.
A large bang! roared down the hallway as a vent further down was smashed open. And one of those things jumped out and turned to face the squad. That horrible figured, a pale brown color, it stood on two legs, almost twice as tall as anyone in the squad on their hind legs. It had two large appendages coming from it's shoulders. On each end was a sharp blade, ready to cut anything they got near. Two shrunken arms dangled, unusable to the creature The face was disfigured, jaw gaping and releasing a guttural roar. No, no it can't be... FUCK NO!
"What the hell is that? Lieutenant what do we do?" Gage asked. To Gunner, his voice was distant and barely audible. His mind was racing, I blew it all up, nothing could have survived the ship exploding! How the hell did one get away!? After a few seconds of fear struck paralysis, his instincts took over, releasing a primal scream. As the being lunged forward, he gave a precise burst of fire of five bullets. The bullets shrieked through the air and ripped into one of it's legs, severing it. A small amount of blood poured from the severed appendage. The beast tumbled over on to it's stomach and began using it's bladed arms to crawl toward them. Another burst severed one of it's arms, the thing slumped over. Dead, blood slowly leaking from it's wounds.
The soldiers approached the mangled corpse. "Gunner? What the hell is that? How did you just kill it? Sir I need answers!" Tungsten shouted.
"Keep your voice down!" The lieutenant ordered in a hushed voice. "Before I answer your questions, I need you to all pay very close attention to what I'm saying. If you don't do exactly as I say, we might not make it off this scrap heap!
1. Shoot the limbs. Body and head shots don't damage them much. Take out the arms and legs until they stop moving.
2.These things are re-purposed corpses. They are transformed ponies, if you see a body, shoot it. If it doesn't jump up at us, sever the arms and legs. I know I said respect the dead, but that's not a luxury we can afford here.
3. Stay away from the vents, that's how they move around. Floor, walls, ceiling, all of them can be used as a point of attack. Watch them carefully.
4. Share ammo. If someone runs low, they become vulnerable. If ammo is getting scarce, pull blades of dead ones using your magic, or your kinesis module and launch them back at these monstrosities."
"How do you know all of this?" The corporal pressed.
"You wanted to know how I lost my hoof?"
The group just stood in silence. The realization that these things had took a part of him and he still survived struck them with fear and respect for both friend and foe. "Dear Celestia, what do we do know?" Cutlass asked.
"We get the array online, you guys get back on the ship and you wait for me."
"What are you going to do while we wait?" Gage inquired.
"Save everyone I can... and blow this ship straight to hell."
"You can't be serious! You must be joking! Going off alone with these things around by yourself and blowing this ship up? Are you insane?!" Tungsten accused.
"What did I say about your voice?!" He asked in a hushed tone. "Listen, you all have something to go home to. The second that array is online we are getting you all back on the Helios. And I'm doing what needs to be done, I'm pulling the plug on these bastards!"
"You are officially insane!" Tungsten reiterated in a quiet tone.
Gunner was about to retort when static came in over the short-range radio. "H-hello? Please... someone answer me!" The voice definitely belonged to a mare, terrified to say the very least.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Gunner replied, holding his hoof up to his mic.
"Y-yes, thank Celestia someone's still alive."
"Ma'am where are you? My squad just came down the elevator to the comms array."
"I'm- I'm a few doors down that hallway. I'm unlocking the door now, you have no idea how glad to-" The mare was cut off by a loud clang. "No, stay back, I mean it!" A guttural shout rang into the mic, and then, static.
"Everyone move, down the hall quickly!" The lieutenant ordered. The five sprinted through the hallway noticing every door being locked, except for one. Gunner activated the door and as it slid open, each soldier had their rifle aimed and ready. What they saw was the last thing they expected...
The mare was leaning against a wall, panting as if she had just gotten the wind knocked out of her. The wall adjacent to the door had an interesting new piece of decor. One of those creatures was stuck mounted to it by a few severed blades. Damn, this mare is tough as nails. I never would have been able to do that so efficiently.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" Joule asked.
The mare had a hoof held up to her chest. Her armor covered wings were flapping slowly, a telltale sign of anxiety. But, at the same time, she clearly had a horn on her head. "Yes, I-I'm fine. Just a little... freaked out."
"You're okay, just take a breathe, we will keep you safe." The sergeant promised.
"Joule, she doesn't need us to protect her. Look at the wall over there." The leader pointed to the body pinned on the wall. "She did the same thing I did, only with no gun or bullets. Not exactly a small feat."
"I... I tried to warn them... but, they didn't listen."
"Ma'am, these things don't 'understand' or 'think'. Whatever they were before this, I'm sorry but that's all gone. Memories, personality, sentience, that's all gone. They don't know how to do anything besides kill, and infect." Gunner explained, he knew all too well how they operated. "Lieutenant Ranged Gunner, at your service." She gave him a look of both sadness and relief. Sadness for the ones who were infected. Relief for the fact that she hadn't just murdered someone.
"Thank you, I was starting to worry I was the only one left."
"We found someone earlier coming in from the tram. We have him up in our ship right now just outside the vessel."
"You found Nickel!? What a relief! After he ran out earlier I thought he had been killed! Thank you!" The mare threw her hooves around Gunner. He returned her hug hesitantly. Of course, the suits didn't allow for any physical contact, but it was still nice.
"Ma'am, if it's not too much to ask, who are you? An alicorn?" Gage asked, that guy never thinks before talking...
She cleared her throat as she backed away from the lieutenant. "Oh yes, terribly rude of me. I'm Twilight Sparkle." Uh, What?!
"Princess Twilight Sparkle?" The private pressed.
"Yes." Twilight deadpanned.
The five bowed down to her, as a show of respect. "With all do respect Princess, we need to get moving."
