Stolen Memories: Path to Reconnection

Chapter Three: Time For a Change-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Location: Metellos.

It didn’t take a medical professional to tell Korrik that he was concussed. His vision blurred in his left eye and he was having bouts of dizziness. All was well save for the concussion, but that would heal with time. Unfortunately, as Areuli and Korrik left the infirmary, they bumped into HK-50, robbing Korrik of another shot at questioning the prisoner. Applejack.

HK had told them that Adanar had a mission for him as his new lieutenant. He was to take Areuli and board a small cargo shuttle that was sent down from a larger ship resting in orbit. Adanar had reason to believe the ship was sent by the Boreas Industries Corporation to investigate the attack on Mygeeto. It was Korrik and Areuli’s mission to infiltrate the vessel and hack into their computer systems and alter whatever information they have on the Dust Angels before they had time to organize search parties. A few hours later after bribing several spaceport workers, the duo had been packed into a supply crate with their supplies and were loaded into the cargo shuttle.

“Why can’t we just delete their info completely? Seems easier than taking the effort to throw them off.” Korrik whispered, squirming uncomfortably as he tried to adjust himself.

“This is why they send me, if we deleted it they would know someone was onto them. But throwing them off the trail will buy us time for…something.” Areuli whispered back.

The shuttle jerked slightly as the engines flared to life and thrust the ship into the Metellos sky.

“Sooo… what’s the plan Kor?” Areuli asked.

“Well I brought a stealth field generator for you and I’m going to do my best to move undetected. If I’m spotted, I’ll have this disguise to bluff my way out.”

“What if they don’t buy it?”

“They don’t really have to; I just need to distract them long enough for you to hack into their systems. Then you can help me if I need it.” Areuli didn’t like this plan, Korrik would be caught and detained or worse. In the end she had no alternate plan so she had to accept this regardless of her feelings.

Korrik took the opportunity to slip on his disguise before the shuttle docked with its parent. He thought the possibility of the plan working was high enough. Fortunately, even though the BIC is based on Equis and furthers Equine development above all else, their workers were not exclusively Equine. The soft rumble of the engine powering down came through the cargo hold. Areuli carefully opened the crate that was their transport before activating her stealth field as Korrik made his own way out.

“Wish me luck Kor.” Areuli whispered before finding her way out of the cargo bay.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: A-deck

“Areuli, can you hear me?” Korrik spoke through his communicator.

“Loud and clear, I’m heading through engineering now, maybe find a layout of the ship.”

Korrik continued to make his way through A-deck. He would have no problem hiding in plain sight, the hallways were bustling with a myriad of people and Equines in BIC uniforms attending to their various duties, some unloading the cargo from the shuttle Korrik arrived on. Others however were carrying what looked like arms and ammunition into the room, loading them onto the many landing craft spread throughout the hangar.

“Areuli, we don’t have a lot of time. It looks like they’re already preparing for ground combat.”

“You there!” a deep voice resonated behind Korrik as he turned to see a Pegasus stallion hovering eye level with the human. His uniform covered his chest and most of his body leaving his legs and wings exposed. His hat looked to be more ornate than others and if the markings were any indication of rank, Korrik guessed that this Pony might be the captain.

“Shake your head soldier, your eyes are stuck!” Korrik instinctively went into a military stance and retorted.

“Yes sir!”

“Get down to the armory and help the others get the heavy weapons to the hangar. Now soldier, NOW!”

“Yes sir!” Korrik raised his hand for a quick salute before turning and bolting down the hallway, opposite the direction of the flow of traffic. Now that he was safe for the time being, Korrik decided to check back with his partner.

“Areuli, status.”

“I made it through engineering and managed to find the ship layout and schematics. But I’m stuck in an air vent; if I go any further I’ll trip the alarm system.”

“Ok sit tight, I’ll see what I can do.” Korrik was unfamiliar with the designs of BIC ships so he wandered the halls for several minutes, every turn he made lessened the amount of people he saw. Yet his wanderings paid off and he found a security control room. With all the commotion in and around the hangar, security’s presence was almost nonexistent making it too easy for Korrik to slip in and route power away from the alarm systems.

“Alright Areuli the alarms are down, keep going.”

“Roger that.” Korrik turned and left the room, after several steps down the hall his vision began to blur and his sense of balance almost vanished as he caught himself on the wall before hitting the floor. Dammit! Not now he thought. The side effects of his concussion finally beginning to show themselves. It took only a brief respite for him to be able to stand and walk straight without wobbling, but his vision remained slightly blurred. A minor splitting pain gripped his head, seemingly trading his motor skills for a headache. He made his way down and through more halls partially blind, unsure of his direction.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: C-deck

Areuli finished climbing her way through the air vent and dropped down into a droid maintenance room. Many of the droid models were ripped open and seemingly scavenged for spare parts, their metallic remains were scattered around the room in disheveled heaps of empty chassis. One of which looked out of place.

Among the scraps of maintenance and security droids there was a semi intact frame of what looked to be an owl. But unlike the other droids in the room that had been cannibalized, this one had been shot in the head multiple times at close range. Upon closer inspection she noticed that the owl droids memory core was salvageable.

She set herself to work by first hooking her datapad into the central processor. Whoever owned this droid must have had some very important data stored on it because the level of encryption was far above that of other service droids. Almost ten minutes had passed before she was able to finish hacking the owl’s database. Amid the droids master’s several journal logs and programming sub routines, there was one video recording time stamped from only an hour ago. Curiosity got the better of her as she played it:

“Captain, your orders were to scout the planet and confirm the presence of the target, not engage them.” A brown Pegasus stallion turned away from a line of soldiers and addressed the droid.

“There’s no point in waiting, we know they are here and we will not wait for the rest of the fleet. We are attacking as soon as we finish preparations.” He turned his back to the owl droid, faced his men and continued his speech.

“Alright men, we have a confirmation from the Allani Syndicate that they will help in the assault on the city. After supplying them with weapons they were more than happy to assist, but don’t let this alliance with that pathetic band of fools deceive you. They are just as much the enemy. When we commence the attack do not hesitate to open fire on the Allani’s after we’ve wiped out the Angels. If we don’t, they will only take their place and that is something we cannot allow.” The droid flew up directly beside the captain and spoke again.

“Captain Winds I say again, your orders were to confirm the Angels presence and relay that information back to the strike force and then wait for them to arrive. The Master says it’s imperative that…”

“I’ve had enough of you, you flying metal pest! I don’t care what your Master says! She has no power over me, these are my men and this is my ship! Your Master supplied us information but that was all, this is a BIC operation now. MY operation. But I can’t have you squawking this back to the strike force or your Master now can I?” Before the droid could respond or move the captain raised his foreleg and fired at it, ending the recording in a crackle of static.

Areuli was stunned, not only did the BIC know exactly where the Angels are, they were going to attack soon but they had been coordinating with the Allani Syndicate. This didn’t bode well for Krashel or the Angels. Areuli was halfway through reading entry three of the journal entries when a low rumbling explosion shook the ship above her, followed shortly by the scream of klaxons and a voice from her communicator.

“Areuli, we’ve got a problem!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: B-deck

Korrik had wandered for what seemed an eternity, but in reality only five minutes had passed as he blindly followed one hall to another. His head was still splitting with acute pain so he decided to try and find the med-bay. He had seen no one since before he entered the security room, so safety was of no concern. What was concerning however, was his utter lack of direction. Even if he found the med-bay he wouldn’t know it.

The blurriness in his eyes hid any signs or directions from his recognition. The only way he would find it would be by entering every single room and checking them himself. After checking several rooms and spots on the wall where he though there were rooms, Korrik found the room housing the ship’s main weapon batteries. He was unsure whether he was on the port or starboard side of the ship, but it didn’t really matter.

Arranged on the far walls were three large cannons, each one aimed out into the black through a particle shield. Littered around the base of each cannon were the power cells needed to fire the weapons. Despite the detour, Korrik did manage to find a med-kit in the room and did what he could to lighten his pain and clear his vision. His sight came back slowly and his headache receded only slightly, but any progress was good progress. Speaking of progress, he reached towards his communicator to check on Areuli but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“What are you doing in here Soldier!? Why did you disobey your orders!?” Korrik snapped around and saluted.

“Sir! I though I’d check on the turbolaser batteries just in case we need them for support. Sir!” The captain hovered in closer to Korrik, nearly touching his muzzle to Korrik’s face.

“That’s interesting because Talcyon-class cruisers are only equipped with particle beam cannons.” The smile on the Captain’s face was one of sadistic glee as he reared back and delivered a powerful head-butt to the bridge of Korrik’s nose. Korrik retreated several steps back, his hands moving to try and stop the blood from flowing from his now shattered again nose. The Captain wasted no time in pressing his advantage, taking to the air and flying to collide into Korrik in a tackle. The two hit the floor in a tangled mess of flesh and feathers as they wrestled for control. Korrik was still surprised by the dexterity a four legged race like theirs could possess. Korrik managed to get a grip on one of the Captain’s wings and wrenched the winged Equine off him. The captain recovered midair and hovered above Korrik.

“You can’t escape. You’ve nowhere to run.” He growled, the malice in his voice increasing with every word. Korrik freed one of his blaster pistols from is holster and pointed it at the base of the farthest cannon.

“I don’t plan to.” One blaster shot echoed through the room before it was silenced by the roar of explosions. The cannon exploded in a blast of flame and color as it blew through the ship’s hull. The resulting shock wave knocked the Captain out of the air and slammed him into the far wall with a meaty thwack and the sound of breaking bone.

Korrik too found himself sailing through the air with all the grace of a drunken Mynock before smashing into the floor on his left shoulder. Alarms and lights began sounding and flashing everywhere as the roof let loose its rainfall in its effort to quell the flames. Loud crashing filled the room next when the ship’s blast shields attempted to seal off the breach.

As soon as the crashing ended and the shields locked into place, Korrik tried to push himself up off the floor but failed; his injured left shoulder refusing to support even a fraction of his body weight. It didn’t take long to find a solution to get to his feet and as fast as he was able he fled the room and took off down the left hall back towards the hangar.

“Areuli! We’ve got a problem!” Korrik managed to yell into his communicator before a blaster bolt struck the wall just over his head, leaving a glowing red dot surrounded by a scorch mark on the wall. More bolts soon followed as two pursuers chased him through the ship. One was a Human in the garb attributed to engineers and the other was a yellow Earth Pony. Both equipped with light blaster pistols, the former held one in his hand while the latter had one of the mouth held models made exclusively for their race.

Equine ingenuity at its finest. Since their species lacked hands, they couldn’t use standard blasters or other weapons. So they created mouth held blasters that functioned using a tongue trigger and ‘wrist blasters’ they mount to their forelegs, some of which could take modifications that contained a great deal more than a blaster. The voice of Areuli sounded out from Korrik’s communicator.

“What did you do!?” Her voice tainted with exasperation.

“The Captain found me out, had to destroy a particle cannon! I’m on my way to the hangar but I’ve got new trouble!” Another volley of bolts hit the wall where Korrik stood seconds before, reducing a decent chunk of the wall into molten slag.

“We’ve got more problems.” Areuli added.

“This operation is too late. They know we’re based in Krashel. As soon as they complete preparations this ship will attack and the rest of their strike force is on the way here. They also got the Allani syndicate to help them assault the city. What do we do Kor?”

Korrik’s breath grew increasingly labored as he ran. He had no time to think, he had to lose the two chasing him. He drew his Deathhammer blaster again and turned and fired blindly in their direction. Fate favored him in this moment as the bolt connected with the engineer’s right knee. The bolt burned through his unprotected flesh and separated his leg from the knee down from his body. He barely had time to scream as the floor rose up to meet him in a chase stopping impact.

Stopping his pursuit, the Earth Pony crouched down to aide his fallen and injured partner as Korrik disappeared through the maze of hallways. Not long afterwards, when he was certain he was no longer being chased, he ducked into a maintenance closet and called back to his invisible companion.

“Ok…if what you said…is true then…we need to destroy…this ship.” He managed to say in between breaths.

“It’s not a solution… but if we stop this ship’s attack… we can at least buy Krashel… some time before the rest of them arrive. I need you to go…back to engineering, find the ship’s main reactor... set it to blow and meet me in the hangar so we can get out of here and warn Adanar.”

“Alright, I’d better see you there Kor, stay safe.” A most difficult task that would be, for he had already kicked the Rancor by blowing a hole in the ship. He had to go back out and make his way to the hangar, all the while causing as much chaos as he could to keep attention on him. As far as he knew the crew didn’t know about Areuli and that’s the way it was going to stay. As he stood to leave the soft thud of footsteps sounded from the hall. Korrik waited and listened until the footsteps were just in front of the door to the maintenance closet and he made his move.

He charged out of the closet and slammed into the footstep’s originator. He pushed him all the way across the empty hall into a hard collision with the wall of the corridor. Korrik brought up his knee and caught the man in the stomach. He hunched over clutching his gut, giving Korrik the time to unholster his blaster and bring the handle down on the back of the man’s skull, putting him down for the count.

A sudden impact staggered Korrik as a shot connected and was absorbed by his armor. He turned to see three more men had taken this one’s place. He drew his second blaster and unleashed a flurry of laser blasts at the newcomers. Multiple shots of his connected, felling one of them. However many of their shots were connecting as well, the front of his armor getting hotter as it kept him protected. Korrik charged up the remaining energy from the power cells in his blasters and fired them into the wall just beside his attackers, obscuring their sight of him through a light haze of smoke and sparks. Rather than stay and finish this fight, Korrik pivoted on his feet and took off running the opposite direction towards the hangar.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: A-deck

Areuli made her way back into engineering and immediately set herself to work hacking the control terminal in the center of the room. She inserted a computer spike into the terminal to assault the security measures with garbage data allowing her easy access to the ship’s systems.

Concern gripped her heart as security footage from B-deck showed Korrik trading shots with three men in a hallway. She relaxed a bit when she saw he had managed to escape and flee towards the elevator back to A-deck. In order to make the escape easier for her friend she began locking down certain rooms across A and B-decks. Starting with the armory and barracks, she hoped to minimize the number of men they would send his way.

She felt a smile appear on her face as the security footage showed the startled faces of the dozens of soldiers she had just locked in what would soon become their tomb. The next step for her was to hack into the power systems and begin cutting power to parts of the ship, the first being communications so they couldn’t call for help. Then she vented the hangar, watching through the cameras, as close to ten men were sucked out into the void. Next she cut power from the bridge, engines and primary lighting systems. All that filled the hallways and rooms now was: the low red light of the emergency lights, the sound of klaxons and blaster fire here and there. And now her part was done. She disabled the cooling unit for the main reactor. Before long it would cause a chain reaction of destruction that would rip the ship to scrap.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIC ship: A-deck

Korrik growled through gritted teeth as a bolt found its mark and burned into his right arm. He returned fire and dropped the lucky shooter with a direct shot to the head, extinguishing his life. A hot pain lanced through Korrik’s lower back. He turned to see that a red Unicorn mare had rammed him with her horn, piercing the mesh in-between the plates in his armor in an attempt to cripple him. Had it not been dark and had she been a few more inches to the right she might have succeeded.

Every second became agony when the Unicorn began thrashing her head around, twisting and tearing flesh in and around the hole she had made. Korrik screamed and lashed out with all his strength, elbowing the Unicorn in the temple hard enough to knock her away and stumble back several steps.

Korrik’s blood ran down from her horn, dribbling down her face in a disturbing visage of crimson upon scarlet in front of hateful eyes. The fiery mare was not done. She wrapped him in a light blue aura and lifted him into the air. He flailed weightlessly, struggling to break free from a hold he could not touch.

Korrik was helpless as the mare proceeded to slam him into the walls over and over again. Each impact brought him excruciating pain, even if his head didn’t connect with the walls, the kinetic force of each blow echoed into his concussed brain. Instinct possessed Korrik; he took advantage of his weightlessness, flipped in his transparent cocoon of magic and kicked off the next wall and out of the mare’s telekinetic grip.

Korrik had no time to waste; he clambered to his feet and charged the smaller Pony. Fear was clear in her eyes as she stood frozen against the primal fury of his relentless attack. Blow after blow came down upon the Pony; a second stream of ruby red blood flowed down her face from her crushed nose and split lips. Korrik extinguished the fire in her heart with a heavy kick that sent her careening down the hallway, rolling and flopping into an unmoving heap. Now he could continue to the hangar undeterred before the rush of adrenaline was replaced with anguish.

The hangar was a mess of crates and supplies scattered haphazardly around the floor, yet there was not a soul to be seen. Most of the chaos was at the base of the hangar doors. You vented the hangar, clever girl. Korrik’s thought and smile were wiped away when another presence made itself known.

“I told you. I told you you’d have nowhere to run.” The captain stepped out from behind one of the transports, his feathers were scorched black and his right wing was mangled.

“You’ve made quite a mess of my ship. What was it you hoped to do here? And even if you succeeded, it would change nothing. Your friends down on the surface will die, whether or not I live. And I intend to do so.” Korrik gripped his head as his senses were suddenly overwhelmed by dizziness. He began firing wildly at the Captain. Who cantered to the left and right, skillfully dodging every bolt.

A few short strides were all it took to bring the Captain into close combat. With a swing of his hoof he knocked Korrik’s Deathhammer from his hand and sent it skittering into the chaos of clutter that was the floor. From the device on his other hoof extended a small blade which he slashed across Korrik’s thigh, bringing him to his knees. Then he turned and kicked Korrik in the chest, leaving him flat on his back. Korrik opened his eyes to see the Captain’s wrist blaster pointed in his face.

“Looks like I’ll live to fight scum like you another day.” A shimmer of light flashed behind the Captain from Areuli deactivating her stealth field, her blaster an inch from his head.

“No, you won’t.” And she fired. His body landed next to Korrik, the hole in his head still smoking.

“Where would you be without me?” Areuli smiled softly.

“Not in the presence of the most beautiful angel of all.” Korrik smiled back, extending his arm. She helped him up and walked with him into the shuttle they came in on. Areuli went straight for the medical supplies and went to work to mend his bleeding back and leg as well as the shot he took to his arm.

“Ok, let’s get the brix out of here.” She said, hopping into the pilot’s chair, powering on the ship and guiding it out through the hangar doors and out into the space above Metellos.

“By the way this mission wasn’t a total loss.” Areuli added. Korrik was leaning in the entrance to the cockpit.

“What do you mean?” She handed him her datapad.

“Found something you might want to see.” He sat down in the chair opposite hers and examined the datapad. Areuli had found and downloaded the journals of someone identified as T.S., a few stood out.

Journal entry 7:

It’s the loneliness I think I hate most. I haven’t seen my friends in almost three years. Not since the end of the Jedi civil war when we used the Elements of Harmony against Malak. The work we’ve been doing for the last two years here is amazing and could help the Republic immensely. I’ve made some new friends among the researchers here but…It’s not the same. It’s almost impossible to keep up on what everypony is doing and even more difficult to organize a meeting or even a conversation. I guess what I’m saying is…I miss my friends.

Journal entry 11:

Today on the Holonet I saw that a Boreas Industries Corporation ship was attacked and destroyed on Mygeeto and the report detailed the number of casualties and injuries. Among them I found Big Macintoshs’ name, thankfully on the injured list. When I looked into it further I learned that Applejack was there and that whoever attacked them had stolen her Element. I haven’t been able to contact her as she has gone off searching for her attackers and disappeared for the time being. I swear that stubborn Pony will do everything herself if she has the chance. I am going to the local BIC office tomorrow to see if I can help with their investigation and help my friend whatever way I can.

Journal entry 31:

We’ve done it! We have a strong lead on Applejack’s location. We sent one ship ahead of us to confirm if the criminal group known as the Dust Angels that destroyed that ship is indeed on the planet. If my research is correct, then this is where her trail went dead, meaning she is a prisoner or…no… she is fine, I don’t know anypony tougher than AJ. I sent one of my droids along with the scout ship and when we get confirmation the rest of this strike force will assault the group and rescue Applejack. It is with a hesitant heart that I have volunteered to help in the assault. I haven’t done much fighting and I won’t lie, I’m scared but friendship is worth fighting for and with Celestia as my witness I will save my friend.

Korrik was brought back to reality when a small shockwave from the BIC ship exploding shook the shuttle. He only had a little time to think as they entered the atmosphere. This could be his opportunity to leave the Angels. He thought about the situation and decided that he would help Applejack, he hated to admit it but he admired the lengths her friend would go for her. It was time for a change anyway.

“Areuli, I have a new plan.”