Inquiry

by Kokokoo

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Human
Length: 7791

The year is 2046. Mankind has taken to the stars and fulfilled their dream of conquering the solar system. Another star beckons, and mankind once again desires to capture it.

After 40 hard years of innovation and ever-increasingly brutal warfare, Earth and it's colonies have reached a state of political rest once again. The population has skyrocketed to 13.4 billion. Earthen land is becoming harder and harder to come by. Mars is running out of space as well. The recent discovery of a possible habitable planet clocking in at a mere 7 weeks away proposes an interesting and practical solution for the lack of land left for mankind. All they need is some questions answered.

Curiosity needs to be satisfied. Inquiry needs to exist for them to progress.

And progress they shall.

With their newly constructed starship "Lifeblood of Inquiry," they race their way to the star, awaiting their new home as they hurtle through space. They have no idea what they are to expect, and frankly, they don't care.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-15 04:12:48 UTC

Even Legacies Need to be Built

"3... 2... 1... Liftoff!" The announcer boomed into the rocket complex's speaker system. He quickly flicked off the microphone, knowing that he had just made the last countdown on an Earth space center.

To say the least, it had thoroughly disappointed him. To know that he just said the last words that the Earth would ever hear of space launching with no one but a pilot to listen was a letdown. He knew the pilot well of course, he was a friend from his early elementary days, off for his last mission under NASA's innovative iron fist before retirement. Jebediah Nicholson. The boy who peed himself in front of the teacher. Jebediah Nicholson. The last man to leave Earth on a government funded rocket.

Rockets had finally become obsolete. The recent development of short-range warp drives and basic (if not slightly unstable) teleportation devices had proven conventional method of reaching orbit clunky and inefficient.

The announcer was not just an announcer however. He was not a simpleton paid to repeat numbers. He, ironically enough, was the head of "Lifeblood of Inquiry" construction team, Andrew Holt. He was to head up in a space crane in 20 minutes to oversee the pieces all click into place on the chassis that had been sent up 2 days prior.

He kicked back in his chair and sighed, sipping his hot coffee mug as nostalgia flowed through him; until the admiral would bark at him to get on the crane. I'm going to miss this chair, he thought with a small chuckle.

The princess of the night looked into her sky again, unsatisfied. There were never enough stars to illuminate her beautiful night so that her subjects could enjoy it. She sighed, knowing that while she was loved and respected, her night never was. She could move every star in the sky, all of them but one. A small, insignificant little yellow dot near her very own constellation. "The Nightmare" they called it. Her constellation was her shame.

It was a bitter reminder that she kept in place to remember that she should never let her envy get the best of her. For the better lives and prosperity of her subjects, she submitted her very own self to emotional torture.

But she never understood why that star was out of her reach, her grasp. It never moved, in all its thousands of years. And it confused her. Sometimes, if she looked hard enough, it would flicker with the silhouettes of giant arrows and sharpened rectangular prisms. Always an enigma, that one.

That very star had been there since the beginning of the world. It stood vigilant, ever flamboyant in its warm yellow light. It was proud of something. Something that even its ancestors gave creation to. And the sisters never had a clue.

The princess of the sun stood by her sister once more.

"Sister dear, what seems to be the problem?" The heavenly white pony asked in her divine voice.

"The star, again." Luna muttered.

"Luna, you need to stop dwelling on such things. There's nothing we can do about it, and it has never posed any threat, any trouble. Why does it bother you so?" She finished, quizzically.

"It spoke to me last night." She simply stated.

"What do you mean, it spoke to you?" Celestia

"She told me her name."

"Her...? Luna, are you su--"

"Yes, sister. Her name is Sol." Luna interrupted quickly. "Her mother gave her a gift; a family heirloom that had gone on nearly 4 generations. And she is proud, mocking us." Luna bitterly continued.

"...what is it?"

"I've not a clue." The princess of the night somberly concluded.

"Andrew, I don't give two damns if it's your last launch. I don't care if your mopey ass is crying. You are to be up there, monitoring the construction of the salvation of the human race. But instead, you're down here, kicking back and drinking coffee. Get the fuck up there. ASAP," Andrew's communicator roared.

Swiftly jumping to his feet, he took his leisurely time walking to the pod built into the wall. Once he stood inside, he vigorously slammed on a green button, before feeling as if he was stretched into spaghetti.

He reappeared, thousands of meters above the planet that was slowly losing its color. Looking out the armored pod window, he sighed, knowing that the great, luscious green fields that previously occupied the planet had been replaced with thousands of shades of gray and beige. He quickly repositioned the pod with the RCS thrusters to face a massive behemoth of a starship.

Pulling a communicator off the the pod wall, he pushed a small button as he began to speak.

"Chassis sideplate teams A12 through D44, align your magnets. All of you, double time! The admiral's in a shitty mood," He grinned, knowing that he was at the helm of "the salvation of the human race."

"Oh, and Jebediah," he quickly added, "I know that you're just supposed to be part of the construction team, but uh... I could slip your name into the crew sheet if you want," the foreman concluded with a smirk plastered on his face as he released the button and put it back into its rightful place.

And the Blood of Inquiry Flows

Andrew happily stated after 3 days' worth of work, "Good job teams B16 and G78, for superior morale and shortest assembly time. The rest of you, congratulations to you as well," he paused to take a breath. "we are now at 94 percent completion. I'd say this calls for celebration."

Tapping the holopad on the left wall of the space crane control pod, he removed 25 Earthen minutes from the work schedule and repositioned it to the "lunch" section.

Strolling to the other side of the pod, Andrew firmly grasped a lever in hand. Firmly shoving it downwards, he lifted a small plastic safety box nearby with a red button underneath, bordered in caution tape. Quickly tossing a helmet over his head, he recoiled backwards as the bright, cyan HUD flicked on, showing navigational information and vital signs.

He slammed on red button in glee, as deafening hissing from the right side of the pod slowly quieted due to the airtight nature of the helmet and the air fleeing the pod. Unstrapping himself from his seat, Andrew slowly began drifting out of the now-opened airlock. Making sure to pull another lever and push another button outside of the pod, he flicked a rocker switch of the side of his belt.

His back roared to life as it began spewing small flames, guiding him through the blackness of space.

The behemoth of a starship came into view as he sharply inhaled. Seeing it in reality was much, much different than a monitor. The white and gray plates perfectly fit with each other in equally perfect symmetry. It was breathtaking.

The massive prism shaped metal shape was only missing small, insignificant things. Even its "ugly" outside radiated pride and strength. The various sizes of rectangles and triangles and circle fit together to make a giant jigsaw puzzle, a huge mosaic of steel and varied alloy.

Kicking his jetpack to 100% throttle, Andrew raced to the giant starship before quickly slowing to open an airlock. With nearly 200 rapid clicks, the circle in the middle of the door hissed and slowly opened to reveal an unrealistically white airlock chamber. Pressing a button behind him, the door began to shut as the chamber pressurized with air. Removing his helmet, Andrew took a long, deep breath of the cold, filtered air.

The door directly in front of him repeated twice as many clicks and revolutions as it opened even slower. Andrew quickly stepped into the main room as soon as he could. The interior only did the size of the ship justice, the cold steel bars and tubes running across the ceiling above him as he slowly walked forward. Returning his gaze to head-level, he began to walk under a 14-foot wide trapezoid arch leading into a corridor. The sign above him simply stated, "Living"

Stopping in his tracks, the foreman walked in circles to observe the blueprints become a reality. Quickly sprinting out of the corridor, he began his trek across the massive main area to the "Flight and Command" deck. He removed a thick, airtight glove as he put his hand against a scanner to allow him access.

With two quick beeps, he walked into a room full of consoles and holographic screens. They were all powered off, of course. The solar arrays were the other 6 percent of the ship. All of this meant nothing to him. Andrew stared out the massive, titanic window as he realized it towered hundreds of feet above him. With a proud smile, he removed a mobile holopad from his pocket and marked every single category with an "A".

The "Inquiry" was nearly done.

It had been two weeks since the massive starship was completed. Humanity was already 2/7ths of the way to their new home.

And Joseph was completely and utterly bored. He thought that he might wait out the 7 weeks, but quickly succumbed to boredom after 1 and a half. Taking a final bite of his nutrition cube, he slipped into the cryogenic pod and closed his eyes, imagining what all the wildlife might be like on the Haven Class-A planet, dubbed Hugrart-24b.

It seemed as if he'd hardly been in the pod for 3 seconds before it hissed open again. 5 weeks had passed, according to the display on the opposite side of the room. The titanic sound of warp drives had stopped since he last slept. Heading toward the "Science" wing, he opened the gray steel door to Lab 204.

"Hey guys, I'm bac--" He quickly stopped talking as he noticed the absence of any living thing in the room. Pulling a holopad from the wall, he quickly read over a major notice on the main menu.

ORBIT SUSTAINED. CIVILIANS ARE NOW PERMITTED TO RETURN TO MAIN DECK.

Quickly tossing the holopad back onto its magnetic holder, he slammed open the door and sprinted to the main deck.

Metal Birds Rained From the Sky

Michael Kaidelan began pushing away civilians trying to enter the flight deck to get a better view. Apparently cameras and giant 15 foot windows were not enough. Michael quickly shut the airlock and he watched dismayed civilians walk away. All except for one.

"Joseph, what do you want?" he irritatedly asked.

Joseph simply asked, "When are we dropping down?"

"When we do," Michael sarcastically replied.

"Hilarious," the head of the prime science team deadpanned.

"Man, I don't know. Soon enough. You, me, everyone, and their brother wants to get down there and start finding places to colonize. But we still have no clue if nothing is living there. We need to do recon first, the admiral said," the military police officer quickly explained, wise to the scientist's antics.

Michael was speaking informally, as he very well knew Jospeh Christopher. Friends since 9 years of age, each of them ironically picked the opposite of the jobs they said they'd pick as children. Joseph wanted to be a cop. He became a scientist. Michael wanted to become an astrophysicist; before giving up when he realized the credentials and math were going to be long and arduous. He soon realized his love for tazers, lasers, and bullets.

As if to mock Michael's matter-of-fact explanation earlier, the announcer boomed over the ship's speakers

ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL AND CLASS B OR HIGHER SCIENCE PERSONNEL REPORT TO THE FLIGHT DECK. YOUR HAND SIGNATURE HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY ADDED TO THE WHITELIST.

"Not. A. Word." Michael barked before moving away from the door to allow himself and his companion in.

Joseph and his friend, Michael, walked back out of the command area through the same airlock they had gone in not 6 minutes ago. After quickly being debriefed on what exactly their mission was to be, they were all issued NASA standard issue colony scouting suits.

The suits were simply white-gray and airtight, with forearm guards, shinguards, kneepads, breastplate, shoulder pads (for military personnel only), and high impact helmet, complete with HUD. In Joseph's honest opinion, it seemed a bit excessive for a scouting mission on a hopefully peaceful planet. The science teams were quickly instructed to refrain from using the small Gauss pistols they were issued unless they encountered some sort of hostile inhabitant.

The military personnel, however, were issued high-power Gauss sub-machine guns resembling the ancient G36C crossed with an equally ancient P90. Their suits were a darker gray than the science suits, and sported menacing looking shoulder pads to possible deter any wildlife or traitorous crewmembers. The only other difference their suits bore were the fact that their helmets seemed slightly more restricting to peripheral vision, all of which was made up for with the helmet sporting hidden cameras for literal eyes in the back of the head.

"Alright, just received the notification. Me, you, and 6 others are off for a VTOL in hangar 7," Michael stated as he broke the silence.

"Liquid fuel or warp?"

"Fuel,"

"Tiltwing?"

"Yep, just the way you like it," Michael snickered at his companion's finickiness in which aircraft they were to take.

"One more question, Gladiator or Hummingbird?"

"Hummingbird. No heavy ordnance for science teams, man. Common sense. Now stop with the questions!"

"Damnit." Joseph promptly stated as he rounded a corner into a space hangar. He spotted the only Hummingbird MKII left in the room as the pair quickly jogged to the open doors. Jumping into their seats and quickly strapping in their seatbelts, the doors closed as the craft lurched.

With a violent jolt, the craft shot forwards, out of the hangar doors and past the forcefield. Within a matter of 6 minutes, the craft notification system sweetly stated, "3 Kilometers above planet sea level."

The roaring helicopter slightly dived down to where the cockpit HUD had designated as their landing site, only a mere 50 meters away from where all of the other craft had already landed. The giant camp came into view as a federally funded base was assembled by a team of 14 men in suits adorned with neon yellow, reflective stripes.

Dozens of aircraft were slowly emptying around it as teams of men began quickly flattening land as a makeshift parking lot.

When the Hummingbird's doors slowly hissed open, Joseph's team quickly bounded out of the door to set up tents and deployable fences. It was going to be a long day, which was now reduced to 18.4 hours on Hugrart-24b. Nevertheless, a long, stressful day.

Twilight Sparkle happily woke up from a happy sleep in a happy town. Of course, it was all a mirage. Disasters happened to the town on a monthly basis, either caused by a trio of little girls or some eldritch evil spirit returning from banishment to terrorize Equestria. Surprisingly, the spirits were easier to handle.

Nevertheless, she really did wake up in a happy mood. She stretched her forelegs and yawned, the average wakeup routine for nearly everypony. Tossing herself off the bed to regain her footing and wake her up, she began slowly trotting down the stairs to the sounds of  emerald cake batter being stirred in a large bowl. The cause of the noise was small purple whelp, wearing a girly, frilly pink apron and chef's cap.

"Good morning, Spike!" Twilight chirped, her voice still groggy.

"Mornin' Twi," he cheerfully replied. "Oh, by the way, the picnic is today!"

"Picnic? Since when?"

"Check your calendar, it was planned over 2 months ago by Pinkie and Rarity. Don't you remember?" Spike asked quizzically as he stopped stirring the batter.

"Ohmygosh! Oh sweet Celestia! I forgot I forgot I forgot!" Twilight panicked.

"Take it easy, Twi!" Spike calmly pulled a basket from a cabinet nearby. "I prepared it for you already,"

Twilight breathed the very essence of relief as she saw the meal already packed. "Thank you Spike," She smiled. "I have no idea what I would do without you." She rubbed her right forehoof through his frills, grateful that her little dragon was looking out for her.

"No problem. Just... tell Rarity I said hi?" Spike sheepishly suggested.

"Got it. You have fun, then. Consider it your day off." Twilight grinned ear to ear as she shut the door behind her with her basket in his magical vise. Bounding toward Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight looked up at the sun in the sky. I still have a few minutes left...

"Set it up, boys! Double time!" A man with a booming voice yelled through the communication network as Joseph left the channel. He was in the much more interesting Construction & Maintenance, and actually was supposed to be on the near-silent Science Teams' channel.

He simply sat in the helicopter, legs slung over the side as he thumbed his pistol. A figure walked up out of the corner of his eye and he stuffed it back into his holster.

"Hey man, you wanna help out? I mean come on, I'm helping set up your tent," A young man in Joseph's team complained.

"Yeah, yeah... Just a sec," Joseph grunted, leaping off of the helicopter as he made his way toward the mess of un-assembled steel.

Simply Like Magic

The fortress began to take shape as the concrete rectangles and octagons all fit together to make a giant perimeter, complete with 3 main 2 story buildings: communications, cafeteria, and science lab. Solar panels extended off of these and the fences shot electricity into metal rods as the whole place lit up in a brilliant blue hue, even if just for a second. Men, including Andrew and Joseph, began making rudimentary pavement sidewalks and stabbing stakes into the ground and putting lights atop them. Hexagonal tiles were soon placed in the areas that had been flattened and the small base began to look like a professional structure.

Small rows of tents (they were small buildings, really) lined the empty spaces between the buildings and pathways as Andrew made his way to his own. He used his combination on the keypad to the right and a small door slid open. He tore off his clothes and lay down on his bed, staring through the small skylight in the roof.

The beautiful, gleaming stars shone through and danced light upon his tired eyes and sleepiness cooed a beautiful song as he gently shut them. The stars, satisfied with a job well done, continued to seduce the tired men working outside, eventually convincing all of the exhausted workers to come and sleep for a bit. The picturesque, violet night sky continued its silent, enchanting ballet, putting the hardiest of men to sleep and working their magic.

Magic. It was like magic.

"Late, late! Sorry girls! Late!" Twilight quickly sputtered.

"Hey, don't sweat it. Besides, we just got here too!" A brash, youthful voice called up from a tree, upside-down and hanging from her hind legs.

Rarity threw down a picnic blanket, deviating from the traditional red and white check pattern with a custom "Elements of Harmony" blanket, each of their cutie marks and mane colors emblazoned on six corners. Truly, a stunning piece of art.

"Wowie! Ooh! Oooh! Is that one mine?" A chipper pink pony hopped to a corner.

"Yes it is, and there's a spot for everypony!" Rarity called out, signalling Applejack and Fluttershy to come back to the tree.

Twilight lay her basket in the middle, along with 4 others. She opened hers up and laid out 6 sandwiches, some odd number of crackers, and a fruit platter.

"Ooh! Can I have a lemon banana daffodil sandwich? With extra toothpicks!" Pinkie suggested.

"Uhh... alright?" Twilight met her demands and gave pinkie her sandwich, fruits, and a little over a dozen toothpicks.

She didn't even put them all together and swallowed them whole.

"Pinkie, did you just swallow..." everypony trailed off in unison.

"Hm," Pinkie rubbed her chin, "Twilight, do you know if those toothpicks are oak or pine?"

Rainbow Dash asked incredulously, "Does it matter? You're eating wood!"

Twilight ignored her, "I think they're willow woodchips from my wal--"

They all paused and ducked as the sound of dozens of dozens of objects broke the sound barrier behind them. "Holy ponyfeathers!" A certain foul-mouthed rainbow pegasus cried out, her face to the ground. They all looked up after the sound of high pitched screaming passed over them. Hundreds of giant mechanical eagles and grotesque masses of mangled falcons flew in formation, their wings ever flapping. 4 smaller, screaming, larger winged birds belched fire out of their feathers and flew around the mass of birds as they took the lead.

They all stopped in place over a flat spot of land miles away, visible from their location on the small hill. Twilight teleported 2 telescopes from her house, probably much to Spike's surprise. She looked through the larger ones as the birds began cutting themself open. Little minotaurs, clad in white and light grey stepped out, the darker ones holding elegant looking clubs in both of their paws.

"Oh, sweet Celestia." Twilight stpped away from her telescope so Rarity could see. Pinkie shouted from the other telescope,

"I want one of those birds too!"

She was immediately shushed by everypony as they tried to watched what happened next. The dark minotaurs began fanning out, escorting a team of whiter ones with stripes on them that flared in the sunlight sometimes. A small bottle sized object was hammered into the ground as another minotaur pressed a switch on a pad in its paw. The bottle grew into a towering, skinny needle, with a red glowing dot on the peak of it.

Everypony gasped as more of them came out of the birds. There was an entire towns' worth of minotaurs.

"Rainbow Dash, quickly, go get Spike! Carry him if you need to!"

"On it, boss!" She saluted and darted off toward Ponyville Library.

Giant stone octagons tucked into rectangles were being hauled out as metal rods appeared to grow out of them. Smaller metal rods were inserted into the sides and fences began to take shape. The 5 ponies looked up as a massive, vaguely bird shaped object held a large, oddly shaped metal cube with steel ropes. It was lightly let down near the fences and it spat flames out of its leg stumps as it left toward the sky. And went further. And further...

Twilight redirected her telescope at the object, watching as it left the sky. A faint, barely visible rectangular prism's silhouette was barely made out in the clouds. And that bird flew straight toward it until she could see it no more.

The town that they were building already had smaller buildings cropping up in various places and the birds were being moved out of the way. The entire thing was like inexplicable clockwork. It was like magic.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Michael began making his rounds around the newly constructed complex. He had slept in a Gladiator VTOL during the day in which they constructed the whole thing. The mere prospect of them being able to build an entire base with communication, crew quarters, cafeteria, and airstrip was awe-inspiring.

We've come a long way, haven't we?

His helmet lay at the side of his hip, held in his forearm and supported by the palm of his gloved hand. He pulled his arm up and snapped the dome over his head as it hissed. He approached what vaguely resembled a vehicle depot and pushed his hand against it. A small box closed over his digits and a small display read, "X-Ray scan in progress..."

It soon read "Admitted!" and an armored grey door opened.

"Hey there, chief," Michael greeted his boss warmly.

"Huh? Oh, hi. Hey, uh, we gotta pick out some science guys and take them out for a scouting run. You know any that won't get on my nerves?" The military police chief quietly asked.

"Yeah, actually. I've got a 'friend'-- if I could call him that --in science team 200 something. Want me to ring him up?"

"That'd be great," he sipped his coffee, "Now then, let's get to work!" He slammed his mug on the table, a few drops managing to stain the pristine metal. He made his way to an APC and gestured for Michael to follow. Michael tapped the TacPad on his left arm and started toward the car. He craned his up and stood on his toes to reach the handle and yanked down. He pulled a ladder rung on the door to open it and leaped through the small doorway to the controls for the topside turret. A massive garage door opened and the six-wheeled vehicle dipped downward on the small ramp.

The admittedly huge car cruised down a small, makeshift street as a lone figure stood outside his tent, obviously tired and not entirely awake. Upon hearing the crunching of concrete and rocks under the weight of a 4 ton vehicle, he banged on a large tent door. He slipped on his helmet and four other figures followed suit as they stepped out of the door.

The APC stopped outside the tent and the 5 climbed in.

"So where are we going?" The speaker crackled, the chief's voice flooded the cabin.

"Can you see that little castle on the hill over there?" Joseph spoke toward the ceiling of the cramped cabin

"No... wait-- yeah. Yep," The chief correct himself, "Wait, what? A castle?"

"Our thoughts exactly," 3 of them spoke in unison.

"Give me a sec then," The static of the speaker stopped and all was silent except the occasional brush of carbon nanotube jumpsuits rustling under plates of armor. "Alright, I've managed to get 2 more APCs to come on with us. If it's a castle, it might have something inside," he cautioned.

Everybody looked at each other and immediately patted their firearms. The cabin began to move and the faint sound of two more engines behind them rumbled. They were on their way.

The deck of the Inquiry was near bare, only maintenance and administration present on the massive starship. They were receiving communications from the ground base, informing them that everything had gone smoothly and set up properly. A man stood at the helm of the starship, in front of a massive, 8 yard thick glass window. His hands were tucked behind him, his right hand gripping his left hand tightly. He was the only man in the building wearing a jumpsuit that wasn't some shade of gray or white. His navy blue suit stood in stark contrast to the rest of the deck, his armor significantly more than that of a soldiers'. In lieu of a helmet he sported an almost turtleneck-like collar and hid his neck, adding a layer of mystique and authority to the already authoritative looking man.

"Captain?" A young female voice called out from behind him.

"Hmm?" He muttered inquisitively, not bothering to turn around.

"We just received a message from the Greenland-Canadian Federation's interstellar program, stating that the Peregrine Spearhead just started up her engines for the first time and is on her way here," she simply stated.

"Tell them that I don't want to see any weapons online when they get here. This is a colonization project, not a war," the Captain spat.

"Understood."

"Sister, I feel it again," Luna whispered during lunch.

"Come again?" Celestia didn't quite hear her.

"The star is laughing again. Not a laugh of ridicule, I fear. A laugh of satisfaction,"

"Luna, this could be very serious. Are you hearing the star, or are you thinking you're heari--"

"No. I can hear it..."

Celestia could say nothing as she watched her sister somberly lay her head on her forehooves at the table.

After a 20 minute trip, the APCs had arrived at a wide path near the base of the mountain.

"Alright boys, I know you're cramped in there. Get out, get some fresh air. Come back on in when you're ready. So far, you haven't been loud and arrogant like the other teams. I respect that," The chief congratulated them. The 3 crew transports were lined up in a "C" pattern, the solid part facing the winding path that lead upwards. As the 5 stepped back out into the world, they looked to their left to find that 2 teams of reconnaissance soldiers had been accompanying them. Joseph waved and awkwardly held his hand in the air, none of them waving back.

The team quickly bit chunks off of nutrition bars and chugged flavored waters before stuffing them back into a bag and making their way back to the APCs.

Joseph nearly walked in and missed it.

A caravan was making its way down the pathway, evidently unaware of the 40-something foot white and gray barricade in from of it.

"Hey. Hey. Guys, look," Joseph called the others that were inside as the turret, operated by Michael, began to point toward a line of moving objects. Michael zoomed in to find that they were... horses? And an eagle?

"What in the actual..." Michael whispered.

"That's a griffon! And that's a unicorn!" Michael gasped.

The chief opened the door to the APC and slammed it, needing a look for himself. He squinted his eyes, straining to see the collection of dots moving in the distance. He withdrew a pair of binoculars from a hip-mounted pouch.

"Holy Christ," the chief muttered and agreed to a question that was not asked, but certainly thought.

"Get in. We're checking it out," the chief hollered.

Everyone quickly filed into the crew transport as it sped forward at a dangerous 120 miles per hour. It slowed to a still-fast 50 as it jumped over a grass hill, the two backup APCs following further behind. The driver let off the pedal and let the car slow to 25 mph as he turned on the holograms on the windshield. He selected "Video Messaging" and called the comms. tower.

"What's the situation?"

"No time to talk, changing camera to windshield view. Take notes," he hastily explained, narrowly avoiding potholes and giving the passengers the joyride of their lives. The transport neared the caravan and they began to acknowledge the presence of the now dirtied, matte white APCs.

"Michael, guns trained on them," the chief ordered.

The speakers in the back area, the passenger seating, crackled dead. The team of five began to fidget in their seats with uncertainty.

"Can't we take pictures and, you know, do our job?" A rebellious young woman in Joseph's group complained.

"Hell no, you're not going out there," Michael retorted, his eyes never coming off of the monitor.

"Well, why not?" Joseph added.

"What comes with caravans?" He answered with another question.

"Goods? Food? Wea--" Joseph paused, "Oh. You think we're going to get hurt?" Joseph snickered at the prospect of being shot by a little unicorn.

"I get held responsible. So, don't."

The recon team of 12 burst out of their APCs, kicking open the doors and sprinting toward the caravan only a quarter of a mile away. They quickly surrounded the 3 creatures and escorted them toward the "C formation of cars. Joseph's team took it upon themselves to open the door and get a closer look.

"Goddamnit," Michael swore.

"Alright, first question: Can you understand us?" The young woman asked this time with a motherly, comforting voice while 12 rifles were pointed toward the aliens. Their bright white scientist armor stood in stark contrast to the darker steel color of the soldiers. They almost looked like leaders to those untrained in what the colors meant.

"Cheerum furrup ferruoom liep?" The pony squeaked and cringed.

This is a secret message. If you have your formatting color set to dark gray, you'll be seeing more of these in the future.

"That's a no."

"Second question: Where are you going?"

There was no response other than raised eyebrows and terrified eyes. She backed up, pointed at the caravan, and then to the castle.

The ponies and griffon nodded furiously, "yes" and some of the soldiers thought they were going to give themselves a concussion.

"Alright alright alright, I think I get it. They're probably traders, farmers even... You all can stop pointing your guns at them." The soldiers looked at each other and reluctantly complied. The ponies noticeably slumped in relief while the griffon stayed tense as a bowstring. Its eyes darted back and forth between the scientists, panicked and terrified. The soldiers and scientists and even the ponies backed away from the griffon. It shuddered and shook.

All of a sudden, it exploded upwards and feathers floated downwards as an entire bag of valuable trinkets and pearl jewelry poured out of the bag.

The griffon dove downwards toward Joseph in an attempt to murder the creature who busted him.

And it lit up like a Christmas tree as Joseph, quick on the draw, shot it between the eyes before all 3 turrets, 12 men, and his 4 companions pumped it full of at least 20 pounds worth of bullets.

The ponies screamed and crouched, their forehooves stuffed over their heads. A corpse landed on Joseph's chest and planted on him of the ground, the heavy avian lion forcing the air out of him.

"Help," he wheezed.

Two soldiers grabbed the corpse off of the poor scientist by a hind leg and talon, tossing it back to the ponies.

They screamed and quickly covered their mouths, fearing they were get shot for being too loud.

"We need to get out of here. We came here for one reason, let's go check out that one reason, get out, and hope we don't get locked up for a terrible attempt at first contact," Michael was now outside, hoping that he could keep his job. "Jesus... don't-- shit." He was pacing back and forth, his hands firmly placed behind his head. "Get in the car, damnit,"

There was no argument. All the bipedals in the area immediately flocked into the APCs as they turned around, continuing their way up the mountain as the thieves tried to hide the body of their accomplice without throwing up. They hardly wanted the gold now.

Like A Wrecking Ball

The 3 mechanical monstrosities that replaced the caravan of thieves made their way up the winding path, the cars threatening to tip over and fall off of the mountain. The transports crawled up, hugging the walls of the mountain and fearing that the path may get smaller, up ahead. They began approaching a waterfall and closed drawbridge. The pristine white bricks reflected the sun's rays in a gorgeous manner, threatening to blind any and all who dare gaze upon to for more than quick glance. They fit together seamlessly, great care in laying the stones down readily apparent.

"We're on foot from here." Joseph got up and began to open the door before being stopped the shoulder.

"Hey Chief, how wide is the moat? Can't tell from the turret cam," Michael asked, his hand still placed over his friend's shoulder.

"Some 2, 3 feet," the chief continued, "You thinking about climbing over?"

"Not exactly,"

The MP chief knew exactly what he was saying, now. He shifted gear to Ram and sipped a drink his cup holder. He flexed his back and stretched his arms, gripping the wheel tightly. He tapped 8 digits on the wheel and waited in anticipation.

4 taps. 1.

4 taps. 2.

4 taps. 3.

"Hold on, it's going to get bumpy," the chief ominously stated.

The gas pedal literally hit the floor and warnings lit up the dashboard. The craft lurched forward at 550 mph as entire brick sections shattered over the wheels alone. The back section felt the impact of the wall after the driver did and the passengers did not expect for the entire transport to dip into water and then jerk backwards. Dust and rocks impacted the side of the vehicle in what sounded like gunfire impacting. The whole vehicle shook back and forth, the back two wheels struggling to work underwater.

"Fuck!"

"Are we under fire?" The passengers panicked and Michael smiled, seeing the whole thing from a monitor.

The APC hurtled itself of the bed of the moat and flew at least 3 feet into the air after overcoming the slope of the artificial river. The chief quickly hit the brakes and the passengers, too stubborn to put on seatbelts, piled on the back wall on, on top of each other.

"What in the hell just happened?"

The chief smugly replied, "We're in, that's what,"

"Dear Princess Celestia,

Please help there's alien minotaurs outside of Ponyville.

Get over here now please.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle" Celestia finished reading aloud to her sister.

They both said nothing and simply looked at each other.

"Go." was all Luna could say.

And that she did, remorseful that she was causing so much grief with her doubt in what Luna was suffering.

Princess Celestia appeared behind the Element bearers, unfazed by the surprised looks.

"What seems to be the problem h..." She looked at the sprawling complex that she previously saw out of the corner of her eye. Her jaw slowly slid open in awe.

An entire town had been set up, pristine and white as her coat, with only the occasional color strip for navigation in the maze.

"You say alien minotaurs?" Celestia entirely forgot what she was asking previously.

"They're going inside their little homes to rest or something. Only a few are still outside, and they're making paths," Rainbow explained, surprisingly intelligently.

Twilight piped up, "What should we do?"

Celestia considered all the possibilities of waltzing in with a battalion of guards and just speaking. Thoughts of balefire and piles of corpses from both sides filled her mind. Images of the oddly-shaped birds diving into her ponies flickered through her eyes. Her wise mind had never had to think through a situation quite like this before. With the probability of language barrier and cultural misinterpretations looming over every plan of diplomacy she had previously used, she stood on all fours at a loss.

The Raiser of the Sun thought long and hard about what to do.

She reached a point.

"We let them talk to us. They're 'ready when they're ready,'" Celestia mirrored Twilight's words from when she was but a filly, arguing with a butler about when her hair would be brushed. Her student lightly blushed and agreed.

"So... picnic cancelled?"

"Picnic cancelled."

The ponies began to walk away without their princess and she waited for them to realize it.

"Ahem. Twilight," Celestia politely coughed and smiled.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" she sheepishly apologized and asked, "You had something more to say?"

"I'll be sending a platoon to set up camp on this hill, if that's alright with you?"

"Uh-- of course! Anything!" Her student eagerly agreed.

"One of these days, you should take assertion lessons from your friend Fluttershy," her teacher sagely advised, "she knows a thing or two."

Her head snapped around to her butter-coated friend in questioning as Fluttershy shrunk. Twilight turned her head back around to find her mentor gone in a blinding flash of light.

"Home base, this is the Science Convoy requesting immediate diplomatic presence and air support,"

"Excuse me?"

"We just damaged property of another species and we may be making formal first contact,"

The radio went silent for the next two minutes. The battalion of guards surrounding the vehicle pointed their admittedly useless spears at the dirtied white transports, in an attempt to display their "overwhelming" numbers and dominance of the situation.

The guards were little ponies, like before. But they weren't all unicorns. Some had wings and some had nothing at all, but all of them managed to sport some sort of projectile weapon or lance or spear. They were clearly intelligent, their panicked and uncertain eyes and expertly crafted armor displaying the extent of their sentience. But their technology was centuries behind even the humans' relatively simple combat knife.

"The captain is on his way planetside in a modified Tyto gunship, Hades-Class plating. He is being escorted by 4 Gryfalcon ground-to-air helicopters," the announcer added, "He is not happy,"

Within a surprisingly short time period of about 40 seconds, a massive, vaguely bird shaped, rocket-powered VTOL slowed to a stop and touched down onto the ground. 2 tilt-rotors landed beside the behemoth of an aircraft and one circled the area, the other flying higher above and keeping an eye out for any any sort of ambush.

The attention of the sea of guards quickly turned to the massive steel birds and a single pegasus glided over the ground quickly, toward some sort of palace. The gauss minigun of the "ambush" tilt-rotor followed the darting figure, making sure he wasn't setting off some sort of explosive.

The communications announcer simply stated, "Chief and science team, immediately shift channels to Administration."

Screens inside the helmets of the users quickly brightened and the Captain's angry face appeared.

"What is this?"

"We entered a castle, believing it was abandoned, sir," Michael monotonously and guiltily replied.

"Why is that a good idea, private?"

"Science Administration recommendation, sir," Joseph quickly answered for Michael.

"Who authorized this expedition?" The captain's voice was growing calmer, he was an understanding man. He also knew full well that he was not commanding a military ship's crew members. He shuddered at the thought of the stories his father would tell him about being a Lieutenant in the Sol Dominance War. Men being torn limb from limb, explosions that never made a sound and twisted steel hurtling at breakneck spe--

"I did, sir," The police chief confessed.

The captain let out a long, deliberate sigh.

"Are we to meet a designated leader?"

"No, for the time being, we're being held at spearpoint while they retrieve their command,"

Celestia had just returned home when word from the Ponyville camp was received about 3 large, six-wheeled carriages making their way toward the capitol.

"Pull the drawbridge and assign a greater amount of guards to the gates, Shining," Celestia's calm and unflappable tone sang its way into the Captain's ears as he complied.

"When and if they arrive, send word for me to greet them," Celestia reminded, "They seem like an interesting, if not dangerous bunch."

"Right away," the lionhearted Captain replied.

Explanation: War and Classification

Aircraft Naming

Jets and Drones: Melee Weapons

High Atmosphere Flying: Thrown Weapons

Civilian Aircraft: Owl and Other Bird Breeds (Name does not change if modified for weapons)

Military Aircraft: Warriors [ex. Gladiator, Samurai, Spartan]

Armor Tier

The armor is named from top to bottom, weakest to strongest. Armor applies to worn armor and plating on vehicles.

Ares - Primarily used for basic protection for civilians in dangerous situations [ex. escort out of a firefight]

Can withstand small arms fire, heavy and inefficient

Apollo - Primarily used for Scientists and lightly armored soldiers

Can withstand small explosive trauma and basic assault rifle rounds

Aphrodite - Primarily used on tanks and heavily armored shock troopers

Can withstand sniper rounds and high-yield fragmentation grenades

Can be shaped to deflect radar signals

Athena - Primarily used on Canadian-Greenland Federation mechs and U.S. [Data Expunged]

Can withstand hydrogen nuclear bomb shockwaves from 60 miles of original detonation point

Can withstand temperatures up to 4600 degrees Fahrenheit

Hades - Primarily used for armored diplomatic aircraft transports and starships

[Notes withheld by United States Government, Unified European Colonies, Canadian-Greenland Federation, and United Territories of North Africa]

Poseidon - Primarily used to armor colony ships

Can withstand repeated thermonuclear detonation

[Remaining notes withheld by United States Government, Unified European Colonies, Canadian-Greenland Federation, and United Territories of North Africa]

Zeus - One instance of use

[Notes withheld by Sol Ministry of Interstellar Affairs]

Kronos - Unavailable to human race as of September 29th, 2035

Can travel through convective zone of OB supergiants

Obtained by [Source withheld by Sol Ministry of Interstellar Affairs]

Thinnest recorded (and only) plate: 7.6m thick

No known way to inflict man-made damage to Kronos-tier plating

Earthen Countries [After Sol Dominance War]

Canadian-Greenland Federation

United States of America [Alaska destroyed in war, 13 new states in what was previously Mexico and the Caribbean islands]

Russian Federation

People's Republic of China

Republic of Japanese-Filipino Islands

Official Republic of Korea

Unified South American Islands [Entire continent leveled by thermonuclear war]

United Territories of North Africa [Southern half of continent separated by controlled terrorist blasting, splitting the land mass in half with man-made river]

All smaller countries disbanded during the chaos of Sol Dominance War and fled to Mars or other worlds.

Martian Countries [After Sol Dominance War]

New Ireland

New French Republic

Federal Republic of Germany [Chose not to append "New" to their Martian location]

New Kingdom of Sweden

Federal Republic of Stronghold [New country, formed as a safe haven during war. Founders were fleeing Canadian and Scottish citizens. Taxes are spent on defensive weaponry and 60% of national budget is devoted to military.]

New Federative Republic of Brazil

9/28/35

On September 28th, 2035, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Japan, India, and Iraq signed documents declaring war on Mars and her unnamed colonies for rampant crime, mass murder, and unauthorized detonation of thermonuclear warheads in the Pacific Ocean. The United States made first contact with [Data Expunged] 4 months prior, attempting to establish common language and trade routes. The original intent of the States was to come to friendly terms with the [Data Expunged] so that technological trade could become a possibility.

The States displayed their Zeus-class armor plating, hoping to catch the attention of the [Data Expunged] official so that they may inform US engineers how to improve their armor. The [Data Expunged] official returned to [Data Expunged] and displayed the only known plate of Kronos-class armor upon returning. The day that this plate was shown was September 28th, 2035 2:35 o'clock. On that date, Mars launched a volley of nuclear missiles at the facility in Alaska where the possible trade was taking place.

The Sol Dominance War begun that day and humankind was forbidden from access of Kronos-class plating until wartime had settled down.

Even in the year 2046, the [Data Expunged] have not returned to the Solar System.

The United States government built the Lifeblood of Inquiry in an attempt to find them once again. Nobody else knows about the Kronos-class but a select few officials in Maryland.