Chapters FTL: The last great voyage of the Osprey
Chapter 1: Victory!...Right?
Reginald sat back in his captains chair. His name was Reginald but everyone on board the ship called him Ryan. At first this was just to get under his skin for being a pompous bastard, eventually though it became more of a thing they did as friends. Ryan commanded quite a ship. The Osprey. One of the greatest achievements since the stealth class light cruiser. The Osprey was an artillery class light cruiser. As such it was equipped with one of the greatest weapons in federation history. The Vindicator beam was an artillery weapon reserved for only the heaviest of cruisers. The beam could pierce the strongest of shields and slice the toughest of hulls. The downsides to this were that the beam had no connection to the targeting computer meaning it could not be aimed and due to the huge amount of power needed to fire the beam there was no possibility of the ship gaining a cloaking system. That was until the Lanius appeared.
The Lanius were thought to be nothing more than slobbering beasts who feast on metal but as it turns out these thoughts were wrong. They are sentient and despite their mantis like tendencies when it comes to war they can be reasoned with. If an alliance were to be made with these solitary aliens so much good could come of it and that is just what Ryan did. It happened in an abandoned sector of space a militia ship was bombarding a Lanius fighter with missile after missile; in an effort to eliminate them from the galaxy. Ryan, not favouring genocide quickly destroyed this militia's ship. Granted there were most likely more but these Lanius were safe. As thanks the Lanius offered to install a cloaking device. Ryan quickly told them it was impossible but they would not take no for an answer. Against all odds the cloaking device was up and running. One of the Lanius even offered to join the crew his name was "Horrigan". Before the exchange was over the Lanius delivered an uncharacteristically cryptic message "Do not deliver vindication in cowardice."
This was in the back of Ryan's mind as he watched the left side of the rebel flagship explode and crumble. "Ssssir! The flagship isss fleeing!" Kazaaakplethkilik's serpent like voice rung throughout the ship.
"After them!" Ryan replied prompting the familiar wail of the FTL drive to sound and the ship to jump to the next beacon.
"Captain!" The melodious voice of Cronos the Zoltan sounded. "The rebels were ready I'm detecting a massive power surge from the ship!"
"Activate cloak!" Ryan yelled, afraid of what the rebels had planned.
"Yes sir!" A robotic voice belonging to Mallard the Engi replied.
"Captain. The Vindicator is fully charged and about to fire" The voice of Lucy the Rock came over the intercom.
Do not deliver vindication in cowardice.
"NO! WAI-" Before Ryan could finish the ship shut down. Intercoms were dead, the sensors were offline, weapons had lost charge, Oxygen was dispersing and engines had shut off. The engines then burst into life with the loud wail of the FTL drive following them.
The sky in Equestria was calm and quiet save for the occasional bird singing just like any other day. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun shone bright. This tranquillity was soon broken by none other than the Osprey appearing in the sky. The ship was not built for in atmosphere flight. The ship itself had to be constructed in space. Panels flew off of the hull. Cracks spread across the glass window in the bridge. Fires erupted from the engines which were clearly being overloaded.
Ryan struggled to maintain footing, the ship wide blackout had knocked out the artificial gravity. "All crew members gather in the bridge!" He then remembered Horrigan and he's species' traits. "And bring emergency breathing masks!"Horrigan was in the front of the ship managing the cloak when it happened. He hadn't managed to tell the captain not to cloak before it was too late. The system was beyond repair, wires were waving everywhere and the metal had gotten so hot in some places that it actually melted and solidified. He heard the words of the captain over the dying intercom "Gather.....bridge.....breathing" Was what the speakers spat throughout the ship.
The ship was beginning to speed towards the ground at an alarming rate. This caused the spine of the ship to become a near vertical wall instead of the hallway the crew knew it as. All of a sudden the engines flared into life causing the ship to level from its sheer plummet. The ship had managed to level out but was still losing altitude. The Osprey was beginning to awaken again, the artillery beam began it's auto charge and the remaining weapons moved into firing position however one of the engines that had just saved them died as quickly as it had come back to life. The loss of one engine caused the on board power manager to reroute the power to the other engine causing the ship to start spinning out of control. On top of this the ship was angling downwards and the spine was starting to bend.
Horrigan ran into the targeting room to find Kazaaakplethkilik pinned under some excess munitions. As fearsome as the Mantis are they are not the strongest species in the galaxy. "Metal murderer!" Kazaaak began with his less than creative and less than flattening nickname for the Lanius. "I require assisssssstance but please do hurry" Kazaaak finished, noting that the air was getting thinner.
Horrigan was quick in acting and rolled the missiles off of Kazaaak's abdomen "...........Hurry.......We will die." Were the few words Horrigan said.
"We........are trapped." Horrigan solemnly spoke as he opened a hatch and threw two breathing masks to Kazaaak and Lucy.
"We can only hope the captain hasssssss a plan" Kazaaak mumbled.
Cronos calmly walked onto the bridge "Captain I am here as per your requests" The ever calm and soothing voice of the Zoltan helped ease the situation a bit.
Mallard soon arrived on the bridge spouting something about a less than 1% chance for survival.
"Alright that's you two accounted for but where are the othe-" A red light began flashing on the cracked control console
"Hu l B ch" Was the warning that flickered on and off.
"Hull breach! in the artillery corridor! quick send a dro-" Ryan couldn't seem to finish a sentence today as the ship began to split apart down the middle.
Everything seemed to slow down then. The bar next to the artillery icon was full and that meant the Vindicator was about to fire! From the bridge all that could be seen was the split hull followed by an explosion. The story was different in the other end of the ship though. Lucy was still trying to break down the door then the wall fell away to reveal the broken Vindicator pointing at them and ready to fire. Then it did, the beam shot forward and must of hit something in the targeting room because a violent explosion followed. The front end of the ship was sent spiralling away from the rest of the ship due to the explosion where was the back end was propelled backwards.
"Get back from the breach! We're gonna crash and by Granite I'm not letting you two die!" Lucy had to shout to be heard over the rush of air
"Maintain.......grip......falling....would be......lethal" Horrigan said as he retreated to the cloaking room.
"I can't! move dammit! End me now ensign! I am not a worthy mantis to sssssssurvive when my crew has not!" Kazaaakplethkilik lied in a pool of his own murky blood. The great thief reduced to this. A broken piece of metal had speared him through the thorax and soon it would all end. The ensign he was talking to had succumbed to a fire in the room. It was over, he was left here to die. That was until a rocky hand reached out to him
Kazaaak was stirred from his thoughts by a loud crash followed by what felt like the ship segment slowing down. A statue then fell onto the ship, the horn of the statue very nearly stabbing Kazaaak's thorax when it pierced the hull.
"Captain. We have lost Lucy Kazaaakplethkilik and Horrigan." Cronos spoke in a tone that seemed to waiver.
Ryan was silent. Despite their current situation he still found time to mourn as the ship hurtled towards the ground.
"Captain. Readings show that engine number 2 is extremely unstable and could detonate at any moment I suggest we evacuate the ship. Provided we survive which is a 0.002% chance given our current circumstances." Mallard said coldly like any other Engi would.
"Noted." Ryan said with little sign of emotion.
The entire bridge shook as the ship made contact with something solid. The ship held despite it's damaged state.
The ship exploded.
"Nevermind."
FTL: The last great voyage of the Osprey
Chapter 2: First contact.....kinda
The building was in shambles. Charred black pieces of wood rained from the sky, burning cloth hang from some of the more rigid pieces of wood, but the most amazing thing in this portrait of destruction was that the ship had only lost an engine and the teleporter room.
"Federation engineering at it's finest my good men!" Ryan said as he slipped into the snobbish accent his crew had grown to hate.
"Captain I suggest we hide!" Cronos was quick to point out a nearby alleyway they could hide in.
Ryan nodded "C'mon Mallard you weird robot creature nanobot thing" He said as he dragged Mallard into the alley and began to watch the scene unfold on the street.
"Rarity what happened here!?" Twilight ran to her friend who was obviously distraught
"Oh twilight! It's horrible! My home! My work! My....LIVELIHOOD! It is without a doubt! The. Worst. Possible. Thing." Rarity spoke somewhere between crying and screaming.
Looking over the wreckage Twilight nodded. "For once Rarity I agree....I need you to tell my exactly what happened!" Twilight said as she produced a quill and parchment from her saddlebag.
"Okay, okay" Rarity took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I was busy working on my latest ensemble! When all of a sudden there was a loud crash and this great metal beast bursts through my wall! I heard hoofsteps and voices from inside then this big hairless ape appears from around the corner. After that I grabbed Opalescence and ran. Then.....then it was all gone!" Rarity reverted back to her tears at recalling the incident that had happened not moments ago.
Twilight put a wing around her and began to console her "It's alright Rarity. We can rebuild."
Ryan stroked his chin. "Rarity and Twilight. Sentient equines, unicorns no less. Where the bloody hell did the FTL drive spit us out?"
Kazaaak looked through a hole in the hull. "Too many. We would not ssssstand a chance. Diplomacy would be ssssmart but we are too...impossssssing." Kazaaak noted.
"We..............try." Horrigan said
"Not to be rude you two but I'm a giant rock monster you can't speak to someone without suffocating them and you are a giant freakin space bug!" Lucy said with clear irritation in her voice.
"To be fair....Lucy you are the leasssssst "scary" of us not to mention your....dynamic cultural background and futher more I-Where has Horrigan gone?"
Guards surrounded the foreign metal item whatever it was it had caused substantial damage to Canterlot. Then part of the object opened and a very odd creature stepped out. "Stop where you are this instant you have committed a crime against Celestia and her people!" The guards all pointed spears at the weird being.
"Mean.........no....harm....peace." Were the few words Horrigan said, his face unchanging much like his voice. The guards didn't seem to listen as they all edged closer. One of the guards then fell to ground coughing and choking.
"What-what Did you do to him dammi-" The guard speaking then found his voice getting quiet and the air thin. He backed away, dropping his spear.
Horrigan picked up the spear. "No.........harm" He repeated as his hand enveloped the spear. "Not......Fight.....detrimental" He said as he dropped the spear which now had none of its gold trim and its head was gone any trace of metal was gone from it.
"Please.......listen......my......friends......speak......you." Horrigan retreated into the safety of the ship.
"I'm not going out there you go out there!"
"me!? Incassssssse you haven't noticed I have a tendency to sound like a sssssnake! and people don't like ssssnakessss! I'm also not sssure tha-" Kazaaak began to cough and reach for his throat
"Horrigan! Back away this inst-" Lucy joined Kazaaak in coughing fits.
"Out.........Speak.....NOW " The last word Horrigan said had an unusual amount of emotion put into it as he once more opened the door of the ship.
"Fine fine. But all i'm sssssaying issss that we aren't negotiators then again we have be-" Kazaaak turned around to find a spear pointed at his thorax. "Sssssssshit."
"Any and all unknown beings. You are under arrest by order of the canterlot royal family! You will be held in canterlot castle until your trial.
"I just hope the others are doing better." Lucy sighed.
"Under arrest!? What for!?" Ryan shouted in an offended tone as the cell door slid shut.
"Heavy property damage for one, disturbing the peace for two and I'm pretty sure exploding something in a populated town warrants arrest alone. As princess I have to make sure ponies are safe and happy, this is the first time a matter like this has come to me but I will not let it slide." Twilight stated as she locked the door and walked off.
"To be fair capta-"
"Not now Cronos. I really am not in the mood to here one of your speeches regarding how both sides in this are right. Need I remind you of the incident in Nebula 25-999-12?" Ryan interrupted the Zoltan.
"I know Slugs are con men and some of the more...fiendish in the galaxy but they deserve fair treatment" Cronos quickly replied
"While you were "negotiating" they fired 2 Hermes missiles! do you know how much bloody damage those things do Cronos!? It's a freaking lot! I can tell you!" Ryan was quick to reprimand the Zoltan.
"Well sorry for trying to convey the federati-"
"Projected chance of escape if current conversation is continued: 0.001%" Mallard interjected.
Ryan silently nodded. "We should argue this later especially the part where I'm right." Cronos audibly sighed. "But for now we have to escape. Cronos! You're made of energy see if you can burn the bars or something."
"Captain why are you so hell bent on escaping?" Cronos asked as he traced a finger around the lock of the cell.
"If these....ponies are rebel sympathisers and find out who we are. We would have a hell of a bad time."
"But captain I thought the rebels only allied with other humans?" Cronos pointed out as the lock fell to the floor with a clank.
"Can never be too careful Cronos." Ryan said as he pushed to door open. "Now c'mon! we got a ship to find."
Mallard quietly got up and walked out of the cell.
"Just wait up a second captain!" Cronos shouted.
"Mayor they are just in the prison cell now, with any luck we should be able to get some insight into who they ar-"
The cell was empty and the door opened. The lock lay on the ground and in the wall the word "SORRY" was carved. Twilight was literally ablaze with anger.
Kazaaak, Lucy and Horrigan stood just outside their cell. Horrigan had swiftly dealt with the bars by manner of absorbing them.
"We need a disssssssguise" Kazaaak pointed out.
Horrigan responded to this by melting into a pool of liquid metal and solidifying into the shape of a pony.
"Impressive." Lucy commented. "But a bit.....shiny."
Horrigan nodded and began to absorb some of the other prison doors. This seemed to darken his skin a fair bit.
"Good thissss might work. You dissstract them while we wait in the sssssshadows."
Horrigan nodded again and walked out of the prison first.
"This plan seems a bit rushed" Lucy said
"It will have to do." Kazaaak responded.
"Cost........clear." Came Horrigan's voice from the staircase.
Lucy and Kazaaak both cautiously walked up the stairs and immediately hid behind a pillar when they heard the echo of footsteps from the corridor.
"Oh hello there. I haven't seen you around the castle before, are you new here?"
"............Yes."
"Do you know who I am?"
"............No."
"That would explain why you didn't bow to me, But I don't mind. My name is Celestia, Princess Celestia."
"..........."
"You don't talk much do you?"
".........No."
"Are you one of the new servants?"
".........."
"I'll take that as a yes. Would you like a tour of the castle?"
".........."
"Come this way then."
Horrigan managed to leave behind some excess metal to spell out a message to his crew.
Lucy and Kazaaak made sure the cost was clear and began to follow the princess and their crew member. They looked to the floor and saw the message the Lanius left behind. "Help me!"
"Question. How was she still breathing?" Lucy pondered.
Kazaaak just shrugged in reply.
Some time later
"And this is the royal court!" Celestia exclaimed as the doors of the room closed behind Kazaaak and Lucy as they snuck in. "Oh and before I forget.......Gotcha."
FTL: The last great voyage of the Osprey
Chapter 3:Interrogations........joy
Chapter 3:Interrogations........joy
"This doesn't look like any courtroom I know" Lucy commented, noting how baron the room was.
"Well that's because it isn't. This is the throne room but over the years it's been used for multiple purposes. Such as the way we are using it now." Celestia responded. "Not to mention this isn't the actual courtroom. I'd think it unfair to put 3 beings who don't know the laws to trial. Especially after they've just arrived."
"Hosssspitality? On my home worldsss an action like we've committed would result in hossstility." Kazaaak said remembering when he was put on trial for not wanting to pursue a warrior career. "Thievessss are not generally accepted in Mantisss communityssss."
"A thief? This is unexpected. Criminals are quite rare in Equestria. You may have noticed how empty the prison was." Celestia said as she called for the servants who brought in a small table and a few chairs."Please. Have a seat. I'd much like to discuss things over tea."
"Princess? one, well two questions. One, if you're a princess where is the king/queen. Two, thanks to Horrigan we shouldn't be breathing but here we are." Lucy said attempting to pick up a tea cup.
"Good questions. There are no queens or kings only princes and princesses."
Kazaaak made a loud clicking noise unbeknownst to the others he actually cursed in Mantis.
"As for the second question, after some observations we decided to put a slight magical aura around your quiet friend here. Speaking of which I'd rather see your true form."
Horrigan nodded and melted into the metal puddle, only to reform as his Lanius self.
"Besides I think I should be the one asking the questions here. First off and most importantly who are you and what are you doing here." Celestia took on a slightly more serious tone.
"Issss thisss the part where we get interrogated? Joy!" Kazaaak said with a false clap of his claws. "I sssssupose we sssshould get thissss over with. Firsss-"
"What's with all the slurring of your "s" sounds you don't usually do it this much." Lucy interrupted.
"If I am forced to ssssspeak your language I can basssstardize it as I please." Kazaaak responded."Now I guesssss you want me to sssstop with thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssss? Too bad. Now. I am Kazaaakplethkilik the great thief. Scourge of the eight sectors and fear of all good captains. I wa-"
"Where did your slur go?" Celestia wore a puzzled look upon her face.
"My great legacy will not be lossssst even if it meanssss I cannot sssscrew with your language. Now would you sssstop with all the interruptionsssss. I was the great thief until I was picked up by the Osprey and it's crew, the reason I had to be picked up was...." Kazaaak mumbled something unintelligible.
"Pardon?" Celestia asked
"I was defeated by them."
"I hate to repeat myself but pardon?"
"I WAS DEFEATED BY THEM! There I said it. Happy?"
Lucy giggled.
"But that is besides the point! For I the great Kazaaakplethkilik am no longer a thief instead I am an officer of the "Galactic Federation of United Races" Or GFUR for short. Our mission was simple deliver information regarding the rebel's secret weapon...." Kazaaak trailed off. "THE DATA CHIP! THAT BLASTED ENGI HAD IT AND BROOD KNOWS WHERE HE IS!" Kazaaak wore a worried look on his face, which was uncommon for the mantis.
"Calm down Kazaak." Celestia attempted to calm the panicked mantis.
"It's Kazaaak! And I will not calm down. That chip is vital to our mission it contains information on the rebel's flagship! Including a full analysis of It's "Starburst" Super weapon! By Brood I hope that robot is alive."
"This is a fine mess you've gotten us into captain! Almost beats the incident at the cantina in slug nebula 885!" Cronos said with as much anger and sarcasm as the Zoltan could muster.
"I'll have you know that I had no Idea they were siphoning our fuel while simultaneously drugging me! Besides that little tale beats this one easily." Ryan replied, reminiscing on past adventures.
"Projected level of intrigue-"
"Shut up Mallard!" Both interrupted.
"Do you three always argue this much?" Rainbow was slightly confused at the 3 creatures she and her friends were looking at.
"Oh believe me we were much worse in Engi maintenance circle 10 you should of heard us back then."
"Uhhhh-huh."
"Well I try to refrain from arguments and hostility they go against the ideals of the Zoltan." Cronos said as he began to assume a more proper stance. "Speaking of hostility, is the prison cell really necessary? I could easily burn through the lock again. I assume that wouldn't end well for us would it?"
"Like I said, we have no choice you have broken the law and must be punished for it." Twilight began.
"You sound like a Zoltan." Ryan quickly commented.
"Oi!"
"You know it's true Cronos."
Twilight visibly twitched. "Can you go five minutes WITHOUT ARGUING!"
"We tried to once but then Kazaaak threatened to butcher us out of boredom. Oh crap. Kazaaak....Lucy.....Frank Horrigan..."
"It's just Horrigan captain." Cronos corrected.
"I know I just used to call him that, reminded me of a little something from earth. But still...I hope their alive."
"Were these ponies-er people yer friends?" Applejack spoke up from the group of ponies.
Ryan's translator beeped upon recognizing her accent. "Yeah they were part of my crew, and some of the best damn crew in the galaxy. Kazaaak could go claw to claw with a mantis warlord and come out unscathed. Horrigan best damn hull repairs this side of the nanobot clouds! And Lucy a body made of rock but she had a heart of gold!" Ryan took a valiant pose, or as valiant as he could standing in a jail cell.
"I'm s-sorry for your l-loss." A quiet voice spoke up.
"It's....fine really if I know them they're still alive. But we can mourn later. Hurts every damn time i say that. I'm guessing you have questions. So shoot. Don't actually shoot we've had that happen before."
"You ruffians! Why did you blow up my boutique?!" Rarity walked up to the bars.
"Now that. Is not our fault. We have a weapon." The pony's faces grew pale. "I take it you don't have many weapons. Anyway we have a laser that...malfunctioned. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, if we didn't cause it. You see we did something wrong I won't go into specifics until Mallard tells me them. But let's say that's how we got here. The second time it malfunctioned, the ship kinda.....exploded.....Oops."
"Oops? You destroyed my home. You destroyed my work. You destroyed my job. You destroyed my livelihood and all you have to say is OOPS!?"
"Captain. Protect me! I die easily!" Cronos hid behind Ryan.
"Listen. I'm really sorry but if you would just give me my ship, or at least half of it. We would gladly leave and not come back."
Twilight looked nervously over her group of friends who looked back to the crew. "About that.....We kinda decided that we should send it to canterlot to get it researched." Twilight scratched the back of her head.
"YOU WHAT!?" The usually calm captain lost it "YOU SENT THE OSPREY AWAY FROM THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO KNEW WHAT IT WAS!? DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT SHIP IS? THE CARGO HOLD IS FULL OF EXTREMELY VOLATILE FTL FUEL! THE COILS USED TO POWER THE VINDICATOR COULD MELT METAL! BUT NO NOOOO YOU'RE A PRINCESS RIGHT? THAT MUST OF BEEN FREAKING RIGHT! BLOODY HELL I'VE DEALT WITH SOME CIVVIES WHO WERE THICK. BUT MY GOD!"
Twilight said nothing. Instead choosing to push past her friends and leave the prison, leaving a trail of tears in her wake. Pinkie and Rarity ran off after her, leaving Ryan and his crew with Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy.
"Projected chance of survival: Zer-"
"Mallard?"
"Yes?"
"Not now." Ryan said as he backed away from the bars and the now furious Rainbow dash.
"Captain. I believe we have found one of our data beacons." A rebel said as he saluted.
"Interesting.....Tell me, which ones?" The captain said between coughs.
"The plans for.....Our ship."
The captain grinned. "Set a course!"
FTL: The last great voyage of the Osprey
Ryan backed away from the bars and leaned over to Cronos. "Remember the Sunstrike facility?"
"How could I forget?"
"Remember how we escaped?"
"Manoeuvre 26-P?"
"Yeah. Pulsar on my mark."
"Hey!" Rainbow interrupted. "You! Ryan was it? Here now."
"Must I? You athletic dunce." Ryan began to slip into his old ways.
"If you want to keep your teeth by the end of the day!"
"My dear prismatic pony. In the eyes of me and the federation. I have done no wrong." Ryan did a smug bow.
"Captain....." Cronos noticed the look in the pegasus' eyes.
"Trust me." Ryan turned back to the cell bars.
"Nothing wrong?! Ya call explodin at poor twi like that nothing wrong." AJ spoke up.
"Collateral damage." Ryan then muttered to his crew. "Mallard move up towards the door. You'll know the signal."
"What are you talking about!?" Rainbow was pretty much head butting the bars.
"Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Now would you be so kind as to let us go." Ryan took out his tinted monocle and began to clean the lens.
"Not a chance buster. Now I want you to apologize. First to us then to Twilight and then to Rarity. Or deal with Fluttershy here."
"Rainbow I don't think that's a good idea"
"So....Apologize!"
"Not a chance. Besides, what's that little doormat gonna do? mumble at us? scream and run?"
"Doormat?" Fluttershy's voice grew louder.
"Now. Open this damned detestable door and let us be. You pathetic excuses for jailers. You lit-"
"Now hold it right there mister!" Fluttershy made her way to the front of the group.
"Bingo"
"I've been trying to be indifferent here! But you! You are beyond even my care! Every attempt we made to be nice was met with indifference or arguing! And I have had it up to here! What would your parents say. It makes me so angry I could just..." Fluttershy was now face to face with Ryan.
"NOW!" Ryan quickly donned his monocle and saluted,covering his other eye.
Cronos was focusing his energy which was then released in a blinding flash of light, stunning their three captors. Mallard used this time to dismantle the lock and get the door open.
"Hate to leave so soon ladies! But we have a ship to catch!" Rainbow was the first to get up quite quickly "Oh bugger." Ryan ran out the door, making sure to close it behind him.
"So captain? Did you mean what you said then?" Cronos asked as they ran through the town.
"Not a word my friend! Besides when was the last time you heard me go all "Reginald" Since the 10th circle?" Ryan replied.
Mallard simply nodded.
"....At which point I broke off from Queen Brood's royal guard and pursued my campaign of thievery. My first great act was stealing her majesties new cruiser! The Gila Monster! That is when the great Kazaaakplethkilik began! That about ssssssumssss it up. My sssstory before and after the federation. Any quesssstionssss?"
"No...I don't think so. Though I wish you hadn't gone into such detail about your guard "trials" Interesting though. I'll have a scholar transcribe it." Celestia took another sip of tea. "Well then. Lucy It appears to be your turn, would you please tell me about yourse-"
"Princess! Word from ponyville. An object similar to the one found in canterlot has been found in ponyville!" A guard burst into the unusual scene of the princess having tea with a giant mantis, a rock person and a metal man.
"Captain!" Lucy shouted. "Sorry princess. Another time maybe?"
"It's fine my little....er rock. Please though allow my sister to accompany you. I do not wish to let you out of the castle without supervision and my sister has been wanting to return to ponyville."
"If we musssssst" Kazaaak sighed, earning a glare from Lucy.
"We'd love to princess." Lucy humbly accepted the offer.
"Perfect. You will depart within the hour."
"......................."
"My thoughtssss exactly Horrigan" Kazaaak chuckled aloud.
"Just like the mantis hives of the "Scourged Claw" eh? Remember the fun we had sneaking through those?" Ryan laughed as he walked down an alleyway.
Cronos shuddered. "I was going to be used as a living bomb! I would hardly call that "fun" captain."
"Ya need to lighten up Cronos! If you always look at the negatives you'll never have any fun. Got anything mallard?"
"Distress beacon detected: 1 kilometres north"
"That'a boy! Anyway, Cronos you must of had some fun on our journeys?"
"There was the incident with the "Zoltan Grand Codex.""
"Ugh you mean sitting around, listening to votes while we restrain Kazaaak from murdering someone?" Ryan recalled his utter boredom with Zoltan politics.
"If you actually listened for once! you'd see it's quite interesting." Cronos snapped back.
"No what was interesting was infiltrating the rebel construction yard!"
"Hardly. Hearing the granite chiseller's speech in the "Mantle Core" I found to be quite interesting."
"Rock religion? Their own people found it so flawed they left, hence why we got Lucy!"
"I wouldn't be so quick to-"
"Quiet Cronos, c'mon through here." Ryan climbed through the window of what appeared to be a giant tree.
"Is this wise captain?" Cronos pondered as he melted the lock on the door.
"Of course....not"
Cronos sighed. "Captain...you hear that?"
"Yeah....sounds like...crying?" Ryan's eyes widened "Oh fuck."
"Twilight, I'm sure he didn't mean it. I bet he was just a bit shocked to find out his ship was gone." A high pitched voice came from upstairs, followed by more crying.
"Please get up Twilight! I'm sure he's just as upset as you." Another more regal voice came from upstairs.
"You two don't get it! The thing is, he was right! I shouldn't of sent it away. I bet he knows more about it then anyone in Canterlot!"
"Well there's no way to know that for certain."
"I'd say there is!" Ryan said as he walked up the stairs.
"What are YOU doing here?" Rarity exclaimed as she glared daggers at the captain.
"Just came by to apologize for the things I said." Ryan stated.
"You-you don't need to....I shouldn't of..." Twilight began
"No I really do. What I said was a bit....rude and went against the federation's morals." Ryan interrupted. "We are the Galactic Federation of United Races after all!"
Twilight chuckled a bit. "I am really sorry though, maybe we could...."
Ryan interrupted. "I. Am gonna get my ship back!"
FTL: The last great voyage of the Osprey
Chapter 5: Arguments.......fun
"Catch you later Twi! Can I call you Twi? ah bugger it I will anyway!" Ryan said as he exited the library.
"Captain?" Cronos spoke up.
"Yes my little Zoltan?" Ryan replied.
"Never call me that again. Moreover, isn't it convenient how these creatures speak Basic? I'd think they would be like those six legged things that led us to Mallard."
"Well Cronos. Sometimes species evolve similarly and this could lead to a shared language structure. It's a low chance but it happens. As a scholar I'd think you would of known that and would of explained it to me in several paragraphs." Ryan stated.
"Shut up." Was the only reply Cronos could think of.
Ryan laughed. "C'mon guys we got a ship to reclaim." Ryan looked to the crash site. The ship had been pulled from the rubble but was surrounded by guards. They seemed easy enough to get past or take down. A pool of FTL fuel had pooled underneath the remaining engine. "Too dangerous to fight them. We could spark the fuel. We need a plan to distract them."
"Slug nebula 26-Z?"
"No ion storm."
"Rock monastery of the cracked star?"
"Area's too open."
"Manor of Hugo Greeves?"
"Not enough water."
"Well then captain I got nothing."
"We need something new, something.....foolproof."
"Foolproof is not a word to describe our endeavours captain."
"Well it will be!"
"Like it would be on Raxus 7?"
"Quiet Cronos." Ryan continued to scan the scene. "C'mon think of something."
"There you are!" A familiar raspy voice sounded from above him.
"That'll do!" Ryan said as the light bulb above his head was smashed by a cyan hoof. "Cronos! Remember when you teleported Lucy into the oxygen room when it was on fire?" Ryan managed to say before the wind was knocked out of him by the same cyan hoof.
"Yeah? I needed Mallard's help with some calculations though. Why do you ask?" Cronos said, being slightly amused as his captain was pummelled.
"Move-oof! Her over-ow-there!" Ryan said in-between beatings "MY NARDS!" He screamed as Rainbow managed to hit a rather sensitive spot. "P-please hurry dammit!"
Cronos began to focus. "On it." In his mind he saw Rainbow Dash and the ship. He had no clue what the captain was planning but that didn't matter. Cronos began to glow brighter, burning some of the grass around him. In an instant Rainbow Dash was now at the crash site and had accidentally attacked a guard. "Done." Cronos said as he observed Dash be chased off by a group of guards.
"Et voilà." Ryan butchered a French accent. "Now c'mon let's see what we can salvage from this wreck" Ryan only wanted one thing from the ship though.
"Uhh captain?" Cronos pointed towards the sky, where a highly ornate vehicle towed by two bat like guards descended.
"Are we there yet?" Kazaaak hung bored over the side of the carriage.
"For the last time neigh!" A rather archaic voice sounded from the back of the carriage.
"Hey Kazaaak? Wanna here a joke" Lucy spoke up.
"Dependssssss. Is it dark?"
"Zoltan boarding parties."
Both of them erupted into laughter, even Horrigan joined with a creepy metallic sounding laugh.
"Horrigan." Kazaaak stopped laughing.
"Yes?"
"Never laugh again. Ever, I'm a mantisss and that ssscared even me,"
At this point the mysterious mare in the back of the carriage started to laugh.
"Oh now you K'tle'ning laugh" Kazaaak swore again, the word sounding out of place among the basic he spoke.
"Well that was a rather...odd word thou have uttered." The mare spoke up once more.
"For the love of Brood ssspeak in a more modern way. Pleassse?" Kazaaak was growing tired of the dated speech patterns
"Well we see no reason to not and we see no reason for thee to be so rude." The mare stepped forward from the shade revealing herself to be no other than Princess Luna.
"Isssss that sssso?"Kazaaak asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Why yes it is." Luna replied glaring daggers at the Mantis.
"Well if thatsssss how it'sss gonna be then-"
"Both of you shut up I think I see the ship!" Lucy broke up the impending argument.
"Isssss that? CAPTAIN!" Kazaaak observed, almost falling out of the carriage.
"Kazaaak? KAZAAAK YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD! YOU'RE ALIVE" Ryan yelled upwards towards the carriage.
The carriage landed and Lucy, Horrigan, Kazaaak and Luna stepped out of it.
"I thought you guys were dead!" Ryan was glad to see his crew alive.
Lucy promptly punched Ryan on the shoulder. "That's for not turning off the vindicator you Slate-cracker!"
"I'm sorry but I had more pressing matters to attend to. LIKE THE ENTIRE BLOODY SHIP SPLITTING!"
"We have recovery arms! I sure they could of held the ship together for a bit longer! But no your main priority was landing your half of the ship! Do you even care for us three!?"
"OH YOU'RE RIGHT I SHOULD OF SELFLESSLY SACRIFICED MYSELF ALONG WITH MALLARD AND THE DATA CHIP! WHAT A FOOL OF ME!"
"CAPTAIN! YOU KNOW I HAVE FAITH IN YOU BUT AT TIMES YOU CAN BE SO DUMB, DUMBER THAN A FLINT SHARD!"
"LUCY YOU'RE REALLY GETTING UNDER MY SKIN YOU TWIT!"
"Ahhhh jussssst like old times eh Cronos?" Kazaaak asked leaning over to the Zoltan.
"Reminds me of sector 4 all over again." Cronos responded, prompting them both to laugh.
"So this is a common occurrence." Luna asked as she watched Lucy and Ryan argue.
"Honestly I'm surprised it's as tame as it is infa-oop never mind, duck." Cronos commented. The others did so just in time to avoid Ryan being thrown over them by Lucy. "And who are you by the way?" Cronos continued as if nothing had happened.
Luna was speechless for a second but eventually spoke up. "We are Princess Luna of Equestria, ruling monarch alongside Celestia and controller of the night and all it shrouds."
"Wait. Controller of the night?" Cronos wore a puzzled look.
"Yes We control the night! We move the moon with our magic!" Luna responded.
"Move the moon? Magic?" Cronos was even more confused.
"Sssssigh, Horrigan could you go find a bench or ssssssomething? I have a feeling thisss will be a long talk."
"Captain we are arriving in the beacon's sector now. There is a slight problem however."
"Out with it then!" The captain snapped back at his navigator.
"We can't pinpoint the exact location of it. We have however narrowed it down to 10 possible...."
"Planets? Good." The captain's face began to from into a vile grin.
"Uh no sir. Solar systems."
"YOU BUFFOON!" The captain's fist slammed down onto the arm of his chair, smashing any circuitry within the chair.
"Also sir. We have detected a cruiser inbound to our location." The crewman paused. "Zoltan sir, Ship Identified as "The Adjudicator" Orders?"
"Open fire. They are but alien scum leave no trace of them."
"Sir yes sir" The crewman gave the traditional rebel salute.
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FTL: The last great voyage of the Osprey
Chapter 6: I can't think of any more of these titles.....great
There was a loud clang as the cargo bay door slammed into the ground. The cargo bay was dark, almost all of the lights were broken. Ryan sighed as he walked up the entry ramp. "Give me a sec, I'm sure I have a light somewhere. If not I have an alternative." Ryan walked into the cargo bay and disappeared into the darkness. There was a long silence occasionally broken by Ryan muttering. "No not here....Keys! I need my Keys." There was another long pause before a loud jingling sound followed by a low clunk. The next pause was shorter as the silence was shortly broken by a loud roar. "Got it!" Ryan yelled over the roaring sound. Two bright beams of light began to shine through the darkness. "Okay that should do it!" Ryan's voice was quiet over the mechanical roar which was so loud some ponies left their homes to investigate. There was another loud clunk as Ryan clambered out of the roaring machine.
"What is that...that thing?" Twilight having now just caught up with the captain was extremely confused.
"What Kazaaak? Bit rude isn't it?" Ryan laughed as Kazaaak glared daggers at him. "Well this thing behind me is a 2013" Ryan paused. "Bloody hell that was a long time ago. Anyway. This is a 2013 Rolls Royce Phantom. Extended wheelbase version. The reason it's here is because it's an artifact of earth. The car, man's best and worse creation. The reason our planet thrived and died, It's what I brought to represent my planet's people to a degree." Ryan said as a smirk formed on his lips when he saw the car.
Twilight observed the "car" as Ryan had called it. It had a rather bulky shape yet still had elegance. Two intersected "R"s made up a logo on the front with the words "Rolls Royce" above and below. Above this, on a sheet of silver metal there was a small statue of a human with wings. Twilight was slightly afraid of this machine but her curious nature was stronger. She began to circle the car observing it. It almost reminded her of a cart. Even the name's where similar but this thing functioned without anyone pulling it.
"Ah ha!" Ryan connected a few frayed wires and near instantly the cargo bay sprung into life. "Good thing they reinforce the cargo bay on these things."
The walls were standard federation white with orange trim. At one end of the room was a door which was labelled "Crew quarters" A short distance away from the car was a machine which stood on two legs. Along the walls were other artifacts such as. A pair of sharpened gauntlets for a mantis, a heavy looking metal suit, a red and gold cloak and an engraved metal sheet. There was however one more item in the room, a coffin.
"Welcome to what I like to call the "Museum" It is basically the cargo bay with a few modifications. Namely reinforcement and a slight expansion. We use it to store one artifact per crew member. These artifacts have a meaning or symbolism of our race. For example. Here we have ceremonial gauntlets used by mantis during combat. Usually worn over the claws but some underhanded fighters conceal them under claws during fights. Kazaaak, not naming any names."
"Hey!"
"Next we have a robe worn by one of the many orders of rock religion. This one I believe belonged to the followers of the mantle savior. Who were nice guys except for the fact that they crack open planets. The thing about these robes though is that they can withstand temperatures of up to and over 4000 degrees kelvin. Not to mention there high tensile strength."
"Interesting, what about that?" Twilight said pointing to the other machine in the room.
"This! This is a slug telepath walker. Kinda reminds me of an old movie. The thing about it is that it requires two pilots to fully operate. The pilot's must be able to connect though if they are incompatible the walker may not work correctly. If they can though this is a force to be reckoned with. With little radio chatter about tactics the walker can easily deceive enemies."
Mallard walked up behind Twilight and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around Mallard commanded the nano bots in his hand to form a flower shape which he then gave to Twilight. "Token of appreciation sufficient?"
"Aw thanks Mallard." Twilight gave a grateful smile when she took it with her magic.
"You know for such an odd race the Engi can be really adorable sometimes." Ryan chuckled. "Anyway. This is most likely one of the most symbolic things in the entire ship." Ryan said as he took a metal tablet from a display case. "This is the treaty that Horrigan made when he joined the crew. The most amazing thing though is how it's carved. Each letter and line is carved specifically so that when air blows over it a beautiful melody plays." Ryan demonstrated his point by blowing across the tablet which caused a variety of sounds to play. "Of course I'm pretty sure I did it wrong. That about sums up the museum."
Twilight looked over her shoulder to see the coffin again now that she was close several details were prominent. The coffin was oak wood with a silver trim. Which wasn't out of the ordinary. What was however was that there were several inscriptions on the side. "Ibi victoria, ubi concordia? Hey Ryan what does this mean?"
"Oh that...That is the coffin of our dearly departed slug Cremity. Each of us decided to him a parting message. Mine is written in Latin. It translates to "Where there is unity, there is victory" Of course I can't read the others but I'm sure the others can tell you theirs. Just be careful around Kazaaak about the issue. Cremity was his best friends on the ship."
"........Oh." Twilight was quiet for a second. "I'm sorry to bring up such a sensitive subject."
"It's fine Twilight. Really. He was our friend and I know he would hate it if we stopped talking about him. Besides. You should be happy right now. Not many get to see anything but the osprey's battle stations. I have an idea of what to do with Cremity though."
"Really, what?" Twilight asked.
"Well. I think Cremity would be happy here. I think that I saw a perfect place. It may be a bit sudden but I know exactly where to finally give Cremity his burial. I'll get Lucy to carry the coffin to the place at night. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get to my quarters!" Ryan said as he walked down the hall. There was quite a long pause before Ryan's voice could be heard again. "HALF ME BLOODY ROOM'S GONE!"
Ryan had managed to kill the time by getting drunk and singing cheery sounding songs with depressing lyrics. No one sung along. Luna's night was upon them however, they'd even witnessed her change day to night. The night meant one thing though it was time for something they all dreaded.
"Just here Lucy!" Ryan said as he came to a stop on top of a hill that overlooked the town. He pulled out a shovel and began to dig a hole, the others slowly joined in until the hole was done. The burial was silent, aside from the occasional sob from Kazaaak. They had all said what they wanted to shortly after Cremity died. No use in repeating it and brining up old wounds.
After the burial they started a camp fire on the hill which all of them sat around. It was mostly small talk about their respective communities. All went silent when Ryan picked up his guitar. "Now I'm a little rusty. But I have a little story to tell you. It's about a starman waiting in the sky. He'd like to come and meet us....but he thinks he'll blow our minds. " All into the the night they sung their songs. Ryan was often off with his guitar but it didn't matter. Lyrics were forgotten and pitches were wrong. No one cared they were just happy. Some of the townsfolk came up to listen too. It was so long since the crew had a moment of bliss or happiness. People died and friends were lost but right now....It didn't matter they had friends, they had peace and all was good.
