USS Babylon

Kevin Hughes dreamt of his family. His wife, Stacy. His son, Philip. He dreamt of the day at the beach that they had shared before he shipped out to be on the Babylon. It felt real. Like he was there again.

The sun shone on his face and reflected off of his wet hair. The sand beneath the waves he swam in felt soft beneath him, like he could fall through at any minute and go somewhere better. He saw his hand extend, waving for Philip to come to him. And as his son came toward him, it was as if he was getting shorter. He slipped under the waves and through the sand, and woke up in the strange land he was trapped in.

It was just a dream- no, a nightmare. One that emphasized the fact that he might never see his family again.

He wanted to punch something. To cry. But he needed to stay strong. For his men. For himself. For his dreams of going home and hugging his wife and child again.

He rose from the dirt and looked at his makeshift camp. Seventy or so men all slept around ten different fires. The trees that were destroyed by flying pieces of debris were dragged over to a spot near the edge of the woods. Besides providing firewood, those trees would make good cover if they were fired upon.

Behind him was a large pile of scrap metal. He might be able to use it to build some walls around the camp. And of course, the row of bodies was nearby. About twenty - five men lay in a straight line. Each one had a makeshift cross driven into the ground behind their heads.

Mayer had fallen asleep against a tree holding a sniper rifle. He must have taken watch. Mayer always thinks of the things that need to be done and gets them done. That was always a part of his personality. Kevin let the men sleep. When they awoke, he would set them to work on what he knew could be done.

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Princess Celestia could no longer wait. There was no way that a single pony would spend an entire day spying on dangerous creatures. Her mind was set on the verge of war. If he did not return by midnight she would send an attack party. Perhaps they would intimidate the creatures into running far away from her jurisdiction.

The hour changed. Noon would be here soon. Celestia activated her horn, and magic coursed through her body, she willed the sun into moving, and it did. The day became brighter and brighter as the sun moved to its noon position.

One more day. She thought.

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Kevin stood on the metal room he had escaped yesterday. The men looked to him in anticipation of what he had to say.

"You all need to know what has happened." He said. "Our ship passed through the Bermuda Triangle yesterday. The water was glowing with... energy. I tried to stop the ship but the controls went out of wack and the ship... moved here."

"So where are we?" A voice called out of the crowd.

"I don't know." Kevin admitted. "All I know is that the animals here are weird, but the same we have on Earth."

Kevin paused for questions. There were none. "I need three teams. One team uses the scrap metal and the tools we salvaged to nail the metal to the trees and make a wall around us. Team Two makes sure the weapons are clean and working, and provide easy access to them. Team Three will take some of the metal and make posts in trees and monitor all directions while we sleep. Team Three will rotate with Team Two daily. Any questions?"

Again, there were none. The men split into three large groups and got to work. Mayer supervised, and Kevin walked towards the ship. He needed something.

He told Mayer he was leaving and not to worry, and left him in command. Kevin began his trudge.

He looked at the horizon. By now the sun was setting. The ship provided all the light he needed, however, because it was still on fire. He turned his walk into a jog to save time.

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Celestia was on the point of near insanity. She had to set the sun soon, and Camofur was not back was from his spying mission. If he was dead, the creatures signed their own kill order.

Celestia stood. She had to lower the sun. But once it went down, she would a send a squad to hit the creatures hard.

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Kevin made his way to the ship. After scaling a large mound of dirt kicked up by the ship crash, he made it to the ship. It was on its side, with the top facing him. Kevin grasped a jet being crushed by the ship. He heard the oh - so familiar groan of breaking metal and pushed himself up. The jet snapped and slid down the dirt mound. He wasn't going back out that way.

He grasped one of the cables used to launch the planes. He swung a foot up and pushed up. He grabbed the second cable.

It was then that Kevin realized that he couldn't climb any further with the cable. He looked to the right and saw a downwards - facing staircase. If he cut the wire he could swing to it. There was a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the ship's deck a few feet away. He shimmied over to it, and began to rub the wire on the sharp edge.

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Celestia grabbed hold of a drinking glass with the magic of her horn and sent it into a wall. Camofur was dead. She knew it.

"Guards!" She called out.

"Yes, Princess Celestia?" The two guards asked.

"Organize a small attack party. Six elite pony guards. Send them to the same site as Camofur."

The guards left the royal throne room to follow her orders. Soon, they would bring news of the slaying of a small group of savage creatures.

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Snap! The wire seperated and Kevin grabbed hold of the end of it. He swung into the staircase and the wind was knocked out of him. He gripped the wire for his safety as it swung back a second time. Gathering his courage, he released the wire and caught the rail of the stairs. Slipping his feet into the holes between every stair, he ascended.

He pulled on a latch and a door swung open. It dented the wall, and Kevin used it to climb into the hallway system. He walked on the wall and found a sideways sign. He ripped it out of the wall and read it. He was near his quarters.

He walked down the hall until he reached his door. Pulling open the latch, the door swung downward. The angle of the ship caused his possessions to all gather on the wall. He jumped through the hole, and landed safely on the wall. He began to tear through his things.

Meanwhile, Mayer stood in one of the newly completed rat's nests in the trees. He looked through his rifle's scope, and saw another weird horse. This time it was brown, and it had a horn attached to it's head. It had a saddlebag full of spears. Perhaps the natives were sending help?

One of the marines stepped towards the horse cautiously, rifle pointed at it. Suddenly the horse's horn glowed yellow, and a spear surrounded with the same yellow energy flew out its saddlebag and into the marine's chest.

"WE'VE GOT HOSTILES TO THE WEST!" Mayer screamed. He fired the rifle and removed the horse's head.

Kevin heard a shot. It was loud. Very loud. He dug through his things faster and found his rifle, and what he came for, the photo of his wife and son. He retraced his steps across the ship until he reached the ground. Sprinting across the field, he prayed Mayer was alive.

He burst through a bush to see a marine dragging a corpse away from a battle. Five unicorns stood, using what he assumed was telekinesis to throw spears. Another marine went down, and Kevin took the left flank. Spraying his rifle, he brought down two of the horses. A sniper in one of the trees took down a third, and one horse ran. The final horse suffered the wrath of four angry and desperate marines with firearms.

Kevin knew now that these horses were definitely not normal. They threw spears without touching them. They wore bronze armour. They were magic. Kevin dropped to the ground and closed his eyes. This was all too much.