FTL: Operation Restoration

by beetlebootboot

Rating: mature
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Octavia, Tragedy, Adventure, Crossover, Human, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 18438

Victory for the Federation! The Rebels are in retreat, remaining Fed. forces are crippled. Operation Restoration is in effect. Diplomacy and restoration is the focus, halted by a discovery of an AI named Twi. E. Sparkle that gets imprinted.

Victory for the Galactic Federation!

The Rebel Flagship has been destroyed, the utter majority of the Rebel fleet has been thrown into disarray, forced to retreat into their remaining territory from the destruction of their commanding Admiral and his Flagship; a near-impossible accomplishment, but at a great cost.

The Federation fleet has survived, but has been crippled. A state of emergency has been called.

'Operation Restoration' has been put into effect.

All diplomatic options have been opened, a last resort should the Federation be on the verge of destruction; almost all key major and minor space-faring races have been chosen and requested as possible allies to the weakened Federation fleet, ignoring most past transgressions with various past races. Several dozen diplomats are being loosely escorted to various systems, among the candidates are even the aggressive Mantis, the deviant Slugs, even the honorable but arrogant Zoltans.

The more-than-wary peaceful Equestrian race still a near dead-wall challenge, highly cautious and reclusive of the violent conflicts and races above and beyond their own planet; choosing reclusiveness instead of joining in the aspect of inter-galactic war allied with the Federation, the majority choosing instead to refuse all contact with military forces of any kind. Very few aspects of the Equestrian race engages with other galactic races, choosing instead to send scientists and researchers to understand their galaxy better as a whole instead of understanding the conflicts they hear of, a few 'ponies' choosing to call independence from their world, tempted by the call of adventure and exploration of unknown space beyond their skies.

Former Federation human Officer, Lieutenant Matthews, has been automatically contacted and offered a military pardon to return to the badly under-staffed Federation forces, despite his reported desertion early in the Rebel conflict. Duly expected with the report of desertion, he's been formally stripped of his rank and enlisted as an Ensign as a remainder of good faith.

Unbeknownst to him however, he will be assigned by Federation Allied-Engi STG (Special Task Group) for a special project in an attempt to gain an advantage against the retreating Rebel Fleet, getting paired with an unusual companion when the station he's aboard suddenly goes dark; himself getting unexpectedly 'imprinted' to an initially hostile Artificial Intelligence, designated as Twi. E. Sparkle.

Published 2014-09-07 18:20:05 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-10 05:46:33 UTC

Introduction

The hundreds upon thousands of voices clatter and overwhelm most audible senses in the area of the inner ship, a collective of various voices in what seems like dozens more dialects, spoken in various pitches; they all get silenced so suddenly. Lights shine across the metal platform across the large deck, various personnel clad in white and orange decaled uniforms walk up upon the platform, several in differently designed uniforms and blast armoring, most notably around the shoulders and legs. Recognizable out of the small group, one steps forward towards the podium, taking off his military cap with a pinned copper-colored symbol at the base, exposing overall greyish neatly-cut hair. He speaks aloud, pacing freely from side to side before eventually placing both hands upon the podium base, speaking to the overall mass with a portable microphone clipped to his uniform's collar.

Admiral Tully takes the podium, the main speaker for this mass meeting for several systems, the voice of the crippled Federation.

"We are all gathered here today, in celebration—" He looks down, quickly continuing his statement. "—and in great sorrow, that the system has been secured. At the cost of many of our ships—" Taking his hands off the podium, he starts pacing to the left with his hands behind his back, continuing. "—and many of our fellow brethren, too many to count. Too many for me to begin to count, too many that..I ever wished to have to count. 'Ascendance', 'Vindicator', 'Yuansu', 'Strider'. " Admiral Tully closes his lips, staring out into the large crowd, all silent at his booming voice echoing aloud throughout the area and translated through several broadcasting equipment to many other ships in the immediate vicinity; keeping calm with his choice of words and the fragility of the situation at hand.

"The list goes on, many of those Admirals on board those ships I knew personally; many of them I fought with not too long ago." Tully's eyes dip slightly, momentarily in a daze, he continues pacing to the right of the podium. "But quite a few of them I just didn't know, and will never get to know."

The overall crowd stays quiet, many staring across the sheer layers of Federation personnel of various races, the Rockmen being the most visually intrusive with their tall stature despite being very still, the very few Mantis personnel second to that with their comparatively stalky bodies with folded front arms as they listen attentively; subtly but quietly moving their mandible mouth pieces subconsciously.

"The most disheartening is that I will never know the Captain of the 'Aggressor', nor his valiant crew, Admiral Turzil and I having only spoken shortly before their initial run against the Rebel's Flagship and the subsequent cruisers in the distance. We provided fire support, but it just wasn't enough to stave off the immediate threats." Tully looks out towards the crowd again, speaking directly in the middle of the mass to emphasize his emotion in his demeanor, notably louder as he continues. "They are the very reason we are all gathered here. They made a sacrifice; a sacrifice that saved the last bastion of our forces, our last battleground, our last lines of defense." Placing his hands upon the podium, he leans forward, explaining the end-sentence.

"A sacrifice that saved our last hope, the last of our ideals; the last of the Federation as we know it and everyone involved."

Pulling his hands again off the podium, he moves his hands back down towards his waist, duly to his stomach as he joins them together and looks downward, the several personnel behind him doing the same.

"It is with great honor that I dedicate our victory to the crew of the 'Aggressor'. They gave all they've had to give, their very last breath, their very last effort. They gave everything to save all of our lives, and for that I am humbled: the most I have personally ever been in my career."

Various amounts of rocking and vibrating can be felt across the deck floor, Admiral Tully looks to the left along with the several hundreds in the Federation crowd, staring outside the large starboard-side window into the nearby asteroid belt surrounding the station. Several large balls of energy shoot across from the station, one seemingly coming with two kilometers, showing a vibrant display of vapor trails as they all travel in unison towards a specific point; they explode, igniting a cluster of subsequent gas imbedded within the projectiles, quickly-extinguished fire in the depths of space showing a grand display of vibrant colors. Another cluster of large energy balls pass by, they're recognizable by their colors and the pattern, the station rocking with subtle vibrations as the audible sound plays in the vacuum of space.

THUOM.

THUOM.

THUOM.

Several Federation cruisers in the background fire modified Anti-Ship-Battery projectiles towards a specific point in the asteroid belt visible to the station, detonated upon reaching a certain distance, a vibrant display traditionally shown in an act of great honor towards Generals and Admirals upon their passing; more fitting than ever given the present circumstances. Dozens of Federation transports in the immediate area are docked with nearby cruisers upon realization that the station is to maximum capacity, defended by Point-Defense-Systems as they tap into the local frequencies to listen to the ongoing speech made by Admiral Tully. Inside the station, Tully continues his speech, his demeanor getting more and more emotionally driven as it nears the end.

"Their sacrifice will not be made in vain." Several Federation personnel from behind, other Fleet Admirals, stepping ahead towards the podium alongside Tully as he starts to shout.

"We are a collective!"

The crowd grows audibly louder, talk mixed in-between Tully's statements.

"We are unified!"

The crowd grows significantly louder.

"We will not be stopped by those who would deny peace within the galaxy!"

A part of the crowd begins to clap and cheer, among them even the Rockmen, which are much more distinct in their audible sounds, the Mantis for the most part resisting to urge to screech.

"We will use the chance their sacrifice gave us, we must do it for their efforts!"

The Engi Admiral beside Tully, named Admiral Turzil of the Engi brigade, stands proudly despite it's relatively shorter legs;conveying a show of determination mixed with it's audible display of it's native language, Turzil tagging into Tully's speech.

"Collective effort; overwhelming beyond initial standpoint. Predicted support: Undeniable. Core worlds of various designations in disrepair: need bracing and function, Federation collective more than sufficient for task." Several dozen short arms raise above the crowd, a large assortment of green and blue-hued screens glowing throughout the otherwise dark mass of people and aliens. Admiral Tully continues with his speech, the majority of the crowd in support, he speaks out passionately.

"We do this, not because we're forced to." Placing his hands upon the podium, he continues. "It's because it's something we must do." Placing one hand above, he gestures several times as he continues. "We must show the galaxy we are a force capable of defending it, a force to be able to defend it's people: our people. In the same dedication that we were saved, we must be able to protect the ones we love, the ones we fight for, the ones we die for." The crowd cheers aloud, Tully starts to finish his speech.

"For the ones we've lost!"

The crowd cheers aloud, hundreds of supporters and applause.

"For the ones that have given their lives to defend ours!"

The Rockmen join in the applause, clearly audible over the audio transmissions to the nearby cruisers.

"For the galaxy in a whole!"

The Mantis join into the applause with the clanging of their front claws, the screeching very audible above certain frequencies, temporarily disrupting a few of them momentarily as Admiral Tully puts his fist to his chest, yelling out passionately to the crowd; encouraged by the unanimous show of support.

"For the Federation!"

The crowds across the neighboring cruisers cheer in unison, very far in the distance bright purple and orange-tinted displays of light can be seen in the distant planet surface, several colonies having listened into the broadcast as well and ejecting brightly-lain fireworks into the atmosphere, the local populaces showing continual support for the Federation fleet hovering above.

--

'What is this..'

Anti-Ship-Battery projectiles fly across in the distance, one mistakenly striking the surface of a particularly large asteroid, fragmenting the object into harmless momentarily-flaming chunks.

'This feels familiar..'

Grinding metal can be heard, he glances away from the corridor and looks outside the window, seeing something that alerts him. Matthews springs up and yells aloud as a warning, one of the projectiles heading straight for the bridge; he runs to attempt to warn a nearby Federation officer down the walkway of the incoming projectile.

"Brace! BRACE! Incomi—" The ASB projectile hits the bridge, fluctuating several systems throughout the cruiser, the overall stability of the ship starts to shift as the intercom struggles to relay information through several spurts of static, the speakers hissing and screeching as it starts to fail.

"—arning, hostile boarde—weapons free—unable t—reactor compro—" The system systematically shuts off, the bridge taking a direct hit, hull integrity starting to fail in that immediate area. Matthews stumbles backwards as the ship suddenly jets forward, another ASB projectile hitting the rear of the ship, permanently disabling long-distance communications located in the back of the cruiser. Matthews momentarily regains his footing, repeatedly yelling into his wrist communicator, spouting several requests for emergency contact when he doesn't spot the Federation officer he just saw a second ago.

"We're under attack—" He huffs momentarily, still in shock as he feels the vibrations of the cruiser start to increase, eventually making an audible metal groan. "—command, what's the situation??" Somehow a message gets through, but not the expected channel he was dialing for.

"Shields down! Repair crew, we need immediate repairs, shields failing to block any more hits. Wha—Shit, reactor's damaged!" It sounds like an engineer, based on the context, Matthews ignores the call since he can't establish contact either; instead making his way throughout the halls towards the bridge. The engineer yells aloud again through the feed, requesting something before he gets suddenly interrupted. "Command, I repeat, we need suppo— INCOMING! ASB HOSTILE LOCK! Brace! BRA—"

The ship rocks forward again, Matthews falls forward and hits his head along the door's control panel, wincing in pain as he attempts to get his footing again, lying with his back against the wall in a short panic.

"F-Fuck.." He tries to contact the engineer via his communicator, but all he gets is static, unsure if communications are down or if the engineer is dead. He assumes both and tries to make his way past the door, hitting his security key into the panel, the UI starting to flicker and malfunction.

"Come..come on!" He bangs his fist against the panel to no avail, the door remains shut, he spouts aloud to himself, "God damn it!" as he attempts to pry open the door manually via a manual lever, placing his foot against the base and desperately jerking. In his panicked state he sporadically thinks, hearing distant sounds and instances of metal warping.

'The hull's going fast..' as he slowly pries open the door, running past the doorway through another walkway, sprinting as best as he can in his state towards the bridge; systematically trying to get contact with anyone aboard the ship within range.

"T-This is Matthews, I need a sit-rep!...hello, is anyone there?? We're under attack, send a distress signal!" He gets no answer and continues rushing through the hall, heading past a starboard-side window of the cruiser, he takes a look at what's going on outside. It's worse than he expected.

A Rebel fleet detachment jumps in via FTL drive at the same time, in the first few seconds it starts with 3, then 5, moving up to 12. Their ASB weapons appear to already be charged, firing at several surrounding cruisers caught off-guard by the surprise attack, many of them barely even getting a shot off against the giant mass of cruisers. Matthews starts to shake as he reaches for his communicator, counting the amount of hostile Rebel cruisers, they're outnumbered 5 to 1. He requests again, desperately trying to get a message across as he starts to mumble.

"G-Get a distress signal going, a Rebel fleet detachment has jumped into the system! W-We need reinforcements!" He repeats the message across several frequencies, most either silent or audible with only static. "We need support!...I repeat, we need fire support!" He sees something odd begin to envelope, several Rebel cruisers break off from the main battle group and start to descend toward the surface of the planet below.

"No..no, no, no, NO NO!!" He starts to get emotional as he sees what he fears, their Anti-Ship-Batteries targeting the cities on the surface, an orbital bombardment from the upper atmosphere.

"Command! Civilians are within the—.." He starts to shake as he sees distant explosions on the surface of the planet, ASB hitting their targets. It's too late to warn them.

"..no.."

The ship suddenly rocks to the side as another ASB projectile rocks across the outer hull beside the window, Matthews suddenly gasps and notices he can't breathe.

'Hurk—!!"

Cabin pressure is destabilized from a hull breach somewhere within the walls, air being seeped out into space, draining oxygen out of the nearby rooms. Matthews closes his mouth, trying to hold in as much air as possible as he sprints towards the door, forcing his body to want to forcibly breathe out; he resists the urge as he pries open the door with the manual latch.

"...mmph..!" He can't breathe and starts to get dizzy, he makes a decision in the moment, rapidly thinking, 'Fuck this!' as he reaches for his pistol holstered to his leg. He aims for the control panel and fires a shot, the laser frying the outer UI and the circuits, the door successfully malfunctions and opens, leading the way to the medical bay that seems to still have power as far as he's aware of. Matthews takes the opportune moment to bolt past the doorway, cabin pressure in the now open room failing due to the exposed breach, he makes his way to the door and bangs on the medical bay door, managing to let out a few words before he's forced to hold his mouth again.

"Open up!" He gasps as he has a few moments of oxygen to breathe. "Doctor! Are you in—" The door suddenly opens and he's yanked inside by a person in a white lab coat, the door promptly closes as Matthews breathes in rapidly.

"Oh god, how many are out there??" She looks reasonably concerned, not giving him a chance to recover. "Matthews! What's going on?? Communications are down, I need to get any wounded to the escape pods, were there any more out—"

Bang. Bang.

Bang. Bang.

Matthews and the doctor hear banging on the door opposite to them on the other side of the medical bay, the doctor rushes over and listens, asking aloud,

"Are there any wounded out there??" She hears one man yell, assuming it's one of the Federation officers.

"Let us in! Life support's dying!" The doctor consequently opens the door, spotting something she didn't expect.

"Hi there."

A laser bolt hits her chest, forcing her to step back from impact, she grasps her side and gasps as she puts her back against the wall, Matthews takes cover behind a nearby medical bed as he hears the shot, trying to stay quiet as she gasps in pain and slides down the wall staring at him. Matthews hears the man talk into what he assumes is a radio, it's apparent who they are.

"We have a straggler, medical staff." The Rebel points his pistol to her chest and fires, the second laser bolt hitting through her heart, dying within a few quick seconds. The Rebel talks again into the radio, without a hint of regret.

"Taken care of."

'You..' Anger builds quickly and Matthews springs up from the bed with his pistol drawn, lining his sights along one of the Rebel's heads, shouting aloud in anger.

"FUCK YOU!!" He fires a shot, the bolt hits across the side of the Rebel's head, the other reacts fittingly and stumbles backwards, grasping for his pistol at his side. Matthews manages to get a shot off before he can, directly in the chest. The other Rebel drops to the floor dropping his pistol, grasping his lower ribs as the back of his head hits a small table of syringes which lightly impale the back of his head, just beneath some exposed skin. He's wearing a respirator, the other room they came from having no oxygen and the medical bay's oxygen is draining fast. Matthews stares at the Rebel angrily for a few seconds before firing two more shots into his chest, quickly ending his life with a few quick gasps as the laser burns through their uniform; Matthews starts to shake upon seeing the doctor in his peripheral, lying lifeless, pointlessly murdered. Matthews mumbles as he feels his breath shorten.

"You..f-fucks.."

'You just..killed her..'

Without a moment to hesitate, Matthews grabs the oxygen pack and respirator off one of the Rebel's and quickly attaches it to himself, leaving the room into the oxygen-deprived neighboring room, trying to reason with himself as he leaves her body there. 'I..can't do anything for her now..' He attempts to speak aloud again into his communicator, still in shock.

"..I need a sit-rep...anyone there..?" He makes his way to the door, somehow it still has power, he attempts to open it as it leads to the bridge, he gets an automated warning instead.

"Warning: Cabin pressure compromised, pressure sealing inoperable. Oxygen levels at 5%, hull integrity compromised."

Matthews starts to lean against the wall beside the door, slowly sliding downward with his hands over his respirator as it clouds from him being upset. He doesn't have a way out and the oxygen respirator won't last forever, the bridge has been exposed to space and the way he came from has a hull breach he can't get past.

"....."

He stays silent as he looks out the window, seeing several Rebel cruisers tear apart Assault-class Federation cruisers, fleet artillery systematically destroying any Federation cruisers in orbit of the planet from a distance, to thwart any trying to defend the colonies from orbital bombardment.

"....."

Matthews can't speak, he doesn't know why. Grasping at his respirator's valve, he soon figures out why. He closes his eyes as things start to blur and go black, he starts to fall unconscious unwillingly, the Rebel respirator gives final automated warnings too late.

"Warning: Oxygen levels at 0%" The message keeps repeating until he can't hear anything else anymore, the sound deafens until he hears something else.

'This feels familiar.'

Matthews hears what sounds like buildings crumbling, metal bend and grind, moaning as it's integrity starts to fail, car alarms sound as he hears distance rumbles and explosions. Countless people yell in the distance, singularly, then suddenly start to come collectively as if they've been thrown towards him, the burning bodies start to scream for help as they run towards him, yelling into his ear. They don't stop no matter how much they burn. No matter how much destruction is caused.

He hears them screaming.

--

Matthews opens his eyes as he stares out the window towards the planet below, several bright purple fireworks exploding in the upper atmosphere, several ASB's exploding a safe distance inside the asteroid field, one passes by the window at least a kilometer away as he hears the crowd behind him cheer for Admiral Tully's speech.

"....."

He stays silent with his hands behind his back, continually staring out the window.

"....."

He hears the crowd chant one final line before he starts to walk away.

"For the Federation!"

"....."

Matthews stop's at the large room's doorway, typing in his passcode frantically, getting his key repeatedly wrong as his hand starts to shake. Someone takes notice to his light distress, he hears an elegant voice ask aloud softly, inquiring about him.

"Uhm, Ensign." She addresses him through his rank, apparently not knowing his name as she continues, "Are you alright? Did you simply forget the security key?" Her attitude shows a willingness to talk, though his attitude right now doesn't let him sense it.
Matthews quickly composes himself and turns around, but doesn't find the voice in front of him, instead looking down and spotting a quadruped dressed in a modified version of a Federation uniform.

"...Ensign." She looks overall grey in her body coloring, it doesn't concern him as much as he simply excuses himself from her.

"..I'm sorry, I just was thinking about something." He didn't mean to tell the truth, ironically. He assures her of his capability, simply saying, "I have it, don't worry." He reaches down to the keypad and types the security key, the door UI successfully 'dings' with a green light, opening for him.

"Ensign." She again addresses his rank, continuing. "Why are you leaving early from Admiral Tully's speech? I don't think he's quite done yet." Her natural tone gets the best of her, she suddenly exclaims, "..Oh. I apologize, I'm Oct—" as she gets rudely passed by.

He leaves past her without another word upon noticing she has the same Ensign rank, she has no direct jurisdiction over his actions and he takes advantage of that, leaving her in her mid-explanation of whatever she tried talking about. Matthews heads in the direction to his temporary quarters aboard the station, unbeknownst with a suspicious follower following slowly from behind, curious about his behavior compared to the rest of the personnel on-board. Octavia simply thinks, '...hm.' as she follows Matthews throughout the station's halls, he seems to show signs of reluctance to talk to her. Distant voices can still be heard in the distance, repeatedly chanting in a way that discomforts him, despite the proximity that shouldn't let him be able to hear them.

"For the Federation!"

It doesn't make him any more comfortable, his agenda is to get away from all this, the thought crosses his mind as obvious as it is. 'I'm on a Federation controlled station..' He can't get away, no matter how he tries, he made his choice, he questions repeatedly; thoughts too late. 'Is it the right one..'

"Ensign!" Octavia yells towards him from across the hall after following him down a set of stairs, into the lower decks of the station, the majority of it clad in thin paneling. The tensile strength is sturdy, despite it's otherwise thin material, she's very vocal despite her albeit shorter stature. She calls again, lightly walking towards him, an odd sight seeing an Equestrian 'trot' and minimally bounce in their steps; but not as strange as a Mantis walking on six legs rapidly, much like the normal insects would. "Where is your assigned post?"

He doesn't try to follow her same tone, some signs of hostility showing as he replies to her. "My post was escorting troops, nothing else, Miss.." He doesn't know her name, avoiding the same method of calling her by rank, leaving it as is. She replies duly, despite no strong context calling for it, she sounds oddly polite towards his otherwise reluctant tone.

"Melody, Ensign Melody. If you want to go with formalities, sure, but I'd have to know your name as well." She attempts to be patient with him, taking note that she's missing the ending bits of Admiral Tully's speech as well, thinking he's apart of the same assignment she's on. She tries to encourage him further, lightly sighing. "Ensign Melody. Octavia Melody, if you'd like to know. Designation 0-1." He recognizes that number, second to first of Federation ranking, the pin on the left of her uniform with a simple bronze stripe insignia with a bronze circle in the middle. She asks again, taking note of him staring at her uniform for some reason. "Ensign, what is your name? Designation?"

Subjectively, he groans and answers her reluctantly, skipping over his first name. "Matthews. Ensign Matthews, also 0-1." He breathes outward, methodically entering his room's security key into the panel beside it, it beeps with a little red light. 'The heck..' He tries to enter it again, encouraged by the perceived annoyance beside him, it beeps again with a red light; the key he's entering is wrong.

"Grr." He's visually angry, she takes note and simply offers him a number, tapping the wall beside him with her strangely shaped appendage beside him.

"Might I suggest entering your designation along with it first? 0-1, Matthews." She doesn't look coy, but the way she said it suggests it.
He wasn't told this before, assuming it's possibly a simple mistake in his pamphlet. Regardless, listening to her suggestion, he adds
'0-1' to the beginning of the key and it finally beeps with a green light and slides open. He feels slightly embarrassed, quietly apologizing, though it doesn't stop him from stepping into his quarters.

"Oh..well, thank you Miss Melody. I wasn't told that." Taking a step inside his quarters, the motion-sensitive light inside detects him and flicker on, a small but manageable space. He tells himself, 'It's only temporary..', unsure if he means the room or his current predicament with the Federation. Sitting on is mass-produced bunk bed, he notices Melody still standing outside his doorway, seemingly just staring waiting for him to say something. The silence gets to be too much, she makes the first statement.

"..right. Well. I should probably get back to my post, goodbye Ensign Matthews." It seems like she still prefers to call ranks into name when addressing someone, a sense of formality in her dialect perhaps despite her wanting to know how name, he can't put his finger on the specific accent. The lights suddenly turn off, he's left in the room surprised as he stands back up, exclaiming towards her, assuming she hit the manual switch by the door when he wasn't looking when she left.

"Hey! I'm still in h—" He's interrupted by the lights in the hallway going out, the air conditioning audibly shuts off, Matthews hears Melody in the hall exclaim aloud.

"Wha—That wasn't me! The power's out, so is the airflow." She nudges the custom communicator attached to her left foreleg and dials a specific frequency, asking aloud into it as the station starts to flip into emergency power; light blue backup lights shining minimally through the halls. "Command, we have a situation." Matthews steps outside his room, noting the door is no longer functional, a sense of dread and deja 'vu envelopes in his mind, he feels uncomfortable.

"This feels familiar.." He subconsciously speaks aloud without noticing, seemingly Melody if focusing solely on communications, repeatedly requesting for someone within range to report back in. Melody speaks again, giving priority rank despite both of their lower rankings.

"This is Ensign Melody checking in, what is the situation?" A few seconds later, her communicator beeps, an audible sound of static can be heard before it's patched through. A male on the other side of the transmission speaks, for some reason still partially in static, it transmits to Matthew's communicator as well; taking priority on all Federation personnel, seemingly.

"This is Lead Engineer Evans, the station's reactor has shutdown for some reason, we're working on getting it up and running. Backup generators are up, don't wor—" The signals cuts off and instead of static it just stays quiet, communications have cut off. Melody suggest towards Matthews, taking a guess towards what might have happened.

"Huh, perhaps he's..out of range?" She attempts to flip through several other frequencies to no avail, Matthews comes up with a counter argument as he goes through his own.

"The station is only 3 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide, we shouldn't be out of range." He takes a look outside the window and spots the Federation cruisers have stopped firing their Anti-Ship-Battery fireworks, unsure of their scheduling, asking Melody on the off chance if she knows. "Should the ASB guns have stopped firing by now?" Assuredly, she replies to him simply, knowing the scheduling well.

"Yes, they should have stopped by now. It was scheduled as a 3 cruiser, 21 ASB projectile show, so they're done." She looks towards the window as well, wondering, "I hope they're aware that the power's out for..some reason."

"Hmm." Matthews tries to dismiss the incident and heads towards his room, suggesting to Melody as he shuffles through a piece of luggage below the bunk bed, checking through his various clothing. "If the station's power has failed, then we better get ready to depart, life support only lasts for so long. Officers might already be coordinating in case the station's power isn't turned back o—"

All the hallway's doors suddenly close shut, spooking him and Melody outside of the doorway. She exclaims, caught off-guard by the sudden mass of sound of automated doors closing shut without warning.

"Wha—What was that?" She attempts to access the panel, but it keeps showing an error message, saying repeatedly in an unfamiliar monotone female voice.

"Advisory: Security lockdown procedures are in effect."

After a few seconds, the monotone voice speaks again. Melody doesn't recognize it as the station's Virtual Intelligence program, she suddenly yells towards Matthews on the other side of the door, trying to get through the mostly soundproof door.

"Damn it, I'll come back for you, I think the security system's been compromised!" Melody starts bolting down the hallway upon getting no response from Ensign Matthews, the door's composition resisting sound, himself on the inside attempting to force the door open. She enters her security key a little awkwardly with her right foreleg, the UI beeps with a green light momentarily before displaying a yellow lock symbol, the door opens regardless; she takes the opportune chance to run through, the doors suddenly closing with a swift shuink.

"Gah!" She yelps, the doors catching and squeezing the mid-part of her body, it does one hard push to get closed to no avail, painfully trying to close despite the obstacle in it's way. Melody begins to kick her rear legs to push herself through, the doors slowly opening as she falls forward, folding her front forelegs wincing in pain from the doors trying to crush her ribs. The monotone electrical voice speaks aloud again, almost mockingly so, referring to her own personnel file directly.

"Identification: Unknown Military Company; Octavia Melody. Rank: Ensign 0-1. Orders: Gua—"

The voice cuts off from it's initial explanation of her record, suddenly exclaiming something else mildly disturbing.

"Warning: Multiple unidentified armed personnel detected. Lockdown procedures engaged. Status report advised." After a few tense seconds, Melody continues bolting towards the rest of the Federation personnel past several doorways, hearing something else distressing. "Status Report: Weapon systems: Online. Shields: Optimal. Point-Defense-System: Online." Static can be heard, followed by another message, this time from the intercom all around the station. "Warning: Multiple unidentified cruisers within firing range. Advisory suggested." Melody's about to try to force open a door when suddenly the other side of the door starts to dent, eventually a second strike tearing it down, she's mildly surprised when she see a Rockman walk inside, followed by several Federation crewman.

'That's..one way to do it I suppose..' She suppresses her momentary astonishment and asks the Rockman something upon spotting a Lieutenant insignia pinned to it's large chest.

"Oh, right. Ensign Melody reporting, sir!" She stands up tall and looks above to the tall being, professionally asking upon seeing several Federation personnel with crewman insignias and uniforms, "Lieutenant, what is the situation? Security may be compromised, the door controls won't respond, and someone's talking on the intercom like a..robot? Is that correct?" She's unsure how to describe it, though most of it is audible anyway. The Rockman duly responds, albeit in a hard to understand dialect, distinctly deeper in pitch with a grating-like rasp not much unlike it's body composition.

"Someone has unauthorized access to the door controls and reactor, crew mans are tracing the signal now." Melody is unsure of what to make of his dialect, understanding the majority other than the 'crew mans' part. Regardless of her understanding, several Federation crewmen behind him quickly march inside the hallway looking at some kind of small device in their hands, assumed to be tracing this 'signal' of some kind. Assuming the stations has gone under control of some sort of hacker, she follows the small group, having more information on situational awareness.

'Wait..' She realizes they're heading back towards Matthew's quarters' hallway, she duly warns them when she discovers this. "Lieutenant!" The Rockman keeps walking with the small team of crewmen while also keeping it's non-existent ears open to listen to her, Melody following easily beside the Rockman; itself being bulky and strong, but also slow. "Sir, are you familiar with an Ensign named Matthews?" The Rockman simply shakes his head, mildly interested in what she has to say. "We're headed towards his quarters, is your team tracing the signal back to there?" Trying to piece some information back herself, she wonders momentarily.

'I knew there was something odd about him..' Her thoughts and the Rockman's reply is interrupted as they reach the doorway to the hallway, the Rockman winding back it's large boulder-like arm and slamming the middle of the doorway, it dents largely inward; the Rockman strikes it open upon the second hit, the crewmen enter inside the hallway and expectedly gather around the outside of Matthew's quarters. One of the crewman, an Engi oddly enough, explains aloud in it's more than prominent language of mathematics and calculative speech.

"Signal trace confined to area, zero spread. Precision: Room B5. Analysis: Local virus. Effect: Disruption and communicative disruption. Cause: Indecisive."

Going by the word of the Engi, the Rockman Lieutenant steps in front of the crewmen gathered around Matthew's quarters, winding back it's arm again to attempt to pummel the door open. Unexpectedly however, they hear the same monotone voice speak aloud through the local intercom, saying something a little confusing.

"Warning: Oxygen levels at 5%, local room temperatures exceeding at over 300°F. Local fires detected."

The Engi looks to his portable scanner and replies to the Rockman, explaining simply but obviously. "Local Area: Safe. Presence of Fire: Negative."

The room suddenly starts to flood with vapor and white froth-like liquid from the air vents above, the station's fire suppression system going off in the local area, the crewmen and Melody are caught off-guard; disturbed by the sudden realization they can't breathe.

"Haugh—!" She closes her mouth, so do the rest of the crewmen, the Rockman a little less effected by the fire suppressant, but enough to have to start coughing. Oxygen begins draining in the immediate vicinity, the fire suppressant absorbing oxygen paired with the non-functioning life support system is causing the area to cease with oxygen. Melody and the crewmen begin to rush towards the exit door, disturbingly enough, a second layer of reinforced metal shoots down from the top of the doorway as they leave the hallway. Melody gasps along with the others, taking in panicked breathes of air, wiping and shaking off light layers of white liquid-like substance off her mane and uniform.

"Goodness, what was that Lieutenant??" She coughs heavily and covers her mouth with her hoof, the vapor being unpleasant to breathe due to it's properties. Her question is interrupted by the Engi exclaiming aloud, lightly striking the door's now reinforced paneling.

"Analysis: Reinforced and sealed blast door. Use: Emergency containment of exposure to space vacuum, containment of oxygen outside of exposure. Suggestion is to pry open. Subjective: Tools unavailable." It looks up towards the Rockman, adding further. "Virus has taken control of station fire suppression controls. Possibility: Creator or operator does not want interference."

Melody sighs, giving out a light sigh as she says aloud to the Rockman.

"Sir..I may know who it is." She sadly thinks, noticing and piecing together Matthew's odd behavior patterns from earlier, she looks worried for her own sake.

'I hope it isn't him..I gave him the security key to get through the doorways..'

--

Five minutes earlier

Five minutes earlier

"Hmm."

Matthews tries to dismiss the incident and heads towards his room, suggesting to Melody as he shuffles through a piece of luggage below the bunk bed, checking through his various clothing. "If the station's power has failed, then we better get ready to depart, life support only lasts for so long. Officers might already be coordinating in case the station's power isn't turned back o—"

The room door suddenly closes, he's spooked and tightly grips one of his spare uniforms, asking aloud unaware of the door's sound-proofing.

"Uh, Melody! I'm still in here!" He gets no response and decides to stand up, asking aloud again. "...hello? Hello??" He walks over to the door and repeatedly presses the door's UI controls, repeatedly beeping with a red light, the panel suddenly exclaiming aloud from a female-like monotone voice with an error message.

"Advisory: Security lockdown procedures are in effect."

"What?" He attempts to enter emergency security keys into the panel to try to get through, it repeats the same error message through text, he fittingly strikes the panel with his fist out of frustration. "Fuck you, let me out of here!" He puts his face close to the door, trying to relay a message to Melody. "The door's jammed, can you get it open through there??" He doesn't hear anything, so he keeps trying to access the door controls, to no avail. The monotone voice speaks aloud again, in something a little distressing to hear in detail.

"Identification: Unknown Military Company; Aaron R. Matthews. Rank: Ensign 0-1. Orders: Guard attending personnel to the commemoration speech of designated Admiral Tully."

"What the fu—" It's reading out his personal file, he's unsure of how it's doing so, but he's not comfortable with it. He pulls out his pistol holstered to his waist, aiming it towards the UI panel, a disturbingly familiar feeling of deja'vu. The monotone voice continues speaking, particularly of something he's not comfortable with it knowing.

"Notes: Marked with desertion tag. Report: Military desertion of Federation forces."

The intercom suddenly spurts out a wave of static, causing him to wince in surprise, making him fumble with his pistol before he can pull the trigger. It continues with an odd line of dialogue.

"Identification Successful: Federation personnel identified, allied tag accepted. Permission for Assignment:...pending. Accepted."

Matthew's wrist communicator suddenly starts to flicker, the text and following lights start to scramble and malfunction, giving strange text numbers that read out repeatedly.

"01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01101101 01100101"

He attempts to pry off his communicator when presented with this confusing display of numbers. Before he's successful, the voice starts to speak out of it, giving a strange message.

"Warning: Multiple unidentified armed personnel detected. Lockdown procedures engaged. Status report advised." Confused, Matthews speaks aloud towards it.

"What? Status report?" Unintentionally it registers the command input, simply relaying an answer to his order.

"Status Report: Weapon systems: Online. Shields: Optimal. Point-Defense-System: Online. " It beeps to confirm, relaying another warning. "Warning: Multiple unidentified cruisers within firing range. Advisory suggested, multiple Anti-Ship-Battery locks available."

"What the, I didn't say to—" He realizes he's issuing minimal commands accidentally, he yells at his wrist communicator, assuming it's listening. "What, uhh..!" He tries to think of a command when prompted to reply to it detecting the nearby Federation cruisers, he spurts out several things to convey, not knowing how to reply to it precisely. "Uhm, friendlies! The ships are friendlies, do not open fire!" He starts to panic when he says not to, afraid it might anyway. "Err, weapons offline! Turn off the weapons!" The voice replies to him, inputting his order.

"Order confirmed: Weapons offline, disabling lethal ASB targeting systems. Non-lethal weapons active, suppressant deployed."

Not knowing what it means by 'suppressant', Matthews gives a relieved heavy sigh, he finally has a minute to relax; unfortunately for him, the minute goes by fast as it relays another message.

"Hostile personnel successfully suppressed. Awaiting further orders."

"Wait, what?" He's surprised by this, pacing to the side of his room, trying to think of another command to try to say as he frantically spurts aloud, "No, no! They're friendlies, Federation! Leave them alone! Err, all weapons offline! All lethal and non-lethal, shutdown or..something!" The program surprisingly inputs the multiple inquiries, successfully processing the order.

"Confirmed: Surrounding personnel flagged as friendlies. Designation: Federation personnel."

Matthews wipes his forehead, unsure what to make of this thing now communicating and listening to him through his wrist communicator, he decides to take some more initiative before it says something else disturbing or tries something else relating to the weapons aboard the station.

"..unlock all of the station's doors, turn the power and life support back on." He tries to think of something else to try to keep it settled, remembering an old command for an old Roomba he had in his childhood. "Err, enter..sleep mode?" The monotone female voice calm replies.

"Acknowledged."

His quarter's room door UI finally flickers with a green light, making a subtle grating sound before the door finally opens by itself. Matthews sighs and sits in his bunk bed, examining his wrist communicator, thinking about his current predicament. The idea dawns on him and he turns his communicator to local frequencies now that they should be back online, surprisingly catching a familiar voice on the other end. She replies a little confused, with a hint of worry for some reason.

"Oh, hello? Wait, Matthews? Are you there?" She sounds frantic, but still oddly calm, herself spotting the crewmen enter back into the hallway towards Matthews now that life support is back online.

'Must have been confusing with this thing messing with the station..this thing is weird, why is it listening to me?' He tries to piece together any logic to no avail, interrupted by the large silhouette of a tall and bulky being, a Rockman with a Lieutenant pin on his chest; packed somewhere in the mass of rock-like skin.

"Ah, good thing you guys are here." Matthews passively smiles, pointing to his wrist communicator, trying to resume his proper demeanor when in the presence of a relative superior and tell them about this thing controlling the station. "Lieutenant, we need to get this thing under contro—" He's interrupted by two crewmen grabbing him by his arms, pulling his pistol out of his holster and forcing him up against his quarter's wall.

"Ah! What the hell!?" He can feel something clasp around his wrists around his front, presumably energy handcuffs as he's violently pulled back. "What, hey! What did I do!? This thing is in my communicator!" Melody watches from outside in the hall, unsure of what to make of the situation at hand, being led to believe he's some kind of saboteur. As he's being escorted outside of the room, he can hear a small beep from his communicator.

"Warning: Hostiles detected."

The room's sliding door suddenly closes, gripping tightly against one of the crewman holding his arm, wincing back to try to relieve the pressure being pushed on him. The crewman yelps out in pain, the door having excessive amounts of force.

"H-Help!"

Almost immediately, the Rockman holds his arms in place above the crewman and forces the door open, the mechanisms of the doorway being forcibly strained as it attempts to close. Unexpectedly, at least to the crewmen, Matthews grips the injured crewman with his bound hands and helps pull him away from the doorway. Matthews yells at his wrist, attempting to stop whatever's controlling the station to cease.

"Friendly, these are all friendlies! Don't do that again!"

A moment of silence envelopes awkwardly, the crewman stare at Matthews to see whatever he tries to do next.

"....."

The silence drags on, he angrily and impatiently thinks out something.

'...any time now, you stupid voice!'

Melody decides to tag in, sensing the odd tension, attempting to ask him, "...Matthews, who are you talking t—"

"Acknowledged."

The crewmen seem surprised at the voice coming from his wrist communicator, having had less time to react before with one of their own being crushed in a doorway. The Rockman grabs Matthew's wrist suddenly and pulls him to his feet, asking determinedly, "Ensign, explain yourself. And this."

'Long as you're aware my arm is fragile..' Matthews reasons that the being doesn't know it's own strength with it's bulkiness and size, excusing his own sarcastic line himself. "It's hard to say Lieutenant..also please don't break my arm." The Rockman simply replies, it's hard to tell if he's being sarcastic as well, the Rockmen aren't good at conveying emotion. Matthews assume the latter, given no release of pressure on his arm.

"You broke Yusuf's arm."

"Noted.." Matthews stays quiet, unsure of what to say next to try to appease the large rock-like being.

"Lieutenant." Melody decides to chime in, continuing. "Let's bring him and this..thing for questioning." Her tone conveys professionalism, her particular accent fitting well with it. "Ensign Matthews, do not attempt to speak from this..duration until told to. Please." She takes charge, trying to be minimally sympathetic, sensing something else beyond his knowledge is at work here. The Rockman simply nods and lets go of his arm, one crewman and the Engi escort him away, Matthews silently assumes to a detention center somewhere on the station.

'First day and all this happens..' An overwhelming feeling of deja'vu washes over himself.

He sighs only once during the trip to the detention center, knowing this is like last time.

'...this feels familiar.'

He closes his eyes, trying not to remember the screaming.

--

"Excuse me?" Admiral Tully asks aloud towards Turzil, met with disbelief at his own opinion, both of them taking potshots of logic towards each other in a private meeting aboard the 'USS Alacor', a local capital ship underneath Tully's ranking. Turzil replies to Tully, subtly trying to counter his argument.

"Answer was clear: near rhetorical, Admiral." Admiral Turzil speaks justly, trying to explain the situation at hand as clearly as possible, as much as an Engi can anyway with their complex mannerisms. "AI, simply put. Artificial Intelligence of Engi and Zoltan make upon our brief study. Origins: Unknown, all that is theorized is it was activated from salvage activity aboard the enemy Flagship. Purpose and Directive: Indecisive, disruption appears to be a main method of attack." Turzil adjusts his seating, his mechanical arms strewn about the table, showing several gestures along with his method of speech as a visual aid. "Conflicted Reasoning: AI possibly espionage tool, harbored aboard a salvage ship or local cruiser, eventually docking with the station in search of something while being transferred through several systems. Brief recording sessions with Ensign Matthews say otherwise, it did not have 'Federation' in it's vocabulary initially. It did not show initial hostile action, it showed signs of conflicted programming and identification when interacted with."

Admiral Tully shakes his head again in disbelief, simply asking, "So what are you saying, Turzil? That this AI shutting down the station's life support was a 'friendly' action? That it didn't try to ask this Ensign if it could target nearby Federation ships, including civilian ships, unable to defend themselves because of their modified ASB projectiles? This AI is a danger, something we should destroy, it gained almost full control of the station's systems." Tully stands up and tries to get his point across further, exclaiming. "It could have opened every single door and airlock aboard!"

Turzil remains calm at the situation at hand, explaining with hints of sympathy as he makes his own point clear. "Risk of AI: High, method of controls through hacking and disruption; greater. Conflicted action was clear: AI easily submitted of it's own volition with Ensign Matthews. Asking permission to target: Illogical if an espionage or disruptive program intended for destruction. AI are not sentient, Admiral: They are not capable of independent thought or decisions. If it was going to fire at nearby ships and disrupt the station maliciously; it simply would have done so without warning, following it's programming." A sense of irony washes over Tully, his fellow Admiral Turzil is unclear of his own species' origins, being compromised entirely of nano-machines yet able to be sentient. Duly listening to Turzil's own viewpoint of the matter, Tully comes up with a more well-though out reply.

"So you are saying this AI program wasn't intended to attack our own ships..or gain control of the station..but did anyway? But for what? Just to submit to an Ensign? It doesn't make any sense." Tully stands and leans against the large hologram table with his hands, noticing Turzil pull out a small datapad, assumedly relaying information to the holo-projector. "I have the feeling you have more news, I can tell it's not good." He's learned to be able to read faces, regardless of race, Admiral Turzil showing subtle signs of reluctance with a slightly discolored screen on it's body. Turzil replies, pressing a button on the datapad, showing a hologram of a small station; loosely jointed with distinct Engi parts and hull. Turzil explains to Tully, again pointing with several gestures as visual aid.

"Possible conflict of interests: Remember how I said it had signs of Zoltan and Engi technology? Be mindful, information on this subject: Severely limited. Physical location of this station: Undetermined, more than likely compromised by Rebel forces. Upon discovery of what information was available; AI may have been apart of military STG study, Special Task Force under Federation and Engi alliance. Exact origin: Unable to say, information ceasing early in Rebel conflict, possible capture of Federation technology to gain advantage. Irony Absolute: Original technology shows it was initially stolen from Zoltan." Tully seems to calm a bit, choosing to address that particular bit of information.

"So this AI may be a construct developed by one of our joint task groups? Why were we not aware of this? How long has this 'project' been going on, and for what purpose?" Turzil stands up and points to several key points within the holographic image, most notably numbers that seem to be scrambled; explaining it further.

"Information relayed to Federation Intelligence: Minority is encrypted, majority is corrupted or scrambled, including physical location of the station. Most likely reasoning: This station was top secret for an unknown designation, even to most Federation and Engi forces. Zoltan as per usual: Unaware of the joint programs as well." Turzil closes the hologram and attempts to bundle all the information he's said, trying to simplify it despite it's unique mannerism. "Information: Majority unavailable and minority is encrypted. Research station condition: More than likely compromised or destroyed by Rebel fleet incursion. Last log from the research station an estimated 14 months ago: Unable to establish contact through any decrypted data so far. Necessity focus: Time, time we do not have." Turzil puts his short arms on the table, subtly mimicking Admiral Tully's own posing, trying to convey the message further.

"AI construct shows potential: Possibility of being mass produced, an interactive command center controlled solely by the Captain or Admiral of a cruiser or station. Estimated combat effectiveness if attuned to the person: Up by 185%. Situational Awareness: Up by 145%." Admiral Tully seems to show some interest, noted by Turzil, he explains the cons of his proposal as a rebuttal. "Conflicted viewpoint: Unfortunate, but absolute. No other known recreations of this AI construct exist: 98% estimated chance of research station destruction, majority of project information permanently lost along with the original participants of the project. Personal observation shows an anomaly: The AI construct still appears to be in the early stages of it's development, not having Federation ID as a pre-programmed identifier." Admiral Turzil hangs his head low from the table, looking strangely expressive for an Engi, feeling utterly unsure of his next statement.

"Keynote observation is indecisive: This AI was made for Federation, but did not have Federation designation in it's programming, or at least was not aware of it until Ensign Matthews had first interacted with it. It appears he was the first of Federation personnel to interact with it directly after it's supposed travels, telling it of his Federation rank of an Ensign. It is unknown if submitting to a Federation Ensign was intended: Data shows many degrees of conflict in it's own actions. Recommendation is to wait for further information to be inquired: Stay low and study this AI while it is still cooperative with Ensign Matthews. Unfortunate truth is more evident: This AI is not as we had initially thought, it has a designation, but not one we are aware of that fits any sort of project name." After listening to Admiral Turzil's mass of information and explanations, Tully simply asks,

"What is this project's name?"

Admiral Turzil shakes his head, simply replying back. "Negative: Not project name, entity designation. The AI has a designated 'name' ; but it does not fit into either Federation or Engi information databases."

"Alright, I'll bite. What is this AI's name?"

Admiral Turzil replies back, taking a mental note, having to study into the name at a later date.

"Designated Name: Twi. E. Sparkle." Turzil is met with a confused expression from Tully.

"That sounds like a strange name for an AI, Turzil. Do you know the origin?" Tully duly sits and begins to listen, finding the information odd to process, understanding the majority though it's all pretty vague. Admiral Turzil replies, pulling up the hologram again, this time showing a green and blue earth-like planet instead.

"Minimal study shows that it may be an Equestrian-related name: many of them simply as a descriptive name to their occupation, strangely. An unfortunate circumstance: Information on the Equestrian home world is very limited, refusing all inter-galactic contact with any Federation forces or otherwise. It is a peaceful world and civilization, Admiral: They do not like the idea of mass war on a galactic scale, and personally I do not blame them for that aspect. Back to the objective: Information is limited, something we can not officially inquire with. Main reasoning: Not permitted to enter Equestrian space, further more the home world is over eight systems away, not something we could quickly go to with our current remaining forces."

Tully decides to interrupt for once, inquiring about it.

"Admiral Turzil, you are aware we do have Equestrian personnel within our ranks? Albeit very few, but they are present, we could ask them about the world if need-be." Turzil starts to walk over, explaining himself on his way over to Admiral Tully.

"We know the basics of the Equestrian race already Admiral, their culture, and the majority of their government; showing many aspects to olden kingdoms comparable to the early civilizations of the human race many millennia ago. It is their military projects we are unaware of: Something I don't believe they'd like us to ask about, nor do I personally believe they would study into. The utter majority of their population and ideals are peace: They would not engage with Federation personnel unless they declared independence, an aspect rare with their race." Turzil looks up towards Tully, who duly stands up alongside him, respectfully listening to his very informative fellow Admiral.

"Equestrian personnel would not be acquainted with any of their race's projects if there are, or were, any of them recently: respectively. They would not add any information to this Twi. E. Sparkle AI : We do not know much about it, they are further unlikely to know much else either than what we already are aware of. The majority of the Equestrian race is peaceful, the few space-faring individuals are either parts of the race that declares independence or scholars sent by their ruler to cautiously study abroad; the latter being something we shouldn't try, in fear of sparking an inter-planetary incident should we be involved with key political figures or citizens. All the information we have to go by is mainly what this AI is capable of, and the name 'Sparkle'. " Turzil stands tall and places his arms behind his back, saying with a sense of pride, not uncommon with Engi when tasked with something. "I will lead an investigation on this name for any significance with the Equestrians and any other projects related to the Federation or Engi: this is all a big predicament, Admiral. But it is something that shows some potential in our conflict with the Rebels."

Admiral Tully places his hands behind his back, asking aloud professionally. "So, what would you recommend doing with the Ensign, Turzil? This AI is 'imprinted' to him and seemingly him only, so it shows an advantageous aspect.. but it's very dangerous in the hands of just an Ensign." Turzil takes note of his choice of words and simply replies.

"Then let's say it wasn't in the hands of an Ensign, Admiral: I will organize duly with an Engi Special Task Group for a new designation. It may be a great tool for the Federation fleet to regain power and hold of the galaxy again; a task we were incapable of doing before, being spread too thin." Turzil tries to drift away from his personal feelings about the conflict, snapping back into his mannerism and assuring Tully of his decision.

"I will work with Ensign Matthews duly: in an attempt to understand this AI, we need an advantage against the Rebels. We have won this major battle: I do not wish our sacrifices of our brethren and fellow Federation have been for nothing, Federation collective is weak."

Tully dips his head for a moment, attempting to accept this new information.

"..very well, Turzil. I will go with your word, but let's make sure this AI does not get out of hand. What is your first plan of action, if I might ask?" Turzil turns around as he's about to exit the room, simply replying.

"Working with Operation Restoration: We need allies before we could focus on military efforts. I will supervise Ensign Matthews, his designation should be a prominent one: Not one we should take lightly."

Tully makes a suggestion, the path Turzil is outlining getting to be a vague one.

"I suppose Captain would be out of the question, unless his credentials say otherwise." An audible whir can be heard from Turzil, he replies with a mild tone of realization.

"That will do precisely, Tully; At least for now. We need every single advantage we could get: this AI could turn the tide of the war if Matthews can turn it as a tool, a supposed weapon of sorts. But first we must figure out it's capability in combat and it's relative relation to this Ensign." Turzil leaves the room with a swift salute, walking with his escort away from the conference room.

A sense of deja'vu washes over Tully unexpectedly, a thought flickers in his mind, reminiscent of his past decisions relating to a win-or-die scenario. He shakes his head, a looming though sparks, a familiar feeling that Matthews feels currently, sleeping in his lone cell.

--

'I hope I'm doing the right thing..'

Author's Note

Edit: Small thing, chapters may be temporary titles. There was a thing with chapters titles for 'Time to Think', thinking of doing something similar here. If all else fails, can just simply put dates for titles. :)

If you are not familiar with FTL(Faster Than Light), I'd recommend looking up gameplay named from a Youtuber named Northernlion or VanguardOfValor for general information and examples of gameplay. I personally love the game (pretty much addicted), but it's hard to understand this story when you don't understand the backstory or full context of the actual game, take note of that!

Ahh, good to get something done in..such a long time. I'm sorry for the long delay, been having to deal with some life-related things, mostly just personal finance, so very little time on the computer. Have felt burnt out on the last story, 'Time to Think', and I WILL continue that at some point, but I shouldn't run myself raw to force something out, so for now it is on Hiatus.

Busy from 8-3 PM isn't a very good schedule!

This should be an interesting story premise to go with, though I'm a bit new when it comes to large scale things especially with a large scope, so I guess I'll go little by little. Do note the tags I put on :) Please provide feedback, negative or positive or just a simple comment on things in the comments! I like feedback and it helps me improve for future writings! (Hopefully.)

As per usual with the other story I've done, I provide semi-related pictures in the author's notes, so have an FTL-related bit of artwork! Pro-tip when playing FTL, don't let the Mantis anywhere near you. They're get a little 'touchy feely' so to say.

http://i.imgur.com/BBQbB.jpg

Edit: At the time of re-submitting this story for approval, it is 5:32 AM. Heading to bed!

Chap. 1

"Ability Testing Underway: Ensign requested to instruct, approach and calculate probable effects. Minimal Danger Incentives: AI cut off from ship's systems, as per requested from subsequent event earlier ."

"Uhh..what? Can somebody repeat that please?" Matthews replies with an innate misunderstanding of the Engi's literal dialect, exploring through his communicator for some kind of outlet.

This feels like an odd setting and set of events to him. Cooped up in a large white room aboard the 'USS Alacor', several Engi scientists in Federation designed lab coats monitoring various types of equipment on the other side of the room as he shifts through menus in his communicator, a small cable attached to the small port near the wrist fastener presumably for this 'test'. Being told to simply 'instruct'.

The two Engi scientists beside a large computer vid-screen look to each other in a way that implies slight awe at his misinterpretation, as far as he can tell with their expression-less screen faces. Prompted to reiterate, one of the Engi scientists on the other side of the room replies a little simpler, as best as it can simplify it.

"Instructions will be restated: Speak to AI present in your wrist communicator. Prompt and induce for response and effect if possible." The message is still a bit vague to his comparatively simpler mind, but Matthews gets the gist of what the Engi is saying; he tries to find some sort of menu for it. He's having trouble and decides to share the perceived problem.

"Uhh, I don't exactly know how.." He takes a guess and turns on his local transmission receiver, pressing the indicated button and speaking into the sensitive microphone built into the device. "Hello? Robot..voice? You there?" He doesn't get a reply, then shaking his forearm to try to physically jolt a response, despite the AI being electronically hosted inside. "Come on you damn robot..thing!" A little bit redundant in hindsight, one of the scientists decides to give his little more-than-obvious input at his action.

"AI presence not physical: Exertion and physical effort highly unlikely to incite response."

Matthews thinks subjectively, 'No, really?' as he mindlessly flips through several frequencies, inadvertently hailing several nearby personnel outside of the room while attempting to establish contact with the AI through guesswork. The Engi scientists note the recurring method not working, one of them formally suggests something else.

"Current method invalid: Attempt alternative, last indicated order input?"

"...." Matthews doesn't seem to fully understand, simply raising an eyebrow to the Engi's suggestion, respectively. The Engi scientist reiterates it's statement, taking a relative mental note to use simpler methods of communication in future testing when available.

"Communicative block high possibility: Report shows you requested AI to go into relative 'sleep' mode. Method of interruption: Incited break in order, Artificial Intelligence cancelled it's instructions when attacked. Explained forced response method: Simulate danger."

"Simulate danger..?" He's unsure what it means by that, but the Engi takes his confused response as a yes and silently grabs a nearby device with an antennae and complex joystick on the front. A small door beside them slides open with a swift shink, a small repair drone rolls out of the small compartment under the Engi's remote control, around half of Matthew's relative size when it rolls over to him on it's one wheel. The body consists of a simple frame, the outer shell a clean white with little green lights scattered throughout the little joints of the drone and a large glass band on it's 'face' ; it's simple arms usually used to hold simple tools like a blowtorch for repairs or a fire extinguisher. It suddenly dawns on Matthews on what they're suggesting by 'simulate danger', just as the drone starts to pull a device out from inside it's frame.

"Beginning Response Testing." The Engi controller simply says as the drone turns on it's blowtorch, Matthews backing away out of his seat, yelping as he's startled.

"Whoa, whoa! Give me some warning first!" He steps back away from the drone as it slowly rolls forward with the torch in-hand, facing the flame upward to avoid injury, though Matthews appears startled by the sight none the less. As the Engi scientists were counting on with their rash testing procedures, Matthew's communicator suddenly starts beeping and the monotone female voice can be heard through the speaker; relaying a distress message.

"Warning: Hostile Entity Detected. Advisory suggested. Update: Mutliple vulnerabilities detected, Advisory suggested."

"Indicated results: Sufficient." The Engi controller says as it processes that last bit. "Questioning methods of AI: Multiple vulnerabilities? Ensign Matthews, commence introduction of commands if preferable."

Upon that badly-worded prompt, Matthews tries to pick out a command off the top of his head, blurting out something while unsure of his own choice of words.

"Err..execute..combat?" He looks over to the Engi confusedly, not being given instruction on what to do exactly, he reforms his request audibly. "Well..shutdown?" He reiterates it into a more command-like phrase. "Shut down that drone." After a quick second, the command registers with the monotone voice as a confirmation.

"Order Acknowledged: Executing."

The Engi briefly thinks, 'Executing?' just before Matthew's communicator starts to flood with various numbers consisting of 1's and 0's, he reacts justly to the strange encounter.

"Whoa, uhh.. you guys seeing this?" Matthews walks around the drone and briskly walks over to them both, displaying his forearm to them as the numbers keep rapidly changing from several indiscernible patterns, quickly ceasing altogether as he crouches beside them. "Oh..fuck. It was a bunch of numbers, what's that supposed t—" His explanation is interrupted as the drone suddenly starts to fluctuate with movement upon receiving no command to move, dropping it's blowtorch as it's still on, lightly scorching the white metal tile floor. The Engi take notice and try to regain control to no avail, the main controller commenting on the odd sight.

"AI's control method indiscernible: Original projection shows method of hacking, updated firewall should block out further access to ship interior." The Engi attempts to reassure him that it can no longer access the ship controls, though it being able to disable the drone is up to debate along those lines. "Drone unresponsive due to signal block: Possible disruption method used in earlier event? Further discussion needed: Main focus is to find control method. Ensign Matthews, if you'd please instruct the AI to do another command?" Matthews nervously nods and approaches the malfunctioning drone from behind, it's no longer moving due to no command input and is just sitting up on it's wheel still.

"Uh, AI?" He doesn't get a response to this kind of question, he assumes it's listening to him anyway. "Pick up the blow torch." Duly accepting the command, the AI gives an odd message as the drone starts to spark.

"Advisory: Cessation of hostilities in-progress."

The drone starts to twitch as it's motors malfunction, eventually the drone starts to lose it's balance and falls forward, the power giving out all together as the green lights slowly dim and abruptly shut off.

"...huh." Matthews feels the back of his head, it seemingly ignored his last order.

"Cessation of hostilities: Complete. Awaiting further orders."

The Engi controller decides to step in and reaches down for the torch, promptly turning it off before it does anymore damage to the paneling along the floor. Grabbing the back of the frame of the drone, it tediously drags the little drone back towards the other Engi scientist, commenting on the event as they both plug wires into it to monitor any further activity.

"AI hacking methods may not be as originally thought: Disruption method is effective, however, orders given are taken as priority until said otherwise. Unpredictable outcomes are likely: Unknown if capable of other abilities. Further testing needed?"

The doors beside them suddenly beep and open, a human male Federation Lieutenant steps inside and looks clear at Matthews. The Engi scientist politely mentions what they're doing, addressing the officer by rank as it pries open the back paneling of the damaged drone.

"Current testing is live, Lieutenant. Given priority orders by designated Admiral Tully: Interruption is not an option at this time." The Lieutenant puts his hand up to his chest and lightly waves it to the side in a dismissing motion, adding some context to his sudden arrival.

"Excuse me Dr. But I've also been given priority orders, to escort Matthews to his quarters, he's been reassigned: effective immediately. Straight from Admiral Turzil, respectively. Here. " The Lieutenant moves one of his hands into his uniform's side pockets, handing the Engi scientist a slip of paper with several lines of text along the whole of it. Somehow the Engi is able to read the majority very quickly, Matthews assumes it's innate for an Engi when it just as quickly hands the slip back.

"Very well, Ensign Matthews is dismissed from this testing session: Advising caution against any further AI activity, Matthews. Suggested Keyword from Testing: Sleep mode, shut down procedures, should anything dangerous emerge." It's not hard to see why it emphasizes that, the dead drone lying right beside it. After a brief transaction of further papers and apparent data between the two Engi's, Matthews is prompted to follow the Lieutenant and duly does so, although he doesn't know precisely why he's suddenly been moved or reassigned. As they walk down the long halls of the ship, Matthews tries to strike a conversation about his apparent 'assignment', before getting momentarily distracted by the sight of several other little repair drones scattered around the area.

'Huh..' He watches a repair drone systematically and cleanly graft a piece of grey reinforced steel plating to an exposed bunch of wires across the floor, assuming it'll paint over the replacement plating. The halls looks clean but still damaged, something notable enough for Matthews to bring up as he sees two drones simultaneously carry a small girder past both him and the Lieutenant.

".. Lieutenant?" He seems to respond minimally, turning his head slightly but otherwise still walking. "What's with all the repair drones?" Oddly enough, the Lieutenant responds simply with one word.

"Repairs."

'I get that..' Matthews ignores his inner annoyed voice and asks a little more precisely. "Why are they repairing so much on the ship?" The two turn the corner of the hallway and the Lieutenant seems hesitant, despite how stone-faced he's been on this short walk so far. He answers, it doesn't seem to come easy.

"They're repairing the ship after that whole battle..you know the one." The Lieutenant stops to enter a security key to the crew's quarters, giving Matthews a moment to think as he ponders about 'the battle'. Matthews wasn't there, he wasn't even with the Federation during the whole push towards the Federation base, but everyone knew about it when Rebel cruisers suddenly flooded the skies of dozens of systems and planets taking control by force, or otherwise taking system surface control only when they didn't have the ground forces to take a planet.

'Damn Rebels..' Bundles of anger start to engross as he's reminded of them, he quickly snaps out of it as he starts to ball his fist, the Lieutenant calling to him on the other side of the doorway. '..oh.' Matthews walks past the doorway into the crew's quarters, taking note at the drones even repairing the interior. 'Fuck..it's been two weeks since and repairs are still going on?' It seems even Admiral Tully's ship took a pounding in what people keep calling 'The Last Stand'. The Lieutenant steps and stands by a specific doorway, Matthews assuming it's his own and heads toward it, unexpectedly seeing the door open and a familiar figure step out of it.

"Choh..thello Thathews." It's Ensign Melody, evidently carrying his transport bag in her teeth that muffles her speech, presumably it has all of his personal items inside.

"Hey, that's my bag!" As Matthews reaches to grasp it away, she promptly pulls away from him, lifting one of her forelegs to stretch away from him; lightly swatting his hand away with her lifted foreleg. She lowers her head and lets go of the large handle, her tongue visibly sliding out of her mouth with an expression of slight disgust.

"Ech. I do wish the Federation would make some things more.. sanitary.." Seems like an odd priority for her to have, at least in his mind. He quickly settles that her species probably doesn't have a choice in that case, she doesn't have opposable thumbs to carry anything and only has her mouth for anything prehensile related, the thought briefly lingers on why she has a pistol if that's the case; it's quickly ignored as his focus shifts back towards her.

"Yeah? Well maybe you shouldn't have your mouth all over it." He attempts to grab his bag again and fails, duly swatted away by one of her forelegs again. She goes on to explain as she nudges his bag back towards him herself, visibly discomforted with his hostile tone.

"I'm not taking anything Matthews, so don't get all into a fit about it! I'm just doing my duty and inspecting your bag for anything anomalous, or otherwise deemed as contraband..respectively."

Matthews crosses his arms a little annoyed at this realization, feeling pushed to have to ask her something.

"...and? What did you find in my personal travel bag, Miss Inspector?"

She paws one of her appendages along the metal tile floor, mumbling something under her breath before speaking vocally.

"..deodorant, spare clothing, uniforms for ground duty and.. miscellaneous personal effects. Nothing out of the ordinary." She seems slightly embarrassed, it's hard for him to tell other than with her eyes and small indications of body language.

"Course not.." He angrily grabs his bag and unzips it, discovering she evidently bothered to fold the clothing she took out back inside, something he didn't expect; but not something he lingers on as he addresses the key issue. "Ensign Melody, you're not supposed to go into people's quarter's, especially not crew's belongings." She looks visibly annoyed, quickly shifting from her previously embarrassed emotion to a less tolerating one like his own.

"What, I was under orders! It's my duty to, sir!" She stomps one of her appendages onto the floor to detest, surprisingly rough sounding for a soft-looking being like herself as it clangs on the floor audibly, explaining a little further as he seems to be confused in response to her agitated statement. "What, you weren't aware of this, sir?" She looks towards Matthews, confused herself. "But I told—" She's interrupted by the Lieutenant beside them both, addressing the apparent argument they're both interacting in.

"I'm..sorry Lieutenant."

'Wait, Lieutenant? What? She's an Ensign!' Matthews thinks as he looks over to him as well, him continuing the rest of his sentence.

"I was to make the Captain aware of his new ranking upon arrival to the bridge, but I didn't expect you to be here still." The Lieutenant crosses his arms, he doesn't seem angry, just seemingly informative. Matthews notices a keyword, a confusing one.

'..Captain?' Matthews decides to interrupt them both, placing his hands above to his own chest to grab their attention.

"Whoa, whoa. What's all this 'Captain' talk about? I'm an Ensign, 0-1. So is Melody, last I checked!"

The Lieutenant responds duly, taking a quick look towards the semi-confused Melody just below them both.

"It wasn't exactly a planned promotion, I'm sorry, sir. Lieutenant Melody was present at the time, you however weren't around for the news. Admiral Turzil wanted to see you both on the bridge as soon as you both were present, Miss Melody should be able to take you there from this point, sir." It feels strange as the Lieutenant salutes Matthews and turns to leave, leaving him with an awkward moment of silence with Melody.

"....."

Melody being the less awkward side in this argument, decides to chip in and explain herself.

"I was to inspect contraband in case the incident present earlier was from anything else malicious, or otherwise possibly in the room. An inspection team already looked,.. but I decided to chip in too. They made a right mess as well." She readjusts her body's relative position to face him, she looks up slightly towards him. "Don't take my duties as a bad thing, sir." She smiles slightly, gesturing her head towards the other end of the hall, subtly saying to walk with her as she pulls up one of her forelegs. "Besides, Ensi—Err, sorry sir. Besides, Captain, from what information I've gotten, it seems like we're both being promoted to more grandeur positions." Matthews follows her, subtly observing her walking pattern, an interesting one comparable to the Mantis; each leg moving to coincide with each other to meet the inertia and a pattern to walk coherently. 'Overthinking it..' as he turns back to face her, she keeps talking, trying to start a casual conversation while on the way.

"It is quite an interesting experience, Captain. I've been present in the Federation military for a few weeks, but I didn't expect to be prom—" She's suddenly interrupted as the ship's intercom turns on, a voice speaks out loud, audibly it appears to be Admiral Turzil's voice giving a message to all crewmen.

"All personnel, brace for FTL jump; ETA is 15 seconds. Repeat, brace for FTL jump."

"Oh, get a hand against the wall Lieutenant." Melody suggests as she herself goes on her hind legs, gripping onto a piece of railing beside a portside window. Matthews takes a brief moment while gripping the railing, looking outside the clear window into the depths of space, the asteroid belt housing the station they were just on in the far distance; light displays of light show as the laser Point-Defense-Systems destroys small asteroids heading towards the station. The intercom speaks again before things suddenly get incoherently blurry.

"Brace!"

The entire ship drifts into an incoherent blur, his perception of time gets skewed as does the background, gravity shifts to the left side of the ship then quickly to the right. The feeling and anomaly ends as soon as it begins, things quickly head back into place as does the center of gravity aboard the ship, Matthews blinking a few times to get back into his perceived reality as the ship very abruptly comes to a stop. He feels very subtly dizzy, a common after-effect of a Faster-Than-Light jump, as used to it as he probably should have been by now. Melody seems a little more phased than him, rocking a little to the side before she can stand upright, audibly mumbling something as she rights herself back upward.

"Wha—Whoa, ah.." She feels the top of her head with her foreleg, lightly rubbing the top of her mane as she snaps out of her brief phased state. "Ah, do excuse me. I'm..still getting used to that feeling." She nervously smiles upon seeing Matthews recover faster than her, giving a valid excuse to her more present condition. "My native species is not accustomed to space travel, so to speak. Honestly, I should probably be used to it by now." She briefly smiles before realizing their task at hand, she gestures her hoof side along with her eyes. "Ah, my apologies. Let's head to the bridge." She takes a brief look outside the port window, seeing the vastly different background, having jumped near a small grassy planetary body nearby. They both can feel the ship shift slightly as they hear the impulse drives turn on, the ship using it's normal engines to travel the relatively small distance, in reality being several thousand kilometers away from the planet's atmosphere and FTL beacon. It's a light hum relative to the actual amount of noise impulse drives would make exposed to air at full power, audible solely by vibration in the Capital ship's frame.

"....."

In a way, he's missed this feeling. Exploring space, the FTL jumps, even the friendly personnel in the Federation. Minus the Engi scientists that sicked a drone with a blowtorch towards him, but he can excuse the Engi for that. Taking a look outside several port windows as they continue through the various halls of the ship, he takes occasional looks towards the now designated Lieutenant Melody and her apparent refitted uniform. It has a slightly different variation in it's design, the shoulders having a lighter tone of blast-armoring along the base, a small cloth strip pinned with an orange metal tip along the edges of her small shoulders. He takes a gander towards her front, spotting the new ranking pin, consisting of two conjoined silver vertical stripes with a small band in between to join them together.

'Hmph.'

Matthews puts his hands into his uniform's pants pockets, trying to remember the bind and historic meaning behind that rank. Keywords such as 'Unity' and 'Conjoined' come to mind, but he can't pick any details out, barely remembering the lectures given when he originally enlisted. His thoughts are interrupted by the sight of a Federation Carrier jumping into the nearby space via FTL in the distance, several smaller fighters following shortly after, presumably as military escorts for the freight-minded ship. It takes a moment for their impulse drives to activate, otherwise leaving them static in space.

"Hm." He makes an audible noise that Melody picks up on as he monitors the ships, she suddenly yelps as she looks over towards him as she side steps.

"Captain, watch ou—" She's too late as he accidentally slams his body into a nearby wall as they're about the round a corner.

"Agh! Oh, uh, sorry." He's not used to being called 'Captain', he briefly wonders how he even got this promotion. He decides to ask Melody the specifics, her apparently having prior knowledge of this news. "Melody?"

She duly responds after briefly asking, "Sir, are you alright?" Matthews dismisses the question and his own, settling for Turzil's explanation to this.

"..nevermind." Matthews turns to his left and places his hands back into his pant's pockets, simply replying. "Let's go, Lieutenant." He reverts back to calling her by rank, assuming that's a context she prefers. Something feels off, but he ignores the inkling feeling as they head into the main passageway towards the bridge, spotting several various crewmen along the way. Most are Human, very few being Rockmen and Mantis, Matthews has yet to see a Zoltan on-board. It dawns on him that he hasn't even seen another Equestrian, a rarity among the Federation or really anywhere in general.

"..."

He decides not to bring it up after taking a quick look at Melody. He figures 'She probably doesn't want to talk about it.' as they take another turn around a corner, nearly bumping into the forefront of a Rockman's torso, long enough to see he's a Lieutenant with designation as 0-1. Most find it hard to tell aliens apart, but they have their own defining features such as eye color and body make-up, among other simple distinctions. Simple ones like individualized rock-like body structure for the Rockmen, and Mantis with their scarring and relative body color aligned their carapace; unless they shed their outer exoskeleton at some point. Matthews is left wondering how Melody's race is or how it fared, he knows extremely little other than they're very much horse-like and vegetarians, he's unsure if they all have the same accent or same kind of outlook on the Federation. He can see the main doorway to the bridge clear down the hall, the Capital ship USS Alacor being one of the largest in the fleet and a bit of a long walk to get from one section to the other.

"..."

'..This feels familiar..' An eerie feeling starts to creep up, a twisted recollection of deja'vu as he stares at the bridge's access door, it's the same make of what he remembers. Matthews closes his eyes and ignores the feeling before he gets noticeably distraught, making a small cough as he enters his security key into the door UI and waits for it to respond after a brief moment. The sliding door opens and both enter the room, an almost oval-shaped large command center filled with various personnel on monitoring equipment staring at vid-screens and typing into virtual keyboards in their designated positions, the back of the room with a large reinforced window as a general outlook towards the front and outer hull of the Capital ship. It's an interesting sight, one he hasn't seen for a while as he steps past an empty Captain's chair, Turzil standing with his arms behind his back seemingly staring out the window towards the nearby planet they're on a course to. The Admiral waits a moment before addressing them both, hearing them step and stop behind him, they duly salute as he turns around to face them.

"Admiral." Melody simply says, dropping her right foreleg back down, Matthews simply putting his hands behind his back in respect. Turzil addresses them both simply, turning towards Matthews.

"Lieutenant, Captain. I apologize for the perceived frantic assignments across the ship: Not the intent to overwhelm you both. Prior knowledge of your arrival was clear: Addressing both of your new designations and assignments. Confusion may end up as present: Assignment essential freelance."

Melody decides to chip in, waiting for the Admiral's method of speech to cease.

"Lieutenant Melody reporting, sir. Might I ask what you mean by 'Freelance' ? I'm not sure I'm..familiar with that term, at least not as a designation." Turzil puts his short arm upward, halting Melody's question as he presents an oddly worded answer.

"Freelance as a designation is as explained: Freelance work, limited free-reign over current assignment at your own discretion, otherwise authorized or denied by general superiors once instructed. Explanation of this designation confusing: Captain Matthews has been given this designation, given priority above typical officers at similar rank." Melody chips in again, but unexpectedly interrupted by Matthews instead.

"Sir." Matthews addresses Turzil, continuing with some slight hesitance present in his tone. "Are you sure I'm fit for this assignment? I..don't remember a Captain's procedures well, and I'm not sure I'm qualified for—" He's interrupted by Turzil, putting his hand up again.

"Concern is understandable, Captain: This decision was not made by myself alone, Admiral Tully gave free reign over your designation as well. Overall agreed, though not coherently clear to the outside observer: The AI imprinted to you is a great advantage for the coming battles if could be finely tuned to the controller, or otherwise mass produced. Trial testing has been granted under near unanimous voting: You are to be designated in general control of your own ship with a designated crew, among the most prominent members being Lieutenant Melody." She looks mildly surprised, trying to keep her professional look in front of a superior, Turzil continues with his explanation while now looking over towards Melody. "This AI presence has a designated name, the origin is still up to debate: Named Twi. E. Sparkle."

'..Sparkle?' Matthews subtly thinks as Turzil continues, it feels like a weird name, but it becomes clear as to what he's addressing shortly after.

"Name shows origin with the Lieutenant's species: The Equestrian home world. Familiarity is not to be expected or demanded, respectively, Melody." As expected, Melody chimes in with a short confirmation before Turzil continues.

"I'm sorry sir, that not doesn't sound familiar to me personally. It does sound..right, however, if you mean it's origin is from there. I'm afraid I don't know what the name would mean, 'Sparkle'. "

"Your admission is to be dismissed Lieutenant: Knowledge of the Equestrian planet is limited, I would not expect you to know it's current news or going-ons currently underway. This AI shows to be of Engi and Zoltan-make, but the name is to be questioned. General briefing purpose is not to overwhelm you: It is to fine tune this AI for military purposes, should the opportunity be present. This AI was found to be made for the Federation." Admiral Turzil steps to the side, pacing slightly away then back again while explaining further. "However, it did not show Federation as a registered ID: A curious set of events given present circumstances." Admiral Turzil faces upwards towards Matthews directly.

"Captain, information output is a lot to take in, your assignment is simple: Under special authorization color, Violet, you are hereby designated as Federation Freelance." Turzil readjusts his stance and puts his hands behind his back again.

"Your first assignment is to head towards the general area of the Equestrian's system: gathering supplies and brokering whatever is deemed necessary to achieve your mission. Operation Restoration is in effect: The Federation's main focus is the gain of allies to bolster our defenses and attack ability. I would highly encourage you along the way to give a positive example of the Federation: help all allied forces whenever you deem it necessary, peaceful means take priority, but engage hostiles at your own discretion. You will not receive official and overall military reign over the following systems: Galaxy is no longer under our control. Many allied with Rebels willingly or by force: more present dangers such as pirates and further impeding hostile forces. Rebel forces are in retreat: Hostile superior numbers still present, enemy forces not organized and scattered from lack of leadership. Tactical advantage is present: AI imprinted to you and you only, capable of various disruption abilities under your command." Turzil pulls a small slip of paper from one of his uniform's pockets, showing it to both Melody and Matthews, the outside has a metal holographic slip with some kind of official seal.

"Enclosed in this data packet is your authorization codes and objectives: Your mission takes priority. Find the origin of this AI imprinted to you: Build allies whenever possible, be aware your position is seen as an affective Envoy for the Federation: Support Federation forces when deemed necessary along the way to the described systems. Requisition of supplies has been granted. Your mission priority level: Violet. " After the long explanation of his gargantuan assignment, Matthews decides to speak honestly to Turzil, regardless of it all still feels overwhelming.

"I.." He moves his hands away from his back down to his waist, sharing his opinion further as his mind is rapidly running with conflicting thoughts. "I.. I didn't expect to undergo a mission like this, Admiral. I-I'm not sure if I.." Matthews looks towards Melody, who calmly looks up towards him waiting for his answer, his decision turning absolute when faced with this amount responsibility. "..I'll accept this mission. I'm..I'm honored, sir." Matthews briefly salutes Turzil and gently grasps the data packet, tapping it gently into his uniform's pocket with the tip of his finger. Admiral Turzil turns towards Melody and begins to address her, taking out another data packet with a similar seal.

"Lieutenant, you are hereby transferred to command of Captain Matthews: effective immediately. Your mission and assigned duties are to supervise the ship and keep general situational awareness high: Your council is more than definitely imperative to the effort of this mission to discover the origins and manufacture of this Equestrian-named AI, as well as support to broker alliances should the need come to you both whatsoever." Turzil decides to speak openly with Melody for a moment, moving his hands behind his back yet again for the statement, his mechanical tone implying a sort of proudness imbued into it. "You are aware that this is the first of your species to be assigned to this rank and designation, respectively: Very few Federation personnel are given priority code color Violet and tagged as Freelance. Your mission and assigned duties along with Captain Matthews are vital to the survival of the Federation and all of it's inhabitants: Ground, space, civilian, speculation results even the rest of the known galaxy under distress. These responsibilities fall upon you both equally: Will you accept this assignment, Lieutenant?"

Melody seems to be mildly shaking, trying her damndest to hold back breaking down from excitement at her rapid advancement into the Federation rank and her further responsibility the Admiral describes. Something she's yet to have heard of with her species, or most of her fellow members of the Federation for that matter with such an advancement in such a short amount of time.

"I..I..I.." Her eyes widen for a moment, she quickly regains her composition and raises her foreleg up towards her forehead to formally salute, not being able to hold back her enthusiasm with a bold smile. "I accept this mission, sir!" She moves her head forward and grabs the data packet between her teeth, gently sliding it into her own Federation uniform's pocket, visibly trying to hold still much like Matthews. Admiral Turzil bows his head in agreement and formally salutes, both Melody and Matthews follow shortly after with their own, he addresses them both with instructions.

"Captain, Lieutenant: Report to the hangar and await further orders, we are to dock with a local civilian space station for your assignment. A shuttle will be there to pick you up shortly to take you aboard." Turzil bows once more with a simple closing line. "Dismissed." Matthews and Melody briefly bow once more and turn to leave, Admiral Turzil stops them immediately while holding something in his right hand. "Logical error present: I had almost forgotten. Captain, step forward and kneel if you will." Unsure of what he means to do, Matthews none the less gets down to one knee and Admiral Turzil removes his uniform's pin.

'..oh.' He didn't realize he still had his Ensign pin to his uniform. Turzil unpins it and places something else in it's place, Matthews briefly has a look before it gets fastened into a place, the feeling is overwhelming in his mind as he comes to the realization finally: That's a Captain insignia pin, represented by an orange-colored diamond and black star in the middle. '...' He's speechless as his arm badge also gets systematically removed, replaced with another with the similar insignia and black badge, bordered near the top with four gold stripes and a star in the middle. Admiral Turzil stands at attention yet again, prompting Matthews to stand as well, disclosing one final order that emanates for a minute.

"Dismissed, Captain."

Matthews turns around while lightly tugging at his arm badge and insignia pin, examining his newly assigned rank and assignment as he walks along with Melody. Matthews just mutters a single word in disbelief, his mind still running to the newly appropriated news.

"..well."

Melody looks up towards him with a held back smile as they exit the entryway to the bridge, she didn't seem to want to break professionalism in front of Turzil, but is willing to show a little enthusiasm along the way. She shares her own feelings in the matter, minimally in front of her now deemed commanding officer.

"I..I can't believe it, Matth—" She lightly coughs, still clad with a small smile across her face, a subtle nervousness enveloping her tone as she attempts to correct herself a little more professionally. "Oh, I'm sorry Captain for my abruptness, it's just..it's so much to take in. I..I believe I'm the first of my kind to be at this rank and designation! I didn't expect to move this much forward so soon." She looks towards Matthews proudly, attempting to reassure him of her abilities. "I am fully capable and ready for this task, sir. I will make my CO..well, I suppose that's you now, very proud of my new position. I will be dutiful as much as humanly possible, Captain." Feelings of slight irony emanate from that sentence, but is otherwise understood very clearly; she's very eager and is willing to show it. Matthews and Melody step into a nearby elevator to head to the lower deck, she steps in first and Matthews follows shortly behind while deciding to pick around with the buttons on his communicator. Matthews says something without warning while attempting to get in contact with this AI, consequently installed into his communicator.

"..I wonder what the Admiral sees in this AI.." He thinks back to what name the Admiral said, referring it to Melody in question. "Twi. E. Sparkle? Was that the name?"

The communicator suddenly beeps and several numbers run across the device, repeatedly showing visuals of 1's and 0's like before in rapidly sporadic patterns. The monotone female voice addresses Matthews directly, seemingly also Melody, in an odd way.

"Assigned Designations Underway: Pending.." Matthews and Melody look towards the device as he turns his arm slightly so she can see, Melody especially curious trying to understand the mess of patterns of numbers, seemingly scrambled in a completely incoherent way.

"Is it talking about our rank—" In confirmation of it's newly assigned director, it addresses it's own previous statement.

"Assigned Designation Identification: Complete. Federation ID's confirmed." Melody decides to make something apparent when the AI, Twi. E. Sparkle, finishes it's statement.

"Sir, I thought that the AI was cut off from ship systems? How is it recognizing our—" Something dawns on her, she says what's on her mind immediately. "Uhm, sir. I think this device was listening to our conversation with Admiral Turzil, was this device turned off when you went inside?"

"I..don't know, Melody." He tries to be honest, but he's angry with himself when he remembers back to what he was told. 'Fuck me..' He realizes he didn't tell it to go into 'sleep mode' before he arrived, he gives his own theory to discredit that possibility, though it seems harmless anyway given the AI's inactivity thus far. "It may have turned on once I said it's name, the one that Turzil told me." He twists his arm and stares at the communicator briefly. "..hm."

Melody tries to support his theory, not wanting to accept if it was actually listening into their conversation either. "Alright, Captain, try..well, talking to it. I.. suppose. Try addressing it." She's unsure of her own suggestion, it's an odd request, but Matthews takes her suggestion none the less. He doesn't have much of a choice, his assignment regards getting familiar with it at least.

"Uh..Twi E. Sparkle, do you read me?" He attempts to re-format it into a way it can recognize, into some kind of order. "..Twi. E. Sparkle, report." He briefly thinks 'That names a mouthful..' as it duly beeps, the screen floods with another series of 1's and 0's as it's mic seemingly turns back on, a brief sound of static can be heard before they display.

"01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 00100000 01101100 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111" After a brief moment, it replies back with an semi-related statement.

"Status Report: Unable to transfer data locally. Unknown Variable Interference: Signal block detected, unable to properly appropriate background processes. Advisory Suggested." Matthews tries to reiterate his statement, it mistakenly took his order as a 'status report' instead.

"I'll take that as a yes." He clears his throat, attempting to address it in a more formal way. "Twi. E. Sparkle..am I able to give you a new name or..nickname, I guess?" Matthews turns towards Melody, explaining his question. "That name's a mouthful, I wonder if I could change it is all." The communicator starts scrambling numbers inexplicably again in another incoherent pattern of 1's and 0's, playing a period of static as it displays various patterns of numbers, significantly longer than the prior mess.

"01101001 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01111001 01101101 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100111 01101111"

"Damn.." He mutters upon seeing the eyesore of mass numbers, turning his arm away before he gets a headache from the rapid movement of numbers. It seemingly takes longer to register, the monotone female voice addresses his order.

"Self Designation Change In-Progress: Pending input.."

Assuming it means it's waiting for him to input something, Matthews thinks for a moment before deciding it's name; settling on something shorter, but still related. "..Twi." Melody looks up towards him and shrugs, passively accepting the name as a replacement. After a brief few seconds, the AI seems to register the command clearly.

"Self Designation Change: Complete. Referential Address to Unit: Twi." The communicator beeps once more, saying something else. "Awaiting further orders."

Matthews smiles upon realizing it finally registered what he said, he tries out it's new name as the elevator door finally opens, attempting a previous command that seemed to work before as they make their away to the ship's hangar.

"..Twi, activate Sleep Mode, await further orders until I say your name again." The communicator beeps, registering the more complex command as it begins to shut off.

"Acknowledged."

Matthews smiles again while looking downward towards Melody, trying to lift his own spirits up. "Hey, I think I'm getting used to this thing. Wish it'd speak a little simpler, though." He lowers his arm and both of them continue on their way to the hangar, making their way past a few more repair drones simply carrying material to another unknown part of the ship. Melody attempts to strike some conversation, immediately interrupted by their untimely arrival to the hangar's doors.

"Capt—" The entryway to the hangar opens, an automatic one unlike many of the security lock enabled ones aboard. Melody stops her train of thought and steps inside, seeing several crewmen carrying various kinds of crates via transport onboard a nearby unarmed shuttled. Melody continues her train of thought, prompted by the reminder in front of them as they both stand beside a mass of metal crates. "Captain." She grabs his attention, continuing. "I don't believe you were aware of this, all the crates are being shipped to the planet below. I don't know much beyond an initial supply run as the other objective of this vessel, I suppose we have different priorities now.." Melody leans against a crate on her side, calmly watching the personnel load crate after crate onto several shuttles, briefly spotting a Rockman crewman carry heavy-duty crates beneath it's rocky strong arms.

Matthew says as he momentarily examines his communicator, "..it all seems to be going by so fast." as Melody still simply watches the personnel carry things away while he's stuck in a trance-like state. They both can hear the whir of one of the shuttle's engines as it prepares for flight, the turbine spinning ready for the initial take off, awaiting the impulse engines to start once they enter the vacuum of space.

"....."

He stays silent, quietly watching Melody simultaneously watch the crewmen, oddly seeming to take an interest in their actions. Matthews is surprised as she suddenly mutters something.

"..Captain." He's spooked, thinking she must know he's watching her, assuming she thinks it's inappropriate to do so. She continues with a tone he doesn't expect, something a little softer with a bit more emphasis with her accent. "..I know I've said this before, but.." She briefly lifts one of her forelegs and places it back down. "..I didn't quite expect to get here so fast. My ranking, I mean." She looks to the side, her eyebrows rounding about her eyes as she continues. "..I expected more of an upbringing, some more training before I got promoted." She looks towards Matthews, explaining her choice of words. "I don't mean any disrespect sir, I truly don't, I just didn't expect myself to move up in ranks so quickly even with my qualifications. I'm grateful for it, but it feels..strange." She resumes looking away and leans her head against the metal crate. "..I'm a bit nervous, sir."

Matthews wipes his face, looking down towards her and addressing her with some sympathetic words of his own. "I'm nervous too, Melody." Matthews takes a look towards the Federation crewman hauling crate after crate, adding onto his statement. "I think we all are." He looks down, hesitating to tell her, feeling she should hear some words from her new CO for encouragement.

"....."

He decides not to, she doesn't need to know the specifics, the evidence is all around them; he hangs his head low as he hears the familiar whir of an incoming shuttle, the engines quickly shifting from impulse to stabilization controls to land.

"Perhaps." Melody simply says in response to his previous statements, speaking of something personal. "I took my own risks joining the Federation, the travelling, the enlistment... I don't think I've seen another one of my kind enlisted, sir. Not that I am aware of, anyway.." She lightly smiles, encouraged seeing a Mantis help a human crewman lift a nearby heavy-duty crate with it's hardened pincers. "We're all treated as equal here, Captain. That's one of the reasons I joined." Matthews decides to give his own input, feeling compelled to.

"It's what makes us strong, Melody." She turns to face him again with her violet eyes, one of her ears lightly twitching as an involuntary action while he expresses words of encouragement.

"It's something the Rebels don't seem to understand, or seem willing to understand. The Federation is a combined set of states, countries, planets, a conglomerate for the greater purpose of conjoining and strengthening our differences to use practically. Instead of differences keeping us apart; it's what keeps us together as a whole."

Melody warmly smiles at Matthews, commenting on his encouraging choice of words.

"And I suppose those are your own views, Captain." Matthews simply nods in agreement, adding on one more line.

"It's the principle I was taught to follow, that we're all equal. It's what I was raised to believe."

He closes his eyes, having accidently shared something overly personal with her. He resists the temptation of sharing anymore, hearing a distinct shift from impulse engines to stabilization controls, he quickly changes the subject before she feels compelled to inquire more. "I'm guessing that one's our's." Her eyes shift over towards a shuttle, several little inertia thrusters keeping it stable as it slowly touches down onto the main deck.

"I suppose that is, Captain. Let's go." She rotates one of her shoulders before she begins walking, Matthews following shortly behind, curiously watching her walk cycle again.

"....."

He has one last thought as they board the shuttle, walking up the entry ramp. The inertia thrusters cut through the air like knives, like a strong gale whistling through the air with extreme heat. It subtly sounds like people. People yelling in the distance. People screaming.

"....."

The thought lingers.

'..I hope I'm doing the right thing..'

Author's Note

Again, chapter titles are most likely going to be placeholders for now!

Have been enjoying making these for a bit, though I wish I would get some more replies of positive AND negative feedback through comments, so I can learn what I'm both doing right and what I'm doing wrong if applicable. :)

Also questioning if I should change the tags a bit, admittedly there's the obvious thing with Mature tag being blocked by default, views not the only thing I worry about as much as the categorization. May change it to Teen for both reasons, it's hard to say, may end up asking a Moderator with examples of violence and the description of death in the story, albeit the description being very short. I tagged Mature due to the mental depictions, such as orbital bombardment of a civilian planet colony, which would cause mass death and destruction though I don't describe that tidbit as much. It is apart of the story, but unsure of how that fares unless I choose to describe it in detail. Again, may ask a Moderator if that's the case and if I should change as appropriate (or not appropriate I suppose).

I do quite enjoy playing FTL, lot of replay ability due to ship unlocks and amount of weapons and tactics involved :) So should say I'm acquainted with it well, though in reality the game has very little description of it's background and happenings due to it's simplistic design and story, but it opens up a lot of room for it's lore: such as the story above!

People have their own depictions of the various species of FTL, such as Engi, Mantis, Rock, Slug, and Zoltan. My version of Engi are simply short, just because to me they seem short in-game, but people have all different views of them and all. The game's graphics are very simple and pixel-based, so it gives a general shape but not a definite image or range, so there's a bit of fan art out there depicting the species or otherwise the game in varying shapes and sizes. This one being an adorable one, based on the stylized art for Adventure Time. I love the Slug :)

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/097/b/2/shirt__2__ftl___space_time_by_ipancakes-d5vd310.jpg