Ascend

The center console in the Newmoon spacecraft suddenly sprung to life as the ship drifted lifelessly through space, smoothly continuing on it's endless journey through the cosmos. It's twenty cryogenic-stasis-induced occupants unable to hear the transmission as it was just barely was caught within the ship's communication range.

"ffffffffffff- I- fffffsssssffff- an- sffss- ypon- ffsss- out the- sffffsfsssss-", The trasnmission was completely drowned out in static and the console went dark.

A few minutes later, another transmission was made, this one relatively clearer and it's male occupant huffed as if out of breath, "Please, Luna dammit! Please! If anyone can here this! This is Titan, I am a lieutenant from the third legion of the Lunar Armada! Please Respond!"

The voice was interrupted by the sound of laser fire and a loud explosion, the soldier on the radio cried out before returning to the communicator, "Repeat- Augh!- Is anypony out there! RESPO- ACK!", The voice jerked to a stop and somepony started yelling in the static-y background.

Once again the transmission was drowned out be static until the connection cut out. It never came back online.

A pod hissed opened and it's steel door slid off, the cold air from inside forming misty clouds that revealed the form of a dark blue pegasus mare, frost covering her already silvery mane and tail. She blinked her eyes open and struggled into a sitting position, she yawned, her mind groggy and unclear due to about a hundred years in stasis. Then with one swift movement she bounded out of the pod, hooves rattling loudly on the metal floor of the ship. She shook the last remaining bits of frost from her mane and began to trot down the hall, trying to remember what she had ever done on the ship besides sleep.

The Newmoon, was an exploration vessel. Originally used for exploring the far reaches of space, designed so that even without a pilot, the ship would still function. It had been drifting for approximately seven hundred and twenty three years, it's twenty pony and griffon crew woken up individually every hundred years or so to do an equipment check. Starlight was heading towards the bridge, her jumpsuit was embroidered with a black 2 on each shoulder and was a slightly lighter shade of blue than her coat. Her cutie mark, a swirling galaxy, was printed on the fabric over one of her flanks. She stretched her wings for what seemed like the thirtieth time since waking as she walked through the doors to the rather large and spacious bridge.

The bridge was actually designed for multiple personnel to use at once. Vaguely shaped like a half-moon, about ten seats ringed around a raised central console. Each seat had it's own monitor and control panel for when things got difficult (which they rarely ever did). Magic-enhanced industrial glass wrapped around the semi-circle command hub. Starlight trotted in and immediately began a system check at one of the far right consoles when she noticed a flashing yellow light on the central console. Something she hadn't seen in a long time. The light meant that the ship had picked up a radio transmission.

Quickly trotting over to another console, Starlight looked over the neat grid-work of buttons, each small red square labeled with a specific number. She looked until she found the right one, the one marked with a large bold  '1' and tapped her hoof to the red tile.

Soon a hiss from the doors behind her announced the arrival of another crew-member. Forge, one of the Newmoon's many mechanics and unofficial leading officer (He had always acted like he knew what he was doing so the crew thought it best just to listen to him), stopped in front of her, looking annoyed.

His horn glowed a light green color along with his mane and tail, while his coat was a dark chocolate brown. He carried a toolbox behind him, floating it in the aura of his magic. "What happened? Why are we both awake?", Starlight just waved him over with a wing and let him follow her to the main console

"I... I think someone, or something tried to contact us", her words made Forge stiffen, his toolbox slowly and steadily lowered itself to the ground as he walked quickly up to the console, finally landing on the floor with an unceremonious clank.

"Are you messin with me Star? Cause I'm pretty sure-", then he saw the light, a yellow square blinking from it's place on the grey metal plating, "By Celestia's light", he nudged Starlight out of the way and started pushing buttons rapidly with his hooves, causing portions of the electronic interface in the bridge to light up, the systems giving numerous low hums as they were turned on. He pushed one last button and the recording burst into a violent mix of laser fire and explosions.

"Please, Luna dammit! Please...

Skyler was in trouble, The invaders had cut them off yet again. All that now consisted of her squad was, a unicorn mare named Fox, a mechanic from the fallen colony out fitted with a breathing mask to cope with the semi-terraformed atmosphere, and George, squad 13's earth-pony weapons specialists who had mounted a gattling gun to the right shoulder pad of his armor, the magic-infused Equestrian tech weighing little to nothing. They panted heavily in their helmets as they continued to gallop across the sandy red shrub-covered surface of Saram, the planet that he had helped to capture not seven weeks ago. Now, their Squad leader, Titan, was dead and they were on the run, again. The invaders, some called them Humans, were always right on their tails, never letting them rest. Sometimes they would stop somewhere that looked to be safe only to find that the entrance was littered with so many mines that to touch even one of them was instant incineration, that's how they lost Claud, poor kid.

George stopped suddenly and waved his hoof, his multi-barreled gun swiveling to the sky, "get down, incoming raptor", a deep voice whispered into Skyler's helmet radio channel.

The large earth-pony crouched down low and Skyler hoped that the human star-fighter wouldn't notice the four light grey spots crouching in the dead brush below them. Skyler watched as a blue and white triangle-shaped spacecraft streak by, leaving a white jet-stream in it's wake.

After about thirty seconds, Skyler put her hoof to the side of her helmet, opening the communications channel to her companions, "Head count. This is Sky checking in", she listened to the different voices respond to his command.

"This is Fox, checking in".

"George, is here"

Skyler looked to her right to find the mechanic staring at the sky in the direction of the human raptor, "Oh! I- I- I'm h- here", the mechanic stuttered from his place in the bushes.

With a quick check for any casualties, they all got up and continued on their way in the same direction that they had been going for days,

forward.