Sparks

Captain’s Log One
09:33:42
Stardate 05.07.3586 Ann
EEV Celestial Fury.
System Jump Point Saddle Above Equestria.
All Data Copied To Black Box.
Thought Of The Day: Are We Not Destroying Our Enemy When We Make Them Our Friend?

The Celestial Fury? She’s one hell of a ship, I’ll give her that. Biggest ship in the Equestrian navy, the thickest armour, most powerful guns, and the first of her kind. If the next Harmony-class dreadnaught is as powerful as this, our Navy is going to be a whole lot more impressive, and in my eyes that's saying a lot.
But enough about my personal thoughts, my report is as follows. I am currently on route to the frontier world of Concord, and will jump from the system once this message is away. Once there I will link up and take command of the First Fleet, and ensure that they are briefed on new contingency plans and ready for any eventuality. Per instructions I will not engage the humans unless there is absolutely no alternative, I do not want to start a war, no matter what some of my staff may feel.
Hopefully placing our newest and most advanced vessel right on the meeting point of our two empires will be enough of a deterrent to make them see that a war with our empire would be costly for all sides and therefore best not fought. And if not?
Well, if not then I will have no choice but to test the Celestial Fury properly.
First Captain Tempered Steel. End log entry.

Captain’s Log Ended.
Uploading To Communications Array.
Communications Beacon Active. Establishing Secure Link.
Link Established.
Message Forwarded to Equestrian Empire High Command.

The EEV Celestial Fury barely made a sound as its engines fired properly for the first time, the tugboats that had towed it safely away from the dry-docks where it had been held since its inception now well out of the potential danger zone. Unlike the older vehicles in the Equestrian fleet, it did not make any sound that was audible by the bridge crew, brand new engine technology and sound dampeners made sure that the days of being half deafened by running the engines of a starship on full burn well left in the distant past of historic space flights.

Tempered Steel smiled happily to himself as he deactivated the recorder, his horn fading as he placed the small headset down and looked over at the rest of the bridge crew. He had personally hoof picked every one of them, making sure that their service records befitted their service on the most advanced vessel in the Equestrian Navy. Ponies, Griffons, Minotaurs, even a Quasi-Dragon down in engineering, served together on-board. Most other captains couldn’t even boast half-that amount of diversity, and for that, along with numerous other things, Tempered Steel couldn’t be prouder of the Celestial Fury.

“Commander on deck!” one of the guards stationed by the door roared, stamping his hooves together as Commander Adamantine Resolve strode onto the deck, the Minotaur’s horns only a few inches away from scraping on the ceiling.

“The lower decks are in order, Captain,” Resolve saluted smartly. “The engines are all running well within acceptable parameters, and we should be able to make it to Concord in a little under three weeks, with minimal jump stops on route.”

“Very good, Commander,” Tempered Steel nodded back. “Plot our course and give the orders to accelerate to travel speed.”

“Very good, Captain,” the Minotaur nodded, half-turning away, before remembering something and turning back. “There was also an encoded message for you, Captain. Something about a recruitment video?”

“That again?” Tempered Steel sighed, before nodding and getting out of the Captain’s chair. “You have the bridge, Commander, I will have to deal with this in my quarters.”

Resolve nodded, standing aside as Tempered Steel stood up, making sure to wait for the Captain to leave the deck before sitting down in the chair and beginning to bark his own orders. Tempered Steel couldn’t help but smile as he heard the old Minotaur through the thick doors, feeling slightly sorry for the poor member of crew on the end of the shouting. He had served alongside the Minotaur for long enough to know that he wasn’t angry, or holding the crew in contempt when he was shouting, it was just his way of commanding his underlings. Not that Tempered Steel would want to be on the receiving end of the shouting mind you.

It didn’t take Tempered Steel long to reach his quarters, the sensor bar just above the door scanning his body as a confirmation of his identity, before sliding open before him. As with every other time he had entered his new quarters, the first thing that greeted him was his own reflection in the large screen on the far wall. He quickly took in the familiar features, his off brown fur and short red mane perfectly trimmed for the ships maiden voyage, his mane parting just enough for his horn to stick through without messing up his tidy look.

“Sweetie, pull up the recruitment video file. Let’s see what the brass did with the footage I sent them,” he called out as the door closed again.

“Certainly, sir,” a small holographic unicorn appeared on the table beside him.

Apparently she was based off of one of the original designers of the ancient hologram technology, and the sister of one of the six Elements of Harmony to boot, but Tempered Steel didn’t want to swear to his historical knowledge.

Sweetie was the ships AI, a bundle of crystals, technology and magic, all passing through algorithms far too complicated for Tempered Steel to understand, but quite capable of creating a facsimile of life. She could process data far faster than anyone in the Navy could even dream of, and handled the majority of the data-load aboard the ship.

Before tempered Steel could ruminate on Sweetie for any longer, the large screen that took up one of the cabins walls flared into life, making Tempered Steel wince slightly as he saw himself on camera, wishing once again that his title as First Captain didn’t mean quite so many public addresses.

“Hello. My name is First Captain Tempered Steel, the current commander of the Equestrian First Fleet. I’ve been asked to speak to you today about our navy, and indeed, why we need such a large force when we are a peaceful people. It is true, we live in an unparalleled time of peace, our Empire has not faced a major threat for almost a century, and even pirates do not require the size of fleet we have at present. Surely then we do not need to spend as much as we do on a force we do not need? We could spend the money on other pursuits? To this I would say no. Our fleet is used for more than just military needs, we are explorers, doctors, mechanics, and more than that, we are fast. The Equestrian Navy can respond to disasters faster than any other arm of the Equestrian Empires services. We can provide aid to those who survive disasters, or any other number of things that may be asked of us.”

“Indeed, for years we have been a peace keeping force, only responding with violence when all other avenues have been exhausted, and always with a heavy heart. However, for the first time in our lifetimes, we have discovered a new sentient species: Humanity. We have begun to talk to them, and while diplomacy has been initiated, tensions are rising. Reports show that they are massing their fleets on our boarders, a possible sign of attack, and reason for us to be nervous. Our navy being as strong as it is may be the only thing that deters them from striking at our frontier worlds. If they do strike however, it will not be our ships that win the war. No, it will be all of you. Brave mares and stallions, ponies and gryphons, minotaurs and dragons. Brave members of the Equestrian Empire willing to stand up and do your part to keep others safe. I wish you all the best of luck in your selection process, and hope to serve alongside you in the future.”

The screen went dead as Tempered Steel finally looked up again, glad he watched this in his own quarters rather than on the bridge.

“Do I really sound like that on camera?” he muttered softly.

“Yes, Captain. The voice on screen was a 99.7% match for your own, the 0.3% discrepancy owing to speaker distortion,” Sweetie was quick to answer the rhetorical question. “Shall I send a message back to High Command?”

“Yes please, Sweetie,” Tempered Steel nodded. “Let them know that I’ve received and watched the video, and would like to amend a few things once I reach Concord. I’ll send the new version to them after that.”

“Of course, Captain,” Sweetie nodded, before standing slightly straighter, her voice suddenly echoing around the entire ship. “All crew, all crew. Acceleration to Travel Speed imminent. Ensure all sectors are secured and braced.”

Sweetie quickly reverted to her quieter self once she had finished talking, watching Tempered Steel as he headed for the door.

“Captain on deck!” the same pony from before roared, this time snapping off a salute as well as coming to attention. “Commander Adamantine Resolve stands relived.”

“Just in time, Captain,” Resolve smiled as he stood up, heading for his own seat. “She’s ready to accelerate whenever you’re ready.”

Tempered Steel nodded, settling into the command chair and getting comfortable, before putting a hoof on one of the holographic controls, which instantly swapped from minotaur physiology to pony.

“Accelerating in three…two…one,” Tempered Steel called out, his horn glowing as he activated the ship-wide comms, before pushing a lever, the ship lurching forward at his touch and speeding away from Equestria.

***

Tempered Steel slowly brought the ship back down to cruising speed, keeping an eye on the temperature and tolerance of the engines as he did so. Running the ship at travel speed was definitely the fastest way to travel, pushing the ship to travel at almost the speed of light, but it was hard on the engines, which meant for long journey’s such as this one the ship would need to slow down at least five times to let the engines cool down.

“Ok everypony, we have six hours before we can be on our way again,” he raised his voice slightly. “You know the drill, shake down all the systems and run a full system diagnostics. Commander, you have the deck. Take us into high orbit around the planet and conserve fuel. If memory serves we should be able to slingshot around fully using just the planets gravity in time for our engines to fully cool down.”

“Aye, Captain,” Adamantine Resolve nodded, before Tempered Steel trotted from the bridge.

“Captain? A moment if you would?” a familiar voice called out to him, Tempered Steel not turning as a pegusus mare ran up to walk beside him.

“As long as you don’t mind talking and walking, I can spare a moment, Honeycomb,” Tempered Steel nodded, barely breaking stride.

Honeycomb was the only pony, or indeed member of any species, on board his ship who was not strictly speaking part of his crew. She was a liaison officer, scheduled to act as a go between for the planetside forces on Concord and the First Fleet. Even before she had boarded his ship and been introduced, Tempered Steel had known that she wasn’t part of the navy, indeed few pegasi were, and those that did join up were almost always pilots. She looked far too nervous in the cramped spaces, always looking up fearfully at the hull above her head as if she was longing to see the sky again. Almost exactly like she was doing now.

“We’ll be at Concord soon, don’t you worry,” he chuckled softly.

“I still don’t know how you do it, Captain,” Honeycomb shuddered. “Months cooped up in a big metal box? I don’t think I’d cope.”

“Twenty two years of experience and the added bonus of being born in the Moon caverns,” Tempered Steel shrugged.

“You’re a lunar boy? I thought all of the ponies from there were thestrals,” Honeycomb sounded surprised at this.

“Nope, both my parents were unicorns, I am too.”

“Well I guess it explains why you joined the navy, Captain,” Honeycomb nodded. “But I digress. I was wondering if I could have a more exact confirmation of our arrival time. I know that space travel isn’t always easy to predict, but surely now we’re closer…”

“I can only give rough estimates,” Tempered Steel cut her off. “We should be about two weeks away now, barring any unforeseen consequences of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are other members of the crew who need my attention.”

“Of course, sir,” Honeycomb saluted, stopping and slowly walking the other way, leaving Tempered Steel to finish his journey to the hanger.

“Captain on the deck!” one of the pilots roared as soon as he stepped through the door, the crew in the immediate vicinity stopping what they were doing and snapping to attention.

“At ease,” he ordered, looking around for a moment. “Flight Commander? You wished to have a word with me?”

“Yes, sir,” a large gryphon approached Tempered Steel, his flightsuit covering up most of his black fur, as well as his bright red feathers. Unlike pegasi, gryphons seemed to care less about being on board a ship, possibly owing to their cave like cities back home. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“I always make time for my crew, Carnak,” Tempered Steel smiled. “Now, what was it you wished to discuss?”

“Permission for me to take some of the boys out for a few flights while the engines cool down, sir. A few of the pilots are relatively green and I’d like to bring them up to speed before we link up with the rest of the fleet.”

“I can’t see any problems,” Tempered Steel began. “Just…”

“Captain?” Adamantine’s voice boomed over the comm link. “Long range scanners have picked up an incoming unidentified object approaching at near FTL speeds. Per your standing orders I feel the need to inform you.”

“Looks like I’ll have to put this chat on hold, Flight Commander,” Tempered Steel sighed as the comms went silent once more. “Get your boys in their fighters though, just in case. If it turns out to be nothing then I will give you permission to run training exercises EVA.”

“Aye, Captain,” Carnak saluted, before spinning on his heels and running off, barking orders as he went.

Tempered Steel watched Carnak go, before turning and heading back towards the bridge, breaking into a fast trot as he got closer, the doors sliding open just as he reached them, before he made a bee-line for his already vacant command chair.

“Ok ponies, talk to me,” he called out as he sat down. “What do we know about this thing? Rouge space junk? An old wreck? A friendly? Pirates? Anything you have, I want to hear it. Go.”

“It’s certainly not junk or a wreck, Captain,” one pony called out. “It adjusted its heading shortly after we arrived in the system. If it’s a ship then it likely picked up our emission signatures.”

“Is it friendly?” Tempered Steel asked, leaning forward slightly as he stared through the glass viewport.

“It’s not transmitting any known Equestrian signal,” the pony replied. “It is emitting something, but it’s heavily encoded, and I won’t be able to crack it before it gets here.”

“Bring us about then,” Tempered Steel sighed softly. “Calculate the point where they will likely enter the system and bring us to a halt. Raise shields too, if these are pirates I don’t want to catch the first volley on the armour.”

“Should we unlock the weapons too, Captain,” Adamantine suggested.

“Not yet,” Tempered Steel shook his head. “But stand by to give the order on my command.”

The bridge was not awash with movement, the crew hurrying to follow his orders as the celestial Fury swung around, the planet now at her back, a slight haze shimmering in the corner of the viewport telling Tempered Steel that the shields had already been raised fully. There was every chance this was not going to result in anything, just a freighter of course with comms problems or the like, but there was also the chance this was something more. Pirates were rare this close to the Equestrian Empire, but they were not unheard of, and if the oncoming object was hostile, then the Celestial Fury would be ready to take their first volley without breaking a metaphorical sweat.

“Sweetie?” Tempered Steel called out, the AI appearing at his command. “Can you get a fix on incoming ship?”

“Yes, Captain. It looks to be a medium weight vessel,” Sweetie began. “Scans don’t match any known pattern of freighters of military vessels. Other than that I cannot glean anything more from the available information.”

“Well, we’re about to find out a bit more about it then,” Tempered Steel leant forward. “She’s about to arrive.”

Almost as soon as had Tempered Steel finished talking, the stars seemed to distort for a split second, before the once empty space was filled by a gun metal ship. It only took a minute for Tempered Steel, and indeed most of the bridge crew, to identify it, Sweetie speaking before any of them could raise their voice.

“Vessel identified. Human. Frigate class. Trajectory shows that if it maintains its current heading and velocity it will pass by our starboard flank in forty two minutes, twenty one seconds.”

“Unlock weapons and lock onto that vessel,” Adamantine snarled. “I want to know as soon as we’re within…”

“Belay that order,” Tempered Steel shook his head. “The weapons stay locked until I command otherwise. Was I not clear, Commander?”

“But, Captain, they’re heading straight for us,” Adamantine defended.

“Sweetie, scan their trajectory, has it changed?” Tempered Steel turned to the hologram.

“Affirmative, Captain. The human frigate has decreased speed by a margin of twenty nine percent and rising. Additionally they have adjusted their heading to be pointed directly at us. Time until impact, four hours, seven minutes, one second.”

“They’re stopping and lining up with us,” Tempered Steel looked back at Adamantine resolve. “Humans are not our enemies, Commander, and I would not provoke them into violence because we happen to have crossed paths in a neutral sector. Hail that ship. Sweetie, record everything and copy it to the black box, we do this by the numbers.”

“Of course, Captain,” Sweetie nodded.

“Comm line is open, Captain,” a pony called. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Attention unidentified vessel, this is the EEV Celestial Fury of the Equestrian Navy. You have moved onto an intercept trajectory. I ask you to respond to my hails and identify.”

For almost a full minute nobody spoke, the comm staying silent as each member of the crew glanced around, the tension clearly written across their faces.

“Attention unidentified vessel, this is First Captain Tempered Steel of the EEV Celestial Fury of the Equestrian Navy,” Tempered Steel repeated. “You have moved onto an intercept trajectory with my vessel and have failed to respond or identify yourself. Per Equestrian standard operating procedures you have two more chances until we will assume you are in peril or are hostile. Respond or I will take action accordingly.”

“Captain, she’s not responding,” Adamantine hissed. “Order a weapons lock, please.”

“One more time,” Tempered Steel hissed back, before raising his voice. “Unidentified vessel, this is your last chance. I am ordering you to respond to my hails or I will have no choice but to…”

“Attention EEV Celestial Fury, this is Captain Felix Monroe of the USE Ferrum,” a voice finally crackled over the comms. “We are a human vessel, and are as such not beholden to you. Kindly remove yourself from this system and be on your way.”

“USE Ferrum, scans show that you are a Frigate class vessel, meaning you do not have the authority nor the firepower to be making such demands of an Equestrian Empire ship. Per my standing orders you will advance to a halfway point between our two vessels, I will do the same. Once there we will commence diplomatic actions until such time as our passing is resolved. Please signal your compliance, I do not wish to see this end in violence between us.”

“EEV Celestial Fury, advancing forward to that range would put us both at point blank range of the other. As you are clearly a larger vessel this puts me and my crew at a severe disadvantage. I will not move on your orders.”

“USE Ferrum, as a sign of good will I am willing to drop my shields when we advance. Your ship is already in range of my long range torpedoes, and if I desired to inflict harm upon your vessel as you clearly think that I do, I would already have done so. My weapons have remained locked in their bays, and no attempts have been made to target you. I would hope this shows you that I am sincere in my desires to not cause violence. What say you?”

The comms stayed silent for a long time once again, but just as Tempered Steel was about to repeat himself, the reply came through.

“EEV Celestial Fury, I will advance as you ask, but I will be keeping my shields up. If you are being false in your desires for peace, I will need them to escape. Do you accept, or do we continue this standoff at long range?”

“Captain, you can’t let them advance with shields and drop our own,” Adamantine hissed. “If they fired then they could kill hundreds of our own.”

“Our armour is strong enough to withstand their guns and it will get us to range so that if they were that foolish, we can repay them in kind,” Tempered Steel snapped back, keeping his voice a hushed whisper, before addressing Captain Monroe again. “USE Ferrum, I find your request acceptable. You may raise shields and advance to the designated zone. Do not take this privilege lightly, if you attempt any subterfuge, I will be forced to take action upon you and your ship, up to and including the complete annihilation of your vessel. EEV Celestial Fury, over and out.”

Tempered Steel pressed a key on his chair, the comms falling dead at his command, before he leant forward again, his lips pressed together in a worried frown.

“Drop our shields, advance to the halfway point, move two degrees to port to ensure that we don’t clip them but I want our guns starring right down their throat when we speak again. Commander, I realise that you do not support my actions, but please refrain from questioning me on an open comm channel in the future.”

“Of course, Captain,” Adamantine bowed his head. “But you must accept my point none-the-less. I would have been remiss in my duties if I did not point out the potential faults in your plans.”

“And I am thankful for it,” Tempered Steel nodded. “But for now we must see what these humans are doing here and assess if this meeting was by mere chance or if they are here for more insidious reasons. Helmsmen, full ahead to the meeting point.”

***

It took a scant thirty minutes for the two ships to close to a point blank range, less than twenty kilometres separating them. On land that would be considered far beyond normal weapons range, but in space, where their guns could fire projectiles thousands of kilometres and an errant lapse in the engine department could cause the two ships to collide, they were practically on top of one another. It was usually not a desirably position to be in, the short distance making it difficult to bring their full strength to bear, but at this moment in time that was precisely the point.

“Alright helmsman, keep us steady,” Tempered Steel ordered, looking across at Sweetie. “Have you calculated a firing contingency?”

“I have, Captain,” she nodded. “In the event of the USE Ferrum striking first with the weapons I have been able to scan, there is only a three percent chance they will be able to get through our hull armour in a single volley. If they manage another then they have a sixty three percent chance to cause small breeches, casualties expected to be minimal from this. If they fire first, I will be able to achieve weapons lock in point zero four seconds, and will fire in point zero five, with your permission of course.”

“You have my permission to fire on the condition that they fire first,” Tempered Steel nodded. “I will not start a war, but we will defend ourselves.”

“Very good, Captain,” Sweetie smiled. “Once we have fired, we have a ninety three percent chance to collapse their shields in our first volley, and will gut their ship in the second. They will not escape.”

“Well then, let’s hope that they don’t do anything stupid,” tempered Steel sighed. “Open the comm channel to the Ferrum.

A few seconds passed, before one of the crew members turned and nodded to him. Taking a deep breath, Tempered Steel began to talk.

“USE Ferrum, this is the EEV celestial Fury, please…”

Before he could even finish talking, an explosion tore through the USE Ferrum. A split second later, Tempered Steel and the rest of the bridge crew were thrown into the air, the entire ship listing towards the Ferrum as the smaller vessel burnt. Before anyone had even hit the floor, the two ships collided, and everything went to hell.