We Are the Imperial Navy!
Humanity, the single most dangerous threat Equestria has ever faced. Ruthless, merciless killers whose sole purpose is to destroy, pillage, and bring forth the legions of demonic creatures that have been plaguing us in recent years. Even with Discord, the Griffon, Dragons, the other nations, the Elements, and our new arsenal, we are barely holding on.
Celestia has not been her self since the war began, and I fear that the past two years have begun to affect her greatly. I hope with every fiber of my being that we can push back this hoard, these 'Chaos'.
Excerpt from the private journal of Princess Luna
It is said that the lands beyond the magical barrier that surrounded the lands known to Pony, Griffon, Minotaur, and Dragon are bathed in riches and mysteries that none would ever hope to discover, a whole new land of wonders that would only hold a bright future for all. How wrong those assumptions were. When the Humans of Chaos arrived from beyond, the nations of the world were unprepared for the horrors that came with the, and like a plague, they spread to the far corners of the known world. With each day, entire armies fell to the power of the invaders, the soldiers desperately holding their ground through will alone, never surrendering and never faltering as they fulfilled their duty.
It was only thanks to the Elements and Discord, one intimately familiar with the powers of Chaos magic, that the line was held for this long, but now, it was not enough. Even with the newer armored airships, mana-cannons, and enchanted armor, they were being pushed to the brink of collapse, the valiant effort of the combined militaries now only delaying the coming storm from reaching their homes. Yet, hope still remained, for what none but their foes knew, there was still an entity that could hurt them, one that had been hunting them for centuries, one that could defeat them.
It is said that when the Emperor rose to power and formed the Imperium, he foresaw the coming darkness that would engulf the minds of the newly born human nation and turn them all into raging, bloodthirsty monsters that only sought to spread death and destruction across the globe, and so he shielded them with his powerful magic and saved the Imperium from collapse, but his powers, while vast, were not unlimited. A number of large imperial fleets and citizens fell to the ever alluring madness that was Chaos, trying to tear down what they had created. The two halves of man fought endlessly since then, never knowing rest or peace until one day when their enemy vanished. Their fleets were nowhere to be found, their daemons and corrupted people nowhere to be seen.
A great cry rang out across every city, and a celebration held by the citizenry, believing that their ancient enemy had finally been destroyed, but those in the military knew differently. While Chaos had stopped its attacks before, it had never done so for this long, and so they prepared for the next time they faced it. Fleets were rebuilt, armies raised, and scout flotillas deployed in a vain attempt to locate their missing enemy. One such scout group stood out among the others. In terms of composition, it was no different than any other, two Dauntless-Class Light Cruisers, six Firestorm-Class Frigates, and two Cobra-Class Destroyers, all of it under the command of one Commodore Angela von Ravensburg. While not many knew of the young woman, or her heritage as the daughter of one of the Imperium's most decorated Lord Admiral, those that had served with her knew of her devotion to duty, stalwart faith in their Emperor, and boundless courage that had seen them victorious in many battles. As only a commander in charge of a Firestorm and two Cobras, she had managed to destroy a Chaos cruiser and its accompanying escorts, losing both of the destroyers and severely damaging her own vessel, but proving her worth as a sound tactician.
Now, she was in charge of triple the ships with the sole purpose of locating the forces of chaos. Currently, they were traveling along a path that the Inquisition had theorized as being the one that would lead them to their objective, but after weeks of searching every area close to it, there was still no sign. The only thing that had kept the young officer from having her frustration being known was the calming effect that the sunsets here had. She had seen many while she lived in a nearby town, only an hour of travel away from Port Maw, and the sun setting behind the giant fortress was not one she would soon forget, but the one here were different. They felt more soothing, and so it became a habit of hers to gaze into the light, with the clouds outlining it and an orange glow surrounding them.
Von Ravensburg turned to the echoes of armored boots approaching from behind, and turned to face a man she had known since she was a child, Captain Argaius, a veteran of the Imperial Guard and leader of the guardsmen aboard her vessel. His exploits against Chaos had earned him the envy of many, and the pity of others. He had been in countess battles against their elusive enemy, fought tooth and nail to secure peace for mankind, and had earned enough commendations where he could retire into a quiet life and live out his remaining years, but with those achievements came a price. He had lost many along his path, all of them friends, comrades in arms, even family. Not wanting to see another, younger soul go through such travesty, he continued to serve the Emperor, and vowed to not rest until the darkness had been vanquished forever. His jade green eyes and scarred visage gave the fair skinned man an imposing look, further being enhanced by the battle worn armor and sidearm he wore at all times. The top of his head, usually covered by the enclosed helm that all guardsmen wore, was dangling from his utility belt, revealing the closely cut hair in its perfectly trimmed high-and-tight style, the scars, a set of three, ran from above his right ear to the bottom of his left jaw.
Green orbs met sky blue as he snapped to attention, “Commodore, we are approaching the Barrier now. The navigator has plotted a course around it, as per your orders.”
She gave her head a slight decline, acknowledging the grizzled man's words, “Thank you Captain. Return to the bridge, I shall join you shortly,” and turned back to the orange glow of the setting sun, the clanking of boots upon the deck signaling his withdrawal. The captain of the cruiser held the sight within her gaze before she too turned, and left the chamber.
As she walked down the well kept passageways of her ship, Ravensburg's mind drifted to the current destination for her small group, the Barrier. Little was known about it, as most who studied it could only tell that it was made by a powerful entity whose ability surpassed even the Emperor's own, a terrifying thought in of itself. It was also known to have been made with pure magical energy, and any who had tried to breach it had failed miserably. It was theorized that a sustained barrage from the Imperial Navy's fleet of Retribution-Class Battleships would be sufficient to create a holelarge enough to send ships through, but doing so would drain the mana reactors aboard, or send them into overload and destroy the vessels. Either case was not optional as the massive warships were few in number, only a dozen, and the rest had been either destroyed or taken by their traitorous brethren, leaving the Imperium with a gap in it defenses that would take decades to repair and mountains of gold, of which they had little available. Their foe was still out there, and until defeated, they had no time to rebuild their fleet quickly. They had to make do with what they had.
Entering the bustling bridge, von Ravensburg took her place in her command throne before she turned to her crew, “Helmsman, how long to the Barrier?”
The ships pilot, a man who was covered head to toe in robes and electronic implants connected directly to the ship, gave out a gravelly reply, “We are entering visual range now, Captain.”
She turned her gaze to the massive view port at the front, and watched as the clouds parted to reveal... nothing. The shimmering of air that marked the Barrier's location was not present. Snapping to the nearby sensor screens, she saw what here eyes had, there was no trace of the magical field that had prevented them from entering the lands beyond since its discovery, it was simply gone, 'But, who could have done this? None have the capability to-'
The voice of a nearby crewman dragged her out of her inner musings, “Captain, there is no sign of the Barrier on the Augur Arrays, or on visual scanners, but there is a faint trace of energy surrounding the immediate area. Scans indicate it to be Chaos magic!”
'So, they did come this way. How did they break through the Barrier? What could they have that is powerful enough to destroy it completely?' For minutes, or what felt more like hours, Angela said nothing, her mind delving deep into itself as she considered her next order. The crew around her stared at their leader intently, until her eyes snapped open and she sat up, glaring in the direction of where their greatest obstacle had stood, “Helmsman, plot a course to follow the Chaos magic trail. We must find the source, and quickly. Contact the Imperium and inform them of what we have discovered, and that I intend to follow the enemy past the border.”
Almost immediately, a chorus of ayes rang out and the crew diligently began to carry out her orders. With a mighty roar, the engines of the flotilla came to life and shot flame out as they pushed the warships past the border of the known lands and into the unknown.
