Date January 26 3304
Time 0700 hrs
Location 60,000ly Light years from S.O.L. near The Abyss region.
"Commander, Sir, I believe miss Melody is waking up." A computerized female voice spoke through the speakers inside the cockpit. Getting the attention of Commander, Johnathan Nelson, or John as he would abbreviate his name.
"Is she now?" Commander Johnathan Neilson spoke up while diverting the nose of the ship away from an F class star causing the vessel's Fuel Scoop to automatically disengage and allow the hydrogen that was collected to be processed into the fuel tanks topping them off. Looking over to the holographic panel that read out information about the ship, John pulled back on the throttle and aligned the vessel with a nearby gas giant with metallic rings.
Keeping his course, Commander Johnathan Nelson began pulling back on the throttle again, and the speed of the vessel dropped smoothly from 30 light seconds to 30 kilometers/seconds before disengaging the Frame Shift Drive that allowed for faster than light travel. Dropping from Supercruise into Standard Space, he throttled back even more till the ship was brought to an unceremonious stop in the asteroid fields. "Athena, can you please, make sure to guide her to the kitchen and also shift power. I want four pips to systems, two to weapons, and deploy hardpoints along with a Condor as well."
"Expecting trouble way out here, Commander? We are 60,000 light-years from human-inhabited space and another 30,000 light-years from Colonia, sir. I highly doubt there would be any unwanted guest to breakfast, sir." Athen spoke again through the cockpits speakers.
"I know Athena, but you know I like to take precaution when Mely is on board," John replied as he motioned for the lights of the cockpit to power off before exiting through the automatic doors that slide open with a small hiss revealing an elevator. Stepping into the elevator, John pressed his desired level before the doors closed. Stretching his arms and neck, John felt the pops as his joints began to relieve the numbness that built up from hours of sitting still in the command chair. Sure the suit he wore under his clothing helped his mussel from entropy, but just getting up and stretching his legs was always better. "Athen, what's the status of the S.A.S. influence in Asturjin?"
"Current influence is holding at 20% sir, and by the looks of the economic readings, sir a Boom is expected for the system," Athen replied as the doors slid open, allowing John to step out in the corridor.
Taking a deep breath, John began to make his way into the kitchen; this journey was starting to take its toll on the Commander. He had spent most of his waking hours piloting the Shelter. Generally, on an expedition that would make him go so far away from human space, John would take the "Voice of Hope" a jump capable Anaconda built for exploration but, with how long he would be a way he couldn't leave his daughter back in Melvine Terminal for so long. So as any good father would do, he spent a good portion of his wealth and time making his Federal Corvette a jump capable vessel.
The Shelter, a heavy class fighter commissioned by The Federation weighed in at nearly 3000 tons, and at 167.8 meters from Bow to Stern. The vessel was something of a large ship, but that wasn't the only reason he chose to use the Shelter. The vessel had on board two Huge Plasma Accelerators that could do send out a ball of superheated hydrogen gas each, along with one large Turreted Beam laser that had an effective reach of 4 kilometers, followed by two more turreted beam laser that shared the same scope as the larger version. On the bow of the ship, two more lasers sat but on a Gimbal mount that the pilot could control with a range of 5 kilometers. The Shelter could, in effect, melt the hull of any ship that dared tried to oppose it. And like any fearsome vessel, the Shelter had onboard a shield generator that could take 5,000 Mega Joules of force before it would give way. All in all, the Shelter was a competent vessel even without the fighters it held in its bays, each supporting 15 F63 Condors 30 in all capable of 300ms and armed with dual plasma repeaters.
No expense was marked unnecessary for this vessel. Steps have even been made for redundancies as Auto Field Maintenance Units were installed alongside a repair limpet module that could program limpets to repair the hull should the shields fail. Even the hull of the ship was meant to take both kinetic and thermal damage. Millions of credits were spent on the Shelter to be its very namesake a Shelter from any form of damage that could be thrown at the vessel keeping its occupants safe.
Entering the kitchen, John got to work on cooking breakfast for his daughter and himself. "Athena, where is Mely now?"
"Miss Melody is currently in your bathroom," Athen replied. "Would you like me to relay a message to her for you?"
"No, just checking is all," John replied as he began to grab ingredients from the fridge. "But do me a favor and play favorites."
"Understood, sir, and last I check today is both your birthdays correct?" John hummed, signaling Athens's correct assumption. "Then let me the first to say, Happy birthday commander," Athen said while the song began to play just as the door opened, revealing a 4 ft 5 little girl wearing a shirt that was four sizes too big for her. It is her favorite shirt that she appropriated from the Commander nearly two months ago before the journey. On the shirt itself, the logo of Scorpius Arms Syndicate was emblazoned on the back with the words Strike Fast Strike First.
"Happy birthday daddy!" Melody shouted as she ran into the kitchen and latched on to Johns' leg giggling all the while.
"Happy birthday to you too Melody, how did you sleep?" John said as he put aside his work and grabbed his daughter in a hug, lifting her up before using his free hand to clear away Melody's red hair from her face revealing her emerald green eyes and a smile almost as bright as the center of milky way galaxy.
"I slept well, dad, but I wish we could have stayed in bed a bit longer," Melody said as she hugged her father and took notice of what he was doing." What are you making?" Melody asked.
"Well, what do you think I would make on such a special day like this one?" John replied as he looked down at Melody and, with a smile, bumped her nose with his pointer finger leaving a bit of batter on her nose.
"You're making pancakes!" Melody shouted, getting John to laugh and return to work on mixing the ingredients.
"Spingo!" John said with enthusiasm. "Now come on, we have a big day today, and I'm sure you are going to love it," John said with a smile as he began to pour batter into a pan he had set a while ago. "Oh, and before I forget, Athena get the cockpit ready for me, please."
"Consider it ready, Commander," Athen said as the two laughed at each other's antics.
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"That was delicious, dad!" Melody shouted with joyful glee as the doors to the cockpit opened, revealing the three command chairs and two pillars that added to the structural strength of the room and was placed evenly with the chairs. The cockpit was spacious enough to comfortably allow five adults to roam around. "So, what are we going to do today?" Melody asked her father as she rushed into the control room and turned around to face John while clasping her hands behind her back and leaning bowing a bit as she smiled.
"Well, today, you are going to put on your suit, and then I can teach you how to fly the Shelter," John said as he got a suit from a cabinet built into the wall alongside a helmet.
"You mean it!" Melody shouted as her face lit up as bright as a white dwarf.
"Yes, I do, now come on, let's get you into this thing." John smiled and led his daughter to the bathroom in the control room. "Now, off with the shirt so we can get this set up properly."
"Okay!" Melody shouted as the shirt flew off and landed on the command chair of the cockpit.
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After a few minutes and laughter from the two, both walked out of the restroom. Melody now had on her very own Remlok suit meant to protect the wearer from the vacuum of space, the extreme temperatures, and even a few other benefits. Much like her father's but the accents, it was a stark black and green accent around her fingers, boots, and abdomen. The accents of Commander Johnathan Nelson was orange, but most of the suit was covered behind an all-grey suit with popped out color. On each shoulder was a different insignia on the right an Elite Trade rank and the left Elite Combat.
"How does it feel?" John asked as he knelt down behind Melody and began to bun up her hair so he could fit in her helmet.
"It feels like I'm wearing a hug!"
"Good," John laughed. "Now hold still, I need to set your helmet right," John said as the seal between the helmet and the suit was made. "Can you hear me, Mely?" John asked through the communication link that secured itself between the two helmets and the ship's intercom.
"Loud and clear, Commander!" Melody giggled as she turned around and gave a salute to her father like she's seen Federation and Imperial pilots do to her dad at times.
"Good, Cadet Melody Neilson, you have the helm," John said as Melody's face boomed with excitement as her helmet retracted into the suit. Rushing to the center chair, Melody strapped herself in like her father had taught her how before. "Athena Run simulation and set grid 1by 1by 1." John grabbed Melody's shirt that landed on the command seat and folded it nicely before putting it away in the cabinet from before.
"Understood Commander, grid set 1000 kilometers cubed. Weapon systems and other functions locked resetting power distributor three pips to systems and engines. Fighter set to Defensive; Cadet Melody Neilson has the Helm."
"All right, Melody, let's see how you do on your first flight," John said with a smile as he sat down in one of the open seats.
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Looking out the canopy and at the information being fed to him by the holo-projections, Commander Johnathan Neilson was proud of how well his daughter was handling the simulation. At first, she would crash into the existing asteroids pushing some of them out of orbit and would cause a few to collide with each other creating debris to fill the view of the ship. With each collision brought a weak sorry, and tear-filled eyes looking at him that would only cause him to laugh and remind her of the strength of the shields protecting the ship from damage.
"Remember Melody, the Shelter can take hits, and you can always put more power into systems to reinforce the shields." John reminded his daughter. "And stop tearing up; it's our birthday, and there will be no tears today got it." Melody nodded to her head, feeling any guilt flee her. She trusted her father, wholeheartedly.
Shaking her head, she began to focus on the simulation obstacles. She started to become conformable with the basics of flight, and three hours into the exercise, she had scored a 100 on the basics.
"That's my Melody!" John Shouted as he got up from his seat. "Looks like you might get bumped up from Cadet to Midshipmen in no time." Placing his hand on his daughter, Melody turned to her father and smiled. "Maybe one day you, on this shoulder," John squeezed his daughter's left shoulder a bit. "One day, there will be an Elite insignia, and we both will be a father-daughter Elite team."
"Do you mean that, dad?" Melody asked, feeling the fatigue of piloting beginning to dawn on her causing to yawn.
"Yes, I do. Now let's go take a nap, sweetheart, you deserve it after that performance," John said as he began to undo the straps and picked up Melody in his arms, letting her rest her head on his shoulders. "Athen adjust for planetary gravity."
"Adjusting ship position for gravity standby," Athens said as the thrusters flared, causing the orientation of gravity to align properly. "Gravity alignment complete, Fuel Tank at 75%."
"Understood recall the fighter and shut down all non-essential modules," John said as he entered the elevator and pressed the button for the living quarters.
"Setting," Athen replied while the elevator descended to the proper floor, followed by the doors opening with a hiss as the magnetic locks disengaged.
Walking towards his cabin door. The door slid open, allowing both of them to enter. Stepping into the room, the door closed behind John. Looking about his room, the walls were decorated with photos of both Melody and himself in various locations they had visited, but all the images followed the same theme. It either had the Commander or his daughter or both. Every picture was void of a mother. Up against the inner wall was a desk bolted to the floor along with a magnetic charge. Even though he felt gravity, it's not always like this as the orientation of the ship to the closest celestial mass was what dictated the pull of gravity. He would have to check on a few things before he took a nap to ensure they were not broken.
Placing Melody down on his bed and tucking her in, John sat down next to her. Tapping on a panel next to his bed, he keyed in commands for the bed to secure its occupant in, getting up afterward he left the room to go to the restroom.
Walking up the restroom as the door slid aside with a hiss, John walked into the bathroom and turned to face the mirror. Staring into his reflection, John leaned over the sink and placed his head in the way of the faucet before turning it on, allowing the coolness of it to rush over his head. "Today's the day that she learns the truth, isn't it commander." Athena's voice came over the speakers. Cupping his hands together, he gathered a bit of the water and splashed his face before shutting off the flow and grabbing a nearby towel to dry off his hair and face.
"Yeah, it is she's ten years old now. Hard to believe I found you and her in space ten years ago." John replied solemnly, remembering the day as he moved his left hand up and began to trace a scar that stretches vertically along his face. Starting from his upper lip and ending just above his eyebrow. The incident that causes the now fading blemish that had taken his eye as well, but it had given just as much as it tock. Focusing on his left eye and the soft blue glow it emitted, he began to remember that day ten years ago.
"Sir, I've picked up four anomalies exiting Supercruise," Athens said as the ship's systems all came back online. Ripping John back into reality and out of his memories.
"What? How?" John shouted as he rushed out of the restroom and out into the hallway, where he hurried to the elevator—entering it just as the doors opened and closed with a low wine followed by the sound of a fighter being deployed from the bay reverberating throughout the ship.
"Inbound message Commander," Athena said as the elevator stopped its accent and opened, revealing the cockpit followed by the low whine of lifts powering up and moving the stored weapons back into place.
"Let it through and wake Mely up and call her up here," John said as he sat in the command chair and keyed in the command for the chair to secure its occupant before a message popped up in Johns H.U.D. letting him know that the weapons from the other four ships registered as on and tracking the Shelter.
"On it, Commander."
"Greetings, Commander, you know that you are a hard man to find," a male voice said over the comms link created by Athena.
"I'm well aware of that," John replied as the sound of an F63 Condor lining up on the right side of the ship filed his ears for a short moment.
"I see you don't trust us, Commander Neilson." The unknown man said as John set his turreted weapons to fire at will so that the guns could independently target and engage.
"Normally, when you are thousands of light-years from the core systems, you don't want to be bothered," John replied with a bit of venom in his voice.
"A man like you Commander should know very well that with your position, it was only a matter of time before a price was put on your head." The man said as the four ships came into sensor range of 8 kilometers. Switching from target to target, John scanned each one getting the pilots' name and combat rating. The four ships he faced caused him some worry. 2 Anacondas and 2 Asp Explorers
The Anaconda, a multi-purpose vessel classified as a large ship built by Faulcon DeLacy, is a vessel that could pack a decent punch along with a frameshift drive capable of 30ly fully kitted for combat. At 155 meters long, 62 meters wide, and 32 meters tall. Carrying an armament that rivals that of the Corvette the Anaconda could take into battle; two small hardpoints, two medium hardpoints, three large hardpoints, and finale one huge. The Anaconda or Conda, as it is referred to by Independent pilots, is a ship that could hit at level and a bit higher if needed and with two on the field a force indeed.
The Asp Explore another Multi-purpose medium-class vessel created by Lakon Spaceways. A smaller ship compared to the Anacondas, and Corvettes. At 55.6 meters long, 51.3 meters wide, and 19.7 meters tall. The vessel could be fitted with a combat loadout but at the cost of jump range. The Asp Explorer is able to bring to bear four small hardpoints and two mediums as well. What the Asp lost on firepower it gained in maneuverability being able to keep in the blind spots of larger ships—allowed for the Asp to use its limited weapons too much more of an effect.
Looking at what weapons he was up against, he felt his stomach drop—twenty-six weapons ranging from kinetic to thermal all primed and ready to engage. Looking over to his navigation panel, he selected the farthest system he could jump to and spun up the Frame Shift Drive sending all power to systems to reinforce shields.
"Leaving Commander Neilson? Is this how an Elite pilot like yourself deals with confrontations." The man said as his name was assigned to his voice.
"No, but an Elite pilot like myself knows when to fight and when to run," John replied as his grip on the flight stick tightened.
"Right, well raiders, time to get paid!" The man said as the four ships began to fire on the Shelter causing the shields to glow a soft green as all damage was being absorbed by the Shelters shields.
"Athena, cut the line!" John shouted as he stopped the F.S.D. and forced his ship forward while he fired off a salvo from the 2 Plasmas Accelerators hitting the lead ship. A bright yellow Anaconda, stripping the ship of its shields. "Athena, where's Melody!"
"I'm here, dad!" Melody cried as she rushed out of the elevator and into the cockpit.
"Good strap into one of the chairs, sweetie, and helmet on!"
"What's going on, daddy?"
"Looks like someone doesn't like me, sweetheart," John replied while he pitched the ship around and opened up all the weapons on Anaconda whos shields were still recovering from the earlier blast. Firing another volley and taking aim at the Anacondas power plant. Both shots found their mark destroying that vessels only means of power generation efficiently, leaving it dead in space. Taking fire from the remaining three ships, the odds were now in Johns's favor.
"Torpedoes incoming," Athena's voice rang out. John pushed that information to the back of his mind feeling confident that even with the capacitors at 80%, he would still have the shields to face all of them off. Lining up the Shelter on the last, Anaconda John fired off another volley, but the Commander of this one learned from the previous and boosted, sending all thrust to his vertical thrusters pushing the vessel upward, letting the supper heated grass to fizzle out in space. At the same time heard the torpedoes collide with the shields, and a second later Athena's voice. "Shield generator at 50%."
If anyone could see his face, they would say that it was the first time in years that Commander Johnathan Neilson went ghost white since becoming C.E.O. of Scorpius Arms Syndicate. Quickly ordering the fighter to attack the Anaconda being the most significant ship on the remaining three and being the only one to mass lock the Shelter. John placed all power to engines and pushed the Shelter as fast as it could go.
Boosting away at 278m/s, John could feel the force of inertia pushing him back into his seat as he punched in the farthest system he could get to, a mere 15 light-years away.
"Frameshift Drive Charging," Athena's voice rang through John's' ears, but looking at the counter in the center of his view, he could see the Anaconda was still giving chase as the counter seemed to go by at a snail's pace. Feeling the ship stutter a bit as the sound of laser fire reverberated throughout the entire ship. "Shields down to 10%."
Grabbing the throttle and switching off Flight assist to keep his momentum, John turned the ship around and re-deployed his weapons. The hull indicator to the bottom right was reading 90%, while the models on his right ranged from 100 to 50—the lowest being his Cargo Bay door spewing out a few tons of food and water.
Locking on the Anaconda, John fired off one of the plasma accelerators, and as he guessed, the pilot boosted up, avoiding the lethal salvo. Leading his target John fired off another round this one connecting and taking down his opponents shields to 50%. Switching all his weapons to target only, he began to fire on the vessel with all seven onboard armaments dealing massive damage to the ship and causing the heat on board to go from 47% to 90% as laser and plasma were fired from the Shelter with each weapon hitting their mark.
The Anacondas shields faded to nill under the constant barrage of thermal and kinetic damage. Soon thereafter, the Anaconda exploded with a massive light burning away all the oxygen the ship had onboard scattering the vessels remains to the void. But In a last-ditch effort, the pilot of the ship boosted the ship towards the Shelter, causing it to take damage from the blast, leaving the shields of the Shelter to fall.
With only the two Asp Explorers left, John felt confident and began to open fire on the closest one. The Asp explorers weren't as shielded or armored as the Anacondas before, so with little effort, they were eliminated with only two volleys each, but even then, they managed to get a few good hits on the Shelter.
When all was said and done, the Shelter was heavily damaged, modules were all below 50% even the canopy itself was showing signs of damage as a crack streak across like a spider web.
"Who were they, dad?" Melody asked as she unclasped her self from the chair she was in and walked over to John, who was sitting still in his chair, allowing the adrenaline to leave his body.
"They were bad people, sweetie and...and we should get going in case any more of their friends show up," John replied as he aimed the Shelter in the direction of the system and out of the asteroid fields. Powering up the F.S.D. again, the timer went by quickly as Melody climb on her father's lap and laid her head against his chest. "You should go sit down, Melody, you know it's not safe to sit on me when the ship is moving, especially at light speed." Looking down at his daughter, he could see the helmet open up, revealing her pouting face. Brushing away some hair from her face, John smiled warmly and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Gaining a giggle from the young girl, "Sorry, Melody, it may be our birthday, but I'm not going to give in on this one. You know very well what it's like after we exit hyperspace. Go on, back to your chair, and put back on your helmet. Athena reboot repair."
"Fine," Melody said with a bit of defeat in her voice as she made it back to her seat and waited for the suit to reconnect to the seat, cementing her in place before her helmet sealed itself.
"Understood, standby," Athen said as the ship shut down, activating the Emergency Life Support on the ship. Strings of code began to enter his field of view supplied to him by the prosthetic left eye. Before long, the ship's systems booted up, leading 24 minutes of emergency oxygen left out of the 25 minutes it could store.
With an audible click and a mild hum coming from the ship's F.S.D. as everything came back online, John Pushed the throttle forward, engaging the F.S.D. and throwing the ship into hyperspace.
Entering hyperspace, a colonoscope of colors flashed by the canopy as golds, blues, greens, and reds flashed by as the central star of the system came clear in view. Before long, the ship exited hyperspace and then supercruise as the star seem to move closer to the Shelter. Acting quickly, John again pointed the ship away from the start and looked on in horror as the Shelter began to overheat from 57% to 90% and finally 100+, causing sparks to flare out of the conceal. At 150% over the F.S.D. had cooled down enough and with the ship, quickly getting at 200% heat. The Shelter entered supercruise again, but this time the ship began to pick up speed from 30kls to 5ls in his hurry to get away from the ball of death. John inadvertently pointed the Shelter into a collision course with an earthlike world. Pulling back on the throttle, John tried his best to slow the ship down, but the controls weren't responding.
Feeling his stomach drop, John diverted more power to systems to and what he could to his thrusters as the distance between the Shelter and earthlike planet shrunk. Trying again on the controls, John could feel a bit of power to be given back to him, pitching the Shelter's bow up. He forced the ship to enter orbital cruise, slowing the vessel as it began to descend into the atmosphere of the planet. Causing the ship's heat to spike again this time easily, making it just over 60% heat before the F.S.D. gave out, causing the Shelter to tumble out of supercruise, putting a massive strain on the vessels structure integrity.
"DADDY!" John heard Melody cry out from her seat. John began to pull on the controls again doing his best to correct the ship's course only barely getting the pitch under his control. Pushing power to the Shelters thrusters as the altimeter on Johns hud came to life reading 30 kilometers as the gravity of the planet became prominent.
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Sitting down on a marble bench in the Canterlot Royal Gardens, Octavia Melody sat and enjoyed the twinkling stars of the night sky. Feeling the cold breeze flow through her mane and fur. It was mid-winter, and her group had just finished their gig playing for those who wanted to get away from the Galla, that was happening in a ballroom not too far away from her. She never really found a reason to enjoy it, but being able to play on castle grounds did launch her career.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling all the headaches she had to deal with in the past week, Octavia stood up and stretched her arms above her head feeling the small pops of her joints expelling any pent-up stress before she brought her arms back down and began to smooth out her black dress.
"Ponies of Equestria, if I could please have your attention for a wonderful show," Octavia could hear Princess Luna's voice. "If I could ask you all to look towards the night sky and enjoy the falling stars, and may all your wishes come true."
Octavia looked to the sky, and with amazement in her eyes, she saw shooting stars illuminating the sky, but one star was the brightest of them all. Closing her eye's Octavia Melody made a wish, but when she opened her eyes again, that particular star was moving in her direction.
Feeling a pit in her stomach form, Octavia got up, and as the star got bigger and until the point, it didn't look like a star anymore but something strange and triangular. Feeling a warm air coming from the object, Octavia looked on as it roared overhead, frightening all who attended the Gala. A second later, a thunderous boom could be heard throughout the land.
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User Identified///
Independent Pilot Federation ID[**********] Password[******]
Data Packet Requsted Federal Corvett///
Data recived F63 Codor///
Data on Andacond/////
Data reqeuest on ASP Explore/////
Data packet received...
Link Terminated.....
Author's Note
Greetings to the first installment of Shelter. This story is based on the wonderful Space exploration game Elite Dangerous and off my charter in said game. I hope you all enjoy this story as I plan to at least get it to 100k words. This will be one of my shorter stories. If you like this one please consider reading my other stuff on my profile. See you all out in the void.
Author's Note
In loving memory of a true brother and friend Thomas Ray Lyel A.K.A Biped, 1997-2018. "I support the military, equality, and the ability to speak without being disrespected."
Birthday Pt2
"Athena damage report," John coughed as he felt gravity pull him into his seat. Unclasping from the position and looking to Melody. John couldn't see any breaches in the suit from where he sat. Getting closer to Melody, John checked her vitals and was relieved that the suit held up. "Athena damage report," John repeated as he made his way back to his chair to check up on the Shelters systems, as the sun rays that made it into the cockpit began to turn orange giving him a sense of local time.
"Daddy!" Melody shouted, getting John's full attention as he heard the sound of boots rushing towards him before Melody jumped on to him and hugged him with all her might. Returning the hug, John patted Melody on her back.
"Shh, it's okay sweetheart we are alive, we made it," John said to Melody reassuring her, but himself as well.
"I..I thought we were going to die!" Melody shouted before she began to outright cry in her helmet.
"We made it Mely," John replied, tightening his hold on Melody, causing her cries to die out a bit as she felt the security that came with a tight embrace. John stayed holding on to Melody until her crying became a light whimper.
With his daughter in his grasp, John looked to his systems panel on his right-hand side and began checked the damage to the ship. Hull was down to 20%, and most of the modules had been rendered inoperable save for engines, life support, shield generator, and AFMUs. Releasing his hold on his daughter John grabbed hold of controls. "Hold on, Melody; I'm going to try to move the ship." Feeling Melody tighten her hold on him. John gunned the thrusters in reverse, causing the ship's superstructure to groan as the ship began to drag itself out of the trench it had dug. Leveling out the vessel and leveling it out at 500 meters before scanning around for the closes flat clearing, he could find. In less than a minute, he saw a large enough clearance for the ship. Lowing the landing gear and setting the Shelter down in the clearing. Shutting down the engines, John began to punch in the commands for a full ship reboot.
Shortly after that, everything in the ship powered down, causing the Life support to kick in once again. In less than a minute, the ship's systems came back online; after the Reboot/Repair sequence was complete rebooting the shields and setting them back to 50%. John went to work on power up the AMFUs and using them to repair the modules, but with the massive power draw of the AFMUs, John powered down the engines again, leaving the Shelter in-mobile.
"Ship AI Athena now online," Athena's voice came over the intercom. "New contacts detected 2 kilometers North North East closing. ETA 10 minutes," This got Johns's attention.
"Athena, hows the atmosphere of this planet?" John asked as he stood up, making Melody protest his movements.
"Air samples analysis shows air quality on par with earth pre-industrialization, "Athena replied while John held Melody tighter against him.
"Understood refill emergency o2 with atmosphere but keep the scrubbers on," John said while getting up from his seat with Melody still clinging to his chest. Using one arm to keep Melody secured, John placed Melody in his chair before making his way to the elevator. "Athena, polarize the canopy after it's repaired. I don't want whatever it is to be able to look inside."
"Understood Commander," Athena replied while John walked up to the panel located just a bit to the right of the Coffee maker that all Federal vessels came standard with, somehow—causing a holo screen to appear. Placing his hand on the screen, a low hiss could be heard as the panel slid down into the wall showing several weapons ranging from Carbines to Battel Riffles and PDWs to Pistols. All made by companies long since forgotten by time. Along with two backpacks stuffed with emergency items, and utility belts that could hold any one of the weapons and the magazines that came with them.
Grabbing one of the belts and securing it to his hip, John then took one of the carbines an ACR made by Remington in the early 21st century. The ACR used the dated round 5.56. The bullet was an excellent all-rounder that had good range and damage, allowing for accurate hits on target up to 3000 meters away. The ACR had on it a 3 point sling that allowed the user to quickly drop the weapon without worry about losing it as the weapon would still be held to the user. Another add-on to the Riffel was a Holographic site that gave the user a clear sight of the targets but also had the bonus of providing the user all the information that came with the weapon. And should the weapon come off the operator, the location of the weapon of the field would be marked.
Another weapon he grabbed was an M9 Beretta that used a 9mm round a smaller round compared to the larger 5.56 allowing for an effective range of only 50-100meters away. The smaller round allowed more energy to be transferred to the target whereas the 5.56 was made for accuracy at a range. Looking over the M9 John's hud began to stream him information of the weapon. Just like the ACR it gave off ammo count, and location. Holstering the weapon John made his way to the elevator and punched in for the entrance of the vessel.
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"Ahh, nothing like a good sapphire after hard days wo-," Spike managed to say before a loud boom shattered his peace and his meal and the beautiful window that gave him a nice view on to the Equestrian countryside. Grunting Spike got up from his bed and begun to count down the seconds before his adoptive older sister, Princess Twilight Sparkle, would come knocking. "10," Spike said under his breath as he looked at himself in the mirror he was now a little over 4ft tall, his purple scales shown great care as none of them have come undone ever since his wings came in some time ago. "9," Checking his wings and ensuring that all feeling had returned since he had been resting on his bed. "8," after checking his wings, Spike looked at the shattered glass that littered the beautiful red carpet that laided the room. "7," moving away from the mirror. Spike finished his sapphire dust and now moved to the door. "6,5,4,3,2,1," Spike took a step back as the door rocketed open. If Spike were any closer to the door, he would have left a drake shaped hole in the wall.
"Spike!" a girl shouted as she looked at the young drake who was only a foot shorter than her. "Oh, you're awake."
"Yeah, kinda hard to sleep when your window explodes," Spike said as he looked to Twilight, who stood in the doorway holding at 5ft 4inches; she was still wearing her dress. A light blue ensemble with stars finally stitched into the dress, adding to the ends and along the collar. It fit well on her at least as far as Spike can tell he was never good with fashion, but if Rarity's name was on it, he knew it was designed to fit the wearer.
But he did know how long the girls took to ready themselves. Twilight had spent a good portion of the morning, brushing her hair to perfection as it reflected off a bit of light from the hallway and looked silky. Her fur was well taken care of as well as far as Spike could tell, considering he had scales, and all he needed was to shower, and he was done.
Twilight looked to the window that used to hold back the gusts of wind that now invaded the room, lowering the temperature of the room. "let's get going then we need to find the girls and go see what that was!"
"Wouldnt it be better to leave it to the guards, Twilight?" Spike said as he followed Twilight out of the room and walked next to her.
"I know we should, but I want to get there before they begin to move things and possibly mess it up!" Twilight began to become a bit more animated in Spike's eye as he could see her arms move a bit, and her wings ruffle and shift from her back.
"I know you want to study whatever cause that loud boom, but do you think that would be a good idea? I'm sure that the guards and or the princesses would come to you for something."
"Twilight! Spike!" A hyperactive voice caught both Twilight and Spikes's attention as they passed another window that had practically exploded inward as shards of glass littered the ground. "Did you guys hear that doozy! Oh, it looks like you can see the doozy too!" The girl shouted as she looked out over the countryside as dirt was still falling and reflected minute traces of light.
"Pinkie pie, watch out for the glass, and would you help me find the other girls. I would like to go see what caused the explosion-" Twilight stopped mid-sentence as familiar voices began to grow behind her.
"See, I told you she would want to go check out that thing," a smug tomboyish voice said as the sound of heels could be heard throughout the hallways.
"I never doubted it for a second," another voice spoke up with a country accent.
"I do hope Angel, and the others aren't too frighten by that loud bang," a softer, almost motherly voice spoke next.
"I'm sure there are just fine Darling, but I must say if we are going out to find out whatever it was that caused that explosion. Can we change out of our dresses? I would be very displeased if we got them dirty." Another voice spoke up with a somewhat posh air to it.
"Looks like sleep won't be on the agenda tonight Spike said to no one in particular as Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow dash and, Flutter shy rounded the corner of the hallway.
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"Are you sure this is a good Idea, Twilight?" Rarity spoke up as she, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack where being pulled in a hot air balloon by Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, and Twilight.
"Getting cold feet already, Rarity?" Rainbow dash said, promoting Rarity to cross her arms against her chest and pout a bit.
"I'll have you know that I am just as curious as anypony here, maybe not as much as Twilight here, but still, I'd like to know what it is." Rarity rebounded.
"So, what do you all think it was?" AppleJack asked, still unsure of what they should be expecting.
"I think it's just an asteroid," Spike said as he flapped his wings to keep his momentum.
"I'm with Spike on this one. I think its just a space rock," Rainbowdash added with a grin, and besides Egghead over here likes rocks, right?"
"Hey! Just because I like to study earthen things as well doesn't just mean that I cant be interested in whatever it could be." Twilight tried to defend herself as they race through the sky, trying to get to where the object had landed."
"I just hope its a rock," Fluttershy added.
"I hope its aliens!" Pinkie Pie shouted, getting everyone to stop and look at her with befuddlement.
"Pinkie Pie, you hope its alines?" Spike asked with more concern then skepticism.
"What I like making new friends." Pinkie defended herself as the group made its way to the crash site.
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"Sir, contacts are a kilometer out and closing fast," Athen said over the comlink.
"Understood, hows the canopy looking?" John asked as he stepped down from the stairs that protruded out from underneath the ship.
"Canopy is at 100% and polarised," Athena replied.
"Understood Athen, work on major systems next, and keep me posted on repairs. Also, shut down the exterior light and pass me sensor data." John said while he finished his descent. Bringing up his weapon John had a decision to make. How would he deal with a first contact situation? "One small fuck up for me, and giant fuck up for my brand." John sighed to himself as he made his way in the darkness to the front of the ship. Keeping under the vessel, John could see the readings that the Shelters sensors were picking up. "I just hope They're not Thargoids," Signing to himself againJohn waited and counted down the meters in his head.
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"What in the?" Spike questioned as he saw the deep trench that marred the planet's surface. Taking in the sights, Spike saw the trees that had been uprooted from the ground and thrown about like toys.
"Uhmm, what in the buck," Rainbow managed to get out as her brain was struggling to comprehend what could of cause the new trench.
"Pinkie Pie," Applejack as she was like Rainbowdash, struggling to comprehend what had happened. "I do hope whatever or whoever causes that likes that Pie you brought."
"Not to be a bother darlings but it looks like the guards are on the there way here as well." Rarity said as she pointed towards a large group of Pegasus that lead a massive airship. On the side, a broad picture of an eclipse with the corona of the star it blocked showing both the power of both the Moon and Sun.
The Eclipse an airship with four Vertical routers meant to provide lift and two Main horizontals for forward, reverse, and Directional control. All part of the new designed to provide as much maneuverability as possible. And allowing the Equestrian Military to project its power across the lands of Equis. Being able to propel itself through the air at 70 Kilometers an hour the Eclipse flies proudly with a length of 262 meters and a beam of 33 meters, the Eclipse could bring forward the most potent cannons ever build by the country to date. nine, 406mm guns, each barrel being 20 meters long, allowing the weapon a range of 20killomiters. The Shells themselves were of Armor pricing or Explosive each one weighing in at 860 to 1220 Kilograms. With six of the canons on deck three forward and three aft, that left for the final three to be mounted below the vessel; the weapon placement allowed the Eclipse to fire on anything Above it or bellow. Just the presence of the ship meant that the princesses deemed whatever its face to be worthy of its awesome power.
"Not to put a downer on our party, but it looks like two pegasus guards are coming this way." Spike pointed out as a pair of pegasus guards' race towards them with their silver plate armor shining under the full moon.
"I hope we're not in trouble." Fluttershy managed to get out as the guards closed in.
"Princess Twilight, Mares, Drake," one of the guards said with a stoic nature paying homage to their training in the royal guards as he and his partner hovered in place flapping their mighty wings.
Twilight stared at the guards then nodded her head. "Lead the way." Nodding at the princess, the guards took the ropes from both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash the most robust flyers of the group and began to pull the hot air balloon in the direction of the Airship.
"So do you girls think that we'll be in trouble for this?" Spike began. "I mean before we left. Blue Blood told us not to go; he even said that the princess ordered him to tell us. Do you all think we all should've listened to the prince for once?"
"I will not listen to that excuse of a stallion!" Rarity huffed, causing the basket to rock a bit.
"Hey, watch it." Applejack shouted while Pinky pie squealed with glee while AppleJack grabbed onto the sides of the basket, keeping herself in all the while the true scale of the Equestrian Airship began to make itself known as the guards pulled the hot-air balloon closer and closer to the ship.
"Hey, Twilight," Rainbow dash called as the balloon was pulled next to the Airship before it was secured to the deck allowing its occupants to walk out.
"Yes, Rainbow?" Twilight replied with frustration noticeable in her voice. It almost sounded like Twilight snapped at her. Rainbow winced at this and decided not to push a subject with Twilight.
"Nevermind, it's nothing," RainbowDash said as she and Twilight landed on the deck of the Airship next to where Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike landed. Walking up to the group, Twilight followed the Guards who began to lead them into the ship itself.
After some time of walking through the somewhat spacious and spartan steel corridors, the group made it to a door with both Celestia's and Luna's cutie marks. Standing in front of the doors, the two guards knocked on the iron door with the heavy clang of the steel plate and door meeting.
"You may enter," a majestic motherly voice could be heard from the other side of the door. Without pause, the guards opened the door leading the girls and the drake into the room before bowing to royal sisters. "You may leave us guards." The voice said again. Doing as they were told, the guards stood from their respective bows and left the room, closing the door behind them.
Spike looked on at the Royal sisters and noticed something he'd never seen them wear until today both Celestia and Luna wore their battle armor. Celestia, the older of the two sisters, wore a Gold armor with her cutie mark Stamped on to her shoulders along with the equestrian flag below it. The color of the armor added to the natural beauty of her white fur and purple eyes. Thought something else he noticed was the absence of her flowing mane. He found that odd but pushed it to the back of his mind. Focusing on Princess Luna, he could see like her older sister she wore a black obsidian armor with her cutie mark much like her sisters on her should with the Equestrian flag underneath. And like her sister, her flowing mane that would resemble the night sky still held its stars but did not flow. It wasn't until Princess Luna spoke up that Spike took heed to the defining silence of the room.
"Tell me, Sister did we not instructed your," Luna motioned towards Twilight, "dear student," Luna said as she adjusted her sword on her hip afterword, "to stay back at the Gala."
"I believe we did tell her, but I would like to know her reasoning for disobeying," Celestia replied as she looked onto Twilight with a gaze that would crush any lesser mare it reminded Spike of the glare Twilight Velvet would give to him when she caught him sneaking an extra cookie. Spike shivered.
"I want to study what landed on equestrian before the guards had the chance to move anything from where they were. Think of what could be learned from whatever it is!" Twilight nearly shouted, getting her friends to gasp at how she talked to the rulers of the nation.
"Watch your tone of voice with us young sparkle. I am grateful for your assistance in purging me from the parasite nightmare moon, but don't let that cloud your mind on how you talk to my sister and I." Luna said with little to no emotion, "My sister may hold a reservation for you, but I will not keep if I feel your actions would bring harm to either my ponies or my sister."
Twilight winced at this, "my-my apologies."
"Good," Luna said, nodding to her sister.
"Well, since the bearers are here," Celestia droned, making it visible that she was displeased with their actions to come here and investigate against what she told them back in the castle. "But before I speak, let me just warn you against speaking of what you are about to hear outside of this room. What I'm about to tell you is considered top secret, and all who speak of this will be considered an enemy of the state. Do I make my self-clear?" Celestia stated as she looked on to each and every one, ensuring that the weight of the situation was felt and understood to its fullest. One by one, the group began to voice their acknowledgment. "Good, good."
Sighing, Luna spoke up next. "I'm more than sure you all had heard the explosive sound that echoed through central Equestria. The explosion could be heard from as far as Ponyville. "Luna walked to a table located in the center of the room that Celestia herself was standing over. Following Luna, Spike could see that the map depicted all of Equestria. "From the guards, we've sent out as soon as the explosion was heard, we've come to learn that the object that had crashed is not of this world." Twilight's face lit up as the prospect of learning of something undiscovered by pony kind began to race in her head. They've reported that the object seemed to have survived the crash into solid rock, and as you saw, was still able to uproot all those trees and even then managed to get back up and move to a clearing not too far from here. We should be there right about now," Luna said as the shift in momentum could be felt followed by a low buzz.
"Princesses, we've reached the location, and the reports are accurate. The object seems to be completely intact. What would you like us to do?" the voice said while the room grew quiet. Celestia crossed her arms across her chest and closed her eyes.
"Sister, I do advise we go about this half and half," Luna stated flatly. "You go with the proverbial olive branch while I go with the proverbial sword."
"A fair idea Luna, but I fear if we show too much force, we will cause more harm then good." Celestia leaned against the wall. Her facial features not giving any hint to the storm of thoughts brewing in her mind. A thousand choices but with only two outcomes. Either peace can be made, or war could be waged with an unknown creature.
"Ohh, I know what we could do!" Pinkie pie shouted, getting everyone's attention. "We could throw them a Happy birthday/Welcome to Equestria party!" And then swiftly sending everyone but Luna and herself to the floor for her outlandish idea.
"Uhmm, not to burst your bubble sugar cube, but I don't think they'll like a party." Applejack said, being the first to recover.
"I agree with her, Darling. I highly doubt that aliens would like how you throw your soiree as we do." Rarity adds while she got up from the floor and begun helping up Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy. Spike was getting up on his own.
"Sister, I believe I have a better idea, one that we may secure peace over war." Luna began while she moves to help her sister up.
"Do tell sister you where always far better at wat than I was." Celestia managed as she righted herself with Luna's help.
"You and I could go and bring along the Elements as well. This way, we bring both branch and arrows by keeping the Eclipse and our platoons out of a fighting situation, but close enough to be used in our situation calls for it." Luna looked to the bearers. "With them with us, they can prove to be Ambassadors of some sort for our country."
"This sounds like a promising plan, but I don't like having to put my student and her friends into a possible harms ways if it could be helped," Celestia said as she looked over the elements.
"We wouldn't have to, but they did go against a direct order from us both. I only say we use what we have, and right now, I see ambassadors of goodwill in front of me. They themselves are the embodiment of Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, or goodwill as I call it, and finally, your student represents one of the most influential elements of magic." Luna pointed to each individual as she went through their individual traits. "And remember we won't be sending them by themselves we would be with them, so if anything goes wrong, we will both be there should it become a quagmire."
"Wait, don't we get a say in this!" Rainbow piped up, earning the ire of Luna's gaze.
"You lost the right to when you disobeyed our order!" Luna shouted, nearly going full-blown Canterlot voice. "We told you to stay at the castle and wait, but no, you disobeyed our word. Just be glad that you and your friends aren't in chains."
"Sister, that's enough; we'll deal with there flagrant disregard of our word later. Right now, we have to deal with an event far more pressing." Celestia said, getting Luna to calm down. "We will go with your plan Luna, but I would like to keep the guards and Eclipse on our heels." Luna smiled a bit at this. "Guards," Celestia said, and shortly after, the two very same guards from earlier came into the room and bowed. "Take my student and her friends to staging deck. We'll be there shortly. "
"At once," The guards said as they broke from their bows and led the group out of the room.
"You are too soft on your student, Sister," Luna began. "One of these days she will do something that even you can't forgive. And when she does, I fear what might become of her." Luna looked at Celestia and stepped closer before wrapping her arms and wings around her older sister, sharing a caring embrace that Celestia returned.
"I fear she will as well Luna."
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Leaning up against the front landing gear of the Shelter, John watched the object close in. "Well, no time like today, I suppose." Pushing himself off the landing gear, John walked out from underneath the Shelter as the object entered his view, John was a little thrown back. He saw what looked to be a crude tiltrotor aircraft. It reminded him of the V-22 Osprey used by the United States before the Federation ever came about. "So they are sort of advanced, just not space-faring.........FUCK ME!" John shouted in his helmet.
"Dad?" Came Melody's voice through his headset.
"Yes, Mely?" John replied, mentally reprimanding himself for using strong langue with his daughter now being able to listen to him.
"What's going on outside?" She asked.
"Daddy is about to meet a new life, sweetheart. Just stay inside the cockpit, and I'll be there when it's all done. Okay?" John replied while he followed the tiltrotor down to its landing nearly 150 meters away from the Shelter.
"Okay, Dad," came Melody's reply.
"Athena, power on the external lights might as well show our new host what landed on their front door," John said while he walked halfway to the aircraft. Taking note of the soft crunch of grass under his boots, he would be lying if he said he was more than glad to be on a planet again as the wind blew from east to west from what he could tell comparing the bending of tall grass in waves and his compass.
Stopping at his halfway mark, John stopped and waited again. "Athena, any weapons ready to go?"
"Already hopping for the first encounter to go south, Commander?" Athena said as an image of the Large Turreted Beam laser showed its operation capacity at 100%.
"Deploy, and tie its targeting system to my hud," John replied while still waiting out in the open field. "And no, I hope this first contact goes well."
Keeping his focus on the Tiltrotor aircraft, John could see and hear the engines whine down as the back end of the craft came down. Not long after, he was thrown through another loop. Out came humanoid furry creatures, all of them in some form of clothing and or armor. All except one, from what he could see, this one looks more reptilian in nature. With both purple and green scales and leathery wings, this one was the strangest of the 9. The next two, he found his eyes drawn too where armored in what he could tell to be Gold and Silver. These two seemed to be the tallest of the bunch, with the one with the gold armor stod standing at 6ft, and from what he could tell, it had white fur with a motley head of hair. The one in the silver armor stood at 5'11, her coat was of dark blue and shared a similarity with her hair color as well. Yet, the most curious thing was in its hair, it looked as if a picture of the night sky above was captured and them permanently transfigured into her hair.
From there, the oddities began to cease, but the odd coloring started to become more apparent as the six charters drew closer. One was white like the tallest of the nine, but her hair color looked to be a royal purple and curled at that. Next was one that shared similarities with a candy back in the 21st century.
"Hehe, I can now say I've seen the rainbow." John laughed to himself.
The others were that came forward seemed to follow with the strange fur color. One seemed to have pink hair and fur that closely resembled a golden yellow. One was lavender with an almost darker shader of purple. Another one had blond hair and practically orange coat, but this one had a hat that was most popular with farmers on planets. The last one was somewhat plain to the others with was pink fur and pink hair, but it had a smile on its face, unlike the others who shared confusion, fear, mistrust, and stoic.
Keeping an eye on the group, John could see a new contact on the reading he was getting from the Shelter's systems, and it was massive. More massive than what the Shelter would register.
"Let's see two somewhat tall. One looks dragonish if those holovids have anything to say about it, and six more that look like they just came from a ball or something." John stood still sidearm holstered, and rifle slung against his back.
Keeping an eye on the approaching nine, John began to formulate his next choice words as the group stopped no less than five meters away.
"Hello, my name is Johnathan Neilson, CEO of Scorpius Arms Syndicate."
