Chapters Outskirts of New Clompassa, Equestria, Ceales System
Private Wet Meadows, earth pony soldier of the Equestrian Guard, should be a dead pony. His unit should be a dead unit. Equestria should be a dead world. His species should be a dead one. Fortunately for him, and all of ponykind, a savior arrived in the form of a single TROTLITE, the Master Chief 117. Because of him, UESC forces were able to pour in a gap in the Eldar defensive line and reclaim the area. Wet’s company’s job was to clear out any survivors, whether they surrendered or not.
Laying prone in the arid, dry, and dusty hills surrounding New Clompassa, Wet watched the dense smoke coming from the half-destroyed city choke the sky, it’s once bright blue hue being overwhelmed by oranges and browns. If the battle did not end soon, pegasus weather teams might not be able to clear out the pollutants before they spread. All near him was calm; he could hear the birds, bugs, and even leaves fluttering in the distance. And Eldar hover engines. He took a pair of binoculars and searched the horizon for anything out of the ordinary. Sure enough, there was a large dust clous forming in the distance, with three black streaks in front of it.
Wet shouldered his SR99, one of the only pony-made weapons to not be mounted on a battle harness and instead on a bipod, the stock resting on the shoulder. He folded out the trigger-stick with his dark brown hoof and he aimed the anti-material rifle at the approaching pack of Eldar Vypers. He tracked the fast-attack vehicles with his scope, the digital readout accounting for wind and distance, placing a digital crosshair over where the bullet will land. He pulled back on the trigger, aiming just ahead of the moving vehicles.
His rifle fired. Just as predicted, the fourteen point five millimeter wide projectile flew a downwards arc, several feet in front of the Eldar vehicles. Also as predicted, the vehicle effectively rain into the bullet, it’s engine being destroyed in the process and sending the rest of the chassis into a tumbling mess that the second vehicle in the column crashed into. The third, while lucky enough to escape the burning wreckage, was not lucky enough to escape Wet’s gaze. A second projectile soon destroyed the Vyper while a third bullet launched towards the still functional second Vyper. An explosion of blood and dismembered limbs soon followed.
The radio soon crackled to life in Wet’s helmet. “This is Colonel Redwood, calling all Equestria-based UESC forces. You are ordered to fall back towards Rally Point Bronco.” Wet regarded the message for a second, before it spoke again. “Repeat; this is Col-” Wet turned down the device, packed his rifle onto his back, and began heading to the encampment.
It was not a very long trot, just half a kilometer through the arid, hot, dusty hills surrounding New Clompassa. Finally arriving, he spotted the rest of his squad packing their equipment into Warthogs, while Scorpion tanks were providing makeshift artillery cover for the retreating pony forces. The tents were already packed up for the most part, showing how efficient the military is when it needs to be.
“Oy, earthie!” another Guardsman, a light tan pegasus, called out, the tell-tale accent of the one and only Chips Dubbo. Wet wasn’t sure what “Dubbo” was supposed to even mean, but kept his snout shut on the topic. “Here we’ve got our little Eldar problem taken care of!”
“Zerg’s gone’n’ c’t th’ Eldar fleet ‘n ‘alf.” Chips answered, his southern Austallion accent making it hard for Wet to understand.
Wet stopped in mid step, a blank look imposing onto his face. “Wait, you said Zerg?” Chips nodded. “As in, those giant-flank bug things that literally eat worlds?” Chips nodded again. “Salt-licking mother... Do you know what this means?” Wet asked, his voice a little higher than intended.
“Yes, I do, Wet.” Chips stopped to wipe some dirt off his orange helmet-visor. “While those two ‘r’ distracted, we j’s’ need to wait ‘t out ‘til we get those ‘forcements fr’m New Stalli’ngrad! We c’n drive those bastards back! We c’n win this! ” he said, excitedly shaking Wet’s shoulder. His accent was really starting to annoy Wet.
Wet looked back towards the city, the once majestic space elevator now lying in ruins around the countryside. There was smoke coming from the city, obstructing the once beautiful sky. “I just hope the Queens can pull something like that off.”
Brief overview of the history of the Imperium of Equuleus, recorded by Twilight Sparkle, Minister of Information
As space exploration began in 1,505 PH (Post Harmony, or the redemption of Empress Luna), the queens, Celestia and Luna, swore to protect all ponykind from threats, both internal and external as the United Equestrian Space Command. Achieving much more and in less time than what could be expected, the UESC soon colonized close to 50 colonies in under 200 years by traveling through the Immaterium, an alternate dimension, to ignore the light barrier.
The Eldar, an ancient collection of xeno races believed to be over 50,000 years old, revealed itself and began to advance into UESC territory, roughly at 800 worlds, in 2,025 PH, starting with the farming colony Harvest. Peace attempts were tried, but the Eldar continued their unprovoked, genocidal war. The Gryphon Kingdom was completely destroyed by 2,038 PH; the Draconic Dominion given haven on Selena Equi, Holy Equestria’s moon, in 2,038 PH. Our second threat, a voracious hivemind race dubbed the Zerg, was discovered in 2,052 PH attacking the Halo, an Eldar superweapon. It was soon discovered that the only way to permanently purge them from our worlds was to melt the surface with nuclear weaponry or crack the planet’s crust, a process now called Exterminatus.
In 2,553 PH, months after the end of the Pony-Eldar War (although conflicts still rage, the stop of the Eldar offensive is considered the end to the war), a new threat was discovered. Nightmare and Discord, two powerful enemies long thought to have been defeated before ponykind was even space-faring, resurfaced and wreaked havoc upon the unsuspecting UESC. Nightmare, the Chaos God of corruption, possessed or otherwise corrupted ponies in the thousands and turned them upon the queens. Discord, the very embodiment of disharmony, acted very similarly, but with different motives. While Nightmare was pure, “untainted” evil, Discord was in it all for the fun. The UESC was destroyed by these forces, but the queens were able to restore order before the Pony-Eldar border was breached. A new government, the Imperium of Equuleus, was built from the ground up to accommodate for the current state of the universe.
In 3,000 PH, the Imperium had control of all lost worlds, totalling at near 800, over half of the galactic arm. All lost territory was regained and terraformed back to near-original state, allowing resources to be spent on expansion. Time was taken to make each planet extremely defendable, learning a valuable lesson from the Eldar. Now with territory firmly occupied and its sights on the center of the galaxy, the Imperium of Equuleus has no choice but to continue onwards, spreading its influence to new frontiers and species as of 3,002 PH.
Bridge of the Fruit of Truth, Arcis System, ~1,000 years later
"What do you think we should do, Captain?" A pony said, walking to the center of the large, metal room that composed the bridge. She stepped around the main briefing table, her hooves making surprisingly little sound on the metal-grate floor.
"It's of xeno construction. Destroy it," a female pony said, in a rather serious tone.
The first replied, "Well, I find it rather interesting."
"Interesting? It's of xeno construction! The Codex-" the captain answered, before being cut off.
"Calm down, Captain. You are under my orders, and I don't think that this is Eldar technology anyway. Same technology base, but not the same according to the scans," she responded in the same calm tone as before.
"I’m sorry, but I can’t just-" the captain objected.
The first gave him an amused look before turning back the center of the room. "Captain Sida Aspicium, you are under my orders. I will handle any troubles with the Empresses myself."
"Yes, Minister Sparkle," Sida said, calming down at the older mare’s words.
"Now, calm down, I’m very interested in this discovery, and you could learn a thing or two," Twilight said, as if talking to a young child. She looked at the logic machine's display, studying the strange object before her. "No, this isn't Eldar at all."
"Ma'am, it's powering up," a sensor officer said, reading the output from his screen. "It appears to have been dormant until we reached a certain distance," Twilight turned towards the sensor monitor, squinting her eyes to read the rapidly scrolling lines of text. The officer continued, "It appears to be waiting for a signal."
"I wonder what it could be," Twilight thought aloud. "It looks like it could be a weapon... no, it's rather far away from a planet. Suggestions, Captain?”
Sida thought for a second. "It's not a weapon. If it was then it would be abandoned. You don't just abandon giant weapons. So, that would mean that there would have been a battle." She walked over to the viewport, as the ship was resting in visible range. "That would have meant a lot of floating debris and damage to the structure, which doesn't appear to be present. Without a battle taking place, the local system would have been the local production planet or something of the like, and this is a completely explored system with no ruins," She turned to face Twilight, "Which would leave us to a transportation system."
Twilight stared at her as she finished her rant. "That's a rather... accurate conclusion."
"The dark energy readings are similar to Eldar ships breaking the light barrier, are they not?"
"Wha- Oh, right! Assuming you are correct, maybe this construct could act as a highway, letting ships travel great distances while they use smaller scale drives for shorter jumps!" Twilight concluded.
Sida turned to the vox systems officer, "Alright, let's get this show on the road! Call in the rest of the battle group and send a probe through!"
At her word, a small probe was sent from the battleship, sending back navigational and other relevant data. Within minutes it got close to the unknown object, and the probe began to receive signals from it. Confused at what to do next, the controller on the bridge ordered the probe to send the signal back.
What happened next both interested and confused everypony in the room, except for one adolescent dragon, one of the many onboard techpriests. As seemingly random bits of data were sent back and displayed on the main screen, the techpriest walked up to the logic machine's core. Connecting one of his bionic tentacles, he began to interface directly with the ship's machine spirit.
He looked closely at the incoming data, working through the ship to discern what exactly they were getting from the strange object. Several minutes into his mental journey, he found something - repeating lines of code. Small and random, but the patterns were there, buried in the data.
He let his eyes open in surprise at what he discovered next. By the Omnissiah... It's actual code! The data isn't just background noise being sent out, He turned to Twilight, who was now hovering close to him, wanting to learn about any information he found.
"Madame Sparkle, that data is not random! Through the ship's spirit..."
"Oh, here we go again with that stupid machine religion again, " Twilight thought to herself.
"Oh, Omnissiah help me, I..." the tech priest continued.
"Of all the things to worry about worshipping, and they pick machines? " Twilight tried not to roll her eyes. "I'm gonna need to deal with this sooner or later, "
"...I just need to..."
"Oh, they're not hurting anything, " Twilight put up her best "interested" face. "Whatever, they're still loyal to the empresses. I'll leave them be, "
"...and we can send something to the other side!" he finished, catching his breath despite the lung implants he'd received upon graduating apprenticehood.
"I still think -" Twilight perked up at that last sentence. "Wait, you can do that?"
"Yes," the techpriest responded. "I just need the probe's mass and enough time to figure out an acceptable format in which to send the data, and I can get the probe to the other side!"
A side effect of being bonded with the Elements of Harmony, she and the other ministers were blessed -or rather cursed as they sometimes thought- with immortality. She and the others were still able to be killed, but had not aged a bit since that fateful day, when they bonded with the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. Outliving all of their family and friends, watching them wither and die, even Pinkie Pie cracked. It took over a hundred years for her to get over it, and even then she was just never the same.
Snapping out of it, she watched the techpriest do his work. After only a minute, which she thought was impressive for a completely alien piece of hardware, he finally disconnected. She nodded again, signalling him to send the probe off. He turned to the side, ordering the probe's monitor next to him to send the signal through the probe.
Twilight turned back to the viewscreen and watched as the probe flew closer to the unknown object. Although the object filled up most of the viewport, she could only tell where the probe was due to the notifications shown on the screen, placing a blue diamond over the tiny craft. When the probe got close enough, it sent out the data packet and was immediately surrounded by blue lightning from the object. The probe then disappeared, vanishing off of the sensors of the bridge.
"Sensor officer, care to tell me what just happened?" Sida asked, walking up to the front of the room next to Twilight. She peered at the odd structure, it seemed to be gradually getting brighter.
Turian 16th Fleet Observation Outpost One, Invictus colony, Caestus System, Minos Wasteland
Lieutenant Varen was bored. That's all he could describe it. Just... bored. He was stuck in the remarkably barren Minos Wasteland for the past standard month by his superiors, who promised plenty of action against pirates, slavers, and other scum from the Terminus. Well, not that they really needed to convince him. He wasn't here by choice; it turns out that screwing up a small weapons shipment to an already fortified area can get you in a surprisingly large amount of trouble in the Hierarchy.
Hearing a notification tone on a monitor, he walked over to the holographic screen. He shouldn't be doing this. He should be on a proper ship, under proper command, giving proper orders to proper ensigns. Well, complaining wasn't going to do anything right. He read the screen, noticing a message box denoting the reason for alarm as an unidentified object. Standard protocol dictated immediately informing his superior, but he wasn't sure that was a good idea. Being stuck here was bad enough, he didn't need to wake up the captain over what could be a piece of debris. He opened up the scan, looking for any signs of what it could be.
"Well, that's odd, " he thought. "It looks like a small craft but doesn't have any eezo signatures, " That was odd to him. There were no eezoless spacecraft as far as he knew, and a piece of metal of that size would imply it was either eezoless spacecraft or a broken off part of a bigger ship. Since there were no Mass Relays around, that meant that it would have had eezoless FTL, which he knew was highly improbable. Furthermore, the only way to send something through a relay was to emit a signal, so that discounted a piece of debris. Which would mean...
"Captain we have a problem!"
Brief overview of the government of the Imperium of Equuleus, recorded by Twilight Sparkle, Minister of Information
At the top of the governmental hierarchy of the Imperium of Equuleus are the two empresses, Celestia and Luna. Being the rulers of the Imperium since the beginning of the it's history, the two are all but outright worshipped by their subjects. Being the most important figures, any and all conflicting orders are deferred to whichever of them is involved in the issue. Ruling from Holy Equestria, specifically the capital city of Canterlot, Empress Celestia handles public affairs such as diplomacy, public relations, and other things of the like. Empress Luna takes of care more internal and classified affairs than her sister. They are not restricted to these roles, however, those described roles are usually how the empresses decide to handle things and have the most experience in.
Below them are the six ministers (myself included) who manage the basic foundations of the Imperium's society. I, the Minister of Information, handle things such as education, our information network, and technology. Rainbow Dash, the Minister of Military, handles all offensive and defensive affairs of the Imperial military, such as the Imperial Guard and Adeptus Astartes, or the Space Marines. Fluttershy, the Minister of Medicine, manages the Imperial hospital system and disease control. Rarity is the Minister of Economy and is in charge of keeping the Imperium's economy healthy by managing matters such as interplanetary trade or tax laws. The Minister of Culture, Pinkie Pie, watches over holidays, artistic funding, and other such affairs. And, finally, there is Applejack, Minister of Manufacturing. She handles any matters from the supplication of war machines to agriculture to building constructing.
Due to the rather vague descriptions of our offices, jobs are often intertwined and worked on by two different ministers. One example is the research of disease where Fluttershy and I handle new diseases that crop up now and then on frontier worlds, or Rarity and Applejack distributing goods across planetary boundaries.
Below us are the Senators, who present concerns, suggestion, and other ideas of interest concerning their particular cluster of star systems directly to the empresses. Under the Senate there is, in a system with multiple inhabited worlds, a Procurator, who is the general manager of the system. Each world is then set up with a planetary Governor, who is elected democratically by the planet's people as opposed to Senators and Procurators, who are appointed by the empresses themselves. In the case of one inhabited planet, there is no Procurator and the Governor goes directly to the Senators. Below the Governors are Mayors, who rule towns and cities and are also elected.
Bridge of the Fruit of Truth, orbit over Invictus colony, Caestus System, Minos Wastelan
“And we’re through!” the navigations officer exclaimed, relaxing for once. The one and a half kilometer Virtus class super heavy cruiser came out on the other side of the object’s gateway, ending up far away from their former location.
“Good,” said Sidus. “Navigations, I want you to send a message to the fleet, telling them that they can come through.”
A young mare, an ensign watching different sensory readings, called out. “Captain, we have multiple contacts!” Sida walked up to her screen.
“Identifiable?” she asked. Something seemed off to her. While she couldn’t understand the readings of the ensign’s screen, there was something weird about them.
“Negative, ma’am,” she replied. “Mostly frigates judging by length, unidentified hull classifications.”
I guess we discovered whoever made these things, Sida thought to herself.
“Wait, they’re doing something,” the ensign said, adjusting a dial to the side of the screen for a better look at the readings. To the Sida’s left, another sensor officer got her attention.
“Sir, a track along the ships’ spines are being charged,” he said, directing Sida’s attention to the screen. “It’s not a warp cannon like Eldar ships, but it is using a similar energy source.”
From the center of the bridge, Sida pointed to the weapons officers. “Get the first MAC loaded and charged,” She then faced the other side of the room. “Navigations, point us at the closest unidentified; I want a minimal silhouette in case they look for us.”
“Sir, we’re getting a vox signal from the rest of the fleet. They’ve arrived,” the vox officer said, turning to the captain. “They’re requesting orders.” The escort fleet, consisting of three destroyers and two frigates, entered realspace behind the Fruit of Truth , one coming in at a time.
Sida answered him, keeping her eyes on the screen. “Tell them to power up and get into defensive positions.”
“Sent... they copy, ma’am,” he replied.
An Imperial frigate at the front of the newly arrived escort fleet was suddenly attacked. A ship at the front of the unidentified fleet fired its main gun while the rest of the force maneuvered into firing positions.
“Return fire! Return fire!” Sida yelled. The damaged frigate suddenly split apart, the hole created from the unidentified ship’s round being followed by two more. A friendly destroyer fired back, its two MAC cannons firing one shot each at the offending unidentified.
Although neither of the cannons were fully charged, they managed to destroy the hostile frigate.
The first shot overwhelmed the shields, which caused Sida to complain to herself about everyone but the Imperium having energy shields, and made a sizable dent in the hull.
The second six hundred ton slug ripped through the now exposed frigate, pulverizing the center of the vessel.
“Vox officer, I want two destroyers and the frigate to dive into their formation. Frigate in the middle, destroyers shielding.” She got up and went over to the large screen display, checking the troop roster on the ships. “When the Veritas is in drop pod range, drop them a little present.”
Drop pod racks, Lux Veritas, orbit over Invictus colony, Caestus System, Minos Wasteland
“Alright squad, listen up!” Veteran Sergeant Red Runner yelled, getting the room’s attention. She walked up to the hologram projector in the middle of the room, which was displaying the scans of an enemy vessel. “We’ve been ordered to board an enemy ship and capture any command crew we can,” Her squad of veterans, wearing the ancient and powerful Terminator armor, remained perfectly at attention, not moving a muscle.
“My squad, One, will deploy from SOEIVs into the hull of the ship here,” she said, pointing to the side of the targeted frigate-sized enemy vessel. “Squad Two, you will drop here,” she pointed to another part of the ship closer to the bridge, “and walk space-side to right above the bridge’s viewport. As Squad One will advance through the interior and secure the command crew while Two breaks the viewport so we can have a fast exfiltration. Understood?”
“UNDERSTOOD, SERGEANT!” the two squads answered in perfect unison, centuries of Imperial discipline showing through in the surgically enhanced super soldiers. Each Space Marine of the Knowledge Keepers Chapter, the personal chapter of the Minister of Information, donned their armor-matching lavender helmets. They each got into their respective drop pods, pressing a button to attach their storm bolters to the sides of their armor.
The squads’ vox systems crackled to life, Runner’s voice coming through. “Team, stay tight and watch those corners. We don’t know exactly what we’re encountering.” A series of green lights blinked on the inside of her helmet confirming that they received her warning.
An announcement came over the general vox channel, getting their attention. “Drop in three...”
“Two...”
“Launch.”
Bridge, Sword of Palaven, orbit over Invictus colony, Caestus System, Minos Wasteland
Captain Tallien of the Turian Hierarchy Navy was not having a fun day. After stumbling upon a huge unidentified dreadnought, his fleet commander ordered his eight ships to power their primary cannons and enter a defensive stance. Then even more unidentified ships came in from the illegally opened Mass Relay, building up large amounts of energy along their length in a similar fashion to conventional main cannons, forcing the commander to make the first move.
After he ordered all ships to open fire, they dispensed their payload immediatel,. Most, however, missed as there was not sufficient time to get an accurate targeting solution. When fire was returned, the shots were much more powerful then expected. One shot damaged a cruiser, and he had a gut feeling that it wasn’t even fully charged.
One ship of their number was destroyed, only to be replaced by another. What looked to Tallien three cruisers came forward, one looking frailer than the other two. They seemed to be shooting low-charged shots quickly to keep his fleet from having time to get a shot lined up. And from what he could tell, their strategy was working. Being in close range, his main cannon was useless. But, that didn’t mean the ship was defenseless.
With his ship coming closer to be within GARDIAN laser range, he resumed his orders. “Weapons, fire GARDIAN lasers.”
Despite how the vid industry prefers to display space battles, lasers are in fact invisible. Instead of brilliant bright red beams shooting out of dozens of tiny pipes of metal, the GARDIAN projectors on a cruiser are in fact the size of a full grown turian and less numerous. Instead of wildly placing shots everywhere on and around the ship, the shots are few and accurate, aiming for the most damageable place. Also contrary to popular belief, the lasers were actually invisible, the light shooting out of the projector going to the target instead of a viewer’s eye.
Shooting a beam roughly three seconds long with two second breaks in between to manage overheating, every shot from the cruiser hit its mark. However, the expected outcome of the ship’s armor peeling off or melting away did not come to fruition, much to Tallien’s chagrin. The armor was in fact holding, almost as if it was designed for close quarters, energy based warfare. His annoyance, to put it lightly, distracted him from the real problem until it was already too late to do anything about it.
Almost knocked to his feet by a tremendous shaking of the entire ship, he saved himself by grabbing onto a nearby railing. “Somebody! What just happened?” he asked, hoping there was one person with any type of answer.
“Boarders, sir! They crashed into the ship on drop pods!” a ensign yelled, reviewing peripheral video footage of the minute right before the event. He looked back at the screen, switching the footage to the interior sections where the objects crashed onto, leaking atmosphere into space. On the monitor, several shapes stepped out of their pods. “Spirits, what are those?”
On the video feed, stepped out four figures, one out of each pod. They were reminiscent of elcor, walking on four legs, using heavy weapons and armor. The armor seemed almost ceremonial, dark purple with lighter-shaded details. Around the neck, which extended around the head almost half a meter from the main body, was a huge collar that covered the back. It looked extremely ill fit for a field operation; the bulk would slow down the wearer and make it much harder to avoid enemy weapons, let alone prevent him from being spotted. However, in the tight confines of a space vessel, all that extra armor was likely to be extremely effective against small arms fire.
On the very back of the boarder was a smooth plate, covering the tops of the creature’s legs and the rear end of the armor. It had a curious mark on it; a pink star with several smaller ones adorned the sides of the pad. The helmet was also odd. It had an extended face plate, mimicking the snout of that common human pet he couldn’t remember the name of. On the top of the armor were two protrusions that he initially thought were horns, but turned out to be ears on closer inspection. The final oddity on the helmet was in between the ears, on the forehead. A thirty-or-so centimeter blade, with small teeth on the edge that he assumed to, instead of cut a target, rip it apart instead.
“What in the spirits...” It was then that Tallien truly knew fear for the first time in his military career. An unknown, new species that was handling the Turian navy with relative ease had just launched from pods into his ship. Around the bridge, he could see his crew reacting in a similar fashion as him, most simply staring in disbelief at what had just occurred.
“Did they just..” one began, before another ensign nodded in confirmation. Tallien began to worry. How powerful are they? How are they so experienced? How long have they been around. How many more are there ?
It was when he saw them move that he knew that he wasn’t dealing with a new, inexperienced race if the battle outside didn’t show him already. Going quickly from corridor to corridor, the group split in two to cover more ground, side-mounted double barreled explosive round firing assault rifles vastly out preforming anything that current mass effect technology could accomplish. Despite the best efforts of the crew and the onboard soldier garrison, the boarders went right through the ship, flamethrowers melting his men if they weren’t literally torn in half first. Every shot fired from his soldiers’ weapons were deflected off the enemy’s armor despite their lack of kinetic barriers, or rather any type of shields at all.
Tallien knew he wasn’t going to make it out alive, in one piece, or even in a recognizable state. The boarders regrouped and made it to the corridor leading to the bridge door. He said his last prayers, hoping that at the very least the boarders would abandon the ship once they disabled it, allowing the remaining crew to escape to the surface of the colony.
Eight. He made sure his gift from his father, a thirty three centimeter serrated blade was attached firmly to his belt.
Five. He calmed himself, knowing it would do no good to die hyped up.
One. He heard a pounding on the door.
Seconds later, it was blown in and the bridge crew quickly turned to face the commotion. One of the boarders, dressed in the most decorated armor of the four, strode in first. Despite having the full capability of eliminating him then and there, they simply stood there almost as if waiting for something. Tallien stood watching them, trying to figure out exactly what they were doing.
Thump
Turning around, he saw another two standing there, using magnetic pads to hold onto the metal hull around the glass. Adding to the bridge crews collective surprise was the brown glow surrounding, as if by magic, the glass of the viewport. Suddenly, a shot came from behind him smashing into the glass, shattering it into thousands of pieces. The last thing he remembered was a the feeling of a hovertank ramming him from behind out into space.
Unknown, orbit over Invictus colony, Caestus System, Minos Wasteland
The first thing he noticed was the pain. Not just a headache, which he did have, but a dull throbbing throughout his body, especially at his joints. The symptoms of minor decompression sickness. He tried opening his eyes, but saw nothing but a hint of gray in the center of his vision and a lot of black around the edges. He tried to move his limbs, but found them bound. That’s when reality hit him like a brick. His vision cleared up and he forced himself to ignore the pain and think.
He wasn’t on the Sword . Memories started flooding back to him. The distress call, finding the new ships, the ensuing battle, the eventual boarding and capture of himself and his crew. Speaking of his crew, where were they? He wasn’t in a lone interrogation room, but a larger one that looked like it was meant for multiple people. He wasn’t in a chair or anything of the like, but sitting on the floor in the corner. He looked around, seeing a camera above what looked to be a door and right under that, a large metal sculpting of an unrecognizable skull with wings on either side.
After several seconds of squirming around to get a better look at his surroundings, the door with the skull on it opened, and two of the purple armored quadrupeds walked in. They stepped on either side of him, and motioned for him to go to the center of the floor. He stood and walked over, when an additional guard brought in a stool for him to sit down in. The next visitor surprised him. Walking in through the door was not another guard, but the quadruped had similar armor and no helmet. It also had purple skin, which upon blinking to clear up his vision was actually very short fur, and a darker, longer, and neatly trimmed patch of fur similar to humans.
One particular thing of interest to him was the purple horn on its head. He shook his head in case he was hallucinating and sure enough, it was still there. If his brother wasn’t an expert on galactic mythology, then he wouldn’t have a clue on what the creature in front of him was. It came from the ancient humans. What was it... Pegasus? No, that was the winged horse. Unihorn? Something like that. What it did next confused him. Instead of trying to communicate, it simply walked towards him and placed its horn to his forehead. Normally he would do something to prevent something like that, but he didn’t have much choice.
“Can you understand me?” the creature suddenly spoke, causing Tallien to widen his mandibles in surprise. It had a lighter voice than the boarders on the Sword, leading him to believe it was a female of its species.
“What did you just do!?” he asked, getting nervous.
“I just looked into your mind and translated your language so I could speak it,” it said, moving one of its front legs to motion to itself.
He couldn’t believe his ears. It just learned his entire language? Just like that? “What are you, some kind of asari?”
“Asari?” it answered. “I’m afraid I don’t follow,”
He didn’t want to answer that. He probably said too much already. “Well, you were poking around in my brain like that. I just assumed that you were there for more than just language,” Tallien said, trying to understand what it was trying to do. If it could learn a whole language in an instant, why just his language?
“Well, I tried that. With the other subjects,” That sentence put a chill down Tallien’s back. “But, I... well... let’s just say it didn’t work. I also needed to learn a new language with each separate captive, so you apparently have some sort of real time translator to help with differing dialects.”
“Wait, what other test subjects?” he asked, wondering exactly what was going on. “Were they my crew?” He leaned forward, primal instincts trying to take over.
The creature placed the end of its leg in front of him, pushing him back into his seat. “Calm down, I’m not dissecting your people in some experiment.”
That didn’t help. “Then what are you trying to do here?” Tallien asked.
“Just trying to make more peaceful contact with your people before this gets blown into a full scale war,” It said in a stern voice. “Now, all I need from you is some basic information on your civilization,”
He stared at the purple creature.
“You know I could skip this part. I don’t have to keep you captive. I don’t have to waste my time here,” it said, seemingly bored.
Then why are you? Tallien thought.
It continued to talk, pacing in the space in front of Tallien. “I could just hack into your navigational data and go straight to your homeworld.”
You’re bluffing .
Stopping, the creature pointed its leg at Tallien, punctuating its main point. “Or, I can do what’s best for both of us. We can make a deal.”
No .
“You send a signal through the colony’s vox array to whoever, we send a diplomat, and there’s no war,” it explained.
He gave the purple creature a quizzical look. “Vox? You mean a comms array?”
It seemed confused for a second, but decided not to pursue the matter. “If that’s what you call a long distance communicator, then yes.”
Tallien mulled it over in his mind, thinking if he could even trust them, whether or not they would trace any response signal and attack there or something of the like. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“Not if you don’t want us to... procure a willing civilian from, then no, you don’t.”
Weighing the pros and cons in his head, he made his choice. “Fine.”
Brief overview of the military of the Imperium of Equuleus, recorded by Twilight Sparkle, Minister of Information
The Imperium’s military is essentially two parts. The first and larger part, the Imperial guard, is made of all three races and both genders. Since earth ponies are the most common race in the Imperium, they are the clear majority among the Guard. Pegasi are usually in scouting positions because of their natural ability to quickly fly around the battlefield quickly and stealthily. Unicorns in the guard are often engineers or other types of specialists because of their ability to directly control their inherent magic. There are also special forces, such as the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (Kasrkin in Low Equestrian), who represent the common ponies’ potential as a fighting force.
The Guard is by far the most numerous part of the Imperium’s military. In the billions, they are the backbone of the military and have their own special forces. Although Astartes are superior in every way except sheer numbers, the Guard is the main force of the military. The combat doctrine of the Guard is defined by their armament. Equipped with heat resistant armor and laser-based guns designed to bring targets down with volleys of fast, accurate fire, infantry are generally used to eliminate threats to vehicles while large, sometimes building sized, vehicles devastate enemy lines. The Guard is a slow but sure force against the Imperium’s enemies.
The Adeptus Astartes, commonly known as Space Marines, are the Imperium’s elite. Every Astartes is a Unicorn, the ability to magically control the environment being too valuable to give up. Every Astartes of a chapter is the same gender, each being modified from the geneseed, or base genetic code from which implanted organs are grown from, of the founding Primarch, the original leaders of the Astartes. For example, the Raven Guard all hail from a hero of the Pony-Eldar War, TROTLITE 117, while the Knowledge Keepers are modified from my geneseed. Their armor, the most recognizable symbol of the Astartes, is designed to withstand small arms fire, protect in extremely hazardous environments, and enhance physical attributes of the wearer, such as strength and speed. Their vehicles mainly consist of very fast hovercraft and versatile transports. Standard battles for Astartes involves extensive preplanning and quick execution, the durability and wide skill range of individual Astartes allowing for great tactical flexibility.
She fell to the ground, a piercing pain throbbing in her side. She tried to move her hoof and manage a more comfortable position, but she was so weak that not even her power armor helped. Giving up, the regal empress of the sun looked to the side, her sister dead on the floor next to her. Turning back to the figure standing in front of her, she was able to make out the hazy purple form.
“Twilight Sparkle.” A fit of coughing wracked her body. “My most faithful student...”
Empress Celestia’s private bedroom, Shield of Equestria, Widow System, one week and two days later
Celestia, the noble sun-empress and co-ruler of the Imperium, awoke with a start, sweat dripping off of her snout. She looked at the red digital clock on the wall of her bedroom. 00:23. Not her favorite time of the day.
Deciding that she wasn’t going to get to sleep even if she tried, she got up and slipped on her standard dress, consisting of her shoes, crown, and collar. Because of a protection spell, the one hundred percent gold items lasted thousands of years, dating back to the beginning of her rule. Rubbing the blurriness out of her eyes, she opened the door into the corridor.
She walked out of her private quarters of the Shield of Equestria , nodding her greetings to the guard next to the door. What was that? she thought. There’s been no conflicts between us, it doesn’t make any sense! For the first time since the Pony-Eldar War, Celestia was nervous. Heart beating in her chest, it’s pulse too loud to allow her to think, her-
She stopped, took a deep breath, and continued down the corridor. She was fortunate that the only other pony in the area was the guard, and even then would not see her pale, sweaty complexion. They would be worried about her confidence in handling this. And worry leads to doubt, doubt leads to fear, fear to hate... She stopped thinking of the subject. She knew her teachings, the warnings of the goddess Amos, everything the Imperium stood for. She and her sister were, and are, the prophets of it all.
Putting her unease to rest and calming herself, she eventually made it to the bridge. She walked up to the front of the spacious room, adorned with glowing sensor screens and communication lines. “How are we on time, Captain?” she asked to the uniformed mare in front of her. The pony in front of her turned and saluted.
“Just a few minutes, ma’am,” she said. Her tone was the same as usual, not noticing anything out of the ordinary, Celestia’s thousands of years of experience of managing emotions paying off.
Celestia looked out the window, noticing the oppressive purple cloud. It was amazing that, assuming the descriptions were true, it was all waste from the Citadel itself. For a nebula this opaque, she guessed that it must have been going on for hundreds of thousands of years, if not several million. “All ships accounted for?”
“Graced Savior and Heart of Gold reported in ten minutes ago, ma’am,” came the reply.
“Good.” Celestia said. She turned back to the mare. “Captain, please inform Twilight Sparkle that she to report to the transport bay; we’re going to leave soon.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Tayseri Ward, Citadel, Widow System
"Are you sure this is such a good idea, Empress?" Twilight asked as she and Celestia exited the shuttle into the wards of the Citadel.
Celestia turned to regard her. "I do not want to disillusion myself with their words," she answered, watching the native alien citizens meander about. "I have no doubt they left out some details about their 'peaceful' society."
"But wouldn't it be safer? Wouldn’t -”
“- AND STAY OUT!” a two-toned voice yelled, the unmistakable sound of a turian’s vocal cords. Seconds later, the thump of a body hitting the metal floor of the Ward was heard. In front of the two ponies, a small-framed, bodysuited figure got up on its feet and began to hobble away. It did, however, until it saw the new group of visitors.
“Keelah!” the quarian yelled, falling on its backside as it began to scoot away from Celestia, right into Twilight. “W-what are you?” the quarian asked, the higher voice, wide hips, and enlarged breasts causing Twilight to denote the creature as a female of its species. “Wait, you’re that new species everybody’s been talking about! What do you want?”
“Don’t worry, we’re friendly,” Celestia said, trying to calm her down. “We are on our way to the Council chambers.”
Realizing that she was not in danger, the quarian calmed down. “Then why are you here? Couldn’t you get a docking bay closer to the Presidium?” she asked.
“I am simply trying to determine what life is really like for the citizens of the Council,” Celestia said. “What is your name?”
“Lia. Lia’Vael nar Ulnay,” she said, managing to calm down.
“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Vael,” Twilight greeted, remembering something she read about quarian naming tradition. “Why were you thrown out?”
“I’m a quarian. What other reason do they need?” Lia responded sadly, unconsciously clenching her fists.
Celestia spoke up. “I remember being told of your kind, that yours is a race of beggars and thieves.”
Lia quickly responded. “It’s not true!” she yelled, pointing an angry finger at the empress. “We wouldn’t even have a bad reputation if it wasn’t for those bosh’tets on the Council!” Twilight’s translator that she received from the Council a week ago did not translate that word, but she could infer what it meant. “We held the same respect as any other race!”
“Enlighten us, then,” she said. “What happened?”
“Around three hundred years ago, we were similar to the humans, multiple systems, sizable navy, but we had something they didn’t. The geth. We created a race of mechanical servants who performed better as they grouped together and shared information.” Lia took a deep breath and continued, “However, they became more advanced than even we, the most technologically inclined race in the known galaxy, could notice.”
“Eventually, a worker-geth asked its master if it had a soul,” she continued. “They had become so advanced that they were able to think and were quickly approaching sapience if they hadn’t done so already. The ruling party then ordered a complete shutdown of all geth programs to prevent a possible uprising; the geth were essentially slaves and would’ve tried to fight for freedom.”
“They fought back and eventually drove us out of our home systems, killing every man, woman, and child in their way, leaving ninety-nine percent of our population dead. Fortunately, we were able to escape on a fleet of ships, the Migrant Fleet. We could have taken our home system right back then if we had Council support, we had a very sizable fleet. Instead, the Council revoked our embassy, deported many of us who had residence in Council space, and branded us as leeches of society as punishment for ‘unleashing the geth upon the galaxy’.”
Twilight stood dumbfounded, while Celestia seemed to be filled with a new resolve. “Why... how could they do such a thing?” she asked.
“They claimed it was our mistake and we had to deal with it,” Lia answered, hatred filling into her voice. “It’s funny; we had to restrict our fleet, in accordance with Council rules, in return for the ‘protection’ of the Turian Hierarchy.”
“And they left you for dead,” Celestia finished. Her reply was an angry nod from the young quarian. “Well, I must be going now. However, I do believe there may be a possible solution to your problem.”
Council Chambers, Citadel, Widow System
Large. Vast. Immense. Spacious. Boring . Those were the first words to come to Celestia’s mind as she surveyed the Council Chamber. For the “Center of all Galactic Civilization”, there was a lot bark and little bite. Of course she’d seen worse, but she’d also seen better, much better. Her very own throne room, for instance. Elegant pillars, pure white marble, intricate stained glass, not to mention the fact that it’s lasted since before she was even made, thousands of years ago by the original settlers of Equestria. Protection spell spell or no, pony engineering was not to be underestimated.
The smell was pleasant, the fragrance of blossoming trees filling her nostrils, not making her forget how underwhelming the whole room was. She heard many things in the room. The gentle sound of running water from the artificial ponds, the constant chattering of the officials and politicians around her, the silence of those around her as they stared at the delegates from the recently discovered species. The yelling emanating from the end of the room.
“This is not his decision!” one accented, male-sounding voice yelled.
A lighter, female voice spoke next. “Shepard’s induction into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting.”
“This meeting has no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, Councilor. And mine,” a third said, in a dismissing tone.
“You can’t hide behind the Council forever!” said a fourth, anger creeping into the owner’s voice.
A fifth spoke up, “There is still one outstanding issue: Commander Shepard’s vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon.”
“Are we allowing dreams into evidence, now? How can I defend my innocence against this type of testimony?” the third sarcastically asked.
“I agree. Our judgement should be faced on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation,” agreed a sixth voice, similar in sound to the third.
“Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?” the female finished.
“You’ve made your decision. I won’t waste my breath.” answered ‘Shepard’.
A short pause.
She continued, “The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied.”
“I’m glad to see justice was served.” replied the third, ‘Saren’.
“This meeting is adjourned.” As the female finished, Celestia reached the last set of stairs.
“Maybe Barla Vo-” Anderson said, before stopping mid-sentence and staring past Shepard’s shoulder. He turned around to see what his friend was looking at and-
“What.”
“... the Hell?” Udina finished.
“Is this a normal human greeting?” the object of the three humans’ confusion joked.
“Um, Udina, you’re the ambassador.” Shepard said, trying to draw the attention away from himself.
“So, I take it you are the representatives of the new species?” Anderson spoke up.
“Yes, I am,” Celestia replied. “Is... something wrong?”
“No, no. Nothing at all.” Udina dismissed. “Just a little... surprised at your species’ appearance.” He earned a quizzical look from the two aliens before him. “Meet us in the human embassy when you have the time, and I can explain.” He quickly led the other two humans away to the elevator, Shepard constantly looking back at the two ponies.
To say Celestia was confused was an understatement. She’d read the summaries of all known species given to her by the Council, but she still had no idea why they were acting so strangely. As far as she knew, this was the first time humans have ever heard of ponies. She knew it wasn’t shock at any exotic physical form; the hanar were much more different. Not thinking of an answer, she simply continued up the stairs to the waiting Councilors.
“Ah, you have arrived.” said the female from the earlier yelling match. “I am Council Tevos, representative to the Council of the Asari Republics.” she greeted. “This is Councilor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy,” she said, motioning to the person to her right, “and Councilor Valern of the Salarian Union.”
“The Imperium extends its thanks for wishing to deal with this situation directly.” Celestia replied. “As for a proper peace treaty, we are willing to set up a neutral planet near a Mass Relay at the edge of our border for trade.” she said.
“I may have a better idea.” Tevos said. “What if you were to join us?”
Celestia thought for a second. “Possible, what are your terms?”
Sparatus spoke up. “First, the reduction of your fleet according to the Treaty of Farixen, destroy any and all artificial intelligences, and allow Citadel agents to inspect military ships and vehicles according to Citadel regulations, along with free roam of Spectres.”
Downsize the fleet? Forced infiltration of Citadel agents? Military units given free reign in her territory? Celestia read up on the Council’s history, or at least their version of it. She knew what Spectres were. She also knew how much they were able to get away with.
He continued, “In return, you will have the full protection of the Citadel fleet, free trade with-”
“Councilors,” Celestia interrupted, “I am afraid I do not agree to your terms.”
The three xenos looked at her, almost looking outright stunned. Unknown to the empress, they were. Tevos spoke first. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”
“I said, we will not be joining you. We will remain separate, but open to communications.” Celestia restated.
“No one has ever denied an opportunity to join the Citadel.” Sparatus growled, his fists clenching behind his back.
Celestia gave him a hard glare. “No one has ever demanded that I decommission half my fleet, Councilor.” she almost yelled, only thousands of years of diplomatic practice keeping her anger in check. “Especially with our situation with the Eldar and Chaos!”
“Are you sure this is wise?” asked Valern. “You have enough enemies as it is; it would help to have allies...”
“Allies, Councilor?” Celestia interjected. “Allies do not force others into restrictive terms. Allies do not force others into downsizing their fleet.” She took an angry step forward, her golden shoe clanging on the surface of the platform, reverberating throughout the chamber. “Allies do not abandon others on the brink of extinction, and designate the entire race as thieves and vagrants for the actions of a few!”
“It is not your place to judge us!” Sparatus yelled back, earning a cautionary glare from the asari next to him.
Celestia did not respond. She bowed her head, steadying her breathing. She turned around began the long trek back towards the elevator, Twilight in tow, using the time to think of her next course of action. She ignored the looks of the spectators. She ignored the yells of the councilors behind her. She ignored the sinking feeling in her gut that she made a mistake. She only paid attention to her plan as she exited the Council Chambers.
In the privacy of the elevator, she turned to her companion. “Twilight, I need you to go to the human embassy...”
Visitors’ Airlock, Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Ismar Frontier
“Why am I here, again?” a styled unicorn asked, securing the helmet of her rarely used, but painstakingly maintained power armor. “I’m sure Twilight would be far more interested in this sort of thing.”
Celestia straightened her posture, but assuming a non-threatening and kind stance. “Because, Rarity,” she answered. “I hope to gain allies in this galaxy. A little economic help would go a long way. Besides, Twilight is already in discussion with Alliance representatives.”
“These people have thousands of ships,” Rarity countered. “I doubt that-“ The doors of the quarian airlock opened, stale air coming around the two ponies. Seeing the crowded corridor, the multitude of supply crates stuffed into every possible area, the ship’s envirosuited natives sleeping on cots between said crates, Rarity stopped mid thought.
A quarian male came up to the pair, followed by two armed guards holding assault rifles in a relaxed position. “Greetings, Empress. I am Kar’Danna, captain of the Rayya .”
Celestia nodded her head in acknowledgement. “Greetings to you as well, Captain. I’m glad your admirals and I could start diplomatic talks.”
“As am I,” Kar said. “Follow me; I’ll lead you to them.”
As the three quarians began to walk away with the ponies in tow, the two got a good look around. “These conditions are absolutely deplorable !” Rarity said into a private vox channel, not wanting the hosts in on her conversation. “How can they live like this?” she asked, stepping around a pile of an unidentifiable liquid running down the dark, grimy corridor.
“They do what they must to survive,” the empress answered. “They even need to maintain zero population growth, allowing only one or two kids per family.”
Before Rarity could respond, Kar turned back to them. “Here we are,” he said, stepping aside to allow access into the large room before them. “Good luck, I only hope our species can make a beneficial agreement.”
Celestia and Rarity got a good view of the Admirals’ Chamber, where several dozen quarians were crowded on a series of benches off to the side, forming a semicircle around the large podiums in the center. The area was no more cleaner or less cluttered than the rest of the ship, but more organized. What truly struck the two, though, was the array of plants along the walls, showing that the room was important enough for decoration. As they walked forward, Celestia noticed patches on the floor were a short, mossy plant as well. She wondered if the greenery was more for oxygen production than decoration, seeing as air scrubbers would seem to be harder to maintain.
“Greetings, Empress Celestia, Minister Rarity,” a raspy-voiced quarian said from one of the podiums. “I welcome you to the Rayya on behalf of the Admiralty Board.”
“Greetings to you, as well,” the empress answered, greeting the admiral with a nod. Alongside her, Rarity did as well. “I extend the Imperium’s warmest thanks for this meeting.”
“I am Admiral Shala’Raan vas Tonbay. To my right is Han’Gerrel vas Neema,” the green-clothed admiral nodded in response. “and to my left is Zaal’Koris vas Qwib Qwib,” The mentioned admiral straightened his posture, placing his hands behind his back. “We sincerely hope that our peoples can come to an agreement.”
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Celestia said. “In short, my deal is that we form an alliance, and you send us technology and specialists. In return, we can provide space ships, materials, and a safe haven for the fleet.”
“Tempting,” Han’Gerrel said, “but what of the geth? Our homeworld?”
“Excuse me?”
“We cannot live for long without regaining Rannoch.” he said. “It would take generations to adapt to a new environment, assuming we can even find any dextro-amino acid based planets.”
“Which there are, in our possession.” Rarity added.
“It would take generations to adapt, ” Han restated. “We can’t just go off to a new planet whenever we want! There needs to be a minimum of foreign contaminates.”
“Like I said, there are such in our possession.” Rarity repeated. “Or rather, there could be. In several years.” she amended.
That tid-bit of information piqued Zaal’s interest. “Several years?” he asked, raising a red, envirosuited hand.
Han glared at him. “Yes. As in, several generations.” he deadpanned.
“Now hold on-” was all Zaal was able to get out before being interrupted by the white armored pony before them.
“Hold on, gentlecolts!” She yelled, but not too loudly. She didn’t want to appear classless in front of possible allies. “When I said years, I meant in time for any newborns to be raised without helmets, and I meant it.” she finished.
Rejoining the conversation, Shala spoke up. “You can do that?” Her tone was high, hopeful and eager that this was not an empty promise.
“Well, I can’t.” she again amended, causing the shoulders of the admirals to slump slightly, even Han. “I shall need to speak with Minister Applejack, head of the Mechanicus for that, as she controls the terraforming process.”
Shala asked, “How exactly would this happen? A free planet, perfectly suited for us, just in time for my grandchildren, no catch?”
“Oh, it will simply take a few samples of native flora and fauna, and a few months for testing to get the ratios of life-type correct... Very little effort and energy on your part, basically.” Rarity answered.
“However,” Celestia interjected, “your suspicions are correct. There is a catch.”
“And that is...?” Han asked.
“We become formal allies. Protection on our part, full cooperation on yours.”
Han only narrowed his eyes. “What kind of cooperation are we talking about here?” he asked suspiciously.
“Mostly information,” the sun-empress answered. “I’m sure your kind knows territory borders, resource deposits, element zero technology,” Her mouth formed a sly smile. “Citadel navy strength and deployments.”
Human Embassy, Presidium, Citadel, Widow System
It was unbelievable. Two completely separate species, from two different parts of the galaxy, just now becoming aware of each other, and yet so similar? Twilight, the Minister of Information, the smartest pony in the entire Imperium, and she could not wrap her head around how it could happen. She was an advocate for convergent evolution, but this?
“Similar language as one from ancient humanity, similar technological asthetics, identical alphabet, and similar units of measurement? Several of our races and species well known about on Earth? ” Twilight said more than asked, recieving a nod from the human ambassador in front of her. “Anything else I should know, Mr. Udina?”
“No, I believe we have covered it all.” Udina answered, a thoughtful expression covering his face. He did not want to screw this up. A species new to Citadel space, militarily adept, and perfectly willing to become powerful allies with humanity, this was almost too good to be true. Although a decision to join with them may be seen with disdain by the Councilors, it could also be used as leverage.
“Now then, on to the reason I am here.” Twilight looked back at her saddlebags, magically opening it and pulling out a folder. As she placed it down on the table in front of the humans, she saw their faces. They still hadn’t gotten used to magic after it being explained as different from biotics.
“What’s this?” asked the second human at the table.
Twilight smiled inside, anticipating their reaction to her deal. “This, Captain Anderson, is the dossier of one of our best.” She slid the folder over to him with her hoof.
Picking it up and flipping through the pages, Anderson could only raise an eyebrow. “Adeptus Astartes? One of these Space Marines if I remember correctly?” he asked.
“Tactical Marine Malleus Inflictum of the Blood Ravens chapter, Third Company.” she stated. “Veteran of the Defence of Graia, a battle against a Chaos incursion on a Forge World.”
“What are you suggesting?” Udina asked, already having an idea.
Twilight turned her head to him, clearing her throat before speaking. “You may borrow him in your pursuit against Saren, as a gesture of good faith on our offers.”
Udina nodded his head, already overjoyed at the prospect. “We... graciously accept.”
“Just one?” Anderson asked. “Will he be okay with being separated from his squad?”
“His squadmates were killed in the attack, making him an ideal choice.” she answered. “He will be integrated back into the ranks after this mission.”
“I may have a use for him soon.” Anderson said, hinting to Twilight that something big was going to happen.
“Well, Minister Sparkle,” Udina said, standing up and extending his hand. “I believe we may have a deal.”
She shook it.
Brief overview of the magic and the Immaterium, recorded by Twilight Sparkle, Minister of Information
It is important to note that magic and the Immaterium are not the same, or even similar in “substance”. Magic is a special force used to manipulate the physical and metaphysical world, while the Immaterium is a different plane of existence entirely and not simply some type of energy. To begin, magic is exclusively present in all three pony races, four if the empresses are to be counted. There are certain abilities that are universal, such as “gripping” items with one’s hoof.
While each race uses magic, it is done in very different ways. The most obvious users, unicorns, are the only ones able to directly control their own magic. Whether it is to levitate objects, set something on fire, or anything of the sort, it is done by channeling one’s internal magic through his or her horn. Pegasi also use magic to fly and control the weather. While they do consciously use their magical ability, it is not a direct harnessing. Finally, there are earth ponies. Their magical ability is more to that of life and passive uses, such as strength and speed. Because of this, earth ponies are more suited to civilian jobs such as farming and the “grunt work” in the Imperial Guard. Alicorns, the race of the Empresses, are the three others combined and far more powerful, such as the sheer strength to rotate Holy Equestria to retain a night and day cycle, or move the moon around the planet itself.
The Immaterium is the product of the spiritual impact of emotions from sapient creatures throughout the galaxy. The Chaos gods represent these. Discord is the result of the galaxy’s unwillingness to be in harmony, Amos is love, and Nightmare is the perversion of life itself. It is theorized that well over fifty thousand years ago, there was a species that was the previous ruler of the galaxy. They were faced with extinction, they were quick to blame each other and their hatred and division grew so great that they were unable to stop their own death, leading to the creation of Discord. However, within those isolated pockets of survivors, they grew extremely close and the last thing any of them thought about was their family and friends, their last-minute love creating Amos. It is unknown how Nightmare came about, but one popular idea is that some of the survivors of the previous rulers were turned into near-robotic slaves for their conquerors, twisting their form into something beyond imaginable.
The two are not mutually exclusive, however. In the most obvious case of this, the Empresses Celestia and Luna are (the only, with very rare exceptions) psykers, ones who are mentally bound to the Immaterium. To achieve faster than light travel, specially trained ponies called Navigators use their magic to guide the ship through the Immaterium. The Astronomicon, which was created by the empresses, is similar to a lantern. It is used by Navigators to safely guide their ships. Without it, being lost in the Dark Space between galaxies would be a best case scenario.
Low Baltimare, Holy Equestria
Rainbow Dash almost screamed as she shot straight up in her bed, only restraining herself for the sake of the sleeping form next to her. She quickly glanced at the clock. Damn, I only have a few minutes. She took a peek around the room, finding her clothes as she got off the bed.
She glanced around the dark, cheap apartment she found herself in. She wasn’t usually one to stay out, but when there are some rather cute ponies, some things just needed to be done. Hurriedly slipping on her overcoat, she gave one last look at the stallion behind her as she slipped out the door.
She hated to leave him after such a short time, but she was the Element of Loyalty, after all. She had a duty to do.
Harmony Square, High Canterlot, Holy Equestria
She arrived at the front gate to the Departmento Inquisitorum without incident, with the exception of several stares from the guards and passing office workers. However, she ignored them and continued into the building through the large and imposing double doors.
She went at a quick pace to the top floor, where Twilight’s office was. This area was restricted; no one but the Ministers and their personal guards were allowed up here. She briskly trotted past a space marine of the Knowledge Keepers chapter, who stood stone-still at attention. She eventually reached the large door, the insignia of the Inquisition begging to be pushed open. She obliged.
She walked to her chair at the central table, filled with various holograms of maps, statistics, profiles of numerous individuals, and, more recently, samples of ‘mass effect’ technology. This ‘element zero’, or unobtainium as the common name, was very interesting to the Minister of Military. There were numerous possible applications, such as power armor light enough where a pegasus could take full advantage of its abilities, making pegasus Space Marines a viable idea. Maybe this could allow jump packs to be smaller and more compact to aid in close-quarters fighting. Lost in thought, it took her a second to notice the other Minister giving her an annoyed stare.
“You’re late,” Twilight said with a hint of annoyance.
“Sorry, I was... caught up.”
“Mhm,” came the reply. “Anyway, we’re in a bind. The Citadel races’ ‘mass effect’ technology is far above our own. There are currently negotiations for element zero-based technology, especially with the quarians.”
“So what do you need me here for? And why in person?”
“Security measures. I don’t want any poss-”
“Yeah, yeah, no one to intercept the call,” she said flippantly, waving a lazy hoof through the air. “Because we all know there are spies listening in on every vox transmission on every frequency.”
“This is serious , Rainbow! If the Council or Terminus systems get wind of this, there could be disastrous effects.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway,” she replied, “what do you want?”
“Military, Rainbow,” Twilight answered. “I want what you think of the Council’s military compared to ours.”
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “Well, our most immediate threat would be from their MACs, which have hundreds of kilometers on us. Their ships are vulnerable up close. Their defensive measures depend on shields which don’t even block energy weapons, and their point defense is a system of lasers designed for torpedoes. I’m in the process of making sure ships patrolling near Citadel space are outfitted with lascannons. If we get into knife range, probably by tactical warp jumps, we can punch right through their armor and they will barely make the paint melt.”
“And ground combat?”
“Again, they are reliant on shields which don’t block lasweaponry, and we have lasguns by the billions. We get unobtainium-based tech equivalent to at least the humans’ pre-contact level and we will roll right over them!” she finished, smiling to herself.
Twilight gave her friend a suspicious glare. “I hope your... confidence is not unfounded, Rainbow.”
The Minister of Military, however, paid her no attention and briskly exited the room, ideas forming in her head. What she said in there? Completely off the top of her head, and those ideas just might work. If she put some serious thought and research into this, she could make something magnificent. With the help from the quarians and humans, she could very possibly make Equestria safe for the first time in nearly three thousand years. She could secure a place for Equestria in the galaxy. She would establish a shining light for a dark galaxy and bring peace even if it meant conflict in the short term.
Joe’s Breakfast and Diner , Zakera Ward, Citadel
“I’m gonna tell you right now, we don’t have hay!” the bartender yelled as Malleus Inflictum, Blood Raven of the Imperium of Equuleus walked into the restaurant. The pony turned to regard him.
“I’m just here to meet someone,” he stated.
The bartender waved the pony off before filling a mug for a customer. “Sorry, there’s just a whole lot of you asking for your foods here.”
Indeed there is , Malleus noted. Around him he counted well over a dozen ponies, all in various states of interaction, stance, and intoxication. Most of the ponies, civilians judging from their uniforms, wore different colors or slight design changes depending on their position.
“Trader ship came in.” a voice chimed in behind him. “Crew got shore leave and most of ‘em came to this district.”
Turning around, the young space marine eyed the speaker. A pale-skinned human, male, slightly taller than average, looking to be around late twenties to early thirties greeted his sight. He had very short hair, a thin beard and dark gray armor decorated by a simple red stripe on the right arm. Military, experienced, something told him the human was one to be respected. The man grabbed the bottle in front of him, gulping it down before standing up to greet Malleus.
“Staff Commander John Shepard, Alliance Marines and Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance,” he said, holding his hand out to shake. Malleus calmly shook it, remembering his brief overview of common human behaviors.
“Tactical Marine Malleus Inflictum, Third Company, Second Squad,” he replied.
“I’ve read your resume.” Shepard said. “I have no idea what these ‘Eldar’ and ‘Chaos’ are capable of, so I’m going to assume that you’re some crazy badass to your species.”
“Compared to the majority, you could say that. However,” he explained, “not to the Astartes as a whole. That... honor would be reserved for the First Company, the Chapters’ veterans. I’m in the Third, just a... grunt as some would say.
Shepard raised his eyebrow, which struck Malleus as curious. “First company is veterans? How’s the rest organized?”
“Second through Fourth are simply filled in as needed, with the Fifth being the training regiment of initiates.” Malleus finished.
Shepard thoughtfully nodded his, before sitting back down and inviting Malleus to as well. “Numbers?” he asked.
Malleus, fearing he may break the bench under his weight, remained standing before answering. “Two hundred fifty per Chapter, divided into one fifty a Company, and then ten per squad.”
“How many Chapters?” Shepard asked.
“Twelve.” Malleus answered before receiving a stare from the commander.
“So,” Shepard began, “three thousand of you? Isn’t that a little much?”
“If spread out among our worlds, there’s about three each. In fact, most are in combat on the frontier worlds against Chaos, Tyranids, occasional Dog band, and Eldar, although the Eldar haven’t been as much trouble as of late,” he answered. “Three thousand is actually a fairly low number.”
Before Shepard could inquire further, his omni-tool lit up, alerting him to the time. “Sorry, Malleus,” he said, “we have to get to the Normandy. Follow me.” With a last gesture with Shepard’s omni-tool to pay for the drinks, the two marines set off towards the docks.
“Mally,” Shepard continued as they exited the bar, “you mind if I call you that?” A harsh stare was all the answer the commander needed. “Anyway, might want to start remembering your CQC. First stop is Feros, a city-planet of Prothean skyscrapers.”
Malleus turned his head to Shepard. “Feros? I think I’ve heard that before.”
“You probably did.” Shepard replied. “Been all over the news, ‘Geth invasion continues!’ Well, I think they have something we want.”
Malleus nodded. He could use a new mission to get his mind off of things, especially after Graia.
SSV Normandy, Citadel Docks
Malleus’s bunk was underneath another xeno’s in the crew compartment. Tali’Zorah nar Rayya, if he remembered correctly, which he always did. Tali was an odd one. During a brief tour of the ship by the commander himself, Tali was diligently slaving away at the engine’s computer, mumbling numerous calculations and phrases to herself, reminding him of the dragon techpriests. So focused, in fact, that she did not notice the three-quarter ton Marine and still-armored human walk up behind. Upon being startled by a tap to the shoulder, she shrieked, clutched tightly to the railing holding on for dear life, and had to catch her breath afterwards. Then immediately upon seeing Malleus, she immediately changed her demeanor, trying to get different looks at his armor and asking about it. He thought it funny how one could change her mind so easily.
Upon gaining a proper view, he noticed a few oddities about the quarian species. The most prominent was the suit. It was reminiscent of traditional Trottarnian dress, where the harsh sun and wind would force anyone who wished to venture outside to cover from head to hoof, causing the citizens to dress decoratively to differentiate each other easily. Instead, the quarian suits were designed to protect the wearer from any foreign contaminates which would cause their weak immune system to go into overdrive. Hopefully, a deal could be struck between the Imperium and the Flotilla, and things would soon change for the quarian species.
Getting back to himself, he quickly unlatched the locks in his armor and placed it in a special container, bidding the machine spirit a good rest. He then turned and trotted out the door. Upon reaching the elevator, he entered and pressed the button to descend.
He reached the bottom to be greeted by the young quarian. “Hello, Malleus.”
“Greetings, Miss Zorah,” he returned, stiffening his posture to a more formal stance. “I understand you wished to see me?”
Tali gave a curt nod. “Yes. Shepard wanted me to outfit you with a kinetic barrier for your armor,” she informed, keenly looking him over. “You, uh, you don’t have to be so formal.”
Malleus loosened his stance in compliance. “Kinetic barrier? A sort of personal energy shielding used to protect against physical weapons traveling above a certain velocity, correct?”
“Yes, actually. In fact, I may be able to use a more powerful model, seeing as your armor is powered.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“A large power source for a large power drain, much larger than the standard portable batteries. If I can syphon a fraction of it, you can have many times the strength of other barriers.”
“That’s clever of you,” Malleus complimented. “Unfortunately, it is unlikely to work.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Tali asked in confusion.
“I am not sure my armor’s machine spirit will be pleased with such meddling.”
Tali blinked in confusion. “What?”
“Machine spirit. The spirit that inhabits any sufficiently advanced piece of machinery, as proclaimed by the Adeptus Mechanicus,” he explained.
“What.”
“To tamper with it without preforming the proper rituals and incantations could lead to disastrous results.”
“What .”
“Indeed, I have personally seen even battlefield repair jobs malfunction at the wrong time. Personally, my armor and weapon have performed admirably so far,” he recalled in pride. “In fact, there are many times they should have failed yet continued to function.”
Tali stared blankly at the pony. “I should go.” She left.
Unknown Space
The massive Marathon Class super-heavy cruiser finally ended its treacherous journey, exiting from the Immaterium in a state of disrepair. Nearly three quarters of the outer plating was gone, burned away in a surprise attack by an enemy the Imperial warship could have never imagined. Most bulkheads had been automatically sealed upon decompression, leaving few unfortunate souls to perish while saving many more.
The bridge had suffered from several explosions when the enemy’s weapon tore through the ship. The acting commander of the ship, Nocta Vigilum of the Lunar Wolves, braced herself against the railings of the bridge. The unease one normally felt from traveling through the impossible dimensions of the Immaterium was gone; after an amount of time, one simply ceased to feel the effects. Her clear mind helped cope with the stressing situation.
“Somepony get those fires out!” she commanded to nopony in particular. She pointed to the stallion working the local vox channel. “You, get a status report from all stations!” She turned to one of the mares studying the navigation map. “Any idea at all where we are?”
“No idea, ma’am,” she solemnly answered. “However, Empresses help us, we may be able to decipher a quadrant and general location.”
“A quadrant is the best that can be done?”
“Ma’am, we were just spit out of the warp after a nearly blind jump to escape from the unidentified hostile,” the mare defended. “Honestly, we should all be thankful we are alive and mostly in one piece.”
“Very well,” Nocta replied. She sighed deeply, trying to sort out the situation. Her subordinates had taken over their assigned duties, each one efficiently guiding the ponies under their command and leaving Nocta free to think ahead. First thing she should do was attempt to identify the hostile.
“Bring me up any scans we have on that ship,” she requested. In seconds, a single grainy image popped up above the holographic projector in the center of the bridge. It was utterly alien to her. Organic shapes suggesting a Tyranid bioform, but random pieces of some metallic material put that idea to rest as the Tyranids were incapable of using technology. “What can anyone tell me of the weapon used to disintegrate our hull?”
“Some type of particle beam, ma’am. A stream of molecules traveling at near-light speeds, far faster than anything the Imperium has come up with so far.”
“I know what a particle beam is,” she snapped back. “But I do wonder who could have produced such a weapon.” She examined the long, bulbous shape. It was essentially a giant tube with what appeared to be a honeycomb cut up and strewn liberally across the central cannon and engine. “And how they sneaked up on us...”
Standard Galactic Codex: Organizations: Adeptus Mechanicus
The Adeptus Mechanicus, formerly known as the Draconic Dominion, is Equestria’s closest and oldest ally. Upon the onset of the Pony-Eldar War, the small collection of clans scattered throughout Equestrian territory were gathered together in a deal struck between Queen Celestia and the numerous clan leaders. The reclusive but technologically advanced dragons would become the technological and manufacturing arm of the UESC. Now, hundreds of years later, they have grown considerably and incorporated more religion and ritual into their works as time went on. Instead of only dragons, the different races of ponies have been allowed into their ranks.
The typical techpriest is half organic and half machine, some more the latter than the former. They worship a god, called the Machine God (alternate: Omnissiah or Deus Mechanicus), who is said to be the embodiment and bestower of all knowledge and technology in the universe. For many in the Imperium of Equuleus, this belief conflicts with the orthodox theology of the Imperial Cult where the only god of ponykind is Amos. But since the Adeptus Mechanicus is vital to the survival of the Imperium, conflict over this issue is often avoided by the Mechanicus' willing conflation of the Machine God and Amos, and the Machine God's avatar in the physical world being the Empresses themselves. This compromise truly satisfies neither believers in the Adeptus Mechanicus or the Imperial Cult, but it keeps the peace between the two faiths and the Imperium functioning.
The Mysteries of the Cult Mechanicu s:
Author's Note
Thanks to Dozy Dreamer for prereading.
