Chapter 2: Powers That Be
The other end of comms stay silent.
The three beings stood before you and your group, your eyes locked on them, their eyes on you.
Darius takes cautious steps towards you. He leans in a bit towards your left ear after reaching you, his gaze still on the three beings.
“Boss... What the fuck am I lookin’ at?” He asks in a hushed and apprehensive tone.
You didn’t know how to answer such a question. You stay silent, your eyes locked on the bizarre entities before you.
Their appearance is striking, overwhelming your visual senses. They reminded you heavily of the equestrian species back on Earth, but with some very key differences.
The one in the center standing directly across from you is the tallest one of the three, meeting you at eye-level.
The first thing you notice is that its eyes are a bit more centered towards the face. The iris of its eyes are light purple, more detailed and pronounced with a large black pupil in the center. You can make out a few shimmers of light in its pupil, mostly from the light of the star. Its eye shape and size share practically no similarities to the common equine, with an exotic but vaguely human-shaped appearance. You can make out thin eyelashes at the top and bottom of its eyes. They look remarkably well-kempt.
Its face and muzzle are extended outwards with two small nostrils on the front end of it with a soft and smooth jawline, completely defying the facial structure of any equine you know of. At the top of its head is an elongated spiral horn, thick at the base, thinning outward along the shaft with a rounded end.
Its body structure is more sleek and streamlined rather than brawny or muscular. Its body length, shorter and more stubby. Its legs, longer but more broad. Its neck is elongated upwards instead of outwards.
Its body is covered in a pure-white thin fur coat. It looks so clean that some of the sunlight glared off of it like light hitting polished metal.
There are markings on both sides of its flank that you cannot distinguish at this angle.
There are two huge white wings with an inner and outer set of white feathers protruding from the top of its back, spread out like a soaring eagle, but pointing upwards. You can make out the individual feathers running down the front and back of the wings. Some of the light from the star gleamed off of them.
It is wearing a large, gold-tinted piece of jewelry with a large diamond-shaped dark purple gemstone in the middle. It is wrapped around the base of its neck, the bottom pointed end of it stopping at the top of the barrel, slightly forward of the forelegs. On the top of its head behind its horn is a medium-sized gold-tinted crown or tiara. In the center of it is another gemstone in the same color and shape as the one that is on the piece of jewelry on its neck. It is wrapped around the top of the head, looping around the side and back of the one ear you can see. At the bottom of all four of its legs, where you assume the hooves to be, are gold-tinted circular pieces of jewelry wrapped around the bottom of them, proceeding upwards, stopping a quarter way to the middle of its legs. If these are some type of horseshoes, they are the most elegantly designed horseshoes you have ever seen.
Despite all of this, its mane and tail had to be the most eye-catching features of this being. Its bright, multicolored mane and tail both steadily flowed through the air like a large flag on a windy day. One of its ears stuck out of the mane with the other hidden behind it. You can easily make out the colors that flowed down them in stripes from the top all the way to the ends of them. Blue, cyan, purple, and pink. Each of these colors flowed majestically against each other, but never overtook one another.
Standing to your right, across from you, parallel to the the white being is another that shares many of the same facial and body structure that the white one does. The only differences being that the legs are shorter and the eyes shaped slightly differently.
The iris of its eyes are a cyan color with the same pupil size and same reflective shimmer. Its eyelashes are slightly larger and more pronounced than the white equine directly across from you, running around the top edges of its eyes.
This being has a dark blue, thin fur coat with a pair of slightly smaller wings, its height only reaching mid-torso level, and is a bit lankier and thinner than its white counterpart. Strangely, the light from the star didn’t shine off of its coat or feathers.
There are markings on both sides of its flank like the other that you cannot distinguish at this angle.
It isn’t wearing vast amounts of jewelry like the white equine being. Instead, it is wearing a very dark, more circular black item around the base of its neck. It is so dark, in fact, that you cannot discern whether it is cloth or jewelry. In the middle of it is a white symbol, almost in the shape of a waxing crescent moon. It has a smaller, very dark purple tiara that rests upon its head behind its slightly shorter horn. On all four of the bottom of its legs are dark, silver-tinted horseshoes with a more angular and pointed design to them, stopping a quarter way to the middle of its legs.
Its mane and tail have the exact same flowing effects that the white equine being has. However, the mane and tail are a dark blue color, with what you can only describe as small stars or sparkles randomly dotted along and around them. There is a thin, dark purple transparent outline flowing around the shape of the mane and tail.
Standing to your left, across from you, parallel to the white equine is the smallest one compared to the other two, only reaching your waist in height. Its legs are smaller and more stumpy.
While the body structure of this being is similar, the facial features are not. The eyes of it are shaped more roundly, with a defining end point at the bottom center of them. The iris is dark purple, with large black pupils in the center with the same shimmering light. Its muzzle is flattened more towards the face, and has a rounded, more circular structure to it. There are a few long, pronounced eyelashes running down the outer edges of the eyes, spaced evenly from each other. Its own horn is smaller, but slightly thicker than the other two equine beings.
It has a thin, purple fur coat that has a moderate shine to it from the star. The wings on the top of its body were closed, feathers snugly and evenly tucked towards its side.
There are markings on both sides of its flank like the other two that you cannot distinguish at this angle.
Unlike the blue and white equines, the mane and tail of this purple being did not flow through the air. They are still, only moving slightly when the wind hit them. They are dark indigo with two stripes of a lighter shade of violet and a dark purple running through the center of the mane near the horn, also running down the center of its tail.
You and your group stared at them with what felt like an eternity.
The white equine in the center trots a few steps closer and then stops a short distance in front of you.
It smiles.
“Greetings. Welcome to Equestria.”
It spoke with an almost motherly tone. A voice that brought peace to its surroundings, almost infusing itself to the ambiance around you.
You hear a few of the people in your group gasp.
“Holy shit... It speaks English!” You hear Peter behind you say with an astonished but hushed tone.
Staring at the white being still, you hear a few footsteps approach from behind you. Sergeant Henderson is now slightly behind you to your right. She leans herself slightly towards you closer to your right ear.
“Well don’t just stand there... Say something!” She whispers to you.
In that moment, you manage to escape your gaze of the entity in front, turning your attention to Sergeant Henderson.
“What the hell do you want me to say? I didn’t receive training for a surprise first contact mission!” You whisper back with intensity.
“Does it look like we have the survey teams with us?” Sergeant Henderson sighs and looks at you. “Look... You couldn’t do any worse than I can. If anything goes south, we’ve got you covered.” She says, now nudging you forward with her left arm.
You look towards the ground with your eyes closed.
“Fuck...” You mutter under your breath.
You look back up at the white equine, hesitation flowing through your entire body.
You take a deep breath, then exhale.
You take several steps forward and stop, only mere feet from the white equine.
It maintains its smile as you stand in front of it, eagerly awaiting your first words.
“H-hello there.” You tentatively say with a small wave of your hand.
The white being appears pleased with your greeting and grins.
It puts a hoof from its right foreleg to the top of its barrel. “My name is Princess Celestia. Current ruler of this region of Equestria.” Princess Celestia takes the same hoof and aims it at the dark blue equine to her left, turning her head to look at it.
The dark blue equine trots forward stopping next to Celestia with a smile on its face.
It stops to the side of Celestia.
“This is my sister, Princess Luna. She also rules this land along with me.”
Princess Luna brings her head downwards, closing her eyes. “Greetings, newcomers.” She brings her head back up, reopening her eyes, maintaining the smile she has.
She spoke with a dignified, almost royal accent, in a softer tone compared to Celestia’s.
Princess Celestia aims her hoof towards the purple equine to her right and looks towards it.
The purple equine trots forward with a nervous looking smile and stops next to Celestia.
“This is my star student, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Celestia brings her hoof back down to the ground.
“Hello.” Twilight says waving her hoof in a gesture of greeting. “I don’t rule Equestria like Luna and Celestia do, but I do watch over a small village named Ponyville a decent distance from here.” She brings her hoof back down to the ground.
Twilight’s voice is a bit more high-pitched than Celestia’s and Luna’s. It has a young, juvenile tone to it with a mask of maturity flowing through.
At least you can verify that they are all female. Luckily, they didn’t have some wild alien gender that you would have no possibility of knowing.
Princess Celestia brings her attention back towards you, meeting you eye-to-eye once more.
“Are you the leader of your group here? You came down from those giant pillars in the sky, right?” She curiously asks, aiming one of her forelegs towards the colony ships that are visible from the ground.
You look up at them for a moment, then bring your attention back to Celestia.
“Yeah. We’re all from one of those.” You confirm with a nod. “Although, I’m not really the leader here.”
It certainly did feel that way considering the positions you’ve been put in so far.
“Oh? Then who would that be?” She courteously asks.
“Well, it’s-“
As you were about to explain, static begins coming through the earpiece followed by a familiar voice.
“-vision four, do you read? Sergeant Henderson, Doctor Brookes, respond!”
Perfect timing.
“Um... give me a second.” You say raising your left index finger to them.
“Admiral, I read you. Go ahead.” You bring your right index and middle fingers to your earpiece, holding it in more to hear better.
“There’s a lot of inte- nce. What’s your -tuation? Is the -tpost esta- shed?” You can hear his broken speech say through the earpiece, moderately able to make out what he’s saying.
“Negative, Admiral. Our status is green. We’ve experienced a bit of a delay.”
“Admiral, this is Sergeant Henderson. We’ve made first contact. Acknowledge.” You hear Sergeant Henderson say, turning your attention towards her.
“Come -gain, Sergeant... Did you say you -ade first contact?” You hear the Admiral ask.
“Affirmative, sir.” The Sergeant confirms.
There’s silence on the other end for a few seconds.
“-ou confirm non-hostile?”
“Yes, sir. They seem friendly... for the moment.”
Twilight, Celestia, and Luna all raise their brows in unison, eyeing Sergeant Henderson in suspicion.
“Doctor Brookes, do you -ead?”
“Yes, Admiral. I’m here.” You hear Doctor Brookes say a short distance from you.
“Is the air breathable?”
“Yes, Admiral. Rebreathers don’t seem to be required.”
“-erstood. I’m going to take a shuttle craft down t- -our location. For the moment, stall them. ETA -even minutes. Admiral Hen- -on, out.”
The earpiece goes silent.
Sergeant Henderson nods at you, giving you a small gesture to continue the conversation that you were having with the three equines.
You turn your attention back to Princess Celestia. “Our leader is on his way. Shouldn’t be too long.” You say with a nod.
“Oh? You spoke to him already?” Celestia asks in surprise.
“How did you do that without sending any letters?” Twilight asks, curiosity forming on her face.
“Letters?” You reply with a raised brow. “Erm... We don’t send letters to each other. At least, not anymore.” You explain.
“What?!” Twilight exclaims as she leans forward somewhat. “Are you all telepathic or something?” She asks with more intensity in her voice.
You blink a couple times at her, taken a bit off guard by her suggestion. Although, you knew that you maybe should’ve expected this.
You shake your head and you couldn’t help but to crack a small smile. “No, no, no... Nothing like that.”
You turn your body to the left along with your head and place your right hand near your ear and point at your earpiece.
“This device around my ear allows me to communicate instantly with whoever I talk to on the other end at long distances.” You explain.
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight stood there, flabbergasted by what they’re hearing.
After some time, Celestia relaxes the astonished expression she had, taking on a more serious one.
“It seems like your technology is far beyond what I thought was initially possible. When we saw a strange object flying down from one of those huge pillars, we decided to follow and investigate. All of this caused quite a stir back at Canterlot and Ponyville. Many of our citizens are hiding in their homes fearing that it’s the end of the world or something.“ Celestia says.
You take your hand and rub the back of your neck with it. “Yeeaah... Sorry about that.” You put your hand back down to your side.
“You see... We were supposed to... erm...“ You try to think of a word to simplify how your ships station themselves after a jump. “park... next to the star here near your planet, but our ship’s navigation made a bit of an error and put us near your planet instead.” You explain.
“Ahhh... So those are ships then...” Luna looks up at the ships above, studying as many details as she can see with a hoof to her chin. “What a peculiar design...”
“Wait... So... They fly through space?” Twilight inquires with a raised brow.
You look at her and nod. “Yeah. At pretty high speeds too.”
“That’s... That’s incredible!” She exclaims forming a huge grin on her face, excitement bursting through her voice. “We have our own flying machines but nowhere near the level you all have!”
You laugh under your breath, forming a grin on your own face.
You suddenly hear footsteps come up behind you and you turn to see Jordan approaching your left side.
He stops next to you, his attention focused on Celestia.
“Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt your pleasant conversation here, but we still haven’t addressed the enormous elephant in the room.” He remarks.
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight switch their attention to Jordan.
“Forgive me Princess... but...“ He stops for a moment, collecting himself.
“What are you?” He cautiously asks.
“I’ve been wonderin’ the same damn thing this whole time.” Darius says.
“I second that.” You hear Peter says as he approaches closer behind you. “They kinda remind me of that one mythological ancient Greek creature, Pegasus. But a lot less... um... animalistic.” He adds.
Silence filled the air again.
Celestia stares down your group with a blank expression on her face.
You hope that Jordan didn’t just offend her somehow.
After a few moments, Celestia closes her eyes and smiles.
She opens them again, her attention locked on you.
“We are Equestrians. We have existed on this world for thousands upon thousands of years. But to be more specific... We are Alicorns. My kind are the main ruling body in multiple different parts of our world. However, many of our kind are concentrated here in Equestria. It is our home of origin. We are capable of greater things compared to our other counterparts; the Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies. We excel at flight, and are highly gifted in magic.” She explains to your group.
‘Wait... Magic?’ You think to yourself. But before you could ask about it, you hear a loud, mechanical roar approaching from the sky.
You, your group, and the three Equestrians all turn their attention towards the object that is now looming overhead close to your position.
The four side thrusters on it turn vertically, flames spewing out of the bottom.
It’s one of the shuttles from the New Dawn. The sound emitting from its thrusters as it begun landing was piercingly loud. Way louder than what you were used to hearing from it.
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight trot backwards from the landing shuttle, fearful expressions beginning to form on their faces.
The shuttle proceeds downwards, the grass and trees around it blowing around violently from the powerful force of the thrusters.
You put one of your hands up towards your face, and squint a little to protect your eyes.
The shuttle lands near your group’s location with its rear facing towards you. The thrusters begin to calm with the flames dying down, and the engine wanes.
The engine of the shuttle falls silent, flames no longer bursting from its thrusters.
You, your group, and the three Equestrians lock eyes on the rear hatch of the shuttle.
The rear hatch door-pumps hiss as the door begins unsealing itself.
It lowers, and slowly makes its way towards the ground, forming a ramp when it stops.
Standing in the center of the shuttle above the hatch is Admiral Henderson with his arms behind his back. He takes a few steps forward out of the shuttle proceeding down the ramp, looking around him as he does so. He takes his feet and cautiously steps down onto the grass below him.
Two security guards follow behind him, both taking positions to the left and right of the Admiral as they step off the shuttle.
After he finishes absorbing the sights around him, he stops and looks towards Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.
His eyes widen and he raises a brow. “Well I’ll be damned...” He says quietly, completely awestruck by the three equines before him.
He proceeds towards the three walking through your group, and after taking a few steps, stops a short distance from them with his security detail close behind.
He turns his head to you slowly, appearing to have some difficulty taking his eyes off of Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.
“Do they speak English?” He asks you.
“Yes, sir.” You answer with a quick nod.
“Oh, good... That makes things a lot easier.” He says giving a quick sigh of relief. He turns his head back towards the three then clears his throat.
“Greetings. My name is Admiral Clifford Henderson. I am acting captain of the C.S.S. New Dawn, leader of the Corsair colony fleet, and commander of the crew you see before you. Let me be the first to say that it is an absolute pleasure to encounter another species here in the vast expanses of space. I am looking forward to a close relationship between both of our species.” He stops for a moment, then takes another breath. “I would also like to formally apologize if our ships coming here caused any disruption or disturbance to your people. We were supposed to jump in next to the star, but our ships made an error. We hope you can forgive the intrusion.” He proclaims with a pronounced voice to the three.
Celestia smiles and trots forward towards the Admiral. She stops only a few feet from him.
“While your ships did cause some disturbance, it is something that can be completely overlooked in due time.” She bows her head towards the Admiral and closes her eyes. She reopens them and lifts her head back up.
“My name is Princess Celestia. The land you now stand in is part of the region of Equestria that me, my sister, Princess Luna, and my pupil, Princess Twilight Sparkle rule over. As I explained to your crew here, we are Equestrians. More specifically, we are Alicorns. One of the main species of ponies that reside here in these lands and beyond.” She explains.
“Now... Since I’ve explained what we are to you and your crew twice now, I believe it only to be fair that we ask the same of you.” She brings a hoof to her chin. “Is that alright?” She tentatively asks.
“Absolutely. I’d be more than happy to.” Admiral Henderson says with a nod.
“We are Humans. We originate from the planet, Earth. Like you, we have existed on our own world for thousands of years. Perhaps longer. Our origin is... muddy, to say the least. A lot of our history has been lost to time, and many theories as to where we come from are unconfirmed. Regardless of that, we are a highly adaptive and technologically-based species.” He proudly explains.
“Humans then... How fascinating.” Luna says, trotting towards you and your group.
She stops a few feet from you, and looks up at you.
You look down at her.
You both lock eyes with each other, her appearance magnified by her close proximity to you.
As she looks at you, it almost felt like her gaze was piercing your very soul. Despite this, you couldn’t bring yourself to look away. You curiously tilt your head a bit to the side, your brain familiarizing itself with her visage.
There is a feeling building in your chest you couldn’t explain, but before it could overtake you...
She smiles at you, blinks, then turns, trotting back towards her sister, Celestia.
That feeling in your chest recedes and you scratch the back of your head, wondering about what you just experienced.
Your head and eyes follow her as she trots off, bringing herself into full view of her proportions. At this angle, your eyes brought their attention to the marking on her flank.
There is a big black marking on it with a white moon-shaped crescent, almost exactly the same as the shape that’s on the center of her neck piece with some black splotches around the marking.
You wonder what it means, if anything.
Twilight trots forward, and upon reaching the side of Celestia, she stops.
“So... Now that we’ve got all that out of the way... Now what?” She asks Celestia, looking up at her.
Celestia looks down at her and sighs. “Well... Now comes the fun part, Twilight.”
She looks back at Admiral Henderson. “Diplomatic discussions... As fun as that is...” She sarcastically says, rolling her eyes to the very notion of discussing politics.
“Although...” Looking at the Admiral, she grins. “On the bright side, this should be a lot more interesting speaking about politics and diplomacy with a species not from our world.”
“I agree. I’m excited myself for future discussions.” The Admiral concurs, nodding his head.
He looks around for a moment, then back at Celestia, raising a brow. “Where should we conduct these discussions, Princess?”
“Oh! Right! Silly me...” Celestia says, laughing to herself. “There is a sizable city named Canterlot not far from here. Located there is Canterlot Castle, where Luna and myself reside. There is a courtyard large enough for your smaller ships to land. You may follow our chariot there.”
“Our shuttles... Yes, we can follow you there.” Admiral Henderson turns his attention towards you and your group, including his security detail. “You’re with me.” He commands pointing at you. “Sergeant Henderson. You are coming along as well.” He says bringing his attention to the Sergeant.
“Yes, sir.” She replies with a stand to attention.
“The rest of you are to stay here and guard this area. It seems quiet, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.” The Admiral says looking at the security detail.
“Yes, sir. Nothing’s getting through us.” Malcolm says with a nod.
He looks towards your crew. “Engineers of the fourth. I want you to continue prepping your equipment. Set up signal and comms boosters and make sure they are functioning properly.”
Jordan, Darius, and Peter nod at the Admiral in acknowledgement.
He looks at Doctor Brookes. “Doctor. I want you to continue your studies of the area. Gather data and pull all the info you can about this planet. A survey team will be down with you shortly to conduct reconnaissance of the area.”
“Of course, Admiral.” She nods.
“Sir. Shouldn’t I be overseeing construction of the base?“ You question.
Admiral Henderson looks back at you. “Not right now, no. Like you said over comms, we’ve ran into a delay.” He looks at Celestia for a moment then looks back towards you. “A very unexpected delay... We need to be sure that it’s acceptable to build here by them before we construct the outpost. We don’t need to be putting human structures on already owned territories. We’ve been intrusive enough.”
You nod, but another question comes to mind. “With respect, sir, but... Why do I have to go with you?”
“I have a special request of you once we get to this ‘Canterlot Castle.’ We can discuss it there. Just play along for now, son.”
You nod your head. “Yes, Admiral.”
Celestia turns her head down to Twilight, looking at her. “Twilight. Once our chariot nears Ponyville, I’d like you to fly down and assure everypony there that everything is alright. Tell them Luna and I are taking care of it.” She says with a smile.
Twilight nods her head back at Celestia and smiles herself. “Ok. It’ll be a bit difficult to convince everypony, but I’ll manage.”
“Very good.” Celestia turns her head to Luna. “Luna. Shall we?”
Luna nods her head with a smile. “Yes. Let’s depart.”
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight turn themselves and trot towards the chariot. The white, winged Equestrians at the front of it steel themselves for another flight.
Admiral Henderson and Sergeant Henderson turn and proceed towards the shuttle that the Admiral took.
Before you go, you turn to look at your crew.
Jordan, Darius, and Peter all look at you with obvious concern and worry on their faces.
“Hey... Be careful out there, man. I know those Equestrians seem friendly but we still don’t entirely know what they’re capable of yet.” Jordan cautions.
“They do seem really nice, yeah. But Jordan’s right. Just in case, keep your sidearm ready.” Peter adds in a hushed tone.
“Radio the Doctor if any trouble comes your way and we’ll gather the security detail here and come and get you and the Hendersons.” Darius says.
You nod at them. “I’ll be careful.”
“Come back to us safe, boss.”
You nod at them once more and turn to make your way towards the shuttle that the Admiral and Sergeant are in.
You step up the ramp leading inside, and after climbing it, enter through the hatch frame.
Standing in the center, you see a female in the left pilot seat of the cockpit along with Sergeant Henderson who is sitting in the right pilot seat. Admiral Henderson is standing in the cockpit, in between and behind the pilot and the Sergeant.
You approach the innermost area of the shuttle, taking a seat closest to the cockpit. From here, you have a good view outside the cockpit’s front window.
The hatch begins closing itself, sealing shut after a few seconds.
“Alright Zeta 2. Take it away. Follow the flying chariot.” Admiral Henderson orders.
The pilot, Zeta 2, looks back towards the Admiral. “Pardon me, sir... But did you say follow a flying chariot?” Zeta 2 asks raising her brow.
Admiral Henderson nods. “I did. There’s a chariot we’ll be following. I want you to stay on its six, but keep a respectable distance. It’s going to lead us to another area we can land.”
Zeta 2 turns around and flips some switches. “Um... understood, sir. Pre-flight checks complete. We’re prepared for takeoff.”
The engine of the shuttle stirs, and you hear the thrusters from it begin to fire up.
Flying and talking horses, flying chariots, castles, villages, and Princesses. This is all turning out to be like some kind of fantasy out of a children’s book.
Is this actually happening?
Is any of this real?
Or are you still dreaming, sleeping soundly in your cryo pod?
You certainly felt awake. As futile as it would be, you even pinched yourself once to be absolutely certain.
Nope. This is happening. You and your companions have proceeded down a path that cannot be turned back from.
You had no idea what to expect at this ‘Canterlot Castle.’ Anything could be waiting for you there.
You turn your head to look out the front cockpit window of the shuttle. You can see the chariot moving through the sky as your shuttle follows from a distance. It’s going a pretty surprising speed.
The structures that you pointed out to your group earlier come into view, and you can see what appears to be a moderately sized village as your shuttle approaches.
The shuttle passes over them, and you can make out some more details. The structures almost looked like small shacks from this height, their roofs covered in a light brown material you cannot identify from here. There were quite a lot of them, each a different shape, size, or color. You can make out some vegetation around them.
In another direction is what appears to be some kind of farm in the distance. You can vaguely make out a red barn-shaped structure there, with a large landscape around it dotted with heavily concentrated trees. You swear that you can make out some familiar looking animals standing around the barn.
Coming next into view is a tall, tree-like structure that towers over all else. Most of the top of this structure is vaguely in the shape of a castle, seeming to be supported by an immense tree trunk below it with roots sprouting from the top of it, holding the castle-shaped structure in place.
’This must be that village called Ponyville that Twilight mentioned earlier.’ You think to yourself.
Eyeing the ground, you didn’t see a single body or soul in sight, but you expected this.
Suddenly, you see Twilight leap from the chariot she was on and fly towards the large tree castle. She enters through one of the open windows on it and exits your view.
Your shuttle flies over the tree castle, exiting from view underneath it.
After a bit more time, your shuttle gets some distance from the village, still tailing the chariot in front.
After flying through some very dense cloud coverage you see something in the distance that forced you to stand. You carefully walk into the cockpit through the door frame and stand to the right of Admiral Henderson. Your eyes widen, and your jaw drops some, your mouth partially open.
“Oh my god...” The Admiral says with astonishment, removing the naval command cap from his head, holding it in his right hand by his side.
Before you is a huge valley, dotted with hills and mountains in the distance. Etched into the side of one of these mountains is a number of large white structures, each with exotic shapes and designs with colors of dark purple and gold engraved into them. There is an enormous visible waterfall leading down from the mountain into the side of the city. There is a long, paved path leading to what looks like the gates to the city. The light from the star gleamed off of these remarkable structures.
There are some other smaller structures dotting the landscape, but they are dwarfed in comparison to the main city.
Sergeant Henderson leans forward in her seat, eyes fixated on the bright metropolis before her. “It’s beautiful...” She says in awe.
“Well... That’s certainly something I’d never thought I’d see...” Zeta 2 remarks eyeing the city along with you and the other two.
'So this is Canterlot... I’ve never seen anything like this.’ You think.
Your shuttle finally reaches the shining city, flying over numerous rectangular or circular-shaped buildings. Like Ponyville, the streets of the city seem to be completely empty. The only things you can make out from the air are a few large statues dotting the area. It looks like there are a few running fountains down there as well, along with a few rivers running through and around some of the streets.
After passing over most of Canterlot, the chariot in front approaches an immense castle-like building with a few spires protruding from the top of it. At the top of a few of the spires, there appear to be porches or balconies built into the sides or around them. The building was designed elegantly, with a mix of smooth and angular shapes built into its very form with a huge number of other interconnected structures built around it. It mirrored much of the design philosophy of many of the buildings you saw back in the main city.
Canterlot Castle is far more akin to a citadel than an actual castle.
You see the chariot begin to land in a sizable area, close to what looks like a large double door at the front of the main castle.
Admiral Henderson puts his naval cap back on his head, adjusting it to fit him. He puts his arms and hands behind his back.
“Zeta 2. Land over there, a few meters from them.” He commands, pointing to an open area directly across from the landed chariot.
“Yes, sir. Initiating landing procedure.” Zeta 2 acknowledges, flipping switches and pressing a few buttons on the control panel in front of her.
The shuttle comes to a slow stop in the air, hovering only a few meters from the ground. It begins descending, and after a few seconds, it comes into contact with the ground and stops, the rear hatch pointed towards the large doors that are out of view. You hear the engine and the thrusters die down, falling silent after a few seconds.
“Zeta 2. Stay here with the shuttle. We’ll return as soon as we can. Keep it warm though, in case there’s trouble.” The Admiral says.
“Yes, sir. It’ll be ready as soon as you come back.” Zeta 2 replies.
He turns himself towards you.
Sergeant Henderson gets out of her seat and looks at both of you.
“Alright... Let’s see what they can tell or show us about this place. Keep a proper etiquette in there. We need to make a good impression. Speak only when spoken to and let me do the talking. Understood?” The Admiral instructs to you and the Sergeant.
“Yes, sir.” You and Sergeant Henderson respond in unison.
Sergeant Henderson uses the harness of her PEAR-2 rifle to flip it around to her back, tightening and fastening it.
“Alright... Zeta 2. Open her up.” The Admiral says, turning to Zeta 2.
“Yes, sir. Opening the hatch.” Zeta 2 replies, pressing a couple buttons on the control panel.
The rear hatch of the shuttle opens, lowering itself to the ground. Admiral Henderson walks out of the cockpit down the center of the shuttle, you and the Sergeant close behind. You all step out of the shuttle, and proceed down the ramp, soon bringing yourselves back down to the grassy surface.
You see Princess Celestia and Luna step down from their chariot and trot themselves onto a paved path close to the large doors to the castle. They stop in front after reaching it, looking in your direction.
Near the doors appear to be two other smaller Equestrians posted at the left and right sides of the door. These two are armored from head to hoof in golden armor plating, only leaving their faces exposed. Their helmets have blue plumes running down the center of them. They stare forward in a stand to attention, holding a sizable pike weapon in one of their hooves, using them to block the door entrance in an X shape.
You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant make your way towards the two, examining the tall structures from the ground and after walking a short distance, you all stop close to them.
Princess Celestia looks at one of the guards. “Grant them entry. They are with us.” She commands.
“Yes, Princess.” The guard replies as the two raise their pikes vertically to their sides, freeing the door that leads inside.
Princess Celestia and Luna approach the door, the two of them taking opposite sides of it.
Princess Celestia turns towards your group and smiles. “I humbly welcome you to our home, Canterlot Castle.” As she says this, she brings a hoof up to the door, pushing it forwards with Luna doing the same.
The large polished hardwood doors steadily open, revealing an immense, grand hallway.
You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant take a few slow steps inside, then stop.
“Whoa...” You quietly say, eyeing the beauty of the room in astonishment.
Sergeant Henderson whistles in amusement, glancing at detail after detail inside the elegant interior.
Admiral Henderson stood there, speechless to the magnificence before him.
You begin to absorb the details of your environment.
In this hallway, there is a large number of elegant and regal designs carved and engraved into the walls. Down the left and right sides of the hallway, there is a number of large cylindrical stone or marble pillars that appear to be holding up or supporting the large curved ceiling above. In between each of the pillars are stained glass windows with shades of white, cyan, blue, and dark blue flowing in and around each other.
In the center of the hall, there is a long, rectangular, and thin red carpet running from the door all the way to the end of it. Towards the back of the hall, there is several levels of white circular stone or marble podiums. The red carpet in the center run through the middle of these podiums, with ramps leading up each level.
In the middle podium, there is running water leaking out of the left and right sides of it, leading down into several water basins below. In the lowest basin on both sides, water runs down into two deep crevices in the floor. The crevices reach from the sides of the two basins, making an elongated trail through the floor in a mirrored wave-shaped pattern all the way towards the left and right sides of the front of the hall.
Sitting at the top podium, there are two large red seats on the left and right, the carpet running between the two. The back of the seat is a sizable oval-shape proceeding upwards, with a large circular red cushion underneath. The seat on the right appears to be slightly taller than the one on the left.
On the outline of the seat on the right is a gold-tinted material running along the outer edges of it, with leaf-shaped dark gold-tinted ornaments facing horizontally on both the bottom left and right sides. On the top of this seat, there is a small sun or star-shaped ornament in the same color or material as the outline and ornamentation.
The seat on the left has a similar design, but the outline of this one is a dark silver color with dark silver ornamentation. At the top of this seat is a crescent moon-shaped ornament, mimicking the material of the outline and ornamentation around the seat.
There is an elevated area built into the back of the hall with two curved ramps on each side, leading around the podiums with red carpet running along them.
On the back wall of the hall behind the top podium and two seats are three large, circular stained glass windows. These windows are located to the left and right of the two seats, with one very large window above them in the center.
The window on the right is designed with the symbol of a yellow sun around the glass with a dark orange background. There is a capsule-shaped doorway running through the center of the glass, cutting through some of the design. There are two long red curtains hanging from the top frame of the doorway, marginally splitting open towards the bottom.
The window on the left bears a light blue crescent moon-shaped design with a dark blue color filling the rest of it. There is another doorway exactly the same as the one on the right, cutting through the center of the glass.
Above and between the other two windows is one that surpasses the size of the others. This window bears a number of circular designs. From what you can see, there are seven yellow circles each distributed randomly across the glass. In the center of the circle, there is a sun or star-shaped engraving. Surrounding them are a large number of crescent shapes with various shades of blue in a floral or spiral-shaped design. Towards the bottom right of the glass, there are three yellow streaks or trails across it, with faint thin black circles inside them towards the front. On the rest of the glass is a sizable black space with white dots randomly distributed across it.
From what you can interpret about the center window, its entire design is very indicative of the stars and comets of outer space.
There are two lengthy red curtains draped around the sides of the center window, hung by a curved stone or marble structure towards the top of the ceiling. They reach all the way down to the other two windows on opposite ends, held in place by two holdbacks located on the center of the two cylindrical pillars closest to the back wall, eventually reaching the floor.
Above the curved structure holding the drapery, there are elegant engravings and designs. In the center of them is a half-sun half-moon hybrid stone or marble engraving accompanying them.
Down the hall in between each of the cylindrical pillars are Equestrian guardsmen donning the same armor and weapons that the other two from the front door had. They stood to attention, eyes faced forward, unmoving from their positions.
“If I had something like this back on Earth, I probably wouldn’t have left.” Sergeant Henderson comments.
Princess Celestia and Luna trot forward stepping around your group. Celestia brings her attention to you.
“This is our throne room. It is here that we oversee to the needs of our citizens on a daily basis no matter how big or small. We also provide guidance to those who request it or need it most.” She states with a courteous smile. “You may follow us this way.”
Princess Celestia and Luna proceed forward. You, the Admiral, and Sergeant follow them from behind.
As you pass the guards, you can practically feel their gaze upon you, eyeing you with paranoia and mistrust.
You all proceed up the right curved ramp of the throne room and make your way through the right doorway. Going through the drapery, you see that the doorway leads into another hallway of similar construction, but without all the elements that would make a throne room a throne room. There didn’t seem to be any guards present here.
After walking down the hall, your group approach a door that is located on the right towards the back of the hall. Celestia uses her hoof to open the door, and upon opening it, you see a staircase leading upwards along the walls of a tall square-shaped room.
Your group proceeds up the stairwell, climbing step after step ascending multiple levels of the room, passing by a door that showed every two levels.
After ascending a few flights of stairs, Celestia stops on the sixth level above the ground floor. She opens the door on this level and proceeds through it, your group still following close behind.
Through the door is yet another hallway, but nowhere near as large as the others you have seen previously. There are guards posted along the walls of this hall facing towards the center. It is just spacious enough for your group to comfortably walk through.
"Apologies for the lengthy trot. The Royal Meeting Hall is not far now." Celestia assures.
"That's quite alright. I suppose these old bones needed to be dusted off with exercise anyway." The Admiral jokes, his breathing more heavy than normal after the ascent up the stairs.
Down the hall is another door and upon reaching it, your group goes through.
It leads into a much larger hall, similar to the ones on the ground floor. On the cylindrical pillars, there is uniquely shaped pottery hanging from the top end from where the pillar meets the ceiling. In them, there are plants and flowers and other unique bits of vegetation. On the walls between these pillars are a number of stained glass murals, spaced evenly from each other, each one having a completely different design.
Proceeding down this hallway, Admiral Henderson walks to the right side of Celestia between her and Luna. You walk to the left behind Celestia and Sergeant Henderson walks parallel to you behind Luna.
As you walk, your eyes divert their attention to Celestia’s flank. You stare down the marking on it examining its details.
There is a yellow circle in the center, with a thin orange outer circle enveloping it. On the edges of the outer circle are a number of orange smooth exotic shapes proceeding outwards in a spiral around it. The marking is highly reminiscent of a sun or star.
There certainly seems to be a huge emphasis on celestial or lunar bodies here. So much, in fact, that it’s plastered or tattooed on their bodies. You figure that all of this may hold immense symbolic value to them, more than likely embedded into their culture or beliefs.
That is, if they have any beliefs at all.
“Something interesting you back there?” Celestia remarks, smiling as she looks slightly back at you as she trots.
“Huh?” You suddenly come to the realization that you’ve been staring at her rear this whole time. You look at her with a red blush on both of your cheeks, hotness flowing through the entirety of your face.
You stop, raising your hands in front of you and begin waving them quickly from side to side. “Nononono... I-I didn’t mean to s-stare or cause any offense I...” You quickly try to explain with the best of your ability.
Celestia stops and turns to you, the rest of your group doing the same.
“It’s alright. I’m only joking.” She says giggling into one of her hooves, interrupting your imminent explanation.
She puts her hoof back down. “I bet you’re wondering about the mark on my rear. Don’t worry. That will be explained in due time. I promise. Please, keep following. We’re almost there.” She reassures, turning around and trotting her previous direction.
Princess Luna giggles quietly to herself as she turns. Admiral Henderson rolls his eyes turning with Luna and Celestia.
“Smooth...” Sergeant Henderson mockingly says quietly, turning with a smirk.
You drop your hands down to your side and stand there. You bring one of your hands to rub the back of your neck, looking down towards the floor. You sigh, feeling the cool air come back to your face, the blush removing itself from it.
After your group gets some distance from you down the hall you look back up, then slowly towards your left. You bring your attention to one of the murals on the wall. This particular mural caught your attention. You turn to it, analyzing its details.
In the center, you see the etchings and carvings of an Equestrian that look strikingly similar to Twilight Sparkle, the pony that you met earlier with Celestia and Luna. In the image, she faces forward with her eyes closed and her wings spread out with her left leg raised upwards and a smile on her face. On her head, it looks like she is wearing some kind of tiara. On it is a six-pointed red gemstone sitting on the center. Above her horn is a light purple eight-pointed star shape. Directly behind the star is a light yellow circular sun or star with light blue angular shapes surrounding it. Behind her is a light cyan shape similar to a cloud. The cloud is in between the light purple star and the light yellow one.
Around her are a number of red circles that randomly dot the mural. Below her are what appears to be green hills or mountains below her. On the bottom left and right sides of the mural are two dark brown books that are partially open facing towards her. On the covers, there are star shaped symbols or decals. The book on the left looks like it has a white quill embedded into one of the pages.
’To get herself on one of these murals, she’s got to have more significance here than what she told us the first time we met. I just don’t see how-‘
“Hey! You coming or are you not done sightseeing?” Sergeant Henderson shouts from down the hall, interrupting your train of thought.
You look towards her. “Y-yeah! I’m coming.” You respond with an elevated voice.
You take one final look at the mural then jog down the hall to catch up with the others.
After walking through a few more halls and corridors, you all step through a door that leads into a large rectangular room. Inside this room is a large, circular, white marble table surrounded by a number of white stone chairs. There is a sizable rectangular red rug that covers the vast majority of the room’s floor.
Directly across from the doorway that you entered from, there is a rectangular wooden double door with two windows on each door. On the walls near the doors, there are four vertical slit windows on both the left and right sides. You can vaguely make out a balcony or porch just outside the double doors and windows.
On the rest of the walls of the room are a few large, abstract paintings with gold etchings and carvings around their frames.
At the corner of the room is a large grandfather clock ticking away while a silver pendulum swings side to side behind the glass encasing of the clock.
“So here we finally are.” Celestia says trotting further inside, stepping around the table and chairs. “This is our Royal Meeting Room. This is where we conduct internal or external matters with the nobles and politicians both in and out of Equestria.” She stops for a moment, catching her breath. “But today, this is the first time it will be used for discussions with a species that’s not from our world!” She excitedly exclaims with a large grin.
You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant all stand near the table.
“You are the first non-human species we have contacted outside of Earth. We’re very eager to learn more about you.” Admiral Henderson says courteously with a smile.
Princess Luna trots around the table and while doing so, she brings her attention to the grandfather clock.
She gasps. “Sister! Look!” She exclaims, aiming her hoof towards the clock.
Princess Celestia turns her head to the clock and as soon as she does, her pupils shrink.
“BY THE FLAMES OF TARTARUS! IT’S WAY PAST THE TIME!” She shouts, forming a panicked expression on her face.
You, the Admiral, and Sergeant all raise your brows in unison.
“What time?” You inquire with hesitation.
Princess Celestia and Luna turn to you and the others. “We are very sorry, but we must take care of something extremely urgent. Please, excuse us a moment.” She says, now hurriedly trotting towards the double doors along with Luna.
You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant eye them with some suspicion, keeping track of their every move.
Princess Celestia and Luna reach the double doors and open them, revealing a large rectangular balcony outside. They step outdoors onto it and trot until they reach a railing close to the edge.
You couldn’t help but to try to see what they’re doing. You quickly walk around the table and reach the doors that Celestia and Luna previously exited. You place your right hand on the door frame, keeping half of your body covered by the wall. You watch them intently, waiting for their next move.
Admiral and Sergeant Henderson take a few steps around the table, keeping the two Equestrians in their view from the inside not far behind you.
Princess Celestia and Luna bow their heads, closing their eyes. Celestia’s horn begins lighting up with a gold transparent aura around it. Luna’s horn lights up with a dark blue aura around her own.
What you see shakes you to your core.
The star here... it started moving downwards.
It slowly makes its way down the sky approaching the horizon. The outdoors become darker and darker and the city of Canterlot that is visible from the balcony begins lighting up.
Admiral and Sergeant Henderson stare at the spectacle in shock and horror, their eyes widened as far as they could go.
“Admiral Henderson! Admiral Henderson! Do you read?!” You can hear command over comms yell. You almost didn’t hear what they said you were so enthralled with what was happening.
“I... I... I read you... Lieutenant... Go ahead...” The Admiral struggled to find the words as the impossible happened before him.
“Sir! The star and moon here... They’re actually moving! And at a pretty tremendous speed too! Can you confirm?!” The Lieutenant on the other end asks with worry.
“We see it, Lieutenant... We see it...”
The star exits out of view below the horizon, and the moon begins to peek itself out of it. It slowly ascends the sky, bringing rays of moonlight out over the landscapes and the city. It eventually stops a decent way up the sky, bringing itself to a halt an adequate distance away from where the star was initially positioned.
Princess Celestia and Luna bring their heads back up and open their eyes, the auras and lights from their horns fading away.
After doing this, they both turn around to you and trot back towards where you and the Admiral and Sergeant are.
They stop in front of the door, you still staring them down in complete disbelief.
Princess Celestia clears her throat.
“Now that that’s out of the way... Where shall we begin?”
Author's Note
And here it is. Chapter 2. I gotta say... describing Canterlot Castle in detail was incredibly challenging. There are only so many references you can find online about the actual construction of the castle, and many of the references are left up to an artists interpretation.
If you made it through chapter 2, then you're awesome. Any feedback or criticism is highly appreciated as always. Stick around, because chapter 3 is coming up and we'll finally get to visit a familiar village in it.
The corridors echoed as you walked down them. A metallic but subtle clang with each step of your combat boots. You are very familiar with this part of the ship. It's become your second home since you left Earth. It is this part of the ship that made everything tick. From Power Management to Engine Control, this area of the ship is designed to keep it functional for years on end. It is also where Cryo Pod Systems Management takes place. The cryo pods that are now housing hundreds of sleeping humans waiting for their next opportunity to wake. Normally, the colonists of the ship are only ever woken when a planet that is possibly suitable for human life is found. However, in each system that was jumped to, the planets that were possibly suitable had a kink or two which would prevent colonization efforts. It was then that the opening of the cryo pods became increasingly less common. Eventually, it was decided amongst the higher-ups of all ships in the fleet that the colonists were to remain asleep in their pods until a planet that was confirmed to be able to host human life with no risk factors was found. Only crewmen essential to keep the ships running and in working order were woken from their pods when a new system was jumped into.
This is another one of those times that you were awoken from your pod. You are an essential crewman, tasked with keeping the ship operational, and you made sure no equipment or hardware failures took place.
You are approaching Main Engineering shortly after waking from your pod to be positive that things were running smoothly in that sector. Ever since the previous incident on another ship, you've been significantly more cautious of how things were run on the one you are assigned to. You also figured that it is a good opportunity to get up to speed on how your crew is handling things. Since that incident, you and your crew have been a bit jumpy lately. About every error that came up on one of the ships consoles every once in awhile sent all of you into a small panic. You wanted to be sure that your crew is handling things well.
You reach Main Engineering, now arms length away from the latched door that leads inside. At the top of the door is a red, lit screen that read 'Main Engineering: Authorized Personnel Only.' You take your right hand and raise it to the handprint panel to the right of the door, placing it gently on the white hand-shaped part of the screen. After a brief moment, the panel lights up completely white, and two subtle beeps of confirmation is heard. You hear from the top of the door a subtle female robotic voice saying "Welcome Head Engineer: Crewman #52". Fifty two was your ship crewman designation number. Everyone on every ship had a designation number and position name.
Taking your hand away from the handprint panel, the door unlatches and opens before you. It makes a slight noise similar to an air pump and quickly opens. You go inside and see a large room with a number of blue consoles, each keeping track of a different section of the ship. You continue to walk forward and see three crewmen each working a different console. One of them turns to you.
"Well, well... Look who finally decided to wake up!" One of them says sarcastically before approaching you with a slight smile.
"Jordan. Hopefully none of you broke or overloaded anything while I was sleeping." You reply with a smile yourself.
Jordan, the crew member that was walking towards you, now stops in front of you. You stop as well. "We're handling it! We've gotten maybe only... three errors today. That's a new record!" He states with a pleased expression. "That's how you know today's going to be a good day."
You chuckle a bit, shaking your head slightly and then look back at him. "I know you and everyone else here has things well in hand. We've known each other for awhile. I trust you to know what you're doing." You reassure him.
He nods at you with content. Suddenly, another crew member a short distance from behind Jordan looks your direction and waves. "Good to have you awake, boss. Hope you had a comfortable rest in the pod."
"As good as a rest as you can get in those things..." Another voice was heard that came from another one of the crewmen, directly behind the one that was just addressing you. "Why in the world didn't they make them just slightly more comfortable?" He asked in an annoyed tone.
"Peter... I've already explained this to you. If they add any other components inside the pod to make them more 'comfortable' it'll compromise the freezing process." The crewman explained. "Plus, humans weren't exactly made to be frozen in place for extended periods of time."
Peter threw his hands up in surrender. "I know! But would it really do any harm to throw a pillow or two in there?"
The crewman behind Peter puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head.
You turn your attention to the crewman who was just explaining that to Peter. You walk over to him passing Jordan, and Jordan follows. You stop just a short distance of him. "Darius. How's the diagnostics looking today?" You ask.
Darius looks at you, then turns his attention back to the console, moving certain elements on the panel with his hand, analyzing error logs and reports. "Not bad today, boss. Everything's green across the board. Nothing damaged on the jump. The other four divisions report the same thing. The New Dawn's flyin' smoothly." He then turns his attention to you again, with an inquisitive look on his face. "Hey, boss... Do you have problems with the pods?" He asks.
You think for a moment, scratching your right cheek to process how to answer. "Well, waking up from one of those things isn't exactly easy. I think the pods could've gone through one more iteration before being installed on all of the ships." As you explain your position, you also remember that you've been having chaotic dreams while sleeping in cryo recently. You haven't been able to make sense of them yet. It was always difficult to remember the details when you woke up. You consider telling your crewmates about it, but decide against it. You don't want to worry them.
"I guess that's a fair answer." Darius crosses his arms facing towards you. "The Mark III model was the final phase of cryo pod designed by Slater Systems before being installed on the ships." He uncrosses his arms, bringing them back down to his side. "But I guess you and Peter have a point. Those pods could've gone through a bit more testing to make the freezing process more bearable." Darius turns back towards the console again, returning to checking diagnostic logs and reports.
You notice Peter now turning around to look at you. Now turning your attention to him, it became clear that he was about to ask you something. He leans himself on the console he was operating on, with both hands on the edge of it.
"So, we've made another stop in another system. I wonder how this one will disappoint us." Peter sighs in discontent. "What is this? The fifty sixth jump so far? How many light years are we away from Earth exactly?" He lifts his right hand as he says this and drops it back to the console.
Scratching the back of your head and looking around the room, you begin to think. "Honestly, I don't even remember. I'd have to ask the Admiral again." You turn your attention back to Peter.
Jordan, still standing next to you, speaks up. "Hey, don't get so down. Space is a big place. There's got to be at least one planet out here that we can call a home." Jordan had a tone of optimism in his voice. A voice that was encouraging even to the most pessimistic. But he was right. Space is practically infinite, so there had to be at least one planet worth colonizing... right?
Peter sighs again. "I know that. It's just... Humans need to be on some kind of world. We aren't meant to travel enormous distances on a flying hunk of metal. If this keeps up, we're gonna get stir crazy, and I might end up as one of the first ones who loses it."
Darius turns his head a bit towards the conversation you and Jordan are having with Peter. "Humans aren't meant to do a lot of things, yet we do it anyway." He says with a small laugh.
"Because we're stubborn." Peter says exasperated, turning his head to the side, shaking it.
A question forms in your head. Curiosity itching the back of your skull. "Do you miss it?"
Peter turns to look at you. "Hm?"
"Earth. Do you miss it?"
"I think everyone here misses Earth to a certain extent, boss." Darius interjects.
Peter sighs, and takes a moment to himself, looking down at the floor. "I do." He brings his head back up to look at you. "Now... Earth wasn't particularly the most glamorous place in the universe, but it was home. Being away from it for so long tends to make you feel homesick."
Jordan crosses his arms, and lets out a sigh. "Well, this system that we stopped in could be our final stop. Ya never know."
Peter looks at him, and nods slightly. "I really hope you're right, Jordan." He turns around back to the console and begins working on it again.
"I really hope you're right."
He was quite perplexed as to what he was looking at. Using his thumb and index finger he rubbed his chin, right elbow resting on his left hand. He stared out of the ships bridge side window, eyes examining the blue and green wonder in front of him. This world, this planet... It looked promising. Key word being 'looked.' He knew that there were Earth-like planets out there in the galaxy, but the Earth-like planets he knew of were still hundreds of light years away. This one is relatively close to Sol. He brings his hands down, now placing them behind his back.
There was one question that ended up coming to him.
"Lieutenant, why did we jump into the orbit of the planet instead of the star?" He asks, still looking at the lush world before him.
The crewman he addressed examines the two consoles in front of him. "Not sure, Admiral. Getting astrometrics data now." He touches several areas on the console, moving panels on the screen from side-to-side. Soon after, he stops.
"That... can't be right..." He says with uncertainty. The crewman's brow furrows, and places his hands on the sides of the console.
The Admiral looks at the crewman with confusion. "What is it, Lieutenant?"
"Um... One moment, sir. Let me run the scans again." The crewman says, now gathering data from the console a tad more quickly than before.
The Admiral fully turns to the crewman now, patiently waiting on an explaination.
After a few brief moments, the crewman stops again, eyeing the console in disbelief. "Huh..."
The Admiral is now looking impatient. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. Spit it out."
The crewman takes his left hand and rubs the back of his neck with it. "Sorry, sir... So... From what the data is telling me..." He stops briefly, then examines the consoles again. "This system we're in... It looks like the reason we jumped into orbit of the planet and not the star is because... Our navigational systems detected the planet as the center of the system. The star, planet, and moon here.... They're motionless. They're not even orbiting each other. The planet is on a perfect ninety degree axis, and it's not even rotating. Data is showing the same thing for the star and moon. The sensor array isn't picking up any additional celestial bodies in this system."
The Admiral brings his arms forward and crosses them, with a look of disbelief on his face. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know, sir. I'm at a complete loss." The crewman stops and now looks at the Admiral. "Sir, I'd also like to mention that ever since we entered the system, our navigational data has been going ballistic. Our metrics and frequency analyzers went wild when the ship auto-performed scans of the star, planet, and moon. The star and moon gave off wild readings, but the planet in particular..." He sighs a bit, catching his breath. "The planet is giving off the most activity."
"Are we absolutely sure that our sensors are working properly?" The Admiral states with a tad of intensity in his voice.
The crewman nods his head. "Yes, sir. If there was any issues with our sensors, engineering would've diagnosed and fixed the problem."
The Admiral turns his head to the strange planet once more with a look of suspicion.
"Sir... I think we have an anomaly on our hands." The crewman states, now putting his hands back on the edges of the console, leaning over it. "What are your orders, sir?"
The Admiral turns his body facing towards the planet. He gives it a long and attentive gaze. He places his right elbow back into a resting position on his left hand, his right index finger and thumb rubbing each other in a circular motion with his hand slightly away from the left side of his face. He inhales deeply, and after a brief moment, exhales.
"Admiral Henderson?" The crewman gives Admiral Henderson a look of concern, with a raised brow.
Admiral Henderson turns his head marginally towards his Lieutenant, eyes fixated on a random part of the bridge.
After a few moments, Admiral Henderson puts his arms and hands behind his back and walks towards the center of the bridge. "I want boots on the ground planetside. The opportunity to finally put a home on a potential suitable world is too great to pass up, anomaly or no. But I want to find out what's causing the commotion to our ships before we do so." He said with a tone of determination and purpose in his voice.
The crewman nods in acknowledgement. "Yes, sir. Should I prepare the survey teams?"
Admiral Henderson walks towards a console at the front end of the ship. "No." He reaches the console and looks at it. "I want a group of talented individuals on this. If we're going to get to the bottom of what's happening down there, we need to send our best."
Admiral Henderson brings his right hand towards the console and places his index finger on a white button and pushes it, holding it down.
A small light to the left of the button begins flashing white and red.
You're working on a console in Main Engineering, eyes glued to the screen. Jordan is across from you, doing his own work, and Peter and Darius who are a short distance behind you work on their own as well. You're examining cryo pod diagnostic reports to ensure that the pods are functioning normally, and that life support is continuing to operate without issues.
While you all were working and focused, four beeps in quick succession sounded, which startled you somewhat. All of you now look towards the intercom towards the door to Main Engineering.
"Head Engineer of division four. Please report to the bridge ASAP. I repeat, Head Engineer of division four. Please report to the bridge ASAP." The intercom loudly declares.
Jordan turns to look at you. "Looks like that's you, man."
Peter looks towards you as well. "That was the Admiral."
Darius turns his attention to you, but his hands remain on the console in front of him. "Admiral Henderson's come to rely on you a lot, boss. Ever since the Santa Maria incident, you've become his go-to miracle worker."
That's right. The Santa Maria incident. You remember that moment of travel with the fleet clearly.
One of the Corsair ships, named the C.S.S. Santa Maria, sufferred a severe equipment and hardware breakdown after a jump into an unexplored system. The crewmen of the ship were reporting cryo pod and life support failures across the entire sector. Many engineers of several divisions were transported to the Santa Maria to assist in diagnosing and repairing the failing systems. You were one of those engineers. After a couple hours of diagnostics testing, the others simply couldn't figure out why this was happening. The situation was becoming dire, and solutions were needed quickly. Life support was beginning to suffer a meltdown, which is a particularly deadly situation since a large majority of life support is connected to the cryo pods. Opening the pods was not an option, since immediately opening them before depressurization and defrosting would kill the occupants.
You scrambled between Cryo Pod Systems Management and Life Support Systems. On one of the walls of Life Support Systems, you notice a hatch that was emitting a very small amount of sparks. You rushed over to it, and ripped the hatch open with your bare hands. You discern that this hatch is connected to the cooling systems on the ship which allow multiple systems on it to run at peak efficiency, and without breaking down due to heat built up from their processors. Inside the hatch you immediately notice that four wires that run along the edges of it were burned and severed, the sparks emitting much more intensely. Taking a fusion torch from your utility belt, which is designed to repair wiring or faulty equipment, you meticulously run the torch along the wires re-fusing them together. After doing so, the imminent meltdown alerts went quiet, and other engineers and crewmen were reporting systems returning to normal across the entire ship.
Ever since that event, you've become the go-to engineer for ship-wide problems on the New Dawn.
"I was just doing my job." You say as you wave your hand dismissively.
Darius chuckles at your modesty. "You did a little more than just your job, boss. You saved over 900 lives that day. If you didn't figure out what everyone else couldn't that ship would've been just one massive derelict graveyard. Sometimes a little bit goes a long way."
"Hey, you shouldn't keep the Admiral waiting. If he wants to speak to you, it's probably important." Jordan interjects. "Don't worry. We got things handled down here."
You nod, but before turning you give a smirk. "Try not to blow things up here while I'm gone."
Jordan gives a slight grin. "No promises."
You laugh a bit under your breath, now turning and walking towards the door that leads outside from Main Engineering. It opens, and you walk through the door down the metallic corridor of the ship. The fastest way to the bridge was the on-ship tram system located in the midsection of the ship. The tram took anyone from the forward all the way to the aft section.
Main Engineering is located on the lower aft section, near Engine Control Systems. After turning down a few corridors, and taking a few elevators up to the midsection, you reach the tram staging area. Using a console located next to the waiting section of the staging area, you call the tram to your location.
After waiting a couple minutes, you see the tram coming down the railway, slowly making a stop towards your position. The tram now stops in front of you, and opens its side doors with the same air pump noise the other doors on the ship made.
You step inside, now in the tram, and touch a console near the door that commands the tram to take you to the forward section of the ship. The doors close and you take a seat on one of the open chairs.
The tram speeds up, taking very little time to get up to full speed. The tram speeds down the railway, with lights passing you every so often.
After waiting five minutes, the tram begins to slow, and you can see the staging area leading to the forward section of the ship. The tram comes to a complete stop now, and you get up from your seat. The doors open, and you step out of the tram onto the staging area. The doors to the tram close as you exit.
You take an elevator that's close to the staging area. Once you do, you take a corridor that leads directly to the bridge.
But all of the sudden, you stop and turn to your right. You look out one of the windows of the corridor.
You finally get to see the details of the system you're in. But there was one thing that was off here. You noticed that the ship is parked next a planet and not a star like how you're used to seeing. The planet looked beautiful. You couldn't take your attention away from it. It is like a lot like Earth, but with a brighter contrast and the continents configured differently. Could this be a potential new home? Our final stop? After getting enough of a view from the window, you turn back down the corridor towards the bridge.
You reach the door that leads to the bridge and it opens. You walk through and see Admiral Henderson standing in the center. Around him were a multitude of crewmen each working a seperate console.
Admiral Henderson turns to you now, waiting for your approach.
You approach him, and stop a short distance in front. "Admiral Henderson, sir." You say as you stand at attention and salute him with respect.
Admiral Henderson nods. "At ease, son."
You relax the stance of attention you were in, easing your muscles and lower your hand back to your side. "What can I help you with, sir?" You ask eagerly.
"There's a mission involving this system that I would like you and your division of engineers to be a part of. You probably noticed on your way here that we're orbiting this planet." He lifts his hand, aiming it towards the planet that is visible from a window of the bridge. "This planet, and the star and moon here, are giving off the most bizarre readings and data that I have ever seen in any system that we've been to."
"Are we planning to begin colonization efforts, sir?" You ask.
Admiral Henderson shakes his head. "Not yet. We need to find out the source of all of the extreme activity on this planet before we can even consider doing so. For this mission, survey teams will not be deployed to explore the surface. I need more detailed information than any survey team could provide. I would like you and your division to establish a forward base on the surface. Once you have done so, one of our science divisions will be conducting studies there."
"Will a security team be sent with us, sir?" You ask with a tone of concern in your voice.
"Yes. I will be sending Sergeant Henderson along with a small contingent of security forces to accompany you for this mission." He clears his throat. "Do you have any other questions?"
"No, sir." You say with a shake of your head.
Admiral Henderson nods. "Alright then. Report to the armory of the ship to arm and ready yourself if you face any dangers down there. I'm also clearing the rest of your crew to be lightly armed as well. After you and your crew are finished, report to the hanger bay. Sergeant Henderson will be there to meet you and your crew. A shuttle is prepared to take you all down to the surface." Admiral Henderson turns around and faces back towards the front of the bridge.
"Yes, sir." You eagerly say with a salute and stand to attention. After a moment, you release the salute and turn around to exit the bridge. But before you actually walked out Admiral Henderson turns his head to you a bit.
"Oh, and son?"
You turn yourself and face him. "Sir?"
"Make sure my daughter doesn't do anything rash, understood?"
You nod your head in acknowledgement. "You can count on me, sir."
Admiral Henderson nods himself and turns around again.
You make your way out of the bridge and down the corridor once more.
You took the same tram that brought you to the bridge. It is now taking you towards the aft portion of the ship. Not as far as Main Engineering, but a decent distance from it. After departing from the tram, you take an elevator to the lower portion of the ship. After the descent from the elevator, you make your way down several corridors and reach the armory. Stepping inside, you find that Peter, Darius, and Jordan are prepping themselves with equipment in the armory.
They turn their attention to you as you walk in. You stop just a few feet from them and raise an eyebrow.
It seemed like they knew what you were about to ask, but before you could say anything, Jordan speaks up.
“We were briefed about the mission from Sergeant Henderson. She came to Main Engineering and gave us the run-down on what we’re doing.”
You give him a quick nod, and Jordan and the others return to preparing their equipment.
You walk over to a rack of equipment and weapons, and examine the ones you can take. You grab a pistol-looking weapon from one of the racks and examine it.
It's a Prolonged Engagement iteration fifty heavy pistol, or PEH-50 pistol. Designed by Arc Arms, this pistol, along with other projectile weapons, are designed with gauss technology. This technology allows projectiles to be propelled at speeds twice the velocity and four times the range compared to the much older weapons from hundreds of years ago. It also does this without increasing muzzle flash, noise, and recoil. Prolonged Engagement weapons utilize ionic bullets and ammunition. These round, pellet-sized bullets are meant to be used in conjuction with P.E. weapons. They are loaded into small cartridges which are lighter, easier to carry, and able to hold much more ammunition compared to ancient firearm magazines.
Holding the pistol in your hand, you turn it over studying its details. It’s a dark silver color, and has blue streams of light flowing from the barrel directly to the hammer. Its design is very similar to the ancient, but still well-known Desert Eagle pistol. This pistol has very high stopping power and more uncontrollable recoil, but its accuracy is second-to-none. As you hold it, it feels relatively light. It doesn't feel anymore than two pounds.
After finishing your examination of the weapon, you take a weapon holster from one of the racks and fasten it tightly to your waist. You take six cartridges of ionic ammunition, each one containing fifty bullets and load a cartridge into the bottom of your weapon. You put the rest of the cartridges into the small pouches next to the holster. After doing so, you place your weapon in the holster and look towards the left of the rack. You step over to the left, and examine the equipment there.
You grab one of the black glove sleeves from another rack and begin putting it on your left hand. After sliding it through your arm, you tug on it a few times. It's fingerless, and feels very comfortable on your forearm. After a quick jerk motion, an eight inch blade shot out of the top of the glove where your forearm is, the back of it stopping at the top of your wrist. You start rotating your arm and wrist, inspecting the blade that came out of the small slot on it.
The edges of the silver-tinted blade glowed an intense cyan color, with black circuits running down the center. This is a Thermo Fusion Wrist Blade MK IV. Powered by fusion technology, the T.F.W.B. is mainly a personal defense weapon, but does have utility applications. The internal circuitry of the blade heats up the edges to scorching temperatures allowing the user to cut through most objects unfortunate enough to get in the way with relative ease.
After studying it, you use the same jerk motion that brought the blade out and it instantly sheathes back in.
You walk over to the right and approach another rack with other equipment and clothing items. You grab a dark blue protective jacket, flipping it over your back and slip your arms through the sleeves. You adjust the front of it once it’s on you, but you leave it unzipped. Once you finish, you grab an oval-shaped object from the top of the rack above where the jackets are.
You hold it in your hand and begin inspecting it. This is a rebreather designed by Slater Systems. The oval-shaped glass encasing is designed to fit perfectly to a human face, with straps made of a strong webbing material for adjustments. Once breathed into, the internal systems of the rebreather convert carbon dioxide to oxygen and nitrogen allowing for infinite breathable air.
You finish studying it and along the racks you grab a number of engineering-specific items. A fusion torch, a handheld jackhammer, a few wrenches, and a couple of automatic screwdrivers.
For your final piece of equipment, you grab a hexagon-shaped metal pack with strapping on the edges of it located underneath where you initially grabbed your pistol. Holding it up in both hands, you tilt it from left to right, the straps dangling from the metal pack. It’s quite heavy. At least twenty five pounds. It has the initials ‘B.C.’ plastered on the back of it. You recognize the initials and remember that the acronym belongs to Beacon Construction. Beacon Construction is a wildly popular construction contract company back on Earth largely famous for their self-construction technology. The pack you hold in your hands is a beacon device. This beacon device is designed to self-build a small outpost building on a relatively flat surface with minimal effort. Controlled by a console located in the center of the pack, the schematics and blueprints of the desired building are uploaded to it. Once deployed, the console will begin replicating the contents of the data that was uploaded to it in exact detail, similar to a 3-dimensional printer.
After your examination of the device, you sling it around to your back, running your arms through the large spaces between the straps with them hanging over both your shoulders, now carrying the device like a backpack. When you finish adjusting the straps to fit your shoulders, you turn to your crew mates who appear ready to go.
You give a quick nod to them. “Everyone ready?”
“As ready as we can get.” Peter says as he nods back.
Jordan and Darius nod at you as well, indicating they are prepared.
You notice that Darius and Peter are both armed with Prolonged Engagement iteration seven combat pistols, or PEC-7 pistols. They’re lightweight, mainly close-quarters weapons that have a lower stopping power than the one you’re using, but with a higher rate of fire and better recoil control. Designed by the same manufacturer, Arc Arms, they are dependable, reliable, and defensible.
You then look towards Jordan and notice he’s armed with a Prolonged Engagement iteration twelve auto-pistol, or PEA-12 pistol. It is an automatic pistol that has the lowest stopping power of all your weapons but with the greatest rate of fire. It is practically designed to fill any target at close range full of holes.
They are all wearing the same jacket you are, but they have theirs zipped. They are carrying their own rebreathers, them dangling by their straps from the sides of their weapon holsters.
"Hey, boss. You finished staring at us so we can go?" Darius chimes in sarcastically, snapping you out of your thought process.
You shake your head a bit, grounding yourself back in reality. "Oh, right. Yeah. Let's head out." You say with a quick nod.
You turn to exit the armory, carrying your rebreather in your left hand and your crew mates follow.
After a bit of walking and taking a couple elevators with your crew mates, you all reach the hanger bay in the lower aft portion of the ship. You find yourselves walking down an elongated, large corridor which leads to the launch area of the hangar. You all reach the launch bay, and while walking, you examine your surroundings.
The hangar bay is a large, rectangular-shaped area with with three identifiable landing zones and three large blast doors. There are two Tartarus-class defense craft stationed at the first two of the landing zones. Directly across from the blast doors is an enclosed area with two horizontal windows. You can vaguely make out a couple figures working on a few consoles inside. At the end of the hangar area is a Mule-class shuttle craft. This craft is designed to hold twelve occupants in its passenger bay.
Walking towards the shuttle, you see four people standing a few feet from it. Three of them are standing in a line, with the fourth standing in front of them, their back towards you. Getting closer, you notice that the fourth person is female, with the other three being male.
You and your crew mates reach her, and she turns around to look at you all, hands behind her back, eyeing all of you up and down. After this, she gives a small nod and a smile.
"Sergeant Maria Henderson. Leader of the Security Division on the New Dawn... But I'm sure you already knew that." She proclaims with a tone of purpose.
Sergeant Henderson looks at you now, seeming to analyze your appearance. She clears her throat. "So, you're the Head Engineer of the fourth, right? I've seen you a couple of times but I believe this is the first time we've actually spoken. Good to finally put a voice to the savior of the Santa Maria."
Savior of the Santa Maria? That’s the first time you’ve been called that. A heroic name, if not a little cheesy.
You nod at her. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma'am."
"Likewise." Sergeant Henderson walks to the middle of where you, your crewmen, and the security forces are standing, her body perpendicular to you and your crew.
“Alright. Listen up everyone!” She spoke with an increased volume that echoed through the hanger bay. “So here’s the plan...” She turns her attention towards you and your crewmen. “The engineers of division four here are going to establish a small outpost on the surface of the planet. I need you and your team to work quickly since we are going in dark with little intel. Once the outpost is constructed, my security team will establish a perimeter around it until research supplies from the New Dawn arrive.”
She turns her attention towards her security team. “I need you three to provide cover for the fourth while they set up. Any contacts or potential targets that you see will not be engaged unless I give the order to do so. If there is anything on that planet, I’d rather not piss it off. Once the outpost is established, one of you will be providing cover for the doctor while she conducts an analysis of the surface of the planet.” She notices something is off, and her eyes begin to dart around the hangar. “Speaking of which... Where is the doctor?” She turns her head from left to right, searching the area.
You and your crew start looking around the area as well as the security team.
“Doctor Brookes?” Sergeant Henderson says with some worry in her voice.
After a second or two, you hear a voice from the other side of the shuttle. “Y-yes. Right here. Apologies.” A woman emerges with a long white lab coat from behind the side of the shuttle. She walks towards both teams, holding a small tablet close to her chest. She stops a short distance from Sergeant Henderson, standing directly across from her. “I was going over my research notes before we departed for the surface.” She explains in a careful tone of voice.
You, your crew, Sergeant Henderson, and the security team look towards the doctor.
“That’s fine doctor.” Sergeant Henderson aims her right hand bringing it left to right towards both teams. “Care to introduce yourself to our unit here?” She brings her hand back down and puts it behind her back with the other.
“Absolutely.” The doctor clears her throat, and brings her attention towards the two teams. “My name is Doctor Tina Brookes. I am a researcher with the first Science and Research Division here on the New Dawn. I am a specialist in the study of both surface geology and atmospheric sciences. I will be in charge of conducting the first phase of analysis once we’re established on the surface. I’m looking forward to working with all of you.” She says with a slight smile.
“The pleasure is ours, Doctor.” Sergeant Henderson says courteously with a nod.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the four engines of the shuttle activate, blue-white flames spewing out of them with a loud roar. Everyone quickly turned their attention towards the shuttle, a bit startled by the noise. After a brief moment, the engines settle, with the flames much less intense than they were a moment ago. The rear end of it lowers, and a ramp is made with the rear hatch that led inside. A man steps out and stands on the ramp. He’s wearing large headphones with a microphone attached to the left speaker that is near his mouth along with a pair of sunglasses that conceal his eyes. He looks towards Sergeant Henderson.
“Pre-flight checks are finished, ma’am. We can depart on your orders.” He proclaims with a deep, grizzled voice.
Sergeant Henderson nods at the pilot and looks towards everyone gathered in front of her. “Alright, people! Mount up! We depart in five!” She commands with resolve.
The pilot turns back and enters the shuttle again, now taking the left pilots seat in the cockpit.
“Yes, ma’am!” The three security members shout in unison and salute.
You and your crew begin making your way to the shuttle, with Doctor Brookes close behind. The security team who was closest to the shuttle grab their weapons and equipment and begin entering the hatch up the metal ramp. They sit on the three innermost seats in the shuttle, now harnessing themselves with the safety straps behind the seats.
You and your crew climb up the ramp and begin taking seats on the outer section of the shuttles seating. You and Jordan sit across from each other right next to the shuttles hatch. Peter and Darius sit across from each other on the seats next to you and Jordan. Doctor Brookes sits on the seat right next to Peter. You all take the safety harnesses behind the seats and strap yourselves to the chairs with them.
Sergeant Henderson walks into the shuttle last and stops directly in front of you. You curiously look up at her. She digs into one of her tactical pouches and pulls out an earpiece.
"Here. My da-" She stops herself, then clears her throat, holding the earpiece in front of you. "Admiral Henderson... wanted you and Doctor Brookes to have one. Apparently he would like to keep in contact with the division leaders for this mission."
You carefully take the earpiece from Sergeant Henderson, and snugly wrap it around your right ear. You look back up at her when your finished.
"That earpiece is connected to a radio frequency the New Dawn uses. Pushing the middle button on it will connect you directly to the bridge where the Admiral is stationed. It's extremely long-distance, so don't worry about walking too far." She explains.
"Thank you." You say nodding at her.
Sergeant Henderson walks over to Doctor Brookes and hands her one as well. She begins putting it on and wraps it around her own right ear.
After handing the earpieces out, Sergeant Henderson makes her way through the center of the shuttle and enters the cockpit, taking the right pilots seat, her and the pilot strapping the safety harnesses on themselves. The pilot pushes a few buttons on the control panels in the cockpit and the rear hatch of the shuttle begins slowly closing.
You inhale and exhale deeply through your nose, butterflies beginning to form in your stomach, your chest mixed with emotions of nervousness and excitement.
The rear hatch of the shuttle closes, sealing itself shut.
"Command, we're entering atmosphere now. Are we on the right vector?" The pilot asks.
"Affirmative Zeta 3. Maintain your current approach." The command center back on the ship advises to Zeta 3 through his headset.
The shuttle slightly rocks everyone on it from side to side and up and down. The entire crew are holding on to their harnesses with both hands for stability. You can see the cockpit from where you're sitting. There are streams of air flying around the shuttle windows at high speed.
After about three minutes of this, the streams of air around the front of the shuttle stop, and the shaking steadily slows.
"Command, we've broken through the atmosphere. Beginning our descent to the surface." You hear Zeta 3 say.
You feel a sudden change of weight in your body once the shuttle broke atmosphere. You couldn't confirm this feeling since the shuttle is still flying through the planets skies, but you figured it could be explained once you're on the ground.
The shuttle feels to be flying a lot more stable now. In your eagerness, you couldn't help but to unbuckle your harness and get up out of the seat. You start making your way towards the cockpit area of the shuttle keeping your hands on the sides of its interior walls to give yourself some stability. Everyone in the passenger area is looking at you as you do this. After a short walk through the center, you reach the frame that leads into the cockpit. You hold on to the top of the frame with your right hand, now staring outside the shuttle window, observing the green landscapes of the planet before you.
You then notice something completely out of the ordinary. "Wait... What's all that over there?" You ask as you point towards the left window of the shuttle.
Sergeant Henderson and Zeta 3 look at you for a moment, then towards the direction you’re pointing. Sergeant Henderson leans in a bit and squints to try and see better. She then sits back in her chair with her eyes open again. She puts her index finger to the middle of her earpiece and holds down the button. "Admiral, we're confirming visual on possible structures on the surface."
"Acknowledged. Land a decent distance away from them and make contact with the ground. Get that outpost set up ASAP." You hear Admiral Henderson command through your earpiece.
"Copy that, Admiral. Henderson out." Sergeant Henderson brings her hand back down to the secondary pilot control on the shuttle. She turns her head to the pilot. "Zeta 3, change course to land two clicks away from the structures." She says pointing in the opposite direction of where you saw the structures.
"Yes, ma'am. Changing course." You hear Zeta 3 confirm as he now changes the direction of the shuttle joystick more to the right. The shuttle slightly tilts to the right, and you can see the shuttle changing direction, the structures moving to the left out of view.
After some time, Zeta 3 starts pressing multiple buttons and flips a few switches on the control panels in front of him. "Alright everyone... This is our stop. Initiating landing procedure." He proclaims to everyone onboard.
The shuttle steadily halts in the air and begins descending vertically towards the ground. The shuttle lands on a flat area on the surface.
You hear the engine of the shuttle begin to wane and it steadily becomes completely quiet after a few seconds.
Sergeant Henderson unlatches her harnesses and gets up out of the seat, now facing you. "Ready to get to work?" She asks with a courteous smile.
You nod your head and make your way to the back of the shuttle.
Sergeant Henderson stops in the center of the frame between the cockpit and the passenger area. She looks at everyone from side to side. "Alright everybody. This is it. Let's get ready to work. Equip your rebreathers. The first thing we're going to do once we're on the ground is to give Doctor Brookes a moment to analyze the air composition of this planet to see if it's breathable or not."
You reach the seat where you were a few moments ago and grab the rebreather that you left there to the right of it. You put the rebreather over your face, and begin adjusting one of the straps to the back of your head and another to the back of your neck. After a couple of tests to insure it's working, the rebreather is now firmly planted to your face. You hear your own breathing become more audible while wearing it.
Everyone else begins doing the same thing, equipping and adjusting their own rebreathers.
"Doctor. There's a spare rebreather up above where you're sitting." Sergeant Hendersen informs Doctor Brookes.
"Oh! Right! Thank you." She says as she begins unstrapping her harness. Once she unstraps them, she takes the rebreather that was dangling above, slightly behind her and starts putting it on herself.
After everyone has their rebreathers equipped, those who haven't unstrapped themselves from their seats now do so. Your crew, Doctor Brookes, and the security team all get up from their seats, grabbing their equipment or stretching.
Sergeant Henderson looks behind her towards Zeta 3. "Alright... Zeta 3. Open her up." She commands, her voice being filtered through the built-in audio resonator in the rebreather.
"Yes, ma'am. Opening the hatch." The pilot says with his own rebreather equipped.
You stand directly in the center of the shuttle, close to the hatch with your equipment prepared. Jordan is to your left, somewhat behind you, and Darius is to your right directly parallel to Jordan. Everyone else is directly behind you facing towards the hatch.
"You ready for this, man?" Jordan asks with a bit of tension in his voice.
"As ready as I can get." You respond. You can practically feel the suspense in the air as you wait on the hatch to open.
The hatch unseals and begins slowly opening.
The light from the star fills the shuttle steadily with its beams starting from your head, proceeding downward.
You bring your left hand up to shield your squinting eyes from the bright intensity of the light. After your eyes finish adjusting, you bring your hand back down. You inhale and exhale deeply, ready to step into the green unknown.
The hatch of the shuttle is completely down now.
You slowly take one step at a time down the lowered hatch of the shuttle, looking around your environment. It was oddly peaceful. Grasslands littered the landscape, with trees highly similar, but remarkably more lush than Earth's, moderately dotting the valley. You could've sworn what you heard was akin to birds in the distance, chirping in their natural environment. However, you didn't see any.
The temperature felt moderate. Not too hot, or cold. That perfect balance in the middle like what occurs during the fall season on Earth.
You start confirming that feeling in your body that you got when the shuttle came through the atmosphere. You felt... lighter. It was easier to move around, and your equipment easier to carry than when you were on the New Dawn.
You stop at the edge of the hatch and look towards the ground, the grass on it almost calling to you. The group is close behind, looking around them with curiosity and wonder.
You take your left foot and warily place it on the ground before you, the grass crunching lightly under your weight. Lifting your foot up felt effortless. It was jarring. After getting a feel of what the ground feels like with your boot, you take your right foot and bring it on the ground across from your other. You cautiously take a few steps forward, grass bending under your heaviness. You look up and look back around for a moment, once again taking the unfamiliar environment in.
You look back down and tilt your right foot to the side and look under it. You've left a footprint in the ground in the shape of your boots.
Putting your foot back down on the surface, you turn around to look back at your group who still seem distracted by their surroundings.
"Well, at least the grass doesn't kill you here." You humorously say.
Everyone turns their attention towards you and begin stepping off of the hatch and onto the surface. They all spread out, walking carefully in different directions taking in unfamiliar sights.
Everyone stops now, but continue to look around.
"I'm not the only one feeling... erm... lighter right now, right? That isn't just me?" Peter precariously asks.
Darius, not even looking towards Peter, answers. "No. Not just you. I feel it too."
"I believe everyone can feel it here. Which is shocking since the planet is not rotating. So it must be that gravity here is simply less intense than Earth's." Doctor Brookes explains.
"Doctor Brookes. Can we get an update on the air composition here?" Sergeant Henderson requests with her attention towards the Doctor.
"Yes... Just give me a moment..." Doctor Brookes utters looking intensely at the tablet-shaped device she brought with her.
"Fifty-six percent oxygen... Fourty-one percent nitrogen... Three percent water vapor... Wait.... What?" She looks at her tablet with a dumbfounded look on her face.
Everyone turns their attention to her.
"What is it, Doctor? What's wrong?" Jordon asks with distress.
Doctor Brookes shakes her head in disbelief, eyes still fixated on the screen of her tablet. "The air composition here... Disregarding the increased oxygen and lessened nitrogen here, there isn't a single trace of carbon dioxide or other minor gass in the air." She looks up at Jordan. "I'm surprised that this planet isn't frozen over without the existence of these minor gasses."
"It's got to have something to do with the star." You chime in.
"Or the thick atmosphere." One of the security guards add.
"Or maybe both." Peter says.
"We're not going to find out by playing guessing games. Doctor Brookes... Is the air breathable or not?" Sergeant Henderson asks with a sense of urgency.
Doctor Brookes looks at her now and nods. "Yes... It should be. Although it might take some getting used to."
"Alright then... Now that we know... Who's goin' first?" Darius cautiously asks, his eyes darting around at the group.
Everyone knew what Darius meant by that question. They all looked at each other, waiting for a volunteer to do the honors.
You break the silence after a couple minutes have gone by.
"I'll do it." You hesitantly offer, reaching for the straps on your rebreather.
Everyone turns to you, eyeing you with some intensity, the suspense overflowing like a dam ready to burst as you unlatch the straps from your rebreather.
When you finish, you grab the glass encasing of the rebreather with your right hand and begin to slowly and meticulously pull it off your face. It is now completely off of you, and you bring it down to your side.
You take one deep breath.
All of the sudden, an unfamiliar energy like you've never felt hit your lungs, then your veins. You feel a certain strength in your body that you've never felt before. Your chest being filled to the brim with an unexplainable calmness.
You exhale.
You felt yourself able to think more clearly. Rubbing the back of your neck, a sensation of peace has claimed you. You felt a bit... happier. Like many burdens had lifted themselves off of your shoulders. It was incredible.
"Hey, you alright?" Jordan worringly asks, since the rest of the group had been staring at you for some time now with concern.
You look towards him. "Yeah, yeah. I feel great actually. The air seems safe to breath." You say with a smile.
After a moment, everyone begins taking off their own rebreathers. When they finish, they all take in their own breath of the alien air that surrounds them.
“God damn... That feels good!” Darius exclaims with a grin on his face.
“Yeah... I could get used to this.” Jordan says enthusiastically with a smile.
“Well... This is new.” Sergeant Henderson utters in a low voice, feeling the same internal sensations everyone else is. She brings her attention back towards the group. “Let’s not get too comfortable everyone. We still have no idea what’s here yet. Let’s get moving people!” She commands, raising her voice again.
Everyone starts walking away from the shuttle now, equipment clacking against one another with each step they took. You take the lead in the front of the group, searching for an area to set up the B.C. device.
After walking for some time, you stop. Everyone else stops behind you. A flat clearing is in front of you with some scattered trees. You look back at Sergeant Henderson.
“This is a good spot to set up, ma’am.” You inform her.
She nods. “Alright. Let’s get that outpost constructed. We’ll cover you.”
You nod back at her and begin removing the B.C. device strapped to your back.
“Malcolm! Terry! Cover our nine and three! If you see anything moving towards our location, notify me immediately!” You hear her order the two of the security detail. “Ramirez! You’re covering the Doctor as she studies the planet further! Keep her protected!” You hear her exclaim to another one of the men.
“Yes, ma’am!” You hear them shout in unison, now separating and rapidly moving towards their positions.
The guard named Ramirez is now close to Doctor Brookes as she begins her study of the surface with her tablet, her crouching down to get a closer look at one of the fauna.
The guards Malcolm and Terry are in their positions, holding their weapons, standing at the ready keeping a lookout for anything unusual.
Jordan, Darius, and Peter kneel themselves down, taking out equipment from their packs and laying them down on the ground.
Sergeant Henderson is standing near them with her own weapon, her back towards your crew.
You start bringing the B.C. device down to the floor, kneeling down yourself. You place the B.C. device flat on the ground with the white letters up. You look to the side at one of the security guards, your left forearm resting on the top of your left thigh. You figured that this a good time to examine what they’re using since you didn’t get an opportunity to do so before this point.
Sergeant Henderson and the guards are using Prolonged Engagement iteration two assault rifles, or PEAR-2 rifles. These rifles strike a good balance between fire rate, recoil, and stopping power and are excellent for usage in any combat scenario. Like your pistol, and the weapons your crew mates are using, they are dark gray in color. They have streams of blue light flowing on both sides of the weapon from the barrel to the hammer.
They’re wearing iteration five security armor. Created by Lawson Industries, it has silver-tinted armor plating of an extremely dense and compact, but surprisingly lightweight metal material that is designed to protect the wearer from high amounts of kinetic energy. Their plating is located on their chest, upper arms, forearms, thighs, and shins. They’re wearing dark blue protective jackets that mostly conceal their chest plating, with the upper arm and forearm plating overlapping the arms of the jacket. They’re also sporting black tactical pants with their thigh and shin plating overlapping it. The guards are wearing iteration five security helmets meant to be worn in conjunction with the security armor. These helmets only cover a large majority of the head leaving the face exposed, but is made of the same metal material that the rest of the plating is made of. Sergeant Henderson is not wearing one of these helmets.
You finish your examination of the guards and Sergeant Henderson and look back towards the B.C. device on the ground in front of you. You lean in a bit, taking your right hand to press the small button on the device but just as you were about to do so...
“Sergeant! Visual on unknown aerial contact approaching from the southwest!” You hear one of the guards shout.
You and everyone else looks towards the direction the guard is looking. He was right. There was something flying towards your location, but you couldn’t make out what it is.
Sergeant Henderson takes a few steps forward towards the inbound contact, eyes fixated on the moving object. “Steady, men! Do not engage! Remember my orders!” She shouts, the object now closer, more details coming into view. There were parts on it that were moving, but it was still too far away to make out details.
You, Peter, Darius, and Jordan all stand, eyes focused on the object barreling towards you all.
It comes closer.
Doctor Brookes looks in the same direction, her hands gripping her tablet more tightly, holding it to her chest.
And closer.
Sergeant Henderson grips her weapon tightly, ready for this situation to turn ugly.
And closer.
Your breathing becomes slightly more labored, your chest filling with anxiety, your heartrate increasing.
And closer.
The flying object comes into full view and flies overhead, everyone turning themselves to keep track of the flying anomaly.
It turns back and does a loop around your location. What you see is like something out of a wild dream.
The object looks like a chariot, seeming to be pulled by four white quadruped beings, moving their legs along in a galloping motion. You see what appears to be wings on the back of them, flapping through the air at a dignified pace. At the base of the chariot, you see another three beings standing in the middle of it. From what it looked like, it seemed like they have their attention on you.
The chariot pulls itself around and steadily lands in a spot a few feet from your group.
It was this moment that you got to look at the chariot and things on it in more detail. The four beings in front appeared to be wearing a gold-tinted plating, with what you presumed to be a helmet with a blue plume running down the middle. These beings have their attention locked on your group, with a surprised look in their eyes.
The chariot itself seemed to be mainly constructed of gold, with elegant curves and design in its structure. The seat of the chariot is dark purple, lined with refined designs etched into its fabric.
The three beings cautiously step off onto the grass below them, one leg at a time, their attention also locked to your group.
You and your group stare at them in complete disbelief, your eyes widened to the strange entities before you.
You bring your right hand exceedingly slow to your right ear, pressing the middle button of your earpiece and hold it.
"Admiral... We've made first contact."
Author's Note
Well, this was certainly a journey to write. It seems like the first chapter which establishes the foundation of the world is definitely the hardest to write. I read what I wrote many, many times over, making sure what I wrote made sense and stayed consistent, and fixed as many grammatical errors as I could. But I am only human, and I am prone to making mistakes. As I said in my prologue, I am very open to criticism and feedback. If you have any, I would definitely like that. Chapter 2 will begin production very soon, so keep my story tracked or favorited. Thank you!
