SteedWarriors

3039 Celestial Calendar-Planet Horn Cap, on the border between the Minotuarian Concordant and the Lyra Commonwealth

Starbright Shimmer sat in the cockpit of the powered down Maud in the DropShip's 'Steed bay in orbit. It had taken several months and a ton of S-bits to get the heavy 'Steed up and running, as well as taking a bunch of piss ant bandit smashing and pirate stomping jobs just to keep them in the black. But it was worth it. The heavy 'Steed had a pair of prismatic particle cannons, and had been upgraded with an ultra AC-5 and an XL engine. On the up side, the Maud could move like it was a medium-weight 'Steed and lay down a field of devastating fire. On the down side the wrench jockeys had to remove some heat sinks and shave down the armor on the flanks and rear to compensate for the heavier ultra auto-cannon and larger engine. No matter, Mauds weren't designed to be frontline brawlers.

Starbright went over the mission in her head. Minotaurian Concordant had ponied up good bits and salvage rights to deal with a large pirate conclave that had been, until recently, content on doing hit-and-run raids on isolated depots, industrial districts on planets along non-vital trade routes and out-of-the-way convoys. Then something had changed, somehow they had gotten their hooves on several IndustrialSteeds, weapons and armor to make them an actual threat, and two Gildas. They had switched from doing small hit-and-run raids to assaulting and looting five military bases on the boundaries between the Mintotaurian Concordant and the Lyra Commonwealth.

As Starbright mulled over the details, she also made a mental note that the weirdos of the Whinnyappolis Tribe were currently reported to have been travelling in this region of space. There had been a directive sent down from the MRRB to not engage and the board had also not issued any contracts involving them. There had also been rumors that the weirdos of the Whinnyappolis Tribe had been in some sort of negotiations with the weirdos of StarCom. She decided to leave any thoughts of weirdo groups talking to one another to the tinfoil hat brigades, after all the Equestria Sphere had no shortage of weirdos.

***

As the DropShip jostled from turbulence of atmospheric reentry, Star Burst came in over the radio. "All right everypony, clench your sphincters tight. We're coming in for a hot drop into an active battlefield. You'll be dropped a few kliks away from the worst of the fighting, but keep your hooves on the triggers. There are reports of at least two mixed pirate lances, mostly composed of up-armed IndustrialSteeds and light tanks, accompanied by one of their commanders in a Gilda. The board has put a bounty bonus of one hundred and fifty thousand S-bits on his head. Your mission is to keep those dumps out of the hooves of the pirates, failing that, you are to destroy them. Our drop zone will be about three kliks away from the dumps. If you can keep those dumps intact and bring down their commander, we'll get a nice fat bonus. If you can keep from smashing up that Gilda too badly, we can swoop in and snatch it up right under their snouts before anypony knows what happened. What the board or the Concordant doesn't know about can't hurt us."

Starbright went through her systems checks. Everything came up all-green and she gave a hoofs-up to the mechanic standing on the gantry in front of her cockpit. Looking across the bay, she saw the mechanics securing parachute packs to the MRM carrier. This was going to be a drop from altitude, not high enough to damage the 'Steed, but high enough to completely wreck the heavy missile tank and kill Spring Ember if the parachutes didn't deploy properly.

The radio crackled as Star Burst spoke. "Alright everypony, engines hot. We're dropping in one-twenty."

The Maud whirred to life as the on-board computer sounded off in its vaguely feminine monotone voice.

Reactor: Online
Sensors: Online
Weapons: Online
All systems nominal

The floor under the 'Steed opened and Starbright felt the rush of weightlessness as seventy-five tons of heavy metal plummeted towards the ground. This wasn't her first hot drop at altitude, but just like on her first one, she held her breath, counting the seconds until the 'Steed impacted the ground. With a lurch the Maud landed on the ground. Starbright quickly checked all the readouts. No armor damage, no structure damage, reactor green, sensors green, weapons functioning. She saw the MRM carrier touched down and the parachutes detach.

"Holy shit, I don't see how you feather brains like this!", Spring Ember said over the radio.

"Keep talking trash crook-horn and I'll spray you down with a fire extinguisher when we get back home.", Firecracker snapped back.

"Hothead, Eagle One, cut the chatter and give me a systems check."

"Uh, weapons...all-green, engine...normal, tracks...intact, drive train...normal, sensors...all-green.", Spring Ember replied.

"Everything's all-green here boss.", Firecracker responded.

"Alright, move into position. Those dumps won't last long if those pirate 'Steeds show up."

As the lance moved into range of the dumps, Starbright quickly glanced at her sensors. The dumps were protected by two DerpySteeds, four Scootaloos, a dozen light and medium tanks and twenty Parasprite-class helicopters. For a series of fuel and munitions dumps this close to where a battle was raging, these dumps should be guarded by no less than a full lance of BattleSteeds each, accompanied by two full lances of ground vehicles and aerospace assets each...unless this was a trap. She quickly switched over to the short range communication frequency used by the Minotaurian Concordant. "Minotautian command, this is Runner of the Star Gallopers. You critters call for a couple of guns?"

"We have your lance on sensors Runner. There's a valley between four high hills a quarter klik west of here. Go there, power down and wait for our signal. When the shooting starts, check your fire, we've hired a few planet-based freebooter mercs to harry and harass the pirates and they might show up 'round here once it all kicks to get some extra S-bits."

That proved her intuition right, this was a trap. Dangle a few juicy looking, lightly guarded dumps and see who comes a-knockin'.

The freebooter mercs might be a problem when it comes to laying claim to any legit bounties, as they have a bad habit of swooping in at just the right, or sometimes wrong, moment, score the kill shot on any high profile bounty, then use their sensor data to contest any claims when it come to the S-bits and salvage shares for it. Though not against the rules and regulations of the MRRB to hire freebooters, mercenaries who have decided to either strike out on their own without being part of a mercenary company, the hiring of them was often frowned upon and hoof-waggled, especially among the great houses, but this the periphery, the edge of "civilized" space, and the various powers here might not have the the capital to hire much in the way of board certified merc outfits, especially large ones.

"Roger, roger.", Starbright replied.

Starbright, Firecracker and Spring Ember made their way to the aforementioned valley. Powering down her 'Steed, the unicorn turned the lock on the hatch at the top of the cockpit, grabbed the rope ladder and climbed on top of the machine. Attaching the hooks of the rope ladder just inside the cockpit hatch, kicked it down so the kirin could climb up and pulled a box of cards from inside her barding.

The pegasus, the kirin and the unicorn eyed each other suspiciously as they looked at their cards. They had been sitting and waiting for hours, they had resulted to playing Library, betting a percentage their projected S-bits shares in a series of best of five rounds. Currently Starbright was up by three books, Firecracker was in position to tie this hoof or even possibly pull ahead, and Spring Ember needed a miracle to catch up.

"I bid seven books.", the pegasus said.

"I bid zero.", the kirin replied.

"Oooooh. You plannin' on making her sandbag? Or have you accepted that you're losing and owing us a plot ton of money?", the unicorn asked.

The kirin glared at the unicorn, little wisps of smoke rising from her curly mane.

"Right, right. I bit...four books.", Starbright said.

Right as Firecracker took her second book, the glimmering red glare of a flare caught their attention. The pegasus mare flew up so she could look over the peak of the hills. "Guess I'll have to take your money later, ladies. C'mon Springy, I'll get you to your tank." The pegasus scooped up the kirin and flew off to the MRM carrier.

Starbright didn't bother gathering up the cards, she could buy more later. After rolling up the rope ladder, she hopped back in the cockpit and stowed it. Once the hatch had been sealed, the unicorn mare made sure her neural helmet was secured, her barding was properly secured and her cooling under-suit was functioning. Slipping into the command chair and strapping in, she started the manual startup process.

Firecracker's Parasprite was the first of the lance to make it above the crest of the hills. She synched her sensors with the rest of the lance. "Hey boss, they're already laying down harassing fire with LRMs. Looks like five-packs based on the contrails. They're still too far out for accurate fire."

Gildas normally carried LRM/10s. "Eagle One, synch up sensors with our Minotaurian contacts. That might be missile packs from the IndustrialSteeds. Let their whirlybirds take the hits first, no need to get ourselves smashed up just yet."

"Roger, roger!"

As soon as her MRM carrier cleared the crest of the hill, she gunned it for a patch of nearby trees. Nocreature had to tell her that taking a hit from an auto-cannon or a PPC could very well mean an abrupt end to her career. The cover would also give her the added benefit of breaking up her sensor profile, making her harder to detect as she moved in to position.

Starbright, piloting the Maud, would be the main target. More so because she was piloting the largest and heaviest BattleSteed in the current engagement, and that would be quite a feather in somepony's cap. So she decided to hold back a little until the fight was properly joined.

Starbright scanned her eyes simultaneously across the sensor data in her HUD and through the armored glass of the cockpit. Though they were too far out to get a read on their loadouts, she was able to judge by the contrails that at least three of the IndustrialSteeds were packing LRM/5s. The Gilda was nowhere on the sensors. That meant that it was probably out there somewhere hiding, probably powered down until it was the proper time to pop its head up and wreak all kinds of damage.

As Starbright continued to scan the area for a sign as she trotted her 'Steed along at a leisurely sixty-four KPH, an auto-cannon round screamed past her cockpit. She quickly began to serpentine the 'Steed as she checked her readouts. The shot had missed, fortunately. "Everypony, watch yourselves. They've got AC/2s." An AC/2, though it fires a relatively small round and does less damage than larger variants of auto-cannon, is accurate at farther ranges, and that can be bad, especially if it hits the cockpit.

"Roger wilco!", Firecracker replied.

"Roger.", Spring Ember responded.

Starbright opened the frequency to her Minotaurian employers. "Does anycreature have sensor lock on those fuckos? One of them just put a shot across my muzzle."

"Aw cheese and crackers. Don't'cha pirates know that this is Whinnyapolis Tribe territory?", an annoyed voice said over the radio. "Now ya face the wrath of Big Gouda of the mighty three-one-three."

Starbright stared dumbfounded for a moment as a Riflemare signature came on the sensors. She quickly shook it off as clear sensor data came through to her HUD. She quickly cycled through the targets until she came across a tempting target of opportunity, a Loader Princess with some of the armor stripped from the torso just below where the LRM/5 had been mounted. Planting all four legs, she carefully lined up the shot and fired off one of her PPCs. Static crackled at the edges of her HUD as a triple helix of coiling rainbow-colored energy erupted from the weapon arm. Even with heavy energy weapons, at this range it would be a lucky shot if she hit the broad side of a JumpShip. That wasn't her intentions though. A shot from a PPC, even if it was a near miss, would still scramble and confuse enemy sensors, plus it would scare anyone it was fired at.

"Alright everypony, put the hammer down and close with those fuckheads. We need to under-run those missiles and thin their ranks before that Gilda shows its head.", Starbright said into the radio. She drove the Maud forward, its new XL engine letting her 'Steed move at almost eighty KPH. She serpentined her 'Steed, weaving left and right, preventing the LRMs from getting a clear lock and avoiding auto-cannon shots as she closed in to optimal range.

Firecracker swooped down with her helicopter and unleashed a staggered volley from her M-lasers. Two emerald beams of high-powered coherent light etched their way along the left torso and down the left flank of the IndustrialSteed, melting armor plates to slag. As she pulled away to prepare for another attack pass, clusters of missiles came at her from two different directions. She pulled her whirlybird into a steep climb, deploying flares and foil packs. The long-range missiles veer away, their guidance confused by the foil and flares, some exploded midair as others impacted the ground. Parasprite-class helicopters carry enough chaff to protect their hides three times. "That got a little hairy there, boss. I got one softened up for ya."

"Pull back into a holding formation and wait for an opening. No need to get unnecessarily cooked."

Firecracker waggled her helicopter side-to-side to signal in the affirmative as she disengaged from the fight.

Starbright, keeping her 'Steed moving at max speed, lined up a shot and fired the ultra AC/5. Four auto-cannon shells slammed into the Loader Princess.

The problem with strapping weapons and armor to IndustrialSteeds like the Loader Princess is that, though tough and sturdy, they weren't built with the stresses of combat in mind. So when four auto-cannon rounds slammed into the weakened armor where m-lasers from the Parasprite had already hit, the shockwave traveled into the internals and the ammo hopper that contained rounds for the AC/2 began to cook off in a devastating flashpoint cascade reaction, shearing off the left torso and the left weapon arm. Because IndustrialSteeds were built with heavy industrial labor in mind and not combat, their cockpits lack an ejection function.

Starbright could see fire and smoke fill the IndustrialSteed's cockpit as it keeled over. She wheeled her 'Steed around so that her weapons were broadside to another IndustrialSteed that was currently trading shots with one of the DerpySteeds.

Many a 'Steed jock has found themselves in an early grave because they underestimated the DerpySteed. This was a mistake this pirate had figured out too late.

Starbright wheeled her 'Steed in reverse as a shot from the Derpy's AC/20 impacted. A few seconds later the IndustrialSteed was consumed in a blinding rainbow-colored fireball as its reactor went critical. The mostly flash melted remains of the 'Steed collapsed to the ground.

The Scootaloos, though lightly armored, used their greater speed as they wound in and around the IndustrialSteeds. They unleashed shots from their m-lasers, s-lasers, SRM/2s, machine guns and flame throwers. Five pirate 'Steeds were felled or had their weapons shot off and forced to withdraw.

The Riflemare had taken up a firing position on a ridge, it unleashed staggered barrages from its twin AC/5s, twin AC/2BFs and twin l-lasers, felling or crippling at least four IndustrialSteeds.

Starbright lined up a shot on one of the pirate 'Steeds legs and fired a shot from one of her PPCs. The coiling rainbow-colored triple helix sheared the leg off at the knee, sending the IndustrialSteed crashing to the ground cockpit first. She was unsure if the pilot was dead or unconscious. Deciding to not take the chance, she lined up another shot and fired her other PPC. Pirates, bandits and the like weren't protected under the Equus Treaty, so opening fire on one who was unable to defend themselves wasn't a war crime.

Using the chaos of the battle a distraction, Spring Ember had maneuvered her MRM carrier into optimal range and opened fire. Dozens of unguided medium-range missiles soared through the air. Though many hit the ground, exploding harmlessly, enough hit pirate aerospace assets, vehicles and 'Steeds to give them pause.

As Starbright began lining up a shot on one of the pirate 'Steeds, Star Burst came over the radio.

"Runner, Hothead, Firecracker! We just spotted an enemy DropShip closing in on your location and burning hot! They're thirty seconds out at the most!"

"Just business as usual, eh boss?", Firecracker snarked over the radio.

"I'd shave my mane and chop my horn off if it meant we get jobs with good intel.", Spring Ember snapped.

"Minotaurian command, I hope you've got some help comin'. We've got an enemy DropShip comin' in hot!"

"Runner, can you hold? We have reinforcements coming up. They'll be there in ten minutes."

"Tell'em to get the lead out! That DropShip will be here in less than thirty seconds!" Starbright switched her frequency. "Big Gouda, please tell me you've got a lance hiding somewhere nearby."

"Sore-ee, I'm just a lance of one. I was sent out on orders to help run these pirates off. Maybe I can get some infantry here to help out."

"A couple of fresh guns are better than nothing." Starbright could see the pirate DropShip in the distance, it looked like a slowly growing dot. She began running through her head all the assets they currently had at hoof. Two DerpySteeds, eight Scootaloos, a Riflemare and her Maud when it came to BattleSteeds. There was Firecracker in her Parasprite helicopter and Spring Ember in her alicorn MRM carrier heavy tank. There was also a smattering of Minotaurian aerospace assets and ground vehicles. Fortunately pirate the 'Steeds, ground vehicles and aerspace assets that weren't destroyed had pulled back, but as soon as that DropShip arrives and drops off those fresh 'Steeds, they'll push back in to the fight. A repair bay or a field repair team that could weld on fresh armor plates, drop some more ammo into the hoppers and swap out the hot fluid in the heat sinks for cool fluid would be great, but they would have to do with what they had...and who knows, maybe they'll hold out long enough for back up, and not take too many casualties. 'And maybe monkeys will fly out my plot.'

As pirate DropShip move into position and began to lower, Starbright ordered every pony and creature to press forward and engage the new 'Steeds at point blank range as they deployed from the DropShip, that way they'd be too close for any LRMs they may have...and who knows, maybe they'll force these new pirates to disengage. 'It sure doesn't feel like any monkeys are about to fly out my plot.'

As the pirate DropShip came to a hover several meters above the ground, the 'Steeds, helicopters and ground vehicles bum rushed it. The DropShip deployed flack to misdirect missiles, and opened fire with its auto-cannon emplacements and l-lasers. Three Scootaloos and a dozen helicopters and light tanks fell to the fire. In return dozens of hits impacted the DropShip. Though they had no chance of penetrating its thick armor, that wasn't the intent as a half dozen weapon emplacements were sheared off, the unidentifiable remains of creatures fell from the smoking remains of the weapons.

Four spots on the bottom of the DropShip opened and time seemed to slow for Starbright as the Gilda dropped out, accompanied by a Sneaky'Shy, a Party Howitzer and an Applejack. Four fresh 'Steeds in total, one heavy, one assault and two mediums, with a smattering of damaged IndustrialSteeds and vehicles serving as backup, facing seven damaged 'BattleSteeds, with ammo in various stages of depletion. The air felt as thick as maple syrup as she took aim at the still dropping Sneak'Shy and fired with the ultra AC/5. Success! She scored a solid hit on the Sneaky'Shy, knocking out one of its four m-lasers and damaging another.

The Sneak'Shy, still dropping, returned fire with its remaining three m-lasers and l-laser as it ignited its jump jets. The three emerald beams and one blue beam of destructive coherent light struck the Maud's ultra AC/5.

Weapon destroyed

"Fuck! Matchstick and Spot Weld are gonna kill me!", Starbright shouted to no one in particular. Fortunately the lasers didn't penetrate into the ammo hopper, or this would have been the end of her career. She pressed her Maud forward and rushed the Sneaky'Shy as it touched down. The seventy ton 'Steed, though sporting a decent amount of energy weapons, an SRM/4 for close range defense and enough heat sinks to keep it cool, was more of a medium-to-short-range brawler, not an up-close-and-personal brawler. Of course the Maud wasn't made for up-and-close brawling either as it was a long-to-medium-range marksmare 'Steed, but needs must.

Starbright could see the surprised look on the 'Steed pilot's face as she closed in.The pirate 'Steed jock tried to backpedal. A trained 'Steed jock would have either tried to sidestep the rushing attacker, or counter charged, firing all available weapons, in the hopes of making the charging jock chicken out, barring that, do enough damage to their 'Steed so you or your allies can shear off components.

Starbright lowered her 'Steed's "shoulder" and tucked the weapon arms in to keep the expensive PPCs from getting sheared off in the impact. The air left her lungs as the harness felt like it was crushing her when the two 'Steeds impacted. She saw the enemy 'Steed jock bounce off the armored glass of the cockpit, their head twisting at an odd angle before going limp.

***

Lesson number one of piloting a BattleSteed: Always make sure your command chair harness is properly secured.

Many a 'Steed jock has found their careers tragically cut short because they thought they were "too cool" for a harness, forgot to properly attach all five points or felt it was "too uncomfortable". Are you "too cool" or "too comfortable" for broken bones and dying?

This message has been brought to you by StarCom.

StarCom MagePulse Generator Telecommunications Network. Pay your bills fucko. It's not like you have any other choice.

***

Starbright watched as the Sneaky'Shy fell to the ground, its pilot dead from a broken neck.

The Party Howitzer fired its twin SRM/6STs at a DerpySteed, blowing off the AC/10BF and the s-laser.

The pilot was forced to eject, with both weapons blown off, they were less than useless in this fight. A thin blue streak of light came from the bottom of the capsule that held the cockpit as the rockets ignited, shooting the pilot, cockpit and capsule containing the life support functions upwards at a high rate of speed.

The Party Howitzer found it surrounded by two of the remaining Scootaloos and the DerpySteed. The two Scootaloos circled the assault-tonnage 'Steed, one firing its twin flame throwers, ensuring that the enemy 'Steed remained too hot for the pilot to effectively bring its weapons to bear as the other fired its twin machine guns, the heavy thirty millimeter rounds looking for a seam in the armor to cause internal damage.

The Riflemare and the Applejack circled. The smaller and faster medium 'Steed was able to get behind the slower heavy 'Steed, scoring hits from its twin AC/5s and twin m-lasers on the rear armor of the heavy 'Steed. Big Gouda, showing he was the better trained 'Steed pilot, flipped the weapon arms around to fire backwards. The Applejack's pilot didn't even get a chance to react as rounds from the twin AC/5s and twin AC/2s ripped their 'Steed to pieces. Big Gouda galloped his 'Steed away as the freshly destroyed 'Steed's reactor went critical.

Spring Ember fired clusters of medium-range missiles at the advancing pirate IndustrialSteeds, knocking a couple out, and more importantly, keeping them from closing in on the fight. The scopes on her heavy tank filled with static when a blast from the Gilda's PPC. Smoke filled the pilot's compartment as something somewhere in the alicorn heavy tank was burning. "Boss, I gotta *cough-kaff* I gotta pull out. I took a bad hit."

"Boss, I gotta pull out too. I'm outa chaff and I won't be able to dodge missiles forever.", Firecracker said.

Starbright grumbled to herself. This was going to be a big drop in firepower, but it was cheaper in the long run when out gunned to bug out. "Alright, be safe you two. I'll try to keep'em occupied, then bug out myself." Sometimes when one finds themselves in a bad situation, sometimes it's better to run away, so one can live to fight another day.

Starbright took aim at the Gilda's LRM/10 and chain fired both m-lasers. The first was a glancing hit, melting off some of the armor, the second was a direct hit, directly damaging the launcher but not knocking it out. This had the desired effect of drawing the Gilda's attention. She lined up another shot and fired her right PPC. The spiraling triple helix of rainbow-colored energy impacted on the Gilda's missile launcher, filling the air with static electricity and a spectacular light show as it half-melted, half-shattered the LRM/10. Heat alarms blared in the cockpit, she took a glance at the meter. Ninety-six percent heat, one more shot, even with one laser and she'd trigger the emergency shutdown.

Starbright saw her HUD fill with static and her 'Steed shudderas the Gilda returned fire with its PPC. She quickly switched over to the backup sensor package, though they weren't as accurate, they had the added advantage of not being scrambled. She took a quick glance at the paper doll readout, her 'Steed had taken a direct hit, armor levels were reading at critical levels on its right torso, with minor carry-through damage to the internals there. She then took a quick glance at the heat meter, the heat sinks had bled off some of the heat, only a little bit, it still read at ninety percent. If she delayed to let the heat sinks bleed more heat away, it would give the Gilda time to recharge its PPC and fire another shot, so she decided to risk an emergency shutdown. She lined up the crosshairs on the enemy BattleSteed, they wavered and flickered, a combination of the residual effects of the Gilda's PPC and the amount of heat buildup. She flicked a switch, putting all of the Maud's weapons onto the same fire control, unleashing an alpha strike.

Starbright snarled curses as her 'Steed slouched as the emergency shutdown kicked in. Both PPCs and twin m-lasers, instead of hitting the Gilda center mass, instead struck it where the right foreleg, shearing it clean off. The fifty-five ton BattleSteed tipped over and fell to the ground.

The DerpySteed lined up a shot and fired its last round of AC/20 at the Party Howitzer, knocking out but not destroying its right LRM/15. The Party Howitzer returned fire with its twin l-lasers, hitting the Derpy in the cockpit, flash incinerating the pilot. The Riflemare opened fire from the Party Howitzer's left, alternating fire between its twin AC/5s, twin AC/2BFs and twim l-lasers, the shots stripped the armor away from the left LRM/15 and destroyed it. The assault-class 'Steed, smoke pouring from its destroyed long-range missile launcher, turned to face its attacker and unleashed a barrage from it twin SRM/6STs and twin l-lasers.

The barrages raked the Riflemare on its left and right torsos, touching off the ammo. Fortunately the 'Steed had CASE installed, so the blast of cooking off ammo went out the back rather than going internal and killing the pilot. The Riflemare was without weaponry and was forced to withdraw.

Starbright was alone on the battlefield and she knew it. Even if her 'Steed wasn't currently shut down, it would only be a matter of time before either the crippled BattleSteed managed to get up or one up the up armed and armored IndustrialSteeds closed in and cripple her Maud and kill her. Though the emergency shutdown lasted ten seconds, just long enough to vent enough heat to safely start up, ten seconds was a long time. Though the crippled Gilda might be having trouble standing up and lining up a shot, the Party Howitzer should be ripping her apart, unless...that assault 'Steed! They must have seen it too. Because she wasn't being ripped apart right now must mean it wasn't friendly to them. So the Party Howitzer must be trying to move into position. So why haven't the IndustrialSteeds also moved in too? It wasn't like pirates to play fair. So either Spring Ember's barrages smashed them up pretty bad and scared a bunch of them off, or something else must be going on.

The lights in the Maud's cockpit flickered on as the engine whirred to life. Starbright swung around to get her bearings, she saw the Party Howitzer backpedaling as its cockpit was aimed upwards. As she lined up a shot, a voice shouted over the radio.

"Dee-Eff-Ay, baby! Whoo!"

A Rainbow Dash came crashing down on the back of the Party Howitzer, practically snapping the 'Steed in two.

Starbright recognized the voice and the crazy rainbow-colored flames painted on the eighty ton 'Steed. "Zapp Apple Jam! Hot damn! I haven't seen you since that big dust-up between the Draconic Combine and the Federated Hives!"

"Only this time we ain't shootin' at each other.", Zapp replied.

Starbright scrunched up her muzzle. "About that--"

"It was business, not personal.", Zapp interrupted. "We were workin' for employers on opposite sides of a border skirmish. All water under the bridge."

The sound of crunching metal drew Starbright's attention. She turned her 'Steed's "head" to see the trying to literally crawl away. Her alpha strike must have done way more damage than she thought. "Right, got a job to finish." She casually trotted her 'Steed over, pinned the heavily damaged war machine that was trying to crawl away and aimed both PPCs at the Gilda's cockpit. "Power down and surrender, or I will kill you."

The pilot, a griffon rooster, took a moment to ponder his chances, then switched his steed off.

"Good choice." Starbright turned the cockpit face Zapp's. "So why are you out here freebooting it on the periphery, rather than running with the Dust Devils?"

"All aerospace pilots, ground vehicle operators and BattleSteed pilots operating in the vicinity of Battle Zone X-ray, this is Minotaurian Command Actual. Clear out or hunker down. High altitude fighter-bomber support is moving into your Ay-Oh."

Zapp and Starbright laid their BattleSteeds down on their bellies, using the machines' forelegs to protect their cockpits as the ground vehicles and aerospace assets that could moved away at max speed. From low orbit Minotaurian aerospace fighter-bombers zoomed towards the ground at hypersonic speeds. The first wings of the aerospace craft unleashed torrents of unguided long-range missiles to soften up the targets, then pulled up and away to make way for the following wings. The next two wings dropped hyperbaric bombs.

All Starbright could do as explosions ripped apart an area two square kilometers across, with her and Zapp right in the middle of it, was brace for the impacts and watch as the armor readouts steadily dropped, and hoped that none of the damage caused to the internals would be serious.

Within seconds the Minotaurian aerospace craft had finished their bombing run, with the final wing of aerospace fighter-bombers swooping down low over the area to pick off any pirate stragglers with their auto-cannons and m-lasers.

Starbright stood her 'Steed back upright. She looked at the paper doll readout. Most of her 'Steed's armor had been stripped off, most of the internal damage had been light-to-moderate, with the right torso flashing critical warning. Spot Weld and Matstick were going to be very upset. She looked down at the Gilda, it was clear that the bombardment had turned the pilot to jelly and wrecked up the BattleSteed badly. She turned her 'Steed to face Zapp Apple Jam's. "So, why are you out here on the periphery freebooting it, rather than still running with the Dust Devils?"

"Got hired by some little piss ant kingdom on the edge of New Yakyakistan to put down a terrorist cell. Turns out those 'terrorists' were just a bunch of starving civvies who had organized into a massive protest. It also turned out that the contract wasn't board certified and the captain had thrown in with a rogue state. You know me. I hate bullies. So when it turned out that we weren't facing down terrorist, but a bunch'a starving creatures angrily protesting that their government was literally starving them out, I put myself and Ol' Awesome here between the civvies and at the time who I thought were my friends. That's when I found out that the Dust Raiders had violated their oaths as SteedWarriors by violating the Equus Treaty. Took a few knocks, but seeing as Ol' Awesome here was the biggest and baddest, the rest of the lance was forced to pull back. After convincing the civvies to seek shelter, I made a bee line for the nearest StarCom MPG and got a message out to the MRRB on what had happened. Turned out that StarCom had some inkling on what was going down in that area of space and had already dispatched the Light Horse Brigade to investigate."

Starbright gave a long whistle. "So what did you do?"

"Duh! I dropped the tenth of an S-bit on where the Dust Devils were and what they were doing. When the Light Horses asked me to help them out, I jumped at the chance to kick the plot of some bullies. Once the shooting was all over, the MRRB held a formal trial for the Dust Devils. Because I was still technically a part of them, I found myself at that trial. Eridanni himself spoke up in my defence and the charges got dropped. He even offered me a spot with the Light Horses, saying he needed somepony like me on crew. I thanked him,then turned him down as I felt my destiny laid elsewhere in the 'Sphere. He shrugged and offered me a lift to anywhere I wanted. That was six months ago. Since then I've been taking any jobs I could to keep Ol' Awesome here in tip-top shape, with enough left over for some food and transport on a JumpShip to the next job. And that puts me here, pulling your hay bacon from the fire."

"So what happened to the Dust Devils?"

"The ones that didn't run or get shot to shit were sentenced to be spaced out an airlock."

Starbright shuddered at the thought of somepony out in the black of space simultaneously freezing and boiling as the uncaring void sucked the warmth and air from their bodies. She remembered every time had encountered the bodies of some unfortunate souls that had met with the uncaring void, their remains unidentifiable, the uncaring void having desiccating and twisting their features, and the radiation bleaching everything stark white. She had stories of other ponies and creatures finding relatively fresh bodies, their eyes literally bugging from their souls. "So what do you say, wanna join up with the Star Gallopers? You'll have to split the S-bits with the whole crew, but there's good...ish food. Cookie Dough might not be a great cook, but he makes a hooch that's good for two things: Stripping the paint off 'Steed armor and killing brain cells. You don't have to say yes right now. If you say no, then we'll give your cut of the cash and drop you off at New Las Pegasus, once the JumpShip we commissioned for this trip recharges its batteries."

"You had me at brain-totting hooch!", the tan pegasus with the rainbow mane said through the radio.

Starbright cued up Star Burst on the radio. "Star Galloper Command, this is Runner. I'm ready for pick up and I've recruited a new gun. Also I need an id on four BattleSteeds. We may have just made bank. Transmitting sensor data now." The reply came back partially garbled by static.

"*skrt*e read *skrt*ou Runner. Unable to receive sensor *skrt* due to an in-system *skrt*nic storm. Can you pull *skrt*ck to orig*skrt* drop coordinates?"

Starbright sigh. An ionic storm in-system would keep all ships from departing. "Come on Zapp, we're pulling back to our original drop zone. Just stay on my six 'till we get there."

"Can do."

Starbright switched frequencies. "Eagle One, Hothead, you two still alive?"

"Yeah, boss."

"Holy shit! I wasn't sure if anypony survived that!"

"We're pulling back to the original drop coordinates, there's an ionic storm in-system. I got the full scans for four pirate BattleSteeds, two mediums, one heavy and one assault just in case anypony tries to snipe our claims. Also, I picked up a new recruit. Just gotta get'em aboard and get'em all contracted up. Say hello to your new lancemates."

"Eagle One, Hothead, I'm your new lancemate, The Awesome One."

"You don't get to give yourself a call sign here in the Star Gallopers. Until you earn on, your sign is Noob. Got that?", Firecracker snapped.

Back aboard the DropShip, Star Burst, Starbright and Zapp Apple Jam sat in the conference room.

Star Burst slid a data pad across the table. "This is a standard board-approved five-year contract. It provides full provisions for a board approved, above-the-table mercenary company: Full medical provided by our medical staff, a paycheck every ninety days, hazard pay given at the end of each mission you are on, full repairs by our mechanics, your own living quarters, a guaranteed full retrieval of your BattleSteed if it is ever downed. Now this is the part where I'm supposed to give you the whole speech about legal immunity given only given to SteedWarriors who only take MRRB-approved contracts, so let's pretend I gave it to you as you used to be part of another merc company. There is a small provision at the bottom that absolves the Star Gallopers of any and all wrongdoing in the event you are arrested on your own time if you break the laws of any planet we are on, and that we reserve the right to sell or offer your BattleSteed as collateral in the event you wind up in jail. I only bring this up because our next stop is New Las Pegasus, so don't do something stupid like get in a bar fight, get found possessing any contraband substances or get caught with a foal that isn't your offspring in your motel or hotel room. Now what isn't on the contract, but is very strongly urged by the leadership at Star Gallopers Mercenary Company, don't bring any professional or amateur fun time creatures aboard the ship. I know you jock get your plot hairs wound up tight and need to blow off some steam, but you never know who's working for the competition as a honeypot. Any questions?" He paused for a moment, when Zapp Apple Jam said nothing, he continued."In the event you are killed, put down who is your primary beneficiary and what planet they're on. Then sign here, here, here and here. Date here and hoofprint here."

Once Zapp Apple Jam, had finished filling out the contract and slid it off the table, Star Burst picked it up and looked it over. "Your royal Rainbow Dash. Those are kinda rare, Spot Weld and Matchstick are creaming themselves. I have only one question to ask about it, and the only reason why I ask is because we don need reclamations agents jumping us when we translate into a system." He pointed between himself and Starburst. "You didn't steal it off of someone?"

"Nope. Found it years ago in an old crashed HLDF WarShip."

"Alright then. Welcome aboard. Stop by the canteen and get some grub. There'll be drinks at twenty-hundred-thirty hours. Our chief of security, Water Wings will give you your room assignment, just tell her if you prefer port, starboard or aft.", Star Burst said.

Starbright walked onto the observation deck of the Xerxes. Zapp Apple Jam was staring out the window. "Hey.", she said. "You didn't get anything to eat?"

Zapp shook his head. "When I saw Spring Ember scarfing down three trays worth of tacos and bursting into flames when somepony asked if they could ask a few, I figured I'd skip the canteen today and try my luck with a couple of old calorie bars."

"Yeah, don't get between that 'rin and tacos, unless you have a fire extinguisher at hoof.", Starbright chuckled. She walked up to the window and looked out at the ion storm. "Old spacers used to believe that the lights of the storms were the souls of those lost when JumpDrives failed."

Zapp shook his head and pointed out the window. "That's not what I'm looking at. Out by the seventh planet, there's a JumpShip. Also look out at the edge of the orbital plane, this isn't a normal storm."

Starbright looked out the window. In the distance she could see strangly colored clouds, they were pink, purple, yellow, blue, white and orange. In the flashes of light from the storm she could see a large ship. "That's not a JumpShip, that's a WarShip! And this is a chaos anomaly storm!" She ran to a wall panel. "Has there been any reports of the Disciples Discordant in this sector?"

"Uh...No there hasn't. Why?"

"Because there's a WarShip that matches the descriptions of the one that the Discordants use! Plus this isn't a normal storm, it's a damned chaos anomaly storm! Any time there has been a chaos anomaly storm anywhere in-system, the Disciples always show up!"

"My sendors read this as a normal, uncharted--"

"To Tartarus with your readings! When was the last time all ships were ordered to stay in orbit because of an ion storm? Asteroid swarms, meteor storm or drifting debris fields, maybe. Even the cheapest built garbage scow has enough electromagnetic shielding to protect its internal systems and only a nearby JumpDrive failure would be powerful enough to fry its systems. This is a military-grade DropShip! It would take the pulse of a supernova popping twenty light years away to fry our internals. If you don't believe me, just take a look out a window. It'll take like two seconds."

"Alright, I'll look out the window. Just to placate you. If you're wrong--

"If I'm wrong, I'll let you and every other stallion that wants to bang me in every hole, film it and sell it on the MPG net for ten S-bits a view. Now just go and look."

Starbright could practically feel Fire Storm roll his eyes. "Five...four...three...two...aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnddddd..." She held up a hoof in the air and twitched it. Almost as if on cue strobing red lights came on and the pa system came on with a screech of feedback.

"This is not a drill! There has been a visual confirmation of a chaos anomaly storm! All hooves stay in your quarters or find your nearest damage control team! We are under Anomaly Code: Black!"

As Starbright moved for the door, she saw a bright flash of light. "Was...was that a drive failure? They were on a pirate jump point."

"Nope!", Zapp said pointing at the expanding sphere of multicolored light. He ran over to the wall panel and pressed the button for the pa. "Incoming chaos anomaly wave! All hooves brace!"

Starbright's eyes became pinpricks. She had never experienced a chaos anomaly wave. She had seen chaos anomalies in deep space before, but never been this close to one. She had no training on what to do.

The chaos wave hit the DropShip. It popped into different shapes over the course of a few seconds, a beautiful white daisy, a turquoise ceramic teapot, a gold necklace, a ball of yarn, a comfy chair, a very confused grey pegasus with blonde mane and tail and golden walleyes. As the chaos anomaly wave passed the DropShip returned to normal.

In the 'Steed bay, Matchstick and Spot Weld looked at each other...well as well as they could, considering they were both couches.

"Match? Are we sofas?"

"Yeah."

"I thought so."

"Panic?"

"Panic."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Starbright looked down at her foreleg and hoof. They were made of crocheted yarn. She quickly ran her hooves over her body. She was a pony made entirely of crocheted yarn. Her head started to spin and her stomach felt like it was doing an Appleoosan hoedown. "I don't feel *bleh!*" Vomit didn't hit the deck, but a jumble of brightly colored yarn. She was suddenly a normal unicorn again. At her hooves where she threw up was not a pool of vomit, but a pile of brightly colored yarn. She coughed and sputtered as she hacked up the last of the yard from her throat.

Wrecks looked at his forelegs, hind legs and paws. he was made entirely of sparkling diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other precious and semi-precious stones. The old diamond dog instincts came in full force and he started trying to figure out how to stuff himself into his pockets.

Star Burst experienced the full pony life cycle first-pony. First he was a gamete rushing at full speed at an egg cell, then he was a dividing clump of cells, then he was a squalling foal exiting his mother, then he was a colt chasing butterflies with his friends in a field, then he was a young stallion asking another young stallion to marry him, then he was a slightly older nervous stallion sitting in an office with his husband as the beautiful who would be their daughter, then he was a past-his-prime stallion as the filly he and his husband had adopted was now a full grown mare who was introducing a stallion who was her fiance to her two dads, then he was an old stallion laying on his deathbed, his grown filly, her husband and all his grandfoals were around him. A smile graced his lips as he closed his eyes for the last time. Then he was back onboard the Xerxes, a completely normal stallion and co-owner of a mercenary company.

Once the wave had passed and every pony and creature had went back to normal, and had resumed their normal duties, Starbright and Star Burst made their way to sickbay upon the request of Wrecks. Laying on one of the beds was Spring Ember in the fetal position, trembling like a leaf.

"The tacos! The Tacos! They were eating me! THEY WERE EATING MEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Wrecks came up with a syringe, jabbed the needle in her foreleg and pressed the plunger down. "It's something to help her to rest. She's suffering the lingering effects of chaos anomaly psychosis. She'll be okay after some sleep. Everycreature aboard suffered it, she's the only one to have lingering effects."

"How long will it last?", Star Burst asked. "The last thing this company needs is its tank driver half-catatonic."

"This a bit of uncharted territory. The only reports there are of chaos anomaly psychosis are from spacers in deep space who flew through a chaos anomaly or JumpShip crews reported materializing in a strange place of swirling colors and the laws of physics were turned on their heads. Of course there are the Disciples Discordant who appear to be under a permanent effect of a chaos psychosis. But that might be because it's rumored that they're based in the only known permanent chaos anomaly way out on the edge of the Deep Periphery.", Wrecks said.

Chrysalis stomped through the hallway of the StarCom headquarters. Held in her green aura was a report from fifteen different places across the Equestria Sphere that the Disciples Discordant, each time they arrived and departed, the created and left odd chaotic anomalies that dissipated almost as quickly. No reports of their movements in the past year of their movements outside the Deep Periphery had crossed her desk and that meant one of three things. One: They were on the recruit again, but no reports of Discordant priests had been reported in nearly five years. Two: Discord had revealed himself and was on the move again, but that old draconequus hadn't been seen since the HLDF had up and disappeared hundreds of years ago. Three: One or all of the princesses had been in contact with the Discordants for some reason. This one was the most likely.

Chrysalis stepped into her office and sat behind her desk. She was mildly surprised to see the light blinking on her holovid communications device blinking. Pressing the button by the blinking light, the holographic image of her personal secretary appeared.

'The princesses for you, Miss Chrysalis.", the mare said in a nasally tone.

Chrysalis glared at the semi-transparent image of her secretary. Of course those five nags had something to do with this! She cleared her throat and regained her composure. "Yes, patch them through."

The holographic images of the faces of the five princesses appeared.

Chrysalis could only shudder in a mixture of fear and disgust at Twilight's empty eye socket with floating purple mote of light where the pupil of an eyeball should be.

"I think you know why we called you.", Celestia said.

"The Disciples Discordant.", Chrysalis said flatly. Of course it was these nags. The only ones the childer and grandchilder of Discord would listen to outside of the draconequus would be his oldest and most respected rivals. She thought that, but didn't say it out loud.

"We are all sorry for stepping outside of proper procedure. You know as well as anypony here who I prefer to stick with proper procedure. I managed to unscramble a little bit more of the message that the StarCom operatives sent out.", Twilight said. "After my fellow princesses and I read what was sent and we felt it prudent to up the time table. I'm sending you a copy of what I could unscramble now.

Another holo display lit up on Chrysalis' desk. It was a text-only message fragment.

We followed the old degraded JumpDrive signatures through a two thousand light year-long arc through uncharted space and encountered debris fields whose fragments matched the...[this fragment of the message is too degraded]...it! We found it! The signal from deep space that the MPG network scans were picking are HLDF in...[this fragment of the message is too degraded]...By the All-Creator! We found what happened to the old Harmony League Defense Force! They've become a force unlike any the Equestria Sphere has seen!...[this message fragment is too degraded]...Eighteen clans, all led by vat-grown and cloned warriors! They've got WarShips! JumpShips! DropShips! They're amassing a force of five clans to invade the Equestria Sphere! Chrysalis! If you're reading warn the Princesses! Warn...[message ends]

Chrysalis clicked her tongue. This was most definitely disturbing news. "I'll put the StarGuard on an indefinite state of readiness. what will you five be doing?"

"I'm going to offer my blessing to the crown prince of the Lyra Commonwealth and the Federated Hives...unofficially of course.", Cadance said.

"On my next trip to the Federated Moons, I'm going to let one of their generals 'accidentally' see the blueprints for Project Annihilator.", Luna said.

"When I next visit the Draconic Combine, I'm going to 'forget' to scan my quarters for electronic observation devices and let them steal the schematics for a railgun and LBX auto-cannons. At the same time the spy networks of the Minotaurian Concordant, the Zebra Magistracy and New Yakyakistan are going to intercept an 'accidentally unsecured' MPG message from my office containing the same schematics.", Twilight said.

"There's a collection of disenfranchised nobles in the Free Moons League calling themselves the Rising Suns. When the crown prince of the Lyra Commonwealth and the Federated Hives announce their wedding, this will trigger another succession war. When the time is right, I will publicly urge my fellow princesses to recognize their legitimacy. This will trigger them to break away and form their own republic.", Celestia said.

"And what of the Lyra Commonwealth's secret factories where they're making the new models of Tirek assault-tonnage BattleSteeds?", Chrysalis asked.

"Tell them through StarCom that they have to sell at least ten percent of them on the free market. Failure to do so will see their MPG network privileges revoked.", Twilight said.

One by one the holographic images of the princesses winked out.

Chrysalis flicked off her her holovid display. She hated that the princesses were still in control all these centuries after their "retirement". She knew they didn't trust her and putting her in the head office of StarCom was a way to hold her hostage. She hated them for that. She hated herself for agreeing to it. She allowed her thoughts to drift back to the Amber Glow civil war and the feelings of despair when she drugs the remains of Thorax from the rubble after that usurping tyrant had detonated a megaspell bomb. His remains were so twisted and charred that she could barely recognize him. Publicly killing a few here and there to keep a population in line she could respect, by not mass murder on an industrial scale.

Even the mighty Tirek who hated the princess more than she was appalled by the wanton mass slaughter. That had triggered him to throw in with the thestrals of the Highland Brigade. He had been leading a successful campaign on Equus to free the very heart of the Hegemony from Amber Glow when he, along with an elite corps of the Highland Brigade's 'Steed pilots were eradicated in the twin flash of of a pair of megaspell bombs. The Celestia assault 'Steed was renamed in honor of his sacrifice.

After the Amber Glow civil war ended, Thorax wasted away over the course of a year from despair.

At the end of it all, the great houses had stripped Marensky, the great general that had freed the Equestria Sphere from Amber Glow's influence. Why? Because they rightly feared her because she couldn't be bought, or coerced, or intimidated into serving any of them. Chrysalis had tried to convince Marensky to stay and take on the great house, and force them to heel. But the old mare, as stalwart as her Stalliongrad ancestors, was simply tired of war and fighting, having served in the Harmony League Defense Force all her adult life and simply to leave the Equestria Sphere and the inevitable destructive First Succession War behind. It was Discord that had provided Marensky the cover she needed, using his chaotic influence to summon all his childer and grandchilder to him and triggering a massive chaotic party across the 'Sphere, then disappeared.