Chapters Author's Note
I really hope you enjoy my first sci fi reading, I really enjoyed pondering about ways I could do this! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed listening to this
Hull Breach
0100 Hours Cloudsdale time:
Travis chuckled, “I’m sure that you’d get a chance before then. Relief crew will be up in about 4 days at 0900 hours Cloudsdale time. So, you got some waiting to do. Over.” he glanced at the clock, it was nearly 2am, and everypony else was either sleeping, or about to fall asleep, or had gone to get coffee, Travis made a mental note to do the same before to long or he’d sleep till the end of the universe.
“Yeah, no kidding,” she sighed, “I can’t wait to come home, we are going to see that derby right? Over.”
“Front row seats. Over” Travis said, and was about to say more but then the Colonel came in and raised an eye brow and gestured to his ear, which had a headset of it’s own with the little blue light on, signaling it was active and listening.
The large Grey stallion cleared his throat and spoke, “Hello Harmony, how are you doing up there? Over”
There was a slight gulping sound, as if she had realized that he had been listening. Before Harmony said, “It’s going ok, I mean teething troubles and the damn radio being a pain, but life support and the toilets are working just fine... Um... Ho-how are you? Um... Over.” Travis noted the ‘oh shit’ tone in her voice, this wasn’t the first time she’d used that tone.
“Just checking in to make sure your keeping your head clear and focused, you know that this station could mean for the progression of Equestria and it’s interests. Not that I need to tell you how to do your job. Over.”
There was a brief moment of silence before, “Yes, of course Colonel, Over...” then a quieter whisper, “You old hag...”
Travis’s face went pale, while the Colonel went a bit red. “Care to repeat that Harmony? Over.”
“Um... This is Lunar 5, signing off till next check in, over.”
Travis’s face was going blue from the laugh he was trying to keep in, the Colonel looked to him,
Travis took a breath, opened his mouth to speak, but only a wheeze came out. The Colonel raised an eyebrow. Travis composed himself.
Harmony took off her headset, and placed it on the table, she was about to walk away, when the headset floated back up. Blinking she saw that many things had begun to float as well.
Harmony, being a Pegasus it wasn’t to hard navigating in almost zero G. She just flapped her wings and steered her way through the corridors of Lunar 5. She glided past navigation, glancing in to see that she wasn’t the only one who was a bit annoyed at the fact that gravity didn’t exist anymore. Pulse, was trying his best to keep an eye on the radar and use his magic to grab all the floating papers and coffee so it didn’t damage anything, the green stallion looked over. Smiled sheepishly, then went back to his feeble task.
Harmony glided around a corner, and found Butch's cabin door, using her wings as a sort of airbrake she coasted to a stop in front of his door. She raised a hoof to knock when suddenly she fell. Hard. There was a crash from the command center and a loud thud followed by what sounded like a mug shattering.
"FUCKING DAMNIT" Pulse yelled. "I just mopped yesterday!"
Harmony got up and slammed the door open, only to find the room was empty. She heard hoof steps and she turned to see Butch trotting up the hall a burnt out gravity talisman balanced on his back.
"Sorry, but it was going to go sooner or later, so I thought I'd replace it." Butch said innocently.
Harmony was about to say more, when alarms suddenly went off, Spanner poked up through a floor maintenance hatch down the hall with grease on his face and forehooves, being the smaller of the 2 repair ponies, he would fit in spaces normally hard to reach, but the little pony had a nervous look on his face.
"Butch, did you unplug the projectile radar from the aft antenna?" he asked in a worried tone.
Butch shook his head, "No, I didn't I can't reach it you know this." Gesturing to himself to prove his point.
The 3 ponies looked at each other, then they started galloping to the safe room. They arrived to see Syringe and Circuit Breaker already there, prepping the atmospheric suits, should they be needed. Spanner quickly prepped the doors for airlock when Pulse slid around a corner, tripping and falling over, then the large orange stallion of Rudder came down and scooped him up and tossed him on his back. Making a mad dash for the safe room. Butch and Spanner began to close the door just as Rudder dove through and slid to a stop right next to Syringe. All 7 ponies waited and listened, they could hear thuds as most of the projectiles bounced harmlessly off the hull.
"Guess there's nothing to worry about..." Syringe said, the cyan and navy blue maned unicorn looked more and more nervous as the seconds ticked by. Eventually the thudding stopped. After a minute or 2 all the ponies relaxed and Captain Circuit Breaker was about to give the all clear when they were all thrown to the side by a massive impact, the sound of grinding metal and wires snapping heard even deep in the belly of the space station. The ships computers righted the ship and kept it from crashing to the moon, but as the violent thrashing stopped Cpt. Breaker ran to the rooms computer and began to do a systems check.
After a few minutes, he turned to his crew.
Harmony pondered to herself, how bad was the damage? Could they fix it? Did the message get though to ground control? Would they die up here in the vast emptiness of space? Somepony would come to investigate why they haven't made any transmissions sooner or later. Right?
0130 hours Cloudsdale time: Cloudsdale
"Cloudsdale to Lunar 5, repeat last transmission over..." Travis stared into the computer, the diagnosis system still trying to find out what was wrong, all they had heard from the space station before the loss of contact was recorded for documentation purposes.
Travis pulled up the file from the last transmission, and played it. Hoping it would give him some idea of why the comms were down again.
"Cloudsdale this is Lunar 5, we have multiple inbound projectiles, radar was down, repeat, radar was down, we had no idea impact imma- SSSHCCHEZZHEHRIOJCKLJE This is a code Red, this is not a dri- *click* "
Travis pondered trying to make out what Pulse had said, he had said radar, but... wait. The radar was down...
He got up and trotted over to one of the other technicians on duty, "Hey, can you show me the status of their radar?"
The mare, who Travis saw on her badge was named Router, nodded and pulled it up on her computer, her yellow brow knitted and she brushed some violet mane out of her eyes, as if she was seeing things and wanted a better look.
"I just checked this not 2 hours ago... it was working fine, says it's been down for about twice as long now... what changed..."
Travis looked at the screen, he might not have understood everything but he observed that the part of the screen that said, Status: Inoperative Time since last operative: 2h 3m
Both Unicorns stood up and trotted over to the Colonel's office, Travis knocked.
"Enter." Came the reply.
"I know what's going on." he said, "But I need to know what WE can do..." He looked at them. Who only looked at each other. The Colonel raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
"Sir, we can't... at least not from here. We need to get somepony onto Lunar 5 to make the repairs, and we can't make contact with them. Sir." Travis gulped.
The Colonel nodded, "Alright, if that's what we have to do then..." He stood, and pressed a button, on his control panel, they heard his voice outside as he spoke into the intercom system.
"Attention, This is Colonel Lukowitz, all Flight Engineers apart of Project Celestial Report to debriefing room." He looked to Router. "I hope you know someone who can fix that radar, we don't have those kinds of astronauts..."
Router smiled, "I know a mare who can help us. Won't do you much good without a good ass pilot to get them there, I'll get my pony, you get her."
"Who's her?" Travis and the Colonel asked simultaneously.
"Aileron, the best space craft pilot in Equestria."
Travis knew who Aileron was, the most reckless of all the pilots, but she was the best ever known, trouble was, she'd been kicked out of the program after she used a method used only in small gliders to slow down an experimental reusable craft codenamed Cadenza , which resulted in one of the wings of the craft sheering off and killing an escort pilot when it hit his craft. But to her credit she did land the damn thing, mostly. The scrape on the runway was still there last he had checked, and that was over 7 years ago.
Colonel Lukowitz thought for a minute, then sighed, "Under normal circumstances I'd never consider it. But we are dealing with an emergency... and sooner or later the public will figure out something's gone wrong. Especially when the families of the crew try to call them. I'll notify my superiors and see what they think. I need you to find this engineer of yours and get her back here before noon, got it?"
Router nodded, "I'll give her a call as soon as I can."
"Good, and Travis."
Travis looked up.
"I'll see you in the debriefing room, I need time to prepare." he said starting to tidy up his desk.Celestial ?
"Those ponies only hope." Replied the Colonel
0500 Hours Cloudsdale time: Lunar 5
"Comms are dead, not even the short wave radio is working fully... We can't contact the other Lunars." Cpt. Breaker said banging a hoof on the computer that defied him so easily.
They had been in the safe room for a few hours, the smaller rocks had stopped hitting the ship about a half hour earlier, but they to have done their damage. If what the computers were saying about the pressurization was true, almost every room along the hull of the ship that had a window was compromised.
Syringe was trying to help Pulse with his twisted hoof, which he'd gotten when he slid and fell going around the corner.
Butch then stood up, everypony looked at him as he began to put on a space suit.
"Butch, what are you doing?" Asked Cpt. Breaker.
"My job, fixing the ship." Butch simply replied as he put the helmet on and locked it in place. Spanner got up and started to do the same but Butch stopped him.
"I need you here Spanner, I need you to make sure that nothing fails in here, I would like to breathe when I come back." He said to him.
Spanner looked a bit upset at this order. But he nodded, and put the suit back in the locker. Butch, to everypony's surprise looked to Rudder, "Come on Rudds, I'll need you for this one." Rudder, nodded and quickly put on his suit. Once their oxygen tanks were locked in place and helmets screwed tight, they left the safe room via it's airlock.
"Anything yet?" Harmony's voice crackled over the com.
"Nothing, besides a few jammed doors and broken windows. Oh and your coffee is frozen." Butch said, as he glanced into her work space and noted the frozen coffee by the control panel.
"Oh the horror," Said Harmony sarcastically, "We're doomed. Celestia help us all."
"Safe room, we have located the hull breach, no way we can patch this up with what parts we have on board. We're going to need help from Equestria. But by the looks of the smashed dish and control panels, it seems that our main coms are down, we only seem to have interior. Which I remind you only reach the ship and a few hundred meters around it, no way in hell it will reach our closest neighbor, Lunar 3. Let alone Equestria. Over"
While Butch was radioing a status report, Rudder was floating through the hole, which could easily have passed for a castle hall way. Rudder guessed that the diameter could easily fit several ponies side by side. Floating to a stop by the Asteroid, he began to examine it. he noted how it seemed to be oddly shiny for something that has been floating in space, he gave it a buck. Which sent him flying into the wall. The sound that resulted was hollow, and metallic. Being mainly a pilot, he didn't know much about these rocks. But he did know that they weren't usually this kind of metal.
"Butch," he said turning away to radio his friend, "This isn't a 'normal' asteroid, it's met-" But he never finished his sentence as something slammed into him. Hard. Throwing him back the way he had come and right into Butch.
Both ponies slammed against the wall, and back into the gravity talesman's influence, both falling to the floor.
"What the hell Rudds!" Butch snapped as he shoved Rudder off him.
"It wasn't me! Something shoved me." Rudder explained pointing a hoof down the cavity, "I swear on my life, that that is no asteroid."
Butch looked to him, then down the hole, then back to Rudder. He sighed, pulled out his powerful flashlight, and lit up the tunnel. Nothing. Just the rock, hanging cables, lights broken, a pony like creature, a smashed computer, wait... Butch trained the light on the figure, but it didn't light up, it only seemed to be like the night sky. Butch and Rudder looked to each other, then back at the thing. But it had vanished.
"Safe room, we have a situation, en route back to you now."
Both ponies turned to leave, but suddenly, it appeared right in front of them, they both got a good look at the thing. It wasn't solid, not exactly, it seemed to flow, like a river of clouds. Then it reached out, as if to examine Rudder. Rudder, just as curious reached out himself. As their limbs were about to touch, it suddenly wrapped it self around Rudder. Butch leapt towards him, desperate to stop whatever was going on. Rudder screamed, and both he and the creature vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Butch just stood there. Dumfounded.
"Safe room, I'm going to fix those coms, Rudder was just abducted by a mist." He said into the mic.
"Wait what the fuck." Came a reply from Harmony
1050 Hours Cloudsdale time: Manehatton
A unicorn cracked open her eyes, to the sound of the apartment door being knocked on. She groaned, pulling the covers over her head. Go away... she thought to herself, I want to sleep damn it. , Eventually her husband, named Prop Wash, got up, also a bit annoyed at the disturbance at such a early hour. Wondering what time it actually was, she looked at her clock, and was surprised to see she'd slept in far longer than she had thought, it was now 10:30 am. She got out of bed stretched, and went to the dresser, and grabbed her brush and started taming the beast that was her mane in the morning.
Prop Wash reentered the room as the unicorn was just brushing her mane and tale with her magic, getting ready for the day.
"Aileron, babe, there's um... some pony here to see you..." Aileron turned to look at her husband, but her jaw and brush dropped at the same time when she saw who he was talking about.
"Flight commander Aileron, we have a situation, that requires your expertise." said Spike, the dragon standing just taller than her husband, "Princess Twilight herself, requests it."
0900 Hours Cloudsdale Time: EBS Conference room 2
Travis sat at the large table, as press ponies, military ponies, and even ponies he couldn't quite place, trickled in and found a seat or a place to stand along the wall. Many were whispering to each other, but all went quiet as Router walked in, followed by a grease covered Earth Pony Mare, who looked oddly like Router. Both sat on either side of him, the grease covered Mare leaning back and putting her hind legs up, reclining in her seat. Odd looks were given to the mare, as she begun to twiddle a wrench on the end of her hoof. Travis noted the scars along her hide. She began chewing gum. Travis leaned to Router, "You sure about this one, looks like she works at one of those gang mechanics."
Expecting her to be angry he braced himself but Router only chuckled. "She's my Cousin. Best damn mechanic this side of Canterlot, she's got a masters degree in electronics, engineering, mechanics, physics and the science of decision. Why the last one I have no idea, she's almost as smart as the Princess herself."
Travis looked back at the mare, then back to Router. "I don't see it..." He said.
"Trust me, you will," She looked to the mare, "Hey Pliers, say the car won't start, you open the bonnet and find smoke coming from below the pistons, what could it be?
"Depending on the car, probably an oil leak, nothing to major unless it's the alternator, then you have oil dripping onto electrical components, never a good mix, you'd have to replace the alternator, oil, oil pan, oil filter, as well as the alternator belt just to be safe. Hell I'd even check the whole oil system for other leaks, or impurities." Pliers, then looked smug, "Don't tell me your car is doing that thing again, is it?" she raised an eyebrow.
"No, just trying to prove a point," She looked right at Travis, with a smugness that even Jeremey Clarkson couldn't have come up with. "Told you."
By now there were several more ponies, many of military and scientist backgrounds. Many of which, gave sideways glances at 3 ponies sitting at the head of the table, reserved for the more leaders of the E.S.B. Suddenly, Colonel Lukowitz trotted in, quite urgently, followed by a large Alicorn. Her mane flowed like the Ruler before her, everypony immediately bowed, but Princess Twilight waved a hoof.
"Thank you My Little Ponies, but we have no time, if what the Colonel has told me we haven't a moment to lose." She sat down across from Travis, Router, and Pliers. Lukowitz took a seat at the head of the table, the crowd of ponies went silent as he spoke.
"Several hours ago, Lunar 5 went into Meteor shower lockdown, we last heard from them was that that they had taken critical damage, and were losing power. Before we lost contact completely. We have no idea if they are even alive. None of the Lunars can reach them in time. Which leaves the only option, which is a Emergency Launch to reach them."
A scientist then raised a hoof, "But sir, none of our operational ships can reach them in under a few days, and by our calculations given what data we have on the condition of the ship they have less then 2 at best."
"I understand your reasoning, but one ship can make it. Fillies and Gentlecolts, for those of you who don't know, this, is project Celestial ," The Colonel took a step back, while the screen behind him changed from the logo of the E.S.B. to a craft, the likes of which, Travis had only seen in early rockets, back when the organization was still new.
Instantly a stallion reared up, and slammed his forehooves onto the table. "Have you gone mad!? Project Celestial Is nothing but a failure, Fireflies 1 and 2 both crashed, 2 didn't even make it to the launch pad, 35 PONIES DIED THAT DAY, and you want to send the UNTESTED one, of a failed family of rockets, to rescue ponies trapped in a space station orbiting the fucking moon?" Ponies started to mumble in agreement, Twilight then raised a hoof, silencing them all.
"If I recall correctly, when my friends and I were the element bearers, the military said that 6 untrained civilian ponies will never be able to stop Equestria from falling if they were overwhelmed. Yet, time and time again, my friends and I pulled through, and spread the magic of friendship to not just ponies but all of this planet. I say we give it a shot, Colonel, you have my approval. What do you need?"
"Thank you Princess, I need a pilot, the best there is."
A Pegasus Mare with a highly decorated uniform stepped forward. "We have some of the best pilots in the Air Force, we can get you some in a few hours." She saluted.
"That will not be necessary, We have secured a former employee of ours, Aileron. She is the only one who can do this."
There was once again more sounds of disapproval. Even Twilight looked uncertain. Twilight then looked to Travis, who was busy running calculations in his head while furiously writing down statistics. She cleared her throat, and everypony stopped and stared at her, before following her gaze to Travis, who feeling the attention, looked up to see the princess looking at him, he gulped.
"What do you think, Travis?" Twilight asked him, "Should we let this Pony fly Firefly? Or should we get another pilot?"
Travis, looked at Router, who shrugged, then to Pliers, who rolled her eyes and said, "Oh for fucks sake, its not that hard of a choice buddy."
Travis looked to the Colonel , and nodded to him. "She was reckless, and impulsive. Even before her, um... stunt, she was indeed one of the best pilots on recorded in Equestrian History to this day. I say she's our best bet."
With that the Colonel , knowing that nopony would go against the word of the princess, even if she had somepony else speak for her. The rest of the meeting,
1050 Hours Cloudsdale time: Manehatton
Aileron stared questioningly at the dragon in her living room, who was just a tad bit to big for their couch, but she didn't care as she paced back and forth, her foals had been sent to her sister's place with Propwash,
"I swore I would never go back," she told spike for the millionth time, "I have children, I can't just up and go up to fucking space on some wild rescue mission. I have a life. I have responsibilities!"
"I know I know, but the crew aboard that space station have families as well, I know for a fact that if they die up there, 4 foals will grow up missing a parent, and I know what that's like, it's not fun." Spike replied, gingerly sipping some tea that Propwash had prepared for him before he'd himself, left, "Please, we'd be more than willing to compensate you if you take on this mission."
"How much?"
"Half a million bits per day starting when you agree, to when Firefly 3, the craft you're taking, lands back in Equestria after it's mission is complete." Spike said, pulling out his notes giving them a quick once over, spending his whole life with Twilight had helped him with his speed reading. He looked up at Aileron. "So, are you willing too?'
"What if I don't make it," Aileron said, "What if I die on this mission, who will be there for my family?"
"If that happens, they will be looked after, I promise you that. All you have to do is agree to help those stranded on Lunar 5." He reassured her.
Aileron looked at Spike, and she could tell that this wasn't just a politician trying to win a second term, he was trying to help those astronauts in space. Aileron nodded, "I'll do it."
1300 Cloudsdale Time: Firefly 3 Hanger, Cloudsdale
"So this is Firefly 3," Travis said, as he along with Router, Pliers, and the Colonel stepped onto a catwalk, overlooking the massive Thunderbird. The craft was a orange red color with white and black stripes going around it at certain places, it seemed to breathe and rumble as the 3 main liquid fuel rockets were tested and calibrated, it's cargo bay door was open and ponies were loading materials and boxes marked with a red cross. There was a cough, the 3 ponies looked over to see that the Colonel had opened a door to what looked like a lounge. There were a few rows of 5 of what looked to be recliner like chars, a hand full of them were full of ponies dressed in camo, marked with Army symbols, most had the medic insignia on their forehoof sleeve, but one seat had a unicorn mare, she was in civilian clothes but looked right at home.
"Excuse me," Travis started, "are you Aileron?"
The turquoise unicorn looked up, "Yes, I am. Best pilot this side of well, anywhere." She shook his outstretched forehoof.
Travis would have continued the conversation, when Colonel Lukowitz cleared his throat, and the 4 ponies quickly took a seat.
"Welcome, everypony, let's skip the formalities. You are all here because there is a problem on Lunar 5, it has been hit by an asteroid, and is severely damaged, we have lost all long range contact with the crew, but we still believe that there is short range communications. You will travel aboard the experimental craft we call Firefly 3, the third of our Firefly line of craft, part of Project Celestial the previous 2 have failed before and during takeoff, catastrophically. That risk is likely still a problem, so if any other you feel that this is to much of a risk, you may leave now."
He looked around at the several ponies, none of them moved. So the Colonel continued.
"Aileron, you and Travis will go to the cockpit, and plot your course to the space station, Router, and Pliers, you 2 need to see what could be wrong on the Lunar 5 and how to fix it, if it can be. You have 4 hours. Firefly launches in 6 1/2 hours. Good Luck."
The ponies in the room all went to their respective duties. Some only knew that they were going on a rescue mission, others knew that the survival of life on this planet hangs in the balance of their true mission.
To Be Continued...
1900 Cloudsdale time: Firefly 3 Launch pad
Aileron, feeling an odd sense of familiarity, was doing her preflight checks for the umpteenth time. Her eyes moved over the dials and the newer screens that were all feeding her data, Thrusters: Green. Navigation: Green, etc.. She turned to where the co pilot would sit, but there sat Pliers, looking a bit pail. Aileron chuckled.
"First time going to space?" She asked a bit sarcastically.
Pliers looked to her, with more than a hint of annoyance as she fiddled with her low pressure space suit, while aileron was comfortable and familiar with hers, Pliers obviously hated it, "I hate heights, that's why I live in the city in a autobody shop. I like being on the ground."
Aileron chuckled, "Don't worry this is my first time in a spacecraft in about 7 1/2 years, so I'll take it slow."
She smirked as what little color left in the mare's face drained as she started muttering to herself, maybe a prayer to Celestia or Luna, though more likely knowing her, it was curses and swears.
Firefly 3, this is ground control, all systems are go on our end, how's it looking on your end? over. Travis's voice came over the comms.
"Ground control, this is Firefly 3, all systems are go. What's the winds look like? Over." Aileron said into the comms.
"No need to worry about the winds, not there are many strong enough at the moment, the onboard stabilization system will take care of it." Router told them, "T-minus, 30 Seconds Over."
The onboard System started counting down, 30, 29, 28...
Pliers quickly perked up, "30 Seconds?!? I thought we'd have more time!"
"This is a rescue mission. We can't afford to wait." Aileron said as she started to throttle up on the 3 powerful engines, the landing clamps holding them back as they built up the pressure. The whole ship seemed to shiver as it wanted freedom, Aileron could feel it, like a animal seeing wide open spaces for the first time in years.
"Son of a bitch." muttered Pliers.
20, 19, 18, 17...
Aileron pushed the throttle to 75%, the rumble turned into a roar, but she barely heard it, she felt the machine, it was alive. The massive Thunderbird it was, it needed to fly, it yearned for the stars. It wanted to be free. To overcome the oppressive force that was gravity.
12, 11, 10, 9...
Pliers gripped her seat and clenched her jaw and eyes shut. Aileron set the thrusters to 80%, and angled the last of the flaps, her hooves and magic turning dials, making fine adjustments.
5
Aileron locked everything down,
4
She grabbed the Yoke with her forehoof, and the throttle with her other,
3
She rolled her neck, cracking it, settling down into the familiar sensation of becoming one with the machine,
2
She let out a breath, steadied her nerves and smiled as she shot a glance over to Pliers, who looked like she was about to have a panic attack,
1... 0
Time slowed. Aileron threw the throttle to full, and the roar would have deafened and flattened you if you were standing within half a mile of the rocket. She felt the clamps of the launch pad release and the rocket surged forward with a will. The rocket surged into the sky. Quickly gaining speed, the Rocket powered beast fought Aileron for freedom, the Yoke being jerked out of her forehooves for a second, the rocket lurched, the G's caused by this were more than triple of Equestira's gravity, and it was pulling them all sideways. Ailerons horn flared quickly grabbing the Yoke, and throttle, as her limbs were pinned to her sides. She gently eased the throttle back 15%, while moving the yoke and guiding, not leading, Firefly back into a vertical flight path, and opened the taps. The rocket now, understanding where to go, easily sprinted its way, climbing like nothing Aileron had ever felt before. She let out a whoop and a cheer as the clarity she hadn't felt for almost a decade returned for the first time. She barely registered the scream of Pliers as they climbed higher and higher out of the atmosphere.
1945 Hours Cloudsdale time: Firefly 3 in Orbit
As Firefly 3 left the atmosphere, the shaking from the air resistance faded as they entered the vacuum of space. Aileron expertly piloted the craft towards an orbit path, going to sling shot around the planet in order to reach the moon sooner, and hopefully saving more lives if possible. Once she had set the flight path, and the computer had took over, she unbuckled and kicked up a little, floating above her seat, and pushed herself to the window. She saw the planet from space for the first time in years.
She had forgotten how beautiful it was, and how the silence was almost music in a way. She turned to see how Pliers was doing, only to see one of the Pegasus army pony medics floating to her, and pulling her helmet and sleeves off, and put a hoof to her forehoof. Aileron, knowing that something was wrong, glided over.
"Is she alright?" She asked the medic, "She's not dead is she?"
The medic shook her head, "Looks like she passed out from a panic attack or the G's, can't blame her, when we had that roll or whatever that was, I nearly passed out myself."
"Let's get her to the bunks, we need to make her comfortable to ease her out of it." Said another Unicorn medic, with a Sargent's shoulder patch, his nametag said Sargent Awdry. "Help me move her." After a bit, they had Pliers into one of the 15 sleeping bags in the crew's cabin, the first medic, named Milly, volunteered to watch over her and make sure she didn't have a second one in the confusion of waking up.
“Firefly this is ground control do you copy? Over.” Travis’s voice crackled over the com system.
Aileron held a button as she spoke into the mic, “This is Firefly 3. We have achieved targeted orbit. Preparing for slingshot. Course has been calculated. Over”
"We weren't sure on what to think when you guys did that roll, looks like one of the thrusters fired a bit more earlier than we thought it would. Everypony alright up there? Over." Router's voice came over the headsets.
"Only Pliers passed out, but we think that she will be fine, it was from either a panic attack, or the G's it's hard to say." Aileron reported, "Ready to fire Ion chargers, will report upon reaching Lunar 5, until then, this is Firefly 3. Over and out."
The crew strapped in, Pliers was secured with rolls and rolls of duct tape to keep her from flailing around, once all systems were green, Aileron's hoof fired over the Ion button. She waited, and watched. They were picking up speed as they orbited the earth, the navi computer marking when to break out of orbit. 5000 miles. Almost... 35000 miles... Aileron's hoof hovered closer. 1000 Miles.
500 Miles
100 Miles
"Firing Ion Engines!" Aileron said as she slammed her hoof on the button, then it was pushed against her, as her magic had to take over the piloting for them. The speedometer read out almost 150,000,000 meters per second. Almost half the speed of light, a wide grin spread across her face. As the thrusters hummed and vibrated the craft just enough to be noticed by the passengers.
"Reverse Thrusters!" Aileron said grabbing the forward thrusters throttle and the reverse thrusters throttle throwing the first one to off, and the reverse to full.
The deceleration was incredible. The speedo dropped like it was hot, slowing from almost half the speed of light, to only a few thousand meters per second in roughly 45 seconds. Aileron grabbed the yoke, as they neared the large space station, as it spun in its programed temperature regulation, Aileron at first saw nothing wrong with the craft, she looked to the Sargent.
"Are we sure this is Lunar 5?" She asked him.
The Sargent activated the powerful search light, illuminating the name painted on the craft: Lunar 5.
"Yeah, this is it. Still not seeing any... Oh Sweet Celestia..."
Aileron followed his gaze, and her jaw dropped. The hole could easily have been a docking port, sparks fell from the top and lights flickered, Aileron could have sworn that she saw something moving, but then it was gone, perhaps a trick of the light, or the deceleration, She thought to herself.
Skillfully she maneuvered Firefly 3 as close as she dared.
"Lunar 5, this is Firefly 3, Do you read me over?" She said into the mic, nothing. "Lunar 5, do you copy. Over?" still nothing.
"I don't like this," The Sargent said examining the gashes in the space station's hull, "We sure this was a asteroid, looks like it was-"
Suddenly a crackling came over the com,
"This is Lu-zzz-r 5, we are sti-zzzzzz- live, repeat, we are alive, but it's hun-zzz-ng us! It's hun-zzzz-" *click* The crew was silent, the mares voice was panicked. They had only made out bits and pieces, but they sounded like most were alive.
"Lunar 5, LUNAR 5 COME IN! Damn, we lost them..."
The Sargent turned to the medics, "Alright, get those supplies, looks like this is it." The Army Ponies all unstrapped and made their way to the cargo bay to suit up and collect all their gear. Sargent Awdry followed them, while Aileron piloted around and found the docking clamp, using the remote security code, she docked with the space station, with a jolt. It seemed she was a bit out of practice. Locking down the ship, she noted that there wasn't any breathable air being detected. She'd just activated the Airlock protocol on the clamp when Pliers, with plenty of duct tape still on her legs and body, floated in followed by Milly trying to get the rest of it off.
"I swear to the Princess herself, if you duct tape me up AGAIN, I'm going to fix you a new one." She said holding a wrench like a battle axe.
"So you'd rather be thrown around?" Aileron asked, Milly nodding in agreement.
"Well... I'd... shut up!" She said, then noted the lack of military, "Where'd everypony go?"
"To suit up, you'd better as well, you got one hell of a hole to patch from what I saw."
"Alright, just show me where to get my tools." Pliers replied cockily.
"Right in there," Aileron pointed to the silver box on the side of the wall, in it was a tool belt with everything Pliers would need.
"Perfect." Replied the Earth Pony.
As the repair pony suited up, Aileron looked out to the crippled Space Station, and wondered if they could in fact fix the ship before it was too late. She found herself wondering what exactly the pony on the other end of the com was trying to say in such a hurry. She then saw something move in the craft in the corner of her eye. But when she looked towards it. It had vanished.
2000 Cloudsdale Time: Lunar 5
After Pliers was suited up with some help from Aileron. Both went to the cargo bay of Firefly 3, to see if the army ponies were in need of assistance, and were surprised to see that the 'medical ponies' were loading guns.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Aileron sputtered, as she gaped at the weapons, that were actually in some of the medical boxes.
"Our job." Replied Sargent Awdry.
"What." Pliers said flatly, then she eyed a pistol.
"Never mind what, we have a rescue to complete." Milly said.
"NO! When were you going to tell me you brought fucking weapons on our RESCUE mission!" Aileron yelled, grabbing for one of the Soldiers weapons.
Suddenly a unicorn levitated an assault rifle aimed right at Aileron's neck. Aileron's eyes went wide. Then the Soldier was body slammed by Pliers, who had somehow rushed forward fast enough to surprise even the soldier, putting him into a head lock. 2 soldiers instantly had guns trained on her, locked and loaded, ready to blast her head off.
"DROP HIM!" Yelled one, "NOW!"
"You think you can take me on?" Pliers asked, "You're dealing with one of the most badass gangster ponies in Equestria. I've dealt with ponies triple my size and 4 times my weight. You're nothing."
"How many of them were holding a carbine to your head?" Asked a third as he stepped out from behind with a rifle strapped to his side, his mouth on a trigger, as he pressed the barrel of the carbine pushed up against her head.
With a snort, she released the Soldier, who gasped for breath as he shoved her back down. Before picking up his carbine in his own mouth and shouldered it with a grunt.
Aileron helped Pliers to her hooves. Pliers immediately tried to throw herself at the soldier who shoved her down only to find herself to be held back by the surprisingly strong Aileron.
“Let me at him! I’m going to kick he scruffy little ass!” Pliers spat in Ailerons face.
“You can do that after we finish what we came here to do,” Aileron replied, “then when we get back home I’ll let you tear him a new one. Alright?”
After a moment of consideration. Pliers nodded, and Aileron released her. Both had thoughts of what in Equestria the military would want with guns on a rescue mission.
They stood as a group in front of the airlock door. They all checked that their spacesuit were pressurized and sealed tightly. Once they had all confirmed that their suits were indeed safe. Aileron opened the first door. They all stepped into the airlock. Aileron shut the first door. Turning the large circular locking mechanism. Once the door was locked she pressed a button on the wall to the left of the door. There was a hissing sound as the air was slowly drained from the room.
“Listen up!” The Sargent barked. “Primary goal is to secure the personal aboard this craft. Secondary is to secure the craft itself. You all know the layout, it’ll pop up on your heads up display. Good luck.”
Aileron glanced at the layout map in the corner of her visor as she walked across the airlock to open the other door. She unlocked and opened the door. There was the sound of airflow as what little air was left was sucked out. The hallway that it opened up to was long and dark. Lights flickered on and off and the sight felt very ominous.
They stepped forward. The troops quickly pulling out their rifles. Making a circle around the 2 Ponies.
“Now you can’t deny something is going on, why do you need those guns? It’s a damaged space station not the badlands.” Pliers said over the radio. It was weird . Aileron thought. Even though she was a few feet away it sounded as if she was right next to her .
“Precautions.” Was the only answer given to her. Medical ponies carried what boxes of supplies that actually contained medical equipment. But even they had pistols and rifles strapped to them.
They walked down the hallway. Before coming to a junction. To the left, according to the heads up display was towards the safe room and medical. While to the right was to the main control room. Pliers turned right only to be stopped by the same buck who shoved her down.
“I have a job to do. Outa my way jackass!” She said in her thick Manehatton accent.
“So do I,” he replied flatly. “Making sure you don’t fucking kill yourself.”
“Well, my job is to repair this bloody ship. So if you would so kindly step aside before I see how well you can hold your breath.” She said going basically nose to nose with the stallion who only stared back down at her.
“Let her go lieutenant,” the Sargent said, “Milly and you will escort her. Radio if there’s any, trouble. ”
The way he said that last but unsettled Aileron. But she shrugged it off, and the group separated. Aileron following the Sargent's towards the safe room while Pliers led hers towards the main server and control room.
Soon after the 2 groups disappeared from sight a lone cloud of mist floated from a nearby vent, and glided silently towards the control room.
Pliers slammed a hoof on the console again.
“Fucking piece of shit!” She yelled, she stretched out a hoof, “Socket power wrench.”
The lieutenant, who’s name was Byron, why, Pliers had no idea, passed her a ratchet from the tool chest. She took it went to insert it into the bolt then noted the fact it was the complete wrong tool. She pushed herself out from under the console and looked at the stallion.
“This is a ratchet. Not a Socket power wrench. Try AGAIN.” She said tossing him the tool and grabbed the correct tool. She overheard a mutter from his com but couldn’t care less. She got back to work.
Milly looked back from the door watching the hallway, keeping a lookout. Though she didn’t tell Pliers that.
“You over react.” Milly said to Byron.
“The hell I do. She treats me like an absolute idiot!” Byron stated.
Milly’s response was a raised eyebrow.
“Ok maybe I’m not the smartest pony in Equestria but at least I know when to shut my trap.” He replied in a huff.
“Still waiting to see that,” Pliers voice cut in, "quarter inch wrench.”
A chuckle came from Milly as Byron shot Pliers a glare while he dug through the tool chest. Before tossing her the wrench. Only to have it thrown back at him.
“I said quarter not 3/4! For Celestia’s sake!” Pliers replied.
This time Byron just slammed a hoof on the floor in frustration, which was silent in the vacuum they were in. Before Pliers rolled her eyes and simply grabbed the tool herself.
“Drama Queen…” she said to herself.
Finally she removed the panels that she’d been working on. She passed them to Byron. Who tossed them to the side. Pliers began to examine the extent of the damage to the console. Of it was this bad the whole station would need a inspection. But there wasn’t much she could do in the clunky space suit. She needed to patch that hole. But first, she had to restore the power system. She began fiddling with wires. Disconnecting and reconnecting them. She had hot wired more than a few cars in her day. But never something this complicated.
“Pass me my Lucky Screwdriver.” She said, “it’s the one with all the burn marks on it.”
Byron shot a questioning look at her before passing the scorched tool.
“What do you plan to do with that? You found the problem?” Byron quizzed eager for this to be over.
“Perhaps. I just need to-“ pliers was cut short by a sudden flash of light and every console and light in the room turned on.
A smile crossed Millie’s face but faded when Pliers came out from under the control panel, her screw driver steaming along with the metal parts of her suit.
“You just touched the live wire didn’t you?” Byron asked.
Pliers nodded. And Byron rolled his eyes.
The Lights then flickered then died. The 3 pony's flashlights on the side of their heads automatically switched on, illuminating a little of the room, Pliers sighed.
"Looks like the generator might be damage, I'll have to take a look, but I won't be able to do much in this space suit. I'm going to start patching up that gaping hole in the hull." Pliers said, before gathering her tools and trotting down the hall, Byron and Milly following close behind.
Aileron peered out into deep space, through the gaping hole the asteroid had created. Then she turned and looked down the tunnel it created, in the flickering lights, and sparks falling from the roof of the tunnel. She swore she saw a pony. Shining her lights down the tunnel. There was a pony, floating limply in place in a lazy spin.
"Sargent, there's a pony down there!" Aileron exclaimed, pointing towards the floating pony.
The Medics didn't even wait for the clear, they stepped out of the effect of the somehow still working gravity talisman, and began making their way towards the floating pony. Aileron and Sargent Awdry followed close behind. When the first Medic reached him, she maneuvered to the front of him. Before her eyes widened and she jerked away, looking as though she might puke. The rest of them stopped dead in their tracks. As the Unicorn mare fought back the urge to puke. Knowing that it would not end well if she did.
Aileron crept forward, to the pony, and spun him to face her. The name tag said Rudder. His visor had been shattered and his skin was extremely red and blue, his eyes bloodshot and dead his mouth open, in a last effort to find air. Aileron's blood ran cold. She stood there in shock. She had come to save ponies, and already she was failing at that.NO She thought to herself, There has to be survivors.
She reached up to close the fallen astronauts eyes, which were staring just over her shoulder by the way she was positioned. Then they suddenly swiveled in their sockets staring right at her, before Rudder let out a screech that even in the vacuum of space, were heard by every pony there.
"MOVE!" The Sargent yelled as he slammed into Aileron Throwing them both to the side, as whatever that was lunged.
"Shoot to kill!" Awdry barked as he drew his pistol and took a shot, and grazed the creature's neck, who only growled and moved in towards the Sargent, who's shots seemed to do little to nothing against the zombie like creature.
Suddenly the creature was filled with holes, blood froze in the cold. and as the creature turned towards the fire, which was coming from a soldier above him bracing himself against the roof, one last burst of bullets tore through the head.
Silence fell over the radio, as the limp thing spun with the new found inertia from the bullet shots.
The army ponies crept closer. Guns trained on the body. When they were close enough one poked it with the barrel of his gun. Nothing happened and everyone eased up.
Suddenly the medic who poked him was impaled by something. It seemed to flow right through him. Aileron ducked as the rest of them opened fire on it. It dove and weaved through the shower of bullets. Then it seemed to blunder, and it was struck several times. Aileron tried to cover her ears, which was impossible in the helmet, as the wail the creature gave off filled her hearing and head with pain. Suddenly it was silent. She peeked over the rubble she was hiding behind. To see that the creature had vanished, and there was now 2 dead ponies floating in the chasm. The Sargent floated over.
"Are you alright?" He asked, Aileron nodded, "Good, now you see why we brought these."
"What the hell was that?" Aileron said shakily.
"We call them nightmares, they look like the night sky, and they are as horrifying as a nightmare." He replied.
Author's Note
I know I know, the part with the rifle on the soldiers side sounds like the Battle Saddle in Fallout Equestria, this idea is basically the same but only because it is LITERALLY THE ONLY WAY A NON UNICORN OR ALICORN CAN HOLD A FREAKING GUN.
2030 Hours Cloudsdale time: Asteroid
Aileron watched as they put the bodies of Rudder and the Medic into body bags, which would be put aboard Firefly 3 upon their return. She had been given a quick rundown on the history of the creatures called 'Nightmares'. They were supposedly the reason for Nightmare Moon, a long time ago, an asteroid crashed just outside of Canterlot, and Luna was the one to investigate and claimed to have found nothing, but was suddenly distant up until her banishment. They couldn't kill Luna so they made her a tool, for the regular everyday pony they just fed directly. Their species hunted for sport. Unlike most creatures, they fed on fear not physical flesh and material.
"Why didn't you tell me," Aileron asked, "Why wouldn't you?"
"I wasn't allowed to unless you're life depended on it. Which it did." He replied, "we have a job to finish."
"This isn't a research station..." Aileron started, "This is a warning grid. For any invasions..."
"Yes, the Nightmares seem to prosper on the dark side of the moon, so we have the Lunars watching every possible part of it. Hoping to maybe spot something before it is to late." Awdry replied.
Aileron sat for a minute, wondering if she should of, in fact, taken part in this mission. Then she stood up,
Pliers peered into the room of the generator. Which had a giant rock imbedded into the side of the generator. Pliers didn't even need to check under the hood of it to know that the coils were likely shredded, the magnet shattered, not to mention the cold had probably done a number on it. She turned to Byron and Milly and shook her head.
"I can't fix this, even with the best tools in the world, it's spare parts now. And you'd have to be lucky for any of them to work." She said, "This space station can't replenish the oxygen, or keep the heat up, or anything. Only thing that will work, and is working, is the flipping artificial gravity."
"So what are you saying?" Byron asked.
"Space station can't be fixed with what we have. Hell, if the asteroid had penetrated only a few meters it would have taken out the reactor that spins the turbine. Then we'd be in deep shit." Pliers said, "Come on, we better meet up with the rest of the guys, let's head to the safe room."
The 2 nodded, and they all began to make their way to the safe room.
Pliers was the one to find the room. She trotted up, and knocked on the door. Nothing.
"Alright," She said, turning her attention to the security panel, she used a crow bar to pry it open. The wires would have confused the average pony. But Pliers already knew every bit of it just by giving it a once over. Reconnect power supply to the screen to the door motors. There was a spark as the door's motors opened opened the door. "Cars on the street, or advanced space station, there is absolutely nothing that I can't hotwire."
At that moment Milly and Byron found her, and all 3 entered the airlock, and after fiddling with the door locks, they were able to finally open the inside hatch. Before they could enter somepony swung a piece of handrail at Byron's head, which Pliers, being an experienced at being attacked randomly in the alleyways of Manehatton, quickly blocked the swing. Twisted the forearm and put the Earth Pony into a head lock.
"Hey, I yield don't kill me please!" The Pegasus cried on the verge of tears.
"Well then the next time you have guests, don't try taking their head off." Pliers said as she released the Pegasus, "I'm Pliers, this is Milly and Byron."
"My name is Harmony, the other ponies are Syringe, Pulse, Butch, Circuit breaker, and Spanner."
"Other Ponies?" Asked Milly, then there was a grunt as one fell from the ceiling. They all looked up to see that the ponies she had mentioned were all 'hiding' in the ceiling ready to ambush them. The small earth pony that fell raised a hoof, "Names Spanner."
A Pegasus dropped down. "Butch is mine. Have you seen another Pegasus, Rudder? Can't miss him."
"You lot are the first of the crew we've found." Milly explained to them.
Suddenly there was a banging on the door. The airlock had shut when they exited. Milly and Butch wiped out their guns and aimed at the door. When the doors opened they lowered their weapons when they saw Aileron, and some of their fellow soldiers.
"Oh there you are." Said Pliers.
"So let me get this straight," Harmony, putting on her space suit, "That... mist that kidnapped... and killed Rudder is what caused Nightmare Moon?"
"Yes, and if they are allowed to stay aboard this station they may try to get to Equestria, we simply cannot risk that, we have to kill them, trouble is we don't know how many are on the vessel." Said The Sargent.
Butch then perked up, "Hang on, how badly damaged was the generator?" He asked Pliers
"Id say worse than the hole in the ship if that was even possible. Why?"
"How bout the reactor?"
"No, it's intact."
"Then Let's overload it."
Everypony went absolutely silent.
Then a smile spread across the faces of every pony. All knew that this was the only way to possibly beat this... thing.
They split into 2 teams, Butch, Spanner, Pliers, Byron and the Sargent went to the Reactor to set makeshift charges to blow the station to hell. While the rest made a Bee line for Firefly 3. When they arrived. Aileron quickly began prepping the ship for the flight back, when there was a scream. Turning she saw that one of the Nightmares had gotten aboard and had decapitated one of the Soldiers and thrown another into the cockpit knocking him unconscious, Aileron's magic grabbed the gun and aimed it. Said a silent prayer and shot clean and true into the beast. It screamed and Aileron fired until the magazine was empty. Then she slammed the butt of the gun into it until it finally stopped moving and dissipated.
A few minutes later, the rest of the crew had joined her aboard the craft. And they left in Firefly 3, The Sargent had a timer set, and they all watched as the space station, and the things aboard disintegrated as the uniornium reacted to the explosives and destroyed everything aboard the space station. As they began their journey back to Equestria. They tended to the wounded and mourned the dead.
Upon returning they were given a hero's welcome. Twilight would award all those apart of the mission the highest medal and honor possible.
Not many remember the story of Lunar 5. But now that you know it. I hope now as you look up to the moon, you remember the scarifies made that fateful day. For the battle of Lunar 5.
