Star Control: Equis

Lord 961 maneuvered his giant centipede-like body down from the ceiling of the bridge and glared at the holographic display in front of him. He had been assigned to lead the 204th Fleet Group and was tasked with exploring and subjugating any sapient species that was discovered in the name of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy. Subjugation duties were typically carried out by higher ranking Ur-Quan, though the task recently had to be delegated as the Hierarchy prepared to resume the Doctrinal Conflict.

He shuddered at the thought of both the Doctrinal Conflict and the display he was witnessing. His fleet group had recently discovered an inhabited though primitive world which housed several sapient species. A planet with more than one race of sapients was an oddity though not unheard of by Lord 961. The most prevalent species were equine in nature and were overheard describing themselves as 'ponies' by scouting probes that had arrived at the planet before the fleet group. Two subspecies of ponies were of particular interest to Lord 961. The unicorns and the exceedingly rare alicorn subspecies were capable of feats that the natives referred to as magic. Early reconnaissance suggested that magic could be used to compel and even control the minds of other sentient beings.

Lord 961 cringed at the thought of finding another species capable of mind control. If left to their own devices, these aliens will surely one day reach for the stars and enslave us as the cruel Dnyarri once did.

His mind was briefly overtaken by fear. The Dnyarri were powerful psychics who had enslaved the Ur-Quan early in their species' history. They had split the Ur-Quan into two subspecies, the green and the black Ur-Quan. The green Ur-Quan were better suited to scientific, diplomatic, and bureaucratic careers while the black Ur-Quan were made into laborers and soldiers. Both subspecies were very physically capable however. It was only after the Ur-Quan hero Kzer-Za discovered that the Dnyarri's psychic compulsion could be resisted by inducing pain in any being that was under its effects that the Ur-Quan were able to revolt. The green subspecies had taken to calling themselves the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za since then.

Lord 961 turned to his talking pet. The small amphibian was all that was left of the Dnyarri. Once the Ur-Quan revolt had concluded the remaining Dnyarri were subjected to their own genetic modification equipment and were reduced to tiny non-sapient pets, though they were still capable of speech. The Ur-Quan programmed these talking pets with the language of every species they studied. Translation was deemed unbefitting of an Ur-Quan, so their pets were used to translate their own speech and the speech of those who dared to speak with them back and forth. His had recently been programmed with Equish, the prominent language of the natives he was soon to subjugate.

He would growl and speak to the pet, which began to translate his speech to the various slave species who ran the bridge. "Instruct the fleet to prepare for partial orbital cracking of this planet's moon, communications crew. You will also prepare an invasion force. Navigation you are to now descend into the atmosphere of this so-called 'Equis.' It is time we initiated first contact."

No being dared question Lord 961 as they went about their duties. He grunted and climbed up into the ceiling of the bridge to watch his viewscreen as his dreadnought quickly descended into the planet's atmosphere. It was time to impose the will of the Hierarchy upon the natives below.

Celestia awoke as explosions rocked Canterlot. She rose from her bed and trotted to the window only to witness a horrifying sight. The sky was utterly blotted out by a swarm of flying machines that launched bolts of plasma onto the city. Above the swarm was a massive green airship made entirely of metal.

The door to her chambers swung open as a pegasus guard sprinted inside and screamed. "Your majesty-"

Celestia ignored the guard and galloped out of her room in a delirious panic. She had to ensure the safety of her sister and her ponies. She ran into the throne room only to be blasted by a bright laser. Celestia felt no pain as she fell to the floor. She found herself unable to move and convulsing on the ground. She was unable to scream and unable to use magic, shivering as a wave of helplessness washed over her. She only briefly saw Luna and the various ponies who were unlucky enough to be in the throne room which all shared her fate before blacking out entirely.

It had only been eleven hours since Lord 961 had given the order to initiate first contact, which entailed capturing the leaders of the various societies that formed Equis. He found it pitiful that they remained fractured and had not unified into a single planetary government as many of the other species he subjugated had. Truthfully, he did not care about the rulers of the nation-states that make up the planet. His true prize was the four alicorns his forces had captured. Early intelligence implied that all four were of mature age, yet one that was brought in appeared to be a foal.

He dismissed the strange inconsistency. The battle thralls operating reconnaissance were never particularly competent.

The giant centipede-like alien was pacing around the dreadnought's brig as he monitored the unconscious alicorns through the shielded cell doors. Lord 961 took notice as one began to wake. He identified her as Princess Luna, the self-proclaimed princess of the night. He scoffed just thinking about the title and activated the viewscreen behind him. The viewscreen displayed the rest of the fleet group as well as the planet's moon.

His talking pet began to translate as he spoke to the Night Princess. "I am rather fortunate you were the first to wake. You will know most the gravity of my actions here."

Luna quickly rose and attempted to touch the shield door, only to fall to the ground as it backfired and shocked her.

Lord 961 spoke once more. "Witness now this demonstration, and know that the same fate awaits your people should you resist the might of the Ur-Quan." The viewscreen glowed as the ships it displayed fired specialized lasers intended for cracking planetary surfaces. In an instant it was as if half of the moon had been defaced and broken apart.

Luna watched the viewscreen in horror. Several chunks of the moon flew through the vacuum of space into different directions. She attempted to access her magic to no avail. She could not feel the moon. Her eyes were filled with a deep hatred as she growled. "...Why?"

Lord 961 glared down at Luna. Even to the alicorn he was massive and intimidating. He spoke. "The demonstration was necessary to quell certain elements of your society. Rest assured your species will benefit greatly from Ur-Quan domination. Your 'magic' will remain under inhibition so long as you are kept here. It is only a matter of time before your planet surrenders. I have come to offer you the terms that are granted to newly subjugated species."

He shifted and lowered his body, meeting at eye level with Luna as he continued to speak. "Under the conditions of the Path of Now and Forever your society will be granted two choices. However, your right of choice has run out princess. I will be leaving the choice to every sapient being on the planet below via popular referendum. I do not care for your political boundaries. Your society may become a client state of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy and serve us as battle thralls. Should this option be chosen your previous governments will be restored, although merged into one planetwide governing entity that answers to the Ur-Quan. You will be required to regularly send citizens to the Hierarchy as slave conscripts for the purposes of manning our own ships and armies. Additionally, you will be required to maintain your own spacefaring fleet and are expected to regularly send any resource we require to us. Given your primitive status you will be granted significant technical assistance, the framework to establish spacefaring colonies, and technological uplifting so you may serve us well and fulfill these obligations. You will also be free to interact with other battle thrall societies within the Hierarchy."

Lord 961 would rise and tap the wall impatiently. He stated, "Alternatively your society may opt for simple Fallow Slavery. Your planet will be encased within an impenetrable slave shield that will prevent all entry and exit from your planet, except for those we retrieve from the shield. You will have no presence in space beyond a simple supply station that will be expected to provide support to Ur-Quan and battle thrall fleets. The crew of said station will be hand-picked by us from the various species of your planet of course. You will remain free to govern as you are currently though you will be required to permanently disarm and cease research and production of both weaponry and spacefaring technologies, though you certainly lack the capabilities for the latter regardless. Finally, any structure or artifact that is 500 of our years or older will be utterly annihilated and your governments will be required to adopt our social framework."

Luna glared at the bug alien in silence, barely restraining her temper.

Lord 961 would slink away from the brig cell and disable the viewscreen. "May your citizens make the correct choice, princess. You are to inform the other three of your species what I have told you here once they wake."

He crawled out of the brig with an automatic metal door closing behind him.

Luna sat quietly. So much bad had happened in so little time. The guard in Canterlot had failed miserably and she and her sister had been utterly powerless to stop the alien advance. She laid down next to Celestia, quietly contemplating what had happened.