Salvage a Better Life

The Akira’s bridge was awash with nervous tension. Wiggly went through a crash course in piloting, yet that did little to give the mare any confidence. Morales at least was more comfortable controlling the shields and other defenses. He tried to give reassurance to the others, but he feared they fell on deaf ears. That left Mote with a special part of the plan, one that demanded Wiggly taking the helm in the beginning. Mentally focusing on her controls, Mote waited until the Waylan was in range. She needed every ounce of that focus and discipline to keep calm enough to do her part. “Forefathers preserve us, give us the strength to destroy this abomination.”

The Waylan continued to scrutinize the Nakiha frigate as it approached the debris field surrounding the wrecked station. Even with the Nakiha lacking some of its weapons, the AI still remained cautious. “Target velocity far below expected specifications. Calculating cause… Damage caused due to poor maintenance/previous battle? Possible. Observation. Nakiha revealed itself after-”

Its thought process was cut short by intense jamming coming from the Nakiha. Instantly the Waylan lost sight of the target, and even the debris field became deeply fuzzy with snowy static. Yet this was one thing the scout could muscle though, and the Waylan intended to remind the enemy of that fact.

Narrowing its sensors and other countermeasures to a tight cone where it last saw the Nakiha, the Waylan pierced through the static and acquired a shaky sensor return, but it wasn’t strong enough for a weapon’s lock. The scout turned about and burned to a halt, then flipped around again to keep its nose to the Nakiha. It readied itself for evasive maneuvering, even as more questions plagued it’s mind.

“Perplexing. Why does the Nakiha refuse to open fire? Standard armament should place this unit within range. ” Activating its shields, the Waylan was enveloped in a translucent, faintly blue semicircle of energy aimed at the Nakiha. Then, it deployed radiators along the sections not covered, as direct shield protection would greatly inhibit their function. Next, it quickly tried sweeping the rest of the debris field, searching for any lurking vessels. It could not risk letting the Nakiha out of its sight for too long, as it might slip away. Yet as it hastily scoured the area, all it found were broken ships, the large hulk of the native station, and scraps of debris. The scene looked well and truly dead, save for the Nakiha itself.

That is when it felt an energy beam strike its shield. The scout pushed itself out of position and turned towards the impact to find it came from the Nakiha. Four shells were streaking in, yet they were painfully off target. The Waylan proceeded to entirely focus on the Nakiha, intend on weaving around its attacks. Yet more mysteries compounded themselves. The shells came at one minute intervals and the phaser was almost as slow. This was not the deluge of fire the Waylan expected. “Rate of fire and accuracy is far below expected values. Assessing of behavior… Desperation to ward this one away to avoid confrontation as highest probability. Poor combat readiness confirmed.”

Flaring its drive field again, the Waylan pushed forward, intent on fulfilling its directive.

Within the Akira’s bridge, Wiggly and the others watched with bated breath as the Waylan entered the minefield. Yet so far, nothing stirred. “Fire another volley,” she said while a nervous hoof tapped the console. “Just - just make sure we still look inaccurate.”

It was hardly a difficult request for Mote, as keeping up the electronic attack was already taxing her. Adding gunnery just made her efforts a thin hope.

“It seems you were right,” Morales said with a mixture of anticipation and a bit of fear at seeing a Waylan getting closer. “The jamming is blinding the mines too, and our prey is taking the bait.”

“You chop up enough of them, you get to know their eyes pretty well.” Wiggly clutched her tapping leg with both forelegs to stop it. This isn't like it was with the pirates, the Akira can hold its own. She needed a brief distraction, and her eyes drifted across the debris field. The Navy will know we’re here by now. The mines will report it for sure.

Mote suddenly spoke up in a strained tone as she gritted her teeth with aggression. “I can’t keep its guns off us much longer.”

“You don’t need to.” Wiggly chopped the air with a hoof. “Cut the jamming!” As she did so, Wiggly had a mechan set off a decent-sized explosive near the bow.

The Waylan was left bewildered for a moment. An explosion erupted from the Nakiha at the same time the jamming stopped. It wasted no time in acquiring a weapon’s lock.

Yet it never got a chance to fire. All at once, dozens of power signatures lit up all around the scout, and just as many tractor beams latched onto it. Nearly a hundred mines yanked themselves towards the scout.

Three laser turrets activated and started cutting down the mines in rapid succession. three, nine, eighteen mines were shot up, yet more came from deeper in the field. The scout focused its PD fire on mines that would hit the aft sections which let two mines strike the shields. Twin explodes rippled across the barrier, causing the shield projectors to heat up considerably.

Suddenly, a heavy laser beam carved a line across the shields, followed up by a salvo of four accurate explosive shells.

Temperature warning flared immediately. Through the deluge of mines still trying to slam into it. The Waylan turned its eyes back to the Nakiha.

The vessel had stopped cowering behind the station and was now coming right for the Waylan, its phaser and two maulers barking again. This time the Nakiha was firing much faster and accurately. The scout evaded most of the phaser hit, and nimbly dodged half the shells. Yet the constant interference from the mines led to more impacts.

Boom!

A mine slipped past the PD, and ruined two of the Waylan’s radiators. Glowing hot coolant and armor bled out into space. Thankfully, the mines were thinning a bit. It narrowed its shields to face only the Nakiha to open more radiators, and let the pd or armor take the rest of the mines.

“Retreat required. Nakiha’s speed is insufficient to ensure this one’s destruction.”

Risking its heat budget, the Waylan fired its main energy cannon, striking the Nakiha dead center of its own shields. The frigate seemed to hesitate after being struck, giving the Waylan an opening. As it turned to flee, a new alert sounded, one that brought it as close to fear as it was capable of.

“Another good hit!” Wiggly cheered as the scout’s shields were whittled down to a seventy degree arc facing the Akira. Through the thermal sensors, Wiggly saw much of the scout was glowing hot as its radiators got whittled down now that it was too dangerous to keep firing the PD lasers nonstop.

“That’s not an overheat, brace!” Morales cried right before the Waylan lashed out at them.

The rich violet lance of energy cut a swath across the Akira’s shield, and the frigate shuddered. Temperature warnings cried out across Wiggly’s controls. Damage reports quickly followed. “We’ve got coolant ruptures across the main deck!”

“Alert. Fire control for the phaser is offline!” Mote cried out even as the ship jittered from the maulers speaking again. “We shouldn’t be taking damage from a shielded hit!”

“I didn’t exactly expect to take us into battle ya know! I-I can try to fix the fire control, sending two mechan to do it.” Wiggly tried to remain focused on the repairs, and let Mote take the helm.

“It turned about!” Morales announced as he banged the glass with nervous excitement. He lowered the shield so the maulers' autoforges and engines could get more of the shrinking heat budget. “It’s main cannon can’t hit us now, and there are still some mines left keeping the PD busy. Mote, do it!”

“With pleasure.” Mote readied the sideswiper missile and practically punched the launch button.

The sideswiper roared to life as it screamed towards the Waylan. The scout acted swiftly, and spun about once more to protect its primary engine cluster. It divided its shielding to protect its nose from the Akira and its stern from the missile it knew would swing around to hit the Waylan’s engines. The move threw off Mote’s aim, and only one shell struck the Waylan’s shield.

At the same time, Morales’ tank took on an amber glow as he summoned his magic. “You’re not going anywhere.” He conjured a powerful singularity as close to the Waylan as possible. Not only did it slow its retreat, but the gravity bent its desperate pd lasers away from the sideswiper.

“We’re out of mines,” Wiggly announced with renewed concern. “I’ve isolated the fire control problem, it’s fixable!”

“Statement. We’ll need it,” Mote assured with a hopeful tone. The maulers fired another salvo. The shells bracketed the too narrow shields and clipped both sides of the scout. Shrapnel shredded multiple radiators.

The sudden loss of so much coolant was the final nail. The Waylan’s shield generator melted down, and all that was left were the pd lasers. Explosions rocked the scout from within as more of it overheated. Yet the scout still tried to survive. With its remaining radiators dedicated to keeping the pd and engines operating, it tried again and again to shoot the missile down.

Morales kept up the pace, and his magic made the defense a hopeless gesture. Using the singularity to further accelerate, the sideswiper slammed into the engine cluster. Yet moments before impact, the Waylan, pushed its thrusters to the limit, so its nose would strafe the Akira. As disruptive magic danced all over the hull, and snuffed out the drive plume. The scout was left dead in space, save for its primary cannon.

“Shields. Shields!” Wiggly jumped into the air, almost yanking her tail connectors out.

Morales tried to raise them, but the emitters were sluggish. “I’m trying, there’s no-” Acting quickly, he conjured a singularity in front of the Akira’s bow.

Mote saw the phaser being back online, and fired moments after the Waylan did. The scout’s attack would have struck the Akira’s nose, but the singularity bent it enough for it to carve a line across the starboard wing instead. The phaser used the singularity and struck true. The impact melted the Waylan’s cannon before the Akira’s primary hull could be struck. Morales cut off the singularity, giving a clear shot for the maulers. All four shells struck two different mine impacts, exploding deep inside the scout.

“Yea! Take that you damn toaster! Guys, let’s tear that thing apart!”

The Akira wasted no time and hammered shell after shell and ran its phaser so hot it broke down again. Mote kept firing long after the scout was torn to pieces, as she spent her resentment into its smoldering wreck. Its broken shell was left spinning and charred by the time the Akira stopped firing.

Wiggly pulled her connectors out so she could finally fly up and angrily shake her hoof at the broken wreck. “That’s what you get!”

Morales breathed a sigh of relief, and Mote had to put effort into letting go of the weapon controls, as her hands left imprints on the console. It took her a moment to realize she had angry tears in her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away before Wiggly could see them.

With Sprocket distracted by her celebration, Morales sent the gyroid a foreboding message.

Mote felt Wiggly’s contagious cheer, and didn’t want Morale’s mounting cynicism to put a damper on it. Getting up drew Wiggly’s attention, and the mare grabbed one of her hands and thrust it up.

“Give it up for our master gunner! Woo woo!”

Diving headlong into the celebration, Mote practically bounced on her paws. “Celebration! This calls for a triumph!”

“You did great too, Mores. Ahhh, curving the PDs away from the missile like that? Rut that was good!”

Suddenly, the Akira was rocked, and the lights flickered badly.

The crew stopped cold, and even Morales was left a bit panicked when his tank briefly stopped draining. “That wasn’t a mine was it?!”

Wiggly mentally commanded her interface to return. As soon as she did, a flood of warning swarmed her vision. It took her several seconds to make sense of it all. “Junction boxes shorted out, causing fires, and the phaser’s capacitors blew.” Wiggly, was suddenly glad her celebration hadn’t torn her connections loose as it would have been from a traditional neck connector. “I’m sealing the areas, and venting the atmosphere to stop the fires. There are a few other smaller things. The failsafes delayed the explosion, but couldn’t stop it.” She grit her teeth as the automated damage reports kept coming. “Lost three mechan who were trying to stop it too.”

Wearing a concerned frown, Mote gently laid a hand on the tense mare’s shoulder. “How bad is it?”

Shaking her head, Wiggly unplugged herself and sent her remaining mechan off to contain the damage, leaving only two to watch over the reactor. “It wasn’t a mine, the rest of them are still ignoring us. By the looks of it… fallout from the two hits we took. I should have caught this. If I hadn’t gotten caught up in celebrating...”

The pod behind her gurgled as the last of the fluid drained away, and the doctor stepped out. “I was much more the fool. I I dropped the shields so we wouldn't overheat accelerating and using my singularities. I wanted us to remain close enough for my singularities to be effective, but it turned out to be not worth it.” Morales was toweling himself off, and tried to give words of encouragement. “The fact that we were able to give battle at all is thanks to you. And we are all over stressed, ya?” He threw the towel at a slot where a drone would pick it up later.

Mote also checked the damage reports, and breathed some relief. “Thankfully, med bay is unharmed. What damage we took is a fair bit away from it too.”

Left in momentary shock as her family’s condition raced back to her mind. All she could do in response was nodded appreciatively. Morales huffed as sudden exhaustion swept over him. “Come, let us attend to the more critical issues so we can figure out what to do next.”

“Already got the survivors on it.” Becoming rather sober as her mind drifted, Wiggly’s gaze peered past the walls and back towards medical. “Let them handle the pressing damage control. Can one of you get the fabricator started for me to make some replacements?”

Mote was all too eager to volunteer and jumped at the chance. “I’ll handle it. Morales, could you make a hearty lunch? I think we all need a meal.”

“A grand idea. I believe your brother was preparing a roast. I think I can-”

Before he could go further, a new high-pitched alert made itself known. Everyone turned to see they were being hailed. Wiggly’s fur stood on end, as her first thought was pirates. “Stations!”

She scrambled to her chair, with Mote in a race to do the same. That left Morales unsure if he even had time to get back in the tank, so he opted to climb into Wire’s chair.

Once everyone was seated, Wiggly leaned forward. “If it’s pirates, don’t give a hint on how damaged we are.” After both gave agreements, Wiggly tapped the accept command.

Captain Howling Tempest’s scowling face flickered to life on the main screen. His initial hard expression was quickly replaced by a stunned gasp. “Miss Wiggly Sprocket? We thought you were dead.”

“Captain Tempest! Ah,” she coughed a nervous laugh. “Almost was a few times.” Wiggly flushed with embarrassment and blindly tried to fix her mane to be somewhat presentable. No amount of impromptu window dressing was going to correct the train wreck that her mane and bedraggled face was left in. “It’s good to see a friendly face out there.”

“I understand the feeling…” Tempest eyeballed the two weary aliens with surprise suspicion, yet with Wiggly sitting on what he presumed to be the captain’s chair eased him a touch. “Apparently, the pirates hijacked the local probe, and it was only after the Ponipolous mine-controller reported a mass jamming attempt that we knew anything was going on at all over there.”

“I was kinda wondering why you didn’t call us sooner,” Wiggly pondered aloud. “Honestly I was getting a little worried.”

“Hmm, hailing you during a battle for questioning would have been intolerably rude after all. That aside, I for one am glad to see you still breathe.” Tempest looked around for the others, and his face darkened. “I must command you to remain radio silent until the Rainbow Dash arrives in three days. We have much to discuss when we are not using an open channel. Especially since the relay net’s clearly been compromised.”

The cathrex became intensely nervous, and even Wiggly was put on edge. “I - ah - I realize transferring an unaltered transponder to a new ship is a serious offense but-”

Tempest held up a restraining hoof. “Miss Sprocket, from what I can see of your ship and crew, you must have quite a story to tell. A tale that can wait until we meet in person.” He paused a moment, with a thoughtful ear going limp, then spoke again in a disarming tone. “I have no doubt you’ve conducted yourself honorably. However, given the circumstances, I feel a face-to-face is required.” And with that, Tempest ended the call.

There was a long pause in the room, as everyone needed time to sort themselves out. Of the three, Mote was the first one to speak up. “Observation. He didn’t seem to react to us like I expected him to.”

Wiggly finally shook it off, and climbed out of her chair. “He’s probably playing things close to the chest. But we can trust him.”

Morales gave Mote a weary look before affixing a warmer one towards Wiggly. “Then this will make good practice for the high queen at the very least.”

Inside the Commodore’s private shuttle, Thaddeus and Felin were still trying to process the battle that had just concluded before their eyes.

Thaddeus above all was deeply concerned, and it was written in the wrinkles of his face. His eyes were fixated on the mysterious frigate like he was staring into the void itself.

On the other hand, Felin was troubled, but wasn’t nearly as weighted down by it. She turned her scaly head in her old friend’s direction, and was startled to see how heavily the battle seemed to affect him.

Ultimately, it was the Commodore who broke the tense silence by cutting off the projection. “There you have it. Whoever this is, must be identified and be brought to heel or killed.”

“Who?!” Thaddeus fixed the other centuari with a mockingly incredulous huff and distressed eye. “I’ll admit it took me a second to realize this, but you saw where this was. Ponipolous. More importantly, the minefield surrounding it.”

“What about it?” The Commodore was already high strung from paranoia over the assassination. But missing something potentially massive was making it worse. “By the looks of things, the mines were thinned out fairly well.”

“If you roll the feed back to two-five-eight.” Thaddeus waved at the reactivated hologram. His hand paused as the visuals shifted until stopping at the point the newcomer arrived into the minefield. “There! See how the feed is getting badly corroded?”

Felin wasn’t seeing the point yet, and arched a worried brow at him. “What about it? Electronic dueling is to be expected. Although I’d like to know what method they used so we can counter it more effectively.”

“And yet you don’t see any of that before or after, do you?” Thaddeus countered darkly as he waved a hand over the images. “As soon as the jamming ceased, the mines went into action. That frigate wasn’t jamming the mines because it didn’t have to. That’s a pony ship.”

“Impossible,” the Commodore countered with insincere disbelief. “That thing is nothing like Initiative vessels, civilian or otherwise.”

“Have the feed checked,” Thaddeus began with a growing sense of urgency. “See if that ship was transmitting a naval transponder.”

“You had best be wrong, for all our sakes.” The Commodore mentally relayed the request to his staff.

This gave Felin a chance to move the hologram forward to better showcase the Waylan. “If I may, sir, I fear you’re focusing too much on one puzzle piece. A single odd vessel can be chalked up to being a prototype.” The drake jabbed a claw at the second vessel. “But this mystery ship throws that idea away. The second had no ident markings or signatures, possessed a weaponized sensor suite, and goes straight after the frigate with lethal intent. There are far too many ‘never before seen’ elements here. We have to consider the possibility that we are dealing with civilized life foreign to the homeworld.”

That was an idea that neither centauri wanted to hear. The prospect of an alien civilization wasn’t a new one. Speculation had only grown over the centuries since leaving the home system, but that was an issue for academics and diplomats, not a pirate cartel.

The argument made sense to Thaddeus, and he leaned back deep in thought. “If you’re right, then we could be in serious trouble. Now that I think about it, there’s no way the Innies could have hidden the manufacture of a ship with such a radical departure in design. Not from Gladius.”

Felin took pride in her assessment being well received, and pressed on. “It could explain the mines’ behavior. Xenos would have technology we’ve never seen before; like the sensor weapon.”

“Or ship based faster than light,” the Commodore interrupted heavily, silencing the other two. “What we have here is an opportunity.” He paused again to think things over. “In all likelihood, that frigate will be long gone before either us or the Innies can do anything about it. But the one that was destroyed… I want it, yesterday!”

“Do you need us to go back out there?” Thaddeus asked, hoping it was a negative. There’s no telling what else could be lethal on that thing, even as a ruined hulk.

“No!” The Commodore half-shouted in his uncaring haste. “I have other ships closer to the area. They’ll intercept the wreckage before it drifts too far off. If nothing else, I want that FTL, and the engines looked to be the most intact part left behind. Not to mention any other weapons it has left. As for you two…” He paused, and tapped his chin rapidly as he tried to think of a plan in the face of such a turn of events. “We have the perfect weapon to claim the system for our own.”

Nearly three days of frantic repair work came to a welcome pause. Wiggly hovered over Live Wire’s pod after it pushed itself out from the wall. Morales was at the controls, making sure everything went right, while Mote retreated to a corner of the room. Even though victory was theirs, the pall of such hostile AI had fallen over her.

“His vitals look good, taking him out of hibernation.”

The pod yawned open with a muffled hiss. Wiggly looked over her brother and saw something from her fillihood: her brother's face was whole again.

No marks from the Sundering remained on his brow or chin. A cursory glance revealed all of the old scars were gone from that day, and those between it. Yet his left eye held her own in place. The bulky, cheap, always failing implant had been replaced by normal flesh once more. It brought Wiggly to tears, so she occupied herself by removing the various restraints and sensor pads off of him.

Morales craned his neck to observe his patient before entering the final command to unbind the unicorn’s consciousness. “Waking him...now.”

Live Wire awoke with a shuddering gasp, making Wiggly jump. He blinked repeatedly as the fog in his mind was sluggish in clearing away. The remembered pain of the attack suddenly shot back to life, and he frantically started struggling to free himself.

Wiggly was quick to hold his hoof in her own, and squeezed it reassuringly. “Hey, hey, take it easy, you’re fine. Everything fine now.”

Hearing her voice, then her words, made Wire stop. It was only in that moment that he realized the pain was actually just a memory. “Wiggs?” He blinked some more as his vision quickly returned to normal in his right eye, but his left remained badly out of focus. “Wiggs,” he parroted with a mix of bewildered relief.

“It’s me alright, you big dork.” Wiggly barely contained herself long enough to help him to the ground. Once all four of his hooves were firmly planted on the ground, she leapt into a crushing bear hug that dropped the witless stallion right back down to the hard floor. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

Still at a loss, Live Wire absently wrapped his legs around his crying sister and pulled her close. “Sure… right after I remember-” He winced as a strange feeling gripped him. Gingerly pulling his sister off of him, his side vision cleared to the point where he could finally put his hoof on the weird feeling. His false eye didn’t ache anymore, and his vision no longer had an overlay. In a rush he felt the side of his face, only to jab a very real and squishy eye. “What?! He blinked the pain and warded off Wiggly as he gently felt around his now organic eye. “My - what happened?”

“An old terror parted the reeds,” Morales declared with a grim tone. He pushed some coffee towards them, prompting Wiggly to grab the cups and offer one to Live Wire. “I will explain it all, but permit me to conduct a check up on you as I do. The archives don’t have any information on de-cyberization treatment, so I’m having to make it up as I go.”

“De-cyberization?!” Live Wire shivered, and kept touching his new eye. He watched a medical drone fly over and start inspecting his eye at a careful distance. “What hit us?”

“This is a lot to take in,” Sprocket warned softly.

Scanning the room, Live Wire noticed the cathrex were looking uncomfortable. “Last thing I remember is my eye burning up. Everything else was fuzzy.”

“I was kinda hoping you had dreams like I did.” Wiggly shook herself out of that tangent. "Ah - anyway. Right. So." He shivered a bit at the outbursts to come. “It's like this...”

It took roughly half an hour to bring Live Wire more or less up to speed. The stallion struggled to keep his peace as the Waylan’s past was laid bare. He couldn’t focus on the history lesson; not when someone important was missing, and he cut it off before Morales could finish. “You said Winter and I both got hit by this. Where is she?”

Wiggly stood up in a flash so she could keep him still. “Wire, she’s in bad shape, but she’s alive.”

“Rut that!” He growled at her. “De-cyberized?! Wiggs, Winter can’t survive without her chrome!”

“You really think I would lie to you about that?” Wiggly challenged to break through his flash of anger.

It worked, and the stallion recoiled momentarily, but recovered quickly. “No, but they might have tricked you. There’s no way she’s still alive if they removed her chrome!”

“She lives,” Wiggly softly insisted, trying to calm him back down. “I’ve kept an eye on both of you for two and a half days now.” She jabbed a wing at a medical bed that was wrapped in badly slept-on linen. Once he saw it, Wiggly stepped back to the very wall of pods he just emerged from and tapped the only one that had steady blue lights on. “And Winter's right here, next to where you were.”

“Then let me see her.” Live Wire wasn’t having it. He tried to push past his sister to confront Morales, but Wiggly restrained him with a wing.

“Wait until she can wake up, broham. If you see her like she is, you’ll only explode.” She thumped his horn, just to break the death glare he had on Morales. “I know you.”

”Oh you crusty nag!" A furious scowl darkened Wire's face, as he rubbed his sore horn. His gaze darted between his sister and the active pod. Eventually, he turned to the good doctor. “Mores, if she dies, you will answer for it.”

“Provided we don’t end up in another battle, Lieutenant Winter Gale will rise again in about two weeks or so.”

The loose deadline appeased Live Wire a bit, yet it was enough. “Yeah, about that. This Waylan you mentioned, you're claiming that thing hit Winter and I?”

Quietly releasing a held breath, Morales nodded shakily. “Yes. It uses a weapon called fuhai. To put it simply, it is designed to kill cyborgs via your connections between machine and nerve. It is tied to the Waylan ships’ sensors, it is constantly in use. There is no defense, save what we did to keep you and Winter alive. It is also why our tail connectors are so bulky compared to your neck ones, to work around it.”

“Waylan?” Wire tilted his head, and fixed him with a harsh glare. “Why didn’t you tell us about this before?”

For a long moment, Morales couldn’t find the words. He opened and closed his mouth, each time at a loss. Wiggly couldn’t answer for him, and held her tongue. So it was left for Mote to finally step forward, shivering from the assured backlash. “Clarification. He did it for my sake.”

“You?!” Live Wire tensed, unsure of how to respond. “Why? Are you a Waylan?”

“No!” Mote’s instant response was both visceral in its denial and her own flare of mortified anger. Her stance widened and her claws flashed instinctively at the unwitting insult. Upon seeing the two ponies’ balk at the aggression, Mote caught herself and shrank back. “Denial. I am not, and you just proved you ponies won’t bother to tell the difference.” She held herself close as tears dampened her face. “I’ve seen your holo-shows long enough to know you fear created intelligence.

“Observation. Stories of AIs rebelling, warring, killing, or subverting your people the moment they become too smart.” A haunted humorless laugh escaped her. “My xenotype has taken great pains to think as organically as possible, but I know what I am to you, just another type of AI. I thought I could have some time to show you ponies that cathrex PIs were different. That you could discard your storied AIs as your own created and not ours. But no.”

Mote gripped her head as images of billions of dead ponies surrounded her with the survivors above condemned her. The horror of it left her weeping in choking sobs. “Accusation. But then the damned Waylan had to reveal itself. The very reflection of all your horrors and warnings come true. And what am I compared to a Waylan who could wipe out a population in an instant?!”

Live Wire pushed past Wiggly, but stopped a few steps after that. “That danger is exactly why you should have told us. This - this weapon of theirs is far too dangerous to omit it like that!”

“What would have telling the three of you have genuinely accomplished?” Morales challenged firmly in order to give Mote a chance to recollect herself. The doctor remained seated with his arms crossed, his iron gazed fixed on the stallion. “Nothing.” He shrugged and frowned in helpless irritation. “Unless you’re going to sit there and claim that you trust Mote and I enough on word alone, and be willing to undergo de-cyberization.” Live Wire winced at the argument, leaving Morales a chance to press his point. “You've made your level of trust in us perfectly clear. Not that I fault you for it, but it still left us in an impossible position. The Akira’s been marooned here for five years, and your presence in the system has lasted much longer than that by far. We had every reason to believe the Waylan ignored this system until now.”

Live Wire held up a hoof to counter him, but he came up with nothing. His mouth remained a pressed line. “Were you going to tell the high queen?”

Morales stood up with a heavy sigh. “Of course. In fact we’ll be informing Captain Howling Tempest when he arrives this evening.” He nervously wrung his hands, and glanced away. “I’m hoping he’ll be easier to speak to than a high queen.”

Sprocket circled around so Wire could see her. “The battle drew a lot of eyes, and we took a good bit of damage. Enough that we could use some actual dock work.”

With his ears flattened, and nervously pawing the floor, Wire’s gaze turned to the pods. “You said she could wake up in two weeks?”

“Thereabouts,” Morales confirmed with forced confidence. “Between rebuilding her body and the nerve damage, the healing process will take time. You’re lucky, really. You ponies are a hearty breed, had a baseliner cathrex been in her place, I couldn’t have saved her.”

Guilt started to weigh on Live Wire. He could see Morales’ ploy to smooth things over, yet couldn’t muster the nerve to call him out on it. “Thank you, for doing that.”

Walking over to giving Mote a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, the pair felt some stress leave them. “It’s the least I could have done.”