Carry On

The frigate burned a trail across the sky, barely slowing down from its exo-atmospheric speed. The particles around it were literally on fire from the friction between the ESD vessel and the air, licking the metal plates of the hull.

"Brake in 3... 2... 1..."

With a thunderous clapping the rocket brake engaged. The jets pressed in vain, just barely limiting acceleration and lowering the velocity of the craft.

"Cutting engines..."

Everything went silent aside from the whistling of the wind past the stabilizers.

"Terminal velocity."

A few more seconds passed.

"Engaging landing sequence..."

With the lightest of poofs, the frigate disappeared--

--and came back down immediately outside the damaged shuttle, sending up a massive dust cloud that was peculiarly silent.

***************

EXTERNAL AUXILLARY AUDIO ACTIVE

RECORDING...

[sound of hydraulic pistons]

[hoofsteps]

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER: Wasn't expecting that...

LIEUTENANT OPEN SKY: What was that, LC?

LC: Nothing.

UNKNOWN: Your ships are capable of teleportation?

OPEN SKY: Not the same way you can. It's more manipulation of time rather than of space--which, interestingly, is fairly easy. I'll tell you more later.

CAPTAIN: Well then. Perry, what's the situation?

LC: Might want to explain that inside, Captain.

CAPTAIN: Very well.

[hoofsteps]

END RECORD

***************

Asakira's breath came in ragged chunks. There was nothing around her but darkness--not absence of light, but a true, full, claustrophobic, open, darkness. At some points it seemed as though she were on a tightrope spanning an impossible gap--at others, stuffed into the smallest of tunnels. It made her want to weep.

The area she was in smelled of wet metal, and her mouth tasted like nickel. This was probably an air duct she found herself wriggling through, looking for an exit. Everything was down--all of her electronics, et cetera. That meant no map for her to navigate with.

"Lost" was the most frightening word for her. It described everything in her life to that point--every failure, every misstep, every decision. Even here, it pervaded her being.

The Marine wanted to cry even more.

Get a hold of yourself, for once, dammit, part of her mind told. You can make it. Just keep going.

For a solid minute, she remained in place. Then, with a deep breath and a steeling of her character, Asakira continued crawling.

Slogging through the rivers of alien planets and climbing near-insurmountable heights would never have prepared the still mostly-green soldier for this. Soon, it was agonizing to drag herself one more meter. Movement became a trial against her personality, a challenge Asakira wasn't ready for. Her hooves and body scraped along the paneled floor of the vent, pulling vainly. Her will was gone. As Asakira's armor had left in the teleport, she was bare and naked.

Thirst became another concern in those hours. Of course, she had no water. The last drink she had was in the mess hall eight hours prior to the attack. Pain in her head and stomach soon coupled with a clogged nostril.

Being a unicorn, Asakira tried to fix it with magic. Her energy was nearly gone, however, and it was barely effective.

A sheen of sweat built up from her scrabbling. The pits of Asakira's arms, her neck, and nearly everywhere else was soaked, wasting even more valuable bodily fluids.

Finally, she saw a light. Her pace increased significantly. There was freedom. There was sovereignty. There was her second chance.

As it happened, the destination was much further than Asakira predicted. At least twenty minutes came in between her discovery and the end of the journey.

Naturally, that was only the first leg of a horrible, belly-based marathon.

The light had reflected from an opening around a corner; another half hour took her to the grate that it passed through.

To Asakira's beleaugered eyes, the minimal source of visibility was dazzling to the unicorn after the trek. It was only a single, sparking red emergency light, looking out over the room, a snoring sentinel.

With haste and shaking hooves, Asakira pushed off the grate. Getting out was much harder than magically popping in, as she had. However, a few minutes of squeezing got her through. Wth a thump, she hit the floor. The noise echoed ominously in the silence.

At roughly five-second intervals, the light would go out. It returned, painting a picture of death.

The body of a stallion crewpony was slumped against the far wall of the room, about five meters away diagonally from Asakira. It looked like he hadn't gone without some struggle. A rather surprising pool of blood surrounded him and his pistol, which seemed empty of any charge.

"Sorry," was all she could say as she snatched it from his corpse, avoiding his blood. Hopefully something to load it with was around.

A door was briefly illuminated by the light, on the same side as the wall, and through it Asakira dove.

It appeared that she had the fortune (or misfortune) to land in the plentifully stocked armory. The walls were lined with racks of equipment, a variety of sorts ranging from hand grenades to laser rifles.

Asakira strapped on armor and acquired a collection of firearms, including charges for the pistol, an energy carbine and ammunition, a sniper rifle with rounds, and a grenade launcher.

The former two she levitated by her sides, while the latter clipped to magnetic hooks on armor. The ammunition for her new arsenal found similar homes in pouches and slots lining the plates.

A flashlight was built into the black, all-purpose unicorn combat armor. Asakira pressed her chin to the left side of the helmet, and it snapped to life, brightening the dark area that was only lit by red emergency lights along the ceiling.

She made her way between rows of gear, with a map of the Morning Star open on the helmet's Heads-Up Display. Asakira really had no idea where she should go; perhaps off the ship. The flotilla had unlocked, so joining them wasn't an option. An escape pod could take her to the surface, or to one of the flotilla's ships; then again, she might be detected and shot down before there was any hope of rescue.

In any case, she decided to move towards the hangars. With no clue as to any other course of action, Asakira thought that at least she could try to find survivors of the attack and gather together. Throughout the whole of her movement through the ship's ventilation systems, no one had tried to contact her, by radio or otherwise. It was certainly possible that--

A flash of light in the dim glow of her own was accompanied by a low humming, hissing noise that cut off her thoughts. Asakira flicked off the flashlight and ducked behind a crate of stack of grenade boxes as a small, floating blue crystal skimmed the floor. She poked her head out. All Asakira saw was the crystal, twisting as it flew, as if scanning for something.

Her back hoof shifted. Thump against the box of grenades. The crystal stopped. Turned. The shape shifted red and emitted a blaring honk.

A hoof dragged Asakira downwards with the tiniest of yelps through a hidden trap door.

"Shhh," came a voice over the helmet's speakers.

Above, the crystal emitted a dying bleat, and carried on its search.

"Don't make any noise around the Seekers," the stallion continued, still holding her leg in place with an iron grip.

"Who are you?' Asakira replied, careful to send it through comms and not external audio. She still couldn't see her newfound savior.

"The name's Lokir. A Marine, like you. I got separated from my unit," he said, and let go. "I've been wandering around for a few hours, grabbing supplies and avoiding these... things. From what I've gathered, they're semi-organic machines. Follow me, and I'll tell you more."

He slipped in front of her and walked, away from the meager light coming through the trapdoor's grate. After about five minutes, Lokir flicked on a flashlight. His armor was thick, white, and had a plate shield attached to the left foreleg. He was an earth pony charger, then. A cannon was mounted onto a rotating ring on his right shoulder, white like the armor.

Soon, he stopped at what appeared to be a maintenance hatch. Slowly, he pushed it open, and in they went.

"My humble abode," he grumbled, lifting his shield leg in a presentory manner. The space was small, maybe fifteen by fifteen feet. A cot was laid out, with a pack resting on the side. Otherwise, it appeared totally bare, aside from another red emergency light. There was one door immediately across from the entrance, presumably further into the maintenance caverns.

Asakira observed all this with little disdain. It was good to be in company with someone again, despite the circumstances. "Thanks for saving me back there. By the way, how'd you know what that thing was? Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

"I've determined some things, but I guess I should start from the beginning. I was asleep when the attack started. My squad organized, and we started to piece together what happened. We tried to repel the boarders, but everything happened so fast... the rest of my unit has been dead or lost by a few hours. They came at us from everywhere. It was a mess... ambush after ambush. Eventually I found my way here, where I've been camped out, snooping around. Doesn't look like a whole lot of other ponies made it, or they're staying quiet, like me. I really hope it's the latter," Lokir finished.

"I'm sorry for your losses... but I'm sure many of your friends are just hidden. Don't worry about it. They're soldiers, like us. They can handle themselves. It's okay," Private Asakira comforted Lokir.

"Thanks for the notion, but I've seen too much death today to think it true. You're right, though. We're soldiers... I guess I should start acting like it," He paused for a few moments, eyes locked on the large metal tiles on the floor.

"There appear to be several variants of these machines, ranging from bipedal assault platforms, which I dubbed Walkers, bear-like things, the Maulers, a few tracked vehicles, EV platforms, Flyers, and, of course, Seekers, who appear to be looking for survivors. If they find you, they set off an alarm and attempt to mark you. Unfortunately, I know from experience." Lokir said, rather sullen.

"I've seen the Walkers and the Maulers, and I guess the Seekers, too," Asakira replied. "I don't really know what to do about them, though. Everyone's dead, as far as I can tell."

Lokir shook his head. "I'm not so sure. I've seen others, but we didn't communicate or group together for fear of being discovered."

They remained silent for a while, and soon found themselves sitting on the cot, not doing much.

Suddenly, Asakira remembered her thirst. "Got any water?"

Lokir pulled a canteen from the pack and gave it to her. Greedily, she gulped down the fluid. It was like the bliss of heaven flowed through the parched pony. Nothing compared to the feeling she had at that moment.

"Thanks," was all she could manage.

"Yep. It's no problem--there are plenty of fresh water pipes that you can open up and take from, especially down here," Lokir said, indicating those immediately above, running through the ceiling.

"So, what should we do from here?" Asakira asked him.

He thought for a moment, entirely silent. "It's likely they've locked down the hangars and the escape pods. If we try to leave, we'll have to fight our way to escape. The two of us could probably overwhelm some of the weaker invaders, so observation and timing is key. We have to strike at their weakest links and make a break for something we can leave with. If there's no method of escape, then..."

"We'll engage the engines' self-destruct," Asakira finished quietly.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Lokir said, slipping away from the mind of a tactician into a lower tone. Something darker entered his voice--something afraid, something ready--but still, afraid.

"Do you have a family?" Asakira asked him, a little bit out of the blue.

"Not much to speak of. My immediate family is dead or gone, most of the rest likewise; anyone else, I haven't spoken to in ages. I don't know if I'll be able to get that chance again. Ugh... it's hopeless. You ask about my family, and all I can think of is a shattered boulder," Lokir surmised.

She exhaled and paused before speaking again. "Well, I guess you'll just have to live long enough to make your own, huh? It's not quite over yet; we still have a war left in us. Come on, we should move. The sooner we know what we're up against, the better. No more drowning in doubts."

He nodded. "You're right. Okay, let's go." He sat up and began packing up his hideout with increasing speed. Asakira took some of their supplies, and they offloaded the bulk weight. What they did take was some food, water, canteens, ammunition, and other very bare essentials. Staying light on the feet was critical.

Lokir lead the way through the other door, moving silently through the maintenance passageways, despite the weight, his shield, and his weapons. Asakira did her best and had a  temporary invisibility spell lined up. When they encountered any patrols, she'd be able to hide them, at least for a short while.

The tight corridors were sparsely lit, and the pair did not deign to add any more luminescence lest they be discovered somehow. Accoding to the map in her armor, Asakira saw that they were slowly ascending, towards the bays, or at least to an escape pod.

Lokir seemed steadfast and determined in the light of Asakira's peptalk. The unicorn herself, however, was reasonably apprehensive. She didn't want to call the terrible feeling in her gut fear--she hated combat, and loathed it all the more in spite and because of her prior experience with that fickle dancing partner.

It was good for her to be with someone. Alone, she'd die. With Lokir by her side, Asakira had at least a feeling of some safety, a sense of strength in numbers. Considering by her own logic the fact that the enemy was stronger, that idea faded significantly.

They did have firepower on their side, at least in a one-on-one standoff. The carbine, pistol, rifle and grenade launcher provided a wide range of ability coupled with her magic. Lokir had his shield and the nearly impenetrable armor, along with shoulder-mounted laser cannon and eight-guage shotgun.

About an hour had passed from their departure when they hit an exit into a hangar. A clear glass door marked the exit, with sterile white light filtering in from the chamber.

As Lokir stepped forward to go through, Asakira put a hoof on his shoulder, stopping him. When he turned around, she activated the spell, and they both faded away. Only the softest bending of light at the edges of their forms would give them away. The spell protected against thermal and radar signatures as well, so the both of them would be quite invisible.

The door slid open onto a catwalk that stretched around the bay. The platform was located near the high ceiling--only about three body lengths separated Asakira from the tiles and electronic lights.

Below, one of the enemy boarding craft was docked--or rather, crashed. It rent the floor in a wide canyon as it had come in, judging by the split in the plates on the floor of the bay. The plates withstood the heat from takeoff thrusters--the craft had to have come in with a lot of energy to do damage like that.

As for allied vehicles, two fighters were locked in place by magnets and roughly the level of the catwalk. A second walkway stretched out to meet their cockpits. On the floor of the room, a basic transport shuttle was waiting, but a few Walkers of varying size and armament strutted along beside. Several of them had what appeared to be EVA maneuvering packs on them, and a few were very large and looked like they had anger issues.

"Doesn't look like we're going that way," Asakira whispered into her comm. They couldn't hear her, but she liked to be safe.

"Well, we can always try those fighters," Lokir suggested. Asakira nodded her agreement, and the set off around the bay to the other side, where they reached the craft.

They were composed of a central cockpit and two engine/weapon compartments. These were arranged in a sandwhich, so it almost looked like a hotdog where half the meat was eaten. The hatches opened at the movement, though they were thankfully silent.

"Do you know how to fly one?" Lokir asked.

"Only what they taught us for emergencies. Like this, I guess."

"Me too. Alright, it looks like we could fit in one, or split up. Your call."

"I'd like not to keep all of our eggs in one basket, but I'm pretty sure I could spread the cloak to one of them--but only one. The distances involved in space would be too much for me to handle."

"Okay. I would wager to say you're better at the finesse stuff, so maybe you should take the wheel," Lokir suggested.

Asakira grunted. "Make me do all the work, eh? Well, I liked flying anyways, from what I remember of doing it." Actually, she'd almost become a pilot. Shooting people with magic and controlling aircraft were her two main strong suits. However, she was better with magic, and they typically preferred pegasi in the air force anyways because they supposedly had better instinct.

She climbed in the left of the two, closer to the entrance they'd come in from. Lokir got in behind, and Asakira shut the hatch. Quickly, she ran a systems check, and counted down.

"Strapped in? Okay... 3... 2... 1... go."

She cloaked her new bird as soon as the power came on. A magical aura from her horn gripped the yoke, and shoved it forward to maximum speed. The engines hummed to life with a deep whirring noise, and before the guards knew what had happened to the second fighter in the hanger, they were out, speeding away from the Morning Star.

Private Asakira was fairly rusty at her flying. To be safe, she ran diagnostics on all the systems, from the missiles in her control to Lokir's laser cannon mounted on the back of the craft. They sped away from the supercruiser-turned-science-vessel, heading towards Equus single moon.

"Engines, check. Weapons, check. Oxygen, check. Check, check, check, check. Alright, Lokir, where to?" she asked. Asakira herself had assumed they were going to try to meet up with the flotilla.

"Head to the surface. I think that's where the Wings of Harmony went, so we should try to get to them, maybe meet up and hopefully stage a counterattack," he said.

"I thought the same. Alright, plotting a course for planet ent--" She was cut off by a loud alarm signaling a target lock. "Oh, fuck! I'm taking evasive action. How the hell did--"

A laser flashed across the energy shields built into the sides of the craft, nearly breaking them.

Asakira had cloaked the entire ship except for the inside of the cockpit. Unless they had a visual identification, which would be damned near impossible, they should have been scot-free.

Unless...

"Lokir! Look for a tracking device!"

"On it!"

He started ruffling around in the seat behind her, scrabbling around to see where something like that would be located.

"I got nothing," he said, giving up.

"Damn. It's probably on the outside, th--" Asakira started, but once more was stopped with the whine of the alarm, indicating incoming fighters.

"Interceptors!" the earth pony cried out, coming to the same conclusion.

"Can you get a bead on them?"

Lokir shook his head furiously. "No, they're too fast."

Asakira weaved around for a few moments, thinking. "We can't lead them toward the flotilla; they'll be decimated," she decided, finally.

Of course, that didn't mean she was giving up.

The craft veered about, and faced the Morning Star, and the new found attackers that came with it.. She thumbed the missile control, and began to pick up speed again..

The stars blurred with the speed. The Morning Star was growing larger every second--along with the enemy.

Beeeeeeeep came the tone of a good lock. Her telekinetic grip on the yoke stretched to the buttons, pressing them hastily.

With an odd silence, the missiles slipped forth like wind, targeting the two separate ships. In a flash, they'd overtaken them, Lokir was firing the rotating laser backwards, and she couldn't see her own work as the main cannon of the Morning Star came back into full view. A point-defense laser ripped a tear along the starboard engine. The fighter leaned, and Asakira struggled to compensate. Another beam across, and a third and fourth. The ship was coming apart in her hooves.

The massive railgun along the top of the supercruiser was an open compartment, large enough for their fighter to squeeze into. For the moment, it seemed the best option for Private Asakira.  They fell into a cavern of steel dominated by the gun, the impromptu escape craft still moving at an incredibly dangerous pace.

Asakira hit the missiles again as they were about to slam through the bulkhead. The projectiles cut her a path down through a chunk of hollow space. She followed, diving in. Fired again.

Too slow.

The explosives rent another hole, but the bits smacked against Asakira's craft, and the tumble was complete. She had no control as they dropped, stone-like, into the belly of the beast.