Tartarus Divers

Hell awoke.

The sensation was fast, and the memory of the feeling was fleeting like a dream. Suddenly she was falling forwards from her pod, free of her restraints, the ice, and the magic. Her front hooves fell onto the ground with a clank of metal on metal. Taking a step forwards, she shrugged off the residual rigidness and then gasped like a filly at the candy store.

"AAA!" She jumped forwards past the diagnostics screen for the cryo pod to the guard rail slinging her forelegs over it while her back legs bounced up and down in an excited dance as she looked down the hanger of her very own Super Destroyer. The structure was a long open hallway organized in thick arching metal pillars, coated in dully reflective titanium plating. There was white mist pouring in along the hanger to keep the ground from icing up, and the general atmosphere screamed 'military operation'

There was a transport class spacer Pelican docked at the end of the hall, and a platform elevator in front of her to get down into the hangar, which had doors at the sides and the end to lead deeper into the Destroyer.

Hell turned once she saw movement, and spotted a pony standing at the top of the stairs to her side. Stepping away from the rail, she nearly saluted before the cream coloured unicorn mare saluted her first. "It's good to have you aboard Tartarus Diver."

Her address turned the gears in Hell's cryo sleeping mind to remind her that she was technically in charge of her. The mare at the stairs was her staff.

Pushing away the excitement and leaving only the responsibility, Hell quickly rose up the steps and evened out her expression even though it was hidden beneath her helmet. "It's good to be aboard. Those bugs won't know what hit them."

The mare smiled and dropped her salute. "I'm tasked with getting you acquainted with your vessel. First and foremost, what will you be naming him?"

"The King of Starlight." Hell said without hesitation, she'd been dreaming of this moment her whole life after all. "And a tour won't be necessary. I've run simulations, I read all the manuals. I know this model like the back of my hoof." Hell pointed out, subsequently towards each station and its section of screens.

Across from her position she pointed to the, "Super Destroyer management screens"

To her side she pointed at the, "Engineering bay."

Then to the hallway leading up to the bridge, "Armory, and equipment screens."

The cream mare nodded at each comment, "Well then." She stated, seemingly amused. "Good luck Tartarus Diver."

"Anything for Equestria." They both shared another salute, and then the mare returned to her position at the engineering bay. As she turned around, Hell spied her cutie mark when she turned, a series of bolts with stars on the heads; that, along with the mint green mane she had tied low behind her head, banishing Hell's initial assumption that the mare was maneless.

Another mare approached her, this one was dressed in officer's scrubs. Tan, tight fitting cloth that ran from her neck all the way to her tail and her ankles. She had a shoulder pauldron on, marking her as the standing officer for the ship. Before she could speak, Hell lifted her hoof to cut her off, "All due respect, but I believe I've wasted enough time; Democracy needs me." Without waiting for a response, Hell approached the bridge. Walking past the upright stand of armor and weapons mounted on the wall and straight towards the map and command center.

The bridge was a glass chamber with titanium braces along the sides of the walls, metal floor. There was a raised platform along the farthest end, where the Tartarus Pods were located. In the center was the holo screen, and the rest was decoration to Hell Diver.

Walking over the bridge past the operations crew down beneath her hooves to either side, she approached the console and the stallion in full armor. "Welcome Tartarus Diver. Liberation awaits."

Hell pushed down her excitement again as the stallion pulled his helmet off, his body shape was in a word, bulk. His face had surprisingly soft features though, a stern frown adorned his dark brown face, and his pink tinted buzz cut mane. He lifted a hoof, and without looking, activated the holographic projection of Equestria, the planet they were currently orbiting.

"Where are we heading?" She asked without looking away from the globe of Equestria

His response was just as terse as the rest of him, "As of now, the Tartarus Diver legions are currently assaulting Esker to gain access to the hyper lanes through it." The globe shifts to a map of the galaxy, and shifts and zooms towards the planet in question, and the one immediately after it. "The Ministry of Defense has marked key planets as strategic positions against the bug incursions; in order to take Erson Sands for Equestria, we must first capture Esker, in the name of freedom."

Hell nodded, "Then there's no time to wait." She used the hoof controls to zoom the map onto Esker, and spun it around to get a glance at the missions of importance, the hotspots and the other Tartarus Divers. Shifting the globe to select a node. A screen opened up with a tac map of the area.

Trivial Operation
Mission, forty minutes
Eliminate Brood Commanders
Track Down and Eliminate the Brood Commanders

Hell glanced over the mission warnings that said, 'acid storms' and 'intense heat', then pressed a digital button on the console twice, the dexterity coming from years of never knowing any other tactile feedback. Once to select, the second time to confirm. As she did, the PA system sounded out above her, "Mission coordinates locked."

Hell nodded once to the Democracy Officer while sideways walking towards the pods. Turning away entirely so she could see the stairs, she stepped up past the banner with the Tartarus Diver's perfect insignia, and towards the Tartarus Pods. Rearing up on her hind legs to get into position with balance that can only be trained, she stepped into the locking pads on the ground that chunked once as they solidly grabbed onto her combat shoes. Even through the enhanced metal and extra padding, she could still feel the pressure.

The PA sounded out something else, but Hell never got the chance to hear it as the platform she was now attached to sank into the ground fast enough for her to go weightless for a moment. Once she was settled, a clamp covered in metal wrapped around her barrel and wings in a way that made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Ignoring that, and the rest of the equipment designed to make sure her insides didn't turn to liquid as she breached atmosphere, she turned her attention to the equipment screen. Everything looked in order; it was all the equipment she used on the training grounds. That, and she had nothing else. She selected a location for drop on the tac map, then shimmed herself into a more comfortable standing position

Hell Diver took a deep breath, and then slammed her hoof over the launch button.

Through the open hole above her, she heard the PA system again, "Tartarus Pod launch, initiated."

Then the mechanical arms that held the topper lowered down over the hole and placed the metal pad over top. There was the sound of servos and metal grinding against each other, then silence that lasted for a split second before Hell felt her stomach lurch into her mouth as the Pod fired towards the planet. There was a solid six or seven seconds of shaking and trying to keep herself from vomiting before she blacked out from the G-forces