My Little Rogue Trader: Maretime Sector

Chapters

The Precipice
The Anticipation
The Plunge
Intermission - The Lord Captain's Re-Onboarding
The Abyss
The Run
The Blooding

The Precipice

In the 41st Millennium, the Milky Way unknowingly prospers above the brink of annihilation.

The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man and Equus is soon to be beset on all sides by hostile aliens and threatened from within by traitors and heretics.

It exists at the onset of an age of endless war, in which enlightenment is challenged by superstition, rhetoric, and blind prayer. To live in such times is to be one amongst untold billions, existing in the most paradoxical regime imaginable; practicing harmony and waging war in equal measure.

Among the architects of the Imperium's fading golden age are the Auric Rogue Traders; immortal human champions chosen since the Imperium's beginning to walk the thorny path to prosper all of humanity and their allied races. They, along with the Emperor of Mankind, the Solarch of Ponykind, and their Primarchs, will be the capstone that holds the Imperium aloft before the terror.

There will soon be no time for peace. No respite, no forgiveness.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there can be no victor.

The digital bell rang out a series of tones; the shift was over. Tired, turquoise eyes looked up from a black screen with an endless series of green lettering on display. The infinite details of Sector Mage Ocean's Manufactorum seemed almost burned into Sunny Starscout's vision. She rubbed at her eyes with a light vermillion forelimb. She rolled her neck, shivering slightly as she felt the popping.

Next, she stretched her back, feeling the fabric of her sea-blue jumpsuit on her back and the roots of her limbs. The uniform was decorated with a few shiny pins, alongside the department's shoulder badge. It consisted of a circle, with a big, capital imperial "I" with an Administratum lower-case "a" inside of it. Of course, because it's Sunny's department, it was accompanied by a happy dolphin leaping over the "I", which was wearing a hooded robe. They're really getting their money with the name "Sector Mage Ocean"... even if the name "Mage Ocean" actually referred to a Hassian Draconic Techpriest, not a dolphin...

Sunny shook her head and flicked some of her purple mane.

She looked around and saw the other workstations, with a few ponies hurriedly packing their bags to enjoy their weekend. They each wore the same uniform she did, but perhaps not the same buttons and pins. She saw, with a lowered brow, that some elected to stay for overtime. She sighed; it was none of her business. She then allowed herself a small smile.

Getting up from her chair, she nosed her work satchel over her shoulder; a sea-green messenger bag also with eccentric patches and stickers on it. She looked around the room, a great open office, tables, and data terminals arrayed almost as if they were benches in a chapel. The gothic archways that lined the room also didn't help matters. A great big church to the god of paperwork. The thought made Sunny scoff. Then her face fell since the Mage Ocean Officeplex consisted of many such office chambers. The Administratum Center was series of Data-Churches in a Cathedral of Bureaucracy.

Does that make her a worshipper, then?

Her thoughts were shaken out of her head by a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, then relaxed. The wrinkled hand belonged to one Helix Silico, her direct supervisor. He smiled, stretching his bushy mustache. He looked at her with kind, yellow eyes. He asked, with that admittedly sweet, aged voice, "How are you holding up, Sunny?"

She managed a small smile, and she managed to offer a simple, "I'm fine," in return. Her voice was dry, her tone dry. She turned away. Helix grimaced.

"Hey," he offered. "Me and a few other ponies, we... we got together to get something for you."

Helix then put something on Sunny's table. She froze, then looked at what it was that was being offered by Helix and her coworkers.

It was a... ticket? As Sunny looked at it, the bright, upbeat tones and the promotional lettering became clearer. Neon lights and signs... palm trees, a body of water... this couldn't be.

An all-expenses paid vacation voucher to Maretime Sector. The bearer was entitled to an entire month of all play, no work. Guaranteed prizes, guaranteed laughs, and a guaranteed good time.

"I..." Sunny began, not knowing if she should accept, or reject the offered prize. Her thoughts were interrupted by Helix wrapping his arms around Sunny in a hug.

"Take it. Take a load off," coaxed Helix. "Do it for us. Do it... for yourself."

She saw all the smiles directed her way... she returned the hug. She sniffed. What should she... say? Sunny took a moment to think, and then she remembered.

"Thank you, Helix."

She looked around. There were so many smiling faces around her. So many steadfast, compassionate eyes looking into hers.

"Thank you, everypony," Sunny choked out.

Letting go, Helix pointed at the console with an old finger, and reminded, "Go ahead and punch out, Sunny. Have fun now."

Nodding, Sunny agreed, saying, "I will. Thank you again."

She swiped a card into the side of the work terminal, punching it out for the last time.

Hassian Trains are legendary for their efficiency... or so Sunny Starscout was constantly told.

She paced along the kilometer-long platform, awaiting the transport that would take her to Maretime Sector, R&R-23. "Rest and Relaxation," Sunny mused to herself. She stood on the uppermost level of the platform, #4 of Station 32. The crowd at this immense platform was made up of a colorful tapestry, but not a throng large enough to keep Sunny from pacing around, her hooves clapping on the metallic surface. The air was choked by the sheer mass of people, the work of a long day still clinging to their clothes. Clerks and Managers from Data Forges, Doctors and Nurses from the Wellness Barracks, or Technicians and Tech-Acolytes from the Manufactorums. Each served their role in the great mosaic of Hassia, a kinetic structure without beginning or end. All centered around the Imperial Aquila, a twin-headed Bird, harmoniously bonded with the Alicorn, a reminder of ancient alliances and forever promises made and kept.

The Imperium of Man and Equus.

Sunny looked around to the interior of this section of the hive. A lesson from long ago rang out in her memory. The voice was... calm. Sure. Caring.

"Hassia Prime, our home, is a hive city. That means we all get to live in a big tower city, with cities built on top of other cities. If you look outside, you can see what I mean."

To Sunny's left and right, It was an endless looping expanse of metal, a gargantuan hollow tube, the interior of which was covered in windows. The hollow sector was also filled with tall, pointed buildings that stretched both from the floor of this section and hung from the ceiling. She never understood those who would willingly live and work in the ceiling. The empty space above Sunny's head could comfortably fit an Emperor-class battleship or two. The last time Sunny could remember such a thing happening was as a filly, and the sector smelled of burnt fuel for weeks afterwards after the cruiser passed through during the Navy parade.

This impossibly vast, ancient interior of the middle hive was home to countless billions of souls, and yet... there was still room enough on this endless expanse of plasteel for glowing billboards, green gardens, and an indoor park that ran underneath the old archway that held the railway line up. Many bridges spanned the gap, allowing traversal for walking and government vehicles, mostly transports. In the ceiling, great big fans spun lazily. Sunny recalled fondly running through the pine trees and the grass in the great parks below.

These plants were painstakingly imported across vast distances... all the way from Holy Equestria, so the stories go. Some days, the ventilation system would be on the fritz, which would cause a thick fog to envelop the whole of the hab. Sunny could then and go traipsing through the indoor forest, yet see neither the gray walls nor the ceiling. It was easy, then, to pretend that she was not indoors at all, but in a strange reality, where the forest goes on forever, with endless gray skies.

Behind and in front of Sunny, there ran the interior walls of the city. They were not just structure supports, these walls also contained additional living spaces, as well as places for work. There were, thankfully, a few places around here that a pony like Sunny could go. A few fast food joints, like the ever colorful Burger Tank, Star Cakes, or Pizza King, are fine places for something cheap and/or greasy. If Sunny was thirsty, she could go to a watering hole like "The Portly Carcharodon", home to a rather cute mascot of a horrifying alien abomination native to the oceans of this world.

Sunny... might've had a plushy of that Xenos beast as a filly.

Of course, there were other places of recreation to be had in these sectors of the hive, but all would pale in comparison to the state-run Maretime Sector. Another small factoid ran through Sunny's mind as she awaited the train. A gentle, rumbly voice sounded in Sunny's memory.

"The reason it is called the Maretime Sector is that one day, in an age long past, the Rogue Trader and the Princesses returned from another one of their adventures, with a ship full of plunder and a crew ready to spend it. That adventure had been especially taxing on the Rogue Trader, but not his faithful Princesses. That's why the Rogue Trader ordered an extended leave for the Princesses of Hassia, calling it 'getting to spending some quality mare time with each other.' They took over the entire recreational district with their mare time, spending freely and celebrating their great success. That is why it is now called 'Maretime Sector.' One day, we'll go there, sweet Sunny."

Sunny shook her head. The train had still not arrived at her station. So much for that diversion. It was then that she heard something to her right. Something... familiar. It was a chant; a speech. Sunny lightly pushed past a few ponies and saw the source of the commotion. A crowd had gathered, a beachfront to the waves of emotion that stormed from only a few, well-armed and armored individuals. They were reciting scriptural passages, laden with fanatical hopes and dreams.

It was the missionaries. Sunny blinked. They were usually gathered around the temples, the churches, and the food banks. What were they doing here, and why were they... fired up?

Before now, she never would've thought to see a missionary carry a flamethrower. The human carrying the flamer was tall, covered in black and silver armor that clasped her figure very tightly. Her white, straight hair hung low. Sunny's eyebrows rose, and her eyes widened.

This was not a member of the Missionarius Galaxia. This was a full-on Sister of Battle. Sunny saw her fiery brown eyes as they swept across the gathering crowd. She stood in front of a throng of likewise-dressed warriors. She could even see the Battle Sister's nametag, which simply read "Argenta".

She shouted, in a voice loud, and pious. She spoke of doom, of darkness, of the coming storm of Chaos. Wicked creatures made of thoughts that lived beyond dreams wanted to devour our souls and send us to oblivion. How fire and faith will at last destroy the enemy. Sunny had heard it all before, on the near-endless chatter that made up the new doctrine of Hassia. Quietly, Sunny asked herself, "Where's the joy...? The... glad tidings? The... warmth?"

She looked at the flamer that the woman warrior carried on her hip, nozzle pointed down. It was painted black, and carried many purity seals.

"Well," she mused... "There it is, I guess..."

The Battle Sister carried on, but Sunny's ears twitched to hear an anticipated rumbling. The loud laboring of immortal machines, wearing down mortal cogs.

The train approached. It was a metal, round-faced leviathan, held up by the equally-large series of aqueduct-like structures that arched and snaked through the middle of the Hive complex. It ran for miles, forever ferrying passengers and cargo. The train and its carriages was four stories tall, twenty meters wide... and covered in faded chalk drawings. It made Sunny smile. This massive, serpentine machine, a titan among trains... and it was regularly defaced by young fillies and colts, boys and girls. They would often draw smiley faces, happy messages, or quick drawings on the sides of the otherwise black, monolithic machines.

The nose of the train itself was decorated by the Hassia Mechanicus Skull, a brass and red-painted emblem that consisted of a Dragon's skull, half of it cybernetic. It was surrounded by a bisected cog, mirroring the colors of the skull. Finally, the train's front was decorated by stenciled, cephalopod tentacles that wrapped around the front of the train, as if the Mechanicus skull itself was holding on for dear life. The reason, Sunny knew, for this was quite simple.

These were the Kraken Trains.

As the great engine rumbled and slowed towards Sunny's platform, she could almost feel with her bones the acoustic effort of the mighty machine's brakes, and the subtle apprehension of the hive sector itself as it held up the weight. Finally, with a sound that Sunny supposed must sound like ground quakes, the Kraken finally slowed to a stop, and the brakes snapped and hissed. The doors of all four stories of the train swung open with clacking noises, allowing the passengers to disembark onto the levels of the platform.

As Sunny waited for the crowd to get off the train, she scraped at her neck with a hoof. She winced and paused, and looked critically at her left forelimb. She saw the signs of neglect; dings and scratches.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Going to need to fix that."

She smiled. They would have actual hooficures at Maretime Sector... and spas. Sunny had never been, but they sounded... nice. She shook her head, for the crowd on the platform moved to embark onto the Kraken. The doors of the train did not object to their entry; the cogitators sensed the tickets in their possession. An invisible set of eyes above the door frame. Still, a yellow-armored Enforcer watched the doors from his post inside the train, a hand on a shock maul. His visored face scanned for any wrongdoing.

Thankfully, he would remain standing... almost bored. Sunny mused. Surely, for an Enforcer, or even an Arbites, a boring day was better than an exciting one? She blinked as she moved with the crowd. Many feet and hooves marched inside. Almost... almost... she reached over the slight gap into the train itself. Her ticket was genuine—no sound was made by the silent watcher above the door.

Now to find her seat... but Sunny's eyes wandered across an open, dark-carpeted floor, tables and chairs... neon signs... a bar, with something hot and cheap-smelling now wafting to greet her. Sunny realized with a start as she walked around the perimeter of the car that this was a recreation car.

The vacation had already started. With a smile, Sunny hatched a new, albeit mild scheme. She would grab a drink, then make her way out of this small, mobile nightclub and into one of the side compartments. She could see hallways that lead into these compartments at both ends of this area. Sunny made her way over to the bar, eyes wandering over the strange bottles of strong drink that was on offer.

...Maybe nothing too strong right now.

Sunny met the green eyes of the woman tending the bar. She folded her cream-furred sleeves on the counter, and showed off her dark head of hair, which was closely cut. She smiled back at Sunny.

"Howdy do? Headed to Mare Sector?" The woman called out, her voice quiet against the booming, gothic synth music of the club.

Nodding, Sunny replied. "Yes, I'd actually like an Electric Hiveberry Swirl, miss..."

The woman pressed some keys on a console, while she said back, with a laugh, and a critical eye, "Miss, hah! I'm Tea Nixen. Need a pick-me-up after your shift at the Data Centers, Sunny Starscout?"

How'd Tea know...? Oh. Sunny was still wearing her work jumpsuit, with the buttons, and her name printed on it. Maybe she shouldn't have come straight here after punching out... instead of dwelling on that, Sunny decided to remind herself of her fiscal responsibilities.

"How much?" Sunny asked, mentally preparing to withdraw her payment card.

Tea shook her head. "Nothing," she explained. "It's for free."

The offer made Sunny pause. She tilted her head, narrowed an eye, and then reiterated Tea's words. "Free?"

Tea nodded her head. The machine behind her whirred and worked. She explained, with a wink. "Already factored into your ticket."

Sunny was just left to say, "Oh."

With a smirk, Tea further explained, "You'll find that all food and drink here and in Maretime itself will cost nothing with your ticket. A lot of other things, too."

Finally, the drink dispenser finished with a popping sound. The finished drink came in a paper cup, topped with a lid, with a slight tab for opening.

"Please enjoy your stay, Sunny," offered Tea. Sunny took the cup with a nod and a smile, then offered a thank you in return, before turning away to find herself a nice, empty compartment.

She marched away from the booming music, which had transitioned into bassy synthwave accompanied by chanting, and looked at the doors of the compartments. She looked left, right, left, and right again. Finally, an empty spot. She nosed the door open and found a rather plush set of benches, above which was a rack for storage. On the ceiling, a soft pink light shone. Sunny tried not to think about what that could mean as she took a seat. She sighed, finally able to be off her hooves, and on her side. She would put her bag above in a bit.

First, Sunny pulled out her data tile and set it on the window sill, where it buzzed as it made contact with the hidden capacitor. Sunny rolled her neck again and decided now to toss her messenger bag up on the rack. Having done that, she allowed herself to relax, and take a few good sips of her drink. She pushed down the tab of the cup lid and gently raised the cup to her dry lips. The taste of the borderline magical mixes of Equestrian berries grown on a single bush species, known as "Hiveberries", tickled Sunny's tongue as she sipped, and she shivered as the "electric" part of the "Electric Hiveberry Swirl" immediately started to kick in.

Old wisdom sounded through Sunny's head. It really was true when ponies said, "The Imperium would collapse overnight if nobody could get their instant shot of energy from neurostimms."

Instantly, the weariness that dragged down Sunny Starscout's frame lifted, and she found herself giggling as the mix hit just right. With that jolt of energy, Sunny picked up the thin data tile, and opened it to read her work vox chat, where she had shared the message,

Sunny_Starscout_041827: I am officially on my way to Maretime Sector! Thank you all for this amazing opportunity! Love you!

She had also added as many emoticons of smiles and hearts as necessary... that is to say, Sunny added a whole lot. She saw a few replies in the chat,

OV_Helix_Silico_473838: We love you, too, Sunny! Hope you have a great time!

Pearl_Biter_726267: I'll be counting the days until I can go, too! Have fun, Sunny!

Kingfisher_Orange_781910: I remember when I was there! You'll have to tell me all about it so we can know what's new! Have fun, now!

There were more like this, and each message pushed Sunny's smile up her face. Her reading was interrupted by the slight lurching of the train. It had finally begun to move again. Sunny knew that there were at least a dozen stops before now and Maretime, so she settled herself in for a nice, long ride. The longest she ever been on, and all alone, too!

Sunny sipped on more of her drink, and then set it down.

Slowly, Sunny unzipped and reached into her workwear, and pulled out a stiff photo. It was of her and two other ponies. They stood on both sides of Sunny, and they all shared warm smiles. Tenderly, Sunny ran a hoof over the two synthetic diamonds that were embedded underneath the photograph.

"We finally made it, gang," she said, quietly. Sadly. Sunny hugged the studded photo close to herself. "We're all going to Maretime, like you always said we would." She sniffed, and put her photo back away, close to her heart.

She breathed away her phantoms, and sipped away the last of her Electric Hiveberry Swirl. She put the empty cup and the data tile back on the shelf. Sunny jumped a little when a knock came at her door. It opened slightly, and Sunny saw blue pony eyes peer in.

"May I?" The colt outside said. She nodded, and he opened the door to the compartment. Waltzing up, he settled down on the bench opposite of where Sunny was sitting and relaxed with a big sigh. It was then that Sunny could get a better look at this strange new arrival.

He wore an old, black Stetson, impaled by his pale horn, as well as a black jacket with white patterning on it. She noticed a cutie mark of a colorful assortment of bubbles. She took a moment to remind herself of her own, a few pink stars with a blue trail.

She really should get out of this jumpsuit. Maybe this cowpoke could point her to a new outfit in Maretime.

"Name's Tabby Baker," he said. Something about his gravelly voice... seemed off to Sunny. She couldn't quite place it, yet...

"Right," he continued, not bothering to let Sunny answer for herself. "Never talk to strangers, right?"

Sunny shrugged. She heard the rolling of the wheels below her. More signs lazily passed by. Propaganda and advertisements. Sometimes both.

"You haven't tried anything weird... yet," she asserted.

"Yet, huh?" The strange stallion Tabby remarked, with a laugh. "Heh. Your parents raised one smart cookie with you."

This made Sunny's hairs on the back of her neck stand. Had he been watching her?

"Yes..." she agreed. There was something about the way he spoke, the... almost ancient-sounding tone and candor... wait, that's it! Sunny looked over Tabby again. She saw no weapons, at least. His physical self looked to be about Sunny's age, but his voice made him sound at least twice that.

"Ah, Maretime Sector. My favorite place in this whole void-damned galaxy."

It couldn't have been anything else. This "Tabby Baker" character had to have undergone partial rejuvenat treatment! A proper suite of biochemical agents and therapy would set Sunny back decades in terms of both age and money. However, in the seedier places of the hive, a cheaper, riskier cocktail of such reagents can be... acquired. That must be why Tabby Baker looked young but sounded old... because he was!

Sunny couldn't let him know she figured him out, though, so she'd play along in this conversation.

"Yeah... this is my first time visiting," she admitted.

Tabby then just grinned, and said, with a wag of his eyebrows, "Yeah, I can tell. Not many ponies, humans, what-the-hell-have-you bother showing up to Maretime in their work jumpers... Sunny."

That... was true enough. Sunny fidgeted in her clothes.

"Ah, but who am I to tease a poor girl, huh?" Tabby teased. His eyes searched around, and a smile graced his face. He laughed an old man laugh. "Ah, tell you what... I've been to Maretime more times than even I can count. What'd ya say to me being your welcoming tour guide, huh? I'll show you all over that crown jewel... Maretime really is the crown jewel of Hassia. I'll get you places most bitches don't know about..."

Tabby cleared his throat when Sunny's face scrunched up. "Excuse me." He chuckled, and put on a disarming grin.

That left Sunny to think about Tabby's offer. She might be lost all alone in a place like Maretime, and Tabby? Well, she might not be able to trust him, but he sure sounded confident about his dealings there. Speaking of which, Tabby pulled out a bottle of something foul-smelling, and made a quick chug.

Sunny sighed. "Fine," she said in assent. "But no... no, no funny business."

Tabby put away his bottle, and grinned wider, saying, "Maretime would be nothing without funny business... but I getcha. Nothing too exciting for your first swim, right?"

First...?

"What makes you think I'll be coming to Maretime often?" Sunny asked. She peered to see the lights outside. "It's not like I'll be swimming in money after this."

"Well..." Tabby wondered aloud. He scratched his chin with a hoof, and a wondering set of eyes. "I got a good feeling about you, baby. Like you'd take over Maretime with your good looks alone."

Laying on a bit thick, aren't you, buddy? That's what Sunny considered saying. However, after some thought, she decided instead to say, "You... really think so? It's not exactly all fun and games for me..." More of the city passed by, with various spires and towers on display for all to see. She even spied an arcade fly by, like the ones she visited as a filly. Those were simpler times. These places were always called something like "Sanctum of Diversions". It was an overly mystical-sounding name for what was a glorified warehouse of glowing interactive cogitator cabinets, throwing ball galleries, and creaky, scratchy pinball machines. Each of them had their sounds, colors, promises of fun, promises of glory, and promises of tickets for the Vault of Spoils. It was always a good day when Sunny spent an ungodly amount of tickets for something grand.

Sunny reflected, "Wow, I miss the old games."

Sunny finally looked back to see Tabby raising his eyebrows, and softening his eyes. He finally said, "Well, new adventures await, Sunny."

The way in which he said that... Sunny couldn't help but laugh. She cut herself off, trying not to offend her new friend she was still wary of, but managed to say, "Adventures... hm."

The Kraken rolled onwards to Maretime Sector.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy.

I'll probably redo the cover art one day. For now, it's just something courtesy of Microsoft Designer.

Support me on Ko-fi, if you like. I... hope it works. I've never used something like this before.

The Anticipation

The first thing that anyone would notice upon seeing the fabled place itself is the sheer amount of neon lights, original architecture, and palm trees there. The buildings that made up Maretime Sector were lit up by calm blues, pinks, purples, and yellows, and the shapes of the buildings themselves had more curves than edges. A massive setting sun light was set in the far wall, lighting up the whole of the sector, but only in a way that would make it seem like the sun itself was setting on this entirely-indoor place. This moody light did little to light up the ponies and humans who walked the streets, as they partied and played. In the middle of Maretime Sector, there sat a large, artificial lake, which reflected the lights of the city-within-the-city. As the real yellow sun set on the world of Hassia, so, too, did the artificial sun of this recreation district. A sun always watched over by the aquila and the alicorn, ever present. Ever watchful. The setting sun also allowed the false stars to show in the sloping roof, one of the few places in the Hive that didn't have hanging dwellings.

Sunny and Tabby disembarked from the Kraken cruiser, onto the platform station above the lake itself, the rail line aqueduct running through the lake and everything else through this sector. Sunny looked around, mouth agape. She had come all this way... to witness all the lights! The sounds of a thousand party clubs! The overwhelming smell of a thousand exotic restaurants!

This evening had already caused Sunny to sport a grin that nearly split her face in twain. She rushed to the edge of the platform, marveling all the while at the sight of the near-endless amounts of attractions, shops, exhibits, and amenities. She reared up, planting her hooves on the reinforced wire fence that served as a safety barrier with a metallic rattle. Her eyes wandered, the vista full of the new and the wonderful.

"Incredible!" Sunny shouted with a near-dopey look on her face. Just like on the ticket! With a smirk, Tabby followed close behind at a more sedate pace. There was no rush, even for the crowd who disembarked. Many eyes also saw the sector for the first time, a similar sense of wonder lighting up each of their own eyes. Still others carried about their way, all-too-familiar with their fantastical surroundings.

Tabby wistfully chuckled, "Good Lord in Heaven. Maretime Sector. Wow..." Seeing Sunny turn back to face him, Tabby wagged his eyebrows and continued, face lit up by the neon lights, "Y'know, they call her the Crown Jewel of Hassia Prime."

Sunny looked out to see all the splendor, the awe-inspiring sights. They twinkled like gems in Sunny's eyes. "Yeah," she thought aloud. "They got the crown part right..."

With a tilt of his head, Tabby ushered Sunny onward. "C'mon," he invited. "I run a place here. It's a kind of night club and..." He grinned. "Candy parlor."

That caught Sunny's interest. Her ears twitched with a flick, but the manner of speech in which Tabby had said it... Sunny's eyes narrowed, just a tad, as Tabby led the way off the platform, and onto one of the walkways into the streets. "I like candy," she admitted. It was always a treat whenever she and... her parents went for a good time, tasting sweet morsels of colorful drops after she had come home from the schola and they were done with the work shift.

"Real deal, real sugar, Sunny," mused Tabby. Sunny could've sworn she also saw a twitch in Tabby's smile, as if unconsciously signaling that was not all that was in the... candy.

The possibility gave Sunny pause. They both walked along a long bridge that connected the train station to one of the streets. Already, Sunny could see the neon lights beckoning. Other humans and ponies walked to and fro.

"We'll be entering Maretime through Hoofbeat Boulevard. Great place to lose yourself."

Admittedly, even here, Sunny was somewhat distracted, looking out from the bridge, over the water, at the distance, where the tube that housed this place housed a good many multi-storied buildings, all whom had their lights on. Soon enough, Tabby Baker and Sunny Starscout stepped onto the smooth streets of Maretime Sector. Hoofbeat Boulevard was full of shops, each with enticing banners and signs. A lot of goodies... for free? Just how valuable was this ticket, really?

Another question suddenly entered Sunny's mind. One she had voiced aloud before she had thought about it, "So... if you run a place here in Maretime, what were you doing out?"

Without looking back at Sunny, Tabby simply said, that damn smile never leaving his face, "Oh, y'know... business. Networking. Messing around in the other Hives."

Sunny missed a step and blinked hard. That's right, there were other mega cities on the planet of Hassia. What else... wait.

Sunny asked, "Are there other Maretime Sectors?"

Tabby Baker laughed, and wistfully replied, "Nah... Maretime's the one and only. The entertainment districts of the other hives aren't exactly slouches, though. If I wasn't here, I'd be at Adeptus Amusement in Hassia Tertium Hive. Those crazy goddamn ponies from Residuum sure know how to party."

Hassia Tertium... that would be the third hive city. Dedicated to Princess Silver Sword, and the brave huntsponies of the distant world of Residuum. The official headquarters and staging ground of the Hassian Mercator Guard, the official ground forces of the Hassian Protectorate. Sunny thought a little as they walked, past sights and sounds and smells. There was a faint memory... Sunny vaguely remembered meeting a Residuum pony once... a pegasus. Weird mane-cut. She was very proud of her origins... even if she admitted that she was born in Hassia Tertium, not Residuum.

Tabby might've been waffling off about something else, cursing as he did so, but Sunny was distracted with thinking.

The titanic arcologies... there were six built upon this world, after the Great Crusade. There was Hassia Prime, where Sunny lived and worked—the capital for the whole sector.

There was Hassia Secundum, the nerve center of the Hassian Mechanicus. Many dragons followed Magos Polarscale in making a utopia of industry. Nearly every techpriest that Sunny ever saw was a dragon. Wait, does that mean every dragon in the sector was a cyborg? ...No, the House Seneschal wasn't augmented... that she could see.

Then there was Hassia Tertium, a veritable Superfortress, an entire mountain of guns and the souls to use them. Every megastructure on this speck of sand in this infinite cosmos could be considered a citadel of civilization, but the level to which they were entrenched, from what Sunny heard... the fortifications of Tertium bordered on the... excessive. Dedicated to the Princesses of Residuum, and overseen by Princess... oh. Sunny Starscout smirked. The Princess in charge there was called Sunny Heart.

There was also Hassia Quartum, the personal fiefdom of Princess Azure Fire. That Hive was home to a supermassive vertical farm, very fitting for the former ruler of a feudal agri-world. There was a good chance that the hiveberries that Sunny drank on the train came from Quartum. The overly medieval trappings and culture were very tempting... Sunny could almost smell the hydroponics... hear the rushing water and see the swaying grains. The thought made her smile.

Finally, there was Hassia Quintum, taller than all the rest. The city itself transitioned to the orbital infrastructure that surrounded the planet. Many who would leave Hassia for parts unknown would do do through the port of Quintum. Headquarters of Battlefleet Skeinan, named in honor of Princess Twilight Sparkle's brother of yore, Prince Shining Armor. The frigates, cruisers, battleships, and other ships of that fleet were all painted in white, blue, and gold colors, after the colors of that honored royal. As for why the armada was called "Skienan" instead of "Shining"... yeah, Sunny didn't quite know.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Tabby bumping slightly into her. "Hey," he teased. "Something distracting you?"

Sighing, Sunny admitted, "Well, just remembering that there are other hive cities than Hassia Prime, I guess."

Tabby's grin widened. "Hah!" He chuckled an aged chuckle. "I know that there are some ponies convinced there isn't even an outside to this city. They never use their PTO to go walking on an exterior view park, the dumb bastards."

Sunny recalled a day... one when she was much smaller, when she was brought with her class outside. The view of the Hive and the sea was surreal, as was the feeling of sunlight on her fur. Real sunlight. There was no ceiling at all, but an ocean of blue beneath the hive, and an expanse of dark blue above. Sunny scoffed in amusement, and then decided to make a joke. She said, "Think their brains will melt out of their ears if they're dragged outside?"

Another hearty, phlegmy laugh from Tabby. He cleared his throat, then joked back, "That's assuming they had brains to begin with!"

Sunny couldn't help but share in his mirth and mockery. Laughter came quick and easy here. It was as if the air itself here was full of stimulants.

...Maybe it was.

Tabby came to a sudden stop, causing Sunny to halt with a more abrupt motion. She followed Tabby Baker's gaze up, to see what had caused him to stop. They had walked all this way to a tall, square, 4 story building with oriel windows running up the middle. A display, shown in blue fluorescent colors, read, "The Crystal Stallion Club". Accompanying it was a sign of a prominent glowing outline of a reclining unicorn colt with a rather saucy expression on its face.

A colt with a rather familiar Stetson hat and jacket.

Sunny looked back to see Tabby's stubbornly smug grin. "Call me biased," he chimed, eyes full of that aged joviality. "But my club is the best in all this sector."

A new voice, from a new pony. One whose voice was soft, and sweet, yet carried across the street as if she was raising her voice.

"Making new friends, Baker?"

Tabby and Sunny tore their gaze from each other and looked at this new pony, who cantered up with an air of casual confidence. She was a flax-haired vixen, with a gorgeous blonde mane, brilliant blue eyes, a pale coat of fur, and a gorgeous, sparkling crimson dress that hung off her Earth pony body. Her red lipstick matched her dress.

In short, what confronted Tabby and Sunny was a supermodel of a mare. Without further announcement, the mare waltzed up to Baker and kissed him on the forehead, at the base of his horn.

"Missed you, baby," she cooed.

"Shit, Casey," moaned Tabby as he rubbed the back his head with a hoof over his hat, eyes closed. "Making me feel like a little colt."

This mare, Casey, then looked to Sunny, and offered an immaculate hoof. She introduced herself with a more professional, level voice, saying, "Casey Heartthrob. Nice to meet'chu..." She smiled as she read the nametag on Sunny's uniform. "Sunny Starscout."

Sunny, after a second, placed a hoof on Casey's own, completing the hoofshake. They both got back on their hooves, and both watched as Tabby lead the way to Crystal Stallion.

"Data clerk, huh?" Thought Casey aloud, her voice full of silky intent. "It must get so mind-numbing to read all those numbers and figures, day after day..."

Sunny and Casey started to trot after Tabby, who was lost in his own little world. Sunny chuckled, saying, "Yeah, it does get a little boring, sometimes." She decided to follow up wit, "It's... why I'm here, I guess. To... unwind. Relax. That sort of thing."

Casey hummed, the pair of them reaching the door, which was held open by a smirking Tabby Baker. Casey nodded, as did Sunny. After they had gone through the door, Tabby clicked his tongue and followed.

Inside, Sunny could see a few tellers to her left and right, but they were empty. However, ahead, the dance floor was illuminated by a kaleidoscope of colors, as if a myriad of jewels were casting their radiant light upon the partygoers, both humans and ponies. Actually... to Sunny's surprise, she also noticed a few zebras here, as well. They were rough-looking, tattooed and scarred. However, one of them wasn't on the dance floor. He trotted right up to Tabby Baker, leaving Sunny to stand around, wondering, waiting.

The stallion had large, round, golden-rimmed glasses on, concealing his eyes. The zebra's muzzle was covered in a short-cut beard. Dark dreadlocks ran down his head and spilled onto the black suit jacket he was wearing., which covered his body and legs. Sunny found herself remarking that the colt was even wearing dress shoes, something leathery, very fancy.

The party continued on. Sunny looked above the bar that sat across the room from the dance floor, which lead up to a great big statue of the Rogue Trader, a great smile on his face as he held a bottle out in an outstretched hand. Above the statue of the immortal Hassian lord, the fourth-story office window stood. To look down on the partygoers?

With a voice rich with baritone, the stallion said, "Welcome back, boss. How did business fare?"

"Business is damn good, Neighsara," Tabby replied, walking right up to his confidant. "You get any word from Quintum?"

Nodding, Neighsara reported, "Indeed. A new vessel has come in from New Hayti. Our numbers swell with new piratical talent."

That brought a big grin to Tabby's face, who cheered, "Woo! Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

"And who is this? New talent?" Neighsara wondered aloud, his bespectacled gaze coming to a rest on Sunny.

Tabby looked back at Sunny with a critical eye, and said, "Nah... just a new friend I met on the train ride here."

"Ah, I see." Neighsara put on a professional smile. "Just a budding acquaintance." Baker nodded.

A new voice, from a new source. It was boisterous, loud. "We got the talent, you got the guns! Sounds like a new season's almost upon us!"

Sunny turned her head to see this new arrival, a pale, blue-eyed pegasus with a spiked biker jacket, facial piercings, black-painted cheeks, and the dumbest green-dyed short mohawk mane cut she had ever seen. Instantly, Sunny froze. She already knew this pony from hearing her father criticize this pony's looks. Loudly.

"Aw," this new pony said, "Looks like our newcomer's familiar with Nuffle's chosen!"

Casey tapped a hoof against his shoulder, and said, in a chiding tone, "It isn't every day that a girl has her first day here in Maretime, and it isn't every day that she meets a celebrity, Touchdown."

That raised Touchdown's eyebrows, and then he said, eying Sunny up and down, "Is that right...?" He grinned. "I think I can help a sister out, ey?"

Unceremoniously, Touchdown tossed a rubbery, spiked gridiron hoofball towards Sunny. Her eyes widened as she scrambled to catch it. Finally, she held up the offered sports memorabilia and noticed, after a brief inspection, that Touchdown had left his chicken scratch signature on it.

"I..." Sunny offered back, before stowing it away in her bag. "...Thanks?" One of her eyebrows was cocked. Was this supposed to help her, somehow?

"Hah!" Touchdown laughed. "You can get a lot from selling that, baby. It'll easily be enough for a lifetime pass to Maretime Sector. All the fun and games you could ever want...! Terms and conditions apply."

That... sounded both good and... unlikely.

Instead of saying her doubts aloud, Sunny said, sheepishly, "If... you think so."

It was Baker's turn to laugh aloud, taunting, "Shit, Touchdown! You're losing your touch!"

Sighing, Touchdown lamented, "Yeah..." before being the first to march up the stairs behind him towards the staff-only section, followed by Neighsara and Casey.

Briefly, Sunny thought if she should follow, but... she turned to Tabby Baker, who curtly said, "Have a good time, Sunny," before following his... business partners up the stairs.

Sunny let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. Smiling, she then decided that she should at least attempt to enjoy herself here. She shivered away the energy of meeting so many eccentric personalities at once. She figured that she need another drink... maybe a bite to eat, too. The song that was playing started to transition from a bumping, bassy electronic tune to a slow, light rock track, accompanied by nice vocals. The sound allowed Sunny to breathe, being destressing, and focus on what she should get from the bar. All this excitement has left her now feeling a bit peckish. Sunny decided that she could chance whatever smelled good at the bar.

Sauntering across the perimeter of the dance floor, which was flanked by a few tables that had ponies and humans at them, she arrived at the bar, where she hopped on up to an empty stool, eyes glancing over the drink and menu options on the far wall. After a moment of breathing, and thinking, Sunny was confronted by a new colt, who smiled at her widely from behind the counter. He was an amber-coated, seaweed-green-haired, golden-eyed earth pony. The first thought that entered Sunny's mind was that this was the type of healthy-looking colt that would make her Mom give her an encouraging smile.

Maybe.

The colt introduced himself, saying, "Welcome to the Crystal Stallion! My name is Hitch Trailblazer! Can I take your order, Miss Sunny?"

At this point, it was nice not having to introduce herself. Sunny looked at the menu again, and said, "Water, and..." She looked at the menu again. "I'll take a garden salad sandwich with fries, please."

Hitch nodded, moving away to prepare Sunny's order. As for her, Sunny pivoted her ears to listen around. She rested her hooves on the counter, her ears twitching as she heard snippets of chatter. Their easygoing, even cheerful voices revealed to Sunny a mundane existence even here in Maretime. To her left, she could hear a pegasus mare, chatting with another about something. The first wore a pale jumpsuit. With a start, Sunny realized that this was an Enforcer, like the man on the train. Her first clue was the shock maul hanging off her belt, alongside her other police gadgets. The suit matched well with her pale coat, blue eyes, and—...okay, the only way Sunny could describe the pony's mane, whose suit nametag read "Zipp Storm", as a healthy drop of toothpaste. The same went for her tail, she realized.

Then, there was Pipp Petals.

Huh?

Sure enough, the pony chatting with this "Zipp" was the same artist those songs Sunny had been listening to the other day. Her purple mane, her gorgeous pink fur and wings, and those happy, leaf-green eyes. She also wore an emerald-embedded golden band on her head; a testament to her success. Her music was something that Sunny could rely on to soothe the stress of a work day. Its folksy, hip, upbeat tones were a nice departure from hymning or official Imperial anthems. Those anthems which always blared on Holidays from every loud-hailer, thanking the Imperial Pantheon for their continued survival against the Dark.

Father and Mother in Heaven, we thank thee for Hassia, our Home amidst the void. May it last forever. Sunny saw a few Christograms on some golden decorations.

Emperor of Man, Solarch of Equestria, timeless rulers of the universe, may thy light shine through the Astronomicon forever. The aquila and the alicorn watching over all.

Primarchs who number Twenty, protectors and champions, may thy guns at last be stilled when the final foe lies slain. Sunny recalled seeing the new chapter of Hassian Astartes on the news, their new base of operations to be constructed right on this very world.

Rogue Traders... Sunny looked up to see the golden statue of her liege, Edo Von Hassia. She could've sworn it was glancing at her before she looked. The hand at his side carried necklaces, laden with marbles; the worlds of the Protectorate. A golden chain that held up the lives of all who lived there.

May the road of thorns prosper us all.

Even so, with the prayer out of her thoughts, Sunny remembered the more mundane, mortal hopes and dreams that Pipp would sing of.

"Everything's going to be okay," Sunny sang quietly, a smile on her muzzle.

That immediately got the attention of the pegasus singer, who looked past Zipp to address Sunny, asking, with a gasp, "You know my songs?"

Well, she came this far. Sunny nodded, her grin widening. "Yeah. They've really helped me out recently."

Hearing that also caused Pipp's grin to widen. Before her energy could burst out her mouth, Zipp also leaned in, her lower face somewhat darkened by the bright lighting of the club. Zipp interrogated, "Are we gonna have any funny business?"

Such a hostile remark caused Sunny to pause, but then Zipp grew a mischevious smile. She laughed, "Nah, I'm just messing with you. Gotta protect the sis from any rabid fans, am I right?"

Sister? Sunny eyes darted between Zipp and Pipp. Putting it like that... didn't make it seem so strange anymore. Sunny was interrupted by a tray, with some remarkably good-looking food on it, and a bottle of water. She excused herself with a "I guess so," before digging in.

It was then that a new pony, a unicorn, came to the bar. A lilac-furred, ocean blue-maned, filly with magenta eyes took a bottle from Hitch and took a good swig, the drink floating in her magic field. This new mare was wearing red and gold robes, with a candy-colored rainbow running all over it. She looked over, and asked, with a small smile, "Making new friends, Pipp?"

"Yep, Izzy!" Came the answer from the pegasus. "This is Sunny Starscout, and she loves my music!"

Izzy's eyebrows bobbed in surprise, and she offered a hoof, saying, "Hi, Sunny. I'm Izzy Moonbow, Temple Artist."

A Temple Artist?

"What's that?" Sunny asked before taking another bite.

Smiling, Izzy explained, "It's about expressing our love for one another, and for the Imperium. I've got quite the following in the more... church-loving circles."

At that, Sunny nodded. It was like a whole other way of life, one dedicated to serving others... maybe Sunny should follow in those hoofsteps.

The club's music transitioned again, the lights changing to cast a blue light on all. It was a thoughtful, yet energetic piano piece, accompanied by drums and snares.

With how fresh the salad sandwich was, it would not surprise Sunny if an exotic agri-sector was right next to Maretime.

Just another reason to love it here.

New friends, new places, new foods... a genuine sense of cheer started to rise in Sunny's chest.

"It's my first day in Maretime," Sunny admitted. "I hope I can make the most of it."

A gasp caused Sunny to turn around, only to be met with another new pony, another unicorn. This one carried a bottle aloft in her magic, the blue light cast down on her bushy, dark green mane, blue fur, and minty green eyes.

"That would explain it!" She gasped aloud.

"Explain... what?" Sunny asked.

"Ahem," the new unicorn gunted, clearing her throat. "I'm Misty Brightdawn, Baker's Secretary. He asked me to give you this."

Taking the bottle in her hooves, Sunny's eyes widened to read the colorful labelling on the bronze-colored glass bottle with dark liquid.

"This is Star Rum," remarked Sunny. She looked up, and saw a grinning face look back at her.

A whistle from Sunny's right. "Outside of Maretime, that would cost you quite a few aquilas," spoke Zipp, her eyes narrowing.

"I thought... never mind," said Misty, before shaking her head and putting on her work face. "Be sure to enjoy yourself!"

Sunny turned around as she opened the bottle, a very potent smell immediately assaulting Sunny's nose.

"Just a word of warning," Hitch said, softly, to Sunny. "If Baker offers you some 'candy', don't eat it."

Huh? "O-Okay..." sputtered Sunny now. She worked up the courage to drink. She could taste the pirate's life, with lemon, gunpowder, and an exotic alien fruit making itself known to Sunny. What was the fruit called, again? Sea Nemos?

Sunny swallowed down the liquid fire, her hooves already tingling with the excitement of having such an expensive drink here in Maretime Sector. Putting the bottle down, Sunny breathed, then laughed.

This was going to be great!

Sunny's head hurt. She should not have taken that bottle... and the bottle after that. She lost count.

At least the bed was soft. Wait, bed? Sunny's bloodshot eyes snapped open, and she looked around, in a daze. This was... a hotel room? She was on... a queen-sized bed, the biggest and softest she ever slept on... huh? With a bit of effort, Sunny crawled out of the bed and onto her hooves. Besides the hangover, Sunny felt... her joints loosened. Was that a massage? She looked at her hooves, perfectly cared for and even painted. Sunny stepped, feeling the soft white carpet beneath her hooves.

It was still night-time, so Sunny could see out the bay window that lined the wall that Sunny got off the bed near. She looked at the dazzling lights of the city, seeing that the party was still on, despite the late hour. She then noticed her reflection, something new about her looks caught her eye. She looked over at the vanity in front of the bed, a wide mirror showing off the room, which was filled with boxes... of some kind. Even the vanity itself was a mess of stuff that had been piled on it. Sunny couldn't see much of what it was with the light off, but she did still march over to the mirror and inspect her mane.

It was braided, as it ever was, but it now sported new colors, a line of yellow, blue, and red. The colors in her otherwise purple mane came down all the way through her braid. Sunny swished her head, noticing all the new colors that were dyed in. If she was honest... it looked good on her. Her agape mouth slowly turned into a smile.

Then the door opened. A violent shiver ran up Sunny's back as she saw an Enforcer flick the lights on the room. The human was heavily armored and armed. He swept a visored gaze around, a shock maul in one hand and an oval clear plasteel shield in the other. He opened the bathroom stall, then swept his gaze around the room Sunny found herself stuck in. Frozen. Under the gaze of the law.

"Clear!" He shouted, allowing more Enforcers into the room. To Sunny's wide-eyed expression of horror, one of the ponies was Zipp, who winced to see Sunny there. It was then that Sunny looked around to the mess that was lit up now. The boxes were full of stuff, but one caught her attention.

It was full of guns. And the stand for the vanity mirror? Covered in clear plastic bags, full of bright, blue pills. The bags themselves had a Stetson hat sticker on them.

"Candy".

Sunny couldn't even hear the orders the Enforcers were shouting past the rushing blood in her ears. As Zipp closed in with a pair of cuffs, there was only one thing that Sunny could think to say.

"Ponyfeathers."

The Plunge

Sunny Starscout was in a dimly lit place. A room where they brook criminals. Heretics. Sunny prayed she was neither. She had passed through to the Enforcer Aegis Station while she was detained. She didn't know whether to call this a law enforcement station, a fortress, a castle with a citadel, or all of the above. Sunny had little to do here but reflect on her impression of what her situation was... not to mention the foreboding bastion of order she was stuck in. Imperial Splendor was spared no expense, with a gold relief of the Arbites "I", complete with a fist grasping the scales of justice. Your soul weighed against your actions.

The Interrogation Room was bare steel. The chair that Sunny was chained to was bare steel. The table that Sunny sat at was bare steel. The door that locked Sunny into this room was bare steel, with a reinforced, steel-barred window.

Stuck. Alone. Pending judgment.

Sunny just didn't know what went wrong.

She shivered again, with all that she possessed in this life, it would seem, was in this room. She had no idea where her bag was, and she still wore the work jumpsuit that she unwittingly brought all way back from Datacomplex 8/33-2. What Sunny had to show for her time in Maretime, so far, was a wild night and a morning incarceration, it would appear.

Finally, the door slid open, allowing a pony walking on spurs to march through. Wait, spurs? Sure enough, the earth-colored, bearded earth pony that walked through that door wore cowboy boots on his hind legs, a big cowboy hat on his head, gold-black aviator shades, a white collared shirt, and jeans.

Jeans?

Sunny couldn't help but watch as this newcomer walked in and sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the table from her. Sunny's eyes widened as she realized that without the hat, this new colt would be shorter than she was. That did not at all, however, tempt her to think that she could at all fight her way past this.

At first, the pony said, nothing, simply content to stare at Sunny past those sunglasses. He'd tilt his head to look at her past his muzzle, or with one eye, or the other. Finally, he said, with a shockingly calm, baritone voice,

"Well... ain't this quite the mess you've found yourself in, Sunny Starscout?"

Huh?

Sunny coughed. "What?"

Tilting his head, the newcomer simply said, "You know... in a pickle. In a bind." He leaned forward, over the table. "Trouble."

Shakily, Sunset nodded. "Y-Yeah. First... uh, second day in... uh, Maretime Sector. Wake up after a night of partying and... get arrested for..." Sunny looks at the table, her eyes searching for the words they had used. "Possession of contraband."

The colt nodded. "It's a serious crime to bring military weapons and neuro-hallucinogens into Maretime Sector."

That's a new one on Sunny. "Huh? Hallucinogen?"

"The candy. Instant effect. I'd offer you one... but this interview would be..." A bearded smirk. "...Quite interrupted."

As Sunny imagined the sort of wild visions she might've seen had she taken one, the Sheriff shook his head. "No, I think you just got caught up in it. If I locked you up, Baker would more than likely try to snatch you up for his organization after your release."

The Arbites then mockingly imitated Tabby Baker, saying with an exaggerated rasp, "Isn't it terrible what they've done to you? Why don't you join up with me and my boys and girls and we'll make sure that mean ol' Johnny Law can't ever touch you again, alright?"

The colt then looked steadily at Sunny past his shades. "But the offer for help is only half of it. You have Administratum access codes. That means access to all sorts of secrets. Opportunities for criminal intent. You might've gained some sketchy friends, but what Baker will get is access."

That scummy son of a paperweight! Sunny knew he couldn't be trusted! Sunny slammed her hooves on the table. All that accomplished was cause the cosplaying cowboy colt to lean back in his chair and smile.

"Ah, but that plan's already shot up now, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"Tell you what. I'll let you watch."

Sunny twitched. Huh?

Another bearded smile. "We got Baker. He's coming in to be processed. Come on."

The bindings around Sunny's limbs clicked open and fell off, clattering to the steel floor as they did so. The strange colt got up, and walked to the door, followed by an incredulous Sunny Starscout.

Before he raised a hoof to open the door, however, he turned around, and told Sunny, "Oh, and... by the way, I'm Roundhouse Kick, the Arbites Sheriff of this fine place." A bitter smile. "Welcome to Maretime Sector."

Sunny didn't know whether to be confused, relieved, frustrated, jubilant, or wary. Just outside, Sunny saw a pair of ponies waiting for the Sheriff and her. They smiled at her.

"Zipp? Hitch?"

The former had something of a smirk, and the colt was a little embarrassed.

"Hey, Sunny," said Zipp. "Had a nice party last night?"

Sunny sighed. She laughed, while Hitch said, ashamedly, "It was my responsibility to make sure you weren't being... lead away. Sorry."

She definitely would need to hear the full story of what in the worlds happened last night.

Without any other options present, Sunny decided to follow this Sheriff Kick out into the hallway and the holding cell area. There, amidst the collection of steel bars, harsh white lights, and steely-eyed Enforcers, Sunny saw a few familiar faces. Casey, Touchdown, and... Tabby Baker, who was the last to be unceremoniously thrown in on his stupid hatted face.

The old stallion shook with fury and moaned, "Motherfucker." He got up, only to turn around as the cell doors closed behind him. He reared up, gripping the bars with his hooves. "Hey!" He shouted. "What's the big idea!?" He then locked eyes with Sunny.

"You?!"

Before Sunny could think to say anything, the Sheriff had stepped in front of her. "Not her," he corrected. "Me."

"No shit," retorted Tabby. "Why'd you arrest us, huh? We got our clearance!"

What? Was this just some... bluster? Talking about... bribes?

"Sorry, Baker. Your sanction has been revoked. Opaline's orders."

Sunny looked between the impromptu staring contest between Tabby and Kick.

Tabby sighed. "Now he fuckin' tells me. Typical."

That just left the Sheriff to shrug. "Should've been just a bit faster, Candycolt. Or sneakier."

Tabby scoffed, "Forget the candy. I'll be King of Maretime Sector. You'll see."

That brought a dry laugh from Sheriff Kick. "Yeah, and the Rogue Trader himself will come down to give you the crown, will he?" He taunted.

That just earned a sneer from Tabby Baker, who shook his head. "You'll see," he growled. "You'll all fuckin' see."

It was then, just as everything to be looking up, an ear-splitting alarm rang throughout the Enforcer Bastion. It caused every pony's ears to fold back. The helmeted human enforcers raised their shotguns and rifles into a low ready stance. A deep, low, haunting tone, followed by sharp, high-pitched chirps of three. It sounded through Sunny's very bones, the old siren playing in impossibly loud tones. There was a rumbling reverberating throughout the Enforcer Bastion. Sunny wasn't sure if the shaking was from the alarm... or something else.

Wait. A low drone, followed by three high-pitched chirps...? But that could only mean...

Ancient speakers sounded throughout the fortress, and doubtlessly throughout the entire hive, let alone this district. The synthetic, masculine voice was impassive, the city's machine spirit simply reporting that the worst-case scenario had come to pass.

"Attention: Warp Storm Detected."

With blood rushing through her folded ears, covered by her hooves, Sunny hissed to herself, "Okay, just... calm down. We've been over this. What do we do in the event of a warp storm?" The cold, rockcrete floor of the hallway had no answer. The alarms continued to blare, the electronic sound drumming into Sunny's ears like the metronome of the damned.

The whispered, frantic question hung in the air about Sunny Starscout like the changing tides of realspace around the planet. Swirling. Choking. She could already see it in her mind's eye; a twisting, spasming maelstrom of hellish colors. Energies that blotted out the void and the stars. Even now, the warp storm erupted like split skin around an infected wound. A wound, once opened, spills forth with writhing parasites, eager to feast.

However, Sunny's recollection did come through for her this time.

The first step that one was supposed to take in the event of a warp storm was to get to safety. Sunny shook with relief. She was in jail! That's basically a fortress, especially with how this one, just on the edge of Maretime, was built!

The alarms continued to blare, and voices sounded all around. However, there was one that won out in getting Sunny's attention.

"Sunny. Sunny." She looked up to see the Sheriff meeting her gaze steadily. "This is an Ultima Ratio scenario."

Sunny's heart just about stopped. She hung her head. That would be the second part of the plan to respond to a warp storm; something that caused Sunny's eyes to twitch. After getting to shelter, the able-bodied should form militia units, and await orders. Sunny breathed hard through her muzzle. A hard sigh from the Sheriff.

"I hereby deputize you, Sunny Starscout." Sunny's head snapped back up, her veins turning to ice. The Sheriff, for his part, tensed his jaws with downturned lips.

"W-What do you mean?" Sunny stammered. "I... I'm just a..."

"A data analyst. I know," Roundhouse replied. "You're still wearing your datacomplex uniform."

Heat flashed across Sunny's face. She should at least change! Ponies, men, and a dragon techpriest raced all around, orders being barked, barely audible over the alarm that continued to ring.

With a shaky breath, Roundhouse said, "I'm just the Arbites Sheriff of Maretime Sector. Today, though? Today, we're soldiers."

He looked over to the two other ponies that Sunny had just met yesterday; Zipp and Hitch. "Get Sunny outfitted. There's a team I need back here."

It was then that none other than Tabby Baker chose this moment to make himself known by shouting, hooves wrapped around the vertical bars, "Hey! We can help, too!"

One of the Sheriff's eyebrows rose above his sunglasses. He looked up, thoughtfully, and then nodded, prodding Sunny with a hoof. "Go on now," he invited.

Sunny rose back onto her hooves, numbly following Hitch, who waved her along. Her ears twitched to hear the Sheriff shout, taunting, "Oh, yeah? Why should I trust you, shitbird?!"

It wrenched Sunny's guts to hear Kick use such harsh language after speaking softly towards her. The trot to the armory was a quiet affair, since the alarm was quietened. There were fireteams of men, ponies, and other imperium-kin that were racing to and fro. The Sheriff's words echoed in her ear.

"Today, we're soldiers."

Inside the Armory itself was pandemonium. Crates of surplus equipment were being wrenched open, with weapon racks being distributed freely and armorers working swiftly to fix armoring on frames. A few off-duty officers had already arrived to be kitted out, it would seem, judging by their casual wear. If Sunny's heart weren't trying to beat out of her chest, she would've laughed to see a collection of Enforcers leaving the armory, brandishing their weapons while wearing their gear over floral-patterned shirts and khaki shorts.

Sunny finally realized that Zipp Storm was talking to her as a plasteel helmet was fitted over her head, her ears poking through the protective head-covering.

"You got any weapons experience, Sunny?" Asked Zipp.

"W-Well," Sunny stammered. "My Dad used to take me to the range sometimes. We would rent shotguns—"

"Good enough," decided Zipp as she caught a thrown weapon, and slung the strap over Sunny's head.

Sunny could see a twin-barreled firearm come to rest at her right side, the muzzle pointing down past her flank. She looked at the enlarged action release, trigger, and trigger guard; a measure necessary to be able to be fired and loaded with hooves. The barrels were shrouded in a dark, cheese-grater-y heat shield. The furniture was likewise made of a pale, dark, synthetic material, stamped with the Maretime Sector Enforcer Department insignia. Was it already loaded?

Sunny couldn't focus as a combat vest came to a rest over her back, a pair of hands working to guide Sunny's hooves through the arm-holes. She felt some of the stiff plates that were inserted into the key areas of the vest.

"Today, we're soldiers."

She lowered her head and raised her left front hoof as a bandolier of shells was lowered onto Sunny's body. She could only stare at the bright red cartridges that promised both destruction and safety. She looked to see Zipp and Hitch in a similar state of preparation, each wearing their own sets of enforcer armor. Many others who were departing also were wearing helmets that covered the face, with eyes hidden behind sunglass-like visors.

A vox-box at Hitch's side squawked, and the Sheriff's buzzy voice came through, commanding, "Cadet Hitch, once you're done in the Armory, bring 3 maximum compliance collars and whatever melee weapons you can find in there."

Sunny's eyes widened. What could this mean? Hitch confirmed the order, and Zipp trotted over, nosing over a box of weaponry, a label on the side denoting that it was a collection of confiscated armaments.

"Looks like we'll need to use the evidence," bitterly noted Zipp.

"And you said today would be boring," bitterly teased Hitch.

"I can't believe this is happening," bitterly wheezed an increasingly hysterical Sunny. Hitch and Zipp exchanged a look, and Hitch moved in to wrap his forehooves around Sunny, his own shotgun resting on his own right side.

"Hey," he cooed. "It's gonna be okay."

Teary-eyed, Sunny returned the hug, a sob escaping her chest. Color briefly touched her face.

"C'mon," called Zipp after a good few second. "Time to see what Kick wants now."

Nodding, Sunny disentangled from Hitch and sniffed hard. "Alright," she said in resignation.

"Today, we're soldiers," Sunny recited. Hitch nodded, and the three of them departed from the armory, noticably emptier than when they had entered.

On the way back to the holding cells, the machine spirit of the Aegis Station spoke up through the ancient speakers, reporting, "Alert. Daemonic Incursion confirmed in Hive Cities Tertium, Quartum, and Secundum. Possible Incursions reported in Prime sublevels."

Daemons could already walk the Underhive, far below Sunny's hooves. The Gellar protection must be failing down there if warp entities could manifest freely.

Yet, as the implications of the report of the machine spirit sank into Sunny, there was still more.

"Alarm. Unknown hostile Xenos craft emerging from warp storm."

A new kind of alien race... from the twisted, hellish realm of Chaos?

Sunny's throat tightened, that dread lifting her hooves just a bit higher as she trotted faster behind Zipp and Hitch. Sunny noticed a bundle of collars bouncing on Zipp's side, against her wing, each of the enforcement devices emitting blinking red lights.

Soon enough, they were back at the holding cells, where the Sheriff, now wearing a calvary saber at his hip and some large-bore pistols in his holsters, was waiting. Even without armor, the Sheriff somehow looked as if he could kick through an adamantine wall. Zipp handed over the collars with a wing, and Kick unceremoniously threw the collars into the holding cell. There, Tabby picked one up with his hooves and grimaced. Sunny could see the suppressing ring on his horn, barely visible because of his own black Stetson.

"Aw, fuck," hissed Tabby. "These are bomb collars."

Sunny's eyes widened. So... that's what the Sheriff means by "maximum compliance."

With a grimace, the Sheriff sneered, "You wanted probation? There it is. You can either sit there and wait to see if we all get eaten alive, or you can put that on and help us fight and earn a bit of redemption."

Tabby stared intently at the collar. Sunny saw Casey and Touchdown likewise scrutinize their own collars, yet hesitate.

In the stillness, Sunny could hear the muted stampede of Enforcers and Arbites readying for action outside.

Tabby's hooves shook, and he gnashed his teeth. Finally, he shouted, "Fine! God... dammit." He reached up and clicked the collar over his neck.

Touchdown swiftly followed suit, his cock-sure grin back on his face. He joked, "Hey. Can't be any more dangerous than Blood Bowl back on New Awwle'ns II. We sure could use a few linebacker boyz here now, huh?" The collar clicked shut.

Casey still held her collar when she gritted her teeth and moaned, "Shut up, Touchdown." She met eyes with Tabby Baker. Finally, she clicked up her own collar and flicked her hair with a hoof. "I hope you know what you're doing, Baker."

Sighing, Baker leaned over and gave Casey a chaste kiss before saying, "Me too, baby. We just..." he sighed. "We gotta be Boy Scouts right now."

Sharing his sigh, and leaning her head onto his, Casey whispered, "...Alright."

Sunny looked back to the Sherriff to see him tap her, Hitch, and Zipp with a device. It bleeped, and the collars beeped and the lights on them turned blue. "There," informed Kick. "Now your collars are tuned to your life signs. If they don't detect it... boom." His muzzle twitched into a smile for just a moment. "Off with your head."

"Alert," the machine spirit of the Aegis Station machine spirit announced. "Defense batteries firing. Ear protection recommended."

Far above them all, on the surface levels of the hive, battleship-sized guns fired into the sky. Even down in the hive city itself, kilometers below the spires and the sky-piercing towers, the thunderous roar of a million macrocannons still rumbled its way to shake the rockcrete flooring beneath everyone's hooves. The sound, which would be undoubtedly deafening up on topside, was made into a dull roar by the distance, as if the hive city itself was a great, titanic dragon that awoke to fight the forces of darkness.

Wait. The Legio Dracomechanica of Hive Secundum! Surely they would already be rallying to battle! And the Mercator Guard! Dozens of Divisions of fighting men and women... and tanks! And the Battlefleet Skeinan, who would be shooting down lots of enemy ships, disgorging thousands of elite Voidsmen-at-arms from the defense fleet!

Sunny laughed. There were even the Emperor's own Angels of Death, the Space Marines, who had formed a new chapter, the Vaeringi of Hassia, under the Rogue Trader's watchful eye! Then, Sunny gasped. The Rogue Trader wasn't abroad, he was home, with the Princesses of Hassia! She grew up with the stories! The legends of their combat prowess and the true tales of their conquering! If anyone, save the Emperor and the Solarch and their Primarchs, could come to the rescue, it would be them!

"Feeling better?" Asked the Sheriff.

Sunny nodded. She recounted, "I just remembered all the Imperial Forces that are here! Even the Rogue Trader's here! Surely, we're saved!" The thunder of guns did not abate. If anything, it only intensified.

Roundhouse Kick shook his head with a smile. He said, "That's the spirit, Deputy! We still got to look out for ourselves here in Maretime and to that end..."

He turned to address Zipp and Hitch, "I need you to take our new Deputy Sunny, as well as these penal troopers, on a retrieval mission."

"Retrieval mission?!" Tabby cut in, still inside the cell. He flailed his forelimbs. "What the fuck is—"

Casey put a hoof over his mouth with a whispered, long-suffering hush. "Shush. Boy Scout, remember?!"

Ignoring the outburst from the cell, Roundhouse continued, "There is an Imperium Intelligence team on leave here in Maretime. Your job is to get them here, so they can aid in the defense. Two men, a pyromancer psyker woman, a squat, and an eldar exodite."

"An exodite, sir?" Asked Zipp. "Don't they really dislike leaving their Exodite worlds?"

Shaking his head again, Kick replied, growingly more irritated, "I wouldn't know. I just need you to get them back here. Their support team is already here in the Aegis Station."

Blinking, Hitch asked, with a tilted, helmeted head, "Who?"

To that, the Sheriff groaned and shouted, loudly, "Look, just... get them here, and we'll all have tea and a meet-and-greet! I need you out there, Officer!"

That triggered a salute from Zipp and Hitch, a motion that caused Sunny to quickly follow suit. Tabby Baker, Casey, and Touchdown stood at the cell door. Sheriff Roundhouse Kick unceremoniously opened the door with a stomp of his right hoof on the door controls.

The three newly minted penal troopers were met with meager offerings in terms of weapons; plain, New-Haytian machetes. Flat, wide, wedge-shaped blades and cord-wrapped hilts, the metal weapons gave Sunny the impression that they were cut from a sheet of plasteel and then sharpened.

"What, no guns?" Asked Tabby.

The Sheriff scoffed. "You'll earn those," he retorted, making way for the three. Tabby's blue eyes twitched but still stared into Kick's shades.

Finally, he relented with a huff, "Fuck'n... fine."

Another pony, a lithe reddish unicorn with brown eyes, a black mane, and a stupid-looking (by Sunny's reckoning) mustache ran up to the Sheriff. "Finally," said Kick. "LT, you've made it. What's the situation?"

The unicorn, LT, coughed, out of breath, wheezing, "I just got here. I heard there's Xenos coming?"

"I heard the announcement, same as everyone else, LT," rebuked the Sheriff.

Desperate, the LT then asked, with a whiny voice, "But where are they coming from?!"

The Sheriff's eyebrows shot up above his glasses and his jaw tensed. He showed his teeth. He looked around, seeing the faces of everyone else there. He breathed heavily. Then, he shouted, exasperated, "Sky! Fucking sky, you motherfucker!"

He shook his head. Sunny looked at the wide-eyed faces of everypony there. The LT, especially, was shrinking away, with ears folded to the back of his head. The Sheriff then shouted, "Get your gear! We still have weapons in the armory!"

Weapons. The Imp-Int Team. Wait a minute. Sunny blinked, then asked the Sheriff, "Won't the team out there need weapons?"

He shrugged, replying, "They're always armed." He then thrust a hoof forward, "Go!"

The 6 other ponies raced out, leaving the Sheriff and the LT to race elsewhere.

Intermission - The Lord Captain's Re-Onboarding

The following reports were produced and presented for the Lord Captain’s rehabilitation, in combination with ongoing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Metaphysical Realignment Therapy, and Intrabionic Physical Therapy. Most of what is offered in these re-onboarding reports is common knowledge. However, these reports are still to be considered TOP-SECRET Prioris Level Omega, and any unauthorized viewing or distribution of these materials, for the Lord Captain's eyes only, is punishable by forcible recruitment and compulsory volunteer service in Imperium Intelligence.

The Road of Thorns Prosper Us.

=][= Imperium Intelligence Summary Report =][=
Subject: Military Readiness of Hassia
Classification: Lord Captain’s Eyes Only
Date: 990.M40
Author: Imperium Intelligence Senior Agent Reginald VIII, Codename “The Inquisitor”

Overview: Hassia, the capital of the Hassian Protectorate, stands as a bastion of Imperial might within the Segmentum Pacificus. This report evaluates the military readiness of its key defense forces, including the Mercator Guard, Battlefleet Skeinan, House Hassia Mechanicus, and various auxiliary units.

Primary Forces:

Mercator Guard: The Mercator Guard comprises several regiments specializing in combined-arms warfare. These regiments are well-equipped with platoons of battle tanks, armored transports, and mobile artillery. Aircraft units are also at a heightened state of readiness for your inspection. Infantry units are trained in urban and open-field combat, ensuring versatility across various theaters of war. Recent drills indicate a high level of coordination between armored and infantry units, demonstrating proficiency in rapid deployment and adaptive tactics.

Battlefleet Skeinan: The Battlefleet Skeinan is the primary naval force stationed within the Hassian Protectorate. It includes several capital ships, such as the Emperor-class battleship Judgement of Harmony and the Mars-class battlecruiser Valiant of Faith. The fleet is supported by numerous cruisers and escort vessels, including Sword-class frigates and Cobra-class destroyers. Regular patrols and fleet exercises have maintained a state of high alert, ensuring swift response capabilities to any threat... though I expect the Seneschal to inform you as such anyway.

House Hassia Mechanicus: The House Hassia Mechanicus is renowned for its Draconic Skitarii and the homegrown Titan Legion, Legio Dracomechanica of Hassia Hive Secundum. Their unique physiology allows for the... creation? Recruitment? Augmentation? Of full-grown cyborg dragons that serve the same battlefield roles as Imperial Titans. These formidable war machines(?) provide unparalleled firepower and battlefield dominance.

Vaeringi of Hassia Chapter: Following your instructions, the newest addition to Hassia’s defenses is the Vaeringi of Hassia Chapter, a Space Marine force composed of surplus Marines from various Astartes Legions. Their role, as you commanded, is to act as fast-attack Spec Ops, providing elite support in critical engagements. It is good to see that Your Lordship has taken a more pragmatic approach to sponsoring Astartes within our borders. These sons of the Primarchs will serve you well.

Auxiliary Forces:

Pirate Bands: Numerous pirate bands operate within the Protectorate’s borders, often engaging in skirmishes with Xenos raiders and rival factions. While their loyalty is questionable, their intimate knowledge of local space lanes and guerrilla tactics provide a valuable, albeit unpredictable, asset. When I began my service under Your Lordship, I had initial reservations about employing the criminal elements of the Protectorate with sanctioned commissions. However, their prizes and their combined feats and admitted prowess have somewhat... validated Your Lordship’s decision.

Ecclesiarchy Militias: The Ecclesiarchy maintains several militias, fervently loyal and fanatically dedicated to the Emperor, the Solarch, the Primarchs, and you, my Lord. These forces are primarily used for internal security and suppression of heretical uprisings. Their fanaticism, while a double-edged sword, ensures unwavering commitment in the face of adversity. Upon our return to Hassia, I observed that the scale of these religious militias is growing. Whether or not this is desirable for Your Lordship is ultimately up to you.

Hive Defense Forces: Each Hive maintains its law enforcement arms, including the Arbites, Enforcers, and Hive Defense Force Militias. These last units can be rapidly mobilized and reinforced in emergencies to bolster the planet’s defenses. Your new order to increase their defense capabilities is being carried out, but these measures take time. The Hive Royal Families are reviewing their defensive measures, and it will be a while before they report back. You can only grease so many palms, and I can only make so many threats to expedite the Process, Lord.

Conclusion: The military readiness of Hassia is robust, with a well-coordinated Mercator Guard, a vigilant Battlefleet Skeinan, and a variety of auxiliary forces. In addition, the House Hassia Mechanicus’s unique war assets and the Vaeringi of Hassia Chapter further enhance the Protectorate’s defensive capabilities. However, the unpredictable nature of pirate bands and the fiery zeal of Ecclesiarchy militias require careful management to prevent internal discord. Continued vigilance and regular training exercises are recommended to maintain this heightened state of readiness.

End of Report
Vigilance and Duty, Always,
Senior Agent Reginald VIII, Codename “The Inquisitor”

=][= Imperium Intelligence Summary Report =][=
Subject: Overview of the Imperium of Man and Equus
Classification: Lord Captain’s Eyes Only
Date: 990.M40
Author: Imperium Intelligence Senior Agent Reginald VIII, Codename “The Inquisitor”

Overview: The Imperium of Man and Equus, the premiere galactic superpower, was forged through the union of the Emperor of Mankind and Princess Celestia, now known as the Solarch of Ponykind. This unprecedented merger has created a unique civilization that combines the technological might of the Imperium with the magical prowess of Equus. You, Lord, were an architect of this great society of ours.

Government and Society:

Governing Body: The High Council of Terra and Equus, co-chaired by the Emperor and the Solarch. This council oversees the integration of any new societies into the Imperium, ensuring harmony and cooperation. Security is handled by the Noctarch, who handles covert defense, and the Primarchs, who oversee the Imperium’s armed forces. As for the Economy, the Adeptus Administratum, in cooperation with Auric and mortal Rogue Traders, oversees all resource extradition and internal trade within the Imperium.

Intelligence Agency: Not to boast, Lord, but Imperium Intelligence is the premiere information agency responsible for gathering, analyzing, and acting upon intelligence to protect the Imperium of Man and Equus. This organization operates under the leadership of the Noctarch, once known as Princess Luna. Along with her, the leadership of Imperium Intelligence includes several Primarchs known for their expertise in covert operations.

State Religion: The Imperial Cult, incorporating elements of Equus’s magical traditions, venerates the Imperial Pantheon. It is headed by both the Emperor and the Solarch and includes the Noctarch, the Primarchs, and the Auric Rogue Traders (Including you, Lord... I’ve worked with you long enough to see you as human, but the wider Imperium will still regard you as nothing less than a demigod. Use this to your advantage.)

Major Species: Humanity, Ponies (Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns), Dragons, sanctioned abhumans, and other fantastical or mundane creatures, sanctioned to live within wider Imperium society.

Cultural Integration: The inclusion of a million worlds within the Imperium of Man and Equus has come to mean that the cultures of the Imperium are as vast as they are varied. Overall, however, the Great Crusade did a good enough job of enforcing Imperial rule over these worlds. The ancient fusion of Imperial discipline with Equus’s principles of harmony and friendship has led to a unique cultural synthesis, fostering mutual respect and collaboration.

Military Forces: The Military of the Imperium of Man and Equus, by and large, is still represented by the Legiones Astartes, the original 20... no, 18 Legions of Space Marines and their Primarchs. These augmented super-warriors and their vast fleets of ships, vehicles, and armories of advanced weapons mean any invading force is dealt with promptly. Increasingly, the Solar Auxilia has also been supplementing the Legions, as the Space Marines can only be in so many places at once. The Auxilia, too, are complemented by Planetary Defense Forces, from whom the Auxilia draw their elite divisions.

Challenges: The Imperium continues to face threats from hostile xenos races, heretical uprisings, and the forces of Chaos. The vastly different societies within the Imperium presents internal challenges, requiring careful management to maintain harmony and prevent discord.

Conclusion: The Imperium of Man and Equus has created a powerful and diverse stellar civilization, capable of facing the galaxy’s myriad threats with a unique blend of technology and magic. Continued efforts to maintain our harmonious society will be essential for maintaining stability and ensuring perpetual prosperity.

End of Report
Vigilance and Duty, Always,
Senior Agent Reginald VIII, Codename “The Inquisitor”

=][= Imperium Intelligence Summary Report =][=
Subject: Overview of the Primarchs of the Imperium of Man and Equus
Classification: Lord Captain’s Eyes Only
Date: 990.M40
Author: Imperium Intelligence Senior Agent Reginald VIII, Codename “The Inquisitor”

Overview: The Primarchs, the genetically engineered sons of the Emperor of Mankind, lead the Space Marine Legions of the Unified Imperium of Man and Equus. Their leadership and unique abilities are crucial to the stability and strength of the Imperium. The influence of Equus, particularly through the intervention of figures like the Princesses and the Auric Rogue Traders such as yourself, Lord, have done much to temper these personalities, ensuring their loyalty and enhancing their effectiveness.

The Primarchs and Their Legions:

Lion El’Jonson (I Legion - Dark Angels):
The First Primarch to be discovered is known for his strategic brilliance and martial prowess. The Dark Angels are known for their knightly virtue and discretion. They form a valuable part of Imperium Intelligence. I understand the two of you have not interacted much, Lord, though I know that Princess Azure Fire is good friends with him.

UNKNOWN - DATA EXPUNGED (II Legion - ???)

Fulgrim (III Legion - Emperor’s Children):
This Primarch is renowned for his pursuit of perfection. A famous friend of Princess Rarity Belle. The Emperor’s Children Legion is known for its skill in combined arms and diplomacy. I understand there have been clashes between the two of you, Your Lordship, but your mutual friends have kept you amicable.

Perturabo (IV Legion - Iron Warriors):
Master of siege warfare, as his Legion. The influence of Princess Applejack has been especially critical, it is said. I understand the two of you have discussed at length the defense measures he is responsible for at the Cadian Gate, supplementing Horus's preparations, and that he holds Your Lordship in great respect.

Jaghatai Khan (V Legion - White Scars):
Swift and unpredictable, the great Khan’s tactics are overwhelming for the uninitiated, or the unfortunate foe. Princess Rainbow Dash is very fond of him, I hear, as he is of her. I don’t know if I quite believe some of the stories of your exploits together... with respect, your Lordship. Racing around with Land Raiders? Outrunning a planet-wide Speedwaaagh? I suppose I should let the Princess speak for herself.

Leman Russ (VI Legion - Space Wolves):
Fierce and loyal, Russ embodies the spirit of the warrior. It was your Lordship who said that his party-loving ways were only matched by that of Princess Pinkie Pie, and by what records I could dig up, this assessment is sound. Again, some stories I hear of those parties strain credulity.

Rogal Dorn (VII Legion - Imperial Fists):
The master of fortifications, as is his Legion. He’s stationed himself and his defenses around the Segmenta Solar. I have heard quite the tales about the tea parties he regularly holds with Princess Fluttershy. I would like very much to attend one day... if your Lordship permits, that is.

Konrad Curze (VIII Legion - Night Lords):
A lethal pillar of Imperial Intelligence, this Primarch is known for his brutal methods, as was his Legion. Thankfully, the personal intervention of the Noctarch has mitigated his darker tendencies, and he is promoting justice over fear. I have often heard your Lordship jokingly refer to him as “The Big Batman”, but this reference is, unfortunately, lost on me, beyond Curze’s affinity for... bats.

Sanguinius (IX Legion - Blood Angels):
This angelic Primarch is known for his grace and upstanding nature. I hear he is a favorite of the Emperor and the Solarch. To say such aloud, however... would invite much discord to our home, I fear, so this assessment, no matter how true or biased it is... you understand, Your Lordship. You know him well enough, anyway.

Ferrus Manus (X Legion - Iron Hands):
This Primarch is most affiliated with the wider Adeptus Mechanicus. His Legion, the Iron Hands, is the most mechanized of the Astartes. I hear he still bears a grudge against you for your jokes about his... iron hands. It is not my place to say, Lordship, but perhaps some reconciliation is in order. He honors the memory of his dearest pony friend, Maud Pie.

UNKNOWN - DATA EXPUNGED (Legion XI - ???)

Angron (XII Legion - Storm Eaters):
Of all the Emperor’s Sons, Angron is, perhaps, the most tragic. It is good, then, that your Lordship was able to assist the late, Venerable Fizzlepop Berrytwist in rehabilitating him and his Legion. Emperor only knows what disaster leaving him with the berserker's nails would have wrought. Angron has since renamed his legion from the World Eaters to the Storm Eaters in her memory. She sounded like an upstanding pony. I don’t even recall if the two of you have ever formally met.

Roboute Guilliman (XIII Legion - Ultramarines):
Forgive my bias, Your Lordship; the Imperium’s bureaucracy and general administration have been improved immeasurably by the ultimate statesman and strategist. His is an eternal march towards meritocracy, aided by Princess Cadence. The recent discovery of a “Tau Empire” to their East should keep them busy in the immediate short term, even if they are reliable enough to incorporate into the Imperium. If your savviness with governorship ever fails you, Lord, that is a friend who can help.

Mortarion (XIV Legion - Death Guard):
It is hard to believe, sometimes, the things that Mortarion has endured. His was a legendary friendship with the Honorable Zecora, Emperor rest her soul. His ongoing sponsorship of Zebra colonies in his territory is a testament to their companionship. You have negotiated much with this Primarch, your Lordship, for rare resources within his territory.

Magnus the Red (XV Legion - Thousand Sons):
I won’t need to reintroduce you again, Lord. He’s the one who stopped by Hassia Prime to petition you yet again to organize a local Chapter of Space Marines. I know his studies of the warp have earned him a close friendship with Princess Twilight Sparkle. I am also glad that he was able to excise the daemon from your mind. Heaven only knows what it would’ve done had it remained.

Horus Lupercal (XVI Legion - Luna Wolves):
The Warmaster of the Imperium of Man and Equus. Nominally, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperium’s War Machine. That is a dizzying amount of power, your Lordship. It is well that you have maintained such a close friendship with the Warmaster. Long ago, he who personally presented you with the warships of Battlefleet Skeinan, as the late Prince Shining Armor was a dear friend of Horus.

Lorgar Aurelian (XV Legion - Word Bearers):
The... Supreme Patriarch of the Imperial Cult. The story of how you and he organized the Imperial Church along your Old-Earth faith is too long to present here, but suffice it to say that you pursued any chaos worship amongst his Legion mercilessly. It almost seems to me that you knew a specific great calamity would befall the Imperium should any Astartes turn to Chaos worship... but that’s just my feeling on this, Your Lordship.

Vulkan (XVIII Legion - Salamanders):
I know that this Primarch has an obvious love for dragons, and has kept in Seneschal Spike’s good graces. He’s the one who made your suit of armor in your quarters, Lord. One look at that suit lets Your Lordship know that Vulkan is the best blacksmith in the galaxy. He’s also taken up a hobby of agriculture, to better provide for the people of the Imperium. I wonder when he’ll next visit Hassia.

Corvus Corax (XIX Legion - Raven Guard):
One of my direct superiors in Imperium Intelligence. I know he competes with Curze for Princess Luna’s attention and favor as if she’s the lost mother they never knew... sorry, not the place for conjecture. His mastery of stealth and guerrilla warfare makes him suited to aiding Imperium Intelligence in countering shadowy opposition.

Alpharius Omegon (XX Legion - Alpha Legion):
The.. other direct leaders of Imperium Intelligence. These twin Primarchs are masters of spy work. It is always supremely annoying when they assume each other’s identity to “play” with Imperium Intelligence agents. Naturally, they already know of the daemonic attack on your person. I have already taken several steps into the expansion of Imperium Intelligence operations here on Hassia Prime. Perhaps I will petition Alpharius Omegon to deploy some of his Astartes in support of Intelligence operations here... per your approval, of course, Your Lordship.

Conclusion: The Primarchs, created by the Emperor, tempered by the influence of Equus, and guided by the intervention of Auric Rogue Traders like Your Lordship, have become beacons of leadership and strength. Their unique abilities and enhanced temperaments ensure the continued stability and prosperity of the Unified Imperium of Man and Equus.

Post-Script: The Lost Legions

You are likely one of the few living individuals who can recall why their records were ever expunged. Please do not inform me why. I know my place.

End of Report
Vigilance and Duty, Always,
Senior Agent Reginald VIII, Codename “The Inquisitor”

Author's Note

My first attempt at a sort of general explanation for this My Little Rogue Trader setting. Let me know how I did.

The Abyss

The Enforcer Aegis Station was not currently under attack.

But by all the hollering and the sounds of boots clapping on rockrete, it might as well have been. Enforcers, both off and on duty, bore weapons and wore armor befitting their tasks of defending the station and the people of Maretime. Even as a crowd of Enforcers rushed to the castle-like battlements with their lasguns and their rifles, crowds of civilians also made their way into the defensive bastion. They were a frightened, scared bunch, easily ushered into prepared shelters. Sunny knew these shelters were more than just safe havens; they were rallying points where civilians might be called upon to defend themselves and the Hive. Hastily girded with weapons and armor; just as she was.

Sunny Starscout, following the Enforcers Zipp Storm and Hitch Trailblazer, raced with their weapons out of the safety of the Bastion Station. Following them were the newly-minted Penal Troopers Tabby Baker, Casey Heartthrob, and Touchdown, their maximum compliance collars threatening their survival if they didn’t keep up.

It was all happening so fast. Sunny’s mind felt like a fire engine on fire. She breathed hard, and tried to focus by thinking of their objective; to retrieve an Imperium Intelligence team. Three humans—one of them a psyker—and there was also an Eldar and a Squat. Something about this caused an itch in Sunny’s brain, like something she forgot was screaming reminders at her. She she followed Zipp and Hitch into the cobbled streets.

Brick. Jettying buildings rose tall here, the streets winding in an organic pattern. Sunny’s nose and eyes were assaulted with invitations to come and try, come and see, come and eat good food, and enjoy good company. Sunny saw bakeries, diners, cafes, restaurants, and more. Had she been calmer, and not thrust into this waking nightmare, she would’ve been tempted. She would never have trusted herself to navigate these streets; she thanked the Solarch for Zipp and Hitch.

“Hey! What’s the goddamn rush!?” shouted Touchdown. “Enemy ain’t here yet! Let’s not burn all our energy just yet, huh!”

All the while, the defense guns overhead were still firing, kilometers above them. More civilians were rushing to and fro, those who didn’t rush to the Enforcer stations were barricading their shops and homes. They lowered armored security doors. They wore their own protective garb and brandished their weapons, most of them makeshift. Sunny didn’t fancy hitting something like a daemon with a frying pan. And yet, the squad still charged on.

Another of the troopers chose to voice a complaint, and this time, it was Casey. “Why are we chasing after these Imperium Intelligence Agents, anyway? Can’t they handle themselves?”

“Well,” Zipp called back, “We’re going to need all the help we can get!”

To that, Casey grumbled with a low rumble, “Shouldn’t even have gotten out of that cell.”

Laughing, Baker remarked, “Adventure, Casey! Won’t get it lying down waiting for it!”

Meanwhile, all the hot food and snacks they were racing past made Sunny feel hungry. She frowned; she should’ve been feeling hungrier. Sunny guessed a warp storm and imminent alien invasion would make one forget. She huffed in frustration; why couldn’t the warpstorm just have waited for an hour or something?!

Finally, Sunny spoke up, shouting, “Where’s the team, anyway?”

The group rounded a corner and kept at the advance. Hitch reported, “We’ll find them at the Portly Carcharodon!”

Sunny blinked. It must be... some sort of franchise, then. They may be a bit slow in getting you what you paid for, but it was always worth the wait. So she knew what she was looking for. However, these winding streets prevented her from seeing past any one building, and Sunny found herself questioning the utility of such a street plan. Another corner, another ramp, another set of stairs that rose or fell, and another crowd of zealous firebrands. Wait, what?

With a double take that lasted only a second, Sunny could see a few priests leading an angry mob, growing as a chanting took hold. Their words crawled up Sunny’s spine and shivered her skull. Before she could reflect more on the words that made up the chant, the ancient machine spirit of the city spoke up anew, the words rattling the very cobblestones beneath Sunny’s hooves.

“Attention: The Lord of Hassia will speak. Hark ye well.”

A pause. Then, that old voice. All souls stood still, even if the guns above still fired. All ears and heads swiveled to hear. It was pained, almost manic.

“The enemy advances! They have already attempted to take the palace. They have failed.”

The Palace on the edge of Hassia Prime was attacked? As Sunny thought about nightmares descending on that island... it does make a certain amount of sense. They would go for the decapitation... but they failed!

“The Warp unleashes the Crusade of Ending. They know the Emperor and His Sons come for their pathetic gods! Stand, my sons and daughters! Rise, my family! Their final failure is at hand!”

A roar rose from the throats of the angry crowds, and Sunny couldn’t help but share their near-riotous spirit. But a riot directed at a crowd of daemons? Sunny didn’t know who to feel bad for. From somewhere in an adjacent street, Sunny could hear a new voice, one amplified by a loudhailer. It had to be one of the priests, from the wrathful tone and serious words that followed.

“Fuel the Light of Hope! Defend the Imperium!”

Sunny felt her guts tighten. Her ears almost burned with the intensity of the battle cry now being taken up by Maretime Sector. Slowly, the chant was growing, louder, and louder. It pressed into Sunny’s skull like the marching of a thousand feet. The Squad was moving again, and Sunny was following, growing numb as her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. First, it seemed that the worst thing that Sunny could hear today was the scream of the warp as it came for her soul, the many hands and claws of daemonic presences threatening her mortal soul. Now, she wasn’t sure anymore, as the contagious fervor on display threatened to light her own heart up.

Maybe she should let it.

“Fuel the Light of Hope! Defend the Imperium!!”

Blessedly, the Portly Carcharodon was finally in sight, and the chanting had grown more distant with the relentless run of the ad-hoc Enforcer squad. Sunny didn’t know how much more she could take. The building itself had managed to separate itself from the others with an avatar of a toothy sea monster, very much drunk off the barrel of amasec that it was holding with front flippers.

Finally, The Intelligence team should be around here somewhere.

“Inside!” Ordered Zipp. Sunny and the others didn’t need to be told twice.

“Maybe we’ll get something to wet our whistles, huh?” Teased Tabby. A groan from Casey. A giggle from Touchdown. Zipp and Hitch ignored them both and raced up to the entrance, followed by Sunny and the Convicts. Wait, they weren’t convicts, because they weren’t convicted of anything. They were only just arrested, and made into Penal troopers. Sunny’s ears drooped in slight empathy for their situation, even if she was somewhat stuck in this position because of them.

Hitch opened the door, and everybody ran in.

Inside the tavern was a similar state of disorder. Tables and chairs were pressed against windows, the bar itself was undergoing ad-hoc fortifications by the proprietors, and there was an argument in progress between the head agent and the owner of the bar, by the way they were trying to stare the other down.

The pony, a mare with gray hair and green fur, screamed, “Enforcers! At last! Kindly explain to this man that us normal folk can’t be expected to turn this place into a firebase! We need to hunker down and let the storm pass over us!”

Immediately, Sunny could see a man, previously arguing with the mare, turn to regard Sunny and the others. He was brandishing a broad-faced warhammer in one hand and a large-bore revolver in the other. He wore a tall capotain hat, decorated with purity seals and a sinister brim, and a long coat over a shining breastplate. At his side, Sunny could see a thick, hide-bound book, decorated with a twin-tailed comet.

His breastplate was adorned with iconography that Sunny didn’t quite recognize. It was a single-headed bird and a stylized cross. The breastplate also had a bandolier of revolver pistols holstered in it. He also wore a silvery set of plated armor on his shoulders, his arms, and his legs, which he wore over the coat as well as the trousers which he wore.

Finally, Sunny paused to see him with pointed sabatons over tall boots. With a pompous voice, slightly nasally and Imperius, the man said, “Enforcers? What business do you have here?” By his attitude and look, he had to be one of Imperium Intelligence’s Supernatural Affairs Officers. The thing that stood out the most to Sunny was the fact that one of the man’s striking blue eyes was clouded over with a grayed out-look, a testament to an injury.

It was Zipp’s turn to speak, breathily, “We’re here for you guys! The Sheriff of Maretime wants you at the Enforcer’s Bastion!”

Another voice let himself be known, with a tired baritone, somewhat muffled by a helmet, “This Bastion, uh... sounds like a better bet than a bar, sir.” Sunny turned her head to see the other man of the Imperium Intelligence team, a warrior by his bearing. He wore plate armor and a great helm, covered on the back by a blue and white cloth in an aventail, which hid his face, if not his stature.

He wore armor with a shield motif, which meant a shield-patterned armored shirt of interlocking scales. There was also a jousting shield plate on his right shoulder, displaying a golden grail. He also wore a blue and white tabard underneath the armor and a tactical vest over the armor. More substantial plates of armor were worn on his hands and feet, also in the styling of a heater shield. He carried two straight swords of different lengths and a holo-sighted slung lasgun on his hip. A leather belt and pockets offered this soldier extra power packs and other essentials. A Feudal World Veteran, maybe?

With a thoughtful twitch of his working eye, the Officer finally assented, “Very well. To the Enforcer Bastion. Come along.”

The Enforcer ponies, Deputy Sunny, and the Penal troopers made way for this crowd of bipeds as they marched outside. Following the Officer and the Feudal Veteran was a pair of women, who caused no small amount of ice to grip Sunny’s guts.

The first was... an Eldar! She had to be, because why else would she have pointed ears, black-marble eyes, strange skin on her face, and unusual limb proportions? She met Sunny’s gaze, and they both shuddered. The Eldar wore simple forest-colored robes and carried an exotic, scoped Xeno rifle, which was slung on her back. She also had a pair of leaf-shaped daggers on her belt. The way she carried herself, the loathing for her environment writ upon her face... Sunny could tell she was not happy at all being within the concrete and metal biome of the Hive City. Would she be more comfortable, perhaps, within the simulated forest gardens? Or would that perhaps outrage her, a pretense at nature within this artificial hellscape of arcology?

Then, there was the psyker. Sunny could always tell, everyone could. What else would stand so close and set the hairs on the back of one’s neck on end, even to the point of stirring static electricity? It didn’t help that this slightly elderly human woman wore all-black robes, and had pale skin, only darkening around her glowing blue-green eyes. An Imperial “I” was emblazoned on her robes on the back and her leg panel, differentiated with an eye on the... “I”. A sign of Imperial Psykers. It did little to calm Sunny’s nerves that this one was seemingly sanctioned to use her powers. Unicorns using their magic was one thing, but the source of all psychic powers was hell itself. She carried both a Pyromancer staff and a crowbill pick on her waist. The woman saw Sunny and gave her a smile and a wink.

Trying not to shiver under her sight, Sunny turned her head and prepared herself for something that would surely be even more horrifying than the Eldar or the wi—the Psyker. She recoiled, alright, but not at the sight of a new Imperial-condoned horror. Instead...

Instead, it was an egg... huh? A walking egg? No, it was a suit of armor, made from silvery metal, decorated with fine metals, and inscribed with many runes. It was powered by a backpack fusion core, judging from how the short warrior stomped around as easily as ponies and men would walk. The visage on the front of the rather egg-shaped suit of armor was a bearded warrior, one of the Squats and their legendarily broad beards. The vision slot of the suit looked at Sunny, and the right arm of the suit raised in a wave, a multi-barreled repeating weapon of some kind. The other arm held up a round shield, with gold accents and a strong-looking rim. It had the pattern of an anvil and hammer etched onto the face.

“Lovely day we’re having, ey?”

Sunny couldn’t help but smile. Every Squat--no, it was more polite to say “Stoutfolk”--that Sunny had ever met was jolly and helpful, and extremely good with computers, machines, and other complicated things. They also loved their beards. Drink. Good company. Sunny suddenly remembered one of the short abhumans that worked for the Datacomplex; one Dwale Datawhisper. She hoped that the IT expert was okay...

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be just fine, my little pony,” said the stout, armored warrior. “After all, the battle is still far away from here.”

“Yeah,” Sunny found herself agreeing. “I was just deputized today.”

The warrior hummed. “I’ll have to show you how to use that gun, friend,” he noted.

Sunny smiled. “I’d like that.”

They were the last to leave the Portly Carcharodon, the doors locking behind them as more furniture was being braced against it.

The streets of the Maretime Restaurant District were emptied. Everyone had either fled or barricaded their buildings. The windows were all barred up; the barricading rollers had been pulled down so that even breaking the windows would not allow ingress. It would take much more than a crowbar to enter. The defense guns above still fired, and all ears could hear the raging warp storm outside. Even through kilometers of plasteel and rockrete, one could hear a howling wind, the sound almost indistinguishable from a tireless scream. Scraps of trash littered some of the streets, flittering to and fro by a gust from one of the giant atmosphere-regulating fans above, embedded into the ceiling.

Sunny, the Enforcer Team and the Imperium Intelligence Team raced back through those streets. Sunny couldn’t help but watch as the stout warrior’s exosuit allowed him to keep pace with everybody else, despite its ridiculous egg-shape and stubby arms and legs. It just goes to show that not everything is as it seems, Sunny thought. It even looks like the gun arm of that exo-armor can swap itself out for a close-quarters weapon, a runic, double-headed ax.

These Imperium Intelligence agents certainly gave off an aura of being dangerous, Sunny thought. Ordinarily, this would probably not be a good thing. Ordinarily, however, the Hive was also not under imminent threat of invasion by demons and aliens. In this case, it does help to calm Sunny’s racing heart.

A heart that still threatened to burst out of her chest. It seemed as though every shadow could contain a daemon that threatened to rip out Sunny’s throat. She needed to keep herself relatively calm, despite the guns sounding and the haunting sound of chanting. Wait, chanting? Sunny’s ears swiveled as they poked out her enforcer deputy’s helmet. Vowels. Repeated statements carried by the Intra-Hive Wind. At first, Sunny reasoned that this must have been the loudhailers pleading with the Imperium Divine for protection and favor in the coming battle. However, as they ran through more streets, Sunny could only make out three words.

“Victoria Aut Mors”. Over and over again. Sunny’s eyes widened as half-remembered High Gothic lessons played over in her mind. This wasn’t an encouraging rallying cry, a statement of strength or defiance.

Victory or Death. This was a statement about finality—an unwavering statement of intent. Either the Church Warbands would earn victory, or they would be forced to accept death.

“Victoria Aut Mors! Victoria Aut Mors!. Victoria Aut Mors!”

Does even half of those voices now chanting this phrase understand its meaning? ...Do they even need to, or do they need something to steel their hearts against the foe to come?

“Hold it!” Came the command from a rough voice. From the back of the group, Sunny could now see a new group of individuals; ones just as heavily armed as the Enforcers and the Agents.

Sunny’s veins froze over to see Neighsara amidst a band of New Haytian Pirates. Most were Zebras, brandishing clubs of their homeworld, but a few others were of other races, even human, each brandishing their own, doubtlessly smuggled weapon at Sunny’s group. Something that did unite them, at least in look, was a shared style of tattooing over their bodies and inscriptions on their arms and what armor a few possessed. The tribal patterns were believed to be wards of protection. Of power. Such a thing was bogus, surely, but these pirates were confident enough that most were here even without their coveralls. To brandish only weaponry and bravado... that sort of confidence made Sunny not want to face them regardless of the seeming disadvantage.

The only one still unarmed was Neighsara, who walked up and said, with that same monotone voice, “An opportune interception. Now, let us dispense with lengthy negotiation and be on our way with our associates.”

Sunny looked to see Tabby Baker, slightly out of breath, chuckle as he walked forward to the front of the crowd. “Now that’s what I like to fuckin’ see,” he remarked. “This is the kind of loyalty you can’t ever buy.”

Neighsara nodded. “Such a valuable crime boss is a rarity. It would be regrettable to lose you.”

It was then that Zipp interceded, placing the barrel of her weapon against the side of Tabby’s head, skewing his hat. In response, the pirates all raised their guns at Sunny’s group. In response, Hitch and the Imperial Intelligence team also raised their weapons. Sunny shook too much and didn’t even move to point her double-barreled weapon. Thankfully, that new friend in the armored egg walked in front of Sunny, and raised his shield. She also saw a pair of servo-arm weapons raise themselves over the shoulders of the Stoutfolk. Sunny could see that Touchdown and Casey were likewise threatened.

Sunny could still see, however, that Nieghsara soundly declined to react to this development. “Come now,” he called with a disarming smile. “Let’s not resort to such measures in this stressful environment.”

“Yeah,” agreed Tabby. “Let’s not.”

With a grim face, Zipp responded, “I’d rather not, either. So here’s what is going to happen. You’re going to let us walk to the Enforcer Aegis Station, and I’ll disable their maximum compliance collars and let you hide in whatever hole you’ve got.”

Impassively, Neighsara responded, “And what is to stop all those gunners at the Bastion from firing on us as soon as we get within range?”

To that, Zipp replied, “And what’s to stop you from gunning us all down if I let these troopers go?”

The defense guns continued to fire overhead. Sunny watched as the Intelligence Officer and the Feudal World Veteran shared a glance. She grimaced at the anticipation writ on the faces of the Eldar and the Psyker. She couldn’t read the emotions of the armored squat warrior in front of her, as he was armored head to toe and facing away from her. It was this warrior that finally spoke up. It was with a loud, accented voice that this squatted ball of star metals helped to voice Sunny’s thoughts.

“This is chuf! We should be fighting together!”

With a growl, Tabby noted, “You’re not the one with a fuckin’ bomb collar around his neck.”

Interjecting, Neighsara spoke, “Please, Baker. Allow me to conduct the negotiations.”

The defense guns continued their ceaseless barrage. The chant of “Victoria Aut Mors” had not abated. Sunny had no idea if they were even hitting anything. Neighsara sighed. Sunny found herself doing likewise. This was a rather stupid standoff. But how would these two find a middle ground? As much as it would tempt fate, Sunny found herself almost wishing something would interrupt this standoff. However, given what’s happened today, she thought better of it.

“What are we waiting for!?” Screamed one of the pirates, his eyes darting to the ceiling. “Let’s just kill ‘em and be done with it!”

Before Neighsara could get a word in edgewise, Zipp pressed her gun harder on Tabby’s skull. He shouted out, “Belay that, asshole! I’ll not have my fuckin’ handsome brains decorate this pavement!”

The air, at last, grew still, as the City’s Machine Spirit spoke again, the deep, resonant tone sounding through ancient speakers, rattling every roof and shaking every bone.

“Proximity Alert: Object of Cataclysmic Proportions Approaching. Classification: Space Hulk. Impact Imminent. Pray for Deliverance.”

The Run

A Space Hulk? Crashing into the Hive? Won’t that kill everyone?! No, no, no!

“All of you!” called out the Intelligence Officer, “Get to cover!”

None had to be told twice, and all souls dove for cover between the buildings. It was there that Sunny also found herself, lying on the floor, wedged between a prone Hitch and a still-standing Stoutfolk, whose name Sunny still didn’t know. Too late for that, she supposed, even as the world rocked around her. She squeezed her eyes and waited for the end, coming to her by a titanic collection of ancient starships and asteroids. It was an effective way to destroy the Hive, in all fairness. It just was the supreme injustice that Sunny had to be still inside it. The Hive shuddered and screamed, as did Sunny Starscout.

All would turn to ash and dust. Sunny gripped her head, clapping her hooves over her trembling ears, the roar of the guns overtaken by the city-sundering crash. Sunny's face became wet with tears, eyelids pinched tight as she screamed again. The impending death of everything overtook even the sound of her voice, the massive object’s crashing rendering all other sounds mute. The only reason she even knew she was screaming was that she still felt the compression of her lungs and the vibrations in her throat. She curled up and waited to die, like the billions of other mares, stallions, men, women, and who knows what else was currently being crushed by the weight of the Hulk. She ground her teeth.

Sunny prayed it would at least be quick. Did oblivion await her on the other side? Would it be heaven? Would it be hell? Would her parents be there? Her heart wrenched in her chest. One terrible moment passed, the sound of doom growing louder still. Then another, and another. She heard more screams around, Sunny couldn't tell which voice belonged to whom. It was the whole Hive, Sunny realized. Screaming with one voice, as if the entire city was as one individual, and the space hulk had been a bullet fired into the Arcology’s beating heart.

Another moment passed. The shaking became worse. This is it...! The Hive shook under Sunny, the massive metal supports screeching in agony...!

Then, there was stillness. A cursed, blessed stillness. A great many guns still fired overhead, but less numerous than before. That sound, even if a little louder than before, barely registered to Sunny. She could only hear her ragged breath and the thunderous beating of her heart in her ears. She smelled scorched dust, copper, and smoke.

She... she wasn’t dead? Sunny Starscout... yet lived? Shuddering, Sunny raised her head and opened her eyes. Everyone around her... still intact? There wasn’t any blood, no torn bodies or pieces... they also raised their heads, and looked around. They must also be thanking whatever they can that they weren’t a victim. Unsurprisingly, the Imperium Intelligence Agents were the first up, already hauling the other Enforcers onto their hooves.

“Enough of this foolishness,” said the Officer. “It’s clear that we’re not dead yet. Our duty is not done.” He walked over to where Neighsara was standing up. “Zebra!”

Ruffled, yet still stoic, Neighsara simply stared back in silence.

The Officer stared down the zebra pony with his one working eye, and commanded, “We are requisitioning you and your... band. You are to follow us to the Enforcer Bastion, where we will fight and win or die. Are we understood?”

Neighsara looked around and saw the collection of souls around him. It would be a fateful choice. Neighsara looked over to Tabby Baker, who shrugged and hung his head.

Finally, Neighsara sighed. “Very well,” he said. “Odds of survival are improved with greater numbers.”

The Eldar, watching the exchange, bitterly remarked, “Great. We’re all friends. Can we go now?”

Sunny sighed. Then, that accented voice again, like he was from Fenris. She doubted that, though, as the Egg Warrior spoke in an upbeat manner, “Don’t you worry, hrozzi. We’ve all got each other when it counts.”

The Eldar huffed. The Psyker chuckled. Sunny looked up, and she gasped at what she saw. Many eyes followed hers, and they likewise adopted a stunned look of horror.

The Space Hulk had come to rest in Maretime Sector, spearing through the ceiling and into the floor. Just how large was this thing? Why was it mostly intact? Sunny could see pieces here and there fall off the blackened object, but it stood, a grim testament to some insane plan. The hulk cast a shadow on the neon paradise that was Maretime Sector, a vision of hell come to undo this place of artificial beaches and sun. It even partially eclipsed the distant setting sun set against the far wall. She scanned her eyes over the metallic surface, expecting colorful daemons to flood out of every crash-made gash and gaping hole.

And yet, this titanic construct stood stark still, this broken and shattered shiv that pierced the Hive remained. Sunny smelled dripping chemicals.

A deep sense of unreality set in for Sunny. It was just... it was all happening so fast...! Sunny took a moment to force herself not to hyperventilate. She succeeded long enough to notice the crowd now moving along. They all holstered or slung their weapons, both eyes (for most) on the new monolithic nightmare that intruded into Maretime Sector. Sunny was no longer sure why she felt a hollowness in her stomach.

As she stared, the prow of the Space Hulk seemed to oppress without really doing anything. Despite being the boxy, frontmost point of the gargantuan-sized craft, Sunny reckoned it was still 3 kilometers wide, if not more, and she couldn’t be sure how much further down the hive the nose of the thing still reached. There was something about the hulk being here, intact, that Sunny couldn’t quite reason with. There had to be a reason it was still intact.

Sunny was shaken from her surreality by the terrible, awful sound of a bellowing, rattling horn.

The sound rang out from the intruding construct, the hollow spaces within resonating the baritone call. The horn sounded off the distant inner walls of the Hive. More horns rang out, adding to the cacophony. With a shudder, Sunny realized the truth that had been just on the edge of her waking realization.

The Space Hulk had not been a weapon to destroy the entire city at once. It had been a delivery vehicle.

“Move! Move!”

Sunny joined the stampede towards the Bastion. There, inside the walls, she would be safe. She should be inside the walls, where strong walls stood, bristling with many guns. She was just too exposed. Too alone, even amongst this crowd of armed Imperials. Would she have been safer had she not been given that ticket by Helix? Would the others from work be okay?

Sunny tried to ignore the droplets falling from the ceiling. It... could be any number of things. Broken water pipes, broken... waste pipes. It didn’t necessarily have to be... blood. Sunny also tried to ignore the subtle shifting of the Hive beneath her. The twisting of metal as the Hulk threatened to sink even deeper. The groan of the hive was not like the nightly occurrences when the weight of the continent-sized construct settled.

It was a rare thing, but Hivequakes were a real threat when ancient structural supports became just a little too ancient. But now, the structure quaked. There was a bolt falling here, a plate falling there... the very city was bleeding and crumbling around Sunny. The now-distorted neon colors of the signs around Sunny still promised good food. Fresh nutribread. Hot recaf. Sweets. Treats.

Sunny had still not eaten today! Her eyes narrowed and her face tightened into a snarl. Her ears then twitched to hear popping noises, first isolated, then picking up in intensity. Was that...? She looked at the hulk’s prow again and gasped. Tracers and lasbolts were being unleashed from it and onto it. Gold, green, red, and even blue flashes from bullets, the solid beams of laser weapons, and even the glowing balls of plasma shots were exchanged between Maretime and the invaders. That popping sound had been gunshots! Even now, those sounds echoed off the walls of the Hive.

The Officer bellowed, “Don’t shoot! We aren’t at the Bastion yet and we don’t want to draw fire!”

Running up beside her, Touchdown hollered, “Hooee! Hot damn, it’s really kicking off now!”

Sunny looked at Touchdown as he grew a second head. “You’re enjoying this?!” She shrieked. She also couldn’t help but notice the belt-fed stubber now at Touchdown’s side. One of the pirates must have given him his gun back. It was decorated with paints and laden with tally marks. A lot of tally marks.

“Fuck yeah, Sunny! I’ve been in the wars! Could’ve retired with some free land if I didn’t love Blood Bowl so much!” He then giggled, as if he was a colt with a candy. As if they weren’t running at full tilt.

The gunfire was intensifying. A roar could be heard from the hulk. It was issued from what must have been a million throats from within the beached vessel.

Worst of all, Sunny—and everyone else for that matter—could hear the words of the invaders.

“Ashes! Ruins! Dark Powers!”

The chant was met with one that was raised by the Ecclesiarchal militias.

“Vita! Libertas! Imperator!”

Part of Sunny was glad that there was at least some response to the invader’s cruel words, but another... hated that any of this was happening in the first place. The gunshots were becoming louder. If Sunny were just a bit higher up, and were able to see above the tall buildings, she reckoned that she would see a not-insignificant amount of firepower being directed at the boarding hulk from the Enforcer Aegis Station.

Sunny could even see new emplacements rise up from dormancy just outside the walls—Skyfire turrets, with four autocannons, blazing away at the hulk. Sunny was glad for Imperial Overprepardedness today. White shells peppered the outer shell of the craft, kicking up dust and pulverizing anything within.

That, in turn, attracted a lot of attention right back. Sunny started to be less sure about his plan to run straight at the center of the fight.

“Have you ever seen anything like this, sir?” Shouted the Feudal Veteran.

Irritatedly, the tall-hatted Officer relayed, “No, Sergeant. I can’t say that I have! Although...”

“Although... what, Captain?” Asked the Psyker, her hair almost seemed to catch alight with green fire... but that would be ridiculous—right?

The group had slowed, needing to walk over the rubble of some buildings that had shaken themselves to pieces. It had formed a crude sort of mound, which was something that made Sunny grimace. She prayed, pleaded, and hoped that nobody was trapped under such a mass of broken mortar and twisted steel. She tried to step as lightly as she could, ears swiveling for any sound. The battle was the only thing she heard.

Finally, they were nearing the Bastion Fortress, pockmarked as it was by the ruinous intent of those inside the crashed Space Hulk. Sunny didn’t know whether it was for safety or towards the fight of her life she was running. Her hooves ached, her stomach screamed for nourishment, and Sunny’s head pounded from the incessant noise. Was this a battle, or was Sunny working overtime again?

Such a thought made Sunny breathlessly chuckle as the group marched up the final set of stairs to reach the tall, castle-like fortress. The central spire rose high and was the attention of a particularly fearsome barrage of enemy fire. Below, the barricades were raised, and lasbolts and tracer rounds sped out like it was the races. Metallic, overhead cover racks had been put up, so now the Enforcer Station resembled not just a castle, but a bunker. However, as she neared, something else happened.

Namely, a bubblegum-pink magical shield flickered into existence around the walls. It was a dome, she realized. The projectiles from the enemy were being stopped, causing ripples in the dome, but friendly munitions passed through just fine.

Almost there! Sunny just needed to ignore the pain in her legs and push just a bit further! Cover! Safety! Maybe a good bite to eat, too, after this is done! A thought occurred to Sunny. Maybe... maybe the morning’s dough-bites were still in the reception area! Plain! Powered! Hell, even jelly-filled will do at this point!

All the same, Sunny and the others ran just a bit faster to get under the magical and mundane defenses of the law enforcement station. Sunny heard new, strange, snapping sounds. Sunny saw many ponies and zebras run just a bit ahead of her. She saw Casey catch a second wind and overtake Sunny, her scared eyes wide and that gorgeous golden mane bounce. Come on... just a bit further...!

It was then that Casey caught a sickly green laser bolt to the head. She... she crashed to the ground, her strings to life cut. Most saw, most shrunk away, and kept bolting, but there were two who stopped running; Sunny who was right next to Casey when it happened, and Tabby Baker, who shrieked in horror.

“Casey!?”

He dropped his weapon, a finely-decorated snub revolver, and it clattered to the ground as Sunny fell to the ground, breathing hard. She clapped her hooves on her head again as a machine gun fired next to her. It was Touchdown, spraying indiscriminately at the spot that laser had come from on the Hulk. Others of Neighsara’s pirates had joined in, and even the Egg-clad short warrior had leveled his rotary gun to fire at the enemy.

She looked ahead and had a heart attack anew; Hitch and several zebras were struck. Hitch was hit in his body and limbs by several yellow tracers, which made him fall, also. A... a leg came off.

She.. she ran ahead to where Hitch lay, a crimson pool even now spooling beneath him. His combat vest hadn’t been enough... Sunny was starting to doubt even her helmet. Her throat seized. Sunny suddenly found it very hard to breathe.

Still, she found herself hoisting a still-breathing Hitch Trailblazer, and another pony came to help him up. Sunny hardly noticed that it was none other than Zipp who had taken up a spot to carry the dying Hitch. They moved as quickly as they could, but Sunny still managed to hear a scream, “Move!” as Tabby raced past the two with a limp Casey on his back, firing his stubby revolver wildly at the invaders as he ran. The weapon was encased in blue magic, the very thing that Sunny and the last of the ponies were passing through. Sunny could see the carbon scoring on Casey’s face and blood in her hair. Last to arrive was Touchdown himself, none the worse for wear.

The pink shield meant that Sunny was finally safe now, right? Right? Everything was happening so fast... as she neared the walls proper, armored Enforcers raced out with white medical pauldrons and took Hitch away, and others ushered Sunny to follow them. Why...? Oh, she was covered in blood. Some of it might even be hers.

Numbly, she saw other Enforcers wrestle Touchdown and Tabby to the ground, and take away their weapons. She did see other Medics take away Casey, so that’s... something. Sunny took a few more steps, and her wobbling knees finally gave out, and she fainted on the ground, thinking only of the way Casey’s still-lovely—if singed—hair managed to hide the worst of that head injury.

The guns still roared around and above her.

Deep within the Enforcer Station, Sunny’s eyes snapped open. The guns still roared outside, deafened by the walls. Hitch... Casey... were they okay? What about the Intelligence Team? Sunny looked around. She was... inside. In an... office?

The white walls and the furniture looked to indicate as such. The desk, and boxy computer/monitor combination, too. As Sunny stood up on the green carpet of the office, she could see some desk decorations that would befit... the Sheriff. Of course. She looked at the picture of the Sheriff and his family... he looked so young, and happy. He had a wall of guns, some of which were missing, by the look of the empty hooks. There was a few other trinkets here, a shooting competition trophy there. But why was Sunny here? She had been placed on an old couch, which smelled of gunpowder.

Pushing the obvious question out of her mind (Why would an old couch smell of gunpowder?) Sunny examined herself, fearing the worst. Thankfully, her limbs were still attached, and she wasn’t bandaged or bent out of shape. Shivering, Sunny breathed through her nose, thanking every Princess, in order, for her safety and for the foresight of whoever brought her here.

She sat up, already feeling the strain and protest of her muscles. She had made a dead sprint to accomplish that mission. If this was the soldier’s life, Sunny thought, then they could keep it to themselves. Still, that’s not exactly her choice to make anymore, was it?

Today, we’re soldiers.

She smelled a significant deal of smoke and ozone wafting in from outside, threatening to make her double over in disgust. Then, something else. Something more... immediate. Her eyes drifted over to the desk again of the Sheriff. There. A paper box, full of... dough-bites!

Sunny seized one of the delectable treats in a hoof and chowed down.

Sunny couldn’t help but laugh... it was a hollow, empty laugh. The world was coming to an end, and Sunny was glad that the dough-bites she was taking were not cream-filled. Her chest shuddered and she heaved. Tears ran freely down her face as she ate another. For all she knew, they weren’t even meant to be eaten by her.

Better forgiveness than permission, in this case. Especially if nobody here might be around tomorrow because of that eyesore in Maretime Sector, which was now a vector for a Chaos invasion.

Sunny shivered and closed her eyes, cringing at the image of Casey’s head all but exploding from the hostile. Was it a sniper? Was it just some heretic? Did it matter? Part of the universal education that everyone received in the Hive had to do with how to treat wounds, and how to keep somebody alive long enough for the Medicae to arrive.

But for somepony like Casey to take a shot to the head... she’ll be out of the fight for a long time...if she’s still alive. In Sunny’s mind, the image of Casey lifted her head and gave her a blackened grin... Sunny opened her eyes again, turning her head to see LT at the door to the office. Sunny couldn’t help but notice how unkempt and messy the reddish unicorn had become.

“Hey... you,” he meekly offered. “You’re finally awake.”

She nodded. There was some relative quiet between them, but then Sunny asked, hesitantly, “How long was I out?”

The LT’s brown eyes widened and his moustache twitched as he checked his pony wristwatch, muttering, “Oh, shit, uh...” A pause. “Half an hour?” He looked at her with a wide, nervous grin.

Sunny sighed. That wasn’t that bad. “Thanks for the dough-bites,” Sunny offered. The LT looked past her and his eyes twitched.

He meekly mumbled, “Oh... yeah, you’re welcome.”

He probably meant to offer her that, but the way he acts is as if it was for himself... Sunny chooses to believe it was also for her. Changing the topic, Sunny asked, tiredly, “So, when’s my next mission?”

LT blinked. “Uh...” Sunny cocked her head, and LT continued, “W-Well,” he stammered before shivering. “We’re kinda...” His face twitched into a smile, before resting again. “Winging it.”

He then looked around, thoughtfully. An idea had come into his weary mind. He met Sunny’s gaze again.

He asked, “How good are you with Ogryns?”

The Blooding

A long time ago, in a world that would be a Co-Founder of the Imperium, two men stood before each other. They were both strangers in this sphere, but they had both become friends with the locals. And yet, the first knew of the second. They were left alone, and yet for the longest time, they stood in silence, and stared at each other. The birds sang outside, as they always had.

“If you’re here, the Heresy hasn’t happened yet.”

The second tilted his head and looked more thoughtfully at the first. They stood in a throne room, golden light filtering in from outside.

“...Show me.”

In a lapse of judgment, Acting Deputy Sunny Starscout committed a cardinal sin of the worker; she volunteered. In the words of Hazy Sleeper, the Wise,

“For those who ask for more work, more work shall be given them.”

She had asked—settled, really—to work with the members of OWAT, Ogryn Weapons and Tactics. These were the elite, oversized riot police of the Hive; the best of the bulk. Sunny would surely be safe behind such a mass of muscle and heavy plate. But they’re busy defending the walls, so the LT, with permission from Sheriff Kick, had issued new orders for Acting Deputy Sunny Starscout.

She was to deputize an Ogryn Graft Gang. Sunny wasn’t sure if they were... criminals or workers.

Simple. Only problem... she also volunteered to actually move a shipment of bulwark shields and clubs by cart.

Yes, cart. A police vehicle would draw too much fire, but a mare with a wagon? At least the APC would’ve had meaningful armor. As Sunny raced out of the wide back entrance of the Aegis Station, she couldn’t help but remember how those tracers passed through poor Hitch. It was more or less the same level of protection that Sunny wore now. All that weight distributed on her body, and it felt rather... useless. She tried to push those thoughts out of her head as she ran, guided by Zipp Storm, and flanked by Tabby Baker and Touchdown.

In all, nopony was happy about the mission. Sunny wasn’t thrilled about lugging a cart full of heavy gear around, along with her own things, including her shotgun. Zipp Storm wasn’t coping well about Hitch being shot, Baker was very downcast about Casey being shot, and Touchdown was fuming that his machine gun was taken away, having to cradle an autopistol in his hooves.

Touchdown looked the most outwardly upset out of all of them.

Thankfully, the Ogryns to be drafted weren’t very far, even taking the four away from the crashed Hulk, where the firefight had not yet abated. That was despite the punishment that the trespassing and exposed portions of the vessel were targeted with heavy weaponry. Sunny couldn’t ignore, however, that the sound of the fighting had reached the city streets.

All she could do, though, was rely on her Earth Pony endurance to carry the load forward. Thankfully, this route was more of a direct road. It led to the far wall, where the locals of the sector dwelled. While the tourists and visitors could expect hotels and spacious rooms, the workers could expect similar lodging to the rest of the mid-hive. That included the Ogryns, who are universally employed as laborers... and warriors.

Sunset tried to console herself and her weary bones by thinking about the bulwark she would arm, and the ruckus that would cause. She tried to ignore the bodies in the street, all Imperials. She could not ignore the shouts and the shooting, however. Nor could she miss that a few buildings had already been broken into, even in spite of the lowered shutters.

“Keep up!” Shouted Zipp.

They pressed on through the cacophony. Where were Astartes when you needed them? As they ran, Sunny’s mind couldn’t help but figure out the answer to her question. Well, first off; they weren’t here, so they must be elsewhere. Obviously. Most, if not all of them would be aboard their starships, including the Battle Barge Aurora Tripartite. With the Warp Storm, their first order of business would be to get their starships into low atmosphere, and to deploy strike teams to secure strategic assets... or so Sunset thought. Not that she would be picky about who, exactly, would be doing the rescuing here, mind anyone who asked.

She must emphatically be focusing right now, especially on those beady, glowing red eyes staring at her from the alleyway.

Sunny’s head turned. Her breath seized. She barely had a chance to see it. She reared up, her hooves swivelling her weapon around. The ratty form almost took up her whole vision. A gaze of hate. Oversized front teeth. Greasy gray fur. A hunchbacked stance. It was holding a crooked dagger and crude pistol. It opened its mouth to scream something profane...

But Sunny’s divine double-barrel silenced it first with a deafening blast. Sunny’s ears rang, as she cringed away, toppling the cart as she fell backwards. Nothing spilled out, for the container’s lid was shut. Sunny panted as she looked at the thing, now missing its legs and lower torso. Immediately, her squad converged on her.

“Woah-ho-ho!” Jollily hollered Touchdown. “First blood goes to the new blood!” He hovered his face over Sunny’s face, his enthusiasm returned as Sunny touched her face, her hoof coming away with the blood of that... thing. Tears ran down her face. She choked.

“Ah, shit!” Touchdown yelled. “Hey, Baker, help her up.” Sunny became surrounded as the colts hoisted her back onto her hooves and righted the two-wheeled cart. Sunny saw Zipp Storm walk up to her, Zipp’s blue eyes looked her up and down.

Zipp asked, curtly, “Not your blood?” Sunny shook her head. Sunny felt herself getting hit in the shoulder by Touchdown, which helped to shake her out of her trance. His stupid smile was... frustrating.

“I can see it in your eyes, Sunny,” Touchdown remarked, suddenly more sober. “Your first kill.”

Sunny’s manic eyes remained wide.

Touchdown smiled grimly. “It was just as rough for me, too.” He rubbed his neck with a hoof before meeting Sunny’s eyes again. “It does get easier, though. Freaky shit, but it does get easier.”

Sunny had only begun to ponder the significance of what he was saying when Tabby Baker ushered them onward, getting a nod from Zipp Storm.

“We should keep moving,” Tabby said with his gravelly voice. “If there’s something I’ve learned about the throne-damned enemies of ponies—” He shook his head, flapping his ears, and cleared his throat. “—enemies of the Imperium...” he cast a look at the fallen rodent...-ish... alien. “There’s never just fuck’n one of them.”

He cast his eyes about, as did everypony else there. They cast off again, every shadow and every corner promising to conceal an attacker.

Touchdown’s pale ears flicked, and he uttered, “Oh!” He swivelled his head back to Sunny with that cocky grin again. “That’s right! See, there’s an old tradition in the Imperial Guard! The first one to kill a hostile xeno is the one who gets to name it! Neat, huh?”

Sunny’s vision swam, and she struggled not to hurl. As they picked up speed again, though, her mind did start to wonder. It’s a verminous... thing. She was out of breath, however, and she only managed to say, “It’s... it’s uh, a verm—” and she paused, unsure if she should say “verminous” or just “vermin”.

After a moment, Touchdown looked back and grinned. “Vyrmm, huh? I can work with that. I’ll have to send that report up the chain, just like old times!”

“Solarch’s ass!” Tabby swore loudly. He growled, shaking the wide-brimmed hat on his head, “You’re not in the Guard anymore!”

That set off Zipp Storm too, and she screamed, “The both of you, shut the kark up! We’re almost to the labor district!”

True enough, the more aesthetically-pleasing buildings of Maretime’s more play-oriented district gave way to a more utilitarian, if still Imperial motif for a more work-oriented section of Maretime. That, at least, brought a smile to Sunny’s face.

It was then that the ancient loudhailers of the hive came to life again, the machine spirit nervous system making itself known even over the roar of gunfire.

“Attention: The Lord of Hassia will speak. Hark ye well.”

The battle immediately paused, the gunfire above continuing faintly. All listened. Then, Lord Edo Von Hassia addressed his subjects again.

“We have repulsed a second attack on the Palace!”

No surprise there, even if it was just as doomed as the first attack.

“My purpose in this announcement is to inform you of our emergency measures! Ahem.”

The voice bounced off distant metal walls, creating a distorting sound.

“I hereby declare martial law! All civilian representatives and appointees are ordered to organize with Hassia’s military at once!”

A pause. A deafening pause.

“In light of recent events, and by the blessing of the Hassian Princesses, I hereby take up the temporary title of Imperator Regent! This will allow me supreme authority over the Protectorate until such a time the crisis is ended!”

How long did they anticipate being cut off from Holy Terra? ...Did something happen to Holy Equestria, too?

“In response to multiple new and unprecedented alien and apostate threats, I also declare the activation of the Ultima Ratio Protocol!”

Numbly, Sunny and the others continued along, but at a more sedate pace. Sunny recalled that the Sheriff said something about that.

“The Imperial Prohibition regarding the use of Technology and Abominable Intelligence is hereby suspended!”

What... what did that mean? What sort of terrors did the Lord... the Imperator hold?

“The Imperial Prohibition regarding the use of alien and xeno artifacts and technology is suspended!”

Touchdown let out an awestruck “Ooh!” Sunny didn’t like his reaction one bit.

“The Imperial Prohibition regarding the use of unsanctioned magic and psyker abilities is suspended!”

Sunny couldn’t help but think of the bright green-eyed, black-haired pyromancer. Her evil voice crackled in Sunny's head.

“And finally, the Imperial Treatise Regarding the Practice of Ethical Warfare is suspended! All starship captains, commodores, and admirals are now free-fire upon enemy positions on the Hive Cities and beyond! All forms of warfare are no longer prohibited!”

No quarter. No mercy. No hesitation. No restraints.

“By our guns, by our swords! By our spirit, by our powers! By our faith and by our fury! I go now to annihilate the third wave coming upon the Palace! But I leave you now with my first command as Imperator Regent;

If they will not be our friends, then they will all die.

Kill them all.”

The speakers went silent, and a crowded roar thundered through the Hive. There was a bright explosion inside the space hulk and just about every single Imperial leveled and fired their weapon at the Hulk, or joined the charge at the invader, swinging their club, or their ax, or their shovel, or their sword, or their spear, or their knife.

Officer Zipp Storm, Deputy Sunny Starscout, and the penal troopers Touchdown and Tabby Baker ran up to a barricaded labor barracks. It was an oversized half-cylinder, with a pale green paint scheme, and an oversized, overbuilt, reinforced, and oft-repaired playground next to it. Zipp banged on the rolling door with a hoof. She shouted, hoarsely, “Open up in the name of the law!”

From inside, a scared, feminine voice. “The... Arbites?” Sunny unhooked herself from the cart and walked around to open it, keeping both eyes out for more of those vyrmm things. “No!” The voice then shouted. “Nobody’s home!” With the windows curtained, Sunny couldn’t see just who was inside.

“Maretime Graft Gang 11 is hereby deputized!” Shouted Zipp. The voice inside started to wail mournfully. Touchdown and Tabby stared at the back of Zipp’s head and fidgeted uncomfortably in their collars.

Zipp scoffed, and Sunny sighed. They were at an impasse.

Sunny stepped up, and asked, through the door, “Hey, my name’s Sunny Starscout. I’ve been... deputized, too. What’s your name?”

“I’m...” the voice sputtered and sniffed. “I’m... Misty Softwhisper... Careleader of Maretime Graft Gang 11.” She at least started to sound calmer.

Sunny noticed that Tabby looked at Touchdown with wide-eyed exasperation. He gestured with a pale brown hoof around, to the chaos happening all around. The gunshots. The violence. Touchdown just shrugged and laughed. Tabby facehooved.

Sunny heard more voices inside. Fainter. There were some big guys in there. Then, Sunny heard a new voice through the rolling door, which covered the entire entrance to the barracks. It was deep, rumbly, yet carried with it an aged naivete.

“Me am Grampaps,” the new voice spoke. “I also speak for Graft Gang. What is ‘dep-you-tizig’? Is it like job?”

“Yes!” Sunny shouted excitedly, before seeing Zipp narrow her own eyes annoyedly at her. She smiled sheepishly. “We have to go and fight the good fight!”

“Mm,” Grampaps rumbled through the door. “Sounds dangerous. Pay is good? Much rations?”

“Uh...” Sunny said, unsure. They were going back to square one.

It was then that Touchdown walked up to the door. In a loud voice, Touchdown shouted, “Come on out, guys! The Emperor says we have to stomp some bad guys flat now! We even brought some gear for you!”

Sunny narrowed her eyes in skepticism, but from behind the door, she could hear... the other ogryns agreeing?

“The Emperor said?” Said Grampaps behind the door. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Boys!”

“Oh, no...” moaned Misty as the door rolled up, oversized fists lifting the armored roller like it was made of plastic. She was a sea-green pegasus, with a dark blue braided mane and tail. She wore a similar work uniform to Sunny, which had Misty’s cutie mark; a trio of droplets. Grampaps, however, was a large, elderly ogryn, with broad shoulders, pale skin, a broad white beard, a white mohawk, and purple eyes. He wore a work suit, too, one with pockets and clips.

“Ah, hell!” Said Touchdown in awe. He almost seemed giddy enough to bounce on his tippy hooves. “You’re a Cadian! Been in any good wars, big guy?”

“Loads,” said Grampaps. “Can’t rightly ‘rember them all. Can’t count me medals ‘n scars.”

Other ogryns, equally large, moved past the three to grab at the slab shields and maces that the cart offered.

Grampaps looked around and opened his bearded maw in shock. “We’re at war again?!”

Zipp stormed off, all but leaving them in a fit.

Sunny raised a hoof to her head, and laughed quietly. Grampaps saw Sunny and the blood on her and fell to one knee. “Pony is hurt!” He exclaimed. He grabbed Misty in one of his hands, who “Eep!”-ed as she was held before Sunny.

Grampaps then asked Sunny, “Show me on cute careleader where you are hurt, little one.” Misty hid her face behind her hooves.

“Oh,” Sunny realized, before trying to rub some of the ichor off. “Not mine.”

“Good!” Shouted the ogryn. “Enemy bleeding good! Friends bleeding bad! Is basics of fighting!” He set down Misty, who flew off to help other ogryns gear up. “If friend bleed, squeeze wound! Stop bleeding! Am very good at squeezing!”

Sunny’s eyes flicked to his big hands.

“Friend bleed too much, they need to see scary, scaly cog-wizards! Give them metal bits! Not good!”

Tabby froze up and made a choked sound. Tears ran down his cheek. Grampaps noticed and added, “It will be okay, little cowpony! As long as your friend didn’t get hit in the head—!”

Tabby fell onto his rear end and fought to keep himself quiet.

“Oh, poop,” said the big man with a grimace.

“Pappy!” Shrilly shrieked Misty.

“Sorry!”

The sounds of fighting got closer. Sunny could hear... scurrying. The scraping of claws on roofs and concrete. Heavy breathing of ratty throats.

Touchdown shouted, “Contact! Vyrmm, front! Shields front and up!”

Misty added, “We’re.. we’re going to be like a turtle now, guys!”

The gang locked shields as the xenos attacked. Sunny leveled her shotgun at the crowd and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened! She swore to herself; she’d forgotten to reload! The other ponies of Sunny’s squad were firing their weapons, be it from the autopistols carried by Touchdown and Tabby, or Zipp Storm’s bolter pistol. By Twilight, that thing was loud. But by goodness, the power! A single shot was enough to mulch one of the rat-xenos attackers!

Something only her shotgun could match. Sunny took cover in the forming tortoise of shields and ogryns. She was very nearly overwhelmed; such a potent abhuman stink, being so close together like this! But Sunny had to focus.

Safety... on. Then, Sunny felt the action rotate underneath her left front hoof, and watched as the bright red shells leap from the breech. One shell into the left chamber, and another as its neighbor. Close the action. She blasted a vyrmm that got too close, the fireball issuing forth from the gaps between big, bulky, rectangular shields.

Release the action. Replace the shells. Re-engage. Blast another pair of Vyrmm into oblivion. Reload. Point. Shoot. Reload. Kill. Kill again. More shells. More killing. Ogryns above were being pelted by small arms fire. Xenos with guns. What didn’t get stopped by the shields, became graze-marks on exposed arms and shoulders. Sunny’s head jerked when a small stray shot struck her helmet. It held true. A rat stood on a neighboring roof with a crooked rifle. Sunny raised her hot weapon and shot it dead. She faintly registered that Misty screamed in terror. Sunny shivered, but not from fear.

Touchdown was right. This was getting easier.

Another pair of shotgun shells. Too many rats stood in a line, and they all got torn apart for it. Their ragged forms fell from holy buckshot. Those xenos bastards who got too close for guns were bashed in their heads and ratty bodies by Grampaps or another ogryn. Every dead alien was one step closer to a safe and free Maretime. A vyrmm slave, judging by its meager weapons and rags, got too close. Sunny kicked herself forward, angling her head. She felt bones crack underneath her helmet, sending the rat a good distance.

She roared alongside the ogryns and the other ponies. Even Misty joined in now, cheerleading as clubs met vyrmm faces.

Then, the Church Militia came. Zealous, brave, fearless. They swung big swords and axes, diving into the melee. Theirs was a hymnal of vengeance, a dirge for the honored dead, a psalm of bloody retribution. They wore modest clothing and carried sacred symbols of Holy Terra and of Holy Equestria. The Missionaries carried flamers, or else shouted on the fighters, reading from tomes their new sermon of destruction.

That broke the xenos will to fight. They were chased by the angry mob, who took every opportunity to shoot the retreating vermin in the back. They were shot by autoguns with curved magazines, other shotguns, even a few sidearms.

And in the middle of all that sight, sound, and smell of battle, there was one shout that stood out to Sunny. Something that would almost be etched onto her very core. A very blasphemous, yet fitting battlecry.

“Blood for the Princesses, Skulls for the Hassian Throne!”