Starfall

I just created an entire species with customs, weapons, planets, and a mission.

I understand that a lot of this may be confusing, so any information that is not addressed in this chapter I beg you to ask so others can see it here and not run into the same confusion you did.

Let's begin.

Q: Why do the characters talk to each other in their reports when they simply could do it in real life?

A: Because the reports are intended for Starside Command, but the rest of the crew can still see them.  Think of it like an IRC chat.

Q: What/Who is Starside Command?

A: Starside Command is the fictional organization in this story that owns the means to supply and train 1,000+ crews for whatever missions they deem important.

Q: And what are the character's missions?

The characters are in Equestria to tranquilize species and have them categorized before sending them back to their home world as a museum exhibit.

Q: Why would they do that?

Homo Lacerta, the Latin name for the Crew's race (There's a clue in there for you readers), has a reputation for being their universe's 'Librarians'.  They travel to distant galaxies and bring back specimens for study and exhibition after archiving.

Think of them as the Forerunners from Halo, except there's no impending doom here.

The Lacerta simply do it to understand how life could have evolved on other planets by studying the inhabitants.

Q: So all of our favorite ponies are at risk of being taken against their will?!

A: No.  The Lacerta only take two specimens of each breed, race, or species that they deem the fittest in all forms of the word.

Keep in mind that there are many different types of ponies~

Q: Mal'Deen mentions something about weapons; but you just said they're only there to capture live specimens.

A: The crew has a few energy pistols, which will deliver lethal shots.  But who in their right mind wouldn't go into a strange new world without adequate protection?  As for tranquilizing, Needler Rifles (similar to the Needler Rifle from Halo) will deliver a tranquilizing crystal that is actually made up of....Crystallized tranquilizer fluid.  It dissolves once it reaches a melting point (the same temperature of the human body, or any other living creature for that matter.  How convenient!).

As for the Wrist-Crysts, they're self defense blades that are concealed in a tight, wide bracelet.  They're triggered with the touch of a button on the underside that produces a twelve-inch long, two-inch wide crystal blade.

Q: Speaking of the characters, I'm a bit confused by them.  Would you mind giving us a quick summary of the characters?

A: Captain Ragnok: He's the captain.  He's a semi strict guy, or lizard I should say.

Thalos: He's the Crew's engineer.  He's a pretty laid back lizard.  Think of him as a cool geek/nerd (is there a difference?).

Mal'Deen: He's the Crew's only trained soldier.  While the rest of the crew has training in self defense and small arms, Mal'Deen's the only guy authorized to wield the Needler Rifle.  He's somewhat headstrong, but when there's someone who can control/command him he knows his place.

Kal'Deen: The little sister of Mal'Deen.  She's the Crew's medic.  Kind and caring and pretty lax, but subject to dish out more damage when she's in her primal state like the rest of the females of her race.

Thile: She's the Crew's technician.  I'm pretty sure I'm using the wrong term, but she deals with all the high-tech stuff while Thalos just works with mechanics and the likes.  She has a misty past that might get revealed, and Kal'Deen looks like the best candidate to be her new friend since she's new to the team.

PAIDeC: Ah, my pride and joy.  Personalized Artificial Intelligence Defensive Engineered Companion, aka Sparky.  He's based off of 343 Guilty Spark (I'm just stealing everything from Halo, aren't I?) and is a little silver sphere that hovers.  He's about the size of your head and is chock-full of information.  In the end, he's just a companion that can think but has little emotion unless his diplomacy scripts are running..

Q: You mentioned something about Kal'Deens' "primal state".  What's that?

A: The Lacerta are a race of lizard beings based off of the Argonians (take THAT, Halo!) from The Elder Scrolls.  They come from a very hot and dangerous planet, and for most of their history they were warrior tribes.  The primal state happens only to females and is when they become so enraged that they lose control of themselves and just go apeshit on anything that moves.  Thank the Eight for tranquilizers!

Q: The Eight?  Thalos mentions something about that too.  Who/what are they?

A: They're like the Nine from The Elder Scrolls, except the Lacerta's gods are known not to exist; it's simply a moral code that they all follow out of honor.  The Eight stand for the six basic emotions (Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness and Surprise) along with Life and Death.

Q: Thile talks about coordinates.  How do we know where they are?

A:

Example: 8, 38 is the only point located on Canterlot's mountain peak.

Q: Whoa, whoa, whoa!  PAIDeC kind of loses his marbles there for a while!  How do I understand him?

A: I intended the reader to be forced to do a little research if they want to learn everything about the story.  Learning is fun, right?  When PAIDeC starts speaking in binary, what he says can easily be converted into proper English.  Just spend a few minutes on Google- the internet has everything nowadays.