My Little Space: Friendship is Dead

"Ma'am, you're online with Ms. Fluttershy."

"Thank you, sergeant."

"H-hello? Hm. Is this the right channel?"

"Hi, Fluttershy!"

"Vinyl? Is that you? It's so great to hear your voice!"

"Likewise! Anything up back at home?"

"Not really. Everypony in town is talking about your squad being deployed."

"I heard. I really miss you, Flutter."

"Me too. It's so hard for me to be away from you."

"Oh. We're almost at the Hydra. I'll call you later. I love you!"

"I love you too."

Then the screen turned off. Our pilot attempted to make contact with the UE Hydra for the hundredth time. We figured if there was somepony in there, they would pick up our signal by now.

"UE Hydra, this is Search Party, come in. Is anypony there?"

"Any answer?"

"No ma'am. Nothing but static."

"If nopony's there, why is the power still on? They're supposed to shut off the power if they ever needed to evacuate."

"Maybe they never got a chance?"

"It doesn't matter. We're landing anyway."

I pushed him aside and pushed the button on the communicator, letting my voice be heard.

"UE Hydra, this is Major General Vinyl Scratch. Respond."

"..."

"Very well, we are landing, with or without your permission. Prepare for our arrival."

I released the button and then told the pilot to land the ship. Everyone else was scanning the docks for anypony.

"There's nopony on the docks, Major. This is getting creepy."

"Pull yourself together, Frog. You call yourself a Planet Hopper?"

"Yes, sir."

As we landed, the sound of the engines echoed off the walls of the enormous loading bay. My team got on their armor, loaded their plasma cutters and checked them twice, applied the RIGS to our suits, then we all set off. Sonar, our radio expert, was in charge of all communication and detection throughout the mission. Bulk was our weapons expert, and Frog was second-in-command. Hawk eye was our pilot. He was in charge of protecting the ship as well, along with the piloting stuff, of course. Along with Lucky, Flesh, and Trigger.

Hawk eye dropped us off at different parts of the loading bay.

Sonar check his PMDD (Pony Movement Detection Device) and reported, "Spinner, I'm detecting movement in the main lobby, just past the door in Bay E4."

"Copy that. All units, meet up at Bay E4."

"Roger that."

"On my way."

After a while, everypony was at the door of Bay E4. We opened the door to find nothing. No pony was in the lobby, but there was something. There was suitcases all over the floor, most seemed like they were bashed open. There were occasional blood drops on the floor, but that was not something to be concerned about.

"Damn... Where did everypony go?"

"It looks like they left in a hurry."

"You guys see the blood on the floor, or am I just crazy?"

"Nah, you're not crazy. I see it too, but you are one fucked up pony, Bulk."

"Shut up."

"Bulk, Sonar. Zip it."

"Spinner, this is Lucky. I don't see anypony in lobby E3. And Flesh couldn't find anypony in E2 or E1. I have no idea where Trigger went."

"Find Trigger and tell him to meet us in the Cargo Hold, next to the Loading Bay."

"Copy, out."

"Alright everypony, let's head to the Cargo Hold."

"Why the Cargo Hold? Why not just go to the Bridge?"

"Because. If anypony is hiding from someone else, the Bridge would be the first place for them to check. The Cargo Hold is the last place anypony would guess to search in."

Just then, a loud alarm sounded off. Then there was a voice over the intercom.

"Hostiles have been spotted. Initiating Lockdown Sequence 1625."

All the doors slammed shut and the only source of light was our flashlights and a dull, red color coming from another source of light. Then, Trigger's voice came into my microphone.

"Spinner, this is Trigger. Sorry about earlier. Was checking the Repair Wing. Didn't find anypony though."

Then, Hawk eye came in.

"Spinner, there's door locking all over the ship!"

"We known, Hawk eye."

"I know what to do though. First, somepony needs to flip the emergency override switch. It should be in the receptionist's office behind you."

I looked behind me and saw the office. The door into the office was for some reason unlocked. Thank Celestia. I entered the room and found a switch on the wall. It was probably the emergency override switch. I switched it and all the lights came back on. A schematic of the ship appeared on the computer screen. The shape of the ship was all green, meaning the Lockdown Sequence was overridden. A door on the right side of the room opened and Lucky, Flesh, and Trigger entered the room.

"Hey, the door opened. Cool."

Hawk eye came on mic again.

"Good job, the ship is back to neutral mode."

But our victory was to be short lived.

"Spinner, I'm getting movement in Bay E4 again. They're in the air vents!"

Suddenly, something burst through the roof. It was a pony alright. But not like anypony I have ever seen. I had blades coming out of it's hooves, it's face looks as if it put it's head in a incinerator for hours, and it's stomach was cut wide open. It stabbed Flesh right through his back and dragged him back up the vent! He screamed in pain as he was quickly pulled from view.

"Holy shit! What was that!?"

"You think I would know!?"

My instincts kicked in and I ran after Flesh. Since they were in the air vents, the only way to follow them was by the noise, which wasn't exactly easy since the Hydra needs a lot of engines and contraptions to run it. Soon enough, I lost track. I contacted the rest of the team.

"Planet Hoppers, we lost Flesh."

"Copy that... What now?"

"We must find that... thing. There may be more than one."

"Uhh, you got that right, Spinner."

"Come again?"

"We got more of those things trying to get through the door! Lucky, Bulk! Cover the right entrance! Me and Frog got the left! Sonar! Get somepony on the line! We need to get the fuck out of here!"

"Roger that!"

Then the line went dead. I tried to reestablish contact. I did, but there was more static than words.

"They- through the door! - has been injured! - won't hold out much -! Shit!"

"What!? Say again!"

"..."

"Hawk eye! You still there!?"

"Yes sir! I got these things trying to get into the ship! I'm on the gun turrent, but the door won't hold forever! I need assistance!

"Negative! The E4 lobby has been compromised! I can't get past it! I have to find another way around!'

"Are you kidding me!? I'll be dead by the time you even find a way back!!"

"I don't appreciate that typ of negativity! Just hold out for as long as you can! I'll try and get to the bay through the other bay lobbies!"

"Just hurry!"

"I'm on my way!"