Stardust Protocol

by HopeMetal

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Dark, Romance
Length: 8638

The world finds itself caught in a battle between the remnants of a dead race.

Equestria faces a new enemy. Not from itself or from it's depths, but from the farthest reaches of space. Can a new ally bring salvation, or has the time come for the end?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-06 18:47:07 UTC

Impact

Sirens blare. The hoofsteps of dozens of ponies wreck the midnight peace. In panic, the sleeping stallion bangs his head on the ceiling.

"For the love of..." The pony mumbles.

Sighing, he quickly jumps out of bed. The room he was in was somewhat tight, but it was the regular residential area for military use. A faint blue light dominates the room. On the other side of the room from the bed sits a rack. It is loaded with equipment. The stallion grabs the dark green suit and covers his tan coat. He grabs a nearby glass of water and splashes it on his head, he didn't have the time to freshen up. He then takes the helmet and pokes his head into it. The foul stench of sweat greets him.

With a press of a small button on the side of the helmet, he activates the visual system. The HUD in the visor of the helmet turns on, displaying the stallion's vital statistics. The sirens have already stopped. It seems that Officer Stronghoof will be late to the briefing... again...

The briefing room is a large space, with lines of chairs and a large screen in front of them. Most of the soldiers have already gathered, now they have to wait for the late ponies. The screen shows nothing much, except for a green grid with the United Equestria Corporation logo. It was a circle turning into a hexagon at the top. In the center there is the outline of a pony standing up on it's hind legs, with one forehoof brought closer to it's body with the other raised up. There are a pair of wings on the sides of the circle, and the words "United Equestria Corporation" on the bottom.

The military is a branch of the scientific research organization. These facilities belong to the Orbital Defense Division. It's task is to protect Equestria from threats coming from outer space. Since pony technology has reached such advanced levels, it has become obvious that a threat from space isn't just improbable, but, in fact, incredibly likely.

The captain of the ODD is Lieutenant 'Heavy'. Nopony knew his actual name, they just gave him this nickname for his brutal... 'style'. He stood in front of the briefing podium in front of the screen. The screen is located just above Heavy's head.

Stronghoof walks in through the open doors.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologizes.

Lieutenant Heavy sighs.

"Is everypony here?"

He looks around the room, counting the number of filled chairs.

"Right, then. Let's get started!" He exclaims.

Space is soundless. The sun shines eternally, resembling a great ball of fire. A stray rock hurdles through the airless void. As the asteroid enters the atmosphere, it is enveloped in fire. Small bits break off the falling meteor. In the end, it isn't small enough to burn up completely.

Larger bits break off the space rock, crashing into the forest, destroying trees. The meteor is reduced in size and crashes kicking up masses of dirt.

A military truck arrives, accompanied by three soldiers in robotic suits and several others. The suited ponies snuff out the small rockets in the hooves of their suits and come in for a landing. Officer Stronghoof, in his tan suit, lands in front of the other two.

"All right. We are going to load the meteorite into the truck now," he speaks through the com-link.

The lower ranked soldiers step down into the crater. With shovels, they dig out the area around the meteorite. Once they step out, the three suited ponies grab hold of the boulder from different sides and activate their hind rockets. Slowly, they lift the boulder out of the crater and load it into the truck.

And that goes there, the white unicorn thinks to himself while moving a small cable into place. He lifts his head up. His source of light is a small orb on three metal legs placed on the side of the workbench. The stallion levitates his tools down on the table. He brushes his dark blue mane off of his face with his hoof.

The rest of the room is lit with a dim blue light. In the center, there is a circular opening leading into a tunnel. At the bottom of which there is a spinning dynamo generating magical energy. The opening is surrounded by a railing.

The unicorn turns back to the doors sliding open.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to knock first?" He asks jokingly.

"And didn't your mother ever tell you never to question a soldier?" Stronghoof replies whilst smiling.

They share a laugh , "So, you got the meteorite?" The unicorn asks.

"You bet we did."

The tan stallion gestures the two lower ranked soldiers, who are standing next to the doors. They push a rectangular container, with the recovered meteorite sitting in it, into the room. The unicorn examines it.

"Right, then. I'll begin the examination, you can leave it by the wall over there," he tells the soldiers.

After the soldiers left the room, the stallion walks up to his workbench. He opens a panel on the wall and presses a button. A mechanism activates and the wall in front of the workbench opens, then the workbench slides into the opening before the wall closes.

On the same panel, the unicorn presses another button and closes the panel. A large rectangular portion of the ceiling begins to lower. A large device slowly comes into view. With many cables, screens and panels, the contraption finishes it's descent with a loud bang. The unicorn stands onto the lowered platform and presses multiple switches and buttons. The device powers up and the screens turn on. The stallion presses a button on the top of the device to turn on the lights of the contraption.

"No, I can't allow that. Not after what happened last time. I won't greenlight another project like this until you prove it's safe. Understood?" The earth pony drops the comlink connection and, sighing, returns to his paperwork.

The pony sitting behind the desk in the office is United Equestria Corporation founder and administrator Alpha. The brown coated stallion was responsible for any projects in every branch of the organization. He gets the final say on what is continued or terminated. That, however, is usually up for debate between the leaders of the respective branches.

Hoofsteps break the sound of pen on paper. The white unicorn returned with the results of the examination and dropped them in front of Alpha.

File #228648

Meteorite Examination #257

Alpha opens the file and looks through it, "Take me to this meteorite, I want to see it," he asks the unicorn.

The earth pony stares into the viewing lens of the microscope.

"This micro-organism is showing signs of rapid multiplication, it appears to be forming into a larger organism," the unicorn comments.

Alpha stared into the microscope for a moment, before finally moving his head away and turning to the unicorn, "We'll move it into the genetics lab for further examination," he declares.

"Sir. We don't know what we're dealing with. All we know, is that it may be dangerous. We may be condemning all of Equestria," The unicorn arguments against Alpha's decision.

The earth pony pauses to think for a moment...

"This is up for debate, you know that, but we must act quickly. If we don't contain this micro-organism, the consequences may be worse," Alpha stays firm with his plans, "If it pleases your paranoia, we'll put it under high security."

"I guess I have no choice then," the unicorn pauses for consideration, "All right then."

"Good to have you on the team, Strange," Alpha pats the unicorn on the back.

The stallion stared into the stars beyond the ceiling of the dome. He sat on a bench with his hooves in the grass. Random patches of flowers littered the park. Small trees surrounding a circular area of bare dirt, with paths branching off in eight directions around it.

Stronghoof sighed lightly. He was away from his family and most of his friends. Only the fellow soldiers to keep him company. Overall, he felt lonely. New Canterlot City, the starport, was not his true home.

Hoofsteps were heard, coming from the edge of the park. They approached the bench, on which the stallion was sitting. A pale orange mare with a mane resembling fire in color walked up to him. Beside her, a dark blue pegasus with a smooth cyan mane.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you," the mare speaks, "Cobalt found me running all over the place and asked me what I was doing. And he wanted in."

"A race?" Stronghoof asked with confidence.

The mare nodded, "Even though you're going to win anyway. With Gearbreaker and all that. I've made some modifications to Flameblitz that I'd like to show off, too."

"It's a race, then!" Stronghoof jumped up from the bench and onto his hooves...

The Race

The machine roared as it floated above the floor. It had a long body with long fins, tipped with red lights, attached to it's back. A dark, black glass covering shielded the glowing engine as it spun rapidly. Stronghoof stood on the flat area in the middle, with his hooves on the controls.

The red and orange Flameblitz, belonging to the orange mare, Fireburst, floated on the right side of Gearbreaker. It was short on the front and long on the back. The extra long fins protruding from the front and angled backwards gave it a comet-like look.

Cobalt Wing, on Wingdust, floated on the left. It resembled an elongated sphere, with it's cabin composed of white cables and a flat base.

The hangar doors opened, revealing a long runway. All three machines roared as they sped off towards the horizon. Gearbreaker, which got it's name for 'being so fast, it breaks the gears', obviously, took the lead, leaving Flameblitz and Wingdust competing for second.

The genetics lab had a different atmosphere than the higher levels. Instead of white and gray with a blue light, it was black and green. The high security sector was located on the lowest level of the facilities.

The unicorn Strange and the earth pony Alpha watched from above, behind a railing, whilst wearing hazmat suits, as the ponies working below finished the moving procedure. The containment tube was filled with a clear liquid.

With the moving procedure completed, Alpha turned around to look at the screens above.

The race had moved deeper into the city. The ponies on the sidewalks watched the three machines speed through the streets.

New Canterlot City, the spaceport, was a lively place. Everyday, there were ships departing and arriving. Mostly exploring the solar system and exchanging cargo between the multiple outposts connecting to the ground below. The city itself was a collection of domes and structures spread across multiple floors. Most ships have multiple decks, so the actual spaceport sections were somewhere in the middle.

New Canterlot City was also home to the United Equestria Corporation HQ and the ODD's facilities.

Wingdust had already been left in the... dust. Gearbreaker and Flameblitz now competed for who will be the winner. A lap around the city - that was the race. Whoever finishes first, wins.

Both machines were at a stalemate. Flameblitz, then Gearbreaker. Gearbreaker, then Flameblitz. Whoever was going to win, this was gonna be close.

She wasn't kidding when she said 'modifications', Stronghoof thought to himself, noting the stalemate. If he wanted to win, he would have to push it. And you bet he did.

This was typical of him, always pushing himself, trying to find his ultimate limit. Where he couldn't push it anymore, if he tried, he would hurt himself. Gearbreaker made an unusual sound, like something jammed. Stronghoof looked at the console. Something was jamming. It was the dynamo, the engine. It spun so fast, it started wearing down.

Gearbreaker might actually break her gears.

Strange leaned back into the office chair, looking into the large monitor on the wall. He moved his hoof to the armrest and pressed a button to change the view. He didn't notice how Alpha came into the meeting room and sat into the chair beside him.

"What happened, Strange?" He spoke, "You're not the fun loving, eccentric stallion I remember anymore."

The unicorn didn't respond.

"Do you remember how I got you out of that boring librarian job?"

Strange turned his chair around, "I'm uneasy. I'm concerned about my findings in the examination."

"You're just being paranoid."

Strange looked at Alpha with uncertainty, pondering about what he should say. The truth was, that he didn't trust Alpha's decision as much as he believed.

"I just... don't know anymore," he replied worriedly and turned his chair back round to face the screen.

He pressed the button a few more times, when it turned to the race which was going on at the moment. Strange watched thoughtfully for a few moments before jumping out of his chair unexpectedly.

"Is he mad?! I keep telling him Gearbreaker is too fast for her own good!"

Strange rushed out of the meeting room into the hallway and sped towards the exit. A pony was getting ready to ask him something, but Strange whizzed past her, not letting her finish.

Gearbreaker's engine rumbled without rhythm as she left Flameblitz in the dust. Stronghoof's victory was at hand when, suddenly, a crack was heard and the engine's rumbling started to die down until it stopped all together. Gearbreaker slowed to a halt and dropped the inches it was floating above the ground.

Stronghoof slowly stepped off the machine and put his hoof on the warm glass, covering the engine.

"Sorry, girl. I pushed you too hard," he whispered quietly as he watched Fireburst pull over behind Gearbreaker.

The mare jumped off of her machine, "What happened?"

"I pushed it too hard this time," Stronghoof replied calmly, "You weren't kidding about the 'modifications'."

The stallion looked down to the ground as Fireburst came closer and put her hoof around his neck onto his shoulder. The mare pushed his head up to face her.

"So Gearbreaker broke, not such a big deal. You can't win them all, remember?" She spoke sympathetically, before bringing her head closer.

Stronghoof pulled his head away and took Fireburst's hoof off his shoulder silently.

A dark blue blur appeared in the distance, floating closer. It continued to get bigger until the shape of wings were visible. Slowly, Cobalt Wing came into view, flying towards them. The pegasus decreased altitude and dropped on his hooves a few meters away from the two earth ponies and walked closer.

"So I've been thinking about renaming Wingdust," He said with a smirk.

The two earth ponies couldn't help but laugh at Cobalt Wing's predicament. The pegasus joined in until the laughter was interrupted by the humming of an engine. He turned around to see who was coming. He squinted into the distance and made out a floating shape. As it got closer, the pegasus could make out the details.

It was a long, hexagonal platform with two red pods on the sides. Three more pods protruded from the front in a trident pattern. A large pod on the back housed the engine. On the machine, a white unicorn stood, with his hooves on the large console.

"Uh. You might be in trouble, Stronghoof," The pegasus spoke as the other machine came to a halt.

The stallion, which piloted the machine, "I kept telling you, but you never listen, do you?" He said to Stronghoof.

Stronghoof nodded slowly, "Come on guys, let's get Gearbreaker out of here."

Stronghoof looked down onto a console. Gearbreaker's schematics were loaded at the moment, while she was having her damages scanned.

"So, how does it look?" A bored Stronghoof asked.

Strange sighed.

"Well... You only managed to break the engine..."

"So, no pro..." The stallion started a sentence but was interrupted.

"But that engine is a complicated magical mechanism, it'll take weeks for me to repair."

"Great," Stronghoof replied sarcastically and moved over to a chair to sit on.

"But don't worry, I wont tell Hea..."

"STRONGHOOF!!!" A deep, booming voice interrupted as Heavy barged in through the door.

"Crap," Strange managed to mutter.

"YOU'RE GONNA GIVE ME A HUNDRED LAPS ROUND THE TRAINING COURSE!"

"But, sir. I..." Stronghoof attempted to dodge the workout bullet.

"NO BUTS, SOLDIER! NOW!"

In the lowest level of the city, the genetics lab remained silent. Rows of containment tubes filled the room, some rested on the ground, some were embedded into the floor, while some were suspended from the ceiling.

The tube holding the organism recovered from the meteorite was ominously empty. It was filled with a clear liquid just a few hours ago, but, now, it was gone.

Suddenly, the glass of the tube began to crack. Slowly, the crack became large enough for the creature to escape. A transparent blue goo dripped out of the crack. It stretched onto the ground and squirmed out of the crack entirely.

It begins.

Tidings

The blob crept across the cold, metal floor as it surveyed it's surroundings. It watched the glowing entryways to the containment chambers, each positioned a generous distance apart from each other, pass by. Four long protrusions extended from the central mass and positioned themselves behind it. The blob took the form of a snake slithering across the floor. It seemed to grow with every inch, it's protrusions lengthening ever so slowly.

The mass crept into a crossroad in the corridor, whilst a pair of guards patrolled it. The guards stopped from shock of the sight. The blob had changed shape... into a pony. A transparent blue mass surrounded by a thick, white membrane. A crystal-like horn protruded from the center of it's forehead The protrusions had morphed into long tentacles, capped with thin, wide fins, and twitched and floated around randomly. The equine shape managed to control it's extra appendages into a stop and they dropped behind it.

The creature stared into the glass viewing window of the white cell within which it resided. It's stare was emotionless yet unsettling. It seemed as if it contemplated the demise of it's watchers, but, at the same time, mourned their impending doom.

Behind the glass, Strange stared back with as little emotion as he could muster, as if he feared the thing could read his own thoughts. He turned around to the lab coated unicorn beside him.

"So, any idea what this thing is?"

She shook her head, "We only know that it escaped from Containment Chamber #12-7."

That's where the organism from the meteorite was being held, Strange thought to himself. He thought something like this may happen, but was glad it didn't grow to this size in his own lab, especially not under his microscope.

Strange stared directly into the eyes of his 'friend' with apathy.

Why am I the one who has to do this?

"So. How is your stay so far?" Strange asked casually.

Staring...

"I'm sure you must miss your family, being so far away from them."

Staring...

"I hope they're not worrying about you too much." He was starting to lose his patience.

Staring...

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, his voice brewing with anger which he tried to control.

"Water." It muttered.

"Huh?"

"Water." It repeated, this time, with more volume.

Strange cut the top of the water jug clean off with the small mana blade he had summoned, before the blade faded out of existence. The creature stuck it's tongue out, a long, squirming tentacle, and let it slither into the water. It's tongue began a wave-like motion across itself, sucking up the water.

The water it drank gushed into it's transparent body, swirling around before coursing through it's limbs and dissipating. The creature drank the entire jug dry without even moving it's head down, so it's eyes could continue their stare into Strange's soul. It moved it's hoof up slowly and gently knocked the jug away... into the unicorn's face.

Strange fell to his back, "Hey!" He exclaimed.

The creature did not answer. Instead, it looked into it's hoof with curiosity, as if it had never used any sort of limbs other than it's wing-tentacles.

"Oh..." Strange apologized whilst returning to a sitting position, "Will you talk now?"

The creature looked up and nodded, before beginning it's long speech.

"My name is Haven." A voice similar to that of Strange's escaped it's mouth. "I bring tidings of doom. You see, my people, who have reached the pinnacle of evolution, wished to ascend into much higher levels. Unfortunately, no one could predict our fate." It moved one of it's tentacles to touch the unicorn's forehead and their minds melded into a single consciousness.

Strange found himself floating in a boundless void, surrounded by voices and darkness. Before him, a massive sphere hung in nothingness.

"This, is what was born from this desire, G.E.N.E.S.I.S." Haven's voice echoed through the unicorn's mind. "We thought it would allow us to reach our goal, but instead, it was our doom. What we had started devoured us all, it took away our will and made it it's own. The more life forms it absorbs, the stronger it becomes. For ages, I have attempted to stop it, but I have failed time and time again, only to witness the demise of another species at the hands of this abomination. And it's coming for you next."

Everything went black.

Strange's vision returned to him in a flash and the first thing he saw was Haven on the floor, his eyes closed. A pair of guards held him down.

"What happened?" The confused and dazzled unicorn inquired.

"That thing did something to you, we need to make sure it didn't inject anything." The lab coated mare replied.

"It... Was a warning." Strange spoke whilst staring at the creature, lying on the floor.

"Of course." The mare replied sarcastically.

If what he said is true, then why haven't we seen anything coming?

"Fine. I'll let myself be examined." The unicorn stood up.

Stronghoof walked down the hallway, soaked in sweat, breathing heavily. A hundred laps. A hundred laps, around a fully equipped obstacle course. He was mad. Mad at himself for letting his attitude trash Gearbreaker's engine. Mad at his personality for getting him in trouble with his boss.

He stopped in front of the door to his cell. A welcome sight greeted him, his anger dissipated the instant he saw her. He smiled at the mare sitting on the side of his bed. Flameburst stood up.

"I came here to say I'm sorry." She spoke with guilt.

"It's... Fine." Stronghoof replied.

"No. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for getting you in trouble." She pressed on.

Stronghoof walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault. I'm the one responsible for all of this. Frankly, I deserved the punishment."

"Nopony should ever go through any punishment Heavy dishes out." She replied sympathetically.

"True. But at least my ordeal is over now." He finished then rolled into his bed and puffed the pillow before putting his head down. "I'll be fine."

Flameburst brushed his mane aside before shaking her head.

What are you thinking? If somepony finds out, we'll both be put off duty, She thought to herself before walking out to the long corridor and making her way to her own cell...

If he's right, then we should have found something by now. Strange thought to himself as he listened to the relaxing beep of the consoles. To him, it was music. The music of astronomy, how he called it. He was determined to find out if Haven's warning was true, even if it would take him all night long. He sat back in his seat with boredom as he listened to the music of astronomy. He had set the telescope to a continuous mapping of the sky until he would find something.

New Canterlot Observatory was the place to go for a pony with such a task. At this time of day, nopony would be doing anything here. And, since Strange had the key, nopony could interrupt him. The consoles beeped long into the night. After a couple of hours of boredom, Strange paused the telescope. He decided to look at the pictures it took during it's run time. He placed his hoof on the touch-console and brought up the pictures.

That can't be right. He though to himself as he stared into the big, white dot on the image. It was tinted red, indicating that it was coming towards the telescope. What was odd, is that it wasn't there a few images ago. Something that big would have been picked up a long time ago already. You don't usually see a rogue planet hurdling through the sky. Something was up. Haven was right. G.E.N.E.S.I.S. was coming.

Genesis

G.E.N.E.S.I.S. moved through nothingness towards it's prey. The massive sphere featured a pair of wide, glowing, purple slits, which stared endlessly at it's destination. Within it's depths, the core lied ominously. Stiff cords protruded from numerous angles, holding it in place. The large sphere, that was the core, was locked by a column, running through it's center. Lights flickered and pulsated from everywhere.

None shall be left, all will be consumed, thousands of voices, the voice of the core, chanted in unison.

Their minds will be ours, their power shall be devoured

Their will shall fall, our strength will prevail

Strange opened his eyes with a scream. Slowly returning to his senses, he looked around the room; it was the same as he had left it that evening. The room with white walls tinted blue from the light greeted his vision. The only noise, other than the unicorn's heavy breathing, was the humming of the generator in the center.

The unicorn pulled his bed covers away and stood to his hooves.

That couldn't have been just a dream, he thought to himself.

He made his way to his desk and stared down, thinking about what he should do. After a moment of thinking, he moved his left forehoof to the edge of the screen, which hung above the desk, to turn on the com-link. He moved his free hoof to the touch panel on the right of the desk and tried contacting Alpha.

A moment of silence followed. Then, a beep and a voice sounded from the other end:

"This better be important, that you're calling me in the middle of the night."

"We have a situation."

Stronghoof snored quietly in his bed. He had been dreaming of tormenting Lieutenant Heavy with a thousand laps of the obstacle course, to which he had been submitted earlier. Unfortunately, before he could completely enjoy his dream, the com-link rang.

"BUCK! Not again," he complained to himself about hitting his head on the ceiling again.

Groaning, he got out of the bed and answered the com-link:

"I hope you're happy. You made me hit my head on the ceiling. What do you want?"

Alpha's voice, on the other side of the com-link, explained the situation.

"Okay. I'm on my way."

The stallion dropped the link and pulled the usual, green, jacket out from the rack, along with his helmet. He looked around the gray room with a blue light, before running out into the hallway.

He galloped down the hallway in a rush, the sound of his hooves banging into the metal floor echoed through the dimness. Fireburst, who had been roused from her sleep by the noise, peeked her head, with a disheveled mane, out of her cell.

"What's going on? Why are you out of bed?" She inquired drowsily.

"I was summoned by Alpha."

"The Big Boss? Why?"

"It's urgent," Stronghoof finished and galloped away.

"Be careful!"

Stronghoof slowed his pace as he approached the double doors to the meeting room. Talking emanated from behind the metal panels. The stallion stopped altogether several inches from the doors. He took a breath and pushed on the door; it slowly moved open without a single noise. He closed the door just as slowly and quietly, nopony acknowledged his entry until he sat down in a chair, placed his helmet in front of him and spoke:

"So, what's happening?" As he finished the question, he noticed somepony standing next to him, "And whose that pony?"

"You know that meteorite you recovered?" Strange asked.

"Yeah."

"That... 'pony' was in it."

Stronghoof stared back with disbelief. The creature in question was at least four times as big as the meteorite, yet it had hitched a ride on it. He turned to the creature and looked it down from hoof to head.

"Seriously?" He asked.

No answer. Strange looked at Alpha, who sat in the chair opposite the table. Then shifted his gaze back to the pony he had spoken to before.

"We don't have time for this."

Stronghoof nodded, "So, why do you need me?"

"It's a little hard to believe," Alpha replied, "Show him."

Strange nodded and placed his hoof on the table, then slid it across the table towards Stronghoof. An image on the table sled towards the stallion and he stopped it with his hoof. He began sifting through the images as Strange explained:

"I took these pictures earlier this evening at the observatory."

Stronghoof stared at the images, before slowly looking up to face Strange. An expression of shock decorated his face.

"What is this?"

Strange looked at the creature which stood next to Stronghoof, "Tell him."

Stronghoof looked at the creature again.

"Doom," is the only word that was said.

"It's G.E.N.E.S.I.S." Strange explained further.

"GENetically. Engineered. Simulative. Inter-dimensional. System." Haven added.

"Sound like a big fat clusterbuck," Stronghoof commented.

"Exactly," Strange nodded, "It is a cluster."

"A collective consciousness, to be precise," Haven explained.

Stronghoof looked back to the images.

"That thing's as big as a moon."

"That's not everything," Strange replied, "Take a look at this."

With his hoof, the unicorn pushed a graph over to Stronghoof.

"It's mana field strength."

"Impressive."

"That's an understatement. According to this graph, it's more powerful than both Princesses combined."

Stronghoof was left absolutely speechless by the concept.

"What about-"

"Exact amount," Strange stated, as if he had read Stronghoof's mind.

"Damn," Stronghoof whispered to himself.

"This is what happens when you've had ages to absorb the energy of thousands of species," Haven stated flatly.

"What are going to do about it?"

"One of it's distinct features - the inter-dimensional bit - is also it's weakness," Strange explained.

"Yes. We will need to obtain one of it's Dimensional Cores," Haven continued.

"You two seem to have a habit of continuing each other's thoughts," Stronghoof interrupted.

"Indeed," Alpha noted.

"That's where you come in," Strange continued his train of thought, ignoring the comments, "You need to get inside that thing and get it for us."

"Why me?"

"Because, you're one of our best officers. You have a record of unprecedented loyalty. You always get the job done and you do it quickly," Alpha explained.

"Runs in the family, I guess. All right, I'm in."

Stronghoof pressed buttons on the dashboard with the metal hooves of his suit. A voice sounded through the com-link:

"Now check the navigational systems."

"Navigational systems nominal."

"Engine status."

"Engine on standby."

"Pre-launch diagnosis complete. All systems nominal. Prepare for launch. Over and out."

Stronghoof leaned back into his seat and strapped in. Then turned to his companion.

10...

"So. What's the plan?"

9...

"Get inside, get the core, then get out."

8...

"What if they notice us?"

7...

"As long as I'm in here, that won't be a problem. But when we get the core, we'll have a real fight on our hands."

6...

"Right."

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

The ship rumbled as it's engines powered up. They began to glow blue and grew progressively brighter. Stronghoof stared into the vastness of space through his visor and the windshield, and there it was; G.E.N.E.S.I.S floated in the void, staring back with it's purple 'eyes', seemingly mocking the stallion. The ship slowly moved out into the emptiness, getting progressively faster. Cables and tubes detached from the hull and were pulled back.

Slowly, the massiveness that was G.E.N.E.S.I.S seemed to grow larger as the ship approached it. It's curvature flattened out as the ship neared the surface. Haven's crystalline horn began to glow white from within. A port hole opened slowly. When the ship flew inside, it closed, leaving them in the darkness. Stronghoof pressed a button to turn on the headlights. He steered the ship through the dark tunnel and into a huge, much darker space.

G.E.N.E.S.I.S. seemed to sense the presence of them as the space began to light up.

"Sweet mother of Celestia."

Inbound

The central core was downright huge. A massive column held the energetic sphere suspended in the center of the chamber. Cords, cables and wires were plugged into the core and twisted around the column. Blue energy coursed out of the core and across the surface of the column, to the walls of the space and into the tunnels providing access to the central core's massive chamber.

Stronghoof stared with awe at the massiveness of the core. The sheer amount of energy it produced was obvious, as electricity arced around the inside of the orb. Haven pulled him out of his trance:

"Impressive, isn't it?"

"That's an understatement," Stronghoof replied, his eyes never moving away from the core, "So where are those Dimensional Cores?"

"There," Haven pointed his hoof at one of six energetic prisms floating atop magically suspended platforms. Blue beams of energy emanated from the prisms and shone into the core.

Stronghoof shifted his gaze to the blue prism, "Couldn't we just destroy the central core?"

Haven shook his head, "No. They would reformulate the entire structure to repair any damage done. We need to destroy all, or most of them."

"Right," Stronghoof nodded, "How are we going to-"

His words were interrupted by Haven floating outside the ship, his wing-tentacles flowed around his body. Haven flew towards one of the cores, whilst Stronghoof maneuvered the ship closer to him. The creature landed onto the platform and moved his tentacles to hover over the prism. With a short burst of white light, the prism deactivated; it turned gray and the beam connecting it with the core broke. The magical suspension of the platform also failed and it plummeted to the floor of the chamber.

Haven fell with the platform. Quickly, he held the prism in his mana field; a white, inner glow on his horn and sparkles around the object. The sound of the platform making contact with the floor echoed through the chamber. Growls, rattles and buzzes acknowledged the vibrations caused by the impact.

"They're coming," Haven whispered, whilst shifting his gaze between the largest tunnels.

White shapes emerged from the darkness, steadily increasing in numbers until a whole swarm filled the chamber. One by one, they lunged at Haven. Blue streaks emanated from their wings, which were attached to their frontal claws. Haven dodged the first few attackers, then hurried back to the ship.

The shapes shifted their gaze towards the ship and then lunged towards it.

"Come on, Haven..." Stronghoof whispered.

The airlock opened and Haven returned to his seat.

"Strap in," Stronghoof spoke before slamming his hoof into the accelerator and being pushed back into his seat.

The ship sped into the group of shapes, splitting it up. The individual shapes were thrown back towards the walls of the chamber, but quickly recovered and continued their assault. The ship hurdled towards the core, but Stronghoof managed to steer out of the way before it was too late. The few shapes that didn't react fast enough, though, crashed into the core and disintegrated with a white flash.

A few didn't hit the core, but missed the ship. Whilst some predicted Stronghoof's move and latched onto the ship's hull. The ship shook as the shapes clawed at the metal. Stronghoof attempted to shake them off, but their claws were stuck deep into the plating.

"I can't get them off," Stronghoof turned to Haven, "Can you take control of the ship?"

"I will try."

With that, Stronghoof unstrapped himself from his seat, then leaped towards the airlock, letting himself float towards it. Haven floated out of his seat and into the pilot's. He placed his tentacles onto the controls. The ship was affected immediately and shook. Stronghoof slammed into the airlock's door, but quickly recovered from the impact.

"Careful," he cautioned Haven.

He opened the airlock's door and floated inside, before closing it. The airlock was rather cramped, but it could fit two fully grown ponies. Stronghoof placed his hoof on the touch panel; the air inside the airlock began venting. Moments later, a beep was heard, signifying that the airlock has finished depressurising. The outer door opened, allowing the stallion to exit the shuttle.

Stronghoof floated out of the airlock and used his suit's hoof-rockets to balance himself out. He made his way to the top of the ship, where the shapes had latched on. The ship swayed as Haven struggled to keep it steady.

"If only I had claws," Stronghoof remarked, "Let's see if the mana blades work, though."

He lifted his right forehoof. There, near the edge of the hoof, was a small elevation. Before long, a transparent, blue blade came out of it.

"Strange, you never cease to amaze me. All right, female dogs, let's do this," Stronghoof taunted, before lunging into the shapes.

He used the suit's hoof-rockets for a boost, as he pointed his blade forward. It cut into and through the head of one of the shapes. Blood trickled out of the cut on both sides. Stronghoof pulled his blade out then kicked the shape off the unsteady ship and watched it float away, dead. Then, he looked at the other shapes.

"Damn, I'm gonna need some extra help," he remarked and activated his other hoof-mounted blade, before lunging at the shapes in the same manner as before, using his hoof-rockets for a boost.

The blades cut through the shapes with ease, sending blood floating in their wake. Some of the blood found it's way on Stronghoof's suit and the tan metal gained red stains. He balanced himself with his hoof-rockets, leaving burn marks on the plating of the ship, to survey the damage; nothing too serious, thankfully. He looked up at the advancing swarm.

"I should have brought weapon attachments," he whispered to himself, looking at the gray attachment rails on his suit.

He contacted Haven inside the ship via the com-link in his suit's helmet:

"We need to get out of here. Over," with that, he dropped the connection and made his way to the airlock.

The shapes chased the ship through the dark tunnel as it tried to escape. Stronghoof remained focused with his flying. Haven's horn obtained it's signature inner glow and, a moment later, an escape port began opening in front of them.

"Come on. Come on," Stronghoof whispered as if he attempted to coax the hole to open faster, whilst the ship strayed dangerously close to the wall.

The port opened just enough for the ship to get out. Quickly, Haven dropped his concentration and let the hole close. A group of shapes managed to get out, but a few weren't so lucky; they were crushed by the closing port.

The shapes changed tactics; they began firing balls of plasma at the ship from their mouths.

"They can shoot plasma, too?!" Stronghoof exclaimed as he watched the blue fireballs pass by.

A shot hit the airlock door; the ship shook violently, followed by a warning beeping.

"This is not good," Stronghoof said as he looked over the instruments; the navigational systems were damaged and the engines were losing power.

Stronghoof prepared for the inevitable, as the ship strayed ever so closely to the surface. The shapes latched onto the hull once again. Stronghoof pressed a button on the panel in front of him and opened a com-link recording channel.

"What are you doing?" Haven inquired curiously.

"Saying my goodbyes, just in case," Stronghoof responded and turned to watch the planet grow as the ship approached it, "I have been told family comes first, so to my parents: I love you and thank you for everything you've done for me. To my teammates in the Orbital Defense Division: Cobalt Wing, I've always enjoyed your company. Be it on duty, or on break. You've always made the day worth it. To Strange: Your inventions never cease to amaze me. Take good care of Gearbreaker, I'm leaving her to you."

The ship neared high orbit.

"To Lieutenant Heavy: We may have our differences, but you're the best captain the ODD could ever wish for. I wouldn't have it any other way. And, finally, Fireburst," Stronghoof's heart skipped a beat when he mentioned her name, "I love you. Stronghoof out."

The recording ended.

"Do you really mean those things?" Haven asked.

"Yes. Every last word," Stronghoof responded without shifting his gaze.

The planet's gravity soon took over and pulled the ship towards the surface.

"Your people have some interesting traditions," Haven commented.

"Eeyup."

Were the last words, before the ship was engulfed in flames...

"Hold on."

Reflex

The news of Stronghoof's crash spread fast; in about five hours, all of the ODD knew of what had happened. It was only a matter of time before the news spreads all over New Canterlot City, and then the rest of Equestria. The search for the crash site had already begun. So far, defeat seems imminent; the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. will begin its invasion soon.

Fireburst hid in her cell after the news had reached her. Her face was buried in the pillow, soaking up her tears. Everything was silent, apart from the quiet sobbing. Everypony believed he was dead, so why wouldn't she? Of course, this was not the case.

There was a knock on the door:

"Fire, you okay in there?" Cobalt Wing's voice sounded from behind the door.

"Go away. I don't want you to see me like this."

"I only want to help you," he replied and forced his way inside, closing the door behind him. Fireburst covered her head with the pillow. Cobalt Wing sat on his haunches in front of the bed.

He moved his hoof over the pillow and pulled it away; the mare hiding under it had her mane disheveled.

"Look at me, soldier," he ordered.

She complied and rolled onto her back. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, and a tear rested near them. Cobalt Wing wiped it off with his hoof.

"It's about Stronghoof. He's dead," the mare spoke.

"He would have survived, I know it," Cobalt Wing responded, "You know that too."

"Maybe..." Fireburst pondered, "But I'm still worried."

The stallion sighed, "Get up."

Fireburst complied and was met with a hug.

"I'm there for you, remember that," he spoke as Fireburst wrapped her hooves around his neck, "Now stop crying, I have no idea what Heavy would do if he found out one of his officers cried over unconfirmed rumors, but it's not going to be pretty."

"I know," she whispered.

Strange tinkered with Gearbreaker's engine in the repair bay. The old engine had been removed, and rested behind the machine. Several cables lied on the bottom plate of the engine chamber, which rested under it. The dark cover had also been removed, and rested next to the removed engine.

"Now for the new engine," he thought out loud. He figured he could just cannibalize another machine's engine, instead of repairing the damaged one. It would save valuable time.

Strange didn't even acknowledge the hoofsteps which were nearing him. The sound of hooves on metal echoed through the room. It was Alpha.

"Still tinkering around, I see," he commented.

"Uh-huh," Strange responded, without pausing his work. He rolled the new engine closer to Gearbreaker.

"I thought you said it would take you a few weeks to repair that engine."

"Well, I've decided to instead cannibalize the engine of another machine," Strange rose to his haunches, "So I just took the engine out of mine. Gearbreaker won't be as fast as she used to be, but at least she'll be up and running again."

"You heard the news, right?"

"About the crash? I'm not too worried about that," the unicorn responded, "I'm sure he survived it."

"We can't confirm anything yet."

Strange had already returned to work.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then," Alpha spoke, then turned around to leave. As he was nearing the door, a siren began blaring. "Well that can't be good."

Strange had already reacted and flashed into existence next to Alpha, "Let's go."

The briefing room had filled up quickly, and the briefing had already begun.

"...apologize that none of you had been filled in on what's been happening recently, but here's the- Oh, look who we have here," Heavy's deep voice greeted the entering unicorn; it was Strange, "The scientist decided to get out of the lab, for once."

"Save the jokes for another day, Lieutenant, I'm filling in for Stronghoof," Strange stated confidently.

"Right," he spoke and watched Strange take the empty seat, "Where was I? Here's the deal: You may remember the meteorite that has been recovered recently, well, let me tell you that it was a warning for things to come. And those things have come; New Canterlot City is under attack, so you'll have to fend off the attackers. Now, GET TO IT, SOLDIERS!"

"Heavy's not good at briefings, is he?" Strange asked Cobalt Wing.

"Well, he's not terrible, at least. So, why did we happen to hear the news of Stronghoof's crash, but we don't know what he was doing?"

"Salvation," Strange responded.

"Huh?"

"They're coming!" Fireburst exclaimed.

White shapes congregated into the street, and rushed towards the checkpoint.

"Give em' Tartarus!" the mare exclaimed, and moved her nailgun attachment on her suit into firing position, before spraying the shapes with nails.

The nails cut through the shapes, spraying blood in their wake. A lot of the hit shapes dropped dead to the ground, whilst some carried on, albeit damaged.

Several shapes shot balls of blue plasma at the firing mare. Strange reacted, and put up a shield in front of the oncoming shots, before leaping into the crowd.

"Are you mad?!" the mare exclaimed.

Strange activated the mana blades of his suit, and sliced and diced the advancing shapes. Blood sprayed all over the metal.

"That's new," the mare whispered to herself and continued her onslaught on the shapes.

The sounds of Strange's mana blades and Fireburst's nailgun continuously echoed through the street. A loud roar suddenly dominated the battlefield. A large, white behemoth rumbled into the street. Strange looked up to the beast.

"That's one big bastard," he remarked and barely escaped the charging behemoth.

The beast crashed into the checkpoint gate and it shook violently. Another hit like this, and the whole gate will collapse. Strange knew this and landed onto the monster. He began cutting at its thick carapace; he was barely making a dent.

The behemoth began to move backwards, getting into position for another charge. Fireburst aimed her nailgun at its head and fired. The nails embedded themselves into the carapace.

"That thing's a tank." she spoke.

The tank came back for another charge. The ground rumbled at its feet. It crashed into the gate once more; this time, it shook more violently and began to collapse. Fireburst escaped by firing her hoof-rockets.

"Cobalt Wing to base. Checkpoint 1 destroyed," Cobalt Wing said through the com-link, "They've got a siege weapon. Over"

"We'll get something bigger at Checkpoint 3. Over," the voice on the other end of the connection responded.

"We need to get to Hailstorm's group at Checkpoint 2," Fireburst spoke through the com-link to Strange and Cobalt Wing.

Hailstorm was a pale blue coated mare, she stood atop the checkpoint gate. The metal of her suit was a similar color as her coat. Her weapon of choice was the energy cannon; it was in firing position, at the side of her head. Cables attached the cannon with a large battery pack, on the back of her suit.

The crowd of shapes advanced into the street. Hailstorm aimed her cannon at the crowd and fired; a large blue ball of energy erupted from the muzzle, pushing the mare with its force. The ball exploded where it hit, releasing a shockwave of blue energy.

To her left stood Wind Strength; a light gray coated stallion. His suit was equipped with a beam generator. He aimed it to the side of the street and fired. A blue beam emanated from the crystal and the stallion moved it across the street, burning the shapes that got caught in the beam.

"Fireburst to Hailstorm. Something big is coming your way. Over," a voice sounded through the com-link.

"Understood. Over," Hailstorm replied, then sent another round of the energy cannon at the crowd of shapes.

A loud roar echoed through the street. The behemoth rumbled into the street and charged at the gate. It crashed into the checkpoint gate and it shook violently. The beast pulled back and readied itself for another charge.

Hailstorm aimed her cannon at its head and fired. All it did was burn its thick carapace. Wind Strength concentrated his beam onto the behemoth's head; it staggered.

Fireburst flew above the street, raining nails down at the shapes. Strange came into a dive at the beast, with his blades pointed straight. He pulled his forehooves back, allowing himself to fall onto the tank. He jumped onto its head and began cutting the carapace around it.

The beast roared again and stomped at the ground, sending vibrations up its body. Strange struggled to remain upright and plummeted down the side of the beast's head. It moved its massive foot over the grounded unicorn, threatening to crush him.

"Over here, ugly!" Hailstorm taunted and fired her cannon at the beast's foot. The behemoth growled and let his foot fall. Luckily, Strange got out of the way in time and flew up to the top of the checkpoint gate.

The beast charged once more. It crashed into the gate and it collapsed. Hailstorm, Strange and Wind Strength escaped with their hoof-rockets.

"Hailstorm to base. Checkpoint 2 destroyed. Over."

Lieutenant Heavy waited patiently at the third checkpoint gate, staring at the end of the street. The twin miniguns of his suit were in stand-by position. When the crowd entered the street, he jumped off the checkpoint gate. On the ground, he moved his weapons to firing position.

"Welcome to Tartarus."

The barrels of the miniguns began to spin as energy coursed from the large battery packs on Heavy's suit, into them. The miniguns fired and hundreds of small slivers of energy which ripped through the crowd, splattering blood everywhere.

Heavy steered the miniguns from one side of the street to the other, constantly pelting the shapes with death. The beast's roar echoed through the street. Heavy grinned behind his helmet as the beast entered the street.

He fired his miniguns at the behemoth; the slivers ripped through the carapace, and blood seeped out of the holes. Before long, the beast stopped and leaned forward.

Slowly, it leaned further and eventually fell over, dead.