Across the Stars

The ship dropped out of hyperspace over a desert planet and immediately, the ships sensors began beeping frantically.

Cayden snapped-to as he woke up from a nap, then quickly grabbed the yoke as he sent the ship into an immediate dive to avoid crashing into a floating mass of spaceship.

"Sith's blood!  What in the name of the Creator have I just jumped into?!?" he yelled out loud, pressing several buttons as his shields sprang to love, the ship accelerating as he maneuvered around debris.

Cayden looked about him, taking everything in.  "... So many ships lost... many of them I've never seen any record of..." he said quietly to himself, looking at his Nav-Computer to make sure he was in the right place.

"Yeah... this is Kala alright..." he sighed, setting the ship's course for the planet below, still maneuvering around ships until he breaks through the "blockade," heading to the planet below.

The Destiny lurched a bit as he hit the atmosphere, the shield straining against the dense atmosphere as he descended to the planet surface.

"Holy crap... feels like I just flew into an ocean..."  Cayden checked several of the ship's sensors and dials.  "I'll need to wear an EVA suit out there... or, well.. at least the respirator.  Atmosphere is too dense out there... it'll choke me to death.." he said to nopony in particular, the ship shuddering as it touched down onto the planet surface.

The unicorn pressed a button on his console and the forward viewport began to clear the atmospheric gunk off itself, and Cayden got a good look at the surface world for the first time.

Cayden's eyes widen as he saw what looked like a massive city, sitting in absolute peace and serenity.  Nothing moved or made any sound as he stood there, watching.

He finally snapped himself out of his stupor and trotted into the back of the ship, taking an EVA suit out of his locker and quickly put it on.  He then grabbed a blaster rifle, a DC-17m Interchangeable Weapon System, and slammed a full magazine into the receptacle, smirking when the ready light flashes green.

Cayden slung the rifle onto his back and trotted to the loading bay door, opening it and quickly poked his head outside before walking out, looking around him.

"... hello?  Anypony here?" he called out, taking several steps towards the derelict city before breaking into a steady trot.  The young Captain looked around as he passed the first few buildings of the city, eyes wide and a subtle grin plastered to his face as he looks upon the ancient city, being the first pony to set hoof on the planet in over 100,000 years.

Several machines whirred to life as long-dormant sensors detected the ship break atmosphere.  Somewhere deep in the city, an ancient being awoke from it's eternal slumber.

The being slowly walked through the corridors of the run-down facility, the ancient lights slowly flickering to life as it passed each one.

The being trotted into a large room, the only thing being in the poorly-lit room was a massive computer, the screen flashing with a simple strand of binary.  It walked up to the computer and pressed a key, then the screen changed to multile lines of code scrolling upward, then it flashes to a line wavering as speakers installed into the computer sputtered to life.

"Greetings, Captain Blaire.  Your last login was 876173640.3 hours ago.  How was the wedding?" the computer asked the being.

The captain sighed, sitting down into a chair.  "... there was no wedding... the war came to an end..."

The computer was silent for several moments before responding.  "That is... most unfortunate, Captain Blaire... I am sorry."

"Don't be, Omega... it was our fault for creating the monsters..." Blaire replied quietly.  "How many survived?"

Omega made several noises as it processed the request, then replied.  "Only you, Captain.  All other Stable-sites contaminated by Organism 17-B.  Security Protocols in effect across entire Stable Network.  One Security Drone online.  Location: Stable 17.  Any other inquiries, Captain Blaire?"

Blaire choked a bit when Omega said she was the only one left, silently crying into her hooves.  "N-no... th-thank you, Omega..."

The room fell silent as she cried to herself for several minutes before the proximity warning went off.

"Alert.  Unknown entity has breached the perimeter of Provectus.  Security Drone response inadequate.  Recommend direct intervention of Celestial Military personnel" Omega stated loudly into the room, shaking Blaire from her crying fit.

"... b-buck..." she simply said, sliding out of her chair and trots out of the room, heading down the hall.  "Omega... p-prep m-my combat suit..."

"Yes Captain Blaire.  Your weapons are charged and ready for deployment."

She smiled a bit.  'That computer knows how to treat a mare...' she thought to herself, walking into the readiness room, a single powered combat suit standing on the rack, a rifle and pair of pistols in their respective slots nearby.  Blaire trotted up to the armor and started slipping it on, the suit fitting perfectly to her body, just as it had before she stepped into the cryo-pod 100,019 years ago.

Cayden walked through the city, stopping in front of a large building, the unknown language of the Celestials plastered onto the sign above.  He walked inside, pulling a glow-rod out of his pack and turned it on, looking around at the room.

It was a rather simple room, what you'd expect from a reception area, except, of course... the rubble, monumental amounts of dust, and machine parts and discarded armor fragments littering the ground everywhere.

Cayden wide-eyed at the sight, looking around.  "... what happened here?" he asked, expecting only silence to be his answer.

"War, my little pony... war at it's worst..." a female voice replied from the shadows to his left, a rifle pointed at him, the power cell glowing a faint blue.