Down From the Stars

 

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"So. Let me make sure I've got this right. You are a, uh, 'Princess of Friendship'-"

> "Yes."

"-who's land was invaded by somebody you thought you'd gotten rid of but managed to escape-"

> "Yes."

"-and you somehow got out here, directed to me with the assurance that I could handle the problem."

> The diminutive purple equine sitting across from you sighs in obvious frustration.

> She's not nearly the craziest thing you've seen appear in your favorite bar out here.

> Hell, look at the bartender!

> Tentacles do not fucking belong there!

> This 'pony' opposite you - hell, she's kind of cute in an exaggerated kind of way.

> But that doesn't keep you from being on guard.

> You didn't survive in this galaxy by being a sucker for anything your brain told you was cute.

> "Yes. I was specifically given your name and appearance and told you could be found here."

"Okay, do you have a proper diplomatic representative ID? Something to prove you're really who you say you are?"

> "Uh, not really..."

"Can you tell me who directed you to me so that I can check with them?"

> She shifts uncomfortably, looking back and forth.

> "I... can't reach them..."

> You let out a hefty sigh.

"Okay, look - Sparks-"

> "Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle."

"Sparkle. You're clearly out of your element here. In case you haven't noticed, this station's home to a lot of fairly coldhearted freelancers - myself included. A fair number of them have reason to want to try and catch me doing something dumb. And, all this evasiveness you're doing? This absolutely reeks of a trap."

> She sinks into her seat, fear coming through despite the strong front she's been trying to put up.

"Now, until you can back your story up, I'm going to assume someone's put you up to this. So, here's your choice - spill the beans, or I walk away."

> "You have to promise to help me. If I prove it's real."

"If you can give me a solid reason to believe your story is real and that valid payment will be granted for my business with you, then I will be happy to lend my resources to your aid."

> She flinches as if struck.

> "You wouldn't do it... because it's right?"

> Her question is greeted with a shrug.

"Sorry to be blunt, Sparks, but that's how it works when you deal with a freelancer. You want my ship, my guns - you pay."

> "Okay..."

> Looks around again, probably making sure nobody is sitting to close.

> Poor thing, you wonder who she got mixed up with.

> She leans forward, her voice dropping to a whisper.

> "It's Ahuizotl, okay? He got me out, told me to find you. He said you would know-"

> She squeaks as your drink slams to the table.

"Ahuizotl?! That son of a bitch!"

> "I know he's not the nices-"

"He still owes me a damn drink!"

> Twilight's jaw falls open slightly at your exclamation, her look of confusion only spreading when you smile..

> "He... I... what?!"

> You offer her a shrug.

"Best partner I ever had, and then he just goes and vanishes after promising me the best Scyllian Ale he could find.."

> "You worked with Ahuizotl?"

"Yeah. Ran security for him; he just did his normal thing... treasure hunting, breaking into old ruins and wrecks, you know."

> "But... he's... he's... evil!"

"Look, a lot of the stuff we did was shifty, yeah? But I don't think that makes us 'evil'."

> Twilight goes bright red.

"Besides, he was mostly in it for the thrill. Breaking into wrecked vessels and stations, dodging any presents left behind by the previous residents - he lived for that kind of daring-do."

> For some reason that statement seems to strike your table-partner particularly hard, her head jerking back slightly.

> She recovers fairly quickly, though.

> "He, um, gave me a piece of paper with something written on it... I don't understand it, some numbers and something about a chalice?"

"Vondregon's Chalice. Galled's balls, Sparks - he really did send you. I didn't quite believe it."

> She seems upset that you didn't believe her, practically pouting at you.

> "My name is Sparkle - and I told you he did! Here, give me one second, I"ll just get it out-"

> What happens next sends you hand twitching for the empty holster on your hip.

> A scroll slips up and out of a bag strapped to her side, apparently floating suspended by nothing more than a slightly glittering cloud around it.

> At the same time her horn is lit by a similar glittering cloud, without any obvious connection between the two.

> For several moments you ponder making a break for the door, but decide that if she's this close to you already and hasn't tried to kill you with whatever that is, she isn't going to.

> The scroll is held out to you in apparent expectation that you will take it.

> You do, quickly, hoping that no one else has noticed the glowing field that was holding it up moments earlier.

> A quick glance around the club and - ah, there. Something quite rapidly turning away from you.

> Yep, that was noticed. Delightful.

> The scroll is used as to point right at Twilight's nose.

"Don't ever do that again."

> "What-"

"Whatever it is you just did, with the floaty-cloud. Don't. Do it. Again."

> She look thoroughly perplexed, so you go on:

"You've either got an active nanohive grafted directly to your skull - in which case I am sure you realize how incredibly illegal that is - or just did something weird I've never seen before."

> "It's just my magic..."

"Right, magic. Whatever it is, you just drew a lot of attention, and not in a good way. Don't do it again, okay?"

> This finally seems to get through to her that it was a serious mistake.

> Another glance around the bar, and you grunt unhappily.

"Right, we're going back to my ship. You just attracted way to much attention to stay here."

> You stand, sliding the paper into a pocket and motioning Twilight to follow.

"Come on, Sparks. And stay close to me."

 

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> The door of your ship slides closed behind you with a soft hiss.

> You'd definitely picked up a couple of tails on the way over.

> Fortunately they seemed more interested in watching than interceding.

"Alright, now we can discu-"

> You turn around to find your guest poking curiously at a power conduit junction with one leg.

"Hey, hey! Okay, new rule on here - don't touch anything. A lot of things could be dangerous."

> "Oh! Sorry!"

> Twilight quickly backs off, although she still cranes her head about to study everything in sight as you lead her to the ship's meager kitchen area.

"Okay, two rules now - no touching anything, and no more weird floaty-glowy stuff."

> She takes a seat at the tiny table opposite you.

> "So, um..."

> Closer up, things begin to stick out about her.

> For one, there's mud caked into her coat.

> Where would she have been rolling in mud?

> Did she have her own quarters?

"So. Ahuizotl's been hiding out with you, huh?"

> "With me? No! He tried to steal from us-"

> Oh yeah.

> You'd forgotten he'd somehow convinced her that he was some sort of villain.

> Wonder what she'd thought if she could have seen some of the colonial powers?

"Right, well... let's start with something simple. What's your home system's PID?"

> "PID?"

> She gives you a totally blank look.

"Yeah, you know - Pulsar Index Designation, marks a star system by a set of six known pulsars...?"

> The more you go on it's obvious she has no clue what you are talking about.

> Just where had Ahuizotl found her?

"Okay, so you don't know that - how did you get here? Who brought you?"

> "I don't know! He sent me by some portal thing I didn't recognize."

"Alright -"

> You pull up a data terminal, opening the onboard encyclopedia.

"Which colonial authority are you under? Or are you unaligned?"

> "Colonial authority...?"

> She's looking increasingly desperate, more and more confused as you go on.

"Yeah. Who regulates your travel into space?"

> She goes silent for a second before bursting out aloud:

> "HE SENT ME INTO SPACE?!"

> Now it is your turn to boggle.

"He didn't tell you?!"

> "No! We were desperate and didn't have time!"

"And the talk of a 'ship' didn't tip you off?!"

> "I thought we were anchored! I couldn't see anything through that tube we came on through!"

"Anchored without any waves?"

> "Anchored really tight! I'm sorry, nopony's ever been to space, except for Princess Luna, and-"

> Oh for God's sake.

> Ahuizotl sent someone from a pre-orbit society?

> He's got to know how incredibly illegal that is.

> Your head drops to the table with a groan.

> God, the colonials were probably going to get after your ass for dealing with a pre-orb as well.

> Abruptly something soft touches your shoulder.

> "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to cause you any trouble. But... I need help. We need help. Can you please help us?"

> You turn it over in your brain.

> Odds were you were legally boned already.

> If you pulled this off, at least maybe you could end up boned and rich.

"Ahuizotl... he mentioned Vondregon's Chalice specifically?

> "Yes, on the paper I gave you."

> The paper.

> You'd forgotten about it.

> Sitting up, you pull the scroll from your pants and examine it

> The message is simple.

> "Anon, need your help. PID is 193-270. Get this done, Vondregon's Chalice is yours, Ahuizotl."

> Definitely his handwriting.

> Hell with it, you're doing this.

"Okay. Okay, for Vondregon's Chalice you've got me. I'll help you."

> You start up, heading towards the cockpit.

> Hooves sounding on the floor shortly behind you.indicates your guest is following.

> "It is really worth that much?!"

"People will kill for it."

> Twilight stop still in the cockpit doorway, boggling at you.

"Kill?! For a cup?!"

> You snort heavily as you slide into the pilot's couch.

> Oh, this one was so far out of her norm.

"Vondregon's Chalice isn't a cup, Sparks. It's a place. A safe bypass - the sort of place all freelancers dream of finding."

> "A safe bypass?"

"Yeah, okay - imagine you're sailing a boat between a bunch of islands, but you can only sail it straight, right? Any time you bump into an island, you have to stop and wait before you push off again."

> As you talk, you set about powering up your ship.

> Computer, check. Drive core, check, jump drive, check...

"So, it's really slow. And, while you're waiting to push off again, anyone around the island can try to catch you.

> Twilight's gone silent, listening intently to your explanation.

"Vondregon's Chalice is special, though. Any where in the galaxy you are, you just point yourself at it and go, and you'll run right into it no matter what's in your way. Same thing on your way out - just point and go."

> A sharp shudder runs through your vessel as you detach from the station and begin coasting out to into the docking bay.

> "So, why is it so hard to go to, then?"

"Because, you come in heading right into it. I don't think anyone knows what the Chalice actually is, but it's a mess - hidden gravity wells, dark matter shadows, drifting particle storms - you don't have a safe path through that, it will chew you up."

> "And Ahuizotl found a safe path through it?"

"Seems like. Would be something he would do. Probably explains why he showed up on your world - hiding. Only eight other known bypasses out there; the colonials keep five of them locked down except for military vessels, two are run by pirates who will charge you your firstborn to go through, and one is another mess nobody knows how to use."

> Twilight's reply is cut off as you emerge from the undocking queue to the open, starship-littered space around the station.

> "Wooooow..."

"Oh yeah..."

> You chuckle, hitting the thrusters to scoot around a sluggish bulk carrier ahead of you.

"Forgot, first time in space for you, huh?"

> "It's beautiful..."

> Even to your tired eyes, you had to admit this station was something special.

> It hung low around a gas giant, enormous rings filling the view above your heads.

"Yeah, it really is..."

> Twilight finally manages to wrench her eyes away from the windows to look at you.

> "ANON!"

"What?"

> She points one hoof at your hands, currently folded in your lap.

> "How are you controlling this thing?!"

> You lean forward, just enough to let Twilight see the cable traveling up into the back of your skull.

"Military-grade neurocontroller implant - lets me fly the ship by thought. Cost me an arm and a leg, but incredibly useful."

> "An arm and a leg? What a morbid phrase..."

> You lift your hands, pulling off one glove to show Twilight the whirring metal segments where skin ought to be.

> She sits back in her haunches, front legs rising to cover her mouth with a small eep.

"That only cost me slightly less than the neurocontroller. I worked for eight hard years to pay off all of those."

> "I can't even imagine what kind of life you must lead..."

"As someone who hasn't ever been to space before? No, you probably can't."

> You dial in the PID Ahuizotl had given you and let the computer plot the first jump.

"Ooookay. Course plotted, drive energized - careful, Twilight, first FTL jumps can cause upset stomachs."

> She nods. "I'm ready."

> You push the jump actuator lever forward, grinning.

"And here, we, go!"

 

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> One jump.

> Twilight holds her lunch surprisingly well.

> Two jumps.

"Seriously, Sparks. You're not even flinching."

> "It's not that different from teleporting."

> You're really starting to wonder what kind of civilization could put together a jump drive but not get into space first.

> By jump four, you're really on the edge of colonization.

> Which is why you're utterly unsuprised when a siren begins to sound the second you drop out of the jump.

> Twilight, of course, panics, practically jump back into the bulkhead wall.

> "Anonymous! What is going on?!"

"Secondary jump signatures, close by! Looks like two of them, probably started homing in on us the second we dropped in."

> "Are they friendly?"

> Your eyes roll so hard you're afraid the torque might turn the ship a bit.

"No, Sparks, they aren't friendly."

> You can't see the ships yet, but your ship's sensors can.

> Or, more accurately, you can see their emissions.

"They're sweeping us with fire-control systems."

> "Are we on fire?! I thought you said they weren't friendly?!"

> Sweet heavens this pony.

> She understands nothing.

"Mid-size gunships, judging by the speed and sensor emissions. Definitely pirates."

> Inertial dampeners and artificial gravity strain against physics as you pull the ship into a hard banking maneuver.

> You can still feel some of the g-forces anyhow, and Twilight stumbles around somewhere behind you.

> She didn't know to buckle herself down when you were going into combat maneuvers either.

> "What are you doing?!"

"The smart thing every freelancer does when confronted with overwhelming odds - running away!"

> Thrusters rise to a distant roar as you begin to accelerate away from them, pulling distance.

> Just as you're breathing a sigh of relief, a new siren sounds.

> Barely ahead of you, space rippled as another gunship flicked into view, superimposed over the stars.

"Oh, you lucky-!"

> "How did they do that?!"

"Tactical jump! Must've had another waiting further in the system! Luck got them in close to us."

> Again you bank hard, trying to pull up and away from them.

> Not fast enough, though.

> Twilight actually flinches as the first splashes of particle cannon fire wash over your shielding.

> "They're shooting at us!"

"They're pirates, Sparks!"

> "Shouldn't they... ask us to surrender first? Our money or our lives, and all that?"

"Hell no! First they shoot out our engines, then they board us, kill us, and drag the hull back for reuse or salvage."

> Twilight actually pales slightly at that.

> "Anonymous, you've got to go! Do the jump thing!"

"I can't, we-"

> Another burst of particle beam fire, this time catching you dead on.

"Damn it! I'm going to try and swing us around and get one of the others between us, and-"

> Your vision is suddenly full of purple fur.

> Leaning around the pony climbing over you, your volume reaches new levels.

"Sparks, what the hell are you doing?"

> "I don't want to die out here! I've got to get back to my friends!"

"Then get out of my fac-"

> To late you realize what she is going for.

> Not until you hear the warbling tone of the jump drive going online do you understand what she is doing.

"No!"

> And then it's to late.

> The stars disappear into the jump.

> The sirens go silent as Twilight falls back, breathing heavily.

> For a moment all is silence.

> And then the sirens return, caution and warning alarms howling all around you.

> Twilight jumps up again, eyes staring around in terror.

> Just in time for you to grab a fistful of her mane and lift her up to face you.

"What did I say about not touching anything, Sparks? Good jump, you just broke the ship!"

> Your growled exclamation is only highlighted by the entire cockpit going dark around both of you.

> Screens flicker to black, lights go out, and the HUD projected over your vision by the implant vanishes.

> Your stomach flips as the artificial gravity fails for a moment.

> Thanks to several different spirits and legends pass through your head as the backup generators come online, dim emergency lighting slowly illuminating the ship's interior.

> Twilight has gone completely still except for her heaving chest.

> "Anon, I-"

"No. Shut up, okay?"

> "Don't talk to me like that; I wa-"

> In the past several hours you've been approached by an unknown alien, learned the colonials were probably going to hunt your head down, been shot at, and now this pony won't be quiet.

> Something within you lets go.

"SHUT UP! You nearly just killed us, do you understand that?!"

> Her jaw slams shut, eyes trembling with unspent tears.

> You barely notice, though - instead jabbing a finger into her chest.

"I don't know what kind of life you live, Sparks, what kind of world you come from - but out here, there is no room for mistakes like that, okay? You screw up like that, you die, end of the story, okay?"

> "I'm sorry-"

"You'd better be sorry. Unless you can promise me you can keep your limbs to yourself, I'm locking you in a cargo pod for the rest of the journey."

> She looks down, eyes screwed shut.

> "I will. I promise. No more touching. I'm sorry."

> You finally release her mane, letting her collapse to the cockpit floor again.

> Squeeze your hands together, Anon.

> Just like they taught you, until you're calm.

> Several moments later you unclip the flight harness and climb out of the seat.

"Okay, let's see how badly you screwed up."

> Twilight remains at a distance as you unlock a hatch and descend into the serviceway beneath the main deck.

> She's taking your lecture hard, but you can't honestly be bothered to care.

> Especially when, several knee-scraping feet in, you hit the distinct smell of burnt coal.

"Aaaugh!"

> Your fist slams down on a bulkhead rib.

> From somewhere up above, a worried voice calls down.

> "Anonymous? Are you alright down there? Can I help-"

"Just stay where you are, Sparks. You've done plenty enough already."

> You can't keep the anger and sarcasm out of your voice.

> Fortunately for your temper she does stay, still sitting the same corner when you clamber up the ladder from the service way.

"Here, take a look at this, Sparks."

> Slowly, carefully she takes several steps closer to look at the head-sized lump of charred metal and plastic.

> Sniffing twice, she wrinkles her nose in obvious disgust.

> "Smells like coal."

"That's because it pretty much is. It's a superconducting power distributor - about four and half kilos of carbon nanotube in there takes power from the main power core and sends the correct amounts to ship systems."

> Suddenly you have her rapt attention, her eyes locked on the ruined component.

"There's eighteen down there of varying size. Problem is, your stunt completely burned out sixteen of them."

> "Can you fix them?"

"Oh yeah. Nobody carries anything less than a full replacement set. But, you burn out that many and the whole power distribution system starts to go bad."

> Her eyes widen, tail flicking nervously.

> "Are we going to be alright?"

"For a while, yeah. Then what's left starts to go, bit by bit. It's gonna get nasty."

> She takes several sharp steps back, wings flaring.

> "Will we die?"

> You start over to the maintenance locker, rifling through drawers for spare distributors.

"Not immediately. Not until we loose shielding and a micrometeorite punctures the hull. Or the air cyclers stop and we suffocate."

> One, two, three - your pockets fill with spare distributors, then your hands.

"So, here's what you're going to do. You sit over there, be all nice and quiet, and let me work - hopefully I can get enough new ones in before the last two fail."

 

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> "What... actually happened when I did that?"

> You're not sure exactly when Twilight had gotten down in the serviceway with you.

> Or, for that matter, where she was - your and torso currently being buried in a mess of wires, coolant tubing, and fried power distributors.

> Only that her voice had suddenly popped up suddenly somewhere near your legs.

"Sparks, you'd better not be touching anything."

> "I'm not, I'm not!"

> You grunt a response, mouth suddenly busy holding a light to help you see what your hands are doing.

> As long as she isn't touching anything, you can't be bothered to chase her out.

> The last few bolts slide in, leaving you to sigh in relief as this distributor is secured and in place.

> With a great deal of grunting and some cursing, you slide yourself out to grab the next distributor.

> Your guest resting on her belly near your right side, head kind of propped up on her forelimbs and eyes on you.

> Though you hadn't thought of it, her shorter stature had probably made the trip down here rather easier.

"So, the starship's computer - it figures out what jump is best for you to make to go where you want, right?"

> She furrows her brows at the word 'computer', but nods.

"Right. Well, if it hasn't had time to properly calculate the next jump, bad things happen. Most ships have a limiter that prevents how far they can go, but most freelancers disable those and just know their ships' limits."

> "Oh. So where did it take us?"

> Back into the hollow you had been working in, your hands starting to work free the first of the bolts on the next distributor.

"Y'know, I'd love to know that too - but the navigation computer kind of needs power to function, and it's not a survival-critical system."

> "Oh."

> You can practically hear the flinch in her voice as she is reminded of her mistake.

> A long silence follows before she can speak again.

> "I just didn't want to die away from my friends."

"So, why'd y'come out here if y'didn't want to be away from them?"

> "Didn't really have a choice. I was trying to get back to them when they caught on to me again and I had to run..."

"Caught on to you, huh?"

> She hadn't mentioned that before.

> Assuming you got out of this alive, that was going to be your next question for her.

> "Yeah. And... I didn't wanted to get back to them. Still do. They should at least know what happened to me, if I..."

"Die. Gotta call it what it is, Sparks."

> "Yeah. If I died, I wanted to be with them."

"Awful loyal of you."

> "Well, loyalty is an important part of the magic of friendship."

"Suppose it is."

> A low background whir goes silent.

> You barely notice it, but Twilight instantly calls out.

> "Anonymous? Something just stopped! What is it?"

> You stop, taking a listen.

"Sounds like the atmosphere processor. We're on borrowed time now, Spar- Ow!"

> You suck on your finger where it had gotten pinched, a slight coppery taste filling your mouth.

> Something presses into your side; you look down to see a concerned face peering up at you.

> "Are you alright?"

"Pinched my finger."

> Your hands go back up, one holding the distributor in place while the other awkwardly angles a bolt driver in to connect it.

"This would be a bloody fair bit easier if I just had three hands."

> "I could help, if you wanted."

> You snort softly, the tool buzzing in your hand.

"Yeah, with what? Your hooves? Tool like this wasn't built for those."

> "No, my magic!"

"Your magi- that glowy-sparkly thing you did?"

> "Yeah!"

> You pause.

> On the one hand, someone would be touching your ship.

> An untrained someone, touching it with something you did not understand one bit.

> On the other hand, slow death by CO2 poisoning or vacuum exposure.

"Sparks, just tell me that isn't a nanohive strapped to your head. I won't judge you - you're practically a walking legal violation already. One more thing isn't a big deal."

> "It isn't a hive! It's my magic, every unicorn has it!"

> Huh.

> Unicorns... wasn't that an old-Earth thing?

> You'd barely thought of that.

> There was an honest-to-goodness unicorn on your ship.

> And at this point, you severely doubted she came from a planet capable of producing a proper nanohive.

"...alright. But you don't do anything with it I don't say."

> "I understand."

"Good. Then hold this tube right up here - yeah, like that - and I'll seal it on..."

> Two working on the project makes it move faster.

> Much faster.

> Even so, by the time you're climbing up out of the serviceway - sweaty, dirt covered, and muscles aching - the air is noticeably sour.

> But when you put the power core into its startup diagnostic, only green lights and positive returns can be found.

"Hah! It's on - it's working! One failover, but she can work through that!"

> "That's great! So, we're going to be okay?"

> As if in response, all around you the ship comes back to life.

> A soft breeze rushes across you as cool, fresh air rushes in.

"Yeah, I'd say we're good!"

> "Yes!"

> Twilight does this happy little hopping-on-alternate-legs thing, her wings out wide.

> ...that's actually pretty cute.

"Okay, I admit it, Sparks. You actually did half-decent down there."

> She smiles, looking up to you again.

> "Thank you!"

"Let's see where we ended up, then."

> By the time the navigation computer gets around to rebooting - you really need to have that thing updated some day - the last of the ship's systems have come fully back online.

> Your attention is on the computer's readout, though.

"Well, I'll be damned..."

> "What? Did something else break?"

> You look back up to Twilight, who is peering over your shoulder at the screens surrounding the pilot's chair.

"No - though for how far we went, I'm surprised it didn't. I should probably get the power core overhauled soon anyhow."

> You point to the PID readout.

> 193-270

> Her brows furrow. "Isn't that-"

"The identification for your home system, yeah. It jumped us all the way there., Nearly three times the maximum recommended distance."

> "Where Equus, then?"

"Equus?"

> "The planet."

"Oh - hells, I don't know. Space is big, Sparks. Being in the same system, that just makes us in the right neighborhood instead of not sure if we're even heading for the right city."

> "So then how-"

"I'll make a short jump towards the planet and then we'll coast in on sublight until we get where you're going."

> "Okay! I should be recognize the terrain, to give you at least an idea of where we're going."

"That's doubly good. It'll take about another couple hours while the power system resets itself and cycles up up to maximum output, but in the meantime..."

> You turn fully to face her.

"In the meantime, I think it's time we had another conversation, Sparks."

> "Another...?"

"Yeah. You said Ahuizotl thought I could help you. You didn't say anything about being chased or hunted or anything like that. So, I want to know what's up with you - the full story. Why was Ahuizotl so desperate he'd commit a fairly hefty crime by our standards to get you to me?"

> She pauses, a distant look coming over her eyes.

> "Is there somewhere else we can talk? Like, where I can sit down?"

"Yeah, in the dining area. Hells, I'll give you the whole ship tour if you'll talk."

 

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> "His name is Sombra."

> Twilight had taken a rain check on the total tour of the ship; instead you had brought her to the tiny dining area and sat her down across the miniscule table.

"What was he?"

> "A tyrant. A monster. Evil."

> You raise your eyebrows questioningly.

"Evil like Ahuizotl-evil, or-"

> "No! No. Sombra - he was real evil. Beyond redeemable. He enslaved an entire kingdom!"

"When you say enslaved, you mean-"

> "I mean enslaved. Broke them entirely. The Crystal Empire was lost for a thousand years because of his rule."

> Your hands tighten on the table.

> As a freelancer, you valued your independence.

> Hells, half the reason you got into the business was to get away from the colonial powers.

> But not even they went so far as outright slavery.

"So what happened? He suddenly got ambitious."

> "Well, we destroyed him."

> Your estimation of these little equine aliens goes up a couple notches.

> "Or, we thought we did. The Crystal Heart tore him apart, and we thought that was the end of it."

"Thought, huh?"

> She nods slowly, her chin falling to rest on the table.

> "We don't usually do things like that, Anonymous. Banishment, imprisonment - if he was gone, we were sure he was well and truly gone."

"Guessed wrong, huh?"

> Another slow nod.

> "He came back, and he came back mad. I've never seen anything like it. He took the Crystal Empire back first-"

"Wait, wasn't that where he was before? Nobody noticed what was happening?"

> Twilight stomps one hoof, shaking her head.

> "You don't understand, Anonymous. The first time... he was powerful, but he was desperate. He tried to fight all of us - myself, my friends and brother, C-Cadence - he tried to fight us all at once. We won, and... that's how we thought of him."

"But the second time around?"

> She goes silent for a long time, the first tears beginning to glimmer in the corner of her eyes.

> "I d-don't know how he got into the Crystal Palace... but there was a blizzard, and we lost contact with the Empire for three weeks. When the snows cleared..."

> She takes a shaky breath.

> "He came down out of the north like a plague. I've never seen anything like it. He enslaved any he found; anypony who resisted he... twisted."

"How far did he get?"

> Twilight looks up at you, and for the first time you see true pain in her eyes.

> "Don't you get it, Anonymous? There is no 'how far'. He took everything... I was going back to try and gather my friends so we could fight him when he caught me, and I had to flee... I ran for months, Anonymous. I watched as he took everything."

"What about this Cadence? Who is she?"

> She and my brother, Shining Armor - they ruled the Crystal Empire. I don't... he twisted her first. Turned her to something wrong. I don't even know what happened to Shiny."

> Twilight goes silent again, carefully hiding the quiet tears she is shedding.

> You get up, opening a cabinet you rarely touch.

> One bottle of golden-brown liquid is withdrawn from inside.

> When a tumbler is set in front of Twilight she looks confused.

> "What i-is this?"

"Draupnir whiskey. Good stuff for when you're down."

> The tiny metal cup is given a suspicious look before rising in a lavender cloud to tilt back into her mouth.

> Apparently she took your acceptance of using her magic-whatever to repair the distributors as a go-ahead to just use it.

> Twilight sputters heavily at the sharply-flavored liquid, but swallows.

> "A-Aren't you going to drink?"

"No. I need my wits when I'm piloting - and besides, you need it a lot more than me."

> "O-Oh. So, now what do we do?"

> You return to your seat, folding your arms on the table.

"I'll be honest, Sparks - I have no idea. When I heard about this... I dunno. I expected a more... mundane problem?"

> "Mundane?"

> Twilight gives a pained little giggle, the kind of laugh you give when there's nothing left to do but laugh or cry.

> "I'm on a spacecraft, seen so many aliens I never even considered existing, nearly died out here... and you thought it would be more mundane?"

"Okay, point taken. But, the thing is - if it breaths, I can shoot it. If it bleeds, I can kill it. The Stellar Drift - this ship - she's seen me through a lot of problems. But this guy, Sombra - you said he got torn up and just came back? I don't know how to fight that, Sparks."

> "Then what am I supposed to do, Anonymous? I'm a princess, I'm supposed to be a leader, but I couldn't even protect my friends and now I don't know what to do at all!"

> Again a painful silence pervades, the only sound being an occasional sniffle and the background hum of machinery.

"We need to find Ahuizotl. He wouldn't send for me by name unless there was a plan; he's got to know something."

> "O-Okay."

"I'll bring us closer in to the planet. Do you have any idea where he was hiding?"

> "I can probably show you."

"That works."

> The jump takes longer than you had hoped due to the power grid taking time to reset.

> But in due time you find yourself in low orbit over Twilight's home world.

> You? You don't find it that impressive.

> After seeing several dozen worlds, though, they tended to blend into a big mess of 'blue-and-green-and-white ball'.

> For Twilight, though?

> She was practically glued to the cockpit canopy, staring out at the world turning above your heads, her earlier sour mood forgotten.

> And that moved your cold, tired heart.

> You remembered seeing that the first time up in space, looking out and being able to cover whole cities, whole regions with your thumb.

> "It looks... so tiny. Like... I can see everything."

"Yeah. It does, from up here."

> "And you see this all the time! I can't even imagine what that's like!"

"You got no idea, Sparks."

> "How long until we can get down there?"

"As soon as you... oh. Oh, wow."

> Another massive continent had appeared on the edge of the planet's curve, turning in towards you.

> At first you had thought it was blackened, maybe volcanic.

> By now it had come closer, though, and you had realized that it wasn't solid.

> It was clouds, thick and black, covering nearly all of the continent.

"Galled's balls. That's not normal."

> Beside you, Twilight takes in a pained breath.

> "He's covered it all."

> She looks up at you.

> "Can you fly through that?"

"Should be able to. I'm going to make a couple orbital passes, try and get some tercomap and atmogrid readings."

> Twilight greets your announcement with a confused stare.

> You sigh, forgetting.

"Terrain contour mapping and atmospheric depth grid. Basically, I want to get a map of the surface and that weather pattern."

> "Oh. How long will that take?"

"At our current orbital altitude and velocity... if everything goes right we'll break atmo in around four hours."

> Less than three hours later, you are staring in absolute confusion at the results feeding in on yours screens.

> Okay, so the giant continent-covering cloud was already odd.

> But you'd expected to see at least some semblance of logic in the weather pattenrs.

> Instead it had completely failed the navigation computer's predictive models, leaving the machine spitting "simulation error" messages at you.

"Just what is this?"

> "Mmmm... somethin' wrong, Anon?"

> Twilight had crawled into the (long unused) copilot's seat behind you and fallen asleep at some point, the stress of the day's events finally catching up on her.

> Evidently she was awake now, though.

"No, just... I don't understand this weather at all. I'm no weather expert, but you've got to know some to figure out where it's safe to land, and this doesn't fit."

> Twilight's head appears next to yours, her forehooves on one side of your seat as she peers forward.

"At least the orbital terrain mapping got a good reading, so I have an idea of what the ground looks like. Otherwise I'd be really concerned about flying into that."

> "I understand that. I don't think most pegasi would want to fly through that?"

> Fortunately Twilight had passed the time waiting for the mapping passes explaining something of her world to you.

> A lot of it you'd have called spacer legend, especially coming out of a pre-orbit society.

> I mean, really - she claimed they moved their sun and moon on their own. Not even the colonials were close to that.

> You'd checked, too, and all the ship's sensor readings suggested both moon and planet were in perfectly reasonable orbits (if rather unusually circular rather than elliptic).

> She'd gotten quiet at that, and mumbled something about hoping the princesses being okay.

> But as hard as you avoided it, you couldn't deny that something was going on here.

> That glowy-floaty field she moved stuff with, the black stormclouds covering the continent below.

> There was undeniably something odd going on here.

> And that was before you got into the anomalous radio pulses you were picking up from the surface below.

"Okay. I honestly don't know how to interpret a lot of this data, so I'm flying pretty blind here."

> A three-dimensional terrain map is brought up and sent back to one of the screens surrounding Twilight's seat.

"Can you mark out roughly where you think major cities are going to be? So I at least know where to look?"

> "Sure..." A brief silence before she adds, "Um, how do I do that?"

> You groan; forgot again.

"Sorry, I'm not used to dealing with anyone new using my stuff. Just tap the display in the right places, it'll add markers."

> "Alright."

> Quickly markers begin popping all over the continent.

> Fortunately they seem to follow the general trends of pre-orbit societies - mainly sticking to coasts and rivers and the like.

> "Why can't you interpret your ship's things? Don't you have to do this any time you see a new planet?"

"I don't have to deal with impossibly persistent clouds that cover entire continents then, Sparks. At best there's a ground controller I can contact for an EDL vector - a path down - at worst I get a passing storm system which I have to avoid."

> "I see..."

> If there's one thing you'd learned about your new guest, it's that she devoured any information you gave her.

> And was just as keen to provide information about her own world in return.

> "That's all of the big cities, plus a couple other place I know!"

"Okay. We're travelling over the eastern ocean now; I'm going to break atmo and try to make an approach low over the ocean."

> "We're going down?"

"Yep. Going to want to strap in for this, Sparks - artificial grav or not, it's going to get a little bumpy."

> Behind you, belts audibly snap into place.

> A quick glance back confirms she's actually buckled herself in fairly well.

> Must've noticed how you had strapped in your own safety harness.

> Slowly the ship rolls over, the curve of the planet falling beneath your feet while your vision fills with stars.

"Initiating deorbit engine burn. We'll make this burn for around thirty seconds, and then coast in until we're under thirty-thousand before transitioning to powered flight."

> Honestly, Twilight handles the retro-burn fairly well, even when the sublight engines rise to full output.

> What freaks her out is, long after the engines go silent, hot air starts to brush off the ship's shielding.

> "Anonymous? Is that normal?"

> One purple hoof point out a cockpit window at the golden arcs of plasma flickering up from underneath you.

"Perfectly. That's what happens when you hit the air at twenty-five thousand klicks an hour."

> "Twenty-five - what does that even mean?"

> Oh, right.

> Pre-orbit, no standardization.

"Fast. Very fast. Uh, around twenty times the speed of sound, if any of your species have hit that yet."

> "Twenty ti- that's how fast we're flying?!"

"Not flying, Sparks. Falling."

> "FALLING?!"

> Uh-oh.

> She's panicking again.

> You don't have time to explain orbital mechanics to her.

"Calm down, Sparks. This is normal. That air pressure is nothing compared to particle-beam fire. We'll be fine, as long as you don't keep distracting me."

> The point is taken, and Sparks shuts up.

> Even when you hit a nice pocket of heavy-air turbulence thirty five clicks up, she keeps her jaw shut.

> For that you are deeply thankful.

"Okay, we're twenty up... airspeed is down below mach three, I think we're good to kick the main engines on again."

> This time, the Drift's engines' kick can definitely be felt, the huge thrusters rumbling as they hold you up despite the ship's best efforts to succumb to gravity.

"Altitude stabilized, airspeed dropping... I'm going to get us down below the speed of sound before nearing the coast. No need to tell everyone we're down there."

> "Are we safe?"

"About as safe as we're going to get."

> Away from any air traffic authorities who would give you grief for it, you feel free to dial the ship's sensors up to maximum strength.

> Beams of electromagnetic energy along with more exotic forms of detection scourge the sky, revealing an utter lack of immediate threats.

"Yeah, no significant air contacts within eighty-three klicks - that's a fair distance - and no active surface contacts. For now, at least, we're alone."

> A thought comes to you that you hadn't considered before.

"Hey Sparks, if it comes to that - can you fight?"

> "I've thoroughly studied thirteen major fighting styles, eight using unicorn magic and five not, and personally interviewed-"

"What, they sent you to a training school? I thought you said war is pretty rare here?"

> "Training school? I've never been to a training school; I had a significant volume of books and reports, including two rare..."

> You somehow manage to suppress a groan in your head.

> Of course they taught the princess to fight out of a book.

"Okay - look, forget the books for a second. If I were to turn around and attack you now, could you stop me? Without your magic?"

> The following awkward silence tells you all you need to know.

> "I... I could stop you with my magic. Without... I probably could."

> Her voice is wavering, and not at all full of the confidence you had hoped for.

"Well, that's okay. I'm used to running security for people."

> It really isn't okay; none of those jobs involved aliens with inexplicable and unheard-of 'magic'.

> But if you told her that, she'd probably have a freakout in the copilot's seat again.

> Something else drags your attention, though.

"Sparks, I've got a moving surface contact - range, six-three on a two-nine-five heading from us. Moderate EM pickup, some gravi readings..."

> "What is it?"

"Can't tell from this range - it's not reflecting to well, doesn't match any of my typical sensor returns."

> "Should we go investigate?"

> You'd rather been hoping she would make that decision, but...

"Yeah. It's not moving to fast. We can burn for orbit if anything goes bad."

> You make sure the Drift's weapons are charged and armed nonetheless.

> By the time the contact slips into view, though, it is your turn to be baffled.

"Well, I'll be caught in a sunstorm. An honest-to-Galled wooden sailing ship."

> "I can't... quite... see."

> Twilight is leaning as far as she can out of her seat to try and get a closer look at the ship below you.

> You chuckle softly, pulling up a zoomed-in image on one of the display screens.

"See any identification you recognize, Sparks?"

> "No, nothing. They aren't flying any flags I know, but they aren't trying to harm us either..."

> You pull the ship into a lazy, slow circle around the ship, glancing over at it yourself.

> Indeed, except for a couple of vibrantly-colored hovering blobs that keep to the upperworks, they seem more afraid of you.

"I can go to hover close enough for you to lean out the rear hatch, but that's a risky move. I don't advise trying it."

> "Yeah. We need to go find Ahuizotl."

> Turning away, you roll the ship into a slow salute and punch up the throttle.

> "What was that about? Rolling like that?"

"Huh? Oh! Old-Earth thing. Used to be, before we got into space, you'd waggle your wings at another aircraft to salute them."

> "Oh. Huh. Pegasi usually just wave."

"Yeah, we didn't have the luxury of spare limbs. Around seven minutes until we hit the coast, by the way."

> Already you could see the ominous black clouds rising on the horizon.

> Once you get under them, it rapidly becomes apparent how oppressive an atmosphere they create.

> Even though you know the Drift could punch straight up through them in a pinch, it's hard not to look at something that thick and black be a little worried.

> "It worries me too, Anonymous. The clouds, I mean."

> Huh.

> Twilight must've noticed your worry.

"We'll be fine, Sparks. Just let me do my job."

 

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 

> You had turned south, soaring low over what looked to be a thick swamp that eventually transitioned to a full-on jungle beneath you.

> Staying subsonic definitely kept down your odds of being spotted, but after so long flying the jungle was starting to look all the same.

"You're sure he's down there, Sparks?"

> "Absolutely. We didn't fly much when he was traveling with me, but that temple he was hiding out in is unmistakable."

> Unfortunately the unnaturally heavy cloud clover precluded any attempts at mapping the jungle from orbit in any great detail.

> Oh, the radar and other sensors gave you a rough idea of where artificial structures might be.

> But getting any images with enough detail to identify them? No chance.

> Instead you'd set a zig-zagging search pattern to cover all the probably locations.

> It didn't help that the more you saw of this jungle, the less you saw in terms of adequate landing locations.

> If he was down there, Ahuizotl really had taken refuge in the remotest depths he could find.

> Which frankly, sounded just like him.

> "There! That's it, I'm sure of it!"

"Okay, site-19. Marking this as a probable location... going to go see if I can locate a good place to set down."

> Unfortunately, while the temple itself was plenty impressive - colossal structure of reddish-gold stone emerging from the mottled depths of the jungle - that it would support the Stellar Drift's weight was unlikely.

> A spot on the ground itself would be far better, but you didn't see anything that looked particularly promising.

> You swing the ship around again, settling it into a low spiral drifting outwards from the temple itself.

> "Anonymous, why are we leaving?"

"Not leaving, Sparks. I'm making a couple sensor sweeps, seeing if there's anything I can pick up down there. If no signs of life, then I'll make us a landing site."

> "Make us...?"

"You'll see."

> Fortunately the sensors indicate nothing larger than local wildlife - though you make another pass just to be sure.

> Considering Twilight's size compared to what it might be seeing as possible animals, it didn't hurt to be sure.

"Hey Sparks - your people, do they use radio?"

> "Our- oh! Ponies, um, there are a few sets out there - I have one - but they're mostly just curiosities."

"Curiosities?"

> "Like, for scientific experiments and stuff."

"So, odds are nobody will be listening. Good."

> You switch on the local comms transponder, makings sure to disable encoding.

"This is the freehull Stellar Drift transmitting in the clear on multiple emergency channels to any responding vessels. Please respond, please respond. This is the freehull..."

> Twilight watches you as you circle the sight for several minutes, broadcasting the message.

"Hey - Ahuizotl. You out there? This is Anonymous, please respond."

> Silence greets both your ears.

> "Wouldn't it have been better to try this when we were... up there?"

"Yeah, it would've. I tried standard comms - more advanced stuff than radio - back up there while you were asleep; I didn't want to broadcast in the open from orbit."

> "And nothing?"

"Nope. Nada. Zip."

> Twilight's ears fall, but you shake our head.

"It's not that bad, Sparks. He may have shut off his equipment to avoid detection or conserve power. Radio might not penetrate far enough if he's underground."

> You swing the ship around again, pointing its nose into a flat spot just to the side of the temple structure.

"Okay. Watch this, Sparks. This, is how you make a landing spot."

> Settling the Drift into a nice stable hover, you key on the autopilot and switch over to weapon controls.

> Quickly cycling down to the ventral forward turret, you let your vision fill with the video feed from the turret's own sensor cluster.

"Three, two, one, and..."

> Four quick bolts snap out from beneath you, vines and undergrowth instantly vaporizing where they strike.

> A soft gasp is audible from behind you, but your focus is still with the turret.

> You walk the bolts outward in a slowly expanding circle, charring plant and blackening earth.

> By the time you are done, steam and smoke are all that rise from a suitable clearing for your ship to land in.

> "I didn't realize... this ship was so powerful."

> Twilight's voice is unsteady as she stares at the scar seared into the jungle.

"I don't make a big show of it, but yes. That turret is right beneath the cockpit; there's another behind it and two on the top just rear of the engine pods. I've also got around eight smaller emplacements, for point-defense against small stuff."

> Bringing the ship slowly forward, you begin audibly running through the landing checklist out of habit.

"Okay, gears four green, down and locked. Engines rotated and thrust steady, holding level... thirty feet up. Delta minus-three..."

> A growing whine from behind you signals the heavy stabilizer panels folding up against the hull while air howls around the hull, whipping up ash and dust from the charred jungle floor.

> But your sensors see through it, and the landing gear come down to meet the ground in a near-perfect four-point landing.

"...and contact. Engines spooling down, no wheel slippage. We're on the ground."

> Slapping the harness anchor at the center of your chest to release it, you stand and start heading back from the cockpit even before the thrusters' howling dies off.

> Twilight follows you after fumbling for her own harness.

> "Aren't you worried about going in?"

"Cautious, Sparks. But caution is good; caution has kept me alive."

> Heading back past the kitchen and medical closet, and up a short flight of stairs you reach your own quarters.

> Or more specifically, the small armory you'd built in behind it.

> Twilight steps in carefully a moment later, looking around.

> "What are all these....?"

"Weapons and armor."

> You have headed to a full-size armor rack to the rear, sliding the control harness on in one practiced motion and then moving on to the main plates.

> Vision flashes to white for a second as the harness connects to your neural port, but your implants take control and a HUD flickers up into your vision a moment later.

"When you don't work in a big team, you've got to make sure you're a step above any trouble you encounter 'cause there's probably going to be more of them than you."

> "I guess that makes sense, but isn't it tiring to carry that around all the time?"

> You pass Twilight an arm segment for her to feel while you snap the opposite one into place.

"It's not as heavy as you might think. This is a lighter type; the whole thing only weighs about as much as me. Trades protection and power output for mobility and not weighing to much."

> You take the piece back, trying to ignore that she'd chosen to hold it in her glowy-field-thing rather than her actual limbs.

> If that 'magic' had messed with any of your gear...

"You're not wrong, though - this armor has its own power source, to support itself and some other stuff. Cost a fair bit, though."

> "What about a weapon?"

"Hmm?"

> She had turned to the rack of rifles and was now studying them carefully - probably trying to figure out how they worked.

> "You're not going to want me to take one of your weapons, are you? I mean, I know you think I can't really defend myself, but I'm not sure I want to..."

> Huh, had you been that obvious in questioning on her fighting skills?

"Relax, Sparks. I wouldn't give you a weapon even if you asked; without training you'd be a danger to me as well as them."

> You snap the last glove into place, feeling it stiffen around your hand and then begin to respond to your commands.

> Moving on to the gun racks, you quickly begin to browse through the options:

"Let's see... LeMat Pulse, HKA carbine... and, what the hell, a couple of baryon lances."

> The pistol and carbine find a place on your waist and back respectively, while the lance tubes are anchored to each thigh.

> A trio of grenades and a knife sheathed opposite the pistol round out your collection.

> Sliding on the armor's helmet, you wait to hear the click-whir of the air filters cycling before you turn to Twilight again.

"Alright. Follow close behind me, and try to keep aware of what's going on around us."

> She nods - shakily, but a nod.

> "I'll try."

"Okay."

> The main bay door swings open with a whine, heavy lift armatures dropping the armored hatch to the ground.

> You strode out with confidence - the ship's sensors still failing to put up the remotest sign of danger.

> That didn't stop the carbine from finding its way into your hands, though, nor from you checking your equipment again as you approach.

> Your armored feet and Twilight's hooves transition from a gentle kshh-kshh in the burnt-out soil and ash to more solid clicks when you tread on the temple's stone.

> Oh well.

> Stealth wasn't exactly your preferred practice in most situations anyhow.

> The main entrance isn't exactly hard to find, but you spend a moment shining the suit's lights - visible and otherwise - down the hole before nodding.

"Looks reasonably safe."

> Twilight starts to trot in.

"Stop!"

> She turns to look at you, annoyance flashing across her face.

> "You said it looked safe!"

"Yeah. That means it's not unsafe, in which case I'd make a new entrance. Walk slowly."

> Once inside, you find yourself rapidly thankful for the lighting.

"Whoever constructed this place didn't think might of windows."

> Fortunately Twilight had manifested some kind of floating ball of light from her horn that bobbed alongside her as well.

> "It's built in the style of the ancient Mareyans. Their temples were often windowless and built with thick walls, an adaption which helps maintain a cool environment inside despite th-"

"Okay, Sparks."

> You chuckle softly.

"Didn't need the encyclopedia entry there."

> "Sorry... I'm just nervous, and it's a thing I do..."

"It's okay. Just don't get too-"

> Something clicks beneath your foot, sending an axe-blade swinging down from the ceiling into the side of your armor.

> You shift under the impact, but it merely screeches off the metacomposite plating harmlessly.

"...distracted."

> "Omigosh! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sparks. Thanks for asking."

> You pick up the blade, studying it.

> After a second, you hold it out to Twilight.

"Here, look - this might have cut flesh still, but the surface is all corroded. This is old."

> "Ahuizotl didn't disable it?"

> You snort.

"Are you kidding? His theory was, if he could survive it once, leave it up. It'd 'discourage the competition'."

> "That's barbaric."

"That's life where we come from."

> Thirty meters ahead, though, a sensor sweep spots something more worrying.

> At the top of a flight of stairs, a slight heat source is barely visible from just behind a small pile of fallen bricks.

> A quick check on the magnetometrics confirms that it's metal as well, with at least some current in it.

> Made of metal, giving off heat, carefully concealed and invisible to anything less than a military-grade sensor.

> More than enough reason to give you pause.

> Twilight halts when you put out a hand in front of her, looking up at you.

"Thermal contact, thirty meters ahead. Concealed. Probably a trap, something more recent."

> She nods - but then, closes her eyes and lights her horn.

> "Oooh, yeah. Just underneath the bricks. Let me just try to lift one of them-"

"Wait, Sparks, no!"

> Too late; the purple glow of her horn shifts part of the pile.

> Instantly something erupts out of it on a bright trail of fire and smoke, hovering in the air for just a second before it detonates as well.

> The air around it glows the sickly-blue of Cherenkov radiation; you instinctively twist into a protective ball and try to cover your head.

> Fortunately it was still far, far to distant to reach you.

> Your armor's rad-count remains normal.

> "What was that?!"

"Smart claymore. It does a sweep when triggered and throws a nice jet of radiation at the nearest thing that isn't marked as friendly to it."

> From the way Twilight blanches at the word 'radiation', you suspect her species at least gets the dangers behind it.

> "I'm sorry! I thought we were far enough away!"

"Next time, let me dispose of stuff like that."

> The next discovery, though, is more grisly than dangerous.

> You find them at the bottom of the stairs - two bodies, tangled together.

> One had definitely been a pegasus - wings, but no horn; the neck looked to have been crushed with a single, powerful blow.

> The other, some kind of large animal, possibly feline.

> Strangely, nothing was left of the pony but bones, while the cat still had meat (if rotting) on it.

> They had obviously died in mortal combat, limbs tangled with each other and the pony's skeletal jaws sunk deep into the cat's decaying flesh.

> Twilight had stopped beside the pony, leaning down to touch her horn to the bones, eyes half closed and murmuring softly.

> "May you be granted swift passage to the eternal fields."

> It was a ritual you had seen plenty in varying styles through your line of work, and you leave her to tend to her own dead.

> Instead you pause beside the feline, studying the bodies for any clues.

> "Ahuizotl always had these cats around him. They saved my life when he was sending me to you."

> Twilight's voice comes from beside your elbow.

> "I never saw anything move as quietly as they did... when they were hunting us, or anything else."

> You just nod.

"Ambush hunters... that's just like him."

> You nudge the corpse with a toe.

"Any idea who the pony was?"

> "One of Sombra's hunters. I'm sure."

> You don't ask how she knows; this is her domain.

> Strange, though, that she would mourn for a fallen enemy.

"Come on. If he's still got active mines watching the entrance and there was an intrusion, he might still be in trouble."

> The further you go on, you only find more corpses.

> Mostly the bones of various ponies - fallen victim to traps both modern and ancient as well as showing signs of death from feline attack.

> But you also find the cats as well, nine of them in all.

> And all dead.

> By the time you make your way down the second flight of stairs, a growing pit is forming in your stomach.

> You would never admit it to Twilight, but...

> You were afraid.

> The fact that Ahuizotl had mined the entrance passage, and all the dead.

> It did not bode well.

"Sparks - hold here. Get low."

> Twilight drops to her belly and you to one knee, trying to peer further forward with your armor's sensors.

"Fifteen meters, door. Looks to be torn open, one side hanging. I can't see much of anything beyond, must open up into a larger chamber."

> You carefully scoot forward on the one knee, carbine up and at your shoulder.

> At five meters out, any traps mounted to the doors seem unlikely.

> You walk the last few steps hurriedly, haste quickening your motions.

> You push aside the hanging door, and whistle softly.

> Twilight is just speechless.

"Well, he must've brought enough gear for the long haul when he got here..."

> The room is littered with equipment - some easily recognizable, some not.

> In the corner, your suit's lights reflect off the obloid hull of a small trans-orbit shuttle.

> And then, of course, there were the bones.

> Forty, perhaps fifty equine skeletons - maybe more, you couldn't tell - littered the floor.

> They seemed to have all been racing from the entrance, ignoring the equipment to head for the shuttle.

"No..."

> You turn on your heel, twisting to follow their direction of travel.

> Boots crunch bone beneath them as you stop bothering to avoid the obstacles.

> You weren't even looking at the skeletons.

"Damn you, you crazy old coot..."

> You only had eyes for the large form slumped at the base of the shuttle's boarding ladder.

> Jogging, almost running over to it, you let your carbine fall to your side.

"...just couldn't keep yourself alive long enough for me, huh?"

> Ahuizotl had gone down fighting, that much was clear.

> An old bolt thrower was clutched in his thick forearms, a pistol in his tail-claw.

> Two final cats lay dead beside him, and at least three empty clips were scattered around.

> For that, you felt a slight pride - they hadn't taken him easily.

> But it was a candle of pride amid a sea of turmoil.

> You don't even hear the hooves clip-clopping up beside you, nor do you notice the presence at your side until Twilight speaks.

> "Oh, no..."

> Oh, yes.

> You'd simply taken to long.

> And now he was dead.

> "These were hunters - Sombra's minions. They must've hunted him after he sent me away."

> In a slow haze, you look about the rest of the room - your suit's lights illuminating shattered equipment.

> The battle had cost it was well, obviously.

> In a slow daze, you climb the ladder up into the shuttle.

> Only to find that it had been pillaged as well, the interior torn and ravaged.

> Twilight is waiting when you climb out, her eyes wide.

> "Anonymous, I-"

"Sparks..."

> Your voice cracks slightly.

"Just... go away, Sparks."

> She rears back as if struck, shaking her head.

> "We can't, we have to still-"

"GO AWAY!"

> You stomp past her, finding a wall to slide down against.

"I really don't want to see anyone right now."

> Twilight eyes you for a moment, then trots away with a flick of her tail.

> You are left alone, free at last to remove the helmet of your suit.

> Free to allow the tears to flow freely.

> For an interminable time you sit there, staring at the bodies and sometimes crying.

> Eventually, some small redoubt hope drives you climb into the shuttle again.

> Hoping against all odds that Ahuiztol would have left some message, some components might still be working.

> That hope dies soon, though.

> Like any good freelancer, Ahuizotl had thoroughly purged everything from his ship's storage before he went.

> There was nothing left here.

> Instead, you climb into the cramped cockpit and sit in the control chair, again crying quietly.

> How long?

> You're not totally sure.

> Just that eventually you find yourself staring out the cockpit window blankly, something softly bumping against your shoulder.

> A painfully slow turn of your head finds Twilight standing in the cockpit entrance, a familiar flask hovering suspended before you in her purple cloud.

> "Draupnir Whiskey... it's good for when you're feeling down..."

> The echo of what you had told her is not lost on you.

> You don't ask how she got into the stash - let alone back into the ship - but just wordlessly take the flask.

> In contrast to Twilight's drinking habit, you take a long pull straight from the flask.

> The liquid slides down easily, the numbing agent in it leaving your throat cool before fading to let the full effects of the drink hit.

> "I covered him up. It... seemed right."

"Thank you."

> Twilight doesn't say anything more, but doesn't leave either.

> Time passes still.

> When you speak again, it is with slow, pained words.

"I might have understated a bit when I said I worked with him."

> One lavender ear rises in response to your voice.

"I was a hotshot rookie, straight out of flight training with a job doing high-speed deliveries. Overtaxed my drives trying to pull out of a gravity well, had a whole bunch of stuff blow up on me. That mess you made with that overjump, that was small beans compared to this screwup. One of the main drives blew completely right next to me; grabbed most of my left leg, all of my arm, and a fair chunk of everything in between. Next thing I know, I wake up in a stationside med ward with a couple of artificial limbs and a high-grade neural implant in my head."

> Twilight winces and you take another long pull from the flask.

"They tell me Ahuizotl flew my ship in alone, sold it and the cargo as salvage, and put aside some of the proceeds to pay for my healing. Well, the colonials - they didn't look kindly on me loosing my ship like that, start making noise about taking away my job license for a bit. So I say, forget them - I want to know the guy who can catch a drifting ship in an unstable orbit, board it, perform first aid enough to keep my heart beating, and then get the ship three jumps on with almost nothing working."

> At some point, Twilight had squeezed in beside you - barely fitting into the shuttle's cockpit with you, but managing somehow.

> She nods, but lets you go on.

"So, I track Ahuizotl down, tell him I want to know how he does that. He says, he's willing to bring me on, but pay is split in his favor and if I try anything or do something dumb he won't pull me out again. What do I care, it sounds good - I agree."

> You painfully chuckle, sipping a bit more whiskey before you go on.

"So, turns out I'm terrible at recognizing good things to steal, how to do a proper recovery, that sort of thing - but, I'm actually a fairly decent pilot once my ego is under control, and good at security kinds of things as well. I end up handling that sort of thing, and he takes the finer details. We two, we hit it all - ups, downs, good hauls, total misses. Got chased out of half a dozen stations, sometimes laughing with the loot in our arms and sometimes lucky to have our lives. He taught me a whole ton, and gave me a place in the stars. So, here's to you, you crazy old coot-"

> You rise the flask, a good third empty now.

"-wish I coulda come here faster."

> Your arm falls back down, and after a moment a single purple hoof comes to rest on top of it.

> "I'm sorry. I truly am... I know how you feel."

> Anger flares through your mind - does she really think she's seen anything like what you and Ahuizotl got through, been that close with anyone?

> But then you remember why you are here.

> You remember Twilight's reaction to her own story.

> Questioning her grieving credentials slips from your mind.

> You push yourself out of the pilot's couch, both you and Twilight squeezing out from the cockpit.

"Anyway, he was a freelancer to the last - wiped all his ship's storage and memory devices before going down. Must've known they were coming. He'd have been thorough, too - after all the time he spent breaking into other people's stuff, he knew how to cover his own tracks."

> You start down the ladder to the floor beyond.

> Beside you, Twilight glides down as well.

> "But what about he promised you? He was going to tell you how to get into Vondregon's Chalice?"

"Yeah, he did promise. He was probably planning on being alive then too."

> "So, there's nothing here left for you..."

> She looks down, wings drooping.

> "I know... you only work for pay and all... but... maybe you could find something I could give you? Maybe-"

> You silence her with one raised finger to her muzzle.

"Two reasons I'm not leaving, Sparks."

> Turning your head, you study the familiar corpse - now covered by a sheet Twilight had produced from somewhere.

"One, I still owe Ahuizotl my life. I dunno what he was thinking up, but if he says I can help you I'll take a shot at it."

> "And two?"

> Your gaze twists to fall on Twilight.

> She takes an involuntary step back, struck by the fury in your gaze.

"And two, I'm staying because I am going to find this Sombra, and I am going to kill him too."

 

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

 

> With newfound purpose, you look around the room.

"Okay, first - something I need to know. All these pony bodies - they're nothing but bones even, but everything else has meat on it. No signs of disturbance, so nothing's eating them. Is that normal?"

> "They're Sombra's hunters. He... animates the bones; I don't know how, dark magic has never been something I studied."

> Great, now there's dark magic, which is apparently different from her magic.

> You're going to need another drink.

"How hard are they to kill?"

> Twilight pauses before replying - her tone of voice suggesting an admission.

> "Not easy. I can undo the magic animating them, but that takes time. They're resistant to direct attack with my magic - everything he enchants is. I've taken to just bashing them with things."

> From the way she says it, you might think 'just bash them' was somehow a lesser solution than something more complicated.

"Right, good to know for now."

> You stride to the side of the covered body.

> No longer does it give you pause to look at the corpse.

> For now, you have put those thoughts away.

> The fallen bolt thrower laying beside it is scooped up in one quick motion; with practiced actions, you strip the magazine out and clear the chamber.

"Huh, an old A-22. Wonder how many users it had before him. Hey Sparks - catch."

> You toss the bolt thrower to her, a magic field springing up to grab it mid-air.

> "Anon, what-?"

"You want to do this, Sparks? Then you're going to need to learn how to fight with a real gun, not that funny magic stuff."

> "But you weren't going to give me a weapon!"

"Rules've changed, Sparks. When we stepped in here, I was just getting you back safe. Now, now it's war."

> Another full magazine is scooped from the floor, along with Ahuizotl's pistol.

> "I thought you said I'd be a danger-"

"For now? You are. That's why I safed it."

> Straightening up, you meet Twilight's eyes again.

"Look around us. You said these things are hard to fight, but Ahuizotl took down dozens of them with that old bolt thrower."

> Twilight nods uncertainly, looking at the gun is though it might suddenly reach out and bite her.

> "But, is it right to just take it from-"

"He spent his life taking stuff from dead people, Sparks. Don't think he'd passing the favor along, especially to get back at the one who killed him."

> She grimaces, but nods uncertainly.

> You take one last look around, looking for anything you might have missed.

"There's nothing more of use to us here - not now anyway. Any ideas on where to go ne-"

> An alert pops up in the corner of your vision.

> Suit proximity alarm.

> Instantly you're down to one knee, the armor releasing the carbine into your hands.

"Get behind cover, Sparks. We've got company."

> Your HUD points you directly the source of the alarm.

> Standing in the doorway your had entered through is another equine skeleton.

> Far from being dead, though, it is standing tall - enveloped in a flowing fog, its eyes twin green lamps in the darkness.

> Looking straight at you.

"Bones should not do that."

> The carbine rises to your shoulder, but before you can fire the thing opens its bony jaws and unleashes a piercing howl.

> Shock drives your finger down hard on the trigger, dragging it all the way back.

> Staccato pops echo in the hall as pulse after pulse of energized particles are driven into the thing's body.

> The howl dies away, leaving only a few hollow noises as the cloud dissipates and once-more-dead bones fall to the floor.

> "That's not good! Anonymous, that howl was magical too!"

> One guess as to what it means.

" 'Come here, targets found'?"

> Twilight nods, her eyes darting around.

> "If I use to much of my magic now, they'll be able to track it too. I can't teleport us out of here without attracting them to us."

"Then we need to move. Fall in behind me and watch my back."

> Rising from your knee, you sprint to the doorway.

> Fortunately no further horrors choose to greet you in the hallway beyond.

> Yet.

"Okay, clear ahead. Watch your step."

> The respite lasts until you reach the stairs.

> Sounds, unidentifiable but definitely not friendly, echo up from below.

"Come on!"

> You pound up the stairs, Twilight opting to spread her wings and fly just behind you.

> The peace holds until you reach the top, whereupon something comes screeching out of the darkness to tackle you.

> The weight of dry bones is nothing compared to your suit, though, and your carbine's muzzle lodges itself in the hunter's ribcage a second later.

> Bones shatter - several ribs and at least one leg - under the continuous fire, but it does not stop trying to bite until a shot evaporates a segment of spine.

> Just like that, it falls away - inanimate once more.

"Seems whatever kills the living, kills the dead."

> You turn to find Twilight wildly bludgeoning another hunter with the bolt thrower.

> Good choice to give her that sturdy old thing instead of one of your weapons.

> A few furious impacts further and it too goes still, Twilight looking up and nodding to you.

> "We need to keep going."

> Again proceeding forward, you desperately pray there are no further traps waiting to be triggered.

> A turn of a corner at intersecting hallways, and -

"Nope! Nope, nope nope! Other way, Sparks!"

> Green glowing eyes in the distance.

> Dozens of them.

> Twisting on the ball of your foot, you promptly take off in the opposite direction.

> Behind you, more shrieking howls go up.

> Once more you charge forward into the dark.

> This time your suit's lamps are the only illumination - Twilight does not seem to dare illuminate her, perhaps horn for fear of attracting further hunters.

> Yet, despite this, the hunters seem reluctant to pursue you.

> More than once green lamplight eyes have blinked out at you from side passages, but no unliving forms have come crashing down on either your armored form or Twilight's smaller body.

> Are they scared, after what you did to the first one? Or...?

> "Anonymous! Something's wrong."

> You nod, the pools of light projected from your helmet flicking back and forth.

"They're herding us."

> She is the one to nod now, her large eyes gazing back into the darkened hallway behind you.

> "They must be under the command of somepony more powerful - I've been through this before!"

> As if you had been heard, more angry noises issue from the distant black - lower, angrier now.

"I think the hunting hounds just got told to flush us out."

> You look down to Twilight, an idea forming in your mind.

"Sparks, can you use that magic to hold some debris up to shield yourself or something? Some big debris?"

> "I can shield myself directly with magic, but those hunters will just tear through it - their dark magic just eats away at it!"

"They aren't what I'm worried about."

> Turning another corner, you encounter another passage - but longer, with relatively few side passages.

> Perfect.

> Sprinting to the end of the hall, you spin on the ball of one foot and drop to a knee, facing back down the path you came.

> Armor plates scrape along the floor as you skid to a stop.

> A hand scrabbles to your side, grasping a baryon lance from its spot anchored to a thigh panel.

"Sparks! When I say, get that shield up and pump everything you've got into it!"

> Her horn flares up, burning like a beacon in the darkness; your suit's high-beams add to the illumination.

> Distant forms slither back and forth in the remaining darkness.

> Your carbine cracks, spraying fire one-handedly down the tight passageway into the distance.

> Odds are few - if any - shots are actually connecting, but that's not the point.

> It delays them just enough for more to flood the tunnel with unearthly bodies.

> "Anonymous! They're going to swarm us!"

> Twilight isn't wrong; the skeletal, cloud-swathed forms in the distance have formed a roiling mass that now charges down the passage almost as one body.

> The carbine clatters to the floor; you heft the baryon lance up beneath one arm and squeeze the control block with the other.

> The lance's low whine fills your ears as it spools up, the snarling, howling mass rapidly closing on you.

> "Anonymous!"

"Steady, Sparks. Wait for them..."

> Even knowing what you are holding the effect of being charged by so many things is unnerving.

> You can only imagine how it feels to Twilight, without the benefit of your suit's plating.

"Steady..."

> She holds, though, legs spread wide and head angled down to point her horn directly at the charging foe.

"NOW!"

> A shimmering lavender bubble erupts from Twilight's horn, mushrooming out to cover her.

> You squeeze the firing stud, and the baryon lance discharges.

> A swirling blue-white bolt is hurled down the passage.

> Ten feet distant it flares out to a star-like brightness, exotic heavy particles collapsing into electromagnetic energy as it goes.

> Your armor's face-plate instantly darkens to shield your eyes; passingly, you hope Twilight thought to protect her eyes as well.

> A fraction of a second later the shockwave hits, air expanded by the incredible heat generated by the lance slamming into you like a solid wall.

> Despite your hunched-over crouch and leg stretched out behind you, you feel yourself being lifted and hurled back by the scorching-hot gas.

> Falling on your back with a thud, the spent lance - rear glowing red-hot around the burned-out fuel pod and generator - lands a short distance in front of you.

> You push yourself up on one arm and taking a look down the hallway, noting to your satisfaction a complete and total lack of any more hunters.

> They have all been utterly destroyed by the lance's discharge; indeed, the passage itself is glowing a cherry red along the stretch the lance's bolt had traveled.

"Hah! I told you I knew what I was doing, Sparks! That ought to keep them off our backs for a - uh-oh."

> The superheated walls have begun to bow inward, little glowing pebbles falling clear to land on the floor.

> As you watch, a grinding rumble rises as fissures spread along them.

"Oh, shi-"

> Your exclamation is cut short as the walls give out entirely, the ceiling following them down.

> Arms instinctively rise to cover your face as the collapse spreads, domino-like.

> Yet, no impacts come.

> When the noise dies and you cautiously lower your arms, instead of a mass of rubble your vision is filled with a shimmering purple.

> Even as you watch, Twilight finally lets the field collapse - breathing heavily as the light around her horn fades.

> At another time you would have marveled at how she had produced a - by all appearances fairly potent - shield.

> Right now, you're mostly glad to be alive.

"Hey... hey Sparks. You okay?"

> Slowly she nods, still catching her breath.

> "I'm... I'm good, yeah."

> She shakes her head a little, wings spreading to fan the air.

> "I think I might have singed my coat, but I'm not hurt. What was that, Anonymous?"

"Baryon lance. Exotic heavy particle weapon. Good for anti-armor, anti-emplacement, and obstacle-clearing applications."

> You nudge the still-glowing tube with one boot.

"Each one is single-use only without refurbishment, though. Expendable."

> "Oh..."

> Her gaze turns to the collapsed tunnel, and yours follows.

> The radius of where her shield had ended is littered with chunks of brick, stone, and rubble fallen from above.

> It's nothing compared to where the worst of the collapse had been, though.

> The entire passageway has filled with debris.

> Another reminder of how lucky you are the worst of the collapse had stopped before reaching you.

> "I don't think we're getting out of here any time soon."

"Yeah. Going to have to find another exit."

> You glance down to her, and for the first time realise that Twilight is sweating fairly heavily.

> A second later, you realise just how heavily you are sweating in the lingering heat of the lance's shot.

"Come on. Let's go find somewhere cooler to start."

> Wordlessly the two of you trek onwards.

> This time, you're sure to trace a map on your personal data terminal - getting lost down here wouldn't be fun whatsoever.

> Unfortunately, even with the map you quickly find the tunnel to be a complex mess of passageways.

> They looped back on each other, ran criss-cross over each other, and did everything they could to be uniquely confusing.

> At least it's cooler than the collapsed hallway, although you suspect you both stink to high heaven now.

> ...come to think of it, Twilight hasn't cleaned up since before you picked her up back at the station; how you didn't notice the smell, you don't know.

"Hey Sparks?"

> She's still resisting using her horn, apparently badly tired by the shield she had thrown up for you.

> Instead she is keeping her head on a swivel, huge eyes peering about for any signs of a way out.

> "Yes, Anonymous?"

"Thanks. For saving me back there."

> She pause mid-step, then nods and continues on.

> "You're welcome... after all you have done so far, it's the least I can do."

> Another awkward silence holds before you speak again.

"So. Any ideas about how to get out?"

> "Actually, yes."

> Your eyebrows rise behind the helmet.

"Oh? Well, don't keep it secret."

> "Mareyan temples of this period were built with one or more secret exits. The priest-ponies would use them to move unseen in and out, often creating the illusion they could teleport."

"Heh. That'd be a handy ability to have - real, or fake."

> "Oh, some of the unicorn priests might have actually been able to do so, but the others-"

> Now it is your turn to stop, pausing for a second to stare at Twilight.

"Wait, unicorns can teleport? Can you?"

> "With sufficient magical skill, and yes - I said so before. But not right now - I'm still very drained from that shield, and the hunters can follow my teleports."

> Huh, you missed her mentioning it before.

> Probably to distracted...

"Damn. Was hoping for an easy way out of here."

> She gives you the flattest look in a while.

> "Trust me, Anonymous, I've already considered all magical solutions for allowing us an easy escape, and found that none of them are feasible right now."

"Yeah - shouldn't have jumped on you about that."

> "But that doesn't mean I don't have a plan. Those secret exits should still be around here somewhere; I've been looking for signs of one as we walked..."

> At least, you reflect, there haven't been any more traps.

> Or hunters.

> You've seen a lot of shit, but bones just should not do that.

> "Anonymous! Here!"

> Twilight is standing besides a section of wall, tapping it with her hoof.

> "Here! It's one of the passages I was talking to you about!"

"I'm trusting you can see something I don't, because that looks like a wall right there."

> Another flat look.

> "Trust me, Anonymous. I've read extensively on Mareyan architecture. See, this here is the rune-"

"Okay, okay - I believe you."

> You nudge the wall with one boot.

"So, how's it open?"

> "Well, there was probably a switch somewhere around here originally. I would just need to find the right-"

> Now it's your turn to give her a look.

> "-buuut I think if we push hard enough it should just move."

"Okay. On three?"

> "On three."

> You both throw your weight against the door, you on the upper part and Twilight on the lower.

> It moves surprisingly smoothly - sliding inward to reveal another passage beyond.

"Excllent..."

> Again you take the lead, carbine still at the ready.

> Secret passage or not, it paid to be ready.

> As you walk, though the walls become rougher.

> Soon you are treading in small puddles - the floor having turned from closely-packed stone tiles to bare bedrock.

"We're either getting closer to the surface, or heading down into a tomb."

> "Let's hope it's the former, then."

> Even Twilight can't keep the worry out of her voice.

> At least until she suddenly pauses, sniffing the air curiously.

> "Anon! This way!"

> She bursts past you, charging down the tunnel.

"What is it?"

> "Fresh air! Can't you smell it?"

> In truth you can't but her giddyness is invigorating on its own.

> And the sunlight that soon comes into view is undeniably welcome.

"Sparks, wait!"

> She had already begun to fly up the overgrown mouth of the tunnel to reach the narrow open section near the roof.

> "What?"

"Let me get out first. If there are more of those hunters waiting outside for us..."

> That gets her attention fast.

> Unfortunately, while the vines are perfectly good at supporting the weight of one pony princess, 'fully armored human' proves to be a bit beyond their capacity.

> A conclusion you come to as a vine rips itself free of the cluster in your hand.

"Oh, shi-"

> Something thuds into the back of your armor, swinging you back toward the vine cluster.

> No painful fall for you.

> "Are you alright, Anonymous?"

"Yes, fine."

> A few deep breaths and you will be, anyway.

> Pulling yourself up the rest of the way far more carefully, you drag yourself out onto open ground.

> A purple-maned head cautiously pokes up after you.

> "Any hunters?"

"Not that I can see... but there's to much interference. Wildlife. My motion sensors can't get a good clear reading."

> "So what now?"

"Well..."

> The temple is still easily visible, rising in its clearing.

> You can see the corner of the Drift's stabilizer panels too, folded upright and peeking above the undergrowth.

"Okay. I can see the Drift from here - around two-hundred-ten meters. We make for the edge of the clearing, get down right at the edge. I'll take another look as we're approaching. Ready?"

> Twilight takes a deep breath, her eyes narrowing and wings spreading.

> "Ready!"

> There is no attempt to hide your footfalls now.

> The two of you crash through the jungle.

> At the edge of the worst growth, still no sign of any movement.

"Keep going, Sparks!"

> You're panting heavily now, even despite the armor's power assist.

> Bursting into the open, no more than half the distance remains to the drift when an unearthly shriek goes up behind you.

> Of course they notice you now.

"Get onboard, Sparks! I'll be up after you!"

> She doesn't even respond, just lifting off with a flap of her wings to sail straight into the open hatchway.

> Seconds later you charge aboard, fingers scrabbling for the hatch controls.

> Turning back just in time to see the last of the hunters disappear behind the rising hatch.

"Hah!"

> You collapse against a bulkhead, panting heavily as your breathing catches up with the sprint you had just performed.

"Just... just tell me they... can't fly?"

> "Not those ones."

"Heh. We beat 'em, then. C'mon, then."

> You motion back to the hatch, where a faint scratching can be heard from the other side.

"Let's get off the ground before they decide to call in anything nastier."