private Guns of Celestia rp

[HigurSan 195]

@@Midnight_Aurora, @@Rainbow Dash, @@dragon4111,

Steeleye Sungazer

 

"Preparing to launch," he said, speaking into the communications tube set up as his control pedastel. It could get horrendously loud when the engines were fully fired up, and the guns were firing. The tube was a simple metal system, aided by magic spells for clarity. Tapping a magic rune, he brought up a televisor spell and hailed the docking authority. "This is Enchanter Steeleye Sungazer, Captain of Light-Cruiser Class designation Dawnchaser. Mission is to escort Pony 1311R.A. to destination 5.P.O. We are go for launch. Authority code Noon-Alpha-Wind." The screen crackled for a minute before an overworked looking unicorn hissed into view. "You are authorized for launch Captain," he responded. "Watch out for developing weather systems. The weather-ponies are overtasked."

 

"Copy that Tower," Steeleye replied, shutting off the spell. Turning slightly, he began slowly lowering the levels connected to the vertical thrust engines, while increasing the air temperature in the blimps. The ship began to creak and groan as the blimps took on the full weight of the hull, lifting from its mooring where it'd sat since completion. As they moved upwards, first inches and then feet, the noise only increased. Another set of levers were pushed upward from neutral, controlling the rear-main propellors. By now, the noise of the engines and groaning of metal had increased to a deafing racket, hence the speaking tubes. "Enginners, keep a close eye on those engines. These are some of the newest prototypes, so they've got a massive power output. I've been warned there's a .027 chance that the pistons might jam. If they do, shut down the engine immediately. If it goes through a full cycle with a jam, the entire arm is bound to crack off at high aerial velocity. Also, in the case it breaks, try not to get a metal spar through your chest."

 

With the reverse spin of the propellors, they were beginning to drift backwards. The cables which had held the ship to the dock during construction began to snap off, one after the other, as they'd been designed to. One, however, snapped off from the dock instead of the ship. That could be dealt with later. Once the hull of the ship had fully cleared the docks, Steeleye began to haul away at the helm. Though there wasn't initially any response, the ship slowly began to come about. Soon enough their rear was facing Canterlot, prow pointed out to the open sky.

 

A quick tap of the rune brought up the televisor again. "Tower, we have cleared the docks. Outbound to destination." There was no response for a minute, but eventually a hurried "Happy trails!" floated from the display. Frowning, Steeleye shut it off again and began turning the propellor spin to forward. The message was bothering him. Canterlot ponies usually fawned over protocol. That message been highly informal. Their forward momentum was beginning to steadily carry them outwards to the horizon. The noise levels were beginning to recede as the systems worked their kinks out and the ship got used to the stress of movement. Some light repairs might be done, but the enginneers could handle anything they came across. Thankfully none of the engines had blown, though there'd only been a low chance.

 

He'd turned around briefly to get a final look at Canterlot when he noticed. The Royal Princesses had comissioned an extensive anti-air combat array to be installed around Canterlot in the past couple of months, due to the rise in air traffic. It hadn't bothered him when he'd heard. It was just a precaution. The system wasn't finished yet, but the majority of installations were functioning, and was quite an intimidating sight along the mountain's ridgeline. But some of those turrets were definitely turning to point right at his ship. What the...

 

"Emergency evasive manuevers! Grab on to something!" he yelled into the speaking tube, slamming the engine throttle full open and angling the hull slightly downwards. A series of bright flashes sparked across the mountainside, the echo of distant booms heard half a second later. The Dawnchaser was fast, but she was still an airship. Tight manuevering wasn't her best skill. A couple of seconds later, the searing bright trail of tracers began arcing through the air around them. The sudden change in trajectory probably helped (as well as sending a number of loose items tumbling over the side) but many shells found their mark. Some nicked off the wide propellors, thankfully missing the delicate machinery behind. Others flew past and buried themselves in the rear cabin, detonating in a series of chain of small explosions. Others raked across the deck, one missing Steeleye's head by mere inches. One of the side mounted gun took a direct hit, whisked off its mount in a trail of sharpnel and debris.

 

The ship continued to descend and sluggishly turn as Steeleye worked the controls. It seemed the rudder had taken a bad hit. The propellors didn't seem to have suffered horribly, but he was pretty sure he could smell smoke from the cabin. There might have been a puncture in one of the minor balloons. "Engineers! Get to it! We need fire out -now-!" The sloping of the deck began to level out as they got closer to the radiation line below. "Gunner, can you knock out any of those emplacements? You're free to fire, no holding back. Anything you can aim." The AA guns were turning to match their new flight path. A tracer punched a hole in another of the minor balloons. He hauled the ship to the side to avoid a line of incoming HE rounds. "We just need to get out of range, we can't fight this off, especially if they've got the-"

 

There was a noise louder than noise people could hear. It was so loud that it was deafening. Where it was, there was no other sound. A solid beam of light and energy sliced the morning sky, missing the Dawnchaser by a dozen meters off the port-aft. They could all feel the heat like fire on their skin from the proximity. It was so large that it could have easily enguled the entire ship. When the noise returned a second later with the beam's dissipation, Steeleye began shouting more orders. "Forget the fire! Forget firing back! All hands work on the engines and propulsion! Squeeze out every drop of power you can get, I don't care if it'll break later!" The force of the energy's passing had shoved the entire ship to the side like paper in a stiff breeze. "We've got about a minute before they can fire again. If we can't get out of range, all hands prepare to abandon ship." It was going to be a close run thing. And where would they even go if they did abandon ship? He couldn't think of that right now. At least they weren't losing altitude... yet...

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Fixa had been maintaining the main engines both of them. With what was going on, she was able to work on the small fires and keep the engines going. That last one however jared engine two. "Captain, engine two is jared. Compensating for the overclock. Engine two will need to be shut down for repairs later. Engine one stable and fully operational."

 

She turns a few handles and uses her short range Telekinesis to put out a fire near by. She then pips up again. "Stabilizers two and three are stressing, Captain. I can keep us up but I don't know for how long."

 

She then pipes to Zefira, "Zefira, compensate with stabilizers one and six. We need to keep up. Once clear, see what you can do about getting those two stabilizers to calm down. They need a 20% stress reduction. I have my hooves full just keeping the engines going."

[dragon4111 914]

Draco laughed like a mad pony. There he loaded the heavy clips into the Hwacha. He then fired a full burst into the AA guns. He was laughing atl;east until the gun ran out. But he had taken afew of the core systems from the AA guns. He ran to the next gun it was the sniper rifle. He took aim at the one firing the third AA. "Smile," Draco said as he shot the pony.

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

Fixa had been maintaining the main engines both of them. With what was going on, she was able to work on the small fires and keep the engines going. That last one however jared engine two. "Captain, engine two is jared. Compensating for the overclock. Engine two will need to be shut down for repairs later. Engine one stable and fully operational."

 

She turns a few handles and uses her short range Telekinesis to put out a fire near by. She then pips up again. "Stabilizers two and three are stressing, Captain. I can keep us up but I don't know for how long."

 

She then pipes to Zefira, "Zefira, compensate with stabilizers one and six. We need to keep up. Once clear, see what you can do about getting those two stabilizers to calm down. They need a 20% stress reduction. I have my hooves full just keeping the engines going."

Zefira stumbled around at her work station. At first she thought it was turbulence, but when she heard alarms chirping she groaned.

"It hasnt even been half a day and we're already engaging? Or did we just crash into the mountains?" Zefira hears the request of her crew mate and quickly alleviates the stress from the stabilizers. She reroutes the pressure to lesser ship functions and chirps back to her crew mate.

"Its done....but uh...just dont try and go fast."

[HigurSan 195]

@@Midnight_Aurora, @@dragon4111, @@Rainbow Dash,

Steeleye Sungazer.

 

Well then. Things weren't looking good. His ship was shot up. He had a crew composed entirely of strangers and maniacs, one of which was still shooting despite his change of orders. They were all effectively sitting ducks while the AA system took pot shots at them, at least until it zeroed them in. He was doing his best to keep the ship's angle of movement changing, but they'd lost a portion of their manuevering power. It was a matter of chance at this point. Just as he was getting ready to confirm the order to abandon ship, a miracle happened. Or rather, somepony finally got their shit together back in Canterlot.

 

A massive ripple of magically charged explosions sliced its way across the ridge line. When it reached the beam cannon which had so nearly fried them, there wasn't a detonation so much as an implosion. The installation was there one moment, charging up power, then it was gone, consumed in a pillar of deafening energy that shot straight into the atmosphere. Once again the ship was tossed around in the air like a fish thrown back at the ocean. When the commotion settled down, he could see a massive rent torn in the mountain. "That'll take some fixing," he muttered to himself.

 

"All hands, we seem to be out of trouble for the moment..." he began to say into the speaker. "But don't relax just yet. We're going to have to do running repairs. I don't trust our chances heading back into dock, even if that AA system is out of action. From up here, I'm pretty sure that the rudder is locked. There's only a few degrees of movement to either side. Some of the balloons have punctures. We can pump in more are, but if too much leaks we're going to drop out of the sky. Otherwise, fix whatever you can. We should have a supply of spare parts in the third hold space below decks." He paused for a moment. "Draco, make sure all the guns are primed and ready to fire. I wouldn't put a pursuing gunship out of our chances right now."

 

Thus the ship Dawnchaser and her crew limped out of Canterlot airspace, stuck on their route with who knows what ahead of them.

[dragon4111 914]

Draco pulled out a cigar and lit it. "I say that's a good fight," Draco said as he began to work on the guns quickly. He patched them up quickly enough. The internal workings worked just fine. "Captain all our guns are primed," Draco said with a grin on his muzzle. Though he did have blood seeping through his clothes. "Hmm abit of shrapnel," Draco thought as he hid it until he had some privacy.

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Fix a works hard. "Captain, I have to take engine number 2 offline. If we push it more then this, we risk irreparable damage. I compensated the energy flow from engine 1. We should have enough engine power to make it to our next port. Permission to shut down engine 2 for repairs."

 

Fixa is near the manual shutdown for engine 2. She waits for the captain to give the go ahead.

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

"By Celestia's massive mane, we are lucky!" Zefira said as she inspected the damages.
"This will take all my talents...and I dont think that will help this ship." 
Whatever it was that helped them sure did come in the knick of time. Anymore damage and the ship would have been done for.

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Rainbow Dash rolled on her hooves after being tossed around by the fight. She rubs her head and shakes herself off as she looks at the captain of the ship.
"Some fight, thought we were done for. Need my help for anything? Maybe next time I'll hold onto a parachute." Rainbow Dash says.

[HigurSan 195]

@@dragon4111, @@Midnight_Aurora, @@Rainbow Dash,

Steeleye Sungazer

 

"We just need to get to Ponyville," He said tersely. "This is the best ship in the sky. A beating like that won't put her down by itself." Even as he said that, one of the support balloon finally gave up the ghost, the hole punched in it rupturing and shredding the entire thing like claws through tent fabric. "They missed the main balloons at least. Engineer Fixa, you have my permission. Engineer Zefira, I need you to make sure the propellor and lift mechanisms inside the ship are working. Once both of those, I need both of you on the back fixing the rudder. Gunner Draco, a lot of the cargo will have been tossed around during that. I need you to go below and make sure it's fastened down again. The spare ammo especially. Don't need our guts ripped out by a stay Hellfire round going off. Honored Guest..." He was going to say something snide, but decided against it, instead trying to think of something useful she could do. "Watch the skies. You were a weather pony right? I need to know immediately if any storms are developing off our sides or to our front. We had a detection mechanism, but it's been knocked silly by that fight."

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Fixa know the captain needed that Rudder. She brings down engine two. She know the power output would be cut in half but she didn't take into account the shredded balloons as extra weight. She made an adjustment to the powerful flow before the nose of the ship would point down from power failure. She then begins her examination of engine two. She shakes her head. "Captain, bad news. We can't bring number two back online. The jarring of the engine knocked it out of alignment."

[dragon4111 914]

Draco looked at Rainbow Dash and then said simply and plainly "either make yourself useful or don't get in our way," Draco walked to the edge of the ship then climbed up one of the more sturdier ropes with a balloon patch. He began to fix the support balloon slowly. "Well we were lucky," Draco said simply. After he finished and heard the order "Got it," Draco said as he went below deck. "Huh you know for all their bluster the engineers do good work," Draco said as he fastened the item down.

Edited June 8, 2015 by dragon4111

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

@@HigurSan,
Zefira nods and trots to the appropriate section of the ship and begins looking at the lift mechanisms. She noticed there was a slight crack in one of the minor parts. She quickly puts duck tape on it the crack and trots over to the back of the ship.
"Really wish I could fly now." Zefira says as she begins to climb on the access ladder.

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Rainbow Dash dealt with arrogant, single minded, pompous fools before; so instead of snapping back at the captain and the arrogant pony from before, she takes a deep breath and looks around.
The other pegasus seems nice, dont know about that earth pony though. 
Rainbow Dash looks out towards the sky and spots a fog bank rolling in from the east.
"We got fog coming in from the east!" She yells out

[HigurSan 195]

@@Midnight_Aurora, @@dragon4111, @@Rainbow Dash,

Steeleye Sungazer

 

"Take the engine out of circulation then," he responded. All of the engines had been designed so that if they took damage, they could be pulled out of the main power flow, then have the connection spliced, so that the entire system wouldn't be blocked. "See if you can tinker with it during the night hours once we go dark." Draco seemed to be doing what he'd been asked, or was in the process of it. So there was nothing further to say there for now. Zefira as well was engrossed in her work. Nothing to say there. At Rainbow Dash's alert, he turned his head to get a better look, flipping out a binocular set attatched to the control station. "Ugh," he muttered. "I'd hoped that we wouldn't have to deal with that." He activated the ship wide communication system. "All hands, we've got rolling fog inbound. Two... two point five kilometers out. Grab an anti-rad mask from the nearest station. Doesn't look dense enough to warrant the cloaks just yet. But you won't want to breath it in."
 

"Rainbow Dash!" he called down to the multicolored pony. "Head up here so I can help you get this kit on. They've updated the model again, so its a bit different from the last sets." The anti-rad masks would look something like old WW1 era gas masks, with the exception that they were designed for equine head structure. It was a relatively new technology, design to combat the weather which was oncoming. As the fog rolled and spun over the radiation layer below, the water molecules became irradiated. Exposure to the body usually wasn't harmful, but the effects of getting it directly in your mouth or eyes could be disastrous. Even so, they'd all need to decontaminate later.

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

Fixa had her mask on as soon as the warning was given. She also had her personal rad cloak on just incase. She did as she was instructed. She had pre hardwired the system to be able to remove engines without power output loss.

 

She then proceeds to help Zefira with the rutter. She asks Zefira, "You need anything?"

[Star Racer 198]

Star Racer pulled his mask on while he walked back and forth at his station, checking readings and making sure nothing was on the horizon, and eventually stood in place. He couldnt help but admire the ship, in all its rough-cut glory.

"Still cant beat taking flight on your own..." he said to himself, thinking about his useless wings. "I bet Rainbow Dash feels the same..." he recalled how they had competed in school, before everything changed.

[dragon4111 914]

Draco came up with his mask on. "It's secured," Draco said simply as he looked around. "judging by the wind we'll get to Ponyville in an hour," Draco said as he calculated the wind trajectory. "Yep everything is in order," Draco muttered to himself. "So your the rookie," Draco asked as he looked at Sta Racer who was looking at his wings. "You know they won't be as they were before. So instead make use of your new talents and blow our enemies out of the sky," Draco said simply. "After all," he said with a smirk. "I'm a Bandle Gunner ad what platoon you from?"

[Star Racer 198]

Draco came up with his mask on. "It's secured," Draco said simply as he looked around. "judging by the wind we'll get to Ponyville in an hour," Draco said as he calculated the wind trajectory. "Yep everything is in order," Draco muttered to himself. "So your the rookie," Draco asked as he looked at Sta Racer who was looking at his wings. "You know they won't be as they were before. So instead make use of your new talents and blow our enemies out of the sky," Draco said simply. "After all," he said with a smirk. "I'm a Bandle Gunner ad what platoon you from?"

Star snapped out of his thoughts and turned towards the masked pony addressing him. He was glad the mask hid his face, so he couldnt see Star roll his eyes. "Never could remember the platoon name. Got knocked in the head a few too many times for that. But I do recall being on Demon Squad, with a few friends. Freelance mercs, to be honest. Went for the highest bidder. I got invited in after I signed up."

[dragon4111 914]

Star snapped out of his thoughts and turned towards the masked pony addressing him. He was glad the mask hid his face, so he couldnt see Star roll his eyes. "Never could remember the platoon name. Got knocked in the head a few too many times for that. But I do recall being on Demon Squad, with a few friends. Freelance mercs, to be honest. Went for the highest bidder. I got invited in after I signed up."

"Heard of them," Draco said with a chuckle. "Tough bastards," Draco said with a grin on his face. "Could lay down cover fire while my squad did the demolitions," Draco said with a grin. "And it was so satisfying seeing that bunker blow up," Draco said with a sliught chuckle to himself.

[Star Racer 198]

"Heard of them," Draco said with a chuckle. "Tough bastards," Draco said with a grin on his face. "Could lay down cover fire while my squad did the demolitions," Draco said with a grin. "And it was so satisfying seeing that bunker blow up," Draco said with a sliught chuckle to himself.

Star tilted his head to the side, then offered a chuckle of his own. "Oh yeah, that milk run of a mission. I heard someone from somewhere say how they were lucky to survive that operation." He shook his head lightly. "I would like to see the look on his face if he heard about Demon Squad's highlight mission where they ended up having to level a city." He chuckled again. "Classic. Sadly, that was before my joining. Not unlike my best friend, though. That guy puts Celestia's personal guards to shame."

[dragon4111 914]

Star tilted his head to the side, then offered a chuckle of his own. "Oh yeah, that milk run of a mission. I heard someone from somewhere say how they were lucky to survive that operation." He shook his head lightly. "I would like to see the look on his face if he heard about Demon Squad's highlight mission where they ended up having to level a city." He chuckled again. "Classic. Sadly, that was before my joining. Not unlike my best friend, though. That guy puts Celestia's personal guards to shame."

Draco sighed as he rubbed his head. "Yep those guys don't know combat at all," Draco said simply. "And that was me that said that," Draco said simply. "Nearly got my leg blown off because someone in that squad misplaced the igniting agent," Draco said as he winced. He pulled the shrapnel from his side finally.

[Star Racer 198]

Draco sighed as he rubbed his head. "Yep those guys don't know combat at all," Draco said simply. "And that was me that said that," Draco said simply. "Nearly got my leg blown off because someone in that squad misplaced the igniting agent," Draco said as he winced. He pulled the shrapnel from his side finally.

Star watched as he pulled some shrapnel out of his side. "The tough guy act doesn't work that well, ya know. Neither does the crybaby." He said, grabbing a few gauzes nearby and handing them to Draco. "Here you go. By the way, I don't think I caught your name yet."

[dragon4111 914]

"Draco O'Malley," Draco said as he wrapped his wound. "Yes tough guy act?" Draco asked simply. "A higher pain tolerance than most can get you through a mission if only barely," Draco said simply as he tightened the wound to stem the blood. "Plus I was able to get my squad out of there,"

[Star Racer 198]

"Draco O'Malley," Draco said as he wrapped his wound. "Yes tough guy act?" Draco asked simply. "A higher pain tolerance than most can get you through a mission if only barely," Draco said simply as he tightened the wound to stem the blood. "Plus I was able to get my squad out of there,"

"Star Racer." He replied. "And when I say tough guy act, I dont mean being able to take pain. What I mean is trying to hide it when the pain becomes too much for ya. Like stereotypical heros when they get shot several times, yet still keep walking like it was a fly." Star snorted. "Those guys never last in war. I have seen it too many times."

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

@@HigurSan,
"You got it!"

Rainbow Dash galloped to the captain of the ship and stood in front of him.
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@@Midnight_Aurora,
Zefira looked over at the mare and smiled.
"I could use some direction. I think I got my task complete, but there's some wicked freeplay.Could it be a ball bearing, or coupling....maybe a joint is gone to hell.." Zefira scratches her chin.

[HigurSan 195]

@@Midnight_Aurora, @,@@dragon4111, @@Rainbow Dash,

 

Steeleye Sungazer

 

As the fog rolled in towards the ship, Steeleye kept close to his console after helping Rainbow Dash secure her anti-rad mask. It'd be hard enough to see as it was. Didn't need to get lost in the process. Speaking of which... "All hooves," he said into the comms. "Be advised, visibility will drop to under a meter. Gather wire harness gear from the nearest station and hook up to the nearest guide line. Don't want anypony tripping overboard in this pea soup." The harnesses were pretty simple. They were really just a rig of faux-leather, sewn to fit a pony's body shape with a length on the back that ended in a zipline latch. When hooked onto the ship's guidelines overhead, the design was meant to keep one from accidentally plummeting off the side in low visibility.

 

As the fog finally drifted in over the bow, arcs of energy sparked off the metal railings. "This is it folks. Were going to be in the dark until we reach Ponyville." He turned and assisted Rainbow Dash in getting the rigging on, attaching her to the guideline for the command deck. "Keep close," he said reassuringly. "Need to know where you are if we suddenly have to bail." The fog full engulfed the entirety of the vessel. You could hardly see your hoof from your face, forget about seeing the rest of the ship. "Wrap up whatever you're doing and get tucked in," he said again into the comms. "It might save time, but the visibility is going to cause mistakes we don't need."