private Celestial Conquest: Adventure in the Great Beyond

[Yes-Man 597]

"This unit would prefer to terminate them, but it will do as you say."

He went inside, and started to activate the engines and life support.

After a few minutes, he was just about done.

Grabbing his shotgun from a table, he bolted outside, with his eyes a dark red.

@Agent505

[Agent505 661]

@, @@Yes-Man, 

 

(Really? That whip Metal Gear is working on back at the ship?

Also, editing this because it was less than sub-terrible)

 

"Hey! Robocop!" Metal Gear called out to the robotic pony as he returned from the ship. "What's going on now? I didn't sign up for any fightin' here, i'm a sales merchant! Nothin' more" his eyes shifted back and forth nervously for a split second before he kicked his hooves against his wing levers trying to divert attention from his face, causing the wings to extend slowly before he took a step towards the robot. "However, I can use a gun if yer got a spare? I ain't gonna be much use to y'all dead, but I aint gonna be much use alive if I can't fight am I?" 

Edited July 26, 2013 by Agent505

[Miss Light Diamond 2,802]

@@Agent505,

 

((It's in Slicer's backstory...he cut his own foreleg off so he would never have to part with the whip.))

 

 

@@Yes-Man,

@,

 

 

Slicer looked around at the guards running towards them and grinned. *'Bout bloody time we get some action.* *I agree.* He said, spreading his wings and flying a couple feet off the ground.
A loud noise came from his metal hoof...almost like a sudden power surge and then, a long whip made of plasma grew from his hoof, sparking against the ground. "Can I kill...just one?" He asked, giving Deadeye a pleading look.

[Durandal 623]

(Though I would have preferred to have that chat between Aquila and Storm before things heated up, I'm sure we can work something out. @@rainbovv dash, since I'm sure it's boring to sit around in the middle of a fight, feel free to look at Aquila's possessions. Porn magazines, military paraphernalia, speculation on Aquila's hobbies [as long as they don't conflict with any previous information], just make it amusing.)

Aquila groaned. Though he had expected to run into trouble, a part of him would have preferred to run into it later on. Figuring that fate cared little for what Aquila thought, he let out a strained huff. Running towards the entrance to the ship, Aquila used what little cover it had to provide the others some suppressive fire.

Ducking behind the walls of the ship, Aquila looked at his communicator, reading Storm's responses. Great, Aquila thought. Of course she'd dance around the question. However, there was little he could do now. Running to his ship now was suicide - he didn't know how many knew of his involvement, and would rather not be cornered in some dark alley. Luckily, he had a card up his sleeve. He patched through to his ship.

---

Aegis was about to retort when he received a communication request from Aquila. Thank the goddesses, Aegis thought. An SI he may be, but that did not mean his patience was infinite. He wasn't sure how much longer he could have handled this mare avoiding his inquiries.

Accepting the request, he divided his attention again. "Yes?"

He could hear Aquila clearly, however there was commotion in the background - no doubt a firefight.

"Aegis! I'm in a bit of a situation here, I need you to take off and regroup with me! You should be able to track me. Now patch me through to Storm!"

Though wounded that Aquila had failed to mention her name in prior conversation, he silently agreed.

"Patching you through to Aquila," he finally responded, notifying both parties that they could speak to eachother.

"Storm! I don't know why you're sitting outside my ship, and honestly I'm not in the mood for your games! Listen carefully - whoever Deadeye pissed off is attacking us right now, and I'm sure they might come after you! Get inside my ship, and don't touch anything. Aegis will get you out of there. And don't push your luck either! I'm giving Aegis total control of the ship, so If you try to steal my ship, if you try to sabotage it, if you so much as fucking touch anything, he'll make sure the last thing you breathe is nitrogen! If you're going to be so persistent, I'll talk to you, but wait until after we're done being shot at."

Before Aegis could follow up, Aquila disconnected. He considered what had been said. He'll make sure the last thing you breathe is nitrogen! Aegis knew what this meant. Shutting all doors leading away from the cargo bay, he began to shut down life support for all other sections of the ship, pumping in nitrogen and raising the pressure. The doors would act as a deadman's switch - if Aegis caught or felt any tampering with his circuitry or any other part of the ship that may override his control, the doors would open, forcing the nitrogen out. Though Storm would survive, the low levels of Oxygen would knock her out before she could do anything.

Waiting a few moments for the oxygen to filter out, Aegis unlocked the door leading into the ship, slowly opening it.

"You will be held in the cargo bay. As Aquila has stated, once he has returned you may interact with him," Aegis explained, waiting for the mare's response.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Durandal

[rainbovv dash 110]

"The Cargo bay? I'm a fine mare. Who do you think you're talking to?" she protested in an unnecessary high tone while she walked into the ship.

 

Once she was inside she happily realized that the cargo bay was more of a dump for everything Aquila had owned and was too lazy to get rid of. It was very interesting to profile Aquila from his stuff, so she started inspecting his belongings.

 

((Sorry. I'm on my phone, but I thought it would be bad to keep you waiting))

[Yes-Man 597]

"Permission to use lethal rounds, Master DeadEye?"

He reloaded his shotgun, and pointed it at the guards. It had been a long time since he had been in a real fight, and he was quite ready for it.

His eyes grew redder by the second, eventually returning to their bright, magenta-like anger state.

 

(Say, @Durandal, that reminds me of when the Collectors boarded the Normandy and Joker had to get to the engine room so she could kill the Collectors on board. Heh. Good times.)

[MelancholicMemory 2,025]

@@Agent505,

 

((It's in Slicer's backstory...he cut his own foreleg off so he would never have to part with the whip.))

 

 

@@Yes-Man,

@,

 

 

Slicer looked around at the guards running towards them and grinned. *'Bout bloody time we get some action.* *I agree.* He said, spreading his wings and flying a couple feet off the ground.

A loud noise came from his metal hoof...almost like a sudden power surge and then, a long whip made of plasma grew from his hoof, sparking against the ground. "Can I kill...just one?" He asked, giving Deadeye a pleading look.

 

"Permission to use lethal rounds, Master DeadEye?"

He reloaded his shotgun, and pointed it at the guards. It had been a long time since he had been in a real fight, and he was quite ready for it.

His eyes grew redder by the second, eventually returning to their bright, magenta-like anger state.

 

(Say, @Durandal, that reminds me of when the Collectors boarded the Normandy and Joker had to get to the engine room so she could kill the Collectors on board. Heh. Good times.)

Deadeye flourished his weapon skillfully. "Go wild." He ran forward, ducking under one of the guard's attacks and smacking him hard on the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. In one swift movement, he took the guard's laser rifle, shooting another guard in the chest and smacking another guard with the butt of the gun hard.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,802]

Slicer laughed maniacally and flew at the guards...but as he got closer, something about Slicer's attitude changed...as insane as he was before, its like...another part of him took over.
The second a guard came into range, Slicer hit him in the chest with his whip, killing him almost instantly before Slicer spun his whip around, making it wrap around another guards neck.
The guard screamed in pain as the whip burned into his flesh before Slicer shot him in the head with his hoofgun (Handgun...thing?)

Slicer quickly tugged the whip away from the guard and swung it around a third guards hoof, pulling him into the air before letting him fall several feet, diving down after the guard a moment later.

 

((I was thinking if Slicer managed to actually whip someone with it, the whip acts like a gun while if you were to just touch it it would burn you...))

[Durandal 623]

(Say, Durandal, that reminds me of when the Collectors boarded the Normandy and Joker had to get to the engine room so she could kill the Collectors on board. Heh. Good times.)

 

(Great. See, this is where it starts, and when we're all organic batteries, guess who they'll blame? "This is all Joker's fault, what a tool he was! I have to spend all day computing pi because he plugged in the Overlord!")

 

Storm now handled, Aquila directed his attention to the guards.

 

Or rather, those who remained. With the combined effort of Deadeye and Slicer, about six guards were either dead or incapacitated. Slicer's work in particular made Aquila gulp. Suddenly, implying that he was a 'merc that was swayed by simple coin' seemed like a very efficient way to get himself killed, not to mention the fact it was likely incorrect. Slicer didn't care about money, Aquila wagered, he cared about killing.

 

"I'm not quite sure why Deadeye found it appropriate to hire a murderous pyschopath," he muttered to himself, lining up a shot with a nearby guard. Firing, he watched as the guard buckled, her kneecap shattering from the projectile. A nice, clean shot. Nonlethal. Surgical. The way he liked it.

 

Ducking behind the ship to avoid incoming fire, he lined up another shot, incapacitating another guard. Avoiding a few more stray shots, Aquila poked his head out.

 

"Are we going, or would you rather wait until Celestia decides to call in real troops?" he hollered, barely avoiding another shot.

Edited August 1, 2013 by Durandal

[Yes-Man 597]

A shot rang from his shotgun, killing a guard on impact.

Assuming attack protocol 30.91.

Cerberus' eyes turned bright red, and a blade retracted out of his left hoof.

In the other hoof, he held his shotgun, with his hooftip on the trigger.

After a few moments, he ran in, taking on a new group of guards rushing in.

Eviscerating one with his blade, he quickly pointed his shotgun and fired at one rushing towards him.

"Fools! You all fight like changelings! Strength in number's, this unit's flank!"

He picked a guard up, and stabbed her through the stomach. A few assault rifle shots hit his side.

He turned his head and fired a flare-like shot from his gun, hitting the guard and causing him to explode.

"Easy as pie, as the saying goes."

,

Edited August 1, 2013 by Yes-Man

[rainbovv dash 110]

Storm started slendering around Aquila's belongings. She took curious glances inside the boxes slammed into shelves, knowing that she was being watched by Aegis' surveillance units. She spent several minutes inspecting the items in the cargo bay, reading into old log books and unfolding magazines.

 

"So... How's Aquila when he's not working? He doesn't seem to be the social kind of pony." - she asked casually while she folded one of the magazines showing colts in an obvious position. She had started blushing slightly at the sight of the magazine's fold out and pulled a gun out of a pile of stuff and pointed it playfully at random things.

 

It was interesting for Storm to have a look into Aquila's past. The old log books revealed he had often been to faraway planets and places. She found several objects relating him to the military back when he was younger and made a mental note to ask him about it while she wated for Aegis to answer.

[MelancholicMemory 2,025]

@@Yes-Man, @@Durandal, @,

 

"Okay everyone pull back! Let's get the hell out of here!" he yelled to his comrades as he backed into his ship and ran over to pilot his ship. He watched the camera near the entrance of his ship, ready to take off the second everypony was inside. They needed to leave. He wanted to prepare more, but it looked like their adventure was about to begin.

[Yes-Man 597]

Charon blasted a few more guards, and ran back to the ship.

After putting the blade and shotgun in their holding places, he grabbed a towel from his satchel, cleaning the blood off of himself.

His eyes were fading back to their usual green, but a lighter green as danger was still nearby.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,802]

@,

 

Slicer wrapped his whip around one last guard and pulled him close enough for Slicer to bite into his neck.
The guard screamed as Slicer ripped away some of the flesh on his neck before kicking him to the ground, leaving him to bleed out.

Slicer looked up at Deadeye and frowned...he didn't want to leave.
He sighed before following Deadeye to the ship, his whip disappearing into his hoof as he wiped away the blood from his face.

[MelancholicMemory 2,025]

Deadeye's ship sped away, the small amount of shielding, absorbing most of the damage. He flew off, going into light speed as soon as he left the planet. He turned on the autopilot, setting a course for their destination. He spun his chair around to face the others. He wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed. "Looks like we're leaving sooner than expected..."

 

@, @@Yes-Man, @Durandal,

Edited August 9, 2013 by Mellon Collie

[Yes-Man 597]

Cerberus blinked and then began to assess his surroundings.

"Master, this unit needs a place to put it's things and recharge itself. Where shall it go?", gesturing to his satchel, then beginning to dig through it. As a result, a small piece of paper with a crude drawing fell out.

It was a green ground, with what looked like a filly and a robot standing in the middle.

,

Edited August 11, 2013 by Yes-Man

[MelancholicMemory 2,025]

Cerberus blinked and then began to assess his surroundings.

"Master, this unit needs a place to put it's things and recharge itself. Where shall it go?", gesturing to his satchel, then beginning to dig through it. As a result, a small piece of paper with a crude drawing fell out.

It was a green ground, with what looked like a filly and a robot standing in the middle.

,

Deadeye picked up the picture, pointing with his other forehoof towards a door. "There's a small room over there you can use. What is this?" he asked, examining the child-like drawing, wondering where it came from. Cerberus seemed to have a rather...complicated past.

[Yes-Man 597]

Cerberus looked up from his thoughts, at the picture DeadEye had. So many good memories from that.... Except one.

"A relic, of this unit's first master after it's 1st disconnection from the Equestrian Consensus Channel. It served a family out in the Colonies before relocation to Har... Before relocation to the military. Yes."

He still remembered the day he left. The first of many emotional departures.

'Promise me...', a teary eyed young filly managed to say,"That you'll come back..."

"This unit promises. It will return to Master Golden Glow!", a younger version of himself yelled out, being dragged away by two royal guards.

That memory played in his head at least once a day. The promise he made. Still unfulfilled.

@

Edited August 11, 2013 by Yes-Man

[Durandal 623]

(@, I shall be godmodding your character slightly so that I can move things along a little quicker. Hope you don't mind.)

 

Once the ship had went airbourne, Aquila let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. It wasn't every day he was shot at, and he preferred to keep it that way. Of course, taking on this job meant a rapid increase in firefights, but oddly enough, he wasn't too displeased about it. At least I'll get shot at for a reason.

 

"A relic, of this unit's first master after it's first disconnection from the Equestrian Consensus Channel. It served a family out in the Colonies before relocation to Har... Before relocation to the military. Yes."

 

Aquila turned his attention to Cerberus for the first time. Before, he had simply been a part of the background - something Deadeye had bought to protect himself. However from the way he spoke, it almost reminded him of Aegis. It was certainly less emotional, however he could see the beginnings of them in his movements. That family must have meant a lot to him.

 

Allowing a moment of solemn silence to pass, he leaned into Deadeye's ear.

 

"We need to talk," he muttered.

 

Walking towards a more private area of the ship with Deadeye in tow, he stopped.

 

"Storm is currently on my ship. I'm not sure why, but she decided to wait outside of it. Though I'm wary of being alone on a ship with her, there's got to be a reason she came to me. And one last thing, could you help? I have my own mechanisms in place to keep her from messing with anything, but just in case... If I call you, assume that means I'm being attacked. Could you do that for me?"

 

Normally, Aquila didn't ask for favors. However with Storm, he sooner expected a knife to the throat than anything revealing. Perhaps his previous threats will keep her from immediately slitting his throat, but he wasn't taking anything for granted.

[MelancholicMemory 2,025]

(@, I shall be godmodding your character slightly so that I can move things along a little quicker. Hope you don't mind.)

 

Once the ship had went airbourne, Aquila let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. It wasn't every day he was shot at, and he preferred to keep it that way. Of course, taking on this job meant a rapid increase in firefights, but oddly enough, he wasn't too displeased about it. At least I'll get shot at for a reason.

 

"A relic, of this unit's first master after it's first disconnection from the Equestrian Consensus Channel. It served a family out in the Colonies before relocation to Har... Before relocation to the military. Yes."

 

Aquila turned his attention to Cerberus for the first time. Before, he had simply been a part of the background - something Deadeye had bought to protect himself. However from the way he spoke, it almost reminded him of Aegis. It was certainly less emotional, however he could see the beginnings of them in his movements. That family must have meant a lot to him.

 

Allowing a moment of solemn silence to pass, he leaned into Deadeye's ear.

 

"We need to talk," he muttered.

 

Walking towards a more private area of the ship with Deadeye in tow, he stopped.

 

"Storm is currently on my ship. I'm not sure why, but she decided to wait outside of it. Though I'm wary of being alone on a ship with her, there's got to be a reason she came to me. And one last thing, could you help? I have my own mechanisms in place to keep her from messing with anything, but just in case... If I call you, assume that means I'm being attacked. Could you do that for me?"

 

Normally, Aquila didn't ask for favors. However with Storm, he sooner expected a knife to the throat than anything revealing. Perhaps his previous threats will keep her from immediately slitting his throat, but he wasn't taking anything for granted.

"Storm, eh? Of course. I'll help you if you need it. I'll take any call as a distress call. So I take it you're going to come along in your own ship? If not, I can't promise I'll be close enough to make a difference, and changing my path will mean much worse than something Storm could do...also...sorry about that colt cuddling bit back at the docking bay. It was all in good fun." He patted him on the back.

[Yes-Man 597]

Cerberus blinked, realizing he'd been dismissed. He then began to trot into the small room. It was empty, with a few shelves and drawers on the walls. From the cobwebs inside them, you could tell they hadn't been used in a while.

 

Excellent.

 

After setting his relics and novelties in a set-up similar to how they were on Charon, he sat down near the back wall, drifting off into, "sleep."

 

[...]

 

Processing... Gathering memory logs and data... Connection Established. Please wait, Unit Designation Cerberus.

A pony-shaped figure began to materialize. It was green, and sparks flew off his. Squares moved about his body, head to hoof.

 

Welcome to the Lightspeed Consensus Channel.

 

Hundreds of other figures similar to him, though differently colored, stood about, some tapping on digital keyboards and some engaging in conversation.

 

One turquoise one flew over to him.

Unit Cerberus. It is a pleasure to be with you again.

"Pleasure's all this unit's, Unit 450309."

Please, call this unit Rock Solid. It was named after it's current master's Father. He is a miner, you know. Say, have you found a new master yet?

"Yes, his name is DeadEye. Occupation is currently freelance mercenary, from this one's current inferences."

Always drawn to the dangerous ones, aren't you? Heh.

"Heh."

The laugh they shared was emotionless and metallic.

"Have you found any information regarding... You know."

Yes. The Mother and Father moved back to Equestria soon after the incident. The father died of lung cancer 5 years, 7 months, 1 week, 2 days, 3 hours ago. The Mother currently has residence in Canterlot.

"And... G-Golden Glow?"

She.... She went off the grid 4 years, 6 months, 1 week, 6 days, 18 hours ago. We are unable to trace her location.

"Understood. But.... Please.... Don't stop looking."

I'll ask the other channels if they've found anything.

"Affirmative."

[Durandal 623]

(Alright @@rainbovv dash, ready to tango?)

 

Aquila smiled bashfully.

 

"Yes, well you and I hadn't left on the best of terms. It was understandable."

 

Though normally not willing to show emotion, Deadeye had just offered him assistance. Perhaps some things could slide. After all, he was only rationalizing. A bashful smile didn't make him vulnerable. Did it?

 

Sighing, Aquila established a connection to Aegis.

 

"Aegis, ETA?"

 

"I'll be astarboard shortly. What do you need?"

 

"We're going to dock - I need to deal with Storm. Prepare docking procedures." Aquila was not given a response. Instead, a few minutes later, he could feel something locking onto the ship. "Here goes nothing," he muttered.

 

---

 

Once the hiss of the ships normalizing faded, Aegis turned his attention to Storm.

 

"Docking procedures complete. Aquila will be aboard shortly. I should remind you to behave yourself - my countermeasures against aggression are still effective in his presence."

 

Though she would have to be extremely persistent to attack Aquila after so much trouble, Aegis had his priorities. He would not allow bodily harm to come to Aquila because he had not adequately planned well enough.

[rainbovv dash 110]

She felt like Aegis was overprotective about Aquila for some reason. Did the AI consider him too foolish to defend himself or was it actually afraid about Storm being more dangerous than she looked? All she answered was a muttered "Ok, mom" adding an artificial angry foal's tone to her voice.

 

Her voice echoed through the metallic room few seconds later. "Tell him he there is absolutely no need to rush! I'm having the time of my life looking through his stuff" she said while leaning with unnecessary momentum against a rack that with a series of metallic screeching noises started wobbling and several of the things stored in it landed on the floor.

 

When she uncovered her ears and heard the unbearable noise had stopped she allowed her face to relax from the pained expression. "Aegis, take a note for Aquila. He should clean his bucked up mess down here if he doesn't want ponies to be killed by his collapsing junk!"

 

Among the objects on the floor was an old photo album, Storm picked it up and opened it slowly. The cover was covered in dust, and the faded glossy paper photos pasted to the once white paper of the album revealed a series of pictures of a happy young Aquila with his parents. Childhood memories invaded Storm's mind and her eyes started moistening, making her vision go blurry.

 

The sound of the cargo bay's door opening caught Storms attention, as expected, Aquila stood behind it. The question she shit at him was one she asked out of pure interest and because she didn't want to address the reason she was there directly. "Do you love your parents?"

 

((Sorry for the going ahead of events, didn't wanna delay it))

[Durandal 623]

"Do you love your parents?"

 

The utter spontaneity of the question hit Aquila like a brick, making him flinch. Processing the question itself, Aquila froze.

 

He hadn't been asked about his parents in a long, long time. He knew they were okay, but they didn't get in touch too often anymore. They probably longed to see, or at least hear of, their son more - perhaps after all this was done he'd visit them. A cloud of emotion hovered over the topic, however. He didn't know why, and the emotions themselves were muddled by time and negligence.

 

None of it was Storm's to know, however. Stepping into the room calmly, he stopped in front of the door. Face still frozen in its same, cold glare, he replied.

 

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

 

He had the advantage here, he dictated the rules of this engagement. She was on his ship after all - if his reflexes failed him, the nitrogen would do them in soon enough. All that would be left would be to wait for consciousness to return. He was sure Aegis and Deadeye could handle Storm.

 

But yet, her sorrow was disarming. As much as Aquila tried to drown out any empathy with the reassurance of Storm's manipulative nature, she was in fact a hard character to pin down. There were moments of brief emotion that he could have sworn were authentic, mired by her ruthless nature. The feeling of cold, sharp steel against his neck when they first met ensured caution above all else, however.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Durandal

[rainbovv dash 110]

Storm suppressed a smirk as she noticed Aquila's expression. His answer though was short and precise, hiding all the details she would have loved to discover. It took her a few seconds to give her thoughts form, let them settle and prepare for the answer.

 

"Just because I did not. In my parent's life there was no room for a filly and they wanted me to feel it. They loved each other and I came by accident, invading their live and space." - she stopped, making an effort to bite down her bubbling feelings - "Yes, I had a great life. Everything I needed to survive was there. They kept me alive to just remind me everyday that I didn't belong there."

 

"My mother killed herself when dad left her. And he didn't even come to my burial." - she felt the need to smile. Somehow talking about her own burial felt funny to her - "I promised if I ever met him I would make him suffer the most painful death I know"

 

"I'm not here because I want revenge though" she stated while she started walking circles around Aquila. "I'm here because I made a promise I want to keep. I swore to myself I would be there for my family, and that I'd care better for my children than my parents did. That I'd teach them to fly." the last bit made her emotional barrier burst into pieces, letting a tear escape her eye and run down her cheek.

 

She expected him to know that it'd be impossible for a pony who was a professional killer to raise a family without it being in constant danger of losing her. "I'm not making a good job at it though." she said while she stopped again in front of him, looking deep into his eyes.

 

Getting rid of her past was what Storm wanted. Being able to somehow reset her life. She then flexed her right hoof and move the left one a feet towards Aquila, forcing her frame into a reverence. Storm was sure Aquila knew what it meant, just like any pony who had been to the military knew that it stood for respect and subordination towards the other.

 

The reverence was completed by slowly extending her wings. There was no need to make it slow rather than some splashes of blood that made stretching the wings painful, causing her to flinch several times before they were fully extended. Storms eyes were locked onto his, expectant whether he would accept her pledge or not.

 

((Have a horrible wall of text. Hope you sufferenjoy reading it!))