Equestria 2500: Dawn of Chaos

Stone and Flame looked at each other. "I'll go ask the controller." Flame heads towards the crane control room while Stone drags in the new parts. A few moments later, the crane picks up the Pelican off the ground, high enough for Yellow and Rose to work on the landing gear.

At Teal's words, the stallion blinked, but nodded. He seemed to be communicating with superiors before replying.

"Understood. Transmission codes check out. Please proceed to Sol system. Homeworld diplomats will greet you there when you arrive, including Their Highnesses the Princesses. Welcome to Homeworld."

*****

Tape tilted thought deeply on Cosmic's words. "The same markings... You know your own strength more than I these days, Cosmic. But I cannot help but wonder if this was somehow... meant to happen. Not "her" death! But for you to have seen these raiders, and for them to have been using the same markings this time as the last."

He looked concerned. "Still, I think it would be good to ask your grandfather about this. He sometimes has a knack for seeing the future, as it were."

*****

The Duke thought for a moment before responding to Queen Moonlight. "But how shall we contact them in the first place? Our years of isolation have made us... if I might say, Your Majesty... a bit uninformed about current interfactional politics. Not that I disagree, Your Majesty. I certainly believe that it is wisest to seek out Homeworld first, of all the factions."

*****

There was a massive burst of static as the mechanoids approached the range for teleportation. Or... was it static?

#̡͞i͡͝҉͏͞ǹ͟͟c͏̴̷̢͠l̵͠u̸͜҉d͢͢͢e͟͏҉<̧͞i̴̷̕͡o͏̶̨͜͜s̴͘t̶҉̕͟͝r̶͞e͜͜͝a̡̧̡͠m̵̵̴͠>̷͜͞͝͝i̶̷̛͜҉n̡̕͢͞t̢̛͢͢ ̸̛͘m͞͞a̵͜í̵̷͜͢n̶(̡́)̛͢{̕͠f̵̧̨̡s̢̛t̷҉r̶̷e̸͢͡à͞m҉̨͜ ̶̀͜a̵͏;́a҉̨̢.̶́͞o̴̕p̵̡͜e̵̛͢͝n͞͠(̛̀d̴̛́a̷̸t҉̷̢͜͟ç̴̢h̶͜͜͝g̡̛͡.̶̕͟p҉é͢҉̡͟r̨͟m̀͡)̡̕;̷̛̀͜r̸͏͏ę͢͝s̢͞͞=̷͡҉͢͜r͢é́q͠͞_̴̡͘͠c̛͜͞h̴̡͘͢͝g̵̸(̵̡)̶̷̛;͡҉̸̧̧ǵ̷̶̶r̴̴͘t̴͢͠҉d͏̴̵̢͡?͢͞҉̶a͏͏f̵̶̨͟͢f̢҉;̸̧́͟͜r͏̸́͡ú̵̵̢̀n̛҉̷̵(̸̸̨́d͟͜a̡̢͟t̨j̢͝͠ù̡́͢r̸̢̕̕͜.̸̴́i̶͠͏n͏͏̸̶͜i̷̛͢͡ţ̴̸̕)̡̀͘͞;̷̀͞<͏̷̨c̵̷͠͝ŗ̕e͞a̸̧͠͞ţ͞e̵͝>̵̕͡d̡͟͠a͘͝t̨͝j̛́́͠ú̡̕͘ŕ̴̡_̡͡1́͜.̵̢҉͠d̨̛͢͜͞á̵̕͢͝t̢̛;͘͠g̴͘͝͝͝_̴̵̴͞ḉ҉͝͞o̷͠n̶͜͝s̵̡͝͡t̷͟͜=̶̶̸̧2͘̕͟͠͏*̶͜͟͢͞1̨͢͜͠0̵̛̛͘^̶̧͜͠-̧̛͏̷1̵͡͝1̸̸̧̨;̢͜͟m̧͏̛̛o͏̷̧̨d̵̕͜͢e͜͜=̡̛͘͢͠a̧͢҉̡g͜͜͞͠g͏̵;͝͏

Wh- the gravity! The artificial gravity! Where-?!

í̸n̸̷̕҉í͏̴t͘͟͞(͏̡́w҉̡́͡_̴̵̕҉͠h̷̶͟͠͡o̵҉͢ļ̷͜͠e̸͟.͡͏̧͠a̴͞͡t́̀k҉̵)͏̷͘͢ ҉̧͢c̷t̢̡́r͝=̵̢͘1̴̶͠0͘͝;̢̡͠͏c̷͘ţ̸́r̶͟=̡̀9̧͘͟͠;҉͞c͘͠͝ţ̸̸̢͠r̡͝=̷̴̢͢͟8̷҉́;̶̀̕c̢͜t̕͟͜r̴̨=̴́͡͞7̷̴̢҉̢

Was that... a countdown of some sort?! No time to process! Get out! Almost in teleportation range!

Scorpion felt Pertabus' magnetic grip stick them to the wall, the great bulk of the mech providing ample anchorage as they strode the final furlong. Scorpion looked back as his honour guard struggled to keep up in the zero gravity environment, he considered going back for them, but for mere machines with easily replicated soul matrixes it would only lead to the end of him.
"Honour Guard, you have served me well ever since you were first assigned to me, may our Lord of Time find your souls so you may fight by our side again. Ave dominius ex tempore."
The soldiers ceased their struggles, merely becoming motionless as each responded with the solemn mantra of the Clockwork Empire as the units accepted their fate. How many seconds had passed before the two generals warped onto the bridge of the nearest Destroyer was uncounted, but Scorpion wasted no time making sure all engines were gunned and the chronodrive was ready to phase them from reality into the time stream.
"Waste no time! Set destination to Gerhart, now!"
Scorpion caught a fleeting spike in gravitational pull as they entered the time stream as the Pride of Time ceased to exist forever, but once the whirling streams of transcendent lights in colours he thought should not exist passed the Master of the Mark I's exhaled a breath he had no idea he was holding as the shining pinnacle of the Empire appeared in the void of space, with towering smoke stacks penetrating the caustic, choking atmosphere that hid a breathtaking surface of factories, smelting pits and miles upon miles of gridlocked defences. This was Gerhart, the domain of Master Clockwork himself...

As the 21st Defense Fleet heads towards the location of the Two Royal Sisters, an incoming fleet warped into the Homeworld's territory. It looked to be with the same faction as the 21st, however, it looks more advanced than the ships of the Free Systems. The communications officer picks up a signal from the fleet and relays the message to Buckeye.

"Sir, its the 19th Fleet. They said that they will handle the meeting and escort. And told you to buzz off." The last bit the officer said nervously.

Buckeye became annoyed by this. "The nerve of Veronica. I hate both her and her so called Prototype Fleet. I swear one of these days, she will get whats coming to her." He faces his navigational officers. "Belay the order and turn us back to the Free Systems, we are to head to Ursa 2." He faces the communications officer. "Tell the other ships to change directions and head for Ursa 2." The communications officer nods and turns on the coms. He sends a message to the other 3 ships in the fleet. The 21st Fleet changes direction and prepares to enter into the Slipstream. The Slips Space opens in front of the fleet and the fleet enters into the stream.

---

While working on the Pelican, a slight disturbance is felt, indicating that the Shining Star has entered into the Slipstream. Flame comes back to the others and see they are working on the ship. "Well, we have just entered into Slip Space. It will take a while before we exit out of it. So we have some time to kill before we head into another space station. So how's it going with the Pelican?"

Flame nods at Yellow, but Stone answers. "Yup! Unlike most of the military ships in Homeworld, we have a Slip Space drive that would allow us to enter the Slipstream. A much faster way to get from one location to another. While inside the slipstream, it may take a while. But outside of it will merely take seconds. So alot can happen within the ships in just a few seconds outside the Slip Space."

"So say we began fixing the Pelican. In real time, it would usually take us a few hours or so at its condition right now. But once we enter Slip Space, it will only take a few seconds for us to be done in real time. So in case we ever need to battle against an enemy ship or start a planetary battle, we can ready ourselves for a fight when we jump from one location to the next using the Slip Space drive."

Rose comes out of the cockpit and gives the claws up. The pilot and co-pilot console is all fixed and ready to go. She picks up her tools and heads towards the thrusters.

Tape put his hat back on and tipped it to the pony as Cosmic went on his way, then packed up to return to his office.

The laboratory was notably more advanced technologically than much of the rest of the orbital station, since it was run by one of the engineers on the forefront of scientific research and development, and the only pony known that had such a close bond with the very tools he used.

((letting Midnight write her own meeting with Tech))

*****

A new star shone in the sky, or would have, except that Scorpion was now light-years away from the explosion, thankfully. Regardless, the entire vicinity of that sector was going to be... off-limits for a while.

The comforting sight of the tower brought some semblance of normalcy to the group of mechanoids after the chaos of the escape. Or perhaps not-so-comforting considering how the Clockwork King was likely to react to the loss.

((Clockwork can RP the meeting between his characters))

*****

Water came through a hollow green tendril to the Herdfather's mouth as the star-scape once more turned into a vast swirling tunnel of light.

Shortly thereafter, the Voidspeaker announced their arrival.

"We will be reaching Sol in five, four, three, two, one!"

"Entering realspace," responded the Shipkeeper as the tunnel vanished again, this time revealing a very familiar yellow Sun, Who looked pleased and a bit relieved to see Her Little Ponies back to visit, safe and sound.

"Receiving transmission direct from Homeworld, Herdfather," said the Lightreader. "It bears the mark of the Princesses and the Homeworld Council."

*****

((Powerplaying Moonlight, as per her given permission in the Skype chat))

Moonlight nodded gravely, thinking deeply on the Duke's words as the gentle morning breeze gently flowed over her coat. It was true, in a way. He did bring up valid points, and there were more than a few conservative parties in Parliament that would not be too keen to deal with even Homeworld, despite the nation having originated from that faction. She took a sip of the chamomile tea, thanking the maid who offered it and swirling the liquid around in her mouth before swallowing. Perhaps a compromise could be reached among the various political factions that currently held the House of Lords, but who could say what would happen in the House of Commons? Lord High Hoof was always welcoming to her suggestions, but she suspected that he was merely trying to get her to trust him by agreeing with everything she said. Lord White Wing was a pragmatist and a nationalist at the same time, quite xenophobic; he would take some convincing. And even if she got Parliament to agree on opening diplomatic relations, what would Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, much less Princesses Cadance and Twilight think? How might they have changed over the past fifty years? Communication lines said relations were still peaceable, but who was to say what was the truth until they actually met physically? She turned her eyes onto the table, an old, worn thing of ancient Equestrian mahogany, roughly carved. It stood out among the fine furnitures that filled the room, an odd piece of roughness among a sea of glamour, but to her it was precious beyond description or logic. It was her mother's table, the one that she used to teach her at, when she was just a foal. So many years had passed since then, but one thing she remembered clear as day. Mother, is this the event that you referred to when I was but a foal? Was this the moment that you had been waiting for all this time?

"We shall have to be careful with what we say," replied the Queen carefully. "It would not do to rush headfirst into treaties after prolonged periods of isolation, and we should learn as much as we can about the current situation through the holonet and our existing contacts. Once we know the situation and the state of the other factions in relation to ourselves, we can move on to making treaties and mutual defense agreements. What are your thoughts on that?"

The Duke bowed. "I would not presume to know the exact manner in which all this will play out, but I humbly believe that Your Majesty is correct in this decision. What of Parliament?"

"We will have to convince them somehow," stated Moonlight. "I fear that if we wait too much longer, the rest of the galaxy will pass us by without any chance of our catching up. At least at this stage we still have some hope of updating our technology without having to worry about a drastic culture shock. Hopefully."

"Of course, Your Majesty. And what shall we do when we have our contacts, technology, and mutual defense agreements? What shall we do if we discover that there is some threat or another?"