Wormhole

by TheGlitchInTheMatrix

We sent a group of brave scientists through the largest Black Hole ever discovered in an ancient discovered nebula. They volunteered to go through to see where we may expand our species, only to find that it did NOT send her to a point in our Universe, but to another dimension all together. We hope that the occupants on the planet we found are willing to allow us establishment.

1. Chapter 1

[Video/Audio Log 001]

/Entry Mode: Audio Only

Name: Christina Marshall

ID: ******06

Position: Psionics Practitioner/ Engineer

}Begin Input…

Date: January 1, 4k671 Time: 0552 (5:52AM)

This is Science Officer Christina Marshall. Effective zero-hundred hours today, I begin documentation for a voluntary project regarding the Quantum Cosmic Anomaly—QCA for short—that was discovered in two-thousand, forty-one on December Nineteenth.

All other QCA's found prior or after to this one possess no outstanding characteristics. The QCA in discussion is extraordinarily larger than what was thought to be possible.

-static from a sigh into the pick-up- It's been almost four-hundred-thousand years since its discovery and we're only now capable of reaching it.

Other unmanned Jump Craft never survived the Event Horizon and disintegrated before getting even a few hundred klicks close to the black hole itself. We've actually had some people ask for volunteers to fly close and see how much further we need to get before slipping into it was possible—no one volunteered.

Officially, our mission was denied and scrapped, so the public believes this mission is just a Survey Operation of the Epsilon Quadrant. What's actually happening is myself and nine others—handpicked by Her Highnesses themselves— are on an X-Ray Class covert operation to fly into the QCA. I'm a little scared about taking such a huge plunge into the unknown, but the new Jump Craft should be able to take us through. But that doubt still lingers in my head! What if the Craft fails just like all the others? What if the size of this black hole actually crushes us into atoms? What if— -static from inhale near pick-up —I have to stop thinking like that; it's not good for the mission.

-pause-

The reinforced Jump Craft is currently propped up with the booster rockets that will be taking me to Wormhole Zeta—the closest WH entrance to QCA-Omega at oh-nine-hundred hours today. From there, it will be about a two day drift to actually reach the QCA itself. Until then, we're gonna be in Suspension until we exit QCA-Omega and begin Universal Position Scanning to establish a travel link.

-static from a sigh into the pick-up- Oh man, I'm tired; couldn't sleep from all the excitement of being an actual Wormhole jumper! I wonder if any of the others are feeling the same.

I have to cut this entry short and limit it to Audio Pick-up only so I don't disturb the other tram passengers but I'll be arriving at exactly oh-six-hundred hours and taken to Outfitting… I've never worn a Jumpsuit before—well, Jumpsuit as in the suits worn to dampen inertia and gravitational pulling from beyond normal exertion when Wormhole Hopping.

Next entry will be set for an Omniscient Pick-up Reading so I can give my full, undivided attention to the mission at hand.

This is Psiontologist, Science Officer Christina Marshall, signing off.

/Terminated

[Supplemental Video/Audio Log]

/Entry Mode: Audio Only

Name: Jane Dash

ID:******04

Standing: Master Pilot

}Begin Input…

Date: January 1, 4k671 Time: 0621 (6:21AM)

This is Lieutenant Jane Dash of the E.S.V "Clasher", checking in on flight status. All engines still giving me a green light. Tech Crew still on the belly and waiting for the Amber light. Fuel levels at eighty percent capacity and climbing. Readouts all displaying Zero and leveled.

-extended pause-

-Flight Command response-

Uh, Roger Command, all Umbilical readings are Green and Hot for immediate Discharge and uncoupling for Jump. Estimated time for Preparation completion are exactly on the dot; still ready for oh-nine-hundred takeoff window.

-pause-

-Flight Command-

Negative, full crew not yet situated. Current positions filled are Security and Communications. EVA Maintenance, Ecologist, Hydroponics, Psychologist and Psiologist are not here right now.

But they better hurry their asses up; I'm ready to start this thing!

-Flight Command-

Roger, Command, send them on up as soon as they're ready.

-extended pause-

Attention Flight Command, I have the phasing Amber light from Tech crew, expect Green light Ready in five minutes.

-Flight Command-

Roger! Priming final stages to begin all pre-take-off operations. Running all tests. Engine check-ups pending. Nav Panel and AD Systems warming up. Lining up the shot, aaaaaaand, we're in the pipe, five by five. Awaiting Launch Order Command.

-Flight Command-

Roger, This is Lieutenant Dash, over and out.

/Terminated

[Video/Audio Log 002]

/Entry Mode: Audio Only

Name: Christina Marshall

ID:******06

Standing: Psionics Practitioner/Engineer

}Begin Input…

Date: January 1, 4k671 Time: 0858 (8:58AM)

Alright, the crew is here and I couldn't be any happier with who made it onboard. I know this is supposed to be professional, but I just have to express how happy I am! My six closest friends and older brother are all in this mission with me.

I don't wanna jinx it before we even get off the ground but I'm hoping that since I'm with people who I know so well, things will go smoothly and efficiently.

Navigations are being handled by my adoptive little brother Spike: a reptilian humanoid that comes from a primal world called Ju'ustal. Spike is relatively young but has many vital traits that are mandatory for this mission. We're in good hands as long as he handles the Nav Panel.

Our Pilot, the famous Co-Captain of the Fulmen Aerial Team: Jane Dash, and her Co-pilot, who is doubling as Head of Security, is my big brother Don Marshall. A Captain of the Celestial Special Forces; I couldn't ask for better hands to put my life in.

EVA Maintenance is being manned by Claire Reedy, although obsessive sometimes over small details, that is precisely why she was a prime choice for this mission. Even the tiniest of details could mean our life in this mission. We are attempting something that's never been done before.

Hydroponics are headed by Cassandra Jackson. In case we discover a new habitable planet, we can test the growth of known flora in foreign atmosphere and gravity. Nobody has a better green thumb than Cassy.

Our Ecologist is the intergalactic renowned ex-Fashion Super Model Sandra Khai. Who would've thought that my super timid friend would ever be in such an incredible limelight? Despite the stigma that comes with super models, Sandy is extremely intelligent and the best versed in plant and animal life both native to known ecosystems and foreign.

And lastly—this is a very pleasant surprise—Josephina Cheyenne Pi. As a joke, she calls herself Jessie Pi, and is actually a highly respected psychologist renowned for pulling anybody from their deepest depression and granting them the blessing of optimism. However, her job on the crew is to make sure we all stay relatively sane and don't crack, mentally, from the pressure of the mission.

We have two others with us that are on Security Detail and Comms on the off chance that we find a habitable location on the other side of QCA-Omega. One is a Lizardite named Cladith, and the other is a Blotin named Dree'ma-carth. I've never seen a blotin before, so it there's already something interesting for me on the mission.

-pause-

I think I'm gonna go ahead and engage the Omni-pick-up now, Jane is giving me the signal that we're getting ready to take off; I gotta strap myself in and watch our Psi-Pressure for the engines and Inertia Dampeners. Alright everybody, I'm engaging Omni-Reader! Everyone smile and look pretty and make sure your Relays are sync'd.

-visual static, white flash, screen begins to darken out into actual image-

On screen:

A young woman, age twenty-four, has her palm over the lens, partially marring the view until she removes it. Her skin is light brown and her black bangs hang over light brown eyes.

She smiles sweetly, "Hello there. Okay, everybody, the recorder is up! Smile pretty!"

The small silver sphere hovered in front of the woman it listed as Christina Marshall for a moment, taking note of her appearance so it can identify who was who. Her complexion was clear and her features were almost childish but clearly not that of a immature girl. In her hair, she wore a bright pink headband that doubled as her Psion Emitter.

Once the sphere finally had her description down, it hovered over to the right, "Hey there," a man smiled at the camera. His features were similar to Christina's but his facial features were very defined and striking. It was easy to tell they were siblings. Around the back of his head was a light blue circlet that wrapped around and stopped at both ends over his temples. He was identified as Don Marshall.

Once again, the device moved over to another place, this time coming face-to-face with something out of myth, "What's up," the creature smirked. It had scaly skin that was a shade of purple so deep, it almost looked black. It had a band of thicker green scales along the crest of his head. "Hey, uh, Jane? Nav shows a stray meteorite blocking our window."

"I see it, buddy. Everybody, hang tight for a bit," a woman called out. It was the pilot that the Recorder identified as Janette Dash, "Command, we gotta stray floater in our launch path, but let's go ahead and proceed on schedule."

Someone laughed trough the comms and gave them approval, "Launch!"

The Jump craft pulled forward suddenly and flew free from the Space Station into Outer Space. Once Jane was entirely free of the docking lane, she pulled the steering yoke to the right and twisted it slightly counter-clockwise, rolling the shuttle just to the side and moving past the large rock that floated before them, barely dodging it by inches.

"Can ya not pull that kinda stunt when you got people back here that don't like flyin'?" a female southern drawl called angrily from the passenger compartment.

The pilot, a small woman with fierce green eyes, unremarkable features, but clearly one who reveled in thrill seeking and adrenaline rush, turned back to face the other woman and jeered, "Cool it, cowgirl; you know I know this baby like you know your orchards."

"I will come up there and pull your wings out for another competition if ya'd like," the other woman mumbled angrily. Her eyes were green as well, but much more soulful and honest, "I know you got yer lead on this thing, but tone it down a bit, will ya?"

Jane tucked a stray strand of her dirty blonde hair back behind her ear, "Yeah, yeah, I'll chill out with the fancy flyin'."

"Cassidy, your hat, apparently, has taken a leave of absence," another woman, sitting at Cassy's right, pointed up at a brown Stetson hat that rotated in the zero-gravity above Cassy's head.

Cassy looked up, and replaced the floating hat to her golden hair, tucking it firmly over the back of her head, where a long ponytail hung, "Thanks, Claire." She smiled a charming white smile, accented with a splash of freckles across her nose that made the smile all the more brighter.

"Anytime, darling," Claire answered back, "However, I may ask for it for a time if my hair refuses to stay still," vainly, Claire tried to comb her auburn hair back down to its usual loose curls under her own purple circlet, "This no gravity environment always destroys my usually tame hair," she groaned with a clear mode of speech, enunciating each syllable clearly and soundly.

"Don't worry your pretty, lil' head, Claire; long as your good looks don't get stretched from Jane's crazy flyin', you'll be fine," Cassy laughed then squealed as Jane lurched the shuttle into a barrel roll.

"Do that again!" a very high pitched woman's voice cheered from the back of the shuttle's passenger compartment. A woman with a shock of curly, red hair drifted across the cabin and latched onto the back of Jane's chair, "Do it again! Do it again!"

"Easy, Jessie. That was for Cassy bashing on my skills," Jane chuckled. She looked back at Cassy to find her face tinged green and her hat, once again, drifting above her head. Then bright blue eyes drifted into her line of sight, "What if I said you're a no good pilot that only got into the Fulmen because you paid them?"

Jane would have been sorely upset, but that huge childish grin on Jessie's face made it hard to actually take the insult to heart. Rolling her eyes and smirking at Jessie's antics, Jane gunned the ships throttle and whirled through many loops and rolls at Cassy's expense and Jessie's pleasure.

"Enough, we're gonna kill our fuel before we even get there," Don sighed, barely masking a smile of amusement, "Jessie, strap yourself back in; we're coming up on Zeta and our Psi-dampeners will kick in as soon as we enter the Event Horizon."

Jessie pushed off the flight console and spun in the air until she landed, buttocks down, into her chair next to a taller woman who had light, strawberry-blonde hair that was tightly wound up in a large bun.

"Hey, Sandy! You've been through these wormhole thingies before, what are they like," Jessie asked.

Light blue eyes gazed back indirectly at Jessie's own energetic blue orbs, "Um, well, it's actually kinda uncomfortable," she replied in a very subdued whisper.

Christina craned her head back from her seat to listen in, this being her first jump as well, "You can feel the pressure through the dampeners. It might hurt sometimes, too. Um, then there's the really uncomfortable part—," Sandra had started when Jane cut her off, "You'll feel your Jumpsuit go stiff as a rock and all your lady parts—and Don's sausage—get constricted until the psi-dampeners disengage," she sounded much too happy about that.

"Um, can you not talk about my brother like that when I'm, you know, right here?" Christina huffed.

"Also, when said brother is a high ranking officer of the Sol-un Corps that can nab you for sexual harassment," Don added with a smug smirk.

Jane sighed in exasperation and threw her arms up in the air, "Does no one on this boat have a sense of humor?"

Everyone laughed a bit before Cassy had a thought, "Why do the suits only constrict right there of all places?"

"They don't, darling," Claire spoke up, "they'll tighten down on all the joints in your body. It's just that right there is the most, um… noticeable," Claire said shyly.

"You jumped before, Claire? Whatcha jump for?" Jessie asked.

"I am a top fashion designer, Jessie; many have come to me throughout known space and I've had to get to certain places to acquire specific materials we can't find in this quadrant," Claire explained.

Christina opened her mouth to ask about where she had visited before, finding the prospect of intergalactic travel to find new resources fascinating when the shuttle violently trembled.

"Everybody, secure yourselves as best as you can! We're in the Event Horizon," Don grunted, jerking the flight yoke a little to regain control.

Everybody in the passenger cabin groaned in discomfort as their Jumpsuits psi-dampeners engaged and began to counteract the massive stress from the black hole. The sensation was in every single joint on the body and felt like an archaic blood pressure machine over inflating around the entire body.

Jane and Don fought to keep the shuttle in control as the space before them began to distort as light captured in the gravity well of the black hole stretched and refracted in ways not usually observed.

"Correct course, four degrees counter-roll and two degrees lift," Spike called from the Nav console.

Both pilots moved the flight yoke backward and counter-clockwise, correcting their flight path as Spike called them out.

The seven passengers in the back remained silent, and watched the trio working in tandem to get through the Zeta black hole safely. The pull of the gravity was getting extremely intense, to the point where keeping their eyes open felt as if they were going to pulled from their sockets. Sandra and Claire, being familiar with the sensation of WH travel, were calm. Christina and Cassy as well as the two other passengers gripped their armrests with a white knuckle grip and were internally terrified at the strange sensations.

Jessie, however, was whooping and shouting for joy at the trembling and accelerating sensations, constantly shouting to 'go faster' and to 'add a roll' or 'flip'.

"Everybody brace! Entering Worm Hole Zeta in ten!" Jane announced, eyes squinted and hands firmly grasping the yoke, "Five seconds! Four! Three! Two—," she wheezed, gravitational forces being too intense to speak. A chorus of grunts and groans sounded from everybody aboard before, all of a sudden, sensations returned to normal except for the massive speed everybody could feel pushing them against their seats, "We're clear of Zeta! Coming in hot on Rendezvous Point for WH Omega; throwing Retro-thrusters full reverse!" Jane thumbed a switch on her console, Don flipped a row of switches on his own, and simultaneously, then the two slowly pulled back on their flight yokes, slowing the craft when it began to shudder again.

"Ugh, aren't we done yet?" Cassy groaned skin pale and eyes watering.

"Um, I don't know, sensors say we're clear of Zeta, but they also indicate that we're ready for another Jump?" Jane answered confusion apparent on her face and in her tone of voice.

"That's not right," Spike mumbled from his spot and began clicking away on his console.

"What is it, Spike?" Christina asked.

"Well, apparently, that blank space over there? That's not empty space, that's Omega!" Spike gasped.

"WHAT!? Command! We have a problem! We exited Zeta as planned but Omega is already pulling us in! We weren't supposed to be here for another two days! What happened," Don yelled into his comset.

Nobody could hear the response, but judging by the rapid fire murmurings, they were just as confused as they were. After only a moment, Jane called out, "Everybody! To your flight positions! There are no more civilians aboard; you are now part of this crew! No time for Sim or Review, this is the real thing here and now people!"

Everybody released their safety harnesses and drifted to their respective consoles on the Jump Crafts walls.

"Life Support, full capacity and holding," Claire called out.

"Carbon Scrubbers and Cargo restraints are still green and undamaged," Cassy called out.

"Psionic Switches and Emitters still at full power and holding," Christina called out.

"Bio Readings all show optimal internal health, but stress levels and respiratory systems are too high! I need you all to calm down," Jessie called out.

Immediately, some of the tension onboard went away, "Hull Integrity is at a hundred percent, Psionic integrity is at eighty three percent! That's two percent below estimated minimum required to Jump safely through Omega!" Sandra called out. The tension rose again.

"Comms are picking up another Jump signature! But the reading is from an unmanned Jump craft!" a raspy voice that sounded male, called from near the back of the shuttle.

"It's a Clunker Class! Command was sending us supplies to help in case we found a spot to land and decided we could set up an outpost," Spike explained "But she's out of control and headed straight to Omega and already in the Event Horizon!"

"Fuel level is at forty-two percent, Jane" Don called, "We're stuck in the Grav-pull, there's no way we can get out of this without burning the rest of our fuel; just go for it!"

"Everybody hold on!" Jane shoved the yoke forward and threw the throttle as far as it could go, jolting the entire craft toward the large black hole after the Clunker that was already careening toward the WH.

"We're going in rough; I'm going to suit up," the raspy male voice called again. Then something stood up from the console at the far end of the cabin. It looked human, but it was too lean and lanky with arms too long and one too many joints in the legs.

"Clad! Get back in your restraints—" Christina tried to shout, but a sudden constriction all around her body made her grimace; the Jumpsuit's dampeners had engaged again.

Clad moved over to the Cargo hatch and stepped inside. He kneeled down and opened a trunk at his feet and began pulling out numerous panels of different shapes, an armored helmet with a full-face visor, a large knife, a peculiar looking sidearm and even more peculiar rifle. The panels adhered to his Jumpsuit, transforming the suit into armor and he stuck the sidearm and knife into two slots on the panels over each outer thigh. He placed to hemet over his head and sealed it to the neckline of his suit. The rifle was secured to his back with a magnetic click. Finally, he withdrew something from the trunk that lit up his features.

They were mostly human, dark brown eyes and black hair. The only odd features were how closely his ears were pressed to his head, the size of his eyes being larger than human, and the double set of fangs in his mouth. He was a Lizardite of the planet Lizarrux.

Pocketing the strange glowing device, Clad moved back to the Comms console he was manning and replaced the restraints just as he felt the intense gravitational forces pulling the shuttle into the black space of WH Omega.

"I… can't… hold her," Jane gasped, the air being pulled from her lungs.

"Everybody… Hold… ON!" Don managed to scream as the Clunker and their craft slipped into the black hole. There was an intense moment of pain from the Jumpsuits overloading the Psionic dampeners integrated into their systems. The shuttle's hull groaned and protested the massive levels of stress it had to endure.

Something thumped from the ships rear end and sent the craft into a slight horizontal roll. Jane and Don both had to shove the flight yoke against the roll to prevent a deadly tumble, only barely getting back in control. The pressure in the Jumpsuits released, allowing everybody to check their systems.

"Hull-side Psionic dampeners are gone! Hull integrity is at seventy-two percent!" Sandra shouted.

"Psionic Switches and Emitters are all overloaded and not recharging!" Christina called worriedly.

"Life Support Compromised! Numerous breaches detected in the hull and we are leaking atmosphere quickly!" Claire announced, desperately clicking commands on her console to try and save whatever she could.

"Bio readings are still healthy but stress levels are sky rocketing! Respiratory systems are accelerated but I don't have anyone in panic mode! Let's keep it that way," Jessie called out.

"Carbon Scrubbers are functioning but not pulling in enough to fully recycle air supply. Cargo restraints are yellow and stressed but still holding," Cassy announced.

"Unknown planet ahead! Clunker has engaged auto-landing sequence and making emergency landing!" Spike declared.

"Jane! We have to follow that Clunker down there! No time to check the atmospheric conditions; we lose those supplies, and we might never get back home," Don explained.

"Rocketing in," Jane pushed the yoke forward further and followed just behind the Clunker, "Engage re-entry procedures! Raise heat deflection shields and engage whatever is left of our back-up Psioninc dampeners! We're coming in hot, people!"

Everybody moved to comply with the orders, quickly pulling up what was needed to get into the planet's atmosphere.

Slowly, a hellish glow began to form ahead of the Jump craft's viewing window before the heat shield slammed into place. The shuttle began to violently vibrate as the friction from the atmosphere built up to unimaginable temperatures. The sound from within grew so loud it was deafening.

"Heat shields approaching terminal temperature! Fail-safe releases will throw in fifteen seconds before back-up Psionics deploy," Christina announced.

"Keep it steady people; we're almost there! Nav sensors say that the surface is only a few hundred klicks below! At current speed we should be able to safely exit the atmospheric burn in six seconds!" Spike called out, watching the read-out closely.

The ship continued to plummet; the temperature inside the shuttle itself was rapidly climbing before another thump from the end of the shuttle sounded again, "Our engine three just exploded! Compensating thrust to Engine two and four," Don pressed a few switches and raised two dials while lowering a third on his console.

"Raising Heat shields; we're free of the burn but we're not out of the woods yet!" Jane called back as the heat shield rose from view allowing her to see the endless expanse of white clouds before her.

Further still, the shuttle fell from the sky, crippled and rapidly failing under duress. The lighting inside darkened and grew overcast from the condensed clouds just outside. The shuttle cleared the stratosphere, the lighting inside reflecting the crisp and clear daylight, and Jane and Don's jaws went wide at the view before them.

Everything was lush and green and the unmistakable blue of ocean and brown-purple of mountain ranges could be seen just ahead. This was a planetary paradise! But the revelation was short lived as a voice spoke up, this one sounded like a male's voice trying to speak with nails in his mouth, "Incoming unknown objects from starboard! AD Systems on standby in case of collision or malignant intent."

Don glanced to his right and did a double take, "Uh, Spike? Can you confirm what I think I'm seeing over here? 'Cause I think I'm either dreaming or I really died going through Omega."

Spike leaned over his console and punched in a few commands, scowling a moment, and then typing in another command. For a moment, he stared at the screen before his eyes went wide and he could no longer deny that his instruments were reading correctly, "You're not dead, I see it too, and I can't believe it either."

Jane stretched her head forward, trying to see what it was that the two were flipping out over. "What is it?" Christina asked, equally as curious.

Jane slowly sat back, eyes wide, and cleared her throat, "Ladies and gentleman, I think we're in a fantasy world where myth comes to life, because we have dragons out there."

The silence in the shuttle was rather intense, everybody so in shock from hearing that dragons were really just outside the Jump craft, that no one could really offer anything to say other than something that would be coherent to only a newborn child. Then, the ship was slammed into by something from the outside and threw the ship into a sideways tumble, breaking the silence. The dragons were trying to mount the shuttle and rip it apart while blasting it with intense bursts of flame.

"AD Systems engaged! Malicious intent confirmed! Evasive maneuvers now, humans!" the grating voice demanded.

"Jane, take the controls; I'll handle compensation," Don locked the yoke back into the flight console and pulled forward the other controls, situating them in ways that could easily be accessed with only movements from the wrists and elbows.

"Roger! Everybody, hold on tight 'cause this ride is about to be one of the craziest you've ever been on," Jane threw the yoke into the shuttle's roll and lifted, pulling the craft free from its plummet, tilting the nose down and trying to get to the surface.

From outside, numerous thumps sounded from the AD cannons firing at the dragons that were trying to destroy the strange metal thing that was flying through their path. Every dragon unfortunate enough to be caught in one of the AD slug's path was violently thrown away with a painful bruise and most likely a few broken bones and a good amount of scales burnt and peeling.

The shuttle nosed up suddenly and rolled to the right, avoiding a head-on collision with a rather large, green-scaled dragon, then dipped down and front-flipped, dodging a tackle from below that was aimed at the shuttle's rear end. But one lucky blow from a small, quick flying, red dragon tore the left wing free from the main chassis, sending the already wounded shuttle into a death spiral toward the ground.

Everybody inside the shuttle screamed in fright and clung onto their restraints in terror. "Pulsating docking trusters to counter the roll, but this boat's going down; we're going in for a crash landing and—," Don was cut off by the viewing glass in front of them being smashed through by a bright yellow dragon's claw.

Jane yanked a lever by her side and flared the shuttle's airbrakes, throwing the dragon off and trying desperately to control their deadly trajectory.

"Air is breathable, everybody! Keep focused on your consoles; no need to activate your breathers," Claire called out.

"We're not going to make it with these things engaging us like this," Clad's voice called out. Christina looked over and saw the lizardite throw off his restraints and sprint, full tilt, and then launch himself out of the viewing glass's opening, "CLAD!"

The lizardite held his body straight and steered away from the smoking craft, drawing a small number of dragons his direction, but not getting all of the ones that posed a serious threat.

He turned and drew his sidearm while pulling the trigger. Something within the strange weapon whirred and an orb of blinding white light gathered at the end, held its place for a second, and then morphed into an intense white laser beam that grazed the sides of numerous dragons in one half-second burst.

Finally, every dragon turned to face the strange monkey thing that had caused so much damage in so little time and rushed it.

Smirking to himself, Clad turned back around and pointed himself down, plummeting towards the ground at terminal velocity. The dragons were slowly catching up, snarling their curses and releasing smoke filled roars of rage and fury.

Jane and Don watched the crazy scene unfurl before them before they focused back on their own problem as the shuttle's roll evened out, "That crazy bastard is gone, but we can't let that kill the rest of us," Don said, "Jane, present our belly; I'm engaging counter-thrusters in ten seconds."

"Heads up! Sensors indicate civilization down below! I'm scanning for viable landing zones to prevent any damage to the indigenous," Spike's claws flew over the keys on his console for a few seconds before he glanced back up, "Got it! Up ahead, on that mountain, there's a city of sorts coming off the side. There's a large clearing ahead of a tall structure more than large enough to crash—er, I mean, land!"

"Not funny, Spike," Cassy screamed.

"Wasn't trying to be," Spike shouted back.

"Can it, you two, we're in deep enough as it is. No need to make the situation more stressful than it already is," Jessie scolded.

"Spike, lock in those coordinates to my computer; we gotta take it!" Jane kept the shuttle steady and glanced down at the computer, watching her path build itself all the way down into the designated landing zone.

The shuttle flew straight and true to the landing site for almost the remainder of the trip when all hell broke loose. Just before Don could announce that he was engaging the landing gear and thrusters, a large golden plane of light formed just before their nose as they were slowing down. The shuttle slammed into it at great speed, shattering the plane of light like glass, and tumbling the remaining hundred meters to the ground.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs.

Onboard, everybody screamed as the shuttle tumbled over and over, disorienting everybody's perspective of up and down before the Jump craft met its end by slamming, topside down, into the ground, throwing up debris and dust everywhere, and silence ensued.

On the ground, something opened the large doors to the great structure that the shuttle crashed in front of and numerous creatures filed out while a creature of much greater stature strolled out at a much more sedate pace, "Guards! Approach with extreme caution!" A strong and commanding female voice warned.

Inside the shuttle, the occupants, hung upside down in their seats, were unconscious and unaware of three creatures entering the vessel through a large gash on its side.

"What are these things," one of them spoke.

"No idea, but they look like they're all out cold. Cut them down and carry them outside, we'll deal with them out there," another creature answered, both with gruff male voices.

"Yes sir, Captain," two answered in unison and had begun to move forward when Don cracked open his eyes, bleary and fatigued.

"Sir! This one's awake!" one of the creatures called while jumping back.

Don looked toward who had spoken and laughed to himself, "Yup, I died and now I'm in a cartoon wonderland," he craned his neck back and saw his sister hanging upside down, and then looked back at the creature who the other had alerted, "Hey."

The creature flinched, but remained calm, "Yes?"

Don's eyes became heavy and he found it hard to stay awake; something was wrong internally, "Can you please…take care of my…sister and her friends?"

The creature's jaw set and he glanced at the others, still unconscious, before turning back, "Of course. Soldiers!"

The other two creatures jumped to attention, "Cut them down as ordered, but take them to the infirmary instead. Inform Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that the creatures are not proven to be hostile."

The other creatures snapped off a salute and moved as ordered. "Thank you," Don whispered and closed his eyes, letting sleep take him away.

The Captain nodded before a light on the top of his head lit up and the restraints holding Don in place lit up as well before they suddenly snapped free and released Don.

He didn't fall, however, but rather began to glow and levitate. As did all the others, and were levitated outside and laid upon numerous stretchers to be carried away to medical facilities.

The omni-corder flitted out of the shuttle to follow the group when a startled guard launched a missile of some kind and destroyed the small glittering orb.

-Rewinding events-

-Tracking…-

-Pick-up reading found-

-Engaging-

In a top-speed nose dive, Clad kept falling and falling, the dragons that had trailed him for the majority of the fall had abandoned their chase, assuming that the falling creature would meet its demise as it continued to fall.

Even with the tops of the trees just a mere fifty klicks away while he fell at a little over that many per second, he still kept his speed, not showing any signs of slowing down.

Then he entered the tree line, and a bright blue glow enveloped his body as he tucked himself into a ball just as he slammed directly into a large tree trunk. The glowing around his body acted like a barrier as he continued rocketing toward the ground, splintering many trees and reducing many more into nothing but mulch. Then everything came to a jarring halt as he slammed into the ground embedding himself a full two meters into the ground with an extremely loud thump and plume of soil, leaves, and twigs. The blue glow that had protected Clad shone through the top of the hole for a while until it flickered and faded.

The forest was silent once again aside from a few rustles amongst the underbrush as the native critters moved away from the new disturbance. Nothing seemed alive in the forest anymore, until a gloved hand came over the lip of the hole that Clad made with his body and climbed out, wheezing and coughing.

Amazingly, he had survived his ordeal, but he knew that his daring move should have been the end of him, and were it not for the trees he slammed into earlier, he would never have made it alive. He stepped forward on his left leg and collapsed onto the ground, broken, he thought to himself.

Pushing himself back up, a jolting pain in his left arm alerted him to another broken bone in his arm. "Whoa," a voice breathed from a little distance away from Clad.

He jerked his head toward the source of the voice and saw a creature staring at him in awe and curiosity.

His mind worked a little bit before he brought to mind the human word to describe such a creature, "Pony?"

The pony nodded dumbly, continuing to stare. Clad stood up, wincing as his leg expressed its displeasure at the exertion he forced upon it, and started walking toward where the Jump craft had headed.

The pony watched him for a moment before her wits gathered back to her again, "What are you?"

Clad cast a side long glance at the cyan colored pony and noted that the pony's mane was a broad spectrum of colors and was flying beside him, not any familiar traits that were observed of Terran miniature equines.

He ignored her and kept moving, a severe limp hampering his movement, "You're hurt! You shouldn't be moving."

Still moving, he didn't heed her advice, determined to get to his companions, "Hey! You gotta stop for a second! A few friends of mine are on their way over to help! We saw those dragons chasing something and then we saw you jump out of it and start falling."

Still ignoring the pony, Clad limped on, his panting getting heavier, "What are you anyway?" The pony continued hounding Clad's heels, "Where are your eyes? How can you see where you're going?"

You are very stu—wait, she doesn't know that I'm wearing a helmet, "I can see fine," He grunted in annoyance, not bothering to explain the one-way nature of his helmet's visor.

"Why are you still moving? Sit down for Celestia's sake! My friend's will be here, they'll help you!" The winged pony continued, not actually wanting to touch the strange creature, but sorely tempted to do so to stop him from hurting himself.

Wordlessly, Clad kept moving, heading toward the newly rising smoke column in the distance that told him that his companions had crashed. The pony continued trying to urge him to stop moving when it finally growled in frustration, "Fine! I know where you're going now anyway; I'm going to head back to my friends and guide them here faster than they can without me to show them the way." With that, she crouched low while spreading her wings and jumped, launching herself into the air over the trees, and rapidly fading from sight.

With the new reprieve of silence, Clad trudged on, a little faster than before, eager to lose the strange winged pony that dogged his steps and didn't stop with her incessant pleadings and admonishments to stop moving. She didn't understand that he was vital in the safety of his companions and was required to be there at their side no matter what… he had done brought down under the Captain's Submittance.

His leg and arm began to throb painfully, protesting against the commands his muscles forced onto them. So intense the pain, he began growling out loud at the frustration of moving…wait, something was growling, but it wasn't him.

Clad stopped and closed his eyes, focusing on the noises of the surrounding forest. Off to his right, at a very low frequency, was the Hunter's Quip; a sound that he was very familiar with from his home planet. Something had him in their sights, and they were not alone.

Closing his eyes tighter, and almost completely shutting off his eyes, he was able to hear multiple creatures moving about in the underbrush, expressing their delight at finding a weakened and vulnerable creature in their midst that could provide them all with their next meal.

Unknown to the predators, Clad had accurately counted and pinpointed the locations of every creature that lurked in the shadows, Quadruped, social creature, efficient pack hunters, light of foot, agile, and relying on survival instincts to hunt. Threat is extreme; engage with extreme measures. Inflict massive damage; pain will not register on normal levels. But, Clad scowled, confused at what his senses told him, they don't have a pulse? No Life point to rip, and no heated scent to pick up. They smell like the forest, almost as if made from wood. But I do smell them rotting, he inhaled deeply, smirking slightly, it smells of natural compost, but much richer than normal, very easy to track.

Clad opened his eyes again and shifted his weight over to the other foot. He was going to be engaged, regardless of the outcome, but he wanted to see if they were Of the Hunter's Howl.

He lifted his arm and turned it over, presenting a few buttons with unnamed functions. He pressed one and the opacity in his visor reduced to prefect transparency, allowing the Alpha of his attackers a view of his face.

The strange creature in the shadow faltered a little bit, appalled to see this, biped engage in Hunter's Trade!

Clad presented his teeth but took care not to tremble his lips, and looked at the Alpha indirectly, showing that he was very capable of himself and will fight back, but issued no challenge. He hoped the Alpha would waive the pack off him and leave him be, but seldom does somebody have their wishes granted.

As expected, the Alpha dismissed the ritual and growled deeply from the diaphragm, issuing The Call Before the Stroke. He did not care for any formalities; food for the Pack was the only thing on his mind… but Clad had other plans.

Lightning quick, Clad's right hand darted to his hip where his sidearm rested, released the holster lock, drew it out and aimed down site at the Alpha of the attacking creatures, all in less than a quarter of a second.

The Alpha jumped forward, having no idea what the consequences of injured biped's swift and sudden movement's meant for his existence.

In a thundering bang, the Alpha's head exploded in a confetti of twigs and splinters of wood while his lifeless body halted in midair from the sidearm's explosive retroactive momentum, and collapsed to the ground.

As Clad had properly deduced, the creature's body was made of wood, but it appeared to largely resemble a wolf of sorts. In the moment that the life had left the wooden wolf's body, Clad was able to identify a few more traits about his strange opponents.

No internal body organs, head remains vital to wolf's life force, attacks inflicting massive damage are ineffective; aim for destruction of the head, Clad checked the dial on his sidearm, counting the shots left, at compression modes the cell won't last as long. However, lance modes are completely ineffective. At current rate, battery will die after twenty-three shots; one mag in the Rail Rifle contains forty-one shots; make every shot count, another wooden wolf jumped at Clad from behind, hoping to catch him off guard, but he was halted by a louder thundering burst, and thrown backward with significantly more force than what the sidearm was capable of.

Unbeknownst to the wolves, Clad had snuck his bad arm across his waist and lined up the trigger with his index finger; when he heard the wolf move, he simply had to twist his body slightly to pull his finger against the trigger setting it off. It was the wolf's own bad luck, however, that he happened to come in from where the barrel of the rifle was pointing. Fortunately, for the wolf, the shot grazed the side of his shoulder and side and left him perfectly functional.

Now, Clad looked into the eyes of the wolf that was second in command, the Beta, and faced him directly, lips peeled back in a vicious snarl. He had issued The Challenge of Death.

This was offending to any Hunter of the Howl, and the Beta barked once, commanding all the underlings to attack at once.

Clad jerked his body, twisting the rifle from its magnetic perch, and whirled it around in his left hand to aim properly, firing twice into the body of a wolf diving in from the right, while at the same time, Clad fired the sidearm in his right hand to kill the Beta ahead of him.

One, Clad counted. He readjusted his aim on the sidearm and side-stepped another diving wolf, lifting his left elbow to strike the wolf under his jaw. And fired to dispatch the first wolf he injured, Two. As the wolf that Clad struck with his elbow tumbled to the ground, Clad rolled forward, avoiding a wolf that had jumped for his throat, two that were attacking low and from behind, one that attacked from his left, and fired the rifle straight into a wolf's face that Clad had intentionally rolled into, Three. He whirled around and fired both weapons simultaneously, never losing stride, and took out the two that had tried attacking low and from behind, Five. Another wolf came up over Clad's right shoulder, and bit down into an armor panel that mostly protected Clad from serious injury. Clad fired the rifle at three wolves in front of him and used the force of the recoil to throw his body into a spin and throw the biting wolf off his shoulder, raising the sidearm at the same time, firing three more times. Of eleven shots fired, two wolves went down, three more injured, and one incapacitated as a rifle round blew through both right limbs, severing them from the body.

From his kneeling position, and with his bad leg, Clad's mobility was severely hampered, allowing the only uninjured wolf to get the drop on him. The wolf came up from Clad's right and bit down on the underside of Clad's upper right arm, causing Clad to shout in pain and drop his sidearm. The wolf's head was blown apart from the rifle in Clad's other hand after a second of lining up a clear shot, but in that second, one of the injured wolves had come back around and bit down on Clad's already injured left arm. With a vicious shake of his head, the wolf caused Clad to cry out another shout of pain, and throw his rifle out of his immediate reach. Clad brought his free hand around to his left hip and drew the long knife that was sheathed there, drew it, and pierced it through the underside of the biting wolf's head, momentarily increasing the pressure of the bite, but immediately twisting the blade to split the wolf's head apart in half.

Now, Clad was having trouble keeping pace with the last two injured wolves. The two had regained their bearings and rushed Clad where he knelt. With very minimal to respond with, Clad threw himself flat against the ground as the two jumped at him and wound up going over him instead. Once they had landed and turned back around to rush again, Clad had recovered his fallen sidearm and turned over to fire. The wolves had closed in before Clad could optimize his aim, but Clad used the back of his armored left arm to shield himself from one wolf's bite while he unloaded numerous shots into the other, not immediately destroying the head until one burst finally found its mark.

The remaining attacking wolf, noticing that his partner was dead and that the biped was going to aim his strange weapon at him next, threw himself across Clad's body in an effort to pin his arm between their bodies. The ploy had succeeded in restraining both arms from bringing up either the knife or the sidearm, but Clad had planned out another move when the wolf rolled.

Using the remaining momentum from the wolf's roll, Clad reversed their positions so Clad was lying atop the wolf, and brought his helmeted head down hard against the wolf's. The impact had been so intense, Clad's visor cracked and the wolf's jaw became unhinged, allowing Clad to pull free and recover the fallen rifle from where it lay, aim at the wolf's temple, and fire.

With the wolf's head blown to mulch, Clad finally came to rest, sitting back on his heels and gasping in fatigue. He needed immediate medical attention and repairs on his suit from the extensive damage that the wood wolves caused him.

Just as Clad made to stand after a few moments of resting and re-holstering his weapons, something came from behind him and bit down onto the side of his helmet with enough force to shatter the weakened visor and tear into the side of Clad's neck, just short of Clad's Life point. The wolf that had been incapacitated had managed to crawl over and deliver an almost fatal strike when Clad had let his guard down.

Screaming in pain, Clad reached around and stuck his fingers in between the Wolf's teeth, trying to prevent them from working their way to his Life's Blood. For several agonizing moments, the wolf violently whipped his head about, set on killing the one that killed his entire pack, and Clad desperately holding onto Life. Blood began to flow quickly from Clad's wound, and the wolf knew that victory was his, and Clad knew that his life was now forfeit as his vision began to darken and his strength began to leave him.

Suddenly, Clad felt the tension from his neck disappear and the saw the wolf fly overhead and shatter against a far tree.

"He's right here! C'mon you guys, we gotta get him back to the hospital, stat," a female's voice called from behind him.

He turned to see a familiar multi-colored pony, followed by five other ponies of different colors.

"It's alright, we're here to help. Rainbow said you're trying to get to that thing that you fell out of, but you need medical attention first," a purple, one-horned pony reassured before bowing her head. Her horn began to glow and Clad found himself lifted off his feet, levitated a meter's distance, and set down upon an orange pony's back.

"Uhn, you're a might heavier than ya look, but don't ya worry 'bout a thing; we'll get ya to Ponyville lickety split," the orange pony gave him a confident smile before running off, Clad slouched over her shoulder as his feet dragged against the ground.

Even with his strength leaving and his vision getting darker, he made an effort to identify his saviors. There was the flying, prismatic pony, the purple one-horn, the normal orange one, and three new ones: a white one with a horn as well, another flier, yellow like the dusk sun, and another normal one, this one a vibrant pink.

"Just a little more, darling, we're almost there; stay with us a minute more," the white one reassured.

Clad made no reply—he couldn't with his throat being damaged, but he gave her a weak smile to show he understood.

With what seemed like only a second, he found himself once again being levitated and set down, this time lying down, and more fast movement. He couldn't stay awake to see that they had arrived at the hospital, but he could only hope that his comrades were okay and that he could properly thank those that had come to his aid.

But for now? The Sleep that calls to All Who Need to Go came upon Clad, beckoning him into the blissful dark…

[No active life sign available – shutting down to await revival…]

/Terminated