Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
BOOM!
The last thud of a Pod being jettisoned we would hear. Our pod had finally launched. My PDA reported that at least half the crew had also been evacuated. It looked like everybody was going to make it.
I decided to run over our current situation in my head. We, a small capital ship only designed to shoot asteroids, were about to land on an inhabited, alien, planet, the natives where hostile enough to fire at us while we were in orbit, yet they were only just coming out of their industrial revolution, and most importantly, it didn't seem we would be able to call earth for backup. The only ship in our fleet that had radios powerful enough to do that was currently escaping with the merchants.
"Looks like we're gonna be greeting the natives soon enough." The Commander was looking at the digital display screen. It was designed to look like a window, but we all knew that having a real window would be a huge risk upon impact.
What he had pointed out was startling. In the center of the large desert we were planning to land in, what appeared to be a large town was visible. The extremely powerful camera zoomed in on the town closest to our impact zone.
The classic American old western town, complete with a simple single-track railroad leading east to west.
"I bet you each 50 credits they run for their lives when we land." I was trying to make some fun out of the situation, but we all knew that town was a little too much like old American towns.
"Commander, Captain, what will we do about the natives? How do we react to their firing on us?" The officer that was in the pod was sharp. I didn't think anyone not on the bridge at the time would understand what was happening.
"Same way they used to on earth, we fire back." The veteran that led our ship was sure to start a fight with the natives.
"Commander, they may have been doing some strange ritual or something part of their culture. We don't even know if they fired at us out of hostility. They could have been greeting us!" I didn't want a fight. A newly industrialized civilization would be ready for war. Humanity had been peaceful ever since it took to the stars. A single ship that was designed to blow up rocks was going to have trouble taking on an entire industrialized planet. A warring species that had the ability to accurately attack an orbiting object was bound to have other tricks up its sleeve. No more than a small defense would be mountable. We would have to improvise.
Stallions all over Equestria were gathering at Canterlot castle. Preparing to subdue whatever had caused the kingdom wide alert, they began to gather cannons and powder. Frantic ponies in the manufacturing industry were making armor and more cannons for the Equestrian military. In the skies above, pegasi gathered from all over to prepare for their rightful duty to the princesses. They had specialized factories producing hundreds of to-be airdropped bombs a day.
"Are you sure this is the right approach sister? We don't know anything about the iron creatures. They could be peaceful and have the gift of knowledge. They could be able to perform miracles and cure any disease. What makes you want to attack them?" Luna has always been against war. She was the sole reason why the ponies and griffons had come to peace all those years ago.
"Luna, I never meant to fight. But as the leader of Equestria I must do something! I want peace just as much as you do sister, but if those creatures want to fight then we must be ready. If they wish to help us then they will not be stopped."
"Then why did you have the elements fire on them? I'm sure they would be mad after we attacked them."
"And that's why I have to prepare. I admit that attacking them was a not the best thing we could have done, but that's in the past. We must deal with the present and future. Trying to change the past is impossible, you of all ponies should know that." The Princesses wise words struck Luna. She understood the panic of seeing the iron creature. She had seen it in the void first and panicked then. In her panic she had wasted all of her energy to try and return quickly to Equestria. She had nearly rendered herself incapable of helping to gather the elements after she arrived.
"I understand… I will see if the elements are awake yet." Luna trotted to the Canterlot hospital.
"Oh Luna." Celestia went to her balcony, watching the iron creature approach the western horizon, being chased down by the sun.
"It looks just like a star…" She sighed before returning to the difficult task of sending many ponies to the desert.
"Brace for impact." The electronic voice that embodied the pods computer warned us. We strapped ourselves in. An escape pod wasn't designed with comfort in mind; instead it was designed for survival.
The pod was shaking now. I tried to hold myself inside the cushioning seat but the vibrations became increasingly violent. The wind whipped around our heat resistant little contraption. The cameras showing us the impact zone had been retracted into the pod to avoid destruction. We weren't even sure if the natives would fire on us again or not. We would be doomed if they did. The shaking continued to get worse…
We sat like this for about 20 minutes. Nobody said a word. We were all too frightened at what was ahead of us.
"Deploying parachutes"
Uh oh.
Our minds darkened for a minute. We had gone under almost 12 G's of force in an instant. Being trained space farers, we were somehow able to survive without our bodies being crushed.
We sat there for a minute. Just to regain full awareness of the situation.
"Do I hear steam?" The Commander was right. A hissing could be heard from the outside of the pod.
"I think we landed on sand. So it's probably just the heat shield glassing it." I got up to put on my mask from the rear of the pod. Bad idea.
CLANG
I sit down again quickly. My head is sore.
"Be careful captain. Less G's here than on the ship." The officer slowly got up.
Then I remembered. The planet we were taking the merchants to had gravity more powerful than Earths. Because of this, we had spun up the RPM on the gravity simulator on the ship to closely resemble the target planets gravity, about 2 G's.
This planet and Earth both had very similar masses, and gravity because of it. With the planets gravity at about 1 G, we were about twice as powerful here as we were on the ship. That's why I got up a lot faster than I meant to.
"Do we even need masks?" the Commander was motioning to the officer who was putting his on.
"I bet you this place has the same atmosphere as the earth. For all we know, we landed in some godforsaken part of-" He continued on like this for a few minutes while I checked the sensors on the outside of the pod.
"You're right Commander. Similar atmosphere, similar humidity, similar air pressure, similar to everything you could expect from some dessert on Earth." I was just as shocked as he looked.
"Are you telling me? That we could open up those doors, and not worry about anything? At all?"
"Looks like it. Here, I'll go first." I had to do it now.
"Hsssssssss"
The doors opened, and from outside a slight gust of wind and dust came into the pod.
I stepped out and I was shocked at the sight presented right before my eyes.
It was almost midnight, I could tell from a glance at the moon. Hundreds of glowing pieces of metal were raining down from above, while the people down below began to scrap their pods. The Commander stepped out behind me.
"I'm going to begin setting up camp. We have about two hours before the ship lands. Gather some crewmen and set up a perimeter." He was just yelling from over his shoulder as he walked off.
"Alright. You, officer, take the pod apart, but save all the computer bits and the thrusters. Afterwards, tell the other newer pods to do the same." I walked to the pods that had already been landed for a while. They would have the men I needed to explore the area.