Bionicle: Equestrian Saga
Chapter 115
Previous Chapter Next ChapterI stepped forward before anything had a chance to kick off.
“Don’t attack” I ordered, Putting my swords away “He’s an ally”
“What‽ Are you serious‽” Rainbow Dash exclaimed “Just look at him! He practically screams evil!” I ignored her comment and continued to walk forward.
“Brutaka, ka taea e mahino kiate koe ki ahau?[Brutaka, can you understand me?]” I asked, the titan nodded “E kore matou e mea ana koe i tetahi kino, e karapotia ana koe e te ōna uku[We don't intend you any harm, you are surrounded by allies]”
“He aha i tupu i konei? titiro tatou a tawhio noa, ka kite i karapotia ia tatou iho e ... Rahi?[What has happened here? we look around and see ourselves surrounded by...Rahi?]”
“Ka katoa e Ua faataa i roto wa e e tika ai[All shall be explained in due time]” I said, before changing back into my Alicorn form and beckoning with a wing “Haere mai, kua puta ke te rota talu mei whakamutunga ia koutou haere i tenei ao[Come, a lot has changed since you last walked this world]”
*POV 3rd Person*
*Location: Terra-1’s orbit*
Above the Northern Continent a Covenant flagship lurked, ready to attack. On the bridge, the shipmaster sat on his command chair. His form was almost entirely hidden in shadow, but a single, mechanical hand could be seen as it tapped on the arm of the chair with a slow t-tink…t-tink. An Elite minor walked in and stopped before the shipmaster before bowing nervously.
“Shipmaster” the minor said “the troops are ready for your order to attack”
“Excelent” the shipmaster said with a rasping, grating metallic tone, and a pair of glowing red eyes narrowed “send in the second in command, I shall be going down into battle…personally” the minor nodded before quickly exiting the bridge.
“Soon” he said quietly “I shall get my revenge for the pain and suffering you have caused me…Prince Nova” his eyes flashed briefly.
*POV 1st Person Nova*
I was sat in the study of Twilight’s caste with the Mane Six Brutaka, bringing the latter up to speed on all that had changed, I’d cast a ‘learn a language’ spell on him, it allowed him to speak a language for a month, and by that time his mind would have made the pathways to speak it fluently without aid.
“So, he said “this world is still Spherus Magna?” I nodded, I was in my Alicorn form at the moment, and levitating a small cup of tea in front of me.
“Yes, though it is now known as Terra-1” I said “when you are ready to move on, I can arrange for you to be sent to New Altero, you will be among your old friends there.” Suddenly a hologram on the table next to us activated to reveal Vastus in some kind of trouble and was fighting off something out of shot, something large.
“Nova!” he called “we need your team down here now. The Covenant, they…they’ve sent something, it looks like an elite…but it fights like noting I’ve seen before…*gasp* oh no, NO! AAAH!” suddenly a beam hit him and he fell out of view.
“Vastus” I called “Vastus, do you read me?”
*POV 3rd person*
A mechanical being stepped towards the dead body of the jungle tribe Glatorian and picked up the hologram. The being looked like a Sangheili, was roughly 11 foot tall and it’s mechanical form, which was almost skeletal and noticeably of Cyberman design, was encased in blood red armour of typical Covenant design.
“Who is this?” Nova asked
“Come to New Altero if you wish to avenge your fallen comrade, Neu-toa” the being said “I, Taag ‘Ngreeda, eagerly await your arrival, Prince Nova”
*POV 1st person Nova*
“What is that‽” Rainbow Dash asked in shock as I froze the hologram.
“Nothing good” I said, my mane flaring with anger “he killed one of my friends and who knows how many else, I will end him, personally” I then stood up and began to leave, before stopping and turning to Brutaka.
“Are you coming?” I asked, he nodded before standing up. As I left the study, I switched into my Neu-Toa form.
I walked into the palace alongside Brutaka, Celestia’s eyes went wide when she gazed upon the massive being.
“Who is that, brother?” she asked
“Not important right now” I said, getting out the hologram and chucking it at Celestia’s hooves “this is” the hologram activated, replaying the previous transmission.
“This is troubling” she said “we need to get as many forces to New Altero”
“No” I said, “that would be the worst thing to do, a medium sized fleet will be all that’s required, say 15 ships?”
“Very well” Celestia said.
“Good” I said “we’ll tell my team to pack up and head to the Jörmun…”
“Not this time, Nova” It was not Celestia who spoke, but Luna “That ship is partway through a refit, and practically in pieces”
“So a new ship then?” I asked. Luna nodded, before Teleporting myself and Brutaka out of the throne room. We reappeared at a dry dock, where the sight of a sleek, ironclad warship greeted us. It reminded me of the angular armour of German tanks and boats of WW2, the turrets themselves were practically giant German tank turrets.
“Behold!” Luna said, spreading her wings “The Defiance, the first Equestrian Interstellar battleship. We were going to be presenting it to you after it had performed its test flights, but this will have to do. Nova…this is your own, personal battleship, consider it a late Coronation present”
“Are you serious‽” I asked in surprise “this is my very own battle ship?” Luna nodded.
“Of course, it’s nowhere near the scale of the Jörmungandr” She said “1000 feet in length, 50 feet across, 200 feet tall, 10 main guns plus twenty automatic support guns, crew of 500 required to operate, but it can comfortable hold a crew of close to 800 or more. It even has an experimental cloaking device and the UNSC’s latest in slip-space technology”
“I…I don’t know what to say” I said, leaning against the metal railing and staring up in wonder at the ship “Because ‘thank you’ doesn’t even begin to cut it.
“Just go show those Covenant what happens when they attack our allies” she said. Brutaka stepped towards the railing and looked in wonder at the ship.
“Are we truly in the age where beings travel the stars?” He asked “like one would travel to another country?”
“Almost” Luna said "some of our allies do, but we are somewhat behind, first comes saving New Altero. care to join us in helping your new home-land?"
“We think that sounds like a great idea” he said, smirking.
*One hour later*
Myself and all of my team were on the bridge of the ship, waiting for it to depart.
“This place is awesome” Autumn said, practically gushing.
“This entire ship is yours?” Minion asked “not ‘yours but if the navy needs it you have to give it to them’ but yours-yours?”
“Yep” I said. At that moment Glück walked over.
“Nova” She said, “all crew are on board and ve are ready to depart”
“Take her away, Captain Glück” I said. I felt the entire ship shift as it began to rise and leave the dry dock, with that taken care of I began to explore. After a while I found a room directly below my quarters at the back of the ship. “What’s in here?” I then opened the door and gasped. Inside was a massive pipe organ.
“You have got to be kidding me” I said, trotting over and staring at it in wonder, the keys were made of the finest material, and it had multiple different levels of keys.
“I seem to recall you took up learning the Piano during your first year in Equestria” I heard Luna say. “and you developed quite the skill during the times you weren’t off chasing your foes”
“Shouldn’t you be in Canterlot?” I asked.
“I thought I would help you in New Altero” She said, trotting over “this is an Alicorn pipe organ, modified from the design of the one in the Everfree castle” I hummed in remembrance.
“That one was a beauty” I said, Luna then pressed a key on the lowest level, producing the sound of an ordinary piano.
“The first level is that of a standard grand piano” she said, before moving her hoof up one level and pressing another key, this time it produced a deep, bass driven sound, like that in a pipe organ found in a cathedral. “Second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, seventh and eighth are pipe organs, ninth and tenth are keyboards. Why don’t you play something, give it a try?” I smiled and sat down
“Okay” I said “nothing too lengthy” my fiery mane began to expand across the keys. What most people did not know was an Alicorn has so much raw magic that if it was always contained they would end up destroying themselves, the whole ‘astral mane’ thing is actually their excess magic venting off, so an Alicorn can play instruments with their mane like a unicorn does using their magic. I then began to fiddle with the settings on the keyboards and Organ stops until I was happy with the settings. I then began to play a song, both sad and dramatic, it then quietened down before I brought it up to a crescendo and began pouring as much emotion into it as I could. By the time I had finished the song I was panting slightly and I could feel tears in my eyes. I heard applause from behind me and turned to see Brutaka stood, leaning against the door.
“Quite an impressive musical arraignment” he said “Unlike any we have heard before”
“I’m not surprised” I said “It’s from my planet, composed for a…how can I best describe it to you...sort of like a play, that’s literally the only way you can understand it”
“Are you saying we are simple compared to you?” he asked.
“No” I said flatly, standing up “it would take too long to properly explain the concept of television. I’d have to actually show you rather then tell you and I don’t have the equipment”
“Something you never explained to us” Brutaka said “why do you almost always walk around in that form when you have a Toa form as well”
“Multiple reasons” I said “but the two most important ones are I feel more comfortable walking around in this form and that it’s my way of accepting my true heritage”
“Anyway, your friend tells us the ship is approaching the destination” he said, I blinked in surprise.
“that was quick” I said, Luna smirked.
“She’s quite an impressive ship, isn’t she?” she asked.
“She travelled a good portion of the continent in just 30 minutes” I said “that’s beyond impressive”
“Only the best for my baby brother” she said, smirking.
“Please” I whined “not in front of the millennia old titan”
Soon we were nearing the great City of the Spherus Magnans, the most notable thing was the countless covenant ships.
“I promise you this” I said to Luna, who was in her battle armour. “I will make the Sangheili responsible for this pay dearly” I then opened my wings and leapt right off the edge of the ship before pulling my wings into a dive, Luna followed close after me. One thing to note, when I became an Alicorn, I gained wings like those on a Peregrine Falcon, so I was unbelievably fast in a dive. I rolled to avoid a banshee before turning and sending a beam of offensive magic at it, destroying it in one hit. I then refocused my attention on diving as fast as I could. I approached the ground and began to level out until I was flying through the streets at an incredible pace, my HUD highlighting on a minimap where the earlier transmission had come from and I pushed myself faster and faster.
“Nova!” Luna called “Slow down!” I ignored her and kept going, soon we came across a crashed airship surrounded by Covenant and myself and Luna soon obliterated them before I dived into the airship. I saw Taag ‘Ngreeda holding up a pegasus mare and my instincts kicked in, just as I slammed into the Elite I turned into my Neu-Toa form and used my magic to put the Pegasus on the ground.
“Guten Taag” I said, drawing my swords. The Sangheili chuckled.
“Your plays on words will get you nowhere, Neu-Toa” He said “You will all fall, just like your Spherus Magnan friends”
“Who the hell are you, to hold such a vendetta against me?” I asked “I’ve never even met you”
“Why do you think I am in this form?” He asked “You might remember the two frigates that you destroyed single handily in a blind rage, I was the Shipmaster on the second one, fate should have allowed me to die among the wreckage. But the Forerunners were smiling on me that day and I survived to be recovered by my fellow Covenant, but at a price. Almost all of my body had been destroyed and I was bed ridden until the Covenant allied with a race of machines that had discarded their filthy human origins, allowing me to walk again, I vowed that day I would stop at nothing until there were no Neu-Toa left, starting with you!” He suddenly grabbed some things from his legs and his arms began to split before he activated four Sangheili Energy swords, albeit heavily modified with much longer blades and ornate hilts “Attack, Prince Nova” I got into a fighting stance. And he began to unleash a barrage of attacks on me.
“An alien…cyborg…with four arms?” I asked, dodging and blocking attacks “With a personal…vendetta against ‘X’ race of warriors…now…where have I seen that before?” I then saw an opportunity and kicked him away. Taag chuckled.
“I took cues from your culture, human” he said, behind his blank, metal face I was sure what was left of his face was smirking. Suddenly a bolt of blue magic slammed into him, sending him flying into a wall where scrap metal buried him.
“Brother” I heard Luna say, I turned to see her levitating multiple Spherus Magnans above her head “We must make our escape immediately” I nodded and melted the metal holding the Elite together, forming a makeshift cage.
“That should hold him” I said, before dashing out of the airship. A Dragon dropship landed in the clearing and the rest of my team stepped out “Don’t bother, we need to move these civilians away from here”
“Right” Scar said, rolling his eyes before making way for us. I walked into the dropship, followed closely by a red Unicorn with a black mane, who was carrying a green Pegasus with a white mane and tail. And a Po-matoran with a mask of X-ray vision. Luna walked in carrying roughly four Glatorian, four Toa and a strange being, whose species I was unsure of, but was definitely a Spherus Magnan. Suddenly Covenant began to surround the place the rest of my team quickly filed back onto the Dropship and Scar laid down suppressing fire as we took off.
*POV 3rd Person*
Inside the airship the impromptu cage of metal groaned slightly, before being ripped apart by Taag. He let out a roar of rage, which was distorted by his robotic voice.
“Toa scum!” He growled, before kicking away a large piece of metal away, embedding it in a wall in the process. He walked out into the square here he was met by an Elite Zealot.
“Shipmaster” the Zealot said “we have taken a portion of the city, but our forces are being pushed back”
“Order a retreat, we’ve achieved what I set out to do” Taag said.
“Yes sir” the Zealot said, saluting him.
Brutaka plunged his blade into the side of a building to slow his descent before landing in the streets with a thud, cracking the already battle-scarred pavement below him.
“Tremble before us, Covenant!” He roared, running after a small patrol No less the four Hunters charged towards him before opening fire, he deftly blocked their fuel rods with a flick of his mighty blade before his hidden blades flicked out from his back and came into contact in front of him, sending out a red beam which quickly destroyed two of the hunters. He then grabbed another and ripped it in two before launching the lifeless corpse down the street.
“Piece of scrap” he said, grabbing the last and pinning it under his foot before pressing down hard, cracking the armour and squashing the worms inside, what remained twitched and spasmed before going still. A massive blast sent him stumbling and he turned to see a wraith “All too easy” he then brought out his hidden blades again, sending out another laser, which quickly destroyed the tank. He then stomped over to a lone Elite minor, before leaning down and getting close to the Elite’s face
“Boo” he said flatly, a puddle formed beneath the Elite, who promptly feinted.
*POV 1st person Nova*
“I was stood in the cockpit next to Glück, when a transmission came in.
“The Covenant are retreating! We’ve done it!” a voice called, I sighed with relief.
“It’s over” I said, thankfully. I suddenly heard a commotion in the back.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again!” I heard a female voice I didn’t recognise shout. I walked into the fuselage to see Luna talking with the green Pegasus from earlier.
“I apologise” Luna said calmly “we simply didn’t have time to deal with your thrashing about”
“Then why didn’t you just leave me down there with Da'alrega?” The pegasus asked.
“Uh, Thunder” the Unicorn said nervously “it’s not the best idea to anger her”
“For your information I brought your fallen friend with us” Luna said “And it seems you aren’t familiar with who we are, I will ask you only once to show a level of respect”
“I am perfectly familiar with who you are, ‘Princess’ Luna” the pegasus spat “And to be perfectly honest, you were never there when I needed you, so fuck you and your country!” the entire dropship went silent and the air became so tense you could cut a knife with it. I stomped forward and grabbed the little brat by the scruff of the neck before opening the rear door and holding her over the edge. She went pale when she saw how high up we were.
“Why don’t you say that one more time?” I asked “you know, I would be perfectly happy to just leave you as a stain on the ground below. But I’m feeling a little sympathetic, we’ve all lost loved ones in this fucking war. And don’t you ever fucking think otherwise. Without people like us, this city would be nothing but glass by now. So buck the fuck up, shut the fuck up and wait until we’re somewhere safe to start grieving” I then stepped back into the fuselage and shut the door before dropping her on the ground and walking back to the cockpit in a huff.
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