Miles underground, a blue light flicked on, illuminating a single mare.

Contacting mainframe...

.....

....

Connection time out. Scanning soil samples.

A single robot detached from a spot on the wall. It was a simple robot, with a ball for a body and a rotor blade attached for means of transportation.

Minutes later, it flew back inside.

Re-programming mainframe.

Reprogramming complete.

The single light flicked off, and the cavern was once again plunged into darkness.

"Yo Vex! Rise and shine sweetheart!" Vex snapped to attention and gripped her P-F200 with a startled gasp, letting out a scream as the stallion opposite of her screamed.

"AHAHAHHA! Oh man that was funny!" The stark orange stallion fell to the floor laughing, his bowler hat coming off.

With an angry sigh, Vex spun the gun around and smacked the butt across his head.

"Oww! It was a joke! C'mon! Vex!" He called after the mare as she stalked off, the metal walkway clanging.

"Dammit Zapman's gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." She muttered. "Sheila! Online!"

"Captain. Good evening. How was your nap?" A hologram appeared in front of her as she walked, the narrow corridor that served as the crew's quarters opened into the much larger space of the Bridge below, connecting the Crew's Quarters with the staircase leading to the engine room was a single gangplank which Vex quickly jumped down from.

"Nap was fine. Oh and Sheila? Remind me to set up a concusory barrier around the door to my room. Tune it to Zapman's specific genetic code." She said, her voice filling with spite as she walked up to the terminal, and the pony sitting beside it.

"Noted Captain." The hologram reappeared below her as she jumped down and fell into step alongside her. "I assume Mr.Man's antics are disturbing you?"

"Hon, a nano-fly or even a cyber-tag is annoying. A bore-program is annoying. He is downright gettin' on my last nerves." She said, stopping in front of the sitting pony. Currently, the male stallion was leaning against the Cartographer, a massive sphere floating through the power of anti-matter. Various holograms of star-systems and planets, and Nebulas.

The pony sitting next to them all, was a single reddish unicorn stallion. His eyes were glazed over and his keyblade sat propped next to him. A thin line of drool ran from his lips and ended on his stomach.

Vex shook her head. "Damn piglets. Always takin' the chance to suckle the great mother. I outta throw this junkie out." She sighed.

"Sheila, notify all crew members to meet at Bridge, ASAP."

"Noted Captain." And with that, the hologram disappeared.

Vex turned around again proceeding to the Captain's chair. A single egg shaped polyester chair suspended without any visible support through Repulser Technology.

"Captain, a ISE A.I is requesting permission to connect to the mainframe. Shall I authorize?" Sheila's voice pipped through Vex's personal PUI.

"Yes. Allow them access to the main thoroughfare chat channel." As soon as she had finished speaking, a hologram of a metallic Twilight Sparkle, the basic ISE construct model appeared in front of her.

"Captain Sarsaparilla Vex, Celestia would like to know how the mission proceeds." The bot started in a simple but clear Canterlotian Accent. Supposedly the original for the basic construct models, the TWILIGHT SPARKLE had originally been of Canterlotian decent.

Vex cocked an eyebrow, while her mercenary company was quite the up-and-coming star in the paramilitary world, it was quite rare, verging on nearly impossible that they would have gotten a commission from the Imperial Sun Empress herself.

"The mission is uh...it's goin' fine. Look, can we just stick with the normal lingo? I'd just prefer if you'd call it a 'job' instead of a mission. Makes me feel like it's serious."

"Noted. Changing mission to, 'job'." A chime sounded, notifying that the A.I had indeed changed the meaning.

"I assure you however, that this 'job' is of the utmost importance. Retrieval of the package is vital to the wellbeing and continuation of the Solar Empire. Failure is not an option. "

Vex nodded, though on the inside she was rolling her eyes.

"Got it. But why would Celestia want anything from a dead planet? I mean, without the personal coordinates she provided, we'd be flying blind. Which reminds me. Why doesn't this planet show up on the Universal Map? It's like it never existed..." she nudged the zoned out stallion by her hooves who only blinked and babbled something unintelligible.

"I am not authorized to answer that question."

Vex shook her head.

"Of course you aren't." She said simply.

"This conclues my business. Good day. And may the Imperial Solar Empire rule on forever." The bot disappeared, momentarily replaced by the floating symbol of the ISE; the silhouette of an alicorn against the backdrop of a sun.

With the A.I gone, Vex vocalized her displeasure.

"Friggin Commies." Turning her attention once again to the stallion by her legs, she grunted with mixed anger and irritation. He was a young unicorn, probably just out of his teens. He had a deep black mane against a singed auburn coat. It was really nice really. Though she grimaced, it would look nicer if he took a bath once in a while. The ship they were on wasn't exactly a 'junk'. Hell, it even came equipped with it's own above standard A.I. This compared to the old ship which was falling apart at the seams seemed like a helluva difference.

"You! Taios! Wake up! Snap out ya Pig-Addict!" She kicked him once, hard in the ribs. Not hard enough to break, but hard enough to bruise.

She sighed deeply. Not even a month and he was already 'suckling'. The crew had found him fighting off waves of Cyber-Lesions on a star, they had offered their help in return for his services and he obliged.

Later on, she learned that he was a traveler, not between planets and star-systems; but between dimensions and universes as well. He was a good kid really, but he had come across hard times. Especially when he had found that the friend he had come to visit was dead and that he was trapped in her universe.

As a coping mechanism, somewhere along the way he had taken up 'suckling'. She was about to cut off his Net Connection when the rest of the crew walked in.

"Yo cap! What'cha need us for?" Asked Kriskoyav, his smock blackened with soot, a testament to his job as sole engineer aboard their ship.

"Yes Captain. Are we close?" Asked Zion, the cyborg medic. Instead of a new body, he had opted for a metal one, implanting his brain directly into a top of the line Level 2 battle mech. Basically he was a walking tank, and Vex owed him a big one after he saved her life countless times. The guy never asked for anything, even when he desperately needed something. Vex had taken it upon herself to give him whatever he wanted when he asked, even if it was a tall order.

"Yeah, we're about 300,00 klicks out from the planet." She stopped to signal one of the crew who was running by, she asked for the intercom mic, and he obliged.

"Listen up! Anyone on the Retrieval job head to Dock 6! Take off's in 10 minutes! Don't forget to hook up the ocular optics snipers! All personal on the Marking job, head to Docks 1,3, and 7! And for Faust's sake somepony in IT cut Taio's PUB link!" She shouted

Instantly the earth pony joined the ranks of the living. "Wha? What the? Is the raid mission over?" He asked joining the small group of veteran soldiers. As soon as he was with them though, he stopped and stood stock still, holding his head and hissing through his teeth.

"Ey! Might want to lay off for the suckling for a bit Taios! One of these days that thing is gonna give you a bad case of Viros!" A member of the engine's crew remarked, sending the gathered group of ponies into hysterics.

"Umm....what's a viros?" Asked Taios, he was getting nervous.

"Ah man, the look on your face! Well, a Viros is a virus sometimes tacked onto the up-linked user during one of your 'suckling sessions'. It enters your head directly through your uplink and destroys the main processor and all brain-cellss along the way with a specially designed bio-electrical signal. It's a double-edged sword." Said Kriskayov almost crying with laughter.

Taios's lower jaw hung limp with shock.

"If ya don't want one, stick to IRL, stay out of the Pig's Space." Said Vex shoving past him.

"ZAP! GET DOWN HERE YOU LAZY ASSHOLE! I NEED YOU ON SNIPER SUPPORT!" She shouted up to her room.

She heard thudding as he ran out of her room, leapt over the catwalk, and landed almost catlike on a nearby monitor.

All while holding his 2.5 Kilo DASH-TEC HVAR (High Velocity Arc Rifle)

"Frost duty?" He asked, pleadingly almost.

"Frost duty." She said resigned, he leapt with joy, and in an instant he was calling up his own PUB interface.

"Personal Uplink Bracelet online!" He shouted. "Storage; Frost suit." He said simply, and in an instant, he was clad head to hoof in a heavy metallic suit made entirely of Stainless steel. His rifle was also modified, now sporting a single rubber tube running to a small generator attached to Zapman's back. It whirred softly as the two conducting rods whirred, causing a shift in the carefully cultivated environment of the plexi-glass casing that surrounded the rods. His face was covered by a thin film of sorts, dark navy blue in color but as elastic as plastic.

"Alright Cap. See you up on the deck!" He joked moving off to his position.

By now the crew had gotten the message, all foot soldiers were heading into the transport vessels, all crew-members were monitoring their various states, mission briefings for the ones just getting filled in, some were even firing up the mini-satellites in case the ground pounders (slang for troopers) needed air support.

"Alright ma'am, all troops in transports, all satellites up and running, the Cartographer has been adjusted to monitor progress and Navigational Pylons are standing by.

Vex gave a nod.

"Mission is a go: Attention! All troopers! 'Hostile Contingency' is a go! I repeat! 'Hostile Contingency' is a go!" She shouted keeping a close eye from the bridge of the ship.

"And Faust speed to you all." She murmured under her breath.

Taios sat in his designated seat within one of the Transports heading to the planet's surface. He was sweating big time as his nerves frayed and failed him.

"I take it this is your first time on a drop?" Asked one of the newer recruits who was also sweating. His name was Lancaster if Taios remembered correctly.

"Nah, 30th actually. I'm just scared of what we're gonna find is all." He replied clutching his keyblade. He was so glad Vex hadn't made him a Free-faller. They had the scariest job of all.

"...Oh....well...I'm scared shitless." Said the recruit forcing out nervous laughter.

"It's gonna be fine kid! Just guard the huts and we'll mount the offensive alright?" Joked one of the vets. Taios knew him by name, Tartsley. The massive bull of a pony who usually ran into battle with dual N-B (Nova Ballistic) Gatling guns. He was fearsome in battle, but a good friend.

"ALRIGHT boys 'n girls! Saddle your shit and get ready to drop! ETA 5 minutes!" Instant there was a flurry of activity from within the cramped hull of the Transport as the squadron of ponies readied their float gear.

"What's the Alt?" Asked Taios moving to the front of the Transport to talk to the pilot.

The pilot turned in his seat and gave him a wicked smile.

"Let's put it this way; if ya jump without an anti-grav belt or a floater suit; yer gonna end up in the ground rather than just a spot on it." The pilot chocked.

"Alright! Opening rear hatch!" The pilot said suddenly flipping a couple switches. Instantly, the massive rear end of the transport opened with a sound not unlike metal girders colliding.

And as soon as they were open, most of the war vets let out a whoop of joy and cannon-balled into the ferocious wind. Taios himself, having long overcome his fear of heights, steeled his nerves and jumped.

Zapman breathed deeply as the airlock behind him shut. Vex had ordered him on 'Frost Duty' that meant he had to sit up in deep space, on top of the ship's outer hull, freezing his ass off to cover a bunch of ground troopers from space with a rifle powerful enough to put a Hydrogen Bomb to shame.

"Zap? You read?" Asked Zetski, one of the techies in charge of Comms.

"Loud and clear bud." He said moving to his position; a canister sitting beside a belt to feed the gun, whatever it was, normally it would be hidden away in a small compartment just beneath it, but on the rare occasion someone needed to pull Frost Duty, it would dutifully be open to the sucker who pulled the shift.

"Alright then, I'm gettin into position." He said, opening a small rectangular hole on the outside of his gun. Reaching over to the canister, he pulled a similarly rectangular tube attached to the massive canister.

Firearm detected. Barret .90 Cal HVAR. Arming appropriate shells.

....Depleted Uranium Shells...online. Count: 20

Mini-hydrogen shells..online. Count: 50

HV Stainless Steel rounds...online. Count: 70.

High Velocity Arc Rounds...online. Count 0% overheat.

The ship's A.I, or rather an offshoot notified him.

"Hmm...140 rounds and a cooled Arc tank huh? This should be nice." He purred.

"Zapman here. Almost ready."

Now came the best part.

Establishing Oculary connection. Detaching lens.

He felt as if the eye itself was being methodically ripped out of it's socket as the Cornea was automatically and safely dissolved. For a moment he felt blinding pain and an overwhelming need to drop what he was doing and start scratching his eye.

Cornea removal complete, beginning extension of the Iris.

And with that, the vision in his bio-mechanical left eye blurred horribly, numbness prevented him from retracting the Iris. All the while, the mechanical Iris slowly lifted off the Sclera and floated into space. It wasn't really floating away, just moving to a pre-determined space automatically picked by tiny servos in his brain.

Iris extension complete. Beginning wire-less reconnection to Retina.

And just as the blurriness and insane itch and ungodly pain had come, it began to dull as the pain receptors in his brain were methodically shut down as wireless nerve impulses were reconnected to the now stretched out eye.

Wireless reconnection complete, beginning re-integration of Lens.

And in the span of 5 minutes, a cloud of Nano-bots came to life, acting as miniature climate-changing robots, creating moisture to replace the one depleted by space. In no time flat, they had reconstructed a metal lens he could control with just a thought.

Integration complete.

The Offshoot A.I notified him. His bio-metallic eye now resembled a composite sketch of an eye, something a school-teacher would use to point out the different parts to his students.

"Alright. Zapman here. I'm good to go."

"Roger Zaps, stand by." Said the techie, and so, Zap readied his rifle which was now pointed straight down at the moving earth below. He stood at the tip of the ship, a vet who didn't need the tether to hold onto the ship in case the recoil from the rifle sent him into deep space.

"Here we go." He muttered under his breath, waiting for the storm to come.

He stood at the threshold of the barrier, all that separated him a quick asphyxiated death in outer space. The barrier was the name the jumpers called a 'Dock'. What ships used to quickly leave and re-enter the ship. It was a thin plasma barrier that separated him, from cold, deep, space.

"Alright! Get ready Kev! We're jumpin' soon!" Said his buddy, Matt. A green unicorn. His color however, was hidden underneath his suit, a thin black cat-suit. All 'Free-fallers' war it, the only thing separating them from the searing burn of Re-entry.

There were a lot of things separating him from near death. He thought grimly donning his helmet.

Fallers, jumping in 8. The pleasent voice of the A.I reminded him. Mat smacked him on the shoulder. "C'mon man, time to roll!" The unicorn shouted, bellowing a war whoop as he jumped into deep space, jumping through the protective barrier, the only thing separating them from certain death.

Kev watched as his friend drifted for a while, a while before he activated his jet-pack and sped off towards the planets surface to assist in the set up of a base.

"Here goes nothing." He said dejectedly as he too jumped, feeling the weightlessness, soundlessness, of space. For a moment, he too sat floating in space, appreciating the cold comfort of knowing you were completely alone.

"Shame something so beautiful has too be so deadly." He thought blankly reaching a languid hoof through the non-water that was space.

And with that thought, he too activated his jetpack and it screamed to life as he rocketed towards the planet's surface.

Vex sat in her Captain's chair and overlooked the progress.

"Let the games...begin." She mused moving off to her own quarters to observe and issue commands like an RTS player.

Things have changed, oh they've changed big time.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Hostile Contingency Estimated time remaining: 35 Minutes