The wind in the outer regions of this far foreign mountain cluster was far less turbulent than it was nearer the center of the region as Nightmare Moon had soon found after taking flight after her exchange with her sister and the alien interlopers. She couldn't have been more thankful that they had almost immediately lost sight of her through the nearby clouds and bright light of the sunset, for not five seconds after having taken wing she found herself wildly tumbling through the air in a clumsy mess of flapping wings and flailing arms. The dark mare gave a soft snort and shrugged at the loneliness that surrounded her on this mountainside, turning from staring into the night air to retreat closer to a small grove she had located planted upon a more level portion of the mountain she had chosen to rest upon. It was a green area full of trees and grass no larger than the average garden, but provided plenty of shade, cover and protection from the night winds, but more importantly it provided her with a comfortable atmosphere that reminded her of the nights Luna had spent resting in Canterlot gardens, and although Nightmare Moon could only watch on through the eyes of a body beyond her control, she did enjoy the soothing calm such a thing would bring her.

She reached the edge of the grove, stepping in through the clusters of trees, savoring the soft grass beneath her hooves and the smell of forest air around her. Reaching the center of the tiny forest the large alicorn managed to make up for her earlier aerial ordeal by gracefully, almost weightlessly swimming to the grassy floor of the grove, her legs spirally about one another to slowly drop her down onto her rump. Her legs slid out to her side as she re-positioned herself to lie down, tail still swirling about with ethereal energies to mesh its mass with the grass, making it appear as if the night sky itself was washing over the ground in liquid form. Her expression was calm, eyes half closed as she let out a deep sigh, clawed hands and bulky arms brushing gently through the forest floor as she stared lazily up at her dazzling night sky through the veil of forest leaves swaying gently overhead. The mare of darkness, cruel monster from the shadows, one of the greatest enemies of all Equestria allowed herself to relax for the first time that day.

Huh! What do they know. She thought to herself, her brow tensing slightly.

The dark princess shifted onto her side, one of her bat-like wings springing out from under her back, giving itself a slight stretch before covering itself over her like a gigantic, half leather, half feather blanket. She rested her head upon a one of her incredibly oversized forearms, her cheek pressing deep into her relaxed extensor muscles, which proved slightly more pillowy than most would have assumed it would have been. Her expression tightened as she seemed to be unable to find any comfort from her reestablished position, growing more and more frustrated until her eyes shot open in sudden realization before rolling in exasperation.

"Go right ahead, keep us up aaaaaall night~. See how much good it does us." Nightmare Moon said dryly.

I can't let you do this. I can't let you just run amok, doing what you want to whoever you want! Taking the throne and destroying Equestria! Luna protested, being heard by Nightmare as if she was speaking from the back of her own head.

"I remember when you used to be fun, Luna." Nightmare Moon said through a long sigh.

This isn't a joke! I'll keep you up all night, I'll keep you up every night from here onwards if it means my friends and sister have a better chance at stopping you! You may have control now, but as soon as I've regained strength like you did, and once you're weaker like I was, I shall take over my body, and then I'll make it my life's mission to find a way to be rid of you forever.

"Ugh! Yawn. Keep talking like that, it'll send me straight to sleep in no time." Nightmare said with a smirk.

Hah, who looks crazy talking to themselves now?! Spat back Luna.

"Not nearly as crazy as somepony trying to get themselves killed." Said Nightmare blandly.

K-killed? What in Equestria are you talking about?

"It'll take you weeks, maybe months to gain the magical strength needed to reassert yourself. I'm going to reach Canterlot in under three days. Now, you can go ahead and keep me awake until then, get me nice and worn out, but that will only mean I'll be unfit for the fight that's coming."

You can't fight the entire Federation, Nightmare, I've already told you this! You'll just get both of us killed, maybe even the rest of Equestria soon after if the Feds are feeling 'threatened' enough. Luna barked.

"And I've already told you I, in fact, mostly certainly can. It's all about the manner of disassembly one takes to assure the defeat of a foe. Even the mightiest armies can be rendered to nothing but ash if you know exactly how to hurt them in what ways at the right time. First we strike at their heart, take them unawares and tear out the heart of their organisation. From there I allow the alien scum to see the second phase of my plan succeed. And I assure you, I hold the magical capability to easily destroy even the Federation's most mighty soldiers." Replied Nightmare with a hearty, yet sinister chuckle as she rolled over onto her back once more.

You couldn't kill Celestia, what makes you think you could kill a Federation Immortal, or even a dozen Benefactors? And Canterlot is swarming with thousands of them! Said Luna with a huff of disapprovement.

"I-! I...could have...killed Celestia if I had wanted to." Nightmare said, starting furious, teeth bared and muscles tight before developing some deep sense of insecurity.

Why would you not want to destroy the only mare with power and influence enough to stop you? The mare who has already stopped you, twice for that matter? Inquired Luna fiercely.

"I...I wanted her to suffer the imprisonment she made me suffer. For her to pay for the thousand years of cold isolation I was put through for simply taking what is mine by right!" Growled Nightmare, her temper flaring, her hair growing increasingly more turbulent in its writhing.

That...no, before she imprisoned us. You struck her with magic in your first fight with her, and it simply stunned her. You didn't even leave a scratch on her. Why didn't you kill her if you claim you easily could have?

"She didn't have to die. I didn't want-...I simply didn't need to waste the extra energy it would have taken to kill her. I've always been more than powerful enough to ensure my dominance over her, I can ensure her submission for as long as I wish, easily long enough for even her to see the benevolence of the nighttime eternal. I can dominate all of Equestria, I can deliver them the unending beauty of the night, and I can do it without harming so much as a hair on anypony's head." Nightmare boasted, seemingly flattered by her own self acclaimed capabilities.

Oh my...Oh my goodness! You still care for her? You still care for Celestia?! But...but you're both mortal enemies! The two of you couldn't be any less ali-Aaargh! Luna yelped as some form of psychic shock zapped at her very consciousness.

Typical you'd know nothing about me either! The two of you, so sure of yourselves, so comfortable in your cradle of power and righteousness! Too busy to take the time to hear of anypony else's ambitions, their hopes! Yes, me and Celestia are very different, but not in the ways you have so arrogantly fabricated! I want for Equestria exactly what she wants, only I know what it needs to make it far greater than it has ever been! And no, I do not 'care' for that hubris little tart of a princess! But I do not see the point of building an empire built upon the bones of ponies...even those as unbearable as Celestia's.

No reply came from Luna, who Nightmare could feel retreat sheepishly into the recesses of her own mind like a wounded dog limping back to it's kennel. Nightmare's bristling form, wild hair and fierce expression slowly and steadily dimmed, her mane and tail growing calmer as her face softened and grew ready to get some much needed rest.

I will save Equestria. I will bring the glory of the night, forever. And Celestia will be alive to watch me do it. Nightmare thought to herself before closing her eyes, firmly satisfied she would go undisturbed.

Such an assumption was rudely interrupted, almost on purpose as a frightening roar came from beyond the mountainside she rested on, coming from the direction she had just come from. The roar grew in volume to near deafening levels, speeding closer to her position at a remarkable rate, so much so that Nightmare begun to feel slightly threatened by the sound. The mare, eyes open in shock and anger, allowed her physical form to melt away, her whole body taking the form of a gently writhing cloud of purple smoke that glittered with starlight, much like her mane and tail did. Eyeless, she watched the skies through the cover of the trees, finally spotting a dark, avian-like silhouette dart above her at speeds she'd never thought any creature could ever reach. Her formless sight shifted to follow the flying thing, soon spotting two brightly glowing blots of light coming from two point towards its rear, easily visible as it soared into the distance. It occurred to Nightmare that this was no creature, but instead some blasted alien flying machine, the two lights presumably being the engines of the metal creation. The rear silhouette of the craft, the glow of its engines, its downwards angled wings and bulky body grew smaller by the heartbeat until Nightmare could no longer tell the crafts engine lights from the bright stars that filled the night before it. Her mind raced with frustration and concern, fearing the further intervention of alien fiends and the incredible speed in which she had just observed them travel at. After a quick mental assessment, the cloud of ethereal smoke that was her rose from the ground and swiftly reformed into her physical body once again, only this time she felt some extra hardware would be require for the tasks she had at hand.

Her bulky form was for the most part exposed, her titanic biceps, firm abdominals and waist along with her thick thighs remained revealed for the large slabs of muscle awash with black fur that they were, however now instead of torn and strained alien medical garments, the mare of darkness was adorned in her battle plate. Her head was encompassed in a sleek helmet of shimmering cobalt, the metal almost appearing like a wave frozen in time and taken from the ocean itself, it's elegant design sweeping comfortably around her ears and horn as well as its edges breaking into a crater to allow her a full field of vision while leaving her mouth and cheeks entirely exposed. Her right shoulder bore a deeply curved slab of the same metal as the rest of her armour, looking much like a petal plucked from a flower of the night, the curve of the plate mirroring the curve of Nightmare's deltoid before peeling away at the edges in an elaborate display. Each forearm was clasped with a pristine vambrace that also extended a plate of armour over Nightmare's backhand, open the face of each forearm plate sitting an engraved image of a half-moon. Around her neck sat a thick armoured collar that washed down over her collarbones and down to just above her breasts, while similar smaller plates sat firmly over her hips, one extending to a large plate of armour covering the outside of her left thigh that seemed much like an exaggerated version of the one on her shoulder only appearing more shield-like in nature. Finally, each shin was protected by an elaborate greave, just below an armoured shoe cradling each of her hooves. Beneath her armour she wore a form fitting if somewhat revealing series of garments wrapping around her bust much like a tank-top, her arms much like arm-length gloves and providing her with panties that appeared much like the lower portion of a swimming bikini, providing her with the much needed mobility she would need in the fighting to come. All the clothing she wore was a deep, dark blue and seemed to hold some strange ability by never creasing or folding, no matter how her body moved beneath it. The final detail to her appearence was the deep purple eye-shadow she magically applied like she did the rest of her apparel, using her immense magical power and degree of finesse to break down matter from the immediate area and re-knit it into whatever spell pre-designed spell she caste remade it as. As the last of the violet makeup washed over her upper eyelid the alicorn opened her eyes, her brow creasing at the middle as she strode forward out from the edge of the grove and towards the edge of the small cliff she stood atop. She slowly spread her gigantic wings, firmly stretching them out as she stood upon the very edge of the mountain.

Looks like sleep will have to wait after all. The dark mare thought to herself before giving her large wings a single beat with her powerful back muscles, shooting her high into the air before soaring her forth like a thunderbolt after the aliens that had stolen her much needed nights sleep away from her.

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Rainbow Dash had never clenched her jaw so tight in all her life, especially not for so long. Her eyes were almost just as tightly sealed shut, the blood pressure in her whole head throbbing so fiercely she feared her whole head would simply explode in a matter of seconds. The noise of the alien crafts engines was utterly titanical, it sounded almost as if she had a dozen manticore's roaring right into her ears non-stop. However she knew she could persevere through this sensory torture, she had done so for the passed two hours, and so could easily last another one or two if she absolutely had to. Yet she could no longer simply sit and attempt to concentrate on the mission at hand, now all she could do was tightly clasp her hands over her ears in an utterly vain effort at blocking out some of the deafening sound surrounding her. She risked opening eyes eyes by a few millimeters just to make sure she hadn't died from the bombardment of sound and gone to tartarus, looking around in a ahlf-panic to see a similar sight to what she'd seen a few minutes ago. Three large motor vehicles, each bearing a single wheel at their front and rear, sat just before Dash. Each was easily as large as some of Equestria's latest civilian automobiles, but each one was a machine of power and death and it's design did nothing whatsoever to hide this function. Each one's engine was truly gigantic, sitting just below and in front of where the pilot's seat, thick exhaust tubes leading out from the engine's sides. To the rear sprouted a long, flexible antennae of some kind that wobbled almost jovially as the ship they all flew in shook slightly, the antennae rising up from just besides a wrapped up set of what Dash assumed was military field gear. At the front sat the control handles that seemed to be directly connected to the frontal wheel of the vehicle in order to steer the vehicle, between the two horizontal handles was mounted a large projectile weapon of some kind next to what seemed to be it's ammunition drum. The pilot of each vehicle tended to their war machine, checking mechanical systems and weapon conditions, securing gear and weapons to themselves as well as to their vehicles.

Each of these aliens was significantly less well armoured as the ones Dash had more commonly seen, each having bone-white armour covering no more than their chest, back, shoulders, forearms, stomach, groin, knees and shins, the rest of their bodies mostly covered by battle fatigues that were a soft beige colour. It was hard for Dash to tell each of the aliens she had seen apart, something she had admittedly mentally scorned herself for, considering such a notion a little racist. But she couldn't lie to herself by saying it was entirely easy to tell each one apart, it might have been far easier than telling each Fed apart, but Feds all looked almost exactly like one another, and she felt as though she owed these guys at least the decency of recognizing who they were. In pony society it was so easy to tell each pony apart, each bearing vastly different colour schemes to their hair, tail, manes and eyes, at least for the most part, and each furthermore had certain genetic lineage features that made it not only easy to immediately identity each pony, but also understand something about where they were from, even what family they were a part of. But these aliens all looked so similar: Blonde hair, pale skin, golden eyes, strong features and stronger builds, and it sure didn't help that each one was so damn tall that Dash found herself almost constantly staring up their nostrils. She looked at the three she traveled with now, trying to find distinct differences that she could identify each one by. One was a little easier, having a side of his head shaved, the rest covered in medium length, flowing golden locks, within the shaved portion of his head sitting what looked like a pair of circular plugs surgically implanted into his very skull, a feature that made Dash feel a little unwell to look at. The other two were far more difficult, both having shaven heads and similar features, however a couple of features separated the two, the first being one of them having a large, long scar running along the side of his head, like somepony had fiercely swung a sword into the side of his skull but failed to actually kill him, the other alien missing said scar. The same applied in reverse for the messy series of scars that appeared like a webwork of lightning bolts struck through the face of the other alien, the deep cracks in his skin scarring their way through his lower cheek, lip and chin. However such efforts to recognize each alien fell hollow as Dash had long since forgotten their names since being introduced to them before takeoff, helped in no way by the terrible noise of the aircraft's engines rattling her brain.

The relief Dash felt as the noise of the engines began to die down was so immense she couldn't help but let out a clumsy groan as her body freed itself of the tense state it had been in, and although still very loud the noise had certainly become far more bearable as the craft presumably slowed, leading Dash to believe that they were drawing closer to their destination. One of the aliens swiftly brought a hand to his ear, seeming to concentrate on listening to something hearable only to him before striding around his vehicle and towards Dash. Once just a few feet ahead of her he began to speek, but the ringing in Dashes ears coupled with the still significant background noise meant she only heard the odd, unintelligible syllable.

"W-...What?!" Dash spat clumsily.

The alien took to long steps forward until he was right besides dash, bending down slightly to bring her mouth right next to Dash's face. His breath was hot in her ear, and Dash tensed with fear as the only thing she could relate such a feeling to was having a hungry lion breathing into the side of her face.

"We are due to arrive in twenty five seconds. Once we touch down, twist this latch-," The alien quickly, but not fiercely grabbed Dashes comparitively small hand and brought it to the center of the harness Dash was strapped into to keep her in the flight seat she occupied, "-to the right and head straight out the frontal assault ramp. You have your mission dossier?"

"Yeah, I know what I gotta do!" Dash yelled back over the noise.

"Then you don't stop after stepping off the ramp, you head straight to your first objective. You have forty eight hours to complete this assignment, but Captain Errithius has informed me to remind you that if you can complete your mission any sooner, you should try and take the chance to. If you are not back after forty eight hours we will have to leave without you. If within forty eight hours our position is compromised and we need to reposition, we will upload our new location to your data unit. If you find you cannot reach any new location we have taken position at, activate the universal distress beacon in your data unit. Enemy units will be alerted to your position, but we should reach you first." The alien said, listing off each rehearsed subject.

"Should?!" Dash said wide eyed.

"Good luck, Miss Dash." the alien said with a sense of finality to his tone, patting Dash on the shoulder as the feeling of decent filled her gut.

The alien then quickly strode over to his vehicle and mounted it, the others following his lead and mounting up soon after, more mechanical roars bellowing from the land vehicles as their powerful engines started up, guttural growls emanating from deep within their mechanical hearts. Dash fumbled for a second, double and triple checking her travelling pack was firmly fastened to her shoulders before placing her hand around the switch the the center of her flight harness. The weight in her stomach caused by the aircraft swiftly descending eased out as the craft slowed it's approach, the engines dying down to a soft whine for a few seconds before a dull thud sounded from the floor of the ship, the hull shaking harshly for a fraction of a second before settling. Not a moment after landing the boarding ramp located at the craft's front, appearing much like the gigantic mouth of the aircraft, whined into life as it steadily dropped open. Dash, on her second attempt, flipped the release switch on her harness, letting the metal contraption pneumatically rise over her head before darting out the front of the vehicle, hands clasped tight around the straps of her rucksack as she ran.

Before she knew it she was a good thirty feet from the craft she'd been dropped off by, causing her to turn back for a moment to look at the large transport vehicle, it's bulky, blocky hull flanked by two massive turbine-like engines covered by two downwards angled wings. It's white and red hull was bristling with weaponry, two protruding from the crafts nose, two more mounted on a turret upon it's roof and two clusters of six smaller guns adorning the ships sides, as well as under-the-wing mounted missiles. Green and pink light softly bloomed from both the pilot and turret cockpit, as well as from out the deployed frontal ramp, of which now three motor-powered bike aliens rolled out from, each turning their vehicles and heading out to the left of the craft. The ship, as soon as the bikes had traveled a presumably 'safe' distance, turned it's systems off, engines dying out and light blinking off to leave the ship sitting in the grassy area surrounding it, covered by the darkness of night.

Dash turned from the lack of the sight of the ship and looked around at her surroundings. As it had been for years now, a thin mist hung in the damp air, spreading the cold of night faster than it would in the days before the occupation. Wrapping her arms around her waist and slowly walking onwards, she kept peering about, seeing only the vaguest of shapes through the fog and darkness and desperately trying to determine where she was. She'd been told she was going to be dropped off to the south east of Ponyville, meaning she was probably near Dodge City...or whatever was left of it. She spun around once more, and confirmed her assumptions, but was thankful that they lay further away than she had first thought. Off in the distance was a dark cluster of shapes that at one point had been buildings, and years ago would have been accompanied by the soft glow of street lamps and house lights. But now all that remained were burned out skeletons of both houses and ponies, all sunken in a swamp of ash and dust. Dash cringed at the painful reminder, shrugging her shoulders uncomfortably before turning her back to the dead city, confident that she must now be facing Rambling Rock Ridge. All she had to do was take a sort flight until she got through the rock formations, then take to the ground for a short walk through some woodland and hop over the river that would then lead straight to the edge of Ponyville. From there she had three locations to visit, and a few ponies to talk to, plus one filly that probably missed her a heck of a lot right now. After that it would be straight to Appleloosa to finish up gathering whatever info she could, but more importantly reporting the current situation to the Equestrian Resistance.

The young pegasus rustled about in her travelling pack for a few seconds before finding the blocky, grey handheld computer console the aliens had given her. The neon green display lit up with symbols and numbers as she hit the primary activation switch on the consoles side, the imagery then fluttering for a second to reveal a series of options to be selected with the control wheel, also on the consoles side. Each option was represented by a green bullet point next to a green image of some sort ranging from a screwdriver and spanner to what looked like a power plug, all on a black background. Dash flipped through the pages using button below the consoles screen until she came to one with the image of a compass, the pegasus then turning the control wheel with a series of clicks until the bullet point with the appropriate image was highlighted. Hitting the primary activation switch, she was now presented with a pixilated compass held in her hand, the glowing green needle pointing at a green 'N' she was fairly sure meant north. Repositioning herself to face the correct direction, Dash then clipped the computer to her waistline, stretched out her wings as darted forwards, soon drifting upwards on the thick air to speed towards Rambling Rock Ridge, and from there, Ponyville.

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"A trade?" Errithius snorted.

"Absolutely. I believe this arrangement is well within reasonable conditions for the both of us. You hand over the criminals you are harbouring and you will be granted exit from this system entirely free of any hassle from our forces." The thin, sickly looking alien said through the bridge's primary holo-screen.

"Something that has been a slight bother to me of late is how none, absolutely none of your people have cared to enlighten me or any of my marines to what these individuals are charged with. What have they done exactly to brand them as criminals?" The captain asked in slight bewilderment.

"Captain, I am sorry to say it is not entirely your business what they are charged with. They are fugitives under Federation law, and it is therefore the Federation's concern to address their crimes, crimes committed against us." The alien replied eagerly.

"Yet right now they are aboard my ship. My ship, my concern. I have no further business with you if you will only go so far as to simply assume I'll roll over and cooperate. Don't mistaken me for one of the natives you seem to hold a worrying degree of power over." Errithius said back, his voice hissing with a small degree of ferocity.

"...Very well. Each and every one of those criminals is charged with conspiring to commit treachery against the Federation. They are also charged with destruction, damage and stealing of Federation property, direct disobedience of Benefactor and Officiate demands, the unauthorized and unregistered teaching of illogical information and of course a handful are guilty of unlawfully imposing their authority on native populations as well as Federation personnel."

"The princesses have imposed authority over your people?" Errithius said back in utter disbelief.

"Absolutely! Demanding we bow before her rule, enacting laws upon our soldiers without Federal verification of which have been in direct obstruction of justice as well as demanding we exchange in unlawful exchange of products and resources." The alien said, his tone sounding genuinely emotionally hurt at the thought of the injustices done to his people.

Errithius thought for a couple of seconds. He knew how this conversation was going to end, he could read this alien like a picture book. These creatures may not be inherently evil, but he could smell the raw fabrication of this alien's words, he could imagine the long discussion's their leaders must have had in determining how they could make what illegal for their own benefit, what reasons they could dream up to detain anyone or anything they wished in order to exploit it as a resource. The captain knew that even now, these aliens did not see he and his ship as so much as a threat as they saw them as a mathematical imbalance, a threat only to their numbers not adding up at the end of the day. The captain couldn't help but feel insulted from being seen as a simple collection of estimates, and his conscious only hungered for further destabilizing their precious assumptions. But he also knew he had to approach this situation with at least a sliver of tact and planning, he had to play into and then against the assumptions and arrogance of these alien creatures. They wanted the natives, more specifically the princesses, they wanted them so bad they'd cooked up hundreds of laws for them to specifically break, they were conditioning the entire planet so that it could not survive without them, and through all this they were turning the fear of the native people to their advantage and villainous those they'd once been led by.

He knew what he needed to do.

This foreign military, along with the society it was part of, was utterly dependent on complete, unquestionable order, but such strong foundations were built frighteningly brittle, lacking any form of chaos or attentiveness to allow the system to be conditioned to rapid changes or adapt to unfamiliar situations. They planned, they solidified their plan, and then they simply waited for their plan to bring them victory. With this in mind, Errithius knew he need only deliver a single, cataclysmic blow to their forces, to break the back of their command structure and watch all the pieces fall and scatter away. Yet such a plan was a volatile one, it left one variable, and that was the fleet in orbit. Complete devastation of their ground forces would undoubtedly mean the spacecraft above the skies finding no reason not to pepper the planet below with relentless orbital fire. And so destroying their leadership was out of the question, this enemy needed it's brain still firmly sat in its skull, but for what purpose, wondered the captain. He recalled the alien mannerisms, the way they talked, the way they reacted to his marines firing upon them. He remembered the sole priority that most of them immediately took.

Preservation.

These aliens weren't wasteful, they harvested resources wherever they went, they took whatever they saw of any interest and re-adapted it to serve their endeavors best. And they saw something in this planet of great interest, something they had yet to truly understand, something that had them feverish with frustration in trying to decode with their beloved reason and logic. They wanted magic, they wanted Equestrian magic and they wanted all of it under their direct control. And so Errithius could see clearly his single hope for a sustainable victory, for if he could not kill this beast outright, he could cut open its belly and let it squeal and panic as it fumbled to keep its guts from dribbling out. His target was clear: The research facility to the east. He would need to ruin much of what they'd worked to created and master, but leave enough left for them to scramble desperately for the weeks to follow in an attempt to salvage their efforts. Errithius bobbed his head slightly in approval of his own design, mentally drawing up force deployment a moment before re-addressing the alien emissary.

"A few things shall be made clear at this moment. First, I am not blind to your true motives. I understand perfectly that you wish not to detain the princesses for any legal breaches you claim they have committed, but instead you wish to exploit and entrap the abilities they wield. Second, I also understand how the authoritarian regime you have deployed upon this world is a security measure, to ensure public submission while you go about pillaging whatever resources you wish to harvest from this world."

"Wrong! We are not some retarded band of space-pira-!" The alien blurted with a humored snort.

"And finally! You will come to understand that I have no intention and doubt I ever shall have any intention to hand over a planet's native royalty just so you can commence whatever procedures you have planned for them. I, in fact, intend in making it exceedingly difficult for you and your forces to find them, and even if you do locate us, I plan on making your forces pay for every inch they step closer to us with an ocean of blood. Upon locating the nearest astronomicon beacon I plan to then leave this planet with the Equestrian royalty to act as witnesses to your crimes here before an Imperial court, of whom will then doubtlessly send a liberation fleet to sack your forces from every corner of this planet." Errithius growled his eyes locked onto the pale eyes of the alien that stared back with ever tightening features.

"You will never make it passed our ships in orbit. Even if you did, we'd just destroy this world and pull back to our own territory. Our public has no knowledge of this world, and without any evidence to support you, you'll be seen as an aggressive invading force by the entire Federation if you choose to retaliate." The alien huffed.

"I happen to know a fair many chapters, along with just as many Army branches who would be far less bothered by such a notion than we, admittedly, would. Destroy this planet, and I assure you I know those who would happily return the favour tenfold."

The two simply locked eyes for a moment, gold staring unblinking straight into dull grey.

"This is your last chance. Hand over the criminals, or we will take them from you." The frail, grey creature said with a trembling voice.

"Come and get them." Errithius snapped with a tense sneer before hammering a finger down on the signal link switch, killing the connection between the two.

The holoscreen went blank, and Errithius was left in silence for what felt like hours as he slowly ran an armoured hand through his short, blonde hair as he lent on the communication console before him.

"This tactical approach is ill-advised." A deep, mechanically distorted voice gurgled from next to Errithius.

"That's why it's not the one I'm taking." Replied Errithius.

"You have fed the aliens false information?" Unycrios growled.

"In a manner of speaking. The princesses, natives, myself and our forces will not be leaving this planet, but I will need you to."

"Captain?" The techmarine gurgled.

"I will need you to take Remergence to the edge of this system, perhaps even beyond, but not via warp transit. I need you to get the Federation's attention while we deploy in every gunship we have. As their fleet is giving you chase, we will carry out our offensive. But once our objective is complete, our campaign will then depend on my trust in the Federation wishing to save their resources over trying to destroy this ship. They will scurry back to their facilities, they will be busy rebuilding what we would have torn down for weeks, perhaps longer. That will grant the princesses the breathing room they require to reestablish at least a portion of control over their country, and it will grant us time to locate the nearest beacon. Benefits for both our parties." Errithius said in a low, calm tone.

"My estimates determine an 89.996799% chance the Federation will seek to recover their facility, but not if their fleet is too deeply concerned with our ship. I will need to feign systematic failures...I will take take Remergence into the gravitational well of the moon, allow myself to be scuttled, reposition, replenish shielding, repeat. I will also remain attentive to disabling carrier craft, to better aid your efforts on the ground." Unycrios crackled and hissed through his vox speaker of a mouth.

"You'll be outnumbered, dozens to one, Unycrios." Errithius said, his features creasing with concern.

"It is the only way to ensure their fleet stays within an appropriate distance to the planet and keep them within range of being recalled to deploy forces to their damaged facilities. Otherwise your plan will fail to be brought to full effect, enemy forces may have time and integrity enough to amass a counter offensive."

"I know," Errithius said somberly before turning to take the stairs down from the command platform, "Look after our ship, Unycrios. I am to believe we will be departing as soon as our informant returns."

"Understood, Captain."

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His mind felt cold in his own skull. For a split second his whole body felt as though it did not belong, as if he were trapped within an unnatural shell of a body. This moment passed, his mind growing calm a breath after having woken, his synthetic lungs drawing in a long, rasping breath as his photoreceptors blinking with the pale yellow light they always did as they sparked to life. His primary lens, firmly locked into his right eye socket, activated first soon followed by the two smaller lenses situated in the left half of his metal face. His brain thrummed with energy for a second as the sense of his physical self fed into his cerebrum, neural feeds filling with information of what limbs were rested where, their current status, each and every minuscule movement they made. The electro-conductive fluid vials mounted upon the top of the tech-priest's armour carapace bubbled as the fluids began circulating through his semi-synthetic body, filling biomechanical organs with immediately accessible and entirely controllable levels of energy, allowing his breathing to be quickened or slowed at will alongside his own mechanical heart. The metallic disks wrapped around thick wires and tubes that composed his spinal column gave a sudden twitch before stretching out a few inches to prepare for further movement. The priest's four arms flexed slightly, his mechanical hands straining for a second before calmly clattering each digit rhythmically against the arms of the iron throne he had been rested on for over four decades, as his internal computing systems informed him. His spider-like clusters of insectile, mechanical legs scratched on the metal floor beneath him as the stretched out slightly, soon revealing what the rest of his body had steadily assessed; There was a significant weight atop of him.

Lifting his upper two arms, the two bearing actual hands, he slowly swiveled his head from left to right, seeing most of his body had a waterfall of various power cables draped over it, plugged into various ports all across his body. He shifted a moment, his hideously hunched frame lurching forward slightly, the glassy, yellow orbs scanned ahead of his location, peering across the large hall ahead of him, most of it engulfed in a thick darkness not even his variable-register visual adapter could cut through. What he could see, however, was three red-robed figures knelt about a dozen feet before him. Again, the tech-priest drew a long, hissing breath in, the thick air around him filtering trough the numerous tubes and filter chambers sprouting from his lower face, the sensor node built onto the left side of his head opening it's lens socket to reveal yet another photoreceptor that gave a more thorough analysis of the individuals ahead of him. All three were three of the many serfs he had, all augmented with various mechanical equipment and bionics.

"What is it?" Tech-priest Ritivek said in his usual monotone, gurgling, digital voice.

"My Lord Ritivek, I am to report to you we have picked up an unusual transmission from a nearby source. The data is distorted, but I believe it to be holding information you might find interesting." The serf replied in a similar mechanical voice, only having a slightly higher pitched tone.

The tech-priest rattled his digits in the arm of his throne once more in a disturbingly precise rhythm before leaning forward towards his servants.

"Indulge me." Growled the scion of the Machine God.