::> Search Query: Ubor

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Currently, there is no extensive knowledge about the Ubor, other than the fact that they are closely related to the Serven, who are essentially sapient machines. The Ubor are simply an offshoot of the Serven who, instead of being built solely with metal, also use biological parts obtained primarily from their enemies to build themselves.

The USC, since 3191, has been openly engaged in a full-scale war with the Ubor, who frequently attack our colonies with the sole purpose of “harvesting” body parts in order to reproduce. They are also known to use advanced nanites that break down biological mass into a sort of bio-fuel. But fear not, the Colonial Guard is more than capable of fending off their attacks.

Remember, the Colonial Guard is always there for you.

The sounds of clashing swords reached the ears of Luna as she trotted out onto her balcony. She wearily looked down upon the camp that had been set up far below at the foot of the mountain that held Canterlot. She closed her eyes and concentrated, taking in the various sounds coming from the training camp. Drill Sergeants shaped recruits into warriors, blacksmiths shaped metal into weapons, and ponies kicked Gryphon mannequins into splinters.

It was the sound of war.

The coming of night was upon her nation once again. Luna gazed longingly at the skies above Ponyville. She could see the Vector as clear as day in her mind—parked there in all of its terrifying splendor. It represented the end of peace and the dawn of a new era of darkness. The wound of the Vector was still very fresh seven months on, and the bleeding had yet to stop.

The Princess craned her neck towards the north, focusing on the tower of smoke that rose into the sky from beyond the mountains. Trottingham had been taken, and even worse, turned into a concentration camp. It was unusual for the Gryphons to take prisoners, but given the highly technical aspects of the factories in the area, following tradition would not have achieved them anything. Killing their captives would make the factories essentially inoperable due to the extremely high learning curve. The few that had managed to escape the Gryphon’s grasp returned to safety with stories of a cruel occupation. Trottingham was sacked of valuable fruits and corn, and in return the ponies were only being fed a paltry sum of water and oats in exchange. They told tales of ponies being forced to carry loads two times their weight, tales of ponies perishing of hunger and overexertion and foals watching as their parents fell into death’s cold embrace. Luna could not decide whether or not it was for the best; to be forced to work with no payment and fed only enough to barely be kept alive, or to be brutally murdered.

She turned around and walked back into her room, shooting a casual glance over to her desk, seeing the flat, glowing pad that the humans had left behind. So much had she learned about the entire universe ever since. It was hard to even imagine just how vast it actually was, let alone comprehend how it worked. Thanks to it, everything that she thought she knew had been torn asunder. No longer was she a goddess, but instead nothing more than another dot amongst trillions. In a way, she regretted even touching it, but there was no going back now.

The Princess looked back at her balcony, noticing that it was already time for her to raise the moon.

The war was rapidly approaching its apex. The city of Trottingham remained occupied, and the bulk of the Equestrian army had been split. Twilight Sparkle felt as if time had frozen. The days went by at an agonizingly slow pace ever since the beginning. Her role as “Head Mage Sparkle” had taken away almost all of her free time, as she spent the major part of the day training unicorns on how to enchant gems for military use.

She and her friends had been chosen as trainers; not because of their skill, but by part of Celestia’s plan to keep morale high by imposing the iconic figures of the Elements of Harmony onto the recruits. Twilight envied her friends, since none of them had a real idea as to what the war actually involved. They were either in denial, or simply living happily in ignorance, almost unaware of how many ponies died on a daily basis.

The image of the humans rose up into her mind. The mountains of information regarding their heavily militarized society and how they were tightly tied to the concept of war as if its very essence was embedded in their souls. War never changes for the humans; they live with it, thrive in it, and make more of it when the time arose. The thought was unsettling.

Twilight could not stand to live with the pad and the wealth of knowledge it presented. The power was too great for one small pony and she returned the pad to Princess Luna. All of the new knowledge was like a dream for her, but only so much. She had never thought that she would ever reject such a thing, but there was simply too much. It had made every single day darker and darker with every second she read the words contained within it, even without thinking of the ongoing war. So many questions had surfaced, yet so few contained answers.

She slowly trotted throughout the army’s training camp, the hood of her purple robe covering her head. It had been a tiring day, consisting of training recruits by yelling orders into their heads. Her throat was sore, dry due to the “teaching”.

“Lies, all lies,” she muttered to herself as she made her way past several campfires. It was hard to accept that her entire life of studies was practically a lie. Her life as Celestia’s personal student had been flipped. Were the Princesses really gods? Some ponies would have her burned alive for asking such a thing, but they did not know what she knew.

With her head hanging low, she pushed into one of the camp’s largest tents. Her ears were assaulted by a cacophony of noise coming from all directions. Ponies sitting by tables conversing with each other, drinks balanced on their hooves. It was one of the camp’s bars, where she and her friends had agreed to meet at the start of the night.

She hadn’t seen them in days, for they were all busy training recruits. Rarity as a seamstress, making tents and other types of equipment. Pinkie as a chef, making the food for the troops. Fluttershy as a nurse, providing care for the injured. Applejack and Rainbow Dash as drill sergeants, shaping pegasi and earth ponies into efficient pony combat machines.

Their previous lives were fast fading to the winds of time.

Twilight pondered for a brief moment if she would ever be Ponyville’s librarian again, or if her friends were going to be the same. One thing was certain: nothing would be the same if the Gryphons won.

She lifted her head and looked around, observing the many tables spread throughout the tent, trying to find the one with her friends.. if they were there at all.

“Hey, Twi!” a voice called out to her. She turned around, squinting as she looked for the source. Far into one corner of the tent she spotted a table with five figures sitting by it, all of them looking at her expectantly. She offered a weak smile in return, and began trotting over to them.

Twilight sat down next to the table, sighing, her voice weak and tired. “Hey girls...”

“Hiya, Twilight,” Applejack said, adjusting the iconic drill sergeant hat that was set upon her head. Following suit, the four remaining ponies greeted her as well. She noticed how they all had bags under their eyes and how their voices showed signs of exhaustion. Images flashed on her mind, of the times when their lives were simple. “Gosh...” she thought, “It feels like years went by...”

After a moment of silence, Rainbow spoke up, “So uh... how goes the research on the humans?”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. “I’m done with them... I gave the pad back to Princess Luna. I just can’t stand that thing anymore.”

“You? Tired of studying?” Rarity asked, craning her neck back in surprise. “I... I never thought I would see the day.” She finished with a weak smile, then looked down at the table, sighing.

“Well, what happened? It’s just super weird that you don’t want to learn from them anymore...” Pinkie muttered. “You looked really excited the first time.”

“It’s just that...” Twilight sighed, closing her eyes. “It’s... too... much!”

Every conversation inside the tent died, and every pair of eyes locked onto her.

“I’ve spent my entire life studying magic!” she yelled as she stood up. “And now everything’s a lie! My life has been a lie the whole time!”

“Woah, calm down there sugarcube-”

“And you know what!? I very much suspect that my brother’s dead!” She stomped the ground with one of her hooves. “My whole life’s falling apart!”

“Twilight, calm down!”

The lavender unicorn drew in a deep breath, looking directly at Fluttershy, who gave her a worried stare in return.

Twilight stared back long and hard at the distressed pegasus. Fluttershy’s look of agonizing worry began to melt away the anger and frustration that had brought her to the breaking point. At last she relinquished her position and stood down, a defeated look on her tired face. She plopped down on her haunches and brushed a stray lock of her hair away from her face. “Sorry...”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow said. “But... what do you mean about ‘too much’?”

Twilight looked down at the table. “It’s... hard to explain. So much has changed and I’ve learned so much more...” “She sighed, “I think I need to see the Princess...”

“Move it, mutie!” the trooper behind Atlas yelled as he pushed him further along the line, almost making him drop his tray. Nearly everyone inside the mess hall looked over to him and chuckled. He huffed, deciding to ignore them. He’d had worse, anyways.

He had endured constant insults and fights for the past several months, ever since it was revealed that he was over-augmented. It certainly did not make things any easier for him. “All thanks to that stupid medical check,” he thought, frowning behind his faceplate.

Atlas moved forward and placed his tray on top of the table. Behind it was a single man who was in charge of handing over the food. He regarded the giant with an angry expression, dropping half of a brown bar onto the tray.

“Only half?” Atlas asked, cocking his head to the side.

“You’re overweight, now move it! Next!”

The rest of the troopers pushed Atlas out of the line, with just enough time for him to grab the tray while managing to avoid dropping the bar onto the floor. He walked away from them, grumbling under his breath. The giant repressed his anger and his desire to crack open some skulls while he walked over to one of the tables. Sitting by it was Mac, who silently stared through the digital window into the twisted hyperspace.

“Having fun?” Atlas asked, carelessly dropping the tray onto the table before sitting down. He looked at the piece of food lying in front of him; a hyper caloric bar. Needless to say, it tasted just as bad as it looked.

Mac craned his neck and looked at Atlas. “I enjoy watching the visual disturbances caused by hyperspace flight.”

“Hmph...” Atlas examined the android, noticing a few dents on its outer plating. “Something happen to you?”

“Yes,” Mac replied, continuing to stare at the giant.

“What was it?”

“Some troopers tried to kill me.”

“Well, shit.” Atlas reached up to his head, a stream of gas shooting out of his faceplate as he removed it. “What’ya do?”

“I escaped. I did not wish to die.”

“Bastards...” the titan muttered. “I would’ve fought back.”

The android turned to the window once again. “And give them a reason to believe I am a merciless machine that deserves to be destroyed?”

“HYPERSPACE JUMP: SUCCESSFUL,” the deep, guttural voice of the ship bellowed through its loudspeakers. Atlas peeked over through the window, seeing a bright, earth-like planet instead of the lightshow produced by hyperspace. The immediate sight of the planet invoked a wash of memories from his excursion to the surface to flood his mind.

“Mah name’s Apple Bloom!”

He sighed, recalling the memories from his short stay in Equestria. The ponies’ friendly faces, and how they looked up at him with uncertainty in their eyes. They were alien, yet familiar, and capable of incredible feats. Things that seemed so simple to them, like telekinesis, took years for the humans to master and could only do it thanks to advanced equipment. They were strange, he knew that much, but it was beyond himself just how they were able to speak fluent Terran and look so... bright.

“Hey guys,” came a feminine voice. Atlas turned around to see Torres sit down next to him, placing her own tray on the table. Following her were Morris and Allen, the two inseparable friends.

“What’s up, boss?” Allen asked, sitting down along with Morris.

“The usual... getting into fights, etcetera...” Atlas replied, yawning.

“Wouldn’t doubt it...” Morris muttered. “The whole ship’s on your ass.”

Atlas smiled. “I’m surprised you guys are intact.”

“Well,” Torres said as she removed her helmet. “I’m getting a lot of questions from the other Raiders... I’m sorry you have to deal with this mess alone.”

“It’s fine, T.”

A few raiders walked by their table, chuckling and shooting curious glances at the woman sitting next to Atlas. “Hey Torres, what’re you doing sitting with that freak?”

“The ‘freak’ has a name...” Torres muttered. “It’s Atlas.”

“Are you dating it or something?” one of the women asked.

“Bite me!” Torres stood up yelled back as the other raiders began walking away, laughing.. Troopers from all around the chamber began throwing insults at her while she sat back down next to Atlas. She looked at him, sighing, “Did’ya think I was gonna leave you alone?”

Atlas chuckled, “Thanks...”

She patted him on the shoulder pad. “I told you we’ve got each others backs.”

The giant released a relaxed sigh as he looked back down at his food. He gingerly wrapped his fingers around the bar and brought it in front of his face. After gathering some strength, he threw it whole into his mouth, grimacing at the taste.

“Well,” he thought. “It’s at least... something.”

As he tried to down the piece of repurposed human waste, Morris spoke up. “Did you guys hear about what happened in armory twenty four?”

“No,” said Mac.

“Well uh... Div Commander Drake got killed this morning,” Morris sighed out.

“You’re shitting me,” Atlas retorted, coughing as he finally swallowed the hyper bar. “The guy from the heavy division?”

Allen nodded, a grim expression upon his face. “Yeah. Railgun shell right through the head after a fight with one of his troopers.”

“Damn it,” Torres muttered. “I heard he was a good guy, too.”

“Once ordered his heavies to stand back during a fight with me,” Atlas said, shaking his head. “Told me to get the fuck out afterwards, but at least saved me from a few broken bones.”

“What happened to the one who shot him?” asked Mac.

Morris sighed, “Executed.”

“Yeah...” Allen looked down at the table and shook his head. “Drake’s funeral is being held in one of the hangars.”

“ATTENTION,” the automated voice of the Vector rose up once more. “SUBJECT ATLAS IS TO REPORT TO BRIEFING CHAMBER ZERO IMMEDIATELY.”

Atlas cocked an eyebrow, unsure of the purpose of the call. “What do they want now...” he thought, “Well, so long as it ain’t anything bad...” His four friends looked at him with uncertain expressions, all while the ship’s voice repeated the same message and the troopers from all around the mess hall whispered to each other.

Torres whistled, smirking as she craned her neck upwards to look at the giant. “Looks like you’ve got a meeting with the big boys now.”

“Guess so...” Atlas grumbled as he got up from his seat. “I’ll see you guys later.”