Captain Anonymous - Chapter 26 - Sneak Attack
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>Your mind can’t get away from the thought of all of those deaths.
 
>You were just told straight to your face there’s nothing you could have done to prevent what happened.
 
>Maybe you vastly overestimated your influence and reputation. You were so sure if you could just talk to someone you could cool both sides down before this happened. The admiral says that events over the last 5 or 6 years led up to the secession of the True Way worlds, and you really want to know what she meant by that. You’d met with the Council yourself several times in that span of time and all seemed well. There was no hint of dissention amongst any of the Confederate worlds that you were aware of.
 
>You’ve personally visited every world in the Confederacy multiple times. Never did you see anything but a thriving, happy civilization anywhere you went.
 
>The fact that two first contact missions resulted in the loss of two starships – was that really enough to cause such a deep rift between our people? That they’d start a full-scale war over it? Is the True Way really so serious about first contact policy that they’d assassinate members of the High Council?
 
>480,000 civilians… 480,000 completely innocent people dead… and for what?
 
>The Confederate Navy Officer in you wants answers to these questions – and wants to make someone pay for this. To seek justice for those that were lost.
 
>You know the Admiral well enough that she’d give you command of any ship in her fleet with a snap of her fingers.
 
>She’s giving you that EM-53 without any resistance.
 
>She knows you’re growing angrier with every passing moment over the deaths of those innocents.
 
>Is she expecting your Confederate pride and need for justice to overwhelm everything else? Is she expecting you to take off in that EM-53, board one of her ships, and have her point you in the direction of the bad guys?
 
>If this were any other planet, under any other conditions, you would have left with her on the shuttle back to the fleet with a thirst for blood.
 
>But you have a home here. A home more dear to you than any other you’ve had in your life. There are ponies here that love you unconditionally, and that you love just as much. Best of all, almost every pony you’ve met seems to be over their fear and disgust. You have a real chance at finally making new friendships here, and to bond with Twilight’s closest friends.
 
>You can’t run off trying to be a hero and end up getting yourself killed, Twilight would be devastated, and so would other ponies
 
>The Admiral is one of the only officers in the entire fleet that can outplay you, she clearly demonstrated that today when she saw right through your deception. You knew that scout ship was behaving oddly, and that something wasn’t right. You should have known it was some kind of set-up.
 
>Instead of you putting out bait hoping to snag a big catch as you were planning, the Admiral put out bait that you took hook line and sinker.
 
>There’s gotta be more to her game than she’s letting on. She’d never outright lie to you, but she does withhold information when she has to. Have you just become a pawn in an even bigger scheme than yours?
 
>She said news that you are alive would make waves back home. You’re still seen as a hero. Is she hoping you’ll “rally the troops” or maybe even lead the war effort yourself, knowing that the crews under your command would become more effective, just from the boost in morale of being led by such a widely renowned “hero?”
 
>You believe every word of what she says about protecting Equestria. You have no doubt that that much is true, but you’re wondering more and more if Equestria was the real prize the Admiral came here to claim – and not you.
 
>She’s played you hard in the past. She’s damn good at it, and she knows all of your buttons. You do want to help, you do want to fight, the sense of justice in you is screaming out to be satisfied right now, but you have to fight it.
 
>There may come a time when you have to fight. If the rebels are able to outpace the Confederacy in starship production, they stand a real chance of growing strong enough to take whatever they want more and more easily. And if they want to conquer the Confederacy…
 
>No. They can’t be allowed to gain a foothold anywhere in the territory still loyal to the Confederacy. This needs to be nipped in the bud.
 
>What can you do though?
 
>You see the EM-53 land in the castle courtyard on auto-pilot as you stare out the window.
 
>You slam a fist on the windowsill, turning to speak to the only two ponies in the room.
 
“Twily, Shiny, I need you,” you say. They turn and look at each other with curious glances before looking back at you.
 
“Twily… we can’t sit here and do nothing while the Confederate scientists try to come up with a way to weaponize your magic. In the time it would take them to develop any useful weapons or defenses based on magic, we could already be losing the war badly, putting Equestria in increasing danger. We may have to become more deeply involved than any one of us really wants to.”
 
>”What do you mean, Anon?” Twilight says with a concerned look on her face.
 
“We have to hurt the rebels Twily. We, as in us. The three of us. We have to hurt them now, and we have to hurt them badly and mercilessly.”
 
>Shining tilts his head at you
 
>”And how exactly can we do that?”
 
“I have a few ideas. This is going to be asking a *lot* of both of you – to fight a fight that’s really not yours to fight. I want you to come with me, in my ship. Your magic will significantly augment its capabilities. That’s why I want you with me. Shining, I’ve seen you in action, and Twily I know you’re one of the most powerful experts in magic in all of Equestria. The combination of your abilities presents us with a unique opportunity here, one I firmly believe we have to take if we have any hope of events turning out in our favor in the long run.”
 
>You look between the two of them
 
“Do you trust me? Enough to put your lives in my hands?”
 
>The “yes” responses are immediate from both ponies as they sit on their haunches in front of you.
 
>You reach down and embrace both of them, squeezing them as tight as you can.
 
“I knew I could count on you. I love you both so much,” you say with a sniffle. “We’re going to be doing some important work here that very well may save Equestria in the end. Twilight, can you go tell the princesses that the three of us are leaving? Make up any excuse you can, say we’re visiting the fleet, but let them know we’re going to be gone for a while so none of them panic?”
 
>Twilight nods and walks out of the room to do so.
 
“Shining… we’re going to be seeing some REAL combat now, no more playing”
 
>Shining stomps and paws at the ground with a loud snort
 
>”It’s about time, Anon. I can’t think of anypony else I’d rather fight alongside than you.”
 
>You give him another strong hug.
 
“Shining, you truly are one of my closest companions. I don’t know what I’d do without you, pal.”
 
>Shining nickers affectionately, patting your back with a hoof. Twilight eventually returns to you.
 
>”Okay, they all know we’re going to be gone, so hopefully they won’t freak out. I didn’t tell them anything about putting ourselves in danger. I think it’s better if they don’t know…”
 
>You pick Twilight up in your arms, clutching her tightly as you kiss her and begin stroking her mane.
 
“With you two on my side, what I’m wanting to do will be a walk in the park. Let’s get going.”
 
>You set Twilight back down and the three of you exit the castle. Not a word is spoken between you as you approach and board the EM-53. You give a whistle seeing all the changes and new technology on board as you take the pilot’s seat. Twilight and Shining Armor strap in to the seats next to you in front of dark consoles.
 
 “You know, EM-53 is so mechanical and boring. What do you say we name our little ship here, for good luck? Any ideas spring to mind?”
 
>”The Pegasus,” Twilight suggests. You raise an eyebrow at her.
 
>”Well, this thing flies and pegasi fly so that’s what came to mind. If you don’t like it…”
 
“I think it’s perfect. Captain Anon, Prince and Princess Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle, of the starship Pegasus,” you reply to Twilight, getting a smile back from her.
 
>You initiate the pre-flight sequence, pressing a series of controls on the panel in front of you and flipping a few switches.
 
“It’s not too late for either of you to back out, you know…”
 
>”Anon, get this thing off the ground already, you’re wasting time,” Shining replies with a confident smile. You look over at Twilight who looks just as confident and ready to go as her brother.
 
“Alrighty then. Just gotta finish up my pre-flight checks here. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral thruster controls, online. Sub-light engine is online and functioning properly. QT drive is powered up, all readings nominal. Checking sub-light coolant lines alpha... beta… gamma… delta… epsilon… all clear and functional, coolant circulating at maximum efficiency. Checking QT drive coolant lines alpha... beta… gamma… delta… epsilon… theta… omicron… all clear and functional, coolant circulating at maximum efficiency. Helm controls and rudders all functioning properly. Take-off in five… four… three… two… retracting landing gear… one… zero.”
 
>When you hit zero you punch it, immediately buzzing away from the castle at a few hundred miles per hour.
 
“This is your first flight at these kinds of speeds. If you feel dizzy or faint let me know, it’ll take you a while to adapt to the forces your bodies are being subjected to.”
 
>You gently ease up the velocity on the helm controls, maintaining your altitude for now. 500mph… 600mph… 700…
 
“Hang on tight, stay with me my pony friends, we’re about to break the sound barrier. Aaaand BAM! Speed is Mach 1. You two hanging in there?”
 
>”I might be feeling just the slightest bit queasy over here…” Shining says.
 
“Hey, just be glad the inertial compensators are working properly, you’d be a lot worse off right now if they were offline. Mach 2. Mach 3. Mach 6. Mach 7.”
 
>”Anon, how can you even maintain control at these kinds of speeds?”
 
“Twily, honey, this is only a fraction of this bad boy’s max sub-light speed. I wanted to give you a little warmup before we left the atmosphere. Preparing for planetside departure. Adjusting angle of ascent, Z plus twenty five degrees… Z plus 50 degrees… Z plus 80 degrees… exit vector achieved and locked in. Approaching outer atmosphere… aaand outer atmosphere breached. Congratulations Twily and Shiny, you just made it into space.”
 
>Twilight and Shining’s eyes go wide as they look around them out the various windows. Their jaws hang agape as they look around them, and below at their rapidly-disappearing homeworld.
 
“You never forget your first spaceflight. That feeling when you see your homeworld from orbit for the first time, nothing like that ever comes around again. Enjoy it, you two, savor the experience.”
 
>You shut the engines down and bring the ship about to give them a better look.
 
>Twilight looks like she has tears in her eyes
 
>“It... it’s so beautiful… everypony I’ve ever known and loved is down there… every pony that has ever lived or died… it all took place on this tiny little sphere in a sea of darkness… I feel so small right now, Anon…”
 
>”Me too…” Shining mutters.
 
“Spaceflight really is about the most enjoyable activity one can participate in, in my humble opinion. There’s so much beauty out here, so very much to see, and no matter how much of it you see, there’s always something new to discover. Out here, what we have is nothing short of an explorer’s paradise.”
 
>You pick up the Admiral’s fleet on long-range sensors. Your ship hasn’t picked up any scans directed in your area. They don’t know you’re out here. Time to put your theories to the test.
 
“Twilight, that invisibility spell you’ve been working on, you did end up getting it down eventually, right?”
 
>She nods her head
 
>“Yeah, Anon, it was a little tricky but I’ve got it now. Why?”
 
“Twily, I want you to cast your invisibility spell on the ship. Make it so that nobody else on the outside can see us. Can you do that for me?”
 
>”Sure Anon, piece of cake,” she says as her horn glows and a beam of magical energy is directed at the ceiling above her.
 
“…so are we hidden now or…”
 
>”We’re hidden.”
 
“Perfect. Shining, I know you’re pretty good with barrier magic…”
 
>”Yeah…”
 
“Can you cast a protective barrier around the ship? The strongest one you can without having to channel it constantly, don’t want you getting any headaches.”
 
>”I’m on it,” Shining says, closing his eyes as a beam of magical energy erupts from his horn and seems to pass through the ceiling above him. He concentrates for nearly ten minutes before giving it up, panting in his seat.
 
>”That should do the trick Anon. We should be safe from anything.”
 
“Wonderful, thank you Shiny… this might actually work.”
 
>You bring the engines back online and head in the direction of the Admiral’s fleet. You pick out her flagship easily. It’s the largest you’ve ever seen and it is armed to the teeth. You bring the ship to a stop just above the bridge of her flagship and scan the interior at maximum power, to get as detailed scans as possible.
 
>”Admiral I’m picking up some strange readings… like we’re being scanned intensively… but it’s coming from nowhere.”
 
>”Put external sensors directed in the area on main viewer.”
 
>The screen pops up and shows nothing but empty space.
 
“Ah, I see the Admiral. Thrusters at station keeping,” you say, unstrapping yourself from your seat. “What do you say we go pay her a visit?”
 
>You show Twilight the scans and the location.
 
“Can you teleport us there, Twi?”
 
>She and Shining unstrap themselves as well
 
>”Easily,” Twilight says with a cocky grin.
 
“Alright then, let’s line up. Twi, I want you to put us right in front of her, within two or three feet of her chair.”
 
>”You two ready?” Twilight asks as her horn begins to glow. You and Shining nod. “Alright, 3..2..1..”
 
>With a burst of purple-colored light the three of you appear directly in front of the Admiral.
 
“BOO!” You yell as loud as you can, the ship’s intruder alert alarm going off, several of the bridge staff reaching for weapons.
 
>The Admiral slaps you and pushes you away.
 
>”Stand down, turn that goddamn noise off, at ease.”
 
>You start laughing
 
>”Anon you’re lucky I don’t jettison you out the nearest airlock for scaring me like that. How the hell did you do that? You came out of nowhere…”
 
“Magic. Or, ‘exotic energy’ as you like to refer to it.”
 
>”Did you come straight from the surface?”
 
“No, that’s out of range of Twily’s teleport spell. The Pegasus is parked about 30 feet above us right now.”
 
>”The Pegasus?”
 
“That’s what we named the ship you gave us.”
 
>”We detected that we were being scanned but sensors showed nothing there…”
 
“That was us.”
 
>”In. Credible. A complete surprise attack without any warning. You could have cleared the bridge within seconds if you were hostiles. You got me good, Anon. Now tell me just exactly what the hell you three did. Come, meet with me in my ready room, I want this to stay between us for now.”
 
>The three of you follow the Admiral and casually take a seat as she talks to you. She seems a mixture of pissed off that you caught her by surprise so very badly, and fascinated as you explain how you pulled it off.
 
>”Anon, if we can understand how this exotic energy works… from what you’ve just demonstrated, if we could replicate those effects on all of our ships, the war would be over in a day.”
 
“That’s gonna be up to your scientists. These are two of the most powerful ponies on the planet and it did take them some effort to help me pull this off. I have more to show you when we’re done here as well.”
 
>”One moment, Anon,” the Admiral taps on a computer at her desk. “Bridge from Admiral.”
 
>”Bridge here, what can we do for you, ma’am?”
 
>”I need a long range priority alpha secure comm patch through to HQ, Chief Fleet Admiral.”
 
>”Working...” there’s about a minute long pause. “Done, Admiral. Patching you through now.”
 
>The computer screen lights up with the fleet command insignia, and the words “Priority Alpha, Secure Encryption. Level twelve clearance required.”
 
>”Computer, secure channel, authorization Beta Charlie Sigma Sigma Sigma Two Two Omicron Omega Red Echo Red.”
 
>An old man in an even showier uniform than yours appears on the screen.
 
>”Whattya got for me, Olivia? You wouldn’t be contacting me on an emergency encrypted channel unless it was something big. Report”
 
>”Sir, whatever scientific personnel you were sending us, recall them.”
 
>”What for? Did negotiations not go well with the ponies?”
 
>”Negotiations went flawlessly as planned sir, but these ponies are onto something here a lot bigger than we realized. I’m requesting quadruple the construction crew and immediate delivery of the starbase construction materials. Sir, getting this starbase up and running needs to be the Confederacy’s top priority.”
 
>”Can you at least elaborate a little more?”
 
>”Captain Anon and two of his pony friends just managed to pull a complete surprise attack on us out of absolutely nowhere. Their ship was completely undetectable as a result of magic that was used by one of the ponies on the ship. They used teleportation magic to board the bridge. Sir, had they been hostiles, they could have taken the bridge and secured control of the ship in under a minute, and we never saw it coming.”
 
>The Chief’s eyes go wide.
 
>”You’re not exaggerating any of this or embellishing any part of it, are you?”
 
>”No, sir. This planet is going to win us the war, I swear on my life. The sooner we set up the starbase, the sooner we can receive the science personnel. The sooner we receive the science personnel, the sooner they can begin collaborating with the ponies to see if there’s any way for us to use this exotic energy to duplicate these effects on other ships.”
 
>”I’ll recall the lower ranked science personnel we had allocated for this project. I’ll make some calls, you’ll have the materials and enough of a construction crew to complete construction in under a week. I’m also going to pull everyone at the Angstrom Research Institute off of whatever they’re working on, and sending their entire staff to you. I’m taking your word for it here that this is critically important, Admiral, you’d better not let me down.”
 
“SIR,” you butt in.
 
>”Captain?”
 
“We’re glad we got your attention sir, but we have more ways in mind that we’d like to be of assistance. I can tell you even with our best minds it’s going to take months before anything useful comes out of any collaboration between the ponies and the researchers.”
 
>”I imagined that might be the case. How can you help?”
 
“Sir, I was informed by the Admiral that the True Way ended up with a significant portion of our production capability in their territory. She tells me you’ve been building additional shipyards to try to compensate. Sir, I’m concerned that the rebels might overrun parts of the Confederacy due to sheer numbers because of their retention of those facilities.”
 
>”Go on.”
 
“Sir, me and my two friends, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Prince Shining Armor. We’d like to use the same tactics we just demonstrated to conduct raids on the rebel shipyards, board them, set charges, teleport back to the ship and remote-detonate them. Sir we could do a great deal of damage before they even realized what was happening.”
 
>”That will put the three of you in considerable danger… are your pony friends aware of this?”
 
“Yes sir, they are, and they’re willing to do this. For me. For Equestria. For the Confederacy. They’ve both seen their fair share of combat, sir, I have the utmost faith in their ability to help me carry out these raids. All we need are the bombs.”
 
>”Admiral, I want you to give the Captain any and all assistance he requires. Give him a full briefing of all of our intel on the captured shipyards, rebel ship movements, everything and anything that might be of use. I don’t care if it’s above his clearance level, I want no detail to be left out whatsoever, is that understood? Captain, it’s good to have you back. Tell your pony friends the Confederacy is deeply in their debt for risking their lives to help pull this off.”
 
>You nod.
 
“Yes sir, thank you sir.”
 
>”Sir, in addition to the researchers from Angstrom I’d like to request a few additional specific research personnel. I’ll draw up a list of names and transmit it to you on another secure channel.”
 
>”I’ll be waiting, Admiral. I’d also like a report whenever Anon and his team return from their raids into enemy territory.”
 
>”Yes sir.”
 
>The chief nods.
 
>”Channel close.”
 
>The screen goes blank.
 
>The Admiral stands up and gets in your face, yelling quite loudly.
 
>”Raiding the enemy shipyards!? With just the three of you!? Have you lost your goddamned mind, Anon?”
 
“Like I said Admiral, I have one more thing I want to show you. Twily, take us back to the ship, my love.”
 
>You and Shining stand near Twilight
 
“I’ll be in touch, Admiral. You might want to get back to the bridge when we leave.”
 
>With a flash the three of you are back aboard your ship, strapped back into your seats. You park your ship directly in front of the flagship and have Twilight drop the invisibility spell. You open a channel to the flagship, and are greeted by the Admiral’s face just as she returns to her chair.
 
>”Alright Anon, what’s this other thing you wanted to show me?”
 
“Target your forward weapons onto us and fire at will.”
 
>She looks at you like you just drowned a baby.
 
>”I was right, this IS some kind of suicidal deathwish.”
 
>You fire a few shots from your ship’s pulse cannons at the bridge, shaking them up quite a bit
 
“Come on Admiral, are you gonna let a little old Pegasus treat you like that?”
 
>You fire again, watching with a smirk as the bridge shakes again.
 
>”Christ, Anon, what the hell are you trying to accomplish here?”
 
>A few more carefully placed shots
 
“It would appear I’m trying to stir up a hornet’s nest, Admiral, but I don’t seem to be having much luck.”
 
>More shots. You make sure these ones hurt. The lights on the bridge go out, the red emergency lighting kicking in.
 
>”Alright Anon, you asked for this. Tactical, charge forward particle cannons, load torpedo bays two four six and eight. Lock on to the EM-53 directly off our bow.”
 
>”Ready, Admiral.”
 
>She hesitates, staring at you with an outraged and baffled expression.
 
>You swing the ship around and make a pass, firing multiple shots across the bow of her ship, not on any part that someone might get hurt, the damage is purely cosmetic. You fly around and make another pass, doing the same thing, really wailing on them this time before coming to a stop again directly in front of them, rocking your ship side to side in a taunting manner.
 
>”Fire.”
 
>The ship unleashes a hellish torrent of weapons fire, rapid-fire balls of pure energy and explosive torpedoes that should obliterate virtually any target. Every shot skims off of Shining’s protective barrier. Every torpedo explodes on contact with it. The barrier doesn’t even absorb any of it like you were expecting, it simply deflects it all. You didn’t think Shining meant it literally when he said you’d be protected from anything.
 
>When your ship disappears behind a ball of fiery explosions and smoke, the Admiral gives the order to cease fire, watching the screen intently as the smoke and fire clears away. She sees the Pegasus unscathed and is so stunned she can’t say anything. The same can be said for most of her bridge crew. You hail her again. You appear on her screen with a smug grin on your face.
 
“Admiral, with my friends augmenting the Pegasus, even a little tiny thing like this could take out your flagship, if we so desired. I imagine you’re going to be adding a lot more names to that list now than you initially intended after that demonstration.”
 
>”Many more…” she says, her mouth still agape. “Damage repair teams to the bridge…” she says over her ship’s internal comms. “Begin transmitting all data from my personal databank file RSPI-10 to the Pegasus’ computer. Anon this should contain all the data the Chief asked me to hand over to you.”
 
“Much appreciated. Chin up there, Admiral, in a few days you’ll be commander of the most important starbase in the entire Confederacy. I’m gonna tell you right now though, me and my friends work alone. We don’t need any dead weight to babysit, so don’t try to talk me into letting you send a few marines with us, it ain’t happening.”
 
>”Acknowledged…”
 
“Now, if you’ll let us dock and fill our cargo hold to max capacity with type 3 remote charges, we’ll be on our way.”
 
>”Open the docking bay for the captain… begin requisitioning the charges he’s requesting…”
 
“Thank you Admiral. Talk to you soon!” You chirp, cutting off the channel and punching commands into the auto-pilot to dock with the ship.
 
>You, Shining, and Twilight burst out laughing loudly as soon as the comm system cuts off.
 
>”Did you see the look on her face?” Twilight says with a guffaw.
 
“Absolutely priceless!” You reply.
 
>”And the way she reacted when you started shooting at her ship, the look in her eyes then was pretty hilarious, too, haha!” Shining laughs.
 
“Hah! I knew that was the only way I’d get her to actually open fire on us. I knew juuust how to push her buttons,” you say with a smirk. “Hey Shiny, can you drop your shield? We’re about to dock.”
 
>”Sure Anon.”
 
>There’s a brief burst of energy from Shining’s horn exiting the ship, dissolving the barrier as it strikes it.
 
>”Done.”