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Post by Red Charge on Oct 20, 2012 23:23:53 GMT -5
Selenia's call distracted Soarin', that distraction proved costly. Within a split second he was struck by a tesla coil. The other Wonderbolts sprang to try and aid him, dodging bolt after bolt as they made their way to Soarin'. Soarin's static field protected him well enough, and he was able to quickly get back on his hooves.
"Don't use magic directly on the coils!" Soarin' called loudly, if he knew Tesla, and he did, he would have magic proofed the coils on the ship. Any magical attack might actually strengthen the coils, rather than damage them. However, such was not the case for a solid object. Sadly, there were no solid objects around to fling at the tesla coils.
With no way to reach the firing controls, and no way to attack the coils directly, it seemed that Tesla had them checkmated. The real question was how to stop the cannon from firing. Locked inside the bridge with Tesla, backtracing to try and reach the cannon itself was not an option. There had to be an option they were overlooking.
Soarin' tried his best to find a way past the electric field protecting Tesla, he regrouped the Wonderbolts back near the edge of the coils, "All right boys, get ready for White Lightning." He said, "It's such a shame that such a good griffon admiral turned out to be such a turncoat traitor!" He called.
Tesla seemed to take offense to that somewhat, but did not let it disturb his calm demeanor. "We all do what we must." He replied evenly.
"No, we do what we must, you work for a filthy sky pirate." Soarin' snapped back, as his team got into position. It appeared Tesla was distracted now, which allowed Selenia to take a quick action. But what to do?
A distant rumble shook the bridge, and an ominous sound rattled the air-tight doors of the bridge. The main weapon was charging, despite their haste, it seemed that the Leviathan had managed to get in range of Canterlot, or was otherwise charging the cannon in preparation of getting in range.
Below the raging air battle, Princess Luna was staring intently at the massive cloud of mist surrounding the fleet of airships soon to descend upon her beloved city. Next to her was Percheron, donning his new sky blue armor.
"This day night transition is going to be horrible if the Wonderbolts fail. It'll be impossible to spot the drakes in the darkness." He reported gloomily, "A combined ground and air assault would be devastating if they have the brains to do it."
The alicorn princess squinted at the cloud of mist, "I have full confidence in Spitfire and Soarin's abilities. Dire though the situation may be. Wait..." She said, eyes alert now, even from the turret she was standing on she could see it, a radiant point of light penetrating through the mist. "They're charging the main cannon!" the princess yelled, barely managing to keep her voice composed.
"There's no choice." Luna said decidedly, charging up her horn, before Percheron could even say a word in response she had fired off a lunar beam, aiming at the bright light in the mist.
"Spitfire and the others are still in there!" Percheron called in alarm, watching the beam progress through the air towards the hidden war zeppelin.
The fighting was still intense when Blackmane left the Leviathan through one of the emergency exits. She had no more managed to fly for a single minute before the massive ship behind her began to swerve, and a beam of energy struck it's side, destroying several smaller engines and leaving a very visible trail on its surface. The beam had barely missed the main cannon, instead burning through the side plating and engines on the ship. The damage was not nearly critical, but it showed how desperate the ponies really were.
Blackmane gave the ship one look of apathy before entering the griffon and pony melee. Time to stop this futile effort.
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Post by Selenia on Oct 22, 2012 11:50:27 GMT -5
Selenia couldn't be the hero. She didn't want to anymore. All of her convoluted plans had been shot down one after another due to various unknown variables that had unveiled themselves moments before she would have taken action. Luckily, most of those reveals ended up saving her life. So Selenia remained near the back of the bridge, swathed in her own magical barrier, watching the confrontation between Soarin', his Wonderbolt team, and Admiral Tesla play out. Soarin's sharp words seemed to have Tesla visibly taken aback, a little unfocused from the greater battle. Nothing shakes up a stern military officer than accusing his morals, but Tesla seemed too far lost to let jabs like that shake him. He was an admiral after all, but he seemed distracted nonetheless.
Selenia could take this split second chance to launch an attack, but Soarin's words rang in her ears and she refused the urge to go on the offense. She had to be coordinated with the rest of the team, and that meant Soarin' was her commander. Selenia had noted that the barrier protecting Tesla stopped before it reached the ceiling, allowing passage for the pegasi Wonderbolts, but being struck with a powerful tesla blast while in the air and without a safe grounding route, the electricity could very potentially be fatal. As far as Selenia knew, that was the only way past the barrier. The coils in this circumstance could very well be considered indestructible, and going through the barrier was out of the question.
If Soarin's forces could be provided with an amplified shield to better withstand the short trip over to Tesla, then perhaps they could make it. Tesla shouldn't be able to conjure up enough accurate and deadly powerful blasts to hit each and every Wonderbolt multiple times if they poured through the gap all at once, and Selenia could provide each and every Wonderbolt with a sufficient, yet very weak magical shield. Dividing her energy among so many independently moving targets would be a serious strain on her abilities and stamina, and each shield would only be able to withstand two or so direct hits, but it was better than doing nothing.
Her thought process was completely cut off as the entire bridge lit up with a bluish-white light. The entire airship rocked with the force of the impact. Selenia retained her balance and blinked out the disorientation as secondary explosions rumbled behind her in the hull. Anti-air... The Princess had opened up while the team was still inside. Their situation was getting even more dire by the second. Selenia lowered her personal barrier and charged up her horn, preparing to project all the energy she could muster into personal shields for the Wonderbolts. It wasn't long before Selenia had collected all the energy she could and her horn glowed white hot. She gritted her teeth and squinted through the searing light. She would reclaim the energy and hold it in her horn until Soarin' initiated his 'White Lightning', ensuring that all of her support would be saved up and then provided at the most critical and necessary time for the team. She didn't like the unknowns in the plan, but if radical teamwork was their best hope for stopping the ship, then Selenia would commit herself and all her abilities without question.
Selenia couldn't help but smile at the irony through her gritted teeth while she waited for her commander to begin his attack. She used to be a librarian...
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 27, 2012 16:58:16 GMT -5
Tesla was rattled by the sudden attack from Equestria. He knew the farthest range of their cannons and Mages. But this attack was beyond it. Possibly, it was Princess Luna herself. Though the pondering of the matter took only a moment, the distraction it provided gave cover to Soarin's attack.
And then it happened, the three Wonderbolts that were with Selenia (two having taken out the injured and one more having perished) were past the Tesla barrier and were thrown against the wall. All Selenia could see was a bright flash of white lightning as it happened, and it was only for a split second.
Selenia's combat experience finally paid of as her experienced and keen mind was able to take in the details and quickly relay them back to her. In one moment, Soarin's attack launched, and in a flash of white lightning, without even appearing to cross the distance at all, all three Wonderbolts were past the barrier and upon Tesla. Though the three pronged attack was instantaneous and at the speed of lightning, the truly surprising thing was that Tesla blocked it. An electrified talon catching Soarin's hoof, an armored Wing striking against another Wonderbolt and a rear claw swipe threw the other off. The blast of electricity from Tesla's armor was enough to send all three Wonderbolts sailing towards the walls, where they were still stunned.
However, they were now past the barrier, where the other Tesla Coils could not target them. They were on the side of the firing controls, which meant they could --
And then a massive blast shook the hull. The Leviathan had fired its main cannon. A massive bolt of electricity fired off towards the shield surrounding Canterlot. But it had fired prematurely, they were still out of range and Tesla knew it. It was a demoralizing act more than anything, if the ponies thought they lost, they'd retreat.
Below them, Luna was bracing hard, charging the shield with her own magic in preparation for the projectile. Though it was majorly dissipated when it struck, the violent impact was more than enough to rattle the defense and cause it to flash. Electricity attacks were always the most effective against such shields, as with no grounding the electricity continued to travel along the edge of the shield until the energy itself dissipated, increasing the strain on it.
"We're fine," Luna grunted, teeth gritting against the effort to hold the shield, "For now, but another hit like that, and the shield will fall."
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Post by Selenia on Nov 1, 2012 11:07:52 GMT -5
Selenia unleashed all her collected magical energy as Soarin's plan was set in motion. Coupled with her projected barriers, Soarin' and two other Wonderbolts were able to breach the shield. The barriers collapsed as they passed through the hazardous electric shield, but that was all they were needed for. Seconds after she opened her eyes and confirmed that they were across, she nearly collapsed on the deck due to the strain from maintaining a magical status effect for three separate targets at such long range. She stooped low to the deck and caught her breath, before puffing a few times and burning some more of her reserves into ensuring that her own personal barrier was up in a snap. She wouldn't provide Tesla with even a second of vulnerability that he could exploit and use to remove her from play, especially now that her support had enabled Soarin' and his Wonderbolts to become a direct threat.
She continued to watch helplessly as Soarin' and the others were intercepted and thrown against the wall behind the barrier. It was now up to them, they had to destroy the gunnery controls, while Selenia focused on merely staying alive long enough to become of assistance again. Her barrier slowly regained to full strength as she caught her breath and rested a little. She was no superhero, and like any unicorn, she couldn't last long under the extreme physical and mental duress brought on by powerful magic. As of right now, she was back to being dead weight until Soarin either took out the gun controls or removed the tesla barrier. Given, dead weight with a shield and high spirits, but dead weight.
Selenia was stumbled by the massive shock that rattled the hull. The bridge lit up once more with a flash, but not nearly as blinding, and the light moved away from the hull and got darker, meaning the Princess hadn't unleashed another barrage of triple-A. That left only one option: the griffons had opened up with the Leviathan's main gun. But something about the situation didn't feel right. Tesla looked like he wasn't expecting it, the charging sequence hadn't run as long as Selenia thought it should have, and with the initiation of their mission, plus the damage that the Princess had done to the engines, the Leviathan couldn't have been in optimal range to open fire. Selenia prayed that that was the case and prayed that the shot would miss or lose energy and fail to breach the shield. Anything she could cling to as reassurance, she would.
Now if Soarin could also put the pieces together and refuse to lose his morale, then maybe he could find a way to smash the controls or remove the tesla barrier, then Selenia could get back to helping her team. Better yet, since the actual control panels and everything else on he bridge were consolidated in one area, and all shielded by the tesla barrier, maybe he could just unleash some wonderful area attack that would cripple everything in the bridge. Because of the electric barrier, as well as her own personal barrier, Selenia should remain well protected from the blast that it would produce. Hopefully that would make everything go haywire and send the ship spiraling into the ground. The only catch of that plan was Selenia's escape. Locked in the bridge with a wall of steel on one side, and a deadly electric barrier that wasn't sontrolled by the ship's systems, unless one of the Wonderbolts would take the risk and head back to get her, she would almost certainly go down with the ship.
Selenia chewed her lip. Decisions, decisions. They were all hypothetical, of course, but they were based on educated assumptions. And just as it was before, she couldn't do jack until Soarin' made his next move.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 7, 2012 1:26:18 GMT -5
It took Soarin' but a moment to recover from being thrown against the metal wall, he managed to get up to his hooves and point an accusing hoof at Tesla. "You're supposed to be our ally, you're supposed to help us, not base your whole technology against us!" He accused, "What kind of treachery is this? Every system on this vessel is anti pony. Don't you have a lick of honor?" The honor comment seemed to throw Tesla over the edge.
"An what did you expect us to do? After what you did to us in the Prism Wars we had no choice but to plan to defend ourselves from you!"
"What we did to you in the Prism Wars?" Soarin' called out with surprise, "What the hay are you talking about?"
Tesla opened his mouth to argue, but then as though struck by something, he stopped. "You really don't know, do you?" He asked, "Your precious princesses didn't bother telling you, their own protectors about the truth of the Prism Wars?"
"You better start making sense, Tesla, instead of insulting my Princesses." Soarin' threatened.
"Who do you think took down the Dreadnaught?" Tesla asked flatly and suddenly.
"The Adversary, everyone knows that."
"Wrong!" Tesla called angrily, "It was Titan Razorwing who downed it. Using his Titan's Judgement."
"That's crazy. Why would we attack you?" Soarin' replied, just as aggresively.
"Who were you fighting in the Prism Wars, Soarin'?" Tesla asked seriously.
"The Adversary's forces." Soarin' replied evenly.
"Who were the Adversary's forces?" Tesla asked more aggressively.
"I..." Soarin' tried to reply, but he found himself unsure of the answer, "Dragons?"
"WE were the Adversary's Forces. US and the Silver Core!"Tesla spat out, his words were followed by several moments of stunned silence on the bridge, with the only sound being the noise of the battle and cannon fire from the outside, muffled through the snearly soundproof walls.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 10, 2012 8:12:57 GMT -5
"Princess...." Percheron muttered slowly, as he watched the the Leviathan getting ever closer, "I have to ask you something... well, about Hightower."
"What is it?" Princess Luna asked, though she had a feeling she knew what he was going to ask. She turned from the sky to him, attentive.
"When you... purged him, he said that... well, I'm not sure if I heard it right. He said... 'You did this to me'. What did he mean by that? What did he mean when he said he couldn't make 'it' stop? What is it?"
"The music, you can't make it stop. It drives you insane until you are completely out of its control. I still hear it sometimes, very weakly, I bet he still does...." She said, weary eyes closing and awaiting Percheron's response.
"What are you talking about?" The Razorwing asked, now turning fully towards the princess, "What music?"
The navy coated alicorn sighed, "When you embrace the powers of corruption, you open yourself to terrible danger. Insanity, malicious thoughts, too much power to contain... but worst of all is the music... that horrible, repeating music... it never stops. It will consume your psyche until you are not much more than the Iron Shoes or Eclipse were, simple engines of destruction and chaos..."
"Was that what it was like when you were Nightmare Moon?" The pegasus asked hesitantly.
"A thousands years are a long time for the music to take hold of your brain. I had so much anger in me, in the end all I wanted was to be loved like Celestia was... But that was not when I started hearing the music... it came long before. When I first heard my parents were murdered."
"That must have been horrible."
"They were on Cloudsdale, negotiating the truce between dragons and ponies... they, Silverback, Dreadwing, Destrier and the Guardian. On the other end of the table was the dragon council's representative, The Adversary." She grit her teeth.
"What happened then?" Percheron asked, overcome with curiosity.
"The Guardian killed the King and Queen of Equestria and nearly destroyed Cloudsdale in the process. Destrier, Dreadwing and Silverback all retreated with the Adversary to recruit our forces to fight against the Guardian." Tesla explained, his feathers ruffled from the indignation at knowing the Princesses have kept their own subjects from knowing the story. "That's right, the three great heroes fought against you in the Prism Wars."
"That's not what happened! It was the Adversary who did it!" Soarin' roared, "The Guardian was a hero, a protector! It's in his flipping name!"
"And who told you it was the Adversary who killed the King and Queen?" The griffon admiral demanded.
"The Gua...." Soarin' stopped mid word.
"Ah, see? You are a smart pony, think! On one side, you have the world's three greatest heroes, including your own Destrier, saying that the Guardian had murdered the King and Queen of Equestria and would brain wash the Equestrian Kingdom, and on the other, a DRAGON and two foal princesses! Now you tell me, Wonderbolt, had you been in our place, what would you have done?"
"But... but..." Soarin' desperately tried to find a loophole in the story, "Destrier was killed by the Adversary! The other two as well!"
"They were killed by a dragon." Tesla said flatly, "A prismatic one. Since neither the Guardian's body nor the Adversary's were ever recovered, that leaves both of them open, as they were both Prismatic Dragons, hence the name Prism Wars."
The Wonderbolts around Tesla began muttering to each other, but Soarin' jumped straight up to his hooves, "This is irrelevant, you're trying to buy time Tesla! What may have happened in the Prism Wars aside, there is no justification for this attack!"
At that something heavy hit the windshield of the bridge, an armored Pony. Their attention was now drawn to the outside, Blackmane had joined the battle, and the Equestrian forces were being thrown helplessly every which way by his prowess. The broken pony on the Windshield slid off slowly and disappeared from view.
"You can stop this Tesla, you can do the right thing, prevent this war! Your men are going to suffer Tesla! For what? For Blackmane? For a filthy pirate?" Soarin' begged.
Tesla shook his head unnaturally, almost like a tick of some sort. "It is better that griffons die honorably in a battle than merely waiting for the death to take them!" Tesla snapped his beak and attacked, moving fast as lightning. Soarin' only barely managed to avoid his attack and circle back around, but the Griffon's armored tail caught him in the face, throwing him back into the hooves of his compatriots.
"Get some sense in you Tesla? Where's the honor in betrayal of your allies?"
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Post by Selenia on Nov 11, 2012 10:01:26 GMT -5
Selenia had resorted to pacing around near the back of the bridge. She had regained her strength and her barrier was back up at full force, protecting her from any surprise attack Tesla might pull just because he could. The past few agonizing minutes had been taken up by more of Soarin's failed attacks and, believe it or not, talking. Selenia almost couldn't believe what she had been hearing. The lies and deceit in Equestrian matters spread so far as to changing the facts of one of most important wars in pony history. And better yet, this attack by the griffons seemed more like a very long awaited grudge match than anything else.
Selenia bit her lip as the two continued arguing and Soarin' threw a few honor related snaps at Tesla. Every minute they kept talking, the closer Leviathan got into optimal firing range of Canterlot. She wanted to yell to Soarin', to tell him to get his history lesson later as they needed to take the cannon offline, but the last time she tried to communicate with him, it nearly got Soarin' killed, so distracting him now was a death sentence. She knew war calls for sacrifice and protecting Equestria, no matter the cost, but there had to be another way. She was at a loss of what she could do to help.
Selenia looked around her side of the bridge. Isolated and bleak, she couldn't cause any trouble to the systems. The small gap on the ceiling of the electric barrier was still there, however. She charged up her horn to fire a concussive blast. Simple and absolutely ineffective at causing Tesla or the bridge controls any damage, she only intended to distract Tesla a bit more. If he even momentarily turned his attention towards snuffing out her little spell, then that could give Soarin' and the team an opening to either attack Tesla again or go for the cannon controls. She hoped he would pick the cannon controls as Tesla wasn't even their objective.
Nevertheless, Selenia finished charging her spell and launched it towards the gap in the barrier, arcing it through and aiming it towards Tesla. Soarin's argument seemed to have ruffled his feathers, so hopefully the little slap from her concussive spell would be enough to make him sloppy in his decisions. She dropped into a lower stance and maintained her barrier, ready to dodge and deflect any attack he might pull once he remembered she was there.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 30, 2012 5:22:15 GMT -5
"I can't believe it..." Percheron said, "How... how could it be? All this time, all this time we heard the wrong story, we believed the wrong things..." Percheron took a step back from Luna. "How could you have kept this from everypony for so long?" The armored stallion asked, wings spreading with indignation and disbelief.
"Then what... who is left that we can trust?" He asked, his head drooping, he could not look at the Princess anymore. All of this time, Celestia never uttered a word... never whispered a single thing. Did he even know who he was serving all this time? Did any of the ponies in Equestria? He thought of his men, both Red Barons and Stars, working for the sake of this country... none of they know, would they fight so fiercely if they did?
Luna was still staring up at the fleet of zeppelins fast approaching, her eyes watered slightly. "And when the music drives you out of your wits, you hear that word... that awful word... I dare not utter it..." The princess whispered, snapping Percheron back to attention. He straightened up, not wanting to miss a single vowel, his curiosity unsated.
"Is that why Tesla is here? Does the music ring endlessly in his ears? Does it in Celestia's?" She whispered solemnly, her brow furrowing, trying to force the single tear rolling down her cheek back up with no success. She knew all too well the suffering that came with the music, the pain, the guilt, the yearning for silence, but if her sister had been … infected with it, she, like herself, will never be able to break free of it… never truly…
The Princess' face hardened, "Percheron, go to the Sky Sanctuary." She commanded, Percheron knew all too well what she meant by it. But not what triggered it, not until he saw it, the Whirlwind Nova…
Though Selenia's concussion blast did not make it to Tesla, something else did… the entire Leviathan creaked in protest, changing its heading suddenly, without Tesla having ever touched the controls.
Tesla looked just as alarmed as the rest, and rushed to the helm, observing through the cockpit. The ship gave a mighty jolt and metallic tears could be heard all around them as the ship creaked, in danger of falling apart.
"What's going on?" Soarin' called out, leaping to where Tesla now was, as the griffon was trying his best to steer the ship back on course. He could see nothing outside but flashing lights. The heavy strain on the ship as it tried to resist the pull caused the generators to overexert, supplementary systems were powered down, in those, the Tesla coils.
Soarin' squinted outside, trying to figure out what was going on, were they being attacked by a dragon? He could see shapes whirling around him, and finally he managed to make out what was happening, as a royal guard Pegasus crashed against the window in a bloody splat. They were in a massive tornado, not just the Leviathan, but the entire 5th fleet with it. Rocs and griffons were flying around them helplessly, thrown about by the fierce winds that even the Leviathan could only barely resist.
"That… that power…" The Wonderbolt stuttered, in the center of it all was one Pegasus, only visible due to the fact, if it was at all possible, that his armor was darker than darkness itself.
This was the only shot, if Tesla could be convinced to change his course, now had to be it, when his fleet was in immediate danger. Griffons may be fickle, but they are loyal to their soldiers and the admirals were most known for it. If there was a chance to settle this peacefully and save the 5th fleet from both the pony and griffon wrath, it must be in this moment.
"How..." Percheron stared, awe struck at the massive storm that had just dispersed the fog cover around the 5th fleet, causing the entire fleet to spin around helplessly, dozens of the largest ships in the Griffon Armada helpless against the wind generated by Blackmane. This could not have been the same one he defeated, with such raw power, even Percheron would never have been able to defeat her... He didn't even think the Sky Titan could.
"Head out now, Valkyrie will replace you. I'll let Firefly know," Luna ordered, "She will notify them of your coming."
"But... but what if I am refused?" The Razorwing stuttered, suddenly realizing the burden of responsibility he was bearing, suddenly breathless, despite just standing still.
"You will not be, I have faith in you. Celestia had faith in you. You will not let us down. Now go."
The last two words left no room for more questioning, Percheron took into the air almost instantly, as he was conditioned when being given a command, but even as he flew, he felt his heart a heavy stone weighing him down. How could he hope to defeat a pony who could take on an entire fleet?
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Post by Selenia on Dec 1, 2012 16:46:15 GMT -5
Selenia was thrown against the bulkhead of the bridge before she could see her concussive shot meet its mark. Something had hit the ship, and it was big. A loud crack rang through the bridge moments after, and through the now-flickering bridge lights and electric barrier, she could see a grisly red patch dominating one of the bridge windows. She grimaced, and silently prayed to Luna that it had been painless, regardless of which side sustained the casualty.
The barrier flickered some more and then thrummed down and shut off entirely, it's tesla coils sparking due to the overload. Selenia blinked out the flash and finally got a good look out the bridge windows as she swerved her way to the front on the bucking and creaking deck. It was a massive tornado. She hung on to a railing next to the various consoles for support, and noticed a miniscule black shape hovering right in the center of the immense storm. Blackmane. Selenia gritted her teeth. She knew the old motto; once a pirate, always a pirate, but this was needlessly endangering thousands of lives. As if on cue, a smaller griffon airship spun out of control in front of the Leviathan, blocking their view of Blackmane.
Selenia turned her attention to Tesla, who was fighting a losing battle against the raging storm. If he continued, it would only end badly. In this situation, Selenia could care less if the Leviathan was claimed by the storm, but jumping out on Soarin's back and contending with the howling winds by themselves was no option, which meant that the only way to get out of there alive was to make sure the Leviathan made it out. She looked over to Soarin, who was still frozen in place staring out the bridge windows, mouth agape. Apparently he wouldn't be of any help.
Selenia turned back to Tesla and slowly inched her way over to the intimidating griffon admiral. She knew that over the howling winds and hs own thoughts, he wouldn't be able to hear her, so she lit up her horn and cast a simple vocal amplification spell which would make her voice much louder. It was very handy for when unicorns had to host sporting events or the like.
"Tesla!", Selenia hollered, magnified by her spell, "Stop trying to fight the wind! This ship may be massive, but it will snap in half like a toothpick if you keep trying to force your way out of this storm. It may sound crazy, but you need to turn into the spin of the storm, ride with the winds, otherwise this ship will continue to lose momentum and then lose control like all the others." She gestured to the other monstrous airships outside the bridge windows, pinwheeling helplessly at the mercy of the storm. "You need to fly with the winds of the storm and push this ship's engines as far as they can go. If we gain enough speed, the sheer mass of this vessel might be enough to break free of the maelstrom." She turned around and grabbed hold of the railing again, now facing Tesla directly. "There are hundreds of soldiers on board this vessel. Good soldiers who are all going to die by the workings of a blasted pirate. That is not an honorable death, Tesla. They don't deserve that, trapped inside an airship, not knowing when it will crash into the ground or another ship, no one, pony nor griffon, deserves that." She desperately pleaded to get through to him. "Are you listening to me, Admiral? You, me, your griffons, everyone on this airship is going to die unless you can do something about it!"
She bit her lip and stood back, her throat hurt from the yelling. She knew that Tesla had a strong sense of honor, and presumably respect for his griffons. Hopefully Selenia's reference to such things, as well as the gravity she added to her words, would get through the good admiral's head and change his actions for the better.
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Post by Red Charge on Dec 9, 2012 11:34:07 GMT -5
It was only after she was done shouting that Selenia noticed Tesla was not trying to steer against the powerful winds, he was steering into a firing position. Slamming a button on his console, Admiral Tesla called, "All gun batteries, open fire on Blackmane the Destroyer!" A small telegraph at the edge of the console began to tick loudly, communicating Tesla's vocal message to the other fleets.
At once, every single fleet in the ship oriented into position and opened fire, heavy cannons roared as blast after blast was launched into the center of the storm, cannonball after flaming cannonball. But to no avail, the whirling winds at the eye of Blackmane's storm sliced every projectile into fine dust, but then, the once more charged cannon of the Leviathan fired, sending the massive bolt of electricity at the center of the storm, penetrating the fearsome winds, forcing Blackmane to halt the storm and defend herself.
With one slash from her wing blades, Blackmane sent a blade of wind right into the core of the electric bolt, splitting it dead center and causing it to erupt, preventing it from hitting him, but also losing his storm. The storm died down as quickly as it appeared and the griffon ships began firing once more on the lone pegasus, again and again and again, forcing the winged pony to dodge, dive and soar to evade them. Without the fierce winds howling around, the rapid firing harpoon launchers began to fire as well, sending electrified harpoons in rapid succession at the pegasus.
It seemed the enjoyment from the chaos of battle was drained from Blackmane, and finally she began to make her retreat, though she looked all but defeated. In fact, even in her flight her confidence had not sunk at all, something which made both griffons and ponies alike wonder if sieging Canterlot was ever her plan at all.
Tesla slumped against the console, seeming weary and ill. What grip Blackmane had on him seemed to have gone, but it took a lot of vitality with it.
"I... apologize." The griffon admiral stuttered, "Blackmane had somehow... she said the truth and mixed it with... hatred... it made me... angry... I was convinced she was right..." He gave his breathy apology, "But words cannot make up for what we've done, for the pony lives we've cost. My fleet will stay here and protect Canterlot until this crisis is done. Then I will return to the Griffon Kingdom and resign from my position."
"Tesla," Soarin' said, "You did the right thing, you don't have to..." Soarin' started, talking against his anger, the sincerity of Tesla's apology making him far more forgiving than otherwise, yet at the same time he did hold a grudge against Tesla, for letting Blackmane into his head to begin with.
"No. As an admiral I need to be incorruptable, I risked my fleet and our alliance. I will step down from my position and appoint a more worthy griffon in my place. But that is not for now. Send word to your Princess, the 5th Fleet is under Equestrian command."
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Post by Selenia on Dec 10, 2012 21:37:44 GMT -5
Regardless of Selenia's advice, Tesla continued to turn the wheel, angling the massive ship towards the center of the storm, perpendicular to the winds and in a prime position to lose control. "Are you insane??!" Selenia continued to yell over the wind, "You'll get us all killed if you don't-" Her words were cut off by Tesla's booming voice commanding the entire fleet, or at least what ships could still function, to open up on Blackmane. Selenia stood back and watched in awe as the collective military might of the Fifth Mechanized Fleet unleashed every weapon in its arsenal on a single pony. Cannons went off in rapid succession, being recharged and reloaded with the utmost efficiency, followed by the continuous deafening report of hundreds of repeating harpoon launchers; and still it wasn't enough. The storm was tearing up anything that got close.
Selenia watched Tesla slam the fire control trigger on the bridge console, and once again the Leviathan shuddered and its lights switched to reserve power as the main cannon belched out a bolt of roiling electricity. Blackmane had to break concentration to over-dramatically split the thing in two, which gave the rest of the fleet a new opening to fire. It didn't take long for the collective and focused assault to push Blackmane into retreat, and one by one the fleet's guns fell silent.
Selenia jumped from her spot beside Tesla as he fell to the deck with a crash. Soarin' unceremoniously shoved her aside to assist the admiral, though Selenia didn't mind. She stepped back a few paces as Soarin' and Tesla engaged in conversation, all Selenia could do was listen. She did not object to his indication of resignation as Soarin' did. She understood that an event like this could change somepony, er, griffon. After all, she assumed that the hardest things to accept, especially for griffons enlisted in their strict honor-bound military, were their own flaws and failures.
Still, Selenia frowned at his decision. Tesla was a brilliant tactician, and the griffon navy would be losing one of their best. At least, not until this damnable war was over. She sat down and lowered her head, the first chance she had to rest since before the Wonderbolt squadron first took off towards the fleet. Now, it was just Selenia, the two Wonderbolts and Soarin' left. It would be penciled down as a victory, but it came with too high a cost, as Tesla himself had said. At this rate, there would be no ponies left to fight the war if it turned into a campaign of sheer attrition. Regardless, a statistical win was still a win, and now they had the griffon armada, with the Leviathan at the head, on their side.
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