Spooks and Shadows

“Did you check the fuel tanks?” asked Twilight.

“For the twelfth time Twilight, every part of the ship is completely fine! Why are you so paranoid about this?” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Would you prefer paranoid or sudden painful death by explosive decompression?”

“I’ll have to think about that. Check back with me in an hour.”

“Just fly the ship Rainbow.”

“Twilight, don’t you think the time to be paranoid was before launch? You know, before we had been in space for five hours?” asked Rarity.

“Be quiet.”

Then Derpy spoke up from the navigations seat.

“We’re approaching the moon captain, but it looks like there’s an artificial structure or something just past it.”

“Let’s go take a closer look.”

As they approached the construct there was a sudden flare of bright blue light. The power went out and they were plunged into complete darkness.

“Is everyone alright?” asked Fluttershy. The others called out that they were fine. The lights turned on, flickered for a moment, and then stabilized. The ponies looked at each other. They were a group of young humans wearing orange uniforms. The symbol of the Equestria Space Program(the Elements of Harmony on a backdrop of stars) was on the right sleeve. For a few moments they just stared at each other. Then the proximity alarms went off. They ran to the viewport and saw two much bigger ships in front of them with a massive ring world in the background. The ship on the right was red and made of ovals and curves. The ship on the left was all straight lines and made of grey steel. Painted on it in white were several words, only two of which could be determined at this distance. Rainbow read them out loud.

“UNSC Excaliber...”

“What the hell is going on here!” yelled Captain Harris as he strode onto the bridge.

“We dropped out of slipspace near Epsilon Halo sir, but the Covenant are here too.” replied Commander Watkins, “They haven’t fired yet, but we should remain on alert.”

“Red ships are Storm Covenant right?”

“Yes sir. There is also a small craft nearby. Its design matches 21st century Earth space craft.”

“Any life signs?”

“There are seven life signs onboard the craft. They appear human, but are very erratic.”

“Could they be infected by the Flood?”

“It’s a possibility.”

The captain took a moment to think. If those were Flood he would be putting the entire ship at risk, but if they were human the Covenant would kill them. The soldier at tactical interrupted his thoughts.

“Sir, the Covenant are launching Banshees towards the other ship.”

“That settles it. Watkins, I want two Longswords to bring that ship in. Then station two full squads of ODSTs in the hanger. Give them all shotguns.”

“Right away sir.”

The captain watched as the two fighters tore across space towards the small shuttle. He held his breath as his ships met the Banshees. Then there was a brief flare of plasma and missile fire. The Banshees disintegrated and the Longswords attached grappling cables to the small ship. They were pulling it in.

The seven ponies(now humans) watched as all four fighters closed in on the shuttle.

“Hey Twilight, any idea why we’re humans and why there are four other ships heading for us?” asked Rainbow. Twilight shook her head. The shuttle shook as two of the ships fired at the other two, destroying them. Then the two surviving ships attached magnetic ropes to the shuttle.

“Do ya think their takin’ us back to their ship?” asked Applejack. Twilight gulped and nodded.

“We’ve got ‘em captain.” said Commander Watkins, “The ODSTs are in position.”

“Good. Get down there and help the Helljumpers crack that thing open.”

Watkins stepped into the elevator and disappeared from sight. The Captain turned to the officer at tactical.

“What are the Covenant doing?” he asked.

“They’ve scrambled their fighters and are arming weapons.”

“Do the same. It looks like we’ve got a fight on our hands.”

Watkins ran down the hallway to the hanger as the ship shook. The Captain’s voice came over the intercom,

“Alright, everyone pay attention. We have engaged a Covenant ship in the vicinity of Epsilon Halo. No one panic, the situation is entirely under control.”

Watkins ran faster. As he ran he was joined by Spook. Spook was an ONI operative that had been assigned to the Excaliber for the trip to Epsilon Halo.

“I heard about the ship we pulled in.” said Spook, “Pretty strange readings.”

Watkins nodded. The two arrived in the hanger and joined the ODSTs gathered around the ship. Watkins gave the order.

“Alright gentlemen, crack it open.”

“What do they mean, crack it open?” asked Derpy.

“I think they’re going to use a crowbar to open the door, and then they might shoot us.” answered Twilight.

“But they’re humans! The Ancelstierrans helped us, so why won’t they?” asked Rainbow. Then the door was wrenched of its hinges.

“How’s the ship holding up?” asked Captain Harris.

“We’re taking quite a beating sir, but so are they.” replied the tactical officer.

“Can we hold against the Halo’s gravity?”

“I don’t think so sir. Both ships are already beginning to slide towards the Halo. I think we’re both going to crash.”

“Are the Pelicans and Longswords fueled?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright, dispatch all fighters and gunships to protect the Excaliber as we go down. The Covies will probably do the same, so tell the pilots to be ready for some fancy flying.”

The elevator chimed and Commander Watkins stepped onto the bridge. With him were four marines and seven young women who appeared no older than twenty. They were wearing uniforms remarkably similar to 21st century NASA outfits, but orange and with different insignias. They had some interestingly colored hair…

“Watkins, who the hell are these people?” asked Captain Harris.

“They were on the ship we pulled in sir. They say they’re from a nearby planet. Judging from their descriptions it should be about a minute away by slipspace travel.”

“Impossible, the nearest habitable planet is a good ten minutes away! You know what, just get them off the bridge, we’re in the middle of a battle!”

“Excuse me sir,” said the navigations officer, “but there is a Forerunner artifact near that location. It appears to be emitting a strange energy field.”

“We don’t have time for this! We’ll deal with it later.”

One of the astronauts spoke up.

“Um, we aren’t in any danger are we?”

The Captain hesitated about whether or not to lie.

“Actually, you’re in a lot of danger. Both our ship and the enemy ship are about to crash into a ring world that has a bunch of dangerous parasites living imprisoned under the surface. The crash has a good chance of freeing them and of killing us all.

“Oh.”

“Watkins, put them with two marines and Spook and give them a Pelican. It’s their best chance. Give them some armor and guns while you’re at it.”

Harris turned back to the astronauts.

“Stick with the marines and don’t trust Spook too much. If we live we’ll try and find this mystery planet of yours. If we don’t, then God help you.”

He saluted and turned back to the view screen.

The seven followed Watkins through a maze of corridors crowded with pilots and marines rushing to their stations. He led them into an equipment storage room and popped open a few crates.

“Suit up in that marine armor, get a few grenades, then grab an assault rifle, pistol, and ammo for each. Oh, and don’t forget a knife.”

It was only a few minutes later that they entered the sixth Pelican hanger. The commander ushered them onto the gunship where they sat down with three men in marine armor. One of them was very young and looked like a new recruit. Another had sergeant’s stripes and several scars to match. The third wore black armor and had a pyramid style insignia on his right sleeve. The commander saluted and closed the hatch. One of the marines turned to Rainbow.

“I’d hold on if I were you.” he said, “We’ll be launching under fire, and that is a really bumpy ride.”

“How would you know?” asked the sergeant, “This is your first combat experience.”

“This was covered in training!”

The one with black armor looked up from the book he was reading.

“Training isn’t like real life. That’ll be the first thing you lot learn. This isn’t a simulation. We will be facing aliens that think we are a threat to their religion and way of life. They will be trying to kill us-”

“Shut up Spook, no one asked you!” said the rookie. Twilight looked at the man with the armband.

“You’re Spook? The commander warned us not to trust you.”

The man snorted.

“So will everyone else. No one likes Spooks. Do you know why?”

“I do,” said the sergeant, “You don’t feel. You’re only interested in yourselves.”

The Spook looked up at the sergeant. He smiled.

“We think of the greater good. What we do we do to keep humanity alive. Whatever the cost.”

Pinkie broke the tension.

“I thought we were under attack or something.”

Then there was a lurch and the intercom crackled.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your helmets and try not to lose your breakfast! Complementary peanuts can be found under your seats.”

The Pelican rumbled, the hanger door opened, and the gunship shot out of the ship towards the ring world. The sergeant turned to the newcomers.

“My name’s Ryan by the way, and this,” he nodded to the rookie, “is Alexander.”

The seven nodded hello.

“What’s your real name Spook?” asked Derpy.

“My name is classified. Just call me Spook.” he replied. The Pelican shuddered and the lights flickered. The intercom crackled again.

“Alright folks, we’re heading into the atmosphere. This is gonna be a bumpy ride!”

The ship hit the atmosphere and joined the fight already happening below. Covenant and UNSC fighters darted about firing missiles and plasma bolts. The Pelicans and Phantoms plummeted towards the surface, which appeared to be completely jungle with no visible water sources. The pilot spoke up again.

“Alright, we’re coming in for a landing. Wait, what’s happening!? The ground looks like it’s opening up in front of us! Oh my G-“

There was a massive impact that caused the passengers safety straps to snap. They were thrown around the cabin and slammed into walls. There was a horrible crunching sound over the intercom and the pilot screamed, then the wall between the cockpit and cabin seemed to crumple and cave in. The lights went out. Everything was quiet. For a few seconds everything was still and silent. Then Spook turned on his helmet lights, and so did everyone else. Spook grabbed his rifle and walked over to the door. The panel was completely smashed.

“We’ll have to use explosives. Check the crates.” he ordered. No one moved, “I don’t have time to argue! Check the crates!”

Alexander started rummaging through a crate and pulled out a few C4 charges. He tossed them to Spook, who stuck them to the door’s corners. Alexander rummaged a bit longer and eventually found the detonator. Spook ran to the back of the cabin.

“Everyone form up and ready your weapons. Safeties off.” They clicked off the safeties on their rifles and aimed them at the door. Spook detonated the charges, blowing the door out of its frame. Ryan walked forward and looked around the side of the doorframe. He motioned for the others to come out, which they did. They took a moment to look around. The Pelican had smashed nose first into a solid rock wall. The cockpit was completely flattened. A few yards away was a crashed Phantom drop ship. As they stepped towards the Phantom, weapons raised, its drop doors hissed open. Five aliens stepped out with their hands raised in surrender.

“Please,” one said, “Do not fire.” He and the others raised their right hands so the marines could see the glyphs burned into their hand’s backs. Spook gasped.

“That’s the Forerunner glyph for Reclaimer. You’re Separatists!” he said excitedly. The alien leader nodded.

“We infiltrated the Storm Covenant many months ago. When our ship attacked yours we hoped we could escape in this Phantom, but the ground seemed to open in front of us and swallow our ship!”

Spook nodded.

“The same thing happened to us. Our pilot and gunner are both dead.”

Suddenly Alexander cried out. The ground above them was beginning to pulsate and writhe. Spook raised his rifle.

“Shoot it, it’s Flood biomass!”

The aliens grabbed their weapons and everyone started shooting the ground above them. There was a monstrous roar of pain, and then a hole opened in the wall to their left. Small bulbous creatures began to pour out of it, jumping at the humans and aliens. They switched targets and fired at the new attackers.

“There’s too many of them!” yelled Alexander. Spook tried to reply, but one of the creatures launched itself at his face and knocked him over. An alien kicked it and it exploded in a puff of spores and dust. Spook scrambled to his feet and yelled for them to run. They all took off down the passageway, not knowing where it would take them or what monsters might be ahead. All they cared about was getting away from the monsters behind them.