(Original) Chapter 4: Master Chief

Chapter 4: Sierra 117

Epsilon Eridani System

Planet Reach

Equestrian Temporary Training Grounds, ONI Castle Base

July 1st, 2551

5:50 AM

"Alright, let's go, Hop two! Hop two! Hop two!" A drill instructor bellowed in a thick Irish accent. The man possessed the facial expression typical of a drill sergeant of any time period, one that commanded respect, fear, and admiration all at the same time.

"You lot most be the sorriest, most pathetic excuses for soldiers I've ever seen. Ya maggots make the Covie grunts look like goddamn Spartans. I've got half a mind to invite a horde of em' here, just to whip you pussies into shape!"

The subjects of the instructor's torrents of abuse were none other than the Human and Pony greenhorns of the Equestrian Army. Despite not seeing actual combat of any kind in the past thousand years, the pony soldiers who had previously served in the Royal Guard exhibited surprisingly impressive potential in the fields of conventional warfare and even close quarters combat.

But of course, the Sarge and his colleagues weren't about to go and tell them that. It wouldn't do to make them too overconfident.

The human trainees, much to the Instructor's chagrin, fell slightly behind their pony brethren. Many of them were second generation Equestrians, being the eldest children of the Spirit of Fire's crew. Most did not have combat or military backgrounds, quite unlike their parents.

At the moment, the trainees were performing basic exercises. They had yet to move onto the actual combat training for the day.

"You call that a push-up, maggot? I've seen ants put out more strength than that, boy-o! What in the hell do ya think you're doing?"

"Sir, push-ups, sir!" The trainee answered. He was a young earth-pony with a gold coat and fire-red mane, who wore the gold and crimson armor of an Imperial Centurion. "What's your name and rank, son?" The Sergeant fired back.

"Sharpened Shield, sir. Centurion Sharpened Shield!"

The Instructor replaced his scowl with a thoughtful frown. "Centurion eh? Hmm. So you're a basically a squad leader then. How many squads have ya been in command of, soldier?"

"Just one sir! Since January, 2550. Sir!"

At this the Drill Sergeant adopted a friendly smirk. "So you've led a squad for over a year, is that it son?" He rubbed at the stubble of his beard. "You must have some experience under your belt then."

"Yessir." Sharpened Shield's fearful demeanor had begun to calm down.

"Ya know what that means here in the UNSC, son?"

"Sir?"

"It means... ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING BOY-O! NOW DROP BACK DOWN AND GIVE ME THIRTY!" The Sergeant had regained his default scowl.

Sharpened Shield complied instantaneously, performing push-ups at a considerably more hurried pace. Seemingly satisfied, the Sarge moved onward, surveying the formation of push-upping soldiers for signs of unruliness or slacking. The ranks of the trainees meant nothing at the moment, and slackers would be in for a world of misery. Whether they be foot soldier, centurion, or even a non-commissioned officer.

Off in the distance, a group of 5 Equestrian marines, three humans and two ponies, were sparring. One of the humans was fighting his squad mate, a unicorn mare. Their golden and silver body armor clanked as they moved, and it shined in the midday sun.

"Is that all you got, Private? You fight like a filly!" The unicorn declared with a smirk.

"Ma'am, you'd be surprised!" Her opponent answered back. The soldier lashed out as his squad leader with a kick aimed at knocking her legs out from under her, making her vulnerable to further strikes. Somehow the unicorn saw this in time and she countered by seizing the human's foot with her forehooves and using his own momentum to floor him on his rear end.

"I can kick your ass without magic Private!" The marine sergeant laughed. She then looked to the rest of her squad,snapping to seriousness in the blink of an eye. "Promise me you will all shape up as much as your bodies allow. I've seen the intel on some of the Covie races, some of em' are massive. You're going to need to give your all to end them combatants for good." She declared, pounding her hoof to the ground with force, emphasizing her point.

"Yes Ma'am, Sergeant Andraste, Ma'am!" They all shouted simultaneously.

Further off, two groups of Spartan II's stood around some equipment crates and camping stools, observing the goings-on in the training ground, and cleaning or modifying their weapons. They chatted quietly with themselves, and most said little to anyone who walked past them.

That was except for when an older human, three FOTUS-armor clad Spartans, and a tall unicorn stallion with a blue mane approached one of the groups directly. The leader of the Spartan group greeted them, recognizing the humans.

"Commander Cutter, it's an honor to see you sir." The Spartan Leader said plainly, shaking Cutter's hand. "Jerome, Alice, Douglas." He nodded respectfully to the three other Spartans, who returned the favor. The unicorn was grinning at him, and the Spartan, after hesitating for a moment, nodded at him as well.

"It's my pleasure as well, Master Chief. May I introduce..." Cutter began

"General Shining Armor, Imperial Army. It's a great honor to meet you in person, Master Chief, sir!"

"Likewise, General" The Chief shook Shining's hoof. Shining Armor noted with admiration how powerful the Spartan's grip truly was.

Still grinning, Shining attempted to spark a conversation with the power-armored warrior. "I've heard quite a bit about you and your team's bravery and combat skills over the past twenty years. I think I speak for all the Empire when I say that you Spartans are one of the few things that inspires us to even think of helping the UNSC fight the Covenant, beyond the history that the crew of the Spirit has told us about."

Before Chief could reply, a female Spartan quickly approached Shining Armor with lightning speed, who looked at her in surprise. The Spartan's body was in an unsettling, threatening posture.

The newcomer stared daggers at Shining then suddenly, she snapped. "You know about the War, do you? Well let me tell you something, General. The War is ten times worse than you or your people could even hope to imagine. If you really think you're ready to fight the Covenant on equal terms, you are sorely mistaken. We've been fighting them for over two decades, and look where we are!"

The Spartan waved her arms around dramatically, indicating the entire region around her.

"Reach is one of the few places left between the Covenant scum, the Earth, and over 200 years of progress wasted. From what I hear, your 'empire' is one measly planet. You won't stand a chance! You don't know squat about our enemy, or our sacrifices. If you think you do, you need to face reality, General." She paused, fuming, then turned her wilting gaze to James.

"And you, Cutter, of all people, should know better than to drag a clueless race into all this!"

Cutter showed no response, only gazing at her with a neutral expression. By now, Shining Armor's grin was long gone, replaced with absolute shock.

"That's enough Kelly!" Chief said carefully. "I know we've lost a lot of good soldiers, but it won't help us, or Humanity to turn away allies. You know we need as many able bodies as possible to fight the Covenant. They'll train and adapt as necessary."

After a few tense seconds passed, Kelly relented, releasing a deep sigh. "I'm... I'm sorry General Armor, John, Commander. It's just, we've lost so many good people. We're supposed to be best of the best, and yet for every Covenant army we slaughter, it never seems to make a difference."

"It's always the same, and always ends with another planet glassed and millions of innocent lives extinguished. Just please, promise us you won't let your world meet that same fate. If the first friendly alien species in Human history were to be wiped out, it would kill what little morale we all still have. Please, General."

Shining Armor, rather than reacting with the anger Kelly was expecting, instead smiled at her sadly. "Of course. I can understand your concern for us. While's its true we aren't a warlike species, our fair Equestria is under as great a threat as the Earth. If she, or the Earth is to survive, we must fight, and fight we will. We have no other choice. "

The Lord General dug out a data chip from his pocket, activated it, and the projection of a Covenant warship materialized in the air before them. He pointed a hoof at it.

"And just knowing that there is a force as dark as the Covenant blighting our Galaxy is enough alone to drive us. I, and all under my command are ready to make whatever sacrifices necessary to make sure we can destroy the Covenant Military."

Kelly moved to grasp the projection in her fist, as if to crush the ship under her vice grip. Naturally, it only bent around her skin, as Shining deactivated it and stowed the data chip away. "I think Cutter would agree, right Commander?"

Cutter took a long look in the Lord General's eyes, before he spoke. "More than you can imagine, Shining."

Kelly took Shining Armor's words in, and nodded. They stared at each other without saying anything else, showing that they had reached a silent understanding. The Spartan then went to rejoin her team members. Master Chief however, lingered for a moment.

"I'm sorry for Kelly's outburst. She's usually the calm, cynical comedian of the team. We may be Spartans, but even our emotions can get the better of us sometimes." The Chief explained.

Cutter nodded. "After all is accounted for, we're only human," He looked at Shining with a slight crooked smile. "And pony." The Equestrian General smiled back.

"Master Chief, in the Imperial Army and Marines, we've developed a saying, 'Friendship is Might.'" Shining said. The Spartan nodded, seemingly in agreement. "One should never question the worth of an ally. The difference between fighting alone and fighting side by side can be titanic in deciding the course of any conflict."

Master Chief motioned to leave. "Commander, General, we all look forward to working with the Equestrians in this war. A friend in the stars is just the thing we need right now to give people some hope."

"Fight the Good Fight, Spartan." Cutter called. "Take care of yourselves!" Shining Armor added.

"See you on the battlefield, Sirs." Chief said back, rejoining his comrades.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Shining spoke. "That man, is larger than life. All the Spartans are." He now turned to look at Alice, Jerome, and Douglas. "Are you three going to join your fellow Spartans, in the war I mean?" After a few seconds of silence, it was Alice who answered for them. "Negative sir. Our place is at the Empress' side, and by extension, Her soldiers. We are at your command."

Shining Armor nodded. "Well, your orders at the moment, are to go join your fellow Spartans! Do some catching up, and what have you. All three of you deserve to see your old comrades. Were I in your boots, it's what I'd want." The three former Spartans of Red Team nodded appreciatively at the Lord General, before departing, their body language expressing their gratitude in a way that words couldn't.

He sighed as he watched them go. "You know, James, with the Spartans on our side, with our growing fleets, Princess Luna being back, the UNSC, and with the technology Ellen and Twily have developed for us, I have a feeling we're going to really bring on the hurt to those alien bastards, and possibly make this Galaxy a safer place."

"Time will tell Shining, time will tell. But I'm confident we can make a difference, somehow." The old Human replied. They both continued to watch the Spartans, as well as taking occasional glances at the Imperial trainees.

The taunts, shouts and commands of the drill instructors were carried down wind towards them. In the skies above, the glinting lights of UNSC and Equestrian ships could be seen floating about, resembling little shooting stars. Reach's star Epsilon Eridani began to peek high on the horizon amidst Reach's parent gas giant, marking the opening to yet another day of tedious training and preparation.