Through the portal

Through the portal

Chapter 4

Shock

I exchanged a glance with Luna quickly. Her firm nod and stern expression told me that this alarm was not just a drill. I hear a clicking sound from behind me, and as I turned around I saw Jane slamming a magazine into her rifle, indicating that she was ready for action. Her possession with Nightmare Moon made me think a little, but I had no choice. If there were any intruders, then I would need Janes superb sniper abilities. That however did not stop me from giving her a shot of her medication, before we headed out.

Luna explained, in very few words, that it was a proximity alarm. It meant that somepony or someone had entered a secured area around the bunker. All personal was to stand ready at a situation like this, and prepare for a fight if needed be. I shuddered a little, since it would be our very first encounter with enemies in Equestria. We knew close to nothing about them. What were their motives? Where were they from? If they used Ponies as power sources, could they maybe use magic themselves? That would have been very troublesome....  But I was distracted from my thoughts, while we ran full speed towards the control room, by my radio.

“Hey Selina! What the hell is going on? These Ponies suddenly grabbed me and are heading of with me somewhere. Not a really nice way to treat your allies, if you ask me!”, Franks voice sounded from the speaker in my ear.

“I'm sorry Frank, but I think we will head out sooner then I had anticipated. Gear up, bring my stuff too, and meet us in the control room. Relay that as an order to Rainbow Dash.”, I barked into my radio, while hoping that the headstrong Pegasus would obey. Just minutes ago I had thought I was not up to commanding Ponies, but now here I was, giving them orders like I actually had the authority to do so.... Well... in Lunas eyes at the very least I did have it...

As we reached a double door, that was guarded by two Unicorns and two Bat-Ponies, Luna slowed down.

“Open up the door.”, she ordered in a no nonsense way.

One of the Unicorn guards threw an uncomfortable glance over at his partner, and stepped forward.

“I am very sorry your highness. Your sister ordered that these creatures are to be kept inside of the security area, until further notice.”, the stallion said, clearly uncomfortable.

“You heard her. Let's open up.”, a Bat-Pony mare interjected, already placing her hoof in one of four holes in the wall next to the door.

“But our orders....”

I was in no mood for niceties in any way, so I stepped forward, stopping only inches in front of the Unicorn stallion. He reaches a little higher then the other Ponies, but he seemed a little intimidated by my size and only slightly suppressed an anger.

“Listen up mate, either you open that door RIGHT NOW, or else....”, I grabbed one of the grenades on my belt. It was actually only a Flashbang, but I doubted that this stallion knew the difference. Apparently he did not want to take the chance, and only threw a glance over his shoulder at his partner, who had already placed his hoof in another one of the four holes. The two Bat-Ponies were already waiting impatiently for him to finally stop keeping their Princess up, and do his duty.

“Very well.... But you will take the responsibility...”, he sighed in defeat, looking past me and directly at Luna, who nodded.

We had already been delayed way too much, as the double doors finally opened and we continued our run to the control-room. I could only stare in awe while we ran past a vast open area. There was a giant circular area that also looked like it had been carved out of the stone itself. In it I could see hundreds and hundreds of windows. At the bottom of the area, was what looked like a marketplace. I could see various Ponies trading goods, or services. What saddened me the most, was that I could see some of them exchange food for extra blankets, and vise versa. Some looked as if they had lost a wrestle with a bear and were barely limping along the stands, to trade for some medical supplies. The bandages I saw on those Ponies, looked far from sterile.

I grit my teeth and regretted it more then ever that we had lost Michael. He could have helped many of them. As it was however, I could at least understand now why Twilight had endangered us all to bring his bag along. They needed the supplies much more then we did....

That's when I saw her. Octavia Melody was limping through the crowd of Ponies. One of her hind-legs had been replaced with a crudely made, wooden substitute. Her right eye was covered with an eye-patch, while her hindquarters were burnt badly. The place on her flank, where her cutie-mark should have been, was just one giant scar. I had never really understood the appreciation of some fans for this background Pony, but now I got it. Even so she was badly hurt and crippled herself, she still carried herself with dignity.

I could not help myself, but stop and watch her for a moment. She walked over to a small stand, where I could make out her cello. I did not know why, but she stood out amongst the crowd of Ponies, like a candle in the darkest night. Not once could I take my eyes off of her...

As she had finally reached her instrument, the unthinkable happened. She looked up, and looked me directly into the eyes. Her formerly stern expression, changed to a hopeful smile as she picked up the bow of her cello and began to play. All the Ponies at the market, that had formerly ignored, and even pushed around the gray coated Earth Pony mare, now stopped in their tracks. All of them looked over to her, as if she had just faded into existence out of nowhere.

A tear started to run down my face, as the first notes of Octavias song reached my ears. It was a song that spoke of great suffering, but also of hope and renewal. It was a song that told the listener to never give up.

I started running again, catching up with Luna and Jane that had gotten a small way ahead of me. Just then did I realize that all of this had played out in only about five seconds.... It certainly felt much longer. The eye contact with her alone had felt like an eternity. My resolve was now stronger then ever. These Ponies had to survive this. I would not allow anyone, any alien or whatever to harm them, even if it meant shedding my own blood....

Finally we reached the control-room, and I was not surprised to see that many Ponies were working on consoles, that looked like they had originally been used in a untied stated bunker from the previous century. The computers I saw were certainly pretty outdated, but the Ponies had been pretty inventive. Instead of trying to use the keyboards with their hooves, I saw that they had created some kind of structure that was paced over them. It was like a larger version of the keyboard, that had small wooden sticks that connected the buttons on it to the actual keyboard. That way they could type on the human made machines easily. Frank was already there. I spotted him, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash at one of the consoles. He had removed the adapter and was frantically typing on the keyboard. How he and the two mares had gotten here before we had, was a mystery to me, until I remembered that Twilight could actually teleport. In a box next to the console he was working on, was the rest of my gear. While getting ready, I looked over his shoulder.

“Status report.”

“It looks like three enemy DX units are advancing in this direction. To be precise into the direction of one of the caves, which servers as a back entrance to the bunker. I can only guess that they have found something suspicious and are now investigating. The unit itself is way too small to be an attack force.”, Frank explained, never taking his eyes of the several readouts on the screen in front of him.

“Can they enter the cave?”, Jane asked a little worried.

“I don't think so. At least not if the data in here is correct. The DX are just too big to fit in there. If they are going to investigate, then they will have to do so by foot.”

“Good enough for me. Frank, can you shut down all the lights and cameras in that cave? I don't want the sensors of the DX to pick anything up.”, I asked, while checking the magazine in my M4.

“Sure I can. As far as Sensor range goes they should still be out of range, since that uses up a lot of energy by itself, but what do you plan Selina?”, he inquired, finally looking up to meet my eyes, then he grinned. He most likely recognized the look of anticipation on my face. There would be a fight, and I could not wait for it. All of my former doubts had been drowned out by a particular mares song....

“Well.... I guess that settles it then. Shutting down the generators in the area now. I just hope we still can get the jump on them.”, Frank said jokingly. He knew perfectly well that, if these guys disembarked their DX they were as good as dead meat. Janes scope alone would make sure of that.

Ten minutes later

Luna had brought us to the exit into the cave that the DX where headed towards. It was not too big and there was not much space for one to hide. I had hoped that we could hide in dark corners or behind big rocks, but that was not the case. Instead, we hid ourself in the darkness.

Frank had chosen to take position closest to the caves entrance. He had climbed up the rocks and found a small spot there, where he could hide himself. Jane lay in almost direct view of the entrance. Her rifle was already loaded, and she had removed the safety. Whatever came into view of the entrance, would be within her range of fire. I on my part, had hidden myself in a small side tunnel, that led into a dead end. Luna had wanted to accompany us, but I had denied that offer.

Instead I had asked her to seal the door behind us, and not open it for anypony, unless she got my signal over the radio I had given her. Jane and Frank were also ordered not to attack, unless I gave them the order to do otherwise. I wanted the enemy to be a good distance away from their DX, before we started the fight. The machine guns on those things alone would have been enough to blast the cave, and every living thing in it, to bits. I didn't want to take the chance, that one of the pilots ran back to his or her DX, to report to base and eventually kill us all....

We waited for quite a while, until the ground beneath us began shaking. They were coming. The rhythm was unmistakable that of bipedal walking. My muscles tensed and I was determined to see this through. The fight would happen one way or another. All I could hope was, that these pilots had just spotted something odd and had decided to investigate, rather then having been ordered here....

Suddenly I heard a swishing sound, as if some kind of gas was released under high pressure. In that instant, I raised my M4 and clicked the safety off as silently as I could. What came next, almost made my trigger finger pull back and shoot involuntarily.

“Phew! Sure feels nice to be out of these things for a while. I mean, sure we are supposed to be in enemy territory right now, but come on these Ponies are a joke.”, a female voice spoke, and I heard footsteps.

“Yeah your right. With these weapons, and the armor they provided us with, their so called “magic” is no threat at all. So did you bring it?”, another female spoke up.

“Well who do you think I am? Of course I brought it! There would be no reason coming to such a secluded area, if I had not.”, a third, male voice said.

“Well then.... We aren't expected to report in for another five hours, so let's get this started.”, the second female said, and I heard her come into the direction we were in.

I could not believe it. Unless these tentacle monsters ,the Ponies described to me, and of whom I had handled a corpse myself, could speak perfect English and were bipedal.... I suddenly got a very good idea why our government had really refused to sent help.... It was because our soldiers were already here!

I readied myself, and looked over to Jane who I could barely see in the shadows. The little of her face that I was able to make out, showed me that my suspicions were correct. These pilots were indeed human....

What startled me the most however, was that I knew the voices! Captain Victor Garalcheck, Sergeant Tanja Smith and Sergeant Anna Volciek.... The special operations unit that was supposed to be missing in Iraq! We had never gotten along, since they did never forget to remind us, that our promotions had been put on hold due to our actions. In each and every match against them in training, we had wiped the floor with them, but that did not matter to our superiors. We only ever got outdated gear, and were rated as “expandable”, while those scumbags were supposed to be the elite....

Jane had always wanted to show them, just how outmatched they were against us, and I could not have agreed with her more. I decided to change the plan a little. Instead of killing them all in an ambush, it would be nice to humiliate these idiots. It was clear as day that they had no permission, or order to be here. They were slacking off while on duty.

As all three of them had passed me, I stepped out of the shadows, and Jane took that as a signal to switch on her laser-sight. Frank jumped down from his hiding spot and we both switched the flashlights on our weapons on, illuminating the purple armor these three were wearing. Victor was carrying what looked like a small plastic bag. From the shape of it, I could only imagine that he had smuggled some booze into Equestria and was now planning to get drunk with his two subordinates. At first the three of them wanted to reach for their pistols, but as they spotted Frank and me, they realized that there was no point in even trying. One wrong move, and Jane would put a bullet through Victors head, and the other two would follow soon after. Since Jane was laying on the ground, I had no worries about her being hit in the crossfire. What worried me though, was the expression on Victors face. He did not even look the tinest bit scared.

“Oh! Look who we have here! The reject traitor squad. What? Unable to make a career in the US military? Trying it with the Ponies now, are you Selina?”, he asked in a mocking tone.

“You should know your place. You AND I both know who leaked my service record to the committee. And you also know, that I can kick your sorry ass with both hands bound on my back!”, I shouted back at him.

“So? What's it going to be? We have already been briefed on your presence here. So if you come quietly, the commander might not execute you on the spot.”, Tanja mocked me, while playing with her long black hair.

“Shut up bitch!”, Jane called out from the shadows. “Last warning for you!”, she added and the red dot that had been on Victors forehead, switched to hers instead.

“Oh what language. Now come Selina, we are both US marines. You won't a fellow marine, would you?”, Victor asked, while taking a step into my direction.

Before I could react, my M4 suddenly flew out my hands and I was knocked right into one of the walls of the cave. As my eyes finally focused again, I saw what had caused it. Frank and Jane had obviously been disarmed as well, and were now struggling with Tanja and Anna. Victor smiled at me, with all the arrogance he could muster, while I wiped some blood out of the corner of my mouth.

“Did you really think that the DX, and this armor were the ONLY advantages we got from this assignment? Oh Selina, you have much to learn, and I'll be happy to teach you.”

I realized pretty quickly what had happened. Victor had leaped at me, knocked my weapon out of my hands, and then hit me in the face. This, just like the DX series, was just a prototype back on earth, but it seemed like it was a combat ready thing here....

“Cybernetics... So you have become a freaking machine? That's a new low for you Victor!”, I spat as I stood up.

The fight between me and Victor was not a pretty one. He was faster and stronger then me. My only advantage was my training as a close quarter specialist. But even that seemed pretty useless. It was almost as if he was able to predict were I was trying to hit him, or where I was going to evade to. Several time I thought I had dodged one of his punches, only to feel the cold metal on his armor connect with my face. It didn't take him long to overpower me, and I could see that Jane and Frank had lost their battles as well, so there was no help coming from them.

“Looks like YOU are the losers this time dear....”, Victor laughed, and lifted me up of the ground with one hand on my throat. Then and there I thought that it was over. We had come to help, and we had failed. These idiots, as incompetent as they were, had beaten us for the first time and it was all due to my stupid mistake. I wanted to humiliate them. Had I just pulled the trigger...

Then it happened.... I heard a scream from where Tanja was holding down Jane. It was not Janes voice however. No.... It was Tanjas. Her eyes almost bulged out of her head, as she looked down at the stump that had once been her left arm. A cloud of dark blue energy radiated from Janes body, and I instantly knew what was going on. Nightmare Moon had woken up....