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Fria Världen, Earth

England

The Council's Palace

July 7, 2357

4:42 PM (A few hours after the incident)

Chaos is the only word to describe the arguments of the Council during that day. They all bickered at each other for a plan of action to respond to the events that occurred earlier that morning.

"I propose a vote!" One of them raised there hand to make herself the center of attention.

"Forget the votes! There is only one solution: we destroy the whole ghetto." One of them suggested in a callous tone.

"Are you mad? Seventy percent of the population are citizens! What about them?!"

"Acceptable losses." He immediately retorted. They continued to argue as if they were school children fighting over a mundane toy. The audience sat at watched them throw curses, threats, and suggestions at each other while whispering their own thoughts and opinions themselves. Among them sat a lone man in formal military attire. It was mainly a nice black suit covered with a blue sash that was decorated with medals of honor. On the shoulder, there was a patch that show the insignia of his rank. He observed the meeting silently before another man decided to sit next to him.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked suddenly. The soldier turned to look at him. He was a young man, about in his late twenties, and wore an expensive suit.

"Not much. They've been at each other's throats about the situation with my men today." He whispered back to him. The man seem to take an interest with the soldier.

"Ah, so you are Commander Levi Karken?"

"I suppose so." Levi replied in a less than friendly manner. The man reached to him with his hand to offer a greeting. Shrugging mentally, Levi returned the gesture, clasping his hand around the man's.

"Ambassador Tristen Iechyd." He introduced himself, breaking the handshake he made with Levi. "I've heard a lot about you, sir. You and you're team are some of the only survivors from the attack on Edge." He stated proudly. Levi winced a bit at the mention of his now conquered home planet. He smiled weakly to seem friendly to the government official.

"Yes. I guess we just got lucky. Forgive my curiosity, but aren't you suppose to be up there?" He pointed at the court, where the members of the council were still arguing with one another. Tristen chuckled.

"I am not a Council Member. Well, not yet at least." He explained. Levi simply nodded. The council members continued their arguments, gradually getting louder and more out of control as time passed on. Finally, there was a loud and threatening shout in the room.

"ENOUGH!!" The Council Members immediately halted their debate to gaze at the source of the outburst. Standing there at the back of the room was an near elderly man dressed in the finest blue and white robes that were outlined with gold.

"Ah, the Emperor finally arrives." Tristen mused aloud to himself. The Emperor sat down on the chair the elevated higher than the Council Members to signify his position.

"Have we really come down to the level as human beings to just simply kill the innocent citizens of our empire?" He asked rhetorically. He turned his eyes to one of the men in the front row of the audience. He instantly stood up. "General Sladeck, will you please brief me on the assignment that failed today?"

"Yes, Emperor Amera." The Council Members and the audience gave the general their full, undivided attention. "The assignment was to confirm and eliminate all terrorist that were reported in the Chinese Ghetto, More specifically, Beijing. At around eleven AM, we lost communications with them, but they could still be tracked. This suggested that there was the use of a jammer. Approximately ten minutes later, we lost contact with them. Since then, they've have been declared MIA. The soldiers' names are: Corporal Randy Rison, Sergeant Sarah Evans, Lieutenant Richard Hashwell, Captain Steven Nipson, and Major Cottev Parker."

Levi regretted hearing his team's names. Each of them were very close friends. They were born on the same planet, went to the same schools, trained at the same academy, and fought the very same enemy. Losing them was like losing a part of himself. General Sladeck was about to conclude his presentation.

"Was has us intrigued about this assignment is that the Resistance used advanced technology along with the clever tactics to possibly kill them. Personally, I believe that there are two possibilities." The audience were at the edge of their seats to hear his opinion. "Either we have a spy or an imposter in our military..." He paused as he imagined his next theory. "... or the M'Netai have invaded Earth." The Council Members broke out in a chaotic ramble once again. The audience joined in with the Council, filling the room with mixed voices.

"Order!" The Emperor shouted, once again returning the silence in the room. "I call for a vote." The Council stared at the Emperor, waiting for his suggestion. "I suggest we send in a strike team of a hundred men to investigate the area. If it is the Resistance, then that strike team will do what they need to do, and I'll conduct an investigation on our military to find the spy. If it is the M'Netai, then we'll do everything in our power to drive them back. Any agree?"

"I!" Most of the Council Members raised their hands to agree with the vote.

"Any appose?" None of them responded. "Then it is settled. This meeting is adjourned."

About thirty minutes later

Levi stood on the edge of a balcony, resting his arms against the railing. He slowly took a single cigarette from one of his pockets, and a light from the other. He stared off at the city below him. It was rush hour in the city streets. People were literally walking over the horrid traffic to get to their desired destinations. Holographic billboards showed a variaty of advertizements on the tallest of buildings. Levi flipped the switch to activate his lighter. Heat radiated onto his lips as the cigarette caught the tiny flame. He took a long drag from it, blowing the smoke out in the air in front of him. Footsteps could be heard approaching him. Tristen positioned himself right next to him, staring at the city just as Levi did. He turned his head over to Levi, smiling an amiable smile.

"Gotta smoke?" He asked nonchalantly, as if he were best friends with Levi. Levi pulled another cigarette from his pocket and gave it to the ambassador. He also took out his lighter. Tristen took the offer and leaned in closer to the lighter. Levi ignited the flame, thus lighting the cigarette. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Levi said in a friendly tone. He saw no need to be rude to a politician. They both stood silent for a moment, simply staring at the busy city. Tristen was first to break the silence.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" He chuckled. "Ya know, you would think that in this century, we would have flying cars by now." He waved his hand for emphasis. "It would be much more convenient, don't ya think?" He sighed. "Maybe humanity is too busy flying into space and expanding to accomplish that dream."

"Or maybe we just gave up. Maybe we failed too many times to complete such a dream, so we convinced ourselves that it was impossible and gave up." Levi stated, seeing the conversation as a pointless waste of time.

"Nothing is impossible, my friend. We as a species proved that all over our history." Levi nodded as a response, caring less about the topic. "I know it must be hard on you. Losing your friends like that."

"Ha! The term "friends" is an understatement. We were like blood related siblings. When one of us was in any form of trouble, we would be behind their backs. We got along better with each other than we did with our own parents!" Levi payed more attention to the change of topic in the conversation.

"I see." Tristen finished his cigarette. He dropped it to the ground and stomped on it. "Tell you what. I am going to make you an offer you can't refuse." Levi's eyes dilated as he processed the new information. "I have my own personal space ship with my own personal militia to go with it." His smile grew wider. "I want you to accompany me for an intergalactic search and rescue mission to find your friends." Levi immediately grew suspicious. It sounded too good to be true.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. That team is just as important to me as they are to you, obviously not in the same sense. There are only a few soldiers who had encounters with the M'Netai and live to say so. They could help us know our enemy a little better, thus giving us a useful advantage. Since they are your team, I want you to accompany me." He stretched his hand to seal the deal with Levi.

"I'm afraid I have to turn you down. At least give me some time to think about it." He responded.

"Right." Tristen's mood changed very slightly. He reached into his pocket to pull out a holo-card. "Once you're done "thinking about it", give me a call to make your final decision." He handed the card to Levi. He took it in a polite manner.

"Thanks. I'll give you a call later."

"Good man. I hope you'll allow me to help you." He patted Levi on the back and left him there to his own thoughts. Levi stared at the card which held his contact numbers.

"What is he an ambassador of anyway?" He whispered to himself. He pocketed the card to save it for later.

Unknown Location

July 8, 2357

8:07 AM

Hashtag was the first one to wake up from the incident. His state was groggy, and he could barely see. He immediately regained his composure when he saw the corpse of the driver in a pool of blood right in front of him.

"Ah, shit!" He jumped up in sudden fear. After some heavy breathing, he noticed his team lying with unconsciousness on the floor. Some of them were in uncomfortable looking positions. He decided to open the hatch to get rid of the heavy smell of blood in the Raptor. It hissed, but took a lot longer to open than it usually did. "Come on, ya piece of shit." He kicked the plated door in anger. After about a whole minute, the door unfolded.

Instead of the broken buildings and cracked roads he vaguely remembered, there was a whole forest. It wasn't an artificial forest inside a giant greenhouse back on Earth either. It was a real, living forest. "Holy…" Hashtag drifted off into a state of amazement. It reminded him of the expansive forest of his home planet, Edge. After a good five minutes of marveling at the scenery, he shook off his nostalgia to revive his leader. He trekked to the front of the Raptor to find Firebird, covering his nose to avoid the stench of death. It didn't take long to find him, but it was a challenge to keep himself from spilling the contents from his stomach everywhere. He crouched down to wake him up from his slumber. "Yo, Firebird." He spoke normally, shaking him gently. "Wake up, man!" He shook him more violently, but still, he got nowhere. "Forgive me for this... WAKE UP, COTTEV!" He slapped him with enough strength to leave his hand mark on Firebirds face. Firebird spontaneously woke up in confusion.

"Did... you just... slap me?" He asked in a tired voice.

"Of course not." He lied with a smile. He patted his friend on the shoulder to encourage him to get to his feet. "Are you gonna help me with the other guys or not?" He moved to the next unconscious body inside the vehicle. One by one, they all woke up tired and confused.

"Is everyone alright?" Firebird asked more energetically. The machines in his body allowed him to wake up faster than a normal human being.

"I'm fantastic." Wire shouted sarcastically.

"I'm bleeding." Yang said with fake happiness as he pointed to an open wound on his forehead.

"I can fix that." Spark chuckled. They all went outside to get away from the stench that lingered in the Raptor. Yang sat on the ground, leaning against the massive vehicle. Spark took out a stimpack along with gauze to treat his injuries.

"So what's the plan, Firebird?" Hashtag was eager to do something.

"Well, we are in uncharted territory." He scan the area using the optics in his eyes. "We are lucky. We landed an uncharted planet that can support life." He mused.

"Yeah. We are also very far away from Earth where we confirmed an alien invasion. We are very lucky, in fact, I should see what happens when I jump off one of these trees. I'll probably be saved by an angel!" Wire said angrily.

"Don't be such an ass, Wire. We are all stressed here." Yang grunted while Spark poke some tender spots. Wire scoffed.

"Okay. We need to chart the area around us. I want a twenty meter radius around this area. Hashtag, Wire, You two do this, while I'll try to radio for help here." Firebird instructed his team.

"Right. What about him?" Hashtag pointed to the corpse of the driver. They all stood silent for a moment.

"Once you guys get back, we'll give him a proper funeral." Firebird approached the corpse. He took a tag from his chest. "Private Johnathan Nyril." He read aloud.

"Hey, while you two are at it, why don't ya find us some food." Yang suggested.

"I got you, brother. We'll be back at an hour, tops." Wire said with a new-found excitement for exploring.

"Let's go! How does that cliche go? "We're not in... Kentucky anymore"?" Hashtag walked into the forest with Wire following close behind him.

"I think it's "Carolina"." Wire responded. Firebird shook his head. He grabbed loose metal from the exterior of the smoking Raptor to dig a grave for the driver.

Ponyville, Equestria
Outside of the Everfree Forest
June 8, 2357 (Summer Sun 39, 1004 AB)
8:35 AM

"Are you sure we should do this?" An orange unicorn by the name of Snails asked his companion fearfully.

"Yep!" His friend, Snips, replied.

"I don't know... remember the last time we did something like this?" They both had vivid flashbacks about their horrible mistake. The ponies in town dubbed it: "The Ursa Major Incident". It was an event the two agreed never to mention. Ever.

"Well, this isn't like last time. We're just looking for a rock." Snips reasoned.

"Yeah, but what if there are monsters? Or witches? Or... aliens?" Snails was still trying to talk himself out of it.

"What are you, a baby?"

"What?! I am not a baby!" He stepped into the forest first to prove his point. "Let's go find that... rock." Both of them entered the forest without a care in the world. The wandered in an imaginary path to a visible pillar of smoke that rose over the trees of the forest. The deeper they went, the darker it got. The darker it got, the more scared the two became.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." Snails murmured.

"Oh, come on! We'll be fine. We've been here before remember?" Snips tried to encourage him, but he was also getting more anxious of what lurked in the shadows.

"Do you know the feeling of being watched?" Snails whispered.

"H-how would I know?" They continued to converse with each other, unaware of the two bipedal creatures that were hiding behind the trees.

"What do you think of horse meat?" Hashtag asked his only companion while aiming his rifle towards something in the distance.

"Eh, it's not bacon, but I'll eat it. Why?" Wire turned to see what Hashtag was pointing his rifle at. Hashtag pointed to his two targets.

"God, they look tasty." His mouth started to water at the thought of putting something in his stomach.

"Don't you dare get a food fetish on me."

Hashtag inched his finger closer to the trigger of his gun. "Ah, I can smell them already."

"Charming." Wire took a closer look at his future meal. He noticed something peculiar about them besides their technicolor manes and coats. "Aren't those unicorns? Those magical horses with a horn?" Hashtag scoffed.

"They are about to be a shit I will take in the near future. Now shut up and let me focus! I'm not a crack shot like Yang ya know." He once again aimed at his targets, controlling his breathing. His finger inched the trigger once more. He was interrupted by a bone chilling roar. Something like a lion ambushed the horse creatures.

"What the hell is that?!" Wire almost jumped in shock. The scene reminded him of those stupid nature documentaries he had to watch in school.

"Oh hell no. That thing is going to eat my breakfast!" He charged at the beast.

"Damn it!" Wire cursed, chasing his friend.

Hashtag screamed a war cry that came from the lungs of the very first hunter in his family. The beast was about to swing it's paw down for a killing blow to it's utterly terrified prey. Hashtag made it just in time to save his meal by standing in front of them to receive the attack. The beast's claws shattered into pieces when in made contact with his armor. The beast grabbed his paw in pain cartoonishly. Hashtag laughed maniacally and fired a few bursts from his rifle to scare the beast.

"Ha ha! You ain't gonna steal my food ya little shit!" He taunted. The beast fled into the forest in fear for it's life. "That's right, run! I am the king of the jung- erm, forest now, bitch!" He lifted his middle finger to make himself look more conceited.

"Wow, that was awesome!" A scratchy voice cheered from behind him. Hashtag turned around to find the source. The aliens who were about to become breakfast had just complimented him, and they both smiled too human smiles. "What the fu..." He trailed off. Wire finally caught up to him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He was breathing heavily from sprinting.

"Shut up! No English!" Hashtag shouted in Hungarian. Wire was confused.

"Why?"

"Because they speak it!" Hashtag pointed to the unicorns, who both look wary that Hashtag switched to his native language.

"Umm... What?" The orange one spoke.

"See?" Hashtag didn't know whether to be scared or angry.

"Shit. What do we do?"

"We kill them, that's what we'll do." Hashtag said darkly, holding his rifle close to his chest.

"No. We have to report this to Firebird. He'll know what to do," Wire suggested, attempting to approach the situation as wisely as possible.

"But what do we do about these guys right now?" Hashtag asked angrily.

"I have an idea." Wire pulled his sidearm from his holster. He turned to face the confused unicorns eye to eye. "Run as fast as you can. Get out of here and do not come back." He warned. For emphasis, he fired two stray shots into the sky. The unicorns happily obeyed him, comically tripping over each other to get out of there.

"So what do we do now?" Hashtag said in a volume just above a whisper.

"We finish charting and report this to Firebird." He sighed heavily. "I think our "luck" just ran out."

Author's Note

For those who dislike this story, I would love to know why. And please use a different reason besides "It's an HiE fic". I love constructive criticism, so don't be afraid to tell me that I suck at something, because it helps me strive to become a better author. Thanks!