Your Human And You: Feet First Into Hell

UNSC *Lost in the Stars*

Date: January 17, 2557

Location: [UNKNOWN]

"Arriving in 10 mikes, sir," the Specialist spoke.

"Are these readings accurate, Lisa?" The Commander asked aloud.

Behind the Commander, a holotable lit up and out came a holographic projection of an Artificial Intelligence. The A.I.'s form resembled a skull that had been bloodily ripped out of some poor bastard, and emitted flames. When it spoke, a calm, female voice came out from its flapping jaws, as if it were some kind of twisted joke.

"Affirmative, sir," she spoke with a soft tone. "Analysis determines that there is a high chance of active Forerunner technology within this sector."

The crew of the Prowler had been given a set of coordinates by Section III of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and were preparing for their latest mission. Since the commission of Lost in the Stars, the stealth ship had been focused on acquiring Forerunner artifacts in bordering star systems outside of both UNSC and Covenant space. Once they find any scraps of technology, the ship would obliterate whatever entrance the ground teams may find, and bring everything they can to a random location, where a second Prowler would carry their findings back to Earth for research.

The coordinates they were given this time, however, did not come from the Section III headquarters in Sydney, Australia, on Earth, but rather from the Ivanoff Research Station by Installation 03. These coordinates, along with several others, were being investigated, either by examination by a distance, or being looked into more carefully by specialists. Rumor had it that one of the locations was going to be investigated by the Infinity itself. Whether that was true or not was entirely up to what ONI wanted everyone to know, however.

As the majority of the bridge crew prepped for insertion back into normal space, the Commander of the Prowler pressed a command into the panel to his right and spoke aloud.

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"Attention Fire-team Nightmare," an old, stern voice called from the walls, "we are approaching the target destination in approximately 6 minutes. Prepare for ground-side operations ASAP. Any and all requisitions for equipment not provided by your pods is to be brought to my attention before you are allowed to proceed. Let's get this done, people. Matthias out."

Maelstrom stood up fully and snapped his M6C-SOCOM Magnum to its magnetic harness on the side of his right leg. He looked out to the other six ODSTs and spoke.

"You heard the man," he called out to them, "get your dancing shoes on, bitches!"

The other six troopers in the pod bay broke off from their activities and began to move for their armor and weapons. On the right side, three troopers began to assemble their armor, colored to their labels. Melt, the foreign weapons specialist, Black Eye, the CQC specialist, and Cowbell, the explosives specialist. They began to bring up their armor pieces as the opposite side readied weapons. Blind, the team sniper, prepared his trademark Sniper Rifle with its Grunt skull on the end of the stock. As he did, Sputnik, the pilot, readied an M7S, while Icepick, the team's hacker, prepared her mobile hacking kit.

Within minutes, each member was armored and ready to deploy via SOEIV. Maelstrom waited as they stepped together in line, and when they were still, he spoke again.

"We are, once again, going in to an uncharted zone with no backup, no way out, and only each other to accompany into Hell. Therefore, we are, once again, obligated to show these ONI stalkers that we don't need what!?"

"WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' SPARTAN, SIR!!!" they chorused.

"Damn right! Get your pods ready, and get set for insertion!"

"OOH-RAH!" they responded.

\\\//////

Twilight sighed as she looked up to the stars and moon above the field. Only a few hours ago did she arrive in the small town of Ponyville, having been sent by her teacher, Princess Celestia. She wanted to go back into the Library and research everything she could about Nightmare Moon before it was too late, but the crazy ponies from this town had insisted on having a party right where she needed to be. Now, all she could do was look up at the moon, and think about what the book had said.

"'The stars shall aid in her escape,' but what does that mean?" she asked nopony in particular.

She looked down into the open area amidst the small town, and watched as several bipedal figures were filed down the roads to houses by an accompanying pony of varying kinds.

"Ugh. Even the Humans don't have to put up with this stupid party," she groaned before planting her face between her hooves, just as the night sky began to shimmer slightly.

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Nightmare Moon looked down upon the planet with content, waiting until she could feel a peak in the magical energies of the land of Equestria.

"This doesn't make any sense," she said to herself. "There should be some kind of magical surge that I could ride back to Equestria. Why can't I feel anything?"

The Mare in the Moon had waited exactly 1,000 years for this moment, and was shocked to find that she was just as weak as she was in the last three centuries. Since the anomaly all those years ago, she had not felt any change in the magic that sealed her in this cold prison.

"Why? The stars should aid in my return! Why can't I break free!?"

As if some entity had heard her, a massive burst of force burst above her, and sent shock waves that kicked up clouds of dust. Nightmare Moon had to shield her eyes from the waves of rock particles as lightning began to concentrate above her. She looked up in awe to watch as the fabric of time and space itself began to rip apart above her. A spiraling shape began to form as what looked like a spear began to pierce through the veil of the tear. As it continued to move, the shape became more elaborate, lighting up and displaying some kind of cannons to her. When the portal reached its limit, she could feel the shield that had kept her in place weaken immensely. With a surge of her magic, the remains of her prison broke like dried hay, and she could feel the energy swirling around the massive metallic space-beast. She gave a triumphant laugh before flying towards the creature, concentrating her magic into her approach.

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"Unknown object approaching from starboard, emitting some kind of energy!" Lisa shouted over the comms. "All hands, brace for-"

The A.I.'s words were cut off as the lights above the ODSTs flickered out while they were thrown across the SOEIV bay. Maelstrom felt his left side impact on the metallic surface of the inner bay with tremendous force, while the others scattered and tried to cling onto anything they could grip.

"GET IN THE PODS!" Maelstrom called out to them before reaching out towards the wall.