Your Human And You: Feet First Into Hell

Maelstrom watched as several figures began to swarm for the fire that was once their transport, shouting at each other in some unknown language that consisted of chirps and clicks.

"Move!" he ordered to his team.

At once, all five ODSTs bolted upward from their respective positions in the grass and began to run straight for the unguarded cages.

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"Son of a shit!" Cowbell cursed. "What kind of statistics were those, Blind!?"

"Hand to God, those readings were right!"

"That rocket was almost ten degrees off course! We could've blown the whole operation!"

"You think I don't know that!? Just keep your sights trained on those winged fuckers and try to keep low, now move!"

The two stayed silent as they began to sprint close to the ground to keep their cover, unaware of the lessened burden they should have felt.

\\\//////

Black Eye slammed the but of his M45-D into the lock before him, shattering the weak metal and sending the cage door flying inwards. The civilians jumped back from the swinging object as the ODST motioned for them to leave.

"We're here to help! Move out, towards the tracks! Find the tram and get on board!" he and the four other ODSTs repeated to each cage they busted open.

With each one they opened, more and more civilians began to run across the hills, a few stumbling on their way to the tram in the distance. Sputnik kept his M7S trained on the skies in case the winged creatures decided to check on their catch, while Icepick kept her sights trained on the empty sleeping area.

"Last group!" Maelstrom shouted as he slammed the handle of his Magnum against the rusted contraption.

The ODST Sergeant pulled the door open for the civilians and motioned for them to move. Immediately, the group ran out of the confined space as the ODSTs swept the area one last time.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

With all cages cleared out of civilians, the ODSTs began to book it in the direction of the tram. Maelstrom flashed a green light over the VISR to Blind and Cowbell before receiving two confirmations.

"Alright everyone," he spoke into the comms, "eyes on the skies. Anything up there following us, bring it down."

Green lights flashed over his VISR once more as he turned around to scan the air with his Magnum, a group of nearly 80 people running for their lives.

\\\//////

Midnight Sweep grunted as he felt the weight of the unknown metal land on his Lunar Guard armor. With a few steps, he was able to deposit the slab of metal onto a pile they had started moments ago as they cut into a weaker part of the alien structure.

"Whoa," he heard Shear mutter in surprise.

"Ugh, wha... whoa," Midnight spoke as he looked into the hole they had finally cut through.

Inside was a massive chamber with bits and pieces of items strewn about, likely from the crash, and several pieces of furniture bolted down. To either side, they could see similar chambers to the one their heads were poking through, and to the right, they could see what looked like a futuristic barracks. All the beds were in metal stands that were bolted to the walls, and looked fluffier than anything either Guard had seen all through basic. There was also a couch set up facing a wall, where a large piece of cracked glass hung loosely. Lockers also decorated the area near the beds, pulling together the military look.

"We found a way in!" Shear called out with a panicked voice.

Several other Guards began to swarm the area, pushing Midnight and Shear into the ship as they heard others beginning to climb in. One of the first few was their group's Sergeant, Hammer, and one of the scientist following him, Glyph. Both looked around with mixed emotions, though the scientist was wearing a broad smile.

"Amazing! Look at all of this! Alien architecture!" he shouted while spinning around, trying to take in everything at once.

"This looks like a barracks, but it's too small," Hammer said skeptically. "They either came here with a small scouting party, or some kind of super soldiers."

"And who's to say they came here for war?" Glyph responded. "Maybe they came here to study us, or to offer peace! Maybe they came here by accident, who knows!? I know we won't unless we try to find some recollection of their actions."

"We're sitting in a giant crater, smart-flank."

"I mean an actual record of their data! Maybe just a sample of a computer, or... try looking around."

The Sergeant gave a huff before turning to see three more Guards behind him, two Lunar and one Dawn. He motioned for them to search before they saluted and took off. As they did, Hammer and Glyph moved to examine the large metal racks that were lined up next to the empty shafts. Below the racks, they saw empty shelves that had a few scuff marks.

"These are recent," Glyph observed, "like whatever was in here was taken out right before we could get in."

"Stars at night!" a guard shouted as something metallic hit the floor.

All the ponies nearby looked over to see a large crate toppled over onto one of the Solar Guards, crushing his wing.

"AAAAGGHHH! Get it off me!" he shouted.

At once, several other armored ponies began to push the box away, struggling to get the thing to move. When they managed to roll it off, however, everypony fell to the deck as the sound of armors clanging rang through the small room. Nopony could get up against the unknown magic they were feeling, pinning the lot of them to the ground.

"Wha... what's... going on?" Hammer managed to grunt out.

"G-gravity... intensified," Glyph grunted. "Likely... the alien's... average g-force."

Before Hammer could press further, however, the pressure from the extra gravity seemed to vanish. Around him, several other Guards were getting up and were trying to move the injured pegasus. While they started, however, the large hanging plane of glass flickered to life and broadcast a horrifying image before them all. In the front was a large Human skull, covered in flames. Behind it was a large metallic container, and a banner that ran underneath both objects, with a single, alien word broadcast in the Equestrian alphabet.