Your Human And You: Feet First Into Hell

Maelstrom adjusted his line of sight through the Magnum's Smart-Link scope as he laid down atop a small hill. On either side, his fellow Helljumpers were aiming down at the camp while Blind continued to scan the area before them.

"I've got visual on a vehicle, sir," the sniper reported. "Looks like some kind of aircraft. Propellers, big engine, and one massive balloon in the middle."

"Good to know. How many on guard?" Maelstrom responded.

"None. It's just out in the open."

"Easy pickings, Troopers," Maelstrom spoke proudly. "What about the camp itself? Civies? Hostiles?"

"Counting at least twenty civilians from this angle, can't get a read on any hostiles, though. Just- wait, contact spotted!"

"Give us a visual, Blind."

Maelstrom's VISR lit up to display the image being shared from Blind's secondary camera, giving the squad a visual of the slavers. The three figures stepped out of the cover of the red tent to reveal their forms under the light of the moon. They all were walking on four legs, but these creatures were vastly different. Each of them had a set of wings, and resembled a large cat mixed with a bird. Instead of angled faces, they had beaks, while their front legs had claws at the ends instead of a flat surface. All of them wore some kind of heavy cloth, and were carrying long, flat swords on their backs.

"The fuck are those?" Cowbell questioned.

"Enemies of the UNSC for harboring civilians as slaves," Maelstrom answered, "that's what they are."

The ODSTs continued to watch as the three figures moved towards the caged civies while holding buckets. As they passed by each cage, they threw the contents of the buckets into the confined spaces, sending pale-brown mush flying into the civilians. After the three left, the Troopers were boiling over with rage at seeing their own kind being treated like animals.

"Blind, switch to thermal," Maelstrom ordered.

Upon receiving the order, Blind switched the rifle's scope to thermal imaging, revealing around thirty of the alien figures all bundled together near the center of the tent. A large number of Human figures were lined up closer to the opposite end of the tent, almost 70 or so meters.

"Alright, here's the plan," Maelstrom began, mentally preparing for the second rescue operation within a day.

\\\//////

"Alright teams," Shining Armor spoke to the crowd of Nighthawks and Dawnguards, "we've finished securing the site and have swayed the interest of the locals to something far enough away to buy us time to start making noise. As of now, this is a recovery operation. We are to find a way inside the structure, secure any and all technologies we can find, and if whatever flew it is still alive, attempt contact. If they open fire, but don't manage to hurt anypony, the Princess can salvage the situation. Any questions?"

A hoof in gold armor shot up.

"Yes?"

"What if we find some kind of weapon?"

"Then you are to handle it with extreme care, as if it were your own newborn foal. Anything else?"

Another hoof, this time clad in dark blue armor, shot up.

"Yes?"

"Why do we need to secure anything from in there? Shouldn't we wait to see if anything's still alive in there and try to contact them if they come out?"

"We have no idea whether or not this is a failed invasion attempt, since Science says it came down with Nightmare Moon. For all we know, there could be demons in there. Now, any more questions?"

Silence reigned through the camp before Shining nodded to the group of armored professionals.

"Good. Remember, this is for the safety of Equestria, and known only to the Crown. Everything you see, hear, feel, or even think about here is classified under the highest priority. Any leak, no matter what size, even if it's what you had for dinner, or what time you used the can, will be considered treason of the highest degree. Until we find something game changing, we are not here, never were, and never will be. Now let's get to work!"

\\\//////

"Commander, the Unicorns are trying to invade," Lisa spoke over the comms. "There's a sentence that's guaranteed to get me deactivated."

"Where?"

"Fire-team Nightmare's launch deck, through one of the exits for the SOEIV pods."

"Progress?"

"Their equipment, from what I've seen, is barely comparable to what we had over 600 years ago, so it'll take endless weeks of torching to try to cut through the hat- hold on," Lisa paused, "they're using some kind of unknown energy. It's already broken through the first layer of the hatch! I suggest we-"

The Commander didn't give the A.I. time to finish her suggestion, as he spoke into the comms with the idea already in mind.

"Attention, all available hands! We have unknown contacts attempting to get in through Nightmare's prep bay! We don't have much time as is, let's get a move on!"

Without waiting to hear out Lisa's concerns, Matthias got up from his seat and began to jog towards the elevator.

\\\//////

"I love this plan," Cowbell stated as he hefted up his twin-tubed rocket launcher.

"Remember, one shot," Blind reminded him.

"Let me have the moment."

"Fine. Wind moving North-East, 2.13 mph, elevation at 4.3 meters from target's position, approximately 81.39 meters from our current position."

"Copy, adjusting," Cowbell responded as he gently moved his arms and lined up the lower tube with his mental imaging of numbers and formulas.

"Got it?"

"I'm so fucking ready for this."

Cowbell licked his dry lips as he stared at the aircraft, already seeing the fire dance in his vision.

\\\//////

Maelstrom peeked his head out of the tall grass before the lines of cages, holding back a large number of civilians. Several green lights of acknowledgement lit up on his VISR, signalling the team's readiness for the operation.

"Permission to speak freely, sir," Black Eye spoke over the comms.

"Granted."

"We need a name for this operation. Anyone got ideas?"

"Operation: 'Shut-up-or-fuck-off'?" Sputnik suggested.

"Operation: 'Cat-skinning'?" Icepick spoke up.

"I've got a good one, sir," Cowbell stated.

"What is it?"

"Before I say it, shall we start the party?"

Maelstrom knew immediately where this was going to go, and smirked.

"Go for it."

\\\//////

Light Feather sighed as he continued to stare at his reflection in the flat surface of his longsword, bored out of his mind. With barely a thing to do besides watch over the Balloon, which literally wasn't going anywhere without him. He slid the sword into its scabbard and shifted in his hammock, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. When he finally felt halfway relaxed, Feather closed his eyes and was ready to sleep.

"Screw the schedule, it's not like-"

Before he could even finish his crude remark about the staff management, a voice shouted in the distance.

"OPERATION: 'CRAKATOWA'!"

Just then, a flash of light ignited from a field in the distance, and flew straight into the gas storage. Everything was engulfed in a wave of heat and light before a piece of metal flew out and smacked the Griffon straight in the face, turning his world to black.