Broken Mirror, Part One

UNSC Paris

2 Hours Later

“So, let me see if I have this all straight.” said Commander Baxter. “This ‘Enclave’ is one of the major factions in this ‘Wasteland’, and they’ve now decided for some inexplicable reason, through unknown means, decided to…” Baxter paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words. “We don’t know, do we?”

“No, we don’t.” said Steeljack. “We also don’t know how many of their soldiers are actually on the ground, nor where they’re based out of. All we know is that at least two of the ones that are left have power armor, and that they all have some laser rifles.”

“Then allow me to sum up what we actually know.” said Lilith, as she looked around the table before shrugging. “We know jack shit.”

“That would be an understatement if I ever heard one.” replied Baxter, before looking at Dusk. “Like I said earlier, I’ll gladly do what I can to help, but we need food and medical supplies.”

Dusk nodded. “I sent Gramps and Dart back to Manehattan to raid my supplies for now. It’s not nearly what you’ll need for the long run, but it’s a start. But we need to establish a regular supply line first, and being in the middle of an undeveloped forest doesn’t do anything to make it easier to establish that line.”

Tremble walked up to Dusk, tapping him on the shoulder. “Just tell me where to grab the supplies. I can have my men make some runs with a Warthog.”

“Works for me. I’ll just have to iron out the details.” replied Dusk. “Although I’ve got a nagging feeling that I’ll need some assistance from the Princesses.”

“Fine by me. I’d rather my people not starve -” Before Baxter could continue, one of the bridge officers walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. “Alright. Show us.” The officer put a chip into the table’s display, and a hologram of an island appeared in front of the group. “It would appear that we’ve detected a high-energy pulse on this island. It’s about fifty miles off the coast from our present location.”

“Deserted island, huh?” Dusk stopped to think for a moment. “Can anyone say ‘Enclave’?”

“I could, I have my doubts.” said Steeljack. “Two hours and fifty miles to a deserted island in the middle of the ocean? I don’t buy it.”

“Why not?” questioned the Commander. “We have it confirmed that the two survivors from Dodge Junction flew off. How couldn’t they make it?”

“They’re wearing power armor.” replied Steeljack. “In the air that’s all dead weight. And Dodge Junction is about twenty miles from the coast. I really don’t think that two armored Enclave soldiers could fly seventy miles to a point in the middle of the ocean.”

“So we have no logical answer to our readings.” stated Baxter. “Sergeant Tremble, prep your men. I want you wheels up within the hour.”

“Commander, if you don’t mind I’d rather go to investigate.” said Steeljack. “Although a ride would be nice.”

“But you plan on taking someone with you?” asked Lilith.

“Just go get Star and Violet. No reason to leave out the whole gang.” said Steeljack. With that, he turned and went for the door, leaving a rather quiet room in his wake.
______________________________________________________________________________

Steeljack walked into the hangar, looking around for the room for a moment before a pilot approached him. “You Steeljack?”

Steeljack just nodded. “Name’s Donald Evans. Commander Baxter told me you’ll need a lift.”

Steeljack remained silent for a moment, noticing that the pilot looked rather agitated. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

“What was your first clue?” questioned the Pilot.

“You keep motioning to your knife.” replied Steeljack. “Crossing your arms is all fine and dandy, but it’s a shitty cover.” With that, Steeljack got uncomfortably close to the pilot, before staring him right in the face. “What’s your issue?”

“I’m being told to trust an alien, when aliens have been out to wipe out my species.” The pilot just snorted. “Do you really think trust is on the top of my list?”

“Doubt it. But you’re stuck with me.” Steeljack stepped back from the pilot. “Now, where’s your ship?” The pilot pointed out a pelican on the far side of the hangar, near the main entrance. As Steeljack walked over, he noticed that Violet and Star were sitting on the edge of the hangar floor, staring out onto the surrounding forest. Steeljack elected to ignore the pair and went straight for the Pelican. Once he got into the troop bay, he started rummaging through the storage compartments along the roof before he found a flat black pistol, it’s holster and six magazines. Steeljack went about fitting the holster, which had places to hold five of the magazines, and checking over the pistol once it was loaded.

“New toy?”

Steeljack turned around, noting that Lilith, Star and Violet had found him. “Dusk mentioned that Tremble keeps some spare weapons lying around.”

“So, you’re just going to grab one?” asked Star

“I asked Tremble about getting one earlier. I just wanted something small, and he told me that the Pelicans usually have some spare magnums, along with ammo.” Steeljack paused for a moment to shut the upper compartment. “He just told me to grab one and keep it for now. Something about how our rifles are ‘pieces of shit’ and it would be easier if we used sticks.”

Star just smirked, before lighting her horn. In a flash of light, Star, Lilith and Violet were blessed with the presence of their respective minigun, rocket launcher and plasma rifle. “I’m pretty sure these don’t categorize as sticks.”

“Once you run out of ammo they do.” snarked Steeljack. The unexpected quip left the group silent, before their pilot walked in. “We’re ready when you are Evans.”

The pilot just nodded before going to the cockpit and preparing for takeoff. As the ramp on the Pelican closed, a flash of light in the hangar caught the attention of the group. Steeljack just chuckled. “Looks like Dusk has company…”
______________________________________________________________________________

Celestia and Luna appeared in the Paris’ hangar in a flash of light, drawing the attention of some of the marines on the deck. The pair began walking towards one of the marines, before Luna grabbed him by the collar.

“My sister and I are looking for a unicorn. Dark blue fur, black mane. Where is he.” questioned Luna.

Celestia walked over to Luna, tapping her on the shoulder. With that, she dropped the marine. “I do apologize for my sister’s tongue. But that unicorn is a friend of ours. If you would be so kind, we would very much like to see him.”

“He’s with the Commander.” said the marine. “I’ll take you to him.”

The marine quickly walked out of the hangar, both princesses on his heel. As they walked down the hallway to the main elevator, both princesses looked around, noting that only a handful of the crews on repair duty bothered stopping to take note of their unannounced visitors.

Once they boarded the elevator, Celestia spoke up. “I get the impression that two ‘aliens’ don’t warrant much attention?”

Their marine escort shook his head. “Not when the aliens haven’t tried to kill us. Besides, the Commander told us to make our hosts feel at home, even if some of us aren’t too thrilled.”

“Any reason for that?” questioned the princess.

“The first aliens our species met tried to annihilate us. That was twenty years and who knows how many planets ago.” replied the marine. “Me, I’m a bit more open minded, but I haven’t seen combat before Earth got attacked. Hence I haven’t been scarred like some of the others.”

Before the princesses had a chance to add anything, the doors to the elevator opened and the marine led the pair onto the ship’s bridge. At a table in the center of the room was Dusk and an older human, deep in the midst what appeared to be an important conversation.”

“- and why are you suggesting an apple orchard as the main food supplier.?” asked the human.

“Details Baxter, details. Sweet Apple Acres is one of the most efficient food producers in the country. That’s why I suggest that it’s used as the main supplier. And they do more than just grow apples.” replied Dusk.

The human nodded, before he noticed the recently arrived group. “Private Wilkins, do you or your guests have anything to add?”

The private silently shook his head.

“Alright then.” The human walked towards the group, Dusk right on his heels. “I’m going to wager a guess that you two are his boss?” asked the human, who jestured towards Dusk.

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister Luna. We are the rulers of Equestria, and as you pointed out I am Dusk’s ‘boss’ as you put it.”

“Very well. I’m Timothy Baxter, Commander of the UNSC Paris. “ replied the human. “Now, we were just discussing how to establish supply lines so we can restock our food and medical supplies. Care to join us?”

“Commander, would you care to explain why you’re only seeking food and medicine?” questioned Luna.

“We’re stranded on an alien world with no contact with our people, and we’re running low on food and medicine. Once we run out either, my men will either be crippled by sickness or hunger. That isn’t something that I’m willing to let happen.” replied the Commander.

“Even if it means you help us fight a war?” inquired the diarch.

“Without question. My men have already seen what the Enclave did to your people at Dodge Junction. Sergeant Tremble’s report and photographs were very thorough. Simply put, you’re people don’t have a capacity to defend themselves, while my men would have either began dying because of lack of supplies, or the Enclave would have found us. Either way, we both share a mutual interest of protecting our respective people.”

“My only question is what is this ‘Enclave’ you speak of?” asked Celestia.

Dusk proceeded to introduce his face to the palm of his hand, before looking at the princess. “That’s my bad. I’ve been a bit focused on trying to establish a plan for resupplying Baxter’s men, so calling wound up on the back burner.”

“And why would that be?”

“Well… The humans have weapons, soldiers, and vehicles. What’s a bit more important; insuring we have an army to defend ourselves against a threat that’s already here, or playing politics?” asked Dusk.

“It still would have been good to know you’ve identified our foe.” grumbled Luna.

“And you’ll get over it.” quipped Dusk “Baxter’s men are the only reason we were able to take back Dodge Junction. As far as I’m concerned, their ability and willingness to help us takes precedence.”

Before another word could be said an alarm started going off on the bridge, sending the room into chaos. Humans were running between stations and arming themselves with weapons from lockers scattered around the bridge.

“What the hell is going on?” demanded Baxter

“We’ve got contacts! Two ships, unknown classification. One is moving on our position!” yelled one of the crewmen.

Baxter walked over to the table in the middle of the room before hitting a button. “Red alert, all hands man your battlestations!” Baxter hit another set of buttons. “Bridge to Engineering, power up the maneuvering thrusters. I need us airborne now.”

“Sir, we don’t even know if they’ll-”

“Just do it!” yelled Baxter, who hit a few more buttons. “Sergeant Tremble?”

“Tremble here, go ahead.”

“Load up the Pelicans with as many weapons, ammo, vehicles, marines and any non-essential personnel and get to Dodge Junction and establish a rally point. Any other non-essential personnel will evac with any of the vehicles that can’t go on the Pelicans and head for the rally point.”

“Copy that. What’s our timeframe?”

Baxter looked over at the officer. “How long until they get here?”

“About half an hour.” replied the officer.

Baxter went back to the table. “Tremble, you’ve got twenty minutes until the ground boys need to be off, twenty-five until I need the Pelicans out. I’d prefer it if you ran ahead of schedule so we can get this bucket in the air.”

“I’ll make it happen.”

“Baxter, we’ve only got one ship headed this way. Where’s the other one going?” asked Dusk.

“It’s headed north. Looks like a mountain range.” said one of the officers.

“It’s the Crystal Mountains. If they’re positioned right, they can easily reach Canterlot, Vanhoover and the Crystal Empire.” said Celestia.

“We’ll just have to keep an eye on them then. I’m more concerned about the ship headed our way.” replied the Commander. “Conn, get a scan on that ship up on the command interface. I want to know what we’re dealing with.” A moment later, a holographic representation of the ship appeared over the command table. The Enclave ship was long and flat, having four cannons on either side, a number of other turrets scattered along the hull, three large engines at the rear of the ship. “Analysis?”

One of the officers approached the command table. “It’s about 600 meters long, 150 meters at the widest point, and 160 meters tall. Their weapons appear to be energy-based, with the ones along the hull being the bigger ones. Most likely those are the heavy weapons, while the ones port and starboard are for triple-A. Hull armor is an unknown material but is about two meters thick. However, their hull is reinforced with some sort of shielding technology.”

“So, we’re outmatched and outgunned?” asked the Commander

“Not necessarily.” replied the officer. “The MAC systems are still functional, and we have plenty of ammo aboard. But the armor on that ship isn’t Titanium-A plate. Odds are that without shields we could shred right through the hull with the nine-tens, and we might be able to take those shields out with a few Archers.”

“Might I ask what a ‘nine-ten’ and a ‘Archer’ is?” questioned Celestia.

“The Archer is a type of missile that we have onboard for ship to ship combat. At the moment, we have a full complement of 1200 missiles, as we never had a good opportunity to use them back at Earth. As far as the nine-tens are concerned, officially called the M910 Point Defense Gun, they are large projectile weapons that work in a similar manner to our firearms, yet on a larger scale. We pissed through about ten thousand rounds of our full count of one hundred thousand before we made our run at the Prophet of Regret’s carrier. Conversely, we wound up here afterwards, but that’s a story for later.” replied the Commander. “Dusk, if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to stay here on the bridge. As you’re aware, my second-in-command is dead, and I could use a temporary replacement.”

Dusk nodded. “I’d be honored.”

“Good.” Baxter walked over to one of the many cabinets lining the wall and pulled out a grey jacket, before tossing it to Dusk. “But you’ll need to look the part.”

Dusk looked at the jacket, noting the smooth grey material it was made of, and the black eagle over the left breast. Dusk pulled the jacket on, before buttoning up the lapel and fastening a built in belt. “How do I look?”

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, before Celestia walked up to Dusk. “You look fine. Just don’t let it go to your head.”

Dusk nodded. “I'll keep that in mind.”

“Now, I need both of you to get off my ship. If at all possible, I’d like for you two to accompany Zulu Company to Dodge Junction, for the sake of establishing positive relations.” requested the Commander.

“We would be honored.” replied the Diarch. “Luna, let’s go.”

As the two princesses walked off the bridge Dusk looked over at Commander Baxter, looking rather concerned. “Maybe I’m paranoid, but you have another reason for asking the princesses to accompany the marines, don’t you?”

“I’m not entirely convinced that we’ll manage to survive a prolonged firefight. You’ve spoken highly enough of your leaders, that I would expect them to aid my people when and if it is needed.” stated the Commander solemnly.

“Then why do you want me here?” asked Dusk

“I need to bring someone up to speed on how this ship runs, and how to command it should I become incapacitated or get killed. Without an officer with command experience and the ability to think on his or her feet, someone needs a crash-course.” replied the Commander. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re worth teaching.”

Dusk nodded, and followed Commander Baxter off of the bridge to oversee the evacuation efforts.

______________________________________________________________________________

Steeljack sat in silence for the majority of the flight out to the island, staring at the ground while he checked and rechecked his new sidearm. After a multitude of checks and rechecks, he holstered the pistol before heading for the cockpit. As he slid through the door, Evans looked back at him for a moment, before turning his attention to flying. Off in the distance, Steeljack saw the island that they were headed for. Noting an open seat next to Evans, Steeljack plopped himself down and sighed.

“You do realize I’m not a good therapist.” quipped Evans.

Steeljack cocked an eyebrow before chuckling. “Then you and I have something in common.”

“Really? I have something in common with an alien?” Evans just started laughing.

“Is it really that funny?” asked Steejack

“Of course it is!” Evans looked over at Steeljack. “The last thing I’d expect to hear from an alien is that we share common ideals. Maybe I should see if I can dig up some club jackets!”

“Ha ha ha Evans, very funny.” said Steeljack as he rolled his eyes. “Now, back to business. Do you see anything on that island?”

Evans hit a few switches on a console off to his right, before checking what appeared to be a sensor screen. “Well I’m seeing what looks like two dry docks, roughly large enough to hold the Paris, four triple-A emplacements at elevated positions, what looks like a command building, some barracks, and a tunnel leading to some sort of bunker near the beach outside of their base”

“How close can we get before they see us?” asked Steeljack

Evans paused for a moment before looking back at the screen. “I’m not seeing any air warning radar. Chances are that someone would have to look right at us to know we’re here.”

“Put us down on that beach then. We’ll check the bunker first. With any luck, there will be access points to other parts of the base.” Steeljack got up from the chair, and began walking back to the troop bay, where he hit the release for the rear hatch. Looking over at his companions, he nodded, before reaching up to the overhead compartments. “We’re almost to the island, and they’ve got a decent sized base. Four gun emplacements, drydocks, full barracks, a command center and some sort of bunker down on the beach.” As Steeljack dug through the compartment, he found some an explosive labeled ‘C-12’, and what appeared to be a sub-machine gun with four matching clips. Pocketing the clips, Steeljack checked over the weapon, finding the magazine release, the weapon’s safety selector, and a button that allowed the stock to be extended.

“So we’re shooting first, asking questions later?” asked Lilith

“Hell no. We’re taking the bunker on the beach first, then we’ll try to infiltrate the command building.” Steeljack turned to look back at the group. “Listen, this isn’t anything like us going after Spark. We’re fighting a trained military force. So the three of you stay close, and just follow my lead.”

With a shudder, the Pelican made landfall, and the group filed off. Once they made the beach, the Pelican took off, and flew back over open water before Steeljack’s radio crackled to life.

“Ground team, Evans here. I’m gonna hang back and try to avoid getting shot down. Radio in once you’re ready for pickup.”

“Copy that Evans.” Steeljack clicked off his radio, and motioned for the others to follow as he started walking up the beach towards the bunker entrance.

After a few minutes the group reached the bunker, and Steeljack motioned for the group to stop. Steeljack walked up to the bunker door.

“Something wrong?” asked Star

Steeljack grabbed the latch for the door, and after attempting to pull it open, the door unceremoniously fell to the ground. Steeljack looked back at Star, before jarring a thumb at the entrance. “That.” Steeljack turned to walk in the door, when he was hit in the chest with a blast of magic, throwing him down to the water’s edge. As he tried to get back up, a grey blur smashed into him, tossing Steeljack into the water. On his second attempt to stand, that same blur charged once more. Yet Steeljack was ready, stepping to the side before swinging his arm out and catching his attacker with a closeline.

The blur turned out to be a pegasus. As he attempted to stand Steeljack approached him with his weapon aimed at his head, before he was tackled from behind by yet another assailant, who tried to hold Steeljack’s head underwater. Steeljack heard yelling, when somepony pulled his attacker off him, while another dragged him up onto the beach before dropping him on his back.

As Steeljack laid out on the beach, trying to hack up the water that he had inhaled, he heard a voice he doubted he would hear again.

“Star, what the hell’s going on?”

Steeljack opened his eyes, and was met with the sight of a green earth pony mare decked out in leather armor, rifle in one hand with her back turned to Steeljack. He scrambled to his feet before swinging the mare around to see her face. Once he saw the black eye patch, Steeljack seemed to pale slightly.

“What the hell?” questioned the mare.

Steeljack let go of her shoulders and stepped back, nearly tripping over his own two feet. That backpedal allowed Steeljack some perspective; to the mare’s left was a grey pegasus with a ragged navy blue mane. To her right was a dark green unicorn, streaks of blue running through her black mane. But it was the mare in the middle that held Steeljack’s attention, while he held hers.

“Mom? Do you know this guy?” asked the pegasus.

The mare ignored her apparent son, walking up to Steeljack while never breaking eye contact. “Steeljack?”

For a moment Steeljack seemed to pale a bit further, before he reached out and cupped the mare’s chin. “Patch?”