What else is up There?

Foreword: I want to make something clear to you guys: I will accept criticism of my story(ies) as long as it's LEGIT. Like plot holes or missed explanations. If you come at me yelling about a character's death and you're not being sarcastic about it or the fact I haven't made Captain Mitchell fuck Twilight or some other stupid shit like that then I'm gonna delete your comment and give you a warning. Do it again and I'll block you.

Please remember to leave a comment letting me know what you think of the chapter.

Chapter Seventeen

Operation: Reclaim Phase Three

March 29th, 2553
Equestrian star system
Skies above Manehattan
Shipmaster Rala 'Toram of the CCS-class battlecruiser Everlasting Faith; Fleetmaster of the Second Fleet of Unified Clarity.
8:14AM

"Rala! We're alright! Listen to me; we need help. Try to contact your fleet and get them out here to assist us!" the human Captain, James Mitchell, declared over the comm from the control room of his ship, which was now crashed upon the surface of Equestria.

"Understood, Captain. Communications, open a link with my fleet" Rala 'Toram commanded.

The link was established and Rala began his address to them.

"Ships of the Second Fleet of Unified Clarity, this is Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram, we have found the planet Equestria and are requesting immediate assistance against the Jiralhanae" Rala stated.

"Understood, Fleetmaster. Give us the galactic coordinates and we will be there soon" Shipmaster of the Solace in Darkness replied.

'Toram did so.

"Shipmaster, the Jiralhanae ships are turning and preparing to fire on us" the Faith's operations officer announced.

"Arm all plasma turrets and the bottom aft projector, come to heading seven-seven-nine and ready all point-defense pulse turrets" Rala ordered.

His bridge officers knew heading seven-seven-nine would bring them right past the Jiralhanae capital ship, a Supercarrier by the name of Inquisitive Follower, but trusted their Shipmaster enough to believe he knew what he was doing.

The Everlasting Faith began to rocket forward as the Jiralhanae ships prepared to fire, coming to bear on the Sangheili battlecruiser.

The humans would most assuredly believe Rala was crazy; a lone CCS-class battlecruiser going up against one CSO-class Supercarrier and thirteen assault carriers was nigh suicide.

But Rala 'Toram knows what he's doing.

As the Everlasting Faith approached the Jiralhanae the Inquisitive Follower and an assault carrier named Shadow of Pure Spirit kept turning to engage them, falling right into the trap Rala was preparing.

"Shipmaster the Jiralhanae ships are about to start firing upon us!"

"Fire all plasma turrets at the Shadow of Pure Spirit and fire the plasma projector and pulse turrets at the Inquisitive Follower" Rala 'Toram ordered.

All seven plasma turrets spit their shaped torpedoes out at the assault carrier while the projector and pulse turrets all streamed beams of plasma into the weakest points of the Supercarrier, all attacks searing open their hulls as their shields were down from preparing to fire.

"Jiralhanae energy signatures have reached peak and the two vessels are about to fire!" the Faith's operations officer exclaimed.

"Down! Down now!"Rala commanded and the navigation officer complied, forcing the Everlasting Faith to dip down as the two Jiralhanae ships opened fire.

The assault carrier, Shadow of Pure Spirit, launched all plasma torpedoes which raced out and impacted on the nose of the Supercarrier, Inquisitive Follower, as it fired its fore plasma projector.

The assault carrier was obliterated and the nose of the Supercarrier was heavily damaged and venting plasma and coolant.

The Jiralhanae assault force was now thirteen ships strong.

"Swing us around and arm all plasma turrets!" Shipmaster 'Toram ordered as the Everlasting Faith turned to the right, flying right behind the left side of the Jiralhanae assault force.

When the Jiralhanae assault force arrived above Manehattan they failed to spread out and as a result they were now all bunched together, leaving no room to maneuver as the Sangheili ship flanked right behind them.

"Fire the plasma turrets! Target the thrusters of every possible Jiralhanae ship!" Rala yelled.

The weapons officer complied and the plasma turrets fired, sending seven plasma torpedoes into the thrusters of seven assault carriers.

Only three impacted on the actual thrusters of their intended ships, the other four detonated harmlessly on their targets' shields.

The Jiralhanae assault force above Manehattan had been reduced to ten ships.

With less ships now there was more room for the survivors to maneuver, allowing five to turn and engage the Everlasting Faith while the other five prepared to glass Manehattan.

At the head of the ships attacking the Faith was the Jiralhanae Supercarrier, Inquisitive Follower.

Suddenly the evening sky turned a dark red as the other five ships in the assault force began glassing Manehattan, their plasma raining down and incinerating all at the outer edges of the city.

"Arm all weapons and target the glassing ships; we need to buy time for the humans to retreat!" Rala ordered.

*-*-*

"GET DOWN!" Staff Sergeant Williams yelled as a group of Banshees screamed overhead, their fuel-rod bombs detonating near the Marines and showering them in molten rock and gravel.

"Covenant forces! Down the street! Fourteen plus Brutes and one Wraith tank! Smasher 1-1, engage!" Williams yelled into her radio at the Scorpion tank assisting them, the same one that had assisted during the battle to retake Barklin.

Smasher 1-1's turret turned to fire when suddenly the tank detonated, a plasma bomb from the Wraith down the road having landed on it and immediately disintegrated the tank.

"Jesus fuck! We are fucked!" Corporal Hughes exclaimed, hunkering down to avoid getting shot.

"Shut up, trooper! Our guns still work, which means we can still kick some ass!" Staff Sergeant Williams told him.

"Private Samuel, bring up the Spanker!" Williams commanded as the all too familiar stench of burning rubber filled the air from the Brute spike rifles.

The young Private sprinted over and dumped an M41 rocket launcher on the Staff Sergeant, crouching down as superheated spikes streaked directly over him.

"Both tubes are hot, and your backblast is clear!" Private Samuel yelled as he returned fire on the Brutes with his MA5C.

"Copy that!" Staff Sergeant Williams responded.

Williams took aim and fired both tubes at the Wraith tank, which impacted and cracked the front of the armor but otherwise did no damage.

Suddenly the pilot hatch opened and the Brute operating the tank popped his head up, keeping his hands down inside the vehicle.

The rockets damaged his vision cameras, and he now must use his eyes to see the enemy.

"Frag out!" Corporal Hughes shouted as he stood from cover, lobbing an M9 high-explosive dual-purpose fragmentation grenade at the Wraith tank.

The grenade soared high into the air before clattering down into the pilot seat of the Wraith, detonating and killing the Brute and rendering the tank inoperable.

"Hah! Suck it, motherfu-" Corporal Hughes started to yell, cut off when a beam rifle shot lanced through his skull and killed him.

"Jesus Christ! Corporal Hughes is down!" Private First Class Mallard screamed.

"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" Staff Sergeant Williams ordered, falling back for a nearby alleyway while her Marines followed closely behind.

"Private Samuel, cover us" Williams commanded as the Marines entered the alley, the young Private turning and crouching with his MA5C at the ready.

"Got it!" he yelled.

Staff Sergeant Williams and PFC Mallard proceeded to the other end of the alley where they saw that the street beyond was mostly clear.

"Good. Private, move up!" Williams declared, turning around just in time to see a Brute spike grenade stab into Private Samuel's face.

"AHHHH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT O-" Samuel screamed, turning around just as the grenade detonated, spikes ricocheting off the walls as his head and upper chest were completely obliterated.

Staff Sergeant Williams winced.

"All UNSC forces, this is Captain James Mitchell. We are losing Manehattan and the Dawn of the Sun is down. All UNSC forces are ordered to retreat! Repeat: ALL UNSC forces are ordered to retreat from Manehattan. Retreat any way you can!" Captain Mitchell said on the radio.

"What's up with the Elites?" Williams asked, looking up at the sky to see the Everlasting Faith engaged in combat with five Covenant ships, including a Supercarrier.

Staff Sergeant Williams heard a snarl behind and her and looked over her shoulder, seeing the Brutes from earlier coming down the alley.

"Shit" Williams declared, turning and shooting the lead Brute through the face with her BR55HB-SR.

"Run!" the Staff Sergeant commanded, immediately sprinting down the street where she found a Warthog, the windscreen shattered and the driver a blackened corpse, slumped over the steering wheel.

She pulled him out and climbed in, starting the engine while PFC Mallard took position on the gun.

"Hang on!"

The Warthog turned and they began driving down the street at top speed, avoiding any and all debris on the road.

They entered a particularly harrowing patch of debris and were forced to weave back and forth, the edge of the city coming ever closer to them.

"We're almost there, Mallard!" Williams yelled back to the Marine.

The Staff Sergeant weaved past another chunk of debris and hit a crater in the road, the front left tire catching as the momentum carried over, wrenching the tire violently to the right which sheared it from the vehicle.

The Warthog was toast.

"Shit. Come on, Private, we gotta run!" Williams declared, hopping out and waiting for Mallard to do the same.

"Sarge, look!" Private First Class Mallard said, pointing up at the sky.

The Everlasting Faith was retreating, allowing the ten Covenant ships above the city to move into position to glass the city.

"It's over, it's all over for us, Sarge" Mallard stated.

"No! NO!" Williams shouted as the plasma began to rain down upon Manehattan, incinerating the buildings and reducing them to smoldering glass.

Just then the Covenant Supercarrier leading the formation hovered into position directly above the last survivors of Marine Combat Team Fourteen, the plasma building up on the bottom plasma projector as it prepared to fire.

"It was an honor serving under you, Staff Sergeant Williams" PFC Mallard said, saluting the CO.

Instead of returning the salute Williams immediately hugged the Private, burying her face into his neck and holding him tightly.

"I loved all under my command, and it was tough watching them die. But they won't be alone long" Staff Sergeant Williams said, pulling back and staring into Mallard's eyes.

All she saw was intense loyalty, devotion, and an undying love for her. In the face of death her Marines would all gladly follow her into hell, regardless of how few their numbers were.

"I love you, Marine" Staff Sergeant Williams said just as the plasma rained down on them all, reducing the last of Manehattan to smoldering glass.

*-*-*

Operation Reclaim deemed critical failure. All UNSC and Sangheili forces are retreating to formulate new action against the Covenant. Casualty report: 1,000 UNSC Marines. 5,000 Sangheili warriors.

Captain's note: they knew, they fucking knew. It was a GODDAMN trap and we walked right into it without even knowing until it was too late.

How did they know...?

How?

Legal note: Staff Sergeant Jennifer Williams, Captain James Mitchell, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries.