Halo: The Interlopers

The ride to Appleoosa took three hours and twelve minutes, the travelers cooped up inside their Pelicans for the duration without so much as an in-flight movie. Some of them just decided to take a nap, which wasn’t terribly difficult considering that the seats were comfortable for humans. For ponies on the other hand, or hoof, it was an agonizingly slow journey.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack would’ve preferred to have taken the train, since then they’d have things to do, although it would’ve taken whole day to make the trip then. When the dropship slowed, they let out sighs of relief; they could finally get out of this flying prison.

The humans, all of whom wore desert BDUs, just yawned and stretched as they awoken from their naps and enjoyed the feeling of limbering up. They checked their weapons and gear to make sure everything was right, and walked to the doors as the dropship slowly descended.

Ethan, who was in the same Pelican as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, likewise stretched and yawned, having slept through the flight. He put his gold-visored CQC helmet on, ran his hand across the UA mod and HUL on it, and checked his weapons.

His trusty MA37 assault rifle was working fine. It was cocked and locked, meaning if he needed to use it all he’d have to do is flip the safety off. His M45 Tactical Shotgun was likewise loaded and ready to go, and he was carrying flechette rounds in addition to the standard buckshot.

The bay door opened, revealing a Warthog, a Scorpion, and four Mongooses deployed, in addition to the tents being removed from the other two Pelicans. The troopers stepped out, followed by Ethan and the ponies. A few Falcons carrying cargo and some troops had landed also.

The operation’s CO, Major Zero, was directing the soldiers as they set up their camp. They were just half a kilometer from the nearest building in Appleoosa, allowing them to quickly respond to any situation there if need be while still giving them adequate space.

Ethan walked up to him and saluted. “Major.”

The graying officer smiled. He had a scar on his left cheek that was pronounced when he smiled. “Bloody good to have you onboard, Captain. I need to get Task Force FOX set up, but we need to get on the mission ASAP. Take the ponies into town, ask around about the disappearances and odd happenings, etcetera.”

“Yes sir. Dash! AJ!” The ponies looked at him, waiting for him to say what he needed. “We’re headin’ into town. I’ll need you to help me with the locals.” He began walking to the town, his boots leaving fairly deep prints because of the massive weight of his olive and black armor. The ponies’ hoofprints were shallower, quite logically.

After a couple minutes of walking, they reached the settlement.

“Welcome to Aaaaaaaaaappleoosa!” A cheery voice sang from the town square. Ethan turned to see a peach-colored earth pony in a brown Stetson and vest. Applejack cantered up to him.

“Cousin Braeburn! Good to see ya!” She hugged him for a few seconds.

“Good to see ya too, cousin Applejack! You too Rainbow Dash.” He eyed them, noticing the desert combat fatigues they wore. “What’s with the new duds?”

“Well, I reckon y’all saw those aircraft back there. We’re part of a small force sent to investigate the crash near this here town, and what somepony thinks might be Unikrainian forces ‘round these parts. We’re just 'civilian advisors', though.”

Braeburn suddenly looked worried. “We’ve lost some ponies AJ. We don’t know what happened to ‘em, but they gone missin’ in the ol’ canyons near here. We all figured it was just some mountain lions or snakes or somethin’ but if there’s Kranies 'round here, that’d explain it. But maybe that means they’re still alive.” He looked hopeful during that last sentence, but a sort of guilty hopeful.

Ethan radioed the Major. “Major, this is Mav- I mean, Captain Natick.” He’d forgotten that since this was a so-called “white” operation, he didn’t need to use his callsign, or at least not yet. “We’ve got a lead. How copy?”

“Solid copy, Captain. Fill me in.”

“A local indicates that several ponies have gone MIA in a canyon near here. They attributed it to animals, but the local looked worried when we mentioned possible Unikrainian forces in the AO. He thinks that might explain the disappearances, and so do I. I recommend a night raid using Falcons to get us in the canyon, using fast-ropes to deploy.”

“Agreed. Continue interviewing the locals until then. Every scrap of intel helps.”

Ethan looked down at Braeburn. “Where can I get more information on the area? Maps, plants and animals, local landmarks, information on missing individuals, I need it.”

“Th-there’s some fellas at the saloon wh-who can help ya out.” Braeburn stuttered as he finally noticed the seven-foot armored figure, whose impersonal tone was as intimidating as his massive stature.

“I’ll come with, I could use a drink,” Rainbow Dash stated.

They walked to the wooden building, which sported a large worn sign. The iron sign in question hung from the front porch, which displayed a cross-eyed mare wearing a Stetson and drinking a mug of something.

They entered through the swinging doors, expecting everypony to turn around to see the newcomers. They failed to emulate that cliché.

The bartender gazed at him harshly. “We got some missin’ ponies posters in th’ back, maps too. You lookin’ fer a reward?”

“No. Give them to me and I’ll be on my way.”

The bartender disappeared into a back room, and returned a few minutes later with several rolls of paper. Ethan took them and strolled out, before he realized Dash wasn’t following him.

As if she knew why he’d stopped, she reassured him with a grin. “I’ll stay here, Eeth. I don’t think anypony’ll give me trouble now.”

He smiled back under his own helmet, and nodded. “Don’t get too hammered, okay RB?”

“Will do.”

***

Several hours later, the sun was setting on Appleoosa and the nearby UNSC camp. A team of nine troopers and Ethan were going over maps of the canyon nearby, and memorizing the missing ponies. One of them wasn’t a pony, rather she was a young female buffalo named “Little Strongheart”. Other than that, they were fairly average.

“Okay, people listen up. The force remaining here at base is Alpha. We’re going to be Bravo and Charlie teams. Bravo stays with me, Charlie will be deployed on my command. I’ll lead Bravo in to recon the area, and we’ll radio in for Charlie when we find the missing civilians. Charlie will defend the civilians while Bravo and I continue searching for hostiles. We will fast-rope from our Falcons and proceed northward, towards the area where the civilians went missing and the REA heli was shot down. It’ll get cold, and we may have to stay overnight, so bring your survival gear. If the civilians are highly malnourished, remember not to let them eat too much; too much food too soon after a period of starvation can kill, and often does. Load up soldiers, we leave in five!”

Ethan walked to the UH-144 Falcons and took a seat in one. The pilots started the engines, kicking up dust from the rotor and jet wash. Within minutes, the troopers began to pile into the Falcons, taking their own seats. One by one, they called out that they were onboard, and when they’d all reported in, Major Zero gave the pilots a green light to take off.

The twin-rotor helicopters gained altitude and tilted forward, picking up speed. The ride was short, the transports flying fast and low. Within a few minutes, they’d reached the drop zone.

“Okay, Bravo team, get hooked. Charlie, you’re on standby, get those side-mounted MGs ready just in case.”

Ethan and Bravo team attached their belts to the ropes, and checked to make sure they were secure. After checking, they sounded off.

“Bravo two is hooked!”

“Bravo three hooked!”

“This is Bravo four, I’m hooked!”

“Bravo five, all set!”

Ethan took a deep breath before giving the order. “Bravo lead here. All Bravo, descend!”

The five of them slid down the ropes and into the canyon at high speed. Their boots hit the ground with only the noise of dirt and rocks being moved under each boot. Ethan activated his night vision, and the rest of Bravo put on their NVGs.

“Save your batteries, only use the goggles when necessary. Flashlights when NVGs are recharging. There’s supposed to be caves around here, so we might be doing underground fighting; no moon to give us light down there,” Ethan whispered over his comms.

They all flashed green acknowledgment lights and hung their goggles around their necks. The team advanced through the canyon quietly, with Ethan on point. Each time he heard a rustling sound in a bush he would motion for them to stop. And each time it’d be something like a Jackalope, a Cactus Cat, or in one case that drew chuckles from the group, a Chupacabra in passing, carrying a noisy owl as a passenger on its back.

After proceeding for another hour, they saw smoke rising from up ahead. They all knew this sign meant intelligent beings.

“Heh. About time. Okay Bravo, we’ve got company up ahead. Stay low, return fire only,” Ethan ordered. “Put on your NVGs and follow my lead.”

The soldiers donned their goggles and activated them. Crawling on the ground, Ethan led the soldiers to an overwatch point and began to observe the camp below.

The camp had several tents, circled around a campfire. In the far end were the civilians, tied up and lined up for execution. Three ponies, clad in Unikrainian uniforms, pointed their weapons at the civilians and flicked off the safeties.

The soldiers took aim and fired.