Conversion Bureau: ULTOR

by Dragonman461

Rating: mature
Tags: Alternate Universe, Adventure, Crossover, Human, Dark
Length: 5265

A small batch of ponies from the Equestrian Resistance seeks help from the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit.

Twelve years ago, no one would have believed that aliens would have attacked our planet. Twelve years ago, no one would have believed that a pseudo-military force, consisting of barely two hundred people, would be able to save the world.
Twelve years ago, history was made.

After what seemed like a nightmare the world would never wake up from, we moved on stronger than ever before. We've rebuilt our cities, we've upgraded every arsenal on the planet, and now we're waiting for when another invasion tries to take us by surprise. We just kept our eyes on the sky, figuring the Invaders would be back for another attempt.

The world didn't expect something else to visit us.

The world wasn't prepared when they asked for help.

But we were.

Now here we are, bringing the fight to Empress Celestia in a retrofitted Supply Barge with unicorns and pegasi standing alongside us against the alicorn and her propaganda-blinded masses.

Idea stemmed from XCOM 2.

Events will take place on a separate Earth that has already fallen to Equestria, and will share similarities with the events of XCOM 2, though a majority of the events from XCOM: Enemy Within are canon prior to this story.

Takes place 12 years after the Invader War and the First Conversion War.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-08-31 19:03:24 UTC

Prologue: Second Contact

Twilight sighed as she ran her hoof through her mane again, running through the calculations yet again.

Twelve years.

It had been twelve years since the First Conversion War had come to a close. Twelve years since Equestria had swallowed Earth and wiped out Humanity. Well, not so much wipe them out as convert the mass majority, raising the population of New Equis by 6 billion and then some.

“Wish I had something to drink right about now,” she mused, popping a small pill into her mouth before swallowing it dry.

She examined her math again, the numbers showing the distribution of crops and supplies across New Equis in an attempt to integrate the massive boom in civilians. Even after more than a decade of work, half of the planet still wasn’t fully colonized, having been heavily scarred by the more desperate actions the Humans took in their dying moments.

She couldn’t blame them for it.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she smiled at who walked in.

“Princess,” the orange pegasus bowed.

“Sergeant Flash Sentry, so nice to see you,” she said as she got up.

They embraced in a kiss and held for a few seconds before taking a step away for a moment.

“I take it you’ve got news for me?” she inquired.

Flash nodded.

“Indeed. Though, I have to say, your feathers look a bit ruffled. Perhaps you need to take a moment?”

Twilight shook her head.

“No. I have to fly now. Get some exercise before hitting the bushel.”

Sentry nodded.

“I see. I’ll inform the cooks to start on something light for when you get back.”

“See you soon,” Twilight said before trotting off.

As she passed her desk, she extended her wing and knocked off a pen, which Flash caught in his hoof before tucking into his armor. With a quick peck, they went their separate ways.

Flash Sentry passed by a number of patrols and priceless Old Equis artifacts before reaching one of Canterlot Castle’s many new additions, an elevator.

The war with the Humans had not only changed the attitude of a large amount of the population (now considerably minimal thanks to the surge of Newfoals), but had also effected the tech-centric community of Equestria. Not a single piece of Human hardware of any kind was saved, no, but Princess Celestia decided to “learn from their mistakes,” and integrated general ideas from Human technology into Equestrian society.

The extent to which she had adapted Equestria to, nopony was entirely sure about.

Medical technologies had improved vastly since, Cancer being a distant memory now thanks to magic and technology combining to finally eradicate it. Similar to how the Humans were-

‘Focus,’ Flash thought to himself.

After another three minutes of walking, Flash Sentry made it to the Royal Kitchens.

Sentry walked between the chefs as they prepared yet another large banquet for Equestria’s royalty, stopping once he found a certain chef.

“Miss Pie!” he called.

The flat-maned grey-coated pony turned and nodded to Flash, a solemn look on her face.

“Flash,” she greeted.

Flash Sentry took the pen out of his armor compartment and tucked it into a pocket on her apron.

“Princess Twilight requested something from the freezer. As soon as possible.”

Marble Pie nodded and trotted off for the lower levels of the Castle.

\\\//////

Deep beneath Canterlot Castle, a single device blinked in the dark caves, illuminating a portion of it in a green light. A pony in standard Solar Guard armor approached the device and clicked his hoof on an extended port. They took out a pen and unscrewed the back end to reveal a small USB port. Without hesitation, they plugged the device into the terminal and typed in a series of numbers before turning away to return to his post, his mission complete.

\\\//////

“Shit, they’re coming for us now!” a grey and green thestral screamed as she abandoned her terminal.

Around her, ponies in Kevlar operating what little legacy of Mankind left for them began to panic and pack up their computers and other equipment. Many profanities were exchanged as dozens of ponies began to evacuate deeper into the cavern.

“Which way are they approaching from?” an armored pony asked the approaching thestral.

“Southeast numbering at least 50,000! They’ll be here in less than three hours!”

“Shit! Evacuate all key personnel and set charges near the entrances! We need to get the Monsoon in the air yesterday!” he called into a radio.

\\\//////

Deeper into the cavernous structure, a decommissioned Equestrian Dreadnought was being staffed and retrofitted with experimental technology. On the side, the Equestrian Flag had been scratched off and replaced with an image depicting the Sun being broken in half. Its frame was laden with wires and panels of all colors, the undercarriage resembling a computer than a vehicle.

As the last few personnel were boarding, a group of ponies were rushing in carrying conventional weapons of varying calibers. These ponies, however, were far different from those that had already boarded. Most of them were walking upright on their hind legs, which were reinforced externally with pistons and gyroscopes to balance them while their forelegs were almost entirely mechanical and ended in three tube-like fingers to allow them to wield the weapons of their former allies. The Cyber-Guards wore determined faces as they ran in their ballistic armor, swarming into the bay of the Monsoon around the VIP.

Princess Flurry Heart.

Long dead was the adorable filly that the Newfoals flocked to, however. She had taken after her mother’s ideals, and despised the brainwashed masses. Not for what they were, no, but for what they were forced into.

She had never been able to meet a Human, but hopefully, she prayed, that would change today.

“Princess Flurry Heart,” a mare called to her from the ramp of the Monsoon.

“Doctor Moondancer,” the 19-year-old alicorn responded. “How are we looking?”

“Nuclear reactor’s overclocking at 534%, and we’re directing the surge into the Dimensional Relocater. All systems are reading out in the green, but we don’t know how long it’ll hold. Rust bucket’s only meant for a one-way trip, but we’ll be lucky if it manages to keep from overheating in that one.”

“Alright then. We know the risks of this mission, but we need to prepare them. It’ll be our only chance to stop Celestia before her armies become too large to take down.”

A distant rumble of thunder echoed through the caverns around them, signaling the approach of the Newfoal armies.

”They’ve made it into the caves!” a stallion called over the radio. "Get the Monsoon out of here! I repeat, get th-“ static silenced the line.

Flurry Heart nodded to Moondancer before rushing onboard the Monsoon.

\\\//////

”Confirm, the Heart is onboard. Radio all teams to detonate charges.”

“Roger that,” responded a pony in what was to be the Captain’s seat.

“Pip, get me on all local frequencies,” she ordered.

“Copy that, prepping,” responded the spotted stallion.

When the indicator on her personal radio turned green, she spoke.

“Attention all demo teams, this is Captain Dinky Doo of the Monsoon, we have the Heart, I repeat, we have the heart in tow. Time to roll out the welcome mats and invite our guests for an extended stay.”

A series of beeps confirmed that her orders had made it to the demolition teams, and beyond the view of the bridge, the caves that lead to the Monsoon were destroyed, collapsing on any pegasi stupid enough to try to charge through. Closer to the entrances outside, bricks of plastic explosives detonated and trapped the Newfoal armies, reducing the once great Qumran Caves to a mass grave for the converted humans.

\\\//////

Earth

\\\//////

“Any developments yet?” Central Officer Bradford asked.

“Negative, sir,” a technician responded. "Whatever the anomaly was, it passed by Mars and is staying out of range for now.”

“Class and compliment?”

“Large Scout ship, compliment around… thirteen X-rays, no Psionics present. Five Mutons, five Thin Men and three Floaters, all standard variants.”

“Good. Shouldn’t be too much trouble if they try anything. Keep an eye out for it.”

“Yessir.”

Bradford left the technician and walked about the command console, staring up at the Holo-globe.

Twelve years ago, they had one satellite and barely enough funding to keep minimal inventory. Now they were the most powerful military force on the planet. Six X-COM sigils blinked over the globe, indicating the main bases for each continent, stationed in South Dakota, Japan, New Zealand, Egypt, Brazil, and their original headquarters, Germany. Smaller symbols were scattered across the globe, either to symbolize recruitment centers or external branches for fast response.

Each continental base was essentially a branch of the main base, though they had their own focuses. The North American HQ housed more interceptors than any other base, and was the facility contracting the most Aerospace funding, while the South American HQ was largely used to train newcomers, with a barracks capable of housing more than 2,000 soldiers. The African HQ was serving as their high-power communications facility, while the Asian HQ had the largest engineering department in all of X-COM, having a large enough workshop to provide 600 engineers a steady job manufacturing the world’s supply of laser and plasma-based weapons and top-notch armor usually reserved for their own soldiers.

“Commander on deck!” someone snapped into a salute.

Bradford turned on his heel and whipped his hand up to salute the Commander of X-COM.

The Commander walked slowly and deliberately on his artificial legs. the pale-skinned man examined everyone in the Command Center with his piercing green eyes, running a hand through his greying red hair before speaking.

“At ease.”

Everyone relaxed and went back to their terminals as Bradford approached.

“Commander, sir, how are you today?” he asked.

“Same as always, Central. Any news on that battlegroup in sector E7?”

“A couple of Firestorms managed to catch them with their shields down and sunk the bulk in the Atlantic before crashing their Supply Barge into the coast. Strike teams 3-1 through 3-4 reported in and have cleared out the ship without casualties without damaging anything. All that’s left is the group's Large Scout ship, and it’s pulled all the way back to Mars.”

“Good. Sent word to Brazil HQ and tell them to recede to Threat Level Yellow. I’ll let the Council know that we’ve stomped out the Invader’s foothold in the Americas.”

“Of course, sir.”

Thus far, it was another day in the lives of X-COM. Fighting the remnants of the Invader fleet, bureaucratic talks with the Council, and the Holo-globe flickering out as the base rumbled and quaked.

“The Hell was that!?” the Commander shouted as the lights dimmed above them.

“We just lost contact with all facilities across the globe!”

“Sensors are down!”

“Defense systems are rebooting!”

“Someone tell me what in God’s name just happened!” Bradford ordered.

“Sirs, something crashed right on top of the base! We’re not registering any Elerium generators, but it’s whatever it is, it's as big as a Battleship!”

“Get Interceptors in the sky, now! I want every Strike team prepped and ready to defend this base at all costs!”

“We’ve got satellite imaging back online!”

“Put it on screen!” the Commander ordered.

The main screen lit up and showed what had crashed atop the fields that hid their base from orbital view. What they saw stunned the staff.

“What the Hell?” Bradford said.

On screen was a massive zeppelin, easily as large as a Battleship. It was covered bow to stern in rust and wires, with fires spreading all over the actual balloon portion, as well as the metallic cabin. It was painted with an image of the Sun being split in half and waved the old United Nations flag along the undercarriage.

“Get anyone in the air in contact, now,” the Commander said.

“Establishing contact with local Interceptors now, sir.”

“Demon 1-3 to Central, come in Central, over.”

“This is Central,” Bradford responded. “Demon 1-3, we just got kamikaze-struck by a zeppelin, what was going on on your end?”

“Say again, Central, sounded like you said something about- holy mother of God! Where did that thing come from!?” the pilot shouted.

“Demon 1-4 to Central, come in Central, over,” another pilot called over the comms.

“Central to Demon 1-4, we read you. What’s going on up there?”

“There was a giant flash and then bam! That thing just crashes into the ground. Didn’t see it in the sky at all, it just… appeared and crashed.”

“What?” the Commander breathed out. “How could-“

“Movement! We’ve got movement from the vessel!” a technician shouted.

“Put it on screen,” Bradford said.

The screen readjusted its view and zoomed in on a small cluster of colors near one of the broken compartments of the vessel. When they zoomed in…

“What in the actual fuck.” the Commander gasped.

“Is… I-is tha…” Bradford trailed off.

“Is that a unicorn with a .50 caliber machine gun?”

\\\//////

"Ugh..." Dinky groaned, holding a hoof to her head.

The crew of the Monsoon was slow to recovery after their short trip.

"Status report," Dinky managed.

"Systems aren't responding," a technician reported. "I don't think we're getting any power."

"Bring up emergency reserves, then get me a reading on our coordinates."

"Affirmative."

The ponies of the bridge moved about to try and restore order to their operation. Just as they got started, the doors to the bridge were wrapped in a blue glow before being pried apart. On the opposite side of the doorway were two Cyberguards and Princess Flurry Heart.

"Captain Dinky, status report!" she said as the Cyberguards scanned their M27s through the room.

"Still breathing, ma'am," Dinky responded, snapping into a salute.

Flurry sighed in relief as she trotted up and hugged the unicorn.

"At ease."

Dinky returned the gesture and held the Princess for a moment before they moved.

"Any idea if the device worked?" Dinky asked.

"I looked around, and I couldn't sense Her influence anywhere. So we're hopefully in the next Earth over, or else we just dragged another Equestria into this."

"Well, time to break radio silence," Dinky said as she pulled a comm-link off of her shoulder.

\\\//////

"What the hell is going on here?" Bradford asked as he watched the scene unfurl from multiple angles.

The zeppelin was being watched over from all 4 Firestorm craft that the base had launched, as well as both of their Skyrangers that weren't down for upgrades.

The craft was spilling out a mess unlike anything anyone at XCOM had ever seen. Unicorns, as well as pegasi, began to pile out of the craft in droves, as well as small horses that didn't have either extremity, yet still didn't bear any semblance with Earth horses. They were colored like a child's story book and were alarmingly wearing full suits of Kevlar and had ballistic firearms, discontinued models from United States and French militaries.

The strangest thing by far, oddly enough, were the ponies that seemed to have artificial limbs that let them walk on their hind legs. They carried their weapons like other bipeds, though their hands were little more than a few flexible cables.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, if Valen saw this she'd have a fucking aneurysm," the Commander said.

"Strike teams 3, 4 and 7 are topside and are approaching the-"

"Sirs, we're getting a radio frequency from the ship!" a technician alerted.

"Broadcast it," the Commander ordered.

The room went silent before static rang above, and a voice spoke out.

"This is Captain Dinky Doo of the Monsoon to all PPH members in the immediate vicinity. I need a sitrep on whether or not we made it to Earth."

"This is Lance-Corporal Dune to Captain Dinky," a more masculine voice replied, "Cybersquad 4 reporting in, we see unknown fliers in the sky above, but they're definitely not pegasi, and we're not reading any magic."

"Scouting party 1-3 to Captain Dinky, this is Private Donut, I see Humans coming out! I repeat, there are Humans! We made it!"

The radio waves began to crowd up as the static was replaced by cheers of celebration.

"Are they hunting us?" Bradford asked.

"They're late for that, then. Those weapons won't punch through Titan armor and Kevlar doesn't stop plasma," the Commander said.

"Alright, settle down, troops," the voice of 'Captain Dinky' cut through the cheers. "We need them to know we're not a threat. Donut, Dune, raise the White Flags and lay down all weapons. Doctor Moondancer, get the flashdrives ready."

These statements raised more questions than answers, as the crew of the XCOM HQ shot one another looks of pure confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" Bradford asked

\\\//////

FOUR WEEKS LATER

\\\//////

The Commander stood against the railing overlooking the improvised hangar as the engineering teams worked around the clock on their largest project to date.

The Avenger.

The Commander recalled his first meeting with Princess Flurry Heart and Captain Dinky Doo of the Equestrian Resistance. It was interesting to see the veterans of XCOM interacting with an intelligent race of aliens that didn't want to kill them all.

At first.

They told the staff of XCOM of their world's previous encounter with another Earth, and how that resulted in what was known at the First Conversion War. The keyword that the Commander was interested in was "First".

This, Celestia, as they called her, was setting her sights on the Earth that XCOM inhabited, now.

Flurry Heart and her elite team of advisors, consisting of Dinky Doo, Doctor Moondancer, Agent Pipsqueak, and one late Doctor Alexandria Cromwell. They had devised an engine of sorts that was capable of shifting a solid mass through dimensions, giving the Equestrian Resistance an opportunity to seek out the next Earth and prepare them for war. They concluded that if Celestia converts another Earth, nothing would stop her from conquering every other Earth in every other dimension.

It rattled about quite a bit before anyone could react properly.

The Commander had requested a meeting between the Council and Flurry Heart, to prove that they needed to do something, and with a few choice words, the Commander had been able to formulate a plan.

\\\//////

THREE WEEKS AGO

\\\//////

The Commander stood before the multiple silhouettes of the Council, listening to the distorted voices bicker back and forth between who should prepare and with how much supplies, trying to decide on what to do.

"Sirs," the Commander interrupted, "I have an idea."

The room went silent, all eyes on him. Even Flurry Heart, who had looked defeated upon hearing the Councilors accusations of her being an agent of Celestia, looked to him with curiosity.

"We don't have to outright go to war with Equestria, we can stop this before it happens."

The Commander inserted a data file given to him by one of the technicians per his request, and displayed it before them.

"This is the design of an engine that utilizes the Equestrian's magic-based technology alongside Human engineering to transfer a set object, along with everything inside,  between dimensions."

"And what use would we have of this? They're going to invade anyways!" Seat 11 stated.

"If we let them. However, after analyzing the energy signatures present from the wreckage, as well as the basis for their 'Magi-Tech', we can recreate this device using an Invader ship's FTL drive."

"And how does that help us? Are you going senile, old man?" Seat 5 asked.

"No, sir. The Equestrians supposedly have the capability of locating anything man-made, but we have assets that aren't entirely Human in design, or origin."

The Council and Flurry Heart paused as they processed the information.

"We can use the device to take an Invader-built vessel and hit Equestria before they come over to our side."

"Do you really think we have the capability to construct and man a fleet of alien warships before they get here!?"

"What I mean is that we take one ship, staff it with volunteers, and help push the Equestrian Resistance to fight until either Equestria breaks down, or we can mop them up ourselves. We can hit them with Guerilla tactics, ambush supply lines and destroy valuable facilities within their own borders. We might be able to delay the invasion a few months, or stop it entirely before they open a portal to our Earth."

Silence hung in the air for a solid five minutes before the center Seat, Zero, spoke.

"I have faith in this project."

\\\//////

And thus began the construction and retrofitting of the Avenger.

"Commander!"

The Commander turned around to see Lily Shen approaching him, a smile on her face.

"Chief Engineer Shen, anything to report?"

"We've just about finished the essentials for the Command Center and Troop Bay, and Medical should be done in a few hours. All that's left are the empty rooms, but we're keeping the materials from the wreckage contained until we can re-purpose them for anything down the line."

"Excellent work, Lily."

"Thank you, sir," she said with a salute. "Any word on those volunteers you're bringing with you?"

"Not yet. I'm still going over who I can assign to security, but rest assured, you'll be coming with us."

"Thanks, Commander. I just... it's been-"

"Just make him proud, Shen," The Commander stated.

Lily nodded as she returned to her post.

"Commander," another voice called out.

The Commander turned to see Moondancer and Doctor Richard Tygan approaching him.

"Dr. Moondancer, Dr. Tygan. Anything to add?"

"Just informing you of the status of the DM-Engine, sir. We've successfully hooked up the device to the ship's main reactor, and are reading all green across the board."

"This Elerium-laden technology is incredible to work with, sir, and the enhancements of the Cyber-Guard augmentations is going smoother than we thought. They should be combat ready by tomorrow morning. Also, I appreciate assigning me to the ship alongside Dr. Tygan, sir."

"Good to hear. Report back at 0600 hours for briefing of our mission and pack anything you need. Council says that tomorrow, we take the fight to Equestria."

Chapter 1: Gatecrasher

Lawful sighed as she rested her head against the iron bars behind her. The rumbling of the carriage caused her cage to shake and rattle every now and again. Bits of her green mane stuck out through the bars and reached for the sunlight outside of the cage not unlike plants would. She looked over to her captors and shuddered.

Strutting about in silver plates of armor with small curtains of white and gold over their shoulders were the Newfoal Guard. Former Human beings turned ponies (if only physically) that served Equestria with unending loyalty and without hesitation. She remembered watching their charge on her former base only hours ago, seeing as they used their own dead as shields to push past the Resistance's lines of fire. She could even recall seeing some of them go in with explosive magic charges to level bunkers in acts of suicidal devotion to the Solar Princess.

Thinking back to her comrades and her old base made Lawful Heart shudder in sorrow, so she tried to change her focus by looking about her surroundings.

The buildings and streets of New Appaloosa were a far cry from the old Equestria that she had signed up to fight for more than two decades ago. The concrete streets and metal buildings were in stark contrast from the hoof-crafted care that went into most housing from before the war. To her left, Lawful could see a massive statue of Celestia holding up the Sun, Moon and Earth atop her horn. Ironically, the town more closely resembled some of those that the Humans had built, mocking the dead species by copying their style of living after eradicating them. And they were the 'monsters'.

How stupid she was to believe the Princess' words alone.

Now here the grey mare sat, awaiting her arrival at the Newfoal station to be brought to nopony knows where to be executed or tortured or likely drowned in the "Cure" until she turned into one of them. She shuddered at the thought of being reduced to one of these husks like she had seen too many times during the Conversion War. Death would have been preferable to literally everyone else.

She looked to her right and sighed as she saw the ponies in town crowd towards the Display (or Television, as the Humans had named them) in the center of the plaza. A pink pony with a straight mane a few shades darker than her coat smiled through the screen as she talked.

"Twelve years ago today, we had finally declared victory in our crusade to convert the vile mutants that plagued this planet into a new generation of ponies that have never stopped in their rightful praise of our goddess, Celestia," she said as images of the final days of the Conversion scrolled about behind her. "They have been ever grateful in their ascension to ponykind as they continue to shape a glorious golden age by Her will and guidance. And ever thankful we should be that She is here to show us the way now, lest we were left adrift amidst the chaos and left like the savages once were. And now here we stand, stronger than ever, united in our goal to step beyond the threshold of what once held us back. Here we are, pure and happy. Here we are, loved and sheltered. Here we are, Equestria, at the gate to a new age of magical breakthroughs and blessings of our Lord. Here we are... in the future."

The moment the broadcast finished, chaos reigned.

The statue that Lawful's captors were walking by suddenly exploded at the base of the alicorn figure's hooves. Marble and bronze showered across the streets as ponies screamed in shock, fleeing from the collapsing statue as it crushed several Newfoals before blocking off the street entirely.

"Weapons free, engage!"

Erratic bursts cascaded from all around, thunder cracking as the Newfoals nearby suddenly burst apart from gunfire, blood and gore littering the carriage as the indoctrinated servants tried to form a cohesive response to the surprise attack. A hail of bullets rained from behind a wall towards a group of Newfoals from the station, forcing them to hide behind the rubble of Celestia's statue before a unicorn could start to fire on his own. His concentration broke, however, when he saw a Resistance Cyberguard bolt over a barrier beside the road, wielding a machete as he raced on two artificial legs. Before the Newfoal could react, the Cyberguard lunged forth and sliced the Newfoal's neck open.

Amidst the ensuing skirmish, a small object of metal hovered before Lawful's cage. It resembled a Parasprite in shape, even more so with its rapidly beating wings. It jutted about around the cage's locked gate before a surge of lightning struck the lock, melting part of it before the rest fell off.

Lawful took the hint and bucked her cage open.

The mare shot out of her confines and ducked behind the carriage as an approaching Newfoal was gunned down by a burst of fire from behind the remains of the statue's base. A Cyberguard with an orange-coated fitting of body armor waved her in his direction.

"This way!" he shouted.

Lawful stuck close to the ground as she heard spellfire being discharged across the street before it was drowned out by automatic fire from another Cyberguard's triple-barrelled weapon. While the Newfoals were under suppressing fire, she galloped out of her cover and went straight for the first Cyberguard. He motioned for her to follow before ducking into an alleyway East of the statue's former base. She followed suit and yelped in pain as she pressed her ears to her head. Looking up, she found the source of the dull humming that threatened to deafen her, and gaped at what she saw.

It was an aircraft similar to what she had seen on Earth during the War, but its rear was glowing and pulsing a light blue while two tubes near the front were gushing with blue flames. A metal rope lowered down to the Cyberguard before he wrapped his artificial fingers around it. The Cyberguard cast her a look and offered a mechanical hand. She saw his mouth moving but was unable to hear anything, but the clues were enough for Lawful to fill in the gap. She rushed to his side and held onto him for dear life as two other Cyberguards, the one with the massive weapon and the one with the machete, gripped two other ropes before tugging on them. The ropes retracted upwards underneath the airship before a ramp opened up right next to them. Lawful was tossed gently onto the metal surface before the Cyberguards piled in. A fourth Cyberguard, a blue-furred mare with the Parasprite thing on her shoulder, shouldered a rifle as she watched their ascent.

"VIP secure, get us out of here!" the blue-furred Cyberguard said.

Lawful was thankful that she could hear again as the ramp closed behind them, the ship lurching as it took off into the sky.

The Cyberguards gave sighs of relief before the grey and orange stallion with the machete pulled out a cigarette.

"Anypony got a light?" he asked.

The larger red and orange Cyberguard shook his head before taking a seat. Lawful looked around the compartment of the ship and saw that a screen lit up near a door on the other side of the interior. She froze as she recognized the face.

"Good job, everypony. We've made some noise and managed to secure Lawful Heart from the Loyalist's grasp. Get back to the Avenger and we can get you a light and a drink."

"P-Princess Flurry Heart?" Lawful said. "I thought you were..."

"Dead?" the alicorn asked with a smirk. "Celestia wishes. I'm my father's daughter, after all. It'll take more than a few brain-dead Newfoals to bring the Resistance down."

\\\//////

"Truly this is a terrifying occurrence on such a meaningful day, but rest assured, Celestia's Chosen and the Newfoals are working ever harder to bring this terror to its end," the pink mare on the screen said before Twilight cut off the power.

She shook her head and sighed as she leaned over her private desk.

'This is what we've chosen,' she thought to herself. 'There are no more options. At least nopony innocent got hurt in the crossfire.'

She sat up and tapped the different etchings in her desk in a code that only she knew of, and the room went dark. A small screen slid up from her desk, dimming out as to not illuminate the mare as she cast a spell to alter her voice.

"Greetings, Commander," Twilight said to the Human on the screen.

"Avenger to Source, we're reading you loud and clear. Mission report is in," the Commander said.

"I've seen it. Excellent work. I trust that Lawful Heart is safe aboard the Avenger?"

"Affirmative. She's down in the Advanced Warfare Center at the moment, looking over her new workstation and double checking supplies. We're currently en-route to the Asian HQ in India."

Twilight smiled. Once they were in what was once India, they'd be able to attack the Therapy Center that was under construction, hopefully pulling some much needed Intel from its ashes.

"Good. I hope to hear more of your exploits in due time, Commander."

"Copy that. Avenger out."