Principality of Equestria

Chapter Five

Starburst’s eyes scanned the tree lines all around her, fingers lightly tapping the joint sticks, breathing with a slight heave. She had been at this for the past three days, from when Celestia raised the sun to when Luna raised the moon. Many said she had become obsessed with this training, but Starburst just wanted to become even better at this, to not fail. Not to mention, it gave her plenty of time to ask Reaper for advice and pointers on her moves. Now, this was the last part of her training, after listening to some strange Zeon Commander known as ‘Commander Char’ every step of the way, with a single mobile suit target remaining.

The sound of birds panicking away from their nests alerted her, Starburst forcing the screen to do a complete one-eighty, bringing the seventy-five millimeter gatling cannon to bare. “Got ya!” She yelled, pulling the joint stick’s trigger.

In moments, the rapid firing weapon tore into a bipedal mobile suit, majority of its body being tan except for the brick red torso and feet, along with its emerald green visor being shattered. She kept firing at the mobile suit, until the torso burst into flames and caused it to fall backwards, smoke rising up from its wreckage. “All nine Ground Type GMs have been destroyed, well done, Starburst.” The forest faded into black, before Reaper’s camera came back online and revealed Canterlot’s stone buildings and streets. “Shall I begin the next simulation, or would you like to take a break? We have been at this for some time, now.”

“What is… The next simulation, Reaper?” She asked, loosening the scarf around her neck. “I will decide after that.”
The main screen turned green, showing all but one simulation being completed. “Infiltration and Recon Operation, a simulation based around the Midnight Fenrir Fang’s mobile suit unit’s mission to gather intelligence on the Trojan Horse and its mobile suits.” Images of a white warship, two humanoid mobile suits, and a single tank-like mobile suit; appeared. “Strictly Recon, being spotted results in simulation failure.”

“No combat, huh?” Starburst muttered, tapping her chin a bit, before shaking her head. “I think I will take a break. I have been focusing on combat simulations this whole time, going straight into a noncombat one would not be a good idea.”

“Acknowledged.” The main screen went black, before the cockpit itself opened up. “Take long as you like, Starburst. I will not be going anywhere.”

“You better not, Reaper, or I will knock your block off.” She joked, stepping out on to the mobile suit’s waiting hand, and looked up at his single eye. “Best get some rest, yourself, big guy! After all, once the engineers are finished, we will be moving out!”

“Acknowledged. Let me know when you are ready for the next simulation.” Reaper replied, placing Starburst on to the ground, before his eye disappeared within the visor.

Starburst smiled up at the mobile suit, as his eye vanished, then stepped off Reaper’s hand. A Royal Guard unicorn quickly walked over, once she did, handing her a towel, to wipe the sweat off, and then a flask of water. “How is the training going, Princess?” He asked, as she took a sip of water.

“It was tough, at first, especially with mobile suit on mobile suit combat…” She took another sip of water, wiping the slight drop off with her sleeve. “But, after a few rounds, you get the hang of it.” Starburst went back to wiping the sweat off, before looking up at the engineers working on Reaper. “How much longer until they are finished?”

The Royal Guard Unicorn looked up at the engineers, as well, before thinking on her question. “I overheard a group of them talking about how they have finished the repairs on its-?”

“His.”

“Uh… Apologies… His shoulder and legs.” The Royal Guard Unicorn corrected, raising a brow at the mare, while she looked up at the dormant mobile suit with a slight smile upon her muzzle. “All that is left, are the scorch marks… Though, I have heard that your mother commissioned the best unicorns to duplicate what remaining ammo he has and parts that may be needed later.”

Starburst blinked, surprised by what he just told her, and looked towards the guard. “Wait, she did? When?”
That caused the guard, himself, to blink in surprise. “Earlier today, she convinced the giant to give up samples for us to use… Did he not tell you?”

“No… I spent the entire day working on simulations and training, Reaper only giving advice and telling me when to go get something to eat.” Starburst replied, the last part making her blush ever so slightly, and looked up at the dormant mobile suit… Shaking her head after a few seconds. “Regardless of that, I am going for a walk… I really need to take a break, before going on with the last simulation.”

“Be careful, Princess! Remember, not everpony in Canterlot are law abiding citizens, with these refugees flooding in!” The guard called out, Starburst simply giving a wave of acknowledgement.

Starburst headed towards the Canterlot Market, figuring a quick snack break would be good and knew a few of her friends were probably hanging around there… Leaving the Engineers to their work, and Reaper to his own slumber.

-Next Day, Outside Ponyville-

The trees shook, as a heavy tremor echoed within the White Tail Forest, and caused several birds and small animals to flee from their homes. Seconds later, a metal sky blue shield forced the tree tops to part ways, allowing Reaper to lean forward and scan their surrounding with his single eye. “No hostiles detected, area still clear for our infiltration.” His voice low, speakers turned down to assist in keeping quiet.

A platoon of Royal Guards soon rushed out from behind his large feet, bounding for new cover and concealment. “Any movement from Ponyville, since we last checked?” Starburst asked, her gaze going to the left, seeing the once peaceful country town covered in metal-organic webbing… The mare’s stomach churning, as the camera zoomed in on glowing red heart-like areas pulsing on the webbing.

“Negative, Starburst.” Reaper replied, his camera going to one of the invaders within Ponyville, acting as a sentry. “It is almost like they do not care about what is around the town, or simply dormant… Their defenses being complacent.”

“If we have the element of surprise, think we should attack?” Starburst asked, looking up. “Maybe we can defeat what is stationed there, before reinforcements arrive.”

“That would be ill-advised, Starburst.” Reaper replied, as he continued the stealth operation through White Tail Forest, his large body leaned forward enough to keep under the trees. “We do not have enough intelligence on the town. Recon is suggested before attempting a surprise attack, plus?” He held up the left arm, allowing Starburst to see the remaining long-range weapon. “We might not have enough ammunition… And I am willing to bet, that one ‘Sentry’ is simply a look out. Waiting for something to attack, before sending out a signal to other nearby units to ambush attackers.”

“Point taken.” Starburst wiped the sweat from her brow. “Let’s find your ship, and recover what we can, then get the heck back to Canterlot.”

“Affirmative.” Reaper’s pace quickened, the Royal Guards doing their best to stay within his massive shadow. “I do not know why, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

Carefully, the group made their way out of the White Tail Forest, and the dark Everfree Forest, Reaper having the Royal Guards ride on his shoulders. Prior to their deployment, he had been made aware of the creatures that dwelled within the dark forest. With that in mind, and not wanting to lose any of their ground troops, Reaper had them all climb on before entering. Plus, with the massive trees, and being a good distance away, the Gouf Custom could stand up right and not worry about being spotted.

Though, like before, something did not seem right to Reaper. “Hm…” He came to a full halt, once they were near the transport’s distress beacon. “This is close enough, for the time being.”

“What is it, Reaper?” Starburst asked, looking at the screens around her. “Do we have contacts?”

“Possibly… Activating short ranged thermal scanners.” A duel blue hue appeared on the screens, as Reaper’s single eye scanned their surroundings. However, when he looked at where the beacon was located, two large orange and red signatures appeared right in front of them. “I knew it…” The blue hue disappeared, his eye rotating to the Royal Guards. “Ground Troopers, scatter. Do not approach until we’ve signaled you.”

The Royal Guard quickly separated from Reaper, allowing him to grip the heat sword with both hands. “Let’s see if that training paid off, Reaper!” Starburst pushed her controls forward, both hooves pressing down on to the peddles. This caused Reaper to sprint forward, his thrusters roaring to life.

Reaper allowed his blade arm to drop back, shield arm covering the cockpit and shoulder forward. When they broke through the trees, their sudden attack caught a pair of Invader Scouts completely off guard! The first had been met with a shoulder horn to the face, crushing its visor and blinding it with blood and a glass-like substance. The second invader, startled by Reaper’s sudden appearance, juggled their beam weapon around, as the Gouf Custom’s single eye locked on to it. That had been enough for Reaper to reverse his grip, and slice the blade through his opponent’s waist… The Invader’s beam weapon going off, as its upper half fell backwards and lower half fell forward. The blind Invader started to wail, but was quickly silence by a blade through the back of its head, and out the mouth.

“Well done, Starburst. An effective surprise attack without wasting ammunition.” Reaper congratulated, as he sheathed the heat sword, this acted as a signal for the Royal Guard to move up. “We best enter the ship, and get started.” Reaper’s eye went to the primarily olive green, crashed, Papua-class Transport Ship. “Luckily for us, the ship is mostly intact.”

“How do we even get in, Reaper?” Starburst asked, looking for a way into the crashed transport.

“Easy.” Reaper walked towards the ship’s front, Royal Guard still trying to keep up with his stride, revealing a forced open ramp. “Through the front door.”

Starburst blinked a few times, before smirking. “Alright, smart allaic, we better get started then.” With that, she had Reaper kneel, assisting the platoon on to the ship’s ramp, before going on to it. “So… How much could this ship carry, exactly?”

“It depends on the cargo, really.” Reaper replied, his large feet creating metallic echoes within the ghost ship’s hanger. “If it was only carrying mobile suits? Both sides could carry up to five.” The screen gained a green hue, as the night vision started to come online.

“Imagine if there were that many, and still intac-SWEET CELESTIA!” Starburst screamed, at the top of her lungs, going back into the seat and nearly firing Reaper’s remaining weapon.

Right in front of the screen, appeared a completely wrecked Gouf! Its head torn apart, cockpit melted into a small hole all the way through, and half of its left arm torn off. The way it stood, made the Gouf look like a mobile suit zombie, leaning forward in its harness, limp. Though, the more Starburst studied the wrecked war machine, she could see all the heavy battle damage and scars across its form… This particular mobile suit must have died during a big operation in either defending a base, or attacking one.

“That is the fate of most mobile suits.” Reaper stated, reaching forward and placing a hand on to the Gouf’s damaged shoulder. “We are but machines of war, with a single purpose…” The eerie hanger echoed with his tightening grip. “To fight, and keep fighting, until we are destroyed beyond repair.”

Starburst just stared at the wrecked mobile suit, her mind imagining that Reaper was the wrecked mobile suit instead. The image sent a chill down her spine, before the mare shook it from her thoughts. “Alright… Reaper, open the cockpit. I’m going to help look for supplies.” The cockpit hissed, the metal grinding as it quickly opened up and Reaper’s hand reached up to it. Not wasting any time, Starburst released her harness and stepped out on to the hand. Carefully, the Gouf Custom knelt, allowing Starburst out. “Reaper, think you could give us any light? It’s pretty dark down here.” She looked up, as Reaper stood back up.

“Give me a moment.” His left arm came up, allowing the light on its weapon to activate, along with the one from his eye. “Alright, let us start this salvage operation.”

They all nodded, separating into two large groups, one for each light. While the search party did their jobs, Reaper simply stood behind the, moving the lights for each group and kept a close watch on his scanners. After all, they did destroy two scouts, but there was no telling if they sent out a distress call or if a search party would be sent out looking for them soon.

Starburst looked around the crates, Reaper’s light allowing her to see into them rather easily. Though, as she searched, the mare came across a lever on the wall. It had been forced down, the bent handle signifying this. Next to it, she could barely make out the letters “L.G.H” but that was all.

Carefully, Starburst grasped the lever in both hands and pulled up on it. This took nearly all her strength, just to push it up, sounds of ice cracking within the panel. Once pushed all the way up, a humming sound echoed around the hanger, before several lights flickered on, some quickly burning out.

To their surprise, even Reaper’s own, two more mobile suits had been revealed! One was bulky, having a black and gray torso, but its arms and legs were light purple. The faceplate resembled a red cross, the rest slanting back and showing a look that made them believe its head did not move.

The other mobile suit held a dark green body with gray arms, legs, and head. Its form seemed more advance, than even Reaper’s, bearing a large oval shield on its back. Its forearms and head having gray fins spreading outward, as if they were meant to assist in maneuverability.

“Impossible…” Reaper’s voice echoed, his heavy foots alerting the salvage team that he was moving towards the new mobile suits. “They… Were also on board?”

“Reaper?” Starburst rushed up to her partner, as the Gouf Custom placed a hand on to the gray and green one’s chest. “What are these mobile suits?”

His gaze went to the mare, then to the black and purple mobile suit. “That is the MS-09B, ‘DOM’ for short. A high speed, heavy, type mobile suit. Armored and can be armed with any weapon. Dangerous on an open battlefield.” Reaper’s gaze returned to the gray and green mobile suit. “But, this? MS-14, ‘Gelgoog’. This is the Principality of Zeon’s more advance mass produced mobile suit… What was it doing on a decommissioning vessel?”

Starburst could see Reaper’s confusion, quickly looking around for some kind of information to answer this. She soon spotted a clipboard, sitting on top of several cates, and used her wings to fly up to it. Without hesitation, the mare started to scan through what information had been listed, trying to find answers for her partner.

“MS-14… MS-14…. MS-14…” She repated, flipping page after page, before stopping on the seventh. “Ahah! MS-14 transfer to the A Baoa Qu’s Sixth Mobile Suit Defense Company.” Starburst looked up to Reaper, who looked down at her. “Seems like this one was being transferred, not meant for decommissioning, hitched a ride I guess.”

“I see… Does it say what else is on board?” Reaper asked, only seeing the Gelgoog, Dom, and damaged Gouf. ‘There is a second hanger section we can inspect… Every mobile suit counts in this battle.”

Starburst gave a nod, looking through the manifest paperwork. “Let’s see…” Her eyes gazed at the pages, searching for what they needed to know. “Hnager One: MS-07B, MS-09, and MS-14. Ah! Hnager Two: two MS-06F and one MS-05L.”

“There is a Zaku Sniper Type on board?” Reaper asked, knowing such an asset would be beyond valuable.

“Yeah. According to the paperwork, it is being sent for decommissioning. Left leg joints are damaged.” Starburst answered, looking up at him. “Is it that a good thing?”

“If there is a Beam Sniper Rifle onboard, as well, then we will have the perfect Command and Control Unit.” Repaer’s eye started to shift around, double checking their safety, visually. “Let us begin recovery. No telling how much longer we have on operational time.”

“Got it.” Starburst looked towards the Royal Guard teams. “You heard Reaper! I need five to pilot those Mobile Suits! Reaper and I will help you control them, but we need to move!”

“Yes, ma’am!” They shouted, scattering around the hanger, Reaper kneeling and lowering his hand for Starburst. “If we can get those five online, then our enemy will be in danger.”

“What do you mean, Reaper?” Starburst asked, as the Gouf Custom’s cockpit opened up, allowing her inside.

“You saw how I was able to contend with the regular invaders?” He asked, Starburst nodding, while buckling herself in, the cockpit closing. “If these five come online, we will have two full mobile suit teams. We can conduct much larger operations against these invaders.”

Images of all six mobile suits battling with the invaders, pushing them back further and further, appeared within Starburst’s mind. Reaper leading his warrior brethren into battle against the invaders, their firepower overwhelming those that dared to challenge them… A sight that caused her to become starry eyed, at the possibility of such counter offensives.

“Agreed, let’s get these guys up and walking!” Starburst agreed, activating Reaper’s remote uplinks and trying to activate the other two mobile suits within this hanger. “We need all the help we can possibly muster!”

“Then we will need this.” A green antenna appeared on screen, followed by signal beat lines.

In seconds, the eyes appeared in both mobile suits, doing movement checks before their harnesses released. They stepped out of their holding sections, walking over towards a weapon rack for mobile suits. The Gelgoog quickly grabbing a twin beam saber and beam rifle, for it sarmaments. However, the Dom walked over and simply grabbed a heat saber and shielded 380mmm Giant Bazooka; for its own armaments. Once both linked with their primary weapons, they faced Reaper and entered a stand-by mode.

“I can control them remotely.” Reaper started, kneeling down so that supplies could be loaded on to his hands. The Gelgoog followed suit, while the Dom squatted instead. “However, adding the other three mobile suits? I will be under a lot of strain.”

“So, get back to Canterlot, fast.” Starburst summed up, a green thumbs-up appearing on screen. “Got it, you heard him, Soldiers!” She called out over Reaper’s speakers. “Et’s get these supplies loaded up and wake up the other three.” With a nod, the Royal Guard began to follow their orders.