Invictus Forward Operating Base, or Appleloosa

Invictus stared around at the odd equine organics hiding in their buildings while his fabricators began constructing a new FOB. The maps he acquired from the previous Commander had designated this location as “Appleloosa”. He sent a fabricator to reclaim some of the trees that were nearby, while he went to work on some basic defenses. As he worked, one of the equines, a male with a yellow coat and orange mane, approached Invictus. The Commander noted the apple mark on its flanks.

“Umm, excuse me, mister,” it said, slightly startling Invictus. While he had learned from the database of the last Commander that the main populace of this continent was these equines, his logic core was screaming that equines should not be capable of speaking. “But who are you? And what happened to that guard guy?”

Invictus turned to the equine, activating his vocal systems. “Designation: Invictus.” He introduced himself, his ‘voice’ sounding like a dying cat. Not that he would know that. The equine flinched. “Inquiry?”

“Uuh, is that fancy talk fer question?” The equine asked, Invictus designating his speech pattern as ‘southern’ for some reason. Invictus nodded his head. “Well then go ahead.”

“What do you mean ‘guard’?” Invictus asked. The equine tilted its head.

“You know, that pony in the ‘Commander Pattern’ armor or whatever they called them.” The equine replied, and Invictus nodded.

“Enemy Command Unit was annihilated.” Invictus stated, and the equines ears lowered. “Inquiry. What is your designation?”

“U-uh, my names Braeburn,” the equine, now designated as ‘Braeburn’, said, skittish for some reason. “So, y-you killed that Guard?”

“That is correct.” Invictus nodded. Braeburn’s face seemingly paled, before he began backing away.

“W-well, welcome to Appleloosa, I guess.” He said, before running back into a nearby building. With that distraction gone, Invictus turned back to his project, only to see that the basic turret had faded, the nanolathe dispersed. His vocal systems replicated an irritated growl, before restarting the build order.

Three days later

The Remaining four Captains of Equestria’s Royal Guard met once again, to discuss their plan of attack against the Invictus Commander.

“If we can hit Invictus with a surprise attack and take him out, we will could defeat him before his invasion spreads any further.” Shining Armor began, looking to the others, and noting Rock Steady’s empty seat with a tinge of regret.

“Yes, but he has the entire population of Appleloosa hostage,” Bulwark countered, “If we attack him, we risk the lives of everypony there.”

“So you want us to sit and wait for him to attack us?!” Shining growled, his anger getting the better of him for a moment.

“That's exactly correct, Captain Armor.” Bulwark replied calmly, his face revealing no emotion, much like a wall. “If we can construct a suitable defense to repel any attack in the major cities, then when he finally makes a move, we will be ready for him.”

“That may be true,” Iron Hoof interrupted, having chosen to stay out of the two’s argument until now, “But if we begin fortifying our cities, that may cause unrest in the populace. And that will warrant unwanted attention from the other nations.”

“What does that matter?” Bulwark asked, and Iron Hoof had a fleeting thought of how talking to Bulwark was as equally close to a wall as his face. “The ponies have a reason to be worried.”

“Everyone knows that Equestria has the greatest military tech in the world.” The old stallion explained, “So if we begin fortifying our defenses, it looks like we are preparing for a fight we have doubts about our victory to other nations. And nations, like the Griffons, will wish to aid our opponent.”

“It matters not,” Bulwark shrugged, and Iron Hoof sighed. “The Griffons were beaten once before, and we can crush them again, just like before.”

“Plus, it's a bit better than leaving our population undefended.” Shining Armor nodded. “We will put it to the vote. All in favor of Bulwark’s plan?”

Bulwark and Shining raised their hooves.

“And all against it?” Iron Hoof raised his hoof, but their fourth member did not. Iron Hoof sighed, wondering what he expected from the silent Captain.

“Then it is decided.” Shining turned to Bulwark, “Bulwark, send prepare your Regiment. Celestia, as you know, has recently been releasing a new standard-issue Nanolathe-Compatible Commander suit for the Guardsponies. While only allowed Tier One KBot units, as well as some basic defenses, these suits are more durable than the previous model. Have them set up military fortifications around each major city in your AoC.”

He turned to the other two. “That includes the two of you. With Captain Steady’s recent…. defeat, I will be taking over his Regiment, as well as the defense of Canterlot.”

Iron Hoof nodded slowly, while the fourth member states silent.

“Also, Celestia has created new Top-Tier Commander Suits for us. Bulwark, your code is 9850-U8FCKD779UP.” The stalwart Captain nodded.

“Captain Hoof, your code is 84769-OLD6492.” The elder Captain left without a word of confirmation. Shining turned to the last Captain. “And Captain-”

“My code is 849630-CRPY846770.” The Captain replied, his deep voice chilling Shining with how cold and emotionless it sounded. He stood, before exiting the room. When the captain left, Bulwark turned to Shining.

“So, where is Princess Celestia? She normally attends all these meetings.” Bulwark asked.

“She has a meeting of her own currently, and it is very important. I suggest you do not disturb her.” Shining answered, and Bulwark nodded.

“And your wedding?” He asked. Shining froze up a bit. “It's a few weeks from now, isn't it?”

“Yeah.” the unicorn replied, relaxing a bit. “I hope nothing bad happens on the wedding day.”

“Well, all stallions hope that,” Bulwark nodded, “Though, to bag a Princess is truly a legendary feat.” His neutral expression broke a bit, the hint of a smile on his lips as he walked out of the room.

Meanwhile, in the Throne Room

“I thank you all for coming.” Celestia began, greeting the Elements of Harmony.

“It's an honor, Princess, but what is this about?” Her star pupil, and Bearer of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, asked, bowing respectfully.

“A great threat has appeared to threaten Equestria.” Celestia answered, causing the group to gasp in shock.

“But nothing save Discord could threaten Equestria!” Twilight exclaimed, before narrowing her eyes in worry. “It's not Discord again, is it?”

“No, Twilight.” Celestia reassured her Star Pupil. “A threat that can rival our military technology has appeared from the south, beyond even the Badlands.” The group stared at her in shock. “This threat calls itself ‘Invictus’. He wields weapons and technology similar, yet seemingly more refined than our own technology.”

“But how?!” Twilight asked. “How?! You have cultivated this technology for hundreds of years after you found the A-” At a sharp glance from Celestia, Twilight stopped, remembering their agreement. “The point still stands, a creature suddenly arriving with equal technology to ours is almost completely impossible!”

“Don't worry about it, Twi!” Her Cyan coated friend, and Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash, replied. “I'm certain that this chump will run screaming to wherever he came from once he gets a face full of the Elements of Harmony!”

“While I do appreciate the sentiment, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia interrupted, “It's still evident that Invictus poses a threat to Equestria. His military tactics and skill have already brought low one of the Captains of the Guard, Rock Steady, and has taken over Appleloosa.”

Rainbow stared at Celestia in a bit of shock at that. Meanwhile, the Element of Honesty, Applejack, grit her teeth in anger.

“So, due to the recent turn of events, I had the Engineers construct these.” Celestia said, flicking a lever. The floor in front of them split open, sliding into the sides of the wall. And slowly, a slab of rock rose up, holding six gleaming Commander Suits, specially created for each Element Bearer. The six of them stared in awe at the new suits.

“These Commander Suits have been specially created for you six.” Celestia said, levitating the center one over to Twilight, it's armor a deep purple. A visor stared back at Twilight, while a metallic horn poked at her own. It's body, unlike the standard, bulky Commander Suits that the Guard used, was sleek, the armor curving where needed, and didn't seem like it would restrict movement as much as the standard model did. On it’s chest was an indent in the shape of Twilight’s Cutie Mark, a six-sided star. She looked past the beautifully crafted armor to look at Celestia.

“What's this indent?” She asked, a bit confused.

“That is where the Element of Magic goes.” Celestia replied, “These suits, unlike the standard nuclear fission powered Command Suits, require the Elements of Harmony as their power source. That way, should your suit be too damaged, it won't go critical like the standard Command Suits do. We are still trying to work around that, but this is our first breakthrough.”

Twilight nodded, slipping off the Tiara that held the Element of Magic. Using her own magic, she levitated the gem out of the tiara, and into the indent. The others did the same for their suits.

“Now, tomorrow, we will begin your training.” Celestia said.

“What training?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Why, the training to utilize the full extent of these Command Suits. You didn't think they would just work without proper training, did you?” Celestia replied.

Meanwhile, in Baltimare,

Two guards stood in front of the the armory. They knew how important their job was here, for this was the Baltimare storage facility of the new Commander Suits. The only ones allowed inside were soldiers preparing for their patrol, with the proper identification of course, or a high-ranking officer.

As they stood sentinel, a lone guard walked up. The two trained their weapons on her, forcing her to stop.

“Identification please.” One of the guards ordered. The female unicorn nodded, pulling out her ID with her magic.

“I am Lieutenant Straw Maker of the Eastern Royal Guard’s 104th Regiment. My patrol shift begins in ten minutes.” The guards in their command suits verified her ID with the built in scanner, then also scanned her face for any differences. Then the suits access the Guard Database, to search for a match. Once it did, the suit beeped. The two guards lowered their weapons.

“You may enter.” The Guard said. She nodded, putting away her ID and walking past them. Once inside, she equipped her Commander Suit that was waiting for her. Once fully equipped, she walked out of the building, the two guards nodding as she left.

“Well she was cute.” One of the Guards said once she was out of sight.

“Yeah, she kinda was.” The other nodded. Just then, a unicorn almost identical to the mare they had just permitted to enter ran towards them in a hurry from the opposite direction she had left. The two raised their weapons.

“Identification!” One of them shouted.

“Lieutenant Straw Maker of the Eastern Royal Guard’s 104th Regiment, sir!” She yelled, bringing out her ID. “I overslept slightly and had to run here to make it in time!” The suits scanned it, before showing it was a perfect match for the one on the database.

“Breaker, double check the previous ID scan.” The left Guard ordered. He nodded, and did a thorough check on the previous ID and the one on the database. While similar, there were many flaws in the ID.

“Pony Feathers!” Breaker cursed, turning to his partner. “Get the Captain, now! We have a security breach, and a stolen Commander Suit! I'll chase after!” He ran in the direction the first one had gone, leaving his partner behind to contact the captain.

He quickly caught up to her, his suit locating the IFF signal. He tackled her to the ground, striking the shutdown button on the suit. A closely kept secret of the Guard was that, in case of a theft, each suit had a “off button” hidden on the power packs.

He turned her over, aiming his gun at her. “You are under arrest for the impersonation of a Royal Guardspony.”

“What?!” She yelled in confusion inside her helmet, “I'm no imposter!”

“Enough lies, imposter. Soon more guards will arrive and you will be escorted to a prison cell at the local prison.” Breaker growled.

“But I'm not an imposter!” She repeated herself.

Back at the armory…

“Patch me through to the Captain!” The guard ordered into his helmet’s comms device.

“Please wait one moment.” Came the reply.

As he waited, he suddenly felt oddly tired. “Wha? What's going ooo….” He collapsed in his Suit, unconscious. Lieutenant Straw Maker grinned, green magic ebbing from her horn as she walked into the Armory, before exiting with five Commander Suits in her magic. Chuckling, she vanished, along with the suits.

Author's Note

Welp, that wraps this chapter up! I had some spare time inbetween editing the WoS chapters, so I thought I'd get this done.

The Plot thickens! Who really was Lieutenant Straw? How will Bulwark's plan work? What is Invictus doing?!

Find out in whichever chapter I decide to let that stuff be in!

If you enjoyed, please like, maybe add the story to your favorites, and if you'd be so kind as to follow! It really shows that you are enjoying this story, which will, in turn, make me write more of it! Also, leave a comment! Helpful criticism and just nice comments really help out the story!