The Outcast.by Director WafflesChaptersI: Alive... For Now.II.III: The Hive.III-T: The Hive.IV: When You Play With Fire...V: ... You're Gonna Get Burned.Chapter VI: Why.Prologue, Part I.Prologue, Part II.I: Alive... For Now. September 4th, 2551. VDF Stronghold, Harmony. Sunset opened her eyes and groaned. She groggily sat upright. She moved herself over, her one leg hanging off the bed. She looked at the steel buckle on her stump and sighed. She removed her footlocker from underneath her cot and clicked it open. Inside, was her robotic leg, arm, and her mementos. A photo of her getting medals for successfully destroying the UNSC fortress, for a few other things. A picture of her in the uniform she got when she was promoted to Sergeant, one of her sitting beside Flash Sentry, the medals, a modified M6D Magnum, and a bible, burnt to a crisp, with a single depression in the cover, where a bullet struck it. Sunset grabbed her prosthetics, attached them, and stood up. She clenched and loosened her hand a few times, then pulled a few kicks to make sure nothing was wrong, and stretched. Her body still burned occasionally from the wounds she'd obtained, the two years ago, when Sunset destroyed that fort. She smirked to herself, and dressed herself in a bodysuit. When she first awoke, they asked Sunset hundreds of questions. Were the base's files not intact, they probably would've just executed her for being crazy. Sunset stretched her arm and attached her radio headset to her head, her cap over it. Sunset grabbed her leather jacket and slid that onto her shoulders, over her bodysuit. Sunset grabbed her BR55HB from under the cot, clicked the safety off, and slung it over her shoulder. She pressed a few buttons on the keypad by the door, which soon after, parted and met with the walls. Sunset walked out into the corridor. She turned to the Armory, when her radio lit up. "Sergeant Shimmer! Report to debrief at once." Sunset responded with silence, spun on her heel, and started her walk to the CIC. She reached a bunker door, flanked by two soldiers in heavy, bulky Argus-Class Body Armor, Mark VIIs, AIE-486H Heavy Machine Guns in their arms, attached to packs of ammunition upon their backs. "I'm reporting to the CIC for debrief." she pulled out a small device that sat in the palm of her hand. It projected her information for the two troopers, who then stepped out of the way and opened the door. "You may proceed." Sunset shoved the device into one of the pouches on the waist of her bodysuit, and walked through a set of doors marked "Combat Information Center". She was met with several VDFMC Commanding Officers. The lieutenant, whom everyone nicknamed "Luna" stood at the end of the holotable. Then, there was the General. Sunset immediately saluted. "Staff Sergeant Sunset Shimmer, reporting for duty, ma'am!" The General laughed. "At ease, Shimmer." she, and the rest of the soldiers already in CIC were in full combat gear, with weapons on their backs, or hanging from their hips. Sunset walked over and looked down at the table. She looked up at the general, who was at least seven or eight feet tall. "What's the situation, ma'am?" Sunset asked, looking at the hologram on the table. A CSO-Class super-carrier, currently being engaged by the VDF Di Vinci, The Machiavelli, and the Notre Dame, along with thousands of small vessels that Sunset knew not the name of. "We're currently being attacked by not one, but two CSO-Class Super-carriers, and it appears they may be winning." General Celestia stated angrily, placing in a set of commands into the terminal at the end of the table. The image changed to a star-shaped crystal, encased in a golden crown. "We found this within one of our experimental Slipstream Space destinations, and—" Luna cut her off. "—And we want you to get it, so that we may use it against our enemies." Celestia frowned at the lieutenant, who in turn smiled innocently. "When we sent a few Rangers through, they immediately came back out, all whispering your name, as well as completely brain-dead." Celestia gave Sunset a weary look. "Sunset Shimmer... They just chanted it, nothing less, nothing more." Sunset paled, unknowing of why. "Sunset, we need you to go through that portal, and find us that crown. Do you understand the orders given to you?" Sunset hesitantly nodded. "There isn't time to get you fully combat ready, so just take these and follow us." Celestia handed Sunset a few magazines of 9.5x40mm cartridges and started walking over to a panel in the wall. Groooooaaaaannnnn. The panel slid away to reveal a narrow corridor. "With haste!" Celestia led Sunset down the hall. It brought back a sickening sense of Deja Vu to Sunset, and she felt memory flashes back to that wretched base— 'No, calm down. Don't think about that damned place...' Sunset shook her head of these thoughts, and Celestia squeezed past her, typed in a few numbers on a keypad, and a second door opened with a groan. It seemed to have been here only a short time, yet, also felt like it hasn't been touched in what seemed like years. Sunset walked through into an open room. The room was made of some sort of steel-composite, with paint covering the ceiling. Toward the end, tubes, wires and a lot of tech sat around, humming aloud. In front of that, four small angle-pieces were sustaining a large, ovular cyan portal, cackling with energy. The COs that went in took shelter in a command box at the back of the room. "We're counting on you, sergeant. If you do not make it, may your soul forever rest in Valhalla..." The lieutenant started going off on a rant, or a lament, Sunset couldn't tell. She carefully approached the portal. It showed her distorted reflection. Sunset closed her eyes and threw herself in. Somewhere... CALENDAR INFORMATION FALSE. Calibrating... Calibration Failed. Sunset felt weightless. Everything around her was black, and her body felt... wrong. She realized what was going on, and opened her eyes groggily, groaning in pain. She felt much shorter, and... longer? How to put it... Sunset looked down at herself, and held back the urge to scream. Or faint. Or both. She was a quadruped, with wings and a horn, a flowing, fire-like... mane? upon her head. A modified version of her uniform sat upon her body, along with a robotic stump on either of her legs. She got to her... hooves, and stumbled a bit. She looked around, and saw a marker through the HUD shades upon her face. Sunset began stumbling through the halls, carefully avoiding the patrolling guard, which seemed a bit... incompetent, maybe? Sunset shook it off and continued to move toward the marker, until she came to a pair of double doors. She fumbled with the handles for a moment, then finally opened the door. She quietly... trotted in, looking at her surroundings. She was in a bedroom, full of books, with a purple horse sleeping in a bed, with the same features as her, except she seemed... shorter, almost. Not only that, but Sunset found a little purple... That's a dragon. In a dog bed. Sunset found her hair acting as a source of lighting, so being able to see—not that it was difficult in the first place, with her augmented sight, and all—wasn't very difficult. The lance corporal trotted over to the nightstand and stared at her objective as it lit up with a yellow glow. It seemed to levitate into one of her pouches, and relief filled her mind—until she tripped over the dog, and knocked over the dresser. "H-Huh, what..." the little dragon woke up and watched as Sunset scrambled to get out. The horse did as well and yelled. "Stop! Thief!" Sunset groaned and tried running. She failed, then smirked to herself and slid across the too-well polished floor. She laughed and glanced back. The horse wasn't there, until it was, right in front of Sunset— CRASH! Sunset went flying, sliding across the floor. She stood up, stumbled a bit, and turned to the portal. The horse got wrapped around a drape, and got stuck. "Sorry if I can't stay to chat, but it appears you're a bit tied up at the moment." Sunset chuckled at her own pun, and saw a group of eight horses, two tall ones—Both a few inches shorter than Sunset— and six smaller, multicolored ones. Sunset stared at the white one for a moment, inciting a headache. "Ta-ta!" Sunset let herself fall back through the portal... And darkness overwhelmed her again. Harmony, VDF Fort Galileo, 2551. Sunset groaned. Her bones ached, and her muscles burned. She sat upright and held her head as a headache began plaguing her mind. Luna and Celestia were gone, and Sunset heard gunfire outside. She shouldered her BR55HB. She felt glad to be back in her body. Her real body, that is. Sunset pulled the objective out of the pouch on her uniform. It had changed shape, apparently. It was now some sort of... The room itself was ripped up, with panels of the ceiling now on the floor, along with pipes, tubes and all sorts of other gear strewn about. The portal was now closed behind Sunset, which she really hoped stayed that way. Sunset clicked the safety off her BR and crouched down. She carefully made her way over to the door, stacking up. She poked her head and rifle out. Empty. She rounded the corner and started moving down the narrow corridor with haste, flashlight on. She shoulder-rammed through the next door, and saw several Unggoy and a Sangheili minor around the holo-table. Sunset wasted no time and fired three quick bursts, killing each Unggoy, then took cover as the Sangheili roared. It began firing it's Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle at Sunset in bursts. Sunset waited a moment, the poked her head out and discharged her weapon. The Minor's shields flared, and he raged. The warrior hurdled the table and picked Sunset up by the throat. The assassination blade on his wrist activated. Crack! Crack! The minor gurgled blood and crumpled to the floor, dropping Sunset. She looked over, and saw someone familiar. "Major." Sunset addressed, getting to her feet. She picked her BR up and shouldered it. Flash Sentry stood at about six-foot-three, a bit taller than Sunset. He currently wore a suit of Argus-Class Body Armor, with a Void-Dancer Variant helmet. His armor was a light gray, covered in scorch marks. Several of the thinner plates were smoking from plasma burns. In Flash's hands, was an M6C magnum. His shields seemed to be down, as his armor was cackling with golden electricity. A subtle hum filled the air as his shields recharged. Sunset walked over to him and frowned. "Is the armory still operational?" she asked. "Yeah, just about one of the only things left operational... Covenant have been bombarding us with mortar fire for hours. Where the hell have you been?" Flash retaliated, irritation filling his voice. "On a special assignment." Sunset walked past Flash, BR55HB raised and sweeping over each surface. Blood stained the walls and the ground, human and Covenant. Bodies lined the floors, along with spent shell casings, scorch and bullet marks in the walls and floor, along with discarded weapons. The facility would shake occasionally as a bombardment from Covenant assault. Sunset drew her knife and thrust it forward, only for a three-fingered hand to grab her forearm and shove her down. She scrambled back and began firing her rifle at the Sangheili, a war cry filling her throat. The Sangheili fled to cover. Sunset quickly got to her feet and planted her shoulder against a wall opposite Flash. "Where'd it go?!" she yelled, firing a few bursts that went wide. Flash knelt down and fired his MA5C at random, in the general direction of the Sangheili. "I've got no idea!" Flash quickly turned the corner and rushed forward to a metal box that provided cover. The Sangheili popped his head out and fired at Flash from the end of the corridor. Sunset decided now was a good time to use that crystal. She held it within her hands, taking a few deep breaths. Then, she got mad. These Covenant motherfuckers were trying to take her home from her, the one she lost —literally— an arm and a leg for! She was NEVER going to let that stand. Sunset felt her head heat up, and she put the crystal in her back pocket and looked down at herself. Her uniform had melted down into a bodysuit, and glowing, transparent flame-like armor was now attached to it. Sunset just shook it off as one of the less random things she'd seen today, and rushed forward at breakneck speeds. The Sangheili was stunned, and began backpedaling, firing his plasma rifle at Sunset. The rounds seemingly added to the fire, swirling around with the orange flames before dying out. Sunset grabbed the Sangheili up by the throat and growled. "Do it, already... Demon. Do not waste... Hack! ...my time..." Sunset smirked and pummeled the Sangheili, knocking him unconscious. Her rage started dying, and Sunset felt herself seemingly getting shorter. She felt the strength drain from her momentarily, and she stumbled, coughing up smoke. She took a few breaths, her hand holding her up by pushing up to the wall for support. Flash hesitantly walked over, fear in his eyes. "Ho-lee-shit, Sunny." Flash applauded, kinda. Sunset had melted a good few centimeters into the floor where her feet left imprints, and her hair felt... longer. She frowned and sighed. "Magical." Sunset commented with a sarcastic tone. She shouldered her BR55HB and walked around the Sangheili's scorched, unconscious body. "Why is he still breathing?" Flash asked, prodding it's foot with the barrel of his MA5C. "Because it'd hurt his honor, and that hurts more than any wounds we can inflict. I do my homework, Major Sentry." Flash rolled his eyes at the comment and started walking down the corridor, alongside Sunset, moving toward the vehicle hangar. Equestria, 0300 hours, two-and-a-half hours after the theft. Celestia sat at the desk in her quarters, looking over the magic-made photographs, created from Celestia and Twilight's memory so they may identify the thief while she looked for her crown. She found the photos quite... interesting. They detail an alicorn, with flame-like wings and a blazing mane that flowed through the air. Her coat was orangish-yellow, with some sort of military uniform on her body, a few strange devices and contraptions on her body. Her eyes were bright cyan, and she had a lot of scars on her face, specifically, a long scar that went across the left side of her head, along with a bad burn scar over her eye that covered some of the upper right section of her face. Celestia thought back to one of her students... the one that she had failed. Sunset Shimmer. Celestia had taken a liking to Sunset from the start, learning her history, albeit dark, and filled with pain. She was an amazing student, always eager to learn... Then she decided to get into the theories of Dark Magic. She would sneak off to the restricted sections, doing Goddess knows what. Celestia found out, and decided it was time Sunset backed off. Sunset was stubborn, though. She kept learning, until she found about that blasted mirror. Celestia, with the assistance of Starswirl The Bearded, had created the portal, for many different reasons she'd long forgotten. When they went through, though... They found Humanity. There, at the time, was very, very little to go on. They were, in some ways, plenty more advanced than Equestria. They were not in others. They fought wars against each other, and did some of the most horrific acts Celestia couldn't even think of her ponies remotely thinking of anything like some of the things she'd seen... Not all of them, though, were evil. As long as Celestia, along with Luna and Starswirl ventured at night, they'd be safe. They helped in modernizing Equestrian ways of life, though, they couldn't be implemented until a good few centuries after Luna had gone mad with power. In the long run, Celestia should've just destroyed that mirror, but she didn't, and her student was now in that world, very likely dead, or worse... but when Celestia got a look at that alicorn that had stolen Twilight's crown... she saw in those pained, broken eyes... Sunset Shimmer. How she became an alicorn was what got to Celestia. She, honest-to-Goddess did not know, but she was back... momentarily, and seemingly in one piece. Celestia wished, with most of her heart, that Sunset would someday return, possibly alive and well... But she could only wish, at times like these. Author's Note For those who want to know, the two-part prologue was only there for context reasons. A/N: Sunset's equine form was inspired by this image, that I found browsing on the internet. Picture her like that, or not, doesn't really matter to me. Here's the link I found attached. Full credit can go to the author. Also, this chapter, originally was intended to be only a little over a thousand words, and it would've been split up into three separate ones. Sunset enters the portal>Is in Equestria, grabs crown & leaves>Exits portal. But I'm lazy, so I just made it like it is. II.Blood. It was all over the floor, and the walls, hell, even the ceiling. Sunset had probably lost gallons-worth of blood in her time of service with the VDFMC, but never has losing, or draining blood ever effected her, until she saw the bodies of her friends leaking it. Sunset paled as she knelt down beside a dead marine, her helmet melted into her head and skull, likely having died a very slow, painful death. She removed the soldier's dog-tags. CPL Krystyna Adamik. 441st MEU, Phoenix Company. Sunset held back a few tears and looked at the back of the tag. The image of a phoenix was engraved into the backside, along with 441 in bold font underneath. Sunset stuffed the tags into her bag and wiped her eyes. "Dammit." she whispered to herself. Sunset shouldered her BR55HB and moved on, walking down the ruined front entrance with haste. There were benches in the middle of the room, two sets of six benches, back-to-back. There were four large, rectangular windows on the ceiling, along with vines, moss and other plants growing on the concrete on the inside and outside. The front entrance was only there as a decoy, to look ruined, decayed and run-down so people strayed from it. Flash pressed a fey keys on a data-pad mounted to the wall, and two bunker doors slid shut in a single, swift motion, sealing the base off from the front. "That should slow the ground forces... maybe." Flash was genuinely worried. For his own sake, and for Sunset's. From what he could gather, General Celestia had put her on a special assignment of sorts to retrieve some sort of artifact from some experimental portal system they'd opened up. It was very unstable, according to the sergeant who'd ventured it. Flash raised his MA5C and looked around. "Seems clear enough. Let's move." Sunset nodded in response, following close behind the Major. He pushed up against one of the large, thick, powerless steel doors that kept people out of Fort Galileo. Sunset simply drew her leg back, then threw it forward in a knee-high kick that sent one of the doors off it's hinges. "C'mon. We've got to get away before—" Swooooooosh, KABOOM. The two were sent flying. Sunset smashed her face into the ground and rolled for a few meters. She growled and got to her hands and knees, spitting blood. "That... hurt..." Sunset got to her feet and stumbled. She steadied herself and held her BR55HB in a loose grip as she saw Covenant reinforcements from the top of the hill she stood upon. Hundreds... no, thousands of Covenant ground soldiers were moving on Fort Galileo, very likely going to simply plow past Sunset and Flash. At the helm of the group, Sunset saw an enraged Sangheili Field Marshal. She turned back, to see Flash getting to his feet, a Sangheili Major approaching him at a stumbling pace, missing his left arm and two of his mandibles. Sunset raised her BR55HB and began unloading the magazine into the Sangheili. His shields dropped, and the rounds tore through his chest, neck and brain, killing him instantly. Sunset slung her rifle and limped over to Flash, holding a hand out for him. He took it gratefully, and let Sunset pull him up to his feet. He brushed dirt off of his leg and picked up his MA5C. He raised it as a Sangheili with an Energy Sword appeared behind Sunset. They both heard the horn of a warthog to their left, and saw a VDF Ranger pull up in front of them, killing the Sangheili instantly. "Get in, losers. We're going shopping." Sunset snickered and climbed up, mounting the M41 LAAG on the back. She spun the machine gun's barrel and began firing at a group of Unggoy that had followed the Ranger. Flash climbed into the passenger seat, and the Ranger began riding downhill. The Covenant Ground Force began giving it all they had, discharging most, if not all their weapons. The Ranger, somehow, successfully avoided most of the rounds. A lone plasma grenade struck the hood and exploded, shattering the windshield. "Goddammit! I just cleaned that, you sons-of-bitches!" He had a light Russian accent, though his English was on point. Sunset began mowing down the ground units that didn't have vehicles for cover, spinning the gun around to face their rear, while Flash covered their front from enemy fire. Plasma began scorching the hull of the M12 Force Application Vehicle. Sunset roared a war cry and let loose a torrent of hot lead, tearing Unggoy, Sangheili and Jiralhanae alike. "We're not out of the pan just yet!" Sunset yelled as banshees began firing their plasma repeaters at the warthog. The Ranger swerved, avoiding taking any further damage, and turned to the left. A few boards were laid out over a broken down M808B. Sunset saw what he was doing, and roared, firing at the banshees as they launched off of the boards, into the air. "Ooooh SHIT!" Flash screamed, firing his MA5C wildly as they smashed into the ground. One of the hub caps rolled off, chasing a random Unggoy, who fled in response. Sunset laughed at that, then watched as the battlefield became smaller as they drove away. "... And into the fire." The Ranger finished as a green bolt of plasma struck the ground beside the 'hog, sending it spinning through the air. The Ranger hopped out, along with Flash, while Sunset ended up rolling with it. She smashed her head on the hull, and groaned, maintaining consciousness, just barely. "Christ..." she slowly eased herself out of the crash, only to duck back under as a barrage of plasma hurled itself toward her. "Fuck me." she muttered angrily, picking up her BR55HB that hung from the bent barrel of the M41 Light-Anti-Aircraft-Gun. She got into a fully prone position and leaned into the stock of the bullpup rifle. The feet of a Jiralhanae began walking past Sunset, sniffing the air. It stopped right as it passed her. The pair of hairy feet took a few steps back, and Sunset saw two claws grab the warthog's hull. The Jiralhanae pulled it up, saw Sunset, and would've yelled, were it not for the three 9.5x40mm rounds penetrating his skull, and blowing his brains out. Sunset got to her feet and started sprinting as fast as her augmented leg(s) could take her. She rolled over an Unggoy and fired a burst through it's mask, causing a minor explosion, sending gore in every direction. The other Unggoy around screamed and turned-tail, full sprint. Sunset turned away from them and started up in a full-on sprint, trying to get as far away from the Covenant as fast as she could. She felt her robotic arm short out, and saw a green plasma bolt melting into the thick, dense titanium plating. She slung her BR55HB over her good shoulder as her robotic became nonfunctional. She swore, ducking under a plasma grenade. She rolled to the side as it detonated, taking cover behind a boulder. She painstakingly removed her battle rifle from her back and pulled it into her good arm, leaning the grip against a niche in the rock, firing at any hostiles that approached. She felt something strike against the boulder. She turned to see Flash taking cover beside her, poking his head out to fire occasionally. "Cavalry just arrived, hold on." Flash roared over the din of plasma fire. Sunset pulled her BR55HB down and settled it into the crook in between her shoulder and her body, barrel facing up. She looked forward, and saw a cloaked figure sprint forward, an M6S in his left hand, some sort of single-edged, long sword in his right. He rushed up, climbing up onto the boulder. He launched himself in the air, landing squarely on top of a Sangheili Major. He swiftly drove his blade into it's skull, then launched himself off, pulling the blade out as he did so. His M6S discharged many times, the magazine sliding out, going down to his thigh, and a fresh one goes in. The stranger held his sword in a defensive stance, M6S no longer in his hand. A Sangheili Honor Guard exiting active camouflage, wielding a Type-1 Energy Sword, with an intricately designed cover over the hilt. He activated the sword and got into combat stance. The blade glowed a golden-orange color. The two circled each other for a time, before the stranger made his first move. The strange human soldier launched forward with a one-handed swing from the left side. The Honor guard parried by raising his energy blade up. The stranger's blade held firm, and did not melt. This, at first, surprised the Sangheili warrior, giving the stranger the time he needed to deliver a quick set of swings and thrusts. Both fighters circled each other, a confident look upon the Sangheili's face, whilst the stranger's remained unseen. Both heaved from exhaustion, the fight taking it's toll on them both. The stranger's khaki-drab colored cloak, was now shredded at the edges, and the armor upon his legs, and that which was visible through the holes in the cloak, were covered in scratches, burns and dents from H2H and sword moves. The Stranger's left hand reached back into a place on his back under his cloak, and came back out a clenched fist. He charged, sword pointed to the Sangheili's abdomen. The Honor Guard was taken by surprise, harshly sidestepping the move. The Sangheili delivered a kick to the stranger's back. He spun around, throwing his left hand out. The Honor Guard clutched his throat as blood began seeping through his three-fingered hands and mouth. He fell to his knees before the stranger. He picked up his blade, spun it around in his hand swiftly, then slid it into a scabbard on his back. The Honor Guard crumpled to the floor, revealing three, thin, yet sharp throwing knives lodged into his throat. The strange soldier retrieved the knives, put them back, and turned to the large amount of covenant troops that began pouring over the hill before him. The stranger turned to Sunset and Flash, motioning for them to run. To which, they hauled ass, and got as far away as possible. Sunset ran as fast as her legs could carry her, with Flash a meter or two behind her. Huuuuuummmmmmmm. A barrage of blue plasma bolts slammed into the ground around Sunset. She looked up, to see a Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft, —A Banshee— and pushed herself. Sunset slid down a hill, a torrent of plasma melting into the ground around her. The banshee still screamed overhead, unharmed. Sunset spun around, BR55HB drawn, and fired a single burst at one of it's engines. The banshee tilted and dove down. It's gun began charging, then discharged a single, large blob of plasma at them. "Oh, shit, shit, shit!" Sunset ducked behind a boulder as the concussive blast struck the ground, still in range of Sunset. She was sent sliding, rolling and tumbling across the ground, skidding to a halt in a depression in the ground, leading to the entrance to a cave. Sunset crawled forward as fast as she could—Without an arm, nor a leg, that was quite slow—trying to get into the cave before the banshee could come round for a bombing run, or to take her out. Sunset heard the sound of an SRS99D-S2 AM discharge, and turned onto her back to get a look. The banshee's engine was aflame, the stranger standing some ways away, an SRS99D-S2 in hand. The banshee swerved and crashed into a cliff, going up in a glorious explosion of blue and purple fire. Sunset leaned herself up against a rock and spat blood. She raised her BR55HB, awaiting any hostiles. Instead, the Stranger simply waltzed in, the sniper rifle no longer in his possession. He walked over to Sunset, placing a hand on her robotic arm and leg, both damaged beyond use during the battle. A swarm of small, black... bugs, no, bots, began climbing into her robotics, small sparks scraping off as they began... repairing her leg, reinforcing it with a shiny, silver-colored armor. "W-Wha—?" Sunset looked up at the stranger, who had to be at least seven feet tall. His hood was down, revealing a black, MJOLNIR Mark VI Variant helmet, with a blood red visor, that shifted to a scarlet color when the light reflected off of it. "Major Sentry will arrive shortly." his voice was gruff, and older, with a light Russian accent there, similar to their driver. "W-Who the hell are you?" Sunset asked, lowering her BR and coughing blood. The stranger injected her with a strange needle, and stood up, watching the door, an MA5B assault rifle sliding out of the back-section of his cloak as he grabbed it, holding it in a protective stance. "The name is Nikki. Nikki-046. VDF Black Ops. Phoenix Company." Sunset calmed a bit, hearing the last bit. She became excited at hearing "Black Ops." "Whoa-whoa-wait, Black Ops?!" Sunset's eyes widened at the thought. "Very big 'hush-hush', so keep quiet about it, да?" Sunset nodded and wriggled her robotic fingers, amazed that they even worked still. I'm just gonna not ask. Sunset stood up, stumbling at first. She steadied herself, and shouldered her BR55HB as Flash ran in, taking cover by one of the walls. "The wraiths stayed back, and they're shelling Galileo. Ghosts are everywhere. Dunno if we can even get past them without alerting the rest. The banshees are providing over-watch, as well. That goddamn CSO and the CAS are pounding the navy, from what I can get from radio chatter." "Radio communication is going down, slowly, but surely." Nikki said, standing upright. He walked over to the cave's entrance, tossing his MA5B aside, in exchange for an M392 DMR strapped to his back, presumably. Either that, or he was magic, and just was summoning them. Likely the former option. "We'll camp out here until reinforcements arrive." Flash scoffed and slung his MA5C. "That could take days, weeks, even!" Flash pointed accusingly at Nikki. "I do not care. We either wait here, or try and get to the nearest form of city, which is twelve kilometers west. I gave your companion a stimulant, but she won't last. By the time we'd arrive, she'd be long dead, майор." Nikki knelt down and leaned into the stock of his DMR. "Wait, do you hear that?" he lowered his DMR and stood. It was distant, quite distant, but still apparent. The noise of an M41 LAAG firing, an MA5C discharging, and the sound of small-arms fire, likely from rifles. Sunset jogged over to the entrance and looked out, jaw agape. UNSC forces were beginning to drop off all around, marines, ODST, hell, even a few SPARTANs, alongside Warthogs, Scorpions, among other vehicles. "Damn it." Nikki walked over to Sunset. "Can you run?" Sunset nodded in response, and Nikki took off like a bullet, running down the cavern. Sunset and Flash followed close behind, stopping as a torrent of gunfire filled the cavern. They each took cover behind boulders and outcroppings of rock and metal. "Who the hell is shooting?!" Sunset yelled, firing a few bursts from her BR wildly. "Cease fire!" Nikki yelled through Comms, and the gunfire stopped. Two VDF Army Troopers stepped out, helmets clipped to their waists. A man, and a woman. The woman had cyan hair with a "Pageboy" haircut, with different shades of cyan in streaks. The man had unkempt, dirty-brown hair. "Holy crap, we thought you guys were UNSC, or Covenant! We saw those bitches touch down, not too long ago." the woman said, sitting down on a rock, holding a bloody bandage on her abdomen. "UNSC started touching down in the valley not forty minutes ago. If I were to guess, they're gonna try and take back Harmony." Nikki leaned against a wall. Sunset heard the words come out of his mouth and froze. The male army trooper whispered something to Flash via their private Comm channels, and he chuckled. "She was one of the huge factors in the final battle that transpired before we took Harmony fully." The female army trooper gasped. "Holy shit, you're Sunset Shimmer! The word around Comms is that you got offed, said your vitals suddenly spiked, then flat-lined all-of-a-sudden." she said. "I'm Coco. Coco Pommel. This one over here is Samuel, but we all just call him Troubleshoes." the female army trooper introduced. Sunset nodded to them and leaned back. "Now, what're we gonna do about the UNSC and the Covenant touching down? We can't fight 'em both at the same time. That's how we lost the Broadway and the Nagasaki." Flash slumped down against a rock, letting his MA5C hang from it's sling. Nikki hummed, thinking it over. "We don't. The UNSC and the Covenant will fight each other, and only one will end up surviving. The most the VDF will do is send a few nukes in their direction, or stop setting up a mine field, probably of nukes." Nikki replied. "They'll kill each other, or cripple one another to the point where the Romeo & Juliet can mop up what's left. We just need to stay under the radar until then." Flash concluded. Nikki nodded affirmatively. "So, what do we do in the meantime?" Sunset asked, holding her abdomen, where one of her many wounds resided. Nikki stood up and paced. "You need medical attention... we need to get out of this cave... Troopers." Nikki turned to the two misfits. "I'll assume you two have been in the forward camp?" the duo nodded. Nikki sighed, relief in his voice. "Okay, you're gonna bring us there, possibly get us transport." The two army troopers only nodded, and started their way back. Sunset, Nikki and Flash followed close behind. They entered an underground complex, made entirely of concrete and steel. The walls were covered in moss, and crates in various states of damage were scattered around, along with wooden structures of varying design. Mostly barricades, or repairs to damaged wall or ceiling plates. Coco took a left, and was met with an M90 pointed at her face for a moment. "Nombre usted mismo, manos arriba, armas de distancia! ¡INMEDIATAMENTE!" Coco yelped and shied back a bit. "Saffron, it's me!" the M90 went back and it's wielder poked out. A woman, with dark purple hair, along with a golden band holding her hair up. She had golden earrings, as well. A bandanna was around her neck. She had purple eyes, as well. She had two curveblades attached to her right thigh, two on her left, with throwing knives lining her lower back, along with an MA37 strapped to her back. "Sorry, sarge. Papa is having another one of his moments, and we just ran out of medication." Saffron plead. Coco nodded in acceptance and walked in with Troubleshoes in tow. Sunset, Flash and the Blacks Ops soldier followed close behind. They were led into a medium-sized atrium, with broken armor and weapons strewn about, an old man in a VDF Ranger's uniform sitting at a table at the end of the room, grumbling as he field-stripped an M99 "Stanchion" Special Application Scoped Rifle. "Papa." Saffron cleared her throat, getting the old man's attention. He glanced back at them, a distant look in his eyes... as if he were somewhere else entirely. Mentally, at least. "Marines... and a Black Ops soldier. Great. More souls claimed by the Vanguard's power grab..." The old man grumbled. "Papa, you need to calm down. I found you, and let you stay with me, sí?" the man sighed and nodded. "Then you need to calm down. We're not going to war just yet." Sunset raised an eyebrow and looked to Coco. "Uh, we've been finding various, uh, Insurrection bases, in the old mines in this mountain... We've been clearing them out, one-by-one, but there's still a lot of them left." Coco walked over to a crate and pulled out a paper map. She laid it out over a folding table and started putting pins in certain places. It was a map of the mines. Sunset got a good look at the room they were in, now that there was no immediate threat at the moment. It was lit with hanging lamps. There were steel carts, pickaxes, crates of explosives, and mining gear of all sorts, just strewn about among the rations and military equipment. This was one of the main stations for the miners to take breaks, when miners were still alive... it appears they were likely all taken hostage, or killed. "Well, the miners were under VDF protection, right?" Coco nodded shamefully. "We... I stationed myself, Troubles and Papa Cumin on the entrance... we got a bunch of Innies and Covenant guys before they overwhelmed us and we had to fall back and seal the entrance. That back way was hastily made using instacrete, and we've just reinforced it, and put some railings and other stuff in after the initial threat was dealt with." Coco admitted, scratching the back of her neck. "What about Cumin's armor?" Nikki asked, sitting on a crate. "It was too damaged, so we melted down the titanium plates and used them to reinforce the entrance... I've got my force spread thin, here. I've got the two other marines other than Saffron stationed on the entrance, and the other troopers I commanded were killed, or captured. We buried the bodies in a section of the cave that's since been walled off." Coco groaned and slumped down to the wall, head in her hands. "I... I served with the VDF Army during the Battle Of Eridanus II, the annexation of Sedra, hell, I helped in the defense of Meridian... I-I thought I'd never see anything more gruesome than those battles, but... seeing what I've seen in those mines, seeing my soldiers die... G-God, I can't handle it..." Coco sighed, just shaking intensely. "We're gonna get the rest of your men back, and if possible, any miners these Innie bastards took. Don't worry, Coco." Sunset patted her shoulder and smiled. Coco smiled back and nodded, getting up. She slung her weapon—a BR55HB— into her arms, and walked over to the map. "The command center is in the deepest section of the mine. It's like the center of the hive. All tunnels connect through three large ones that lead into this room. They've got an Elephant, and a bunch of Cyclopes in there, and that's what we know about... Be ready. There's ammunition and weapons scattered around if you need to restock." she turned to Nikki. "My medic is down there. Get her back, and you'll get medical help for your friend. You can find nanobot recharge stations in the deeper tunnels, but be wary. We've found a race of these... creatures. Follow me." she led Sunset, Nikki and Flash into a room, where some sort of giant bug was lying dead on an examination table, a curved-bladed machete driven up through it's "head," along with other creatures and such scattered about. "We don't have a proper name for them, from what the few eggheads we had said, but I just call them antlions. The one on the table, that's a soldier. The one lying over there is a worker. If you end up passing through the hive, you'll see them the most. Avoid the spit, it'll melt your armor. And this bugger..." Coco picked up a data pad and showed it to them. "This is a Guardian. They protect the hives, nests, whatever you want to call them. There's one, and if you want, you can kill it, but I hear there's some sort of extract from these hive bricks. They're like bee hives, figuratively and literally. Hexagonal pieces of carbon material, and they're heavily guarded. The extract, I believe, is like a supercharged healing drug, according to the eggheads before they got capped... Go get my people back." Coco put the tablet down and squished one of the grub corpses, accident or not, that was unknown. Sunset shouldered her BR55HB and went to the main room. Flash Sentry walked over to Sunset as she was setting up her load-out. An M90 CAWS, her MA5C and BR55HB, a few throwing knives, two Karambit knives, two Curveblades, and an old saber, along with a suit of battered Argus Armor and an Enforcer-Variant helmet. "Nikki should be done soon, then we've got to move out... How're you holding up?" Flash sat down opposite Sunset. She raised an eyebrow at him as she began sliding a knife across a whetstone. "Fine. Why do you ask?" Sunset replied, tossing the whetstone aside. "You've seemed... different since you went on that mission for the brass, even more after you turned into that raging... thing, when the Sangheili pinned me down." Sunset shrugged. "I don't see the problem with me being a bit more chipper... Oh god, I can see what you mean..." Sunset shook her head and pulled the crown out of the hardcase on her thigh. "Damn thing seems to be... influencing me, I guess." Sunset groaned and stood up, shouldering her M90. "Let's go. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." Nikki walked in just as she said that. His cloak was off, revealing a set of "scarred" Argus Armor, the design representing a slimmed-down version of the MJOLNIR Mark V armor. Ammunition pouches lined his waist. On his back, was an MA5C, a BR55HB, an M392 DMR and an M90. He had two M6C SOCOM magnums in holsters on his lower back, along with a dozen throwing knives. He had two curveblades that were connected to the katana, making a single blade. "You pansies ready to move?" Nikki asked, readying the M7S in his hands. Sunset got to her feet and nodded, readying her weapon. Nikki huffed and walked out of the room. Coco, along with Saffron waited by the mine's entrance. The entrance was a large grate door, held up by wooden support beams. A metal rail-cart track sat right in the middle of the tunnel. Blood was splattered across the tunnel, along with the corpses of miners, abandoned carts with varying amounts of supply in them, whether it be ore, rock, or the hardened carbon material that the hive pieces were made of. Coco, with the help of Papa Cumin, opened the door for Sunset & company. She walked through and activated her helmet-lights. "Let's go." Sunset's small group of soldiers followed close behind. And with that, the first part of their adventure began. Author's Note Translations (Google Translate, 'cus I'm a lazy shit): да - yes майор - major sí - yes Nombre usted mismo, manos arriba, armas de distancia! ¡INMEDIATAMENTE! - Name yourself, hands up, weapons away! IMMEDIATELY! A/N: VDF ships with something like "&" in the title, are called Mothership-Classes. They're venators, the VDF's heavy cruisers, and are always positioned over colonies. There is only one exception, and that is a specially-made Mothership-Class, called the Honor & Justice, which, in a way, is like High Charity. It's like their capitol ship. They train the VDF Black Ops soldiers there, and those who serve on the ship, likely will serve for until they retire. Mothership-Classes' hulls have plasma and ballistic weapons lining them, while there will be missile-pods on the top and bottom sections of the ship, along with SOEIV pods. They're strong, and rival a CAS-Class Cruiser in size. 2.) Instacrete is something from the Halo lore, the link is provided here, for your convenience. III: The Hive. Sunset Shimmer. Sunset discharged a single burst from her BR55HB into the head of an Antlion Soldier. Her little crew of soldiers had been fighting their way through the tunnels for hours, now. Their first stop was to get to the Insurrection camp closest to the station, which is likely where the hostages were being kept. Nikki climbed onto the back of an antlion worker, pulled out both of his curve blades, and placed them into an X formation, cleanly slicing the head off. He climbed down and stared down at the yellow blood and brownish gore splattered onto his blades. "Interesting..." he whispered. He flicked the blood off of his blade, and clicked the two curveblades to his katana. Sunset slumped down against the tunnel wall, wincing hard as the adrenaline in her body finally began wearing off. "Dammit..." She whispered to herself. She clenched her hands around her BR55HB's handle and growled. The pain was beginning to intensify. She needed real medical attention, and fast. She'd be dying within a few hours without it. Sunset stood up and shouldered her Battle Rifle. She started a slow limp down the tunnel, when Saffron stopped her. "We're approaching the first Insurrection camp. Nikki and I are going to advance. Flash is gonna stay back with you and cover you. Alright?" Sunset grumbled and nodded. She did not like this. Not. One. Bit. Nikki advanced forward, his M392 DMR drawn. The duo began their advance down the hallway. Nikki ducked down behind a crate as a patrol of Insurrectionists passed by. They wore the standard marine BDUs, with red-colored shoulder-pads and helmets. "... You ever wonder why we're here?" one of the patrolling soldiers asked the other. His armor-patterns were a shade of maroon, whilst his partner was in orange. "It’s one of life’s great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don’t know, man, but it keeps me up at night." The orange one answered. The two stopped and stared at each other in silence. "W-What? No, I meant why the hell are we in this mine." "Oh, uh... yeah." the orange one awkwardly scuffed his boot against the floor. "What was all that stuff about God?" The maroon one quizzed, letting his rifle lower to the floor, out of his other hand. "Hm? Nothing." the orange one answered, scratching the back of his neck. "You wanna talk about it?" the maroon one got back to walking as they spoke. "No." "You sure?" "Yeah." "Seriously, though... Why are we—" he was cut off, as the local VDF Black Ops soldier thrusted his fist into the visor of the maroon Innie, knocking him unconscious and sending him to the floor. The other one jumped. He fell on his back and scrambled away. He, in his rush, left his rifle back there. Saffron approached him, and pumped her M90. He, in return, grabbed a cone and held it in front of him. "Protect me, cone!" Saffron raised her M90, and was about to fire, but Nikki placed his hand on the barrel and pushed it to the floor. "Let him go. Let him alert his friends. They'll all be dead by the end of the night, anyway..." Nikki simply let go and walked down the tunnel. Saffron gave the Insurrectionist a threatening look, then followed behind Nikki. The Insurrectionists were out of range by the time Nikki began going over their plan. "Alright. Now that we've got some silence... When we reach the Insurrectionist outpost, we're going to strategically place charges around the support columns, then, once out of range, blow them to kingdom come, hopefully with any friendly forces saved. Flash and Sunset should already be moving—" "Wait, I thought Sergeant Shimmer and Major Sentry were staying behind." Saffron frowned behind her helmet. "No. They'll be moving into the ventilation or sewage system and make their way to the POWs, and hopefully get them out while we make a distraction." Saffron thought it over. "Wait, what about the antlions?" she asked, gesturing to a few grubs in a little break area beside them. "By the time they get to us, we'll have already gotten our—" Nikki took a step forward, and the ground beneath him gave. "Nikki—!" Saffron met the same fate, the ground under them giving away. The two began falling. Saffron grabbed at the walls, to no avail. They were slick. Nikki grabbed Saffron by the shoulders and activated his thrusters, Saffron doing the same. They slowed down to a degree, then crashed into the ground. Unconsciousness engulfed Saffron, the last thing she saw, was Nikki dragging her off... Sunset discharged three quick bursts from her BR55HB. She dropped down behind cover as a torrent of gunfire zoomed past her helmeted head. She swore silently and poked her head out, firing a few bursts. Splat! Sunset saw the blood splatter, ducked back and heard the body crumple to the floor. "That's another one down!" she yelled over the din of gunfire. Flash nodded. He primed a fragmentation grenade, waited a few seconds, then lobbed it. Boom. Sunset stood up and fired several more bursts from her BR55HB. A few rounds struck her energy shields before she ducked behind cover. "That distraction Nikki promised would be much appreciated right about now..." Sunset grumbled. Flash poked his head out and fired from his MA5C, taking down a few hostiles. "Wait a minute, you hear that?" Sunset listened... The gunfire halted, and was replaced by a loud rumbling. "Ah, shit! Lions!" the insurrectionists began retreating, when the floor beneath them gave away, and they fell, screaming. "Cave-in." Sunset stood up. She activated her BR's flashlight and swept over the area, moving forward slowly. She saw no hostiles, and lowered her BR55HB, when the animalistic screams of the antlions began climbing it's way up the hole in the floor. "Goddammit." Sunset muttered, quickly backtracking. The six-legged beasts began climbing up out of the entry-point, charging toward Sunset and her ally. She slung her BR55HB, getting a good look at the creature. A machete—albeit rusted—was sticking out of the antlion soldier's front leg, giving it something of a limp as it rushed forth. Sunset waited until it was almost right upon her, then slid under the beast. She quickly dislodged the age-old tool from it's leg, and hacked at it's neck. Yellow blood splattered across her armor as the antlion collapsed atop her, bits of brown, gory mush splattering to the ground and onto her armor. Sunset growled and violently threw the body off. She grabbed her BR55HB and began discharging antlions. She felt something splatter against her shoulder, and saw a pale, green glowing acid settling into the titanium composite armor. Steam and electrical sparks rose up as the robotic arm underneath shorted out. Don't get hit by the acid. The one thing you couldn't do... Sunset scolded herself as she began firing once again, killing the Antlion Worker responsible for melting her arm. "Flash! I'm hit!" Sunset ducked behind cover as another splash of acid impacted her cover. She hurdled the cover, her M6G sidearm drawn. She moved forward, discharging round after round, killing a good amount of antlions before reaching the hole. She removed a fragmentation grenade from her waist, primed it, then let it drop into the hole. It whistled as it dropped, before exploding, somewhere in the rock tube, collapsing the wall around. The ground beneath Sunset began crumbling. She spun on her heel and hauled ass, running toward the metal pipe she and Flash had entered in, only to find the ground breaking apart faster than she could run. She took a wrong step, and stepped on a rock as it collapsed, and was sent flying downrange. "Sunset!" Flash ran over to the end of the pipe. He wasn't going to let her die, but what to do, what to do... "Oh, fucking Christ..." he took a few steps back, then ran forward and swan dived into the pit, only to fall unconscious from hitting the wall. Nikki propped Saffron up against a stalagmite, weapon at the ready. The cavern they'd fallen into was dark, lit up by the glowing bodies of the antlion grubs, and by natural light that reflected off of the many glistening surfaces round the cavern. He saw, a good twenty meters ahead, several metal support beams, and the wreckage of an old mining tram. Gotta get her outta here... Get the extract for Sunset... Get out, or get ready to go feet-first. Nikki lifted Saffron up over his shoulder and into a fireman's carry. He used his free hand to grab an M6S from his waist. He moved toward the tunnel, using his VISR and augmented vision to scan the area around him. Antlion Workers and Soldiers were all around, hidden behind thin rock walls, along with a single Antlion Guard, and a Guardian. Nikki saw a window open in the corner of his visor, and the holographic display colored midnight-blue appeared. It was of a soldier in a digital-camouflage uniform, with gloves, boots, along with an M17A2 Gas Mask over his face, along with an ODST BDU helmet, the visor ripped off so that the mask could stick out. "I would not recommend killing the Guardian. The item we are going to retrieve from that hive, apparently, requires the Guardian to sustain itself. I'm getting more information as you listen." The voice of Nikki's AI stated. He was a prototype AI, and if he was deemed successful when pulled from Nikki's helmet, would likely enter service within multiple Black Ops and Spec Ops units. Nikki growled, looking around. The antlions began stirring, digging at the walls that kept them from him. He placed Saffron on the floor, and planted a hand on the tram car's hull, letting a small swarm of his nanobots to enter the systems and begin repair. He flipped it upright and slid it onto the track, then carefully placed Saffron inside. "Not letting you die here..." he said quietly, before turning to see an Antlion Soldier rush at him. The Black Ops soldier wasted no time, and threw several knives at the antlion. No effect. He growled, and fired a single round at it from his M6S. It dropped to the ground. Nikki retrieved his knives from the corpse, and went back to the tram. The nanobots finished, then swam over, up Nikki's arm, down his back, and into the cylindrical canister at his waist, alongside the many different weapons he carried. The Antlion Workers soon followed behind their brethren, climbing out of tunnels, rushing forward. Nikki pushed the acceleration button on the tram, and stood his ground, watching Saffron disappear down the dark tunnel. That may not have been a good idea... he thought to himself, then groaned at his mistake. He dropped a primed fragmentation grenade, then sprinted after the tram, M6S finding it's way back into the holster on Nikki's back. He eventually caught up, and climbed in. Nikki slung his M392 DMR and activated the mounted flashlight, ready for whatever the antlions threw at him. Sunset groaned, her eyes fluttering open. She stared up at the sky above her, through a large hole, dust and small rocks occasionally falling in. "Oh, shit." she looked around, trying to find Flash, when her hand brushed against something. His helmet. She quickly grabbed it, to find it's wielder missing. The visor was cracked, and blood was splattered on the inside. "Dammit." Sunset whispered. She downloaded the camera footage to her own helmet, then lobbed it out of the hole. Sunset looked around, and found herself in a better situation than she first believed. The rubble below was half sunken in an underground lake, an ever-expanding tunnel in every direction. The situation was still shitty, but not as bad as she first believed. Probably gonna die... ah, fuck it. Sunset found her BR55HB missing. She shouldered her MA5C instead, and climbed down the mountain of rubble, into the stained water beneath. She waded through the knee-high water, then climbed onto solid ground, huffing. She found herself moving northward, toward a man-made tunnel, lined with metal supports, a few abandoned carts scattered around. Sunset walked over and found an emergency supply crate tightly secured to the carts by thick, leather binds. Sunset unsheathed her combat knife, and swiftly tore away the binds. She picked the crate up and weighed it. The crate was barely a dozen pounds, sadly, meaning there likely wasn't much for her inside. She tore open the box, and found a small cache of 7.62x51mm NATO rounds, a few fragmentation grenade in a foam case, and a loaded flare gun. Not much, but enough. I can live with this. Sunset pulled her rucksack off her back, and stuffed the loot inside. She slung the sack onto her back, clipping the magnetic pieces to her armor, and clicking the multiple clips and buckles to the slots in her armor for said parts. Her radio remained silent. Still out of radio range... Sunset sighed. Since leaving Fort Galileo, she was met with minimal radio chatter, static, or total silence. It was discouraging, sure, but she knew she could live without it. "Gotta find Flash, then regroup, make it to that damned Innie compound, and get out of here alive..." Sunset monologues as she walks. Sunset passed into the tunnel, headlamps and weapon flashlight activated. The walls were lined with rusted metal supports. There wasn't much sign that people had been there for God knows how long. The lower sections likely got abandoned. Sunset used her suit's systems to open up a window in the corner of her visor, going over the intelligence she had gathered on these mines. Victory Mines. Established shortly after colonization of Harmony. Abandoned 2410, VDF reestablish working force 2459, promptly shut down again from 2460-2549, when the VDF claim Harmony and establish the Mothership-Class Venator Romeo & Juliet permanently over the Vudrenia Wastelands. Sunset snapped out of it as the ground around her began rumbling. She looked behind her, and saw the subtle glow of an Antlion Worker, along with a glowing Antlion Guard—A Guardian. Sunset took a hard left and began hauling ass, MA5C now on her back. No point in fighting this thing, when it's armor was tough enough to withstand the 7.62x51mm NATO rounds that her weapon fired. Sunset stopped in her tracks as an Antlion Guard slammed into the wall in front of her, turning left to face her. She cursed her luck—and her God—then promptly drew her MA5C and M6G. "If you motherfuckers think I'm gonna go quietly, you've got another damned thing coming." Sunset roared and charged the Guard, knowing she had at least a sliver of a chance at the very least wounding it. Nikki cursed his God as the mining tram began slowing down, the fuel now empty. During their tram ride, Saffron had awoken, and Nikki was able to give her something of a medical check-up. She was wounded, and would need proper medical attention in the future if she wanted to survive, but for the moment, she'd live. The likeliness, was that her body would begin healing up her wounds on it's own, and there was a chance that'd be enough... but she had wounds that her body may not be able to heal on it's own. "N-Nikki, where are we?" Saffron whispered, getting onto her feet. She used her M90 as a crutch, leaning into the weapon's stock for support. "Deeper into this hellhole than I'd prefer." he vaguely answered, climbing down from the tram. Saffron carefully let herself down, finding enough strength to use her shotgun properly, carrying it in a loose, weak grip. Bang! Bang, Bang! ROOOOAAAAR. Nikki turned north, and saw gunfire from the tunnel. He shouldered his M392, and started up a light jog. There was a scream. Sunset's voice in it. Nikki ducked down into a sprint, his body curled up, the rifle underneath him as he ran, tightly held within his titanic grip. The two-meter tall VDF-Equivalent of a SPARTAN slammed into cover, peeking out to see what he was up against. Aww, shit. The Guardian was throwing Sunset around like a ragdoll, while it's followers lie dead on the ground around them, alongside an Antlion Guard, it's head ripped off. "Holy shit..." Saffron muttered as she took cover beside Nikki. "What's the plan, Chief—" Nikki rolled over the cover and charged. Saffron sighed. That works too. Sunset was launched into Nikki by a headbutt, and the two were sent toppling to the ground. Saffron hurdled her cover and pumped the M90. She whistled, and the Guardian turned to her. "Yeah, you! C'mon, you ugly sumbitch! Come get some!" Saffron fired a shell at the beast, staggering it, as well her. She continuously fired, until the Guardian began leaking blood. "Don't kill it! We can't harvest the extract if it's dead!" Nikki yelled, picking Sunset up in a Fireman's carry. You've got to be fucking kidding me... Saffron groaned and started running toward the Guardian. It roared, and charged. The VDF Marine slid underneath it, and over to her two comrades. "Let's go." Nikki nodded, and started up a light jog down the tunnel. Sunset was unconscious for the time being. Not good. Saffron turned back, and saw the Guardian hurriedly burrowing through one of the tunnel supports, opening up a new rocky cavern. The entire corridor shook, and a large chunk of earth collapsed behind them, much more following. "Don't say it!" Saffron yelled, and started sprinting. The tunnel collapsed behind them at an alarming rate, and there was no light at the end of their tunnel... metaphorically, of course. The support beams collapsed into the tunnel, causing more of the ceiling to cave in as they ran. Acid spit flew at them, as well, making it all the more difficult to avoid injury. Nikki grunted as a splash of acid impacted his leg, melting through the titanium-composite armor on his calf. Blood spurted from the wound, he ignoring the pain, keeping his speed. Saffron looked down, and saw they were going uphill, and spiraling. Their path was no longer collapsing behind them, but a large pipe shattered, and the tunnel began flooding. "Never a dull moment, aye, Nikki?" Icarus quipped, plotting a course to the Insurrection Compound, whilst tracking Major Flash Sentry's location. Nikki winced at his calf as bio-medical-foam sealed it. He took a hard left, and onto a concrete platform. There were open, or broken lockers scattered around. An industrial-sized ladder rested at the end of the hall. Nikki ran over and started climbing, Saffron close behind. Alarms began sounding, and the subtle bootsteps of Insurrection soldiers filled the soldiers' ears. "There they are!" Nikki's helmet poked out, and he pulled himself up. The Lieutenant drew his M6S and quickly discharged each of the Insurrectionists inside. He looked back, and saw Saffron quickly jump onto solid ground, as a hatch slammed through the ladder, sealing off the room as water began leaking into the room below. "That... That was... Close." Nikki looked to his left, and walked over to the pressure hatch blocking off a tunnel. He slid his AI chip into the slot under the keypad beside the door, and it winked green. He removed it and placed it back into his helmet. The seals on the door groaned and the door slid open. A loud screech filled their ears as an Antlion Worker stuck it's head through. Saffron quickly blew it's head off with a blast from her shotgun. "I've located the Hive, sir. Plotting waypoint now." Icarus said aloud, and a marker appeared on the HUDs of the VDF personnel. "Goddammit." Saffron muttered, and climbed over the Antlion Worker's corpse. Flash. Flash spat blood and took cover behind a wall, shouldering his MA5C. "Get 'im!" Flash growled at the voice of the Insurrectionist Captain. He poked out, quickly pulling back as a blast of many different types of bullets flew past. He primed a fragmentation grenade, threw it to the floor, and rolled away, sliding across the wall. The insurrectionists turned the corner, and were blown into many different pieces, blood splashing across any surface in range. Flash knelt down, and suppressed any Insurrection soldiers that advanced on his position. He eventually reached the end of their local numbers, and weakly got to his feet. Flash's armor was practically gone at this point. The shoulders, abdomen, shin and calf armor were missing, while his forearm armor was practically shattered. He had internal bleeding, broken arm, and a few bruised ribs. Nothing he couldn't compensate for. Flash shouldered his MA5C, and began walking down the not-so-abandoned tunnel. There were clusters of glowing green mud-like material splashed across the floor, Antlion grubs scattered around them. Flash grimaced at the sight of one of the grubs chewing on a human skull, and walked past. The subtle beeping in the TAC-PAD on his lesser damaged forearm became more rapid, meaning he was closing into the objective. He turned a corner, and quickly took a step back, almost slipping on the slimy, cold cavern floor. The mine tunnel was missing, and in it's place, was a large, open cavern, with a massive stone pedestal in the middle, above a large surplus of water. Large, gray bee-hive like structures encrusted the walls, with a giant cluster of them on the pedestal. "Jesus H. Christ..." Flash muttered. He carefully walked onto the ledge. The was a small outcropping on the wall, meaning if he was careful, he could make his way across, if not, into the—likely— acidic, poisoned water below. Flash growled and began very slowly making his way over the outcropping. "He went this way!" More Insurrectionists. Flash didn't hurry himself, keeping at the slow pace. Almost... there... A few bullets whizzed past, and he almost lost his footing. Screw it. Flash jumped, rolling onto the bridge that linked to the pedestal, and the mining tunnel across from it. Flash rolled onto his back and fired wildly, killing each of the Insurrectionists, their bodies dropping to the ground below. There were screams, and their bodies began getting viciously ripped apart by some sort of piranha-like creatures, leaving nothing behind. Flash readied his assault rifle and looked down the tunnel. "Flash!" Sunset yelled, limping over. She gave him a tight hug. "You scared us..." she said to him, before breaking from the embrace, shaking her head. "Agh, what are these 'emotions' I'm feeling?" she muttered, half-joking, then walked over to the hive creation. "This... This is it, right?" Nikki nodded, climbing up the structure carefully. He pulled out a small drone from his waist pouch, dropping it in. Vvvvvvvvvvrrrrmmmmmm... the few glowing lights in the hive intensified, soon replaced by several glowing blue tunnels of light. Nikki climbed over, dropping a drone in each one. They were small enough to fit in his—albeit large—palm. Each one came back out, a vial of glowing slime contained on their underbelly-areas. Nikki took the vials, placed them in slots on his belt, and let the drones decompose, the nanobots making up their bodies slithering across and into the tube on his waist. "Alright. Part one of our mission is done. Now, all we gotta do is destroy those Insurrection compounds..." a collective groan in response, followed by a large explosion, as the cavern's ceiling fell, splashing into the infested waters below.' "... Maybe at a lesser degree." Nikki set a waypoint for the first Insurrectionist camp, and began running. "Saffron will meet us there, she's dealing—" a loud hiss filled the air, and a pipe exploded above them, sending the three to the ground. "Shit!" Sunset crawled over to Flash, who now had burn wounds running up his face. Nikki walked over and picked him up in a bridal carry. "We don't have long." Nikki started the uphill jog, passing several antlion corpses, before he stopped and turned around. The Guardian charged forward, ramming through Nikki, who promptly tossed Flash to the ground as he was slammed through several gates and boxes. The Guardian reeled back, when Sunset climbed onto it's back, driving her knife through it's head, over, and over, and over, until Nikki began assaulting it with gunfire from Flash's policed assault rifle, until the magazine ran dry, then began filling the Guardian full of 12.7x40mm M225 SAP/HE cartridges from his M6S. The Guardian roared one last time, before crumpling to the ground. Nikki got up with a groan. His armor's chest plate was shattered, along with the arm guards. He let them hang from his armor, put his cloak on, and picked Flash up. The trio heard gunfire, and saw Saffron running downrange, firing an M7S wildly in the direction of the initial gunfire. "The Antlions appear to be angry that we killed their guardian, and basically stole their eggs. They started charging into the Insurrection compounds... There were no survivors of the inner mines, but I've been picking up radio chatter for a good few minutes now. Our hostage friends are on their way back now. We should follow their example." Saffron yelled, discharging a few Insurrectionists. Their bodies rolled down, blood streaking behind them. Sunset started running uphill, tripping when she reached the end. She watched Saffron move ahead of her, snickering, while Nikki waited for Sunset to get up. Just... a bit further... Then I can rest... Sunset forced herself onto her feet, shouldering her MA5C. She heard a scream, and turned to her left, watching a group of Antlion Soldiers attack a squad of Innies. Sunset saw a few making their way over to Saffron, rather slowly, and discharged her rifle, ending their lives. She walked over, and watched Saffron pick up a girl in a bridal carry. She was in her early twenties, with a purple color palette. Flash had woken up, apparently, and walked over. "Saffron, we gotta go!" The antlions, and Insurrection forces were clashing, but it appeared the human side were winning, some turning their attention to Sunset and her posse. Sunset began sprinting, the five reaching the end of the hallway, when the gunfire caught up with them. Nikki handed the small dog to the girl, and stopped in his tracks. "Nikki, look out!" Sunset yelled, turning to the soldier she could consider a "friend." He ducked behind a crate, shouldering his M392 DMR. "Nikki, what're you doing?!" Sunset all but screamed, stopping in her tracks. "Covering your asses... now get moving. You've not got long, before this all goes to shit... Good luck." Nikki choked out the last few words. He detonated the charges, and earth began blocking the path. No, no, no, no... Sunset went to go grab him, when Flash picked her up, holding her tightly. "NO!" she struggled, trying to get out of Flash's grip to no avail. The next few hours were a total blur. All Sunset could remember, was the medic giving her a shot of that slime they got from the hive. Goddamn it felt good. It turned her blood cold, but... she could feel her bones realign, her wounds healing at an extraordinary rate, then she was out cold for a few minutes, then awoke in an off-duty uniform. Sunset groaned, pulling on her leather jacket. She had been informed that the girl was awake. She knew her somewhere, where though, she could not remember... Sunset walked into the barracks, and immediately, she recognized her. It was that purple horse from the portal-world. Sunset contained herself, and pulled a chair up, sitting on it backwards, arms resting on the back. She waited a few minutes, when the girl began stirring. "Ah, you're awake..." she said, loud and proud. The girl's expression became enraged, and she went to sit upright. Sunset instead gently pushed her back down. "Stay down, Christ... You're gonna open up your wounds." The girl looked down, and saw blood beginning to show it's face through the bandaging and padding. She seemed to be at a loss for words. "B-But, C-Celestia said you were-" Wait... what? General Celestia went missing, according to the radio chatter she began picking up... hmm. "General Celestia?" Sunset gave the girl a weary look, keeping a hand at the knife in the concealed sheathe at her thigh. "No, princess Celestia!" the girl responded. Sunset squinted, looking over her features, listening to all the signs... she wasn't lying. Sunset got a hearty laugh out of that, only to find the wound at her side starting to ache. "Gah, fuck..." she muttered. The girl went on to ask Sunset about her sketching journal, and her dog. Sunset answered hesitantly, before telling the girl to rest. She got up out of her chair, then walked out, hoping to catch Flash... Nikki spat blood as the leg of a Cyclops tried squishing him. He used his superior strength to hold it off, before he felt his strength beginning to wane. The Black Ops Lieutenant sent out a splash of nanobots. They began crawling up to the joint, ripping at the armor and cables, until the leg gave, and Nikki was able to finally shove the Cyclops off. He raised his fists, several Insurrectionists wearing ODST BDUs, wielding shotguns appearing... when they stopped moving. Everything did. A blood droplet froze in mid-air. The blast of one of the shotguns freezing. Nikki could see each individual pellet. "Hmm... Interesting. I'd think with all that's been thrown at you, that you should've broken by now." Nikki spun around, and saw a UNSC marine, except... different. For one, his body looked nothing like a human's. He had a horse-like head, with two mismatched horns atop his head, two mismatched legs, arms and wings, with his body ending in a dragon tail. He had a paw, and a chicken-like arm. He had a hoof on one leg, and a dragon claw on the other. A modified form of UNSC Marine armor rested over-top. His eyes were red, with yellow sclera. Around his neck, was an amulet. It was made of silver, with rubies, sapphires and emeralds in intricate patterns surrounding it. "Well, then you've never met me..." Nikki replied, circling the creature, whilst it moved in a similar movement. "Actually, Nikkolai Serrov, I've been following you for a while, now. Your skills, and... abilities, appeared to have caught the eye of some very powerful ponies." Nikki frowned. "What is it that you want from me?" he asked, drawing a throwing knife, twirling it around as he circled. "Oh, nothing much. Just your soul!" the creature replied happily... He then laughed at Nikki's angered, annoyed, and confused expression. "Twas only a joke, my friend. I have been monitoring you for quite some time, and I believe there is something you can help me with..." Nikki raised an eyebrow. "And what, mayhaps, would that be?" Nikki inquired, retrieving two more knives, hiding them within a fist. "I would like you to help me. You see, a friend of mine is very sick, and the only cure, is one of those neat little vials of that blue nectar at your belt... Also, it appears that you're in a bit of a predicament." the creature responded, smirking. "And why in the absolute hell, would I help you?" Nikki retaliated angrily. "Because, if you were to help me, perhaps I could, say... pull a few strings," the creature snapped his paws(?) and the shotgun-wielding Insurrectionists' throats suddenly had large slits in them, Nikki's knives now having blood splashed upon the blades. "... and I could say, get you back to your friends. How does that sound?" the creature had a smug grin upon his face, like he knew he'd already won the Black Ops Lieutenant over. "No." Nikki sheathed each of the knives, smirking as the creature showed signs of agitation. "Oh? No? Why ever would you not want to see your friends again?" he smirked. Nikki repeated the gesture. "My soul has already been guaranteed a spot in Valhalla. My sacrifices will save lives... I'll help you, but if I feel you're setting my off of my path even in the slightest, I will shatter each of the vials and your friend will die." Nikki watched the creature carefully. He appeared to be thinking it over. "Deal." Nikki nodded, and held his hand out to be shook. The creature hesitantly took his hand, and gave it a shake. Author's Note This story makes a lot of references. A/N: Nikki noooooo. Also, for those who didn't figure it out: This guy Sunset counted the bodies, and frowned when she noticed one of them was gone. When she got a look at him, first glance, she swore she saw his eyes glowing red... Doesn't matter now. is Discord. Next chapter will begin the adventure, into the wild, wild world of Harmony. III-T: The Hive. Twilight. Twilight sat in front of the magical mirror, a look of curiosity, fear, and intrigue upon her face. Celestia, for some reason, was sending through a pair of royal guards with Twilight, along with the captain of the Crystal Empire's royal guard. Princess Celestia trotted over to Twilight and sat beside her. "Are you ready, Twilight?" she asked, staring at the portal with a sad look upon her face. Twilight nodded hesitantly. If she was totally honest, she was nowhere near ready. She wanted to stay in Equestria, to get away from that crazy alicorn. As much as Twilight didn't normally back down like this, when she fought ponies like this, she had her friends by her side, which meant support, using the elements... But they wouldn't have the elements, nor would Twilight have her friends. Though, she was able to acquire some information on her 'mission.'Twilight, from "accidentally" eves-dropping into a few conversations between Celestia, Luna or Cadence, she learned some things. This "Sunset Shimmer" was Celestia's pupil. She was amazing with magic, and she, if she would've only learned the ways of friendship, she would've ended up ascending to alicornhood... She would've been the princess of something, but, according to what she's heard, Twilight found out that Sunset was learning about ancient ways of war, and dark magic. The scary part was, she could handle it, and retain her sanity... she was a wielder of dark magic, which could've been quite... harmful to Equestria and any of their allies. Twilight could see the headlines now. "Equestria's Military Contains A Dark Magic Wielder, What Else Could They Be Hiding?" That would kill Equestria and their ways of life. Celestia, though, couldn't bring herself to even remotely hurt Sunset... She was like a daughter to Celestia. So, Celestia said she needed to step down as her pupil, and pursue her studies outside of Equestria's borders... Sunset, instead—with the knowledge of it from the books she'd found in the restricted sections of the library—used the mirror-portal to leave Equestria... According to Celestia, that was supposed to be forever. The world she had found with Starswirl The Bearded, was a world of war and poverty, a hellish place that even Tirek wouldn't let stand. He may have been evil, but he at least had a semblance of good in him. Celestia had to live with the fact that she had very possibly sentenced one of the few people she was close with away... to their certain death. Were it not for Twilight saving Luna, Celestia would likely have stepped down from her place as ruler, and would've likely killed herself... or worse. When Celestia saw Sunset as an alicorn, she feared the worst... especially when she found an abundance of darkness in her. Not just dark magic, but darkness... as in a void. She attempted to look into her soul, and she saw almost nothing... A speck of light at the end of the tunnel, nothing more. If it were up to her, she would've at least harvested, or copied a few memories from her mind, so she could at least brace Twilight for the horrors she may have to face in the other world. She had no such luck. Twilight nodded to Celestia. "I-I think I'm ready." Celestia smiled softly and gave Twilight an affectionate nuzzle. "Stay safe, my student." Twilight nodded and got to her hooves. She watched the portal for what felt like hours, until she slowly moved one hoof in front of the other, and inched toward the mirror. She stepped onto the pedestal which bestowed the mirror, and stared at her reflection. Now or never... she braced herself and carefully slipped into the portal. Her vision faded to black. Harmony, September 5th, 2551. Insurrection-Controlled Mining Town, Wolves Den, 0230 Hours. Twilight groaned as she emerged into a state of consciousness. She looked around, and felt that something was very wrong. She felt... tall. Abnormally tall... she felt much... how to put it... different, in many ways. She sat upright, and looked down at herself. Twilight held back a scream. She was some sort of bipedal creature, wearing some form of clothing, which Twilight couldn't remember—or didn't know—the name of. She saw Spike beside her. "S-Spike! I t-told you to stay behind!" Twilight reprimanded, shakily. She spent the next few minutes—maybe more, time seemed to fly by—working on how to move around with her new body, and using the items around her. She picked up rocks, tools, or other items that she recognized, vaguely. Pickaxes of metal, hatchets, and shovels. Twilight looked herself over, pulling off a backpack that rested upon her shoulders. She opened it, and found a variety of the items she'd packed, and a few she didn't. She found a strange metal device, with a trigger and a barrel, it was big, but fit in her hands nicely. The other, was a pair of golden-visor-ed glasses, and a syringe containing some weird blue liquid. She was tempted to taste the liquid, but stopped and placed it back in her bag. She heard voices down the tunnel. Twilight forced Spike into her bag, who was still unconscious, and zipped it shut. The voices grew closer, and she saw the source. There were two bipedals walking down the tunnel, holding strange gray-and-black objects with designs drawn into them... blood was splattered over them, as well. They were wearing this strange uniform, with bulky pieces of armor attached to sections of it, along with helmets, and the same golden glasses that she had found in her bag on the face of one of them, a strange gray mask with a short, cylindrical tube sticking out of the cheek, and two glowing, cyan goggles. Their armor was painted red. "Hmm. Maybe they can help us." Twilight's knees wobbled as she tried getting up from her place in the dirt. She eventually succeeded, and walked over to the two people. Maybe they're the royal guard of this world... "Hello, sirs—" Twilight was briefly pushed into the wall, both of them yelling in a strange language at Twilight, she cowering in fear. The one on the right violently pulled Twilight's bag off and threw her to the ground. "Ow, that hurt!" she turned onto her back, to see she had scraped her knees, and they were now bleeding. The one "guard" placed the rubber and metal shoe on his leg onto Twilight's chest, and she felt the air leave her lungs. The other guard flipped her onto her back and put some sort of restraints on her wrists. She screamed, and Spike poked his head out. "Twilight!" he growled and climbed out, watching the two "guards" point their strange bricks at him— Bang! Bang Bang! Tch-Tch-Tch! The guard on top of Twilight slumped down onto the ground beside her, blood leaking from his chest and head, while the other guard's helmet was broken, and his head leaked from a large hole. Twilight scrambled back, and turned away. She vomited, then cried at the sight of the two dead people. Spike looked up, and saw a giant bipedal creature in a cloak, and black armor, with a single, glowing red eye underneath. He whimpered and ran over to Twilight, while a shorter person walked over, holding a strange gray brick. Twilight calmed down momentarily, then freaked out and sat up, quickly scrambling back away from the short bipedal. "Hey, hey, hey... It's alright, we're not here to hurt you, niña." the bipedal creature said, sliding the weapon on her back. She held her hands up in surrender. Twilight heard a bunch of loud bangs in the background, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks, as it seemed to be getting closer. "Saffron, we gotta go!" a bipedal yelled, backpedaling over to them. She had on a black leather jacket over her armor, which looked pretty beaten up. "You must come with us, niña. It is not safe here." 'Saffron' said, holding her hand out. Twilight took it, and was swept off her feet as Saffron began running. A giant bipedal followed them, a long gray brick in his hand. There was a telescope mounted on the top, with the glass painted sage-green. Twilight winced at the loud cracks and bangs that followed them, along with speeding pieces of metal that flew past them. "Damn it, Nikki, detonate the charges!" the one in the leather jacket yelled. That voice, she knew it somewhere... Twilight realized she had no idea where Spike was and began panicking, when the tall bipedal in black armor and a cloak placed him in her arms. "Here's your dog, ma'am." Twilight was unable to respond. He had to be at least seven feet tall. "Nikki, look out!" the tall bipedal suddenly disappeared, sliding behind a box. "Nikki, what're you doing?!" the bipedal in the jacket halted. "Covering your asses. Now get moving. You've not got long, before this all goes to shit. Good luck!" the jacketed bipedal went to go back, when a taller one without a helmet scooped her up and carried her. "No!" she struggled, but the taller bipedal held her firmly. The rest was blurred to Twilight, she fading in and out of consciousness occasionally. Twilight finally awoke, lying in a cot. She was dressed in some sort of uniform, made of a fabric that Twilight doubted she could identify. "Ah, you're awake." Her. That was that voice. The one wearing the jacket. Twilight went to sit upright, but Sunset pushed her back down. "Stay down, Christ. You're gonna open up the wounds." Wait, what? Twilight looked down and saw dots of red blood beginning to poke through the uniform. She looked up at Sunset. "B-But, C-Celestia said you were-" Sunset tilted her head. "General Celestia?" Twilight frowned and shook her head. "No, princess Celestia!" she replied, getting a laugh from Sunset, who in turn, then held her side and flinched. "Gah, fuck..." she mutters, holding a white pad that was tightly held to her side. Now that Twilight could get a good look at her, she looked much different than her Equestrian-form. She had a large burn-scar that went around the right side of her face, going over her eye and cheek. There was a long scar that went down the left side of her head, starting at her temple and moving down to the back of her head. She currently wore a black T-Shirt, along with cargo pants that were winter-camouflage-patterned. She had a muscular build, and she had tattoos that went up her arms. They mostly were just images of those bricks, or bones, or other such weird things that Twilight didn't understand. Over her shirt, she wore that black leather jacket. Her hair was at a medium-ish length, barely reaching the base of her jaw, colored in a pattern that made Twilight hungry for bacon. The scar-covered eye had a red pupil, the rest black, whilst her left eye was normal-ish. It was cyan-colored, with something of a glow to it. Not very noticeable. "W-Where's Spike?" Twilight asked. "The dog? He's under the bed, probably asleep." Sunset answered, standing up and stretching. She sat back down, pulling out a leather-bound book. It had the image of Sunset's cutie mark on the cover, Celestia's on the back. "W-What's that?" Twilight asked, carefully easing herself into a semi-upright position. "It's a sketching journal. I draw things when I get bored." Sunset showed the various pages to Twilight. She just looked in awe at each one. The interior of some sort of ship, intricately designed as several metal beasts began to levitate off the ground, bipedals climbing into the few still touched onto the ground. It was drawn to the very last detail. A few were graphic, muddy trenches, broken down buildings covered in flame, people in varying states of bleeding out. Others were quite nice. A picture of a few bipedals huddled around a fire, laughing or talking, a picture of an open grassy field among rocks, along with structures that jutted out, all in black and gray coloration of a pencil. It, in the sense of the term, was beautiful. "You're a good artist..." Twilight complimented. Sunset chuckled and sat back on the chair she was in. "Not really. I think I took a few classes when I was off-duty, but I don't really remember much from those times..." Twilight furrowed her brow. "H-How old are you, S-Sunset?" Sunset gave a confused look at Twilight, then answered with hesitation. "Twenty-Eight... How'd you know my name?" "A better question is, where is my crown?" Twilight asked, accusation plaguing her voice. Sunset laughed. "Oh, that old trinket is somewhere safe. I'm not going to just give it back to you, though. I think it's use here is far more than for you." Twilight growled. "Whatever could you possibly need it for?! Your own devilish plans to take over this world?!" Sunset was now on her knees, crying with laughter. "I... Oh, god, give me a minute..." Sunset calmed down a bit and sat in the chair. "I... I honestly don't know. My superior told me to jump through a portal, grab that crown, and come back. Y'see, when your entire species' existence is on the line, you don't begin asking those questions." Sunset replied, her voice, and facial expression taking a more somber tone. "Entire species' existence is on the line?" whatever could that mean? Twilight pondered this for a few minutes, before deciding to prod at the subject. "W-What do you mean?" Twilight asked. Sunset gave her an 'are you serious' look. "The Human-Covenant War. It's been raging on for what, thirty fuckin' years now... Humanity is on it's last legs, and we don't intend to go out, and sure-as-hell not quietly at that." Sunset stood up. "I've lost too many people today... I'm going to get a drink. Probably something strong. You're going to stay here while your wounds get to healing. Good. Bye." Sunset walked out, and Twilight sighed. Spike climbed up onto her lap, and she smiled. She pulled her backpack out from under the cot, grabbed a book, and read for a bit. She fell asleep not too long afterward, setting the beginning of her journey to a close. Author's Note A/N: III-T: The Hive. Whenever you see a chapter number, plus -T, means it's in Twilight's perspective. I'll write a mirroring chapter beside it, in Sunset's perspective, with all the military-y aspects of this story, such as stating the proper names of things, or having a more dark tone to things... Well, more-or-less without that last bit. I'm not that good at writing "happy" scenes. It stays dark, or sad most of the time. They were wearing this strange uniform, with bulky pieces of armor attached to sections of it, along with helmets, and the same golden glasses that she had found in her bag. The armor was painted red. I've got no idea if I was able to accurately portray the armor, but for those who care, picture the UNSC Marine BDUs from Halo 3, with the armor (the sage-colored pieces, mostly) painted red. IV: When You Play With Fire... Harmony. November 3rd, 2551(Military Calendar). 0900 hours. Sunset watched as several Ural-esque trucks began rolling up to the front entrance of the mine, which she and Flash had graciously cleared out for their comrades. Army Troopers and a few Marines piled out of the back, running into the mine, alongside a few medics and specialists. "Wait!" Coco ran over. Sunset turned to face her, leaning against the wall. "I... I wanted to say thanks. F-For everything you've done. You saved a lot of my men, a-and—" Sunset held up a finger to cut her off. "It's alright, Pommel. We're just doing our duty." Sunset replied, getting a small laugh from Coco. "A-Anyway, if you ever need any help, our doors are open." Sunset gave Coco a light nod, as a Troop-Transport-Hog rolled up, the driver getting out. "You two did some seriously wicked shit down there... You've got my respect, and my warthog." Flash gave him a nod as he ran inside, the girl quietly shuffling out, her dog in the backpack clasped in her hands. "So, I'll take it you're coming, miss Twinkie Spark?" the girl frowned. "It's Twilight Sparkle..." She grumbled. Sunset nodded, climbing into the driver's seat. "That's what I said." Twilight sighed, carefully climbing into the back of the 'hog. She fumbled with her restraints, before Flash climbed in and helped her. "Here." Flash smiled, Twilight blushing lightly, nodding. Flash shook it off, and climbed into the passenger seat of the warthog. "Where to first, chief?" he asked, leaning back. Neither had kept their armor, now wearing the normal off-duty uniform, along with backpacks and some other minor non-protective gear. Sunset pulled up a holographic map from the TACPAD mounted on her forearm. "The E-Elu-Elugari, yeah, Elugari. The Elu-Fuck it, we're going to drive north. The VDF Copernicus was supposed to touch down on the twelfth. Apparently, our allies stationed there are under heavy fire." Sunset began. Flash leaned back as the bacon-like-haired soldier began accelerating the 'hog. "We'll be passing through a bunch of abandoned towns and cities, according to these maps..." Sunset said aloud. "Abandoned?" Flash glanced over at the map that was projected on the middle console. Indeed, what she was saying was correct. They'd be passing through a large mass of abandoned towns, cities and military outposts. "According to this, apparently the UNSC didn't all pull out. They made a last-stand here in this war-zone. Vanguard left them alone, besides jamming their SATCOM, left 'em boxed in. Apparently they just died out... I doubt that's the case, but it's what I'm hearing. Ears and eyes up." Flash concluded, then climbed over the hog's cage, sitting down opposite the Twilight girl. "I-I've been meaning to ask... How old is S-Sunset?" Flash visibly winced at that. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "D-Did I say something wrong?" she asked, tightening her grip on the backpack in her arms. Flash shook his head with a loud, exhausted sigh. "Nobody knows, nor would they tell. Classified information... That is, unless she shares it with you." Twilight nodded. Flash looked off into the distance, watching as they passed an array of abandoned buildings, some short, some tall... Then everything went back as a forty-millimeter grenade slammed into the hood. March 22nd, 2526, VDF Training Compound, Harmony. Flash watched his DI, listening and comprehending each word out of his mouth as he roared over the din of the D-33 Paragon Dropship. His tone was vicious, and his face matched. An angered expression upon an aged face, brown hair with a short, graying beard, and orange eyes. Flash had on a miniaturized set of the bodysuits and pressurized helmets the original SPARTANs wore. An M7S hung from his waist on a sling, an—for his size, at least—over-sized MA5B Assault Rifle maglocked to his back. A Karambit knife rested in a sheathe on his left shoulder, a normal CQC WS Combat Knife in a sheathe on his back, right above his waist. He stared out of a porthole at the environment of Harmony as the DI began droning on about how they were a "new breed" of soldier... Then he started on the war, and that in it's own caught Flash's attention. "These goddamned aliens are out for blood! The war the UNSC is currently fighting, requires this "New Breed" of soldier! A scalpel to precisely eliminate this 'Holy Covenant.' We aren't going to falter—You're not going to falter... We're at the LZ." Flash began undoing his restraints, and got to his feet. He unclipped the bulky, steel-gray helmet from his hip and slid it onto his head. This was the training armor the VDF had been using, as well as the prototype for the Argus-Class Body Armor, Mark IV, something to combat the SPARTANs and their MJOLNIR armor... How the VDF knew about this, was beyond Flash's knowledge. The dropship's rear hatch opened up, and it's twenty-three occupants climbed out. "Good luck, Cadets." The Drill Instructor gave them a nod. He spun on his heel and began walking to the cockpit as the dropship's hatch closed, and it lifted off. Suddenly, thousands of tiny blue dots appeared, and they intricately began linking, then carefully sliced open a swirling blue portal, and the Paragon-Class Dropship was gone. Flash shouldered his M7S and began walking with his comrades. According to the minor eavesdropping he was able to do, he and his teammates that survived this mission, would be moving on to get some sort of augmentation. Flash pushed the thought to the back of his head and began walking forward. The barrel of his rifle swept over every surface before him, the dim headlamps on his helmet giving him a bit of light to work with. Not nearly enough, though. Flash heard a loud roar, and spun around to see a large creature begin charging toward them. His friends began running, he close behind. Flash fired bursts from his M7S at the creature that his helmet recognized as a Gúta. It charged forward and swept it's claws down, killing and injuring several of the VDFMC cadets. Flash screamed, firing the rest of his magazine into the Gúta. "Hostile Contact! Open fire! Open fire!" Flash quickly grabbed his injured friend and dragged him under a bush, when several hulking forms appeared out of the darkness, discharging their silenced firearms at the Gúta. Flash activated his night vision. Each was wearing bulky, green armor, with golden visors upon their helmets. They fought the Gúta for a good half-hour, with no casualties. The Gúta was riddled with bullet holes by the end, when it finally collapsed to the ground with an audible Thump! "It's safe to come out, now..." His voice was young. Maybe fourteen-fifteen. Flash poked his head out of cover, followed by the rest of his body. A few of his friends did as well, their M6S pistols or M7S Sub-Machine Guns drawn. "Isn't this a strange sight..." a female one, maybe sixteen-seventeen. "W-Who are you?" Flash asked, tightening the grip on his rifle. The male one looked back to his comrades. Flash did the same. Each shared a look of confusion, fear, and even curiosity. The male one knelt down and looked him in the eye. "We are called Blue Team... I'm John." Flash's eyes shot open to the sound of automatic gunfire. He tried sitting upright, only to find Sunset pressing a hand to his chest to keep him down, the other hand preoccupied with firing an MA5C ICWS. "What-?" he groaned, checking his vitals. Three bruised ribs, a torn Achilles, and a significant amount of shrapnel lodged into his good leg. He's fine. "We got hit. Grenade shell, forty millimeter. M319 Break-Action, Single-Shot Grenade Launcher. They used an Incendiary round, along with a charged EMP... They took that Twilight girl." Flash growled and sat upright. He leaned back against a jersey barrier, the warthog's blazing husk lying overturned a few meters to his left. "Who?" he tried clarifying. He patted himself down, and realized Sunset had his MA5C. He slid his M6C magnum out of it's holster on his thigh and poked out of cover. Twenty hostiles. Thirteen Helljumpers, Seven Marines. Their armor wasn't outdated. "Those fucking UNSC remnants. They must have broken through the SATCOM jamming when the Covenant got here... No fucking wonder the UNSC is here, too." Sunset growled, firing wildly. Flash groaned with annoyance. "No, their armor is up-to-date with the UNSC's... Must just be a scouting party, or they were setting up an ambush for the Covenant." Sunset gave Flash a glare. She growled angrily and ducked back behind cover as her shields collapsed, and an M634 9.5x40mm round shattered her visor. She ripped her helmet off and threw it aside, trying to calm herself down—when a single 14.5x114mm round slammed through the jersey barrier, and right through Flash's chest. John-117. He and his team were currently stationed on Harmony for a week, on some sort of Spec-Ops Mission. They weren't even aware that humans had settled here, let alone set up a fleet of ships—which according to John, are now in a large-scale battle in the vacuum—with enough firepower to blow up Reach an unholy amount of times over. Linda-058, she was one of John's colleagues in their squad, Blue Team. She was helping one of Flash's friends deal with their dead comrade. Every one of the twenty-two surviving VDF Marine Corps Cadets were shocked at first, but quickly steeled themselves. They weren't going to win wars by falling apart because they've taken casualties. "Flash Sentry." Flash turned to John, tilting his head in response. Despite all of the hellish events that were going on, Flash was going to at least give these soldiers a shred of respect. "Y-Yeah?" he asked, standing upright, craning his neck to look up at John. "We're moving out... I suppose this is goodbye." Flash nodded. This John character wasn't to be trusted. Not with their lives. Not with their knowledge. "I suppose so..." Flash snapped his fingers and pulled his extra dog-tag off of it's line on his neck. He took John's hand and placed the tag in his hands. "Here. So you always remember us marines from Phoenix Company..." John nodded. He turned to his comrades, gave a subtle nod, and began walking. The one known as Kelly-087 turned to Flash. "Y'know, we were sent here to find a bunch of soldiers from this military known as 'Phoenix Company'... Have a good life, kid." And with that, she spun on her heel, and started walking with her team. Flash turned to his soldiers. His friends... His family. "C'mon. We need to get to the rendezvous before nightfall." Flash spun on his heel and shouldered his M7S. His responses were nods and a varying difference of affirmatives, so they began their long trek. Flash woke up and winced. A window in the corner of his HUD told him his lung was ruptured. He looked over, and saw Sunset. Her hair was glowing, like fire, with bits of cinder and ash licking up off of the patch of hair upon her head. She growled, shouldered Flash's MA5C, and hurdled the cover. Flash turned onto his back and watched. She sprinted forward with a speed that'd give SPARTANs a spook, and smashed directly through a concrete wall. She grabbed a marine by the throat, spinning on her heel. She used his unconscious form to block the bullets flying downrange toward her, whilst her MA5C fired in each direction. Each UNSC marine and ODST in range took at least a few of the 7.62x51mm rounds. She tossed her meat-shield's body to the ground. His neck was encrusted with heavy burns. Sunset picked up a pair of M7 SMGs off of the ground, and turned a corner. She sprinted along a wall, firing her SMG wildly into the crowd of UNSC soldiers that inhabited the large room. She spun, rolled, and jumped, ducking and weaving through fire, whilst she discharged the marines with a torrent of rounds, until the casings of the M7 SMGs melted within the barrel, jamming each weapon respectively. She threw each weapon aside, in exchange for her combat knife. Sunset lunged forward and plunged her knife up through the jaw of an unsuspecting ODST, then switched her grip and launched the body at another marine. She drew her pistol and silenced a good twelve of the soldiers in the room, then holstered it swiftly. She removed her knife from the corpse of an ODST, flicked off the blood, and sheathed it. She felt herself calming down... and the pain started. Sunset looked down, and visibly grimaced, her anger reigniting. Her abdomen, good arm and leg, and even her chest, were riddled with bullet holes, though the bullets themselves likely never entered her body, they did penetrate her skin and muscle, leaving some nasty wounds, which began cauterizing as Sunset's body was engulfed in flame. Two large, glowing white wings appeared on her back, made seemingly of pure light. A horn materialized on the forehead of her helmet, as well. She let out a hearty laugh, and tightened her hands into fists. "Let's get this party started..." Author's Note Yeah, Sunset can "Pony-Up" when her negative emotions—primarily anger—get the best of her, and her friends are in danger... This doesn't always work, though. There are times where her prior knowledge, training, and other things take significant roles in the situation, and she doesn't need to "Pony-Up" as it is called. She and Flash, being so close, share an impenetrable bond. Though it appeared from the Prologue that Flash first met Sunset at The Battle Of Harmony, that is untrue. She and him have known each other since her arrival to the human world. During the Battle, Sunset was unable to identify Flash Sentry, because of: 1) Jamming software—albeit weak—was giving her systems an issue with Identify-Friendly-Foe tags. 2) The signature armor Flash wore was coated in thick layers of mud and blood, so it was a lot more difficult to identify properly without seeing his face. V: ... You're Gonna Get Burned.Sunset blocked a right hook from an ODST within her palm. She burnt away most of the fibers on the surface, causing him to roar in pain. Using her second of defenselessness, she grabbed his hand, then forcibly snapped his wrist. C-C-C-Craaacccckkk. Sunset backhanded the ODST with her other hand and huffed angrily. Flames licked up off of her body, she seemingly unharmed. The VDFMC Corporal walked past the corpse and grabbed the handle of the large, thick, steel door and pulled it right open... ` She wasn't satisfied with the results to say the least. Equestria, Past. Sunset looked into the mirror before she jumped. For a split second, she saw a bipedal creature, wearing thin white armor over a black suit, one of her arms and legs missing. The eyes are what made Sunset hesitate... That's because they were hers, and they were broken. She saw in those eyes something vicious. She saw pure, unbridled rage... and sadness, and fear, and so many other emotions... Sunset turned to face Celestia one last time, a few tears in her eyes. This would be the last time she saw Celestia. Her teacher. Her mentor... In a way, her surrogate mother. She wanted to make Celestia proud... but she let her ego get the best of her, once a-bucking-gain. Now, she was exiled. to some strange world she knew near nothing about... Sweet bucking Celestia, what was she doing? Sunset wanted the power. She was going to get the power... but really, is that what she wanted? What about a fresh slate? Perhaps she could just go through, starting anew... Sunset let out a sigh, her emotions fueling her actions. "Goodbye, princess..." She made sure Celestia hadn't a second to respond, and thrust herself into the portal. *** Sunset groaned. Her muscles burned, her head hurt... she felt miserable... and younger, too. She looked down. Her body was that of a mere child, wearing rags at that. Sunset wanted to move, but couldn't. Every bone and muscle in her new body throbbed with pain. She was on the ground, in a patch of grass. Sunset tried turning onto her back, going as far as her side, and was met with the face of a boy, her age, in a thick metal bodysuit. His hair was darkish, a shade of blue, that went lighter toward the base. "W-Where-Who-Wha—" the boy placed one of his fingers to her lips, then helped her into a sitting position. "Are you hungry?" Sunset waited and thought about it a moment. She was hungry. She shook her head. "I-I'll be fine..." she whispered. Oh Celestia, what was she doing? Sunset looked at the black brick in the boy's lap. "W-What's that?" she asked, pointing to the brick. He picked it up with relative ease and hefted it. "A Model-Seven-SOCOM Sub-machine Gun. I just call it the Suppressed SMG." he replied. Sunset shook her head again. "What is it?" she asked. The boy furrowed his brow. "A gun. A fully-automatic gun, to be precise..." he replied, anger plaguing his voice. Sunset nodded wearily and curled up into a ball. "Get your rest... it's gonna be a long few hours... I'm Flash, by the way." "I'm Sunset." Eighty Minutes Prior, Current Day. Sunset charged into the main complex of the old communications center. Empty. She looked around the room. The room itself was large, with a plentiful amount of computers, tables, and other sorts of tech in the bottom section, whilst two staircases flanked either side of the room, leading up to a large balcony, where an AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun was stationed, along with sandbag and metal blockades. She felt the floor beneath her begin to scorch, and moved on. Sunset moved to the left, climbing up the flight of stairs. They, like everything else, was made of concrete and metal. She reached the top and saw a few corpses of UNSC soldiers. Inexplicable rage fueling through her... She tried shaking her head of the thought, it taking a few minutes for her to even rid the thoughts from her mind. Sunset was finding it seemingly harder to think. Coherent, Cognitive thoughts. All she saw was red, and all she wanted to do was kill. Sunset wanted to save Twilight. Not cripple the UNSC's force here... mayhaps it was the... thing that was plaguing her mind... that was likely. "You don't give me enough credit, Sunset... I'm a lot more than just a thing..." Sunset spun on her heel, and saw static fill her vision. She pulled her helmet off. Standing before her, was a creature with a blue-purple color scheme, with large, feathered wings sprouting out of her back, a glowing horn made of pure light upon her forehead, two forms of cyan magic creating 'Glasses' over her eyes. She snaked over to Sunset, looking down at her. "What the fuck even are you...?" Sunset made sure she was always facing this thing. She was not going to be stabbed in the back. Literally. "I am just a figment of your imagination..." she picked up a corpse by the throat, gently. She tightened her hand into a fist around their neck and the body exploded. Blood splashed onto Sunset, it taking a lot of strength to keep herself from throwing up. "... Or am I?" the... humanoid creature laughed maniacally, before disintegrating into dust. "I'll be seeing you in your dreams, Sunny..." Sunset shook her head and blinked several times. The bodies were all accounted for on the floor. There was not a drop of blood upon her body. Only scars, burns and wounds. Like always. Sunset turned to the left and pushed through a pair of double doors. She grabbed each of the UNSC marines guarding the door from that side, and quickly snapped each of their necks, then threw their bodies to the floor. She quickly ducked down and ran forward, weaving through a torrent of gunfire that came at her downrange. The bullets seemed to slow, SPARTAN time taking effect. She ran along the wall, her shields taking the brunt of the gunfire, then dropped down, kicking the gunner's head into the wall. His visor and helmet shattered, a splatter of blood running along the wall, chunks of brain and skull joining in. Sunset ripped the M7 from the sling on his body, and sent a sea of five-millimeter rounds downrange, turning anything in her sight to ribbons. She quickly spun around and used the barrel of the weapon to block a slash from a large sword. Standing before her, was a SPARTAN-II. His armor was either Mark IV or V, with an EOD helmet atop his head, a katana clasped in his hands. He had 005 in bold font on his left breastplate, the white paint missing in a few places. "You're dead..." she said, pushing him off, getting into combat stance. The SPARTAN shook his head and smirked behind his helmet. "Negative... I ain't dead yet." He sprinted forward and pulled off a series of punches and kicks, Sunset poorly either blocking or countering. While the VDF gave their soldiers the training and augmentation, the SPARTANs were always superior. Their minds were more honed. Stronger. They were always stronger. Sunset took a blow to the helmet visor, and it shattered, along with her energy shields. She swore under her breath and stumbled back. SPARTAN-005 thrust his knife into Sunset's shoulder, right under her left arm, where the internal control was set up, taking away her advantage. "C'mon, fucker. If you're gonna kill me, FUCKING DO IT! Don't pussy out!" Sunset watched him pull out his pistol, so she grabbed the barrel and placed it to her own forehead. "C'MON! PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!" Sunset all-but-screamed. The SPARTAN smirked, then stopped as he heard a rifle click behind him. He spun around, then was sent staggering back by a blast from an M90, and through a window. Sunset got up, holding her limp arm. The cloaked figure that'd shot 005 was long gone, the only evidence a used Eight-Gauge Soellkraft shell. Sunset looked out the window. SPARTAN-005 was gone... for now, at least. Sunset removed his knife from her shoulder. The flames were gone. She had officially calmed down enough. Sunset twirled the knife, then moved on. She passed through a large, open corridor the UNSC force had been using as storage. She hurdled a crate and slid down the railing of a spiral staircase. She readied her stolen M7 as she was about to reach the bottom, and ground to a halt, firing sporadically at the UNSC personnel on the bottom floor. She ducked behind a crate for cover, poking out only to fire, when she heard a whistle, and saw a grenade land on the ground beside her. Instead of throwing it back, she climbed out of cover and rushed forward, blade drawn. She saw Twilight pounding on a metal door behind a very bulky ODST wielding knives. She went back into unbridled rage. Sunset lunged forward, knife clashing with knives, over and over for hours, until it became the ultimate stalemate. Who would falter first, was the real question. Sunset specialized in combat with blades and CQC generally. She had a special liking for shotguns. Whenever she was in the inside of a ship on full-combat status, a shotgun in her grasp, she got antsy. That was what she called fun. Sunset changed into a backward grip with her knife, slicing at the Helljumper's abdomen. He roared angrily and thrust a knife into Sunset's bad shoulder. She growled and pushed off of him, spun, used her thrusters and propelled herself off of a wall, and down onto the Helljumper. She plunged her knife into his temple, ending all brain activity. His muscles relaxed, and he went limp. Sunset ripped off his helmet, looking away from his eyes. She shut them out of respect. "Good girl... Never look the dead in the eyes..." Sunset ignored her and walked over to the door. She heard quick footsteps, and saw another Helljumper running up to her with a piece of rebar. Sunset backhanded the ODST with her other hand and huffed angrily. Flames licked up off of her body, she seemingly unharmed. The VDFMC Corporal walked past the corpse and grabbed the handle of the large, thick, steel door and pulled it right open. Twilight was lying on the floor, hands bound to her back, legs bound as well. She had a bloody lip, black eye, and many other bruises, possibly a broken leg. Sunset scooped Twilight up into a bridal carry and looked around for her dog. He was lying in a cage off to the left. Sunset walked over. "This might hurt... get back..." She didn't know why, or hell, even how he heard her, but he did, and she kicked then cage door, causing it to break. The dog squeezed through the small hole and hopped up onto Twilight's lap. Sunset carried them, barely able to find any use with her left arm beside. Sunset laid Twilight down, who'd recently regained consciousness, whining at the sight of dead bodies, vomiting twice. Sunset saw Flash, then quickly sprinted over, whispering "no" over and over, and over, and over again... Blood was pooling around him, and his skin was pale. "Shit, Flash..." she knelt down beside him, trying to rouse him, checking his vitals. He was barely alive. Sunset felt tears in her eyes, but ignored it, trying to wake her friend. "Flash! Wake the fuck up! C'mon, we need to go... C'mon..." Flash's eyelids cracked apart, his pale blue eyes looking up into Sunset's. He coughed up blood and leaned his head back. "I'm... I'm not going anywhere, Sunset... T-This... This is... it..." He coughed up more blood, and Sunset was on the brink of sobbing. She held it back, trying to get Flash onto his feet. She got as far to pulling him up, only for him to collapse onto his back. Flash grabbed Sunset's hand. He pulled out a small data pad and weakly placed it to Sunset's. Ding! "Verification successful." Sunset shook her head. "N-No, you can't do this to me, Flash Sentry... you're gonna get your ass up, and we're going to get you help, you understand?!" Sunset was crying at this point, unable to hold back her emotions. Flash pulled Sunset down and kissed her on the cheek. "You've been good to me, Sunny... make sure..." Flash never finished his sentence as the light soon faded from his eyes, and his hand went limp. Sunset just knelt beside him and cried for hours... He was gone. Truly gone... And Sunset was alone again. Author's Note Oh no, he's dead... whatever shall I do... A/N: These last two chapters were split up into two, that's why they were shorter than normal. Hope you all enjoyed. Chapter VI: Why.Why? I ask myself this every time I look in the mirror. For twenty six years. I've woken up. Gotten dressed, ready to go feet-first into hell, look myself in the mirror, and ask myself. Why. Why do I keep fighting after it all? Why can't I remember... Why not me? I lost Flash. He's gone... I dragged his body to the nearest site and buried his body, placed his helmet on his rifle instead of a headstone, said a short eulogy, then I left. That's it. I don't mourn the dead of my teammates. I don't look the dead in the eye. Am I still human? All the parts that make me, well, me... I'm losing another one every day. This time, it was Flash. I'll try and brace myself for what's coming, but in the end, every fucking time, it's gonna be twelve times fucking worse... Christ, what the hell is wrong with me? According to this Twilight chick, I'm not even human... I'm some sort of equine creature from her world. I was apparently a pupil to their Goddess or some shit. And you know what? I didn't care. I still don't. I don't ever want to go back to that world... It'd be death for me... but that's not what I'm scared of. I'm afraid I'll remember. That is one of my greatest fears... And I'm seeing them come true every coming day. And every time, I find another shard of my humanity forever gone. End Note. Sunset carefully slid a pencil over the empty part of the page, slowly but surely, she was sketching. She was sketching a picture a Flash... Right on his deathbed. Lying on the ground, bleeding out. The image was the only one in her mind, and it haunted her. Sunset looked down at her fingers. They were covered in thick scars from burn wounds. Twilight sat nearby with her dog, simply staring out. Their objective wasn't clear. They didn't know what to do. Sure, they had to take care of the UNSC and the Covenant, but Sunset was the only one combat-oriented, and even she... she was just one soldier. Sunset patched into the FLEETCOM and listened in. "... In all accounts, we can't fight two fronts. We're spread thin, with Dabreaux and his fleet still in the Epsilon Eridani system! We... we need to fall under the UNSC's radar, or get us a temporary alliance. They want Harmony just as much as we, considering they controlled it for much of the H/C War." Sunset recognized him as Rear Admiral Hudson Hawkworth, captain of the Romeo & Juliet. Harmony's flagship. "There is no way in hell I'm letting a bunch of UNSC... Dogs onto my ship. There're all kinds of faults there!" Captain Rockford, captain of the VDF Nobility, one of the few Destroyer-Class Venators left. Most were destroyed by 2540, when the Covenant finished with the VDF-Controlled colonies, albeit, the VDF went down swinging in that scenario. "I never said anything about letting them on our ships. I said a temporary alliance... All we need is one less hand in the bag. One less weapon that's being slashed at us." Admiral Hawkworth replied. The captain thought it over. "... Alright, but just know you'll be to blame if this goes FUBAR, Admiral." There was venom in his voice, but was disguised by a respectful tone. You didn't speak down to Rear Admiral Hawkworth. "What happens with the Covenant? That CSO-Class is tearing up our orbital defenses, albeit slowly, but surely. They'll have destroyed our entire orbital defense by the time we can get reinforcements! By then, it'll all be over." He had a point. If the orbital defenses above Harmony fell, it'd only be a matter of time. Even with the VDF's "primitive" plasma weaponry, they'd take or glass Harmony before the end of the week. The VDF could've held it, sure, and their ships provided good cover, but those orbital stations were important. They all intertwined electronically to create a giant energy shield. Only one was broken, but that was enough to send the VDF into disarray as a few CAS and CCS cruisers stealthily made their way in, and were able to begin putting boots on the ground. Sunset closed her sketchbook and placed it in her bag. She lost Flash... what was the point? She'd lose Harmony too, if she didn't... then it hit her. That's why she kept going. Kept kicking... She had a duty to fulfill. This wasn't a time to be whining and bitching because she'd lost her best friend! She needed to get more soldiers. She needed to do her goddamned job, as nobody else was gonna do it. "Gotta do my job." Sunset whispered. She grabbed her helmet and stuffed it on her head, whistling as she began grabbing weapons and ammunition from the captured communications center. Normally, Flash would've policed weapons and ammo, while Sunset got a rid of the bodies, but it appeared she was a bit short of personnel at the moment. Sunset walked over to one of the radios. "This is s-Major Sunset Shimmer, VDF Marine Corps, 441st MEU, Phoenix Company. I require more ground forces on my position." she said into the mic, hoping it'd catch someone's attention. "We hear you loud and clear, Sunny-D. Last I checked, you were a sergeant..." Fuck. That was Citron, the VDF Mariposa's AI. "Flash... Flash didn't make it. He gave me a field-promotion before he went MIA." Sunset replied. Not unlike ONI, all specialized company soldiers were reported WIA or MIA in the events of death, same with Black Ops, Spec Ops and Rangers. The Army Corps and the normal Marine Corps got no special treatments. "I'm sorry to hear... but we cannot spare any soldiers for immediate—you've got a marine corporal and an Army Corps sergeant en-route to your location, ma'am." Sunset gave her thanks and got off the radio. She walked over to Twilight and sat down beside her, wincing at her aching muscles and bones. "How're you feeling?" she asked the civilian, who sighed in response. "T-There... There's so much death here. H-How do you cope so quickly?" Twilight asks quietly, looking up at Sunset, who simply shrugs. "I always took death rather well in comparison to most others." that was true. Not in this case, specifically, but still true... Flash Sentry was her best friend. Hell, she considered him like a brother. Now, after the twenty-or-so years they've been kicking, his acknowledgement light had winked out. For good this time. It hit Sunset hard... but she always recovered from wounds. Physical, and emotional. Twilight yawned. "You haven't slept much. Why don't you take a nap or something? The reinforcements shouldn't—" the roar of a pelican filled their ears, followed by yelling. Sunset stormed out the front doors, and saw two soldiers, one in a sleeveless duster and a stetson, smoking a cigarette, the other with a rainbow-colored accent in her hair, a pair of shades upon her face, and a Spec-Ops beret, blood-red. "... Ah mean, yer not that bad for a green-marine, Rainbow, but yer a bit of a hothead." the one in the stetson said, shouldering an M90 CAWS, slinging a BR55HB onto her back. The rainbow-haired one simply scoffed, shouldering an M45 Tactical Shotgun. She began sliding shells into the receiver, while looking over an MA5K beside her. "Sure, ah mean, yer a good soldier, but ya got a nasty temper. That's not really a good skill to have in a combat sit." the stetson-wearing one said, slinging the M90 in exchange for an M6C with a silencer screwed on. She had a southern accent. Twilight seemed to recognize them. The rainbow-haired one had a scratchy voice, with no apparent accent. "Screw you, Applejack. I'm a one-hundred-percent green-bad-ass-marine-killing-machine!" the rainbow-haired one pumped her arms. She had an evenly-distributed muscular frame, with a large amount of graffiti on her suit of Argus armor. She had a large scar going down her cheek, stopping at the base of her neck. "Yer ego's just as bloated as always, ah see." the rainbow-one huffed and shouldered the MA5K carbine. She turned to Sunset and started walking. "Yo." Sunset frowned. She looked over the gear of the VDFMC corporal, each feature of her armor, weapons, etcetera. The corporal wore a suit of Mark VII ARGUS-Class Body Armor, with an enforcer-variant helmet clipped to her waist, alongside a blunt object Sunset recognized as a folding maul. "You just gonna check me out, or are we gonna get to the mission?" Sunset's frown became more apparent and she rolled her eyes. "Head inside. I'll speak to the sergeant for a bit, then we'll move out." Rainbow-woman nodded, and walked inside. Sunset spun on her heel and walked over to the one known as "Applejack." "Howdy, Major." she tipped her stetson, then went back to disassembling her MA5C ICWS. "You're the reinforcements?" Sunset asked as she walked around the pelican, examining it. "Eyup." was her simple response as she began to reassemble the ICWS. Sunset worked at hauling crates out of the blood-tray. "So, got any new intel on what's goin' on upstairs?" Applejack asked. Sunset shook her head with a sigh. "We lost Galileo station, Sector A-Four. We're taking heavy fire from the CSO up there... Luckily, they're not gonna be glassing this place anytime soon, what, with all the Forerunner tech stashed about. They've been trying to find a way past our shields for a long time..." Sunset admitted, picking up a large crate of ammunition. "Sooner or later, it'll be over. Either way, ah at least know those Covenant freakshows ain't gonna take mah home without losing half their goddamned fleet." Applejack gestured to the broken down husks of Covenant ships and vehicles that had been left behind since the first battle. Sunset chuckled. The VDF had been able to defeat the Covenant on several fronts. Meridian, although once they had been exiled by UNSC officials, the Covenant came back in force and glassed it. Hell, they even helped defend Harvest. That first battle was won because they were able to adapt to the Covenant. They already had energy-shielding tech, which proved to be highly resilient toward plasma, and their primitive plasma weapons tech proved to be quite damaging to the alloy plating on Covenant ships. Sunset readied her assault rifle. "Get yourself ready. Lightweight. Three-Hundred Kilos or less." Sunset ordered, getting a subtle nod from Applejack, who then began securing gear. "I'll be right back." Sunset walked into the base, and saw the Rainbow-haired woman standing on her hands, with Twilight sitting on a wooden panel uneasily as the woman began pushing her up and down. "Oi!" Sunset broke her concentration and the woman yelped, collapsing to the ground, the wooden plate with the sixty-pound girl and five-pound dog simply slumping down beside her. Twilight got off of the plate, dusted herself off, and asked the Rainbow-Haired woman if she was alright. Sunset's level of skill was amazing, but even she had her limits, as she could barely contain the soft chuckle as it left her throat. Sunset grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her up violently. "Identify." Sunset said to her, giving her a steeled gaze. The woman returned with a cocky look, a dumb smirk, and now a lit cigarette in her mouth. The woman was suddenly on her back before she could realize what had happened, Sunset's knife to her throat, the cigarette sliced cleanly in half... There were a rare few whose augmentations were a bit naturally boosted by existing skill. The rainbow-haired woman had paled, the color drained from her face as she now had a knife pointed to her throat. "C-Corporal R-Rainbow Dash, m-ma'am. 441st, F-Falcon Company." Sunset took a second to check for truth, before stepping back, sheathing her knife. "No smoking on my watch or else." Rainbow Dashed nodded quickly, getting a smirk from the sunny—pun intended—Sergeant-turned-Major. "Alright, Twi, you go outside, Corporal Dash, I want you to go help your comrade load all the weapons and armor into the base. Leave food, water, navigation and radio equipment out here. Am I understood, marine?" Sunset got close to Rainbow, looking her down. She nodded with no hesitation and ran outside, eager to get away from the crazy Major. "That wasn't really necessary, Sunset..." Twilight said, standing up from her place on the floor. "Yeah, but I had some fun. That's what's important, right?" Sunset turned to Twilight. She kept her helmet on, as Twi had made it clear that the prosthetic eye gave her a bit of fright. Twilight shook her head and sighed. "No... What's important is that I want you to have really good friends... Maybe not these two, but someone." Sunset sighed and nodded. "Well, get outside. I need to go get some horses." That confused Twilight, but she went outside anyway. Sunset slumped down against the wall and went over the plan in her mind. She was going to get a few horses, and she was going to use them for transport instead of a warthog or scorpion. Much too slow, but could carry more. The horses she'd seen, were the ones the VDF had brought with them. Specially bred, trained. Of course, they'd done that decades ago, and the horses she saw, likely were a few down the genetic line. Either way, she needed the horses for her plan. Sunset ran up to the window area where James-005 nearly bested her, then hopped down. She looked around for any sign of the horses she'd seen. Aha! several brown horses with white muzzles grazed nearby. She carefully walked over to one of the large creatures, petting it on the side of it's face. "Hey, girl..." For some reason unbeknownst to Sunset, she'd always been able to seemingly talk to and understand horses. People thought she was crazy, until she was able to take down an armed Black Ops sergeant with nothing but a horse and an M6C Magnum, stun rounds, of course. That got her some respect among her 'mates. The horse reared back and neighed. "Whoa, girl... it's just me..." she, after a few hours, was able to tame the horses. That took a bit shorter than normal. She climbed up onto the back of one of the horses. It had white fur, with a pinkish-blonde mane. The horse trotted forward slowly, the subtle movement making Sunset feel a bit at peace. She'd always liked horses... she didn't know why, though. Of all things, why horses? She decided she'd call this specific one "Sunbutt." No idea why, but she did. She named the other one, whose fur looked blueish, with a lighter blue mane, "Moonbutt." The third one she just called Sassafras, which she'd ride. It had gray/black fur. Sunset got onto Sassafras and rode the horse to the main complex, then whistled. Twilight paled at the sight of Sunset riding the horse. Applejack chuckled, whilst Rainbow Dash simply kept smoking her cigar. "I said no smoking..." Sunset growled. Rainbow snuffed it out on Applejack's shoulder, then began loading their gear onto the horses, along with saddles, which were made for such an occasion. Sunset climbed down and did the same with her own horse. She talked to the horse for a while, as well. "Neigh." "Neigh." "Neigh." "Neigh." "Neigh." That's about as interesting as that conversation was, to the outside at least. The equine creature was definitely intelligent, like the VDF's trained horses in a way... After a few hours, Sunset was able to get Sassafras to let her load her gear onto her. That took a long time. Sunset climbed onto the saddle and grabbed Sassafras' reins. Twilight climbed up and sat behind Sunset, rather uncomfortable. Sunset took a wild guess that saddles were sexualized or something, but shook it off and started off with a slow trot, heading toward the Elugari Desert for the second part of their journey... UNSC Cortez, 2551, Sometime In Early March. Ensign Sandro Vasconcelos flattened out the creases in his uniform one last time as he stood in the elevator, along with two armed UNSC Army Troopers, wielding MA37 Assault Rifles. Sweat gathered up at his forehead. It wasn't very hot in the elevator, quite cool actually, but he was very nervous. One of the Captains leading the assault on Harmony, Jacobo de Vergara, had set up a meeting with him to speak about... something. Sandro knew what it was about. The controversy around the VDF-UNSC war. The VDF were training elite soldiers that could match up with a SPARTAN in skill, though despite their many attempts, they weren't able to necessarily "infiltrate" the Vanguard's military. They reminded Sandro of ancient Japan. Their warrior societies, specifically. If you visited a Vanguard-Controlled Colony, you'd occasionally see a few soldiers fighting with blades in the street. Marines or Rangers, normally the latter. The Rangers were pretty honorable. They never attacked civilians, ran by morals instead of ROE. Most of them were retired by now, though. The Ranger Corps—according to the little information they could gather—was the VDF's attempt at a SPARTAN-esque program. It produced the VDF-equivalent to the ODSTs. They were very durable, strong as a SPARTAN, and normally don't go down without a few bullets to the skull. Their bones were reinforced with some super-metal, making them even worse to fight. 'Course, they went down easily, but getting them in the position to go down in the first place is the tricky part. They always move, never slow down, and are always trying to kill you. Sandro went up against one a while back and it costed him his right arm, which at the moment was simply a normal prosthetic. The elevator made a subtle ding, and the doors slid apart. The bridge was bustling with activity. UNSC servicemen at every station working 'round the clock, doing what the Ensign believed to be something important, as a look of fear and determination filled the features of each of them. The Captain stood in front of the primary viewport, a cigar in his mouth. "Sir." one of the Army Troopers addressed. The Captain glanced back and nodded. The two soldiers nodded and went into the elevator, likely to go to the bar for a drink. Sandro hesitantly walked past each station, and over to the admiral. "S-Sir, you requested to see me?" he asked, snapping to attention. "Ensign, I've heard some good things about you in the past." The Captain spun on his heel to face Sandro. His face was littered with scars. He had stubble upon his face, and bags under his eyes. He walked over to Sandro. "You've killed a Ranger?" That got the attention of some of the crewmen around them. Sandro had found de Vergara to be a lenient person. He spoke his thoughts when he wanted, not caring about consequences, and was generally laid back. "Y-Yes sir." The Captain smirked and turned back to the viewport, where a VDF super-carrier they called "Motherships" began coming into view off to the left side of the port. "Well, what if I told you that you could kill every of those god-forsaken motherfuckers right now?" Crazy filled Jacob's voice. He turned to Sandro, that same look in his eye. "W-What do you mean, sir?" Sandro replies wearily, shifting uncomfortably under the thousand-meter stare that Jacobo held. "I mean, the VDF Romeo & Juliet is approaching our nine-o-clock, and I'm going to send that fucker right to Valhalla with the rest of those freaks!" he all-but-screamed. "We're gonna hit them at the fucking knees! We're gonna cripple these motherfuckers and send a message right to that big motherfucking ship orbiting their Home-World!" he screamed. "ALL HANDS FIRE AT WILL!" he yelled. The crewmen took no hesitation and began activating the weapons systems of the UNSC Cortez. Suddenly, thousands of Archer missiles, Longsword fighters, and even a SHIVA-Class Nuke flew out of the weapons ports of the dozen ships the UNSC had brought along. The explosions were minor at first, then intensified. The VDF Romeo & Juliet began drifting down toward the planet, when it launched it's attack. The Ensign's pupils shrank to pinpricks and he hit the deck as thousands upon thousands of missiles and large bolts of plasma began striking the UNSC fleet that had moved to engage. "Sir! We just lost the Pizarro, the Carvajal—" The crewman would never finish that sentence, as a plasma bolt slammed into the bridge's viewport and vaporized the crew, followed by a large explosion that rocked the ship to the core. Those Army Troopers would never finish their drinks, as they'd be floating in the vacuum, their suits' EVA gear only going to last so long before they're killed. Hélder Fernandes, the Captain of the Romeo & Juliet sighed as he watched the UNSC fleet break apart under the small torrent of plasma and their supply of Archers. The surviving three ships went to go open up a portal into Slipstream Space, when the VDF Di Vinci intercepted them and took them down with a single blast from the large cannon mounted at the front of the massive battle cruiser. "The UNSC will come back with a lot more than a simple scouting party..." he turned to one of the crewmen. "Status update!" he yelled, walking down from the viewport. "We've got breaches in dozens of decks, shields are offline, fusion reactors A-3 through B-7 are offline and we're losing power fast." he reported, coughing. "Life support won't last long, either." Fernandes swore under his breath. "Start immediate evacuation, if we're not out of here—" the Romeo & Juliet shook violently, strobe lights turning on overhead as they began getting bombarded by heavy plasma weapons. "Dammit! Ensign, status report!" Fernandes looked out the viewport and saw several CCS-Class battle cruisers, led by a CAS-Class, appear from active camouflage. "Fuck!" Fernandes accessed the main intercom. "All crew, abandon ship! I repeat, abandon—" The Romeo & Juliet's bridge sealed off as a large plasma bolt struck it's viewport, the crew flying out into the vacuum without another word. The Romeo & Juliet's fuselage descended, then crashed onto the surface of Harmony, offline, leaving the VDF with one less form of defense. Author's Note Neigh. Yep. Neigh? Nope. Neigh! No. Neigh. No. Prologue, Part I. May 9th, 2549. The Battle Of Harmony. Activity filled the hangar of the VDF Mariposa as marines, army troopers, and rangers bustled about, getting into dropships, sergeants and lieutenants rallying their troops, and engineers getting the gunships in order. Among the massive assault force, was a lone marine, sitting on a crate while she awaited orders. She had on a black bodysuit, over light plates that covered most of the bodysuit, similar to that of the body armor of a Gen. II Clone-trooper. The helmet clipped to her waist, was a MJOLNIR Armor helmet. To be more specific, the Nightfall Variant. Over the armor, she had on a black leather jacket, with a blazing sun emblazoned onto the back and shoulders. The armor being as thin as it was, could have minor pieces of outerwear, such as jackets and dusters, put on over without causing any technical issues. On her back, was a large military-grade backpack, carrying the marine's personal effects, as well as her explosives, rations, extra medical equipment, and extra ammunition. In her hands, was a leather bound book, with two separate images of a blazing sun, each one engraved into either side of the book. Leaning against the crate she sat on, was an MA5C Individual Combat Weapons System/Assault Rifle, loaded with a magazine of 7.62x51mm Full Metal Jacket rounds. Upon her face, was a large burn wound that covered the entire right side of her face. In the place of her right eye, was a prosthetic. It's sclera was black, with a bright red pupil that glowed. Her left eye was a casual cyan-blue. She had long hair that reached the base of her neck (in comparison to her squadmates, her hair was long.) and shared the coloration of bacon. Her eyes gave little away, and her expression was stone-cold. Her personality wasn't much different. Her name, was Sunset Shimmer. She is a lance corporal in the Vanguard Defense Force's Marine Corps. She, from age five, was raised to be a soldier. And a soldier she was. She belongs to Phoenix Company of the VDF Mariposa. Sunset looked up from her sketching to a loud whistle. "Lance Corporal Shimmer, we will not wait for you! Get your ass moving!" She closed her journal and slid it into her bag. Sunset slung her MA5C onto her back and jogged over. Her sergeant was an age veteran in his forties, with slicked-back graying jet-black hair. He had scars, albeit minor, covering his face. He had an M395 Designated Marksman's Rifle in his hands, an Enforcer Variant helmet atop his head. "Alright, we're moving out, marines!" the sergeant major roared, climbing into the back of a Dropship 77-Troop Carrier, more commonly known as a Pelican. Sunset climbed into the blood-tray, sitting at the seat closest to the hatch, her MA5C sitting in her lap. Sunset felt the pelican lift up as the thrusters fired up. She glanced up and saw her allies. Each wore a suit of Argus-Class Body Armor, the same Sunset wore. The person opposite her, wore a bulky suit, with large shoulder and chest armor, an M247H Heavy Machine Gun resting in his lap as he stared out the window through an Achilles-Variant helmet, painted a dark gray, like the rest of his armor, his visor a shade of gold. The Lance Corporal grappled onto the braces that held her in place as the pelican shook intensely from it's constant maneuvering from enemy fire. She felt the pelican enter orbit as it dipped, nose-down. Sunset's rifle hung across her chest from it's sling as the pelican descended. Sunset closed her eyes. The pelican rattled, a few of her marine comrades shifting in excitement and anticipation. The upcoming battle would determine whether or not the Vanguard and company would have a permanent home. Their target, was a UNSC colony, designated Harmony. It was an outer colony, but because of it's size, it was protected by a fleet's worth of ships. As they approached, the loud blasts of AA guns filled Sunset's ears. She grabbed her MA5C and cradled it to her chest as the sergeant stood up. "Alright, marines! This is it! This battle will determine which of us will survive! Which of us will get to live to see us win against the United Nations Space Command, once and for all! Now give me some noise marines!" Sunset included, the entire pelican's crew roared out a single "Oorah" as the Pelican slowed to a halt, lowering to the ground. Sunset undid her restraints and walked over to the hatch. The pilots began yelling at each other, when- "Oh, SH-" KABOOM. Sunset was sent flying out of the pelican as it began spiraling, a fire lit in one of the engines and the cockpit. The dropship spun around, then flew forward on it's own, crashing into the ground with a large explosion. "Dammit!" Sunset's vision blurred and she heard ringing. Her helmet visor was cracked, and the bar at the top of her HUD that marked her energy shields flashed red with 'WARNING!' displayed across her screen. Sunset got to her hands and knees, rifle clutched in her right hand. She felt rain pattering against her back, and saw it land in the ground around her. "Come on, we're out in the open!" Someone grabbed Sunset by the collar and practically tossed her forward into the dirt and mud a few meters below. It was the heavy. He jumped down after her. They sat in an old-school foxhole, with wooden boards and sandbags supporting the wall of earth that provided them cover. Steel plates and such were placed over the ledges, where M808B Main Battle Tanks, M12 Force Application Vehicles and M121 Light Strike Vehicles, or, in order, Scorpions, Warthogs and Jackrabbits rolled through, guns ablaze as they fired upon a UNSC stronghold a good couple hundred meters ahead. The VDF Di Vinci was lowered into the ground a few thousand meters back, dropping off vehicles straight from it's hangar. Aerial attack consisted of the VDF's armament of EV-44 "Nightingale" Support VTOLs, modified with chin-mounted autocannons, G77S Pelican Gunships, UH-144 Falcons, and D96-TCE Albatross dropships. Sunset got to her feet and leaned against the wall. "Status update!" Sunset's sergeant roared as he limped over, holding his left arm, which was bleeding profusely. "We've got UNSC forces that're taking initiative to push their asses forward! Our tanks aren't pushing far enough into the battlefield to do any damage!" An engie yelled over the din of gunfire, jogging over to the sergeant. "I suggest calling in for M400 Arties." The engineer pried the sarge's hand off of his arm, getting a look at the damage. He waved over one of the medics, who briefly escorted the sarge into a bunker built into the trench. "Push!" someone screamed over Comms. Marines and other VDF personnel began scrambling up out of the trenches. Sunset followed, climbing up a few of the objects that held up the trench wall, only to slip and fall back when she's hit by a huge shockwave from an explosion. , followed by a harsh amount of automatic gunfire. She poked her head out... Each of the soldiers who'd tried pushing forward were blown to bits. Foxholes were dug into the ground by the sheer force of the autocannons mounted on a Mammoth that began rolling forward, UNSC personnel being dropped off all around. "Dammit! They're pushing ahead, Di Vinci, we need cover fire!" another VDF Commanding Officer yelled over Comms. Several of the missile tubes on the exposed plates of armor opened up and began raining down support fire, slowly, but surely tearing through the resistance. Sunset shouldered her MA5C and climbed up out of the trench. She charged forward, letting her shields take the brunt of the oncoming gunfire that crossed her vision. She sprayed bursts at the hostile force while she moved, ducking and weaving through sniper fire and such. Sunset watched as a round tore into the mud before her foot impacted. She quickly did a spin and ducked into an overhang with two marines and a ranger taking shelter within. "Friendly!" Sunset held her hands up submissively. The two marines were bleeding, whilst the ranger was stacked up against the wall, poking his head out occasionally. "How the hell'd you get through? Last I checked, we could barely get a glimpse at the field..." one of the marines began saying. His voice was older, raspy. Sunset helped him to his feet and leaned him against the wall. She pulled out her Combat Lifesaver kit and got to work dealing with him. He had a few shallow bullet wounds in his abdomen, along with shrapnel damage up and down his left arm. Sunset swore under her breath and slid out a can of bio-medical foam, spraying it over his abdomen, whilst she applied a VDF-made version, known as Freezeburn, to his arm. "Don't try to use it. Even with the augmentations, you'll still fuck yourself up further than I can help ya. Understand?" The marine nodded and chuckled. "Never thought I'd see the day a major would be taking orders from a corporal." Sunset gave him a pat on the abdomen wound. "First time for everything, yeah?" the major laughed as Sunset knelt down to the other marine. "Don't try... she's long gone." Sunset looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm gonna at least try." She examined the marine's wounds, applying Freezerburn and her leftover Biofoam to them, or disinfecting and bandaging them. The marine, apparently a private, had her legs ripped up by shrapnel, her arm, abdomen, hell, her head, even had bullet wounds. She still was breathing, somehow. Sunset tore the private's helmet off in exchange for hers. Her lung was punctured as well. Sunset pulled out a tube from a slit in the helmet, and drove it into a port in the private's armor. "Marine, where's your bucket-" The major frowned. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sunset stood up and shouldered her MA5C. "Get her back to forward camp. I've got your asses." The major scoffed. "You won't last five goddamn minutes-" Sunset shushed him. "You and the ranger get the wounded back as quick as possible. Be gentle, you could hurt her more if you're not careful." The major rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine... Good luck out there, marine." Sunset nodded and gave the major a salute. "As to you." Sunset saw the ranger staring right at her. "You're somethin' else..." he muttered, then slung his SRS99-D and walked over to the major. They carefully heaved the injured private up and walked out of the overhang, where they were protected by another trench. Sunset held three fingers up. Two... One. The rogue Lance Corporal barreled out of the trench, MA5C blazing in her right hand, while an M7 SMG fired at anything that blinked in her left. Sunset avoided the majority of gunfire, hopping down into a UNSC-controlled trench. She stared at an ODST, before launching forward. She planted the barrel of her M7 to his jaw, and aimed her MA5C to the left, firing as reinforcements arrived to assist. Sunset fired two rounds from her M7 into the ODST's skull, splattering his remains onto the mud wall behind him. The lance corporal ducked under a knife swing from a SPARTAN-III and retaliated with a strong right hook. The SPARTAN ducked and drove his knife into Sunset's abdomen. She drew a Karambit knife in response and rammed it up through the exposed neck of the SPARTAN-III. He crumpled to the floor, Sunset's knife driven up through his neck and into his spinal cord. Sunset coughed blood and removed the knife from her abdomen, her suit's supply of Biofoam sealing the wound. That'll last for only so long... time to get back at it. Sunset reloaded her firearms and scavenged ammunition off the bodies of the UNSC personnel, finding a variety of grenades on the SPARTAN-III in his Semi-Powered Infiltration armor's ports. Sunset took his helmet and slid it on, no apparent damage visible. Her armor seemed to recolor itself to match the helmet. Sage green, with brown accents. Sunset smirked to herself at this. She stood up and weaved through the trench, killing any UNSC marines or ODSTs that got in her way. She tossed her M7 aside as she entered a bunker, with several M247H Heavy Machine Guns blazing, leaving her no room for movement. Sunset picked up a BR55 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle off of the ground and clicked the bolt back. Full magazine. She clicked it forward and took a deep breath. She removed the section of her belt that held her grenades, primed them all, then lobbed it at the machine guns. The gunners screamed, before they were torn apart by burning shrapnel and molten metal from the HMGs they'd used. Sunset spun out of cover and fired two quick bursts, ending the gunners' suffering. She had at least a shred of human decency left to do them that much. The corporal made her way deeper into the bunker, finding many more UNSC personnel inside, to which she gunned them down, scavenged their ammo, and moved on. She reached a staircase that led up to the surface, crouching down. Nighttime had reared it's face, and now, Sunset had the slightest semblance of cover. She darkened her armor colors and stealthily moved out of the bunker. UNSC forces patrolled around the concrete fortress all around her, warthogs, scorpions and all other sorts of vehicles scattered around, in varying conditions of repair or disrepair. She smirked to herself as music begins playing... Author's Note First rewritten chapter of The Outcast. A/N: If you want a better look at what a VDF soldier would look like, look at the SPI armor, via google or Halo Nation wikia. VDF is a fictional military group, made by yours truly. It stands for Vanguard Defense Force. The idea of the Vanguard, is a power that rivals the UNSC, that they know that could very well destroy them, vice versa. Each group has on-and-off peace agreements, that normally break within weeks, hell, even days. Their original concept was a Mercenary company, though, now, it's more of another military company all together. Hope you all enjoyed reading, if so, write a comment, if not, write a comment, tell me why you disliked/hated it. I own like... nothing. Prologue, Part II. May 10th, 2549. The Battle Of Harmony. Sunset plunged her combat knife through the jaw of an ODST, ducking under his body for cover as a barrage of 7.62x51mm rounds flew downrange at her. She threw the body down, firing a dozen three-round bursts from her BR55HB in quick succession. The hostiles dropped. Sunset slid the empty magazine out and fished around in her ammunition pouches, until she found a half empty mag. The UNSC personnel in the corridors all had M6C/Gs, M90 shotguns, M7 SMGs or MA5C Assault Rifles, leaving her no reliable source for the 9.5x40mm rounds that her service rifle fired, aside from the armory. Sunset maglocked her BR55HB to her back in exchange for her MA5C. She proceeded to look herself over for wounds. Sunset was suffering from minor cuts, scrapes, two bruised ribs, several bullet wounds, a few major lacerations from knives, and a gaping wound in her forearm from where she shielded her face from an explosion. She grumbled about it, as if it were nothing. Sunset slumped down against one of the concrete walls behind her and looked around. The room was in hexagonal shape, the walls making a nice little edge in the middle where they met. Sunset saw a steel electronic door on either side of the room, which was a bit over thirty meters in length, barely three in width, and a bit under three in height. The doors to her left were jammed open by a crate, which she had put there, then slid under the door and killed the ODST. Sunset pushed herself up onto her feet and shouldered her MA5C. She rolled her shoulders and tightened her grip on the rifle. Just gotta get this done... then I can get out... possibly die on a grassy field somewhere... who knows. Sunset shook her head of the thoughts and let her rifle hang from it's sling at her waist. She gripped her fingers into the groove between the sealed bunker doors and began prying them apart. She felt blood start leaking from the wound on her forearm, but Sunset ignored it, and continued pulling at the doors. Grrrrroooaaaaaannnn... Sunset felt them quickly loosen and ram into the ports in the wall. She huffed angrily and grabbed her rifle. She quickly ducked behind one of the concrete-steel bulkheads as gunfire began tearing through the air. She looked up at one of the security cameras and saw the reflection of an ODST in bulky armor lugging an M247H, slowly pushing forward, discharging his weapon, spewing 12.7x99mm High Velocity Explosive rounds in her direction. Sunset laid down on her stomach and crawled over to one of the corpses. She removed a fragmentation grenade from their waist, primed it, and slid it across the floor. She rolled back behind the bulkhead as the grenade went off. Sunset ducked out of cover, MA5C drawn. The heavy was missing their legs, and had a single, large shard of metal driven through their visor. Sunset stood up and limped out of cover. She flinched and looked down at the source of the pain. She had several large gashes in her leg, likely from the hailstorm of bullets. Sunset knelt down, removed some gauze from her CLS kit, and wrapped her leg. She stood up and limped down the corridor, rifle loosely sweeping over each corner. It was beginning to start ramping downward. There were little platforms built into the top of the ramp, with a solid railing that acted as cover. Sunset slowly began traversing down the ramp, hoping she wouldn't have to deal with much more... Forty five minutes pass. Sunset spat blood and slumped down to the floor. She was now in the main complex, which made it all the more difficult, as there was an absolutely hellish amount of ODSTs, ONI personnel, and even a few Hellbringers... the damage they inflicted on her was brutal. Sunset's entire left arm was just bodysuit at this point, scorched and torn in a few places, though the tears would begin mending, the only armor plate was on the back of her hand, and even that was in poor condition at this point. Her right leg was missing the thigh, shin and calf armor, while the boot was barely holding together. Her abdominal armor was missing completely, while the breastplate/upper chest armor was somewhat still intact, though covered in deep dents and nasty scratches. Her right arm's plating was, for the most part intact. She had a long, long wound that had grazed her head, with bandaging over her head, soaked with her blood. Her left leg still functioned to the commands she gave it, so she was able to move... limited, of course. "There's no fucking way I can clear out this entire goddamn fort... adding the fact that I'm alone helps not, either..." Sunset thought aloud. She closed her eyes and rested for a moment... then it hit her. I've got to blow this place. Sunset limped over to a terminal that rested on a pedestal across from her. She fumbled for a bit, her hand shaking intensely still, but she was able to pull a data chip out of a pouch at her waist. She slid it into the port on the terminal and downloaded the schematics to the base to the chip. Sunset waited for it to finish, then inserted it into a port in her armor. She marked the three key locations, as well as the armory and medbay. The Armory first, as it was closest, then to the medbay so she could patch herself up a bit, then to the armory for C-7 Foaming Explosive, and C-12 Shaped Charges. possibly a few Thermite-Carbon Cords to cover her escape... Sunset looked down and sighed. She realized how little there was a chance that she'd be getting out of this. The idea of using TCC as a cover, was probably the only remote thought that suggested she planned on getting out alive. She did not. Living would be a privilege. Sunset limped forward, an M6C SOCOM magnum in her right hand, her left limply hanging at her side. She could do this... hopefully. Sunset marked a route to the armory and began limping down the bloodied corridor ahead. She heard boots, and quickly ducked behind a bulkhead, watching a patrol of three UNSC marines move through, wearing gas masks or EVA gear. She waited for them to pass, then moved down the corridor, M6C sweeping over every surface. She arrived at the Armory, a good forty minutes later. It was being guarded by a fireteam of ODSTs, assembled around a card table, playing poker with bullets instead of chips. Sunset adjusted the leather jacket upon her shoulders and went prone on the ground. She took a deep breath and entered SPARTAN time. She fired three rounds in quick succession, killing each of the Shock Troopers. Sunset ducked down and knocked on the armory door. "I'm coming!" someone yelled from inside. Sunset stacked up against the door, loosely holding her combat knife. She watched the seals in the door release, and as the door creaked open... revealing a trail of smoke leaking out. A marine stumbled out, a blunt pressed to his lips. Sunset drove her knife into his throat, hand over his mouth, and placed his body off to the side, giving his head a light kick for good measure. She crouched down low and closed the door behind her. There was sped-up rave music playing in the background, while, what Sunset believed to be marijuana, filled the air. She saw a bunch of people in their undergarments, hell, even a few ODSTs wearing their helmets, and nothing else, besides boxers, stumbling around... Shaggy, this isn't weed... Sunset stood upright and drew her M6S, pointed to the floor. There were nine hostiles... well, more-or-less they were all passive at the moment—Beyond the point. Sunset quickly fired each round in succession, silencing each of the stoned UNSC personnel... How this was allowed was far beyond her. Sunset counted the bodies, and frowned when she noticed one of them was gone. When she got a look at him, first glance, she swore she saw his eyes glowing red... Doesn't matter now. Sunset turned the music off. She grabbed a duffel bag, and began carefully placing each of her desired explosives in the bag— "Hey, I think I heard a gu-" a marine stood in the doorway, frozen at the sight of Sunset. He glanced at the alarm button to his left, then back to Sunset. "I-I'll press it!" he stuttered when Sunset reached her hand to her M6S. "I'm going to blow this base to oblivion, no matter if you press that button or not. You'll have one chance to live, right here, right now. You'll escort me to the med-bay, help me get patched up, then you'll leave the base through the bunker in the corridor beside the garage. Then, you will hold up a white flag, or you can press that button, and I'll knock you unconscious and use you as a human bomb. When your allies find you, they'll check to see if you're alive, only to get blown to pieces by an array of-" "O-Okay! I-I get it... W-Wait, you're one of those V-VDF people..." the marine held his hands up submissively as Sunset lowered her M6S, though right in his line of sight. "Get moving. Put that duffel on." The marine, a private from what she could tell, found himself with no other options, and slung the duffel, taking Sunset's MA5C. She was a good foot taller than him, even without the added height from augmentation. Sunset took off his radio and smashed it within her good hand. "Try anything, and you're dead. Understood?" The marine nodded fearfully. He hesitantly held her wrists together and they began their trek to the Medical Bay. They had minimal problems on their way, besides a few sideways glances at Sunset, or a few blows to her wounds. Sunset made a mental note to kill them first. Sunset stopped the marine. "We're at one of the main supports... Give me the duffel and tell me if anyone's coming." The UNSC marine nodded and gave her the bag with a shaky hand. Sunset got to the tedious job of setting up a good enough amount of explosive. "I expected a little more resistance, to be honest..." she said to the marine. He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "H-Heh... I-I never really wanted to be here. Not much for me, but it's a tradition in the family to join up in the military... I-I personally thought it'd be safer for my family if I joined the Vs, but that only started an argument..." "You don't join the Vanguard." Sunset replied, linking two wires to a glob of C-7. "W-Wait, what?" the marine glanced around. "You're recruited in, or enlisted, or a decorated soldier recommends you, and if you're not a six-year old or younger, you'd be enlisted into the Army Corps." The marine furrowed his brow. "S-Six or younger? W-" "Classified." Sunset finished up and slid the duffel over to the private. "S-Sorry for asking." he picked up the bag and slung it, giving Sunset a confused look as she smashed a keypad for one of the bunker doors. "We're gonna seal the sections off after we're done. It'll give me a chance to detonate each of the explosives." Sunset limped out of the excessively short section, more-or-less just two doors with a thick bulkhead in between, and smashed the keypad. The marine stepped out quickly and escorted Sunset... Though, it was more the other way around. Sunset arrived in the Med-Bay, and the private talked to one of the medical troopers while Sunset sat on an examination table. The young UNSCMC private walked in, a corpsman alongside him. She was a short brunette, with a young face, similar to the private, who was a short, scraggly redhead. "So, you want me to clean and patch up all of your wounds... right?" the corpsman asked, worry in her voice. "I'd do it myself... but... yeah." the corpsman chuckled and got to work. Sunset made sure she didn't poison her, keeping her M6S in her lap, while she looked over each piece of equipment that the corspman had, until she opened up Sunset's CLS kit and removed the can of Freezerburn and bio-medical-foam. "What's this...?" she examined each canister. "Biomedical foam, standard issue Wound Sustaining Gel, or Freezerburn." The corpsman put them back and finished up patching up Sunset's more major wounds. "I never thought I'd be helping the enemy... You're gonna get arrested, you know that, Rye?" the corpsman said to the scraggly private, who sighed and nodded. "You will too... unless you come with us. She's gonna blow up the base—" "Killing so many people, innocent people!" Sunset stood up and stared the corpsman down. "If you didn't know the effects of war, you shouldn't have joined the navy." Sunset slung the duffel onto her back and turned to "Rye". "Thanks for the help." Sunset quickly raised her magnum and silenced him. She swiftly turned to the corspman, and put her hand over her mouth, firing several rounds up into her skull, letting her body down to the floor. Sunset carefully stacked their bodies, rigging an explosive underneath them. "May your souls rest when you arrive to Valhalla..." she whispered, then carefully made her way out of the medical wing, camouflage enabled— Suddenly, the alarms began going off. Sunset picked up the pace and started running to the second marker. She suddenly ducked behind a bulkhead as a barrage of gunfire went downrange. Damn it... She poked out and fired a few bursts, then took cover once more. Several rounds slammed into the bulkhead. Sunset pulled out a fragmentation grenade from the duffel, primed it, and threw it out into the corridor. Kaboom! Sunset quickly ran past the writhing bodies on the ground, and began making her way down the corridor, only to get knocked flat on her ass by a close-ranged blast from an M90. Her chest armor blew apart, and clattered to the floor, leaving Sunset unprotected. She looked up, and saw an ODST standing over her. The shock trooper raised his M90, pumping it. Sunset quickly swept his legs out from under him, unsheathed her knife, and plunged it into his eye socket. She removed it and got back up, wincing. She was bleeding again. She growled and started limping down the hall, the ODST's shotgun now in her open arms. She reached the second marker and shot one of the keypads, pressing the other to seal her in the room, barely four feet wide. Sunset listened to the sound of boots that approached the broken hatch to her left whilst she worked at priming the next charge. Ding! She smiled to herself and unlocked the second door, only to have several firearms pointed at her. Sunset swore under her breath and dropped her weapons at the two UNSC marines standing before her, MA5Cs cradled within their arms. "Don't move—" Sunset interrupted him by lunging forward, grabbing the handle of his MA5C. The two struggled for a moment, before Sunset made the soldier shoot his comrade in the skull. "You made me kill Kenny! You bastard!" the marine roared, only to receive a burst of 7.62x51mm NATO rounds to the brain. Sunset weakly threw his body to the ground and spat blood, looking down at herself. At some point, she got hit, as there was a sizable hole in her abdomen. "Oh, shit." she muttered. Sunset quickly removed her can of Freezerburn from her CLS kit and placed the tip to the wound, filling it with the chilling gel material that hardened soon after being sprayed. Sunset shouldered her MA5C and flinched as the Freezerburn began freezing the wound. Sunset limped down the hallway, growling. She was on her last legs here. The chance of her surviving were lowering, the more damage she took. Were it not for the adrenaline in her system already, and the adrenaline being pumped into her, she'd have collapsed a long time ago. The Freezerburn struck a few of the wounds she'd obtained earlier, and she swore. Sunset now had a chance to die of freezing to death in sixty-two degree Fahrenheit weather. That's why Freezerburn is so rarely used. If done wrong, you could freeze most of your internal organs without realizing it, killing you from the inside. It was normally used for treating burns, but Sunset had run out of Biofoam, and it was a quick decision. She needed to hurry. Sunset still needed to rig the third support, as well as rig the generator— She was now at the third support. Sunset knelt down and carefully pulled the duffel bag off. She clipped the grenades she'd taken to her hip, and got to work planting the explosive. Let's see... C-7 there... C-12 charge there, coat the corners... Wire correctly... done. Sunset stood up and glanced around. The alarms had stopped. Sunset growled and began limping out of the base. Swwoooooooosh, Kaboom! The lighting flickered and Sunset tripped, swearing as it opened up several of her wounds. She began crawling forward down the hallway, blood dripping from her wounds and onto the clean, concrete floor. Sunset looked up to see a boot slam into her stomach, knocking her onto her back. She coughed up a torrent of blood. "Look what we have here..." A SPARTAN-III, wearing a suit of MJOLNIR armor. He picked Sunset up by the throat, and forced her into the wall. The lance corporal's left hand loosely patted and tapped against the augmented soldier's arm at her throat, whilst her right worked at the knife in the sheathe at her waist. "Theo, call it in." An ODST behind him nodded and was about to activate his radio, when Sunset spat blood at the SPARTAN's visor and plunged her knife into his arm, twisting it. The SPARTAN screamed and threw Sunset off to the side, trying to pull the blade out. That bought Sunset enough time to draw her M6S and shoot the three ODSTs behind the SPARTAN-III. The augmented soldier finally removed the knife and let his dominant arm fall limp at his side. He roared in agony and slowly pushed over to Sunset, despite the rounds impacting his shields. Sunset took down his shields, and fired the last round of her magazine right into the SPARTAN's visor, blood and skull matter splattering as the 12.7x40mm round blew out the lights. He stumbled, his arms flailing for a minute before he crumpled to the ground. "Sumbitch..." Sunset got up and limped over to the III's body, spitting on his chest. She picked up her MA5C off the ground, her left arm hanging limp at her side. She clicked a button on the side, and the body shifted back, as well as the barrel and individual pieces in front of the ammunition counter, shortening the weapon, effectively. Her little touch. The young Lance Corporal stumbled down the corridor, deciding against the generator. She felt the base shake as the time limit on the first explosive went off, causing the lights to dim for a few minutes. Sunset ducked behind a bulkhead, 9.5x40mm and 7.62x51mm rounds flying past her. She ducked down, watching the lights dim. She used the time of confusion and poked out, firing two quick three-round bursts, silencing two marines and another shock trooper. Red emergency lights lit up the corridor as Sunset moved through the corridors. Her vision faded to black occasionally, blurred images of gunfights filling the blanks. She blinked a few times, shaking the dizziness away... attempting, to, and failing to. Sunset felt her vision return, and she saw the tunnel entrance. She was so, so close... Then she felt a large heat strike the side of her head, as well as the feeling of liquid soaking her head. She pulled her shaky hand to her head, and came back with blood. She turned around and saw the SPARTAN-III, his face torn up and ripped apart. "You're not getting away that fucking easily!" He discharged one more round from his M6G, and Sunset was sent tumbling down the staircase. She saw a blood pool forming, and got to her knees, crawling over to a large vent. She shakily pulled her knife out, undoing each screw. The III's footsteps closed in, and she pulled the last screw out. She threw the knife into the vent and climbed in, placing the grate back. She laid down on her back and awkwardly maneuvered around until she was on her stomach, facing the shaft. Sunset clasped the knife's blade within her teeth as she crawled through the shaft slowly. She reached a bend, taking a left, when she heard groaning. Oh, FU— The ventilation shaft collapsed, and she screamed as she hit the ground. She vomited blood and backpedaled out, getting to her feet. Her vision was immensely blurred, and she couldn't tell left from right by how much her head spun and hurt. She stumbled forward, seeing a staircase. Rain began pooling at the bottom— The surface! Sunset quickly stumbled forward and tripped, landing in the mud, splattering her wounds. It stung, but she ignored it and started climbing, slowly. The III roared from somewhere behind her. "Not yet, you bitch!" he screamed with an almost inhuman voice. Sunset's arms were giving, and she felt fatigue start to set in. She... She wasn't going to make it... Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. Anyone would've felt like they've done enough, and just laid down and died, just let the insufferable pain coursing through them die out, along with them... No. She is Sunset. Mother. Fucking. Shimmer. Not in a million years would she go down like this. Sunset didn't have the strength to scream, or yell, so she just kept climbing, despite the approaching bootprints from behind. A few more steps... The rays of the sun hit her face and she felt... better, somehow. It was one of those days, where the sun was out, and it was raining. Sunset could've, would've enjoyed it, if two explosions suddenly rocked her world so hard that it knocked her onto her side, into the mud that splattered her bodysuit. Sunset didn't have the strength... All she could do, was lie down and die... She groaned and pushed herself. Her muscles burned, and her body screamed at her in protest as she began crawling out of the trench. She heard voices, and saw soldiers wearing Argus Armor approaching her— Her leg was tugged back, and she was on her back, the III now straddling her, knife held above his head... Ka-Boom. His brains, and the remains of his helmet were now gone. The sound was like a cannon, Sunset's ears rang, and she the last thing she saw before she blacked out, was the face of that Major... "Come on, don't die on me, marine..." his voice started fading... Sunset felt satisfied, and let unconsciousness overcome her. Author's Note I checked the views for The Outcast, and it went from zero to a hundred-sixty in like... seven-eight hours. That made me feel good, so either the views reset to what it was before I deleted this, or one-hundred and sixty people saw that this story is no longer on Hiatus, and checked it out. Hope ya enjoyed! Now, if you'll excuse me. *faceplants into computer and snores*
I: Alive... For Now. September 4th, 2551. VDF Stronghold, Harmony. Sunset opened her eyes and groaned. She groggily sat upright. She moved herself over, her one leg hanging off the bed. She looked at the steel buckle on her stump and sighed. She removed her footlocker from underneath her cot and clicked it open. Inside, was her robotic leg, arm, and her mementos. A photo of her getting medals for successfully destroying the UNSC fortress, for a few other things. A picture of her in the uniform she got when she was promoted to Sergeant, one of her sitting beside Flash Sentry, the medals, a modified M6D Magnum, and a bible, burnt to a crisp, with a single depression in the cover, where a bullet struck it. Sunset grabbed her prosthetics, attached them, and stood up. She clenched and loosened her hand a few times, then pulled a few kicks to make sure nothing was wrong, and stretched. Her body still burned occasionally from the wounds she'd obtained, the two years ago, when Sunset destroyed that fort. She smirked to herself, and dressed herself in a bodysuit. When she first awoke, they asked Sunset hundreds of questions. Were the base's files not intact, they probably would've just executed her for being crazy. Sunset stretched her arm and attached her radio headset to her head, her cap over it. Sunset grabbed her leather jacket and slid that onto her shoulders, over her bodysuit. Sunset grabbed her BR55HB from under the cot, clicked the safety off, and slung it over her shoulder. She pressed a few buttons on the keypad by the door, which soon after, parted and met with the walls. Sunset walked out into the corridor. She turned to the Armory, when her radio lit up. "Sergeant Shimmer! Report to debrief at once." Sunset responded with silence, spun on her heel, and started her walk to the CIC. She reached a bunker door, flanked by two soldiers in heavy, bulky Argus-Class Body Armor, Mark VIIs, AIE-486H Heavy Machine Guns in their arms, attached to packs of ammunition upon their backs. "I'm reporting to the CIC for debrief." she pulled out a small device that sat in the palm of her hand. It projected her information for the two troopers, who then stepped out of the way and opened the door. "You may proceed." Sunset shoved the device into one of the pouches on the waist of her bodysuit, and walked through a set of doors marked "Combat Information Center". She was met with several VDFMC Commanding Officers. The lieutenant, whom everyone nicknamed "Luna" stood at the end of the holotable. Then, there was the General. Sunset immediately saluted. "Staff Sergeant Sunset Shimmer, reporting for duty, ma'am!" The General laughed. "At ease, Shimmer." she, and the rest of the soldiers already in CIC were in full combat gear, with weapons on their backs, or hanging from their hips. Sunset walked over and looked down at the table. She looked up at the general, who was at least seven or eight feet tall. "What's the situation, ma'am?" Sunset asked, looking at the hologram on the table. A CSO-Class super-carrier, currently being engaged by the VDF Di Vinci, The Machiavelli, and the Notre Dame, along with thousands of small vessels that Sunset knew not the name of. "We're currently being attacked by not one, but two CSO-Class Super-carriers, and it appears they may be winning." General Celestia stated angrily, placing in a set of commands into the terminal at the end of the table. The image changed to a star-shaped crystal, encased in a golden crown. "We found this within one of our experimental Slipstream Space destinations, and—" Luna cut her off. "—And we want you to get it, so that we may use it against our enemies." Celestia frowned at the lieutenant, who in turn smiled innocently. "When we sent a few Rangers through, they immediately came back out, all whispering your name, as well as completely brain-dead." Celestia gave Sunset a weary look. "Sunset Shimmer... They just chanted it, nothing less, nothing more." Sunset paled, unknowing of why. "Sunset, we need you to go through that portal, and find us that crown. Do you understand the orders given to you?" Sunset hesitantly nodded. "There isn't time to get you fully combat ready, so just take these and follow us." Celestia handed Sunset a few magazines of 9.5x40mm cartridges and started walking over to a panel in the wall. Groooooaaaaannnnn. The panel slid away to reveal a narrow corridor. "With haste!" Celestia led Sunset down the hall. It brought back a sickening sense of Deja Vu to Sunset, and she felt memory flashes back to that wretched base— 'No, calm down. Don't think about that damned place...' Sunset shook her head of these thoughts, and Celestia squeezed past her, typed in a few numbers on a keypad, and a second door opened with a groan. It seemed to have been here only a short time, yet, also felt like it hasn't been touched in what seemed like years. Sunset walked through into an open room. The room was made of some sort of steel-composite, with paint covering the ceiling. Toward the end, tubes, wires and a lot of tech sat around, humming aloud. In front of that, four small angle-pieces were sustaining a large, ovular cyan portal, cackling with energy. The COs that went in took shelter in a command box at the back of the room. "We're counting on you, sergeant. If you do not make it, may your soul forever rest in Valhalla..." The lieutenant started going off on a rant, or a lament, Sunset couldn't tell. She carefully approached the portal. It showed her distorted reflection. Sunset closed her eyes and threw herself in. Somewhere... CALENDAR INFORMATION FALSE. Calibrating... Calibration Failed. Sunset felt weightless. Everything around her was black, and her body felt... wrong. She realized what was going on, and opened her eyes groggily, groaning in pain. She felt much shorter, and... longer? How to put it... Sunset looked down at herself, and held back the urge to scream. Or faint. Or both. She was a quadruped, with wings and a horn, a flowing, fire-like... mane? upon her head. A modified version of her uniform sat upon her body, along with a robotic stump on either of her legs. She got to her... hooves, and stumbled a bit. She looked around, and saw a marker through the HUD shades upon her face. Sunset began stumbling through the halls, carefully avoiding the patrolling guard, which seemed a bit... incompetent, maybe? Sunset shook it off and continued to move toward the marker, until she came to a pair of double doors. She fumbled with the handles for a moment, then finally opened the door. She quietly... trotted in, looking at her surroundings. She was in a bedroom, full of books, with a purple horse sleeping in a bed, with the same features as her, except she seemed... shorter, almost. Not only that, but Sunset found a little purple... That's a dragon. In a dog bed. Sunset found her hair acting as a source of lighting, so being able to see—not that it was difficult in the first place, with her augmented sight, and all—wasn't very difficult. The lance corporal trotted over to the nightstand and stared at her objective as it lit up with a yellow glow. It seemed to levitate into one of her pouches, and relief filled her mind—until she tripped over the dog, and knocked over the dresser. "H-Huh, what..." the little dragon woke up and watched as Sunset scrambled to get out. The horse did as well and yelled. "Stop! Thief!" Sunset groaned and tried running. She failed, then smirked to herself and slid across the too-well polished floor. She laughed and glanced back. The horse wasn't there, until it was, right in front of Sunset— CRASH! Sunset went flying, sliding across the floor. She stood up, stumbled a bit, and turned to the portal. The horse got wrapped around a drape, and got stuck. "Sorry if I can't stay to chat, but it appears you're a bit tied up at the moment." Sunset chuckled at her own pun, and saw a group of eight horses, two tall ones—Both a few inches shorter than Sunset— and six smaller, multicolored ones. Sunset stared at the white one for a moment, inciting a headache. "Ta-ta!" Sunset let herself fall back through the portal... And darkness overwhelmed her again. Harmony, VDF Fort Galileo, 2551. Sunset groaned. Her bones ached, and her muscles burned. She sat upright and held her head as a headache began plaguing her mind. Luna and Celestia were gone, and Sunset heard gunfire outside. She shouldered her BR55HB. She felt glad to be back in her body. Her real body, that is. Sunset pulled the objective out of the pouch on her uniform. It had changed shape, apparently. It was now some sort of... The room itself was ripped up, with panels of the ceiling now on the floor, along with pipes, tubes and all sorts of other gear strewn about. The portal was now closed behind Sunset, which she really hoped stayed that way. Sunset clicked the safety off her BR and crouched down. She carefully made her way over to the door, stacking up. She poked her head and rifle out. Empty. She rounded the corner and started moving down the narrow corridor with haste, flashlight on. She shoulder-rammed through the next door, and saw several Unggoy and a Sangheili minor around the holo-table. Sunset wasted no time and fired three quick bursts, killing each Unggoy, then took cover as the Sangheili roared. It began firing it's Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle at Sunset in bursts. Sunset waited a moment, the poked her head out and discharged her weapon. The Minor's shields flared, and he raged. The warrior hurdled the table and picked Sunset up by the throat. The assassination blade on his wrist activated. Crack! Crack! The minor gurgled blood and crumpled to the floor, dropping Sunset. She looked over, and saw someone familiar. "Major." Sunset addressed, getting to her feet. She picked her BR up and shouldered it. Flash Sentry stood at about six-foot-three, a bit taller than Sunset. He currently wore a suit of Argus-Class Body Armor, with a Void-Dancer Variant helmet. His armor was a light gray, covered in scorch marks. Several of the thinner plates were smoking from plasma burns. In Flash's hands, was an M6C magnum. His shields seemed to be down, as his armor was cackling with golden electricity. A subtle hum filled the air as his shields recharged. Sunset walked over to him and frowned. "Is the armory still operational?" she asked. "Yeah, just about one of the only things left operational... Covenant have been bombarding us with mortar fire for hours. Where the hell have you been?" Flash retaliated, irritation filling his voice. "On a special assignment." Sunset walked past Flash, BR55HB raised and sweeping over each surface. Blood stained the walls and the ground, human and Covenant. Bodies lined the floors, along with spent shell casings, scorch and bullet marks in the walls and floor, along with discarded weapons. The facility would shake occasionally as a bombardment from Covenant assault. Sunset drew her knife and thrust it forward, only for a three-fingered hand to grab her forearm and shove her down. She scrambled back and began firing her rifle at the Sangheili, a war cry filling her throat. The Sangheili fled to cover. Sunset quickly got to her feet and planted her shoulder against a wall opposite Flash. "Where'd it go?!" she yelled, firing a few bursts that went wide. Flash knelt down and fired his MA5C at random, in the general direction of the Sangheili. "I've got no idea!" Flash quickly turned the corner and rushed forward to a metal box that provided cover. The Sangheili popped his head out and fired at Flash from the end of the corridor. Sunset decided now was a good time to use that crystal. She held it within her hands, taking a few deep breaths. Then, she got mad. These Covenant motherfuckers were trying to take her home from her, the one she lost —literally— an arm and a leg for! She was NEVER going to let that stand. Sunset felt her head heat up, and she put the crystal in her back pocket and looked down at herself. Her uniform had melted down into a bodysuit, and glowing, transparent flame-like armor was now attached to it. Sunset just shook it off as one of the less random things she'd seen today, and rushed forward at breakneck speeds. The Sangheili was stunned, and began backpedaling, firing his plasma rifle at Sunset. The rounds seemingly added to the fire, swirling around with the orange flames before dying out. Sunset grabbed the Sangheili up by the throat and growled. "Do it, already... Demon. Do not waste... Hack! ...my time..." Sunset smirked and pummeled the Sangheili, knocking him unconscious. Her rage started dying, and Sunset felt herself seemingly getting shorter. She felt the strength drain from her momentarily, and she stumbled, coughing up smoke. She took a few breaths, her hand holding her up by pushing up to the wall for support. Flash hesitantly walked over, fear in his eyes. "Ho-lee-shit, Sunny." Flash applauded, kinda. Sunset had melted a good few centimeters into the floor where her feet left imprints, and her hair felt... longer. She frowned and sighed. "Magical." Sunset commented with a sarcastic tone. She shouldered her BR55HB and walked around the Sangheili's scorched, unconscious body. "Why is he still breathing?" Flash asked, prodding it's foot with the barrel of his MA5C. "Because it'd hurt his honor, and that hurts more than any wounds we can inflict. I do my homework, Major Sentry." Flash rolled his eyes at the comment and started walking down the corridor, alongside Sunset, moving toward the vehicle hangar. Equestria, 0300 hours, two-and-a-half hours after the theft. Celestia sat at the desk in her quarters, looking over the magic-made photographs, created from Celestia and Twilight's memory so they may identify the thief while she looked for her crown. She found the photos quite... interesting. They detail an alicorn, with flame-like wings and a blazing mane that flowed through the air. Her coat was orangish-yellow, with some sort of military uniform on her body, a few strange devices and contraptions on her body. Her eyes were bright cyan, and she had a lot of scars on her face, specifically, a long scar that went across the left side of her head, along with a bad burn scar over her eye that covered some of the upper right section of her face. Celestia thought back to one of her students... the one that she had failed. Sunset Shimmer. Celestia had taken a liking to Sunset from the start, learning her history, albeit dark, and filled with pain. She was an amazing student, always eager to learn... Then she decided to get into the theories of Dark Magic. She would sneak off to the restricted sections, doing Goddess knows what. Celestia found out, and decided it was time Sunset backed off. Sunset was stubborn, though. She kept learning, until she found about that blasted mirror. Celestia, with the assistance of Starswirl The Bearded, had created the portal, for many different reasons she'd long forgotten. When they went through, though... They found Humanity. There, at the time, was very, very little to go on. They were, in some ways, plenty more advanced than Equestria. They were not in others. They fought wars against each other, and did some of the most horrific acts Celestia couldn't even think of her ponies remotely thinking of anything like some of the things she'd seen... Not all of them, though, were evil. As long as Celestia, along with Luna and Starswirl ventured at night, they'd be safe. They helped in modernizing Equestrian ways of life, though, they couldn't be implemented until a good few centuries after Luna had gone mad with power. In the long run, Celestia should've just destroyed that mirror, but she didn't, and her student was now in that world, very likely dead, or worse... but when Celestia got a look at that alicorn that had stolen Twilight's crown... she saw in those pained, broken eyes... Sunset Shimmer. How she became an alicorn was what got to Celestia. She, honest-to-Goddess did not know, but she was back... momentarily, and seemingly in one piece. Celestia wished, with most of her heart, that Sunset would someday return, possibly alive and well... But she could only wish, at times like these. Author's Note For those who want to know, the two-part prologue was only there for context reasons. A/N: Sunset's equine form was inspired by this image, that I found browsing on the internet. Picture her like that, or not, doesn't really matter to me. Here's the link I found attached. Full credit can go to the author. Also, this chapter, originally was intended to be only a little over a thousand words, and it would've been split up into three separate ones. Sunset enters the portal>Is in Equestria, grabs crown & leaves>Exits portal. But I'm lazy, so I just made it like it is.
II.Blood. It was all over the floor, and the walls, hell, even the ceiling. Sunset had probably lost gallons-worth of blood in her time of service with the VDFMC, but never has losing, or draining blood ever effected her, until she saw the bodies of her friends leaking it. Sunset paled as she knelt down beside a dead marine, her helmet melted into her head and skull, likely having died a very slow, painful death. She removed the soldier's dog-tags. CPL Krystyna Adamik. 441st MEU, Phoenix Company. Sunset held back a few tears and looked at the back of the tag. The image of a phoenix was engraved into the backside, along with 441 in bold font underneath. Sunset stuffed the tags into her bag and wiped her eyes. "Dammit." she whispered to herself. Sunset shouldered her BR55HB and moved on, walking down the ruined front entrance with haste. There were benches in the middle of the room, two sets of six benches, back-to-back. There were four large, rectangular windows on the ceiling, along with vines, moss and other plants growing on the concrete on the inside and outside. The front entrance was only there as a decoy, to look ruined, decayed and run-down so people strayed from it. Flash pressed a fey keys on a data-pad mounted to the wall, and two bunker doors slid shut in a single, swift motion, sealing the base off from the front. "That should slow the ground forces... maybe." Flash was genuinely worried. For his own sake, and for Sunset's. From what he could gather, General Celestia had put her on a special assignment of sorts to retrieve some sort of artifact from some experimental portal system they'd opened up. It was very unstable, according to the sergeant who'd ventured it. Flash raised his MA5C and looked around. "Seems clear enough. Let's move." Sunset nodded in response, following close behind the Major. He pushed up against one of the large, thick, powerless steel doors that kept people out of Fort Galileo. Sunset simply drew her leg back, then threw it forward in a knee-high kick that sent one of the doors off it's hinges. "C'mon. We've got to get away before—" Swooooooosh, KABOOM. The two were sent flying. Sunset smashed her face into the ground and rolled for a few meters. She growled and got to her hands and knees, spitting blood. "That... hurt..." Sunset got to her feet and stumbled. She steadied herself and held her BR55HB in a loose grip as she saw Covenant reinforcements from the top of the hill she stood upon. Hundreds... no, thousands of Covenant ground soldiers were moving on Fort Galileo, very likely going to simply plow past Sunset and Flash. At the helm of the group, Sunset saw an enraged Sangheili Field Marshal. She turned back, to see Flash getting to his feet, a Sangheili Major approaching him at a stumbling pace, missing his left arm and two of his mandibles. Sunset raised her BR55HB and began unloading the magazine into the Sangheili. His shields dropped, and the rounds tore through his chest, neck and brain, killing him instantly. Sunset slung her rifle and limped over to Flash, holding a hand out for him. He took it gratefully, and let Sunset pull him up to his feet. He brushed dirt off of his leg and picked up his MA5C. He raised it as a Sangheili with an Energy Sword appeared behind Sunset. They both heard the horn of a warthog to their left, and saw a VDF Ranger pull up in front of them, killing the Sangheili instantly. "Get in, losers. We're going shopping." Sunset snickered and climbed up, mounting the M41 LAAG on the back. She spun the machine gun's barrel and began firing at a group of Unggoy that had followed the Ranger. Flash climbed into the passenger seat, and the Ranger began riding downhill. The Covenant Ground Force began giving it all they had, discharging most, if not all their weapons. The Ranger, somehow, successfully avoided most of the rounds. A lone plasma grenade struck the hood and exploded, shattering the windshield. "Goddammit! I just cleaned that, you sons-of-bitches!" He had a light Russian accent, though his English was on point. Sunset began mowing down the ground units that didn't have vehicles for cover, spinning the gun around to face their rear, while Flash covered their front from enemy fire. Plasma began scorching the hull of the M12 Force Application Vehicle. Sunset roared a war cry and let loose a torrent of hot lead, tearing Unggoy, Sangheili and Jiralhanae alike. "We're not out of the pan just yet!" Sunset yelled as banshees began firing their plasma repeaters at the warthog. The Ranger swerved, avoiding taking any further damage, and turned to the left. A few boards were laid out over a broken down M808B. Sunset saw what he was doing, and roared, firing at the banshees as they launched off of the boards, into the air. "Ooooh SHIT!" Flash screamed, firing his MA5C wildly as they smashed into the ground. One of the hub caps rolled off, chasing a random Unggoy, who fled in response. Sunset laughed at that, then watched as the battlefield became smaller as they drove away. "... And into the fire." The Ranger finished as a green bolt of plasma struck the ground beside the 'hog, sending it spinning through the air. The Ranger hopped out, along with Flash, while Sunset ended up rolling with it. She smashed her head on the hull, and groaned, maintaining consciousness, just barely. "Christ..." she slowly eased herself out of the crash, only to duck back under as a barrage of plasma hurled itself toward her. "Fuck me." she muttered angrily, picking up her BR55HB that hung from the bent barrel of the M41 Light-Anti-Aircraft-Gun. She got into a fully prone position and leaned into the stock of the bullpup rifle. The feet of a Jiralhanae began walking past Sunset, sniffing the air. It stopped right as it passed her. The pair of hairy feet took a few steps back, and Sunset saw two claws grab the warthog's hull. The Jiralhanae pulled it up, saw Sunset, and would've yelled, were it not for the three 9.5x40mm rounds penetrating his skull, and blowing his brains out. Sunset got to her feet and started sprinting as fast as her augmented leg(s) could take her. She rolled over an Unggoy and fired a burst through it's mask, causing a minor explosion, sending gore in every direction. The other Unggoy around screamed and turned-tail, full sprint. Sunset turned away from them and started up in a full-on sprint, trying to get as far away from the Covenant as fast as she could. She felt her robotic arm short out, and saw a green plasma bolt melting into the thick, dense titanium plating. She slung her BR55HB over her good shoulder as her robotic became nonfunctional. She swore, ducking under a plasma grenade. She rolled to the side as it detonated, taking cover behind a boulder. She painstakingly removed her battle rifle from her back and pulled it into her good arm, leaning the grip against a niche in the rock, firing at any hostiles that approached. She felt something strike against the boulder. She turned to see Flash taking cover beside her, poking his head out to fire occasionally. "Cavalry just arrived, hold on." Flash roared over the din of plasma fire. Sunset pulled her BR55HB down and settled it into the crook in between her shoulder and her body, barrel facing up. She looked forward, and saw a cloaked figure sprint forward, an M6S in his left hand, some sort of single-edged, long sword in his right. He rushed up, climbing up onto the boulder. He launched himself in the air, landing squarely on top of a Sangheili Major. He swiftly drove his blade into it's skull, then launched himself off, pulling the blade out as he did so. His M6S discharged many times, the magazine sliding out, going down to his thigh, and a fresh one goes in. The stranger held his sword in a defensive stance, M6S no longer in his hand. A Sangheili Honor Guard exiting active camouflage, wielding a Type-1 Energy Sword, with an intricately designed cover over the hilt. He activated the sword and got into combat stance. The blade glowed a golden-orange color. The two circled each other for a time, before the stranger made his first move. The strange human soldier launched forward with a one-handed swing from the left side. The Honor guard parried by raising his energy blade up. The stranger's blade held firm, and did not melt. This, at first, surprised the Sangheili warrior, giving the stranger the time he needed to deliver a quick set of swings and thrusts. Both fighters circled each other, a confident look upon the Sangheili's face, whilst the stranger's remained unseen. Both heaved from exhaustion, the fight taking it's toll on them both. The stranger's khaki-drab colored cloak, was now shredded at the edges, and the armor upon his legs, and that which was visible through the holes in the cloak, were covered in scratches, burns and dents from H2H and sword moves. The Stranger's left hand reached back into a place on his back under his cloak, and came back out a clenched fist. He charged, sword pointed to the Sangheili's abdomen. The Honor Guard was taken by surprise, harshly sidestepping the move. The Sangheili delivered a kick to the stranger's back. He spun around, throwing his left hand out. The Honor Guard clutched his throat as blood began seeping through his three-fingered hands and mouth. He fell to his knees before the stranger. He picked up his blade, spun it around in his hand swiftly, then slid it into a scabbard on his back. The Honor Guard crumpled to the floor, revealing three, thin, yet sharp throwing knives lodged into his throat. The strange soldier retrieved the knives, put them back, and turned to the large amount of covenant troops that began pouring over the hill before him. The stranger turned to Sunset and Flash, motioning for them to run. To which, they hauled ass, and got as far away as possible. Sunset ran as fast as her legs could carry her, with Flash a meter or two behind her. Huuuuuummmmmmmm. A barrage of blue plasma bolts slammed into the ground around Sunset. She looked up, to see a Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft, —A Banshee— and pushed herself. Sunset slid down a hill, a torrent of plasma melting into the ground around her. The banshee still screamed overhead, unharmed. Sunset spun around, BR55HB drawn, and fired a single burst at one of it's engines. The banshee tilted and dove down. It's gun began charging, then discharged a single, large blob of plasma at them. "Oh, shit, shit, shit!" Sunset ducked behind a boulder as the concussive blast struck the ground, still in range of Sunset. She was sent sliding, rolling and tumbling across the ground, skidding to a halt in a depression in the ground, leading to the entrance to a cave. Sunset crawled forward as fast as she could—Without an arm, nor a leg, that was quite slow—trying to get into the cave before the banshee could come round for a bombing run, or to take her out. Sunset heard the sound of an SRS99D-S2 AM discharge, and turned onto her back to get a look. The banshee's engine was aflame, the stranger standing some ways away, an SRS99D-S2 in hand. The banshee swerved and crashed into a cliff, going up in a glorious explosion of blue and purple fire. Sunset leaned herself up against a rock and spat blood. She raised her BR55HB, awaiting any hostiles. Instead, the Stranger simply waltzed in, the sniper rifle no longer in his possession. He walked over to Sunset, placing a hand on her robotic arm and leg, both damaged beyond use during the battle. A swarm of small, black... bugs, no, bots, began climbing into her robotics, small sparks scraping off as they began... repairing her leg, reinforcing it with a shiny, silver-colored armor. "W-Wha—?" Sunset looked up at the stranger, who had to be at least seven feet tall. His hood was down, revealing a black, MJOLNIR Mark VI Variant helmet, with a blood red visor, that shifted to a scarlet color when the light reflected off of it. "Major Sentry will arrive shortly." his voice was gruff, and older, with a light Russian accent there, similar to their driver. "W-Who the hell are you?" Sunset asked, lowering her BR and coughing blood. The stranger injected her with a strange needle, and stood up, watching the door, an MA5B assault rifle sliding out of the back-section of his cloak as he grabbed it, holding it in a protective stance. "The name is Nikki. Nikki-046. VDF Black Ops. Phoenix Company." Sunset calmed a bit, hearing the last bit. She became excited at hearing "Black Ops." "Whoa-whoa-wait, Black Ops?!" Sunset's eyes widened at the thought. "Very big 'hush-hush', so keep quiet about it, да?" Sunset nodded and wriggled her robotic fingers, amazed that they even worked still. I'm just gonna not ask. Sunset stood up, stumbling at first. She steadied herself, and shouldered her BR55HB as Flash ran in, taking cover by one of the walls. "The wraiths stayed back, and they're shelling Galileo. Ghosts are everywhere. Dunno if we can even get past them without alerting the rest. The banshees are providing over-watch, as well. That goddamn CSO and the CAS are pounding the navy, from what I can get from radio chatter." "Radio communication is going down, slowly, but surely." Nikki said, standing upright. He walked over to the cave's entrance, tossing his MA5B aside, in exchange for an M392 DMR strapped to his back, presumably. Either that, or he was magic, and just was summoning them. Likely the former option. "We'll camp out here until reinforcements arrive." Flash scoffed and slung his MA5C. "That could take days, weeks, even!" Flash pointed accusingly at Nikki. "I do not care. We either wait here, or try and get to the nearest form of city, which is twelve kilometers west. I gave your companion a stimulant, but she won't last. By the time we'd arrive, she'd be long dead, майор." Nikki knelt down and leaned into the stock of his DMR. "Wait, do you hear that?" he lowered his DMR and stood. It was distant, quite distant, but still apparent. The noise of an M41 LAAG firing, an MA5C discharging, and the sound of small-arms fire, likely from rifles. Sunset jogged over to the entrance and looked out, jaw agape. UNSC forces were beginning to drop off all around, marines, ODST, hell, even a few SPARTANs, alongside Warthogs, Scorpions, among other vehicles. "Damn it." Nikki walked over to Sunset. "Can you run?" Sunset nodded in response, and Nikki took off like a bullet, running down the cavern. Sunset and Flash followed close behind, stopping as a torrent of gunfire filled the cavern. They each took cover behind boulders and outcroppings of rock and metal. "Who the hell is shooting?!" Sunset yelled, firing a few bursts from her BR wildly. "Cease fire!" Nikki yelled through Comms, and the gunfire stopped. Two VDF Army Troopers stepped out, helmets clipped to their waists. A man, and a woman. The woman had cyan hair with a "Pageboy" haircut, with different shades of cyan in streaks. The man had unkempt, dirty-brown hair. "Holy crap, we thought you guys were UNSC, or Covenant! We saw those bitches touch down, not too long ago." the woman said, sitting down on a rock, holding a bloody bandage on her abdomen. "UNSC started touching down in the valley not forty minutes ago. If I were to guess, they're gonna try and take back Harmony." Nikki leaned against a wall. Sunset heard the words come out of his mouth and froze. The male army trooper whispered something to Flash via their private Comm channels, and he chuckled. "She was one of the huge factors in the final battle that transpired before we took Harmony fully." The female army trooper gasped. "Holy shit, you're Sunset Shimmer! The word around Comms is that you got offed, said your vitals suddenly spiked, then flat-lined all-of-a-sudden." she said. "I'm Coco. Coco Pommel. This one over here is Samuel, but we all just call him Troubleshoes." the female army trooper introduced. Sunset nodded to them and leaned back. "Now, what're we gonna do about the UNSC and the Covenant touching down? We can't fight 'em both at the same time. That's how we lost the Broadway and the Nagasaki." Flash slumped down against a rock, letting his MA5C hang from it's sling. Nikki hummed, thinking it over. "We don't. The UNSC and the Covenant will fight each other, and only one will end up surviving. The most the VDF will do is send a few nukes in their direction, or stop setting up a mine field, probably of nukes." Nikki replied. "They'll kill each other, or cripple one another to the point where the Romeo & Juliet can mop up what's left. We just need to stay under the radar until then." Flash concluded. Nikki nodded affirmatively. "So, what do we do in the meantime?" Sunset asked, holding her abdomen, where one of her many wounds resided. Nikki stood up and paced. "You need medical attention... we need to get out of this cave... Troopers." Nikki turned to the two misfits. "I'll assume you two have been in the forward camp?" the duo nodded. Nikki sighed, relief in his voice. "Okay, you're gonna bring us there, possibly get us transport." The two army troopers only nodded, and started their way back. Sunset, Nikki and Flash followed close behind. They entered an underground complex, made entirely of concrete and steel. The walls were covered in moss, and crates in various states of damage were scattered around, along with wooden structures of varying design. Mostly barricades, or repairs to damaged wall or ceiling plates. Coco took a left, and was met with an M90 pointed at her face for a moment. "Nombre usted mismo, manos arriba, armas de distancia! ¡INMEDIATAMENTE!" Coco yelped and shied back a bit. "Saffron, it's me!" the M90 went back and it's wielder poked out. A woman, with dark purple hair, along with a golden band holding her hair up. She had golden earrings, as well. A bandanna was around her neck. She had purple eyes, as well. She had two curveblades attached to her right thigh, two on her left, with throwing knives lining her lower back, along with an MA37 strapped to her back. "Sorry, sarge. Papa is having another one of his moments, and we just ran out of medication." Saffron plead. Coco nodded in acceptance and walked in with Troubleshoes in tow. Sunset, Flash and the Blacks Ops soldier followed close behind. They were led into a medium-sized atrium, with broken armor and weapons strewn about, an old man in a VDF Ranger's uniform sitting at a table at the end of the room, grumbling as he field-stripped an M99 "Stanchion" Special Application Scoped Rifle. "Papa." Saffron cleared her throat, getting the old man's attention. He glanced back at them, a distant look in his eyes... as if he were somewhere else entirely. Mentally, at least. "Marines... and a Black Ops soldier. Great. More souls claimed by the Vanguard's power grab..." The old man grumbled. "Papa, you need to calm down. I found you, and let you stay with me, sí?" the man sighed and nodded. "Then you need to calm down. We're not going to war just yet." Sunset raised an eyebrow and looked to Coco. "Uh, we've been finding various, uh, Insurrection bases, in the old mines in this mountain... We've been clearing them out, one-by-one, but there's still a lot of them left." Coco walked over to a crate and pulled out a paper map. She laid it out over a folding table and started putting pins in certain places. It was a map of the mines. Sunset got a good look at the room they were in, now that there was no immediate threat at the moment. It was lit with hanging lamps. There were steel carts, pickaxes, crates of explosives, and mining gear of all sorts, just strewn about among the rations and military equipment. This was one of the main stations for the miners to take breaks, when miners were still alive... it appears they were likely all taken hostage, or killed. "Well, the miners were under VDF protection, right?" Coco nodded shamefully. "We... I stationed myself, Troubles and Papa Cumin on the entrance... we got a bunch of Innies and Covenant guys before they overwhelmed us and we had to fall back and seal the entrance. That back way was hastily made using instacrete, and we've just reinforced it, and put some railings and other stuff in after the initial threat was dealt with." Coco admitted, scratching the back of her neck. "What about Cumin's armor?" Nikki asked, sitting on a crate. "It was too damaged, so we melted down the titanium plates and used them to reinforce the entrance... I've got my force spread thin, here. I've got the two other marines other than Saffron stationed on the entrance, and the other troopers I commanded were killed, or captured. We buried the bodies in a section of the cave that's since been walled off." Coco groaned and slumped down to the wall, head in her hands. "I... I served with the VDF Army during the Battle Of Eridanus II, the annexation of Sedra, hell, I helped in the defense of Meridian... I-I thought I'd never see anything more gruesome than those battles, but... seeing what I've seen in those mines, seeing my soldiers die... G-God, I can't handle it..." Coco sighed, just shaking intensely. "We're gonna get the rest of your men back, and if possible, any miners these Innie bastards took. Don't worry, Coco." Sunset patted her shoulder and smiled. Coco smiled back and nodded, getting up. She slung her weapon—a BR55HB— into her arms, and walked over to the map. "The command center is in the deepest section of the mine. It's like the center of the hive. All tunnels connect through three large ones that lead into this room. They've got an Elephant, and a bunch of Cyclopes in there, and that's what we know about... Be ready. There's ammunition and weapons scattered around if you need to restock." she turned to Nikki. "My medic is down there. Get her back, and you'll get medical help for your friend. You can find nanobot recharge stations in the deeper tunnels, but be wary. We've found a race of these... creatures. Follow me." she led Sunset, Nikki and Flash into a room, where some sort of giant bug was lying dead on an examination table, a curved-bladed machete driven up through it's "head," along with other creatures and such scattered about. "We don't have a proper name for them, from what the few eggheads we had said, but I just call them antlions. The one on the table, that's a soldier. The one lying over there is a worker. If you end up passing through the hive, you'll see them the most. Avoid the spit, it'll melt your armor. And this bugger..." Coco picked up a data pad and showed it to them. "This is a Guardian. They protect the hives, nests, whatever you want to call them. There's one, and if you want, you can kill it, but I hear there's some sort of extract from these hive bricks. They're like bee hives, figuratively and literally. Hexagonal pieces of carbon material, and they're heavily guarded. The extract, I believe, is like a supercharged healing drug, according to the eggheads before they got capped... Go get my people back." Coco put the tablet down and squished one of the grub corpses, accident or not, that was unknown. Sunset shouldered her BR55HB and went to the main room. Flash Sentry walked over to Sunset as she was setting up her load-out. An M90 CAWS, her MA5C and BR55HB, a few throwing knives, two Karambit knives, two Curveblades, and an old saber, along with a suit of battered Argus Armor and an Enforcer-Variant helmet. "Nikki should be done soon, then we've got to move out... How're you holding up?" Flash sat down opposite Sunset. She raised an eyebrow at him as she began sliding a knife across a whetstone. "Fine. Why do you ask?" Sunset replied, tossing the whetstone aside. "You've seemed... different since you went on that mission for the brass, even more after you turned into that raging... thing, when the Sangheili pinned me down." Sunset shrugged. "I don't see the problem with me being a bit more chipper... Oh god, I can see what you mean..." Sunset shook her head and pulled the crown out of the hardcase on her thigh. "Damn thing seems to be... influencing me, I guess." Sunset groaned and stood up, shouldering her M90. "Let's go. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." Nikki walked in just as she said that. His cloak was off, revealing a set of "scarred" Argus Armor, the design representing a slimmed-down version of the MJOLNIR Mark V armor. Ammunition pouches lined his waist. On his back, was an MA5C, a BR55HB, an M392 DMR and an M90. He had two M6C SOCOM magnums in holsters on his lower back, along with a dozen throwing knives. He had two curveblades that were connected to the katana, making a single blade. "You pansies ready to move?" Nikki asked, readying the M7S in his hands. Sunset got to her feet and nodded, readying her weapon. Nikki huffed and walked out of the room. Coco, along with Saffron waited by the mine's entrance. The entrance was a large grate door, held up by wooden support beams. A metal rail-cart track sat right in the middle of the tunnel. Blood was splattered across the tunnel, along with the corpses of miners, abandoned carts with varying amounts of supply in them, whether it be ore, rock, or the hardened carbon material that the hive pieces were made of. Coco, with the help of Papa Cumin, opened the door for Sunset & company. She walked through and activated her helmet-lights. "Let's go." Sunset's small group of soldiers followed close behind. And with that, the first part of their adventure began. Author's Note Translations (Google Translate, 'cus I'm a lazy shit): да - yes майор - major sí - yes Nombre usted mismo, manos arriba, armas de distancia! ¡INMEDIATAMENTE! - Name yourself, hands up, weapons away! IMMEDIATELY! A/N: VDF ships with something like "&" in the title, are called Mothership-Classes. They're venators, the VDF's heavy cruisers, and are always positioned over colonies. There is only one exception, and that is a specially-made Mothership-Class, called the Honor & Justice, which, in a way, is like High Charity. It's like their capitol ship. They train the VDF Black Ops soldiers there, and those who serve on the ship, likely will serve for until they retire. Mothership-Classes' hulls have plasma and ballistic weapons lining them, while there will be missile-pods on the top and bottom sections of the ship, along with SOEIV pods. They're strong, and rival a CAS-Class Cruiser in size. 2.) Instacrete is something from the Halo lore, the link is provided here, for your convenience.
III: The Hive. Sunset Shimmer. Sunset discharged a single burst from her BR55HB into the head of an Antlion Soldier. Her little crew of soldiers had been fighting their way through the tunnels for hours, now. Their first stop was to get to the Insurrection camp closest to the station, which is likely where the hostages were being kept. Nikki climbed onto the back of an antlion worker, pulled out both of his curve blades, and placed them into an X formation, cleanly slicing the head off. He climbed down and stared down at the yellow blood and brownish gore splattered onto his blades. "Interesting..." he whispered. He flicked the blood off of his blade, and clicked the two curveblades to his katana. Sunset slumped down against the tunnel wall, wincing hard as the adrenaline in her body finally began wearing off. "Dammit..." She whispered to herself. She clenched her hands around her BR55HB's handle and growled. The pain was beginning to intensify. She needed real medical attention, and fast. She'd be dying within a few hours without it. Sunset stood up and shouldered her Battle Rifle. She started a slow limp down the tunnel, when Saffron stopped her. "We're approaching the first Insurrection camp. Nikki and I are going to advance. Flash is gonna stay back with you and cover you. Alright?" Sunset grumbled and nodded. She did not like this. Not. One. Bit. Nikki advanced forward, his M392 DMR drawn. The duo began their advance down the hallway. Nikki ducked down behind a crate as a patrol of Insurrectionists passed by. They wore the standard marine BDUs, with red-colored shoulder-pads and helmets. "... You ever wonder why we're here?" one of the patrolling soldiers asked the other. His armor-patterns were a shade of maroon, whilst his partner was in orange. "It’s one of life’s great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don’t know, man, but it keeps me up at night." The orange one answered. The two stopped and stared at each other in silence. "W-What? No, I meant why the hell are we in this mine." "Oh, uh... yeah." the orange one awkwardly scuffed his boot against the floor. "What was all that stuff about God?" The maroon one quizzed, letting his rifle lower to the floor, out of his other hand. "Hm? Nothing." the orange one answered, scratching the back of his neck. "You wanna talk about it?" the maroon one got back to walking as they spoke. "No." "You sure?" "Yeah." "Seriously, though... Why are we—" he was cut off, as the local VDF Black Ops soldier thrusted his fist into the visor of the maroon Innie, knocking him unconscious and sending him to the floor. The other one jumped. He fell on his back and scrambled away. He, in his rush, left his rifle back there. Saffron approached him, and pumped her M90. He, in return, grabbed a cone and held it in front of him. "Protect me, cone!" Saffron raised her M90, and was about to fire, but Nikki placed his hand on the barrel and pushed it to the floor. "Let him go. Let him alert his friends. They'll all be dead by the end of the night, anyway..." Nikki simply let go and walked down the tunnel. Saffron gave the Insurrectionist a threatening look, then followed behind Nikki. The Insurrectionists were out of range by the time Nikki began going over their plan. "Alright. Now that we've got some silence... When we reach the Insurrectionist outpost, we're going to strategically place charges around the support columns, then, once out of range, blow them to kingdom come, hopefully with any friendly forces saved. Flash and Sunset should already be moving—" "Wait, I thought Sergeant Shimmer and Major Sentry were staying behind." Saffron frowned behind her helmet. "No. They'll be moving into the ventilation or sewage system and make their way to the POWs, and hopefully get them out while we make a distraction." Saffron thought it over. "Wait, what about the antlions?" she asked, gesturing to a few grubs in a little break area beside them. "By the time they get to us, we'll have already gotten our—" Nikki took a step forward, and the ground beneath him gave. "Nikki—!" Saffron met the same fate, the ground under them giving away. The two began falling. Saffron grabbed at the walls, to no avail. They were slick. Nikki grabbed Saffron by the shoulders and activated his thrusters, Saffron doing the same. They slowed down to a degree, then crashed into the ground. Unconsciousness engulfed Saffron, the last thing she saw, was Nikki dragging her off... Sunset discharged three quick bursts from her BR55HB. She dropped down behind cover as a torrent of gunfire zoomed past her helmeted head. She swore silently and poked her head out, firing a few bursts. Splat! Sunset saw the blood splatter, ducked back and heard the body crumple to the floor. "That's another one down!" she yelled over the din of gunfire. Flash nodded. He primed a fragmentation grenade, waited a few seconds, then lobbed it. Boom. Sunset stood up and fired several more bursts from her BR55HB. A few rounds struck her energy shields before she ducked behind cover. "That distraction Nikki promised would be much appreciated right about now..." Sunset grumbled. Flash poked his head out and fired from his MA5C, taking down a few hostiles. "Wait a minute, you hear that?" Sunset listened... The gunfire halted, and was replaced by a loud rumbling. "Ah, shit! Lions!" the insurrectionists began retreating, when the floor beneath them gave away, and they fell, screaming. "Cave-in." Sunset stood up. She activated her BR's flashlight and swept over the area, moving forward slowly. She saw no hostiles, and lowered her BR55HB, when the animalistic screams of the antlions began climbing it's way up the hole in the floor. "Goddammit." Sunset muttered, quickly backtracking. The six-legged beasts began climbing up out of the entry-point, charging toward Sunset and her ally. She slung her BR55HB, getting a good look at the creature. A machete—albeit rusted—was sticking out of the antlion soldier's front leg, giving it something of a limp as it rushed forth. Sunset waited until it was almost right upon her, then slid under the beast. She quickly dislodged the age-old tool from it's leg, and hacked at it's neck. Yellow blood splattered across her armor as the antlion collapsed atop her, bits of brown, gory mush splattering to the ground and onto her armor. Sunset growled and violently threw the body off. She grabbed her BR55HB and began discharging antlions. She felt something splatter against her shoulder, and saw a pale, green glowing acid settling into the titanium composite armor. Steam and electrical sparks rose up as the robotic arm underneath shorted out. Don't get hit by the acid. The one thing you couldn't do... Sunset scolded herself as she began firing once again, killing the Antlion Worker responsible for melting her arm. "Flash! I'm hit!" Sunset ducked behind cover as another splash of acid impacted her cover. She hurdled the cover, her M6G sidearm drawn. She moved forward, discharging round after round, killing a good amount of antlions before reaching the hole. She removed a fragmentation grenade from her waist, primed it, then let it drop into the hole. It whistled as it dropped, before exploding, somewhere in the rock tube, collapsing the wall around. The ground beneath Sunset began crumbling. She spun on her heel and hauled ass, running toward the metal pipe she and Flash had entered in, only to find the ground breaking apart faster than she could run. She took a wrong step, and stepped on a rock as it collapsed, and was sent flying downrange. "Sunset!" Flash ran over to the end of the pipe. He wasn't going to let her die, but what to do, what to do... "Oh, fucking Christ..." he took a few steps back, then ran forward and swan dived into the pit, only to fall unconscious from hitting the wall. Nikki propped Saffron up against a stalagmite, weapon at the ready. The cavern they'd fallen into was dark, lit up by the glowing bodies of the antlion grubs, and by natural light that reflected off of the many glistening surfaces round the cavern. He saw, a good twenty meters ahead, several metal support beams, and the wreckage of an old mining tram. Gotta get her outta here... Get the extract for Sunset... Get out, or get ready to go feet-first. Nikki lifted Saffron up over his shoulder and into a fireman's carry. He used his free hand to grab an M6S from his waist. He moved toward the tunnel, using his VISR and augmented vision to scan the area around him. Antlion Workers and Soldiers were all around, hidden behind thin rock walls, along with a single Antlion Guard, and a Guardian. Nikki saw a window open in the corner of his visor, and the holographic display colored midnight-blue appeared. It was of a soldier in a digital-camouflage uniform, with gloves, boots, along with an M17A2 Gas Mask over his face, along with an ODST BDU helmet, the visor ripped off so that the mask could stick out. "I would not recommend killing the Guardian. The item we are going to retrieve from that hive, apparently, requires the Guardian to sustain itself. I'm getting more information as you listen." The voice of Nikki's AI stated. He was a prototype AI, and if he was deemed successful when pulled from Nikki's helmet, would likely enter service within multiple Black Ops and Spec Ops units. Nikki growled, looking around. The antlions began stirring, digging at the walls that kept them from him. He placed Saffron on the floor, and planted a hand on the tram car's hull, letting a small swarm of his nanobots to enter the systems and begin repair. He flipped it upright and slid it onto the track, then carefully placed Saffron inside. "Not letting you die here..." he said quietly, before turning to see an Antlion Soldier rush at him. The Black Ops soldier wasted no time, and threw several knives at the antlion. No effect. He growled, and fired a single round at it from his M6S. It dropped to the ground. Nikki retrieved his knives from the corpse, and went back to the tram. The nanobots finished, then swam over, up Nikki's arm, down his back, and into the cylindrical canister at his waist, alongside the many different weapons he carried. The Antlion Workers soon followed behind their brethren, climbing out of tunnels, rushing forward. Nikki pushed the acceleration button on the tram, and stood his ground, watching Saffron disappear down the dark tunnel. That may not have been a good idea... he thought to himself, then groaned at his mistake. He dropped a primed fragmentation grenade, then sprinted after the tram, M6S finding it's way back into the holster on Nikki's back. He eventually caught up, and climbed in. Nikki slung his M392 DMR and activated the mounted flashlight, ready for whatever the antlions threw at him. Sunset groaned, her eyes fluttering open. She stared up at the sky above her, through a large hole, dust and small rocks occasionally falling in. "Oh, shit." she looked around, trying to find Flash, when her hand brushed against something. His helmet. She quickly grabbed it, to find it's wielder missing. The visor was cracked, and blood was splattered on the inside. "Dammit." Sunset whispered. She downloaded the camera footage to her own helmet, then lobbed it out of the hole. Sunset looked around, and found herself in a better situation than she first believed. The rubble below was half sunken in an underground lake, an ever-expanding tunnel in every direction. The situation was still shitty, but not as bad as she first believed. Probably gonna die... ah, fuck it. Sunset found her BR55HB missing. She shouldered her MA5C instead, and climbed down the mountain of rubble, into the stained water beneath. She waded through the knee-high water, then climbed onto solid ground, huffing. She found herself moving northward, toward a man-made tunnel, lined with metal supports, a few abandoned carts scattered around. Sunset walked over and found an emergency supply crate tightly secured to the carts by thick, leather binds. Sunset unsheathed her combat knife, and swiftly tore away the binds. She picked the crate up and weighed it. The crate was barely a dozen pounds, sadly, meaning there likely wasn't much for her inside. She tore open the box, and found a small cache of 7.62x51mm NATO rounds, a few fragmentation grenade in a foam case, and a loaded flare gun. Not much, but enough. I can live with this. Sunset pulled her rucksack off her back, and stuffed the loot inside. She slung the sack onto her back, clipping the magnetic pieces to her armor, and clicking the multiple clips and buckles to the slots in her armor for said parts. Her radio remained silent. Still out of radio range... Sunset sighed. Since leaving Fort Galileo, she was met with minimal radio chatter, static, or total silence. It was discouraging, sure, but she knew she could live without it. "Gotta find Flash, then regroup, make it to that damned Innie compound, and get out of here alive..." Sunset monologues as she walks. Sunset passed into the tunnel, headlamps and weapon flashlight activated. The walls were lined with rusted metal supports. There wasn't much sign that people had been there for God knows how long. The lower sections likely got abandoned. Sunset used her suit's systems to open up a window in the corner of her visor, going over the intelligence she had gathered on these mines. Victory Mines. Established shortly after colonization of Harmony. Abandoned 2410, VDF reestablish working force 2459, promptly shut down again from 2460-2549, when the VDF claim Harmony and establish the Mothership-Class Venator Romeo & Juliet permanently over the Vudrenia Wastelands. Sunset snapped out of it as the ground around her began rumbling. She looked behind her, and saw the subtle glow of an Antlion Worker, along with a glowing Antlion Guard—A Guardian. Sunset took a hard left and began hauling ass, MA5C now on her back. No point in fighting this thing, when it's armor was tough enough to withstand the 7.62x51mm NATO rounds that her weapon fired. Sunset stopped in her tracks as an Antlion Guard slammed into the wall in front of her, turning left to face her. She cursed her luck—and her God—then promptly drew her MA5C and M6G. "If you motherfuckers think I'm gonna go quietly, you've got another damned thing coming." Sunset roared and charged the Guard, knowing she had at least a sliver of a chance at the very least wounding it. Nikki cursed his God as the mining tram began slowing down, the fuel now empty. During their tram ride, Saffron had awoken, and Nikki was able to give her something of a medical check-up. She was wounded, and would need proper medical attention in the future if she wanted to survive, but for the moment, she'd live. The likeliness, was that her body would begin healing up her wounds on it's own, and there was a chance that'd be enough... but she had wounds that her body may not be able to heal on it's own. "N-Nikki, where are we?" Saffron whispered, getting onto her feet. She used her M90 as a crutch, leaning into the weapon's stock for support. "Deeper into this hellhole than I'd prefer." he vaguely answered, climbing down from the tram. Saffron carefully let herself down, finding enough strength to use her shotgun properly, carrying it in a loose, weak grip. Bang! Bang, Bang! ROOOOAAAAR. Nikki turned north, and saw gunfire from the tunnel. He shouldered his M392, and started up a light jog. There was a scream. Sunset's voice in it. Nikki ducked down into a sprint, his body curled up, the rifle underneath him as he ran, tightly held within his titanic grip. The two-meter tall VDF-Equivalent of a SPARTAN slammed into cover, peeking out to see what he was up against. Aww, shit. The Guardian was throwing Sunset around like a ragdoll, while it's followers lie dead on the ground around them, alongside an Antlion Guard, it's head ripped off. "Holy shit..." Saffron muttered as she took cover beside Nikki. "What's the plan, Chief—" Nikki rolled over the cover and charged. Saffron sighed. That works too. Sunset was launched into Nikki by a headbutt, and the two were sent toppling to the ground. Saffron hurdled her cover and pumped the M90. She whistled, and the Guardian turned to her. "Yeah, you! C'mon, you ugly sumbitch! Come get some!" Saffron fired a shell at the beast, staggering it, as well her. She continuously fired, until the Guardian began leaking blood. "Don't kill it! We can't harvest the extract if it's dead!" Nikki yelled, picking Sunset up in a Fireman's carry. You've got to be fucking kidding me... Saffron groaned and started running toward the Guardian. It roared, and charged. The VDF Marine slid underneath it, and over to her two comrades. "Let's go." Nikki nodded, and started up a light jog down the tunnel. Sunset was unconscious for the time being. Not good. Saffron turned back, and saw the Guardian hurriedly burrowing through one of the tunnel supports, opening up a new rocky cavern. The entire corridor shook, and a large chunk of earth collapsed behind them, much more following. "Don't say it!" Saffron yelled, and started sprinting. The tunnel collapsed behind them at an alarming rate, and there was no light at the end of their tunnel... metaphorically, of course. The support beams collapsed into the tunnel, causing more of the ceiling to cave in as they ran. Acid spit flew at them, as well, making it all the more difficult to avoid injury. Nikki grunted as a splash of acid impacted his leg, melting through the titanium-composite armor on his calf. Blood spurted from the wound, he ignoring the pain, keeping his speed. Saffron looked down, and saw they were going uphill, and spiraling. Their path was no longer collapsing behind them, but a large pipe shattered, and the tunnel began flooding. "Never a dull moment, aye, Nikki?" Icarus quipped, plotting a course to the Insurrection Compound, whilst tracking Major Flash Sentry's location. Nikki winced at his calf as bio-medical-foam sealed it. He took a hard left, and onto a concrete platform. There were open, or broken lockers scattered around. An industrial-sized ladder rested at the end of the hall. Nikki ran over and started climbing, Saffron close behind. Alarms began sounding, and the subtle bootsteps of Insurrection soldiers filled the soldiers' ears. "There they are!" Nikki's helmet poked out, and he pulled himself up. The Lieutenant drew his M6S and quickly discharged each of the Insurrectionists inside. He looked back, and saw Saffron quickly jump onto solid ground, as a hatch slammed through the ladder, sealing off the room as water began leaking into the room below. "That... That was... Close." Nikki looked to his left, and walked over to the pressure hatch blocking off a tunnel. He slid his AI chip into the slot under the keypad beside the door, and it winked green. He removed it and placed it back into his helmet. The seals on the door groaned and the door slid open. A loud screech filled their ears as an Antlion Worker stuck it's head through. Saffron quickly blew it's head off with a blast from her shotgun. "I've located the Hive, sir. Plotting waypoint now." Icarus said aloud, and a marker appeared on the HUDs of the VDF personnel. "Goddammit." Saffron muttered, and climbed over the Antlion Worker's corpse. Flash. Flash spat blood and took cover behind a wall, shouldering his MA5C. "Get 'im!" Flash growled at the voice of the Insurrectionist Captain. He poked out, quickly pulling back as a blast of many different types of bullets flew past. He primed a fragmentation grenade, threw it to the floor, and rolled away, sliding across the wall. The insurrectionists turned the corner, and were blown into many different pieces, blood splashing across any surface in range. Flash knelt down, and suppressed any Insurrection soldiers that advanced on his position. He eventually reached the end of their local numbers, and weakly got to his feet. Flash's armor was practically gone at this point. The shoulders, abdomen, shin and calf armor were missing, while his forearm armor was practically shattered. He had internal bleeding, broken arm, and a few bruised ribs. Nothing he couldn't compensate for. Flash shouldered his MA5C, and began walking down the not-so-abandoned tunnel. There were clusters of glowing green mud-like material splashed across the floor, Antlion grubs scattered around them. Flash grimaced at the sight of one of the grubs chewing on a human skull, and walked past. The subtle beeping in the TAC-PAD on his lesser damaged forearm became more rapid, meaning he was closing into the objective. He turned a corner, and quickly took a step back, almost slipping on the slimy, cold cavern floor. The mine tunnel was missing, and in it's place, was a large, open cavern, with a massive stone pedestal in the middle, above a large surplus of water. Large, gray bee-hive like structures encrusted the walls, with a giant cluster of them on the pedestal. "Jesus H. Christ..." Flash muttered. He carefully walked onto the ledge. The was a small outcropping on the wall, meaning if he was careful, he could make his way across, if not, into the—likely— acidic, poisoned water below. Flash growled and began very slowly making his way over the outcropping. "He went this way!" More Insurrectionists. Flash didn't hurry himself, keeping at the slow pace. Almost... there... A few bullets whizzed past, and he almost lost his footing. Screw it. Flash jumped, rolling onto the bridge that linked to the pedestal, and the mining tunnel across from it. Flash rolled onto his back and fired wildly, killing each of the Insurrectionists, their bodies dropping to the ground below. There were screams, and their bodies began getting viciously ripped apart by some sort of piranha-like creatures, leaving nothing behind. Flash readied his assault rifle and looked down the tunnel. "Flash!" Sunset yelled, limping over. She gave him a tight hug. "You scared us..." she said to him, before breaking from the embrace, shaking her head. "Agh, what are these 'emotions' I'm feeling?" she muttered, half-joking, then walked over to the hive creation. "This... This is it, right?" Nikki nodded, climbing up the structure carefully. He pulled out a small drone from his waist pouch, dropping it in. Vvvvvvvvvvrrrrmmmmmm... the few glowing lights in the hive intensified, soon replaced by several glowing blue tunnels of light. Nikki climbed over, dropping a drone in each one. They were small enough to fit in his—albeit large—palm. Each one came back out, a vial of glowing slime contained on their underbelly-areas. Nikki took the vials, placed them in slots on his belt, and let the drones decompose, the nanobots making up their bodies slithering across and into the tube on his waist. "Alright. Part one of our mission is done. Now, all we gotta do is destroy those Insurrection compounds..." a collective groan in response, followed by a large explosion, as the cavern's ceiling fell, splashing into the infested waters below.' "... Maybe at a lesser degree." Nikki set a waypoint for the first Insurrectionist camp, and began running. "Saffron will meet us there, she's dealing—" a loud hiss filled the air, and a pipe exploded above them, sending the three to the ground. "Shit!" Sunset crawled over to Flash, who now had burn wounds running up his face. Nikki walked over and picked him up in a bridal carry. "We don't have long." Nikki started the uphill jog, passing several antlion corpses, before he stopped and turned around. The Guardian charged forward, ramming through Nikki, who promptly tossed Flash to the ground as he was slammed through several gates and boxes. The Guardian reeled back, when Sunset climbed onto it's back, driving her knife through it's head, over, and over, and over, until Nikki began assaulting it with gunfire from Flash's policed assault rifle, until the magazine ran dry, then began filling the Guardian full of 12.7x40mm M225 SAP/HE cartridges from his M6S. The Guardian roared one last time, before crumpling to the ground. Nikki got up with a groan. His armor's chest plate was shattered, along with the arm guards. He let them hang from his armor, put his cloak on, and picked Flash up. The trio heard gunfire, and saw Saffron running downrange, firing an M7S wildly in the direction of the initial gunfire. "The Antlions appear to be angry that we killed their guardian, and basically stole their eggs. They started charging into the Insurrection compounds... There were no survivors of the inner mines, but I've been picking up radio chatter for a good few minutes now. Our hostage friends are on their way back now. We should follow their example." Saffron yelled, discharging a few Insurrectionists. Their bodies rolled down, blood streaking behind them. Sunset started running uphill, tripping when she reached the end. She watched Saffron move ahead of her, snickering, while Nikki waited for Sunset to get up. Just... a bit further... Then I can rest... Sunset forced herself onto her feet, shouldering her MA5C. She heard a scream, and turned to her left, watching a group of Antlion Soldiers attack a squad of Innies. Sunset saw a few making their way over to Saffron, rather slowly, and discharged her rifle, ending their lives. She walked over, and watched Saffron pick up a girl in a bridal carry. She was in her early twenties, with a purple color palette. Flash had woken up, apparently, and walked over. "Saffron, we gotta go!" The antlions, and Insurrection forces were clashing, but it appeared the human side were winning, some turning their attention to Sunset and her posse. Sunset began sprinting, the five reaching the end of the hallway, when the gunfire caught up with them. Nikki handed the small dog to the girl, and stopped in his tracks. "Nikki, look out!" Sunset yelled, turning to the soldier she could consider a "friend." He ducked behind a crate, shouldering his M392 DMR. "Nikki, what're you doing?!" Sunset all but screamed, stopping in her tracks. "Covering your asses... now get moving. You've not got long, before this all goes to shit... Good luck." Nikki choked out the last few words. He detonated the charges, and earth began blocking the path. No, no, no, no... Sunset went to go grab him, when Flash picked her up, holding her tightly. "NO!" she struggled, trying to get out of Flash's grip to no avail. The next few hours were a total blur. All Sunset could remember, was the medic giving her a shot of that slime they got from the hive. Goddamn it felt good. It turned her blood cold, but... she could feel her bones realign, her wounds healing at an extraordinary rate, then she was out cold for a few minutes, then awoke in an off-duty uniform. Sunset groaned, pulling on her leather jacket. She had been informed that the girl was awake. She knew her somewhere, where though, she could not remember... Sunset walked into the barracks, and immediately, she recognized her. It was that purple horse from the portal-world. Sunset contained herself, and pulled a chair up, sitting on it backwards, arms resting on the back. She waited a few minutes, when the girl began stirring. "Ah, you're awake..." she said, loud and proud. The girl's expression became enraged, and she went to sit upright. Sunset instead gently pushed her back down. "Stay down, Christ... You're gonna open up your wounds." The girl looked down, and saw blood beginning to show it's face through the bandaging and padding. She seemed to be at a loss for words. "B-But, C-Celestia said you were-" Wait... what? General Celestia went missing, according to the radio chatter she began picking up... hmm. "General Celestia?" Sunset gave the girl a weary look, keeping a hand at the knife in the concealed sheathe at her thigh. "No, princess Celestia!" the girl responded. Sunset squinted, looking over her features, listening to all the signs... she wasn't lying. Sunset got a hearty laugh out of that, only to find the wound at her side starting to ache. "Gah, fuck..." she muttered. The girl went on to ask Sunset about her sketching journal, and her dog. Sunset answered hesitantly, before telling the girl to rest. She got up out of her chair, then walked out, hoping to catch Flash... Nikki spat blood as the leg of a Cyclops tried squishing him. He used his superior strength to hold it off, before he felt his strength beginning to wane. The Black Ops Lieutenant sent out a splash of nanobots. They began crawling up to the joint, ripping at the armor and cables, until the leg gave, and Nikki was able to finally shove the Cyclops off. He raised his fists, several Insurrectionists wearing ODST BDUs, wielding shotguns appearing... when they stopped moving. Everything did. A blood droplet froze in mid-air. The blast of one of the shotguns freezing. Nikki could see each individual pellet. "Hmm... Interesting. I'd think with all that's been thrown at you, that you should've broken by now." Nikki spun around, and saw a UNSC marine, except... different. For one, his body looked nothing like a human's. He had a horse-like head, with two mismatched horns atop his head, two mismatched legs, arms and wings, with his body ending in a dragon tail. He had a paw, and a chicken-like arm. He had a hoof on one leg, and a dragon claw on the other. A modified form of UNSC Marine armor rested over-top. His eyes were red, with yellow sclera. Around his neck, was an amulet. It was made of silver, with rubies, sapphires and emeralds in intricate patterns surrounding it. "Well, then you've never met me..." Nikki replied, circling the creature, whilst it moved in a similar movement. "Actually, Nikkolai Serrov, I've been following you for a while, now. Your skills, and... abilities, appeared to have caught the eye of some very powerful ponies." Nikki frowned. "What is it that you want from me?" he asked, drawing a throwing knife, twirling it around as he circled. "Oh, nothing much. Just your soul!" the creature replied happily... He then laughed at Nikki's angered, annoyed, and confused expression. "Twas only a joke, my friend. I have been monitoring you for quite some time, and I believe there is something you can help me with..." Nikki raised an eyebrow. "And what, mayhaps, would that be?" Nikki inquired, retrieving two more knives, hiding them within a fist. "I would like you to help me. You see, a friend of mine is very sick, and the only cure, is one of those neat little vials of that blue nectar at your belt... Also, it appears that you're in a bit of a predicament." the creature responded, smirking. "And why in the absolute hell, would I help you?" Nikki retaliated angrily. "Because, if you were to help me, perhaps I could, say... pull a few strings," the creature snapped his paws(?) and the shotgun-wielding Insurrectionists' throats suddenly had large slits in them, Nikki's knives now having blood splashed upon the blades. "... and I could say, get you back to your friends. How does that sound?" the creature had a smug grin upon his face, like he knew he'd already won the Black Ops Lieutenant over. "No." Nikki sheathed each of the knives, smirking as the creature showed signs of agitation. "Oh? No? Why ever would you not want to see your friends again?" he smirked. Nikki repeated the gesture. "My soul has already been guaranteed a spot in Valhalla. My sacrifices will save lives... I'll help you, but if I feel you're setting my off of my path even in the slightest, I will shatter each of the vials and your friend will die." Nikki watched the creature carefully. He appeared to be thinking it over. "Deal." Nikki nodded, and held his hand out to be shook. The creature hesitantly took his hand, and gave it a shake. Author's Note This story makes a lot of references. A/N: Nikki noooooo. Also, for those who didn't figure it out: This guy Sunset counted the bodies, and frowned when she noticed one of them was gone. When she got a look at him, first glance, she swore she saw his eyes glowing red... Doesn't matter now. is Discord. Next chapter will begin the adventure, into the wild, wild world of Harmony.
III-T: The Hive. Twilight. Twilight sat in front of the magical mirror, a look of curiosity, fear, and intrigue upon her face. Celestia, for some reason, was sending through a pair of royal guards with Twilight, along with the captain of the Crystal Empire's royal guard. Princess Celestia trotted over to Twilight and sat beside her. "Are you ready, Twilight?" she asked, staring at the portal with a sad look upon her face. Twilight nodded hesitantly. If she was totally honest, she was nowhere near ready. She wanted to stay in Equestria, to get away from that crazy alicorn. As much as Twilight didn't normally back down like this, when she fought ponies like this, she had her friends by her side, which meant support, using the elements... But they wouldn't have the elements, nor would Twilight have her friends. Though, she was able to acquire some information on her 'mission.'Twilight, from "accidentally" eves-dropping into a few conversations between Celestia, Luna or Cadence, she learned some things. This "Sunset Shimmer" was Celestia's pupil. She was amazing with magic, and she, if she would've only learned the ways of friendship, she would've ended up ascending to alicornhood... She would've been the princess of something, but, according to what she's heard, Twilight found out that Sunset was learning about ancient ways of war, and dark magic. The scary part was, she could handle it, and retain her sanity... she was a wielder of dark magic, which could've been quite... harmful to Equestria and any of their allies. Twilight could see the headlines now. "Equestria's Military Contains A Dark Magic Wielder, What Else Could They Be Hiding?" That would kill Equestria and their ways of life. Celestia, though, couldn't bring herself to even remotely hurt Sunset... She was like a daughter to Celestia. So, Celestia said she needed to step down as her pupil, and pursue her studies outside of Equestria's borders... Sunset, instead—with the knowledge of it from the books she'd found in the restricted sections of the library—used the mirror-portal to leave Equestria... According to Celestia, that was supposed to be forever. The world she had found with Starswirl The Bearded, was a world of war and poverty, a hellish place that even Tirek wouldn't let stand. He may have been evil, but he at least had a semblance of good in him. Celestia had to live with the fact that she had very possibly sentenced one of the few people she was close with away... to their certain death. Were it not for Twilight saving Luna, Celestia would likely have stepped down from her place as ruler, and would've likely killed herself... or worse. When Celestia saw Sunset as an alicorn, she feared the worst... especially when she found an abundance of darkness in her. Not just dark magic, but darkness... as in a void. She attempted to look into her soul, and she saw almost nothing... A speck of light at the end of the tunnel, nothing more. If it were up to her, she would've at least harvested, or copied a few memories from her mind, so she could at least brace Twilight for the horrors she may have to face in the other world. She had no such luck. Twilight nodded to Celestia. "I-I think I'm ready." Celestia smiled softly and gave Twilight an affectionate nuzzle. "Stay safe, my student." Twilight nodded and got to her hooves. She watched the portal for what felt like hours, until she slowly moved one hoof in front of the other, and inched toward the mirror. She stepped onto the pedestal which bestowed the mirror, and stared at her reflection. Now or never... she braced herself and carefully slipped into the portal. Her vision faded to black. Harmony, September 5th, 2551. Insurrection-Controlled Mining Town, Wolves Den, 0230 Hours. Twilight groaned as she emerged into a state of consciousness. She looked around, and felt that something was very wrong. She felt... tall. Abnormally tall... she felt much... how to put it... different, in many ways. She sat upright, and looked down at herself. Twilight held back a scream. She was some sort of bipedal creature, wearing some form of clothing, which Twilight couldn't remember—or didn't know—the name of. She saw Spike beside her. "S-Spike! I t-told you to stay behind!" Twilight reprimanded, shakily. She spent the next few minutes—maybe more, time seemed to fly by—working on how to move around with her new body, and using the items around her. She picked up rocks, tools, or other items that she recognized, vaguely. Pickaxes of metal, hatchets, and shovels. Twilight looked herself over, pulling off a backpack that rested upon her shoulders. She opened it, and found a variety of the items she'd packed, and a few she didn't. She found a strange metal device, with a trigger and a barrel, it was big, but fit in her hands nicely. The other, was a pair of golden-visor-ed glasses, and a syringe containing some weird blue liquid. She was tempted to taste the liquid, but stopped and placed it back in her bag. She heard voices down the tunnel. Twilight forced Spike into her bag, who was still unconscious, and zipped it shut. The voices grew closer, and she saw the source. There were two bipedals walking down the tunnel, holding strange gray-and-black objects with designs drawn into them... blood was splattered over them, as well. They were wearing this strange uniform, with bulky pieces of armor attached to sections of it, along with helmets, and the same golden glasses that she had found in her bag on the face of one of them, a strange gray mask with a short, cylindrical tube sticking out of the cheek, and two glowing, cyan goggles. Their armor was painted red. "Hmm. Maybe they can help us." Twilight's knees wobbled as she tried getting up from her place in the dirt. She eventually succeeded, and walked over to the two people. Maybe they're the royal guard of this world... "Hello, sirs—" Twilight was briefly pushed into the wall, both of them yelling in a strange language at Twilight, she cowering in fear. The one on the right violently pulled Twilight's bag off and threw her to the ground. "Ow, that hurt!" she turned onto her back, to see she had scraped her knees, and they were now bleeding. The one "guard" placed the rubber and metal shoe on his leg onto Twilight's chest, and she felt the air leave her lungs. The other guard flipped her onto her back and put some sort of restraints on her wrists. She screamed, and Spike poked his head out. "Twilight!" he growled and climbed out, watching the two "guards" point their strange bricks at him— Bang! Bang Bang! Tch-Tch-Tch! The guard on top of Twilight slumped down onto the ground beside her, blood leaking from his chest and head, while the other guard's helmet was broken, and his head leaked from a large hole. Twilight scrambled back, and turned away. She vomited, then cried at the sight of the two dead people. Spike looked up, and saw a giant bipedal creature in a cloak, and black armor, with a single, glowing red eye underneath. He whimpered and ran over to Twilight, while a shorter person walked over, holding a strange gray brick. Twilight calmed down momentarily, then freaked out and sat up, quickly scrambling back away from the short bipedal. "Hey, hey, hey... It's alright, we're not here to hurt you, niña." the bipedal creature said, sliding the weapon on her back. She held her hands up in surrender. Twilight heard a bunch of loud bangs in the background, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks, as it seemed to be getting closer. "Saffron, we gotta go!" a bipedal yelled, backpedaling over to them. She had on a black leather jacket over her armor, which looked pretty beaten up. "You must come with us, niña. It is not safe here." 'Saffron' said, holding her hand out. Twilight took it, and was swept off her feet as Saffron began running. A giant bipedal followed them, a long gray brick in his hand. There was a telescope mounted on the top, with the glass painted sage-green. Twilight winced at the loud cracks and bangs that followed them, along with speeding pieces of metal that flew past them. "Damn it, Nikki, detonate the charges!" the one in the leather jacket yelled. That voice, she knew it somewhere... Twilight realized she had no idea where Spike was and began panicking, when the tall bipedal in black armor and a cloak placed him in her arms. "Here's your dog, ma'am." Twilight was unable to respond. He had to be at least seven feet tall. "Nikki, look out!" the tall bipedal suddenly disappeared, sliding behind a box. "Nikki, what're you doing?!" the bipedal in the jacket halted. "Covering your asses. Now get moving. You've not got long, before this all goes to shit. Good luck!" the jacketed bipedal went to go back, when a taller one without a helmet scooped her up and carried her. "No!" she struggled, but the taller bipedal held her firmly. The rest was blurred to Twilight, she fading in and out of consciousness occasionally. Twilight finally awoke, lying in a cot. She was dressed in some sort of uniform, made of a fabric that Twilight doubted she could identify. "Ah, you're awake." Her. That was that voice. The one wearing the jacket. Twilight went to sit upright, but Sunset pushed her back down. "Stay down, Christ. You're gonna open up the wounds." Wait, what? Twilight looked down and saw dots of red blood beginning to poke through the uniform. She looked up at Sunset. "B-But, C-Celestia said you were-" Sunset tilted her head. "General Celestia?" Twilight frowned and shook her head. "No, princess Celestia!" she replied, getting a laugh from Sunset, who in turn, then held her side and flinched. "Gah, fuck..." she mutters, holding a white pad that was tightly held to her side. Now that Twilight could get a good look at her, she looked much different than her Equestrian-form. She had a large burn-scar that went around the right side of her face, going over her eye and cheek. There was a long scar that went down the left side of her head, starting at her temple and moving down to the back of her head. She currently wore a black T-Shirt, along with cargo pants that were winter-camouflage-patterned. She had a muscular build, and she had tattoos that went up her arms. They mostly were just images of those bricks, or bones, or other such weird things that Twilight didn't understand. Over her shirt, she wore that black leather jacket. Her hair was at a medium-ish length, barely reaching the base of her jaw, colored in a pattern that made Twilight hungry for bacon. The scar-covered eye had a red pupil, the rest black, whilst her left eye was normal-ish. It was cyan-colored, with something of a glow to it. Not very noticeable. "W-Where's Spike?" Twilight asked. "The dog? He's under the bed, probably asleep." Sunset answered, standing up and stretching. She sat back down, pulling out a leather-bound book. It had the image of Sunset's cutie mark on the cover, Celestia's on the back. "W-What's that?" Twilight asked, carefully easing herself into a semi-upright position. "It's a sketching journal. I draw things when I get bored." Sunset showed the various pages to Twilight. She just looked in awe at each one. The interior of some sort of ship, intricately designed as several metal beasts began to levitate off the ground, bipedals climbing into the few still touched onto the ground. It was drawn to the very last detail. A few were graphic, muddy trenches, broken down buildings covered in flame, people in varying states of bleeding out. Others were quite nice. A picture of a few bipedals huddled around a fire, laughing or talking, a picture of an open grassy field among rocks, along with structures that jutted out, all in black and gray coloration of a pencil. It, in the sense of the term, was beautiful. "You're a good artist..." Twilight complimented. Sunset chuckled and sat back on the chair she was in. "Not really. I think I took a few classes when I was off-duty, but I don't really remember much from those times..." Twilight furrowed her brow. "H-How old are you, S-Sunset?" Sunset gave a confused look at Twilight, then answered with hesitation. "Twenty-Eight... How'd you know my name?" "A better question is, where is my crown?" Twilight asked, accusation plaguing her voice. Sunset laughed. "Oh, that old trinket is somewhere safe. I'm not going to just give it back to you, though. I think it's use here is far more than for you." Twilight growled. "Whatever could you possibly need it for?! Your own devilish plans to take over this world?!" Sunset was now on her knees, crying with laughter. "I... Oh, god, give me a minute..." Sunset calmed down a bit and sat in the chair. "I... I honestly don't know. My superior told me to jump through a portal, grab that crown, and come back. Y'see, when your entire species' existence is on the line, you don't begin asking those questions." Sunset replied, her voice, and facial expression taking a more somber tone. "Entire species' existence is on the line?" whatever could that mean? Twilight pondered this for a few minutes, before deciding to prod at the subject. "W-What do you mean?" Twilight asked. Sunset gave her an 'are you serious' look. "The Human-Covenant War. It's been raging on for what, thirty fuckin' years now... Humanity is on it's last legs, and we don't intend to go out, and sure-as-hell not quietly at that." Sunset stood up. "I've lost too many people today... I'm going to get a drink. Probably something strong. You're going to stay here while your wounds get to healing. Good. Bye." Sunset walked out, and Twilight sighed. Spike climbed up onto her lap, and she smiled. She pulled her backpack out from under the cot, grabbed a book, and read for a bit. She fell asleep not too long afterward, setting the beginning of her journey to a close. Author's Note A/N: III-T: The Hive. Whenever you see a chapter number, plus -T, means it's in Twilight's perspective. I'll write a mirroring chapter beside it, in Sunset's perspective, with all the military-y aspects of this story, such as stating the proper names of things, or having a more dark tone to things... Well, more-or-less without that last bit. I'm not that good at writing "happy" scenes. It stays dark, or sad most of the time. They were wearing this strange uniform, with bulky pieces of armor attached to sections of it, along with helmets, and the same golden glasses that she had found in her bag. The armor was painted red. I've got no idea if I was able to accurately portray the armor, but for those who care, picture the UNSC Marine BDUs from Halo 3, with the armor (the sage-colored pieces, mostly) painted red.
IV: When You Play With Fire... Harmony. November 3rd, 2551(Military Calendar). 0900 hours. Sunset watched as several Ural-esque trucks began rolling up to the front entrance of the mine, which she and Flash had graciously cleared out for their comrades. Army Troopers and a few Marines piled out of the back, running into the mine, alongside a few medics and specialists. "Wait!" Coco ran over. Sunset turned to face her, leaning against the wall. "I... I wanted to say thanks. F-For everything you've done. You saved a lot of my men, a-and—" Sunset held up a finger to cut her off. "It's alright, Pommel. We're just doing our duty." Sunset replied, getting a small laugh from Coco. "A-Anyway, if you ever need any help, our doors are open." Sunset gave Coco a light nod, as a Troop-Transport-Hog rolled up, the driver getting out. "You two did some seriously wicked shit down there... You've got my respect, and my warthog." Flash gave him a nod as he ran inside, the girl quietly shuffling out, her dog in the backpack clasped in her hands. "So, I'll take it you're coming, miss Twinkie Spark?" the girl frowned. "It's Twilight Sparkle..." She grumbled. Sunset nodded, climbing into the driver's seat. "That's what I said." Twilight sighed, carefully climbing into the back of the 'hog. She fumbled with her restraints, before Flash climbed in and helped her. "Here." Flash smiled, Twilight blushing lightly, nodding. Flash shook it off, and climbed into the passenger seat of the warthog. "Where to first, chief?" he asked, leaning back. Neither had kept their armor, now wearing the normal off-duty uniform, along with backpacks and some other minor non-protective gear. Sunset pulled up a holographic map from the TACPAD mounted on her forearm. "The E-Elu-Elugari, yeah, Elugari. The Elu-Fuck it, we're going to drive north. The VDF Copernicus was supposed to touch down on the twelfth. Apparently, our allies stationed there are under heavy fire." Sunset began. Flash leaned back as the bacon-like-haired soldier began accelerating the 'hog. "We'll be passing through a bunch of abandoned towns and cities, according to these maps..." Sunset said aloud. "Abandoned?" Flash glanced over at the map that was projected on the middle console. Indeed, what she was saying was correct. They'd be passing through a large mass of abandoned towns, cities and military outposts. "According to this, apparently the UNSC didn't all pull out. They made a last-stand here in this war-zone. Vanguard left them alone, besides jamming their SATCOM, left 'em boxed in. Apparently they just died out... I doubt that's the case, but it's what I'm hearing. Ears and eyes up." Flash concluded, then climbed over the hog's cage, sitting down opposite the Twilight girl. "I-I've been meaning to ask... How old is S-Sunset?" Flash visibly winced at that. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "D-Did I say something wrong?" she asked, tightening her grip on the backpack in her arms. Flash shook his head with a loud, exhausted sigh. "Nobody knows, nor would they tell. Classified information... That is, unless she shares it with you." Twilight nodded. Flash looked off into the distance, watching as they passed an array of abandoned buildings, some short, some tall... Then everything went back as a forty-millimeter grenade slammed into the hood. March 22nd, 2526, VDF Training Compound, Harmony. Flash watched his DI, listening and comprehending each word out of his mouth as he roared over the din of the D-33 Paragon Dropship. His tone was vicious, and his face matched. An angered expression upon an aged face, brown hair with a short, graying beard, and orange eyes. Flash had on a miniaturized set of the bodysuits and pressurized helmets the original SPARTANs wore. An M7S hung from his waist on a sling, an—for his size, at least—over-sized MA5B Assault Rifle maglocked to his back. A Karambit knife rested in a sheathe on his left shoulder, a normal CQC WS Combat Knife in a sheathe on his back, right above his waist. He stared out of a porthole at the environment of Harmony as the DI began droning on about how they were a "new breed" of soldier... Then he started on the war, and that in it's own caught Flash's attention. "These goddamned aliens are out for blood! The war the UNSC is currently fighting, requires this "New Breed" of soldier! A scalpel to precisely eliminate this 'Holy Covenant.' We aren't going to falter—You're not going to falter... We're at the LZ." Flash began undoing his restraints, and got to his feet. He unclipped the bulky, steel-gray helmet from his hip and slid it onto his head. This was the training armor the VDF had been using, as well as the prototype for the Argus-Class Body Armor, Mark IV, something to combat the SPARTANs and their MJOLNIR armor... How the VDF knew about this, was beyond Flash's knowledge. The dropship's rear hatch opened up, and it's twenty-three occupants climbed out. "Good luck, Cadets." The Drill Instructor gave them a nod. He spun on his heel and began walking to the cockpit as the dropship's hatch closed, and it lifted off. Suddenly, thousands of tiny blue dots appeared, and they intricately began linking, then carefully sliced open a swirling blue portal, and the Paragon-Class Dropship was gone. Flash shouldered his M7S and began walking with his comrades. According to the minor eavesdropping he was able to do, he and his teammates that survived this mission, would be moving on to get some sort of augmentation. Flash pushed the thought to the back of his head and began walking forward. The barrel of his rifle swept over every surface before him, the dim headlamps on his helmet giving him a bit of light to work with. Not nearly enough, though. Flash heard a loud roar, and spun around to see a large creature begin charging toward them. His friends began running, he close behind. Flash fired bursts from his M7S at the creature that his helmet recognized as a Gúta. It charged forward and swept it's claws down, killing and injuring several of the VDFMC cadets. Flash screamed, firing the rest of his magazine into the Gúta. "Hostile Contact! Open fire! Open fire!" Flash quickly grabbed his injured friend and dragged him under a bush, when several hulking forms appeared out of the darkness, discharging their silenced firearms at the Gúta. Flash activated his night vision. Each was wearing bulky, green armor, with golden visors upon their helmets. They fought the Gúta for a good half-hour, with no casualties. The Gúta was riddled with bullet holes by the end, when it finally collapsed to the ground with an audible Thump! "It's safe to come out, now..." His voice was young. Maybe fourteen-fifteen. Flash poked his head out of cover, followed by the rest of his body. A few of his friends did as well, their M6S pistols or M7S Sub-Machine Guns drawn. "Isn't this a strange sight..." a female one, maybe sixteen-seventeen. "W-Who are you?" Flash asked, tightening the grip on his rifle. The male one looked back to his comrades. Flash did the same. Each shared a look of confusion, fear, and even curiosity. The male one knelt down and looked him in the eye. "We are called Blue Team... I'm John." Flash's eyes shot open to the sound of automatic gunfire. He tried sitting upright, only to find Sunset pressing a hand to his chest to keep him down, the other hand preoccupied with firing an MA5C ICWS. "What-?" he groaned, checking his vitals. Three bruised ribs, a torn Achilles, and a significant amount of shrapnel lodged into his good leg. He's fine. "We got hit. Grenade shell, forty millimeter. M319 Break-Action, Single-Shot Grenade Launcher. They used an Incendiary round, along with a charged EMP... They took that Twilight girl." Flash growled and sat upright. He leaned back against a jersey barrier, the warthog's blazing husk lying overturned a few meters to his left. "Who?" he tried clarifying. He patted himself down, and realized Sunset had his MA5C. He slid his M6C magnum out of it's holster on his thigh and poked out of cover. Twenty hostiles. Thirteen Helljumpers, Seven Marines. Their armor wasn't outdated. "Those fucking UNSC remnants. They must have broken through the SATCOM jamming when the Covenant got here... No fucking wonder the UNSC is here, too." Sunset growled, firing wildly. Flash groaned with annoyance. "No, their armor is up-to-date with the UNSC's... Must just be a scouting party, or they were setting up an ambush for the Covenant." Sunset gave Flash a glare. She growled angrily and ducked back behind cover as her shields collapsed, and an M634 9.5x40mm round shattered her visor. She ripped her helmet off and threw it aside, trying to calm herself down—when a single 14.5x114mm round slammed through the jersey barrier, and right through Flash's chest. John-117. He and his team were currently stationed on Harmony for a week, on some sort of Spec-Ops Mission. They weren't even aware that humans had settled here, let alone set up a fleet of ships—which according to John, are now in a large-scale battle in the vacuum—with enough firepower to blow up Reach an unholy amount of times over. Linda-058, she was one of John's colleagues in their squad, Blue Team. She was helping one of Flash's friends deal with their dead comrade. Every one of the twenty-two surviving VDF Marine Corps Cadets were shocked at first, but quickly steeled themselves. They weren't going to win wars by falling apart because they've taken casualties. "Flash Sentry." Flash turned to John, tilting his head in response. Despite all of the hellish events that were going on, Flash was going to at least give these soldiers a shred of respect. "Y-Yeah?" he asked, standing upright, craning his neck to look up at John. "We're moving out... I suppose this is goodbye." Flash nodded. This John character wasn't to be trusted. Not with their lives. Not with their knowledge. "I suppose so..." Flash snapped his fingers and pulled his extra dog-tag off of it's line on his neck. He took John's hand and placed the tag in his hands. "Here. So you always remember us marines from Phoenix Company..." John nodded. He turned to his comrades, gave a subtle nod, and began walking. The one known as Kelly-087 turned to Flash. "Y'know, we were sent here to find a bunch of soldiers from this military known as 'Phoenix Company'... Have a good life, kid." And with that, she spun on her heel, and started walking with her team. Flash turned to his soldiers. His friends... His family. "C'mon. We need to get to the rendezvous before nightfall." Flash spun on his heel and shouldered his M7S. His responses were nods and a varying difference of affirmatives, so they began their long trek. Flash woke up and winced. A window in the corner of his HUD told him his lung was ruptured. He looked over, and saw Sunset. Her hair was glowing, like fire, with bits of cinder and ash licking up off of the patch of hair upon her head. She growled, shouldered Flash's MA5C, and hurdled the cover. Flash turned onto his back and watched. She sprinted forward with a speed that'd give SPARTANs a spook, and smashed directly through a concrete wall. She grabbed a marine by the throat, spinning on her heel. She used his unconscious form to block the bullets flying downrange toward her, whilst her MA5C fired in each direction. Each UNSC marine and ODST in range took at least a few of the 7.62x51mm rounds. She tossed her meat-shield's body to the ground. His neck was encrusted with heavy burns. Sunset picked up a pair of M7 SMGs off of the ground, and turned a corner. She sprinted along a wall, firing her SMG wildly into the crowd of UNSC soldiers that inhabited the large room. She spun, rolled, and jumped, ducking and weaving through fire, whilst she discharged the marines with a torrent of rounds, until the casings of the M7 SMGs melted within the barrel, jamming each weapon respectively. She threw each weapon aside, in exchange for her combat knife. Sunset lunged forward and plunged her knife up through the jaw of an unsuspecting ODST, then switched her grip and launched the body at another marine. She drew her pistol and silenced a good twelve of the soldiers in the room, then holstered it swiftly. She removed her knife from the corpse of an ODST, flicked off the blood, and sheathed it. She felt herself calming down... and the pain started. Sunset looked down, and visibly grimaced, her anger reigniting. Her abdomen, good arm and leg, and even her chest, were riddled with bullet holes, though the bullets themselves likely never entered her body, they did penetrate her skin and muscle, leaving some nasty wounds, which began cauterizing as Sunset's body was engulfed in flame. Two large, glowing white wings appeared on her back, made seemingly of pure light. A horn materialized on the forehead of her helmet, as well. She let out a hearty laugh, and tightened her hands into fists. "Let's get this party started..." Author's Note Yeah, Sunset can "Pony-Up" when her negative emotions—primarily anger—get the best of her, and her friends are in danger... This doesn't always work, though. There are times where her prior knowledge, training, and other things take significant roles in the situation, and she doesn't need to "Pony-Up" as it is called. She and Flash, being so close, share an impenetrable bond. Though it appeared from the Prologue that Flash first met Sunset at The Battle Of Harmony, that is untrue. She and him have known each other since her arrival to the human world. During the Battle, Sunset was unable to identify Flash Sentry, because of: 1) Jamming software—albeit weak—was giving her systems an issue with Identify-Friendly-Foe tags. 2) The signature armor Flash wore was coated in thick layers of mud and blood, so it was a lot more difficult to identify properly without seeing his face.
V: ... You're Gonna Get Burned.Sunset blocked a right hook from an ODST within her palm. She burnt away most of the fibers on the surface, causing him to roar in pain. Using her second of defenselessness, she grabbed his hand, then forcibly snapped his wrist. C-C-C-Craaacccckkk. Sunset backhanded the ODST with her other hand and huffed angrily. Flames licked up off of her body, she seemingly unharmed. The VDFMC Corporal walked past the corpse and grabbed the handle of the large, thick, steel door and pulled it right open... ` She wasn't satisfied with the results to say the least. Equestria, Past. Sunset looked into the mirror before she jumped. For a split second, she saw a bipedal creature, wearing thin white armor over a black suit, one of her arms and legs missing. The eyes are what made Sunset hesitate... That's because they were hers, and they were broken. She saw in those eyes something vicious. She saw pure, unbridled rage... and sadness, and fear, and so many other emotions... Sunset turned to face Celestia one last time, a few tears in her eyes. This would be the last time she saw Celestia. Her teacher. Her mentor... In a way, her surrogate mother. She wanted to make Celestia proud... but she let her ego get the best of her, once a-bucking-gain. Now, she was exiled. to some strange world she knew near nothing about... Sweet bucking Celestia, what was she doing? Sunset wanted the power. She was going to get the power... but really, is that what she wanted? What about a fresh slate? Perhaps she could just go through, starting anew... Sunset let out a sigh, her emotions fueling her actions. "Goodbye, princess..." She made sure Celestia hadn't a second to respond, and thrust herself into the portal. *** Sunset groaned. Her muscles burned, her head hurt... she felt miserable... and younger, too. She looked down. Her body was that of a mere child, wearing rags at that. Sunset wanted to move, but couldn't. Every bone and muscle in her new body throbbed with pain. She was on the ground, in a patch of grass. Sunset tried turning onto her back, going as far as her side, and was met with the face of a boy, her age, in a thick metal bodysuit. His hair was darkish, a shade of blue, that went lighter toward the base. "W-Where-Who-Wha—" the boy placed one of his fingers to her lips, then helped her into a sitting position. "Are you hungry?" Sunset waited and thought about it a moment. She was hungry. She shook her head. "I-I'll be fine..." she whispered. Oh Celestia, what was she doing? Sunset looked at the black brick in the boy's lap. "W-What's that?" she asked, pointing to the brick. He picked it up with relative ease and hefted it. "A Model-Seven-SOCOM Sub-machine Gun. I just call it the Suppressed SMG." he replied. Sunset shook her head again. "What is it?" she asked. The boy furrowed his brow. "A gun. A fully-automatic gun, to be precise..." he replied, anger plaguing his voice. Sunset nodded wearily and curled up into a ball. "Get your rest... it's gonna be a long few hours... I'm Flash, by the way." "I'm Sunset." Eighty Minutes Prior, Current Day. Sunset charged into the main complex of the old communications center. Empty. She looked around the room. The room itself was large, with a plentiful amount of computers, tables, and other sorts of tech in the bottom section, whilst two staircases flanked either side of the room, leading up to a large balcony, where an AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun was stationed, along with sandbag and metal blockades. She felt the floor beneath her begin to scorch, and moved on. Sunset moved to the left, climbing up the flight of stairs. They, like everything else, was made of concrete and metal. She reached the top and saw a few corpses of UNSC soldiers. Inexplicable rage fueling through her... She tried shaking her head of the thought, it taking a few minutes for her to even rid the thoughts from her mind. Sunset was finding it seemingly harder to think. Coherent, Cognitive thoughts. All she saw was red, and all she wanted to do was kill. Sunset wanted to save Twilight. Not cripple the UNSC's force here... mayhaps it was the... thing that was plaguing her mind... that was likely. "You don't give me enough credit, Sunset... I'm a lot more than just a thing..." Sunset spun on her heel, and saw static fill her vision. She pulled her helmet off. Standing before her, was a creature with a blue-purple color scheme, with large, feathered wings sprouting out of her back, a glowing horn made of pure light upon her forehead, two forms of cyan magic creating 'Glasses' over her eyes. She snaked over to Sunset, looking down at her. "What the fuck even are you...?" Sunset made sure she was always facing this thing. She was not going to be stabbed in the back. Literally. "I am just a figment of your imagination..." she picked up a corpse by the throat, gently. She tightened her hand into a fist around their neck and the body exploded. Blood splashed onto Sunset, it taking a lot of strength to keep herself from throwing up. "... Or am I?" the... humanoid creature laughed maniacally, before disintegrating into dust. "I'll be seeing you in your dreams, Sunny..." Sunset shook her head and blinked several times. The bodies were all accounted for on the floor. There was not a drop of blood upon her body. Only scars, burns and wounds. Like always. Sunset turned to the left and pushed through a pair of double doors. She grabbed each of the UNSC marines guarding the door from that side, and quickly snapped each of their necks, then threw their bodies to the floor. She quickly ducked down and ran forward, weaving through a torrent of gunfire that came at her downrange. The bullets seemed to slow, SPARTAN time taking effect. She ran along the wall, her shields taking the brunt of the gunfire, then dropped down, kicking the gunner's head into the wall. His visor and helmet shattered, a splatter of blood running along the wall, chunks of brain and skull joining in. Sunset ripped the M7 from the sling on his body, and sent a sea of five-millimeter rounds downrange, turning anything in her sight to ribbons. She quickly spun around and used the barrel of the weapon to block a slash from a large sword. Standing before her, was a SPARTAN-II. His armor was either Mark IV or V, with an EOD helmet atop his head, a katana clasped in his hands. He had 005 in bold font on his left breastplate, the white paint missing in a few places. "You're dead..." she said, pushing him off, getting into combat stance. The SPARTAN shook his head and smirked behind his helmet. "Negative... I ain't dead yet." He sprinted forward and pulled off a series of punches and kicks, Sunset poorly either blocking or countering. While the VDF gave their soldiers the training and augmentation, the SPARTANs were always superior. Their minds were more honed. Stronger. They were always stronger. Sunset took a blow to the helmet visor, and it shattered, along with her energy shields. She swore under her breath and stumbled back. SPARTAN-005 thrust his knife into Sunset's shoulder, right under her left arm, where the internal control was set up, taking away her advantage. "C'mon, fucker. If you're gonna kill me, FUCKING DO IT! Don't pussy out!" Sunset watched him pull out his pistol, so she grabbed the barrel and placed it to her own forehead. "C'MON! PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!" Sunset all-but-screamed. The SPARTAN smirked, then stopped as he heard a rifle click behind him. He spun around, then was sent staggering back by a blast from an M90, and through a window. Sunset got up, holding her limp arm. The cloaked figure that'd shot 005 was long gone, the only evidence a used Eight-Gauge Soellkraft shell. Sunset looked out the window. SPARTAN-005 was gone... for now, at least. Sunset removed his knife from her shoulder. The flames were gone. She had officially calmed down enough. Sunset twirled the knife, then moved on. She passed through a large, open corridor the UNSC force had been using as storage. She hurdled a crate and slid down the railing of a spiral staircase. She readied her stolen M7 as she was about to reach the bottom, and ground to a halt, firing sporadically at the UNSC personnel on the bottom floor. She ducked behind a crate for cover, poking out only to fire, when she heard a whistle, and saw a grenade land on the ground beside her. Instead of throwing it back, she climbed out of cover and rushed forward, blade drawn. She saw Twilight pounding on a metal door behind a very bulky ODST wielding knives. She went back into unbridled rage. Sunset lunged forward, knife clashing with knives, over and over for hours, until it became the ultimate stalemate. Who would falter first, was the real question. Sunset specialized in combat with blades and CQC generally. She had a special liking for shotguns. Whenever she was in the inside of a ship on full-combat status, a shotgun in her grasp, she got antsy. That was what she called fun. Sunset changed into a backward grip with her knife, slicing at the Helljumper's abdomen. He roared angrily and thrust a knife into Sunset's bad shoulder. She growled and pushed off of him, spun, used her thrusters and propelled herself off of a wall, and down onto the Helljumper. She plunged her knife into his temple, ending all brain activity. His muscles relaxed, and he went limp. Sunset ripped off his helmet, looking away from his eyes. She shut them out of respect. "Good girl... Never look the dead in the eyes..." Sunset ignored her and walked over to the door. She heard quick footsteps, and saw another Helljumper running up to her with a piece of rebar. Sunset backhanded the ODST with her other hand and huffed angrily. Flames licked up off of her body, she seemingly unharmed. The VDFMC Corporal walked past the corpse and grabbed the handle of the large, thick, steel door and pulled it right open. Twilight was lying on the floor, hands bound to her back, legs bound as well. She had a bloody lip, black eye, and many other bruises, possibly a broken leg. Sunset scooped Twilight up into a bridal carry and looked around for her dog. He was lying in a cage off to the left. Sunset walked over. "This might hurt... get back..." She didn't know why, or hell, even how he heard her, but he did, and she kicked then cage door, causing it to break. The dog squeezed through the small hole and hopped up onto Twilight's lap. Sunset carried them, barely able to find any use with her left arm beside. Sunset laid Twilight down, who'd recently regained consciousness, whining at the sight of dead bodies, vomiting twice. Sunset saw Flash, then quickly sprinted over, whispering "no" over and over, and over, and over again... Blood was pooling around him, and his skin was pale. "Shit, Flash..." she knelt down beside him, trying to rouse him, checking his vitals. He was barely alive. Sunset felt tears in her eyes, but ignored it, trying to wake her friend. "Flash! Wake the fuck up! C'mon, we need to go... C'mon..." Flash's eyelids cracked apart, his pale blue eyes looking up into Sunset's. He coughed up blood and leaned his head back. "I'm... I'm not going anywhere, Sunset... T-This... This is... it..." He coughed up more blood, and Sunset was on the brink of sobbing. She held it back, trying to get Flash onto his feet. She got as far to pulling him up, only for him to collapse onto his back. Flash grabbed Sunset's hand. He pulled out a small data pad and weakly placed it to Sunset's. Ding! "Verification successful." Sunset shook her head. "N-No, you can't do this to me, Flash Sentry... you're gonna get your ass up, and we're going to get you help, you understand?!" Sunset was crying at this point, unable to hold back her emotions. Flash pulled Sunset down and kissed her on the cheek. "You've been good to me, Sunny... make sure..." Flash never finished his sentence as the light soon faded from his eyes, and his hand went limp. Sunset just knelt beside him and cried for hours... He was gone. Truly gone... And Sunset was alone again. Author's Note Oh no, he's dead... whatever shall I do... A/N: These last two chapters were split up into two, that's why they were shorter than normal. Hope you all enjoyed.
Chapter VI: Why.Why? I ask myself this every time I look in the mirror. For twenty six years. I've woken up. Gotten dressed, ready to go feet-first into hell, look myself in the mirror, and ask myself. Why. Why do I keep fighting after it all? Why can't I remember... Why not me? I lost Flash. He's gone... I dragged his body to the nearest site and buried his body, placed his helmet on his rifle instead of a headstone, said a short eulogy, then I left. That's it. I don't mourn the dead of my teammates. I don't look the dead in the eye. Am I still human? All the parts that make me, well, me... I'm losing another one every day. This time, it was Flash. I'll try and brace myself for what's coming, but in the end, every fucking time, it's gonna be twelve times fucking worse... Christ, what the hell is wrong with me? According to this Twilight chick, I'm not even human... I'm some sort of equine creature from her world. I was apparently a pupil to their Goddess or some shit. And you know what? I didn't care. I still don't. I don't ever want to go back to that world... It'd be death for me... but that's not what I'm scared of. I'm afraid I'll remember. That is one of my greatest fears... And I'm seeing them come true every coming day. And every time, I find another shard of my humanity forever gone. End Note. Sunset carefully slid a pencil over the empty part of the page, slowly but surely, she was sketching. She was sketching a picture a Flash... Right on his deathbed. Lying on the ground, bleeding out. The image was the only one in her mind, and it haunted her. Sunset looked down at her fingers. They were covered in thick scars from burn wounds. Twilight sat nearby with her dog, simply staring out. Their objective wasn't clear. They didn't know what to do. Sure, they had to take care of the UNSC and the Covenant, but Sunset was the only one combat-oriented, and even she... she was just one soldier. Sunset patched into the FLEETCOM and listened in. "... In all accounts, we can't fight two fronts. We're spread thin, with Dabreaux and his fleet still in the Epsilon Eridani system! We... we need to fall under the UNSC's radar, or get us a temporary alliance. They want Harmony just as much as we, considering they controlled it for much of the H/C War." Sunset recognized him as Rear Admiral Hudson Hawkworth, captain of the Romeo & Juliet. Harmony's flagship. "There is no way in hell I'm letting a bunch of UNSC... Dogs onto my ship. There're all kinds of faults there!" Captain Rockford, captain of the VDF Nobility, one of the few Destroyer-Class Venators left. Most were destroyed by 2540, when the Covenant finished with the VDF-Controlled colonies, albeit, the VDF went down swinging in that scenario. "I never said anything about letting them on our ships. I said a temporary alliance... All we need is one less hand in the bag. One less weapon that's being slashed at us." Admiral Hawkworth replied. The captain thought it over. "... Alright, but just know you'll be to blame if this goes FUBAR, Admiral." There was venom in his voice, but was disguised by a respectful tone. You didn't speak down to Rear Admiral Hawkworth. "What happens with the Covenant? That CSO-Class is tearing up our orbital defenses, albeit slowly, but surely. They'll have destroyed our entire orbital defense by the time we can get reinforcements! By then, it'll all be over." He had a point. If the orbital defenses above Harmony fell, it'd only be a matter of time. Even with the VDF's "primitive" plasma weaponry, they'd take or glass Harmony before the end of the week. The VDF could've held it, sure, and their ships provided good cover, but those orbital stations were important. They all intertwined electronically to create a giant energy shield. Only one was broken, but that was enough to send the VDF into disarray as a few CAS and CCS cruisers stealthily made their way in, and were able to begin putting boots on the ground. Sunset closed her sketchbook and placed it in her bag. She lost Flash... what was the point? She'd lose Harmony too, if she didn't... then it hit her. That's why she kept going. Kept kicking... She had a duty to fulfill. This wasn't a time to be whining and bitching because she'd lost her best friend! She needed to get more soldiers. She needed to do her goddamned job, as nobody else was gonna do it. "Gotta do my job." Sunset whispered. She grabbed her helmet and stuffed it on her head, whistling as she began grabbing weapons and ammunition from the captured communications center. Normally, Flash would've policed weapons and ammo, while Sunset got a rid of the bodies, but it appeared she was a bit short of personnel at the moment. Sunset walked over to one of the radios. "This is s-Major Sunset Shimmer, VDF Marine Corps, 441st MEU, Phoenix Company. I require more ground forces on my position." she said into the mic, hoping it'd catch someone's attention. "We hear you loud and clear, Sunny-D. Last I checked, you were a sergeant..." Fuck. That was Citron, the VDF Mariposa's AI. "Flash... Flash didn't make it. He gave me a field-promotion before he went MIA." Sunset replied. Not unlike ONI, all specialized company soldiers were reported WIA or MIA in the events of death, same with Black Ops, Spec Ops and Rangers. The Army Corps and the normal Marine Corps got no special treatments. "I'm sorry to hear... but we cannot spare any soldiers for immediate—you've got a marine corporal and an Army Corps sergeant en-route to your location, ma'am." Sunset gave her thanks and got off the radio. She walked over to Twilight and sat down beside her, wincing at her aching muscles and bones. "How're you feeling?" she asked the civilian, who sighed in response. "T-There... There's so much death here. H-How do you cope so quickly?" Twilight asks quietly, looking up at Sunset, who simply shrugs. "I always took death rather well in comparison to most others." that was true. Not in this case, specifically, but still true... Flash Sentry was her best friend. Hell, she considered him like a brother. Now, after the twenty-or-so years they've been kicking, his acknowledgement light had winked out. For good this time. It hit Sunset hard... but she always recovered from wounds. Physical, and emotional. Twilight yawned. "You haven't slept much. Why don't you take a nap or something? The reinforcements shouldn't—" the roar of a pelican filled their ears, followed by yelling. Sunset stormed out the front doors, and saw two soldiers, one in a sleeveless duster and a stetson, smoking a cigarette, the other with a rainbow-colored accent in her hair, a pair of shades upon her face, and a Spec-Ops beret, blood-red. "... Ah mean, yer not that bad for a green-marine, Rainbow, but yer a bit of a hothead." the one in the stetson said, shouldering an M90 CAWS, slinging a BR55HB onto her back. The rainbow-haired one simply scoffed, shouldering an M45 Tactical Shotgun. She began sliding shells into the receiver, while looking over an MA5K beside her. "Sure, ah mean, yer a good soldier, but ya got a nasty temper. That's not really a good skill to have in a combat sit." the stetson-wearing one said, slinging the M90 in exchange for an M6C with a silencer screwed on. She had a southern accent. Twilight seemed to recognize them. The rainbow-haired one had a scratchy voice, with no apparent accent. "Screw you, Applejack. I'm a one-hundred-percent green-bad-ass-marine-killing-machine!" the rainbow-haired one pumped her arms. She had an evenly-distributed muscular frame, with a large amount of graffiti on her suit of Argus armor. She had a large scar going down her cheek, stopping at the base of her neck. "Yer ego's just as bloated as always, ah see." the rainbow-one huffed and shouldered the MA5K carbine. She turned to Sunset and started walking. "Yo." Sunset frowned. She looked over the gear of the VDFMC corporal, each feature of her armor, weapons, etcetera. The corporal wore a suit of Mark VII ARGUS-Class Body Armor, with an enforcer-variant helmet clipped to her waist, alongside a blunt object Sunset recognized as a folding maul. "You just gonna check me out, or are we gonna get to the mission?" Sunset's frown became more apparent and she rolled her eyes. "Head inside. I'll speak to the sergeant for a bit, then we'll move out." Rainbow-woman nodded, and walked inside. Sunset spun on her heel and walked over to the one known as "Applejack." "Howdy, Major." she tipped her stetson, then went back to disassembling her MA5C ICWS. "You're the reinforcements?" Sunset asked as she walked around the pelican, examining it. "Eyup." was her simple response as she began to reassemble the ICWS. Sunset worked at hauling crates out of the blood-tray. "So, got any new intel on what's goin' on upstairs?" Applejack asked. Sunset shook her head with a sigh. "We lost Galileo station, Sector A-Four. We're taking heavy fire from the CSO up there... Luckily, they're not gonna be glassing this place anytime soon, what, with all the Forerunner tech stashed about. They've been trying to find a way past our shields for a long time..." Sunset admitted, picking up a large crate of ammunition. "Sooner or later, it'll be over. Either way, ah at least know those Covenant freakshows ain't gonna take mah home without losing half their goddamned fleet." Applejack gestured to the broken down husks of Covenant ships and vehicles that had been left behind since the first battle. Sunset chuckled. The VDF had been able to defeat the Covenant on several fronts. Meridian, although once they had been exiled by UNSC officials, the Covenant came back in force and glassed it. Hell, they even helped defend Harvest. That first battle was won because they were able to adapt to the Covenant. They already had energy-shielding tech, which proved to be highly resilient toward plasma, and their primitive plasma weapons tech proved to be quite damaging to the alloy plating on Covenant ships. Sunset readied her assault rifle. "Get yourself ready. Lightweight. Three-Hundred Kilos or less." Sunset ordered, getting a subtle nod from Applejack, who then began securing gear. "I'll be right back." Sunset walked into the base, and saw the Rainbow-haired woman standing on her hands, with Twilight sitting on a wooden panel uneasily as the woman began pushing her up and down. "Oi!" Sunset broke her concentration and the woman yelped, collapsing to the ground, the wooden plate with the sixty-pound girl and five-pound dog simply slumping down beside her. Twilight got off of the plate, dusted herself off, and asked the Rainbow-Haired woman if she was alright. Sunset's level of skill was amazing, but even she had her limits, as she could barely contain the soft chuckle as it left her throat. Sunset grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her up violently. "Identify." Sunset said to her, giving her a steeled gaze. The woman returned with a cocky look, a dumb smirk, and now a lit cigarette in her mouth. The woman was suddenly on her back before she could realize what had happened, Sunset's knife to her throat, the cigarette sliced cleanly in half... There were a rare few whose augmentations were a bit naturally boosted by existing skill. The rainbow-haired woman had paled, the color drained from her face as she now had a knife pointed to her throat. "C-Corporal R-Rainbow Dash, m-ma'am. 441st, F-Falcon Company." Sunset took a second to check for truth, before stepping back, sheathing her knife. "No smoking on my watch or else." Rainbow Dashed nodded quickly, getting a smirk from the sunny—pun intended—Sergeant-turned-Major. "Alright, Twi, you go outside, Corporal Dash, I want you to go help your comrade load all the weapons and armor into the base. Leave food, water, navigation and radio equipment out here. Am I understood, marine?" Sunset got close to Rainbow, looking her down. She nodded with no hesitation and ran outside, eager to get away from the crazy Major. "That wasn't really necessary, Sunset..." Twilight said, standing up from her place on the floor. "Yeah, but I had some fun. That's what's important, right?" Sunset turned to Twilight. She kept her helmet on, as Twi had made it clear that the prosthetic eye gave her a bit of fright. Twilight shook her head and sighed. "No... What's important is that I want you to have really good friends... Maybe not these two, but someone." Sunset sighed and nodded. "Well, get outside. I need to go get some horses." That confused Twilight, but she went outside anyway. Sunset slumped down against the wall and went over the plan in her mind. She was going to get a few horses, and she was going to use them for transport instead of a warthog or scorpion. Much too slow, but could carry more. The horses she'd seen, were the ones the VDF had brought with them. Specially bred, trained. Of course, they'd done that decades ago, and the horses she saw, likely were a few down the genetic line. Either way, she needed the horses for her plan. Sunset ran up to the window area where James-005 nearly bested her, then hopped down. She looked around for any sign of the horses she'd seen. Aha! several brown horses with white muzzles grazed nearby. She carefully walked over to one of the large creatures, petting it on the side of it's face. "Hey, girl..." For some reason unbeknownst to Sunset, she'd always been able to seemingly talk to and understand horses. People thought she was crazy, until she was able to take down an armed Black Ops sergeant with nothing but a horse and an M6C Magnum, stun rounds, of course. That got her some respect among her 'mates. The horse reared back and neighed. "Whoa, girl... it's just me..." she, after a few hours, was able to tame the horses. That took a bit shorter than normal. She climbed up onto the back of one of the horses. It had white fur, with a pinkish-blonde mane. The horse trotted forward slowly, the subtle movement making Sunset feel a bit at peace. She'd always liked horses... she didn't know why, though. Of all things, why horses? She decided she'd call this specific one "Sunbutt." No idea why, but she did. She named the other one, whose fur looked blueish, with a lighter blue mane, "Moonbutt." The third one she just called Sassafras, which she'd ride. It had gray/black fur. Sunset got onto Sassafras and rode the horse to the main complex, then whistled. Twilight paled at the sight of Sunset riding the horse. Applejack chuckled, whilst Rainbow Dash simply kept smoking her cigar. "I said no smoking..." Sunset growled. Rainbow snuffed it out on Applejack's shoulder, then began loading their gear onto the horses, along with saddles, which were made for such an occasion. Sunset climbed down and did the same with her own horse. She talked to the horse for a while, as well. "Neigh." "Neigh." "Neigh." "Neigh." "Neigh." That's about as interesting as that conversation was, to the outside at least. The equine creature was definitely intelligent, like the VDF's trained horses in a way... After a few hours, Sunset was able to get Sassafras to let her load her gear onto her. That took a long time. Sunset climbed onto the saddle and grabbed Sassafras' reins. Twilight climbed up and sat behind Sunset, rather uncomfortable. Sunset took a wild guess that saddles were sexualized or something, but shook it off and started off with a slow trot, heading toward the Elugari Desert for the second part of their journey... UNSC Cortez, 2551, Sometime In Early March. Ensign Sandro Vasconcelos flattened out the creases in his uniform one last time as he stood in the elevator, along with two armed UNSC Army Troopers, wielding MA37 Assault Rifles. Sweat gathered up at his forehead. It wasn't very hot in the elevator, quite cool actually, but he was very nervous. One of the Captains leading the assault on Harmony, Jacobo de Vergara, had set up a meeting with him to speak about... something. Sandro knew what it was about. The controversy around the VDF-UNSC war. The VDF were training elite soldiers that could match up with a SPARTAN in skill, though despite their many attempts, they weren't able to necessarily "infiltrate" the Vanguard's military. They reminded Sandro of ancient Japan. Their warrior societies, specifically. If you visited a Vanguard-Controlled Colony, you'd occasionally see a few soldiers fighting with blades in the street. Marines or Rangers, normally the latter. The Rangers were pretty honorable. They never attacked civilians, ran by morals instead of ROE. Most of them were retired by now, though. The Ranger Corps—according to the little information they could gather—was the VDF's attempt at a SPARTAN-esque program. It produced the VDF-equivalent to the ODSTs. They were very durable, strong as a SPARTAN, and normally don't go down without a few bullets to the skull. Their bones were reinforced with some super-metal, making them even worse to fight. 'Course, they went down easily, but getting them in the position to go down in the first place is the tricky part. They always move, never slow down, and are always trying to kill you. Sandro went up against one a while back and it costed him his right arm, which at the moment was simply a normal prosthetic. The elevator made a subtle ding, and the doors slid apart. The bridge was bustling with activity. UNSC servicemen at every station working 'round the clock, doing what the Ensign believed to be something important, as a look of fear and determination filled the features of each of them. The Captain stood in front of the primary viewport, a cigar in his mouth. "Sir." one of the Army Troopers addressed. The Captain glanced back and nodded. The two soldiers nodded and went into the elevator, likely to go to the bar for a drink. Sandro hesitantly walked past each station, and over to the admiral. "S-Sir, you requested to see me?" he asked, snapping to attention. "Ensign, I've heard some good things about you in the past." The Captain spun on his heel to face Sandro. His face was littered with scars. He had stubble upon his face, and bags under his eyes. He walked over to Sandro. "You've killed a Ranger?" That got the attention of some of the crewmen around them. Sandro had found de Vergara to be a lenient person. He spoke his thoughts when he wanted, not caring about consequences, and was generally laid back. "Y-Yes sir." The Captain smirked and turned back to the viewport, where a VDF super-carrier they called "Motherships" began coming into view off to the left side of the port. "Well, what if I told you that you could kill every of those god-forsaken motherfuckers right now?" Crazy filled Jacob's voice. He turned to Sandro, that same look in his eye. "W-What do you mean, sir?" Sandro replies wearily, shifting uncomfortably under the thousand-meter stare that Jacobo held. "I mean, the VDF Romeo & Juliet is approaching our nine-o-clock, and I'm going to send that fucker right to Valhalla with the rest of those freaks!" he all-but-screamed. "We're gonna hit them at the fucking knees! We're gonna cripple these motherfuckers and send a message right to that big motherfucking ship orbiting their Home-World!" he screamed. "ALL HANDS FIRE AT WILL!" he yelled. The crewmen took no hesitation and began activating the weapons systems of the UNSC Cortez. Suddenly, thousands of Archer missiles, Longsword fighters, and even a SHIVA-Class Nuke flew out of the weapons ports of the dozen ships the UNSC had brought along. The explosions were minor at first, then intensified. The VDF Romeo & Juliet began drifting down toward the planet, when it launched it's attack. The Ensign's pupils shrank to pinpricks and he hit the deck as thousands upon thousands of missiles and large bolts of plasma began striking the UNSC fleet that had moved to engage. "Sir! We just lost the Pizarro, the Carvajal—" The crewman would never finish that sentence, as a plasma bolt slammed into the bridge's viewport and vaporized the crew, followed by a large explosion that rocked the ship to the core. Those Army Troopers would never finish their drinks, as they'd be floating in the vacuum, their suits' EVA gear only going to last so long before they're killed. Hélder Fernandes, the Captain of the Romeo & Juliet sighed as he watched the UNSC fleet break apart under the small torrent of plasma and their supply of Archers. The surviving three ships went to go open up a portal into Slipstream Space, when the VDF Di Vinci intercepted them and took them down with a single blast from the large cannon mounted at the front of the massive battle cruiser. "The UNSC will come back with a lot more than a simple scouting party..." he turned to one of the crewmen. "Status update!" he yelled, walking down from the viewport. "We've got breaches in dozens of decks, shields are offline, fusion reactors A-3 through B-7 are offline and we're losing power fast." he reported, coughing. "Life support won't last long, either." Fernandes swore under his breath. "Start immediate evacuation, if we're not out of here—" the Romeo & Juliet shook violently, strobe lights turning on overhead as they began getting bombarded by heavy plasma weapons. "Dammit! Ensign, status report!" Fernandes looked out the viewport and saw several CCS-Class battle cruisers, led by a CAS-Class, appear from active camouflage. "Fuck!" Fernandes accessed the main intercom. "All crew, abandon ship! I repeat, abandon—" The Romeo & Juliet's bridge sealed off as a large plasma bolt struck it's viewport, the crew flying out into the vacuum without another word. The Romeo & Juliet's fuselage descended, then crashed onto the surface of Harmony, offline, leaving the VDF with one less form of defense. Author's Note Neigh. Yep. Neigh? Nope. Neigh! No. Neigh. No.
Prologue, Part I. May 9th, 2549. The Battle Of Harmony. Activity filled the hangar of the VDF Mariposa as marines, army troopers, and rangers bustled about, getting into dropships, sergeants and lieutenants rallying their troops, and engineers getting the gunships in order. Among the massive assault force, was a lone marine, sitting on a crate while she awaited orders. She had on a black bodysuit, over light plates that covered most of the bodysuit, similar to that of the body armor of a Gen. II Clone-trooper. The helmet clipped to her waist, was a MJOLNIR Armor helmet. To be more specific, the Nightfall Variant. Over the armor, she had on a black leather jacket, with a blazing sun emblazoned onto the back and shoulders. The armor being as thin as it was, could have minor pieces of outerwear, such as jackets and dusters, put on over without causing any technical issues. On her back, was a large military-grade backpack, carrying the marine's personal effects, as well as her explosives, rations, extra medical equipment, and extra ammunition. In her hands, was a leather bound book, with two separate images of a blazing sun, each one engraved into either side of the book. Leaning against the crate she sat on, was an MA5C Individual Combat Weapons System/Assault Rifle, loaded with a magazine of 7.62x51mm Full Metal Jacket rounds. Upon her face, was a large burn wound that covered the entire right side of her face. In the place of her right eye, was a prosthetic. It's sclera was black, with a bright red pupil that glowed. Her left eye was a casual cyan-blue. She had long hair that reached the base of her neck (in comparison to her squadmates, her hair was long.) and shared the coloration of bacon. Her eyes gave little away, and her expression was stone-cold. Her personality wasn't much different. Her name, was Sunset Shimmer. She is a lance corporal in the Vanguard Defense Force's Marine Corps. She, from age five, was raised to be a soldier. And a soldier she was. She belongs to Phoenix Company of the VDF Mariposa. Sunset looked up from her sketching to a loud whistle. "Lance Corporal Shimmer, we will not wait for you! Get your ass moving!" She closed her journal and slid it into her bag. Sunset slung her MA5C onto her back and jogged over. Her sergeant was an age veteran in his forties, with slicked-back graying jet-black hair. He had scars, albeit minor, covering his face. He had an M395 Designated Marksman's Rifle in his hands, an Enforcer Variant helmet atop his head. "Alright, we're moving out, marines!" the sergeant major roared, climbing into the back of a Dropship 77-Troop Carrier, more commonly known as a Pelican. Sunset climbed into the blood-tray, sitting at the seat closest to the hatch, her MA5C sitting in her lap. Sunset felt the pelican lift up as the thrusters fired up. She glanced up and saw her allies. Each wore a suit of Argus-Class Body Armor, the same Sunset wore. The person opposite her, wore a bulky suit, with large shoulder and chest armor, an M247H Heavy Machine Gun resting in his lap as he stared out the window through an Achilles-Variant helmet, painted a dark gray, like the rest of his armor, his visor a shade of gold. The Lance Corporal grappled onto the braces that held her in place as the pelican shook intensely from it's constant maneuvering from enemy fire. She felt the pelican enter orbit as it dipped, nose-down. Sunset's rifle hung across her chest from it's sling as the pelican descended. Sunset closed her eyes. The pelican rattled, a few of her marine comrades shifting in excitement and anticipation. The upcoming battle would determine whether or not the Vanguard and company would have a permanent home. Their target, was a UNSC colony, designated Harmony. It was an outer colony, but because of it's size, it was protected by a fleet's worth of ships. As they approached, the loud blasts of AA guns filled Sunset's ears. She grabbed her MA5C and cradled it to her chest as the sergeant stood up. "Alright, marines! This is it! This battle will determine which of us will survive! Which of us will get to live to see us win against the United Nations Space Command, once and for all! Now give me some noise marines!" Sunset included, the entire pelican's crew roared out a single "Oorah" as the Pelican slowed to a halt, lowering to the ground. Sunset undid her restraints and walked over to the hatch. The pilots began yelling at each other, when- "Oh, SH-" KABOOM. Sunset was sent flying out of the pelican as it began spiraling, a fire lit in one of the engines and the cockpit. The dropship spun around, then flew forward on it's own, crashing into the ground with a large explosion. "Dammit!" Sunset's vision blurred and she heard ringing. Her helmet visor was cracked, and the bar at the top of her HUD that marked her energy shields flashed red with 'WARNING!' displayed across her screen. Sunset got to her hands and knees, rifle clutched in her right hand. She felt rain pattering against her back, and saw it land in the ground around her. "Come on, we're out in the open!" Someone grabbed Sunset by the collar and practically tossed her forward into the dirt and mud a few meters below. It was the heavy. He jumped down after her. They sat in an old-school foxhole, with wooden boards and sandbags supporting the wall of earth that provided them cover. Steel plates and such were placed over the ledges, where M808B Main Battle Tanks, M12 Force Application Vehicles and M121 Light Strike Vehicles, or, in order, Scorpions, Warthogs and Jackrabbits rolled through, guns ablaze as they fired upon a UNSC stronghold a good couple hundred meters ahead. The VDF Di Vinci was lowered into the ground a few thousand meters back, dropping off vehicles straight from it's hangar. Aerial attack consisted of the VDF's armament of EV-44 "Nightingale" Support VTOLs, modified with chin-mounted autocannons, G77S Pelican Gunships, UH-144 Falcons, and D96-TCE Albatross dropships. Sunset got to her feet and leaned against the wall. "Status update!" Sunset's sergeant roared as he limped over, holding his left arm, which was bleeding profusely. "We've got UNSC forces that're taking initiative to push their asses forward! Our tanks aren't pushing far enough into the battlefield to do any damage!" An engie yelled over the din of gunfire, jogging over to the sergeant. "I suggest calling in for M400 Arties." The engineer pried the sarge's hand off of his arm, getting a look at the damage. He waved over one of the medics, who briefly escorted the sarge into a bunker built into the trench. "Push!" someone screamed over Comms. Marines and other VDF personnel began scrambling up out of the trenches. Sunset followed, climbing up a few of the objects that held up the trench wall, only to slip and fall back when she's hit by a huge shockwave from an explosion. , followed by a harsh amount of automatic gunfire. She poked her head out... Each of the soldiers who'd tried pushing forward were blown to bits. Foxholes were dug into the ground by the sheer force of the autocannons mounted on a Mammoth that began rolling forward, UNSC personnel being dropped off all around. "Dammit! They're pushing ahead, Di Vinci, we need cover fire!" another VDF Commanding Officer yelled over Comms. Several of the missile tubes on the exposed plates of armor opened up and began raining down support fire, slowly, but surely tearing through the resistance. Sunset shouldered her MA5C and climbed up out of the trench. She charged forward, letting her shields take the brunt of the oncoming gunfire that crossed her vision. She sprayed bursts at the hostile force while she moved, ducking and weaving through sniper fire and such. Sunset watched as a round tore into the mud before her foot impacted. She quickly did a spin and ducked into an overhang with two marines and a ranger taking shelter within. "Friendly!" Sunset held her hands up submissively. The two marines were bleeding, whilst the ranger was stacked up against the wall, poking his head out occasionally. "How the hell'd you get through? Last I checked, we could barely get a glimpse at the field..." one of the marines began saying. His voice was older, raspy. Sunset helped him to his feet and leaned him against the wall. She pulled out her Combat Lifesaver kit and got to work dealing with him. He had a few shallow bullet wounds in his abdomen, along with shrapnel damage up and down his left arm. Sunset swore under her breath and slid out a can of bio-medical foam, spraying it over his abdomen, whilst she applied a VDF-made version, known as Freezeburn, to his arm. "Don't try to use it. Even with the augmentations, you'll still fuck yourself up further than I can help ya. Understand?" The marine nodded and chuckled. "Never thought I'd see the day a major would be taking orders from a corporal." Sunset gave him a pat on the abdomen wound. "First time for everything, yeah?" the major laughed as Sunset knelt down to the other marine. "Don't try... she's long gone." Sunset looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm gonna at least try." She examined the marine's wounds, applying Freezerburn and her leftover Biofoam to them, or disinfecting and bandaging them. The marine, apparently a private, had her legs ripped up by shrapnel, her arm, abdomen, hell, her head, even had bullet wounds. She still was breathing, somehow. Sunset tore the private's helmet off in exchange for hers. Her lung was punctured as well. Sunset pulled out a tube from a slit in the helmet, and drove it into a port in the private's armor. "Marine, where's your bucket-" The major frowned. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sunset stood up and shouldered her MA5C. "Get her back to forward camp. I've got your asses." The major scoffed. "You won't last five goddamn minutes-" Sunset shushed him. "You and the ranger get the wounded back as quick as possible. Be gentle, you could hurt her more if you're not careful." The major rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine... Good luck out there, marine." Sunset nodded and gave the major a salute. "As to you." Sunset saw the ranger staring right at her. "You're somethin' else..." he muttered, then slung his SRS99-D and walked over to the major. They carefully heaved the injured private up and walked out of the overhang, where they were protected by another trench. Sunset held three fingers up. Two... One. The rogue Lance Corporal barreled out of the trench, MA5C blazing in her right hand, while an M7 SMG fired at anything that blinked in her left. Sunset avoided the majority of gunfire, hopping down into a UNSC-controlled trench. She stared at an ODST, before launching forward. She planted the barrel of her M7 to his jaw, and aimed her MA5C to the left, firing as reinforcements arrived to assist. Sunset fired two rounds from her M7 into the ODST's skull, splattering his remains onto the mud wall behind him. The lance corporal ducked under a knife swing from a SPARTAN-III and retaliated with a strong right hook. The SPARTAN ducked and drove his knife into Sunset's abdomen. She drew a Karambit knife in response and rammed it up through the exposed neck of the SPARTAN-III. He crumpled to the floor, Sunset's knife driven up through his neck and into his spinal cord. Sunset coughed blood and removed the knife from her abdomen, her suit's supply of Biofoam sealing the wound. That'll last for only so long... time to get back at it. Sunset reloaded her firearms and scavenged ammunition off the bodies of the UNSC personnel, finding a variety of grenades on the SPARTAN-III in his Semi-Powered Infiltration armor's ports. Sunset took his helmet and slid it on, no apparent damage visible. Her armor seemed to recolor itself to match the helmet. Sage green, with brown accents. Sunset smirked to herself at this. She stood up and weaved through the trench, killing any UNSC marines or ODSTs that got in her way. She tossed her M7 aside as she entered a bunker, with several M247H Heavy Machine Guns blazing, leaving her no room for movement. Sunset picked up a BR55 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle off of the ground and clicked the bolt back. Full magazine. She clicked it forward and took a deep breath. She removed the section of her belt that held her grenades, primed them all, then lobbed it at the machine guns. The gunners screamed, before they were torn apart by burning shrapnel and molten metal from the HMGs they'd used. Sunset spun out of cover and fired two quick bursts, ending the gunners' suffering. She had at least a shred of human decency left to do them that much. The corporal made her way deeper into the bunker, finding many more UNSC personnel inside, to which she gunned them down, scavenged their ammo, and moved on. She reached a staircase that led up to the surface, crouching down. Nighttime had reared it's face, and now, Sunset had the slightest semblance of cover. She darkened her armor colors and stealthily moved out of the bunker. UNSC forces patrolled around the concrete fortress all around her, warthogs, scorpions and all other sorts of vehicles scattered around, in varying conditions of repair or disrepair. She smirked to herself as music begins playing... Author's Note First rewritten chapter of The Outcast. A/N: If you want a better look at what a VDF soldier would look like, look at the SPI armor, via google or Halo Nation wikia. VDF is a fictional military group, made by yours truly. It stands for Vanguard Defense Force. The idea of the Vanguard, is a power that rivals the UNSC, that they know that could very well destroy them, vice versa. Each group has on-and-off peace agreements, that normally break within weeks, hell, even days. Their original concept was a Mercenary company, though, now, it's more of another military company all together. Hope you all enjoyed reading, if so, write a comment, if not, write a comment, tell me why you disliked/hated it. I own like... nothing.
Prologue, Part II. May 10th, 2549. The Battle Of Harmony. Sunset plunged her combat knife through the jaw of an ODST, ducking under his body for cover as a barrage of 7.62x51mm rounds flew downrange at her. She threw the body down, firing a dozen three-round bursts from her BR55HB in quick succession. The hostiles dropped. Sunset slid the empty magazine out and fished around in her ammunition pouches, until she found a half empty mag. The UNSC personnel in the corridors all had M6C/Gs, M90 shotguns, M7 SMGs or MA5C Assault Rifles, leaving her no reliable source for the 9.5x40mm rounds that her service rifle fired, aside from the armory. Sunset maglocked her BR55HB to her back in exchange for her MA5C. She proceeded to look herself over for wounds. Sunset was suffering from minor cuts, scrapes, two bruised ribs, several bullet wounds, a few major lacerations from knives, and a gaping wound in her forearm from where she shielded her face from an explosion. She grumbled about it, as if it were nothing. Sunset slumped down against one of the concrete walls behind her and looked around. The room was in hexagonal shape, the walls making a nice little edge in the middle where they met. Sunset saw a steel electronic door on either side of the room, which was a bit over thirty meters in length, barely three in width, and a bit under three in height. The doors to her left were jammed open by a crate, which she had put there, then slid under the door and killed the ODST. Sunset pushed herself up onto her feet and shouldered her MA5C. She rolled her shoulders and tightened her grip on the rifle. Just gotta get this done... then I can get out... possibly die on a grassy field somewhere... who knows. Sunset shook her head of the thoughts and let her rifle hang from it's sling at her waist. She gripped her fingers into the groove between the sealed bunker doors and began prying them apart. She felt blood start leaking from the wound on her forearm, but Sunset ignored it, and continued pulling at the doors. Grrrrroooaaaaaannnn... Sunset felt them quickly loosen and ram into the ports in the wall. She huffed angrily and grabbed her rifle. She quickly ducked behind one of the concrete-steel bulkheads as gunfire began tearing through the air. She looked up at one of the security cameras and saw the reflection of an ODST in bulky armor lugging an M247H, slowly pushing forward, discharging his weapon, spewing 12.7x99mm High Velocity Explosive rounds in her direction. Sunset laid down on her stomach and crawled over to one of the corpses. She removed a fragmentation grenade from their waist, primed it, and slid it across the floor. She rolled back behind the bulkhead as the grenade went off. Sunset ducked out of cover, MA5C drawn. The heavy was missing their legs, and had a single, large shard of metal driven through their visor. Sunset stood up and limped out of cover. She flinched and looked down at the source of the pain. She had several large gashes in her leg, likely from the hailstorm of bullets. Sunset knelt down, removed some gauze from her CLS kit, and wrapped her leg. She stood up and limped down the corridor, rifle loosely sweeping over each corner. It was beginning to start ramping downward. There were little platforms built into the top of the ramp, with a solid railing that acted as cover. Sunset slowly began traversing down the ramp, hoping she wouldn't have to deal with much more... Forty five minutes pass. Sunset spat blood and slumped down to the floor. She was now in the main complex, which made it all the more difficult, as there was an absolutely hellish amount of ODSTs, ONI personnel, and even a few Hellbringers... the damage they inflicted on her was brutal. Sunset's entire left arm was just bodysuit at this point, scorched and torn in a few places, though the tears would begin mending, the only armor plate was on the back of her hand, and even that was in poor condition at this point. Her right leg was missing the thigh, shin and calf armor, while the boot was barely holding together. Her abdominal armor was missing completely, while the breastplate/upper chest armor was somewhat still intact, though covered in deep dents and nasty scratches. Her right arm's plating was, for the most part intact. She had a long, long wound that had grazed her head, with bandaging over her head, soaked with her blood. Her left leg still functioned to the commands she gave it, so she was able to move... limited, of course. "There's no fucking way I can clear out this entire goddamn fort... adding the fact that I'm alone helps not, either..." Sunset thought aloud. She closed her eyes and rested for a moment... then it hit her. I've got to blow this place. Sunset limped over to a terminal that rested on a pedestal across from her. She fumbled for a bit, her hand shaking intensely still, but she was able to pull a data chip out of a pouch at her waist. She slid it into the port on the terminal and downloaded the schematics to the base to the chip. Sunset waited for it to finish, then inserted it into a port in her armor. She marked the three key locations, as well as the armory and medbay. The Armory first, as it was closest, then to the medbay so she could patch herself up a bit, then to the armory for C-7 Foaming Explosive, and C-12 Shaped Charges. possibly a few Thermite-Carbon Cords to cover her escape... Sunset looked down and sighed. She realized how little there was a chance that she'd be getting out of this. The idea of using TCC as a cover, was probably the only remote thought that suggested she planned on getting out alive. She did not. Living would be a privilege. Sunset limped forward, an M6C SOCOM magnum in her right hand, her left limply hanging at her side. She could do this... hopefully. Sunset marked a route to the armory and began limping down the bloodied corridor ahead. She heard boots, and quickly ducked behind a bulkhead, watching a patrol of three UNSC marines move through, wearing gas masks or EVA gear. She waited for them to pass, then moved down the corridor, M6C sweeping over every surface. She arrived at the Armory, a good forty minutes later. It was being guarded by a fireteam of ODSTs, assembled around a card table, playing poker with bullets instead of chips. Sunset adjusted the leather jacket upon her shoulders and went prone on the ground. She took a deep breath and entered SPARTAN time. She fired three rounds in quick succession, killing each of the Shock Troopers. Sunset ducked down and knocked on the armory door. "I'm coming!" someone yelled from inside. Sunset stacked up against the door, loosely holding her combat knife. She watched the seals in the door release, and as the door creaked open... revealing a trail of smoke leaking out. A marine stumbled out, a blunt pressed to his lips. Sunset drove her knife into his throat, hand over his mouth, and placed his body off to the side, giving his head a light kick for good measure. She crouched down low and closed the door behind her. There was sped-up rave music playing in the background, while, what Sunset believed to be marijuana, filled the air. She saw a bunch of people in their undergarments, hell, even a few ODSTs wearing their helmets, and nothing else, besides boxers, stumbling around... Shaggy, this isn't weed... Sunset stood upright and drew her M6S, pointed to the floor. There were nine hostiles... well, more-or-less they were all passive at the moment—Beyond the point. Sunset quickly fired each round in succession, silencing each of the stoned UNSC personnel... How this was allowed was far beyond her. Sunset counted the bodies, and frowned when she noticed one of them was gone. When she got a look at him, first glance, she swore she saw his eyes glowing red... Doesn't matter now. Sunset turned the music off. She grabbed a duffel bag, and began carefully placing each of her desired explosives in the bag— "Hey, I think I heard a gu-" a marine stood in the doorway, frozen at the sight of Sunset. He glanced at the alarm button to his left, then back to Sunset. "I-I'll press it!" he stuttered when Sunset reached her hand to her M6S. "I'm going to blow this base to oblivion, no matter if you press that button or not. You'll have one chance to live, right here, right now. You'll escort me to the med-bay, help me get patched up, then you'll leave the base through the bunker in the corridor beside the garage. Then, you will hold up a white flag, or you can press that button, and I'll knock you unconscious and use you as a human bomb. When your allies find you, they'll check to see if you're alive, only to get blown to pieces by an array of-" "O-Okay! I-I get it... W-Wait, you're one of those V-VDF people..." the marine held his hands up submissively as Sunset lowered her M6S, though right in his line of sight. "Get moving. Put that duffel on." The marine, a private from what she could tell, found himself with no other options, and slung the duffel, taking Sunset's MA5C. She was a good foot taller than him, even without the added height from augmentation. Sunset took off his radio and smashed it within her good hand. "Try anything, and you're dead. Understood?" The marine nodded fearfully. He hesitantly held her wrists together and they began their trek to the Medical Bay. They had minimal problems on their way, besides a few sideways glances at Sunset, or a few blows to her wounds. Sunset made a mental note to kill them first. Sunset stopped the marine. "We're at one of the main supports... Give me the duffel and tell me if anyone's coming." The UNSC marine nodded and gave her the bag with a shaky hand. Sunset got to the tedious job of setting up a good enough amount of explosive. "I expected a little more resistance, to be honest..." she said to the marine. He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "H-Heh... I-I never really wanted to be here. Not much for me, but it's a tradition in the family to join up in the military... I-I personally thought it'd be safer for my family if I joined the Vs, but that only started an argument..." "You don't join the Vanguard." Sunset replied, linking two wires to a glob of C-7. "W-Wait, what?" the marine glanced around. "You're recruited in, or enlisted, or a decorated soldier recommends you, and if you're not a six-year old or younger, you'd be enlisted into the Army Corps." The marine furrowed his brow. "S-Six or younger? W-" "Classified." Sunset finished up and slid the duffel over to the private. "S-Sorry for asking." he picked up the bag and slung it, giving Sunset a confused look as she smashed a keypad for one of the bunker doors. "We're gonna seal the sections off after we're done. It'll give me a chance to detonate each of the explosives." Sunset limped out of the excessively short section, more-or-less just two doors with a thick bulkhead in between, and smashed the keypad. The marine stepped out quickly and escorted Sunset... Though, it was more the other way around. Sunset arrived in the Med-Bay, and the private talked to one of the medical troopers while Sunset sat on an examination table. The young UNSCMC private walked in, a corpsman alongside him. She was a short brunette, with a young face, similar to the private, who was a short, scraggly redhead. "So, you want me to clean and patch up all of your wounds... right?" the corpsman asked, worry in her voice. "I'd do it myself... but... yeah." the corpsman chuckled and got to work. Sunset made sure she didn't poison her, keeping her M6S in her lap, while she looked over each piece of equipment that the corspman had, until she opened up Sunset's CLS kit and removed the can of Freezerburn and bio-medical-foam. "What's this...?" she examined each canister. "Biomedical foam, standard issue Wound Sustaining Gel, or Freezerburn." The corpsman put them back and finished up patching up Sunset's more major wounds. "I never thought I'd be helping the enemy... You're gonna get arrested, you know that, Rye?" the corpsman said to the scraggly private, who sighed and nodded. "You will too... unless you come with us. She's gonna blow up the base—" "Killing so many people, innocent people!" Sunset stood up and stared the corpsman down. "If you didn't know the effects of war, you shouldn't have joined the navy." Sunset slung the duffel onto her back and turned to "Rye". "Thanks for the help." Sunset quickly raised her magnum and silenced him. She swiftly turned to the corspman, and put her hand over her mouth, firing several rounds up into her skull, letting her body down to the floor. Sunset carefully stacked their bodies, rigging an explosive underneath them. "May your souls rest when you arrive to Valhalla..." she whispered, then carefully made her way out of the medical wing, camouflage enabled— Suddenly, the alarms began going off. Sunset picked up the pace and started running to the second marker. She suddenly ducked behind a bulkhead as a barrage of gunfire went downrange. Damn it... She poked out and fired a few bursts, then took cover once more. Several rounds slammed into the bulkhead. Sunset pulled out a fragmentation grenade from the duffel, primed it, and threw it out into the corridor. Kaboom! Sunset quickly ran past the writhing bodies on the ground, and began making her way down the corridor, only to get knocked flat on her ass by a close-ranged blast from an M90. Her chest armor blew apart, and clattered to the floor, leaving Sunset unprotected. She looked up, and saw an ODST standing over her. The shock trooper raised his M90, pumping it. Sunset quickly swept his legs out from under him, unsheathed her knife, and plunged it into his eye socket. She removed it and got back up, wincing. She was bleeding again. She growled and started limping down the hall, the ODST's shotgun now in her open arms. She reached the second marker and shot one of the keypads, pressing the other to seal her in the room, barely four feet wide. Sunset listened to the sound of boots that approached the broken hatch to her left whilst she worked at priming the next charge. Ding! She smiled to herself and unlocked the second door, only to have several firearms pointed at her. Sunset swore under her breath and dropped her weapons at the two UNSC marines standing before her, MA5Cs cradled within their arms. "Don't move—" Sunset interrupted him by lunging forward, grabbing the handle of his MA5C. The two struggled for a moment, before Sunset made the soldier shoot his comrade in the skull. "You made me kill Kenny! You bastard!" the marine roared, only to receive a burst of 7.62x51mm NATO rounds to the brain. Sunset weakly threw his body to the ground and spat blood, looking down at herself. At some point, she got hit, as there was a sizable hole in her abdomen. "Oh, shit." she muttered. Sunset quickly removed her can of Freezerburn from her CLS kit and placed the tip to the wound, filling it with the chilling gel material that hardened soon after being sprayed. Sunset shouldered her MA5C and flinched as the Freezerburn began freezing the wound. Sunset limped down the hallway, growling. She was on her last legs here. The chance of her surviving were lowering, the more damage she took. Were it not for the adrenaline in her system already, and the adrenaline being pumped into her, she'd have collapsed a long time ago. The Freezerburn struck a few of the wounds she'd obtained earlier, and she swore. Sunset now had a chance to die of freezing to death in sixty-two degree Fahrenheit weather. That's why Freezerburn is so rarely used. If done wrong, you could freeze most of your internal organs without realizing it, killing you from the inside. It was normally used for treating burns, but Sunset had run out of Biofoam, and it was a quick decision. She needed to hurry. Sunset still needed to rig the third support, as well as rig the generator— She was now at the third support. Sunset knelt down and carefully pulled the duffel bag off. She clipped the grenades she'd taken to her hip, and got to work planting the explosive. Let's see... C-7 there... C-12 charge there, coat the corners... Wire correctly... done. Sunset stood up and glanced around. The alarms had stopped. Sunset growled and began limping out of the base. Swwoooooooosh, Kaboom! The lighting flickered and Sunset tripped, swearing as it opened up several of her wounds. She began crawling forward down the hallway, blood dripping from her wounds and onto the clean, concrete floor. Sunset looked up to see a boot slam into her stomach, knocking her onto her back. She coughed up a torrent of blood. "Look what we have here..." A SPARTAN-III, wearing a suit of MJOLNIR armor. He picked Sunset up by the throat, and forced her into the wall. The lance corporal's left hand loosely patted and tapped against the augmented soldier's arm at her throat, whilst her right worked at the knife in the sheathe at her waist. "Theo, call it in." An ODST behind him nodded and was about to activate his radio, when Sunset spat blood at the SPARTAN's visor and plunged her knife into his arm, twisting it. The SPARTAN screamed and threw Sunset off to the side, trying to pull the blade out. That bought Sunset enough time to draw her M6S and shoot the three ODSTs behind the SPARTAN-III. The augmented soldier finally removed the knife and let his dominant arm fall limp at his side. He roared in agony and slowly pushed over to Sunset, despite the rounds impacting his shields. Sunset took down his shields, and fired the last round of her magazine right into the SPARTAN's visor, blood and skull matter splattering as the 12.7x40mm round blew out the lights. He stumbled, his arms flailing for a minute before he crumpled to the ground. "Sumbitch..." Sunset got up and limped over to the III's body, spitting on his chest. She picked up her MA5C off the ground, her left arm hanging limp at her side. She clicked a button on the side, and the body shifted back, as well as the barrel and individual pieces in front of the ammunition counter, shortening the weapon, effectively. Her little touch. The young Lance Corporal stumbled down the corridor, deciding against the generator. She felt the base shake as the time limit on the first explosive went off, causing the lights to dim for a few minutes. Sunset ducked behind a bulkhead, 9.5x40mm and 7.62x51mm rounds flying past her. She ducked down, watching the lights dim. She used the time of confusion and poked out, firing two quick three-round bursts, silencing two marines and another shock trooper. Red emergency lights lit up the corridor as Sunset moved through the corridors. Her vision faded to black occasionally, blurred images of gunfights filling the blanks. She blinked a few times, shaking the dizziness away... attempting, to, and failing to. Sunset felt her vision return, and she saw the tunnel entrance. She was so, so close... Then she felt a large heat strike the side of her head, as well as the feeling of liquid soaking her head. She pulled her shaky hand to her head, and came back with blood. She turned around and saw the SPARTAN-III, his face torn up and ripped apart. "You're not getting away that fucking easily!" He discharged one more round from his M6G, and Sunset was sent tumbling down the staircase. She saw a blood pool forming, and got to her knees, crawling over to a large vent. She shakily pulled her knife out, undoing each screw. The III's footsteps closed in, and she pulled the last screw out. She threw the knife into the vent and climbed in, placing the grate back. She laid down on her back and awkwardly maneuvered around until she was on her stomach, facing the shaft. Sunset clasped the knife's blade within her teeth as she crawled through the shaft slowly. She reached a bend, taking a left, when she heard groaning. Oh, FU— The ventilation shaft collapsed, and she screamed as she hit the ground. She vomited blood and backpedaled out, getting to her feet. Her vision was immensely blurred, and she couldn't tell left from right by how much her head spun and hurt. She stumbled forward, seeing a staircase. Rain began pooling at the bottom— The surface! Sunset quickly stumbled forward and tripped, landing in the mud, splattering her wounds. It stung, but she ignored it and started climbing, slowly. The III roared from somewhere behind her. "Not yet, you bitch!" he screamed with an almost inhuman voice. Sunset's arms were giving, and she felt fatigue start to set in. She... She wasn't going to make it... Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. Anyone would've felt like they've done enough, and just laid down and died, just let the insufferable pain coursing through them die out, along with them... No. She is Sunset. Mother. Fucking. Shimmer. Not in a million years would she go down like this. Sunset didn't have the strength to scream, or yell, so she just kept climbing, despite the approaching bootprints from behind. A few more steps... The rays of the sun hit her face and she felt... better, somehow. It was one of those days, where the sun was out, and it was raining. Sunset could've, would've enjoyed it, if two explosions suddenly rocked her world so hard that it knocked her onto her side, into the mud that splattered her bodysuit. Sunset didn't have the strength... All she could do, was lie down and die... She groaned and pushed herself. Her muscles burned, and her body screamed at her in protest as she began crawling out of the trench. She heard voices, and saw soldiers wearing Argus Armor approaching her— Her leg was tugged back, and she was on her back, the III now straddling her, knife held above his head... Ka-Boom. His brains, and the remains of his helmet were now gone. The sound was like a cannon, Sunset's ears rang, and she the last thing she saw before she blacked out, was the face of that Major... "Come on, don't die on me, marine..." his voice started fading... Sunset felt satisfied, and let unconsciousness overcome her. Author's Note I checked the views for The Outcast, and it went from zero to a hundred-sixty in like... seven-eight hours. That made me feel good, so either the views reset to what it was before I deleted this, or one-hundred and sixty people saw that this story is no longer on Hiatus, and checked it out. Hope ya enjoyed! Now, if you'll excuse me. *faceplants into computer and snores*
