Operation Bullseye

by Striker1959

Chapters

Through the Flames
Pioneer
Spartan

Through the Flames

HMS Paris, somewhere over the Western Ocean
Dart

Waiting. If I’ve learned anything fighting ONI and the Enclave it's that waiting comes with the territory. We beat back their advances only for their to be weeks, sometimes even months, between battles. A normal pony would assume that they go back to lick their wounds after we kick their asses, but I know better. They’re studying our tactics in search of weaknesses they can exploit. Up until a year ago I thought that we were flawless in executing our counterattacks… But Las Pegasus proved me wrong. In doing our jobs one of our enemies realized something very important.

We’ve fought tooth and nail to protect civilians. So they set off a radiation bomb... Those who didn’t go mad through exposure to the balefire radiation were died in agony within a week. Princess Celestia hailed us as heroes, but I and those who survived the ordeal know that none of us deserve that title. Over one thousand ponies died, a good chunk of them to our own containment efforts. And the Enclave only had to expend two soldiers, because in the end we did all the shooting for them.

But now a year on we’re in the prime position to get some payback. After months of planning General Meteor Shower unveiled our first real offensive action of the war; Operation Typhoon. Three years ago we had stumbled across an island shipyard in the Western Ocean, seemingly abandoned as the entire contingent was aboard two Raptors that attacked Equestria. But in the aftermath of Dusk’s disappearance the freshly reactivated Meteor Shower took another look at the island, and we’re lucky that he did. With the aid of the Wonderbolts we’ve been able to track Enclave and ONI operatives as they left the island, in addition to discovering a second base of operations deep within the Badlands.

But today our goal is simple; we take the shipyard and the island it sits on. With no proper repair facilities the Enclave won’t be able to repair their Raptors, which hopefully will restrict their deployments. But the shipyards come with an added benefit. We can finally make proper repairs to the Paris and bring two near-derelict ships, the Redoubtable and the Coral Sea, back into service after almost two years of clandestine storage in the Everfree.

At this point I believe that I must address something. All three of our ships are human vessels, the Paris being the only one still crewed. When the Enclave first attacked then-Commander Thomas Baxter came to our aid and helped drive back the assault. After discovering that not only had an element of their government known that they were stranded on our world, but they had decided to eliminate them all. Something broke in Baxter that day… But as word of the truth began to spread his crew began asking if they could enlist with us. And enlist they did, every single one of them. Baxter was the final person to sign on, bringing with him the Paris and the access codes so we could recover the Redoubtable and Coral Sea from their location in deep space. We went and claimed both ships immediately and they were incorporated into the Navy immediately. But the years adrift hadn’t done the ship's any favors and even now they remain hidden away deep within the Everfree, waiting for proper repair facilities to be made available. And if all goes well they won’t be sitting idle for much longer.

“Commander Dart?” Came Captain Baxter’s voice over my radio.

“Go ahead Captain.” I replied, leaning forward in the jumpseat I occupied in the bay of one of the Paris’ Pelican dropships.

“We’re one minute from green light. What’s your status?”

I looked around the back of the Pelican and looked over the four other souls that I would be leading into battle. Steeljack was locking his rifle to the rack above his seat, Comet was wiping down his rifle, Strike was loading rounds into spare magazines, and Don… The only human member of our group was holding his helmet in his hands staring at the silver visor. “We’re ready.”

“Understood, stand by.”

Out in the hangar klaxons began to bair and out the open door I could see Marines, both Human and Equine, running about as final preparations were made. “Still the same old music…” Don muttered as he flipped his helmet around and pulled it on over his head. In that moment the visor went from silver to clear, a function standard to the Helljumper’s equipment. “I take it that you all know the dance by now?”

“How couldn’t we?” Steeljack asked as he sat down in his seat. “We’ve only launched four other operations from this old bucket.”

I could see Don smile under the visor before he tapped the side of his helmet, turning the visor silver once more. “And I’d be worried if I got a different answer.” Fifteen marines filed into the bay and sat down in whatever chair they could find.

“Baxter to all hands, the board is green.” The Pelican shuddered as it lifted off the deck, followed by an immediate drop into the open tropical air beneath the frigate. “Commence Operation Typhoon!”

The Pelican shifted as it accelerated towards our beach landing. “Thiry seconds!” The pilot yelled from the cockpit.

“Alright, we’re mean. We are very mean!” Don yelled as he got up and grabbed his shotgun.

“OOH RAH!” The Marines all yelled in unison.

The visible ocean outside the open bay door turned a lighter blue before sand came into view, immediately followed by a thud as the pelican touched down. “Go, go, go!” Don yelled, waving the Marines out. As the last one left I got up from my own chair and led my team out onto the beach. Off to the left and right Marines disgorged from flanking drop ships and started advancing up the beach. As the last Pelican took off and flew back towards the imposing form of the Paris I made an important realization.

We weren’t getting shot at.

“Don…” I droned as I shouldered my MA5C “Shouldn’t it be a bit noisier?”

Don nodded his helmeted head. “Paris Actual this is Alpha Six, are you seeing anything up there?” Don was silent for a moment before he thumped his finger against the left side of his helmet. “Paris Actual, do you copy?”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the last of the Marines start marching off towards the dunes at the head of the beach. “Something’s not right…” Steeljack murmured. “No resistance, but no working radio either?”

“It’s gotta be a trap.” Strike observed.

He might be right… “It doesn’t matter.” I said, swinging my rifle onto my back. “We’ve still got a job to do.”

“The lady has a point.” Don said. “We need to take that shipyard, even if we’re walking into a trap.” The veteran soldier turned and started walking up the beach. “Now come on. We’re burning daylight.”

***

Ten Minutes Later

By the time we had reached the shipyard proper we still hadn’t seen any resistance. There wasn’t even a sign of life to be seen… And we were supposedly in Enclave central. “Is that radio still on the fritz?” Steeljack asked Don.

“Still is.” He replied. “But I just don’t get it… Why cut off the communications of an invading force if you don’t plan on engaging them?”

As we reached the main building I stopped and wheeled around. “What makes you think the Enclave isn’t up to something?” I asked.

Don shrugged. “Just look around. As far as I can tell we’re the only ones here.”

As much as I don’t want to admit it, the Helljumper might be onto something. And the prospects of what we were actually going to face left me a bit concerned… Are we really walking into an abandoned building, or are there soldiers waiting inside? “Only one way to find out.” I pointed at Strike before pointing at the steel double doors that would let us into the main building. “Breaching charge, the rest of you stack up.”

For what seemed to be the millionth time Strike fished out an explosive crystal and fixed it to the middle of the door, all while we all split up evenly on both sides of the door. As the crystal began to glow Strike wheeled around and got behind Strike on the other side of the door. He held out his hands, three fingers first before going down to two, then one…

BOOM!

The door blew apart and landed inside with a clatter. Lights on rifles turned on as we swept into the empty foyer. The building itself was two levels; the wide open ground floor with the command center up top. I silently waved Steeljack and Don to follow as I marched up the flight of stair. I made it to the top quickly and swept the light around the command center. Computers were all still running, but there was no sign of ny Enclave or ONI personnel.

“Clear.” Don called out.

“Clear!” I heard Comet yell downstairs.

With that word I felt my shoulders get tense. On any other operation I’d be relieved, but we’re standing in an enemy fortress with no sign of hostiles. Don and Steeljack were already looking over the consoles as the lights flickered on.

“So what’s new?” Strike asked as he and Comet walked up the stairs to join us, the Marines I was hearing downstairs likely having that level covered.

I heard something click, immediately followed by a brief burst of static through my radio’s earpiece. “Found the jammer!” Don yelled.

I immediately hit the radio’s transmitter. “Paris Actual, this is Alpha Three. Do you copy?”

“Affirmative Alpha Three.” Baxter called through the now unobstructed channel. “What’s your situation?”

“All hands present and accounted for, no signs of hostiles.”

“Say again Alpha Three? It sounded like you said that no one is home.”

“It’s exactly what she said Captain.” Don added. “No sign of the Enclave or-”

“You might want to put a sock in that.” Steeljack called out. “Dart, you need to see this.”

I jogged across the room as Steeljack pulled up a file from the communications logs. “Blaze Squad, what’s wrong?”

As I finished reading the file I clicked the radio back on. “Captain, get the Paris in one of those berths and send word that it’s safe for the Redoubtable and Coral Sea to move.”

“But what about-”

“Captain I know where the Enclave went.” I said, cutting off the officer. As I looked back down at the file and looked at the final timeline of the plan that it outlined I forced my growing concern down into the depths of my mind.

“What is it Dart?” Don asked as his visor cleared up. “What did you find?”

I glanced down at the plans and found the names of all of the ships that ONI had allocated for what the plan termed as ‘Operation Endgame’. “I found out where the Enclave went… And we have just over forty eight hours until they come back.”

***

HMS Paris, Two Hours Later

Under normal circumstances I’d say having a briefing on the bridge of a ship that looked more like a construction site was incredibly unwise, but we didn’t have time to fly back to Canterlot.

“Are they here yet?” I asked the Captain.

Baxter shook his head. “Didn’t I tell you no even a minute ago that they were on their way up?”

They, of course, were the Royal Sisters. As the elevator door slid open and they marched out onto the bridge, I noticed that Meteor Shower had stepped off with them. “Captain Baxter…” Princess Luna groaned. “Can you please tell me what was so important that you need the presence of both my sister and I? Your mission was clearly a success, and young Sparkle is already hard at work installing the equipment she built for your vessel.”

“That isn’t why I called you both here.” Baxter insisted, leading them over to the holotable. “Dart?”

I punched a few keys and the holotable projected images of five human ships. “We’ve got a big problem headed our way. ONI has provided the Enclave with three heavy cruisers and two frigates, in addition to four space capable Raptors that they’ve built for their friends.”

While Celestia’s expression didn’t change, Luna’s became one of great concern. “Faust… What do we do?”

“For starter we need all three of these ships combat ready in what is now less than two days.” I explained, pulling up the specifications that Twilight had provided for the refit on Paris when she arrived. “And I need to apply these weapons and defensive modifications to the Redoubtable and Coral Sea.”The specifications that the prodigal student of Celestia had drawn up were nothing short of a quantum leap for Equestrian science and magic. She had designed pulse cannons to replace the human-designed point defense guns while fitting in the same barbette, crystal-based “missiles” to replace the expended Archer equivalents, crystal-based ablative armor to reinforce the Titanium-A skin of the frigate and, after some work, a shield system that used the slipspace drive reactor as the main power source.

“And you need this done before those ships get here…” Celestia muttered.

“We should also get the crews moving.” Luna pointed out. “What about the Regent, do we know if it is ready?”

I thought back to the reports about the Condor that had been scavenged from the Redoubtable. “If Sparkle wasn’t satisfied with her prototype then I doubt that she’d be here.” I pointed out. “But with that in mind we need to get to my plan.”

“I’m sorry, but a plan?” Celestia asked.

I nodded. “Right now we have an opportunity to improve our position.” I typed away at the keys again as two ship images developed. “These are the UNSC Pioneer and the UNSC Euclid’s Anvil. According to ONI’s plan they’re the advance force. With that in mind our goal is simple. We take control of the Pioneer long enough to fire on the Enclave base in the Badlands before bugging out. Assuming Redoubtable and Paris can handle Euclid’s Anvil, Coral Sea and Regent will be able to get in close to the Pioneer unhindered.”

The bridge was silent for a few minutes before both Princesses finally nodded. “You’ll have your fleet Commander.” Princess Celestia assured.

I let a smile creep across my face. “Excellent… Captain Baxter, contact Flash Sentry.”

“Anything specific I should tell him?” Baxter asked.

I stopped to think for a moment before I nodded. “Tell him we’re going to war.”

***

HMS Redoubtable, Two Days Later

I’m not one to usually believe in miracles, but after losing resources to counter a surprise attack on Dodge City only hours after work began on the fleet we still managed to get all four ships combat ready. We even managed to cobble together proper crews consisting primarily of officers taken directly from the Wonderbolts. As I sat in the big chair on the bridge of the Redoubtable I couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed at our efforts…

“Commander?” I glanced off to my right and saw that the Wonderbolt commander, Fleetfoot, was standing at my side.

“What’s up Fleetfoot?”

She handed me a datapad. “I had one final systems check run, and I thought you’d want to see it.”

Glancing over the report I couldn’t help but smile. So far all of the retrofitted equipment was working as intended. “Good… This is good Commander.”

“But is it going to do anything for us?” She asked.

“We can only hope.” I offered. We had only finished the work on Redoubtable three hours ago, so no tests other than turning things on had been accomplished. “We know that the Paris had time to test its systems and they reported that everything was working. Considering most of this junk is identical I’d say we’re probably in good-”

“Commander, slipspace rupture detected!” The helmsman called out.

“Here we go…” I muttered. “Shields up, go to red alert!”

As the imposing shapes of the Euclid’s Anvil and Pioneer dropped out of slipspace alarms began blaring all across the bridge. “Paris to all ships, requesting status report.”

“This is the Coral Sea-” Came the calm sounding voice of the Wonderbolt’s leader, Spitfire. “-all systems are reading green. We’re ready.”

I flicked the comms switch on my chair. “Redoubtable here, we’re operational and ready to go.”

“Understood, stand by.” As I looked out onto the two ships ahead of us I finally noticed something. The new plating on our ships made them look pale blue as opposed to the grey that they had been painted with. A small detail assuredly, but one that I hadn’t yet noticed. “UNSC vessels. This is Captain Thomas Baxter of the HMS Paris. You are in direct violation of Equestrian space. Reverse course or you will be fired upon.”

The seconds ticked by before a green light flashed on the comms panel. “Captain Baxter, this is Captain Pellegrino of the Euclid’s Anvil. We will not reverse our course. Surrender your ships and prepare to be boarded.”

“The Anvil is arming weapons Commander!” The helmsman called out.

I offered a simple nod. “Paris, I don’t think they’re in a mood to listen.”

“Agreed.” Baxter replied. “All ships, fire at will!”

Outside the our enclosed bubble pulse cannons on both the Paris and Coral Sea lit up, spraying bolts of rainbow-colored light at the opposing vessels.

“Lock weapons on the Pioneer, target their MACs!” I yelled. I could tell that we were accelerating towards the destroyer as the Paris moved out of direct view.

Immediately the destroyer opened fire with their smaller guns. As the rounds impacted against our shield I could see the ripples of rainbow-colored light skitter away from the point of contact. “Missiles locked on target Commander.”

“Let em’ have it!” Fleetfoot yelled. With the push of a button five missiles streamed out from somewhere under the bridge and flew straight at the Pioneer. As they impacted against the front of the destroyer they let off large fireballs that flew out in all directions in the vacuum.

“Direct hit Commander, their MACs are reading disabled.”

“Paris to Redoubtable, we could use some support over here!”

“Bring us about Helm!” I yelled. As the view shifted I could see why Baxter had made the call. Instead of that same pale-blue hull that I had seen only moments before the ship itself looked more like a rainbow.

“Dart, the Euclid is lining up for a shot!” I heard Comet yell from somewhere behind me.

“Open up those batteries!” I yelled. Two of the visible turrets beneath us spun forward and began sending streams of light against the Euclid. As its shields flared the vessel kept turning away from us and towards the Paris. Missiles began to fly away from their launchers and smacked into the side of the cruiser one after another.

I could see the helmsman shake his head. “I’m reading fluctuations in the Euclid’s shields, but otherwise they’re ignoring us.”

That leaves us with only one other option to get their attention. “Preparing a firing solution for the main cannon, and make it fast!”

“We’re charging up the system now, we’ll be ready to fire in two minutes.”

I slammed my fist down on the armrest. “We don’t have two minutes!”

“But we’ve only got one-”

“It doesn’t matter!” I yelled, cutting off the helmsman. “Fire the damn round!” The ship shuddered and in a blink of the eye something smacked into the side of the Euclid, erupting into a massive fireball that obscured our view of both it and the Paris. As the flames died away we saw both ships still there.

Our low-powered shot had thrown off the Euclid’s aim. But their shot against the Paris had done a number on the vessel. Their shields had obviously failed if the rainbow-colored sparks arcing out from various emitters were any indicator, and the main loading elevator had suffered a direct hit from the MAC round which had taken out a sizable chunk from the ventral protrusion.

“Coral Sea to Paris, Captain Baxter can you hear me?” The channel stayed quiet for a few seconds before we all heard Spitfire sigh. “Redoubtable, I think it's time to worry about that Destroyer.”

I nodded. “Copy that Captain.” I hopped out of the big chair and waved to Comet. “Blaze Squad, let's go to work!”

Author's Note

Now this is something different that I hadn't planned on writing... But after hitting a brick wall on E-201 I came up with a few different ideas for separate stand alone stories set within the mirrorverse proper. That's when I remembered that I had a short stories segment to the original Broken Mirror... And after going through what I wrote I decided that I needed something of greater quality. So I pegged two ideas for further development. This was one of those ideas, which I realized would fit in well in the Mirrorverse as I hadn't explored what Dart and Company was doing immediately prior to Dusk's return. Their was simply a mention in Chapter 9 of Broken Mirror Part I that Blaze Squad was boarding the destroyer UNSC Pioneer. That in itself is certianly something to flesh out. You'll see more eventually, as I have the boarding operation itself already written. Eventually I'll be doing something with the operation to salvage both the Coral Sea and Redoubtable, but that'll take a bit more thought and planning before it sees the light of day.

In the meantime, anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Pioneer

Two Minutes Later…

As the Regent blew out of the lower bay of the Redoubtable the radio lit up. “We’ve got an incoming contact… Oh shit.” From my position in the cockpit of the heavily modified Condor we could see a massive ship glide through the slipspace portal. Even at the great distance I could still get an impression that the ship was far larger than even the cruiser that we were facing.

“Forget about that thing, we’ve still got a job to do!” What you could notice on the Regent was how you rock about in a maneuver, due to less than optimal inertial dampening. As we banked towards the Pioneer you could feel the sliding motion in the seat of your pants. Even as the forward shields flared under fire from the destroyer. “Although we still need to get aboard that ship…”

“Roland calling HMS Regent, do you copy?”

The voice sounded entirely foreign to me, yet this individual managed to pick up on our comms channels. “This is Commander Dart. Who am I speaking with?”

The old holotank off to my left flickered to life and a golden-colored figure of a human developed. “I’m Roland, AI of the UNSC Infinity. What’s your situation?”

My thoughts immediately flashed back to the large ship that had only just dropped out of slipspace moments before. “I’m sorry, but why would I tell a potential enemy anything?”

“Because we wouldn’t be here unless Dusk didn’t send a bunch of highly sensitive files to the head of Fleetcom.” The AI retorted.

The name of my missing predecessor stuck in my mind for a brief moment. “Dusk?” I asked.

“The one and only.” said Roland. “Right now he’s leading a team down to the surface, Dodge City to be precise. In the meantime Infinity should be able to keep the Anvil distracted so you can do… Well, whatever it is you’re planning.”

“If you’re on our side can you get me a copy of the remote access codes to the Pioneer?”

“Wait for it… Done!” A set of codes flashed across the readout in front of me. “You should be able to trigger the universal docking port on the aft part of the superstructure.”

I turned around in my chair and nodded at Comet. He typed away for a few seconds before a light blinked green on his display. “We’ve got access. Your orders?”

“Shut down their weapons.” I ordered. As I turned back to the controls I noticed a few more splashes of rounds against our forward shields, followed by a whole lot of nothing. “Alright, stand by.” I brought the Regent in over the top of the ship, bringing it to a halt perpendicular to the yellow-striped docking port.

“Do you even know how to dock this thing?” Roland asked.

For a moment I thought that I did, but instead shook my head. “I take it you’re offering to take the stick?”

Roland’s hologram nodded. “I think you’ve got some work to do Commander.”

I abandoned the chair and walked back into the troop compartment. In addition to my unit Captain Sentry had assembled three other teams of Special Forces operators. But today those fifteen ponies instead were working as temporary assignments to Blaze Squad. Suddenly the deck shuddered and a hissing was heard from the rear compartment door. “Looks like we’re hooked up…”

“What’s the plan Commander?” Flash asked.

“Alpha will take the bridge, the rest of you hold here and try to get access to ship systems from the local terminals.” I replied. “Once you manage to do that start sealing off the crew where you can. That should help lessen resistance.”

Flash nodded and got up from his chair. “Then let's get to work.”

I didn’t need to say anything else, as my unit was had already made their way to the hatch. As I joined them Steeljack handed me an assault rifle. “You good?”

I nodded, then reached over and hit the release for the hatch. It opened to reveal a tunnel about twenty feet long that led to an open hatch, showing one of the Destroyer’s corridors. I would’ve imagined that in the seconds it took to board the ship that some crew would’ve already tried to prevent our progress… Yet even as I took a position to cover the docking port there wasn’t any sign of crew or ship security.

“You know, most ponies don’t just let someone walk in their front door unannounced.” Strike observed.

“Knucklehead over here might be onto something.” Comet added. “We should be up to our necks in security by now.”

“Sentry, find a terminal.” I ordered. “Alpha, we’re moving on the bridge!”

As Don led us down the corridor away from the docking port my radio chirped to life. “Commander, Roland here. How are things looking over there?”

“They’re going Roland.” I replied. “It’s a bit quiet though…”

“So no security?”

“Nope. Not even a red carpet.”

Roland hummed something to himself over the radio before snapping out of his apparent train of thought. “Well this is odd. Internal sensors are showing three people right on top of you… But the system keeps resetting. Call me crazy but I don’t think that they’re working right.”

“Sounds like we're running on visuals.” Don observed.

“Exactly what I was thinking Sargent.”

Don sighed, probably rolling his eyes under his visor. “It’s Lieutenant Commander these days.”

“When did that happen? You’re a-”

“I’m not an ODST, not anymore Roland.” The trooper said. “Officially I’m a member of the Royal Guard.”

Roland didn’t say anything for a minute, obviously processing what he had just heard. “What exactly happened? Dusk’s files make reference to ONI assisting the Enclave-”

“ONI tried to kill all the humans that are working with us Roland.” Comet said, cutting off Don. “They obviously failed miserably when you take into account that we’ve got just shy of seven hundred of them helping us fight both ONI and the Enclave.”

“Just shy of seven hundred? All three of the ships had full complements when they went missing. What happened?”

“Where we didn’t have a destination solution.” Don explained. “When we didn’t drop out of slipspace with In Amber Clad, Captain Baxter realized that our drive core was drawing power. The crews on Coral Sea and Redoubtable must’ve realized the same thing because they forced drive core shutdowns. We didn’t have to do a thing because we got pulled back into realspace with the other two ships.”

“They forced a core shutdown while in slipspace?”

Don nodded. “And they suffered the consequences accordingly. The shutdown created a massive radiation pulse… Every single person on the Redoubtable and Coral Sea died in agony. We managed to recover and decontaminate the ship's two years ago, and even then it took Princess Celestia the better part of a week to work her magic and make those ships save to board. Four years had already passed, so there was a significant amount of decomposed matter that needed to be cleared off those ships… We inevitably loaded the corpses into a pelican that was remotely piloted into the sun. After another week of sterilization work both ships were brought planetside and hidden away in the Everfree until we could repair them.”

“So how long have you been using them?” Roland asked.

“About two days ago we captured an Enclave drydock on some island in the Western Sea.” I said. “Repairs and retrofits were only finished on Redoubtable and Coral Sea earlier today. It was either get them ready or we’d only have that franken-Condor and the Paris to stare down ONI’s task group.”

“Franken-Condor… You mean to tell me that a species with little to no experience in constructing space-capable craft managed to make a bunch of retrofits and modifications on what were essentially hand-me-downs in the matter of two days?”

I forced off a shrug and smirked. “We’ve got one really smart pony that spearheaded the effort. And even her work was based off of prior designs and notes that Dusk developed when he constructed the Guardian.”

“Now that brings back some memories…” Steeljack muttered. “I remember when he first showed Twilight that ship. I know the mare is smart, but that was a whole different side to her… She reminded me of a kid that just had a candy bar for the first time.”

“It was something new for her to learn.” I added. “Right after he disappeared the only other pony who could make sense of Dusk’s notes and designs was Twilight, so I had copies made and given to her.”

“So this Twilight character… What does she do?”

“Officially she’s one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, a set of magical artifacts that have been used in times of crisis throughout our history. Other than that she’s picked up the ceremonial title “Princess of Friendship” after she ascended to Alicornhood, but she is essentially a researcher for the Princess.”

Something flashed Don’s shoulder and Roland’s avatar finally joined us. “From what I understand your species hasn’t seen war and its effects until relatively recently. And you’ve got a civilian designing weapons of mass destruction when compared to your own level of technological development. How the hell does this lady handle it?”

“Twilight has proven surprisingly adaptable.” I pointed out. “As have the other five bearers of the Elements. About a week after Dusk’s disappearance there was an attack staged against a carnival in Manehattan while the six of them were visiting… Suffice to say they’ve all seen some psychological scarring, but from that day Twilight viewed it as her duty to use her knowledge to develop defenses that we could use, while the others have put a wide berth between the war. As a matter of fact the Regent served as Twilight’s testbed and prototype for designs she derived from Dusk’s notes.”

“You’re forgetting she only chose to use it after she kept failing to put the Guardian back together.” Steeljack added. “That was what, a month after Redoubtable was stationed in the Everfree?”

I nodded. “Right about then if I remember correctly.”

“So you’ve got a genius working for you.” Roland observed. “That's great and all, but how did Dusk even come up with half of his ideas?”

“If I may…” Comet interrupted. “Roland, as I’m sure you’re aware we undertook an extra-universal mission number of years ago.”

“Dusk’s data does have a written account of the incident… It was the first Wasteland Expedition, right?”

Comet nodded. “Exactly. After his encounter with the Project Ichor database, Dusk’s whole method of thinking changed. While the memories did eventually fade from his reach, we’ve theorized that there was enough raw technical data forced on him to influence his thinking. He can’t simply recite the information that he obtained, but he’s been prone to bursts of ‘inspiration’ in which he drew up his weapons designs. I can only assume that it's the presence of the knowledge in his subconsciousness that been feeding those efforts.”

“Well that’s definitely different…”

“It certainly is.” I replied. By now we had made it to a far wider hallway deeper in the vessel. “Roland, you have a map. Where are we now?”

“Main access corridor to the bridge.” The AI answered. “Wide enough where the crew can erect barricades and establish fighting positions if boarded.”

As I looked down the empty hallway I couldn’t help but frown. “And there still isn’t any signs of the crew… Roland?”

“Give me a minute…” I saw his avatar frown then shake its head. “Sensors are still acting up. I’ve got nothing.”

It almost seems too good to be true… But I’ve got a nagging feeling that we’re walking into a trap. “Who’s got flashbangs?” I asked.

Don pulled one off his belt and tossed it to me. “And I’ve got a few more where that came from.”

I simply pointed at both sides of the large sliding door at the end of the hall. “Alright, prep to breach.”

Roland’s avatar blinked out of existence as Don and I took up positions on either side of the door. Comet and Strike took their places behind us while Steeljack pulled a crowbar off his belt and stuck it in the seam of the door. With some work he managed to pry enough room so he could fit his hands in and make use of the enhanced physical abilities that Project Ichor provided. After a few seconds of struggling he managed to open the door enough where a small hole was created in the center.

Don quickly stepped forward with another flashbang, chucked the pin clear and tossed the grey cylinder through the opening.

BANG!

As traces of smoke began to waft through the opening I pulled the emergency release for the door. As it silently slid back to reveal the bridge itself another important discovery was revealed.

“There’s no one here.” Don observed as the five us us marched into the destroyer’s nerve center.

As we made our way past the rows of computer monitors I noticed that a number of them simply read ‘R/C’. “Are you seeing this Roland?”

“Indeed I am.” The AI replied. “Mr. Tremble’s helmet camera is functioning just-”

“Then what are we looking at?” I asked, cutting off the AI.

“R/C is an abbreviation for remote control… Mr. Tremble, can you plug your tacpad into one of these stations?” Don didn’t say a word as he pulled a tether out from under his left greave and plugged it into the open port on the tactical console. “There we go, just give me-” Suddenly the screens flashed, and they all turned blue. “Got it. Looks like the Anvil had full control of the Pioneer. Transmitting the access codes caused the whole system to freeze up, and that messed with the false sensor readings that boarding parties were meant to find.”

I strode forward to the helm and noticed that it was reading ready. “Do we have full control of the ship?” I asked.

“You do.” said Roland. “What are you planning?”

“Well to start I need a full inventory.” Don pointed out. “Can you find it?”

“Already done.” Roland replied. Across the bridge screens reports began to scroll across. “From the look of things the Pioneer only has functioning point defense guns. There’s no missiles, no nukes, no-”

“Will it still blow up?” I asked.

“It certainly will. What are you thinking? Maybe ram the-”

“I need a collision course laid in Roland.” I pulled out a small thumbdrive and plugged it into the open port on the helm. “You’ll find the coordinates stored on the removable drive.”

Roland’s avatar appeared in front of me, along with a map of the Badlands with the location of the Enclave base highlighted. “Using the Pioneer as the missile? Good thinking.” Almost immediately after he said that the screen lit up with flashing red letters; collision warning “Autopilot is set and all the safeties are disabled. Anything else that you need done?”

“Set the atmosphere to vent once the Regent breaks away.” Steeljack ordered. “I highly doubt that the crew on the Anvil will simply allow their oversized drone to crash into an ally’s facility.”

I nodded in agreement. “Can you do it Roland?”

“Consider it done Commander.” Roland’s avatar disappeared once more and Don unplugged his remote line. “Starting now you’ve got two minutes to get off this bucket, otherwise you’ll end up extra crispy.”

“Fine by me.” I muttered. “Let’s go home Alpha!”

Instead of the cautious walk in the five of us broke into a run. All around us speakers blared alarms while a scratchy feminine voice kept repeating ‘collision warning’. In the few minutes that it took us to reach the docking port I started noticing flashes of orange light flare across the outer windows. Even crossing the extended port you could tell that there was a distinct difference of air temperature.

I didn’t even stop once I made it to the Regent’s cockpit, but even the view out the window was starting to take on an orange glow beyond the flaring of the shields. “Hurry up with that hatch!” I yelled.

I didn’t have to look down at the display, Comet instead rushed in and got into the upper station. “We’re good to go.”

“Warning, shields are at 50%.” came the monotone Twilight-voiced alert.

“No sense in waiting around then.” I slammed the throttle all the way forward and the Regent bucked and a grinding noise made itself known throughout the ship before the deck lurched and I was able to maneuver the Regent up and out of the very outer layers of the atmosphere. But that calm was shattered by a shockwave that shook the entire ship, and sent ponies to the deck if the groans and yelps from the rear compartment were any indication.

“What the hell was that?” Comet managed to groan.

That’s when Roland’s avatar appeared in the holotank looking rather relieve. “Oh, good. You’re all still alive.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course we’re alive. Now would you mind telling me what the hell just happened?”

“You’re plan to use the Pioneer as a battering ram failed miserably.” Roland explained. “Looks like some charges went off on the fuel cells, blew the that old bucket apart and knocked it off course.”

“Well that’s a damn waste.” Comet muttered.

“You’ve essentially described the last two missions Comet.” I replied. His attitude changed the moment that his console began beeping. “We’ve got an incoming message. Priority from the looks of it.”

I hit the receive command on my terminal and the image changed from a blank screen to a human face. “Ah, Major Dooley. What’s can I do for the head of Castle security today?”

“You can start by getting your team down here Commander. I’ve got a VIP headed for our infirmary that needs a security detail.”

“Security?” Comet asked as he stood up over his station. “Why do you need operators to babysit? Don’t you have your own people for that?”

“I certainly do Corporal.” Dooley retorted. “But they don’t have Blaze Squadron’s training.”

I could only roll my eyes. “Fine… Who are we dealing with?”

“I don’t have a name just yet Commander, but I do know that the patient is dangerous.”

“What makes this ‘patient’ so dangerous that you need my team?” I asked.

“Its simple… You’re dealing with a Spartan.”

Author's Note

And now, coming eventually, will be the dreaded guard duty. But through that we get a reunion between Dart and Dusk, and some very important questions will be posed to the long-missing unicorn.

Spartan

Canterlot Castle, Half an Hour Later…

What can I say about Spartans that hasn’t already been said by my peers and superiors? They’re freaks of nature? They’re brutally effective soldiers? Both points are true and have been hashed out after every encounter with ONI’s resident Spartan lapdog Naomi. Obviously the humans working with us have divided opinions as a number have fought alongside some of these super soldiers, even crediting them as the main reasons that their species could claim any victories over their war with the Covenant.

But now we stand waiting to escort a wounded Spartan to our infirmary after one was apparently wounded fighting on our behalf. It’s a rather unexpected change, and one that clearly has the entire castle on edge if most ponies body language is anything to go by. And as the newer Pelican landed in the courtyard I could tell that I was starting to feel a bit apprehensive as well.

The ramp dropped and the assembled group of Spartans began to file off. They all wore different models of armor, all with similar blue and white color schemes. That pattern was broken by the female being carried by the last of the group, trading blues for grey and red. “Welcome to Canterlot. I’m Commander Dart, leader of Blaze Squad. We’ll be your escorts for the duration of your stay here.

“Fair enough.” The horn-helmeted one replied, sounding familiar all the while. “Majestic, helmets off. We’re among friends here.” As the group removed the directed piece of armor, the horned one’s helmet front jutted forward, allowing the helmet to roll off onto the human that he was carrying. I wasn’t entirely prepared for the reveal, but Dusk’s dark mane and horn proved his identity right away. “It’s good to see you again Dart. Hell, it's good to see all of you still in one piece.”

With all of my previous opinions in mind I froze. Seeing the pony that helped me find purpose in life wearing that armor made me realize that something had been done to him… He had been turned into one of those same freaks that I’ve complained about for years.

“You’re certainly taller.” Don observed.

Dusk shrugged. “You could say that. Now is the infirmary still in the same place?”

“It is.” I managed to squeak out.

“Good to know.” Dusk said, nodding at his companions. “Fall in Majestic.”

One would image that escorts would be leading visitors about, but Dusk obviously wasn’t having any of it as he took the lead into the castle. And what could I do to stop him? He’s a veritable half ton walking tank.

But even with that glaring fact, Don fell back with me as we followed the Spartans to the castle infirmary. “So you’re just letting Dusk run the place?” He muttered.

“Do you think I have a choice?” I whispered back. “We’ve had trouble dealing with just one of these freaks and now we’ve got six of them under their own power. Lets just try to avoid trouble if we can help it.”

While I was going back and forth with Don one of the Spartans had dropped to the back of the group and finally fell in with the two of us. “I know the feeling.”

“And just what makes you think we’re on the same page?” Don spat.

“Buddy, I’ve been fighting aliens bent on destroying humanity for years. And only a few hours ago I was told to follow the orders of one alien that I don’t know anything about.” The Spartan replied. “Trust me, the whole ‘shades of grey’ bullshit gets old. Some days it makes me miss the Corps.”

“Corps… You mean the Marines?” I asked.

Our new companion nodded. “I was in the marines for the last half of the war with the Covenant. Hoya and Palmer were an ODSTs, Thorne did time with the Army, Ray worked in Signals Intelligence, and Grant was involved with armor development. If anything Grant’s been a Spartan longer than any of us.”

We know next to nothing about Naomi, so I took note of the varied backgrounds of the group. “What’s your name?”

“Call me Madsen.” The human replied.

“So Madsen, what are you guys anyway?” Don asked. “Are you all second-generation Spartans?”

Madsen force back a growing smirk. “Right, you guys wouldn’t know. We’re actually all fourth generation. The original Spartans that showed up during the beginning of the war were the second generation, while the third started appearing around the middle of the war. Most of them had that cheap, unshielded power armor.”

“Well thats something to know…” Don muttered. “So did the originals get recruited like you guys did?”

“Not even close.” Said Madsen. “They were all children when their respective programs got started. The Twos were all abducted and put through some serious training, while rumor has it that the Threes were recruited from pools of orphans that were evacuated from worlds that the Covenant glassed. That's part of why they were all so good, they were trained from well before puberty hit.”

“Is that even legal?” Don wondered aloud.

Madsen only shook his head. “Probably not, but I doubt anyone cared at first considering ONI gave both projects full support. The only thing that they considered wrong was when the Twos were replaced with flash clones after they had been abducted. From what I know that's what ONI used to justify locking up Doctor Halsey.”

The conversation ended the moment we walked into the infirmary and watched as Dusk laid the wounded soldier out on one of the beds. “So who’s that?”

“That’s Palmer.” Madson replied. “She took a round from a Scorpion at point blank… I still don’t get how it trashed her armor.”

Thinking back to our few encounters with Naomi, I remembered that even without shields the armor itself is incredibly durable, being able to survive near-impacts from high explosive shells. “And a Scorpion did that?”

“It did.” Dusk said as he finally joined us. “Until we get the analysis on Palmer’s surviving armor components we won’t know for sure what hit her.” Behind him doctors and nurses had already set to work on treating the unconscious super soldier, and were starting to remove the body suit she was wearing.

Instead of one of the doctors showing us out, the Spartan that was at Palmer’s bedside did it for them. He didn’t have to even be asked, and none of the other soldiers complained as he shut the door behind him. “Dusk, you think that the Commander will be all right?”

Dusk nodded at the Spartan. “Palmer is a tough lady Thorne. She’ll come out just fine.”

‘Thorne’ simply nodded. “So what do we do now?”

“Hold on, none of you are doing a damn thing without us giving you the green light.” Don forcefully replied. “If I tell the lot of you to jump, every one of you should be asking how high. Kapish?”

I elbowed Don in retort. “While my associate here has a point, I’m not above reason. What do the lot of you think should be on the docket?”

Bar Thorne, the other Spartans seemed conflicted. He finally decided to make the decision for them. “We do need to debrief with our superiors. Could you arrange a joint meeting between your leadership and ours so we can all get on the same page?”

As much as I don’t like the idea, simply because one of these super soldiers suggested it, I can’t argue with its merits. These Spartan had ostensibly served right alongside our own soldiers, and their vessel had helped deal with the Anvil. I finally came to a decision. “I’ll see what I can do.”

***

Two Hours Later…

I can’t say that I’ve had to jump through more loops in the last three years than I have in the last few hours. As soon as I posed the request for a joint meeting to Celestia and Luna they got on board, but that's where the trouble started. Within ten minutes a rather angry General came knocking on the space in the castle that I was setting up for this assembly.

In the past Meteor Shower had been the ‘big stick’ that was swung at Naomi when she made an appearance. And now that he heard he would be sitting at a table with seven other Spartans he was not entirely pleased. He could tolerate the fact that Dusk had led them at Dodge City, but he simply refused to do more with them. And as it turned out he had put the Spartan logistics officer under heavy guard after Dusk had taken the others to the front lines outside the city.

His tirade ended the moment I told him to piss off and bring it up with the Princesses. While they told him that the matter was settled Meteor clearly wasn’t having it. The next issue that cropped up was him telling Major Dooley that he wanted every single one of the Human visitors cleared. And to ensure that the Spartans would submit to what would likely be a slanted interview process he ordered all four Special Forces teams in the castle to gather whatever weapons they could and ensure that the Spartans didn't leave the area that Dusk had set up so they could bring in the proper equipment to remove their armor.

The kicker is that I wasn’t given the order, Steeljack and Don received it instead. While Steeljack, Comet and Strike saw to the orders, Don came to me questioning it. By the time we reached the west wing of the castle Captain Sentry had five unarmored Spartans at gunpoint while Dusk was trying to figure out what the hell was happening from Steeljack. Once he learned the truth he delved back into the room for a time.

When the General showed up to ensure that his orders were being carried out Dusk emerged carrying a large weapon that he called a railgun. Dusk also still had a clear amount of animosity towards Meteor over his abandonment and the General’s later return. As he put it, “How far do you think you’ll go if I fire one of these off straight up your ass?”. While a decided improvement over an anger-driven physical confrontation between the two, none of Captain Sentry’s ponies seemed to see it that way and promptly held Dusk at gunpoint as well.

When Celestia arrived to see what all the commotion was about I was expecting someone to start shooting. But instead of asking questions she looked at the Spartans, looked at the detail of her soldiers holding them at gunpoint, and finally settled her gaze on Dusk at Meteor. As the two kept arguing she simply walked up, nudged Dusk’s weapon out of her way, and then promptly struck Meteor right across the jaw before ordering all the troops to stand down and return to their previous duties.

While she dragged the General back to the throne room for what was likely a major grilling between her and Luna, Major Dooley never got the memo to stand down as he wasn’t present. So as I was finally finishing up I got a radio call from Roland asking that I go help the Infinity’s Captain out in the courtyard. When I arrived I found Major Dooley and a number of Royal Guard holding the Captain at spear’s length while the Captain’s two Marine escorts kept their pistols moving between targets.

I was about to pull rank on the Major when his radio squeaked to life, and Princess Celestia gave him the word to ignore the General’s prior security order. I don’t know if she was watching but her timely intervention avoided yet another potential interstellar incident. I ended up escorting the rather annoyed Captain to the meeting room myself, and in the interest of not pissing off the human with the giant starship in orbit I dusted off the old servant skills I had learned many years ago while under De Witt’s employ and basically did everything I could to take care of him.

As the Spartans and my own team filed in we all took seats around the rather large table. While it certainly wasn’t appealing, but the human Spartans and Blaze Squad intermixed on our side of the table while the Captain took a seat opposite of us. As the Royal Sisters, General Shower, Captain Baxter and Dusk walked in they ended up joining the Captain on his side of the metaphorical line. So here we sit, in easily one of the most awkward silences I’ve endured up until this point in my life.

Finally the other Captain seemed to get sick of the silence. “I think proper introductions may be in order.” He said, offering his hand to Princess Celestia. “Captain Tom Lasky, UNSC Infinity.”

The Princess took the gesture in kind. “Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria.”

In just under a minute we went around and exchanged names, and finally Dusk tapped his knuckles on the table. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way let's get down to business.” In the center of the table a light turned on and Roland’s avatar appeared. “By now everyone at this table knows we’ve got a major problem, and it’s called the Office of Naval Intelligence.”

The leaders all murmured in agreement. “Princess, I’d like to offer my apologies for ONI’s activities over the last few years. Thanks to a datachip Dusk supplied us with, Fleetcom has ordered a general stand-down of all ONI assets and ordered them to return home while we sort all this out. If we had known what ONI was up to-”

“Say nothing of it Captain.” Celestia said. “My sister and I have long suspected that Admiral Osman’s organization was acting alone, as up until today ONI hasn’t done anything more than supply the Enclave with technical assistance. Simply put you’re here now, and I see no need to dwell on the past.”

Lasky’s expression softened at that. “Well you have our full support. Lord Hood has ordered us to do whatever we can to help you end this conflict.”

“Then let's quit beating around the bush.” Meteor growled. “Why did ONI take up a direct role in the assault on Dodge City?”

“I think that I can answer that.” Roland answered. All around the table holographic readouts of communications between Admiral Osman and West Wind popped into existence. “According to the files that Dusk stole Admiral Osman wasn’t too happy with the constant setbacks that Kilo-Five and the Enclave were dealt, and neither was this West Wind character. From what I can tell he has been pushing for more direct ONI involvement in their war for the last year and a half.”

“But why did they get involved to begin with?” Luna asked. “Is that answer in the files Construct?”

Roland’s avatar nodded. “At least part of the answer. I still don’t know for sure how ONI made contact with the Enclave, or even how they managed to move such a sizable force between realities, but apparently Equis was discovered by Section One thirty years ago while they were attempting to identify and map Covenant space. Section Three finally sent a research team here about ten years ago in the hopes of identifying and determining viability of previously disregarded materials as resources to feed the war effort. Instead of materials they found your species and began studying it from afar. They recognized the potential of your species and thought that the varied abilities that you all possess could help restore the ecosystem of planets that were glassed by the Covenant. And for whatever reason they determined that acquisition of samples would further that research, hence why Dusk was captured three years ago.”

Celestia leaned forward in her chair and finally rested on her elbows. “Then why not just ask us for help? The ponies of our land would certianly listen to any proposals, and you’d likely have volunteers step up.”

“With previous first-contact with the Covenant in mind, Admiral Osman was of the belief that diplomacy would turn out to be a failure.” the AI replied. “It's not clear how contact was established with the Enclave, but from what I can tell elements in Section Three moved to assist the Enclave as part of a regime change operation.”

“They didn’t know if we’d be friendly…” Meteor Shower observed. “So ONI decided to make sure there’d be a friendly government in place for when the rest of the government discovered our existence.”

“And it wouldn’t take much.” Lasky pointed out. “All someone would have to do is put this planet's coordinates on the priority survey list for the Colonial Authority.”

“It’s just too bad ONI found these guys first…” One of the Spartans observed.

“What do you mean by that Hoya?” Dusk asked.

“Well think about it. How threatening are a bunch of pastel-colored horse aliens?” The Spartan offered. “Bar the General, most of the ones we’ve met seem rather friendly. I don’t care what the spooks thought at the end of the day, there was no reason to attack your people.”

“I’m sure we’ll get Admiral Osman’s opinion on the matter eventually.” Celestia pointed out. “Although there may be a line…”

Lasky nodded. “Lord Hood didn’t seem all to pleased when gave us our orders.”

“And in his position I’d likely have a similar attitude.” The Princess replied. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We need to discuss the day's events. Captain Baxter, I assume you have something you’d like to add?”

The bearded veteran nodded in agreement. “Those refits your student made saved our asses up there. Without at least those shields I doubt I’d be here to even talk about it.”

“What about your ship?” Luna asked. “How did it fair?”

The Captain shook his head at the question. “Better than I’d have hoped, but worse than I expected. She’s in the shipyard now getting a new elevator section built. Lucky for us we’ve got a sizable debris field to scavenge the raw materials from. If all goes well I’m expecting her to be combat ready again within thirty hours.”

The Princess then turned her gaze to me. “Well Commander, I think it’s your turn to share.”

“The Pioneer was empty.” I said with a sigh. “Everything was rigged up for remote operation, and until we used the master code that Roland provided she was run from control stations on the Anvil. Once we disembarked some sort of charge blew on the fuel cells and wrecked the ship, knocking it off the collision course to the Enclave base that we had programmed. I just don’t know offhand where the debris landed.”

“Fair enough.” Celestia replied. “Luna, do you have anything to add?”

“Indeed I do.” The lunar princess stated. “Commander, given the outcome of this engagement do you believe that we’re equipped to handle the main force that ONI supposedly has en route?”

“Main force?” Lasky asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Those ships were just scouts Captain.” Don said. “Based off of records we’ve recovered ONI allocated a number of cruisers, carriers and battleships as part of a task group to invade the planet.”

“But they’ve been recalled by Fleetcom.”

“And that’s assuming they were even listening when the message was sent.” Don pointed out. “If those ships are reported as back at their starting points in the next few days I’ll definitely say that we didn’t have anything to worry about. But we keep in mind that this is ONI we’re talking about. What’s to say that the Captains of those ships don’t have contingency orders on top of contingency orders?”

“Tremble has a point Captain.” Dusk added. “We’re not going to know if we’re safe at least for another few days.”

I smacked my hand down on the table and got the attention of all of the gather humans and ponies. “Back to Princess Luna’s question I’d have to say no, we’re not equipped to handle a larger fleet. We’ve got two frigates, a corvette and what started out as a Condor. None of them have the firepower, individual or combined, that can take on anything much larger than a destroyer if that sacking we took up there is any indicator. And even with Infinity we still have the numbers against us, both in weapons and ships. Long story short, we’re fucked if that fleet shows up and opens fire.”

Its at that point that Dusk seemed to snap as he slapped the tabletop. “What the hell happened?” He asked. “All I’m hearing is a long and drawn out explanation as to how fucked every living being on this planet is. Where’s the possible solutions?”

“We’ve been fighting a defensive war for three years Dusk. What would you have me do?” Meteor asked.

“Anything other than sitting in a damn trench!” Dusk yelled. That's when I stopped hearing what Dusk was saying… Instead as I watched him rake his Grandfather over I started feeling enamored. When I first met Dusk I developed a bit of a crush. He was energetic, passionate, he cared… But as the years ticked by and things slowly began going south before his disappearance I stopped seeing that from him. But this, this was the Dusk that I'd first met.

And I absolutely was loving it.

“And you!” Dusk yelled at me, snapping me out of my stupor. “Dart, you knew how the Enclave was coming here. Yet you didn’t even try to cut them off?”

“Hey, it isn’t her fault!” Steeljack yelled. “We’ve been trying to keep the Enclave contained!”

“And how’d that work out?” Dusk spat. “Because from my perspective you’ve all done a miserable job.”

From there things actually calmed down. But Dusk’s words stung like a bee. He was right, we could’ve done more. But even with that in mind I kept finding myself staring at him, and that same feeling kept coming back.

...Wait. I think I know what this is. This is love. And I’m falling for the pony sitting right across from me.

Aw hell. This is going to be a thing, isn't it?

Author's Note

Yes, those who have read the stories in the Mirrorverse do know that this Dusk-Dart emotional connection is, in fact, a thing. While I don't plan on writing it just yet, the next chapter will be a heart-to-heart between both Dusk and Dart, which ended right at the point in Broken Mirror Part I when Palmer woke up and walked outside her hospital room.