It was coming tonight. The princesses knew it, the Bearers of Harmony knew it, and Alcatraz knew it. In a matter of hours, Colonel Barclay’s expeditionary unit would be coming through. The first thing they were to do was contact Alcatraz, assuming something hadn’t gone wrong.

Alcatraz remained in his APC outside of the library, maintaining his weapons. Some of the weapons he’d recovered didn’t use CELL camo, even when they had such a pattern available; that was fine with him, as he found the pattern was to gaudy for his suit unless he was in armor mode. He noticed these weapons were exclusive to the black-armored commanders and heavies CELL used. After cleaning a normal Hammer, he stored it in a hidden compartment with some of his other weapons and attachments, such as his SCAR. The rest of his weapons were more readily accessible.

Tonight he would be using a normal M12 Nova 9mm pistol and a Jackal automatic shotgun, with no third weapon. He exited the vehicle and went to talk to Pinkie and her friends at Sugarcube Corner. He entered to find them snacking on a chocolate pie with an Oreo-like crust and whipped cream.

“And you didn’t invite me?” Alcatraz pantomimed an expression of shock. He opened the front of his helmet, revealing his face, and sat down only to have Pinkie shove a slice in his mouth. He chewed and then swallowed it in several separate gulps.

“So,” Rarity began. “I’m glad I had a chance to practice making human clothing with you. How much attire do you think I could sell your people when they come?”

Alcatraz finished swallowing the last of the slice that attacked his mouth. “Considering these are Marines who already have uniforms, I’d say not much at first. But eventually news is gonna get out and humans will probably start coming here en masse. Since CELL is already here, I’d wager that there are other portals on Earth that lead here, which could make Crynet a lotta money if and when they make their portal or portals open to public use. As for dress uniforms, they’ll probably just ship existing ones here if they need ‘em. In a nutshell, be patient.”

“I see.”

“Oh oh oh! Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie burst out, waving her foreleg through the air.

“Yeah Pinkie?”

“How big of a party will I have to make?”

Typical Pinkie. The rest of them thought.

“Imagine making a party for every single pony in Ponyville. Then make it five times bigger, and you should be able to get them all. I doubt there’ll be any partying until they get settled in.”

“Awwww…” Pinkie’s mane and tail deflated, her eyes got big and she looked at the floor in disappointment. Her lower lip quivered and her eyes watered. “That would’ve been the best party ever…”

Alcatraz put a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. “I’ll still party with you, even when they won’t,” He consoled her.

Pinkie reverted back to her cheery demeanor and gave Alcatraz a big kiss on the lips, a la Bugs Bunny. She began hopping to the kitchen.

“Does that usually happen?” Alcatraz asked, wiping his face off.

“No”

“Nope.”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Uh-uh.”

“I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Huh. Think she has a crush on me?”

“Well,” Rainbow Dash tried to articulate. “I don’t really think she’s ever met anypony who can out-party her, and you seem to give her a run for her money as far as partying goes. Maybe, I don’t know.”

“I bet she’d like Charlie Sheen.” Alcatraz laughed at the thought of them together.

“Who’s that?”

“A celebrity back where I’m from.” Alcatraz’ helmet rang, using the classic MGS codec sound. “I gotta take this.” He exited the building and sealed his helmet shut.

“Alcatraz, this is Colonel Barclay. You still with us son?”

“Great actually. Just had a delicious piece of pie, if you know what I mean. I just sent you the report summarizing my last two weeks here.”

“I need the short version, if that’s okay. We’ll home on your signal and set up the main camp there; we’ve already set one up at this end of the portal, but we can set up the main camp where you are.”

“Okay, the TL;DR version. I came here, killed some Ceph, discovered a race of sentient equinoids, got captured briefly, escaped, made peace with them, killed some CELL troopers and stole their APC, got drunk, introduced myself to the residents of the town I’m in who don’t buy that I’m an alien, painted the APC in a NATO woodland scheme, got drunk again, met the princesses, killed more Ceph, convinced the princesses to raise an army since they didn’t have one, and some pie, if you know what I mean.”

There was just background noise on the other end.

“Sir? Respond! Colonel!? Colonel!!”

“Lieutenant, is there something in the air I should be aware of?”

“No sir, I swear! Pretty pink ponies, magical purple unicorns, and rainbow pegasi!”

Another length of silence.

“Okay, that’s it. Either you’re messing with me and getting KP duty for a week or you’re getting a section eight.”

“See you soon, sir,” Alcatraz sighed. “I’ll stay on the line in case you need me.”

***

Colonel Barclay followed one of several convoys of vehicles on foot. For a man of forty-two years, he was in excellent shape; his men were openly proud to serve under a man who could hike through a forest as well as they could, and they often showed it. Unlike in Manhattan, he was wearing a coyote tan ballistic vest like the rest of his men, and the same woodland MARPAT fatigues as them, but still sported his signature olive beret. He had a Majestic sidearm holstered and a Grendel with an assault scope slung across his chest. His right hand rested on the pistol grip so that he could ready it quickly, but his left arm just hung normally.

He’d just gotten off the line with Lieutenant Alcatraz, and was worried about him, although he wouldn’t show it. Whether it was something in the air, something about his suit, he thought it funny to mess around with his CO, or he just plain lost it was unclear to him. Every one of those possibilities concerned him in one way or another, and to varying degrees.

A squad of Marines escorted him as he followed the vehicles. He heard generic-sounding chatter through his earpiece, and mostly ignored it. He kept walking until something caught his eye.

A pair of large eyes watched him from the shadows, and he raised his rifle in anticipation of an attack. Whatever it was, it turned tail and ran, the sound of hooves oddly following it. For a brief moment, Barclay entertained the idea that Alcatraz was serious about what he said.

“Sergeant,” Barclay addressed one of his escorts. “I heard hooves beating the ground from that direction.” He indicated the direction with his left arm. “Alcatraz said something about ponies in the condensed oral version of his report; I haven’t read the full written version he sent yet. I didn’t take him very seriously, thought he was joking, but now I’m curious. Can your squad follow me and help check it out?”

“Yes sir.”

Barclay and his escorts commandeered an HMLTV and followed what looked like hoofprints, separating them from the convoy they were part of. After a few minutes of driving, they came to a small hut. The driver parked and jumped out, his Marshall shotgun at the ready.

***

Zecora hid inside her hut, watching through a cracked open window. She had lived in the Everfree forest for quite some time now, but she had never seen such creatures before. They resembled monkeys to an extent, but walked upright and wore what she assumed were some sort of garments.

As for what they carried, and the chariot they rode in on she did not know. Their chariot seemed to have no external force pulling it, so she assumed that they propelled it with their feet whilst inside. Strange eyes which illuminated their path seemed to be a feature of the chariots, making her wonder if they were actually some sort of strange creature they had tamed rather than a traditional chariot.

“Alright people, fan out, surround the hut,” A dark-skinned creature said. “Don’t wanna take any chances with whatever’s in there.”

They spoke Equestrian, albeit with a slightly different accent. Perhaps only the one of them did, and they all spoke differently but understood each other perfectly.

“In position.” A lighter skinned one, with what sounded somewhat like Bon-Bon’s accent, although slightly different. He also wore what Zecora believed were spectacles to aid vision. She assumed these were all males, as they sounded like pony males.

“I got the door, Sarge.” This one sounded like Applejack and Applebloom with his accent.

“Marlowe, take the far side!” A raspy voiced male said. Zecora heard what sounded like a pair of hooves coming around. “Alright, hold fire, hold position. Be ready, but don’t provoke whatever’s in there. I’d prefer to not kill anything.”

Zecora, hearing that they were prepared to kill her, appealed to her gods to spare her, or give her some chance to escape. She’d never seen strange bipedals such as these in her life, and their intelligence and aggression frightened her.

She heard a knock on her door, the same seven-beat “Shave and a manecut, two bits!” that Pinkie Pie used. Tentatively, she cracked open the door.

***

The door opened slowly. Barclay couldn’t make out anything more than the black muzzle of something shorter than him. He drew his Majestic, as his Grendel would be too bulky to maneuver inside the hut if things went bad.

“I know not of what you seek stranger, but understand this: should I not be seen soon, my friends shall sense something amiss!” A female said from within, her accent something Barclay couldn’t specify any further than something African.

“Nice rhyme,” Sweetwater commented. “Fourteen syllables each.”

“Can it, Sweets,” Sergeant Redford told him.

“Ma’am, we saw something watching us and followed its trail back here. We’re not here to hurt you, we just want to talk. We almost killed whatever pet or wild animal was back there. Since you at least seem to be sentient, we’d like to come in and ask a few questions.”

“Fine, I shall allow you into my home. But only you, you must come in alone.”

“Okay, that one was flawless iambic pentameter,” Sweetwater spoke up. “Colonel, if it’s alright, could you ask her if everyone here talks like that?”

Barclay chuckled. These jarheads weren’t exactly professional, but he knew they were skilled and trustworthy. In fact, he downright liked them. “Will do, Private.”

Barclay entered to find the hut filled with all sorts of plants and potions. Entire shelves were filled with the stuff. Other parts of the wall were covered in some kind of tribal-looking masks. He didn’t see the owner of the hut until the door shut behind him, and he turned.

Standing in front of him was what resembled zebra, and wearing gold rings around its neck. He just stared, his features clearly puzzled.

“Sit down stranger and relieve yourself. But do watch out for the cluttered shelf”

Barclay found a stool and tentatively sat down on it. That zebra had just talked to him. It was the creature he saw earlier, and the voice he’d conversed with just moments ago. He was talking to a sentient miniature zebra.

In his silence, he could hear the squad chatting outside.

“Sweets, couldja watch my back? I gotta take a leak.”

“No!” Sweetwater responded.

“I told you to go before we left, and that we wouldn’t babysit you if you needed to go,” Sergeant Redford reproached him.

“Okay, okay. Just uh, watch the perimeter and I’ll go right here.”

Barclay heard a stream of liquid hit the side of the hut and facepalmed.

“Dammit Haggard!” Redford yelled.

“Hold on, almost done. There we go.”

Barclay slapped his face with his left hand, holstering his pistol with his right. “Sorry about your hut, ma’am.” Barclay spoke slowly, still confused by his situation. He’d pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, and he wasn’t. He then regained his composure for the most part. “Are you the only talking, uh, pony living around these parts?”

“As far as I know, it is only me. Right now you reside in the Everfree. A mere mile west of here is Ponyville. Will you show that town genuine goodwill?”

Barclay stood up. “Yes, we will; and does everyone talk in rhymes here?”

The zebra shook her head.

Barclay rounded up the squad and headed to the HMLTV. They got in and regrouped with the convoy.

***

Alcatraz heard the convoys coming from a few miles away. The ponies seemed to as well, because the Elements of Harmony followed him as he walked towards the parked vehicles, which were assembled a few minutes outside of Ponyville.

The marines had begun setting up camp and parking their vehicles in patterns that allowed them to shield the camp while still being easy to reach. Alcatraz briefly activated his tactical visor and zoomed in on the vehicles. They were all painted in a woodland MARPAT, as he expected. A few marines saw him and raised their weapons.

“Stand down!” Alcatraz bellowed. The guards lowered their weapons slightly, now aiming them at the ponies. “I said stand down, the ponies are with me. Has Colonel Barclay arrived yet?”

“Yes sir, he’s in the center tent.”

Alcatraz approached the large tent in the center of the camp, pretending to ignore the stares of the marines in the camp, and walked through the flaps covering the entrance to the tent.

“Colonel, I’m here for my section eight,” Alcatraz quipped sarcastically.

“Sorry about that son. I wouldn’t have believed the ‘talking ponies’ thing if I hadn’t met a rhyming zebra.” Barclay looked up at him and his entourage. “Shit, you weren’t kidding about unicorns and pegasi. I read your report, made it required reading for every leatherneck here. These must be the ‘Elements of Harmony’ You were talking about in your report.”

“Yep. This is Dull Dawn, Pearjacqueline, Monochrome Crawl, Thumb Cake, Fallbrave and Dime a Dozen.” Alcatraz was met with silence.

“Tough crowd, huh? So yeah; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity.” The ponies leered at him for butchering their names, and he stared right back. “Hey, chill. In the words of Caesar ‘Relax, I’m fucking with you.’”

Still more silence. “Nobody even got that reference?” It seemed not. “My talents are vasted on zis team!” They either missed that reference too, or didn’t find it funny.

“You’re trying too hard, Alky.”

Alcatraz turned around to see Chino entering the tent.

“Chino, good to see you man. Nice suit, that Fifth avenue?” He grabbed Chino’s gloved hand and shook it.

Chino was wearing a Marine Corps Nanosuit 2, similar to the one he’d seen in Hargreave’s office, but sporting woodland camouflage instead of desert. He had a Jackal automatic shotgun, a SCAR with a grenade launcher and assault scope, and an M12 Nova.

“A USMC Nanosuit 2. Like what you have, but without the biowarfare function, and the armor mode doesn’t ever make the suit glow, on top of the ballistic vest here. Plus, I can change the camo pattern on the camouflaged parts; MARPAT woodland and desert, and all three Navy digital patterns. That’s on top of the active camo.”

“Sounds expensive.”

“Since it lacks the biowar functions, the armor mode is simpler and more efficient, and it has a watered-down AI, it costs about a hundredth of what yours does. As for the whole ‘cyborg who doesn’t need to eat, sleep or drink’ thing as a result of the synthetic muscle growing into my wounds, unless something penetrates the suit and fucks me up bad I should be okay.”

“Sounds like some top-shelf hardware you got, buddy.”

“Don’t worry, Gould says the Army has a better version; same appearance but better features.”

The ponies and Colonel Barclay all cleared their throats at the same time.

“If you two are done talking shop…” Barclay began.

“My bad.”

“Sorry sir.”

“Ladies,” Barclay began, looking at the ponies. “This is Lieutenant Edward ‘Eddie’ Chino. He was a regular sergeant like Alcatraz a month ago, but the brass saw fit to promote ‘em both straight to being officers after they exhibited leadership abilities and showed commendable initiative and bravery. Now, I understand one of you can put me in touch with the uh, Princesses who run this country.”

“That’d be me,” Twilight spoke up. “I can set up a meeting a few days from now in Ponyville if you’d like. It’s only a few minutes from here, and I can host the meeting in the library.”

“That’d be greatly appreciated.”

***

A few days later, the Princesses awaited the humans in the library, their escort of Royal Guards protecting the building from the outside, and the guards Alcatraz trained defending the inside, Shining Armor included. The residents of Ponyville were far from oblivious to the presence, and it was obvious why they were there; the Princesses were there, and everypony knew Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia’s star pupil. The logical conclusion was that there was something important going on.

Inside the building, the Princesses awaited 7 PM, when the humans were to arrive.

“Are you sure this is enough security, Aunt Tia?” Princess Cadance asked. Despite wielding little power compared to the other two Princesses, her aunt had insisted that she come, with the reasoning that one day her diplomatic skills needed practice. Cadence was nervous about offending the humans, even if she wouldn’t actually be handling the negotiations; even the presence of her loving husband and several elite royal guards wasn’t enough to completely quell the fear of meeting alien warriors.

“I’m sure. You shouldn’t worry so much,” Princess Celestia responded, giving her niece a calming smile. She would handle the negotiations for the most part.

Luna merely awaited eagerly. She’d heard rumors that the humans had actually landed on their own moon, and sent themselves into space. And because they lived on a different planet, that meant different constellations and planets! She wondered how the humans raised their own sun and moon without horns, or if they hid their horns somewhere under the ugly uniforms these warriors wore.

“By all reports the humans have been peaceful, if somewhat reclusive and territorial. I can understand that, seeing as they’re on an alien world they don’t know much about. They’re supposedly setting up a base for the several thousand soldiers that are arriving over the next week,” Shining Armor commented. He wore his dress uniform for this occasion.
Twilight and Spike were upstairs, watching for their guests, the stars and a full moon above.

***

Barclay had brought a different squad of marines this time. If they got into a fight, he knew those boys could hold their own, but he also didn’t want them offending the rulers of this land, so he opted to keep them at the base. So he brought a more professional team with him, as well as Chino and Alcatraz, who were carrying the same weapons they had days before.

They were in two separate HMLTVs; one for the Colonel and his escorts, and the other for Chino and a second squad in case of an emergency. Alcatraz was already waiting outside the library, in plain sight of the Royal Guards. The headlights of their vehicles illuminated the streets as the passengers exited and the vehicles engines stopped.

Barclay stepped out, his scoped Grendel slung over his armored back and his Majestic holstered. His team of marines followed him to the front of the library, where the guards uncrossed the spears blocking the door. He opened the door and entered, the marines following him in an orderly line.

Inside were three large winged unicorns, whom Alcatraz reported called themselves “alicorns”. One was pink, with a multicolored mane and tail, and stood in the back next to a blue-maned unicorn guard wearing a dress uniform. From what he knew, she was his husband, and the most junior of the three princesses. He was the captain of the Royal Guard, and had been trained by Alcatraz to fight the Ceph.

Before him were two large alicorns, apparently Princesses Celestia and Luna. It wasn’t difficult to ascertain which was which given their appearances. Luna was obviously the one with the dark blue coat and flowing mane of stars, and Celestia the white one with the flowing rainbow mane.

Jesus, it’s like some little girl’s toy or something. I can’t believe I’m in a land of anthropomorphic ponies who seem to be conditional pacifists. I was hoping the first aliens I’d meet peacefully would be like turians, asari or salarians. Not namby-pamby pony princesses.

“Your highnesses. I apologize if I’ve worried you by bringing my own guards, but this is still an alien planet to us. We honestly don’t know much about this world, like potentially hostile local fauna.”

“Perhaps you could find more information on the internet?” The pink pony in the back of the room suggested. Celestia looked at her quizzically, as if she was just supposed to watch.

“I didn’t realize you had an internet here, like on my planet. That makes things much easier as far as gathering information. Do you have a system of GPS satellites as well?”

“Yes,” Celestia answered.

“Thou didst not inform us that we had a space program,” Luna whispered into Celestia’s ear. Celestia merely shrugged. Barclay heard it but said nothing.

I’ll let them keep it up. Might give me an insight into how they tick.

“Anyway, we’re sorry to impose upon your uh, ponies, but we’ve already begun constructing a forward operating base just outside of this town. The men and women under my command need a place to stay, and considering this town’s close proximity to the Ceph portal we arrived through, it’s the best place for it. It’ll do my marines good to get to know the locals.”

“It’s quite alright. We need an assisting military presence while our own military is being built up, and having one close at hoof is something I’m quite thankful for.”

“Ah, yes, I forgot you’re building your first military in a millennium. If I may, I’d suggest adopting a set of rules for your military entering any conflict. I believe a version of Germany’s Bundeswehr could be used as a template; you primarily use your military in self-defense, in fulfilling treaty obligations, and to safeguard your citizens abroad. That would adhere to a version of ‘Just War’ theory.”

The group engaged in a series of discussions about how they’d make things work, and how troublemakers on either side would be dealt with. Ponyville would supply the humans with extra food to supplement their rations, the humans would protect Ponyville from most threats, Ponyville would gain a boost in trade from the marines, and the humans would be allowed to hunt for some extra meat in the Everfree. It seemed like a fair deal.

“Are there any particularly dangerous creatures in the Everfree?” Barclay asked.

“Many. Cockatrices, bears, manticores, and at least one hydra, to name a few.”

Of course. We couldn’t just have benign mythical creatures, we had to have dangerous ones too. I’ll have to make sure every hunting party has a few JAWs on hand. Better to know now though.

“Glad to know in advance.” Barclay smiled. Just knowing that such creatures were present would save lives.

“Happy to help,” Celestia replied graciously. “Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to raise the sun in a few hours.”

That caught Colonel Barclay off guard. He narrowed his eyes and his mouth opened a bit.

“Raise… The sun?”

“Who raises the sun on your world?”

Barclay shook his head. “Nobody does. It raises itself. Earth takes three-hundred-sixty-five days to complete a full orbit around the sun, and rotates on its axis every twenty-four hours. The heliocentric arrangement been a proven fact for more than five hundred years, since astronomers proved that the orbits of the planets and the sun didn’t match to what the initial geocentric theory held.”

“Fascinating. Could you possibly lend Twilight Sparkle a few of your astronomy books? I believe she would enjoy them.”

“I can lend her a tablet with a few dozen gigs of educational textbooks. Some of my marines are using their pay to get through college and learning while deployed, so we’ve got dozens of those to spare. I’ll send one over tomorrow. I have to leave as well. If I need to contact you?”

“Go through Twilight. She can send me any messages you need to deliver. I’m also having my conference room installed with a large screen that will allow us to converse remotely, but it won’t be installed for at least a week. When it is ready, I’ll have Twilight inform you.”

“Thank you ma’am. When will our arrangements take effect?”

“Within a few days Ponyville will begin delivering fresh produce, and I’ll deliver a weekly allowance to be given to your soldiers to pay for services when they’re off-duty.”

“Excellent.”

The two groups left the library, each returning to their residence with their entourage.

Alcatraz drove his APC to just outside the Everfree forest and slept there, desiring to rest to the sounds of the forest.

***

David McGuire and Max Ulrich waited outside the Germane embassy in Canterlot, cloaked all the while. Their CELL Nanosuit 2s sipped at their energy supplies as the two waited for the signal to attack.

They had two main objectives to accomplish in this mission. The first was to eliminate a group of CELL defectors who’d sought shelter in the embassy and wished to defect to Equestria ASAP, and bore information regarding CELL’s presence in Equestria. The second was to plant evidence implicating Lieutenant Theodore Alcatraz and Sergeant Michael “Psycho” Sykes in the attack. Information available to them indicated that Sykes had accompanied the Marine Corps task force as an advisor. He and Alcatraz were seen in the Everfree area, and hadn’t moved. They had no alibis.

From there, CELL would establish itself as a legitimate force in Equestria, claiming that the aggressive contractors found previously had been part of a rogue unit and that the defectors were defecting from that rogue unit. CELL would capture Alcatraz and Sykes and offer to deliver them to “justice”. After that CELL would be hired to help defend Equestria as it assembled its own military. Crynet would have two major enemies dealt with and a foothold in a region ripe with profit potential.

“Remember,” Commander Bosch told them over the radio. “No witnesses. If less than two ponies see you and live, then this can’t be pinned on us. Move now.”

Ulrich cut the power to the embassy, which had no backup system. With them in the literal dark, they could wipe out the staff and find the traitors with no problem.

They cloaked and entered through the front door, Ulrich barricading it while McGuire executed the receptionist with a silenced CELL Hammer. They continued their grisly work, wiping out every living being in the embassy.

Twenty minutes after the power shorted out, the pair had finished their mission and exfiltrated.

***

Alcatraz awoke to find himself bound inside his APC, which was headed in an unknown direction. To his right was a figure in a Nanosuit 1 and across from him were three armed CELL soldiers, each with a K-Volt.

“So, you’re awake, huh?” One of them said. “You’re on your way to an airstrip, where you’re both gonna be extradited to Germaney for your violent break-in at their embassy. Celestia was kind enough to hire us to escort you there.”

Alcatraz had no idea how much of that was true, or how much was false. Worse yet, his suit said it was three days later than he had been supposed to wake up.

“Really? Prove to me I did something bad.”

“Glad you asked, tin man.” One of the troopers produced a tablet and tuned into PNN, which Alcatraz assumed to be an equivalent to CNN. A newsreel showed several officials condemning the action, complete with audio. Several other channels showed similar stories. A quick check on the internet showed several corroborating sources.

Did I do those things? No… But I don’t think anybody’s gonna buy some last minute “not guilty” plea when there’s a bunch of “evidence” stacked against me.

The ride continued for another hour.

“Comin’ up on a tunnel,” The driver said. The compartment got dark, and the figure in the N1 nudged Alcatraz.
An impact flipped the APC, causing Alcatraz to fall on one of the CELL troopers. He could hear roaring outside, and what sounded like flames. An impact hit the small of his back, and broke his cuffs.

“Nanovision enabled.”

The compartment became bright and monochromatic, and the CELL became colorful shapes. Alcatraz snapped one of their necks, and the N1 wearer snatched one of their pistols before shooting the other two, and the driver. He opened one of the side hatches and heard wings flapping. Peeking out of the vehicle, he saw what had flipped them.

“Are you bloody kidding me? A dragon!?” The N1 said, clearly indicating his British origins with his accent and diction.

“You must be new here. C’mon, help me flip this back over and ditch these bodies.”

The two of them used the power function on their nanosuits and flipped the APC, which was indeed Alcatraz’, as it had the same woodland camo painted on it. After dumping the bodies, taking the PMCs’ weapons, and checking for trackers or bugs, they returned to the safety of the APC’s interior, taking seats facing each other.

“Lieutenant Theodore Alcatraz.”

“Sergeant Michael Sykes. Call me ‘Psycho’. You got a plan?”

“Well, considering we’ve been convicted in absentia of breaking into an embassy and murdering its inhabitants, I think we need to find a place with no extradition treaties. I’ve got my N2 linked up to this planet’s internet, so if you give me a minute I can find a place.”

After a few minutes of searching, he found their destination.

Cauldron.

Author's Note

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
If you've read Invictus' Psych crossover, then you'll be familiar with Cauldron, which I asked for and was given permission to use in a modified form. If you haven't read it, then don't worry, because it'll be explained.

And no, I didn't introduce all these new characters for no reason, they've all got a role to play. After all, what kind of fugitive is just left alone?