Stars Above Equestria

Jack had little trouble finding the Skulls, mainly due to using the PA system and requesting them to the front of the cargo bay.

The walk wasn't long from the bridge, his armored boots echoing down the metal hallways ahead of him. He arrived to a group of maybe twenty people milling beside the door. All of them had a standard orange jumpsuit, but somewhere on their person whether it be an arm, leg, neck, or even atop of their head was a red bandana with a white skull on it. The leader known as ‘Skull’ to everyone but the guards, used it to cover his face at all times. Even when eating, he would simply lift the bottom end.

Jack spotted Skull casually talking with other members of his gang.

Soon Skull turned to provide his full attention to Jack. A man with pale sickly skin stood before the armoured giant. Shoulder length white hair rested in a small bun atop his head. Skull stood at a height of 5'5" and strained his neck to look up towards Jack with deep crimson eyes.

Jack knew his real name and crimes, David Hearth and several dozen counts of murder. Hell he knew every single crime of each Skull, a bare minimum to join was murder.

“What can I do for you Jack?” Skull spoke in a raspy whisper, barely audible. All thanks to the scar he kept hidden under his mask. While serving he earned it during a crash, a shard of metal sliced across his voice box. Doctors were able to salvage his throat but this was one of the reasons he started committing crimes, finding a way through pain and destruction to talk and express himself.

“I need eight of you to find flight suits and prep yourselves. I am going planetside but need three pilots for the dropships and five more for the escort. We have until you all are comfortable with the fighters on board. I think there is a simulator somewhere, search wraith and spec ops dropship. I can show you the actual ships if you want.”

Before Skull could talk, Sarah spoke up. “Eight pilots?”

Jack looked at the tiny hologram and smirked. “You advised an escort and well I decided on upping the number of bodyguards I wanted on the ground."

Skull took a moment to watch before selecting his group. Then faced Jack with a small bow. "Show us the ships, we'll go from there.”

It took a few minutes but Jack and the group finally arrived at the hangar bay. Three Spec-Op dropships waited in the bays, sleek and designed for covert drops in hot LZs. Twin turbines on both sides provided the necessary speed, while an auto dump feature allowed the entire bottom of the dropship to give out and allow quick instant landing. The main drawbacks were low armor and no weapons, these machines were built purely for speed.

Sarah brought up a small 3D model of the dropship and began explaining the various features, focusing on top speed and maneuverability. “It can reach 600 mph in about a full minute of flight, full capable of stopping on a dime in order to deploy troops. The maximum number of marines it can support inside is twenty five." Jack whistled at the figure as that meant a lot of firepower, in a small amount of space, going really fast.

“Hmm well I know three pilots who can handle those. Alex, Scott, Franky up in those three fine women and make em yours. Just remember be gentle at first.” Skull made his group laugh as three men quickly jogged forward. Kerrigan used her AI powers to lower the ramps

“Alright that covers transport, now to show you the fighters, so known as Wraiths.” Jack began walking to the fighter bay, which was actually just a lower level of the hangar bay. While they moved Sarah brought out a Wraith for a full view.

The first thing Jack realized was that for easier storage the wings on the sides folded down, resting along the center and giving a slim profile. Next was that the cockpit was on a fixed axis while the body twisted around freely. The games didn't explain things like this, but now it was how he thought it was supposed to be and....wait that meant almost everything on the Hyperion acted like he thought it was supposed to when not in combat.

Skull walked up as the ship lowered down and the cockpit opened up, he slipped inside before nestling in and adjusting the straps. Soon he was putting the air mask on, pressing buttons as Kerrigan was showing him a live 3D interior and what to press to do what.

Jack left them in the hangar, knowing the physical representation of Sarah Kerrigan would appear on him when she wanted to.

He made his way back to the cargo bay, passing several people who had begun a search for food or the bathrooms. Jack didn't really care what anyone did as long as it didn't damage the ship, or anyone aboard.

As soon as he stepped into the cargo bay Jack had a shadow, a lanky woman dressed in full guard uniform. Well it wasn't really a woman exactly, but she was on hormones to become one. A joke had circulated among the inmates, when she started the treatments. After a week she had broken six legs, fractured twelve arms, cracked fourteen different jaws before killing man during a small gang up on her.

Jack always approved of her style and she acted like his right hand. "Kayla lovely to see you."

"Same to you commander." Kayla was ex-military, she never said what branch. She was a good six feet tall, ghost white skin, piercing black eyes, peach puff hair, and a splattering of freckles over her body. Her body was built like an athlete, toned and firm. Well almost all of it, Kayla was proud of her small chest and semi bouncy ass, having taken months to achieve them.

The inmate who died actually had started it all by smacking her ass as she walked by. It had taken six guards to subdue her until Jack could arrive. A single look and command returned her to normal.

The respect was earned though, Jack was one of the few during training to subdue her. He actually was still undefeated and every new guard had to survive a three round fight against him.

A sigh escaped Jack as he thought of all the pins and submissions he'd gotten. “Ah good times.”

They were a good way through the cargo bay, the herd of people giving them room as Jack stopped.

“Sir?”

“Just remembering the old sparring matches Kayla.”

“Ah.” She giggled, like actually giggled with a hand held to her mouth to cover it. Almost everyone around then froze with fear and looked towards the woman, fearing for their lives.

Jack smirked as he eyed her before shaking his head. “Moving on...” He switched his speakers on as their buzz filled the air. “Attention, I need volunteers. I want people trained to use these suits and guns, the sooner the better. I also need to announce that you are all free men. Each and every one of you can do as you wish, but we can't promise your survival if you choose to live down on the planet. Bear with me for a day or two to set up something before stepping forward and informing us.”

He let that all sink in, several prisoners were smiling as they thought of the crime they could commit. “Although I will say that the guards are still in charge, they will be remaining aboard as my crew if they'll stay. Inform us of any problems you have.” With that he shut off the speakers and began walking towards the doorway again.
Kayla stayed right on his heels, peering down on everyone they passed as a murmur of voices filled the air. “Was that wise?”

“We are all equal now, we aren't on Earth so why live by their laws anymore. Besides a lot of these men won't volunteer to fight if they aren't free.”

He was almost at the door but stopped as he saw the rest of the Skulls lounging around. “Head to the hanger and become familiar with our ships please. We don't have a lot but I would rather have you be familiar with then bow, than learning when we might truly need you in ships.”

The group nodded before starting to move off as Jack heard a small cough behind him. Both him and Kayla turned to see a large group of people assembled, a rough headcount told him there was maybe a hundred assembled.

A smile spread across his lips as he waved a hand. “Follow me.”

He began walking though the ship towards the armory, focusing as he stepped inside and started showing them the armor storage racks. “Don't worry, none of you will end up like me. These are all fully operational.”

Kayla walked forward and quickly stepped inside of a suit, settling in as it began to close up around her body. The plates sliding and locking together across her chest. The massive chest piece rose up from around the feet to secure itself with a mechanical hiss.

The suit stood motionless as Kayla started trying out controls forcing her arms against the metal and moving the suit. The servos whined and squealed painfully as she was not doing it correctly. Jack instantly knew what she was doing wrong, she was thinking the suit did most of the work, and she still had it in lock mode. He waited and let her figure it out before with a solid click, she began moving easier and was soon walking and flexing her limbs.

"Good you found the suit doesn't move on its own, just makes you move better and with more armor and weight." Jack nodded as he walked over and grabbed a guard rifle off the rack and tossed it over to her. "Here we'll head to the cargo bay for firing practice." Kayla had a bit of trouble catching the rifle, but she eventually slide it on her back where the mag locks activated and held the gun in place.

Soon the rest of the group were climbing into suits and figuring out how to move and use the controls. Each one grabbing a rifle when they felt comfortable and attaching it to the back. Jack noticed that most of the suits were the traditional dark blue, some were black just like his. The guards seemed to pick the black ones and the inmates didn't seem to care, knowing the guards were still in charge.

Several soldiers walked over and grabbed a shield off another rack, it had a small port for the gun on one side and a slit in the top. Presumably for when troops were in two line firing squads.... Jack walked over and hefted a shield before handing it to Kayla. She readily took it and hooked it on her right arm, the solid thud of magnetic locks securing it in place.

Several soldiers began taking her lead, but Jack shook his head. “Before we assign anything, we need to form squads, one guard and four inmates.” There was some shuffling around before everyone was settled, standing before him were twenty squads. An entire platoon, impressive, although there were some leftovers, two guards and two inmates.. “Stranglers on me.* They stepped forward and quickly took up positions behind him, standing regal and cocky since they were in Jack's squad.

“Now we will from into companies, that is five squads. From there we will begin weapon and shield assignment.” There was more shuffling as the guards were the ones who picked the other squads they formed up with, the stragglers forming their own after a few minutes. “Alright now, two squads from each company will get shields, one will get heavy weaponry. The remaining two are simple rifle squads for now. Shield squads grab them now and heavy weapons approach me for further information.”

Jack turned to his own group. “Someone go grab a shield, and the remaining three decide which two will get heavy weaponry.” He watched around him as the guards/commanders argued and ranted over reasons before it all ultimately settled down to... Rock! Paper! Scissors!... Jack groaned and facepalmed his helmet into his gauntlet as these were the people leading others into battle.

Finally after twenty minutes groups moved to grab shields and others stepped forward, looking towards Jack expectantly.

“Alright then, we will outfit your suits with rocket pods on each shoulder and a heavy CG-500 series assault gun.” He led the men towards requip stations, the same that informed him of his suits malfunctions. After a moment the modifications were plugged in, but there was a slight problem as there weren't any missile pods. Instead each suit came out with what looked like a Predator's shoulder cannon mounted on, just larger and with more bulk. There was also a large pack attached to their back, seeming to be an ammo system since it linked to the chain gun. An odd thing was the metal tubes along both sides with what seemed to be hand grips. Guess they would need to test it all out.

Jack was confused by this but left it alone as he took stock of everything. “Alright from into your company's then Sergeants, proceed to march your men down to the cargo bay for firing practice and formations.”

He soon heard the cadence of ‘Left! Left! Right! Left!’ And the stomping of boots on metal as the troops thundered down towards the cargo bay.

He was about to join them but a ball of black fire appeared in the armory, quickly swirling and opening to reveal a shadowy from stepping through. Black tendrils of mist leaked and dripped off of it, forming small pools before being absorbed back in as the thing stepped into them. It sent chills down everyone's spine. Kayla reacted by bringing up her shield and rifle, locking the two together as she stepped in front of Jack.

The creature had green fire in its eyes, it searched the room for a moment before finally settling its haze upon the group before it. After a moment it started to solidify, dark purple fur coating it's body as a dark six pointed star rested on the flanks.

It spoke a deep, firm, masculine voice. “My Empress sends word that the fortress is prepared and her subjects are awaiting your arrival.”

Jack looked at him for a moment before smirking. “Alright then, my honor guard and I shall accompany you back. The rest shall arrive upon the hour.”

The shadow pony seemed to have a little bit of an eye twitch before standing tall and regal, averaging three feet at the shoulder. “Alright then, I Dusk Shine, Element of Shadows, shall provide you safe passage.”

Jack took a moment to activate the comms aboard the suits. “Alright boys, you have an hour to train. After that mount up and meet me down on the ground. The ships we have can each hold a full company, but we only have three so that means one company will have to remain behind. Sergeants decide upon company commanders, then the company commanders will choose a platoon director who decided which company remains behind. But above all else Skull is in charge while I am gone.”

He switched over to a private channel to Skull’s wraith. “Kerrigan I need you back to me, we are going through a portal to the ground. Skull I assume you heard?”

“Roger that Jack, one hour before take off. I'll ensure they all behave till then, and we have a total of fifteen fighters. I am ensuring each one has a pilot, so five escorts per transport.”

“Good I'll seeya on the ground.” After that Sarah’s hologram appeared briefly on Jack's shoulder before disappearing.

Kayla raised a brow and looked at her friend for a moment. “Going to explain?”

“Later.”

“I'll hold you to that.” With that she turned and hooked shields with the other soldier before advancing through the flames. Next was the heavy weapons, and finally Jack took a deep breath before walking towards Dusk Shine.

“Let's go Shadow Element.”

The stallion simply snorted in response before melting to tendrils of black smoke as he stepped through. Jack and the remaining soldier stepping through the blackness.