For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted System)

For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted System)

Ch.2: Know your Allies and Enemy.

“Okay, here we are.” Twilight said as the group finally arrived to the cave. It was just located close enough to the Old Ruins, so they had to sneak around the patrols lurking about, without getting caught. They did sometimes take advantage with some of the natural traps, leading a couple of patrols astray as they made their way to their destination.

Making their way inside, they checked to make sure that there wasn’t anything living inside. Luckily enough, no wild animals were found.

Alex collapsed on the floor, sighing with relief. “Thank god that's over… any more and I would've collapsed on the spot.” she said, rubbing her aching legs. Both Vik and Sasha didn't say anything as they stood guard at the entrance, or at least, Sasha stood guard. Vik leaned against the cave wall nearby, his arms crossed.

“Okay, now that we’ve got here, I’ll tell you what happened.” Twilight said with a sigh, sitting down as Spike rolled off her, exhausted. “It’s been almost a year since this war has started. We’ve already lost so much ground ever since then, taking us by surprise. Although we think that this sort of thing was within the making for years.” She told them.

“How many cities have you lost?” Sasha asked, turning his helmet to look at Twilight.

“Most of them.” She answered. “Fillydelphia is where we’re holding the main bulk of their forces off. But seeing as they’ve already made their way around it…” She sighed before continuing. “Anyway, the one leading this army against us is named Flame Tail, a Unicorn who has made a lot of technological headway in secret. Except he wanted weapons of war to be created, so that he could ‘crusade’ against those who won’t join him. But his main grudge is against us princesses.”

“Why would he have a grudge against you? You don't look like someone that would have enemies.” Vik said.

“Apparently he doesn’t think we’re fit to rule anymore. In a sense, he started a revolution. Calling us the false rulers.” Twilight answered with a frown. “He thinks that the time of the Alicorns has long past, that we need to step down.”

Sasha snorted. “If he thinks that, he’s got delusions of grandeur.” he said. “You can't expect those who have been leading longer than he has lived to step down.”

“He knew that, hence the reason why he has gathered some followers who were as ambitious as he was, invested in Advanced Technological Research and Development, amass an army. We weren’t even prepared enough to stop him, not even me.” Twilight countered, reminding them that she was an Alicorn herself, and still lost. “We’ve only just managed to get our hooves on some of the tech they’ve developed and reversed engineered it. Even so, we’re still a little ways behind them.”

“Just how advanced are we talking about?” Alex asked, walking over to where Vik was and leaning against him, his arm going around her shoulders.

“Didn’t you guys see their weapons? If so, you can tell how advanced.”

“We were a bit busy trying not to be shot at to really get a good look at their weapons…” Vik said.

“Pretty advanced. Although, I think your armor can actually withstand some of them.” She answered. “But what are the differences between your armors? Or...would franchises be the right word?” She asked them. “I mean, you did say so yourselves, in a sense.”

“The franchise this armor comes from, Halo, is set in the 26th century, and like you, humanity faced a foe like no other. One that nearly succeeded in wiping it out entirely. It was known as the Covenant, an alliance of alien species that followed what were known as the 'Prophets’, three alien leaders that wanted to use a weapon of mass destruction on a galactic scale called a Halo to ascend to godhood. The Spartans were created in response to this threat. As such our armor have built in shields that absorb a certain number of shots before they're knocked out.” Vik explained. “Sasha’s armor is known as power armor. The universe his armor comes from is… well, let's just say the Second World War was a firecracker compared to what happens in the 41st Millennium. Humanity controls a good majority of the Milky Way, but they're under constant threat from Traitors, Daemons and Alien species. There are millions of battle zones, and it’s the efforts of the Space Marine Chapters that humanity has survived so far.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the descriptions for each of them, which lead to one conclusion. “Are you all… Super Soldiers?”

Sasha nodded. “The Spartans were augmented super soldiers, stronger bones and faster reflexes. Space Marines on the other hand were genetically modified to be faster, stronger and more powerful than a normal human. They even have 2 hearts.”

That was when Spike spoke up. “So yeah, they’re Super Soldiers in their unique ways, with their own lore.”

Vik then spoke up. “I’m actually surprised you even know what a super soldier is. Is there something that we don't know?”

“You could say that. There was some talk about creating a squad of Super Soldiers, but it was deemed too dangerous and the idea was scrapped.” Twilight explained with a sigh. “Since we don’t have enough resources, or the equipment made to do it, Celestia had it discarded.”

There was dead silence for a while. Alex then spoke up, “Won’t your friends or family be worried about you?” she asked.

“You have no idea.” Spike stated.

“My family does worry for me, especially since I lost my wings. As for my friends, well, we’re all in the military.” Twilight told them. “My brother is a General, married to another princess, who was my foalsitter, they both rule another country.” She explained.

“So your brother’s a prince in a sense?” Sasha asked.

“Pretty much.” She nodded.

Vik then took his helmet off, allowing Twilight saw his face for the first time. It was angular, with a mop of dark brown hair on the top of his head. Two light blue eyes looked at Twilight as he set the helmet down. “Guess you and your brother were destined for royalty.” he said, a small smirk on his lips.

“I suppose so.” Twilight said with a shrug. “Although, let’s just say that royalty isn’t my thing. But I got the hang of it.” She explained.

Sasha then looked out the cave entrance. “We’d better get a fire going, light’s beginning to fade.” He said.

“Alright then.” Twilight nodded as they went out in search for wood, albeit very discreetly. Once they had managed to collect enough wood for the night, they quickly returned to the cave and set up the fire place. “Spike, could you please light it up?” She asked.

“Sure.” Spike replied, taking a breath before releasing a plume of fire and lighting it up.

Alex had taken off her own helmet, her long black hair spilling out over her armor. Her green eyes stared at the fire as Vik pulled her in next to him and letting her lean on him.

“Now that we’ve learned what's going on here, do you have any questions for us?” Sasha asked.

“How did you three end up here, looking like you are now?” Twilight asked them.

“We were at a convention known as Comic Con, a gathering of movie makers, comic book writers, and toy companies. I thought it would cheer Alex up since she was still trying to recover from losing her arm in a car accident.” Vik said. “Needless to say, we were having a blast, but someone forgot our weapon replicas.” He gave Sasha an annoyed look.

“Hey, not my fault you and your girlfriend were in a hurry to get there!” Sasha retorted.

Rolling his eyes, Vik continued. “So while Sasha was checking out a new toy line from a company he gets sets from, Alex and I went looking for a vendor to buy new weapons to go with our costumes, and we finally found one, but this one… gave me a bad vibe.” His jaw clenched. “Once Sasha had joined back up with us, we went to the vendor, who happened to be dressed as a Rogue Trader from the same universe that Sasha's character came from. I bought a Reach pattern assault rifle, Alex got her sniper rifle and her replica of Ivy’s snake sword, and Sasha bought a Tigris pattern Bolter. Next thing we know, we black out and wake up inside this forest, our bodies feeling more powerful and finding out we had abilities that we did not have before. The first day, we ran into a Manticore, second day was when we encountered those soldiers, and today was when we ran into you.”

Twilight and Spike blinked at them, very surprised about the events of which lead to this moment.

“So you can see why we were on edge when we met.” Sasha said.

Twilight nodded, but then she thought about their predicament a little more. “Hmm, with all that has happened to you, who’s to say you’re the only ones to have fallen victim to this sort of fate?” She questioned, which got them thinking as well. “From the sound of things, that was no ordinary vendor, nor do I think he was human at all.”

“Well whoever he was, he’s the reason we’re stuck here…” Vik muttered.

Then Spike spoke up. “Does this mean that the Multiverse exist?” He asked.

“Well, it’s starting to look like that, but we can’t be certain.” Twilight answered him. “We’ll worry about that later.”

“Multiverse?” Sasha snorted. “If I wasn't in a world that looks like it belongs in a cartoon that had talking ponies, I would've called myself crazy.”

“A fair point.” Twilight sighed. “Still, we don’t have the answers, so we’ll leave it be until then. Tomorrow we’ll head for the Old Ruins, find out what they’re planning and if need be, stop them dead in their tracks.” She said, stating her little plan.

“I have one thing to say about that plan: Suicidal.” Vik said. “Look, I know you want to stop these guys, but they're probably on high alert if they’ve realized one of their patrols hasn't reported back. My suggestion would be to get back to wherever you live and get a message to your leaders.” The other two nodded at his suggestion.

“No offense, but you three are barking up the wrong tree.” Spike told them. “She won’t leave this one alone.”

“Okay, but charging in with no idea of their strengths and numbers isn't a smart choice.” Vik said. “What I’m trying to say is that we should get reinforcements before we do something stupid.”

“And if we don’t have time?” Twilight countered. “What then?”

“Then we’ll go with your plan.” Vik said. “But I’d rather not risk your safety over you getting killed by enemy soldiers on an ill planned raid on their base.”

“Okay, you’re right. How about a little recon and gathering some Intel, will that work for you?” She asked them.

They nodded. “Vik and Alex will go with you, since they have the equipment to do it. I’ll stay and keep an eye on the camp.” Sasha said.

“Thanks. Spike, stay here and don’t annoy him. We’ll try and make this quick.” Twilight told him.

“Hey!” Spike groaned in annoyance as the three of them left the cave.

Making their way to the Ruins in the dark of night was a lot more easy, if not only dangerous, since at this time the wildlife becomes more lively. There wasn’t that many patrols now, as they’ve all been called back, fortifying the Base. Both Vik and Alex had to improvise to divert some of the enemy’s attention, barely even making it inside undetected.

“Okay, we’re in.” Twilight whispered as they hid themselves for a bit.

“Next time, I’m staying behind with Sasha…” Vik muttered, getting a smack from Alex in response. “Ow!”

“Shh!” Twilight hissed at them as a patrol of guards went by, not noticing their presence. “We need to find some documents about what they’re planning.”

“I doubt they’ll have it on paper.” Vik said. “If it comes to hacking, I have someone that can do it.”

“Alright then, I think I know where their computers might be.” Twilight said as they snuck around, leading them down into the lower levels. “They’ll need to hide it down here so that they won’t be found out. Hopefully there won’t be many guards.” She told them as they hid away and let a patrol pass by.

They started searching around, checking every room they came across. For the most part, the rooms they checked seem to had been turned into a barracks, or armory. Soon they did find the room they were looking for, full of terminals, monitors and hard drives. The only problem was that there were a couple of ponies inside.

A single pistol with what seemed to be a massive muzzle appeared in Alex’s hand. Taking aim, she fired the pistol twice, a tiny cough emanating from the barrel. Two darts materialized between the shoulders of the two ponies, causing them to collapse. “They’ll be out for a while.” she said.

Vik chuckled. “That’s my girlfriend.” he said. Alex gave him a playful shove before he stepped up to a terminal. “Alright, Kyra, can you hack this and find out what these guys are up to?”

“Who?” Twilight asked in confusion.

Her question was answered by a small glowing figure that appeared on Vik’s hand. It was a human female, but colored a light blue and dressed in army fatigues and wearing a flak jacket while holding some kind of high tech rifle. “Can a bear fish?” she replied. “Yes, I can hack these guys, but it’ll take a while. Plug me into the terminal.” She then vanished as Vik pulled something out of a slot in his helmet and plugged it into the terminal.

Twilight was surprised by this, as Vik moved to one of the terminals and inserted the chip. “Was that an...A.I.?” She asked him.

Vik nodded. “Guessing you have something similar?” he asked.

She just shook her head. “We don’t. We’ve tried to create one, but we couldn’t.” She explained.

Alex walked back to them, having dragged the two unconscious ponies to a closet and stuffed them inside it. “How exactly did you even come by the info to make an A.I., or even a super soldier?” She asked. “I’ve been looking at this stuff and it doesn't really look like these guys are advanced enough to make an A.I.”

“More like projects they might be thinking of.” Twilight told her. “It might even be a slow process to get any of those things up and running.” She theorised.

Alex nodded before sensing something. She spun around but didn't see anything. “Must've imagined it…” she thought, shaking her head.

“Is she nearly done?” Twilight asked Vik.

“She should be done… now.” He said as the chip ejected. He picked it up and put it back in the slot in his helmet. “Okay, I’ll review some of it so that we… Oh no.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked him.

“This isn’t the only cell. They have others spread out, surrounding a town near here called Ponyville.” Vik answered, gaining a gasp of shock from Twilight.

“That’s my hometown. We need to get back.” She told them.

Nodding their heads, they left the Ruins as quickly as possible, not wanting to tip off this cell. What they didn't notice was another armored human slipping the other way. “So they’ve got Ponyville surrounded, huh? Better let Celestia know… but who were those two? That Scout Spartan’s right arm looked familiar… no, not gonna think about those times, gotta get to Canterlot!” He thought as he slipped past the enemy patrols.

As for the others, they made it back to camp and told Sasha and Spike on what the enemy was planning on doing.

“Then we’ve got no time to lose. We need to get to Ponyville.” Sasha said.

“Before we go there, I need to write up a letter to warn Celestia and the others. I’ll also have to tell them about you three, so that they won’t shoot you.” Twilight said as she shuffled around in one of the bags for some paper and pen. Writing up a letter quickly, she folded it up with the map they had, gave it to Spike as he breathed fire on it and sent it.

“What the?! I thought you were sending it, not burning it!” Vik said.

“I did! My fire can send letters to Celestia, I didn’t burn it.” Spike explained. “Sorry for not telling you guys, but we really need to get a move on.” He said quickly.

With nothing else left to say, Twilight packed the bags and they started making their way through the Forest at night. Trying to be as careful as they could be, without alerting the patrols or predators.

“Oof!” Vik grunted as he tripped on a vine. “Okay, I’m turning my helm’s light on, because I can't see for the life of me!” he then tapped a hidden button on his helmet and the single light mounted on it turned on. “Much better…”

“Are you sure that’s a good-?” Before Twilight could finish her sentence, she tripped on a branch herself, too. “Ow… Okay, yeah, we need light.” She groaned before picking herself up. They continued onwards to Ponyville, sometimes having to stop and turn the lights off before they got spotted, and once the coast is clear, they kept moving.

Finally reaching the end, they were out of the Everfree Forest, standing on the outskirts of Ponyville.

“So this is Ponyville?” Sasha asked, his Bolter resting on his shoulder. “Looks pretty quaint.”

“It is, for the most part.” She answered as they snuck around the sleeping town. “I’ll take you guys to my castle. Hopefully my friends aren’t there waiting for me, or else I’ll be getting an ear full.” She said as they reached her castle.

Once inside, they made their way through the empty halls and into a massive room, a crystal table sitting in the middle of it, surrounded by six thrones. However, Twilight then realised something.

“Wait a minute. Where were all the guards patrolling the streets and my castle?” She questioned.

Before any of them could think of it any further, the lights turned on with confetti blowing up in their faces, along with a certain pink pony shouting.

“SURPRISE!”