As the UNSC Forces hustled throughout the base, Twilight and her friends were caught in the middle of the chaos. Even though Red Team was with them, they still felt overwhelmed at the recent series of events. Even Rainbow Dash was exhausted.

"Hey, you all okay?" a voice asked.

Twilight nodded to Alice, who nodded and sat down.

"We're fine." Twilight said. "What can we do?"

"You've done enough for now." Jerome said. "Rest up. We don't know when the Banished will return."

"Right." Twilight said. Then, an audible buzzing could be heard, and it was getting louder by the second.

"What's that?" Pinkie asked. "Are there bees here?"

"No, it's the Sentinels!' Douglas said. "Isabel?"

"Already on it." the AI replied. "We've got two flights of Sentinels incoming. Whatever the Banished are doing has stirred up the Forerunner defenses. We need to pack it up while we can, or our base is going down in flames."

"We won't have time." Douglas replied. "What's their ETA?"

"Two minutes, thirty seconds." Isabel replied. "Pull everyone back."

"Wait." Twilight said. "I have an idea. If I can harness enough magical energy, I can teleport the base to a safe location. There's a catch, though. I'll need time to prepare the spell and gather the energy, and there's no telling where we'll end up. But it can be done."

"Then do it." Cutter said. "We'll keep you covered as long as we can."

"Right." Twilight said. "I need everyone within a ten foot radius of the base. I don't want to leave anypony behind."

"Roger that." Roland said, coming in. "I'll relay the necessary orders. I've also identified a hilltop mesa near Fireteam Crimson's position. It'll serve as a good end point."

"Okay. Here goes." Twilight said, as she closed her eyes and began to focus. Arcane energy swirled through her horn, and it began to coalesce into a giant purple orb.

"Keep it up." Isabel said. "Wait...Banished incoming! A whole battalion!"

"We'll keep them at bay." Alice said, grabbing two SMGs and clipping them to her thigh holsters. "Red Team, on me!"

As the Marines and Spartans headed back to the line to face the Banished, Twilight could feel the energy burning inside her, searing through her. Though it hurt like tartarus, and Twilight had never teleported anything of this scale before, she knew she had to succeed.

"Almost there!" she moaned, the spell pushing the boundaries of the base. "Almost...there…"

As the Banished emerged from the woods, ready to open fire, they stopped dumbstruck at the massive orb enveloping the human base. As it collapsed and a pulsewave shredded the area with a gust of wind, the UNSC base and all of the forces with it vanished in an instant.

====

As the base reappeared atop the Mesa, Twilight collapsed to the floor, unconscious. As her friends rushed over, Red Team took positions next to them.

"Is she alive?" Alice asked.

"She's barely breathing, but yes." Rarity said. "Are we safe?"

"For the moment." Douglas said. "Isabel just reported that the Banished are fighting the Sentinels, and we're clear for now."

Before anyone else could speak, a Spirit of Fire Marine rushed inside.

"Spartans, outside! You need to see this!"

"What is it?" Alice asked.

"There's some kind of massive object outside! It's shielded!" the Marine said. As Red Team headed out, the ponies rested Twilight on a stretcher before following.

The ponies looked outside, and promptly gasped. A massive blue dome surrounded a mushroom-like object, half-sunken in the ground. The strange thing was that Forerunner Sentinels were flying through the sky around it, as it patrolling it.

"What is that?" Fluttershy asked.

"That...is High Charity." Roland said. "The former Covenant Capital, and presumed destroyed during the Human-Covenant War. If it's still intact, we could search it and see what we find."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Isabel said. "About three weeks ago, the Banished made it there to loot what remained of the city. I was analyzing their battle-net when I found this. It's a message from Atriox himself, to a pair of his lieutenants. I'll play it now."

"Pavium! Voridus!" the harsh, guttural voice of the Banished' leader echoed. "Do you know what your actions have cost me? I spent weeks fortifying our positions to continue the fight against the humans! Now i have to abandon them because of you!"

"We will fix this, Atriox." another voice said. "We thought it wise to inform you of the threat."

"You thought it wise?" Atriox said, dripping with sarcasm. "The Flood was the very thing this installation was created to destroy! You have no idea what you have unleashed! If we don't send every soldier we have right now to stop its spread, everything we've worked for will be consumed!"

"We've already reactivated the Sentinels!" said a third voice. "We will help them fix this! You have our word!"

"I want actions, not words! I'm on my way." Atriox said angrily as the message ended. As the Ponies looked at each other, confused, Alice gave a sigh of thought.

"The Flood." she said. "Where have I heard that name before? It sounds familiar."

"It should be." Isabel said. "My records state the Spirit of Fire engaged The Flood on the Shield World 0459, shortly before they disappeared. The world itself was later destroyed as the Spirit of Fire escaped and began to drift. As for the Flood, they're a parasitic species that aims to consume all sentient life."

"I remember them now!" Jerome said. "Captain, we've seen those things in action. Should we make our way in to take out the source?"

"Negative." Isabel said. "The Banished did it for us. They already released it once, and they barely contained the ensuing outbreak. That's when the shield was reactivated. Captain, we do not want to go in there, under any circumstances."

"I agree." Cutter said. "All UNSC Forces, hold position and do not move into High Charity. We don't want to make the same mistake the Banished did by opening that shield."

"Roger that." Douglas said. "Red Team out."

Author's Note

Update!

Next time- Anders meets the Warden aboard the Guardian, Celestia speaks with Astute Sigil, and Master Chief enters the fray.