RoE: Operation end game

[Veteran] Gunnery sergeant: Avery Fallon

Dark Ops kill team: Viper

NACS: Defiant Ind-0231

UEC Colony system: Altonix

Distance from Sol: Unknown

2170AD/107AC

"Begin jump prep. Nav."

"L-drive is charged, stellar coordinates locked.

"Comms?"

"Jamming is engaged."

"Tactical."

"Railguns are hot, tubes loaded"

"Boarding party?"

"Ready to go. " I reported

"All stations reporting green light colonel."

"3...2...1… jump."

The entire ship vibrated before the colonel's voice came over the tac-link. "Lucky-13 you are go for launch."

"Wilco. Alright kids hold onto your lunch!" The pilot shouted before the dropship rocketed forward on its launch rails.

Opening a new window on my bucket's HUD panned my head around to watch the ghost frigate Defiant and her Ex-UEC escort shrink away. Movement caught my eye as I watched Charlotte and her wingman's gungnir fighters burst from their launch shoots. "Escort is away."

"This is Shiraui, I am disembarking." The flayed said as I watched a dorsal freight elevator on the ships exterior slide open. Her dull bone white body seemed to absorb the light from the systems red star as she crouched and jumped off of the hull.

Shiraui, being much faster than Chatlotte's gungnir covered the distance between Defiant and Lucky-13 in seconds before coming up behind the dropship. She had her tail wrapped around her blaster cannon as she followed behind us, using the dropship's stealth package to enhance her own natural stealth capabilities.

Half of her face slid away to reveal a large glowing pink eye. "Their weapons aren't tracking us."

"Contact in ten. Gutsy, send our credentials." X said from beside the crew chief.

"Got it."

Cutting the camera link I looked around the cabin our armor had been shifted from its usual neutral grey, to a glossy black. "Hey gunny do you think anyone know how L-drives work?" Camouflage asked from his seat across from me.

"Don't ask me. I'm not paid enough to know that kind of stuff." I responded feeling something coil around my leg. Looking down I saw that Miiora who was seated to my left hand wrapped her tail around me, something she had started doing almost as soon as we had started dating.

"I don't know, that shits all to confusing to me." Big Dog my assistant team leader, and fellow nanotized trooper called out from his point in line as he patted his blaster rifle.

"You think that's confusing? Man, not only is the coalition fighting a race of eighty foot monsters that will make you shit in your baby pants. But a collective of aliens, who have literal bipedal mythical creatures on their side, who can use actual magic. And all the COG in its infinite wisdom, gave me a flechette rifle at the start of the war to fight them." Sugar said checking his double checking

"True, but I'm just glad they're ground troops don't have anything more advanced than 20th century weapons." Wraith chimed in.

"True, and their standard issue weapon a shotgun. But you are incorrect in assuming that all of their infantry are equipped with 20th century weapons. Look at the humans who have sided with the UEC they are equipped with old battle armor, mark-1 M-66 rifles. There's a good reason why we don't just walk into their fire anymore, because we don't know who has those weapons in their units. And now that they have their own mechs our advantage is slowly slipping away." The squads synthetic Levoy said as he patted Wraith on the back.

Bra'tac Miiora's brother usually quiet and contemplative then chose that time to speak up. "Indeed, and do not forget Veteran Watkins, that in my time as Supreme commander Belles prime guard. I was and still am equipped with my lance. Which fires beams of condensed magic, similar to your blaster rifles which fire plasma."

Glancing over I gripped my fiance's hand and noticed her gold slitted eyes staring back at me. "Nervous?" I asked over a private channel.

"Yes love. I'm worried that…" Miiora started but was cut off as a low drone sounded in the hold. "Later alright."

I stood up the UP-armor kit I had selected for this op weighing me down slightly. The lights inside the hold changed from a cool blue to an angry red. "Five seconds."

"Alright people! Stand by. Watch your fields of fire, check your corners. Time to KTF, GK82 and TS2 you're out first!"

The dropship shuttered as we entered the stations small hanger. "Were good, they think we're a supply crew here to drop off fresh slaves and supplies. Two crew members and two security personnel in front." The dropship pilot said before slamming the back hatch down.

With a smile I gestured for the two war bots to jump out of the dropship. Following just behind the two bots as Lucky-13's landing skids touched the deck, I turned and was greeted with the sight of an unseen third security guard.

I didn't shout a warning for the clop to drop his weapon or get on the ground as he fumbled for the pistols at his hip. Instead I leveled my blaster ventilated his face, turning what had been an equine head into a ruin of smoking bone, and scragged brain.

Miiora rashed out from behind me and rebounded off of the landing skid, using it as a springboard to land just behind GK82 as it leveled its small wrist gatling and mulched the three clops and single drake that had come to great us.

"Clear." Wraith called out followed by Trombley or Camouflage as that was his official call sign now patting me on the back. Nodding, I raised myself from my crouch and waved my hand forward gesturing for Durge to scuttle his big but down the ramp. The zaltule, warrior cast of the kleese lumberd past me carrying his heavy mark-36 like a rifle.

"Alright, Habu, Wraith, Bigdog, Durge your with me. TS2, Gutsy, Camouflage, Sugar, Bra'tac, Levoy, stay here and hold the buss."

They flashed an acknowledgment as X my real team leader walked over to join my group. "Alright GK, Durge your on point Habu and I will be right behind you. Big Dog, Wraith, X your on rear guard."

Standing from my crouch I stacked at the hatch leading farther into the station and waited for the bot and the spider to open breach. They did, GK was the first in and declared the left was clear almost at the same time Durge called out in his thick chest vibrating baritone "Clear right."

Satisfied I turned the corner and followed the two eight and nine foot tall killing machines down the vibrantly colored, and dazzlingly lit corridors. As I walked Miiora almost glued to my side the whole time I couldn't help but marvel at the two hulking beings that lead my fire team. GK was a hunter killer something outlawed by the Coalition all fathers decades ago, after some massacre before I was born.

And Durge, well he was a nine foot tall four armed, four legged tarantula thing. That could wield the successor to the Mark-19 like an assault rifle, and rip a fully armored man in half with his bare hands, or claws in this case. Or if he got really randy either bite your head off, or just bite you with those six inch fangs and inject you with so much neurotoxin that you immediately go into shock.

Both of them were perfectly designed for no other purpose than taking life, something both of them enjoyed. "Hatch on the right, Durge, neutralize."

"Yes Veteran." He boomed as he scuttled up to the hatch letting it slide open as he leveled his weapon. Smiling as I jogged past I watched as Durge began firing his weapon the second the door opened. Four booms from the mark-36 was the only noise the kleese made before turning and using a free hand to toss a grenade into the room, before jogging back to us as I pushed up to fill Durge's evacuated spot.

Advancing down the passageways I became slightly fixated by the dazzling lights and swirling pastel patterns on the bulkheads. That's when it happened the first real contact with the enemy.

We had just rounded a corner when I found myself face to face with one of the flying clops. The equestrian flared its wings in surprise as we came face to bucket. It made the first mistake it didn't have hands on its weapon one if those slug throwing shotguns they were so fond of.

We were to close for ranged weapons, to close for her, or myself to bring either of our weapons to bare effectively. So I did the next best thing, fell back on what my first pod head commander had drilled into me so often and so hard that it had become second nature, instinct.

In a blink I grabbed the woman because with that frame how could she be anything but. Picked her up slammed her back first into the bulkhead. She let out a grasp, more of a pained croak really as I felt several ribs crack under the force of my body check. Shifting my weight to keep her pinned between my armored bulk and the wall I relieved my right hand and drew my combat knife from its shoulder harness.

My motion was quick, practiced and I watched with a glee that almost sickened me to the bone as I drew a bloody line across the mare's neck. That same utter happiness filled me as I watched the shock of the utter violence I had just done, done to her, register in her brain.

She tried to scream, but all that came out was a wet bubbling gurgle as I resheathed my knife and watched the light in her eyes die. Was she a mother, someone's friend, a sister, someone's daughter? I didn't know, and I pushed off of the wall and watched her head flop on a patch of skin. Head back like a flipped down hoodie, severing the weakened spinal cord with a push and a sick with a sick crunch, I didn't care.

Her blood soaked the arm assembly armor and that just made me mad. Mad enough that when another UEC soldier idiotically drew in close, I used all of my nanotized strength and kicked him square in the chest. Bones crunched and organs pulped as I watched the young drake slam back into the opposite bulkhead, denting the metal with a wet crunch. He didn't get back up but put two bolts in his chest and one in his head, just to make sure. Hearing the sound of rushing footsteps I whirled around and clamped my gloved hand over the mouth of a caleb before gripping, and tearing the mans lower jaw from his body in a shower of blood and gore.

A flash of movement caught my eye and as I pivoted to bring my weapon to bare Miiora shot past me and crashed into another tymerian like a missile. Rearing her head back she as she stood crouched on his chest, Miiora slammed her helmet forward. Smashing her visor into the larger males scaly face. His snout crumpled under the force of the blow, and dark magenta blood spattered against her armor glass visor as she head butted him again.

The male staggered back as from the two blows and fell on his back as Miiora followed him down. He tried to fight back as she crawled up his body, his amber eyes fixed on the PDW she had shoved into his chest. With two quick trigger pulls she put him down, the serrated anti personnel flechettes tearing through his comparatively weak armor like wet paper.

Hustling to her side I dropped to a knee and as one we leveled our weapons on the last clop in our line of fire. The unicorn, this one with an alabaster coat and large hazel eyes reacted quickly and threw up a shield to protect itself.

Our battle armor and weapon computers linked and fire my N4 and Miiora's PDW worked in tandem to simultaneously weaken and pierce the shield. Half a second later the shimmering blue shields shattered and the mare was riddled with dozens of blaster bolts and serrated flechettes.

She jerked like a spastic marionette before falling unceremoniously to the deck. Nodding once to each other we turned in time to see GK stomp humans head flat against the floor, and Durge crush the neck of a second in his large claw.

X however was standing in a circle of four dead clops looking no worse for the experience. As he cleaned his blaster rifle's bayonet on the fur of a gutted pony. Miiora and I glanced at one another as the legendary helldiver moved past us.

"Alright people, we need to make up for time." X said bringing up a schematic of the relay station on our HUDS.

Activating my implant I cycled through the various comm channels Roland and Shiraui had hacked. 'Security team bravo has gone dark. Same with the team quester. Security teams delta, gamma deploy. And someone tell find out who is attacking us! The computer doesn't recognize the figures on the feeds.'

"I agree, I don't think we will be able to make it to the data core before they manage to set up a worthwhile defense."

Closing the windows on our HUDs X looked at each of us. "Then it's decided, we split up. Iceman, take Habu and Durge. Draw their attention, mabey see if you can find the slave collar control room."

"Hooyah. Alright Habu, Durge, Wraith, reload those weapons and get set." I said as the group continued down the corridor and stopped at a four way intersection.

Looking across the corridor I nodded to X to which the older podhead flashed me a thumbs up. "Good luck, lei-troopers." With that he made gestured for his half of the team to move up the corridor.

Slave housing block

UEC system: Altonix

Blazing star relay

Distance from Equis: 362 light years

56AE

"Mommy what's that noise?" A child asked her mother as the sound of rapidly approaching gun fire washed through the barracks. "Get away from the window honey, it's dangerous."

The reports drew closer and soon those slaves brave enough to venture from their cell like quarters began to hear distinct sounds amongst the growing sounds of combat. There was the steady steady and short booms of their masters weapons, as well as shouts. Controlled at first but as the seconds passed, they could hear their masters control of self slipping away, replaced with panic. According to what the soldiers were saying, whomever their attackers were they seemed to be set in advancing despite the hail of bullets heading their way.

Like so many of their kind they were left in the dark about the goings on outside of the UEC. While many knew of the rumored Anti Conclave Movement, almost none among the slave cast of the UEC save those on the frontline, had even heard of the North American Commonwealth. Let alone the Coalition of Governments that governed earth and her Colonies as a whole. To them, humans were just another unfortunate race to fall under the UEC's might and be forced to serve.

Yet unlike the main three races to serve the Equis, humans had no natural advantages that explained how they survived on their storm covered world of Camelot. They were not strong and aggressive like the arachnid Kleese, nor were they natural hunters like the reptilian Tymerians. They were not medically inclined and aquatic like the crustacean Myrialos, and nor did they possess the furr and pack mentality of the lesser known wolf like Hidori, the list went on.

Humans unlike every race the UEC had come across, seemed to lack even a single trait that would have let them survive on the planet they had called home. They did not breath carbon dioxide, which was in an abundance on Camelot, no thick coats to protect from the heavy rain, or natural protection from the radiation or poison that lingered in the air before the UEC expeditionary fleet had arrived almost one hundred of their years ago. Some of them possessed weapons and technology when they were found, that implied otherwise however, implied that perhaps the humans did not evolve on the uninhabitable rock that was Camelot. And yet...

Now, ahead of horrifyingly familiar sounds of UEC weapons they heard the reports of weapons completely unfamiliar to the group of slaves. They heard a slow and steady pom, pom, pom, from some kind of heavy weapon slowly advancing up a nearby corridor. The rapid fire of a weapon that sounded like the wicked offspring of a rifle and an air powered nail gun added its hoarse report to the advancing noise.

The UEC was all they knew, for some races for a thousand of human years. They were an unstable force, and an immovable object merged into one. And still their masters continued to retreat, giving ground to an enemy, their servants could still not see. These masters whose deadly suppression teams would be sent down at a moments notice to any world that fell under their rule.

A shadow flashed from the doorway leading into the barracks. Slaves leaned out of doorway or pressed themselves against windows to see, to get a glimpse of what was happening. Two humans, recent additions to the relays relatively small slave quarter hooped and hollered, sounding for all the gods, like the hairless apes the mindless savages their masters insisted that they were. More shouts, from the masters, calls for support, calls for retreat.

Then through the door fell a body. Not the body of a monster, because what else could cause their masters to flee. But the body of a pony, the body of a female unicorn, a filly really judging by her apparent age who's ruined corpse had been blasted in half at the waist. Partially mulched organs, and a segment of spinal cord spilled onto the pristine white ground as bright red blood gushed from the mares corpse to pool around her. Her lifeless eyes stared straight down at the deck as if she had been running and had been shot in the back.

Around her more of the master races filed into the barracks. Rushing around or stomping over the corpse of their comrade in their rush to gain some distance, to just get away from the monsters that were pursuing them. Several of the masters stopped, prompting others to do so as well as their slaves watched them flip tables and pieces of furniture so old they belonged in a museum. Something dedicated to furniture so tacky, so utterly ugly, unappealing and run down that all the races in the galaxy should come to see.

One master a zebra stood from his improvised cover and hurled a grenade down the hall he and his comrades had just evacuated. In response, two bolts of sizzling crimson energy slammed into him, one searing a smoking hole into his chest, the other blowing straight through his helmet to blast out the back of his head in a spray of blood, bone, and sizzling meat they knew had once been his brain. The master dropped, unceremoniously to the ground in a heap like yesterday's trash.

The slaves, taken aback by the sheer shock of what had just happened watched as a second pair of bolts ended the life of another master, followed quickly by another pair to take yet another life. Whoever or whatever monsters were committing this slaughter, they weren't fighting with the emotion, the passion, nor the sick sense of honor their masters showed. Instead their way was cold, calculated, and utterly devastating.

In ones, twos and threes, searing red energy lanced down the hall like the second hands of analog clocks some of the slaves had in their quarters, or the beats of a metronome. Each was shot aimed expertly, each bolt taking the life of yet another master. The other weapons they had heard before then made themselves known sending streams of tracers, or large semi explosive slugs to add to the death being brought by the senders of the bolts.

In a panic two final masters stumbled into the chamber, slapping their digits into a master control panel causing the doors to slam shut. Instantly the incoming fire stopped, and from the opposite end of the chamber another small team of masters arrived to reinforce the first.

"How many?" One of them asked another. As the group began reloading weapons and checking wounded. One of the masters a large stallion, swept up a large drum fed auto shotgun from a fallen comrade and aimed it at the doors. After all that door was two feet of solid steel, with bolts several inches thick meant to stop even the most tenacious and ferocious of rogue kleese

The leader of the first group gulped. Her voice almost meek, lacking the usual mirth or superiority the slaves had gotten used to hearing from this mare. "Four."

"What?.." the original speaker a changeling, the human slaves called "Blinkie" behind his back began to ask. When a sharp *Bewoom* was heard from the opposite side of the closed door. Instantly the lights began to flicker sporadically before going out all together, replaced a second later by the dull ember red of emergency lighting.

Not a single being in the chamber spoke a word as a chilling silence broke over the room's occupants. Slaves retreat from windows, and masters readied weapons, flicking safeties, and muttering soft prayers to whatever gods that particular master followed if any.

The seconds ticked by, and soon what felt like a small eternity had passed. Sweat beaded on the foreheads of several of the masters, and one simply broke down, throwing down his weapon and sprinting full tilt for the door back the way they had come...

The sealed door was blasted apart, in a shower of sparks, debris and flying shrapnel. Thick black fog filled the portal, and a single ruby bolt sailed through the smoke, striking the fleeing colt between the shoulder blades. Blasting out of his ribcage and striking the wall at the far end if the hall.

So stund were they by exploding door that no one reacted to the two cylindrical objects that sailed out of the smoke to clatter onto the ground with a pair of metallic clangs until it was too late. One of the cylinders flashed and popped, so suddenly and so violently that it not only blinded two of the masters immediately beside only but blew out the eardrums of several of those in the immediate area.

The second cylinder however, was the real star of the show. It exploded once sending shrapnel in every direction transforming the neatest master from a sentient being that was potentially hundreds of human years old... Into both a mass of pulverised meat and a fine viner on the nearest wall. Then a small capsule propelled into the air by the devices first devastating detonation, exploded as well not a fraction of a second after the first, filling the air with even more razor sharp shrapnel.

Another cylinder, this one larger than the previous two followed the same arc as its predecessors and landed in the middle of a group of staggering, bloody, and generally stunned survivors. It popped, an internal device causing it to spin in place as it realised smoke into the room.

Seconds later, after the smoke had partially filled the barracks. The slaves, saved from the two grenades by the ballistic windows meant to keep them from escaping saw them. The monster, no, monsters that had wrought such death in such a small period of time made themselves known.

Demons in human form, garbed in glossy black armor glided into the chamber in total silence, the sounds of their foot falls only being audible to the hunter races among the onlookers. Armor, that reflected the red light in such a way that it seemed to make them glow, emanate an aura of such mallace that it made several of the slaves, mostly children, want to crawl under their covers, or run to their parents arms and wish for these monsters in black to go away.

The two demons spread out, not a word being shared between them as they drew knives and butchered the stunned ponys beside door. Before turning their attention forward, and raising their strange rifles towards the masters.

Sizzling crimson lanced from their weapons striking down several masters. As their bodys fell the slaves watched as a second pare entered the breach.

These demons bore familier formes, the first of the two held the slender and almost universally accepted grace and beauty of a tymerian maiden. Like the serpents she had evolved from, the grey armored maiden appeared to slither forward towards one of the masters. Occupied as was he with sweeping his weapon across the chest high smoke, jumping at the shadows cast by his own comrades and those made by the two crimson eyed demons. He didn't see, nor did he have time to react to the maiden's approach before it was to late. Her left claw shot out tearing the human sympathizer throat open, gushing scarlet blood over her partially domed visor. Prey defeated, the maiden took up position just on top of the body of her fallen victim, using it as cover before firing her weapon into the crowd of masters as they slowly came to their senses.

The fourth and final demon to enter the common room was unmistakably a kleese. Its four powerful legs propelled most of its nine foot bulk into the room. Its abdomen bobbing slightly behind it as it leveled its weapon before unleashing with a series of shots that exploded several masters where they stood.

Again, like the humans, the Kleese and the tymerian, shared no words. And almost as if they were controlled by some malevolent entity the four demons, because how could they be anything but, corralled their masters into one area, and as the maiden and the kleese pinned them down. Locking the masters in place while the two humans gilded around and flanked them from the sides and from behind.

The entire engagement lasted all of forty seconds. Forty seconds where the slaves watched in equal parts abject horror, awe, and morbid fascination as the group slaughtered the masters that had abused them for so long. Killing them all, and sparing none.

And perhaps the most terrifying part about the whole ordeal was that all the while the four demons. The two who took the forms of black armored humans, and the two who so cruelly macerated as the tymerian, and the kleese, were completely silent. None of them called out a target, no labored breaths or cries of in pain when hit, or cheers in victory. Not a sound between them, beyond that of the firing of their weapons, or foot falls.

Not as they regrouped in the center of the chamber. Not as they meticulously slashed the throats of their victims. And not as they nodded to one another and moved on to sow more death elsewhere on the station.

Not a word.

[Senior Veteran] Xavier Rodriguez: X

UEC system: Altonix

Blazing star relay

Distance from Sol: unknown

2170AD/107AC

Taking cover and advancing slowly behind the war bot, I sighted in on the small team of poorly trained security officers. These jokers might have been trained well enough to deal with the occasional emaciated slave, or breakup a drunken brawl. But against the likes of Big Dog and myself, they would never stand a chance. Never mind the war bot that even legionnaires trained on the off chance that they might fight bots had trouble bringing down? Not a chance in hell.

The N-4 bucked in my hands as I sent blaster bolt after blaster bolt into the center mass of the clops trying to stop us. GK's wrist mounted blaster spat streams of that downed another two traitorous humans, while Big Dog put down another with a shot to the neck. In less than ten seconds we had neutralized the security team and soon found ourselves advancing towards the data core.

Opening my implant I checked Iceman's progress, he and his small four man team. The kid and his team had released the slave collars. And they were now making good time for the stations command center, legion time.

"Master, I require several minutes to download and transfer the data. And while I do not require a physical connection to the core to do so, I will need to maintain a minimum distance of three meters for maximum bandwidth." The war bot said as it extended a small antenna from its back.

"Understood, start the download. Big Dog we're holding here. Shiraui, what does it look like from out there?"

"From what I can tell, their is group of around twelve that have broken off from their pursuit of my placenta.The group advancing on you are ten hostiles of medium size, and two of larger scale possibly adolescent dragons, larger Kleese of the Zaltule cast, or bull minotaurs. Mister GK82 and I believe that your current plan places the odds of your survival at bellow 52 percent."

"Well that's just great, no wonder Iceman keeps you around. Your such an optimist." Big Dog joked as he changed charge packs.

"You really think so!" The flayed squealed, in her strange childish voice.

"Definitely, your ray of fucking sunshine." The big MOTH grunted sarcastically under his breath as I looked around, checking the bulkheads, decks, and ceilings.

"Big Dog, how much debt cord do you have?"

"About thirty feet, why?"

Soon I found what I was looking for a maintenance hatch. Walking over and trying the handel I found it stuck, tightly locked. Snapping my fingers to get Big Dogs attention I gestured to it. "Hey kid, open this."

"Yeah, whatever. " He grunted indignantly before walking up to the hatch wrapping a gauntleted hand around the handel he used his nanotized strength to rip the hatch out of the bulkhead. "There you go old man."

"Alright get in there veteran."

"I think I see what your trying here. Give me your monofilament wire I think I've got a plan." Said the nanotized MOTH as he tossed his rifle into the tube and crawled into the passage.

"Shiraui, how long till they get here?"

"Five minutes at their current speed. My placenta is calling. Good luck… Mister R.."

"Its, X, lanky."

"But …"

"No.."

"Very well, Well then what's your plan? Please… You have to tell me…"

"Well, if you must know. Its an old Legion trick..."

Security Team Theta

UEC system: Altonix

Blazing star relay

Distance from Equis: 543 light years

56AE

'Team theta, what is your progress to the data core?'

"We are rounding the corner now sub captain. Chip, take point." The human in charge of the security team said. The simien wore the old armor of his people and carried one of their rifles.

Nodding the distinguished soldiers of the UEC security corps rounded the corner expecting to see an army of grey and black armored humans. However as they moved forward the UEC soldiers instead were greeted by a completely empty hallway.

"What in tartarus?" The son of the duke of Baliin said to himself before looking back to the squad leader who gestured forward. "Right."

The group of highly trained officers pressed their lead. It appeared that they had beaten the black armored invaders to the data core, giving their team the time they needed to set up an ambush and take out the beasts that had attacked them. Most of the personnel on the station hadn't been backed up and so when they were slain by this enemy they stayed dead.

The group made it halfway down the hallway before a series of sharp twangs from behind them drew their attention. "Hault!" The human shouted pivoting and pointing his bulky weapon back the way they had come. But the hall was clear, no black armored humans, no sizzling bolts of crimson magic.

"Something is very wrong here." The teams minotaur said as he pivoted on one large muscular hoof.

"I agree. Lets double time, I think we're only a few seconds ahead of them." The team leader said, gesturing for the team to continue forward.

Chip nodded yet again, moving before his team had refocused their attention, he sprinted five steps down the hall and stopped abruptly. The stallion let out a sharp scream before that too was cut off just as abruptly. Looking up, startled by the noise the rest of the team witnessed their teammate standing at an awkward angle in the middle of the hallway.

"Chip, what's…" The colt's mate said before Chip wheeled around holding his gushing throat, dark arterial blood spraying from the finest cut they had ever seen.

Chip took a single step backward to catch himself. Only to trip over something drawing a thin line of blood over his left leg before falling backwards. Then to their horror the security team watched as the noble pony's body literally fell apart.

He fell backwards through a latus of wires so thin they could only see them because of the blood that coated them. The wires, using just the weight and momentum of his fall cut through his flesh, bone, and body armor like it wasn't even there dicing him to pieces.Blood sprayed as ruined organs and body parts spilled and plopped onto the pristine floor.

With their way forward obviously cut off, security team Theta rushed backwards in an attempt to avoid the maze of floating blood coated wires. At the head of the retreat were the minotaur and two pegasus.

They only made it another six meters before being caught up in a spider web of thin wires, not as thin as the razor net they had seen before. Several of the three unfortunates teammates stepped up to cut their comrades free only to be blown to pieces as the entire network of wires exploded.

Dazed and in shock the teams last pegasus, in a panic took to flight hoping to get to the data core by perhaps rushing through a gap in the razor wire. Instead the mare simply reacted like a water balloon being hit by a tennis racket. That is to say she exploded into a shower of diced meat and blood as she sailed directly into a second latus set higher up and farther down the hall.

That's when it happened, as the rest of the team was in disarray. Scared and panicked as they were, as their team leader struggled to get them under control the attack came.

The team leader saw and instantly dropped to the deck as two figures leaned out from the corner at the end of the hall and unleashed hell on his team. Crimson bolts of energy slammed into and through the weak body armor of his compatriots as he, a descendant of one of the original Camelot marines fell back on his grandfather's training. He raised his M-66, lined up a shot on the left most targets center mass and returned fire.

He watched the shots land, saw the sparks but his opponent didn't drop. He shifted attributing the incident to perhaps the man had an up armored kit and sent two more five round bursts into the black armored troopers armor. This time the man on the other end of the hall reacted, he fired three bursts from his energy rifle that spattered on the body the security officer was using as cover and whirled back around to the relative safety corner provided.

The second man shifted his fire then, shifted to keep the human pinned down as his fellow black armored man did something. Pinned as he was the human sympathizer was perplexed when a dull whine could be heard from beside him. Turning to look to his side he saw a cylinder sail out of an open maintenance hatch to his right, propelled by a small roaster at its rear.

He didn't know what it was, but as it let out a rapid series of beeps he had a rough idea. And had only enough time to utter a single word. "Fuck."

The cylinder exploded twice sending shrapnel in every direction, and killing every member of the security team. A few severely wounded members of his team were left alive but only long enough for the two black armored men to stroll down the hall and shoot them dead execution style. But the human sympathizer who was the team's leader knew none of this the fragger had ended his life with its first explosion blew up in his face.

[Veteran] Gunnery sergeant: Avery Fallon

Dark Ops kill team: Viper

UEC Colony system: Altonix

Distance from Sol: Unknown

2170AD/107AC

'Iceman, status report.' X asked over Tac-link.

"Stacking now, breaching in 5."

'Copy.'

Switching my buckets vision to millimeter wave I planned my head to the side scanning the locked hatch to the control room. "I count nine, two to the left, two on the right, three in the center, two in the rafters." As I relayed this information to my team I marked the presumed hostile silhouettes with yellow markers.

'Breach Iceman, we don't know how much longer we can keep their signal jammed.' Colonel Tiegh said his message being relayed from Shiraui, then off of Charlotte, then Doll's fighters and finally back to the stealthed Defiant.

"Got it, Habu your on me. Wraith, Durge your in back. Signal ready."

"Ready, Set, ready." Miiora's hand tensed scoring new scratched on my back armor as I brought up the detonator and flipped open the safety cap.

"Breaching!" Depressing the button I dropped the detonator as the det cord on the door exploded. Smoke kicked up as I pulled a bang grenade from my belt and hurled it around the corner. "Banger out!"

A flash of dazzling light and a defining bang came from the other side of the destroyed door, followed by a scream. "GO!" I shouted as I cranked my buckets external speakers to the max, sholderd my N-4 and stormed into the room.

"Get the fuck on the floor!" I shouted as I rounded the corner and fired two blaster bolts each into the stunned forms of the two clops on the left. Behind me I heard Miiora fire two bursts and watched two more yellow carrots change from yellow to black.

A new sound came to my ears, the distinctive sound of a shotgun bolt being racked. Turning I reached a hand out hooked my hand around Habu's carry handle and yanked her backwards. Almost simultaneously I felt and heard the shotgun go off.

But unlike the tine onboard that UEC ship I had the Up armored attachments on kit. Instantly the imperva steel chest armor ablated away, as I felt the force of the blast threaten to knock me off my feet and onto my ass. But I was still alive and looked in the direction the blast had come from, where a human who was in the middle of switching targets.

The woman did a double take as she watched me I through my now useless N-4 to the floor I drew my side arm and smiled under my bucket. The hand cannon stile pistol whirred as it as ths it came online and I leveled it at the women's face.

The woman's only response was a choked "Wha.." before the weapon bucked in my hand. It's overly large plasma blow blowing her head to pieces spraying the wall, and various computer terminals with blood and bits of seared meat. "Damn, I prefer this."

A weight impacted by back, and I was about to whirl around when I felt a tale travel up my leg. Refocusing I sighted in as Habu settled her smaller frame against my back and raised her own weapon.

"Iceman! On your right" Wraith called out. Splitting my attention I fired another round into the chest of a dragon, blasting a foot wide hole through his torso.

Pivoting I snatched the hilt of Bourbon jack's sword from my belt swinging the weapon in an arc just as Crux taught me. The blade telescoped out like a nightsticks and at the apex of its arc bit into the rapidly approaching stallion. The sword's monofilament blade sliced the clop in half from hip to shoulder.

"Repot." I called out over tac-link. As the smoke finally cleared and I got to survey the damage. Eight dead, one mare on the ground, no wounded.

"We're clear I think..." Wraith called out before a new voice cut the man off.

"You, you black knight. You be the leader of these monsters am I correct!?" the mare called out from her prone position on the floor.

"What gave you that idea?" I asked flicking my external speakers.

"Your sword, only a leader of some esteem would carry an honorable weapon such as that." She said getting to her feet… hooves.

"What?" Giving Miiora a sideways glance I gave the woman a tilt of my head. Looking at her she did seem to be dressed differently than the rest of the bridge crew, mabey she was the commander? Some kind of noble mabey?

"I am baroness Snow Petal third cousin of…"

"Whatever lady. Hurry it up."

"Yes, I would like to make you a proposition… If you can defeat me in a duel then I will allow you to proceed with whatever you came here to do and not alert the rest of my people to what transpired here."

"Ok? And what do you get if you win?" I asked deciding to humor the mare as I watched the rest of my team beginning to police the bodys and scanning computers.

"If I win, the you, and your group of savages swear your allegiance to me. Do you accept?"

"Sure. Come at me."

The unicorn smirked before her horn flared a brilliant gold and a finely ornamented sword appeared in her path. She closed the gap fast for a clop and sliced her blade in a horizontal slash. Instead of falling back or bringing my own sword up I stepped into the attack. Using the flat of my blade locked her sword onto the guard. Extending and wrapping two bionic fingers over the nobles I used by nanite enhanced strength and bionic limb to lock her arms in place with one hand and leveled my side arm with the other.

The mare's eyes grew wide as they fell on the barrel of the hand cannon as I placed it between her breasts. "I win."

I pulled the trigger, there was a flash of ruby light and the mare's back exploded outward into a macabre pyrotechnics display. Tears rolled down her face, ruining her makeup before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell like a wet sack.

"Was that really necessary?" Trombley asked as I sent X the all clear message.

"Not really." I said cleaning the blood from the blade on the dead mares white uniform.

"X, do you have the data?"

'Got it, GK is sorting it now.'

"Alright, let's regroup and do one final sweep, then round up the slaves and get out of here."

'Sounds like a plan.'

Tambelon

Altar of Grogar

Tartarus

Grogar smiled as he heard the sound of the bell. His bell, the same one that Gusty had managed to cut off from the mortal realm. Of course in doing so she trapped him here, and the bell had been silent, but now, now he could hear it. The faint sounds of it ringing. He looked at the pony before him. She had been one of the unfortunates that didn’t have her essence backed up, and thus when she died she found herself in his tender mercies. So far she had discovered what it was like to be split roasted with phalluses made of sandpaper. Others had some interesting fears, that he gladly allowed them to experience. One of their numbers was afraid of operations.

Naturally he was tied down, and autopsied while he screamed for mercy. Mercy, these foals didn’t understand there was no mercy, and he would only gladly bring all of their kind to his domain. But then, the humans were close, so close to discovering the frequency that would allow them to tap into immortality. The moment they did he would graciously give them the freedom from death, and in return they would send every single last one of the ponies to him. He didn’t get to play with the last Princess that was here as long as he would have liked. Her essence barely stayed before those damned machines of theirs whisked it away. But it was no matter. There was an entire red light district full of delights for the princesses. And he would ensure they felt every single humiliation that was due.

“Father, can you hear me father? I wonder if i am getting to you” a feminine voice calls out to him “i bring gifts and news” a succubus forms from the shadows with souls in tow, all of them ready for Grogar’s ‘tender touch’

"Yes, my creation. I can help you. What is it?" He replied going over what information he would trickle to the humans next.

“Fresh souls for you father, once trapped in limbo are yours now~” she bows to him with a smile “and i believe i am close to my goal now…” a frown crosses her lips “but… there is a problem…” she looks away slightly “or two…”

Grogar let out a huff and took a deep breath before replying. "What is it now?"

She takes a deep breath before answering “farther… she and her brother are currently stuck on an ice world...it took me a long time just to contact you…” she bows again “not only that, i fear something almost impossible happened, but i am not sure…”

"Yes, I believe I might know the world of which you speak… Coco has been studying the humans between their… tests."

“Father, a… an incubus may have been born… bonded to a mortal…” she braces herself for any pain

"Preposterous! Lies, How was this done!?" He yelled, his words coming out as more of a snarl as he shot from his throne to seemingly tower over the succubus.

She falls over in fear feeling his power “father, i-i do not know, but from what i understand…” she weakly gets up from her fall “the mortal himself was ‘made’ using an odd crystal…” she stares at him “but... there is good news…”

Grogar sighed as he felt the ebb and flow of the power around him. "What mortal? Explain quickly my patience grows thin."

“The mortal himself is of a NEW race…” she tells him with a smile “something called ‘pandari’... made BY humans to help them as equals!” her smile gets bigger “what’s more, they tap into a power without trying OR knowing!”

"Truly? Interesting, I have heard reports of a race with a natural connection to what the Creator's called the quantum. But I have yet still to feel the pull of the crux. Perhaps the Humans are not… tell me do you believe these creatures these pandari can deliver me the pony's souls?"

“They have the skills, the tricks, and when paired with humans…” her grin truly grows demonic “they could utterly wipe them out…” she falls to a knee and bows her head “even more so...with the incubus bound one with them…”

He leans forward, fascinated. If another race.could combat the ponies he might not even need the humans. "... As they are now, would they be able to do what you say? On their own, if I were to stop aiding the humans, could they deliver me the princesses?"

She gains a frown “sadly, with all i have said… their numbers are to few…” she looks up to him “they have the potential father...they would need more time…”

"And time is something we do not have child… have you felt it? The humans, the equestrians and their war have set into motion something I have not forseen. The Cybar are awakening… and the being the Creators have made to stop them have changed since I have first seen them."

“I have father…” she gains an aura of determination “yet i feel the ‘pandari’ will be a great assest to you…” standing up her determination still strong, she asks him “if you permit me, i can gain the loyalty of the young incubus AND of the pandari to aid the human!”

"See that you do… but before you go. Tell me, what of the human you safeguarded in Raritys prison? The one with whom Gutsy now finds herself accompanying?"

“He has grown stronger father” a proud smile crosses her face “i feel it in the small fragment i left...he grows faster that you could imagine…” she puts a fist to her heart “along with a few others near him”

"Keep, a close eye on the one Gutsy travels with. Besides the boy, I feel the presence of something much older… almost as if it had been touched by the quantum… or perhaps, even the Cybar?"

“I shall have the fragment do so father…” she bows once more, and i shall see the pandari pulled into this and the incubus brought before you...if you so wish…”

"Hmm? Yes, see to it that the incubus is brought to me. I will not have a rogue deamon loose, not after last time… and as for the boy's companion… this… X. Look into him."

“I shall father, and...may i ask one last thing?...” a blush, a rare thing, crosses her face.

"If you must."

“The incubus… i… i wish to train him… personally…” the blush grows brighter

"Do as you will with the whelp. But see to it that it does not interfere with the work I have given you. Our time is short… and I feel the clock may ring it's chime sooner than I had planned."

“As you command father!”

"Excellent, be gone." He commanded with a wave of his hand.

“Enjoy the new souls too father” she fades back into the shadows a bit to quickly, leaving the souls behind.

Grogar sat in his thrown contemplating this new information when a thought came to the fore of his mind. "Bubonubon."

A new demon responded appearing in a swarm of pus spewing flies. The demon wheezed sounding as if a mountain of mucus was lodged in its rotting esophagus. "Yegsh my lloorghd?"

"Bubonubon, third of my demons and third line of succession. I have a mission for you. Recent events have called Slurkary's loyalty into question. You, third of my favored creations, lord of the plague host will keep an eye on that succubus. I will not have my plans undone by one horny demon and her pet projects. Furthermore to aid you in your task I grant you this boon."

"My lord… I..." The demon laughed as the old goat waved a hand toward the it's undulating frame, causing spikes of blued rock to spear from the earth to inpail the demon cutting off the demons sentence. Black blood gushed in a torrent from the fatal gaping wounds. "Thank you." Yellowed froth drooled from his mouth sizzling the floor where it landed.

Grogar then reached out taking his staff in one hand before rising it high and slamming it into the ground. A concussion made if ruby light and twisted energy blossomed between the lord of tartarus and one of his favored creations. The eater of life materialized in the throne room with a thunderous crash of displaced air. The fractured links of the chains that bound it rattling as they fell to the rocks.

It tipped back its fowl head, insectoid wings flaring out. "Pokstak, well met brother!" Bubonubon laughed from his position on the spikes. "Bubonubon. Take your blessing… now." Grogar said recalling the spikes that impaled the demon.

"Yes father." Bubonubon leaped at the other demon's throat, ripping it away as if he were skinning an animal kill.

Through the gash he made came a detonation of black screaming smoke. A hurricane storm of black shining flies that blasted outward and engulfed the chosen of Grogar. They left the body of the eater of life to crawl into Bubonubon.

The flies swam up into the gaping wounds given to the impaled demon, and down his throat. He welcomed them, taking everything they gave. Bubonubon's body twitched, writhed distended to accommodate the transformation eating him from the inside out. His back swelled amidst the crackling of fracturing bone and enchanted steel plate, and dance flutes of fissured horn burst out, each one spitting flies like smoke would belch from a chimney. He had become a hive for the things, a living nest for the eternal plague.

"Thank… you… fathghur!" Bubonubon coughed, taking a wheezing breath, a dull buzz could be heard droning throughout the inhalation.

"Go Bubonubon. Host of the life eater hive. Go and fulfill your mission. Show the ponies the might of Grogar, and the third host."

"Yes father." Bubonubon half gurgled, half wheezed. And with that The newly mutated demon slammed a fist against his breastplate before disappearing in a spray of puss and buzzing flies.