Second chance: Noble

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Part 2: Chapter 1
Part 2: Chapter 2
Part 2: Chapter 3
Part 2 Chapter 5
Part.2: Chapter 6
Part 2: Chapter 4.
TRANSMISSION

Chapter 1 Author's Note

It’s been twenty four years since the end of the show. The elements have found new hosts this will be explained in later chapters.

Chapter 1

(Castle of Friendship, Ponyville 22:45)

Sitting in her office Princess Twilight reviewed the current report her daughter and friends had written up. Sighing at the details she set the paper down and looked at an old picture of her friends each striking a pose smiling Twilight thought ‘We really should get together next month.’

Hearing the sound of small hooves Twilight got out of her chair and walked to the front of her desk. Just in time too as two young foals burst in, her twins Star Pop and Ink Spot the first was a purple unicorn fully with a short blue mane that had a streak of pink while the other was an magenta unicorn colt with a baby blue mane. Crashing into their mother the two foals giggled happily until they looked up at her and saw the frown that was being directed at them while saying “Now why are you two out of bed ?”

“Well, Glimmer Dust and her friends are still up right now !” Star Pop said puffing out her cheeks while standing as tall as she could, looking down at her daughter Twilight shook her head while saying “Well your sister and her friends are in their twenties.”

“So she’s still in school and tonight’s a school night yet she’s still up.”

“Star your sister is in college and I don’t control what she does with her friends.” Twilight said as she began to nudge them to the door ignoring their pleas she continued “Now let’s get you to bed before-“

Sensing an immense amount of magical power Twilight threw up a shield as a deafening explosion blew out her windows. Protecting her children from the shrapnel she held the barrier until the event had ended. Hearing guards running towards her she saw her wife was the first to arrive she said “Get the children to their room and deploy the guards to the town I’ll teleport in and try to calm the town down.”

“Yes, but what did this ?” Fizzlepop asked as she grabbed her children and guided them out of the room she looked back to her wife who had moved to the window while giving her answer “I have no idea but I’ll find out.”

(Everfree forest)

Slowly gaining consciousness Carter began pushing himself up he looked around seeing stone around him. Shaking his head he tried to stop the ringing in his ears, he remembered his last moments as he pinned the throttle of the pelican as he drove the aircraft into the scarab. Taking a breath he stood only to fall back to the ground confused he looked down only to see two armor-clad hooves, lifting one up he touched his face feeling the cool metal of his helmet he thought ‘What happened to me ?’

“Sir glad to see you up.” A monotone voice said immediately recognizing it Carter turned coming face to face with Six sitting straight. Looking at the spartan he noted that he had been turned into some sort of equine......one that had wings. His usual armor warped to fit this new form along with his prosthetic limb. Six’s armor was undamaged and composed of an MK. Vi helmet with a pitch-black visor, an ODST pauldron sat on his right shoulder while the left had a CQC pauldron, on the same left wrist sat a tactical/UGPS, a collar breacher chest piece, and FJ/PARA knee pads. His main armor was a slate gray color while the highlights were a midnight blue, strapped to his left leg was a tactical/soft case.

Standing up Six extended his prosthetic leg pointing to his right he said “The rest of the team is four feet that way, I was the first to wake up and scouted the area.”

Nodding his head Carter turned and looked seeing the others he walked over to them while asking “So what’s the terrain like ?”

“Sir we appear to be in a castle the most I can tell is that our arrival blew out all the windows, the building appears to be in a forest can’t tell how far in we are I debated whether to climb one of the towers but this castle isn’t exactly new or intact.” Six said following the commander to the rest of the team. They looked over the unconscious spartans deciding it was time for Noble to wake up he Carter said “Ok when we get them up you, Emile, and Jun find a good viewpoint and figure out where we are, the rest of us will scout the castle I’ll place a marker so we can meet up back here in thirty.”

“Yes sir.” Six said walking over to Jun he roughly shook the spartan trying to wake him, looking down at Kat, he noted a horn protruding from her head that seemed to be wrapped in the armor, shaking her awake he heard a groan sighing in relief he said “C’mon Kat time to get up we’ve got work to do.”

“Commander ?” Kat groaned pushing herself up she looked up seeing an equine standing in front of her wearing Carter's armor before it spoke again “Kat you ok ?”

“Carter......is that you ?”

“Yes, and before you ask I don’t know what happened to us or how we got here.”

“Commander where is here the last thing I remember is us receiving a mission from Colonel Holland and then nothing.”

“Kat when we were running there was an ambush a Zealot shot you.........with some new weapon killed you instantly.” Carter said walking up to the younger spartan he placed a hoof on her shoulder he continued “Six managed to grab your body and bring it into the shelter before that beam came down on us.”

“.......ok so what’s going on ?” Kat asked switching to tactical sighing Carter walked over to Jorge noting Six had managed to wake both Emile and Jun and was in the middle of explaining what he could about the situation they were in. Sighing Carter made his way over to Jorge and began the process of waking the Spartan-II up while Kat asked again “What’s going on ?”

“I don’t know Kat the plan I’ve got involves me, you, and Jorge scouting the castle grounds,” seeing Jorge starting to wake Carter turned giving Kat his full attention before continuing “Six, Emile and Jun will be heading out to find higher ground and let us know what they see.”

“Ok, but what do we know so far ?” Kat asked looking over to Six who had finished speaking to the others. Quickly noting that he and Jun both had wings while Emile lacked the feathery appendages hearing another sigh Kat looked back at Carter, looking him over again she noticed the horn, he looked at Six and said “Six managed to scout the area a bit we appear to be in a castle that located in a forest......that’s all he stated not wanting to leave us while we were indisposed of.”

“Understood.” Kat said nodding at the commander she turned to leave only to bump into Jorge who looked down at her quizzically he said: “Kat you must watch where you go.”

Looking up to the commander Jorge looked him over before saying “So we’re scouting the area ?”

“Yes, Noble 5 and Six knows that we’ll be meeting back here in thirty,” Carter started walking over to an overturned table he lifted its cloth, reaching up to his chest he pulled out a tracking marker and tossed it under the cloth. Turning back to the group the team had finally assemble taking a breath Carter said “Right now we have a job to do scout the area gather as much intel as we can and meet back here in thirty, if we run into anything call in over the coms and transmit your location if your able DO not engage with any locals we don’t know what happened to us or how we got here so we must assume that they’ll be hostile, understood ?”

“SIR, YES SIR !” a chorus of voices answered him nodding his head Carter motioned for Kat and Jorge to follow him toward the entrance while Six, Emile, and Jun went out the nearest smashed and headed to higher ground. Pushing opens the door Carter activated his night vision turning to his team he said “Alright let’s see what this place can tell us about this place.”

(Ponyville moments after the pulse)

Holding her ears a young unicorn mare with a long dark blue mane and bright fuchsia fur that was tied up in a ponytail, sitting squarely on her flanks was a book that had a seven-pointed star on its cover letting out a groan she thought ‘Ahhh my head what the heck was that ?’ Glimmer couldn’t remember the last time she had and headache like this. Looking around her she saw that much of the bar was having the same difficulty as her. Trying to stand she felt a weight leaning on her looking to at it she saw her childhood friend Sprinkle Delight, a small earth pony mare with a bright pink coat and darker pink mane with highlights of brown in her mane was a wild mass fo curls like her mother, her own cutie mark was a party hat with confetti surrounding it. Currently, the smaller mare was leaning on Glimmer giving her a worried look, pulling herself up Glimmer asked “Sprinkle what was that ?”

“I don’t know Glim but Apple Gem, Silk Stitcher, and Cloud Splitter went out to check the rest of the town.”

“Where's Sunny Days ?” Glimmer asked looking around she couldn’t find the pegasus mare until a small voice spoke “I-I-I’m up here.”

Looking up the two mares saw their friend sitting in the banisters Sunny Days was light gold with a Short light blue mane that was just a long enough to cover one eye, her own cutie mark was a small rabbit. Taking a small breath she looked around the bar before floating down to her friends she asked “What do you think happened ?”

“I don’t know but this was magic.......was off the charts powerful magic,” Glimmer answered looking around again she took a breath and began channeling her own magic scanning for the source after a moment her eyes shot open she continued “and I got the location this came from the everfree !”

“B-b-but what c-c-could of cause t-t-this ?”

“I don’t know Sunny but we need to investigate this and report it to my mom.”

“Wait Glimmer shouldn’t we wait till she asks us to ?”

“No, we can’t she’ll be to busy calming down the town now let’s go this will go by faster and be safer if there are three of us going in !” Glimmer said as she galloped to the door giving each other a look Sunny and Sprinkle quickly ran after their friend but not before asking a couple of town ponies where the three of them were going.

(Everfree Castle)

Looking over the terrain Jun scanned the horizon trying to find anything, adjusting the zoom he noted a small speck of light in the distance checking his radar again Jun sighed still nothing and he had it set to the maximum distance. Going over the coms he reported his findings to everyone looking behind him he noted Emile and Six had stopped looking and were now investigating the remains of one of the towers. Stopping his own searching Jun walked over and asked “So what do you two make of this ?”

Looking up from the ruin Emile rubbed his neck and let out an annoyed grunt before saying "This is a load of shit, we all died on Reach right ?"

Looking at the others they gave him small nods as their minds went back to their last moments on the doomed planet but their thoughts were quickly cut off by Emile who hadn't finished "I went down fighting like any good spartan and now we've all woken up as fuckin equines !"

"For once we agree Emile but we can't....." taking a pause Jun noticed three small blips on his screen quickly motioning for silence the three switched to private coms and took cover looking at the two spartans Jun quickly said "Because we don't know the technological capabilities of this species one of us needs to find Carter and the others and let him know we have company."

"I'll do that." Emile said raising a hoof getting an acknowledgment from Jun he quickly disappeared into the brush not making a sound as he left, turning to Six Jun remembered his tracking skill during Knightfall Jun said "I'm going to find cover and provide overwatch Six you track those three and report back when you're able."

"Understood." Six answered before taking off into the forest quickly disappearing into the foliage looking around Jun saw the abandoned tower seeing the only way in was through, Jun looked over his shoulder seeing his wings he gave a small flex while thinking 'Well something tells me I'll be able to use these.'

Giving his wings a small flap Jun launched himself in the air he only managed to slam himself into the side of the building he punched a small hole in the stone and pulled himself through the hole landing on his side he let out a small groan. Pulling himself up Jun walked over to the window and began looking over the forest using infrared his mission started now all that was left was waiting for his teammates to call in.

(West of Castle of the Two Sisters)

Making their way to the source of the magical explosion and the source brought them closer to the castle remembering the story told to her by her mother Glimmer gulped. She was walking almost the same steps as her mother and her friends as before them albeit a different route, as they got closer Sunny noted how quiet the forest was now quickening her pace she came shoulder to should with Glimmer speaking up she said "Glimmer something doesn't feel right ."

"What do you mean ?"

"Listen !" Sunny pressed causing the three to stop moving and listen to the forest around them and they heard nothing, nothing but the wind and rustling leaves. Catching onto what she meant Glimmer and Sprinkle felt like something wasn't right quickly looking around they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but deciding to be safe Glimmer ignited her horn and motioned for the others to follow her she said "I'll have a spell ready in case something tries to ambush us."

As the three moved off they failed to notice a shadow merely five feet from them begin moving to their left giving them a wide enough area to go unnoticed but not to lose sight of them. Noticing the lack of technology that any of them had in the group Six chinned a control in his helmet and began transmitting a video of the subjects he said "Noble I've located three of the locals, they appear to have no technology on their person how should I proceed ?"

"Continue observing Six do not engage unless they make the first move."

"Understood." Six confirmed before lapsing into silence he continued his observation deciding how to best handle the equines if they were to engage him in combat but seeing as how oblivious to his presence they were he doubted they would put up much of a fight.

(Castle Gardens)

Carter watched the video feed Six was transmitting from his helmet letting out a small sigh he motioned for Emile, Kat, and Jorge to circle up opening up the coms Carter spoke to the team "Ok, Six has eyes on the natives we're going to play this off as a first contact scenario Six is going to watch these equines and hopefully guide them to the castle," noticing a small acknowledgment light at the corner of his helmet Carter continued "We're going to try and talk to them and hope for a better outcome than the Covenant, so Jun we need you to get down here now."

"Yes sir." the sniper answered before going dark nodding his head Carter looked around trying to figure out how to best handle the situation that was about to be thrown into his lap sighing he said "We meet up where I laid the beacon and hope this meeting goes well."

Chapter 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3

(Everfree Forest 0:17)

Feeling lightheaded Glimmer stumbled as she tried to stand, she'd never done well with teleportation especially if it was teleportation that she wasn't asked to be part of. Falling to the ground she covered her head and groaned hearing her friends round her discuss what had just transpired, looking at her three friends Silk felt a small amount of pride he teleportation had worked in bringing her friends to a small pond that’s home was in Ponyville Park. Walking up to them she saw a mixture of shock and worry on their faces growing concerned she asked “What’s wrong darlings ?”

“Silk you have to send us back Apple and Cloud don’t know !” Sprinkle said rushing up to the unicorn he eyes wide holding a deep concern looking between her and Sunny Silk asked again “What happened out there ?”

“Silk we met some ponies.....guards or something they call themselves Noble Team,” Sunny explained looking back toward the forest she placed a hoof to her mouth and continued “, they were guiding us back to Ponyville when Cloud and Apple attacked them.”

“Oh well hopefully those two won’t-“ Silk began only to be cut off by Glimmer snapping “They won’t those ponies are bigger than Apple Gem and are definitely tougher than both combined.”

Turning Glimmer began to run back to the forest calling over her shoulder she said “We need to- OOF !” Glimmer found herself running into a purple shield looking around startled she saw that her friends were in the same situation. Igniting her horn she tried breaking out only for her mother’s voice to stop her stone-cold “Glimmer, you and your friends will be returning to the castle Luna and I will handle whatever that pulls has brought us.”

“Mother wait-“ Glimmer tried to get her attention was quickly sent away along with her friends back to the castle where a magic blocking shield was in place to keep them in place when the time to talk came. Turning her attention to the forest she felt Luna by her side turning to the older princess she asked “What do you think is out there ?”

“Whatever it is my dear friend it will have to face two princesses of Equestria before we allow it near the town.” Luna said before marching forward an air of power surrounded her as she made her way into the forest following close behind her Twilight did her best to match the nocturnal princess attitude but worry for her family and fear for what danger the first held had her on edge. That’s when she noticed multiple figures exiting the forest to her right and among them was her wife, a downtrodden Cloud splitter, and the body of Apple Gem which was being carried by two of the figures.

(Near the edge Ponyville Park 0:19)

“Commander are you sure you can trust these equines,” Emile asked over teamcom the team had switched to internal radios to discuss what had transpired with the equines, turning ever so slightly Carter eyed Fizzle as she was still lecturing the only conscious youth the other was being carried by Jorge and Emile who continued “, I mean these two dumbasses just blew a simple milk run whats to say the meetings with the others won't go the same ?"

"We have Fizzle and Cloud both of whom offered to speak for us." Carter said turning back to the forest he noticed the edge looking back toward fizzle he said "Jun let Fizzle know we're reaching the edge of the forest and I'd like her to be beside us at the front when we exit the forest."

"Of course sir," Jun answered but before he relayed the message he cocked his head at Cloud and sarcastically asked ", and what about the kid ?"

"Keep an eye on him Noble three It'd be best if he wasn't the first to speak on our behalf." Carter answered as they crossed the threshold of the forest making there way into what appeared to be an open field, stopping Carter noticed something to his left turning he saw a purple equine with wings and a horn staring straight at him calling back to Fizzle he said "Fizzle I see one of the locals we need you up here."

"Yes, that's my wife princess Twilight Sparkle," Fizzle explained walking past the spartan she seemed to ignite her broken horn shooting a small flare into the sky above them, walking toward her wife Fizzle turned to the SPARTANS and motioned for the team to wait there while saying ", let me talk to her she's most likely fearing the worst."

"Yeah cause what's worse than six fully armored SPARTANS and our hostages." Emile snarked back as he rolled his shoulders glaring down at the smaller spartan Jorge was about to retaliate when Carter turned to them and snapped "Lock it down, the talks have started and it looks like Fizzle almost has this under control."

"Sir I have movement behind us !!" Jun suddenly barked causing the six SPARTANS to whip around facing the forest watching for any movement that the darkness may hide from them, Carter looked to his team and motioned for them to back away from the forest noticing as an indigo light surrounded the area around them silently cursing Carter turned noticing that both the kids had been teleported away from the team turning back to the forest he said "Whatever happens aim to incapacitate.”

(Outside the barrier)

Landing roughly outside Cloud Splitter shook his head trying to get rid of his dizziness hearing something to his right Cloud turned to see Princess Twilight and Fizzle assessing the shield that had been erected before them, hearing some groaning coming from behind him he saw Apple Gem slowly coming back to the world. Walking passed Cloud Twilight leaned down next to Apple and activated her magic scanning the kirin after a moment she turned to the rest saying "He needs to be taken to the hospital."

"I can go with him Princess." Cloud spoke up to the two magic users catching their attention Twilight turned to the colt a small frown on her face she sighed and said "Then I'll send you to keep Apple Gem company, but once this situation has been resolved we will talk."

"*GULP* Y-y-yes ma'am." Cloud stammered as he made his way over his unconscious friend standing beside him he took a deep breath while Twilight prepared the spell. After a moment of concentration, the two colts were sent away in a flash of purple light once they were safely away Twilight turned and observed the shield that had been erected by Princess Luna. Walking up to her wife Fizzle took note that she was deep in thought running a hoof over the shield wall before her, the power and control that was used in making it showed just how much power and discipline Princess Luna had. Shaking her head Fizzle turned back to Twilight and asked "So what's your plan for disabling this shield ?"

"Time and careful maneuvering, I'm going to cut a small hole for us to get through."

"How long will that take ?"

"I can't say but hopefully those 'SPARTANS' can hold on till then." Twilight said in a somber tone as she ignited her horn and got to work at cutting a section away.

(Inside the shield)

Seeing a flash of indigo light streak toward him Six rolled to his left feeling the heat radiating from the blast reminded him of covenant plasma, turning to the team Six quickly relayed the information to the team gaining green confirmation light. After a moment two more lights shot out aiming for both Emile and Jorge both of which rolled out of the way going in different directions, after a moment someone flashed between Jun and Kat a large indigo equine that shared the same build as Twilight Sparkle. Glaring at the SPARTANS the equine spoke "You shall rue the day you tried to harm the children of my friends !" after which she flung her back leg out catching Kat in the gut sending her flying into Emile who had begun his charge trying to tackle her, Jun acted quickly springing forward he slammed into the equines side knocking her down Jun quickly got ahold of her while saying "Listen, lady, we aren't trying to hurt anyone just calm down and-"

Flaring her wings the equine shot into the air slamming Jun into the top of the dome causing the spartans shields to flare up a brilliant gold, noticing that Jun was still on her back she let out a sort and flapped her wings again flying forward before quickly stopping while bucking her hips forward flinging him into the far wall behind the team. Jun fell to the ground with a crunch yellow sparks dancing across his armor he let out a small groan while forcing himself up he said "That hurts a lot more than you'd think I wouldn't recommend trying it."

"Understood Noble three," Carter said as he dodged another salvo of indigo light the mare had begun casting down from the sky at them, watching closely Carter noted that her horn glowed before each salvo launched concentrating on that he thought 'Kat and I have the same type of appendages on our heads too.' turning to Noble two Carter said "Kat try using you horn also."

"And how do you expect me to do that !?!" Kat snapped back while dodging another beam of light turning his attention back toward the mare Carter began concentrating on the appendage like feeling something he let out a breath a dark blue light shot out clipping the mare causing her to fall to the ground. Staring at him Kat was about to question what her commander had done when she was lifted into the air and flung back toward Jorge who had been acting as a shield for Jun, not expecting the sudden impact of a thousand-pound spartan both Jorge and Kat slammed into the ground landing in a heap crushing Jun beneath them. Looking back at the equine Carter noted a slight burn on her wing still smoldering from his blast, taking note Carter thought ‘it might be a first-degree burn maybe a second-degree.’ Rolling the wing the equine stood tall charging her horn to blast him she snarled "You thought that mere amount of power could stop me!"

That's when a flash of silver flew from her right side quickly finding a target in her shoulder embedding itself to its haft this caused her to fire the beam into the sky while howling in pain, her own blast shattered a portion of the shield, looking closer at her shoulder Carter noticed a small combat knife embedded the equine then tried to remove it when a voice called out “Hey bitch there's more where that came from !"

Looking toward the voice she was met with another spartan this one had a dull yellow bubble type helmet and carved into its surface was a skull, holding his kukri in his right hoof Emile brandished his weapon at her Emile snarled "Come, pick on someone your own size !"

"WITH PLEASURE !" the mare snarled back pulling the knife from her shoulder she flung it at the spartan only for him to deflect it with his own weapon before he threw it at her, rolling to the side the equine looked up in time, seeing that Emile had closed the distance between them he delivered a small jab to her stomach causing her to double over from pain spitting up some blood he didn't stop as he delivered another jab to her jaw sending her head to the side Emile finished his attack on her by taking a hold of her right-wing and rolling her over his shoulder slamming her into the ground landing squarely on her stomach, during this move an agonizing pop could be heard as the wing was dislocated. Flaring her horn again she created an indigo pulse that forced Emile away from her taking the opportunity she turned and bucked him catching his lower jaw as she did Emile was sent flying end over end before he crashed through a fractured section of her shield leaving a large spartan-sized where he had gone through. Carter was the last of his team standing or at least pretended to be Six was somehow hiding in the open landscape most likely using the smoke and small fires to hide waiting for a good moment to attack, standing tall Carter readied himself this equine was tough she'd taken two direct hits from a spartan along with being slammed in the ground. Rolling her shoulders the equine cracked her neck and spat a small glob of blood onto the ground her shoulder wound oozed, she had multiple shallow cuts and some bruising had begun to form but she still mad aged to crack a smile while saying "I am princess Luna of Equestria and whom might you be mighty warrior ?"

"So you're finally ready to talk ?" Carter asked taking a deep breath to steady himself watched as the mare began charging her horn while saying "Yes after all warriors such as yourself should be remembered even if you'll be in the dungeons for your entire life."

"Fine, I'm Carter A-259." Carter snarled back as he charged toward Luna ready to duel her and bring this fight to an end, Carter rolled forward as he came out of the roll he drove his shoulder forward doing his best to launch Luna away from him. But this fight was going to be long and he could only hope that Six would be making his move soon and no sooner had that thought come to his head Luna grabbed him in her magic lifting him into the air she began to apply pressure using her magic. As the pressure around his body began to increase Carter's MJOLNIR systems began kicking in and locking his armor trying to protect the spartan inside from the increasing pressure, hearing a voice cry out the magic cut off allowing him to fall to the ground looking up he noticed that Jorge had managed to bring himself back in time to tackle the princess pinning her to the ground. Looking up at the massive armored pony pinning her to the ground Luna let out a snarl adjusting her head slightly she fired a blast of her magic directly at the stallion causing him to stumble back as yellow electricity danced across his body, taking the opening Luna began charging her magic while saying "I will tolerate this no more soon you'll be nothing but dust beneath my HOOVES !" the last part was howled out as she reared her head back ready to annihilate the enemy with her magic.

Carter struggled his system was close to unlocking but he needed another thirty seconds which was an eternity in a battle but as his mind began to close in on the dark thought Luna suddenly hitched forward, the indigo magic around her horn sputtered a few time before dispersing. Her hooves desperately reached for her neck clawing at an imaginary force that seemed to be choking her, after fifteen seconds though the air along her back began to shimmer, and slowly coming into view was Noble Six. He used his cybernetic arm to choke her applying as much pressure as he could while trying his best not to crush her neck. Placing his back hooves against her wings Six did his best to keep the mare down as she desperately clawed at the arm trying to break his grip. Slowly pushing himself up Carter heard a few voices behind him turning he saw Twilight, Fizzle and a number of other ponies some wearing armor pushing their way into what was left of the shield taking a breath he did his best to croak out an order to Six "Let her go Six it's over !"

Hearing the order Six quickly let go of the princess flapping his wings he flipped away from the mare while pulling his combat knife out still ready for a fight. Turning to the newcomer's Carter saw that two of them stuck close to Twilight and Fizzle the first was a baby blue equine with wings, a pegasus as he recalled Glimmer explaining each tribe they had been turned into, her mane was cut short and ragged looking like she had just woken up and was rainbow-colored just like Cloud Splitter, next up was an orange pony with a worn brown stetson sitting squarely on her head her forest green eyes glared heavily at the SPARTANS but quickly turned to shock as she saw the state that Princess Luna was in. Walking up to the spartan Twilight looked down at the commander standing a head taller than Jorge she gave a small bow before saying "I am sorry about the circumstances of our first meeting."

"No need to-"

"Twilight why do you apologize to these invaders they attacked the children of your friends and held your own daughter as a hostage." Luna cut the commander off slowly limping over to them her wing hanging at her side as she still tried to catch her own breath, grimacing at the state her friend was in Twilight shook her head and wave a hoof at the commander while saying "Fizzle filled me in these six were guiding my daughter and two of her friends back to town, they had explained to her that the original plan was for them to wait in the forest while my daughter and her friends brought me to them for introductions."

"But that can not be true !" Luna snarled back as she glared down at the commander straightening himself up Carter replied coolly "It is, we have had no point in lying to anyone here tonight."

"How should anypony here trust you !"

"Simple," Carter said turning to Six he pointed to the spartan who was currently replacing the knife he had pulled earlier looking up at the group Carter continued "Noble Six here could have done a lot worse, instead he tried to choke her out."

"That's yer defense." the orange mare barked back walking up straight to the stallion she poked his chest while glaring up at the spartan who simply looked down at her and said "Considering your princess attacked us first yes and I think its a damn good one."

Baring her teeth Applejack was about to snap back when a purple hoof set itself on her shoulder looking up at her oldest friend she saw a stern look on her face that told her to back off. Taking a step back Applejack looked around noting two armored figures laying atop each while a third stood over them keeping a watchful eye on the group, Twilight also noted the unconscious ponies also remembering the one that had smashed through the barrier earlier Twilight said "I believe a few of your teammates must be taken to the hospital and while they're treated we will discuss......this accidental meeting."

"Agreed," Carter said nodding his head he turned to his fallen comrades letting out a sigh of relief their biosigns that the armor could read was yellow, without the proper equipment he couldn't tell what had happened sighing he continued ", the only problem ma'am is each of my SPARTANS fully armored weighs a little over a thousand pounds." at that statement Twilights eyes bulged looking over at the armored ponies she cleared he throat.

"Transport will be difficult but," Twilight turned looking behind her at the armored ponies with a smile gracing her face she continued ", I believe my unicorn guards can help move those three to the hospital."

Receiving the order the guards separated into small groups and three to each spartan, after a moment a mixture of differently colored auras surrounded Kat and Jun and slowly lifted them into the air. Sweat could be seen on the brow of each of the guards as the SPARTANS were lifted, turning to the princess Carter coughed into his hoof and said "It may be best to send them closer to the hospital."

"Agreed, I'll need a moment." Twilight said walking up to the group she ignited her horn, taking this moment Carter walked over to Six who had been joined by Jorge switching to internal coms he said "Ok, considering all that's happened this isn't the worst first contact we've had."

"What now sir ?" Jorge asked adjusting his head slightly to watch the princess who had taken position away from the Spartans while still keeping a watchful eye over them. Adjusting his own vision Carter eyed the princess along with Six he muttered "We play nice."

"That's all sir ?"

"Yes."

"Ok, well by the looks of it Twilight finished sending the others to.....the.......hospital." Jorge said trailing off as he finally noticed where the princess came from, following his gaze Carter noticed that she had come from where Emile had landed groaning Carter was about to ask if she'd sent Emile away but didn't have that option when she asked "So before we can go any further do you mind elaborating further for me just who you are ?"

Seeing how serious she was Carter decided Emile would have to wait sitting down Carter switched back to external audio he said "Ma'am as your wife most likely told you we're SPARTANS and our team designation is Noble team."

Raising an eyebrow at the commander Twilight was about to ask another question when a blinding golden light flashed before them, standing at the center of the flash was Princess Celestia a pearl white mare with a pale rainbow mane and tail that seemed to below in the wind standing next to her was a pale blue alicorn with darker blue markings along her body her own mane was short and cut to frame her face. Looking over the battlefield Celestias' eyes rested on her sister for a moment before moving to her ex-student, looking past her at the SPARTANS she began walking over to them she ignored her student and sister. As Celestia stood in front of the warriors she smiled down at them speaking in a warm motherly tone she said "Noble team we've waited a very long time for your arrival and I've heard so much about you."

Chapter 4 Author's Note

Note a change I'm making with the Spartans is some scars they have. If anyone has seen Terminator Dark Fate think of the scars Grace has if you want a visual of how they look.

Chapter 4

Starin at her mentor Twilight was shocked at what she'd heard how could the princess have been waiting for these warriors considering how these ponies had only just arrived only a short time ago. Slowly walking forward Twilight tried to get her attention only to be stopped by the other alicorn that gave a small shake of her head while saying in a silk-smooth voice "Everything will be explained soon." glaring at the other alicorn Twilight opened her mouth prepared to fire back only for the blue alicorn to walk away from her. Celestia looked away from the SPARTANS for a moment the group noticed that the blue alicorn had started making her way over to them, as she drew closer Celestia turned back to them her smile never wavering she said "Now I know you all are very curious about what is going on." the SPARTANS gave her a nod of confirmation she tilted her head and continued "Good but before we continue I believe the best place would be the castle of friendship."

"Sister you can't be serious !" Luna yelled slowly making her way over to them despite the injuries she had sustained during the fight she continued "Do you see what they've done to me ?"

"I am serious Luna."

"But sister-"

"Luna, I think you need to concentrate on healing versus arguing with my decisions," Celestia growled back narrowing her eyes at the younger alicorn she turned back to the SPARTANS and continued ", now let us go back to the castle and have a proper introduction." as Celestia finished the sentence she ignited her horn surrounding the appendage in a golden aura after a moment everyone's sight was filled with that very same light temporarily blinding them.

(Castle Friendship)

Blinking away the spots from his eyes Carter looked around seeing that she had teleported everyone but the guards to the castle, turning to the princess Carter was about to speak when his name was called "CARTER !"

Turning toward the voices the commander saw Glimmer, Sprinkle, and Sunny running toward the SPARTANS skidding to a stop Glimmer looked them over, smiling she saw that they appeared to be ok looking up at the commander she said "I'm glad you guys are ok, I managed to send word to Celestia." looking past the SPARTAN Glimmer noticed that three were missing from the group. Pinning her ears back a small frown came to Glimmers face as she realized that she may not have been fast enough with sending the letter to Celestia, taking note of this Carter placed a hoof on the younger mares shoulder causing her to look up he said "It's ok, the injuries were just minor they've been taken to the hospital we'll be going in to check on them in a moment."

"That's good so why are you here and not there ?" Glimmer asked as she looked around the room taking note of Princess Luna's condition, her mothers, and the fourth and unknown alicorn that was patiently waiting next to Celesita. Clearing her throat Celestia brought attention to her once again, lifting her hoof to her chest she said "I wished for a proper introduction." nodding her head Glimmer stepped back and made her way to her friends and sat with them, looking at the SPARTANS Celestia said "As you probably have guessed I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, you've met Princesses Twilight and Luna along with three of the six elements of harmony."

"We have met them," Carter said giving the three elements he knew a small nod he looked to the fourth who looked away from him sighing he continued "To those who haven't met me I'm Carter A-259 leader of Noble team."

"I'm Jorge S-052 Noble Five." The largest of the group said giving a small wave to the newcomers who smiled back looking down to Six the SPARTAN said "I'm Noble Six B-312 newest member of the team and you can call me SIx." the group of ponies eyed the SPARTAN expectedly only for him to lapse back into silence ignoring the looks given. Grunting at the lack of information the orange mare stepped forward and said "Ah'm Applejack, tha boy yah knocked out earlier was mah son Apple Gem." nodding his head Carter turned to the blue pegasus scowling at them she said "I'm Rainbow Dash captain of the wonderbolts and fastest mare in Equestria, my son was the one who attacked upfront."

"Hello darlings I'm Silk stitcher." the pearl white mare introduced herself while giving a small curtsey which was returned with small nods from the armored ponies, blushing slightly at the lack of communication she stepped away from them.

Carter then turned his attention to the mare sitting beside Celestia once again he had a nagging sensation like he had seen this mare somewhere else but couldn't place where until she spoke "It's a pleasure to see you again Noble." immediately recognizing her voice the three SPARTANS looked up at the mare. Smirking at them she stood seeing the look on her face everpony saw she was taking pleasure at shocking the elite soldiers she continued "Now before we continue I will come out and say that I am not doctor Catherine Halsey."

"Then who are you ?" Jorge asked cocking his head to the side as he sat down, chuckling the mare gave a small shrug while saying "I was a smart A.I. construct created by ONI and was programmed with all of their best hacking software Catherine Halsey's brain was used to create me.....well a cloned brain."

Taking a few steps forward the mare looked at each of the SPARTANS, pride was evident in her eyes and a smile graced her lips she waved a hoof at herself while saying "My name is Cortana, Nobles 1,3,4 and 6 had the pleasure of meeting me before Reach fell as they escorted Dr.Halsey from Sword base."

"If you're that same A.I. that Six was tasked with escorting how did you end up here ?" Carter asked a slight edge was coming to his voice too much of this didn't add up to the SPARTAN, but this didn't deter the mare shaking her head she pointed to them and said "Just like you, I had died......or the equivalent of dying for an A.I."

"So how long have you been here ?" Six asked the ex A.I. getting straight to the point smiling at the SPARTAN Cortana chuckled while saying "I knew I chose you for a reason Noble Six, but to answer your question I have been here for a little over eighty-five years."

"Eighty-five years ma'am ?"

"Yes Six......alicorns are very long-lived."

"So how did you end up on this planet ?" Six asked moving on from the information just given seemingly unshaken by the information given from Cortana who'd decided to move on also.

"That is a long story my friends and it all started after you delivered me to the Autumn....." Cortana said as she began telling the SPARTANS about her story of how she and the Master Chief had found a superweapon known as halo and the parasite known as the flood. She then told them of the covenant's invasion of the earth which lead to the discovery of more halos and installation 00 otherwise known as the arc, Noble was then informed about the uneasy alliance that was formed between the UNSC and the elites. They were then informed about how the war had been won by the UNSC and that the covenant was defeated. Standing to the side the equestrians listed with rapt attention as Cortana caught the SPARTANS up with current events, staring wide-eyed every equestrian was at a loss for words as Cortana finished her story ".......after which I managed to pull enough of me together to form a hardlight shield around John, but I don't think enough of me stayed in the area and my more unstable parts went somewhere and I appeared at Canterlot Castle."

"So the wars over we won ?" Jorge asked a small amount of disbelief in his voice at the news he'd received all three were shocked about a war they'd grown up in, a war that had shaped their very lives, and for it to finally be over only months after their deaths. The words didn't seem to be true shaking his head Carter asked "So is the covenant is gone ?"

"More or less," Cortana answered as she stood and turned activating her magic she conjured a large chart where three names were displayed turning she pointed out each section while saying ", while I was connected to the infinity I managed to find some info about splinter cells the largest being The covenant lead by Jul M'dama, next is Keepers of the one freedom lead by Castor, and finally are the Banished their leader was unknown at the time."

Looking back at his team Carter knew what each of them was thinking and at that moment he turned back ready to ask the question that plagued each of their minds when a refined voice interrupted him "Excuse me darlings but could you possibly give a bit more context in all we've just heard ?"

Turning to the speaker Carter realized it was Silk Stitcher who'd stepped forward with a hoof raised she looked at the four ponies, looking at the others gathered around Carter saw a look of curiosity and worry on each of their faces. Turning toward Cortana she simply shrugged her shoulders and said "After I appeared here I decided to explore the world and learn what I could about it and its inhabitants, I've only been back in Equestria for the last five years."

"So they don't know anything about our world ?"

"No, I haven't told them anything," Cortana said as she looked toward the ponies she merely glanced his way, that's when the SPARTAN noticed a message appear on his HUD 'I will explain why at a more private time.' taking the hint Carter said "Well if you're okay with it I an explain."

"I am commander." Cortana stated while taking a seat next to the SPARTANS who watched her nodding his head Carter was about to start his explanation when Celestia walked forward. Standing before the SPARTANS Celestia looked them over a frown finally adorning her face after so much smiling she said "Before we continue I believe it would be more comforting if we removed your armor."

Looking at her each of the SPARTANS they cocked their heads to the side confused by what she meant, Jorge cleared his throat catching the princesses attention he said "Ma'am this armor needs specific equipment and technicians, we SPARTANS are trained to take sections apart and do repairs.....but It doesn't come apart easily." chuckling the princess simply leveled her horn toward them and explained, "I know of a spell that can compress your armor."

"Will we be able to re-equip it ?"

"With only a thought," Celestia explained as she watched the SPARTANS looked between each other than back at Cortana who simply gave them a nod. Stepping forward Carter was the first to go as Celestia began activating her magic before she enacted the spell she explained "Now concentrate on a piece of your armor and that's where the rest will fold into." nodding his head Carter made up his mind and concentrated on his UA/FC-I earpiece. As the SPARTAN was enveloped in golden light the group covered their eyes it took only a few seconds before the light dissipated, uncovering their eyes the ponies looked at the commander. Carters coat color match that of his armor, his mane and tail were black, his mane was styled in a crew cut fashion, his cobalt eyes had a weary look of one who'd spent many nights without sleep, under his left eye was a scar going across his cheekbone, his body was covered in many scars but specific ones seemed surgical in nature. The younger mares blushed as they looked at Carter's body, even without his armor Carter was larger than any normal pony and unnaturally muscled in such a way one thought he was carved from marble. Looking toward his flank Carter noticed Noble team's symbol was on his flank.

Smiling down at the commander Celestia moved over to Jorge quickly casting the same spell, Jorge had decided that his armor would be compressed into his UA/BRACER gauntlet. Jorge's fur also matched his armor being a pale olive color, he had no mane and a small shadow of a beard, his tail was a dark grey, running down his right eye was a thin strip of scar tissue. Jorge's own body bared the same surgical scars as Carter but these seemed more pronounced. Rolling his shoulders they let out a massive pop as he did, his own flanks held an eagle that held arrows and lightning bolts in its talons.

Next was Six stepping before him Celestia readied the spell one last time, after a moment the SPARTAN was revealed to the others. As Six came back into view the younger mares gasped at the SPARTAN standing before them was a pony closer to their age than Jorge and Carter, his coat was a slate grey color like his armor. Six's mane and tail were a pale grey, the mane was cut just long enough for it to be slicked back, his face held multiple tiny scars that ran across his right cheek almost as if something had blown up in it. Looking down at his own flank Six saw he had the ONI symbol with knives crossed behind it, looking between each of them the ponies noted how young Carter and Six looked compared to Jorge stepping forward Glimmer asked "How old are you all ?"

"I'm 41 years old." Jorge answered as he inspected his body further, Carter looked down towards Glimmer and said "I'm 32 years old." turning to Six he was busy examining his arm realizing everypony was waiting on him Six said "I'm 23 years old."

Ignoring the looks that they were being given Carter stepped forward looking between the ponies Carter noted that most of Lunas injuries were healed cocking an eyebrow at her Carter ignored the sharp glare sent his way he asked "So where should I begin ?"

"What's this covenant you guys keep talking about ?" Sprinkled asked as she continued staring at the SPARTANS sighing Carter sat back and rubbed his eyes while saying "The covenant was a massive religious based government comprised of multiple alien species, the war started back in 2525 and before we were informed by Cortana about its ending it'd been going on till 2552. The covenant for one reason or another had decided that the entirety of humanity was an affront to their religion, so whenever they found a human inhabited world the covenant would attack it and burn it to the ground."

"The resulting war saw a loss of billions of people the closest estimated number we had at the time was thirty billion," Carter said as the words left his mouth the ponies in the room reared back at hearing the sheer number of lives lost. Gulping the first to speak was Silk stuttering out her question "H-h-how did you win ?"

"Winning wasn't something a lot of us thought about at the time," Carter said as started looking up toward the ceiling he took a deep breath before he looked back at the ponies he continued ", I do know without the SPARTANS the war would have been over long before 2552, a single SPARTAN could hold back hundreds of covenant during a single engagement. Deployment of a SPARTAN helped with morale whenever or wherever we were deployed on a battlefield *HEH* just seeing ONE of us on the field and the battle would turn to our favor almost immediately."

"You keep referring to yourselves as SPARTANS, but what does that even mean !?" Rainbow asked letting out a small snort of annoyance at the lack of explanation, this earned a glare from Carter as he said "SPARTANS are a group of selected individuals, the first program was known as S-II or SPARTAN-II which is the group that Jorge belongs too me, Six and the rest of Noble are S-III or SPARTAN-III's."

"What do you mean by selected ?"

"I mean we were specifically chosen out of a small group of individuals ONI wanted for the project which was kept secret at this time so those chosen were the best of the best, with the SPARTAN-III generation they pulled from military academies before our graduation those selected usually were seventeen to eighteen in rare cases some were sixteen, an example is me. The SPARTAN-II generation on the other hand was pulled from service extremely early in their careers the candidates chosen had either just entered boot camp or were exiting training, the candidates had to be eighteen or nineteen to be chosen for that program, an example is Jorge he was actually enlisted to join the ODST's before-"

"HORSESHIT !!!" Applejack suddenly snapped cutting the commander caught off guard by the sudden interruption he turned toward the mare, surprised by the sudden outburst the other two stood by ready for a fight as the orange mare marched up to Carter. Looking up at him she made sure to look him directly in the eye Applejack prodded the commander in the chest and growled "Yah better stop lyin right now boy we want the truth and ah know yer lyin !"

"Ma'am I am telling-"

"Carter ONI isn't here listening in on us here and I believe you want allies, not enemies." Cortana interrupted ignoring the surprised look the SPARTAN was giving her, Carter turned his gaze to the other two who nodded their head agreeing with what she had said. Rubbing his nose Carter took a breath and thought 'This isn't going to go over well at all.' Carter turned back to the group and began telling the truth "Ok I'll give you the truth, the original program was first put into action so the UNSC could fight an insurrection that they couldn't stamp out, the first generation was made up of the seventy-five six-year-olds that went through intense military training till they reached the age of fourteen. As these candidates reached fourteen they were put through an augmentation surgery......a majority of the group died from the surgery, thirty-three candidates actually became SPARTANS while the other dozen were crippled to the point they couldn’t be placed on active duty."

"That same year when the SPARTANS were put into active duty and finished their very first mission against the insurrection the covenant attacked Harvest and burned it to the ground along with almost everyone who called it home," Carter explained ignoring the dismayed looks of the ponies he continued with his explanation not waiting for any questions "Now jump to 2531 and that's when Colonel James Ackerson started the SPARTAN-III program which used war orphans from the worlds the covenant destroyed during the war, the numbers were around three hundred candidates and the program so far has had three companies Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, which had around three hundred thirty, the level of augmentation that the S-III's had done weren't as high-grade as the S-II program the performance records showed that those companies were just as effective as the previous generation.........of course there were some exceptions to that."

"Most of the S-III's out of those companies were sent on high-risk operations that were deemed too risky for S-II's." Carter said taking a small pause to catch his breath a voice finally had a moment to speak "What do you mean to high risk ?" Glimmer asked her voice sounding small to everyone's ears seeing her body language her eyes were downcast with tears forming at the corners and her ears were pinned back, frowning slightly Carter took his time as he tried to find the best answer he continued on with the truth saying "They were sent on suicide missions and from what I'm allowed to know there weren't any survivors, hell if it wasn't for Chief Mendez selecting me to lead Noble I would have been beside them."

"So how long have you all been fighting ?" Sunny days asked as tears flowed down her cheeks she looked to each of the SPARTANS who looked between each other before Carter answered "Depends on who you ask Jorge has been fighting since the very beginning starting at fourteen, I started fighting at fifteen in 2536, and Six started at thirteen in 2542, but we all have over a decade of combat experience, so any more questions ?"

"How could somepony decide to do that too children !" Luna cried out anger evident in her eyes she stood above them glaring down Carter turned to Celestia for the support he needed only to see the same anger in her eyes, closing his eyes Carter took a breath and said "Without the SPARTANS the UNSC would have fallen long ago and I can't speak for the S-II's like Jorge. BUT many of the S-III's joined to avenge their lost families and before you say any more I grew up with them, trained beside them, and watched some of them die so if anyone is allowed to feel outraged it's us."

"Now each and every SPARTAN that fought did so with pride and courage that would put your soldiers to shame. Our goal was to win as many battles as possible while protecting any and all humans we could during our engagement, during SPARTAN deployments the civilian and soldier survival rates jumped by sixteen percent. So as much as you hate what they did the results of our engagements speak for themselves, so now that I've finished with the explanation I have some questions of my own." Carter stated ending any and all discussion about the programs and the UNSC at the moment nodding her head Celestia seemed the first to calm down. Luna, on the other hand, decided to leave in a flash of purple light sighing at her sister's sudden departure Celestia said "Let's just move on for now, what questions do you have for us ?"

"Firstly you mention earlier you'd been waiting for us, what exactly did you mean by that ?" Carter asked looking over the mare remembering what had been mentioned earlier about alicorns, smirking Celestia gave a small shrug of her shoulders and said "I've been waiting for a little over five hundred years ago I had visited my old home, the castle you all appeared in I had found a journal from my mentor Starswirl the bearded. A book of prophecies that he had written nearly eighty years before his death, as I read through the book I came across a prophecy that foretold about the elements of harmony finding new hosts. This happened twenty years ago with Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow three of the six hosts chosen, now as I reached the last pages they talked about a group of warriors that would appear in a castle abandoned to time and an untamable forest these six warriors would be the greatest any nation had seen in eons and would become the protectors of the elements and strike down foes they could not."

"As I finished reading the pages a note along with a symbol was scribbled beneath the finale sentence," Celestia paused looking at Carters flank everypony followed her gaze the ponies eyes widened in shock Celestia simply continued her tale ", the note told me to destroy those pages and leave no evidence that they had ever existed and I did. After which I returned to Canterlot and waited through the decades keeping an eye out for any signs of the elements or the hosts that could use them, then eighty-five years ago Cortana appeared telling me of her past I thought she was the surest sign you would appear after which the elements found their newest hosts twenty years ago they found six mares three of which stand before you."

"Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow dash became new hosts for those elements, Twilight was the element of magic, Applejack the element of honesty which is how she was able to call you out commander, and finally Rainbow dash who was the element of loyalty there are three others you'll meet at a later time," Celestia paused her explanation gaging the SPARTANS reactions seeing their stoic looks she continued ", but you never appeared the girls fought many foes, brought down tyrants, imprisoned evil spirits, expelled users of dark magic, and helped rehabilitate those they deemed worthy and during their fifteen-year campaign you never appeared."

"I kept a watchful eye over the world looking for your symbol but nothing came about and Cortana would send me the occasional update about the world and warriors we hoped would be you. But then the elements found new hosts five years ago these new elements were the children of the previous holders, so when they suddenly changed owners I contacted Cortana and had her quickly return home," Celestia paused looking at the four young mares in the room Carter followed her gaze already realizing where she was going with her statement he sat down while Celestia continued ", Glimmer Dust is the newest element of magic, Silk Stitcher the element of kindness, Sunny Days is the element of generosity, Sprinkle Delight the element of laughter, Cloud splitter the element of honesty and finally is Apple gem the element of loyalty."

"These new elements have been active for around five years so I called Cortana back home to equestrian and we began searching again using high-level scrying spell, physical searches, spies, and any means to find you or something that could lead us to you. But fate had other plans for you six as we didn't feel the magic pulse in Canterlot and before we left, which doesn't really make much sense considering the pulse had enough energy to damage windows and buildings while the light generated has temporarily blinded ponies that happened to see it."

"What light ?" Carter asked cocking his head to the side curious about what their arrival looked like exactly considering the SPARTANS were unconscious for it, smiling at the commander Celestia turned to Twilight and said "The local guards said it was a bright blue light that seemed fall from the sky and was only visible for a second moment, now when the light hit the ground it resulted in a massive explosion that generated a blue ball of light that seemed to stay in the forest, of course, the shockwave didn't stay in the area and damaged the town."

"Now before we continue I believe we have given the rest Noble and the element of loyalty enough time to recover, so I believe we should make our way over to the hospital." Celestia finished looking down at the SPARTANS she noticed a concerned look come to their faces frowning at this Celestia asked "What's wrong ?"

"During the explanation, I forgot to ask but did you send all of Noble to the hospital ?" Carter asked as concern was evident in his voice taking not of that Twilight was the first one to step forward asking "Yes we did, why do you ask ?"

"Oh boy." Jorge muttered as he placed his face into his hoof trying to avoid eye contact with the group while Six simply shook his head as the ponies turned their confused looks to him seeing if he had an answer.

"We better get down there ASAP." Carter said his tone becoming serious as his eyes hardened looking between each other Twilight and Celestia did as the commander instructed and helped get the group down to the hospital immediately.

Chapter 5

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6

Noble 1

Glimmer Dust felt the fog that had formed starting to lift and as it lifted she remembered walking toward the structure that the princess showed them, she remembered a violet light and after the doors opened there was only darkness. But now she found herself somewhere else entirely looking around the room Glimmer was shocked at what where she now was, instead of a stone room with her friends she was in a cramped metal room full of young children of varying ages surrounded her. Looking at each child they all were in different states of misery some had fresh tears streaming down their faces while others eyes were red and puffy from crying, as Glimmer looked over the closest child she noticed a freshly stitched up wound on the left side of his face. Slowly what princess Celestia had told her and the others earlier made since they were seeing Nobles past.......specifically their guardians past which meant that the child before her was Carter age eleven. Edging her way up to him Glimmer noticed that his eyes were fixed on the floor he just blankly staring down at it, the look on his face was one of a pony who'd just come to terms with what he'd lost.

Staring at the young child Glimmer was trying to find the right words that she could tell him when the room around them suddenly shuddered looking around Glimmer thought 'What's going on ?' at that moment a wall across from her began to move. As the wall went down it revealed a open field of grass in the middle of the night taking a deep breath Glimmer was about to make her way outside when the children surged passed her, instead of being jostled or pushed by the children as they ran outside she passed through them like a ghost. Looking around Glimmer saw that all the children were outside and could hear their excited screams coming from outside, quickly following them out Glimmer saw complete chaos the kids were fighting and throwing clods of sod at each other. Looking around Glimmer saw that there were a few adults trying to wrangle the wilder children seeing that they were outnumbered, but a few children stayed near the ships this included Carter where he had joined two other children but not a word was being spoken between them.

After a minute of chaos someone cleared their throat and the noise rolled over the field like thunder this caused all everyone including Glimmer to stop what they were doing and look toward the person who'd made the noise, seeing standing away from the group were two humans one dressed in camouflage while the other was a massive figure in green armor that resembled Nobles armor. Once again the voice spoke "Attention, recruits I am lieutenant Ambrose. You have all endured great hardships to be here. I know each of you has lost your loved ones on Harvest, Biko, and Jericho VII. The Covenant has made orphans of all of you."

Feeling a change in the air Glimmer looked around and saw that the children had grown serious and were staring at the SPARTAN, looking over to Carter she saw a burning hatred in his eyes as well as a few tears. While Glimmer stared at the child the voice of Ambrose continued speaking "I am going to give you a chance to learn how to fight, a chance to become the best soldiers the UNSC has ever produced, a chance to destroy the Covenant. I am giving you a chance to be like me: a SPARTAN."

After a moment the SPARTAN explained that not every child would be accepted by the program and after a moment of silence the other man spoke calling out over the field. Ordering the children back onto the plane known as 'pelicans' this was actually the first time she actually looked at them they were a forest green and large, as Glimmer got back onto the ship that her and Carter had been on before. Gulping she wondered what would happen if she didn't follow the younger version of Carter what would the spell do ? Would it force her to his location, would she just remain in the same spot till the next memory......but these questions were interrupted by the roar of engines and a sudden acceleration. After a couple minutes of acceleration the vehicle leveled off and Glimmer looked around every child in the area wore a black backpack that had been secured to their backs by the adults, once the pelican leveled off a man stood at the end of the bay and began yelling over the engines "Alright recruits, this is how it will work you will stand in a line and jump. As soon as you jump wait ten seconds and pull this cord." he pointed to his left shoulder indicating a red handle and made a pulling motion before continuing "Now during the fall confusion will be normal."

After a few moments it seemed that none of the children were going to move shaking his head the man said "If you can't jump, you can't be SPARTANs." as soon as he said that Carter moved forward pushing passed the other recruits he stood before the man. As Glimmer followed him to ramp she noticed Carter looking down right before jumping, rushing forward she looked down only to see him disappear into the darkness, Glimmer could only gape in disbelief even though she wished to follow him . Feeling vertigo take her over Glimmer appeared in the forest looking around she realized that one of her earlier questions had just been answered, hearing the sound of ruffling Glimmer looked up and saw Carter coming in with a parachute. As he landed Carter rolled ending up on his back taking deep breaths trying to calm himself down and after a few minutes he pushed himself up, standing up Carter stared at the night sky his eyes showing the same determination that the other SPARTANs had.

After a moment though the environment around her began to shift and images blurred passed her showing the training Carter and the other SPARTANs, Glimmer saw the augmentation process he went through and as the images began to slow and dissipate, Glimmer now found herself was pristine white room. Looking around there was a single table where she saw Carter in this memory he was much older than before if Glimmer remembered what he'd said before he was fourteen at the time. Walking up to him Glimmer saw he was covered in fresh injuries as Glimmer looked them over she noticed they were the same scars that the all SPARTANs all over their bodies, timidly walking up Glimmer whispered "Carter, are you ok ?"

After a moment Carter sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed but before he could get up someone in a dark grey fatigues entered into the room looking at Carter they spoke in a feminine voice "It's good to see you up SPARTAN the rest of your team has recovered nicely and are being fitted for their armor."

"Understood."

"So if you're feeling up to it we can go get you fitted." Carter gave the female a curt nod and stood up towering over her, simply adjusting her head she said "Then if you can follow me."

Standing up Carter followed her out of the room the destination where they were going was unknown to Glimmer but she followed them, the walking lasted probably ten minutes at one point though Carter went off into a room alone thinking this was the fitting room Glimmer tried to follow him inside only for the door to slide shut. Placing her hoof against the wall she tried pushing through only to be met with a solid immovable surface, it only took a minute for Carter to exit the room wearing a black body suit that fit is form perfectly on his feet were a pair of armor boots, seeing that he was dressed the woman said "The armor is through the next set of doors."

Pointing to the final set of doors Carter gave her a nod before heading toward the doors walking with him Glimmer looked him up and down, looking down at the floor Glimmer started thinking Carters life he was a child and lost everything during a time of making friends and being a child he instead was inducted in a secret military program. Now he was fifteen about to start fighting in a war instead of worrying about whether a girl liked him or how his high school classes were going, instead he was walking into a room to be fitted for armor.

Sitting down Glimmer closed her eyes and went over with what she'd seen and learned so far the first was Carters first step was joining the program of SPARTANs, the next step was the augmentation, and now the armor he was being put in. Looking back up she watched as Carter walked up to a small platform standing on it Glimmer watched as the ceiling and floor came apart, coming from the floor were numerous arms each holding a piece of armor they began to attaching the pieces to Carter. It took no time before the armor was full put together as the arms retracted back into the ceiling or floor a helmet was slowly lowered down onto his head, Glimmer had seen all the SPARTANs in their armor earlier as ponies and it was an impressive sight. But seeing it now shiny and new it reminded Glimmer of the old stories here uncle and mothers would tell her about knights in shining armor, stepping off the platform Carter looked down at himself seemingly looking over the armor. After a moment the door opened again and a tall male with short brown hair shaved down to his skull, he wore a dark gray uniform with golden markings on the shoulders.

As he walked in Carter snapped to attention saluting the man, looking at the SPARTAN he made his to the front of Carter and looked him over seemingly marveling at how he looked in the armor. Studying the man Glimmer noticed a name tag on his chest walking closer she saw the name Holland written in gold letters after a moment he spoke in a deep voice that carried authority that rivalled the princesses "At ease son, are you ready to get started ?"

"Yes sir." Carter said as he returned to a relaxed stance with his hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the him the man smiled and said "That's good to hear, before we continue I've been given your teams designation."

"So from today onwards you'll be known as Noble."

"Understood, so who'll be leading the team ?"

"The recommendations from both Mendez and Ambrose you've been designated team leader," Holland said while he offered his out stretched hand, looking down Carter took it carefully and gave it a small precise shake while Holland continued "Congratulations Noble one you'll do us all proud."

"Yes sir, but what's the real reason your here ?"

"Cutting to the chase I see," stepping back Holland pointed at the wall behind him after a moment it lit up showing different images at varying degrees of clarity ", you and your team have received your first mission apparently New Constantinople has been found by the covenant, so far its only three ships and our navy is keeping them at bay but its only a matter of time before more covenant arrive and our ships are lost."

"How long have they been at the planet sir ?"

"At this moment twelve hours, Noble will be sent in to secure ONI sites and to scrub any and all data they could use to find other colonies Winter contingency has already been put into affect."

"When do we leave sir ?"

"Right now, your team has been briefed and is already heading toward the ship."

"Understood." Carter said saluting one last time he began to head toward the door but before he left Holland placed a hand on his shoulder and said "Good luck son the UNSC will be counting on you and the other SPARTANs more than anyone will ever realize."

"We won't fail you sir." Carter stated releasing him Holland took a step back and watched as he left the room sighing he rubbed his brows and let out a silent curse, sitting down Glimmer looked at the empty door that he had left through. That's when the area around her began shifting again and showing her Noble team, but this wasn't the team brought to Equestria these were different members all together. As the memories flowed passed Glimmer she saw Carter leading Noble through hundreds of missions, she saw all the victories that he lead them through and the lives that they saved. But then one by one the old guard began to fall and Glimmer watched just as helpless as Carter must have been when he watched their deaths then new members that made up the current team were introduced.

As the memories began to fade they seemed to fold into themselves and flow toward a single point following the flow the world around her turned into a familiar room she'd been in earlier, looking around Glimmer tried to find Carter only for the area to suddenly shift losing her balance she landed onto her side hitting her head on the ground. Letting out a small groan Glimmer rubbed the sore spot looking up she came face to face with Carters helmet laying precariously on the ground, its pale gold visor reflecting her concerned look back at her. Standing up Glimmer looked forward to see an armored figure sitting in a slightly to small chair slinking forward Glimmers ears pinned back as she heard labored breathing, as she got closer to Carter she looked around the front noticing that his armor was damaged with a large hole in his armor that blood slowly seeped through looking up at his face Glimmer drew in a sharp breath. Carters face was pale blood seeped from his nose and ears, his right eye was blood red as if all the vessels in it had blown he was crying blood from it, reaching toward him Glimmer whispered "Carter you can stop."

Coughing up some blood Carter simply wiped it away looking back outside his eyes went wide following his gaze Glimmer looked out too and what she saw for the first time in her life was a true machine of war larger than the average Equestrian air ship was a massive purple chromed monstrosity taking a deep breath Carter then spoke seemingly to no one " Noble.....you've got...........a situation."

"Mother.....We can get passed this sir." Emile spoke from a somewhere looking toward his voice Glimmer noted the large amount of concern in his voice. Coughing again Carter spat blood all over the console looking it over he spoke "No you can't. Not without help." as the word left his mouth Carter began flipping various switches as he worked Emile spoke again "Commander you don't have the firepower."

Glimmer watched as Carter raced over the beast pressing a small red button she heard some strange sound and bright yellow lights danced across the monsters hide, as he race over the beast Carter pulled up gaining altitude as they climbed he said "I've got the mass." the room shifted again and Emile's voice came again "Solid copy. Hit'em, hard boss."

As the voice faded away and Carters eyes narrowed again Glimmer came to the realization of what he planned to do, looking at him again she saw the same look when he was just a child. As they closed in on the beast Carter spoke again "You're on your own Noble. Carter Out." Glimmer did the only thing she could do at that moment opening her mouth she let out an ear piercing scream while closing her eyes she felt the gravity shift as they slammed into the beast and were engulfed in a fireball of searing heat.

Noble 2

Coming back to consciousness Silk Stitcher slowly began pushing herself up feeling a small head ache forming at the base of her horn, she massaged the base trying to get the ache to go away while letting out a small groan. Looking around the area she saw that she'd been teleported to a small metropolitan area with the sun setting in the distance. As Silk began making her way through the abandoned streets a pit began forming in her stomach when she noticed some of the carriages were on fire and what sounded like fighting happening in the distance, but before she could continue on her journey Silk heard something to her left slowly turning to the sound she saw a strange bird like creature looking over a carriage right at her. After a moment it jumped atop the vehicle causing the young unicorn to squeal in fear as she skittered backwards trying to escape the creature only to run into another of the metal carriages, looking around the streets it seemed to be looking for something bobbing its head side to side. Holding her breath she waited for the creature to leave but it only kept looking and sniffing trying to find something but its search was cut off when its wrist started to flash and beep, looking down at the device it pressed a claw to it once the beeping ended a series of clicks and squawks sounded from it. The creature answered back but Silk had no idea what was going on but it quickly turned and raced down the road and disappeared around a corner, letting out a sigh she tried to get her heart to calm down and figure out what had happened and why she was......*Crunch*

Stopping her breathing Silk slowly turned looking behind her she saw an older woman dressed in camouflage with a young girl hiding behind her who was also dressed in camouflage, the young child's eyes were wide with fear as she watched the creature disappear looking back up at the older woman she whispered "Grandma where are we going ?"

"North Kat there's an ONI evacuation happening."

"But how do you know that ?"

"Your grandmother still has many friends in the UNSC and most are ONI," the woman whispered back pulling the young child behind her as they went to the evacuation zone. Using the distant noise of fighting to cover their movements while keeping low to the ground. Following them as best as she could Silk stayed close concern evident in her eyes as she remembered what they were told earlier about the SPARTAN program and how they recruited the S-III's, as they tried to escape Silk knew that she was only a witness to the history that was unfolding before her and she feared what it had to show. The pair were on a constant move not slowing down even for a second it didn't take long for them to run into other humans these being dressed in dark gray armor with helmets whose visors obscured their faces with bright blue glass, staring at the child and the old woman the soldiers held their weapons up the soldier on the left said "It's good to see you General we were told you'd be arriving soon."

"It's good to see you to kid," looking behind her the older woman looked passed Silk who sworn the woman stared at her until walked through her while saying "There were a few jackals near here so you better hurry and tell whoever's in charge they don't have long till we leave."

"Ma'am the evacuations already been complete you and your granddaughter are the last ones." the soldier answered motioning for them to follow nodding her head, she turned to Kat and grabbed her hand guiding her along with the other soldiers. Rounding a corner Silk felt a small since of awe overcome her sitting squarely before her was a large airship dark gray in color with three other soldier's standing guard their heads slowly swiveling side to side trying to spot any trouble before it could rear it ugly head. Making their way to the open bay doors both Kat and her grandmother were walking fast as the older woman barked order at the people, looking around Silk tried to figure out what could go wrong what was going to happen that *BZZZZZMMMM* suddenly a beam of purple gold light shot over her head and struck the older woman in her back.

As she was falling the soldiers ran towards her a number of them holding their weapons up toward the direction of the beam and open fired the weapons letting out small almost inaudible cough. Finding herself sitting down Silk stared at the young Kat as she was torn away from her grandmother crying and begging for them to save her, but the cries fell on deaf ears as the soldiers knew the only job left was to get her away from the fighting. Feeling a familiar tug Silk watched as the world around her faded away and shifted to a hallway finding herself face to face with Kat, she saw her talking to an older man wearing a suit leaning down he met her eye to eye and as Silk drew closer, she finally heard the man's voice "......so if you want to get revenge for your family all you have to do is follow me."

Standing up the man held out his hand to the young girl who immediately took the hand which soon began to guide her to her new life.......the one she was currently living. As she watched helplessly Silk felt tears at the corners of her eyes and before she knew it the world was quickly shifting again the beginning of a new horrible memory, and this one did not disappoint. Instead of a city filled with building that reached for the sky she was met with gray rubble and smoke this time she didn't have the luxury of far-off fighting this time she was right in the middle of it. Dropping to the ground Silk looked around trying to find Kat and it didn't take long as a cyan blur passed her racing through the battlefield in each hand, she held strand objects her right held something that resembled a large egg while her left hand was outstretched with yet another strange object. At certain times the end seemed to light up with a bright yellow flash before it released a loud boom and after each boom enemies fell, trying to follow her Silk could only gape at the speed and precision the SPARTAN she seemed to be unstoppable like nothing could even dream of slowing her down. Then suddenly odd-looking flying machines screamed overhead and at the nose of the craft they glowed bright green before large balls of energy were launched and the target was Kat.

Racing through the fighting Silk saw the spartan flipping through the air before slamming into the ground with an agonizing crunch skidding next to her Silk stared at the SPARTAN her right arm was glowing red, her armor covered in soot, and her visor nearly shattered from the blast. Leaning down Silk whispered, "Kat how did this help you become a SPARTAN ?"

Hearing a slight beeping sound Silk looked to her side to see the egg counting down to zero while a small beep sounded stepping toward the device Silk saw a gray gauntlet grab hold of it, following the arm she saw a different SPARTAN one that was not currently with noble team. On his back was a strange device taking a moment he stared down at his injured comrade before turning away, activating the device through some unknown mean two wings popped out and fire sprang out lifting the massive soldier into the sky. Watching fly away Silk saw him make a b-line toward a massive ship that had been floating over the battlefield, hearing commotion behind her Silk couldn't quite tear her eyes off the ship she seemed drawn to it, but it didn't last much longer as an orange fire ball irrupted from the inside of the ship destroying it.

Turning away from the scene Silk realized why she was shown this scene looking back at Kat she noticed as they carried her away the medic was scanning her arm and a small look of regret was on his face as he looked to the other SPARTANS who'd formed around her. Trying to follow them Silk tried catching up to them, but they were so far away that is until she heard voices the first being Kats "You didn't answer my question?"

"You want to know if we're losing?" Carters asked back his voice solemn walking into the room Silk looked around to seeing what once must've been a pony's office, but what caught here attention was outside a city on fire with most of the buildings either on fire or destroyed. But the SPARTANs continued the conversation almost as if the world wasn't literally on fire "I know we're losing.......i want to know if we've lost?"

Turning toward the leader Silk saw him look over the city almost Contemplating what he could say in this situation, that is until a series of beep interrupted the conversation looking toward Kat she said " Colonel holland hailing us- what's he doing on an open channel?"

"Let's hear it."

"-in the southwest quadrant of the city, over?" an older man's voice spoke over the channel and he continued " Alpha two-five-nine, are you receiving i am authorizing override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."

"How long for a secure link?"

"I can't guarantee it's secure anymore." Kat answered looking over her shoulder at Carter watching the two Silk tried her best to figure out what was happening while Carter spoke "Could the covenant trace it to us?"

"I could."

"Noble leader, this is a priority one hail if you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."

Picking up something that resembled Carter's earpiece Kat handed it to him while saying "Keep it brief." taking it from her Carter placed it against his ear and said, "Carter here, yes sir."

Ignoring the conversation Silk walked up to Kat and watched as she began messing with the supplies checking to make sure everything was accounted for; Silk had become so engrossed she'd missed what the others were talking about till Kat pulled out her tablet and read something off it "Radiation flare! big. Forty million roentgens."

"Just lost Holland. What's going on?"

"Atomic excitement scramble the signal. Ninety million now!" looking around Silk noticed that all the SPARTANs were standing getting ready for something to happen looking around Silk tried to figure out what was happening while Carter asked "Source?"

"Airborne. close."

"How close?" Carter asked again and his question was immediately answered as a bright flash of light filled the room and the glass blew apart screaming over the noise Kat said "THAT CLOSE !"

The shock wave knocked everyone to the ground, but they didn't stay down to long quickly picking themselves up they raced toward some elevators quickly following them in Silk slid next to Six and Kat. Holding her helmet tight Kat turned to her silent partner and asked "First glassing? Me too"

Staring at her Silk watched as the woman replaced her helmet covering her facial features, after a few moments the elevator doors opened up and the two SPARTANs burst out of the elevator in silence both right ahead of her, looking past them, she saw a shelter with the others in it right Infront of them feeling a smile come to her face Silk began thinking 'we're going to make it! maybe this isn't-' *BZZZT*

Silk saw it a bright purple light flashed down going through Kat killing her instantly she fell to the ground like a puppet without strings, looking up Silk saw a strange creature holding a long rifle that imitated a strange purple glow. Hearing the cracks of the SPARTANs weapons firing Silk watched as Six dragged her body into the shelter. Following him into the shelter Silk laid next to Kats holding her close like a dear family member she caressed her helmet as tears pattered against the visor she silently cried over her protector's past.

NOBLE 3

Feeling his senses slowly return to him Cloud found himself in a deep forest looking around he became very confused about why he was back in the Everfree mumbling to himself he said "I'll just head back to and figure out what happened."

Spreading his wings, he quickly took to the sky climbing as high as he could that is until he slammed into an invisible wall rubbing his head, he let out a silent curse looking around he tried to figure out what was going on. Taking a deep breath, he called out "This is not funny you guys! So, knock it off!" after a few minutes no one answered him groaning he stayed hover a few feet off the ground trying to come up with what should be happening, he was supposed to be witnessing a SPARTANs back story but which one?

Sighing he went back to the ground trying to find evidence of anypony being there and he searched for three and a half hours seeing the sun was starting to set Cloud went back to his starting point and let out a low groan and muttered "This is ridiculous where is the-"

Suddenly something shifted, a mere three feet away slowing walking over to the shape Cloud soon figure out what it was lying in a small ditch was Jun his armor being recognizable by youth as he had been the SPARTAN to babysit him when they marched out of the forest. But wrapped around him was a strange suit that reminded him of his aunt pinkies camouflage getup when she would spy on Sprinkle during her first day of school. The main difference being this suit hid the massive, armored figure to where Jun was almost completely invisible. Holding something odd his visor was close to what looked like a telescope staring off into the distance. Sitting down Cloud said "So how is this showing me your path to being a SPARTAN ?"

Looking over he noticed that the figure hadn't moved shaking his head Cloud continued "Of course you can't hear me cause this is a bucking memory." Flopping over Cloud stared at the sky trying to figure out why he was here and why he couldn't get any of the other super soldiers but no he got the boring stoic one. Closing his eyes, he figured he'd take nap while he waited for whatever needed to happen to happen.

Hours had apparently passed because when cloud woke up it was nighttime, because he wasn't home, he couldn't hope to guess what time it was. Looking back at Jun Cloud saw that the SPARTAN still hadn't moved groaning Cloud said "Ok I'm gonna go stretch my legs and eat something if you need anything just holler. OK?"

"....."

"Alright." Cloud muttered turning he flew into the forest to get some exercise maybe see if he could find some food. He had to be gone for hours or maybe just minutes but when Cloud returned, he found Jun in the same spot shaking his head Cloud thought 'I shouldn't be here too long.'

Staring up at the clouds the young stallion wondered why he had ended up in the most boring memory and how much longer he had to be here........because SIX days is a ridiculous amount of time to go without moving or doing anything other than staring down a dame scope! Pacing angrily Cloud let out annoyed snorts what was the point of this? Why show him Jun laying in a rut for four days, he couldn't even get more than eight feet away before hitting the invisible wall looking down at the SPARTAN Cloud thought 'why do i need to be here nothing is gonna happen!'

Turning toward the forest Cloud decided to get some food for lunch wondering if he could find any more of those ber- *BOOM* diving to the ground Cloud covered his head. Looking around the forest he tried to find the source of the noise until he remembered what was behind him, slowly turning Cloud saw smoke wafting from the SPARTAN, tightening his jaw Cloud began to tentatively walking toward the SPARTAN when the world around him began to fade. Seeing his surrounding slowly fade Cloud tried to understand what he had just seen six days of nothing then a single shot and he was being whisked off somewhere else.

It didn't take long for the world around him to have changed to an mor suburban area, looking over the area Cloud noticed an unnatural silence to the area. He noticed the streets were empty except for the trash that littered them, and all the houses looked abandoned slowly walking up the road Cloud couldn't tear his eyes from the horizon. Off in the distance was a city ablaze the towers the stood taller than any building Canterlot could hope to build, after a minute of staring Clouds eyes went toward the sky and found a massive purple ship above the city, underneath the ship a bright orange and red orb of light began to form before a beam slammed down into the city. Holding his breath Cloud thought 'This is what they fought against.'

Watching the beam incinerate an entire building and while others fell from the shockwave sitting down Clouds eyes were misty with tears, if that city was anything like the cities back home the loss of life had to be massive. Taking a step closer he heard a voice to his right "...how many people were in that city?"

"The analyst are thinking around eight million sir." recognizing the second voice Cloud found himself staring up at the armored SPARTAN next to him was an older man wearing a gray uniform with golden bars on his shoulders. Surrounding the two men were five others looking up at the SPARTAN the older man spoke again "I don't know how we're gonna keep doing this son."

"Because we have to sir, humanity needs us." Jun stated never taking his eyes off the purple ship as it slowly moved through the city leaving a trail of destruction behind it, looking back down at the man Jun continued "But we have to keep moving the LZ's not too far."

"Understood SPARTAN," the older man said turning away from the burning city the small group began to march away from the burning city heading off toward the forest. Staring back at the burning city Cloud gulped as he watched the ship lifting up into the air and disappearing above the smoke like a shark diving under the water, shivering at what he'd witnessed Cloud waited for the landscape to change once again but suddenly found himself being pulled away from the city , landing at their feet Cloud slowly stood up looking around the area they'd stopped in Cloud saw they were at the edge of the forest shaking his head he said "I get this is a memory but why the hell did.......you............stop."

Walking out of the forest Cloud lost his voice scattered through the clearing were hundreds of bodies and from what Cloud could guess they were the people who lived in the suburban homes. Walking through the bodies he found himself feeling sick seeing a young child being held by its mother sitting next to them he saw large metal spikes in the body they appeared to go all the way through piercing the child also. Placing a hoof on her shoulder Cloud heard the soldiers behind him looking up he saw them walking through the bodies eyes slowly scanning them trying to find any life, until Jun stopped kneeling down next to the body of a young girl, he slowly moved her body noticing a single metal spike in chest. Staring at the young girl Jun slowly stood up looking over the bodies that were strewn across the clearing, hearing the low rumble of engines Cloud looked up to see an odd dark gray ship that was far smaller than the ship from earlier.

After a few minutes Cloud found himself standing in the same machine the soldiers had loaded up into and soon they began to rise, feeling the ship rumble and shake Cloud wondered where they could possibly be going taking a deep breath Cloud looked to his right noticing a small window, he began walking towards it. As Cloud drew closer to the window it revealed an unimageable destruction outside huge ships were scattered about many blown apart and melting, looking around his eyes finally settled on the planet they'd just left instead blue and green ball of life like his own world. All he saw was a true hell on Equus, there were no bright blue oceans, no white clouds and no green forests, instead the world was gray with bright orange fires burning across all the continents in such clarity he could see no them raging across the world.

Staring down at the ruined world Cloud could hear Jun speaking "Yes sir I managed to evac the colonel......no sir no civilians this time......Yes sir.........That I can manage.................Yes sir I understand."

"So, what was that SPARTAN?" the older man asked eyeing the man turning to him Jun spoke without missing a beat "I've just received my next assignment sir, as soon as we dock at the Savannah I'll join the rest of Noble and we're go to our next mission."

"They ever let you SPARTANs rest?"

"No sir but someone has to continue the fight." Jun answered finally finding the will to turn away from window Cloud found himself staring at Jun, the man had taken his helmet off revealing his human face. Staring into his eyes Cloud saw a fire and unwavering determination feeling the world around him beginning to change again, looking around Cloud tried to figure out why the world was changing until Juns next words rang out "After all SPARTANs never stop."

Sitting down on his haunches the world around Cloud began to solidify again this time he was at some type of shipyard, but his mind wouldn't let go of what he'd just heard looking toward the sky he thought 'If they don't stop.......what would stop them?'

*BOOM* hearing something shatter through the air Cloud dove to the ground trying to figure out what's going on when a ship slammed into the ground blowing up in a purple/blue inferno. Letting out a startled yelp he back away from the wreckage before another *BOOM* filled the air and a wet thud Cloud noticed a small headless alien's body on the ground its bright blue blood forming a large puddle. Backing away the air was filled with more of those sounds looking up Cloud gasped he saw hundreds of other aliens marching in the same direction, they spoke in an odd language barking and clicking at each other while they pointed behind the equine. Cloud followed their claws trying to pinpoint where the shots were coming from but couldn't narrow it down, then another *BOOM* filled the air and three more aliens fell but their deaths didn't halt the others as they continued scattering about. Spreading his wings Cloud took to the skies wondering if he'd find Jun that way as soon as he got higher, he began scanning the buildings, containers, and cranes but couldn't find the SPARTAN. Until he saw a green blur moving between the containers quickly diving toward the blur Cloud landed near SPARTAN only to see him placing a small package with a blinking red light, walking up toward it Cloud whispered "What are you doing?"

Noticing the Jun take a small roll of tape out of his satchel and place a piece over the lights hearing some noises Jun looked around before jumping atop of the containers, quickly climbing them he began heading toward one of the buildings. Running full speed, he would fire his weapon once in a while killing the aliens as he went looking around Cloud quickly realized the SPARTAN was heading toward the end of the docks looking behind him again, he saw the ocean of enemies racing toward Jun and quickly realized that he wasn't going to survive this. Quickly racing back to Jun Cloud found him kneeling at the base of one of the cranes he was looking over his equipment shaking his head the SPARTAN quickly reloaded his rifle and muttered "SPARTANs never die."

After saying those words Jun wheeled around the corner and began firing watching him in awe Cloud saw the SPARTAN fight with the fury of titan, for every shot fired two to three enemies fell and they tried to exact their revenge firing everything they had at the SPARTAN. Dodging the weapon fire Jun continued to fight but the enemies never seemed to slow every time their comrades fell the holes were quickly filled, the fighting seemed to last hours but soon Juns weapons ran dry, his armor began to take damage along with his body. But the SPARTAN continued to fight even with several glowing purple spikes sticking out of his body, his helmet long discarded, half his face burned, hanging limply at his side was his left blood oozed through holes where the armor had been breached, but he still had use of his right as he fired a stolen weapon until it went dry. After the last shot went off killing one of the smaller aliens a larger armored one rushed forward igniting a sword made of light, he quickly slammed Jun into the container pinning him to the container. Reaching toward his shoulder Jun Grabbed the knife attached to his left arm unsheathing the blade he slammed it into the alien's neck while saying "I need some company you bastard, but we ain't going alone!"

*THOOOM* a large explosion filled the air, but it was soon followed by many more and they were getting closer to the group, turning toward the noise Cloud saw several fireballs filling the air. But Cloud had little time to think as he was soon engulfed in an inferno, it took a moment but when the flames cleared Cloud saw hundreds of dead and the docks were a mess everything was either on fired or completely warped from its original form. Hearing a loud creaking sound, he found himself seeing one of the large cranes falling to the ground crushing many of the charred containers and destroying a warehouse. Looking around Cloud tried to find Jun knowing he couldn't have gone far he began searching the area he had last seen him, looking around Cloud found the burnt remains of the alien who'd attacked Jun moving forward it didn't take long for Cloud to find Jun he was on his back staring at the sky.As Cloud finished rounding a corner the SPARTAN came into full view revealing that he had a piece of debris had imbedded itself into Juns stomach taking shallow breaths the SPARTAN was muttering something as Cloud got closer, he heard him.

"I did it commander Halsey's safe at CASTLE base*HUGH*others should be there soon*HUGH*I held them here," Jun whispered looking around at the battle his scarred face making Cloud cringe as he wondered the amount of pain, he was in before continuing ",I bet you, Six and Emile are heading to Earth*HUGH* just do one thing for me commander*HUGH*give them hell for the rest of us."

At that moment Juns eyes glazed over and let out one final breath before going limp walking over Cloud felt tears coming to his eyes he looked down at Jun and whispered "Jun you're the most bad flank pony I know...............and I'll tell you that as soon as I get back."

NOBLE 4

Standing up Sprinkle looked around trying to get a baring on her surroundings she remembered being in a cave with her friends, then the princesses showed them a strange building and she felt pulled toward it. She'd walked to the building and remembered going inside.....then she was here. Here was some kind of building looking around Sprinkle thought 'What is going on ?'

"It's ok Emile we're almost there!" a voice called out turning toward it Sprinkle saw a young man wearing gray military fatigues running down the hallway while she pushed a young boy ahead of her. Following the two of them Sprinkle remembered she what the princess had said. Smiling to herself Sprinkle thought 'So Emile is my guardian......hmmm i did have a thing for bad colts after all.'

Hearing commotion come from ahead she rounded the corner seeing dozens of people all running in the same direction some wore military uniforms others were in varying civilian clothes ranging from pajamas to business suits. All trying to push ahead each crying out in fear and yelling about wanting to survive pinning her ears back Sprinkle felt fear building up in her stomach hearing something to her right turning she saw the man and Emile going away from the crowds. Quickly following them Sprinkle heard a calm female voice "Evacuation process is underway, please remain calm and head to the nearest exit."

Stopping Sprinkle thought 'Why the need for an evacuation?' and that thought was quickly answered when she heard screaming turning toward the noise, she was violet light igniting down the hall. Quickly turning Sprinkle galloped away trying to catch up to Emile and the mystery woman it didn't take long for her to find them, but it was the same situation as early dozens of people of running and pushing seeing remembering the chaos from earlier tried to speak but no one seemed to hear her then suddenly a roar echoed through the building. Slowly turning Sprinkle saw multiple massive monsters each wearing armor dark blue in color, raising their weapons they immediately fired upon the civilian's while the soldiers fired back causing something to shimmer across their bodies. During this small fire fight before the beasts fell, they'd managed to kill almost everyone as the last one fell still firing the rifle Sprinkle saw Emile crawling from behind a pillar trying to find the man who was with him earlier Sprinkle also found herself looking for the man and it didn't take long as the man quickly scooped up the boy while saying "It's okay Emile I've got yah."

"What're we going to do?" Emile asked looking at the monsters turning toward the direction all the bodies were in the man marched forward still carrying Emile, stepping over the bodies of the dead he reached a door that had been obscured by the bodies banging on it he yelled "The covies are dead let us in!" after a moment the door slid open revealing a young man with disheveled blond hair he wore the same uniform that a train attendant wore looking around he said "W-w-we only have e-e-e-enough room for one m-m-more."

Putting Emile on the ground the man looked at the young boy tears in her eyes he said "Emile you need to go to with this nice man."

"You're coming right?"

"Of course, little man I'll be right behind yah," rubbing her thumb on his cheek the man looked him over with a small smile while saying ", I've just got a couple of things to take care of before I meet up with yah."

"Wait but he can get you on, can't you?" Emile asked turning toward the man he could only offer a smile turning to the man a quick glance Sprinkle saw the desperation pass between them before the man nodded and said "Ok I'll go talk to the captain but let's get you on board first, Ok?"

"Ok." Emile said turning to the man he looked back at the woman seeing some tears in her eyes the door slowly closing, feeling a tug in her gut Sprinkle suddenly found her next to Emile again as the man placed him in an empty seat, he knelt down next to the boy and said "Stay here and buckle up while I speak with the captain."

Nodding his head Emile and Sprinkle both watched the man walk away as Emile buckled himself into the chair looking around the cabin Sprinkle saw more people each in a different state of being some cried, some were silent, but all were disheveled and dirty. Covered in soot and ash some had minor injuries others were unscathed the cabin but soon Sprinkles attention was brought back to Emile when the area they were in began to rumble Emile frantically looked around and soon began to fumble with his buckle, until the older man next to him grabbed the young boys' hands and held them away from the buckle. The rumbling lasted a few minutes and during that time Emile fought the older man screaming his lungs out till his face turned red, when the ship stopped rumbling Emile bit the man's hands forcing him to let the boy go using that window Emile unbuckled himself and ran toward the front of the ship toward the cabin that must have held the captain. Following him Sprinkle saw the young boy slamming his fists against the door with tears streaming down his face still red he continued yelling, watching this happen Sprinkle felt her ears splay backwards as she noticed blood starting to stain the door as Emile kept hitting it.

Noticing some movement to her right Sprinkle turned and saw the man who had brought Emile onto the ship walking up to him, backing away from the scene Sprinkle thought 'This isn't good' seeing the man Emile lunged at him hitting him in the stomach he doubled over. Taking the opportunity Emile quickly clamored atop the man and began punching him while screaming "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER, YOU LEFT HIM TO SAVE YOURSELF!!!"

The man held up his arms trying to defend himself from the child's assault even as he was drug off him by another attendant the boy kept screaming "I'M GONNA KILL YOU." quickly pinning the child down the attendant struggled to hold him as he continued to struggle against the woman he stared at the man and kept screaming "YOU LET HIM DIE!!!"

With those final words screamed the scenery began to fade and change looking around Sprinkle saw Emiles life over the next few years, his training as a SPARTAN, his first missions, all leading up to when he met the rest of Noble even some missions where he served with them. What Sprinkle saw during all those missions was an unquenchable rage the way he fought and beat enemies and how he acted, Emile didn't care what it took or who was in his way he'd all ways finish the mission. Hearing an odd scraping sound Sprinkle slowly walked forward entering a large room with machine parts scattered about, as she continued walking she heard Jorge and Emile talking.

"You can't take risks like that."

"Yah big man, you gonna stop me next time?"

"Emile their insurgents not covenant," Jorge said rounding the corner Sprinkle saw the two SPARTANs standing by a worktable as Emile leaned over working on an unknown project, both wore the same armor they had in equestria standing up straight Jorge continued "I may not fully understand your anger, but you must reign it in when it comes to them."

"Whatever you say." Emile muttered as more scraping came from him not wanting to see what he was working on Sprinkle stayed where she was as the conversation continued, standing up straight Jorge pointed a finger at the other SPARTAN about to say something else until a voice began to speak "All Noble team report to the helipad, repeat all Noble team report to the helipad!"

"Looks like it's time for round two." Emile stated looking up at the ceiling he quickly turned back to his project on the table he set a small knife down, cocking her head to the side Sprinkle tried to see what he had been working one. But suddenly she found herself in the forest during a small drizzle looking toward the sky she could barely see anything, hearing same loud noises of the weapons used by Emiles brother and the other soldiers Sprinkle was about to start walking toward it when suddenly she was three figures running toward her. Squinting through the rain and darkness she could barely make out who or what they were until a slight whooshing sound went over her head and suddenly one of the figures crumbled to the ground, stopping in their tracks the remaining two figures immediately went back-to-back holding up their weapons. Slowly turning they scanned the tree line trying to find the SPARTAN in the darkness feeling her heart pounding Sprinkle waited for Emile to make his move, and after what felt like hours a flash of silver and another of the figures fell a knife sticking out of his skull. Letting out a squeal of terror Sprinkle held her hooves over her mouth as she watched the final figure turn and run toward her, as the figure bore down on Sprinkle, she refused to move screwing her eyes shut she prayed that this nightmare would come to an end.

Hearing a slight crunching sound and a OOF Sprinkle found herself opening her eyes and turning to see the figure she'd watch race pass her laying on the ground, eye the figure she saw was a young woman with long brunette hair she wore faded olive fatigues staring into the darkness Sprinkle followed her line of sight and her eyes widened in terror. Slowly stepping out of the shadows with ran pattering on his armor was Emile, staring down at the woman and Sprinkle was his signature helmet with the skull carved into it as he stalked forward Emile snarled "Boo." before bringing his boot down on her leg snapping the bone. Letting out a howl of pain the woman grabbed at the leg while screaming into the dirt Emile on the other hand finger to the side of his head and began to talk to someone.

As Sprinkle stared in horror at the sight before her, she'd failed to notice the world around her changing slowly being replaced with a base snugly hidden in the side of mountain. Looking around Sprinkle noticed a massive ship to her right and to her left was nothing but desolation hundreds of ships were scatted across a battlefield with massive patched of glowing earth. As she stepped closer, she heard a fire fight below her looking down she noticed dozens of soldiers desperately fighting and amongst them she saw Six fighting alongside them and even protecting them from the weapons fire. But Emile was nowhere to be found *VZZZZZZM* turning toward the sound Sprinkles jaw slowly dropped behind her had been a massive tower with a cabin attached while two long prongs glowed hot next to the cannon *BOOOOM*

Splaying her ears back due to the sound Sprinkle quickly noticed a familiar SPARTAN in the cabin feeling a sudden tug at her gut the young mare suddenly found herself atop the cabin looking down at him she thought 'What the hay was that!' suddenly hearing a Emiles voice "You'll have your window sir." looking around Sprinkle tried to desperately figure out what was going on. That all ended when a bright purple ship began to fire upon the ships below destroying one green air ships below before circling above the two, looking up Sprinkle and Emile saw the ship position itself above them Emile snarled, "Let's get this over with."

Jumping from the ship was a creature wearing dark purple amore with blue highlights landing on the cabin it ignited a bright blue blade, shouting in rage Emile raised a weapon cocking it once he blew out the canopy catching the creature in the shoulder it spun around falling beside the cabin. As it struggled to get its bearings Emile placed his weapon to the creatures head he cocked it again realizing what he was about to do Sprinkle tried to look away but was too late as the SPARTAN pulled the trigger blowing the monsters head off in a spray of neon blue blood and chunks of bone and brain. Causing the body to fall to the ground below, Emile stood triumphant ready for the fight to continue he shouted "WHO'S NEXT?!"

As if to answer his question another of the monsters came from behind Emile grabbing the SPARTAN by his head it rammed a blue blade through Emile's chest before pulling it out to look the SPARTAN in the eye. Grabbing his knife, the SPARTAN used the momentum and his enhanced strength to lunge at the creature ramming the blade into creatures' neck while screaming "I'M READY! HOW BOUT YOU?" before dragging them both to the ground below.

Quickly racing down to the ground Sprinkle saw the two creatures both dead one missing his head and the other a knife in his neck, hearing a wheezing sound Sprinkle turned to see Emile using the rail to hold himself up he held one of his hands against the wound he'd received ignoring the blood seeping through his fingers he muttered "Looks like you*COUGH* got me pretty good you bastard, but I've still got some*COUGH* fight in me."

Looking around Emile was trying to find someone to fight slowly moving along the railing he continued to mutter "I ain't done yet*COUGH* I'm gonna keep fighting you assholes." losing his footing the SPARTAN slide down the railing leaning against it, he tried to get back up, as she watched this unfold Sprinkle slowly walked toward him tears slowly began dripping down her cheeks as she watched Emile struggle to stand she said "Emile you can rest." as she sat beside him Sprinkle noticed Emile's breathing was becoming shallower and more labored but he kept trying to get up almost standing on this attempt.

"Can't stop*COUGH*not till your all dead." taking a gasping breath Emile fell back his hands hanging limply at his side taking another breath he said "I ain't done*COUGH*I........ain't..............done." as the final word left his mouth Emiles head lolled to the side and his breathing stopped, resting her head against his Sprinkle cried for her guardian and kept saying "You can rest."

NOBLE 5

Feeling uneasy Apple Gem looked around at his surroundings he found himself on the outskirts of a small city hearing laughing and giggling he turned to see a small park with families each playing or talk, smiling at the sight Apple thought 'Reminds me of home.' as he was about to walk toward the families Apple heard a woman talking turning toward her she had a serious expression as she talked "Yes ma'am........they'll be out all night...............yes tonight will be best........I'll see you then." looking at the woman Apple was confused as to who she was talking to. Walking toward her he cocked his head to the side snarling at her Apple was about to start questioning her when she turned to him a bright smile she said "Jorge what've you got there?"

"It's a flower for you." a young voice said feeling a chill run through his body a young child walked up to the woman holding out a small yellow flower, gingerly taking it from the young boy she smiled and said "Aw its so beautiful, I'll cherish it forever."

"Really?"

"Really," the woman answered tapping the young boys' nose as she continued talking "So what're we gonna have for dinner tonight?"

"I want chicken nuggets and mac'n'cheese." the boy said throwing up his arms laughing at the youth's enthusiasm she offered her hand quickly taking it they ventured off. Feeling an uneasy feeling in his gut Apple called out "Wait! who were you talking too?" as he ran after them, he quickly noticed the scenery changing suddenly finding himself in someponies living room. Looking around he saw the woman again watching tv stalking up to her Apple snarled "WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING!!"

Ignoring him she kept watching the tv letting out a mighty roar Apple tried jarring her into noticing him but nothing worked, that is until the doorbell rang. Standing up she quickly went to it opening and in a few moments four men walked in each wearing all black and one carrying the boy he'd just seen, walking toward the back he heard them rummaging around before quickly coming back out but a different man was carrying the boy. Watching as they left the woman gave a simple nod to them as she silently shut the door behind them, turning she slowly walked back to the couch sat down and went back to watching tv. Feeling a sudden tug at his gut Apple Gem suddenly found himself in an amphitheater with more children looking around he found himself sitting next to Jorge accompanying each of the children was an adult, looking toward the stage Apple saw a young woman with a man and another blue translucent woman standing behind her. Looking over the young faces she spoke "As per naval code, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC special project, code-named SPARTAN-II. This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents"

Hearing some commotion coming from the children Apple watched as some tried to stand but were sat back down while others stared ahead confused and scared, looking down at Jorge Apple noticed the child staring down at his feet but the woman continued "You have been called upon to serve. to do what others are unable to do. Each of you has been hand selected. your bodies are faster, stronger, and smarter than anyone else. and we.....we are going to make them even better. This place is your home now. Your fellow trainees are your family. you will res now. Your training starts tomorrow."

Turning to the man behind her she spoke to him briefly before venturing away with the other woman, stepping forward the mans looked down at the children and boomed "TRAINEES! FALL OUT!" and with those words said the children were guided out by the men. Watching this all unfold Apple was at a loss for words for what he was witnessing but as he turned to follow, he was met with a fog and as he walked through it Apple saw Jorges's training and how he and the others were treated he saw the augmentations that nearly killed the SPARTAN then he saw the war. Nearly thirty years of war, nearly thirty years of non-stop fighting and the destruction that Jorge witnessed so did Apple, falling to his flanks he looked around taking it all in.

Until the new room formed around him hearing a couple of voices behind him Apple turned to see Jorge and a much smaller man walking beside him "Sir I don't understand."

"It's simple S-052 your being reassigned and due to ONI wanting to keep the team as under wraps as possible you have been deemed too heavily injured to return to active duty." the man said coolly as they continued to walk looking off to the side Jorge let out an agitated growl while saying "Are you able to explain to me why this is such a secret?"

Stopping suddenly the two men stared at each other before the smaller one sighed looking out the window he scratched his chin before saying "People much higher up then me have had a secret black ops project that has turned out more SPARTANs."

"More SPARTANs?"

"Yes, but from what I've been told," pausing the smaller man looked up and down the hall before drawing closer to Jorge also following suit Apple closed in on them to hear the rest ", and I don't believe this story mind you, the top brass have started a SPARTAN-III project the trainees are small groups of war orphans ten-fifteen and they are trained to be SPARTANs."

"Why haven't we heard of this?"

"I don't know," the man said with a shrug he back away while staring the man down he stated, "my hypothesis is they are trying to boost morale after all you SPARTANs are gods amongst men."

"So, the brass are trying to add more SPARTANs to the ranks subtly so they can increase morale?" Jorge asked cocking his head to the side to which caused the man to simply shrug while saying "Yes and no, I've only managed to get my hands on the team your being assigned to, but their records are just as impressive as you SPARTAN-II's."

"I see."

"After all you can ask them when you meet." the man said motioning for the SPARTAN to follow nodding his head Jorge asked, "When is that sir?"

As they reached a door at the end of the hall the man seemed to ignore Jorge's question as he typed in a code causing the door to beep and slide open, stepping through the two men came face to face with five other individuals looking them over Jorge stared down at the other man smiling he said, "Jorge this is Noble team, Noble team this is Jorge."

Looking between them the man excused himself from room and left walking up to greet Jorge was Carter offering his hand he said, "Welcome to Noble team Jorge, I'm Noble leader Carter A-259." taking the hand Jorge looked at his commander and said, "Greeting I'm Jorge S-052 it'll be an honor to serve with you."

Seeing a familiar fog start to roll in, looking around Apple wondered where he was going next looking around, he saw more of Jorge's life and his time with Noble watching the missions they went on as they went by the fog slowly began to lift. As it lifted Apple Gem found himself in a massive room, feeling his jaw drop he looked around seeing the entire room was composed of purple metal as he continued looking, he saw a strangely shaped object starkly different from the purple room he was in. Walking towards its Apple noticed two armored figures standing behind it running toward them he noticed Jorge leaning on an odd, shaped tapping away on it he heard loud beeping coming from it, looking down Jorge seemed annoyed muttering "So it's gonna be like that."

Turning toward Six Jorge said "Well, I got good news and bad news." walking toward the smaller SPARTAN he continued "The bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast. Which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity."

"And the good news?" Six asked looking up at Jorge

"That was the good news." Jorge said shaking head he reached up and began taking his helmet while saying "Yeah, yeah, yeah." before dropping the helmet to the ground continuing, he said "Bad news is, the timers fried. I'm going to fire it manually."

"That's a one-way trip."

"We all make it sooner or later, better get going Six they're gonna need you down there." Jorge said reaching up to his neck he continued "Listen, Reach has been good to me. Time has come to return the favor." tugging at his neck he ripped off some dogtags offering his hand Six took it pulling him close Jorge said "Don't' deny me this."

Lifting the SPARTAN Jorge began walking him towards the transparent shield as they reached the edge Jorge said "Tell them to make it count." before he threw Six through the shield. Watching the other SPARTAN starting to fall. Apple raced forward to watch him fall turning toward Jorge he yelled "What the hay was that."

But the SPARTAN continued marching toward the device standing by it he stared at the screen, rushing toward him Apple continued to call out to the after a few seconds of doing nothing SPARTAN looked toward the screen taking a breath he pressed a button. Watching the machine, it began to burn a bright blue and that only lasted a few seconds before Apple and Jorge were engulfed in a ball of bright white light erasing them from existence.

NOBLE 6

Landing on her hooves Sunny Days looked around trying to figure out where exactly she had landed, hearing an odd humming sound Sunn watched as a ship began descending from sky. The ship was oddly shaped and colored but strangely beautiful, it reminded her of the airships in Manhattan and Canterlot, but hanging below it was some turret that swiveled back and forth. Sunny wondered how that ship stayed afloat without any balloons or propellers as she moved closer for a better look a tunnel of blue light appeared beneath the ship and dropped to the ground. Aliens soon began to drop to the ground soon after they landed one of the aliens looked up and crates soon began to exit the ship falling to the ground. Looking behind her she saw Six unmoving if she hadn't met the stallion himself, she'd swear that he was a statue. Turning back to the camp she saw the humans open the crates and pull out some weapons and began inspecting them while a human stood beside one of the aliens seemingly in a deep discussion.

Hearing a soft rustling behind her she saw Six pulling up a large device with two cylinders connected to a small box, hefting it onto his shoulder Six lined it up. Cocking her head Sunny hadn't seen that before in most of his past he used small more compact weapons but this *FSSHHH*, quickly following the smoke trail something slammed into the back of the ship *BOOM*

Suddenly purple and blue flames engulfed the back of the ship as it came crashing down, but a second smoke trail suddenly flew passed her again blowing up one of the buildings. Turning toward the SPARTAN she saw Six picking up another weapon and advancing, finding herself dragged along Sunny had a ringside seat as Six cleared the camp and nopony was safe from his search. It took him only an hour, but the camp soon became devoid of life any still patrolling the camp Six seemed pleased with his results. Placing a finger to the side of his helmet Six seemed to be in a deep conversation with someone, but his helmet never stopped scanning the environment as he moved back toward the forest again. Sunny followed the SPARTAN through the forest not knowing where they were going, but after a few hours of constant marching and Six's conversation long over Sunny was trying her best to keep up with the SPARTANs steady pace but was soon growing tired.

Seeing him reach a clearing Six stopped at the edge and tapped the device on his wrist and after a minute a green light blinked once before going dark, looking up toward the sky the SPARTAN backed into the shadows and went motionless. Blending seamlessly into the shadows feeling her mouth gape Sunny had never seen anypony do this so perfectly and without the use of magic, shivering at the sudden realization that Six could have been following Sunny and her friends and they were none the wiser to his presence. Sitting down Sunny began her long wait for him to exit but that time did not come soon the sun began to set and the moon replace it in the sky, looking up Sunny felt her jaw drop a little as she stared into an unknown sky filled with millions of stars forming constellations she'd never seen. Hearing a low hum in the air Sunny saw something slowly circling the clearing she'd stepped into hearing some rustling behind her Sunny turned to see Six out of the forest looking up at the object, after a moment the object landed in the clearing it was a dull black ship with no lights on it and no visible markings. As soon as the ship had set down a door opened up on it with only a dull red light signaling where a door once had been, walking forward Six made his way inside and sat down hooking himself into the chair watching him do this Sunny soon noticed that the room began to fade soon the fog rolled in obscuring everything.

Thats when voices began to speak with images accompanying them as she walked through the fog "So Six it looks like Holland has you being reassigned to Noble team, you'll report to them on Reach in three days." as she walked forward more voices spoke "I'm not going to lie to you, Lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled. Me, I'm just happy to have NOBLE back up to full strength. Just one thing — I've seen your file. Even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. I'm glad to have your skill set, but we're a team. That lone-wolf stuff stays behind."

"Yes, sir." hearing Six's voice Sunny whirled around to see Carter and him walking toward some strange machines with the rest of Noble following, as she progressed the more, she saw and heard "Tell'em to make it count." following the voice of Jorge she saw Six watch as a massive purple ship engulfed in a massive black and blue ball

"Where does he get calling a demolition op priority o-" Turning she heard Kat's voice but what she saw was Six dragging her limp body into a massive cavern with large metal doors shutting. "Doctor Halsey. Noble Three will escort you to Castle base. " Hearing Carter's voice Sunny saw him talking to Jun and an older woman while Six and Emile stood behind him "I require no escort commander."

"Jun make sure nothing falls into enemy hands."

"I'll do what's necessary sir......good luck." Jun said as he turned to walk away Carter answered back "You too rifle man."

Watching as the team separated Sunny felt her ears draw back as she slowly realized what she was being shown all this feeling her throat dry up she heard Carter again "You're on your own Noble.....Carter out." looking to her left she saw a massive war machine on fire and crashing into the ground. "I'M READY! HOW BOUT YOU?" Emile roared turning one final time Sunny saw Emile falling to the ground with an alien being dragged with him.

"Lieutenant! Get aboard! We gotta get the hell outta here!" Sunny watched as a man held out his hand with several others surrounding him waiting for Six as he stared at them saying "Negative. I have the gun." as he turned away from the ship he said "Good luck, sir."

"Good luck to you, SPARTAN." an older man wearing a white uniform a solemn look on his face, staring at him Sunny thought 'He sacrificed himself.' watching as the SPARTAN fought through a dozen foes, he quickly took control of a massive weapon and began blowing ships out of the sky but soon a ship larger than anything began to head towards Six and the ship he was supposed to board. But soon that ship fell to the ground just like the rest which allowed the other to leave, watching as Six exited the gun they both watched as the ship climbed higher and higher into the sky slowly disappearing from their views. Turning to the SPARTAN she saw Six take a weapon from his back looking around the area before setting off into an unknown direction but not knowing the destination.

Feeling a sudden tug in her gut Sunny felt herself being pulled away from the hillside and suddenly found herself at an abandoned compound, looking around she quickly found Six staring at the sky as dozens of ships circled around him. Seeing as one was beginning to land, he lifted his weapon and began to fight fending of dozens of enemies, following the SPARTAN through the fighting Sunny saw as he scavenged weapons from fallen brothers and sisters. Using the weapons till they ran out and tossing them to the side, but she noticed how tired Six was getting hit more and more by the enemy damaging his armor. Soon the man was ripping his helmet off cracked and damaged, looking at his face she noticed multiple cuts actively bleed just like the blood that seeped through the holes in his armor. Watching him stagger forward he quickly picked up a weapon and began firing at an alien walking towards him taking multiple hits from the weapon but not before the enemy fell, turning Six used the end of the weapon to hit the alien causing it shield to flair and die watching it fall to the ground. Six pulled out the weapon attached to his hip and fired one shot into its head killing it, but soon more showed up firing at the SPARTAN causing more damage. But that didn't stop Six as he fired back killing two more aliens, but his new weapons soon ran out. Taking that opportunity, he was quickly attacked shoving the SPARTAN to the ground, but he continued to fight kicking that same alien off him, while a purple armored one stabbed down only for the SPARTAN to knock him back causing the shields to flare.

At that moment the silver one came lunging at the SPARTAN with a glowing blade narrowly missing him but using his free hand to grab his arm. Taking this opportunity, the purple alien stepped forward slamming his blade into the SPARTANs stomach causing him to spit up blood, letting out a snarl the alien let the blade go and began backing away from the man it let out a series of snarls. Having witnessed everything Sunny was horrified slowly walking forward she felt tears starting to form in her eyes as she stared down at Six taking not of his face, the entire left side was blue/purple and swollen causing his eye to be completely shut, blood leaked from the cuts scattered across his cheeks, while his breathing came in ragged and slow. Running a hoof against his cheek Sunny said, "I'm so sorry."

Slowly turning Six seemed to stare into Sunny's eyes with his one good one before his breathing came to a stop and his body went limp. Laying atop the SPARTAN Sunny rested her head in the crook of his neck while she silently cried from all she'd witnessed while saying "You're ok, everything will be ok."

Chapter 7

As Noble waited with Cortana and the princess the group began further discussing training and the recent history of the A.I. turned pony, jumping into her history immediately Cortana explained what she had been doing with her time besides searching for Noble. Sitting down the team listened to her as started her tale watching her with rapt attention starting at the very beginning, Cortana never planned on leading the nation she had no interest in being a princess of Equestria instead she wanted to use her vast knowledge to advance the worlds technology aiming for it to be on par with UNSC at end of the war technologically speaking. But the money, scientists, and permits would only be given to her by Princess Celestia if she only concentrated on non-militaristic technologies as her nation was not of one of war and she had planned on keeping it that way, but in the last three years she had let Cortana concentrate on building better weapons and armor for the military. As Cortana built her corporation which she happily named Reach Technolgies it soon became the gold standard of technological companies standing at the front of every other company, as a side not she purposely leaked certain developments she thought would be waste of her time, it took the company eighty-five years but Equestria by Cortanas' speculation could be at the same level as Reach in ten years.

Turning to each other the SPARTANs had doubt in their minds that Cortana would simply agree to Celestia's demands, no they knew if she was anything like her creator, she had plans within plans that only few could guess. After a moment they locked eyes with Celestia to see her giving them a look awaiting their replies or questions, stepping forward Carter decided to speak for the group asking, "So is it true you didn't allow her to develop weapons at the beginning?"

"Yes, I had decided that it would be better to focus on making my ponies lives better and not focus on weapons," Celestia stated as her gaze softened, turning to Cortana she continue "I didn't believe that we needed such focus and I'm still proud of my decision we have everything that your government had technologically speaking, and Cortana actually is planning on going to our moon in a month."

"Yes, the test flights have gone well and with the base I'm planning to build I can begin experimenting with slipspace." Cortana stated looking toward the SPARTANs smiling at her Celestia sat back and gave a small nod "Yes I can't wait for the day our species travels the stars, but we are getting off topic."

"Now with the building of our nations arsenal Cortana has shown me the guards' newest weapons and armor, but sadly everything is still in the prototype phase of things and you six will be trained with these weapons over the next six months at one of Cortana's compounds."

"Is this where your guards are being retrained?" Kat asked looking up from her datapad staring at Celestia nodding her head Celestia said "Yes, at the moment she's trained four company worth of ponies. She does seem to break them down and separate the best from them to give more specialized training to. You six will be training with the fifth company."

Giving a small sigh the SPARTANs looked between each other each doing the math almost instantly, once the fifth company was trained, they would have one battalion worth of soldiers thinking this Carter asked "Ma'am how many active guards do you have in total ?"

"Active guards we have at least almost two regiments, I believe the last report I got we are at 5,486 including those alread trained while the guard reserve has another twelve hundred. Why do you ask?"

"Ma'am If what you've been discussing with us is true those numbers are not good, you will have to start a campaign to recruit from the population."

"I have been sending my guards to be trained in the arts war for two years now I have even overseen how Cortana is training them and the numbers we have will be enough to hold the line, by Cortana's estimation we should have a full division within the next three years. We have increased our efforts in recruiting for our guard so I could cycle through the senior staff first, I've even put word out to the reserves that they will be going through the same training but would still be considered reserves and only called upon in extreme cases." Standing up Celestia began to pace her tone even and firm as she explained the plan that the equestrian princesses had come up with three years ago before agreeing to train the guards under Cortana continuing, she said "Once they are all trained and the GCP has either been destroyed or pushed back we will announce to the nation what we know now and our restructuring of the guard creating Equestria's first military in two thousand years. From there we start looking for volunteer's while we send our guards to the front to buy time for the military to be trained, I've planned this out for over a year."

Keeping a stoic look on his face Carter was surprised by Celestia's resolve she already had a plan for a military and the means to build it up the question though is whether they could be given the time to build the military up so far, she had a descent battalion but that still left a little over five thousand ponies to train. But that didn't mean that Noble would be out of the fight this wasn't the covenant they were going up against the weaponry was a mystery till they saw it firsthand, but from what Carter and the rest saw of Celestia's guards they would have little trouble with other nations military. After all the guards looked like they came from the dark ages of knights and dragons, sighing he sat back and asked "So when do we expect to ship off?"

"As soon as-" hearing the sound of rumbling Noble dawned all their armor taking up defensive positions out of instinct looking into the void, soon the six figures of the elements of harmony stumbled out. Looking at the young ponies the SPARTANs quickly reminded of civilians who survived covenant attacks they were lost, scared and confused about what they had just witnessed. Looking toward the team Carter motioned for them to stand down giving acknowledgment of his order they put away their armor and waited for the six to get their bearings. It took a minute but the first to recover was Glimmer looking up at Carter she rushed toward him throwing her arms around his neck she began to cry into her shoulder, looking toward their friend the other five turned to the rest of Noble with the team gaging each of their reactions, Cloud and Apple had looks of respect and fear, Silk held Sprinkle close to her as they looked at the team silent tears running down their faces and Sunny the poor mare was in complete shock staring down at the ground unmoving. Noticing how each of the elements were acting Celestia slowly approached them and speaking her most motherly voice she said "Its okay, your all safe now."

Gently pulling Glimmer off him Carter set her down and tried his best to soothe the mare, but sadly dealing with civilians was not a SPARTANs strong suite. Placing a hoof on his shoulder he looked around for help only to see his team as lost as him and Celestia with her hooves full trying to calm the other five. Sighing he looked down at Glimmer and said "Your safe now, you'll be ok."

"C-carter I-i don't know what t-to say." Glimmer said looking up at the stoic stallion looking at the others again he motioned for her to rejoin them, giving a small nod she slowly joined her friends. Standing next to Apple Gem she laid her head on his shoulder while Celestia looked toward silently asking him to speak. Shaking his head, he thought 'Let's not screw this up.' standing before the group Carter spoke using the same tone he used when giving orders "Now I don't know what each of you saw, but if what Celestia has suggested to us it being your scare and confused. Let me say this what you saw is the past, nothing like that will happen to you here. I don't have a lot of experience in dealing with civilians, but you made it through, and this will make you stronger for that fact. "

"If you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer them about what you saw. But that will have to wait till you're in better state of mind and body, so what I will suggest to Celestia is for the next six months until we get back you six will see a therapist and talk about what you've witnessed amongst yourselves in a support group." Turning to Celestia Carter directed the next question directly to the princess "You can find a therapist for them, right?"

"Of course, Commander."

"Good, so until we get back what I am telling each of you to do till we get back is sit down and discuss what you saw with them and I mean discuss don't hold back because your tough or you don't think you need it. Now I think you six have had enough for today and should go off to bed while we discuss private matter." Carter looked over the group being reminded heavily of the civilians he helped evac during the war closing his eyes he took a breath and said "Now go and get some sleep."

As the last words left the commander's mouth the elements stood up and began to slowly walk away from the team and Cortana, watching them walk off Celestia looked to Carter giving a small nod to him she followed the group ready to guide them back to their rooms. Watching them go Noble waited a few minutes before turning to Cortana with Carter finally feeling safe he turned to Cortana and asked "So you mentioned earlier that you didn't talk about ?"

"Yes, we don't have much time to discuss it so I'll be quick. It's quite simple, I did not trust them when we first met Celestia is a wonderful leader and a dear friend I hold dear but i decided to keep what our world was like away from her. Especially after learning about this country's history, I didn't wish to deal with whatever scrutiny she would have towards me for coming from such a war like species. But over the years I did talk to her about my past but I left many many blank areas, and before my travels I spent my time digging into the history of this country." Igniting her horn Cortana began showing images of different creatures, cities, environments and ruins as Noble watched the images flash passed them Cortana continued "Now before you are the memories from my travels during my time traversing the globe looking for you i started seeing evidence of a global event that happened thousands of years ago. So I started my own personal investigation hunting for you and the truths that were scattered across this world and every thing i've ever found keeps mentioning something that is known as The Cataclysm."

"The Cataclysm?" Kat asked cocking her head to the side looking down at her Cortana gave a small nod before continuing "Yes from the evidence I have found this story dates back fifty thousand years ago and every story, every mention of this event is the same across the globe even in Equestria, one day the sky was alight for nearly a year with lights of green and purple the sky alight with fire nations burned kingdoms once great fell, and soon the lights dwindled and disappeared from the sky but not after scarring the land and leaving behind death and despair." as Cortana talked about this images of mosaics, tapestries, illustrations and carvings each depicting a night sky ablaze with the lights and meteors falling "From my guess and own personal history I think a battle between aliens took place over this planet, so I searched for those meteors or where great balls of fire fell and scarred the land and I didn't find anything only more legends and history. In the griffon nation a great ball landed destroying the king's palace killing his queen and five of their seven sons, but it left them a great prize ore like never before seen that he crafted into armor to protect his last two sons and weapons to defend the palace. What was left he crafted into the nation's emblem and anointed it atop the new palace to show the world they could and would always rise again."

"Now I won't go into detail about what I found and the legends instead I'll deliver my journals and you can read them at your own pace. But this Cataclysm caused the world to stop any and all advancements in technology and I can't find out why, the loss of life and national leadership did make since. There were riots and deaths, but nothing adds up there should be more evidence of debris or something, but then I found this wedged in a book twenty three years ago." at this one image popped up of an ancient script written in what looked like ancient Mongolian staring at it Cortana smirked "Let me translate 'Emperor Rising Steel, we have found the great meteor which destroyed the Idel province during The Cataclysm, my emperor I know it is above my station to make such demands but I request that you arrive in pony to gaze up this meteor this discovery will make our empire even greater your servant Abiding Linguist.' This letter is two hundred and twenty years old."

"So what does that have to do with us?" Emile asked rolling his eyes slightly at all this mumbo-jumbo frowning at the SPARTAN Cortana continued "The UPR has been an isolationist state for thousands of years so we don't know what is even going on there, but I think a ship crashed in there nation fifty thousand years ago and they're raiding its armory and using the weapons to arm the GCP but we can't prove that yet. That where you come in I know Celestia said your job will be to cripple the GCP which will be now problem for you, but I'm giving you a secondary objective find the weapons and bring them back along with any information about the UPR. Because when this war ends i want to send you into there country to find that ship and destroy it."

Looking between each other the SPARTANs seemed to have a silent conversation before Six spoke up "Does Celestia know your plan?"

"No, she doesn't but she will thank me when they UPR doesn't have those weapons. Plus, there is a great deal of classified information i need to show you. Information that Celestia is not privy to yet.........well none of the princesses but that's a problem that i'll deal with later." Cortana said in a dismissive tone while shrugging her shoulders sighing Carter couldn't help but be reminded more and more of Dr. Halsey doing whatever she wanted whenever she felt like it. But before they heard hoof steps of a returning pony looking up they were soon met with the site of Celestia smiling at them she asked "So what did I miss Cortana?"

"Just boring technicalities, I was disappointing Noble with the return to basics. Going over the next six months and what I had planned for them." Cortana said over toward Celestia who gave the SPARTANs a sympathetic look before turning back to Cortana and saying "I do know that it is late but would you seven care to join me for dinner?"

"I'm sorry Princess but we wanted to tour Cortana's facility and start training ASAP." Carter spoke up with the rest of Noble nodding their heads in agreement seeing this Celestia muttered "Well you are getting ahead by a month.... ok Commander that's a wonderful plan but before you go there is something I will need to give each of you, now all you need to do is dawn your armor and stand at attention."

Noble followed her orders each dawning their armor Celestia stepping before the soldiers Celestia looked each of them clearing her throat she began speaking "I know you six have only just arrived onto this new world and have already been asked so much, too much in fact, but I hope you six can be our shield protecting the innocent from harm and to bring the enemies that our country has to a halt. Upon you six I bestow you the royal crest of Equestria, with this emblem none will question you and you will have access to any and all garrisons and castles along with the restricted areas that only royalty and the highest-ranking ponies can obtain." igniting her horn the team soon had new emblems appear on their armor on their shoulder pauldrons, the emblem was of a sun sitting in a crescent moon. Looking down at the newest symbols carved into their armor Noble had conflicting emotions about this symbol being attached but buried those feelings as now was not the time smiling at them Celestia continued "Once your seven months of training is completed you will be stationed at the newly constructed garrison in Ponyville your daily activities will be outlined when you arrive to the garrison and Captain Unyielding Defense will give you the run down. But in the end once your settled and we hear from the griffons you will be deployed up until your deployments you will act as normal guards would."

"Ma'am if we're doing these covert runs how will you explain our absences?" Carter asked taking off his armor to look at the new leader directly, smiling Celestia said "I have my ways Commander plus, having you play war games with the guards once every few months shouldn't raise too many questions from my ponies and the captain. I will be taking my leave now to get my dinner, Cortana I look forward to seeing the SPARTANs after six months with you."

"Of course, now go enjoy your food." Cortana said smiling at her nodding her head Celestia ignited her horn and teleported away, as soon as she had left Cortana created portal turning away from it she looked at Noble team smiling she said "Come along."

(Undisclosed facility)

As the team walked through the portal after the mare they were soon met with a massive room the size of small arena, walking up to yellow safety bar standing next to her they looked across the facility. Taking a breath each was reminded of the military facilities of Reach the smell of smoke and medal as they stared down they saw dozens of ponies working on projects from rifles to armor along with what could only be described as a cut down version of the OWL, looking toward Cortana Kat smirked while saying "So you've only been working on military projects for the last couple of years?"

"What the rulers of this fine country don't know won't hurt them." Cortana said giving the SPARTAN a small smirk of her own turning back to the facility Cortana waved to it saying "I welcome you six to my pride and joy the Forge, only the best and most trustworthy of my employees earn their way into this facility. They workday and night developing the technology I have been trying to recreate from the UNSC, so far the Forge houses one hundred and forty three scientists and engineers. They have been the cornerstone to the war effort to come, what Celestia doesn't know is that the weapons that have been provided are only the early stage prototypes from eight years ago. You six will be introduced to the final product along with a select few from the battalions that have been sent here to train."

As they walked through the facility Emile and Jun noted a young mare with a backpack that had a metal arm extending from it, attached to the end looked like a cut down version of the MA37's they used back on Reach. Watching her she fired a few test shots each landing against the target turning to a table behind her they noticed three more standard weapons and one larger weapon awaiting testing. Seeing where their attention was Cortana cleared her throat catching their attention, she motioned for them to follow so she could continue the tour. As they reached an elevator at the end of the cat walk she motion to a small wing of odd looking planes. they looked to be cut down versions of the pelican but they had two rotors built into the wings, motioning to them Cortana ended the tour by saying "These will be used to guide you six to and from behind enemy lines they have jet engines that can reach speed from 400-550mph, they have the ability to switch seamlessly between the engines and rotors to go in silent, when the rotors are in use the speeds are 380-530mph. The troop bay can carry up to twenty troops but for now it'll only need to worry about six."

Stepping onto the elevator they began the ascent into the rest of the facility and not a single scientist or engineer looked at the departing group focused only on their work, as they rose Cortana began to further explain some of her secret projects that she had hidden from Celestia. Reaching the floors above the tour continued most of it mundane she showed them the mess hall, firing range, barracks and armor. But as the tour came to an end Cortana gathered the group by a large window overlooking a massive field of black soot, in the distance they saw a few stallions firing from behind a burned-out vehicle each taking turns firing at an unseen enemy. This must be the fifth battalion doing a live fire exercise, chuckling Cortana explained that they think their testing the weapons out before mass production. But what caught the attention of the SPARTANs was the sudden appearance of an old enemy rushing one of the stallions was 7ft tall bipedal reptile in bright blue armor using an energy sword to slice his weapon in half before stabbing him in the abdomen pinning him to the vehicle, he turned to the final stallion who turned too late only for the sword to slam into his chest lifting him off the ground. Feeling the sudden rush of adrenaline, they were about to move when a voice rumbled across the field "Battle scenario finished Manticore Squad you've been eliminated, match time four minutes and thirteen seconds."

Watching from the distance the elite slowly dissolved into cyan light as he raised his weapon letting out a triumphant roar, soon the two stallions pulled themselves shaking their heads in anger. Cortana then began explaining that the battalion were in their last weeks of training and that to finish the time training she had decided to recreate humanity's greatest enemy to give them proper action, the action and strategies used by the Covenant recreations were exactly the same as their real counterparts. Motioning for the group to follow her Cortana began explaining what the next seven months would look like for Noble until they had become proficient in both weapons and CQC again that they would not be pit against the recreated Covenant, as they reached the end of the tour Cortana motioned for the team to gather into her office as they each huddled into the spacious office they were instantly reminded of Dr. Halsey papers of various projects and blue prints littered the desks and walls, empty coffee cups and energy bar wrappers littered the floor and sat atop the papers. Noticing the SPARTANs wandering gazes she lit her horn dispersing the trash sighing she motioned for them to come closer while saying "Now there is much to discuss with you six and what I mean to talk with you will be highly classified no pony outside this room is too hear about what I am about to tell you."

"Yes ma'am." Noble team stated in an even tone of voice they all took stood up straight waiting for the mare to continue taking a breath she ignited her horn once again and a blue aura began to shimmer across the room she began to speak "Let's get started and caught up with what I've actually been up too."

(The next day Canterlot Castle)

Making their way down to the dining hall the main six were going to meet Princess Celestia for breakfast before going back to home and starting their sessions, looking over her friends Glimmer saw they all had similar bags under their eyes as she did. Not one of them had gotten a decent night of sleep being haunted by the images shown to them looking down at her hooves Glimmer could still feel the fire that had taken Carters life burning her body, she could still see his training and the war he had fought all the lives lost to the monsters known as the Covenant. Hearing somepony clear their throat Glimmer looked up to see a guard giving her a concerned look smiling at him she asked "Is Princess Celestia in there?"

"Yes Princess she has been waiting for you six with Princess Luna and Twilight." the guard stated as he opened the door for them, giving him a thankful nod they all filed into the dining area. Upon seeing her mother Glimmer raced over to her shoving herself into her mothers side she buried her face into her neck, bringing her daughter in close she whispered to her trying her best to calm her down. As they watched this happen the rest of the six took their seats and slowly began to eat the food spread across the table, watching each of them Celestia turned to her sister who did her best not to meet the elders eyes. Taking a sip of her coffee Celestia began to speak "You six will begin your first session today once you return to Ponyville, Dr. Sound Mind will be seeing you all and when we talked she thought it best that the first session be a group session."

Looking between each other the group didn't speak but quickly turned back to Celestia giving her understanding nods remembering what Carter had said last night. Smiling at this Celestia further explained that they would have plenty of time to better grasp what they had seen and form questions for their individual guardians when they returned in seven months. As the group began to eat the conversation tried to remain civil and stay away from what the group had seen until Luna decided to prod the subject by asking "It seems there are a few of you that have some questions for us, what may they be?"

Glaring at her sister Celestia was about to scold her until Silk Stitcher spoke "Princess's I don't mean to be rude or crass, but after witnessing what we have witnessed I must ask did Cortana ever tell you anything about her old home?"

"*SIGH*No Silk over the years Cortana never shared her past with us, both Luna and I on multiple occasions tried to talk with her," pausing Celestia took another sip of coffee she looked over to her sister as she continued "but she always dodged the topic and when she started her company and the search for Noble our meetings became less friendly and more about business. Asking for funding or approval of projects that would help our country prosper and grow, after all without her we wouldn't be starting out colonization of our moon, now that all this business with Noble is at a close and her company is one of the largest and self-sufficient maybe we'll be able to talk more."

"Can we be part of those discussions?" Sunny meekly asked looking up from her plate staring at the three princesses, looking at her Celestia was about to speak only for Luna to cut her off "I'm sorry to say young Sunny but the discussions we will be having will be.......classified and we cannot go any further with the information just by us speaking of it is telling you too much."

Hearing this the young group looked between each other again they didn't want to pry but they all had been hearing the whispers from the adults and the occasional stories that the news stories that would run online or tv, something big was happening up north with the griffon country and the GCP. Now with what they were hearing about secrets and meetings behind closed doors they could only guess but if was anything like those dramas Cloud liked it wasn't good, taking a breath Glimmer said "We understand Princess."

Smiling at her Luna gave her a nod of thanks and moved onto discussing Nobles roll in the six's life considering they all were attending Pony U the team would be stationed at the newly built garrison. Their duties would be about the same as any guards, but their routes of patrol and areas of station would revolve around you six and your schedules. Looking around the table Luna continued saying that Noble could enter the classes to supervise or walk through the classes, as she explained Nobles duties the six ate quietly listening as to how much the team would be in their lives until Luna said "But once and awhile they'll be contacted to come back to Canterlot for special training."

"Wait you'll be bringing them back for further training?" Apple asked giving the princesses a confused look sighing Luna shook her head and said, "Young Apple these individuals were once bipedal humanoids but are now equines, the training they will receive in the coming months will be extensive but to help them become better it would be best for them to come back to Canterlot for specialized training."

"How long would they be gone during these periods?"

"That would be up to the ponies training them, but at most it maybe a month." Luna said as she rubbed her chin in thought after a moment she continued "Now let us move on from such serious talks, it has been such a long time since you've visited Canterlot and I'd love to catch up before you left."

Smiling at this the group quickly did their best to move away from the serious talks catching Luna up on their lives and what they had been up to over the last few months, stories and laughs were heard around the table the six seemed to be heading back to normal. But despite all this Celesia's mind was engrossed with what was to come and the preparations she would need to make to help expand her military and stop the GCP and UPR, but for now she could find some solace in the fact that Cortana and Noble had experience with war and that they would help even the field when it came time for Equestria to join the fight.

Author's Note

I decided to add the names of the guns in the notes
Mid range rifle- M090-P2
Assault Rifle-MA02P
Sniper Rifle-SR120-P1
Shotgun- M02A-P09
Machine gun- H102M-P04

Chapter 8

(Seven Months Later)

Sitting in the bay Carter looked over at the rest of Noble team Six and Emile seemed to be catching up on some sleep, Jun was playing a game of twenty questions with Jorge and Kat was putting her newly acquired tablet through its paces as she ran system checks on the teams MJOLNIR armor along with combing through files gifted to her by Cortana. Hearing a soft chirping in his ear placing a hoof against it a voice spoke clearly "Commander we are coming up to Fort Armor, ETA is ten minutes Princess Twilight and Captain Unyielding Guard are waiting for you."

"Thank you, Air Man," turning to Noble Carter motioned for them catching their attention he relayed the message nodding they began the preparations for departure, it didn't take long for the jet to reach its destination. Feeling the small jolt of the landing Noble lined up watching as the door went down, they filed out seeing both the Princess and Captain waiting for them. Making their way over the Princess noted they were all wearing some new uniforms with dark and light gray squares in a camo pattern they each wore caps covering their eyes, smiling at the team she spoke "Noble it's good to see you, I hope the flight was well."

"Yes ma'am, this jet would give the Pelicans back home a run for their money." Carter said looking over his shoulder at the ship a XFB-97 otherwise nicknamed Harpies, turning back to the princess he motioned to his team "So where do we need to be going? my teams anxious to get started."

"Commander if you'll follow me I'll show your team to their bunks," the Captain spoke up turning to him Carter noted him, he was wearing a military uniform with his rank on the collar and multiple ribbons adorning his chest, he was a dark blue pony with a gray mane and tail his voice reminded Carter of Mendez deep and full of authority ", once your settled we'll meet in the planning room and go over you routes and duties."

"Understood sir." Carter said giving the captain a salute, returning it he turned and began showing the team the garrison starting with their rooms and working from there. They were shown the armory, mess hall, gym, training grounds, and vehicle bays as they toured the base Carter was getting a familiar sense of deja vu as he was once again reminded of home. As they reached the meeting room Noble took the seats set at a large wooden table watching the Captain and Princess walk to the front, they stood on either side of a large screen the first to speak was the Captain as the lit up showing the layout of Ponyville along with highlighted routes that had to be Nobles patrol patterns pointing to the pattern he said "I want you six to memorize these routes they are yours and only yours, as you can see it looks like the standard guard route but it will primarily focus you on the college you'll be stationed their and patrol their through out your shifts."

"We will try to rotate you six and have you patrol in the standard groupings of two," looking them over the captain shook his head and continued ", but I doubt the residents will see you as average guards, and you all know that, upside is I think the punks that cause trouble will start thinking double about doing anything when they see you."

"Yeah, I bet." Emile said with a smirk as he remembered chasing off anti UNSC civilians mostly boys trying to impress crushes only to be sent home with an M.P. escort and soiled pants. Knowing exactly what Emile was thinking Carter shot him his best 'be on your best behavior' glare only to be shrugged off sighing Carter asked "If we do run into any trouble makers what's standard procedure when dealing with trouble makers?"

"If you see them and can detain them you just turn them over to the local P.D. but if they escape, you'll file a report and the locals will take it from there. You aren't cops so you aren't required to do anything the guards main duty is to help uphold the peace and protect the civilians if any enemies of our fine country come knocking." the Captain finished looking over the SPARTANs getting a yes sir from them, smiling at the he motioned for the Princess to take over smiling at him Twilight stepped forward to take over "Now I know many of you are eager to take over but many of us have discussed the usage of your armor while patrolling and despite how......comfortable you are in it we think it'll be best if you don't don it-"

"Wait a second," Jun spoke up cutting princess Twilight off and catching the others attention ignoring the looks he continued "I get our armor is not standard issue, but you expect us to just waltz around town in our uniforms or at best Cortana's standard issue for your troops?"

"Yes, Jun your much larger and more intimidating than even our most seasoned guards so you will put the citizens of my town on edge, adding your armor to that will only have them scared and we don't need that." Twilight said staring the SPARTAN down he smirked while asking "Is that the only reason?"

"No," turning to the captain Twilight gave him a small look seeing this he turned and left the room once he was gone Twilight ignited her horn incasing them room in a purple hue along with creating a bubble around them all before continuing ",I know that you six will be sent on covert missions against the GCP and one thing is if you are somehow seen by a survivor and they report back to anypony you'll be instantly recognizable, your physique can be a giveaway but proving it's you in that armor will be impossible. So, while you're in Ponyville you'll adorn specially designed uniforms that will be part of a special branch of the guards brand new and specifically created for you by the princesses and Cortana, of course that armor won't be much different in looks but there will be an insignia for the local guards to see."

"Good to know, was just testing you Princess Twilight." Jun said bowing his head and sitting back down he looked between his team sighing Twilight said "I figured as much, testing to see how component we are as leaders?"

"Sorry about the subterfuge ma'am, but we just wanted to make sure that we weren't following...... less qualified individuals." Carter stated watching as the purple glow disappeared from the room, smiling at this Twilight looked toward the door igniting her horn once again possibly alerting the captain who reentered the room she said "I understand commander, but you don't have to worry you'll be in good hooves."

"Now as eager as the six of you are to start I think it'll be best you spend the day touring the town and getting your bearings, along with meeting the locals. That's an order by the way that both Cortana and I agreed upon, your duties won't start till tomorrow and the folders that will be waiting in your bunks will detail your groups and schedule for the next few weeks." Twilight finished this by turning one last time to the captain to hand over the reins to him one last time as she left the room she wished the team luck, watching her go Noble each looked to each other a little annoyed by the forced R and R seeing the Captain started "I know you six want to get started but the princess has a point so here are my orders for the day, scout the town learn the ins and outs so you can better patrol and defend it. The mane six have trackers you'll be able to follow with your new helmets, they know about the trackers and have been told not to mess with them, so find them talk to them if you want but try your best to mingle before the party."

"Party, sir?" Jorge asked a small look of confusion adorning his face smirking at this the captain began to speak "Yeah a local here is gonna throw a block party at 6:00pm sharp it a welcome to Ponyville party, didn't want the six of you to be caught off guard so when you show up be on your best behavior. You'll meet some of the local guards off duty along with specific locals."

"Yer talkin about the parents of those kids."

"Yes, I am Jorge and they are keen on meeting you six." Unyielding said the smirk still adorning his face he slowly walked out of the room finishing the meeting with "Alright Noble get out there and meet the town, I want you to know it better than the back of your hooves by the time your due back."

"Yes sir." the six said in unison as he left once the door closed the six looked between each other and started discussing two pony teams, it didn't take long Six would be with Jorge, Emile with Carter, and Kat with Jun. Leaving the room they b-lined to the vehicle bay and check out two Ursa's, they were dark gray vehicles built to carry a driver, passenger and gunner along with being designed to drive fast and run over or through any obstacle without a single problem. The two checked out were civilian designed so guards without their own transportation could drive into town but they still had the powerful engine and the intimidating look, it didn't take them long to reach the town as they exited the vehicles Carter turned to Kat and said "Ok Kat give me the locations of our charges and we'll split up."

Nodding her head Kat pulled out her tab quickly tapping away at it she looked over the map and said "Commander it looks like Silk and Cloud are together at a local bar called Twisted Berry, Glimmer is in the park with Gem by the north edge of the pond and Sunny is with Sprinkle at a bakery called Sugar cube corner."

"Ok, teams are changing find your charge meet with them and see how their doing and then get to walking around the town." Carter stated looking toward Emile he gave a direct order "Emile best behavior!"

Rolling his eyes Emile turned and left with Six to head toward the bakery glaring at the departing SPARTAN Carter turned to Jorge and they left for the lake, turning to each other Jun asked "So Kat you up for a drink?"

"Please like you've ever had a drink in your life."

"First time for everything so let's see what this town has to offer." Jun said shrugging his shoulders with a small smirk on his face shaking her head Kat turned and began walking toward the bar, as the SPARTANs walked through they defiantly stood out every pony would stop and stare. Besides their size and physique Jun was quick to notice that a majority of the ponies were nude some wore normal clothes but a lot of ponies were naked excluding the two super soldiers, sighing he thought 'this world gets stranger and stranger.'

(Twisted Berry)

"And then he's waking up taped to the ceiling going 'that was the greatest night ever!'" Cloud finished the story about the after party when they had won nationals at the end the table of five erupted into laughs, Silk was sitting next to the QB for Ponyvile U Wild Eye. The bar was lively as usual everypony was either talking or gossiping about their daily lives all while having a good time shaking her head Silk said "I still can't believe you all went that hard at a party."

"Well Silk if you'd joined us at the game you coulda joined." a mare said as she stared dreamily at Cloud while the other mare beside her giggled at him, all the while he ate up the attention they were giving him, sighing Silk began explaining again to her why she had missed the game. Turning the QB started talking to Cloud taking his attention away from the mares he said "Well we wouldn't have been able to have that party if you hadn't made that catch."

"Pffft that was a small part, it was all you my pony." Cloud said clasping hooves with him but the two soon noticed that the bar had become as silent as a tomb chuckling Cloud looked around and called out "Whoa who killed the.........vibe."

Standing at the entrance were two of the largest and most intimidating ponies in history and Cloud recognized both of them Kat and Jun were back wearing the guard fatigues, scanning over the crowd they seemed to be looking for him and Silk looking passed Cloud Silk also saw them. Staring wide eyed one of the mares whispered "Holy Celestia their massive!" almost like they heard the whisper both the ponies locked onto the table they were at. Walking through the crowd the entire bar followed them not daring to move or breathe for fear of what these ponies would do, reaching the table Kat looked it over and as her eyes passed over the ponies they immediately looked down at the table avoiding her gaze. Licking her lips Silk put a smile on her face she asked "Kat darling it's so good to see you and Jun, how have you been?"

"Good," looking around the bar Kat motioned for Jun to walk around, nodding his head he turned and began moving through the patrons trying his best too look like he was trying to find seat, turning back Kat continued "We're just checking up on you and Cloud."

"Uh...yes darling as you can see we're doing good," Silk said meeting the gaze of the SPARTAN she motioned to the group and began introducing them "Kat I'd like you to meet a few of our friends the stallion is Wild Eye, across from me is Cherry Blossom and her twin Orchid." nervously the three ponies waved to Kat who simply stared back feeling how awkward it was getting Silk pressed on "How about you and Jun join us for a meal and some drinks, on me of course."

"No, we're good," turning Kat saw Jun heading toward the exit giving her a small nod looking between the two ponies Kat said "Just stopping by and before we go Carter wants us all to have a sit down individually and talk so contact us if you want to talk." turning Kat left without giving the Silk a chance to talk again watching them go the bar slowly found its voice again but all it could discuss were the two ponies who just left.

Sitting back Silk took a deep breath trying her best to calm herself looking between her and Cloud their friends tried to find their voices the first finding it was Orchid asking "Silk who were those ponies?" turning to her Cloud answered in Silks stead taking a deep gulp of beer before saying "Those were SPARTANs and their our guardians."

(Ponyville Park)

Lying beside the shore snuggled together both Apple and Glimmer were enjoying the day together Apple had the day off from the farm and Glimmer had asked for time away from the castle. Staring across the pond at a young group of foals and changelings playing with each other a small frown graced Glimmers face as a flash from Carters past came to memory, the bodies of young individuals packed away in a ships belly. Looking down at his fillyfriend Apple saw her concern leaning down he nuzzled the side of her face and asked "How you feelin'?"

"I'm scared, the nightmares are still coming and........"

"And?"

Remembering what the doctor said last time about sharing these nightmares with ponies she cared about Glimmer took a breath trying to calm herself after a few moments she finally felt ready and began to speak slowly "I I see our home falling a war burning everything to the ground by those monsters, everypony is gone. Noble, the princesses, and our home burned to the ground with only ash remaining and the dream always ends with me being killed by one of the aliens. It's always different places and times but it all ends the same we all die and our world is burned to its roots leaving nothing behind."

Bringing her close to him Apple gave her a small kiss trying to calm her down Apple thought back to his own session from earlier in the week, rubbing her back he tried to find the right words but only found silence. But this seemed to be the right thing to do after a few moments Glimmer did manage to calm down and soon after that she began to talk again, this time the conversation was concentrated on the new technology Cortana just introduced to the world chuckling at this Apple was about to cut her off and give his own views on the increasing number of technological advancements being brought to the world when a throat was cleared behind them. Turning around they saw both Carter and Jorge looking down at the two love birds, jumping up Glimmer raced over toward Carter wrapping her hooves around his neck she said "Carter your back!"

Standing stunned Carter gently removed the young mare from his neck looking down at her he said "Yes we just arrived this morning, we're just checking on all of you."

"Oh! Well we're doing good." looking back between Apple and Carter Glimmer gave the commander a sheepish smile looking around the park Carter noted that most of the children were staring at the stallions wide eyed. Looking back at Glimmer and Apple Carter said "Last thing if you two need to talk to us individually contact us and we'll set up a talk.'

"Wait why can't we do it now?" Glimmer asked staring up at Carter sighing he looked for Jorge's support only for him to shrug his shoulders shaking his head in annoyance he looked back down at the mare and said "If you want to talk we can, but I'd like to walk around the town as we do." looking back at Apple she gave him an apologetic look smiling at her Apple nodded his head. Seeing this Carter began to walk away with Glimmer sticking to his side already breaking the ice, watching the two walk off toward the town Apple turned toward the massive SPARTAN only to catch him staring at him while saying "Still have to see the town, you want to talk follow me."

With that said he turned around and started toward town with the young apple following right behind him after all he's been planning out what he's wanted to talk about with him for the last four months. As they made their way through town Apple Gem began to talk and question the SPARTAN getting to know him better and what his old world was like along with gaining a bit of closure and help with the uneasy nights he has had since witnessing his past.

(Sugarcube Corner)

Running around the shop Sprinkle and Sunny were helping out the Cakes and Pinkie with the lunch time rush, taking orders and bringing out food. Every once in a while, they'd dip into the back and help out the kitchen with cooking or baking. But all this was brought to a stop when one of the customers decided to be rude grabbing Sprinkle by the arm, he was a large earth stallion she recognized from one of her science classes along with a couple of his buddies. Smiling at her he looked the mare over slowly while saying "Hey Sprinks how're you today?"

"Um I'm a little busy," looking around for help Sprinkle saw a couple of customers looking away while the others seemed to be occupied with the other customers trying to pull away she said "I should go, we're really busy."

"C'mon they've got it covered," pulling her closer his friends snickered whether it was at her expense or how desperate he seemed, but they didn't do anything to stop him as his grip seemed to tighten ", so c'mon we're all friendly here right?"

Looking around for help again Sprinkle tried her best to rip her arm out of his grasp but couldn't as panic began to rise in her chest something flew passed her face and slammed into the stallions. Letting go of her arm he grabbed at his face letting out a string of curses as he looked for whoever threw the......balled up spoon? Staring at the useless utensil Sprinkle slowly backed away from the table and found herself bumping into Sunny seeing her concerned look she was about to speak when the stallion yelled out "Who the fuck threw this at me!"

Stepping out of the booth he puffed himself up as much as possible ready to fight whoever hit him glaring down at the customers in the residence, making her way around the counter Mrs. Cake was about to take care of the situation when two monsters of stallions stepped up. The first of the two had a small sneer on his face as he stared down the stallion he slowly walked up to him while he snarled "I did you little bitch, what're you gonna do bout it?"

"You.....you don't know w-w-who your dealing w-w-with!" the stallion stammered back looking to his friends who just stared back wide eyed at the heavily scarred stallion and his friend, gulping they slowly shook their heads motioning for their friend to back down. Growling at them he whipped back to the stallion who stared down the boy his gaze unwavering and looking like he was ready for a fight, licking his lips the stallion asked again "Do you know who-"

"I don't fucken care," the stallion snapped back moving toward the stallion watching wide eyed Sprinkle and Sunny were about to step in when the other one placed a wing in front of them stopping their advance reaching the younger stallion the larger one continued "You just tried assaulting a national heroine we've been put in charge of, now I'm goin to give you two fucken options. Option one you apologize to her and leave the place and never come back or option two you do something stupid I break a few of your bones and send you to the hospital and you get to eat outta a tube for the next few months."

Backing away from him the younger stallion looked at him wide eyed his tone and stance he knew that he was serious licking his lips he looked down at his hooves then back at the stallion, who motioned for him towards Sprinkle turning to her he gave a meek apology before scurrying off with his friends right behind him. Watching them go Emile and Six looked towards each other tilting his head Emile sent a silent signal nodding his head Six turned and went towards the counter to make a call, walking over to the mares Emile looked down at them and asked "You two know their names?"

"N-no Emile," looking toward the door they just left Sprinkle took a deep breath "I have class with one of them and we've talked."

"First time he do this?"

"Yes, what're you gonna do?" Sprinkle asked looking up at Emile turning away from her he looked toward Six who gave him a nod looking down at the mare Emile said "Nothin' we've reported him and with our standin with the government and your princesses that boys gonna have eyes on him for life but if he does anything we'll take care of it."

Looking between each other Sprinkle and Sunny were wondering what the entailed exactly considering that they knew about the SPARTANs, but those thoughts were quickly derailed when Mrs. Cake slowly walked up to the group of four ponies clearing her throat she squeaked "U-u-um excuse m-me?"

"Yes ma'am?" turning Six looked down at the mare as she quivered under his watchful gaze almost looking like she was about to pass out Six looked around the diner putting tow and two together he asked "Would it be ok if my associate and I sat down for some breakfast?"

"Uh y-yes of c-course!" Mrs. Cake blurted out motioning to the now empty booth behind them, sliding into the booth both ponies looked up at mare both asking for black coffee and some eggs with bacon smiling at the two she turned and went back toward the kitchen to get the orders. Looking around the cafe Emile saw that everyone was still staring at them sighing he turned to the girls and said "We'll stick around to eat but we gotta walk the town and get our bearings. The commander also wanted us to tell you girls that if you want to talk to us one on one just let us know and we'll sit down with ya."

Smiling the two nodded at the stallions before getting back to work helping the cafe catch up on orders and checking customers, watching them work the two SPARTANs looked out the picnic watching ponies pass by and mentally mapping out the area figuring out sniper positions and choke points. But from what they could see was any kind of full-on assault would level most of this town leaving nothing behind and they soon started conversing on where the best defenses could be set up in case of an assault along with the evacuation routes, the conversation lasted until the food and coffee was finished. As they left the restaurant the two stallions gave small goodbyes to their wards along with the owners.

(4 hours later)

Walking toward the campus square of Ponyville University Carter and Jorge had just finished walking through the building memorizing the fastest routes to and from the classrooms, hearing hoofsteps to his left he and Jorge turned to see Six and Emile walking up to them giving a small nod. Nodding back, he looked around trying to find Kat and Jun only for the later stallion to come soaring in landing in front of the group turning to everyone Jun said "Sorry Commander Kat got caught by Silk she wanted to talk, was pretty adamant."

"I understand, me and Jorge had a sit down with our wards," turning to Emile and Six he tilted his head toward them only to get small shakes signaling that they hadn't talked to theirs sighing he continued "the party is at six so we have another three hours I propose we head back to base and go over our routes and town blueprints."

Looking between each other the SPARTANs gave a small nod agreeing to the plan as they walked off Carter commd Kat after a moment she picked up "Commander?"

"Kat just was letting you know we're heading back to base to debrief on our.......tour."

"I understand.......I'll be there in twenty."

"Understood Noble 2." Carter cut the comm and began following Noble to the truck so they could drive back to the base, walking beside them they brought the team up to speed.

(Kat and Silks location)

Pulling the comm away from her ear she turned to face the young mare she had chased both her and Jun down after a half hour and practically dragged Kat off to talk about the visions and her past and talk they did Silk had seen all her life and wanted to know everything. So, they had went off toward her family's boutique so Silk and her could take in private taking a seat in the back room and after nearly a half hour of talking the conversation had slowly died and lead to an awkward silence that was interrupted by Carter calling her looking down at the other mare Kat said "I have to go Silk, you good?"

"I'm getting there Katherine," looking around Silk licked her lips and took a breath before asking "But before you go may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"During the seven months you six were away training me and my friends discussed what we had been shown and it took time for us to all open up but one day Cloud talked about what he saw with Jun and well.........."

"What?"

"Jun said something about SPARTANs never stop and it made us all wonder would you ever stop fighting? What are your plans here we aren't exactly at war or going to war there are rumors but nothing concrete, and you all being guards doesn't exactly make-"

"Silk that's enough what you need to know is we're here to protect this world and yes we are guards because there isn't a war regardless of whatever rumors are floating around, but what you need to know is yes as SPARTANs we don't give up and we don't stop until the job is done. Due to this fact it was Celestia's idea that we be enrolled into the guard to keep us active and not sitting on our hooves doing nothing." pausing Kat took a small breath remembering the story that the princesses had invented for them to talk about with their charges, once her thoughts were in order she continued "As SPARTANs we were our militaries best and brightest constantly fighting and being shipped from one planet to another, so adapting to civilian life is nearly impossible. Your princesses are giving us all a chance at being guards and have told us they intend on helping us adapt to your world, they know just as much as you know us adapting to civilian lives is a pipe dream."

After the final word left Kats mouth, she stared down at the much shorter mare for a moment before giving her a curt nod and staying they could meet and talk at the party as she had to go back to base to talk with the rest of her team. As walked through the store Kat felt multiple eyes on her including a set of a young mare the same age as herself all were staring up at her, giving a stiff nod she continued heading out the store and through town. Hearing the uneasy voices of the towns folk all she thought 'Wonder how long this will go on for?'

(Party time)

Standing in front of large crowd Noble had just been introduced to the town by Mayor Ivory Scroll and Princess Twilight as the newest guards to the town and it was also noted they were brought by the bright beam of light from a few months ago. Questions were asked and answered in quick succession and with practiced precision that left the crowd in a stunned silence including the Princess once the Mayor found her voice she quickly got the party going and soon everypony dispersed throughout the small block eating, drinking and mingling, looking between each other Noble weren't exactly sure on how to go about joining the party but were soon goaded by Twilight at joining the party. Walking through the block they soon separated into groups of two's once again and began walking through the town, seeing all the food and drinks being passed around one surprising fact that Noble came to learn after joining this world is that ponies are actually omnivorous creatures so they didn't need to change their diets at all.

This was quickly seen by a number of ponies when Jun and Six walked up to a stand grilling various meats and vegetables ordering a massive amount of food that would have fed a family of six ponies that hadn't eaten in a week. Grabbing the food and some drinks the two sat down at an unoccupied table digging into their food and enjoying the Flavors of civilian food, looking around Jun noted a few foals were staring at them with wide eyes but remained quite a distance away from them whispering between each other. Shaking his head Jun quickly buried his muzzle his burger savoring the taste he hated that this would be one of the few times he could enjoy civilian food, Six on the other hand seemed to only want to finish the food not savor it. But the two stallions soon found them face to face with four ponies one was quickly recognizable as Rainbow Dash but the other three were a mystery clearing her throat Rainbow said "Six, Jun we would like a moment of your time to talk."

Looking between each other the SPARTANs were silent taking that as a sign to join them the group sat down stallion next to Rainbow was a gold Pegasus stallion with a silver mane and gold eyes, he was wearing some kind of blue and gold unitard the same as Rainbows. Next up was a yellow pegasus mare with a short cut pink mane and forest green eyes she was wearing a type of sundress with butterfly patterns sown into the hem, standing next to her was a brick red unicorn stallion with orange eyes that sat behind a pair of glasses and mane that was short and slicked back he wore a collared blue shirt and black pants. As they took their seats the two SPARATNs continued to eat once they were sat Rainbow pointed between the ponies "The one wearing matching outfits with me is my husband Bolt Striker across from me is Fluttershy and her husband Polanium."

"Nice to meet you three." Jun said before shoving a hoof full of fries into his mouth while Six thoughtfully chewed on a cheese steak seemingly ignoring them Fluttershy gave an awkward smile before speaking "So I take it you know why we're here?"

"Yes, the captain and Princess Twilight explained you all wanted to talk to us."

"Well yes we just have some concerns." Fluttershy said looking toward her friends and husband seeing this Jun shrugged his shoulders and said "So what concerns are there?"

"Well, it's just from what we were told your past is......complicated." as she slowly turned scanning the crowd before looking back at the SPARTANs sighing Jun rubbed his eyes while thinking 'Cortana had to be right.' taking a bite out of his burger he said "That it is."

"Right," licking her lips Fluttershy looked between her compatriots who gave nods of encouragement she continued "We need to know what you'll do to protect our children."

Looking between each other the two super soldiers knew how to answer but had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be enough for them, taking the reins for this one Six stopped eating for a moment and began to speak confidently "Ms. Shy we'll do anything and everything to protect your daughter NOTHING will be able to get passed us. SPARTANs are the best of the best and we'll show you just that, we'll be unbreakable shields that will never buckle we're stronger and faster than even your most exceptional guards. Simply put with us protecting your kids hell itself could invade tomorrow and they'd live to talk about it."

Staring at the SPARTANs the ponies felt the truth behind his words and looked between each other but after a moment the first to speak was Bolt Striker "Well I for one am glad to hear that, so how bout we start winding down and uh get to know each other?"

Giving small nods the soldiers didn't really know what to discuss with the civilians but hopefully the conversation they could have wouldn't be too awkward but then again SPARTANs didn't really have a form of social life, so the conversation would more than likely be one sided.

(Jorge and Kat)

Standing behind the mare Jorge stared over her shoulder as the SPARTAN lobbed a ball against the bottles quickly toppling them over to the horror of the shop keep, smirking the Kat grabbed the final grand prize from the top tossing it to an awaiting foal. Sighing Jorge nudged his squad mate trying to get her to leave the stall alone as she had nearly wiped out the prizes, looking toward Jorge he shook his head at her sighing Kat turned back to the stall owner and said "Play nice or I'll be back."

Nodding his head franticly the two SPARTANs walked off perusing the town and taking in the sights trying their best to relax, despite the fact that these two were shipped from battlefield to battlefield and couldn't remember the last time they had any actual shore leave or down time. But they tried their best to do what normal soldiers do during shore leave but were failing miserably due to lack of social skills, stepping out of the crowd Jorge and Kat sat at a bench and began to watch ponies pass by. Until they were approached by the families of the children they were protecting, Applejack walked ahead of two other ponies who were dressed very smartly the mare had her purple mane pulled up and styled in a way that framed her facial features. She wore a white blouse with black trousers while next to her was a turquoise mare with light pink hair she wore a red jacket over a simple black shirt with red trousers, stopping in front of them Applejack was the first to speak "We've been lookin everywhere for ya'll, ah'd like to introduce you to Rarity and her wife Lilac Shadow."

Looking over the two soldiers Rarity couldn't help but grimace at Kats simple military fatigues she was a beautiful mare and should be wearing something to show off that beauty, but she pushed passed that today wasn't about fashion they needed to talk to the SPARTANs and get to know them. Looking between them Rarity did have to apologize to her daughter though when she had first described the two super soldiers, she had thought her daughter was heavily exaggerating their appearances but standing before them she definitely felt small clearing her throat she said "If you two are comfortable we would like to talk with you."

"Of course, we don't have much else to do." Jorge answered for the both of them getting a annoyed look from his younger comrade, motioning away from the crowd as they walked away Rarity tried to strike a conversation up with the two only for it to not get to far.

As the group got further away from the crowd Kat noticed a shift in Lilac and Applejacks body and facial features, taking a breath she knew some type of show was about to happen. After a moment Lilac was the first to speak out of the group her accent had a French accent "To cut to the chaze, we have a few questionz when it comes to our foals."

"Shoot." Kat said looking at the woman with a bored expression she sat on her haunches and stared down at the mare smirking at her Lilac pressed "We are concerned that you will dizrupt their social lifez and schooling."

"As you have been informed we are permitted to lay eyes on your children when on patrol that does not mean we will actively butt into their lives simply to disrupt it," Kat rolled her neck letting out a series of pops before continuing "Our job is to protect them and keep them safe not to keep them from being social, as long as they aren't being disruptive or stupid you shouldn't see us too much."

"Well the concern iz justified." Lilac said taking on a motherly tone and glaring up at the huge mare not quite realizing that said mare could possibly pitch her across the fair grounds. Taking a breath Kat looked up to Jorge for him to take over noticing this he spoke "And we understand your concern ma'am, you have nothing to worry about. It's as my comrade said we're here to keep them safe not distract them, there's a good chance that they won't even notice us when we do come by to check on them we'll slip by, and they'd be none the wiser."

Staring up at the mammoth sized stallion the mothers gave each other a look showing skepticism of these soldier's ability to be stealthy after a moment Applejack began talking "Ah guess we'd have to take your word fer it, yah know how often yah'll be in town?"

"So far we're on a rotation......for security we can't tell you how often or what our routes look like." Jorge stated using his authoritative the same one he used when detaining the vandalizers on Reach, seeing the uneasy looks the mothers were giving Kat sighed and said " The goal is to be as random and unpredictable as we can be, if something were to happen with your children or an attack happen the.......ponies wouldn't know who to expect out of Noble Team. It's a sound strategy and one that will play into our favor if such an unfavorable outcome were to happen."

Hearing this the mares looked into the SPARTANs eyes seeing that they wouldn't be getting much more out of them the group soon tried to change the subject to something else but the subject that Rarity and Lilac had chosen talking about growing up and the difficulties they'd had even trying to get the soldiers to open up, but hadn't been informed about the soldiers past and their own foalhoods. But as Rarity went on she soon realized that they hadn't been talking all that much pausing she looked to the SPARTANs and asked "Now you two haven't said much about your foalhood, what can you tell us?"

"Yes, we'd love to hear about it." Lilac chimed a small smile coming to her face as she looked between the two giants waiting for their response, chuckling to himself Jorge looked down at Kat and raised an eyebrow seeing the look Kat shrugged her shoulders and looked around the area before casting a privacy spell around the five of them. Raising a quizzical eyebrow Lilac was about to ask about the spell only for Applejack to place a hand onto her should while she slowly shook her head the look on her face was the same as the one she had when granny passed away, clearing his throat Jorge began "I have come to terms with my childhood and the hardships I've faced I want you to know that before we begin."

"And I chose this path for vengeance." Kat stoically answered and after a moment of confused silence the two SPARTANs started to talk about their up bringing, as their stories came to a close both mares stared at them horrified by what they had gone through. Seeing this Applejack was the first to speak "Ah didn't realize what all they'd gone through specifically growin up, but this is what ah wanted to talk about before ya'll met."

Raising an eyebrow at her Kat was about to asked when the southern accent cut her off "It was gonna be private with Twi, until now only me, Twi, and Rainbow had know, but we planned to talk to Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie with their spouses at the castle.......but we never got the chance."

Sighing Kat excused herself to com the commander and let him know about the situation hoping he could pass the info to the others before they stepped into the same pile they had done that.

(Carter and Emile)

Placing a hoof to his ear Carter listened to his second in command as she caught him up scowling a bit he asked, "So there are still a few ponies who don't know?"

"Yes sir."

"Ok get in touch with Six and Jun and tell them not to talk, I'll talk to the Princess." Carter looked back at Emile as he held his breath trying to keep calm as Pinkie, her husband and Twilights twins tried their best to make him laugh seeing the vein popping in his head Carter said "Noble Leader out."

Walking up Carter was about to speak when a regal voice spoke from behind him "I believe Emile has had enough everypony."

Turning to the voice Carter saw Twilight and her wife Fizzlepop standing there looking at them all letting out a small breath Carter was glad she showed up when she did, hearing some shuffling Carter looked back toward Emile as the young filly did her best to slide off his back. Landing on the ground unsteadily she looked up to the massive stallion he continued to look forward groaning she said "Awwww mom we almost got him to laugh." pointing to his reddening face she turned wearing a confident look on her face and said "See he was so close to laughing."

Nodding her head Twilight coaxed her children into leaving with a sitter allowing them all to talk about more serious matters and giving the stallions a bit of breather walking away Emile let out a small breath his face slowly losing its red color. Letting out his own relieved sigh Carter turned to Twilight and gave a small nod of thanks she had asked to meet them at the park but hadn't planned on running into her children. Taking a breath Carter looked back at Pinkie Pie who was currently kissing her husband, clearing his throat he spoke "Princess Twilight I've just been informed by Noble Two about a concern."

"Concern?"

"Yes ma'am......apparently some of the children's parents weren't fully informed about our past."

"I take it they were just told?" Twilight slowly said looking nervously between the Pies and Carter noticing this Carter sighed and nodded his head while saying "Yes, I was also told you were planning on doing it here. But you didn't have the time."

"Thats true....I'm sorry commander," slowly shaking her head Twilight used her wing to cover the SPARTAN before continuing in a hushed tone "I did plan on doing it after the festivities tonight."

"Right, if I may speak freely ma'am?"

"Of course, speak freely."

"Get it done," Carters tone took on an edge he'd only taken when he felt that his team was in trouble or when certain individuals did......unconventional things. Pulling her wing back Twilights eyes widened but before she could speak Carter continued "My teams past shouldn't need explaining but you wanted this. So, I'll simply put it this way YOU talk to them in an hour as a group and my team will standby to answer questions nothing more or less."

"I.....i'll do that." Twilight said still staring at the SPARTAN as he turned and began to walk away from the mare toward Emile who was wearing a smirk seeing the small exchange. Ignoring the smirk Twilight turned and walked over to Pinkie forcing a small smile onto her face she leaned down and whispered "Pinkie think you could gather the girls for me?"

"Of course, I can!" she exclaimed as she threw a smoke bomb onto the ground and disappearing in a pink cloud, chuckling a bit Pinkies husband looked over at the two behemoth stallions with a worried look while saying "I know you trust these......SPARTANs Twilight but I do have my concerns."

"I understand Truffle," peering over he should Twilight noticed Carter holding his hoof against his ear again a bewildered look coming to his face knowing full well why taking a breath Truffle said "It's just we know nothing about these ponies and now our eldest daughter and her friends are being protected by them. Their massive Twilight unnaturally so and the scars covering their bodies are surgical precise more so than anything we have currently.........well anything Cortana had shared with the world."

Looking them over Twilight sighed she had hated swearing her friends and family to secrecy, once everything had settled down Cortana had tracked down everyone who had talked to the SPARTANs in the castle and sworn them to secrecy about the knowledge they had gone through. But she had stated that the others could be allowed in on the information as long as they never spoke to a living soul again about the information, when pressed on why it had to be secret by Rainbow Cortana simply said "Many things must be kept secret about the SPARTANs if you hope to have an edge against your enemies and to simplify it......if the enemies of this nation THINK they could replicate a SPARTAN because they gleamed information about those surgeries or how they were trained they won't hesitate to do try."

Just remembering that sent a shiver down Twilights spine she had hoped Cortana would be wrong but three months into Nobles training Cortana had invited her and the other Princesses to watch Nobles first training exercise which was broken up into two parts. Part one pitted them against a platoon of ponies while wearing their MJOLNIR armor the results from that battle were astonishing not a single SPARTAN was hit and the platoon was wiped out in a matter of seconds, part two was without their armor and the results were the same the platoon lost and all the SPARTANs stood amongst the bodies unscathed. After watching those matches Twilight completely agreed, Luna was silent, and Celestia simply watched as he own guards limped off the field angry and beaten, but before Twilight could start remembering everything from that day the front doorbell began to ring. Knowing exactly who it was she used her magic to teleport everypony into the room, standing before her were all her friends and their spouses along with the rest of Noble, walking forward she brought all her friends into a tight hug saying "It's so good to see you all."

"Of course darling," Rarity said a smile coming to her face as she pulled away, but it quickly fell away as she noticed the other ponies standing behind her all massive and scarred whispering back to her friend she asked "Twilight what's this about?"

"I've heard that you all have some concerns with the SPARTANs and........their past." Twilight slowly said gaging the expressions her friends and their spouses seeing a look of concern coming across their faces taking a breath she continued "So before we continue the information that i am about to share can never be shared outside of this castle..........EVER."

"Twilight.....what going on?" Fluttershy asked her eyes filled with fear and concern looking over her shoulder at Carter she received only a nod of encouragement sighing Twilight continued "I'm about to tell you Fluttershy........"

So Twilight started to inform her friends and their spouses about the SPARTANs, starting with their universe and the war that raged, to the childhood robbed from them, all the way up to the super-soldiers that stood before them. Carter never thought about his own history and the time he had lived in his old universe, but once Twilight had finished he look over to the large grandfather clock on the wall and thought 'One hour to sum up our history.'

Chapter 9

(Two Months Later)

Walking around Campus Cloud and Silk were nervous about an upcoming test they'd spent all night studying for it but still didn't feel like they knew enough about the test so they had decided to take the long way around campus to class. Picking up his second coffee Cloud took a small sip while Silk read another question for him, thinking it over he shot out his answer only for Silk to shake her head and placing the card back into the deck. Groaning Cloud was about to say something when a quiet voice came from their left "Look up there, it's one of those freaks."

Looking up Cloud saw Six racing passed over head before disappearing into a group of clouds, scowling he slowly turned to see two freshmen looking up chuckling about their own silent joke, noticing the stallion glare at them they walked off still silently laughing. Cloud was about to go after them only to be stopped by Silk who gave him a small tug pulling him in the direction to class letting out a defeated grunt he followed her, nothing much has been happening since the arrival of the SPARTANs. Hell Cloud could only think about all the times he tried to find the soldiers when he felt like he was being watched but could never pull them from the crowd, even in full guard's armor this was the first time that Cloud had noticed one of them since their time started. Feeling the gears in his head turning Cloud thought 'This isn't a good sign is it.'

(Above Ponyville)

Heading back to base Six gazed over the small town taking in the lay out and watching the small groups of ponies passing by, he continued to scan the crowd intel had been gathered by the allies of the Griffins Republic that they had planted a team of unknown numbers in the town and were trying to gather intel. What they were trying to gain intel on the team was unsure but due to Ponyville's.......well Equestria's standing on national relations most species could enter and leave the country with little trouble. Then again when a nation hasn't been to war in millennia, they would have no security or screening practices, so this team was able to walk through the front door and straight into Ponyville. One upside is that despite the G.R.P's best attempts at hiding the messages they were intercepted by the G.R. who quickly relayed the information to Princess Celestia who brought it to Cortana, and after about four days of analyzing and hunting she managed to track down the identity of at least two members of the spy teams.

So, she brought Noble together for a briefing a week ago and updated them on their targets the first was a female griffin whose code name was Stitch and another member identified as a possible U.P.R agent code named Shade. As the targets were introduced and talked about Images popped up of each agent the griffin looked female with a head full of bright yellow feathers tipped with bright red, her eyes were a light green and the photo taken was at a train station in manehatten now beside her was the confirmed U.P.R agent he was a steel gray stallion with a black mane short and slicked back hair both agents wore casual clothes to try and appear more normal and tourist like. But at one glance Noble could tell these were professionals and they needed to be captured so they could gain an entry into the G.C.P territory after a month of doing nothing the SPARTANs were itching for a good hunt.

Slowly scanning the town through the cloud cover Six quickly noticed a small group of ponies and griffins exiting the forest noting some camping gear hooked to their backs he commed the commander "Noble leader, do you read me."

"I read you Noble Six, what's the sit rep?"

"I see a group of five exiting the everfree forest coming in from the west." moving along the cloud Six made sure to not go too far out of the cloud as he fixed his sight line scanning the group, he changed the visor going through the different scanning and spectrums. Only to stop on the Infared filter as he noticed two interesting blots in the packs that didn't line up with the known technologies of this world, so Six hit record and continued to follow the group while Carter asked "Understood Noble Six, explain why we need to be interested in campers?"

"Sending in a live feed now sir." Six said chinning a switch in his helmet he began streaming a video of an all too familiar griffin entering town with the group Six continued "They're also one member short I remember seeing them leaving town at 0500 hours this morning and they had six this morning."

"Keep a distance Noble Six I'm sending Kat to you I want to know what their calling home."

"Yes sir, Noble Six out." Chinning the comm one final time Six cut the feed and his contact to the commander, following the group from a distance it took a little over an hour before they returned to base. They doubled back on themselves multiple times and split up toward the last half of there return to base, but Six never lost them specifically the leader known as Stitch, amateurs all five of them were staying in a single level house blinds were drawn so Six couldn't see into the building. Hearing a familiar chirp Kat's voice cut into Six's audio "Noble Six this is Noble Two do you read me?"

"I read you Noble Two," Six said as he switched to Infared to see the five individuals moving about the house setting there bags down and gathering around a table in the kitchen while he continued "I have five of them gathered around the kitchen table......looks like there going over some plans."

"Confirmed, I'm seeing the same thing."

"You see any weapons?"

"Negative, must be a spell to hide them."

"Agreed, what's the plan Noble Two?"

"I'm seeing if I can pick an audio up," Kat said her voicing taking on an edge Six immediately recognized as her 'I'm working on it leave me alone' tone, quieting down Six kept his eyes on the group noticing they were getting very animated perhaps an argument or excitement?

"Got them, linking you in now."

After a moment a thickly accented voice began to talk over the comms but Six didn't know who it was only that she had a thick German like accent and her tone was serious "We cannot stop now, what's been found can help us liberate my homeland!"

"Enough Stitch this is serious," a male voice spoke up his tone had an edge and his accent was broken like he had practiced speaking with a Equestrian accent but couldn't quite nail it down the voice continued "The intel we had is a bust, there is no relic here the rumors are false it DIDN'T land here we must leave before we're found!!"

"You bastard," the female spoke and the red blob that Six designated as Stitch lunged forward pointing a claw at the stallion who didn't even budge and she continued "Where else could it have landed, the Everfree is the only place that is abandoned and during The Cataclysm the sisters castle was abandoned and Ponyville wasn't even a concept. So a relic HAS to be hear."

"Yes, based on rumors and an oracle!"

"THAT Oracle allowed your country access to your-"

"ENOUGH," a new female voice spoke up cutting both voices off immediately both blobs also seemed to back away from each other, taking note Six sent a yellow flash to Kat. This person seemed in charge so they may want to capture her along with Stitch and Shadow as the voice continued "I have been in deep cover here and I can only cover for you four for a small time, IF this relic exists I'M giving you all one more day to find it then you leave. That's why we left Shade in the tunnels if he says something is down there then there has to be, but we can check on that tomorrow and as a side note we leave in shifts tomorrow to meet up at the place."

As the voice finished speaking a blob moved and passed something to all the others as it did she spoke up again "These are the teams and time, we must be careful. Those new guards I told you about are all over town and I haven't gotten anything out of the local guards about them or where they came from, now is not the time to make mistakes we will move carefully and with precision. Now go to bed tomorrows gonna be busy."

Looking at his clock Six noted the time and sent a quick comm check to Kat signaling that they pull back, getting a green acknowledgement from her they soon fell back, taking up their normal patrol routes taking their time to make sure everything was going smoothly in town before breaking off and heading back to base. While they talked to Carter and Cortana about what they heard and what the plan should be, after a few moments of talking Carter ordered the two back to town while he sent Jorge and Jun out into town to start their own patrols. Giving acknowledgement to the new orders Kat and Six headed back to base making sure to look like they were a couple of guards simply excited to finally end a long days' work and take it easy at base.

(Back at Base)

Staring intently at the screen Carter watched the recording that Six had just uploaded for him to watch attached in a small window was Cortana following along, once the video finished Carter looked up at the small window trying to gage Cortana's reaction to this mentioning of a relic. Taking a breath she looked to the commander and began to talk "Until we get this under control only Noble and myself will know about the mission we're about to launch."

"Understood," Carter said looking back at his team who nodded at the commander turning back to Cortana he continued "So what's the plan?"

"Six will spy on the house and radio you all when the first group leaves, we'll let the first group lead us to this relic." pausing Cortana looked at something off screen before she turned back to the commander "Once the second group leaves and enters the forest we neutralize them and clean up any evidence they ever entered that forest."

"What about the house ma'am?"

"We'll clean it out once they team has been fully neutralized, after watching this video I want that mare and either Stitch and Shade captured alive."

"Understood."

"If you capture all three that's good but I don't expect them to make it easy."

"Should my team be in full MJOLNIR armor?" Carter asked scowling slightly at the screen hoping for the best, shaking her head Cortana said "If any of these individuals manage to escape and get word back about you six the black ops missions, we'll be running in the future will be in jeopardy. So, no Commander I don't want you to use MJOLNIR unless absolutely necessary."

"Understood," Carter said blinking he quickly had a thought and voiced it to Cortana "Ma'am this relic are we to deny it from this team or do you want it captured?"

"At the moment the team is top priority, but if you see a chance at capturing this relic do it."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good hunting spartan, Cortana out." in a blink the screen was black and Carter was forced to look at his own reflection smiling to himself he turned to the team and said "Here's the game plan Six I want you back at that house and observing it through the night Jun will be there to relieve you in an two hours but I want you back up there before they leave. Jorge and Kat you will go out on your normal patrols tomorrow so we don't arouse suspicion from them, Jun and Emile you two will follow the team into the forest and neutralize them once you have eyes on either the relic or Shade. Once the second team leaves the house and Six sends word Jorge and Kat I want you behind them, and when you have them down send acknowledgment to me. After that me and Six are going into the house to make sure that they don't have any hidden members and to see what we can find."

"Understood Commander." the team said in unison straightening up and saluting him nodding at them all Carter dismissed them and turned to head to the computer, Carter sat down and went over the video again memorizing what each of the team looked like while also trying to figure out which one was this mysterious mole who'd been in Ponyville. This shadow war was getting crazier and crazier Carter and his team weren't expecting to be put into action in another month The G.R. was going to be making a move against a major base that held significant strategic value and as a bonus there were at least two generals there that the G.C.P needed to run their military. But now that plan would be out the window, this was due to the fact that Carter doubted this team wouldn't report in regularly and as soon as they went silent the G.C.P and U.P.R would suspect that they'd been made. Luckily they couldn't come after the Equestrian nation openly, but the retaliation would come at some point in the future, letting out a frustrated sigh Carter turned the computer off and headed off to bed. After all Noble team had a hunt tomorrow, and they were all itching to get back into the game.

(The Next day)

Hovering over the house Six had taken over the watch from Jun at 0300 it was now 0430 and now had his eyes set on the house waiting for any type of movement. They'd set up motion trackers around the house to know if the group tried heading out the back but nothing yet and Six felt tension building in his gut the same type he got when a battle was about to go down and........the door opened Six cast his eyes down three of the five individuals stepped out the first was Stich and the other two were a stallion and griffin. Chinning on his comms Six said "Nobles Three and Four the first group is leaving for the Relic, Stitch is among them along with a stallion and griffin."

"Acknowledged Noble Six we'll take them it from here." Jun stated his voice was neutral and calm in the background he heard Emile shifting around. Sending a green acknowledgement light Six went back to observing the house, shifting his shoulders Six checked on the equipment attached to his back. Staring down at his equipment he only thought 'This will be interesting once we have to use these.'

(Outside of the Everfree twenty minutes later)

Staring through the foliage both Jun and Emile were watching for the targets to enter the forest not much could be said on how long it would take them or what entrance they would take, the Everfree technically could be entered from almost anywhere but the main road that the campers used was this one as it was the safest and easiest to enter. Jun shouldered the newly acquired sniper and looked down the scope it felt just like his old one both in weight and familiarity of course this mission would be the first time it would be used in actual combat, noticing the group coming up the road Jun focused on them. They each were carrying coffees and pastries smirking to himself Jun sent a yellow acknowledgement to Emile and marked the group, it didn't take long for a green light to blink in his visor knowing Emile he was itching for a good fight. Chinning his radio Jun opened up a comm to Carter and said "This is Noble Three to Noble One, we have eyes on the targets and are waiting for them to enter the forest. Going dark once they do."

"Noble One to Noble Three I read you, good hunting."

As the radio died Jun watched as the group slowly entered the forest and he switched to Infared waiting till they were almost out of sight he quickly moved. Following the group from a distance Jun was careful with how he moved through the foliage carefully taking his time and making sure not to disturb the area, but then again as a SPARTAN he was ready for the proverbial shit to hit the fan. Then again they didn't know if the spies were armed and what they could be armed with, but that's nothing new for SPARTANs so they were prepared, Jun and Emile were both armed and ready for a fight if it came soon they'd be able to test the weapons and how well they could put down a threat. But just like he and Emile had been discussing this operation could put a wrench in future operations in G.C.P territory they'd be on high alert from today onward regardless of the results, they would lock down and compartmentalize making it more difficult to target and eliminate......after all they knew how rebels operated.

Looking up at the corner of his visor Jun took note that they had been following the group for the last three hours, looking ahead he noticed them starting to head off path and into the woods. Getting low he followed them thinking 'Where are they goin?' but his question was quickly answered as they entered a large barren area covered in dark rocks and large craters. Looking the area over he noticed that it had a slight slope that became steeper squinting his eyes he found that the group had disappeared, scowling he activated his infrared and scanned the area quickly finding faint prints of paws and hooves. Slowly walking up to the tracks Jun scanned the area when Emile slid in next him whispering "Where'd those bastards go?"

"Let's follow the tracks, they must have gone underground."

"Agreed," Emile said raising his weapon watching Juns back as he turned away from his teammate sighing Jun began to follow the tracks while Emile asked "So what's the plan?"

"We kill the two partners and capture Stitch."

"And the relic?"

"........we get eyes on it and deny the asset any way we can."

"So what the hell do you think it is?"

"Who knows." Jun said taking a moment to stop and observe the tracks ended right at a massive hole looking down it all he could see was pitch black, looking behind him he said "Looks like they went down there, you ready?"

"Born ready Noble Three." Emile said looking over his shoulder giving Jun a nod returning the gesture he dropped a small signal emitter for the rest of Noble to find it they began the descent down, ready for a fight.

(With Noble Five and Two)

Kat gave a small twist of her hooves snapping the neck of a male Griffin she had pinned to the ground looking down at the mare Jorge was holding she had been the last to exit the house, she seemed to be cursing up a storm at them.
But Kat had no idea as to what she was saying exactly then again she was used to prisoner's throwing every insult they could think her way. Struggling against the large stallion Jorge looked up and motioned his head for her to go ahead, turning away she galloped off into the forest to join Jun and Emile to inform them they had completed part of the mission. Jorge looked down at the mare he clicked tongue and his helmet immediately connected to Cortana speaking he said "Ma'am we captured one of the targets and eliminated a teammate, I'm ready for extraction."

"I read you Noble Five," Cortana said and soon Jorge felt a small tingle spreading across his body and in a flash, he found himself in a section of the Forge. Cortana stood in front of him Celestia beside her along with two guards staring wide eyed at the SPARTAN and his prisoner Cortana continued to speak "We'll take her from here and I've also informed both Celestia and Luna about the operation."

Nodding his head Jorge pushed the mare forward the guards quickly grabbed the mare and dragged her off to cells to later be interrogated, looking up at the Princess and Cortana Jorge straightened up smiling down at him Cortana was the first to speak "So you managed to grab one of the targets, have you heard from Noble Three and Four?"

"No ma'am still radio silent, we did get a ping from an emitter, so I sent Noble Two ahead to meet with them."

"I see, so did they use any weapons?"

"No, me and Noble Two got the drop on two of 'em," Jorge shrugged his shoulders and took a breath before continuing "These two didn't have any large packs on them only small bags to carry from what Six said the group that Noble Two and Four were tracking had the heavy gear."

"Hmmmm that's concerning."

"Ma'am?"

"I'm hoping that the group would be sloppy and have those weapons we are hearing rumors about. But I fear they may be smarter then we thought."

"Understood." Jorge said nodding his head in understanding one of the main goals besides breaking the G.C.Ps back it was to grab a handful of their weapons for study. Seeing Princess Celestia giving him a concerned look Jorge turned to her and asked "Is something wrong ma'am?"

"I am just shocked about the sudden mission happening in my own country."

"You'll get used to it ma'am."

"I hope so Noble Five........but I am concerned about the fighting reaching Ponyville." Celestia stated looking down at the SPARTAN sighing Jorge nodded his head and said "It's a concern with us too, we waited until they were into the forest and eliminated the threat. The first group ventured further into the forest almost four miles from what I could see from the emitters distance, so the fight shouldn't reach the town, I do need to get back though."

"Of course." Celestia said a smile crossing her muzzle she ignited her horn and sent the stallion back to Ponyville, staring down at her hooves Celestia turned and said "Luna will be here tonight to get answers from that mare."

"Good we need to learn as much as we can from her." Cortana said staring at the door they had dragged her through earlier, taking a breath she turned and began to walk to her office getting ready for the paperwork that would soon flood her desk. But this was only the beginning of course soon the real fighting would begin and the SPARTANs would take on this nation's enemies and god help the poor souls who had to fight them.

(Ponyville Moles house)

Pushing through the front door slowly Carter and Six made their way inside silently scanning the area around them the house was simple in design, small living room right next to the kitchen with a single dining table with five chairs placed around it. Aiming their weapons around the two SPARTANs were ready for an ambush or any traps, Carter had studied the lay out of the building and the two of them knew they had two rooms and a bathroom to clear along with the basement downstairs. Stepping around a corner Six looked into the first bedroom on the floor were five cots crammed together slowly scanning the room Six saw that there were no packs or luggage in the left corner was a closet, looking to Carter he motioned with his wings that he was moving up. Feeling a pat on his flank Six moved toward the closet sliding it open he saw three suitcases standing up pushed to one side otherwise the closet was empty, going through the filters in his helmet he saw they didn't pick up any hidden compartments or traps. But of course, as a SPARTAN he was trained to trust more than just his technology leaning in he tapped the wall in several areas looking for a hollow spot but still found nothing slowly back up he and Carter moved to the final room.

Moving into the final room Carter scanned it seeing a bed and dressers it was very basic and sparse slowly moving in he motioned for Six to follow, they both moved to the closet pulling the door to the side it was a walk in. Going through his own filters Carter saw a safe pushed behind a hamper moving toward it he used his magic he cast a barrier to absorb the sound right before he forced it open wrenching the heavy metal off the safe. Setting it to the side he pulled out several documents, passports and money from varying countries opening up a few of the passports he found different aliases for both the mole and her associates. Placing the evidence into a pack on his hip Carter turned and gave a nod to Six who returned the motion and backed out of the room and lined up at the basement placing an ear to the wall he listened for any type of sounds. After a minute he heard nothing and turned to Carter nodding his head getting closer to the door he tested the knob to see if it was locked......it wasn't, so he pushed the door open staring down the stairs both SPARTANs couldn't see much based on the limited light coming from the house. So they activated the night vision and began moving down the stairs, clearing the house was going smoothly but they were ready, reaching the bottom of the stairs they looked around the room and saw nothing the basement was empty. Slowly moving through the final floor the two of them tried to find something anything that could be hidden down there, but so far nothing.

After ten minutes Six looked around the room something about it was off, he scanned the ceiling, floor, and walls when it hit him, turning to Carter he whispered "Sir the rooms off."

Looking around the room himself Carter gave a small nod and whispered, "I see that now."

"I think it's the far wall." Six said motioning ahead of him moving toward the wall Carter tapped in several areas hearing a dull thumping. Backing away Carter activated his magic and cut a hole in the concrete, as they waited for the dust to settle both SPARTANs had their weapons trained on the hole waiting for anyone come through after a minute Six took the lead and sided up next to the hole tapping his side Carter followed him into the hole. As they moved into the hole the two of them found themselves in a storage space, slowly looking around they saw a desk at the far end littered with papers and maps moving forward. Carter picked up the most recent letter and began to read it after a moment he turned to Six "We need to take all these letters; I think they'll provide some interesting information."

(Deep underground)

Juna and Emile had no idea how far underground they'd gone but the tunnel slowly bloomed into a massive cavern dark and deep, in the distance bats and water drips could be heard. As they walked between the stalagmites, peaking around every once in a while, but the groups tracks had gone cold and this deep in underground they could be anywhere. Jun eyed the five different passages that split off the spacious area shaking his head Jun continued to look for tracks while Emile covered him. After a moment they heard a faint clicking sound stopping what they were doing the two SPARTANs looked between each other before they moved the clicking was soft enough that it didn't create an echo throughout the cavern walking up to a wall they heard the clicking coming from the other side. Jun leaned forward to tap it only for his hoof only for it to go through the wall pulling it away Jun tapped Emile and motioned for them to move forward, slowly passing through the image they soon found themselves in another tunnel whispering Jun said "Well it looks like we're on the right path."

"Defiantly." Emile said turning his head he noticed a device buried in the wall slowly walking towards it he looked it over, it was about a foot in diameter and stood on three legs held up in a single tower was a white lens that looked to be projecting the wall. Reaching up he tapped the lens causing the light to flicker and the clicking become louder, after a moment the light winked out in a hiss turning Emile snarked "So much for great alien tech."

"What the hell is it?"

"Not Covenant for sure," Emile muttered as he backed away from the device after all it didn't possess the purple hue that all the Covenants' devices sported, this device seemed to be made up of a brown and silver material, and the lens seemed to emit a green hue turning from the device Emile continued "As much as I hate to say it those bastards knew how to make tech."

"I remember, but then who made it?"

"We'll worry about that later." Emile growled moving further into the tunnel Jun sighed and followed him down it didn't take long before they started to hear voices. The first was female and they immediately recognized the voice as Stitch and she sounded excited "Yes, I knew there was a relic here!!"

Getting down low the two stalked toward the opening of the tunnel hugging the wall as they did, once they reached the two reached the opening, they looked towards the voice to see six individuals standing around a ship. But it wasn't a massive ship like the one Cortana theorized this was smaller, possibly a troop carrier or supply ship and these six had forced the door open and were raiding it all while some spotlights illuminated their work area. Stitch was standing to the side looking over all the equipment they were pulling out of it as she continued talking "You see this Shade, just as I theorized this relic crashed here during The Cataclysm."

"Yes, Stitch you were right," a stallion answered in an irritated tone only to suddenly swipe a hoof across the table he shared with Stitch while snarling "But this is NOT WHAT WE NEEDED!!"

"Its technology from the stars what more could you ask for?!?!"

"WEAPONS YOU IDIOT!!!"

"This has to have something that-"

"IT has half working gadgets and some corpses nothing else." the stallion seethed jabbing a hoof at the open door while walking away from the table he continued "We need more if you hope to usurp the G.R. and rule your nation."

"I know that!!"

"Did you know that to wage war on a nation with FOUR alicorns leading it along with an empire ally lead by two others we need all the weapons and advancements we can get our hands on."

"What do you mean."

"You really think that Reach industries is just making medical supplies, vehicles, and other advancements just for civilian use?"

"What are you getting at?" Stitch said narrowing her eyes as she ground her beak at the stallion, watching the exchange both Jun and Emile double checked to make sure they were getting all this recorded and they were. The stallion continued a sneer coming to his face as he talked "We believe that they are developing weapons, armor and even relics such as what we've been digging up."

"Impossible."

"Then you're a naive filly." the stallion turned and began walking into the ship as he disappeared inside the griffin scowled down at the ground as she skulked over the scattered equipment and began to place it back onto the table. Shaking his head Jun thought 'This is insane they're almost like the Covenant.' looking over to Emile he whispered, "We need to move, let's take them out."

"Two against six almost a fair fight for them."

"It's actually three against six, Noble Four." Kats voice suddenly broke in over the comms looking behind him Emile saw Kat approaching from the shadows smirking under his helmet he snarked "Well that takes the challenge out of everything."

"Just fill me in."

"At least two of them are in the ship," Jun motioned to the open door then he pointed to the four outside "So far these four are cataloging what they pull out, we haven't been here to long, I don't think we have too big a window to move."

"Then we take them out," Kat said glaring down at the griffin ahead of her she added "Leave Stitch too me."

"Understood Noble 2." Jun and Emile said in unison as they readied up aiming down their sights and lining up targets, sighting her own target Kat said "On my mark."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Mark." at that final word the two SPARTANs burst through the room racing toward their targets Emile made it to his target first taking out a knife he sliced through a griffins throat almost decapitating him he fell to the floor, the stallion who had been helping him tried to run for a weapon only to have a new hole added to his body through the forehead falling into a heap on the ground. Stitch tried to reach for something nearest her only to have Kat slam her up against the wall causing her to shriek in pain and fear, the final pony reared back and ran for the ship as he was about to pass through the doorway when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Looking to his left he saw a large knife sticking out of his shoulder losing his balance he cartwheeled forward passing into the ship.

Running after him Emile tried to get to the stallion only to see him forcing himself up shaking from the effort and slapped something beside the door causing it to slide shut locking in place, punching the door Emile left a large dent in the door and the sound echoed throughout the cave while he let out a snarl. Turning he stalked toward the griffin being held down by Kat he growled "How do we open the door!?"

"I-i don't know," the griffin whimpered as she tried to escape from under the massive mare she looked around her eyes were full of fear as she stared up at the massive ponies "Shade had the door open when we showed up this morning."

"Dammit," Kat looked back at the door seeing no way inside and with how the ship was buried in the rock there was no other way to enter or exit the ship, contemplating on how to get inside her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly it began to shake and hum as the engines tried sputtering back to life. Eyes widening Kat couldn't believe at what Shade was trying to do, turning to her comrades she shouted "FALL BACK!!!"

Grabbing the griffin, the three SPARTANs turned and began racing up the way they had leaving behind the ship and whatever technology it carried only grabbing the broken projector, as they ran along the passages the griffin stared back in horror as she shouted "That idiot he'll destroy the relics!!!"

The fact that Shade tried to power up a fifty-thousand-year-old ship buried thousands of meters underground was a fools errand it had to be damaged or malfunctioning in some way. But then again when fear and desperation sunk in with some individuals it always led them down foolish paths, then again maybe that's what Shade wanted for all of them to die deep underground without anyone of them obtaining anything useful. As they turned a corner the group felt the cave rumble and crack spurring them on, they picked up the pace and triple timed it up towards the surface, but they couldn't make it soon enough the rumbling intensified, and a rumbling could be heard rushing towards them. Bursting into the open field the group continued to run getting further and further from the tunnels entrance, when suddenly the ground erupted in a green inferno, spouts of energy bursting up in geysers around them right before a massive fire ball erupted from the cave entrance. Sliding to a stop the SPARTANs looked over the tunnel watching as it collapsed into itself creating a hole deep underground, looking around they could hear the ground shifting as the rubble settled when suddenly the ground collapsed again swallowing the whole field creating a massive crater only for the edge to stop mere meters from their position causing the group to slowly back away Emile said "What the fuck was down there."

(Back at base)

Sitting at a table Noble was being debriefed by Cortana, Celestia and Twilight all of which were now staring at the video which captured the explosion and collapse. Staring in both astonishment and anger Twilight cast a cold glare at Cortana who ignored the look as she studied the video, turning it off she turned to Noble and asked "Did you manage to get anything at all from that ship?"

"Only the device before we set eyes on the ship." Jun replied remaining stoic and unreadable as he stared ahead

"I see," Cortana said turning to Carter she asked "What did you two manage to get from the mole's house?"

"Papers ma'am," Carter stated sitting up straighter as he looked her in the eyes he continued "My professional guess is that they were either orders or updates from her missions."

"Agreed." Cortana slowly walked around the table placing a hoof on the commander's shoulder she looked at all of Noble team and said "You did great work today; the town thinks a simple earthquake happened, we've learned that the U.P.R is hunting down this alien technology, and finally we've captured two spies who we can ascertain information from."

Growling to herself Twilight finally spoke out against the alicorn pointing an accusatory hoof in her direction she said "You led an illegal assault in my town and didn't even tell me, my ponies could have been hurt or killed if any type of fighting reached town!!!"

"But it didn't Princess Twilight," Cortana said an annoyed tone coming into her voice which showed they'd been arguing about this mission long before the debrief sighing she continued "The mission went off without a hitch and your town thinks that only an earthquake happened."

"That doesn't make it alright," Twilight stamped a foot denting the wood beneath her hoof she was seething now "YOU could have at least brought me into the fold, BUT instead you let me think that today was a normal day when it was anything but!"

"Twilight some of us must be able to apply plausible deniability if any of this were to get out or someone say something."

"You wretched-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Cortana cut her off glaring down at the alicorn she stood before the team raising her head up she snapped "This is how the real-world works, we are at war with a nation that has been invading others to steal alien technology as YOU'VE plainly seen so if you have a problem with all this then you better get used to it or you'll get upset by every turn."

"The SPARTANs are going to invade the G.C.P in a month maybe sooner depending on what we learn from the spies so the stakes are going to get higher and higher, I can tell you right here and now by the end of this we're all going to learn some hard truths and be forced to acknowledge things we never thought to acknowledge." slowly walking away Cortana looked over her shoulder while saying "I hate that it's come to this Twilight but you must be ready for the worst cause I doubt that the war is going to remain far from your doorstep for long."

With that final word the A.I. turned alicorn teleported back to the Forge leaving the group alone, looking down at her hooves Twilight also teleported back to her castle. Sighing Celestia turned and dismissed the team asking them to head to town as a cover to check on everypony and make sure the damage wasn't too severe, giving confirmation Noble filed out and head into town wondering what they would find."

(Hour later in Ponyville)

Walking through the town Noble noticed minimal damage done some shops had broken windows, stalls were tipped over, and even a few lampposts laid on the ground. Analyzing the area Carter thought 'That explosion shook the town from inside the everfree.' walking up to local struggling to move a beam off his stall Carter shouldered it and moved it off with ease, staring wide eyed the mare pulled the stall out of the way so he could drop it onto the ground. But before the commander could do anything else he heard a voice call "CARTER!!!"

Turning to look over his shoulder too see Glimmer racing up to him a wide green on her face followed by Silk and Sprinkle, staring down at the young mare she looked worried taking a breath she said "I'm so glad you guys are ok."

"Yes we were back at base when the earthquake hit," turning back to Noble he motioned for them to spread out through town before looking back at Glimmer "We had to make sure none of the equipment was damaged before we came to town."

"I understand.......is everything ok?"

"Perfect no significant damage done."

"Oh that's very good."

"Do you need my help?" Carter asked staring down at the pony as she looked up at the older stallion a small smile coming to her muzzle she asked "Do you think you could come over to Mrs. Winds house?"

"Of course." Carter said nodding his head turning Glimmer began walking towards the older mares house telling Carter about her day and how the earthquake disrupted one of her equish exams and it had to be postponed, Carter couldn't talk about his day much due to protocol but did talk about how slow and uninteresting the day had been going until the earthquake.

Elsewhere Kat and Emile were helping with rewiring the towns grid trying to help keep it from overloading, staring at the two wires in her magic Kat studied them before splicing them together and putting them back into the panel. Looking over her work she gave a small nod before shutting the door and backing away from it turning to look at the electrician she said "That should hold the town over till you get the supplies in, but i wouldn't let anyone handle this without some major protection."

"Understood, sorry to bother you with this but I'm still new at all this tech and worried about blowing the grid."

"Of course, it's something I'm fully familiar with buying time for a grid." Kat stated giving the young mare a nod as she strolled away Emile couldn't hold back a snort as he followed behind her, glaring over her shoulder she asked "Something you want to say?"

"Nothin you want to hear."

"Hmmmmm well we still have to go through town and make sure nobodies gonna hurt themselves." Kat said as she surveyed the town the quake caused by the explosion was intense from what could be seen it equated to a 6.0 maybe even a 7.0, luckily it didn't last that long maybe a minute top's but it begged the question of what that ship ran off of. Thinking back Kat remembered seeing green flames spurting up from the ground as the ship blew up, she wondered the type of fuel or technology was used to power that ship. Sighing Kat turned to Emile and said "We need to fine more of that tech."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"Ahhhh you think that it can lead us to goin back up there" Emile said motioning to the night sky nodding her head slowly Kat smirked while saying "I also think it can give us new technology so if this universe has a Covenant we can go toe to toe with them."

"Hmmmm an even fight with those bastards would be interesting." Emile said a small grin coming to his face at the thought of fighting against old enemies again.

"Yes interesting," Kat sighed she stopped and looked up at the night sky she added "It can also help us reach out and expand beyond this planet quicker than our old race."

Chapter 10

(The Forge)

Sitting in her office Cortana was looking over some new medical documents along with an email detailing the upcoming new surgical suites she had designed and developed, they were nearly complete and ready to be put into use. Smiling to herself Cortana deleted the email and purged any evidence it had existed leaning back in her chair Cortana took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Years of preparing her new home to go out into the stars and to traverse the galaxy colonizing hundreds of worlds and hopefully they would avoid all the mistakes that the UNSC had done in the past, but then again all new mistakes could be made as they expanded. Turning to the window Cortana watched as the most recent company to start their training, those fools didn't know what they were getting into just like all recruits but this time they wouldn't be surprised when an alien force attacked, they'd be ready with all the technology she could recreate from her old universe and with the help of magic she could greatly improve upon it. Hearing a buzz coming from the desk she used her magic to answer the phone "Yes?"

"Ma'am Princess Luna is here for you."

"Send her in."

Turning to the door Cortana watched as Luna marched in a determined and furious look on her face glaring at the alicorn waiting for her she stopped a few steps away from the desk. Raising an eyebrow Cortana motioned for the alicorn to take a seat in one of the open chairs in front of her desk, shaking her head Luna replied "I'd prefer to stand."

"Understood, so what did we learn?"

"From the mole I've learned she has been living in Equestria for the last five years she's part of a large operation to locate relics that supposedly crashed to the world during The Cataclysm. She had no knowledge of any other operatives that had been deployed they were very careful at compartmentalizing their agents, she only got her instructions from the last agent from a note left in her house of where they had looked." Luna stated as she started to pace in the room most likely angered with herself at how long the mole had been spying in her nation while she continued "She also didn't know how long her motherland had been looking for the relics which we know has been going on for thousands of years, she was told that the operation only started about ten years ago. Besides that, any and all communication was sporadic on both her bosses' part and her own........the codes used were never changed they never thought that she'd be caught and interrogated by us."

"And what about Stitch."

"She is a wonderful chess piece, looking through her memories she is the niece to one General Sharp Beak one of the two generals who will be at the base we plan on helping the G.R liberate in a month."

"What's the catch Luna? I can feel it from here." Cortana said leaning back in her chair a small frown forming on her face she saw the mare of the moon pause and look at her friend "The meeting is happening in two weeks the generals planned on waiting just long enough for her to arrive and deliver the news about her findings, from what she was told they would only arrive 48 hours before the meet and wait 24 hours for her arrival before departing under the cover of night I also have the meeting date."

"Shit......so we need to move now if we hope to take those two out."

"Yes, I planned on meeting with Commander Hawk to inform her about the findings and mentioning moving the operation up."

"You do that and I will call the SPARTANs in so we can transport them into the nation and get eyes on that base."

"Of course, but are all of them going to be going straight to the base?"

"No, we'll send both Nobles Six and Three will infiltrate and scout the area." Cortana leaned forward setting her elbows onto the table top she continued "We'll send the rest to meet the Commander and strategize, we can't risk anything with this operation."

"I'll inform her tonight about your plan." Luna said turning away from the mare she left the room letting the door click shut behind her once she had left Cortana activated her magic and coated the room in a sound dampening aura and turned to her computer setting up she waited for an encrypted line to be created, once that was done, she chose her contact and waited for Carter to pick up. Almost immediately the stallion picked up his voice showing up on the screen "Yes ma'am?"

"Carter gather the team we're moving now."

"Understood, we'll be ready in fifteen"

(Two weeks later)

Laying in a small ditch Six and Jun watched the base from two kilometers away it was a massive castle that sat in the middle of a valley with mountainous walls on both sides so high and sheer that nothing could go up or down them without being noticed by the guards the castle stretched to both sides of the valley seemingly fusing into the mountains. The land around it had been bombed and burned to the point that the ground was charred and black allowing nothing to grow so it was barren for hundreds of meters. Scanning the walls Six saw dozens of soldiers marching along them or standing next to spot lamps to scan the ground looking for anyone mad enough to do a frontal assault. About a day and a half ago Jun had spotted two generals arrive one of which was General Sharp Beak the other was identified as General Iron Tail, of course both of them would be taken care of when the assault began. The two SPARTANs had snuck up to the walls and hid multiple explosives along the wall while also dropping them atop the roofs of towers, the chumps wouldn't even know what hit them until it was too late it was a shame, they couldn't make it to the barracks then again, the armory was a much better place to put some remote explosives.

Shifting his glance Six spied two guards looking in their direction smirking to himself he thought 'Only if they knew.'

"Wish we could move now." Jun whispered over the comm his voice sounding smaller than a mouses

"Noble One will be here soon."

"Course he will along with a whole regiment of G.R. soldiers to take this place."

"Think it was a good idea to set those explosives?"

"Yes."

"Just one word?"

"All the answer needed in this situation."

"Then again you're just itching to test you Cortana's sniper." Six said looking at the sniper in his peripheral the build was almost the exact same as the old SRS99 but cut down its muzzle was half the length of its distant cousin and was easily foldable and mounted on the back.

"Of course I am." Jun said his smile showing in the voice has he used the scope to scan for the guards ready to open up when Carter gave the go. The two of them had been in this valley gathering all the intel they could and setting up the base to blow when the word was given, but of course they hadn't learned much of anything the grunts at this base seemed to be the outcasts sent there to guard a key staging area but weren't the most trustworthy as the leader of the base had on multiple occasions executed the guards for infringements on something. But of course, they didn't know what rules they broke to deserve execution, then again it wouldn't matter when the base was taken most would be imprisoned or die during the initial assault.

Hearing a hiss come over the comms Six stiffened when a voice broke through "This is Noble One to Nobles Three and Six, do you read?"

"We read you Noble One."

"Are you ready to execute?"

"We are ready to execute Noble One." Jun muttered adjusting his position ready to start taking targets he continued "Give the word and we'll blow the charges."

"The word is given, Noble One out." Carter said going radio silent and, in that moment, Jun chinned a control in his helmet and muttered the activation phrase, causing the base to erupt in orange flames as fireballs filled the air. Holes formed in the wall, towers blew, and debris rained down taking down guards and spreading the fire to the buildings surrounding the base. Chaos soon set in as guards froze staring at the fires unable to move due to the shock Jun was quick to pick them off starting with the ones who controlled the remaining spot lamps, they went down not even realizing what had happened.

As Six spotted the targets Jun took them down soon the wall was clear of targets as they fell back behind the wall or laid dead missing most of their skulls. Seeing the regiment breaching the walls Six made out the shape of MJOLNIR armor leaping up onto the walls and breaking into the base, hearing another hiss this time Kats voice came over the comm "Noble's Six and Three you read?"

"We read you Noble two." Six muttered keeping his eyes on the wall

"Good job at removing the hostiles, if you can adjust without being spotted do so and try to provide cover in the base."

"We can manage that Noble two." Six answered backing away from the edge followed by Jun he continued "We're heading to Bravo point, send acknowledgement when we've reached the point."

"Understood, Noble Two out." as soon as they radio went silent Six and Jun took to the sky silently flying through the clouds using them as cover to carefully make their way over to Bravo point. Which was the opposite side of the valley where a rigged sling was set up for them carefully camouflaged to look like the rock face, the angle would be able to allow the two SPARTANs to see behind the walls while also allowing Six to touch down into the base and join the others in the assault. Due to the assault though both armored figures were unnoticed by any of the combatants and had managed to get to Bravo with their anonymity still intact once Jun was strapped into the cliff and sniper trained into the courtyard scanning the area Jun said "You get down there Six and join the assault, I'll cover you."

"Understood." Six stated pushing off the cliff and dived down toward the battle, pulling out his rifle he set his sites on a small group of griffins that had allies pinned down.

(Below)

Ducking down again one of the G.R. soldiers let out a silent curse the G.C.P had them pinned the armored ponies calling themselves Noble had given them the job of securing the prison. It was unbelievable that they managed to get this far the base had been in enemy hands for the last year and a half, now they were inside the courtyard fighting for their lives while those armored monsters were charging ahead to take out the generals. Peeking over the cover the soldier noticed one of the G.C.P pulling back his arm eyes widening she was about to yell *CRACK*

Blood sprayed from the soldier holding the grenade his head whipping back as his body went limp dropping the explosive the enemies let out a shrill cry of alarm before a small fireball engulfed the group killing them. Staring ahead the G.R. soldier tried to figure out what had happened when an armored figure landed Infront of them sweeping a weapon over area making sure it was clear before it spoke "Noble Six designation Beta 3 1 2, you with the G.R ?"

"We are." a young griffin said looking around the battlefield caught off guard by the figure who only walked up to them scanning the area as he made his way over to them, gulping the leader asked "You here to help us?"

"Affirmative."

"Ok your boss Noble One told us to go liberate the prisoners," the griffin pointed to the west wing of the castle while she continued to explain "Most of them are our own."

"Most?"

"Yes, some are just civilians the G.C.P thinks are helping us."

"We secure the prison," Six said lining up behind the leader he looked around before he continued "But until you can confirm who's who we let no one out.

"What the hell, we let them out and they help us!!"

"Or you let out possible spies to infiltrate your group and report back to the G.C.P to let them know what happened here." Six stated as he fired his weapon killing two more G.C.P soldier causing their bodies to fall from the tower slamming into the ground with a wet crack. Staring down at the griffins they gave the soldier a nod and began to show him to the prison eliminating more G.C.P hostiles as they did. Once they were outside the prison they heard a voice giving out orders "KILL THEM ALL!!!" I DON'T WANT ANY SURVIVORS!!!"

Peeking around the corner Six saw the commander pointing at the prisoners as a few of the guards set up explosives around the jails, he had a mad look on his face as spit dribbled down his beak eyes blood shot and looking around widely. Backing away slowly Six turned to the group and whispered silently "He's about to kill the prisoners we have to hurry."

"What's the plan?"

"I'll go in first and take out the commander you three take out the guards."

"Understood."

"We move on three." Six said as they lined up on the sides of the entrance geared up and ready for the fight, shouldering his weapon Six began to count "One."

"Two."

"Three." and on the final number Six slammed into the door causing it to splinter and explode into the room followed by his allies, he sighted the irate commander and put a bullet between his eyes spraying brain and bone onto the wall behind him. While the group took care of the guards using their weapons which Six eyed quickly taking note they looked like the weapons used in WW1 of course designed for griffin use, seeing him eyeing the weapon the leader smirked and asked "You want one?"

Shaking his head Six motioned to his own weapon and said "This is more my speed."

"You think your team is taking out the generals now?" the youngest griffin asked as he looked to each of the prisoners making sure they were all still alive, looking at the young soldier Six's opaque visor made him uncomfortable as he couldn't see pony inside the helmet. Nodding his head Six motioned for them to leave the area while saying "Of course SPARTANs get the mission done."

(Near Command Center)

Ducking down Carter dodged another barrage of gun fire, both him and Jorge were providing a distraction so that Kat and Emile could flank the gunmen. Once the gunfire subsided Carter popped up and fired a few rounds in his direction, while Jorge fired his heavy machine gun letting loose a small stream of bullets chipping away at the wall they hid behind. Checking their six Carter noticed a couple of G.C.P. soldiers sneaking up on them pulling his AR up he let loose a burst of fire causing them to fall like marionettes who've had their strings cut sliding a couple feet. Hearing gunfire again Jorge asked "How much longer till there in position?"

"Have to be getting close Noble Five."

"Of course," Jorge said while firing a few more rounds into the wall while taking a couple himself he never flinched or wavered keeping up the heat he sent a longer burst towards the gun fire while continuing "Ok so we think the generals are up there?"

"Yes, Jun's been watching the skies and after the prison is secured Six will patrol them."

"So, they don't have anywhere to go?"

"Not necessarily," Carter muttered looking toward the ground he gave a small shake while saying "Commander Light Feather took a small squad into some underground tunnels and their doing a sweep."

"Why weren't we informed about this?"

"Apparently she didn't feel the need to tell me UNTIL she went down into them." Carter said but before he continued, he noticed a lack of returning fire. Peeking over the cover he noticed Kats turquoise colored helmet looking down at them before giving him a nod, nodding back he turned to Jorge pointed his hoof to the distance nodding his head the two SPARTANs continued their advance. The resistance from G.C.P soldiers was tapering off but there were still a few hold outs that believed they could win.

Reaching the command center Carter saw Emile had just finished setting up breach charges on a heavy wood door, looking back toward the commander he spoke over TEAMCOM "Saw at least three retreat into here sir, the stone makes it difficult to make out how many are dug in."

"Then check your ammo and go in expecting at least a dozen." Carter said as he marched toward the door checking his ammo seeing he only had three bullets, ejecting the magazine he placed a fresh one into the slot. Looking to the others he got a confirming nod that they were all ready to breach pointing to the door he said "Noble Two and Four you line up on the left me and Jorge will take the right side, standard entry I go first and will clear center to right, Noble two you enter after me and go center to left, Four I want you to enter next and clear from the left to center and Five you do the same on the right."

"Sir." three voices said in unison as they lined up and took position by the door, once they were lined up and ready to go Carter looked to the door and whispered "We do this on my mark."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Mark." and as the word left his lips the charges blew inward sending pieces of wood, stone and metal flying into the room while creating a small cloud of smoke, bursting into the room Carter quickly sited at least ten hostiles in the room raising the rifle he fired three rounds center mass into the first target, quickly adjusting to the second his next three shots were slightly higher catching the griffin in the throat ripping it open and causing a spray of bright blood to cover its comrades, while the final griffin he charged into flattening him into the wall quite literally crushing his chest. Once Carter entered the room Kat followed right behind him aiming down the sites of her hoof cannon, a distant cousin to the SPARTAN hand cannon, and fired a single shot into the targe left of the one Carter eliminated blowing his head apart sending the left half of his cranium across the room, turning to the next one she saw this griffin was more decoratively dressed then the rest she put two rounds into the griffin one in the shoulder and the other through both wings. Next into the room was Emile taking in the situation he noted that Carter had already taken three and Kat two looking at his targets he saw three griffins trying to rush Kat and protect a very specific griffin, smiling in his helmet he drew his kukri and flung it at the nearest griffin sending the piece of metal spiraling at him for it to only imbed itself into his neck while also slicing down the center of his under beak bisecting it letting out a pained gurgle the body fell, turning to the next two he sighted his shotgun and fired twice killing both as the buckshot tore through them leaving massive holes in their torso. Finally Jorge entered the room sighting the final two targets they were the furthest from the group and were beginning to aim down their rifles when they noticed the massive SPARTAN standing before them, but they couldn't react in time or adjust as he fired his own weapon into them blasting them apart literally.

As the dust settled General Iron Tail stared up in horror and shock as four massive armored ponies eliminated his elite guard in a matter of seconds. Clutching a claw to his shoulder he tried to crawl away thinking about how they could do this Equestria had no military had no teeth! and they surely wouldn't be able to muster a force this ruthless in the years that the civil war was going on it was-"Where do you think your goin general?" a voice suddenly spoke as he was dragged back.

Being flipped over he came face to face with a terrifying demon screaming at him as his face was overlapped with that of a wraith, resisting the urge to beg and scream instead the general spoke with authority and patience "I simply was trying to get medical attention."

"Well I think that looks fine, don't you think so Noble Two?"

"Looking at it I'd be forced to agree." a female voice spoke from the turquoise one tilting her head she seemed to be thinking and after a moment spoke again "But then again I'm not an expert with this type of anatomy."

"Then if I must die for the G.C.P then I will." he snarled back at them his eyes full of fire sighing the demon backed away and walked towards the turquoise one while saying "Shouldn't be surprised by this."

Glaring at each of them General Iron Tail was ready to die for the cause he was one of the first to be recruited by Horus and helped him find those who viewed the Griffin Republic as an overreaching imperialist nation to become a free one. He managed to even turn a few more general decimating the G.R. command structure when the coup began three years ago, but the planning had been going on for nearly a decade. Everything was going on without a problem especially when Horus had struck a deal with the U.P.R and was getting shipments of unknown armor and weapons, but recently those shipments had almost stopped along with the quality of the weapons and armor being shipped to them. Now staring at these monsters Iron Tail wished he had equipped this base with those weapons and armor but Horus had countered that order stating "That base is a key to taking the rest of the nation, I see why you want to arm it to the teeth brother. But we must be patient the weapons are rare in our army and the armor just as so. To equip one base would be suicide so until we are ready to strike one will have to wait."

Laughing to himself Iron thought 'Horus you are always three steps ahead.' hearing the heavy foot falls of armored hooves he looked to see a cobalt blue pony step forward looking down at him. Iron was unable to see anything past the gold visor smirking up at the pony he asked "What can i help you with?"

"General we know we can't break you here but my team has been given two options," the pony stopped and seemed to kneel down over him next to him before continuing "Option One you come with us quietly and give us the intel we need about the G.C.P-"

"And option two?"

"We eliminate you and offer the same options to General Sharp Beak AFTER we show him your corpse."

Staring at the pony Iron Tail began to laugh while shaking his head he leaned back and spat a glob of blood onto the visor's reflective surface while shouting "I'LL NEVER BETRAY HORUS YOU BASTARDS!!! THE G.C.P. WILL LIBERATE OUR GREAT COUNTRY AND THEN WE'LL LIBERATE THIS WORLD FROM YOU EQUESTRIANS, SO KILL ME YOU PATHETIC IMPERIALIST SCUM!!"

Staring down at the general Carter knew this was going to be the answer but had hoped to at least bring both generals back as prisoners, but then again eliminating them would cause a power vacuum that should slow the G.C.P down even if it's only for a moment. Taking aim Carter fired a single round into the general's head killing him instantly he then began looking around the room and noticed an escape hatch Iron Tail and his team must have been guarding it......or about to escape down it when Noble had breached the tower. He knew Light Feather had gone below the castle and was searching the tunnels to see if any of the generals were escaping in them, cursing to himself he couldn't send all of noble down into them but he knew his best options turning he said "Ok Noble it looks like General Sharp Beak may have escaped into the tunnels Me and Noble Four will go down there and secure him while Noble Two and Five you finished securing the rest of the castle."

"Sir, what should we do if we find him up here?" Kat asked as she lined up by the exit keeping a lookout for any more hostile griffins looking at her Carter said "Activate the beacon Cortana gave us and get him out of here, capture or elimination are our options But only capture if you know none of our allies are near you."

"Understood sir," Kat said as she slipped out of the building while being followed by Jorge without even looking back she spoke one last time "Good hunting commander."

"You too." Carter returned while staring down the hole he took a breath and leapt into the abyss with Emile behind him a minute later.

(In the skies)

Scanning the skies Six wasn't finding many hostiles either due to the initial ground attack or the lack of respiratory protection none of the griffins seemed to be taking to the skies. Wheeling away from the north sector he began to head south again he hadn't seen or heard from Light Feather since the start of the operation, Carter had mention something about her going down into some escape tunnels. Zooming in on some fighting Six thought he would need to intervene but it looked to be some hold outs that couldn't hold out much longer as a grenade made its way into the bunker before blowing, hovering over the fight Six waited for a moment longer just to make sure everything was clear and after it was he continued the patrol. Hearing a soft chirp in his ear Six chinned a control in his helmet and heard sounds of gunfire then the voice of Light Feather broke through "This is commander Light Feather of Romeo squad, we have located General Sharp Beak and his guards: Repeat we have located General Sharp Beak and his guards!!"

Stopping the patrol Six quickly scanned the area trying to find any signs of fighting inside or outside the compound but couldn't find any sings of recent fighting. Chinning the control again Six spoke into the comm "This is Noble Six Commander where are you and your team? Over."

"We are about a kilometer outside the castle," the voice spoke but was cut off by more gunfire for a moment she gave out orders before resuming the call "The tunnel system only had one way out and we place a choke point around it........we just didn't think about the weaponry they would use."

"Weaponry?" Six asked taking a moment he opened a one-way signal to Jun, Kat and Jorge while giving them a discrete heads up to his plan he began to speak directly to Light Feather "Commander is this the supposed weaponry we've been hearing about?"

"Yes, at least two individuals are using them.........didn't realize it till they killed my mean."

"Fire a flare commander and I'll head that way with back up." Six stated already heading south to exit the smoke and get a clear line for the flare, after a moment a red fire shot into the air climbing above the trees before arcing down seeing the location of the flare Six marked the area and forwarded it to the rest of Noble before speaking again "I'm heading to you now Commander DO NOT fire on anything air borne."

"Understood lieutenant." the commander said before going comm silent sighing to himself Six flexed his wings and shot forward going as fast as he could to the battlefield while checking his ammo reserves not much left, but if he could get his hands on one of those weapons, this could add a feather into the hat the SPARTANs were already building with the Equestrian government.

Once he was a hundred meters out Six dropped below the tree line and began to hoof it to the battle, as he got closer he saw the flashing of lights from the gunfire. Slowing down Six leveled his rifle and began to take a flanking position near the fight doing his best to get a clear line of sight on the enemies, once in position he began to analyze the fight Commander Light Wing was hunkered down behind some stones pushed into place with three of her men. The squad was barely hanging all around were the deceased bodies of their comrades, but coming from the tunnel system was a steady stream of fire for a moment Six thought she had lied to him when suddenly a beam of energy shot out of the tunnel melting a portion of the rock while familiar blue plasma peppered the rock. At that moment Six double checked to make sure he had recorded that and he had, quickly activating his comm Six connected to Light Feather "I'm in position commander and ready."

"If your ready start firing."

"Negative, I have a plan."

"Am I going to like this plan?"

"No."

(General Sharp Beak)

Peaking from behind his cover the general aimed his weapon and fired a beam at the rocks the traitors were hiding behind, scowling to himself he couldn't help but wonder how such a simple meeting could go wrong. Today his niece should have been back with information on a possible artifact in the Everfree and he was eagerly awaiting her return with Iron Tail, his niece had been a genius and had a theory of how to locate the relics. But Horus and their U.P.R were skeptical about what she had suggested, so a deal had been struck if she found an relic of significance her project and team would be funded for the next five years, and Sharp Beak believed in her she was one of the sharpest minds in the G.C.P, the confidence she exuded only made him fight for the expedition harder. Sighing Sharp Beak looked to his subordinates they were the best and brightest of his command and had been training for the day they would storm the capital and relieve their so called president from the seat of power, now though he wasn't sure they would live to see the rising sun tomorrow looking from behind cover he noticed that the return fire had tapered off.

Smiling to himself Sharp Beak turned and began to move his talon in specific motions to his mean 'They must have run out of ammo, two of you will advance while we provide cover.'

Nodding their heads two guards' self-volunteered by tapping their chest plates nodding his head Sharp Beak planted his weapon on his cover and was about to fire when he saw Light Feather and her group take off into the sky quickly retreating. Seeing his men racing ahead he looked wide eyed at them and began to shout "GET BACK IN POSITION!!"

But as soon as they were out of the tunnel mouth multiple cracks sounded through the night and one by one his men quickly fell dead before they hit the ground, realizing what was about to happen Sharp Beak tossed his weapon out towards the bodies as close as he could get them before he retreated into the tunnels. Doing his best to get as far from the blast radius as he could flashing back he remembered the briefing Horus had given them when they were assigned those weapons "I want you all to inform your guards and elite teams that these weapons have spells attached to them that when their user perishes, they will blow up and take anything within a four-and-a-half-meter radius."

Skidding to a stop Sharp Beak watched as a bright light of green flashed and a small ball of energy blew up expanding till it swallowed everything in reach, but this was a fireball or anything else he had seen from modern weapons instead this seemed to just be magic like energy creating a perfect sphere before it collapsed upon itself in a large WHUMP leaving nothing behind besides glowing red rock perfectly smooth. Backing away he thought 'What on Equis have we gotten ourselves into?'

Now before the General Could form a new plan or even move he found himself going weightless and being slammed into a wall face and stomach first, letting out a groan he looked at his body to see a cobalt aura wrapped around it. Rolling his eyes he tried to struggle but found that he couldn't budge an inch, but he still could look outside the tunnel to see a large armored figure walking by the newly created crate eyeing it suspiciously it tapped the edge only to watch it crumble under the tap. Feeling a chuckle bubbling in his throat Sharp Beak let it out and after a moment he began to talk "So I take it you were trying to acquire our weapons?"

"Very astute General." a voice spoke from behind him as he felt a set of......armored hooves patting him down looking for any weapons he may have had, smiling to himself he continued "Yes well with relics like those it's not hard to imagine that our enemies wouldn't want them."

"What was the explosion?" the voice asked keeping his eyes on the crater Sharp Beak tried to shrug his shoulders but found he couldn't even do that thinking over his next words he said "Must be a failsafe they had built into them; my men haven't had something like this happen."

"Hmmmm well Iron Tail seemed to have another theory about that."

"Iron tail?"

"Yes, he turned real quick when he grabbed him earlier, gave up a lot of info to protect his hide."

"That a lie, Iron Tail was the one of the first to join Horus I doubt he would betray us!"

"That what you think."

"I know," the General snarled Iron Tail was the best he may not be the right hand of Horus, but he was one of the first to join him and had been crucial to turning many of the commanders and recruits. Scowling the general began to think when the voice continued "But then again if he didn't what do you think happened?"

"You eliminated him."

"Bingo."

"So is this my ultimatum? I take his spot as a traitor and you let me live."

"Something like that," the voice said slowly and after a moment a new voice began to speak out an all to familiar voice "My name is Violet Feather, I am the niece of General Sharp Beak of the G.C.P I have been dispatched on a crucial mission to obtain a relic......I uh I don't know what else to say."

"It's okay Ms. Feather," a kind female voice spoke her voice softer than silk and as smooth as a crystal hum the voice continued "What can you tell us?"

"I......I know that my parents are dead and my only family is Uncle Sharp Beak."

"What would you tell your Uncle if he were here?"

"I found the relic Uncle Sharp.......I found it and my science was right, I can't wait to show you and all the other relics found within it will help liberate us from everything, even this planet itself." his nieces voice stopped she sounded tired almost delirious feeling anger welling in his chest he snarled at the ponies and fought against the magic to no avail while shouting "My Niece what did you do to her!?!"

"Nothing General we've just been talking to her." the voice spoke softly as he was pulled from the wall and forced to the ground looking up at the voice he saw the pony talking to him wearing cobalt armor watching his back was another in dull grey armor cocking his head to the side it said "But if you were to......turn traitor as you kindly put it we could start talking to you instead of her."

"You bastards!!" fighting against the aura Sharp Beak tried his best but found his strength was leaving him, but he soon stopped when something was pressed to his skull feeling a bead of sweat going down his neck he stopped moving while the voice continued "But if you don't want to surrender yourself we'll put you down and continue to talk to your niece."

".......you promise to leave her alone if I come with you."

"I promise."

"Then take me." Sharp Beak snarled his voice slightly cracking as he said the words after a moment the pony placed something onto his neck and turned away. It didn't take long but Sharp Beak felt the familiar pull of a teleportation spell when his world warped and he found himself in a slate gray room, slowly standing up he took in his surroundings and after a few moment let out a howl of rage and punched the wall.

(Back at the Castle)

Looking at the spot where General Sharp Beak once sat Carter couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief, at least one thing had gone right with the mission capturing a high-ranking general would help open up options for the E.N.M (Equestria National Military) to move in when the time came. Plus, with the supposed elimination of Sharp Beak and Iron Tail the G.C.P's morale would be low, then again, the one failure of the mission stared at Carter in the form of a four-and-a-half-meter crater. Walking up to it Carter turned to Six and asked "What the hell happened Noble Six?"

"I don't know sir, individuals exited the tunnel system, and I neutralized them.........one of my bullets must have ricocheted and killed a hostile who was holding one of the relics."

"So a failsafe is built into them?"

"Must be because some.......explosion opened up engulfing the bodies and weapons."

"Explosion?"

"If I had to accurately describe it sir, it was more like the slipspace bomb explosion." Six stated looking down at the crater nodding his head Carter remembered watching the recording of said explosion he then turned to Six and said "Well at least you have the encounter recorded maybe we can gleam what the weapons look like."

"Yes sir." Six said looking up into the sky he saw Light Feather and her men returning landing beside the crater she stared at it before turning to the SPARTANs and asking "I take it you killed a relic user?"

"Accidentally."

"It's alright Lieutenant," the Commander looked down at the crater and shook her head while continuing "It's difficult to get our hands on those relics, their only handed to the best of their teams or the generals themselves if they even carry them."

"So, we won't be seeing those again for a while."

"Afraid not with the elimination of two of their generals Horus is sure to become paranoid and keep them close to his chest."

"I see." Carter mumbled to himself internally calculating the best ways to force Horus's hands so he brought them out and used them, turning away from the commander Carter looked around the forest and said "Commander Light Wing we need to start patrolling the perimeter and search for any escapees or G.C.P. hostiles who could report back to command."

"Right with you Noble One," Light Wing said pointing to her men she began to bark orders at them while Carter watched silently opening up TEAMCOM he said "Ok Noble start sweeping the area, we need to eliminate any survivors."

"Understood." five voices spoke in unison looking to Six and Emile Carter motioned for them to fan out so they could get started with the patrol, after all it was going to be a long night for everyone involved. But it was nothing that Noble couldn't handle and the griffins defiantly knew how to clear an area, as Carter marched into the forest he cast a final look at the crater and thought 'We need to figure what those weapons are.'

Chapter 11

(The Forge)

Sitting in a briefing room Noble team and Cortana were awaiting the arrival for the Princesses of Equestria along with their northern allies from the Crystal Empire Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza who were bringing their Eldest child Princess Flurry Heart who for the last five years had been training to be a general of the C.E.M (Crystal Empire Military). Looking ahead Carter didn't quite understand why Cortana had pushed for so many individuals into this meeting but then again Cortana was an individual who was playing a game far beyond even a SPARTANs scope thinking back she reminded him of Parangosky which was both terrifying and relieving. Hearing the soft click of the door all heads turned to see the group walk in Celestia at the lead followed by Luna then Twilight, after them a pink alicorn mare with followed she was wearing a lavender suit with a white blouse and pink tie her mane was a dark purple with pink and gold highlights her lavender eyes scanned over the SPARTANs before resting on Cortana. Next to her was a white unicorn stallion with dark blue mane and deep blue eyes that bore down onto Noble measuring them and trying to figure them out, he was wearing a formal military uniform with his left chest decorated with ribbons and medals. Finally, in walked a light pink alicorn mare her lavender and blue mane cut short and styled so it never fell into her eyes she also wore a formal military suit around the room she seemed to be looking for something but after a moment those eyes turned to Cortana and a small scowl dawned on her face.

Standing up Cortana cleared her throat and motioned for the ponies who had entered the room to take seats at the end of the table while she walked to the opposite side of them. As the ponies sat down Cortana prepared a projector aiming it at a wall parallel to them while also simultaneously casting a spell on the room cutting off any and all noise from the room so they could speak without the worry of eavesdropping. Once everything was prepared she began to speak "I see that all who've I've asked to join us are here today before I get into everything I'd Like to introduce Princess Candance, Prince Shining Armor and Princess-"

"General." The young mare cut Cortana keeping a cold glare her way sighing Cortana shifted and continued "Excuse me General Flurry Heart."

Motioning to Noble she quickly introduced them in succession starting with Carter and ending with Six, once that was out of the way she activated the projector and started a video showing the initial fighting motioning to the screen she spoke "As you can see Operation SUCKER PUNCH started without a hitch both Noble Three and Six managed to plant charges throughout the castle catching the guards off guard while providing over watch to make sure that Noble and the G.R forces could infiltrate and begin the initial attack."

Fast forwarding through the video Carter recognized his own helmet feed as the video arrived at the moment, they were about to breach the command center. Hitting play the group watched as Noble breached into the room and they watched up until Cortana paused the video after General Iron Tail was eliminated "As you can see Noble's One, Two, Four and Five managed to execute General Iron Tail, which was a slight disappointment BUT as you heard him say the G.C.P does plan to invade Equestria once they gained control of their country. "

"Besides that worrisome note, the other problem we now face and one I had hoped wouldn't be a problem. Intel has been passed onto Noble One who brought it to me, it seems that General Horus only passes out the advance weaponry he's been getting from the U.P.R. to specific Generals under his command who have strict orders to give it to their elite guard or their best operatives." Cortana hitting some controls the perspective switched to Six as he arrived to help Commander Light Feather and her team, pausing the video she did a screen grab showing both the mysterious projectiles both of which appeared energy base "Here is video evidence of said weapons being used against the G.R. forces we still don't have solid evidence that they are getting the weapons from the U.P.R. but we do now know they have these weapons. But we don't know the specific numbers and exactly how many teams or even regiments are equipped."

"So what about the weapons did Noble team recover any?" Shining finally spoke staring directly at the mare not flinching as she looked down at him.

"Unfortunately, our enemies aren't empty minded fools." hitting play again the group was show the self-destruction of one of the weapons destroying the bodies of the fallen, eyes going wide the group looked between each other concern evident in their eyes seeing this Cortana continued "We knew that this happened but not to this scale, so we will be careful in the future to only obtain the weapons when the holder has been incapacitated and searched."

"Searched?" Candance asked raising a quizzical eyebrow Cortana was about to speak when Kat suddenly cut her off "Yes searched, most agents like this will have a sort of failsafe to take their own lives."

"Noble Two is right, so I will now be equipping Noble with tranquilizers to put the target out of a fight just long enough to break the spell." Cortana explained keeping her tone even shaking her head she looked over the group gaging each of them and their reactions when nopony made any motions to speak she continued "Now onto the final matter on hand General Sharp Beak has been captured and my team has been interrogating him for the last five days."

As she spoke a video appeared on the wall showing a live video feed of Sharp Beak exercising in his cell seeing this Celestia scowled, she wasn't a fan of this new type of war Cortana was bringing to her doorstep but had little choice. Especially after the successful completion of SUCKER PUNCH taking a moment she finally spoke "What have we learned?"

"Nothing concrete," turning Cortan pulled up multiple images and files of different individuals and buildings before turning back "I've passed some intel onto the G.R. for verification but what General Sharp Beak has allowed us to gleam this is what the current military structure of Horus's military and government looks like."

Again, the screen changed showing a pyramid with Horus at the top and below him were eight more images and names nothing more. Walking up to the wall Cortana motioned to the individuals and began listing them off "First we have the right hand of Horus Colonel Grey Feather, next we have the left Colonel Vulture both are always with him and rarely leave his side unless explicitly ordered. Connected directly to Grey Feather is our own dear General Sharp Beak, but he still was left in the dark about much of what the top brass knew about."

"What he has gleaned for us is that General Iron Tail was on his way to be the third individual to enter that circle and become Colonel until we took him out. The reason I bring this up is because of these two griffins." highlighting their pictures in red a line formed on the grayed-out picture of Iron Tail while she continued to speak "General Grundel and General Ivory Talon were at odds with each other and Iron Tail about succession trying to undermine each other and gain favor with Horus. Sharp Beak theorizes that with Iron Tail out of the way the rivalry could intensify."

"Enough for them to make mistakes?" Shining asked placing his elbows onto the table as he leaned in smirking at him Cortana shrugged

"Maybe, Horus is a griffin that none of his followers want to betray or get on the wrong side of. Sharp Beak knows that they would simply pass off the blame of failure to each other or their subordinates once sabotaged."

"So, what do we do?"

"We stay on task and start mounting victories so Noble becomes a target."

"So, Noble will continue to infiltrate until they become a target for both generals?"

"Exactly, but that day may be a long way off." motioning to Noble Cortana frowned while saying "At the moment we need Noble to be boogeymen a tail that puts fear into the G.C.P. have them thinking that their everywhere and nowhere, well until Equestria is closer to being ready to officially join the fighting."

"Of course." Luna mumbled as she stared at the SPARTANs who had remained motionless for the entirety of the meeting so far even when Noble Two spoke up she hadn't moved or shown any emotion. Nodding her head Cortana highlighted the final four targets in yellow with connections to each of the generals Cortana said "These four are Commanders Half Wing, Black Beak, Raven Tail and Ocelot. Each of them is highly skilled and respected being deemed worthy to carry relics, Sharp Beak as stated that they would be called upon to fill the void left behind by both him and Sharp Beak BUT what he doesn't know is that Black Beak was assassinated a week ago by a G.R. strike squad. But G.R. command has informed us that no such mission had occurred due to Black Beaks unknown whereabouts, so I think a certain Griffin is trying to elevate themselves by taking out the competition."

"Do we know who?" Celestia asked as she looked between the three commanders

"We do not, the commanders do answer to the generals, but their assignments are classified and any one of them could have been paired with Black Beak when he was killed. But these seven are our VIPs if we see an opportunity to eliminate or capture them we immediately do so." pausing Cortana took a breath and rolled her neck before while she let the group digest all that they had heard, after a few minutes of nobody speaking Cortana spoke up again "So with that I will conclude this meeting and let Noble Team head back to Ponyville to resume guard duty and I believe the new company of guards is arriving to begin their training. I'd like to talk about that with you Celestia as we walk to greet them."

"Of course, Cortana." Celestia spoke as she stood to join her companion, while Noble filed out to find their way back to Ponyville. The others though seemed to stand by and wait for Celestia seeing this the solar monarch had smile grace her muzzle she softly spoke "It won't be long you all head back to Canterlot I'll be home shortly."

Nodding the group left watching them go Celestia turned and slowly followed Cortana out of the room heading to the massive auditorium where she would greet the 7th company of ponies to be trained here and would soon be informed about what the next six months of their life would look like for them. It saddened her that she was having to prepare for a war that seemed to be getting more and more complicated, but with Noble standing beside the E.N.M they would be fine and find hope on the battlefield knowing that.......super soldiers were leading the charge. Sighing Celestia stopped and looked out a window watching as the company who'd just finished their training filed out of the building, staring at them they were different their walk, their eyes, their entire being just different pausing Celestia was about to speak but Cortana beat her to it "I know this is a difficult time for you Celestia but this IS for the best."

"I know this, but it still hurts to see them like this."

"It always is," Cortana said walking up beside Celestia she stood with her watching the ponies filing onto a massive troop transport to head back home sighing she continued "And this is why I hate myself for asking you this."

"What are you about to ask me?"

"Celestia, you know how I've been taking small groups of ponies and giving them specialized training?"

"Yes, I've noticed this......why bring this up now?"

"I wish make an offer to those groups to give them Spec Ops training, I hope to recreate the ODST program from the UNSC along with the others."

"Spec ops training program?" Celestia slowly turned to Cortana seeing that her eyes never wavered from the ponies boarding her mind going blank Cortana continued "Yes but these programs will be offered to those who meet the requirements, it is something your ponies can turn down if they choose to."

"Why do you want to start one?"

"Because we need one." Cortana straightened up as she spoke her eyes seemingly lighting up with a fire she turned to Celestia

"Celestia, I have lived on this planet for eighty-five years and one thing I have seen is you ponies are like the humans I once lived and fought beside you have a drive to be the best of the best regardless of what it is in. Even your guards exhibited it during training always one team or platoon who stood apart from the rest of the pack and I want to encourage that with this project. I will offer them to come back here for more intensive training than before push them to their limits and forge them into something greater."

"You won't coerce them to join?"

"No, I planned on letting it slip through this battalion that was the future plan and see who contacted me. Or contact them directly to offer them a spot on the training roster."

"How many spots would you have?"

"Forty spots are going to be open every eight months, the training schedule would be two months longer for me to achieve the best results."

Sighing Celestia stared out the window watching as the final pony from the battalion entered the jet it didn't take long before the vehicle slowly rose into the sky turning as it did so it could head back home to Canterlot. Watching it go Celestia steeled herself for what she was about to say "I'll allow you to start the program Cortana."

"Thank y-"

"But tell me the truth," turning to her Celestia had a inferno in her eyes doing her best to melt Cortana cool exterior she asked "What other plans for the E.N.M do you have for the future? I would love to know what else you have hidden in that mind of yours."

Smirking Cortana was glad that Celestia was starting to catch up with her, slowly turning she decided maybe it was time to let her in on some of her plans for Equestrian military and the world as a whole. Before she walked away Cortana whispered "Let's talk to the company, and we'll talk."

(Ponyville 2 months later)

Walking through the streets Six and Emile were doing their usual ground route keeping a keen eye on the surrounding buildings and citizens as usual. Despite being gone for a little over a month the town was its usual peaceful self, after talking to the captain Noble had learned that a few of the citizens had come to file complaints due to their absence but other than that nothing of news had happened in their absence. The moles house was still under surveillance and nopony had been seen trying to sneak onto the property and even if they had made it into the house a series of traps designed subdue them would have been sprung allowing the local guards to capture them. Internally sighing Six thought back to the new faces that had joined the barracks recently almost immediately recognizing them as ponies from the fifth company, and with them joining the garrison Six knew that the E.N.M was halfway to being a full regiment.

Stopping both stallions looked ahead to see two of the elements of harmony Sunny Days and Silk Stitcher making their way towards them both smiling at them, today both mares were wearing gold sundresses. Most citizens back home, even here, they seemed to want to avoid the SPARTANs but then again, they were walking talking killing machines. As the mares reached them the mares looked them up and down as if trying to figure out where'd they had come from, staring down at the two mares they waited for them to initiate the conversation taking the hint Silk was the first to speak "It's so good to see you two again how have you been?"

"We've been good Silk." Six said giving her a small nod while looking around the perimeter making sure that none of the populace was trying to sneak up on the or showing a keen interest. Smiling a little uncomfortably Silk turned to Emile and said "Well i've been talking to my mother and she was telling me how Noble hasn't gone to her shop to cash in on her offer."

"Yeah, civies aren't exactly our style," Emile said as he shrugged his shoulders internally, he was rolling his eyes hard, since his inscription into the SPARTAN program Emile couldn't remember the last time he'd worn anything other than UNSC issued clothing turning back to Silk he continued "We don't have much time to ourselves to be in civilian clothes."

"Still why not try it out?" Silk said motioning to the crowd around her the two soldiers looked around seeing most of the ponies in town were wearing clothes while some were naked " The pony nation is starting to wear clothes and fashion is boooooming, soon the whole populace will be clothed and won't you want to be able to show your individuality?"

"Silk we're the most unique beings on this planet," Emile shot back puffing out his chest he gave it a good slap "I'm the baddest fucker in the next 100 miles...........well besides Six here."

"Nah you have me beat after that energy sword." Six stated giving his brother in arms a solid nod.

"Why thank you, but I digress, we don't have to worry about showing our individuality. All that matters is keeping up and being the best there ever was and ever will be."

"*SIGH* If you say so darling," Silk muttered but she knew this fight was going nowhere after all last weak Silk had done her best to drag Kat out on a filly's night out, only to have the supersoldier teleport her back to her dorm with a strongly worded stamped to her head. Sunny on the other hand was staring up at Six silently watching him a small smile tugging at her lips she whispered "Six how was the training?"

"It went well, showed the guards some new tricks." He answered plainly glancing down at the petite mare today she had her mane pulled back so both her eyes could be seen chuckling to herself she said "Well that's good, it can't be too exciting being back patrolling our quiet town."

"Its........ok."

"Well just don't work yourselves too hard," Sunny whispered reaching out she touched Sixes forearm looking down at the hoof, Sunny held it there for a moment before pulling it away suddenly feeling awkward. Turning to Emile Six motioned for them to continue on the patrol looking down at the fashionista Emile rolled his eyes and walked away, watching them leave Silk turned to Sunny and whispered "I saw that you know."

"It's not like that Silk," Sunny stated looking at her friend she held her eyes for a long moment before continuing "I'm just trying to be friendly, the only time we really see them is when their out on patrol."

"That is true darling." Silk sighed as she turned away from the departing SPARTANs making way toward their usual brunching spot, slowly turning to follow her Sunny kept her eyes on the two stallions before turning and following her friends. Turning to her friend Sunny decided to change the subject clearing her throat she said "So did you hear that Cortana is building a base on the moon?"

"Why yes I have, it's wonderful I can't believe that she's already planning to build something up there," looking up slightly Silk seemed to be looking for something while she continued "That mare has so many plans for future it's impossible to know what she'll be giving us next."

(Weapons Range)

Aiming down the sight of his rifle Carter fired the weapon into the distant targets hitting each target precisely, his groupings were tight and spread between the center mass and head. After a few more shots Carter ejected the spent magazine, put the safety on and shouldered the weapon turning he saw most of the range had stopped what they were doing to gawk at him. The weapons were introduced only a week ago and the only ponies allowed to use these weapons were the ones Cortana had trained to be Equestria's future military, ignoring their stares Carter began to walk inside heading to the armory to return his weapon. As he made his way to the armory Carter heard a young voice calling for him turning towards the voice he saw a young silver unicorn stallion running to him, his mane and tail were a bright blue and his green eyes held a particular spark Carter recognized of green recruits approaching him to ask about how to join with the SPARTANs. Coming to a stop Carter waited for the young stallion to catch up, skidding to a stop he took a few gulps of air before being able to speak "Commander Carter sir, if you have a moment I'd like to talk to you about something."

"What's this about private?" Carter turned giving the stallion his attention

"Sir, since you seem to know Cortana I just wanted to know if you've heard the rumors of her looking to train more elite soldiers."

"I have."

"Have you heard about any opportunities to apply? or a recruitment campaign?"

"I'm sorry to say I haven't," Carter answered giving a small shake of his head he continued "But I'm sure if you talk to the Captain he could point you in the right direction."

"I planned to do just that sir," the private said puffing his chest up a bit Carter looked at the name tag Dust Grappler after a moment Dust continued "Sir, the next time you meet Cortana put in a word for me I'll be heading to Captain Shields office."

Turning away the stallion rushed off heading straight to the captain's office watching him go Carter thought back to the training, remembering many of the teams they fought against during training and one of the few teams to stand out was Timberwolf. Particularly a young stallion named Dust Grappler who stood apart from his squad with daring moves and a determination that reminded him of the ODST's back home, and maybe that's why Cortana is aiming to recreate that program along with a few more. Taking a moment Carter had to respect Cortana's gut instinct allowing for a few parcels of information to leak out between the barracks saying that she planned on offering spots for select individuals to become special forces and that each class only had a class size of forty.

Carter had a sneaking suspicion that sooner or later there would be Helljumper's walking around the barracks at some point, looking to show up the SPARTANs again......hopefully the relationship would be healthier than it was back home. Slowly walking to the armory, he deposited his rifle and began to make his way back to the barracks, at the moment Kat and Jun were helping the G.R. disable certain supply lines of the G.C.P. to catch the attention of either the commanders or generals. Rumor had it since Noble started taking them out the G.C.P. started to roll back and strengthen their hardpoints. Chuckling at the thought Carter remembered how just last month he and Jorge had ambushed a caravan of troops delivering supplies to a garrison that the G.R. were performing guerilla attacks on. That was until Carter and Jorge blew the whole caravan up ending any possible resupply that could have helped turn the tide and end the attacks, but before they left Jorge and Carter were able to learn where the caravan had come from. But Cortana wanted better confirmation, so she sent Kat and Jun in after them to help finish the garrison off and to push deeper into enemy territory, hoping to find the exact location of the possible base or factory that they were coming out of.

The shadow war had been going on for the last couple months and was like any black ops slow and deliberate. Since the first deployment to capture The Endless Stone base the SPARTANs had only been deployed three more times, and each time it was intel collecting or caravan sabotaging. Horus had focused solely on defense since the G.C.P. had lost that base and his defense was admirable the G.R. couldn't even dent some of the garrisons or bases one recent attack only ended in the deaths of almost and entire platoon of G.R. troops due to it being a trap, according to the only survivor the soldiers had been using the weapons from the starts and killed his whole platoon. Horus had been shuffling those Griffins around each base randomly, Noble and the G.R. had no idea when or where they were, but the young was able to ID the griffins who led the group commanders Half Wing and a freshly promoted Glaze. Both were ruthless in the assaults they led against the G.R. leaving no survivors. Pausing in his walk Carter thought 'We need to take them off the board before more is lost.' looking over his shoulder he noticed a couple of ponies making their way to the captains office he shook his head before moving past them heading to the showers.

(An Unknown Location )

Cortana had done so much during her time on Equis doing anything and everything possible to prepare the world for when they ventured out into the starts. Now Celestia had approached her trying to gleam more of what Cortana was keeping from her and the other rulers, so Cortana did just that. First she brought Celestia to a research base she had constructed thirty-eight years ago and gave her a small tour explaining that the base has had been full staff of nearly fifteen hundred ponies for the last twenty years. As the tour continued Cortana guided the princess to a large viewing port that stared out onto SIX UNSC warships that have been and hidden on the dark side of the moon. It took Celestia nearly an hour to calm down before she demanded why Cortana built them and how she managed to keep so many ponies quiet about it smirking Cortana explained "Each of the ships took time to build but of course due to me still having the processing power of an A.I. and an alicorns magic. Building them ships was child's play and I did build them one at a time so I wouldn't make any mistakes, they've only been operational for the last decade and staffed for the last six years."

Staring at the ships Celestia was awestruck by their size.......just one of those ships could hold the world hostage keeping them all under Cortana's hoof. Looking around Celestia saw all the ponies milling around talking about projects and deadlines like this was a normal day and that warships weren't floating before their very eyes. Taking a breath Celestia demanded to know more about the ships, sighing Cortana stated that she had made one phoenix class support ship, two valiant-class super-heavy cruisers, and three Paris-class heavy frigates. Each of those ships were ready for war and only operated by the most trusted of naval officers. Just recently they had sent on of the valiant-class cruisers to the edge of the galaxy testing the new slip space engines, the ships name was Unto the Breach and the test had been a success with the ship jumping to and from the furthest planet without a hitch. Staring at the ship Celestia asked one of the many burning questions she had "Are their more?"

"There is another ship being constructed as we speak," turning away from the window Cortana motioned for Celestia to follow and she did slowly "This ship on the other hand is being built by the ponies staffed here. the schematics I have given them is for a Orion-Class Assault Carrier. The construction started about five years ago and is projected to finish in the next year, after which they will move on and construct a different ship class."

"You are only building them one at a time?"

"Yes, the ships are massive and I don't have the staff to build more than one at a time."

"But your automated systems-"

"Can only do so much," Cortana stopped outside a door looking into to sensor it scanned her eyes before a green light beeped and the door slowly slid open "And those systems are already busy building ferries and liners to help push your world into the stars and beyond."

"........what?" Celestia whispered her eyes going wide as she crossed the threshold to stare at a massive hologram of multiple planets hovering around the room and above them was a massive glass ceiling that allowed the two alicorns to stare unto billions of stars with billions of opportunities. Looking at them Celestia counted three worlds each of them green and blue with white clouds floating across them, stopping before one of the planets Cortana spoke "Yes that has been my plan for the last fifty years, develop this worlds technology guide you all to the stars and help branch out to hundreds of worlds. I don't care about power, money or even leading ..........I care about survival, I care about growing, and I care about the future."

"I see that now" Celestia muttered looking down at her own hooves deep in thought taking a breath Celestia asked "Do you think the Covenant exists in this universe?"

"YES, I do and you have to believe that they do." Cortana growled glaring up and out of the window a glare forming into her eyes she continued "The Cataclysm is proof of that a massive space battle took place over this planet and from the writing and drawings I believe that the Covenant had fought another alien species above us fifty thousand years ago and wiped them out."

"But why leave us alone, why not wipe us out?"

"I don't know, the best theory I have is that the world went undetected due to the intensity of the battle that took place. But I can't be sure about that the only thing is that if they are real and they do exist we will be ready and the war they try to wage on us will be one they soon regret."

Sighing Celestia placed a hoof on Cortana's shoulder and looked deep into her eyes before saying "Let's first defeat the U.P.R. and G.C.P. before looking to start a war with aliens, if you don't mind." chuckling Cortana stood and motioned for Celestia to join her after all she had one more item of business to show her to help with preparing for the war. Igniting her horn Cortana teleported Celestia and herself some coffee taking it from Cortana's magical grasp Celestia gave the beverage a small sip and hummed in delight from the taste.

Sitting down behind her desk Cortana tapped her console and brought up a small hologram of Equis and the two began to talk about the next moves they should take to push further into G.C.P. territory a recent report from Kat and Jun stated that they had taken out more caravans and found messengers who carried messages demanding to know exactly why the garrisons were failing at finding and exterminating the so called 'wendigos' that were attacking them. But that message had been sent by one Commander Half Wing, and Kat had a theory about where the next SPARTAN attack should be aimed.

Chapter 12 Author's Note

I know I'm late on doing this, but I have decided to include the average heights of ponies and griffons. Reason being is I couldn't really decide scale so I basically decided this at random.
The average height of a pony and griffon is about 3.5-4ft tall from hoof to shoulder.
Alicorns are around 6.5-7.5ft tall hoof to shoulder. Celestia being the tallest and Flurry being the shortest.
Jorge stands around 5ft 10
Carter 5 ft 6
Kat 5ft 4
Emile 5 ft 6
Six 5 ft 6
Jun 5 ft 5

Chapter 12

(Seven months later)
(Unknown Location)

"IT HAS BEEN 6 MONTHS !!!!" a voice screeched causing glass around the table to shake almost shattering at the high octaves it had managed to reach, staring down at each of the commanders Colonel Vulture his steel gray eye boring into them as he towered over them. Vulture was a massive Griffen in stature standing at around 4ft 8in tall he was a mixture of muscle and fat that towered over most griffons, his feathers were dark grey, and he had a short bushy beard of feathers. Pointing a claw at his commanders two young griffons dressed in gray and red formal military attire the griffon on the right was grey and red griffon with his feathers styled into a mohawk his eyes were the color of whiskey and were staring down into the stone, next to him was a beige and brown griffon who had short and professionally styled feathers his eyes were a deep emerald Vulture snarled "You lot have been trying your damnedest to replace Iron Tail but you can't even manage to deliver MESSAGES!"

Lowering their heads further Half Wings and Glaze's head almost were touching the ground, gritting their beaks they did their best to not to make any excuses to Colonel Vulture but were finding it difficult. He had been getting their reports mysteriously disappearing caravans' whole squads of the best troops disappearing while on patrol, and rumors of massive armored ponies chewing through them and leaving almost no survivors. Even now Half Wing could only bow despite the plan he had it just needed time to reach its target both Colonel Vulture and Horus were in the dark about it, but once it was executed Iron Tails spot would be Half Wings. Despite this Horus had pulled back almost all the weapons the U.P.R. had gifted them stating "Until we can either identify when and where these.......Wendigos attack I want the weapons to be moved constantly and randomly. From this point on only I will know where, when and how these weapons will be moved." closing his eyes Half Wing thought 'Good thing me and Glaze managed to acquire it before the embargo.' clenching a claw so tightly Half Wing began to bleed.

Slamming a fist down Vulture was getting close to finishing his rant Glaze could feel it but they only had to endure his ranting a little longer. Glaze and Half Wing had been doing wonders for the G.C.P. with their assaults on G.R. strong holds, they were the reason for the capture of The Endless Stone and without them the G.R. would have broken the line and had invaded the capital months ago. The Wendigos were doing so much to undermine the entire G.C.P. disrupting troops, supplies, and communications every time the G.C.P. seemed to get be getting an edge they would appear destroying everything in their path for them only to disappear without a trace. To take over General Iron Tails spot Glaze would have to kill and bring in the corpses for Horus to inspect then Glaze would be the next General........he had to be Horus needed more stable leaders by his side, and the rant that Vulture was on only proved it more and more. Grinding his forehead against the stone Glaze began to construct a plan to find and execute the Wendigos.

"NOW I WANT YOU*CLICK*" stopping mid rant Vultures eyes whipped forward ready to tear a new one to whoever had decided to interrupt him only for his word to catch in his throat for a moment before he hoarily squawked "Lord Horus."

Immediately stiffening Half Wing and Glaze dared not rise unless order watching out of the corners of their eyes, they saw Horus slowly past his metal covered claws clicking as he passed. The metal covering said claws was made from an unknown material that the U.P.R. had gifted them the best smiths and scientist the G.C.P. had couldn't figure out anything about the material, only just recently did they discover how to melt and mold the metals into weapons and armor. Stopping next to them Horus spoke his voice deep and reverberating "Colonel Vulture how goes the war effort?"

"I am just reprimanding my subordinates.......for failing at the only mission they have."

"I see," pausing it seemed Horus was thinking but both Half Wing and Glaze could feel his lords gaze passing over them the weight was like a mountain passing over them the voice continued "How goes this reprimanding?"

"I was just finishing my lord."

"Then I shall take over," the claws moved toward Vultures spot clicking softly on the metal as he moved Horus raised a claw placing it on Vultures shoulder he said "Why don't you rest old friend and join Colonel Grey Feather tomorrow to plan the next move for the G.C.P."

"Yes, my lord." as the words left his mouth Colonel Vulture took his leave once the door clicked shut signaling his presence were gone both Half Wing and Glaze dared not move for fear of angering their lord. For an eternity the room was silent but Horus spoke cutting into it like a knife through warm butter "Stand and face me I do not wish to talk to your backs."

Slowly rising both Griffons looked up at Horus they'd seen him on T.V.'s, Posters, books, and banners all over the country. Horus was one of the few Griffons in the world whose head and wings resembled a Hawks perfectly his body was a deep gold, but his eyes were a deep indigo. Staring down at each of them they both were not ready for his next words "I know of each of your plans despite best efforts to keep them from me.........and I approve."

"My lord?" Half Wing croaked and eyes widening in shock he couldn't believe what he'd heard, daring to look at Glaze from the corner of his eye he saw the griffon had the same awestruck expression as his.

"Of course, the G.C.P., Equestria, the Crystal Empire and even our so called allies the U.P.R. are all enemies and Imperialist that wish to only control the weak. Your plans will help us show the world just how serious we are about ending their rules and freeing the world, Half Wing I have helped guide your project to reach its goal quicker I approve of your choices. Glaze you will be sent on a top secret mission with the Bloodied Shield once we are alone I will inform you what that mission will be." starting to pace Horus had a proud look on his face as he looked up at the wall of their base he let out a small chuckle before continuing "To say I am proud of your initiative to move forward and try to gain my approval is admirable, despite your failings you still are sharp as ever. Half Wing and Glaze what I have to say next will alter your lives beyond measure if these missions succeed."

Pausing Horus had approached a window and looked out onto a bustling base with air ships slowly rising or falling each carrying loyal G.C.P. fighters slowly turning back Horus continued "You two will be promoted to the rank of General I believe both of you have the potential to push the G.R. to break.......and sometimes it takes you yougins to push us older birds to work harder."

Letting out a small chuckle at his joke Horus looked down at each of the commanders only to see them with shocked looks adorning both their faces. Sighing Horus motioned for Half Wing to excuse himself and the young commander did slowly standing he turned made his way out of the room, once the door was shut and Horus was sure the young commander had left Horus motioned for Glaze to stand and come closer. Doing so Glaze moved slowly as if his body was stuck in syrup the effort, he was putting into his movements was intense, finding himself next to Horus the Lord looked down at him and smiled while saying "I know my news is shocking to the both of you, but I need you to shape up I can't be repeating myself with this mission."

"YES MY LORD!" Glaze snapped up his spine straightening up and eyes locking onto Horus's nodding his head approvingly he turned away and began to walk to the middle of the room once there he dropped his voice to a whisper "Now what I am about to tell you is only known by me and five of the best individuals in the Bloodied Shields once I tell you that number will go up to seven. This information is highly confidential and if you speak of this you will be tried for treason and publicly executed do you understand."

"I understand my lord." Glaze whispered his voice taking on a slight edge whatever this was could be a game changer for the G.C.P. and with the Bloodied Shield taking part in it further proved it.

"Good both your mission and Half Wings will bloody the G.R. and teach a valuable lesson to the ponies of Equestria, even if those pretentious elites think we believe their lies about those Wendigos not being their soldiers." Horus placed a claw on Glazes shoulder looking him deep in his eyes he said "Half Wing will strike fear into the G.R. and you will strike fear into Equestria."

"How sir?"

"Allow me to explain just how you will manage to do all this." Horus said standing to his full 5ft 2 height towering over the smaller griffon his grey and red uniform which gleamed with a rainbow of ribbons and medals the lord had a burning fire in his eyes that seemed to ignite the fire in Glazes heart.

(3 weeks later)
(Griffon Republic Port City)

Running through the streets a group of college students were spending their spring break traveling with a large group of about ten ponies. Among these ponies were Cherry Blossom, Wild Eye and Orchid taking a quick selfie in front of one of the griffon saints, sending it to Silk on her cell phone Cherry turned to her friends and said "It sucks that Silk and Cloud couldn't make the trip."

"Well you know how serious they have to take their schooling and work," Wild Eye said as he turned eyeing a couple of female griffons as they sauntered by before continuing "I mean they are national heroes and the foals of some too, so they can't just drop everything last minute to join use on a globe hoping trip."

"That and the whole G.C.P. terrorist just north of us too." Orchid muttered as she rolled her eyes scoffing at her both Cherry and Wild waved their hooves before Wild spoke "We're in the south end of the G.R. the furthest place from the front lines."

"You really think that stops terrorist?"

"Well................yes?"

"This is ridiculous If I had fucking known this is where we were going I would have declined."

"Oh cmon what are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that the G.C.P. will do another bombing run on of the cities at random like they've been doing for the last few weeks, I'm afraid we'll get abducted and tortured, and I'm terrified we'll get caught between some kind of fire fight between them and the G.R."

".......shit I'm sorry I-I didn't realize." Wild Eye said his ears pinning back and his eyes finding the ground very interesting, taking a step forward Cherry set a hoof on her sister's shoulder and took over the conversation "Orchid what if we leave tomorrow then, would that make you feel better."

"No, we've only been here a few hours," taking the hoof into hers Orchid took a deep breath ", lets just have some safe fun."

"Of course, now how about we try one of those Griffon cafes. I hear they are on par with even Prance cafes, let put that to the test, shall we?"

"I believe we should." Orchid stated a smile adorning her face as she looked at her before they both burst into a fit of laughter. Shaking his head Wild Eye began to follow the two sisters toward the cafe, the group was a mixture of athletes and academics all friendly with each other in one form or another. But the goal of the trip was to make the most of their spring break and have fun before going back to school and the hum drum of Ponyville, making as many memories as possible the group split apart each going their separate ways into the city to take in sights, food, and experiences. But soon the day was coming to an end and the ponies began to meet back at their hotel one group at a time, telling stories about what they'd done that day and the fun they'd had.

Laughter and stories flowed through the night as the friends began order drinks and food, the day soon bled into night and the cities night life began to rise out of their beds either going to work or out to enjoy the night life that Port City offered. Giggling and leaning back in his chair Wild Eye looked around the hotel's dining area seeing Griffons and Ponies each enjoying the food and atmosphere with their own friends or family, sighing Wild pushed his chair back and said "Alright everypony I'm going to hit the hay, see you all in the morning."

"Good night." a chorus of voices called back to him as the young stallion went up to his room, once he arrived Wild went through his nightly preparations before tucking himself into bed. Feeling the days events catching up to him Wild's eyes slid shut and his mind slowly blacked out fading into a deep dream filled with his hopes and dreams for the future.

*BRRRR* *BRRRRRR* Snapping awake Wild turned around franticly looking for where the noise was coming from that's when he noticed the banging on the door. Making his way over to it Wild swung the door open staring at a frantic Orchid and Cherry blossom seeing that they were still in their pajamas grabbing the stallion the two mares began to drag the stallion away from his room still tired and confused Wild asked "What's going on? Why are the two of you acting so crazy?"

"Wild the G.C.P. just destroyed Humabird the entire city has been wiped off the face of Equis." Orchid hissed fear dripping heavily from her voice as she pulled him along franticly looking back and forth. Humabird was just south of Port City only fifteen miles from Equestria's border, shaking off his grogginess Wild's adrenaline was starting to kick in and he needed a lot less help from the girls as he also stated to race beside them. Taking a deep breath Wild finally asked the question that was on his mind "When the fuck did that happen?"

"Two hours ago !!!" Cherry said pushing open a door they soon began to race down the stairwell making their way towards the lobby, breathing heavily she panted out "Me and Orchid were watching the news when it broke live, they don't know how the G.C.P. managed to do it but they are taking credit!"

"The King and President are in talks with Equestria about shutting the border!" Orchid cut in leaping down and flared her wings to glide down the next set of stairs skipping two floors as she did. Following suit Cherry teleported behind her and Wild started to glid to, fear gripping his heart Wild screeched "Do we know how long we have before they shut the border down!?"

"No not even the news knows, the cities going crazy griffons are racing around and ponies are racing off." Cherry said looking behind her back at Wild she slid into the wall before getting a grip and continuing "The police are already patrolling but they don't seem to be getting a grip on a lot of-:

"STOP !!!!" a voice snarled stopping and looking behind them they saw a griffon stalking towards he wore a police uniform pointing to the three ponies he shouted "GET BACK TO YOUR ROOM! THE CITIES LOCKED DOWN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!"

"B-b-but sir-"

"BACK NOW," the griffon growled pointing a claw behind him his eyes cut deep into the younger ponies before hissing "Unless you three want to end up in a cell until the lock down is lifted."

"W-w-w-we-" Cherry started but couldn't get any words out before tears started to stream down her cheeks and her words were lost as she devolved into a sobbing mess. Seeing this the officer took a breath and raised a claw before saying "It will be safer if you foals stay in your room, I can tell your Equestrians the G.R. are on good terms with your government. I would trust they would get you home soon, its dangerous out there right now I'm just doing my job...........please return to your rooms."

Nodding their head the three soon began to drag themselves back up to their rooms as they passed the officer, he looked down at them given them each a sympathetic look, placing a claw on Cherry's shoulder he said, "I'm officer Gilded Wing.......If you three are ok with it I'll check on you later tonight."

"T-thank you sir." Cherry mumbled wiping her eyes as she slowly pulled away from the griffon sighing, he also turned and raced away going into a city gripped by fear and anger. He knew that his fellow griffons wouldn't stand for this, the recruitment offices would be overrun tomorrow with those ready to get revenge on those G.C.P. terrorist and liberate their country once and for all.

(One week later)
(Canterlot)

Staring at another video of the massive crater that once was a bustling city Celestia's heart felt torn she couldn't believe that the G.C.P. would go so far, but then again from after action report from Noble and the information that the G.R. was passing along she shouldn't have been surprised. But now Humabird a bustling city with two and a half million lives was gone a crater devoid of all life and any future it could have had, sighing she looked down at her hooves slowly mentally preparing herself for what she was about to announce to her own nation that she had planned to aid the G.R. nation and wished to go to war.............war something Equestria had not been part of in two thousand years something that each of the sisters wished to never take part in ever again. Taking a deep breath Celestia straightened her pristine white suit and exited her room seeing Luna and Twilight side by side, Luna wore a midnight blue suite while Twilight wore a lavender suit, looking up at her she gave them both a determined nod they followed her.

Making their way to a briefing room they soon came across Cortana standing with five fit looking ponies each wearing a formal uniform and sitting staright, slowing down Celestia motioned for Twilight and Luna to go ahead of her. Once they were gone Celestia looked down at all the ponies and small smile graced her lips before she speaking she gave a polite nod to the soldiers before turning to Cortana and speaking "Where's Noble team?"

"I have gone ahead and deployed them.......they are going to being striking the G.C.P. and bloodying their nose," Cortana stated her eyes taking on a steely look as she turned to the group, she was about to introduce them when Celestia interrupted "I thought we were going to officially introduce the world to the SPARTAN's show Equestria the super soldiers who'll be leading the charge."

Sighing Cortana stood up and placed a hoof onto Celestia's shoulder and in a calm voice she said "Then allow me to introduce you to Ultraviolet a recently created SPARTAN fireteam who've just finished training."

Eyes shooting wide Celestia felt her blood and magic boil and was ready to tear into the mare for creating SPARTANs for taking foals of her country and ripping them "Ma'am it's good to see you again." a husky female voice spoke stopping the anger Celestia turned to the mare who'd just spoken and slowly moved towards her "Quick Stop?"

"Yes ma'am." Quick stated sitting up straighter giving Celestia a determined look, Quick was one of the guards best ponies and the very first to go through the training to become an soldier of Equestria. Unlike other ponies her team had elected not to continue into the spec ops training but would round in and out of The Forge to help with training the new recruits, now that Celestia's attention was firmly on the ponies she recognized each and everypony before her. All were adults and had been in the guards for years their ages ranged from mid-twenties to mid-thirties, taking a breath Celestia turned to Cortana and asked failing to hide some anger "How did they become SPARTAN's?"

"They had undergone the surgeries ten months ago, training lasted up until two months ago and so far there are only two other fireteams including Ultraviolet. The other two teams are still being shaped up their training should be finished in the next month, But I know that not what you wanted to hear." Cortana took a breath and turned to the ponies and motioned for them to also push ahead nodding their heads the turned to Celestia, now she saw them the scars which mirrored the exact ones Noble bore as they left Cortana continued "I did not want to wait any longer than I had to, so I went ahead and made some SPARTAN's. They went under Augmentations a few months after the arrival of Noble..........I purposely pit those I thought would be exceptional choices against Noble, and once they got a taste and demanded on how to be better I made the offer to them. With advances in medicine and technology the SPARTAN augmentation procedures were easy to replicate here and with the help of magic.........well these ponies are a whole different breed."

"But why keep this from me?"

"Why not," Cortana sneered while she slowly began to pace back and forth looking down at her hooves before continuing "I couldn't take the risk of you shooting down the project before it even got off the ground and I have plans to turn more fireteams into SPARTANs but with what you already knew about the SPARTAN project from my universe I had a good idea that you wouldn't let me continue."

"But these were consenting adults not foals..................as much as it pains me to say this I would have allowed you to continue with the project."

"But I could not take that chance, Celestia I know what I'm doing. I know what needs to be done to win this war, and to win it we need SPARTAN's and we need them now."

"How many more teams do you have chosen?"

"With how small the numbers are," Cortan chewed the bottom of her lip taking a breath she looked up at Celestia and said "Only two more teams at the moment, we're only on the ninth company of troops being trained."

"Do you have-"

"YES, the program will not be something you can just jump into only the best of the best will be chosen. The one failing I saw with the S-IV program was it chose Individuals but with this program I am choosing whole teams those who I have put through hell and pushed to their very limits. Those that rose above and beyond were chosen and given the option to join the SPARTAN's

"How many individuals will we have if those next two teams choose to join?"

"In total there are fifteen active SPARTAN's not including Noble with the next two teams it will bring it up to twenty three. But I have not approached them just yet, I do think by the end of next year with us announcing us joining the war that number can double."

"Ok, but I need to know and I want the truth Cortana."

"Of course."

"Have you recreated the S-II program or the S-III program?"

"No, I have not." Cortana said her voice not even wavering as she spoke, looking into her eyes Celestia searched for any sign of deception from Cortana seeing none Celestia sighed a smile tugging at her lips she asked "Will you be joining us for the announcement?"

"Sadly no, I am helping some of your military leaders gear up for our assault on the G.C.P. we have a few ideas for our invasion."

"Will you be using your ships?"

"No, my gut is telling me we need to keep them under wraps and a secret until absolutely necessary."

"I agree, now I must be off to break the news to the nation." Celestia stated turning she began to leave but before she got to far away Cortana called out "Celestia I added a file of Ultraviolet's training, lets show the world my SPARTAN's"

Smiling to herself Celestia made her way towards a massive set of doors where Ultraviolet was waiting for her as she arrived Quick spoke first "Don't worry your highness everything will go great."

(Unknown location)

Sitting in the odd ship as it flew them across the country Glaze looked around the troop bay packed with twenty Bloodied Shield elite soldiers, each wearing the mysterious armor gifted to them by the U.P.R. along with each of them being equipped with the same weapons Horus had stockpiled. Rolling his shoulders Glaze couldn't get used to the harness equipped to him and the strange hum it generated, checking the weapon again it was a different one than he was used to using instead of being shaped like a C this it was more like a horseshoe, and it was a deep blue color with a pattern that glowed a faint sky blue while a few of the troopers carried longer ones that were a dull silver they hummed with a soft green glow. Feeling someone tap his shoulder he looked up seeing one of the senior Shields looking at him he spoke "Sir the pilot says we'll be arriving in two minutes."

"Alright," Glaze whispered licking his beak he looked around the cabin seeing that all eyes were on him, nodding his head Glaze put as much authority behind his voice as he could "We have our orders from Lord Horus, this base is to be destroyed and any information we can learn about it must be taken back to our mother country. It is close enough to our border that we think this is the base the Wendigos are being trained and deployed from, once we land on the ground we split apart into four griffon fireteams and we kill any and all personal before blowing the base. Lord Horus is counting on us, DO YOU PLAN ON LETTING HIM DOWN!"

"SIR NO SIR!!" the cabin echoed with a chorus of griffons ready to invade Tartarus and take it for the G.C.P. nodding his head Glaze continued "I know your seasoned veterans but remember when we deploy go silent, I don't want to hear a peep from anyone of you. If you do know this I will personally execute you."

Not one griffon spoke during the talk enough time had passed for the pilot to speak up over a comm system and said "Twenty seconds out, you G.C.P. soldiers better get the job done!" ignoring the jab from the U.P.R. pilot the Bloodied Shields checked weapons and armor before turning to the hatches. Once they silently slid open the griffons filed out gliding to the ground without making a sound as they landed. Being the last to exit Glaze looked off into the distance towards multiple structures glaring at them he couldn't wait to light the place on fire and end all those who'd had a hand in creating the Wendigos jumping out he made his way to the ground and landed, seeing that the last fireteam had created a perimeter he turned to them and made a few motions "Move up and keep your eyes open."

Nodding the group began to make their way through the forest it was midnight so no one should be up or moving besides the night guards. But Glaze had ordered the pilot to drop them off two miles away from the base each team before the landing had been given specific instructions by Glaze, they would each split off and infiltrate from different sites. Not one team knew where the others were infiltrating, they all knew where extraction was of course, but Glaze knew not all of them would make it out alive, scanning the environment Glaze noticed how quiet the forest was............something was off they were only halfway to the base. So Glaze looked to the others and held up a claw and waved them towards himself, closing ranks they scanned the area around themselves after a moment Glaze made a few motions 'Keep your heads on a swivel, I've got a bad feeling about this.'

Nodding their heads, the group readied themselves and their rifles scanning the area for any type of hostile activity. As the group moved through the forest, they soon noticed buildings in the distance, good they were getting closer to the base and soon would strike a blow to Equestria sending a message that not even they were safe from the G.C.P.

But Glaze couldn't shake the feeling they were being stalked like rabbits being hunted by a bob cat, but they'd just reached the edge of the forest and the base was now clearly visible to the group. Turning to the team he saw three of them setting up a perimeter while the fourth sidled beside Glaze. Noticing they were near a large ditch Glaze and the other griffon dropped to their bellies and crawled to the edge, once they were in position both pulled out binoculars zoomed in on the base. Slowly scanning the area Glaze saw training areas, bench's, firing ranges, and obstacle course's. Turning to the structures he tried looking at each of them doing his best to discern which ones were armory, classrooms, infirmary, or administration. Sighing Glaze pulled the binoculars off his face and sighed before his team mate got his attention and made a few motions "What building do we hit first?"

"Let's hit the closest one to us and make our way in further." Glaze motioned turning to the griffon he saw him about to answer when suddenly a quiet cough filled the air and the griffons body shimmered with a silver energy. Feeling the impacts also on his back Glaze grabbed the griffon rolled forward over the edge into the ditch and looked over the edge of the ditch trying to find where the fire seeing small muzzle flashes in the distance.

The rear guards had taken cover behind some trees which seemed to be getting chipped away from by the incoming fire, which they happily returned when given the opportunity cursing to himself silently Glaze thought 'The missions a bust they know we're here.' pulling the upon up Glaze fired to the last know location where he saw a flash. Suddenly a voice whispered to his right "Sir we're blown, we need to move into the base now!"

Without moving taking his gaze off the battle Glaze sighed and slid down into the ditch while staring at the team member, he knew that he was risking death, but Glaze saw his point muted speak only worked when infiltrating in the middle of a fire fight it was useless. Grinding his beak Glaze looked to him and asked, "Do you have the explosives?"

"Yes, I do." the griffon said an edge locked into his voice as he shifted his shoulders, almost all the Bloodied Shields had special explosive that their scientists had just created in the last four months. It was a grayish past like substance that could be adhered to any surface and with enough of it you could level entire buildings, and they had planned to plant the entire complex with enough of the stuff to turn it into a parking lot. Glaze took his own satchel off and handed it to the griffon while saying "We'll cover you, drop this onto any buildings and activate the timer."

Nodding his head, the griffon turned and was about to take to the sky when Glaze slapped a claw onto his shoulder while hissing "Only move when we start returning fire."

It Didn't take long for the light coughing to start again chipping away at the trees and dirt Glaze and his griffons waited for it to subside. The intermittent fire made it difficult to guess just how many ponies were attacking them, but glaze had a theory that there were at least four to five individuals firing on them and soon they'd be dead maybe even injured if Glaze wanted a prisoner to drag back home.....but then again a corpse would be just as good a gift to Horus as a live Wendigo. Taking a deep breath Glaze raised his weapon and opened up on the grouping of trees he last saw a muzzle flash at, while the other three griffons each chose a grouping of trees and reduced them to a pile of ash. As soon as they opened fired the griffon beside Glaze took off as fast as he could heading straight for the compound, targeting the buildings close enough to them he planned on dropping the packs off onto the roof tops it would be better for them to be planted inside but considering the circumstances the soldier wanted to do damage. As he approached the first building, he was about to drop the first load when-*CRACK*

Looking over his shoulder Glaze saw the griffon plummeting from the sky towards the building landing atop it, after a heartbeat a bright green sphere appeared on the rooftop consuming the body and weapons it carried. Getting down low Glaze chewed the inside of his beak looking for where the shot came from but couldn't find any signs of the shooter, a clod of dirt blew apart near his head rolling to the left and further into the ditch Glaze thought 'Just how many of these freaks are their!' popping back out he fired into the forest again this time blindly firing in all directions hoping he would hit something anything that was a pony. But his sporadic fire was cut short as a shot glanced off his shoulder the shimmering shield failed and punched its way down to the armor forcing him to his back and knocking the wind out of him, letting out a groan he looked down at the shoulder seeing the armor had taken most of the impact. Forcing himself up he turned to his men again seeing that there cover was almost gone, looking to him Glaze called out "Fall back I'll cover you."

Nodding their heads two of the three griffons began to fire covering fire along with Glaze who was firing from the ditch, laying back down they waited a few moments before popping back up and firing again for the next griffon could join and the process was repeated once for till all three griffons were hiding in the ditch. Catching his breath Glaze spoke up in a harsh whisper "We are ditching the muted speak, they have a sniper somewhere I don't know where."

"We heard the shot, their close if we heard the sound and the body fell as quickly as it did." one of the shields growled as he checked the weapon trying to figure out the strange symbols on his rifle, they were flashing now all the G.C.P. elites knew that the weapons were about to run out of ammunition......whatever the hell that was.

"Sir we don't have time for this they have us cut off." a griffon behind Glaze spoke up as he returned fire to the ponies in the forest as he dropped back down, he looked out into the compound he eyes taking on a glassy look he whispered "Those things are herding us into the compound, sir I think we need to activate the failsafe's."

"Dammit Chipped Claw your losing it," the griffon who'd spoke earlier growled out pulling himself up over the lip and firing a short burst into the forest he didn't take his eye of the forest saying "Why would those things push us into the compound!"

Glaze had to agree why would they push them further into their own base, but neither group knew the others motives at this time. Everything was speculation but Glaze knew what needed to be done turning to the griffons around him Glaze snarled "Activate the failsafe's we can't-"

*THUD* Hearing something land in the dirt next to them the griffons turned to see a small round object the size of small orange. Eyes going wide they all began to scramble away when it blew apart creating a small orange ball of light while shrapnel blew through the griffons, the explosion sent each of the griffons flying in different directions in Chipped Claws case he was scattered in a radius the only thing left of him were chunks of meat, bone, and blood. With his ears ringing Glaze tried to force himself to his feet only for a heavy metal hoof to plant itself on his back turning to look up at the pony he saw a Wendigo where the heavy assault armor they were known to wear. But this one was different its armor was a dull orange with gray outlining its armor and helmet didn't match any of the ones seen on the others opening his beak Glaze was about to speak when it brought its hoof down knocking him out.

Looking over the bodies of the griffons the ponies grabbed each of them and vacated the area, speaking over the radio the lead pony said "This is Ursa Team, we have captured three griffons alive all teams report in."

Chapter 13

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Part 2: Chapter 1

(Berb City, Prance)
(August 17, 1025)
(Day 285 of the G.W.)

Racing through the battlefield Six and Emile ducked behind cover as machine gun fire cut above them chipping away at the wall behind them, looking to Emile Six pulled a grenade off his chest and showed it to the other SPARTAN who nodded towards him. Throwing the grenade over the cover it arced towards the emplacement and after a moment a loud thump was heard along with screaming, racing over the cover Emile charged the bunked while Six provided cover taking care of any enemy combatants who wanted to try taking the SPARTAN out. Only seeing one U.P.R. solider making their way over he quickly dispatched them a small spray of bone, brain and blood erupted from the introduced foreign material, speaking over TEAMCOM Six said "How we looking Emile?"

"We're clear here Six, nothing walking out of that bunker." Emile answered back while Six could hear him rummaging around possibly looking for intel or orders as to what they were guarding, the number of forces embedded into the area signaled that they had found something important so Cortana answered with two SPARTAN fire teams the first being Noble and the second Ultraviolet.

Touching down outside the city both teams entered from the north and south slowly making their way towards the center as an assault by the U.W.M. created a distraction for the two teams to enter. Both had two sets of orders the first was to gather any and all intel on what the axis forces were looking for and the second was to either deny the asset by any means necessary and the fighting only seemed to intensify as they moved further and further in. Which lead to Carter ordering Noble to break into teams of two and spread out to force their opponents to divide their own forces trying to stop their advancement, now the two SPARTANs were moving forward with Emile suggesting that they should place explosives on many of the barricades with delayed timers creating even more confusion for their enemies.

Checking his H.U.D. Six saw they were getting closer to the objective sliding behind cover Six and Emile checked their weapons and their supplies. They had plenty of ammunition for the fight ahead but due to them planting the explosives the two of them were a little lighter than they would have like to be, rolling his shoulders Emile hefted his shotgun and looked towards the shared waypoint he said "So how close do you think Ultraviolet and the rest of Noble are?"

"Have to be as close as we are," Six stated looking over the cover slightly he managed to catch a glimpse of a truck racing off with at least a dozen soldiers seeing this Six pointed it out "At least the military is giving them a run for their money."

"Ha with the forces Cortana managed to build in these last six months I'm surprised the wars still goin on."

"Well considering they managed to gather forces around the globe and made them attack at the same time and day."

"Got me there," Emile muttered back remembering that day barely a month after the creation of the A.C.E. a surprise attack was launched five nations and multiple small militia groups attacked together driving the world into chaos, Cortana immediately ordered the E.N.M. to join the fight and buy some time while all active SPARTAN fire teams were sent deep into enemy territory to help create pockets of resistance and undermine the attacking militaries it took nearly three months to even get a foothold going but they managed to do it. This then lead Cortana's creation of the U.W.M. comprising all the nations of A.C.E. military personnel.

"So, what do you think they've found to commit so many soldiers to a single area?" Emile asked looking around the area before motioning for them to start moving again, silently follow Six mulled the thought over these types of actions took him back to the Covenant war when they would dig into areas like ticks not letting anything get close to whatever forerunner object, they were digging up but all Six could say "They more than likely found another ship or something."

"God damn that's insane just how big was that fight they had here?"

Six wondered the same thing it seemed that there were thousands of ships, weapons and supplies littered across the face of the planet, most of which seemed to already have been claimed by the U.P.R. but then again, they had known about the alien technology far longer than the rest of the planet. Noticing three soldiers sneaking up on them Six took aim and fired killing them instantly once he could confirm they wouldn't be getting back up the SPARTAN turned back to the original direction he was moving in, picking up the pace the two soldiers began to close in on their targets now being only a stone's throw away from it. Finding some cover Six turned to Emile and said "See if you can reach anyone on TEAMCOM I'll scout ahead and plant some distractions."

"Hit'em hard Six." Emile said as he hunkered down and began to check to see if Noble or Ultraviolet were close, without even looking back Six kept to the shadows and began to make his way deeper into the excavation zone. Eyeing key points to plant the explosives and with what little he was carrying he would need to pick the most opportune ones, so making his way through the burnt-out buildings or past massive piles of rubble that could have been a bombed building or just rubble ripped out of the hole they'd been digging.

Stopping at one point Six found himself staring at a small depot full of equipment mostly the type for scanning deep underground and then digging out whatever it is they were looking for. Eyeing the depot Six debated whether he should stop by and plant his surprises but decided that it would be best to keep that depot intact to gather whatever information it did have on the object that they were attempting to recover. Sneaking past a few guards Six planted explosives on one of the transport trucks that was sitting idle, after a few minutes TEAMCOM chirped at him chinning the control he said "Six here, I'm closer to the excavation site."

"That's good to hear Noble Six," Carter spoke his voice coming in crystal clear almost as if he were standing next to Six, looking around Six was about to ask their position when Carter cut in "We're all in position Quick Stop and Ultraviolet are raring to go, but we're waiting on you. Let us know when you're close."

"Yes sir," Six answered back looking around he saw no guards near him continued at his pace making noticing the increase in security and guards moving through the area Six was careful as who he'd eliminated and where he planted the explosives doing his best not to raise any alarms. Noticing a building just high enough to be a good vantage point. Climbing the tower Six could easily looked out into the land scape, immediately recognizing the excavation site he zoomed in on the site scanning for any signs of what they could be pulling out of the hole Six couldn't see much due to the dust and poor angle into the hole.

Chinning a control Six began to transmit live video to both Carter and Quick Stop scanning the area he narrated for them "Unfortunately I am unable to see what they are trying to pull out of the hole, the dust is too thick. Which is good it means their either still digging towards the object or still trying to pull it out the site, I also managed to set up a number of explosives around the controlled area to act as a distraction."

"So once we begin our assault, you'll set off the explosives?" Quick Stops' husky voice spoke over the COMM taking a moment to adjust his view Six caught site of some ponies pulling out what appeared to be pulling out some type of metal zooming in on it he said "You give the word and I'll set off the explosives."

"Roger Six," Carter answered taking a moment he went off the COMM before returning a single moment later "Ultraviolet, this is Noble One Noble team is moving in now we should be reaching the center in three minutes."

"We hear you Noble One this is Ultraviolet One, Ultraviolet will be coming in too. We'll see you in three minutes. " Quick Stop said before signing off shaking his head Six adjusted his rifle into a more comfortable position he chinned a control in his helmet and triggered the signal before setting the explosion off taking a breath Six heard Carter say "Blow those explosives Noble Six, we're moving in."

Chinning the control Six blew the bombs and in moments the camp was devolved into chaos with hundreds of ponies running around putting out fires and trying their best to save whatever or whoever they could. Taking his time Six picked off certain soldiers that were far off enough that them dropping would go unnoticed after a few more shots the SPARTAN moved positions dropping down, it seemed that one the transports he had placed a charge on was close to the site as the flaming wreckage rolled through the camp setting multiple tents ablaze and running over a few soldiers as it went by before crashing into building causing it to crumble and bury the vehicle. Hearing more shouting coming from the south Six thought 'Looks like Ultraviolet arrived.' moving towards the hole the SPARTAN was nearing the edge when the gunfire intensified realizing that Noble and Ultraviolet were getting closer, he jumped down into the excavation landing almost silently Six scanned the area looking for any signs of U.P.R. soldiers or scientists before he started down the tunnel.

Only making it a few yards into the tunnel the SPARTAN quickly found a group of five ponies wearing disheveled and dirt covered clothing huddled together staring at him in fear. Stopping adjacent to them Six did his best to move out of sight in case any enemies were to appear he then spoke over his voice emitter "Are you ok?"

"Qu'est-ce que vous avez dit?" one spoke in a female voice realizing he would need to put his translation software to use the MJOLNIR armor quickly acted on the thought and activated said software and Six spoke again "Are you ok?"

"Yez we are," the mare spoke again this time slightly shocked looking over the group she stood in front of them all and with a pleading look asked "Are you here to liberate us?"

"Yes," Six answered slowly walking up to the ponies sighing in relief the mare sat back down a small smile coming to her muzzle as tears rolled down her cheeks ignoring them Six asked "Can you tell me if you have seen anything noteworthy, have you seen what they were digging for?"

"No, they had uz mostly moving the rubble out of the excavation area any poniez that went into the hole...........they never came out alive."

Nodding in understanding Six remembered how a few days ago the SPARTAN fireteams had found a few mass graves of civilians who'd shown signs of being used as slave labor. Turning away from them Six glanced down the tunnel making sure that nopony was sneaking up on him as he conversed with the captured ponies, glancing over his shoulder also Six stated "Stay here and do not move, more SPARTANs are on the way."

The groups eyes went wide with recognition of the name in the recent months with the creation of the U.W.M. and the start of the war, Cortana immediately began recruiting for the SPARTAN program from the various militaries that made up the U.W.M. so the pool of candidates was significantly larger than when it was just Equestria. Still the numbers were not what one would have hoped for towards the end of the year Cortana estimated that the fighting force would be at max seventy to eighty active SPARTAN's. Right now, the active fighting force was around forty and the newer recruits were still undergoing either augmentation or training and when they would join the fight was a mystery to anyone on the front lines. But nonetheless this program was not a secret to be kept from the populace instead it was shown to the known populace for the entire globe to witness and cheer them on as they protected the weak and fought for peace.

Stepping away from the group Six booked it down the passage making his way down into the darkness he activated his Infrared as he noted that no lights were active, and the tunnel was pitch black like a moonless night. Slowing his pace after a few minutes Six began to look down the sights of his rifle taking care not to make any unnecessary noise that would attract attention from whoever was down here. It was doubtful that the U.P.R. wouldn't have any guards in the tunnel system. Hearing some muffled arguing Six hunched down and pressed his side into the wall trying to create as small of a target as he possibly could seeing at least three heat signatures he doubled the number and stopped moving almost becoming statue like as he did while he tried to home in on the conversation "Sir we can't move the relic it's impossible, we can't even get it to activate."

"Damn those Wendigo bastards and that bitch Cortana," a different voice snarled turning to his right he shouted orders at some of his men before he continued "Ever since she formed that Allied Countries of Equis they've been hindering our plans and forcing us to move earlier than we wanted........but nonetheless we will succeed and conqueror this wretched planet."

"Now get ready for a fight I want to hold those Wendigos here as long as possible we cannot allow them to even look upon the relic." with the final order given the ponies raced out of Six's view more than likely laying in wait for an ambush, patting his side Six felt for his flashbangs and finding he had two left silently cursing, Six soon noticed two blips on his radar and they were friendlies hitting his COMM he whispered "This is Noble Six to Noble and Ultraviolet I have eyes on a cavern they appear to have found one of those relics, hold before entering into the cavern the U.P.R. has set up an ambush and has more than likely rigged the relic to blow."

"We read you Noble Six this is SPARTAN's Quick Stop and Round House coming behind you," Quick Stop answered her voice coming in hot and brimming with energy, leaning away from the wall slightly Six tried to get an angle to which he could see the enemies best when Quick Stop asked "So what are we dealing with Noble Six?"

"Ma'am I've only seen three hostiles, but I can only assume that the number is double that. I have at least two flashbangs that I can toss ahead of our assault, but I can't tell what positions they could have taken around the exit."

"Understood," Quick Stop muttered as she checked over her rifle looking her over out of the corner of his eye Six noted that Quick Stop's MJOLNIR consisted of an Operator helmet, both pauldrons were GUNGNIR, attached to her forearms were UA/BRACER's and her knee pads were GUNGNIR she had no chest attachment and armor coloration was a deep crimson with gray highlights looking back at him Quick Stop snarked "You like the armor?"

Six couldn't help but marvel at Cortana's work with advancing the technology for the species advancing them so far that they could probably go toe to toe with the UNSC or maybe even the Covenant if they existed her. Eyeing the armor he couldn't help but note how the armor differed from his own armor it wasn't the standard MJOLNIR Mark V(B) instead Cortana named their armor system MJOLNIR Mark I(P) stating that the pony armor was original and designed specifically with them in mind so the chest was a more barrel shape while the fusion pack had two raised areas over the shoulder blades and the back was slightly shorter than the humans turned ponies own fusion pack(Think Mark VII). Cortana also explained that there were exactly three variations of the armor for Pegasi, Earth and Unicorns and that they each were made and designed to maximize the effectiveness of their users. Quick Stop herself was wearing the Pegasi variation at the very moment.

"It's good, but I prefer my own." Six said back in a plain tone snickering to herself Quick Stop looked behind her to see Round House making his way towards them, following her gaze Six eyed the incoming unicorn also examining that armor. His MJOLNIR consisted of a Mirage helmet, a Recon Pauldron on the left shoulder and a UA/BASE Security on the right, his chest was TAC/Paradise Rig, the coloration of his armor was a dark orange with indigo highlights. Stopping before them he spoke over TEAMCOM "Ma'am the Civilians have been escorted out of the tunnel system they should be heading towards the cleared area we set up."

"Good we have some work to do anyways." Quick Stop stated catching their comrade up to speed about what was awaiting them in the cavern, nodding his head he quickly checked his ammo and readied his AR for the coming fight.

"Here's the plan we have two flashbangs Six is gonna toss them on my mark and blind those bastards as soon as they go off we move in and I want Six to go left, Round you'll go right, and I'll go down the middle. Understood?"

"Ma'am." Both SPARTANs answered simultaneously readying their own weapons stepping to the front Quick Step aimed down her sights and held up on of her wings after a moment she whipped it down. Taking that as the go sign Six Flung both his flashbangs ahead sending one to the left and right of the cavern entrance, after a moment they went off with a *BAM*

As soon as they heard that sound the super soldiers charged into the cavern locking onto the enemy combatants they began to terminate them, Six started on the left counting at least two individuals trying their best to blink away the spots clouding their vision only to have their lives ended in a moment when he fired into them catching the first in his throat shattering his spine and ripping open his carotid artery spraying bright red blood along the wall, the second had a bullet drilled through his left eye which took off a descent chunk of his head. Round House on the other hand had three individuals and instead of aiming properly he simply moved his Assault rifle in an arc spraying them full of bullets causing said ponies to fall to the ground with only one of them managing to fire his rifle uselessly into the cavern ceiling.

Quick Stop tore down the center concentrating on the three in front of her quickly firing her rifle she shot the first two ponies between their eyes snapping their heads back and spraying the third one with their blood, wheeling away in fear he tried to escape towards the relic only to trip over boxes he had forgotten about and couldn't see clearly due to the flash bangs effect. Trying to push himself as quickly as possible he quickly found himself under Quick Stops armored hoof which pushed him into the ground keeping him still, she jammed her rifle to the back of his skull while saying "Don't move or I help you join your friends."

Sitting stock still the pony didn't even breathe knowing full well the timers for the bombs would be going off soon enough all he had to do was by himself some time and they would all be buried together, looking around he found the other two Wendigos walking up to the relic slowly taking it in the one in orange armor let out a small whistle and said "This ain't like those other ships at all."

"We can examine it later; they have explosives rigged around here we need to disarm them." the gray armored Wendigo stated looking around he paused a few times before he pointed to multiple areas stating "They set up four in the ceiling at these points. I can disable them, but you'll need to check the ship and the ground area."

Nodding in confirmation the orange one quickly raced around the area looking for said explosives while the other took to the ceiling. Gawking at them the U.P.R. pony was horrified that they had managed to find them so fast they were demons plucked right out of Tartarus, looking up at his captor he snarled "You abominations don't know the powers you-"

"Your entire country has been stealing ancient alien technology that had crash landed on this planet during The Cataclysm and has been calling them relics and treasures. Treating the stuff like it was given to you by the gods themselves, we know more than you do about said technology and its users."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!!" the pony screeched his eyes going wide he looked around the room with a crazed look while a gleeful smile came to his face he continued in a crazed tone "SOON WE WILL JOIN THE STARS AND BRING ABOUT A NEW AGE, WE WILL FINISH WHAT THE RELICS MASTERS COULD NOT AND BEGIN THE GREAT JOURNEY!"

At that Quick Stop found herself pausing during the initiation into the SPARTAN program Cortana had taught them many things about her old universe besides just war. She taught them about the Forerunners, the Covenant, the UNSC and some monstrosity known as The Flood going into great detail about each of them and explaining what they were. But what she concentrated on most was the Covenant and Flood teaching them everything she knew about the enemy they could possibly meet once Equis ventured into the stars above. Now though hearing a pony screaming about The Great Journey Quick Stop felt a ball of ice form in her stomach if these psychopaths made it off the planet, they'd doom every living in the entire universe all for a farce. Seeing two new blips on her radar Quick noted they were friendlies going onto TEAMCOM she said "State who you are, this is Ultraviolet One."

"This is Noble Four." Emile answered his voice coming over the channel annoyed.

"This is Ultraviolet Five." Fire Juggler answered she was the fifth member of Ultraviolet an earth pony who wore an EOD helmet(Reach Style), UA/MULTI THREAT pauldrons and an EXO/TSCS chest her armor was a muddy brown with no other coloration.

"Good," Quick Stop adjusted her hoof as she removed some restraints from her armor's compartments, she began to secure the prisoner while saying "We've managed to clear the whole cavern of any hostiles and are now disarming explosives. We have captured a relic and a commanding officer of the U.P.R. and to make this official it is confirmed that the U.P.R. has accessed the alien technologies information..........the commander has stated that the leadership wishes to complete The Great Journey."

"Well fuck us all." Emile said voicing all the individuals' thoughts with one simple sentence sighing Quick Stop picked the prisoner up and thought 'Agreed Noble Four'

(A.C.E. Council Chamber)
(Unities Embrace 11:00 hours)
(Orbiting Equis)

As the group of ponies finished watching the video rant of the captured commander a murmur soon followed and went around the chamber like a wave. Floating through the room were multiple cameras showing the world the meeting as the leaders talked amongst themselves, in total there were nine council members which included the leaders of The Pony Kingdom, Algokai, Pferdia, Prance, The Equine Union, Crystal Empire, The Pony Kingdom, Equestria and two new nations that joined two month ago. Said nations were The Griffin Republic and Galacian Kingdom, sitting in the center of it all was Cortana taking it all in for a moment before she used her magic to bang the gavel drawing everponies attention and quieting the chamber. Sitting up straight she took a breath and began to speak with complete authority and clear intition "So it's confirmed that the U.P.R. believes in the lies of The Covenant, this now explains why they have been working so hard to amass as many relics as they could as quickly as possible."

"Madam President this is madness what if they reach out to The Covenant and try to get them to come here!" Prances councilor spoke up and he leaned over his desk pointing a hoof directly at the screens floating around.

"My satellites have detected no transmissions leaving the system besides our own, we are safe for now. But this does bring up a worrying thought............just how many of the U.P.R.'s allies believe in the same religion as they do?"

As soon as the words left her lips a chill crept into the room licking her lips the Equestrian councilor spoke up softly "The Global War has been going on for about nine months now and it only seems to be spreading, Madam president isn't it about time we called in the warships to put an end to it?"

Outrage soon spread through the room with multiple voices yelling "THAT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!""THE WAR IS NOWHERE NEAR EQUESTRIA!""I WILL NOT ALLOW THOSE SHIPS NEAR MY COUNTRY WHILE CIVILIANS ARE WITHIN ITS BORDERS!" and the chamber soon divulged into a chaotic argument with each councilor throwing insults at each other scowling at them Cortana used her royal voice "ENOUGH!!!"

"We will not devolve like this within these chambers, each and every pony here is an equal and is allowed to voice their own opinion. With that being said those ships will not be used in this war, right now their standing orders are to patrol our system and intercept any NONE pony space craft." Cortana stated as she began to pace the room looking at each of the councilor as she passed, they didn't dare meet her gaze realizing how for fear of angering her further as she passed by them turning on her heel she continued "Our top concern right now is to secure the countries the U.P.R. and its allies have stationed themselves in and I am proud to say that as of today Prance and Pferdia have been liberated. With U.W.M. forces securing it's borders and helping with civilian aid they can soon start pressing into the axis powers nations stopping their own war machines."

"But what about the U.P.R.?" the griffins councilor asked eyeing Cortana sensing his anger the alicorn turned to the councilor looking deep into his eyes she remembered that as soon as the war started Horus and his military had abandoned everything fleeing towards the homeland of their allies.

"We will close in on them when the time is right, at the moment we need to only focus on clipping their wings and weaking their infrastructure so when we do invade, they have no aid and no allies they can call for help. I promise you that by the end of this war we will come out of it triumphant. So, a better future can be built!"

(Presidential Office)
(Unities Embrace, 14:00 hours)
(Orbiting Equis)

Walking into her office Cortana activated her magic scanning the room for any type of spy magic or electronic bugs, the sweep only took a few seconds and it had found the room to be clean. Cortana knew this of course Unities Embrace had the most thorough security measures along with the best staff in the known system, nopony could get on or off the station without being seen, heard, or detected by some type of magic, technology or individual. But Cortana could not be too careful the A.C.E. was in its literal infancy and had to be care for till its immediate enemies were dealt with, making her way over to the desk she sat down and activated her computer. After a moment the screen lit up looking through the screen she picked an email detailing the progress of Project: Oasis

Dear Madam President,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you are in good health, I am updating you on some key factors with the project. I will let you know they are not as bad as one would think but some of the problems are putting us behind schedule for terraforming Ore.

Just recently we have hit a snag with one of the Magic Plants and the reactor will not be able to go online for at least another two weeks maybe longer if any parts need to be replaced or retrofitted, it seems that the mixing of your nuclear power and our magic is much more potent than we originally thought. But Trig thinks that he's figured out a way around this problem and has sent his plans to you for evaluation, if this succeeds the reactors in the ships will be tinker toys when compared to each other.

Next the construction of the seventh ship Stars Above will be complete by the end of this week and she should be able to join the rotation to and from Reach, this ship has been upgraded with the experimental weapons system created by Solid Point and all tests show they are stable and running green as per your last request. The MAC gun can now fire a magic laced slug,

Next is I regret to inform you we have also lost one of the habitats to an accident during one of the sandstorms a crane was unable to retract in time and crushed the facility, five ponies were lost in the accident and at least seven are injured to the point they must be put into a medically induced coma. The doctors estimate that the longest they will be out is a month but it could be longer depending on how they react to the treatments,

Closing the email all I have to say is that the estimated time for us to begin terraforming has been pushed back at least three months, without the reactors we cannot activate the system and begin the terra forming process.

With Best regards Bronze Harvest

Reading over the email once more Cortana searched for Trig's own email pulling it up she read through his findings and suggestions silently nodding her head she agreed with his findings and that his calculations were good she double checked them just to be sure. Typing up her own response the alicorn fired off the email back to Trig allowing him to move forward with his plans along with authorization to move forward with any and all repairs needed to repair said reactor, once the email was sent Cortana's attention turned to another matter pulling up a video feed it showed a number of ponies moving along the hull of a ship with arcs of light being seen as they welded plates into place. Clicking through the feeds she eyed the ship seeing that it indeed appeared to be ready to launch into the stars any day now, just like the others the ships appearance was that of a UNSC warship specifically a Poseidon-Class Light Carrier.

The differences that came with this ship revolved around its reactor system, weapons, and computers system each designed to incorporate magic into its workings. Cortana had been approached by her senior staff a month into the designing of said carrier showing her plans they had come up with to weave magic into the ship, after listening to them for an hour Cortana gave the go ahead. Even after eighty-five years her knowledge of magical theories and the sciences the ponies had come up with it still eluded her, but many ponies were geniuses equivalent to the best scientists of the UNSC adding unto the fact that she now had international help from multiple nations her teams were making leaps and bounds in terms of construction, research, training, and much more. So, this ship was going to be the testing ground for magical technologies or what some ponies were calling magitech, this new technology was something that could give A.C.E. the much-needed edge it needed going out into space. The testing ground even showed the endless possibilities the ships engine was capable of burning hotter and for longer than any other engine, a new turret that fired magic laced bullets that could track and kill their targets (with the bonus of having elemental magic laced into them), and lastly was the MAC it still used massive magnets to launch a projectile at its target but by incorporating magic into the cannon allowed it to charge five times faster than its siblings and had enough of a cycling charge to fire a second time before needing to be recharged adding to this each projectile could be enchanted allowing it to have an elemental effect upon impact much like the new turrets.

Each new system had officially been named and the devices records entered into a system the engines were known as SOLARIS-LUMINAS Engine, the turrets were designated as MRT-007 but nicknamed "Jabberwock" finally was the MAC now with-it incorporating magic there were two variants of the weapon the MAC and MAC(M). But the newer system required skilled unicorns to weave spells into the shells to be fired any magically adept pony would charge them without the new reactors she couldn't be sure that they could charge the MAC(M) system efficiently so until further testing could be done Cortana would only install them onto key ships or at locations dubbed to be of strategical importance..........which meant that she would need to start constructing an orbital grid to protect the planet from any invaders. If she could get the greenlight from the senate and get them to start construction and installation of the MAC(M) system she would be a step ahead of the UNSC by having that system constructed and ready even before finding the covenant, which could lead to even more efficient versions being installed on all the future colonies they would be creating. Leaning back Cortana added that to the already mile long list of meetings, mission, and whatever else need to be done, sighing she thought 'I missed the days when all had to worry about was my company.'

Hearing a chime coming from her computer she looked down at the infernal system wanting to smash it but that quickly went away when she noticed the encryption level was from one of the SPARTAN teams, they wouldn't contact her directly unless they had found something of utmost importance. Quickly securing the line and triple checking its encryption she waited a moment before clicking another set of keys before opening the line which showed a live video feed of Noble Ones perspective clearing her throat she said "Noble One this is Leadership what has you contacting me with such urgency?"

"Ma'am sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing but," the video began to blur as Carter swiveled his head coming to a standstill Cortana was staring a slate gray ship with a seemingly brown finish, feeling her eyes go wide Cortana leaned forward as Carter continued to speak "I just wanted to inform you we have managed to get our hands on one of those unknown ships. The area is secured but we need a excavation team brought in to dig this thing out its stuck in deep."

"Have you managed to get into the ship at all Noble One?"

"Sadly, we have not best that we can tell is it crashed into the ground upside down and heat fused to the rocks," Carter then pointed along one of the possible wings of the ship the video zoomed in while he said "Our best guess is it was fighting something that used plasma those burns are something we're very familiar with."

"We'll need to do some testing to confirm that Noble One, but I agree with you." She muttered looking at the scorch marks that were spread across the wings and its underbelly, examining the marks she remembered the thousands of plasma burns and damages she had seen during her time working with The Chief.

"Agreed, but Noble Two's has been trying to find a maintenance hatch so she can splice into the system to see if we can get anything."

"How is that going so far?"

Turning slightly the video zoomed out and looked to the familiar armor of Kat who had her data pad out seemingly scanning the hull Carters voice spoke again "So far no luck, whoever or whatever built this thing is using a technique and technology we are unfamiliar with."

"Hmmmmm then we need to get it back to The Forge ASAP," turning away from the screen Cortana pulled up a document from her training staff smirking a bit she keyed up an order and sent it to them immediately calling for deployment speaking up she said "Noble One I will be sending a third team your way, they're designated Royal fireteam ETA will be nine hours."

"They get the all clear ma'am?"

"Yes, the document had been received an hour ago and I can't think of a better way to get them started."

"Agreed," the video feed began to move towards what could possibly be the front of the ship it paused "When can we expect the excavation equipment?"

"I've sent the order," seeing a new message pop up she read the information nodding her head ",it looks like the equipment will arrive is five hours I've also requested for the army to send you a company to reinforce the area. Just because the U.P.R. has pulled out of the country doesn't mean there aren't stragglers."

"Agreed and ma'am?"

"Yes, Noble One?"

"We have survivors at least five were found in the tunnel system and another sixteen in cages."

"So, we can confirm that the U.P.R. is using forced labor."

"Yes ma'am, all survivors have the same reports and also informed us that all ponies brought to the relic were executed."

"Those bastards.................*SIGH* Noble One follow protocol as soon as the platoon arrives."

"Of course, and ma'am?"

"Yes, Noble One?"

"We're doing good work out here don't be discouraged, plus if there was an election you would've had my vote." Carter stated chuckling a little bit Cortana said her sign off and cut the feed, leaning back she closed her eyes and took a moment to contemplate the small when they had just gotten by getting that ship. But no sooner had her eyes close Cortana felt heavy as she slipped off into a deeper sleep, dreaming of her days in the UNSC and the stars beyond.

(9 hours later)
(Excavation site, Berb City, Prance)
(Day 285 of the G.W.)

Watching as the ship circled overhead Carter and Quick Stop were making their way over to where it was landing seeing its ramp winding down the two commanders waited for the newly released SPARTAN team to exit. Making their way out Royal was a four pony fireteam all of them hailing from Prance now unlike some of the other teams it seems they decided to go with a uniform color all being the same dark gray and royal blue digital camo pattern with black shoulder pauldrons. Leading the team was Spartan Burnt Edges his armor consisted of a GUNGIR helmet, his chest an EXO/TSCS, both pauldrons were UA/Eferm, on each forarm he had SHOCKBRACE he didn't have utility and his knee pads were default. Next was his number two Petal Dancer a unicorn mare wearing a LECHUZA helmet, her chest attachment UTIL/Desert Patrol, her left shoulder was SAP/HAZOP and her right shoulder was SAP/MKV, the only wrist attachment she had on her right was a R-107 Scanman and her utility were four knives of different makes and models she loveling called Cut to the Quick,

Now the final two SPARTAN were siblings Briar and Thorn both were pegasi wearing the same armor their helmets were CAVALLINO, both shoulders UA/Gidos, and the utility chosen were Watsmil Ammo Pouched and the knee pads were UA/Type MR. Walking forward both Carter and Quick Stop noticed a number of ponies eyeing the new recruits stomping across the open terrain. With these four joining the front lines the number of SPARTANs on active duty just jumped to just twenty-seven active duty SPARTANs as they stood before their comrade in arms the leader spoke in a deep husky voice "Commanderz Quick Ztop and Carter it iz good to finally join you on the front linez."

"It's good to have you finally join us Burnt Edges," Carter stated motioning with his head for the group to follow they all began to walk towards the growing hole where the downed ship would soon be pulled from while he brought the team up to speed "I know you've been briefed on what we're pulling out of that hole but here's the rundown, leadership wants three teams of SPARTANs guarding and guiding this thing back to The Forge for study to figure out just what the hell it is and possibly who the hell built it. Your team Royal will be atop the ship itself in the cargo hold guarding it as your very first mission to knock some of that shine off your armor."

Some scoffs came from the team until Burnt Edges looked over his shoulder seemingly while clicking his teeth causing the group to go quiet, before turning back and offering an apology towards Carter nodding in appreciation the stallion continued "I know it's not the best mission to start off with but it is the most important one at this point, the U.P.R. has been stealing technology like this for far longer than anyone on this planet has realized. Once it's back Leadership will reassign you lot immediately to something................more SPARTAN like."

"Yes, so for now Royal you all need to treat this like it's a the most important mission of all time until otherwise ordered." Quick Stop added glancing over her shoulder to look at the team as they got closer to the edge. The group soon stopped and stared down at the now completely uncovered ship, it was around forty meters long, a height of eighteen meters and a width of an estimated twenty-two meters (but that was only speculated due to the ship missing one entire wing and half of the other) instead of the purplish hue of the alien technology that the enemies used this ship seemed to be a matte gray. A few ponies walked along the hull looking for secure points to attach anchors for the freighter to attach and lift the ship, looking for any signs of the others Royal scanned the area for their comrades until Quick Stop spoke "You won't find them, they've formed a perimeter around the sight, until we're ready to lift this thing they'll be setting traps and decoys for any enemies left in the area."

"Mmmmmm zo it iz true not all the enemiez have left theze landz." Briar growled looking across the decimated city streets now only seeing militarized ponies moving around getting ready to either lift off or to hold the ground. Nodding her head Quick Stop let the words hand in the air before motioning to the sit below she continued "We'll be moving this piece of technology in the next few hours, what Leadership order us to order you is simple Royal will be the final line of defense if the first two lines fail, you'll either get that thing off the ground and back to The Forge...........or failing that deny it falling into enemy hooves."

"We understand the assignment Quick Ztop, iz there anything elze we need to know?" Burnt Edges asked looking at the mare shaking her head she looked towards Carter who was holding a hoof to his ear listening to a report from his time after a moment he said "No we'll leave you to it after this, I have to get back to my team seems they have a few questions about our assignment."

Turning Carter began to walk away but before leaving he gave the group a solid nod before igniting his horn and teleporting away form the group. Sighing Quick Stop turned to Burnt Edges and said a quick good bye before she too leapt into the air and flew off jetting away faster than any pegasi could possibly go, smirking to himself Burnt Edges turned to his team and began barking orders "All right you heard the mare, Briar I want you in tha air covering us with your rifle, Thorn i want you on that ship looking for a way to rig it if we do have to destroy it. Petal and I will patrol the area looking out for any ground forcez trying to zneak up on uz. NOW MOVE OUT!"

"ZIR YEZ ZIR!!" The group called out in a single voice before breaking apart and following the orders that they had just received. Watching the SPARTANs jump into the work a distant shadow hiding inside a burnt-out building leveled what appeared to be a rifle, but instead of a barrel aimed at the ponies trained on the unsuspecting individuals was a concave optic eye piece.

(U.P.R. Territory)
(Unknown Location)
(23:00 hours, August 17, 1025)

Watching the video monitors were a number of individuals each an enemy to the A.C.E. each grinding their teeth in frustration as they watched them working in territory they had held just hours ago. Whirling around a female voice howled in an frustration as the U.P.R. emperor sat in silence as he watched the work of his enemies "How can you just sit there as they steal OUR bounty!!!!"

"Enough Spindel," a gruff male voice snarled at her while pointing an accusatory hoof which shook with an anger he held it back "YOU do not get to speak to him like that, his wisdom is the only reason we managed to take that country in the first place."

"AND HIS LACK OF RESOURCES AND STRATEGY IS WHY WE LOST IT." The mare continued to howl shaking her head she lifted a vase and pitched it towards the stallion only for it to shatter on a shield that surrounded him, and he still didn't waver or even seem to recognize the others. The shield shimmered for a moment before solidifying and returning to its transparent state, scowling at it the mare was about to throw another object at the shield wanting to rip that shield apart.

"ENOUGH !!!" a voice snarled as a griffon stepped out of the shadows standing before them now was Horus the leader of the G.C.P. glaring at each of the individuals he slowly walked towards the table while saying "You do not speak to the emperor like that, he has done nothing but help us free our countries from the fascist regimes that either ruled us or kept our countries weak and cornered. Now after a simple set back you begin to-"

"A SiMpLe SeT BaCk," the mare mockingly mimicked before spitting at the ground the griffon stood upon she sneered at him "You lost your land, your leadership is down to just you and that General Vulture I cannot give two shits what you have to say. If you even had a nation to lead you would be at this table."

"You cow, I retreated at the call of the emperor to aid him for his future endeavors. I did not blame him, I did not cry, I did not beg, and I most certainly did NOT QUESTION HIM!" as the final word left Horus's mouth he flung a claw forward sending a glowing blade he had hidden under his Lepel towards the mare imbedding it into her shoulder, crying out in both pain and anger she ignited her horn and attempted to strike the griffon when a deep menacing voice spoke(Think Darkseid from Zack Snyder Justice League) "Enough."

Feeling the room chill all the individuals stopped breathing and moving at that moment not daring to look his way but soon they heard the shuffling of his clothes and his heavy footsteps as he began to move. Slowly walking out of the shadow of his throne the stallion was massive standing almost as tall as one of the Wendigos, his regal attire failed to hide the powerful muscles underneath as stepped down each step. His mane was as black as the night sky long and hanging off both shoulders it was styled to it never entered his eyes to obscure his vision from any fight, but then again the massive scar that goes across his face from years of fighting for the very throne he sat upon one which he had earned after killing his own father, uncles, sibling and anypony else that thought they could rule instead of him. As his hooves clicked on the marble floor he glanced around the room his crimson eyes scanning each of the ponies he had gathered to join his empire to join him in the great journey he and his country would soon go on but at the moment he needed to remind just who they narrowing his eyes on Spindel he boomed "Now is not the time for this petty squabbling, yes we have lost footholds in two nations that we have held for months. But that is a simple step backwards it will not slow us in anyway and as for my resources? "

Stepping closer to the mare she trembled in fear as the stallion towered over her daring to glance up into his eyes couldn't bring herself to look away or even take a breath she so desperately needed at that moment. Placing a hoof under her chin he brought her head up more forcing her to look him deeper in his eyes the emperor continued "The greatest minds from each of your nations have aided in bringing more of the relics online, withing the next few months you all will be supplied with weapons from the star masters. Which will allow you to burn a path back into the countries we have lost and keep them under our control."

Keeping his hoof under Spindels chin the emperor cocked his head to the side before he moved it to the side of her head..............and slamming it to the table with a *CRUNCH* he killed her in that moment not even flinching. After a moment her body seemed to realize what had happened as Spindel's eyes widened and blood leaked from them along with her nose and ears slowly pooling on the table the emperor turned to the others while saying "But if you wish to question me again I do hope it is with more respect than our dear Spindel, I do not mind...............constructive criticism but I have little patience for those who will cry over the simplest of setbacks.

Turning away from the body he began to walk around the table taking in the shocked look of his allies he let a smile adorn his muzzled while he spoked "After all my dear friends before that mare managed to block transmissions to and from this planet. I had made contact with some allies; this war is nothing more than us buying time till they arrive. After all the star masters will help their brothers in times of need. "

Part 2: Chapter 2

(Two weeks Later)
(The Forge 13:00hr)
(August 31th, 1025)

Racing down the hallway wearing a stained lab jacket a young unicorn mare her red eyes wide with panic and dark bags from the lack of sleep easily visible under them as she rounded a corner knocking over a stallion with a stack of papers under one wing. Giving a quick apology she pushed passed him making her way down the hallway towards her intended room her only thought being 'I'm late, I'm soooo late!' skidding to a stop before a large pair of pristine white double doors she adjusted her coat patted down her fur and slowly pushed the door open hoping that nopony would notice her walking in, the door on the other hand had other ideas as it let out a small creak alerting the entire staff to her presence all of them then turned towards her annoyance prevalent in all their looks. Giving a sheepish smile she was about to apologize when a matter-of-fact voice spoke up in her silk smooth voice "Intern Glimmer how wonderful for you to finally arrive. Perhaps you thought it prudent to be here AS we activated the ship instead of before to prepare the equipment and double check their settings?"

Turning to her right Glimmer looked to see an older blue pegasus mare with a graying mane pulled up into tight bun, her deep gold eyes looked up at her disapprovingly through her reading glasses. Pulling them down from her face she slowly walked over a frown deeply engraved onto her muzzled most likely having been there since the day of her birth the head scientist of team seventeen Dr. Code Breaker was one of Cortana's best scientists working for said mare nearly thirty years. Bowing her head slightly Glimmer mumbled an apology sighing the mare ignored her and pointed to a corner while saying "Intern Glimmer please be prepared to record the readings............I do not plan to miss anything."

As she slowly walked over to her designated station which so happened to be in said corner Glimmer heard her fellow interns snicker at her predicament. Ignoring them Glimmer double checked the machine and its settings after a moment she gave all clear to her boss, nodding her own head Dr. Breaker turned to her own station and walked over to it taking her own position for the test. Across from all the ponies was a massive assembly of windows that gave an unobstructed view of the cavernous hangar that currently housed the alien ship they had removed from Prance only two weeks ago. The testing had been nonstop and slowly escalating they had only just now dared to try to activate the ship and its engines after Dr. Breaker had deemed the ship stable enough to do so, the damages had been repaired to the best of their ability, now said ship had multiple wires and computers hooked onto it allowing the ponies to observe its power output while also giving them limited control on whether it could be powered up and down. Multiple protection spells had been woven into the hangar itself along with the glass and room that the ponies occupied currently. Anything other than a direct MAC blast from orbit could dent said room but still they took every precaution even calling in Shining Armor to weave in his own original shield spells to act as a first and last defense against anything that went wrong. After she finished checking the spells Dr. Breaker turned to her assistant and gave him a sharp nod before placing her glasses back upon her face and looking down at the screen, licking his lips the assistant took a breath and said "Activating UFO 1, starting at 1% power."

Reaching out he flicked three switches up turning their lights from red to green before he reached over to a dial and began to slowly turn it, looking down at her own screens Glimmers station was set to read radiation, thermal, and magical out puts from the ship as it powered up. Seeing nothing Glimmer spoke up as she adjusted some nobs and dials "So far UFO 1 is not active, I see nothing on my readings."

"I agree with Glimmer Dr. Breaker." One of the snickering interns stated watching his own screen only daring to look out of the corner of his peripheral at the Doctor who hadn't even looked up at the ship or them.

"Increase the energy output to 5% slowly. if there is still no change, we will increase output by 1% just as slowly until we see some kind of reaction." Dr. Breaker stated tapping at her computer as she looked over the readings she was getting at that moment, her assistant followed the orders and began to increase the power to 5% slowly turning the dial as if it would leap out and snap his wrist.

Looking down at her screen Glimmer watched out of the corner of her eye as the energy being put into the ship reached 8%, 9%, 10% and 11%. That was it she saw a small heat bloom forming near the engines, tapping at the screen she concentrated on that bloom and spoke up clearly "At 11% output it looks like something is activating near the engines, radiation and magical output are still at zero, thermal is climbing."

"Hold activation at 13% then and we will see how much of the ship activates with this." Dr Breaker said smiling at her screen as her eyes scanned the data flashing across her screen, nodding his head the assistant rotated the dial again till the dial was at 13 he quickly let go and placed his hoof on the desktop as he looked over his shoulder.

Eyeing her screen Glimmer felt a small tingle at the back of her mind and decided to adjust her scans going through different spectrums and adjusting to see if there were any other readings being given off by said ship. After a moment she spotted an anomaly cocking her head she clicked a few keys and adjusted a dial focusing on the reading after a moment data began to come over her screen hearing a click of a tongue Glimmer looked up to see Dr. Breaker eyeing her own screen she asked "Intern Glimmer what exactly are you doing?"

"Uh......I'm sorry doctor I just had a................feeling."

"A feeling?"

"Yes ma'am, I just adjusted some of the equipment to search for any other possible energy readings."

"It looks like you found one," Dr. Breaker stated looking over her shoulder she gave the younger mare wry smile before waving a hoof at her to continue she turned to the assistant and said "Lets continue along these perimeters and increase the power output to 15%, I won't go higher but I'm curious if Intern Glimmers energy will react."

Nodding his head, the assistant began to turn the dial looking at the energies readings Glimmers eyes narrowed as said readings began to rise as this happened Glimmer did her best to see if she could catch it on camera. But had no luck finding it with the current spectrum analyzers but found nothing sighing in defeat she was about to let the doctor know when another intern let out a low whistle while saying "Looks like the ship is activating its headlights at 15% ma'am."

As the words left her mouth all eyes turned to a view screen that was a live feed of the hangar with dozens of angles on the ship the group saw as a green glow began to emit from the engines. Rubbing her chin Dr. Breaker turned to Glimmer and asked, "Glimmer what are you seeing?"

"Only heat on the Infared ma'am, there's no radiation or magical spikes............that mysterious energies power did go up when we increased the output. But nothing else is going on in there, what are you thinking doctor?"

"Get the readings as they are," Dr. Breaker spoke her voice laced with authority as she typed something up, she read for a few more seconds before speaking "I'll suit up with at least five others and we'll attempt to splice into the system."

It took the small team ten minutes to be chosen and to quickly suit up in protective hazmat suits to protect them from whatever energy that thing was given off. Looking around Dr. Breaker checked over the suits personally to make sure that none had any tears or gaps in them that would put its occupant at risk, once she was satisfied, she had one of the others look her over giving her a confirming nod she looked to the airlock guiding the group into the chamber she sealed it behind them. Once decontamination had finished the outer lock popped open with a sharp hiss once it unlocked, she pushed her way in, as the group approached the ship she reached onto her belt and clicked on a mic while saying "Everypony check your recording equipment I do not want anything missed."

"Yes ma'am." a chorus of voices echoed back at her gulping in some air Glimmer fumbled with her own equipment for a moment before managing to turn it on, looking up she saw that the group was getting instructions from Dr. Breaker when her eyes finally gazed into Glimmers.

"Intern Glimmer I'd like you to join me near the pilots chair, I hope your good luck may continue and we can pull some data from the computer."

Nodding her head Glimmer followed the mare to the top of the ship looking at the others she saw some were heading back towards the engine and others spread out to look over the hull. Following her boss to the top they used a small lift to raise themselves to be by the cockpit as they were brought up to eye level Glimmer didn't know what to expect, an alien corpse? intact controls? or an empty chair covered in dust and dirt?

Instead, what she saw was a half shorn off canopy where a pilot would have been the chair had been torn out some kind of intense force leaving nothing but upturned metal and gears. Looking in she found that the controls closest to her had also been torn out from the crash or fighting looking over to Dr. Breaker out of her peripheral she noticed the mare cocking her head to the side before pointing towards the furthest controls. Following the hoof, she noticed a single light blinking underneath the console a slow flash that came and went ever couple seconds, turning to her fully Glimmer asked, "Dr. Breaker what do you think it is?"

"Let's leave that alone till we have somewhat of an understanding on what happened with this ship."

"Yes ma'am," Glimmer whispered as she looked over the console again carefully looking over the controls and screen as she searched for a data port where they could place an adaptor and integrate one of their own computers. It didn't take long for them to find one such port under the right-side console furthest from the two mares but before they could act a voice clicked in their ear "Ma'am I think we've found the Power Source for UFO 1."

Nodding her head Data Breaker backed away from the cock pit and tapped the controls so they would be lowered back to the ground as they started to descend, she clicked her mike "We have found a data port once we decide if the power source is in a stable condition we will begin to integrate further into the system."

"Iron Skin, this is Dr. Breaker I am requesting that you bring me the Oracle System to be brought down to the hangar." Dr. Breaker stated into her mike after she had clicked into a secondary channel. The oracle system built to help with scanning any and all spectrums of energy, magic, and light along with measuring the power output from whatever was being scanned. The best part was that it could also attach itself into almost any system they've come across with the few weapons and vehicles captured from the U.P.R. but now came the real test of the oracle, is if it could attach and scan a derelict ship that had been buried underground for the last thousand years.

Marching up to her staff Dr. Breaker saw three of them setting up the Oracle priming it while the fourth was looking through a port at the possible energy source, once she was beside him Dr. Breaker gently pushed him to the side and looked into the opening the area itself was large enough for two adults to fit in relatively comfortably looking around the area was a smooth sphere. Now sitting before her in said compartment was the energy source of the whole ship it was the size of ponies body it was spherical in shape with a surface so smooth it was like glass and carved into its surface were lines that wrapped around it in a singular line, it had a soft green glow coming from the it floated in the center of the chamber. Surrounding the sphere were multiple obelisk's that seemed to grow towards the sphere, at their apex the had indents that seemed to be designed to have the sphere rest atop them. She counted six obelisks including the one connected to the door upon closer inspection Dr. Breaker noticed that at their bases each of the extensions they were perfectly molded from the walls almost as if they had grown from them instead of being welded into place. Turning she saw that the Oracle was ready to be used reaching over she pulled out two tendril like devices and moved them closer to the room, the first tendril was brought into close proximity to the sphere once it was nearly touching the object, she twisted the mid-section slightly which caused the mechanism to go rigid and become unmoving. Tapping its surface, a gentle gold light twirled around it heading towards the sphere once it had reached the apex a greenlight began to pulse its way down in the opposite direction making its way towards the main body, picking up the second tendril she moved this one towards one of the closest obelisks until the tendril was as close as the first, following the same procedure Dr. Breaker set watched as the gold light followed the same path. But once the light had reached the apex it seemed to take a moment before another light appeared cutting right down the middle of the tendril slicing through the gold was a dark blue light once it reached the apex it began to gently pulse towards the obelisk for a one moment and then would pulse back to the oracle the next moment.

Dr. Breaker leaned in once again to look around the chamber again impressed by the elegance of the ship's engine.......if that's what this was for all she knew it only powered the lights on the damned thing. Backing away the doctor turned to the Oracle walking over she began to look over the readings as they were processed, reaching up she began to type in commands ignoring the students around her as she worked none dared to move or become audible for fear of being booted from the room. It took nearly an hour but once enough data had been collected Dr. Breaker turned away from the console and stared right at the compartment at the sphere she mumbled "This is very interesting."

Slowly walking up to the compartment, she eyed the sphere as she slowly slid the door back shut looking behind her, she said "The Oracle can't make heads or tails of the energy that the ship uses to run. Now though the real question is what is making this energy?"

Looking between each other all the interns realized that they hadn't bothered even thinking about what the engine used to power the ship, some hooves could be heard as they scuffed the floor some of the interns had pursed lips in anger or disbelief at the thought. Gasping Glimmer raced forward and began to tap into the oracles system wide using a back door she may or may have put in place for herself for when she needed more information than what was being shared, furiously typing away she ignored the questions for her fellow interns and Dr. Breaker as she pulled up a rival groups own studies on the weapons found. Ignoring the Covenant weapons she concentrated on the little studies done on the unknown weapons pulling them all up she then compared notes but was soon pulled back by an intern named Glass Cutlet as she snapped "Hey back off your gonna ruin our careers NEPO BABY!!"

"I'M NOT A NEPO BABY!" Glimmer snarled as she turned and shoved the other unicorn back causing her to crash into one of the other interns, turning to Dr. Breaker Glimmer quickly explained "Doctor I'm sorry but i just had a thought and just look!"

Pointing at the oracle Glimmer had managed to pull up the signatures from the weapon and the ship, slowly walking forward Dr. Breaker's jaw went slack for a second as she saw the two energies looked almost identical. Turning back to the group she said "That's enough for today I'll pull the data and go from there your all dismissed for the day."

(Cafeteria)
(The Forge 16:00hr)
(September 5th, 1025)

Sitting alone at her table Glimmer stared down at her food looking up she saw a few of her "associates" eating away from her glaring at her Glass Cutlet raised a hoof in a twisting motion, glaring at her Glimmer grabbed her tray in her magic and stormed off ignoring the snickering as she left feeling a sense of anger coming over her, she bit back the idea of slamming her tray into Glass's head concussing the insufferable mare. As she left, she heard an authoritative voice speaking from her left "Good to see you Glimmer, you ok?"

Immediately recognizing the voice, she whirled around to find Commander Carter standing behind her smiling up at him she said, "Carter it's so good to see you, why are you here?"

"At the moment to get you," Carter stated motioning with his head for her to follow him as he began to walk away quickly following him, he looked down at her and continued to talk "I can't say much but you all will see."

Looking out of the corner her eye she saw that two SPARTAN trainees were getting the rest of her intern team, possible for whatever reason Carter had gotten her. Watching as the team rose from their seat, they all began to head in the same direction the local SPARTAN trainees were those who had almost completed training, the chosen recruits were shipped to an unknown site for their surgeries they then came to the forge for training to get used to said alterations. So, seeing them wasn't out of the norm but having three SPARTANs escorting them only garnered attention from any and all ponies passing bye, soon the group reached a set of double doors taking a position on either side they motioned for the rest to move into the room. As they pushed into the room the group quietly began to mumble to each other as they saw President Cortana, Dr. Breaker, and the leader of the newly minted E.I.A. (Equis Intelligence Agency) Black Ink. Looking up the three ponies motioned for the group to come in, as they slowly walked in each of them took a seat at the table looking around worriedly as they did Black Ink spoke in a raspy voice that carried authority "As you all have probably guessed this meeting will be classified anything said or shown in this meeting will not be discussed outside of this room. If any of you are found to be speaking about this outside you will be arrested and tried in a court of law, where you will be imprisoned for life for crimes against the A.C.E. if you understand please say so now."

It didn't even take them a second before everypony nodded their heads in agreement while also voicing said agreement once Black Ink was satisfied, she sat back and tapped the desk. As soon as her hoof touched the surface an image appeared in the middle of the table floating an inch above its surface Black Ink turned too Dr. Breaker and nodded sighing Dr. Breaker stood up and began to walk towards the front of the table as she did, she began to speak "So I know you all are frustrated since you all have been temporarily locked out of the lab with the ship, for the last few days me and a team of senior scientists have been working on the ship and one of the recovered weapons by the SPARTAN teams. I also have been arguing for you all to be included in those tests and these meetings, with little success until yesterday. Cortana and Black Ink have agreed to give you all access to the ship and the research again."

Looking between each other the interns began to excitedly whisper amongst each other ready to get back into work all of them except Glimmer, who had a concerned look on her face frowning slightly she raised her hoof and asked "Dr. Breaker what's the catch?"

"What a smart young mare." Black Ink spoke up looking Glimmer up and down seemingly studying her smiling nervously Glimmer turned back to Dr. Breaker who had a slight frown on her face she nodded her head "Yes Glimmer there is a catch with this assignment, if you so choose to take it on, you'll be reassigned to a highly classified location that you won't even know its name until you've landed. I can't even tell you how long we'll be there it could be years, so if you have any doubts or uncer-"

"I don't know about the rest," Glass Cutlet cut in pushing her chair back she leaned over the desk and looked around as she continued “I’m in one hundred a percent!”

Looking between each other the group all wore worrying looks as they all waited to see who would be going next, seeing this Dr. Breaker sighed and motioned for Glass to sit back down as she did the doctor cleared her throat and jumped back in with a slightly annoyed tone “Yes well to continue from where I left off, if you have any doubts or uncertainties, we will give you all ninety-six hours to decide so what I will suggest is you all spend time with your families or call them you just can't tell them anything about this project. With the amount of time this will take both your education will be finished on said site considering most of you are in your final year of college, so that's one less thing to worry about while you are working."

"Now when it comes to informing your family about the project Black Ink has personally drafted up a paper that you can use to discuss why you are being reassigned, so those of you worrying about not knowing what to say you'll receive those packets and they will be waiting for you in your cabins when you leave this meeting." Pausing Dr. Breaker took a small breath and turned looking at the floating object in the center of the table she slowly motioned at the hologram and continued "What you all are looking at is an unknown material that we have discovered in the ship and weapons confiscated during the fighting, we've learned that this material can be used as a power source but not a very powerful one comparatively to our MagiTech but the potential that it presents us isn't something we can pass up. This is as far as I can go...............due to both classified material and the fact we've only just started the testing process."

Nodding her head Black Ink decided it was her turn to step up clearing her throat she caught the attention of the interns who all turned to her wide eyed and full of concern taking not of one set of violet eyes that didn't have the same concern she smirked while speaking "This is something that can help all of ponykind and to go further to help with either weeding out the weaklings or encouraging the more courageous, if you so choose to join the project you will find yourself on the first shuttle bound for Reach where you will be transported directly to a black site where you will start researching the element."

"Um A-admiral Black Ink what will happen when the project is completed..........or we want to be reassigned?" a young stallion asked as he sheepishly rubbed his right arm looking around at the others trying to find support, but none dared look in his direction smiling at the young stallion Black Ink said "Let us cross that bridge when we get to it but we will take care of you as long as you remain trustworthy and do not become an enemy to pony kind, really quite simple no?"

At her own little joke Black Ink chuckled which was joined by a couple other small nervous chuckles as they each looked to the other for some kind of support. Seeing that the chuckling was dying down Black Ink looked to Cortana out of the corner of her eye and gave a small flick of her ear taking the sign Cortana spoke up "So after all that we'll let you go back to your cabins to start reading over the pamphlet and start contacting your families, if you wish to go home to visit them we'll allow you to under the protection of an E.I.A. agent who will watch over you all from the shadows. Now If I may express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you even if you decide to pass on the project, you will always find a job within the U.W.M. so please continue forward with your heads held high and ready to push further into the future, you're all dismissed."

With that final word all the interns stood up and slowly filed out of the room each heading to their cabins to start reading over the pamphlet and deciding if they wanted to pursue the project........or simply meld back into society and move away from the U.W.M. looking back Glimmer noticed that a few of the interns were already shaking their heads in disbelief even muttering 'I can't do something like that.' before leaving the area. Pausing in her own movements Glimmer's only thought was 'What will my mother's think?'

(Cabin 654, The Forge)
(The Forge 23:00hr)
(September 5th, 1025)

Staring down at the pamphlet Glimmer had finished reading it for what felt like the thousandth time, having it memorized word for word knowing everything in it by heart, mind, and soul. Putting it down again Glimmer fixed her lab coat and adjusted her hair ready to make the call typing in all the numbers ready to hit the call button, only to delete them canceling the call before even making it she shook her head in disgust finding her own weakness something infuriating it was just a call just to tell her mother's that she's been chosen for a special project and that she would be transferred to Reach for the next few years to work on it. This also explained that she wouldn't be able to visit much due to the intensity of the work she would be participating in Glimmer knew she wanted to go through with it and join the project and help all of those involved.............but how could she just up and abandon her home, her family, her friends.............Apple Gem. Taking a breath she was about to go to be when a small knock came from the door, rolling her neck she thought 'If this is Glass again, I'm gonna break her snout.' as she walked over she swung the door open ready to give Glass the third degree when she saw Black ink instead smiling at her she looked around and asked, "May I come in?"

Simply nodding her head Glimmer watched the mare walk in taking in the room she seemed to be taking it all in while Glimmer looked her over, she wore a simple black dress uniform that had almost no distinguishing features except for the four silver stars on the mares' collar and shoulders. Now that Glimmer was distracted by the talk of projects, classified materials and trial she finally began to look the mare over she was an earth pony with a light-yellow coat her mane and tail were chestnut brown her mane was currently pulled into a tight bun with no strands fall out as if they understood that even it must be uniform. Looking over her shoulder at the younger mare Glimmer saw she had eyes were a teal color almost like the ocean on a clear day with small crow's feet forming at their corners smirking at the younger mare she said "I know you wouldn't expect this but I'm almost fifty-eight years old."

"W-w-why bring that up ma'am?"

"Most ponies don't realize just how old I am," Black Ink stated as she slowly turned raising a hoof, she brushed invisible dust from her shoulder while she continued "For years I took the utmost care of my body, mind and soul so I would be able to live a long life. Until recently I didn't understand my own intentions at this but so far it's served me well, most stallions I've had the pleasure of dealing with have no idea and are caught off guard when I tell them my age."

"I see." Glimmer muttered confused as to why the Admiral was standing before her she had come to her not ordered the younger mare to come to her. Feeling unnerved Glimmer was about to ask just why the Admiral had decided to visit her so late at night when she continued to speak "Now have you come to a decision about the project? or still on the edge not knowing whether or not you would want to jump. After all, right the group has been weeded down to six of you out of the original twenty. So far six have chosen not to pursue the project and four have decided to move forward with it, their off visiting family this very moment, the rest undecided. And I can see the question rolling in your head this very moment 'What brought you to me tonight?' so allow me to answer that for you Ms. Glimmer Dust to say the least you've caught my attention."

"You're the daughter of Twilight Sparkle the princess of magic and one of the country's greatest heroes and also the daughter of Fizzlepop Berrytwist a soldier so skilled and ruthless she managed to defeat three alicorns like they were mere mortals. Yet for some reason when the elements chose you and your friends it was during a time of peace and prosperity for the last few years how many times have the elements been used by you and your friends, a maximum of three times in all and on things that even Twilight Sparkle could handle on her own without them."

At that end Glimmer's ears folded back as she looked down at the floor knowing that what Black Ink was saying was true, the elements had moved on and chosen her and her friends and during their tenure they've had little to no reason to use them. Seeing the younger mares downtrodden look Black Ink walked over placing her hoof on her shoulder she softened her voice while saying "But I'm here to speak to you about your CAREER not the elements, you are the one and only pony I will be visiting trying to recruit for this project. I have this feeling Glimmer you will become one of the greatest minds to help the U.W.M. and the A.C.E. as we grow and move further into the stars colonizing more and more worlds, so I am here to say take the leap, join the project and show us the greatness that is buried within you. So instead of calling your family go to them spend time with them and decide to take the leap...........or stay here and live out your life as it is. All this is your own fate so choose wisely what you want the future to be for you."

As the words sank in Glimmer looked up and held Black Inks eyes as she looked deep into her eyes Glimmer tried her best to find any sign of deception when she didn't she took a nervous gulp of air before saying "I'd like to see my family............before I leave."

"I'm so happy to hear your choice Ms. Glimmer Dust," walking past the mare Black Ink motioned for her to follow quickly grabbing the pamphlet Glimmer fell into step behind the mare as they made their way to the airfield Black Ink continued "Now let's get you home."

(Castle Friendship, Ponyville)
(September 2, 08:00hr)

Standing nervously in the walkway Princess Twilight Sparkle and her wife Fizzlepop Berrytwist waited for their eldest daughter to show up and visit them. It had been almost three months since they had last seen her in pony nervously pacing in spot Twilight was going down her usual rabbit hole of nerves while Fizzlepop tried her best to calm the mental storm that had been brewing since their little girl had called informing them she would be visiting the next couple days. Smirking to herself Fizzlepop set a hoof onto Twilight's shoulder while saying "Sweetheart you have to calm down or else you'll make Glimmers visit tougher than it needs to be."

"But I'm so worried about her we get messages once in a while due to her busy schedule and the secrecy of her internship. Now she wants to visit us out of the blue, she must not be telling us something or maybe she's gotten into some kind of trouble. *GASP* what if she was fired Fizzy what if our little filly's future is going down the drain and now, she won't be able to do what she's wanted to do for her entire life!"

"Twilight, my love my life, listen to me when I say this," Fizzlepop gently guided her wife's eyes to meet her own and as soon as she had her gaze locked the mare continued "Our daughter is the toughest and smartest pony out there she didn't get 'fired and she'd never let something as small as being fired stop her from continuing her career and attempt to help ponies. So, when she walks through those doors, we'll be nothing but smiles and we'll support her no matter what, we got a deal?"

"You always know what to say." Twilight said a smile coming to her face as Fizzlepop rubbed her cheek lovingly as they slowly leaned in to kiss each other, until two small rambunctious foals burst down the stairs yelling "SHE'S HERE SHE'S HERE!" just as the doors opened revealing their daughter wearing her work coat and a simple purple blouse under a black vest with business pants. Rushing down the stairs Star Pop and Ink Spot tackled their sister giggling while the surprised mare let out a small yelp as she was tackled to the ground, but she soon started to participate in the giggling. Rushing down to join the foals Twilight and Fizzlepop waited their turn to hug Glimmer which didn't take long as she pushed herself up, both parents brought her into a tight hug giving their greetings and kisses. Taking a moment to look around Glimmer noticed that Apple Gem wasn't around feeling a small knot form in her gut she looked up at her mother, seeing the look Twilight said "He'll be joining us for dinner along with Applejack they just had some work to finish."

"Ok." Glimmer said forcing a smile onto her muzzle as she looked around the room she decided that they needed to move on, thinking back to the other nights they had spent together as a family Glimmer asked "Could we have a family game night while we wait for Apple Gem and Applejack?"

"Of course, sweetheart." Twilight said jumping at the opportunity to play with games with her family, but Fizzlepop was studying her daughter's body language, and something seemed off about her 'she must be hiding something.' Fizzlepop thought as she followed her family into the living room. But that could wait at the moment she just wanted to spend time with her little filly and enjoy what little family time she still had with them before the flow of time added more complications and events to their lives.

(Several hours later)

Sitting at the table Glimmer rubbed her bloated stomach it had been such a long time since she'd had a home cooked meal form her Momma Fizzlepop, letting out a satisfied groan she leaned back while Apple Gem leaned over and nuzzled her cheek eliciting a small coo from the mare as he did. Watching the two young loves enjoy each other's company Applejack and Twilight started gently moving their otherwise 'normal' conversation over to weddings and proposals in the usual gentle manner they had been doing for the past year now considering the two had been a couple for five years. Trying her best to ignore them Glimmer's mind was racing now was the best time to bring up what she'd been wanting to talk about ever since she'd told them about her visit, closing her eyes she leaned on Apple's shoulder going through her plans but now she needed to tell them or she wouldn't have the courage to follow through taking a breath she cleared her throat catching everyponies attention she said "So there's something I need to talk to you all about, It's extremely important."

"What is it sweety?" Twilight asked he tone full of concern as she leaned forward her eyes full of concern, as Glimmer scanned the rest her sibling looked confused and Fizzlepop had a neutral look. Nodding her head Glimmer pulled away from Apple Gem slightly placing her hooves onto the table she centered herself and said "I've been reassigned to a new project by the program, Dr. Data Breaker has approached me and offered me the position considering its optional and not enforced."

"That's terrific sweety!" Twilight gushed leaning in to give Glimmer her undivided attention.

"Good fer yah Glimmer." Applejack said raising her whiskey glass up in respect.

"That's awesome!" both the twins exclaimed almost leaping out of their seats while they yelled.

"That's great sugah." Apple Gem muttered in her ear as he leaned over to kiss her cheek causing the mare to smile nervously. Seeing the twitch of her ear and the uneasy smile that crossed her muzzle Fizzle decided to interject to get Glimmer to continue "Is there a catch Glim?"

As the words left her lips all eyes were now on the mare as she stared down her daughter, after a pregnant silence all eyes slowly shifted back to Glimmer who had a small glistening of fresh tears building in her eyes. She nodded and began to explain that her new assignment would be taking her to Reach to help and that her new assignment would be concentrating on finishing the newly announced MagiTech Reactors her job was to test the new energy and see how far it could be pushed, Cortana had decided that the first 'official' reactor would be built on Reach to power New Canterlot and its growing infrastructure. As the Glimmer finished telling her family and friends about the assignment her siblings began to sniffle as they realized their sister would be going far away to a planet across a sea of stars, Twilight was in total silence totally taken aback by the fact that her little filly would be moving away to a new planet and within the next few days, Fizzlepop was proud of her daughter and so happy that she was spreading her wings and going off into the great beyond, Applejack had her brows knitted in a confused anger but none the less she was silent, and finally Apple Gem stared down at his longtime fillyfriend in disbelief taking a breath to calm himself he looked towards his ma for help but saw she was still trying to figure out what exactly Glimmer was hiding.

Seeing all the different reactions Glimmer tried her best to remain calm and collected but the lack of reactions was now getting to her, they were all now just staring at her as if waiting for her to tell them all that it was just a joke and that she hadn't meant it. Pulling a glass towards her she took a small sip of the alcoholic liquid trying to calm her rising nerves but soon found her siblings crashing into her lap rubbing their tear-streaked faces on her shirt while begging "Please don't leave, please please please dont leave Glimmer."

Feeling tears welling in her eyes Glimmer felt her resolve waiver slightly as she reached down wrapping her younger siblings in her arms, but she already knew what needed to be done. As she held them close for a moment letting them cry out their emotions, she turned Glimmer saw bother her mother's walking towards them as they approached, she felt her siblings gently taken from her grasp while they whispered gently to the young foals slowly calming them down. As they turned back towards Glimmer the eldest sibling and smiled while saying "This is something I’ve got to do guys, don’t worry I’ll be able to video call……..and visit for holidays, possibly."

Looking around at her parents, Apple Gem and Applejack Glimmer locked eyes with all of them and continued to speak "I'm not doing this out of malice or trying to distance myself from anypony. I have been contemplating this for the last few hours trying my best to figure out to say and how to say it, but now I know what needs to be said.I am doing this out of love, I am doing this out of passion and I am doing this to help everypony from now and into the future.”

Taking a breath Apple Gem pushed himself away from the table and slowly stalked off mumbling to himself under his breath in a way nopony could hear him. Watching him leave Glimmer was about to follow when Fizzlepops hoof rested on her shoulder, looking to her mother the mare shook her head and said “He needs a moment, let him cool off.”

“Ah’ll see to it he comes by tomorrow.” Applejack spoke up as she followed after her son but not before stopping by Glimmer, bringing the mare into a strong hug she softly whispered “Just be safe out there darling.”

“Of course.” Glimmer whispered back as she returned the hug with her own force. After a moment the two let go and went their separate ways, it didn’t take long for the family to break down the table and clean up and once that was done, they all began to get ready for bed.

(Ponyville Center)
(58 hours later)

Walking through the town Glimmer had been spending as much time as she could with her family and friends making as many memories as she could make before she was supposed to leave in the next couple of days. But the time she had been spending with everypony was wonderful........she just wished that Apple Gem would talk to her after that dinner he hadn't returned any of her calls or texts. Which is what brought Glimmer to him today was his day of for watching over the stand and today was the day they talked everything over, but Glimmer knew that this wasn't something that would end well. As she made her way up to the stand, she saw the young stallion working hard picking up empty crates and loading them onto the cart. She had waited for the stand to close up shop for the day before approaching the young apple not wanting to cause a scene when they were working, as she got closer to Apple Gem she cleared his throat catching his attention. Looking over his shoulder Apple Gem seemed slightly startled seeing Glimmer standing there he sighed and looked away while saying "How're you doing Glimmer."

"I'd be better if my long term coltfriend would pick up the phone, text me, be with me or for Tartarus's sake talk to me," Glimmer stated as she walked to his front standing in front of him, her tone serious and slightly angry as she continued "But instead you've been avoiding me."

"Ah've been working Glimmer, hate tah break it tah yah but someponies havtah work tah make a livin."

"Don't YOU dare act like I don't know that!" Glimmer snarled as she held up a warning hoof to keep him from continuing.

"I know how hard you work and all you do Apple Gem, don't you forget that I used to help the farm and your stand. So why are you acting like this all of a sudden? I get this promotion is sudden but it's-"

"Glimmer yah want tah leave the whole PLANET, this isn't just moving from one town to another town. Yer goin to be hopin on ah ship and movin light years away and leavin everything behind. When thah offered yah that job did yah even think about thah rest of us?"

"Of course, I did! I thought of everypony when they offered me that promotion, this wasn't something I did without a second thought. I thought about everything I've been over this so much that the last couple nights even my dreams have been nothing but me going over the pros and cons of taking this job. If you'd even taken the time to TALK to me you would know this and you’d know that all I’ve thought about is our future together BUT instead of coming to me and talking like an adult you buried your head in work and have decided to make me the bad pony of your little narrative."

"Ah haven't done such a thing Glim, ah just don't know what to do about yah. All ah know is that yah took this job and yah'll be leavin' in a day or so and the reason ah've been avoiding yah." Apple Gem took a deep breath breaking eye contact he looked off towards the edge of town, as Glim looked into his eyes, she saw small amounts of tears starting to form before he continued "Glim we've grown apart these last few months and ah think it's high time we moved on. Ah'm breaking up with yah, this'll be goodbye."

Her eyes widening at the words Glimmer didn't know how to react or what to even say looking down at her hooves she shook her head and muttered something as she left Apple Gem in the market square. Her own will breaking down as tears flowed down her cheeks without even realizing it, she had walked back home pushing her way inside she and made her way to her room. Once inside Glimmer looked around her room shaking her head, she took a deep breath and made her way over to her computer pulling it open she made sure everything was secure once she double checked the connection Glimmer connected to the messaging center dubbed Waypoint. Hitting a few keys, she followed the instructions given to her by Black Ink. After a few moments she was taken through a backdoor that allowed access to the agent watching over her in case anything happened, Glimmer knew what she was doing was a spur of the moment, but she couldn't be here any longer. Once everything was in place she typed up her code phrase for hand shake response after a moment the agent reached out to her, looking over the response Glimmer's frown deepened but taking a breath she replied 'I'm ready to depart’

(36 hours later)
(Canterlot Launch Station)
(Boarding dock 5B)

Making her way through the loading ramp Glimmer dared to look back one last time at her family and friends. All of which bore sad smiles and tear filled eyes as they watched her walk towards the transport ship that would be taking her to Reach. Raising a hoof she gave a small wave before she walked through the hatch and made way to her seat, the ticket had her placed in a business class seat making way to it she found herself at a window seat. Taking a seat she got as comfortable as she could and looked out the window staring down at the workers as they check over the ship before take off. Which didn’t take long within ten minutes the pilot was on the intercom “Alright stallions and mares this is your Captain speaking, todays flight plan has us leaving Equis and making way to Reach. At our current departure time we should arrive around noon local time on Reach, the weather is Sunny and temperatures are moderate so when we arrive I might suggest you all go out and enjoy some lunch outside. Please buckle up and enjoy your flight.”

After the click the ship soon found itself coasting down the runway and after a minute Glimmer and fifteen other passengers found themselves pressed back into their seats as the ship pushed through the atmosphere. It took the ship five minutes to exit the atmosphere and break the gravity well, looking out the window Glimmer found herself staring down at Equis holding her breath she knew her home planet was beautiful from the air but seeing it in pony and in space brought its majesty into a whole new perspective. Then it started to move further away and she soon found herself with a new view one from inside Slipspace as the ship punched its way into the dimension. Leaning back into her chair Glimmer enjoyed the show as lights danced around the ship slowly feeling all the events of the last few days catch up to her she allowed her mind to wonder and enter the abyss of sleep, dreaming of what would be discovered with her new assignment.

Part 2: Chapter 3

(Unknown Location)
(Unknown Time)

Slowly stalking through the forest, the group of infiltrators were pushing into the enemy's territory in the dead of the night. This particular night was chosen due to the new moon making it the darkest night of the month only being able to see mere feet In front of them, the leader turned to look behind him to see his six allies scanning the area around them keeping a close eye on the perimeter, giving a small nod at them, he returned his attention to the path ahead and the mission they were currently tasked with. The mission handed down to them from the highest level of their government held such significance that they were told ‘Either come back successful or don’t bother coming back outside a coffin.’ shuddering at the thought the leader knew his team would accomplish the mission but at the same time from what he knew others sent ahead never returned from what he knew. Hearing a twig snapping the group swung their weapons and aimed at the sound only to see a small deer poking its head above some bushes before racing off, silently curing the leader turned and motioned for the group to spread out and change direction heading in the opposite direction of said animal. It probably wouldn’t alert anything close by but they wouldn’t risk being caught or giving away their position, this of course would add time to their mission and time was not anything they could afford but carelessness would doom them to failure and failure was not known within this group.

It took nearly two hours for them to close in on their target getting close to the edge, they soon found themselves looking down a sandstone cliff with a sheer ninety degree drop that had to be around six stories to the bottom. Getting low the leader looked over the edge scanning the area seeing and hearing nothing coming from the darkness, silently cursing he pulled back the cliff this was the tricky part supposedly their target was at the bottom of this cliff. The leader had hoped he would be able to see and make out some type of structure or patrol would be seen but nothing and this mission could only be done at night. Sighing the leader looked back to his team and whispered “Alright we’ll split up here I want us in groups of two, this’ll be about recon in fifteen minutes I want us all to meet at our fall back position. Group 1 you take the south, group 2 take the north, group three scan this area and group four we’ll skirt around and see if we can make our way to the far side. Let’s not get caught so get moving.”

Nodding their heads the group silently broke apart in their predesignated groups and started to move out, hopefully this recon would prove fruitful or else this mission would be the end of the group. After all everything depended on them and what they would be setting up here for Project Pathway.

(Caudal Island chain.)
(00:00 hours)
(Unknown location)

Strapped down Noble team was sitting stock still only moving due to the turbulence of the Harpy as flew at top speed to their target location. Cortana had given the group a new mission to begin the infiltration of the Caudal island chain starting with the furthest island that held one of the largest ship yards in the kingdom, lately said kingdoms navy had become a thorn in the side of the U.W.M. as it allowed them to transport troops and provide artillery support from the coast that would force them to take longer and more dangerous routes to capital cities or blocking trade routes forcing the advancing line to halt. It surprised Cortana how effective the kingdom was at its warfare and siege tactics somehow; they had managed to outfit some of the ships with Wraith plasma casters and some turrets that would pick ships out of the sky when they tried to bomb said ships. So, the president had sent orders down that she wanted two SPARTAN teams to be dispatched the first being Noble and the second an unknown team that had proven themselves recently. Noble only knew of their mission parameters and goals they of course did not know where the other team was heading or what their own goals were.

But the goal was simple Noble would plant as many bombs as possible across the facility’s and on any ships they could sneak aboard. Cortana wanted the facilities dust and the ships crippled as the U.W.M. would soon invade and having this kingdom scrambling from their surprise attack could help with the initial invasion considering Noble's secondary goal was to try and create a hole for the force to go through. Seeing the light starting to flash Carter and the team quickly went towards the edge looking over their gear on last time they awaited the light to turn green and once they did, they took the plunge jumping out of the cargo bay they fell back to the earth or more specifically they race towards the sea splashing down they sunk to the bottom where they began to move towards the island. As the team slowly stalked through the murky depths, they knew the trek would take them twenty minutes to reach an underground cave system that Noble would use to reach the interior of the island for the nest stage to begin. It took them a little less than twenty minutes to reach the opening but that was only due to the luck of a current slowly pushing them towards the cave system, scanning the area Carter noted that the cave mouth was around eight meters in diameter looking into the opening the commander opened up the map that was provided from a number of drones Cortana had sent in advance giving them sixty percent of the system but only one path was highlighted in neon yellow this path would take the team to the surface.

Looking at his team Carter motioned for them to move forward, and they did as one it took them another ten minutes before they found themselves in a cavern with a ceiling thirteen meters high. Slowly surfacing the group scanned the space looking for any signs of hostiles when nothing was found or seen they pulled themselves over the edge and onto dry land, pulling out their weapons the team quickly investigated them making sure they weren't waterlogged. Once everything was given the green light, they moved out heading to the surface following the route they soon found themselves nearing an exit point the problem they were facing was that the exit hole had dropped down to about four meters in diameter. Taking the lead Carter was the first to exit quickly scanning the surrounding he sent the signal for Kat to advance once she was beside him, he stepped away taking cover by some trees and the pattern continued as Noble exited the cave they slowly created a perimeter that allowed them to keep an eye on the area around them. Once they had all exited the cave all Carter spoke over TEAMCOM "Alright team we know our targets and their locations, lets split into two teams and hit each side of the island and try to keep these guys guessing. Team One would be Me, Noble Three and Noble Five the second team will consist of Noble Two, Four and Six. Noble Two is in charge."

"Copy Commander." Kat answered back her voice causing Emile to internally roll his eyes.

"Now let’s split the island down the middle, Team One will take the East side targets and Team Two will take the West side targets. Each team will be radio silent from the other until the third day or the completion of the mission, the main goal at this time is infiltration and placement of the explosives on the facilities and ships with set timers. This island has a total of five factories and six security compounds I want them all to have explosives planted in them by the time the invasion force shows up, the secondary objective is to gather any and all intel we can on the enemies here and any other bases they’ve got.”

“The invasion depends on how much we accomplish in the next few days, so let’s make sure that nothing is left standing or is in an unsalvageable state at the end of our hunt. I want us to be ghosts for this entire op if anyone sees even a glimpse of you make them disappear, I don't want our targets to even know we're here till we blow the facilities back to kingdom come." Looking over his people Carter knew that every word spoken had been memorized by his team he smirked and finished the sentence with “Alright Noble let’s get started.”

(Team One)
(Location Easter Facility Three)
(Day 1 06:00hrs)

Peering through his scope Jun marks another two security personnel as they passed through the gate to start their patrol of the factory, it hadn’t taken team one long to discover the first security facility they didn’t know how many ponies were calling the facility home. But they’ve seen at least eighteen groups of three patrols pass through the gate whether they were entering or exiting the facility, so far the schedule looked to be normal type when one group entered another would quickly exit heading off onto the island to begin patrols, checks or to possibly resupply other smaller areas. One thing quickly noticed by the SPARTANs was the lack of vehicle checks when patrols would return to the facility so they quickly took advantage tagging at least six vehicles with smaller explosives brought along by Emile to spread the damage and chaos across the island in case they wanted to further confuse the enemy. Since their arrival Carter had used his magic to cloak, track and tag five vehicles with the explosives, all five were hooked to a separate detonator so when the main explosives were set off they could be detonated as a secondary explosion.

Now though was the difficult part the team needed to figure out a way into the compound to place the larger devices, at the moment Carter was following a foot patrol keeping tabs on them and getting ready to make his move. It had been decided that Carter would infiltrate around dusk while Jorge would cause a disturbance by toppling a few trees onto the road, sighing Jun was ready for the proverbially shit to hit the fan as the way SPARTAN missions always went. This entire op was to get ready for another front that needed to be won, this time though they wouldn’t have the advantage of the land all this was due to the chain of islands they would need to hope across before getting to the main islands which consisted of three large island masses. Those islands held the main body of the kingdom where the royalty and highest leveled military advisors lived, the problem that came from the islands colonized around the main three were all the outer islands that had been colonized by the main kingdom and were quickly repurposed to be military complexes with the outer most focusing on ships while the inner focused on training frogmen and ground forces. Sighing to himself Jun wondered just how much of the island these ponies had explored and possibly booby trapped. Focusing on a small group of four Jun smirked to himself as he noticed their relaxed demeanor which reminded him of the insurrectionists he'd dealt with in the past. Thinking they were well trained and knowing everything they would need to know, but what they were were amateurs that never had their guards up hearing a small chirp in his ear Jun focused on it and Carter's voice came over the speakers "Ok Noble fall back the objective has been complete."

With that said his COM went dead backing off Jun quickly retreated and started to head back to the rendezvous spot being careful not to take a direct route or leave any trace of his presence the SPARTAN found himself there. Seeing Jorge and Carter already hunkered down he signaled them that he was coming from the west, carefully coming in he spoke over TEAMCOM "So commander, where'd you place the explosive?"

"Found a nice spot close enough to what I believe is their fuel deposits, saw a few of those vehicles refueling at them. So we should have a nice bonfire when they go up." Carter stated as his visor tilted slightly obviously looking over the islands layout and trying to figure out what the next target should be, giving him some room Jun turned to the west and pulled out his rifle keeping an eye out on the surroundings as the sun overhead began to slowly rise slowly bathing the island in a soft orange light Jun thought 'One day down .'

(Team 2)
(Location rendezvous spot Echo)
(Day 1 12:00hrs)

Looking over the map again Kat B-320 was finding the best route to their first target near the northeastern shore one of the six shipyards, they had begun their march and had been careful to not leave any traces of their path along with the trio keeping approximately eight meters apart far enough away that if any enemies saw them, they hopefully wouldn't find the others if they attacked. Hearing a small chirp in her ear she accepted the link and asked "What is it Noble Four?"

"Just checking in on our progress." Emile snarked in his usually tone, sighing Kat ignored him.

"Noble Four you and Noble Six have access to our progress. You do not need me to tell you how far away we are. Just check the nav."

"Testy testy, I'm just trying to make conversation."

"Yes, Noble Four I can see that. But instead of that why don't you concentrate on placing one fo-"

"Hoof." Emile stated a slight snicker escaping his lips as he said the word.

"Hoof Infront of the other and march on so we can place our distractions for the enemy when our friends come knocking." Kat suggested as the SPARTANs were closing in smirking she continued "After all it's up to you to keep the our rendezvous warm while me and Six check on the base.”

“Hmph I’ll keep it warm for you.” Emile muttered a moment before he disconnected the COM. Smirking to herself Kat went back to the map and saw they were getting closer pausing she opened up TEAMCOM and said “Alright we’re three miles out, let’s get to the rendezvous spot and set up for tonight. Six check your cloaking I won’t want any mishaps, Emile you look over the explosives and I’ll check on that data Noble One forwarded to us.”

Two green lights blipped on her H.U.D. In confirmation as they took a small detour and found a good spot to make their resting area. Digging a small trench deep enough so they could hunker down but kept it shallow enough that hopefully if it were stumbled across the locals would mistake it for an animal or possible sink hole. Once everything was set up Kat and Six began to prepare everything for their night time op, deciding to go when the sun would begin to set over the horizon once that was set they checked the time 13:56 hours nodding her head Kat turned and said “Sun should start setting around 17:38 hours we leave then and should make it to the facility as the light begins to disappear.”

“Should give enough cover with the poor light, shadows and turning of the guards.” Six stated as he thought about past operations that also involved infiltration that took place around dusk and dawn.

“It should, but still we need to take all the precautions we can take when planting our presents.”

“Agreed.”

Waiting for more to be said Kat realized Six was finished and wouldn’t be giving any more vocalization, sighing Kat and Six began to look over the map and the rough lay out of the building. Getting the plan together the two SPARTANs knew they were ready to make their move, seeing that it was almost time both of the super soldiers took off into the brush heading to the facility getting it ready for the invasion.

(Team One)
(6 days later)
(23:05 hrs)
(Caudal Island chain.)

Hunkering down in a small cave system Team 1 waited for the commander to pass along the information he was currently getting from the ally forces coming in. They were now moving forward with the next steps of the operation when they assault group was ready to begin the first wave of attack Noble team would activate the explosives causing chaos to run through the island while Noble would also move acting as a further distraction attacking guards around the island hoping to make them think the invasion force had already landed. The goal was for team 1 and 2 to sow enough disinformation and chaos that when the actual invasion force landed it would be too late to actively retaliate against them. Nodding his helmet Carter cut off the COM he turned and to the rest as he began to relay the information to the team “Alright that was the admiral he just informed me that the fleet would be arriving at midnight tonight. They'll be launching the first wave an hour before then won’t know when they’ll be landing till it happens.”

“So usual plan? We give the old one two and wait for back up while taking off any and all attention.” Jorge stated as he rolled one of his stiff shoulders trying to loosen it

“Exactly,” Carter stated looking out towards the forest he took a breath “Kat has the same intel, she sent an encrypted message stating we need to randomize when we attack and set off our surprises.”

“Makes sense if we blow west side first with delays on the facility they won’t know where or when the attack is coming, especially if it’s happening in the east also.” Jun

“That’s the plan I figured we blow that nearly completed war ship first then have everything else go in increments of five minutes. We’ll save the vehicles and set them to blow at our signal this should give them enough time for them to blow at random areas.” Carter finished hunkering down next to the other two while reading over the data, everything signal wise was still green nodding his head he then said “So we’ll set everything to go off half an hour before the forces arrive and as that’s all going off we’ll head off any security detail and take them out.”

Nodding their heads in agreement the three SPARTANs checked the time and noted they had fifty five minutes before the party would start. They checked over the equipment and began to pack everything up so they could move quickly, deciding they would head to Whiskey site to begin their assault they soon would exited the cave beginning the long trek. Looking up to the sky Carter knew the next few hours would be long and stressful but was ready for every second of it.

(Team Two)
(Caudal island chain)
(23:10 hours)

Getting into position hadn’t been to difficult for the team with the incoming invasion force coming they had been quick and decisive in how and when they moved. After getting off the COM’s with the fleet Kat had brought them up to speed giving them all the same information she had been afforded while also stating that she had suggested with Noble One they should set off the explosions at random intervals and not at the same time, hoping this would allow for further chaos to bee down before the main forces arrive. Guessing her best Kat figured that Team One would set theirs off at least a half hour before the force arrived so Kat decided that she would be blowing theirs fifteen minutes before their arrival. With a two minute timer set to blow the other facilities, the first ones to go would be security l after all if the wests security bases were giant balls of fire it would stretch the other facilities thin if Team One decided to blow a different set if targets.

After the security went up the next things to go would be the ships they had rigged, one interesting curve ball that had happened is one of the ships Six had rigged had set off a two days earlier heading north possibly going towards U.P.R. territory to help with their growing defensive line. But before it could leave their COM range, Kat quickly set it on a timer that would blow the ship in three days, which meant sometime tomorrow the ship and her crew would find themselves at the bottom of the ocean. As the time passed Kat quickly found herself checking to make sure the signals were still strong, they were and time was drawing near she saw that the clock read 23:28 and they were nearly at their vantage point.

Once they were in the set up Kat smiled to herself while turning to Emile she said “Noble Four you want to do the honors and get the party start.”

“On your mark Noble Two,” Emile replied hunkering down he raised his head slightly using the internal switches to detonate the bombs.

“On my mark blow the explosives.” Kate said looking to see the clock was at 23:29:30

“On your mark.”

Watching the clock Kat waited till it was at 23:29:55 before beginning her countdown “Five”

“Four”

“Three”

“Two”

“One”

“Mark.” As the word left her mouth Emile chinned the control and in almost an instant the security building they had in their sights, blew apart at its heart. Every window blew out of the building as the center most structure blew apart causing debris to start raining down across the place, across the facility’s dozens of small fires began to spread as a gas line ignited. As soon as this happened the camp came to life as personal began to race about calling for reinforcements and giving out orders, scanning the area Kat began to tag targets that looked to be high level personal not even a second after they were marked Six took aim and ended their existence on this plane.

The chaos only got worse as off in the distance an orange mushroom cloud could be seen for a moment, before it slowly dissipated some guards raced off heading out to the first of many bases the would be exploding while others tried to find their commanders that had suddenly gone silent. Quickly gathering themselves up the three SPARTANs began to change locations, sticking to the shadows as they moved away heading out to find some of the patrols. As they raced through the forest they soon encountered a small patrol group of four who’d stopped mid shift as they stared up at the sky one of them could be heard on the radio shouting “What in the hat is going on! Charon Base answer the damned message we just saw *WHOOMP*”

Whirling away from the radio the guy saw another cloud forming behind them, more than likely this was the base they had just left whispering to himself he asked “What the buck is happening?”

Seeing their moment the SPARTANs quickly took aim and dispatched the guards killing them with headshots, each one of their weapons letting out almost inaudible coughs as they were discharged. Moving up they removed any weapons the group had, checking the vehicle they found no other weapons as they were about to move off a number of voices came over the radio all giving reports or demanding information on what was happening from the sounds of it the command structure had fallen into disarray as each voice started to yell over the others and force themselves to be heard. That was until a new voice took over cutting off all the others its voice thick with authority “We have been infiltrated and an unknown number of assailants are on the island, regroup with any survivors and start patrolling the island. The rest of you need to sweep the intact facilities NOW find those explosives before anymore go off. For one final order who ever speaks on an open radio channel again will be executed when this is over.”

The message kept replaying looking between each other the SPARTANs knew they didn’t have long, but off in the distance a new cloud rose from the Eastern end of the island. That must’ve been one of Team 1’s explosives hopefully this would break concentration again and make them think it wasn’t just the West being attacked. Checking her clock Kat saw it was 23:45 fifteen minutes and the invasion force would be arriving in full force, pulling up the map Kat looked it over and spoke “Alright let’s head to the next security facility that’s about to blow and eliminate any patrols on our way.”

“Yes ma’am.” Both Six and Emile said in unison while following behind her covering theirs wings and rear.

(Team 1)
(Manufacturer Facility 2)
(23:46 hrs)

Ignoring the sound of a distant explosion Carter pulled out his rifle and began to pick off incoming patrols, the numbers seemed to be increasing as far as he could guess they were trying to build up a network. Jun had managed to find a small radio they had borrowed from a dispatched guard and had been quietly eavesdropping on conversations. The chances of them being found was slim but still anything could have happened at this point, but they had learned that the patrols were split into two groups. So at the moment Carter was mulling over whether he should pull the pin and blow all the devices at once, he changed his mind deciding that if the forces were spilt running through the buildings hunting down the explosives while others were looking around the island for a invasion force that hadn’t arrived yet it. The split forces could help the mission so he wound the timers down having them blow in a minute and a half so they would be going up quicker, didn’t want to risk them being found but It could help if a team thought they’d have time to find and disarm them.

Hearing the crack of a rifle Carter saw a patrol vehicle swerve into a tree causing the passenger to be thrust into the dashboard his head slamming into the glass which splintered. Scanning the back seat he saw another individual slowly moving to the opposite side taking his time he lined up the shot and fired the head whipped to the side before crumpling into the back seat, hearing a chirp in his ear Carter chinned a switch and heard Jun “Time to move commander I doubt that they’ll go unnoticed for long.”

But before he could answer something sparked in the engine compartment and the jeep soon caught fire before it blew apart, causing a small fired to begin spreading through the forest letting out a groan Carter said “Well this just got more interesting.”

“Yeah, but a forest fire is great cover for us wouldn’t you agree?” Jun asked his voice had a small edge to it, nodding his head Carter turned and began to back away.

“Nothing we can do about it,” Carter looked behind himself for a moment seeing a thick column of smoke starting to rise into the night sky “But I do agree this fire will be useful for a time.”

Racing off the two SPARTANs found Jorge set up near an access road noticing the rising smoke he cocked his head, sighing Carter caught him up to speed while also checking the time 23:59 the force should be answering any moment now. Chinning a control he opened his come up to a secure line that connected to whoever was in control, this line wouldn’t intersect any commands or give them away it didn’t take long for someone to speak to him “This is Commander Hard Hoof, is this Noble One?”

“Noble One here commander, I’m calling to check in on the delivery.”

“Delivery is on the south beach and is hot and ready Noble One,” taking a moment the commander must’ve seen the rising smoke before coming back to him “But it looks like your team has been busy Noble One.”

“Very much so, now I do need to let you know a fire has started to spread on the north eastern part of the island. It’s spreading at this point but you should be prepared for it if you need to come this way.”

“I read you Noble One we’ll keep an eye out for that fire, we’ve designated a FOB site and will transmit location once the remaining bases are taken care of and the islands secure.”

“We read you commander, patrols are all over the island trying to rebuild the chain of command, do your best to avoid any of the main bases we’ve already set those up to no longer be problem's.”

“That’s good to know, how many are left.”

Looking up to the sky of in the distance to the South West a small orange glow could be seen doing a quick head count he stated “There should be three bases left but they won’t last long, countdowns being rushed and timers are set to a minute thirty.”

“Minute thirty we read you.”

“We’ve also managed to booby trap at least six of their vehicles with bombs,” checking the signal strength it was green sighing he stated “They can go up in the next thirty seconds.”

“Get it done SPARTAN,” the commander paused for a moment before continuing “I’m going to be sending at least four fireteams further into the island to scout ahead best we’ve got.”

“We read you commander, we’ll see you once everything’s finished.”

“Of course SPARTAN, good hunting.” After that the radio clicked off shaking his head Carter turned and spoke over TEAMCOM “Sounds like our back up has just arrived, let’s start ramping up the attacks. Draw as much attention from them as we can, the vehicles should be going up now.”

“Hopefully they weren’t together, should help with eliminating a few patrols and slowing their progress.” Jun remarked as he stopped to study the ground seeing a pair of hoof tracks.

“Interesting.” He muttered as he brushed a hoof over them, following the path he saw that they just ended like the ponies had been plucked from the ground by a grav lift. Looking around the three soldiers raised their weapons ready for an ambush, as the pushed ahead they seemingly pushed through a shimmer pocket of air and found themselves looking at a hidden base with a massive array attached to it’s top. Tensing up Carter quickly checked his recorder making sure he was getting everything they were seeing, the U.P.R. had finally rigged one of the Covenants cloaking towers it looked like. Cursing mentally he questioned himself about why he and his team hadn’t spent more time searching the island that was until he heard the sound of yelling coming from his left, motioning to his team they fell in line and found where the yelling was coming from. Coming closer to a clearing they saw a small plume of smoke rising into the sky and a rescue team was getting together and developing a plan, while looking over a map adjusting his view Carter noticed that the smoke was exiting a pony made tunnel that more than likely connected to the main cave systems.

That explained why they hadn’t found this place they were more than likely given explicit instructions to only head to said location using the tunnels and never out in the open, that was until Noble showed up and began to blow chunks out of the island causing chaos and for the teams to race around trying to get help or get to areas that needed their help. But from the smoke coming out from the tunnel it seemed that one of the vehicles they had rigged had blown underground and more than likely caused a cave in, which explained the small team who were now moving towards the cave taking the initiative Carter took aim and spoke over TEAMCOM “Put’em down Noble!”

Taking aim the three super soldiers opened fire their weapons coughing as clouds of blood puffed up into the air and the bodies continued forward for a moment before stopping a foot away from the entrance. Nodding his head Carter motioned for Jun to cover him while he check the bodies, patting them down he couldn’t see or find anything of use from them pulling his weapon up he used the hoof cannon to put a signal round into each of the enemies head and left them their speaking up he said “Ok Noble let’s take this base, Jun you got a signal in here?”

“I do commander.” Jun replied coolly as he fell in behind him.

“Ok inform Commander Hard Hoof and Noble Two about what we found, me and Jorge are gonna start recon see what we can find out about this base. After you finish that you’ll be our over watch.” Carter ordered as he moved forward both of them fell in line as they went towards the hidden base.

(Outside of Cloaked Base)
(00:33hrs)
(Noble Team One)

Standing under the cover of the trees both Carter and Jorge eyed the gates the base was much more fortified than the others, the entire base was surrounded by a massive solid steel wall that wrapped the base. From their initial investigation the base had only one entrance and exit that had at least ten guards on it, three were in each watch tower while four on the ground investigating each vehicle or personnel who tried to enter. In all there were six towers two were at the entrance of the facility and one at each corner. All of which were manned and armed with turrets luckily nothing covenant but they still had enough fire powers to bring MJOLNIR shields down and damage the armor if not the SPARTAN within. Backing away into the shadows further Carter looked around he’d have to wait until back up arrived, they’d need someone to take out the towers and Hard Hoof had explained that his scouts had the newly introduced M70P rocket launcher, designed much like the the SPNKr back home it had twin tube that rotated after firing it’s ammunition. One interesting change that Cortana had managed to implement into the system was how they could track their targets, using a small switch the user could tag their intended target with a magical seal that the rocket would race after like a blood hound on the hunt once launched.

Hard hoof had at least fifteen ponies in his units trained to use the weapons and would be sending at least four to help blow the towers. He hadn’t quite said how long it would take them to get there but stated that Nobel would be contacted once they breached the cloak, they had been waiting far to long for their allies to arrive but when you intended on capturing a base instead of blowing it to kingdom come it was always best to have back up and plenty of assistance. The other half of Noble should also be arriving soon which meant that the team would be back up to full strength, hearing a small chirp of an handshake signal Carter chinned a control to check the signal making sure it was U.W.M. after it was green lit he accepted the signal and spoke “Is this the wrecking crew?”

“Wrecking crew is here to help you out Noble One,” a young female voice spoke up she had a slight rasp, some noise could be heard in the background after a moment she was back “Alright Noble one we’ve got some ordinance that can help open up that building. Just tell us where to set up.”

Taking his time Carter went into detail about the building and the troops who’ve been coming in and out, after they ponies were brought up to speed they’d devised a plan for them to take out the towers in one go. Carter stressed that the building needed to be as undamaged as possible so the science division could research the cloaking device. What he didn’t say was also to protect whatever lied within the building, if this country would go so far as to make an entire base invisible they had to have something important. It didn’t take the team long to get into position they’d split up and line themselves up to be able to hit their designated targets from one area, when they got into position Carter checked on Jun and Jorge seeing them adjusting their postures slightly ready to breach the building.

It felt like an eternity waiting for the team to get into position and take their targets, but after a moment two balls of fire flew from the trees slamming into two of the towers after ten seconds another volley came out and took out the remaining towers. Before they could react though gunfire began to echo around the building forcing the guards to take cover, Nobel slowly advanced from the south making their way up both Jun and Carter took out any guards working towards high ground or possible commander. Once they were at the wall Jorge removed a small frame charge quickly setting it up he made an outline of a squad large enough for them to move through, backing away the SPARTANs covered their faceplates while Jorge said “Fire in the hole!”

Hitting the switch the charges blew forcing the debris into the building and hopefully taking anyone close enough out, barging in the three men scanned the area only to find an empty hallway. After a moment Carter clicked his teeth over the speakers and motioned for them to advance, trying to find the administrators office they needed to know where the control center was for the cloak. As they worked through the building Carter was confused how empty it was, they foot traffic signaled that far more enemies should be hold up in the building, but despite being in the building for nearly five minutes they hadn’t seen head or tail of anyone. The fighting outside was dying down now which led Carter to believe that either the U.W.M. had won or lost the fight, Carter was prepared for worst case scenario but doubted that more reinforcements hadn’t been sent in said direction of the invisible base. Hearing the scuffle of hooves Carter pause using his hoof to signal for the rest to stop, as they heard the hooves stop, they waited half expecting the individual to race pass them. But they heard nothing and nopony had tried to attack which Carter found odd, quickly stepping around the corner he raised his rifle ready to open fire………..but there was nothing just an empty hallway that ended in a dead end. Having a sense of Deja vu he looked over his shoulder and said “Jun scan the ground while I test the walls, Jorge watch our backs.”

Jumping into the work Jun began to scan the ground and went as far as to check where it met the wall, while Carter gently tapped the wall while he used his sensors to find any type of hollow. Jorge watched the hallway hefting his weapon he waited in silence unsure as to what his teammates would find it didn't take the two supersoldiers long to find the fake wall. Using his magic Carter sent a pulse into the wall showing a light blue outline of the door once the outline was in full view he then used said magic to rip the door open pushing the now ruined door to the side revealing a hard metal shaft, edging forward Carter looked up and down casting his flashlight down seeing nothing but darkness he pulled out a small glowstick snapping it and shaking it till it glowed bright he let it go and began to count the seconds after about twelve seconds he heard the distinct sound of it hitting the bottom. Doing some quick calculations, the drop was around six hundred meters he'd have to fast rope down to reach the bottom so he wouldn’t have to risk armor lock up. Jun could easily glide down though and scout ahead turning to the sniper Carter issued the order and he took off down the shaft, now current problem was the elevator if they decided to bring it up it could lock Carter in the shaft just long enough for the enemy to attack him. So looking towards the cables Carter lifted his rifle and shot them causing said cables to whip down the shaft smashing into the sides as they fell, looking around he found the best area to anchor his rope down and made sure they everything was secure so that the area didn’t rip up and have him falling to the bottom.

Turning to Jorge he said “Give us ten minutes Noble 5, if anyone comes by you can send them down but tell them to radio ahead. We’re not going to risk friendly fire.”

“Understood Commander.” Jorge answered without looking back at him, nodding Carter went down to the basement landing atop the elevator he saw the hatch was already ripped open.

Dropping down Carter scanned the empty hallway it was dimly lit and littered with papers and debris from the attack, loose ceiling tiles had crashed to the ground spreading small white specks across the ground. Slowly moving forward he noticed that many of the rooms were either pitch black or had flashing lights as they fought to stay on, chinning his control he sent Jun an encoded message signaling he had just entered the basement. Receiving a green acknowledgment light he nodded and began to clear the area room by room, once he was sure that he wasn’t in any immediate danger Carter activated his COM “Jun how are we looking ?”

“Nothing on my end commander it’s a ghost town down here, I’m having trouble finding that control room but whatever they have goin in this hell hole it’s not good.”

“Evidence or guts?”

“Little bit of both,” Jun replied as he decided to forward his location via waypoint,
Locking in Carter began to make his way while continuing the sweep “Found some files marked ‘Project Pathway’ not much can be made out on it, think it’s magic everytime I try to read it he the words seem to bunch of and become incoherent.”

Internally Carter ground his teeth that was one major issue they had recently discovered, once the tables had been turned the axis powers had taken to prioritizing keeping their secrets just that. Files would be unreadable until the spell was broken, set themselves ablaze or even teleport away towards an unknown area, it’s a newly developed problem but one that the E.I.A. have been trying to crack with little success. As he entered the room Carter saw Jun had pulled out several stacks of files siding up next to him Jun took to watching the door, picking up the files they all had the same file name ‘Project Pathway’ turning he found a file cabinet and opened it. Tossing in the files he tagged it with an identification marker with a recorded message once it was set, Carter pulled out a teleport scroll placing the scroll atop the cabinet he tapped the paper and after a moment it took the cabinet with it to an unidentified base far from it.

“Think that’ll help them out?”

“If they have a self destruct maybe sending the whole damn file system will help keep them from blowing.”

“We can only hope, this project is making me uneasy commander.”

“Yes but it shouldn’t be possible if it is what we’re worried about, Cortana is monitoring every tiny signal that is sent to and from the planet. If even a hint of something was being sent out from an axis power she’d shut it down immediately.”

“Unless it’s using some MagiTech they’ve developed. You have to admit commander when it comes to magic we’re out of our depth with it and it keeps hitting us below the belt.” Jun said his tone coming off ice cold it was the same tone he used when giving enemy numbers.

“I agree but what kinda’ve damned spell are they using to cloak it? We’ll need to bring this worry up with Cortana once we’re secure.” Carter answered as he moved out of the room looking to the left he knew Jun had taken the right.

“Good because we’re not ready for a full fledged invasion by the Covenant.”

“No we are not so let’s wrap this up and give her a call.” Carter answered back moving deeper into the facility hunting for the control room to shut it all down.

(Unknown Location)
(Unknown Time)

Walking through the ship a creature wearing full combat armor made its way to the bridge, after being woken up it was very interested to see just exactly what its subordinates had found. Reaching the bridge the crew looked at the creature and motioned towards the main control panel, walking over the creature waited as one of its com specialists pulled up the data. After a second a hologram appeared on the table standing before them was a four legged and gray furred creature wearing regal robes speaking in a clear and authoritative voice which was translated flawlessly through the speakers “To my brothers among the stars I am Emperor Searing Wind, I send this message in hopes for you to find my home planet and help me liberate it from the heretics who wish to stop us from joining you on the Great Journey. We are fighting valiantly but are outnumbered and outgunned, I have attached to this signal data with our planets location, we await you my brothers and look forward to joining you among the stars.”

After the message finished a long stream of symbols surged across the screen before the creature, after a moment the staff captured the data and entered it pulling up the data the world and its system was brought up onto the table. Reaching up with a three fingers hand it held the world in its palm while what could be considered a smile stretched on its face, it soon started barking orders making its crew jump to it telling them to get ready while ordering some to start gather resources and reinforcements to begin a new operation.

Part 2 Chapter 5

(January 2, 1026 11:30hr)
(Near the Siege line)
(West of Alicorn Bay Base)

Staring at the siege line Carter watched as the bright blue plasma slammed into the ground causing it to glow white hot as it slowly moved its way towards the base. They’d been watching said strikes for the last six days with how long the attacks had been going on the ground was a molten pool of melted elements, as he felt his eyes lock onto the pool his thoughts going back to his home world. He always would remember the melting buildings and bubbling ground as he was evacuated, closing his eyes Carter centered himself and looked behind him at his team they were ready to move but still had to wait for the distraction to start. The U.W.M. had moved a portable MAC(M) prototype a week ago to be used on one of the shielded siege machines, when the weapon fired a number of unicorns would quickly cast ice, water and other spells to cool the melted landscape so a small contingent of Ursa’s could charge the opening while simultaneously laying down cover fire with their weapons. Adjusting his shoulders Carters ear chirped and the gruff voice of General Hard Eye spoke “Noble One this is Command Actual, do you read?”

“Noble One here Command Actual we read you,” Carter turned and motioned for Noble to get ready standing up they locked onto the distant line “What’s the news General?”

“The news Noble One is that all teams are ready to move in, I know you have your orders. So I’m going to be quick in one minute we’re gonna blow that damned machine back to tartarus when that happens rush the line and get deep behind enemy territory. This may be the last time I’ll be able to talk to you all for a while, so good luck out there and may the goddess be with you. ”

“We hear you sir and we’ll get the job done. Noble signing off.” Carter answered back as he slowly edged closer to the edge of their alcove.

Time seemed to slow down for the team as a small countdown begun in their helmets. Readying the weapons they waited listening to the crashing plasma the familiar sound that each had come to loathe in their own ways, watching as the earth bubbled and turned from the heat, turning towards the line Carter focused on the covenant draugr. For a moment the world went silent for a moment for a moment all the SPARTAN could hear was the beat of his own pulse until a massive boom echoed through the battle field, its sound was so loud Carters helmet shut down all external noises to protect his hearing. The ground seemed to crack as the draugr was ripped apart by the slug, while the pressure wave following it pulled debris and lava over the line coating the walls and melting the stone. That’s when everything exploded and ice flashed from the draugr remains covering everything like a wild fire, when the ice contacted the lava the difference in temperature caused them to explode covering the area in hot steam that obscured the allies view as screams soon began to cry out from the behind the walls.

Staring in astonishment he was caught off guard just how well the magic laced round worked, the entire line was in chaos now as they heard screams of pain, terror and orders. Not even seconds after spells soon were being thrown down forcing the ground to cool and stabilize so the Ursa’s could drive across what once a no man’s land, as they charged forward the chain guns and rockets fired at the line providing cover. Taking this as his cue Carter surged over the lip and charged the line raging past the vehicles, eyeing his motion detector it was alight with allied movement as they moved towards the entrance, the goal was to disrupt the siege line long enough for the fire teams to slip past and start working their way deep into enemy territory. Cortana had pulled four SPARTAN teams for this mission giving them all a single goal, get to a set coordinates and destroy the target, each team knew how to set the ships engine to overload and explode but first they would need to get into the country.

Carter knew they would be able to get that done considering this attack was happening at six other spots, forcing those in charge into a chaotic mess of figuring out just what they were up to and hopefully by the end all four teams would be through and pushing into enemy territory. Leaping over a chunk of wall Carter spotted two soldiers trying to help their comrade out from some rubble, taking aim he dispatched them before moving on he spoke over TEAMCOM “Activate active camo, if you see targets of interest take them. The steam is giving us a good cover so they shouldn’t know what’s what until it’s too late!”

Receiving five green acknowledgement lights they moved quickly through the camp, killing possible commanders and medics, sabotaging equipment and rigging others to blow when used. Noble got this done and soon found themselves moving out of the combat area, once they were far enough away Carter looked over his shoulder and saw that the steam was now disappearing. He could make out the faint flashes of firefights as soldiers from the U.W.M. forced their way into the camp which was allowing for reinforcements to also join them. This operation hopefully would help with restarting the advance against the U.P.R. but the man didn’t waste anymore time with his observation turning he started to sprint into the enemy territory making for the heart of the U.P.R. home country.

(Several miles away.)
(January 3, 1026 03:08 hr)
(Unknown location)

Looking over the edge of the window seal Jun watched for any possible troops that could be coming, the team had found an abandoned farm and had picked the lock of the main house. Once it was confirmed clear the team had moved to the second floor and were now going over the maps trying to figure out the best way to get to their target, glancing over his shoulder Jun saw Carter tapping something on the map while saying “This train line is a direct shot to the U.P.R. homeland, we can bury ourselves in the coal cart and wait until we’re a mile out.”

“That could work, but we don’t know the security situation. Our active camo could get us close enough to board the train but what do we do when we reach the coal bin, they’d notice the dust.” Kat pointed out as she also scanned the map trying to find something.

“That is if that maps even up to date.” Emile mentioned as he waved a hoof at the edges that were worn and tattered from time.

“SIGH if we keep going at this pace it would take us at least two maybe three months to reach the border we need to scout it out at least just to be sure, the computer also says the station is at least two weeks out at our current pace.” Carter murmured they’d hoped to find a vehicle to commandeer but none were at the base or even the farm.

“That is our best bet at this time,” Kat rolled her shoulder and leaned back crossing her hooves she continued “With our assault against the line you’d think the enemies would have sent reinforcements by now, or even had a base close enough to help bolster the line. This isn’t sitting right with me.”

“Agreed Noble Two, but we’ll deal with whatever comes. We’re in the dark now and have only ourselves to rely on so let’s only use our weapons if necessary, ration ammo like it’s gold.”

Nodding their heads the six super soldiers knew what needed to be done, leaning back they got into a semi relaxed state. Looking around Carter distributed the cycle for watches which soon began, the team would only be able to freely move about when the sun set so they would spend the day resting. Taking first watch Carter relieved Jun of his post and looked over the quiet landscape, in the distance though one could hear the quiet booms of a distant battle rolling over the field.

(Ponyville, Equestria)
(Friendship Castle)
(January 29, 1026 11:37 hr)

Staring down at the reports given to her Princess Twilight slowly read over it again, before her were a number of battle field reports given to her from the front line. With the war moving forward again Twilight wanted to keep up with everything that was happening, especially considering that the Princess of Friendship had recently noticed an uptake of coming and going aircraft from the base outside of Ponyville. Twilight had decided to not be part of the war effort instead concentrating on diplomacy working to convince more to join the A.C.E. after a recent meeting. Equestria’s representative had informed them that Cortana was gearing up for an invasion from outside the cradle system as she believed something was coming what exactly was a mystery but if it had the ex A.I. worried the world was worried.

Looking over one of the reports for the eastern nation of Neighpon Twilight knew that this nation had been on the fence about joining the A.C.E. but recently it seemed that the U.P.R. had taken to attacking shipping routes killing entire crews and stealing the food, medicine and everything else that wasn’t nailed down. This and begun when the lien began to move again inching across the axis controlled territory as they marched towards the heart of there homeland, so it seemed they were getting desperate now stealing form other countries to fuel the fighting and keep their soldiers fed and medicated. Seeing something flashed in her peripheral turning the mare saw that they were reporting on the caudal islands turning mute off the stallion spoke “-with that the final visages of the tyrannical King Riptide has fallen and the caudal islands are free, it seems that A.C.E. diplomat units had been deployed to help with the restoration and rebuilding of the nation. King Riptide’s nephew has been crowned the new leader of the caudal kingdom and he has already made steps to start the peaceful negotiations with the A.C.E. as you can-“

Listening further Twilight had never thought she’d see the day that the caudal islands would join the world openly instead of trying to conquer it. The world was rapidly changing and everything could be different in less than a decade, it seemed that her youngest were already talking exploring the stars wanting to help finding more habitable planets. But then again it seemed that Cortana had hundreds of planets ready to be scouted the majority seemed habitable for ponies to plant their hooves on. But before anything more could be started on Twilight heard her wife shout “I’VE GIVEN MY ANSWER AND IT WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED, I REFUSE!!!” before a loud crack could be heard from her slamming the phone down.

Standing up Twilight made her way out of the study followed which brought her to the dining area. Fizzlepop recently had recruiters coming after her from nearly all the U.W.M. Branches wanted her and they had been relentless since the start of the war due to her past experience in fighting and battle field tactics. Coming down the stairs she saw her wife pouring a drink into a glass and draining it in a single gulp before she walked off to drop it in the sink, following her Twilight approached her and said “Everything okay Fizzle?”

“More annoying shit from those fucks in the recruiting office,” Fizzle growled while she washed the glass her face morphing into a scowl she continued “This time they wanted me JUST as a trainer for the recruits, HA like that stop them from trying to send me out there!”

“You know I can put in a call to Cortana? She surely can stop them from bothering you.” Twilight moved next to the mare wrapping a wing around her shoulders

“Humph I think she’s behind it, I’ve pushed back using old associates. My calls? All from the E.I.A. or Spartan branch no other branch has been contacting me.”

“Since when?”

“Since the beginning, Cortana knows of my past and she must want me specifically in one of those areas because of that.” Fizzle answered looking away from Twilight who’s face had morphed into one of shock at the mention of both military branches.

“Then I will talk-“

“I’m handling it Twilight, I’ve already sent something to our president that she can’t ignore,” looking up at Twilight Fizzle placed a hoof against her cheek and continued “I can’t tell you either…….its a dangerous secret.”

*Clank**Clank**Clank* Hearing the knocker at the front door pulling away from her the two mares walked towards the door, once they were close Twilight opened it using her magic standing outside were three ponies dressed in all black suits glasses covering their eyes the front most pony talked in a light Bridle accent “Miss Fizzlepop the madam president wishes to speak to you today, she says you have some grievances about the recruitment office calls.”

“What exactly-“

“Yes exactly,” Fizzlepop placed a hoof over Twilight mouth looking her in the eye she silently mouthed ‘I’ll be fine my love.’ turning back to the group she said “Now let’s get this over with, I have a hot date tonight!”

Following them out the door it snapped shut with a loud clack, staring at it Twilight knew her wife would be fine. But at the same time she couldn’t help but wonder just what was going on that E.I.A. agents needed to escort her loved one to the president herself.

(CLASSIFIED)
(CLASSIFIED)
(CLASSIFIED)

Fizzlepop was placed in one of the cushiest interrogation rooms she’d been in in a long time, looking around she noted the soft couches, coffee bar and magazines to read. Walking over to the coffee she began to make herself a simple black coffee when the door opened turning she saw Cortana and Black Ink both of whom had serious looks on their faces as the walked in, held in Cortana’s magic were some beige folders that she placed onto the table neatly stacked and ready to be opened. Taking a seat she clicked her teeth and said pointedly “You wished to speak to me Fizzlepop?”

“Yes I did Cortana, I take it you received my package?” Fizzlepop answered nonchalantly as turned back to the coffee pouring it into a paper cup for herself.

“I did,” Cortana answered her voice cool and level but Fizzlepop knew there was more for this meeting the president continued “I am very interested what makes you think something is going on?”

“Well I have some concerns, it all begins with the Bloody Shields.” Fizzlepop said moving towards the chair she sipped the coffee before taking a seat motioning towards the mares she continued “At the beginning of the war we managed to capture a few of them who’d infiltrated Equestria……..except they were in the middle of nowhere important or at least nowhere that anypony in Equestria cared about.”

“Yes well I do have a few black sites……..that one housed the MJOLNIR(P) prototypes and the surgery suits that all SPARTAN recruits go through. I’d just built it a month before that attack.” Cortana explained eyeing her Fizzlepop nodded pretending to accept the blatant lie, she placed her elbow on the table and leaned her head on her hoof.

“I see, then what about all this black op missions you’ve been doing in ally territory? They look like random deployments but I doubt they are considering the chain hooked onto them.” Fizzlepop said her eyes narrowing at Cortana who sighed and shook her head.

“I cannot say if any such missions have taken place, but they were of extreme importance if such missions did happen.”

“I see, well then I guess this picture wasn’t taken by an old friend of mine then?” Fizzlepop asked as she reached into a pocket of her jacket pulling out a photograph of a MJOLNIR clad pony running through the forest almost an orange blur as it raced to an unknown target.

“Very interesting, but what does this have to do with anything? Seems to be a blurry picture taken in the woods.”

“True but we all know that’s a SPARTAN, what I want to know is why they are being deployed in allied territory. Along with you assholes pulling me from your recruitment list as of yesterday!”

“We can do the latter and you will no longer be contacted by anypony. But as for the former Ms. Berrytwist this picture is nothing important ,” Black Ink spoke eyeing the picture she motioned at it while adding “Even if It is what you think it is you are a civilian, which means we owe no explanation to you about anything.”

“I have contacts throughout the world that keep me up to date on the goings on in the it, recently they’ve noticed a number of unknown ships racing across A.C.E. allied nations before zipping away. Don't ask who this is or how they know cause I didn’t ask this photo is something they came across while they investigated near one of the………possible areas of interest.”

“So tell me NOW what exactly is going on! Or I bring all I have to the press and let this story spread like wildfire, we all know SPARTAN deployments are all on the frontline so the media will start digging into this photo and searching for exactly why they are being deployed on the home front.” Leaning forward Fizzlepop slowly rose out of her chair a snarl coming to her face as she looked between the two mares “So you either tell or this gets leaked, I have timed cases that will go off with a special note for my wife and you know she’ll throw this in front of the whole world to witness it.”

Looking between each other for a moment Black Ink leaned back her poker face never faltering while Cortana leaned forward, locking her eyes with Fizzlepop her face stoic and cold as she said “Then you’ll doom this planet to annihilation.”

“What?” Fizzlepop asked narrowing her eyes she felt an ice ball forming in her stomach.

“Fizzlepop what I’m about to tell you is classified so high up that if you even sneeze it to the wrong pony you’ll be immediately arrested and imprisoned for life,” Cortana explained folding her hooves onto the table looking up “We’ve come across something called PROJECT PATHWAY that the axis powers are working on, we know nothing about it but its name. And it’s been months since it’s discovery what we have figured out is simple just by looking at the habits of the enemy, firstly the siege line was to buy time stalling the war, secondly PATHWAY is a pretty straightforward suggestion of what they are working to, and lastly they are no longer trying to win and are only buying time.”

“The incursions.” Fizzlepop whispered her eyes widening in sudden realization.

“Yes we told the world enough of what they needed to know the same goes with you,” Cortana answered as she pushed away from the table and began to exit the room as she left Cortana said “Now if I were you Fizzlepop I’d forget everything told to you here today and destroy those pictures. No point in passing around fake pictures of possible soldiers maybe on a mission.”

With that there alicorn left the room to both her and Black Ink, Fizzlepop didn’t know what exactly she’d just stepped into but her instincts told her it wasn’t good. So she’d do what she was good at survive she’d protect her family and prepare for the invasion that would be coming down atop them at some point , once everything was said and done and the threats/promises were made Fizzlepop was allowed to go back home. As she left Fizzlepop recognized exactly what she would need to do, inwardly she decided that she would be making contact with her old allies and call in every promise she could after all if someone was coming to her home to wage war they’d better be ready for a tempest to greet them.

(Feb 1, 1026 06:00 hrs)
(Train depot, unknown location)

Eyeing the patrol Jun and Six had been sent ahead to scout out the depot, the train station on the map was exactly where it was supposed to be. What was unlucky was it appeared to have been militarized patrols inside gates wrapped in razor wire that now wrapped around the perimeter of the building. They had two watch towers scanning the outside the fenced off area, looking to be recent additions to the stations they each sat on the corner of the buildings, as you entered the station there were two checkpoints on at the fence and one entering the building. The SPARTANs weren’t sure what exactly normal looked like but since the breach at the line they could only guess security had increased inside the controlled territory.

Hearing some commotion Jun turned and saw a guard pushing an older stallion to the ground as his comrades held the family back, he was yelling something but Jun couldn’t make it out. While he yelled the old stallion simply held his hooves up begging more then likely for his life, that seemed to only anger the guard as he used his magic to pull out a small plasma pistol shooting the stallion in the head. Vaporizing it instantly they heard cries of shock as the line suddenly stopped and the family wailed in horror, turning the guard pointed it at them screaming some. Grinding his teeth Jun resisted the urge to shoot the bastard in the head when Six’s monotone voice spoke “Looks like they have a few cargo cars toward the back, no patrols near them.”

“With how they are handling this line I can see why,” Jun murmured as he shifted his sight to look at the cars, at least five of them.

“Hmmmm maybe we can wrench the doors open and board it. The problem is we need a distraction to stop the train long enough for us to board it we also need this guards distracted a bit more.”

“We could always cause a wreck, cut a break line of a vehicle have it roll towards the front of the train and block the tracks. Or sabotage the train enough to where they investigate the front.”

“That could work…….of course the other problem is they may investigate the whole train.”

“True…….maybe we can cause a disturbance somewhere? Pull the guards away from their posts for a moment.”

“I don’t know if—“ Jun began only to stop as he spied on of the ponies, walking out barking out orders and waving his hoof in the direction of the SPARTANs…….no in the direction of the border frowning he said “I think we move now, don’t know what’s going on but that guys in a rush.”

Turning his sights to the pony Six saw him pushing a few of the guards to the side and speaking in their ears, after they had finished the conversation the two turned and raced off towards the train. Six didn’t like this something was about to go pear shaped and when thing's went pear shaped on a mission as tucked away as theirs it could wreck the whole operation, pulling back Six and Jun turned and went to inform the rest of Noble and bring them up to speed. Activating the active camouflage the two soldiers snuck back to a burrow they had made a camp at and as they ventured back, the SPARTANs heard the hum and roar of covenant and pony vehicles on the road racing past them. Reaching the camp, they ducked under a fallen tree and crawled to a hollowed-out center hunkered down were Carter and the rest of noble team all of who were studying the map they had acquired without looking up he asked “What’s your report?”

Stepping forward Jun caught the group up on everything and informed them exactly what the two scouts had witnessed while observing the station, rubbing his chin Carter didn’t like this it didn’t sit well with him that the enemy was moving so much at this time something was going on. Internally sighing he knew the only option they had at this time looking up he asked, “Did you see any troop transport we could commandeer?”

“They had some going towards the train station, don’t know if they’ll still be there if we leave now.” Jun answered cocking his head to the side

“We need to risk it see if we can take one of them now or board that train. They may be getting ready for a fight, either way we need to get ahead of the line NOW and we don’t stop for anything.”

“We hear you commander.” Jun answered walking to his side he placed a hoof on the map in the direction of the siege line.

“I did see the commander pointing in the direction of the siege line, so we know something is going on that deals with us, pushing into their territory."

"Hmmmm then we better hurry and get moving then," Carter murmured as his thoughts drifted to the ally forces 'They are making better time than anticipated.' he grimaced as the group slowly exited the hollow to hitch a ride.

Boarding the train had proved to be simpler than anticipated the guards seemed to have their hands full with the crowd who were now pushing and hollering to board the train, before they had approached Carter had ordered Kat, Six and Jun to break off and plant a couple of the C12 blocks far enough away to make the guards think an attack was on the way but that they only had a limited time before the arrival. Once those explosions were set off the ponies were frantic to board almost causing a riot which the guards were trying to put down, this had pulled enough of the guards away from the train so that Noble could board and hide themselves amongst the cargo pulling some boxes apart just enough to make a type of den they split into three groups of two and spread out amongst the continaters.

(Unknown Location)
(Feb 15, 1026 0:010 hrs)

Feeling the train slowing down Carter activated TEAMCOM and gave sent a soft click over the channel, seeing five green lights wink back he waited and watched his motion tracker not seeing anything yet he and Jorge activated their camouflage and began to move the container slowly making sure they didn't make a noise. They had spent days in those containers without knowing how fast or where they had been heading to, multiple times did the team figure they were being moved to a new train or had changed directions. So Carter was ready for anything knowing the usual course these types of missions took the commander was ready for them to be in the middle of a base ready for battle and brimming with covenant weapons all ready to kill him and his team. Slowly exiting the contain Carter was now looking found himself in the middle of a massive train lot looking up and around Carter slowly recognized the massive structure above them as that of a Covenant ship hangar he murmured "Holy hell we were brought straight to the ship."

"Seems that way commander," Jorge answered slowly as they moved out of the way of a vehicle that held several large containers Jorge looked around "what do we do now commander, the mission called for three SPARTAN teams to converge and take this place out."

"We continue with the mission maybe we can figure out what needs to be done to blow this thing sky high and if we fail that we buy time and sabotage what we can without being found until the rest arrive."

"Mmm I don't like this commander, we shouldn't have been able to find this place this easily and to be brought right into the heart of this thing it's just doesn't sit right."

"Agreed, but we have to take this opportunity and play with the hand we've been dealt with." Carter answered as he noticed four friendly blips appear on his H.U.D. waiting for them to get closer the team quickly regrouped and made their way deeper into the carrier.

Due to the UNSC's war with the covenant and even if the incursions onto the vessels were far and in-between they were able to make wonderful training simulations to practice on and thanks to Cortana they were able to train on fully realized and mapped out structures thankfully all covenant ships had nearly the same lay out. So, the team quickly made their way to one of the Engineers main hubs where they would meet and pass along any information, they had on repairs that were needed or that they had done. Once they had arrived Noble hunkered down into the room large enough for them just barely looking around Carter noted that they wouldn't be sitting doing this again as they were all shoulder to shoulder in this room, nodding to Kat he asked "Are you able to tap into the ship and see what works?"

"On it commander." Kat answered as she took out her pad and plugged it into the system waiting for the pads A.I. to confirm she would go unnoticed it didn't take long as a green dot formed in the center. Pressing the dot the SPARTAN began to sift through the data quirking an eyebrow she began to furiously tap and press further into the system when Carter asked "What's going on Kat?"

"Sir I have to inform you that these ponies have just barely been scratching the surface, according to the data they've only been able to activate the most basic of functions mainly covenant doctrine education, vehicle/weapon maintenance and use, and translation software. They have no access to the ship's weapons, drives, records, or power supply simply put the ships dead in the water these ponies are just looting it at this time but hold on." Kat began to type furiously as her mind leapt to one possibility to which she quickly got her answer leaning away she looked up at Carter and twisted the pad around for him to read leaning in Carter looked at what his second in command had to show, after seeing the information Craters jaw tightened looking to her and he asked "Is this right?"

"It is commander."

"Well don't keep us in suspense what did you learn." Emile question as he leaned around a corner to down up one of the passages.

"What we just learned Noble Four is that this ship is intact enough to be air borne maybe even space worthy. Engines are good to go, and they have enough fuel to glass Equestria and some of her allies." Carter stated freezing up the SPARTAN's looked towards him unsure what to do next.

"Before we even get into this what type of ship is this even?" Jun was the first to speak placing a hoof on wall he gently brushed the purple metal while looking down the passages.

"According to what I pulled the ship is known as the Unyielding Will of the Just, it's an old model that we wouldn't have records on...........but to compare it to modern covenant ships it would be comparable to the supercarrier we saw above Reach. This may actually be one of its early predecessors."

"Holy hell." Jun murmured pulling his hoof off the wall and looked around knowing the full destructive force of this ship, just one was holding it's own against the naval force at Reach. But on a planet as underdeveloped as Equis and it growing naval forces he wasn't sure they could last a day against it, nodding his head Carter turned back to Kat and said "Can we overload the engines?"

"Hmmmm it's possible we can even set it up so it slowly builds up and blows so we can have time to evacuate."

"That may work but we need to figure just what these ponies are able to do with this ship.” Carter said was he leaned back rubbing his jaw he began to think up a plan, they didn’t have back up, no way to call in an air strike, and no idea when or if the other SPARTAN teams were still coming to this city.

Knowing all the dangers Carter needed three things, a way to destroy the ship quickly, to send a warning to Cortana if they failed and a way gain access to information about what exactly the enemy could do with the ship. After what felt like hours Carter finally had an idea of what needed to be done, turning back to Kat he locked eyes and ordered “Kat see if the system can let you access floor plans and where the U.P.R. has accessed and check for any outposts in this ship, secondly find bombs and any volatile materials we can rig to blow and finally find us a escape route that we can use to get out I want to be able to at least scout this place from the outside.”

“On it commander.” Kat answered as she went back to her pad and began to slice through the system

“What’s the plan Noble One?” Emile asked resting a hoof on his kukri in anticipation for action to come.

“The plan I have is simple we’re gonna buy time for the U.W.M. by crippling this base, next I want beacon hooked into this ships communications network and lastly we’re gonna exit this ship to scout the surrounding area so we can report back,” Carter answered while checking over all his weapons and double counting his ammunition after everything was found satisfactory he looked back up and concluded “This can be the beginning of the end of this war if we can eliminate this base, so I want us to make sure of that.”

Part.2: Chapter 6

(Feb 25, 1026 06:00 hrs)
(Outer edge of cradle system)
(U.W.M. Vessel Tomorrows Edge)

Sitting in the Valiant-Class Super-Heavy Cruiser Captain Wind Breaker stared outside upon the vast sea of stars, beyond his home system were unknown dangers and enemies that would bring a fight like nothing he’d witnessed in his entire life. Ever since he had been giving command of this vessel, he had taken it seriously making sure everything was in tip top shape and that his ponies were ready for any type of fight that came their way. Doing any and all drills Cortana had given captains access to so they could learn how to fight both in space and board enemy ships, Wind Breaker would always rotate through them and on a few occasions requested for surprise incursions of magically created enemies. This allowed him to practice maneuvers, boardings (both defensive and offensive), cole protocol executions, evacuation and whatever else, this also helped the ODST's that would rotate from Equis to ships so they could also learn how to operate on ships properly. At this time, they had at least sixty ODST's on board practicing drop pod etiquette and keeping that skill sharp, Wind Breaker heard through the grape vine that Cortana has been making said troopers live up to their acronym and there supposedly had been a number of high orbit drops behind enemy lines. It seemed that Cortana was now escalating the war and making bolder and bolder moves, nopony was sure why she was making these moves or why, but multiple enemy factions were quickly cut up and put down while others were dying by a thousand cuts. Sighing Wind Breaker pulled up the status of the ship and was checking on reports while asking "Ensign Lovley how goes our scouting?"

"Sir the probes have just returned to normal space and the probes are retrieving them," the stallion answered as he tapped at his control panel looking it over, he squinted "Our thunderbird squadron should be......*BLIP* AH there they are all five returning in formation. Patching them in now."

"Squadron commander this is the captain," Wind breaker said not even looking up from his pad as he was checking the status of the probes "How went the patrol?"

"It went well captain; we did a quick pass through the asteroid field." the squadron commander stated in a serious matter of fact tone.

"Well, I see it went well as you all are returning," the captain murmured as he felt something tightening in his gut looking up, he saw the squadron diving to the port side to land in the hangar. Staring out into the sea of stars Wind Breaker barked "Get ready prepare all defensive guns, warm the MAC, get those birds in the hangar read and prep Missile bay's A through I, want this ship on high alert. Ensign Lovley expand our scanning something is out there, and I want it on our radar before they see us!"

Staring at the captain only for only a moment they all rushed and started on the orders getting everything ready and sending out the orders the rest of the crew, "All guns up and ready!" "MAC at %15!" "All squadrons are readying up!" "Missile Pods A through I ready!" as the responses flooded in and red light's blinked and the sirens whooped. The only pony that was not giving an answer and that was Lovley as he intently watched the readings, adjusting the sensitivity and range he wasn't sure what was going on thinking it was just a test when suddenly the radar *BLIP*BLIP*BLIP*BLIP* began to pick up dozens of ships. Staring in astonishment Lovley counted a little over two dozen targets moving in system, clearing his throat Lovley said "Captain I have at least two dozen maybe more ships moving in system!"

"How long till we get a visual Ensing!" Captain Wind Breaker barked as he tapped out a message into his console getting it ready to send out before he purged the ships systems in line with the cole protocol.

"I'm estimating we should have a visual contact within eight minutes sir!" Ensign Lovely answered back as he adjusted the radar again and ran the math in his head.

Growling the captain finished typing the message and immediately sent it to any and all ships through heavily encrypted channels, the first pony that would be getting it of course would be Cortana so she could prepare the planet for this attack. What wasn't sitting right was the small number of ships that they would be making contact with from what Cortana had told them about the Covenant is that they had an untold number of ships to fling at a planet, that and they could do in system jumps to place themselves at the best firing positions. Rubbing his jaw Wind Breaker wasn't sure what to make of this, but he also wouldn't take any chances with sighing he decided to ask the only crew member he had yet deliver an order to looking towards the center command table he asked "Rolling Waves what can you tell us about these ships?"

"Well Captain I can't say much until we make official contact," a crystal smooth female voice spoke through the ships speakers as a sea green holographic unicorn mare with a mane and tail of rolling foam formed on the table sitting with her back to the Captain she continued "I have managed to adjust one of the cameras and focused it in on the direction they are coming from."

"Thus, I managed to zoom in and am enhancing the video as they draw closer. But Captain they are not Covenant in make, I have been coming the archives allowed access to me and have been comparing them to these ships shape, speed and pattern of formation..........all of this is very rudimentary till they get closer into range of the cameras or your own eyes." she continued looking over her shoulder at the captain the mare flicked her horn and brought multiple images showing distance blobs moving in closer and becoming more distinct "From the current speed I say I can conclude exactly what type of enemy we are dealing with OH I can see the colors..........and those are not covenant colors."

Staring at the ships they were now within range of the camera's so they could now see the color's a bit better, but they were also able to start seeing the shapes. The ship's colors varied from what looked to be rusty red's, faded blues, mud browns and greys and from what Captain Wind Breaker staring at them he saw that none of the ships were exactly the same. Sitting up straight he asked, "Rolling waves are you able to scan those ships at all and if you can tell me if any of their shapes match with those of covenant make."

"Sorry to break it to you Captain but I was a step ahead and had finished that scan about a minute ago," Rolling waves said as she looked back out the windows, which the group could now see the ships racing towards them, stiffening up the A.I. then told the crew "I don't believe this one of those ships just spoke over an open COM channel, it's an unknown language sir not covenant or human."

"Hmm then let's keep our wits about us and be ready for a fight," Captain Wind breaker said rubbing his hoof on the arm of his chair "If our MAC system is ready fire, it at the closest ship, once we do that fire the missiles in a wide barrage hit as many of them as you can! Prepare pod's J through P before firing A through I, that second salvo must be ready as soon as the first leaves, Rolling Waves are you able pick up any more traffic?"

"I'm getting a decent amount captain, not much of it is useful until I can figure out how to translate their language. I'm currently working on that, but I have all my processes working on keeping these shi-EVASIVE MANUEVERS!" Rolling waves suddenly shouted as she made the ship fire its thrusters forcing it to dodge a salvo of missiles, staring wide eyed the ships were now breaking out of formation dozens were going around while four were making a bee line for Tomorrows Edge.

"Fire our missiles and take them out of play, get the MAC line up and fire it at the closest target." Wind breaker shouted back immediately they could hear the thumps and saw exhaust of the missiles as they raced towards the intended targets. Spreading out each ship was hit and watching the captain saw a bright blue shield shimmer across there hulls, but one of the ships was hit twice. The first missile took the shield offline while the second managed to hit near the back causing the engines to flicker before going out, now that they could make out the ships none were covenant and none were well taken care of.

Most of the ships seemed to be salvage jobs just like the U.P.R.'s covenant salvage, the crew could make out spots of repair, the three other ships though quickly maneuvered around firing their own missiles that the point defense guns quickly took care of. Watching as fighters flashed by Captain Wind Breaker saw them swoop down to take the ships and began to strafe across the hulls, now though he could make out the signs of these alien's own fighters exiting the ships. Letting out a snarl Captain Wind Breaker decided he wanted something more hitting a COM link he was immediately met with a gruff female voice "What do you need Captain?"

"Sergeant Steel Case get you and your colts ready we crippled one of those ship and I want you to board it and kill whatever sons of bitches are on board." Captain Wind Breaker ordered his voice even as he tapped out more orders, watching out the window he saw a fighter scream passed on fire and being torn apart by machine gun fire.

"We'll get it done sir," Steel Case answered her voice trailing off she took a breath and asked "What do you plan on doing?"

"We'll cover your exit and make sure you make it to that ship; this may be a two on one fight, but our shields are holding, and we won't go down without making them bleed a little first."

"Good to know, we'll take that ship and once you're done here get back to Equis and warn the fleet!" Steel Case said before she shut off the link and was racing towards the Harpies that would carry her to the crippled ship Captain Wind Breaker assumed.

Leaning back in his chair he looked over the systems and saw that the shields was at 45% and dropping, but the enemy ships weren't fairing much better. It seemed whatever shield system's they used were not as powerful as the Covenant's which Cortana's weapons were designed to breach, break or wear down, and due to this foresight, it seemed to be helping in the fight. Watching one of the take another salvo of missiles before it blossomed in a silent flash of light, this caused the captain to smirk which was quickly wiped from his face as one of the ships seemed to power its engine to full and was making to ram his own ship "BRACE BRACE BRACE!!!"

Getting set for the impact the crew violently jerked in their chairs as the ships slammed together sheering decks off each other as they made contact, once they broke away Wind Breaker barked "Aim all our port guns aimed at that fucking ship and RIP. IT. APART!"

As soon as that final word left his mouth the ship was indeed ripped apart as the guns punched thousands of holes through it, soon pieces of the ship began to float away from it as it began to tumble which did not stop the barrage of death. After about thirty seconds the captain was satisfied with the results he said "Concentrate fire on the other two ships, how are our fighters doing?"

"From reports coming in we are doing decent, but it seems at least fifteen percent of the entire wing is down." an Ensign answered as her hooves danced across the keyboard pulling up any information she could.

"Do we have a line on one of the ships for our MAC?" Captain Wind Breaker asked looking towards the nearest ship that was maneuvering so it could fire its broad side guns at them

"Sir we have a lock and are ready to fire." an ensign answered as he readied his hoof to enter the firing commands, nodding his head Captain Wind Breaker said "Fire."

At that moment a slug nine meters in length and weighting six hundred tons raced across the vacuum of space and slammed into the enemy ships rear end, when the slug impacted with the ship whether it was the kinetic energy or whatever fuel the ship used the ship went up like a firecracker. A bright fire ball of blue light engulfed the ship and shards of the ship exploded outward scattering across the battle area, staring wide eyed Wind Breaker thought 'That was a normal round.......make’s one wonder what the MAC(M) rounds are capable of.' leaning back in his chair he took a slow deep breath.

"What's the last ship up to now?" Captain Wind Breaker asked as he pulled up the screen attached to the chair to see what the scans could tell him about the status of the final enemy ship.

"It's pulling away right now sir, but at a considerably slower pace. I don't know exactly what's been damaged or how crippled we've made it," Rolling Waves murmured as she waved her horn again causing a few screens to come up "But I say we fire at these three spots and leave the ship for the E.I.A. to board, clear and strip for parts."

Staring at the marked parts of the ship one of them was obviously the engines, spot two seemed to be towards the bow, and the final was a spot located at the center of its under belly. Nodding his head Wind breaker decided to assess the damage done to his ship first; dozens of decks were breached, the reactor was running hot and could be used for a single slip space jump before needing to be vented, and 44% of ammunition for the guns remained while only 18% of missiles remained. Rubbing his jaw he had enough to cripple the ship and knew that the ships moving wouldn't reach Equis for another five days according to the data compiled before him the slipspace jump would take them a day maybe two tops. So, with all the information at his hooves at that moment he decided on what needed to be done sitting straight Captain Wind Breaker ordered "Cripple that ship and get the Slipspace engine ready for a jump."

"Aye aye captain." the Ensigns answered as one entered the commands which primed the slip space, and another primed the missiles to hit the designated targets after a moment the ship soon began to drift as it was dead in the water. Sighing in a bit of relief the captain wanted to know one last thing before they left "Rolling waves, did Seargeant Steel Case and her team make it?"

"Yes, sir they are on board the first crippled ship, but I have yet to hear from them yet." Rolling Waves answered her ears pinned back as she looked at him, closing his eyes he took a slow breath.

"Take us to Equis, we need to get the world ready for this invasion." Wind Breaker answered slowly keeping a level voice as he slowly looked over his crew "We got word out but that won't be enough. Now call all our birds back unless they want to be left behind."

After a couple minutes the fighters were on board and once everything was ready and the fighters were secured, they moved Tomorrows Edge around and jumped into slip space but not before dropping a buoy to mark the ships' location. Despite the feeling of betrayal at leaving behind the sixty ODST's to fight to secure that crippled ship, Captain Wind Breaker knew those colts would win and he had to have faith that they could hold out till they came back.

Once the portal was shut another ship quickly appeared decloaking immediately and moving to intercept the ODST occupied ship as it drew closer the ship attached towing cables, aboard this ship were a number of individuals dressed in all black uniforms. Sighing the captain of The Backhoof turned and asked, "What are we getting from this ship?"

"She's dead in the water captain, no signals going out and her engines are toast. Life support is still going strong, but we can take care of that." an ensign answered in a neutral tone as she tapped at the controls.

"No, we already have a ghost ship let's keep this one alive." the captain answered turning she pulled up the screen she tapped it and brought up the troopers COM channel. But before she accessed it and informed the teams, she would be taking control she turned and said, "Get the SPARTAN's ready I want that team boarding and helping the ODST's clear that ship."

"AYE AYE ma'am." an ensign answered as he pulled up the four pony SPARTAN team and sent them a message telling them to gear up and board the ship.

(Onboard Crippled UFO)
(Unknown Location)

Rounding the corner Steel Case and her team fired at a group of bi-peds wearing a full set of armor, as the spray of bullets peppered the end of the hall Steel Case saw one of the beings whirl around and a spray of purple blood coated the wall. Ducking back behind her cover the pony thought 'Purple blood like the elites........but they aren't elites.' she couldn't dwell on the thoughts much longer as bullets pinged off the edge of the hall, growling she turned to Misty Maze a unicorn mare "Misty toss a flash bang and a grenade down that hall, mulch them!"

"MA'AM!" the mare answered as she used her magic to pull both off her belt and chucked the flash bang first shooting it down the hall once it clanged, she chucked the grenade after two second. As the grenade flew down the hall the first explosive went off and filled the passage with a bright light and deafening *BANG* and right after a *THOOM* filled the hall and a column of smoke and fire followed the sound.

Stacking up on the corner Steel Case and her team rounded the corner only to see scorched metal and bits of meat and bone, after landing the ODST's quickly broke into individual squads and were swarming around the ship. Sowing chaos and taking out enemies across the ship, only touching base as they cleared the ship room by room and deck by deck. They were doing this in waves with each squad following each other, Steel Cases Echo-79's had gone in first and were followed by Trio-88 who was followed by another squad. The goal was to take the bridge, hangars, and engine room once they were all secure, they would hold the ship until reinforcements could arrive. What Steel Case had figured out and passed down the line was these individuals fought like the G.C.P., Freedoms Front, and other insurrectionists groups they were dealing with planet side, these fighters were organized just enough to fight but not enough to be much a problem.

As they cleared the next few rooms Steel Case ordered the team to check on their supplies and report in, once that was done Steel Case learned between the four of them, they had six magazines for the AR's, two grenades and one flash bang. Sighing Steel Case decided they would hold the position till the next team came up and start moving back to resupply, no point in getting into a fight and depleting what little they had. Turning to give the order she was interrupted by a loud "RAAAAAAARGH!!!!"

Whipping around they saw a massive creature in deep red armor and helmet standing at the end of the hall holding a shot gun, it didn't waste any time rushing down the hall at them huffing as it did. Raising their weapons the entire team began to unload into the enemy it had some type of energy field that flashed with every impact but quickly depleted, and the bullets began to chip away at the armor and Steel Case could see spurts of blood as they hit the being. This of course didn't stop it as he barreled down on top of them slamming into Steel Case, she felt something break but didn't know what, grabbing her knife on her leg she slammed it into the things throat and began to stab it. All the while it continued to press her into the wall forcing what little air she had out and confirming that she had to have broken some of her ribs, coughing up some blood she brought the blade up one final time and slammed it into what she guessed was an eye hole for it to look out. Glass shattered and the beast let out another "RAAARGH." letting the mare go she landed on the ground letting out a growl of pain she did her best to ignore it and took aim while yelling "LIGHT IT UP!!!"

At that moment bullets ripped through the beast with the majority of them aimed at the creature's skull the firing went on for nearly a minute before it fell. Once that was done, a trooper quickly turned and started to apply medical attention to Steel Case who was taking shallow breaths, nodding his head the trooper said "I don't know how bad it is ma'am, but you've got a few broken ribs."

"*HUFF*I could have told you that." Steel Case growled doing her best to keep calm and keep her mind on mission as she slowly looked around.

"*KZZZT* Is this Seargeant Steel Case?" A stoic female voice asked cutting into her teams COM's system which was only allowed by either higher up or E.I.A. ignoring the voice for a moment Steel Case motioned for the others in her squad to take up firing positions.

"IS this Sergeant Steel Case, if so please respond." the voice asked again this time an edge could be heard letting out an annoyed grunt the ODST growled.

"THIS is Steel Case currently being patched up after a run in with an unknown E.T. tough son of a bitch if your curious took three whole magazines to put it down."

"Good to know," the voice said obviously not caring what she had to say of course squids who always came in after the fight didn't understand "We've been slowly contacting teams on the ship, starting with the back and moving forward updating you all."

"Updating us about what?"

"First off we have deployed a SPARTAN fireteam designation URSA onto the ship, second that you've got a ride home and third if at all possible, GET us prisoners and finally get us any data off that ship," the voice stated somehow answering the question while sounding like she didn't hear Steel Cases question.

"We'll wo-" Steel Case started when the combatant let out a pained *HUGH* as it took a deep breath, whirling around the pony's providing protection were about to fire when Steel Case shouted "NO!"

Still keeping their rifles aimed at the creature they didn't fire as it slowly breathed it was a massive beast and the first prisoner of the long battle ahead, taking a small breath Steel Case cracked a smile while she said "We have managed one of those orders, if you know where we are I got you a prisoner."

"Good to hear trooper the other squads will secure said prisoner and congrats you are the first to get a prisoner." the voice said before disconnecting from the team, letting her helmeted head rest on the floor she looked at the beast. It was still breathing dark red blood oozing from the bullet holes slowly and as thick as syrup as it dripped onto the floor, hearing the heavy hoof falls of armor Steel Case looked up to see the armored figures of SPARTAN's rounding the corner. So massive two of them were shoulder to shoulder in the corridor taking the lead an orange MJOLNIR clad behemoth leaning down it talked in a surprisingly smooth feminine voice "Sorry we didn't get here sooner Seargeant, how are you?"

"I'm gonna be fine SPARTAN," Steel Case said keeping her voice even she didn't recognize this team or the armor the spartan wore, an OPERATOR helmet and she was staring into a gold visor the only other attachments were the hunting knife attached to her shoulder jerking her chin towards the front of the ship "Get them SPARTAN and we'll call it even."

"That's a deal then." the SPARTAN stated giving the mare a solid nod she turned to the others, and they moved off disappearing around a corner sighing Steel Case wished she could see the look on those poor bastards as that team breached the bridge.

(Feb 27, 1026 06:00 hrs)
(Equis Orbit)
(Harmony Station)

The station was on high alert as Tomorrows Edge had exited slip space the entire station was already prepping the defenses for the coming fleet and getting everything ready, the remaining ships had been called back and placed strategically so they could have a some face the ships head on while others slip behind the enemies. Despite the outrage Cortana had her hoof forced by this attack so she had called the two phoenix-class ships. Cortana had tasked the first to provide support for designated zones that the U.W.M. were mopping up before they would be re-tasked to go against the U.P.R. border in their area. The second was told to put direct pressure on the border of the U.P.R. so they remained at low orbit dropping F.O.B.'s and allowing quick access for troopers to be dropped in, while the rest of the fleet had been split in half. One half had been set up in defensive positions around Equis to hopefully bring the enemy in while the others were hidden behind the moon in such an area that unless you actively looked, they wouldn't be found. Marching through the corridors she watched as the nonessential staff were evacuated planet side and said planet was subtly being prepared for the coming attack. Now though she planned to review the tapes from the fight both Tomorrow's Edge and The Backhoof's videos would be detrimental, as she entered the war room all the branches of the military were there and waiting. Sealing the room Cortana pulled up the videos showing the enemy ships both those coming and those that were already destroyed, staring up at the floating screens the group began to study the ships.

First screens they all were watching were the video of the coming ships the estimated amount caught on both screens was close to thirty-three ships not included the ones that were destroyed, that meant at least twenty-nine ships were on their way to Equis now. The sizes were tough to guess but from what the A.I. named Gauntlet Breaker estimated the largest in the battle formation was estimated to be close to 1,000 meters in length while the others estimated to be between 300-600 meters. This meant that the largest was a carrier bringing in troop and supplies to land planet side while the others could be frigates, cruisers, dreadnoughts or destroyers it was tough to say, next were the builds all different and none matching any covenant builds. The possible carrier was a large and rectangular in build with angled wings that converged at the end its hull was a faded grey with a red skull painted on its bow, one could barely make out the patch work of repairs done on the ship, but it seemed the majority of these ships had seen better days. It could be seen that all of them were like that but varied in shapes at least a third of those ships had the same build, another third were built more like ray fish flat with slanted wing's that were angled backwards, and the final third were a long cylindrical in shape.

As they watched the video of the ships breaking away from the fight the group then turned and watched the fight that the Tomorrows Edge had gone through both from its viewpoint and that of the Backhoofs. As the fight played out many of the group gathered held their breath as the fight played out, once it was finished many of the group was happy about the ending in a 4 on 1 fight the pony build ship had held its own and won the fight. Cortana was mildly impressed by the results and let herself enjoy the small victory; despite not being the Covenant the Magitech infused ship held its own and had won against energy shielded ships. Of course, until they had ripped apart the ships and studied the technology she couldn't say for sure if their shields and weapons were on par with the Covenant but still maybe this could help hone the weapons, she built further for the fight to come. Waving her horn the images froze on various images of still ships, impacts of weapons, or defeated ships, nodding her head Cortana turned and asked, "How goes the preparations for the coming ships?"

"Ma'am we have an estimated three days before they arrive, my teams have gotten as close as they could to plant parasprite mines in their path damaging the ships." Black Ink stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she leaned back in the chair staring up at the screens.

"So far the mines have damaged the ships, but it was reported a day ago that they are now randomizing their paths and are also actively scanning for the mines. At this time, I've instructed the teams to stand back and report the fleets movement and to let us know the status of the damaged ships." Black Ink finished as she looked around the table at the others who were nodding at the information given turning to Cortana she looked to Black Ink.

"Black Ink when they are at least two days away I want your teams to hit them with everything they've got before escaping to our shipyard at the edge of the system, we need to damage as many of those ships as we can before they get too close to Equis," turning to the nearest stallion who sported an impressive mustache of bright green hair she asked "General Ivy Shield how goes the preparation of our groundside defense?"

"Ahead of schedule ma'am all major bases are armed to the teeth and ready to deploy while all the defenses around and in the cities have been prepared: to avoid a panic we have been telling the public that it's all part of a drill as we don't want to risk word getting back to our enemies." tapping at the table in front of him a map with multiple icons appeared showing their forces and the axis forces, some of said icons were actively moving forward while others moved back "As you can see this is a live report of our attack, we are currently pushing the enemy at an unprecedent speed that is surprising everypony at this time. I haven't gone on record, but I do believe it has something to do with the teams we have managed to get behind the enemy lines in the recent days, but the biggest push."

Adjusting the screen they now found themselves on the U.P.R. and A.C.E. battle line showing that it was being pushed back, but it also was showing that the heaviest fighting was happening at that area compared with other battle grounds. Staring at the symbols for infantry, armor, air support and Spec-ops pointing to the map the general Ivy continued "As you can see, we are doing considerable damage against their forces, and we're pushing deeper into territory. BUT I have noticed that in the last couple of days our advances have been slowing comparatively to when we first started our operation with the SPARTAN teams, so I reached out to my stallions on the ground it seems that they have been using artillery to hold us back while also hosting surprise attacks from hidden tunnel system. We aren't sure how significant these tunnels are, but I have authorized to send in a few squads of recon commando's to deter the enemy and hopefully pull the same trick they've been pulling on us."

"Have we heard anything back on the other Recon Commando teams we've sent ahead to sabotage and scout?" Cortana asked as she stared at the symbol which was a hunting knife wrapped in thorns.

"They report success with the sabotage of enemy camps and supply lines," General Ivy informed while motioning to four of the symbols, turning to another three he rubbed his chin "They also report back contact with some ODST squads who've heard rumors of the SPARTAN teams we've sent ahead, they aren't sure which teams as this is coming fourth part from enemy troops but the information is that U.P.R. has lost contact with a number of patrol's AND a high ranking commander of the infamous fifth legion was assassinated. Rumors are a SPARTAN team made contact and took him and a small squad of Shadow Hunters off the table."

"That is good those Shadows are becoming a problem so if some of them could be taken down we should count it as a win." Cortana murmured as she tapped the table while looking deeper into the U.P.R. territory she turned to the general.

"General are there any R.C.'s available for us to send deeper into the territory?"

"Uh that was my next item ma'am," General Ivy said an uncertain look in his eyes he brought up three teams with designations Null, Omega and Delta clearing his throat he continued "These three are our best teams, they are the reasons we were able to take Agate City back, cripple Berb City control and finish Hippocampus Island. What would you want them to do?"

"First let me ask what the original plan was going to be?" Cortana asked looking over the table, she was smart and knew how to martial forces thanks to her time with the U.N.S.C. so she had no plans on taking resources that were going to be used elsewhere in the war.

"The plan that the ground commander had was to send these three as deep behind enemy territory as possible to figure out how to break apart the ceiling further behind so we could send ODST's in. As much as we want to keep using the anti-air on them what we're opening up are key holes for them to drop through, what these teams are tasked with is giving us holes maybe even detonating the entire defense grid if possible." the general explained as the teams were shown going to suspected control areas for them to investigate and take down, with the supposed success the entire blanket went down in showing small pieces of twigs landing on the ground.

"I see, then keep them on that mission with one small addition for them all." Leaning forward Cortana tapped the teams and stared at them intently for a few moments before saying "Tell them if they can make contact with any of the SPARTAN teams without the enemy hearing this news. We need to warn them about our visitors and let them know that a third part alien force is coming."

"Ma'am, should we tell them it's the covenant?" the General asked to which Cortana shook her head and slid her hoof to the side on the table bringing back the images, she gestured with her horn.

"None of these are covenant, I don't know who or what they are but they are not friendlies. I want the SPARTAN's to know because I have a gut feeling that they will be heading to the U.P.R. nation, so if they come across this species, I want them to be ready." Cortana finished looking over the table they all nodded and looked between each other sighing Cortana stood and began walking towards the door.

"This fight is going to be bloody, but I believe we are ready, continue preparations keep an eye on our enemies and we will survive the fight. To be honest I think this attack is what is needed to unite our planet BUT I will not allow them to land on this planet and take innocent lives, so let us make sure that nothing makes it to the ground. I will be going to my office to review everything if you have any pertinent information feel free to barge in, It's a crucial time so we should not waste it with formalities." Cortana informed as she exited the room and left the generals and admirals to start executing the orders and preparing for the coming battle.

(March 1, 1026 03:00 hrs)
(Equis orbit U.W.M. fleet)
(Tomorrow's Edge)

They'd all gotten the alert the enemy fleet would be arriving in the next ten minutes, staring outside Captain Wind Breaker was ready. The ship had been repaired enough so she could fight but she still needed more done, at least fifteen of her decks were gone, four of the point defense guns were gone on the port side, and the missile pods were only %50 full. The scarring though was left and was seen by the whole fleet as many of the captains of the other ships flew by, this was by order from Cortana as she wanted to them to see that the ships weren't indestructible. Turning away from the window Wind Breaker took his seat and waited for Admiral Gate Crasher to give the order to attack, staring at the command table his ship was surrounded by five others all in formation to hold against the incoming fleet.

In the defense force were his valiant-class super heavy cruiser, two paris-class heavy frigates, one halbero-class light destroyer the Mighty star an orion-class assault carrier. These six would draw in the enemy fleet so when they got close enough the rest of the fleet could move in and take out, the assault force had one paris-class heavy frigate, one halbero-class light destroyer, two poseidon-class light carriers and the other valiant-class super heavy cruiser. When the enemy fleet was too close to properly maneuver said fleet will jump behind them and rain hell from the rear, and with the defense stations around the planet would also help in the fight. Seven stations were online and ready for a fight, unluckily though only two had working super MAC cannons both of which were already designated to take out the carrier.

"This is Admiral Gate Crasher enemy ships have been spotted and are making a bee line for the U.P.R. territory," as he voice talked an estimated path of the enemy ships was shown to be heading straight to the nation "It will be our job to make sure that none of those ships make it to the ground, If you are able to concentrate fire on a singular ship do it but do not risk your own skin to do so. Let's do our best to keep all ally ships in line so we don't sustain friendly fire, for our first assault though all ships will fire their MAC's at the enemy to put down the targets quickly."

"As the entire fleet didn't see Tomorrow's Edge use of the weapon, I hope surprise is on our side. So, if your cannon has a lock take it these ships are shielded but it isn't too tough so one slug should be enough to rip right through it. Now for the last bit of information we have managed to capture tow of their ships and crack their systems, onboard were translation software that we have downloaded. Long story short we now can understand any and all transmissions sent from those ships, and all onboard A.I. have downloaded it. These bastards may our first contact so let us show them that ponies are not to be messed with!"

As the last word left his mouth the admiral signed off allowing for the captains to get their individual ships ready for the coming fight, hearing an alarm go off and red lights blaring he looked down at the TACT map. Seeing fifty-six triangles coming towards them glaring at it Wind Breaker said "Alright everypony you heard the admiral let's make sure these bastards regret every attacking our home, when in range fire the MAC and whatever missiles we can. All guns need to be defensive only we're the only crippled ship so we play it safe."

"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!" the crew answered as they worked at their individual stations with orders already received, Rolling Waves had also appeared on the TACT map and was looking out the window. Seeing the incoming ships the line defensive line held and waited for them to get closer using the time to adjust the angles and spacing themselves out, following earlier orders half the ships fired missiles at the incoming force to hopefully spook the more timid adversaries.

Seeing them streak across the vacuum at least three fourths hit their targets causing the shields to flash a second salvo quickly followed heading to different ships. At this some ships began to move off towards the left, others went right but the majority were heading straight at them, this of course included the massive carrier ship. Locking on with it Wind Breaker growled "Take aim at the carrier if we can hit it take the shot."

"I've got my eyes on her," Rolling Waves said as her sea foam mane and tail began to roll and turn faster showing her processes were working overtime, narrowing her eyes in concentration the A.I. without breaking her locked on gaze she continued "Captain I don't like this at all, the other fleet will be jumping into the battle now but those ships charging us-"

"Want to bull rush the line and land on our planet which means......" Wind Breaker trailed off as he looked at the other ships that had split off, quickly tapping at the screen he scanned said ships. Twenty ships were rushing the line while an even thirteen ships were trying to flank the line eyes widening, he quickly asked "Rolling Waves how long till those reinforcements join the fight?"

"Tee minus seventy seconds sir!" Rolling Waves said eyeing the same chart he was they watched as three triangles disintegrated in a salvo of missiles, while another three ships were obliterated by two MAC shots. One of which shot right through one ship into another destroying behind it, this is when all hell broke loose as all the ships on the line and even the two platforms fired all MAC rounds.

Out of the five rounds fired only three and a half-found target's, unluckily they only took one ship each with the half being a MAC round ripping the engines off the end of one ship causing its momentum to force it towards the planet. Staring at the carrier Wind Breaker gave the go ahead and they fired their own MAC round at the carrier, to which the carrier fired emergency thrusters barely dodging the round but not without damage. The round had passed by close enough to literally peel the hull off some decks, with its momentum it forced the carrier to turn which made it ram another damaging it so badly they were able to watch the engines flare and die.

The enemies also fired back trying their best to deplete the shielded ships but unfortunately three alicorns had gone to each ship and woven their strongest magic into their hulls. These spells allowed for a secondary shield to be made that covered the initial shield all ships had onboard, they were strong, but it wasn't an exact science to know when exactly one would go down. But one ship had learned the hard way just how long it would take as five ships concentrated fire on the ship unleashing a salvo that would have annihilated an unshielded target. The first shield collapse and the second would be following soon...........but that is when the calvary arrive behind the enemy unleashing their own salvos while hidden ships of the E.I.A. fired their own weaponry. All found targets and all brought shields down which led to the destruction of ten ships.

Chaos was now in charge of the enemies as they were attacked from all sides, smiling Wind Breaker thought there would be hope for this battle not reaching Equis. But he was wrong the carrier and the sixteen ships around it fired their engines and lunged towards the planet, eyes widening the captain barked "FIRE EVERYTHING AT THOSE SHIPS!!!!"

Soon dozens of missiles from all U.W.M. ships were now launching right at those ships aiming to stop the carrier, but those sixteen smaller ships took the brunt of hits as they flew passed. Out of those sixteen only six remained not including the carrier that only had one of its main engines clipped, slumping in his chair Wind Breaker murmured "Alert the ground we have a breach of air space."

"Aye Aye captain." Ensign Lovely said as he quickly transmitted the message to all ground forces through encrypted messages, taking a breath to steady him Captain Wind Breaker stared back out at the field of battle watching as missiles, MAC rounds, and bullets fired at each other he looked over his ponies.

"These bastards are the lucky ones as they don't have to face our fury on the ground," jabbing a hoof outside the window the stallion had a determined look on his face "Let's hold the line and make sure nothing else gets passed us!"

Author's Note

At this time the U.W.M. fleet consists of two phoenix-class support ship, two valiant-class super heavy cruisers, three Paris-class heavy frigates, one orion-class assault carrier, two poseidon-class light carrier, and two halbero-class light destroyers.

Built in secret were five Sahara-Class heavy prowlers, two mako-class corvette and two Winter-class prowlers. (All active and patrolling sol system)

Mighty Star(orion-class assault carrier) currently orbiting Equis

Recon Commando(s) (R.C.)- SpecOps group who are deployed to recon areas of interest for the advancing military body. Pushed as hard as ODST's and given S.P.I. armor they have become just as important as the ODST and SPARTAN units. This unit is the go-to force to help scout areas, capture intel and sabotage key targets that would allow for the main body to push forward or for the ODST's and SPARTAN's come in behind them. All teams are no larger than four and are composed of ponies who have been together since boot camp.

Part 2: Chapter 4.

(Ponyville U, Equestria)
(11:00hrs)
(December 10th, 1025)

Sitting in class tapping her hooves on the desk Sprinkle listened to the news report, playing on the screen at the front of the class. Standing outside a war zone a grey pegasus mare wearing protective gear was hidden behind some cover as she talked “Today the U.W.M. Is making a move to push further into the eastern front, with this advance they will now be moving directly against The Kingdom of Saddles. Which is now being led by her majesty Gilded Hilt, this news has just been made public but due to health complications the former queen died only a few months ago and-OH MY GODDESS!!”

Pointing at something off screen the camera whipped away and locked onto a incoming vehicle as it raced by, but it could be seen easily that the vehicle held three heavily armored pony’s wearing red/black MJOLNIR three SPARTANs. Following the vehicle as best as he could they watched as it bounced down the road seeing a quick burst of return fire before it rounded a corner disappearing from view the class then heard the mare again “What you just witnessed were three super soldiers racing into the fight! With the SPARTANs leading the charge this war won’t last much longer, If anypony is seeing this now just know that I’ve personally witnessed them in action and the rumors you’ve heard about the program is all true. Cmon let’s get back to base-“

The video paused as the professor stood up and walked in front of the screen, clearing his throat the older stallion lifted a hoof and said “Alright class for the end of semester project I want you all to write a paper about the current events of the Global War, give me your thoughts and opinions about it along with what your current thoughts are about the A.C.E. let’s keep it professional with these papers. They will be due at the end of next week and must be at least five pages long with four cited sources. You’re all dismissed.”

Turning away the professor began to collect his belongings as the rest of the class also began to collect everything, standing up Sprinkle looked around seeing some of her classmates were murmuring with each other about the Global War. Hearing one mare sniffle she caught the edge “Haven’t heard” before they moved out of the class, walking out Sprinkle understood what she meant recently a number of mares and stallions had left and joined the U.W.M. all them wanting to help with the fight for greater good. Despite the advances in communication many of them had trouble with getting in touch directly most ponies only got pre recorded messages or letter that only seemed to trickle in. Making her way down the hall way Sprinkle looked up to see a poster that showed a number of ponies standing at attention fully garbed in battle gear below them were the words ‘Fight for the future’.

Staring at the poster for a moment Sprinkle turned away and decided she wanted some fresh air and quickly exited the building. As she walked outside she saw all the other ponies milling about some were talking about classes, cooking, or what to watch on the T.V. That wasn’t news related. Sighing Sprinkle couldn’t be the only one keeping up with the Global War but seemed to be the only one whose mind was constantly thinking about the fighting and its escalation, finding a good spot under a tree she leaned against it and let out a small sigh enjoying the cooler weather the young mate was about to start on her paper when a Silk called her “Sprinkle darling it’s so good to see you!”

“Hey Silk it’s great to see you too, how’s the day for you?” Sprinkle said looking up at her friend a smile coming to her face.

“It’s going wonderfully my business class wrapped up today and all that’s left are exams next week.” Silk answered plopping down next Sprinkle she let out a small sigh.

“I am not looking forward to them, it’s been quite a bit of studying.”

“Yeah I just got assigned a paper we have to write about the A.C.E. and the Global War, it’s gonna be a tough one. Figured I’d get started on it tonight.”

“Ugh this war is insane, my mother just learned my uncle Burnt Edges had been recruited into the SPARTAN program.”

“Seriously!” Sprinkled gasped placing a hoof over her mouth as she looked at her friend in shock.

“Yes well you know my mother she was not happy about having to learn about it so late, he had kept it a secret for almost four months. The only reason she learned about it was when he came to visit last month for the family gathering,l. He now towers over everypony and had those scars.” Silk muttered as she slowly shook her head a small frown coming to her face.

“Sooo how’d your family take it?”

“Grandmother and Grandfather were proud of him, my little sister was ecstatic to learn she now had a super hero uncle, my mother’s were shocked and angry he had gone through with the program but understood his choice. It is what it is now I know this is not what you wanted to talk about, how about we move on and see when we can get together and have tea.”

“That sounds wonderful Silk it has been quite sometime since we’ve gotten tea.”

“Well with all the craziness that has been happening it is thought to make time together, especially with all the talk of war, recruitment and colonization of far away worlds. It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come in the last year it just makes you think how far our species will go-“ As Silk continued Sprinkle found herself staring up at the passing clouds catching the glimpse of a ship rising out of the planets gravity well. The conversation lasted another few minutes before both mares had to end it with them going their separate ways, Silk heading to business management and Sprinkle her cooking classes.

As the day went on Sprinkle couldn’t help but feel uneasy, once the last of her classes were finished Sprinkle made her way to the student lounge she found a group of ponies gathered around the T.V. hushed whispering going around the group. As she got closer Sprinkle peered around trying her best to figure out what was going on, clearing her throat she asked the closest pony “What’s going on?”

“Oh my gosh Sprinkle you won’t believe this but the axis powers just launched a surprise attack against the Crystal Empire! The attack just happened it’s crazy nopony knows how they managed to do it but they are currently occupying Agate city!”

Feeling her eyes widen in horror Sprinkles eyes whipped up to the screen and watched as the news covered the attack. So far they didn’t know much except that a massive assault had taken place which was lead by the U.P.R., G.C.P. remnants, and the few militant groups the axis powers had absorbed into them. They’d launched that attack four days ago and had crippled the entire city in that time cutting them off from the rest of the empire and the A.C.E. as a whole. Shots of the city showed it on fire and small skirmishes and explosions were seen or heard in the back ground as the news reporter informed the world, some shots showed a few crystal ponies running from the fighting as it raged behind them. Listening in Sprinkle heard the reporter finally as she forced herself to finally pay closer attention “So far the A.C.E. Is mustering its troops and will take the city back before the forces can push deeper into the empire. From what my colleagues are saying reliable sources had heard that Madame President Cortana is not taking this attack lightly and is prepping a large scale invasion force to crush these ponies and secure the area, nothing is known how or when the invasion force arrived but what is know is that they beat the local defenses and had dismantled the communications before the initial assault began.”

Feeling the weight of those words Sprinkle held her breath and as her pulse hammered in her ears. The war had reached the crystal empire a part of Equis so far from the front that it should never had reached them but some how it had, now the question she was asking herself just how long until it reach Equestria?

(Harmonies Station, 14:37 hrs)
(Presidential Chambers)
(9 hours after Crystal Empire Assault)

Staring down at the monitor Cortana’s brows furrowed in frustrated rage as she watched the U.W.M. forces gathered and prepared to take back Agate City. The attack reminded her of the fall of reach just like back then the city had been cut off from the world and by the time the assault was discovered it was too late, so Cortana pushed intelligence offices of the E.I.A. to get to the bottom of it immediately. The Axis shouldn’t have had this kinda’ve power and she couldn’t think of the type of technology they had access to that could do something along those lines, but then again with the ODST and SPARTAN squads in route to start softening targets for the rest of the U.W.M. the assault would be swift and brutal. Cortana needed the enemies to know that nothing they could do would bring the A.C.E. down or stop them from winning this war, it could also help with bringing more nations to join if they could show just how well they could protect home territories. But the timing of the attack was something she couldn’t ignore the island hopping of the Caudal Islands was going off well with each island falling and being secured within two months and the current push into the Easter front. This attack was to distract her and buy time but she couldn’t figure out for what, it could be for the supposed Project Pathway that they had found evidence of last month, but so far nothing else has been discovered on said project or what it was about.

Standing up she began to pace in front of the window over looking Equis, from so far up and so far away from all the conflicts one could almost forget the war waging on its surface as it slowly began to spread. Despite best efforts assaults had taken place in small places across it surface not enough to cause lone term problems, but just enough that she would need to task soldiers that were needed on the front to hunt down and secure the areas. Now Cortana knew all this was to prolong the war and extend the life of the U.P.R. and its allies, this could deal with Pathway but she wasn’t certain and didn’t want to worry about something unnecessary she’d allow the E.I.A. to worry about that as it sent its agents deeper into enemy territory to find information. What she was now worried about was the ships patrolling her system only a week ago they had detected something probing the edges of the system before it retreated into the unknown. She quickly ordered for smaller groups to go out on patrols and randomize the search vectors hoping to catch the unknown object or being and bring it back to the orbiting black site. Sighing Cortana now understood just what Carter had talked about with her somehow the enemy had gotten word out into the stars the problem now facing them was if the call was answered or if received what had caught it.

She also had two ships under emergency construction with Cortana herself quickly pulling the heavier construction of the components so her technicians and engineers to get them just worry about getting them wired and running, she’d covered the bulk of the construction of them deciding that she needed them to be Halbero-Class light destroyers. With everything on high alert Cortana wanted to end this war at that moment so they could be ready to defend the planet Incase of invasion, at least ten percent of the planet had anti air weapons ready to defend from space to air insertions. While only two super mac platforms were under construction Canterlot and Crystal platforms would not be ready and operational for another six months and even then they would have to go under months of rigorous testing before they’d be allowed to fire live rounds in a battle, so hopefully it was glitches on the radar but until the fleet was bigger and the two layers of defense thicker Cortana would rely on her current ships and their captains after all they had been excelling at the mock battles she’d been giving them among the planets to keep them sharp.

Hearing a soft knocking at the door Cortana checked the cameras and saw Black Ink waiting for her, easing a quizzical eyebrow Cortana allowed the mare into the room making her way in she had a saddle bag clipped to her hips. Looking around slowly she met Cortana’s eyes and in that moment the president understood, scanning the room she made sure it was big free, sealed and quarantined away from any ponies looking to pry into private matters. Once everything was set Black Ink pulled out three folders bright red in color and placed them onto the table while saying “Madame President I came to inform you that some of my agents have come across more than evidence of Project Pathway with one of them even over hearing a snippet from some high ranking individuals.”

“What have they discovered and have you broken the spells?”

“No my agents are still looking for the ciphers to allow us to gain access, what we’ve learned is that it’s not just randomly chosen axis powers who are part of this project it seems to be the entire military complex,” pushing one of the files closer to Cortana the mare picked it up in her magic and began to read through the report her eyes gliding over the page as Black Ink continued “My agent may have also discovered a possible map that he theorizes all the markers are matched with area’s linked to but are not an active war war front. The whispers he has heard are hinting that those are targets are to be hit so time can be gained while forcing us to spread our forces, he thinks this is about prolonging the war.”

“While this agent has noticed an increase in defensive measures being taken to fortify the lines, from the orders the agent has copied and leaked to us are showing the enemy is digging in.” Black ink said as she moved the next folder forward to allow Cortana to read it also, picking it up she read through it her brow furrowing while she listened to Black Ink “The weapons being moved are new we think, the agent is also saying that some of them may even be siege machines, but they aren’t sure whether it’s Equis in make………or covenant.”

Taking in a small breath Cortana knew what all this could mean and now knew that the enemy was buying time, placing the folder down she looked to the final one slowly pushing it up Black Ink stated “We’ve made no headway with Project Pathway but this folder is to inform you that the enemy may have space faring vehicles now, how many is unknown but we may have to pull the ships closer to Equis so they can start patrolling its orbit to make sure that nothing slips passed us. Ma’am this war isn’t going to end any time soon and it seems they have hopes an unknown force is going to come crashing down upon us to help them, what’s your plan?”

Placing the folder down Cortana leaned back and closed her eyes, going through millions of plans doing her best to figure out what to do. What felt like hours to her was really only two minutes of silence for Black Ink opening her eyes she leaned forward and said “First we’ll call back Mighty Star and have them be our operating base for patrolling around Equis any and all fighters will come from and dock with that ship, next we’re going to bring this all to the council I will not keep them in the dark this may be the push I need to further develop our space and ground defenses while also increasing the number of warships being constructed I want at least two more under construction along with the two we are working on now I want another Phoenix Class support ship and a Orion-Class Assault Carrier I’ll handle the bulk again so they can be put out quicker and join the rest the others on patrol……..”

Pausing Cortana slowly placed the folder down and turned looking out the window again down at Equis taking in the Earth like planet she inhaled slowly and held it for a moment. Seeing the tension in the presidents shoulders Black Ink gently cleared her throat and asked “Was there more to that madam president?”

“Yes I am just coming to terms with something,” looking over her shoulder Cortana face was neutral as she locked eyes with Black Ink she said “It’s time for Project TROJAN to start moving.”

(Outer edge of Starswirl Sytem)
(Orbiting Krakoa)
(15:00 hr, Dec 13th 1025)

Slowly moving through the system the Valiant-Class Super-Heavy Cruiser dubbed Hard Luck, leading her was Captain Charm Lock a middle aged stallion with greying mane and beard, his dark purple coat was clothed in U.W.M. military attire which was a dark olive green suit that had a high black collar along with black shoulder pads that held his gold captain rank sat. Leaning back in his command chair he looked around keeping an eye on his staff seeing some weary looks. They’d been pushing themselves the last few days orders had just come down that Mighty Star was being pulled back to start bolstering Equis and patrol its orbit, rumors were starting to bleed through the military that the enemies were no longer trying to win. Instead they seemed to be trying to buy time for themselves, whether they thought that out lasting the A.C.E. and the U.W.M. was a viable option which was ridiculous. With the mining operations taking place in the asteroid belt and Reach’s mining and agriculture taking off the resources were nearly endless for the A.C.E. so they had little to worry about when it came to the war. So why the enemy was trying to dig in and outlast them was nerve wracking due to its unknown reasoning.

Folding his hooves together he leaned forward and closed his eyes pondering just what they were planning or hoping for maybe —“Sir! I’ve got a bogey pinging at the edge of our system it’s big, estimated size puts it around five hundred meters in length.”

“Launch our fighters and push engines to full speed! I want that ship disabled or at least get eyes on it!” Charm Lock order his eyes looking down at his own control panel, watching the scan come over the ship wasn’t something to worry about due to size but he wasn’t about to risk anything hitting the button next to him an alarm started to go off around the ship as he continued his order “Get our systems hot and ready load pods A through E I want them ready to launch and start heating up our Mac(M) system, if a fight breaks out I want us hot and ready.”

“Aye aye captain.” The crew sounded off in acknowledgement to the order as one, then all together they began to work, adjusting weapons, checking the systems and keeping an eye out for any surprises.

This ship would be no match for the Hard Luck but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have back up, seeing three squadrons of F-609 Strike Fighter’s called ‘Thunderbirds’ fly past his observation window they made way to the target. As they disappeared into the black the captain quickly pulled up a com link and forwarded a top priority message to all ships in the vicinity, passing on all the intel he currently had he hoped that said intel would quickly climb the command structure. Hearing a small hiss from the radio he tapped a few controls on his command chair and a deep voice spoke “Sir this is Dirty Cut do you read me? My squad has eyes on the ship and she’s turning to run.”

“Dirty Cut this is Captain Charm Lock if you can engage do it! I want that ship crippled we’re four mikes behind you.”

“Copy that we’re starting our engagement sir see you is four mikes.” Dirty Cut responded before cutting the transmission, looking at the nearest ensign the Captain barked “Push our engines to maximum output, I want that ship within our weapon range now!”

“Aye aye sir!” The ensign answered as he got to work typing in the commands, feeling the ship shake for a moment signaling the increase in speed as it moved towards the battle. In the distance they could see small flashes coming from the battle narrowing his eyes the captain felt his blood boiling this was the first ever battle that- in moment a bright blue light the ship blasted away from the battle disappearing in an instant. The crew watched as the streak disappeared into the vacuum of space standing in the Captain asked “Did we get that on video?”

“Yes sir we did……..that wasn’t a slipspace jump sir.” An ensign said as she looked down at her screen seeing none of the usual traces for slipspace jumps.

Shaking his head the Captain order any and all information to be compartmentalized and forwarded to his computer so he could pass it up the command chain. Looking around he saw the worried looks on his crew’s faces nodding he moved towards the window standing in front of it he said “Get those birds back home and hold this position until further notice we are going to comb through this area with a tooth brush I don’t want anything missed.”

(Harmonies Station)
(12:00 hr, council chamber)
(Geosynchronous orbit over Canterlot)
(March 14th, 1026)

Watching as the councilors mulled over the news they all had received the same report in the last two months more probes into the system have been occurring pushing the boundaries of their ships and their patrol routes, while also maintaining to stay out of sight of and getting away without even a glimpse. Since the second encounter in December the ships had been smaller and quicker, staying just long enough to test the security of their patrols and border before jumping away leaving nothing but an energy signal. At this point many of the captains frustration with the cat and mouse chase were growing evident they all were ready to finally nail on of the U.F.O.’s to the wall and bring them back to home base.

Now Cortana was waiting for the council to come to their own conclusion and hoping they would green light the push for the increase in staffing for the planetary defense system and the shipyards. She needed those departments staffing to increase so she could have ponies working around the clock, they needed this after all the president would not be taking any chances with the space beyond their cradle world. It hadn’t taken long but one by one the folders were quietly shut and placed back into the desk. The first to speak to was the representative of Algokai looking up at her the mare asked “This is unbelievable madam president, your telling us that our home system has been probed by an alien presence for months? Why are we just learning about this now!”

As the words left her mouth many more voices joined all giving their disapproval of the choice to keep them in the dark, waiting for the voices to quiet down Cortana looked around and cleared her throat before explaining “The reason I had kept you all in the dark for so long is I did not know if the first probe was a one off. But it seems these probes are becoming more frequent and are quickly adapting to our own attempts at taking them down. So far their time proving our system has gone down significantly since their first move against our system, they are only testing our reaction times to their presence now. Waiting long enough for our ships to react to them and start an approach before taking off, I had ordered the Mighty Star back to be orbiting Equis so we could patrol the planet to keep any and all axis powers in check if they try escaping the planet.”

“The other reason I pulled her from the patrol routes is to have a surprise held back if an invasion force does enter our system. Mighty Star will be here to sucker punch any ships that get too close, she is currently docked with Canterlot station feigning the need for a retrofit of her systems. We’ll be ready for any invasion force but I need you all to green light my push for increased construction crew sizes for the orbiting stations and the anti air systems on the ground. We need to get more up and ready so if this invasion comes we’ll be ready for them, so please trust that I am doing all I can to be ready for whatever comes knocking at our door.” Cortana stated bowing her head slightly as she waited for them to start conversing, thinking to herself ‘Plus I have another three ships ready to go but waiting for the go signal at a black site.’

Soon the conversations began to quiet down and all the attention went back to Cortana and the real talks began. For the next three hours they talked and for the next three hours they planned for what Cortana feared for. Soon the time came to a close and everypony began to exit out of the chambers, heading to their own offices to pass the news to their homelands and let them know of the coming conflict. Standing herself Cortana began to march towards her own office to finalize the plans that had been approved by the council. As she walked down the hall she could sense the tension in the workers of the station as she passed, as they always say the juicier the story the quicker is spreads and the results of this meeting had spread like a wildfire.

(Unknown time/place)

Standing under a brush the figure pulled out a small telescope and scanned the skies looking for hints at the passing stations orbiting the planet. Seeing the twinkle of one such station he clicked his teeth and put the scope away turning to his ponies he walked back to their encampment. They were deep behind enemy territory and awaiting for the reinforcements to come Project Pathway had to work or all this would be for nothing, the mission would be a success and they would prevail. From the rumors they could hear when sneaking back to civilization or drop points is that the Global War was almost at a standstill now with their homelands holding line and keeping the unworthy away from their territories.

Not even the wendigo’s have been able to do much against the siege line, the pony couldn’t help but chuckle thinking that maybe even some of them would be taken out from their artillery units that continuously fired at the land and air. Nothing could make it out of their barrage the land was a wasteland where even the smallest rodent couldn’t live and the air so thick with shrapnel that the smallest avian would be ripped apart, the air wasn’t just being covered by the anti air guns recently the scientists had managed to activate floating mines that could go as high as thirty five thousand feet where they then tracked any and all ships before colliding with them and exploding turning said ship into a molten mess.

Sitting down amongst his team the pony tapped his leg and wondered just how much longer they would need to wait before the signal came and they could move, turning towards the package it was massive as big as a pony with spikes that sprouted from it. Once they received it the team would activate the trap and leave the area causing chaos through the A.C.E. as the explosions would force them to look into their own homelands, the siege line would then start advancing and finally the invasion from above. Three different ways to look and three different fronts to defend against would help with the A.C.E.’s command structure degradation and begin the start of its collapse as they tried to keep up with the attacks. The teams sent into the enemy territory did not know when the attack would happen or how the signal would even come through to them they just had to trust the commanders and keep their eyes and ears open to everything.

“Sir when do you think our brothers will come from the stars and help us liberate the planet?” One of the younger members asked as he looked up from the blade he’d been sharpening.

“I do not know my boy but when they come we will be ready and help them.” The leader answered as he stood and walked over to the weapon placing a hoof on its purple shell he continued “But when they do we will make sure they will have a very easy time landing and forming their ranks THEN we will burn our enemies from this world!”

Smiling the group looked between each other they were happy and to hear that, all their lives they had been taught about the Great Journey and the forerunners who had left the galaxy thousands of years ago. They couldn’t loudly celebrate as they wanted but one of the team pulled out a flask filled with liquor and showed it to the leader smiling he gave a small nod while saying “Let us celebrate but only a sip I want us alert and-“

He was interrupted as coughing echoed from around them and the leader soon found himself watching his team fall in quick succession their blood and bone splattered across the forest floor. Turning to the weapon he leapt towards it trying to hit the activation switch only to find himself being flung back by a powerful force that then forced him to the dirt seeing a light red glow he realized he was caught in a magical field. Seeing a number of metal clad hooves enter his vision he saw one he guessed was the leader move towards the weapon. It wore dull orange armor that had some light scrapes and dings, looking over the weapon it clicked its teeth in agitation before turning its attention onto the leader staring down at him through its gold visor a voice spoke “Alright Ursa let’s get this thing back to The Forge, wipe any trace we were here.”

Hearing the soft thudding of hooves the leader couldn’t look to see just how many of the soldiers were there, flexing his jaw he was about to activate the fail safe when stinging sensation coming from his neck. After only a second the leader slipped into an unconscious state and as his vision failed him he saw the wendigo turn away and begin to dismantle the weapon.

(The Forge)
(Unknown date/time)
(Classified Level)

Standing over the disabled covenant bomb Cortana narrowed her eyes as she glared at the weapon, she was glad to have a satellite in orbit at the time of the first one was set off to destroy Humabird. It had gathered the needed data to be able to track the other bombs and figure out where they maybe on the world. The scans were not one hundred percent yet and that one out of eight of the scans were residual reading or false positives, this statistic came from the fact that this particular bomb was found on the eighth scan and the infiltration team had been found. Walking around the circumference of the bomb she couldn’t help but think about the luck she had within the first month of activating Project Trojan they had received this positive report, so she had deployed two teams to check the area Ursa had come back with a captured team leader and the disabled bomb.

Now multiple teams were deployed across the globe hunting for other possible intrusions into allied territories while her satellite’s tirelessly scanned trying too find possible energy signatures. Soon more bombs would be found and be taken care of, she just hoped that they would be found before it was too late. The problem came down to the unknown number of teams and bombs so there was no telling exactly how long it would take to fully remove the problem from allied nations or if they could keep it quiet so the world wouldn’t fall into chaos. Backing away from the device she began to walk away and head to her office above walking into the elevator she heard a small chirp coming from the COM in her ear, using her magic she clicked the button and answered “This is Cortana.”

“Madam president this is General Hard Eye I’ve got an update for you that you’re gonna wanna hear.”

“The line is secure general,” Cortana looked up to see she was quickly approaching her floor, casting a small cone of silence around her it allowed for no one to hear outside it “What is it?”

“Ma’am I have a report right here that I’m sending ahead for you to look over, I’m call to inform you the axis U.P.R. are using a combination of covenant and their own siege machines to keep us at bay. Just recently they’ve started to, how to put it…….pulse the artillery length.”

“Pulse general?” Cortana asked as she exited the elevator making a b-line for her office.

“Yes they’ve been adjusting their length over days slowing pushing the attacks to the edge of their range then bringing them back in. Recently a small platoon was lost when they tried to push as the artillery pulled back they thought the platform had run out of energy……..”

“Until hell rained down atop them I bet.”

“*SIGH* Yes ma’am it seems as soon as they noticed the movement they extended the range and then forced the platoon to move towards them. After that we can’t confirm if they were killed or captured, this has become something common I can’t say if it’s to capture those foolish enough to move in or to lull us into a false sense of safety.”

“What do you think general? I want your honest opinion about this new strategy.”

“Ma’am we still don’t know how they are fueling the Covenant technology from what you’d informed me about from your old universe the Covenant required some specific machines to collect and process their full sources. But I think they are running low and the pulsing could be due to them running out in some areas and when they push said pulse back out it’s them getting more fuel to continue.”

“I sense a but.”

“But at the same time I do honestly believe this is some kind’ve mental warfare making us think we could push against the pulse before they rain hell behind us to trap us. Everything from how they use the Covenant machines has me believing they figured out how to either reverse engineer the fuel and ammunition or an alternative that is working for the time being. But that’s not the worst of it I had just received word about it two days ago but it also appears they are constructing shielded areas. One of my commanders has tried to return artillery fire only for the rounds to slam into a silver blue shield that seems to wrap around where their siege machines sit.”

“It was only a matter of time before they had portable shields, but the strength and amounts of units they can cover will be limited.” Cortana informed letting out a long sigh she knew the U.P.R. was digging more and more into the reserves of the carrier ship that they had hidden. Leaning back she listened more to the reports from the stand still they were now dealing with while she planned out the next moves of the U.W.M. she had not let this be known to any but she’d found the possible location of the ship and would be getting the SPARTANs ready to infiltrate and plant her bombs to blow said ship into orbit.

As the general finished his portion of his report Cortana gave him her thoughts about the subject and as they were nearing the close of the meeting she cleared her throat and said “General I want to to bring in the highest ranked commanders at the base for a meeting in one week, let them know it is time we crack this wall we’ve found ourselves beating against.”

“Yes ma’am.” The general answered his tone serious and his eyes alight with intense interest.

Author's Note

For the suit being worn by ponies in the navy I imagine them wearing the halo wars 1 and 2 uniforms.

TRANSMISSION

(Unknown date/time)
(Location unknown)
(Sender/recipient unknown)

Scouting teams have finished and have filed reports back, upon incursions to our brothers in arms home system it seems that this system is just moving into its space travel. The number of ships is in the single digits, weaponry is unknown but shouldn’t be advanced, and reaction times vary greatly. This system is ready to be taken at any time, how goes the recruitment?

Recruitment is good we have fifty ships ready to move in system, I managed to get a number of vehicles, air support and heavy weapons also. We’ll be outfitted perfectly for this fight and right now we are around nine thousand strong, I think this will me more then enough to take this planet.

When will you be able to move?

We’re awaiting ten more ships to join us, it is tough to do all this unnoticed, but I give it five days then we move into that system all together.

Good we cannot let our brothers wait much longer for our arrival. After all they are counting on us showing up.

No we cannot and let’s welcome them with a warm welcome, I’ll see you in five days, at the meeting point.

I’ll see you then, brother.

Transmission ended