(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.