Second chance: Noble

(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."