“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” - Arthur C. Clarke.

13:27, 07/07/2050, NEW YORK, TIMES SQUARE

The clouded, steel - colored sky looms over Manhatten island as Lieutenant Feng Yin holds her breath and surveys the streets below. The wind would be blowing in her ears, if not for the helmet obscuring her head. She steadies the Arc Rifle in her hands as the headset crackles to life.

“Strike One, enemy observed coming your way down Seventh Avenue, be advised, " Commander Bradford ordered through the radio, keeping a close eye on the situation through a combination of sattelite - imaging , skyranger cameras and scanners, as well as bodycam footage.

“Priority target spotted. White coat and blue mane, golden armor, shield “cutiemark” with a star in the middle. Capture if possible, neutralize if necessary. Aiming at the base of the horn will give you the best chance of capturing the VIP. Strike Two and Strike Three will flank the enemy from behind and keep them busy, your target is the VIP. "

“Copy that, Command. Van Dorn, Heijden, get ready to lay down suppresive fire after Bozic.” Feng ordered.

“Aye aye; we’ll give ‘em hell.” Peter Van Door, one of the two gunners replied, followed by a “Suppresing fire after Bozic.”, from Iris Heijden.

“Marzec, Murdoch weapons free on my command. " “Got it covered.”, came a reply from Adam Marzec, accompanied by a “Got it, come get some you bastards.” from Courtney Murdoch, the infantry of the squad is now ready.

“Van Beek, if the capture is unsuccesful, the target’s on you. If the VIP’s confirmed subdued, weapon’s free. " “I’m on it.”, the second squad sniper, Mark Van Beek replied.

“Bozic, shredder rocket at my command. Be careful to not damage the VIP. " She ordered the squad Rocketeer, Dubravka Bozic as the latter readied her launcher. “Heavy Ordinance confirmed. Let’s soften ‘em up.”

“Guzman, as Van Dorn and Heijden lay covering fire, you will retrieve the subdued target. If the capture’s unsuccesful, stick to cover and fire on anything that gets close.” “Got it boss, i’m ready.” Rosa Guzman, the squad’s assault replied, checking the battery on her scatter laser.

The Lieutenant tensed up when she noticed the large group of hostiles approaching. There were a few dozens of them, three or four, judging from a quick glance, approaching her squad’s position. All sorts of ponies were present: from pegasi to unicorn, brandishing spears and swords that were surprisingly efficent against modern armor, no doubt due to magical enchantments.

All were clad in shining silver armor, save for one equine figure, walking at the forefront of the group in gleaming gold armor. She holds her breath, and the world around her seems to freeze as she aims, and pulls the trigger.

A red streak of coherent light splits the air, and a cry of pain is heard coming from the group of ponies. Yin watches the target’s horn explode, as the pony falls down like a puppet with its strings cut. The timeflow returns to normal as she hastily orders her squad.

“Bozic, now!” The projectile flies at high speeds into the group of ponies, and a deafening explosion is heard, as the rocketeer exclaims over the radio, glee clear in her voice “Eat shrapnel!”

Before the ponies could react, Times Square is lit up by a torrent of red lights from multiple sides, heating up the air and melting through both armor and flesh. “X-ray locked down. " Comes a reply from Heijden.

Ground forces scatter in responce to their capain’s untimely demise, but are stopped by a myriad of laser shots. “X-ray neutralized” Marznec reports, followed by a “I’m about to start keepin’ score!” from Murdoch.

A pegasus tries to scramble for cover, but his head explodes when a red streak passes through it, and he drops out of the air like a sack of potatoes. “Four down, thousands to go.”, Van Beek says as three more pegasi drop dead.

A group of four unicorn spellcasters nearest to captain Armor snap out of their daze, and try forming a shield, but their concentration is broken when one of them drops dead with multiple holes burned through his head. Before the rest of them could react, one more drops down with the same injuries, and the head of another explodes from sniper fire.

The last one sees the enemy rapidly approaching his position, a figure covered fron head-to-toe in black armor, it’s head obscured by a helmet with a large, opaque visor and a flashlight strapped on it’s left side.

He quickly conjures up an attack spell, and fires it at the attacker. The figure reacts quickly, but it still gets hit by the shot, the armor on its torso heats up and some of it starts to melt. A female-sounding “Son-of-a...-” is heard from the figure, as it raises its gun and fires, and the guard’s body melts from the overwhelming heat as he drops dead.

Rosa Guzman approaches the limp, but still breathing captain and anchors her scatter laser to a strap before picking up the pony. “Jesus, you’re one heavy fella.”, she says to herself, before turning on the radio “Command, this is Guzman. VIP is secure and ready to evac.”

“Copy that, Strike One. Get the VIP to Big Sky’s position, and get ready to evac. The rest of Strike One is to help Strike Two and Strike Three with the cleanup.” Bradford ordered over the radio.

Just as the last words leave the Commander’s mouth, a loud *snap* is heard, and what left of the surviving pony forces teleport away.

“Command, Strike One actual. We’ve lost contact with the enemy, please advise on hostiles’s current position.” Yin asked, worry clear in her voice.

“Strike One, sattelite imaging reports no active hostiles on your position, Big Sky also says you’re in the clear. Operational objectives complete.” Bradford said, releasing a sigh he didn’t know he was holding.

OPERATION WARM WELCOME: COMPLETE
ALIEN TERROR MISSION HALTED
CIVILIAN LOSSES MINIMAL

STRIKE ONE REPORTS 0 KIA, 1 WIA
STRIKE TWO REPORTS 0 KIA, 3 WIA
STRIKE THREE REPORTS 0 KIA, 2 WIA

RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:
(Documented by LT Feng Yin)
PEGASI CORPSES (26 total)
EARTH PONY CORPSES (22 total)
UNICORN PONY CORPSES (13 total)

VIP LIVE CAPTURE
OPERATION EVALUATION:EXCELLENT

Author's Note

Been thinking about this since i read 'Negotiations' by

Rated Ponystar

Let's see what i can do with this idea, shall we?