Edge of the Crystal City

Maverick slammed another mag into his DMR and peeked out from behind the destroyed wraith. With no more wraiths, the Covenant regiment had nowhere to hide as they were being viciously picked off one by one by the return fire of the UNSC. Though the return fire from the Covenant was fierce, the cover the marines had made sure they were well protected, giving them a clear advantage.

“It’s like open season for these Covie bastards out here!” Keiran quipped loudly. His comment actually caused Maverick to smirk under his helmet. He lined up his sight again with another elite and dropped him in a few shots.

“Payback, you sons of bitches.” Maverick whispered to himself as he popped another spent magazine.

Zeta team and Pharynx’s platoon continued to fire at the Covenant line, only slipping back into cover to reload their weapons. Maverick peeked back out to fire again, only to notice the black mist begin to fully phase through the dome shield. The mist conglomerated and darted toward the ground right for the Covenant troops. The mist crashed down in front of the Covenant line, dispersing its miasma outwards. All fire ceased as the marines began to cough and cover their eyes

Maverick waved the black fog away from his visor, the mist too thick to see through. As it dissipated, standing in between the marines and the Covenant was the dark king himself, Sombra. He opened his eyes and smirked, in his full physical form, his eyes a deep red. Maverick quickly aimed his rifle at him, his sights lining up right between his eyes. Sombra looked right at him and scowled. His eyes turned green and a purple aura leaked out of his eyes like a fog. Maverick suddenly tensed up, feeling as if he was petrified, and slowly his vision began to darken.

Clara and Kieran, still hiding behind the destroyed wraith, see the rush of black mist rush past them. Kieran tried peeking out but was unable to see anything. Pulling his head back, he then looked at Clara.

“Can you get a visual?” He asked her, replacing his MA5B with his shotgun.

“Negative. This stuff is too thick.” She responded. She turned her head to look at her commander when Maverick suddenly slumped backward and collapsed onto his back. “Mav!”

Both Clara and Kieran grabbed Maverick under his arms and pulled him back behind the Wraith. They rested him up against the destroyed alien tank and knelt next to him, desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with him. They checked him for any injuries but found nothing. Clara felt her throat tighten a bit, her mind instantly fearing the worst when she heard Kieran’s voice.

“Clar… you see that?” He pointed at Maverick’s visor. Clara looked up and could see a faint purple glow emanating behind the visor. She reached out and detached Maverick’s helmet and pulled it off of him. Both spartans were horrified to find Maverick’s eyes wide open, but they were a deep sickly green. His pupils were blood red, and a glowing purple aura leaked out of them like a vapor. His eyes were darting all around the place as if he was trying to comprehend his environment. However, when his eyes landed on his fellow spartans, his pupils seemed to shrink.

“…Angel?” Maverick asked, his voice hoarse. Clara physically reacted to his question, flinching her head backwards. Maverick’s eyes then moved to Kieran. “…Silas? …where… Where is Josiah?”

“Fuck me…” Kieran’s voice came out shakily, recognizing what was happening to Maverick, remembering what happened to Carlito down in the Crystal Dungeon. “Clara, help me move him.”

“What’s happening to him? Why does he think we are—” She was cut off suddenly when Kieran hardened his voice.

“Just fucking help me move him!” Kieran firmly ordered, grabbing Maverick’s arm and slinging it over the back of his neck. Clara looked at him, her worry outweighing her confusion as she followed his lead, slinging Maverick’s other arm over her neck, His helmet in her hand. Kieran and Clara stood up on either side of Maverick and helped him up.

Maverick felt someone drag him and rest him up against something solid. Slowly, he opened his eyes and held his breath. He looked around no longer seeing the open fields around the Crystal City. He looked up to see huge skyscrapers towering over him, and just above the air was a Covenant Corvette. His heartbeat quickened as he realized he was back in New Alexandria. He blinked a few times, trying to control his heartbeat. He tried to control his breathing, but nothing worked as he felt his paranoia increase slowly.

All the training Maverick had been given to calm his nerves was failing. His fear was getting the better of him as he stared up at the fiery sky of New Alexandria. He held his breath again as he felt someone take his helmet off. He frantically began looking all over, till his eyes landed on two figures in front of him. He gasped as he looked upon those who were ghosts to him.

“Angel?… Silas?” Before him, kneeling before him were his spartan team members who died in the city months ago. “Where… where is Josiah?”

Seeing his murdered family members, his first thought was that he had to have died. But if he was dead and with Angel and Silas, then where was his brother-in-arms, Josiah? Was he even dead? He had to be, he was back at the place he felt was the closest thing to hell he had ever experienced. He snapped himself out of his own thoughts, however, as a purple fog began to surround them like a predator circling its prey. From behind the fog, two bright blue pillars of light suddenly ignite. He gasped again, recognizing them. He tried to shout but his throat tightens, rendering him speechless. He watched as two energy swords are plunged into their backs, both of them screaming out in agony. They were lifted into the air as their assailant stepped forward, revealing the scarred face of Khota ‘Mutamee.

The Elite held the two spartans in their air by his swords as they both continued to cry and scream in pain. Khota’s cloudy eye focused on him and he let out a soft chuckle. He dropped the two spartans to the ground, their bodies lifeless. The massive elite then pointed his finger directly at Maverick.

“You failed your siblings, demon! They have paid the price and are stuck in perpetual torment!” Khota taunted as Maverick felt his eyes begins to water. “Take some solace in that you will eventually join them! You will die, demon! Just like your pathetic kin before you!”

Khota then turned around and barked an order in a different language. Walking out of the mist were two more elites that approached Maverick. They grabbed him and slung his arms over their heads and onto their necks. They picked him up and began to drag him away. His fear began to boil over, and his anger began to rise. Tears of fear and hatred run down his cheeks as he unleashes a guttural cry of pain. Pain deep within his heart. He pulls back against the elites carrying him and quickly draws his side arm, aiming it at the heads of one of the elites.

Clara and Kieran froze in place as Maverick had just pulled himself away from them, now holding his M6D magnum. He had it aimed directly at Clara’s head. Clara didn’t dare move a muscle, her shields were strong, but she knew three shots to the head would kill her. Kieran takes a small step which caused Maverick to then point his gun at him. Kieran freezed and held up his hands.

“Mav… easy there buddy. What you are seeing isn’t real. It’s just an illusion, lower your weapon brother.” Kieran tried his best to calm his commander.

Maverick showed no indication that he acknowledged Kieran’s voice, continuing to aim his gun with a crazed look in his eyes. Clara remained frozen in place, having no idea what has gotten into Maverick. She finally ripped her eyes away from her commander when she heard his commlink go off in his helmet that was still in her hands.

“Fall back! I repeat, fall back!” Pharynx’s voice sounded panicked as it came out of Maverick’s helmet. “Sombra is in sight! He’s using fear magic to cripple our troops! We need to fall back!”

Maverick took his eyes off Kieran for only a moment to look down at his helmet in Clara’s hand. Kieran saw that as his only opportunity. He lunged off his back leg and charged Maverick, who quickly glared back at him. Maverick fired his first shot, ricocheting off Kieran’s shields. He fired a second shot that broke his shields. Before he could pull the trigger a third time, Kieran back-handed the pistol out of his hand.

The pistol landed on the ground and Kieran grabbed ahold of Maverick’s armor by the horse collar. Maverick gritted his teeth as he grabbed Kieran’s wrists to try and pry them off of him. Kieran kept a firm hold as he pushed against the spartan commander. Maverick lets go and with one hand, balled it into a fist, and slammed it into the side of Kieran’s helmet. Without his shield, he felt the full impact. Kieran’s vision instantly blurred, a slight ringing in his ears. His grip weakened and he felt Maverick beginning to peel his hands off of him.

Kieran tried to regain focus, but he couldn’t make out Maverick’s face anymore from the blow to his head. One of his hands was pulled off, so he pulled and reared it back. He hesitated, Realizing that Maverick still didn’t have his helmet on. A punch to the head could cause him some real damage, or worse kill him. He felt his second hand beginning to slip when he heard feet rushing up behind him. Before he knew it, Clara ducked down in a charge and rammed her shoulder into Maverick’s abdomen.

Maverick was heard exhaling painfully as the wind was knocked out of him, causing him to fall backwards with Kieran and Clara falling on top of him. Mav wrenched in pain, holding his gut and closing his eyes tightly. Kieran and Clara sat up, noticing the purple aura leaking from Maverick’s eyes to slowly dissipate. With an exhale of relief, Kieran turned to look at Clara.

“Took your fucking time to help me with him!” He scolded the Lieutenant who instantly shot back.

“I didn’t know what to fucking do!” Clara’s voice sounded a bit hysterical, like she could burst into tears at any moment. At hearing the worry and panic in Clara’s voice, Kieran began to soften his demeanor, remembering she never went down the catacombs and seeing this kind of magic for the first time.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Just help me get him into cover and away from everything.” Kieran spoke in a calmer voice.

Clara was breathing hard, but was also slowly controlling it. She nodded softly before standing up with Kieran. Together, the two spartans pulled Maverick inside one of the crystal houses far away from the front lines. They set him down on the floor and set his operator helmet right next to him. Even though it looked like the curse had been dispelled from their Spartan brother, Kieran did not want to take that chance without additional confirmation.

Slowly, Maverick began to open his eyes, their normal color returning. He looked around him, less frantically this time as his eyes landed back onto Kieran and Clara. Kieran remained tense, his hands still balled into fists in case Maverick attacked them again. To his relief, he watched as Maverick softened his expression and relaxed.

“Kieran? Clara? What happened?” He asked, his voice a bit hoarse and scratchy.

“You shot me.” Kieran said bluntly, to which Maverick gave him a confused glare.

“To better answer your question, Mav,” Clara spoke up to clarify, “you were acting frantically and called us Silas and Angel. Your eyes also changed to green and red and were leaking a purple… mist, like an aura.”

Maverick placed his hand to his head and looked towards the ground. A million thoughts were running through his head, what he saw felt too real. He began to connect the dots as to what had just happened to him, was similar to what happened to the ODST sniper down in the Crystal Dungeons. He hardened his gaze and looked back up at Kieran and Clara.

“It had to of been fear magic.” He stated. Kieran nodded his head in agreement while Clara cocked her head to the side.

“What’s fear magic?” Clara asked as she watched Kieran offer his hand to Maverick, who took it and stood up.

“We saw it down in the dungeons.” Kieran answered. Clara looked at Kieran as Maverick bent down and picked up his helmet.

“There was a door down there enchanted with a spell that makes you hallucinate your worst fear. It happened to one of the members of Whiskey-7. Apparently, Sombra can also induce the same kind of hallucination if you look him in the eyes.” Maverick’s statement was met with mixed reactions from his fellow Spartans.

“Sombra is on the battlefield!?” Kieran growled.

“And he has magic to make us see our worst fears?” Clara’s voice hinted at some worry.

Maverick and Kieran could only nod their heads. That was perhaps the only explanation they could give right now. Clara then slowly looked back over at Maverick, despite him trying his best to put his stoic demeanor back on, she could see one of his hand still trembling slightly. She looked back up at his visor before asking her next question. “…You were back at New Alexandria, weren’t you?”

Silence fell after Clara’s question as Maverick slightly turned his head to the side, no longer looking at her directly.

“Mav…we told you, you can’t blame yourself,” Kieran spoke softly as he and Clara looked upon their “Big Brother”.

“…I’m the leader of this team. I’m supposed to make sure you all stay alive…” Maverick responded in a low, hurt voice.

Another awkward silence washed over all three of them, Maverick’s head now hanging low and facing the ground. Clara approached him and reached out for his hand. She took a hold of it, causing Maverick to look up and then look right at her. Their visors met, and even though they couldn’t see past them, they knew they were looking each other in the eyes. Kieran then came up from behind and placed his hand on Maverick’s shoulder. Again, Maverick turned and looked at him.

“You know we’re always here for you, Mav. We are a family, you don’t need to bare the whole galaxy on your shoulders.” Kieran spoke.

“We always have your back Mav, through the good and the bad. You rely on us as we rely on you.” Clara added. Maverick slowly looked away for a second before glancing at both of his fellow spartans.

“…I’m lucky to have both of you.” Maverick spoke up. Despite his helmet covering his face, they both could tell he was smiling at them. A distant explosion shakes them out of their moment. “Mount up Zeta, we still have a job to do.”

10 minutes earlier…

Sombra landed in front of the Covenant regiment being torn to shreds by the UNSC fire with a cloud of black mist dispersing from his landing. The ground quaked, causing the marines on the front line to cease fire for a moment to assess what had happened. The mist clears, to reveal Sombra glaring at the marines with a devilish smirk on his face.

“That’s him!” shouted Pharynx “That’s King Sombra! Open fire!”

Many marines, mostly the humans immediately put Sombra in their lines of sight. The dark king smiled his toothy grin, revealing his fangs as his eyes began to glow. Immediately, almost everyone on the front lines began to freeze as they gazed upon Sombra. Their pupils shrank and turned blood red, the whites of their eyes changed to a toxic green color. Slowly, a purple miasma-like aura began to pour out of their eyes. Pharynx gazed out on his men with a confused look on his face.

“I said open fire!” He shouted his command again, but none of them moved a muscle. Pharynx was about to shout his order again, when one of the other marines began to yell, a human specifically.

“My skin… My skin!!! IT’S IN MY SKIN!!!” A marine shouted in terror as many other shouts began to ring out.

“They’re all over me! Someone save me!”

“No! Get away from me!”

“Someone help me! I’m drowning!”

Pharynx’s eyes widened as many of his men began dropping their weapons on the spot. Many of them collapsing in pure terror and others splintering off and ditching their posts. He suddenly felt someone grab him from behind. He quickly turned to meet the eyes of a human marine, who’s eyes were just like the others. He spoke to him in a desperate voice.

“Reach… My family is still on Reach… Please…help me save them.” The marine collapsed to his knees, fear and pain in his face. Pharynx eyes widened as realized what was happening among his men.

“Fall back! I repeat, fall back!” He screamed into his comms, praying that anyone not affected by the fear magic can hear him. “Sombra is in sight! He’s using fear magic to cripple our troops! We need to fall back!”

“Yngol copy! Where yak retreat to!?” Yngol’s voice responded.

“I… I… I don’t know yet!” Pharynx gritted his teeth and his heart began to race. Even during his time as his mother’s elite commander, he’s never been under this much pressure during a battle. “Just fall back! We can’t lead them towards the Crystal Heart! We’ll regroup near the ‘Spike: The Brave and Glorious’ Statue!”

“Copy!” Yngol’s voice rang out one last time as the line of marines scattered deeper into the city. Leaving their fellow marines affected by the fear magic to themselves as they were unable to figure out what is real or fake.

With a forceful step forward, Sombra watched as the cowards on the frontline flea deeper into the Crystal City. He smirked, a wild look in his eyes as a wave of satisfaction washed over him. The Covenant Regiment behind him marched past him and entered the city, chasing after the soldiers who ran off. Heavy footsteps approached Sombra from behind, he didn’t have to look to know it was the Shipmaster himself.

Khota surveyed the battlefield, crossing his arms. He nodded in approval before barking an order at his kin. A volley of energy swords are ignited as many of the Sangheili approach the incapacitated marines, most of which were humans. They couldn’t fight back as many of them were executed on the spot, the dark magic and life fading from their eyes.

Khota huffed in approval at the dispatching of the pathetic humans and their allies on this miserable planet. As he watched the holy killings, he felt something grab his foot. He saw a human at his mercy, looking up at him with green and red eyes.

“Please… They’re on Reach… My family…” The Marine choked out, his corrupted eyes full of tears. Khota growled and hardened his gaze. He grabbed the energy sword hilt off his hip and ignited it. The blade burned a green and purple color, indicating it was modified by Sombra’s magic. Khota leaned down and picks the human up by his neck, holding him off the ground.

Without a word, Khota stabbed the human in the gut with his blade, the human croaking out a death gurgle as blood began to seep out of his mouth. Khota pulled out his blade and dropped the corpse of the human as his eyes returned to normal, staring at nothing in particular.

“Swift, and brutal.” Sombra chuckled as he stares at the now dead human. “My magical capabilities work well with your military might. Wouldn’t you say, shipmaster?”

“The more humans that die by our combined strategies? I’d say we make quite the Deadly Alliance.” Khota huffed in amusement before looking down at the dark king. Sombra would be an excellent ally for push towards the Great Journey. After he had vanquished every last human on this insignificant planet, he would bring King Sombra to the Hierarchs. The promotions he would received for his discovery of Sombra would be grand. Perhaps they’d make him a Supreme Commander, and be out of ‘Vadamee’s shadow for good. He smirks as he then spoke into his comm link.

“N’thoka, the humans and their allies are retreating. Begin the third and final phase of the invasion; total havoc. Let loose the banshees and have them bombard any military stations from the air. We’ll have complete air superiority.” Khota commanded clearly.

“Roger, my Shipmaster. Banshees are ascending as we speak.” N’thoka’s voice responded. With that, Khota and Sombra follow behind their troops as they press further into the City.

More and more crystal ponies have been showing up around the base of the castle, many of them gathering close around the Crystal Heart. Some of them with their head low, reciting prayers and incantations while other huddled in fear as explosions on the outsides of the city brought more and more civilians towards the heart. Some Pelicans have tried to land to pick some of them up to evacuate, but efforts were getting harder and harder as there were hardly any spots for them to land.

Twilight was getting a bit frustrated as half her men stationed around the heart were now busy taking care of civilians who keep showing up. Luckily, she still had Tex by her side, helping her stay on task of keeping the parameter around the castle fortified. While talking to a small group of mostly pony marines, Marcus approaches both of them.

“Tex, Princess. We got some back up.” Marcus spoke as they both turned around. Behind Marcus was a group of cloaked and hooded ponies. The cloaks were in different colors; blue, yellow, brown, green, purple, and gray. Tex was unfamiliar with them, but Twilight exactly who they were.

“Battlemages! I thought you were to help with the magic dome and the other magical defenses?” Twilight exclaimed loudly. The one in the brown cloak bows before here.

“We apologize Princess Twilight, but the dome is of no use right now since the Covenant is already in the city. Instead of catering to the defenses, we wish to offer you services with more offensive magic.” The battlemage in brown spoke eloquently. Twilight turned towards him in response.

“Anything you can offer me, I appreciate. My men are playing double duty in helping civilians and keeping the area secured.” Twilight responded to which the mage nodded his head before turning to face the other mages.

“My brothers, long have we seen over peace, but now we are called to action. Our peaceful home is under attack by a brutal and uncaring enemy. I call upon you to be Equis’s defenders. Will you join me in her time of need?” The mage in brown spoke. In unison, the remaining mages placed a hoof to their chests and bowed humbly. “Good, then spread out, find any position in need of your magical capabilities.”

The mages then spread out as the distant explosions creep closer and closer. Marines hunkered down near barricades set up to block every street coming towards the castle. The explosions get closer and louder, but no sign of enemy contact. With each passing second, more and more explosions rock the city getting louder.

“You see anything?” One pony marine spoke, looking to his human squad mate who shook his head.

“I don’t see Jackshit.” He responded.

“Where in Tartarus are they? Those explosions sound like they are coming from a few streets over.”

A few more explosions ring out coming closer, followed by a strange humming sound. No sign of any contacts coming from any major streets as both the humming and explosions get closer. It finally dawned on Master Sergeant Tex what was approaching.

“Oh my god…” He spoke some fear in his voice. Twilight looked up at him as he suddenly looked upwards and at the roofs of the crystal houses surrounding the castle.

“Tex, what’s wrong?” She asked. Tex opened his mouth, but he wasn’t able to speak in time when a giant green fireball erupted on top of one of the roofs. Purple blurs then fly overhead as the humming sounds fly directly overhead.

Marines who were expecting infantry assault began to change their aim upwards and began sloppily firing at the banshees overhead. The Banshee pilots expertly dodged the gunfire and began firing their fuel rod cannons at the makeshift barricades blocking the main streets towards the castle. Screams from the civilians crowding around the Heart fill the battlefield. Twilight and Tex watch, however, as the banshees seem to be extra careful around the crowd of civilians, never firing at them or around them.

“They’re purposely avoiding the civilians!? But why!? No one is spared by the Covenant!” Tex shouted over the explosions. Twilight hardened her gaze as she realized why the Banshees were sparing the civilians.

“They’re keeping them alive for Sombra.” Twilight growled to herself, just barely heard by Tex. She then speaks into her com link. “All personnel at the base of the Crystal Castle, direct all fire upwards at the Banshees! I repeat! Fire at the Banshees!”

As Twilight’s command echoed through the open comlink, all soldiers the parameter of the Crystal Heart switched their fire upwards to fire at the swarm of banshees overhead. Their smaller firearms barely caused any damage. Applejack stayed low behind a sandbag barrier as a small burst of plasma flew over her head. She racked a shell into her shotgun and peeked out, seeing a banshee flying right at her. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, uttering a small prayer before opening her eyes again. She knew her buck shots wouldn’t deter the Banshee, but she was gonna try.

She began slam-firing her shotgun, each pump firing one of her shells. Five, six, seven, eight shells, and still the banshee flies at her, preparing its fuel rod cannon. On her last shell, an explosion suddenly rang out from the side of the Banshee. Applejack’s eyes widened as she watched the Covenant aircraft dip down and crash into the ground fifteen feet away from her. She looked down at her shotgun with widened eyes, wondering if she really just did that. There was a woosh over her head, causing her to look up and see Rainbow Dash fly by with a grenade launcher in her hooves. She looked back at the cowpony and gave her a wink. Applejack rolled her eyes with a pouty expression, but silently thanked the rainbowed braggart.

Rainbow soared over just above the Banshee loading another EMP grenade into her grenade launcher. She spotted another one and dived down for the kill. She took aim, but just before she could shoot, an explosion nailed it hard and it fell out of the sky and crashed below. Rainbow reared her head back in shock, now seeing something in her peripherals. She saw Dragon Lord Ember flying next to her with her own grenade launcher in hand.

“Hey! I had that one!” Rainbow Dash huffed.

“You gotta be faster than that, Dash.” Ember winked at the pouting pegasus under her helmet.

“I’m the fastest in all of Equestria! I’ll shoot down three times as many Banshees than you!” Rainbow challenged, her pout turning into a smirk.

“You’re on!” Ember narrowed her eyes and smirked, pulling away in a different direction to deal with the other banshees.

Rainbow Dash spotted another banshee nearby and swooped in to take care of it. She aimed her grenade launcher and took in a deep breath. A gunshot rang out, and struck one of the Banshee’s canards, destroying the jet booster and causing it to tailspin. At the same time, Rainbow fired her shot and it sailed just past the banshee as it continued to spiral down to the ground, crashing and exploding.

“What the buck!?” She yelled out, stalling in midair. She heard a distant whistle and looked to the side. There was the crystal tower, and in it was a sniper glint. Narrowing her eyes, she could see both Spike and Carlito waving at her. Rainbow curled her lip into a snarl and scolded into her coms. “That one was mine!”

“You gotta be faster than that, caballo arcoiris!” Carlito chuckled into the mic.

Rainbow began to grind her teeth together at hearing that a second time. Flying off in a different direction so no one else could steal her kills.

With the ground troops slowly getting more organized thanks to Twilight’s orders, banshees begin falling out of the sky faster than they show up. Morale slowly began to climb back up, as the marines slowly gathered the upper hand. But it didn’t take long for large shadows in the sky to cover the troops below. A quick look revealed phantoms approaching the field. The sight of them drew the attention of many marines, as the phantoms lacked any grunt gunners. The bottom hatched open. Whiskey-7 and Fireteam Harmony quickly took notice and began preparing themselves for infantry, but a much different foe exited the phantoms

Funneling out like a colony of wasps, drones exited the Phantom and began flying about the battlefield, targeting the ground troops specifically. Twilight’s eyes widened in horror as she saw one swoop down and pick up a pony marine. Her screams in terror echoed all around as she was lifted into the air. The Drone lifted her seventy feet in the air and let her go, the mare falling and landing with a hard crack.

“We got drones!” Twilight yelled into the comm link. “Redirect all ground fire from the Banshees to the drones! They are picking us off one by one!”

The drones swarm in all different directions as most of their fire is now being directed at them. They swoop down, firing plasma pistols and needlers at any marine they got close to. Rarity herself was hiding behind a green crate, shaking hard as she held her silenced SMG. She peeked her head from behind the crate and squealed as a drone passed just inches above her head.

“Why did it have to be giant, gross, bugs!?” She whined to no one in particular, keeping her head down, shaking like she was freezing. Rarity once again tried to peek out when a drone landed on top of the crate she was hiding behind. She let out a shriek and fell backwards, her gun falling out of her hooves. The Drones hissed, fluttering its elytra, and aimed a needler at her.

She widened her eyes, as she tried to reach for her gun, but it was nowhere near her. She looked back at the drone, having no time to react when it suddenly exploded in a volley of guts and innards, a shotgun blast being heard at the same time. Rarity had no time to react as she was subsequently covered in green and yellow sludge.

She let out a disgusted shriek as it covered her head to hoof, on her face, on her hooves, and all over her uniform. She heard a shotgun being racked and looked behind her to see Applejack, her shotgun’s barrel smoking. Rarity hardened her gaze and grit her teeth at the farm pony.

“Applejack! Look what you did! You got me covered in…in… BUG JUICE!” She scolded her friend. “This is so repulsive! It stinks so bad! Why did you do that!?”

“At least you ain’ dead.” Applejack scowled at the Fashionista to which Rarity harrumphed.

“This is hardly saving me! You killed my dignity!” Rarity began to whimper as she tried to brush off the slime, only smearing it in the process.

“Ye’re welcome by the way.” Applejack rolled her eyes, not dealing with Rarity’s overly dramatic nature.

With most of the fire being directed towards the drones, the banshees are given more time to continue targeting the barricades blocking the main streets towards the castle. Targeting one barricade and firing their fuel rod cannon to dispose of any blockades. Ember and Rainbow Dash tried their best to keep up with the banshees, but there were too many of them to focus on them all at once, finally, a few of the barricades were completely destroyed, opening up vantage points around the castle. It didn’t take long for the Covenant to take advantage of the destroyed barricades.

“Princesa!” Carlito’s voice was heard in Twilight’s coms. She placed a hoof to her ear to listen.

“What is it, Corporal!? We’re busy down here!” She answered back, shooting a few drones flying close to her with her assault rifle at the same time.

“You gotta a large Covenant platoon marching towards the castle down the main road to the south! I can’t hold them off myself, you’re about to get more company down there!” Carlito spoke with urgency. Twilight gritted her teeth upon learning this information.

“Buck me!” She shouted in frustration. She dropped a spent mag from her gun before inserting another one. She looked next to her to see Tex had swapped to his magnum and begun taking drones down with it. “Tex!”

“What is it, Princess!?” Tex turned and knelt as he reloaded his magnum.

“I hate to ask this from you, but we are getting desperate down here I need you and the rest of your squad to lead a counterattack at the south end of the castle. The Covenant is advancing in that direction and will take us by surprise if we don’t act now!” Twilight informed the sergeant.

“Roger that.” Tex stood to his full height, pulling his shotgun off his back. “Whiskey-7, Whiskey-7. Marcus, Tammy, Adam, start pushing towards the southern end of the castle, meet me there as soon as you get the chance!”

Tex sprinted as fast as he could towards the south end of the castle. There, standing marvelously was the crystal statue of Spike: The Brave and Glorious. He sidestepped a few marines still occupied by shooting at the drones overhead. To his right, he saw Marcus, his grenade launcher on his back and SMG in his hands ducking behind a destroyed carriage. He ran up, and baseball slid to avoid a drone swooping down at his head.

“How you holding up Mark?” Tex asked the demolition expert before popping up and splattering a drone with a blast from his shotgun.

“Just fucking peachy!” He yelled back, slamming a mag into the side of his SMG. “Any updates on our position, Tex?”

“Drones are keeping our anti-air fire away from the banshees, giving them breathing room to destroy all our barricades on the main roads leading to the castle. The one on the south street is in pieces, allowing a small Covenant army to approach our position!” Tex replied.

“Fuck! We played right into their hands!” Marcus swore, slamming his fist into the side of the carriage.

“Focus, brother,” Tex spoke calmly. “We’re not gonna let them get one over on us. Not this time, not like Reach.”

Tex put a hand on Marcus’s shoulder giving him a firm and confident look. Marcus looked at him, giving him a sad but affirmative nod.

“Tex, Tammy and I are at the south end of the castle, next to the giant crystal statue of Spike. I got some good news.” Adam’s voice sounded through the coms. Tex instantly places his hand on the side of his helmet and responds.

“Adam, what is it?” Tex urgently asked.

“We got some backup coming in from the south gate as well, claim they were on the front lines and were pushed back to our position.” Adam’s response sparked a bit of hope within Tex. He turned to Marcus and patted his shoulder.

“Let’s get goin’ brother. We’re needed at the south end of the castle.” Tex spoke as both his and Marcus’s visors turned opaque. They both stand, avoiding more drones taking a brave swoop down at them before moving again. They picked up their speed approaching the large statue of Spike where they could see Adam and Tammy accompanied by the battlemages Tex saw earlier surrounded by a small platoon of about thirty marines, a tall Changeling, an even taller Yak, and Zeta Team. Tex feels a wave of relief seeing the three hulking Spartans. Maverick turned around and greeted the ODST sergeant.

“Sergeant Tex.” Maverick lowered his DMR and offered the ODST his hand, to which Tex shook it firmly.

“Sir, thank Christ you are here. We’re getting annihilated out here.” Tex spoke with an exhausted tone. Maverick turned to see both Clara and Kieran focusing fire in the air, aiming at the drones.

“I can tell.” He spoke solemnly before issuing more orders. “Kieran, Clara, you both stay here and help fight off that Covie regiment that was chasing us.”

“Roger Mav, but what about you?” Kieran asked, looking away from the sky, but only for a brief moment.

“To assist the Princess.” He responded before placing his rifle on his back and sprinting in the direction of the Heart.

“Yak spot enemies!” Yngol yelled out, causing the remaining marines to find cover quickly. Clara and Kieran took spots on both sides of the street and aimed down their sights. The incoming regiment was huge, but without their wraiths, the only cover they had were the houses and side streets. With what little cover the marines had themselves, they also had to deal with a few drones who had drifted towards their position away from the Heart.

It didn’t take long for the Covenant regiment to begin their assault and opened fire at the Marines at the end of the street. The call to return fire rang out as bullets and plasma soared through the air. Tex peeked out with his magnum and began firing. However, he saw a green flash from the middle of the street in the heart of the Covenant regiment which caused a sudden splitting headache. He dropped below his cover to give himself a second while closing his eyes tight.

He tried to focus, but the headache increased its pain. He removed his helmet, opened his eyes, and was met with a small grassy field. He was a bit taken back and slowly lifted his head to see a soft dense forest to his right and an open pond to his left. He recognized it, slowly standing to his feet. It looked like the pond next to his family home in Alabama.

“Eric?” Came a voice behind him that made the hair on the back of his neck. He slowly turned to see his younger brother standing a few feet behind him, holding a fishing pole. Up the hill behind his brother was his family home in a rural part of Alabama

“Harvey?” He asked, confused out of his mind. His brother lets out a snicker.

“Where’s your goddamn pole, Eric? Ma’s wantin’ fry up some catfish t’night.” Harvey spoke while licking his lip at the thought of fried catfish. The same thought made Tex’s stomach growl, it’s been forever since he’s had his mother’s southern cooking. But, an awkward feeling befell him.

‘How am I back home?’ He thought to himself. ‘Wasn’t I just fightin—’

“What the hell is that?” Harvey’s question interrupted Tex’s thought when suddenly, a large shadow began to cast down on them as if a big cloud was covering the sun. Tex looks up to see his brother has turned to the side and is looking up above their family home. Floating above it, makes his blood turn ice cold, a Covenant assault cruiser.

“No…they found Earth?… But that… That can’t be!” Tex shouted as he saw the massive ship begin to power up its glassing beam.

Tex’s eyes widened in horror as there was nothing he could do. The beam fired and struck his childhood home, incinerating it before his very eyes. He swore he could feel the heat of the plasma against his face; it made his skin feel like it was boiling. He then watched as his brother slowly turned back towards him. His face was the stuff of nightmares. Half of Harvey’s face was burnt all the way to the bone, exposing his skull. Tex felt tears tugging at the corners of his eyes.

Marcus ducked behind a crystal barrier acting as cover as he loaded another grenade into his launcher. He looked down and saw Tex down on all fours, his shotgun and magnum on the ground around him. Marcus grabbed his sergeant by the shoulder and pulled him into a sitting position with his back against the crystal barrier.

“Sir! Are you okay!? Are you hit!?” Marcus yelled over the gunfire as Tex was acting a bit strange. Marcus reached under Tex’s helmet and pulled it off. His confusion rose and his stomach clenched upon seeing the green and red hue in Tex’s eyes, along with a purple aura bleeding out of the corners of his eyes.

Author's Note

Hey everyone, co-author here! We’re just about nearing the end of the “War of Two Empires” arc, and things are getting very interesting. King Sombra is using his dark magic to make the humans see their worst fears and memories, hampering their efforts in battle. The Covenant are breaking through the Empire’s defenses with ease. Will our heroes ever succeed?

Stay tuned until the next chapter.

P.S.: it’s about time we had the drones appear in Contact Equis. I’m thinking K00l and I should have them appear in the Fall of Manehatten arc when we rewrite those chapters.