From War to Peace
Chapter 6
Gods and Demons

I grimaced as I watched the albatross quickly descend, fire trailing from one of the engines, and landed in the field outside our base. As we drove up and out of the canyon, I quickly loaded my sidearm with shredder rounds.

Reaching over and tapping Matt on the shoulder, I singled out his comm line, “How much farther?” I asked as he shifted the warthog gears and made the roaring engine quiet to a modest growl as our team flew over the fields, briefly catching air every few seconds.

“About two more kilometers.” Matt finally answered, his voice grim and determined as he silently asked the question that was lingering in all of our minds. Sighing and placing my sidearm away, I sat a little taller in the warthog and looked over to Brayden’s warthog and activated the all call on our comms.

“Alright, gents, those contacts looked about as professional as we’ll see on this planet, so I want everybody locked and loaded with stun rounds just in case…” I yelled over the comm. Signaling in acknowledgment, my team began to load their weapons with the paint rounds. We may not be out to kill, but if anything got in our way, we’d be ready to go down swinging.

As I sat in the warthog, I began to run through scenarios as to whom these ponies were. Considering Twilight didn’t warn me, I’m betting they are an expected element. I looked ahead as a few more ponies descended from the sky; all were wearing golden armor and were either armed with a spear or what looked like a mounted ballista, meaning that whoever these people were was likely the best armed in the region. Frowning, I sat back down and tried to channel the diplomat in me. I had a horrible feeling I was going to need it.

“ETA one minute, guys, hold onto your guns. We’re going to make an entrance.” Matt yelled as he braced himself. With a sinking feeling in my gut, I reached up and grabbed the roll cage as we approached a hill with a rock jutting out of the top of it in an almost ramp-like way. Paling in horror, I looked over and realized what he was going to do.

“Oh no, don’t you dare you to rat son of a bi-“ The rest of my protest was drowned out by the roaring of the warthog engine as Matt shifted the warthog into a lower gear and gunned the engine. As we hit the ramp and flew into the air, I managed to look down into the assembled crowd of ponies and odd humans.
At the forefront of the crowd was the pony who towered over the rest and had a white body, a man literally made of a rainbow, a golden crown on her head, and most humorously of all, wide eyes and an agape jaw.
The rest of her crowd was too shocked to respond as we landed in between the two crowds and swerved to a stop. Clutching my seat, I looked over at Matt with pure malice in my eyes as he put the warthog in park and casually looked over to the awestruck pilot and two scientists.
That bastard knew I hated when he did those kinds of jumps, and as I was about to tear him a new one, he managed to beat me to the punch when he took his helmet off and, grinning like a maniac, looked over to the pilot and with a grin that should have gotten his teeth punched out said, “Somebody calls 911?”
Silence reigned for a moment as Brayden pulled up behind us, dismounted from the warthog, walked up to Matt, and slapped him across the face. Yelping in pain, Matt looked into Brayden’s helmet and asked in an incredibly undignified tone, “What the hell was that for?” sighing in shame, I got out of the warthog and signaled for Lane to grab Brayden and follow me.

“You damn well KNOW what that was for, boy.” Brayden replied as he crossed his arms on his chest. “I mean, seriously, what kinda one-liner is that? God boy, what the hell did I teach back in the war that didn’t sink in?” Vaguely I registered that Lane had grabbed Brayden’s arm and was slowly dragging him over to my position in front of the white Pegasus… unicorn… pony.
As I stared up into her eyes half a foot above my head, I understood why the scientist was scared. While she didn’t necessarily give off a threatening aura, she certainly gave off an aura of power, and it showed. Most of the other ponies I’ve met have been small and, while telekinetic, not much of an issue, but the one before looked as if she could rear up and bash my skull in with a hoof and not even try.

“Who are you?” I shook out of my reverie as I registered she had spoken. I unconsciously reached for my sidearm but stopped when I remembered that I had loaded it with shredder rounds and that my friends were behind my so I had support.

“I am Captain Michael Hill of the UNSC Infinity,” I said, trying to keep the shakes out of my voice as she narrowed her eyes at me in a distrusting manner. Gesturing to my right and left, I continued, “These men flanking me are colonel Brayden Donovan and Captain Lane Rapp, respectively.” Lane nodded respectively, and I could tell that he was dying to study the local wildlife. Meanwhile, Brayden simply stood to the side and nodded with his arms crossed his hand on his foot-long knife’s handle. I really need to tell him to keep his devil’s toothpick in the car.
The White pony looked at each of us, and her expression was generally neutral for both Lane and me, but her expression seemed to be a slight bit pitiful or even sorrowful as she stared at Brayden. In my peripheral vision, I could see Brayden tensing and clenching a hand to his knife. “My name is Celestia, I am the Princess of Equestria, and I must ask what you are doing here.” The White horse eventually responded as she looked to stare me in the face.
Smiling, I decided that it might be fortuitous to talk face to face, so I reached up and removed my helmet, letting the cool afternoon airbrushed my face. With a grin plastered across my face, I responded in kind to Celestia, “A pleasure to meet you. We’re here as part of a science mission to study the rather peculiar wildlife’s abilities.” I said as she looked down at me with curiosity in her eyes. I looked over to see Lane take off his recruit helmet and nod as well, his black stubble of a beard offsetting his pale skin and amber eyes.

“If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from that these abilities would seem so outlandish? I’ve traveled this globe, and never before have I seen anything akin to your kind.” Celestia responded as she scanned both Lane and me over. I could see several guards looking on in fear; most were a tad bit shorter than us and looked rather mystified at our appearance.

“We are from a place far, far away called Earth. It’s a lot like this planet, just more varied, I suppose.” I said cautiously, Del Rio was an ass about protocol, but even Lasky would have my ass court-martialed if I told Celestia about Earth.
As I tried my best to manage a poker face and not be forced into detail, I could see Celestia’s curiosity peak, and her stance changed to a more cautious stance as she likely ran through possibilities. “Is there any reason as to why you can’t tell me where you and your allies are from?” I could tell that she wasn’t going to be fooled by any lies or attempts to throw her off, but I couldn’t just tell her about Earth.

“Errr,” I quietly said.
I could tell Celestia wasn’t terribly amused by the look on her face. “Why ever not? Is there a reason your people are xenophobic and would rather sneak in a science base rather than communicate with the area’s leader?” Celestia asked, an accusing tone in her voice.
I cringed a little and frowned. She had us on that aspect. I could see in my peripheral vision the guards were getting a tad bit jittery and seemed to have an itchy trigger finger… or spear hoof as the case warrants.

Sighing at my silence with a frustrated look on her face, Celestia began to speak, “Listen, you seem like a good group of people, and if it were my way, I’d have a representative occupy your base and tell me if you were doing anything questionable… but my court will never stand for such and as such I must either ask you to leave and come back after we have a designated area, or we must take you into custody until you either tell us what we need to know… What say you?”
I could see the sincerity in her eyes, but I knew that I couldn’t tell her. I was about to respond when I was cut off by the sound of a knife being removed from its sheath and a growl from my right.

“Well, considering we just got done with a 25-year war with another species, so we’re just a little paranoid.” I paled and looked over to Brayden, who had removed his knife and was clutching it for dear life. “So how about no.”
I could feel the cold fist of fear in my gut, and the crowd around me seemed to reflect such. The pony soldiers were quickly arming themselves with spears and what looked to be shoulder-mounted ballista. I could hear Lane and the others shifting and murmuring with occasional swear and cocking of a weapon. Things were going downhill fast.
Whipping around to look into Celestia in the face, I could quickly see that any chance of a peaceful resolution was quickly going out the window. “What war are you talking about?” Asked Celestia, her eyes narrowing as she thought of an ultimately more sinister thought. “If you are attempting to establish a colony here to recover from your war, we WILL resist.” Celestia nearly yelled as her guards soon leveled their weapons, and she stood to her full height. To be honest, she was terrifying, with the afternoon sun seeming to be directly behind her head.
Stuttering, I tried to assure her that wasn’t our intention, but Brayden beat me to the punch, “ Resist, huh? Just say it now, you’ll attack us with intent to kill if we don’t comply, don’t you!” Brayden yelled with rage, barely concealed in his voice.
Turning faster than I thought possible, I turned to him. In the mid-afternoon light, Brayden’s knife glistened and shone dangerously as he readied for what I was sure was an attack.

“Brayden!” I yelled in an urgent but controlled voice. I could tell that if I couldn’t get him under control soon, the guards wouldn’t wait for an order to fire. He snapped back to reality with a sudden jerk and turned in response to argue, but before he could even mutter a word, I cut him off. “Go back to the warthog,” I said calmly, trying as hard as I could to be the superior officer and not flip on Brayden.
For a moment, Brayden’s eyes shone with a fury that burned with the intensity of a thousand suns. Still, before I could repeat myself, Brayden put his knife away and walked to the warthog, the few scientists and my own men parting the way as Brayden stalked back to the Albatross. Praying to recover this peace talk, I looked to Celestia to see her staring at Brayden. However, I was beyond surprised to find her stare filled with pity and sorrow, if I had to guess; putting that note aside in my mind, I coughed nervously and began to talk. “I am very sorry, ma’am, Brayden has been through a lot he’s… he’s.”

“Broken,” Celestia said sadly, finishing my sentence; I looked in surprise at her guess. “He’s been through so much. What happened to him?” she asked, sorrow and pity obvious in her eyes.
Contemplating my next words, I bitterly laughed at the irony that Brayden’s outburst might have just saved us. “Well, a better question might be what didn’t happen to him? Long story short, he has been in the war since day one, the fall of Harvest.” I said, my voice losing its edge as I mentioned Harvest. I could see I had Celestia’s full attention, and honestly, I contemplated telling more of our story but thought better of it as I considered the backlash from Del Rio. “He has seen more people be taken from this world than any man should.” I finished, crossing my arms and looking back to see him and Matt quietly arguing, a look of understanding on Matt’s face.

“I see,” Celestia spoke, her tone quiet and reserved and her head held a little bit lower.
Seeing an opportunity, I tried to negotiate. “Look, all we want is to study your world, that is all. We are not here to do any harm. You have my word.” I said pleadingly as I motioned around to the rest of the area; for a few moments, Celestia paused and thought on the matter, her eyes darting to and fro as she considered what to say.

Eventually, she sighed heavily and answered, “You can stay and do your research on one condition that you don’t disturb the balance of things.” She said with a weary smile and heavy eyes that gave off a very maternal and comforting feeling much different than the god-like aura from before.

I let out a breath I didn’t even know I had been holding as the guards surrounding us relaxed a bit as well. I looked around at the now much friendlier guards and then at my tired squad. Smiling from ear to ear, I responded with a simple, “Sounds like a deal to me.” As I spoke, I reached my hand out for a handshake. Celestia looked down at my hand and raised an eyebrow; I blushed in embarrassment and mirthlessly laughed. I could hear Lane behind me, chuckling silently. “Sorry, old earth tradition,” I said, trying to play it off.

Celestia laughed quietly and responded, “Not a problem, though, in the future, I’d appreciate a warning before you set up a base.” Celestia dryly said, a warm smile on her face as she nodded a little bit.
I laughed sincerely and, after a moment, responded, “Sure, next time, I’ll ask for the locals to take me to their leader.” I said, chuckling at the chance to get to use the age-old cliché. Celestia raised an eyebrow in response before shaking her head and turning to leave.

“Well, if that is all I’ll leave you to your compatriots, it looks like you have some unpacking to do.” Said Celestia as she spread her wings and, after a moment, leaped into the air and began to fly towards the far horizon, her personal honor guards also taking flight and following her off into the horizon.
I stood in the now empty field in front of the Albatross for a few moments longer, trying to reign in my heartbeat before finally succumbing to gravity and falling back onto my butt and leaning back to enjoy the summer sun.
After a few moments, I heard a figure approaching on my left and sigh, “Well, another day, another disaster avoided, and even a first contact situation saved… I wonder how tomorrow will be at this rate.” Spoke Lane dryly as he sat down next to me and scratched at his black stubble disinterestedly.

I laughed mirthlessly, having no other reason to laugh other than just to laugh. “Yeah, I wonder if this how it felt at harvest…” I said in a tired and weary voice. We sat there in the field for a while before Lane sighed heavily.

“You know we have to unpack the automated builders and set them up before sundown for the scientists, right?” Asked Lane rhetorically. I blanched and facepalmed as the crushing properties of reality caught up to me.

“Lane, why’d you have to go and kill my joy there?” I asked as I stood and stretched in the early evening light. As I began to walk back to the Albatross and the rest of my staff, I could hear Lane chuckling in the background tauntingly.
Rolling my eyes, I marched up to the pilot who was ordering Matt, Blake, and Wolffe around the albatross, having them carry the large cases and push the large auto-builders out into the field. I passed more than a few scientists gossiping on the way to the pilot and got a good look at him. At about 5’8” with a lithe but muscled build and his helmet still on, he looked like the model marine.

“Papa!”Ass I got close, I yelled out. He turned to look over his shoulder and nonchalantly waved at me. “Give me a minute. Hey Cline, please at least try not to break the important stuff there. This gear isn’t like your first date. Use some finesse.” Growled Papa as Matt lumbered out of the Albatross, exciting a round of laughter and snickers from Wolffe and Blake.
I bit my tongue as I struggled not to laugh at Matt as he carried what looked to be an entire Chemistry lab the size of a warthog out of the Albatross and place it next to its fellows. Leaning over, trying to catch his breath, Matt gave a one-finger salute as his response to our now rapturous laughter.

“I always wondered how we’d do as movers. Maybe I should start renting these guys out for a little extra revenue for the squad.” I manage to choke out as I tried to suppress my laughter.

“Yeah, well, you’d lose a lot of money on damages. You boys have no finesse.” Said a smooth woman’s voice from behind me. Whipping around, I made a shocking discovery.

“First Lieutenant Sasha Hawkins.” As I stared, I had to fight off the urge for my jaw to drop. Standing in front of me was a perky and snarky brunette, hair brushed over to form a wave over her left temple and tied up in back for a small ponytail. Her amber eyes peeked up in interest as I continued to stare; luckily, Matt managed to save me.

Moving with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible with his supposed injuries, Matt was in front of me, “Hey, kiss me if I’m wrong, but dinosaurs still exist, right?” Matt said in one of his corniest pickup lines I’d ever heard in our long friendship. For a moment, her mouth hung open before she burst into triumphant laughter, and Matt’s shoulders sagged in confusion. Briefly, I had a moment of déjà vu as I could Blake and Wolffe betting in the background.

“Ha-ha-ha, then hoo boy, had I been from any other colony than Saurus VI, you might have gotten a slap, but on my planet, there ARE dinosaurs, but nice try Casanova.” Said Sasha as she tried to suppress her laughter. For a moment, Matt looked puzzled before her statement took full effect, and he laughed Mirthlessly and scratched the back of his head bashfully.

“Well fuck, that sure as shit backfired like a homemade IED.” Said Matt, a hint of bitterness in his tone as he lifted his grey EOD helmet and placed it on his head. “Well, I’ll get back to moving stuff around. Welcome to Equestria LT.” With that, Matt briskly marched off towards the containers.

“Poor guy, the one woman that wouldn’t have actually worked on… Oh well, I need to get back into orbit,” said Sasha as she replaced her helmet, her deep voice returning through the voice filters, “the Infinity’s meters still ticking.” As Sasha began to walk into her now empty Albatross, I cocked my eyebrow in curiosity and looked to the now falling sun. If I had to guess, it had to be passed four on this planet.

Following her up to the small cockpit at the front, I could hear the systems beeping and warming up as she went through pre-flight checks and tried the radio. “UNSC Infinity, this is Papa-485, do you read? Infinity, do you copy?” Asked Sasha over the comms, her only response being static. Sighing and leaning back, she muttered under her breath with a hint of bitterness, “Damn horses must have hit my comms array.”

As I walked up behind her, I had to think of how to put this, our base was only equipped with bedding for 40 people, and even though I’m sure we have a vehicle maintenance bay with the facility, it would still be interesting. “Lieutenant,” I said as I came up behind her, she quickly turned behind her and asked me confusedly, “Captain? I’m about to leave, so why are you on my bird?”

Scratching my head with a sheepish look, I asked her the question that would complicate things, “I’m gonna guess Del Rio left out the fact that the Infinity was making a slipspace jump at 3 o’clock with you or not?” As I said this, I could practically see her amber eyes widen behind her visor and hear her jaw drop in disbelief.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She asked loudly as she stood up and grabbed her helmet, fury laced with disbelief in her voice. Quickly turning around, she pulled up the display on her nav computer, and sure enough, the time was 4:13. Yelling in a fury, she turned around and kicked her chair,

As she continued to vent for a few minutes, I stood off to the side quietly. I could tell she was speaking Russian but could only translate a few words, but those few words were rather energy-filled, and I could tell she was pissed. Eventually, she quit her punching and threw her helmet blindly in my direction before slumping to the floor. ”Sorry,” She said quietly as I caught her helmet and gave it back to her. “Just can’t believe that ass would leave me here. What was so bad about this damn place that he’d give me an untold time limit and leave me without me?” She asked while throwing her hands in the air in frustration.”

Laughing bitterly, I stood and began to walk away, “That my dear Lieutenant would be our merry band of misfits. I’ll have the boys arrange sleeping quarters to be built somewhere along with hygiene facilities.” I said as I walked off. I could hear her quietly grunt in acknowledgment and walked back outside to find an astounding sight in the evening sun.

“Twilight, what are you-?” I began to ask before I noticed Pinkie Pie and the rather large cart of food next to them as they looked around at the scientist and my men. “Oh, right, the food,” I said, slightly dumbstruck. In all the rush of today, I forgot that yesterday I’d asked for some snacks. Reaching up, I keyed the comms button on my head and keyed Gunny and Blake, “Gunny, Blake. I need you two to escort some exceptional guests up to the base and deliver some food to the pantry. They bring sweet gifts, so play nice.” I said as I walked up to Twilight, trying her best to keep Pinkie Pie from bouncing into too much stuff.

“Michael, what is this place?” Asked Twilight, awe evident in her violet eyes as she stared at one of the science base sections constructing itself in the valley beneath our base. I smiled at her awe and motioned around me.

“Well, this lovely little complex is Firebase Victor,” I said, no small amount of pride in my voice.

“Wow, I’ve… I’ve never seen anything like it.” Said Twilight as she stared at one of the scientists calibrating another auto-assembler to move down into the valley. Even Pinkie Pie stopped for a moment as sparks shot from two modules welding together to form an atrium.

“Yeah, it’s definitely something…” I said I watched some of the modules beginning to form into what actually looked like a science facility. Looking over to see Gunny and Blake coming up the hill, I decided to get to the point. “So,” I said as I looked over to the cart the size of a warthog filled with food. “Unless you guys are having a picnic this far away from the town, I assume this is the food I asked from… I got to say, I was expecting some treats, not a banquet for a castle…” I said as I stared at the cart, my mouth watering at the memory of the food.

“R-right.” Said Twilight shaking her head and focusing, “We figured we’d bake a lot for you guys to store but, it looks like you got more people than we thought.” Said Twilight as she looked around at the mob of scientists.

“Whelp looks like I got more baking to do!” Said Pinkie Pie with a smile on her face as she looked at the enormous workload; I had to admit I admired her tenacity for work.

I was quick to assuage Twilight’s fear as I chuckled, “Nah, don’t worry, the scientist and my guys will make this wagon last a while, believe you me.” I said as Blake and Gunny came up on my flank. “Ah, here are you’re escorted to the pantry. Captains Blake Hubbard and Ike Sims. We just call him Gunny, though. However, before either of my friends could speer, Pinkie Pie was up bouncing in front of me and unleashing a barrage of questions upon Blake.

“OH, BOY! Where are you guys from? Why are you wearing that armor? What’s the UNSC? How do you guys like it here?” Asked Pinkie Pie as she jumped up in his face. As she did this, Blake took off his crimson Soldier helmet, and smiling ear to ear, answered her in rapid succession.

“That would be Reach, cause it’s awesome, my bosses, and it’s very nice here, in that order.” Responded Blake with a smile. Gunny just shook his head and removed his yellow Air assault helmet.

“If you'll follow me please, preferably before Blake begins his description of the Spartan corp.” Said Gunny as he grabbed the cart and began to march towards the base with food in tow and Blake and Pinkie animatedly talking as they ascended the hill.

Laughing quietly, Twilight and I shared a few partings. “Well, hopefully, I’ll see you around.” Said Twilight as she began to catch up with the others. Chuckling, I waved and walked over to Matt, who was currently directing the scientists and assigning living quarters.

“Matt, you got everything covered here?” I asked as he keyed a holo-pad and did inventory. “Yeah, I got this cove- Hey doc, try not to get in the way of the machines. They will crush you if you get in the way.” As a scientist, Growled Matt finished his readings and dashed out of the way of the assembler. Nodding my head in confirmation, I sighed and decided that I’d eventually need to confront Brayden and now was probably the best time.

“Mike,” Yelled Matt as I began to walk away back to base, I turned to see him take his helmet off and his grey helmet, and his eyes betrayed his worry. “Be careful man, Brayden’s gone through a lot of shit in his years, and it’s left him a little bit more than broken.” Matt ran a hand through his hand, sighed as he put his helmet hand on his hip, and shrugged. “I guess what I’m trying to say is be understanding, please.” Said Matt as he replaced his helmet and went back to work.

“Yeah… I know… here goes.” I said as I walked up the hill into the base. Passing the halls, I registered that the scientists were moving in well and accommodating very well. Moving through the Atrium and the gym and into the range, I come across Brayden unloading a magnum clip into the target at the end of the range.

Sighing in frustration, I thought about how best to approach this; ‘Brayden, we need to talk’ no, that was way too stuffy, ‘Hey man, what’s going on?’ Nah, that’ll get my ass shot full of paint or lead. I knew I should have sent Matt to do this…’ I scrunched my brows in concentration and almost missed Brayden talking.

“There a problem there, Captain?” Asked Brayden as he unloaded his magazine and inserted another one, his voice cold and calculating, usually only a tine reserved for either Del Rio or a diplomat that needed to be pleased, neither of which was a good category to be in.

“Brayden, What the fuck happened out there?” I asked briskly. I figured the direct approach was the best, “You damned near got us killed, cause you lost your shit there man, Never in the five years we’ve worked together have I seen you lose it that bad, so what’s happening?” I questioned as Brayden fired off another clip into the head of a brute shaped target at the end of the range.

For several moments Brayden just stood there, his pistol smoking in his hand and his body white and tensed as if expecting the brute target to come to life and rush us. Suddenly the silence was broken by the clattering of his spent ammo clip clattering to the floor and his pistol being placed gently on the table in front of him.

“MacArthur once said that the soldier, above all else, prays for peace… for he must carry the wounds of war the longest… I fully agree with him except for one thing.” It was then that Brayden looked me in the face, and I could see his mud. Brown eyes betrayed a fear that I was not used to seeing in my bombastic, upfront friend. For once, I actually could see the age in his eyes. The 25 years of war had made him an old veteran that was just so tired.
“You gents have only been fighting for something like a decade, a good time, and at that point, you still remember the peace and pray for it, but add another five or so years and peace only becomes a vague memory, a scent or sound that reminds you that war and fighting aren’t all there is to life… but by 20 years of war, peace is just another word, just another memory that we still lust for but can no longer achieve.”

By now, I could see slight tears forming in his eyes and a slight shaking in his left hand that would normally hold his weapon. Once again, I couldn’t shake how utterly old he looked, Brayden was only about 45, and a good decade of that had been in cryo transit. Still, here pouring his heart out and trying his damnedest not to lose his grip, he looked decades older.
“That Michael is what happened out there, I remembered Harvest, and I couldn’t remember the last time I knew peace, so yeah, I assumed they would try us. I just lost it when she mentioned being detained cause, to my mind, that meant interrogated,” At this point, he snorted and walked away from the bench and through the door, but as he reached the frame, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder and spoke, “Guess this old soldier has no place left in this world.”
With that, he was out the door and into the atrium before I could even utter a word. Sliding down the wall, I sighed, I knew this would be a hell of a talk, but still, that was heavy… I almost felt pity for Brayden but knew he wouldn’t want it, so I just sat there on the plate metal and looked up at the green and grey colored walls and just thought about what Brayden had said and what demons we all faced on our own.

Still, Brayden’s words echoed through my skull, and I found myself asking more than a few questions; do we, soldiers, still belong anymore? Is there really such a thing as peace anymore? For Christ’s sake, who am I to judge with the loss issues I have? Sighing and running a hand through my hair, I stood and headed for the command room. I had a feeling I’d be reading through a lot of reports tonight.

Author's Note

Sorry for it being late, my friend and I had a crazy problem with writer's block and with said read and enjoy.