Prologue: Recon or Rescue
This day is a day that will be remembered for the rest of time. It will be remembered for the questions raised and answered; for the fears new and old; for the lives saved and lost. At its beginning this day saw the joyous news that's our world was whole after 500 years; and by its end those 500 years were undone, not by our hands but by the hands of others!
We now know we are not alone in the galaxy. They have brought violence back to our world and shattered the peace our ancestors built. They have ignited a fire in our souls and set our feet upon the path we feared to tread, not because it was difficult to walk but because we walked it too easily. This day sees humanity marching once more to war!
I call upon every last human who has survived this day; sharpen your blades, pick up your rifles, and turning your minds to the art of killing! We do not fight over religion, ideology, ethnicity or nationality; we fight for our very survival! I ask you now to stand with me, against the threat that looms over us all! Fight! Fight for your home world, for the fallen, for those that stand beside you, for those you love!
Hear me now, all those who stand against humanity; we are the children of War! And our fury has been AWOKEN! FEAR US, for we wield the very STARS to fight our enemies! PRAY that when we find you, your end is quick! We are bloodied and we are reeling but WE ARE NOT DEFEATED! WE ARE STILL HERE, WE ARE STILL STANDING AND WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!!!
With a sigh and a soft click, the data pad is set down upon the desk. "You called me in here just to proofread your attempt at xeno-fiction?" A lavender mare asks, rubbing her temple with a forehoof. "You know I have a mission to get ready for, right?"
"Lieut. Cmdr. Sparkle, this is not my or anyone else's attempts at xeno-fiction, this is a transmission received not 15 min. ago, over large section of the lower EM band. That's a direct transcription of the transmission, with no translation on our end as far as we can tell."
"So, what you're saying is they spoke Alliance Common?”
"No," the stallion sitting behind the desk says. "As you know I am a thestral or 'bat pony' and was raised in one of the enclaves, therefore my first language is Thestral. I was on the bridge when the transmission was picked up, along with the ship's chief science officer who is a crystal spider. When the transmission was played every member of the crew on the bridge heard it in their native tongue."
"Are you saying that there was magic in the transmission?"
"Science says that the transmission definitely had magic laced within it, probably at the origin point. The only system close to us is two light-years away."
"The Gryphon archaeology site."
"Most likely. This changes your mission; added to your objectives is finding out if the natives are still alive. If they are trying make contact with them, but be cautious they may be xenophobic. On top of that's it is likely that Fleet Command will recall the civilians and the Marines attached to them. In other words you are probably going in solo."
"Is that all Capt. Night?"
"That is all Lieut. Cmdr. Sparkle."
"Twilight, what did Capt. Night want?"
"I have good news, bad news, and ugly news, so everyone listen up. First some good news, there may be at least one sapient species on the planet were heading to. The bad news is that means we are facing a Gryphon invasion force. And the ugly news is that they might shoot us on sight out of sheer principle. Now some more good news, the mission threat level has been increased which means we get some bigger toys to play with. Now more bad news, were most likely been be doing this solo. And finally more ugly news, the ship is most likely to leave the system after launching us at the planet.
"All right, we will be starting with the general load out changes. We will be using heavy recon armor and bags of greater holding; we will also be carrying a double load of ammo. Now on to the personal load out changes; AJ, you can take either two rotary guns or one rotary cannon, just remember you only get four bags of ammo."
"Okay, sugarcube."
"Spike…"
"I know, take an escape portal."
"And a tier three sensor pack."
"All right."
"Pinkie, you have access to the black vault, just don't bring any vehicles this time."
"Okey-dokey-loki."
"Rainbow Dash, your loud three containers of RE gel."
"Awesome!"
"Rarity, you can take your Mark four blast armor." The aforementioned mare squealed in ecstasy and then fell over twitching slightly. "Fluttershy, you mind giving her a mild sedative, I don't want her to have another heart attack."
"Um… okay."
"Also Fluttershy, you can bring along the Angel Bot."
"Oh, thank you thank you thank you."
"All right everyone, suit up and prepare for launch."
[c]2 hours later[/c]
Attention all crew, this is the Capt. speaking. Fleet Command has just informed me that they are recalling the archaeology team and the Marines assigned to guard them. They also informed me that they want Harmony team to scout the planet. Seeing that the scrubbed archaeology mission was classified top secret, I am at liberty to disclose the reason for these changes; there is a high chance that there is a hostile native sapient species on the planet.
Harmony team prepare for launch, we are jumping 10. Good luck and Luna guide you.
"You heard the Capt., everyone in your pods. Get comfortable were going to be them for a while." With the course of "Yes ma'am" seven individuals sealed themselves within their drop-pods.
A short time later a voice came over the drop-pods’ intercom, "all systems are green, you're cleared for launch, engaging stasis field. Good luck Harmony team and may Celestial watch over you."
