Foreword: sorry I haven't updated this story lately, but I've been working on my other stories. I promise this Remake will be finished very soon though.
Chapter Ten
Contingency
February 25th, 2531
Equestrian star system, Cygnus arm
Outskirts of Everfree Forest, 120 feet from a Covenant base
Spartan Maxwell-021
Mission: rescue three fillies from a Covenant base.
2:00AM
"The attack has begun, Spartan. I advise you move in and retrieve the fillies" Commander Preston said over the radio to the Spartan leader, his team hidden in the foliage outside the Covenant base.
"Understood, Sir" Maxwell replied, switching the radio off and shouldering his XBR55*, a prototype weapons ONI was field-testing. Data gathered from field exercises would be used to improve the final production model.
"Spartans, let's go."
The mission was simple; a squad of Longswords and a platoon of Marines would mount a direct and obvious assault on the Covenant base to distract the enemy while the Spartan team would infiltrate from the rear to locate the fillies.
The Spartans quickly reached the back and found a Jackal on patrol there, the vaguely avian alien completely clueless to the presence of the Spartans.
A knife thrown into his throat made sure the Jackal would be of no problem to the Spartans.
The team snuck up to where the Jackal had been standing and Maxwell-021 retrieved his knife, returning it to its sheath before he checked his motion sensor, making sure the area was clear before going over the plan with his team.
"Yellow Team, communications check" Maxwell said over the radio, receiving three blue lights on his HUD in acknowledgement; Yellow Team could hear him loud and clear.
"OK, we use this channel for emergency communications only. Once we're inside that base, hand signals only. Understood?"
Three blue lights flashed.
"Kelly, you're on explosives. Albert and Kenneth, you're on overwatch. I'll provide fire support if necessary, otherwise I'll be at the front looking for the fillies" Maxwell explained, waiting for Kelly to slip into the vent leading into the base and give them the all-clear sign.
After seven seconds Kelly's light flashed yellow.
Enemy contact had been met upon entry and dealt with, but there might be more.
Maxwell acknowledged this and he and the other two Spartans entered the base through the same vent and met up with Kelly.
Kelly-087, originally a member of Blue Team alongside John-117, had been requisitioned by Commander Preston alongside Maxwell-021, Albert-096, and Kenneth-004 for their original mission to find a friendly alien species. Kelly was the fastest Spartan alive; no one could touch her if she didn't want them to, while Albert and Kenneth were average Spartan-IIs.
The Spartan team quickly proceeded down the hall and entered the holding areas, perusing the cells for any sign of the three fillies; most of the cells were empty save for a few pony corpses.
Halfway down the hall Maxwell flashed his light three times and the team joined him, seeing three fillies huddled together in a cell, shaking with fear as they stared at the Spartans.
Maxwell nodded to Kenneth and he jogged down the rest of the hall to the holographic display, one that could be considered the master switch for all the cells, and flicked the barriers off.
Maxwell stepped into the cell and the fillies bunched closer together, their shaking intensifying as the Spartan approached; they seemed to recognize the Spartans as humans but they didn't look too sure.
Maxwell took his helmet off and crouched in front of them, keeping the armor piece close by. "You alright? We're here to rescue you."
The fillies didn't stop shaking but still lunged forward and hugged the Spartan's leg. The size difference was incredible; it wasn't surprising that they were afraid of the Spartans.
Maxwell put his helmet back on and looked over and saw a fresh pool of blood and guts on the far side of the cell, and turned his external speakers off.
"Commander, is there any news of a fourth filly missing from the refugee center?" the Spartan leader inquired.
There was silence for several seconds before Commander Preston came on, saying "seems like it, Spartan; the boys back at Canterlot just got word that one mare's daughter, named Twist, went missing around the same time the three other fillies did."
Maxwell frowned and looked down at the blood pool. "Doesn't look like Twist made it, Sir. I'll deliver the news to the family when we get back to Canterlot" Spartan-021 stated.
"Understood, Spartan. We're nearing the Marathon's wreckage, and will be back in Canterlot within an hour" Preston responded.
"Copy that, Sir."
"Kelly, blow this wall; we're getting out of here" Maxwell ordered.
While the female Spartan got to work Maxwell looked down at the three fillies who were still clinging tightly to his leg; one of them looked up at the Spartan and asked "...h-how did ya'll find us?" in a southern drawl.
"If you're going to draw out a 'Top Scret' plan in crayon, you better put it where it won't be easily found."
February 25th, 2531
Equestrian star system, Cygnus arm
Everfree Forest
Commander Michael Preston
Mission: retrieve Everlasting Fall from the UNSC Marathon
2:21AM
"Doesn't look like Twist made it, Sir. I'll deliver the news to the family when we get back to Canterlot."
"Understood Spartan. We're nearing the Marathon's wreckage, and will be back in Canterlot within an hour" Preston responded.
"Copy that, Sir."
Commander Preston switched the radio off as he and MCT-7 pushed their way through the dense foliage of the forest, struggling to just get through without tripping over a hidden tree root or rock.
"Come on, the Marathon is close" Preston said, urging the Marines to keep moving.
While Everlasting Fall will be a useful companion for the defense the Commander had to remember to tell the AI to leave behind some subroutines for the contingency plan he has in mind.
The group emerged from the foliage and came across the Marathon resting across a large fog-filled chasm, acting like a massive bridge.
"Ship seems pretty intact, disregarding the fact she got blasted and then crashed in a supernatural forest" Private Jenkins remarked; the team entered the ship through an airlock on the side and immediately set out for the bridge.
"Everlasting Fall, come in" Preston said over the radio, earning no response. "Looks like comms are down, can't say what's jamming them."
Along the way to the bridge the naval personnel began to hear faint noises throughout the ship, leaving them wondering what was causing them. The Commander just chalked them up to being caused by the repair drones.
Suddenly there was a bang from somewhere near the top of the ship, loud enough to echo through the entire vessel. It was hard, given the acoustics, to pinpoint exactly where it had come from.
"Let's keep moving" Preston stated, continuing on his way with the Marines in tow.
The squad soon reached the bridge and entered, taking a look around. The bridge was largely unaffected by the crash due to it being on top of the ship.
Preston approached the command console and pressed a few keys, turning it back on and allowing Fall to power to pack up.
"Commander Preston, welcome back to the Marathon" Fall declared as his avatar appeared on the plinth next to the console.
"Fall, I need you to separate a few subroutines; just enough to pilot the ship and fire the weapons" the Commander declared.
"Yes, Commander. Would you like a status report on the ship and weapons?" EF asked.
"Yes, please."
"The ship is currently 63%** operational; one of the two MAC cannons are offline. All Archer missile pods are operational. All four Hyperion missiles are intact and ready to fire. The Shiva nuclear warheads are intact but the launcher is offline; it will take three weeks repairs to bring the launcher back on. 48% of the 70mm point-defense cannons have been destroyed" Fall explained.
Damn it. Well, the nukes would be dangerous to use Preston thought, grateful that the rest of the weapons were working. "Thank you, Fall."
"There's one other thing, Commander. Covenant forces have entered the ship, and a squad of Elites will breach the bridge in seven** seconds" EF exclaimed.
"What?!" the Commander yelled, taking cover with the Marines as the door to the bridge exploded, several Elites pouring in.
"Fire!" Preston ordered, opening fire with the Marines on the Covenant forces, quickly cutting them down. "Maybe next time you can give us a little more warning?"
"Of course, Commander" the AI replied.
"Now, we need a quick way back to Canterlot. Are there any dropships remaining?" Preston inquired.
"Yes, Commander. In fact, your custom dropship is still docked in launch bay 7**" Fall answered, the Commander's face contorting into a rare smile at the thought of his personnel dropship.
Can't wait to see her again.
"Well then, what are we standing around here for? Let's get going" Preston stated.
February 25th, 2531
Equestrian star system, Cygnus arm
Royal City of Canterlot
Commander Michael Preston of the UNSC Marathon
Mission: eliminate Covenant presence in Equestria
8:00AM
Commander Preston smiled proudly as he looked over his custom Pelican; he and MCT-7 had left the Marathon with few problems and had arrived in Canterlot just in time to see the parents of the three fillies that had been rescued from the Covenant base come out to greet them; the mothers of two and the father of the third were rubbing their right hooves.
The Commander heard from Maxwell-021 what could be described as a horror story of the three fillies receiving terrible spankings from their parents in addition to being grounded for a whole year.
The parents thanked the Spartans and the Commander for bringing their daughters home safely, however, and the Commander returned their thanks courteously.
He recommended that the three fillies be allowed to see each other regularly though, as well as the psychiatrist down in the refugee center; they were irreversibly mentally scarred and needed all the support they could get.
The parents had looked a little guilty for punishing their children after Preston told them that.
Bringing his mind back to the present the Commander sighed, admiring his Pelican one last time. The dropship was a personal project he had undertaken when he became a Commander almost a decade ago, when he was concerned with trivial things. The Pelican was an experimental D77H-TCI*** model and had been painted black. Additional armor and armaments had been attached as well.
A quad-mounting of 40mm cannons on the chin both wings had been fitted with oversized Anvil-II missile pods; the pods stretched all the way to the tips of the wings, bringing the count for each wing 18 and 36 total.
At the rear of the Pelican a Troop Deployment Pod had been attached the magnetic overhang, an attachment which essentially was an extension of the cabin and allowed more troops and cargo to be carried.
The Commander wiped a scuff off the nose and left the hangar that had been built for the vehicles, heading up the stairs back into Canterlot Tower. The duel between a contingent of Royal Guards and three Spartan-IIs was going to begin soon.
Preston entered the observation room that overlooked the sparring ring; the Spartans were early as usual and were just standing around, waiting for the Guards to enter.
"Do you think your guards will win?" Preston asked Princess Celestia, who was also waiting in the observation room.
"They're the best of the best; we have a rigorous training program for our guards that we put each and every one of them through. Only the best make it in. They will not fail" Celestia explained.
"We'll see about that" the Commander replied.
At that moment twenty Royal Guards entered the sparring ring, adorned in ornate battle armor. It was both ceremonial and battle-ready armor and reminded the Commander of the armor Elite's wore.
"Round one, begin!" Celestia barked, her voice stern and commanding. The observation room door opened and in stepped Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
All twenty Guards drew their battle spears and approached the weaponless Spartans; the Commander ordered that the Spartans battle with no weapons or armor, as having either of those tools would assuredly cause the deaths of the Guards, something neither the Princess nor Preston wanted.
The spears hovered in front of the guards, held by their magic. The Guards thrust their weapons forward and each of the three Spartans grabbed one.
Even without their armor Spartan-IIs were incredibly strong; a single Spartan-II could easily subdue and kill five humans single-handedly, and even the strongest Guard was no match for the Spartans. One of the Spartans exemplified this immense strength when he swung his captured spear down, smashing the handle of a Guard's spear in half, leaving the poor stallion defenseless.
Spartan-021 dodged a stab from a spear and grabbed the primitive weapon, lobbing it across the room where the head lodged into the armor plates of a Guard. The Guard that attempted to stab Maxwell rose up on his hind legs and tried to punch the Spartan; Maxwell dodged the blow and snapped his knee up, breaking the Guard's arm in half.
With the Guard still on his hinds Maxwell kicked him in his exposed barrel and sent him flying across the room.
The other guards were stunned by their comrade's quick defeat, too shocked to move as the Spartans subdued three more, bringing their total down to sixteen.
The Spartans quickly and easily snapped the arms of four more, forcing the rest to break up into three teams of four. Each team assigned themselves to one of the Spartans
Maxwell dodged attacks from four spears and grabbed one, swinging and slashing the other three in half. In response to this one of the guards attempted to blast the supersoldier with a magic spell, missing by a whole two feet as the Spartan flashed to the side and closed the distance between him and the guard. The Unicorn attempted to scramble away but was too slow; Spartan-021 grabbed him by the horn and whipped him into his companions.
The four guards recovered quickly and resumed their assault on Maxwell, who kneed one in the face and roundhouse kicked another, knocking them unconscious.
With only two remaining in that squad they tried to attack at the same time. Maxwell blocked both of their attacks with ease and dropped low, uppercutting one and grabbing the other by the throat.
The uppercut connected and immediately knocked the guard out, leaving just the one in the Spartan leader's other hand. Maxwell flung the stallion onto the floor and kicked him directly in the kidneys; there would be no permanent damage but the pain made the guard black out immediately.
Maxwell looked up and saw that his two teammates had dealt with the other guards easily.
Back up in the observation room Preston tacked on a point for the Spartans; he wanted to keep score.
Several rounds and many guards later the Spartans were winning 6 to 0, and Princess Celestia was pissed. She showed no outward signs but the Commander knew she was mad; you don't watch your best soldiers lose six times in a row and come away calm.
"Want to call it a day?" Preston asked the Princess.
"No! No. I want to up the challenge, actually. Withdraw those twenty guards and bring in the Captain. Also remove one of your Spartans and replace him with another" Celestia declared.
"Fine. Kenneth, you can go; tell Kelly she's needed now" the Commander instructed over the comm. The Spartan left without protest and Kelly entered quickly, also lacking her armor and weapons.
"Princess, you can't do this! You saw what they did to those other guards, can you imagine what they're gonna do to my brother?!" Twilight protested.
"The Captain of the Guard is her brother?" Commander Preston said.
"Yes. I understand your fears, young one, but he'll be OK. The Commander and I promise it" Celestia stated firmly, turning back to look out the window. She gave the necessary orders and soon the Captain of the Royal Guard entered.
"Captain Shining Armor, a brave and noble stallion. Your Spartans may have won against the regular guard, but Captain Armor is truly the best" Celestia explained.
The Spartans didn't look too concerned.
The Captain was larger than the average guard, but not by much. He was certainly more muscular, however, and being the brother of Twilight Sparkle probably knew more about magic than the average guard.
The Captain immediately lunged for the Spartans and they sidestepped, looking to end this as quickly as possible. Captain Armor was a bit smarter than the others and quickly came to a stop and rolled away when he saw the Spartans standing at his sides.
Shining Armor picked Kelly as his first target, rushing up to her and turning to buck; his legs struck nothing but air, and when he looked up the female Spartan was standing in front of him.
"How-" was all Shining could say before Kelly grabbed him and threw him across the room.
Twilight wasn't even watching anymore.
Shining recovered and hatched a plan as the Spartans approached, firing off a magical blast as a surprise attack.
The Spartans easily dodged and Shining rushed for Kelly again, keeping his eyes on her at all times.
In a flash she was gone, and Shining skidded to a halt, looking around the room for her. Kelly grabbed Captain Armor and threw him across the room once more.
Shining hadn't even seen Kelly dash behind him.
The Captain stood up again and was about to charge forward when he saw Maxwell in his peripheral vision; before he could react the Spartan leader stood him up on his hinds and forced his head back, kneeing the Captain in the back of the head and knocking him out instantly.
Shining Armor dropped to the floor like a bag of rocks.
"That's it, fight's over! Final score is Spartans: 7. Royal Guard: 0" Preston exclaimed triumphantly, watching as the medics dragged Shining Armor out and the Spartans headed off to get their armor refitted.
"I told you."
The group in the observation room left and Twilight immediately ran off to the infirmary to check on her brother. The Commander was about to comfort Celestia in her defeat when Princess Luna came running down the hall, slamming her hooves down to brake. She had been running so fast that the sudden braking threw sparks off of her ornate shoes.
"Luna? What is it?" Celestia asked.
The Princess of the Night took a moment to catch her breath before speaking, and even then her words were interspersed with panting. "The Covenant...invaded...Appleloosa!"
Preston and Celestia looked at each other. "Damn, I'll round up our forces and head out there immediately. Twilight and her friends should stay here" Commander Preston stated.
"No way! Ma cousin Braeburn lives in Appleloosa! Ah need to see if he's OK!" Applejack protested.
"We still need to find Dashie, too! What if she's in Appleloosa?" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Fine; Applejack, Pinkie, you're with me. The rest of you stay here" Preston ordered, leading the two ponies down to the hangar as he gave out the order for all Marine ground forces to mobilize.
"Get aboard" the Commander said as they approached his custom Pelican; a technician carefully drove a Warthog into the cargo bay. The Warthog was a new variant designated M12R **** and was outfitted with the M79 Multiple-Launch Rocket System. It was first developed and tested on planet Reach.
In addition to the Warthog Commander Preston also ordered MCT-7 to accompany him in the custom Pelican as it took off and joined the dozens of other Pelicans, all of them rocketing across the Equestrian sky to Appleloosa.
*This is the prototype of the BR55, first seen in the novel Halo: Contact Harvest
**These are all seven references
***This is the Pelican variant first seen in Halo 3
****This is the Rocket 'Hog first seen in Halo: Reach
Legal note: Commander Michael Preston, Spartan Maxwell-021, Everlasting Fall, and all related characters belong to me. Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343i.