Chapter Twelve
(Equestria, Alpha POV)
Grizzly was sitting against a tree, watching the chaotic village as soldiers fought each other through his binoculars. As he watched, he took notes on everything he observed. One side was wearing the outdated Arrowhead gear, ACUs and the armor donated by the UNSC. The troopers were cornered by unknown soldiers wearing black armor, wearing face masks that were very similar to the 173rd design.
"You see those guys in black?" Asked Echo as he watched from his cover in the tall grass.
"Yeah," Grizzly retorted. "I see those troopers are guarding a small building off to the left." He paused and looked closer at the building. "I can see some movement near the windows. Looks like humans and something else. Not sure what it is though, too far out to see." Grizzly stuffed his binoculars in his backpack and slowly got up, staying crouched. He looked at Alpha and motioned them to move low and quiet in the grass. Ty moved to Echo and patted his back before low crawling into the grass. Echo followed shortly after gaining some distance from him.
The fighting stopped as Alpha crawled through the grass. Grizzly slowed his motion down a bit, "Slow down." He whispered to the others. As he moved, he could still hear rustling in the grass. "Is that Goliath?" Grizzly asked quietly. He heard a 'hmph' near him. He rolled his eyes. "If you don't slow down they'll see the grass moving and shoot us." Unfortunately, for them, the spikes from Goliath's back was sticking out.
"The fuck is that over there?!" Grizzly heard a voice say. Fuck. He thought. Grizzly moved some grass out of the way where Goliath was crawling and frowned at her. She responded with a low groan. "Come out of there! We can see you!" Grizzly sighed, Goliath responded with a whine, similar to a dog's whine. Grizzly stuck his hand out and waved. "Friendlies!" He said. "Get up." Alpha stood up from the grass and slowly made their way to the troopers. "Stop! Identify yourselves!" Said one of the troopers with his weapon raised.
"Grizzly, Alpha squad. Arrowhead special forces." The trooper kept his weapon raised. "Just let me shoot them already." Echo whispered. "Donnie, if they were with Raze their eyes would be glowing." Said another trooper. The first trooper lowered his weapon. "Sorry, man. Can't be too sure these days." Grizzly walked to the trooper, Alpha soon followed. The trooper extended his hand to Grizzly, he took it and shook his hand. "Corporal Baletto, Delta company. You guys here to help?" "Maybe, first I need to speak to your CO." "Sure thing, he's over by the-" The trooper was interrupted as a bullet went through his friend's head. "Shit! They're back! Man the perimeter!" The Corporal said as he ran to a nearby barricade for cover.
"Alpha! Defensive posture! Go!" Grizzly commanded. Echo set up his sniper rifle after moving into an abandoned house. He looked through his scope, watching a soldier give commands to his nearby comrades. Echo pulled the trigger, the bullet flew out of the barrel, piercing thru the soldier's helmet and leaving a fist-sized exit wound and stopping after it hit another soldier in the chest. "Oh look at that, you done got fucked up." He whispered. Grizzly took out his targets from a concealed position near the back of the perimeter. One soldier after another would watch his friend fall before being taken out himself. His eyes began to glow yellow with hatred as one soldier would go down only to be replaced by five others. "Ugh! Why the fuck do you guys even try?!" He shouted as his faced slowly began to burn away. Hawk Eye watched from her position as she took out her targets. She saw what looked like a commanding officer. She focused on the officer, and began to read his mind. "Gotta call in some more back up in a sec. These guys won't let up." She heard his thoughts say. "Echo," She called through the radio. "There's a guy out there, very back, looks like an officer. Take him out, he's about to call in reinforcements." "Got it." He replied. She watched as the round flew into the officer's head, causing it to explode into bits and pieces with blood spurting onto his armor. His body fell to the floor, alarming the other soldiers near him. "Eww." Hawk Eye said. "Dat shot doe." Grizzly said over the radio. "Fallback! Fallback to the-" Echo shot the scared soldier in the throat, forcing the others to run in fear.
"They're falling back! Hold your fire!" Grizzly shouted in his demon voice. Echo walked out of the house he was in, kissing and hugging his rifle. "Oh. Oh lordy. You're my new baby." He said to his rifle. "I love this girl! Reminds me of the Saber." Baletto walked up to Alpha. "You guys saved our asses. Glad you showed up when you-Ah!" The trooper exclaimed as he saw Grizzly walking towards him. He raised his rifle at Grizzly. "I knew I couldn't trust you fuckers!" Grizzly stopped. "Son, I'm gonna tell you this once. That's a really bad idea. Stow your weapon." He said as his face and eyes were going back to normal. The trooper's hands were shaking as he pointed his rifle at Grizzly's head. "Baletto!" Boomed Captain Lester's voice as he was walking to Alpha. "Stow your fucking weapon!" Baletto lowered his rifle and straightened himself. "Even if Grizzly was an enemy shooting him in the head would just piss him off." Lester turned to face Grizzly. "Sorry about that, sir. Captain Lester, Equestrian Security Detail. I've heard a lot about you and you're squad. Glad to have you guys here, Captain." Grizzly nodded then asked, "Captain, can you tell me just what in the hell is going on?" "Certainly, sir. I'll lead you to the command building and we can discuss this." Grizzly nodded before turning to Alpha. "Echo, Hawk Eye, you're with me. The rest of you, bunker down and help these guys out anyway you can."
(Canterlot Castle, Raze POV)
Raze rested his hands on the edges of the holographic mapping table, looking at towns that were now being secured by his men. All of the towns were colored, blue for secured by his men and yellow meaning in progress. He took his helmet off and rubbed his eyes. Exhausted, wishing there were more options instead of killing the men that he once served with. One of his men walked into the room and made his way to the table. He looked at the map for a second before walking to the terminal for the table and began pushing buttons for a town near the edge of the map. He sighed then typed in a command, turning the town red on the table, making a small beep noise as it was set. Raze heard the beep and looked at the town as the soldier began walking away. "Sergeant?" He stopped and turned around. "Yes, sir?" "Why is town red?" The Sergeant walked back to the table. "The town was heavily fortified, and only three of our guys made it back. But..." The Sergeant paused for a moment. "Now there's only two of them, the third one died as soon as they made it to a safe zone." Raze looked at the Sergeant. "Heavily fortified?" He asked. "Yes, sir." "So what you're saying is that our recon and Banshee strike, which was only five minutes before the attack, was no good?" The Sergeant nodded. "Sergeant, I don't buy that. These guys were in no shape to withstand an attack from-" Raze was interrupted as another one of his men ran into the room. "Sir! You need to see this!" He said, holding a holographic tablet in his hand. "What is it, soldier?" "Helmet cam footage from one of the surviving men caught this before they retreated." Raze grabbed the tablet and looked at the screen and played the video. No audio but the video showed everything that happened during the firefight. Something caught Raze's attention. He stopped the video and played it back. "What the..." He paused the video and zoomed in on an open window from one of the houses near the back of the firefight. He looked closely and saw Echo as he was firing his sniper rifle, causing the muzzle flash to show his face. Raze tosses the tablet back to the soldier before saying, "Mobilize 3rd platoon! Tell 'em to get to Sector Two Lima ASAP! Have the Banshee crew standby for my order to fire!" "Yes, sir!" The soldier ran out of the door, leaving the castle. Raze brought up the town in red and expanded the town and the area around it.
What are you doing here, Echo? Raze thought. His Lieutenants walked up to the table. Raze looked at them and said, "This is how it's gonna go down, gentlemen. We're facing up against an enemy that will ruin our operations. So listen closely..."
(Alpha POV)
Captain Lester and the three members of Alpha were gathered around a map inside of an old house. The Captain pointed to towns with red circles around them, saying that they were taken over by Raze's forces.
"The town closest to us is called Town Five." He began. "We started building it after we came here. But it wasn't for the Ponies." He looked at Grizzly. "What was it built for?" Grizzly asked as he removed his helmet and sunglasses. "A few years ago, Raze had his scientists and engineers create a weapon here," He pointed to the center of the town. "In the middle of Town Five is a massive artillery gun called the Banshee." He placed a picture of the artillery gun next to the town on the map.
Echo looked up at Captain Lester, "I don't like the sound of that..." He said. Lester looked at Echo. "You shouldn't. The name came with it cause of the sound it makes when it fires." "How much damage can this thing inflict?" Grizzly asked, interested in the Banshee. "You see all of the fire around here?" Hawk Eye butted in, "Yeah, half of the town was on fire." "Well, that's from one round..."
Grizzly stood up straight. "One round did that?" He said as he was pointing out of the window nearby. "Yes." He looked at Alpha who were now looking in each other in disbelief. "The Banshee fires a concentrated ball of superheated blue plasma the size of a goddamn Prius. Anything caught in its radius will either burst into flames or..." He paused remembering some of his men being killed from the round. Their screams as they slowly melted from the intense heat. "Or worse..." He finished. "From what I've heard, it can only fire once every few hours because one round makes the barrel of the gun turn red hot." "How far is Town Five?" Asked Grizzly. "Three kilometers." A voice from the back of the house added. A pony walked out from the shadows of the house and into the light. "And you'll never make it on foot."
"Grizzly, this is Akainumo." Lester said. "He's been helping with the resistance since day one by helping the civilian population with food and water shortages. Akainumo, this is-" Akainumo interrupted Lester. "I know him. He's the reason we're in this mess. Why so eager to come back Grizzly? To finish what you started? What do you think Pinkie?" Pinkie Pie walked out of the shadows and glared at Grizzly. "I think he is here to finish us off." Grizzly took a knee to be eye level with Akainumo. "No." Grizzly said holding back his anger. "I'm here to get rid of Raze. I'm here to help this time, nothing more." Akainumo looked at him for a moment. "Why should we believe you? The human who brought death and destruction to our world now wants to help? How can we trust a being like you?" Grizzly could hear Akainumo's anger in his voice. "What made you want to help us, Grizzly? Tell us, please. What reason could you possibly have to want to help us?" Grizzly stood up and began walking to the door. "Come with me. I'll show you." "Show me what?" Grizzly stopped. "I'll show you why I want to help your people and why you should trust me..." He opened the door and went outside. Akainumo sighed and followed him along with Pinkie Pie following him.
"Well, Grizzly? I don't see a reason why-" Grizzly whistled loudly before shouting: "Goliath!" Akainumo was confused. "Goliath? What could you possibly be..." Akainumo felt the ground begin to rumble. Lester, Echo, and Hawk Eye ran outside to see what was going on, along with a few ponies. "You wanna know my reason Akainumo? Here it is." The rumbling turned into thunder, causing Akainumo and Pinkie Pie to barely be able to stand. From where he was standing, Akainumo could see a large silhouette in the tall grass, running towards him. Grizzly stood in front of Akainumo and faced him, saying: "Akainumo," Grizzly began as Goliath slid across the mud on her feet before stopping behind Grizzly and growling. "Meet Goliath. A living killing machine out to kill Raze and his men. Goliath here used to be a pony before Jimmy and Raze got a hold of her. But then she was turned into this..." Grizzly knelled down in front of Akainumo. "Now," Grizzly began, sounding angry. "You got my reason why I want to help. Because if I don't help then more ponies will be subjected to this kind of torture." Goliath snorted as she glared at Akainumo. "If Goliath here can put aside the suffering and anger I caused her to help me then you can too. If you can't," Grizzly stood up and looked down at Akainumo. "Then you're no good to me, Akainumo... If you care for the future of your people then you have to do what Goliath did and set aside your anger and trust me. I'm here to help, I'm here to put a stop to this madness. And I can't do that without you or the will of your people." Grizzly extended his hand. "We may have been enemies before but that doesn't have to prevent us from working together as allies or friends." Akainumo looked at his hand then to Pinkie, she was nodding her head. Akainumo had a smirk on his face then put his hoof in Grizzly's hand and shook it. "You have my full support Grizzly. My ponies can offer you intelligence for you and your team." Grizzly smiled. "Let's get to work. Goliath, help our guys out. Go out on patrols with them if they need you." Grizzly said as he and Akainumo began walking back inside the house along with the others. Goliath gave a respectful "Hmph!" as she grinned and walked to the rest of Alpha and the resistance.
Grizzly looked at the map for a few seconds before finally speaking. "What's the guard detail like for this place?" He said looking at Lester and Akainumo. "Small, but they've got the best men stationed there." Akainumo started. "Raze believed that the resistance could never even get close to the gun so he left the guard presence there around to fifty strong." "Plus sixteen if you count the Banshee crew." Lester added. "Yes, they do their own security for their area. Raze thought they could be the only ones trustworthy enough." "Sounds like Raze." Said Echo. "They keep the northern entrance well fortified but I'm sure they've heard about their defeat in this town so most likely all of them will be well fortified. But there is an entrance that they may have forgotten about." "Show me." Grizzly said. Akainumo looked at Captain Lester. "There's an underground entrance at the southwestern corner of the base that they used when the resistance was first starting out. They used it to transport all of the parts and plasma shells to the center of the town to avoid being seen by us. And yes, they did forget about it but once you come out of the exit you'll have limited cover so I recommend going at night. It's supposed to storm all of tomorrow night so I'd go then." Grizzly nodded. "We'll leave our fireteams here to help out along with Goliath, but we'll be taking one of my men with us as a precaution." Lester nodded in approval and looked around the room. "We also have supplies here if you need to stock up before you head out." He said. "Good, we'll probably need it." "Grizzly, how do you plan to take out the gun?" Akainumo asked. "We'll need to ask the tech expert." Said Echo as he looked at Kourtney. She nodded and held two fingers to her ear. "Neptune, come to the command building."
They waited in silence before Neptune walked in the room. "Neptune, we need your help." He looked around the room. "Echo didn't break anything important, did he?" "Hey!" Echo said looking at Neptune. "No, not yet." "Hey!" He then looked at Grizzly. "That's kinda rude, ya' know." "We need your help on deciding how to disable a large plasma artillery battery in the center of this town." Grizzly said as he handed Neptune the picture. "You said it fires plasma?" He asked. "Yes, a large concentrated ball of superheated blue plasma. And it can only be fired once every few hours." Lester added. Neptune thought out loud. "Let's see, superheated plasma shells require the barrel to have a cooling system built within the interior of the gun and barrel itself." He began pacing around the room looking at the picture. Lester and the others watched him pace back and forth around the room. "So, here's what we can't do. We can't use any explosive charges 'cause that'll only cause the plasma shells in the storage compartments to overheat and explode and kill all of us and everything nearby. What we can do is sabotage the gun so that the next time they fire it it'll malfunction and explode, killing the crew and the guards and it'll give us enough time to escape from the area before they attempt to fire it. Now, Captain Lester." Neptune looked up from the picture and faced the Captain. "How many hours exactly can they fire the gun?" "Every seven to eight hours." "And the last time they fired it?" Lester looked at his watch. "About an hour and thirty minutes ago." "So, we'll need to go now if we're to disable it." Grizzly looked at Echo and Hawk Eye. "You guys ready to do this?" Grizzly asked. "We don't move now we're all dead." Kourtney noted. "Yeah, what she said." Echo added. "Then let's head out. Get a head start before the weather acts up."
(Town Five, Equestria, Guard POV)
"You think Raze will ever let those eggheads ease up on the weather? I'm starting to miss the sun." Said one of the guards as rain bounced of his full-face helmet. "Nah, it's the only way to get those fucking ponies to stop growing their crops. Too much rain, no crops. No crops, no resistance. They'll starve to death if they don't surrender." Said the guard next to him. "Yeah, true. Hey, did you hear that there might be a team here from Earth? Heard about it from one of my buddies over at the castle. He said that they spotted a guy from Alpha from a helmet cam footage." "No shit?" "Dead serous, man. Said Raze took one look at the guy and he fuckin' flipped. Told him to get word to 3rd platoon and tell them to mobilize." The other guard looked at him. "Oh fuck, dude. Now I know you're kidding." "No, seriously, man. Raze said it himself. Said get them mobilized and to have the Banshee crew on standby. If don't believe me you ask my buddy yourself. He'll confirm it." "Who's your friend?" "Ingram." "Oh shit... Ok, so you're not kidding." "I told you." "So, 3rd platoon huh?" "Yeah, man. 3rd fucking platoon." "Well, those guys are fucked if Raze is sending Kronos after them." "No shit, man. Kronos will tear the shit out of them."
(Town Five, Equestria, Alpha POV)
"No shit, man. Kronos will tear the shit out of them." Grizzly heard the guard say. I'd like to see him try. See how quick Kronos is. He thought. Grizzly looked back at the gun before searching the area around it for a way inside. Echo tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a guard opening a hatch near the gun. Grizzly nodded and motioned for them to move follow him quietly. They slowly moved, sticking to the shadows as they watched the guards patrolling the area. Grizzly motioned for them to stop as he saw two guards coming out of the hatch talking loudly to each other over the rain. "You tell Raze that this gun won't fire for the next three hours. It's already locked and the barrel is still cooling down." "You know he's not gonna like this, right?" "I don't care if he doesn't like it. Look, even if we could get the gun to fire, the barrel would just melt before the whole thing would explode like a goddamn volcano." The two guards began walking away from the hatch, Grizzly motioned for everyone to start moving again.
Suddenly, a spotlight searched over the area, moving back and forth at random angles. Grizzly saw the light coming towards them and motioned Alpha to stop and get down. The light glided over them. Grizzly began to feel uneasy, he thought the mission was scrubbed. Jesus, this was a bad idea... He began thinking. But the light kept going and passed over them. He quietly sighed, got up motioned to move.
They finally reached the hatch. No locks or anything. Raze really wasn't worried about anyone breaking in here fuckin' up their shit. Sad. He quietly opened the hatch and motioned Echo to hold the back handle of his plate carrier. Grizzly went through the hatch upside down with his weapon drawn while Echo held onto him. He quickly scanned the hallway then looked at Echo and nodded. Echo pulled him back up and Grizzly made his way down the ladder looking around. Once on floor, he kept his weapon raised and scanned again before motioning the others to come down. Grizzly moved away from the ladder and crouched near the wall. Neptune was the last to go down the ladder, he slowly closed the hatch as he made his way down. Grizzly moved down the hallway and stopped at the corner before others began to quietly follow him. He took a quick glimpse around the corner and saw no one in the firing chamber. He looked back at the others and nodded before moving into the room. He stopped in the room and looked around, listening for anyone inside. "It's clear." He said. "Neptune, get to work. We'll cover you."
Neptune walked over to the gun and carefully opened a panel while the others walked around the area. Neptune began slicing wires and cutting into circuits. He stopped and looked at a circuit that said 'SAFETY MECHANISM'. "This looks important." He said before jamming his knife into the circuit, sending sparks everywhere. "All done here." Neptune said as he put the panel back in place. "Shh..." Grizzly said and pointed down the hallway. Neptune could hear guards coming, carrying on a conversation as they were walking. Grizzly pointed to a few storage containers and motioned for them to move quickly. They sat behind the containers and waited for the guards to either leave or become occupied with something. Grizzly recognized the voices as the guards from earlier before they entered the hatch. "I'll even show you. The damn thing won't fire until the barrel cools down. I can bet you ten bucks that it's not even at 70% cooled down." Grizzly looked at the two guards, the one talking sat in a chair positioned in front of a terminal. "Huh." "What?" "Looks like I owe you ten bucks. Says it's ready to fire." The second guard looked at the terminal. "You sure?" "Yeah, wake the rest of the crew and tell Raze he'll have his fire mission in the next ten minutes." The second guard walked off while the other got up and went to a side terminal to authorize the fire mission. Grizzly looked at the others and motioned for them to move while the guard was occupied. They moved quickly but quietly and finally made it back to the hatch.
They exited the hatch and quietly closed it back. "Go!" Grizzly whispered, and they began walking fast through the same shadows they used to gain entrance. Hawk Eye felt her heart racing, wishing they could move faster without being detected. As if her wish was granted, the PA system came to life and began issuing guards to their posts before the crew fired the gun. She didn't even need to tell the others, they began sprinting and she followed. Grizzly slid across the mud to the tunnel entrance and opened it, letting everyone else go before he did. He closed it back and began sprinting as fast as he could down the tunnel, passing by the rest of Alpha. "Come on, guys! Pick up the pace! We gotta move!" He commanded as he passed by them. Grizzly stopped at the entrance of the tunnel they made for a shortcut. He threw his weapon out of the hole before climbing out and helping the others out. He could still hear the base PA system as they got out. He picked up his weapon and saw the others just standing there looking at him. "Run!" He said as he again began sprinting to the hills. He passed by his squad again. "Guys! Fucking move!" As if they were aided by an unknown force, Hawk Eye and Neptune began sprinting as fast as Grizzly, passing by Echo. Who then finally started to get moving so he could keep up. "Firing battery in T-minus two minutes." Alpha finally stopped at the top of the hill far away from the base but close enough to still hear the PA system. "T-minus 30 seconds." "Everybody down! Now!" Alpha got down behind the hill, waiting for the gun to fire. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..." Grizzly clenched his teeth and closed his eyes while Neptune was saying his hail Mary. "Firing, now." The ground rumbled, and a loud screeching sound rolled over the hills along with a large explosion. Neptune's headset began to screech in white noise. He ripped off his helmet along with his headset. His ears were ringing and his jaw was hurting with immense pain. He felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Kourtney with an excited look on her face, he couldn't hear what she was saying. The ringing in his ears were beginning to dissipate, he could barely hear her but he could make out what she was saying. "We did it! Are you ok? Can you hear me?" The ringing stopped. "Yeah... Yeah I can hear you, now." He said rubbing his left ear while moving his jaw and blinking a few times. He looked over the hill and saw the town was gone, only a giant crater with blue flames remained. "Broke your favorite toy, Raze..." Grizzly said aloud. "Now you're gonna have to play by our rules. Let's go, we gotta get back to the village." Grizzly finished as he began walking. The others began following shortly after.
(Town Six, Equestria, Alpha POV)
Lester looked up from the table amp and saw Grizzly and the others walking. "Good work on the gun, Grizzly. Could feel the explosion from here." "Felt good to see that thing disappear. Now, I only have one question for you." "Name it." "Where is the main portal?" Lester looked back at the map. "Right where its been for the past decade." He said before pointing to a familiar looking town. "Ponyville." "Now known as Town Two." Akainumo added. "They keep the area heavily guarded and they'll do anything to stop you." "Like even sending some guy named Kronos after us?" Akainumo and Lester looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Grizzly. "Did you say 'Kronos'?" Akainumo asked. "Yeah. What is he? Some kind of super ninja on steroids or some shit?" "Kronos isn't a guy... He's a huge fucking robot. And he's the reason why the resistance has been failing in most of Equestria. It wasn't made by Raze, it came from somewhere else. But Raze had his science team install some kind of advanced A.I. so now it has a mind of its own." "Raze must be pretty scared if he's sending a robot after us." Said Echo. "Just another one of his toys I'm gonna smash into a million pieces. Now, let's make a plan on how we're gonna activate the portal."
Grizzly took a deep breath. "We're gonna need every able bodied human and pony out there while we get the portal activated. Once we get it open, the invasion force will enter this realm and assist us in taking over." Grizzly looked at Akainumo and Pinkie Pie. "Akainumo, I need you and Pinkie to help the civilians get to safety. Warn them about the invasion and get them out of there. Cause once that portal opens, there's no stopping the invading force." Akainumo nodded. "Lester, our fireteams will help your men out any way they need it. But same as last time, Neptune is staying with me. We'll be needing him for getting that portal open. Other than that, they'll be under your full command. And don't be afraid to issue Goliath orders. She'll be more than happy to kill some of Raze's men." "How long will it take to get the portal activated?" Lester asked. "Depending on its condition, should be no more than five minutes. We've only got one chance with this, people. If we fail then Equestria is lost and who knows what will happen to the ponies. Get some rest, we move in about five hours."
(Hanger Bay Two, Canterlot Castle, Raze POV)
"I trust you're ready for this?" Raze asked the pilot next to him. "Sir, I've been ready ever since you gave the word for us to mobilize." "And Kronos?" "Ha! Ask him yourself." Raze looked up at Kronos, the massive machine reflected off of his visor. "This unit is ready to serve." The machine's voice boomed in a deep droned voice. "I will ensure that they will not succeed." "We're all counting on you two. Do not fail us." "Their chances of success are 1.09%. We will not fail." Kronos finished. Raze turned to the pilot. "I want both of you to wait until the right moment, then once their guard is down you strike. Don't give 'em any room to breathe." "Understood, sir." Raze walked out of the hanger. The pilot looked up at Kronos. "They won't stand a chance." He said. Kronos responded by smashing its fists together repeatedly. Causing a booming sound to bounce off of the walls in the hanger. The pilot smirked and walked towards the the hanger entrance.
