Sat at the (rather large) table in the middle of the dining hall, the Marines, Captain and Rebels awaited calmly for their food. The commander of the UNSC forces nursed a fresh soft drink brought to her from one of the place's refrigerators. She could've used something hard to drink, considering they were about to go down the Trail of Tears, back to the very recent past to unveil and unbury an awfully fucking fresh memory, but alas.
"Are the refreshments to your liking?" Angela asked.
The Captain looked to the woman, then turned to her men, to see Hsu chugging down her third bottle, while Reaver was still on his second. She snorted, noticing the other Marines just downing the stuff like it was cheap beer at a backwater pub somewhere in the Outer Colonies. Looking to the queen, she smiled and said "I think they're just fine, ma'am. Thanks."
"I'm happy to hear... So, Captain." Angela started, picking up her own cup. Oh boy, here we go.
"Yes?" Val raised a brow.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to start asking some questions." She offered. The Captain nodded, noting in a single motion of her hand that she'd answer the first. Then, Angela thought, she probably had her own. With a curt nod, the queen proceeded "Who are you? Your people carry weapons that are powerful enough to cut through the Horde's armored bots with disregard, your forces wear equipment that's unfamiliar to us, your machines can fly and you, Captain... You're wearing a uniform and badge that we know nothing about."
"Well, as I believe you, yourself and... Miss Adora, was it?" Val looked to the red jacket-wearing blonde with a weird hair tuft and ponytail. Adora nodded 'yes', allowing the Captain to continue "Have observed... We're alien to your home planet. We are the United Nations Space Command, representatives of mankind and the United Earth Government. Our fleet, or, what's left of it, arrived here by sheer coincidence, thanks to the malfunction of our propulsion system."
"You have a fleet in orbit?" The Queen raised a brow "How intriguing. How many ships?"
The woman winced, then bowed her head "Not many survived the transfer. I'm not sure, but I do believe we're down to below half our escorts from... Some thirty-odd we had with us when we were preparing to leave."
"... Oh, god..." They heard Perfuma, the flower princess, gasp. The horrified looks that single statement garnered were enough for the Captain to see that these people were compassionate, at least.
"... They weren't that heavily crewed, though, right?" Asked Adora, though it sounded more like a desperate plea "I mean, space ships can't be much bigger than the stuff we have on the seas..." She chuckled awkwardly "Right?"
The Captain shook her head, then said "I'm afraid you're wrong on that account. The Eternity alone houses a crew of up to 17,000 people and her biggest escorts, made up of cruisers, house up to, at best, 1,000 crew. Our Frigates and Corvettes can also vary, but they're generally at least in the low hundreds. The Eternity has also suffered some damage in the transfer and my crew are still assessing the casualties..."
"... Oh..." Adora paused, eyes wide as a saucer. She looked to Glimmer and Bow, to see them slowly processing what the Captain had just put on the table, while Angela herself seemed to be taken aback by the fact. The woman leaned back into her chair, watching as the food was brought in and laid out in on the table by the hired hands of the castle, all of whom wore smiles on their faces.
After giving her thanks to the servants and waving them off, the Queen leaned onto the table and asked "Captain... What, pray-tell, would have asked for such a large fleet? Especially with a ship the size I'm imagining your Eternity to be?"
"The Eternity left our homeworld unfinished." The woman answered, averting her gaze from that of the Queen's as she spoke "... We had orders to evacuate with as many civilians as we could take with us."
"What?" The Queen once again looked shocked, as did the rest of the Rebels "Why?"
The Captain eyed the Marines, of which Hsu had begun to rapidly eat the food she was given, trying not to speak. The others, meanwhile, stared with hollow eyes at her. The Sergeant gave her a reassuring smile, then mouthed 'They need to know'. The woman took her hat off, rubbed her eyes, then said with a tired smile "Where to even begin? Mankind... We've been at war with an alien hegemony, probably not too dissimilar to your own Horde, just... On a galactic scale. We've been fighting them for 28 years, in fact. We've also lost a lot. Many of our worlds, our colonies, our homes, are now gone. And just this year? Today, of all days, this alien hegemony found our homeworld. Our seat of governance. They found Earth."
The group listened intently, but Glimmer could see in her mom's eyes that she, too, knew where this was going. The Captain continued "While we do not know what happened exactly, as we were ordered to leave with those we carry... We know a Covenant fleet has appeared over our homeworld. They're probably engaged with the Home Fleet, if they haven't directly swept them and all other defenses aside, mounting a planetary invasion. That's all we know... The rest can be assumed, with how ruthless the Covvies are..."
With a more solemn, quiet voice, Angela asked "... How many people do you have aboard the Eternity, without your crew?"
Val swallowed empty, then said "One million, in three massive, specially-designed cryo-bays located deep in the core of the ship." and watched as the entire group had almost collectively lost it. Adora, mouth agape, stood up and walked off to the side, without even excusing herself. Frosta seemed to slowly process what she was just told as her eyes darted around the room, between the Marines, Mermista was leaned on her hands, staring at the cooling food in her plate and Glimmer and Bow had just frozen, outright.
"I..." The queen started, shaking her head "I can't believe that... One million? I just..."
"We can take you on a tour of the Eternity, if you wish." Reaver said, garnering a look of approval from the Captain. He nodded, then said "Forgive me for speaking out of line, your Highness, but everything Val-er... The Captain says is true. We have no reason to lie to you."
"It's fine..." Angela said to him, then she once again looked to the Captain "One more question, Captain, then you can ask yours..."
"Of course." She nodded.
"What is it that you... Hope to achieve here?"
The Captain smiled "Maybe, find a new home for our people. I know we may be asking too much, but... We can offer something."
"What's that?" Adora stepped up, rubbing her shoulder.
The Captain's smile turned into a catty, proud grin "We can provide the Rebellion with new soldiers."
"You are... Offering to fight for us? In exchange for..."
"For a place to settle on Etheria after all's said and done." The Captain answered. The queen took a thinking pose, looking between the Captain and her men and women. Hsu gave a thumbs up to the queen, two other Marines, seeming twins with the same brawn, nodded to her, the others seemed distracted with their food and, of course, the Sergeant seemed more than happy to assist. Val looked to her, then said "Making allies with the people of this world would be a boon for the people's morale... To know that not all aliens are hostile."
"Expect some slight xenophobia, though." The Sergeant grinned "Just a small warning."
"I guess that's... Kinda normal, considering." Adora voiced her own thoughts. The Queen looked to Adora, as if asking her without a word what she should do. Adora immediately realized what that stare meant. Angela was asking their She-Ra what she should do and right now, She-Ra herself was thinking that the idea to ask for reinforcements couldn't be a bad one, especially from what amounts to aliens. So, she'd do as 'asked'. She spoke "I think we should take them up on their offer, your Highness. They basically offered themselves up to provide us help... And we really should think about the fact they've got entire families aboard their ship. Where else are they gonna go but here?"
She looked to the Captain, whose smile returned, a flicker of hope shining in otherwise dead, tired eyes. The Queen hummed thoughtfully, then said to Adora "Thank you for your insight, Adora. I'll keep that in mind as we proceed. Glimmer?" and turned to her daughter, who yelped and straightened up. She looked between Adora, her mother and the soldiers, slowly getting an idea of what she should say. Adora seemed to almost plead, while the Captain and the others just waited for her say.
"If Adora thinks we should trust them, then I think so too." The Princess nodded "A few more hands to help take pressure off of our forces would be a major boon, plus... We get to meet and work with aliens!" She smirked.
"Yeah!" Frosta cheered and the entire UNSC gang chuckled.
The Queen smiled, then she gazed upon the Captain once more and said "Very well, Captain McKinnon. We humbly accept your offer for assistance and would be happy to host your kin here once this conflict ends." and she extended her hand to the Captain. With a handshake, the alliance was sealed(to probably be ratified aboard the Eternity) and the queen said "Let's eat. The food must've sadly cooled by this point, but believe me when I say, Bright Moon cooking is very delicious, no matter what."
"Right then. You heard the lady, boys and girls!" The Captain looked to her team and flashed a grin "Dig in!"
... After an (Unsurprisingly) messy lunch and the queen answering the single question she had-who they were killing-the Captain sat outside while her Marines explored the area around Bright Moon for any possible breaches in security. Currently, their main objective was simple:find a spot to set up a Firebase in and start bringing in the necessary materials. One thing that the UNSC didn't leave the Eternity without was supplies to construct Firebases and shelters for its million inhabitants. She was completely filled with weapons factories, munitions factories, vehicle factories, transports, troops and machinery to set up a functioning military outpost, or perhaps even a colony. Sure, some of those supplies may have been lost when the Free Bird rammed their side, but otherwise?
The Captain smirked. Her objective was, however, to await the arrival of the first Marine units from the 12th. The fleet had 250,000 Marines alive, well and ready to deploy, a fifth as many trained pilots, around 1000 armored vehicles, 400 Warthogs of various configurations and some hundred-odd Mongoose scout vics, as well as dozens of attack craft, ranging from the giant Longsword to the tiny Hornet. Sat beside the Captain was Adora, who had been asked by Angela to stay with her while she, Glimmer and the other Princesses spoke.
"Sooo..." Adora started.
"Hm?" The Captain quirked a brow up at Adora.
"I know this may kinda come out of left field, but... How do your 'guns' work?" The girl asked "Like, I've seen and heard them firing when I was hiding behind that rock and... Ya know, I'm just wondering."
"The weapons have what amounts to a pin inside, located in the back of the action. It strikes the primer cap on the back of the metal casings you must've seen fall out of our weapons as we were shooting. That, in turn, ignites the composite explosive inside the casing, which directs it down a bottleneck, to the bullet and expands that bottleneck at the same time to release the round, spewing a small bullet, generally of the 7,62 by 51 milimeter NATO caliber, out of the barrel at supersonic speeds." The woman explained in plain scientific English. She added "The gas that is also created by the explosives is redirected inside with enough pressure to re-cycle the bolt, thus readying the weapon for sustained fire, be it semi-automatic or... Well, as you saw, automatic."
"... Huh... Right." Adora looked as confused as she sounded.
The Captain chuckled "I'll put it in easier-to-understand terms. When I press the trigger on my pistol, the pin inside the back of it hits a small cap located on the casing, which in turn causes an explosion that sends off the bullet. Think of your friend's bow, minus the need to draw it back and plus a few more mechanically complex actions happening in the weapon in the span of seconds."
"Understood better that time, thanks." The blonde smiled awkwardly "Anyways... What are we waiting for? You called somebody from your uh... Aircraft, right?"
The low drone of jet engines echoed across the forest and the Captain, for all the joy in the world. Soon, thundering over a tall mountain in the distance, around a dozen aircraft, singed by atmospheric re-entry, barreled toward Bright Moon at high speed, their engines a synchronous roar of horse-power that nearly broke the sound barrier. Six of the aircraft were Pelicans, hauling Marine Corps members that would represent the extra garrison sent down to the planet as the first wave.
A seventh aircraft was an armed Pelican, bearing the roman numeral 'three', as well as the symbol for Gamma. It was black, more angular and burning less fuel than its comrades while also making much less noise. That was the Spartan-III Pelican. Gamma Company command had agreed to deploy about a dozen of their best Spartans down to the surface in 3 Fireteams and followed up by Team REAPER, an amalgam of Alpha, Beta and Gamma Spartans, all clad in the few new MJOLNIR armors that HIGHCOM and the Misriah Armories could spare. REAPER were the cream of the crop, the best of all 3 companies. As was NOBLE, whatever had happened to them on Reach.
The following craft were a mix of escorting, low-altitude Hornet VTOL craft and two, yes, two Vultures. The two-engined Hornets, small aircraft with two twin-linked cannons at the top and two tracking missile launchers near the landing skids, were dwarfed by the gigantic, arrowhead-shaped and weapon-laden AC-220 Vultures. These birds were painted desert tan and bearing Autocannons and missile tubes enough to hammer a small FOB to dust.
The Captain looked to Adora, whose jaw threatened to dislocate at the sight of the armed and armored birds moving in for landing. She placed a hand on the blonde's shoulders, then smirked, watching the transport aircraft touching down. The combined power of their engines sent wind rippling through the area, ruffling Adora and the Captain's clothes, before the winds themselves calmed down.
Marching off the transports first, the UNSC Marines were first to line up in front of the Captain and the blonde. Women and men alike, clad in the same old kit as the others, with slight variations. One of them wore a boonie hat, as an example, and had a strange, bent knife, a Kukri, the Captain now recalled, strapped to her rather thick armored shoulder pad. She also wore a dangerous grin and the eyes of a killer.
The Marines stomped boots into the stone floor of their makeshift landing pad, then saluted the Captain. She saluted back, then barked "AT EASE!" and showed Adora to follow as she moved to inspect them. The men fell in line neatly, each bearing a killer grin and pride in their eyes as they watched the young woman marching with the Captain. Each soldier here was ready to give themselves for the people aboard their ark.
"Alright, boys and girls! You must've gotten a shite, short and sweet briefing on the flight over, so let me make this completely clear!" The Captain started, halting by the side of a man wearing an officer's cap and symbols on his cufflinks. The woman spoke hard and to the point, explaining to them "This world is named Etheria! Its people are currently facing an invasion not to dissimilar to what we have had on our own side of the universe, except for one thing." And she showed a wry grin "The alien sons of bitches that got their boots in the dirt here do not have a fucking ship! They're stranded here, the poor fuckers!"
The Marines laughed heartily at the comment, some looking to one another. The Captain, meanwhile, continued, pacing back and forth along the square formation of soldiers, which were now joined by a group of others, clad in heavier armor, on the left. Adora had just noticed them. Valerie spoke on, however "These xeno fucks jabbed at us too, while we had just landed out there, in the forest!" she pointed toward the Whispering Woods "And their little ball-bearing-shaped bots tried to gun me and Sergeant Reaver's platoon down. Now, any sane person would just blast apart the bots that shot first and call it a day, forgive and forget and that kinda shit... But are we sane, Marines?!"
"HELL NO!" They chanted in unison and Adora jumped back.
"Some bug-fuck ugly Alien had his robots shoot at us. At the same time, they were shooting at people like dear miss Adora over here and her team! And her and her people are none too caring about them, either!" She barked. They laughed again and some of them tipped their hats and helmets to the present blonde Etherian. The UNSC officer kept up the pep-talk "I don't know about you, lads and ladies, but I sure as shit didn't sign up in the job of saving mankind to get shot at by some bots! On those terms, the xeno bastard best really have his insurance set, because we're coming to kick ass and take names. YOU READY TO STACK SOME BODIES?!"
"OO'RAH!" They called out.
"You're DEVIL DOGS, MARINES! You've got tanks, air support and a fleet hovering overhead just waiting for the chance to show some Aliens how we do it on our turf! YOU are the boots on the ground, though! The Admiral, I and the people in those cryo-tubes aboard the Eternity expect you to win." She gave them a grin "Hell, I know you'll win. The Sarge knows you'll win..." And she shrugged, looking to Adora "People of Etheria might not know you'll win yet... We gonna prove it to them?"
"OO'RAH!" They bellowed again.
"Damn straight! Not even all the xeno bastards in hell will overrun you! YOU ARE LEAN! YOU ARE GREEN! AND YOU ARE VERY VERY MEAN!"
"OO'RAH!"
"SEMPER FI, MARINES! Dismissed!" She rammed a fist into her chest. And once again, they called out in a roar, before falling out to start unloading supplies. The woman looked to Adora, then said "Don't worry." with the most sugary sweet tone that any officer could muster with a murderous grin as big as hers "Ain't no wall too high, no waves too tall and no fucking enemy too strong for us. Etheria will be free of your Horde buddies... One way, or another."
"It's what I'm worried about..." Adora murmured, her mind racing to Catra and all the other people she knew in the Horde. The Captain smiled wryly, then looked over to the armored lads and ladies over on the side. She waved them forward. And indeed, about a dozen heavily armed, heavily-armored troopers , clad in the most advanced pieces of exoskeletal armor, approached.
The leading ones, clad in the heaviest kit, saluted. The Captain saluted back, then said "REAPERs. Good to see you."
"Likewise, ma'am." The leader of the team spoke. Going by the voice, he was a man, but Adora could barely tell, considering how the armor covered him and his comrades up from head to toe.
The Captain said "This is Adora. An officer in the Rebellion... Far as I recall, someone called 'She-Ra', as well." motioning to the blonde.
Adora felt the man's piercing gaze lock onto her from behind the visor. A chill shot up her spine, forcing a muffled chuckle filled with awkwardness and fear from her. She rubbed the back of her neck, then waved "Hi. Yup, you got it, Captain. Heh..." as she felt the weight of the strange, tall soldier's eyes. He was a head taller than her, as were most of his team-mates in fact. And he just gave off that feeling of absolute danger.
The commanding officer of REAPER squad looked at Adora for a moment. And he gave her the slightest nod of approval, before he faced the Captain again, asking without words what this had to do with anything. The Captain flashed a smile at the man, then said "Lieutenant, you will be providing miss Adora with an escort during their upcoming missions. You will then send reports about the interoperability of your team with the Princess Alliance back to me. I will be ratifying the treaty by the Admiral and Queen's sides, acting as the mediator and... I probably am gonna have to take your gang to see the Eternity, won't I?"
She cocked her head to Adora, who shrugged.
"Perhaps, at a later date." They heard Angela's voice. Despite the smile on the Queen's face as she and the other Princesses rejoined the group, she stared at the platoon-sized Spartan and Marine units (and at the flying monstrosities behind them) with a bit of unease, but she joined the Captain nonetheless. She spoke to her "I will be sending the Princesses out under Glimmer and Adora's command. We have had a situation develop a month prior to your arrival, where someone boosted the power of a runestone significantly, which caused the Whispering Woods to freeze over."
"That would explain the slight icing we saw while flying overhead." The Captain murmured, then crossed her arms "Lemme guess, the Woods are Bright Moon's only defense against an all out Horde assault?"
"Yes. And we need the Princesses to continue their counter-operations against the Horde bots that have more than likely been assigned to clear them a path through the Woods." The queen then answered. She eyed the Supersoldiers to her right, then said "My god, man, are you tall."
"Uhm... Thank you, ma'am." The Lieutenant offered. Two of his soldiers chuckled, but the moment he shot an iron glare back at them, they shut up. Adora, Bow and Glimmer regrouped, staring at the Spartans... And Bow was only slightly nerding out at the Spartan armors. Glimmer and Adora chuckled at seeing the tall techmaster of the Rebellion staring at men and women taller than him and wearing combat armor.
"So, it's decided. That okay with you, Lieutenant?" The Captain eyed the Spartan, who nodded.
"We have their backs covered. What about backup if we encounter an oversized enemy force?" He then asked, shouldering his Assault Rifle. The Captain jabbed a finger the way of the Hornets and the other Pelicans, which the Marines were now unloading. The Lieutenant nodded, hauled his gear up and waved his Spartans forward, to the black Pelican. He looked to Adora, then said "We'll meet you at the Pelican. We're paying for the gas this time."
"Yeah." Adora smiled "Happy to have you, guys."
With a simple nod, the Lieutenant and his team marched to the bird, with the Princesses looking to one-another. Angela and the Captain had just walked off to go find the Sergeant and his men, so that left them to talk.
"Well, they certainly seem..." Perfuma winced, noticing one of the Marines nearly trip another. The two laughed about it, with one flipping up one finger at the other, despite her smile.
"Completely and utterly frightening?" Adora completed "Yeah..."
"More edge than anything, really." Mermista shrugged "I mean, c'mon. Look at them. They're still people like us."
"People with an entire fleet in high orbit above our planet, a million-odd of their own up there too and stuff capable of flying!" Bow excitedly added "I mean, c'mon!"
"You get too easily excited, Bow..." Glimmer chuckled "It's kinda cute."
"She's right. It is." Adora returned, smirking at their friend. He rolled his eyes at them, then started fiddling with one of his arrows to get out of the convo. She looked to the Spartans as they checked their bird over, then sighed and said "We should probably go. If I know military rules, they'll want us off the ground and heading into the forest the moment we're in their strange... Ship."
"They called it a Pelican." Frosta chuckled "It sounds harmless. And kinda dumb."
"It does... Until you see the gun it has in its nose." Glimmer quipped, then she showed everyone to follow with one motion of her hand "C'mon. Adora's right, they're waiting."
Frosta winced, then giggled "Fair point. Say, do you think we'll take a pit stop? Maybe see the forest from above for a bit?"
"I bet we will." Perfuma smiled "Maybe Glimmer and Frosta should go for the front of the ship." and she turned away, laughing awkwardly as she saw Glimmer shoot an angry glare her way. Adora chuckled as she took the lead with Glimmer and the happy Frosta. She shot a glance to the Marines and two of them tipped hat and helmet to her, before going back to unloading duffel bags of stuff onto the floor. She then looked to the Spartans, to see how professionally they handled themselves in comparison while unloading the other Pelicans... And then she looked at the aircraft above, those giant gunships included and...
She felt her heart stop as her mind went to Catra once more. She hoped the girl never had to see this tidal wave of troops.
Not on her own, at least.