Prologue: Operation Avenger
Authors Note: Nothing new with the story, but check the Authors note at the bottom. Hopefully, the news contained within shall please you.
Prologue: Operation Avenger
Current Location: Ethereal Temple Ship
Operative Status: 5 K.I.A., 1 Critical Condition
Hostile Status: All K.I.A.
Recalling Operative
An oppressive silence hung in the air. The silence of a newly sealed tomb. Broken within seconds by angrily hissing sparks flying from shattered and melted equipment. I'm the only one left. I looked around for a few seconds before realizing that I couldn't see. Panic gripped me for a split second before I realized that my eyes were closed. Why were they closed? Tired.... so tired..... No, wake up! Get a grip of yourself! Come on. Open your eyes. Another burst of sparks flies out of the wrecked SHIV right in front of me. They skitter along the smooth floor of the ship like little worms. Sunlight, bright and golden, flows in through the forward view-screen. The ocean stretches out below, thousands of miles down. Not far enough. A flash of remembrance, accompanied by pain as I try to stand up too quickly. The black that had been slowly creeping into my vision now floods forwards, trying to overwhelm me.
"Time... I need... more... time..." I don't even realize that I've spoken the words aloud. The frantic battle to get here, to this point, comes back to me in chaotic flashes. Exiting the Skyranger. Loosing the rookie to a Muton ambush. What was her name? Joanne. That was it. Joanne. She was the medic. Katie, our sniper, had almost gone berserk with rage, emptying pistol round after pistol round into the cooling corpses of the Mutons. She only stopped when her pistol had clicked dry, at which point she had fallen to her knees and begun to cry. Christopher had stayed behind with her as Pierce and I had continued forwards, along with the SHIV. Together, we had survived the Sectopods, but Pierce had died shortly after. Two Muton Elites had pinned us down, and Pierce stuck his head out at just the wrong moment and had gotten a burst of plasma to the head for his troubles. And then it was just me and GOLIATH. I was shot in the stomach as we charged them. We entered the next room together to find our target there, waiting. The Uber Ethereal.
The one behind it all. Every abduction operation, every city nearly burned to the ground, every nation lost, every single operative killed defending the Earth... it was all because of him. His orders. His soldiers.
My failures. I was shaken quiet suddenly from my reverie when the ship shuddered violently beneath my feet, almost causing me to lose the balance I had just regained.
The HELL was that?!? Christopher shouted over the radio. Good, he was still alive. I pressed my fingers to my helmet and activated my built in headset. Say what you would about the engineering boys, but they always gave us the best toys.
"This is Commander Tauros. I'm ordering a full retreat." Chris's response was almost instant. Jon! You're alive! Thank God! Where's Pierce? The question hit me like a sledgehammer. If I'd had any tears left to shed, they would've fallen. "...He's dead, Chris. They got him. Listen, you need to get out." There was silence on the other end for a long time. "Chris? Chris, do you read me?" When the response came, it was subdued. Yeah... yeah, I read you. The ship gave another lurch. Something in my gut told me that this thing wouldn't stay together for much longer.
"Listen, you've got to get out. Take Katie and get out NOW!" I could tell that he was about to start arguing, so I cut him off before he could begin. "Listen, we don't have much time. Either you're getting out now, or not at all." The question that came was not the one I was expecting. What about you? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Naturally, Chris saw through the blatant lie almost instantly.
Like hell you will! Get over here now! My eyes glowed with power for a split second as I sealed the bridge doors with but a thought. "I can't. The bastard rigged the doors so that they would seal if he died." The lie hurt, even though I knew it was necessary. "Take Katie and get out. That's an order." I knew he wanted to argue, to try to find a way to get me out. So I didn't give him any time to speak. "You spread the word, you hear?"
Jon..
"You tell 'em it's over. You tell them we won. For me." My shoulders sagged as I delivered the final blow. "For Pierce." Then I turned off my radio, effectively muting any other arguments of objections Chris might have had. Blood dripped from the hole in my guts, mingling with the alien ichor that slicked the floor and made the otherwise simple task treacherous. I nearly slipped and fell many times. The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that failure would spell doom for the entire human race. Slowly, I limped forwards, never faltering, never slowing down. My goal began to pulse more erratically, signalling the impending doom of the ship. After a seeming eternity, I finally stood before the Ethereal device. Amazing, how such a little thing could do so much. The air around me rippled and distorted as waves of untethered psionic energy blasted out from the sphere. With extreme effort, I imposed my will on the sphere. I made it mine, beholden to my will. Stop the black hole. The self destruct sequence was halted for the moment. Go up. There was a shudder as the ship resisted my will. Go up. Another shudder, then slowly, grudgingly, the ship began to rise up. Slowly at first, but quickly gaining in speed. Higher and higher, until it passed the clouds. And still, the ship rose up. Below me, the Earth shone. A beautiful gem, ravaged and broken by war. And yet, despite all the punishment, despite the best efforts of our inhuman enemy, the Earth had survived. No, we had more than survived. We had endured. We had weathered the storm, and come out stronger and wiser for it. But, we had not come through unscathed. And now, one final sacrifice was required. One final soul to be reaped, to ensure the continued existence of the rest. A small price. A fitting price. MY price.
With another thought, I activated the self-destruct. As the world vanished in a flash of light, heat, and pain, I felt one thing: Peace.
The lonely planet of Equis, far from the sight of the Ethereals, was ready to go to war. The Zebras and the Ponies were experiencing increased tensions as the supply of resources gradually shrank, while the demand grew ever larger. One ordinary night, however, an anomaly occurred. Night suddenly became day as a strange, swirling hole opened in the skies above Equestria and emitted... something. Whatever it was, it exploded almost as soon as it had exited the wormhole, bursting apart in silent wrath. From the castle on the mountain, a goddess looked out into the sky, angered by the sudden rebellion of her domain, and gasped in shock and horror as she saw something far too small to be a piece of debris falling from the sky, A pegasus? Why would a pegasus would be flying so high, so late?
Without a word of warning to anypony, not even a note telling of her departure, Princess Luna flew as quickly as she could towards where the poor being had landed. What she found would change the fate of the planet forever.