//------------------------------// // Wardens, pt 1 // Story: Equestrian Black Crusade: Wardens // by Titan Commander Sebaste //------------------------------// Retribution's Hammer, hanger bay… As soon as the Thunderhawk landed, there was a mad scramble to get out. Twilight and the other mares staggered out of the aircraft, unused to how fast it had traveled. A pegasus pony in flak armor gave them a sympathetic look. “Not used to being in something like that, eh? You’ll soon get the hang of it.” He said. “Took me a long time to get used to being flown in one of those contraptions.” Twilight nodded as she turned at the sound of footsteps behind her. Viktor, Alexia and Sasha soon emerged from the transport, their eyes widening at what they saw. Fighters and transports flew in and out of the hanger bay, delivering supplies, troops and whatever else that the ship needed. Crewmen, both pony and human, milled about the hanger, occasionally glancing at the newcomers before going about their business. The stallion that had spoken earlier then cleared his throat. “I’ll escort you to the bridge, the commander will meet you there when he returns.” he said. “Until then, I would suggest staying on the command deck.” The group nodded as one before being led through what seemed to be endless corridors to where the command deck was located near the front of the ship. As they walked, Twilight looked back at the three armored humans, who were quietly discussing amongst themselves. While she knew Sasha, the two others were a mystery to her. Shaking her head, she put the problem out of her mind, instead concentrating on what was going on now. Soon, the group entered the command deck, and what they saw caused their jaws to drop. Crewmen walked back and forth from different stations, ranging from comms to radar to even gunnery control. But it was the sight of seeing the planet below that made Twilight's eyes start watering. “Amazing, isn't it?” Their guide said as he stared out at the planet. “To think Equus is just a speck in a larger universe.” “How long have y'all been on this ship?” Applejack asked. “Over 20 years, give or take.” he replied. Rainbow balked at that. “20 years without being able to fly freely? I don't think I'd be able to go that long…” she gulped. The stallion chuckled. “It’s better than crashing into every hallway.” Pinkie snickered. “He’s got you there!” she giggled, earning an annoyed look from the prismatic pegasus. Rarity glanced over the bridge, and raised an eyebrow. “Seems pretty drab for the inside of a ship…” She commented. “Ma’am, this is a warship, it's not meant to be pretty.” The stallion said. Rarity opened her mouth to make a retort when Sebaste's voice sounded from behind her, causing her and the others to jump in surprise. “Don’t even think about trying to make it fit to your standards, Rarity. I don't think the men on here would appreciate their ship getting beautified.” The stallion quickly saluted. “Sgt. Flare Strike of the Equestrian 264th at your service, sir!” he said. “At ease, Sergeant.” Sebaste said, returning the salute. “Go let the men know we'll be expecting some visitors soon.” “Yes sir!” Flare Strike said, before trotting off. Sebaste then turned and pulled out a strange looking device, planting it on the metal floor. It then began to shift before it was revealed as some sort of comms device. “Seb? What is that?” Viktor asked, staring at the device. “This is a void transponder. It'll let me send out a Multiverse wide S.O.S.” the Recon Spartan explained. “Once I send out the call, it'll be up to the displaced to answer it or not.” Turning back to the device, he then pressed a single button. “This is Sebaste-917, one of several displaced in my Equestria. And I need your help. Another displaced has declared war on my world, and I need allies to help stop him. If you choose to help, say “I’m ready.” and you will be brought to my universe. If you are not interested, then you will stay in your universe. May Faust protect us all…” he then deactivated the device and rubbed the back of his head. “Now comes the waiting…” “Sir! We're picking up two contacts!” a crewpony shouted. Sebaste spun to face the earth pony. “Locations?” he asked. “Can’t exactly tell, some kind of energy is messing with our navigations. But from the looks of it, one contact is near Manehattan , the other is.... next to us?!” “Confirm that, second contact is next to the ship?” Sebaste ordered. The crewpony nodded. A crewman working on the comms then spoke up. “Sir, I'm picking up a signal, they're trying to contact us. ” “Bring it up on the screen.” Sebaste ordered as a holographic screen activated. “This is Sebaste, state your business.” What appeared in said hologram was some sort of humanoid clad in armor. Its coloration mostly of black with some parts of it glowing blue, its helmet was dark silver and it’s visor orange with no way of telling if it was man or woman. However, despite its appearance, a voice was coming in clear. “This is Geoffrey, I got your message.” “I’ll send a fighter to guide you to a hanger. I'll meet you there shortly.” Sebaste said before giving an order on the comms. He then turned towards the bridge door. “I’ll be right back, I need to bring our new ally to the bridge.” The Spartan then walked off, the doors sealing shut behind him with a hiss. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Is it me, or is Seb getting a bit too bossy?” Before any of the others could reply, a single portal suddenly opened up and spat out two armored feminine forms, startling them. “What the hay?!” Rainbow yelped. The most noticeable feature of both of them were the wings on their backs. The first girl, a brunette haired girl with gold eyes and golden armor gratefully took his hand. Sheathed at her side was a single sword. Her wings were made of pure electrical energy while her head was adorned by a gold circuit. This girl had pure white hair and blue eyes, while her armor was white and gold. Her wings looked like they were made of crystal, and in her hands, she held a kite shield and a single sword that had 7 ghostly blades spinning around it. A cloak could also be seen on her back. After a moment of silence, one of the girls raised an eyebrow before looking at the group. “Anyone know what's going on?” she asked. Viktor shook his head. “We’re in the dark over this also.” he said. Rubbing the back of her head, the brunette groaned. “Great…” Her companion rolled her eyes. “I’m sure we'll find out what's going on soon enough.” “Indeed you shall.” Sebaste said, walking back in with the newcomer behind him. The person next to him was clad from to head to toe in dark black armor with parts of it glowing, especially the orange vision that prevented others from seeing his face. If anyone were to take a closer look at his armor, they would notice that some parts of the armor appeared flexible as if made of flesh. “What will you have me do?” The suited man Geoffrey asked. His voice didn’t sound natural and there was a very faint clicking sound behind it. “What are you specialized in?” Sebaste asked. “From what I’ve managed to repair since being displaced, it’s mostly in firepower from my canon while my scanners and visors can see infrared, echos, invisible targets, and lastly x-ray.” Geoffrey explained as it went through the options from what he saw in his visor’s sight. “This body is… highly adaptable to technology.“ ”Metroid… Now there's a game that I haven't heard of in a while…” Sebaste muttered as he pulled up a holo-map of Equestria's Solar system. “Alright, so… what the hell?” he looked closely at the map. “Those planets weren't there before…” he tapped a section of the map. A list of information appeared in front of him, green words scrolling down and listing Imperial Guard positions, planetary governors, population statistics, and of course, the name of the planet he had selected. A planet similar to earth, with sprawling oceans, towering cities, and dozens of fortresses. A planet named ‘Cadia’. “Sir, what about the signature in Manehattan?” one of the crewmen asked. “Send a team to pick them up.” Sebaste said distractedly. He frowned as he looked at the planet. “Why would Cadia be here?” Tapping on the map, Sebaste pulled up the planet's statistics. ”Okay, Naval training planet… I'm counting at least 3 to 4 distress beacons.” “The Captain would… like to know… if that is our… destination.” The Servo Skull droned Sebaste nodded. “Alert that pick up squad to get their asses back to the ship with whoever appeared in Manehatten, we're rolling out.” he ordered. “All ships, set coordinates for Vigilatum.” “Message… has been relayed.” The Servo Skull replied, before flying off. There was a subtle shift from the floor as the massive ship began to turn, causing the others to stumble while alarm klaxons began to blare. “Sir, retrieval team has returned. They picked up some girl with a cryo weapon.” A single voice said on a communicator. “Roger that. All ships, prepare to jump in 5….” Sebaste said. “Wait, Jump?! As in, hyperspace jump!?” Cassie yelped. “4…” “It’s not as bad as you think, but you’ll get used to it quickly after the second or third go. “ Geoffrey said. “And maybe some backlash until your body adapts. “ “3….” “2…” “And I thought getting summoned was bad enough…” Alex groaned. “1…” “Mark!” Sebaste snapped. Outside of the vessel, reality began to bend, crackling with energy until it was torn apart, a massive vortex forming in front of the Battleship. The vortex swirled with destructive and hellish energy, and had anyone born witness to it, they would have thought they could see misty disjointed arms attempting to crawl out through the edges of the tear in reality. Then the Imperial vessels went through, while the UNSC ships blinked out as their slipspace drives activated. Soon, no ships were left where a massive fleet once held position. Back on the Retribution's Hammer, Sebaste looked on slightly irritated, as the others struggled to recover from entering the Warp. “Okay, I think I prefer getting summoned than flying on this thing… *hrrk*” Viktor grumbled as he struggled not to throw up. Geoffrey could be seen tapping the side of his visor. “I've experienced warp before, but this version of it made my visor go crazy trying to progress the data.” he said. A few people could see in his visor a faded alien language flying across it. “Don’t, it'll drive you mad, and I don't mean figuratively.” Sebaste warned. “Data suggests Black Legion incursion will commence in… one week.” A servitor answered, momentarily turning from its control panel. The thing had once been human, now instead mindwiped, with dozens of mechanical fingers tapping against buttons at its cogitator. Half of its head and body was mechanical, and it’s only remaining human eye was blank white. “If we're lucky, we’ll be in position before those bastards arrive. And that's if we don't run into any… problems on the way there.” Sebaste said. Sebaste nodded. “Crew quarters, I'll have someone guide you there.” he said, nodding to a nearby crew member, before turning to study the planet they were heading to. 59 hours later… The others had gone to guest quarters assigned to them, but Sebaste still stood on the bridge, his mind distracted by past memories and the current situation. Geoffrey remained in the guest quarters he was assigned too. He was currently sitting down with head lowered, currently doing a status check-up on his body and sorting through things in his mind. It wasn’t like that of a robot, since his visor was still glowing and his body wasn’t limp. “Everything seems to be in working order. Deleting that wall of information was a bit of a headache though.” Geoffrey mumbled to himself. Back on the bridge, Sebaste heard the sound of footsteps behind him. “I assume you're the Displaced my team picked up in Manehatten?” he asked, turning his head slightly. “Hai- I-I mean yes! My name is Mei!” Replied a slightly short Chinese woman with brown hair done up in a bun and held together with a metal pin with a red bulb on one side, and brown eyes. She wore a thick white winter coat that was accented in different shades of blue, and with white fur covering her hood, end of the coat and the top of her ice boots. She also wore massive blue gloves, dark blue or purple leggings, and black rimmed glasses. She spoke timidly and reserved. “Or that’s who I became… technicalities, technicalities… heh.” The Spartan turned to face Mei. Even though she couldn't see his facial expressions behind his helmet, she had the feeling that Sebaste had a small smile on his face. “Not really used to being on a ship like this?” he asked. “No, my home’s pretty limited, even with my help.” Mei rubbed the back of her head nervously, before switching to an excited demeanor. “Even if it was more advanced, I’d never be able to begin designing such an amazing ship!” “They weren't really going for the sleek and smooth look, more like the “I’m gonna ram this straight down your throat” route.” Sebaste snickered. “But it's well armored and has the weaponry to deal with any foe that gets in range of it.” “I hope so.” Mei smiled weakly. “I’d like to offer you my scientific skills. I’m not great at combat but I can handle most situations I come across if that’s what you’re looking for.” “What do you specialize in?” “Engineering, Chemistry, Biology… I’ve got a lot of experience studying things normal people can’t comprehend, and know a lot about magic. If the enemy’s smart, I’m pretty sure I can outsmart them… at least, I hope so.” Mei chuckled nervously, feeling like she tooted her horn a tad much. “Hmm….” Sebaste eyed Mei carefully. ‘I could use an engineer to help repair vehicles and stuff, but I'm unsure how the techies in the hanger will react…’ He thought. ‘Unless…’ “How good are you with reverse-engineering?” He asked. “It’s what I excel at!” “Then I have a task for you, any weapons or tech from the enemy that we capture, I need you and the engineers onboard to reverse-engineer for our use, be it weapons, shields or vehicles. I'll also assign a scientist to help.” “Understood, will do!” Mei saluted, smiling up at her new ‘boss’. “I also have experimental weapons. I’d need a testing area to work out the bugs and get them out of the prototype phase.” “Once we convene with the rest of the fleet, you'll be transported to the UNSC Infinity. They should have a firing range onboard.” An alarm then began to blare throughout the ship. “Sir, we're exiting the Warp.” A nearby crewman reported. “Our UNSC ships are already in position over the planet.” Sebaste nodded in reply. “Good, keep me up to date.” he ordered. Turning back to Mei, he then removed his helmet and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry if I get distracted with giving out orders, commanding a fleet like this can be a bit taxing.” Sebaste then pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Sir, exiting the Warp in 3…. 2…. 1…” A crewman shouted before the ship jerked, causing everyone on the ship to either stumble or crash to the floor from their bunks. Seeing Mei fall towards the floor, the Spartan quickly caught her before she gave herself a concussion. Turning to a grey and white unicorn stallion with a cream mane and tail, Sebaste said, “Send a communique down to the Planetary Governor, let him know we'll be sending down troops and resources.” “Yes sir.” he said. Turning back to Mei, Sebaste said, “I honestly apologize for all of this. While I was expecting us to arrive without any drama, it seems fate had other plans.” He looked down at his grimy armor in disgust. “Drama is to be expected with our kind, is it not?” Mei giggled to herself. “Quite.” Sebaste said dryly. A few moments later, the tranquility and semi peacefulness of the bridge disappeared as the automatic doors opened, and a group of five guardsmen walked in, two dragging a girl in a bright red hood with a black skirt, her arms bound with cuffs as she reached back towards where they had come from. Another soldier carried an odd looking red rifle. “Noooo… take me baaaack….” the girl whined drunkenly, clearly heavily intoxicated. “Mind giving me an explanation as why you brought in a drunk Ruby Rose onto the bridge?” Sebaste asked, giving the guardsmen an annoyed look. “Forgive us, lord. We found her at one of the local bars, completely drunk. She knocked thirteen of us unconscious before we finally managed to restrain her and confiscate her weapon. Then we had to cuff her when she almost diverted the ship back into town…” “Alright, put her in a guest quarters for now. I'll speak with her shortly.” The Spartan said. Looking back to Mei, he asked, “Will you be okay for now? I need to get my armor cleaned off and then have a discussion with little Miss Drunkard.” “I’ll be fine. Perhaps I could assist with tracking down the rest of our allies? Or do you have a project I can get started on?” Mei asked, leaning forward eagerly. “Right now, locating the other displaced on the planet is one of the top priorities. So if you're able to, try and pinpoint any other displaced so that a team can pick them up.” Sebaste said. Mei nodded at that. “Roger! I know how to locate summoned Displaced! I built it in case some pony or such accidentally summoned someone. I’ll try to see if I can amplify the signal or upgrade your sensors. Your pick.” “Amplify the signal. I'll be back in a few hours.” With that, Sebaste left the bridge towards his own quarters. After what seemed like an eternity of scrubbing his armor, the Spartan managed to get it looking like it had come out of the workshop. He then headed to where the newest displaced had been situated. Giving a nod to the two guardsmen standing guard, he entered the room. Inside, the black haired girl was laid back on a couch, busy downing another bottle of liquor. In front of her boots, which were laying on the table, were two more bottles, completely empty. “Yoooo, Armored… Guy!” “I understand you gave a few of my men some trouble after they picked you up.” Sebaste said cooly. She shrugged. “I was drinking… they shoulda known better to drag a drunk girl away from ‘er drinks…” She sighed, putting down the bottle. “This isn't a game! You nearly cost me a transport and several soldiers I need to defend this world!” Sebaste snapped. “Look, soldier boy… I know how to fly.” Ruby glowered. “I woulda just landed the damn thing and been on my way back to the bar if they hadn’t cuffed me.” “Trust me, getting cuffed is preferable to what will be happening in a week from now.” “Is this how you treat all the nice young ladies who offer to help you, tin can?” Ruby smirked. “Look, I’m here for one reason, and one reason only. I’ll help you if it means I can reach that goal, but other than that, you can shove your soldier talk right up alongside that metal bar you got shoved in your ass.” Sebaste scoffed. “I’ll allow you to help, but on one condition. Touch another drop of alcohol and you'll be sitting in the brig.” “Oh, I don’t know any better? And I suppose you do?” Ruby smirked, sitting up. “Lemme ask ya, Spartacus, have you ever seen how unbearable an alcoholic can get without ‘er nectar? Cuz I assure ya, yer gonna find out, luv. Cuz I’d much rather not have to deal with all the memories of mah entire planet bein destroyed, jackass.” This caused Sebaste to suddenly stiffen, and surprising Jaxson, losing his aggression. Ruby was too distracted by her cape to notice, however. “Do you know who destroyed your planet?” the Spartan asked softly. “Nah, I ain’t got a clue.” Ruby shrugged. “I’m just ‘ere to see if I can wish it back. I’d rather not be stuck living in the slums of someone else’s world for the rest of my days…” She frowned. “What’s it matter ta yah anyway?” There was naught but silence for a long moment. Until Jaxson spoke up. “You didn’t have any friends? No one to turn to or something?” “Couldn’t find any of em.” She shrugged. “Pretty sure they all died there.” “Nah, I don’t need any of that. I’ll fight… but only if I’m allowed to drink.” Ruby gave Sebaste a look. “If I ‘ave to, I’ll try to not get blackout drunk, but you ain’t keepin’ me sober.” Sebaste gritted his teeth before begrudgingly saying; “Very well.” “Aight then. If that’s all ya wanted to yell at meh for, than ya both can piss off. I’m in a sour mood cuz of ya.” Ruby grumbled, taking a swig of her beer. “And tell them bastards out there ta give me back mah Crescent Rose!” Sebaste didn't answer, but his fist clenched and unclenched. Turning on his heel, the Spartan headed back towards the bridge. His mind was now focused on one thing only: preparing for Ahriman's assault.