"You ready to make these motherfuckers pay for what they did to reach?" Jake-039 asked, raising his BR55 and aiming at an Elite, who was clearly not expecting for two of the UNSC's best soldiers to be there.
Ava-127 nodded, and shouldered her SPNKR rocket launcher, crouching down and targeting a pair of Hunters that had started to rush towards the two Spartans.
"Hell yeah, let's do this!" She shouted, and shot a rocket at the approaching hunters, killing both of them at once. Jake-039 opened fire on the Elite who was closest, downing it's shields and killing the alien almost instantly, with extreme precision.
Ava-127 turned her SPNKR rocket launcher at one of the three Wraiths, and fired, the rocket launcher damaging the Covenant tank badly, but not fully destroying it. She ran for cover, and Jake-039 did the same, throwing a frag grenade toward a group of grunts and jackals that were slowly advancing. It blew them to pieces, and Ava had reloaded her SPNKR rocket launcher, so she could finish off the damaged wraith and another pair of Hunters.
Jake switched to his SRS sniper rifle, picking off Elites, and covering Ava.
Soon, the area stank with the stench of death. dismembered Jackals and Elites littered the floor, and fire and smoke rose from the destroyed Covenant vehicles.The two Spartans had also killed any Changeling they came across. Ava and Jake, satisfied with the carnage done to the Covies, started the long walk back to Canterlot. They made few stops, only stopping to eat MRE's. Within a day, they had reached Canterlot, and when they got inside the main city, there were so many evacuees that it made it impossible to count them all. It looked just like Reach again, families torn by war, scared, and not knowing what to do. The two Spartans found their way to the Canterlot Castle, and were greeted by two guardponies who led them to the Princesses. Apparently, Cadance was still recovering, but was much better. Along the way, Twilight and her friends saw the two soldiers, their armor blood stained and dirty from the battle. They immediately rushed over to check on them.
"What the hay happened?! Are you two okay?" asked Twilight, concerned. Rarity was gagging from the amount of dry blood on the Spartans armor, and Fluttershy looked lost. Pinkie Pie had lost her usual over the top happiness, Applejack was showing no emotion, and Rainbow Dash was acting fidgety, as if she wanted to get out of the castle and kick some Covie ass.
"We're fine. The Covies back at the Crystal Empire aren't though. They're in pieces, literally." Said Jake, taking his helmet off and grinning.
Ava chuckled, but kept her helmet on.
"How is Cadance? According to the guards she's doing much better." asked Ava.
Twilight nodded. "She said you two saved her, she seems really grateful."
They all entered what looked to be a makeshift medbay, where Luna and Celestia were by Cadances side. Shining Armor was there too.
Shining nodded at the Spartans, his way of thanking them for saving his wife. Celestia however, seemed angry, and Luna seemed annoyed at Celestia.
"What the BUCK were you thinking, putting Bio-whatever into Cadance? WHAT IF IT KILLED HER?!"
Luna rolled her eyes and made an apologetic gesture to the Spartans.
Cadance was currently sleeping, even though Celestia was shouting.
Ava spoke up.
"With all due respect, she would have died if we didn't take care of the wounds there. I've seen ODST's, and other Spartans die to plasma wounds before. The magic was doing nothing for her, so instead of being a bitch and getting angry that she's still alive, maybe thank us for saving her! If we had simply left her, she would have died a horrible death. Plasma burns are worse than you think!"
Celestia looked shocked that someone would speak to her like that, but she couldn't find words to retaliate with. Instead, Ava and Jake walked out of the medbay, leaving all the ponies in there shocked.
They headed out, and walked back to the Everfree forest, to find the Pelican that was left there.
Outside of Equis, Space
08:00
The UNSC Destroyer Axios exited slipspace. They had been doing that for a while now, to throw the Covenant off their trail.
Captain Nate was seated, looking out the forward windows that occupied the Destroyers bridge. The planet that he was looking at was breathtaking, but there were bigger matters at hand. There was a Covenant ship that was idle above the planet.
Captain Nate picked up his data pad, getting any available information he could.
He spoke, in a steady, strong voice.
"Go to battlestations. High alert. The Covenant is here and I'll be damned if we don't fight back this ti-"
"Sir! You're gonna want to see this, there's a signal coming from the planet. It's UNSC in origin, and it keeps looping the same sound. Does Olly Olly Oxen Free mean anything to you?"
Captain Nate suddenly stopped what he was doing. Olly Olly Oxen Free. That was what Spartan-II's used as an all clear. He remembered that from when he was rescued by a team of Spartan-II's when he was still in basic training. Hearing that signal meant that not only was there a small UNSC presence on the planet, there were Spartans.
"We need to get to the location of the signal. Prep Spartan-III Squad Viper, get them down there, on the double!"
Equis, Evergreen Forest
08:20
"It's pointless. There's no UNSC here, just dust and echoes. We got our supplies, and we fixed the Pelican up. We might as well go back to Canterlot."
Jake-039 was adamant that the signal was just space being weird. There was no way that the UNSC had entered the same system.
As soon as the signal was found, Ava-127 had set up a signal of her own, that only the UNSC would be able to understand.
Just as Ava-127 was about to agree with Jake-039, they saw it. The UNSC Destroyer was a sight for sore eyes. It had the Greek word "Axios" engraved on the side, which meant "I am worthy"
An hour and a half later, Viper Squad had brought the two Spartan-II's to the UNSC Axios, and they explained the situation, the Covenant, the first contact with the ponies on the planet, and their mission details.
Onyx Team and Vyper Squad took a Pelican down to Canterlot, and Captain Nate was with them. Ava-127 and Jake-039 were relieved to finally see fellow soldiers, fellow Spartans.
When the Pelican touched down outside Canterlot Castle, there were multiple guards with spears. Celestia was with them too, but as soon as they saw the Spartans, they relaxed.
Captain Nate stepped out of the pelican, and nodded to Celestia.
"Greetings. Captain Nate of the UNSC Axios." Celestia returned the gesture, and introduced herself too. 20 minutes later, and a Forward Operating Base had been established, with a few dozen ODST'S and Marines protecting it. Captain Nate and Celestia had already devised battle plans to strike at the Covenant, and the Changelings.
They would first attack any Covenant/changeling controlled areas, slowly taking Equestria back from the enemy, and then they would take out the enemy ship.
The next day
10 P.M
UNSC Axios Armory
The Armory aboard the UNSC ship was a beautiful sight to the two Spartan-II's.
It had enough weapons and ammunition to fight the Covenant for months on end. The two Spartans had the day off, as their armor was getting serviced by the ships scientists and engineers, as well as getting upgraded. The hot shower and warm food was greatly appreciated by Ava, and it was great to sleep in a proper bed for once. She may have been a Spartan, but she loved small comforts like that just as much as the next person.
She had been trying to sleep for the past two hours, but she had the rest of the UNSC on her mind. Captain Nate and the UNSC Axios had been cut off from the UNSC for a while, due to the Cole Protocol and being unable to use their slipspace engine to jump to Earth. Had the Covenant found Earth yet? How many Spartans were still alive? Eventually, she fell asleep, her mind full of questions.
11 A.M
Forward Operating Base Foxtrot
Captain Nate stood next to Celestia in a war room, debriefing the Spartans in the room.
"We're going to be attacking them from all fronts. Spartan-III squads Echo, Viper, and Gauntlet will be assisting with the main assault. The main assault will have Marines, ODST'S, and Spartans. The Unicorns will be assisting with manifesting shields for vehicles, and with artillery. The Pegasi will be using their ability of flight and weather manipulation against the Covenant, and the Earth ponies will assist injured soldiers, both Human and Pony. The UNSC Axios will provide air support from above. Meanwhile, Onyx Team will take a small team of ODST'S and disable a structure that is jamming all long range comms. Dismissed."
When Onyx Team got outside the FOB, they saw Twilight Sparkle arguing with Celestia.
"But if I can go with Onyx Team, I can do research! Potentially helpful research, too!" Twilight resorted to puppy dog eyes, and Celestia sighed. She called Onyx Team over.
"Spartans.. my student wishes to accompany you to the, umm.. Comm Jammer? If she goes with, will you keep her safe?"
Ava looked Twilight, and sighed too. She nodded her head, and motioned for Twilight to follow them.
"Don't worry Princess. I'll keep her safe."
1 P.M
UNSC Axios
Twilight had never seen anything like this ship before. She was fascinated by it, and how it managed to stay in the sky with no wings or anything. She would have to ask the Spartans once the Covenant was gone.
Ava-127 handed her a helmet that had a hastily made hole in the top, for Twilight's horn.
"You're going to be heading into a warzone. If you want your research, then you'll put your helmet and this body armor on. It'll be uncomfortable, but atleast you can take a plasma projectile or two." She also handed Twilight a medkit, filled with Biofoam and bandages, and a whole bunch of medical supplies.
Twilight hated the armor, it was heavy, and as Ava had predicted, uncomfortable.
They got into a Pelican, and soon, were on the way to kick some Covvie ass.
"Holy shit, the techs really upgraded our armor, Jake! Active Camouflage that's almost as good as the Elites, increased shield strength, and thruster packs!" Was the first thing Ava had to say about her repaired and upgraded Mjolnir armor.
Jake-039 had the Active Camouflage, as well as a heavily improved motion sensor, in place of thruster packs.
The two Spartans carried suppressed weapons. Jake-039 with a suppressed Designated Marksman Rifle, and SRS sniper, and Ava-127 with a suppressed BR-75 and dual M6G-SOCOM silenced magnums.
The Pelican dropped them off 10 kilometres from the target, and they hiked their way to the objective.
"Fuck..!" Ava cursed under her breath. "There must be a few dozen Split Lips there, and double that with grunts and jackals.."
"Split Lips?" Inquired Twilight.
"Elites. They have four mandibles and it looks like their lips have been split."
After a while of recon, they were ready to strike.
"Alright.. we'll split up. We have two generators we need to destroy to cut the comm jamming. O'Brien, Morgan, Twilight? You're with me. We'll take the first generator. Jake, take Mayhew and Frank. Stay quiet, don't let the Covenant see you."
They moved out, heading to their objective.
Twilight was surprisingly quiet, even when they took out Elites and grunts. They soon reached the generator, and Ava-127 got to work disabling it. Twilight moved away, and started to study all the Covenant structures. There was so much knowledge she could gain! Her excitement was cut short as she heard an ear piercing scream, and she looked back to see a red energy sword protruding from the chest of O'Brien. She couldn't see anyone wielding the energy sword, but then the alien deactivated it's Camouflage, revealing a heavily armored elite, and she held back a scream of her own.
Instantly, Morgan began to open fire on the Elite with a MA5D Assault Rifle, but the bullets seemed to do almost nothing to the Elite.
"Kill this filth, brothers!" Shouted the Elite.
Ava counted three Zealots, and one Major. She immediately opened fire, her shots dropping the shield of the Elite Major, and she finished it off with one last burst from her Battle Rifle. The Zealots fired at the ODST with their Plasma rifles, the plasma melting through his unshielded armor and burning him alive.
The Elite in the unknown armor reactivated his active camo, and left the area. Ava threw a scavenged Plasma Grenade which stuck the middle Elite, killing two of the Zealots and bringing the thirds shield down. Ava was about to finish the Zealot for good, but before she could pull her trigger, she felt like she was hit by a train, as she flew a few metres away and hit the ground hard. The bastard had used a Concussion Rifle. The Elite activated its energy sword, picking Ava-127 up with ease. Ava could feel the heat from the energy sword, and she tried to escape from the Elite, but couldn't move. "This is it." She thought, as the Elite prepared to strike. Just before the Elite stabbed her, she heard three swift noises.
Pff pff pff
The sound of her handgun. The Elite dropped Ava-127, and staggered to the ground, clutching it's neck. It had three precise shots there. Ava took this chance, and kicked the Elite to the ground in a mere second, ending it's life by curb stomping it. She looked over to where the gunshots had come from to find her saviour, expecting to see Jake-039, but instead she saw Twilight, trembling. She was using magic to hold one of the M6G-SOCOM pistols that had fallen away from Ava when she had gotten hit by the concussion rifle.
"O-oh Celestia... What have I done...?" Whispered Twilight.