'Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.'
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Thousands of people gathered throughout the massive underground city of New Geneva, built directly underneath the original Swiss city of Geneva and the current subterranean headquarters of the United Nations Solar Alliance and the International Red Cross. Onlookers were watching from the ground, shouting from the high rooftops, and cheering from the walkways and balconies. Down below on the ground, the distinct sound of drums, trumpets, trombones, and other musical instruments rang out as a massive marching band slowly walked through the streets, cheered on by the people as they maintained their focus and synchronization, creating a beautiful piece of ceremonial music.
Marching behind the musical band would be a large battalion of soldiers wearing the patch of the Solar Associated Treaty Organization's Army Branch. The first few battalions marching consisted of men and women wearing their formal service dress uniforms and headwear, with their officers following behind them in their own official uniforms. Armies from every member nation of SATO were seen marching, carrying the flags of their country including the USA. Following behind the humans were squads of robotic soldiers of various types and models, moving in perfect unison thanks to their synchronization.
Following behind the Army was SATO's Naval operations branch, as several columns of navy members wearing their blue uniforms marched quickly in unison, among them being members of the legendary Special Combat Air Recon in their black flight gear wearing their specially designed helmets. Following the Navy were the pilots of the SATO Air Force in their Red flight suits. Next were the Marines, wearing a dark shade of Green on their uniforms, and finally right behind them were the Coast Guard, a small but necessary part of SATO as they wore their pure White uniforms. The massive military parade of SATO was cheered on, soon followed by more marching bands, holographic parade floats, and large flying blimps.
Several famous rock bands and musicians were present giving concerts, singing loud vocals as everyone cheered and head banged, especially during the performance of the legendary band 'Sabaton', singing their newest song 'Retribution', based off of the valiant sacrifice of the Retribution on Mars. Fireworks were launched into the air, though they were holograms due to the risk of potentially damaging the underground's ceiling with the explosion, and massive light shows were displayed with a variety of colors and various shapes. On a distant rooftop of the SATO military headquarters, a lone woman in her flight suit looked upon the parade as she leaned on the railing while clutching her helmet, before hearing a male synthetic voice behind her.
"Captain Salter, it's about time I found out where you were."
Salter turned around as a smile streaked across her face as she looked at the synthetic solder before her, with his single blue optic staring right at her. She stuck out her arm and shook hands with the robot. "Ethan, I was wondering when you would show up, how ya been?"
"Pretty well and good, just got a new update to my firmware after waking up, got a couple new memory cores installed, but other than that, nothing really interesting. How about you, Salter?"
"Just woke up a few hours ago myself. I was told, in the words of the Admiral, to enjoy the show."
"Well then, I say we got the best spot to do it." Ethan said as they both turned around to look at the parade and those cheering it down below. The sight gave Slater a sense of warmth and happiness.
"Things can only get easier from here, eh Ethan?"
"Indeed Ma'am, though knowing the UNSA's luck, you just jinxed us all." Both Salter and Ethan chuckled at that joke. "But in all honesty ma'am, I think we'll be alright, and even if the going gets tough, we pull through. Like Reyes did." Ethan said while a hint of remorse was sensible in his robotic voice as Salter smiled.
"Yeah... Like Reyes."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city watching the parade from a different angle would be a small group of men standing upon a balcony while wearing their army service dress uniforms and bearing the distinct patch of the SATO Rangers, formed from the old Rangers of the United States.
"Corporal, you look more depressed than you were during Operation Wolverine. Lighten up a bit." Sergeant Foley said to Corporal Dunn as he looked down at the parade over the railing.
"Sorry sir, just... Not looking forward to what's up there, don't feel like myself at the moment..." Dunn said as he gestured upwards towards the ceiling of the underground city, or more accurately, towards the surface. "Sure we have confirmed sapient life, but is it friendly? Couldn't the AI have at least bothered to check?"
"You know the surface cams are ruined, it's by mere chance that we managed to identify anything. Besides, even if they are hostile, what's the worst they could do, invade us with their sharp sticks? Now just be happy your not down there parading like Ramirez, though I'm sure he's having fun."
"Yeah, you got a point sir... I just hope you're right about it. Bet Ramirez isn't thinking about it like I am."
"Knowing him, he's just happy to be back in the saddle. Now come on, they're serving drinks at the bar."
"Oh hell yeah." Corporal Dunn said as he followed his commanding Sergeant off of the balcony.
Racing right past below the balcony on a rail line would be a Usain-Class speed train, making it's way towards the large Conference Center at the very core of the city. Inside the train's center VIP compartment would be President Felix Stone himself, as he watched the celebration from the window.
"Nothing like throwing on a big parade to celebrate surviving the apocalypse, ain't I right Christopher?" Felix said as a robotic voice with an American accent answered him.
"Indeed sir, I would dare say that this is the biggest celebration in a million years, it's good to see everyone in high spirits. Let's just hope the meeting goes smoothly."
"Christopher, you know what happens during these things... They almost never go smoothly."
Half an hour later, President Felix was now sitting in his assigned seat within the Conference Hall, watching as the rest of the elected National Representatives and Presidents took their seats, including his fellow National Leaders as his good friend King Osas sat down next to him and spoke in a happy tone.
"Greetings, my good friend Felix. I hope cryogenic stasis was pleasant for you?"
"Indeed, felt like a quick power nap, and woke up to hear everyone cheering out, how about you?"
"The same as you my friend, it was quite a happy uproar of celebration. Many of my people are eager to see the surface, though they are at least willing to wait."
"Yeah, they'd better be willing to wait, we dunno what's even up there since the cam's are down. And we can't ask the ULC or MCU for orbital footage cause the inter-planetary communication satellites are gone. So until we send up the scouts, were blind as bats."
Osas nodded while the rest of the National Leaders arrived, shaking hands with each other before taking their seats. When everyone in the council hall was finally seated, the holographic projection of Bagley appeared in the center of the hall.
"Greetings everyone, you may all know me as Bagley, Britain's number one AI, and one of the designated managers for the GPN-MC network. Recently, I discovered affirmative signs of intelligent life upon the surface, and seeing as it was protocol to send out the wake up call, I did so at the first chance I got. Now we've all gathered here today to discuss this. However, first off, everyone turn off your cameras and recorders, because this is highly confidential information that is currently on a strict Need to Know basis, as in nobody besides everyone in this room needs to know."
As the windows into the hall were sealed shut with sound proofing steel, everyone made sure to check their phones were off before the Conference Hall slightly dimmed and a holographic projection activated at the center of the room. The projection displayed photos taken from one of the barely functioning cameras upon the surface, showing two ponies with one dressed in an explorers outfit and the other having a rainbow mane. Murmuring and discussion was heard in the conference room, with Supreme Leader Aladeen heard making a cat call before being quickly smacked by President Alexi. "Control yourself, comrade Aladeen, it is a simple pony, one with wings for that matter. Do not be weird."
"As you can all see, these... Pegasus creatures are wearing clothing not unlike that of some kind of tropical explorer. And from what the audio sensor picked up, they somehow speak English." Bagley said before he played an audio clip, as two female voices could be heard.
"I'll say, ain't nothin' like those ruins we explored last time. Look something Humans would build... But then again, how could humans ever build this?"
"I have seen human ruins before, Rainbow Dash, and from what I have learned, before they became isolated and violent, they were much like us, civilized and advanced."
"You honestly believe that?"
"Well, do you think Aliens built this place then?"
"... Fair point."
Everyone in the Conference hall began to murmur to themselves, some of them sounding confused, surprised, or in the case of President Felix, quite mad. "The hell do they mean by 'Isolated and violent'?" Felix quickly calmed down as Osas patted him on the shoulder.
"It is likely that the sight of our ruined cities, as well as likely discovering remnants of our ancient history has given them the impression that we destroyed ourselves. Personally, I believe that it is at least good to know that they are aware of our existence. Though it will pose some problems..."
As everyone in the Conference Hall continued to discuss amongst themselves, Bagley spoke up once more. "If it is any kind of good news, I have identified a potential opening to the surface, located conveniently at the auxiliary entrance for the Little Rock facility in the USA. As such, I believe it is necessary to deploy a reconnaissance force..." Everyone in the room murmured and spoke before they all nodded in agreement, as Felix stood up and spoke.
"I propose we authorize the deployment of Task Force Sentinel to deploy and recover reconnaissance data on the surface, which we will need to move forward with our reclamation." Felix said, before Bagley proceeded to speak.
"Alright, the vote on the matter of Task Force Sentinel's deployment is now in session. Please use your screens to state your stance." Each of the representatives then looked down to their datapads and made their selection, as they were displayed on a large holo screen in the center.
"Alright, 70% in favor, 10% in opposition, and 20% abstain. Alright, I believe that settles it everyone. Send word to Task Force Sentinel, because they've got work to do."