//------------------------------// // 6. Unto The Breach // Story: Beyond Earth: Phoenix Rising // by Stalin with Da Spoon //------------------------------// 'There are things known, and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.' - Aldous Huxley The sound of the Nikola electric engine gently humming along with the light rumbiling of the large armored vehicle moving across the concrete pavement would be heard as it slowly drove along the service road. The road itself was mostly clear of vehicles aside from a few material transports and maintenance crew carriers, but it was quite calm compared to what it would likely be like once traffic started getting up and going. The driver looked out the front window to see two armored cars driving in front of the APC, before looking to a holographic convoy status display on his left and seeing the vehicles highlighted in green. A light buzzing was heard, as the driver turned to look at the radio display, tuning the channel before connecting. "This is Watchdog to Hauler-1, report status." "Watchdog, this is Hauler-1, just exiting off of Military-Service Tunnel 7-1 onto Maintenance Access Road 2-5 at steady speed. Approximately three clicks out from Alpha Echo, no potential threats or disturbances along our route to report. All transport systems and escort vehicles are confirmed green, over." The driver said as he looked out the front window to see two armored cars driving in front of the APC. "Understood, maintain current course until arrival, then return to your assigned MRZ. Overlord said to have soldiers ready in case we need to boot up the Minute-man protocol if shit hits the fan with potential first contact. If things go well, you are authorized to go off-duty for the rest of your shift. Course, with how things are looking, you'll be working double shifts, so make the most of it." "Roger that, Hauler-1 out." The radio cut out as the man sitting in the passenger seat at the front of the APC straightened his helmet and adjusted his balaclava. The man's black helmet had a sticker on the front, the words 'Freedom Gang' written on it along with the image of a bald eagle and the American flag. The passenger then looked at the driver who was currently focused on the road, wearing a similar helmet with a license plate sticker with the words 'Born to Ride' etched on. The passenger then spoke through his black balaclava to the driver. "So far, a simple round trip like I thought it would be. No diversions or ambushes for us today, probably cause we took a simple service road instead of the highway." "There's always a chance for re-direction, Legion, even on the backroads. That's why they gave us a Spartan-Class APC and two armored cars to boot, even when were inside what's technically the safest facility in the world. Hell, you're the one who wanted to sit in the gunner seat in case we got some action, so you shouldn't be so happy." The driver replied as the passenger lightly punched him in the shoulder with a chuckle. "You never admit defeat even when I'm right, do you Ace?" "If I did admit defeat, it would be on my death bed." Ace said before both men laughed to themselves. "Anyways, go ahead and tell the boys in the back that we are almost there." "Why don't we use the intercom? It's there for a reason." "Because i'm busy focusing on driving, you're not really needed up here, and you need to stretch your legs rather than just sitting on your ass the entire trip." "Alright, I get it." Legion said as he undid his seatbelt, and pressing a button on his armchair as the seat pulled back away from the front of the vehicles cockpit while the holographic displays in front of him vanished, before hopping out of the seat and walking towards the door seperating the cockpit from the back of the vehicle. "So then, I hoisted my machine gun high, providing fire support while Nigel attempted to get the communication array up and running so we could contact the fleet and stop Moscow from being glassed, when suddenly a massive Martian Echelon-Class Battleship warped in, started bombarding the entire city!" Tachanka said, raising his arms to produce excitement. "They even hit their own bloody men, those martian bastards wanted Moscow gone." Nigel said with a hint of sadness as SAM chimed in. "It is confirmed that the SMF wished to demoralize the Russian Federation and the UNSA as a whole by wiping out the city of Moscow." "Damn, sounds like you went through more than we did in DC, even with the EMP." Dunn said with surprise in his tone. "Oh you boys saw nothing compared to what happened on Gateway Terminal 4, that was an absolute bloodbath. Probably the biggest and most destructive battle since the Lunar Civil War. And hot damn, was it fun to drive one of them jeeps with moon gravity. Almost went soaring over a carrier in low orbit!" Max said letting out a chuckle. "I was never a fan of anti-gravity operations, the battle on Mars had my sense of balance screwed up for weeks." Foley said, letting out a puff air as he shook his head. "Still feel it too." The distinct sound of the metal door to the cockpit opening was heard by everyone as they turned to see Legion poke his head through. "Alright everyone, were about 3 clicks out from the auxiliary entrance, just came out of the military tunnels, so make sure all of your guns and gear are secured, then be sure to be up and at 'em when we finally arrive, cause Watchdog will be expecting you to show up for briefing as soon as you arrive." "Roger that. You heard the man, gentlemen, lock and load." Foley said as everyone made sure to check their equipment while he pumped his RAK-9 Shotgun, leaving Commander Wallace to lean back and watch. "You boys remind me of back in the day when I served on Task Force Sentinel. Those were the days..." "You sound like my dad, commander. Always talking about the good ol days, even when those days sucked." Dunn said, as he loaded his KAR-45. "Well Dunn, back then we didn't have fancy synpatics and exosuits to help us. Had to get down and dirty. Though I admit, technology makes it easier." "Agreed sir." Nigel said, while slapping a new magazine into his ARX-160 Assault Rifle and patting SAM's drone. "You ready, SAM?" "Affirmative, all systems are primed, and my estimated tactical readiness is 100%." "Good shit." Suddenly, the APC came to a stop, as a voice come over the intercom. "This is your captain speaking, we have arrived at our destination. Please remove your seatbelts and offload through the rear door in an organized fashion. Also make sure all of your valuables and belongings are secured, or else they are officially my property. Thank you for riding with Ace Taxi." A slight chuckle sounded out before the intercom cut out. "Show off. Anyways, you heard the man, out you guys go." Legion said as he moved and pressed the button to open the ramp, as it lowered down and allowed the squad to exit, hurrying them along as he waved his hands. "Come on, come on, let's move it people, you got an important day ahead of you." Once everyone extied, they all turned back and saluted Legion, as he salute back before he closed the ramp and walked back up to the cockpit, taking his seat and moving forward as he looked to Ace. "Now that that's settled, wanna go get some Taco Bell on the way back to base?" "Hell yeah, brother." Blackout Squad along with Commander Wallace walked off the loading ramp and through an open shutter door, before coming into a massive hangar, seeing forklifts and heavy lifter drones carrying large crates, while trucks hauled massive cargo containers. Large cranes latched onto large pallets of boxes, lifting and moving them over the heads of workers unpacking many containers and emptying their contents. "Damn, seems like things are real busy right now." Blackburn said as he took a step back to let a worker pass by. "Yep, gotta get everything unpacked so we can keep people fed. Of course, we haven't opened up the military depot facilities, but that's a surprise tool that will help us later." Wallace said with a smirk as Tachanka chuckled. "I believe I understood that reference." "Every word out of the commander's mouth is a reference at this point." Dunn said while everyone watched as a truck pulled up in front of them, it's tailgate lowering as a man with black armor and helmet popped his head over, a distinct patch on his shoulder. "Aye, you guys Blackout Squadron? The boss sent us, were here to take you from here to the surface elevator and spare you the walk." The soldier said before Blackburn suddenly gasped. "Vance, is that really you, you son of a bitch?" The soldier then gasped as well, in a much more dramatic fashion. "Blackburn? Well I'll be damned, get up here!" Vance shouted as blackout squadron climbed into the back as Blackburn took Vance's hand and pulled himself up, while Wallace refrained. "I ought to head back to the control room and take command, you boys go have fun." He said saluting the squad while they saluted back, as the truck's tailgate lifted itself up and closed. Blackburn and Vance then turned to each other before high fiving. "Out of all the people acting as our trucker uber, it had to be you, eh?" Blackburn said with a giggle as Vance chortled back. "Could say the same about you being among the first schmucks going up to the surface in a million years, lucky bastard." "Aye, don't be mad cause my reputation got me this job, you still have the highest kill score." Blackburn then turned to the rest of his squad. "Everyone, this is Vance, part of Shadow Company and leader of the squad that rivalled my own. Speaking of which, where are Erikson and Diapolo?" "Both of them are in the front, I'll let them know to get us moving." He said as he pounded his fist on the roof of the trucks metal cab, before it's engine started up and began to move across the bay, driving under cranes and drones. "Well be sure to tell them I said hi. Anyways, the boss himself is in on this?" "Yep yep, said it'd be good publicity if one of our own went up there. Assuming this Op isn't redacted, that is." "Well, if all goes well, we might not even have to fire a single shot. But, knowing our luck, were probably have to dump a few magazines." Blackburn said as both men chuckled. "Well, it's good to see you two back together, but right now let's go ahead and make sure our comms are working. Mic check everyone!" Foley said, as everyone besides Vance activated their communications links, and spoke over the radio. "Check here." "Check check, one two, one two." "Checkity check, all good. "Good checks here, comrade." "Solid check." "..." "Dang it, thought Ramirez would actually speak for once. We'll just have to assume it's good." Dunn said in disappointment as everyone chuckled. "I will remotely access his helmet's camera and relay any information he sees to all of you, that way he can keep his vow of silence, and we aren't left in the dark on what he is seeing." "Good thinking SAM." Nigel said as he patted the drone on the head. "Anyways, we wouldn't have minded the walk, would've saved energy." "Trust me, they told us to make sure your asses were up there ASAP, so don't blame me for taking the fast lane. Plus, knowing you Blackburn, your legs would cramp." "Fuck off Vance, it was only one time." "I vowed to never let you live it down, pal. My sides still hurt from laughing so hard! Oooh wee, you guys should have seen it, it was fucking hilarious!" Vance said as he chuckled before receiving a solid punch in the shoulder by Blackburn. "Aye, don't be mad, you got your own laugh at me when you put a smoke grenade in my locker!" "Oh yeah, those were good times." "Yep, back before things went to shit." Vance said, standing out of his seat and looking over the roof of the truck's cab, while everyone else made sure their equipment was good to go. "Damn it, I think I dropped my own smoke grenade." Dunn said as he looking around his feet before Foley called out with the smoke grenade in his hand. "You mean this, Dunn?" He said before tossing the grenade to Dunn, who proceeded to catch it. "Be sure to keep it secure, don't want to drop it in the middle of a gun fight." "Yes sir." "Hey, don't call me sir, I ain't your superior anymore. We're in this together, and even if I have the rank of Commander, as far as I'm concerned were all on the same level. Oo-rah?" "Oo-rah, sarge." Dunn said before the truck came to a slow stop, the tailgate lowering as the men made their way out, hopping down onto the ground as Vance was the last to drop. "Alright, just head on into the elevator, the commander will tell you everything on your way up." Foley and the rest of the squad nodded, before walking over to a large elevator platform, able to fit all of them as they stepped on, with Dunn looking up the long shaft upwards, going on for a seemingly endless distance with no light whatsoever. "Damn, that's a long ass shaft." Dunn said, before Blackburn let out a witty remark. "That's what she said." Cue chuckling from the whole squad, except Ramirez, though he was smiling behind his helmet. "I saw my opportunity, and I seized it. Pretty damn well if I say so myself." "Yeah, you tell yourself that." SAM then spoke up. "Everyone, we are receiving a video call from Commander Wallace, patching it through to you all now." Everyone nodded as their helmet displays activated and a video of Wallace standing in a control room filled with operators appeared. "Greetings everyone, I assume you are all geared up and ready to go?" "Affirmative sir." "Excellent, now here's the plan. Seeing as we aren't sure what it's like up there, you need to keep your helmets on, and we will need to take scans and scamples of the atmosphere and environment, which is why we are sending something to help you with that." The sound of electric wheels could be heard as everyone minimized the call display to see a small rover approaching them. "Everyone, meet Rover." Rover extended a small mechanical arm out of a port and waved at the squad who waved back, before driving onto the elevator. "He's piloted by a repurposed K-9 AI, developed by those eggheads from Titan Industries." "You mean the ones they use in those fancy military robot dogs? Remember seeing one of them in action on Mars, they were ruthless, even better than those laser Wheelson drones. I swear I heard the dang thing bark at me one time..." Blackburn mentioned as he examined the small rover. "That explains why Rover is currently wagging his antenna." Nigel said as he gestured to Rovers antenna which was bobbing back and forth. "Is like tiny puppy dog." Tachanka said as he bent down and patted Rover on the head. "No offense to Rover here, but why don't we have something more... Advanced?" Dunn asked, while Rover let out a small static noise, similar to a growl. "Hey, I said no offense!" "Well, to be honest, were on a budget right now. Plus, this is the only model we could find which works with renewable energy. The rest of the ones in storage are all the way back from the First Expansion." "Damn, so this little guy is the best were gonna get? I can accept that. What's the rest of the plan?" Blackburn asked. "Your main objective is to follow Rover and keep him safe. We can use your camera and rig sensors to pick up data, and if you kill something, you can haul it back here. Happy hunting, Blackout Squadron." Wallace said before the call ended, as the sound of the elevator activating rang out while the railing rose around the squad, the lights on the platform flashing green. Slowly, the large platform began to move upwards, as Rover wagged his antenna in anticipation. Lights turned on in front of them and turned off behind them, lighting the way upwards before the platform began to slow down, until it came to a complete stop and the railing lowered, allowing everyone to step off the lift, and in front of a massive metal bulkhead. "Damn, that's a big door." Blackburn said. "Has to be, don't want any unwanted toxins, viruses, or aliens getting in, now do we? Now let's open her up and see what the new world is like." Nigel said before the door began to slowly rise upwards, revealing a large airlock and a second bulkhead. The team stepped inside before the first door sealed and the room began to de-pressurize, an alarm blaring and the lights blinking red, before turning green, as the second bulkhead unlocked and slowly lifted itself up. "Alright boys... Lock and load." As the sun slowly began to shine it's rays of light through the curtains in front of the open window, as a nice autumn breeze blew in from outside, the atmosphere was calm and serene, with only the whistling of the wind, the chirping of birds, and the ticking of a clock making sound. Ring! Ring! Ring! That is of course, until the alarm clock went off, as it began blaring out incessant ringing, quickly awakening the inhabitant of the bed it sat next to, as a lavender furred hoof outstretched from under the silk sheets of the bed as it reached and gently pressed down on the button, causing said incessant ringing to cease, as a content hum escaped the mouth of the bed's occupant. As the occupant painstakingly rose forth from the comfortable sheets, forsaking her warmth and comfort to allow herself to awaken, her wings proceeded to expand outwards, stretching out along with her forelegs, as she let out a groan of frustration. "I hate mondays..." Said the voice of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She thought that becoming the Princess of Friendship, and getting her own castle would at least somewhat help to resolve the pain and annoyance of waking up bright and early in the morning, but nope, it still sucked. Luckily, Twilight had come to terms with that fact, even if it really didn't make things easier. As she let out a long yawn after finishing her stretching, she lifted the covers off the rest of her body, as she hopped to the ground, making her way out of her room, and into the bathroom. As she entered the bathroom, she then brushed her teeth, took a quick shower to wake herself up, dried and brushed her mane, and emerged from the bathroom bright eyed and bushy tailed with a smile on her face, before she exited her room and made her way to the castle dining room. The smell of Breakfast then struck her nose, as she took in the fine aroma. "Mmmmm... Pancakes." Entering the room, she saw a full plate of pancakes upon the table, complete with a dousing of syrup. Taking a seat and proceeding to commence the devouring of her breakfast, she looked to see her good friend Starlight Glimmer reading over a sheet of paper with glasses on. "What's up Starlight?" "Oh nothing, just reviewing some paperwork for the school. Still haven't gotten any word back on... The request." "Well, it's either them trying to get it passed on all the way to Neighsay, or they are trying to slow us down. Probably both, it is a major change to both the school of friendship, and Equestria as a whole." "Indeed... It'd be the first time a Human attended the school." "Yeah, probably the first time a human has attended any Pony school! I just wish there wasn't so much opposition, the humans aren't as bad as they say. Heck, back when I was all evil and stuff, a few lived in Our town, and they got along well with everypony else." "Exactly, and those humans still live there today. Our town is the perfect model to base a new pony-human community off of. No more separation. Of course, we gotta take babysteps, cause we might make the wrong ponies mad." Twilight said with a grimace, before finishing her pancakes and standing up. "Anyways, Rainbow said she would be coming from a trip she had gone on with supposedly the legendary Daring Doo. It was probably a story, but I have no doubt it will be fun to listen to none the less." A few minutes later, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer exited the castle's main doors and walked into the town of Ponyville, seeing Ponies go about their day in a normal fashion. Some were pulling carts behind them, others were shopping at the market, and a few were simply sitting and admiring the nice day. Twilight was happy to see it like this, without any kind of friendship problems or villains rearing their ugly heads to ruin such a fine morning. Of course, Discord could show up any moment and add a little chaotic flair, but it would still be fine. Making their way over to Sugarcube Corner, opening the doors to see several ponies sitting at their tables drinking morning coffee and enjoying their sweets while socializing. Twilight looked over to see her fun loving friend Pinkie pie standing at the counter, currently handing a cupcake to a pair of ponies before noticing her friends and smiling even wider, before a split second later appearing front of them and gripping them in a bear hug. "Hey Twilight, hey Starlight! Good to see you today, want some breakfast, I can whip up some pancakes if you want-" "Oh no Pinkie, were good, we actually already had pancakes." "Oh, ok! Well, you can go ahead and take a seat while you wait for Rainbow, I'm sure she'll be here soon!" Both Starlight and Twilight nodded before taking their seats at a table. "You want some coffee?" "Sure! And bring one for Rainbow too." Twilight happily said, as Pinkie nodded and bounced off to the kitchen. A few moments later, the door to the shop swung open as the Rainbow maned mare herself stood in the doorframe, a smug smile on her face as she walked over to Twilight and Starlight's table. "Girls, I have just had the best ancient city exploration with Daring doo to date!" "Didn't you say that about the last time?" "That time was different. This time the ruins had these massive tall buildings, almost scraping the sky. There were a bunch of weird magical projections fizzing out, and we even saw ancient bones!" "Huh, so I presume you visited a city built by one of the Ancients again?" "Yeah, and honestly, Doo thinks the cities were built by humans, but I say that's a load of bologna." "I don't believe so, humans are quite intelligent when they work together and put their intelligence to it's full capability. After all, many of our recent technology advancements are thanks to human cooperation. Heck, if it weren't for us bringing them into Equestria a thousand years ago, we wouldn't have gotten nearly as far. Shame they are so violent and mean all the time, but they have different world views I suppose." "And as all other creatures, they are entitled to those views." Starlight said as she followed up Twilight's statement. "Yeah whatever, just don't they can build something like that. It's not like they have the power of manipulating gravity!" "Gravitational Disruption Vortex Projector armed and ready to go." "You don't gotta say the whole damn name, Nigel." "I just like the way it rolls off the tongue, mate. Plus, GDVP just doesn't have the same ring to it, y'know? Gotta make sure my vocabulary stays refined." "Your australian, your vocabulary is impossible to refine." "Could say the same about you Americans." Chuckiling was heard along with the sound of the door slowly rising upwards, sunlight begining to flow into the room, illuminating it as the squad's visors darkened to protect them from the sun's glare, though it still caused some to wince. Soon the view cleared, revealing a large amount of trees, a blue sky, and the sun shining brightly in the sky. "Fuck, that's pretty damn bright. Least the sun is out, so we know that the world isn't stuck in perpetual darkness." "Agreed, now remember, keep the little rover safe, and were set... Can I get a ooo-ah?" "OOO-AH!" "Hell yeah." And so the team stepped out onto the grass, officially being the first humans to do so in a million years. Or so they thought...