“The Covenant are back.” He took off sprinting towards the Everfree Forest and the sound of weapon fire. Dash grabbed him under the arms, getting Jennings towards the sound of gunfire as fast as she possibly could. A cone of rainbow exploded outwards as they approached the site of the skirmish. Jennings pointed towards an elite towering over the wounded Shining Armor. At the last second, Jennings noticed the short blade of plasma held in the elite’s hand, being raised for a thrusting motion towards Dash.
“Look out!”
One hour earlier:
Shining Armor slipped into his breastplate, the plates of metal clanking together as he fastened them together. He was preparing to take a contingent of the Canterlot Guard into the Everfree Forest to confront these Covenant. That being said, he wasn’t expecting to run into any. Even if they did, the Covenant would never be so foolish to attack such a vastly numerically superior force. Having no experience fighting the Covenant before, he couldn’t say for sure if they had better training or more disciplined troops than he did, but he was fairly confident that he had the advantage in that area too. If that human could wipe out about ten of them without too much work, he and his 50 Guardians would have no problem at all.
“Sir, we are ready to move out,” said one of his soldiers.
“Thanks Rookie,” he said to his newest soldier, Stormchaser. “Ready for your first excursion in the big leagues?”
“Yes, sir! I’ve been wanting all my life to be in this unit.”
“But are you ready?”
“Yes, sir. I have been running through all the battle drills in my head. I refuse to let you down, sir!”
“Good to hear. Normally on the first mission, the newest member sticks by the most experienced soldier in the unit to gain as much knowledge as they can.”
“And who is that, sir?”
“That would be me.”
“Ah, right. I knew that. So where do you want me to stand?”
“Doesn’t really matter, just be nearby.”
“Yes, sir!” The Rookie said enthusiastically, fairly jumping closer to Shining. Shining concealed a grin at the youthful vigor of Stormchaser. Shining Armor walked up to his unit, disseminating orders in a rapid, practiced manner. He split the unit up into various sections, each one having a certain area designated to search. They were going to move forward through the forest in a linear fashion, sweeping all the Covenant before him. He would wipe them out before this human could start that diabolical training camp of his. He would prove to Princess Celestia that there was no need for any extra training, that he and his men could protect Equestria without the help of a reckless alien who endangered and insulted his family.
“Sir, everypony is in position,” his second in command reported.
“Move ‘em out.”
“Forward, march!” Shining Armor’s NCOs were notoriously loud, and this stallion was no exception. Ears ringing slightly, Shining took his own place in the line, moving slowly forward through the brush. Minutes passed without incident, each pony pushing forward in the line, searching high and low for the alien intruders. Nothing could be found so far.
“Is this how most of your missions go? With nothing happening?” Stormchaser asked after a while.
“Normally there’s more action. But I am predicting that not much will happen on this mission. Even if we do find them, by description the enemy sounds rather weak in comparison to the strength we have mustered here.”
“Oh, really? When I read the reports, I found them rather terrifying.”
“You haven’t had as much experience in the Everfree Forest as I have.”
“That’s true sir. Umprf!” Stormchaser walked into the back of another soldier as every person in the line halted, staring upwards. Stormchaser looked up at what everypony was staring at. Over 100 eyes tracked a blue, fuzzy ball as it hissed through the air in a lazy arc.
“What in Equestria…” Shining Armor trailed off, watching it float through the air. It stuck to one of his soldiers a short way down the line.
“Is that a parasprite? Get it o-” A massive concussion shattered the air. Shining Armor blinked his eyes, trying to get rid of the spots that were left over from the brilliant blue flash.
“What happened to him? Where did he go?” The rookie asked innocently. Shining Armor couldn’t find words as bits and pieces of shredded meat rained down.
“Kill the heretics!” An elite jumped from the bushes, its hands encircling a small bluish device. Blinding bursts of light erupted from its nose, zipping through the air. Everything the bolts touched burned or burst into flame. Shining dashed to his left, hearing one of his comrades howl in pain.
“What’s wrong?”
“That thing got me!” The soldier held his stomach in pain. Shining ducked as more of the bolts scorched the air just above his head. Shining couldn’t look at the wound very long, he knew he couldn’t do anything. The stallion had been gutted the plasma. He tore his eyes from the gore, making eye contact with the soldier. He struggled to find words to say to comfort the dying stallion.
“I’ll… I’ll go get a medical kit, stay there!” Shining ducked and dodged through the smoke, fire, and exchange of low and high tech weaponry looking for his second in command.
“Sir, over here!” Shining ran to the cluster of stallions who were furiously firing arrows at the Covenant. A few stuck into the armor wore by the grunts, most bounced off the shields of the Elite.
“Sergeant, what’s the situation?” He already knew the situation, but he hoped his NCO had a shred of intelligence that he hadn’t been told yet that could turn the tide.
“Reports say there are very few enemy soldiers. One tall, two short and fat, two short and gangly with odd bits of fur at various points on its body.” Not too many enemies. That was new. And good.
“Anything else?”
“Nothing has any effect on them! Spears, arrows, even magic doesn’t pha-” His NCO’s head exploded as a plasma bolt struck him square in the temple.
“Buck!” Shining Armor stood there for a few seconds, slowly realizing the liquid covering his own body had once belonged to his second in command. And this whitish piece of goo was… an eyeball. Shining jumped away, shaking his body vigorously.
“Sir, what are your orders?” The cluster of terrified soldiers stared at him with wide eyes. In the few seconds that passed while Shining processed the situation, hundreds of plasma rounds passed overhead. His training started to kick in again, albeit slowly. Soon, he was dishing out orders as if he knew what was going on.
“You three, keep up the volume of fire from your bows. Rookie, you sprint around to another section, tell them to form a good defensive position. Once they do that, get to back here and we will flank the enemy. Go.” The soldiers gave a quick salute, and carried out their own duties. Shining Armor gave a quick look around for a weapon of his own. Nothing lay nearby. What was it that the sergeant was saying about magic? It wasn’t working? Well, at this point he had nothing left.
Shining jumped up a nearby stump, his horn glowing brightly. He directed all his energy into propelling a blast wave outward to knock away his opponents. The purple sphere pulsed outwards, flooding the woods in a vibrant light. The Covenant may have been knocked back onto their heels, but were far from being launched into oblivion. He wracked his brain, trying to come up with another solution.
Incoming fire intensified, focusing on his silhouette. He ducked behind cover as plasma fire burst the stump he had been standing upon into flames. He sprinted at a crouch to a new position. Regaining a dominant view of the battlefield, again he channeled all of his willpower into a single blast, this time kinetic in nature. He hurtled a large boulder at the enemy position, crushing the two skinny aliens and two squat aliens beneath the behemoth weight of the stone. His moment of victory was short lived, as a plasma bolt glanced across his shoulder, causing him to crumple to the ground in agony.
“Sir, crawl over here, we have some medical supplies!” One of his few remaining soldiers cried over the sound of the raging battle. A brilliant blue explosion turned the area into a temporary inferno, burning the three remaining soldiers in the defensive position to a crisp. Shining Armor watched as one of the crispy, charred soldiers twisted and fell to the ground, the corpse shattering on impact. Ash spread across the ground as the horrible smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
All sounds of battle ceased.
Where were the other positions? Had Stormchaser reached the rest of his unit and carried out the instructions? Was he the only one left? He glanced around rapidly for answers, his burned tissue not letting him move quickly in any direction. One of the hulking alien bipeds in red armor stepped into sight.
Shining Armor lay perfectly still, hoping this creature would not notice him. He watched through mostly closed eyes as the split jaw of the being opened and closed, uttering many guttural noises that he could only guess was some form of language that extolled the virtues of violence for the sake of violence. At least, that’s what it sounded like.
The creature moved around through the battlefield, rummaging for some unknown item, obviously not finding it by the angry demeanor the creature took. In savage frustration, it kicked the heads of one of the charred soldiers off, causing bits and pieces to fall on Shining. Involuntarily, he flinched. The elite noticed, and set on him in a heartbeat. Shining felt himself being picked up into the air quite easily and held at eye-level with the towering fiend.
“Where is the human?” It said in a low, gravelly voice. The manner in which it spoke conveyed its murderous intent.
“Last I saw, he was at your mom’s house—rrgh!” The elite put almost all of its weight on the burn.
“I have unfinished business with the human. Tell me where he is, and I’ll let you live.” The eyes of the creature told a different story, flicking back and forth angrily.
“I haven’t seen him in quite a while. Tried not to associate with him. He fed us a bunch of tales about how bad you guys are. Didn’t believe him myself. Turns out, I was wro—rargh!” The elite pressed one of its large fingers into the wound, twisting.
“Where would I find this human?”
“Don’t know, you could try—umf!” The elite threw him easily a full 100 meters, sighing in disgust.
“Useless, just like the last few I talked too.” The elite withdrew a small, plasma blade and reared up to strike. Was that an explosion? Apparently the elite heard it too, pausing to see its source.
“Look out!” Jennings called at the last second. Dash saw the blade at the last second, twisting to avoid the dangerous blade. Dash smacked into the elites body heavily, draining the shields on impact.
The impact sent Dash, Jennings, and the elite spinning off in different directions. Jennings and the elite were back on their feet in a split second, leaping towards each other with murder on the forefront of both their thoughts.
Jennings ducked as a powerful arm swung heavily over his head, shattering the tree trunk behind him. The elite grunted in pain as he withdrew his bruised knuckles, turning rapidly to keep tracking the speedy movements of the physically inferior human. What he lacked in power, this human certainly could account for in agility. Jennings clambered up the back of the elite, standing on its hips. He pounded the neck and face of his opponent with elbows, causing the elite to roar in pain. It reached back, grabbing Jennings, tossing him against a nearby tree. Jennings hit with a sickening thud.
Jennings tried to shake the stars from his vision, but the elite was upon him before he could recover. Through his blurry vision, he made out the shape of foot coming from the sky to crush his head. He rolled to the side, the boot crashing to the ground where his body had been moments earlier. Jennings continued his roll, finding the other leg the elite. He popped up on an elbow, trapped the heel of his opponent, and struck the hip, causing the alien to tumble to the ground alongside the ODST.
Jennings jumped to his feet, grabbing the nearest rock. The elite jumped up, blood roused by the surprisingly good fight put up by the puny human. The elite closed the distance in a split second, preparing to throw a bone-crushing punch. Jennings jumped up and in, grabbing onto the chest plate of the alien, plantings his feet on the thighs of the elite. He swung the rock downwards, cracking the skull of his opponent. The elite’s eyes narrowed in anger, and its mandibles twitched. The elite lunged its head forward, diving for Jennings’ neck. Jennings ducked his chin, head butting his opponent. The elite’s bite was diverted down; the elite grabbed a full mouthful of Jennings’ left shoulder, ripping and shredding it with ease.
Jennings screamed in pain, swinging the rock again, striking with almost as much power as before. The elite let go, diving forward to crush Jennings beneath his massive weight. Branches snapped, pressing painfully into Jennings’ back as he fought the behemoth for control. The elite raised an arm again, aiming for Jennings’ face. Jennings twisted his body slightly; the fist whizzing by his head with unimaginable force. Jennings leaned upwards, reaching his arm around the elites’ head and around to the other side of its face, the back of its head cradled in the crook of his elbow. He plunged his thumb into the eyesocket of his opponent, wrenching the head backwards and at an angle, throwing his opponent off of him. Jennings scrambled to his feet, grabbing one of the branches he had broken with his body for defense.
The elite grabbed at its eye, semi-blinded by pain. The abrupt and forceful yank on his already fractured skull was not doing him any good. In a rage, he flew at Jennings flailing wildly for a strike. Jennings batted the blows away with his stick. Jennings dropped to a knee, throwing his arm forward abruptly. The elite stopped dead in its tracks, staring down at the branch protruding from its stomach. He reached down, pulling it from his flesh with a sharp motion. He held it up to his eyes, noting the blood dripping from its point. His blood. His anger knew no bounds. To be severely wounded by a human in a hand to hand fight? Unaccepetable!
Jennings raised his left arm at the last second as the branch had been turned against him, transformed from a human stabbing weapon to an alien club, dripping with gore. The branch shattered against his arm and shoulder, the impact tossing Jennings a few feet sideways and into the dirt. Tossing the destroyed stick, the alien set upon Jennings with a new fervor. He grabbed Jennings by the shoulders, raising him up and repeatedly slamming him against the ground. The elite stood up, apparently taking a second to enjoy the view a human bloodied, bruised, and at his mercy. Jennings stuck his arm out on the ground, reaching for another rock or stick to use. The elite leaned in, grabbing Jennings by the head, preparing to squash it with its crushing grip. He lifted Jennings up to eye level, so that he could stare at the human who almost bested him. Jennings swung his right arm with all his might, sticking a branch into the neck of the elite.
The elite dropped Jennings, clutching at its throat. As soon as Jennings hit the ground, he grabbed another stick, clambering back up the front of his opponent, thrusting it into the neck repeatedly. The elite looked confused for a few seconds, staring at its hands as its lifeblood rushed out from the gaping wounds in its neck. A few seconds later it toppled over, twitched, then lay still.
Jennings left his dead foe behind, immediately running over to where Shining Armor lay.
“Are you alright?”
“Did anypony else survive?”
“How bad is your injury?”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said grabbing at Jennings, locking eyes in desperation. He repeated his previous inquiry slower. “Did anypony else survive?” Jennings looked around, shaking his head.
“I don’t think so.”
“No, I refuse to believe it. Help me up,” Jennings pulled the injured commander to his feet.
“Alright. Where to?”
“Half the unit is supposed to be over in this general area,” Shining said, still in disbelief. His mind registered the charred and burned bodies of the men around him, but he couldn’t process it right now. Somepony had to be alive. Jennings walked alongside the soldier. Sometimes it just helped to have someone else there.
“Take your time, you’re still injured.” Shining paid no heed to the words of the ODST.
“Hello? Is anypony there?” He shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Sir,” a voice choked out from the ground below. Shining looked down, seeing Stormchaser lying on the ground in a pool of blood. A gaping hole in his neck causing him to choke in blood few words.
“Rookie! You ok?” Stormchaser shook his head
“I failed to make it to the rest of the platoon. I messed up.”
“What? No, you did everything right, Rookie. You did great. Now we’ll just patch you up and send you home.”
“Did anypony else make it?” Shining shook his head, trying to push off the bitterness that was beginning to creep into his mind.
“No, Rookie. Just us. You made it.”
“I’d rather not have, sir. I’d rather have saved my buddies.”
“Don’t worry about what happened to them. It was out of your hooves. Nopony could have expected them to be so formidable.”
“I’m sorry I failed, sir. I’m sor…” Stormchaser’s voice trailed off as his eyes rolled back in his head.
“Rookie, you did the right thing, none of this was your fault. Rookie? Rookie? Stormchaser!” He was shouting in desperation, shaking the body vigorously in an attempt to wake up his fallen soldier. “Damnit!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A/N:
The reason why everything went nuts this chapter, was that I wanted to have a significant event directly influence other… things… yet to come. Secretive things. Awesome things. At least, awesome in my mind. I hope everyone agrees with me.