//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Reconstruction // Story: Tiberian Eclipse // by Material Defender //------------------------------// “I can think of better first things to say than that, commander,” Wesley said, suppressing his need to break out laughing on the spot. “Can’t you think of something better than that?” “I’m a commander, not a diplomat, Wesley,” Alexandra said. “You want one of those, you go ass-kissing around the Office of the Secretary-General. Plenty of them around there.” Celestia looked at him and raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Alexandra had just said. “Does he not have the same translation ability that you do, doctor?” she asked him. “Well, he does, but...” Wesley gestured to Alexandra. “I guess he doesn’t have it on at the moment. Commander, if you would, please.” “Ah, right. I keep forgetting that the damn thing doesn’t turn on by default.” Program select. Local. Task force. InOps. Translation program. Activate. He cleared his throat for a moment before starting, his voice low. “Hello there, Princess... uh, Celestia. I’m Commander Martin Alexandra, the leader of the task force sent to... well, ‘reclaim’ this planet. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” “As it is to meet you, Commander Alexandra,” she replied smoothly. “I welcome you and your mission. You are... smaller in stature than the others.” “That’s not a normal thing. My default size here is what a human is supposed to be... we just wear these suits as means to... uh, supplement our resilience and increase our aptitude in combat.” He looked at the zone troopers standing behind him. “Like those ones.” “I see,” she said evenly, eyeing his armor as she sized him up compared to the troopers. Her sight was tinted purple as the barrier guarding Canterlot still stood between them, and she suddenly remembered that he was standing outside, and she inside. “Would you like to come in?” “If you’ll have me, then yes,” Alexandra said. “There’s a lot of things I’d like to talk to you about, some of which you might have heard of already, if Wesley was with you at the time.” “Yes... the ‘Scrin’, as you call them? I would like to know more about them, but I would rather not discuss it within earshot of my subjects.” Her horn glowed brilliant yellow and a small entrance in the bubble opened for him. “Please, enter.” “Don’t mind if I do,” he said. He looked at the squad standing behind him and pointed at the ground. “Hold here. Assist in OP Castle’s activities if you want to... and make sure nothing bad happens. Usual fare. Got it?” “Crystal clear, sir,” the closest zone trooper said, saluting him. “Good.” He strolled through the barrier and heard a small buzz as it sealed behind him. “Shields... interesting. You use... ‘magic’ to power it?” “Indeed. One of our own, Captain Shining Armor, is currently fueling the shield with aid from his wife, Princess Cadance. They’ve been doing it for as long as this crisis has existed, and I fear that its beginning to take their toll on them. Please, walk with me,” she said, gesturing with an open wing towards the main street that led to the castle. “We could move in one ourselves, you know,” he offered as they began to walk, curious watchers held at bay by her royal guards. “Covers roughly the same amount of space, and maybe more or less powerful. Citadel shield systems were made to practically withstand the end of the world itself... or something similar to that. They can withstand orbital bombardment, so I guess that counts.” “Orbital... bombardment?” Celestia tenuously asked. “You mean dropping things... from the skies?” “Big, heavy things, fired at breakneck speeds that impact the ground hard enough to leave a crater,” he said, observing his HUD’s airborne contaminant readout. No detection of Tiberium spores within the area, and the atmosphere was breathable, but still bad. Par for the course on afflicted zones, but much better than the valley below. It occurred to him that only he and Celestia were the ones walking, so he stopped, and turned around. “Doctor. You’re not coming with?” “Apologies, Commander Alexandra. I am terribly occupied overseeing the distribution of relief aid at the moment,” Wesley said, waving him off as Twilight checked something off on the clipboard she floated in front of her as a box was handed off from trooper to pony. “If you require anything, just send me a message.” “Understood.” Though the ponies seemed to be good-natured, it was in his experience as a commander that usually somewhere out there, someone wanted him dead. ‘Someone’ could apply to anything, including colorful talking ponies, but just in case, he had getaway devices built into his suit as a precaution, on top of the convenience granted to him by his jetpacks. “You seem tense,” Celestia noticed. “I’m always tense when Tiberium is involved,” he replied. How did she know? It wasn’t like she could see behind his helmet. There was no worry to be had here, anyway; if things went south, EVA would notify every ISDI unit within the immediate star system, and the soldiers around Canterlot would immediately drop everything they were doing and rush to his aid. “If you wish, you can still bring along members of your security detail with you,” she offered. He put a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “I assure you, Your Majesty, that I am clearly capable of handling myself during times of duress.” Dropping the act, he quietly added, “I’ve heard that there are... groups among you that aren’t entirely pleasurable to work with.” “You heard correctly,” Celestia hushedly replied back. “Things... have been building up to a breaking point recently. I fear that they may spiral out of my control, should they decide to take control at a time where a power shift would be advantageous to their goals.” “As far as things go, Princess, I don’t think I have much in the way of capacity to intervene. There are clear-cut protocols and rules laid out for assisting another sapient species under the threat of Tiberium, but I’m afraid getting involved in internal affairs is something we can’t do.” “I understand. In any case, I have been anticipating their actions, and I may have to act soon...” she began, until Alexandra held up a hand to stop her. “Make no mistake: we are a military and peacekeeping organization. If these troubles begin escalating to involve malicious destruction of property—either yours or ours—or harm to civilians or us, then we will intervene.” The crowds following them began to disperse as the guards became more forceful in their efforts to deter watchers, and they soon found themselves the only ones in the middle of the street, surrounded by a ring of guards. Celestia watched him carefully for a moment, then spoke her next words evenly. “And you believe that they may come after you?” Alexandra shrugged. “Maybe. Seems to be the easiest way to shoot yourself up the ladder if you’re looking for a convenient scapegoat, though that won’t really help much considering that if I get removed from the situation, my replacement isn’t going to be so carefree.” And it was the truth. Redding was a methodical commander, always one to think first and act second; if he died, Redding’s first inclination would not be vengeance. He would look for answers, and he would get them... and due to his sense of strategy and tactics, along with his lauded textbook executions, he had been granted the largest InOps division and commando contingent in the entire ISDI. And Redding always favored situations that gave him an advantage... “I see,” Celestia continued, meeting the eyes of a guard standing next to her. “Return to the castle immediately. I will expedite the journey of our guest here to my throne room to finish our conversation. You may meet us there.” The guard nodded, and stepped off to notify the other guards of her orders. “Expedite? You aren’t seriously thinking of flying me to your castle, are you?” he asked. She smiled mischievously at him. “Oh, no, of course not. I wouldn’t dare do such a dangerous thing, especially to an important guest such as yourself. I have something safer, and far quicker, in mind.” Her horn glowed again as an aura enveloped the both of them. “Do not panic. This will be over shortly.” “So, wait...” he said, as he looked down at the rest of his body. “What are you doing?” “Teleporting, of course,” she said matter-of-factly. “Or... does your kind not have this at your disposal?” “Not... internally,” he said, ordering EVA’s systems onboard his suit to gather as much data on this strange phenomenon as it could. “Usually we have machines or something similar to facilitate that, but even then, the results have never been... fruitful.” Scrin jump technology unfortunately didn’t do much to forward teleportation technology. “Well, then I hope this will be an... eye-opening experience for you,” she ended, giving a dainty laugh as his vision was blinded and he felt himself being pulled out of the world for the smallest fraction of a second. “Commander? Are you okay? Your position just shifted a huge distance within the span of a few seconds and EVA sent off some alarms,” Masterson’s voice echoed. “Uh, seriously, Marty. Just say something. Y’know, before I start crying wolf and you end up proving my theories right.” Alexandra coughed and opened his eyes, seeing the familiar light-blue font of his HUD, still fully operational, and the sight of red carpeting and a pale white wall beyond. The padded sounds of hoofsteps approached him and he saw Princess Celestia’s bangles stop before his face as she angled her head downwards and worriedly gave a look at the black matte color of his faceplate. “Oh, goodness...” she said. “Commander, are you... are you okay?” “Just... fine...” he said, to both Masterson on the comms and Celestia in front of him. “That took the wind out of my sails, Princess. One hell of a teleport.” “Jesus Christ, man, you nearly scared the living daylights out of me there. You’re lucky that your suit has a tracking chip in it, otherwise things could have gotten dicey. And what’s this crap about teleportation I hear?” Masterson said, as Alexandra ignored him to focus on Celestia’s words. “I apologize. I had wanted to make a better impression than that, so I...” She sighed as he stood up, patting off his armor as she tilted her head at him. “I sincerely apologize.” She shook her head perfunctorily, tossing her wavy mane in various directions before stopping to stare at the ground. “These times have been very trying, and I wasn’t thinking straight. Very serious harm could have come from my teleportation spell.” “Yeah... about that... what’s the worries behind that? You can just take matter and just go... poof!” He said, waving his hands around for emphasis. “And then it’s somewhere else.” “Well... there was always the worry that either you yourself or anything that you wear might not... react well to magic. That could have very well ended disastrously for the both of us.” “Humans don’t use much in the way of magic, Your Highness.” “That’s what you think...” Masterson said, catching wind of his conversation with Celestia. “You seem alright, so I’m going to just... uh, end this conversation here, since it’s important and all that. Just be sure to tell me the important parts about this teleportation, later, alright? It’s important for my... uh, notes.” “Duly noted, Masterson,” Alexandra replied under his breath. “So, Your Highness... Majesty... Excellency...?” She laughed. “Any will do, Commander Alexandra.” “Right, well... Majesty, I’m still alive, so there’s no harm done.” To put it lightly... “And we were discussing this whole... infighting problem earlier. I suppose you can’t just bring them in because they haven’t done anything yet, huh?” Alexandra then noticed the guards positioned around the throne room as Celestia ascended to her seat of power, gracefully sitting down before looking down at him. “Correct. The party in question has... provoked several stern responses from me multiple times, but they have never escalated things to the point where I was required to bring them in.” “Let me guess: politicians,” he blurted out. “Hmm, almost correct,” she said amusedly. “Equestria has always been ruled by my own guidance as well as those of the ruling noble parties. I fear that some of them may be planning to do so, and I know that they have expressed intent to do this for some time now.” “Infighting solves nothing,” he said, shaking his head as his repeated diagnostics on his suits had shown him that nothing was damaged. Good. “Why slimy fuc—assho—people like them even want to start up trouble during times like this is beyond me. Self-interests, I guess? Why the heck do they even want to depose a pegasus-unicorn hybrid that looks like the spitting image of royalty, anyway?” “Many of them have their motivations, of course. All of which pertain to power and control, as is to be expected from one used to such positions,” she said. “I bring this up to you because I believe that you should be well aware of every party involved should things come to blows between us.” “Well, I appreciate that, Your Majesty.” There were still concerns, of course, ones that would have to be relayed to both InOps and getting a second opinion from Redding on, but he would play along for now. Celestia did not seem to do wrong given how she and her subjects acted, but looks were always deceiving, and it was always a good idea to play the guessing game knowing your opponent’s moves. “Now, there’s something else I came to speak to you about...” “Your request for land,” she said, nodding. “Granted.” “...that’s it? No paperwork, no fanfare, nothing?” “That will come later, I assure you, but for now, you are in pressing need to establish a foothold in this region, and your increased presence both here and in the valley would be greatly appreciated. You and your expeditionary force have been the greatest windfall for us in a very long time, and we have no wish to sour relations between us.” “Good...” he said, sending the green light down through EVA’s lines and setting the gears into motion. “How many can I expect to house?” “The numbers elude me at the moment, but I shall take a census and have the results delivered to you by the end of the day.” “Counting that many in only a day?” he asked curiously. She remained poised as a guard trotted up the steps and listened to her whispered orders, bowing deeply and galloping off out of the throne room doors as they shut behind him. “You underestimate how quickly we can accomplish things, Commander. I will have the results delivered to you, or Doctor Wesley, in the case where you cannot be located.” “That’ll do,” he said, standing for a few moments as he watched the guards standing at the base of the throne. “There is also the matter of the Scrin to attend to...” she said. “You say that they are coming to this planet. How long until they arrive?” “Within the next several weeks, if our assumptions are correct. Their numbers are unknown, but they were originally intended to have two carrier ships en-route to this planet. One of them was sabotaged and destroyed by our strike teams, but the other escaped, and is on its way here now.” He activated a hologram that transmitted from his helmet, tracing a star map of the current sector in the air in front of him. Starting with the planet that they were on, it zoomed out to show the ISDI and Scrin territories in the north, as well as the travel routes of their reinforcements. “As you can see,” he said, “we’re both sort of in a rush to reach this planet. My expeditionary force is nothing compared to the elite battalions that I usually have under my command, and the Scrin forces en-route to this planet are one of the more dangerous cults. One that my own soldiers have fought many times before.” “Dangerous? How so?” she asked. “And is there any way we can help you prepare for them?” “Very dangerous. The Scrin military is divided into sub-groups called cults, each specializing in a branch of warfare that is best suited to their temperaments. The one en-route to this planet now is Annihilator Zero-Two, one of the largest cults and known for their ruthlessness and power. Any planet caught unaware by this is completely razed and converted for their needs. And as far as things go... no, I don’t think there’s much you can do to help us at the moment. We just need to prepare.” “I see. Should you require the assistance of any of my ponies, simply ask and they shall provide it.” She sighed, shaking her head. “The onset of war in a time of crisis... this certainly does not bode well for us.” “Oh, yeah, before I forget,” Alexandra interrupted. “I’d like to ask if you’d like to replace the shields...” “Oh!” she said, standing and trotting down the steps. “Yes, I believe that would be for the best. Though I am... reluctant to hand away our protection to another party, Captain Armor has been at this for far too long. I will consent to your offer, and allow you to set up your shields within our fair city. I will notify him immediately.” “Right,” he said. “You don’t mind if I tag along, do you?” “I do not,” she said, her mane meandering around the air and catching his eye; EVA’s scans said it was definitely a mane, but nothing like he’d ever seen before. “Care for another teleport?” “I’d prefer to walk.” “Of course,” she said. “No accidents, of course. Are humans attuned to magic?” she asked, strolling past him towards the double doors as they glowed with a faint blue magic. It opened slowly as the guards standing on both sides bowed to her. Alexandra followed her out, entering the castle hall that was lit in a dull musty green from behind the stained glass windows. “No, magic is a... myth, where we come from. Well, was a myth now...” They turned left and walked down the empty halls, towards a set of massive onyx double doors guarded by a dozen royal guards. A faint purple glow shimmered from behind the slits of the frame. “They’re behind that?” “That they are.” As they drew closer, the glow intensified, almost to the point of blinding the naked eye had his helmet not immediately acclimated to the intense radiance of the purple light. The guards on duty seemed to pay no mind to it, saluting Princess Celestia as she unlocked the heavy deadbolts within the door’s structure and slowly pushed it open. “Whoa,” Alexandra whispered. The room was almost barren, save for torches lining around the entire encirclement of the rooms, and a small door off to the side; in the center sat a transparent purple bubble, pulsating with magical energy as it shot into a great crystal dangling off the ceiling, shining rays of shielding magic onto reflectors that transferred the energy to the shield covering the city. “They will be very glad to know that their time of rest draws near,” Celestia whispered, looking from him to the pair of ponies that sat next to each other on a spacious floor cushion within the bubble, their labored breaths following each other’s as their eyes remained closed, oblivious to their presence. Celestia stepped forward first, holding an outstretched hoof to Alexandra to stay back. She circled around the bubble, watching the couple within with sad eyes as she stopped before them again, and inched her head closer to the bubble’s surface. “Shining... Cadance...” she cooed. “How are you both?” Cadance opened her tired eyes, and gave Celestia a feeble smile. “Hello, auntie... we’re doing... fine...” she managed, still leaning against Shining’s shoulder as the stallion simply looked at Celestia and gave the best smile he could muster. “That is good to hear,” Celestia soothingly said, feeling her heart sink at the sight of their tired eyes and haggard bodies. “Today... today I bring you good news, Cadance. We have found a candidate able to help us with protection of the city, and can provide a shield of their own.” Both their eyes widened in surprise for the first time in months. “R-really...?” Cadance asked. “Oh, please, please, please tell me that this isn’t a dream, auntie...” “It isn’t,” Celestia confirmed. “We’ve finally found a replacement for the both of you, so now you can rest. In fact, this newcomer stands with us in this very room...” Without looking back at him, she waved Alexandra forward with a wing. He quickly followed and appeared next to her, in all his alien wonder. “Who... is that?” Shining asked. “Greetings,” he said, giving a small wave. “I’m Commander Alexandra, leader of an expeditionary force sent to this planet to eliminate the presence of the green crystal that we know as Tiberium. After speaking with Princess Celestia here, it has come to my attention that we have the means to provide aid to you... in both supplies and shields.” “How... effective... are your shields?” Shining asked. “You have to be able... to stop the crystal... from getting in... and stop the creatures from getting in... too...” “Very effective,” Alexandra said, and that didn’t count guns, either. “Our kind has been dealing with the presence of the crystal for a substantial amount of our past. We know how to contain and eradicate it. Our shields were designed with this purpose in mind, among other things, to keep our forces safe in high-density environments.” “And the defensibility of your shields?” Celestia asked this time. “To assure them of their effectiveness,” she quickly added. “They were originally designed to protect cities, and from there, effectiveness increased as they eventually became standard for commanders like myself establishing a presence within any region. The threats we deal with are as well-armed, if not better armed, than our forces, so protection is paramount in every situation. Those shields can withstand a massive amount of punishment. I think you’ll find it more than adequate for your defense requirements.” “How soon can you deploy this shield?” Celestia asked. “I can deploy it right now, actually. The shields will require calibration over the next few days following activation, but we can bring it up to optimal operation parameters quicker if we reallocate the resources for it.” He tapped the side of his helmet. “The only thing I need right now is somewhere to drop it.” “Is it a flexible shield?” Celestia pressed on, now genuinely curious. “Does it require a centralized point to project itself or can the shield and the point of origin be separate from each other?” “Centralized, unfortunately,” he said. “We haven’t exactly... perfected the ability to move shields around while keeping the energy source stationary. But it’ll do the job.” “Excellent. The market square of Canterlot will serve perfectly for your needs. It sits right at the heart of the city and has an ample amount of space. It’s been mostly unused since the crisis began, and acts as a gathering area for any announcements that I have my guards give out.” Alexandra nodded. “Let’s set this thing up as soon as possible...” “Wait a moment...” Shining interrupted, squinting his eyes as he looked up and down Alexandra’s body. “Just... what are you... anyway?” “Well, that’s simple: I’m a human.” “Whoa!” A trio of fillies skidded to a halt in front of them as Celestia and Alexandra approached the castle gates through the garden-turned-miniature-farm. “Is he one of them aliens that’s been showin’ up a lot?” Apple Bloom asked. “You are correct, little Apple Bloom,” Celestia said. “I apologize, but we must head out into the city, so he cannot answer your questions at the moment.” “What, really?!” the orange filly next to Apple Bloom said, frowning at the princess and giving a cautious look towards the spot that she believed to be Alexandra’s face. “He’s not as big as those other aliens. Maybe we should just ask those big ones instead.” “Are you kidding?!” a strident voice interrupted, as the little unicorn filly jumped into the air. “You were at the gates with us! This guy’s the commander of all those really big guys that came into the city! You know, like Commander Hurricane?” “Psh, he doesn’t seem so cool. Hurricane was way better than... this guy.” “‘This guy’ can make fire rain from the skies, kiddo,” he said. “I’d like to see your Commander Hurricane do that.” Not fire... but ion cannon beams always did leave quite the lasting impression on the protectorate species, especially when they were used en masse in defensive campaigns. No one wanted to be on the receiving side of that. “Whoa! He can talk?!” “Duh, you heard him talk, Scootaloo! Don’t act like you don’t know!” the unicorn chided her friend upon. “Now let’s just leave them alone; Princess Celestia said we could ask him questions later!” “Come on, Sweetie Belle, you know you have at least one question to ask him! Oh, oh, I know! We should ask how he knows how to speak Equestrian! Pretty good question for you, huh, dictionary?” “I am not a dictionary! I’m just well-read!” “You’re totally a dictionary. Cheerilee said so herself!” “Am not!” “Are to!” “Are not!” “Are to!” “Am—” “You will be available later, correct?” Celestia asked, ignoring the growing discussion in front of her and arching a brow at him. “I will be, I guess.” He looked down at the three fillies bickering before him. “Hey, shorties, just stay here at the castle. I’ll be back later to answer any questions you’ve got.” He looked at Celestia and shook his head. “Youth these days.” “Awesome!” they all shouted. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Alien Interviewers, go!” “Hey, wait...” Apple Bloom said, stopping her friends as they were about to gallop off into the castle. “Y’all are headin’ out into the city, right? We can just go with you! What’re you goin’ to do out there, anyway?” “I’m going to drop a shield.” “Drop a shield? That doesn’t sound helpful at all,” Sweetie Belle said, looking confused at his statement. “Why drop a shield? Is it a special shield? Does it protect from the crystal?” “He’s talking about a magical shield, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said flatly. “Oh... oh! I knew that.” “Did he just call us short?!” Scootaloo shouted. “Hey, tough guy, I’ll take you on any day! I’ll bet Rainbow Dash can kick your—” “Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom reprimanded. “Now ain’t the time to be arguin’! This mister’s tryin’ to help us out here, and he’s in charge of the kind folks that saved my sister! I won’t let you talk down to ‘im!” Talking down. That got a chuckle out of Alexandra. Aside from that, Apple Bloom was only half-correct: human shields were not magical in nature, but this was a learning experience for them. As it was for some other people... “Masterson, where the hell are you?” “What? I’m just sitting outside the gates, shooting the breeze with a couple of the guys out here. I took some pills the medics gave me to help with my flight sickness... at least I don’t feel like heaving chunks anymore. I’d rather not end up cleaning the inside of this suit...” “Great. Meet me in the city’s market square.” “Huh? Where the hell is tha—oh, you know what, nevermind. I’ll just talk to Doctor Wesley about it. I’ll be there... uh, whenever, I guess. What’s the occasion?” “Supervising the deployment of a Citadel shield.” “Really? Awesome, watching that stuff on the net always blows my socks off; it’ll be rad to see it in person. Uh, shit, there’s this... shield thing blocking my way in. I think I can see the doctor from here, maybe I can just get his attention. Catch you later, Marty.” Alexandra flipped his transmission to contact Wesley as soon as Masterson ended his call. “Wesley, I need you to let in someone. Guy should be standing outside the city shields, wearing a yellow hazmat suit,” he said. “He’s with me.” “Ah, is that what this is all about? I was about to call you about this when he started banging his fists against the shields, but if you say that’s how it is... I’ll notify the guards to let him through. Who is he, anyway?” “Henry Masterson, Idris Corporation. He’s in charge of maintenance of the Methuselah’s EVA unit, so he’s with me until our base is established. We’ve known each other since I was given command of the Hammerfest, so he can be trusted... to a point. Just make sure he doesn’t get his hands on anything. He’s an inquisitive fellow.” “Right... well, he just asked me for directions to the market square, which Twilight provided, and mentioned something about meeting you there. Finally getting down to business, hmm?” Alexandra sighed, looking at Celestia, then the Crusaders, and then the gates. “You don’t know the half of it...” “...hey, what’s he doing? Why is he just standing there?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Is he doing some sort of weird alien trance thing where they communicate to each other using their minds?” “Sweetie Belle! Don’t start judgin’ him on things you don’t even know ‘bout! He’s probably just waiting for us to finish talkin’!” Apple Bloom said. “Er, that was what you were doing, right, mister?” “No, actually. Sweetie Belle is right. I was communicating to my subordinates using my special mind magic.” He waves his hands around in the air, wiggling his fingers for emphasis. “Really? So you can use magic?” she asked, mouth hanging open as Scootaloo snickered. “Magic... aliens that can use magic! That’s so awesome! Wait ‘til Rainbow Dash hears about this!” He nodded at her. “Yeah, magic. Just not your kind of magic. We can’t do that stuff, floating things and teleporting and all that. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve arranged a meeting with someone at the market square. Want to tag along?” “Do we?!” Apple Bloom shouted. “O’course we’d love to! All the other foals will want to know all about you, mister! Er, that’s correct, right? You’re a ‘mister’, not a ‘miss’...?” “Yeah, I’m a mister. Now let’s get going.” “Alright!” they all shouted. He looked to his right to see Celestia staring at him, and shrugged. “Children, huh?” “What are those things at the end of your hooves?” Sweetie Belle asked. “They’re fingers. We use them to do lots of useful stuff,” Alexandra said, flexing the gloved appendage in front of her eyes. “Really, like what? They seem really fragile.” “Like picking up stuff, or opening doors, or using utensils to eat.” “Really? Because ponies can do all that stuff with their hooves.” He harumphed in disbelief. “Excuse me if I have a hard time believing that...” “No, really!” She trotted off a way and picked up a small pebble and did a three-legged trot back to him. “See?” He stopped for a moment, kneeling down to inspect the rock. She hadn’t used any tools, and her hoof was entirely bare save for the rock she held upright on its palm. Curious, he grabbed her forearm and slowly rotated the hoof to face against the ground... to find that the rock was still attached firmly to her hoof. “That’s... odd. We have creatures that also use hooves back where we come from, but they can’t do anything like that. This is normal for you ponies?” he asked. “Yep!” She flashed him a toothy grin. “I can see why the doctor was interested in seeing this.” He stood up and continued walking, only to catch up to Celestia in short time as she awaited him at the entrance to the barren market square. “Something wrong?” “Is that your guest over there?” she asked with a hoof pointing to the single wooden stage in the distance. Sitting facing away from them, his yellow hazmat suit was unmistakable, as was the sight of his menagerie of electronics as he caught the sight of ponies observing him at a distance, whispering to each other. “That’s him, alright,” Alexandra said. “Though that stage is going to have to be moved since it’s sitting right in the center of the square. Unless you wouldn’t mind having it get smashed, of course...” “Oh, certainly,” she said. “This shouldn’t be too hard...” “What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked. “Shh, just watch,” Apple Bloom shushed. “I think they’re about to pull a prank on him.” Masterson didn’t notice as the stage he sat on began to slowly brighten, caught in a growing yellow aura until the stage itself began to shake as Celestia moved it closer towards herself. In panic, he looked around and rolled himself to the center of the stage and looking around frantically as he panicked, much to Alexandra’s amusement. “H-holy shit! What the hell’s going on?!” Alexandra heard him shout. “H-help! Oh, shit, what did I get myself into? Did I piss one of them off? I should have brought guards along and... and... oh, very funny, Marty. Very funny.” The stage crashed into the ground in front of Celestia, and Masterson jumped off to fold his arms and stare him down. “I thought you’d be more excited to get a first-hand experience of magic,” Alexandra said. “First-hand nothing, man. I thought I would be torn to shreds or something because I pissed off one of them for some reason. Back on good old Earth, stages don’t move on their own accord.” He brought a small black box up to his visor and pressed a button; a flash bursted across his face as he immediately flipped it around and took a picture of Alexandra and Celestia standing next to each other. “What’re you doing?” Alexandra asked. “Taking pictures, man. This whole shebang’s a public operation, anyway, so I want to have some good stuff to take back home with me. You know, when the press gets news of this and flood this planet from top to bottom with journalists.” He stowed the camera and stepped aside. “Now, I believe you had some equipment to call down...” Alexandra moved forward a few steps, snatching the camera off of Masterson’s belt before tossing it to the ground and giving it a hard stomp. The small device cracked underneath the strength of his combat-grade boots, and Masterson yelped in anguish as he finished the deed by lighting the remains on fire from his heel-mounted jetpacks. “Seriously?!” Masterson said. “They’re just pictures!” “And you can get your own when the clearance is allowed, just like everyone else.” Celestia and the Crusaders merely looked at him in shock, in which he shrugged. “I’d rather not have pictures of you all floating around if I can help it. Suck it up, Masterson, this isn’t the front-lines. You don’t get to take pictures all willy-nilly.” “Didn’t hurt to try...” he moaned. “Hmph.” Alexandra leveled his right arm up to his face as his right gauntlet expanded, revealing a targeting laser that he immediately locked onto the empty cobblestone ground. His HUD registered EVA receiving the uplink, transferring the coordinates to the Methuselah’s equipment launch facilities in preparation to deliver the Citadel shield. “Commander, the uplink has been established. The Methuselah currently has a loadout of six Citadel shields ready to deploy,” EVA notified. “The first has been loaded into the firing chamber and is ready to discharge on your command.” Such was the convenience of the future, where commanders could deploy critical structures immediately instead of having to build them or wait on requisitions. “Do it.” “Locking in trajectory now, commander. Maintain laser targeting until the payload has reached the ground. Secondary concerns: the shield system optimization has been ongoing for the past day, and will require at least two more before my calculations are completed to account for geographical and weather interference.” “Redirect assets from non-essential systems to calculations. I want the calculations finished as soon as possible,” he said, closing off his external audio to speak with EVA. “What’s the best you can do within my optimal parameters?” “A day and a half.” “I’ll take it. Upload the optimizations as soon as you finish them. Celestia, when can you bring down this shield?” “I can disable it right now, actually. Do you require that I do so?” she asked. “The energies are receptive to certain magical signals, and mine is one of them. Shining and Cadance will be able to sense my request and bring down the shield as soon as possible.” “Yeah, take it down, then.” His HUD flashed red as a timer to the chamber’s firing countdown began. Three minutes. “I’d like you to do that as soon as possible, actually.” “Of course.” She tilted her head towards the skies and sent a directed beam straight into the apex of the shield’s curvature. Within moments, the purple shimmer began to fade as the magic began to recline, dissipating from the top down. A couple of minutes later, Celestia nodded to him. The skies were as bleak as ever, but that didn’t stop Alexandra from catching a lone ray of sunlight directed straight upon their position. Masterson moved a hand to protect his eyes as the timer reached the seconds range, ticking down to zero in the blink of an eye. “Trajectory locked in. Deploying shield now,” EVA said. Alexandra held his sight on the empty ground, ignoring the din of pony conversations going on behind him as the public numbers gradually increased. More than a few share of ponies had arrived to see what the commotion was all about, but respectfully maintained their distance when they realized Celestia was present with him. A thunderous crack followed by a shrill whine increasing in tone greeted them as the sight of a falling object caused the crowd to stir, but not flee. Alexandra released his tracking beam and stepped back to observe the results, watching as the Citadel shield casing smashed straight into the ground, a massive monolith of steel and technology now sitting on Equestrian soil. “What is that thing, Princess?” someone asked. “I bet it’s some sort of alien doomsday weapon! They put it here to hold us hostage!” “Aw, quit your whining. If they meant to do us harm, why didn’t they just blow us up from the skies?” “I don’t know. But this has bad news written all over it, I tell you!” “Please, everypony, quiet down,” Celestia assuaged, her voice holding an undercurrent of irritation. “This device was sent here to aid us. It is a replacement shield so that Prince Shining and Princess Cadance will no longer have to exert themselves to protect us.” They were given no chance to respond as the clamps from the shield husk opened up, crunching into the ground with great force as the emission spire began to extend from its shell, rising high into the air as the flaps sitting at the top began to glow and hum with energy. Slowly, the spire began to rotate as a bulbous blue sphere appeared surrounding it. “Man, I always forget how amazing this stuff is...” Masterson mumbled. “Idris put forward the blueprints for this thing...” “Shield systems activating... now.” As soon as EVA finished that statement, the blue glow seemingly exploded, stretching up into the sky and blanketing the city, adopting the same coverage that its predecessor had. Ponies all gawked at the sight of the magical shield being replaced by a new one, an artificial one from a machine, no less. Substantially more energized, the Citadel shield pulsed with enigmatic energy that seemed to radiate with incredible force. “There. It’s all up to this thing now,” Alexandra said. Folding his arms, he turned to see Masterson jabbing a finger at Sweetie Belle’s horn, and Celestia with a horde of enthralled ponies standing behind her. “I trust this will be adequate?” “From the looks of this shield, I think it will do absolutely fine,” she said. “But I suppose you must tend to construction of your base at Winsome Falls now?” “Don’t worry about that,” he said, watching the skies as more burning comets blinked into existence, blazing a trail straight for the Canterlot valley. “My men can take care of it.” “This is Taskmaster to all convoys. Green light for Providence construction is a go. Pre-fab docks one through twenty-seven fully loaded. Citadel amplification cores en-route to destination. Security is Mark Zero-Zero-One, priority convoy security. And make sure your damn loaders are set to receive, not drop off. I don’t want any mishaps if I can help it.” Camp Greenwood was a hive of activity. A line of hovertrucks were queueing straight out of the front gates as the relocation of personnel from the Methuselah to planetside began in earnest, bringing with them more soldiers, engineers, and everyone in between. All of the new ISDI units were immediately assigned by EVA’s commands into security details for the roving convoys. “This is Mack One here, convoy head. Taskmaster, what’s the con-yard status on those command bunker pre-fabs?” “Mack One, nano-production facilities are still working full-time on chugging out those parts. Schematics and base layout optimizations from EVA just hit the production lines, and the engineers at the site are swamped. Recommend that your convoy take the airbase pre-fabs, the commander’s going to want them.” “Affirmative, Taskmaster, loading all airbase pre-fabs onto convoy now. Best of luck to you.” As every convoy shifted out, another one came in to take its place. An involved dance of man and machine rushing to meet demands and deadlines as each truck encumbered with dozens of pre-fabricated plates and parts were followed out by APCs full of engineers and technical staff. “Acknowledged, Mack One. Carrier One, what’s the status on your loading docks?” “Carrier One to Taskmaster: Firestorm generators components have just finished loading. We are locking in the barriers and heading out to Providence now.” The Firestorm defense generator, one of the old world GDI’s most powerful experimental defensive perimeters, able to stop anything and everything that dared to fly above, run over, or burrow beneath it. An impenetrable defense, save for its massive energy consumptions that made it a gamble to rely upon, as evinced by Hammerfest base during the Second Tiberium War. A restriction no longer present in the contemporary ISDI sphere, as new reactors and breakthroughs in energy technologies all but eliminated the downfalls of the Firestorm’s operational abilities, giving it the ability to run indefinitely... and paved the way for more efficient and effective means of maintaining its defense stranglehold. Any base using the Firestorm—and they were few and far in between—was essentially impenetrable, and was a rare technology only granted access to ISDI Central Command facilities and notable commanders, like Alexandra. “Affirmative, Carrier One, happy trekking. Don’t trip yourself up in those woods.” “With this much firepower at our back, I’d say any rock we trip over better be ready for the punishment of a lifetime. Glad my boys aren’t the ones in charge of carrying the next pre-fab load, though.” “I hear that... Hauler One. How nice of you to drop in. Wish I could have had all you guys draw straws or something, because you and your trucks get to haul the MAW manufacturing facility components.” “Ah, crap... those things take forever to haul up an incline. Fine, whatever, loading it all onto my trucks now. If our trucks get smashed, I’m going straight to the commander and demanding compensation for this. We aren’t carryalls, damnit, our hover engines can only take so much heat.” MAW, or Mammoth Assault Walker, as the series was now known as, required its own special facilities to produce. The original Mastodon—technically the MAW Mastodon Mk.IV now—had maintained their namesake while undergoing substantial revisions to armor, mobility, and most importantly of all, firepower. Now a lumbering hulk similar to its predecessor, the Mammoth Mk.II, it was a fearsome sight to behold on any battlefield, and only used as an immediate high-threat responder to Scrin counterparts, such as Hexapods and Tripod strike teams. The apprehension over being assigned to carry the MAW pre-fabricates wasn’t in that, however. In actuality, the building size required for the factory could easily have been scaled down to match the size of the airbase facilities or something similar; the actual size of the construction facility lay in its intended use: the construction of the MAW Behemoth Mk.I, the technical name of which, according to GDI standards, would be the Mammoth Mk.III had the assault walker series been successful. Every major contractor for the ISDI came together to brainstorm the design and functionality of the Behemoth. Originally designed as a counter to the Scrin’s more lethal variants of the Hexapod, most notably the Annihilator Hexapod used by its origin cult, the size of the Behemoth was easily able to dwarf most small cities, bounding across entire city blocks with a single pass. Scale and load bear were a non-issue. The Mammoth Mk.II’s original railguns were scaled up in size to deal massive damage against important Scrin targets and Hexapods, as well as being armed with a whole variety of point defense hardpoints on the front, sides, top, and bottom to make it effective against all enemy types. Additionally, the extra reserves granted to it by advances in reactor technology meant that the Behemoth could now complement its already-heavy armor with a Citadel shield system, turning the Behemoth into a walking fortress. The size of the Behemoth meant that it could not be transported through space without extra equipment and maintenance, on top of occupying already crucial space limitations. And the Methuselah, being a standard ISDI interstellar troop carrier as opposed to the Steel Talons ITC Hammerfest, did not have production facility components already onboard for aerial drop-off, so everything needed to be produced and shipped off on the ground. “The only thing they need to stick on the commander’s new MAW is some launch and rearming bays for Firehawks, and we can call it a day. I never thought I’d see the day where I can watch something like this walk on any earth.” “Don’t count your blessings just yet. Just remember that we’re going to be in the middle of this crossfire, too. Get your ass rolling; those parts are going to be holding you guys back for a while.” “Don’t remind me. Hauler One, rolling out now.” “That’s... what, several hundred trucks now? And they just keep coming back and forth, back and forth. Finally finished those rounds, Terra One? Docks one through twenty-seven were just off-loaded, and the command bunker pre-fabs just came out right now.” “Fantastic. Where’s the C-shield, anyhow? Doesn’t make sense to haul those things up if there ain’t any—” A single cylindrical tube burned through the air, catching the attention of any within view facing towards the direction of Winsome Falls. Terra One, guiding his convoy in through Camp Greenwood’s eastern gate, noticed the spectacle right out of his front window. “Well, shit. I guess that’s it, huh?” “Spoke too soon, Terra One. At least you can’t get lost if there’s a huge shield literally pointing out the way for you. How’s the construction going on up there?” “Just fantastic, Taskmaster. I dare say that we might have that whole damn place finished before the day’s over. Hope so, at least. I don’t want to be stuck hauling things when night falls. Those woods give me the creeps, and the beam convoys still have to get to the other side of those hills.” “Oh, trust me when I say you’ll be working overtime. Providence is just the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the place is going to be some sort of refugee camp of sorts. That needs its own C-shield and the engineers are supposed to be placing Firestorm barriers all around that beyond the emplacement walls for the defense towers.” “What? Seriously? What’s the numbers on that camp, Taskmaster?” “Uh, it’s... currently unknown. But the commander’s up at the native settlement getting numbers right now. Whenever he gets them, we’ll start cranking out the habitation unit pre-fabs. EVA’s being a bit generous with these numbers, though... the natives easily outnumber our forces by at least a factor of ten. Or so she thinks.” “We’re just... what was it? A couple to maybe several thousand? We’re talking about holing up enough people—er, talking... ponies... to turn that place into a city!” Every crane loader in the construction yard was working at full pace, snapping up and dropping off every slab and slat as the raw materials from the refinery were funneled in through pipelines. “Uh, yeah, that’s the point. I heard through the grapevine that they’re all holed up in that city and inside the mountain. Must be a crappy place to live in, stuck in a hole in the side of a rock. It’s why the commander wants to—hmm, hold up. I need engineers down at dock three to watch that crane loading the blast doors on that truck!” “Yeah, that’s me. I’m carrying the blast doors, Taskmaster.” “Pfft. Well, good luck with that, man. How’re your engines holding up?” “Readouts say they’re a hundred and twenty-three percent bear right now. Oh, boy, this ought to be fun. This is what happens when you have civilian contractors do military heavy labor. We were just supposed to come in and set up an outpost after we cleaned this planet up!” The metal creaked as the engineers struggled to centralize the weight burden on the hovertruck’s bed, locking it in place with high-density industrial wires. “Cross your fingers and hope you make it up that hill in one piece, huh, Terra?” “Don’t remind me.” “Wait, hold on a moment...” Again, sounds came from the dead hills leading up to Winsome Falls, but this one was of gunfire instead of a hard landing. Bullet tracers and beam rays could be seen trailing out of the forest depths as the skirmish intensified. “There’s some serious contact in the woods... the transmissions are saying that they’re not the same creatures. Someone get the commando on the line...!” Viers cursed inwardly as he boosted over a hill’s crest and continuing sprinting through afflicted forest. The Tiberium shard he’d been ordered to oversee had been successfully transported back into secure containment, and he’d seen fit to take his break after spending far too long in the subterranean tunnels. Following him in his footsteps was Yankee, officially designated his commando’s auxiliaries to ensure that he’d always have a squad on hand to deal with more dicey situations. Situations like this one. The call was a high priority; whoever thought it was worth notifying him for must have been either stupid or scared shitless, and the reports he’d seen coming from Mack One’s security detail scans showed that the threat that they were dealing with wasn’t the same as the ones they’d fought before. No, these ones were flanking the group, operating on tactics and trying to ambush the convoy. For what reason, he didn’t know. Maybe the ponies had renegade elements as expected of any crisis-related societal breakdown, or perhaps they were merely estranged ponies that chose to leave for whatever reason. Either way, they were threatening the convoys and needed to be removed as soon as possible. “Convoy Mack, this is Dagger! We’re coming in from the woods on your right, so check your fire!” The sidewinder trails leading up the mountain didn’t help the convoys achieve their objective any quicker; if anything, it only made them more vulnerable due to its pathways through the forest. “Roger, Dagger! Whoever these guys are, they’ve got... I don’t know, it looks like guns or something!” Mack One responded. “Some of our guys already took some hits, but it isn’t lethal. The Titans are holding the line for now, but I don’t know for how long!” “Did you get a look at the attackers?” “What? Yeah, I... I think I did. They’re four-legged, I think, some of them two-legged. Goddamn, my engines are shot. Just one hit and they were out! I don’t know how they shut them down!” “Hold tight, we’re almost there. Sergeant Rosky, take your guys and check on the convoy. I’m going in to handle these assholes.” “Roger that, El-Tee,” Rosky said. “Yankee, get those med-sprays and welders ready! We’re going in for damage control! Over and up!” With a burst of fire from their jetpacks, Yankee hopped over a rock formation to Viers’ left, making a beeline for the convoy as he zoomed straight past them. A hail of iridescent green bolts greeted his vision as he narrowly dodged one flying straight for his faceplate, catching the bark of the tree behind him and blackening the impact zone. “EVA, what the hell are these things?” he asked, huddling behind a thick tree as he leaned around to see forms moving about in the hills. “The exact nature of these combatants are unknown, but judging from a biometric scan, the profile of these new creatures matches up exactly with that of the pony hospitalized at Camp Greenwood. It would be safe to assume that they are hostile,” EVA said, graciously marking their exact position on his HUD’s radar as he noticed the group slowly sneaking up behind him. “Analyze intention of attacking a construction convoy,” he ordered, firing a warning volley from his missile launcher to keep them at bay. The sight of explosives made them scatter their formation, and their fire became more controlled and directed at his position. “Probable cause says that they intend to sabotage the construction of Providence. Under ISDI protocol, however, given that the opposition is a sapient species, we cannot eliminate them. Forcefully subduing them and requiring the local authorities to try them under their laws must be done to avoid political fallout.” “Fuck.” As a commando, he wasn’t given to using non-lethal weaponry, much less subduing live targets, and he certainly didn’t have the time to run all the way back to Greenwood to swap his equipment out. The best they could do was to surround them and force a surrender. “Yankee, scrap that order! I need you and whatever troopers down there laying down suppressing fire on these guys ASAP!” “Yes, sir,” Rosky replied. “With my guys, there are thirty-two total from the security detail. Seven have incurred wounds through armor and on body, and the medics are busy trying to reseal their suits. Whatever firepower they’re packing, it has a hell of a punch.” “We need them alive. Nothing reckless here, advance up the hill with cover and slowly work around them. I’ll keep them from stretching out too much, but you guys have to surround them. Titans will provide covering fire. Understood?” He took a potshot up the hill, missing one of the renegade ponies on the hill, a unicorn firing magic bolts at him, and throwing up a patch of dirt as the shell impacted the hill in front of it. “Roger, sir. We’re moving up now.” Viers quickly looked around. The trees were too thick to make the Titans be of any use to them, so they were relegated to covering fire at distance. Protocol was still in effect, which meant that their new translation software might be of use now. “Hey, you assholes up there! Stop firing at us and surrender peacefully, and we’ll let you live!” There was no response, though they did pause long enough for the troopers to get halfway up the hill before they resumed their hostilities. Bullets met magic as they traded shots, giving Viers the perfect opportunity to jetpack himself into the cover of another tree, firing another volley of missiles over the ponies’ heads as he did so. “Hey, just surrender already, alright? I promise nothing will happen to you!” Again, no response, and Viers had been broadcasting his offers at maximum volume from his suit. The only way they could have ignored that was if they were deaf or daft. Perhaps both. A spark of blue appeared at the top of the hill, and suddenly their rain of magic hellfire stopped. The sounds of shouting and groaning could be heard as a banshee’s voice tore through the silence as ISDI fire subsided. Before long, a single blue unicorn appeared and trotted a length down the hill, stopping only when she saw the zone troopers waiting, guns pointed at her. She sighed before running a hoof through her tarnished mane, small chunks of crystal present on her forearms and horn. “Greetings, creatures. I hadn’t realized that you spoke Equestrian. I apologize for the brashness of my scavenger group. We’ve been running low on supplies recently and have been forced to resort to desperate measures to find what we need. Which, of course, should not involve assaulting armed caravans,” she hissed, giving a cold look over her shoulder at the ponies standing behind her. “Do you accept our terms of surrender?” Viers responded, breaking out of his cover and walking towards her, weapons pointed at the ground in good faith. “We do,” she said, eyes widening as Viers’ size began to grow on her. “You’re... what are you?” “A human. I already know you’re a pony,” he said. “So skipping the whats, the question now is: who the hell are you?” “Me?” she said, pointing a hoof to herself. “Well... I am the leader of this band of nomads, and have been since the crystal engulfed this fair land. I have led them through thick and thin, and am grateful to finally have a chance to give them a reprieve from this hardship. I am known as Trixie, and I look forward to working with you.”