//Begin Personal Log
//
//June 12th, 2559
//
//22:10 Local Time
Wow... today was just... wow. Princess Celestia has ramped up the Equestrian military in preparations for a war with the gryphons and minotaurs. While there are some in her court who don’t believe war will happen, a vast majority agree that it is inevitable. Because of this inevitability, the Princess made a very bold request of me: to train ponies in the art of war.
Though this request was a rather difficult, it was not impossible. After some deliberation with the Director and my other senior officers, we have begun to train them. Though, I should add some perspective. The tech of Equestria is most similar to that of the Americans in 1980, however, their military is still using tech and tactics seen in the 1700’s. It appears as though we have a lot of ground to cover before they are even close to a substantial fighting force.
I did end up making a request to try and supply them with small arms; things like rifles, and other small firearms. Though the Director was not really too keen on sending them weapons at this point, he did say we could help them develop their own. Andrew took this news and locked himself, and a few Equestrian engineers, in an armory. No one has seen him or the ponies since.
//End Log
Daniel sat in the galley with Spotlight and Zerom in the early morning. The sun had yet to rise, and still the three were awake, much to their displeasure. They sat silently as they waited for the last two members to join their table. Spotlight was contently drinking hot chocolate from a mug while Daniel enjoyed a cup of tea.
A few minutes passed when the doors to the galley opened as Princess Celestia and Luna walked in.
“Morning.” Zerom said groggily.
“Good morning everyone. I apologize for asking you to be up this early.” Celestia replied as she took a seat next to her sister.
“It’s fine. It’s only,” Zerom paused to look at his watch, “O’ four hundred.”
“So, what’s so important that it couldn’t be said in two hours?” Daniel asked.
Celestia sighed. “It’s the gryphons. I am certain that they will declare war on us. When? I can’t say, but it will be soon. That being said, our military is...”
“Totally fucked.” Luna added sarcastically.
“I was going to say lacking, but yes. It is nowhere near capable of fending off the gryphons.” Celestia finished with a shake of her head.
“So where do we come into this?” Spotlight asked with a tilt of his head.
“I wanted to know if the UNSC would be willing to train some of our ponies.” Celestia finally stated.
Silence permeated the room as everyone milled the thought over.
“It’s... possible.” Daniel began. “The short answer is yes. Though it depends heavily on whether or not ONI will approve of such action. Mainly because this is quickly turning from an exploration mission, to a diplomatic relations mission, and now to a black op and a proxy war.”
“I understand. Though, I would not ask this of you if there were a better alternative.” Celestia replied sadly.
“Alright. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what I can do. Zerom, Spotlight, I want you two to talk with some of the military leaders here. I want a full report on their style and technique by mid day. Then I will want a demonstration by four. Got it?” Daniel ordered.
“Aye, Captain.” Both responded in unison.
“I have a question.” Luna said, raising a hoof. “What would it take for the UNSC to get directly involved?”
“It would take something big. Short of shooting us down, the UNSC will avoid direct involvement.” Daniel said with a shrug. “So is that it?”
“Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare the sun.” Celestia stated warmly as she got up and teleported back to the castle.
~~~
Zerom and Spotlight walked through the castle with a pair of guards as their guides. They were heading to meet with the three heads of the Equestrian armed forces. Their job today was to gauge just how underprepared the Equestrian military really was. From the way Celestia had said it, it sounded bad. The two officers entered a large room with a conference table in the middle. Four ponies sat in either side of the table, only one of which Zerom recognized. The human and changeling quickly and quietly took a pair of seats near the head of the table.
“Commander Zerom, Agent Spotlight, a pleasure to see you again.” Captain Silverlight greeted. “Allow me to introduce the others. This is Captain Nightshade, head of the night guard. And this is Captain Spitfire and Lieutenant Soarin of the air force.”
Zerom looked to the night Captain. She was one of the rare thestrals that he had seen around the castle during the night hours, though he had never really seen any outside the guard. Her golden cat-like eyes scrutinized the human and changeling, as if trying to detect a hidden motive.
“So, Commander, why are we all here today?” Spitfire began.
“Well, ma’am, Princess Celestia has asked the UNSC to evaluate and, if necessary, train the military of Equestria.” Zerom politely replied.
The bat pony snorted a laugh. “Is that so? Are you trying to tell me she doesn’t think we are up to the task of taking on the gryphons?”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s why she asked us to evaluate you. She wants to be certain that you can fight them off.”
“So what do you need from us?” Silverlight quickly asked.
“Captain Ryan has asked for me to have a demonstration setup. He wants to see the guard in action.” Zerom responded with a nod.
“That’s it? Fine, we’ll show you just how ready the guard is.” Nightshade announced pridefully. “Anything else?”
“Just a few things, ma’am. What kind of weaponry do your troops carry?” Zerom asked as he and Spotlight began taking notes on their respective datapads.
“Our ground forces are equipped with the standard issue Galandof heavy launcher.” Silverlight replied.
“Is it a type of ranged weapon?” Spotlight inquired.
“It is.”
“Do you have one with you?” Zerom continued.
“No, but I can have one brought up.” Silverlight said, motioning to a nearby guard to fetch one of the weapons.
“Alright, effective range?” Zerom asked as he continued to take notes.
“About fifty feet.” Silverlight answered.
Both officers stopped their notes and stared blankly at Silverlight.
“That’s it?” Spotlight asked in shock.
“Well... yeah. The long barrel version is accurate to one hundred feet, though it’s a more specialized weapon.” Silverlight replied, slightly confused.
“Oh boy...” Zerom muttered.
“Why? What are the range on your weapons?” The thestral Captain asked smugly.
“Standard assault rifle is accurate to about a hundred and fifty meters. Snipers are effective out to two and a half miles.” Zerom replied bluntly.
This time it was the ponies turn to be shocked.
“T-t-two and a half... miles...” Spitfire stammered.
Zerom and Spotlight nodded in response. It was then that a guard entered the room with one of the weapons under his wing. Silverlight took the weapon from the guard in his magic and set it in front of the human and changeling.
“This is the weapon.” The Captain announced.
To Zerom it looked like an old blunderbuss, though with a slightly more narrow barrel and with an odd appendage on the side. The human picked up the weapon and began to inspect it.
“What kind of ammunition do they use?” The human asked, never taking his eyes off the weapon.
“A single prepackaged cartridge.” Silverlight replied.
Zerom then put a hand on the weapon’s barrel and the stock. With a single swift motion, the human split the weapon in two, tearing the barrel from the stock. The rest of the table sat in silent shock as the human tossed the broken weapon on the table.
“With all due respect, this thing is a piece of crap. I’m no SPARTAN, and if I can tear it apart, then it’s crap. This... thing, will not win you any battles. I can only pray that your tactics and field strategies can make up for this.” The Commander deadpanned.
~~~
Daniel leaned back in his chair after having a lengthy talk with the Director. he had expressed concerns over the training to the Equestrians, but eventually gave into the idea. One of the only conditions had been that the UNSC would not provide modern weapons until other conditions had been met. Though this did not apply to weapons created by Equestria. A knock on the door brought the Captain back to reality.
“Enter.” He commanded.
The door slid open as Andrew stood in the doorway. He was wearing a very dirty set of dark blue coveralls with a pair of heavy work gloves in one of the cargo pockets. It looked like Andrew had been crawling around in engine ducts.
“Jesus, Andrew. The fuck have you been?”
“Doing some work inside the engines. Can I tell ya how nice and shiney they are now? Well, not actually shiney, just really really really fucking clean. Like, clean enough to eat off of. Just, don’t eat off them. Kinda radioactive, and by kinda I mean very. So... just don’t do it.” Andrew rambled excitedly.
“That’s great Andrew. What the fuck do you want from me?” Daniel replied sarcastically.
“I kinda need some advice.” Andrew said with a cheesy grin.
“What’s this? The great Andrew Traxus is coming to me, a measly ONI agent and UNSC Captain, for advice? This is surely a tremendous moment.” Daniel boomed sarcastically.
“Yeah yeah, laugh it up asshole. So... Equestria’s going to war... any chance we could supply them with some gear? I’d be happy to donate.”
“Yeah, no. Director isn’t too keen on sending weapons just yet.” Daniel responded quickly.
Andrew’s eyes light up and he nearly began jumping up and down. “Oh oh oh! Does that extend to shit they build here!?”
Daniel sighed. “No. No it does not.”
“Wooooo!” The engineer cheered as he ran down the hall.
Spotlight was walking down the passageway as an eccentric Andrew came barreling toward the changeling. Spotlight froze in his tracks as Andrew simply jumped over him, continuing to run. The changeling poked his head in the open doorway to a confused Daniel.
“Hey Cap’n. What was that about?” Spotlight asked with concern.
“I think I’ve just unleashed a horrible monster upon the world...” Daniel muttered as he tried to piece together what had happened.
“Should we be worried?” Spotlight replied, looking back down the hallway.
“Probably.” Daniel said with a chuckle.
“Well what was he going on about?” Spotlight continued to ask.
“I suspect he is going to go build new weapons with the Equestrians. Though, I’m not sure how far he’s going to get with their primitive military tech.” Daniel said with a hint of relief.
“Well, just ‘cause their military tech is not the best, doesn’t mean that their manufacturing capability is lessened.” Spotlight pointed out.
“Ah shit.” Daniel replied as he reached for a radio. “Chief Carlson, you copy?”
“Go ahead, Captain.” The armory chief answered.
“Has Andrew come by your neck of the woods recently?”
“Yes, sir. He was just here.” Jacob replied.
“What did he need?” Daniel asked with a bit of worry.
“He came and got a case of .50 cal and a case of 7.62 rounds.”
“Thank you chief.” Daniel replied as he set the radio back on his desk. “Tommy, is Andrew still aboard the ship?”
“Negative, sir. He just left.” The AI responded.
“Did he mention where he was off to?” Daniel quickly asked.
“He mentioned something about going to see someone named Quicksilver. Not sure who this individual is.” The AI replied.
“Is Luna onboard?” The Captain asked with a bit of irritation.
“Yes sir. She is currently in her quarters and it seems she is awake. Shall I put you through?”
“Yeah.” Daniel commanded as he leaned back in his chair. “Luna, you there?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” Luna replied with an audible yawn.
“Do you know somepony named Quicksilver?”
“Yeah, she’s one of the armory chiefs.” The lunar Princess replied.
“Great, thanks. Now go to bed.” Daniel said with a chuckle.
There was no reply as the line went dead. Spotlight continued to sit in the doorway as Daniel got up and grabbed his hat and sunglasses.
“Well c’mon Spotty, let’s go see how you and Zerom did with the military.” Daniel ordered as he stepped past the changeling.
“Right behind ya.”
~~~
Daniel stood beside Zerom and the two guard Captains on a balcony overlooking the training fields along side the castle. Before them were four divisions of guards, all decked out in their respective armor and carrying training weapons. They stood at attention in neat organized lines as they stood before their commanding officers.
“What do you think, Captain?” Captain Nightshade said with a smirk.
“I’m not making any judgements until I see them in action. You have a demonstration I take it?” Daniel asked calmly.
“Indeed,” Silverlight answered as he turned to face the waiting soldiers. “Division! Form ranks!”
The solar and lunar guards broke their neat blocks as they made a pair of lines facing eachother with about sixty feet between each side.
“Make ready!” Nightshade commanded.
Every pony drew their weapon and aimed it at the line across from them.
“Fire!” Both Captains yelled at the same time.
A thunderous sound preceded a volley of non-lethal training rounds soaring across the open field. A bulk of the ponies on both sides collapsed to the ground as the rounds met their marks. Daniel watched in stunned silence as the remaining ponies reload their weapons and fired a second volley, the lunar guards wiping the remaining solar guards out.
“There. So what did you think?” Nightshade asked with a grin.
“What... the fuck... was that? Was that a joke? Please tell me this was a fucking joke.” Daniel asked in all seriousness.
Nightshade and Silverlight looked shocked and slightly hurt at Daniel’s reaction.
“Holy shit... you’re serious...” Daniel said as he removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair.
“What was wrong with that, huh?” Nightshade asked with an angry glare.
“Your fighting style is archaic and your weapons are shitty. Right now, you have no hope of fighting off the gryphons.” Daniel stated bluntly.
“Then what would you recommend?” Silverlight quickly interjected.
“Take everything you know about fighting and warfare, and forget it.” Daniel said with a chuckle.
“So what, you think you could take on two whole legions on Equestria’s finest!?” Nightshade challenged.
“Yeah. A single marine fireteam could wipe out every single soldier on this field. No problem.” Daniel deadpanned.
“Prove it.” Nightshade challenged Daniel with a snarl.
“Fine, I’ll get a team over here with semi automatic rifles.” The human responded.
“Use whatever weapon you want, it won’t matter.” Nightshade said with arrogance.
“Fine. Call the Princess, I want her to see just how bad it is.” Daniel replied as he called his marines on the radio.
~~~
Twenty minutes later, Princess Celestia and Captain Spitfire joined the others on the balcony. Two entire legions of Equestrian soldiers stood in neat rows as they stared at the six marines across from them. Nearly two hundred ponies were facing only six marines, a setup which Nightshade believed would be over in moments.
“So, ten minutes of prep before we get this little scenario underway?” Daniel asked with a smile.
“Pft, take all the time you want.” Nightshade replied confidently.
Daniel gave an order over his radio as he looked to Silverlight and Spitfire. The marines in the field quickly broke into pairs and began to entrench themselves in foxholes. Silverlight and Spitfire both looked very curious and a bit worried, while Celestia held a neutral stare.
After about ten minutes, the marines gave a thumbs up. They were ready.
“We’re good to go.” Daniel stated.
“Legion! Make ready!” Nightshade yelled at the troops.
“Stand by, guys.” Daniel whispered into his radio.
“Aim!” Silverlight continued.
“Fire!” Both Captains yelled.
The front two lines of the legion fired their weapons against the entrenched humans, only to hit the dirt. The humans responded with a war cry as they popped up from their holes and began firing automatic rifles, each shot taking out a pony with a training round. The sound of automatic gunfire continued as dozens of ponies fell to the human’s gunfire. Eventually the humans needed to reload, just as the ponies were prepared to fire a second volley.
The marines noticed this and quickly moved from their foxholes and ran for cover at the edge of the field. The ponies fired again, missing every shot. The marines split into two groups and quickly began moving and firing at the flanks of the legion, cutting down even more ponies.
“Legion! Left face!” Nightshade yelled as she watched the marines fight on the sides of the field.
The legion of ponies kept their lines as they all turned to face part of the fireteam on their left side. The team on the right quickly capitalized on this and began gunning down ponies from the rear, cutting massive holes in the legion’s lines. Nightshade gritted her teeth as she watched the humans effortlessly take out dozens of her ponies.
“Legion! Fire!” Nightshade screamed.
The legion took aim at the marines, who quickly dove behind a concrete wall only seconds before the ponies opened fire. The three marines quickly popped up over the wall and spread a wall of training rounds into the ponies, taking out even more of the lines. This was too much for the few remaining ponies who dropped their weapons and turned to run, only to run into the other part of the marine fireteam.
After only a few minutes of fighting, every pony lay on the ground, stunned and in pain. The marines, however, were unscathed.
“What the hay was that!?” Nightshade screamed at Daniel.
“That, was a slaughter.” Daniel pointed out.
“I’ll say.” Silverlight muttered in shock.
“Your soldiers didn’t hold their lines!” Nightshade continued to yell.
“Yeah, no shit. Why the hell would they just stand there for you to shoot at?” Daniel smirked.
“But... you can’t do that!” Nightshade stammered.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m alive, and all your ponies are dead. Who the fuck cares how they did it.” Daniel said with a chuckle.
“What exactly do you call that kind of fighting?” Spitfire quickly interjected.
“Guerrilla warfare. It is what all modern combat is based around, and it what I will be helping you master.” Daniel said proudly.
“I’m glad to hear that. Especially after this little display.” Celestia added with a hint of disappointment before walking away.
~~~
It was late in the evening and no one had heard from, or seen, Andrew or Quicksilver. Daniel, Silverlight, and Celestia found themselves standing outside the armory door, which was inconveniently locked. Daniel looked to Silverlight who quickly stepped forward and produced a keyring in his magical grasp.
As the door to the armory swung open, Daniel was stunned at what he saw.
Across the floor and various tables were random parts of metal and machinery, along with the discarded husks of dozens of Equestrian firearms. Andrew was standing around a forge with five other ponies, contently working on some new device.
“Andrew!” Daniel shouted.
The engineer’s head shot up from his work to glance at the Captain.
“Hey Daniel! Come check it out, we just finished putting it together.” Andrew said enthusiastically.
“And just what is ‘it’?” Daniel asked as he stepped forward with Celestia and Silverlight following behind.
“Behold!” Andrew shouted as he moved aside, giving a full view of his newest creation.
Before them stood a full sized, six barreled, gatling gun. It was strangely beautiful, clad in gold trim and darker gunmetal. It sat on a pair of wheels and sported an ornately carved shoulder rest for the shooter.
“Andrew...” Daniel stammered.
“Yes?” The engineer asked in a sing song voice.
“Did you... did you make a gatling gun?”
“Yes I did.” Andrew beamed proudly.
“You made... a fully automatic, gatling gun... out of spare parts?” The Captain continued, totally bewildered by the creation before him.
“Yes.” Andrew replied with a nod.
“And I take it you taught them how to make these things?” Daniel said, motioning to the ponies that stood behind him.
“Well they did help make it, and besides, you said this would be okay.”
“You what?” Celestia asked.
Daniel quickly raised his hands, trying to defended himself. “What? No, that was taken way out of context. I said we were not authorized to send weapons at this time. I then said that if the Equestrians developed their own weapons, then it would be fine.”
“So Andrew decided to accelerate that process?” The solar Princess asked as she looked to the other ponies.
“It seems like it,” Daniel stated “Does it work?”
“One way to find out.” Andrew said with a grin.
With a bit of help from the armory ponies, they managed to get the new weapon outside and set up. A few hay bales had been set up for their target shooting pleasure. A few curious guards stopped what they were doing to watch the new weapon in action. Andrew pulled a box of 7.62 rounds, from which he removed a belt of the rounds and placed them in the gun’s receiver.
“Ready?” Andrew asked excitedly.
“Yeah, sure. Show us what this abomination can do.” Daniel said as he shook his head.
Andrew grabbed a crank on the side and began to wind it, rotating the barrels and firing a round with every tick. Celestia watched in amazement as Andrew cranked the gun as fast as possible, spewing a steady stream of bullets down range. The hay bales at the end of the range were quickly chewed up and utterly destroyed by the massive volume of projectiles.
After almost a minute of continuous firing, the gun came to a halt.
“That was fun.” Andrew stated with a laugh.
“How did you not melt the barrels?” Daniel asked.
“Because of her!” Andrew exclaimed as he grabbed Quicksilver under her forelegs and picked her up, pulling her into a hug. “She enchanted the barrels to dissipate heat much more efficiently. Think about it; magically enhanced technology. The possibilities are endless!”
The unicorn mare was caught off guard as Andrew picked her up, and looked at Daniel with a bit of concern.
“Andrew, put the pony down.” Daniel smirked.
“No. Mine.” Andrew replied, holding the unicorn tighter.
“Should I be worried?” Quicksilver asked, slightly concerned.
“You’ll be fine, he just gets a bit clingy.” Daniel said dismissively.
The unicorn sat still in the engineer’s embrace for a few moments before spinning around and wrapping her hooves around Andrew’s neck, returning the hug.
“Aww, Andrew made a friend.” Daniel cooed sarcastically.
Andrew looked over Quicksilver’s shoulder and grinned like an idiot before mouthing, “You’re fucking jealous.”
~~~
Luna sat in her room, browsing on the computer. She had already seen a number of movies the ship had to offer, as well as music and books. Though there was one program that caught her attention. Under the folder labeled “Programs” was an application entitled “Team Fortress”. With a shrug, she clicked on it. Perhaps this was a different kind of human media.
~~~
Daniel sat down at his computer, intent on unwinding with a video game. It was quite common for members of the crew to set up multiplayer games on the ship’s local network. By far the most popular game among the crew was in fact, Team Fortress 4. It was originally a series made incredibly popular in the early twenty first century. Though this version of the game had been released only twelve years ago, following the incredible failure of Team Fortress 3. This was mainly due to the fact that Team Fortress 3 was developed and published by Electronic Arts, who promptly filed for bankruptcy and soon closed its doors forever.
Daniel sighed as he relaxed into his seat and logged into the ship’s server. To his surprise, there was already a game in progress. With a bit of thought, he decided on playing engineer and pressed play. As soon as he spawned, he was confronted with a major issue; his team was losing. Badly. It was going to take some serious work, but he was determined to turn this game around.
With his trusty sentry gun in hand, Daniel rushed forward to the closest control point where he promptly deployed the stationary turret. For the next few seconds, Daniel continued to beat against the turret with a wrench, upgrading it to level three. Satisfied with his work, he turned to retrieve more metal for his dispenser, only to have his head cut off by a demoman’s great sword. Daniel stared at his screen for a moment before hitting the respawn button and trying again.
For the next ten minutes, Daniel and his team mates were slaughtered over and over again. Each time by a different character. Hitting the Tab button on his computer brought up the scoreboard, and revealed something horrifying. A single player was responsible for all their deaths.
“Who the hell is Nightmare?!” Daniel shouted over the ingame comms.
“Hell if I know.” One of his teammates replied.
Suffice to say, the game was soon lost.
“How the hell does someone go eighty seven and four?!” Someone shouted in the game.
“Well boys, it’s been fun, but I think I’ll call it a night.” A very cocky and sultry voice answered.
Silence followed as Daniel tried to put a face to the voice and the name. The realization hit him like a freight train.
“Luna!?”
“Oh hey, Daniel! I didn’t know you were here.” Luna replied cheerfully.
“... How long have you been playing this game?” Daniel deadpanned.
“About an hour.” Luna said cheerfully.
Daniel stared at his computer screen, still stuck on the scoreboard.
“I’m done. GG everyone.” Daniel said exasperatedly as he shut down his computer.
Perhaps a book would be a better choice than a competitive video game. Though, Daniel was now questioning the possibilities of Luna discovering video games. She had already spent a few days watching movies and T.V. shows, of which she had taken a keen liking to Sci-fi. Then she had spent a while listening to various forms of human music and reading various digital books. Now though, her attention was drawn to video games.
~~~
Luna happily sat in her quarters after thoroughly beating everyone in that game. It had been quite fun, beating the humans at their own game, but now it was time for bed. She had court tomorrow and would need her sleep to make it through the night. But perhaps there was something else she could do before going to sleep.
Daniel’s memory was still fresh in her mind. She desperately wanted to know what happened before the battle at the star port. Intent on finding out, she settled down to dreamwalk.
As her mind wandered through the ship, she noticed many dreams happening as she went through the passageways. She had seen almost every kind of dream since her return, everything from nightmares of foals, to dreams of riches and power, and even a few more... erotic dreams, a few centered around her sister. Though, she never even considered delving into those, and for good reason.
Eventually Luna came to the sleeping mind of Daniel. It would be fairly easy to coax out the memory she was looking for. The dreamscape quickly began to form, to which the Princess eagerly dove into.
~~~
Luna watched as the world formed around her. She was out on the street this time, standing at the foot of massive skyscrapers. Looking around, she quickly caught sight of Daniel, Ahmad, Kelly, and a few other marines. They were in the same city as before, it was still burning, and still under attack.
“Yo, Commander, where we headed?” Kelly called out.
“Evac is at Traxus tower, so that’s where we’re headed.” Daniel replied.
“Joy. Just when I thought today couldn’t possibly suck more.” A marine commented sarcastically.
“It’s either Traxus tower, or you can take your chances with the Elites.” Daniel offered dryly.
“Ya know, Traxus suddenly sounds much better now.” The same marine replied with fake enthusiasm.
The group continued to walk through the streets, passing burning cars and dead bodies. Many of them civilians, cut down trying to flee the Covenant. The group continued past, never giving the dead a second glance. Luna grimaced at how quickly they dismissed the deaths.
After almost half an hour of evading the Covenant, the group finally reached the base of Traxus tower. They had only had to fight a handful of small patrols, nothing more serious than an Elite or two. Luna followed behind as the troops continued into the lower part of the tower.
“Commander! Movement!” Ahmad shouted, raising his weapon and pointing to overturned lab table.
Everyone aimed their weapons at the spot, waiting for something to attack.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” Someone shouted.
Slowly, a small group of humans rose up from behind the table, their hands raised in the air. Half of them wore lab coats, while the others wore light brown coveralls.
“Who are you people?” Daniel quickly demanded.
“My name is Andrew Traxus, and this is Michael Optikanner.” One of the humans in coveralls said slowly, pointing to a tall man in a lab coat.
“What the hell are you doing here? The order to evacuate was given an hour ago.” Ahmad asked, slowly lowering his weapon.
“We can’t evacuate. Cargo port got bombed by the corvette overhead. We were packing up the last of our data and were going to try and find another way out.” Andrew said, slightly panicked.
“So the evac point is a wash?” Daniel asked in an irritated tone.
“Seems so. But we have a plan.” Andrew said with a grin.
“Oh? Do tell.” Daniel inquired.
“There’s a prowler in a hardened hanger near the cargo port. She was supposed to be launched next week, but obviously that isn’t happening.” Andrew continued.
“Then why haven’t you gotten the hell out of here?” Kelly jumped in.
“Because we wanted to secure all our important data. Now though, I would like to ask your assistance. We need only another half hour to finish the data backup, after that we will be ready to go. If you can buy us that time, the prowler is yours.” Andrew quickly offered.
“Woah, woah, woah. Half an hour?” Daniel asked in shock.
“I know, but it’s important.” Andrew pleaded.
“Dagger seven, how copy over?” The voice over the radio asked.
“Go for dagger seven.” Daniel replied.
“Dagger seven, we need you to move your team to the starport. Civilian transports are ready to launch, but are pinned down by the corvette overhead. We’re working a plan to free them, but we need someone to protect them from ground assaults, over.”
“Solid copy. Dagger seven, out.” Daniel answered with a sigh. “Looks like you just got your thirty minutes. Half of you will stay here and cover this area. The rest of you, let’s go.”
Luna knew what came next, so she skipped that part of the memory, fast forwarding to their return. Through the doors stumbled the remaining troops from the starport. Some of them were injured in some way, though most of them were lying dead in the street.
“Alright, Andrew, you all set?” Daniel wheezed.
“Yeah, lets get the fuck outta here.” The engineer said enthusiastically.
With that the group slowly moved through the subterranean parts of the Traxus complex. A few other civilian survivors had found their way into the lower halls, happily tagging along with the group heading to the hidden prowler.
“So... did everything go okay at the starport?” Andrew asked, trying to break the silence.
“More or less. Three of the four transports made it away.” Kelly answered.
“Well I guess that’s good.” Andrew replied sheepishly.
“Question, is anyone here a medical professional?” Daniel asked in a pained voice.
“Ya, I am.” Michael replied in a thick german accent.
“Great, I’m gonna need someone to take a look at a stab wound when we get to this ship.” Daniel said in a slightly relieved tone.
It took another ten minutes of winding corridors and dark rooms to finally reach the hidden hangar. Daniel was truly impressed at what he saw. Sure enough, a brand new prowler sat in the hanger, untouched by the war raging just on the other side of the hanger doors.
“Alright, everyone get on. I don’t wanna stay here any longer than I already have.” Andrew announced, quickly making his way across the catwalk toward the airlock.
The rest of the group followed in silent awe as they made their way to the ship. Everything about it was new, it smelled, felt, and looked like it had just rolled out of the shipyards. As soon as the group entered, the ship began to come to life.
Daniel, with the help of Michael and followed by a few other marines and medical staff, made their way toward the infirmary. Andrew and the others took a different route and headed to the bridge.
As soon as the bridge doors opened, the ship’s AI manifested on the central display table.
“UNSC AI serial number 546-PC-002, designation: Tommy. Beginning normal operations.” The AI flickered off, but quickly rematerialized. “Good afternoon, sir.”
“Tommy, bring all systems online and prep for launch.” Andrew commanded.
“I’m sorry sir, only authorized UNSC personnel are authorized to access those commands.” The AI replied politely.
“We don’t have time for this bullshit.” Andrew muttered. “Tommy, master override code, sabertooth crocodile.”
Tommy froze for a moment before becoming animated again.
“Yes, sir. Beginning launch procedure.” The AI replied.
Andrew looked around to the man Commander Ryan had said was a pilot. “You, take the helm. Tommy and I will help you fly this thing outta here.”
Vezina hesitated for a moment, but quickly took a seat next to Andrew.
“Bring all stealth systems online and then seal all airlocks.” Andrew commanded.
“Airlocks secure. Optical and sensory cloak online.” Tommy reported.
“Great. Open main hangar doors.”
Everyone on the bridge watched as the massive hangar doors slowly slid open, allowing sunlight to fill the dark room. The windows of the prowler quickly polarized, as to not blind the pilots. The fires of the city caused the sunlight to come as an eerie orange glow, rather than normal sunlight.
“Punch it!” Andrew shouted as the pilot slammed the throttle forward, causing the ship to lurch forward as the engines roared to life.
Luna watched from the bridge as the entire ship pitched up and began to head into the sky. Looking to the side offered a view of the ruined city, showing just how widespread the devastation was. To her horror, it was more than just the city, it was the whole planet.