Equinia, exiting upper atmosphere, en route to Assault Carrier Shadow of Remorse
Gunnar felt the deck of the Phantom troop bay shift beneath him as the craft breached the atmosphere and entered a combat zone, but this did little to deter his thoughts. Only half an hour ago, the stallion soldier had done his utmost to banish most, if not all, of the fear from his mind. The thought of the Flood reaching the planetary surface and threatening to overcome all that he held dear left little room for him to let fear and doubt overcome him. He knew he had to fight to defend the planet, his home, his friends, and Twilight. Now he was observing the space battle through a vidlink in his helmet HUD. It was absolute chaos. Broken ships, both Covenant and UNSC, floated about, some seemingly snapped in half, others looking like mutilated metal husks, and all of it accompanied by debris, large and small. The remaining ships were all mixed together in a chaotic skirmish. Then, there was their objective, being engaged by Thel's flagship Shadow of Intent: The Shadow of Remorse, colloquially known by the forces who knew its dark secret as "Flood City."
"ALRIGHT GUYS!" Mickey called back through the din of rumbling bulkheads, "THIRTY SECONDS TO THE TARGET! HOSTILE SHIP'S SHIELDS JUST POPPED! GET READY GUYS! THEL AND HIS BOYS ARE TIED UP IN THE HANGAR SO IT'S ABOUT TO GET LOUD!"
"AS IF IT WASN'T LOUD ENOUGH!" Hoya remarked, causing some nervous laughter from all but Buck, DeMarco, and Gunnar.
"HARDIE HAR HAR SPARTAN! TEN SECONDS, BE READY! FIGHTER ESCORTS JUST LIT UP A COZY SPOT FOR US TO LAND!" Mickey yelled out.
"DID THEY HIT ANY FRIENDLIES!?" DeMarco piped up
"NO, THEY HIT THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HANGAR! THEL AND HIS BOYS ARE PINNED DOWN ON THE FAR RIGHT BY..... WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE THINGS MAN!?"
"PROBABLY FLOOD THAT BROKE LOOSE! BE READY!"
"FUCK, THIS IS GONNA SUCK!"
The Phantom lurched as it came to a sudden halt in the hangar. Soon as the troop bay doors opened, they were greeted by loud, monstrous screeching and a severely deformed Elite jumping up to meet them. It's skin was a pale green and it looked like its whole body had been rearranged into some kind of walking weapon, giving the semblance of the most vile zombie ever seen.
"KILL IT! KILL IT!" Dutch cried.
Hoya gladly complied by instantly bringing his shotgun to bear and blasting a hole in the Flood infected Elite's chest, eliminating it from the game.
"Remember to aim for the bulbous part of their chests!" DeMarco called.
"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU TELL THAT APART FROM THE REST OF THEIR BODIES!?" Romeo yelled interrogatively.
"SHOOT FOR THE PART THAT LOOKS LIKE THE FUCKED UP MUSHROOM THINGS CRAWLING AROUND THEM!" Buck yelled before bringing his Assault Rifle to bear and blasting two more in the mentioned spot that were charging towards their Phantom. "If you can, destroy the bodies so they can't get back up!"
"THAT'S DAMNED DISGUSTING MAN!" Mickey called back.
"That's how you kill these things according to the footage!" Gunnar yelled as he aimed his Plasma DMR and shot three more of what he recalled being listed as Flood Combat Forms in the vids.
He looked down to suddenly see and Elite dual wielding Type-1 Energy Swords and slicing up flood all around him, wearing a familiar silver colored armor set.
"He's got the right idea!" Gunnar yelled.
"Let's get down there and help," DeMarco called, "Buck, you and your team stay with the Phantom and remain on station! Steer clear of the Flood! You don't have shields like the rest of us!"
"I'd argue with you in most cases, and I'm not in favor of being infected by those things. I'm still arguing the case though!" Buck replied.
Rookie stepped forward though, taking aim and blasting a few more Flood forms.
"Rookie! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Buck demanded.
"What do you think! Living up to his rep and goin' with ya!" Romeo laughed halfheartedly as he shot up two more Flood forms that were trying to jump up at them.
"Not a chance in hell!" DeMarco yelled at them, "Both of you stay put with your squad. I'm not risking more lives. Gunnar, you're staying too!"
"THE BUCK I AM!" the stallion barked back, "I'M COMING! IF ANYONE IS GONNA KILL TANAR, IT'S GONNA BE ME!! This is personal now!"
DeMarco sighed at that. He knew he wouldn't turn the stallion back from this one just based on his tone of voice. He also knew just how personal it was for the soldier pony so he reluctantly relented. "Fine, but you stay close to the team at all times!"
"Until we reach Tanar, I'm all for that, but once I see the bastard that threatened my home and my friends, you're gonna have to keep up!"
"I guess that's the best I'll get!" DeMarco half laughed.
In response, Gunnar activated his hardlight shield unit and charged, using it like an effective battering ram as he busted through a trio of flood combat forms to join Thel in the fray. He then drew his Plasma DMR and had the Elite's back. They cleared the hangar in minutes with the help and fire support from the Phantom and its occupants. Thel's remaining Spec Ops Elites were hunkered down at the other end of the hangar during the whole fight, firing off plasma weaponry at the hostile parasites until the fighting ended as well.
"Alright, that was a gutsy move, and the fact that you're still alive is proof enough for me," DeMarco said after leaping down from the Phantom. "Buck, my order stands, stay with your team in the Phantom and get clear of the hangar. We'll need a ride out of here and you're it!"
"Alright, fine," the ODST Gunnery Sergeant reluctantly complied, "We'll babysit your limo."
"Good man," DeMarco laughed as he watched the rest of Majestic jump down to join the attack force.
"Thel, you mind telling me how these things got loose?" Gunnar asked suddenly.
The Elite acknowledged with a nod and began to explain. "We prevented the pods from being able to launch by jamming the launch tube doors. We also had our fighters push some debris in from the battle however they saw fit, clogging the launch tubes up further, the crafty pilot jockeys. But we did this all remotely. Tanar opened the pods from the bridge before retreating to the core room and locking the area down."
"Buck.... so we need to lift the lockdown to get to him AND destroy the ship."
"It is worse than that I'm afraid. Tanar is trying to direct the ship to make a collision course with the planetary surface from where he is. It's possible, but it will take time. Unfortunately, he's had plenty of it thus far. We need to get in there, kill him, and destroy the ship before it can hit the planet's surface."
"Will there be any consequences if we wind up blowing it up in atmosphere?" Thorne asked.
"Plasma discharge from the explosion will annihilate the Flood on board this ship, and dispersal pods have yet to form on the hull. The ship's infection is in an early stage. As long as we keep it from coming too close to the surface, we should succeed," Thel explained.
"Well you don't have to tell me twice," Gunnar said coldly, "Let's get going. I want to snap that bastard's neck myself." He drew his weapon again and took point right away, causing Thel, the Spec Ops Elites, and Majestic to all look at each other in mixtures of confusion and concern before following.
"Try not to let this go to your head Gunnar," Thorne said, walking up beside the stallion as they entered the corridors.
"I'm well beyond forgiving him," Gunnar snapped back, "He sent his own son to try and kill me for one thing. He has tried numerous times to kill Twilight and her friends. He's been the cause for alot of pain and suffering for all of us. It ends TODAY!"
"I've got your back then." Thorne said as he drew his weapon and became more alert, essentially taking point with the stallion.
The team crept forward, occasionally shotgunning a flood form on the way.
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Eagle Fortress, Ponyville, Equestria: Operations Center
Celestia stood, listening and watching the horror unfolding on the screens before her. Her student Twilight had left with her friends a while ago and Celestia was glad for it. The poor mare didn't need to be seeing this right now.
"This is UNSC North Star to all ships! We've sustained heavy damage and need backup!"
"UNSC Andraste V, all hands abandon ship, all hands abandon ship!"
"This is Delta Two, we just lost the squad leader! WHERE'S OUR BACKUP! WE'RE GETTING SLAUGHTERED OUT H....."
As static dominated the fighter pilot's transmission, his fate became clear. Celestia's heart filled with sorrow and fear as she listened to the cacophony of distress coming over the comms. Where was the Infinity?
Her prayers were soon answered.
"This is Captain Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity. All friendly ships, rally around us. Let's teach these bastards who they're messing with. Roland, light those Covie suckers up!"
The video suddenly shifted to the Infinity as the massive vessel could be seen leaving the atmosphere once more. Her main guns fired and ripped a hostile CCS Class Battle Cruiser in half. An unfortunate Covie Corvette was caught in the blast too. The Infinity then caught an unlucky hostile CRS Class Light Cruiser and smashed through it as if she were an indestructible battering ram. The show of power resulted in cheers erupting throughout the Ops Center.
Celestia smirks, seeing the tide start to turn. Her relief was short lived however.
"All units, incoming emergency transmission!" one of the techs in the center yelled
"This is Gunnery Sergeant Buck to all allied forces. Flood pod launches were stopped, but Flood hostiles have broken loose on the enemy flagship. The enemy Fleetmaster Tanar is attempting to put his ship on a collision course with the planetary surface. We have friendlies aboard attempting to ensure Tanar is eliminated and destroy the ship from the inside for a thorough purge of the Flood! Need fleet elements to surround the Shadow of Remorse and block her path!"
"Shit..." one of the technicians in the Ops Center was heard muttering.
"This is R'tas, the best we can do is predict it's impact zone once it start's moving and position to glass the area it lands in"
"Lasky here, most of our fleet is bogged down, destroyed, or being forced to fall back. We have no ship's that can reach you in time. R'tas, much as I hate saying it, as soon as you know where that ship is gonna hit, you get in position and start glassing soon as it touches down."
"Is this absolutely necessary!?" one of the other UNSC ship captain's cried.
"It's either a half a million civies or the whole damn planet if the Remorse lands! You know what's on that ship!" another captain yelled.
"Fuck..."
"Let us pray this precaution is unneeded in the end..." R'tas said solemnly, "All Vadam fleet elements, fall back to the planetary atmosphere and monitor the Remorse. As soon as it starts moving, I want a prediction of it's trajectory."
"They... they can't do that..." a familiar voice said from behind Celestia.
The alicorn turned to see Twilight and her friends staring in disbelief at the displays, disbelieving of what they were hearing.
Celestia sighed, thinking about the situation and what to say to her student. In the end, if the Remorse landed and the Flood started pouring out, glassing the area would be the only other option. It really would be a decision between a few hundred thousand lives.... or the whole of Equinia. She knew she could only tell Twilight the truth now.... so that's what she decided upon.
"I assume you know about the flood and what would happen if they reached the surface?" Celestia began.
Twilight and her friends nodded.
"Then you understand that there is no choice if the ship lands. If the flood make it to the surface, the only options would be to glass the landing zone, or watch the world die around us.... and die with it."
Twilight couldn't believe her ears. She leaves for only a few minutes, and comes back to hear this hopelessness. Would she ever get rest from this apparent despair?
NO! I refuse to let this be the end! There's another option!
Twilight's expression became one of determination. "I know another way to stop that ship."
Celestia looked at her student in surprise. "How do you....?" Then it hit her. She turned to one of the techs. "Can you get Lasky for me?"
The tech nodded and triggered the holoterminal comms. "All yours Princess."
"This is Princess Celestia! Lasky, are you there!?"
"I'm here Princess," Lasky replied as he appeared on the holoterminal, "What's the matter?"
"We have an idea. Can you divert a Pelican and a Frigate?" the Princess requested with a smirk on her face.
"What's the plan?"
Celestia simply gestured to the six mares behind her. Lasky looked back and forth between the Princess and the mares, trying to figure out what the suddenly cryptic alicorn was saying. Then it hit him, and he grinned.
"Diverting a Frigate and a Pelican to your command now. I'll send them into the atmosphere to await your orders. Good luck everyone. Lasky out." With that, the Captain saluted and vanished from the holoterminal.