//------------------------------// // Preventing Apocalypse // Story: Clash of Worlds // by Gunner59524 //------------------------------// Flood Infested Shadow of Remorse, orbit above Equinia Gunnar and the team continued to advance. He and Thorne remained on point with Spec Ops Elites helping cover the sides with Hoya and Grant. Thel helped DeMarco and Madsen cover the rear. For the past half hour, they had been moving towards the core. Every once in a while, they had encountered swarms of the alien parasite in the corridors or in some of the larger rooms of the ship. The alien's would attack, only to have their swarming numbers betray them by making it easier for Gunnar, Majestic, Thel, and the friendly Spec Ops Elites to mow 'em down. It wasn't long before they reached a locked and shielded blast door. "According to the schematics, the core room should be right through here," Hoya informed. "These doors are not standard. Tanar upgraded this vessel significantly before coming here," Thel deduced, "Only way through is to hack the systems." "I'm already on it." Hoya produced the hacking datapad from the intel op at the north magnetic pole of the planet and got to work, using wireless uplinks to gain access to the systems. "This could take some time. Cover me." Thel nodded and took his Spec Ops Elites to take up positions at the nearby intersection a few meters back down the hall. DeMarco and Gunnar stayed with Hoya while the rest of Majestic went to take up positions with Thel and his elites. Five minutes passed without much incident, but the beastly screeches and roars of the Flood had them constantly on edge. Suddenly there was a muffled boom and the ship shuddered violently, knocking some of the team off balance for a moment. "What the buck was that?" Gunnar wondered aloud after the shuddering ended. DeMarco keyed his comms. "Buck, what's going on out there!?" "Buck here! You aren't gonna like the answer to that Paul!" "I don't give a damn, I need answers!" "The Remorse's engines just detonated suddenly. The ship's caught in the gravity well and is now in freefall! We're bringing the Phantom into the hangar! We won't be able to keep up much longer from out here!" "Copy that Buck, watch your backs." "We won't let some parasite get to us! Don't worry! Buck out!" "This is DeMarco to UNSC Infinity! Captain Lasky, did you get that!?" "Loud and clear Spartan! R'tas already has a reading on how long you have! If you don't take that ship out in the next twenty three minutes, he's gonna start glassing!" "We'll be done in ten!" "I hope you do! Lasky out!" "Buck it all...." Gunnar muttered. "Tanar must not be able to pilot the ship from in there! He must have elected to take out the orbital stabilizers and engines!" Arbiter called back. "It won't matter! We're in!" Hoya announced. The shield's on the door flared out of existence and the heavy duty hatch slid open smoothly. "Let's move team!" Gunnar yelled as he took point again. They took their original formation and continued on. ============================================================= UNSC Paris-class Heavy Frigate Silver Lining, in atmosphere above Equestria. Twilight sat on the bridge of the ship next to a familiar alien face in the frigate's armory. Lasky had deemed fit to send the Huragok, Patchy, to help them prepare. Currently, the engineer was using Twilight's armor to replicate three sets for Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie. "Ugh... you expect me to wear that?" Rarity asked in mild disgust. "Would you rather suffocate in the thin air while we're standing out there?" Dash asked her seriously. "B-b-but, why us?" Fluttershy stuttered. Twilight answered by pulling a familiar sight out of her saddlebags, having collected the items before the Pelican brought them to the Silver Lining. She had brought the Elements of Harmony. "What good will that do?" Dash wondered aloud. A human armory officer deemed fit to step forth. "Apparently you haven't heard. The Shadow of Remorse is in freefall. The whole fleet knows it," he explained. "What!?!?" the girls all cried out in unison.... all except Twilight. "The trajectory and landing zone have already been predicted. We're on an intercept course." "And what in tarnation are we supposed to do about it!?" AJ asked in bewilderment. "I had a feeling this would happen..." Twilight said, causing all eyes to turn to her, "That's why we're up here. When the Silver Lining is in position, we need to have the armor ready." She said all this as she showed Patchy the Elements, who wore them, and how they wore them. In response, the engineer quickly modified each mare's armor, putting slots with magnetic clamps in the individual armor sets to allow each Element to be worn securely over the armor. "Wait.... so we're going out there.... on top of the ship!?" Rainbow asked, even more baffled. Twilight sighed. "Yes.... I know it's risky.... and I'm afraid of what could happen.... but if that ship gets too close, the fate of Equestria, of the planet, will rest on our shoulders. We cannot let that ship land, even if it is crashing." "Well.... when you put it that way.... I guess we really don't have a choice...." Rainbow muttered. "The risk is worth the reward if you ask me," Applejack piped up, "I want to see my family safe from this disaster." "I would not wish such a harsh fate as... Flood infection... on anypony," Rarity stated, "I'll go too." Patchy went over to comfort a frightened Fluttershy as Twilight turned to her. "What about you Fluttershy?" "I.... I don't know...." the yellow pegasus replied timidly. "Fluttershy, think of your animal friends, think of us, and think of our home," Twilight tried to encourage her, "If we don't do this.... they could be destroyed...." "I suppose now is a bad time to say that the projected crash site is the Everfree Forest...." the armory tech spoke up, "But she's right. If that ship gets through and lands, R'tas will have no choice. Ponyville will be in the area that they glass." Fluttershy let out an audible gasp when she heard this. "How do you know all this?" Twilight asked the tech. "It was publicly announced over all friendly comm frequencies. You probably didn't hear because you weren't listening to a comms device. Still, we're hoping to slow it down as much as possible. That would give us maybe five minutes extra before the Remorse hit the surface. That isn't much though... and we only have about ten more minutes before it comes within our range. If the boarding team fails...." Twilight sighed sadly. "I know." Fluttershy shivered in fear for a few more moments before Patchy cooed and nuzzled her cheek. She found encouragement and comfort in the gesture. It was just enough to finish breaking through the wall of fear. She stood, smiled at Patchy, then looked at her friends with a determined smile. "Feeling better Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked her with a smile of her own. "Yes, let's do this. No one hurts my friends or threatens my home. I'm ready." "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Pinkie chimed in. ================================================================= Aboard Flood Infested Shadow of Remorse. in a Deteriorating Orbit above Equinia. Gunnar and team were now caught in a three way battle in one of the larger rooms on the ship. The core and Tanar were only one room away. An energy shield had deployed in the doorway, blocking their advance. Now they were in a three way firefight between them, Tanar's specialist defenders, and the Flood. "HOW THE HELL ARE WE GONNA GET IN THERE IN TIME!?" DeMarco remarked loudly as his rifle gave a loud report when he shot down another Flood infected elite. "WE GOTTA TRY!" Gunnar yelled, "I'M NOT LEAVING TILL I'M CERTAIN TANAR CAN'T THREATEN US ANYMORE!" "Bold words for a doomed heretic!" Tanar yelled at him through the shield. "SHUT UP COWARD, I'LL BE GETTING AT YOU REAL SOON!" "You dare call me a COWARD!?!?" "YEAH SPLITLIP, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!" Gunnar and his team were still fighting on as the elite leader seethed with anger behind the shield to their six when the comms crackled to life. "DeMarco, it's Lasky, you and your team need to pull out NOW!!!" "Sir, we're in the middle of something! Mission isn't done!" "Mission's changed! Get your asses out of there or in the next three minutes, you'll be torn apart with the rest of that ship by the Elements!" "Fuck!" Hoya bellowed before busting three more Flood with his shotgun. DeMarco deadpanned, "We don't know if that will work sir. We're staying put until we're certain we can't complete the mission. You need every bit of assurance that this mission will be completed." Seeing that his enemies were distracted by combat and other means, Tanar took his chance. He would take his vengance on Gunnar, then escape this mess and return with a larger fleet next time.... if Jul Mdama saw fit to let him continue. He turned off the shield, quickly and quietly stepped out, then grabbed Gunnar's throat and pulled him in, tossing him across the saferoom as he reactivated the shield. An audible choking sound was heard as it happened, causing Thorne and DeMarco to turn. The shield went up as they saw the stallion get tossed further into Tanar's saferoom and slam into the bulkhead. "GUNNAR!!!" The two Spartans called out worriedly as they witnessed their friend take the hit. They cursed themselves for not being able to do anything about it. "Gunnar, GET UP!" Thorne yelled at the stallion as if giving him an urgent order. The stallion heard him and looked to see an angered Tanar marching quickly towards him with a drawn Energy Sword. He triggered his hardlight shield just as the downswing came, causing the blade to bounce back. Gunnar took the opportunity to use the shield as a bulldozer blade, pushing the elite away from him before taking a combat stance. "I'm fine!" the stallion yelled, "Follow orders guys, get off the ship!" He and a now cautious and combat ready Tanar circled each other. "We won't leave you!" Thorne yelled, slamming his fist on the shield. "I'm not asking, I'm ordering! The Elements are far more powerful than ever before now. They will tear this ship apart! Do NOT be here when they do!" "WHAT ABOUT YOU!?" "I'm gonna make sure this bastard doesn't escape alive," Gunnar answered with a grin, causing the Fleetmaster to snarl at him. "Make your friends take the coward's way out?" Tanar remarked, now chuckling sinisterly. "No. I'm saving them," the stallion answered, "because of the fact that they're my friends." Tanar snarled, looking about ready to attack again. "Guys, get out of here!" Gunnar yelled, "And tell Twilight to make it count!" "NO! We'll find another way man!" Thorne's voice cracked. "THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! Get out of here! Watch each other's backs!" DeMarco put a hand on Thorne's shoulder. The others had finished off the last Flood attackers in the area along with Tanar's defenders and were watching. "Take care guys. It was an honor to serve with you. I'm glad to call you my friends. Tell Twilight... I love her." Tanar waited for the stallion to make a move as they circled each other. His dark heart caused him to sneer disgustedly at the stallion's words to his comrades. "We'll remember you Gunnar," Thorne said, reluctantly accepting the order now. "Fight hard 'Spartan'," DeMarco said to Gunnar, his respect for the stallion obvious in his voice. "Majestic, fall back!" Thel looked at the two combatants on the other side of the shield. He gave Gunnar a respectful nod before turning and leading his remaining Spec Ops Elites away with Majestic. The tired stallion soldier mustered his remaining strength and stopped circling Tanar as the elite leader stopped moving. The next moment seemed to last an eternity. Each stared down the other, resolving that they would give no quarter. Gunnar tossed aside his Plasma DMR.... then they charged each other, Hardlight Shield colliding with Energy Sword with a vicious, angry flash of light. =============================================================== High above Equestrian airspace, Frigate Silver Lining, on top of the bow hull. Twilight listened in through her helmet radio for news reguarding Gunnar and his team as the Shadow of Remorse came closer. In about a minute, she and her friends would be lighting it up with the power of the Elements. She prayed that it would be enough. Her mind drifted to the stallion she loved again. She hoped he would survive. Just then the comms crackled to life when two Phantoms shot out of the Remorse's hangar. "This is Paul DeMarco of Fireteam Majestic... team is away," the Spartan said with a solemn tone of voice. Twilight new that tone... and realized what it could mean... but she refused to believe it, not yet, not without solid proof. Her determination and resolve returned. "Alright girls! It's now or never!" She called back to her friends. "We're with ya Twi," Applejack assured her, her other friends nodding in agreement. The unicorn smiled before she looked inward. She closed her eyes and focused her magic. The others did the same, looking inward and finding the power within each of them. Twilight's tiara started to glow a bright shade of violet. Polychromatic energies flowed from the other Element's to the tiara. Their eyes opened and brilliant white light shined from them through the depolarized visors of their helmets. The energy intensified, and for one moment, time seemed to slow down. The energy fired from the tiara in a whirlwind of multicolored firepower, catching the Remorse in the waves of energy. For a moment, the ship simply held still, slowed to a stop by the powerful forces. The shield glowed brighter and brighter until they broke with a loud bang. Metal groaned as the stress on the ship's bulkhead increased. Flood poured from the hangars and hull breaches, trying to escape to the surface to consume. The energy tore them asunder, disintegrating each and every form of the evil creatures, not a single spore escaping. The hull started to warp as the energy from the Elements intensified to a level never seen before. Twilight smiled, feeling the harmonious energy rush through her. The happy memories of her life flooded to her, her discovery of the Elements with her newfound friends, the marriage of her brother to Cadence, the rediscovery and restoration of the Crystal Empire, and every little adventure in between... plus the memory of that one moment, when everything seemed perfect, that first kiss. The Elements, fueled by all the true powers of friendship and love, intensified their output one hundred fold. Suddenly the warping of the hull turned to tearing as piece after piece was torn away from the vessel and sent back into orbit. The metal groaned and screeched under the stress of the firepower hitting it. It wouldn't be long now. ================================================================ Aboard the Flood Infested Shadow of Remorse, VIP safe room, two minutes to Zero Hour. Gunnar and Tanar dealt blow after blow to each other. They dodged, and blocked blow after blow. Gunnar used his magic to turn shards of broken bulkhead metal into weapons. Tanar batted the large chunks away, the small ones only making his shields flare, before charging at Gunnar and going for a leap and downward stab. Gunnar rammed him out of the air using his hardlight shield again. The Fleetmaster hit the bulkhead wall and fell to the floor on his knees. He panted heavily, but saw the stress taking its toll on the stallion as well. They were evenly matched. "Why.... do you continue to fight?" The Elite asked, bewildered, "Fighting for heretics and blasphemers. Do you not see the dishonor in it?" "The only dishonor I see right now is in the being in front of me," Gunnar replied, causing the elite to growl with contempt, "You use false religions and gods to justify genocide, and hide behind a plague to do the dirty work for you. You're lower than dirt Tanar. I'll see you die like the beast you are." Tanar roared in rage, charging at Gunnar and this time, breaking through the shield, but not before having his sword sent flying away with the angle at which it had hit that shield. He held Gunnar against the wall by the throat. "You will die a heretic's death! I'LL SEE YOU BURN!!!" the Fleetmaster roared. "You won't get the chance," Gunnar managed to choke out with a harsh laugh. "WHY DO YOU DO THIS!?" "Because I have something worth fighting for, something I care about. Something that's real," Gunnar leered as he stared at a metal shard that was stuck between the elite's chest armor." "And what, pray tell, is that?" Gunnar smiled. "My home, my friends...." He mustered all his strength and bucked the metal shard as hard as he could, breaking what was left of Tanar's shields and embedding it in his flesh. Causing the elite to stagger back and roar in pain, dropping Gunnar, who barely managed to land on his hooves. After a moment of coughing, he looked up and stared at the elite. ".....and the one I love." The Elite felt the ship shudder a moment. Tanar looked up at Gunnar, then at his wound. It was a losing battle. He looked at the one escape pod in the safe room. He bolted for it. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Gunnar roared, following Tanar closely, scooping up his Plasma DMR as he went. Just as the elite punched the controls to shut the door and launch the pod, Gunnar dove through and tackled Tanar. The Plasma DMR skidded just out of reach as the pod launched. They grappled and wrestled with all their strength for a few seconds before pod lurched, propelled by a force they could not see through the windowless hull of the small pod. Gunnar went for the DMR as it floated past him in the shifting g-forces, but was grabbed by the back left hoof and tossed into the bulkhead. Tanar proceeded to start pummeling Gunnar with his fists. "GET! OFF!" Gunnar roared as he bucked the Elite's face, causing the him to tumble to the other side of the pod. Gunnar tried to go for his Plasma DMR again but was again pinned to the wall. He kicked hard as he could for all it was worth... but Tanar was ready for that this time. Gunnar eyed the DMR, waiting for it to float by. "You fight for your compatriots, but they are heretics ALL OF THEM!" Tanar growled, "First I will kill you, then I will hunt them all down and give them all the slow and painful deaths they deserve one by one." Gunnar caught the DMR. "What say you to that heretic?" the Fleetmaster sneered. "I say," Gunnar choked, "You can burn in hell motherfucker." He shoved the tip of the Plasma DMR between Tanar's mandibles and squeezed the trigger. The Fleetmaster, without his shields and already injured, was killed instantly. T he design of the pod allowed it to stabilize before then as it fell. Gunnar coughed and gagged as he dropped to the floor of the now stabilized but falling pod, DMR clattering next to him. He looked up after a moment. he saw Tanar caught under the control panel, dead with a hole in his head. He looked up at the controls and the seat in front of it. He wasted no time. He crawled over to the seat, hoisted himself up into it, and looked at the display, which showed the ground fast approaching. He grabbed what he hoped was a flight control stick on the panel and pulled hard. The pod's angle changed before..... Gunnar blacked out at the sound of screeching and groaning metal and then the splash sound of a water impact as the pod came to a sudden jarring halt.....