//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Hive // Story: Aliens: Pony Marines // by Renegade Thunder //------------------------------// The APC roared across the stygian landscape, traversing the causeway which connected with the colony to the atmosphere station a kilometre away. Behind it was the drop-ship settling down to the ground at the colony landing field. The massive structure was like a vast foundry, the conical exhaust tower flicked with spectral lights. In the APC the troopers were sitting, more subdued now, swaying and bouncing in the heavily sprung vehicle. Renegade was in the saddle of the APC, driving it to the location of the colonist. Twilight and Applebloom were sat side by side just aft of the driver’s cockpit. The vast structure towered above the parked armoured personnel carrier (APC). Deploying in the front of the APC, backlit by its lights, the troopers cast long shadows. They looked ominous, like hulking techno-samurais. The base of the station was a depthless maze of conduits and pressure vessels, like an oil refinery. There were thrumming functioning machine systems that echoed through the labyrinth. Rarity’s voice came over the mike, “forty meters in, ramp on axial two-two, access to sublevels.” The troopers started to move down the open ramp-way. Lights filter down through several levels of steel mesh flooring, catwalks and pipes. Below was darkness. Rarity’s voice came over the mike again, “B-level, next one down.” The troopers continued downwards as the thrumming of the machines grew louder as they descended. In the APC Twilight, Filthy Rich and Rarity were all looking at the monitors on the desk. Applebloom squeezed in from behind to see what they all were looking at. She looked over and saw Rarity using her magic and tapping her hooves on the buttons of the keyboard. Rarity looked on the screen of Pinkies monitor, and saw something out-of-place, as they were going deeper into the complex. “We’re not making that out too well. What is it?” Pinkie tapped her mike; her voice came over static, “you tell me, I only work for the parties.” In the complex the troopers stood looking at a bizarre tableau, among the refinery-like lattice of pipes and conduits something new and not of pony design had been added. It was a structure of some sort, extending from and crudely imitating the complex of the plumbing, but made some strange encrusted substance. It vaguely resembles the chambered nests of swallows on a much larger scale, and it attenuated so gradually into the original hardware that it is hard to see where one ends and the other begins. The alien structure seems to extend far back into the complex of machinery. The plant thrums loudly, its functioning seemingly not impaired. Twilight stares at one of the screen in dread fascination. “What is it?” asked Rarity. She looked at Rarity with a blank thought, “I don’t know.” Rarity looked back at the screens and tapped her mike to the troopers, “proceed inside.” The troopers enter the organic labyrinth, focusing their lights over the walls. Revealing a bio-mechanical lattice, like the marrow of some vast bone, the air was thick with steam. Trickling water was dripping down the side of the walls, the place seemed almost alive. Lyra snapped off a piece of alien lattice from the wall, she spoke into her mike; her voice came over static, “looks like some sort of secreted resin.” “Yeah, but secreted from what?” asked Applejack as she looks at the wall closely. Steam swirls around the troopers as they moved deeper inside, “it hotter ‘n’ hell in here.” said Bon-Bon. “Yeah...but it’s a dry heat.” Replied Pinkie as she was dry humping the wall. In the APC Twilight leans forward suddenly, studying the graphic readout of the station ground plan, “they’re right under the primary heat exchangers.” Filthy looked at Twilight, “yeah? Maybe the organism like the heat, that’s why they built...” he suddenly got interrupted. “That’s not what I mean.” she then caught Rarity’s attention, “Rarity, What type of ammunition does those weapons fire?” “10mm explosive-tip caseless, standard light-armor piercing round, why?” asked Rarity as she raised an eyebrow to Twilight. “Well, look where your team is, they’re right under the primary heat exchangers.” Rarity looked at the screens, “so?” Twilights’ eyes widen as her warning did not get to Rarity, “so, if they fire their weapons in there, won’t they rupture the cooling systems?” “Whoa. Ho, ho. Yeah, she’s absolutely right.” said Filthy as he realized that what Twilight was talking about. “So? So what...” Asked rarity again, as she didn’t understand what they both were getting at. “Look, this whole station is basically a big fusion reactor, Right, so we’re talking about a thermonuclear explosion and basically kiss your ass goodbye.” “Oh...ah, great, wonderful, Shhhit,” Rarity then spoke into her mike to the troopers. “Look...uh...Zecora...look, we can’t have any firing in there. I, uh, want you to collect magazines from everypony.” The troopers all looked at each other in dismay, and started to argue against the command. “Is she CRAZY?” said Pinkie. Rainbow Dash looked at Zecora, “What the hell are we supposed to use, harsh language.” “Flame-units only, I want rifle slung,” said Rarity’s voice over the mike. Zecora then rhymed her orders to the pony troopers, as she was collecting the magazines from everyponies’ weapons. She walked up to Rainbow Dash and Renegade and ordered them to remove their battery from their smart-guns, to cut all power from firing their weapons. When she moved on, Rainbow Dash pulled out two spare battery packs from her harness and inserts one in her weapon, she then gave the other battery to Renegade. “Right on, Dash.” said Renegade as he smiled and inserted the battery into his weapon. Zecora continued walking to everypony, collecting the ammo and placing all the cartridges in Fluttershys’ rucksack and gave it back to her to carry, “thanks a lot, I think.” Applejack stood in the shadow, as she reached over her shoulder and pulled out an old-style pump-action twelve gauge shotgun, with a sawed-off butt stock from the leather quiver. Pinkie looked on with professional interest; Applejack clicked back the stock of the well-maintained relic, and chambered a round. “Where did you get that, Applejack? Did you steal it from a museum?” asked Pinkie as she stared at the shotgun. “Been in my family for a long time, cute, isn’t it?” said Applejack with a smile. She then showed Pinkie pie a single shell. “Not your standard military-issue high-velocity armour-piercing round, but you don’t want it going off in your face, either,” said Applejack as she kept her voice down. “I like to keep this handy...” she chambers a round in the chamber and then cocks the gun, “...for close encounters.” Fluttershy looked her and the gun, and spoke in a quiet voice, “okay.” They continued to move as they were now unarmed and was only to use flame-unit. The air was thick and the light flared. Rarity voice came over the trooper’s mike with a little static, “Any movement?” Pinkie looked at her tracker, as it was scanning for any signs of movement, “nothing, zip.” Zecora stops, her expression changed as she gazed up at the wall, “holy shit,” muttered Rainbow Dash. They faced a wall of living horror. The colonists were attached to the walls; their bodies were frozen in a twisted position. Rib cages were burst outward, but looked like it exploded from within. Twilight looked at the monitor in horror; she wanted to look away, but pushed herself to continue watching the monitors. She suddenly notice Applebloom was still watching, “Applebloom, go sit up front, go on.” Arrayed across the floor was a number of leathery ovoid’s, alien eggs, their tops were open like flower petals. Applejack went up to one of the eggs and looked inside; she shined her shoulder light and aimed her shotgun inside one. It was empty and completely dry. She then looked on the floor and saw one of the multi-legged parasites, curled up and shrivelled like a dead spider. She lifts it up with the end of her twelve-gauge to examine it, her light showing the non-pony grotesqueness of the creature. Lyra looked to her left and moved closer to examine one of the figures on the wall. It was a mare; her fur was pale purple and her mane was a faded grey, she looked drained. Lyra lifts up the head of the mare, her eyes suddenly snapped open, “Sarge!” Zecora looked over shoulder and saw what Lyra was doing, “get over here! We’ve got a live one,” Applejack tosses the dead parasite to the floor and moves to the mare. “You’re going to be alright, you’re going to be alright,” Said Lyra twice, as she was trying to get the mare out from the wall. “Please...ki-kill me.” requested the mare. “Just stay calm, we’re going to get you out of there.” Applejack tapped her mike to contact Rarity, “ma’am, we’ve got a survivor here.” “It’s going to be alright,” she turns to the troops. “Give me a hoof; we got to get her out of here!” The mare suddenly began to convulse, as she started to scream, a sawing shriek of mindless agony. The sound of bones was cracking, as the mare was screaming in blinding pain. Suddenly something started to rip through the mares’ chest as blood splatters over the place. “Lyra, get back, get back!” shouted Applejack as she pulled Lyra away from the mare. They all watched in horror as they saw the mares’ chest rip open and burst out a small fanged head, while hissing viciously. “Fluttershy flamethrower!” shouted Applejack to Fluttershy, as she tossed the flamethrower to Applejack. She pulled the trigger, unleashing a blaze of fire onto the mare and the creature that just burst of from her chest. The other troopers who carried flame-units opened fire on the alien aswell, creating a tri-shot of flame. The creature let out a high-pitched death shriek as it died; it slummed over in the flames, half in / half out of the dead mare. Suddenly a shrill hissing began throughout the chamber, like a siren created from escaping gas. Zecora and Lyra look above them. Unseen by the troopers, shapes began to move in the walls themselves...glistening bio-mechanic forms. Visibility drops as smoke fills the chamber. Pinkie looked at her tracker and saw multiple pale blue dots, “we got movement!” Rainbow Dash aimed her Smart-gun to the unexplored areas of the complex, “what’s the position?” “Uh...can’t lock in...” said Pinkie as she couldn’t tell where they were coming from. “Talk to me pinkie,” said Rainbow Dash. “Uh, multiple signals...they’re closing.” The squad members snapped down their image-intensifier visors, which cover the right eye, leaving the other free for normal vision. Rarity was playing the gain control on the monitors, “What’s happening? We can’t see anything in here.” Twilight sensed it coming, like a wave at night; dark, terrifying and inevitable, “pull your team out, Rarity!” Pinkies tracker beeped louder and louder at ever beeps, “I’ve got signals! I’ve got reading in front and behind.” Renegade aimed his smart-gun at their flank and saw nothing, “Where? I don’t see shit!” “He’s right, there’s nothing back here,” said Applejack as she looked on her tracker. “Look, I’m telling you, something’s moving and it ain’t us,” said Pinkie getting worried. Lyra scanned the walls of the chamber. She grips her flamethrower tightly, “maybe they don’t show up on infra-red at all.” Her shoulder lamp skims past the nightmarish creature as she turned around to look at the other wall. It suddenly leaped off the wall and grabbed Lyra pulling her upwards. She fires her flamethrower, reflexively, and widely. Fluttershy turned and saw the jet flame engulf her. She screamed in pain as she falls over the raining, dropping like a lit match into the dark heart of the complex, “FLUTTERSHY!!” shouted Applejack as she witnessed one of her friends die in front of her. Applejack and Bon-Bon turned horrified, as they both saw the bag that Fluttershy was carrying on fire. She quickly grabbed Bon-Bon and pulled her away from the burning ammo; “COME ON!!” grunted Applejack as they turned to run away. Suddenly the ammo exploded, making them catapulted forward across the room, Bon-Bon strike a pillar head-on. In the APC Twilight watched in horror as BON-BON’s monitor spins and goes black, she looks over to Lyra and Fluttershy monitor and saw just static break up, their bio-readouts gone flat line. “Zecora, what’s going on?!” asked Rarity as she was hesitating. Suddenly Applejack shows up on Pinkie’s P.O.V., “Derpy and Bon-Bon are down!” She turns over Bon-Bon dead body; she then turned at the sound of somepony yelling off her side. “DERPY, DERPY!” Rainbow Dash looks over at Renegade with a grim satisfaction. “Lets ROOOCK!!” They both open fire simultaneously, as Rainbow Dash moves ferret-quick in a pivoting dance, thunder and lightning, better than sex for her. Rarity stared at the monitor, “who’s firing, I ordered a hold fire!” Rainbow Dash and Renegade blasted the hive walls with their bullets, their bodies illuminated by strobes of muzzle blasts from the weapons, “YEAH!!” grunted Rainbow Dash. Rarity stares at the APC’s monitors in shock. Her mental state starting to collapse since she didn’t know what to do and her orders were not being met, “I ordered a hold fire!” They heard Pinkie over the mike, “they’re coming out of the walls!” Rainbow Dash and Renegade started leading the other troopers towards the exit tunnel. Rarity looked as if she was going to lose it at any moment, she was covered with sweat. They heard Rainbow Dash’s voice over the mike with some static, “on your right!” Zecora spins looking all around her for unseen enemy, she couldn’t see anything. Suddenly she felt drips of water that tapped her on the helmet. She quickly looked up, and raised her flamethrower to fire, but fails as she wasn’t fast enough. Zecora’s monitor white out as her flamethrower fires then spins crazily, the sound of vicious struggle as it cuts out to static. “Sarge, Sarge!” shouted Pinkie. “Zecora?” asked Rarity as she couldn’t think. They then heard Applejack voice over the mike; “Where’s the Sarge.” “Zecora...talk to me” Said Rarity as she couldn’t speak. “She’s gone!” shouted Twilight as couldn’t take the pressure anymore. “GET THEM OUT OF THERE!” “Shut up!” “DO IT NOW,” Shouted Twilight as she wanted Rarity to get her troops out of there. “SHUT UP!” Twilight suddenly grabbed a headset from the counter and yelled down the mike, “Applejack, Pinkie, who’s ever left, get the hell out of there!” Rarity ripped the headset out of her hoofs, “JUST SHUT UP!” On Pinkies’ helmets camera, they saw Applejack running up towards her and shouting, “where’s Zecora, where’s Zecora?!” Pinkie replied in her not joyful self, “The sarge is gone! Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Applejack stood still for five seconds to realize that she was the only commanding officer on the field; she nods to Pinkie, “Pinkie! Move it!” she then looked at whoever was left. “Let’s go, marines!” Renegade looked back and sees Applejack and Pinkie moving away, he turns to Rainbow Dash, “let’s move it, Dash! Let’s move it!” Dash didn’t turn her head, but was moving back toward to where ever they needed to go. Rarity continued to hesitate as couldn’t catch the rushing images on the monitors, “Pinkie, Rainbow Dash?” she sat quietly muttering to herself as she was totally brain locked. They heard multiple voices on the mike and shot being fired from Rainbow dashes’ and Renegades’ smart-guns along with Applejacks’ shotgun. Twilight shock her head and levitated Applebloom into one of the soldiers’ seat and locked the safety harness down over her. “Hold on Applebloom.” She then jumps into the driver’s seat of the APC, taking a deep breath. She started slapping switches; Rarity suddenly came back to her senses upon hearing the APC engine starting up. “Twilight, what the heck are you doing?!” Twilight slams the APC into gear, forcing the drive-wheels to spin on the wet ground. The massive machine moved forward, moving down the narrow corridor. Rarity lunges into the driver’s cabin and grabs the steering controls, causing Twilight to lose control of the momentarily, “Turn around!” The APC scraped along the corridor’s wall, sparks flow off as the APC moved fast down the corridor. Rarity was trying her best to stop Twilight from going any further; “Turn this thing around!” as she continued to pull the controls away from Twilight, “That’s an order!” Filthy Rich rushed in and pulled Rarity off from Twilight and placed her in the co-pilot seat, “you had your chance, Rarity.” Twilight Came to a descending ramp-way and slammed the left and the right drive-wheel actuators viciously, spinning the machine in a roaring pivot. The APC hits the corridor’s wall sideways and then kept on moving. In the hive Applejack was supporting a limping Pinkie Pie while Renegade and Rainbow Dash supported from behind, taking out any aliens that were closing in. “Come on!” commanded Applejack. Rainbow Rash nodded and turned to Renegade, “come on, Renegade!” The APC roared down the smoky structure, emerging from a cloud of smoke that covered the corridor. As the smoke cleared Twilight looked out and saw a wall of alien-encrustation directly in her path, she braced for impact. The APC smashed through the walls, showing debris everywhere. Another wall was broken as the APC continues to move forward in the chamber beyond. It suddenly came to a stop as the alien debris was scattered all around the vehicle. Rainbow Dash and Renegade opened fire on the creatures as they appeared from every corner in the chamber; Applejack saw the APC and turned to the two operators, “come on! Let’s move it!” “Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go!” said Rainbow Dash to Renegade, as they were getting near the APC. Applejack and Pinkie appeared in front of the APC. The debris was around it, as the it was blocking their way for a straight-away shot to the side door of the APC, “it’s blocked, we’ve got to go around!” said Applejack. Twilight saw Applejack and Pinkie out of the APC’s front window; she turned to Filthy Rich who was right next to her, “open the door!” she then tapped her mike to Applejacks’ channel, “Applejack!” Filthy Rich quickly opened the door. Applejack turned to see where Rainbow Dash and Renegade was, “Renegade! We are leaving!” “Get some,” he turns to Rainbow Dash, “Dash! Run for it!” he then turned back to face the rest of the upcoming aliens. He pulled the trigger of his smart-gun, but it wasn’t firing. “SHIT!” grunted Renegade as he now knew his gun was dry of ammo. He then slapped the buckle, cutting loose his smart-gun harness and unslings a flamethrower he had picked up. Applejack carried Pinkie Pie inside quickly, dropping her down on some ammo boxes, “let’s go! Let’s go!” shouted Pinkie. “Renegade, Come on, man! We’re going!” said Rainbow Dash, as Applejack pulled her and her gear inside the APC, Renegade was right behind them, frying the chamber with his flamethrower, “Renegade, Come on!” Suddenly a dark shape rose up next to him, as Rainbow Dash notices it first and fired ten-burst into its body. The alien’s body burst open as a spray of it bright yellow blood slashed across Renegade’s face and chest, eating into him like a hot knife through butter. He yelled in agony as he fell to the ground, reflexively triggering his flamethrower, “NOOOOO!!!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she just realised was she had done. The jet of liquid fire arcs around as he falls, engulfing the back half of the APC, Rainbow Dash rolled aside as a gout of napalm shoots through the side-door, setting the interior on fire. “Fire in the hold!” shouted pinkie. Filthy Rich grabbed a fire extinguisher and quickly began spraying the contents of the fire. Pinkie grabbed one as well while everypony move around to get out of the way. Applejack rolled the door close, but Rainbow Dash lunges, clawing out of the opening. She stopped her and started dragging her back inside, “HE’S GONE!” “No his not!” grunted Rainbow Dash, as she continued to crawl out of the APC. Applejack snapped off her armor and gun, and slams her against the door, then yelled in her face, “Forget ‘em! He’s gone!” Twilight worked the reverse gears; Applejack got the door almost closing it, when claws appeared at the edge of the door. The door was being slowly wrenched open from the outside. Applejack yelled at a paralyzed Rarity, “Help me close this damn door!” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie moved up and help close the door, while Applejack reaches down and grabbed her twelve-gauge from the floor. An aliens head was wedged through the opening. It hideous mouth was opening as Applejack jams her shotgun muzzle between its jaws, “eat this!” She pulled the trigger blowing the back of the creatures head, spraying acid blood into the door, the deck, and some hitted Pinkie on the arm. She yelled in pain, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash slide the door closed, she then shouted at Twilight, “Twilight! Go, go!” The armoured vehicle roared backwards, pulling out of the wreckage around and behind it. Renegade pulled himself up from the floor and saw the APC moving away. His left eye was completely blood-shot and the left side of his arm was bleeding, as he looked over his shoulder, he saw horde of aliens slowly crawling toward him. He then looked back to the hole were the APC was and saw Rainbow Dashes smart-gun on the ground. He crawled to her smart-gun, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He reached out for her gun and pulled himself up, and looking back at the hordes of aliens, “COME ON THEN YOU FUCKS!” Renegade suddenly stood on his hind legs and lifted her smart-gun pulling the trigger. He shot bursts of what was left in the ammo box of her gun. The aliens surrounded him, but he kept firing blowing them away. One of the aliens sneaked up behind him and stabbed its tail into his side, making him full on one knee. But he dropped the smart-gun and jump into the horde of aliens, thrashing his fist at the aliens. The aliens piled down on Renegade and sank their teeth into his fur, penetrating his flesh. His blood splattered over the place, but he didn’t care as he continued to fight with what was left in him. The aliens ripped him apart, slashing their claws and stabbing their tails into him, and finally killing him. *** *** *** Mean while back at the APC, the soldiers inside grabbed for anything, as they were buffeted around. The shock of the sudden forward acceleration tears loose a storage rack, sending some heavy ammo cases down on Rarity, knocking her unconscious. Twilight jams the actuators hard, turning the APC quickly to the right into the main access corridor. She suddenly hears a thud on the APC, as she looks out the small windshield, an alien’s arm suddenly arcs down, right in from of her face, as it smashed through the window. It slashed at her as it was partially inside the APC. Twilight Recoils, she reacts instinctively by slamming on both sets of brakes with all her strength. The huge wheels locked. Lunching the creature forward, and landing in front of the headlights. She hits full throttle as the APC roars forward, crushing the skeletal body under the right massive wheel. The machine powered ahead and came smashing through the atmosphere station’s main access door. The APC thundered out into the open landscape and away from the station. A sound like bolts dropping in a meat grinder which was coming from the APC’s rear end. Applejack moved up to the drivers cockpit and eased Twilight on the throttle lever, “It’s alright...we’re clear! Twilight, you’re blown the transaxle! You’re just grinding metal!” Applejack slowly lowered Twilight hoof down to stop the APC. “Come on, ease down! Ease down.” The personal carrier limped to a halt, the right side of the APC was dented and the wheel was almost melted. The APC was stopped a half-kilometre away from the station. Twilight was still on the adrenaline dynamo, she spins out of her seat into the aisle, looking all around. She looked at the seat where she put Applebloom in. She was coughing and looked scared, but not like before, “you okay?” asked Twilight to see if did any damage to her. The filly looked up and nodded. Twilight smiled and then went up to the other. Pinkie was holding her arm and starring in stunned dismay at nothing, her mane was straight and down, not curly or puffy. Filthy tried to look at her arm, but she pushed him away, “I’m alright. Just get away from me!” Applejack looked around to see if everypony was alright, but one was missing. She looked on the ground and saw Rarity on the floor, she was unconscious. Applejack checked for a pulse, as she had a nasty gash on her forehead, “what happened to her?” asked Twilight. “I don’t know. Maybe a concussion, but, she’s alive,” said Applejack. “No! She’s dead!” grunted Rainbow Dash as she grabbed Rarity by the collar, hauling her roughly, ready to pulp Rarity with her elbow, “wake up, because I’m gonna’ kill you!” “Back off, right now!” Said Applejack as she quickly placed her arm in the way, right before Rainbow Dash could hit Rarity in the face. She then released Rarity and moved off to another spot, “Somepony get me a first aid kit.” said Applejack, to anypony who wasn’t wounded. Pinkie looked over the desk of monitors and saw Zecora and Lyra’s heart monitor low, but not flat, “Hey...hey, look! The sarge and Lyra aren’t dead.” All the ponies in the APC turned and looked at Pinkie by the MTOB monitors, as she was looking at the bio-functions screens. “Well, we go back in there and get them,” said Rainbow Dash “Fuck that!” replied Pinkie as she didn’t want to experience the hell she went into again. Rainbow Dash slightly walked up to Pinkie, “We don’t leave ponies behind, besides...” she get interrupted by her. “I ain’t going back there, you can’t make me!” said Pinkie as she went pale and her voice went panicky. Twilight stepped up, “you can’t help them...you can’t. Right now, they’re being cocooned just like the others.” Pinkie looked on the ground shocked, “this ain’t happening, man, this ain’t happening!” Rainbow Dash looked intense and annoyed; she then hits the wall of the APC to getting everyponies attention. “Alright, we got seven canisters of cv-20. I say we roll them in there and nerve gas the whole fucking nests.” “That’s worth a try, but we don’t know if it’s gonna’ affect them,” said Applejack looking at other options. “Look, let’s just bug out and call it even, okay? What are we talking about this for?” said Pinkie nervously, as she wanted to get off the plant back on the ship, and maybe go back into cryo-sleep. Twilight looked at the ponies, and thought to herself how to kill those things, she then spoke her mind, “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.” they all suddenly looked at Twilight with a ‘that-a-great-idea-face, “It’s the only way to be sure,” shrugged Twilight. “Fuck’n A!” nodded Pinkie. Filthy shock his head in disagreement, as he saw potential in the planet he was standing on, “Whoa! Ho, ho, hold on one second, this installation has a substantial value attached to it...” Twilight smirked and let out quiet chuckle, “they can bill me.” “Okay...look, this is an emotional moment for all of us, okay? I know that, but let’s not make snap judgments, please. This is clearly...clearly, an important species we’re dealing with and I don’t think that you or I or anypony has the right to arbitrarily exterminate them...” said Filthy trying to protect what he could get money out of. “Wrong, “said Twilight shaking her head to his options. Rainbow Dash brushed past Filthy, almost barging him, “Yeah, Watch us.” Pinkie suddenly shot up from the chair she was sitting on, almost kicking it away from her. Her face glowed with pure anger as she stared straight at Filthy Rich. “Hey, maybe you haven’t been keeping up on current events, but we just lost our fucking friends, along with Fluttershy, pal!” She suddenly pulled her hoof back and was about to throw a punch at him, but Applejack stopped her before she could do anything. “Look, I’m not blind to what’s going on, but I can’t authorize that kind of action, I’m sorry.” Twilight had her arms crossed and looked at Applejack rank, then realize that there was still authority, “Well, I believe Corporal Applejack...has authority here.” Filthy Rich looked at her with a blunt look, “Corporal Applejack?” “This operation is under Celestias’ marine’s jurisdiction and Applejack is next in chain of command.” she then looked at Applejack, “am I right, Corporal?” Applejack looked down for a second, “yeah...yeah, that’s right.” “Yeah, look, Twilight?” she crossed her arms and looked at him with one raised eyebrow. “This is a multi-million bit installation, okay? She can’t make that kind of decision. She’s just a grunt!” he stops and glances at Applejack, “no offense.” Applejack snared her face at him, “none taken. Spitfire, do you copy?” “Standing by.” said Spitfire over the mike with some static. “Prep for dust-off, we’re gonna’ need an immediate evac“ Spitfires’ voice came over the mike again with static, “Roger, on our way.” “I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit,” she looked at Twilight. “It’s the only way to be sure.” Twilight then smiled slightly. Outside the APC the side-door opened and the group walked out, while watching their surrounding for any more of those aliens. Applejack and Pinkie had Rarity between them on a stretcher, while the other followed from behind. “Let’s go! Pick it up Pinkie.” they both then stop. “Alright we’ll set her down here.” They both settled down the unconscious Rarity on the ground, and then lighted a flare and throwing it to an area visible from the air. The drop-ship started up as Spitfire sat in the cockpit, preparing for lift-off. She called to Sorain over her headset, “move it, Sorain, we’re rollin.” Sorain ran up the cargo ramp and into the ship. As he hauls himself up into the drop-ship’s hold, he noticed that his hoof was in some sticky substance that shouldn’t be there. He looks all around the hold, but doesn’t notice anything unusual. “Hold on a second, there’s something...” he get interrupted. Spitfire’s voice came over the mike clear and annoyed, “just get up here!” He climbs in the Drop-ship and starts to close the ramp, “I’m in, ramp closing.” The ship rises up as a spray of dampness on the ground was thrown up by the down blast of the VTOL jets. It hovered above the complex like a huge insect, its searchlights was blazing as they got turned on. Applejack threw a few more flare around the site while the group watches the drop-ship roar in on its final approach. “Sorain?” said Spitfire, as she tapped her headsets mike, “damn you.” Suddenly the compartment door behind her slid slowly open. Spitfire turned, “well, where the fu...” her eye widen as notices it was not Sorain. An alien stood before her, it was drooling as its month was opening with a hiss. Spitfire quickly goes for her sidearm, but the alien lunges forward. It bitted down her on the neck, splattering blood on the side window, Spitfire claws at the bloody window as her life slips from her. The throttle lever was slammed forward in the melee. They watch in dismay as the approaching ship drops and veers wildly. Its main engines roared full on and the craft accelerated towards them even as it loses altitude. It skimmed the ground, hitting a ridge, while tumbling, bursting into flames, and breaking up. It arcs into the air end over, a Catherine wheel juggernaut. “RUN!!” shouted Twilight as she quickly grabbed Applebloom and sprinted for cover, while the tumbling ship rolls by, skipping of the ground like a stone, engulfed in flames. It roared passed the survivors and crashes into the station. The fireball exploded, throwing flaming pieces of the craft in all directions. The remainder of the ground team watches their hopes of getting off the planet, and almost of their superior fire power, reduced to flaming debris. Applejack gets up and looks around. She sees one of the smoking debris lying on top of the unconscious Rarity and quickly yanks it off her. Pinkie picks up another piece of the wreckage as she gets up. She then hysterically throws it down to the ground, “well, that’s great! That’s just fucking great. Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?! We’re in some real pretty shit now!” Applejack grabs Pinkie by her chest armor, getting her attention, “are you finished?!” she then looks over at Twilight, “You alright?” She nods, but she couldn’t disguise her stricken expression when she looked at Applebloom, but the little filly seems relatively calm. “I guess we’re not going to be leaving, now Right?” “I’m sorry, Applebloom,” said Twilight. Pinkie started kicking rocks, “that it. Game over, man! Game over! What the fuck are we gonna’ do now?! What are we gonna do?!” Filthy then struck out, “Maybe we could build a fire and sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don’t we try that?” Applebloom looked back at her cosine and sister, she then looked back at Twilight, “we should get back ‘cause it’ll be dark soon and they mostly some at night, mostly.”