CHAPTER 18
Adam set his pelican down in a large clearing in front of the Crystal Palace. As soon as the city came in sight, the Spartan was intrigued by the architecture. He had assumed that the name “Crystal Empire” was just to make it sound interesting. He had not expected to find that it was made almost entirely of actual crystal. Adam exited his pelican, and was instantly met by two ponies, one of whom he recognized as Shining Armor. The pony next to him was a tall, pink mare with both wings and a horn. Upon her head sat a small golden crown.
“Hello, Adam,” Shining Armor said, grinning. “It is good to have you here… The Crystal Empire’s guards are well trained, but are few in numbers. Your help is much appreciated.”
“Think nothing of it, Captain,” Adam replied. He then directed his gaze to the mare. Shining noticed, and looked to her as well.
“This is my wife, Princess Cadance,” he explained.
“Hello, Adam,” she said. “It is good to finally meet you. I have heard very much!”
“You as well, ma’am,” Adam replied. “Are your citizens ready for evacuation?” Cadance looked down, sighing, before looking back up at the large human.
“The ones who actually listened are, yes,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
“There has been some dissent among the civilians,” Shining Armor explained. “Not everypony trusts you, and some would rather stay here in safehouses than go aboard your ship where they’d be safe.”
“Well, it’s understandable,” Adam said. “They did just become aware of our existence, after all.” Shining grunted, and looked to the sky.
“When will your ships arrive?” he asked.
“Kraken and Aspen should be here any minute,” the Spartan replied. “They’ll be landing in the snow plains just outside of the city. Have the civilians who are actually coming meet up there.”
“I shall organize them,” Cadance said. She then spread her wings, and flew off into the city.
“What about defense?” Shining asked. “Are your ships bringing reinforcements?”
“As many as we can spare,” Adam replied. “Infinity is operating on a skeleton crew. They didn’t expect to have to fight.”
“Understood…” the captain replied, his brow furrowing in worry. “Are you sure it’ll be enough?”
“Don’t worry, captain,” he replied. “We’re sending down ODST’s, very well trained soldiers. Your city is in good hands.”
“Very well,” Shining said. “In that case, I’m going to go prepare my soldiers. You should probably help Cadance with getting everypony aboard your ships. Meet me back here when you’re finished.”
“Will do,” Adam replied. The two began walking in opposite directions, with Shining heading for the palace, and Adam going to where he saw Cadance heading. After a bit of wandering through the city, he found a large square filled with ponies. Standing in the center was Princess Cadance, who was speaking to them all.
“As I said before, you can trust these humans!” Cadance shouted to the crowd. “Be brave. For when you return, this city shall be safe once more! Now, head for the plains.” Cadance stepped out of the center and began walking towards Adam. The ponies (who also seemed to be crystalline) all began rushing out of the square, heading for the plains. When Cadance reached Adam, she sighed.
“Less than half of the population of the city…” she said. “How are we supposed to defend all of these ponies if they won’t simply trust us?!”
“It’s not you they don’t trust, princess,” Adam said. “It’s us. But don’t worry. We’ll do our best to keep them safe, in space or down here.”
“Thank you, Adam,” Cadance said. They were interrupted as a loud rumbling filled the air, and they both looked up to the sky. Through the thick clouds descended two Strident-class heavy frigates, the Kraken and the Aspen. They both touched down in the plains, kicking up a fair bit of snow.
“Come with me, princess,” Adam said. “We need to make sure that you’re people get on safely.” Cadance nodded, and they both took off at a run down the streets. When they exited the city, they saw that the ponies had already formed two orderly lines by the hangars of each ship. Walking around each line were several ODST’s, who were keeping the ponies calm and in order. As Adam approached, one of the ODST’s noticed and ran to him.
“Sir!” he said, saluting. “We’ve begun loading up the ponies. It’s going to be a cramped ride for them to Infinity, but Captain Del Rio is clearing out as much space as possible for them.”
“Understood,” Adam said. “Keep working. We get these ponies out of here, no matter what.”
“Yes, sir!” the ODST then ran back to his position at the front of one of the lines.
“It seems that your soldiers have this well under control,” Cadance noted.
“They’re trained to help civilians,” Adam said. “They know what they’re doing.”
“Thank you very much for this, Adam,” she said. “I do not know how we can properly thank-.” She was cut off as the sound of a horn pierced the air, travelling across the landscape.
“What is that?” Adam asked.
“That is a griffon war horn…” Cadance said, her brow furrowing. She looked to Adam, her face stricken with fear. Adam looked back at her, then at the two frigates.
“Get aboard one of the frigates,” he said.
“What?” Cadance replied. “Why would I do that? I belong down here!”
“Ma’am, your people need you!” he continued. “If you are up there, you can help keep their morale up, and make them feel safer. Plus, if this goes sideways, we’ll need someone in your position in a safe place…” Cadance looked as though she was about to protest, when the horn rang out once more. Far in the distance, Adam began to make out small shapes moving across the ground. As they got closer, he recognized them as griffons.
“Go!” Adam shouted at her. She began cautiously walking backwards, before she quickly ran to help the ponies get aboard.
“Marines!” Adam yelled. “Positions!” The ODST’s who were helping the ponies get aboard abandoned their posts, and ran out to meet the griffons. Snipers lay down in prone positions, and began to set up their kits. The rest of the marines formed staggered lines, some of them using the frigate as cover. They all readied their weapons, and waited for the griffons to get in range. Adam used the zoom function on his HUD and attempted to count the griffon numbers, and was surprised to find that there were very few. There were eight squads, each with five griffon soldiers. Only forty soldiers? Adam thought. That can’t be enough… Adam then realized that this was only a small portion of the attack group intended for the Crystal Empire. The rest were likely attacking from another direction.
“Sir!” shouted a sniper. “They’re in range!” Adam sighed, then brought his battle rifle to bear.
“Fire at will!” he shouted back. The snipers all fired at once, and several targets fell. They each fired three more times, each shot taking down another target. The squads broke up, and they all began running in random directions. The ODST snipers continued firing, felling many of the targets. Some managed to dodge, but were soon cut down by the rest of the marines wielding battle rifles. The griffons who managed to actually make it within fifty meters of the UNSC soldiers began firing crossbows at the marines, most of them missing the targets. Some of the bolts hit the marines square in the chest, but glanced off of the hardened battle armor. They were soon taken out by marines with assault rifles and shotguns.
Adam lowered his weapon and reloaded, then checked his chrono. All in all, the engagement had lasted only a minute. He turned around and saw that the ponies were almost done boarding the frigates. Princess Cadance was standing in the center of the two lines, directing the civilians and keeping them calm. The Spartan jogged over to her, holstering his rifle on his back.
“The first wave is down,” he reported. “How are your ponies doing?”
“They’re a bit shaken up, but fine,” Cadance said, glancing between the two lines. “You should go meet Shining Armor back in the city. The griffons are bound to attack there any minute now.
“Right,” Adam said. “When the ponies finish boarding, send the marines into the city as well, and then get aboard yourself. Don’t worry, we’ll keep the city safe.”
“Thank you, Adam,” the princess said. Adam nodded, and turned around, then ran back into the city. When he came up to the palace, he saw that Shining Armor was already preparing multiple squads of pony soldiers for battle. As the Spartan approached, he began to hear Shining barking orders at them. When he finished, they all saluted and ran off to their assigned positions. At the sound of his footfalls, the captain turned around and faced Adam.
“Adam, good to have you back,” he said. “What’s the situation out there?”
“Your people are almost done boarding,” Adam replied. “Several griffon squads engaged us, but we took care of them easily enough.”
“Good…” Shining Armor said. “What about Cadance? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. We’re sending her up there too, to help keep ponies calm.”
“Understood…” The sound of griffon war horns permeated the air, alerting the two soldiers.
“We need to get out there!” Shining yelled. “It sounds like they’re trying to break through the western gate!” Adam nodded, and the two began running through the streets until they reached a massive gate, which, like almost everything in the city, was made of crystal. It was buckling back and forth as the griffons hit it with a battering ram from the other side. Dozens of pony soldiers stood beyond the gate, holding their bows and spears at the ready. Behind them, more pony soldiers ran into position, waiting for the gate to be breached.
“When are your soldiers arriving?” the captain asked, hefting a spear in his telekinesis.
“As soon as the frigates take off, they’ll be here,” Adam replied. As if on cue, the sound of a deep rumbling filled the air, stopping even the battering ram for a few moments. Everybody in the area looked to the sky, where the two large frigates were beginning to take off. They each angled upwards, then the two massive engines on the back of each ship flared to life, and they rocketed out of sight. Adam’s radio crackled in his ear, followed by the sound of a voice.
“Sir!” it shouted. “This is Major Evans! The two frigates just took off with all pony passengers safely onboard. We’re heading to you now, over!”
“Copy that, Evans,” Adam said. “Make it quick.” The radio cut out, and Adam redirected his attention to the large crystal gate. The Spartan hefted his battle rifle, checking the ammo counter to make sure it was full. Satisfied that he was ready, he aimed his weapon down range, and waited. It was eerily quiet. Nobody spoke, the only sound that could be heard was that of the battering ram on the gate. Slowly, cracks began to form in the crystal structure. They branched out until they intersected, forming new cracks that continued to spread out. They kept on spreading until most of the gate was covered in them, and then one last BANG was heard as the battering ram made its final hit.
The large gate shattered to pieces, and through the crystal rain charged dozens of griffon warriors, each carrying a multitude of weapons. The ponies began to open fire with their arrows, spears, and magic, and Adam helped out by releasing a spray of bullets whenever he got the chance. The griffons were attacking en masse, however, and soon began to overrun the ponies in the front lines. They swung maces and flails, and threw spears, impaling them into the pony guards. Adam continued firing, now at an increased rate, attempting to bring down as many as possible. He heard several clicks as his magazine ran dry, and dropped it out to place another one. As soon as it clicked into place, he began spraying again, taking down griffons with every burst. But they continued pushing forward, not caring that they were sacrificing dozens of their own soldiers, only wanting to enter the city and raze it to the ground.
“Fall back!” Shining Armor yelled through the din of battle. “Regroup!” The ponies complied and began running backwards, sacrificing precious ground in an effort to regroup and face the griffon tide once more. Finally they reached the end of the street, then turned to face the threat again. The pony soldiers loosed dozens of arrows and magical bolts into the horde, taking down multiple griffons. They ignored the dead, and continued advancing, until they were just a few meters from the pony front line. Their advance was suddenly interrupted as several explosions went off in their ranks, and Adam looked up to the roofs to see ODSTs equipped with jetpacks, raining rockets and grenades down onto the griffons below. The griffon forces turned their attention to this new threat, and began throwing spears and loosing arrows at the marines. A few struck the UNSC soldiers, but they mostly shrugged the blows off and continued their counterattack. This gave the ponies the opportunity to prepare their weapons, and they began to open fire with arrows and magic alike once again. Adam continued firing his battle rifle until it clicked empty once more. He reached for a new mag, but found that he was all out. Sighing, he discarded the spent weapon and took out the SMG on his thigh. He sprayed into the crowd, felling many of the griffons before his clip became empty.
Realizing that they were trapped, the griffons decided that their only course of action was to push through the pony forces, and ignore the losses from the human attack. They turned their attention back to the ponies, and began rushing them once again, weapons at the ready. They slammed into the front lines, tearing the soldiers there apart, and spread through the ranks like a virus, killing everypony they came across. Once again Shining Armor made the call to fall back, and once again the ponies were pushed further into the city. Adam began working his way over to the captain, dodging both arrows and spears fired by the griffons. Finally he reached the pony, and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Captain!” he yelled. Shining turned, his eyes wild.
“What’s the plan!?” Adam asked.
“We need to keep them held back from the safe houses!” Shining yelled back. “It’s where the rest of our civilians are!”
“Understood!”
Adam directed his attention back to the griffons, and continued firing his SMG into their forces. For every griffon he killed, another seemed to take its place, as though they had an infinite number of soldiers. Arrows began to pierce his shields, weakening them, but not entirely taking them down. When his SMG ran dry, he took out his last weapon, the M6H Magnum pistol. He picked his targets, aimed for their heads, and let off several shots, each one killing the griffon intended for it. The ODSTs continued suppressing from the rooftops, but they were under heavy fire from the seemingly infinite griffon soldiers as well. As such, Adam noticed that they were slowly but steadily being pushed back even further. He spared a glance behind him, and noticed that they were very close to the courtyard in front of the palace, which was also very close to the pony safe houses. He turned back around, and narrowly avoided a spear to the visor. He fired his magnum at the griffon who threw it, killing him. He then pointed the magnum at another target, only to find that the weapon had run dry as well. Sighing angrily, Adam threw the magnum down and unsheathed his knife. He knew he was fairly well matched in a hand-to-hand fight with a griffon (the creatures were incredibly strong), but he also had very advanced training. Taking a deep breath, the Spartan ran into the center of the combat, swinging his combat knife at griffons as he passed by them. He noticed his shields beginning to flare as closer-range weapons like the maces and flails he had seen earlier impacted them, and soon an alarm began to ring in his ear as the shield strength went lower than 10%. The bar continued going lower and lower until the golden aura around him popped, and the weapons began to impact on his armor. The suit impacted most of the blows, but a few managed to hit him in weaker areas. Dodging blows and swinging his knife, Adam began walked backwards, attempting a tactical withdraw. When he exited, he found that they were in the middle of the courtyard, and griffon soldiers were beginning to break off to find the safe houses.
“ODSTs!” he shouted into his mic. “Focus on the griffons leaving the main battle! Take them down! We can’t have them finding the civilians!” Multiple green acknowledgment lights went off in his HUD as the ODSTs turned and began firing on the smaller squads, dropping them before they could get too far. Adam looked around at the battlefield, and his eyes settled upon his pelican resting at the far end of the courtyard. Specifically, the nose-mounted machine gun and two large rocket pods piqued his interest. Sheathing his knife, Adam began running for the dropship, ignoring the few arrows that hit his now-restored shields. He ran into the cockpit and strapped in, then took off and prepared the weapon systems. Normally pelican dropships were equipped with autotargetting systems that would automatically seek out and eliminate anything that was specified as a hostile. However, they had not been set up yet for the griffons, so Adam had to manually control the machine gun. He hovered over the battle, turning the eyes of many of the ponies and griffons alike. He then pressed down on the trigger, unleashing scores of 70mm rounds onto the creatures below. They ripped through the front lines of the griffons, killing dozens of them before the others even knew what was happening. When they realized that the flying metal contraption was not allied, they began throwing everything they had at it. Adam laughed quietly to himself as the spears and arrows glanced off of the thick hull of the dropship.
Finally, after eliminating well over a hundred griffon soldiers, Adam exhausted the machine gun’s ammo. There was enough space between the two opposing armies now that he didn’t have to worry about splash damage, so the Spartan opened the missile doors on the Anvil-II Air-to-Surface Missile launchers, and began to fire. Each ASM pod held six missiles, so Adam had to pick and choose priority targets. He fired in areas where the griffons were more heavily grouped up, causing much more damage to their ranks. The explosions rocked the foundations of the crystal buildings, sending some of them down onto the griffon forces below. The ODSTs realized this, and jetpacked to safety before their locations were destroyed. Adam fired the last of the twelve missiles into the center of the griffon invasion force, sending the ones in the blast radius flying into the air, and vaporizing anybody standing too close. When the smoke from the explosions and rubble cleared, the griffon forces had been diminished down to a mere fraction of their original numbers. While Adam assumed that they had attacked with an assault force of about 1,000 soldiers, he now estimated them to be at 150. The ponies now outnumbered them, and they began rushing the griffons, weapons held at the ready. The ODSTs joined in, and sprayed their assault rifles into the griffon forces. The large creatures, recognizing the inevitability of their failure, turned and began running back to the gate, occasionally firing arrows back behind them. It was a futile effort, however, and soon the ponies and humans overtook them, and surrounded them.
“Throw down your weapons!” Captain Armor yelled, holding his spear at the ready. “And you shall not be harmed!” The griffons seemed apprehensive, and looked around at the ponies and humans, not moving.
“Relinquish your weapons immediately!” Shining repeated. “Or we will finish you off!” For several tense moments, the griffons continued not to move. Then, they finally threw their weapons down in front of them, and lay down with their front talons over their heads. Shining Armor grinned, and the ponies lowered their weapons, then proceeded to apprehend the surrendered foes. Adam navigated his pelican back into the courtyard and landed it, then exited and was met by Shining Armor.
“Adam!” he shouted happily. “Excellent work, soldier!”
“Thank you, captain,” Adam replied.
“We couldn’t have done that without your help, human,” the captain said. “But this isn’t the worst of it, not even close…”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
“The Crystal Empire is out of the way, fairly isolated from the rest of Equestria,” Shining began to explain. “The fact that they sent 1,000 soldiers actually surprises me… It’s more than I thought.”
“You’re expecting more to be at the other cities…” the Spartan said.
“Right,” the pony confirmed. “Especially somewhere like Manehattan, where there are over a million ponies living there. They’ll send many more soldiers there.”
“Understood,” Adam said. “The pelican seemed to be effective. I’ll get some of them stationed over every city and town in Equestria.”
“That would be very helpful, Adam,” Shining replied. “I think we’ve got it from here, if you wanted to move on to the next city.”
“I think I’ll do that,” Adam said, watching as the ponies pushed the griffon prisoners towards the castle. “And don’t worry, the ODSTs will stay here to defend against any other attacks.”
“Thank you, Adam,” Shining Armor said, extending a hoof. “And good luck.” Adam looked at the hoof, then grasped it with his hand. They shook, then walked in opposite directions; Shining went towards the palace, and Adam into his pelican. He activated the systems, spun up the engines, and took off into the air. He inputted the coordinates for Manehattan, then accelerated as fast as possible towards the large metropolis.
Princess Cadance stepped out of the now-vertical frigate onto the walkway beyond, pausing to adjust to the sudden change in gravity. When her head cleared, she looked at her surroundings, and found herself in a massive metal chamber filled with more of the large frigates. She turned around and saw more ponies walking out behind her, holding their heads as the gravity altered. Satisfied that all of her ponies were okay, she continued walking down the walkway, with two human soldiers in front of her. As they were walking, a loud alarm buzzed once, and Cadance heard three loud metallic clanks. The frigate next to her suddenly dropped away, followed by two more behind it, all of them no doubt heading to Manehattan. She looked below her at the pale blue orb, trying to wrap her head around the fact that everypony she knew and loved was down there. One of the soldiers coughed, putting her attention back on moving down the walkway. Finally they approached a large metal door, and one of the guards pressed several buttons on the side. It slid open, revealing two more guards, and one human wearing a gray uniform, his hands clasped behind his back. The human stepped forward, and offered a smile.
“You must be Princess Cadance,” he said. She nodded in reply. “I am Captain Andrew Del Rio of the UNSC Infinity. Welcome aboard.” He then stepped aside and motioned one of his hands down the hallway. Cadance stepped inside, and began walking, this ‘Captain Del Rio’ right beside her.
“I know that you are very likely worried,” Captain Del Rio said. “But know that we will do everything in our power to help see you through this.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Cadance said quietly, forcing a smile. “We live in dark times, but it is good to know that we have friends out there.” The captain nodded, and they walked the rest of the way down the hall in silence. When they reached the end, the door before them opened by itself, revealing a small square room that extended upwards quite a ways.
“Unfortunately, this is our only way out of this deck of the ship,” he said. “We’re going to have to take your ponies up to their assigned floors in trips. For you, I have prepared a luxury guest suite.”
“What about my ponies?” Cadance asked, worried.
“Do not worry,” the captain said. “We are trying to split up refugee groups by the city that they came from, so they will all be kept as close together as possible. You, of course, will be given unlimited access to see them.”
“And them? Will they be able to move around?” the princess asked.
“We will allow them to move around small parts of the decks that they are assigned,” Del Rio began. “But, for safety reasons, we would like to for them not to wander too much.” Cadance nodded in understanding. This ship was made of technology that was hundreds, if not thousands, of years ahead of ponies. She did not want to be responsible for breaking it. The two stepped inside of the small room, and the door closed behind them. Del Rio pressed a button on the side, and Cadance suddenly felt herself moving upwards very quickly. After a couple of minutes, the door opened again, revealing a different hallway. Del Rio lead the princess down it for a ways, stopping at a door labelled ‘GUEST SUITE’. He opened the door, revealing a large but sparsely decorated room beyond.
“If you ever need me, the AI is always listening,” he said. “Just ask her, and I’ll come on down.” Cadance nodded, though she did not fully understand. The captain smiled, then closed the door. She listened to the sound of his footsteps as he walked back down the hall, until she heard the sound of a door opening and closing once more. Cadance sighed, and began to take a look at her new room. It had a large bed in one corner, and a desk across from it. Upon this desk rested a strange ‘L’ shaped device that had a spinning blue eagle on it. In the corner next to the bed was a small room, which Cadance assumed was the bathroom. By far the most appealing part of the room was the very large window that looked out into space. Due to the angle, she could not see Equis, but she was still granted an unblocked view of the stars. She wandered over to the window, and put her hoof to the glass.
Cadance stayed like that for several minutes, simply observing the cosmos, until a shrill alarm chirped, and a mare’s voice filled the room.
“Princess Cadance?” it said. “Would you like to know the status of your civilians?” Cadance jumped backwards in surprise, then looked around the room.
“Who said that!?” she yelled anxiously. “Show yourself!” Beside the door to the bedroom, a golden human female appeared on a small black pedestal suspended to the wall.
“Apologies, princess,” she said. “I am Aine, the Infinity’s AI. Would you like to know the status of your civilians?” Cadance did not know what an AI was, but it seemed not to be a threat. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, then looked back at the golden human.
“Yes, please,” Cadance replied.
“The families have all been grouped up, and are being assigned quarters to share two decks below you,” Aine reported. “They appear to be nervous, but are cooperating and doing as they are told. When they are all settled in, I would recommend going to visit them.” Cadance nodded.
“I will do that,” she said. “Thank you, Aine.” The AI nodded, then disappeared from the pedestal. For now though, she decided that some rest was in order. She removed her golden horseshoes, placed her crown and chest plate on the nightstand, and then crawled into the bed. Surprisingly it was fairly comfortable, and she soon was able to find sleep.
“What’s the situation, Commander?” Captain Del Rio said to a hologram of Commander Lasky on the bridge of Infinity.
“Not good, sir,” the commander replied. “Large strike forces, much larger than the group that attacked the Crystal Empire, are moving forward to attack Manehattan and Fillydelphia. I know you’ve already sent Phalanx, Coyote, and Phantom to Manehattan, but Fillydelphia can’t wait. I’d recommend launching Dexippus as soon as possible.”
“Noted,” Del Rio said. “I also have taken into consideration your recommendation to send pelican dropships down to secure air superiority. I’m allocating pilots as we speak, they’ll be down shortly.”
“Understood, sir,” Lasky said. “I’ll report back in in a few hours. Lasky, out.” The hologram of the commander faded away, and Del Rio sighed quietly. He turned and stared out of the large window at Equis, assessing the situation. More UNSC ships would be arriving in three weeks to help take in more refugees, and supply troops to fight on the ground. Del Rio hoped to himself that the war would be over by then, and they could continue on with their peace talks.
Adam set his pelican dropship down in a clearing just outside of the large city of Manehattan, right next to three Strident-class frigates, the Phalanx, Coyote, and Phantom. He noticed before he landed that ponies were already beginning to board the three ships. Even so, it would still not be enough. A single Strident-class could hold a complement of about fifteen-hundred people. That was a total of 4,500 ponies that could be rescued, but compared to Manehattan’s population of 4.3 million, it was a tiny fraction. Adam stepped out of his pelican, and observed the long lines of ponies boarding the three frigates. As was the case in the Crystal Empire, human marines paced alongside the lines, directing ponies and keeping them calm. He approached the closest marine, who turned towards the Spartan at his presence.
“Marine,” Adam began. “Who’s the pony in charge here?”
“Princess Celestia sent somebody she said you had prior dealings with,” the marine responded. “He’s over there, by Coyote.” The marine pointed next to the hangar of the frigate, where he spotted a golden helmet amongst the heads of dozens of other ponies. Prior dealings with? Adam thought. Who could that be? The only military pony that he was acquainted with was Captain Shining Armor, and he was still stationed up in the Crystal Empire. Curious, Adam walked over to the pony he had been directed to. At the sound of his footsteps, the pony turned and looked at the Spartan.
“Are you in charge here?” Adam asked. The pony looked him up and down, then smiled.
“That I am, Adam,” he said. “You probably don’t remember me, but… My name is Night Flyer. I was assigned to the group of guards who were guarding your ship in the Everfree. I was wounded by a manticore, and you healed me.” Suddenly, the memories came rushing back to Adam. He had fixed any internal damage, dressed the wounds, and brought him back into the land of the living with his defibrillator. Adam grinned, and looked back at the pony.
“Of course I remember you!” Adam said. “How are you doing ever since the forest?”
“Better,” Night Flyer said, rubbing his chest. “Around the time that I was set free from the hospital was when the griffons were beginning to attack, so I was among the first group trained in your tactics by our trainers. I picked them up pretty well, so the princesses promoted me and assigned me to here, where I could help you out. Listen… I never got the chance to properly thank you, so…”
“Think nothing of it,” the Spartan replied. “Congratulations on the promotion.”
“Thanks,” the guard replied. He then looked to the crowds of ponies boarding the three ships. “The refugees should be finished boarding in about an hour. For now, we should head into the city. I can show you the defenses we set up.” Adam nodded, and followed the pony as he began walking through the streets of Manehattan.
“Good work in the Crystal Empire, by the way,” Flyer said. “You saved a lot of lives up there.”
“Well, we got lucky,” Adam said. “The griffons had a pretty bad tactic. Rushing through a single, crowded street made it very easy for our ODSTs to use explosives. And it did not work in their favor at all when I used my pelican. They won’t use the same tactic again…”
“We didn’t think they would either,” replied the pony as they entered a large square. “Which is why we’ve been preparing.” Adam began walking around the square, looking at the various pieces of defensive weapons that had been set up. There were multiple ballista launchers set up and aiming in every direction, as well as several massive deployable barricades.
“Our plan is to force them into an engagement like in the Crystal Empire,” Flyer continued. “The deployable barricades have been built specifically to fit across whole streets, thus effectively blocking them off. If we can block off enough streets, we can force them all to use the same route, where we can then blow them up with your weapons.”
“Not a bad plan,” the Spartan said, nodding. “But one thing… My pelican is out of ammunition. I have no more rockets or bullets for the machine gun.”
“Not to worry, Adam,” Night Flyer said. “We received word that your big ship up there was sending down as many of the ‘pelicans’ as possible. They should be here shortly.”
“Well in that case,” Adam said. “I think we’ve got a good plan here.” Night Flyer smiled, then turned to address a second guard who was running up to them.
“Commander!” he shouted, panting. “Commander! Scouts have just reported in… The griffon army is approaching from the north, five thousand strong.”
“Five thousand…” Night Flyer said to himself. “You’re sure?”
“Yes!” the guard continued. “They’ve begun splitting up into groups. They look like they’ll be storming the city from multiple entry points this time!”
“Just like we thought… Inform the guards to begin moving barricades into position. Make sure that they all route to the same central road.”
“Yes, sir!” the guard said, saluting. No sooner had he run off to relay the orders than Adam began to hear the sound of griffon war horns in the distance. Night Flyer heard too, as his ears began to swivel around.
“I need to go get some ammo for my pelican,” Adam said. “Hopefully one of the frigates brought some.”
“I’ll be here,” Night Flyer said. “Hurry!” Adam quickly spun around and ran back the way he came, reentering the field beyond that served as the frigate’s landing site. The line of ponies had grown considerably shorter in the short amount of time he had been in the city, which made him hopeful that they would be gone by the time the griffons arrive. He approached one of the frigates, the Phalanx, and walked up to a marine standing in the hangar bay.
“Marine!” he shouted.
“Yes, sir?” the marine asked.
“My pelican is landed over there, do you have ammunition for it?”
“Yes, sir!” he replied. “I’ll get it rearmed immediately.” The marine turned and ran into the hangar, getting the attention of two techs working on a warthog. The three then began running to the opposite end of the hangar. Adam turned and walked to where he had landed his pelican. A few minutes later, the marine and two techs walked up, wheeling three carts with boxes of ammunition on them. They then began loading missiles into their tubes, and the marine opened a hatch on the bottom and entered a new box of ammunition for the machine gun. Once they were done, they ran back to the frigate that they were stationed at. Adam entered the cockpit of the pelican, activated the engines, and took off, heading for the square that Night Flyer was in. Once he was hovering over it, he touched down, and turned the systems off. As soon as he exited the pelican, he began to hear griffon war horns as they grew closer, this time from several different locations.
“Adam!” Night Flyer said, running up to the Spartan. “Scouting parties are being forced to fall back. They’re reporting that griffons are nearing the outer gates. What’s the status of the refugees?”
“They appeared to be nearly finished,” Adam said. “No worries; if the griffons move in to attack, our ODSTs will keep them safe. I promise.”
“Understood…” Flyer responded, sighing. “We should get into position. I’m splitting my guards up into two groups: one to attack the griffons, one to defend the safe houses. I’d suggest doing the same with your soldiers.” Adam nodded.
“Will do. Where’s our position?”
“Back here,” the guard said. “Sorry, I know you prefer to fight, but… Your tactical expertise could come in handy, so we need you to stay here with me, coordinating the fight. Some of your soldiers already gave me these devices called ‘radios’ to distribute amongst my lieutenants. They’re already in position.”
“Very well,” Adam said. “What channel are they on?”
“We’re all on omega right now,” Flyer said. “My guards have all been instructed to listen to whatever you say.” Adam scrolled through the menu on his HUD until he settled on ‘Omega’, then switched to the channel. Immediately he began to hear pony voices as they reported that they were in position.
“Sir!” one of the lieutenants shouted through the radio. “One of our scouts reported that griffons are minutes away from the gates! How should we proceed?”
“Hold position,” Night Flyer commanded. “And get ready for battle…” The griffon war horns sounded once more, this time very close to the edges of the city. Adam looked around as the remaining ponies in the square rushed to their positions, preparing for war.