//------------------------------//
// Chapter 45: A Thought For Thoughts 
// Story: From Humans, to Cryptids, to... Ponies? 
// by TLP 
//------------------------------//

In The Tower...


Inside the old castle tower, was a small, half-abandoned personal medical room that used to be reserved for mainly visitors and the guards, but the room was now occupied by a Royal family member, better/bitterly known as Prince Blueblood, who has had several 'unique' encounters with the eight humans, most noticabley their one and first encounter with the leader of group, who set him straight not even three days ago.

"Does that help ease the pain, Prince Blueblood?" The nurse asked, using one of her medical spells to ease the pain he was currently feeling. Blueblood groaned slightly as he rubbed the side of his head.

"Ugh.. Somewhat. I still feel like I got with a huge slab of concrete.." He muttered. The nurse did all she could to not face-hoof.

"Well, that's because that is what exactly happened when we found you outside. It left quite a bruise, if I may add..." She said, slightly wincing at the not-so-small  bruise that showed like a sore thumb on his forehead.

Blueblood raised a hoof and touched his bruise, making him hiss loudly in pain.

"Who... did this to me?" He asked in a silent tone, that had the slightest hint of anger in it.

The nurse was a bit hesitant to answer, but she did so regardless. "Umm... It was those ape-like creatures that have been walking and talking with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

Blueblood grunted in anger, slowly raising from his bed, throwing the sheets off of him. "I have just about had it with those bucking shi-"

"Prince Blueblood, please..." The nurse started pleading him. "... Calm down. You can deal with your issues with them after we patch you up. Right now, you are in no position to do whatever you are planning to do."

The nurse slowly eased Blueblood back down on the bed to lay down. He grunted once more, but agreed to her pleadings. "Okay, fine. Can you please hurry with whatever you are going to do? I want to deal with them as soon as I can."

The nurse nodded. "I will, don't worry. I just need to find Doctor Steele to help you with your leg." She said, walking over to the sink to wash her hooves. Aside from the running faucet water, silence started to overcome the room, until they heard an immense crunching sound from outside, which made them both jump.

"What the- What in the hay was that?!" Blueblood asked the nurse, both angry and slightly shaken up by the noise. The nurse either didn't hear him, or just ignored him as she ran toward the window. She then let out an audiable gasp.

"Well?! What is it?!" Blueblood asked again loudly, more curious than before. After a couple of seconds, Blueblood was about to ask once more, until they both heard a slight poofy boom-like sound. The nurse's eyes widened to an almost unimaginable size.

Before Blueblood could ask, the nurse turned away from the window and galloped her flank to the door, swinging it open before teleporting away.

"WAIT!" Blueblood shouted, raising his foreleg in pleading, but his efforts were in vain as the nurse was long gone. With his curiosity taking over, he threw the covers of of him once more, and cautiously placed his hooves on the ground. He then quickly limped over to the window to look for himself.

As he did, his pupils dialated and his ears folded back onto his head as he muttered two words to explain what he was looking upon.

"Oh...buck..."

The world around him seemed to slow to a crawl as he looked upon the object in horror. The object was burning with flames covering it, making it almost impossible to describe any features, aside from its tube-like form. Grey smoke appeared from behind it, leaving a heavy trail that seemed to start from the ground.

The object streaked towards him at what seemed to be like at near terminal velocity. The object got closer and closer...




Back On The Ground...

The nine ponies and the eight humans watched in awe and horror as the rocket streaked towatds the tower. Marcus used the enhanced Heads-Up-Display to get a closer and clearer view of where the rocket was heading. As he did, he could've sworn he saw the silhouette of a pony on the window frame.

"Is that a pon-"

The rocket then exploded, zooming into the inside of the tower and sending debris into every known direction, while engulfing whatever was left in a heavy cloud of smoke.

"...nevermind."

Marcus then turned to the ponies, more specifically the two Princess'. Their pupils were dialated, and their jaws signified their shock to a degree, just like the others. He then turned to the others.

"Uhm.... heheh... soooo...." He said with a robotic tone to his voice. The group then slowly turned to Marcus, their facial expressions unchanged. "...No hard feelings?" He pleaded with a sheepish smile.

Before any of them could reply, they heard several swift footsteps behind them. When they turned, they noticed Mike, Randy, Dempsey, and Kevin, seeing the panic look on their faces.

Randy was the first to speak up. "Guys! Did you just fucking see tha-" He cut himself off as he stared at what looks to be Marcus in what seemed to be a midget Transformers suit. "Oh shit... what's up with the suit?"

"Before you ask how I got this, I'll explain in the train. And I'm the reason that explosion happened..." He admitted sheepishly. It was their turn to show their shocked expressions, only briefly.

"What the- Why?!" Kevin shouted.

"Well, I tried to learn how to move this thing, but I ended up shooting a rocket instead..." Marcus explained. "Now that I think about it, I at least know how to use one of the weapons..."

Kevin was about to say something else, but Celestia beat him to it. "Wait... now that I recall, I did order one of  the Royal Guard construction teams to demolish that tower a week ago..." She said with a hoof on her chin before turning to Marcus, a slight smile on her face. "I guess they have their work cut out for them."

Everybody let out a sigh of relief, before slightly chuckling. It then escalated into full blown laughter and giggles, yet nobody knew exactly why.

After a minute or so of constant laughter, they all regained themselves and looked at Marcus. He noticed this and rose an eyebrow in question. "... What?"

"Well?" Asked Dempsey. "Aren't you gonna try to learn the controls on that thing?"

"And cause more property damage? Nah. I think I'll teach myself how to use this thing properly later. As in somewhere where I won't be able to harm anybody." Marcus replied. He then looked down at the controls. "Now how do I get out of this thing?..."

He then saw a green button with the words: Manual Disassemble written on the top. "Oh..."

He pressed it. The group watched once more as the suit disassembled itself before them, with the four soldiers looking on in awe. The screens then turned static as they slid back to their original places, and the back of the suit opened up, and allowed Marcus to step out, which he slowly did.  

"Woah..." The soldiers said quietly in unison. Marcus just smirked as he picked up his Remington R5, then walked to the group.

"You humans have quite the technology as you say you did, but I never imagined you'd have this..." Celestia commented.

"Actually, I don't think any of us even knew this thing existed in the first place..." Marcus said, now wondering about the X-S1 Goliath armor suit. 

"Really?..." 

He nodded. "Yeah... I think this is either some sort of advanced, top secret weapon taken straight from a weapons testing facility, or this is from a whole 'nother universe or dimension or something..."

"I really need to double check the spell I just did..." Twilight muttered somewhat loudly enough for the others to hear. The Marines chuckled.

"Oh, and what about the vehicles?" Jackson asked, turning to the soldiers. "Are they already hauled and tied up to the train?" 

The soldiers nodded. "Yeah. They're good to go. But uh... what about the suit?" Kevin asked, pointing at the X-S1 Goliath.

"We can carry the suit to the train, you can go on and tell them to arrange another transportation cart for the suit itself." Celestia suggested, getting nods from Luna and Twilight. "I don't think that it should be too hard to carry on the way.

"Alright then. We'll wait for you guys at the train." Mike said, they then jogged off down the cobblestone road back towards the train station, while Celestia walked towards the armored suit, and used her magic to levitate the suit with surprising ease.

"Either that suit isn't as heavy as I think it is, or you're stronger than I think you are." Jackson commented as the group started walking down the same cobblestone road. Celestia smiled slightly.

"It's just a simple levitation spell. Nothing special. Besides, I don't think you know too much about magic yet." Twilight said.

"The fact that magic even exists blows my mind away..." Jackson said, taking occasional glances at the magical aura that held the suit every now and then.

"I'm guessing your world has no magic in it whatsoever?..." Twilight theorized. The four Marines nodded.

"Yeah. Magic was just a fairy tale back on Earth, y'know? Like.. it was just a bunch of tricks, like smoke and mirrors, pulling a rabbit out of a top hat, stuff like that. Not this kind of magic." Jackson said. The ponies nodded in understanding. Then, Swordstrike spoke up.

"It seems that your kind is years ahead of us in technology... mind telling us a bit more about your military, and other stuff?" He asked, still greatly curious as to what their species has accomplished as a whole.

"Sure, and first of all, we're basically hundreds, hell, maybe even thousands of years ahead of this world in technology. It's indistinguishable from magic. For example, we can't teleport at will, but if we research enough, and take our time, we can develop the technological needs to do so, while discovering different things along the way. Such as new theories, events, and even new technologies along the way itself. And it could also spark a whole new baseline of technology, which could lead to even more discoveries along the way"

"Fascinating. And have your kind even invented teleportation in such a scale?"

Jackson shook his head. "Not in the way you might think. We had a breakthrough in teleportation technology back in the year 2010, where a couple of scientists were successfully able to teleport a single atom to a distance of three meters, or about ten feet. It wasn't able to teleport anything bigger than that, since it would be too complex and could even take hundreds of thousands of years to teleport a human itself, but at least we were making progress."

"Only a single atom? How were they able to know if it even worked?" Twilight asked, now at the process of asking questions once more.

"I have no idea really. I'm a Marine, not a scientist." Jackson said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What other technologies can you tell us about? Like, were there any other expiremental technologies?" Swordstrike asked. Marcus nodded.

"Oh hell yeah. Our government tests out several technologies all the time, according to some. For example, there's this one testing facility called 'Area 51'. It's known for it being a testing facility for expitemental stuff, such as the development of exotic energy weapons for both national defensive and offensive use, the development of means of weather control, time travel and teleportation technology, and the development of unusual and exotic propulsion systems for aircraft an other stuff."

"Wait, wait wait, hold on a second..." Rainbow bumped in, waving her hoof to signify Marcus to stop. "Did you just say: 'control the weather'?..."

Marcus smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. Technology that can allow us to control the weather." He said. That's when Rainbow lost it, even the others were smiling slightly.

"A-are you serious?!" She said between hysterical bursts of laughter. "You say you have all of this technology, and you can't even control the clouds?!"

The Marines nodded.

"Oh... oh my... HA!" Rainbow wheezed before wiping the tears from her eyes. "That's rich..."

"Hey, like I said, our planets are different. You guys can control the weather, and I'm guessing it's because magic, to put it simply." Marcus retorted, the ponies nodded. "And back in our world, we don't control the weather. The weather and clouds and stuff controls itself, kinda like what you say about the Everfree Forest, which is actually pretty hilarious and somewhat pitiful when you say that animals take care of themselves and the weather controls itself. That's pretty much our planet's weather in general."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow jumped in. "You try staying in the Ever... oh wait...." She then realized that they found the four Marines in the Everfree themselves, and had little to no effort taking care of themselves. "N-nevermind..."

It was now their turn to laugh, which they did both vengefully and joyfully. The ponies just walked beside them in silence while they howled with laughter and chuckles. After a couple more moments, they died down and the ponies continued their onslaught of questions.

"Anyways, what is the true reason for the base 'Area 51' as you so called it?" Swordstrike asked.

"In reality, it's official names are Homey Airport, or Groom Lake. They say that it was used for the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. Not much else is really known."

"It's really that secretive, huh?" 

"Yeah. Just cause we're part of the United States Armed Forces, doesn't mean we know every single thing that goes on in it. We just know the stuff we need to know."

The ponies nodded as they came into the view of the train. As they got closer, they noticed that both the Stryker and the Little Bird were both tied down to transportation carts, along with another cart reserved for the XS-1 Goliath. They all noticed the four soldiers talking to the mechanics and what seemed to be the conductor, so they walked towards them.

As they did, Marcus felt a tug on his pants. He turned, looking back at both Twilight and Rainbow, looking up at him with a smile and a look of curiosity, which didn't surprise him.

"You said that your kind has gone to space, right?" Twilight asked. Marcus nodded.

"Yep. Why?" Marcus asked, but he knew exactly why. "Let me guess..."

"You really should show us more and tell us more about space, and what you've all foun-" Twilight was about to go on and on, but Marcus rose a hand in front of her face, stopping her.

He then chuckled. "Don't worry, Twi. I will. Just wait until we get on board the train, okay?" He said, ruffling her mane a bit. Twilight giggled and nodded as she went with Luna and Celestia to help them out with the giant armor suit.

"Hey," Rainbow tugged at his leg again, catching his attention. " remember that flying thing you showed us in one of your flashbacks?" She asked. He nodded. "Can you pleeease show me more on those flying metal things? They look so awesome!" She said with pure excitement in her voice. Marcus grinned as he nodded.

"I was wondering when you were gonna ask about that. Hell yeah, I will."

Rainbow then jumped into the air and did a backflip in excitement, before hugging Marcus slightly. She then, blushing slightly, flew off towards the others, with Marcus catching up.

"Alright, we should be good to go now." Dempsey said, jumping down from the transportation cart after helping the workers to tie down the suit onto the cart. "The train should be set for Ponyville soon."

Marcus nodded as he walked alongside Dempsey towards the station. As they did, the others were already walking into the train cabins, with Swordstrike, Nimbius, Celestia, and Luna waiting for them.

As they walked up the steps, Marcus asked Celestia a question. "So, how long do you think it'll take for the construction crew to build our new home?" He asked.

"Hmm... I can't say for certain, but it could take a while. You have to give them a specific report with what you want inside the building to accomadate your needs, and storage. But if it all goes as planned, it should take no longer than two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" Marcus asked, in surprise. 

Celestia nodded. "Yes. Two weeks. Why? Is it too long?"

Marcus shook his head rapidly. "Are you kidding?! Back on Earth, it would've taken a very, very long time! I was expecting at least six months!"

Celestia snickered. "Well I could explain to you in specific details on how it could and can be done, but for your sake and mine, I have one word for you."

"What?" He asked mindlessly.

"Magic." Celestia said with a smile.

"... Why did I not see that coming." Marcus said, facepalming. The others chuckled as they walked towards the door to enter the train, but he was stopped once more when Swordstrike spoke to him.

"And don't worry about waiting. The special forces of the Royal Guard are currently stationed at Manehattan training the local police department in training, more specifically the Pegasi, so we planned on sending you all there to see if you can help out in their training, and maybe teach them a thing or two."

"Oh man, they'll know more than a thing or two.." Marcus muttered with a smile as he nodded. As they proceeded to walk in, they all heard the rapid clopping of hooves approaching them. When Marcus and the others turned, they saw three Royal Guards rushing up towards Celestia and Luna, out of breath.

"Remind me to make them run six miles a day..." He whispered to Swordstrike, who nodded as the guards spoke up, rather panicked.

"Princess Celestia!... Princess Luna!..." One of the guards, an Earth pony, said through gasps. "Prince Blueblood... tower... explosion..."

"Guard, please slow down and catch your breath." Celestia ordered calmly. The guards obeyed as they recovered themselves. After a couple more minutes, they finally recovered and the Earth guard began to speak.

"We heard and saw one of the towers explode! When we went to check, we found Prince Blueblood on what remained of the upper staircase, and his injuries are extremely serious to the point where he might not make it..."

The Princess' jaws dropped, as they heard the news. Marcus' eyes widened, along with Swordstrike and Nimbius.

That's when the train's whistle blew.

Nimbius, who was flying, whispered into Marcus' ear. "Get in the train... like... now..."

Marcus nodded as he and the other two ponies quickly, but quietly got into the train. As they did, they were quickly blinded by a flash of light, in which Marcus was slightly effected by his shades, but was still blinded for a split second regardless. When they regained their respective visions, the two guards, Luna, and Celestia were nowhere to be seen.

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief, only to turn and face the four mares giving him a suspicious glare. He smiled sheepishly as he took a seat to where the rest of his squad was.

As he did, he heard Rainbow snicker, then she flew up to the Marines' table, laying on her back in mid air with her hooves behind her head. "You guys are crazy, y'know that?"

The Marines chuckled. "Look who's finally catching up." Marcus said with a shit-eating grin, earning him a punch to the shoulder, which felt like something short of a mosquito bite.

"Shut up." Rainbow said, flying back to the other three mares that were sitting on the opposite side, while Nimbius and Swordstrike sat on the opposite side of the Marines.

"I know ya guys don't like Blueblood..." Applejack spoke. "... But ah think ya might've gone too far, Marcus. With shooting that thing to the tower and all"

Marcus threw his hands up. "I didn't mean to shoot a rocket at the tower intentionally! Let alone shoot one in the first place. I didn't know he was there."

"It's a reasonable excuse. You didn't mean it.." Fluttershy said quietly with a small smile.

"Ah know that. Ah just hope the poor fella' doesn't die or something like that.." Applejack muttered.

"He'll probably be pretty ticked off, that I know for sure." Rainbow chimed in, making the other mares and the Marines chuckle. "I mean, he had what was coming to him, didn't he?"

"Oh yeah he did." Marcus said. He then turned to Nimbius and Swordstrike. "So, what else would you like to learn about us?" He asked.

"Can you inform us more about how you operate? Perhaps give us an example on a mission you might have done? You said that you, along with the other three Marines here, that you have all done series of missions with other teams from different special operations units. More specifically the ones from the same country as you all originate from."

Before Marcus could respond, the four soldiers walked into the scene, taking their seats where the four mares sat, listening with curiosity as always. "And frankly, I'm more than curious to see how you do what you do. Show us what you Leathernecks are capable of."

Marcus smirked. "With pleasure." He then turned to the two ponies sitting on the other side. "Alright. So when we were back on Earth, me and my squad conducted an operation in a country called Mexico, near the Yucatan Peninsula. When we were debriefed, we were informed that a Seeker asteroid had landed in the rain forests of Yucatan, and that David Archer had conducted a sort of a salvage operation on the crash site. Keep in mind that this was before we re-enlisted into being part of the Rapid Reaction Force, and before the events of what happened in Caldrea Peak."

He then turned to Twilight. "Can you do the thing again?" He asked. Twilight nodded as she did the standard thing, displaying Marcus' memory onto the train wall for everybody to see. Nimbius and Swordstrike looked upon in awe as Marcus started explaining, and a mental video started to fade into view.










August 12, 2017, After the Tel-Aviv War, and a month and a half before the Caldrea Peak incident.
Near the Yucatan Crater, 40 miles from the Yucatan Peninsula, 2 miles from the asteroid dig site, 15,423 Feet above ground
Yucatan, Mexico


The four Marines were seated, preparing their parachutes and equipment to perform a HAHO (High Altitude High Opening) jump off the back of a Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. Inside the military cargo plane contained three members of Task Force: S.T.A.L.K.E.R, more specifically Keegan P. Russ (Simply Keegan, or Chemo), and Enrique T. Solis (Neptune).

"Fifteen minutes!" Shouted the co-pilot to the men sitting about and fixating their equipment and weapons. They all nodded once and resumed to their doings. Kayla was no longer to take a role in this mission, and neither was Keegan. Instead, they were to take the same roles as Marcus and Jackson. Being the extra guns, Kayla was equipped with a lightweight Daewoo K7 submachine gun, which had a thirty-five round magazine, and an intergrated surpressor, along with an MP-443 Grach, which was fully-automatic if she wished to switch it up.

Keegan was equipped with a heavily modified SC-2010, which had a jet black finish, an attached silencer, a EO Tech sight, and a foldable lightweight stock, along with a silenced M9 pistol.

The other Marines, except for Jackson, were equipped with a new prototype weapon, the EVO Pro III. Nicknamed the 'Ripper', it is the latest in modular weapon design with an integrated Hybrid Sight, that has a green tint to it, and a button on the side which can uniquely extend the size and barrel of the weapon, turning it into a small, compact assault rifle, or vice-versa. Its fire rate decreases when switched to A.R mode, while going back to SMG mode increases it. The weapon was made in a collaboration effort between Mexico's Armacor Advanced Industries (A2 Industries), and  Czech Republic's Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod to compete with a replacement for Heckler and Koch's MP5.

"Ten minutes!"

Marcus looked over at the helmet that was laying next to him, and picked it up, strapping it onto his head. The others did the same. He then double checked his free-falling boots, and his gloves, making sure they were all strapped tightly on his figure before reaching into one of his vest pockets, and looking at his altimeter and GPS.

"Five minutes!"

After checking on their equipment and storing their small, compact weapons, they stood up simultaneously before grabbing onto the straps, all of them waiting for the ramp to drop open.

"Alright," Keegan spoke up. "You all know what to do. We go down there into the forest via HAHO and group up with the three agents down there who should be waiting for us. They'll take us to the site and support us if we run into any heat, make our way towards the site, find what we can, secure the area, and hold until the 75th Rangers arrive."

"So much for leading the way..." Jackson muttered, getting small smiles from the others. Even Keegan.

"Check your partner's equipment." Keegan ordered. They did as they were told, with Marcus checking Neptune's equipment, and Thompson checking his own. As they finished, the ramp slowly began to drop, making a deafening noise of both the engines and the wind.

"Just like in training!" Keegan yelled. That's when the red light shown green.

"GO, GO, GO!" Keegan said, ordering them all out. One by one, quickly they jumped, with Marcus being the second to jump. The air was pushing against the force of his body, as gravity did its work. He then quickly looked below him, noticing that Neptune had already deployed a parachute and was slowly gliding down. He and the others formed up in a stack, with Neptune setting the travel course and acting as a guide for the other team members. The others did the same after about twenty seconds, and followed Neptune's path.

After around fifteen minutes, they spotted a flat field surrounded by the vegatation of the forest, and in the field emitted a red smoke. Neptune slowly glided down, while the others followed suit. As Neptune got closer, he and the others noticed a Ford F-350 Super Duty pick up truck, with green, black, and brown camouflage, and a canopy on the back. Alongside it, were three agents wearing black gear, and holding what looked to be HK416's, and one was holding a HK G36C.

They then slowly, but somewhat roughly, touched down onto the field. They then cut their parachutes, took out their weapons and equipment, and made their way to the three agents.

"Feet dry." Jackson said with a sigh of relief. The others nodded as they jogged over to the vehicle.

Keegan was the first to arrive, and approached the three agents. "I.D?" He asked. The agents showed him their badges, confirming their identification of being members of the Enigma Corporation, a private security firm which had just investigated a case near the Mayan temples. He then nodded. 

"It's about time you got here. Did you run into anything up there?" Asked the female agent, Elise Mooney.

"No. We came in without any trouble. And remember, you all follow my lead, and do what I say. That includes you, Conner." He said, pointing a finger at him as he slid on his Ghosts mask.

"Yes sir." The team leader of the agents, Noel Conner, said sternly, not wanting any trouble with the men, let alone SF troops.

They then all gathered around the front of the truck. One of the agents, Tanner Noble, pulled out a map, and unraveled it on the hood of the truck for everyone to see. He then stepped back as Keegan looked at the map for a couple of moments.

"Alright. The trail is this way. We take the pick up and travel three clicks to the East. We then ditch the truck, and make radio contact with a Ghostrider that should be arriving here the same time we make it. We'll also have a team of Ranger QRF's on standby that are stationed on the U.S.S Wasp. Another batch Rangers are also deployed on that carrier, and are waiting to secure the site. When we reach the site, Marcus will be under your command. We go in, gather what we can, take out any hostiles in the area, and call them in." Keegan explained in detail, making sure everybody knew what to do.

"Everyone got that?"

They all nodded.

"Alright. Agents, we'll store up onto the back of the pickup. Conner, you're driving us there. The first half of the trail, we will be encountering a couple of civilians from a nearby village, so we'll make sure to seal the canopy, and make sure they don't know we're in the truck. We'll then go off-road from there. If we get caught, you know what to do."


The agents and the Marines nodded. They then took their roles and climbed onto the back of the pickup truck, which contained a small, single wooden box filled with rotting and half-rotten bananas. As they climbed in, Conner turned on the ignition and waited for the other two agents to climb into the truck. Once they did, the truck started moving as Thompson closed the flap.

As the truck started moving, the group sat in silence, aside from the obvious rumming of the engine, and the crunching of branches against the tires every once in a while. After a couple more minutes, Kayla spoke up.

"Any of you guys know who this 'Archer' guy is?" She asked.

"I was informed that the man supposedly known as 'Archer' was a former Special Air Service operator before he flushed out on a Section eight or something like that. Then he went balls-to-the-wall crazy and created something called the 'Nightfall Program', where he's been investigating on some stuff. Like aliens or something like that." Keegan said.

"Damn. If we find him there, we'll get a ten million reward." Neptune said.

"I'm taking the shot. Beers on me for the rest of our lives!" Marcus said outloud, clearly boasting. The others laughed as they enjoyed their moments inside the truck. AS the laughter died down, they heard the back window opened. They looked, noticing Mooney sticking her head out and looking at the men.

"Might wanna keep it down. We're passing by a nearby village." She said quietly before closing the window and putting the flap back. The laughter quickly died down as they sat in silence. The truck then slowed as it passed through the front of a village. As they did, the noise of the truck toned down, allowing the men to hear the voices outside of curious, and somewhat scared civilians.

"Ey', piensas que esa vehiculo tiene los Americanos?" ("Hey, do you think that vehicle contains the Americans"?) Said a guy in Spanish.

"No se, pero diga a los civiles que se vayan patras a sus casas. Y para ese vehiculo para inspectar!" (Don't know, but tell the civilians to go back into their homes. And stop that vehicle for inspection!"  Another man said.

"Si senor. Ey! ¡Ándate a la chucha! Vamos! Adentro!" (Yes sir. Hey! Fuck off! Let's go! Get inside!") Shouted the same man. Several muttering and silent voices were heard, along with the quick rushing of footsteps, and the crying of a baby here and there. As they did, the truck slowed even more, and that's when Marcus spoke up quietly.

"They're gonna stop us and inspect the truck." He then turned to Jackson. "Hurry up and mount your LSAT!"

Jackson nodded quickly as he unfolded the bipods on his LSAT machine gun, and aimed at the flaps, with the others scooting away so they won't be caught in the crossfire.

"It's like that one time we were in Rio de Janeiro. And we went into that one Favela..." Kayla muttered. The others just nodded as they awaited for the milita to open the back flaps. As they waited, they heard the voices of the men again. One of them banged not too softly onto the window of the driver side of the truck.

"Hey! Are you three allowed to be in this certain location!" Spoke the man in a heavy accent.

"We were told to transport this shipment of bananas to Valladolid." Conner 'admitted', making the men chuckle heavily.

"Yeah... bananas..." He said, sniffling. "Well, you wouldn't mind if I checked, would you?" He asked with a devilish smirk.

Conner shook his head and returned the smirk with a small smile. "Not at all, sir. Go right ahead."

The man along with three others walked to the back of the truck, while two other men held their position on the sides of the truck, aiming their AK-103's at Conner and Tanner.

"Aver que tienen estos pendejos.." ("Let's see what these fuckers really have..") The man said, before the Marines and Ghosts members saw the silhouette of four men, armed with what seemed to be AK-103's and an FN-FAL. Then, one of the men wearing a beret, walked up to the back and grabbed the flap.

"Get ready..." Neptune whispered at Jackson, who was eagerly awaiting them to open the flap. The silhouette of the other three men changed as they rose their weapons, and the other ripped the flap open, revealing the four Marines and the Ghosts members inside. To their horror, which was clearly displayed on their faces, one of them was already aiming at them with a light machine gun.

Before the man could even react, Jackson quickly squeezed the trigger, replacing the silence of the rain forest. The LSAT contained little to no recoil, easily capable of sustained fire. The armor-piercing rounds connected with the man, making him stumble back as his torso was riddled with bullets, before one of them hit his head, killing him instantly. 

The other three men just looked upon in shock and horror, before being met with a similar fate as their former, getting easily mowed down by the steady stream of bullets, along with Kayla, who accompanied the LSAT's fire with her own, shooting her MP-443 Grach as the men stumbled to the ground.

"Step on it!" Marcus shouted to Conner. He quickly complied as he pressed his foot down onto the gas pedal before speeding away, breaking through the barrier in front of the truck, and quickly gaining speed. Jackson had long stopped firing, and was now re-folding the bipods on his LSAT and reloading it. Kayla just ejected the magazine and slapped in a new one, while the others just sat in silence, checking each other for any wounds whatsoever.

"We all good?" Keegan asked. The others nodded. Aside from getting a couple scratches here and there, nothing near life threatening. Blood was spilled on the flaps, the roof, and the floor, but it wasn't any of theirs. Keegan and the others looked at the flaps, riddled with fresh blood stains and riddled with bullet holes.

"The flaps are totaled, but we should be nearing the position now." Keegan said, as they felt the truck turn and take on a more bumpy road, signifying them that they were now off-road, just like Keegan said they would. The speed hadn't changed, and for good reason, since they were certain that whatever militia that was, they were certainly going to be searched for.

"Lightweight, keep your LSAT mounted and ready to fire. We don't want any milita sneaking up on us, and I don't plan on bailing on this mission due to a fucking cheap-ass technical." Marcus said. Jackson nodded, finishing reloading his LSAT and mounting it once more, while the others sat in silence, waiting.



After a couple of minutes, the truck slowly but steadily came to a stop. The Marines and the Ghosts then quickly gathered up and climbed out, forming a defensive perimeter around the back of the truck and scanning their surroundings. Conner then turned of the truck and stepped out, along with the three other agents, aiming their weapons into the treeline. After a couple of more minutes, Noel went to the back of the truck, climbing out with a camouflage tarp, big enough to cover the truck and let it blend in with the enviroment.

After Jackson, Thompson, and Noel covered the truck, Thompson unslung his pack, preparing to use his PRC 119 radio to contact the AC-130 Ghostrider that should now be flying overhead. He smiled a bit at how fitting the name was, and for who it was working for.

After changing frequencies, Thompson finally heard the voices of the Ghostrider pilots. He then spoke. "Be advised, this is MARSOC, contacting Ghostrider, callsign 'Spartan 1-3'. Do you read me, over?"


"Be advise, this is Spartan 1-3, flying at 29,000 feet, coming from Cannon AFB, New Mexico. we read you loud and clear, over." The pilots responded back. Thompson turned to the others, giving them a thumbs-up on the radio contact. "We're your eye in the sky for the next two hours. The crash site is half a click away. We got your back, how copy?"

Thompson replied. "Good copy, Spartan 1-3. Inform us as we get there. Make sure we don't get ambushed along the way, over?"

"Solid copy. Spartan 1-3 out." The pilot said. Thompson then stored the radio and stood up. Marcus then walked in front of the others and led the way, all of them walking at a fast pace into the forest, aiming their weapons as they did so.

Once they got into the rain forest, their visibility was hindered by the treetops, but they continued regardless, their ears making note of each and every little sound the forest emitted. From the slightest rustling, to the howls of Howler Monkeys. They also found a series of footprints, which lead to very small remote field, which the agents followed as the Marines waited. When they came back, they found nothing but a huge pool of dried blood, along with pieces of ripped clothing.

"Damn... what could've cause that huge of a kill?" Asked Thompson.

"Don't know, but there's nothing we can do. We're not here to investigate a murder or something like that." Marcus said, eager to proceed with the mission, since this was wasting valuable time.

"That doesn't explain the acidic substance mixed in with the blood..." Conner said, walking out of the brush and back to the group. "Let's just keep going."

They all nodded as they quickened their pace to make up the wasted time. As they did, they noticed that at the end of the so called 'trail', that there was more sunlight emitting from there, which they assumed that they were about to reach the cliffside area of the crash site.

The radio then crackled back to life. "This is Spartan 1-3, be advised, you are exiting the rainforest, and are about to discover the crash site, over." The pilot said, confirming it. The pilot spoke again. "Be advised, FLIR from our computers are identifying four- no, five heat signatures inside of the building sites. Proceed with caution, over."

Thompson replied back. "Copy that. Are they armed, or just a bunch of civvies?" He asked.

"They are armed. Heavily armed, the screen operator says. He's saying they look too well-armed to be milita." The pilot informed.

"Federation, maybe?" Thompson guessed.

"Uh... hold on a second..." The pilot said. After a moment of hearing chatter over the pilot and the operators in the back, he replied. "Yeah. They're confirmed to be Federation."

"Roger. Keep your eyes peeled up there while we go and take them out." Thompson replied.

"Copy. Watch your six down there, Devil Dogs. Spartan 1-3 out."

After walking a couple more hundred feet, they finally made it to the edge of the crash site, concealing themselves in the vegetation. As they settled in, Marcus looked over to Neptune. "Hand me your binoculars."

Neptune nodded as he reached to his side, grabbing his binoculars and handing it to him. Marcus then brought the binoculars to his eyes and looked down at the crash site. On one side, there were a series of construction pipes and equipment, along with a way to climb down. On the inner layer against the cliff walls, there was also a series of whitish tubes connecting from one area of the site to another. More specifically connecting from the abandoned white building, all the way to the asteroid itself. There were also several cranes, vehicles, ripped white tarps, gas trailers, white trailers which seemed to still have its computers and such in tact, along with a dirt pathway next to the building that lead to what seemed to be a tiny underground bunker. 

Marcus then spotted the five Federation soldiers. He zoomed in closer on them, noticing they all had desert camouflage armor on them, except for one, which was wearing a red beret. Two of the soldiers were equipped with SA-805's, one with an Ameli light machine gun, and the other two had Vepr's. Two were on the pathway, one was on the balcony next to the asteroid, and the other two were inside the building itself.

"Alright. They look pretty lightly armed. We go two with SA-805's, one with an Ameli, and two with Vepr's. I don't think we'll be needing the AC-130 for this." Marcus muttered. He then turned to Thompson. "Radio-in Spartan 1-3. Tell them we're ready to kick things off."

Thompson nodded as he spoke into the radio again. "Spartan 1-3, be advise. We're about to kick this thing off. Keep us updated on anything, and look around for any reinforcements."

The pilot responded quickly. "Solid copy, Lucky. Radio in when you need C.A.S. We'll be with you all the way. Spartan 1-3 out."

Thompson then put the radio away and gave a nod to Marcus. "Alright. Follow me. Stay low."

The others complied as they moved slowly out of the brush and into view, only a couple feet away from the cliffs that surrounded the site. Marcus looked over to the construction pipes. He thought about it for a second. It would be a faster way to go, but if that guard on the balcony decided to just turn around at the right time, they would be spotted in no time. Also, the entrance at the bottom looked locked, so he ruled that out. He then saw a not-so-steep slope to his right, and decided they could easily access the main building from there.

"Alright. See that slope there?" Marcus pointed at the slope. The others nodded. "We'll go down to the site from there, slowly. Then, make our way into the tunnel of tubes, which should lead us into the main building. Then, we'll split up and take them out swiftly and quietly. Got it?"

The others nodded once more. Marcus then led them towards the slope, moving almost painfully slow as they approached the top of it One by one, they slowly slid down, with Marcus going first, and Noble going last. As they touched down, they approached the white tubes that acted as a small hallway. Kayla pulled out her combat knife, and quietly sliced the whitish tarp with ease. The group then silently entered the tunnel, which was almost anything but, since the tops were ripped and abused ever since the site's 'abandonment'.

"We're gonna split up. Me, and my squad will take on the three guards near the asteroid, while the rest of you take out the two in the building. We'll secure the entire area faster, and hold on until the Rangers arrive." Marcus said. The others nodded. "Alright. Let's make this quick."

The group then split off into seperate directions. As the Marines approached the glass doors, they were about to cut through, until the doors slid to the sides as soon as they got within three feet.

"Oh damn... the doors still work?" Kayla said quietly, yet still surprised.

"Guess so. I'm not complaining." Jackson said as they walked out of the are and onto the outside. They then took a quick glance up to look at the asteroid. It had a sharp, bulky look to it, and was covered in holes. The shadow of the asteroid covered them from the blinding sun. After a couple more seconds, they proceeded with the mission objective. Kayla moved down towards the trailer, along with Jackson, while Marcus and Thompson stayed behind, taking cover behind a trailer that contained gas tanks. They then heard the voices of one of the Federation soldiers.

"Si senor. Orita vana venir los Mi-24's. Espero para que ya nos vamos de aqui." ("Yes sir. Right now, the Mi-24's are on their way. I hope so, so we can leave this place.") 

"Shit... hear that? We're gonna get some extra company soon. Let's take 'em out so we can inform Spartan 1-3." Marcus said. Thompson nodded as they both stood up and aimed over the trailer, aiming their silenced Rippers at the two Federation soldiers, who were unaware of their presence.

"Three... Two... One..." Marcus counted down, aiming down the green sight. "Fire."

Marcus and Thompson fired their Rippers simultaneously, squeezing the triggers and letting out short four-round-burst. The bullets hit their mark, connecting with their necks, slicing through their upper spinal cords, cutting off their brain signals and killing them instantly. The bodies immediately flopped onto the floor. Marcus and Thompson then quickly, but quietly, ran up to the two corpses and dragged them to the back of another gas trailer, mounting their bodies to lean next to each other, with both of them resting against the wall. They then went over to Kayla and Jackson.

As they did, Jackson kept his sights on the man on the balcony, until he heard a slight 'hiss'. He turned around, noticing Marcus and Thompson giving him a thumbs-up. Jackson nodded as he turned to Kayla, who was right below the metal balcony, and right below the Federation soldier's feet. He gave Kayla a thumbs-up.

Kayla nodded as she quickly aimed her K7 up at the man standing above her. She then squeezed the trigger, letting out a burst of five rounds into the soldier's body, more specifically his genitals. The .45 ACP rounds sliced through him with ease as he stood there in shock and in indescribable pain. He dropped his gun as he wanted to scream in pain, but he was quickly silenced by another burst to lower jaw, the bullets going through and connecting with his skull. As he crumpled to the ground, the Marines moved into the asteroid building, meeting up with the three Enigma Corporation agents and the two Ghosts members.

"That went pretty damn smoothly." Conner commented. The other two agents nodded, but Marcus cut the celebration short.

"We aren't done yet. Before we killed the two soldiers, we overheard them talking about a Federation Hind approaching this area." Marcus warned. He then turned to Thompson. "Inform Spartan 1-3."

"Way ahead of you, Sarge." Thompson said, already on the radio. "Be advised Spartan 1-3, we got info on a Federation Mi-24 Hind approaching our location. Can you tell your computer operators to scan the area for any unidentified aircraft?"

It took a while for the pilot to respond, but he did anyhow. "Understood. We're now scanning the surrounding area for Hinds. Stand-by." 

"Copy that. Changing frequencies now to report to the Wasp to bring in the Rangers. All other hostiles are down and out." Thompson said.

"Solid copy. Good work down there." The pilot said before Thompson switched frequencies to contact the aircraft carrier. As he did, Marcus and the other agents walked over to the asteroid and just stared at in in slight awe. It had huge holes dented into its rock form, and it seemed as if it was embedded deep into the ground as they looked over the brick surrounding it as a railing.

"What do you think this thing is?..." Mooney asked, clearly curious.

"No idea.. but I have this strong urge to go down there and find out...." Conner muttered as they looked below the ground. It was anything but visible, but Marcus was able to notice something.

A red, pulsating plant-like thing emitted slightly on the side of the wall next to the asteroid. Marcus' eyes widened in surprise, before he squinted them and got a closer look at the strange object, which seemed to have red glowing roots on the sides, which disappeared since it was embedded into the cracks on the walls. As he got an even better view, Thompson spoke up.

"Alright. The Rangers are already on their way." He said.

"Great What's their E.T.A?" Keegan asked.

"About five and a half mikes." Thompson said. He then turned to Marcus. "Marcus, ya' got that?"

Marcus didn't hear what he said, since his mind was fixated on the strange organism. As he did, he heard strange sounds emitting from the bottom of the shaft. Odd groans, clicking noises, faint screeches, weak moaning, and yelling, mixed with other noises. He was about to get even closer, until he felt something touch his shoulder, which made him slightly jump at the touch, and quickly turn around.

"Sarge! Did you get that? The Rangers are on their way!" Thompson said more loudly this time, breaking whatever trance Marcus had and bringing him back to reality.

"Huh? Oh. Y-yeah, I got you. Understood." He shook his head slightly as he stood back up, trying to erase the thoughts of the organism he saw down there, but Thompson saw the look in his eyes, and decided to bite.

"You sure? Seems like you were in some sort of trance or something along those lines..." He said with a tone of worry. 

Marcus nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just kinda went blank for a second."

"Okay, if you say so." 

"I do say so." Marcus then turned to the others. "Let's look around and see if there's anything interesting we can find." He said. The others nodded as they walked out of the main area and walked out into the open. Raising their weapons, they looked around as they walked into  the small underground 'bunker'. As they did, they turned on their flashlights and looked around for anything that would be a threat, or of great national value.

"I still wonder what these people were doing before they abandoned this site..." Jackson said, looking through a pile of orange plastic cargo plates. "Nothing much over here."

"Overlord did say that this would be a very important area to secure, didn't he?" Neptune commented, lifting up the lid on a wooden box, only to find several Heckler and Koch G3's, all of them without their magazines. "Then again, this is supposedly a dig site..."

"Yeah, but we're not here to do that." Keegan reminded him and the others as he moved a stack of pipes from the wall, only to find nothing. "Our orders were to secure the site, and the others would do the rest."

"Then why'd they send the Rangers here? Let alone the 75th?" Asked Kayla as she and the others grouped up in the middle.

"If I knew, I'd tell you." Keegan said, a bit irritated. Before anybody else could speak, The PRC 119 radio crackled to life as the pilot spoke.

"Be advised, we have positive contact of a Federation Mi-24 closing in fast..." The pilot said with a tone of warning in his voice. As he did, they all heard the rapid beating of rotors, indicating the Hind was already entering the crash site.

The group then heard the rotors louder and louder, until a heavy, swirling cloud of dust fumed as the Hind hovered over the small bunke, which contained a hole on the top. They looked in horror as they noticed that the Hind's gun barrel was pointed downwards to them.

"Shit! Move it, move it!" Marcus shouted as they quickly sprinted out to the side where they came from as the Hind's GSh-23 cannon opened fire, barley missing Neptune's ankle by mere inches. As they got into new cover, Thompson quickly responded to the Ghostrider pilot.

"Be advised, we've come under attack from that damn Hind! Requesting a SDB launch on that bird now!" Thompson shouted as the Hind kept shooting its GSH-23, trying to penetrate the reinforced concrete, succeeding slightly as dust and debris flew all around, making the group cough, hack, and blur their vision.

The pilot quickly responded. "Copy that. Danger close, I say again, danger close. Might wanna step back..." He said as chatter began in the background. The group then quickly moved to the very back of the small bunker as the Hind flew over and above one of the cranes. As they did, Thompson heard over the chatter the gunner yelling "Firing!"

As soon as he did, they faintly heard a screeching sound above, aside from the Hind's rapidly spinning rotors. This confirmed that the AC-130 Ghostrider had just released a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), which was a 250 lb (110 kg) precision-guided glide bomb. The Hind kept shooting it's GSh-23, along with shooting a couple of UB-32 S-5 rocket onto the bunker, rocking it, and sending debris flying in every single direction, but not causing more than a couple scratches as the group hid more behind.

The GBU-39 streaked towards the Hind, connecting with the very top of the rotors and exploding in a brilliant flash of molted, broken metal. As the bomb hit, the Hind spun out of control, due to it's top half being completely obliterated. The back of the Hind connected with the crane,  exploding its gas tank, and demolishing the restraints on the crane. As the remains of the Hind came crashing down, the crate the crane was carrying before fell to the ground, landing conveniently on the back of a flat-bed truck. 

The group then cautiously walked out of the bunker, as the winds around them picked up and released dust into the air, making the group cough and squint their eyes as they proceeded to the crash site.

This is Spartan 1-3, you guys good down there?" The pilot asked. Thompson lazily pulled out the radio and responded.

"*Cough* Roger that, Spartan 1-3. We're all fine. Just a couple of scratches and dust in our lungs. Good effects on that Hind, but as it went down, the remains of the Hind hit some crane and released whatever was swinging in the air. We're gonna go check it out, over?"

"Copy that. The Rangers are on their way now; E.T.A: Two mikes. We'll stay here until they arrive. Good hunting, Spartan 1-3 out." The pilot responded. The group then cautiously and slowly approached the area where Marcus and Thompson had killed the two Federation soldiers, walking past them and back to where Kayla killed her own. As they walked down the small dirt slope, avoiding huge and small slices of burnt and molten metal, they stood upon the metal 'crate'.

They stared at what the crate contained. Marcus then stepped up and threw open the gate which prevented access. He then stood on the platform, and came upon a black box that was leaning against the side.

"What do you think's in there?" Asked Mooney.

"Only one way to find out..." Marcus muttered his reply. He saw that it was locked with a combination lock, to which he just simply shot at it with his Ripper, careful any piece hitting him or the others. He then forcefully opened the case, revealing a very strange looking weapon.



"What the fuck?..." He muttered as the others looked along. The weapon was around the same size as a M16A4, with its obvious differences. For one, it had a desert-tan stock and grip, with what looked like a gas tank at the very back and the inside of the stock. It had what seemed like two elongated barrels, with one of them having a hole and a folded grip, and the other acting as what seemed to be a battery/storage device. It also had a battery magazine itself where a regular magazine should be. Inside its second tube had a dark, liquid substance inside. He aimed down the scope, which was attached with a small battery.

"That.. what the hell is that?" Asked Neptune as Marcus jumped down so the others could have a better look.

"Hell if I knew..." Marcus said as he handed the weapon to Keegan. "But it makes me wonder what this 'Nightfall' Program has in store for the world..."

The others nodded slowly in agreement. Before they could say anything else, they heard the slight beating sound of rapid rotors. Not wanting another Hind encounter, they quickly turned around and looked to the skies, not raising their weapons in case it was friendly aircraft. Their suspicions were put to rest as they saw the silhouettes of four MH-6 Little Birds arriving onto the dig site, along with two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.

"Looks like they've arrived. We're pulling out. Take care. Spartan 1-3 out." The pilot contacted them for the last time. They didn't respond as the roaring of rotors and Rangers giving orders nearly deafened them, even while wearing their helmets. The Little Birds, piloted by the 160th SOAR, landed quickly and dropped of the Rangers, who were now swarming the area, while one of the UH-60's landed in the middle of the site, the other hovering around, waiting for it to move.

"It's been fun working with you guys, but it seems like we gotta split our paths." Noel said, saluting the men, who did so in return. "Take care."

The group just nodded as they jogged towards their UH-60. Still holding the odd weapon in his hands, he turned to Keegan. "We're gonna take this back with us and show it to the eggheads back at Guantanamo. Maybe they'll know a thing or two."

"I was thinking the same exact thing." Keegan said.

As the group walked over to the UH-60, they wondered more and more about what this 'Nightfall' thing was really hiding, and how it was going to affect the U.S Government, and the world in general. Marcus had a bad feeling that this would be a lot worse than fighting in the Tel-Aviv war. As he wondered this, two F-22 Raptor's soared over them to provide extra support as they secured and extracted the site.




End of Flashback.