As the alarm blared, Rarity had a look of panic on her face. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"We're going to make sure you stay alive," Jacob said, "while making sure the Covenant don't take this ship."
"Come on. Rarity," Bishop said. "There is one place on the ship you'l be safe as long as one human's alive."
"Where's that?" Rarity asked.
"Armory," Josh said. "And I imagine the captain will want us to stay with you to make sure you survive, so we can protect you if some random Covenant gets there."
"And what if more then just one shows up?"
"Then all of us are most likely screwed," Tony said. "Now, come on."
The six of them ran out of the mess hall, the humans leading the unicorn to the armory.
They ran into other soldiers, but none paid Diamondback or their charge any attention, as they were too preoccupied with getting into position to repel the covenant.
As a result, when they made it to the armory, there were no other soldiers there, which allowed them to get in easily. As Jacob and the others had their armor on, they grabbed assault rifles of various makes, as well as SMGs.
Once they were finished, Jacob took one rifle off the racks and handed it to Rarity, who only looked at it in confusion.
"Its to defend yourself," he said. "Are you able to lift it?"
Rarity nodded, saying. "O-of course. Every unicorn can do simple levitation spells."
"Can you apply a little extra pressure in certain locations?"
"Yes."
Jacob nodded. "Good. When you want to fire it, just apply a little pressure here," he said, pointing at the trigger. "This is an MA5C, which has only thirty-two rounds in the magazine, which means thirty-two shots before reloading. To reload, just press this," he pressed a button at the back of the rifle on the inside of the stock, the part that faced towards the operators body, "then just grab the spent magazine, take it out, and put a new one in. Oh, and this," he said, pointing to the guns muzzle, "is what you point at the one you're trying to kill. To aim, just look down the muzzle shroud, which is this part," he said, pointing to the gray ridge at the top of the rifle. Got it?"
"I believe so," Rarity said, taking the rifle in her grasp.
"Right, just. . . don't fire it unless its a last resort, got it."
"I don't intend to shoot at all," Rarity said. I just took it so you wouldn't pester me about it. Killing, even in self defense, is a crime back in my home."
"Then whoever came up with that law's a fucking moron," Josh said.
"A princess came up with it."
"Even more so, then!"
Rarity and Twilight snickered. "That never gets any less funny," Twilight said. "What's even funnier is that he's right."
"Twilight, I came up with that law," Celestia said, to which, to the shock of all, the lavender alicorn just shrugged.
"Yeah, and guess how many times in our history would have been better if you and Luna killed the one you were fighting with. Sombra and Discord wouldn't have come back, and I only give Nightmare slash Luna a pass because she's your family," Twilight said. "The only time you lift that rule is in times of war, and even then, the guards are afraid to kill because they don't want to risk getting punished, which is probably why you guys are losing the war: the Griffons are willing to kill, but you aren't."
"She's right, you know," a male voice said out of nowhere, which made Cadence and the others freak out while Twilight and Rarity facehooved.
"We forgot to introduce Arion," Rarity said.
"Who," Rainbow said. Twilight lit her horn and pulled a small chip from the back of her helmet, which had a small blue circle in the center. She placed it in front of the others, and a holographic image of a stallion with a tan coat and black mane. He was scaled down, and had much smaller eyes then the ponies, but, if he was scaled one to one, he'd be as high as Celestia.
"That would be me," he said with a bow of his holographic head. "Arion, personal AI to Diamondback squad, and friend to the two mares you all are familiar with. Pleasure to meet you."
"What are you?" Cadence asked.
"Basically, I'm a digital reconstruction of a brain that chose this form and was assigned to Rarity and Twilight, who, at the time of my assignment, were on the same squad. My capabilities range from hacking, piloting, being a wise ass, pissing people off, and messing with people when not on mission. Oh, and combat support."
"He based his appearance after an old myth from human history," Twilight said.
"Anyway," Rarity said, "back to the story."
As the six of them waited in the armory, yelling, screaming, and the occasional explosion could be heard. "Not going well out there," Josh said.
"You think," Patrick sad. "Question is though, for who?"
"I'm going optimist and saying for the covies," Tony said.
"Same here," Bishop said.
As soon as she said this, voices could be heard outside. "Sho ne' sa krt Nishum. Wort!" (Kill all the worms. Go!)(1)
Squealing could be heard, as well as high pitched voices.
"What're those things," Rarity whispered, though none of Diamondback responded. Almost in response, though, the first voice, a deep one, said, "Ko ne eshewa. Kino vesho." (I heard something from the other side of this door. Open it.)
More squealing was heard, as well as what sounded like sizzling before the door to the armory began to open slowly.
Just as it was half way open, an alien as tall as a normal pony walked in. It had gray skin with a round tank of somehting on its back, with a tube going into what Rarity assumed was the nose.(2) It was only able to widen its eyes before Josh delivered a stream of bullets that killed it.
Before the others could do anything, they saw a plasma grenade land at the doors. "Fuck," Jacob said as the grenade detonated, the heat from the grenade melting enough of the door to allow more grunts in. "Light 'em up!" he yelled, and all of Diamondback fired, Rarity just sticking behind them.
With the bullets firing like a wall at them, the Grunts, a total of ten, fell to the floor, numerous holes in their bodies.
"That's not it," Jacob said. "Still got an Elite."
"So, should we move out and look for the guy as a squad, or wait here for him to throw a grenade in?" Patrick asked.
"Or you could die," the cloaked Elite, who had snuck in as the grenade detonated, said as he turned visible and back handed Josh into the wall. Before Jacob and the others could respond, the elite kicked Jacob into the wall and punched Bishop in the gut with enough force to lift her off the floor before she slammed back to the ground, clutching her stomach.
Patrick and tony were able to get enough shots off to bring its shields down, but the elite was able to roll closer to them, and then grab their heads and bring them to together with enough force to knock them out. He then looked at Rarity. "You," was all he said before he began to stalk over to where Rarity stood frozen in terror. Just before he reached her though, Jacob fired off a single shot at the elite's back. He snarled and turned around, grabbing Jacob by the throat. "Insignificant," he said in English. "My face will be the last thing you ever see," he said as he closed his hand around Jacob's throat before a stream of soft thwips could be heard, and he let Jacob go, clutching his stomach, purple blood coming from exit wounds. He looked back and, to even his terror, keeping in mind he was a spec ops elite who had seen quit a lot and had even nearly avoided a scorpion tank shell, saw Rarity, rage in her eyes. That was the last thing he saw before Rarity put a bullet in his skull.
"You will not hurt any of my friends," she said before what she had just done registered in her mind, and fear took the place of rage. "I-I just killed some one,' she stammered out.
"Rarity, calm down," Jacob said as he sat on the floor. "You did it to save me, and who knows how many others." A pained smile came to his face. "Don't worry, I'm getting vitals from the others. They're alive right now."
A small smile came to Rarity's face. "That's good, I guess," she said just as one of the bodies began to move. Jacob tried to move, but grimaced in pain, his ribs having broken and the adrenaline that had numbed the pain already metabolizing. As a result, Rarity moved over to the body, a grunt with a blue tank on its back, and cautiously poked it.
In response, the grunt shot up, saying, "DON'T SHOOT, I SURRENDER!" It then saw Rarity. "What you?"
"Forgot to mention that it's rare for grunts to speak English fluently enough for complete sentence, most of the time."
Her rifle pointed at the grunt, Rarity said, "What do we do with him?
"He surrendered. I don't really care."
Rarity brought a hoof to her chin. "What's your name," she asked the grunt.
"Name Pawas," he said in his high pitched voice. "What you going to do to me?"
"Jacob, what would happen if one of the covenant you encountered surrendered? If they helped you and you vouched for them, what would happen?"
"No idea," Jacob said. "Why?"
"Pawas, how many people have you killed?"
"None. This first combat for me."
"Then what if you leave the covenant and become my helper," Rarity asked.
"What?" Jacob asked. "Rarity, you can't be serious."
"I am, Jacob," she said. "You see, since one of my friends became a princess, the res of us helped her, and I learned a bit about politics. I'm the first one of my kind the UNSC's met. As such, what I sat about them would carry a lot in what the leaders of my world say, so I could use that as leverage."
". . . Fair point, but if it fails, I and the others won't be able to help you."
"I was going to take all the responsibility anyway."
"Then I hope you know a way to make a lot of methane, as that's what grunts breath."
"I'm certain I can use my magic to find a way, Jacob."