//------------------------------//
// Arrival Arc, Chapter 4: Displaced  
// Story: For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version) 
// by Titan Commander Sebaste 
//------------------------------//

The two Alicorns took a single step forward. “Are you allies of Flame Tail? Or are you mercenaries hired by his soldiers?” The blue one asked, her horn glowing as a massive gun was upholstered from her back and brought to bear on them, the single barrel aimed at Sebastian. Sensing that things were about to get out of hand, Twilight spoke up.

“Princess, they helped us fight off the enemy! They're not allied with them!” She said.

The white Alicorn looked at her before she spoke to the three armored figures. “Is this true?” She asked.

“Yes, we held off three waves of enemy soldiers while holding a squad prisoner.” Sebastian said, jerking his head towards the now terrified squad of soldiers.

With a nod of her head, the two guards walked towards the remaining members of the enemy squad and escorted them to a nearby transport. 

“I am Celestia, and this is my sister Luna. May we ask who you three are?” The white Alicorn asked.

“The name’s Sebastian, or Sasha for short.” The Astartes said, “and this is Viktor and Alexandra.” He continued, pointing to the other two.

“Tis very nice to meet you. But how exactly did you arrive here?” The smaller blue Alicorn, Luna asked.

“We were sent here. But from a different universe.” Viktor said as he began to stand up, only to wince as he put pressure on where a lucky shot from a enemy energy rifle had managed to get through his shields during the fighting earlier and wounded him. The wound was mostly healed thanks to Alex, but it wasn't fully healed. “We encountered a being called the Merchant that sold us replica weapons, but he somehow sent us to here…”

Celestia frowned. “This is interesting… But why would this “Merchant” send you here?”

“We… don't know.” This time it was Alex that answered. “That's the thing we’re trying to figure out ourselves.”

Rainbow then opened her mouth to say something when she noticed a disturbance near the shuttle. “Um, Twi? What is that?” She asked, pointing one claw at it. Twilight turned her head and gasped.

“Princess! Behind you!” She shouted. Celestia spun around to see a vortex open near her shuttle. The three humans also looked on in shock as the vortex opened up.

Out of the vortex came a humanoid machine with rust all over it, it’s eyes glowing red, some type of gun was mag locked to it’s back.

“Who the hell are you?!” Sebastian said, his weapon raised.

Its head snapped to him. “Answer: HK-47. Query: Who are you?” it said in a mechanical male voice.

“Sebastian.” The Astartes replied. Celestia then spoke up. “Are you a friend, or an ally of Flame Tail?”

“Answer: I do not have any idea who Flame Tail is. Query: Are you new Displaced? Statement: You seem like it.”

“Dis-what?” Alex asked. “Speak English! What the heck is a Displaced?”

The machine seemed to groan. “Rhetorical query: Why do I always find the new ones…?” HK asked himself. “Answer: A Displaced is a human or other creature that have been sent to Equestria as something they cosplay as by a Displacer, such as the Merchant.”

“That’s the bugger that sold us our weapons!” Viktor snapped before he grunted in pain. “AH! Fracking leg wound….”

“Vik, don't move.” Alex said, looking back at him. She then looked at HK-47. “Where are you from?” She asked the robot.

“Answer: I am from another Equestria, one corrupted by Mafias.” HK answered.

Rainbow snorted, the noise muffled by the rebreather on her face. “Please, another Equestria? That’s a load of rubbish!” She pointed a claw on her gauntlet at the robot, “How do we know you're not some new prototype sent to attack us?”

“Query: If I were, then why am I simply talking with you? Statement: If I wished it you would already be dead.” HK replied, his voice somehow growing deeper and less mechanical.

Unnerved, Rainbow backed away, but Twilight then spoke up. “If you are from a different Equestria, why are you here?” She asked.

“Answer: Simple, I am a business droid, I jump from planet to planet to find those who need or want my help… for the right price of course.”

“So basically you're a con.” Sebastian growled. “But how exactly do you get around if you don't have the abilities you have right now?”

“Explanation: Each Displaced has their own way of getting around, I use my ship, the Ebon Hawk, to Hyperjump around and then beam down to the planet via portal. However most Displaced just use what is known as Tokens, Tokens allow Displaced to be called by other Displaced which will drag the first one to the one who got the Token.” HK pulled a small disk off of his hip. “For example, this is my Token, a Holopad with a message I’ve recorded onto it.”

“How does one make a token?” Luna spoke up, her voice interested.

“Answer: Only a Displaced can make one, but basically they grab an item that they want to represent them then they tell the item whatever message they want to introduce them then toss it into the air and the Void will split it into billions of copies and transport them to any Displaced it wants to. At least that’s how I did it.”

“Hmm…” Sebastian then looked at the two Spartans who nodded. But as he turned to HK-47, he saw an energy bolt streak towards Celestia. “Celestia, LOOK OUT!” 

The white Alicorn quickly summoned a shield but was too late to block the shot, which struck her on the wing. “AHH!” She cried out, falling to the ground as Luna summoned a shield around them.

“Damn it, we’ve got a sniper!” The Astartes said as another shot bounced off Luna's shield. “Twilight, you and the others take defensive positions! Alex, try and take whoever's sniping out!”

“Statement: Allow me to help deal with this, free of charge.” HK said as he whipped around drew his gun and fired a single shot at where the bolt came from.

A single unicorn fell from a first story window, a single hole in his head. As if this was a signal, a squad of both Unicorns and Earth Ponies charged out, their weapons discharging. “Death to the false rulers of Equestria!” One of the soldiers yelled only to get shredded by a hail of bullets from Viktor.

“Sorry, couldn't hear you over the sound of you dying!” He snarked, the barrel of his gun smoking. Both Luna and the six mares were returning fire, but their shots weren't having any effect, the soldiers kept ducking into cover as the mares opened fire on them.

Sebastian quickly summoned a frag grenade and tossed it, seconds later, the blast took out five enemy soldiers. Luna managed to bring down another soldier, but Twilight and her friends suffered a casualty when a bullet struck Rainbow in the leg, but she was quickly healed by Twilight. “HK, can you cover Alex while she finishes healing Viktor?” The Astartes yelled as he took out a unicorn with his Bolter.

HK turned from shooting the ponies. “Answer: As you say.” he said before going over to where Alex and Viktor were and started shooting the hostiles that could see the two.

Sebastian quickly charged forward, a power sword materializing in his hand. Still can't believe I'm able to do this…. He thought.

 “Sasha! What are you doing?!” Twilight yelled.

“Giving you guys time to evac the Princesses!” He replied as he lashed out with his blade and sliced a Earth Pony in half, guts spilling out.

“Rarity, Applejack, help Luna get Celestia to the shuttle.” Twilight ordered. The two mares nodded before Rarity put up a shield and the two ran to where Luna and Celestia were.

Meanwhile, Sebastian had hunkered by a building, having drawn most of the fire from the remaining soldiers.Bullets and energy blasts smacked into the wall in front of him as the ponies poured fire on it. Right… let’s see just how far I can take this “summoning” weapons thing… He thought before he felt his backpack change and a massive gun appeared in his hands, an energy coil mounted on top of it and wires connected it to the now changed backpack. “Oh… yeah….” He chuckled before he walked out from his spot and charged up his weapon. The ponies and the remaining Displaced except for HK-47 watched in shock as a massive ball of energy shot out of the weapon and annihilated the remaining soldiers, the blast turning them to ash.

“What in Faust's name…. was that?!” Twilight asked, the other mares sharing her shocked look.

“If I remember correctly… that was a plasma blast.” Viktor said, a tone of disbelief in his voice.

“Plasma technology!? That's decades ahead of us!” The lavender Alicorn said. “We’re still in the electrical stage!”

“Seriously?” Alex asked in disbelief. Twilight nodded before the group heard the whine of the shuttle’s engines. They turned to see it lift off and fly to Canterlot, Rarity and Applejack standing where it had been.

HK walked over to the corpse of one of the hostiles. “Query: How long has this war been going on?” he asked, examining the corpse.

“Just a few years now. It started a few weeks after Tirek had been defeated, Princess Celestia had gotten word that a pony named Flame Tail had taken over Stalliongrad and had persuaded other city leaders to secede from Equestria. But then…. He declared war on the Princesses, claiming that he was the rightful ruler of Equestria and the Princesses were false rulers.” Twilight said, shivering. “Since then, he’s been leading a massive assault on the other cities that refused to follow him, and he won't stop until he takes Canterlot.”

Sebastian walked back to the others, the massive gun still in his hands. “How many battles have Flame Tail's forces won?” He asked.

Twilight's ears flattened. “Fourty-two. We’ve managed to only win thirty-five battles.” She admitted.

HK looked up from the corpse. “Statement: I might be able to help a little bit.” he started. “Explanation: As I’ve said I am a business droid, I own the Hunter Killer Productions, a business that makes and sells HK-50 Assassin droids, HK-51 Protocol droids, and T3 Utility droids. I would be willing to make a deal.”

“What exactly do you require?” Viktor asked, a note of distrust in his voice.

“Answer: Bits and information. How about I sell you five HK-50 droids, one HK-51 Protocol droid, and one T3 Utility droid for fifty bits every month?” HK proposed.

“Hmmm…” Twilight gave the droid a indiscernible look. “I’ll need to talk to the Princesses about this, but if they agree, then we have a deal.” She said finally.

“Afterthought: I should probably add that they won’t have any personality whatsoever, they will know how to take orders just fine though. And this is a big discount as well, the normal price for just one HK-50 droid ranges around three thousand bits, and that’s just for the basic droid.” HK added.

Twilight paused, as if she was listening to something. “I just got a message from Luna, Both she and Celestia will make the deal. They’ll send the bits to you after the droids are delivered.” She said.

“How many Displaced… are there?” Alex asked. “Because… I think I saw some in a nightmare I had…. Someone in Astartes armor like Sasha's, but… corrupted… with a cybernetic Pegasus. Along with Amy Rose and a Spider-Man with a sword…”

“Answer: There are billions of Displaced in the Multiverse. And the droids will be here in a second.” HK said as the droids in question appeared behind him, six of them looking like HK-47 except they were chrome and a small droid with it’s head looking like a disk and two legs on it’s top half.

In a flash of light, a bag containing 50 bits appeared at the droid’s feet.

“Statement: Thank you.” HK said as he picked the bag up.

Twilight nodded before she looked at the other three “Displaced”. “Now you see why we need help. Flame Tail… won't stop until he has control of Equestria. And as you’ve seen, he doesn't care if civilians are caught in the crossfire.” She said, pointing at the wounded ponies, some sobbing as they saw a dead friend or family member.

Sebastian sighed. “I honestly don't think we’d be able to get back to Earth. So we may as well help here.” He then looked at HK. “You said a token could be something that represents us, right?”

“Answer: Indeed I did, find an item to represent you then give it a message.”

The Astartes nodded before the two Spartans walked over to him. Viktor chose an Energy sword while Alex created a copy of her blade, as for Sebastian, he chose the power sword he had used earlier. The three then crossed their weapons and spoke: “This is Sebastian of the Dark Angels, and Spartans Viktor and Alexandra of the UNSC. For those out there, if you are outnumbered and need help, or if your world and its inhabitants are in danger or you just want to hang out, call upon the protectors of Humanity’s future, from both the 41st Millennium and the 23rd century.  Ave Imperator! For the Emperor and the UNSC! For Equestria!”

Alex’s hand then glowed before a small portal opened above them. In one motion, the three tossed their blades into it where it then closed with a pop.

Alex then turned to the droid. “Thanks for the help. I don't think we could have survived another wave.” she said. She then turned to the assassin droids. “Your orders are to patrol the town and make sure no enemy soldiers get in, if you see a larger force, alert the Princesses. Understood?” she ordered.

“Answer: We will do as you ask.” one of them responded, sounding exactly like HK-47, before the five with guns on their backs started walking to the edge of town and patrolling. One of them and the little droid stayed behind though.

“HK-47, as a princess of Equestria, I would officially like to thank you for helping us.” Twilight said, bowing her head. “You have done us a great service.”

“We’d also like to thank you.” Viktor said. “If you hadn't arrived… this war would have been over faster for these ponies. Not even the three of us are invincible.”

“Request: Please don't thank me for this.” HK asked as he started fiddling with the Holopad. “Statement: I might be able to help one last time… for a bit of information.”

“Whut exactly… do ya need to know?” Applejack asked warily.

“Answer: Something Sebastian might know, how to mine Adamantium and where it’s most commonly found.”

Sebastian frowned. “I'm afraid I can't really help you there, the lore never really told where the Imperium mined their Adamantium. So I don't know where it’s found or how to mine it.” He said.

HK-47 groaned. “Rhetorical query: Why is the Multiverse trying to hid things like Adamantium from me…” He asked himself, before the Holopad started beeping. “Statement: One moment.” HK said before pressing a button on it and holding it in front of himself.

A blue sphere with a blackish color appeared over the pad. “47?” a deep foreboding voice spoke from the pad.

“Query: What do you want Psi Splitter? Statement: I’m in the middle of making a business deal with three new Displaced.” HK replied.

“Psi Splitter? Why does that name sound familiar…” Sebastian muttered to himself. “Meh, probably nothing….”

The sphere, now named Psi Splitter, had heard him and seemed to turn around. “No… a Dark Angel and two Spartans… you’re the ones Kronoculus told me about.” he turned to HK-47. “I’m afraid I must speak with you later, I must speak with these three first.”

“Statement: You always do this when Kronoculus tells you something…” HK said before holding the pad out closer to the Displaced.

“How… how did you know about us? We have no idea who the hell you are!” Alex said, pointing with her gauntlet at Psi Splitter. “We don't even know what is going on!”

“I know… but a friend of mine, Kronoculus, is capable of time travel, they told me about you three and some of the hardships you’ll go through…” Psi Splitter answered.

“If you ask me, this is just crazy!” Viktor said, “I know we're new to this whole “Displaced” thing, but time travel? That's not even possible!”

“”Vik, we pretty much left impossible behind when we arrived here.” Sebastian said. He then turned to Psi. “It does beg the question though, what exactly is going on here?”

“I’ve been told to tell you three to prepare for three wars, the Equestrian Black Crusade, the War of Shadows, and the War of the Chosen. I’ve also been told to tell you to be wary of the names Warriors of Chaos, Time Spinner, Darth Folteren, Lee Connors, and Ahriman.”

Sebastian frowned. “Three more wars? As if we haven't gotten enough on our plate with this war we got involved in…”

Psi seemed to be thinking for a second. “HK-47.” he began as he turned to face said droid. “In exchange for one hundred HK-77 Assassin droids to be given to these Displaced, I will pay one million Credits and give you five hundred tons of Adamantium.” Psi said as a small chip appeared in HK’s right hand and a small cube of Adamantium appeared behind him.

“Statement: Psi Splitter-” HK began just as the Holopad turned off.

Twilight had a confused look on her face, and she wasn't the only one. “Equestrian Black Crusade? Warriors of Chaos? Who or what the buck are they?” Rainbow asked.

“I don't know… but they sound like bad news…” Viktor said.

“Statement: I’ve heard the name Warriors of Chaos from some of the Bounty Contractors, they are a group of Chaos Champions named Ahriman, Zhufor, and Khârn. I don’t know what the Equestrian Black Crusade Is though.” HK said.

“We’ll be on the lookout of them. But hopefully, this business won't happen until after we take Flame Tail out…” Sebastian said. He suddenly got the feeling he and the others were being watched, but when he scanned the area, he didn't see anything.

“Statement: That will be much easier with the order Psi just made, HK-77 Assassin droids are my best droids, they have my Assassination Protocols and have no Self Preservation programming like the other HK units… And Psi had paid three times the normal price.”

Sebastian then looked at the droid. “We appreciate your help, and with these reinforcements… this war will be over in just a few weeks.” He then chuckled. “It's funny really, I never planned on being a soldier, yet now I'm risking my life to stop a tyrant from taking a country.”

“Resuscitation: I remember when I was first Displaced… ran into something that gave me this rust that is slowly eating me away… I had to become a Bounty Hunter to get the money to pay for medication for it…” HK said as he slumped down.

“We’ll let you know when we need those reinforcements.” Alex said, taking her helmet off and letting her hair whip in the wind. “But for now… we need to focus on protecting this town from any more attacks. And maybe find a way to have a normal life here.”

“Statement: I sadly must be off, I’ll send six HK-77’s as bodyguards for you, Twilight, and the other two princesses for free.” HK said as he picked up the cube and walked back to where he first came from, said droids appearing near the group.

“Godspeed HK. May the Emperor protect you.” Sebastian said.

HK stopped and turned around. “Statement: And may the Force be with you all.” he said as he disappeared in a flash of light, the Holopad left in his place.

Sebastian turned to Twilight. “Let's head back to the castle. I need to wrap my head around what just happened…” He then looked at the droids. “Four of you will be teleported to Canterlot where you will be guarding Celestia and Luna, the rulers of this land. Make sure nothing hurts them or I will make sure that you're scrap metal for failing to protect them. Understood?” He said.

Four of them saluted him. “Answer: In the name of the Princesses, we shall not falter!” the four answered in unison.

Twilight's horn glowed before the four droids vanished in a flash of lavender light. Alex meanwhile had grabbed the Holopad and stashed it in a hidden slot on her armor.

“C’mon Twi, let head back.” The Astartes said before the two remaining droids and the group headed towards the castle. Whatever happens in the future… we will fight for Equestria...

Meanwhile, hidden in a building, a shimmer went through a shaft of sunlight before a figure in strange looking red and black armor appeared from thin air. “Better keep an eye on this…. But Flame Tail will pay for killing Civilians…” it muttered before it then vanished again and walked towards the Everfree.