521083>>521068>>521017
"Ok everypony listen up!"

The ready room grew quiet as the collection of pegasi and unicorns settled in their seats and turned to face the origin of the noise. A single yellow unicorn stallion unicorn stood at the front of the ready room next to a large blank screen. Spotlight brushed a bit of his orange mane back into place and looked out over his audience, checking to make sure that all the pilots and WSO's of ISAF's multiple squadrons were all present and accounted for. He noted, with a twinge of sadness, that three seats were empty in Mobius's row. Quickly and subtly he regained his focus and ignited his horn, causing the screen to activate. It began to glow causing a small loading message to appear in the top right hand corner for a moment as the programmed spell reacted to Spotlight’s magic. Suddenly it came to life, bringing the ISAF symbol onto the screen. It was quickly replaced by a map of the world.

"The purpose of this meeting is to brief you pilots on the latest intel." He glanced over the crowd once more before flaring his horn again and zooming in on the Aeronautical Research Center in the northern lands of Gryphus.

"As you are all aware, our temporary HQ is the Aeronautical Research Center, which the Griffons have kindly offered in support of the war against the Solar Empire." A few grumbles permeated through the group as they reminisced on the harrowing flight across the South Pole, up the human controlled Pacific and Ceres oceans on the other side of the world and across the North Pole. While the pilots complained, Spotlight felt a sense of pride. It had been the most difficult logistics operation ISAF had ever undertaken, but the positioning and surprise was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Unfortunately its difficult had meant that Mobius squadron had been sent alone with Sky Eye as a vanguard to prove it was possible. With their success, some of ISAF's other veteran squadrons made the flight, like Omega, Rapier, and Viper squadrons.

As Spotlight's reminiscing came to a close, so too did the bellyaching of the pilots. With the room quiet once again, he continued with the briefing. "We have gathered a large amount of intelligence on both the Solar Empire and the newly formed independent faction of humans." Spotlight paused for a moment as he noticed that Mobius's leader suddenly became much more interested. "Our U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, call sign Leopard, has tracked the Solar Empire's super weapon to its home port over Stalliongrad," The map zoomed out so that all of Gryphus and the Solar Empire could be seen. "Were it remains heavily defended. Through anonymous data packets, we have learned that the humans plan on destroying the super ship, which has been named the SES Monolyth by new NLR recon. These data packets have been confirmed by signal intelligence from Leopard and the New Lunar Republic itself. It would seem that the humans' goals now coincide with our own and command has ordered us not to interfere with their actions. While the New Lunar Republic has not officially recognized an alliance with the humans, they are currently involved with thorough 'intelligence sharing' which implies that they have taken a similar stance as ISAF. Their 'intelligence sharing' involves luring the Monolyth off the mainland and striking at a vital firing component inside the vessel which will destroy it and anything remotely close to it. Finally, Yuktobania has come forth and revealed the presence of one final burst missile warhead remaining from the Scinfaxi class submarines. How it is used is currently a topic of debate, but it seems likely that it will be used to cripple the Monolyth itself or the supporting vessels around it. This is all of the intelligence we have currently collected. All of you are dismissed except for Omega squadron and Mobius squadron."

The various ponies filed out of the room until only twenty five remained; 10 pegasus pilots and 10 unicorn WSO's from Omega and five pilots from Mobius.

"All of you will be sent to support the NLR and human forces, which currently reside in the southern portion of the Noric Ocean pending human agreement of course. They have several carriers, one of which you're squadrons will be stationed on." As he finished, a stallion from Mobius squadron scoffed. Spotlight turned to face the source of the irritation and raised a solitary eyebrow.

"Is there something that is not to your liking First Lieutenant Cloud Striker?" He said with a knowing confidence.

"Yes actually." A white maned grey pegasus replied. "You seemed to have forgotten about one teeny tiny problem."

"And that would be?"

"Raptors can't land on carriers. They kind of lack a tail hook. Sorta important if you want to land on one of those floating metal strips."

"Who said anything about flying F-22's? Command as seen fit to equip it most successful squadron with only the best aircraft ISAF has at its disposal. You all will be flying the X-02 Wyvern." With that question answered Spotlight turned his attention to Omega. "Unfortunately we do not have enough X-02's for all of Omega, so you all will be piloting the newly developed F-14E, an update version of the aging Super Tomcat. Now is there anything else?"

A blue dappled pegasus approached, determination in his eyes. "When do we deploy?"

(Bleh, I write too much. Anyways, I figured it was time to get the geography sorted out, and since I can't read minds or head canons, I may have misinterpreted somethings . In my mind, I see VDNKh's world and Strangereal as one, with the ponies [and other assorted creatures] living on one side of the planet, and the humans existing on the other. Now that I am taking this way to seriously, I'd like to ask you all for solutions to one major problem with this model: the fact that there are two ISAFs and two Yuktobanias. Comment or PM with any solutions, and yes "You're taking this too seriously, buck geography." does count as a solution.)

521286
(Oh wow. That just completely destroyed my entire wall of text.)

521290
(I like it, as to the problem: we'll just have no human ISAF or Yuktabania)
"Shit!" Cole cursed. "We're not ready!"
"What do we do?" Talisman asked. Cole thought for a moment.
"Here's what we do. Rogue squadron will get in the sky and distract the Monolyth. Talisman, you and Riley are in Command. Take the Fleet, meet up with the ISAF forces and head toward the Mainland. Hopefully they'll think twice before attacking the NLR along with the combined fleets."
"Not gonna happen," She shot back. "I'm not gonna let you throw your life away like that."
"I'm not gonna die," He said. "We're just gonna distract them. The Raptor's stealth systems will let us approach undetected, hit one of the support ships, then bug out. They'll wonder if there will be other strikes, and will look for us. That should buy you guys the time you need."
"Fine," Talisman relented. "But I get to go on the next suicide mission."

521286 521083 521290

The new intel hit Prime Minister Nikaniki like a brick. He had assumed that the Allies would have more time before the Solar Empire attacked, since the size of the the ship would obviously preclude fast deployment. However, that misconception was shattered as he read the report of the SES Monolyth descending upon the Human fleet.

The Prime Minister swore under his breath at an intelligence failure of this magnitude. However, Nikaniki knew what was right and had to support his allies. He now had no option but to side with lure and attack plan.

He quickly picked up his phone, and explained the situation to his top advisors. Glumly, they all agreed there was no other choice.

The pride of Yuktobania was now being sent to confront the enemy.

Their flagship, the aircraft carrier Admiral Razpuncha, three older carriers, and a full crew and air wings to compliment each, eight battleships, twenty cruisers, and thirty destroyers. Along with them came four troop transports filled to the brim with Yuktobania's best stormponies, and a wide range of support and PT boats to keep the fleet operational.

However, this was all dwarfed in comparison to the ship that lie in the center of the formation. A brand new Katyusha-class battleship, more twice the size of even the Razpunca and the most ambitious project since the building of the Scinfaxi. But instead of the standard quadrouple set of deck guns that normally adorned the bow of the ship, a massive missile launch pad sat, ready to launch its war-winning cargo. (Imagine a dreadnought from RA.)

It was sight to behold as Northen and the rest of Zmerya flight flew overhead in their brand new SU-33 Sea Flankers. Everypony in the flight knew that Yuktobania was throwing all its chips into the bet. If they failed, Yuktobania would have just an echo of the Navy it had before.

In his office, the Prime Minister whispered a silent prayer for success.

It would take the fleet awhile to get to the battle zone, but when they get there, it would be well worth the wait.

521469
"Sir!" A deck officer yelled to Cole as he was climbing into his fighter. "Fresh intel, the Yuks have sent a full armada to help us."
"Well, looks like we're gonna get our showdown after all," Cole said. "Continue with the first part of the plan. Tell Talisman to meet up with the ISAF force and follow their instructions. We'll be back once we've bought enough time."
As he strapped himself in, one thought crossed his mind.
"If we mess this up, our hopes of stopping that thing will be nothing but a dream."

516324>>521083>>521017>>520907

"Brief me." Orion stormed into the command room in a hurry.

Hawkeye started. "With all due respect, Commander, it's a clusterfuck down there. We've been asked to stay back and defend this area."

Orion smaced her hoof down onto the table. "Screw the orders, Hawkeye! There are our people down there. Luna would have wanted us to help them. Now, brief me, or so help me..."

Hawkeye smiled. "Ther's the Orion I know and love. Okay. So, as you know, as of about five days ago, the Solar Empire declared war on the New Lunar Republic. The Humans scrambled an army to screw us over, but due to some... Unforseen circumstances, they have more or less defected to neither side."

"Oh? What's that?" Rocker piped in.

Hawkeye reached under the table and pulled out a wooden model. It was the Monolyth."They awakened the Monolyth. It destroyed whats left of our meger airship fleet."

"Those idiots... Don't they know the consequences of using such a tool of destruction?!?!" Orion shouted.

"Calm down, Orion. Hawkeye, you said that they destroyed our fleet, right? So where are our forces now?" Eagle asked as she tried to calm the angry Orion.

"I have no clue. But, we know where their battle platform Monolyth is. And from what I've been stealing snatches from, they're gonna attack. Soon."

Orion smiled grimly. "They'll be outnumbered nearly a hundred to one. We're going down there."

Hawkeye stared her in the eye. "What makes you think we'll even make a dent in that thing?"

Orion pulled out three knives. "Three reasons, Hawkeye. One: We aren't in it's direct line of fire. It can only fire its Energy Projector downwards." She threw the knife and it stuck to the top of the model.

"Two: We're Talon Squadron. We've done it before, we can do it again." She threw another knife. This one cut the propellers off the model.

"And three: We're coming from Space." The last knife impacted the front of the ship and pushed it off the table. The model shattered on impact with the galvanished steel floor.

"Contact the fleet, Hawkeye." Orion turned and began to march away.

"What should I tell them?"

Orion paused at the door. She looked back, and grinned a dark smile."Order: Skyfall."

Throughout the newly built NLRSF super carrier Fortitude, alarms rang shrill as ponies galloped round, preparing for combat.

Fortitude was closely followed by Missile Corvettes Reaper and Destiny, Frigates Gone With The Wind,Betrix and Gale Force.

Together, the six spacefaring ships formed the New Lunar Republic Space Force, and they were going to bring a world of hurt as they began the long decent to Equestria from the Moon.

Calamity's note: WE needed a balancing force for the upcoming battle, right???

512672>>521469>>521737>>521310
"Commander, Satellite systems have got something."
Talisman walked over to what the surveillance officer was saying.
"Holy Hell..." Talisman whispered.
"Looks like the NLR's been holding out on us," Riley said, looking at the feed. "Let's hope their not still too mad at us."
"Heh, this'll help even the odds."
~~~
"Coming up on the Solar Fleet now, they still haven't spotted us."
"Look at the size of that thing...
"Cut the chatter Rogue Two. Accelerate to attack speed."
The human squadron kicked in the thrusters.
"I think they see us!"
"Engage!"
"Fox three!"
"Rogue Five, Fox Three!"
"Rogue Two, firingh Anti-ship missile!"warheadetonated on the hull of a supporting ship, causing minor damage, as the rest of the fleet to turn to engage.
"That got their attention!"
"Bug out Rogues! But some afterburner in it!"
~~~
"All Fleets converging on the Monolyth. We'll have it surrounded."
"If you're going to tell our allies your plan, do it now." Talisman said. Riley took a deep breath, then spoke.
"Here's our plan," he said. "We use our fleets to takeDown Monolyths support ships, using our fighters to take out their air power and Monolyths AA guns. Once we've widdled them down enough, we fire the Yuk's warhead. Using our VTOLs, we'll drop in as many Marines and Rangers using the hole in it's hull. Once inside, we'll take control of it and find a way to blow the bastard from the inside out."
He sent the plans to his allies, and waited for approval.
"Alright, now I need to get in the sky, good luck." Talisman said.
"You too. And stay alive dammit, I'm not going to lose you again."

521286>>521290>>521469>>521737
Riley sat in the command center, now by himself since his Wife and Rogue Squadron were away, leaving him in command. Currently, he was cleaning his rifle, his desert-styled camouflage standing apart from the navy blues of the sailors around him.
"Colonel, you may want to hear this," The Chief Petty Officer at the communications console said. "We have a transmission coming in from the Solar Empire, but Its using Federation encryption."
"Put it through Chief." A burst of static responded at first, then a familiar voice said.
"Cole! Answer me for Celestia's sake!" Riley couldn't help but smile.
Daring Do
"Daring, it's Riley."
"Riley? No kidding! It's sure good to hear a friendly voice!"
"What's wrong?"
"Storm and I finally hacked into the Imperial Military systems and found the schematics to the Monolyth! Sending now." As the Chief began to analyze the data, Riley continued.
"Does Celestia know?"
"Oh ya, and she isn't happy. She's got half the CIA on our tails!"
"Alright, listen. You and Storm get to NLR territory, and identify yourselves as detectors to the UHF. Be careful."
"Got it. Good luck in taking that hunk of metal down! Daring out." As the transmittion flickered out, Riley turned to the Chief.
"Send this out to all allied forces, hopefully we can find a good place to land that missile to board it."

522473>>521737>>521469
(I'm afraid I am going to be indisposed until next Tuesday because of a ridiculous amount of deadlines coming up. I don't want to hold up such an amazing RP so I am giving Smoers creative control over my characters and faction since our OC's apparently share some history. That is of course if he choose to accept it. If he doesn't, then anyone with the time can pick it up or it can just be left out. Smoers, or whoever picks up my character, feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. I will be keeping track of how this progresses and I can't wait to see what you all come up with. Sorry everyone.)

522719
(Sure, I'd love to. If you have any ideas or don't like what I'm doing, feel free to let me know, I'll try not to do anything too ridiculous.)

521825>>522719>>521469>>521286

"Frigate Betrix begining ECM. All ships are green. Active Camoflage and Stealth systems activated." The normally bustling Bridge was quiet as the crew prepared the Fortitude for its maiden venture into an atmosphere.

"Missile Corvette Reaper reporting a RADAR and Satellite burst spike scan in our area. Requesting permission to terminate?" The Communiations officer looked up at the large central dias.

"Terminate. use point defence guns and target everything. That includes the New Lunar Republic satellites. We can't risk the Solars knowing we're here ahed of time." Orion ordered.

"But Commander! If we knock out our own satellites, then the War effort will be impaired. Both ways!" The Weapons Spec officer argued.

"That is understood, Ensign. Therefore, have the Lieutenant of the Betrix know that his ship shall stay back in orbit and provide Satellite coverage and ECM." Orion turned to look out the seeping window at her fleet. In the distance, one ship began to turn very slowly.

"Betrix signals consent and is moving away from approach vector. Reaper beginning attack."

Upon the deck of another ship about three kilometers away, two large 240 mm cannons came out of stealth hiding and began firing, lobbing their specially built sabot 120 mm rounds into deep space. Orion noted with satisfaction that there were now explosive blooms all around her.

"Status of the fleet?"

"Missile Corvettes report all green. Missile Arrays One through Three are full, giving us a hundred and twenty missiles per ship. Their 220 mm cannons have been loaded with 120 mm sabot rounds, as you requested. Frigates Gone With The Wind and Gale Force report that all is well. Their 340 mm cannons are also loaded with 120 mm sabot rounds. Frigate Betrix report green lights and that ECM s up and running. The entire fleet is shrouded in static."

"Fortitude itself?" Orion asked as she fiddled with another model of the Monolyth.

"All spacefaring jets have been offloaded to moon base as they cannot fly in an atmosphere. Our three hanger bays have twelve four-man squadrons each, giving us a total of thirty six squadrons. There are ten Squadrons flying in FENRIR craft, ten in F/B 22 Concepts, another ten in XFA 27, and six AWACS squadrons. Our point defence Gatling cannons are ready and our longer ranged 120mm cannons are ready."

Orion breathed a heavy sigh. This was the part she hated the most. "WMD capacity?"

"Each of our five escort ships carry one Particle Disruptor bomb. Fortitude has two hundred Long range Shock Wave Missiles, three Particle Disruptor Bombs and one Experimental Weapon One."

"I pray to Luna we'll never have to unleash that armoury." Hawkeye murmured, behind Orion.

Orion nodded and turned to address the Coms officer."Is the Betrix in position?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Have it relay a transmission to Equestria. Single burst, high powered. Standby for message." Orion watched as the Coms officer typed in orders like a madmare.

"Betrix reports ready and advises that it can only do this special message once before having to shutdown and recycle coolant."

Orion smiled."Pretty damn sure we'll only need it once. Message begin: To the F.S.S. Glory, this is the Commander of the NLRSF Super Carrier Fortitude. At this current moment, you are most likely in a disarray, are are planning to srike at the Monolyth. This is a fool's dream. If you were to try and strike at the Monolyth, your fleet of three Aircraft Carriers, four Battleships, seven Destroyers, two Cruisers, two Transports, and five Frigates will almost instantly be destroyed. And the Yuktobanian Fleet WILL follow suit. The Monolyth not only has its Energy Projector, it has a string of newly added Shock Cannons on it's belly. Those have enough power to decimate an entire city like Griswall. Do not be foolish to think that a attack of brute foce is even remotely possible. My fleet is fast approaching the North Sea. I want to have a fleet to protect when I get there, not burning husks."

"Anything else Commander?"

Orio considered it for a bit. "Footnote: I know you're in there, Scoots. Please, do not be foolish and waste your lives and the Humans in a gamble you simply can't win. End message."

"Betrix primed. Sending message. Destination: Human ship F.F.S. Glory. Is this correct?"

Orion nodded and watched as the Betrix shuddered and fell dark as it pushed everything it had to punch the message down through the atmosphere.

Goddamnit Scootaloo. Please be there to recieve the message. I've had too many friends die because of bad intelligence.

523083>>521469
As Rogue Squadron returned from hitting the Air fleet, Cole's radio buzzed.
"Cole," Riley said. "We just received a transmission from the NLR Orbital force."
"What'd they say?"
"Best for you to take a look yourself. Sending you it now."
Cole set his Raptor to autopilot as he read the message, deep in thought.
"What do we do?" Dare asked. After several seconds, Cole said,
"We follow the Lunar's plan, at least for now." He brought up a small tactical map on his HUD. "They are partially right. If we don't time ourselves perfectly, we'll get ripped to shreds. Get our planes in the sky, and rally with the ISAF and Yuktabanian Fleets, and wait for the NLR to contact us again."
"I don't like sitting like this while that thing's flying around..."
"Me neither, but we won't be able to take it down without being perfect. Rogue Squadron, RTC."
~~~
After the Griffin war, a war that had engulfed the entire world in the fires of conflict, Talisman had hoped that she would never have to fly in combat missions again. But now, on the busy decks of the Glory, with pilots and crew members scrambling on the deck, she felt at home. As she climbed up to her personal F-15, her old flightsuit and helmet with her, She spotted Mobius 6 sitting on the deck, just watching the commotion. Talisman thought for a moment, then let out a sharp whistle, the noise drawing the pony's attention. She motioned toward a Second F-15 beside her own, currently unused.
"I need a wingman," She said. "Feel like flying again?" The Pony smiled, and went to prepare. Talisman got inside her old fighter, powering it up and strapping herself in.
"Garuda One, you are clear for launch."

523083>>523120

Admiral Pitomik looked over the document's contents with worry. While the Monolyth's super cannon had been expected, the amount of additional armament which was also carried upon the ship was awe-inspiring. Even with the staggering amount of firepower possesed by his current fleet, they were still hopelessly outclassed by the Monolyth.

"Prime Minister, we have a problem." The admiral stated glumly into his telephone, one of his hoofs absentmindedly rubbing his temple out of frustration.

"I know, I just read the report. I think now would be the time to tell you the full truth."

"The full truth?"

"We were actually able to salvage the Scinfaxi from the Arctic straits after Zmerya squadron officially 'destroyed' it during the Second Revolution. We sent it through a massive refitting and refurbishing campaign to bring back to front-line duty."

The admiral was silent out of shock at this revelation. Upon hearing no reply, the Prime Minister continued. "Furthermore, it has already been deployed for its first tour as a YNS ship. It's assignment: to follow and monitor your fleets progress and engage as its crew saw fit. I'm sorry about leaving you in the dark about this, but we wanted to keep the project under wraps. However, I'm you full juristiction over the ship, plus its cargo of five burst missiles, one UAV air wing, and front-line command and control hub."

"T-thank you sir, it's an honor to have such a ship under my command." The admiral stammered out, suprised at this new turn of events. While it wouldn't destroy the Monolyth in one go, it would be major boost in both fierpower and morale. Suddenly, the admiral felt his trademark confidence come back. "Now if you'd excuse me Prime Minister Nikanti, I have a war to win." The admiral hung up the phone and quickly turned his head towards the comms Lt. standing beside his desk.

"Lieutenant, hurry and send a message to all Allied forces. Inform them of our newest toy."

-----

Across the ocean, the Solar Empire fleet loomed. While it wasn't the largest navy in the world, its technology was among the best Equestria could offer.

The fleet's three aircraft carriers, six battleships, eight cruisers, six submarines, and ten destroyers were all state of the art and could more than easily handle itself against a larger fleet. Not to mention the Monolyth, whose fire-support could level entire cities in less than a day.

Its commander, Admiral Ironsides, was battle-hardened and efficient, and was hoof-picked by the Princess to lead her fleets to victory. However, even with this staggering amount of firepower at his hooves, he was still nervous. The Solar Empire had effectively declared war on three of the most powerful countries on Earth, and they were now working together to take them down.

If anything, it made him nervous for Equestria's future. An invasion similar to the Griffins would tear apart their still recovering country. The thought only strengthened Ironside's resolve; he would not let another army set foot on Equestria again or die trying to defend it.

(So um... yeah, if you haven't thought of it, The NLRSF should only be contacted through the F.S.S. Glory. Now, as the all of us are more or less showing the NLR side of things, can we all, at the end of our paragraphs, add a little SE? Cause this is quickly becoming a lopsided view of things.)

523141>>523186
"Damn, is everyone getting new toys but us?" Riley mumbled. "make sure our NLR friends are told this."
"Right away sir."
"Sir, the ISAF Fleet has arrived."
Though not as large as the Federation Death Watch Fleet, it was still a sizable force.
"Good, now we wait for the Yuks and NLR, then we go hunting."
Outside, Rogue squadron was arriving back at the new Armada. Justin whistled.
"Not bad, maybe we have a shot at knocking that thing out of the sky after all."
"Not yet we don't, this is only a quarter of our forces."
~~~
*SOLAR EMPIRE AIRFLEET*
Betrayal
It was something she had felt a lot of recently.
But not quite like this.
"Maybe we just imagined it." Rainbow Dash said, trying to shrug off the evidence.
"We didn't imagine it," Soarin said glumly. "Those were Rogue Squadron fighters that attacked no question."
"But why?" Dash asked. The humans have always been our friends! Even if they left the war, they wouldn't turn on us!"
"It doesn't matter now." Spitfire said. "It's done. They're our enemies now, they threaten our Empire, our families, our friends. No matter who they are, we have to stop then." Even as she spoke the words, she didn't truly want to believe them.

523186 (Edited post for SE fleet. Hope that helps )

523288>>523141

The clouds above the North sea began swirling ominously. Thunder began to rumble as the cloud layer dispersed, revealing five jet black needle-like ships. The super charged hulls of the five ships began to attract lighting, making them look even more scarier.

"Descent successful, acquiring targets."
"Excess negative charge dispersing from hull."
"Engines running hot, ready for tasking."

Orion listened to the reports flying around the bridge with certain satisfaction. They had only one reason to be here, this low, and that was to pick up NLR forces. Or what was left, anyway. Hopefully, they wouldn't be noticed...

"Warning! Inbound bogeys, coming in at vector two, five, zero. It's a Solar Empire Airship fleet! Five airships!" The tactical display zoomed out, showing the enemies.

Orion frowned. "ECM, jam them before they get a message out!"

"Already done, Commander."

Onboard Solar Empire Air-Battleship "Righteous"

"Are you seeing this?" The first mate whispered to the awestruck captain Hoofner.

"Yes, Ensign. But I really don't want to believe it." The captain turned and looked at the RADAR. He gasped.

"What?... How is this possible!?" The RADAR showed that, supposedly, the five behemoths in front of them weren't there.

"Super scaled stealth, sir." The Helmsmare suggested.

"No connection to HQ, sir. Whatever that is, it's trying to jam us."

Damn... "Is it the Lunars?" The captain shouted.

"Unconfirmed, sir."

Suddenly, the Lumos drifted forward, its propellers at full speed.

Hoofner swore. "Contact the Lumos and tell them to stand the buck down!"

"One of them just broke out of formation! Cannons are tracking!"

"Gale Force, Gone With The Wind, light her up! Reaper and Destiny, target the other four with missiles! Fire!" Orion snapped and watched the approaching ship.

The Gale Force and the Gone With The Wind maneuvered and shuddered as the deck cannons belched fire and lead.

"Sir! Two of the UFO's have adjusted trajectory!" Hoofner watched, stunned by the sleekness, the unmatched beauty, the power...

The Lumos exploded.

Shrapnel cut through the bridge's glass windows, injuring or killing crew.What's left of the devastated Frigate began a deadly twirl down to the unyielding sea below.

"They didn't even have a chance...?" Hoofner murmured. A graze on his left cheek began to drip blood. He was vaguely aware of the crying missile alert siren and the remaining crew galloping around.

Is this it?

Five minutes later...

"Helicopter crews haven't found anything of use. No survivors."

Orion felt a twinge of pity and sadness for the crews of the fallen ships. They didn't even have enough time to react. For that, they met their demise.

"Let's go. We're attracting unwanted attention. Plus, they're expecting us." Orion ordered, watching the tiny helicopters fly back to heir hangers.

"Surviving NLR forces are on approach. We're all that's left of official NLR forces."

"That's very little." Eagle commented as she watched the forty transport planes beginning an orbit.

"But every bit counts." Orion answered. "Speed to full. Stay at 250 kilometers above ground. Instruct the Betrix to maintain geosynchronous orbit with the Fortitude."

"Where are we going?" Rocker taps Orion.

Orion nods back. "To war, my dear. To war. Let's head towards that ISAF fleet."

"Understood. ETA, twenty minutes."

Solar Empire, HQ, Underneath the Canterlot mountain.

The Satellite operator had a pretty relaxed job. All she had to do was keep an eye out for NLR Ballistic missiles and maintain the satellite's orbit.

Today, she was nestling a cup of hot chocolate, slowly flipping through the available satellite feeds.

SAT - 01: ONLINE
SAT - 02: ONLINE
SAT - 03: OFFLINE
SAT - 04: ONLINE
SAT - 05: OFFLINE
SAT - 06: OFFLINE
SAT - 07: OFFLINE

Wait... Something was amiss. She jerked her chair forward and began scrutinizing the feeds.

"Yes... There is a pattern here..." She murmured as she began tracing the offline Satellite path.

It was pretty linear, leading from the North sea, out over Gryphus territory, above the Dracos Island. She decided to check it out.

Locking on to the next few Satellites, she turned them around, displaying them on a TV array in front of her. Ten camera's, all pointing back at the 'trail'.

"Nothing's wrong, or amiss... Hmmp. The New Lunar Republic playing tricks again. Doesn't matter. I'm going to get another cup of Chocolate." She hopped off the chair and stalked out of the room.

Behind her, the screens turned fuzzy.

One. By. One.

523478>>523310
The forces were now scrambled, as fighters flew in formation around the Armada.
"Ghosteye here," The AWACS broke the radio silence. "All Death Watch Federation Wings report in."
"Bolt Squadron on Standby."
"Cloud Squadron on Standby."
"Falcon Squadron on Standby."
"Raven Squadron on Standby."
"Garuda Wing on Standby."
"Rogue Squadron on Standby."
"All forces in the green. Now syncing with AWACS SkyEye."
"SkyEye here, all ISAF wings report in."
"Viper Squadron on Standby."
"Omega Squadron on Standby."
"Rapier Squadron on Standby."
"Mobius Squadron on Standby."
"All ISAF forces report ready."
Cole watched he fighters from the deck of the Glory,waiting for his Raptor to finish getting prepared. Seeing the soldiers and sailors mill around him, he decided to do something that was unlike him. He stood on top of a platform, made sure his words could be heard by all Alliance forces, then he spoke in a booming voice

"Never before have so many come together for such a singular effort.
But never have we faced an enemy such as this.
We hail from different nations. We are two different species, and yet we stand here together, ready to stand side-by-side to protect our homes.
For many of us, war is no stranger, we have fought and bled in invasions, revolutions, and civil wars. Now here we stand. Our people, our very ways lf life threatened by the Solar Empire.
They will try an Terrorize our populations, we must stand strong in the face of that Terror.
They will advance until our last city falls, but we will not fall.
We will prevail.
Each and every one of us will be defined by our actions in the battle, and none will come out with no scars.
But take heart. Look around you, and you will see others who will stand by you until the very end!
Today, we take back the Shattered Skies of our world!
Today, we will show the Solar Empire that we will not give into their demands!
Today, we secure the future for not only ourselves, but our children and our children's children!
Stand strong, Stand Fast, Stand Together!"

523141>>523506

"Never before have so many come together for such a singular effort.
But never have we faced an enemy such as this.
We hail from different nations. We are two different species, and yet we stand here together, ready to stand side-by-side to protect our homes.
For many of us, war is no stranger, we have fought and bled in invasions, revolutions, and civil wars. Now here we stand. Our people, our very ways lf life threatened by the Solar Empire.
They will try an Terrorize our populations, we must stand strong in the face of that Terror.
They will advance until our last city falls, but we will not fall.
We will prevail.
Each and every one of us will be defined by our actions in the battle, and none will come out with no scars.
But take heart. Look around you, and you will see others who will stand by you until the very end!
Today, we take back the Shattered Skies of our world!
Today, we will show the Solar Empire that we will not give into their demands!
Today, we secure the future for not only ourselves, but our children and our children's children!
Stand strong, Stand Fast, Stand Together!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Orion said as the recording ended.

"Well then, what are your orders?" Hawkeye began to trot along with the mare.

Orion thought about it. "This... human... Koal, was it? He seems to be leading them. I need to meet up with him and see what the conglomerated forces are up to."

"Shall I have a transport prepped?"

"No. Maybe he'll come to us. Eagle and Rocker?" The two pegasi in question turned to face Orion.

"Yeah?"

"Help prep the Fortitude. We alone are going down there. I'm going to the Advanced Control Room." Orion ordered, before stalking out of the bridge.

Hawkeye whistled. "Something's got her feisty."

"Officer on deck!" Lieutenant Whooves shouted as the Commander walked in.

"At ease. Whooves! Come here." Whooves nodded primly. He followed Orion out of the Advanced Control Room and into the adjoining Combat Room.

"So? What's the plan?" He asked.

""We de-orbit and head for the Glory. Fully-cloaked, we should be able to move directly above the carrier to provide fire. Think the Fortitude can handle that?"

"Done." Whooves answered. He began to turn.

Orion stopped him.

"Alone. Not a single incidence allowed."

"We can do that." Whooves gulped. The only other tie he saw the Commander this focused...

Was when she ordered the ramming of the H.A.R.M.O.N.Y. satellite.

It's pretty damn hard to cloak a four kilometer long spacecraft, but the Fortitude managed it, after running her sixteen nuclear reactors hot, the active camouflage system was online, and they moved like a wraith of the skies. It slowly descended to a low height of ten hundred meters above sea level.

"Okay, where's that ship?" Orion asked as she slowly recovered from the sudden return to real gravity.

"F.S.S. Glory spotted! Moving to point." The Supercarrier turned and began to move. Under her, the waves became a little rougher as the repulsion engines powered up.

"That's the armada?" Eagle gasped. The Fleet was completely covered in the Fortitude's shadow.

"That's only the Federation forces. The Yuktobanian forces are there, and we are here." Hawkeye pointed out, Orion could see the pillar of smoke, where the Yuktobanian fleet steamed and smoked its way to them.

"We might just have a chance. Quickly, de-cloak before any allied planes slam into us. There shouldn't be any unneeded casualties before the battle." Orion ordered and braced.

The active camo began to dissolve, revealing splotchy black hull and ominous cannons.

"Commander! Contact from the Glory! Patching it through."

"This is the F.S.S. G-g-glory. Unidentified Flying craft above us, p-p-please state y-y-your intentions"

Orion smirked. "This is the Commander of the NLRSF Fortitude. We're here now, don't worry. Now, I need to see the one you call 'Koal'."

"If y-y-you mean C-c-cole, he's c-c-currently in the air."

"Tell him to contact the Fortitude's Aircraft Control on link E-22. They will provide him with the necessary details for a landing." Orion facehooved as she realized she had been pronouncing the human's name wrongly all the time.

"V-v-very well, Commander. Anything else?"

"Yes. Get all your Ace pilots up here. Every squadron. In particular, Sirin, Mobius, Rouge and Garuda." Orion said calmly.

The race has begun. We must run fast.

Hanger four. The 'open hanger' on the top of the Fortitude. It was very quiet. Few planes around because otherwise, they would have fallen off upon reentry. This was the runway that would play host to all allied planes. At this very moment, there was one plane settling on it's wearied struts. A single YR-302 Fregata.

It was to be joined by more.

Solar Empire Superdestroyer Monolyth

"This just appeared over the enemy fleet. We suppose it's the New Lunar Republic's version of the Monolyth, but it's nearly four times smaller than us." The messenger passed the photos to the Captain.

He slowly scrutinized the picture.

(Apologies, my friends, but the picture is not ready. Will get it up when done.)

"This is way too advanced. Nonetheless, we'll just have to crush it under our cannons." The captain noted.

"But sir..."

"I will not listen anymore. That ship is merely another toy, to be crushed. Do you understand?"

The messenger swallowed. "Yes sir."

Where art thou in all of this, VDNKh?

524680

"Holy shit!" Talisman cursed as she quickly changed course to avoid colliding with the massive ship above their fleet. Her old instincts kicked in, as she pulled around to attack the unknown craft.
"Garuda One engaging!"
"Hold on!" This came from Shattered. "They're not attacking, it looks like one of the NLR's new ships."
"Uh, Lead..." Justin said. "What the hell are we looking at?!"
"Damned if I know," Cole replied. "But whatever it is,we can safely assume that the Federation can kiss it's reputation on being the most advanced Military in the world goodbye." Another voice broke into the radio.
"Hey Cole," Riley said. "Our new supership friends contacted us, terrified our comm officer."
"What did they say?"
"They said they want to meet you guys on that big hunk of metal."
"Us?"
"Yep, you, Talisman, Shattered, and your squadrons. Scootaloo and her squadron are also on their way."
"Well, I guess the Lunars have forgiven us by now."
"They've opened a hangar for you guys. Want me to hold the fort down here?"
"No, I'm guessing the NLR wants to hear our idea, you should be there. Hitch a ride with a VTOL and get up here."
"Copy that."
One by one, the fighters entered the ship. Garuda Wing entered first, the F-15s looking armed to the teeth. Next was Rogue Squadron, their sleek F-22s easily landing inside. Then Mobius squadron made their landing, standing in stark contrast to the humans. Finally, a cutting edge aircraft, looking like an Osprey with jets, landed. Riley, the sole passenger, exited the VTOL, the Marine standing apart from the pilots in full combat gear and an assault rifle slung over his shoulder.
"Geez, where was this tech when the Griffins invaded?" He asked, looking around. "You'd think Equestria would like to spend more money to build it's economy."
"Really?" Shattered asked, brow rose. "And what has the oh so noble Federation spent it's money on to rebuild itself after the last war?"
"Weapons of course."
"But we're humans," Dare chimed in. "War IS our economy."

524743

Orion was sleeping. Or was she awake? The COFFIN system was very disorienting. But, there were many important squadrons here. That's all that mattered.

"Guess it's time, Commander." The plane VI noted. The 360 view around her dissolved, and the cockpit of the Fregata began to open.

She stood up and stretched, then noticed that the hanger had gone silent.

"What? Never heard of a COFFIN system before?" She asked the crowd. Leaping down, she frowned. The Human planes were parked in rows. Such incompetence. One well timed strafe, and no planes.

"Okay, this is just disgraceful. Lets get those jets into safety before they become target practice." She shouted and began directing the entire fiasco. Notably, the humans cooperated very well, and moved according to her instructions. Soon, all the planes were hidden in hangers by the runway, and had Technicians attending to them.

Then, a tap on her back.

Orion quickly jumped away and pulled out a pistol, aiming at her attacker. The human began backing away with his arms in the air.

"Er, sorry?"

Orion raised an eyebrow, silently asking for a name.

"Cole. I heard you want to see me?"

"Oh! I do apologize, Mr Cole, but back when the Civil war was last started, there were many assassinations. Never hurts to be careful, you know?" Orion laughed awkwardly and put the pistol away.

"I see. This has happened before then?" Orion looked and saw what Cole was pointing at. The Monolyth. Still just over the horizon, though.

"Yes. It has happened before." Orion grimaced as she remembered the millions lost.

Another human walked over. This one was female. "Hey, are you sure their not still angry at us?"

"Good question, Talisman. So then...?"

Orion started and replied. "Commander Orion, but just call me Orion. We are in a state of emergency. Hatred doesn't figure into our plans currently."

"Alright then, cause your mechanics and engineers were a pretty cheerful bunch." Talisman replied.

Orion just smiled. "Where's Sirin squadron?"

"They're out on recon. Once they're done, we'll route them to you." Cole replied, having just asked the same question himself to the Glory.

"I see... Never mind. We'll have to get acquainted along the way. Let me lead you to our war room." Orion turned and left.

"Interesting one, isn't she?" Talisman whispered to her husband, the marine.

"Let's not get separated. This megaship is probably a maze an a horror to navigate."

The pilots are a lively bunch. Hawkeye thought as they filed into the auditorium, taking their places. Orion brought one of them forward.

"Dayum. If this is what your 'War Room' looks like, we humans can really kiss our Advanced Military Superiority goodbye." The human noted.

"What does your War Rooms look like?" Hawkeye asked.

"Chairs in rows of ten, a single projector, that kind of stuff. But you, a hologram projector?"

"Hawkeye, this is Cole, their leader. Cole, I want you to meet my AWACS, Hawkeye. Now, you two play along. Anything you need, Cole, just ask? We'll try to accommodate."

The human nodded.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road." Hawkeye smiled, spinning up the holoprojector.

(You can do the briefing. I'm not to good at that.)

521286>>523141>>524808
"Alright, listen up!" Cole said, getting the room's attention. "For those of you who don't know who we are, I'm Colonel Cole Tharen of the Federation Vanguard fleet, this is Lieutenant Colonel Riley Davis And Flight Commander Talisman Davis." The pair nodded.
"Now, thanks to intelligence gathered by two friends inside the Celestial Intelligence Agency, we have the schematics to the Monolyth." The screen changed to show the information. "As expected, there is no single weak point that the Yuktabanian missile can exploit. However, this point here is where the armor is thinnest, a conjoining point between two decks." The screen changed again, and this time Talisman spoke.
"The plan is to give a full assualt, as if we're going to try in vain to take it out with pure force. Our Armada will target the Monolyths supporting ships, while our fighters maintain air dominance, along with targeting the Monolyth's AA guns. Once we've whittled them down enough, the Yuks will launch there missile at the weak point, opening a large part of its hull up."
"Once that's done, our strike teams move in," Riley said. "A joint unit of Federation Marines and ISAF Commandos will board Monolyth. From there, we can either blow the reactors and destroy the whole ship, or take control of it and bring it back to the NLR for scrapping."
"It's your call Orion."

524949

"Seems too risky for a nuke. We could lose all air superiority. That's a Burst missile, right? That thing is prone to friendly fire. How about this? All your forces, stand back to receive that Yuk missile. Your only job is to keep that safe." Orion took control of the screen.

"Fortitude will directly engage Monolyth in ship to ship combat. Our 120 mm cannons can knock a AA turret right off it's pivot. Then, if all goes well, we'll be joined by the rest of my fleet, which will take over the job of suppressing the enemy fleet. Now, if all goes well, I'll have my other ships concentrate their fire upon that weak spot. Then, it's the Marines choice."

"Okay. From what we've seen, its pretty obvious that the Energy Projector is powerful, but has it flaws. But, from experience, I know that thing will have lot's of tricks up it sleeve to make up for them. I've flown against that thing before. It once took out an entire Fleet with another superweapon, called the 'Shock cannon'. It can, using a gigantic burst of sound, literally shake apart a capital ship beneath it."

"How do you know that it can even use that anymore?" A pilot shouted from the back.

"Best to er on the side of caution. Also, from our long ranged surveillance photos, we have detected some kind of unusual weapon, stored upon its surface. The weapon emits a beam of red light, before sending a pulse of electrons along it. Then the rarefied air will conduct a massive lightning strike, dealing massive damage."

"How will we know when to pull back and ride out the attacks?" This one came from a New Lunar pilot.

"The Betrix is currently in geosynchronous orbit far above us. It has a very advanced ECM and detection suite, and will provide reports of when they are detected, and where it is safe."

"To all pilots, our armory is open for you to use. Make sure that when you take off from this carrier, you don't need to come back for a refill." Orion turned to face the auditorium once more.

"Any questions or comments?"

"Yeah, one. How much of a fighter pilot are you, lady? We might need, I don't know, bait?" The pilots around the asker roared with laughter. Cole tried to step forward to berate the pilot, but found himself stopped by Hawkeye.

"What are you doing?" "She can handle herself. Just watch."

Orion smirked. "Nice of you to ask, ah... How do I address you?"

"Name's Milosz Sulejmani, Commander. Leader of the Antares squadron? Maybe you've heard of me."

"Doesn't ring a bell. Maybe this will, though. I have a total of over 175200 hours in a cockpit, with 1882 confirmed kills, with only fifteen bailouts. My name is Orion, Callsign Specter, Royal Equestrian Air Force, First Investigatory Squadron Tango, 22nd Air Attack Group, 1st Element "Talon" Squadron." Orion smiled, baring some teeth.

"Talon? I thought they were a myth!"
"Impossible!"
"Is it really?"

That bloody caused a stir. Orion thought. "So no, Squadron leader. I'm not 'bait'. If anything, you are a far better target."

She turned back to the rest of the pilots. "Any more stupid or half-assed comments? No? Good. Dismissed."
The pilots all got up and left for their planes.

"All well and good, Commander, but that's if the initial attack by your forces succeed. What if it doesn't? What if the Monolyth has more than what we know?" Cole had to ask.

Orion stared back at him, and said in a hoarse voice. "We'll ram that sonofabitch and bring it to the sea, along with us."

"That's suicide!" Cole stepped back.

"It's fair trade." Orion smiled weakly.

Cole looked at Hawkeye. "Is she normally this weird?"

Hawkeye shrugged. "She once rammed a orbital station to keep it from firing. Weird isn't strong enough."

525004
Cole paused for a second, then offered his own weak smile.
"Well, we're in good company for crazy." He said. "Chandelier, Stonehenge, Excalibur, Megalith; we've done it all."
"To say the least," Talisman mumbled. "I had to fly down the barrel of a giant gun!"
"Please l," Shattered snorted. "I had to take out a nuke in an enclosed space with a missile!"
"And yet through this insanity, we're all here." Cole continued. "We'll get through this today." He looked Orion up and down, then smiled. "I knew there was more to Talon Squadron than just the rumors. It'll be an honor flying with you." He gave an informal salute. "May the Maker be with us today." Shattered smiled as well, showing teeth.
"Let's bring the might of the world's greatest Aces to bear on the Solar Empire!"

524808>>524743

Zmerya squadron sat awkwardly on the deck of the Razpuncha, staring at the massive airship hovering above the UHF carrier. Varied expressions of surprise, amazement, and worry adorned their faces, unsure of what to think about the massive ship.

"Message form the Admiral. He wants Zmerya, Sabaka, and an AWACS to go and check out the ship." A lieutenant called out from behind where the squadron was sitting.

"Alright, Zmerya mount up. We're about to throw away our lives doing something stupid before the battle even starts." North finished with a chuckle, knowing if the ship fired upon them, they'd likely be turned into ash.

"That's nice to to know lead, see you in hell." Zmerya 3 joked back.

North found his comment strangely reassuring.

Northern and the rest of his flight quickly fired up their SU-33's, taxing them to the far edge of the carrier.

"This is Zmerya 1, taking off." Kicking full afterburners, North lauched his SU-33 off of the ramped deck of the Razpuncha, and glided effortlessly into the sky. Soon after, the rest of his squadron took off of the carrier's deck.

It was quite easy to locate their fellow squadron and made quick introductions. Soon thereafter, their AWACS called for them.

"This is AWACS Oka Nieba to both Zmerya and Sabaka squadrons, report in." The AWAC's voice was booming, and his accent was very thick Yuktobabian. Being a native Yuktobanian speaker, North had no problem understanding him.

"This is Zmerya flight lead, we're ready and waiting for orders."

"Alright, as you all should know, this is primarily a recon mission to establish whether or not the enemy airship is friendly or not. Command has already stated that we are not to open fire, for risk that we may hit friendlies on the human's ship."

"Understood Oka Nieba, so we wait patiently until they blow us out the sky and then we return fire, got it." Sabaka 2 replied back, barely suppressing a chuckle as he said it.

The AWACS barely contained his own laughter before continuing,"That is the plan, Sabaka. Now we're just waiting for command to realize that. All right, I'm about to broadcast our message to them."

"Unidentified aircraft, state your intentions. If you do not reply, you will face the full wraith of the Yuktobanian armed forces bearing down upon you."

525456>>525024>>525004

Photo of the NLRS Fortitude.

Aboard the Monolyth

"Excuse me sir, their forces have assembled." The radar operator alerted.

"What's happening?" the commander said puzzled.

"Take a look, almost a hundred ships joined the original ISAF formation. What are they hatching?" said the operator.

"A trap. Change course, maneuver around the formation and take our ships to the Yuktobanian mainland, to occupy Bastok. Whatever the're planing we're fighting over land, away from their navy." The commander ordered.

525770
(Why attack Yuktobania? Why not attack the NLR which is much closer and requires no overseas travel assuming that the NLR is the southern portion of what used to be Equestria. Isn't the main strategic goal of the SE to defeat the rebellion? The NLR has most of its air force away from the mainland, thus making it the most opportune time to attack, especially with the SE's superior ground forces. At least they should be superior since it seems the NLR focuses on its aerospace programs. Just a thought from somebody who can't even participate.)

525770>>525823

(The NLR was more or less crushed already. Don't know if you played Ace combat x, but yeah. The Solars have the NLR on the run, so it probably not worth concentrating on them. Plus, ALL NLR air forces are currently on the Fortitude. Even weaker. Why waste advanced resources on simple opponents? Why not go ahead and crush the other warring fractions as your army men finish up the job?)

(Oh, and VDNKh, that's a beautiful shot.)

525858 525770
(I was under the impression that the NLR was still a threat, but I see now that it is an ACX/4/6 situation. I understand now, and I apologize for my ignorance.)

525858>>525870

(Thank you Calamity :3)

525870>>525891>>525858
(And then they'd probably move on and attack the Federation, the SE is just making friends with everyone aren't they?)

Coronet, Usea
Human Mainland

"Gentleman, give it to me straight," President Rousey said to the military Council. "How bad is our situation?"
"Mr. President, the situation has become dire." One of the men said. "The New Lunar Republic is being overrun, The Solar Empire is now targeting Yuktabania, and they show no signs of slowing down their."
"Intelligence suggests that after overrunning the Yuks, ISAF and the Federation are next. Without the NLR to check the Empire, they will grow in power."
"And we helped them defeat the Lunars in the first place..." Rousey noted bitterly. "Did we sign our own destruction by helping the Solars?" All the men looked down, as they all had supported the Empire at the start of the war.
"Right now, an alblied armada is preparing to attack the Imperial fleet. If they can't stop them, Yuktabania and the NLR are done for, and we'll be next."
"What's our current military status?"
"We're spread thin. We took heavy losses in the last war, and we're still recovering. We can't spare any more our forces without endangering our mainland.
Unless you wish to unleash the Helljumper project."
"No, we can't play all our cards yet. But if we hold off, we may act too late." He took a deep breath, then nodded his decision made. "Give the orders. I want our forces in ISAF Territory within a few days in preparation for deployment. Any word from our agents?"
"No, agents Storm Chaser and Daring Do haven't reported in again. It's possible the CIA caught up to them."
"Or they might have just not reached the NLR yet."
"Either way, I want to be notified the second information comes in." Rousey exited the room, and started walking toward the main room, preparing himself to ask the Senate to Declare War on the Solar Empire.

525891>>526108

Orion pulled on her old wing suit, quietly admiring the brazen black coloring and the circular badge that signified that she was a Talon.

"It's a beautiful patch." Orion started and turned to see the human, Cole, standing in her doorway.

"Yeah. It was so simple, yet so distinguishable. Spotting it in the air was tantamount to killing yourself." Orion reminisced. Cole came over and slumped onto her cot.

"Reminding you of something?" Cole gently asked. Orion nodded. "Talons four and five. Rykov and Vasily. Shot down while facing that thing out there, in the war twenty years ago."

"Well then, let's go avenge them, shall we?" Cole gently nudged the mare.

"Let's..." Orion was quickly interrupted.

"Commander! The Monolyth is changing direction and is moving away from the fleet! It's headed for Human territory!"

"Crap on a cracker! No time to lose! Engines, give me everything you got! We have to catch up!" Orion leaped off the cot and ran out the room, followed closely by Cole.

War Room, on board NLRSF Fortitude

"...you can see, the situation is dire. None of our warships nor the F.F.S can even get there before the Monolyth reaches land." The Prime Minister of Yuktobania was on the channel. Hawkeye was quick to respond.

"Not true, sir. We can. The Monolyth's top speed is only seventeen knots. The Fortitude can do nearly forty-three. We'll have to catch up with that thing."

"But even if you do catch up, the Monolyth would know. Surprise is essential." The Chief of the Army noted.

"Oh, we have a few more tricks up or collective sleeves. It like... How do you humans put it? Ah yes! We might be losing, but we're not dead."

"We cannot guarantee you any safety if anything goes wrong." The Prime Minister warned.

"Danger surrounds us all the time. Now, to war."

"Unidentified aircraft, state your intentions. If you do not reply, you will face the full wraith of the Yuktobanian armed forces bearing down upon you."

Orion's eyelid twitched. "D-d-did they just threaten us?"

"Calm down Orion, now, don't do anything stupid..." Eagle murmured.

Orion twitched a bit more, and began laughing.

"Contact those fools and tell them to stop us if they can." Orion said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Engines answering full speed, Commander. Stealth systems and active camouflage activating."

The Fortitude swiveled, and moved off quickly.

"Contact the rest of our fleet. Ask if they are in position."

"Understood. Commander, the battlegroup signals affirmative. They are currently stalking the Monolyth."

"Good." Orion thought for a bit. "Get the Space launcher ready. We need an advance force."

"Yes, Commander."

526179
Cole chuckled to himself.
"You really must have been a troublemaker before you joined the military."
"Never seen anyone quite like her..." Talisman mumbled to herself.
"Really?" Cole asked, his humor slightly restored."I recall a feisty and stubborn young pilot from flight training, someone who always demanded that her poor wingman during this said training to 'pick up the slack.'"
"You forgot to mention that she always thinks that she's right." Riley added. Talisman turned to her husband, her sweet smile that promised suffering if she did not receive the answer she wanted.
"What was that Honey?"
"Nothing dear." Riley seemed much morr focused on a nearby tactical map. "We may be able to get some help to the Yuks..."
"Impossible," Cole said, shaking his head. "Nothing could get there in time. Not even the Glory."
"No, not a ship, but some ground forces."
"And how do we do that?"
Riley simply shrugged, and Cole raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know something I don't?"
"Possibly. Being a former high-ranking marine helps." A mischievous smile grew on his lips. "Plus being an old friend of the president doesn't hurt either."

526302

"Smooth sailing for here on out. ETA Forty minutes."

"And the Monolyth reaches land in...?"

"An hour, at it's current speed."

"Twenty minutes playtime... We are going to need more than that." Orion turned to the trio of humans behind her.

"Cole, we're not going to make it." Orion stated, cheerfully.

"Then, how do you propose we slow that thing down?" Cole asked.

"We send a strike team. It will have be a select few. Cripple the turbines powering that thing, and we'll have the window we need."

"That thing has got to be kilometers ahead of us. Our planes can't fly that far, that fast."

"Who ever said anything about flying?" Orion replied.

Cole was evidently perplexed. "Explain."

"In space, an ordinary catapult isn't gonna cut it. So we developed the Mass Launcher."

"How does this doohickey help us?" Talisman came over, toting a terrified Riley.

"It can accelerate a group of objects to Mach 2 briefly. In space, battles can be rather hectic. We will need to get our squadrons out there in a hurry." Orion explained quickly.

"So, we're going to use the Mass Launcher to get us to the Monolyth quickly? I like it." Eagle whispered.

Orion nodded affirmative."Although, it will place a lot of stress on airframes. Also, we can only bring V/STOL craft, as it is essentially a cannon and we need to not be touching anything. Luckily for us, the Fortitude has some F-35's left in stock. You can only afford to bring along five more pilots, including yourself, Cole."

"How many can we actually launch?"

"If we squeeze, about eight. You'll need the three of us in Talon squadron, cause we'll be outfitted with the targeting software for the Space fleet. It's you choice who else to bring."

(Anypony ask for Agent Daring Do?)

526496
(I'm picturing the Party Selection screen from Mass Effect 3)
Cole thought for a moment
"Talisman, Shattered, Dare, and Justin." He said.
"It's been a while since I've flown an F-35." Talisman said.
"And once again you bring her along without me," Riley shook his head. "Do me a favor Cole, try to bring my wife back in one piece."
"Don't worry Cole," Talisman gave another smile. "I promise not to launch any suicidal missions without you." Riley shook his head, then brought his hands up, mock writing a letter.
"Dear Princess Luna,
Today I learned that my friends love to take my wife
On dangerous missions without me. I truly wish I had become a pilot now.
Please strike Cole with lightning once this is all over. Multiple times."
The pilot laughed out loud, then turned to Orion.
"Your ship, lead the way."
(Daring Do: One Mare Recon Team)

526496>>526302>>525891

The Prime Minister found himself in a dire situation. He had sent out the pride of his fleet, expecting some kind of victory. Deterrence was the reason why Yuktobania had originally built up its armed forces in the first place, and in recent years kept to itself. Now the Solar Empire would unleash its fury upon Yuktobania and his army could do nothing about it.

"Prime Minister, it's a message from...Princess Celestia."

"Are you serious?" In reply, his secretary only handed him the slip of paper.

From Queen Celestia to the Prime Minister of the United Yuktobanian Republics:

As you should know, our super-ship, the SES Monolyth, is descending upon Yuktobania and its territories. As we both know, you and your country owe no loyalty to the NLR and its allies, and you'd much rather defend your own country than a bunch of traitors. So, being the merciful and benevolent pony I am, I'm offering you a deal. Turn sides and pull all of your forces away from the heathens and join the Solar Empire. In return, the Monolyth will change course and attack the rest of the traitors.

I entrust you to a quick reply Nikanti, signed Queen Celestia

Nikanti only took a second before he gave his next order.

"Call the Alliance. Tell them we're leaving."

(Note for Calamity: I had assumed the Yuke fleet didn't know about the NLR fleet and was doing the necessary precautions before getting close.)

Edits: Derped the shit out a sentence

526651>>526645

"Don't worry, Riley, when this is over, I'm in for a thunderstorm with Luna anyway, Cole can join me." Orion smiled.

"Ahem... Mission?" Rocker coughed.

"Oh, yes! Let's go!"

The eight F-35's were painted in New Lunar Republic colors. Which was jet black.

"Okay. This is a very complicated procedure. Firstly, we're gonna suit up and get in those planes. Then, we taxi off and head for that tunnel. It's very tight. Then, when it opens up into a chamber, take off. The Fortitude's V.I. will then take over for a bit, and guide us all into position." Orion explained while rushing to her jet.

"Armaments?"

"Anything you want to carry. But I'll recommend some of you bring Hi-TASM pods. They'll help slow that thing down." She hopped in and strapped herself down.

"Okay."

"Talon One, clear to taxi. Talon Two, clear to taxi. Talon Three, clear to taxi. Rest, standby."

"Let's go, Talon!"

The chamber was literally buzzing with power. Orion could see the tiny jolts where pure electricity jumped from plane to plane.

"All jets inside, beginning containment procedures." Behind them, the tunnel began to close. In front of them, the tunnel began to flash.

"Launch in T-minus five"

"I don't like this. Reminds me too much about a tunnel run." Talisman shuddered in her cockpit.

"Oh, believe me. It's like no other tunnel run you've done before." Rocker chuckled as the countdown continued.

"Alright, begin easy acceleration. All jets. Ease it up to ten miles per hour." Orion ordered. The strange vertical octagon moved forward.

"Now, brace. This is gonna hurt."

"Mass Accelerator, LAUNCH!"

Onboard the Monolyth

"Sir, picking up strange readings from behind us. We better come look at this."

The captain trotted over.

"See, sir? Energy levels are off the scale!" The Ensign pointed to her screen.

The Captain considered this. Making up his mind, he straightened.

"Captain to helm. Begin evasive maneuvers and bring us up to code level black. We're about to be attacked. Instruct the airships to defend us at all costs."

(@ The Atheist Brony: Seems believable. We'll roll with it. )

526651>>526689
Daring collapsed into the room, her legs in too much pain to even hold her weight. Storm followed suit, though much less gently. A large stallion kicked the Earth Pony in the face, sending a spray of blood into the wall. Daring was instantly by his side, helping Storm up.
"That's the least you deserve Republic Scum!" The CIA operative growled. "It only gets worse from here." Storm slowly put his brown Fedora back on his head, then he spat at the Stallion, the red liquid staining his coat.
"You're not half as smart as you think Imperial filth!" The spy snarled. This earned him another kick tk the face, as two other CIA agents tied Storm and Daring together to a nearby pillar using chains.
"We'll see how smart your mouth is when we take you to Princess Celestia tomorrow!" The stallion said. "Then you traitors will get exactly what you deserve. The door slammed shut.
"Are you alright?" Storm asked.
"Don't worry about me," Daring said, looking at Storm's injuries. "What about you? You look like you've been through Tatarus and back!"
"It's not the years honey," Storm chuckled weakly. "It's the number of miles."
"This is my fault, if I hadn't-"
"No," Storm shook his head. "We both knew what we were getting into. But now, it looks like we're all out of friends." Daring nodded glumly, then something caught her eye. From a small window high up on the ceiling of the safe house, she saw a glare of moonlight flicker from a nearby hill. It only happened for a second, but she was certain she had seen it.
"Maybe... maybe haven't been totally abandoned yet..."
~~~
Coronet, Human Mainland
"Today," President Rousey said before the Senate. "I bring you a message from the Benevolent Princess Celestia!" His words were dripping with sarcasm.

President Rousey,
I do question the Stance the Federation has taken in the conflict. Need I remind you that it was through my actions that your nation, perhaps your entire species was saved when you came to Equestria begging for help with the plague. And now when Equestria requires your aid, you stand aside and have the nerve to question how I fight to save my kingdom? This is incredibly dishonorable for a species that places such high value on such a principal. I again request that you re-join the Solar Alliance, or be prepared to suffer the consequences for failing to do so.
I am certain you will make the right decision.
Princess Celestia

The Senate was now in an uproar.
"Is she THREATENING us?!"
"How DARE she question our honor!"
"Have they forgotten that it was HUMANITY that saved Equestria from the Griffins?!"
Rousey waved them down.
"What should we do?" He asked.
"We right back!" The Erusian Senator yelled.
"Yes," the Emerian representative agreed."How do you politely say, 'no, and we hope you die a painful death'?"
"The ancient Mandalorian Clans had a saying," The Usean Senator said. "'May the insects of a thousand worlds seek out your dark places." Laughter emanated from the the Senate chamber, and the President knew it was official.
Humanity had entered another world war.

526814>>526651

The lightning crackled once more, and then...

A flash of light.

"Launch successful. Now tracking. Ten seconds till arrival."

Please let this work... Hawkeye thought as he watched the planes speed ahead.

"Sir! Message from the Human capital ship F.F.S Glory!"

"Hm? Bring it up on screen." Hawkeye was joined by the human Riley.

From: Federation Death Watch
To: All Allied personnel

NEW ORDERS RECEIVED. ALL ALLIED SHIPS ARE TO BEGIN OFFICIAL ATTACK ON SOLAR EMPIRE TERRITORY.

FLEET WILL STEAM FOR EQUESTRIA TO ENGAGE IN DIRECT ATTACK.

USE OF WMD'S HAS BEEN APPROVED.

"Are you bucking kidding me?" Hawkeye said whilst reading the message.

"No shit. Humanity hasn't even recovered from the war." Riley put in.

"WMD's have been approved... We have to stop that fleet! Before the two superpowers clash!" Hawkeye moved to the Command Dias.

"I'll update the Advance Team." Riley shouted as he moved to the nearest AWACS console.

The Monolyth and it's escort ships continued to steam on.

Then, a flash of light.

Suddenly, they were under attack.

Orion gasped as the shock of sudden deceleration slammed her forward in her cockpit. Her HUD instantly came back alive and filled with red.

"Confirming all planes arrived. This is the Betrix, and I'll be your AWACS for the battle. My codename is Fyre." A pleasant female voice came through her speakers.

"Advance team? Listen, it's Riley. The Federation is going to do a direct attack on the Solar Empire, and they authorized WMD's! We have to wrap up this problem quickly and put an end to this madness! I'm updating your current mission. Stop the Monolyth from moving any closer to Yuktobania! The MPG on the right side of your HUD will display your remaining playtime."

Orion eyed the MPG. It flashed once and displayed the timer. Twenty minutes. She smiled. This was what she was trained for. "Advance, form up on me." She led the eight plane force in a downward arc, heading for the bottom of the Monolyth. The enemies seemed stunned, and for a moment, there was confusion.

The next, the skies filled with flak.

"Fire! Keep them away from the Monolyth!"
"Where did they come from?!?!"
"It doesn't matter! Just shoot them!"

"Break and attack. All targets are free." The eight plane flight split. Once again, Orion found herself alone. Part of her asked if it was safe to be alone in such a shitstorm. The other half was roaring with exhilaration.

"Talon Two, you've got a bogey on your tail!" Fyre warned.

"Talon One, fox three." The IRCM missile leaped out of her secondary launch bay and streaked towards a particularly active airship. The thing exploded with a bluish fireball of electromagnetic waves, crippling the electrical components and leaving the airship drifting slowly to it's doom in the sea below.

"Good. It works." Orion sighed. Then, Cole's fighter flew past, with two YR-99's in hot pursuit.

"Hang on there, Cole. I'm engaging the bogeys on your six." The F-35 roared and leaped forward, giving chase. The mad dance led across the lead-filled sky.

"Don't take all day with it." Orion smiled. Her targeting software was having trouble getting the two planes in front of her. She peeled off, flying about twenty meters right and accelerating.

"Cole, do a Thach Weave to your right on my mark." She ordered.

"Got it."

"MARK!" Orion shouted as she turned left. Cole turned right, pulling the YR-99's into gun range.

The F-35's vulcan spat a hailstorm of death, quickly turning one YR-99 into shrapnel and badly damaging the other.

"Your clear. Have a nice day, Cole." Orion watched Cole wave from his cockpit, then speed away.

"Talon One! You're being targeted by the Electrolaser Cannon! Begin evasive maneuvers!" The radio screamed.

Orion swore and flipped the F-35 into a tight Herbst maneuver, quickly stalling the F-35 and pulling it around. At the tip of her arc, she could see the laser moving to track her. Beads of sweat accumulated on her forehead as she watched the laser slowly turn red. She watched lightning gather at the turret and gush towards her aircraft. Everything moved in slow motion.

The lightning was as bright as a solar flare, and her eyes began to water as she watched them close... and strike.

The pure energy coursed through the plane and pilot, causing her heart to skip a few beats. Sudden weakness caused her to let go of the control stick and accelerator. Without power, the plane nosed over and fell like a rock. She could vaguely hear the stall alarm cry out, and the radio fill with voices, all encouraging her to pull up.

"Talon One! Respond! Come on girl, pull up!"

I... I... can't. I can't move. Her mind thought.

Her eyes couldn't focus correctly as she tried to look at her hooves. The brown appendages wavered in and out of focus. She could fell them shaking and covered in sweat. She couldn't breath. She couldn't hear. She couldn't see.

"Come on, Orion! Wake up! You're being targeted!"

Move, dammit! Move!

A laser penetrated into her cockpit. The Electrolaser cannon was tracking her again.

LUNADAMMIT! MOVE! She thought.

"ORION!"

In a moment of extreme focus, she screamed and kicked the pedal under her left hind hoof. The F-35's twin rudders twisted left, sending the free-falling plane into a mad and random twirl. The approaching lightning missed by centimeters, giving her time to recover.

The plane continued it's twirl. Looking out the cockpit gave her a headache. Blue sky, blue ocean, random airship,sky,sea,ship,sky,sea,ship...

"Talon One, say status!" Fyre shouted.

"Not good, I just had my engine flameout." Orion replied, jockeying the stick to try to get the plane level again.

"It really doesn't look good, Fyre. She in a flat spin, headed to sea." Talisman noted whilst dodging AA fire.

"Altitude, thirty thousand and falling fast. The sucker won't restart!" Orion quickly re-primed the engine and hit it. Nothing. No sudden roar, no shudder, nothing.

This won't end well...

526814>>528268

The admiral's voice cackling across the fleet-wide comms startled the resting sailors and airmen

"Attention all ships of the Yuktobanian First Expoditionary Naval Force, this is Admiral Pitomik with an important message, straight from the Prime Minister himself." The Admiral's voice jumped up an octave before finishing his sentence, "We are to defend the Monolyth at all costs!" A suprised mummur spread across the ships, before being drowned out by a new noise.

The Katyusha was firing its burst missle.

-----

In the Prime Minister's office, Celestia's twisted laugh cackled across the room. The Prime Minister lie in a pool of his own blood as his secratery stepped over his lifeless body.

"Thank you Prime Minister. It was a pleasure to know you."

529423>>528268
Time.
It was something that mattered little while you were a prisoner. There were were no clocks on the wall in the small room Daring was being held in. The only way to keep track of time was to count heartbeats, and her heart was racing to quickly to count.
She was thinking. She was planning. She had to figure out how to get out of there. Storm was beside her. Whether he was unconscious from his injuries or asleep from exhaustion, she couldn't say
Suddenly, she heard scuffling outside. It was so weak, so faint, she doubted anyone else had heard but heard, since her hearing had been honed after dozens of times listening for traps on Archaeological expeditions.
The door swung open, and the Stallion from earlier stormed in.
"On your feet scum!" He shouted. "Your time is up!"
"What?" Daring grogged.
"Celestia sees no needs for traitors," the CIA agent put on a wicked smile. "She's ordered your immediate execution." Daring's mind raced.
"You can't do that!" She said suddenly.
"And why is that?"
"Because I have a friend in a very high place!" The Stallion looked at her, then started laughing.
"And who is that?!" He asked. "Celestia doesn't care, and don't tell me you've bought that human crap about a 'Maker'."
"Not the Maker," She smirked. "A sniper." The stallion's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to talk, but a hole suddenly appeared in his head. He collapsed to the ground, dead.
"How did you know that would happen?" Storm asked.
"I didn't," Daring admitted. "Made an educated guess."
Suppressed gunfire sounded from outside the room, and a human wearing camouflage and armed with a silenced assault rifle appeared in the door.
"Phoenix," Daring let out her breath. "Thank Cele-" she stopped herself. "I mean the Maker." it would take time for her to get use to humans customs and sayings, though it would be infinitely better than living under the tyranny of the Empire.
The ARC Trooper smiled, then moved to free his old friends.
"I didn't think you'd come for us," Storm said. "You know, being on our own here." Phoenix shook his head,
"We take care of our friends." He said. Another soldier appeared in the doorway, dressed in ARC trooper clothing. He saluted,
"Sir, we've secured the building."
"We?" Daring asked. "I thought you were the only Trooper in the Empire."
"More Recon Soldiers are being sent over to gather intelligence for an invasion."
"Invasion?" Storm echoed. "What have we missed?"
"A lot."
~~~
"Sir!" A Petty Officer shouted. "The Yuks have fired their missile!"
"Where?" The Captain asked.
"At us!"
Sirens blared across the fleet, as sailors and Marines scrambled.

529823>>528268

Northern's vision filled with white as his plane rocked with an unexpected explosion. North shuddered as he felt his SU-33 roll involuntarily, temporarily losing control of his plane. Almost immediately, desperate pleas for help filled his mic.

"Shabaka 2 and 3, you've gone off radar! Where the hell are you?"

"This is Shabaka 4, my wings been ripped off! I can't eject!"

"This is Zmerya 3, my wings have been filled with shrapnel! I'll try to fly it off."

"Shabaka flight, what the hell just happened!" Zmerya 4's panicked voice asked across the comms, the shock of the explosion getting to her nerves.

"This is Oka Nieba to all airborne planes, return to your carriers."

North was barely able to get his plane back under control before questioning the AWACS, "What the hell just happened Oka Nieba?" North was still trying to get his bearings back as he did a check over all his instruments to ensure they were working fine.

"Yuktobania just declared war on the UHF by launching our burst missile at their carrier, the F.S.S Glory."

"That was friendly fire?!" North was angry now, already planning to kill whatever bonehead at command had ordered the killing of their own men.

"If you thought that was bad, wait until you take a look at our fleet." Oka Nieba's voice was subdued, obviously seeing something that was invisible to the stunned pilots.

As Northern flew back to his fleet, the sight stunned him, reminding him of a battle not too long ago. Involuntarily he muttered,

"It's a sea of chaos."

Edit: (Dat name change...)

All was quiet in the grand hall of the Princesses, or now Princess. Celestia went about her business, organizing military movement, plotting, scheming. The room was dead. All but her and 2 body guards stood. Seemingly out of thin air, a drop pod crashed the through the ceiling. The impact knocked the guards down and out, it sent Celestia out of her throne. Mounds of rubble had fallen on her injuring her badly. She struggled to rise but her effort was stomped on, literally. The green boot of the power armor lifted off her neck. Celestia tried to conger a defense spell against the military green entity but to no avail.

"Who are you!?" She cried.

...

...

"i r guy who gon t33ch u less0n." Chief proclaimed.

A short burst from his assault rifle ended Celestia immortal life.

"OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL eat mi poo molestya." He said violently ramming his crotch on to her corpse.

The End.

530484
(I call Shenanigans)

530484

WOW... WHAT A D1CK MOVE.

Ending a preposterously successful RP like that...

"mai nife demands blood, see?"

"FEED ME BLOOD TANKUVERYMUCH."

Back to reality...

529823>>530045

"Sir? You'd better come see this..."

"What's up?"

"The Yuktobanians have gone rouge! They just launched their burst missile!"

"Target!? Get me camera feed!"

"The Human Fleet... ETA is... now."

The viewscreen flashed white. Several structural stress alarms went off.

"Bucking idiots! Damage report!" Hawkeye resisted the urge to throw something as he gripped onto the table. The Fortitude's engines faltered and restarted.

"Port rear, sections four through eight report minor damage. Repulsion at ninety four percent, attempting repairs. Nothing else to report, Sir."

"What should we do, Sir?" The entire bridge had eyes on him. Hawkeye looked around, and sighed hard.

"The humans are our supposed allies. We have to help them. Instruct the NLRSF fleet to de-orbit, then keep watch over the human fleet. Recall the advance fighters. The Yuks are obviously helping the Empire. No point defending their lands. We're going after the Fleet."

"Aye aye sir!"

"What about Orion?" Riley said, from behind Hawkeye.

Hawkeye was conflicted. Suddenly he smashed his hoof onto the table.

"Don't tell me we're leaving her." Riley said.

"Kid, she knew the risks. She knew, like all of us onboard this ship, that death looms, ever present." Hawkeye muttered.

"But, she's your CO. Your friend. You just gonna leave her to get chewed up alive by the Solars?" Riley pleaded.

"It's what she would have wanted..." Hawkeye answered, with tears in his eyes.

That shut Riley up.

"What the buck is that?" Rocker asked over the radiowaves. A long, thin strip of smoke flew across the horizon.

"Yuktobanian Burst Missile launched! Estimated time till impact, ten seconds!" Frye screamed.

The seven F-35's all stopped moving.

"Well. Shit." Eagle answered.

And then they were all headed for the ground.

Orion awoke with a start. Looking around, she realised she was still in her cockpit, the HUD flashing the word 'Warning' at her. Then, she felt water sloshing around her hooves.

"What the...?" Orion looked down. Her cockpit was definitely flooded. She was up to her hips in...

"Seawater?" Orion tasted the salty liquid. Then, a water droplet hit her on the head, and she looked up, suddenly understanding why it was flooded.

"The F-35 is partially underwater..." She murmured, watching the waves flow across her cockpit. Then, memories of the last ten minutes flooded back to her.

I was hit by the Monolyth! Then, as the plane spun wildly, I somehow managed to level it off, and crash landed on an medium sized Atoll. Must have been a hard landing.

"Okay then. First, gotta unstrap myself." The clasp came off pretty easily. She noticed her left forelock was bleeding pretty badly.

"Okay. Next, trigger canopy." The explosive winked once, before blasting the shattered canopy off the jet. Saltwater quickly began cascading in. The HUD fizzled and finally died.

"Crap." The water was quickly becoming a problem. One, cause her wounds were hurting a whole lot more, and two, because it made the hatch slippery.

But, Orion managed it. She sat on the nose of her plane. The grand F-35 was half submerged, with only it's rudders showing. The atoll was quite densely forested. Orion looked for a bit more, before the blast came.

A flash of white light, and the roar of wind. Orion raised a hoof to protect her eyes. When she removed them, she could see two things. One, the pearly white mushroom cloud in the distance, and two, an airship.

Orion squinted. She couldn't make out whether or not it was friendly. She made up her mind. Reaching back into the waterlogged cockpit, she pulled out the human Project-90, converted for pony usage and a combat knife. Jumping down, she quickly rushed for the treeline.

She barely made it. Just as her ass jumped into the bushes, the Airship flared out and made it's landing.

Damn. Solars... She thought, as she watched ponies dressed in Solar Empire uniforms jump out and begin searching the crash zone..

As well as a...

"Human? What the heck?" She whispered as she watched the two legged figure, followed closely by two bodyguards.

"The pilot isn't here, sir."

Sir? Pretty high ranking human...

"Find him! Or bring me the body!"

Orion nearly gasped when the Human said that, but she clamped her mouth shut in time.

The human turned and looked in her direction. He gave a creepy little smile.

What the heck? Orion thought. The human gave some commands and several troops began moving towards her position.

Impossible. How did he...? Orion began to move deeper into the foliage, finally clambering up a coconut tree. She adjusted the leaves to conceal her, watching the troopers. Four of them.

"Dammit, That Lunar is going to be hard to find."
"Yeah yeah. Less bitching and more searching."
"Keep Coms free."

Orion held her breath. There was a Solar just below the tree she was in.

This is it... Death from above! And she dropped off the tree. The knife pierced cleanly, and the Solar passed quietly. She quickly took the gun, which she now recognized as Empire K-19's. She checked the ammo.

"Tranqs? Now, that won't do." She discarded the rifle and pulled out the P-90, attaching a silencer onto the business end..

Now, to play some hide and seek.

Trooper Quantum always was the first in class for everything.

Grades,
P.T.,
Girls,
Awards,
Girls.

And now, death. Orion stuck the P-90 out of the bush she was hiding in and depressed the trigger.

The P-90 puffed once, and the bullet went through the Trooper's head.

Two down.

At the next clump of trees, Flux and Hoofler searched.

"I tell ya, man. This one's a slippery one"
"Yeah."
"I mean, why are we down here? Why not Wingkins?""I'm sure you'll tell me."
"I mean, just cause I hit him? Or something?"

Trooper Flux rolled his eyes. Then, a glint in the grass. Flux grew curious.

"Pretty sure that's it, Hoofler."
"You know? I think I know what Wingkins is doing right now!"
"I bet you'll tell me."

Flux leaned into the bushes... And got what he deserved.

"I bet he's sleeping! Yeah, right now! In his warm, soft bed. The stuff you and I get once a week! Right, Flux?"
Hoofler turned around. Orion threw the knife.

"How... many... more... are there?" Orion gasped. The last wave had been more alert, and one of them even got a shot off. The bullet hole on her foreleg leaked blood. She stood and took a peek over the foliage.

About a hundred feet away, the human turned.

Crap! The human had probably seen her again. She ducked below the bush, trying to keep low profile. Damn, this wound is killing me!. She heard rustling of leaves. It grew closer, and closer.

She bit her uninjured foreleg to keep from screaming. She could see the human, which was obviously a 'he', right in front of the bush she was hiding in. She could see his legs through the bush.

Why am I so scared? She closed her eyes for a bit. When she opened them, he was gone.

"Wait, where did he go?" Orion whispered, looking around.

"Right here." Was all Orion heard, before she found herself hoisted up by the tail.

"Dammit." Orion muttered through clenched teeth. The additional pain wasn't helping. The human just laughed.

"You're a clever one, aren't ya?" The human mused.

"Go.. To... Hell..." Orion muttered, before trying to throw the P-90 at the human. It was easily dodged.

"My, my. Feisty."

"Just kill me already." Orion shouted. The human pulled her to his eye level.

"I would, but I can't. The Captain wants you. Alive." The human hissed at Orion, before jabbing her with a syringe.

Orion could feel the paralyzing tranquilizer flow through her veins. Soon, she was as helpless as a kitten.

"Don't worry. Your death approaches." Orion could only listen as the human dragged her back to the Airship.

"Back to the Monolyth. I suspect the Captain want's a word or two with the suspect."

530875
(Mia rolfknief goez sleic sleic sleic sleic!)

(Ah, the stuff thought up at 2 in the morning.)

531013>>530875

(tiem 2 die craig. tiem 2 die.)

530875>>530045
"TALISMAN!" Riley shouted. A twinge of panic set in, but he quickly suppressed it. Panicking wouldn't help right now.
The fleets electronics had been scrambled, he couldn't tell who was alive, who was dead, and who was sinking.
To add to it, his wife had gone down in enemy territory.
He wasn't sure which was worse.
And that was what terrified him the most.
~~~
"Eh..." Justin groaned, slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, but he could make out the shattered glass and equipment n his cockpit. Looking outside, he saw a very grassy area, his F-35 was a bent wreck.
And someone was moving. He squinted, and made out two solar troopers coming toward him.
"Oh hell...."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a rustling in a nearby tall grass.
Suddenly, a Tomahawk flew through the air, burying itself into one of the Soldier's heads. He saw a blur of motion, then Talisman was wrapping an arm around the other trooper's neck. A sickening crack filled the air, and the stallion slumped to the ground.
Talisman took a second to catch her breath, then walked over to the crashed plane.
"Damn," Justin mumbled. "Where did you learn to do that?"
" Riley taught me a thing or two." She replied. "Can you walk?"
"Ya," Justin said, climbing out. "Just give me a second. My electronics were shorted, couldn't punch out do to a malfunction."
"My parachute attracted a lot of attention," Talisman helped the pilot. "Barely able to evade them."
~~~
Cole climbed onto a rock, water dripping from his flight suit.
"I... am in the Air force," he mumbled. "Not the Navy, WHY am I always in the water?!" After climbing onto the shore, he heard a rustling nearby. He hid behind
A bush, taking out binoculars. He saw a human taking Orion away, but not a friendly human. Taking
A closer look, he recognized the symbol on his uniform.
"Cerberus." Cole growled. Seeing that the human was alone at the moment, Cole pulled out his pistol and knife from his survival pack.
"Hang on Orion."