MLP: ODST - Hazardous Venture

by JO3

Chapter 9: Blitzkrieg

“All pegasi, are you ready?” Joe called out.

“Ready!” came the massive and enthusiastic response.

“ARC troopers, are you ready?” Joe echoed.

“Yes, sir,” came the Rookie's response.

“Unicorns, ready?”

“All set for takeoff,” came the response.

“Marine teams, ready?”

“Mean and green,” Moose responded.

“EQC, we're ready,” Joe radioed to the other coalition.

“Send the first wave in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1!” came the response.

The pegasi launched off of the ground, clad in the matte black armor of the 105th ODST. The Rookie's Pelican also took off with them. The pilot had the blast shield as well as the polarization maxed on her helmet and windscreen. The first wave assault teams approached the eclipse. “Changelings! To the front!” a panicked pegasus radioed. Streaks of the infamous, sickly-green bolts started appearing.

“Evasive action!” Spitfire's distinct voice broke across the radio, “ARC troopers, deploy,” the new Commander concluded. The pilot broke to the left then made a slight reversal, and continued on an elliptical path to the illuminated side of the moon. The sounds of war echoed across the team's radios. The Rookie reached down and shut off the comm link. Still looking over the pilot's shoulder, the Rookie saw their destination: an Oppressor supply dump. He pointed at the munitions, and the pilot turned the Pelican to drop the team near the position. When the Pelican landed, the team jumped out the back door of the dropship, and ran for some of the nearby craters. The pilot turned the Pelican around, bringing its rocket pods to bear, but the Oppressors brought their own. A quick exchange of rockets, and the pilot had to briefly break contact to dodge the incoming projectiles.

The Rookie held up one finger, then made a definitive slash down with an open hand, fingers pressed together. The sniper of the team, a fellow named Tennessee Kid, ran up and planted his rifle's bipod on the edge of the crater. The Kid aimed at the residual back blast of the rockets, waiting for the smoke to clear. He saw several silhouettes, but only one seemed to possess a weapon large enough to contest the skies. He took aim where he saw the hostile reach, and fired. The bullet accelerated through the barrel, a fireball speedily pursuing it. The shot did not ring, there was no medium for the sound. It speed through the open space, and when it impacted, with clear visual sparks, the explosive warhead in the massive round detonated. The secondary explosion that the ARC troopers saw was evident of the round hitting an ammo supply, most likely more rockets.

The Rookie clicked his radio on then off, signaling the pilot to move in with the guns of the bird. Fast and low, the Pelican charged through the lunar daylight. The black paint across its hull and fuselage contrasting to the bare titanium around the cockpit and wings, and the shark-like nose paint toward the front. The pilot ripple fired, unleashing twelve rockets on the supply dump. The secondary blasts destroyed what was left of the enemy base. The pilot stomped on the right rudder control (or in this case, thruster control), kicking the tail of the aircraft in a perfect 180 degree arc. Once she overcame the Gs, she gunned the bird forward. Receiving no ground fire, she set the dropship down next to the squad. The Rookie updated the mission kill list: Scratch one ammo dump.

With the squad aboard, the pilot continued the ARC trooper's advance. The Rookie brought up the map of the moon Luna gave them. They were far from their objective, the Oppressor base was 100 kilometers away. Ignoring the secondary targets, the Rookie tapped the ODST pilot on the shoulder, and she fire-walled the throttle. The Rookie, referencing his map, found that they were much closer now, 50 kilometers. An explosion rocked the Pelican. The back door was blasted open, and the bird started spinning out of control. The Rookie glanced outside, and saw they also had lost a wing. Running out of the cockpit, the Rookie jumped out of the back, as did the rest of the ARC troopers. The pilot couldn't undo her harness, and the Pelican crashed with her inside. In the low gravity, the team landed without harm, but the Rookie remembered something: “Never leave a man behind. No one deserves to die alone.” His drill instructor said that. The Rookie, shotgun in hand, charged out of the crater he landed in, and the squad followed his lead. They followed the smoke trails of the damaged Pelican. They crested over a hill, and saw a fierce battle being raged below. The pilot, visor cracked, armor scraped and twisted, was returning fire from the cockpit. She landed the Pelican backwards so as to force the enemy to show themselves prior to her capture. Dragons and Changelings alike were attacking this wrecked dropship, but only to be repelled by the lonesome pistol packing pilot.

The Rookie held up one finger, and then lowered the same hand , palm flat and horizontal, fingers loosely extended. Tennessee Kid planted his sniper rifle similar to before. The Rookie then held up three fingers, made an arching motion with the same hand, then placed said hand infront of his visor. The three ARC troopers toting to grenade launchers loaded WP (White Phosphorous; smoke rounds), and took aim. The Rookie then held up two last fingers, then pressed them together and pointed forward, pulsing the motion twice. The last two ARC troopers charged down the hill, the Rookie spearheading them.

The smoke rounds arched overhead, covering the enemy in thick, grey smoke. As the Rookie neared, Kid started firing on any target that aimed at the squad leader: first a Changeling, one shot; then a dragon, three shots; and finally another Changeling, last shot. The Kid reloaded.

The Rookie charged ahead, reaching the cockpit unscathed. The pilot took aim at the Rookie, then withdrew her pistol after recognizing the ARC leader. She climbed out of the wreckage, and the four ARC troopers ran back to the hill. The enemy charged after the withdrawing troopers. The Rookie jumped over the crest of the hill, and turned to the grenadiers. He held up a fist, then tilted the arm forward as he opened it. The grenadiers switched to HE rounds.

Seeing even the biggest dragons topple with one well-placed shot, the Changelings retreated. Realizing the lack of supporting infantry, the dragons, too, retreated. A tank without supporting infantry is a morgue on treads with a big stick to shake at passersby.

The pilot grabbed a second pistol from a nearby ARC trooper. Bringing the map up once more, the Rookie saw they were forty kilometers from the Oppressor base. The team pressed on.

After the long march toward the hostile base, they arrived at the perimeter. The pilot drew three strike beacons from her magazine pouches. The Rookie nodded to her, then turned to his squad. One of the grenadiers also carried a rocket launcher. Boomer, the demolitionist, was motioned at to come forth. The Rookie poised his hands as if he were carrying a rocket launcher, then pointed to one of the walls of the enemy structure. Boomer nodded, then took aim.

The Rookie held up three fingers to the squad, did a circling motion with the same hand, then pointed at the wall. Two grenadiers and a rifleman walked up and took some shaped charges from Boomer. The three ARC troopers then ran the 50 meters to the exterior wall, and placed the charges. The other ODSTs, including Boomer closed the distance similarly, though Boomer still kept some distance. The Rookie tapped his wrist twice with an index finger, then pointed toward himself with the thumb. A yellow light appeared on his HMD, under the “Charges” category. The Rookie extended his palm out, so that the whole squad could see. Five extended fingers gradually reduced to four, then three... two... one. A small, soft explosion opened a hole in the exterior wall, and the squad rushed in. Boomer let loose a rocket prior to the point man entering, then rejoined the squad. Rookie leading, the squad moved forward, into the heart of darkness.

The Rookie entered a building through a hole Boomer's rocket made. Once inside the apparent barracks, the pilot place the first of the three target designators.

Groundside, seeing the first target designator ready, Joe ordered all dropships to get ready.

The ARC troopers continued their approach. This time, they saw a headquarters building. The pilot placed the second designator on the structure, and the ODSTs departed. The third target... was the armory. Dragons and Changelings alike were traveling through constantly. A few defected griffons and ponies were seen as well. Behind concealing cover, the Rookie motioned his squad to gather. The Rookie drew a rough sketch of the armory on the ground, designating the guards. He motioned toward the pilot, placed a circle on the ground, drew a line for her to travel, then place an “X” where he wanted the designator. To the rest of the squad, he drew seven circles behind a line toward the front of the armory, with one large “X” over the compound. He drew an arrow toward the “X”, originating from the circles. He looked up, and nodded toward the pilot, then the squad. They did the same.

Laying out weapons and magazines, the squad got ready as the pilot snuck behind the enemy. Weapons and magazines at the ready, the squad patiently waited in the shadows. The Rookie sent out a green light to the pilot, who responded by sending back her own. Seeing the shadowy figure that was their pilot begin to infiltrate the armory, the Kid started firing on targets of opportunity. The squad followed suit with a mass of suppressing fire. The Kid quickly emptied one magazine. He pressed the magazine release, then lifted his rifle and dropped it on an adjacent magazine. He did this to avoid manually cycling the bolt, by keeping a round chambered. One of the riflemen started firing with a heavy machine gun, modified to be fired from the shoulder. The Rookie let loose with his shotgun, switching it the full-auto, and unleashing the power of flechette ammunition. Darts and bullets alike raced toward the surprised Oppressor coalition, only to be greeted with (literal) return fire from the surprised hostiles. The fight progressed, ungodly amounts of firepower being transferred in such a small time. The enemy tried to flank, but Boomer detonated some charges he left in an adjacent building, sealing the avenue. Hostile reinforcements joined the fray, approaching from behind the ARC troopers. The damaged skyline announced the intruders' presence. The grenadiers turned around, leaving the armory to the riflemen. 40mm grenades greeted the gang of approaching hostiles. One hostile took some shrapnel, but turned to flee despite the negligible injuries. The wounded griffon fled the battlefield, and seemed to be headed toward other hostile forces.

A green light appeared on the Rookie's HMD, just before a ricochet impacted his visor. The damaged helmet's HMD faded out. The retreating pilot gave a thumbs-up to the holed up squad, and rejoined them via the open left flank.

Shadowy, black smoke started approaching the squad from all sides. Sombra had responded. The Rookie pulsed his red light repeatedly, signaling the retreat. The squad loaded up, but was surrounded with no avenue of retreat. The shadows closed in. The Rookie, out of ammo, drew his last hope. Green flare in hand, he charged into the impending darkness, and his squad followed him. Lighting the flare as he set foot into the shadows, the Rookie ran forward. The darkness was so immense, he couldn't see anything outside of his visor, aside from the bright fare. The run seemed to last forever.

Planet-side, Joe saw the last designator appear. “All aircraft, launch! Launch! Launch! Those pegasi can't win the war on their own, they'll take all the credit,” Joe joked. The remaining dropships began their approach.

“Sir, we've modified the engines on that AC-130 we found. They're pulse-jets now, and should last in the vacuum of space,” an ensign reported to Joe.

“Great, I'll fly it. Get some STOVL rockets on that thing, as well as secondary rockets to get it into space,” Joe ordered.

“Already done, sir,” the ensign said, thinking ahead.

The ARC troopers charged through the shadows, two of them getting shot in the back and collapsing during the sprint. The remaining squad made it through, and found the entrance they utilized earlier. The Rookie grabbed the rifle from a nearby ARC trooper, turned, and suppressed the approaching hostiles. The Rookie motioned for the squad to rush through the exit. On his left wrist, the Rookie updated the team objectives on his datapad: Designate Targets; Complete, Mogadishu Mile; Developing. The evacuating pilot opened the specifics to the “Mogadishu Mile” objective, it read: First one in, last one out. Retreat to friendlier lines as the Rookie rescues all trapped ARC troopers. Do not turn back, this must be done alone.

The Rookie reversed his retreat, and the flare burned itself out. As the shadows engulfed him, the Rookie closed his eyes and literally retraced his steps. Hearing something large move ahead, the Rookie fired at it, through the deep darkness that ever engulfed him. A large thump he felt later confirmed the kill on the dragon. The shadowy mists that surrounded the black-clad soldier provided a newfound medium for sound to yet again become a factor of war. Overriding standard medical safety locks, the Rookie activated a unique chemical that was still in the prototype stage. Its affects were listed as “Spartan Time”. The auto-injectors on his suit quickly administered the drug that had never been field tested. Immediately, the Rookie felt his concealed pupils dilate. He felt every breath he took as though they had lengthened in duration. Remembering the rate at which the brass fell before, he fired at a buzzing sound he recently started hearing, and heard the brass land much later than expected. Starting a clock on his datapad, the Rookie began the trial again, with another unfortunate Changeling to test on. This time, however, the clock contradicted the Rookie's thoughts. It said the brass was falling normally. The Rookie started the clock again, this time he watched the timer. It seemed to be progressing at a third the normal rate. “Spartan Time...” he muttered.

He felt scraping on the ground nearby. He turned to look at what it was, and saw the fist of an ARC trooper, gradually closing and opening, signaling that he was still alive. The Rookie gave the soldier a shot of adrenaline and morphine, then picked him up. The soldier ran to the exit, which the Rookie had tagged on their HMDs prior. The soldier faded into the shadows as the distance increased.

The Rookie continued his push, this time he heard 40mm gunfire in the shadows. The last soldier was holed up at a choke point on what was the squad's left flank. He was holding two grenade launchers, firing them both simultaneously. Apparently the squad left their heavier firepower behind to make their escape faster. Once both of the grenade launchers emptied, the lone gunman kicked the HMG up to his level, tossed the launchers, and grabbed the airborne gun. The fifty caliber fire was too much for the defected hostiles, who promptly retreated. The dragons, Changelings, and Sombra, however, remained.

The Rookie shook himself out of the awe he was struck with, and laid down all of his grenades. He approached the persevering ARC trooper and pulled him down from the mound of twisted metal he was holding out on. The Rookie quickly traded weapons with the man, then shot the grenades he left on the ground. The massive explosion tore apart the ever present shadows and hostiles, clearing an avenue of retreat. The Rookie, however, took some shrapnel from the blast. He was hit in the throat, but his suits auto sealants closed the armor, and the auto-injectors provided the biofoam to stop the bleeding. The two ARC troopers ran forward, taking fire en route from all sides.

Using an unconventional tactic, the Rookie ran ahead of the other Arc trooper, turned around, and place the HMG on the other's shoulder. Stabilized, the Rookie began to fire the massive gun as the dangerous duo continued to retreat. With the shadows dissipated, the absence of sound was once more relevant. The ARC trooper looked at the Rookie, and nodded. The Rookie dismounted the gun, and returned the suppressing fire unto the enemy. The last man left behind retreated through the hole, and was shortly thereafter followed by the Rookie.

Hostiles pursuing, the Rookie dropped the HMG, and the ARC trooper followed suit with his rifle. They would need the enhanced speed, and the rifle ran dry of ammunition. Running from the hostiles, all seemed lost.

Joe eased back in the cockpit of the ancient gunship. He lit the STOVL rockets and was pressed back into the hardened steel of the seat. G load alleviated, Joe pitched almost into a complete vertical climb. “Launch the Saturn V, remote detonation on my personal detonator,” Joe ordered across the comm channels. Holding up the small black cylinder, Joe opened the cap with the flick of his thumb. The button inside was transparent, but was sharing the color of the rest of the switch. After a pause, the button started glowing red, signaling a device was linked to it. Joe closed the detonator switch, and placed it in a small pouch on his chest.

The copilot turned to the ODST. The unicorn asked, “What are we going to do if that gets blasted apart?”

“It won't. It was crafted from the mixed core produced after explosive welding (EXW) a piece of tungsten and titanium together. The finished product of that was then blasted together with a non-decaying isotope of Ununoctium. It is heavy, but not even directed energy weapons can pierce it. I once tested that myself with a M6G Galilean Non-Linear Rifle, which most people call the Spartan Laser. It is not that different than this one hear at my side, but the switch was unscathed by the plasma burst,” Joe elaborated.

“Given Newton's Cannon, that you explained earlier, we should be able to lend some help to the Equestrian Coalition. What do you say?” the unicorn proposed, seeing the altimeter.

Joe got on the long-range comm, “Western Front, this is Flying Pig, do you read me? Over.”

The response came, “This is Western Front, we read you Flying Pig, over.”

“Glad to hear from you. We've got a package we can ship to you pretty quickly. Just tell us where you want it, over.”

“We think Romeo could use it, but Juliet is already fairly spoiled.”

Joe pulled up a map. Target Romeo was just past the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree, but the castle itself, Juliet, was most likely full of friendlies, as per the report. “Got it. Sign for delivery conformation upon reception, over.” Joe said, as he forwarded to danger close fire mission to the gunners. The aircraft shuttered ten times, indicating ten successful shots.

After a few minutes pause, “He loves it, Juliet is unscathed. Thanks for the help, Flying Pig. Western Front, out.”

Joe hit the switch for the second stage of rockets, and he fire-walled the throttle. Again, the G load pressed him against the seat. “Glad to see he took to the bad joke so quickly,” Joe commented, referring to the prior fire mission.

The gunship accelerated into space. Pulse jets burping out massive loads of energy that hurled the aircraft forward each time. Once the lurching stopped, Joe eased up on the throttle. Several more minutes passed, and the AC-130 met up with the dropships. “Glory Bird, where are you? there are seven squadrons out here, four flights apiece,” Joe asked across the secure channels.

“This is Glory Bird. We're at second squadron, flight number three, bird four.”

Joe maneuvered the gunship into the flight that Glory Bird was at, entering the number five spot. “Glory Bird, we'll give you close coverage until your occupants enter the battle. Feel free to use us as a meat shield, we don't have a means to bring this thing back to the planet,” Joe told Glory Bird.

“Acknowledged. Are we the only bird here transporting pegasi and an alicorn?”

“Affirmative. Their delivery is paramount to this mission. Luna herself had to stay back to reposition the moon appropriately. That reminds me: lunar eclipse in five minutes. All other pegasi were deployed to clear the path we're on now. First squadron just landed, get ready for the landing,” Joe said as they approached.

The same sickly-green projectiles greeted the Pelicans as they neared the surface. Once seventh squadron landed, the surface of the moon immediately turned a bright red. “All Pelicans, offload supplies, then convert to target designation for support of ground forces. All remaining pegasi, make a landing to support the reinforcements, and refrain from flight from now on, it'll make you an easy target,” Joe broadcast to the fliers.

The gunship entered a level flight via its maneuvering thrusters. “Gunners, if it shoots green, breathes fire, or attacks our boys down below, shoot back,” Joe broadcast to the gunners via the crew comms.

The Rookie activated his emergency transponder, and continued his run from death. Both ARC troopers were down to their sidearms. The Rookie turned to the other ARC trooper. He did a two-finger point back towards the enemy, and pulsed the action twice. The trooper turned around and started suppressing the enemy, the Rookie tossed him his own pistol. The Rookie hit the emergency detach switch on his armor, shedding the hardened plates. Some of which were on fire, others coated in a sickly green acid. Only the helmet and endo-suit remained. The endo-suit consisted of the hydrostatic gel layer, the auto-injectors, and not much else. The gel layer is what provides the protection from the vacuum of space. The Rookie searched amongst the plates, and found the back panel. He pulled the power supply from the panel: a micro nuclear fusion reactor. Original pioneered on older MJOLNIR armor variants, recently, micro nuclear fusion reactors were imported onto ODST armor systems. The Rookie feverishly sorted through the reactor's wires. He finally found what he was looking for; the overload controls. He hit the switch, which in turn started counting down from ten.

The Rookie picked up the power supply, and hurled it at the oncoming Oppressors, similar to how the SWAT teams of the old would breach a door. The chrome cylinder toppled end over end through the low gravity. It impacted a low-flying Changeling, then immediately detonated, vaporizing anything within ten meters, and severely burning anything else within 60 meters. The two ARC troopers resumed their form of the Mogadishu Mile.

The two troopers finally found the rest of their squad. The Rookie looked toward the horizon, and saw an armada of Pelicans offloading their supplies. The Rookie took point and approached the nearest Pelican. His search for spare armor plating was null; the remaining armor was converted for pony use. The Rookie looked up and saw other squadrons landing. He saw an AC-130 gunship on approach too. He promptly grabbed a nearby RIO from one of the Pelicans. Taking control of the RIO's radio, the Rookie patched a line through to the loitering gunship, via laser comms.

“ARC Leader to Commander in Chief of Lunar Operations. Operation Space Race is accomplished, zero squad casualties, Pelican gunship lost in action; no injuries sustained. Requesting operational reassignment to additional combat roles,” The Rookie spoke for the first time on the moon.

“Good job Rookie. Your squad is reassigned as a renegade team; move amongst our lines causing havoc for our enemy. Your callsign is now changed to Renegade. Warhammer out,” Joe replied.

“Rearm as necessary, you'll need it,” the Rookie said to Renegade squad, “We are now known as Renegade squad, and we will be acting as our namesake role suggests.”

“Understood, sir,” Boomer said.

“Wounded stay here. Pilot, see if you can get a bird and support the boys who truly need it,” The Rookie ordered to Renegade.

“Sir, how did you know that the Commander in Chief was on that gunship?” the private the Rookie ran with said.

“We had to use one Mars for the defense of Olympus Mons a couple years back. He knew that thing like the back of his hand. Good thing too, he fragged a ton of Scorpion Main Battle Tanks (MBT) with that thing's Howitzer. I still don't know how the insurrectionists managed to stockpile so many supplies so shortly after the Human-Covenant War. I guess the same, sort of, holds up here. A massive amount of enemies that are better equipped than us attack, and we only have ancient hand-me-downs from the twenty-first century to lead the defense. Except now, it's more than just my squad leading the defense,” the Rookie dwelled on the nostalgic war on the martian front.

The squad, this time, rearmed with up-to-date weapons. Boomer ditched his M-72 Light Anti-armor Weapon for a twin-tubed SPNKR rocket launcher. The Rookie passed up the rockets, and ventured for a MA5C and a Rail Gun, due the perfect combination of anti-armor capability and “Battle Endurance”. Battle Endurance is how long a weapon and its user can last in long durations of various forms of combat without resupply. These forms of combat may include long-range, mid-range, short-range, and unique-scenarios. The Rookie reminded his team of this, “We probably won't be resupplied until we come back here, so make sure you take a unit of fire with you, as well as something that has good Battle Endurance for you.”

Most of the squad grabbed otherwise weak weapons; the aforementioned assault rifles, SMGs, a couple LMGs, and some SAWs. Boomer kept his launcher, though. Renegade charged to where they saw several flashes in the distance, which was where most of the Pelicans were headed once they were empty, as well as the gunship.

Renegade soon found themselves in a nondescript foxhole on the front lines, But Joe had others to worry about. “Mendeleev Squad, due copy? This is Warhammer,” Joe broadcast to the ground squads.

“This is Mendeleev Squad, we read you, Warhammer,” Twilight responded.

“Are all of your squad accounted for?” Joe inquired.

“Yes; Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and myself are all groundside.”

“Are the Elements intact? If so, equip them when I tell you to. It is bound to attract hostile fire.”

“Understood, they're here and in one piece.”

“Stay at the supply dumps and aid the munition-runners until I call upon you.”

“Okay, but I think RD is going to have some trouble with that.”

“Patch her through”

“I don't like being told to not do anything, it's boring and totally not awesome,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Listen to me. You'll have your chance to shine, but not now. We lose our plan B if the elements are inoperable. The supplies you'll help distribute will aid the battle as much as any number of additional guns will. Do your part, it's a lot to ask of you, but it must be done. Wait, and the world may yet again be at peace. If you leave for the front, supplies won't be transferred as necessary. Those supplies include bullets. Your neglect of orders may have prevented a soldier from taking the shot that very well could have saved a Wonderbolt. Stay where you are until I say I need you. If everything goes right, I won't have to send that call, but it is just as likely to go wrong. Do you understand?”

“Yes... I understand,” a saddened Rainbow Dash replied.

“It was a tough thing to say, but it had to be said,” Joe concluded, closing the comm line as he piloted the gunship toward the front.

“Seems that you know a thing or two about repercussions in a war,” the copilot said.

“This isn't my first war. Counting the Rebellion of the 2520s, the Covenant, Requiem, and the Martian Insurrection, this is the fifth war I have fought in,” Joe justified.

“Wow, you've been through a lot.”

“Several have been through much more, and much worse. Death constantly alludes me, I don't know why. I lost my arm against the Covenant, that was as close as I have ever come to dying. I find closure in believing that I am needed for something much greater than my death, or the rescue of thousands. This may be it, but I thought the same on Mars. Truth is though, I don't know. I have accepted that, but every time I survive something, it begins to hint at my prior questions being true, though there is no way for me to prove them,” Joe conveyed his heavier thoughts.

“Maybe it's just because you're lucky?”

“...Or the opposite, no one should have endured as much as I have. One war is plenty, two is pushing it, but five is almost inconceivable. I wouldn't believe that it was possible unless if I had gone through it myself.”

“Sounds harsh, I'm glad to know that you aren't afraid to share your... personal... private side?” the copilot responded, searching for the word to finish his sentence.

“'Personal' is good, but I would go with 'sentimental'; it fits a bit better,” Joe said, the language composition teacher in him shining through, leaving a feeling of nostalgia in the old sergeant.

“Let's... get back to the mission,” the copilot broke the awkward silence.

“Let's,” Joe agreed.