Chapter 20: Second OP
Horizon Crew Quarters October 16th, 12:50
John’s eyes fluttered open and he was met with the dim light coming from the ceiling above. Head throbbing, the officer sat up and brought a hand to his head, groaning softly as his aching back from the stiff cot he had slept on the night prior creaked and groaned as he rolled over. His hand came down and scratched at the stubble forming on his face to which he didn’t mind. Strangely enough the admiral was okay with the crew growing beards, something about it being good for morale. Or maybe the admiral himself was just too lazy to keep track of his own that grew in...to which John couldn’t help but admire half the time. What could he say? The admiral can rock some chops.
John flung his legs over the side of the cot and rested his arms on his knees, gazed over himself, and took a deep breath as the messages from the prior day resurfaced. “I-I’m Ms. Amelia Patricia Conway...” He brought his hand up to his head and rested his forehead in his palm. Could it really have been her? His daughter, who was not only fully grown, but a freaking sci-fi super soldier?
It was unbelievable, laughable really. Jonathan chuckled, what were the fucking odds of that? No seriously, a young girl only ten years old, left behind in fucking California when the bombs were dropped, stored away in a research vault due to her potentially being infected or some shit. Now here on board the Horizon as a fucking super soldier...fucking comical.
So funny in fact that John started laughing, literally slapping his knee as the thought alone drove the man to near hysteria. John’s laughter began to break down into shear sobbing as he brought his hands to his face and actually cried for the first time since the day he left Earth so many years ago. He hiccuped and cried tears that he couldn’t tell if they were of guilt or happiness, perhaps it was both.
After minutes of drenching his cheeks with salt he wiped away the remaining tears and took a few deep breaths in order to compose himself. Rising to his feet John took one last breath before going into bathroom, there he threw off his tank top and kicked off his boxers. Standing in the bathroom wearing nothing but his skin, the man turned and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in literal centuries.
Cryostasis had done a number on his complexion. The process of freezing one's body with the nitrogen does not preserve one entirely, in fact all it does is slow the aging process, but doesn’t actually halt it. For the thousands of years that he had been stored away inside the metallic cocoons, John looked to have aged only about a year or two. At least, so it seemed.
His physique seemed to have been unchanged, yet his skin was much paler. So much so that he looked like a vampire, or perhaps some kid who never leaves his bedroom and plays games all day. Something he wished he was doing right now. The stubble that was coming in on his face was looking to become a mighty fine beard if he didn’t shave it, it’s dark brown color contrasting with his pale skin. Same could also be said for his hair which was now starting to grow out, the buzz cut he had now disappearing.
Yet out of all that, the bit that really showed off his advancing age was actually his eyes. The small, green pair of eyes he had that stared back him through the mirror showed a different man. Despite being small he could see something bigger behind them, something hard, stern and relatively wise. A pair of eyes that could tell countless stories of what they’ve seen, horror, destruction, genocide. Stories that could make any regular person snap under the sheer pressure.
The eyes of a war torn veteran.
John knew that he wasn’t the only man on board with the same eyes he had right now. Oh no, he wasn’t even the one with the hardest pair, not at all. There were plenty of soldiers, men and women who had seen and encountered far worse things than he could ever dream of enduring. Yet it didn’t matter to him, because despite what they’ve been through they’ve all suffered the same outcome.
Change.
They all lost loved ones, they all suffered injuries, some more than others. Each and everyone of them shared similarities and differences, and from these changes some of the crew were either broken, or strengthened for the better or for worse.
Yet John was different. Different in a way because if what he heard was true then that would mean his daughter had come back. The young girl he had abandoned and thought for sure she was dead had returned. Or had she?
John’s features in the mirror changed slightly to something of guilt. He tore his eyes off his reflection as he grabbed his shampoo and began to lather up before going in the shower, something he’d picked up from his days in camp. His mind still wandering. What if it wasn’t his Amy, well, by blood they would be family...yet she was a grown woman now, hundreds if not thousands of years old due to stasis. All those years without a father, would she even remember him? Would she even love him if she did? Figuratively speaking she probably wasn’t even his daughter at this point.
John rinsed his hands off in the sink and walked over to the shower, he started the water and didn’t even give it time to warm up. Stepping in the cold water shocked his nerves into waking, quickly he washed the soap out of his hair before lathering his body with his personal bar of soap. After a few minutes of washing himself off he stepped out of the shower and wiped himself off. He then went back into his quarters and walked over to his closet, there he threw on his tank top and green officer jacket along with his similar colored pants and boots. Without bothering to button up John took a deep breath and glanced at the clock. He had about ten minutes before he had to report to the deck.
“I guess I can snag a cup of black gold...” He mumbled to himself as he left his quarters shortly after and decided to head to the cafeteria to snag some instant coffee and perhaps a bite to eat.
:[-]:
“Officer on deck!” Shouted a cadet as John stepped in to the holo-room, a slice of irradiated meat in one hand and coffee in the other. He glanced at all the radio and computer operators standing at attention.
“At ease,” John said in a monotonous tone before taking a bite of his ham. He made his way over to a man working on a radio just beside the holo-globe, tapping his shoulder the man pulled the headset off his head and glanced up at John. “How’s the waves commo?” He asked half sarcastically.
The man chuckled and replied. “Pretty silent. Visuals over there stated that the vessels are still deep beneath the water surface. I’m assuming that down below they don’t really use radio communications, and if you’re referring to contacting the other vaults such as Victor Nineteen, well that’s also negative.”
John nodded and stepped back. “Alright. Thank you, return to scanning the waves.” The man nodded and gave him a quick “Yes Sir” before turning back to the radio. Taking a breath John walked over to the globe and glanced at the image with a detailed eye. What the globe displayed was a constant replay of a simulation of the projectiles launched from the Leviathan submarines. The first, of course, landed near the small Equine town where they captured Amelia. The second, however, landed off the grid, assumingly a few miles just short of their detection range.
“Any idea where the second pod landed?” John asked out loud and immediately received a few negatives. “Have we sent anyone out to go look for it?” He asked and again received a bunch of nos. He sighed rubbed the bridge of his nose and walked over to pick his earpiece up, just after inserting it into his ear, the device began to ring. He chuckled lightly at his good timing and immediately answered, “Central here, what can I do for ya?”
“Officer Conway, this is Admiral Watson’s secretary, he wishes to see you down in his office pronto,” The woman on the other line said.
John blinked. “Is something wrong?” He asked.
“No, Sir, he just needs to get you up to speed on the latest mission that’ll be happening within the hour,” The woman explained, her voice tired and slightly annoyed, though judging by the way she was talking it had to be over something else.
John nodded. “Alright, let him know I’ll be down soon.”
“Will do.”
:[-]:
The door to Watson’s office opened and John stepped in and immediately shot to attention and gave the admiral a firm salute. Watson gazed up at the man and nodded lightly. “At ease, Central.”
John lowered his hand and held both arms behind his back, keeping his back straight he looked down at Watson. “I was told you needed to brief me on an upcoming operation?”
The old man in the pristine white uniform nodded and took a drink of his black, instant coffee. He gently placed it back on the counter and pushed a few sheets of freshly printed paper over to John. “Yes...if you can call it that. It’s nothing like a recon mission turned into a shootout like the other night, more or less you could possibly call this a milk run.” John nodded and took the papers, he began to read up on the morning briefing and all the detailed information about who and what will be going on the mission. “I take it you know of Commander Keshiner’s condition?” Watson asked John.
“Well...from what I’ve experienced the other day...he can speak to them?” John looked back up at Watson, his eyes locked with the older gentlemen who was once again taking another sip of his coffee.
Watson gave John a light nod and said, “We don’t entirely know how, and Hassel’s computer analogy just left me even more confused, but yes. Whatever those creatures did that almost got them turned to swiss cheese allowed Keshiner the knowledge to speak and understand them.”
John nodded, his face spliced with a bit of confusion as he continued to read over the papers. “So this is another diplomatic operation?” He asked as he checked over the list of individuals once more who’ll be participating in the operation.
“Exactly, as you may already know. The Kiryu-Kai are stationed inside Victor-19 beneath the Equine capital,” Watson started to explain, his elbows resting on the desk as he laced his fingers together. “Originally our intention was to open up Hotel-23, which is much closer, and start inserting our foothold once again into the Earth. But due to the rising storm, which are those submarines appearing off the coast of Iwo Jima we have no choice but to start generating manpower and getting ready for a worst case scenario.”
“Hostilities with those on board the vessels...” John took a deep breath, Watson nodded.
“From what I’ve gathered from my meeting with our captive down in quarantine, everyone on board those vessels are ‘Indoctrinated’, or as we normally say: Infected with the Sleeper Virus.” The admiral rubbed the back of his head. “If that is true, there’s no avoiding a future conflict, Central. If we are to confront these...beings, there’s no way to avoid war.”
John bit his lower lip, his chest sinking at those words. “Sir, what about the natives?”
Watson took another breath and then a long drink of his coffee. Setting his cup down he looked at John. “I know, Son, but as I said, there’s no avoiding it. Either they’ll pick a side, hopefully ours, or just duck in cover and hope they don’t get shot.” Watson fell silent for a brief moment before blinking and saying, “But back to the mission, likewise, I just need you to keep your eyes on the cameras and make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens to our fighters or diplomats.”
John nodded his head. “Yes Sir.” He then shifted in his spot. “Sir, do they know that we are coming?” he asked.
Watson straightened his back. “I had Bryan and the boys down in the Intelligence department workout some kind of notice. They should have delivered it to the Equine outpost a kilo outside our marked border.” John nodded his head and Watson smiled. “Alright then, you’re dismissed.” John snapped back into attention and saluted Watson, who did the same in return before turning and heading out the door.
:[-]:
Commander William Keshiner held his AK-12 out and pulled the charger back on the rifle to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Releasing it he placed it aside and grabbed his spare magazine and loaded it. Having already briefed his squadmates William sat alone in his quarters, choosing to prepare on his own as he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and gazed upwards at the clock before slamming his magazine into his gun and racking a round in quick succession.
“Commander, this is Central, we’ll be launching in E.T.A five minutes.” The voice from the radio said, William took a breath and nodded his head, grabbing ahold of the transmitter he held it up.
“Roger that...” He spoke softly and took a breath and walked over to grab his NBC gear before making his way down to the hanger.
“You ready to get suited up, Commander?” Asked a nearby trooper who was standing beside the door heading into the hangar.
William nodded to the man. “Yeah for the most part,” he said as the man turned and opened the door for him. William stepped over the kneeknocker into the airlock leading into the open hangar bay. He stopped in the center and hastily and efficiently equipped his gear, taking the time to make sure he was fully suited up before double, triple, and quadruple checking himself.
Fully suited, he turned and banged on the second door, a sharp clang coming from the deadbolt coming loose ringing in his ear. The door then came loose and swung outwards where William then came face to face with another trooper fully set up in his own NBC.
“Why good afternoon, Commander!” The marine saluted as William stepped out. “Commanding officer on deck!” The lad shouted out as every personnel within ear shot turned and saluted William.
“At ease!” William barked out, causing everyone to return to their duties. Which mainly consisted of engineers tending to the condor transport ships and soldiers either chatting or working on their gear. Everyone was in NBCs due to the hangar bay doors being open to the outside world. From what William could see, it was now mainly a cleared out field, most likely caused by the ship crash landing and the Mechs clearing out the trees. Yet beyond said field William could see dozens of habitats, and something that looked like a biodome being constructed.
“Commander!” William turned to see Junior Lieutenant Michael approaching him before giving a brief salute.
William returned the gesture before lowering his arm. “Good afternoon, Junior, how are things coming along?” William asked.
“Actually, Sir.” Michael turned to show of the silver bar on his NBC. “I’ve been promoted to first Lt.,” he said rather pleased. “With Lt. Shaun out of commission I’m now your second in command.” The man smiled behind his respirator.
William smiled himself and nodded his head. “Well I’ll be. Congrats, First Lieutenant.” He held out his hand to which Michael shook happily. “Do you happen to know where Sergeant Reever is? I want to know the condition of the squad.”
“Stacey?” Michael nodded his head, and gestured towards the VTOL with his thumb. “She’s taking care of the grunts, educating them on what to expect in the field.” William nodded his head.
“Alright, gather up the VIPs, double check and make sure we have everything we’ll need,” William ordered and patted Michael on the back. “We’ll be taking off here shortly.” Michael nodded and gave William a brief salute before shuffling off, William took a breath and went over to the VTOL just in time to see Sergeant Reever finishing up with the grunts.
“As I said,” Stacey shifted her weight from leg to leg and glared sternly at the grunts. “For you newbies who haven’t left the ship yet, the world you once knew is no longer ours. Not only that we aren’t in a war anymore, however, that doesn’t mean you should lower your guard. Right as we speak we’re standing on the soil mainly made up of a Planet of talking, Horses, sounds like a poor parody, but I ain’t shitting you,” she said as a few men chuckled. “You all have seen the drone footage. These things are just as scared of us just as we’re wary of them.” Stacey glanced over to see William leaning against a crate of supplies. “Greetings, Commander!” She saluted as all the grunts turned and did the same thing.
“At ease Sergeant,” William muttered as he took a step forward, his voice rising, “What your Sergeant said is true, gentlemen! We may have been the best but take me for an example, the mission I undertook the other day nearly costed me my life due to miscommunication and hesitation! These barnyard creatures may look cute and seem harmless yet they possess the ability to warp physics beyond our entire comprehension, therefore I encourage you to keep your guard up and report anything that you deem out of the ordinary. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes sir!” The grunts said in unison, William turned and nodded to Stacey.
“Thank you, Commander,” The sergeant nodded back.
“Are you and your squad ready for departure?” William asked as the final warning siren sounded, Stacey nodded and grabbed her rifle. “You heard it boys and girls! Mount up, we go in thirty!”
:[-]:
Piling into the Condor’s cabin, soldiers and diplomatic personnel alike strapped themselves in. “Alright, everyone,” Central’s voice came through the cabin’s speakers, “If things go accordingly you should all be back before dinner. Remember, we’re trying to generate a good impression, no fucking about. Good luck.”
“Shit,” A grunt muttered on William’s right, “I was hopin’ to get some horse pussy.” The man muttered before getting a rifle butt to his knee cap. “Gah! Fuck!”
“You’re fucking hick, Blitz.” The trooper beside him spat.
“Both of you shut it.” William glanced at them and both men sunk back into their seats. Half a minute later and the craft lurched as the engines outside came to life and the brief moment of weightlessness struck everyone on board as the VTOL lifted off the ground.
“Everyone, this is your Captain speaking,” DeSilva’s voice flooded out of the speaker, a light static along with it, “Today our target destination is that big ass castle on the side of that ol mountain again. Please keep your hands and feet inside the craft at all time, the expected flight will vary between forty to fifty minutes judging by the windy weather today. Ten of those minutes will still be out of coms range due to the fact those engineers are taking their sweet ol time with the radio towers. So please be patient and enjoy your flight!”
Everyone on the craft, jolted a bit when the VTOL tilted forward as it exited the vast hangar bay and began to ascend rapidly into the air. “Hey, Commander?” William’s head jolted a little as he glanced over at Lt. Michael. “Is it true you can actually talk to these things?” he asked.
William sighed. “You should know, you were there when I was able to,” He replied as the Lieutenant shrugged.
“I was more worried about that Blue horned one and all those little golden buddies around us,” Michael replied and smiled. “I guess this just makes everything a hell of a lot easier for us,” he said chuckling and overall seeming optimistic which William couldn’t help but smile as well due to it being rather contagious. He was right, as long as he just listened to what the diplomat, which he believed was Angela once again. That made him cringe, why did it always have to be her? Anyhow, as long as he listened to her, things should be fine. Right?
A corporal turned to Michael. “Hey, L.T.?” The man lightly tapped Mike’s knee. “It true we have a fucking sleeper down in the brig?” Michael glanced at the Corporal and shrugged.
“I can’t say for sure, rumor’s going about some giant chick in armor or some shit was hauled in last night and questioned,” Michael said as he shifted in his seat. “Personally I was on leave yesterday so I was hanging out in the Rec room or sleeping, so I can’t confirm.” He then glanced at William.
William bit his lip. “I was briefed earlier that something about aquatic fortresses appeared seven hundred miles or so out by sea by Iwo Jima. Three massive submarines I was informed of that could host amphibious invasions, the Admiral and the head engineer told me that the other day one of the submarine launched two pods towards Japan, one landed a few kilos from our base. The other landed out of our detection range.” William took a deep breath after explaining.
Michael leaned forward a bit. “So...they dropped pods on us, and the armored maiden everyone is talking about was in one of them?”
William nodded his head. “That’s what I was told, everything else the higher ups know, they’re not sharing.” He rubbed the back of his head.
“Who brought her in?” Sgt. Stacey asked from William’s right.
William took a breath. “Master Sergeant Thorne.” He glanced at the boys and girl around him who blinked.
Lt. Michael snorted. “Of course it was fucking Kong, Sir. Who else could take the King on?” William shrugged.
“I beat him in an arm wrestling competition once,” The Commander said with a small smirk the crew around him rolled their eyes. William blinked and frowned. “Oh c’mon,” he said, “I’m being serious!”
“He probably let you win because your a superior,” Stacey giggled beside him and William’s frown deepened before glancing at her.
“Shut your mouth, Sergeant.”
:[-]:
Canterlot Station, October 16th 14:00
Panic and confusion swiftly tore through the Canterlot station shortly after the arrival of the two o’clock train. Shortly under a minute, ponies began to scream and run, their hooves slipping and tripping over the smooth floor. Station security and Royal guards pushed through the stampeding crowd, trying their hardest to get to the source of all the chaos.
As the guards pushed their way to the center, the ground shook and cracked around them, forcing the armored guards to the floor. Their eyes widening upon the sight of a large, metallic behemoth. It was a sleek creature standing nearly nine feet tall, its armor was black and rounded, decorating it were blue, glowing lights that traced most of its edges along with large, blue pauldrons on its shoulders, and on its back was a cape that blew in an non-existent breeze.
The dozen or so guards surrounding the creatures scrambled to their hooves, quickly backing away from the alien looking creature save for one, shocked security mare who stared up in horror. The creature tilted its head as it looked at the pony, revealing its single, blue streak of an eye. The security pony gasped and tried to push herself away as the creature began to approach the pony, the sheer weight of its armor cracking and sending tremors through the floor.
“N-no! Please!” The mare cried out and turned her back to the creature before screaming when she felt it grab the nape of her neck. The royal guard shook their heads and converged upon the metallic beast before stopping when they noticed the armored giant gently placing the pony back onto her hooves. The mare blinked in confusion, her eyes wide and full of fear as she turned and looked up at the creature, who in turn gently patted her on the head, the armored hands surprisingly soft. The mare whined and quickly ran away, terrified and embarrassed.
The armored creature straightened itself out, its blue line of an eye flashing a bright navy hue when it scanned over the guards. Glancing at one another the Royal guardsmen stepped back but halted when the creature released a short, deep honk. Its hand raising upwards in a gesture as if it was holding something out to the confused the guards. Suddenly, the center of its hand opened up, eliciting a shocked gasp from the soldiers. A bright blue light shot out from the creature's hand, almost as if it was calling upon some kind of magic. In response, the few unicorn guards activated their horns, preparing for any kind of retaliation, their faces taking on a scowl, while a couple others looked on scared out of their wits.
Then something peculiar happened. The particles above the creature's hand shifted and contorted, taking on shapes before the ponies. A 3D image of Canterlot Castle appeared before the soldiers along with a cartoonish figure similar to the armored giant, between the two was an arrow pointing from the creature to the castle. The arrow started to flash.
Glancing at each other, the unicorns stepped down and straightened themselves out; curious as to what the giant would do next. The image on the creature’s hand changed once more, the castle that once was morphed into what looked like a cartoon pony in a robe and crown meeting the cartoon giant, below that was a smiley face.
The soldier’s eyes widened and gazed at each other as they quickly understood what was happening. The center guard stood up. “I’ll go alert the Captain!” The pony said before turning and galloping off.
The creature held its image up a little longer, its hand soon closing and the magic particles dissipating with the window. It lowered its arm shortly after and released another honk, hopefully that meant progress had been made.
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Holy Sh
t it updated!
Here, you can put this in your Author's Note:
mlpforums.com/uploads/monthly_06_2016/post-25639-0-54299200-1466011546.gif
Well... Either the ponies are going to be glad that the original owners are nice, or they're going to be scared out of their wits after the human-vs-human war is over and done.
bought time we got ponies again, reminding us this IS a MLP fic. Of course the conflict is going to get complicated, humanity can't just go in and claim the same lands, ponies and other creatures have sort of lived there for thousands of years and the original counties are pretty much gone. Finding a place to setting is going to be a issue even after finding the other humans, how they are willing to share tech with the locals.
Its been so long that I have completely forgotten the story.
8046199 Believe me, I know exactly what you're feeling, and I wrote the damn thing three years ago. If you jump to my latest chapters, in terms of military protocol and how things work, its ten times better. I do plan at some point to either go back to that chapter and revise it, or scrap it all together.
Can't wait for the next chapter
Definitely been getting better!
*suck* *pop* Noice.
Ok, so things should go poorly soon, and Discord, is planning his master dick move.
Gross he keeps his skin on when he takes a shower?