Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
Adam maneuvered his pelican dropship through the thick cloud layer of Equis, thinking through his current situation. Though he could not see through the front window, his navigational computer assured him that he was aimed right for Canterlot, and would be upon it in five minutes. At least, he hoped that he would return to the Canterlot he remembered. The Spartan’s trip to Lightning had taken him a few hours longer than he had originally intended, which was plenty of time for the griffon forces to attack the city, with help from 401 Lamenting Chorus. Adam wondered briefly what he was going to do with the monitor. Assuming he received UNSC reinforcements soon, the griffons would be the least of his problems. But the Forerunner device was crafty, smart, and totally insane. If the griffons were defeated, Chorus would just find someone else to help it. This would only end with the destruction of those ruins, and the monitor along with them.
Finally, the small dropship cleared the cloud layer, and Adam was relieved to see that Canterlot was still intact. He landed in his usual spot in the palace gardens, and approached the door to the palace. The guard standing outside let him in, and a second guard inside motioned for the Spartan to follow. They stopped at the door to the planning room, and Adam walked inside. Standing around the map table were Princesses Celestia and Luna, and Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. They all regarded the map, concentrating on one particular section. As Adam drew closer, he recognized it as the trade route he had pointed out as an ambush point. He noticed that, behind the rocks, several blue flags had been placed. Adam approached the table, and the three ponies looked up to him.
“Adam, it is nice of you to join us!” Celestia said, smiling.
“What’s the situation?” Adam asked. At this, Shining stepped forwards.
“As you suggested, we sent a group of soldiers to these rocks,” the guard captain began. “Scouts reported that they saw heavy war machinery, including siege towers and battering rams, being pulled from several miles away. It seems you were right, human.” Adam nodded.
“Have the griffons reached the ambush point yet?” he asked. Shining checked a clock on the wall.
“We got the report several hours ago,” he replied. “By now, the griffons should have gotten there and the ambush should be underway…”
“So all we can do is hope that they’re successful,” Adam finished.
“But for now,” Luna said, stepping forwards. “I believe that you offered to help give our instructors some pointers?”
“Of course,” Adam said. “Are they ready?”
“I believe so, I shall take you to them,” the princess replied. She then turned and began walked out of the room, Adam following closely behind. They walked in silence through the massive palace, and finally came out into a large courtyard. It was filled with many pieces of training equipment, from practice dummies to obstacle courses to fighting rings, with each piece being used by a recruit. Three well-equipped ponies, who Adam assumed were the trainers, stood in the center, watching everything. Luna led Adam up to the three soldiers, who saluted at her presence.
“At ease,” she said. They relaxed, then looked to the large human standing in front of them. Luna motioned towards him.
“This is Adam, the human I was telling you about,” she continued. “He shall give you advice and some training that you shall pass on to your recruits. Understood?” The three ponies nodded, and saluted again. Luna nodded, then looked to Adam.
“I shall return in a few hours. Good luck.” Luna then turned, and left the training ground. As soon as she was out of sight, the three instructors began sizing up the Spartan. Adam did the same, though his gaze was hidden behind the reflective gold visor.
“So you’re the human that’s been the buzz of the palace lately?” one of them said. This got Adam thinking. He knew that he was a common sight around the palace, but other than that, he had not gone out in public at all.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Adam said. “Just how much of Equestria is aware of my existence?”
“Very little,” the second one said. “Outside of the palace, any information about you is kept hush-hush. Princesses don’t want to cause a panic, is all.” Adam nodded in understanding.
“So, shall we begin then?” he asked.
“Of course,” the third trainer said. “Let’s get started.”
Princess Celestia sat in the planning room of her palace, anxiously awaiting the arrival of news from the ambush. Thirty minutes ago, only a few minutes after Luna had left with Adam, a Pegasus had been spotted flying from the direction of the trade route. Celestia quietly hoped to herself that the news he bore was good. After a few more long minutes of waiting, the door burst open, and an exhausted Pegasus entered, flanked by two of the palace guards. Celestia stood up, and walked quickly to meet the soldier.
“What news do you bring?” she asked nervously. The Pegasus did not answer at first, instead he stood attempting to catch his breath. Finally though, he stood straight, and spoke.
“I have… good news… and bad news…” he said, still breathing heavily. Celestia frowned curiously, but nodded for the Pegasus to continue. “The good news is… we stopped the convoy… and destroyed the war machines…” Celestia smiled at this, but braced herself for the bad news. “The bad news is… we took heavy losses… and spotted even more griffons coming across the border…”
“What course of action have our ponies taken?” Celestia asked, anxious.
“The captain ordered all unicorns to levitate rocks and block off the road…” the Pegasus continued. “But when I left… the griffons were almost there…” Celestia frowned, and nodded.
“Well done, soldier,” she said. “Go, get food and rest. You have earned it…” The Pegasus saluted, then slowly walked out of the room. The door closed behind him, and Celestia sat down, sighing. While the initial ambush had been successful, it was very likely that she had just lost many good soldiers. These were not the first lives taken by the griffons, and they very likely were not the last. The princess decided that she needed a break, so she stood up, and began walking to her lounge.
UNSC Infinity
INF-101
CURRENT LOCATION: SLIPSPACE
TIME: 1708 HOURS
Commander Thomas Lasky watched the slipspace countdown clock as it grew ever closer to zero. Currently, the timer read that only 15 minutes remained in their journey. Lasky silently thanked the Forerunner engines and slipspace drive that had been implemented into Infinity. Without them, their journey would have taken weeks, if not longer.
“Lieutenant James, how are we doing?” Lasky asked.
“Just fine, sir,” the helmsman said. “As you requested, slipspace exit has been altered to bring us out a few thousand kilometers from where Lightning exited. Although I’m not entirely sure it’s necessary, sir.”
“You can never be too careful, Lieutenant,” Lasky replied. “Good work.” James nodded in thanks, then looked back to his computer. The commander then continued looking out at the view of slipspace for several more minutes, until he heard an alarm ring out from behind him.
“Alert!” said Aine, the ship’s AI. “Slipspace exit in 10 minutes. Crew of Perseus, report to your stations. Waking all non-essential personnel from cryosleep.” The alarm cut off, and crewmembers began rushing around the bridge, making their final checks that everything was okay. Lasky took one more look out of the window, before he walked to the holotable and began making his own preparations.
“And that’s pretty much all there is to it,” Adam said to the three pony instructors, having just finished explaining basic use of cover, and movement from cover-to-cover. Like the human armies of old, the ponies relied on large ranks of soldiers and firing lines to fight their battles. Historically this had proved to be costly, and modern-day guerilla warfare seemed to work much better. The pony instructors seemed to agree, as each had retrieved a piece of parchment to write down notes on.
“Very nice…” one of the instructors said. “What shall we cover-.” The instructor was interrupted as Princess Luna quickly walked into the courtyard, and approached Adam.
“What’s the matter?” Adam asked.
“Your ship,” she replied. “It’s… talking.”
Adam quickly ran outside into the palace gardens and approached his pelican dropship. It was surrounded by several guards, all of them staring at it quizzically. As he got nearer, Adam began to hear a voice coming from within. It was distorted, however, and seemed to cut out every few seconds. Recognizing it as his radio, the Spartan ran inside and approached the console, followed closely by Luna. As he entered the cockpit, the voice became clearer.
“This is –NSC Infi---- any UN-C per—nnel please –espond, over.” The message then began to repeat. Adam pressed several buttons on the console, attempting to clear up the transmission. Finally he stood back, and let it play again.
“This is UNSC Infinity, any UNSC personnel please respond, over.” Again, the message began to repeat.
“Infinity?” Adam asked himself. “They sent her all the way out here?” Luna leaned in closely.
“What is ‘Infinity’?” Luna asked.
“One of our ships,” Adam said. “She’s massive. The largest ship in the UNSC fleet.”
“How big?” the princess asked.
“If memory serves… about six kilometers,” the Spartan replied. Luna’s eyes widened in shock at this. “I served on her for a couple of weeks last year. Why would they send her all the way out here…?” The message repeated again, and Adam pressed down the button to reply.
“This is Spartan Delta-zero-one-four, I read you, over,” he said into the microphone. There was a short pause, before the original message repeated once more. Again, Adam replied, but the message continued to repeat.
“Communications must have been damaged when Lightning crashed…” Adam said. “I can receive messages, I just can’t send them out…”
“Are you going to fly up there?” Luna asked.
“No…” Adam replied. “No, I think they’re going to be coming to me.”
Commander Lasky quickly walked onto the bridge of Perseus, which was still docked in Infinity’s ventral bay. The bridge crew were all at their stations, checking over the systems.
“Are we ready?” Lasky asked, sitting down in the captain’s chair. The helmsman turned and nodded.
“Yes sir!” he reported. Lasky nodded.
“Good,” he said, then pressed the communications button on his chair.
“Infinity, are we clear for drop, over?” he asked. There was a brief pause, then he heard the voice of Captain Del Rio.
“Perseus… you have a go,” he said. “Good luck.”
“Copy that,” Lasky said. He looked to the helmsman. “Initiate drop sequence.”
“Initiating,” the helmsman replied. He pressed several buttons on his console, then Lasky heard the sound of the massive magnetized arm disengaging from the side of the frigate. The ship dropped out of the ventral bay, and Lasky got an excellent view of Equis as it rapidly began growing larger.
“All crew, prepare for atmospheric entry,” Lasky said through the ship-wide intercom. Through the main viewport, Lasky began to see flames lick the outer hull as it heated up. This only lasted a few seconds as Perseus flew quickly through the upper atmosphere, and entered the cloud layer. When they exited, the bridge crew were all granted a view of the Equestrian countryside. About two dozen kilometers ahead of them lay a large mountain range, and though he could not see it, Lasky knew that Canterlot rested upon one of them.
“When will they be arriving?” Princess Celestia asked anxiously as she and Adam hastily walked to the palace gardens.
“It’ll be any minute now,” Adam replied, constantly checking his suit’s scanners for new IFF signals. They turned a corner and came to the door to the gardens, which was flanked by two guards. Before Adam could open it, Celestia stuck her hoof out in front of him.
“Adam, listen…” she said. “I have not yet informed the general population of your, or of humanity’s, existence. I fear that the very sudden arrival of your people may be a cause of concern.”
“I understand, ma’am,” he said. “We’ll do our best not to incite any fear, but I cannot promise you anything. You must be ready.” Celestia made to reply, but they were cut off as a dull rumbling noise began to fill their ears. Adam opened the door and they stepped out into the gardens, then quickly ran to the balcony on the far end. It overlooked the plains bordering Canterlot, and allowed a very clear view to most of eastern Equestria. Off in the distance, a light gray dot began to grow closer and closer to the city, coming in from the south. As it drew nearer, Adam was able to make out some details, and immediately he knew what it was. It was a Strident-class heavy frigate, and it was heading straight for Canterlot. Only about ten kilometers from the mountainside city, the ship began to slow, until it came into a resting position hovering about a dozen meters above the plains. Adam saw the hangar doors open, and three pelican dropships flew out. They began to angle upwards, heading for the capital city. They seemed to be able to detect Adam’s pelican, for they seemed to be heading straight for him. His suspicions were confirmed when the three pelicans came into a hovering position directly in front of the Spartan and the princess. The center pelican rotated around and backed up, lowering its ramp over the balcony railing. Out of the troop bay stepped four Spartan-IV’s, assault rifles held at the ready. They circled around Adam and Celestia, surveying the area. Once they deemed it safe, one of the Spartans nodded back to the pelican, and a fifth figure stepped out. He was shorter than Adam, with close-cut brown hair and a gray officer’s uniform. The bars on his shoulders indicated that he was a commander. Adam instinctively stood at attention and saluted. The officer seemed amused as he approached the Spartan.
“You must be Spartan Delta-oh-one-four,” he said. “At ease, Spartan.” He then held out his hand. “I’m Commander Thomas Lasky, UNSC Infinity.” Adam reached out and clasped his hand into Lasky’s, and they shook. When the broke apart, Lasky walked over to Princess Celestia, who stared back at him quizzically.
“And you must be… Princess Celestia,” he said to her, smiling. He then held out his hand to her. “Thomas Lasky, pleasure to meet you.” Celestia stared cautiously at the outstretched hand, before she extended her hoof. Celestia then smiled, and excitedly shook his hand.
“Greetings, Commander Lasky,” she said. “Please, come inside. I’m sure we have much to talk about.”
“That we do, ma’am,” Lasky said, smiling. He turned to face the three pelicans, and spun his finger around in a circle. The first pelican closed its hatch, and followed the second pelican in circles around the palace. The third pelican then opened its hatch, and two UNSC diplomats stepped out, taking in their surroundings with awestruck expressions. Once they were out, the third pelican hovered away, and joined the other two in securing the perimeter. The diplomats approached Commander Lasky, and the four humans followed the alicorn princess inside.
Adam and the new human arrivals were lead through the maze of a palace by Princess Celestia, until finally they came to a large door flanked by two unicorn guards. At the sight of the princess, the guards opened the door with their telekinesis, a sight which Commander Lasky and the diplomats found very curious. They walked into the room beyond, which was a large circular chamber with a round table in the center. Two large thrones sat at one end, while smaller chairs intended for ponies surrounded the rest of the table. Celestia walked to one of the thrones, and sat.
“I apologize about the seating,” she said. “We were not expecting you so soon.”
“It’s perfectly fine, your highness,” Commander Lasky said, sitting down in one of the chairs.
“Please, you need not call me that,” Celestia said. “Just ‘Celestia’ will do fine, or ‘princess’ if you choose.”
“Very well princess,” Lasky replied. The two diplomats took seats on one side of Lasky, and Adam took his seat on the other side.
“Well,” the commander began. “Based on how we have been treated so far, I assume that the Spartan here has been respectful?”
“Adam has been a pleasure to have, Commander Lasky,” Celestia replied. “And while our first meeting may not have been the most pleasant, our friendship has certainly grown.”
“I didn’t screw things up that badly, sir,” Adam said to the commander, bringing a laugh out of him.
“Indeed, Adam…” he said. “Well, as you no doubt have guessed, we are here on a mission of peace and friendship. Allow me to introduce Mr. Richard Collins, and Mr. Allen Daniels.” Lasky pointed to each of the diplomats as he said their names, and they each offered a polite nod to the princess.
“It is a pleasure to meet you both,” Celestia said.
“And you as well, princess,” Collins said. “We have been very excited to begin talks with you.”
“And I with you,” the princess replied. “Shall we begin?”
“Of course,” Daniels said. “Now, just give us a moment…” Daniels reached into his pocket and withdrew a small tablet, and turned it on.
“I apologize if we are interrupted at all during these proceedings,” Celestia said. “There is a… situation… developing, and I must be kept apprised.”
“Situation? What situation?” Lasky asked, his brow furrowing in worry. Celestia looked to Adam, then back at Lasky.
“We are not the only intelligent species on Equis, Commander,” she said. This seemed to surprise the three newcomers, as their eyes widened. “Recently, one species, the griffons, began mobilizing their army towards us. Adam has been helping us to prepare.”
“Understood…” Lasky replied, his tone masking his worry. “Shall we continue, then?”
“Of course,” Celestia replied. “Let us-,” They were interrupted once more as the doors to the meeting chamber opened, and Princess Luna entered.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” she said, and took a seat next to her sister.
“Welcome, sister,” Princess Celestia said. She then looked to Lasky and the diplomats. “Please allow me to introduce my sister, Princess Luna.” Luna nodded politely at the humans.
“Hello,” she said. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, ma’am,” Commander Lasky replied.
“Now perhaps we can begin,” Celestia said.
“Very well,” said Mr. Collins. “We would like to begin with declaration of friendship…”
The proceedings continued over the course of the next two hours. Periodically, a pony guard would enter the room and whisper an update into Princess Celestia’s ear. After he left, the meeting would continue as though nothing had happened. Neither the humans nor the ponies wanted to let the threat of war interrupt this mission. When the two parties finally broke to take a break, they had already made much progress. They had first detailed a trade agreement; initial scans of Equis showed incredibly high deposits of titanium, a metal used heavily in UNSC starships, which had been virtually untouched. In return for permission to set up mining posts, the UNSC promised various medicines, as well as knowledge to help advance pony culture. They had then gone over a defensive pact, where the UNSC would offer protection to all races on Equis who wanted it.
As the Princesses began walking with the humans out of the meeting chamber, the door burst open, and a guard urgently ran inside, approaching the princesses. When he was a foot away, he bowed, then looked up to them.
“Your highnesses,” he began. “Several of the ancient machines that attacked our guards at the ruins have been spotted flying towards the city.” Celestia, Luna, and Adam all stared at the guard with worried expressions.
“How many?” Celestia asked anxiously.
“Only five, your highness,” the guard replied. “But they are moving quickly. They will be upon us shortly.” Celestia and Luna then ran out of the meeting room, the humans following closely behind. Adam recognized the path that they were taking as the one that lead to the gardens. They reached the large doors and flung them open, then slowed to a trot and approached the balcony. Adam, Lasky, Collins, and Daniels walked up behind them, and in the distance, five silver dots could be seen moving quickly towards the city. Only a few moments later they arrived at Canterlot, and the five sentinels floated in front of the princesses. Guards quickly moved in and pointed their spears at the machines, who seemed not to mind. The center sentinel then began floating closer to Celestia, until it was only a meter from her face. There was a long, tense pause, before finally it spoke.
“Greetings.”
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Why are sentinels being bad?
"Lasky to Infinity, give 'em hell" after this, lasky, Adam and the princesses watched as the griffon army that was closing in earlier, suddenlt erupted with explosions as hundreds of missiles fell from the sky. they were small enough to not do excessive damage but would still kill.
4738280 The monitor went rampant and seeing as how the sentinels follow the commands of the monitor they attacked on sight.
So some of the sentinels may have not been influenced by the monitors rampancy and are still following protocol is my best guess. Maybe they have a back up plan implemented in these specific ones if rampancy were to happen and it endangered the Forerunners plans. Excellent chapter and I look forward to the next one with a huge amount of impatience XD Keep up the good work!
This was a surperfunirific chapter keep up the good work!!!!!!!! :)
4738280 cause the monitor AI Lamenting Chorus went rampant, and if you remember 343 Gulity Spark was rampant in Halo CE as he attacked Chief at the final levels the Sentinels are controled by the Monitor AI
Admiral ackbar voice: ITS A TRAP!!
But seriously , give pinkie pie a scorpion tank. Hahaaha DO IT.
4767864
FFS , People you should use images or videos when in this kind of situation so let me correct you
There , fixed , your welcome , now go keep annoying the author so it continues the story
NOW, we start RUNNING THE HELL AWAY, and of course, we give Pinkie Pie a mammoth.
Question author, but when the four Spartan IV's got out and secured the area, they kinda just, disappeared, no mention of them getting back on the Pelican or anything, please check this.
Y U NO HAVE ITS A TRAP APP??