Chapter 14

Daniels stepped off the train, the air smelled of money, not too far off from the train station was a load of high end shops

Harvest stepped behind him, "I was hoping we wouldn't have to walk through this sort of place."

"The princess was clever in choosing who would live here" Alex said, "We can't get through without her catching wind of us being here."

Daniels nodded, "Snooty people, the best defense system."

Twilight remained silent as they walked to the castle

The walk was uneventful, the town seemed empty, Daniels wasn't familiar with the town, but based on Twilight's nervousness he could tell something was off

Upon reaching the gates they weren't met with an impractical pantheon of ponies

(See what I did there?)

Instead the gates had no guards, it was abandoned

"Stay on your guard kid" Alex said to Harvest

Daniels was supposed to be the one not to draw his gun, so instead he made sure to stay taut in case of any sort of hostile interference, even though he wasn't expecting it

They advanced through the empty corridors of the castle, soon reaching the throne room doors

Twilight went ahead, and knocked

The doors slowly creaked open, and Princess Celestia was looking out the window, she seemed hurt fairly badly, with several cuts and a large gash on her right flank

She looked over to look at Twilight, then registering the ODSTs

"It's a miracle…" she said, "We may stand a chance now."

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, "What happened?"

"They came quickly, taking as many of us as they could" Celestia looked haunted, "Those infectious beasts."

Daniels tensed, "You mean the Flood?"

"They were distracting us!" Alex slapped his COM, "Abigale, Will, How are things down there?"

"Things are fine down here, but we got the message." Young said, "Should we get moving?"

"Take a warthog, and get over here." Daniels ordered, "I think I'm getting something on the E-band."

Indeed the E-band was reacting, there was a flash of purple as a UNSC ship came into orbit

"This is fleet commander Charles Cutter, is the Alpha Team reading me?"

"Alpha Team Leader Alexander Washington" Alex said, "We read you."

"You've got a large swarm of Flood heading towards the castle on the mountain" Cutter said, "We're going to extract you there!"

"Young, Will, Abigale" Daniels said, "Double time it! We're not letting you stay behind!"

"They'll never make it before the swarm hits!" Harvest said

"No, but I know what's going to keep them at bay." Daniels walked up to the throne and lifted the cushion, finding a UNSC weapons crate

"I'm glad I forgot to grab all of the equipment from the pelican." Daniels grabbed a few rifles, a rocket launcher and grenades

"Suit up people" Harvest said, "We've got some MVPs to take care of."

Daniels made sure he was fully equipped, grenades and a rifle, they would have to take up special positions in order to protect the underground areas where the ponies had been kept in hiding

[…]

Daniels held a spot by the train station, where the Flood would have the easiest chance of getting in

He had made sure to booby-trap the entrance, as it was simple to rig up a few grenades and prevent the combat forms from getting anywhere close

He could see them approach, and all hell broke loose once again

Daniels had to make sure to stay light on his feet and not get surrounded, chucking grenades into the fray, and firing his rifle to thin out the opposition

As skilled as he was, the sheer numbers soon began to drive him uphill, as the fight became more and more close quarters he began to wonder where his backup was

[…]

"You heard the man! Move it!" Will shouted as Abigale down the rail road tracks

"This is the quickest way to the castle" Young said, looking at the map, "We'll have to keep any Flood away from us as we get moving."

Will took up the position on the turret, cutting down any and all of the Flood that were foolish enough to rush them

"Are we forgetting something?" Young asked

"Not that I know of" Abigale said, "Why?"

"I feel like we've left something important behind" Young said, "What about your ship?"

"Its fine" Will said, "The ship was dispensable."

Young settled in uncomfortably, she wasn't sure what she was missing, but it could very well mean life or death

[…]

Harvest had the rocket launcher, there were so many rockets he had little trouble, as he had no qualms about the windows of any high end shops

Besides, would it matter if the ponies survived? They could rebuild their shops, but life was more important here.

"Woo! Take that!" Harvest shouted, "You're not getting past me!"

Then all at once the Flood retreated from this entrance, he would have been relieved, except where were they going?

[…]

Daniels was struggling to fight off the sudden influx of Flood infection forms, he was lucky his suit was made for the raw powers of a solar flare or he might not be alive at this point

Then there was the sudden roar of an engine, a warthog tore past him and the turret obliterated any and all Flood at the point

"We've wasted the gas" Young said, hopping out, "Where's the evac?"

"Top of the castle" Daniels said, "Let's move troopers!"

They retreated to the castle, the Delta Squadron taking up defensive positions as the Alpha Team got on board

"Come on!" Alex shouted at Daniels, "We can make it!"

"This planet is not going to become a breeding ground for the Flood" Daniels said

"What about you?" Will asked

"We're dispensable" Daniels said, "You go, they need you in the war."

"Goodbye" Alex said, "And good luck"

"You too captain" Daniels waved, and the ship soon left atmosphere

"Daniels! Get down here we need backup!" Harvest shouted

"On my way!"