Quickly and quietly the two teams split up, one heading up to the ships bridge, and the other heading down to engineering. Mark's team was heading up to the bridge to find the ship's flight recorder, and any additional information, while Raptor team was to do as much damage to the engines and reactor as possible. With what Raptor had on them, they would be able to make it go critical if placed properly.

Along the way, they discover compartments and rooms that have had brief firefights in them, or were completely open to space, atmo pouring out as soon as the doors had opened. The only thing that saved them from getting sucked out was magnetized boots. They had even passed a shopping mall that ran up the center of the ship. By the looks of it, its main doors had been welded shut at one time, meaning the last of the crew had attempted to use the mall as a last ditch safety bunker… a bunker that failed.

Soon, Mark's team arrived at the bridge and, once quickly sweeping the area for hostiles, began stripping everything even remotely useful from the ship's computers. Mark went over to the flight computer and began downloading everything onto a flash drive, when he heard a crackle come over his helmet, which he had taken off for a moment.

"Wolf Team to Bubba, come in big Budda…"

"Report," Mark acknowledged after picking up his helmet and pinging his com.

"We found the main power core and set our charges," o'Drake stated. "60 minutes and counting till show time!"

"Good job Wolf Team, now get your asses back to the hanger deck ASAP."

"Already on our way," Livingston's smile could be heard in his voice. "Last one to the pelican buys a round for the other team."

"You're on," Mark chuckled, yet a startled cry issued forth before he could disengage his com unit. Suddenly confusion blared out from the General's helm and gunfire and screams erupted from the connection. "Wolf Team, report!" he demanded over the cacophony of noise and chaos.

"Jesus Christ! They're coming out of the vents!" Loud gunfire could be heard over the coms, which automatically deafened the reports to keep the listeners from going deaf. "Bulldog, watch your six!" Suddenly, there was a couple loud explosions and a scream of pain that Mark identified as Nakitta.

"Who the FUCK is using grenades?!" She screamed out. Another scream and a wet thump came as Mark watched Ramirez's symbol disappear, signifying his death. "Fuck, they got Hatchet!"

"Circle up people, protect the flank!" Hicks yelled out, trying to get them to stop panicking.

"What the hell..." Chief blinked in disbelief as he and the rest of Raptor Team stared at Mark's helm as a nasty bloodcurdling scream issued forth.

"Running retreat!" o'Drake could be heard over the din.

"FUCKING SON'S OF BITCHES, I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!" Billy yelled over the sound of his weapon on full auto.

Abruptly there was another explosion, and then static filled the com… followed shortly after by dead silence from everyone on the bridge.

"So what now?" Clockwork asked, breaking the hush that had enveloped Raptor Team.

"We did what we came here to do," Mark responded after taking a deep breath. "We have the ships flight recorder, and Wolf Team set the engines to overload before…"

"So we're just going to leave them?" Gunny didn't sound happy, glaring at Mark from under her helmet.

"We have 45 minutes till showtime," Nutcracker observed. "It would take 30 just to descend to Wolf's last location…"

"Look, I hate this as much as the rest of you, but we have no choice," Mark grunted as he slipped the last of the data recorders into the subspace pocket in his pack. "So gear up and let's get the fuck out of here."

"Clock, Gunny, if you two would take point," Anderson stated flatly as he checked the mag of his Thompson before sliding it home.

We booked our asses all the way back to the hanger, and it was as if the gates of hell had opened. From behind us was a wave of xenomorphs swarming towards us, black carapaces far more deadly than the ones of changelings. There was silence from us, except the barking reports of our weapons. The quicker of us, Gunny and Clockwork, cleared the way ahead of us with their model 1887s. And as we reached the hanger, we had to dive out of the way as the chin mounted cannon of Morning Glory spun up, giving all of us just enough time to get the hell clear before the hallway became a death trap of APHEDU.

"Everybody get the hell in here!" Max's voice rang out over the roar of his fuckoff gun, and we promptly did so. As I go to get a grenade from my pocket to keep the Xenos scattered for a moment so we could leave, my blood ran cold. Apple handed it to me.

'What in the fuck are you doing here?!' I yelled at her through our link, hauling her out. 'Do you not know how fucking dangerous this is?!' I could feel her shrink a bit from my harsh tone, but I wasn't in the mood to be nice.

'I-I thought I could help...' Was all she muttered as the bay door closed and the pelican scooted out of the hanger.

'This isn't like the Crystal Empire, Apple.' I told her as I made my way to the other end of the bay. 'This had a LOT more danger. One that I didn't know if I would be coming back from, to be honest.' She just silently listened as we began our trip back home, passing close enough to the ship to keep an eye on any hatches. Something made me pause, as I received a shitty transmission.

"M... Mark.." My eyes snapped open as o'Drake's voice came in through the fuzz. "I.. I don't know if you can hear this, but some of us are still here... Nakitta, Hicks, and I are strung up near the reactor.. they can't get our helmets off. If you don't come rescue us, I understand... Good luck either way, General..." With that, the transmission cut and I gripped a hand rail.

"How long until the engines go?" I asked Nutcracker, causing him to look a bit confused.

"Thirty seven minutes, sir." He answered. "Why?"

"Alright guys, listen up!" I rose my voice and got their attention. "I'm going on a suicide run for the three survivors down there and I could use some help. This is strictly voluntary, so stay seated if you're not going." To my pride, and a big amount of relief, everyone stood and checked their weapons. After a moment, I smacked the cockpit door open and went in.

"Max, put us as close to the reactor area as possible and wait for evac." I told him, and to his credit he didn't say anything as he piloted us over. As soon as we were in position, I dumped Apple in his lap, startling both of them, and locked them in the cockpit.

'You're not coming with us, I'm not getting you killed as well.' I told her, before cutting off communications with her. Depressurizing the bay forced a hard seal on the cockpit, so I knew she couldn't follow. And I doubt she could convince Max to let her out, either.

Once the door lowered, we launched ourselves onto the outer hull of the ship and moved our way to the nearest working airlock. Once inside, Nutcracker studied schematics for a moment, before leading us down to where the reactor was. Thankfully we entered somewhere that was only five minutes away. The fact that we didn't run into any Xenomorphs was not lost on us, especially when we pulled the lucky three down from their cocoons. They didn't have any weapons, but we handed our sidearms over so they could be of some use on the way back... Of course, that's when it went fucky.

We were on the way back to the airlock when something slammed into me, taking me off of the catwalk and a dozen meters to the ground. Thankfully my pack and armor absorbed most of the imapct, but it still stunned me just enough for the Xenomorph to get up. I was able to get up as well, but what concerned me was that it wasn't attacking, instead backing up. Son of a bitch... My sixth sense was yelling at me, and my HUD comes up online with something big standing behind me.

"Ah fuck me..." Glancing behind me, I notice the jaws of a twenty foot tall Queen Xenomorph, ready to murder. Slowly turning around, I'm quick enough to dodge the big tongue-mouth that shoots out, and I bolt for the other side of the hanger we had ended up in. Pulling out my magical gun, I swapped to some of the heavier, man portable guns I knew of to try and damage her. All I did was piss her off enough to bitch slap me across the hanger, causing me to lose, at the time, my RPK. Oh, and my leg.

Just as he is down to his trusty 1911, the Queen knocks him off his feet, tail slicing past and severing his left leg at the knee. All seems lost, the counter on his HUD reads less than 3 minutes to boom-time and a very angry Queen was now standing over him about to give the killing blow… when a loud, feral roar interrupts his impending death.

"GET AWAY FROM MY DADDY YOU BITCH!" Crouched low in a hand-to-hand battle stance was another Xenomorph Queen, only this one was covered in gold and silver ODST Armor that sported Celestia's cutie mark on its shoulder plates. Somehow Apple had gotten Max to give her his armor and she had come to save her father. Incredibly, while Mark knew that the armor was enchanted to resize and shape for its owner's alternate pony, griffon, dragon form, he hadn't realized it could match a changeling's shape shifting abilities.

Quickly his mind was snapped back to reality when Queen Apple lunged forward, slamming Max's human sized helmet into the Xeno Queen's jaw. Unfortunately for Max, it shattered on impact, but did stun the Xeno for a good moment.

The two queens battle fiercely both slashing, stabbing, and biting at other as the HUD counter drops to 2 minutes. While they were fighting, he did his best to stop the blood loss, thankful once his armor's safety settings kicked in and sealed off his wound with the undersuit. Apple Queen quickly getting the upper hand/claw due to the protection of her armor. During the battle she suddenly judo flipped the Xeno Queen, and then tossed something to Mark.

"Dad, the wall to your left…NOW!" Blinking in surprise he realizes that he was now holding a spiked grenade. Without questioning her, he armed the weapon and flung with all his might, thanking Major for going over how to use them.

The grenade slammed into the far wall and stuck, just as Apple snagged the Xeno Queen by her tail and right ankle. With a snarling grunt his alien daughter heaved the surprised Queen in a pin wheeling arc and smashed her back plates into the jutting blades of the grenade. "Get down!" the armored Queen snapped as she flung herself to cover his body. Nearly crushing him, but she was careful to not put weight on his leg stump, or too much on his body.

The Xeno Queen must have realized what was about to happen, for she let out a frantic scream just before her chest exploded outward. However, instead of showering the two in metal fragments, bits of Xenomorph innards, and acid, the resulting explosion billowed out only a few feet before being sucked back through the alien Queen and out into space.

With acid, fire, and a struggling Queen being sucked out into the void beyond, it wasn't long before the entire wall disappeared. Scooping up her father, Apple Queen spun and launched herself into space… "Apple, wait, you don't have a helmet!" He tried to say as he glanced up at her exposed, frilled head, only space didn't allow for sound.

'It's okay, daddy,' she reassured him though their mental link, something that surprised him since he closed it about half an hour ago. Tilting her massive head she gave him a sharp toothed grin, 'these creatures can survive in space, so I'm good.'

After a few moments of drifting, the two were rescued, pulled into the troop bay of the Glory just as Mark's HUD counter reached 20 seconds. Once secured, Max kicked the pelican over and they sped away as fast as the engines would allow.

With the bright flash of light that had once been the Argonautica slowly dimming behind them, Mark took a moment from celebrating with his men to gaze down at his daughter. "If you're going to keep following me into danger…"

"And saving your life," clarified the changeling now resting on his lap.

"And saving my life," he chuckled, "we should at least get you your own set of ODSTs."

"Really," she gasped in surprise, spinning around in his lap to lock him in a hug. o'Drake just shook his head as he worked on the stump that used to be Mark's left leg, making sure that he wouldn't bleed out by the time he could get actual medical help.

"She can just have mine," Max's voice came over the intercom interrupting the father/daughter moment.

"Hey Max, that reminds me," Gunny spoke up. "If Apple is in your armor… what are you wearing?"

"Remind me to burn this harness chair when we get home…" Was all the prince said, keeping the door to the cockpit locked from his side.

While the rest of the teams got a good chuckle out of it, Apple took a moment to examine her new armor. "And what are you thinking little one," Mark finally inquired after several minutes.

"Electric blue and satin black," she smiled up at him, "I think my armor would look good in those colors."

After a moment, Mark smirked down at her. "You can paint them once we get home... and after you're no longer grounded. For a month."

"B-But..." She bit her lip and tried the cuteness bomb. It didn't work.

"And whatever your mother sentences for you as well. The month of being grounded is from me."

Apple just whined.

I blame video games for stalling. And he was supposed to keep that, but hell why not.