Careful with my foot placement, I inched down the darkened tunnel.  No matter how I stepped, the fused rock and dirt crackled like broken glass under me, its glossy surface reflecting in my night vision.  Every sound from the encampment tore through the air, feeding itself down the stony tube and into my patient ears.  Step after step, the tones of chaos and carnage willed me forward, forward toward the incomprehensible screams and sounds.

***I recommend observing from the mouth of the tunnel.

***IFF markers are weakly tracking on multiple locations.

"Fair enough plan.  I don't suppose Control has a scout available?  Eyes on without getting into this would be nice.  Friendly fire is bad and all that."

The AI was strangely silent for a moment before I felt another network connection appear with another burst of frost in my mind.  Another  crackling step and I was close enough to the entrance of the shaft to be uncomfortable, yet deep enough in the black to remain unseen for now.  

***RQ-9 Raven launched.  ETA:  45 seconds.  Estimated 52 seconds for stable camera platform.

This close to the chaos the symphony of noises slowly filtered through the translator.  Formerly wordless sounds of combat were twisted into a madman's drum beat.

"...to the Princess!  Protect Luna!"

"...ON THE LEFT!"

"MY LEG!  OH CELESTIA MY LEG!"

"Where is that guy?  Isn't it supposed to be helping us?!"

"...Seven, are you sure you are reading IFF Tags?  This doesn't sound like something we'd do."

There is no worse feeling than to sit by and be forced to listen to the sounds of combat.  No deeper pain that hearing the rattle as a final breath leaves a now cooling body.  And yet, I kneeled there in the dark waiting for more information.  Information that was soon coming as a blur shot across my vision, accompanied by a dull buzzing noise.  The drone had arrived.

***Starting camera feed

In the dim light, I could clearly see collapsed tents and bullet riddled bodies in the panning views from the drone.  Its small shape drifting back and forth across the cavern.  Small bursts of radiation an matching flashes of colored light streaked out of the darkness and chaos into massive figures silhouetted in the light.  Figures that had the occasional blinking IR IFF beacon on them.

"Fucking Ponies screwed us!  Seven bring up all the assembled drones.  Keep Bravo 6 in the rear to protect Control."

***Orders received.  Drones underway.

With that rough fucking fresh in my mind, I felt it was plenty late in the game to deal some damage to the ponies.  With little more than a thought, my carbine drew itself to my shoulder and settled into its familiar home as the safety clicked off.

###Combat Systems at 100 percent  External Batteries at 93 percent

###Backing up Autonomic functions to network

My eyes tracked everything in the chaos.  Wherever my head looked, the bright beam of an IR laser followed, waiting to find an unwilling victim.  

***Hold Position Sergeant.  Additional incoming video incoming.

A small portion of my vision resolved into the drone video feed once again.  This time, it was much closer to the figures flowing from the brightness.  At first, the image looked off, then it looked wrong, very wrong.  Massive beasts were wearing scraps of armor from my kind.  Horns jutted out from the occasional visor, or scraps of chest plate strapped onto a bandoleer.  Scraps of my people were tied to monsters like some kind of sick trophy.  In their colossal hands, several of them cradled what looked like antique flintlock weapons, occasionally discharging with a dull "POOOMF."

I never did hear the grip of my rifle cracking under the pressure of my hands, nor did I feel Seven turn off the speakers on my armor as I tore across the campsite toward the encroaching light.  Toppled items were thrashed out of my rampage across the chaos.  Tents were leapt over, campfires trodden through, all to bring me into line of sight with the monsters.

The camera feeds did no justice to the beasts as the first one found its way into my vision.  A moment later, a glowing dot found itself on the head of the creature as it tried to reload some kind of black powder weapon.  It mattered little as the glowing dot and guided me.  A soft squeeze and my rifle bucked against my shoulder and the thing toppled with a 30 caliber hole through its head.  The moments blurred together as I tracked movement and found creative places for my laser to rest.

One of them died gurgling from blood filled lungs.  Another took three to the chest and slumped over wordlessly.  Through the carnage I strode like the god of chaos and war, finding things beneath my contempt and snuffing them from the earth.  Streaks of energy screamed around me and even the impact of several lead balls did not deter me.  Wherever my eyes and laser traveled, death swiftly followed.  My mind barely grasped that I had just slammed my last magazine home as the clack of the closing bolt joined the chaos, a trail of brass and blood behind me.

***DANGER CLOSE! 7 o'clock!

Spinning on my heel, I tried to drop to my knees as fast as possible as a figure filled my vision.  My rifle coughed three more times and the beast fell at my feet just as an impact threw me from them.  As my rifle clattered to the ground, I was snatched out of the air, the room spinning out of control before I was slammed into something, making colors explode into my eyes.  The impacts came again and again, my vision fading as every part of me was beaten into something, what was once sharp pain, quickly becoming dull and everywhere as I was unceremoniously dropped to the ground.  Cameras blacked out, any other sensors offline, I was deaf and blind, not that it mattered as my vision started to fade to darkness.

***You are not allowed to die, Sergeant.  Drones will be with you shortly.

###Severe damage detected

###Administering Combat Recovery Protocol

###Administering Combat Stimulant Cocktail 21A Warning: Continued Use will cause user fatality.

###Optical sensors offline.  Releasing exterior visor.

Light trickled into my eyes as they snapped open, the pain through my body gone.  Red, everything was tinged red as I dragged myself to my feet with the rattle of loose and cracked armor.  Spiderwebs crossed the thick glass in front of my eyes, but I could still the fucker that tried to beat me to death.  The fucker that was going to die.

Before the thought even crossed my mind, the dull click of my pistol firing reached my ears and the damn thing fell forward with a hole in its head where an eye should have been.  Scrolling warnings flashed in my displays but fuck it.  These bastards needed to die.  Everything seemed so slow as shot after shot lined up in front of me.  Shot after shot drove those things into the dirt until I was hit hard enough to toss me aside.  Nary more than a thought echoed into the neural drives.

###Purge and Eject External Batteries

###Systems Overvolting

###Capacitor systems at 291 percent.  Immediate discharge required.

The nearby ponies could only stare as the armored thing single hoofedly took on the Minotaurs.  Wherever it traveled, blood soon followed.  In a blur of motion they saw it leap from the ground to bury a knife in the skull of the creature that hit it, before grabbing another in a blue haze of electricity that left a smoking and charred corpse behind. As it monstrosity turned, they could see red hot glowing metal on its back where two blocky objects once sat.  With a roar, it leapt onto offense once again.

In the end, it turned out to be the creature against five heavily armored minotaurs that took turns punching and kicking it as it tired to disembowel them.  Big Mac of all ponies rushed to the thing's defense with a shuddering blow from his warhammer, caving armor like wet tissue paper.  As one, the remaining ponies descended on the remainder with a mad war cry.  Spears and lances of magic taking chunks from the minotaurs like some kind of freakish totem.

The final two tried to run for the shaft of light to the outside, hoping for safety in the captured streets of Canterlot before any pony could catch it.  One was struck down by a blast of purple light from Princess Twilight, her magic burning a hole clear through.  As the final one bellowed a war cry, it exploded in a shower of gore and the sound of rippling thunder.  After a moments pause, the figure in now crimson armor dropped the severed arm it had resorting to using as a weapon and extended a hand with one finger upraised and yelled something unintelligible before falling on it's face.

***The drones have arrived and are returning you to the vault for medical care.

***I do not know if it was necessary to yell "I fucking love drones."

***Apparently 40mm grenades work well against whatever those things were.

***Sedating for medical care

###Administering Sedatives

Seven watched the cameras through the drones as dozens of ponies stood over the Sergeant's prostrate and bloody form as the drones moved to collect it.  Murmuring comments came from the crowd, ranging from colorful to expletives.

'What is it?"

"EEEW!  Look at it's face!"

"Um, is it's arm supposed to bend like that?"

It took only a moment before sanity reigned again as cries for medics once again echoed through the cavern.

.