"Sir!" A crewman called out. "The Covenant fleet is heading our way! Your orders?"

Captain Cole scratched his chin, looking out at Equis and the Covenant fleet looming their way, "Ms. Sparkle, I am putting you on the next pelican out. It's going to get pretty dangerous here soon, and I don't think Luna would be happy if she found out you died on our watch. If my understanding is correct, you are very important on Equis, are you not?" Twilight nodded. "And that is why Corporal Smith here is going to escort you to the pelican launch bay. Smith! Get over here!" An O.D.S.T. walked up to the two, armed with a silenced variant of the assault rifle. He saluted the Captain and motioned the unicorn to follow him.

"Me and my fireteam are being assigned to protect you, Ms. Sparkle. You don't have to worry about the Covies anymore. They won't be able to get through us." Smith stated.

"That's good! So, where are you guys taking me?" Twilight asked.

"We're taking you to the refugee camp. The Mayor was killed in the initial attack, so someone needs to lead the ponies there."

"Oh dear..." Twilight said to herself.

Star Streak and his squad jumped aboard the waiting pelican. Recently, some Technicians with the U.N.S.C. and a fasionista named Rarity made a new suit similar to the armor O.D.S.T.s wore for ponies, as well as a variant of the armor the Marines wore. They were called P Suits. Not the most creative name, but it served its purpose. The Militias Special Forces squads, like Star Streak and his ponies, were decked out with P Suits similar to the O.D.S.T. armor, which was called the P Suit Mark II. The P Suit developed for Standard Militia members was called the P Suit Mark I, with variants for different camouflage schemes, such as the Mark I D, for desert camouflage, the Mark I U, for urban camouflage, and the Mark I W, for woodland camouflage.

"As much as I like my Royal Guard armor, this armor certainly is a lot more comfortable." Star Streak commented. Most of the squad nodded in agreement. Rainbow Dash, Backdraft, and Pinkie Pie jumped aboard the pelican together, with Buck standing behind them.

"Alright ponies," He began, "You know the mission. Your Princess and some humans are awaiting for your extract. There is a heavy Covenant presence in this area, so be ready! Good luck!" And with that, Buck walked away, the pelican lifting off shortly afterwards.

The Arbiter charged up to a brute minor, stabbing his energy sword right into its stomach. He bellowed in pride over his fresh kill, before jumping over the body, running up the street. There was a Pony Militia member in a Mark I U P Suit, and a Special Ops Elite in maroon Spec Ops armor. Nearby, an elite with cobalt armor was just getting finished with a brute chieftain, pulling his energy sword out of its neck.

"Arbiter!" The Maroon Elite called out, charging up to him.

"Good day, Usze 'Taham." Arbiter said to Usze. "Hello, N'tho 'Sraom." He said to the cobalt Elite walking up to him,

"Greetings, Arbiter." N'tho said, switching off his energy sword. "This is... Derpy Hooves?"

"Ditzy Hooves" Ditzy corrected.

"Sorry." N'tho apologized.

"Don't worry about it, everypony makes the mistake." Ditzy assured.

"Where is your team, pony?" Arbiter asked.

Ditzy started shaking, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "T-they... they're gone."

"I'm sorry." The Arbiter apologized.

"We shall make the mongrels responsible pay." Usze promised, unclipping his two plasma rifles and holding them at the ready. A few jackals sprinted past the Elites. They were holding green shields and wearing green armor pieces, marking them as jackals loyal to Elites. They were soon followed by a pair of hunters, clad in green armor, a squad of skimishers with green armor pieces, two squads of Special Ops grunts, and squad of Special Ops Elites.

"Let us go, we can't let them have all the glory!" The Arbiter bellowed, running up the street with the two other Elites and the Pegasus in tow.

"Stop!" Stacker ordered as they reached the end of the forest. Beyond them was a clearing, labelled as their Extract Point. "Marine, you go first." The Marine Corporal walked into the open cautiously, assault rifle at the ready. The crack of a beam rifle sounded as a laser shot through the Marines head. He fell to his knees and face planted.

"Sniper, 3 O'clock." Reynolds observed.

"Romeo, I'll draw its fire, you take it out once you have the shot." The Chief ordered.

"You got it, Chief!" Romeo responded. The Chief nodded to him and ran out into the opening. He heard the crack of the beam rifle as his shields flared, signaling to the Chief he was he hit. Another crack rang out, and a laser shot past the Chief's head. The Spartan heard the crack of a sniper rifle, and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"I got him." Romeo's voice said over the COM.

The Chief waved the others forward. Once the regroups, they started setting up a perimeter. Romeo climbed up the hill the enemy sniper was camped out on, who turned out to be a lone brute major. Romeo took its beam rifle and checked the charge on it. '73 percent charge, good enough for me', Romeo thought to himself, setting the beam rifle to his side, before setting his sniper rifle up on its bipod. He looked down the scope and scanned the sky for incoming Covenant.

"Sir, I see two phantoms heading this way, over." Romeo said over the COM.

"We're ready for them." The voice of the Chief answered.

"Buck, do you read me?" The Chief asked over the COM.

"I read you Chief." Buck's voice responded.

"We have two phantoms in bound. Where is our evac?"

"I have sent a pelican, manned by a squad of Equis Militia Special Forces. They should be there in... oh.. twenty or so minutes." Buck said.

"Alright." The Chief said, turning off his radio. "Okay people! We got incoming, and evac is twenty minutes away. Take up positions, and be ready to book it when the pelican gets here. Luna, stay with Romeo."

Luna nodded and lifted off, flying off towards Romeo's position. The Chief, Reynolds, and Stacker dove behind some rocks, their weapons at the ready as the phantoms hovered above the nearby field, dropping their troops in before flying away.

Luna trotted up to the prone form of Romeo, who just finished firing off his first magazine. She sat next to him and looked out at the forest.

"You may wanna get down, ma'am." Romeo said, loading a new magazine into his sniper rifle and firing off another four shots. Luna nodded and laid down in the grass.

The Chief looked up over the rock to see the Covenant run out of the forest. They opened fire on the hill that Luna and Romeo were positioned on. However, all the shots were blocked by some sort of magical force field Luna must have set up. The Spartan shouldered his assault rifle and opened fire, firing in short, controlled bursts. Once the magazine ran out of ammo, the Chief glanced over the rock to see two grunts, a jackal, and a brute lying dead on the ground. He strapped his assault rifle to his back and took out his battle rifle and fired three lethal bursts into a trio of grunts, fluorescent blue blood misting out from behind each of them.

Star Streak trotted into the cockpit and looked out of it at the firefight about a mile or two ahead of their pelican. He walked back out and faced his squad.

"Alright ponies, our L.Z. is hot. It appears allied forces are being engaged by enemy Covenant forces. Lock and load!" Star Streak called out. "Zephyr," Star Streak began, turning to a brown Pegasus with a blue mane, who had his hooves wrapped around a sniper rifle, "I want you to take out any threats to the princess before the enemy will even know what hit em'."

"Yes sir!" He called out, loading a magazine into his sniper rifle and working the bolt. The pelican bay door open as Zephyr readied his sniper rifle and aimed down the scope. As the pelican passed over the L.Z., he fired at a squad of grunts running up a hill the princess and a human were positioned on, killing each of them.

"Master Chief, can you hear me, over?" Star Streak asked over the COM.

"Who is this?" The Chief's voice responded.

"This is Lieutenant Star Streak, 11th Royal Guard Regiment and member of the Equis Militia. We are here to evac you and the princess. Head of the hill she is on, over?"

"I copy Lieutenant, see you on board."

"Let's move!" The Chief called out to the two O.D.S.T.'s. "Head for the hill!" Reynolds and Stacker ran past the Chief, who was shouldering both his assault rifle and battle rifle and firing wildly at the Covenant, providing cover for the two. As he ran out of ammo, he pulled out two SMG's strapped to his legs and opened fire on the Covenant, mowing down the Covenant infantry quickly. He threw both of them aside and ran up the hill towards the waiting pelican. Two green banshees passed overhead, firing their plasma cannons and fuel rod cannons at the Covenant infantry charging up the hill. The Spartan leaped aboard the pelican just as it started to hover away.

"Everypony is aboard, move it pilot!" Star Streak called into the cockpit.

"You got it!" A pilot called back as the pelican zoomed off. Star Streak walked up to the Chief and held out his hoof to him.

"Master Chief?" Star Streak asked. The Chief nodded. "I heard a lot about you from the Marines, it is an honor to meet you."

The Chief shook the hoof that was being offered to him. "Likewise." He replied. The Chief looked out of the pelican bay door to see the banshees form up on their pelican, before the bay door closed. Star Streak got out his radio and turned it on.

"Buck, we have the package secure, over?" Star Streak stated.

"Understood, good job, Star Streak. See you when you get back." Bucks voice responded. Star Streak turned off his radio and put it back in its spot in his utility belt.

Ditzy trotted forward, magnum at the ready. She aimed at a grunt's head and fired a single shot, which hit dead on. The grunt fell limp as she jumped over it and bucked a jackal in the face. A brute charged at her, almost impaling her with his brute shot. Before it got the chance, N'tho charged up and cut its head clean off with his energy sword. He then turned to a nearby grunt and his energy sword right through it. He then picked up its limp body and threw it against a wall. Usze sprinted past him, plasma rifles raised in the air, and proceeded to mow down a squad of skimishers. Ditzy picked up a SMG from a dead pony and unloading the remaining ammunition into a fireteam of jackals. The four allies looked around for additional enemies. Seeing none, they regrouped in the center of the street.

"Good job, pony. You fight with the strength of many brutes!" Usze bellowed. The two other Elites nodded in agreement and Ditzy blushed at the compliment.

"Gee, thanks." She said. She let the empty magazine fall out of her SMG, before she slid in a new magazine, which locked in place with a satisfactory click. "Let's keep moving, shall we?"

The Elites nodded in agreement as the four continued up the street.

The pelican hovered over a small field outside of the refugee camp as Twilight and her O.D.S.T. protectors jumped out. Two Equis Militia members, wearing Mark I W P Suits, were waiting for them. One of them walked up to Twilight.

"Evening ma'am, my name is Sergeant Sandstone, and this Specialist Xavier. We have been assigned to protect you by General Rainbow Dash." said Sandstone.

"Guess we could use some back up..." Smith muttered to himself.

Twilight nodded to the two Militia members. "Take us to my station, sirs."

"Right away, ma'am. We will get you suited up on the way. Follow us." Xavier said, before they started walking up the street. Twilight eagerly followed, with the O.D.S.T.s surrounding her.

Backdraft jumped out of his squads pelican, soon followed by the rest of the squad. He walked through the town square and to the mess hall, where several humans and ponies were making food and serving them to the troops. He picked up a nice, juicy golden delicious and bit down into it.

"Always teh best, eh Backdraft?" Applejack asked, nudging him playfully.

Backdraft nodded and swallowed. "If there is one thing that you and your family is better at than shooting, it is making apples."

"Well, ah reckon that's cuz that is our specialty. Ain't that right Big Macintosh?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac said.

"Hi Drafty!" Pinkie Pie called out before tackle hugging him.

"Oooof!" Backdraft squeaked out, falling over.

"Well howdy there Pinkie." Applejack said.

"Hi there Applejack!" Pinkie said, pulling her head out of Backdraft's coat. Backdraft had a severe blush on his face.

"Don' ya think ya should let em' go?" Applejack asked.

"Nope! I think he's enjoying it." She sang before burying her face back into Backdraft's coat.

"Well I gu-" Applejack started, but was cut off by a large explosion that shook the entire camp.

"Let's get to work!" Star Streak shouted to his squad, loading a magazine into his assault rifle.