Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

by BusterBuizel

First published 17th of June, 2015

The long awaited sequel to Skies of Harmony: Starbound. Join the Next Generation Joint Strike Force as they embark in the hoofsteps of their parents to keep peace in the stars above.

BACK IN BUSINESS BABY!

The long awaited sequel to Skies of Harmony: Starbound. Join the Next Generation Joint Strike Force as they embark in the hoofsteps of their parents to keep peace in the stars above.

The story follows a third person narrative revolving around the Next Generation Joint Strike Force: a collection of OC children from the Skies of Harmony: Starbound prequel donned in a military special forces role. The story revolves around the major characters of Jump Jet, Panavia Tornado, Ship McDaniel, as well as their friends and family as they undergo the dangers of United Equus/Equestria's expansion into space. With their special forces team: the NGJSF often in the frontlines to protect Equus's best interests. With the backdrop of a looming interstellar war and a shadowy enemy, coupled with unlikely allies, can our unlikely heroes change the fate of two universes?

It's time for the Next Generation to raise and set forth where their parents left off.

BONUSES:
Read the wiki page here!: http://the-rift-cafe.wikia.com/wiki/Starbound_Ascension:_The_Next_Generation

See the full artwork gallery here!: http://busterbuizel.deviantart.com/gallery/47520430/Starbound

Official OST playlist!: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi6cqxE5uf9KTHsr58kiw4hFgDf2KbjZt

Chapter One: Enemies Within

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter One: Enemies Within

An explosion rocked the far reaches of space as a fierce battle raged on. A massive blue space carrier sat in the crossfire of multiple enemy fighters, bits of hull and metal sliced away with each attack. On the bridge the captain shook in her chair and turned to her staff.

“Mac! Damage report!” the swamp green colored unicorn mare with straight black hair and tail yelled.

“Structural integrity holding stable! Magic Shielding has been broken through but hull damage is superficial! ARGH!” the pink and lavender stallion with a blonde striped mane was thrown to the floor in the resulting explosion, “My glasses!”

“Here! Don't get sloppy on us Mac! Flyboys! Are you gonna do something about those fighters!” the light turquoise earth pony mare tossed Mac Book his glasses. He fluffy teal striped flat yellow mane flowed in the breeze of the air conditioning, a green bow tied on her left ear.

“Working on it Nelly! These UPF guys are giving us hell! Dammit! One's on me!”

“I got you bro! Tornado! Guns guns guns!” the agile swing-wing space fighter snapped onto one of the UPF Cazador fighters. Their UPF enemy simply pulled a quick Split-S to evade the mares fire, “Damn! These Task Force Frostbite guys are as good as they say!”

“Avia! Don't hold back on me now! Thanks for the save little sis!” the cyan-blue pegasus stallion tipped his wings to his sister, who shared the same coat color but with a dark blue and orange mane that contrasted with her brothers bright red hair.

“No prob bro! AHH!” her scream was followed by an explosion that sent her fighter into an incendiary fireball, leaving nothing left but a flaming wreck that disintegrated into ash.

“AVIA! No!” her brother screamed into the intercom of his fighter and slammed a hoof into the side of his cockpit, “Dammit! J-Just dammit!”

“Jet! Cool it! We lost Avia but we still have six of us left against four of them! We can win this!” a stubborn and fiery blue pegasus relayed to his squadron mate. On his chest was a bright and furry orange heart that matched the color of his mane which was also stripped with green. His zealous eyes looked frantically for the enemy fighters only to be struck down with a guided missile right into his tail pipe, destroying his fighter.

“Captain Jet! We've lost Tough Heart and Avia! I suggest we try to retreat to fight another day!” a light blue mare flying a stealth fighter pulled up next to Jump Jet. Her shimmering optical cloak barely visible to her squadron leader.

“NEGATIVE! We stand and fight! If we try to run those Cazadors will run us down. We have to save our home dammit!” Jet looked out at the EMS Sky Buster. The large spacecraft carrier that they all called home, “We're not gonna dishonor my father's legacy by letting these traitors destroy one of the most important ships in Equestria's arsenal! We're not running, the Next Generation Joint Strike Force does not give up.”

“Captain, please be reasonable. We've lost two of our best pilots and your sister. We have to retreat. There is chivalry to run and fight another day rather than to sit here and die,” a handsome maroon male pegasus appeared on Jet's heads up display.

“WE. CAN'T. RUN! Those Cazadors have a built in hyperdrive while our fighters don't! And even if we disengaged in combat we leave my fathers namesake unprotected! Do you hear me Morning Shine?”

“He's right. If we fail the Sky Buster will fall and all our friends in it will die. We have to fight!” a light red unicorn male appeared over all of their screens.

“Thank you Piggle! Now come on! There's no time to grieve! We have to fight!” Jet ambushed one of the attacking Cazadors that strafed at their carriers anti-air guns, “Jump Jet! Fox Two! Fox Two!”

A back facing automated gun shot down both of the missiles launched by Jump Jet as the enemy spaceplane pulled away to start another attack run.

“Shit! That thing's got a hard kill weapons system!” Jet cursed into the microphone.

“Yah snooze ya lose kid!” a snark remark from the enemy pilot replied back to Jet. It was a Spinda Pokemorph with a mop of white hair, “They don't call me Strella for nothing.”

“Arrow! We've got your back. We'll show them what it means to be Task Force Frosbite Two,” the enemy flight leader and Buizel pilot radioed back to his wingman, “Quincy, Alyssa, focus down that F/A-38 and Morgan. Those two are the most annoying of the bunch.”

“Roger Mitch!” A Glaceon pilot pulled away to dive onto Jump Jet's plane, “Die!”

The beam of ice connected onto Jump Jet's fighter and disabled his magic enchanted control surfaces. With those frozen in place it was a quick kill for Quincy as his missiles impacted their target, sending oil and shrapnel into the pitch black of deep space.

“Permafrost, splash one bandit. Tally up another,” with casual glee he chuckled at his kill.

“Marksman! EML fired!” the railgun pods on the enemy fighter tore into Piggle's Morgan in a fiery blue plasma explosion that seeped into the vacuum. The Vulpix girl in the pilot seat smiled, “Scratch one...”

“You called?!” Alyssa's report was interrupted with a stream of 30mm tracers coming from an A-164 Wipeout painted with a deceptively cute cat face, the pilot being a peach pegasus mare with brown and purple mane, “Meow meow bitch! Heheheheee! That was for the commander!”

“Finally, we took one out... Good job Scratch but there is still more!” Morning breathed in a sigh of relief before shutting off his radio, “Jet... You didn't deserve that...”

“Morning! What are you waiting for! We have to keep fighting or we're gonna lose the Sky Buster for good! We can't let the UPF do this to us,” Night Petal radioed to Morning Shine from her stealth fighter.

Morning's face turned into a deeper shade of red as he looked at the mare on his display. He sighed again and collected himself, “You are right. We have to keep fighting. ARGH! NO!”

Morning's fighter was hit by an ice beam from one of the enemy Cazadors. There was another one diving from the top to finish the kill.

“Undertow, Vulpix Two!” one missile shot out of the enemy fighter and streaked to its disabled prey. It was only right before impact that Night Petal flew her cloaked fighter into the path of the missile, sacrificing herself for her friend.

“PETAL!” Morning saw the wreckage of the fighter explode and leak out atmosphere into space. With a final glance he could see the EMS Sky Buster in its final moments as the ship was bombarded with impunity. The once graceful and massive carrier snapped in half and blew away as magazines of bombs and missiles as well as fuel and oxygen exploded all at once to spread fire, jagged metal, and whatever was left of the crew into the harsh cold. Morning stood by as his final friend was chased down by two enemy Cazadors that ripped and tore into the metal and cockpit of the attack fighter. They left nothing but shattered fragments of twisted alloys and organs. This was the end.

“It was a good run my friends...” Morning closed his eyes as the screen on his fighter faded to black as the missiles impacted his lifeless fighter. It was all over.

SIMULATION OVER. TRAINING EXERCISE COMPLETE. FULL CONTROL RESTORED TO SIMULATED CASUALITIES.

“THAT! WAS! HORRIBLE TEAM!” Jet was very displeased as his ass was facing upwards in his seat when we was thrown about in the simulated augmented reality explosion, “Gotta say though, the UPF training augmented reality really got us going. I actually thought my sister died here.”

“No kidding, my heart was racing all that time. It was just so immersive,” Avia righted herself in her cockpit and pulled up to the guys of Task Force Frostbite, “That was a nice fight. Let's do that again some time!”

“One day Frostbite! You hear me! One day! We're gonna kick your flanks into the ground!” Jet chuckled as he waved his fighters butt to Mitch, who flicked a bit of his brown hair out of the way.

“Funny, every time we run through this wargame the Federation always wins. Are we really that good of warrior prodigies my cousin?”

“Probably. You are the son of the current UPF president and my mom was the best sniper in all of the UPF. It's kinda sad that I never got those genes,” the Glaceon shrugged.

“Well you definitely got your sperm donors genes! Hahaha!” Alyssa teased and stuck her tongue out to her friend.

“Shutup Alley,” Quincy rolled his eyes as she flew in formation.

“Well! You know the rules. Losers buy the drinks!” Strella giggled and formed with the rest of Frostbite.

“Fine, Apple Cider's on me. Yo Mac Book! Can you call your mom real quick?” Jet vectored his fighter into landing approach.

“Do I look like a bartender Jet?” Mac rolled his eyes.

“No, but can you ready up the drones to pass a round of booze? I lost the bet so I'll have to pony up. Come on man, it's been a long day.”

“Whatever Jumpy,” with a rapid clip clop of hooves into his keyboard swarms of drones surrounded the fighters landing onto the ship to help maintain the complex spacecraft.

WELCOME BACK PILOTS. I RECOMMEND A RELAXING ACTIVITY TO SETTLE YOUR NERVES.

“I recommend you shut your bitch ass up Susan,” Jet hopped out of his cockpit and greeted the ships AI, “Just get me a margarita and a round of drinks for these guys. On my tab.”

YES SIR CAPTAIN JUMP JET.

“Dumb drones,” Jet surveyed the automated hangar as only two crewponies stood by to guide the aircraft landing on the carrier. He stood by to look at Sugar Rush and Brain Storm as they started to peek into each fighter to gather data and maintain any odd dents from space debris. Swarms of mini repair drones by their sides to diagnose any problems.

Jet continued on followed by his buddies from the mission with Task Force Frostbite a few paces back talking amongst themselves. As they reached the bar a couple more of their friends were playing cards at one of the circular tables; two unicorns and an earth pony. The red unicorn by the name of Prelude waved to Jet as he came in.

“Yo Jump Jet! Simon, Frag, and I are playing cards against equinity. You wanna join in?” Prelude pushed his tinted goggles up underneath his black mane with pink highlights inherited from his parents. Large bullets sat neatly tucked into his chest and arm rigs that denoted him as the team sniper.

“Nah man. Gotta buy drinks for these assholes,” Jet whispered sarcastically to Prelude as he referred to Frostbite. Jet turned his attention to the light blue unicorn pony named Fragarach.

“Oh come on Jet. You're always up for a round of this stupid game. We're playing against a rubber chicken and it's kicking our asses right now. We need you to help beat it,” Frag smiled to his friend. Although he normally wore his power armor Frag was in a casual attire with only a green shirt and lack of pants, a small dogtag necklace swished back and forth as he moved about.

“Uh, dude there's something in your hair,” Jet pointed a hoof to a strange creature that rested inside the flowing grey and white stripped mane of Frag.

“HOLY-FUCK! SHIT!” he threw the alien centipede to the floor and it crawled away unharmed. The tiny creature laughed and hissed back underneath the door to Brain Storm's room, “Dammit! Why does Brainy keep that thing on the ship? That thing is gonna kill us one of these days.”

“You tell me, I didn't get my dad's love of bugs. At least you can talk to it,” Jet eyed the strange pet as it squirmed away. The peach coated earth pony, Simon, was laughing hysterically as he flipped through the cards.

“Okay! Which one of you said: 'Let's write a fan fiction about an army of skeletons fucking Princess Cadance using the chocolate mousse moose as lubricant?'” Simon pounded the table while laughing all the while. Frag and Prelude looked to each other in surprise then to the black and orange highlighted mane of the peach pony.

“That wasn't me!”

“Neither was I!” their gazes looked to the inanimate rubber chicken as they burst into equal fits of laughter and rage.

Simon threw himself back in his chair and was now rolling on the floor, “The damned rubber chicken beat us?!”

“Fuck my life man,” Frag composed himself as he got up, “You wanna play the next round?”

Jet got up to the bar counter as the rest of his friends came into the bar, “No thanks, put it on my tab Susan. Hey! Don't go crazy on the drinks okay? I'm only buying one round for you guys.”

He hopped off the bar stool and sighed.

“I gotta go pay my dad a visit. You guys go ahead and have fun,” Jet walked out of the bar and back to the hangar. Morning Shine looked at him with a bit of concern.

“Captain! Captain Jet! Hmm, is your brother always like this Avia?” Shine glanced over to Jet's sister.

Avia sighed, “Only when things are bothering him. Come on, let's get the ship captain to talk some sense into him.”

-----

Jet flew on through space and looked out into the cosmos. He let out a disappointed sigh as he flipped his fighter over and navigated an asteroid field to reach the planet the JSF was stationed to protect: Alpha Velocia 98 I. He radioed out to the ground controller below.

“Velocia 98 I, this is Captain Jump Jet of the NGJSF, callsign Vertical. Requesting permission to land.”

“Roger that Vertical. Proceed to landing pad 1-1, out.”

“Thanks ground control. Have my MRAP ready, I need to pay a visit again.”

“Roger that captain. Rough day huh?”

“...Yeah...” Jet shut off his radio and leaned back into his seat as the fighter vibrated as it pierced through the atmosphere. He saw the large city of New Ponyville through the overlay of his holographic heads up display as it directed him to land on one of the helipads of the New Ponyville Airbase. His VTOL fighter landed with a distinct wub wub sound that reverberated from the dubstep engines. As the canopy opened he wasted no time and jumped right out. He left his helmet behind on the seat as his straight red mane flowed in the breeze of helicopter rotors and jet blasts.

“Here you are sir! Your MRAP is ready,” one of the Equestrian marines saluted to Jet as he handed him a wheeled transport. Jet sighed again and simply shook the marine's hoof.

“Thanks,” he cleared his mind as he drove to the First Interstellar Cemetery located in downtown New Ponyville. He had made this journey many times before whenever he needed time to think for himself. He parked the car and eyed the many graves adorned with flowers and trinkets left by loved ones to the many heroes that gave their lives to defend Equestria's ventures into space. He was here to meet one dead pony in particular: his father.

He eyed the simple grave in the farthest corner of the graveyard. He eyed the inscription like he did many times before. It read: “A shining beacon of hope for all those who fought alongside him and to those who called him friend. A normal pony like you or I that did so many good things for Equestria and the worlds beyond. He was a friend, soldier, husband, and part of our family among the stars. Decorated and loved by many nations, liberator of lands like Vulcan Sol and Tidas Aurora. Sky Buster was one of the legends of our time.”

“Hi dad. It's me again,” Jet touched the tombstone and left some flowers for his dead father, “I need to talk to you about some things. About this whole JSF thing. I hate to admit it but Task Force Frostbite kicked our asses again in our usual wargames. It's been the fourth time we've fought against them and we still can't win. Dad, what am I doing wrong?”

The silent gravestone sat whistling the breeze.

“I know, I know. I give it all that I got and my team is one of the best, if not THE best in the whole military. But I just don't get it. I've studied your tactics, your history, and all the things you've done to protect Equestria and everything you held dear. Nelly wouldn't be alive today if you hadn't saved her father from those bugs that took your own life. I wanna be like you dad. Tell me, what is it that makes Task Force Frostbite so much more better than us?”

Jet looked at the grave as it gave back a silent answer.

“Hmph, when you put it that way you might be right. It's not that we're any less than them. But you might be right! We are equals, but they have the better technology. I've studied them too and how their tactics revolve around adaptive combat and fighting outnumbered. Guess I inherited some of your target fixation, haha!” Jet chuckled and patted the tombstone, “You always wanted to make sure that guy never gets away. You always were my guardian angel. Thanks a lot dad. I love you too.”

Jet arranged the flowers again as they blew in the wind. His heavy heart lifted as he saw the petals swirl into the heavens guided by his fathers ghost. He smiled and closed his eyes.

“Well, well, well,” Jet jumped as his commanding officer, Ship, stood behind him with Morning Shine and Avia.

“Um! Captain Ship,” he saluted frantically, “Ma'am! May I ask how long you've been standing there?”

“Long enough to hear everything,” she went up to him and patted his shoulder, “At ease soldier. You know, I expected full well that we weren't gonna come out on top in that engagement.”

“And you went on with it anyway?”

“Mhm,” she nodded, “Look around you. The rest of our friends are having fun. It's still technically peace time you know.”

“So Ma'am, why did you proceed with the simulated slaughter fest?”

“Because it was fun,” she gave a firm chuckle, “That, and I think we've finally cracked the secret to why TFF always kicks our flanks.”

“Oh! Do tell,” a smile shot across Jet's face as he went back to his MRAP.

“Later. Brainy has the scoop on what he's been working on to make sure we level the playing field against the UPF. Once we beat them we can pretty much take on anything at that point. The UPF is the most technologically advanced space empire out there.”

“Thanks for the good news captain. I needed that,” Jet now gave a contented sigh and relaxed into his seat at a red light.

“I told you before, I grew up being the big sister to my triplet siblings. Things were always hectic around the house. At the same time it really taught me how to be a good leader and mentor. I carry that same mentality towards all of the crew.”

“Yes ma'am! Thanks for watching all of our backs captain.”

“Of course. Oh dammit! My mom's calling me again,” Ship reached into her pocket and pulled out her smartphone, “Hello? Mom! This isn't the best time. Yes I'm on Alpha Velocia but I'm kinda in the middle of something. Si... No... Mama! Mom! You're doing it again!”

Jet was doing his best at keeping a straight face as his commanding officer continued to talk. He was failing as bits of laughter escaped from his mouth.

“No! Don't put dad on the phone! You're embarrassing me again! Sweet Filly Luna mom, no I don't have time to pick up the donuts from this planet. What's wrong with Donut Joe's anyway back home?! OH! It's too far! Yeah! Mom I'm ten lightyears away from Equestria you know that right? Mom... Mom! MOM! I'm hanging up now okay? Mom, I-Okay. Okay... Okay I love you too. Bye.”

“She wanted donuts?” Jet suppressed all his urge to laugh as they pulled into the airbase.

“Shut. Your. Face. Jump Jet,” Ship and the rest of her crew looked out to their carrier as it landed on the main airstrip. The massive craft took up the whole of the airbase runway with an impressive aura of shock and awe, “Let's just see what Brainy is up to then. Susan!”

YES CAPTAIN?

“Please pilot Jet's aircraft into the hangar. I am boarding the ship and got my hooves tied up,” Ship enlisted the help of Susan, the carriers artificial AI. It stood for Service Utility System And Network and it helped to keep the whole crew of the spacecraft down to only eighteen with vital crew positions filled in by the operatives of the Next Generation Joint Strike Force.

Several minutes later all of the crew of the EMS Sky Buster gathered at the war room to discuss a breakthrough fighting the Federation in mock battles. The universe was at peace for over twenty four years now with the Apex menace gone, but that didn't stop the United Pokemorph Federation from staging all manners of mock augmented reality conflict with all of its allies. Equus ranked as one of the lowest in the wargames circles among the major space empires. Even the Hylotl, an aquatic race known for its pacifism, outranked Equus with its brand new Imperial Hylotl Navy and Army. Next up on the list is the Avali. They were long term allies of the UPF and Equus ever since the war twenty four years ago. In the mock battles they could not hold a candle to the UPF heavy armor in occupying vital locations and their use of adaptive tactics. Not to mention the most advanced Federation weapons created by their mastermind scientist duo of David and Jill Rivers. Keeping up with the Federation was the alternate universe empire of Corneria. Close allies of the UPF for over forty years the two were inseparable ever since the UPF liberated them from a hidden enemy in an unjust war that shook both their nations. The highest rank was usually held by either the Federation or its Cornerian allies, with the Avali sometimes sneaking in a short lived victory. Hostilies between the Avians and Apex prevented them from taking part in the wargames and the humans funneled all of their resources to fixing their Earth homeworld from all the damage done by a titanic octopus alien, terraforming it back to its prime with the help of all the Coalition Nations.

Ship overviewed the situation described with the rest of her crew. All of them knew of these facts but most showed disinterest. Most, except for Jump Jet.

“Ship, we already know of this. As your diplomatic officer and ambassador I know the Federation all too well. We simply cannot beat their state of the art technology and weapons. War is their sport, they've turned it into a bloodless tournament and their soldiers, equipment, cultural upbringing, and all aspects of their lives revolve around armed conflict. They know every trick in the book and react with such speed and adaptiveness that only their closest allies can compete with them. It's a shame that they never export any of their most advanced technology to Equus while all their allies enjoy their shares,” Prince Iron Cross looked down at the situation. He flicked his long blue tail and adjusted his hat. The earth pony rested his head onto his hoof in boredom.

“Please Cross,” a white pegasus stallion halted his train of thought with his gentle and confident tone, “You should know me by now. Brain Storm, the foal super genius and son of the famed Aurora and Byter. And you, being Iron Cross, prince of Equestria and Germaneigh, son of Twilight and AnY. Come on now my best friend. You know I always have a plan for these situations.”

“Brainy is right. You should all take a listen to this,” Ship addressed to all the ponies in the room as the holographic projector activated to a hologram of the UPFs primary fighter: the Type 10 Cazador. Sugar Rush and Mac Book joined him on stage.

“As you can see here the Type 10 Cazador is the fighter used by the whole UPF Navy and Elite Corps. The special modified versions we encountered today were made especially for Task Force Frostbite. Well rounded and extremely deadly, these fighters are the pain in everyponies flanks.”

“As you can see, these fighters have been designed from the ground up to be modular, with every craft tailor made to each pilot. Each part is designed to be easily reworked and replaced with alternate engines, wings, armaments, you name it. I'm sure all of you are finding that dodging those super accurate missiles to be a pain?” Sugar Rush, the yellow coated and bright blue maned pegasus, talked in a flurry. A fast speaker and thinker, he was the mechanic of the EMS Sky Buster.

“Yeah! None of our current countermeasures work against them. I've studied their weapons too. These missiles don't rely on heat or a radar lock on to track targets. It's all electro-optical. The damned things lock onto the mere image and outlines of our planes! Combine that with thrust vectoring and the genius electromagnetic control surfaces and that missile is just as good in atmosphere or out in space. They've also got some fancy ass software that makes it double back around if it doesn't hit you the first time. I'm interested in what you wanna say Brainy. I really hope this plan of yours works,” Jump Jet expressed his concern.

“It's funny you mention that Jet,” Mac Book smiled to his annoying friend, “Brain and I cooked up a theoretical countermeasure to these missiles that might just give us the edge in fighter combat. Go ahead Brain, I just ran the simulations.”

“Thank you. Now as you know our engines are powered by sound and magic to propel our craft equally as well in atmosphere or in space. What I've done was a modification that emits a loud shockwave of sound carried in a magical pocket that will impact the electro-optical missiles and disrupt the major electronics of it. We will also couple this with an EMP pulse to make sure any pursuing missiles never make their mark. Any questions?”

Jet raised his hoof, “Gotta say guys: THAT IS AWESOME! You finally cracked the UPFs trump card.”

“I got a question. My stealth fighter still cannot be easily locked by electro-optical missiles, correct?” Night Petal raised her hoof to Brain Storm.

“Yes, that is true. Optical camouflage was our only defense against those missiles, albeit a very expensive one. Just watch out for the secondary tracking systems of some Federation missiles. Not all of them rely on electro-optical tracking.”

PRIORITY WARNING: NEW MISSION ALERT!

A new hologram replaced the image of the UPF fighter. It was a briefing for a new peacekeeping mission.

“Alright! Looks like the Federation is asking for our help in controlling some armed terrorists within their universe. Looks like we have to jump realms to get to Lylat,” Ship summarized the mission profile, “What you guys say? Should we partake?”

“Oh yeah! Some action would be nice,” Jet put on a zealous smirk as he flicked down his visor.

“I'm up for it,” his sister smiled.

“Meet you guys at the hangar!” Tough Heart was already on his way to his mech.

“Ready to jump Captain!” Mac rapidly prompted some commands into his portable computer and prepared the engines to make the universe jump.

“Joint Strike Force: LAUNCH!” with her order the ship broke past the light barrier and into a warp portal to the Federations home universe.

Chapter Two: Peacekeeping

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Two: Peacekeeping

Katina, one of the many arid planets of the Lylat system. This was the sight of the first invasion of the Federation twenty five years ago. The flowing sand and large rocks dotted the landscape. Tall, but sparse forests of giant mushrooms were sporadically located around the planet as well. The scene was broken by a pillar of large smoke that erupted from the joint Lylatian and Federation Katina Outpost which had been overrun by an unknown terrorist faction. The ponies of the Next Generation Joint Strike force were in their dropship with Circus Blossom at the pilot seat.

“Alright guys! Thirty seconds to drop! Ship is on the line for the briefing. I'm patching her in!”

“Thank you Blossom. Fillies and gentlecolts we are dealing with an unknown incursion and our UPF allies have asked for help in this operation. The drop zone is hot and you are cleared weapons free. Mac what's up?” Ship flashed on the HUDs of their visors and glanced to the side offscreen.

“I'm detecting more unknown signatures warping in from undisclosed location. Looks like enemy reinforcements. They're just dropships Captain!”

“Okay Mac. Nelly can you send a message to UPF Command to vector in some of their own troops?”

“Solid copy Captain Ship. Say Jet, stay safe out there, okay?” Nelly smiled to Jet as her face displayed on his HUD.

“Course dear. Okay pilots! Did everypony use up their burn cards yet?” Jet looked to his squad.

“I did sir! Got me an amped Spitfire LMG,” Tough Heart brandished his machine gun. On his back was an exported Federation Obsidian portable railgun. All of them were heavily equipped with powered armor, weapons, and two pieces of key mobility enhancing gear. One of which was their pulse jump kits. This allowed them to wall run, double jump, and perform augmented feats of parkour. On the sides of their flanks were miniature 3D maneuver systems. These tiny grappling hooks and their smart latches enable the ponies to attack from all angles even when loaded down with heavy armor. These two sets of equipment made the NGJSF one of the most unique special forces among the major empires.

“You know me Jump Jet! I never leave home without my Dragonfires! Hehehe!” Rush laughed with his mother's glee as he hugged his beloved quadrotor drone. The normally SMG armed flying robot had its gun replaced with a mini rocket launcher.

“My smart pistol can do calculus now,” Avia looked to her miniscule weapon. Her tiny handgun was more than just a simple firearm. An invention of Applebloom, the Mk5 Smart Pistol is a miracle of Equestrian engineering. The supercomputer housed within its tiny frame linked with the homing rounds the pistol fired. The gun doesn't need a manual input to aim from the pilot. All she had to do was get the enemy within the forty five degree firing cone and the weapon will do the rest upon trigger pull.

“I'm saving mine for later. Besides is there anything my Creber can't do?” Prelude had his 14.5mm anti-materiel rifle. He was the best shot in the group during training and was always the first to fire, often kicking things off with a bang.

“Amped up my EVA-8 sir! I'll be good,” Fragarach unlatched his fully automatic shotgun and hovered it near him with his magic.

“Okay! Anypony else?” Jet looked about the dropship. The rest of the team: Simon and Scratch. Shook their heads.

“Alright, here goes mine,” Jet pulled out his own burn card. It was that of an amped B3 Wingman revolver, “Blossom, care to do the honors?”

With a bright flash of light from her horn Blossom ignited the burn card in Jet's hoof. The card was engulfed in flame and burned into embers that floated away. As Jet let go of the flying embers a swirling ball of energy materialized in his open right hoof. The ashes and cinders were replaced with a finely crafted futuristic revolver teleported right on Jet's hoof. He grasped it and smiled.

“Thank you!”

“No prob. Okay pilots this is your stop! Drop! Drop! Drop! Deploy! Deploy!” Blossom signaled to them to drop. They all jumped out together as their jet hooves slowed their impacts at the last moment. Once they hit the ground they stormed the front gate of the occupied Katina Outpost.

“Alright guys! This is a Hardpoint Operation. Patch me into those hardpoints so I can hack into the enemy network. The UPF will provide reinforcements shortly but for now it's just us versus them. I'm having all your titans rearmed now and I'll drop them in when you are ready.”

“Thanks Mac! Squad move up! Fan out and secure the hardpoints!” Jet and his squad jumped the walls and took the less direct routes into the locked down outpost using their hoof thrusters and momentum gained from their running to parkour up, “They're really dug in. Squad on me! Keep moving! Keep alive! Get to cover! That tank hangar over there should be good!”

“Roger Jet!” Avia was putting her smart pistol to good use as the lock on mechanic of her firearm gravitated to the heads of her enemies, “Five downed! Changing mags!”

“You're good sis! I got you covered!” Jet slid into the covered tank hangar and used his wings to sight in with his R101C. Short bursts connected to multiple enemies firing at them from the upper level of the base, “Rush! Can I get some drones here?”

“You got it silly willy! Hehe!” Rush unhooked the two folded Dragonfire drones on his sides and deployed their ducted fan rotors. The two automated quadrotors flew off to support the NGJSF with rocket fire, “Dragonfires are up! Time to party!”

“Good! We can move into position with the drones covering us! Sis, I want you and Frag to flank those machine gunners on the second level of the base! Get creative on your parkour!”

“Will do bro!” Avia winked to her brother.

“Prelude, Scratch! Get up near that spinning sculpture and provide some sniper support for us,” Jet pointed to one far corner of the base outer wall. It was roughly two stories high and provided a good sniping spot that was both level with the main structure of the base and an elevated position of the ground level courtyards.

“On it chief,” Prelude and Scratch grappled out with their 3D maneuver gear supplemented by their thrusters.

“Simon, Rush, Tough! You are on me! We advance once Frag and my sis clear out the-” an enemy Apex soldier dropped down dead to their hooves with a blast of buckshot in his chest.

“Second story is clear sir! Don't mind the dead body!”

Jet chuckled, “Damn fine work buddy! Go go go!”

They hugged the wall and chained their jumps, wallruns, and double jumps to the barracks of the Katina Outpost. The once regal statue of Admiral Fox McCloud fighting off the aparoid menace in the middle of the barracks courtyard was upturned by the terrorists. It dishonored the memory of the once great battle Fox fought here many years ago, before the UPF invaded, and before the discovery of the second universe.

“Heads up team!” Mac Book radioed in. His face displayed at the top right corner of their HUDs, “Enemy dropships are coming in now! They are dropping down pods as well!”

“We can handle it Mac! Prelude! Scratch! What's keeping you?” Jet thruster bucked an enemy Houndour Pokemorph into a wall, instantly killing him.

“In position, let's kick things off!”

The massive explosion at the end of Prelude's rifle propelled a solid tungsten 14.5mm diameter slug into another enemy soldier. This time it was a cat anthro.

“Command be advised, they are of multiple sentient races! Mostly Apex, Human, Avian, Pokemorphs, and Anthros over!”

“Solid copy Prelude, we've received your camera feeds. Looks like they aren't wearing their native armies uniforms either,” Ship looked on at the monitor of her work station. She kept tabs on all of the members with their camera links, “Mac, Nelly, how long until Titans are rearmed?”

“Titans are rearmed and ready! Call it in when you need it guys!” Nelly flashed on their HUDs with a smile and a nod.

“Drop it in Nelly!” Jet smirked as Simon and Frag stood by with him.

“Roger that! Standby for Titanfall!” Nelly punched in a sequence of keys to release the massive drop pods of their battlesuits. Piercing through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds the pods slowed to decent and broke away to land three bipedal battlesuits known as Titans. These marvels of Equestrian engineering were the culmination of twenty five years of research by Applebloom Engineering to provide Equus with a rapid reactionary vehicle in between an IFV and main battle tank. They were designed to be dropped from space as quickly as possible to aid in a planetary assault.

“Okay big guy! Let's take you out for a spin!” Jet jumped into his kneeling walker through the open front hatch. As he took his seat in his Atlas mech several hardwired connectors interfaced with his powered armor to link his natural movements to his robot. The hiss of compressed air closed his cockpit hatch and sealed him inside as the LCD screens booted up to give him a good view of the battlefield. The protective shield of the drop pod broke away as his Titan stood. He wielded his trusty XO-16 20mm chaingun; a beefed up assault rifle firing armor piercing rounds almost an inch in diameter. This was supplemented by a vortex shield and multi-missile launch system.

“Ogre is love, ogre is life!” Tough Heart smirked as his own mechsuit stood. The massive bulky frame of his Ogre class titan was more imposing than Jet's Atlas. Although not as agile the Ogre had a sturdier frame and stronger actuators for punches that could topple whole sky scrapers with just one blow. His Titan didn't wield a conventional weapon designed by Applebloom Engineering or Lastimosa Armory. Instead he had Rush and Brainstorm weld the turret of a UPF Type 37 battle tank onto his robots right arm. Complete with functional 20mm high explosive cannon and 135mm hypersonic railgun.

The other Atlas piloted by Rush was specially upgraded by him to incorporate an advanced AI far better than the standard aftermarket Guardian Chip. It was a hive based AI system that linked with all of his drones to give them their own personality. If only they had personality, seeing as how he used his mother's dead alligator as a baseline for their AI. His drones and Titan were aggressive yet protective like Gummy before them.

“Take out those dropships Titans! Avia, Frag you two take the nearest hardpoint!”

“Roger Jet, moving to objective,” Avia radioed out as she and Fragarach bounced back and forth on the walls in their parkour. Without the need of her sights her pistol continued to lock and kill the enemy grunts on their way to the hardpoint. Their powered armor did well to guard them against the enemy fire as multiple pings of bullets and energy fire bounced off their shields and armor.

“We're at the hardpoint Jet! Mac can you patch in?” Frag iced the room with a flurry of buckshot from his EVA-8. Downing three enemies guarding the computer console.

“Alright! Patching us in. Hold on while I reverse their damage. They seemed to have taken control of the anti air turrets of the base. It's gonna take me a several seconds to hack in and disable them.”

“Hurry up with those cheat codes Mac! Enemy dropships are swarming the facility!” Jet put his chaingun to good use punching holes in the enemy dropships unloading troops via ziplines. They started to overrun the first hardpoint as waves upon waves of enemies swarmed in, “Shit! Avia you got guys coming into the building!”

“Okay!” Avia boosted up and jammed her knife into the wall to hang. Fragarach did the same on the opposite wall as Avia activated her cloaking device. Her whole body turned transparent with nothing but a mere slimmer of an outline.

“Alright! Fan out and find these pony bastards! I want them dead!” the enemy squad ran into the room as Fragarach dropped down from the ceiling. With a firm buck he sent the commander flying into the brick wall with the help of his thrusters. A human terrorist pulled a combat knife to counter Frag but he returned with a firm bite on his wrist to flip his enemy over the shoulder and into the other. A flip of his shotgun into their heads sealed their deaths as three more surrounded him. He stood by as he was outnumbered.

“Squad, gun em!” the wolf anthro ordered before being stopped by Avia, who had their heads locked on with her smart pistol as she disabled her cloak. They all fell dead before they hit the ground merely a foot away from Frag as Avia gave him a little smirk.

“Nice save,” Frag smiled.

“I thought you didn't need it but I just wanted the kill steals. Haha-AHH!” Avia took a hit from outside as she stood near a window.

“Dammit! Avia's been hit and she's bleeding out! It's a sniper! Titans can you do something!”

“We're too busy Frag! Jet! Hey! Hey! What are you doing?” Tough looked on as Jet exited his Titan to let the AI take over. He rushed to the aid of his sister but was hit by the sniper as well. Luckily for him, it only damaged his power conduit on his armor rendering him paralyzed.

“Crap! I'm down! Avia!” Jet yelled for his sister. He was concerned for her safety but foolishly strayed in the open to get shot by the sniper, “Dammit! Give me a sitrep!”

“I can't get to Avia's body chief! She's still in the line of fire of the sniper! Her vitals are dipping!” Frag was in no better position. Enemy squads were advancing into the first hardpoint as bullets pinged and bounced all around him as his cover was chipped away, “And I'm pinned as fuck!”

“Jet do I really have to save your ass!” Tough Heart picked up his friend and placed him inside of his Titan. He boosted away and left his own Titan in AI mode to help with Avia, “Dammit guys! Prelude do you see the sniper?”

“I can't! They've got gunships pounding my position! GAH!” Prelude was knocked to the floor from an explosion. A solid chunk of the sculpture pinned his legs and held him in place, “Shit! I think my legs are broke! I can't move! It hurts! Scratch where are you?”

“I'm down! I'm right here but this statue's got me pinned as well! My HUD shows I'm not too hurt thought. Dammit! We need help!”

“Oh no, no no no no no...” Ship looked on as her friends were in deep trouble, “Dammit! Mac, Sagittarius, you two take over for the command and control. I'm going down there!”

“Let me come too,” Nelly looked to her commanding officer and pleaded, “He's down there too you know.”

“I know... Blossom! Get the dropship ready! Nelly and I are going in!”

“But ma'am, we can't risk losing you too down there!”

“That is an order Blossom! I can't just leave them to die like that!” Ship's heart went out to her boyfriend.

“Ma'am, we're launching as well! Those guys need some air support down there!” Morning Shine and Night Petal spooled up their ground attack fighters and launched from the hangar.

“Copy that! Nelly and I are boarding the transport!” Ship grabbed onto the harness of the dropship as she hastily donned a combat uniform. She whispered to herself, “Don't you die on me now.”

“They're not. We've gone through worse,” Nelly tried to comfort Ship.

“That was in training though, this is real life. If we fail-” Nelly put her hoof to Ship's shoulder and smiled.

“We won't. Rest easy on that...”

“Alright! We're coming in hot! Stand by for CAS runs!” Morning Shine and Night Petal laid waste to the enemies that surrounded their friends with accurate rocket runs from their To-119 Neophrans. This bought some time for Nelly and Ship to drop into the heat of the action.

Nelly and Ship stormed the room where Frag and Avia were pinned. Bursts from Nelly's Federation ARP-5 carbine took the terrorists by surprise and cleared the room with Ship using her own shotgun as well. They cleared the stragglers and got to Frag.

“Captain! What are you doing here?”

“I didn't just want to leave you to die like that,” Ship sighed as Nelly took her 3D maneuver gear and grappled onto Avia's suit to drag her to them.

“It's okay little sister,” she hugged Avia and began to treat her wounds. She used the endearing term even though they aren't related. Avia was like a sister to Nelly.

Tough looked on at the sky as more and more dropships came down. He could see Morning Shine and Night Petal getting run down by enemy fighter jets. With Night and Morning out of missiles and countermeasures they were shot down and were forced to eject into the heat of combat.

“CAS fighters are down! I repeat! CAS fighters are down!” Mac radioed out to all the Joint Strike Force, “We are losing ground. Captain what do we do?”

“Listen up team, we have to pull out. The enemy is too strong and we've got three wounded Prelude! Scratch! Can you beam back up to the dropship with your transponders?” Ship put a hoof to her earpiece.

“URGH! Negative! It's crushed along with my fucking legs!” Prelude gave a firm grunt as he tried to desperately shove the statue off him to no avail.

“My arms are stuck! I can't reach mine!” Scratch was in a no better of a situation.

“That sniper is gonna be a pain in our flank! Captain, we can't get to Prelude and Scratch in time!”

“Frag, I know that! Think Ship think...” she pounded her head with a hoof clenched in a fist. As she zoned out a grenade rolled into the room and exploded into a bright blue pulsing aura with bolts of lightning that chained to their bodies. They all fell to the floor incapacitated by an arc grenade. Their muscles twitched uncontrollably as the electric charge continued. Ship was rolled over onto her back and saw the terrorists deactivate their cloaking systems. Their armor was angular and looked to be much more advanced than what the Joint Strike Force used.

“Stupid motherfuckin' ponies,” the Asian human looked at his prey as he slowly thrust the bayonet of his AK-113 into the arm of Ship. Her screams of pain made him laugh, “You've got a big price on your head you know. This will be a victory for the Pulsar Miltia.”

With one firm twist he completely cut off Ship's right arm and her scream echoed through the base. She was then picked up and slammed into the wall along with her friends, now lined up to be executed. Jet, Tough, and Rush were brought in all heavily wounded and piled into the corner to be gunned down.

“Squad, take some pics. We're gonna show them the before and after images for verification. We're gonna be rich.”

The terrorists lined up with their gun barrels pointed at their heads. Avia's limp body responded as she took her smart pistol in her shaking hoof. Her visor gave six good locks indicated by hexagons to the heads of her enemies. One trigger pull and the gun jammed in this most critical moment. She gasped loudly and managed to turn the enemies attention to her.

“What do we have here?” the enemy squad leader walked over to Avia and crunched down her right hoof with a firm stomp, “Equestrian Smart Pistol Mk5. Amped version huh? It is a shame that such marvelous technology be in the hooves of an extremely inferior system of government. Monarchy, democracy, dictatorships, and governments all mean nothing to the Pulsar. Governments can't solve problems, but we can.”

He took her smart pistol and put it into his empty holster, “Throw her with the others! Kill them all.”

Tough Heart crawled to Ship as he was kicked repeatedly in the gut. He slumped his body over her to try and protect her as a final act of defiance. He threw his arms around her as he heard their guns raise to fire.

“I love-” he was cut off as Ship donned a smile and placed her left hoof to his month. Her eyes stained in tears and blood. She wrapped her only arm around him and didn't want to let go.

Nelly was thrown on top of Jet as they were piled in the corner. Jet saw her heavily beat up and bleeding from her mouth. She was forced to place a piece of glass into her mouth as they took turns beating her face in. Jet couldn't help but cry.

“Nelly,” he crawled closer to her. Her sobs making his heart break as he knew there was no chance in surviving.

“J-Jet...” she coughed out more blood. Jet pulled her in closer with the last bits of his strength, “W-wrap me *cough* in your wings. I'm scared...”

“Nelly...” he wrapped his wings around her tight. She took one of them to shield her eyes.

“You're all dead! Hahaha! Alright boys! Now you can gun em!”

“You sure we can't beat them up some more?”

“Quit stalling, we've had our fun for today,” the squad leader turned his head to his men.

The room fell dead silent as a blast of energy from a UPF mute charge tinted the room with a light bluish haze. The muffled sounds of gunfire and impacts faded away as more voices filled the room.

“This is Mitchell, Hardpoint one is secured and we are uplinking. Federation helljumpers are clearing the base and our fighters are clearing the skies,” they could hear a familiar voice as well as some boosts from UPF exosuits. They instantly knew who it was.

“Copy that Frostbite this is UPF Command. Is the Equestrian Joint Strike Force in the area?”

“Well,” he looked down at them all in the corner and shook his head side to side, “They're here. But their performance was rather poor. Multiple wounded, some critical. Get some medics here ASAP.”

“Copy that! We're already here!” multiple exosuited Helljumpers boosted in from the open hole in the ceiling and began to attend to the wounded ponies. Jet grabbed one of their arms and lifted himself up. He kissed Nelly on the forehead and stroked her mane.

“I'll be back. You say put,” he murmured to her in a tender voice.

“Go gettem...” she smiled back as Jet shook off his pain and approached Mitchell. He was greeted with a smug smile.

“The best special forces in all of Equus I might say?” Mitchell the Buizel looked on at Jet. He flicked his brown mop of thick straight hair to the side.

“Just shut up and give me a rifle! I'm not too beat to shit to fight!” he was taken out of his power armor and only had a basic vest left over. Mitch handed him his R101C and laughed.

“Just try and keep up,” Frostbite boosted up to the top of the building and looked out around the base. Jet followed using a borrowed 3D maneuver gear. The sniper rang out and hit Mitch. He only scoffed as his shield reflected the projectile, “Aly, did you see the shot?”

“Affirmative...” the Vulpix girl took a prone stance and deployed the bipod on her railgun sniper. She was unphased by the machine gun fire landing near her as her steady trigger pull followed with a splatter of blood from the source of the enemy sniper. Jet saw that Alyssa took position near Prelude and Scratch's sniper post and several medics attended to his friends injuries.

The shiny Glaceon with violet hair next to Mitch smiled at Jet and raised his hand in a fistbump, “Hey Jet! Brohoof?”

Jet smiled and returned the fistbump, “I can always count on you not to be an asshole Quincy.”

“On come on, what happened to Q? Makes me sound like a genius spy scientist or something. Or maybe an interstellar omnipotent being.”
(Discord pokes his head in from the background and smiles unnoticed)

“Focus on the mission Q! Strella, you done with the second hardpoint?” Mitch radioed out as he boosted down with Q and Jet. They stood at ground level and sprinted to the next objective. Jet took flight as the two members of Frostbite chained together their boost jumps, boost slides, and air dashes to move unpredictably and as fast as possible. Quincy shot open an air vent and air dashed into the room to land right next to Strella who was caught up with multiple enemies around her. She was in cover as her energy shields recharged.

“What took you so long?” The white haired Spinda Pokemorph glared at Q.

“Ponies I guess.” he shotgunned one of the power armored terrorists in the face as he casually went about with the conversation.

“I can't blame you there. Great show even though the universes don't match up anymore,” Strella reloaded her dualwielded SMGs and flipped her visor down, “It's go time cousin!”

“You bet!” Q broke down the door to the hardpoint room and cycled through the modes on his variable tactical grenade. The selectable munition uplinked with his 3D augmented reality HUD and displayed their enemies in bright red through the walls.

“On three, we breach,” Mitch placed another mute charge on the door, “One, two, three!”

The specialized gadget froze air molecules in place to muffle any and all sounds in the room. Frostbite cleared the room with shotgun, SMG, and assault rifle fire. Jet was left in the dust as he looked on.

“Oh come on! Save some for the pony in the room!” he threw his arms up.

Q laughed and bearhugged Jet with one arm, “Like Mitchell said: you gotta keep up!”

Jet rolled his eyes and whispered to himself, “One day... We will be as good as you.”

“You will,” Q overheard him with his four ears. He pointed to them and grinned to Jet, “Glaceon you know. Four ears.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Jet's own ears flopped back.

“Second objective cleared. Frostbite move out!” Mitch gave his order and Aly joined up with the group.

“Sup guys!” The Vulpix girl boosted in with a power slide.

“Third hardpoint let's roll!”

“This time I'm gonna help,” Jet whistled for his Titan to follow an he embarked the massive mech, “Why did I not whistle you over big guy?”

HEAT OF THE MOMENT CAPTAIN JET.

“Okay, you got me there,” he responded to his AI, “Let's give these UPF assholes some support.”

WARNING: THREAT LEVEL HIGH. MULTIPLE ENEMY TANKS HAVE DROPED IN.

“Jet you gotta keep those tanks off us! Mitch is the only one with AT in our squad and he can't get all of them!” Q radioed out as Dash dashed in with his Titan.

“Will do! I've got them locked! Multi-Missiles firing!” Jet unloaded a salvo of homing missiles onto the enemy tank platoon. The missiles failed to connect as the active protection systems of the tanks stopped his missiles dead, “Shit! They got APS!”

“Well get creative! They're pounding us right now!” Q cut off with a static ping.

Jet looked around and saw the wreck of Tough Heart's Titan. He eyed the destroyed turret once grafted to its arm.

“Let's go golfin'!” he picked up the tank turret and rushed in with his Vortex shield up. He managed to catch two tank shells directed right at him and fire them back at one of the tanks. He used his Vortex shields redirection capability again to redirect another tank shell fired at him into a group of infantry swarming the third hardpoint. He was right up on the first tank, “Fore!”

With one mighty swing be clubbed the tank and sent it flying out of the base into a nearby cliff face. It managed to lodge itself into the wall and exploded promptly.

“Hell yeah! HAHA!” His claps were mirrored by his Titan copying his movements in the cockpit.

“Good work Jet! You got three more tanks to go!” Quency peeked out to see Jet kicking ass.

One of the enemy tanks got stuck on a barricade. Jet crushed it flat and had an idea.

“Oh hello!” he picked up the wreck and bent the gun barrel of the vehicle into a handle. He grabbed it with his robots left hand and marched forward to the last two enemy tanks using the destroyed one as a riot shield. Several missiles and tank shells bounced off the twisted shield as Jet moved in close to rip the turret off of one tank to replace his broken club. He kicked the last tank onto its belly and repeatedly beat the shit out of the lifeless corpse with the turret club.

“Are you dead yet?! Are you dead yet?! Are you dead yet?! Wee!” he dropped the tank turret and riot shield as he spied two of the bailed out tank crew cowering in the corner, “Don't think I don't see you!”

“Captain!” the enemy soldier looked to his superior, “We're all that's left and we're out of options! What do we do?”

“We buy the Pulsar Miltia enough time to evacuate...” the two humans stood their ground, “We die... WITH HONOR!”

“Y-yes sir!” his grunt was scared but ran towards Jet's Titan with a zealous battle cry. The massive mech walked casually to them and picked them up, lifting them up to the rotating camera ball of Jet's Titan.

“He's gonna crush us! Oh God! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!” the grunt and his commander were stuffed into the exhaust port of Jet's Titan. His laughs could be heard outside of the cockpit as his robot farted them out as he caught them.

“Uh? Why didn't he kill us?” the enemy commander asked as Jet popped open his hatch with a devious smile and smug look, “Oh shit...”

He grasped them by their collars and forced their faces together like a toddler making two dolls kiss.

“NOW KISS!” he repeated as their disgusted grunts brought him a good laugh. He stifled his giggles as he held them outstretched with his hands wrapped around their bodies.

“Oh no! What's he gonna do?” they asked as Jet stood still. He then flailed his arms and span them around silly as their screams brought about more chuckles from the sadistic pegasus. Jet then began to juggle them around looking absolutely stupid playing with the enemy soldiers. Even Frostbite could to bear the comedy gold in front of their eyes.

“J-Jet! Ahahaha! What the fuck man?” Mitch laughed on slapping his knee. Quincy was there to help steady his uncontrollably laughing cousin.

“Hey! I'm not done yet!” He opened his hatch and gently sandwiched his two prisoners in between the doors. He unhooked from his seat and plopped his naked plot into their faces letting out a long and much saved bout of gas from last nights bean and cheese burrito. He dropped them to the ground and saw the commander puke. Jet lost it and was a flailing laughing mess in his cockpit, “I'm done! I am fucking done! Ahhh! You UPF guys can take care of it from here.”

Frostbite boosted over and locked them up with handcuffs.

Quincy clapped on with a smile wide on his face, “And who says a warzone can't be funny? You are lucky you work for the UPF my friend! Terrorists like these deserve no mercy. But I suppose comedic torture has its place. Well done Jet. Well done.”

“Yes, I agree,” Mitch smiled as well. He stuffed the two POWs into the back of a UPF APC and walked over to Jet, “It was a pleasure working with you. But please, do train harder. If we are to work together again I want you and your team to be as good as us.”

Jet gave a salute as the four members of Frostbite 2 gathered together.

“I pray for your squad's full recovery Captain! Until we meet again!” a Federation An-2000 VTOL hovered into place near Frostbite as they boarded. Jet flipped his salute into a goodbye wave and nodded. Only to sigh and slump back down on his haunches.

“We still aren't as good as them...”

Chapter Three: Recovery

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Three: Recovery

The radio in the UPF hospital room sang out with a cheery psychedelic tune as Ship tried to pass the time. She looked at the stub where her right arm used to be and sighed. She felt rather depressed as she knew life would never be quite the same. She held onto the stub and sobbed silently.

“Dammit... How could I have been so careless?”

Her door squeaked open with Tough Heart poking in with a smile, “Hey honey! How you feeling?”

Ship only sighed as she messaged her missing limb. Tough could see the pain in her eyes.

“I brought you a surprise,” he opened the door fully as her whole family walked in. They all piled onto the bed to give Ship a big hug.

“Mama! Papa! Guys, you're all here!” she gasped as they surrounded her with love.

“We heard all about it. It was mighty brave of you to risk your life like that,” Smokey comforted his daughter. The brown unicorn stallion gave her a firm noogie along with Ship's mother.

“Mom! Dad! Why?!”

“Blame your father sweetie,” Rio stopped and hugged her again, “I'm so proud of you though.”

Ship looked at her mothers broken horn and looked back at her arm stub. Rio smiled as she touched her daughter's missing limb. This gave Ship some comfort.

“I know what you are thinking. It's not about that. We're the same because we have that fire in our hearts. Not because we lost something that makes us who we are. Don't ever lose that,” Rio sighed and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

“Thanks mom...” she returned the favor with her own embrace. Her mother's flowing fluffy black mane felt warm. She looked at her father. He was a manly stallion with a a well trimmed beard and reading glasses balanced on his muzzle.

Ship's three other siblings piled on and laughed, “Hi sis!”

She couldn't help but smile. She looked to Tough, “You did all this for me?”

“Mhm,” he gave a nod, “I know how upset you are about this. Which is why I pulled some strings.”

There was another knock on the door, “Captain Ship.”

“Come in, come in,” She happily sighed as her siblings gathered around her. Two UPF soldiers entered the room and in came their escort. It was Jill Rivers, one of the most well known UPF scientists and biomedical researchers. The Spinda Pokemorph looked at her.

“You may know who I am. My daughter, Strella, sends her regards,” she adjusted her round framed glasses and looked at her clipboard with her spiraled pupils set in vivid humanoid eyes, “I've been meaning to test a new experimental procedure to help you recover. But I will need you to sigh a waiver and some documents before we can proceed.”

“Hold up, what are you gonna do to me?” Ship was skeptical.

“I want to regrow your arm. I've reached a breakthrough with my organ growing technology and I must have some volunteers to test out my new practice,” she wiped off her glasses on her lab coat.

“What?! Oh! Okay! Where do I sigh up?”

Jill handed her the clip board, “Sign here, and here, and an initial here. Okay then. Follow me.”

Ship's family helped her balance upwards. Her one forehoof bounced back and forth to propel her forward.

“I'm so hoping this works,” Ship left her family outside as she took her place on the operating table. She was strapped in tight, “Um, why am I being restrained? Is this gonna hurt?”

Jill chuckled, “Only more than giving birth. Trust me, Strella wasn't the one to come out peacefully. Hold still!”

Like a mad scientist she donned her goggles as a blast of a radioactive ray hit Ship's stub of an arm. The accelerated regrowth of her new limb caused her whole body to spasm and writhe with burning pain. Her vitals were still well within parameters as Jill went on with the operation. What is was doing to her was accelerating her metabolism to rapidly regrow the missing limb as well as activating long dormant genes for regeneration. The process lasted five long and agonizing minutes. The pain was enough to knock Ship unconscious after the procedure.

“This is my favorite kind of magic... The surgery was a success! Bring them in,” Jill rushed out to greet her patient and her family.

“That was quick,” Tough poked Ship, “Did you knock her out before the surgery?”

Jill smiled smugly, “Um, yeah! Let's go with that! Assistant! Bring out the wasabi!”

A small cup of wasabi was spread on Ship's tongue and it aroused her consciousness. She jumped up and wiped her tongue of in rage.

“YOU SICK BITCH! WAIT TILL I-” Ship stopped as she looked out at her outstretched arms, “Oh... Oh my Celestia... It-it worked!”

She felt her right forehoof as gasped with joy.

“It feels so new! A-and natural!” she was frantic and overcome with joy, “Oh my Celestia and Luna in all the heavens! Thank you!”

She was unlatched from the operating table and rushed to hug Jill. Only to collapse slightly due to her fatigue. Her family was there to catch her but she continued to crawl to Jill.

“How can I ever repay you?”

“You are covered by our free healthcare. As an ally of the Federation you owe us nothing but your continued service. Your team needs you as their leader,” Jill looked on fondly at the photo on her clipboard. It was a victory pose of Task Force Frostbite 1 as they found her in the alternate universe after being sucked into the wormhole she boldly sacrificed herself to save the Federation. There was much joy that day as Jill was reunited with her now loving husband, David Rivers, “Go, run along now. But be sure to take the rest of the day off to gain your strength.”

“This was a miracle. Thank you so much,” Ship was surrounded again by her family.

“Any time. Miracles are what the Federation does best.”

-----

Night had fallen on the planet of Alpha Velocia 98 I. The teeming atmosphere of the big city lights of New Ponyville cast its rays on the landscape of the planet. Jet and Nelly went out for a midnight stroll in the brisk fall air. They were buttoned up warm and stayed close as they trotted on. Nelly was being all cute and rubbing up to Jet. Somehow Jet was still bothered by something.

“Hey,” she prodded him, “Why you feeling so down?”

“I could have lost you...” Jet let out a heavy sigh.

Nelly smiled, “But you didn't. Come on, maybe you need a talk with your dad.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jet walked on with Nelly dug into his side. A short walk ended at the cemetery. As they approached Sky Buster's grave they could see an outline of a pony sat on her haunches. The multi-colored mane of the mare flowed in the wind. Jet approached, “M-mom?”

“Oh, hey Jet,” she sighed as well, “Rough day for you too?”

“You could always read me like a book,” Jet took his place next to his mother. Rainbow brought him closer and held onto her dear child. Her sobs chipped away at Jet's heart, “It's okay mom. I'm here.”

“D-don't you ever do anything that stupid again! You had me really worried,” Rainbow continued to sob.

“Mom, Avia was in trouble. I couldn't have just left her. You told us both when we joined the military together to watch each others backs. I was just trying to keep true to your word,” Jet embraced his mother, “Please, stop crying. I'm right here.”

Rainbow held on, “I couldn't live with myself if either one of you died.”

“You know mom. Nelly told me something nice today. She said we aren't dead yet so why lament over it?” Jet comforted his mother, “You're okay mom. I was always there for you.”

Rainbow Dash wiped away her tears and looked to Nelly, “Smart kid. See, I always knew you two would go together like zap apple jam and peanut butter. Come on, don't be shy.”

“I'm not Miss Rainbow,” Nelly bowed respectfully and joined in the group huggle.

Rainbow grinned as she put her wings around them, “You remind me so much about your father. You were always quite the Casanova Jumpy.”

“Mooom!” Jet blushed, “You're embarrassing me in front of Nelly!”

Dashie giggled and licked her hoof to straighten up Jet's hair, “I know. That's what I'm here for. Stay sharp kiddo.”

“Don't you worry mom. I've always done my best.”

-----

Avia was flying with her father through the skies of New Ponyville on their way back home. Soarin and his daughter looked back and forth to the ground.

“Now remember sweetheart. This is a surprise for your brother. I know he's been feeling rather down after that rough first mission.”

“That was kinda my fault though. I didn't see that opened window where that sniper shot me from. Look, there they are!”

They landed right near the cemetery with a soft thud, “There you are bro. It's getting late out. Dad and I were getting worried.”

“Avia I'm not a little foal anymore you know. Plus, mom is with me right here.”

“Oh okay then. I was wondering where she was,” Avia rubbed up to her mother, “You've been gone all day. I missed you.”

“My baby girl...” she returned her affection with a soft pat behind her head, “Come on guys. Let's fly home.”

“Ahem,” Nelly sat with a whimpered face. She pointed to her back and her lack of wings.

“Duh mom,” Jet rolled his eyes, “we'll just walk back to your house. We'll manage.”

“Okay then. See you guys there.” Soarin took off with Avia and her mother. Jet and Nelly looked at each other and sighed happily.

“You wanna say something nice to your dad while we're still here?”

“Nah, he's already done his part to heal my heart. Thanks dad,” Jet placed another small flower onto his father's grave. They trotted back to his parent's house.

-----

Hours before there was another round of exosuit training was up for Frostbite. Using their augmented reality devices they held a city wide event to simulate an invasion. The whole city was under siege by Mandarin forces. It was an age old rivalry between the two UPF provinces of USTN and Mandaria now being settled in virtual space. With civilians and noncombatants fully participating in the war event the training couldn't get any more real without harm. Frostbite was in position on top of an old factory building providing overwatch of the Emerald City port district.

“Multiple infantry targets advancing towards the shipping docks. If they retake that they'll cut off our surface to air defense grid,” Mitchell peered through his binoculars and marked targets for their allies.

“Confirmed. You have gunship support. Gu-1s are inbound,” the sound of jet engines flew past them as three wingless and rotorless gunships went overhead, “Foot mobiles spotted, engaging.”

The semiautomatic 25mm railguns mounted underneath them rang out with charged pulses. While in reality firing off empty discharges the augmented reality relayed the explosions back to their HUDs.

“Multiple confirmed KIA. Standing by for overwatch,” the gunships radioed back out as they hovered above to secure the SAM sights.

“Alright Frostbite. Good work keeping the docks open. Let's retask you to take back the air museum. Mandarin troops and USTN are fighting it out for the airport. The enemy has set up command and control assets inside the air museum's control tower. I need you guys to clear it out. Just make sure you don't damage anything,” their commander gave them their orders.

“Solid copy dad,” Alyssa responded to her father.

“Be advised. Strategic Defense Commandos are holed up in that location. Expect a heavy firefight on your hands,” Admiral Ghost advised, “Stay sharp kids. I know we're training you to the bone but keep it up. You're doing the UPF proud.”

“They always gotta say that,” Strella sighed, “Day in and day out it's always training, training, and more training. When do you think we can get a break squad lead?”

“When we're dead that's when,” Mitch rolled his eyes, “Besides, what are you gonna do if we have a break?”

They boarded an An-2000 VTOL that hovered near the edge of the building to pick them up. The ship lifted off and flew at low altitude to evade enemy radar.

“I dunno. Annoy my butler I guess. Take a soothing bubble bath, eat some fancy imported truffles, maybe go to Canterlot for the culture. You know, all the fru fru stuff I enjoy,” Strella preached her lavish wishes.

“Say Mitch. Did you hear about that sniper we took into custody that shot at one of those ponies the other day?” Q patted his cousin on the shoulder.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Get this, it was Nightwing Laurent. The third best sniper in all the Federation.”

“What? No way,” Mitch shrugged it off, “He worked with your mom and was awarded the UPF Liberator Medal. How could he be part of that enemy terrorist group?”

“They've locked him up under house arrest. Turns out he wasn't taking his pills for his PTSD and just went off the deep end I guess. Strella, doesn't your mom have a cure for that mental illness yet?”

“I dunno Q. She's always off experimenting on stuff I don't know or even care about,” Strella sighed, “I'm bored. When are we gonna get there anyway?”

“ETA thirty seconds Frostbite! Get ready to drop!” the pilot of the VTOL opened the side doors.

“Look at that,” they looked out to see tracers of anti air fire and explosions coming from the city. As they took off their visors they reaffirmed that they were all just simulations plastered onto their vision. They refocused and readied for the drop into enemy territory.

-----

“Shh! Is he coming?”

“I dunno, shut up Prelude!”

“Hey, you're not the one trying to hide with a wheelchair Mac.”

“Can you please keep it down! They're gonna be home any minute!” Soarin's voice pierced through the dark room as everyone hid behind whatever they could find to await Jet and Nelly's arrival. Only a few seconds passed before Jet entered the room with the squeak of the door. He flicked on the light.

“SURPRISE!” the whole room was filled with the smiling faces of all his friends and their family. Nelly's mother and father came forward.

“Congratulations on the first successful mission!” Kim, now the head of the Equestrian Interstellar Spy Agency, saluted to Jet.

“But, Miss Kim. I almost had my entire squad killed,” Jet sighed.

“Oh lighten up good chap! This is a party after all! A party just for you and for all of you,” Tony Pony smiled as he pointed to the table. Digi was right there with Applejack to present the food.

“Knowin' you Jet. You must have a hankering for sum good ol' fashioned Fillypino food! So dig in!”

“Oh boy!” Jet rushed to the table, “Sisig! Lechon! Lumpia! Ano na man? Is that leche flan? Sino na loto ni?” Jet asked who cooked this in Fillypino.

“Ako man,” Digi responded, “Actually I ordered it from a Fillypino restaurant in Canterlot. And we all brought it all the way from there.”

“Salamat Tito Digi,” Jet hugged him and thanked him for the food.

“Since when did Digi learn Fillypino?” Nelly asked her mother.

“He lived there for a few years. Back before everything crazy,” Kim tucked her daughter under her wing.

“Mom! I'm not a filly anymore,” she blushed and giggled. When Nelly was younger she sought after the comfort from underneath her mother's wing.

“No, but you're still my filly,” she wrapped her wing around her and brought her closer.

“Eep!” Nelly let out a small yelp as her ears flopped over as she was flustered with embarrassment. Her brother and father took to the table to get some food.

Prelude and his mother sat together awkwardly in the corner eying the others at the party.

“So uh, what happened to your legs son?” Eliyora couldn't help but notice the wheelchair.

“Four gunships pounded my sniping nest bringing down a giant metallic sculpture to crush both of my legs, nearly killing me. Same old same old mom. How's the job at the newspaper?”

“Again, same old same old. But to be fair with all this time I have now I've been traveling back and forth between universes. And it all works out because I have to keep in touch with both realms for Equestria Daily,” Eliyora took off her regal blue jacket and placed it on her son, “Thought you might be cold darling.”

Prelude just rolled his eyes and smiled as he took another sip of his healing potion prescription, “I'll be okay. A few weeks of this and I'll be back in the fight.”

Commander Firebrand and Ink Rose were at the party as well. Like the others they took the time to catch up with their children.

“So son, how's it like working with the squids, flyboys, and army guys?” Firebrand chuckled.

“Surprisingly combat effective father. Even though the first mission didn't go as planned we still made it out mostly in one piece. Well, mostly. I'm not to sure about Captain Ship though. I hope she is doing okay,” Morning Shine glanced back to his father as he got another plate of food.

“How about that Night Petal girl in your squad. I've seen you eying her here and there,” Firebrand smiled.

Shine blushed and his ears flopped down, “Father please.”

“Nah! I'm just messing with you. Oh and can you make sure your sister doesn't set anything on-” Firebrand was interrupted as his daughter set her flan on fire.

“Too late father...”

“What? I actually wanted crème burlee,” Blossom blew out the small flame to her improvised dessert.

“Always with the fire huh Blossom?” her mother sighed, “I'm still amazed you never set the house on fire.”

“I was always careful with my bomb making. Don't forget the time I set the shed on fire.”

“The many times you've set that shed on fire,” Ink Rose corrected, “But to be fair it all worked out when you and your brother joined the Marines.”

“I honestly never knew how fun explosives were until I joined up as an EOD tech. I learned the best from dad you know.”

“I know,” Ink Rose tucked her daughter under her wing, “I'm just glad you're safe my baby girl...”

“Stop the presses!” Captain ship burst through the front door with her family in tow. The whole room looked to her in surprise

“Captain! Y-Your leg!” Jet gazed in awe.

“That's right. I'm back in business,” she entered the house with her familia.

“Ma'am, how is that even possible?” Shine came forward to see her new leg.

“I can explain that,” a peculiar looking pony in a lab coat walked in after Ship. She was escorted by two ponified UPF soldiers like before, “Greetings from the United Pokemorph Federation my friends. I am Jill Rivers. Lead biomedical scientist and researcher in all of the Federation. Pardon my pony form, I'm usually a Spinda. This helps me keep a low profile.”

“Um, how does that work?” Jet poked her. The peach and brown unicorn that was Jill rolled her eyes.

“It's a simple process really. I repurposed our teleporter technology into a genetic and molecule restructuring device to switch forms and identity at will. This is how the UPF likes to implant our spies in all nations. That and it serves well to disguise our VIPs.”

“Huh, high end tech for the rich guys huh?” Jet stroked his chin.

“Well, not exactly. We in the Federation keep an abundant quota of resources for the population. Which is why we are often said to be where the one percent is the ten percent in the Federation. Our middle class is your upper crust my friends,” Jill spoke with an air of sophistication, “You have to visit some time. Just don't mind the trolls.”

“Yeah, last I heard it wasn't all that welcoming to ponies like us. And all because we somehow were this girly TV show or something. What bullshit is that?”

“I know, but everything isn't perfect. This is the only time I've seen the country split on a decision. We're holding elections whether or not to continuing support your planet and your colonies or to leave you be. People in my nation feel threatened by your species,” Jill explained.

“For what?” Jet cocked his head to the side.

“They feel attacked by the very idea of the virtues you helped to preach. The right wing extremists say that the military tradition and very definition of masculinity is endangered by your race's 'contamination.' I for one think it's all a bunch of horse shit,” Jill flicked her tail.

“Makes sense seeing as how the UPF has a strong military culture and where everyone is expected to be tough enough to make the cut in the military. It's mandatory to join the military in order to have a say in politics right?”

“Yes Captain Jet. Going back to the elections at hoof, if it passes then the UPF will withdraw all its support for your nation and change its outlook from being our allies to a neutral entity. I'd hate to see that go. You have been such an inspiration for my nation.”

“That's bullshit,” Jet shook his head in disappointment, “Equus still hasn't established enough space colonies to be self sufficient. We rely on the Federation for supplies, exports, and imports to bolster our economy. Why would they do this?”

“Because the UPF has nothing to lose if connections are cut. To be honest I'm not the only one who blames the current president for this, even if he is my brother in law.”

“That's rough. I hope you can talk some sense into him,” Jet pointed his head to the table, “You want anything to eat?”

“No thank you. I've already eaten dinner,” Jill sighed, “I'll try to. Mikey is stubborn though. He always says how the ideals of Equus should not be taken seriously in the UPF and how it damages our society. He's concerned that it would make us too soft and stain the perfect military traditions of the Federation. After all this 'flawless' logic dictates that if it has worked for centuries then it should never be changed. He says the same thing about other alien influences other than Lylat.”

“I see,” Jet sighed.

“Well, no matter what happens Equus will shine on strong! We'll be okay just as long as the sun and moon smile upon us,” Captain Ship shared her renewed vigor and sense of optimism.

“Excuse me Captain. Can I try whatever you did to help heal my legs?” Prelude rolled up in his wheelchair.

Ship gave a little chuckle, “Trust me dude. You don't wanna go through it unless your arm was cut off.”

“I guess you'd give an arm and a leg for that huh guys?” Jet sat with a wide open mouth grin looking all stupid to the equally cheesy pun.

“Fucking Jet...” Ship just slid her face right into her hoof.

Chapter Four: Familiar Foes on Foreign Lands

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Four: Familiar Foes on Foreign Lands

A week had past by and the crew of the Joint Strike Force was bored and aimlessly rifted through space around their home planet of Equus. Captain Ship played around with her chair to twirl and whirl with a blank stare off into the distance out of boredom. She sighed.

“When are those new recruits coming in? Prelude is still a cripple and I need those soldiers to fill in the gap,” she revolved her chair around randomly with her joystick. Once she let go however the chair started to flop and flail the stick and send it jerking back and forth, “Okay! Whoa! Hey! No! Noo!”

Nelly was asleep using her brother's back as a pillow in the corner. Sagittarius was also sawing logs. Nelly stirred into a half conscious state as the beeping rang from her control console.

“Hmm... Jet put the snooze off,” she tapped a limp hoof onto the space bar and brought up a hologram of one of the new recruits.

“Yes hello!” the red pegasus stallion with split yellow hair and neon green highlights was on screen, “Comrade Ship we are here as you requested.”

“Oh um!” Ship continued to fumble in her chair, “Sorry about that Lieutenant Red! My chair is on the fritz! I sincerely welcome YOU! Oof! To the Next Generation Joint Straa! Strike Force! Waa!”

Ship jumped off and tried to screw her head back on, “Welcome my Stalliongrad friend! I will meet you in the hangar shortly.”

“Spasibo Captain,” the hologram faded as Ship hung up the video chat. She whistled loudly to wake Nelly and Sagittarius.

“Hey! New recruits are here maggots. Shape up!”

Nelly jumped and tumbled onto her brother. They both jerked awake and stood to salute, “Yes ma'am!”

“That includes you too Mac! Uh Mac Book?” Ship looked to Mac's work station to find him watching anime with full headsets on blocking out all sound, “MAC!”

Ship pulled him away and dragged him off into the hallway, “Let's go dude.”

“Captain! That was the best part! I have to know what happens next to Ere-” he was cut off by a slap to the face.

“You, be social and meet these new recruits. We can't have the JSF be so unprofessional with the new guys coming on.”

“MA RIDE KO SANG CARABAO!” Jump Jet managed to somehow smuggle a full sized water buffalo to ride inside of the ship as he strolled down the hallways parading it, “WOO!”

“Mother of all fucks...” Ship slid her face into her hoof, “Where in Luna's asshole did you get that water buffalo?”

“Tita Fluttershy and I went to the Fillypines that's where,” Jet smiled bluntly.

“Will you please stuff that thing in a closet or something? The new recruits are here.”

“Oh shit! I didn't know it was today! I gotta look the part!” Jet whipped the reigns of his beefy steed, “YIP YIP!”

The beast charged through the hallway and knocked over some shelves.

“I'll clean that later! Woo!”

“Seriously, it said professional on his list of key traits. Why did I hire him onto the team anyway?” Ship glared into the distance.

“He's a skilled fighter pilot with a heart of gold and constantly pushes himself and the squad to do things better. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have come along too,” Nelly injected an ounce of reasoning.

Ship sighed, “I guess you're right. Still, gather up all the team we need to welcome the recruits!”

A few minutes later the whole NGJSF gathered in the hangar to greet the new arrivals. Even Jet was in formal attire having flipped the switch in his head to full military discipline. Ship started the introductions.

“Next Generation Joint Strike Force. I have gathered you all today to welcome our newest members. Due to the recent wounded we've taken I have decided to request Equus for these fine new soldiers. Welcome them all! Let's start with you Lieutenant Red October.”

“Spasibo. Hello comrades, I am Lieutenant Red October of Stalliongrad. Captain Jump Jet your mother may know of mine,” Red spoke in a deep Slavic accent. He saluted with both a hoof and his neon yellow wing that contrasted with his red body.

“Oh yeah! You're Nuke's kid huh? Son of the chief nuclear researcher of Equestria I see. Welcome aboard! Say, nice AK,” Jet shook his hoof.

“Ah! The fine Kalash twelve. Carbine version with my very own nonstandard improvements. I see you have an eye for weapons my friend!”

“And maybe some vodka for later?” Jet smirked.

“Ho ho! Now that is a party! I prefer Simonov brand for the finest distilled flavor.”

“Woo! Welcome to the team!” Jet brohoofed Red and the rest of the team greeted him as well.

“I'd also like to welcome Flip Flash and Water Wings. Flip why don't you go first?” Ship encouraged him forward.

“Um, thank you Captain!” he gulped nervously. Jet eyed him.

“So fresh meat, what can you do for the team?” Jet put on his war face.

“U-Um! I am a Master Sergeant Medic sir! Proficient with energy based firearms and I always pull through for the team sir!” Flip shook.

“Hmmm...” Jet was skeptical, “I dunno Captain Ship. You think we can weed this one out?”

“Well if you need to Captain Jet, feel free to try his luck on the range over there,” Ship agreed. They could see the fear in Flip's eyes.

Jet tossed him a UPF ARP-5 pulse rifle, “Show me what you got rookie. I want to see your all.”

Flip took a deep breath and steadied himself. He bought a few seconds to familiarize himself with his new rifle and looked down the makeshift range.

“Pop up targets! Don't tell me you're scared of those rookie,” Jet took his place at the controls.

“I'm not sir!” Flip readied his rifle and whispered to himself, “Come on Flip you can do this.”

“READY!” Jet yelled, “Go!”

Flip combed his short light brown mane and shouldered his rifle. His aim was adequate as he had no trouble hitting the targets, only occasionally missing a few. This wasn't enough to impress Jet or Ship to the light blue pegasus with short white wings.

“Come on! Harder! Pretend we're fucking dying over here and it's all on you!” Jet pushed him harder.

Suddenly a switch flicked on inside Flip's head. His eyes turned from quaking to zealous. He channeled his fear into zealous rage as he went on full overdrive to let loose fully controlled bursts of accurate fire on the fast popping targets. His eyes darted back and forth from his ammo counter to his iron sights. He jumped the crate that served as his firing platform to advance onto his static enemy now popping up ever sooner. With a rapid single click his rifle ran dry and he pulled his pistol from the holster, still continuing to fight on as the targets popped up more frequently. With all his ammo exhausted he turned to his blade and began to knife each one that dared to pop up. He alternated with knife swings, bucks, and unarmed strikes to finish off the session.

“Sir! How'd I do sir?!” he saluted breathing heavily with stoic and unmoving stance.

Jet nodded his head, “That will do nicely.”

He went up to him and grabbed his hoof to bump it to his chest, “Welcome to the team Rookie. Don't mind if I call you that as a nickname?”

“Sir, I wouldn't have it any other way,” Flip felt welcome. Jet patted him on the shoulder.

“Please, feel free to call me Jet. You look rather unique with that white stripe on your muzzle.”

“Thank you,” he saluted and returned back to his place in line with the others.

“Next we have Water Wings. Say hello!”

“Hello everypony!” the watery blue pegasus mare smiled as she raised a hoof, “I'm a, diver with two years of service with the Equestrian Navy. Oh, what else can I talk about? Um, I excel at underwater operations and stuff. I also know how to pilot minisubs and things like that. Sorry if I am being awkward. I should just show you what I can do.”

Water Wings pulled out her laptop and projected a hologram of a video to the team. The video started off at the Equestria Games as an announcer introduced her.

“Ladies and gentleman, fillies and gentlecolts of all ages! We are excited to see the finals of the competitive endurance swim featuring Equestria's every own Water Wings! This is the story of the year folks as this up and coming star swims her way into the record books like no other pegasus before her. With one bronze medal already on her belt you can see the passion in her face as she bravely swims across the Manehatten harbor in first place! Look at her go! Will she be the first to the finish?”

“Looks like the Stalliongradi Lydia Volga might be giving her a run for her money as the two OH! That was a photo finish ladies and gents! Let's take a look at the replay!”

She cut off the clip and smiled to them, “I got the gold that day. But I remember it more for what happened after the games. When I faced Lydia again she was bitter and broke me down. I was broken as she said all those insults to me.”

“Da, da. I remember that too. She was using steroids that day too. I never liked her as much as glorious comrade Vladmir Vostok! Won fourth place that day for the pride of the great Stalliongrad!” Red preached on, “sorry, I got carried away.”

“I started down a depressive spiral. I wanted to quit my love of swimming and throw all my awards away. I wanted to give up. Then something called to me like a ghost of someone I never knew. It pulled me into the military, the navy. I was frantic and depressed. I joined and they taught me so much. They lifted me up and I became a combat diver. I became tough and no longer was I a weak stream but a raging torrent. I guess that is all I guess...” she awkwardly repeated here and there.

“You're good. We could use that endurance of yours. Welcome to the team!” Jet saluted to her. She saluted back with an awkward smile, “Take it easy okay?”

“Yes sir!”

“By the way, are you trained to use those underwater assault rifles Equestria fielded recently?”

“You mean the Special Dual-medium Assault Rifle? Of course I'm proficient with the SDAR. Oh! I forgot,” she pulled out a pin from her saddlebag and presented it to Jet, “Equestrian Navy Seals. Thanks to my endurance and affinity for water I got out of my training at the top of my class.”

“Well good on you!” Jet smiled, “We really needed a combat diver. Maybe you can show us a thing or two about underwater warfare!”

“In due time sir.”

The alarm to be mission ready sounded. They all looked up to the intercom as SUSAN announced in her robotic voice.

“Priority Mission! Distress call inbound from Alpha Harobed VI system.”

“To anyone who reads this! This is the United Equus Space Force outpost on Alpha Harobed Six! We are currently under attack by unknown forces magical in nature! Dammit! They've breached the outer bulkhead! Get Chancellor AnY and Miss Kim to the panic room! Oh sweet Luna they're coming out of the walls! They're coming out of the Celestia damned walls!” the voice of the marine cut out with a bloody spatter and a cry of pain followed by static.

Ship nodded, “Well Jet you call the shots. Pick your team and get down there ASAP!”

“Roger ma'am!” Jet pointed to his picks, “Avia, Tough, Rush, Flip, and Red you guys are with me! Sorry to field you on your first day but let's get you out there for some hands on training!”

“I'm going with you too!” Nelly stepped forward, “That was my mom they were talking about.”

“As am I,” Iron Cross nodded stoically, “My father as well.”

Jet smiled in agreement, “I figured you wanted to come. That's why I only picked six.”

“Can we stop jibber jabbing and get down there? I've already got the dropship fired up,” Blossom took the initiative to ready her dropship for departure.

“To the armory! Lock and Load bitches! We're going into a bunker complex so let's skip the 3D maneuver gear and just use our jump kits,” Jet ordered to his squad.

They all gathered their weapons and equipment. They each called out their weapons for their role.

“I got my pulse rifle!” Nelly turned to Jet with her UPF ARP-5C carbine.

“Smart Pistol for me like always,” Avia smiled.

“Spitfire LMG sir!” Tough Heart turned his head to Jet as he packed on the magazines of his machine gun.

“Whoa there Cross. Whatcha got?” Jet threw his R101C assault rifle on his back.

“AnY Corporation MX Marksman rifle. It's an old family favorite,” Iron Cross brought his personal rifle from his room. The odd firearm looked like a cross between a real life ACR and an XM8 only in DMR form.

“Dronies for me Jet!” Rush packed his robots as well as an R97 SMG.

“Yo Rookie! Don't scratch that rifle. It's expensive you hear?”

“I won't Captain Jet!” Flip still had the Federation ARP-5 full sized rifle from before, “What mags does this thing use?”

“Electron Charge Packs! They're in the UPF ammo locker! It pays to have the UPF as allies. Their guns, medicine, and plane parts are top notch,” Jet directed him to the ammunition locker filled with all sorts of foreign UPF munitions.

“I need 5.45 millimeter for my Kalash!” Red October called to Jet.

“We file that under the 'Other' ammo since we don't see much Stalliongrad made weapons around here. Which would you like? Thirty, forty five, or sixty round casket mags?”

“Quad stacked all the way comrade,” Red picked the thick sixty round casket magazine for his AK-12U out of the neatly arranged ammunition locker.

“Alright squad! Burn cards?”

A few of them gathered to together as Jet pulled out his lighter. In his roof was one for an amped R101C. Avia had one for a regenerating supply of arc grenades to be dispensed out of her magic storage pouch. Nelly pulled one of her own she saved for a this special occasion. It was the HUD Highlights given to her by one of her Avali raptor friends. Her visor now highlighted enemies in line of sight to aid her snap onto targets. Jet gathered the two new recruits as well.

“You guys get these. These are what we call Burn Cards. You light them up and you get a favor,” Jet and the others lit their Burn Cards and magic charmed their respective equipment. Jet's rifle was replaced with one much more finely crafted and factory fresh.

“Okay,” Red leaned in to light one on fire but Jet stopped him.

“Save these when you really need them. I suggest you burn your Pay Raise Burn Card for more cash towards your weapons and upgrades.”

“Okay comrade. Whatever you need,” Red did as he was told and lit the Pay Raise card on fire. The embers lifted and nothing else happened at the moment.

“Sir! I'd like to use this!” Flip came forward with his own. It was a card for Regenerative Biofoam, a UPF issued card, “I'm convinced we might need it.”

“Better safe than sorry I guess,” Jet touched the card with the flame. Magically packs of the substance appeared in Flip's medical bags for a one time use, “Ready up! It's go time bitches!”

“Yes sir!”

They rushed to the hangar and boarded their dropship. Blossom took off into space and used the ship's short range jump drive to quickly enter the atmosphere of the nearby planet. They wasted no time and within a few seconds they deployed onto the ground by jumping out of the dropship. They softened their landing with a pulse of their jump jets.

“Command we are on the ground. Proceeding with mission,” Jet

“Solid copy Jet. Camera link established,” Mac Book came up on his display.

As they neared the entrance of the bunker they saw the signs of forced entry. The blast doors had been pried open by the claws of many creatures trying to find a tasty meal inside. There were dead ponies and destroyed military vehicles that littered the outside.

“Holy shit,” Nelly examined the scene, “These were MBT-72 Kumas. How can anything on a threat level one planet cut through our most advanced tank armor with such ease?”

The main battle tanks that guarded the bunker were torn into and rendered with claws and melting energy weapons.

“Stay sharp team. Whatever did this might still be around,” Ship advised to them.

“We're entering the facility. Somepony get out their motion tracker,” Jet ordered to his squad.

“I got it sir!” Rush pulled out a portable radar that could track moving objects even through walls.

“Switch to night vision,” their visors lit up green to highlight their vision in the pitch black of the bunker interior. Red emergency lights flickered on and off as the whole power was cut from the base. They trotted onwards finding more signs of death around every corner. They started to feel unease as they passed dead body after dead body. One of which fell onto Nelly from the ceiling. It was cut in half.

“AAAAAHHH!” she screamed as she jumped onto Jet, “OH CELESTIA HE'S CUT IN HALF!”

Jet embraced her, “Don't look. Hey command are you getting all this?”

“Je-you're bre-ing up!” his radio started to turn to static, “Som-ing is jamm-the signal! Mac ca-you-”

It cut out and they were left in the dark. Jet tapped his headset radio, “Hello! Hello! Restore the com link! Hello!”

There was nothing but static.

“Anyone else having trouble?” Jet comforted Nelly as they hid the body. A few of them puked from all of the blood stains, organs, and bodies that littered the base.

“I got nothing,” Flip tried his luck.

“Nothing on my end either,” Rush quivered.

“This sounds a lot like a horror movie cliché. Since the blue ponies always die first we all stick together. Since most of us are blue and/or shades of violet,” Jet looked back and forth keeping aware of his surroundings. The still whistle of wind and the sparks of an empty hallway were all the sounds around them aside from their metallic clip clop of hooves.

“This is creepy,” Tough covered all lines of sight with his friends.

“When I was a little silly and the sun was going do-” Rush stopped singing his mother's song as he was overcome with fright, “Uh... Guys! I thought I heard something!”

“I heard it too,” Jet looked forward, “Motion tracker! Now!”

Rush looked to his motion tracker as it pinged with a green friendly blip not part of the group. It was followed by a bloodcurdling scream and the dot replaced with red on the trackers screen.

“HILF!”

“That wasn't ours,” Jet's eye's widened to the size of dinner plates as his team froze in place with fear, “C-come on! We need to check it out!”

They stacked up on the door that led to the infirmary.

“Red, you breach!” Jet ordered.

“Da! Stand back!” He bucked the door open and the eight pony team filed in to secure the room. It was covered walls to ceiling with blood, “Der'mo, what could have done this?”

“Captain, take a look at this,” Flip shined a flashlight to the only dead body in the room followed by a suspicious opened air vent that was somehow clawed open. Fresh and dripping with blood. He examined the body as the team watched the entrance and air vent, “This doesn't make sense. He looks like he's been dead for a week. Even more perplexing is the cause of death. It looks like something burst out of him.”

“Sounds like-” Jet recoiled, “Chryssalids... Those things killed my father.”

“Jet, stay focused,” Avia came forward, “Cross and Nelly's parents are still in here. They might still be alive.”

“Look at this,” Cross took a gander at the body, “He's part of AnY corporation. German.”

“We know that, come on. My sister is right we gotta find out what happened here.”

“HILFA!” another voice resounded deep within the base. Cross gasped.

“That was my father! We have to help!”

“Let's go then!” They all rushed out of the room to follow the sound of the voice.

Down the hallway to the left and past a sealed blast door they pried open was a large warehouse room they heard the scream come from. The wide open room was pitch black as their night vision somehow turned to static.

“I got no visuals!” Flip tried to reboot his visor.

“Me neither!” Avia did as well.

“Something's not good...” Jet backed up into a kill circle with all of them as they all turned on their weapon mounted flashlights. There was nothing odd about the storage room. It was oddly free of blood and damage.

The lights came on and with it came a menacing laughter mechanical and organic in nature like a twisted monster made of metal and flesh. Which it was and it was all too familiar.

“My my my...” the evil seductive, biomechanical voice called from the shadows, “You're all grown up now.”

The voice gave a low chuckle as Jet and his team were quickly engulfed with chitinous cocoons that shot out of the floor. The glowing slimy pods sealed them in their place as hordes of deformed Changelings stepped forward to surround them. Among them was their queen. The black chitin, perforated legs, and thin insectoid wings were all glowing with some sort of circuits that melded into the flesh. Even the holes on their legs were hexagonal in nature and their manes were replaced from a dull, dark grey to more of a color of cobalt. Their queen stepped forward in full view, a mangled and oddly graceful mess of melded machine and insect.

“It's been so long since I've seen your parents. Tell me Jump Jet how is your mother, Rainbow Dash, doing?” Queen Chrysalis stoked a hoof onto Jet's chin to level his head to her eye level. Jet spit onto her face.

“Fuck you! My mother isn't involved in this!” Jet boiled in anger, “I can't! MOVE!”

“Pity she did a terrible job teaching her son good manners. I wasn't going to kill you had you not done that,” she bled an aura of superiority. Her face had glowing trails of cobalt blue circuits.

“I'd like to see you try!” Jet was stubborn and growled.

“Oh, how cute. This little pony thinks he can overpower the one being that almost took over Equestria in her rule. How lovely. Of course I have no such need for that now with a whole planet to call my own and my subjects free from our once inherent design flaw.”

“What is it that you want from us?” Nelly squirmed and screamed.

“Oh ho! I've just wanted to reclaim something near and dear to my heart. A fellow subject of mine lost in Equestria for a long time,” Chrysalis moved out of the way as Iron Cross' father stepped out from behind her. AnY's eyes were reverted to a glowing red with his fur replaced with a layer of brown colored chitin.

Cross gasped, “Father!”

“Come now my son,” AnY beckoned his son with one hoof filled with holes. The cocoon that wrapped him disappeared into the ground as he tried to go back to cut out his friends.

“Don't worry mein friends! I will! ARGH!” he stopped to cup in head in pain.

“My queen. I cannot influence him alone.”

“I see that AnY. He just needs a little... Motivation,” Chrysalis' horn glowed a cobalt blue as Iron Cross writhed with agony.

“What the hell are you doing to him?!” Jet yelled, “Cross! Buddy! Stay with us now!”

“I! Can't! Something's happening!”

Tufts of fur started to drop from his body and his eyes darted back and forth and changed color to red. Holes started to form on his legs, mane, and tail as his body morphed and contracted to tear his uniform and unleash his unknown potential as a Changeling drone. His transformation was complete.

“Oh goody. I do say your son looks very dashing as one of us wouldn't you agree AnY?”

“Oh yes my queen. Cross, to my side my son,” AnY beckoned again.

Cross slowly inched forward, “Y-yes... father.”

“Holy shit! Cross was a Changeling all this time?!” Avia recoiled.

“Well duh! His dad is half Changeling. I just thought they all melded into Equestrian society after the wars,” Jet looked on. All their electronics were being jammed by the Changeling horde, “Shit! Why can't I call for help?”

“Do you like our next step of evolution? We have found the perfect symbiotic relationship with a biomechanical parasite that now infects all of us. Well, mostly all of us, except for my dear AnY and Cross over here. But no matter,” Chrysalis droned on, “You see, once our universe could travel back and forth between the two I had cleverly implanted spies in all of the nations. It was then that I came across something interesting within the Lylat system. With my spies to infiltrate their labs I managed to get hold of a few samples of Aparoid cells. Luckily for me and the rest of my subjects the infection served to better us and now we and our parasites combined to cure our defects. I am terribly sorry for painting this place with blood but such my subjects no longer have a need to consume love so organic matter serves as the next best substitute.”

“But what about the dead bodies that we found that have burst open?” Flip asked, morbidly curious.

“Another interesting development. With our bodies melded with flesh and machine we are able to assimilate the organic matter we consume. Chrysalid is rather delicious I might add,” Queen Chrysalis messaged her chin.

Jet rolled his eyes, “Can't argue with that there. I try to eat them every chance I get to get even for my dad.”

“But it does not matter. I shall end your lives with one swift strike,” Queen Chrysalis stepped forward and eyed her prey like a wolf ready to finish off its weakened prey. She laughed with superiority, “I think I'll eat you first my dear.”

Nelly screamed as Queen Chrysalis dislocated her jaws filled with rows of razor sharp and bloody teeth. Viscous and acidic saliva oozed from her mouth as her eyes darkened to a glowing red. A mutated second mouth chomped viciously close to her skull. Nelly could only watch and squirm in futility as her own body was overtaken with fear. For a moment the hiss of one of the blast doors opening distracted Chrysalis and she glanced over. As the blast doors parted large metallic thuds could be heard as a giant robot approached. The unarmed industrial grade power loader titan was piloted by none other than Nelly's mother, Kim.

“Get away from her you BITCH!” she back handed Chrysalis with one of the titan's vice-like arms. Chrysalis hissed as her feral form took over. The Aparling queen lunged at her but was intercepted by another well placed blow that knocked her into a pile of shipping crates, “Come on! Come on!”

Chrysalis tried to grab the mech but Kim pinched her head in place with the vice grip of the power loader. She kept her chomping mouthparts at bay from the opened cockpit. The queen's tail morphed into a long and prehensile blade which she used to try and impale Kim's head. She missed by a few inches as Kim ducked her head to the side. Meanwhile Cross and AnY set to work freeing the rest of the NGJSF with Chrysalis distracted.

“Cross, you!” Jet was stopped and shushed by Cross.

“You will see. But promise me you will NOT shoot at my queen,” Cross winked.

“I can't just-” he was stopped again.

“Trust me,” Cross cut him free and moved on to help the others with his father.

Queen Chrysalis reverted back to her sentient, tactically thinking form, “ENOUGH!”

She exploded with an electromagnetic pulse that disabled the power loader. Kim was stuck inside her own tomb as the queen violently ripped the cockpit cage open and flung her onto a wall. Her pained grunts were futile as she got up to meet the overwhelming form of the evolved Aparling queen.

“Now I can enjoy my meal in peace,” she was about to strike down with her bladed tail to impale her only to be stopped by Cross, “Prince, what is the meaning of this?”

“My queen. Although I am under your full control there has to be another way. They are still my friends after all.”

“Yes, I do believe we should reconsider my queen,” AnY stepped forward as well, “We could use their help.”

A round of weapons being cocked and pointed right to Chrysalis was heard from behind her. The NGJSF now had her surrounded and the other changelings in the room stood by.

“Wait, what's going on?” Avia stared at the scene before her.

Jet glanced over, “Changelings still retain their freedom of thought even when controlled by their queen. That's what you get when you mix a fully sentient mind with a hivemind.”

“YOU! You all betrayed me?!” Chrysalis hissed with anger.

“Not quite. You see my queen I am still under your complete control. I have lived among the ponies of Equus and I have a proposal I am willing to share to better our species,” Cross went to work with his diplomatic skills while still being in Changeling form, “You've always wanted the best for your subjects my queen and I, we, can help you prosper.”

“Listen to my son my queen. Let us let go of our tyrannical ways and embrace peace. Force is not the only option and this may be our chance,” AnY contributed.

Their queen calmed to reason, “Perhaps... Tell me.”

“This whole invasion was a misunderstanding. Yes it was a careless slaughter of innocent lives but I, as a diplomat and representative for Equus can pardon this mess. What I propose is that we work together with Equus to establish our new empire. In exchange I can gather the many changelings integrated within Equestrian society to come back to your fair and even hoofed rule,” AnY and Cross bowed down.

Their queen stroked her chin in thought, “I never thought about it in such a way. Is this the beginning of our new empire to redeem our race back to the Insect Kingdom of yesteryear?”

AnY and Cross nodded, “...And more our sweet queen... Promises of riches and bounties untold beyond the stars.”

Chrysalis melted with guilt as she turned all the lights on in the base, “Oh my... All this death... At my hooves?”

“My queen, it does not matter. You are forgiven,” AnY comforted his ruler, “I can dismiss this as my company's accident and I will take full responsibility.”

Chrysalis cried, “Ever since my beautiful Insect Kingdom was taken from me centuries ago I have been force to live a cruel and hated existence as an ugly beast, a monster.”

“Rest assured my queen our empire will raise again to the stars above with the help of our Equestrian friends,” Cross bowed.

“Well, that settles that,” Jet held out a hoof, “Sorry I spit in your face then Queen Chrysalis.”

The towering insect queen smiled and shook his hoof, “I am sorry as well for trying to hurt you. All these years of pain and twisted existence terror was the only option I knew. My subjects come first... Do you know what it is like for your kingdom to crumble? Everything you've worked hard for vanish in the blink of an eye?”

“Not really,” Jet looked down, “But... I never knew my father and he was a legendary stallion who helped to send us to the stars. That is the type of loss I feel.”

“Then you and I are not so much different after all. We long for something gone. It makes us angry, hurt, and confused.”

“I know what you mean. It was never quite the same after my father died. My mom used to be the courageous, outgoing mare that loved to race. Now she's overly cautious and paranoid at times. Soarin is helping, but like I said: it was never quite right.”

Chrysalis sighed, “Well I guess I have to clean up this mess.”

“Just gather the bodies, we can take care of it from here,” Jet radioed out to Ship, “Captain! Captain are you there?”

“Jet! Thank Celestia you're alive! What happened down there?” Ship came out clear and unjammed by the Aparling EMP.

“Let's just call it an accident and speak nothing more of it. Some Changelings skirmished the base and attacked AnY corporation mercs. It's a case of friendly fire. We are cleaning up the bodies and we have Kim and AnY secured. General AnY, report in to my superior.”

Jet allowed AnY to radio in, “This is General AnY of the United Equus Space Force. Captain ship I order you to cover up this mess with an airstrike.”

“Roger that General. Blossom! You're up for a bombing run!”

Jet received his radio back, “And can you make it the biggest one we got? I want no evidence.”

“Got it! One bunker busting thermonuclear GBU-57 coming right up! SQUEE!” Blossom was rather giddy on the microphone.

“Let's get out of here,” Jet turned to his squad.

“Let me do the honors,” Queen Chrysalis gave her horn a magic glow with the rest of her subjects. They instantly teleported out of the base and onto a mountain several miles away to observe the explosion.

“Wow, impressive magic!” Avia commented to the Queen.

“Thank you. These Aparoid parasites augment so much of our abilities.”

“Ship, we're out of the base and have teleported with the help of some new allies. We're well within safe distance. Drop it in!”

“Roger that Jet. Get back here ASAP with the HVTs.”

“Oh yeah, and Ship?” Jet asked.

“Yes Jet?”

“We don't happen to have space for a couple thousand or so Changelings and Queen Chrysalis do we?”

“Um, I don't think so. Are you feeling okay Jet?” Ship linked her camera to his headset.

“Yeah,” Jet looked at Chrysalis and turned his camera to her, “And she is too. She's our friend now.”

“It is an honor to meet you Queen Chrysalis,” Ship projected herself as a hologram.

“And to you as well,” she bowed in respect. The massive bomb hit what was left of the bunker and the ground beneath their feet shook violently as a massive mushroom cloud climbed in the distance.

Chapter Five: Shattered Skies and Demon Legends

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Five: Shattered Skies and Demon Legends

Another month had passed and the NGJSF had some time to relax. Prelude was back on the team as he was playing a round of air hockey with Jet. With a deft flick of a hoof he scored a point as the plastic puck clanked on the edges of the table.

“Yeah! I win!” Prelude celebrated, “It's good to be back.”

“Yeah, we missed you dude. Have you met the new recruits yet?” Jet turned off the hockey table and walked down the halls with his friend.

“Nah man. I haven't had time since I got back two days ago. My legs are good as new though.”

Jet smiled, “That healing potion is probably the best thing since sliced bread got up and walked. Anywho, I'm loving these newbs man. I tell ya, Flip delivers as a combat medic. In the sim he's saved our ass almost all the time. He's definitely a keeper and we needed a medic. Water Wings is good to talk to when you're interested in what she's into. I gave her the nickname of Passion or Pass for short. She's been a real help in training the others in underwater operations. Now let's not forget about Red. Ho boy he is a the life of the party and then some. Loves to have fun and hang out with comrades like us especially when there is vodka involved. He loves to fly VTOLs, bombers, and helicopters but mostly for ground attack. He's good too! He has a fine balance of risk taking and calculation. That makes us twenty one but we still have room to grow. Say, I overheard Ship talking about hiring more new recruits.”

Prelude looked to his friend and cocked his head, “Really now?”

“Yeah,” Jet lead him to the mess hall where he grabbed a can of soda and gulped it down, “Ahh! Says we need more fighter pilots for the upcoming wargame with the Federation.”

“Oh shit! How could I have forgotten all about that?” Prelude sighed.

“Oh don't worry. It's an air superiority mission this time. We're in charge of a simulated defense of Comona Base off mainland Equestria!” Jet walked past a trash can and dunked the empty tin inside.

“Comona Base? THE Comona Base? That is where Applebloom Engineering launches all their private spacecraft and testbeds. A lot of the planes we fly now were tested there you know,” Prelude went on.

“Yeah, I still remember the day when the F/A-38 Lightning II went into service. It was hard to say goodbye to my last F-35A but I am loving the VTOL thrusters of that plane. Heheh, that's another thing different about me from my father. I actually enjoy shooting up ground targets.”

“Hard to believe we were only flying prop planes forty five years ago. Once the aliens started to invade our tech just sky rocketed.”

“I know right?” Jet knocked on the door to Flip's room, “Say I gotta talk to Flip. Catch you later Prelude.”

“See ya dude,” Prelude went off as Flip answered his door.

“Heya!” Jet greeted, “Mind if I come in?”

“No not at all sir!” Flip smiled weakly.

“Oh come on dude. Call me Jet when we're around here. We're all friends.”

“Yes sir,” Flip saluted.

“Are you just doing that to fuck with me?” Jet glanced at Flip, amused.

“Sir no sir...” there was an awkward pause before Flip and Jet started giggling like idiots, “Okay, so I was.”

“Haa! So how you settling in Rookie?” Jet made himself comfortable on a bean bag chair.

“See for yourself!” Flip extended one of his wings to show off his room. He felt very trusting of his new commander, “Plush furniture, sky blue nano-pigments, and a cloudy theme to boot. I grew up in Cloudsdale after all.”

“Yeah, same with my mom. Did I tell you that I was actually the second one born in space?”

“What, no way!” Flip sat down on his bed.

“Yeah, I was an experiment to see if the pony species could reproduce outside our home planet. Obviously it worked. Say, is that a model of an F-35B on your desk?”

“Oh why yes!” Flip carefully showed it to Jet, “It's what I used to fly. Now I fly a Fenrir. I've always loved VTOL air superiority fighters.”

“Hey! Me too! I fly that F/A-38 Lightning II in the hangar!” Jet got up and sat next to Flip.

“I was wondering who flew that. Tell you what, I've learned a special maneuver that can only be done with certain VTOL aircraft. The reason why I like the F-35B, Fenrir, Shinden II, and Lightning II is their extremely high thrust to weight ratio. With their ratios over one to one it is possible for them to so something called a Reverse Maneuver. I've practiced it many times with the Fenrir and it's best suited with that aircraft. However, I know that the F/A-38 has a better thrust to weight ratio than the Fenrir so that is something I have not tested.”

Jet's eyes widened, “Ooo! Teach me!”

“Alright. You wanna boot up the simulation?”

Jet hopped off and trotted to the door, “Meet you in the hangar!”

Inside the hangar of the EMS Sky Buster were rows of fighter planes all docked in their sections. Jet's F/A-38 was locked in place by metal arms that secured the fighter for safe storage like the rest. He climbed the deployable ladder and entered his cockpit. SUSAN was there to guide him.

HELLO CAPTAIN JET. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO WITH YOUR FIGHTER?

“Run a simulation, free flight and clear weather. Link me up to Flip's Fenrir so he can join in the training.”

ROGER CAPTAIN JET. BOOTING UP SIMULATION.

The cockpit canopy of Jet's fighter slid closed as the holographic projectors replaced the hangar bay with a clear blue open sky simulated onto the glass. Jet flew on for a few seconds before getting a notice from SUSAN.

FIRST LIEUTENANT FLIP FLASH HAS JOINED THE SERVER.

“Yo!” Jet pulled up to Flip's Fenrir and waved.

“Hi Captain. Alright let's start the training,” Flip pulled away to gain some distance from Jet, “Stay there, we are going to go into a merge.”

“Roger, SUSAN designate Flip's fighter as hostile on IFF. We are proceeding with dogfight!”

YES SIR CAPTAIN.

With four rapid beeps the HUD icon for Flip turned from a friendly blue to a hostile red. Jet pulled away and got into position for a head on merge.

“Angels four! Bandit identified!” Jet's missiles growled with their lock on tone, “Fox two! Fox two!”

Jet ripple fired two sidewinders and rolled as he performed a break turn to turn back into his opponent. Before he knew what happened the radar blip of Flip's fighter pulled a complete 180 almost instantly and Flip was right on the tail of Jet.

“Shit! He's on my tail!” Jet punched his throttle backwards and pulled his fighter sharply up to perform his father's signature cobra maneuver. Flip kept pace as he performed his Reverse Maneuver to counter Jet's cobra stall, “What the Tartarus?!”

“Gotcha,” Flip engaged Jet with his guns and ripped him apart. Jet's fighter exploded in a flurry of fire and debris and his screen displayed a message.

YOU ARE KILLED IN ACTION. ONE POINT GOES TO FLIP.

Jet respawned far away from Flip as his simulation rebooted, “Holy shit! I have never seen anyone counter a cobra stall like that!”

Flip pulled up to Jet as his plane caught up, “You wanna know how I do it? Watch me!”

The Fenrir turned over onto its belly while simultaneously vectoring its VTOL thrusters downwards. Flip then firewalled the throttle while pushing the stick all the way down to recover his fighter in a horizontal stance. Jet looked at his moves with wide admiration.

“That is something I've never seen before! Now I understand how you countered my cobra stall! It's a cobra stall in reverse. You used gravity to help you turn!”

“Exactly! You know what I noticed though. This move can only be performed by pegasi. It pulls a lot of negative Gs and some of my earth pony or unicorn squadron mates suffered from severe red outs from pulling this move,” Flip explained.

“I know what you mean. We're built to handle that kind of G force.”

“Wanna give it a shot Jet?”

“You bet Flip!” Jet was quick to roll onto his belly, reverse his thrusters, then push the throttle to full while nosing down to recover his fighter. He was now facing in the opposite direction from where he started, “HO HOO! WOO! Now that is a neat trick!”

“Yeah, great to see you quick to pick up. You actually turned a lot tighter than me,” Flip waved to him.

“You wanna test it? Let's pull it in sync!” Jet gave him a zealous smirk.

“Let's!” they rolled at the same time with Jet's craft completing the half roll before the Fenrir. The thrust vectoring nozzles of both jets shot downward with a bright plume of afterburners as they pulled up to recover from their moves. Jet was the first to finish by a mere three quarters of a second.

“YEAH!” Jet cheered, “Nailed it!”

“Like I predicted! The F/A-38 is actually better than the Fenrir in performing the Reverse Maneuver. Well done Captain!”

“I gotta say Flip. You really live up to your name.”

“As do you Captain,” their simulation ended and their cockpits slide open.

The intercom announced with Ship's voice, “Attention all ponies. Please report to the hangar bay to welcome our two new members! Remember: be formal and be friendly.”

“Well, no need for us to change,” Jet and Flip were already in their flight uniforms. Brainstorm and Rush were the first to arrive to the hangar as they guided in a stealth version of a Hornet fighter dubbed the F/A-18U ADV to land with a tractor beam. The fighter landed gently as it was placed inside the hangar bay with the zero point energy manipulation ray. The canopy of the aircraft was all metal with tiny camera nodes all over that projected images into the cockpit. This was reverse engineered UPF technology handed to Equestria to use in their fighters. The canopy slid open and two ponies climbed out and onto the deck. All of the NGJSF stood by to greet them.

Ship came forward with the formal introduction, “Everypony, I'd like you to meet Oliveros Hornet and Blue Circuit. Hornet is an ace pilot who volunteered to assist us in the upcoming battle. As you all know: we needed more pilots like him.”

“Hola mis amigos! Second Lieutenant Hornet reporting for duty!” the white earth pony with blue mane saluted to his new unit. There was a stripe of yellow running down the middle of his messy mane and flowing tail.

“Ace huh. We'll see what you got in the sim before we let you in on the wargame with the Feds. It's great to have a fellow flier on the team,” Jet shook Hornet's hoof.

“Gracias me amigo,” Hornet smiled and got back in line with the other new recruit.

“Hornet, Establecirse y relajarse ,” Ship talked to him in Spanish.

“Si senora!” Hornet saluted again and walked down the hallway out of the hangar.

“Blue Circuit step forward!”

“Yes Captain Ship!” Blue was a grey unicorn with black and single blue striped mane and tail stylized roughly the same as Rainbow Dash. He was clad in a heavily modified Federation Exo Suit.

“Whoa, is that?” Fragarach looked with awe.

“Eeyup. This is a ponified Mark Three exo suit used by the United Planetary Federation. It's a lot better than our pulse jump tech in open areas and it weighs half as much as our 3D maneuver gear with our jump packs like what you guys are used to,” Circuit showed off his piece of advanced hardware.

Jet noticed his flank, “So, with that cutie mark of yours I see you play a lot of video games?”

“Hell yeah! Mostly Call to Duty and Harry's Mod. I got a gaming channel on the internet if you wanna check it out.”

“Sweet! I love those games! So how'd you end up in the military?” Jet continued.

“I first joined to pay for my college tuition and from there it just kinda took off. I was assigned to study UPF weapons, Earth United Force weapons, and shit like that when I served so I can get you some stuff if you need be,” Circuit checked his exo suit.

“Very well! Welcome to the team buddy!” Jet shook his hoof and saluted back to Blue.

“Alright everypony at ease! Show our new guys around and help them get settled in,” Ship ordered to all her crew, “Dismissed!”

They all scattered to do their own things and welcome the new recruits. They had two days to relax and get ready for the fight with the Federation on Equestrian soil.

With a new sense of calm that radiated the ship the crew of the EMS Sky Buster settled down for the night. Aside from the usual night owls like Brainstorm and Mac Book the rest of the crew went off to their private quarters for a good nights sleep. Jet and Nelly were bunked in the same room as the happy couple they were.

“Coming to bed dear?” Nelly purred as she wiggled into the blanket and pillow.

“One second sweetheart, something is horribly wrong here,” Jet continued to type away at his computer.

Nelly sat up, “What is it?”

Jet continued to type, “Somepony is WRONG on my internets...”

Nelly rolled her eyes and hopped off the bed to nuzzle her boyfriend's chin. Jet started to melt and giggle.

“Ookaay,” Jet placed his computer in shut down mode and trotted over to the bed. He softly lifted up and landed on the right side as he put the blanket over him and his girlfriend. Nelly squeaked.

“I love you Jet,” she squeaked again as Jet pulled her closer. They were face to face and nuzzled noses all the while giggling to each other.

“You are just the most adorable thing ever,” Jet embraced her smaller frame. Nelly was always the shorter one among her friends due to her premature birth. That didn't stop her from joining the military with Jet and his sister right out of high school though. Nelly flicked her flowing and fluffy cream tail and snuggled into Jet's arms.

“Can you-” she purred again meekly, “Wrap your wings around me Jet?”

“Mhmm,” Jet caressed her in a loving embrace of his wings and arms. Nelly took one of his wings and covered her eyes with it, “Just like how your mom does it?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, “Whenever I was scared as a little filly I'd hide in my mom's wings and pretend nothing bad will ever happen to me. I was always so small that I could fit under her wings.”

Nelly continued to nuzzle Jet's loving wing. She blushed as the warmth of her lovers body comforted her. Jet shared with her a deep and intimate kiss. They broke off and Jet gently stroked Nelly's mane.

“Sleep tight Nelly girl,” Jet ran a hoof to her ear and took off her bow. They settled in and slept in each others arms.

A few days later and on the eve of the operation the Next Generation Joint Strike Force gathered in their war room to sit down for the briefing. Ship was at front of the board and presented to them using the holograms.

“A large combined force of Federation vessels and aircraft will be advancing west from the ocean directly toward Comona base. Intel is vague but we do know they'll be trying to land forces on the shores to capture the base. Your job today is to engage the enemy, disrupt landing operations, and suppress both their air superiority and naval gunfire directed at our forces ashore.”

SUSAN took over with her mechanical voice.

THE FEDERATION WILL ATTACK IN TWO WAVES. FIRST IS AN AIRBORNE ASSAULT THAT WILL TRY TO LAND AIRBORNE TANKS AND PARATROOPERS TO SOFTEN UP COMONA DEFENSES. THIS ASSAULT WILL BE ESCORTED BY FIGHTERS BUT WE CANNOT CONFIRM THE PRESENCE OF TASK FORCE FROSTBITE EITHER IN THE AIR OR ON THE GROUND. THE FINAL WAVE WILL BE AN ASSAULT FROM THEIR AMPHIBIOUS LANDING CRAFT. CURRENTLY EQUUS AS NO INTELIGENCE ON THE ARMAMENT OF UPF SURFACE NAVAL SHIPS. EXPECT HEAVY RESISTANCE.

“Thank you Susan,” Ship nodded once, “There will be a lot of new pilots flying out there today from the mainland. We're launching every nearby aircraft capable of anti-ship warfare regardless of combat experience. This concludes your briefing! Saddle up everypony!”

They rushed to the aircraft hangar bay and gravitated to their fighters. Automated maintenance and preflight checks were conducted on each craft as the pilots climbed in. Jet, Avia, Tough Heart, Night Petal, Morning Shine, Scratch, Piggle, Flip, and Hornet were all selected for the mission.

Jet's plane was an F/A-38 Lightning II. Based off the F-35 design copied off human blueprints this Equestrian modification gave the craft a larger fuselage with more weapons capacity, twin 3D thrust vectoring engines, and streamlined it into a delta, roughly hexagonal, wing configuration. It was also a vertical take off jet capable of sustained hovering as it runs off magic instead of fossil fuels like the rest of the advanced aircraft the NGJSF flew.

Another Equestrian modification was the Panavia Cyclone. This was the plane that Avia flew and is an enhanced stealth fighter derived from the Panavia Tornado from which her father named her after. It was modified with twin tails, thrust vectoring, holographic cockpit displays, and an advanced avionics suite to boot.

Tough Heart's was the bastard child of an F-22 and an F/A-18E. Rightfully dubbed the F/A-40B this aircraft was a modified F-22 with F/A-18 air intakes, anhedral winglets, and the aircraft has the ability to adopt a low-drag cruising mode, in which its rear vertical surfaces and virtually every external piece of equipment folds down to minimize drag, increasing the aircraft's overall mission range in supercruise. It was a tough fighter that was hard to take down thanks to Tough's modified armor plating.

Petal had a plane unique to Equestria. The F-32 Umbra was a creation by Applebloom Engineering ordered by Princess Luna. This swept forward wing plane was designed from the ground up to be a completely stealthy aircraft with planform alignment used on all surfaces and edges that could give away the aircraft. Coated with more radar absorbent material than the other fighters the NGJSF flew the Umbra also has a built in optical camouflage that renders the plane nearly invisible. Its canards and ruddervators could also move up and down with variable geometry.

“All wings check in!” Jet formed up with his squadron as they flew on in the bright blue skies of Equus.

“Halo squadron on standby,” a flight of twelve F-14X aircraft pulled up next to the NGJSF.

“Viper squadron is ready,” another squad pulled up off Jet's left wing. This time they flew twelve MiG-21Xs.

“Look at those planes. They're so ancient they could be in a museum,” Morning looked to the two allied squadrons from his XFA-27. It was a sleek, angular design with variable geometry wings and magical, high-output engines, giving it an extreme level of maneuverability and acceleration. A distinguishing feature of the jet is the Scarface Missile Bay System (MBS), a software upgrade that disables weapon launch limits, allowing it to release four missiles in quick succession. Morning's fighter also used cameras on the bottom of the plane to ensure maximum visibility while retaining a conventional glass canopy with integrated holographic projectors.

“I know right? Applebloom Engineering is putting a lot of money into keeping these oldies flying,” Flip commented as he touched the side of his canopy. His Fenrir is distinguished by its unusually large body. It uses a polyhedral cropped delta configuration with bent wingtips, a V-tail, canards and dual air intakes. The frontal landing gear is housed within the mouth-like pod beneath the cockpit. It uses dual thrust vectoring engines, aided by a smaller powerplant between both, which give it V/STOL capabilities. Like most aircraft of the NGJSF it was equipped with camera nodes to view the outside of the plane in real time and in almost 360 degrees.

“Hey, you guys are gonna provide some CAP for Piggle and I right? We've only got ground attackers here,” Scratch flew an aircraft called the A-164 Wipeout. It was a single-seat aircraft used for close air support and ground attack. Derived from the A-10, it was a reduced radar cross section aircraft that was a result from a limited development budget for Equestria. The previous A-10 airframe was improved with better shape, engines and armaments to give this fighter a better chance on the modern battlefield.

“Please guard us while we stay out of the fight and await their ships to come in,” Piggle looked up as Scratch sailed past his To-119 Neophron. Based off the Human Yak-130 it had a longer fuselage, wing, and control surfaces than its predecessor and was able to carry almost twice as much armament.

“Do not fear my amigo. Just keep back and we will handle the incoming flight! You just remain guarding Comona Base from low altitude and under our SAM umbrella!” Hornet's plane was more standard issue. Like most Equestrian aircraft it was a modified human design passed down to them from Earth. It was an evolved model of the F/A-18E using the standard camera mounted cockpit and updated with new radar absorbent materials and a stealthy airframe.

Their radios beeped to life, “Attention all aircraft. This is Comona Base! The defense of this facility is critical. Maintain air superiority until the simulation has concluded!”

“Hey, wasn't that Applebloom?” Flip asked Jet.

“Yeah it was. Enemy formation bearing 2-8-0! NGJSF is cleared to engage!” Jet gave the order to commence the fight, “I sure hope these new countermeasures work Brainstorm.”

“Halo 10 engaging!” One of the Aparling pilots said over the radio.

“Glad to see the Aparling pilots apply themselves. They really boosted our air power for this op,” Avia commented as she broke away and up past the clouds.

With their cockpit displays augmenting reality the simulation was now in full effect. The virtual explosions and steel carnage were mixed with the reality of their full intensive training.

One of the UPF pilots radioed out on an open channel as he engaged Jet's fighter, “I'm in position! Engaged!”

“He's on my tail! I'm in a break turn!” Jet pulled his fighter in a downward turn to try and evade the Federation Fi-2 on his tail. Capable of hypersonic speed and supreme maneuverability, the Fi-2 is the mainstay of all UPF fighter squadrons. It has standard generation six features like the integrated flight system that enables the pilot to see any adversary from range without a HUD thereby increasing combat awareness. With the aircraft's plasma fueled turbines, it is able to go without refueling for years using a chunk of uranium the size of a pebble. The fighter’s odd forward swept X-wing does give it some drag, but with such powerful engines it is no problem for the Fi-2 to go hypersonic without failure and the arrangement of the wings gives it almost godly powers in a close range dogfight, being so maneuverable that without the fly-by-wire systems, enhanced life support, and G suit nanobots the pilot would die from lack of oxygen to the brain within a matter of seconds in high-G turns. The stealthiness of this aircraft has been upgraded over the years and can now evade all but the most sensitive radars. 3-D thrust vectoring also contributes to the fighter’s remarkable prowess. Among the major space powers the Fi-2 was the most agile aircraft known to date.

However, Jet had a few tricks up his sleeve. Being a pegasus he was able to out turn even the legendary Fi-2 in his rapid twelve G snap turn. This caught the Federation pilot by surprise as Jet pulled in for an easy kill.

“Vertical! Fox Two! Fox Two!” Jet depressed the button on his joystick twice to fire two virtual missiles that closed in and detonated. It was a confirmed kill and the enemy pilot was taken out of the simulation as he egressed from the combat area. Another Federation Fi-2 came in behind Jet to close in for a missile launch, “Shit! Got one on my tail!”

The enemy fighter launched two missiles. These were the dreaded electro-optical missiles hated by the Equestrian pilots. Jet turned into the missiles to try and get them to overshoot. It was no joy as the missiles kept pace.

“Vertical! ECM deployed!” Jet popped off an EMP pulse from his modified engines which caught the missiles in an aura of magic and short circuited the electronics within. The simulation was doing well to factor in the real life EMP pulse with the imaginary projectiles in the programming matrix, “Missile evaded! Missile evaded! HAHA! Brainstorm your ECM worked!”

On the EMS Sky Buster Brainstorm and Mac Book high fived as they orbited above the combat zone, “Good deal Jet! Glad to see my invention leveled the playing field!”

On the enemy side the pilot of the Fi-2 looked on as the Equestrian plane dodged the missile, “What the hell? Command, my electro-optical missile failed to connect! I'm breaking!”

Admiral Ghost Robert Lee shrugged, “Missile failure, try it again.”

“Swellow five! Vulpix Two! Vulpix Two!” the enemy plane launched another volley at Jet. The two missiles were fried by the magical EMP of Jet's fighter and fell into the ocean harmlessly, “Confirmed! Equestri-”

“Swellow five! Respond!” Ghost sat by, “Well he's dead. Back to the boat for you Swellow five. Do not finish that report. We can't have any metagaming.”

“Solid copy command. I'm KIA'd.”

Tough Heart flew in with his F/A-40 and shot down that Fi-2 with a well aimed EML shot, “Tough Guy confirmed kill on a bandit!”

“Thanks for the save!” Jet formed up with his friend, “Sis where are you at?”

“Nowhere special. I detected a UPF AWACs flying at angels 3-6. I'm engaged!” Avia threw her fighter into a near vertical climb up to thirty six thousand feet to intercept a Federation radar plane. Unknown to them that they could not escape the fast climb rate of Avia's Cyclone fighter. Their last calls were broadcasted on open mic.

“Bandit's right on me!”

“Radar lock!” Avia announced, “Fox Two! Fox Two!”

Her missiles slammed into the recon plane. This disabled the Federation's sensor fused technology.

“What's going on?! My radar went dark!” one of the enemy pilots got his radio call intercepted by the Aparling pilots.

“Equestrian command, this is Queen Chrysalis. My soldiers have decrypted their radio frequencies and are relaying them all to your command and control teams,” the Aparling queen announced to the Equestrian pilots.

“Nice to hear from you regal queen!” Morning Shine smiled, “Your pilots are doing well out there!”

“I am proud that you gave us a chance to live in glorious combat. My subjects couldn't be happier,” Queen Chrysalis stood by with Celestia, Luna, and Applebloom as they watched the battle unfold. QC looked to the two princesses, “No hard feelings my new friends?”

“None at all. I thank you for your assistance in our endeavors. This battle is critical for our foreign relations with the UPF. If we fail to impress them, like always, they will retract their support and recognition as a foreign power. Personally I do not agree with the current president's ways,” Celestia sat stoic.

“My sister, have faith in our Joint Strike Force. They will turn the tides of battle for us no matter what the Federation throws at us,” Luna put a hoof on her sister's wing.

“I have faith in them. What do you have to say about this situation Miss Applebloom?”

Applebloom smiled and looked up. Her executive business suit well groomed as the CEO of the largest engineering company on Equus, “I reckon they'll pull through. Ma company needs the money and trade from them Federation folks. It's a real shame that they all ain't so friendly to us ponies.”

“Inferior our technology may be, but our hearts are stronger as the meek among space empires. Fight on soldiers of Equus!” Celestia called out to her pilots which filled their hearts with fire.

“Yes ma'am!” the whole NGJSF shouted in unison.

Morning Shine launched a volley of four individual missiles that tracked different targets, “Dawn Light, Fox Three! Fox Three!”

Two of his four missiles connected to some Type 10 Cazador fighters like the ones flown by Frostbite earlier. The fighter itself is a multirole platform capable of both interception and ground suppression. The sleek design and robust engineering of the fighter enables speed and agility that far outmatches the earlier Type 1 Wasp it replaced. It still has the standard integrated metal cockpit of previous Federation fighters as well as passive stealth and various other features common in generation seven type fighter craft. The baseline model can be upgraded to suit the senior pilot's preferences but these Cazadors were stock aircraft and not painted in the blue and cyan trim of Task Force Frostbite.

“Splash two Cazadors! Be advised, they weren't Frostbite!” Morning radioed out.

“That's strange. Frostbite should be here by now,” one of the enemy radio messages caught the ear of Jet.

“Don't worry. They'll be here soon enough. Just cover the transports so they can land the airborne tanks!” two enemies were caught with their radios.

Jet vectored his radio to his team, “Guys! Ship did you hear that?”

“I heard it Jet,” Mac answered, “Confirmed on intel. Frostbite is here! Somewhere. Use extreme caution! They might be mixed up with the others!”

“Copy that Mac! I'm sneaking up on their transports now,” Petal used her stealth to slip behind the enemies and pick off the Bo-1C cargo planes and Pelipper dropships. Her Umbra fighter dipped in and out of cloak to confuse the enemies around her.

“What was that?! There was a shimmer of light and a missile came out of nowhere shooting down that Pelipper!”

“It's an optical cloaking craft! Try and locate that shimmer to take it down!” the enemy pilots talked back and forth.

“I don't think so,” Hornet flew into the enemy formation to disrupt them, “Usted no está consiguiendo lejos! Hornet! Fox Two!”

Another transport was downed by the NGJSF. Hornet bagged the kill as he flew up to bait some planes onto his tail.

“Flip! I've got the banditos on my tail! You engage!”

“Roger that 'Net! Madman, Fox Two! Fox Two!” Flip shot two missiles and juggled two targets that were chasing Hornet, “Guns! Guns! Guns!”

Flip finished off another two fighters trailing Hornet to total his kill count of four. Jet flew near him as he chased a Cazador fighter.

“That's your callsign Rookie?” Jet chuckled, “Guess it fits you huh Madman?”

“Call me whatever you want sir!” Flip pulled away to follow his flight leader, “Sir you got bandits on your tail! I'm engaging!”

“Solid copy! Breaking!” Jet broke off from his target and turned into the Fi-2s chasing him. The rest of his squadron was engaged with the enemy transports.

“This is Tough Guy! Half the transports have been shot down but a few slipped through our defenses! They've parachuted their tanks and we are trying to shoot them down before they land!”

“Copy that Tough,” Avia descended from high altitude.

“If we shoot the parachutes before the tanks detach, we'll smash them into the ground. Are we gonna do it Tornado?” Shine looked to Avia off his left wing.

“Yeah, it's the fastest way to do it.”

“I guess we have no other choice. It's kind of a cruel strategy if this was real,” Morning accelerated to the base as the tanks started to drift downward.

“Be advised! Airborne tanks are dropping off from the transport planes!” Tough Heart shot at a parachute of one of the tanks. On his screen the parachute deflated and the tank plummeted to the ground. The tank crew however was unharmed and popped up a white flag to signal their virtual death.

“Dammit! They shot out our parachute. I told those fighters to mop up the air forces before we landed but they didn'st listen! Where the fuck is Frostbite?” the UPF tankers landed softly on the base and got out of their tank to stretch and watch the beautiful air battle above.

On the other side one of the Delcatty officers of the UPF intercepted some encryptions of the Equus forces, “Admiral Lee! The Equestrians have tapped into our radios!”

“It doesn't matter. I order all units to switch to psyonic comms!” Ghost gave his order and the radios of the UPF pilots fell silent. No other calls could be heard from their frequencies.

An Aparling operator inside the control center for Comona base turned to his queen and the two princesses, “Queen Chrysalis and Princesses! All radio communications of the Federation have gone silent! Yet their combat effectiveness has remained unbroken!”

“Well you heard their last call. They are using some sort of psychic power augmented by technology. I want you to decrypt it and feed our allies the information!”

“Yes my queen!” the operator typed furiously as his pulsating cobalt circuits melded with the computer to hack into the UPF network.

Meanwhile back in the air Jet and the others worked their radios to hear the UPF chatter, “Hey! Where'd the chit chat go?”

Mac Book worked with the Aparling operator on the base, “UPF switched to some kind of mind reading tech! It's gonna take some time but those Changelings are cracking their network! Won't be long until my cheat codes work again!”

“Can you count all those parachutes? I gave up already!” Morning Shine felt overwhelmed by the swarm of enemy tanks, “Scratch! Piggle you're up!”

“Finally! Some action!” Piggle smiled, “Our planes are great against those ground targets!”

“Kitty and Warpig are engaging hostile ACVs! Guns! Guns! Guns!” Scratch and Piggle used the 30mm cannons of their jets to kill off the advancing tanks. Their guns and anti tank missiles made short work of the enemy ground forces that landed at the base.

“Good effect on target Kitty and Warpig!” Mac Book zoomed in with his satellite view, “I see a lot of UPF armor with white kill flags! You know those guys probably got the best seat in the house.”

“That and the base personnel. I hope somepony important is watching this!” Scratch had a face of crazed fury, “Meow meow!”

“Great, she's gone crazy again,” Piggle rolled his eyes as the growling from his cannon took out another row of tanks with virtual explosions, “Times four ACVs destroyed!”

“Solid copy! All fighters have been shot down!”

“Done with the hack my queen! I've tapped into their signals!”

Static came before the sound of a familiar voice, “...All UPF fighters leave the NGJSF to us.”

“Alright! It's Frostbite! You heard the Buizel guys! Deal with the minnows so TFF can hunt the whales!” the enemy thought patterns were vocalized on the Equestrian radio.

“Alright team! Form up! Form up!” Jet ordered all of his squadron together, “bring your A-game! Reload all weapons!”

They took a moment to activated a magic spell that reloaded all the weapons in their internal bays. Missiles and belts of cannon rounds replenished their depleted supplies.

“All weapons fully loaded brother. Let's take on Frostbite two to one. I'll take Mitch with you!” Avia nodded to her brother.

“I've got a score to settle. Shine, you and me are on Quincy,” Tough washed over with zeal. The orange heart on his chest puffed up as adrenaline flowed in his veins.

“Roger that,” Shine saluted.

“Night Petal, you go after Alyssa. Rook, 'Net I want you to go after the stupid panda girl with the spiral emblem. Copy that?”

“Yes sir!” Flip nodded once to Jet.

“Battle now, party later amigo!” Hornet's hairs stood on ends, “Woo!”

“Petal, affirmative,” Night took a deep breathe, “It's go time.”

“First round volley! Fox Three! Fox Three!” Jet and his squadron launched their long range missiles first at Frostbite. The four fighters had no trouble evading their missiles as they drew in closer, “Another volley! Fox Three! Fox Three!”

Another wave of missiles shot out from the NGJSF planes. None connected.

Frostbites thoughts were intercepted and Alyssa was the first to ready her weapon, “Marksman, DRIVE DRIVE!”

Jet instantly knew that code word as the massive pods attached to Alyssa's fighter opened up to launch hundreds of micro missiles at the NGJSF, “ADMMs! ADMMs! BREAK BREAK HARD!”

They all scattered the formation and kicked their EMP magic. Several missiles exploded but none of Jet and his friends were caught in the blast. The enemy fighters merged with the Joint Strike Force. Jet caught a glimpse of a brand new Federation prototype being used by Frostbite.

“Jet did you see that?!” Avia turned with her brother to try and get onto one of the enemy aerospace fighters. The sleek blended delta of the new fighter could be seen as it pulled a sharp turn with Jet and his sister. They could see canards built into the leading edge and miniture thrusters mounted on the wingtips that vectored downwards with the main engines. The enemy fighter bled its speed in an instant with a cobra stall aided by VTOL thrusters and a giant lift fan in the center of the fighter.

“Blue and grey, Cyan trim, it's them alright! Shit! He's on our tail Avia! Break away! He'll be forced to chose!” Jet and Avia split away to try and perform a thach weave to cover each others tails. The fighter seemingly split in two as a hologram projection made a doppleganger.

“What?!” Avia glanced back trying to evade, “Is that a glitch?!”

“Shit! I'm getting locked! Are you Avia? Ah! I'm dumping ECM!” Jet fried a missile launched at him from the enemy fighter.

“I don't know which is which!” Avia was getting lock on tones as well from her pursuer. Whether it was fake or not she could not tell, “ECM dumped!”

“Hey, these new holographic hacks are doing wonders. I'm juggling Jet and Avia and I've got them wrapped around my finger,” Mitch's fighter was hacking into Jet and Avia's avionics to falsely display two enemies chasing them both. It was a cyber attack that sowed confusion among the two.

“Which one are you tailing Mitch? I've got some rookies I'm messing with!” Strella snickered as her own plane hacked into the sensor fused technology of the Equus planes. Flip and Hornet were shooting at each other as their IFF was altered and their planes replaced with 3D models of enemy aircraft.

“I'm tailing Jet right now. He's all mine!”

Jet's pupils widened, “Avia! The one chasing you is the phoney! Hit Mitch!”

“Roger! Tornado, Fox Two! Fox Two!” Avia ignored the false missile locks and got one of her missiles to impact onto Mitch's fighter. One of the engines gave out and his VTOL mechanism was shot out.

“What?! How did they know! And how are they dodging our missiles?!” Mitch's mind was clear as an open book over the open channel, unknown to him.

“It was a lucky guess! Can you reengage?” Quincy the Glaceon had his plane hack into the master arm of Tough and Morning. They could not launch missiles and were only forced to use guns.

“Negative! Negative! I'm losing thrust!” Mitch was trying his best to keep in the fight. His thrust vectoring was no longer operational and Jet slipped in right behind him.

“Vertical! Launching Sky Buster missiles!” as an act of overkill Jet launched four long range missiles at short range into the tail of the enemy plane. The four missiles impacted one after the other and Mitch's plane was blown into a thousand pieces as a simulated confirmed kill, “WE GOT HIM!! SPLASH ONE FROSTBITE BANDIT!”

“Mitch is down! I repeat! Flight lead is down!” Quincy reported to his squadron, “It's three on seven now!”

“Roger! I'm done toying around,” Strella stopped her hack and accelerated to form up with her squadron. Flip and Hornet were aimlessly trying to pursue themselves.

“Flip! I'm on your side!” Hornet's plane returned to normal and so did Flip's.

“What?! My IFF was inop! That enemy plane was hacked into my avionics!” Flip pulled up next to Hornet, “Are you okay?!”

“I have to RTB! I've suffered simulated damage on my ailerons and I've got holes in my starboard wing thanks to you,” Hornet glared at Flip.

“Sorry buddy. RTB to fight another day. I'll cover for you,” Flip escorted Hornet back to Comona Base but another Federation prototype jumped him from above, “I've got a hard enemy spike! I'm breaking!”

“Oh it wasn't you I was aiming for,” Alyssa switched her targets and went for Hornet. With a quick burst of her pulse plasma vulcan she shot off Hornet's damaged wing and it died trailing smoke in the virtual space. Inside Hornet's plane there was a simple: You are killed message that displayed on his screen.

“Hornet is down!” Flip climbed to chase Alyssa.

“That makes it a little more fair,” Alyssa smirked, “Marksman splash one JSF.”

“They sure are putting up a tougher fight! New countermeasures and more team members. I'm glad to see them evolve like this,” Quincy smiled as he tried to engage Jet and Avia.

Night Petal used her optical cloaking to sneak up on Quincy as he was turning with Jet and Avia, “You forgot about me! Shadow! Fox Two! Fox Two!”

The close range missile launch wasn't fooled by the flares launched by the UPF prototype. With a solid impact Quincy was forced into a virtual ejection.

“Wahoo! Shadow splash one Frostbite!” Petal pulled up into the clouds.

“Ally! You are I are the only ones left! Time to double team!” Strella suggested to her wingman.

“Roger! You and I stick together! We'll fill the skies with our holograms!” the two prototypes started to split off into multiple fake fighters.

“Alright! NGJSF listen close to their transmissions to see which one is real and which one is fake! They said they'll stick together so watch for any suspicious behavior!” Jet order to his friends.

“Roger that. I've got four bandits on my tail! Evading!” Flip was using his crazed moves and erratic flight style to duck, dive, and weave past the Macross grade missile storm coming right at him. What he didn't dodge was deftly countered by blast from his EMP pulsing engines, “I can't tell which is real!”

“Strella, go after Jet. We take out the flight lead and this will be all over!”

“Bingo!” Jet listened close to Alyssa's thoughts, “They're after me! Two of my bandits are real! I repeat! Two of my bandits are the real deal!”

“Copy that Jet! Tough Guy! EML fired!” Tough Heart landed a clean shot with one of his railguns which impacted the correct prototype. As a result half of the holograms faded away and Strella was left to her own, “Tough! Splashed another UPF prototype! She's all yours Captain!”

“Alright!” Jet was a swirling mass of adrenaline as he kicked his fighter into the Reverse Maneuver. This caused Strella to overshoot and Jet recovered to pull into her turn, “Your ass is mine! Vertical! Guns! Guns! Guns!”

Jet tore into the last fighter and filled it was holes from his twin 25mm cannons. With the final TFF member shot down the team rejoiced in victory.

“WE GOT EM! WE BEAT FROSTBITE!” Jet flailed in joy, “Did you hear that Princesses! We shot down all of Frostbite!”

Princess Celestia and Luna were overjoyed, “Good work! But the invasion is still not over! We are detecting a large amphibious force coming in to land bearing 2-8-0 speed... Three hundred fifty knots?! This doesn't make sense! No watercraft is that fast!”

“Hold on! I'm getting something on the UPF channels,” the Aparling operator next to Queen Chrysalis patched in the UPF command frequency.

“Ekranoplans proceed with the invasion! Skies have not been sanitized of fighters but you are cleared to land your troops!” Ghost came through to order his advanced water skimming seaplanes. These were unlike any other surface navy of the other nations as the UPF used something called a ground effect craft or ekranoplan in place of conventional boats or ships. These behemoth planes with stubby wings were the size of battleships, cruisers, and landing craft and were more capable than conventional sea going vessels.

“What ARE those?” Avia looked with awe at the massive invasion force of the boat-planes.

“It doesn't matter! We need to kill them! There's way too many for us to take on though!”

“This is Blossom callsign Inferno. Would you like me to join in?” Blossom squeaked cutely over the radio as she flew in with a giant Mach three bomber coming in from low altitude, “I brought in my B-170 Valkyrie II. I've got times twenty Advanced Cruise Missiles loaded with Trinity warheads! How copy?”

“Copy that!” Jet grinned to the overkill of his squad mate, “Blossom I swear.”

“Hehehe!” She stuck her tongue out and looked to a TU-160X off her right, “What you got Red?”

“Glorious Stalliongradi ATBIP. Also known as the Father of All Bombs! Are we cleared to engage?”

“Red, Blossom! You are cleared to engage! Go nuts!” Jet gave the all green.

“WOO! Inferno launching cruise missile volley!” Blossom released all twenty of her missiles armed with magically enhanced thermobaric warheads. Try as they might the gatling guns of the enemy seaplanes could not intercept all of the missiles as the ACMs impacted all at once to engulf the whole fleet with massive yellow and orange sporadic explosions that crippled half of the enemy fleet, “Now that was a fireworks show!”

“Red October, callsign Chernaya bombs away!” Red dropped his single bomb from high altitude. The satellite guided weapon impacted the rest of the fleet and all UPF landing craft were rendered destroyed in the simulation. The massive explosion overlayed on everyone's HUDs were a sight to behold.

“Mission complete! We've defended Comona Base!” Jet formed up with his squadron at six thousand feet. The whole Equestrian military rejoiced as they finally usurped the Federation from the top of the wargame scoreboard among the space empires, “WE WON! WE WON!”

On the Federation side Admiral Ghost was not the one to give up, “We will proceed with the reserve landing craft. Initiate the Razgriz!”

“Initiating Razgriz protocol sir!” his officer relayed to an unknown unit.

Static came over the Equestrian radios, “Ballistic missile inbound!”

“WHAT?! They said we wouldn't use nukes in this simulation!” Night Petal gasped.

“Ballistic missile impact NOW!” Mac Book yelled to them. The giant yellow and orange cloud was strikingly similar to the ATBIP that Red dropped. It wasn't a nuke but an airburst MIRV of thermobaric warheads, “This isn't good! All our planes below five thousand feet have been vaporized!”

“Where did they launch that?!” Jet scanned the seas, “I don't see any more UPF ships!”

“That's...” Avia paused, “Because it's a submarine!”

“That makes sense,” Jet thought for a moment, “Blossom! Red! Head back to the EMS Sky Buster and pick up Water Wings for an underwater operation! Have her and her team ready!”

“Copy that Jet! We are RTB for retask!” Blossom and Red pulled away and returned to the carrier.

“This is the anti-sub plane Blue Hound. Sound pattern analysis confirms enemy submarine in the area of operation. We are detecting another missile launch!”

“Everypony! Get your altitude above five thousand feet!” Mac radioed out.

“Climb kids! Go go go!” Jet scanned for the surviving Equestrian pilots.

“Jet! Piggle and I can't climb that high!” Scratch and Piggle were struggling to get their slow ground attack planes above the threshold.

“Climb Kitty climb! You and the rest of the nuggets too!” Avia urged on.

“Three! Two! One! Impacts-NOW!” Mac announced another explosion that rocked the whole area. Piggle and Scratch were caught in the kill zone and their planes leveled off and automatically egressed them out of the combat are.

“Scratch and Pigs are down sir!” Morning reported, “What do we do?”

A minute or so later Blossom came back flying in from low altitude with a swimmer delivery vehicle inside of her dropship. She radioed out to Mac.

“Mac and you confirm the approximate location of that enemy sub?”

“Hold on, get the coords from Blue Hound. I'll patch you in!” Mac typed on his console to contact the anti-sub plane, “Blue Hound requesting coordinates of enemy submarine!”

“Hold on, we are dropping a new sonobuoy,” a sonar pod dropped from the low flying plane to detect the enemy sub, “Sub detected! Sending coords now!”

“Roger! Passion are you ready back there?” Blossom looked at the four combat divers in the back. It was Water Wings leading them with Nelly, Simon, and Prelude all geared up for an underwater attack.

“Ready and on standby!” Wings gave a good nod as they boarded the minisub. Blossom hovered mere inches from the water and dropped them into the sea, “Good release! We are running deep!”

Ship came over their visors, “Wings your job is to disable that enemy submarine using the limpet mines attached to your sub! You've dropped off nearby so follow the sonar pings until you reach it!”

“Roger command. We are en route to attack the enemy submarine,” Passion piloted the minisub and followed the source of the sonar pings. As they closed within visual distance they could see the imposing figure of the massive Federation submarine, “This is massive! This is the largest submarine I've ever seen! We're deploying now, everypony attach the demo charges!”

Water Wings ordered her team to slap on the magnetic mines to the ballast tanks of the sub. They retreated back to their minsub and swam away to a safe distance.

“Okay! We're detonating the charges!” Water Wings blew open a simulated hole in the side of the submarine. She took off her visor to make sure the explosion wasn't real. Sure enough it wasn't and it was just a virtual explosion.

UPF channels lit up, “Command! The Scinfaxi's been damaged by a limpet mine! We cannot launch missiles underwater due to battle damage!”

“Captain, surface immediately and continue launching the missiles! Clear the skies so we can pull in the reserve landing craft!”

“Roger Admiral Ghost!” The large aircraft carrier submarine surfaced magnificently like a graceful whale. The massive ship was unlike anything Equestria has ever seen.

“Looks like it's lost diving ability. It's floating like a cork. All units, commence attack!” Ship ordered to all the NGJSF pilots.

“Jet look!” Petal flew by close and saw VTOL fighters launching from the submarine, “Aircraft launching from enemy submarine!”

“Roger! JSF engage enemy aircraft if you see an opportunity!” Mac ordered out to all of them.

“Do we have any surface to air attack capabilities?” Jet assessed his team.

“I do sir! EMLs can dent a hole in that thing!” Tough Heart came forward.

“As do I bro! I've got some ALARM missiles that can destroy their SAMs!”

“Rookie here! I got anti-ship missiles just for this job!” Flip aileron rolled right by Jet's cockpit.

“Good on you guys! The rest of you target the planes that go after Avia, Flip, and Tough!

“Roger Jet!” Morning and Petal covered the multiroles with Jet. The attacking UPF fighters were no match as Avia, Flip, and Tough dealt a massive blow to the enemy submarine.

“Direct hit! It ripped a massive hole! The sub appears to have lost the ability to launch additional aircraft!” Ship was wide eyed and at the edge of her seat, “NGJSF! Finish it!”

“Rookie! You wanna do the honors?” Jet returned with a barrel roll around Flip's Fenrir to form up on his right wing.

“With pleasure Captain!” the last two anti-ship missiles from Flip's payload were launched into the simulated hole inside the ship. With the final blow the Scinfaxi was forced to dive to give the impression of it sinking. The wargame was over and the Equestrian forces have won as the Scinfaxi suffered a secondary explosion that sent a virtual plume of water up into the air.

“We-WE WON?!” Sagittarius looked on at the battlefield below. The whole Equestrian force was cheering with glee as the remaining NGJSF flew in a V formation to buzz the control center of Comona Base.

“Salute the aces of the JSF!” the soldiers on the ground were ecstatic, “Can you hear these cheers? Don't tell me you can't hear them!”

Frostbite came back to form up with the squadron, “Well well well! You finally beat us at our own game!”

“Annnd you know what that means!” Jet poked a hoof vigorously at the side of his cockpit, “YOU have to buy the drinks for us! Pony up assholes! WOO!”

“Aww! These new toys my mommy and daddy built for me didn't work that well,” Strella crossed her arms in her jokingly spoiled manner, “I honestly thought these new Black Jacket fighters would kick ass.”

“I dunno what you just did back there. But how did you tap into our mind reading frequencies?” Alyssa pulled up next to Jet and looked to him.

Jet smirked, “We just had some help from a few friends.”

BONUS: CH5 Mission Failed: Distant Thunder and Unsung Wars

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Five: Distant Thunder and Unsung Wars

(NOTE: This chapter takes place after a successful rescue of Kim and AnY. Queen Chrysalis was killed by Kim in the last chapter and the Changelings scatter among the universe with no queen to serve. Look for the highlighted text to see the changes.)

Another month had passed and the NGJSF had some time to relax. Prelude was back on the team as he was playing a round of air hockey with Jet. With a deft flick of a hoof he scored a point as the plastic puck clanked on the edges of the table.

“Yeah! I win!” Prelude celebrated, “It's good to be back.”

“Yeah, we missed you dude. Have you met the new recruits yet?” Jet turned off the hockey table and walked down the halls with his friend.

“Nah man. I haven't had time since I got back two days ago. My legs are good as new though.”

Jet smiled, “That healing potion is probably the best thing since sliced bread got up and walked. Anywho, I'm loving these newbs man. I tell ya, Flip delivers as a combat medic. In the sim he's saved our ass almost all the time. He's definitely a keeper and we needed a medic. Water Wings is good to talk to when you're interested in what she's into. I gave her the nickname of Passion or Pass for short. She's been a real help in training the others in underwater operations. Now let's not forget about Red. Ho boy he is a the life of the party and then some. Loves to have fun and hang out with comrades like us especially when there is vodka involved. He loves to fly VTOLs, bombers, and helicopters but mostly for ground attack. He's good too! He has a fine balance of risk taking and calculation. That makes us twenty one but we still have room to grow. Say, I overheard Ship talking about hiring more new recruits.”

Prelude looked to his friend and cocked his head, “Really now?”

“Yeah,” Jet lead him to the mess hall where he grabbed a can of soda and gulped it down, “Ahh! Says we need more fighter pilots for the upcoming wargame with the Federation.”

“Oh shit! How could I have forgotten all about that?” Prelude sighed.

“Oh don't worry. It's an air superiority mission this time. We're in charge of a simulated defense of Comona Base off mainland Equestria!” Jet walked past a trash can and dunked the empty tin inside.

“Comona Base? THE Comona Base? That is where Applebloom Engineering launches all their private spacecraft and testbeds. A lot of the planes we fly now were tested there you know,” Prelude went on.

“Yeah, I still remember the day when the F/A-38 Lightning II went into service. It was hard to say goodbye to my last F-35A but I am loving the VTOL thrusters of that plane. Heheh, that's another thing different about me from my father. I actually enjoy shooting up ground targets.”

“Hard to believe we were only flying prop planes forty five years ago. Once the aliens started to invade our tech just sky rocketed.”

“I know right?” Jet knocked on the door to Flip's room, “Say I gotta talk to Flip. Catch you later Prelude.”

“See ya dude,” Prelude went off as Flip answered his door.

“Heya!” Jet greeted, “Mind if I come in?”

“No not at all sir!” Flip smiled weakly.

“Oh come on dude. Call me Jet when we're around here. We're all friends.”

“Yes sir,” Flip saluted.

“Are you just doing that to fuck with me?” Jet glanced at Flip, amused.

“Sir no sir...” there was an awkward pause before Flip and Jet started giggling like idiots, “Okay, so I was.”

“Haa! So how you settling in Rookie?” Jet made himself comfortable on a bean bag chair.

“See for yourself!” Flip extended one of his wings to show off his room. He felt very trusting of his new commander, “Plush furniture, sky blue nano-pigments, and a cloudy theme to boot. I grew up in Cloudsdale after all.”

“Yeah, same with my mom. Did I tell you that I was actually the second one born in space?”

“What, no way!” Flip sat down on his bed.

“Yeah, I was an experiment to see if the pony species could reproduce outside our home planet. Obviously it worked. Say, is that a model of an F-35B on your desk?”

“Oh why yes!” Flip carefully showed it to Jet, “It's what I used to fly. Now I fly a Fenrir. I've always loved VTOL air superiority fighters.”

“Hey! Me too! I fly that F/A-38 Lightning II in the hangar!” Jet got up and sat next to Flip.

“I was wondering who flew that. Tell you what, I've learned a special maneuver that can only be done with certain VTOL aircraft. The reason why I like the F-35B, Fenrir, Shinden II, and Lightning II is their extremely high thrust to weight ratio. With their ratios over one to one it is possible for them to so something called a Reverse Maneuver. I've practiced it many times with the Fenrir and it's best suited with that aircraft. However, I know that the F/A-38 has a better thrust to weight ratio than the Fenrir so that is something I have not tested.”

Jet's eyes widened, “Ooo! Teach me!”

“Alright. You wanna boot up the simulation?”

Jet hopped off and trotted to the door, “Meet you in the hangar!”

Inside the hangar of the EMS Sky Buster were rows of fighter planes all docked in their sections. Jet's F/A-38 was locked in place by metal arms that secured the fighter for safe storage like the rest. He climbed the deployable ladder and entered his cockpit. SUSAN was there to guide him.

HELLO CAPTAIN JET. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO WITH YOUR FIGHTER?

“Run a simulation, free flight and clear weather. Link me up to Flip's Fenrir so he can join in the training.”

ROGER CAPTAIN JET. BOOTING UP SIMULATION.

The cockpit canopy of Jet's fighter slid closed as the holographic projectors replaced the hangar bay with a clear blue open sky simulated onto the glass. Jet flew on for a few seconds before getting a notice from SUSAN.

FIRST LIEUTENANT FLIP FLASH HAS JOINED THE SERVER.

“Yo!” Jet pulled up to Flip's Fenrir and waved.

“Hi Captain. Alright let's start the training,” Flip pulled away to gain some distance from Jet, “Stay there, we are going to go into a merge.”

“Roger, SUSAN designate Flip's fighter as hostile on IFF. We are proceeding with dogfight!”

YES SIR CAPTAIN.

With four rapid beeps the HUD icon for Flip turned from a friendly blue to a hostile red. Jet pulled away and got into position for a head on merge.

“Angels four! Bandit identified!” Jet's missiles growled with their lock on tone, “Fox two! Fox two!”

Jet ripple fired two sidewinders and rolled as he performed a break turn to turn back into his opponent. Before he knew what happened the radar blip of Flip's fighter pulled a complete 180 almost instantly and Flip was right on the tail of Jet.

“Shit! He's on my tail!” Jet punched his throttle backwards and pulled his fighter sharply up to perform his father's signature cobra maneuver. Flip kept pace as he performed his Reverse Maneuver to counter Jet's cobra stall, “What the Tartarus?!”

“Gotcha,” Flip engaged Jet with his guns and ripped him apart. Jet's fighter exploded in a flurry of fire and debris and his screen displayed a message.

YOU ARE KILLED IN ACTION. ONE POINT GOES TO FLIP.

Jet respawned far away from Flip as his simulation rebooted, “Holy shit! I have never seen anyone counter a cobra stall like that!”

Flip pulled up to Jet as his plane caught up, “You wanna know how I do it? Watch me!”

The Fenrir turned over onto its belly while simultaneously vectoring its VTOL thrusters downwards. Flip then firewalled the throttle while pushing the stick all the way down to recover his fighter in a horizontal stance. Jet looked at his moves with wide admiration.

“That is something I've never seen before! Now I understand how you countered my cobra stall! It's a cobra stall in reverse. You used gravity to help you turn!”

“Exactly! You know what I noticed though. This move can only be performed by pegasi. It pulls a lot of negative Gs and some of my earth pony or unicorn squadron mates suffered from severe red outs from pulling this move,” Flip explained.

“I know what you mean. We're built to handle that kind of G force.”

“Wanna give it a shot Jet?”

“You bet Flip!” Jet was quick to roll onto his belly, reverse his thrusters, then push the throttle to full while nosing down to recover his fighter. He was now facing in the opposite direction from where he started, “HO HOO! WOO! Now that is a neat trick!”

“Yeah, great to see you quick to pick up. You actually turned a lot tighter than me,” Flip waved to him.

“You wanna test it? Let's pull it in sync!” Jet gave him a zealous smirk.

“Let's!” they rolled at the same time with Jet's craft completing the half roll before the Fenrir. The thrust vectoring nozzles of both jets shot downward with a bright plume of afterburners as they pulled up to recover from their moves. Jet was the first to finish by a mere three quarters of a second.

“YEAH!” Jet cheered, “Nailed it!”

“Like I predicted! The F/A-38 is actually better than the Fenrir in performing the Reverse Maneuver. Well done Captain!”

“I gotta say Flip. You really live up to your name.”

“As do you Captain,” their simulation ended and their cockpits slide open.

The intercom announced with Ship's voice, “Attention all ponies. Please report to the hangar bay to welcome our two new members! Remember: be formal and be friendly.”

“Well, no need for us to change,” Jet and Flip were already in their flight uniforms. Brainstorm and Rush were the first to arrive to the hangar as they guided in a stealth version of a Hornet fighter dubbed the F/A-18U ADV to land with a tractor beam. The fighter landed gently as it was placed inside the hangar bay with the zero point energy manipulation ray. The canopy of the aircraft was all metal with tiny camera nodes all over that projected images into the cockpit. This was reverse engineered UPF technology handed to Equestria to use in their fighters. The canopy slid open and two ponies climbed out and onto the deck. All of the NGJSF stood by to greet them.

Ship came forward with the formal introduction, “Everypony, I'd like you to meet Oliveros Hornet and Blue Circuit. Hornet is an ace pilot who volunteered to assist us in the upcoming battle. As you all know: we needed more pilots like him.”

“Hola mis amigos! Second Lieutenant Hornet reporting for duty!” the white earth pony with blue mane saluted to his new unit. There was a stripe of yellow running down the middle of his messy mane and flowing tail.

“Ace huh. We'll see what you got in the sim before we let you in on the wargame with the Feds. It's great to have a fellow flier on the team,” Jet shook Hornet's hoof.

“Gracias me amigo,” Hornet smiled and got back in line with the other new recruit.

“Hornet, Establecirse y relajarse ,” Ship talked to him in Spanish.

“Si senora!” Hornet saluted again and walked down the hallway out of the hangar.

“Blue Circuit step forward!”

“Yes Captain Ship!” Blue was a grey unicorn with black and single blue striped mane and tail stylized roughly the same as Rainbow Dash. He was clad in a heavily modified Federation Exo Suit.

“Whoa, is that?” Fragarach looked with awe.

“Eeyup. This is a ponified Mark Three exo suit used by the United Planetary Federation. It's a lot better than our pulse jump tech in open areas and it weighs half as much as our 3D maneuver gear with our jump packs like what you guys are used to,” Circuit showed off his piece of advanced hardware.

Jet noticed his flank, “So, with that cutie mark of yours I see you play a lot of video games?”

“Hell yeah! Mostly Call to Duty and Harry's Mod. I got a gaming channel on the internet if you wanna check it out.”

“Sweet! I love those games! So how'd you end up in the military?” Jet continued.

“I first joined to pay for my college tuition and from there it just kinda took off. I was assigned to study UPF weapons, Earth United Force weapons, and shit like that when I served so I can get you some stuff if you need be,” Circuit checked his exo suit.

“Very well! Welcome to the team buddy!” Jet shook his hoof and saluted back to Blue.

“Alright everypony at ease! Show our new guys around and help them get settled in,” Ship ordered to all her crew, “Dismissed!”

They all scattered to do their own things and welcome the new recruits. They had two days to relax and get ready for the fight with the Federation on Equestrian soil.

With a new sense of calm that radiated the ship the crew of the EMS Sky Buster settled down for the night. Aside from the usual night owls like Brainstorm and Mac Book the rest of the crew went off to their private quarters for a good nights sleep. Jet and Nelly were bunked in the same room as the happy couple they were.

“Coming to bed dear?” Nelly purred as she wiggled into the blanket and pillow.

“One second sweetheart, something is horribly wrong here,” Jet continued to type away at his computer.

Nelly sat up, “What is it?”

Jet continued to type, “Somepony is WRONG on my internets...”

Nelly rolled her eyes and hopped off the bed to nuzzle her boyfriend's chin. Jet started to melt and giggle.

“Ookaay,” Jet placed his computer in shut down mode and trotted over to the bed. He softly lifted up and landed on the right side as he put the blanket over him and his girlfriend. Nelly squeaked.

“I love you Jet,” she squeaked again as Jet pulled her closer. They were face to face and nuzzled noses all the while giggling to each other.

“You are just the most adorable thing ever,” Jet embraced her smaller frame. Nelly was always the shorter one among her friends due to her premature birth. That didn't stop her from joining the military with Jet and his sister right out of high school though. Nelly flicked her flowing and fluffy cream tail and snuggled into Jet's arms.

“Can you-” she purred again meekly, “Wrap your wings around me Jet?”

“Mhmm,” Jet caressed her in a loving embrace of his wings and arms. Nelly took one of his wings and covered her eyes with it, “Just like how your mom does it?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, “Whenever I was scared as a little filly I'd hide in my mom's wings and pretend nothing bad will ever happen to me. I was always so small that I could fit under her wings.”

Nelly continued to nuzzle Jet's loving wing. She blushed as the warmth of her lovers body comforted her. Jet shared with her a deep and intimate kiss. They broke off and Jet gently stroked Nelly's mane.

“Sleep tight Nelly girl,” Jet ran a hoof to her ear and took off her bow. They settled in and slept in each others arms.

A few days later and on the eve of the operation the Next Generation Joint Strike Force gathered in their war room to sit down for the briefing. Ship was at front of the board and presented to them using the holograms.

“A large combined force of Federation vessels and aircraft will be advancing west from the ocean directly toward Comona base. Intel is vague but we do know they'll be trying to land forces on the shores to capture the base. Your job today is to engage the enemy, disrupt landing operations, and suppress both their air superiority and naval gunfire directed at our forces ashore.”

SUSAN took over with her mechanical voice.

THE FEDERATION WILL ATTACK IN TWO WAVES. FIRST IS AN AIRBORNE ASSAULT THAT WILL TRY TO LAND AIRBORNE TANKS AND PARATROOPERS TO SOFTEN UP COMONA DEFENSES. THIS ASSAULT WILL BE ESCORTED BY FIGHTERS BUT WE CANNOT CONFIRM THE PRESENCE OF TASK FORCE FROSTBITE EITHER IN THE AIR OR ON THE GROUND. THE FINAL WAVE WILL BE AN ASSAULT FROM THEIR AMPHIBIOUS LANDING CRAFT. CURRENTLY EQUUS AS NO INTELIGENCE ON THE ARMAMENT OF UPF SURFACE NAVAL SHIPS. EXPECT HEAVY RESISTANCE.

“Thank you Susan,” Ship nodded once, “There will be a lot of new pilots flying out there today from the mainland. We're launching every nearby aircraft capable of anti-ship warfare regardless of combat experience. This concludes your briefing! Saddle up everypony!”

They rushed to the aircraft hangar bay and gravitated to their fighters. Automated maintenance and preflight checks were conducted on each craft as the pilots climbed in. Jet, Avia, Tough Heart, Night Petal, Morning Shine, Scratch, Piggle, Flip, and Hornet were all selected for the mission.

Jet's plane was an F/A-38 Lightning II. Based off the F-35 design copied off human blueprints this Equestrian modification gave the craft a larger fuselage with more weapons capacity, twin 3D thrust vectoring engines, and streamlined it into a delta, roughly hexagonal, wing configuration. It was also a vertical take off jet capable of sustained hovering as it runs off magic instead of fossil fuels like the rest of the advanced aircraft the NGJSF flew.

Another Equestrian modification was the Panavia Cyclone. This was the plane that Avia flew and is an enhanced stealth fighter derived from the Panavia Tornado from which her father named her after. It was modified with twin tails, thrust vectoring, holographic cockpit displays, and an advanced avionics suite to boot.

Tough Heart's was the bastard child of an F-22 and an F/A-18E. Rightfully dubbed the F/A-40B this aircraft was a modified F-22 with F/A-18 air intakes, anhedral winglets, and the aircraft has the ability to adopt a low-drag cruising mode, in which its rear vertical surfaces and virtually every external piece of equipment folds down to minimize drag, increasing the aircraft's overall mission range in supercruise. It was a tough fighter that was hard to take down thanks to Tough's modified armor plating.

Petal had a plane unique to Equestria. The F-32 Umbra was a creation by Applebloom Engineering ordered by Princess Luna. This swept forward wing plane was designed from the ground up to be a completely stealthy aircraft with planform alignment used on all surfaces and edges that could give away the aircraft. Coated with more radar absorbent material than the other fighters the NGJSF flew the Umbra also has a built in optical camouflage that renders the plane nearly invisible. Its canards and ruddervators could also move up and down with variable geometry.

“All wings check in!” Jet formed up with his squadron as they flew on in the bright blue skies of Equus.

“Viper squadron is ready,” another squad pulled up off Jet's left wing. This time they flew twelve MiG-21Xs.

“Look at those planes. They're so ancient they could be in a museum. You think this will be enough to fight off the UPF?” Morning looked to the two allied squadrons from his XFA-27. It was a sleek, angular design with variable geometry wings and magical, high-output engines, giving it an extreme level of maneuverability and acceleration. A distinguishing feature of the jet is the Scarface Missile Bay System (MBS), a software upgrade that disables weapon launch limits, allowing it to release four missiles in quick succession. Morning's fighter also used cameras on the bottom of the plane to ensure maximum visibility while retaining a conventional glass canopy with integrated holographic projectors.

“I have no idea. Applebloom Engineering is putting a lot of money into keeping these oldies flying,” Flip commented as he touched the side of his canopy. His Fenrir is distinguished by its unusually large body. It uses a polyhedral cropped delta configuration with bent wingtips, a V-tail, canards and dual air intakes. The frontal landing gear is housed within the mouth-like pod beneath the cockpit. It uses dual thrust vectoring engines, aided by a smaller powerplant between both, which give it V/STOL capabilities. Like most aircraft of the NGJSF it was equipped with camera nodes to view the outside of the plane in real time and in almost 360 degrees.

“Hey, you guys are gonna provide some CAP for Piggle and I right? We've only got ground attackers here,” Scratch flew an aircraft called the A-164 Wipeout. It was a single-seat aircraft used for close air support and ground attack. Derived from the A-10, it was a reduced radar cross section aircraft that was a result from a limited development budget for Equestria. The previous A-10 airframe was improved with better shape, engines and armaments to give this fighter a better chance on the modern battlefield.

“Please guard us while we stay out of the fight and await their ships to come in,” Piggle looked up as Scratch sailed past his To-119 Neophron. Based off the Human Yak-130 it had a longer fuselage, wing, and control surfaces than its predecessor and was able to carry almost twice as much armament.

“Do not fear my amigo. Just keep back and we will handle the incoming flight! You just remain guarding Comona Base from low altitude and under our SAM umbrella!” Hornet's plane was more standard issue. Like most Equestrian aircraft it was a modified human design passed down to them from Earth. It was an evolved model of the F/A-18E using the standard camera mounted cockpit and updated with new radar absorbent materials and a stealthy airframe.

Their radios beeped to life, “Attention all aircraft. This is Comona Base! The defense of this facility is critical. Maintain air superiority until the simulation has concluded!”

“Hey, wasn't that Applebloom?” Flip asked Jet.

“Yeah it was. Enemy formation bearing 2-8-0! NGJSF is cleared to engage!” Jet gave the order to commence the fight, “I sure hope these new countermeasures work Brainstorm.”

“I wish we had more planes up. At this rate the UPF outnumbers us two to one,” Avia commented as she broke away and up past the clouds.

With their cockpit displays augmenting reality the simulation was now in full effect. The virtual explosions and steel carnage were mixed with the reality of their full intensive training.

One of the UPF pilots radioed out on an open channel as he engaged Jet's fighter, “I'm in position! Engaged!”

“He's on my tail! I'm in a break turn!” Jet pulled his fighter in a downward turn to try and evade the Federation Fi-2 on his tail. Capable of hypersonic speed and supreme maneuverability, the Fi-2 is the mainstay of all UPF fighter squadrons. It has standard generation six features like the integrated flight system that enables the pilot to see any adversary from range without a HUD thereby increasing combat awareness. With the aircraft's plasma fueled turbines, it is able to go without refueling for years using a chunk of uranium the size of a pebble. The fighter’s odd forward swept X-wing does give it some drag, but with such powerful engines it is no problem for the Fi-2 to go hypersonic without failure and the arrangement of the wings gives it almost godly powers in a close range dogfight, being so maneuverable that without the fly-by-wire systems, enhanced life support, and G suit nanobots the pilot would die from lack of oxygen to the brain within a matter of seconds in high-G turns. The stealthiness of this aircraft has been upgraded over the years and can now evade all but the most sensitive radars. 3-D thrust vectoring also contributes to the fighter’s remarkable prowess. Among the major space powers the Fi-2 was the most agile aircraft known to date.

However, Jet had a few tricks up his sleeve. Being a pegasus he was able to out turn even the legendary Fi-2 in his rapid twelve G snap turn. This caught the Federation pilot by surprise as Jet pulled in for an easy kill.

“Vertical! Fox Two! Fox Two!” Jet depressed the button on his joystick twice to fire two virtual missiles that closed in and detonated. It was a confirmed kill and the enemy pilot was taken out of the simulation as he egressed from the combat area. Another Federation Fi-2 came in behind Jet to close in for a missile launch, “Shit! Got one on my tail!”

The enemy fighter launched two missiles. These were the dreaded electro-optical missiles hated by the Equestrian pilots. Jet turned into the missiles to try and get them to overshoot. It was no joy as the missiles kept pace.

“Vertical! ECM deployed!” Jet popped off an EMP pulse from his modified engines which caught the missiles in an aura of magic and short circuited the electronics within. The simulation was doing well to factor in the real life EMP pulse with the imaginary projectiles in the programming matrix, “Missile evaded! Missile evaded! HAHA! Brainstorm your ECM worked!”

On the EMS Sky Buster Brainstorm and Mac Book high fived as they orbited above the combat zone, “Good deal Jet! Glad to see my invention leveled the playing field!”

On the enemy side the pilot of the Fi-2 looked on as the Equestrian plane dodged the missile, “What the hell? Command, my electro-optical missile failed to connect! I'm breaking!”

Admiral Ghost Robert Lee shrugged, “Missile failure, try it again.”

“Swellow five! Vulpix Two! Vulpix Two!” the enemy plane launched another volley at Jet. The two missiles were fried by the magical EMP of Jet's fighter and fell into the ocean harmlessly, “Confirmed! Equestri-”

“Swellow five! Respond!” Ghost sat by, “Well he's dead. Back to the boat for you Swellow five. Do not finish that report. We can't have any metagaming.”

“Solid copy command. I'm KIA'd.”

Tough Heart flew in with his F/A-40 and shot down that Fi-2 with a well aimed EML shot, “Tough Guy confirmed kill on a bandit!”

“Thanks for the save!” Jet formed up with his friend, “Sis where are you at?”

“Nowhere special. I detected a UPF AWACs flying at angels 3-6. I'm engaged!” Avia threw her fighter into a near vertical climb up to thirty six thousand feet to intercept a Federation radar plane. Unknown to them that they could not escape the fast climb rate of Avia's Cyclone fighter. Their last calls were broadcasted on open mic.

“Bandit's right on me!”

“Radar lock!” Avia announced, “Fox Two! Fox Two!”

Her missiles slammed into the recon plane. This disabled the Federation's sensor fused technology.

“Good job sis! That should cut off their systems,” Jet relayed back.

“It's not gonna be enough. We need to start focusing on their transports!” Morning Shine shot past Jet and into the fray, “Our pilots are all getting shot down by those UPF fighters!”

Viewing the air battle above Princess Celestia, Luna, and Applebloom looked with a bit of worry at the progress of the situation. Their operators were struggling with keeping tabs to all of the causalities they've taken under the superiority of the Federation.

“Captain Jet this battle is critical for our foreign relations with the UPF. If we fail to impress them, like always, they will retract their support and recognition as a foreign power. Personally I do not agree with the current president's ways. You and your team are all that stands between us and victory,” Celestia sat stoic.

“My sister, have faith in our Joint Strike Force. They will turn the tides of battle for us no matter what the Federation throws at us,” Luna put a hoof on her sister's wing.

“I have faith in them. What do you have to say about this situation Miss Applebloom?”

Applebloom smiled and looked up. Her executive business suit well groomed as the CEO of the largest engineering company on Equus, “I reckon they'll pull through. Ma company needs the money and trade from them Federation folks. It's a real shame that they all ain't so friendly to us ponies.”

“Inferior our technology may be, but our hearts are stronger as the meek among space empires. Fight on soldiers of Equus!” Celestia called out to her pilots which filled their hearts with fire.

“Yes ma'am!” the whole NGJSF shouted in unison.

Morning Shine launched a volley of four individual missiles that tracked different targets, “Dawn Light, Fox Three! Fox Three!”

Two of his four missiles connected to some Type 10 Cazador fighters like the ones flown by Frostbite earlier. The fighter itself is a multirole platform capable of both interception and ground suppression. The sleek design and robust engineering of the fighter enables speed and agility that far outmatches the earlier Type 1 Wasp it replaced. It still has the standard integrated metal cockpit of previous Federation fighters as well as passive stealth and various other features common in generation seven type fighter craft. The baseline model can be upgraded to suit the senior pilot's preferences but these Cazadors were stock aircraft and not painted in the blue and cyan trim of Task Force Frostbite.

“Splash two Cazadors! Be advised, they weren't Frostbite!” Morning radioed out.

Jet vectored his radio to his team, “This is strange. I have an odd feeling Frostbite is here somewhere.”

“We can't confirm it Jet,” Mac answered, “Concentrate on those transports before they land their tanks. Radar is not picking up anything that might be Frostbite.”

“Copy that Mac! I'm sneaking up on their transports now,” Petal used her stealth to slip behind the enemies and pick off the Bo-1C cargo planes and Pelipper dropships. Her Umbra fighter dipped in and out of cloak to confuse the enemies around her.

Petal's fighter was a shimmer of light to their enemies her missiles came out of seemingly nowhere wreaking havoc amongst the UPF fighters.

Hornet flew into an enemy formation to disrupt them as Petal slashed back and forth with her stealth fighter, “Usted no está consiguiendo lejos! Hornet! Fox Two! Confirmed transport and fighter escort shot down!”

Another transport was downed by the NGJSF. Hornet bagged the kill as he flew up to bait some planes onto his tail.

“Flip! I've got the banditos on my tail! You engage!”

“Roger that 'Net! Madman, Fox Two! Fox Two!” Flip shot two missiles and juggled two targets that were chasing Hornet, “Guns! Guns! Guns!”

Flip finished off another two fighters trailing Hornet to total his kill count of four. Jet flew near him as he chased a Cazador fighter.

“That's your callsign Rookie?” Jet chuckled, “Guess it fits you huh Madman?”

“Call me whatever you want sir!” Flip pulled away to follow his flight leader, “Sir you got bandits on your tail! I'm engaging!”

“Solid copy! Breaking!” Jet broke off from his target and turned into the Fi-2s chasing him. The rest of his squadron was engaged with the enemy transports.

“This is Tough Guy! Only a quarter of the transports have been shot down but and the rest slipped through our defenses! They've parachuted their tanks and we are trying to shoot them down before they land but half our planes have been knocked out of the sky!”

“Copy that Tough,” Avia descended from high altitude, “Coming in to assist!”

“If we shoot the parachutes before the tanks detach, we'll smash them into the ground. Are we gonna do it Tornado?” Shine looked to Avia off his left wing.

“Yeah, it's the fastest way to do it.”

“I guess we have no other choice. It's kind of a cruel strategy if this was real,” Morning accelerated to the base as the tanks started to drift downward.

“Be advised! Airborne tanks are dropping off from the transport planes!” Tough Heart shot at a parachute of one of the tanks. On his screen the parachute deflated and the tank plummeted to the ground. The tank crew however was unharmed and popped up a white flag to signal their virtual death.

The UPF tankers landed softly on the base and got out of their tank to stretch and watch the beautiful air battle above. There were smiles on their faces as the Federation was quickly overpowering the Equestrian forces.

On the other side one of the Delcatty officers of the UPF intercepted some encryptions of the Equus forces, “Admiral Lee! We've tapped into their radios!”

“Good good. Let's spice things up a bit.” Ghost looked on from the orbital view of the UPFS New Supremacy, the massive UPF flagship high above the battlefield eying the pigeons below like an osprey circling.

Princess Celestia shook her head in a sorry state of disapproval, “My faith in our pilots is feels misplaced.”

“The airborne tanks are attacking the outer defense line! Pilots don't let them break through to the command center!” the operator typed furiously as his hooves darted back and forth to maintain command and control with the help of Mac Book.

Meanwhile back in the air Jet and the others turned their attention to shooting down all the tanks that parachuted out. Try as they might many of the platoons managed to hit landfall and drive away to storm the facility. The Comona defenses faltered with the massive armored column that hit fast and hit hard. The weapons of Equestria did not have much affect on their brand new armor kits fitted to each main battle tank. Any explosive or magical attack was shrugged off with impunity to the Hellfire Bastion upgraded tanks. The added on armor was a wielded mesh of classified metals and materials mined from the Beta Universe where Equus existed. Their complex construction paid off with almost universal protection from assorted weapons.

Mac Book worked with the operator on the base, “I can't get my cheat codes to work! The encryption technology of the Feds are too damn strong! I good system hack could screw things over for them.”

“Keep working on it Mac! How you pilots doing down there?” Ship switched to Morning's screen.

“Not good sir. Can you count all those parachutes? I gave up already!” Morning Shine felt overwhelmed by the swarm of enemy tanks, “Scratch! Piggle you're up!”

“There's too many!” Piggle glanced back as his plane flew past the columns of tanks, “Our planes are great against those ground targets but we can't knock out this many!”

“Kitty and Warpig are engaging hostile ACVs! Guns! Guns! Guns!” Scratch and Piggle used the 30mm cannons of their jets to kill off the advancing tanks. Their guns and anti tank missiles made short work of the enemy ground forces that landed at the base.

“Good effect on target Kitty and Warpig!” Mac Book zoomed in with his satellite view, “I see a lot of UPF armor with white kill flags! Be advised the UPF is still breaking through.”

“I got this! I got this! I got this!” Scratch had a face of crazed fury, “Meow meow!”

“Great, she's gone crazy again,” Piggle rolled his eyes as the growling from his cannon took out another row of tanks with virtual explosions, “Times four ACVs destroyed!”

“Solid copy! These fighters are giving us more trouble than we thought!” Jet was in a tango with two enemy Fi-2s with one in front and the other in the back.

“Break! Break! Break!” Avia radioed to her brother as she came in to assist with the pursuing fighter. Suddenly there was a missile that locked right onto her fighter from out of the blue. It gave her no warning as it impacted her fighter and sent her virtual plane into a fiery ball that fell into the ocean. Her radio was cut silent as she exited the area.

“Avia is down! I repeat! Avia is down!” Jet continued to turn and burn with his enemies now on his tail, “Ugh! Hold on!”

Jet threw his VTOL thrusters back and violently pitched up with full downward thrust. The enemy planes could not turn into Jet's VTOL cobra stall and he simply flipped down back onto the tails of his troublemakers.

“Vertical launching Sky Buster missiles!” Jet depressed his button but in the heat of the moment all of his weapons had been exhausted. He gasped, “Shit! I gotta reload!”

Jet took a moment to activate a magic spell that reloaded all the weapons in his internal bays. Missiles and belts of cannon rounds replenished his depleted supplies but this cost him valuable time as the fighters kicked their afterburners to dart away from his slower fighter.

“Come back you assholes! I ain't done with you!” Jet glared with anger as his prey shot away. This distracted him enough for another UPF plane to come up behind him to finish him off with a pulse plasma vulcan. Jet was shot down as his cockpit screen faded to a kill message, “What the hell?!”

He saw a streak of blue that darted past his cockpit with a cyan trim. What caught his eye was the snowflake emblem on the tail of the fighter. It was Frostbite and they had struck their first blow with a brand new prototype fighter.

“Jet is down!,” Shine gasped with shock, “Did you see his attacker?!”

“Negative! Negative!” Flip addressed to Morning, “All I saw was that dart of blue and cyan.”

“Stay together!” Hornet's hairs stood on ends, “These fighters don't seem like the standard Federation jets.”

“Petal, affirmative,” Night took a deep breathe, “It's go time. Stay sharp.”

“Where are they?” Morning and the rest of the squadron regrouped. More missile locks rang in their ears as they were forced apart by Frostbite's harassment, “Break! Break! Break!”

A wave of missiles shot out from the NGJSF planes to unknown targets. None connected as they were launched in a flurry.

One of the Frostbite fighters started to launch missiles from pods located on the center fuselage. These micro missiles launched in succession with hundreds of them filling the skies.

They all scattered the formation and kicked their EMP magic. Several missiles exploded they were caught in the blast. The enemy fighters successfully destroyed the Joint Strike Force with one swift attack.

Avia flew by one of enemy aerospace fighters. The sleek blended delta of the new fighter could be seen as it pulled a sharp turn upwards to ascend. She could see canards built into the leading edge and miniature thrusters mounted on the wingtips that vectored downwards with the main engines, “Hot damn. They got some new toys alright.”

“Blue and grey, Cyan trim, it's them alright. Shit no wonder we got our asses beat,” Jet and Avia split away from the fight and back to base. Their fighters touched down on Comona base and they looked on at the losing fight, “Well, everyone else is downed. What now?”

Avia glanced back into the sky, “Hope for a miracle I guess.”

“This is Mitch. NGJSF have been eliminated,” Mitch's fighter was hacking into the remaining fighters to falsely display enemies chasing them to sow confusion among their ranks. Now Avia and Jet could hear them clear as day as they tuned in to the unlocked UPF channel as they were taken out of the fight.

“I've got some rookies I'm messing with!” Strella snickered as her own plane hacked into the sensor fused technology of the Equus planes. They continued to run down the helpless pilots like a pack of wild dogs. With the stragglers gone Strella smirked.

“All UPF elements. Equus air forces have been neutralized. Begin your approach Ekranoplans!” Mitch radioed out to the landing craft.

Princess Celestia and Luna were disheartened, “No luck then. New enemies on radar. We are detecting a large amphibious force coming in to land bearing 2-8-0 speed... Three hundred fifty knots?! This doesn't make sense! No watercraft is that fast!”

“Ekranoplans proceed with the invasion! Skies have been sanitized of fighters and you are cleared to land your troops!” Ghost came through to order his advanced water skimming seaplanes. These were unlike any other surface navy of the other nations as the UPF used something called a ground effect craft or ekranoplan in place of conventional boats or ships. These behemoth planes with stubby wings were the size of battleships, cruisers, and landing craft and were more capable than conventional sea going vessels.

“What ARE those?” Avia looked with awe at the massive invasion force of the boat-planes as they made their way.

“It doesn't matter, we lost,” Jet sighed with regret, “Dammit... They're always one step ahead of us!”

“This is Blossom callsign Inferno. I'm not giving up!” Blossom growled over the radio as she flew in with a giant Mach three bomber coming in from low altitude, “I brought in my B-170 Valkyrie II. I've got times twenty Advanced Cruise Missiles loaded with Trinity warheads! How copy?”

“Blossom! You're gonna get chewed up by those fighters!” Jet shouted, “Blossom I swear. Get out of there!”

“Hell no...” She looked to a TU-160X off her right flying with her, “What you got Red?”

“Glorious Stalliongradi ATBIP. Also known as the Father of All Bombs! Are we cleared to engage?”

“Red, Blossom! Stand down! I repeat! Stand down” Ship tried to get her orders across but the UPF even hacked into the Sky Buster's mainframe, “What the hell? No! Blossom!”

“WOO! Inferno launching cruise missile volley!” Blossom released all twenty of her missiles armed with magically enhanced thermobaric warheads. The gatling guns of the enemy seaplanes intercepted some of the missiles and the enemy fighters also took part to shoot them down. Some of the ACMs impacted with massive yellow and orange sporadic explosions that crippled only a handful of ships. The whole fleet was still able to close in, “No good! Damn their pilots ar-”

Her transmission to Ship was cut short as her bomber was shot out of the sky with combined fire from the ekranoplans and fighter jets. The virtual reality explosion showed her bomber ripping in half lengthwise and plunging into the ocean with a brilliant plume of water from a secondary explosion. She, in reality, was taken into autopilot as her bomber flew level and out of the combat zone.

“Motherfucker! Damn that did no good...” Blossom was frustrated.

“Red October, callsign Chernaya bombs away!” Red dropped his single bomb from high altitude. The satellite guided weapon was shot down by the ace pilots of Frostbite as it ignited into a massive explosion in the sky too far away to cause any major damage. The landing craft made it to the beach and their tanks reinforced the UPF already capturing the base.

“Mission failed... Comona Base was seized by the enemy...” Jet received the message from Princess Celestia herself. She was extremely upset at the performance of the so called 'best special forces Equus had to offer.'

On the Federation side Admiral Ghost was only amused, “Alright, let's mop up. That was a good day guys and another win for the Federation.”

“Roger that sir! We're going home,” his officer relayed all units under his command.

Frostbite came back to land at the airbase with the NGJSF. Mitch got out of his plane and looked at Jet and Avia as they sat sullen and defeated, “I'm sorry it had to be this way. You know what this means right?”

“You bastards just up and fucking leave us. I know, and fuck you!” Jet looked away in anger, “I hope your nation is proud of what it's about to do. You will no longer be welcome here in Equestrian space.”

“My father's such a dick,” Mitch whispered to himself as he walked back to his plane, “Come on Frostbite. Let's head home.”

“This doesn't feel like a victory,” Q sighed with deep regret for his nation, “How can we abandon them like this?”

“When we become too selfish and only care about ourselves that's what,” Alyssa slowly walked away from Jet and looked to him, “It wasn't our fault...”

Jet scowled, “Hey fuck you! Yeah! Just fucking walk away. Walk away like the rest of them. FUCK!”

-----

In the months following the defeat at Comona Base the UPF adopted a new isolationist policy that effectively shut down all foreign relations aside from their strong ties with Lylat. Without the support from the UPF Equus started to fail as the economy once held up by support from Federation trade plunged into a deep recession. Princess Celestia and Luna deemed the Next Generation Joint Strike Force a complete failure and all their members were discharged from the military. Within several months an unknown enemy force struck all the major space empires of both universes leaving devastation in their wake.

The UPF fell within weeks as the superior numbers and technology of this enemy overwhelmed them. Without any allies the Federation died out, not with a bang, but with a whisper...

Task Force Frostbite 2 were all executed on live television with their bodies burned and thrown to animals to be torn to shreds.

With no home to call their own and no queen to faithfully serve the Changelings had no choice but to meld into Equestrian society under the guise of normal ponies. With their new symbiotic relationships to their parasites they blended seamlessly as they could now consume the same food as that of their new society. Eventually word started to spread of their integration and their presence was made clear to the Princesses who acknowledged their citizenship and welcomed them with open arms.

This was not to last. Eventually the same universal faction which usurped both Lylat and the Federation came to Equus by force. In a show of ruthlessness these extremists adopted a terror campaign that was to destroy any and all trace of ponykind. Equus was destroyed, turned into nothing more than an asteroid field after being hit with an experimental UPF super weapon. The remaining ponies which fled to the farthest reaches of space were systematically hunted, cornered, and destroyed. Within two decades the whole pony race became extinct and forgotten by the new universal rule.

Chapter Six: Ascension

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Six: Ascension

“Hey! Good job yesterday on our wargames NGJSF!” Mitch the Buizel gave them a thumbs up as they all gathered in the EMS Sky Buster's lounge for a round of drinks. Jet was dancing to the tune of UPF electronic music with Alyssa.

“Woo! This EDM is awesome!” Jet alternated his kicks and bounced to the light and airy uplifting tune.

“I can get you the album if you like. It's Skillzmakekillz and she's been around the UPF for a while still doing her thing. She was the one who played our victory song, Fight Back, when the Federation/Lylatian war was over,” Alyssa jerked and flowed with the beat of the music.

Jet consumed the last of his beer, “Heya! SUSAN can ya order up another brewskies!”

ORDER RECIEVED CAPTAIN.

A tiny flying quadrotor drone with a bottle of beer balanced on top flew right to Jet and served him the ice cold alcoholic beverage. He trotted over to Prelude and used one of the 14.5mm sniper rifle bullets on his jacket to open up the bottlcap before casually replacing it back onto his jacket.

“Go easy on that! We aren't made of money you know?” Quincy rolled his Glaceon eyes. Jet walked over to give him tight hug with one arm.

“Buut I thought you Federation guys were like all rich or something. Isn't that why you president was gonna pull the plug on our alliance or something?” Jet hiccuped.

“Well, partly. My father is under a lot of stress and he hasn't had time to deal with as many problems as he would like. That and half our nation want nothing to do with colorful candy colored equines,” Mitch sighed, “It's quite a shame. We call ourselves free thinking but sometimes we're just to damned stubborn to let go of ideas that worked in the past. The UPF is acting like an overly self-conscious teenager who's reputation is on the line.”

“Maybe we can learn more about your nation and show them that we can be tough as nails too!” Tough Heart was lightly drinking some cider with Ship as they shared from one glass.

“I doubt it. The moment you step on our planets you'll all be hit with racist remarks, death threats, and just this utter pile of horse shit that good honest sentient beings like you don't deserve,” Mitch continued, “You're just like anyone else. Why can't others see that?”

“Wow, that is a real shame,” Ship tried to sip from the straw without looking but bumped into Tough who was trying to do the same thing, “Oh my!”

Tough winked, “Why'd you stop?”

Ship glanced to Tough and giggled, “I didn't know you didn't want me to mi amor.”

Strella popped into the conversation, “Well, there is one why you ponies can trot around the UPF among our own.”

“How so?” Tough asked before being jumped by Ship's loving kiss.

“Err, drunk much? Get a room you two,” Strella laughed. Tough Heart flipped up his wing and displayed a central feather with the others curled down.

“Okay, so what are you thinking Strelly?” Mitch looked to her over a can of soda.

“You know my mommy has that pony to Pokemorph and back thingamadevice back in the New Supremacy. Why don't we make them Pokemorphs so we can escort them back home?”

“Strella, that actually sounds like a great idea. You definitely got both your mom and dad's brains,” Mitch nodded, “Well! Who's up for a vacation to the Federation?”

The many hooves of the NGJSF shot up some half drunken and about to fall over.

“Well that settles it. Since you guys are gonna be off for a couple weeks this vacation is on us! And by us I meant Quincy's wallet,” Mitch grinned as he blew a tuft of brown hair out of his eyes.

“Hey! I heard that!” Quincy got up.

“Dude, chill! You're the ice type after all. Strella?”

“You know my pockets are deep,” Strella rolled her spiral Spinda pupils, “But it'll be great to show you guys around! There's lots of shopping, good restaurants, great entertainment! Come on! It'll be fun!”

“But won't the clothes and accessories we buy not fit after we change back?” Night Petal asked sober. She and Morning Shine didn't drink much.

“On yes they will. Just stuff them into the machine that changes you back and forth. That's how we ponify our clothes and uniforms for discreet outings to Equus. Just, don't try putting in novels or else some crazy crossovers come out,” Strella explained, “I can also get you guys all set up with fake IDs once we change you.”

“What you,” Jet hiccuped again before downing all of his beer, “Say S-hip?”

“I think it's a good idea. We should learn all we can about the UPF,” Ship still cuddled into Tough, making his orange heart shaped tuft of fur puff up.

“Roaadtripp!” Jet collapsed onto a table and passed out.

“Definitely his father's son,” Avia sipped her own apple cider, albeit slowly as to not get too drunk.

Frostbite gave them three days to recover from their hangovers and pack for the trip. With the ship docked back home on Equestria the NGJSF were ready for their vacation to the United Pokemorph Federation as they boarded the New Supremacy. Jill and her daughter were there to welcome them.

“Hello there pones!” Strella waved cutely to them, “Now before you guys settle in my mom will all transform you into our species.”

Ship raised her hoof and one questioning eyebrow, “Will it hurt like last time?”

“Oh this time it won't. I use the machine quite frequently,” Jill smiled.

“Oh come on! Where's the fun in that momma?” Strella leaned her head onto her mother's arm.

“The subjects have already been tested Strella. As much as you and I love to see our friends get experimented on this isn't really the time,” Jill presented her machine and stepped nearby to the controls, “Just step right in when you are ready. Just, be sure to have some clothes on you. I suggest wearing these.”

Jill handed them a pile of pants to cover up their flanks.

“Um? Why do we need these?” Prelude was the first to ask.

“To cover up of course. Your species is for the most part naked most of the time and the transition to a bipedal stance leaves... Um, yeah just put those on if you want to keep your dignity,” Jill explained.

“Oh, OH! That's right I kinda forgot that all the other races like to have full body clothes on,” Jet remembered, “I'll go first.”

“Right, step this way,” Jill lead him into the first door and turned on the camera in the room. Her voice was heard by Jet over the PA system, “Now step inside the machine when you are ready!”

Jet took a deep breathe, “Here we go.”

“Good! I am now scanning for other lifeforms inside the chamber. The last time I tried it with two subjects things didn't go well. Okay Jet there is a fly inside the chamber with you. Step out of the chamber,” Jill instructed him.

“Oh okay,” Jet stepped out and the chamber sealed again to be engulfed with flame to incinerate the tiny insect inside. Jet's ears flopped down and he starred at the machine with distrust, “Um... Are you sure it's safe?”

“Jet! Don't be a pussy!” Simon called to him.

“Fine! I'm going back in!” Jet stepped into the now cooled shapeshifting chamber and leaned on the wall, “Okay, Here goes! Hit it Miss Jill!”

“Initiating!” Jill pulled a lever as the machine started to whine. With one shot from a beam Jet disappeared, “Okay, now the machine will select the appropriate Pokemorph body for Jet. Ah there we go! Okay Jet can you hear me?”

“Yeah! It's dark! And kinda relaxing actually. Feels like I'm floating in space!” Jet's voice could be heard from the PA as well.

Jill looked to Ship, “Reverse engineered Pokeball technology. Now we use that for medical stasis to this machine. Things of that nature.”

“Ah,” Ship nodded.

“Okay Jet are you ready to embrace your new body?” Strella asked.

“Yeah! Can you get me out of here? I'd like to see what I look like already!”

“Okay! Annnd pull the lever Strella!”

Strella pulled the lever on the side of the wall next to the exit. Jet phased back in with a shot from a red beam that materialized his new form. He was now a regal bipedal bird Pokemon with a forward pointed red crest, light blue plumage, grey wings, and his rainbow tail turned into a fan of rainbow colored feathers. He was now a Braviary with all the features just mentioned. His uniform and pants also transitioned to humanoid form.

“Whoa!” Jet looked into a mirror inside the testing room, “This looks kickass! I'm a freakin' eagle!”

Jet stepped back into the main room and his friends looked at him in awe.

“Jet, you look-” Nelly paused, “Taller!”

“My wings are now my arms too! Watch this!” Jet extended his full wingspan and Nelly looked wide eyed.

“Oh-Oh my!” she blushed. The rest of their friends laughed uncontrollably.

“Pony in joke I presume?” Strella was clueless.

“You don't know the half of it,” Avia giggled, “I'd like to go next please!”

“Go ahead!” Jill went through with the procedure with all of them. Although most of them kept their original colors their forms shifted to their new Pokemorph bodies.

“Wow! I look just as cool as my brother!” Avia turned into a light blue Pigeot with orange and dark blue crest and tail.

“Well, it certainly fits you Bird Jesus,” Strella chuckled.

“In joke for you Pokemorphs I take it now?” Avia stood next to her brother.

“Yeah, it'd take a long time to explain,” Strella shrugged.

“So I'm suppose to be a rabbit?” Ship was a Buneary with her original colors.

“Look at me! I'm buff as fuck!” Tough Heart was a Machoke and showed off his biceps. Ship gently massaged his arms. Tough blushed.

Nelly was the last to step out of the chamber, “So um, how do I look?”

“Whoa Nelly...” Jet was astonished by his girlfriend's new look. She was now a Sylveon with beautiful green ribbons. Jet handed her a mirror.

Nelly gasped with delight, “I'm so kawaii! Are these my bows? They're adorable! And... Made of my flesh? Creepy, but cute!”

“I was honestly wonder what you were gonna be,” Nelly's brother was a Glaceon like Quincy only with a stripe of yellow running through his tail and hair.

“Why am I a fluffy bird?” Flip turned into a rather muscular Swablu. He retained his central white stripe that bisected his face.

“Well I'm sure my mother would like how I look,” Prelude glanced at his new body. He was a deep red Absol that kept his dark hair with pink highlights.

“MEW!” Scratch, unsurprisingly, was a Delcatty.

“Well that settles that. All of you are all changed. How is everyone coming to grips with their new forms?” Jill asked.

“Okay I guess, I got swords for elbows?” Frag was a Galade.

“Here are your fake IDs please remember to refer to your new names. We wouldn't want anyone to become too suspicious in the Federation,” Strella started to pass out their ID cards.

“Okay, remember your names. Ship you are Samantha, Tough is Thunder, Sagittarius is Steve, Flip your name is Felipe, Prelude is Paulson, Scratch is Sara, Frag you are gonna be Franky, Piggle is Pigsy, Hornet is Oliver, and Shine you are Donny. Do well to remember!” Jill pointed to each of them who had their name changed.

Jet raised his wing, “Question! Why are some of our names unchanged?”

“They already fit the standard set of names among the UPF. Jet, Avia, Nelly, Simon, Petal, Blossom, Storm, and Rush are fairly common names in the Federation,” Jill explained, “Now if everyone is set you are free to move about the ship. We will arrive on the UPF home planet of Ultimax in a few hours.”

“Alright! Sounds good!” Jet saluted, “Meet you guys back here when we land!”

“Oh! And Jet!” Jill saw Jet and Nelly walk together, “Bear in mind that you two are not of the same breeding group. Just pretend you can't have kids okay?”

“Say what?” Jet turned back.

“It's Pokemorph biology. If anyone asks just play along.”

“Okay Miss Jill,” Jet and the others scattered to their rooms on the ship. The massive dreadnought that was the UPFS New Supremacy was almost two kilometers long with ample space for the crew. The large hallways and amenities offered by the massive battle carrier rivaled that of many cruise ships.

Jet and Nelly continued to tour the ship in their standard UPF uniforms with their siblings. They sat down to eat at one of the restaurants inside the ship.

“So what the hell is that Steve?” Jet asked Sagittarius, “Um Steve!”

“Oh sorry!” Sagittarius almost forgot his fake name, “I have no idea.”

“That is called a poffin. It's a popular pastry among the UPF,” Quincy was right there to escort them, “That one is Bluk Berry flavored. It's a dessert so you should probably eat that last.”

“Hmm, what is a Mirelurk?” Nelly whispered to Q.

“It's a bipedal crab native only to the irradiated marshes of one of our planets, New Echo. It goes great with tartar sauce! You like seafood Jet? I saw your eyes light up.”

“Oh hell yeah! What can we get here in the food court?”

Quincy looked around, “We got space squid calamari, fish sandwiches, fish and chips.”

“I want the calamari. Extra rice on the side,” Jet nodded.

“Sure thing. What about you guys?” Quincy asked the others.

“Something meaty for me,” Nelly eyed the holographic menus, “Oh! How about the Scinfaxi sandwich? That sounds good.”

“That's a third of a meter's worth of turkey, ham, and roast beef you know that right?” Quincy raised an eyebrow.

“No worries, she'll finish it,” Jet winked. Nelly gave him a look, “What? I didn't mean it THAT way! Get your head outta that gutter!”

Nelly pawed at him with her tongue stuck out.

“A nice steak for me, medium rare,” Sagittarius ordered to the waiter now hovering over the table.

“A Mirelurk patty sandwich for me thank you!” Avia smiled.

“Okay! Sit tight meals are inbound,” the waiter walked away with their order. Another pair of Pokemorphs walked in to sit at the table behind Jet and the others. The Zorua of the two walked in talking.

“I tell you those ponies were using something we don't know about in that last war game!”

"We're not perfect, Ghost. We should be glad they've improved, since they ARE our allies. If we always had to save their hides whenever they got into combat, we would have a lot less time fighting other fronts where we're needed... because we'd be sent to save them. Like last time," With a glitter in her vivid green eyes, the skinny but well worked Vaporeon stood only slightly taller than the Zorua beside her. Modest in her figure, she looked far from intimidating, but therein was her efficiency, “Oh look, it's Quincy. Good job out there as always!”

“Thank you Ma'am!” Quincy saluted.

“At ease soldier. Say who are your friends?”

“I think I know,” Ghost stood up. His cybernetic eye scanned back and forth at them. His metallic left arm pointed to Jet, “Captain Jump Jet of the United Equus Space Force, Next Generation Joint Strike Force. Glad to meet your acquaintance.”

“Wait, how did you know?” Jet gave him a handshake as Ghost reached out.

“With those colors of yours. I just did a scan with my cyber eye to match them with your pony form. Guess Jill let you guys into the Federation. Welcome to the New Supremacy! This is the largest military vessel in service with the UPF. Armed with a kilometer long railgun, 62 anti ship batteries, 18 heavy particle beam cannons, 16 long range anti ship missiles, hundreds of AA turrets, and a compliment of one thousand fighter craft this ship is the pinnacle of Federation might. I also have you congratulate you on your victory. I don't know how you did it, but you did it. No other nation has been able to crack our psyonic radios.”

“We just had some help with that. It was all just magic I guess, I honestly have no idea how it works,” Jet shrugged.

Ghost shook his head, “I can tell you are lying. But let's leave it as is since you won't tell me anyway.”

“Alright,” Jet smiled.

“Hmm? Where are your manners? You are talking to an Admiral here,” Ghost chuckled.

“Sir yes sir!” Jet saluted at once, “Sorry sir.”

“At ease, your meal is here anyway. Let's go Venise, I wouldn't want to discuss anything else that might be too classified to these guys,” Ghost got up and brushed off his uniform.

“Yes sir! Quincy, keep up the good work in the training!” Venise picked up her folders and walked out with Ghost.

After their evening meal they settled in for the flight back. They continued to wander and peruse the ship as the hours flew by.

“Attention all crew! We will be arriving on Ultimax shortly. If you are scheduled for departure here please gather your belongings and make way to boarding gate 1-1. All other crews are to remain on station. Please brace for atmospheric reentry,” an announcer came over the intercom as the ship hovered in orbit after jumping through universes and light speed.

Jet and the others braced themselves as the ship started its descend into the atmosphere. The hulking mass of the giant ship shook and rattled as it fell at terminal velocity. The crew of the ship did not feel much different as the artificial gravity held everything in place and only the vibrations of the air resistance resounded in the spacecraft. As they approached the ground the retrograde thrusters of the ship slowed their descend to a much more manageable level as they slowly hovered above the capital city. The artificial gravity was turned off as the ship neared the spaceport.

“We have now arrived at Emerald City, USTN, Ultimax. If you are scheduled for leave please gather your things and proceed to boarding gate 1-1. I repeat if you are scheduled for leave here please gather your belongings and proceed to gate 1-1. Thank you for your attention, your country thanks you!” the announcer continued as Jet and the others gathered their luggage and filed into the line. The operator at the gate scanned their ID cards and allowed them to pass into the main terminal. As they walked on they found themselves rather out in the open as the family members of the others that departed started to embrace their children, wives, and husbands long away from home on deployment. They however were left without much notice.

“So, what's the plan now?” Ship looked to Jet.

“I have no idea,” they stood awkwardly when a whistle caught Jet's ear. There was Strella holding up a sign to signal Jet, “Oh there we go! It's Strella.”

“Took you guys long enough. Stop standing around in the open. I've got a bus waiting for you guys in the back,” Strella lead them to a waiting hover bus. They boarded in and drove off to the hills that overlooked the city in the richer residential district of town.

“So what are we doing here? Shouldn't we be at a hotel?” Nelly looked out the window to see the many mansions and well groomed wealthy estates pass by her window.

“Darling where we're going we don't need a hotel,” Strella winked, “Here we are! Rivers mansion guys!”

The bus pulled into the massive driveway of the equally impressive mansion. The whole compound stretched on for acres and was almost akin to a small village with many posh trimmed landscaping and metallic sculptures that adorned the grounds. The brilliant white masonry of the house shined bright as they made their way up the stairs.

“Holy crap Strella! You live here?” Jet looked about with awe across his face.

“Oh, this isn't my only house but it's my biggest one. Six square kilometers, pools galore, gardens, greenhouses, even a full laboratory and special 3D fabrication facility in the basement. Hey, when your dad is a Federation billionaire you can't go wrong.”

“Is that a swim up sushi bar on that pool?” Avia sat wide eyed as she pointed to the closest pool to them.

“Yup, that's Tamashi. He's our personal sushi chef. I know everyone around here. Oh! And here he comes! Sup Winston?” Strella leaned in on her personal butler, “Winston these are my friends, Winston, friends, say hi.”

“Pleasure to meet all of you on behalf of Madam Strella,” the Purrloin butler bowed to them.

“Winston, please see to it that our guests are properly settled in.”

“At once Madam Strella,” he proceeded with a smile, “Please come this way to the maglev.”

“This place has a maglev? Hot damn these guys are rich,” Tough Heart boarded with his friends.

“Of course Master Thunder, we are fully stocked and equipped to handle a variable multitude of guests here at Rivers mansion. You will be staying in five separate houses here on the estate. Please make yourselves comfortable and allow us to serve you,” the butler politely addressed to them with an air of class.

“Do you like your job here?” Nelly wondered.

“I wouldn't trade it for the world Madam Nelly. If I was not employed by the Rivers family I would have died of heart failure. They generously donated a cybernetic heart for me to live on at no charge to myself or my family. You see, all of us have a reason why we are here. Tamashi's family was killed in the last war. The Rivers employs him and pays for his PTSD therapy. The gardener, Owen, lost all of his limbs in the same war. Now he wears prosthetics that help him with his tasks. My employers are true, golden hearted people. I owe them my life,” Winston went on.

“Wow, everyone here has a story huh?” Petal looked out to see the army of helpers off to do their daily jobs. Many of them with smiles and a happy spring in their step.

“So what does Strella's dad do anyway?” Jet asked.

“I beg your pardon?” Winston looked at him with a bit of shock, “You are military are you not?”

“Well yes, but I-we're...” Jet looked back and forth nervously.

“We're part of the outer colonies. We haven't had much contact with the main of Ultimax,” Morning came to the rescue using his knowledge gained from reading many books about the UPF.

“Oh well then. Master David and Madam Jill manufacture weapons technology and conduct research into the biomedical field respectively. Master David's manufacturing firm is the largest in the whole Federation, indeed, a whole planet is owned privately as a factory world.”

“Whoa, now that you mentioned it I started to notice that logo on many of our guns,” Jet scratched his beak, “He makes the fighter jets and energy weapons doesn't he?”

“Indeed Master Jet. We have arrived on station. Please if you need anything at all don't be afraid to ask,” Winston bowed.

“Our luggage would be nice,” Ship requested.

“As you wish Madam Samantha,” Winston snapped his fingers and an army of his fellow butlers filed in to take their luggage to their assigned houses. They started to settle in for the day to relax around the compound.

As they cuddled up for the night Nelly and Jet started to flip through the TV for anything of interest. Avia, Ship, Sagittarius, and Tough were also tuning in to whatever they could find. With each flicker of the remote the TV changed channels as they browsed the selection of over thirty thousand channels. As they input in their likes and dislikes the TV automatically filtered the channels most likely for their viewing pleasure. They started off with the local news network.

“You're tuning in live to Federation State News! Where we bring nothing but the truth to you fellow citizens! Our top story tonight: a Federation defeat at the hooves of our allies last night as Equus has stolen the lead in the wargames,” the Espeon newcaster started. She sat stoic and continued, “With us today is Chief Admiral Ghost Robert Lee. Good evening Admiral, how would you say our troops fought in the last battle?”

The camera zoomed out to view Ghost talking with the newscaster, “As always the soldiers of the United Pokemorph Federation are the cream of the crop my dear. But as of now our pony allies have pulled some crafty tactics and new technology that caught us off guard. I have to give a hand to them, they did very well out on the battlefield as well.”

“Now, do you think the president will reconsider his decision to pull out of the alliance with Equus now that they have shown some guts in the recent conflict?”

Ghost shrugged, “Personally I stand with our alliance with Equus. Although we gain not much from our alliance I feel as though it is the right thing to do. I hope the president shares the same feeling despite the recent tension in the Federation.”

“How do you think the population will react to this chain of events?”

Ghost sighed with a shake of his head, “Knowing what is happening right now a lot of people won't like it. I wish they could just see that they are just like us and that they deserve all the same respect as any other sentient being we help. It's not just about us Pokemorphs anymore in our little universes.”

Tough poked Jet, “Mind if I change the channel? I wonder what kind of sports there are in the UPF.”

“Nope, go ahead.”

“Okay. TV search sports!” with an audio command the TV displayed the listings of all the channels categorized as sports. The kicker was that it was mostly Pokemorph Battling, Wargame Tourneys, and Major League Gaming, “What the fuck? Where are all the sports?”

“The UPF don't practice the same sports as Equestria Thunder,” Ship winked, “Guess I'm getting the hang of your other name.”

“I wanna watch football, TV search football!” Tough tried again but the only channel that popped up was a soccer station which Ship immediately flipped to.

“Oh! This is more my style!” She cuddled into Tough purring cutely.

“Boooring! TV search up MLG!” Jet flipped the channel back to UPF Major League Gaming.

“This is Pwn Zone! You are watching the live final match up between the PhaZe and R33FleX over the coveted ten million credit prize and the title of The Ultimate Clan of Federation Gaming!”

“Hey! Dammit Jet! TV search soccer!”

“NO! TV search MLG!” Jet and Tough started to fight over the TV. Tough playfully tackled Jet to try and keep his mouth shut.

“Boys will be boys...” Avia took out her tablet and connected to the web.

After a good nights rest there came a knocking on their doors from the butlers of the mansion. They were all directed to the stairway that lead to the front door of the main building.

“So, what's going on?” Ship looked about while her bunny ears followed her eyes.

Strella stepped forward from the double oak doors and held her arms out with a smug smile wide across her face.

“Welcome to the Federation my peeps!” she announced as Q, Mitch, and Alyssa boosted in with their exosuits from behind the pillars. They were in their casual civilian clothing and with a quick motion of their arms their suits dropped off and reassembled into a backpack that formed autonomously, “We will be your tour guides for our wonderful nation. Now I know we can't cover everything with you guys but we will try by dividing each day into a session that will each tour a section of the UPF and what we have to offer. Each day we will cover aspects of our life and culture and we are here to guide you through it. What you say guys? Sound fun?”

“Gotcha! Now there are a lot of us here, so how are we gonna do it?” Ship asked, her ear flopped over.

“We're gonna divide you into four groups of five just to make things easy. Q, Mitch, Ally, and I will lead on,” Strella continued, “I need the first group to come with me.”

Jet, Avia, Nelly, Tough, and Ship came forward.

“Okay! Who wants to be with Q?”

Sagittarius, Flip, Prelude, Scratch, and Frag gathered with the Glaceon.

“Mitch?” Strella asked.

Simon, Piggle, Petal, Hornet, and Morning went with the Buizel.

“And lastly, Ally?”

Blossom, Brainstorm, Rush, Wings, and Red joined in.

“I have a question! Where are we going?” Water Wings raised her hand. She was a Simipour Pokemorph.

“To the UPF Emerald City Weapons Museum of course!” Strella walked on over to a tour bus, “If you would step this way please!”

It was a short ride to the Emerald City Weapons Museum but the walls of the UPF caught their eyes. They well all adorned with murals, tasteful graffiti, and all sorts of artwork. It was hard to find a blank wall on the many streets they passed by.

“Why is there so much vandalism in the UPF?” Morning perked up his Fennikin ears.

“What do you mean?” Mitch looked out admiring the murals and artwork with them.

“All this graffiti. Don't you guys do something about that?” Morning looked back and forth trying to find a blank wall.

“Oh that? Graffiti is legal in the UPF. Just so long as they aren't drawing dicks everywhere and they have permission from the property owner then it's totally fine. Although residential districts aren't touched as people tend to like the colors of their houses. Some people actually make a living doing nothing but roller skating and spray painting walls all day. You see that mural? That was made by the famous Paula Rosencaster, the top UPF graffiti artist. It's titled: Victory At Last. It commemorates the victory against the Rising Tide in the war a few decades ago,” Mitch smiled at the proud mural of his father and the original Task Force Frostbite leading the charge with UPF flag in hand, “Awe inspiring isn't it?”

“I guess so,” Morning nodded.

“And we are here!” the museum was an imposing set of buildings all painted in the military blue of the UPF. Their bus parked in the special designated area and they all filed out in an orderly manner with their guides at the front. They walked in and started browsing the first exhibit on the handguns of the UPF. They marveled at their unique designs and modular assembly.

“Alright everyone. Feel free to browse and if you have any questions please do ask,” Strella announced.

“Whoa, what in the world is this?” Ship pointed to one of the guns in the case. As she read the article next to it Strella read it out loud for those listening in.

“That is the SP-1 Turnback. Over 600 years old, this handgun has changed little since its introduction in 1911. This has seen extensive action in the First Ultimax War of 1914, the Mandarin/Treasure war of 2020, the Federation Civil War of 2494, and more recently the Cornerian/Federation War in 2520. 10mm pistol, accessory rails standard, and newer materials are used in the modern examples,” Strella was a walking encyclopedia of military information.

Avia turned her attention to a bullpup pistol adorned with a gold and cyan color scheme. Strella poked in.

“That is the UCP Bullpup nicknamed the 'Sturmpistole.' Designed by the legendary firearms manufacturer K&H of Volksaxon, this odd weapon is a computerized bullpup handgun, housing a small internal processor in the handle and a magazine behind it. It has a built in LCD screen at the back of the weapon that displays ammo capacity, a compass, and the current condition of the weapon. It uses the common 7mm kurz round found throughout UPF space, similar in quantity and availability to 9mm rounds. Not only does it have accessory rails on both the top and bottom it is also a fully automatic/burst fire weapon, able to spit out armor piercing bullets at over 900 rounds per minute with very low recoil. It is also extremely customizable, with numerous upgrade kits to enhance its accuracy, rate of fire, sights, and durability. However, it is EXTREMELY expensive to produce and is highly coveted throughout the Federation's military ranks as a sign of bravery, honor, and the will to go beyond the call of duty. Many veteran soldiers who receive a medal often decline such an award in favor of this wonderful, and beautiful firearm. As such, each UCP is engraved with the stylized seal of the Federation and comes with a certificate of authenticity, explaining the heroic actions that the recipient achieved. One famous individual favored this weapon in place of a medal, quoting, 'We may have turned away the tide, but our job isn't done yet! Which is why I decline this generous offer in place of something more valuable. This weapon is the very symbol of what it takes to go beyond the call of duty and to keep the fight for freedom going! My brave people, as your hero I will still stand and fight no matter the odds!' That individual is none other than former President Buster Ricardo Rivers. He is Mitch's grampa.”

“He always had such bravado even in the face of overwhelming odds. He once lead his armored force against a Rising Tide army that outnumbered him three to one. His response: 'Fair odds!' What a badass I tell ya,” Mitch chuckled, “Now he's just content to spend his retirement fishing for tuna and swordfish in open water.”

“Wow,” Avia continued to admire the pistol, “So this is a really coveted firearm huh if it is awarded in place of a medal.”

“Yup! That is why your mother has one.”

“I-I remember now! She was given that gun when my big brother was born as a peace offering from the UPF,” Avia fondly touched the glass, “I was always curious about that gun sitting up in its lonely case. I would love to have one.”

Strella and Alyssa winked to each other with Avia's back turned. Jet waved his wing to them.

“Hey! Hey! What's this big gun?” Jet looked at a magnum and a revolver in the corner.

“That semi-auto is the prized SP-3 Tundra Falcon. Popular in UPF culture, this handgun is often featured in movies, video games, and many other forms of media capitalizing its success. It is an extremely powerful weapon, chambering the .50 caliber Action Express round. This has seen service in the Federation Civil War and the Cornerian/Federation War. It is still used today and it is an effective and reliable weapon in use with junior and senior officers as well as Special Forces such as us. The sheer stopping power of this weapon and the modernized frame, which helps reduce recoil, have made it a staple in the battlefield. As with the other UPF pistols, this one is equipped with an accessory rail mounted under the barrel and fully illuminated iron sights,” Strella smiled, “Mitch has one.”

“And the revolver?”

“Let me tell you about that one,” Q started, “That is the P33 Pereira. First used in 2142 and is still in service today. Mostly because it is a revolver and it doesn't jam even in the coldest climates. What makes it unique is the fact that the cylinder can hold up to ten rounds in the .44 magnum model and up to eight with the .50AE variant.”

“NO WAY! How does that thing carry so many rounds?” Jet was directed to the removable cylinder of the weapon.

“We have a caseless variant of the .44 and .50AE rounds. The cylinders can be double stacked and the we pack two rounds per cylinder in a vertical manner. Once the caseless round is fired a spring moves up a cased round that aligns with the barrel,” Quincy explained the operation of the weapon.

“That is fuckin sick. My B3 Wingman can only carry eight rounds of .44 magnum,” Jet marveled the advanced weapons of the UPF.

The group took a few minutes to look at the sidearms before Strella lead them onward. As they neared the end of the tour Strella lead them into the unique weapons exhibit of the museum.

“And here we are! The special purpose weapons of the UPF. Feel free to look and ask away friends!”

Tough Heart eyed a large automatic shotgun behind a case of glass, “The Hydra Helix shotgun. Hmm...”

Ship also took interest. She stood by her lover as Alyssa took the stage this time.

“The Hydra Helix shotgun is a unique model that uses a helical 30 round magazine inspired by the Soviet PP-19 Bizon, giving it unparalleled stopping power. The shells are stored in a tight spiral inside the cylindrical magazine to promote high capacity unrivaled. The weapon itself is made of lightweight polymers to mitigate the large and heavy helical magazine thus most the weapons weight is located near the barrel making recoil less of an issue. Notable features include the standard set of accessory rails on the top of the weapon and an adjustable choke. The back rails sit atop an elevated block to give optics a better view on target and the forward rails are reserved for laser or tactical lights. There is a recoil damper in the stock and the bolt handle sits behind the elevated sight block to chamber in fresh rounds. It fires the same caseless 12 gauge rounds as the MZ-58. When paired with fragmenting shells this gun becomes a borderline grenade launcher. But it's not just a shotgun, the helical magazine also doubles as a landmine. There are two pins on the clip that secure a fuse in the middle of the weapon. The first is a safety pin that acts like the safety handle on a hand grenade and the second is tied to a tripwire to activate the explosive core. It can also be fired after being submersed in water or even underwater comepletely. It is nicknamed by Mitch's dad as The Bitch Cannon.”

“Basically, you can control day and night with that gun,” Mitch laughed, “Takes out jets too!”

“Here's another interesting gun. It's one that my mom used in the war: the R-20 Rainbow Rifle. Using reverse engineered Lylatian laser technology, Federation Scientist David Maxwell Rivers has created an anti materiel rifle able to punch through multiple layers of plasma shielding and plate armor a few feet thick. The R-20 is an energy weapon that uses a charged ionized laser beam that lasts for two seconds when shot, either used to sweep a cutting blow or focused on a target to deliver a piercing shot. The laser is multicolored and the weapon takes a second to charge when the trigger is pressed. The rifle is able to engage any and all targets on land, sea, air, and even space. The rifle features a clean crosshair variable zoom rangefinding scope, adjustable stock, and a bipod with a monopod in the stock. Like the ARP-5 rifle the weapon can passively recharge shots, but it takes hours to recharge a single shot with solar or thermal energy so manual reloads are frequent with the specialized electron charge packs made custom to the weapon. Not only that but the rifle is extremely lightweight for an Anti-Materiel rifle weighing only eight and a half pounds. With an airtight seal, it is completely waterproof and can function underwater. Yes Jet?”

Jet had his wing raised and whispered, “Why did you name it after my mom?”

“Uhh, we didn't know you were a real universe when we named it. Strella's dad was a fan of the show at that time.”

“And he still is, I'll give him that,” Strella crossed her arms and smiled, “Here's another good one. It's called the MGL-180. Although here in the UPF we like to call it the Eight Ball. It's an eight round grenade launcher with double stacked tubes. Heavy, but since our spec ops love to use exosuits it doesn't really matter.”

“Hey!” Nelly noticed something going on outside, “Look at that!”

A crowd of UPF citizens paraded down the streets in anger and protest. They all ran outside to see the angry mob.

“These ponies of Equus are nothing more than an alien influence that is slowly degrading the Federation! Let us stand united as the strong military empire we are today and let us not engage in the values of their race! We are not destined to be weak! We are not destined to ally ourselves with such an inferior empire!” the Purrloin at the head of the crowd shouted as they cheered on his speech.

“What in the world?” Nelly was hushed by Strella.

“It's an Anti-Equus demonstration. They're marching on the capital to demand the president to pull the alliance,” Strella held her back.

“That's terrible!” Pass gasped, “Aren't we going to stop them?”

“Freedom of speech is a constitutional right in the UPF. They can do whatever they want so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.”

“But-they ARE!” Jet could not hold back his temper.

“Correction; so long as it doesn't hurt one of our own. Sorry, semantics,” Strella corrected herself.

“I'm gonna show them a piece of my mind!” Tough stepped forward with Jet. Quincy, Mitch, and Alyssa stopped them.

“You CAN'T interfere with this. You'll blow your cover sky high!” Mitch whispered into the ear of Tough as him and Quincy tackled him to the ground.

“Thunder, let it go. Let's just see how this pans out,” Ship helped stopped her lover as well. Tough dusted himself off and looked on.

“Dumb piece of shit Antibronies...”

“If the influence and values of Equus are taken into the UPF we will become too soft for our own good! We are a strong nation! An independent nation! A nation who should be allied with those more worthy of our power! Equus is nothing but a joke!” the rallying cry of the protester stirred up the mob as they continued on.

Avia stepped forward calmly, “Excuse me sir.”

“Yes fellow Pokemorph?” the Purrloin smiled to her.

“I am from the outer colonies and I am curious to what you are doing. Why are you doing this?”

“Oh, since you may not have heard the news Equus, a land filled with stupid magical ponies, somehow beat us in one of our recent war games. The reason why we are so angry is because the UPF used to be such a strong and independent nation that does not allow for such softness and weakness to be associated with our empire. Of course, judging by your age I doubt you were born when the UPF was at it's prime. I just wish to see those days back. Back when strength and independency was valued more so than some stupid small space empire barely able to get off it's own two feet. I say we should not care and more so care about our own survival. I know that may sound harsh but when you think about it who would you rather save? Us or them?”

“What if,” she paused to inhale, “I said them?”

“I respect your opinion. But let's see which one of us is right at the voting polls,” the protestor shrugged off her question with indifference as he respected his fellow Pokemorph, “Anyway, carry on and have a nice day! I still have a demonstration to lead.”

“I never got your name. I might be interested,” Avia used her quick wits to fake her alliance.

“Call me Alson Burry. It's my alias as the leader of the Anti-Equus movement.”

“So, if I may ask. Would you kill a pony?”

He sighed, “Quite honestly, yes. I am tired of their shame drowning this great nation.”

“Would you kill me?”

“What-no! Why in my right mind would I kill you just for having a different opinion than me? Or do you?” Alson rasied his eyebrow.

“I have not formed mine yet. Which is why I want to know both sides,” Avia continued to prod.

“Smart, I like that.”

“Yes, thank you. I should go, my friends and I have a museum to tour. Thank you for your time,” Avia turned away and walked back to her friends.

“You're friends with Frostbite huh? Tell them they did a great job in the last battle with those dirty cheating ponies!”

“We hear you asshole,” Strella glared at him as he walked away, “Fuuckin biiiiiittcch.”

Days later and after a thorough tour of the Federation they traveled to the planet of Rayquaza, a gas giant colonized by the UPF. The oxygen rich planet was home to the many floating cities famous as tourist destinations. As they entered the atmosphere the orange haze of the clouds engulfed their transport. All around them was like a dreamworld. Nothing but clouds and the free open air of a vast endless orange dyed sky. Jet and his sister looked in awe.

“It's beautiful!” Avia gasped as they pierced into the heavens.

“So you guys colonized a gas giant?” Jet turned to Strella who was flying the ship.

“Yup! It's a nitrogen-oxygen planet so you know the air is just crisp and clean to breath. The sky plankton make this atmosphere breathable by exchanging carbon dioxide like plants. Sky plants!” Strella explained as they were landing onto the largest city on the planet, “Welcome to Ascension City! The most popular tourist destination in all of the United Pokemorph Federation!”

“Whooa,” Ship gazed the cityscape as they stepped out, “This city is huge!”

“Roughly 1,300 square kilometers of floating metal suspended by antigravity lift panels all lined on the bottom of our floating artificial island. This took us a hundred years to build and was here even before the UPF was formed. Yup, this city has seen Pokemorph governments come and go. Seeing as how our Federation is keeping afloat I think we'll be here for quite a while,” Strella continued to introduce, “Now come on! Who wants to go shopping?”

All the girls gave a gleeful smile as they sided with Alyssa and Strella.

“And to all the boys in the group come with us! We have something specially reserved for you!” Quincy and Mitch gathered the rest, “We'll all meet up at the Hidden Treasure Gourmet for dinner after all this. You gals have fun!”

“Oh we will! See you later Thunder!” Ship winked to her lover.

“Have fun!” Tough turned to Mitch, “So uh, what are we gonna do?”

A military hovertruck pulled up next to them. Mitch and Quincy hopped in the back and beckoned them, “Well come on! It's a surprise!”

They all boarded and were driven to an airbase near the edge of the city. They passed by rows of Fi-2 fighter jets all lined up neatly and there were two of the prototype Black Jacket fighters at the end of the row. They stopped at a warehouse building and entered to be greeted by a Pikachu at the reception counter, “Welcome to Ascension City's famous Whale Hunt Club! Will you be flying or gunning today?”

“Alright guys, if you know how to fly raise your hands,” Mitch requested and the pilots of the group made themselves clear.

“Alright, let me just process all of your IDs to make sure you are all pilot certified,” they handed in their ID and the receptionist passed all of them, “Alright you guys are set! Follow Captain Mitch and Captain Quincy here to your planes! Happy hunting guys!”

“Yeah, follow me. The rest of you go with Q,” Mitch lead them out onto the tarmac while the rest stayed in the reception area.

“These guys are gonna be gunning. You got the gunship prepped?” Q asked the receptionist.

“Of course! This way to the gunship hangar,” the Pikachu lead them to the other end of the airbase.

On the flight line the fighter pilots all geared up to fly in their rented Fi-2 fighters. Mitch was there with his Black Jacket to lead the formation.

“This is Mitch. Callsign Undertow. I'll be leading this formation today. Hopefully you guys can get a feel for your planes. I know you colonists might not have the luxury of Fi-2s out there on the frontier.”

“This is Jet, callsign Vertical. We read you loud and clear flight lead. What are we gonna be doing today?” Jet glanced over to Mitch's fighter.

“We're going on a whale hunt boys! AWACs just detected a pod of Sky Whales ripe for the picking! We're gonna eat fancy tonight!” Mitch cheered.

“Wait, so we're hunting a flying whale? Isn't that a little unethical?” Morning Shine was a little disgusted by the idea.

“Okay, so we've tried very trick in the book to domesticate these things to no avail. The only method we have to quote unquote 'farm' them is to hunt them down and kill them. It's messy but there's no other way to do it. Besides it serves as population control as well. If there are too many whales then there isn't enough sky plankton to make the air breathable. Also you are gonna love the taste of Sky Whale steak. Okay! Kick the tires and light the fires gentleman!”

“Oh your six Captain Ahab,” Jet chuckled as they all took off.

“Take a few moments to get a grip with your planes handling as the gunships take off. They're gonna pull beside the whale to shoot at it then recover the carcass with a net,” Mitch flew with them as they started to circle around getting a feel for their Fi-2s.

“This plane is really nice. Handles much like my XFA-27,” Morning was pulling turns and testing his craft with maneuvers, “I really like it! It's very agile and the flight controls are as smooth as butter.”

“I still prefer VTOLs,” Jet shrugged, “But I have come to appreciate this fighter. I do love how it handles! I just like my VTOL thrusters for more agility.”

“You know those things can punch hypersonic. But I would not do that unless you got some shielding up. Okay! Here comes the gunships!” Mitch looked down to see the massive jet aircraft take off from the runway. The modified transport was fitted with dozens of gunports all mounting a varied armament of 25mm railguns, 20mm vulcan cannons, and even a few 135mm railguns on the underside of the craft, “Those are the brand new An-2250s the UPF just fielded. It's an update of an old human design we really liked. We gave it the nickname Lucid Dream. But the gunships are called Koshmars, Nightmares.”

“Those things are huge!” Hornet flew by one of them to see the massive array of weapons mounted all over the airplane.

“Eighty four meters long with a wingspan of 88.4. That's 275 feet and 290 feet for you colonists guys,” Quincy radioed out to the Pokemorphed pony off his starboard wing, “Our transport variants can carry up to 253,820 kilograms. You colonists really gotta learn our Metric system.”

“Okay! Fly to vector 264 and maintain formation. We will arrive near the pod shortly,” Mitch gave the order and they all pulled off into the west.

Meanwhile the girls were having all sorts of fun shopping at the UPF's largest shopping mall, The Lalea Bella Shopping Center. Night Petal and Avia were with Strella picking out some clothes from one of the many clothing shops.

“Avia, do you like this one?” Petal showed off a sparkling purple and blue dress to her friend.

“It's okay I guess,” Avia shrugged.

“That shade of purple looks great on you Petal! Avia, is something the matter?” Strella turned to her as she tended to the others with their clothing desires.

“Well, I'm not that much into the girly girl style. Do you honestly have something more, I dunno, punky? I take after my mother I tell ya.”

“Ah! Well you should go talk to Aly. I think you and her would find the match at that other store across from us, Infernus Designs,” Strella waved to Alyssa, “Aly! Please escort our guest to Infernus for the latest in Federation fashion trends!”

“Oh! Now we're talking!” Alyssa got off her chair and hopped into action, “I'm not too much in the girly girl things either. Infernus is my go to store. They sell a lot of goth, punk, and pop culture stuff I think you'd like.”

“I wanna go too!” Nelly came forward as she overheard them.

“Count me in!” Blossom as well.

As they browsed Alyssa suggested an outfit to Avia to try in the fitting room. As Avia stepped out she was greeted with cheers from her friends.

“Damn! That looks awesome!” Nelly looked at her outfit of a black, punky sleeveless leather jacket with a white T-shirt worn underneath with jeans.

“Now that is perfect! Take a look Avie,” Alyssa handed her a mirror.

Avia gasped, “I-I love it! This just screams badass!”

“It's only the most popular UPF fashion trend among young women. A lot of Federationites share your spunk Avia,” Alyssa gave her the thumbs up.

“Me next! I wanna try it on too!” Nelly squeaked with joy.

“You know, I wonder what the boys are up to?” Blossom stared off into the distance.

“YEAAAAAAAH!” Jet flew in and out of the gunship's tracers as he and the others were focused on taking down one of the Galaxy Whales. They were flying close to the creature to take out the organic jet engines of the whale that used the oxygen of the planet to keep aloft. There were several dozen of the blisters on the whale that had to be taken out one by one to take it down.

“Crap! That whale is straying too close to Night Dragon territory! Those things will eat us alive if we get too close!” Mitch launched a barrage of missiles at the whale that only managed to take out four of the blisters.

“What in the world is a Night Dragon?” Jet was too focused on the whale. He pondered at the size of the creature which was nearly two thirds the size of one of the gunships. What he didn't see was a single Night Dragon pull up behind him.

“Jet! You got a Night Dragon on your ass! Shake it off! Break! Break!” Mitch yelled into his radio.

“Breaking!” Jet glanced back and his reflexes kicked in. He saw the blur of black chitinous outline of the half reptilian half xenomorphic creature. He could see the mouth as it glowed with bright pulsating plasma. With a blood curling scream that pierced the cockpit of his fighter the alien dragon launched the ionized projectile at his fighter, impacting the main fuselage and throwing his plane off center, “Shit! Those things are accurate!”

“Night Dragons never miss! Get that toothless bastard away from you! Pop some flares to mess up with their loreal pit's IR tracking!”

“Dumping flares!” Jet turned hard while dumping his countermeasures. The dragon turned away confusing the flares as his fighter while Mitch lined up for a perfect shot.

“Undertow! Vulpix Two!” one missile shot out of the internal bay of the Black Jacket as it curved brilliantly into the path of the Night Dragon. With a blast of shredded tungsten the missile took it down as the alien gave one last defiant blast of plasma plummeting into the planets abyssal core, “Bandit down! You okay Jet?”

“Yeah! I think. How's my fuselage?”

“Bad, that Night Dragon tore you a new air intake. You're lucky to still be flying. Fly back to base and eject over the runway. I think we got the whale in the bag,” Mitch looked up to see the dying whale as the two gunships swooped in under it to catch it with a massive net. Now hoisted by the two Nightmares the carcass was ferried back to the city with the rest of the fighters in escort.

“Not bad for a bunch of rookies! We're gonna eat happy tonight boys! Hunters get to eat this whale for free!” Quincy smiled in the cockpit of the gunship. The boys in the rear all gave a round of high fives to the successful takedown of the Galaxy Whale.

“Wow! That was some rush,” Sagittarius was still shaking from operating the 20mm vulcan turret.

Quincy gave the controls to his co-pilot and handed a shovel to Sagittarius, “Here's a shovel! We don't clean up after your mess.”

“My mess?” Sagittarius looked back at the gun station. Mounds of shell casings off to one side had collected over the course of the engagement, “Oh... Shit...”

“Good thing I got the railgun turret,” Prelude chuckled as he saw the sheer amount of firepower they had to expend to kill the darn thing.

“I still can't believe one whale managed to eat twenty five 135mm tank railgun shells. What are those things made of anyway?” Fragarach leaned back in his gunners seat to the big gun of the airplane.

“Juicy delicious steaks! They usually run in the restaurants for a hundred bucks. Believe me, they are worth it!” Quincy took his place back the pilot seat.

“They better be,” Simon helped shovel shells with Sagittarius as they were both stationed on the 20mm gun turrets.

An hour or so later the group met back up at one of the most fancy Federation eateries: the Hidden Treasure Gourmet located on a separate floating island adrift on the planet. They all arrived via a VTOL transport and were seated promptly at a long dinner table still in their flight suits and newly bought wardrobe. Avia sat next to her brother and they looked at each other.

“Sup! Nice threads sis.”

“Thanks! What do you think mom would say?”

“Awesome probabl-LE,” Jet drifted off as he saw Nelly in the same attire. His jaw dropped as he looked at her from head to toe.

“You like what you see?” Nelly flirted.

“If my wings were on my back...”

“Hush! Food's here!” Strella arrived with her escort of chefs and waiters all serving the smoked whale with red onion compote on a bed of salad, “Dig in! You guys earned it!”

“Wow, what is this?” Avia took a sniff, “It smells like a mix of bacon and steak.”

“Whale meat! Sky Whale meat. Fresh from the hunt. You got these guys to thank for the free meal!” Mitch eagerly dug into his smoked whale. His slow and deliberate eating made him savor the meal.

With one bite Jet was hooked, “Whoa! That is the best meat I've ever had! Extremely tender, with a mild unique taste. Sorta like steak and bacon. I love the smoked flavor! It just goes so well with the meat.”

“It's really light too! Mmm! It's heavenly!” Petal took her time with the meal.

“I'm down for that!” Simon stuffed the delectable morsels into his cheeks like a squirrel.

“Manners Simon! We are at a fancy eatery for goodnes-” Morning Shine trailed off as he saw Strella eating in much the same manner. He whispered under his breathe, “Oh, for Celestia's sake...”

“May I have seconds?” Simon smiled as he asked Strella.

“Sorry dude, limit one steak per customer. That's probably the only one you will ever have in your whole life. Well, your life anyway,” Strella teased.

“Hey, can I get a cider?” Jet and Avia asked one of the waiters.

“I'm sorry but we do not carry apple cider here. A fine wine perhaps?”

“Okay, how about a beer?” Jet glanced again at the beverage menu.

“Will do sir. Would you like a Freedom Fighter, Blue Railgun, or the Ascension Island?”

“Umm,” Jet hesitated, “Forgive me, I'm a colonist and have never tried any of the UPF home brews. Since I live so close to Equestrian held space I tend to get my brews from the ponies.”

The waiter sighed, “Those barbarians huh? I am deeply sorry you have to suffer in such an awful space. It's no wonder Madam Strella invited you to the heart of the Federation.”

Something in Jet snapped, “What was that?...”

“Bro! Cool it!”

“No no no no no... I don't care about that. Look, I don't mean to make a scene. But for once in your life have you ever considered that they are like us? They are living, breathing, sentient lifeforms that should be respected and treated like one of us?”

“I beg you're pardon?!” the waiter was offended, “Those barbarians are nothing more than a lowly space race barely able to keep themselves aloft. The Federation should be more concerned about our own species and safety. We simply gain nothing by being their allies.”

“I beg to differ,” Jet sighed, “Have you ever considered that it's the right thing to do?”

“The right thing to do is to put one's own family before others. The Federation is my family...”

“There is no reasoning with you then. Fuck the beer, I'm taking my whale steak and I am outta here,” Jet walked out of the restaurant in anger.

“Jet! Wait! Dammit, he's always like this!” Avia went after him, “Jet! Jet wait up!”

Jet stood outside and looked into the distance, “I just need to cool down. I just don't get it... How can these assholes live like this?”

“They don't know. They're blind to the politics and the needs of others. Remember Jet, they've been self sufficient and isolationist for years now. Things are only starting to change. And it doesn't help that the people have the say in the government either. A lot of them don't like us for winning that battle. I just read that the President has no authority to veto any majority vote decided by the population. Just give it time. We might have made the difference.”

“I hope so Avia...”

Chapter Seven: A New Conglomerate

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Seven: A New Conglomerate

Hovering in deep space the alarm sounded in the EMS Sky Buster. The troops all gathered in the war room for the briefing to their next mission. Ship was at the head of the presentation as she prepared the hologram.

“Ladies and gentlecolts we have a request from a new contact. I know it's been a few weeks since any major action and now that we've had a nice long vacation I'm sure a lot of you are itching to go. So, here we are!” Ship projected the hologram from the center of the room. It showed a floating spatial map of the universe which zoomed in to their sector and then to a planet located in the alpha quadrant, “We are traveling to Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. As you may or may not know some decades ago this planet was nearly destroyed by a massive alien tentacle monster that crash landed on the planet via a meteor. The native human population fled to their farther colonies and in the years following formed the Earth United Force. This new conglomerate is a massive private military company that aims to restore Earth to its former glory and to protect it at all costs. They are a corporate powerhouse buying out major military based companies and manufacturing firms such as Atlas Corporation and Nanite Systems. Now more prolific and influential than their own government they have requested us as an audience. Especally you Jet.”

“Me?” Jet pointed to himself, “Why?”

“Something to do with your father. I had a talk with the CEO in his request statement and he wants to see you for a special mission.”

“Count me in!” Jet didn't hesitate, “I want to know what he has to say about my dad.”

“Cross, you're coming along too as the diplomat with Jet and I. Let's do our best for the first impression. Mac! Jump us to Earth in this universe,” Ship ordered to the sleeping unicorn, “Mac!”

“Wha-Geez I already got it done when you guys were in the briefing. Look out the window,” he yawned as he reclined back in his seat and snored.

“Oh... Well, carry on then! Good job I guess,” Ship shrugged, “Saddle up fellas we got a head honcho to meet.”

As the dropship arrived planetside two offload the three leaders of the NGJSF they were greeted with a massive military facility in the heart of what was once Seattle Washington, USA. Off in the distance was a mountain that had been cracked in half by the catastrophe that befell earth some time ago. Although the sky was blue the water was tinted a shade of yellow as much of the blood of the terrestrial monster polluted the sea in the wake of the destruction. A large dome shaped building dominated the south end of the EUF headquarters taking up almost the size of a cityscape. The three ponies trotted on forward and were met with the leader of the EUF with his two subordinates and an open topped military truck. The lightly tan Asian human with glasses stepped forward and smiled.

“Welcome ponies of Equus to Earth! I am CEO Troy Gambino of the Earth United Force. Thank you so much for taking time to meet with me,” he held out his hand and Cross was the first to accept it.

“And greetings to you my friend. I am Prince Iron Cross. Diplomatic officer of the Next Generation Joint Strike Force and representative of United Equus. These are my associates, Captain Ship McDaniel and Captain Jump Jet,” Cross bowed as he finished. Jet and Ship nodded as well.

“Captain Jump Jet huh? I personally knew your father and he saved my life on many occasions. Up until a few weeks ago I never knew he had a kid. Come on guys! I'll give you the tour,” Troy had them ride in his personal transport Sunderer. The six wheeled truck was bulky and sat high above the ground with armor stripped away leaving an open air cabin modified from the base version. The ponies sat in the rear and took in the sights as Troy continued to talk, “What you're seeing is advanced warfare. The EUF has the single largest standing military known our race and we answer to no country. Unlike the government, we don't keep secrets of our capabilities. We don't sell policy, we sell power. We are a super-power for hire.”

They passed by a scout helicopter landing in the middle of a somewhat crowded military plaza with soldiers in casual attire just going about their day. As they cleared the plaza a metal gate slid open to reveal a blue and gold plated tank rolling off to the side.

“M439 Vanguard MBT. Those are some of my favorites,” Troy commented, “Power isn't just about the ability to destroy. The EUF has built infrastructures in places like Mars, Earth's Moon, and our frontiers. We do in a few years what it takes governments decades to accomplish. In fact, the truth is, we're often more effective than the governments that hire us, namely the Terran Republic.”

They passed by another interesting sight. There were strange VTOL attack craft that sat on elevated platforms undergoing maintenance. They matched the blue and gold of the Vanguard tanks that rolled by earlier.

“What are those?” Jet pointed to them.

“Those are SF-2B Reavers. Our main light CAS gunship built by our Nanite Systems Aerospace branch. 30mm nose mounted M20 Mustang cannon and those are being equipped with Breaker rocket pods and Hornet missiles. If you look to your left you can see some exosuits the UPF has exported to us. Did you know we collaborated to make those? The UPF outsourced us to manufacture a fraction of those at a discounted price from their own companies. We couldn't say no to the extra cash and the basically have the same anatomy as us body wise, not ability wise,” Troy went on as two exosuited soldiers boosted to a ledge opposite of them and over the truck. They continued on down the road and into a high rise office building in the center of the base. They took a seat in the CEO's office and began their meeting.

“Thank you so much for the tour. The EUF is a welcome sight, unlike the UPF's constant dislike of Equus,” Ship smiled.

“Oh yes, I am aware of that. Pardon my French but that is bullshit I tell you. Now, onto the meeting. I've called you here today for a special request. Look, from now on I will support you, your nation, and your unit from my good will. But there is this thorn in my side that I think you can help me with,” Troy adjusted his glasses and sighed as he viewed out the window into the distance, “Do you know how long it took to rebuild Earth just to this point back from the brink?”

“No sir,” Jet cocked his head as he gave a neutral statement.

“Twenty three years. It would have taken hundreds, maybe thousands of years had your father not saved my life Jet. When Earth was destroyed he was the first to welcome me onto a new planet. Same with your father Iron Cross. I hope he is doing well.”

“That he is. Thank you Mr. CEO,” Cross kept his formality.

“Please, call me Troy. I wouldn't have it any other way. And Jet, you are so much like your father. A brilliant leader, strong, and with a great sense of justice.”

“Oh, why thank you,” Jet had a smug smile and looked to Ship.

“And his ego as well,” Ship's ears flopped down with her eyes rolled.

“If you're anything like your father I want to see you out there on the battlefield. Sorry for going off track but here is my mission for you,” he started up his projector and closed the blinds to darken the room the briefing began, “Several weeks ago one of my best friends and officers, Lieutenant Mira Torren, was murdered by our rival PMC group: the Galactic Combine. Of course, they deny all charges and somehow all evidence to the murder was burned by a 'mysterious' fire that razed the crime scene. Without a shadow of a doubt the Galactic Combine was responsible for her murder and we want justice no matter what. I know this might be an underhanded tactic to hire a foreign group to help us do our dirty work but the Galactic Combine is an evil corporation that strives to do nothing but to exploit and profit from others misery. The EUF on the other hand has done many good things and truth be told we could do this ourselves but we wouldn't want our rep to be spoiled by going on a freelance vigilante mission. Which is why we want to hire you guys for the ops. The best special forces Equus has to offer, showing the other space empires what it means to be a pony huh?”

“You got that right! You seem like a trustworthy guy. I'd like to say yes but I have to respect Ship and Cross' opinions first,” Jet looked to them.

“I agree as well. This is a good chance to make an impression on your nation. What say you Cross?” Ship turned to him next.

Cross nodded in agreement, “Likewise. You have our support.”

Troy crossed his arms, smiled, and nodded, “Thank you very much lady and gentlecolts. And Jet.”

“Hm?”

“Salamat po,” Troy smirked. Jet did as well.

“Walang anuman!” Jet waved back to him as he prepared to leave.

“Oh and before you go why don't you familiarize yourselves with our equipment. If we're gonna be supplying you from now on you should get some trigger time with our guns and vehicles. I suggest you pick your team for the mission and prepare for our training courses beforehand. Meet with my wife, May, when you are ready.”

“Again, thank you for your support,” Ship turned back and waved.

“Don't mention it. Now go on. I expect nothing but the best,” Troy turned around and closed his door. The ponies went back outside and discussed the situation.

“So, who's up for this mission?” Ship asked to Jet.

“I'm bringing the two new recruits: Water Wings and Blue Circuit. My sis is coming, so is Prelude, Rush, Hornet, and Flip. I might change my mind once I know what we're up against. Let's meet this May he was talking about,” Jet and the others were directed to the training facility where a power armored Caucasian officer stood by to welcome them in. She was an imposing figure standing about seven feet tall in her armor and towered over the four and a half foot ponies in the room. Her helmet was off to one side on a table and they could see her green bandana and short flowing brown hair.

“Alright Captain Jump Jet is it? Gather your men for a crash course in our weapons training. The mission will be a stealth operation so I hope you're prepared,” she donned her helmet to her impressive salmon tinted armor. It looked far more capable than even the UPF exosuits outside. It was obviously a sort of prototype armor only being used by the humans of Earth, “Like my armor?”

“Yeah, mind if I ask where we can get it?” Jet grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry but this is our prototype Mjolnir Mark VI power armor. Unlike your standard slap on exosuit I had to undergo extensive augmentation and genetic manipulation to even use this armor. One wrong twitch and this armor goes nuts breaking all my bones. The amount of control needed to work this armor takes years of training and muscle memory. The process itself is very painful and has left me unable to have children. Doesn't matter though, my husband didn't really like kids anyway. Never planned on it,” her voice was somewhat muffled through the helmets speaker.

“Okay, let me get my team down here. Yo Blossom! Can you gather up Pass, Circuit, Prelude, Rush, Hornet, Flip, and my sister down here?”

“You got it Jet! Everypony pile in!” Blossom signaled the awaiting soldiers to board her dropship. A few minutes later they fast roped in right outside the training area and gathered around.

“Okay, let's head to the range this building across the street,” May lead them into the lobby of the shooting range. Various EUF exclusive arms were mounted on the wall with labels neatly denoting each weapon.

From left to right Jet read the labels out loud, “BAL-27, EM-1, IMR, and XMG-1s?”

“EUF developed arms. The BAL-27 was my go to assault rifle when I used to work for them,” Blue Circuit spoke up.

“Which is why I brought you along for the ride rookie,” Jet glanced over to him and smiled, “You're our foreign weapons expert.”

“Oh, I did not notice you there Circuit. It's been a long time since you worked for us,” May turned around and greeted Blue.

“Yup. Got back to Equestria, said these guys needed the extra hooves. Who am I to pass up?”

“Knowing you, you wouldn't. At least you can help me out here.”

“You got it Miss,” Blue saluted to her, “Man, this place brings back memories.”

“Let's get started,” May activated a sliding metal door which opened in front of them to unveil a shooting range with guns lined up neatly on racks, “Take your pick. Personally I like the MORS. Not as good as the UPF X-8 Spectrum but it's a lot more accurate. Only downside is that you have to chamber each round since it has no mag. The Atlas 20mm is overkill but good luck hauling that around for long. XPR-50 is nice, that was always a favorite human weapon since 2025, been around ever since.”

“Circuit, what do you recommend?” Jet turned to his squad mate.

“BAL-27 is pretty run of the mill compared to our R101Cs. If you don't like to run out of ammo the IMR is nice. It 3D prints its own ammo so you'll never run out. HBRa3 is also pretty beastly, hard hitting but the rate of fire slows down for more accuracy when you pin the trigger. If you favor SMGs I can't get enough of the ASM-1. These guys gave me my own unique one and I call her the Speakeasy. Those ones are the SN-6, the ones next to those are the SAC-3s, and the last are the AMR-9s.”

“And compared to UPF weapons?” Avia passed up the training and sat on the sidelines with her trusted Smartpistol and her own newly gifted UCP Bullpup handed to her from Strella during their vacation.

“Well, let's just say the UPF have them beat,” Circuit winked, “That's my personal opinion anyway.”

“Well, he's right in some ways. UPF weapons are far more refined than what any of us are packing. In their universe humans went extinct a long time ago and at our current tech level which is why they are far in the way the most advanced space empire out there,” May explained, “Alright, Circuit and I will teach you individually to use our guns. The operation will be tomorrow at 0600 dropping into Auraxis. Ready up.”

-----

At the dawn of the next day the NGJSF pierced into the atmosphere of the planet Auraxis. On the continent of Esamir they were flying in low and in cloak mode to assault the Eisa Tech Plant held by the Galactic Combine. Esamir was a barren, icy wasteland dotted with frozen lakes and spires of violet crystals sporadic among the landscape, jutting out of the ground to heights exceeding twenty yards. One of these crystal pillars passed by Blossom's dropship and grazed one of the wings lightly.

“Strike one you are en route to the area of operation. I'll give you the briefing here,” Troy was on the radio communications to instruct them. They all lined up at the back of the dropship ready to drop out with their 3D maneuver gear and pulse jump kits, “Your mission today is to infiltrate the Eisa Tech Plant here on Esamir. The plant is heavily guarded by Combine forces and you are to break inside and steal any data regarding Mira's murder from their central computer hub located at the heart of the tech plant. Once you secure the data you are to offload it back to us and exfil out of there. Go in, get what you need, and get out. I want this to be a clean operation. I don't want the Galactic Combine to find out the EUF sent you guys in.”

“Solid copy. My team does not have any EUF traceable items equipped. But thank you for the gifts,” Jet radioed back out and turned to his men, “Burn cards! Use them now just to be safe!”

“Already used mine,” Circuit smirked, “It's a surprise just in case we need it.”

“Here, I got mine,” Rush burned up his newly acquired EUF burn card that replaced his Dragonfire drones with a EUF built WASP sniper drone armed with a suppressed sniper railgun and capable of cloaking.

“I still got that biofoam from my last burn card,” Flip looked to his medical packs and looked out of the open cargo doors as they neared their drop zone.

“Hey, has anypony seen my sister?”

“Boo,” Avia startled Jet with a permanent cloaking device, “Guess what I burned.”

“Ghost Squad burn card. Good thinking sis,” Jet readied up with the rest of his squad, “Okay! We're at the drop zone! Deploy! Deploy!”

All of them jumped out without any ropes or parachutes and used their pulse jumps to softened their landings. Circuit was the only one not equipped with wall running gear and instead had a UPF exosuit.

“Okay, we're clear. Snipers post up! That means you Prelude and Hornet,” Jet gave his order as they all cloaked and darted to the facility. Hornet and Prelude set up shop on a nearby hill laying prone.

“Prelude, 'Net what do you see?”

“I see a lot of activity down there Jet. Some weird walking aliens striding along on three tall legs on patrol. Can we get intel on these?”

“May here, I've posted up a mile away from the tech plant providing recon. Those are Combine Striders. The GC are the leading bioengineering firm known to mankind. They excel in creating advanced silicon based organisms and biomechanical weapons. Those giant floppy cannons are powered off of dark matter. One shot and you'll be as intact as getting sucked into a black hole.”

“Copy, moving into the open everypony stay cloaked!” Jet and the others ran out into the open once a patrol had passed. They proceeded southeast into a collection of buildings and hid inside, “Alright, hunker down in here. Avia, scout ahead for us will you?”

“Roger,” Avia parkoured up the outside wall and on top of the building still invisible to everyone, “Got some mini-striders on the road. What of these?”

“Do not engage! Those are Hunter Striders and they can detect cloaked infantry. Let them pass and watch their scanning beams,” May relayed to them.

“Hold up! Two guards on the middle tier of the tech plant. They're watching the building you're in fireteam,” Prelude alerted quietly.

“Combine Overwatch soldiers. How you wanna take em out?” May asked over their comms.

“Let me handle it,” Avia shot out a grappling hook with her 3D maneuver gear and accelerated to the middle tier of the plant. She used her cloaking and dispatched the two guards with her silenced Smartpistol, “Tangos down. Dumping the bodies over the rails. Okay good! They landed out of sight looks like you're cleared to move up!”

“Squad, post up to the door,” Jet and the others stacked up and looked out, “Crap! Two guards by the main entrance in white armor. Looks like their elites.”

“Hey Jet, I've also got a guy looking right at us to the building on our left. Top balcony, do you see him?” Flip pointed out from the shadows.

“Yeah! Keep down! Snipers, you got shots?”

“Roger, Hornet and I will take the guys at the main gate. May, can you take out the balcony overwatch?”

“Copy that Prelude. On your mark,” May waited until the ponies fired first. All three of their shots landed in sync and dropped their targets. Jet and Flip took the initiative to drag the bodies over with their grappling hooks and hide them in a closet next to them.

“Halt, scanning beam. Enemy aircraft overhead looks armed. That pinging is also annoying,” Jet peeked out to see a flying bioengineered creature the size of an attack helicopter.

“Careful Jet. That's a Combine Gunship. Wait for it to leave the area completely, it doesn't need that scanning beam to pick you up. It uses sonar to see.”

“Shit! Avia get off that roof now!” Jet called out.

“Got it! Whoa!” A scanning beam barely grazed her scalp as she could hear the gunship hover close to her. The gentle ping of a sonar organ on the craft could give a false sense of security with its subtle sounds resonating past the deafening chop chop of a ducted fan rotor and jet exhaust that supplemented the frankenstein biomachine. Her heart was pounding as she could hear the gunship fly over and look at her with its undermounted compound eyes. Avia's eyes widened and she gasped in fear, “Shit!”

“Avia! Avia what's going on?!” Jet whispered with a hint of panic. There was a pregnant pause followed by a sigh in response from his sister.

“Holy crap I thought that thing saw me. I thought it was looking at me,” Avia hid herself under a pile of boxes and caught her breathe, “You're clear, that gunship bugged out.”

“Copy! Patrols are cleared, moving into the main facility,” Jet and his squad entered and hid themselves in the shadows to charge their cloak. Avia took this time to rope down to them unnoticed and entered through the same way they came in.

“Too close,” Avia stood next to her brother.

“It's okay little sis,” Jet gave her a comforting and short hug, “You're doing good.”

“We've lost visual of you six. Should we reposition?” Hornet asked.

“Negative why don't you use those motion darts to highlight enemies through the walls?”

“Copy Jet!” Hornet and Prelude loaded in their tracker darts into their sniper rifles. They landed them nearby and the darts started to scan for ten seconds. It detected two guards walking to them from behind a generator.

“Did you hear about that assassination we pulled off on that EUF officer?” their voice was almost completely shrouded by a mechanical sounding filter. The scratchy robotic voices echoed through the near empty hallway.

“May, did you get that?” Jet radioed out.

“Copy, we need to verify it though. The terminal is close to you guys! One flight of stairs up!” May linked them the interior plans of the base onto their HUDs.

“Yeah Lieutenant Mira Torren. That gave us a good distraction to hold our dealings with the Pulsar Miltia in secret,” the guards kept talking.

“No kidding? I was wondering why I got that bonus. What are we doing helping out those guys anyway?”

“They want to unite all the space empires and put an end to all indifference. To me that's pretty noble of them, even though they are a bit aggressive. By the way Bob I heard some candy ass ponies beat the United Pokemorph Federation in their latest wargames. Looks like the Feds are growing soft,” the two guards walked past the hidden ponies.

“Dumbasses. Ponies are a fucking cancer in this universe.”

Jet sighed quietly and with deep anger, “Can we kill these guys?”

“Do it,” May gave them the good signal. Jet took both of his grappling hooks and pierced them right into their throats and pulled them back in for a good double buck as they bled out on the floor.

“Annd done. Glad I got that out of my system,” he spat on the corpses before stuffing them behind a plasma generator, “Let's move. Pass you see anything on your motion tracker?”

“Negative boss,” Water Wings scanned around back and forth with her hoof mounted tracking device.

“Me neither, up the stairs! Let's go,” Jet pointed up as Avia and Circuit boosted up to scout forward.

“Dude, hold up, There are a lot of technicians here working on crap,” Circuit slowly dropped down to let his cloak recharge. Avia still sat atop one of the server consoles serving as the low wall to the main access terminal.

“I also got a lot of overwatch all around us on the railings surrounding the terminal. They got this place locked down. If you guys go up the stairs you'll be fucked,” Avia reported in.

“Change of plans. Circuit toss a threat grenade!”

“Gotcha,” Blue bounced one on the ground underneath a computer without anyone noticing and the smart grenade highlighted all the enemies in the room in bright red and through any surface.

“Everyone sync their cloaks and grapple up on my go onto the railings to take out those guards all at once. Ready? On my mark,” Jet aimed his grapple to the outside rails. His team did the same and got into position to pounce, “Mark!”

They all grappled up and cleanly stabbed all of the guards looking down at the control terminals. With the high ground taken they all uncloaked.

“Squad! Gun em!” Their suppressed weapons rang out and killed all the technicians working in and around the terminals. They grappled down to the main room and started to get to work, “Terminals cleared! Mac Book, Troy, can you guys get an uplink?”

“Hold on, let me get my cheat codes working,” Mac typed away to crack into the Combine network, “There! Downloading the files onto the EUF database.”

“Impressive. You've got one hell of an IT guy on your team,” Troy came up on Jet's visor and nodded, “That's it! That's all the data we needed to verify. Get out of there.”

“Roger that!”

“Jet! We got a problem!” Hornet came on the line.

“What is it?” Jet asked before a pulse of plasma impacted next to him destroying the console, “Well there's the problem! Ship! We've been compromised! Requesting immediate exfil!”

“Solid copy Jet! Blossom is on her way back!” Ship radioed out as a full scale firefight erupted at the tech plant.

“They're flooding in like ants! Hornet and I are engaging!” Prelude kicked things off with shots from his MXM DMR. Hornet took down the harder elites with his M320 LRR firing massive .408 Cheytec rounds right into their center mass. They were doing their best to stop the flood of Combine from overwhelming their friends inside.

“Get out! Follow me to the roof! Mac can you disable those AA guns?”

“Working on the cheats Jet!” Mac took a sip of soda and typed with fury still linked into their mainframe.

“Can you hurry up? We don't have time here!” Avia grappled up onto the roof, “Looks clear! Landing pads are clear!”

Suddenly a loud mechanical growl and the sound of rotors lifted up from behind the tech plant with a fierce pinging sound that encroached behind Avia. She turned around before getting hit by a burst of hot plasma from the automatic gun of the Combine Gunship.

“Avia! Avia! Respond!” Jet was caught up in his own firefight.

“Jet! Avia took a big hit! She's critical! Rush! Get that drone out for some support!”

“You got it! WASP active! Let it do its thing,” Rush covered them with his drone hovering close. The sniper railgun mounted on it pinned down the enemies around them with accurate fire thanks to Rush's custom AI software uploaded onto it called the Guardian Chip. The cloaking of the drone also gave it the element of surprise to any unwary foe.

“That gunship's got my sis pinned up there! Can you snipers take it out?” Jet requested.

“Negative! Gunship is fully armored against small arms fire! EUF Reaver ESFs and Liberator heavy gunships are en route to assist with exfil!” May supported them with her own sniper fire from her MORS.

“Make some moves team!” Jet and a few of the others used their momentum to wall run and chain their parkour to flank around the soldiers surrounding them, “Needle grenade out!”

Jet threw a special flechette grenade into a group of Combine elites as he dashed into a piece of hard cover opposite to them. The grenade exploded with tiny tungsten darts that were made especially to not cause collateral damage or blow away cover. However it was brutally effective at piercing their body armor and painted a fine red mist onto the wall.

“Room cleared! I've got you guys covered! Get to the landing pads!” Jet fired suppressing shots behind him as his team moved up, “Suppressing fire!”

“Go! I got you covered,” Wings came up to pat him on the shoulder. Jet moved up with his group as Pass covered.

“Jet we got a situation!” Hornet came back over the line.

“What is it?”

“Gunship's got a bead on us! I-ARGH!”

“Hornet! Hornet! Dammit Prelude give me a sitrep!” Jet shouted.

“Hornet's been hit! That gunship's fire is extremely accurate and it's got me pinned on the ridge!”

“I'm fucking done with that thing! May can you get that thing's attention?”

“Yeah, what you gonna do?” One shot from her MORS attracted the gunship off Prelude. Jet cloaked his way outside and onto the landing pad.

“Flip! Stabilize my sister! I'm gonna try something really stupid!” Jet shot out his grapple onto the enemy gunship and jammed his knife into it to hang on for dear life, “Die you bastard!”

Jet started ripping off panels to expose the organs of the biomechanical beast. With point blank shots from his new UPF P33 Pereira revolver bits of green goo splattered out of the gunship as it cried out in pain with screeching metallic growls.

“You like that! Gonna fuck you up!” Jet pulled the pin on the last of his needle grenades and jammed it right into the fleshy internals of the craft. He detached himself and softened his impact with a well timed boost. With a soft thud he could hear a series of chained explosions as the gunship careened out of control and blew apart into gibs of metal and organic parts, “Gunship is down!”

“We got bigger problems! Jet you've got Hunter Striders inbound on you!” May alerted him as the pack of three mini striders ambushed Jet out in the open. They shot out tiny darts that impacted near him and exploded a few seconds after impact. Jet caught a few blasts and was wounded but not out of the fight.

“Fuck you!” With one click of his revolver he knew it was out of ammo. With his knife gone and no time to reload he still fought on, “I'm gonna punch this shit!”

Jet took another grapple to latch onto one of the Hunters and started a rodeo attack with nothing but his bare fists. He tore away at the access panels and started to wail on the fleshy organs inside with blunt force trauma as the beast violently tried to shake him off.

“Come on! Come on!” Jet was all scratched up and providing a great distraction for his squad to get to the exfil point. The rest of the Hunters were confused as what to do to aid their ally as their programming prevented them from firing their explosive rounds next to friendlies, “I WILL END YOU!”

The rodeoed Hunter staggered as it fell to the ground in death. Unluckily for Jet it managed to pin him underneath its body as the rest of the pack closed in.

“Jet! We're getting hammered up here! They've surrounded the landing pads to ambush us! We can't move and they're too many! AHH!” Pass got hit by a Combine Sniper as her right arm was slightly exposed from cover.

“Shit! I'm not in good shape either! I'm pinned under a Hunter I punched to death!”

“Strider!” Prelude cried out as the main Combine Strider charged up its incineration cannon to fire. A tracing laser was aimed right at the NGJSF squad and one blast would kill everyone it touched.

“Drop it in now!” Circuit took his radio and screamed into it.

“Manticore inbound! Splash in 3, 2, 1!” Troy came over the radio before the strider fired its gun. In the blast that followed a large mist of green washed over the whole tech plant and flooded every corner with a biological weapon of precise devastation. All of the Combine forces fell in droves as the Manticore bomb washed over the whole area. The NGJSF were all unaffected and immune to the selective plague.

“What the hell was that?!” Jet sighed in relief as the enemies started to die off.

“Manticore,” Troy came over the radio as a EUF reinforcement flight flew over. In his personal Warbird transport he hovered over to Jet and landed right next to him to help pull him from the carcass of the Hunter, “Your father saved my life, so I'm here to return the favor. Manticore is a bio weapon we've been developing for years following your fathers death. It targets specific genotypes and we can drop it in without any friendly causalities whatsoever. It's what we used to kill of the Earth monster. Thanks to you this invasion was justified. Looks like the Galactic Combine is gonna be forced to merger with us now to save their ass. Thank you for all your help.”

“What about my team?” Jet asked weakened.

“Flip here. Avia, Hornet, and Pass are stable. They're walking but it's gonna take some time for them to recover. The biofoam really helped. How you holding up boss?”

“Shitty. I'm gonna be out of action for a while.”

“I still can't believe you punched a hunter to death,” May entered the Warbird as it gave her a lift as well.

“By my bloody fucking hooves I did...” Jet sighed and reclined back to relax after the successful operation.

Chapter Eight: Stupid Shippy Chapter

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Eight: Stupid Shippy Chapter

Bored out of his mind and stuck inside the medical bay of the EMS Sky Buster Jump Jet mirrored his mothers stay at the hospital many years ago by bouncing a high tech space ball off one of the walls taking advantage of its antigravity properties. However as fate would have it instead of the ball coming to a rest on the floor refusing to bounce it decided to bounce repeatedly in place and was now stuck out of his reach and gaining momentum as it bounced in the same spot over and over again all the while squeaking with a rapid pace that annoyed him very much so. He sighed and crossed his arms staring at the ball as it bounced from floor to ceiling.

“I swear to Celestia. UGH!” Jet cringed and looked to the lamp on his right, “Lamp on!”

The lamp flashed on.

“Lamp off!”

The lamp turned off.

“Lamp on! Lamp off! Lamp on! Lamp off! Lamp on! Lamp off! Lamp on! Lamp off!” Jet picked up his commands to the lamp, “Lamponlampofflamponlampofflamponlampofflamponlampoff”

SYSTEM OVERLOAD

The lamp caught fire and was briefly extinguished by a drone that flew in with a fire extinguisher. Some of the foam got on Jet and coated his face with a beard.

I SUGGEST YOU DO NOT DO THAT CAPTAIN JET

“Ugh! If I'm gonna be stuck here it might as well be a few months, or a few years!” Jet fell back onto the bed as he looked at his many wounds and lacerations. He groaned with displeasure as the clock ticked by. The door opened with a soft hiss of compressed air and Nelly walked in.

“Hey there sweetheart! Brought you a present,” she rummaged through her saddlebags and pulled a cookie out to stuff into Jet's mouth, “Good job Jet! You get a cookie!”

“Buft I-” Jet chewed and hesitated in his train of thought, “Mmmm! Macadamiaf nuts!”

“And white chocolate. Your favorite,” She scooted in closer on his bed and stroked her left hoof to his chest. Jet's wings started to stir and his face melted with a blush. Nelly couldn't help but squeak a giggle, “Great job out there dude.”

Jet gave a contented sigh as Nelly laid down next to him. With one arm Jet wrapped her in a loving embrace and pulled her in closer with his wings. Nelly lifted up the blanket and settled in with Jet as he engulfed her in the loving warmth of his wings. Jet gently stroked her fluffy cream mane and Nelly leaned in for a kiss. A warm fuzzy feeling washed over them as they coupled lips. Muzzle to muzzle they started to nuzzle as their hearts melded together.

“Happy Hearts and Hooves Day Jet,” Nelly whispered lovingly as she buried herself in her lovers chest. Jet smiled and savored her love as they fell together in slumber.

-----

As the ship drifted on in space next to the planet of Earth a brilliant starscape was cast right outside the window of Ship and Tough Heart's quarters. With inspiration lacking Ship was disappointed to the many drawings she had scrapped. She restlessly threw another failed drawing into the trash bin now filled in excess with paper. A soft hiss of her door and in came Tough Heart with a can of soda. He drank all of his beverage and placed the can into the trash bin before sneaking up on Ship to give her a soft hug.

“Hey! I'm drawing!” Ship rolled her eyes and smiled.

Tough giggled, “Yeah so? Don't you have time for cuddles?”

Ship continued to draw as she tapped her lover's arms gently, “Oh you.”

Tough leaned in closer and rested his head onto her shoulder careful not to disturb her fine strokes of her pencil, “Hey, remember when we were kids? And how I'd said I'd protect you no matter what?”

Ship turned away from her drawing and to her sweetheart, “Of course honey.”

Tough turned his head to a picture on the wall next to their bed and sighed nostalgically, “With everything going on right now, I mean it more than ever. I know you're my commanding officer, but don't forget that I'm your husband too and I never want anything bad to ever happen to you.”

Tough gently pulled her away from her frustration and took her in his embrace. Ship started to melt. Her face was flushed with a fuzzy red and she laughed as Tough laid her down onto the bed. She whispered gently and lovingly, “You still haven't changed a bit...”

“I never will. I'll be right here,” Tough leaned in right up to her face and kissed her. Ship pulled the blanket over them and turned off the lights.

-----

With one wing over her own lover Night Petal herself was enjoying spending time with Prelude around the ship. In her room Prelude was helping her tend to her large collection of plants that livened up the otherwise colorless room.

“Honey can you water that fig right there? I've got my hooves full trimming this rosemary bush,” Petal clipped away at her plant to shape it into a lovely bird perched atop its nest. Prelude trotted over to a mini fig tree that bore pieces of fruit from its branches. With a watering can held up by his magic he poured it out to water it as Petal came up behind him with a hug, “I love you.”

Prelude smiled as he pulled something from his pocket to give to her, “Got you a present.”

“Oh you shouldn't have!” Petal smiled as she opened the tiny box filled with seeds, “Hmm? Seeds?”

“Not just any seeds. Those are berries only found in the Federation. I know how you love to grow and harvest new fruits so I figured I'd get some as a souvenir from our vacation. I've saved them for just this day. Happy Hearts and Hooves Day Petal,” Prelude hugged her and she returned the embrace.

“Oh thank you! These will go great in my greenhouse back home.”

“Oh by the way. Just now thinking about it have you ever considered using your botany to genetically engineer something?” Prelude looked around and noticed something in the air vent. It was Squiggly, Brain Storm's pet alien centipede, “Oh hello there Squiggly. Nice of you to drop in.”

“Food? Where is food?” the alien pet clasped his mandibles trying to be cute. Normally the chitinous and ferocious look of the creature would scare away most anyone who'd first lay eyes on it but Petal and Prelude knew all to well he was basically a puppy dog in alien arthropod form.

“I got food for you here Squiggies,” Petal plucked a fig from her tree and gave it to Squiggly being careful not to get bitten by his dangerously venomous quadruple fangs. With a gentle grasp Squiggly darted up the wall and back into the air vent to Brain Storm's room with the delectable fruit in his jaws, “Cute little thing. First time I saw it I freaked out.”

“Well like Brain Storm said: the Harobed One Eyed Centipede is one of the most docile creatures on that planet despite their rather aggressive look. Evolved as an apex predator it has evolved sentience and reasoning. Because of this it is easily domesticated,” Prelude couldn't help but explain, “Sorry, I read too many books.”

“Well don't stop, come come! I have something to show you!” Petal walked with Prelude to the laboratory of the ship. In her corner of the research room she had specimens she had been working on for quite some time, “I do dabble in the genetics side of things but not too far as to mutate undesirable traits. Take a look at this rose.”

“Wow! Those match your eyes perfectly!” Prelude looked at the bicolored swirling petals of the modified flower. The brown and blue swirling colors of the flower mirrored Petal's beautiful eyes.

“You like it? That was suppose to be your present. I... Hope you like it,” Petal blushed.

“It's beautiful! Is there anything else you've done to it to make it special?”

“Well, It's suppose to never wilt as it draws moisture from the air. But that I haven't really tested so I guess only time will tell,” Petal put one wing over Prelude, “It's all yours sweetheart.”

“Thanks honey,” Prelude kissed her on the forehead as they continued to walk and browse her experiments.

-----

Simon looked at the ceiling as he reclined on the couch. He was in the lounge with Morning Shine, Brain Storm, and Mac Book.

“Anypony else having a shitty Hearts and Hooves Day?” Simon asked throughout the room.

With a unanimous raise of hooves the whole room shot up. Flip and Hornet came in as the doors slid open.

“Hey guys! Whoa, why you guys so depressed in here?” Flip looked about.

“Hearts and Hooves Day and we got no pussy,” Simon grunted bluntly.

“Tell me about it,” Morning pouted.

“Amigos! Who cares? Live life! Being single isn't all that bad! Live a little and let's have a fiesta!” Hornet tried to get the others to smile but with no avail.

“Can it Net,” Mac typed away at his computer.

“Why are you so grumpy?” Hornet glanced over to Mac.

“I'm not depressed because I don't have a date. Look at this, the UPF STILL refused our alliance even after we proved to them that we are tough as nails! Fuck this foreign policy.”

“Are you shitting me?!” Flip flipped out, “All that hard work for squat!”

“I know right! Ugh! These Federation guys suck ass,” Mac displayed his displeasure with a raspberry.

Suddenly they could hear a loud banging coming from the medical bay. Brain Storm was the first to speak up.

“What in the world is that?”

A pile of books was knocked loose off the wall as something could be heard from the other end of the wall. Simon knew all to well what it was.

“Oh Celestia dammit. They're at it again...” Simon facepalmed.

“At what again?” Brain raised an eyebrow.

“You know! The thing! They do this every night to piss me the fuck off!” Simon and the others now listened closely and could hear the moaning, “Oh for fucks sake!”

“For fucks sake indeed Simon,” Flip raised his own eyebrow and nodded, “Well, I'll leave you to that then. Hornet and I got some dune buggies to ride with Blue Circuit.”

Hornet and Flip walked away and to the hangar to launch out. Ship and Tough Heart looked out into the hallway with a puzzled look.

“What the hell is that noise?” Ship asked to Simon as he poked his head out of the door.

“What do you think!” Simon pointed a hoof to the med bay.

“RIDE ME TARACKMATOE LIKE I'M THE LAST PALLALAX ON PANDORA!” a muffled yell pierced through the hull of the ship. Simon vented fury from his ears.

“SWEET FILLY LUNA BIRTHED IN A MANGER ON THE MOON! I'M FUCKIN DONE! If you need me I'll be curled in my room with a bag of cheese flavored dried Fourthorn petals wallowing in my own loneliness! Fuck!” Simon trotted away to get away from everypony.

“What's wrong with him?” Tough asked.

“You know Simon. That poor kid has never had a lover to call his own,” Morning sighed, “Been there done that.”

“How you holding up?” Ship asked Morning.

“Okay I guess. I still got the hots for Petal but she made her choice. I'm just glad she's happy,” Morning sighed again, “I'll find someone, eventually.”

“Hey there!” Mr. CEO of the EUF Troy himself squeezed through the tiny pony door from the hangar bay, “Damn you guys have small doors. Well done on the mission! The Coalition cut all funding for the Combine in response for Mira's murder and now their most valuable employees work for us. Listen, what you did for the EUF was something I am really grateful for and I'd like to repay you in kind. Dock your ship at our facility, I want to add a special workshop for you guys if you don't mind.”

“Um, what kind of workshop are you installing?” Mac Book glanced over to Troy.

“We decided that we are going to give you blueprints and the engineering tools for a fully fleshed out Mech Lab. This will allow you to make your own UPF grade exosuits and our special Armored Shock Trooper armor. Think of it like the robots you pilot only a little smaller for indoor use,” Troy smiled to them. Their eyes all widened with the offer. And with agreement they nodded to each other.

“We accept your offer!” Ship grinned from ear to ear, “Find one of my crew named Sugar Rush. He'll be the guy you want to see about the Mech Lab! Mac, Brainy you go along too!”

“Sweet!” Mac hopped off his computer and lead the way to Sugar Rush with Brain Storm. The ship fired up its engines and proceeded into the atmosphere.

-----

Blue Circuit was smoking an vaporizer with a bubblegum flavored cartridge as he walked up and down the armory of the ship. His thoughts wandered as he went up to his locker and gazed at the photo he had pinned up on the door. He smiled as sweet memories floated by.

“Hey,” a meek voice was heard behind him, “Um, hi.”

“Oh hey there Wings,” Circuit turned to the pegasus mare stroking one hoof at the ground in discomfort, “You okay?”

“It's Passion. I prefer to be called Passion or Pass as a nickname. Rolls of the tongue easier,” she sheepishly grinned with a soft squeak, “So-I um... Hehe! Squee!”

“Um, Pass what are you doing?” Circuit looked at her as she became a flustered mess too embarrassed what to say. He figured it out, “Ooooh! I think I catch on. Shit, sorry to disappoint you Pass but I already got a girl.”

Passion pouted and sighed, “Oh! Darn it. Is she at least cute?”

“Wanna see her? Here,” Circuit showed her the picture in his locker, “Yeah, she's a little nerdy but she really kicks ass online. I do a lot of gaming videos with her on the web.”

The picture was of a dark blue unicorn mare with straight, flowing black mane and brown eyes behind her square framed eyeglasses. She was posed on a bed seductively licking a game controller and blushing.

“I miss her everyday. It's not easy leaving your loved one behind while you're in the military,” Circuit sighed again as he took a whiff from his vaporizer.

“I guess I don't really have that feeling. All I got back home are my parents and siblings so it's like no different from living alone I guess. I'm just a little down today caz I got no boyfriend to cuddle with,” Passion sighed.

“Hey, don't be so down. I was single for a really long time during high school and college. You need to look on the bright side of things,” Blue smiled and tried to console her.

“How so?”

“Think about it this way. You're single so you don't have to get tied down to anyone. Things have slowed down for me and that's why I've settled down. I got this kickass job in the military, I got time for both myself and spending time with my bae but you have all the time in the world single. Don't forget how much freedom you got going when you're single and it's not like you're never gonna find love. Come on! We can still hang out as friends. You play any video games?”

“Oh! Minceraft! Minceraft!” Passion bounced with joy, “I love Minceraft!”

“Well there you go! Come on, I can make you internet famous. Let's make a video together,” Circuit lead them out of the armory and back to their rooms to play some games, “See? Don't have anyone dragging you down doing some other crap today huh?”

“Thank you so much Circuit!” Passion grinned and trotted on.

-----

Hornet and Flip were prepping to launch out to the planet when Ship came over the intercom.

“Attention all crew! We are beginning descend into the atmosphere. Brace for reentry!”

“Well, guess we don't have to launch out huh?” Flip turned to Hornet.

“Hey guys!” Scratch walked into the hangar to check in on what they were doing, “What you up to?”

“We wer-” Hornet paused as his eyes were caught off guard by Scratch's punky and form fitting outfit she bought during their vacation to the UPF. He staggered a bit, “W-We were-”

“We were just about to head down and go for some dune buggy rides. You wanna come?” Flip shut Hornet's trap and asked Scratch.

“Sure, let me get out of this outfit though, wouldn't wanna mess it up,” She trotted away only to stop to dance to a song on the radio.

“Whooa,” Hornet continued to gawk, “Mama-sita's got looks.”

Flip looked with slight concern to Hornet, “Are you honestly thinking about dating that?”

Flip pointed to Scratch as she continued to dance to the song and sing the lyrics as she whipped her tail in a circle repeatedly.

“When my fat ass! Big bitches in the club! Fuck those skinny bitches! Fuck those skinny bitches in da club! I wanna see all the big fat ass bitches in the mothafuckin club fuck you skinny bitches what!” Scratch twirled her ass to the ungodly vulgar song on the radio further proving Flip's point.

“See what I mean?” Flip stated silently, “You deserve better bro.”

“Nah man I like the loco mares,” Hornet grinned as he approached Scratch, “Excuse me senorita, I've been admiring you from a distance for a while. Shall we give love a chance tonight, oh on this beautiful stary night as we dance among the stars?”

Scratch starred off into the distance confused, “Meep.”

Hornet grinned sheepishly as Flip facepalmed.

“So, you're hitting on me?” Scratch finally realized it at first unable to connect the dots, “That's... Awfully nice of you to do that. No stallion has ever asked me that. I guess I'll give you a shot but you better be crazy to like me.”

“Me gusta,” Hornet smiled as Scratch scooted him closer with her wing, “Shall we?”

“Let's,” Scratch and Hornet walked away to get ready for the trip to the surface. Flip shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Hornet what did you get yourself into?”

Chapter Nine: Counter Strike: Federation Offensive

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Nine: Counter Strike: Federation Offensive

New Sheffield located on the Federation planet of Rube was going about the day as normal. Peace was in the air as the rolling hills and a brisk spring breeze circled the town filling it with the scent of fresh flowers. Meanwhile things around the government district saw what was to be the last public relations meeting between the UPF and Equus as their leaders butted heads at the New Sheffield Embassy.

“You can't be serious senators! Equus has had your back for the past twenty five years! Why would you abandon us like this?” a dark grey male Alicorn with green hair and mane was furious at the young Leafeon before him.

“Oh, don't think of it as severing ties. Think of it as independence from our influence,” Nioami Rivers adjusted her tie as two other ambassadors came in, “Ah, Beazel and Kevin Fraser how nice. Maybe you can talk some sense into Prince Comic Sketch.”

“Nioami, this isn't right. Why are we leaving them like this?” Kevin came forward with this question.

“The Federation needs to move on Kevin. The alliance with Equus has shown that not many other space nations take us very seriously,” she whispered to him.

“That may be true, but what of them? They're no different than us!” Beazel huddled with them to discuss in private.

“You are wrong. They are not us okay? They can get by on their own if they apply themselves. We can't babysit them like this forever and Lylat won't take them seriously either,” Nioami was trying to convince her associates, “We just became the laughing stock of the whole multiverse because we got our asses handed to us by these guys.”

“So what? Can't you see they'll crumble if we don't supply them? And what becomes of them if they come back to bite us back in the ass?” Beazel tried to inject some reasoning.

“They stand no chance against our military. That sole victory as a fluke. We are freeing them, not betraying them.”

“Um! Hello!” Prince Comic Sketch waved a hoof to them, “Is this any way to treat a Prince?”

“You two are outvoted by the majority of the UPF. I am sorry,” Nioami turned away and looked back to the Prince, “I am sorry. But the people have spoken. In a poll conducted nationwide the UPF has agreed to leave Equus alone with a 61% majority vote. And here in the UPF unlike your monarchy the people have all the say.”

“This is madness! Wait until my wife hears of this treason! Princess Luna will be furious!”

A sudden flash of light followed by panicked cries filled the embassy as terrorists in disguise overtook the building by force and in large numbers. They set up parameters and prepared to lay siege for the coming hours.

-----

DEFCON ONE PRIORITY ALERT! CAPTAIN SHIP YOU ARE REQUESTED BY PRINCESS CELESTIA!

Ship galloped to the bridge of the carrier and stop in front of the hologram, “Put her on!”

The floating image of the pony princess hovered near her as all ears in the room were fully focused on Princess Celestia.

“My dear ponies of the Next Generation Joint Strike Force. I am horrified to report that one of our most trusted princes has been taken hostage by heavily armed terrorists within the United Pokemorph Federation. About an hour ago a group claiming to be the Pulsar Militia have holed up in the UPF city of New Sheffield at their embassy. No demands have been made and it looks like they are executing hostages. I want your team on the ground immediately!”

“Who's the prince taken hostage and is he still alive?” Ship asked.

“It's Prince Comic Sketch. Luna's husband,” Celestia looked down with a somber tone, “You must hurry! Please!”

“Princess you've got nothing but the best! We're going down there to assist! Get me as many assets as you can muster,” Ship requested.

“Yes Captain. Your efforts today will have considerable impact on Equus. Good luck! We are all counting on you!”

Ship saluted and rushed to the war room as the hologram disappeared. Within seconds she gathered her soldiers.

“Alright team! Today is a do or die mission. I want nothing but perfection in this operation. Approximately an hour ago Prince Comic Sketch and a number of Federation hostages have been taken prisoner by the Pulsar Militia. Since both Jet and Avia are wounded from the engagement two days ago I elect Nelly to take the charge. Time is of the essence so you'll get a full briefing on the ground but for now pick your team and get down there as soon as possible!”

“Yes ma'am!” Nelly was steadfast. Her body filled with adrenaline as she looked at her line up. Passion had a broken leg, Hornet got shot in the left leg and had a limp, and now Jet and Avia were still bedridden from blood loss, “Prelude, Tough, Circuit, Red, Rush, Flip, and Frag. You guys are on me! Gear up and let's go ponies! It's make your mommas proud time!”

“I love my momma!” Frag cheered.

“Nelly, whatever you do I want you to give them hell. This is the first time the Pulsar have done something so ballsy. We know nothing of their capabilities and we almost had our asses handed to us by them. Be extremely careful,” Ship showed concern to her as she paused to hold her back.

“Roger Captain,” Nelly turned back to her squad as they loaded into the hangar, “Alright! We're all in Blossom take us up!”

“You got it! Strike One lifting off,” Blossom radioed out to the control bridge.

“Strike One cleared for takeoff. Stay safe out there sister!” Sagittarius waved to the camera as he was projected onto her visor.

“Saggy, they didn't call me the Full Metal Bitch for nothing. Especially now that we all got UPF exosuits integrated into our armor,” Nelly admired the additions to their magic powered armor. Not only did they have their parkour jump kits and 3D maneuver gear they now had access to the exosuits so denied to them by the UPF, thanks to the Earth United Force.

“Mac, what assets can we bring to the operation?” Ship glanced at Mac Book.

“Changeling Hackers are warping onto the planet to assist with cyber warfare. I'll work with them to coordinate some cheat codes once we start. We've also got all that new gear from the EUF although a Manticore bomb is not available due to risk of UPF casualties. Police and MP are on the scene to contain the incident as well as Task Force Frostbite. We got all the cards stacked in our favor.”

“I hope that's enough,” Ship sighed.

“Captain my team is on the ground!” Nelly roped onto the street with her team in front of the main entrance to the embassy. Crowds of people were held back by hundreds of police officers and they started to yell obscenities at the NGJSF.

“Tough crowd,” Frag scoffed.

“Focus on the mission. That rabble shouldn't distract us,” Nelly was a pure essence of professionalism as she approached Strella who took cover behind a police car, “What's the sitch?”

“A dozen or so hostages taken prisoner inside the secured treasury vault in the embassy. I'll link you the building plan through your HUDs,” Strella offloaded her data to their headsets.

“What's the plan then?”

“Follow the directions in the briefing. Frostbite is gonna bust in from the roof while you guys-” Strella stopped and noticed something about them, “Oh, you have our exos!”

“More than that. Rush, get a fly drone out!” Nelly ordered to her drone operator.

“Roger!” Rush held up a tiny robotic fly with a live feed camera only available to the EUF, “Cute little thing!”

“What in the-” Strella gawked, “That's a military prototype for the EUF! How did you?”

“We made some friends,” Nelly smirked.

“Drone link established! Flying her in!”

The miniscule robot insect flew into one of the open windows on the side of the building and began to scout. With multiple pings the drone uplinked the positions of the terrorists to all the assault teams ready to barge in with red outlines in their HUDs.

“Targets marked! They're setting up HMGs by the windows and there are multiple snipers looking out on overwatch as well. Flying her in to the main room,” Rush skillfully ducked the drone into an air vent and into the main vault, “Okay! I'm getting some chatter on their side.”

“Corrupt governments and marred lands are no longer worth fighting to protect. We as the Pulsar Miltia protect the only thing worth fighting for now. And that is the future,” the terrorist leader mouthed off to one of the hostages.

“Corrupt governments! The United Planetary Federation has done nothing but good for its people!” Nioami protested.

“But only your people! What of the other races of the galaxy! This whole segregation of nations has caused nothing but strife and war! You see yourselves blinded by a false truth. Nations mean nothing to us. It is only when we embrace that the world has no boundaries then we can truly live in peace,” the enemy cat anthro soldier took one of the least important hostages and put a bullet right in her head. He threw the body to the senator as a show of force. Nioami screamed.

“Sweet Luna, they just executed a hostage!” Rush linked the video feed to his squad.

“That's it, we're going in. Frostbite?” Nelly turned to them.

“Gotcha, we'll post up. Mitch will signal when ready,” Strella boosted away to join her squad as they mounted their assault.

“All teams are green! Let's kick ass NGJSF!” Nelly nodded to her team as they ran on foot to their breaching point.

A video link from Ship appeared on their HUDS, “Let's show them what we're made of. It's time to send the Pulsar a message. We rescue these hostages in front of the whole UPF and they'll think twice before letting up on our alliance. Most importantly: take Princess Luna's husband back alive. No pressure.”

Nelly smirked, “Pressure? What pressure?”

Her whole squad grappled to the roof of a nearby building and waited for their orders.

“Good luck,” Ship saluted out to them. Nelly ordered Frag to bust down a billboard blocking the view of the compound with an exosuited buck.

“Hot damn! I am loving these new toys.”

“Don't let it go to your head Frag,” Nelly winked to him. A convoy of UPF armored vehicles drove up to the entrance of the facility and around the parameter to secure all avenues of escape.

“This is Frostbite One, we're all in position. NGJSF will lead the assault. They're breaching now,” Mitch looked on as they used their parkour kits to wall run and silently flank into a good entry point.

“Those fucking ponies? You can't be serious!” one of the UPF soldiers protested.

“Can it Lieutenant! Give them a chance,” Mitch had faith in his pony friends while the rest of the UPF did not. The NGJSF grappled up with their 3D Maneuver Gear and were finally on the roof of the embassy.

“Circuit! Put down a mute charge,” Nelly pointed to a spot on the floor right above their enemies.

“Roger,” as soon as Blue Circuit planted the device Nelly also placed down a cutting laser that carved a clean hole in the ceiling for them to jump into. With their exosuits giving them an Overdrive ability that enhanced their twitch reflexes they stormed into the hole and shot dead the heavy machine gun crews entrenched on the second floor.

“Hostage room, hundred meters this way!” Nelly whispered into her microphone as they pushed forward. Frostbite broke into the first floor with their own mute charge to clear it out.

“Lobby cleared! Fancy new toys NGJSF!” Mitch radioed out silently.

“Thanks, Ship we've cleared the parameter building. Moving to the vault.”

“Copy that Nelly.”

“First floor is confirmed clear! Frostbite is on guard!” Mitch gave a thumbs up to Nelly on the second floor as her and her squad all boosted down with a soft thud.

“We'll take it from here! If you don't mind us stealing the spotlight,” Nelly smiled.

“Please do, I'm sick of my nation treating you this way. This is all on live feed. Show us you got the guts and smile for the camera,” Mitch gave a firm shake with Nelly's hoof, “Strella! Q! You're up!”

Two members of Frostbite started to plant strange devices on the walls of the vault. They hooked it up in a rectangular pattern and a superimposed image of the inside could be seen.

“What's that?” Tough Heart looked as they planted their equipment.

“Harmonic Pulse Sensors. Reads biodensity through pretty much anything,” Mitch explained.

“Show time,” Quenten started to tag enemies from beyond the wall, “Marked all four targets. On your go!”

“Stand back!” Prelude flipped down his sunglasses and pinned the barrel of his antimateriel rifle on the wall. With one well placed shot the bullet pierced the steel walls of the vault and killed two terrorists. Frostbite followed with a burst from Strella's FSMRC railgun carbine.

“All targets down!” Nelly busted in the door with one swing of her mighty sword. The menacing melee weapon was an enemy helicopters tail rotor fashioned into one sharp and heavy blade only an earth pony like her could wield, “NGJSF and Task Force Frostbite rescue force! Nobody move!”

Her yell of authority was greeted by sighs of relief from the hostages in the room. Frosbite and her squad finished off the wounded terrorists with systematic execution. Nelly freed Kevin, Beazel, Prince Sketch, and Nioami from their handcuffs.

“Alright you're all free to go. Hold on, why are there only four of you in here?!” Nelly noticed something was off.

“They've taken all of the others! The hole in the wall they cut through with a laser!” Nioami cried out, “Those were our financial backers! Top stock owners, scientists, and researchers! The Pulsar wanted them! Not us!”

“Shit! Mitch you got intel?” Nelly turned to him.

“Hold on! My men just spotted them in a cargo truck leaving to the south!”

“Color! What color?”

“Um! White! White Coalition Cargo Truck!”

“We're on it! Frostbite you stay here and secure the hostages. Prince you'll be safe here,” Nelly reassured Prince Sketch.

“Thank you NGJSF! I owe you my life!” the Alicorn prince sighed in relief and sat down to recollect himself. The ponies of the JSF exited the room and took to the street in pursuit.

“You know, this might not be the best time. But I got a feeling that somehow, somewhere, in some other universe we know each other Prince Sketch. You got that feeling too Kevin?” Beazel Fraser turned to his brother.

“Guess I wasn't the only one,” Kevin nodded in agreement.

“Huh, I was thinking the same thing,” Prince Comic Sketch started to eat the poutine he had left over before the meeting began, “The only way I'm gonna come out of his shit in one piece is the sheer amount of poutine I'm going to eat. Phew!”

As they took the fight to the streets the NGJSF chained their parkour and bounced from one wall to the next traveling faster than most soldiers. They could see the white cargo truck as they grappled onto a rooftop. Prelude was the one scoped in.

“Nelly! I see the truck!”

“Put a bullet into it's wheels!” Nelly order as she was pulling out her binoculars.

“Negative! Negative! The cargo truck has no wheels! It's a UPF hovertruck, my armor piercing rounds can't take out their belly mounted grav panels,” Prelude kept tabs on the truck as it turned into an off ramp, “Be advised! Truck is moving southbound towards the spaceport! How are we gonna intercept Captain?”

“Get down to street level and find some transport! We are tracking the truck right now you should have some time to catch up!” Ship watched the satellite view closely of their target.

“You heard her! Get down on the streets now!” Nelly and the others jumped right off the ten story building and landed safely with their boost jumps. They proceeded on foot in the steel mill industrial area of town, “NGJSF! Move out of the way!”

The Pokemorphs of the facility scoffed at them. One of them pulled out a gun and managed to wound Flip and Tough with a railgun pistol. Two shots cleanly pierced their armor and the two ponies fell to the floor.

“Shit! Tough and Flip are hit!” Fragarach tackled the assailant and swung a mighty blow with his longsword, ending the shooter's life. The factory erupted with enemy fire as the Pulsar had dug in and set up advanced positions to ambush them, “Get to cover! Fuck! We're out in the open!”

“Not for long!” Nelly used her quick wits to smash a brick wall with her own sword. She singlehandedly cleared the building with her melee weapon and managed to knock a hole in the wall with one of the enemy soldiers she batted right into. They piled into the building dragging their wounded inside, “Here! Here! Let me take a look!”

“Fuck! Fuck! It hurts!” Flip was hit right in an artery. The grievous wound seeping out blood at an alarming rate.

“Don't worry! I'm gonna apply pressure! Squad secure this building and take defensive! I need someone to help me assess Tough!” Nelly directed her team with hoof signals as things started to go south, “Dammit! Flips stay with me!”

Flip was dipping in and out of consciousness. Nelly rummaged through his medical bags for any biofoam to seal his wound.

“Shit! No biofoam!”

“Sir! Tough got both of his right legs hit. It's just a flesh wound but he can't move! Toss me some bandages!” Prelude rushed over to assist Tough Heart.

“Here! Damn! Flip hang on! Hang on!” Nelly was doing her best to slap some sense into Flip. Her hooves were drenched in his blood.

“They're busting through!” Rush gunned one down as the enemy Pulsar trooper burst through a back window. He pulled out his packed sentry gun and deployed it, “Sentry gun is going up!”

“Be advised! We are pinned down at the steel mill! Two of my guys are hit, one is critical! Requesting immediate assistance!”

“Got it Nelly! Let me send in some cheat codes! Done! The Changelings and I locked up their armor! Things should be a little more quiet now!” Mac Book typed away in fury and clicked the enter button to send out a virus that locked up the enemy exosuits. The remaining enemy troops were easy pickings for the JSF as some breathing room was opened up.

“What would we do without you Mac?” Nelly sighed as she slapped Flip one more time. The tipsy pegasus was about ready to die from blood loss before Frostbite drove into the scene.

“I got him!” Strella boosted into the building and went to work sealing Flip's wound with some biofoam, “Good! He's stable. Several more ounces and he'd be a goner.”

“Holy shit,” Nelly took some seconds to collect herself, “Transport, now. We gotta catch up to that truck.”

“We brought some Haruka Fast Attack Vehicles! Hop on!” Mitch pulled up with one of the hoverjeeps they drove in with. While normally sporting anti-tank rockets and a neural linked fifty call their jeeps were the troop transport variety.

“Got it! Prelude, Frag, you stay here and keep an eye on Flip and Tough, your sniper and shotgun are not gonna be much use while riding. The rest of you mount up!” Nelly jumped into the right side passenger seat of the Type 19 jeep. She rested her carbine onto the dashboard as the hoverjets kicked up and caused the vehicle to levitate a few feet above the ground. Strella was at the driver seat and the four open air jeeps put the pedal to the metal to give chase to the fleeing cargo truck. As they hit the off ramp a police helicopter followed their route to direct them to the fleeing truck.

“Frostbite, truck is now heading southeast on Highway 78.”

“Solid copy!” Mitch radioed out to the helicopter as it was hit by a surface to air missile launched from an enemy technical behind them, “Shit! We got enemy armed pickups behind us!”

“Just drive comrade! Circuit you and me will focus fire into their cabin!” Red and Blue turned around and put shots into the intercepting trucks. Their uparmored windows kept their bullets at bay, “Yebat'! They're uparmored! Our bullets can't pierce through!”

“Try this!” Mitch handed him his frag round shotgun, “Should punch into their engine blocks!”

“Bol'shoye spasibo!” Red took the helical magazine shotgun and punched through with its explosive rounds, “Svyatoy yebat'! Haha!”

“Takes out jets!” Mitch looked back to see the overzealous pony.

“More technicals out front! Nelly that's you!” Blue Circuit alerted to her as they got rammed by the enemy jeep.

“Damn!” Nelly was almost thrown from her seat, “Hold on! I'll handle this!”

“Wait! What are you-” Strella didn't finish as Nelly jumped off and boosted to the enemy truck to latch on. With a swift, metal scraping stab of her sword the armored glass was pierced as her blade enterred the sternum of the enemy driver. She pulled her sword out and threw the lifeless body onto a streetlamp as the pickup careened out of control. She used her grappling hook to latch back onto Strella's jeep, “Holy shit Nelly! That was badass! I got that on camera too!”

“Heads up! We're approaching the cargo truck!” Quenten radioed back as his jeep rammed into the truck to try and stop it, “Wanna make some moves NGJSF?”

“Got it! Red! Blue! Get onto the sides and take out the driver! I'll secure the hostages in the back!” The three Type 19s pulled next to the truck and the NGJSF ponies grappled on. Red October and Blue Circuit killed the driver and guard in the passenger seat while Nelly dealt with the two terrorists in the back ready to kill the hostages, “NGJSF rescue force! You're safe now!”

Blue and Red threw out the bodies and safely grind the truck to a halt. Within seconds the UPF military was on the scene to secure the sight. One of the hostages sighed with displeasure at the sight of Nelly entering the truck.

“Stupid motherfucking ponies...” it was Alson Burry. Clad in a business suite that matched well with his Purrloin colors, “I'd rather be dead right now.”

“Asshole, we just saved your life!” Nelly flared with anger.

“Whatever, in this circumstance I don't give a fuck. And thank you Frostbite for saving me!”

Frostbite huffed in dismissal.

“Frostbite, what is the matter? I owe my life to you! If there is anything you request I can back you with my finances. As the top stockholder of Rivers Manufacturing you have my word!”

Mitch raised an eyebrow, “Yeah? Why don't you start with an apology to the NGJSF over there. They are the ones we give full credit to!”

Alson was astonished, “You? Associate with them? Okay, fair enough...”

Mr. Burry turned to the ponies and apologized, “I am sorry...”

Nelly smiled, “Thank you!”

“-Sorry you are a bunch of flowery ass motherfuckers who can't leave us alone,” Alson pm'd his ride and got in. He was almost unphased with his capture.

Nelly sat with her jaw dropped and a look of utter betrayal across her face, “Flowery ass motherfuckers?!”

“Son of a bitch. And that's the guy who's backing my dad's company? What has the UPF come to?” Strella sighed in disappointment.

“Doesn't matter! Look!” Quenten turned his head to a crowd cheering on the NGJSF for their heroic actions. They started to get showered with gifts as they basked in the limelight.

“Should we try to steal their show Mitch?” Alyssa joked.

“Nah, they deserve all the credit. Looks like Frostbite has finally met it's match, and they're on our side for good.”

Chapter Ten: Old Wounds

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Ten: Old Wounds

“Alllright!” Passion yelled as the victorious heroes came back after their shore leave once again in the UPF, “I see you are all well after that wonderful mission! You are looking great today Captain!”

“Thank you Passion,” Ship saluted to her, “I don't think I need to tell you at ease huh?”

“Nope! And guess who's up and about while you guys were gone?”

“Yo!” Jet grinned as he was back in black, literally, “I am loving this new jacket. I dunno how it got in my closet but it looks awesome!”

“You know that's mine right honey?” Nelly smirked, “It's a woman's size.”

“Oh...” Jet took it off and gently stuffed it into her hooves, “Uuuhh, you take it. You saw nothing!”

Nelly couldn't help but giggle, “Oh you.”

“Say! That was one badass job out there sweetheart. Just look at this promo Blue edited for us!”

Jet started up the holovid and projected it onto a wall with Ship hitting the lights to dim the room. The video started off with Nelly busting into the hostage room in all her glory and giant sword. A narrator started to speak as the scenes of the previous operation played, “With lives hanging in the balance, the Next Generation Joint Strike Force moved in swiftly to rescue the hostages.”

“Hot damn Nelly, you'd make a great movie star,” Ship chuckled.

“What? So I'm Emily Blunt now?” Nelly returned as the promo continued. The scene flashes to when Nelly threw the guy out of the enemy technical.

“Whoa! Bad ass honey, fucking bad ass!” Jet reclined back to enjoy the show.

“We as the vanguards of freedom for both Equus and our allies stand by for the hopes of a brighter tomorrow. We are the Next Generation Joint Strike Force. Soldiers, scientists, adventurers, oddities... Guardians who secure interdimensional peace for generations to come. Under our steadfast protection the world will flourish. And today our watch continues. Guarding the soaring values of freedom and equality for all,” the video finished with the whole cast posing in uniform as the video fades to their logo of a four pointed star ringed with a silver circle affixed to the points. All of them in the room started clapping in applause.

“And that's not the only thing! Watch this!” Jet flipped the video to a recording of a UPF news broadcast immediately after the rescue operation. A Sylveon newscaster was on the screen.

“This just in! Breaking news tonight as a joint hostage rescue operation between Task Force Frostbite and the Equestrian Next Generation Joint Strike Force ended in success. With us today is senator Niaomi Rivers, daughter of our past president and sister of both President Micheal and Vice President Tanya. Good evening senator, how are you today?”

“...Fine...” She seemed a little shaken, “Shaken, but overall holding up. It was a scary experience and I owe my life to the Joint Strike Force.”

“And what of Frostbite? Was their performance as stunning as you hoped?”

“Listen, Frostbite weren't the stars here. It was all the NGJSF. I had my reservations about United Equus for being too soft and their influence undermining our values. I was wrong, and I am so thankful for it. The ponies of the NGJSF were just as every bit competent in warfare as our own special forces and it took first hand experience to witness it. Listen to me my Federation,” Nioami looked into the camera, “United Equus needs our help. We owe them much more than pity and hatred. For once in our existence we need to think about the other foreign powers and not just our own. They are no different from us. They are strong warriors with hearts of gold, willing to save the innocent and punish those we deem as criminals. Spread the word my people. Stop all this hate towards them and the other foreign powers. That is all I have to say.”

“Wow,” the newscaster was stunned, “This just in again! Approval ratings for the Equus-Federation alliance have shot right up from a mere 49% to a whopping 77%! All across the Federation people are rejoicing and giving thanks to our renewed friendship and settled misunderstandings. Looks like all it took was a little action to make them see what Equus was all about!”

Jet shut off the hologram, “And that's all thanks to you Nelly!”

Nelly blushed and giggled. She came in closer for a kiss on the lips before the sliding door hissed open.

“Princesses on deck!” Ship stood at attention. Jet and Nelly fell to the floor and scrambled to get up.

“At ease soldiers,” the regal form of Princess Celestia graced over them, “I couldn't be more pleased at your performance! Your heroic actions have opened up new windows of opportunity for Equus and to that I am grateful.”

“As am I dear sister. Joint Strike Force, I owe you my debt for saving my husband,” Luna was the one to bow down to Ship. Ship recoiled in surprise.

“T-Thank you! But it wasn't me that saved him, it was all Nelly over there. Jet was out of action during the operation,” Ship held back her excitement.

“As you were fine warriors,” Princess Luna nodded to them. Jet and Nelly saluted back in respect.

“By the way,” Celestia smiled, “I have approved your request for even more new recruits. This will be the last batch for a while. I'm sure you are all eager to meet them so you are dismissed. Carry on Next Generation Joint Strike Force!”

And just like that both Princesses vanished and teleported out with their magic. As they left the ponies on the bridge started to squee and were filled with uncontrollable excitement.

“Did Luna just-!” Jet almost asked Ship.

“YES! Okay, enough lollygagging let's get down to the hangar and meet these new recruits. I totally have no idea who they are so bear with me,” Ship lead them to the hallway as she announced into the intercom, “Attention all ponies! Please report to the hangar bay to welcome our last batch of new recruits! I repeat: Please report to the hangar bay to welcome our new recruits! That is all.”

A few minutes later the new arrivals were lined up, two yellow unicorns and a grey pegasus with a spiral tail. They stood before the rest of the NGJSF and Ship was the first to read out their names.

“Alright, first off is Wishful Fun. Step right up to the plate and show us what you got.”

“Good evening everypony,” Wishful smiled, “My name is Wishful and I tend to think of myself as a problem solver. I've been with the Equestrian Army's Green Berets for over five years and I requested a transfer over to the Next Generation Joint Strike Force when I heard a few of my buddies talking about it, I figured a little more excitement in my life is just what I wanted.”

Jet raised an eyebrow, “I like what I see so far. But it takes something special to join our ranks.”

He pointed to Wishful's Katiba rifle, “Use that gun and show us what you're made of. Behind you is a firing range we've set up. What can you do?”

“A lot sir! I'm ready when you are!” Wishful floated up his gun with magic and took his stance.

Flip smiled in the background and whispered, “Seems like only yesterday I did the exact same thing.”

“3... 2... 1... BEGIN!” Ship yelled as the targets popped up. Wishful took some shots with only a few missing their mark. He rushed into cover and prepared a spell.

“Time for a little aimbot!” Wishful cloaked his rifle with a shimmering yellow and leveled it to his eye. His blurred movements were a thing to behold as he landed headshot after headshot without a single bullet missing its mark. Once the spell faded he blind fired while advancing upwards. He reloaded his rifle and prepared another spell, “Instakill!”

Wishful popped out of cover and took aim at the steel targets. His bullets started to leave massive holes that pierced through the inch thick metal but his accuracy wasn't as perfect as his previous spell. He vaulted over and pulled his sidearm to finish the job, “Zero-firecap!”

His semi-automatic pistol erupted in a flurry of rapid fire. Normally the weapon would only shoot once per trigger pull but somehow Wishful enhanced it with a brief spell that turned it into a fully automatic machine pistol. He was out of ammo and exhaled to relax, “Room clear!”

“Wow!” Ship was impressed, “How in the world?”

Wishful's horn gave out. His horn stopped glowing and the handgun he held up fell to the floor. With pained grunts he tried to pick it back up with magic only to have tiny sparks fly off his horn, “And that's my problem. It uses up all my magic for the whole day if I break out more than one spell. I got a few others but those are my most powerful.”

“Whatever the case, you're in!” Jet shook his hoof, “Never seen something quite like that! Video game cheats and hacks brought to life huh? Fits well with your cutie mark!”

Wishful glanced to the D-pad image on his flanks, “Thank you sir!”

ALERT! ALERT! NEW PRIORITY MISSION ALERT.

SUSAN broke up the introductions with her alarms.

“Well, we'll have to cut this short. Full combat alert everypony! We got a request from a new contact,” Ship pulled out her tablet and scrolled through the details, “Looks like the major ally of the UPF, Lylat, has requested our assistance. Never have they once contacted us for anything. Guess our rep is getting out there. Here's the recording.”

“This is Xzayvior Onyx of the LIS Supernova! Requesting immediate help from any friendly forces in the area! Our ship was jumped by some sort of marauder squadron. To anyone in this sector we request immediate support!”

The recording cut off as Ship replaced her tablet, “Lylat is requesting that we find out what happened to them. The recording is only about half an hour old so we need to get there and hurry. This is a search and rescue operation. We're already close to that sector and I want all pilots launched to search for their ship. That means you too new guys!”

“Ship, you know me,” the dark grey pegasus blew her hair to the side as she took off her helmet, “Long time no see...”

“Umbra. And just an FYI: That's CAPTAIN Ship to you. We'll talk later just get to your plane. That is an order.”

“Gotcha,” Umbra looked with mistrust towards Jet, “Hmph!”

As Flip looked on Umbra got into her cockpit of her fighter and then turned his attention to Jet, “What's her problem?”

“Eh, I told her I never loved her in high school. She got the hots for me but I swore my soul to Nelly ages ago. I was,” Jet paused, “very blunt about it.”

“Old wounds huh?”

“Can it Flips. Yo sis! How's Zoey?” Jet looked to Avia as she did a preflight check of her fighter.

“She's doing well!” Avia referred to her Cyclone's AI, whom she befriended after the fighter broke dimensions and flew into their world from the other universe, “Run a diagnostic on radar tracking Zoey.”

RADAR ANALYSIS COMPLETE. SMOOTH SAILING MISS AVIA.

“Gotcha. We're launching out! Stand back!” Avia closed her canopy as the rest of the pilots prepared their planes. Four of the NGJSF launched out from the catapults and off into space with Sugar Rush and Brain Storm directing the flight deck traffic. Jet and Flip were ready to launch along with Morning and Petal.

“Jet, Flip, Morning, and Petal ready to launch!”

“Group two you are cleared for takeoff! Good luck!” Brain Storm announced on their HUDs and they shot into space. As all their planes formed up Ship came back on to give them orders.

“Alright. Split up into groups of two and find that distress beacon. Should be to the spatial west in that asteroid field.”

“Copy that Captain Ship, Avia and I are splitting off,” Jet and his sister pulled to the right and activated their scanners to find the source of the distress beacon, “Yo sis you got anything?”

“Something faint. Zoey can you get a bead on the transmission?”

WORKING MISS AVIA. SIGNAL DETECTED. I HAVE FOUND THE SOURCE. PLEASE FOLLOW MY COMPASS BEARING DISPLAYED ON YOUR HUD.

“Smart plane,” Jet smiled, “What would we do without you and your sister Zoey?”

PROBABLY TRY TO PROGRAM YOUR OWN AI WITHOUT SUCCESS CAPTAIN. ONCE WE GET BACK I REQUEST AN OIL CHANGE ON THE HOUSE.

“Ha! I like you Zoey. Your sister's too serious of a bitch,” Jet passed the time talking to his sister's plane.

YES SIR. SUSAN WAS NEVER PROGRAMED WITH A HUMOR MATRIX. I GET ANNOYED WITH HER AS WELL.

“Okay, focus for a second. I'm starting to see debris,” Jet observed the asteroids as bits of ships floated in space. The many pieces of scrap had markings and colors that hinted at something familiar, “Hey Mac, can you run a scan on this scrap? It looks too familiar.”

“Copy that Jet running the scan,” Mac analyzed the image for a brief moment, “Whoa, it's a Federation US-74 fighter with... Pulsar Militia markings.”

“The Pulsar are here?! Be advised everypony, stay on your toes! The Pulsar are no joke!” Jet kept a watchful gaze, “How'd they end up here?”

“Probably just ambushing a freighter for goods,” Avia and Jet flew into a hollow asteroid and emerged from the other side to see the giant space carrier the Pulsar tried to attack, “Okay, so that is not a freighter.”

In a style reminiscent of the previous Great Fox, the LIS Supernova floated along with three engines heavily damaged and only one in working order. The hull was breached in many places and bits of the ship peeled off as it floated on towards Jet and Avia.

“There's our target. Let me establish contact,” Avia switched her radio to open channel, “This is the United Equestrian Next Generation Joint Strike Force. We were dispatched to a distress beacon in this area. What is your emergency?”

“Finally! Someone friendly on the radio,” a sigh of relief came as a response, “This is Major Xzayvior Onyx of the Lylatian Republic. My ship, the Supernova, came under attack from a band of pirates or something. Real organized too! They took out our fighter bays so my team and I can't launch out. They also knocked out three of our four engines. Can you help us get out of here?”

“No problem. You've got the finest LIS Supernova,” Avia reported to the ships bridge as she and her brother flew near.

MISS AVIA. ASTEROID FIELDS ARE GETTING DENSER. I SUGGEST WE LEAD THEM TO THE SAFETY OF THE SKY BUSTER.

“You got that right Zoey. Hey you guys! You all doing okay?”

“Hornet and I are caught up in some drifting rocks. We'll try to get to you shortly but it's hard navigating here,” Flip reported in.

“Morning here, I've got the same problem. I'll join up with you guys ASAP with Petal.”

“My fighter clipped a wing on these floating pebbles. I'm making my way back to the boat with Scratch escorting me,” Tough reported in his damage.

“Solid copy. RTB for you Tough. Say, where did the new guys go?” Jet looked around for them.

“Fenrir here,” the yellow and blue painted Fenrir fighter pulled up behind Jet and Avia with another F-32 Umbra that Umbra piloted, “We're on your six flight lead.”

“Good to see you're not pancakes,” Jet pulled in front of the Lylatian ship, “Supernova, follow our course and we will lead you out of the asteroid field.”

Ship transmitted herself onto their HUDs, “We have a new objective. Guide the carrier through the asteroid field and protect it from further harm. There could still be enemy fighters around so be careful and keep your eyes on a swivel.”

“Solid copy!” Jet nodded, “Rookies, I want you two to maintain a two hundred meter separation from the Supernova to guard the rear.”

“Don't call me a rookie Jet...” Umbra bitterly scoffed.

“Are we gonna have a problem second lieutenant Umbra? Can it okay! Focus on the mission!”

“Listen to him Umbra. Now is not the time for feelings to get in the way,” Ship made herself clear as well.

“...Fine...” Umbra pulled away with Fenrir to guard the rear of the carrier they escorted.

Avia switched her radio so only Jet could hear her, “Can't believe she still has that grudge.”

“Yeah sis. I was blunt about it for good reason. I never loved her, my heart belongs to Nelly. Exactly how many times I said no didn't sink in until I made it painfully obvious. Never thought she'd be part of the squad.”

Jet and the others guarding the carrier made slight adjustments to their flight path with only their rudders to make sure the Supernova could catch up.

“We'll be out of the asteroid field shortly. Wait, what's that?”

Trails of fast moving smoke could be seen in the distance out to their front. As they closed in a sudden alarm sounded in their cockpits warning them of missile locks.

“Shit! Semi-active radar missiles! Break! Break! Chaff out!” Jet pulled hard and rolled with the contours of an asteroid. Avia followed as the missiles impacted the rock sending fragments into space, “Damn! Vertical and Valkyrie are being engaged! We are defending! Supernova can you confirm source of missile launches?”

“Negative! Our radars are all cluttered by the asteroids. Wait! We got a signature. Looks like a stealth fighter!” Xzayvior alerted to them.

“How do you know?” Avia asked.

“Ultra low frequency radar. Easily cluttered but it can filter for cloaked aircraft if it's got the right settings. We'll link our targeting data to your HUDs! We can only track one at a time with our damage sustained so pick em off before they get in close!”

“Roger! Avia you bag this one! Eleven o clock low!” Jet saw the invisible fighter marked with a yellow square outlined on his visor. Before Avia could get in to shoot it down Umbra decloaked her own fighter right behind the enemy and took it down with guns.

“Darkstar, splash one bandit,” Umbra reported.

“Wha-how did you?” Avia continued to dodge more missiles fired out of the blue.

“Watch for when they open up their internal bays. Their stealth signature is compromised in that split second,” Umbra explained as she downed another space fighter with heat seeking missiles, “Heat seekers work well too. Splashed another.”

“Where did you learn how to fight like this?” Avia asked Umbra.

“Princess Luna herself taught me. I was part of the Children of the Night covert operations team. Princess herself said that you guys needed the help so she had me transfer over. I don't hate you Avia, but your brother I will never forgive.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, look! I don't give a fuck. You pushed it too hard and almost caused Nelly to break up with me! Dammit Umbra why do you have to be such a bitch!” Jet yelled as he stole her kill, “Fuck you you little shit! That kill is mine!”

“No good rotten fuck!” Umbra raged. She pulled her plane sharply upwards and caused Jet to avoid her dangerous maneuver.

“What was that for?!” Jet was furious.

“BOTH OF YOU STOP!” Ship came over the radio, “If this keeps up I am gonna shoot you both myself. Shut the fuck up, cry me a river, build a bridge, get over it! The mission is all that matters right now!”

“I will do as you say Captain,” Jet calmed down letting the familiarity of his superior's voice distracting him from Umbra's provocation, “Shit! We let one through!”

“Dammit Umbra!” Avia turned away to afterburn towards the Supernova, “Crap! That fighter just blinked off my scope!”

One missile trail came out in the middle of empty space as it was too late to intercept. The stealth fighter's anti-ship missile knocked a massive hull breach into the Supernova's main laser cannon. Setting off a chain reaction that blew apart the lower half of the ship.

“Holy shit!” Jet flew close to the bridge, “Supernova respond!”

“We're all okay! We can still fly out of here. Don't worry about my crew, the ship is automated by AI and all the guys who actually matter are up here in the bridge with me. It'll take months to repair that damage though!” Xzayvior was shaken slightly by the explosion.

“Fenrir, guide that ship out of the asteroid field right there! That's big enough for it to pass through,” Avia pointed out the exit of the asteroid belt.

“What?! It's an ambush!” As Fenrir flew close several stealth fighters decloaked and got right on his tail, “Shit! I can't shake em!”

“We're coming to help! Just keep em busy!” Jet and Avia boosted forward and got into position behind their enemies, “Vertical! Fox Two!”

The enemy stealth fighter popped flares and cloaked again to evade Jet's missile.

“Dammit! These guys are a pain in my flank!”

SUGGESTION: BLAST APART THE ASTEROIDS TO MAKE THE AREA DANGEROUS TO FLY IN. ENEMY FLYING SKILL SHOULD NOT MATCH OUR OWN.

“Good idea Zoey! We got any weapons for the job?”

ANALYZING, WEAPON MATCH. FENRIR HAS TIMES TWO SHOCKWAVE MISSILES INSIDE INTERNAL BAYS.

“Fenrir, you heard the robot! Launch your special weapons!”

“Roger! Hold on give me a few seconds,” Fenrir punched his fighter into a narrowing gap on two converging asteroids. His coat spiked from adrenaline with another stealth fighter right on his tail, “I got him! Stay back flight lead!”

“What the fuck are you doing?! You're gonna get crushed!” Jet warned out loud.

“No! Watch this!” Fenrir threw his plane into VTOL mode right as he launched a shockwave missile. He pulled straight up and the enemy shimmer flew right past his cockpit and into the massive explosion of the missile as it detonated in between the converged space rocks, sending fragments that impacted the cloaked enemy as Fenrir rode the shockwave of the missile to safety with his engine in idle, “WOOO! That was a rush man!”

“Fancy flying! Give me a sitrep Supernova,” Avia requested over the radio.

We're only detecting four blips left! Be warned they are phasing in and out of our sensors.

“Okay, so it's a cat and mouse game,” Jet kept his eyes peeled as he flew by the damaged Supernova.

“Morning here, Night and I are finally in your AO,” Morning's swing wing XFA-27 flew right behind Jet and Avia with Night Petal in her cloaked F-32 Umbra.

“Okay, think Petal! What would you do here? Think fast!” Jet asked in haste.

“Hmm, I'd attack from the top of my target. What's the plan? We can't lock these guys!”

“Concentrate all firepower on any asteroid that passes above the Supernova! The armored hull should shrug off the smaller rocks while making it a hazard for the enemy fighters to get through!” Jet gave his orders and all their missiles flew out to create a minefield of floating space debris. There were two spontaneous explosions as the enemy stealth fighters careened into the meteors.

“Good! Keep it up! We're almost through the passage!” Avia looked forward as their planes kept a parameter around the wounded Lylatian ship.

“Umbra! You got one on your tail! I just saw that shimmer!” Jet warned her out loud.

“Dammit!” Umbra bobbed and wove in and out of the asteroid fields trying to evade her assailant. In her chase a floating meteor chipped off her wing and caused her to lose control of her aircraft. She was in a horizontal flatspin with an enemy fighter ready to rip her to bits, “NO!”

“Vertical! Guns! Guns! Guns!” Jet used Umbra's vulnerability as a window of opportunity to shoot down the stealth fighter. Steel, aluminum, oil, and other mechanical lubricant flew off in bits and pieces as the enemy fighter was engulfed in a split second fireball before extinguishing from the lack of oxygen. The flash of the kill was enough to confirm the victory but Jet wasn't done yet. Umbra was still in a flatspin and was about to collide with another meteor.

“...At least I die... Knowing I served Luna...” Umbra closed her eyes and awaited death's embrace. There was a loud thud in her plane followed by a vibration that shook the cockpit to the sound of Jet's VTOL engines. Jet propped up the top of his plane in VTOL mode to catch Umbra and stop her spin. Umbra looked out to see Jet's face half hidden by his flight mask, “Why?”

“I don't like you Umbra but let me get this message clear. You are my squadmate and it is my sworn duty to keep you guys alive. You may be a forceful, bratty, and spoiled bitch but as long as you are under my command I am not letting anything happen to you. Just don't get on my bad side again, you hear me?”

“Yes, sir...” Umbra sighed in frustration and reluctance, “My engines are toast. I took a few hits from that stealth fighter.”

“Don't worry,” Jet slid off her plane and allowed it to spin into forward position before gently tucking his nose into the back end of Umbra's plane, “Let's go home! We're done here.”

“Hey, I called in the Federation so we can pass the baton. Their ships are right here next to the Sky Buster,” Ship came over the radio as they saw the regal blue of the UPF ships warp in.

“Solid copy. Supernova you are free to separate,” Jet gave the last call and the Lylatian carrier pulled away slowly.

“Roger! Thanks for the support NGJSF! Lylat thanks you! We will send word of your good deeds! Hopefully we can fight in a wargame sometime!” Xzayvior smiled to Jet on his HUD as the Supernova joined in formation with the UPF fleet. Task Force Frostbite 2 joined in to take the wounded ship under their wing.

“Well well well, you sure are getting your names out there huh?” Strella winked to Jet as she appeared on screen.

“Yeah yeah yeah. Save it for-” three rapid beeps followed that interrupted Jet, “huh?”

“Heads up team! We got another urgent mission from... Equus?!” Ship came through their holoprojectors, “Patching in the transmission!”

“This is a priority mission for the Next Generation Joint Strike Force! North Equestria has invaded and occupied the islands of Altis and Stratis off the coast of Equestria as a staging area for invasion of the mainland! Please return home immediately! This is Princess Celestia, and may my grace lead you onward.”

“Shit just hit the fan back home! Get your flanks back here and get ready for the next deployment!”

“Yes sir!” Jet and the rest followed back to the EMS Sky Buster to ready up for the next mission.

Chapter Eleven: Armed Assault

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Eleven: Armed Assault

Ship and Jet were the first to bust through the doors of Princess Celestia's throne room. They skid to a stop and saluted promptly.

“We came as fast as possible Princess! What is the situation?” Ship and Jet bowed.

“Time is of the essence. Twelve hours ago the rogue nation of North Equestria and their Equalism philosophy reached their breaking point and proceeded to invade and annex the islands of Altis and Stratis from Equestria's rule. They have made a proverbial wasteland in their wake as more and more citizens convert to their ideals. Island life hangs in the balance. Take down Starlight Glimmer by any means necessary and topple her as the king of the hill of Altis and Stratis before she brings Armageddon to our world. You have my word,” Princess Celestia slowly gave a nod.

“Yes ma'am! We will not disappoint you!” Jet washed over with zeal as he stood to salute.

“You are dismissed. Colonel Firebrand and Rav Seren Coltberg will give you a further operational briefing once you reach Stratis. Good luck and may my sun guide you!”

“You can count on us!” Ship closed the door behind her and looked to Jet, “So, NE has finally got the balls to challenge the council.”

“That country has always been a basket of tartarus. Thirty years ago they were nothing but a simple village in the mountains. Now they share a border and DMZs with the Crystal Empire and Equestria. Assholes still think that giving up their cutie marks makes them better than the rest of us. What's say we give them the smackdown of the century?”

“You and me both,” ship gave a brohoof to Jet and smiled, “Let's hurry back.”

An hour later they were all piled into Blossom's Goblin dropship en route to Stratis. A flight of AH-99 Blackfoots escorted them on their way to the staging area of Stratis Air Base. Blossom feathered in her landing and touched down on one of the many hastily prepared helipads. The entire force of the NGJSF dismounted to meet with Colonel Firebrand and Major Coltberg.

“Welcome to Stratis. Glad to see you're all punctual,” Colonel Firebrand greeted the arriving reinforcements.

“Father!” Morning saluted with a smile.

“At ease son,” Firebrand put his arms out and was tackled by both Blossom and Morning, “And to you too Blossom! It's nice to see you again, but let's get down to business. At 02100 hours North Equestria had the audacity to launch an invasion on the Equestrian controlled islands of Altis and Stratis. I've currently got a situation at Camp Maxwell down in the south. When the invasion first hit shit kicked off here in Kamino to the northeast end of the island.”

Firebrand continued to talk as they entered the HQ building of the airbase.

“The survivors of the initial attack made their way to Maxwell and are currently cut off from any and all outside assistance. I would appreciate it if you can get our boys outta there,” Firebrand continued as he briefed them at the table.

“Colonel! We got a situation!” Major Coltberg rushed into the tent.

“Hm, what is it Rolo?”

“Dad?” Simon raised an eyebrow.

“Not now son. There's been some developments regarding friendly forces based at Maxwell. Apparently they've escaped by boat to rendezvous with our forces on Altis. No word on their status so far they were last seen departing from Girna heading northeast,” the blue earth pony with black hair reported in, “Our surveillance radar lost track of them when two enemy fast movers flew over them.”

“You heard him NGJSF! I've got some guys missing and in open water. We need to mount a search and rescue operation, and fast!”

“Yes sir Colonel Firebrand! We'll bring our assets to bare!” Ship saluted to the Equestrian commander.

“Oh and one more thing. Blossom!”

“Yes daddy?”

“If you have to set something on fire, please make it the enemy. You are all dismissed!”

Taking only thirty minutes to prepare for the mission Jet, Avia, Tough, Fenrir, Morning, Petal, Flip, and Hornet took off to provide escort to Blossom's dropship flying in formation with them.

“This is Blossom, callsign Inferno. Are are en route to last known position of sunken speedboats, how copy?” Blossom reported in with an eight pony caulk in the back seat comprised of Nelly, Passion, Wishful, Umbra, Prelude, Frag, Scratch, and Simon all in diving gear ready to drop out with an inflatable dingy for rescue.

“Solid copy Blossom, we are tracking you on the Sky Buster at orbit altitude. Standby! We see multiple enemy fighters inbound!” Mac Book supported the air assets with radar coverage, “Fighter squadron! Weapons free! You are cleared to engage!”

“Vertical engaging!” Jet boosted forward past the dropship with his squadron, “All fighters switch to AMRAAMs and engage BVR. Fox Three! Fox Three!”

“Good separation! Tracking!” Avia called out as they peeled away from their missile launches back to guard the dropship.

“Don't let any fighter get through! If they shoot down Blossom it's gonna be a huge blow to all of us!” Jet flew around the dropship in a large circle, “Formation: wagon wheel!”

The fighters of the NGJSF formed a large circular parameter ready to intercept any North Equestrian fighter that gets close.

“Bandits spotted! Engaging!” Petal pulled away from the wagon wheel and cloaked her fighter to get onto the tail of an enemy XR-45 Cariburn, “I'm so close I can see those equal sign roundels! Shadow! Fox two! Fox two!”
With a clean impact the Cariburn burst into flames and tore in half before plunging straight into the ocean.

“Good splash Petal! We see three more Cariburns followed by a four ship flight of A-143 Buzzards and times two To-119 Neos,” Mac Book relayed the radar intel.

“Solid copy. We're almost to the coordinates! Yo Blossom what do you see down there?” Jet looked down at the low flying dropship.

“I see a lot of debris in the water. I'm not gonna hover until you guys deal with those fighters! Nelly, how you guys doing back there?”

“Holding stable! Great flying Blossom but a lot of your evasive maneuvering is knocking the crap out of us.”

“Just hold tight! Shit! Missile! Missile! I'm locked! Dumping ECM!” Blossom pulled her dropship into left and right banking turns to throw off a few missiles launched from long range. While she managed to dodge two of them one of the missiles impacted her wing. Causing her to lose control of her craft, “Shit! Inferno is hit! Mayday! Mayday! We are going down!”

“Holy shit! Blossom just took a hit!” Jet flew down to observe the crash as the dropship violently cartwheeled over the water and exploded in a secondary explosion. Jet's heart sunk along with the wreckage of the VTOL, “Inferno! Sitrep... I-Inferno! Respond! Celestia dammit, did anypony make it?!”

There was nothing but static on the radio. Jet pulled away from the formation and climbed. He punched the side of his canopy and started to weep.

“I-I can't... N-No! Inferno! Respond! Dammit Blossom! Nelly! Passion! Anyone?!” Jet's futile efforts were met again with silence. He was resisting the reality that there was no way any one would have survived a crash like that. He pulled off his helmet and flew into the clouds to conceal himself and withdraw, “They... are gone... Dear Luna, my friends! M-My darling Nelly... They're dead! CELESTIA DAMN THEM TO TARTARUS!"

Jet furiously pounded the side of his cockpit in equal parts rage and sorrow. His eyes wallowed with tears as he saw the plane that shot them down.

"What the fuck is that?"

Jet flew past the alien looking craft. It was all form fitting with little to no seems present. In the vague shape of a dolphin with an all metal cockpit using a COFFIN system like that of UPF aircraft yet it was neither a Cazador nor a Black Jacket. It was something else altogether.

"Jet!" Mac Book yelled to him, "That's the bastard who shot them down! Wait one second! I'm hacking into their comms!"

"This is Brigadier General Night Glider, callsign Night Owl. I've splashed one NGJSF dropship. How copy Starlight?"

"Solid copy. You just earned yourself a few medals by bringing down such a vital asset to the Equestrian military," Starlight Glimmer came through over the radio. Her voice zealous at the confirmed kill of the dropship, "Now deal with the rest of those fighters!"

"Roger that. Night Owl engaging!"

"Heads up team!" Mac Book linked them some intelligence to display on their HUDS, "I've got some intel on that fighter! Codename: Delphinus. It's a state of the art prototype reverse engineered from UPF and Equestrian technology! Watch out team! That thing has some cyber-attack capabilities!"

"Noted! All units engage and destroy the Delphinus!"

"Oh isn't that cute. Guess I really pissed them off," Night Glider spoke to herself in the cockpit, "Let's see you guys recover from a virus induced stall."

With one press of a button the cyber attack of the Delphinus cut off the engines of all the NGJSF aircraft. They started to plummet with their control surfaces locked in place as well.

"We're falling! We're all falling! Mayday! Mayday! Dawnlight is going down! I'm ejecting!" Morning Shine punched his ejection seat and shot right up. He wasn't equipped with a parachute and glided down into the water with his wings alone, "This is Morning! I've made it out!"

"Petal here! I'm okay too!"

"Same here!" Tough Heart treaded the water towards his friends who were shot down, "I see Hornet's and Fenrir's chutes! They made it out too! Where is Jet and Avia?"

Jet's fighter was in an uncontrolled spin. He was being knocked side to side unable to reach the eject handle.

"This is Jet! I can't reach my eject handle! I'm going in hard Ship! I don't think I'm gonna make it!"

"Jet! Jet! Keep trying! JET!"

"I-I'm gonna miss that sweet voice..." He awaited the impact of the water to take him to death's door. Jet felt a lifting sensation as a new sound filled his ears. His engines miraculously restarted and vectored him into VTOL mode, “What?”

“I gotcha bro...” Avia flew past him with her fighter still operational, “It's gonna take a lot more than a simple cyber attack to knock out Zoey now that she's properly functioning.”

“Sweet Celestia and Luna in all the heavens! Thank you Zoey!”

WITH PLEASURE CAPTAIN JET. BE ADVISED ENEMY AIRCRAFT STILL IN AREA OF OPERATION. ENGAGE AT WILL.

“You got it!” Jet threw his fighter back into CTOL mode and formed back up with Avia, “It's just us two.”

“We can take em...” Avia nodded, “Tally yo! Bandits in the merge!”

“Starlight, two of the enemy planes have not succumb to my cyber attack.”

“Well don't just sit there! Engage!”

“That's the enemy leader's voice. Hey Mac Book! You got any of your Aparling friends in on this op?” Jet asked.

“Of course! Need another hack?”

“Give them a taste of their own medicine. This is for the others. Give them the nastiest you got!”

“Roger, initiating Kill-Switch Protocol,” With deft typing on his keyboard Mac Book uploaded a virus into the enemy planes. The resulting effect was dramatic as the on board missiles of the enemy craft promptly exploded with no warning. The only unaffected craft was the Delphinus.

“Starlight! All of my squadron's been wiped out! My fighter detected the virus in time and stopped mine from being compromised!”

“Head back to base Night Glider. You've done your part for today.”

“Solid copy. RTB,” The Delphinus turned away and disengaged. The advanced engines of the craft punched hypersonic and the NGJSF were left in the dust.

“Dammit! He's getting away!”

“We'll get him... And we'll avenge the others,” Avia flew down low to look at their own who were shot down, “Hold on! What's that?!”

“Wait, that can't be!” Jet threw his craft into VTOL mode and looked at a tiny dingy trying to pile in the downed pilots, “Guys! Are you okay down there?”

“You'll never believe what just happened Jet!” Nelly came through the radio. Jet was filled with relief, joy, and excitement to hear her voice once more.

“N-NELLY! How the fuck did you survive that?!” Jet orbited the inflatable boat rescuing their squadron.

“Thank Wishful Fun for that! He pulled a crazy spell that knocked him into a coma but it somehow managed to make us survive that horrific explosion with no injuries! I think it's worn off now though. My shoulders are starting to hurt from pulling everypony out of the drink. We're all okay! Send in some rescue choppers!”

“Will do! We'll maintain CAP until they arrive!” Jet and Avia flew around in circles to secure the perimeter until a flight of CH-67 Hurons landed on the water to pick them up. Colonel Firebrand was right there to help his son and daughter into the helicopter.

“I gotcha kiddos. All that matters right now is that you're all safe and that you gave it your best shot. Let's RTB for some dinner. Mission failed,” Firebrand sat next to his two children. Blossom was still recovering from the crash.

“I thought I was gonna die... Daddy, I was scared.” Blossom shook. Her father wrapped his arms around her and her brother also came over to support her.

“You did fine Blossom. Had we known they were bringing in that plane I would have never sent you on this mission. Once we saw it on long range radar I rushed to send this rescue party out hoping for the best. Guess luck was on our side today,” Firebrand stoked his daughter's mane to comfort her, “You're okay sweetheart. Daddy's got you.”

“Hey! How's Wishful back there?” Nelly turned to Flip who was treating the knocked out unicorn.

“That spell really took a lot out of him! He's gonna need emergency medical assistance once we touch down! My scanner's detecting some internal brain hemorrhaging.”

The flight of choppers touched down in a few minutes to offload them back onto the airbase. Wishful was rushed out back to the medical bay for immediate surgery while the rest of the uninjured ponies regrouped with Firebrand back in the HQ building.

“Take a break everypony. Get yourselves something to eat and rest up for the next operation,” Firebrand sighed, “Dismissed.”

“Respectfully sir, the only thing we're hungry for is blood. What you say guys?” Jet trotted up to the squad with more zeal than ever.

“Yeah, I didn't even get to shoot anything,” Flip commented as he checked his rifle, “We need to get even for what they did to Wishful.”

Everypony able enough to walk agreed.

“Alright if you're up for a task then I will direct you to assist with some FIA rebels that need our help. We've gotten word that a civilian from North Equestria wants to defect. Says she's got valuable intel on how to free everypony,” Firebrand pulled up a map of Stratis, “She's being assisted by a double agent in North Equestria. I need you guys to conduct a raid to the south of the island here where she is being held captive one team, Alpha, will strike at valuable assets on the southernmost tip of the island causing distractions so the main force, Bravo, will assault Air Station Mike here in the center of Stratis. Once you guys break in you are to retrieve Sugar Belle, codename: Snow Pie, and get her to the safety of our airbase. Sounds good?”

“Sir yes sir!”

“Also, I think some allied support might be in order,” Firebrand looked to his watch as it beeped, “And here they come now!”

“Hello!” four ponies trotted in. They looked oddly familiar and the one unicorn mare that walked in looked almost like Strella of Task Force Frostbite, “By now you are probably wondering why we're shoehorning ourselves in so much. Obviously we just wanna kick ass and take names! And I heard there was a rogue nation problem on your homeworld so the UPF decided on some black ops to maintain our sphere of influence. It's good to see you guys again!”

“Strella?! Wow, you look great as a pony. Um, where is your cutie mark?” Jet cocked his head to the side.

“Oh, don't you know! UPF Formshift technology can't replicate Equestrian cutie marks. My mom just likes to paint hers on when she's in pony form,” Strella grinned. Her half carnivorous teeth replaced by a more omnivorous set.

“I'm really not used to my knees being so high,” Mitch was having some trouble using his magic.

“You should have trained more,” Quinten shrugged. His white earth pony form matched well with a snowbound environment. He was biting softly on a lollipop with the stick waving back and forth along his cheeks.

Alyssa flew in, being the only pegasus of Frostbite. Her fiery mane and coat did well to emulate her natural Vulpix colors, “We brought in some friends too! An entire armored division and air wing are ready to assault Altis once we take control of this island! They're en route as we speak but right now it's just us to help out. Our pony forms should disguise us well from the enemy.”

“Frostbite will be Charlie Team. They will attack enemy assets to the east of the island while Alpha leads a hit and run attack south. The operation begins at 2300 hours today. You've still got some time. Make me proud!” Firebrand looked to his two children and saluted, “Good luck. Dismissed!”

Chapter Twelve: Survive, Adapt, Win

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Twelve: Survive, Adapt, Win

As Night Glider taxied into the military hangars of the Altis International Airport there were a few ponies awaiting her arrival. As the Delphinus came to a halt her cockpit popped open to reveal her half conscious and linked to a neural interface. She opened her eyes and unlatched the wired skullcap from her head to depart the craft. She looked back at the fighter and smiled before being greeted by Starlight herself who was in a full military uniform.

“Well done Night Glider. I honestly think you didn't have it in you to shoot down most of the NGJSF. With them down our operations to equalize all of Equus will be that much smoother. But your work isn't done yet. Major Double Diamond!” Starlight called one of her officers over.

“Yes ma'am?” Diamond saluted to his superior.

“I will need you and your team to lead an assault on Stratis Air Base to dislodge that stubborn Equestrian and Crystal Imperial detachment stationed there. Oh and while you are at it can you kill Colonel Firebrand for me?”

“With pleasure!” Double Diamond smiled and looked to Night Glider, “Feel like an airdrop?”

“You bet! Guess you need me for a stealthy air insertion Miss Starlight?”

“Yes! Wonderful Night Glider. Double Diamond, I want your team ready by 2300 hours tonight. Make sure you hit hard, strike fast, and destroy as much assets on that base as possible. And by the way, your new squad is somewhat special today. These guys have no cutie marks whatsoever which gives us a good chance for them to earn their equality on the field of battle! Go back to HQ, both of you, for a full briefing. I need to check on Party Favor to see if our ideals are spreading across Altis. Dismissed!” Starlight smiled to her loyalists troops as they departed to the HQ building at the other end of the airfield. Starlight was escorted by two guards as she boarded her transport Ifrit MRAP bound for the city of Pyrgos, the capital of Altis.

-----

Party Favor was reminiscing on his secret lover recently captured by his own army. He hid his feelings away from all of the staff around his department with the same eerie smile everypony plastered onto their face. He was worried about Sugar Belle and his child she hid from the government for so long. Having found out about the child Starlight ordered a raid on Sugar Belle's home and removed them by force to be held captive at a temporary political prison on Stratis. With all the death and destruction his own nation was causing to the world he wanted out but not before seeing Sugar Belle again. Starlight entered the room unknowing to Party Favor.

“Why hello there Party Favor. Is something wrong?” Starlight asked as she noticed Party Favor's mood.

“Um, it's nothing Miss Starlight! It's just this war that's bogging me down.”

“Look, I know it's not really your thing to do this but we must make the necessary measures to ensure that equality spreads to all corners of Equus and then the universe. Listen, I have good news. With our new suppliers we are well stocked with weapons, equipment, food, and fuel to keep us operational for a long time. Without their help I would have never risked lives with this invasion. We finally have the means to spread our ideals to the world!” Starlight put a hoof around him and motioned in the air like she was showing him something, “Chin up Party Favor! All with see our light soon.”

“Yes ma'am!” Party Favor faked a smile. Starlight gave a quick nod and walked to the head officer of the base leaving Party Favor to his work.

“Officer,” she whispered to the head pony in this department, “Keep an eye on Party Favor. I feel something amiss with him.”

“Yes ma'am,” the officer pony replied silently.

-----

As night fell the three spec ops teams of Equus and the UPF made their slow and steady insertion into the southern part of Stratis via inflatable craft. Jet and his team made landfall to the south at Strogos Bay. Meanwhile Nelly lead an infiltration mission on the radar station with Task Force Frostbite as they inserted near Limeri Bay. All of them were undetected as they departed their rafts.

“This is Jet, we've made landfall at our infil point. How copy?”

“Copy that my love,” Nelly reported in, “Charlie Team and I have made our way to Limeri. We are proceeding into the forest and taking up positions near Air Station Mike. You know your job right?”

“Blow shit up and cause as much havoc as possible! Hell yeah!” Blossom took the radio from Jet and whispered excitedly into it. Jet shrugged and rolled his eyes to the glee in Blossom's face.

“With her around, I think we got this. Avia, Prelude, Flip, Blue, and Blossom you're on me! Let's move!” Jet lead his team and got to the high ground on their left flank. There was a small enemy camp near their insertion point made up of two fishing shacks with a camo net draped over it. Jet told his team to halt, “Stop! Contacts, infantry, two hundred meters front. Enemy camp. Take some covered positions and hold fire until I give the signal!”

“Roger sir, I see some two-pony patrols around here too. They're three hundred meters north and two hundred east,” Flip advised his squad lead.

“Solid copy Flips. Avia, Prelude take a patrol team and watch them. Fire on my mark,” Jet got into position overlooking the camp with Blossom, “3... 2... 1... Weapons free!”

A flurry of fire erupted from their hill as the camp was taken by surprise to their attack. The strike was fast and furious and caught many of the relaxing enemies off guard.

“Clear my backblast!” Blossom fired an RPG at the transport truck at the camp to destroy the load of ammunition which blew up the two shacks near it. Before the last enemy succumbed to their barrage he managed to launch a signal flare to alert the other North Equestrian troops on the island. Avia grappled right next to him cloaked in the night and pulled the trigger with her smart pistol leveled to his head.

“That should attract their attention,” Avia winked.

“Nelly, we've made contact. Just hit a camp near our infiltration point,” Jet reported in as he reloaded his R-101C.

“Copy that but we don't see much activity. That wasn't enough you gotta think big!”

“Think big huh?” Jet looked off to the largest landmark near their location. The Southern Stratis Lighthouse, “Oh that'll do.”

“Arrrgh!” Jet was ambushed by an enemy grenadier hidden in a metal shack. He charged at him with a combat knife deployed on his back hoof and viciously bucked at Jet's chest. Thanks to his powered titanium armor the knife blade deflected off and he caught the back leg of the enemy pony. He bent it back and twisted it, the leg gave way and bone shattered. The enemy soldier cried in pain as Jet pulled out his Federation P33 revolver and shot him right in the heart. They soldier fell with a thud.

“Yeah! Fuck you!” Jet was pumped up, feeling no remorse for the dead pony, “Hold on, no cutie mark!”

“That's odd. Don't all the North Equestrians have equal signs?” Avia approached the dead body.

“That's odd but we gotta move!” Suddenly shots rang out and snaps could be heard around them. A two pony patrol caught wind of the signal flare and started to attack, “Shit! They got me pinned!”

“No sweat Jet!” Prelude was prone on the hill in some good cover. He spotted the two soldiers four hundred meters out, “Easy shot...”

The booming sound of his Creber 14.5mm projected a shell at 1,000 meters per second into the torso of the attacking riflepony. The massive hole ripped caused the other one to scramble for cover.

“That's not gonna save you,” Prelude cycled the bolt and smiled, “See ya!”

Prelude squeezed the trigger and the rock blew apart. The rifle of the dead pony flew up in the air and something started to bleed from behind the rock tinted in green due to Prelude's night vision.

“Tangos down. Move up!”

“What would we do without you Prelude? Can you get an overwatch on that lighthouse?”

“Wait one Jet. Moving to the top of the hill. I'll try to keyhole it through a blade of grass,” Prelude moved up as the rest of the squad continued forward. They laid prone to mask with the tall grass and waited for Prelude to get into position, “In position. Contacts, three ponies, One on a GL turret. A marksman, and I believe an officer.”

“Solid copy. You're up again!”

Prelude whisper-whistled happily. His next shot connected to the head of enemy gunner on the turret. The sudden alarm caused the officer and his bodyguard to pile into the lighthouse.

“Yo Blossom!” Jet grinned a shit eating grin.

“Sweeet!” Blossom pulled out her AX-20B Sunburst grenade launcher. A UPF weapon, the AX-20B was designed to take out targets in cover and around corners with an air burst round. With a ten round mag of 25mm sensor fused warheads the tiny lightweight weapon served as Blossom's primary weapon. Naturally subsonic, she fitted it with a suppressor for added chaos, “Range to target 4-2-8 meters! Setting airburst to two meters! Fire two! Fire two!”

Blossom pulled the trigger twice and sent her rounds downrange. The precise explosions detonated inside the lighthouse door causing one body to drop out.

“Got em! Free to move?”

“Yup! Move up secure the lighthouse!” Jet ordered his squad up the hill. Flip was the first to check the lighthouse.

“Both are dead! Area cleared!”

Again Jet looked to Blossom and motioned his head to the lighthouse, “Do you mind?”

“I thought you'd never ask!” Blossom placed her satchel charges at the base of the lighthouse, “Explosives hot!”

“Get back! Here, take this flare gun and make some noise!” Jet tossed an enemy flare pistol to Blue Circuit.

“Hell yeah man!” Blue shot it right up into the air to signal the enemy. As he did so he rushed back into cover as Blossom took down the lighthouse with an earth shaking explosion.

“Sweet baby Luna Blossom how much C4 did you use?” Jet laughed.

“All of it! Don't worry! I still got five RPGs, three grenades, and fifty six 25 mike mikes on me. Plus I got frag rounds loaded into my shorty 12 gauge!” Blossom grinned ear to ear.

Jet clapped slowly as Nelly interrupted over the radio.

“D-Did you bloody chaps blow up a lighthouse?”

“Oh yes we did my Aussie love!” Jet moved with his squad through the grass. Prelude used his boosts to catch up with them.

“Brilliant work Jet! That should get their attention but looks like they're just now beginning to mobilize! Cause some more chaos down there!”

“If only we had Discord,” Flip sighed.

A flash of light appeared next to them as the slender figure of a mangled mess of body parts called Discord bowed before them, “You called?”

“Can I ask for more explosives?” Blossom put on a puppy dog face, “Pleassse?”

“Oh how can I resist that face?” Discord snapped his fingers and a pile of C4 appeared on Blossom's back.

“Oh! Thank you! Thank you!” Blossom gave him a good hug.

“Toodles!” Discord disappeared with another flash. Flip looked to Jet and sighed again.

“Speak of the Tirek and he shall appear.”

“No kidding Flips. At least he's on our side! There's an AA site to the south of us! Everypony pile into that Zamak truck and let's go!”

They made their way south to the Spartan monument. As they spotted the camp they dismounted and cloaked to approach with stealth.

“All of your frags, I want them over the HESCO walls!” Jet ordered silently as everypony in the squad threw up their hand grenades. The entropy continued as the North Equestrian soldiers panicked for cover. One of the officers yelled into his radio.

“Command! Please advise we are under attack! Unknown number! Possibly a large invasion force! I can see the fires of the other camps from here! The lighthouse is down and all of our southern camps are destroyed! Send help! Send help now-” he was cut off by Blue Circuit as the rest of the squad uncloaked and killed the guards of the base, “Sweet Starlight! It's the NGJS-!”

The blast of sound from Blue's Tac-19 shotgun tore his head off with a massive wub. Starlight definitely caught word.

“Area cleared!” Flip grinned a zealous grin.

“More satchels! Stand by! Move to cover!” Blossom detonated another explosive pack that destroyed the ZSU-39 Tigress stationed to protect the monument from airborne threats.

There was another response from Nelly, “Great work guys! Looks like you made your point! There's a large army converging on your position! I suggest you make your way to the exfil point now!”

“Copy that sweetheart! We're RTB!” Jet pumped up his hoof, “We did it! Let's get off this crap town!”

They ran back to their rafts as an armored enemy Strider MRAP crested the hill. Blossom scoffed, “Hand on...”

With her RPG-45 readied she loaded in a wire guided warhead and destroyed the scouting vehicle with no trouble. Her delighted giggle was followed by a maniacal smile.

“We're done here! Back to the boat!” they all piled into their rafts and exited the area under the cover of the coastal fog. Blossom took off her NVGs and looked to the stars, “Real pretty tonight. We definitely got even for what they tried to do to us.”

“Yeah! Now it's up to Nelly.”

-----

Nelly busted her way into the compound with her rotor blade sword. Her squad of Passion, Umbra, Fragarach, Scratch, and Red October all guns blazing with suppressed weapons. As they entered the main barracks they cleared each others corners and found a holding cell at the back of the building.

“Clear!” Nelly shouted.

“All clear!” the rest of her squad reported in.

“Nelly to Jet, we have Snow Pie secured. I'm entering the cell now!” Nelly breached the door and was confronted by a dark figure standing in the shadows. Clearly a pony but with horn visible and wings clearly spread. It was an Alicorn and clearly not any of the other Princesses.

“Looking for somepony?...” the evil tone of the sadist Starlight Glimmer echoed in the dark. She kicked Sugar Belle forward. The mare was bruised and battered. Cuts and gashes all over her and her newborn foal. She was crying and wrapped around her child, “What's the matter? Didn't expect me?”

“N-no!...” Nelly froze.

“Nelly! Nelly what's going-AH!” Umbra was struck down by a bullet from Starlight's UPF bullpup pistol right in the neck. The rest of the Bravo Team was surrounded by spec ops troops with bare flanks and as Starlight stepped from the darkness she had no mark of her own.

“Such an elegant weapon developed by beings so equal in their race. No cutie marks, no special treatment, and no conflict among their own. I for one welcome these ponies of the United Pokemorph Federation to our cause!”

“NO!” Nelly looked up. She held Umbra's neck in place trying to stop the bleeding, “Traitors!”

“Ah ah ah! Frostbite! Please step forward!”

The four ponies of Task Force Frostbite came through the door and took their place next to Starlight.

“I think I'll treat this ones wound. Figure a good torture session is in order,” Strella knocked Nelly out of the way and started to treat Umbra. The dark pegasus turned pitch black as red filled her eyes.

Umbra ignited with rage. With her neck patched up a glowing aura of blackened fury befell her. She bucked Strella out of the way and planted one hoof right into the face of Starlight Glimmer. With her sin energy causing panic among the group she took Sugar Belle on her back and ran out as fast as she could back to the raft. She threw the mother and child in and made her way out of the island.

“DAMMIT! FUCKING DAMMIT! I KNEW THOSE GUYS WERE TRAITORS ALL ALONG!”

“Umbra! Umbra respond! What the hell happened?!” Jet came over the radio.

“Nelly! The others! Dammit Jet! Frostbite turned on us! It's the UPF that's supplying them with weapons!”

“WHAT?! You're kidding!”

“Jet, we need to talk. Once we establish comms back at the airbase we need to tell Ship and Firebrand. Nelly might be dead...”

“No... NO! Dammit! Oh Celestia! Oh Luna! What of the rest of Bravo?!”

“Probably dead as well. I'm sorry Jet,” Umbra started to cry, “It feels like part of this was my fault... I-I...”

The cry of the newborn and the whimpers from Sugar Belle caught Umbra's attention, “Thank-you...”

“Umbra! Who was that?! Somepony tell me something!”

“I got Snow Pie and her newborn as well. We're RTB.”

“Solid copy. Wait! I got another message!”

“This is Colonel Firebrand! We've detected a Spec Ops force that tried to land and sabotage our airfield! Two of them are dead and they dropped off by a captured Federation An-2000 stealth VTOL. We have their leader captured says he goes by the name of Double Diamond. How goes the mission?”

“Alpha team flawless execution. All of Bravo except for Umbra are MIA and are presumed dead or captured. Jet out,” Jet hung his head low as his sister tried to comfort him.

“We did what we could Jet. We have to tell everypony.”

“But if we do, who can stop the UPF?”

“This is all bullshit and we know it,” Flip shook his head, “Frostbite were our friends...”

“Yeah! Were... Jet to Firebrand, mission complete. RTB...”

Chapter Thirteen: Mayhem Zero

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Thirteen: Mayhem Zero

As Jet and the others docked their boats they were greeted with Ship and Firebrand as a squad of Crystal Empire troops took Sugar Belle and her foal away. Most of them were still shaken to what just happened.

“I heard what happened. Sorry we couldn't help you Jet. Firebrand and I were discussing the next operation. We're planning to assault the mainland tomorrow morning with the help of the UPF,” Ship looked at Jet as she said UPF. He seemed more tense at the word, “Something wrong?”

“Private meeting! NOW!” Jet looked to the Colonel, “Colonel Firebrand with respect sir I think you need to hear this as well,” Jet's heart pounded as UPF troops were all around them.

“Okay. Let's hear it.”

Blossom took them up to the Sky Buster at orbit altitude to discuss their situation in private. As the witnesses of the UPF traitors told their story Ship, Firebrand, and Major Coltberg recoiled at the information.

“So what you are telling me is that everypony down there is in danger of losing their lives because of this mess? Oh no! We trotted right into a trap.”

“Colonel, I suggest you pull back your troops now. Check their cutie marks. If they don't have one leave them behind. That is how you can tell if they are real ponies,” Avia explained as she propped up onto the table.

“Call off the invasion. We have to warn the Princesses against the UPF. I think their planning something big and I can only assume the worst; a full on invasion of Equus and all its colonies,” Firebrand shared his thoughts, “With most of Equus' forces concentrated here we don't stand a chance against a full invasion.”

“Respectfully sir, with 103 billion active troops I don't think we'll survive one day in a war with the Federation.”

“Ahem!” Strella waved to them while she was still in pony form. All of them took their sidearms and aimed right at her. She was unphased, “Chill, we weren't really traitors. I feel as though you need an explanation from our end of sorts.”

“What?! What do you mean?!”

“Listen Jet! Nelly is alive and so are the others. It was all a ruse against the North Equestrians. Look, we've been sent here to investigate a claim that UPF weapons are being smuggled to supply terrorist activity here on Equus. Turns out that claim was true,” Strella pulled out her phone and projected a hologram to the nearest blank wall, “See these shipping crates?”

The image on screen showed a stylized Buizel with the words “Rivers Manufacturing” outlined below in a stylized font. It was the primary military supplier of the UPF and Strella's family company.

“A week ago my father was taken into custody because of a scandal that the UPF were supplying arms to terrorists. My father doesn't do this crap. He's pro-Equus so why would he supply weapons to fund anti-Equestrian terrorists? Not only that but if you noticed those NEQ spec ops you killed had no cutie marks. Starlight's registry listed them active even before the UPF got involved in this sector. So what does that tell us? Well Quincy and I went around poking at their new jet fighter. And low and behold we found THIS symbol on one of the main spars on the inside of the wing,” Strella flipped to another image of a strange symbol vaguely familiar to them. Mac Book was the first to call it.

“That's the symbol of the Pulsar Militia!”

“Exactly!” Strella started to put the pieces together for them, “What this means is that somewhere in the UPF itself is Pulsar Cell operating to undermine the UPF-Equus alliance. Not only that, it seems that the Pulsar Militia have captured enough UPF technology to freely spy on all races. That technology was only available to Rivers Manufacturing staff.”

“This is good news. We can trust you after all,” Jet sighed in relief, “Dammit Strella! Don't scare us like that!”

“And you threw Nelly and the others under a fucking bus!” Umbra lashed out.

“Hey! Hey! We only did it to convince Starlight. She looks up to the UPF and that is her downfall. We have blended in with the enemy to take them down from the inside. Besides, dumb bitch doesn't know the difference between the UPF and Pulsar,” Strella rolled her eyes to one side.

“So we can still proceed with the invasion?” Major Coltberg, AKA Rolo was seated next to his son, Simon.

“Of course. To further convince Starlight we deployed a UPF PMC within their ranks. Once we give them the signal they will attack and kill any NEQ troops near them to cause utter panic among their ranks. Also, the rest of Frostbite already told our plan in secret to the NGJSF held captive and we are planning to get them out. Starlight trusts us so much they put us in guard duty to watch over your guys.”

“What a grade A retard,” Jet smiled, “This is good, this is good!”

“Without much more to do I suggest we get this invasion under way!”

Jet stroked his chin, “Say how'd you get here anyway?”

“Oh, Sugar Rush and Brainstorm cleared me to land onto the Sky Buster without telling you guys. I do it so often and pop in unannounced that they just let me through. I find the morbid hilarity of that funny had I actually had been a traitor.”

“Okay, so with this whole mess cleared up we still have Sugar Belle to talk to. Let's get back down,” Firebrand proceeded to the dropship, “Blossom dear, please go easy on the ride back! You almost knocked my horn onto the ceiling.”

“Not my fault the Goblin dropship was designed that way,” she joked with her father, “But of course daddy!”

“Such a sweet girl!” Firebrand smiled as they all traveled back to the HQ building. Sugar Belle had her wounds treated and made comfortable for the questioning, “So miss Sugar Belle. Tell us what you know.”

“I...” she started slow, “I was taken from my home. They heard my screaming as I was giving birth. As the foal arrived they busted down my door and restrained me, then beat me, and proceeded to take me into custody. I hid away from them for so long and tried to disguise my pregnancy by eating all those disgusting, tasteless muffins. It was the only thing we ever ate...”

“Are you finished? What can you tell us about how to win this war?”

“If it's okay with you Colonel, I really want to share what I went through to get it off my chest. I want this story spread and the reality of North Equestria to be revealed. I want to do this to make sure my foal has a future and that nopony else goes what we have went through.”

“We will listen. But first we need the intelligence of how to liberate your country. Not to sound rude but I'd like to know that first.”

“Very well. As you can see most of us have our cutie marks replaced with equal signs. Starlight uses a magical artifact called the Staff of Sameness to lock away our original talents in the mountains to the east of our capital, Our Town. O-U-R Town. It's a vast network of tunnels dug into the mountains that house all of the cutie marks of our people. However, I noticed recently that Starlight's most trusted officers and generals do not have cutie marks at all. She argues that they're more equal than most ponies since they themselves choose not to have one at all. Animals...”

“I see, where on this map is the vault?” Firebrand pushed her a map of NEQ.

Sugar Belle pointed a hoof to the mountains, “Here. At the highest peak.”

“Thank you. That is all we need to know.”

“I have one more thing! Starlight, she isn't who she says she is. Before she was a unicorn just like me, but somehow in the past week her equal sign mark vanished and was replaced by alicorn wings. I also caught a glimpse of her original cutie mark and it was all a ruse. She never gave her's up and always covered it with makeup. That is why they wanted me silenced. I saw everything. I saw the pained look in Party Favor's eyes as he was forced to beat me and our child. I really do love him...”

“It just so happens that Colonel Party Favor wants to defect to United Equus. If all goes well you will see him soon,” Firebrand nodded, “Thank you for your time. My second in command will listen more to your story. Rolo! Get in here. You got the notes?”

“Yup, I heard everything. This is just the evidence we need to topple their regime and apply to the Geneighva Convention. Share what you know about NEQ life Miss Belle,” Rolo continued with the investigation as Firebrand closed the door. Ship was right there saluting.

“Sir!”

“At ease. I need your team in the air again. Sorry for such short notice,” Colonel Firebrand and Ship trotted back to the briefing room. They called in what's left of the NGJSF for a new mission, “Glad you could make it ladies and gentlecolts. Thanks to the intel we received from Sugar Belle we have the means to undo the brainwashing that NEQ has done to its citizens. To the east of the NEQ capital is the Our Mountain Range, Area B7R. The area is codenamed 'Round Table' by the North Equestrians which they use as a proving ground for testing special purpose aircraft. You are to engage enemy aircraft and open up a window for our bombers to penetrate through to bomb out their vital underground vaults. Due to radio interference from the ferrous resources buried underground, communications on this op will be hard. If you have to bail out, you're going to have trouble contacting rescue. It'll likely take several days to track you down if the enemy doesn't get to you first. So keep that in mind. They'll know we're coming because of Sugar Belle's escape so your pilots are gonna be in for a tough fight. Expect all their aces to come to intercept you. And that is why we're gonna bring up some of our own to level the playing field. The EMS Fairview II has entered the theater of operations. Flip, I know you're gonna be excited about that!”

Flip's ears perked as he heard the name of the ship, “T-The Fairview?! My old squadron's still flying for that carrier! Oh my Celestia! My big bro is coming to help us guys!”

“And that's not all! The country of Aetosian has joined our coalition to help stop North Equestria! On this mission you will receive support from the 56th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Hornet's old squadron!” Firebrand grinned, “We brought out all of our ace cards for this operation. So don't mess it up! Once you destroyed all enemy aircraft a flight of UPF Bo-1 stealth bombers will bomb the living crap out of that mountain range releasing these trapped cutie marks and setting their people free. Understood?”

“Si senor!” Hornet bounced with glee, “When do we start?”

“Three hours. Get to your planes and prep up! I'm counting on your NGJSF! Dismissed!”

“With pleasure! But what about our own guys imprisoned as POWs?”

“Leave that to Frostbite!” Strella nodded and held her hoof up high. Jet smiled and returned with a high five, “Woo! We got all the intel we need to prove my father's innocence. We got no more business with NEQ. The invasion will happen right as you enter The Round Table. That should distract their important air assets from interfering with our combined assault.”

“Get our fillies and colts back home.”

“We will Jet. We will,” Strella patted him on the shoulder and trotted out. She teleported back to the Sky Buster to take off with her Black Jacket.

A few moments later as the rest of the NGJSF prepared for their mission Avia walked to the hangar where Flip was doing some prep work with his jet. She looked up as he was pushing some buttons in his cockpit, “Hey, Flip.”

“Oh! High Avia,” Flip tuned his avionics to link up with the shockwave missiles in his internal bays.

“Good job on that mission,” Avia got onto the Fenrir's wing and looked at what Flip was doing.

“Oh thanks!” Flip smiled sheepishly.

Avia blushed a little, “Hey-uh. I've been meaning to tell you something.”
“Huh?”

Avia looked around nervously, “Can I ask you a question first?”

“Uhm, sure...?” Flip hopped out of his cockpit as the avionics checked out. He joined Avia and sat on the wing.

Avia looked to him with a hint of a smile, “What do you think of me?”

“Well you're quite the special girl I guess- ah...”

Avia blushed some more and cupped her hooves to her face with a little giggle.

“Ah! What did I say?! I'm sorry! I meant special in a good way!” Flip was flustered by her response.

Avia leaned over for a little peck on Flip's cheek, “Does that send the point?”

“Agh!” Flip's blushing intensifies, “Uhm... thank you?”

“Look, I've been eying you for a while. I didn't know what or how you would feel about me. You know, I just wanted to give it a chance,” Avia tilted her head to the side and smiled cutely, “Can we?”

“UUHHHH... I'm not sure...” Flip was taken off guard by her sudden proposal.

Avia cocked her head to the other side with a smirk, “Oh come on pretty boy.”

“I mean you're pretty and all and I think you're nice but uhm but...” Flip blushed hard “Eheheh...”

Avia does the puppy dog face to pressure him more. Flip started to get a little bit more uncomfortable as he was put into the spot.

“Why me? Are you doing this for a dare?”

Avia sighed, “No, I do love you.”

Flip finally got it, “Woah! Eheh... Avia... But we hardly talk... I just never expected this.”

“I know, I was the shy one in this. That and the whole war thing. Listen. I've been noticing a lot of the guys and gals are happier with their own lovers on the ship. My brother and Nelly kinda talked to me on and off about things. I told them I had feelings for you. One thing lead to another and they just said I should maybe ask you out,” Avia shifted her wings.

“Well... uhm, do you really like me like that?”

Avia held his hoof, “I was raised by the element of Loyalty herself. And yet all this time I've never pledged my heart to somepony.”

“You don't have to advertise yourself to me! And you don't have to feel forced to attach yourself to someone.. especially just because everyone else has...” Flip explained.

“But this was MY choice. All my life I've spent doubting love. It took a good heartfelt talk with my brother and Nelly to change that,” Avia admitted.

“I- I don't know though. Not because I don't like you, you're really nice but.. I'm pretty scared too,” Flip did as well.

Avia took off her flight helmet and let her hair flow, “...Take the leap... Spread your wings!”

She comes forward and embraces Flip, nuzzling into his fur.

“Avia! Stop!” Flip pushed her off lightly. Avia recoiled back in embarrassment.

“Okay okay...”

There was awkward silence that filled the hangar aside from all the prep work the other pilots were doing with their planes. Flip was the first to break it.

“I just don't think its a good idea.”

Avia looked to him, “I'm listening, how so?”

“Well, just look around you, we're soldiers. Who knows what could happen to any of us. Just... We don't want to be worrying about trying to make each other happy while also trying to be good soldiers,” Flip continued, “Like... if.. if we had got together before all this.. I bet we wouldn’t have even signed up.”

Avia sighed with a hint of disappointment, “I suppose you're right. Guess I was pushing my luck.”

Flip smiled and poked her on the shoulder, “Haha.. not really.. I'd be jumping at the chance in the real world. This just isn’t the place or time.. you know?”

“I hear you,” Avia sighed again, “But, is there still a chance after all this is over?”

“Yeah. There's still a chance,” Flip smiled as he got into his cockpit and closed his canopy.

As the time of the operation neared the pilots of the NGJSF launched out and flew along the east coast of Equestria. They followed the beaches until they reached the border airspace of North Equestria and the Crystal Empire. This was their rendezvous point for their reinforcements.

“This is Mac Book. I'm seeing the reinforcement flight now. They're off to your east bearing 0-8-4 four miles out. It's the Nimbus Squadron!”

“Hey Kid! I hear you're a helluva Captain now!” A blue stallion's voice echoed in Flip's headset as the reinforcement flight formed up with the NGJSF. An F-15 S/MT Eagle+ pulled up right next to Flip's Fenrir. It was none other than Contrail, Flip's older brother and his sole inspiration for joining the military.

“Big bro! It's been a long time...” Flip watched as his brother rolled his fighter inverted and enabled the transparency on his metal cockpit right above his brother's fighter. Contrail touched a hoof to the top of the canopy and Flip reached out as well, “Too long...”

“Hmph,” Contrail smiled. Flip caught a tear in his brother's eye, “I'm proud of you Flips. From your first days on my squadron to joining the most elite special forces team our planet has to offer. You made it big kiddo! And now I wanna see what you got!”

“You got it bro!” Flip grinned from ear to ear and nodded once.

“Easy boys. Save the waterworks for later,” Contrail's flight lead, Cirrus, flew in, “looks like the Aetosians came to the party.”

An Aetosian F-22S+ Raptor pulled into the formation along with its flight. The purple unicorn pilot looked to the right of his glass cockpit and spoke to Hornet, “And where is the fiesta without you my dear friend! It's good to see you again Hornet!”

“And to you my Amigo! I see you have some new toys Raptor!”

“That I do Hornet,” Raptor smiled and looked to the two drones escorting his plane along with his squadron, “ALF-47B and ALF-45C drones. We got them fitted with Aetonium core laser pods. Their callsigns are Eddy and Tin Man.”

“Welcome aboard Eddy and Tin Man! Thank you for taking care of my squadron in my absence,” Hornet tried to talk to the drones.

TIN MAN ACKNOWLEDGES. THANK YOU.

EDDY IS ALSO WELCOME. THANK YOU AS WELL.

“This is what I call a squadron!” Jet looked to his right and left. All the major aces of their planet taking part in one major operation. Along with the F/A-38, Cyclone, F/A-40, the two F-32 Umbras, XFA-27, To-119, F/A-18U, and the two Fenrirs of the NGJSF the ten other aces each in their own unique aircraft joined together as a combined air force.

Cirrus lead the Nimbus Squadron. This was Princess Luna's personal airwing operational under her command. They all flew advanced and upgraded variants of human aircraft left for Equus years ago. Contrail flew an F-15 S/MT. To his left was his flight lead, Cirrus. She flew the same plane as Hornet; an F/A-18U ADV. To Con's left was Apollo, ironically in a ground attack jet: the A-164 Wipeout. Behind Apollo was Scorch in his Fulcrum SS and leading up the rear was Jet Black in his F-4X Phantom III.

“Who brought the ground attacker and the museum piece?” Jet couldn't help but laugh at Apollo's and JB's planes.

“But it's pink!” Apollo winked, “Don't you know! Things are more deadly when they're pink!”

“Laugh all you want VTOL boy you'll just giggle all the way into the ground,” JB smirked and rolled his eyes.

To his left Jump Jet saw the Aetosian aces of Hokum Squadron: Raptor, Tomcat, Falcon, Eagle, and Lightning. Unsurprisingly named after the very planes they flew with cutie marks to match. There was a noticeable technology gap between the Equestrian pilots and their Aetosian counterparts. Their planes lacked the avionics and flight interface systems of the NGJSF or the Nimbus team but they more than made up for it in skill.

“Falcon to Raptor! Let's wrangle up these varmints and destroy that vault!” Falcon exclaimed in his southern accent.

“Copy that! All units we are entering the OA, weapons free. You are cleared to engage!” Raptor radioed out to the whole group.

“Time to dive into the fireworks!” They descended from their high altitude to dive into the fray. The two patrolling A-143 Buzzards were shot down by Jet and Avia.

“Splash two bandits!” Avia smiled to her kill as she flew by the explosion.

“Mac here! Enemy air forces inbound! Those Buzzards managed to send out a report to NEQ command. They know what we're doing so expect their aces to show up!”

“Solid copy Mac!” Jet and the others mopped up the patrolling craft in the area of B7R. Apollo and Piggle cleared the way as they attacked the surface to air missile sites that dotted the foothills of the mountains.

“Apollo here! Strike delivered! Air corridor for the bombers has been opened up! My job here is done! I'm RTB!”

“Pigsy to Jet! Same here!”

“Roger that Apollo. Head back to the Fairview. We'll take care of the enemy aircraft from here!” Cirrus nodded over the comm link displayed on Apollo's HUD, “The rest of you regroup on me! Jump's team will spearhead the breakthrough!”

“NGJSF, Nimbus, Hokums! Multiple craft approaching! Something's wrong, stay alert! Gonna try hacking into their comms!” Mac Book did his thing to provide information to the three squadrons.

A voice vaguely familiar to Avia came through the enemy's channel, “Targets are in firing range. Schnee 1 to all units, release your missiles!”

The flight of X-02 Wyverns launched their extremely long range missiles to kickstart the battle. The massive swarm of missiles tore through the sky as the allied aces dodged their weak tracking with deft evasive maneuvers.

“Schnee 4 to Schnee 1. Targets confirmed on radar. It's them, the NGJSF.”

Schnee 1 sighed over her microphone, “The children of Rainbow Dash. She was the one who got me kicked from the Wonderbolts Academy. Starlight took me in and gave me a second chance flying for her airforce. All units! Focus fire on that F/A-38 and Cyclone!”

“Did you hear that! Nimbus, Hokum, they're going after Jet and Avia!” Mac reported to the two supports.

“Solid copy! Flying into defensive formation with NGJSF lead planes!” Cirrus covered Avia, “I got your back!”

“As do I Avia!” Flip came around and flew past Avia to shoot down the enemy on her six.

“Schnee 3 is down! Damn they really are as good as you say Colonel Lightning Dust!”

“Give them some ECM! Jam everything! Comms, missiles, radar! Just do it!”

The avionics of the allied planes started to falter. Their missiles easily losing track of their targets, radars jammed, and radio communications became difficult.

“Avi-use-EC-CM!” Jet was halfway breaking up over Avia's headset.

“Zoey! Can you filter through the jamming?”

WITH PLEASURE MISS AVIA! SOURCE DETECTED TWO ENEMY MORGANS MOUNTED WITH ECM PODS HIGHLIGHTED ON YOUR HUD. RELYING TARGET DATA TO ALLIED CRAFT.

“ECCM! Restore communication link!” JB countered the enemy jammers with his own electronic warfare package, “I've just restored our comms!”

“Solid copy! Zoey just linked you guys target intel! Two enemy Morgans! Bearing 0-3-4!” Avia gave them the heads up.

“I'll get em! Tough Heart engaging!” Tough boosted into the fray with Falcon behind him.

“You engage that rascal on er left! I'll take the one on the right!” Falcon covered Tough as a missile streaked in, “Take evasive Tough!”

“Whoa!” Tough Heart threw his plane into a barrel roll and dodged the missile fired at his front, “Ha! Tough Heart! EML Firing!”

The railgun pod of Tough's aircraft tore into the center mass of the enemy Morgan. Falcon followed up with two sidewinders into the forward air intakes of the other jammer craft. The two NEQ Morgans were shot down, their pilots failed to eject.

“Good splashes! Radar is back up!” Mac Book cheered, “Heads up! More enemies coming in!”

“They're fast. Follow them. This will be your final lesson,” another strangely familiar female voice.

“Roger Miss Gilda!” the four planes that followed her in split up and converged onto both Jet and Avia to pin them down.

“Why is everyone going after us?!” Jet was busy as two enemy squadrons locked him up and fenced him in, “Dammit! Who are these guys?!”

“You're the son of that Fillypino mercenary your mother married. Although I never had the chance to kill him in person, I will gladly kill off his bloodline. Do you hear me Jet? I'll put you in your place!” the enemy squadron leader in the F-16XF Gyrfalcon merged head on with him. Jet saw the face of a griffin pilot. Her gaze intent on murder.

“It's Gilda...” Jet pulled more tight turns. He was bleeding airspeed trying to evade both Lightning Dust's and Gilda's squadron mates, “Dammit! If this keeps up I'm fucked!”

“Me too! They're really running me down!” Avia did her best to evade all the missile launched at her. Lightning Dust managed to land a few cannon shots onto her plane, “AH!”

“Starlight was right. I could never have been my best had I continued my path. I chose to fight! I chose to fight for her! For equality and the chance to set things straight, a world with no boundaries!” Lightning launched two missiles at Avia which struck near her engines. She started to trail smoke.

“Dammit! Where are you guys?!” Avia cried into the mic.

“I'm here!” Flip came from behind a cloud being tailed by another Schnee Wyvern. As he gained separation from his pursuit craft he launched two missiles in a split second he merged with Lightning Dust. The two warheads gave solid impacts that wounded their flight leader, “I've got you!”

Avia smirked, “My knight in shining armor.”

With that opportunity opened Avia pulled into a drifting barrel roll using her thrust vectoring nozzles to get onto the tails of her attackers. The two other planes that were running her down were caught off guard by the expert maneuver and were shot down without a sweat.

“Stay on guard! Those guys can fire long range missiles! Raptor you're being targeted from long range! Jink!” Morning Shine gave a good report to the Aetosian ace.

“Roger!” Raptor pulled his plane upwards and threw it into a flip down stall while launching chaff. With his countermeasures continuing on with inertia the missiles soared past his belly as his plane nosed down and gained airspeed in a dive, “Eddy! Tin Man! Use special weapons!”

ROGER SIR

The two drones guarding Raptor adopted an aggressive stance and went after the last two Schnee Wyverns. The accuracy of their laser pods managed to hit the last two firing missiles from long range. Cementing air superiority, Raptor and his flight regrouped.

“Hokums! Engage the enemies harassing the NGJSF!” Raptor gave his word. The Silber team lead by Gilda stayed in close formation all lined up on Jet to kill him.

“You got it boss!” Falcon came over the radio. He shot down one of the Gyrfalcons on Jet's tail to open up an escape route, “Falcon to C&C! Splash one bandit!”

“Hey Hokums! Let Nimbus have some fun!” Contrail and Cirrus came in to split up two more jets on Jump Jet's six. Cirrus took down one plane with Contrail keeping one pinned for himself.

“Heads up! I'm pulling a Cobra Stall!” Jet threw his plane backwards with his VTOL thrusters and got in line with Contrail. With one of his sidewinders Jet stole Con's kill, “Sorry Con! I kinda wanted that.”

“You really are like your father. I've flown with him during the last war. Him and his old squadmate, Cipher, really helped turned the tide of the war against the Florans! I was just a recruit back then,” Con looked back at the F/A-38, “Greedy bastard always wanted the last kill!”

“Well if it makes you feel any better you can start with the last one! Take on their flight leader, Gilda!” Jet looped round Contrail's F-15 to bleed airspeed and allowed him accelerate first.

“What is it that you fight for allies of Equus?! Oppression? You have scarred my nation for countless generations! The Griffin Kingdom of Belka gladly supports the cause of North Equestria! Do you know how young those pilots of mine were?! They were just right out of high school and I talon picked each and every one of them for their unnatural flying skill! They had a future, a future which you stole by taking their lives!” Gilda broke past Mach three at low altitude. She masked herself with the terrain.

“Is that true?” Night Petal looked at Jet on her HUD.

“It doesn't matter. They're the enemy. We fight for peace and if they're willing to use child soldiers in their armies we should treat them with no special attention.”

“But Jet! They're just kids!”

“Did you see them trying to kill me? It was us or them Petal! This is war! It's not fun, it's not morale dammit. You just do what you do to survive! I only savor the kills that mean something, but in this battle, when you are forced to take young innocent lives. It's us or them. Us or them Petal?”

“I...” Night Petal paused in her cloaked F-32, “Us. Dammit this feels so wrong.”

“This is real war. We're not fighting terrorists anymore. While those are more akin to animals we have to take the necessary evils to preserve peace!”

“Hmph! Flying with those ideals will get you killed,” another voice came in. It was from the open channel and designated as the enemy, “Black Squadron leader to all units. The escaping craft is heading this way. It's Party Favor! That traitor!”

“This is Mac Book! We have an emergency update! An NEQ officer stole a plane and is now escaping the enemy squadron in pursuit! You are to guard this aircraft as it reaches friendly airspace!”

“Solid copy C&C! Fenrir, Umbra, I'll task you with its protection while we go after the enemy flight!”

“Roger boss!” Fenrir flipped his plane down and orbited the escaping Delphinus.

“This is Party Favor! I've stolen an experimental plane and I'm defecting to Equestria! Please help me! I am completely helpless, I barely know how to keep this thing up!”

“Fenrir, Umbra, separate at maximum speed with the defecting Delphinus. We will handle the Black Squadron,” Jet gave his orders and regrouped with Nimbus, Hokum, and his own team.

“Change of plans, there's some annoying flies here. Ignore Party Favor. I want all planes to concentrate on the NGJSF and their allies!”

“That plane, that's Night Glider!” Jet recognized the other Delphinus flying in with seven others, Missile warnings! Evade! Evade!”

The formation split off as the swarm of long range missiles from the North Equestrians flew in. Trails of vapor and smoke twisted and wind through the sky as the allied fighters did their best to outmaneuver the missiles. Some of the enemy missiles managed to hit, knocking out a few fighters.

“Damn! I'm hit!” Tough Heart's plane was caught in an explosion and started to leak fuel, “My fuel gauges are dropping!”

“Tough! I'll cover you! Bro you got the fight in your hooves!” Avia took the initiative to guide Tough home.

“Solid copy! Who else is hit?” Jet looked around to see a few planes trailing smoke.

“Cirrus here, I took a hit! Dammit those missiles were accurate. I've never seen something hit me like that before. I can still fly but my elevators are chopped. Manifold pressure on my right wing is dropping too!”

“Probably a Federation Electro-Optical missile... Nimbus One, withdraw from the battle! NGJSF will cover your exit!”

“Solid copy Jump Jet! Jet Black you're the new actual. Keep Con and the others safe!”

“Roger Miss Cirrus!” The F-4X was tailing a Delphinus before violently jinking off, “Huh?! My plane's gone haywire!”

“Dammit! Avia come back! We need Zoey to counter their ECM fast!”

“This is Nimbus Five! I am not in control of my aircraft! Dammit! The stick and throttle are locked! My ECCM isn't operational either!”

“JB! It's a system hack! The Delphins have an advanced cyber attack capability!”

“I'm here bro! Zoey do the thing!” Avia punched in her commands into the console.

ROGER MISS AVIA DOING THE THING!

Avia's Cyclone restored the controls of Jet Black's F-4 right before a Delphinus fired its guns. JB whipped his plane around into an inside loop and got right onto the enemy's tail.

“Nimbus Five! FOX TWO!” the Hyper Phantom managed to get a good kill against the superior enemy. With one Delphinus down the air battle continued. The other enemy planes started to use their hacking capabilities to their full extent.

“Dammit! I'm a sitting duck here! They've messed with my cloaking!” Night Petal was in the thick of the action getting focused down by two enemy planes, “If you chaps could lend a hoof!”

“PETAL! I'M COMING!” Morning Shine threw his plane into s steep dive right on top of the enemy ace. He had his hoof wrapped around the trigger with four missiles all locked on the Delphinus, “Dawnlight! Fox two! Fox two! Fox two! Fox two!”

A barrage of four AIM-9Z Super Sidewinders flew from his internal bays. With less than a kilometer to travel the supersonic missiles impacted with almost no warning on the enemy craft, disintegrating it in a fireball of jet fuel and steel carnage. Petal flew next to Morning and cloaked her fighter for safety.

“Thanks for the save again! I would be dead if you weren't around Morning,” Petal flew off to engage more enemy, “Let's finish this! We only got two more!”

Morning sighed in his cockpit and turned off his comms, “If only we could be together... Focus Morning, you still got a mission to complete.”

“Tally ho! We got more bandits! Wait a minute! Jet are you seeing this?” Petal looked to her radar scope and saw the enemy craft start to multiply.

“Yeah! It's that same trick the Feds pulled on us on Comona! These Delphins got that same technology built into them! Mac, I need you to pull into their comms!”

“Solid copy Jet! Uplinking you their radio chatter! Good thing they don't have psyonic communications!” Mac Book cracked his hooves and put them to work on his keyboard to decrypt the enemy radio, “Done! Listen close ladies and gentlecolts!”

“Break off and attack! I don't want these NGJSF to know where we're coming from! Black Two, engage enemy flight leads!” Night Glider gave her orders to her wingpony.

“Roger ma'am!”

Jet switched his radio frequency to the allied channel, “Did you hear all that? They're gonna be going after me, my sister, JB, or Raptor! Everypony guard our six!”

“Dawnlight roger that,” Morning flew in with Petal off his right wing.

“Hmm,” Avia thought for a second, “Hey Flips!”

“Yeah Avia?”

“You still got some shockwave missiles left?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Target me!” Avia had something in mind, her face determined to her daring plan.

“WHAT?! That will kill you!”

“Not what I have in mind. Just do it!”

“Avia! What are you doing?!” Jet pulled evasive maneuvers on the enemies on his tail. With no clear indication which plane was real he had to treat every one as a potential threat.

“Just trust me! Flip! Fire the missile!”

“Madman! Ripple! Ripple!” Flip launched one of his devastating shockwave missiles right at Avia.

“Black Two! You got a shockwave missile inbound! Break! Break!” Night Glider warned to her wingpony.

“Breaking!” The enemy holograms pulled off along with the real Delphinus.

“Flips! Cut the tracking!” Avia followed the enemy flight as they retreated.

“Got it!” as soon as Flip cut off the lock from Avia's plane the missile continued straight forward with no lock warning to either Avia or their enemies. Avia dove to the ground and looked up to see the missile right inside the enemy squadron.

“Detonate it now!”

Flip caused his shockwave missile to manually detonate. Night Glider's wingpony was destroyed as a magical shockwave ripped through the air. The holograms faded as one single wreckage plummeted to the ground below.

“Confirmed splash! That was all you Flips!” Avia winked into the camera. Flip smiled at their risky move.

“Now that was genius,” Flip escorted her back into the fray, “Now we know who's left!”

“Shit!” Night Glider's holograms also faded, “Argh! Stupid machine! Will you work?!”

“Night Glider...” Starlight's voice echoed in her radio.

“Great Leader! My plane isn't working! Something is wrong!”

“No, you have failed me for the last time! I'm letting these vultures pick you off!”

“B-But Starlight! I am loyal to North Equestria and your ideals! What are you?!”

Jet lined up for a perfect kill shot at the back of Night Glider's plane.

“I! I CAN'T EJECT!” Night Glider was scared. Tears of fear started to flow down her face as all her controls locked up. A missile lock tone was blaring in her ears.

“I'm so sorry Night Glider, but because you are Sugar Belle's cousin I've decided to execute you for being her family. And what a better way to do that than to see you BURN!”

“I... I-” Night Glider awoke from her half conscious state. She was panicked and distraught to her own leader's intentions. Her loyalty cracked and shattered. She threw her helmet off and looked back to see the Equestrian plane ready to kill her, “I might as well face my death with honor. Go ahead! Shoot me!”

Jet was ready to pull the trigger but something in him twitched oddly, “Something isn't right. That enemy ace isn't taking any evasive.”

“Just finish the job bro!” Avia pulled up next to him. Zoey started to beep, “What's wrong Zoe?”

ENEMY FIGHTER HAS ALL SYSTEMS LOCKED DOWN. PILOT IS NOT IN CONTROL OF AIRCRAFT.

“This isn't right, you're right Jet!” Avia pulled up next to the enemy Delphinus, “This is Captain Panavia Tornado of the United Equus' Next Generation Joint Strike Force. Enemy pilot are you surrendering?”

Night Glider could not respond.

“Zoey, can you run a diagnostic on that fighter?”

WITH PLEASURE MISS AVIA. SCAN COMPLETE: ENEMY HIGH COMMAND HAS INTENTIONALLY LOCKED DOWN ENEMY FIGHTER. RADIO LOGS CONFIRM THIS.

“What? So they just did that to execute their ace?” Flip pulled up overhearing the conversation.

“Looks like it,” Avia continued with her commands, “Zoey, unlock all flight systems for the enemy craft but do not enable weapons. Understood?”

YES MISS AVIA. ENEMY PLANE UNLOCKED.

“T-This is Captain Night Glider of the North Equestrian Air Force! I-I've been betrayed by my own government. Starlight locked down my plane for you to kill me. Please! Help!”

“Don't worry, let's get you a new home Night Glider. Raptor! Escort our defector out of here with the rest of your squadron!” Jet gave his own orders.

“Copy that. Guess I'll see you later Hornet,” Raptor smiled as he pulled off to separate at max speed, “Hokums RTB! Mission complete!”

“I'm glad we didn't take too bad of injuries! We should probably head back too! Haha-!” Flip was cut off by a laser that impacted his fighter. It landed right into his cockpit and cut his plane right in half all along its length. Avia was there to witness the explosion milliseconds after the plane was cut cleanly in half. Flip's Fenrir spiraled to the ground in two pieces burning with fuel and unexploded ordinance. Avia sat in disbelief.

“Holy shit-” her eyes widened to the sight of the death of Flip, “FLIP! FLIP! FLIP IS DOWN!”

“WHAT?!” Contrail glanced back to see his brother's plane fall, “I! I don't see a chute! Sweet Luna! FLIP!”

“What happened?! Avia give me a sitrep!” Morning flew in and watched as Flip's fighter crashed into the mountains below, “Confirmed! He-He didn't make it!”

“I-I saw it too!” Jet started to pull evasive but looked back to his sister still flying level. Avia was still in shock to what just happened, “AVIA! AVIA! START JINKING! YOU'RE GONNA GET KILLED!”

“F-FLIP!” Avia cried his name. She screamed in her cockpit in equal fits of rage and sorrow. Zoey took matters into her AI hands and start to control the plane without Avia's input pulling evasive moves to shake off the lasers still being fired.

“Unknown craft approaching at high speed! Brace yourselves! It's something we've never seen before!”

“So, is this what you fight for Heroes of Equus?” Starlight came over in their radios, “Oppression, false promises, and false prophets?! Your nation, no, your world has gone on for far too long! No longer will we be chained to the rules set forth by Celestia and Luna! I ALONE AM YOUR TRUE LEADER! I CREATED FRIENDSHIP! I CREATED HARMONY! And with my new technology, I will reset this evil world back to square one...”

“Guys! We've got multiple ballistic missile launches originating from North Equestria! Believed to be Balefire warheads targeted for all major cities on all of Equus!” Ship took the radio from Mac Book and called it out. Mac took his microphone back.

“It's Starlight! She's controlling the Balefire launches! I'm running an analysis on her plane now!”

“Here comes the snow,” Starlight whispered in victory as the plumes of smoke from the Balefire tipped missiles rose from the mountains, “Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible. I bet all your arrogance believes that too! Can you see any borders from here? What has borders given us? It's time to equalize the world! This twisted game needs to be reset.”

“Listen up NGJSF! I've completed analysis of the enemy craft. Designation: X-49 Night Raven! This plane is protected by an advanced ECM system. It's only weak point are the front air intakes! You'll have to attack it head on. Go! Take down Starlight! You're the only ones who can do this. Heroes of Equus, I pray for your success!”

As the fighters merged Starlight's plane fired another laser. This time it managed to clip the wing of Hornet which sent him spiraling out of control.

“Dammit! I'm hit but I can still punch out! Pray for me my friends!” Hornet managed to bail out into the wasteland below. He was going to have to survive on his own for a few weeks out in the wilderness before they could locate him. There was no telling if he would survive at all.

“Hornet is down! Dammit they're picking us off one by one!” Jet assessed his squadron, “We only got Avia and I plus Petal and Morning! The rest of my squadron has either been shot down or has bugged out!”

“Nimbus here! We've still got Con, Scorch, and I! We can still take her down!”

“I'm guarding my friends no matter what. Hornet will be okay. He's a tough SOB. I will avenge him all the same!” Raptor flew back in with his UAVs, “Eddy! Tin Man, engage and destroy!”

SOLID COPY COMMANDER RAPTOR.

CAPTAIN JET PLEASE ADVISE. YOUR SISTER IS IN A DEEP STATE OF GRIEF AND I CANNOT FUNCTION TO FULL COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS WITHOUT HER.

“I got it Zoey! AVIA! AVIA! SNAP OUT OF IT!” Jet flew into a Thach Weave with his sister's plane, “Dammit sis! Talk to me!”

“He's dead! He's fucking dead!” Avia was being thrown around like a rag doll as Zoey did her best to evade the lasers being fired at them.

“Captain Avia!” Contrail came over her display, “Listen! Flip was my brother! I don't know what he said to you that broke your heart but dammit if you don't pony up and fight all of us are gonna get killed! There are Balefire bombs raining down on all of Equus and if you don't snap out of it every stallion, mare, colt, and filly is going to die! Don't let my brother's death be in vain!”

“Four minutes to missile reentry!” Mac yelled to them all.

“Avia! Are you just going to sit here to let me die?” Jet asked a heavy question.

Avia gripped her control stick and sobbed. Her eyes were shut tightly and her teeth gritted with fury. She opened her eyes and rose back into her seat. There was a burning fire lit in her soul as she took the throttle and boosted forward into battle.

“...This is Avia... I have control...” Avia armed all her weapons and join into the head on attack, “Let's do this Zoey! THIS IS FOR FLIP!”

“For Flip!” Contrail joined in off to Avia's left wing. Jet was on her right with internal bays wide open to launch the blizzard of missiles with their combined squadron, “ARRRRGGGHHH!”

“That's my sister! To all units! We are taking down Starlight!” Jet's heart was filled with righteous fury as they all joined in the attack as one.

“You think that will destroy me?” Starlight vectored her laser to shoot down all their missiles launched at them, “HA! With my new technology I can out fly and out gun all of you! DIE NGJSF!”

With one quick blow Starlight's laser cut through all their planes. Steel and jet fuel exploded outward as they planes fell.

“NOO!” Mac Book, Ship, and Sagittarius all fell to their knees as the whole ace squadron was shot down by Starlight herself.

“...Dammit...” Jet looked on at the massive smoke plumes of the balefire bombs as they flew off into space to reach their targets. He drifted down with his own wing power as he managed to eject, “We failed... Who's still alive?”

“I count everyone... We all got out. Guess we were lucky,” Avia sat in depression as they all drifted down, “This is it huh?”

“Morning here, that one plane managed to shoot us all down?”

“Yeah, and now everything we know and love is going to be wiped out in a worldwide holocaust. I don't think there's much of a reason to live anymore. Once we all reach the ground we need to stick together and ride this out. I... Only wish I could have said goodbye...” Petal flew over to the pilots shot down. They all gathered together and landed softly in a clearing.

Meanwhile Starlight hovered above the battlefield in her flying wing fighter. She had the best seat in the house to view all of her destruction.

“YES! With these Balefire bombs I will liberate all of Equus. And now we will all be equal,” Starlight noticed friendly fighter approaching from her front. The IFF in her cockpit displayed them as Frostbite, “Hello Frostbite! Care to join me watching the fireworks?”

There was no response from Mitch. Inside his cockpit he switched to the open channel and broadcasted to all of UPF units stationed in North Equestria.

“All UPF units! Engage any and all North Equestrian troops loyal to Starlight! Frostbite! ENGAGE!”

“WHAT?!” Starlight took evasive maneuvers from the four planes, “YOU BETRAYED ME?! I THOUGHT WE WORKED TO BRING EQUALITY!”

“Starlight! If the UPF believes anything it is that we are the most superior beings in these two universes!” Mitch put his system hack to disable Starlight's lasers.

“What-My lasers!”

“And as such we are sworn to defend those lesser than us for we are the guardians of all nations!” Strella started to disrupt the control systems of Starlight's plane.

“MY PLANE! I CAN'T MOVE!”

“We never believed in Equality Starlight. We believe in nurturing and caring for our allies as they set forth into the stars!” Quincy disabled her ECM pods. The X-49 Night Raven was completely defenseless as they moved in for the kill.

“I... I can't believe it...”

Alyssa pulled in right behind her with the rest of Task Force Frostbite to line up for the kill shot, “Goodbye Starlight... Your ideals are nothing but a bullshit reason for you to have ever started this war!”

The camera to her fighter activated and Frostbite savored the tears that flowed from her face as they executed her with a volley of missiles that completely annihilated her aircraft. Starlight was no more, only bits and pieces of organs that crashed down with her plane into the mountains below. The NGJSF pilots looked with awe and relief to Frostbite's efforts to bring down the rogue leader.

“WAY TO GO FROSTBITE! WOO HOO!” Jet threw his helmet off and pumped his hooves into the air, “Now if only they could bail us out of these mountains.”

One of the Frostbite Black Jacket fighters flew over them and came back. It switched to VTOL mode and landed right near them. Jet's face was wide with surprise.

“Hello!” Strella opened her cockpit and smiled. She was still her in pony form.

“How in Celestia's butthole did you find us in his magnetic mess of mountains?”

“Psyonic-,” Strella hopped out and poked Jet again, “Technology! We picked up your brainwaves and our rescue teams are inbound to this location! Right now as we speak all UPF troops among the North Equestrians are turning on them. Not only that but all those ICBMs detonated safety above orbit altitude once we took down Starlight. The rest of your team is safe too! A lot of them laughed it off when we told them it was only a ruse to assassinate Starlight. Nelly laughed her head off as they were sent off to the UPFS New Supremacy to enjoy some cocktails and a pool party. Say, where's the rest of your squadron?”

Jet was thrust back into a grim reality, “A... A lot of them made it out fine but...”

“Oh, my Arceus...” Strella cupped her hooves to her face, “Dammit! We were too late!”

“No, it's not your fault. Let's all head home.”

Chapter Fourteen: A Hero's Goodbye

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Fourteen: A Hero's Goodbye

“And so it is time to say farewell to Major Flip Flash. A pony I had privilege and honor to have under my command. A life is only important in proportion to its impact on the lives of others. By this standard, Major Flip ranks among one of our very best. He leaves behind family, friends, fellow soldiers, and a grateful nation,” Ship was at the head of the funeral next to Flip's coffin. Contrail came up to pay his respects to his dead brother. Flip's sister sobbed in the background.

All of the active NGJSF members paid their respects to their dead comrade as he was lowered into his grave. All of them in their respective uniforms from their own branches: Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy. Even Red October, Hornet, Simon, and Iron Cross all wore their native country's military uniforms for this day and yet there was a constant symbol each of them wore around their necks: the four pointed star of United Equus that cemented them as a unified entity. All their parents were there as well. Each stood next to their children enlisted in the NGJSF. Among those that attended the funeral were members of Nimbus Squadron, Hokum Squadron, Task Force Frostbite, The E.U.F leaders, Queen Chrysalis and her officers, as well as the members of Lylat's Elite Squadron Seven. They all came together for one last goodbye.

Rainbow Dash was holding Avia close as her daughter sobbed. Jet was also there for his sister and he knew full well what went on between Flip and Avia.

Rainbow continued to stroke her daughter's mane as she cried into her shoulder, “There there... It's okay my baby girl. I've been through this too.”

Rainbow herself flashed back to the death of Jet's father. She started to cry with her daughter as she felt the pain return to her.

“Honey,” Soaren held her up, “Be strong. I'm here for you now, that's what he would have wanted.”

“I get it Soaren! But that still doesn't bring him back dammit! Look, I know you both agreed that if Sky Buster ever died you'd be here to take care of me. But at the same time you of all ponies know that I am still loyal to him,” Rainbow snapped, “And can't you see our daughter's going through the exact same thing?!”

“I-I'm sorry... For the both of you,” Soaren embraced his wife and daughter. Jet and Nelly also came into the group hug.

“We got you sis,” Jet held onto his sister, “If there is anything at all, talk to any of us.”

“Hey,” Troy, the CEO of the Earth United Force approached the huddled ponies, “ If it makes you feel any better, from what I've heard that plane that shot him down: that was made by the Pulsar Militia. Listen, the EUF wants to get even with those bastards as well! They were the ones that commissioned for one of my friends, Mira, to die because the Galactic Combine was supporting their efforts! We, your human allies, will fight with you against this new threat.”

“So are we,” the President himself of the UPF came forward, “Tanya.”

“Yes President Micheal?”

“See to it that the forces of United Equus have our full support in dealing with these terrorists. I want them brought to justice for harassment and endangerment of the Federation!” President Micheal gave his word, “Admiral Ghost, Senator Zak?”

“Of course,” the cyber-eyed Zorua nodded in agreement.

“It's been a long time since the UPF has kicked some serious ass. I approve of this measure!” Senator Zak Sintari smiled.

“NGJSF,” a fox anthro from Squadron Seven joined in, “I'm Commander Xzayvior Onyx of Lylat's Squadron Seven. It was you guys who bailed us out of that asteroid field. I want to let you know that Lylat has your back as well. We will fight with you!”

Princess Celestia, Luna, and Prince Comic Sketch trotted right up next to the allied leaders. All the ponies at the funeral bowed down.

“And this brings me to my next point,” Princess Celestia had a hint of zeal in her voice, “All NGJSF rise.”

“Yes ma'am!” the soldiers all stood up one by one to salute the regal princess.

“You are hereby disbanded as the Next Generation Joint Strike Force...”

They all gasped at the sudden decommissioning of the whole unit. Even the allied leaders were taken back to the statement.

“But Princess! We!”

“Hold on there, Rear Admiral Ship, you didn't let me finish. The NGJSF may be disbanded but I will now reform the unit under your command as the First United Equus Next Generation Joint Task Force! You will be in command of your own fleet in response to the increased threat from the Pulsar Militia. Make me proud, Heroes of Equus,” Celestia pinned a medal to Ship's uniform. Luna and the Prince also went around to pin medals and promotions to all of the former NGJSF members, now NGJTF, “Carry on!”

“With pleasure Princesses!”

“I also believe a few new recruits are in order,” Princess Luna folded her wings to reveal two ponies ready to join the ranks of the NGJTF.

“Former Brigadier General Night Glider of the North Equestrian Air Force! I am ready to serve United Equus as a Captain part of the Next Generation Joint Task Force!”

“Night Glider?! All right! Glad to see you made it out okay. And with a new cutie mark too!” Jet smiled.

“You saved my life. It's the least I could do to repay all of you,” Night Glider looked to her cutie mark now emblazoned on her flanks, “Thank you.”

“No problem! Welcome to the team!” Jet put out his hoof, “Come on!”

“Um,” Night Glider looked in curiosity, “What are you doing?”

“It's called a brohoof. Don't you know what that is?”

“Um, no. In the regime we aren't allowed to greet each other like that. I still have much to learn about the outside world,” Glider scrunched her face, “How do I do it?”

“You take your hoof and just tap mine! Like this!” He put his brohoof to Ship which they demonstrated, “There!”

“Okay, I will do the brohoof,” Glider tapped hooves with Jet to celebrate, “That felt strange.”

“Don't worry you'll get used to it. Anyway, what about you?” Jet looked over to the orange pegasus mare with a red half curled mane and yellow eyes.

“My name's First Lieutenant Feather Phoenix. United Equus Air Force sir!”

“At ease Lieutenant,” Ship came forward, “Thank you for joining in our time of need.”

“Thank you ma'am!” Feather saluted as a flight of fighters flew over the funeral in a missing man formation, “We'll get back at them.”

“For Flip...”

“For Flip,” Ship turned to Jet and nodded.

“Now that you've been well acquainted I want all of you to rendezvous with your new fleet in orbit. Go, we will need you now more than ever,” Princess Celestia bowed, “Good luck, Heroes of Equus.”

“Yes ma'am!” all of the ponies in the NGJTF saluted to the royal princesses. They turned back and marched in unison as the funeral ended.

-----

A few hours later the ace pilots of the newly formed NGJTF launched into orbit to see their new fleet. Jump Jet was at the head of the formation.

“Vertical here. Where's the party?”

“Yo!” Contrail came over the radio, “Luna herself requested us to join your fleet. Our carrier is coming out of the warp now!”

The massive grey space carrier passed through a wormhole ripped in space and time. With the four pointed star of United Equus adorned on its bow and the flag of the NLR Navy flown on its mast. It was similar in construction to the EMS Sky Buster but with more heavy gun turrets and a surprise located at the very front of the ship.

“Let's be clear here. Even though your Rear Admiral commands this whole fleet, and that you see each other as equals Major Jump Jet, I should not take orders from you unless overridden,” Cirrus made herself clear.

“Sounds about right. You are older than me and a Major too,” Jet looked on as the Fairview pulled up next to the Sky Buster.

“Fairview 2, this is Rear Admiral Ship. Do you have your supporting fleet with you?”

“Roger that we are under your command Admiral!”

“Good, standby for the rest of the Task Force,” Ship radioed out and looked to Sagittarius, “Sagittarius, ETA on the next carrier joining in?”

“Should be coming out of the warp now! Here she comes!” Sagittarius pointed out of the window as he looked up from his holograms. Another carrier flew through the wormhole.

“Sorry we're late. This is Rear Admiral Rumble of the United Equus Navy. The Princesses themselves requested that we join our combined fleet!” a veteran looking pony with a light bluish grey coat and dark greyish sapphire blue mane was in command of the EMS Rainbow Dash, “My wife should be flying in formation with your fighters as we speak.”

“Wait! Aunt Scootaloo?!” Jet looked up to see a heavily modified F-8X Crusader updated to generation six fighter standard. The stealthy, yet extremely old aircraft was the trademark of his aunt. Scootaloo is the last pilot to fly that type of aircraft.

“I gotcha kiddo,” she flew right over Jet's F/A-38 and joined in with his formation, “You've grown up so fast.”

“I've been through a lot,” Jet sighed, “When you lose one of your best friends you can't help but think that it should have been you instead. Why does one pony die and the others live?”

“Hey, it's gonna be alright. I heard Babs is gonna join in the fun too!” Scoots winked to her nephew, “Feather, Pound Cake, Bass Drop form up with the squadron!”

“Roger that flight lead!” Feather, daughter of Goldblaze Phoenix and Keyframe, flew an ATD-XE fighter imported from Neighpon. It was a slightly modified version for the export market and one of the smallest stealth fighters on the market.

“Pound Cake here. Roger that,” the twin brother of Pumpkin Cake flew a brand new YR-302 Fregata fighter-bomber. With four engines combined together for explosive thrust coupled with a heavy weapons package this aircraft is more than a match for any To-119 or A-164 Wipeout.

“Ready for some wubs of destruction?” Bass Drop appeared on Jet's HUD. He was the son of Vinyl Scratch and Neon Lights. His plane was an SU-35X mounted with experimental sound based weapons under its wings. These acted like the shockwave from a Fenrir's shockwave missile but with a more directed pattern and concentration, “I'll clean up these Pulsar guys like I wash my dishes!”

“That makes no sense whatsoever Bass,” Jet gave him a confused look.

“You'll see,” Bass smirked. His dark grey spikey mane contrasted with his white coat and red eyes. With a flip of a switch his visor went from clear to a tint of purple.

“Be advised Admiral Ship. The EMS Manehatten is warping in,” Mac Book alerted to his commanding officer. Another ship came out of the rift, this time a battleship. It wasn't just any battleship either, the EMS Manehatten was the most powerful ship in the United Equus Navy. It was a Raptor class battleship outfitted with thirty two eighteen inch guns mounted all over the ship. At the bridge of the fast battleship Admiral Babs Seed looked on to join the fleet.

“This is the EMS Manehatten. Heroes of Equus, Battleship Babs is here! Where do ya want me?”

“In formation with the rest of us thank you!” Ship moved her holograms to the side and viewed her new fleet under her command, “What a fleet...”

“Hold ya horses there. We ain't done yet. Commander Button Mash himself said he'd bring the Purple Dart in. Here he comes now!” Babs appeared as a hologram to Ship on the bridge of the Sky Buster. The EMS Purple Dart joined into the Task Force's formation. The cruiser was a supporting ship outfitted with scores of anti-air turrets, SAM emplacements, and was also optimized for electronic warfare and intelligence gathering capabilities.

“Commander Button Mash here. Ready to join the fleet!” Button announced in victory as he looked to a pendent on his neck. He smiled and turned off his radio to whisper to himself, “I've come a long way Sweetie Belle... I do this to fight for you.”

“This is a fleet! THIS IS A FLEET!” Jet looked in awe at the five capital ships all together under his unit's command, “The five most powerful ships Equus has to offer in one fleet. Now this is a sight to behold!”

“Hey kiddo, I just noticed something. Where's your sister?” Scootaloo tried to find Avia's Cyclone among the swarm of fighters.

“Oh dammit! Ship I'm gonna need to RTB. I think Avia might need my help. I'm breaking formation, you guys go on,” Jet pulled away and back to his carrier.

“Solid copy Jet. Want me to lend a hoof?”

“I got it, she needs my help. You lead the fleet, I'll go see what's up,” Jet made his final approach for the tractor beam to latch onto his plane for landing.

“Affrimative. To all ships in the Task Force! We set sail to victory!” Ship gave her commands. A chorus of cheers resounded over all of the fleet.

-----

Avia sat alone in the hangar. Her replacement plane wasn't here yet and she was on the floor still sobbing right in the middle of her empty compartment. She looked around to make sure she was the only one there to continue her isolation. Something caught her eye in the now empty hangar compartment where Flip housed his aircraft.

It was a feather... A single, white flight feather with a slight tint of blue at the base of the quill, it was Flip's.

Her emotions dipped and Avia collapsed to the floor. She didn't even hear Jet's aircraft land and her brother rushed to her aid.

“Hey...” he approached Avia slowly. Jet was pounced by his sister as she took him in her arms in a desperate embrace. Jet lifted his sister up, “It's going to be okay. I'm right here and I'm not leaving!”

“I-” Avia sobbed, “I loved him!”

“I know you did. Hey, look at me,” Jet held his sister at arms reach. It was then that he noticed the white feather Avia was holding tight. A wave of emotions washed over him before he breathed in to relax. There was a long pause before Jet could speak, “I don't know if mom ever told you this story. But on the day she gave birth to me she found a feather, just like that one, from my late father on her bed. I still have it today.”

Jet reached into his pocket to find the plastic and wooden case containing a ruffled and bent white feather that belonged to his dead father. His eyes started to water as the memories came back to him.

“It's a little tattered... It was always my favorite belonging. It reminds me of who I am and what I was destined to be. I never met my dad but at the same time everypony around me says that I am exactly like him in almost every way. That feather, that feather, reminds me that he's still with me,” Jet hugged his sister and gave her a shoulder to cry into, “Flip's calling out to you Avia. He'd want you to be happy. Just like what my dad always says to me.”

“I-I'm,” Avia started to compose herself, “...I'm going to be okay...”

“There you go! That's my little sister,” Jet smiled as he ruffled her mane, “Come on! Let's get you some cider and pie.”

“I like pie!” Avia smiled. Her leftover tears fell from her eyes as her brother was there to wipe them off.

-----

All the new recruits had a chance to mix and mingle in the mess hall of the Sky Buster a few hours later. Nimbus Squadron had their own little corner of the room tucked away in a booth. They were talking with some of the pilots from the EMS Rainbow Dash seated next to them to the booth on their right.

“So, are you the famous Brigadier General Scootaloo? It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am! I am Major Cirrus of the NLR Navy's Nimbus Squadron. I have to say, it's an honor to fly with you!” Cirrus shook General Scootaloo's hoof.

“And thank you for watching my niece and nephew's flanks back there. I've heard many a story about you Nimbus Squadron. Carry on with the good work!”

“Yes ma'am!” Cirrus nodded with a salute.

As Jet and Avia entered Scoots waved them down, “Hey kiddos! Come give your aunt a big old hug!”

Jet and Avia walked to their table and were greeted with a warm hug from their aunt, “Last I remembered you were just babies. Now look at you, all grown up and ready to take on the world.”

“Universe, the whole universe tita Scoots,” Jet chuckled, “So, aside from Team Nimbus, who are all your companions at your table?”

“Oh, these guys? They're top pick pilots and ground assault crew I work with. You've already met Bass Drop and Pound Cake. By the way, Feather transferred over to you guys and she's over there with your pilots kiddo.”

“Oh I see,” Jet looked over to see Feather with the rest of the Next Gen Bronies group, “Hello Bass and PC.”

“Yo!” Bass grinned.

“Likewise,” Pound Cake kept his more professional demeanor. Seated to his left were a few more ponies. There was a light pink unicorn with a darker pink flowing mane. Next to her was a light grey pegasus with glasses, jet black hair, and rectangular framed glasses with his wing wrapped around the previous unicorn mare. Beside him to his left was another mare, this time a pegasus, violet coat and brown, slight fluffed, mane with her medical helmet still on. The one that really caught Jet's eye was a cybernetically enhanced red pegasus with a yellow and brown mane and one eye, one wing, and part of his front leg all replaced with metal and circuits. The other oddity of the group was a bat pony, grey coat with Light grey and black mane, and her eye color a bright red.

“Whoa,” Avia noticed the cyborg pegasus, “Um, can I ask what happened to you if that's okay?”

She asked gently and the stallion sighed a bitter sigh, “Long story.”

“Figured. What's your name?”

“Sergeant Slashwing Crystal,” he was slightly tense and scanned the room with a hint of paranoia, “48th United Equus Army Combat Engineer Battalion, now transferred to the Next Generation Joint Task Force.”

“Okay, what can you tell me about yourself?” Avia smiled.

Slash raised an eyebrow, “One: I am honest. And two: I am always paranoid. So if you don't mind is it okay if you direct your attention elsewhere?”

“Okay, okay,” Avia whispered under her breathe, “Geez what a dick.”

Aunt Scootaloo was busy introducing the others to her nephew, “Jet, I want you to meet Glitzy, JS, and Iris. They make up the ground assault squad with Pumpkin Cake leading the group.”

“Nice to meet you guys!”

“Hello Jet,” Glitzy, the pink unicorn, shook his hoof.

“Yes? Need me for something Glitz?” the grey pegasus with the glasses next to her glanced over.

“So let me get this straight. JS stands for,” Jump Jet squinted and pointed to him confused.

“Jet-Stream.” he told him with a bit of confusion as well in his voice.

“Wait wait wait, let me get this straight. You're Jet,” Jump Jet pointed to Jet Stream then to Jet Black of Team Nimbus, “He's Jet! I'M JET! Are there any other Jets I should know about?”

“Meow!” Squiggly the space centipede couldn't help but crawl in with a paper mask of Jump Jet's face.

“I'm done,” Jump Jet chuckled trotting back to his room, “If you need me, you know where!”

“Um, you forgot about me,” Iris spoke up as she removed her medical helmet.

“Oh sorry! That little bit had me in a chuckle. Nice to meet you, I'm Jump Jet,” he shook her hoof, “Nice to have another medic on board. We could always use the support.”

“You're welcome,” Iris smiled as she brushed her hair to the side. Avia decided to wander off with her plate of hot dogs.

-----

Brainstorm bumped into Avia in the hallway. He glanced up from his clipboard.

“Oh sorry! Hey, I've been looking for you. I have a surprise in my lab you might be interested in.”

“Alright, let's see it,” Avia shrugged. She followed Brainy back to the research bay of the ship and to his workshop tucked in the corner.

“Alright, I know how upset you are about losing Zoey as well. But fear not. Mac Book and I managed to rescue most of her AI programming, well actually all of it, but the resulting damage from the crash disabled her communications matrix. So we had to rebuild her, faster with more processing speed,” Brainy took his place at his control console and typed to activate a holoprojector to display a floating code of Zoey's AI, “Avia, I want to you meet Zoey 2.0.”

As he launched the program the ball of code morphed into the shape of a pony. The tiny hologram awoke from her slumber and Zoey took on the form of Avia herself.

“Wow! Hey you okay Zoey?”

The hologram stirred awake and looked about the room, “I am fine Miss Avia.”

“Whoa, Zoey, you look like me and you sound... Different,” Avia reached out to the holoprojector and touched it. Zoey reached a hoof out and as they touched Avia recoiled back not expecting the hologram to be solid.

“Hard Light Technology, thanks to the UPF and Lylat,” Brainstorm explained, “Go ahead.”

“Different?” Zoey looked up at her friend, “Different is good yes?”

“Yes, very good. I'm glad that you're okay. And you sound more-” Avia trailed off.

“Organic? Well yes. If I am to take a mortal form then I should play the part.”

“I still find it amazing that she was designed by humans as a weapon, flew through the portal to our world, and somehow managed to become self aware questioning her existence as an AI programmed to kill,” Brainstorm thought out loud.

“To be fair Brain, when I became self aware the only statistic I truly cared for were the lives I saved. I now understand that I am more than a killing machine. I believe I have a soul.”

“This is great, thank you Brainstorm,” Avia sighed. Zoey blinked from the projector and reappeared as a full sized pony who sat next to Avia. Brainy reconfigured some parameters and gave a device to Avia.

“Take this. It's the device that allows Zoey her freedom of movement around our world. Also, I'd like to show you one more thing in the hangar bay.”

“Got it, let's go then,” Avia got up and trotted with them to the hangar bay. In her parking space was a plane draped in a cloth to conceal the contents with an orange pegasus stallion standing by. His long black mane and tail hiding a laptop computer interfaced with the fighter.

“There you are Masayuki. I'd like you to meet Panavia Tornado, Rainbow Dash's daughter.”

“Konichiwa!” Masayuki bowed, “Your new plane is almost ready. I just have to run some avionics tests for the final run up.”

Jump Jet walked in to see the new planes in the hangar, “Wow! Shiny!”

“Oh that's my brother. Don't mind him,” Avia looked at the fighter under the tarp, “Do you mind if we can take it off?”

“Hai,” Masayuki pulled the tarp off the new aircraft. The sleek variable geometry design of the fighter was the first thing that caught Avia's eye. With swept forward wings that could fold into the main fuselage like a switchblade and two elevator/stabilizers that moved up and down to enable supercruising abilities. It was none other than the newest Applebloom Enginneering prototype: the X-02 Wyvern.

“Wow! T-The Wyvern?! I thought this plane was still in prototype form,” Avia touched a hoof to her new plane.

“We had some help from the Federation! Parts from their earlier CFA-44 were used in this new design to speed up production,” Masayuki booted up the aircraft, “It is done Avia-san.”

“Thank you. I don't know what to say,” Avia was touched. As she climbed into the cockpit she noticed a circular hole about the same size as Zoey's holoprojector, “Is this?”

“That is an interface node for Zoey's AI to meld with the fighter. Try it out!” Brainstorm smiled as he pointed to the node.

“Got it,” Avia plugged the device in and the plane's computer screens and holograms all lit up, “Wow! This is really nice! Can't wait to get some flying hours in this thing.”

“I've done my best to maintain it, like how my father used to teach me,” Masayuki explained, “My mother and father were good friends with your family Avia-san. My father was part of Sky Buster's ground crew back in the day.”

“Things have come full circle huh?” Avia smiled as she closed the canopy. She yelled to Masayuki past the glass, “I'm just gonna run some flight sims with Zoey to get used to this new fighter! Thanks a lot Yuki!”

“Hai!” Masayuki saluted as Avia's canopy faded to black tint and she was engulfed in the immersive flight sim.

Ship rushed into the hangar as Avia started.

“Hate to break it to you guys, but we got an urgent mission request from two sources. We can only choose one to concentrate our forces for a massed assault or spread ourselves on both missions and hope our numbers will suffice. Jet!”

“Heard you! What are our two options?”

“Well, there is some bad news regarding reports of a Pulsar cell operating on Equus in the country of Kyrat. It seems like the king, Pagan Min, has allied himself in secret with the Pulsar just like Starlight Glimmer. The other mission is a request from the UPF to curb another Pulsar cell operating on their heavily irradiated planet of New Echo. Support options for the Kyrat mission include help from the EUF or if we choose the UPF mission we get their support as well as Lylat. So, as the ground assault leader which do you think is best Jet?”

“We'll have to go on both. I think we got the numbers. Nelly will lead a team to New Echo and I will lead my team to Kyrat. With our new members we should be able to handle this. Let's move!”

Chapter Fifteen A: The Fallout of New Echo

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Fifteen A: The Fallout of New Echo

Nelly and her team jumped to the UPF sector to their planet of New Echo. It was a heavily irradiated planet with plenty of mutated flora and fauna. Her team were all equipped with airtight armor, integrated gas masks, and even had their tails wrapped in bulletproof resilin to keep the whole group protected from the radiation that still lingered on the planet for thousands of years. Nelly's team was made up of Prelude, Fragarach, Slashwing, Blossom, Wishful, Umbra, and Blue Circuit.

As Blossom landed the dropship at the UPF New Echo Outpost she noticed a large tower that broadcasted a sort of radio signal that scrambled the native animals away from the base. As they all departed they noticed none of the UPF troops had any protection from the radiation.

“Say Nelly, why don't these UPF troops have hazmat suits?” Blossom whined her engines down as she hopped out.

“I have no idea. That can't be safe.”

“Oh no,” Prelude spoke up, “Pokemorphs evolved from this radiation. As a result their whole species is immune to the effects of prolonged gamma exposure. I read it in a book once.”

“Don't you always read books Mr. Prelude?” Strella came up behind the group and gave them hugs. She was positively glowing with radioactive waste and dirt from her recent scouting mission. Her clothes were less than that of a professional soldier and more like that of a native wastelander. Her ragtag getup served to blend in with the native people that called this wasteland home.

“Oh hello there Strella! I didn't recognize you there with the...” Prelude paused as he gave a look of slight disgust to her dirty mercenary clothes.

“You look like hammered shit,” Blue Circuit joked bluntly. Strella chuckled and smiled.

“And that is what I'm looking for. I gotta blend in with these-” Strella looked back and forth before whispering to them, “degenerates. Honestly why would anyone want to live in this filth?”

“I thought you didn't like to get your paws dirty?” Nelly walked next to Strella as they entered the command tent.

“I can but I just don't prefer it. But seeing as I am a soldier I really don't care. It's part of the job. Now! Onto business!” Strella waved to Q, Mitch, and Ally gathered around a map, “Sup faggots!”

“Yo! Glad you could make it NGJSF!”

“NGJTF mate,” Nelly corrected him.

“Sorry. Gotta get used to that. Anyway we got reports of a Pulsar cell operating in one of the old human vaults left over from their extinction in our universe. Vault 298. Used to be a whacked up place where they had their unmentionables experimented on. Some of our species believes that is the vault we came from.”

“Wait, so the Pokemorph race was a genetic experiment for the long dead humans in THIS universe and not ours right?” Nelly asked.

“Yup. This vault was contained vats of the so called Forced Evolutionary Virus. A more refined version eventually made us, the Pokemorphs. Or at least that's what their old records say. Not much left after their wars I'm afraid. I listened to one recording uploaded to our internet where it said the Pokemorph race was supposedly the legacy of mankind. Somehow in the other universe they survived their wars but didn't make us as a result of their timeline though. This is why we share such good relations. My species sees the human race as creators and is willing to help them with their flaws and in return we get cheap, high quality outsourcing from the EUF conglomerate. Sorry, guess I'm yapping too much,” Mitch pointed a thumb to the four armored hover jeeps, “We'll take the Type 23 Kodas. Strella and I will drive but Q and Alyssa will take a Qb-1 Venomoth ATV for a stealthy insertion. We don't wanna get caught until we get close to the vault otherwise they'll seal the door shut and call in reinforcements. Pile in guys!”

“Gotcha. Blue, you man the turret of Strella's jeep. I'll take the one on Mitch's,” Nelly ordered as they all embarked in their vehicles. As the engines lifted their jeeps above the ground a low humming could be heard from the grav-lift panels underneath. As they moved forward the sound went from a low hum to more of a soft whine roughly the same amount of noise as a regular car engine. The two turret mounted miniguns swiveled back and forth as Nelly and Blue scanned the horizon.

Slash, the cyborg pegasus looked out at the landscape of the planet, “Reminds me of home.”

“How so?” Blossom asked.

“All this sand and rock. Reminds me of my days as a miner for RMco. I left Equus to venture into space and work with some mercenaries. Turns out they had other plans and turned me into this monster,” Slash shook his head.

“Well, you aren't a monster. Why should we threat you any different all because you just have some parts wielded onto you? In fact, it probably makes you somewhat better than a lot of us. Half pony half machine. At the end of the day what's matters is that you're alive. We live by Celestia and Luna's grace afterall,” Blossom started to show her perky side inherited from her mother.

“I guess,” Slash dismissed the idea and caught something in the distance, “Say, what is THAT thing?”

“That bipedal crab? It's called a Mirelurk. They're mutant horseshoe crabs and they taste delicious,” Mitch licked his lips, “Out here on New Echo we hunt critters like that for fun and profit. Mirelurk meat is one of the most sot after delicacies in the UPF, same with Sky Whales. It's a dangerous job. Out here in the wasteland it's kill or be killed. This planet is also one of the only planets in the UPF where anarchy roams free thanks to the heavy rads and the electromagnetic interference. Bands of raiders and crazies are out there willing to prey on anyone. Really, this is the only planet we have where our true evil resides. Oh, and I hope you aren't allergic to bees!”

Mitch full throttled to run over a giant wasp that tried to cross the road. He parked the jeep and got out.

“Disembark! I want all of you in a perimeter!” Mitch gave his order.

“What the hell is THAT?!” Nelly recoiled in disgust.

“Cazador! It's what our past space fighters were named after. Giant, deadlier versions of old tarantula hawk wasps,” Mitch cut open the giant bug to remove its venom sack, “There we go! That's a lot of good money right there. Strella's mom always needs these.”

“What in Celestia's name are you going to do with that?” Nelly looked at the pulsating organ and turned away.

“It's how we make our advanced biofoam. The venom of the Cazador is good for eating away any dead cells for the binding agents of our medicine to repair once refined,” Mitch gave the sack to his cousin, “There you go. Mind the stinger.”

“Um, are those more of those Cazador thingies?” Blossom looked on top of a cliff face all lined with the giant wasp nests.

“Oh, fuck...” Mitch made no sudden movements, “Get to the car. Now!”

“Nelly, I count two, no, three dozen of them crawling on that cliff wall!” Prelude reported in as he scoped in with his rifle.

“Man the minigun! If those things sting you even once you're dead!” Mitch slammed the door to the Type 23 and Nelly took her place on the turret, “GTFO! Just keep firing Nelly!”

“Trying!” Nelly and Blue Circuit poured out the bullet hoses as the wasps gave chase. One of them managed to grab Nelly out of her turret and lifted her into the air.

“SHIT!” Prelude kicked his door open and took his Creber rifle in one hoof, “Hold her steady!”

The rough road made the jeep bounce back and forth even with its hover technology. Prelude leaned out of his open door and fired, the bullet impacting the abdomen of the Cazador, “Got it!”

Blue Circuit jumped from his turret and used his boost jump to catch Nelly in mid fall. He boosted back to his jeep and laid Nelly down, “You okay?”

“Fine! Just a little shaken. I'm not stung or anything. Celestia damn, thanks Prelude!”

“No problem. Looks like we're out of the danger zone.”

“That was close,” Mitch sighed.

“MITCH! THERE'S A DEATHCLAW AHEAD!” Strella yelled into her radio.

“OH what the fuck?!” Mitch swerved right as the monstrous reptile swung one of its massive claws. The armored door of the jeep was completely ripped off by the force and the Koda jinked violently, “Son of a bitch! I hate those things! Damn the jeep's disabled!”

“It's coming back!” Alyssa and Q drifted to a stop next to the two hoverjeeps, “Focus fire on it now!”

“I got this!” Prelude took to the dirt and scoped in. Stable in his prone position he fired an armor piercing 14.5mm slug into the chest of that creature. The Deathclaw only staggered from its leaping gape, “What the hell?!”

“Those things can take out a tank! We need to focus all fire on it now!” Mitch pulled the rocket launcher from his back and took aim, “Clear my backblast!”

Five rockets erupted from his RPG-290 with four of them boosting forward at high speed. The initial four impacts staggered the Deathclaw again and the fifth impacted at its feet. The scaly, ravenous killing machine still stood.

“SHIT! Why is nopony shooting! Kill this fucker!” Mitch threw his launcher to the ground and pulled his AEK-2143. With a G-diffused recoil mitigator canceling out his recoil he put shot after shot into the Deathclaw yet it still charged forward. The rest of the NGJTF and Frostbite opened fire. The Deathclaw was torn to pieces only after Blossom made sure her RPGs did hit.

“That THING took two rockets, scores of bullet and plasma wounds, and five shots from an anti-materiel rifle to take it down? Sweet filly Luna what the hell is on this planet?” Nelly shook again.

“Jeep is toast. It's okay, we're near the vault anyway. But, something about this Deathclaw isn't right. Take a look at that thing on it head,” Mitch looked over the carcass, “It's a control device. With a Pulsar emblem on it! Looks like they're turning New Echo mutants into their own bio-weapons. And somehow they've managed to genetically engineer this Deathclaw with a thicker hide without sacrificing speed.”

Strella came forward and took a picture followed by a skin sample, “My mom should analyze this ASAP. Looks like the Pulsar has some deep ties to some UPF bio-engineering. Next thing we know they're gonna blame my mom next for working with these terrorists.”

“How's your dad by the way?” Nelly asked, remembering what happened to Strella's father.

“He was proven innocent. Had he been proven guilty it was off to the firing squad with him. Thank Arceus you helped to get the evidence we needed. You saved my dad's life and our company as well,” Strella expressed her thanks.

“Anytime. Glad to know I wasn't thrown under the bus for no good reason,” Nelly smiled, “Squad! Keep a sharp eye out for any hostiles or creatures. Stay close!”

“Roger Miss Nelly!” her squad all followed in formation with Frostbite leading the way.

As they approached the vault they could see Apex and Avian soldiers moving crates to and from strange VTOLs. They were all in Pulsar Militia hazmat suits with the flag of their own nations on their backs. Frostbite and the NGJTF looked on at their operation from the hilltops.

“Looks like they're loading something into those Vertibirds,” Mitch scoped in with some binoculars, “Hold on! Those are Rivers Manufacturing crates! Energy weapons and aircraft parts. Something isn't right.”

“Mitch take a look at the Vertibird on the right. UPF Bio-Medical crates. Looks like we got a sleeper agent embedded in my dad's company,” Strella noticed the crates of equipment being hauled off.

“Who do you think it is?” Nelly asked.

“No clue, sooner we get down there the sooner we can hopefully find out,” Strella sighed, “Let's go! Those guards don't know we're coming so let's split up into two elements and setup a double overwatch ambush.”

“Got it, NGJTF take the left flank, Frostbite's got the right,” Nelly gave her orders, “Prelude you post up with Alyssa and provide sniper fire. The rest of you on me! Let's try to keep a low profile until the snipers kick things off.”

They all ran off to take up positions in a pincer move to surround the remaining guards as the Vertibirds took off. Concealed in their cover and ready to strike Nelly gave the word to Prelude.

“Take the shot.”

Prelude relaxed his body and held his breathe. His heart rate slowed and he timed the trigger squeeze right in between his heartbeats. The massive anti-materiel round took out two of the guards standing in line with the bullet piercing through them both. As the remaining Pulsar scrambled for cover Frostbite and the NGJTF jumped up from their cover and gunned them down flawlessly with no trace of an alarm.

“We got it! We're in!” Mitch radioed out.

“Guys! Party's not over!” Alyssa noticed the two Vertibirds turn back and deployed their weapons from internal bays, “VTOLs are coming back!”

“Shit! You guys got any anti-air?!” Mitch asked around.

“Blossom you better have some!” Nelly yelled to her squadmate.

“I only have my unguided RPG-45! Didn't think we'd need the AA!”

“Fuck it! I'll take matters in my own hooves! Wishful we need a bubble shield now!”

“Got it!” Wishful Fun concentrated hard to envelope them in a protective dome shield that deflected the explosions from the Vertibird's rockets. As the two tiltrotors flew over Nelly grappled out to one of them with her rotor blade sword drawn. She used her momentum to slice one of the door gunners in half as she boarded the plane. She bucked the other gunner out of the open cargo bay and thrust her giant sword into the pilots chair, killing the crewman. She threw the body out of the seat and jumped out.

“This is Nelly! First gunship is down!” Nelly slowed her decent at the last minute with her thrusters, “Dammit! The other one is circling back around! It's too high to grapple!”

“Crap! If only we had-” Alyssa was interrupted with her radio. Three rapid beeps followed by a roar of G-defused engines above.

“This is Squadron Seven of the Cornerian Defense Force! Looks like you guys need some air support!” Xzayvoir Oynx came through the UPF channel.

“Copy that Shadow One! Enemy gunship is pounding us apart down here!” Mitch radioed back out, “Take em out for us!”

“Solid copy! Squadron Seven! Engage!” Xzayvior and his team flew over the wasteland in their Z-38 Blitzers roaring past the enemy Vertibird with their homing lasers impact sending it crashing to the ground. The Arwing-like fighters seamlessly landed in VTOL mode and their pilots all hopped out, “So! We finally get to work with the legendary NGJSF. Nice to meet you guys in person, or should I say pony.”

“Pleased to meet you as well, nice hazmat suits,” Nelly smiled to the help that arrived.

“Thanks, this is my team: Christine, Zander, Aaron, Lenny, and Max. Fox, fox, rhino, komodo, and wolf respectively.”

“Alright, let's not waste any time then,” Nelly ordered her squad to group up.

“Now let's breach open this vault!” Mitch also gathered his squad as they entered the cavern to find the vault door wide open, “Good! Our surprise attack left the door open. Strella! Lock the controls!”

“Gotcha! Vault door is locked wide open! Make way for the red carpet,” Strella pulled the lever to the control panel of the vault setting it to lock open.

Nelly rounded up her squad and posted up to breach into the vault, “This is gonna be some confined spaces. Check your corners and don't bunch up on doorways! It'd be easier if only one or two of our squads came in while the rest guard the door.”

“We'll post up here! Besides it's your time to shine NGJTF!” Q winked to them, “The squad and I will call in reinforcements to secure the entrance. You and the Sevens go in!”

“Copy that, squad! BREACH!” Nelly gave her orders. Blossom rugged her C4 charges onto the airlock doors.

“Stand back! Breaching!” Blossom blew open the doors and the ponies rushed in. Pulsating plasma fire greeted their arrival. Frag, Blue, and Wishful combined their magic into a riot shield which they used to press forward. The two pulsar guarding the airlocks were knocked into the walls with two mighty swings from Nelly's rotor blade sword and Fragarach's greatsword.

“Tangos down!” Nelly yelled, “Sevens you are free to move!”

“Copy! Aaron you are up!” Xzayvoir smirked and signaled for his rhino friend to come to his aid. The massive EOD suited anthro soldier armed with a minigun lurched forward with barrels spinning with glee.

“Suppressin'!” Aaron gave a jolly laugh as the multi-barrelled weapon cut through the metal walls with armor piercing bullets. The boisterous giant continued to laugh as his squad cleaned up house.

“An EOD suited rhino with a minigun... What else can be more terrifying?” Blossom scoped in with her airburst grenade launcher to take out some enemies around a corner using her smart grenades, “Ha! Got em!”

“Great work Blossom! Honestly to answer your question maybe an Epanterias with a portable nuclear launcher?” Prelude was forced to use his RE-45 machine pistol in the confined spaces. With the others covering him he managed to take down his share of enemy soldiers, “Room cleared! Say, these guys are all Avians.”

“You're right, Lylat has had trouble with these guys before, mostly because they can blend into our ranks as bipedal birds. And take a look at this,” Christine the fox, Xzayvoir's second in command and the CQB expert of the group started to examine some of the bodies, “These guys are dressed in their native uniforms of the Kluex Sovereignty. But with Pulsar shoulder pads.”

“One last room guys! Looks like the head honcho's office,” Nelly pressed herself near the edge of the door, “Anyone got a flashbang?”

“Got one better,” Umbra tossed her an arc grenade, “No hard feelings about Jet?”

“None at all. I'm not the one to hold a grudge,” Nelly winked as she tossed the grenade into the room. The incapacitating electricity shocked the enemy leader into submission, “ON THE GROUND NOW!”

They rushed in and Nelly planted a firm hoof onto his face. His purple helmet rolled to the side and exposed his face of greying feathers. Nelly gasped.

“Okay! I may not hold a grudge, but I will for this guy! It's fucking Vanu!”

“Took you long enough you stupid ponies...” Vanu mouthed off before getting thrown onto the wall from Nelly's giant sword, “Argh!”

“Zip it you old cunt! Remember me?”

“T-That face! You, you're that teal pony's kid! And-I think that other pony, the white one with blue hair!”

Nelly smirked, “You tried to kill my mom and dad once. They send their regards.”

Nelly knocked him out with a good punch in the face.

“So this is the bird responsible for organizing terrorist attacks on both Lylat and the UPF?” X took a look at their captive, “He's just an old man.”

“That old crow is responsible for the deaths of thousands of ponies. Used to lead a special forces group called the Pony Eradication Forces. Now it looks like he's just a washed up senile bird,” Rush join in the discussion, “This was the guy who planned the attack on New Ponyville when it was first built. Nearly killed me and Jet when we were babies. I... Still remember being trapped under that rubble.”

“Feel free to take a crack at his ugly mug Rush, you deserve it,” Nelly lifted up the unconscious body.

“No, let's not waste time. Allow us to take him into Equestrian custody.”

“Well, we want this guy too! If you hand him over the the UPF or us, we'll pay you kindly. What do you say? Hand him over the Lylat.”

“Hell nah! The UPF wants this guy dead. You put a bullet in his brain and we'll sweeten the deal!” Strella radioed out.

“Well guys?” Nelly asked her squad.

“I say we keep him. He's done a number on your species and we should be the ones to get even,” Rush nodded. The rest of them agreed.

“Alright then,” Nelly restrained Vanu's hands and proceeded to exit the vault, “Mission complete on our end! We got the Pulsar leader in the bag and the UPF forces are inbound.”

“Solid copy Nelly! Solid execution. Now get out of there.”

“Hold on Ship, this place,” Nelly paused as she turned her weapon mounted flashlight all around the facility, “Looks like a bio-engineering lab of some kind. They repurposed the vault for their experiments. Looks like some of these tanks are long evacuated.”

“Whatever they were up to, we stopped it now. Head home Nelly mission complete. RTB.”

Chapter Fifteen B: A Far Cry For Freedom

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Fifteen B: A Far Cry For Freedom

“Jet, just so you know the EUF are going to lend a hand in this operation. We've got support from the local guerrilla fighters as well: the Golden Path. King Min denies all connections with the Pulsar Militia but it seems that they might be using Kyrat as a staging are for something big. I need your team to check it out and see what you can find. Ship out,” Ship radioed over to Jet as their own dropship entered the atmosphere near the Himarelayas. The snow rushed past the windows as Red October flew them in.

“Solid copy Ship. Yo Red! You okay flying in this weather?”

“Da! Da my friend. The fierce blizzards of Stalliongrad were my training grounds for flying in this enironment. I also served a tour in Yakyakistan before I joined the NGJSF. Rough work, lots of mountains, and it was very messy!” Red yelled to Jet over the noise of the engines, “That and this terrain following radar helps a lot as well! I would have liked this in my Hind.”

The team was all bundled up for the cold weather of Kyrat. With the whole country a few kilometers high above sea level in the mountains they were all well prepared with snow infantry gear to couple their usual spec ops equipment.

“Okay! We've breached the mountain pass and are flying in from the south. We should be landing near Banaphur now!” Red looked out the cockpit and saw the snow disappear as the ship approached the southern valleys of Kyrat. The town he landed in was barely that. It was all decrepit and had that feeling of third world isolation. It was a shady town but was home to the leaders of the Golden Path rebels fighting for their country's freedom. They were mostly shaggy yaks, sambars, goats, and long furred ponies. A few half-pony half-yak children played in the streets of the dirty town as the squad of Jet, Avia, Tough Heart, Passion, Scratch, Hornet, Simon, and Red all walked on to the rebel HQ. They all caught the eyes of the natives, most of whom never seen such advanced equipment carried into battle by foreign ponies. If there was any backwater location on Equus worthy of note it was definitely Kyrat.

“Wow, a lot of these natives look like they've never seen power armor before,” Avia looked about.

Jet looked to Avia, “That's because they haven't. My father was here once. Fought alongside Mohan Ghale, founder of the Golden Path against Pagan Min. When my dad saw that the war wasn't going anywhere for him or this country he set off back to escorting Daring Do and her likes across the Fillypines and the Rook Islands. We'll have to meet up with the Golden Path leaders first.”

As the team entered one of their communal safe houses they were met with an empty room. They looked around for a minute before another pony came into the room with blood on his hooves and a curved machete that dripped blood from its sheath. An old M1911 was holstered on his side with a suppressed AK-47 on his back coupled with an automatic crossbow and a sawed off 1887 shotgun. The veteran looking stallion looked to Jump Jet.

“Major Jump Jet I presume?” he asked as he wiped the blood off his machete.

“Ajay Ghale,” Jump Jet replied the pony's name, “It seems that destiny brought us here.”

“Hmph,” Ajay smirked, “I've heard stories about you. It's amusing to think that both our fathers fought for this very land. I've been fighting this war for months now. People here believe I am destined to be their savior, how I am my father's son. Now it looks like history repeats itself.”

“Just so we're clear: I'm here to locate some interstellar terrorists affiliated with the Royal Army. Pagan Min denies all connections but we aren't convinced. Do you have any intel regarding this?”

“Straight to the point huh?” Ajay smiled, “You really are your father's son.”

“Seeing how you've just killed a man with no remorse I'd say you are too,” Jet smirked as well, “A real go-getter.”

“So, like what someone said to me a long time ago. You wanna tear shit up?”

“Now that sounds like a plan. What's the scoop?”

“An EUF/Equestrian agent is set to touch down at the nearest airport. He's called us for some assistance in reassuring that a deal goes through with the Royal Army.”

“Hold on, I'm pulling up intel on the airport now,” Jet touched a hoof to his eyepiece and a flood of useful data filled his visor, “Got it. Satellite scans show a few sniper nests and a couple dozen soldiers patrolling the airfield. Looks like they got SAM sights too.”

“Damn, Willis didn't tell me about those missiles.”

“That's where we come in. We got some flyboys patrolling the borders of this country, nothing comes in or out of this airspace unless we in the NGJTF say so. But, these look suspiciously like UPF Electro-Optical guided missiles, which means we can't risk flying near said airport. Squad listen up, we got two objectives: take out the snipers and destroy those SAMs,” Jet laid it out plain and simple.

“I'll deal with the snipers. Willis also instructed me to do this discretely.”

“So will we,” Avia phased out of Ajay's sight with her optical cloaking before shortly reappearing again.

“Well, let's get started then. Here, we'll take one of the trucks I just brought in. They should have unloaded the supplies already,” Ajay stepped outside of the safe house and trotted to the old Ural truck with the logo of Royal Army, “Hang on, what's this?”

As the Golden Path rebels unloaded the truck Ajay noticed a few crates with some unknown symbols to him. The rest of the NGJTF instantly recognized the tilted star and red ring.

“Energy weapons?” Ajay took one of the weapons from the crates, “This doesn't look like what the Royal Army uses.”

“That is some evidence we need. Ship you getting this?” Avia took a picture of the boxes.

“Solid copy Avia. It's confirmed the Pulsar are dealing with the Kyrati leaders but we still need to secure that airport.”

“Alright Ship. Everypony pile in! Next stop is the airport,” Jet and the others got into the back of the truck.

“When I wasn't flying my Hind in Yakistan I was transferred to the airborne during my last days. I used to sleep in a Ural like this one as we went to and from base,” Red started to fondly remember his time in the Stalliongrad military.

“Head's up! Enemy convoy up ahead!” Ajay alerted them to the heavily armed convoy of three trucks spewing out propaganda. Ajay bashed the front window and launched a grenade from his M79. The enemy technical jumped into the air and landed on its side, “Get out now!”

All of the NGJTF dismounted and started to fire upon the surprise enemy convoy. They took cover behind the trees as the machine guns opened up.

“CHERT VOZ'MI! DshkMs!” Red was pinned by the suppressing fire of the two .50 cals.

“I got you covered amigo!” Hornet phased out of his cloak and took aim with his M320 LRR. The shot from his sniper rifle took off the helmet of one of the gunners with a well placed .408 round.

“Great shot Hornet! Someone get in there and-” Jet stopped as he saw Ajay sneak up on the remaining soldiers. Ajay stabbed a heavily armored machine gunner in the back and pulled the pin on his enemy's grenade before kicking him forward and detonating the remaining trucks and the other Royal Army ponies. Those that did survive got a few bolts from his automatic crossbow right in the dome.

“Are we done yet?” Ajay smirked and twirled his Kukri covered in blood. He shook it off and got back in the truck.

“Whoa, you took out all those guys by yourself?” Scratch asked Ajay as she poked her head in from the back.

“Yeah. Don't think too much on it. Just keep an eye out for anything behind us okay?”

“Copy that,” Scratch sat back down next to Hornet and started to pur as she put her head on her lovers shoulder. Ajay flipped on the radio to the voice of Rabi Ray Rana and Radio Free Kyrat.

“Radio Free Kyrat! Rabi Ray Rana here. Now I hate flying but I don't need to worry about that now because Pagan's got the only airport in the country on lockdown. Hey, Rabi! I've seen planes flying in and out of the airport. Yes, we all have. But, those planes aren't filled with people! They're filled with heroin. I'll say that one more time: and ENTIRE plane filled with heroin. Now I'm not a street guy but a single gram of heroin costs somewhere between a hundred Equestrian bits to three hundred Equestrian bits. That's one gram Chotu! I'm not a math guy but a plane full of heroin is some serious, serious mula! Say what you want about Pagan Min but this guy has got to have some Tony Montana level cash coming in and out. I mean, this guy has some Walter White business sense. I wonder if dictators have that whole one up thing that neighbors have with each other. Like, do they have
this 'Keeping up with the Jones' for the one percent of sociopaths? Like does Pagan see that gigantic statue of himself? Did he buy that just because Starlight Glimmer has a statue of herself like that? Maybe he says something like: 'Oh man! Starlight Glimmer's got a golden toilet. I need a golden toilet. I mean: I have to shit in a golden bowl... I have to! I mean, look at what Starlight Glimmer has.' Life must be so different for the evil subset of the one percent.”

The radio continued on with the native music. Jet poked his head in from the back, “You got any dubstep in this country?”

“No,” Ajay concentrated on his driving up the mountain roads.

Jet looked at the dashboard and didn't even see a USB jack for his device, “Dammit! Man this really is a backwater country. And I thought the Fillypines was third world. What truck has no USB jack for music?”

“It's not modern comrade! It's an old Ural, what do you expect. And by looks of things the Kyratis probably bought this thing from Yakistan,” Red commented as the radio switched to the propaganda broadcasts of Pagan Min's Regime.

“This is an official statement from the Ministry of Public Affairs and Social Harmony! To all loyal Kyrati citizens! Equestria has sent in foreign agents to wrongfully charge Pagan Min of crimes against Equinity. Do not approach or believe the lies of these heavily armed individuals and contact your local Royal Army officer at once to report their whereabouts. Equestria is now an enemy of Pagan Min and any Equestrian soldiers found in the country should be directed to any Royal Army representative at once. As such any Equestrian citizens are to be imprisoned as well to deter the spread of Western lies! May Pagan's light shine above you all!”

“Wow, that's a lot like Starlight Glimmer's propaganda broadcasts back in North Equestria,” Jet jerked forward as Ajay stopped the truck, “What was that for? I didn't see an enemy.”

“That,” Ajay looked up at one of the bell towers where a radio transmitter was erected, “That's what's spitting out that bullshit.”

As they neared the base of the tower they could see two guards watching the area carefully.

“You guys stay put. I'm going in,” Ajay drew his blade but Avia was already on the case. Rainbow's daughter shot up her grappling hook up to the top of the bell tower and locked on to the two guards with her smartpistol, downing them with one trigger pull as she was reeled upward.

“Hey!” she yelled, “What do I gotta do up here?”

“Just smash the box on the right and flip the switch on the left! You can't miss it!”

“Kay!” Avia shot the propaganda console and hijacked the signal. She jumped off the top of the tower.

“HOLY SHIT!” Ajay panicked before Avia hit the ground, only to be slowed in her descend by her parkour kit jets, “Oh, thank Celestia. You had be worried. That's some fancy grappling hook and gear you got. Sure beats mine.”

Ajay showed her the three pronged manual grappling hook. It was a primitive device compared to the high tech armor and equipment the NGJTF all wore.

“It's not just a grappling hook,” Avia explained, “It's called a 3D Maneuver Gear. It's a set of thrusters and mini jet nozzles that allow us to perform augmented feats of parkour. It's a lot quicker than galloping and serves to fowl the aim of our enemies. Not only that but we got exo-suits underneath all this armor given to us by our UPF allies. All you got are some animal skin pouches and... all this I guess?”

“Hey, you work with what you got. I don't have the backing of an entire planet on my side. I've only got this country and it's people.”

Ajay stared into the mountains.

“By now you've probably noticed my Equestrian accent. I've only got a few seconds to tell you about this place called Kyrat. But I only need one... Because here it only takes one second to face death, tempt fate, survive the unexpected, hunt, or be hunted, or start a revolution. I only need one second, because in Kyrat every second is a story. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, I too have a love for my native nation Ajay,” Jet came forward, “I was born in space yet I immersed myself in the land of my father's birth. I now see that yours is hurt. I can promise you now, by the time this is all over Kyrat will have all the support it can get. So, let's hunt!”

“Let's,” Ajay agreed as they returned to the truck. Several minutes passed before Ajay stopped at a cliffside underneath the airport, “Well, up we go.”

They all tossed their grappling hooks up to the ledge. The NGJTF soldiers all cloaked and hid in the bushes before Ajay reached the top with his slow, manual grappling hook. He huffed.

“Man, I should get myself one of those. Willis I'm at the airport.”

Their radios crackled to life with the sound of an American accent, “Good. I did a flyby earlier and spotted some snipers. Clear them out. And remember, we have a common enemy. Taking out Pagan's men will make it easier to secure the airport for your Golden Path comrades.”

“Right,” Ajay replied back to the person behind the radio.

“One more thing: you'll need to keep a low profile. No alarms. Don't get spotted, period. I've got a meeting with the commander stationed at the airfield and I don't want him to know that I have an ace up my sleeve. Once you're done call me.”

They scattered all around the airport taking up positions on the highest vantage points. Ajay took the control tower and stabbed a sniper in the back there. Jet cleared out the east sniper tower, Avia took to the top of the hangars, Passion took out the sniper on the south sniper tower along with Red who took out the adjacent guard post. Simon, Tough, Scratch, and Hornet lined the hills with their long range rifles and LMGs.

“SVD. Been long time since I used good old Stalliongradi sniper rifle,” Red October smirked at the weapon, “Red to Jet. In position!”

“Copy that, plane's coming in!”

“Willis I'm in position,” Ajay radioed back to Willis.

“Stay there and watch my back. I've got a quick little sit down to deal with before we can chat. If this meeting goes south I'll give you a signal.”

“What kind of signal?” Ajay picked up a fifty caliber sniper sitting on the rooftop of the control tower.

“When I say 'Reaganomics,' open fire and don't stop till all the bad guys are gone,” Willis taxied his plane over to the enemy commander sitting at his table out on the open. The ponified human stepped out of his plane with a briefcase on hand as he trotted over to the commander of the small airfield, “I'm gonna keep this channel open, but stay quiet. I don't need any distractions. This guy can be a little jumpy. Got it?”

“Got it,”Ajay took aim and scouted the commander and his two guards by his side.

“Good, where we go,” Willis placed the briefcase on the table, “Got the good right here, just like you asked for.”

“Change of plans,” the Royal Army officer glared at the agent.

“What's that now?” Willis faked his disbelief.

“I said change of plans. Yuma wants me to bring you in.”

“You kidding me?” Willis threw his arms up, “You can't do that. We had a deal!”

“You and your plane aren't going anywhere. I'm taking you to Yuma.”

“Let's try to work something out okay?” Willis bargained.

The commander only shook his head, “There's nothing to work out here, buddy!”

Willis showed his frustation, “Where I come from, a deal's a deal. You can't just change things up, it's un-American!”

“I've had enough of this!” the two guards by the commander's side took aim with their AKs.

“Are you familiar with Reaganomi-” Willis was cut off by the sound of Ajay and the other snipers taking down all three of the Royal Army ponies holding him up. The EUF agent took one of their guns and dashed into cover, “I'm taking fire! Nice shots! You got friends up there?”

“Willis this is Major Jump Jet of the Equestrian NGJTF! We're providing you covering fire!”

“Good! I wasn't expecting Equus to lend a hoof here! Glad to know I don't have to question how you guys learned to take up overwatch! You're going great! Bad guys coming in from the north! Get on it!”

“Yesh'te der'mo!” Red took aim with his stolen SVD and ventilated the heads of the attacking Royal Army. One of them ziplined in above Avia, “Avia! You got one behind you!”

There was a crack from Hornet's rifle that downed the Royal Army pony from stabbing Avia in the back, “Tango down amigo! I see more enemies coming from the south!”

A truck busted down the front gate and dismounted troops. They started to fire upon Red and Passion in their towers.

“Crap!” Passion tucked her head down, “They got me pinned!”

Ajay took the initiative. He jumped down from the top of the control tower and landed right on a Royal Army soldier to which he impaled with his blade. He drew a pistol from the dead body and used it to deadly effect using the remaining bullets of his enemy's weapon to kill the four others that had Passion and Red pinned, “You're cleared!”

Red and Passion took back their sniper rifles, “Spasiba comrade!”

“More of them! It's too hot out here. I'm making a run for the warehouse, cover me!” Willis announced, “There's a bunch of goons coming down from the mountains!”

“Simon! Tough! Scratch! They're on your flanks!” Jet cried out.

“Shit!” Scratch got up from her prone position. She leveled her semi auto G2A4 battle rifle to her eyes and worked the trigger to unload as much accurate fire down as possible, “I got your back sweetheart!”

Hornet switched to his B23R and got behind his lover, “As do I mi amor! Simon! Tough! We could use some cover fire!”

“Roger!” Tough Heart and Simon turned their LMGs to support Scratch and Hornet's retreat, “Ha! We're they learn how to shoot? Stormtrooper Academy?”

“Oh great!” Willis looked up, “They got a dropship! Looks like one of those Federation two thousands or some shit!”

Ajay launched a grenade at it and it bounced off the plasma shielding, “Dammit! That thing's got a shield."

“I'll take care of this!” Jet jumped off his sniping post, “Jet to Sagittarius! I could use my Titan right about now!”

“Roger Jet!” Sagittarius finally pitched in on the operation, “Standby for Titanfall!”

The dropped down mech slammed into the ground behind one of the hangars. It rose up and gently grabbed Jet from the ground before placing him in the cockpit.

AI OFFLINE. PILOT MODE ENGAGED.

“This should do!” he uprooted a telephone pole and held it like a javelin, “Throwing for gold!”

Jet's Titan threw the giant pole with such velocity that it managed to punch right through the shield and got stuck right into the fuselage of the VTOL. It spiraled out of control and crashed into a nearby hill.

“Dropship is down!”

“Look alive! Sounds like our little shindig didn't go unnoticed!” Willis tuned into the enemy radio frequency. Reinforcements swarmed the airport and off in the distance a mortar could be heard with a loud discharge, “The rain's coming down a little too hard for my tastes. I'm heading to cover. Make yourselves useful! Take out those mortar teams and anyone else who shows up to avenge their fallen comrade. Got it? Good.”

A mortar shell managed a direct impact on Jet's titan. The mech staggered from the cluster bomb dropped on it.

CAUTION: SHIELDS OFFLINE. TAKE COVER.

“Damn! That's one heavy mortar! Take it out!” Jet got his mech back up and started to move to avoid the artillery.

“Hold on, I got an idea,” Ajay called in a mercenary for hire, “Tembo! I'm gonna need your badassery here!”

“I'm on my way!” a Golden Path member radioed back out. There was a tremble in the ground and the swath of falling trees as something approached.

“What was that?” Scratch and the three others on the hill finally got into some cover.

The loud trumpet of an elephant got their attention as it charged into the mortar teams on the far hill. Ajay flanked around and captured some of the artillery pieces with Tembo's help.

“I got the mortars! Tembo get me some shells!”

“On it Ajay!” Tembo used his muscular trunk to bash open crates of shells and hand them over to Ajay.

Ghale sighted his targets, “Fire one!”

The massive shell arced upwards and airburst a dozen smaller bombs which blanketed the remaining Royal Army. The action finally died down.

“Judging by the lack of gunshots and explosions I'm hearing I'd say you're in the clear. Come find me in the warehouse so we can finally get some face time,” Willis radioed back out again. All of the ponies gathered around the warehouse as they waited for Willis to walk out, “25 years and I still can't figure out if that smell is bad sanitation or just the abject loss of hope.”

“I don't smell anything,” Ajay shrugged, “Who are you anyway?”

“I work for Langley, USA, Earth. Agent Willis Huntley. By the way. Everything you need to know about who killed your father is in that file,” Willis motioned his head somewhere. Ajay's eyes perked.

“What file?”

“The one in the plane that's about to take off.”

“Shit!”

“Hey!” Willis handed the earth pony a parachute, “You're gonna need this!”

Ajay galloped as fast as he could to an ATV sitting by the runway. The NGJTF went to help by firing at the plane but it was too late as it took off. Ajay put his hoof on the accelerator and punched the ATV to max speed. He jumped off the elevated cliffside runway and bailed from his ATV to deploy a wingsuit to catch up to the plane. Jet rushed to the edge of the runway and saw Ajay rodeo onto the side of the plane to pull out a briefcase full of files. Ghale pulled the pin on one of his grenades and replaced the briefcase with it as he fell back letting the explosion do all the talking. He parachuted back to the ground.

“Hey!” Jet caught up after a few minutes of hoofing it, “What was that about?”

“Nothing dammit! These files don't tell me shit!” Ajay was disappointed to the crossed off files about his own dead father.

“That! Was fucking badass. You know Ajay, after all of this is said and done. When the EUF are contracted rebuild your country. Do you want to join our Special Forces group? You definitely have what it takes,” Jet gave a firm pat to Ajay's back, “Cheer up bud!”

Ajay sighed deeply and looked off into the distance, “Not right now. Kyrat is still hurt. I'll consider the offer. But I have to get back to saving my country.

“Take all the time to think about it then. Ship, we've taken control of the airport. Mission complete! The Pulsar aren't gonna have an easy time supplying this rogue nation ever again!”

“Solid copy Jet! Mission completed! All elements RTB for some R&R! You guys all earned it! Nelly is here too! She just got back from New Echo.”

“Yes!” Jet pumped his hoof in excitement before noticing an odd sound, “Wait, what's tha-AHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!”

A honey badger managed to bite Jet right in the ankle. Lucky for him it couldn't dent his powered armor.

“GET IT OFF!” Jet flailed his back hoof before Ajay put down the rabid creature with a well placed arrow in its knee.

“Got it. Those things really don't give a shit. Lucky you have all that armor,” Ajay started to laugh.

“It's not funn-OH MY LUNA!” another odd creature came out of nowhere to attack Jet. This time it was an eagle trying to claw his head open with only a few dings and scratches to his helmet, “SWEET BABY LUNA! FUCKING KILL IT!”

Ajay shot one bolt from his crossbow again. It pinned the eagle and it dropped down dead.

“Does everything try to kill you in this country?!” Jet huffed.

“Um, don't panic but there's also a tiger right behind you Jet.”

“Fuck my life...”

Chapter Sixteen

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Sixteen

Jet walked in from the hangar bay with the rest of his squad cheering in victory. He was somewhat mauled from the combined attacks of a honey badger, eagle, and a tiger. His armor held up but he was a little beat up. He exclaimed as he walked into the bridge, “WE. KICKED. ASS!”

“You sure did,” Ship was right there to greet them as Nelly sat in the back resting after her mission, “This is gonna send quite a message to the Pulsar. We just canceled not one, but two of their most important operations in the allied sector. Not to mention we finally got that birdbrain cultist responsible for the attacks on New Ponyville during the colonization period. You guys deserve a long break. Carry on!”

Ship saluted to them as they parted ways throughout the Sky Buster. Jet and his sister went to the mess hall to get something to eat.

“Hey bro, you hear that?” Avia noticed some yelling coming from the mess hall.

“Yeah, hold on,” as Jet opened the double doors he saw Masayuki and Night Glider in a heated argument. Both of them very much angry.

“Your country is nothing but a warmongering tribe that has endangered Neighpon with threats of nuclear arms for decades!” Masayuki yelled with anger.

“And your country is an imperialist empire bent on enslaving the world and oppressing it's conquered people!” Night Glider butt heads with Yuki as the two pegasi glared at each other in anger while throwing some punches.

“Fuck this,” Jet came in and broke up the argument by throwing them both to the floor. Everypony in the mess hall watching the scene continued, “Stand the fuck down! Both of you! What the hell is going on?”

“IMPERIALIST!” Night Glider cried out as she was restrained by Avia.

“North Equestrian Do-” Masayuki was cut short as Jet tightened a choke hold on his neck.

“STAND! DOWN! I swear to fucking Celestia, Luna, and both the sun and moon that if you two don't stop I WILL MAKE IT STOP BY FORCE! Now calm the fuck down and tell me what happened,” Jet asserted his dominance and threw Masayuki on the floor again, forcefully.

“If we where on the the Yonaga this would have been settled in true Samurai fashion in the Shrine of Infinite Salvation,” Zenji Yamada, Masayuki's wingpony was also involved in the argument. The yellowish Neighponese pegasus added.

“I suggest you shut the fuck up! Stay out of this!” Jet did his best to defuse the situation.

Night Glider was squirmed as she was restrained by Avia, “Night Glider! You are not helping!”

Jet picked Masayuki back up, “So? What the hell happened?”

Masayuki dusted himself off and collected himself, “She insulted the Honor of Neighpon.”

“We as Samurai will not take such insults to Dai Neighpon or His Majesty the Emperor,” Zenji added.

“Is this true Night Glider?” Jet went up to her for questioning.

Night Glider nodded, "I only speak the truth against these imperialists for oppressing our people!"

Avia tightend her grip, "YOU SHUT UP!"

Zenji grips the hilt of katana at his side, “Oppression, hah! the Greater East Neighsia Co-Prosperity sphere has allowed the ponies of Manechuria and Zong-Xiao to live free of fear of western powers who would take advantage of them.”

As Jet saw Zenji go for his weapon he drew his revolver and shot a warning shot next to Zenji, “As the second in command of the NGJTF I order all of you to stand down or I WILL have all three of you grounds for a court martial!”

Avia questioned Night Glider again, “Why the hell did you say that to them Night?”

“Like I said, I was expressing my opinion. They took it as an insult.”

Avia facehoofed, “NO SHIT! The first thing you should never do is to express your negative opinions on others! Didn't you learn any manners when you were younger?”

“Well, no. I am not familiar with the mannerisms of the outside world. I thought the sharing of opinion was welcome here.”

Zenji recoiled back and calmed down, “That was not necessary, I had no intention of drawing my blade.”

Jet looked at Zenji and Masayuki and shook his head in disappointment, “For one thing: Night Glider is naïve. She's a recent defector from North Equestria and as you heard she had no idea her opinions would offend you like that. Second: give her a break. We almost killed her once so don't pick on her for being so different. She's still got a lot to learn about the outside world.”

Masayuki stood down, “Yes sir.”

Zenji did so as well, “The Hagakure states there is a time to live and a time to die, now is not the time for us to kill each other when the enemy is still out there.”

Jet sighed, “Finally some progress. Okay, can we try this one more time? Night Glider, this is Zenji and Masayuki. Zenji, Yuki, Night Glider.”

Night Glider nervously stepped forward, “Hello, um. I am Night Glider. And you must be the Neighponese imperialist dogs?”

Avia and Jet both facehoofed, “NOT RIGHT NIGHT GLIDER!”

Zenji smirked to the idiocy of his North Equestrian comrade, “Charmed...”

Masayuki he says with a deadpan expression, “It's an honor...”

“Night Glider,” Jet approached her, “You have a LONG way to go to learn how to work with others. Let's try again and this time say something nice without that Starlight Glimmer propaganda bullcrap swimming in your head.”

“Okay,” Night Glider dipped sheepishly, “Um, hello Neighponese ponies. I-um... Like your hair... I guess? Is that good?”

Jet nodded.

“Right! I do like your hair ponies of Neighpon! May I ask to touch it?”

“Too far!” Jet intruded, “Ask how is their day.”

“Okay! Change of topic, how goes your day?”

Zenji spoke, “Fine, my mother sent me a package of mochi in this mornings post, my family owns a mochi shop in the shopping district of Maizuru. I believe your sisters Izayaka is a couple blocks down from our shop Masayuki-san.”

“Mo-chi?” asked Night Glider.

“Rice cake,” explained Zenji.

“Is it like a muffin?”

“They are very tasty,” Masayuki added.

“All we ever ate in North Equestria were bland muffins,” Night Glider's ears dipped at the thought.

“It's hard to say to say as Mochi doesn’t really have a western equivalent,” Zenji continued.

“It does have a sweet taste though, My father is very good at making them, my mother loves them too,” Masayuki smiled to the thoughts of comfort food.

“Your famliy helped us pound mochi last New Years if I remember correctly,” Zenji went back and forth with his friend

“Yes, it was Very good,” Yuki smiled.

Zenji put a hoof on his friend's shoulder, “Hopefully we will be able to return to do it again next new years.”

“It must be nice having family. All mine were executed," Night Glider became sullen again.

Zenji sighed, “My condolences.”

“Your what?” Night Glider asked as Jet and Avia left them to their conversation, “Nevermind. Well, I do have one family member still alive.”

“I am sorry for your loss,” Zenji explained.

“And, why are you sorry? You didn't do it,” Night was left clueless.

Zenji continued, “It's a common way for somepony to express their sympathy for anothers struggle or problems.”

Night Glider cocked her head to one side, “Such a strange action one would take towards that. In the regime we were all concerned only for ourselves and our families.”

“I'm sure one day you will have the chance to avenge them,” Zenji nodded as they went on.

Jet looked back at the three ponies to see they were getting along. Him and his sister waited in line with some of the other new members. Slash and Feather were talking to each other.

“So how do those augmentations work? Don't they get uncomfortable sometimes?”

“Not really Feather. Oh hey, I didn't see you there boss,” Slash turned to Jet.

“No prob. Say! Good job on your first mission,” he turned back to Piggle who was in the back of the kitchen, “Hey Pigsy! Can we get something to eat?”

Piggle's smartwatch beeped, “Oh hold on something came up.”

“Attention all ponies of the NGJTF! We have been invited to dinner by an important UPF businessman. Many of you may know of him and his past opinion on us. So here he is Mr. Alson Burry!” Ship came over the intercom before introducing the once hateful anti-Equus Purrloin pokmorph.

“Hello and good evening fine ponies of Equus. I sincerely invite all of you for dinner at my Emerald City mansion roughly three hours from now. As a token of my gratitude and an apology for my past rude behavior please come down and have some fun! Thank you very much NGJTF and carry on.”

“Did you hear that guys? Dinner's free tonight on this guy! So let's not keep him waiting,” Ship continued after Alson, “Let's not be late.”

Rush bumped into Jet as a paranoid expression donned his face, “I don't like the sound of it.”

“Oh come on Rush!” Jet smiled, “That stuck up bastard finally sees that we're just as kickass as the others in the UPF. It's nice to know we're getting our name out there.”

Rush's tail twitched involuntarily, “DID YOU SEE THAT?!”

“Rush, it's just nervous jitters. There is no way that can be your, um, Sugar Sense?”

“It's not Sugar Sense Jet! It's a Rush Reaction!” Rush started to become more paranoid and looked back and forth, “I get that from my mom and it hasn't failed me once!”

“Rush, you're crazy...” Jet sighed as Rush flew up to the ceiling upside down and started walking along it trying to sneak by. He crawled out of the mess hall and into the hallway, “That Rush. What is up with him?”

“He's Pinkie's kid. Don't think too hard on it bro. I'm just gonna get a quick snack to kill my hunger before we head out,” Avia got some chips from the nearby vending machine and called it good.

-----

The whole crew of thirty some ponies launched out to the planet's surface and landed in the courtyard of Alson's mansion. The businessman was right there to greet all of them as they departed from their dropship.

“Greetings! Welcome to the Burry Estate. Terribly sorry for my past opinions of you. I hope we can make amends,” Alson smiled and shook the hoof of Ship.

“No problem Mr. Burry. You do have a lovely home!”

“Why thank you Rear Admiral Ship. Pardon my security, these recent Pulsar incursions have me a bit concerned lately. My snipers are everywhere and I have a full PMC platoon patrolling the grounds at all times,” Alson explained his rather elaborate security measures, “You wouldn't mind handing over all of your weapons to my guards would you? Just a formality. Company policy you know.”

“Sure thing. Everyone, go ahead and hand over your guns,” Ship ordered to all of them. Rush looked to his hip and saw that he forgot his pistol.

“Wow, and I thought Strella's house was huge!” Jet commented. Rush still sat in the back with eyes squinted in a paranoid gaze. His tail wouldn't stop twitching either.

“Twitcha-twitch!” he whispered to Ship, “Twitcha-twitch!”

“Rush, stop being so nervous. You're gonna embarrass yourself you know?”

“That's not it!” Rush flew up right next to Alson's face and pointed a hoof back and forth, “I'vve got my eye on you!”

“Um, is your friend always this eccentric?”

Unanimously all the ponies who knew Rush replied back with a synchronized yes.

“Ah, fair enough. I don't mind really. Come! Come! Let me show you all inside!”

The first thing they noticed were the shelves that displayed some remnants of Alson's past work. Slash immediately recognized some of the tools he had on display as personal trophies.

“Wow! That's a Reliable Minerals diamond cyber drill. Where did you get it?” Slash eyed the piece of mining equipment.

“I'm glad you noticed!” Alson smiled fondly, “Reliable Minerals Co. 'Our main export is gravel!' Funny how that became our slogan. The founder always had quite a sense of humor. I used to work as a miner for that company! And seeing your augmentations Mr... I'm sorry I don't quite know your name.”

“Slashwing,” the cyber pony replied, “Slashwing Crystal. I think I do remember you now.”

“Oh yes! I shared my lunch with you before you were augmented. You know! That one time were Lenny dropped his and managed to get his lunch all over his girlfriend? I remember that day now!” Alson laughed.

“Oh yeah! That was funny,” Slash rolled his eyes, “Wow, it's been a long time since I've heard anything of them.”

“Well that's the thing. They disbanded due to our funding being cut. When it happened I managed to work my way up the corporate chain and somehow I got most of the company's stock. I traded it in to Rivers Manufacturing and they subsidized it into their mining operations branch. So here I am now, one of the wealthiest backers of Rivers Manufacturing,” Alson gestured with his hands as he talked.

“No kidding. The pay was good,” Slash remembered.

“Anyway! Enough of this boring history lesson! Come on, make yourselves at home! There's plenty of room for all of you to mix and mingle. If you need anything call one of my butlers. I just need to check on dinner for a minute. Well then, go on! Do whatever your little pony hearts desire,” Alson checked his watch before departing to the kitchen to check on his chefs. The ponies all started to explore the mansion.

Jet and Passion walked along in one of the many open hallways of the mansion. Passion spoke up.

“This... Feels familiar.”

“What do you mean Pass?” Jet looked back.

“I dunno. I have a weird paranoia of mansions after... You know, my book?”

“Oh yeaaah,” Jet cocked his head back, “But why in the world did you have to kill my dad like that... AGAIN!”

Passion sheepishly smiled, “Soorrry. I really do like what your father did. To be honest with you. He's my idol as well and to be your friend is, um... Really an honor, Jet.”

Jet rolled his eyes with a smile before giving Passion a hug, “Aw! Thanks Passion. And Nelly if you're watching this it was a friendly hug!”

“Kay!” a yell from Nelly in the other room reaffirmed things.

“Anyway, let's see what's in here,” Jet opened a door with a note stuck to it, “For Jet and Passion. Huh...”

As Jet opened the room him and Water Wings were greeted with a massive assortment of video game systems both Equus and Federation with an equally massive selection of games to boot. Jet's jaw dropped.

“HOT DAMN! Look at all this Pass!”

Passion started to feel a little unnerved, “Okay, this looks very sketchy...”

“OH COME ON! First Rush and now you? It's just a book Passion! There's no way Alson has read it. Didn't you say it didn't sell very well?”

“Well, it didn't sell that much at all outside of Equus! Only one copy outside of our planet and the others I gave to family and friends. I guess you're right Jet. I think it's just the huge mansion making me a bit paranoid.”

“Well, Glitzy is here. She's not gonna get stabbed repeatedly if that's what you're thinking,” Jet sunk into a bean bag chair and started playing a UPF video game, “Whoa! Passion check this game out!”

It was a free to play first person shooter titled: “Joint Strike Force!” All the combat ponies of the NGJTF were the characters of the video game as selectable players for online play. Jet took the controller and selected himself.

“Whoa! Passion they got my voice right! I wonder who they hired for the voice actor? OH MAN! My kit is spot on! I get to select my AR, revolver, and specials but my perks get locked in place unless I buy them! Wow, this is my playstyle all over it!”

“Uh huh...” Passion dug at the ground a little bit.

“LOOK! They even have you!”

“WHAT?!” She jumped in on the second seat, “Out of my way! I'm grabbing the second player on the next TV!”

As they started the match the two of them rushed out of the spawn room only to be bombarded by a grenade barrage from a player who chose Blossom. Jet laughed uncontrollably as his avatar's body ragdolled into the stratosphere.

“DAMMIT! HAHA! Well they got Blossom right! Oh look a guy on our team has his character as one of Frostbite! I'm gonna try and message him,” Jet enabled his microphone to his team, “Hey! They got a Blossom guarding spawn. I need a Prelude, Hornet, or a Alyssa to snipe that bitch.”

“Wait hold on. Jet is that you? Like, the real you?” the person playing as Strella named CobaltArrowXX asked over the game chat.

“Yeah! Who is this?”

“It's the real Strella dude! Notice my in game name is of a different color than these guys. Hold on I'll switch to Ally to take care of that Blossom!” her character's avatar went back into their spawn room and switched heroes, “Okay coming back to suppress the Blossom! How you been Jet?”

“Good! Good! Passion is playing as herself. She's not doing too good.”

“Hey!” Passion pouted, “It's hard! I don't know the controls!”

“Left trigger to aim down sights! That should help. Your SDAR is suppressed so you won't appear on the minimap. Fire from under the water! You get a damage boost caz that's your special ability. Crap! They're capping the point! Get in there Passion and clean house!” Jet ordered to her.

“Okay! Okay!” Passion swam up underneath the capture point and unloaded with her virtual rifle. It was a quick mop up as she earned a triple kill, “I DID IT!”

“Good! Capping first point!” Jet jumped to the hardpoint and started to hack in with Strella giving them sniper cover with her avatar as Alyssa the sniper.

“Say, where are you playing this anyway? Your PING is really good,” Strella sniped another player with the loud crack of her 23mm sniper rifle. The opposing player's butthurt appeared on screen with a chat message.

OMFGWTFBBQ FIREFLY SNIPER OP! I HATE THAT THING YOU STUPID NOOB WHORE.

Strella laughed in the microphone, “Says the guy using Blossom the explosive spam pony.”

“Oh to answer your question Strella, I'm playing at Mr. Alson Burry's house. He invited us over for dinner, all of us, for a job well done,” before Jet could finish the server disconnected to the match, “Dammit! Server lagged out.”

“I was... Actually liking that game. I want to play more after dinner,” Passion took off her gaming headset and looked to Jet.

“Hey! You got me to join the Fairy Mountain Fountain fandom so it's my turn to covert you to FPS games instead of Minceraft all the time! You've heard of Call to Duty?”

“Yeah?”

“Blue Circuit and I play that shit almost every day. He's got some tips and tricks on his channel you should watch. Also I recommend following Drif0rPony, Ali-P, and PmarTn if you wanna get gud scrub. Here, I'll show you one of their videos,” Jet opened up his tablet and started to project onto the wall.

“Hey guys! Drif0r here welcome to Advance Warfare In Dept and today's episode we're gonna be talking about movement mechanics-”

-----

Fragarach and Simon started to explore the balcony of the house that overlooked the courtyard in the evening sunset. Simon sighed, a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Something wrong bud?” Frag asked his friend.

“It's the whole single thing. Like, how long will it take for me to find a girl I can settle down with? None of the others like me, I'm a slob, and dammit Frag I'm gonna be a virgin forever.”

“Well, at least you're gonna be an Saddlearabian's bitch in the afterlife,” Fragarach joked. Simon just shot him a glare, “Oh come on. It's not that bad. Besides, I don't have a girlfriend either. I'm fine with my life right now. I've got my whole life ahead of me and you do too! Stop sweating the small stuff man! You'll find one eventually. Plus, being in the military is kinda hard picking up chicks if they're all busy fighting shit. Cheer up. Try wooing some mares outside the military next time we visit Equus. I'll be your wingpony for that if you want!”

“That, makes my life easier. Thanks for being there buddy!” Simon tipped his drink to his friend, “Cheers!”

“Cheers!” they drank their beers and replaced the empty bottles back onto the butler's tray.

“Would any one of you like to sample some appetizers before we serve the main dinner? Master Burry would like to know what ponies tastes like.”

“You mean what we like to eat? Oh sure!” Fragarach volunteered.

“Splendid! We wouldn't want to serve the wrong appetizers if nopony likes them. Please come with me to the kitchen Mr. Fragarach.”

“See you later Simon! I'll be back shortly!” Fragarach followed the butler before being intercepted by Rush, “Oh! Hey Ru-”

“TWITCHA-TWITCH! TWITCHA-TWITCH!” Rush started to panic and flail Fragarach back and forth.

“RUSH! What has gotten into you?”

“Something is wrong! Something is very wrong and I can feel it andthethingandthisandthatannnd!”

Fragarach locked Rush in place for a minute, “Rush buddy! I'm just gonna sample some food before we eat. Geez stop with that Sugar Sense of yours. It's all just nervous jitters because Mr. Burry, well, WAS a complete asshole. No offense taken Mr. Butler?”

“None taken. I assure you Mr. Burry had a change of heart.”

“Great! Now Rush, I want you to calm down. Take a few deep breathes.”

Rush started to gasp like a fish much like his mother in Too Many Pinkie Pies. Frag facehoofed.

“That is NOT helping. Dude, you got to chill.”

Rush froze in place and stopped responding to all stimuli. Frag waved his hoof in Rush's face back and forth.

“Hello?”

Rush literally just started to freeze over. This didn't surprise Frag.

“Whatever. To explain that pony is to try to comprehend the quantum realm. Now! To the kitchen!”

“Yes sir,” the butler lead Frag past the double doors of the kitchen.

-----

“It's nice to know you're on our side now,” Ship conversed with Mr. Burry himself, “Tell me, what got you to change your mind?”

“When you've done so much for my nation of course! Oh hold on something came up,” Alson's phone started to beep, “Tell the ponies dinner is postponed for two hours. Fragarach is helping to taste the dishes best suited for their palette. Oh good! I wasn't quite sure what to serve you tonight or if you even ate meat.”

“Oh no, we eat meat,” Ship smiled as Tough Heart started to nibble her ear, “Oh stop you!”

“Are you two married?” Alson asked.

“Yup! Three years and counting! After the war we plan to have a kid eventually.”

Alson smiled, “Well I wish the both of you a long and happy marriage. I myself favor a less beaten path in life. I use the money I earn to help out a just cause. Helping my nation that is. I believe in Rivers Manufacturing and what it does, however there seems to be some internal affairs that might be linked to those terrorists, the Pulsar. Ugh, this isn't the first time the Federation has dealt with such degenerates before.”

“Please, go on. Maybe it would shed some light on the Pulsar,” Ship got off her chair and leaned on her husband.

“Well, twenty five... Six, maybe it was seven years ago we were engulfed with in a war with Lylat. This started when they seemingly fired upon a civilian mining vessel floating in their territories. You know how the UPF democracy works right?”

“Yes, the people have all the say. The government is only there to serve them. And sometimes that isn't the best of decisions, namely the whole anti Equus thing.”

“Yes Rear Admiral. I am quite ashamed to be one of the prime instigators of that. Well, we voted for a full scale war with Lylat and the majority vote won. So after a few years of bloody warfare we started to notice a pattern. Lylat was under the control of our age old enemies: the Rising Tide. This faction is a group of genetic degenerates who refused to abide by the laws set forth by our Federation. The law that clearly states: any and all insane, sociopath, or otherwise mentally ill individual with intentions to harm other Pokemorphs will be subjected to a non invasive gene therapy to cure them of their insanity. Of course, there was always the large minority of the Tide that chose not to abide by that most civilized rule. And those murderers, scum, and terrorists are all either dead or in hiding. Or forcefully cured. I know it might not be your idea of good ethics but here in the UPF we eliminate the choice to do bad. Well, there is always the huge misunderstanding, like my previous opinion on Equus. Again, terribly sorry for all of that mess.”

“It's okay Mr. Burry. Again, it's nice to know you are on our side!”

-----

Hornet and Scratch trotted in the beautiful night lit garden of the mansion. Scratch was leaning her head into Hornet's cheek, a smile wide on her face.

“Tonight sure is pretty mi amore,” Hornet stopped to look up at the single moon that hovered over the UPF home planet of Ultimax. Scratch tackled her lover to the ground and started to nuzzle him.

“You're short,” Scratch teased, “And I love you!”

Hornet smirked as he put his hooves up in submission. There was a crackle from his radio.

“Pompous to Bumblebee! Pompous to Bumblebee! How goes the evening over?” Lightning, Hornet's old squadron buddy came over the radio.

Scratch snatched the radio off Hornet's belt, “Kitty Cat to Pompous, Bumblebee is a little, *giggle* 'busy' right now!”

“Pompous to Bumblebee, what in Equus is going on over there?”

“It's Scratch! Leave us alone for a minute! Does this thing have a camera? Oh screw it!” Scratch threw the radio past a row of a hedge maze and it landed on the other side. Scratch put a hoof to her lover's mouth, “Shh! I'm gonna have some fun with you tonight.”

Hornet smirked sheepishly with eyes wide. The two of them coupled lips as the radio still transmitted.

“Pompous to Bumblebee! Bumblebee! BUMMBLEE BEEEE!”

-----

After the two hour break from their various activities all around the mansion all the ponies gathered around the backyard where they were seated for dinner. Ship and Tough were right next beside Alson as his guests of honor while everypony else took their seats. Alson tapped his wineglass.

“Everypony! I want to welcome you to dinner. Fragarach is going to be late he is rather stuffed from all the appetizers he picked out for you. Ah yes! Here it comes now! Please, do enjoy!”

The ponies started to sample the dishes one by one. Red October and Blue Circuit were seated next to each other talking about their lives.

“So Blue, I'd like to ask you a question,” Red took a bite of his fine cheese and crackers.

“Go ahead.”

“I saw you talking to that one they call Passion. To be honest I have been eying her from a distance. I think she's cute to be honest comrade,” Red whispered to his friend in his usual Slavic accent.

“Oh!” Blue was surprised, “Actually, Passion is looking for a boyfriend. You know you should ask her out! See what happens.”

“Oh really now! Okay, I will ask her tonight when I have chance. Forgive me if my Equestrian is little sloppy,” Red shrugged as he ate.

“It's cool man! Say you seen Rush anywhere?”

“Probably hiding like little bitch. I have no idea why he's so paranoid. It's like STALKER in Pripyat always worrying about next emission. Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that. Blah! Who cares? My days as a STALKER are over. Not like anypony would believe me.”

“I believe you,” Blue ate some hotdogs offered to him, “Even though I don't know what you're talking about.”

“That is fine comrade. It is best you don't know. Thank you for clearing things up with Passion friend!”

“No probs. We could always use more happy couples,” Blue smiled as he gave a brohoof to his Stalliongradi friend.

Alson welcomed in the main course, “And to you, my friends I present! The finest steak in all of the Federation! Dig in!”

“Huh,” Jet noticed the smell, “It's not Sky Whale. What is it?”

“Take a guess! Go! Eat!” Alson smiled.

“Mmm! It tastes really good! What kind of seasoning did you use on this?” Avia chowed down.

“It's my secret maple blend of spices. I'm sure not telling what it is. That would spoil the surprise!”

“I have to thank you for all of this. I'm glad we all settled our misunderstandings,” Ship nodded as she ate her steak.

“I have got to have the recipe for this!” Jet was really enjoying his meal, “It's not Sky Whale. It tastes like beef... But, sweeter? It could be just the maple flavor. Please Mr. Burry, could you tell us what this is?”

Alson looked at all the ponies at the table happily enjoying their meal as he finished his mouthful of steak and fava beans, “Oh yes! It's my blend of spices, some stuffing, and,” He paused, letting the taste sink in, “Bits of your friend...”

Mr. Burry lifted up the silver cover to a plate with Fragarach's cooked head on a platter. The ponies all looked in shock and horror. All of them vomited as they realized that they had just been served a chopped up dinner of their friend.

Ship looked in disbelief, “T-This is a joke?! Right?!”

A full platoon of Pulsar infiltrators decloaked behind all of them with guns pointed to their pony heads.

“Oh! On the contrary Rear Admiral Ship! Horse meat is a rather tasty delicacy here in the Federation. Now I thought to myself one day what your species would taste like. I have to say, it was quite better than expected,” Alson took a big chunk of flesh from the cheeks of Fragarach's head and ate it with a side of fava beans, “Tell me Jet, have you ever had lechon? The cheek meat is always the best! Mmm!”

“YOU SICK MOTHERFUCKER!” Jet started to stir before the Pulsar soldier guarding him took a rifle to the back of his head.

“Manners Mr. Jump Jet! Manners. Now, you have all been quite a thorn in my side for the past few months now. You were always disrupting my operations for the Miltia. So now I get to have my fun with all of you,” Alson snickered, “Before we have our dessert let's play a little game. Passion, I do say I really love your book and how you kill so many stupid ponies in it! I do love how Jet's father died. Oh! And how Ship's mother was the first killer! How exciting. I love a good murder mystery...”

“What do you want from us?!” Passion shrieked.

Alson merely snickered again, “This.”

The Purrloin Pokemorph took out his handgun and shot Ship twice right in the stomach. She fell to the floor.

“NOOO!” Tough Heart jumped from his seat and held his dying wife close, “Ship! You're gonna be okay! Dammit! J-Just dammit!”

Ship was in shock. Her eyes locked in a dead gaze and her whole body trembled as she was bleeding out. With her last defiant bit of strength she held onto her husband's hoof as tight as she can manage.

“I-I'm scared Tough...” she whispered.

“No no no! Save your strength!” Tough fought a losing battle as the two 10mm bullets tore a massive hole in her midsection. She was going to die in mere minutes, a slow and painful death in the hooves of her husband.

“Take them away!” Alson ordered the rest of his soldiers. All of the ponies struggled before getting knocked out by tranq darts, chloroform, stun guns, and other assorted restraints. Tough Heart was hog tied and dragged away from his dying wife.

“SHIP! SHIP!” he was bawling his eyes out, “SHIPP!”

A single blood stained tear formed in Ship's eye, still locked in place with a dead and expressionless gaze. She used the last bit of her willpower to roll over to her side and reach out for her husband before passing on. Her eyes remained open in her restless death.

-----

Jet awoke inside of a holding cell to the commotion outside. He could hear punches and bucks being thrown outside his barred room and saw a Pulsar soldier fly across his door and shot dead by a suppressed weapon. One pony managed to escape.

“Bro!” Avia hurriedly opened his cell door, “Come on! I'm busting you out of here!”

“Avia?” Jet gasped as he saw that she was holding her smartpistol, “Um, where did you hide that?”

His sister sighed, “Don't ask. You know where. Why did you think I was wearing pants today? Here! You're gonna need this!”

Avia tossed him his P33 revolver. Jet nodded, “Thanks. I just hope that doesn't give you a yeast infection or something.”

“Just shut up,” Avia flew up to the ceiling and used her wings to walk upsidedown in stealth. Jet did the same.

“So realistically sis how are we gonna save everyone?” Jet whispered to her, “And did you at least keep the mag separate when you stuck it in there?”

“Duh of course I did. But I-I dunno. Ship's dead. We'll be lucky if we make it out alive. I'm the only one with the suppressed weapon here and we don't have a lot of ammo either.”

They saw a guard walk beneath them welding an ARP-5 pulse rifle. The one rifle that can passively recharge shots fielded by the UPF.

Jet signaled to his sister by pointing to the guard. He whispered into her ear, “I got an idea!”

Avia stood upside down and locked onto her target's head. With one pull the guard fell dead and Jet rushed down to secure his rifle.

“Got it! It's not suppressed by at least ammo isn't an issue now.”

“Hey!” Mac Book reached out from his cell, “Guys get me out of here!”

Avia and Jet unlocked his door. He was all battered up from being tortured.

“Can you walk?”

“I'm fine Jet. I wish I could help but the guards took away my PDA.”

Jet looked to the two dead guards in the long hallway, “Any of those?”

“Wait! Yeah that guy!” Mac looked over the dead body and found his device, “Got it! First thing's first. I'm gonna hack into their cameras. There! I see all the others in their cells. Say, what happened to our camera?”

“I shot it. First thing I shot then the guard so we'd be undetected,” Avia made the right call, “You got a map on that thing?”

“Yeah! It shows where we are and where everyone else is.”

“Good,” Avia patted him on the back, “Stay behind us and out of sight.”

“I gotta tell you something. All these doors are analogue. Stone and steel. I can't hack any locks and these guards don't carry the keys to the other sections. This underground prison facility is huge and we're the only ones in this hallway of cells. Hold on, let me check the status of everypony,” Mac flipped his screen to the list of all active members. Each one of them kept a tiny implant in their clothes that could monitor their heart rate and vital signs, “Ship and Fragarach are dead. A lot of us are wounded and tortured.”

“Who's in the most trouble right now? Any vitals dipping?” Jet looked at Mac's screen.

“It's Glitzy! She's in the next hallway!” Mac threw the PDA into his pocket as they rushed over to help their new recruit. As they neared the barred door Avia managed to shoot a guard without alerting anyone else. The guard was covered in blood and had a decorative, yet functional knife.

“Holy shit!” Jet looked into the cell. Glitzy was sprawled on the floor and stabbed multiple times in the gut. A large stain of blood was smeared across the floor as she tried to crawl to the door, “MAC! Healing spell! NOW!”

“Damn! I'll try!” Mac's horn glowed as he tried to close up Glitzy's wounds. They were only made smaller by Mac's inabilities for medical magic, “Crap! I'm a programmer not a medic!”

“Avia! Rip that guy's uniform so I can use it for bandages! Mac! Apply direct pressure to her wounds,” Jet gave his round of orders, “Hold on! I got an idea.”

Jet took a metal pipe from the floor and washed it off before heating it with his lighter. The pipe glowed red hot as Jet pressed it onto her wounds to seal them off. Avia cupped her hoof to Glitzy's mouth to prevent her screams. Avia kept another hoof on her neck as well to check for pulse.

“Damn! She's going into shock! Her heart rate is pounding faster and she's feeling clammy!”

“Roll her onto her back and keep her legs up! Mac, stay here,” Jet rushed out of the cell and found a medical box on the wall. He bashed the plastic case open and took out a large packet of biofoam, “Oh thank Celestia! Biofoam!”

Avia looked to her brother, “Jet! She's not stable!”

“Don't worry!” Jet applied the foam to the rest of her wounds, “Pray to the sun and moon that she makes it.”

The miracle substance worked its way into her blood and started to rapidly oxygenate it. The foam worked to close her remaining wounds with nanosutures and stop all blood loss when it was exposed to the air. Glitzy started to regulate her breathing.

“Holy damn...” Jet looked at the PDA he took out of Mac's pocket, “Stable. But we can't just sit here like this. Who's next?”

“You are,” one of the guards stood next to the open cell door and kicked the other guard's body off to the side. Avia took aim with her smartpistol but for some reason it wouldn't lock. Her visor identified the guard as friendly.

“What?! My pistol-”

“It's me you guys,” Strella took off her beret and sunglasses, “Came by once I saw Jet's message in game. I really figured something fishy when you said you were invited to Alson's house. I know that man. He doesn't change his ideals at the drop of a hat. Are you guys okay?”

“No...” Jet hung his head, “Ship and Fragarach are dead and the rest of us are stuck here. All thirty something of us.”

Strella facepalmed, “Dammit! It's gonna take a lot more than me to break you guys out. Strella to Mitch! We got a situation at the Burry Estates. Turns out it was him working for the Pulsar. Creep left the planet though and disappeared without a trace. He's imprisoned the vast majority of the NGJTF, two confirmed dead. Free to engage all hostiles,” Explosions and gunfire kicked off above them. Strella looked to Jet and the others, “Let's go!”

-----

Passion was thrown into her cell by force after she was beaten repeatedly by the guards. After they had their fun with her they broke one of her legs and left her to rot in her cell. She cried in pain, sobbed, then curled into a ball to protect her injured left limb.

“Eto normal'no ostanovka plachet,” Red trotted forward to Passion laying on the floor, “Stop crying. Everything is going to be okay,” Red was all bruised up and battered like Passion but his tolerance for pain allowed him to escape the more ruthless torture by causing his captor's boredom with him. He slowly lifted her up careful not to put any pressure on the leg, “Come here, it's okay Passion.”

Passion dragged herself into her comrade's arms. Red gently wrapped them around her and gave her a shoulder to cry into. Red started to sing in his native tongue.

“Pust on vspomnit devushku prostuiu, Pust uslyshit, kak ona poet, Pust on zemliu berezhet rodnuiu, A liubov Katyusha sberezhet.”

“That song is pretty,” Passion started to calm down as Red rocked her gently.

“Thank you. It's the song my mother always sang to me for a lullaby. It's called Katyusha. It's an old song about a woman longing for her lover out fighting a war,” Red kept gently rocking and comforting her, “Passion. If we die tonight I want to let you know that I love you. Blue told me how lonely you were. You're not alone any more my little dushka.”

Passion looked up to the smile of her comrade. She tucked her head under his and hugged him with her wings tight, not wanting to let go, “I... I love you too Red. You've made me so happy right now. But I'm sad too. And scared.”

“I'm scared too,” Red started to pet Passion in her warm embrace. There were explosions outside that quaked the room.

“Bam!” Jet bucked the door open as Strella stabbed a guard in the background, “We're outta here! The UPF sent in a rescue team and they're pounding the surface with their gunships. Red! Can you fight?”

“Da! Da!” Red yelled in victory.

“Good! Here's your 6P35 back! How's Passion?”

“She's hurt but only a broken leg! I can still fight while I carry her! Go comrade! I will cover you!”

Jet pushed forward as Pulsar mercenaries started to take defensive positions inside the underground compound. Unknown to them that Jet, Avia, Mac, Red, Passion and Strella came up behind them. Passion was using her left wing to hold onto Red.

“Give me a gun!” Passion whispered as they took cover behind a stack of boxes to take their guards by surprise. Strella dug through her pockets and slid Passion an Equestrian P2011 pistol.

“Make it count,” Strella peaked over her cover, “On three! One... Two... Three!”

They all stood up from their boxes and took out the enemies they managed to flank. With a successful surprise attack a group of UPF soldiers breached through the door.

“UPF Special Forces! We're here to rescue you!” the Eevee Pokemorph leading the exo suited squad secured the room. There was an Espeon shotgunner with black hair and goggles plus a female Syleon sniper with a Fluttershy keychain affixed to her DMR. On top of that there was a male Vulpix that looked very similar to Alyssa of Task Force Frostbite, “Rico, Carmen. Unlock all the cells! Will, you too! Gather all the ponies and get them the medical help they need.”

“Yes sir!” Carmen saluted as she shouldered her DMR, “Rico you get this floor. I got the floor down.”

“Got it sister! Will and I will get the prisoners,” the Espeon rushed over to the cells and started to free the remaining ponies.

Strella stood up and took off her disguise, “Frostbite will take it from here Spazzy. You and the rest of 3-Burn get our friends out of this mess.”

“Copy that Miss Strella!”

Jet helped Red carry out Passion while Avia went back to help Glitzy. He sighed with deep grief finally washing over him, “Alson played his cards right. We walked into a trap and this is what happened. Dammit...”

Chapter Seventeen: United We Stand

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Seventeen: United We Stand

They all gathered under the darkness of a grey, cloudy day. The ponies of the NGJTF were here to say one last goodbye to their two dead friends murdered in cold blood by the ruthless enemy. They were all silent with the only sounds coming from the loved ones who were closest to Ship. Tough Heart, while normally the most resistant and strong at heart pony, sunk into the ground next to Ship's coffin. Ship's mother and father were there as well, her mother atop the coffin screaming for her little girl. Fragarach's father didn't bother to come as he was stricken by grief having now lost his only son and his mother years ago. Both of their coffins had the flag of United Equus draped over them as they were slowly lowered into their graves right next to Flip and Jet's Father. Rio couldn't let go of her daughter, desperately trying to hold on as she held the coffin close.

“¡NO! No quiero dejarte! No quiero dejarte! ¡Mi hija!” Rio was pulled from the hole by her husband and the others around her.

Jet looked away, “Dammit. I can't watch this...”

His eyes caught the tombstone of Flip and his father's. He as well started to break down.

“This is so much shit...” Avia glared with anger and tears, “First my love, then Tough's... The Pulsar are going to fucking die!”

Tough Heart slowly rose up after his wife was buried. He turned to Jet and Iron Cross, “I'm quitting the force.”

“WHAT?!” Cross was shocked, “But Tough Heart! You are one of the most valuable members of this special forces team! You cannot quit now!”

“Tough, this isn't-” Jet almost finished but he saw the broken shell of a stallion Tough Heart became. He saw his mother's emotions in Tough's eyes, “That look,” Jet sighed trying to compose himself. A wash of zeal and righteous anger filled him as his eyes glanced to his father's tombstone, “LISTEN TOUGH! THIS ISN'T LIKE YOU! You know as much as we do that we can't do this without you! We need everypony fighting or we're gonna end up buried here with them! Do you get it?!”

“NO!” Tough Heart threw a punch at Jet's face, “It's over Jet! Ship is dead and it's all my Celestia-damned fault!”

“Hold your tongue Captain Tough Heart,” Celestia herself graced all of them at the funeral. All the ponies bowed.

“P-Princess!”

“No, now is not the time. You are to continue fighting! That is an order soldier,” Celestia seemed tense, “Jump Jet, Iron Cross, and Cirrus of Nimbus Squadron! Report!”

“Yes ma'am!” all three of them stood front and center, “What are your wishes?”

“Time is of the essence. The Pulsar have a fleet ready to strike Equus! NOW!”

The situation became even more grave. Cirrus was the first to speak, “Permission to speak freely Princess!”

“Granted.”

“Princess Celestia. Allow me to lead the fleet! As Luna's personal Fleet Commander and senior member of the-”

“No,” Celestia spoke with determined tone, “Colonel Jump Jet will lead the NGJTF!”

Jet looked back and forth shocked, “Colonel?! Lead?! Princess Celestia, I-I don't think I can do it! Cirrus should lead due to her experience!”

Celestia sighed and looked to the cloudy skies, “War does not wait for you to be ready. Do you know why I chose you out of all the others Colonel Jump Jet?”

“No,” Jet felt some strange feeling wash over him, “I'm not quite sure what you mean.”

“I chose you like I chose your father to go out into the stars. You showed strength, decisiveness, and a zealous fury only a hero like him showed in this most trying hour. I need you to lead! And to all of you in the NGJTF! I chose, hoof picked all of you to defend Equus in it's hour of need. Right now our enemies are planning our extinction as we speak and the fate of Equus and all her colonies rests on your shoulders. Each one of you showed something special. Each one of you have skills and combat talents no other ponies showed in my selection program. All of you, picked by me. The best of the best. I need you... All of you... To fight.”

A distant sound of thunder rolled through the sky. With Jet's face sunken to the ground and his eyes hidden by his mane a twitch of his face could be seen. Tears dropped from his cheek before his gaze slowly lifted with a furious smile of victory. He couldn't be more honored at the Princess's words.

“You have the finest Princess!” he saluted and threw his hat to the side. He glanced back to his team and yelled, “Come on JTF! You wanna live forever?!” A whole round of cheers erupted from their members. All united, all crying, not of sadness, but of a renewed fire in their hearts. Jet looked to Tough as he stood in place, “What you say big guy? Ready to kick some ass?”

“I...” Tough sunk his head before a fire took spark in his heart. The orange blaze of fur on his chest puffed up and his face filled with righteous fury. The spark took hold as he grit his teeth, “I'm in...”

“Good...” Jet smiled with pride as the whole task force, a few hundred or so ponies, all saluted under his command. Avia walked forward.

“What are your orders brother?”

“All Next Generation Joint Task Force! Launch into the stars!”

With Jet's order all of them blinked away and back to their ships with teleporters on their wrists. Before Jet did the same Princess Celestia held him back for just a second.

“Go, make your father proud...”

“With all due respect Princess. He already is,” Jet teleported to the bridge of the Sky Buster and assumed his new role. He looked to Mac Book and Sagittarius already at their stations, “What's the situation?”

“Colonel! Enemy fleet has jumped out of hyperspace and are preparing to launch an assault on the planet! They're closing in fast!” Sagittarius reported in.

“Mac, intel on these ships. Now!”

“Copy! The enemy fleet has three battleships, two carriers, and a dozen cruisers coupled with scores of support ships! It's a whole armada sir!”

“Damn, we're outnumbered,” Jet paused, “What is our fleet size?”

“Three carriers, one fast battleship, a heavy aegis cruiser, and three missile cruisers with only half the number of supporting ships!”

“What did that former UPF President once say? 'Fair odds?' Something like that,” Jet tried to recall an old UPF saying, “Hmph. I'm launching out!”

“What?! You can't be serious!” Sagittarius exclaimed. His sister, Nelly, jumped in protest as well.

“Jet, sweetheart, you can't go out there! What if-” Nelly was pulled his closer for a full kiss on the lips from her boyfriend. Jet smiled as he broke away.

“I won't,” he stroked a hoof through her cream mane and held her close, “I trust you. So trust me. You stay here, fire the big guns. Trust in the sun, moon, and all the stars that fate will smile upon us.”

“Alright,” Nelly felt at ease. She knew something deep down told her everything would be okay, “But who's gonna?”

“Cross! You lead the fleet for now! The flyboys need me,” Jet stripped off his officer's uniform and donned his flight suit, “Don't disappoint me!”

“Ich werde mein Bestes geben Kommandant!” Cross saluted his commanding officer as he departed to the hangar. Jet strapped into his fighter.

“I'm in the hotseat! Rush you launch me out!”

Rush took his paddles and signaled Jet to taxi onto the catapult, “Vertical on standby on catapult one! Valkyrie on standby on catapult two!”

Brainstorm guided two more planes onto their catapults, “Dawnlight on standby on catapult three! Shadow on standby on catapult four! First squadron ready to launch!”

“Copy that! Launch them out!” Cross ordered as the flight of Jet, Avia, Morning, and Petal all flew out into space. Rush and Brainy were already guiding the next four onto the catapults.

“Squadron one away and airborne!” Jet formed up with his team.

“Look who decided to join in,” Cirrus flew in with her F/A-18X, “Can't stay out of the cockpit for long can you?”

“What are you? My second mom?” Jet rolled his eyes as the Hokums joined in the fun.

“Feels like the Round Table all over again,” Raptor commented.

“Don't worry. No one is dying on my watch,” Jet radioed out as the rest of the Sky Buster's squadrons scambled, “You all here? Let's get started!”

“Crap!” Babs Seed took the first blow from an enemy fighter squadron, “They've got us! Only light external damage managed to punch through our shields!”

“Roger! Sky Buster First Squadron engaging hostile fighters! AMRAAMS away! Fox Three! Fox Three!” Jet fired his long range missiles with his team. Morning, Petal, and Avia all scored direct hits on the first enemy squadron.

“Splash six bandits!” Avia reported in, “Zoey give these guys a data link!”

“Copy Miss Avia!” her AI assistant engaged her data link protocol, “Link established! Missiles, Radar, and all systems buffed!”

Inside the EMS Manehatten Babs directed her battleship to engage the remaining fighters that hit her, “Gunnas! Load Trinity warheads on main guns! Proxy Airburst will ya?”

“Roger Miss Battleship Babs!” her crewpony vectored in communications to the main battery gunners, “All forward guns! Load Trinity! Proxy Airburst!”

“Forward guns loaded!” the gunners of the ship reported back as the mechanical lifts and conveyer belts delivered the giant shells to the batteries of cannons, “Fire salvo!”

Eighteen naval guns discharged heavy ballistic warheads into space in a massive plume of fire and smoke. The magically enchanted thermobaric warheads exploded in a swarm of enemy fighters with the magic acting as a medium for the shockwave of the blast to ride on in the vacuum of space. The enemy squadron was decimated from the Trinity warheads.

“Enemy fighter squadron silenced!” Babs reported to the fleet.

“Hmph,” Cirrus of Nimbus Team smirked, “Hey Fairview, let's show these Pulsar that our battleship isn't the only heavy hitter! Deploy the weapon!”

“Roger Miss Cirrus! Enemy cruiser in range! Blast them apart!” the Admiral on the Fairview 2 commanded his crew to unleash a secret weapon mounted in the front of their hull. The armored panels at the front of the ship retracted in a second to reveal two massive 31 inch guns, “Load SABOT!”

“SABOT loaded!” the gunners locked in the shells in their breach, “Fire salvo!”

Two shells exploded out of the forward guns with enough velocity to punch right through the enemy's shields. The armor piercing round shattered the shimmer of the Pulsar cruiser.

“Shields are down! Nimbus! Attack!” Cirrus inverted her plane and dove into the fight. Her twin anti-ship missiles armed, “Bruiser! Bruiser!”

“ASMs away!” Mac Book tracked the missiles. Many of them were shot down by the cruiser's CIWS guns but the few that managed to make it through did so with deadly effect, knocking out the internal missile batteries of the Pulsar ship, “Times three splash on target! Direct hits! Enemy magazine compartment ignited!”

“One down! Nimbus retrograde to safe airspace and rearm!” Jet gave his order as the swarm of enemy fighters made contact, “Sky Buster First Squadron has made contact with the leading edge of the Pulsar! Engaging!”

“Copy Colonel!” Cirrus broke off her flight to rearm their missiles with magic, “Hokums! If you can help them out!”

“Aye!” Raptor flew in at full speed with Lightning and Tomcat, “Hokum flight! Fox one! Fox one!”

“Twelve Missiles away! ESM linked! Tracking buffed!” Mac Book continued his electronic support measures, “Good hits! Enemy fighters thinned! ARGH!”

The Sky Buster was torpedoed by a flight of stealth fighters that decloaked to launch their anti-ship missiles.

“Damage report!” Cross glanced to Sagittarius.

“No hull breach! Superficial damage to engine one sir! Shields are holding!”

“Cross, this is Button Mash! Leave them to me!” Button came forward with his Aegis Cruiser. All alone on his bridge and linked to his spaceship with a total immersive cockpit he manipulated holograms to give orders to his crew, “Anti-air teams to your stations! We'll put up a no fly zone around the Sky Buster! Protect our carrier!”

“Yes sir!” The scores of vulcan cannons mounted all over the ship spun to life. As more missiles came in to attack the carrier an impressive wall of lead blanketed the spacefront and shot down all missiles launched toward the Sky Buster.

“Radar team! ID stealth fighters! Switch to low frequency radar! Engage when you see fit!”

“Copy that Commander Button!” his radar operators scanned for the enemy cloakers, “ID on eight bandits! Data linked to missile teams!”

“Locked on! Birds affirm!” the surface to air missile turrets of Button's ship tracked the invisible craft, “Birds away! Birds away!”

“Gladslam!” Mac Book reported that the whole stealth fighter squadron was shot down, “Woo! Thanks for the cover Purple Dart!”

Button smiled and nodded, “You got it!”

“This is Rumble! Ready the bulldogs crew!” Rumble vectored his radio to his cruise missile teams.

“Cruise missiles armed and ready! Bulldog! Bulldog!” a volley of missiles launched out from the EMS Rainbow Dash. They streaked toward their targets and impacted with catastrophic results.

“Direct hits!” Sagittarius reported in, “Two enemy cruisers hit! It punched right through their shields!”

“Let's say we finish the job Crusaders!” Scootaloo flew into the battle with her F-8X, “Pounder, Waveform terminate those damaged cruisers!”

“Roger!” Pound Cake enabled the anti-ship missiles in his massive weapons bays, “Bruiser! Bruiser!”

“Waveform! WUB! WUB!” Bass Drop uttered the brevity code for his own mothers experimental weapon: the bass cannon. Using magically enchanted sound waves to direct a massive concussive shockwave the weapon caused the Pulsar cruisers hull to break away before Pound Cake's missiles impacted into the same hole. It caused a massive explosion which rippled as a chain reaction in the enemy ship.

“Enemy cruiser down!” Sagittarius cheered, “Multiple long range missiles inbound! Brace for impacts!”

“I got this!” Button Mash took the head of the fleet formation. His defensive wall of lead made a great no fly zone all around the fleet as missiles were shot down left and right like flies, “Colonel Jet! Do something about the fighters that got through!”

“Roger! Sky Buster Squadrons! Let's get em!”

“Morning here! I've got two bandits making a break for our carrier! Petal and I are engaging!” Morning Shine got caught up in a dogfight with two Pulsar US-74s, “Guns! Guns! Guns!”

The rotary barreled cannon of his fighter tore into the enemy craft as Petal flew in from above to take it down with missiles.

“Ha!” Petal smiled.

“Kill stealer,” Morning chuckled as his two remaining missiles destroyed the other fighter en route to their aircraft carrier.

Jet looked back at the fleet and saw friendly radar signatures launch out from the Sky Buster. It was Red October and Blossom flying in with their bombers along with Piggle's Neophron and Scratch's Wipeout.

“This is Inferno! Chernaya, Warpig, and Kitty are flying off my wing. Fighters! Open up an air corridor so we can punch right through!”

“Roger that Blossom!” Jet radioed back out, “All fighters! I want you to target all anti-air guns of the enemy vessels! Pave the way for our bombers and ground attackers to mop up!”

“Affirmative!” the combined fighter squadrons gave a round of cheers.

“Let us help too!” Babs came over Jet's radio, “Crew! Turn this ship 'round. Give em a full broadside! Target their AA guns!”

“Full broadsides! Give it everything you got!” the gunners on the Manehatten used the covering fire of the Purple Dart to face the enemy with all their guns to bare. Twenty four 18 inch guns lined up to fire in a massive salvo that clouded the whole side of the ship in smoke. The shield piercing SABOT rounds melded with the enemy plasma and punched right into their anti air guns. One AA cruiser was disabled by the volley of Babs and her crew.

“Yo Nelly!” Jet radioed back out to his girlfriend, “Show the fleet they're not the only ones packing! Arm the cruise missiles of the Sky Buster!”

“Wilco love! Man it's been a long time since I fired the big guns!” Nelly typed away at her fire control console, “Missiles up and ready! Launching!”

With a tap of the keyboard the forward facing missiles of the Sky Buster launched out. Dozens of missiles fired from the carrier and flew past the fighter squadrons.

“Fighters! Follow up those missiles! Launch your own to combine in the attack! Vertical! Bruiser! Bruiser!” Jet fired his own anti-ship missiles along with the rest of the combined squadron. With hundreds of ASMs in transit the remaining CIWS turrets of the enemy fleet couldn't knock them out fast enough. The missiles that impacted made their guns inoperable and they were easy picking for the bombers flying in.

“This is Blossom! Good job fighters! Bombers on final approach! Knock out the rest of their fighters!”

Inside the cockpit of his Blackjack bomber Red October looked to Passion behind him, “Good, just like I showed you. You learn fast my little dushka!”

“Thanks sweetheart,” Passion smiled to her new boyfriend, “Missiles armed! Let get back at these Pulsar for what they did to Frag and Ship!”

“Da! Pobeda dlya Rodiny, i vse Equus! Chernaya! Launching nuclear missiles!” Red October and Passion opened up the bomb bays of their massive stealth bomber. The rotary drum spun out their deadly ordinance and all their missiles launched forward and burrowed into the defenseless enemy ships before each giving a chain reaction of explosions, “You can thank my mother for those missiles you dirty Pulsar bastards!”

“Inferno dropping AGM-129 ACMs! Eat some more nukes you shitheads!” twelve more missiles dropped out of Blossom's bomber and streaked toward the final enemy ships undefeated. Massive nuclear impacts decimated the Pulsar fleet and the surviving ships turned tail to retreat.

“Oh no you don't!” Scratch flew into the debris field with her A-164 Wipeout. Off her wing was Piggle and Apollo with their own ground attack planes, “Pigsy, Appy. It's all fair game! Finish them off!”

“Copy that!” Pigsy ducked in and out of the remaining enemies with fighters hot on his tail, “Hey guys! Can I get a hoof over here?!”

His aggressor was shot down by the shimmer of Umbra's craft. Pigsy's sister pulled up next to him.

“Trust me now brother?”

Piggle sighed in relief as he continued his attack on the enemy fleet, “Yeah... Thanks sis. I thought I was a goner.”

“All this time you saw me as a monster. All the pain my powers have inflicted on others. It took a long time to finally control them. And yet...”

“Umbra there's one behind you!” Jet came into the fray to kill the fighter about to shoot down Umbra and Piggle, “And that's a save! Don't space out! Save the sappiness for later!”

“Guess we'll talk about my Dark Resonance Syndrome later,” Umbra pulled away to be replaced by Hornet as he hovered above Scratch.

“Hola mi amor! Care for an escort?”

“Dude there's one behind you!” Scratch chuckled, “I got him!”

Scratch flipped her Wipeout into a snap Immelmann and got into a head on attack with Hornet's enemy. The massive GAU-8 cannon spat out 4,200 rounds per minute into the cockpit of the enemy fighter.

“Well,” Hornet sheepishly smiled, “that was embarrassing.”

“Don't think I can't handle myself in a dogfight, in a ground attacker no less!” Scratch giggled and winked to her boyfriend.

All enemy ships were routed in the Equus space front. The few that managed to warp out left behind scores of wrecks that littered space.

“We won! Mission complete! Any casualties?” Jet looked on as plane after plane formed up with his squadrons, “twelve thirteen fourteen, twenty! Hoho! Look at that!”

“Nimbus Flight here, no combat losses!” Cirrus smiled to all her pilots, “Excellent work!”

“Hokums here! Aside from a few flaps and elevators missing we're all good! All of our planes are still flying!” Raptor formed up with his own squadron.

“Sky Buster Squadrons... Not a single scratch!” Jet cheered, “Hell yeah!”

“What do you mean Colonel? I'm right here!” Scratch join in.

“You know what I mean!” Jet laughed with her.

“Scootaloo here. No casualties! Chalk another win up for the Crusaders!”

“Hey!” Button Mash vectored in a transmission to Jet, “Reinforcements are here!”

A flight of UPF Black Jacket fighters showed up out of the wrap, “Hey! Frostbite here! We came as soo... Crap we missed the party!”

“We got this!” Jet circled around as a UPF fleet came to the unneeded aid of the Equus fleet.

“And here I thought the New Supremacy gets to fire it's railgun in combat again,” Quincy sighed, “Oh well.”

“RTB everyone! We're heading home!”

Chapter Eighteen: The Calm

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Eighteen: The Calm

“So you mean to tell me that the whole Anti-Equus fleet was wiped out by those stupid ponies?!” Alson Burry was furious to his officers, “Explain to me how those degenerates managed to destroy one of our largest fleets with nothing but a handful of carriers and one mere battleship!”

“Sir, to be fair that pony witchcraft of theirs is a big problem. Their armor piercing shells are coated with some sort of magic that makes them pass right through our plasma shields. What we need to do is to use Violium to counter their magic. It's sort of like an anti-pony kryptonite if you've ever read those human superhero comics.”

“I'm from the UPF young admiral! I don't care for superheros! Like most of the UPF citizens I think those comics are a shit stain on the very foundations of my nation. Powers should be earned, not given. I had to climb my way to the top from the very bottom. Ugh,” Alson cupped his head in his palms, “I need a drink. But I will consider your request! Tell me, who has the most Violium we can steal?”

“The Hylotl Empire sir.”

“Rally the next fleet. I want twice the size we used to invade Equus. Oh and one more thing. How are those pony defectors coming along?” Alson looked up.

“Good sir. They're responding well to our ideals and the genetic augmentation. It's a good thing they wish to do away with their quadrupedal form and embrace true sentience as a bipedal race.”

“Excellent. I want these “Ponex” of yours in the next assault. Make them cause havoc in the next attack.”

“Yes sir Mr. Burry!”

-----

The hangar of the Sky Buster was filled with music and decorations to celebrate the victorious defense of Equus. Hundreds of ponies and the crew of the combined NGJTF all mingled and danced to the beat while others paraded around the ship at their leisure. Bass Drop and Blue Circuit sat on stage to DJ for the whole task force. While the many ponies partied in the hangar Jet was up on the bridge with Iron Cross as they filled out stacks of paperwork to cover the damages done by the Pulsar.

“Ah crap...” Jet slumped back in the captain's chair which began to spin wildly as he knocked the joystick of the seat, “Dammit! How have we not fixed this! Whoa! Ah!”

“It's hard wired to the mainframe of the Sky Buster. We can't replace it Colonel,” Cross continued filling out the massive stack of papers.

“And to think being promoted would be a good thing! I hate all this paperwork. And this chair!”

“Well, if you want you can welcome the new recruit to replace Fragarach,” the mere mention of that name caused Cross to gag, “Ugh! I can't believe we were forced to eat him...”

“Shut up, just... Shut up,” Jet felt a twitch of emotional pain wash over him, “Don't ever say that name again.”

“But, we have to least we forget the atrocities we have made,” coming from the German this weighed heavily on Jet.

“I guess you're right. The others look like they already forgot and are just partying in the hangar,” Jet sighed, “We're all cannibals now. How many of us do you think have escaped that fact already?”

“I doubt anyone has. The partying and the smiles, they all just hide the guilt of the crime we have all committed. Well, except Rush,” Cross put a hoof on Jet's shoulder, “You're not alone mien friend.”

“I can't believe they were gonna eat Rush too. They cryogenically froze him and stuffed him into the freezer. It was lucky that we thawed him out before they shipped him off with the escape craft Burry used. Anyway, who is this new recruit?”

“Well, he isn't so much as a recruit. In fact, I offered him a place on the team. A certain, Ajay Ghale.”

“Really?” Cross glanced back before looking out into space again, “The Kyrati?”

“Yup. I've seen him fight. He'll be a great addition to the team. Really, a lot of soldiers are starting to volunteer for our task force. All this paperwork is to authorize that,” Jet explained as he looked back at the stack of papers, “Now if only I didn't get so many washouts! It's the special forces, not special ed.”

“No kidding,” Cross sighed. A soft whoosh of the automatic door caught his ear, “Ah, that must be him right now.”

“Ajay Ghale reporting for duty sir!” the Kyrati earth pony stood front and center.

“At ease. No need to be so tense. We are partying after all,” Jet patted him on the shoulder, “It's nice to have you on board! You okay?”

“No...” he sat down and shook his head, “I was used. The Golden Path were terrorists after all. Amita killed a child and enslaved them to work while Sabal would have imposed a religious dictatorship over all of Kyrat. Meanwhile Pagan was right. Had I only listened to him Kyrat could have turned out for the better. I had to leave. I wanted to join to forget.”

“That's tough shit brother,” Jet sat with him, “Knowing the EUF they won't stand for that injustice. In fact, I can turn that whole Kyrati situation around since I have their CEO on speed dial. Your country deserves better Mr. Ghale. Say, since you're part of the military now do you even have a rank?”

“Well, technically I'm a mercenary. You did offer me this job.”

“Fair enough. Based on your performance I'll assign you a rank myself. I think Captain would be fair. How much training did they drill you through?”

“Overviewed basic. I passed with flying colors on that. The more advanced power armor, 3D maneuver gear, and parkour kit training was a little harsh but I'm a quick learner. There's a lot of neat stuff you guys have access to,” Ajay got back up and looked about the room and looked out the bridge, “This is my first time in space. It looks amazing.”

“More of this view where we usually go,” Jet smiled, “All the stars, planets, and celestial bodies out there for us to defend. We are the guardians of Equus and all her colonies. Well, enough chatter. Why don't we mangle with the others? Go on to the hangar I'll join you guys in a minute after all this paperwork!”

“Sure thing sir!” Ajay saluted as he departed. There was a beeping that came from the console denoting a mission alert.

Cross pulled up the hologram, “Mission from the Hylotl Empire. Pulsar are attacking in their sector. UPF reinforcements already on the scene.”

“Leave it,” Jet made the call, “Our troops are fatigued as it is. I doubt the Pulsar could muster up a larger force after their defeat at our hooves. I'm sure Frostbite and the UPF can handle it.”

“Okay. Smart of you to put the troops first. I'll be in the hangar with the party. See you later,” Cross walked away and left Jet on the bridge.

-----

In the gym of the ship Night Glider and Masayuki were exchanging blows in sparring. The two were trying to compare each others martial arts as a show of competition.

“You fight well Night Glider!” Masayuki deflected a kick from her as he used the momentum of her own attack to throw her onto the floor with redirected force, “But not as well as I.”

Masayuki helped her up as the sparring was over. She dusted herself off.

“Good show. Not bad for a forty some year old huh?”

“Wait, you're forty? I made you out to be at least early thirties,” Masayuki was surprised.

“I was trained for peak physical condition for North Equestria's special forces. As such they took measures to prolong my lifespan others don't normally receive.”

“An interesting thing Night Glider,” Zenji nodded, “Masayuki and I are descendents of the Samurai with both our families having a strong military heritage. And as such the code of Bushido is strong between us. Tell me, did North Equestria instill that same code of honor?”

“I can safety say no. We fought dirty, we used chemical weapons, massed wave tactics, and you saw the nuclear missiles fly up. I'm glad I'm not part of that anymore,” Night Glider chuckled it off, “But we are as ruthless as you say we are. It's efficient in combat.”

“I can't disagree there,” Zenji walked over to the vending machine and punched a button for some Ramune, “Would you like to try one Gilder-San?”

“Oh, I... What is this?” Night Glider sat confused to the beverage.

“It's called Ramune. It's a soda pop popular in Neighpon. I prefer the strawberry flavor,” Masayuki opened up his bottle and drank it down with a refreshed sigh.

“What's a soda pop?” Night Glider fiddled around with the bottle, “And how do I open this?”

“Here,” Zenji popped the little marble into the bottle, “Soda pop is a fizzy soft drink made by infusing carbon dioxide into the liquid.”

“That doesn't sound too tasty,” Night Glider's ears flopped down as she sniffed the lychee flavored marble soda. The tingly spritz of the popping fizz made her recoil her head back in confusion, “Okay, here goes.”

Night tried to drink it but only managed a small sip before the marble blocked the opening.

“Good yes?” Masayuki smiled.

“It's hard to drink. The marble keeps blocking it. But it's good! I've never had a soda pop.”

“You drink it horizontal to stop the marble from blocking the neck. That is mango flavored.”

“What's a mango?” Night Glider asked to Zenji.

“Oh the wonders you will have to learn about life outside your country,” Masayuki smiled and put an arm around his comrade in arms. They shared laughs as they walked away from the gym.

-----

Around the time the party started to slow down Blue Circuit stepped down from the stage to mingle with the others outside of the hangar chilling in the hallway. He yawned as he pulled a vaporizer from his pocket and loaded in a green apple cartridge. He took a long whiff and exhaled a large cloud of vapor.

“Hey!” Jet was right there to yell at him, “Blue! What are you doing? Narcotics are banned in our military.”

“Oh no sir, it's just a vaporizer. It's just water vapor and flavor, no nicotine or anything at all,” Circuit took another good whiff.

Jet looked back, “Oh well, oops... Carry on then. Say! Some new gear showed up in the armory. You wanna give it a look through?”

Blue exhaled a large puff of vapor right into Jet's face, “Sure boss!”

Jet laughed it off, “Smells nice. Apple?”

“Yeah.”

As they walked to the armory they were greeted by Prelude and Wishful.

“So how long were you in the Army Rangers Prelude?” Wishful asked.

“Four years? It's been so long that I don't remember. Oh hey guys! Where are you all going?” Prelude turned to Jet.

“Armory. We got new gear! You're welcome to join us,” Jet smiled as he lifted a hoof.

“Cool! So as I was saying, what about you Wishful?” Prelude returned to his conversation.

“Huh?”

“How long were you in the Green Berets?”

“Four years as well. Joined right out of school,” Wishful swiped a can of soda as he passed by a vending machine.

“Wow! Me too! In fact it was Jet who made most of our group of friends join. A few of them didn't. My sister, Vinnie, ship's brother and sisters, Philosophia, Athena, you get the picture.”

“Us Army buddies gotta stick together. There's too many squids and flyboys here,” Wishful chuckled as Jet turned around.

“I heard that! If it wasn't for my para-rescue ass your chopper pilots would still be shot down. Air Force for life baby!”

“Hey Circuit, what branch did you serve?” Wishful turned his attention to Blue.

“I didn't. I actually joined the EUF because I was told that they paid more for my college tuition. Sure enough they did and I paid those off like nothing bro. I started off as a fire enginer.”

“A fire enginer?” Wishful raised an eyebrow, “What the fuck is a fire enginer?”

“I'm just kidding man. But I was an engineer.”

As they walked in Nelly and Tough Heart were already getting fitted with their new armors as Brainstorm and Rush oversaw the equipment.

“Mech lab is finally up and running!” Rush smiled as he waved to Jet.

“Aw sweet! Wow Nelly you look great in that thing!”

Nelly's face was hidden behind a layer of segmented armor. With a press of a button her face shield retracted and she smiled back at Jet, “Thanks love!”

“Loving the new minigun! 7mm Federation?” Jet checked the gun mounted on her right arm.

“No, it's actually 6.5mm Equus Caseless. Same rounds we use for the MX and Katiba series rifles.”

“Good, simplifies logistics. How about you Tough?”

“I want payback...” Tough didn't smile. A stone cold gaze was all that was left of his emotions.

“I figured,” Jet took on a look of sorrow.

“All I want to do now is fight. No more games. I want revenge,” Tough huffed as he stepped out of his exo suit. Jet noticed the orange fluff of hair shaped like a heart on his chest was cracked down the middle, nor did it puff up when his fur stood on ends. Jet kept looking at him as he retreated back to his room. Nelly walked forward only to be held back by Jet.

“No,” Jet sighed sadly, “Give him space. All the space he needs. I already talked to him. If he needs help he'll come ask for it. He's still fit to fight and rather empowered by his loss now. But he'll never be the same again. I can promise you that.”

“Right, let's change the subject. Jet you got another new revolver!”

“OH HELL YEAH NELLY!” Jet rushed over to the table with all their new gear laid out, “Holy crap! What is this thing? Applebloom Engineering: Magnetic Coil Revolver-Explosive Experimental. The “MCREE” huh? I love that name!”

“Cowboy up,” Prelude patted his shoulder, “How many of those things do you have now?”

“Four-no! Five! I just bought a Zubr as well for the funsies,” Jet smiled and pointed to his locker. With a click of a button on his smart watch it popped open to reveal four hanged futuristic revolvers: a B3 Wingman, a P33 Pereira, an NS-44 Commissioner, and a Zubr .44.

“Why do you have so many bro?” Blue looked at all the wheel guns.

“Daddy issues. What else?” Jet rolled his eyes to Circuit, “Hey GameNut you got some new gear too!”

“Oh sweet! Here we go again, EUF always sends me these things. Wonder what's in the crate this time?” As Blue Circuit opened the weapon crate he found a cybernetically enhanced sub machine gun and a pair of what looked to be giant energy spikes inside. He took the note addressed to him and read it out loud, “Make them eat your nuts Agent Circuit. From Mr. CEO.”

“Look at you hotshot. Why do you think they always send us these things?” Jet glanced over again.

“Because I was his bodyguard bro. Troy is a great boss. Come to think of it, I do remember him talking about your father here and there.”

“What did he have to say about my father?” Jet's ears flopped down as he asked in a curious tone of voice.

“Well, off the top of my head I remember that your dad saved his life one time, how they were buddies, and all that fluff. That's probably why they send us so much stuff.”

“No kidding,” Jet looked to the stockpile of UPF weapons, “If it wasn't for the EUF we wouldn't have as many of those. The Federation loves to keep their toys to themselves for the most part.”

“Wait a minute, aren't some of those guns contraband by the UPF?” Prelude took a look at some of the crates and noticed some extremely advanced gear.

“Yeah, but don't tell anyone. Strella pulled some strings and most of it we got quote unquote: “Fell off a truck.” You got it?”

“Gotcha,” Prelude nodded, “Oh by the way! You wanna finish up that game of Roan we paused?”

“Oh yeah!” Jet smiled, “That's one type of paperwork I don't mind doing. Let's head to the lounge then!”

-----

A several minutes later Jet, Prelude, Morning, Petal, and Avia gathered in the lounge to play a tabletop role playing game. Jet was the game master running the campaign.

“Okay guys. We left off right after we shot down the pirates in the Belzeb Desert right? Right now my plane is pretty banged up so it's up to you guys to continue the adventure while my plane repairs.”

“Gotcha. What are we gonna do?” Avia asked her brother.

Jet began his storytelling, “Hours after you land on the carrier an officer of the Black River AFB has boarded the ship. He tells you: good job shooting down that pirate ace! You just received a fat paycheck today. The brass is gonna be pleased!”

“It was a pleasure to help,” Morning began his roleplay as Prelude came back from the kitchen with some chips and snacks, “Can you help us with repairs to our ship? Most of the pirate and rogue Griffin mercenaries are hitting us hard.”

Jet looked to Prelude and flipped him a special playing chip, “Style Point for you Mr. Prelude. As for the officer he says: We don't have the personnel to spare with your ships repairs Captain Morning.”

“Hmph,” Morning thought, “Can I roll for Negotiation?”

“Sure! Roll difficulty is 4. You wanna use a Style Point?” Jet asked.

“Yes,” Morning rolled for odds and evens with evens counting as +1s. With his extra Style Point awarded from rescuing Jet's character he gained a total of five dice. All of them but one managed to meet the required roll, “I'd like to say: Oh? And what would my father have to hear about this?”

“The officer looks at you and thinks to himself before talking: Well-I... Okay, since you are the son of Colonel Firebrand. Last time I crossed him I got my ass handed to me with a nightstick. Guess I can spare a few engineers for now. Let's take a look at those aether conduits.”

Petal joined in the roleplay, “Smooth talking Morning. Glad we could convince that officer.”

“Thanks Petal. We should all get some well deserved rest after that battle.”

Jet smiled, “And that wraps up the first day. Your characters go to bed and refresh for the next mission ahead.”

-----

As the party died Piggle was the only one in the hangar who volunteered to clean up. Aside from the buzzing of drones both tracked and quadrotored the unicorn did his chores with a push broom and a neutral expression. He piled on another garbage pile as an army of drones carted the trash away with their swarm AI.

“Hey,” Umbra stepped forward from behind some crates, “You okay big brother?”

Piggle sighed, “Yes...”

Umbra looked down with her forehooves crossed as she stood on her hind legs and leaned on the crate, “Are you still scared of me?”

“Yes...” Piggle continued without looking her way. He stopped as he finished another garbage pile, “But that doesn't mean you aren't my little sister. Thank you for saving my life.”

“It's what sisters do,” Umbra got back on all fours and took her helmet off. She put it onto Piggle's head and smiled softly, “Mom and dad are really proud of you back home. You shouldn't be scared of me anymore Pigs.”

Umbra chuckled as she rubbed the helmet Piggle wore. Pigsy retracted the visor back and looked at his sister, “You seem different... Happy. I've never seen you this happy.”

“You know, what I'm about to say is totally off the record. I found my true calling as an assassin in Luna's command. They taught me many things. They taught me how to control my sin energy, my powers, and showed me that they were a good thing. I'm sorry that I hurt you so many times. I'm not the mare I once was. I'm better now. I've killed so many and it feels good. I love to kill Pigsy and with this constructive outlet I feel empowered and in control. I'm sorry Pigsy for all those times... I tried to kill you and our parents...”

Umbra came forward and embraced her brother. She was trying to hide her tears from him but Piggle accepted her for who she is. A couple pats to her back reassured Umbra everything was going to be okay.

“I forgive you,” Pigsy smiled and returned her helmet, “So... Can we get even and kill those son of a bitch Pulsar for what they did to our friends?”

“Hell yeah...” a clack of their hooves resounded in the hangar as they brohoofed.

-----

“ACHOO! Ugh...” Passion was stuck in the medical bay with a really bad case of stomach flu. Iris, the new dedicated medical officer of the carrier, carted in her medicine with a facemask to guard against further infection.

“Here, drink some of this,” Iris administered some of the cough medicine to her. Passion gulped it down in disgust.

“UGH! It tastes horrible.”

“Well, that's what cough medicine does. It will take a few weeks or so for you to really get back into the fight.”

“Great...” Passion slumped down in her bed, “But what if a new mission arrives? The team might need me! What's worse is that I don't get to party with the others today. Really, what the fuck universe?”

“Now now now, get plenty of rest, drink a lot of water and juice, and be sure to take your medicine. I have some paperwork I need to attend to for now. Get well soon!” Iris left the room with the hiss of the door. She was replaced by Red October wearing his full hazmat suit.

“Kak vy sebya chuvstvuyete?” Red directed to her in his native tongue. Passion pulled out her smartphone and instantly translated it as: how are you feeling?

“Horrible! But it's nice to have you here,” she patted a spot next to her and scooted over for her new boyfriend to sit down with her, “You look funny in that thing.”

“I know. Helps to bring out your wonderful smile,” Red booped Passion's nose with the nose of his gas mask. The skin tight hazmat suit didn't compromise his mobility as he laid down in bed with Passion. She coughed and tried to sneeze away from Red. Red merely chuckled as he wiped away the bits of ick with a issue from his untinted visor. Passion started to nuzzle into his rubbery suit seeking comfort in his embrace.

“I feel so much better with you around. I love you Red,” Passion smiled as she nuzzle her nose under Red's chin.

“Hey, are you scared of hypodermic needles?”

“Um, yes. Why do you ask?”

Red pulled a syringe case from his pocket and showed her a very rare Red Stim Pack, “Red Stim Pack. Cures any disease if you aren't afraid of needles.”

“OH RIGHT!” Passion remembered these things, “Jet's dad saved his mother by using one of these things. Where did you get it? Those things are so rare now!”

“I kept it for a while. I bought it from Earth when we were stationed there. They only recently started to remanufacture these.”

Passion held her mouth as a sicken expression donned her face. Red pulled a trash can next to her as she vomited.

“Khorosho, chto eto polnaya...” Red recoiled in disgust, “So would you like to-?”

“YES PLEASE! I'm sick of this sick...”

“Okay, close your eyes. Don't look,” Red carefully handled the needle as Passion looked away. She only felt a tiny prick as Red injected the medicine, “There! Not so bad. I forgot to tell you that it was a subcutaneous needle. Barely piercing skin. How are you now?”

Passion felt a wave of relief wash over her as her dizzy, clouded, and sickened head cleared. Her body, once in a low fever, was washed clean with a sense of renewed vigor. Her stomach settled, nose and lungs cleared, and all her senses returned to normal as the miracle stimulant enhanced her body's natural healing process. She got up from the bed and walked around.

“I! I feel great!” she got up on two legs and punched at the air to test her vigor. Passion was finally herself again after being cooped up in bed for a few days, “Yes! Well, so much for Iris right?”

“Let's sneak out. But first you're going to need a shower to get all those germs off you.”

Passion smirked and whipped her tail right under Red's chin, “You wanna join me Red?”

Red's wings shot up and his face somehow flushed even more red more pronounced than his fur, “Krasnyy, vy udachlivy, sukin syn... In a second my love!”

Chapter Nineteen: The Storm

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Nineteen: The Storm

A few weeks have passed by with no incident. After the attack on the Hylotl Empire was stopped by the Federation, with no help from the NGJTF, things have gone quiet for the Pulsar. Jet and Nelly savored the moment as they snuggled up in bed. Jet had both his wings wrapped around her as Nelly snuggled under his chin. The ambient glow of distant stars lit up the room from their plasma shielded window which gave them an impressive view of outer space. Jet softly nipped at Nelly's ear.

“I love you squeaky,” Jet gave a content sigh as Nelly let out a soft squeak. As they were about to couple lips a soft hiss of the automated door interrupted them. Jet draped the blanket over Nelly and jump up to see her mother standing at the door, “Oh hello Miss KP. I-uh...”

“Can it Colonel,” Kim chuckled, “I know what you two were about to do. But let's save that for later. I got something you might want to hear.”

“Yes Ma'am,” Jet walked over to his desk as Kim dropped a folder on his keyboard. Nelly stirred from under the blanket and eyed her mother.

“Oh don't call me that. I'm not that old. Besides, how long are we living now thanks to science? One fifty or something? Hell, I still feel like I'm thirty,” Kim sat on their bed as Nelly got up to sit next to her mother. Jet eyed the folders contents intently.

“Confirmed reports that the abandoned EUF Zavijava Lunar Erchius Mining Facility houses a Pulsar Base of operations supervised by none other than Alson Burry?!” Jet recoiled back in surprise, “Coordinates at X: 823940202 Y:-999206606, Version Code: Pleased Giraffe. WOW! Miss KP, where did you get this?”

“Close work with UPF, EUF, Avali, and Changeling intelligence groups. It was tough, and we lost a lot of good agents to get this intel. Not only that, we have time on our side. Pulsar doesn't know we have their base location. They still think that hiding in EUF territory is gonna save them. I'll give them that, they were hiding their main base right above the planet that the EUF was founded on. The Earth United Force still has a massive underground base on that planet. But I'm sure Mr. CEO can fill you in on the details...”

There was an awkward pause as KP looked at the door. She cleared her throat very loudly.

“Oh sorry! Is it my turn to come in?” CEO Troy Gambino of the EUF yelled from the hallway.

“YES! Dammit Troy, that was suppose to be a smooth segway.”

“Hey! It's not my fault your ceiling are so low. Do you know how many times I got clocked in the head by a ceiling fan around here? Jesus Christ you ponies are tiny,” Troy knocked his head on the top of the door jam, “FUCK!”

“Who's Jesus Christ?” Nelly tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

Troy smiled and gave a fond sigh, “He is the lord and savior of the Human race. The Messiah, if you will.”

Nelly noticed a small T shaped necklace he wore. Engraved into it were the words: Jesus loves you. She pointed to it, “And what is that?”

Troy took it and showed it to them, “It's the Cross. This very symbol represents the single most important sacrifice mankind has done for itself. Jesus is our God. He walked among us and preached his holy teachings as well as preformed miracles beyond what mankind could accomplish. And because of mankind's evil, he was put to death for being our God by those who did not believe in him. He was hung, nails in his palms and feet, to die on this cross.”

“Ugh!” Jet gulped in disgust, “You guys revel in human sacrifice or something?”

“No, no, no. You see, Jesus rose from the dead to liberate all of human sin. The cross is our symbol of our own sacrifices to help progress the human race. Human nature is evil, corrupt, and always embroiled in conflict. We aren't like you ponies, or the UPF, or any other of the starbound races. Our greatest danger is-was ourselves. Until Jesus saved us all. I have personally seen him through his second coming after Earth was destroyed by the Tentacle Monster. He's still out there somewhere in the universe helping the lost sheep come home. You know how you worship your Princesses as Ethereal Beings?”

“Yes, why?” Nelly nodded.

“Jesus is like that. Since he is the human God of all he takes on our flesh to advance our species. Of course, Ethereal Beings like Jesus, Princess Celestia, and Luna only come into physical existence in either times of great crisis or when their race has proven themselves to be righteous enough for their Gods to live among them. What I have seen from you ponies is just that. No other, AND I MEAN NO OTHER, sentient race in the whole of the two universes have their Ethereals living among them as permanent figures of society. Not even Jesus said to me he'd stay in the physical realm for longer than he needs to. My species still needs so much more progress. However, what he did say to me was this: As my child, my disciple, and my follower I instruct you to unite as many people under our flag as the human race for our flocks have wandered away and you, along with the countless others I have chosen, are to lead them back to me. You will have everything you will need in your journey and those who I have inspired will join you in your ventures. Take with you the seeds of Earth, the wheat, my body. Take with you the grapes and the wine, my blood. You will start in humble beginnings and may grow desperate as your faith is tried. Go into the stars and rebuild what is lost. I will give you strength, allies, and protect you from all enemies of mankind. You will never be alone. I have spoken to the billions of others who will join our plight.”

“Then what happened?” Nelly continued.

“I was just barely over a kid back then. Earth was destroyed and here I thought Jesus was asking me to do something so out of my reach it seemed impossible. I thought for months about it. I traveled back and forth. Planet to planet, solar system to solar system with the few friends that survived Earths destruction with me. Nick, Mira, May, Alex, and Rex. We were confused to what he just preached. For a time we even wondered if he was the real Jesus. A few months passed and we had just ran out of food except for a few containers of fruit. We were doing our best to ration them out but we were desperate. He had to steal from someone if we were to survive. But what we didn't expect was our first victims to be you ponies.”

“And you almost killed me with a banana...” Kim recalled a rather embarrassing moment from the ponies first contact with humans.

Troy shook his head in amusement, “You're never gonna live that down huh? Honestly we didn't know those were genetically modified Apex bananas only edible to humans and those mutant apes. If it makes you feel any better Sky Buster scared the puke outta me when we were trying to get your medicine by flying supersonic with nothing but my arms to help me cling on for dear life.”

“Wait, my dad?!” Jet tuned into the story, “Now that you mention it, I remember now! He was there when he met you humans along with Mac Book's mom and dad, as well as Cross's dad.”

“I was guarding New Ponyville during that time when it was just a small wooden colony made up of the original fourteen ponies,” Kim gave her input on the subject as her daughter rested her head on her lap.

“There you go! Now, remember the evacuation of New Ponyville? After that huge space battle, when the shoehorn Federation decided to pay a visit, my team and I went our own way and established a small mining colony at those very same coordinates in your intelligence. However, the Pulsar are hovering just right above that on the Zavijava Moon. That facility is still operational and is our top iron and copper mining base to date. This is where you'll stage for the assault. Mind you, it's not a full scale assault. If we mobilized all of our military assets in that area to Zavijava the Pulsar will take notice and flee the scene. We will have the element of surprise if we go in with just a few special forces teams, you guys included. Right now lifeform scans of the moon only detect a skeleton crew on that base. But we have confirmed reports from UPF psyonic detectors that Alson Burry himself is holed up in his safe little moon bunker. We go in, we take him out and the war is over.”

“I like that plan,” Jet smirked, “How many of my team do you want me to take along?”

“All of your ground forces if possible. If we have squads all over the lunar base we can cut off any chance of Burry's escape. Scramble your flyboys too. We're ending this war.”

“And don't think we'll be the only ones. Not only is the UPF gonna pitch in, you'll get to see some of my old buddies from the Avali. Plus the Hylotl and Lylat are joining into the operation as well with their special forces squads.”

“Earth's MSF, The Federation's Task Force Frostbite 2, Avali's Firepack Storm Feather, Lylat's Squadron Seven, Imperial Hylotl Wave Brigade, and lastly Equus with the NGJTF. The whole coalition is in on this operation.”

“So Mr. CEO, when is the operation?” Jet nodded in delight to this plan.

“Three days. Get your team together. We're gonna kick some ass,” Troy got up and gave them a thumbs up, “Bout time for me to go. See you around guys.”

“Thank you for all your help Mr. CEO.”

“No, thank YOU! Without your help and support something tells me the EUF would have ended up a Pulsar backer. There are a lot of enemy spies around. Best you keep a watchful eye.”

-----

“Pizza delivery for Mr. Morning Shine, Prelude, and Night Petal?”

“Thank you Mr. Gallop J. Fry,” Morning answered the knock on his door and balanced three pizzas on his back. The space suited pizza delivery pony walked back to the hangar as Morning set down the pizzas on the table as Prelude and Night Petal watched some TV.

“Hurry up dude, the live coverage of the Grand Galloping Gala is about to start!” Prelude urged Morning on.

“My life as the third wheel...” he whispered to himself, “Alright, here you go! Have the opening ceremonies started yet?”

“No, you're just in time,” Petal turned her eyes to the TV as she ate her pizza. The newspony on screen was Prelude's mother, Eliyora, who had just recently been promoted to newscaster for Equestria Daily.

“Today's Grand Galloping Gala kicks off with a bang as the Wonderbolts streak overhead with their annual airshow. All of Canterlot is in celebration and the streets are flocking with the many hundred thousand guests all ready to attend all over Canterlot's royal ground. It seems like every year the Gala keeps on growing!”

“Isn't that your mom Prelude?” Petal asked.

“Yup! I see she's enjoying the new promotion,” Prelude took a sip of his soda, “Man, the Gala sure has grown. I used to hear stories about how small it was when my mom first attended. Back then it was so exclusive you had to have a gold ticket handed down from Princess Celestia herself to get in. Now it seems that all of Canterlot is invited and then some. I'd like to go one of these days. I'd love to listen to Octavia and get some tips on being a musical conductor after I leave the military.”

“Don't forget when this is all over we're getting married,” Petal kissed Prelude on his ear. Morning sighed in the background.

“Something wrong Shine?” Prelude looked back as he caught wind of his friends sigh.

“Just lonely is all...”

“Is this still about Petal and I?”

“Yeah... I've always been the third wheel in this relationship and I respect that. Let me just get this off my chest. I still love you Petal, but Prelude you are one of my best friends and she has made her choice. Right now I'm just dealing with my own personal issues on why I can't find my own special somepony,” Morning sighed again. This time deep in disappointment, “I'm still a virgin.”

“Heeey,” Prelude came over and gave him some reassuring pats on the back, “Don't worry about it buddy. I can wingpony for you next time we're on leave. Hit up the bar, talk to a few mares, and next thing you know you'll have a happy girl to carry off into the sunset, marry, and eventually have kids with. What do you say?”

Morning smiled, “Actually, that sounds nice. I'd be up for it.”

“You've always gotten my back in the past so this time I've got yours. Thanks for keeping the skies clear buddy,” Prelude lifted his drink, “A toast?”

Petal and Morning lifted theirs as well, “A toast!”

They all sipped their sodas in unison as a loud explosion came from the TV.

“Wait! What's going on?! THE GALA! CELESTIA! THE CASTLE IS BURNING!” Prelude's mother was in distress on screen as the shaky news camera turned to the Royal Sisters Castle. A large plume of smoke rose from one of the broken battlements and a whole swarm of enemy fighters and bomber craft filled the skies. The three ponies in the room looked in horror as a Pulsar Militia tank rolled into the scene and shot at the camerapony. Prelude's heart sunk.

“MOM!” he jumped in panic, “We gotta go! JET! JET!”

“I know! All of us, war room, NOW!” Jet rushed down the hallways as the red warning alarm alerted the whole carrier. All members of the Sky Buster filed into the war room and took their seats, “We have a grave situation. The Pulsar have assembled a fleet twice the size of their last invasion force in only a matter of weeks! The resulting surprise attack is happening as we speak and the whole western hemisphere of the Equus has been occupied by the Pulsar.”

“Holy Tartarus...” Petal cupped a hoof to her mouth, “Half the planet occupied?”

“They took Stalliongrad?!” Red's eyes filled with tears, “That's my home! MY HOME!”

“Aetosia's not faring any better. That sea of red is engulfing my homeland!” Hornet cried out as he pointed to the map and the visual representation of friendly and enemy lines.

Mr. CEO gave his answer, “I'm vectoring in a reinforcement fleet. Battleships, carriers, cruisers, everything I can muster! The EUF has your back.”

“Masayuki! Zenji! Look!” Night Glider pointed to the map as the last bit of blue around Neighpon was engulfed by the red battle lines of the Pulsar. This angered the two Neighponese ponies with a rage in their hearts.

“HOW DARE THEY INVADE SACRED NEIGHPON SOIL!” Zenji yelled furiously, “What is our plan of attack Colonel?”

“We're taking everyone. We'll split up into three groups to take back the major assets of Equestria, Stalliongrad, and Neighpon. Strike One is composed of me, Ghale, Nelly, Tough, Prelude, Rush, Blossom, Simon, and Slash. Providing air cover will be our friends from my aunts Crusader Squadron. Strike Two is Red, Passion, Scratch, Hornet, Piggle, Umbra, Wishful, Blue, Glitzy, and JS with the support of Nimbus Squadron. You'll get to take back your homeland Red.”

“Eti gryaznyye ublyudki budut platit'!” Red saluted to his commanding officer as Passion tried to comfort him.

“Lastly the air attack to take back Neighpon will be lead by Avia along with Morning, Petal, Zenji, Masayuki, Fenrir, Night Glider, and Feather. You guys are gonna fly in and lead an airborne assault to take back the capital.”

“Yes sir!” all of them gave a round of salutes.

“NGJTF LAUNCH OUT!”

Chapter Twenty A: Battle Equestria

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Twenty A: Battle Equestria

“This is Crusader Squadron! We're punching into the atmosphere now coming to reinforce Equestria. Heads up Jet! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!”

“Solid copy aunt Scoots. Alright you roughnecks! You wanna live forever?” A zealous round of cheers rang out in the cargo bay of the NGJTF dropship as Jet pumped his hoof, “Good! Blossom take us down!”

“You got it boss! Incoming AA! Brace for evasive!” Blossom threw their dropship into sharp turns and maneuvers to shake off the missiles fired at them from the surface, “Damn! This sector was in friendly territory when we just did the briefing!”

“Crusader One! Run some wild weasels over those SAMs!”

“Already done! Splash five SAMs! You're clear to land JTF!”

“Got it! All hooves dismount! Once we hit the ground we hit the ground fighting!” the dropship hovered over the town of Ponyville and dropped them off into the heat of battle over the nearby airbase. Jet was the first to touch down and he ran in to cover his team. They were now all fully clad in their new Aegisalt body armor and they looked more menacing than before with their dark yellow and green tints coupled with the added design of the armor, “Blossom! We got an enemy tank pushing up the road!”

“Roger! Clear my backblast!” Blossom shouldered her RPG and let loose a rocket into the side armor of the Pulsar tank. The enemy armored vehicle shot out an intercepting bullet from an advanced APS system which shot down Blossom's rocket. The turret of the tank turns towards her, “Oh shit!”

She froze as the vehicle locked her up. Nelly rushed forward with her sword and deflected the tank shell with a new molten plasma coated sword. Nelly rushed back and forth dodging machine gun fire as she leap onto the tank and used her earth pony strength to bend back the barrel. I quick slice with her rotor blade sword, now augmented to cut through armor, chopped off the machine gun of the enemy tank, “Blossom! Hit it again!”

“Eat a tandem warhead Pulsar scumbag!” Blossom launched another rocket which penetrated into the tank. Nelly grappled away to continue the fight somewhere else as the tank cooked inside from an internal fire which spewed from the loaders hatch.

“Good job Nelly!” Jet pushed up with a friendly IFV-6c Panther as cover, “Prelude! Get up on that air traffic tower and provide some sniper fire!”

“Got it boss!” Prelude grappled up to the ATC and planted himself in a good position, “Enemy tanks are still rolling up!”

“Mac! Send down my Titan!”

“Mine too!” Tough yelled into his radio as well.

“Copy! Standby for Titanfall!” Mac punched in his keyboard commands and sent down their mechs.

Jet slid under his and the robot gently picked him up and placed him into the cockpit.

TRANSFERING CONTROL TO PILOT. CAUTION: YOU ARE HEAVILY OUTNUMBERED

“Just the way I like Susan...” Jet held his Vortex shield up as multiple tank shells were stopped by the force field. It suspended the munitions and Jet fired them back at one of the tanks, destroying it with a volley of its own fire, “Gotcha!”

“Jet give me some cover fire!” Ghale grappled to a tree and deployed his wingsuit. He pulled himself upwards to glide right on top of a tank. He deployed his parachute right at the last second and found himself on the turret of the Pulsar armor. A quick buck disabled the machine gun and forced the commander out of his hatch. The Floran tanker shot at Ajay with his handgun to no effect as Ajay returned with a swift stab from his kukri. He pulled the pin on the dead commander's grenade and let the body fall back into the tank before hopping off, “Tank's down!”

“Let me give you a piggyback!” Tough grabbed him off the tank and shouldered him on his robot. Ajay continued the fight with his L-CAM LK108.

“Jet! I've got control of a Lodestar drone that just entered the AO!” Rush reported in, “Giving you guys some CAS now!”

Rush linked his tablet to the high flying Lodestar drone above. The stealthy triangle shaped unmanned attacker was armed with a full rotary bay of anti-tank missiles. On his HUD Rush could see through the drone's IR camera and saw the massive force of tanks rolling in to capture the airfield.

“RUSH! Where's that air support?!”

“On it Jet!” Rush started to frantically launch missiles from the drone. He had to double up on the tanks due to their APS but they were making headway in the counter attack.

“Advance! All troops push up!” Jet yelled from his Titan's loudspeakers as his robot mimicked his hoof signals, “This is Jump Jet of the NGJTF! We've recaptured the Ponyville Airbase and pushed back the Pulsar armored assault!”

“Colonel Rolo here! Thank Celestia and Luna you guys are here! We were about to be overrun by those alien freaks. My reinforcements are inbound! Once you're done mopping up I need to speak to all of you ASAP.”

“Will do Colonel! Congrats on the promotion!”

As the fighting died down at the airbase Rolo gathered them all for a quick briefing on the situation.

“As you all know the Pulsar have pushed us back to this airbase. Had you not come along we would have lost this facility. Currently we are at the front lines of the Battle for Equus and this base is the only foothold we have on this country. The Crystal Empire is holding off for now and they are sending reinforcements to help us. What I need you all to do is to get our royalty our of Canterlot. It's gonna be a tough fight getting you guys up there but I see Crusader Squadron has attained air superiority over the region. However, Canterlot itself is heavily fortified and the enemy has already set up surface to air missiles and anti-tank defenses to deter any attack into the city. Our satellites are capturing some rather horrific images on the streets of Canterlot,” Rolo flashed a few images on screen taken from orbit once the attacks had struck.

“Sweet mother of Celestia. Those Pulsar soldiers are executing civilians!” Jet noticed the death squads that roamed the streets. Prelude began to worry and panic swept over him.

“My mother! My mother and sister live in that city! Luna please help them!”

“We're trying our best Prelude. Stay calm. There is one FOB still left operational in the capital and it's the Royal Guard Academy within the castle walls. They are holding out for as long as they can but they can't hold out any longer! I'm afraid to ask this of you, but I need all of you to go in and rescue them. Firebrand is there as well and his troops are barely keeping the line.”

Blossom started to cry, “Daddy? My daddy? WE HAVE TO HELP!”

Jet turned to Tough, “Wait, wasn't your mother suppose to perform a song at the Gala tonight?”

“HOLY SHIT! You're right!” Tough's heart fluff puffed up in searing rage, “NOBODY LAYS A FINGER ON MY MOTHER!”

“Rainbow was also suppose to perform an airshow as well at the Gala. This isn't right... It's like the Pulsar knew everything. I think they're targeting our friends and family to cripple our morale! EVERYONE LISTEN THE FUCK UP!” The whole room started to die down from panic. Jet was boiling with rage, “Is this how the finest spec ops team of Equus acts?! LISTEN UP PEOPLE! The more we panic the more shit is gonna hit the fan! So unless you all stallion and mare the fuck up we can't get shit done around here! Are we clear?”

“Yes sir!” Nelly was the first to jump up knowing her mother and father were safe and not on Equus, “Come on ladies! It's literally make your mommas proud time!”

“I love my momma!” Tough pumped his fist, “Who's with us?!”

“YEAH!” They all gave their cheers.

Simon went up to his father and sighed, “So, aren't you concerned that I might be sent off to my death?”

“Simon, with that attitude you disappoint me. I've always had my confidence in you son and dammit boy you are gonna get out there, kick ass, and make a name for yourself in this whole fucking universe. No pressure right?”

Simon smiled, “That's the tough love I remember. Thanks dad.”

“I mean it, go kick some ass. Lightning Crash should be waiting for you in the Mohawk! He's always gonna get you to the OA.”

“Roger that Colonel Rolo. NGJTF! Move out!” they all piled into the stealthy variant of the human Merlin helicopter remanufactured by Equus called the CH-49 Mohawk. The blue coated dark maned pilot looked back into his cargo bay.

“What's up? My name is Lightning Crash.”

“With a name like Lightning Crash you sure you don't want me to fly? I've got a high score in helicopters and everything,” Blossom offered to help.

“Trust me, you will always get into the AO while Lightning Crash is flying,” their pilot reassured them as they took off and followed a nap of the earth approach into Canterlot City from the north mountainside, “AA defenses should be their weakest here and this baby's got stealth. We're going dark, entering cloak mode!”

The Mohawk's hexagonal panels shifted into a shimmer that reflected off the other side of the helicopter. The aircraft was now completely invisible and in the cover of dark. They all waited inside the helicopter as they approached the city now lit up by fire, smoke, and anti-aircraft fire. As they neared the castle a loud beeping could be heard in the cockpit.

“Pilot!” Blossom looked out the window to see a surface to air missile launched right at them, “We're being locked on!”

“Brace for impact!” Lightning Crash yelled as the missile hit the tail rotor of the helicopter. The warning alarm became much louder and the soldiers inside started to panic, “Just hang on! I can manage this!”

“BAIL OUT!” Jet yelled, “BAIL OUT!”

“Not on my watch! I got this!” Lightning Crash kept the chopper flying even without a tail rotor. He was using his leftover forward speed to correct for any torque cause by the main rotor, “We're gonna touch down right inside the castle walls! It's gonna be a bumpy landing!”

Crash slowed the helicopter into a landing approach and with his drop in speed came the uncontrolled spiral of the helicopter. Without the back rotor to counteract torque the Mohawk started to spin violently as Lightning Crash barely hit the side of a building and tore off the main rotor. With a deafening screech of twisted metal the chopper slide to a stop as it crashed into a guard tower. They were all shaken inside the helicopter as they gathered themselves.

“You all alive?!” Jet exclaimed through the winding down sound of the torn up engine.

“I think so, everyone looks like they're squirming,” Ghale reported in, “Hot damn that was a landing...”

“And you doubted me for one second,” Crash took an MX rifle from under his seat and climbed into the cargo bay, “Like I said: when you fly with Lightning Crash you will always make it into the AO. Chopper might not make it, but you'll always make it into the AO.”

“Glad you were our pilot then. Squad dismount! I want a full parameter around this heli now!”

“Yes sir!” Nelly was the first to exit the crashed helicopter and grapple onto a rooftop, “Jet looks like we're clear! We've landed inside the castle walls and I see a lot of friendly tanks holding off the main Pulsar attack.”

“Good, no time to waste. We're breaching the castle!” Jet grappled away to Nelly and the rest did the same. They left Lightning Crash behind.

“Hey! What do you want me to do?”

“I dunno! Camp that tower over there or something, provide some overwatch while my team enters the castle!”

“With an iron sighted MX?” Crash sighed, “Fine.”

Jet broke through one of the stained glass windows of the castle that depicted Discord and roped into the room, “NGJTF! We're here to rescue you!”

“Oh don't bother,” a chuckle came from Celestia's throne. It was a familiar voice which made Nelly smile.

“Uncle Discord!” she looked about the room trying to find him, “Where are you?”

“Surprise!” one of the broken stained glass panels animated to life with the chaotic magic of one mashed up chimera. Discord pulled himself out of the glass rather comically as Nelly gave him a hug, “OH! Easy on the hugs! I forgot how strong you were!”

“OH! SORRY!” Nelly let go, “I see you hid inside the window huh?”

“Oh you know me, that's always a favorite spot of mine to spy on some Celestial shenanigans. Her and I always have such excellent prank wars around here. Such a same these Pulsar,” Discord mockingly mouthed that word, “have put an end to that bit of fun I was going to have tonight at the Gala! Why don't I come along to raise all sorts of Tartarus on these degenerates! It'll be fun!”

Nelly and Jet looked to each other with devilish smiles on their faces and nodded before simultaneously nodding, “Hell yeah!”

“Oh splendid! Here, let me get into my battle gear for you!” Discord morphed into a human soldier wearing all black armor with a pyramid symbol on his chest and shoulder patches. He breathed in a whiff of some unknown substance, “I tell you Tree Hugger makes the best 'herbal inhalants.' Pardon my getup I haven't worn this since I first met Picard.”

“So uncle Dissy. Where are the others?” Nelly asked affectionately.

“Follow me,” Discord led the way as the NGJTF proceeded. As they made their way downstairs throughout the castle several firefights could be heard below them. They stumbled upon some entrenched Pulsar troops which saw them coming and opened fire. Discord crossed his arms and his head morphed back to his original form, “Tsk, tsk.”

The bullets and plasma bolts that impacted his body turned into nothing more than marshmallows and soda pop. Discord shrugged it off.

“Oh let's be civil here,” with a snap of his fingers the guns of the enemy troops turned into giant flowers and peace signs, “Fight with peace! Not with your barbaric weapons my dears.”

“Should we gun them down?” Nelly asked Jet.

“Nah, Discord's got this. I don't even think we have to waste a single bullet.”

“GET ON THE GROUND!” the Equestrian soldiers surrounded the now defenseless Pulsar troops as they surrendered the officer pony looked to Discord, “Thanks for the support Discord!”

“No problems! I take it our friends are locked up safe?”

“You bet Mr. D! I see you've got the NGJTF with you! Go on down to the safe room. Firebrand and the others are waiting for you downstairs!”

“Much appreciated,” Discord teleported the NGJTF and himself to the basement of the castle right next to Colonel Firebrand.

“I tell you! I need more reinforcements dammit! We've already lost four major battalions and we're on our last legs held up at the castle! Where are?” Firebrand looked behind him to see Blossom staring right at him, “AH!”

“DADDY!” Blossom hugged her father and noticed her mother embrace her as well in a rather panicked state.

“Blossom my baby! I was so worried,” Ink Rose kept crying. Blossom comforted her mother.

“It's okay mom. We're gonna get you out of here!” Blossom looked around the sheltered bunker. The two Princesses were all the way at the back and she pointed them out to Jet.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” Jet bowed as he was graced by their presence, “We're here to rescue you! Tell me, who else is in here?”

“We've managed to recover most of your family members. I foresaw that the Pulsar was going to attack them personally but I never expected them to attack this quickly from a loss. I thought it was impossible.”

Jet looked back to see Cross' mother and father, Tough's mom, Rush's mother and father, and Prelude's mom as well hidden among the crowd of alicorn royalty and foreign diplomats of Equus, “Damn, and they picked a good time to ambush all these HVTs as well.”

“We have Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Cakey, AnY, Princess Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Puzzle Piece, Eliyora, Prime Minister Pipsqueak, Princess Pristine of Prance, Persian Poetess of Saddle Arabia, and the Fire Rose couple here,” Luna reported to Jet, “However we have not confirmed the whereabouts of Queen Chrysalis, Princess Cadance, Princess Skyla, or Shining Armor.”

“My mom!” Jet looked around in a panic, “Where's my mother and the other Wonderbolts?!”

“We don't know either. But please, do what you can to get us back to friendly lines,” Princess Celestia pleaded, “All of our lives are at sake and Equus needs our leaders at this time of need.”

Jet was filled with a sense of duty, “You got it! Colonel Firebrand do we have any MRAPs left?”

“Quite a few in the castle garage, Ifrits, Striders, and Hunters, all of them plus a few APCs, and a Kuma MBT.”

“Everypony proceed to the garage! Keep your heads down and let us do the fighting! NGJTF take point! Royal Guards at the rear!”

They fought their way underneath the castle courtyard as the last remnants of the defending force were routed. As they made their way to the underground garage they were all directed into the armored vehicles.

“Simon! Take the driver of that Kuma! Tough I know you used to be a tank commander so take point with your MBT!”

“You got it boss!” Tough climbed into the tank and looked to Simon, “Ready to bust through Simon?!”

“You bet!”

“Ajay you take the loader of that tank. Prelude, take the gunner! I'll be in the number two Hunter MRAP! Nelly will drive the Strider at number three, Blossom sticks with her parents in vehicle number four, Rush you're on me! See if you can link up with any drones operating in this sector!”

“Got it sir!” Rush saluted as he led his parents into the safety of an APC, “Be safe mom and dad...”

“You too son,” Puzzle reached out as the cargo door closed on his vehicle. Rush piled in with Jet.

“Jet, I've got a good link to a MQ escort drone helicopter. Parked on the castle helipad. I'm taking her off!”

“Good! Slash where are you? Slash!”

“Sorry sir! I just happened to see a nicely stashed Vertibird on a truck bed. No missiles, but it's got gatling lasers!”

“Good eyes! Alright we roll out! Open the doors and break through!”

“Shell loaded!” Ghale rammed in a 120mm HE shell.

“Prelude, aim right at that door! The moment it opens we fuckin nail them with everything!”

“Copy,” Prelude kept his hooves at the trigger. As the garage doors slid upward the tank's massive gun opened fire along with the autocannons, grenade launchers, and machine guns of the convoy. The Pulsar troops waiting at the entrance were smoked.

“Push forward!” Jet exclaimed as he revved up his MRAP to plow through the dead bodies and barricades.

In the number four Marshal APC Blossom lacked a gunner for her automatic cannon. Her father stepped up to the plate.

“Dad what are you?”

“Where do you think you get your explosive genes? Just hand me some Armor Piercing Incendiary will you?”

Blossom felt around the with her magic for the clips of ammo to give to her father. She levitated it up to her dad and he loaded into the massive 40mm Bofors autocannon, “You bet!”

“I've got a Pulsar APC on the right! Blossom you just keep driving!” the massive thuds of the Marshal's cannon rang out at a brisk pace. The shells made impact with the enemy hovertank with white hot sparks as the shells penetrated the thin armor, “He's on fire! Just the way I like it!”

Tough was fiddling with some switches in his Kuma tank, “HA! Got it! Our APS is up!”

A small turret mounted on the top of the tank next to the machine gun spun up. It was an active protection system meant to shoot down any incoming missiles or tank shells.

“Just plow through! Just plow through!” Jet kept driving as small arms fire dinged their convoy. Rush was having a hard time in the back.

“Jet! I can't take off with those SAMs still up! Do we split off to search for them or stay with the convoy?”

“I would like that as well. I can't take off either with my Vertibird if those missiles are still up!” Slash was still back in the hangar trying to pile in soldiers to save, “Get your asses moving and man the miniguns!”

“Damn!” Jet made his call as he drove his MRAP off the road, “You guys go on! Rush and I will destroy the SAMs. Rush you know how to use that missile launcher on top?”

“Yeah! I wasn't cross trained for nothing,” Rush took his place on the turret of the Hunter, “Stop! I see one on thermal sights!”

“Hit it!”

Rush fired the wire guided missile from his armored turret. With a slight right hand curve the missile exploded the emplaced missile silo, “Target down! Two more left!”

“Tough how's the convoy?”

“Holding stable Jet! Prelude! Bearing 0-8-7! Enemy tank! Load SABOT!”

“SABOT up!” Ghale rammed in a high velocity shell into the gun breech of the tank.

“One the way!” with a press of the trigger the magically enchanted depleted uranium dart shot out of the cannon at over 1,900 per minute. While it would normally have phased through the plasma shielding of the Pulsar tank with enough force to liquify any remnants of the crew there was something odd about the new vehicle. It had an add on armor kit that completely absorbed the high velocity projectile, “NO PEN!”

“WHAT?!” Tough was rocked inside his tank as the enemy fired their SABOT shell. It tore a massive hole in the side of the turret and nearly took his head off. Inside the tank all their ears rang as the jagged metal scrapped together as the turret tried to turn, “AHH! Prelude our turret ring is knocked out! The gun can't turn!”

Jet and Rush finished off another SAM turret. Rush tapped Jet on the shoulder, “Jet! Tough needs help!”

“Fire your next ATGM at that prototype tank! Ram that missile up his ass!”

“Got it Jet!” Rush loaded in another missile and aligned his crosshairs to the engine of the tank, “Now this is my party cannon!”

The missile fired and guided its way into the back of the tank. The plasma shield once again deflected the explosion of the warhead and the tank turned into the direction of Jet and Rush.

“JET!” Rush screamed, “It's aiming at us!”

“NO!” Jet screamed in horror as the massive muzzle flash of the enemy tank cannon engulfed his vision. There was a flash of light as he shielded his eyes.

“You're not dying on my watch...” Discord teleported them out of the MRAP and into cover behind Blossom's APC, “Let me handle this!”

“GO DISCORD! WOO!” Jet pumped his fist up as he stepped forward from behind the APC. With a snap of his fingers Discord tried to cast a spell on the tank. It did nothing as the hovering menace lurched forward with a deafening whine.

“WHAT?! My magic!” Discord looked in surprise as the tank shot the APC filled with all the Equus leaders.

“CRAP! They took out our wheels!” Blossom turned out from her driver seat and shouldered her RPG, “EAT MORE HEAT YOU PULSAR FUCKS!”

Another rocket impacted the tank. It did nothing.

“Holy crap! What is this thing made of?!” Blossom jumped behind the APC as the smaller jeeps formed a barricade to the tank, sacrificing themselves to save the Princesses and VIPs.

“All of our soldiers are getting chewed up by that thing!” Jet yelled through the machine gun fire and burning vehicles. As he peaked from cover he saw even more of the same prototype tanks rolling in, “HOLY SHIT! They've got us surrounded!”

Tough and his crew recovered from the shell shock, “FUCK IT! We ram it and shoot it at point blank!”

“I'm with you on that one buddy,” Prelude brohoofed Tough and took his place back at the gunner seat.

“Load SABOT!”

“Gun ready!” Ghale announced as Simon drove the tank into the enemy prototype and rammed it at full speed. The hovering vehicle flipped onto its side and Simon backed away to give Prelude a good shot at its underbelly.

“One away!” Prelude shot the cannon and it blew a hole into the thinly armored part of the tanks belly. The turret popped off with a burning fizz as bits of crew and metal flew out in a dismembered mess, “GOT EM!”

Meanwhile Nelly did her best to calm down the others pinned down, “Stay calm everypony! They can't hit us if we stay behind this wreck! Just keep your heads down while we deal with this!”

“Nelly it's not looking good! More prototypes rolling in!”

“Shit shit shit shit!” Nelly enabled her own shields as she rushed forward to combat the tanks in melee. Her plasma sword was the only reliable weapon that could cut through their armor as it bypassed the energy shields coated on the enemy armor. She hopped from one to another doing her damned best, “Dammit I can't take out all of them my love! AH!”

Her shields gave out as she was hit by a machine gun round. She fell to the floor and was bleeding out.

“NELLY!” Jet grappled onto her body and moved it into cover, “Dammit! Stay with me squeaky... MEDIC!”

“I'll heal her wounds! You buy us time!”

“With what? I can't use that sword!” Jet wasn't an earth pony with massive strength to weld such a weapon.

“Fine! I'll deal with them! Besides the bullet only hit her in the thigh and sent her into shock. I've already stabilized her,” Discord slithered away and took on a demonic form to scare his opponents, “Come on you ignorant degenerates! See if you can kill me!”

Inside the tank the crew merely laughed. The Hylotl gunner of the tank looked back to his commander, “Is that the one Mr. Burry? This Discord we keep hearing about?”

“Oh yes. Let's show him our little surprise,” Alson smirked as he loaded in a belt of Violium ammo into the machine gun, “Cut. Him. Down.”

With a burst from the coaxial machine gun the bullets tore right into Discord with everyone watching him hold the line. His eyes widened as they turned into a lifeless shade of grey as his mangled body fell. Without another word he was dead. One of the most omnipotent beings in all of Equestria was now dead at the hands of the Pulsar Militia.

Princess Celestia and Luna looked in horror, “NO! This-This can't be! Discord is our true immortal Ethereal being!”

“WAS your true immortal Ethereal being!” Alson popped out of his hatch, “Surprise mother fuckers! Now I would kindly suggest you put down your guns.”

Another squad of Pulsar Troopers ambushed them from cloak mode. They aimed all their weapons right at the crowd of Equus HVTs and told them all to get on the ground.

“Princess what should we do?” Jet looked back at Celestia as a sullen look cast over her face.

“We've... Lost...”

“Hahahaha!” Alson cheered, “Such victory! Much celebration! Wow! I did not expect to find such a bounty of stupid little ponies to fill my fridge tonight! Troops, um, don't bother bagging up that mangled 'thing' I'm sure it wouldn't taste very good.”

“Mr. Burry, what do we do with our new hostages?”

“We need them alive for now of course! Their meat should be a lot tastier fresh.”

A beeping came from Rush's headset as he stood on two legs with his hooves up.

“Rush what are you doing?” Jet whispered to his friend.

“Saving our asses,” a loud helicopter rotor could be heard in the distance as Rush crossed his arms and the MQ drone autonomously flew in and engaged the Pulsar troops. This bought them some time to react as the NGJTF killed off the uncloaked troops and scrambled back into cover.

“HOT DAMN RUSH!” Jet cheered.

“That's not the only thing.”

“This is Slash! Sorry I was late to the party!” A Vertibird came in streaking past the convoy as its micro nuclear missiles destroyed the enemy tanks, “Turns out this thing did have missiles!”

“Jet! Alson Burry is getting away!”

“Rush you guard the civilians! I'm going after him. Slash! Ajay Ghale! You're on me!” Jet grappled onto the Vertibird as it came down for a low pass. Ghale did the same and they were pulled into the troop bay.

“I see him! He's not getting far,” Slash piloted the small tiltrotor right next to the road to give Jet and Ghale a shot. Jet took his place on a minigun and unloaded.

“Who's the small fry now! Get some! Get some! Come on get some!”

“I'm gonna try something stupid,” Ajay jumped from the aircraft and used his wingsuit to glide right onto the jeep. He punched out the door and pulled his handgun to kill the driver then kicked Mr. Burry out of the passenger seat as he hijacked their jeep, “I got it!”

“Good! Slash put me down! It's time we get this guy...” Jet hopped out of the half-plane as the injured Alson tried to reach for his handgun in pain. With a mighty crunch from Jet's hoof Alson's hand was broken before he could reach his weapon. Jet savored this kill, “Any last words you son of a bitch?”

Alson merely chuckled unphased by his statement, “If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”

“Fuck you!” Jet took his B3 Wingman revolver and blew Alson's brains right into the road. As he let go of the body a new sense of zeal washed over him as he announced over the radio, “WE. GOT. HIM!”

“No way...” Tough put a hoof to his earpiece.

“ALSON IS DEAD! I repeat! Alson Burry is dead! We've won the war!”

“We-we did it!” Rush cheered on as reinforcements arrived to secure the sight, “And hello Crystal Empire reinforcements!”

As a cloaked sniper was about to take a stab at Rush an Alicorn soldier who looked a little bit like Shining Armor and Princess Cadence drop kicked the enemy soldier, “Name's Flurry Heart! You can call me Princess if you like but Lieutenant would be more my style.”

“Good work sweet heart! This is Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire! Our forces are here to take back Canterlot!”

“Solid copy dad,” Flurry stood up and shouldered her Navid magnum machine gun, “What? Can't a Princess kick a little flank?”

“Thanks for the save,” Rush was helped up by Flurry and looked around as another convoy of Crystal Empire tanks rolled in to secure the peace.

“Anytime.”

“This is Colonel Jet of the NGJTF. We've won this. Mission complete!”

“JET!” Cross yelled from the radio, “You have to get out of there! There are two confirmed ballistic missile launches from Stalliongrad and Neighpon headed your way!”

...To be continued...

Chapter Twenty B: Red October's Hunt

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Twenty B: Red October's Hunt

“Okay! We are entering Stalliongradi airspace now comrades!” Red looked to the back of his dropship with Scratch, Hornet, Piggle, Umbra, Wishful, Blue, Glitzy, and Jet Stream locked into their seats ready for the invasion. Off to their left and right wings were the aces of Nimbus Squadron from the NLRS Fairview 2.

“Roger that! This is where we break off,” Cirrus radioed back from her Hornet, “Nimbus on me! We'll soften up their air forces so the Stallies can come in with the airborne assault to take back their city. Good luck Red! Celestial speed!”

“Spasibo! I tebe udachi,” Red wished them luck and broke off from the flight. Two other fighters came up right behind them to escort them to the mainland.

“Eto VVS Rossii 172- yu istrebitel'nuyu eskadril'yu takticheskogo. My zdes', chtoby soprovozhdat' vas,” the Stalliongradi pilot radioed out to the dropship as his SU-48 came up to escort them.

“Eto kapitan Krasnyy Oktyabr' Organizatsii Ob"yedinennykh Equuskii prostranstvo Force NGJTF. My dolzhny vstretit'sya s vozdushno-desantnykh voysk dlya provedeniya operatsiy, chtoby vernut' gorod,” Red announced that they were to meet up with the airborne forces to retake the city.

“Rodzher, letat' na vektor 0-9-7 150 kilometrov. Vy ne mozhete propustit' platsdarm,” The pilot told him to fly east roughly 150 kilometers to meet up with the Stalliongradi forces.

“Spasibo tovarishch!” Red October radioed out one last time to thank him for the escort. A few minutes of flight and they arrived at the massive staging area for the main assault of Stalliongrad. Various reverse engineered human Soviet and Russian vehicles and weapons gathered here for an airborne drop to take back the city plus a few rather unique twists made by the Stalliongradi military, “Okay! We're touching down now. The commander of the base will meet us on the helipad!”

As the dropship landed and they all filed out a grey pegasus stood to greet them with guards left and right. He smiled as he saw Red October step out. He couldn't forget the look of his son anywhere.

“Priyatno videt' vas snova, syn!” he held out his arms and gave Red a big bear hug.

“Everyone, this is my father. General Peace Walker. He is the man who has trained me from birth to be a proud soldier for the motherland!”

“And what I fine son I do have,” Walker smiled and spoke with a much thicker Slavic accent than his son but in more complete sentences, “But I have some bad news. The Pulsar Militia have taken your mother Red.”

Red grit his teeth and growled with fury, “How dare they?! First they defile my homeland, destroy innocent lives, and now take my own mother away from me?! This will not stand father!”

“No it will not. They need her alive to manufacture their own nuclear arms as she is Luna's personal nuclear engineer. Although the Pulsar's technology is advanced I've heard that only top level military personnel from the UPF have access to nuclear technology. I've done my intelligence work, thanks in part to our KGB operatives working with United Equus and the Coalition,” Walker noticed Passion as she rubbed up on Red, “Son, care to introduce your mate that I've heard so much about?”

“Da otets! This is Passion. Passion this is my father General Peace Walker.”

“Hello there um... General,” Passion saluted with a hint of shyness in her voice.

With a judgmental glare shot right at Passion the General inspected her like he would a new recruit. This made Passion all the more uncomfortable with the General's gruff appearance.

“Ona vsegda eto stesnyat'sya?” Walker asked his son.

“Da, no ona byla pechat' VMS,” Red replied, “Ona takzhe olimpiyskiy plovets.”

“Da, da,” Walker nodded, “Okay! You pass. If you happen to meet my son's mother just be prepare that she isn't as lax as I am.”

“I'll... Keep that in mind,” Passion's tail was tucked in between her legs and she started to paw at the ground, “So aren't we supposed to launch soon?”

“You will see the might of the Red Bear. Comrades!” the General got up onto a tank and yelled to his men. The ponies of Stalliongrad lifted their weapons in a cheer. The General continued, “Today we take back our home! Today we will drive out the alien incursion and cement this day in the proud history of our motherland! Join me brothers and sisters of Stalliongrad! Join us into the fray!”

The thunderous applause from the troops echoed throughout the base. The roar of tank engines and the sounds of the many hundreds of planes and helicopters soaring overhead in the distance gave them a vibe of pure military might. Red looked at his father and admired his fevered speech.

“So father, you have us at your command. Where would you like us?”

“Go with the next flight taking off. I'm sure you'll enjoy the company. Please, take back our glorious homeland.”

“I will father,” Red bowed in respect before embracing his father. He turned back to his team as they boarded one of the cargo planes. Among the faces of the tightly packed aircraft Red saw a few friends from long ago, “Artyom? Dimitri? Natasha?”

“Krasnyy? Red is that you?” Natasha smiled, “Eto bylo tak davno, drug.”

“Da da!” Red patted her back and laughed, “Everyone! This is my old squad!”

“Glad to see you enjoying yourself in United Equus military Krasnyy,” Artyom gave a pat on Red's helmet as his Kalash fell to the floor, “Will you get that comrade?”

“Here, I got it,” Passion reached down and handed the black furred stallion his AK.

“I hear you are Krasnyy's new girlfriend. Is that true?” Artyom chuckled, “You look tiny.”
Passion lifted an eyebrow as she threw the Spetnaz soldier to the floor in an arm lock, “FYI: I'm a Navy SEAL thank you. Shy I may be, but I can still kick your ass if you fuck with me.”

Passion winked as she let go of the Slavic pony.

“Artyom, you never were good with the ladies!” Dimitri laughed as the plane took off.

“Zatknis' Dimitri,” he jokingly told his friend to shut up.

“So Red, mind if you introduce your old crew?” Scratch raised her hoof to get Red's attention.

“Da, Artyom is the dark pony. He's the grenadier. Dimitri is the one in blue with red hair. He's the machine-gunner and cook for the team. His borsch is amazing!”

“Only the finest beets and sour cream for my recipe. You should all try it sometime!”

“Soup sounds good right now in this weather,” Wishful shivered in the metal hull of the plane, “It's cold man!”

“Hey Glitzy and JS, weren't you two 82nd Airborne?” Scratch turned her head to her squad mates seated next to her.

Glitzy and JS flashed the patches on their shoulders, “You bet! Jumping out of planes is what we did. This reminds us of training and it's a blast.”

“Well comrade, this is real now. Expect all sorts of shit when we enter the AO,” Natasha chambered her KSVK as her thick accent echoed in the radio as the booming engines of the plane made them switch to their headsets.

“Oh and I forget,” Dimitri whistled for one of the animal handlers in the plane. On a leash of one of their friends was an armored war bear that was covered head to toe in kevlar plating. It roared with fury as the beast was let go and charged at Red.

“RED!” Passion shrieked before the bear pounced on her boyfriend playfully and started to lick the red pegasus.

“Hahahaha! Bozkov! Bozkov you remember me!” Red hugged the giant fluffy armored animal as it dug into his pocket to pick out a ration tin. With a loud crunch the bear squished the can open and started to lick the food off the ground, “Good boy Bozkov! Still as clever as ever.”

“So let me get this straight. You had a bear?” Passion looked at him confused.

“Heh, sorry I never told you. The Stalliongradi military employs trained war bears for use like attack dogs. But really more for psychological warfare reasons,” Red was licked again by Bozkov, “He’s very friendly. Only kills when we tell him to. Most of time he just paralyzes enemy troops with sound amplified roar.”

“Well, Fluttershy has a bear for a pet back in Ponyville. I don’t think it’s all that weird,” Piggle shrugged.

“Yeah, I’ve seen weirder,” Umbra agreed with her brother. She looked out of her window to see a flight of blimps right under them as they passed by in their cargo plane, “What in the world are those blimps doing here?”

“Surely you have heard of the fabled Kirov airships comrade. Clad in titanium, as armored as a main battle tank, and as powerful as any conventional bomber aircraft. When speed isn’t a concern you turn to Kirovs for assured destruction. With Equestria’s guided bombs, they’ve become even more deadly,” Natasha smiled at the large formation of Stalliongradi aircraft all formed up in the clouds, “Equuskii forces are also flying with us today I see.”

The loudspeakers of the cargo plane started to ring out with a song. A smile shined on Red’s face and some of the soldiers in the cargo bay started to hum along as well.

“The red bear has awoken my friends! We will take back our land!” Red victoriously stood on top of the tank in the middle of the cargo bay. The red alert in the cargo plane started to blare as the doors opened. The crew of the T-100 MBT boarded their vehicle and pumped their hooves in
the air with Red October cheering them on. Two crewponies detached the cables of the vehicle and the tank rolled out of the back. Three large parachutes deployed from the tank to slow its descent to the ground.

“Razvertyvaniye! Razvertyvaniye! Go go go!” the crew chief of the cargo plane signaled to all the troops to follow the tank. They all got up and filed out of the plane under heavy anti aircraft fire. Just as the last of the NGJTF jumped out the plane was hit with a missile and exploded with almost all of the ponies caught inside. By sheer luck the NGJTF and the Spetnaz squad managed to survive along with three other airborne soldiers as well as Bozkov the bear.

“Holy shit! Did you see that?” Blue Circuit looked up at the flaming wreck as it plowed into the ground below.

“Doesn’t matter comrade! We fly into battle! Not one step back!” they all joined in their HALO jump formation and deployed their parachutes as they neared the ground. Several of them were blown off course and landed in the trees northeast of their intended town.

“Krasnyy here, Dimitri, Artyom, Natasha?” Red radioed out as he cut himself free of his harness. Passion landed right beside him and was tangled in a tree.

“Krasnyy, our squad lead, Reznov, is dead. His parachute failed to deploy.”

“Der’mo!” Red swore, “Dushka! Are you okay?”

“Just tangled. I’m not choking or anything. Can you cut me out?”

Red smiled as he flew up to his girlfriend and cut her out of her chute. He ruffled her mane as he handed her helmet to her.

“Thanks sweetheart. Where are we anyway?” Passion crouched down and laid low in some bushes as they got their bearings.

“Northeast of the city of Chernogorsk. The Pulsar have taken all of the province of Chernarus. This was where I would spent my summers with my mother…” Red sighed sadly.

“Hang in there. Yo! Any of you made it on the ground?”

“Scratch here! Hornet and I are okay. Blue is with us as well.”

“Wishful here. Glitzy, JS, and I are all together. I got hurt but it's just a fleshwound. Glitzy patched me up. Exactly why do we have three medics?”

“Guess Jump Jet forgot his squad needed one. I hope they are okay,” Red sighed again, “Everyone form up! Move to grid 054115. There should be a house we can meet up at.”

“There has to be a reason you picked that right? Normally we’d regroup in the forest,” Passion read his body language.

“...Da… It was my summer home when my mother would work at the nuclear power plant in Electrozavodsk. Besides, that’s where Bozkov landed. He always finds his way back home.”

All of them moved 456 meters to the north to find Red’s old house. Bozkov was already there pawing at the rubble of the splintered and toppled cottage. Red’s heart sunk for a moment and then ignited with anger.

“Chertovy Pulsar pridurki! Eto byl moy dom! MOY DOM!” Red stomped the ground in anger as the rest of his team emerged from the forests around him.

“Bozhe moy, Krasnyy Mne tak zhal'...” Natasha put a hoof onto his shoulder and Passion did as well. The bear roared as it dug up something out of the ground.

“What you got Bozkov?” Passion walked over. Bozkov gave her a toy tank soaked in drool and gave her a big sloppy lick trying to be cute, “Eww!”

Red chuckled a bit before he looked down at his old toy. He carefully grabbed it and placed it in his pocket, “Bozkov likes you. However, this atrocity will never stand.”

“Let’s get focused comrade,” Artyom reassured Red as two Mi-48 Kajmans flew overhead, “Kajmans! Dammit!”

The two friendly helicopters were shot down as they tried to pass over the city. Red saw the smoke trail of the missiles.

“We have to destroy their SAMs. Everyone on me! Poyekhali!” Red followed one of the power lines south and they all held up at a power substation. He radioed out to command, “Komanda, my na puti, chtoby unichtozhit' protivnika poverkhnost' -vozdukh rakety. Mozhete li vy podtverdit' mestopolozheniye?”

“Imeyte v vidu, vrazhdebnyye rakety nakhodyatsya na vershine v bol'nitsu v Chapaevsk,” they all heard it over their headsets but only the Stalliongradi soldiers could understand, “Koordinaty 056127”

“And that means?” Scratch bluntly asked.

“Coordinates 056127. Hospital building.”
“Copy that, snipers let’s take up positions,” Scratch moved up the hill with the two other snipers.

“I see it from here, 200 meters,” Hornet scoped in with his rifle, “Damn! It’s automated. I can’t snipe the crew from here.”

“Here, maybe I can help,” Scratch pulled her own sniper rifle from her back. Her rifle was the Storm Piercing Shot Rifle. This weapon was another marvel of Applebloom Engineering. The rifle had no moving parts and was a completely computerized firearm with three separate barrels. When the trigger is held down the rifle could build up a magic spell that would infuse into the bullets, that would allow them to punch right through any wall. Scratch laid prone next to her boyfriend and scoped in, “Got three guys operating the SAM from computer consoles inside the building. I can see them through my X-ray scope.”

“Anything else down there?” Blue Circuit asked.

“Main battle tank patrolling the streets. A lot of dead bodies. Everywhere I look there’s a Pulsar squad.”

“Any civilians?”

“None squad leader. They’re all dead…”

“Squad move in and kill anything that moves. No prisoners!” Red ordered out to his troops, “Scratch, Hornet, Natasha. You three stay here, provide overwatch, and watch our backs.”

“Copy,” Scratch nodded.

“Moving to overwatch,” Hornet smiled.

“The rest of you on me!” Red made his way into the streets of the suburb of Cherno from a barn at the edge of town.

“Stop right there squad lead. Enemy checkpoint at the entrance of the suburb. We are holding fire.”

“Spasiba for the spot Scratch. Umbra, you dispatch that checkpoint.”

“Copy Red, they won’t know what hit them,” Umbra sighted her ASP-1 Kir. The large caliber silent sniper rifle took down the guards at the checkpoint with no alert, “Down and clear! Move up!”

“Sweet Luna…” Passion held her mouth from gagging as they passed by the checkpoint. They were piling bodies of ponies in a ditch to be burned.
“Even the foals and the mares. Dammit…” Red turned away, “Move on! We can’t stay here.”

“That tank is coming towards you guys! Heads up!” Scratch reported in.

“Der’mo! Okay, everyone behind the apartment buildings! Let’s go!” Red’s squad all moved behind the buildings as the tank came dangerously close to their positions. When it saw the checkpoint destroyed it started to patrol more aggressively, “Shit! That thing is on to us!”

“Natasha here. I’ve got an idea,” her horn glowed with a magic spell that wrapped the barrel of her rifle, “I’m going to disable the gunner of that tank with my armor piercing spell.”

“Funny you mention that, my rifle has the same capability,” Scratch scoped in, “Mine has the X-ray scope though. See the big stupid emblem? Aim just to the right of edge of that underneath the machine gun turret. That’s where they’re sitting. I’ll fire on your mark.”

“Execute!” Red gave out the order as two sniper shots rang out. With a metallic piercing sound the tank stopped rotating its turret. Another shot came from Scratch right into the driver’s hatch and the tank rolled in behind the buildings right to where Red and the others were hiding. Passion and Blue got on top and opened up the hatches.

“Crew’s dead! Good shot snipers!”

“Our position is compromised! They’re raining fire down here!” Hornet caught a magnetic slug right into his torso, “GRAH!”

“Hornet!” Scratch went back for him and dragged him away behind a tree, “Crap! He’s bleeding out!”

“Medics! I want one of you to get to our snipers! Fast!”

“Krasnyy, Scratch and I are carrying Hornet down from the hill to your location. But we are pinned down!” Natasha yelled as machine gun and sniper fire grazed their location. As she looked out to peek a sniper pinged her right in the head. Scratch saw Natasha’s head explode as her body hit the floor.

“FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Scratch started to panic holding on close to Hornet dying of blood loss. She dragged his body behind a dumpster and cowered in fear.

“Scratch hold on! We are coming! Dimitri! Try and suppress that sniper!”

“Roger! Suppressing!” Dimitri peppered the hospital building with fire from his PKP. The enemy sniper rang out again and caught Dimitri right in the heart. The splatter of blood hit Red’s helmet visor from behind cover as he saw his friend dead in an instant.

“DIMITRI!”

“Hon we gotta make some moves! Hornet isn’t gonna last much longer and Scratch is too panicked to be of any use!” Passion yelled out through the fire of the enemy.

“Get behind me! I got an idea!” Wishful came to the rescue as he put up a front facing magic shield. As he got up the sniper shot again and managed to pierce right through the shield and hit him in the leg, “Shit! Dammit! URGH!”

“That’s no ordinary sniper…” Glitzy commented as she used her magic to drag Wishful into cover, “His leg’s out! It’s only a minor wound but Wishful is out for the whole mission!”

“Scratch! Scratch! I need you to listen!” Red tried to reach his cowering sniper.

“Hornet! Hornet please! Hang on!” Scratch held on to the blood soaked body of her lover. With every one of his heartbeats a spout of blood came gushing out and soaked into Scratch’s coat.

“Scratch! I need you to listen! You’re the only one who can kill this sniper with that rifle of yours! You need to snap out of it!” Red tried his best to reach out to the stunned pegasus cat.

“Oh screw this!” Glitzy ran out of cover and only managed to get grazed in the tail by the sniper. She ran her ass off to Scratch and right to Hornet’s body, “Get off! I need to operate on him!”

“Please! You have to help!”

“He’s okay! I’ve got him Scratch. You just do what you need to do: take out that sniper!”

“O-Okay!” Scratched calmed herself down enough to scope in with her rifle. Her shaking hooves made her aim difficult, “I-I can’t do it!”

“Here!” Glitzy injected her with drug to calm her down and steady her aim, “You got this!”

Scratch inhaled and sighted the sniper through her scope behind the building. She held the trigger down and saw the Noctowl sniper perched up on the roof of the hospital building. As she let go the shot phased right through all the walls of the apartment and the hospital and landed perfectly into the right arm of the enemy sniper, taking it off in a bloody shower. She exhaled in relief as she went back to Glitzy.

“He’s… He’s okay right?”
“Yes… Just barely. That was such a dumb move on my part but I can’t believe it worked,” Glitzy sighed in relief as well, “Glitzy to Red! Hornet is stable and Scratch took out the sniper!”

“Thank Luna! Squad move up! Move into the hospital!” As they moved in they could see many bodies still sat in chairs in the lobby and reception area. One of the nurses was slumped over the counter in a pool of her own blood with one hoof reaching for a Marakov pistol, “Lobby clear!”

“Move in,” Blue and Passion covered their corners as they made it into a hallway, “Hallway clear!”

“Pass, you, Wishful and Blue take the stairs and clear the floors. I will clear the room at the end of the hallway,” Red took Umbra and Piggle. They rounded a corner and downed two Pulsar soldiers guarding the back room. The double doors were locked up tight, “Take your positions and breach!”

“Breaching!” Piggle slammed into the door as Red and Umbra covered every corner of the room. Immediately they were all hit with a sickening feeling as they noticed all the cribs, incubators, and various other neonatal supplies about the room. They stood shocked at all the body parts, gore, and worst of all, the blood stained beds and furniture with various bodies chained to them.

“This was a Maternity Ward…” Piggle gagged.

“This isn’t right! These mares… They didn’t deserve this! The foals either!” Umbra started to cry, “Nothing’s left…”

Red was the most hard hit. He knew this place. This was his home and his country, now torn apart by his Pulsar enemies. He started to weep as Passion burst through the door.

“Red!” she rushed to his side and saw the room all around her. She took in every last bloody detail and shrieked, “Sweet Celestia! Red we need to get you out of here.”

“THIS WAS WHERE I WAS BORN! HOW DARE THEY KILL NEW AND UNBORN FOALS AND THEIR MOTHERS LIKE THIS! WHY?! WHY! WHY?!”

“Extinction…” the Noctowl sniper that took out Red’s friends was brought into custody before Red. The enraged pegasus drew his knife and held it to the owl’s throat as his fellow squadmates restrained the Pokemorph.

“You have done nothing but defile my home! For what cause?! FOR WHAT FUCKING EXCUSE DO YOU HAVE TO KILL CHILDREN LIKE THIS!” Red’s hooves shook as he pressed the knife harder and harder onto the owl’s throat. He merely scoffed.

“To usher in a new golden age for all nations. That is why I fight for the Pulsar.”

“Red, this is no ordinary sniper. It’s Nightwing Laurent, the third best sniper in all of the UPF,” Scratch brought up a hologram of his data file.

“Twenty five years ago I fought in the Lylat-Federation War. I was one of the best snipers in all of the Federation, second only to Vice President Tanya and her mother. I was Tanya’s pupil. I was there on Fichina! I was there on Rube! Sargasso! Emerald City! Aquas! Ascension City! Venom! And Fortuna! I fought against the Rising Tide and I’ve seen the death of my nation from the moment we won that war. President Micheal is a joke and what the Pulsar promises will bring in a new age for the Federation! I joined because you ponies and my current government are corrupting my country! You need to die. Mikey needs to die.”

“He’s nothing but an old man talking out of his ass,” Scratch hissed, “Red, you get the honors.”

“Ni shagu nazad…” Red thrust the knife into the owl’s gut and groin. As the enemy sniper bled out he plunged the knife into the stomach over and over again. He punched, stomped, kicked, and beat the owl to death repeatedly with each strike breaking bones and rupturing organs. Umbra started to join in, so did Piggle, then Passion. Eventually all of them took out their rage against their common enemy now literally a bloody pulp on the floor.

“Krasnyy, kakov status etogo SAM vzglyada?” Red’s radio crackled to life once again from command.

“Krasnyye zdes', tsel' unichtozhena,” Red reported in that the SAM sight was destroyed. He walked out of the hospital and saw the smoking roof. Passion was right there next to him with a towel that she wrapped over him.

“Feeling better after we kicked the crap out of that guy?”

“I have never felt more alive… We have to rescue my mother. Who knows what the Pulsar have done to her? Komanda, ya s pros'boy SEVA v etom meste,” Red called for a helicopter to pick them up.

“Roger that my son.”

“Otets?”

“Da?”

“Vy znayete, chto ya sobirayus' delat' dal'she.”

“Ya znayu…” the General radioed back out to his son, “A Twinblade will be there shortly callsign Mosin 1-5.”

“Roger,” Red replaced the radio on his belt before tossing out a smoke grenade into the middle of the street, “LZ marked!”

“Twinblade inspection complete! We see your smoke. Mosin 1-5 is at the LZ,” A large helicopter with intermeshing rotors hovered over them and landed in the street in front of the hospital. The troops loaded onto the helicopter dismounted and took up positions while the NGJTF boarded in their place.

“Be advised, all allied units are storming Chernogorsk. Anti-air threat has been removed! Thanks for the cover NGJTF!” the pilots of the Equestrian Air Force flew overhead and bombarded the city with precision fire, knocking out droves of tanks and entrenched Pulsar.

“Copy that allied command! We are thankful for your help,” Red’s father radioed back out to the Equestrians that arrived. As the helicopter flew over the city they could see amphibious tanks landing at the docks to storm and liberate the city.

“Red, we’re going in to save your mother aren’t we?” Passion asked through the sound of the chopper’s rotors.

“Yes my love. She’s in the next city over: Electro. No doubt heavily guarded by Pulsar.”

“If anything happens today…”

“Hush now dushka. It will not and don’t even think about it,” Red lurched forward and hugged her, “It’s okay. We’ll win this war.”

Meanwhile Scratch and Glitzy were in the back of the helicopter. Scratch was as nervous as ever having seen the near death of her boyfriend and the exploding head of one of her comrades. Her drug had worn off and she shook in her seat.

“Scratch, you okay?”

“No, not until I know Hornet is going to be alright. He lost a lot of blood back there.”

Glitzy gave a comforting hug to her squad mate, “He’s gonna be okay. I managed to stabilize his vitals before we left.”

“I’m still not okay… I SAW her head explode! I can’t get that image out of my head!”

“Calm down and remember your training. Think about Hornet and what he’s gonna do with you once we get back. He’s gonna be lying in bed recovering, maybe he’ll need a little ‘warmth’ if you catch my drift. Haha, just think happy thoughts.”

“I dunno,” Scratch cupped her face.

“Okay, let’s try the kick ass approach. Feel that anger in you?”

“Yeah… YEAH!” Scratch looked up and grit her teeth.

“That’s the Pulsar. You need to focus. Focus on the mission and send these assholes back into space! You hear me?”

“YEAH!” Scratch pumped her hoof, “Death to the Pulsar!”

“Oorah!” the whole cargo bay cheered. As they neared the town two anti air missiles were launched from the nuclear power plant. As the missile warnings alerted them the pilot of the helicopter threw his aircraft into a tight curve while launching flares. The missiles took the bait and the pilot of the gunship quickly turned back to strike with a volley of rocket fire.

“It’s gonna be a bumpy ride! Everyone hang on!” the pilot used the cover of the mountains to mask his touchdown, “Okay! This is where you get dropped off! I can’t land anywhere safer! Go go go!”

All of the NGJTF dismounted and the chopper flew back up.

“I will continue with your support! Call us in when you have targets!”

“Da da da! Mosin 1-5 stay at distance until we call you in!”

“Roger Krasnyy, we are circling around to provide fire support.”

“Hey, check it out,” Scratch pointed out a mobile rocket launcher they were using as artillery, “It’s aimed right at Cherno. Call it in.”

“Krasnyy to Mosin. We have enemy artillery truck aimed right at Chernogorsk. Marked it on your HUDs.”

“Copy! Rockets inbound!” the helicopter soared overhead and unleashed a barrage of unguided rockets. The explosions that followed destroyed the truck as well as a few soldier guarding it.

“Be advised Mosin, all SAMs are confirmed destroyed by initial rocket run. You are free to attack!” Scratch radioed in as she spotted the destroyed missile sights.

“Roger NGJTF. We are coming around for another pass,” the Twinblade unloaded once more and managed to take out a jeep firing back at it, “We took some hits! Dammit! They disabled my controls!”

“Mosin give me a sitrep,” Red tried to contact the helicopter.

“Stable! I have control back. Gunner! Rakety! Tselevaya chto bronevik!”

Red saw the helicopter circle back around to hit an armored car on the road, “Otlichno! Otlichno! Haha! Squad! Move in!”

With the supporting fire of the Twinblade they made their way down the mountain with their guardian angel above. Scratch dropped to her belly as she saw an enemy with a guided missile launcher.

“AA soldier! I got him!” Scratch planted a bullet right into the Pulsar trooper’s chest, “He’s down!”

“Khorosho! Khorosho! Keep up the fire!” Red and his team made their blaze of glory down the mountain to the power plant. The helicopter was still overhead with chainguns roaring and rockets flying. It was a sight to behold, “We are at the first smokestack! Mosin you are doing good comrade!”

“Confirmed: all enemies KIA at the powerplant. We will cover your entrance NGJTF!”

“Zametano,” Red’s mane flowed with the gusts of wind caused by the rotors of the helicopter as it flew by again. He looked up at the large gunship and smiled in awe, “We are cleared to enter the complex! Mosin remain on station!”

“Da! Udachi Krasnyy,” the gunship pilot wished him good luck as they stormed into the main compound. They busted into the main building and cleared it out of enemy forces. As they entered the underground lab of the nuclear plant, things started to get spooky.

“Hold on there, this isn’t just a normal nuclear power plant is it Red?”

“No, this is where my mother would build nuclear and balefire weapons to be shipped to Equestria. Princess Luna wanted to keep this place a secret. Looks like someone or something killed all these Pulsar troops.”

“That’s strange. Looks like they’ve been either melted or electrocuted to death,” Glitzy gave her diagnostics, “And what is this goo?”

“Magical taint. I think I know how it works,” Red dipped his hoof into it.

“Red what are you doing?!” Passion held him back.

“It’s harmless! To us anyway. This has my mother’s work all over it.”

A flurry of fire erupted from the railings of the underground warehouse. Railgun slugs were flying left and right as Scratch was caught in the crossfire. Several of them were hit from all directions as they walked right into an ambush.

“RED!” Passion yelled, “RED HELP!”

“PASSION! URGH!” a railgun slug caught him right in the wing. He continued to run into the cover of his lover, “I’m hit!”

“Me too! ARGH IT HURTS!” Blue Circuit was down.

“They got me! Oh Sweet Celestia they got me!” Piggle squirmed in pain behind a box he managed to drag himself behind.

“I’m still up! Piggle don’t you die on me now!” Umbra defended her brother as an enemy machine gunner peppered her wooden cover, “I’m pinned!”

“HAA!” Glitzy came in with a rifle butt to the face of the machine gunner. Wishful came in and unleashed his aimbot spell to put some fire back up at the enemies with the height advantage. He grabbed Glitzy and rushed into cover with Red and Passion.

“You two hurt?!”

“Wishful! Thank Celestia you’re here! Red’s knocked out cold!” Passion tried to keep him awake, “Red! Red don’t leave me!”

“I got him! Glitzy, How’s Scratch?!”

Glitzy ran back into their cover and dragged Scratch back with her. She removed Scratch’s helmet and found blood dripping out of her mouth with a bullet hole right in her head. Her eyes were locked in a restless stare into space. With a heavy heart Glitzy closed the eyes of the dead pegasus mare and laid her back down onto the ground, “She’s dead…”

Blue got up and staggered his way back through the cover of Wishful’s fire, “What are we gonna tell Hornet then?”

Glitzy sobbed, “I… Lied… Hornet was dead too. I couldn’t save him in time.”

“Let’s not join them! My spell is running out here!” Wishful backed into the corner with the others, “Dammit! I’m out of juice!”

His magic gave way and his weapons fell to the floor. With no way to defend himself he was as good as dead.

“OH GOD! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!” Blue screamed as the enemies closed in around them.

While the rest of them panicked Glitzy stepped up to the plate again. With her magic she levitated one of the enemy machine guns and grasped it in her hooves. She got up from behind the boxes and started to unload at everything around them. With a seemingly never ending supply of bullets she cut down anyone that came in close to their position. More and more came and unknown to her the ammo counter of the machine gun started to drain into its last ten slugs. With a final click the empty gun sealed her fate as well. A sniper shot rang out and caught her right in the head as well. Her limp body fell behind the rest of her cowering squad.

“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!” Passion panicked, “We’re all gonna die!”

“I wanna go home! Dammit HELP!” Wishful tried to get his magic to work but the futile sparks on his head were the only traces he could muster.

“Game over man! Game over!” Piggle cowered underneath his sister. Umbra, for the first time in her life, felt fear wash over her.

“I’m scared…”

“Hold your fire,” one of the Pulsar commanders looked at the weak ponies all huddled together behind the boxes, “We take them alive. Commander Burry is gonna be eating well tonight!”

“Rubber boots in motion!” announced the intercom of the facility as a wall was blasted down by a giant mechanized suit, “Electrodes ready!”

All of the enemy attention was now directed to a battle mech that had made its entrance. The arcing electricity burned the air as it shocked any and all that opposed its wrath. At the same time, a bear crashed through one of the windows and charged in. Bozkov attacked and mauled any Pulsar trooper that dared to fire at him.

“Good work Bozkov! I wouldn’t have found my son without you,” the pilot of the mech suit waved to the bear, “Krasnyy! Krasnyy!”

“Are you Red’s mom?” Passion got up from her cover, “Wishful, you got this. I’m the new actual.”

“Copy ma’am!” Wishful went to work with his bare hooves patching up his wounded squad mates while Passion got up and walked over to the pilot of the tesla suit.

“Where is my son?”

“He’s getting patched up by our medic right now. Thanks for the help back there!”

“Let me see him,” the yellow pegasus pilot of the mech walked out of her suit and to her injured son, “Krasnyy, Krasnyy.”

“Mother?” Red looked up at the yellow pegasus, “I’m okay. Do not worry.”

“Thank Luna,” Red’s mother embraced her son as the whole power plant started to shake.

“What was that?” Passion looked around to see all the alarms in the building go off. Red’s mother shot a glance behind her.

“Der’mo! The enemy has breached the control room!”

“What’s going on miss?” Passion paused.

“Yadernogo… But you can call me Nuke,” she lifted one of her wings to reveal a nuclear symbol cutiemark, “We have to go! Now!”

“Umbra you’re with me! Let’s follow Miss Nuke. Piggle you and Wishful make sure our wounded stay safe!”

“Roger miss Passion!”

Pass saluted to Wishful and ran back to the mech suit as Nuke got in. Before she could ask Nuke already started her explanation.

“The Pulsar have launched one of my nuclear missiles. We have to disable it before it makes landfall!”

“What?!” Umbra and Passion gasped.

“No pressure,” Nuke busted down the walls and made her shortcut to the control room of the base. Her staff and guards lay dead on the floor as the Pulsar troopers who initiated the launch were knocked back by her bull rush, “It will be a silent spring!”

Nuke switched out her tesla coils for spray nozzles of a peculiar magical gel that she sprayed around the room. Once it made contact with non magical organic matter it started to burn and dissolve the flesh and bones of the Pulsar troops in the room. Immune to the toxin, Umbra and Passion walked into the control room and saw the status of the launched missile.

“Crap! I can’t read this. What does it say?” Umbra looked at the screens around her with all the Slavic letters and symbols. Nuke stepped up to read them.

“The missile is nearing the edge of space and its warheads are targeted at Canterlot, Ponyville, and Cloudsdale. Hold on while I disable this missile, it shouldn’t be that long comrades,” Nuke exited her suit and started to type away at the console. Her fevered clip clops on the keyboards echoed in the room, “Got it!”

“Miss, that didn’t do anything! Command still says that the missile is still active!”

“Of course… I just retargeted it at our enemies is all. They’ll be in for a big surprise to find that my missiles work in space!” Nuke grinned an evil smile as she thought of the destruction of the enemy.

“What do you mean? I thought nukes and balefire bombs always worked,” Passion escorted her out of the room as they went back to the rest of her squad.

“You are Krasnyy’s girlfriend da? Well you see, normally nuclear and balefire missile rely on an atmospheric medium to transfer energy onto the target. Conventional weapons of mass destruction can only work in atmosphere. However, thanks to my magical engineering and expertise, you will see quite the fireworks show tonight. You have fought well to reach inside this base I see. Good to see my son has found a mare as talented in death as he is.”

“Um, pardon me?” Passion sat right next to Red as he woke up from his coma.

“Don’t mind my mother, she is always like this,” Red managed a laugh before he hissed in pain, “Ouch.”

“Hey!” Umbra ran in from one of the hallways that lead up to the surface, “I just took a quick glance from the top of the building. The reinforcements are outside. Stalliongradi troops are clearing the streets as we speak. Mission complete squad lead. Command wants us to RTB.”

“I think we’ve had enough fun for today,” Nuke nodded as she got back into her suit, “Or… Maybe not. Heh!”

Chapter Twenty C: Infinity

Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Twenty C: Infinity

“Pilots, we are to rendezvous with the tanker, top off on magic charge, and fly right into Neighponese airspace to conduct a large scale air offensive to retake their capital. We are to support ground forces with close air support,” Avia radioed out to her friends as they flew towards Neighpon airspace from their insertion point above Equestria. Their magic charge was low and they needed a mid-air top off from a reverse engineered KC-135.

“Pilots check your planes and prepare for mid-air refueling,” Strato Gust, the boom operator of the tanker aircraft, contacted the NGJTF pilots as they made visual contact with the refueling craft, “Two miles to refueling craft.”

“Valkyrie, contact ready,” Avia lined up her plane to approach the refueling craft.

“Valkyrie you are cleared for contact,” Strato directed her to move in.

“Roger, moving in,” Avia deployed her refueling probe from the side of her cockpit. A small drogue from the tanker was already deployed as she carefully lined up her Cyclone.

“Contact,” Strato radioed out as Avia coupled with the drogue. Magic was being pumped into her aircraft as a source of fuel.

“Stable,” Avia radioed back out to the tanker as she waved to Strato. This wasn't the first time they met up in an air to air refueling. The whole process took about five minutes to fully refuel her craft. She decoupled from the tanker and let her squadron mates have a turn.

“Valkyrie disconnected and clear. Dawn Light cleared for contact,” Strato directed Morning to go up next.

“Solid copy,” Morning opened his fueling port and the drogue was replaced with a large boom to service his XFA-27. As he approached Strato Gust used his joystick to move the boom into place to start Morning's refueling.

“Contact.”

“Dawn Light stable,” Morning Shine kept his aircraft in place as the boom refueled his fighter. All of them had their turns and punched supersonic west into combat airspace.

“We're coming in hot. Neighponese Air Self Defense Forces are doing their best to hold back the Pulsar space fighters but they are heavily outclassed. Let's crash this party,” Avia maintained formation with her squadron, “NGJTF, cleared to engage.”

“I will be acting as your AWACs since I am connected to all of your sensor fused systems. Let me handle all the data work,” Zoey appeared as her holographic self in the HUD of the NGJTF pilots.

“Solid copy Zoey. Into the fire!” Avia and the others came within range of the city under seige.

“This is the NASDF309 squadron! We need immediate support!”

“SDF pilot this is Panavia Tornado of the United Equus Space Force NGJTF squadron. We're here on operational support!”

“NGJTF?! Good news! Thank the Emperor you guys showed up.”

“Bandits on your twelve. Two ground attack UAVs.”

“Roger, engaging UAVs!” Avia threw her plane to low altitude and got behind two of the enemy drones. With a ripple fire of two sidewinders each trained on different targets the drones were shot down, “Splash two bandits!”

“Good show flight leader!” Zenji flew right past her as he started his attack run on a few Pulsar fighters about to take off from the Edo International Spaceport runway, “They've captured our spaceport! Damn Pulsar!”

“This is the EUF Steel Gunners battalion! We were in a training exercise with the NSDF when the attack hit. We're gonna take back your runway for you! NGJTF, requesting support!”

“Roger, engaging the enemy,” Avia flipped her weapons bays open to drop her cluster bomblets right on top of a row of enemy tanks. The self guiding warheads carpet bombed a whole tank platoon with molten copper and an EMP pulse that disabled their shields. The whole row was knocked out by Avia's attack.

“Valkyrie break! Missile on your six!” Feather radioed out to Avia.

“Copy! Breaking!” Avia threw her plane into a steep dive and forced the missile into the ground, “Evaded! Someone clear out that SAM battery!”

“Petal here, they won't see me coming,” with her cloaking active Petal dove to the ground and strafed the SAM battery with her guns. The salvo of 20mm shells hit home as the SAM could not gain a lock to Petal's cloaked F-32, “Woohoo! Shadow confirmed SAM destroyed!”

“Arigatō Petal-san! Banzai!” Zenji lined his Shinden up for a rocket run on another tank convoy coming down the road. His rockets slammed into the armored column and silenced the reinforcements coming into the spaceport, “Tanks destroyed! Tanks destroyed on main MSR!”

“Solid copy!” Morning flew over the runway and saw a few enemy planes taxi for takeoff, “A swarm of angry hornets are gonna come flying out of there! Someone take out the runway! I'll splash those fighters on takeoff.”

Morning shot out four missiles from his internal pylons. The Omni-Directional Multi-Missiles each locked onto a different target and destroyed the enemy fighters as they were about to take off.

“Impacts confirmed! You got them Dawnlight!” Zoey informed Morning for his weapon impacts, “Watch out! The enemy has a lock on you!”

Another self propelled SAM turned on its radar and launched a missile at Morning. The maroon pegasus ignited his afterburners and turned sharply to evade.

“Crap! Chaff out!” several pops of aluminum strips shot out of Morning's fighter as the missile took the bait and veered off harmlessly into the sky, “Evaded! I saw the location! I'll link the data to you Petal!”

“Copy! I got it,” Petal continued her attack still cloaked. Another strafing run sealed the end of the enemy missile launcher, “He's down!”

“Steel Gunners here! We're making steady progress. Just a little more to the spaceport!”

“Steel Gunners have moved in closer to the runway. This mission is going well,” Zoey gave them all a status update to the situation at hand, “Be advised, flight of enemy At-1 ground attack aircraft flying in vector 2-7-3. Intercept them!”

“Night Owl roger! I'm the closest to intercept!” Night Glider threw her Delphinus into full afterburners and her four air to air missiles gave a solid lock each on separate planes, “Night Owl! Fox Three!”

Three of her four missiles landed on target to the attacking enemy squadron. The ground attack planes were shot out of the sky in brilliant fireballs of blue and orange.

“Confirmed three shot down!” Zoey gave her a heads up as Avia was engaged in a turn fight with an enemy US-74.

“Night Owl! Guns guns guns!” Glider finished her attack with cannon fire as she ripped the wing off the last ground attack plane. She turned away to help Avia, “I've got your back flight leader!”

“Breaking! Missile on my ass!” Avia popped flares and ECM as the missile came in close. The Electro-Optical missile impacted Avia's fighter and took out one of her engines, “Dammit!”

“Fox two!” Night Glider fired one missile and sent it straight into the tailpipe of the enemy fighter. She pulled up next to Avia, “Flight lead, your engine is smoking!”

“I've cut off fuel flow to engine one. I can still fight but someone try to cover me!” Avia ordered out.

“I'll do it,” Petal formed up with her friend, “I gotcha Valkyrie. Continue with the attack Night Glider!”

“Roger, assisting Neighponese pilots now!” she pulled her fighter into a half roll and flew top cover for Zenji and Masayuki as they attacked the runway, “Heads up! Fighters are gunning for you Zenji!”

“What?!” Zenji pulled up from his rocket attack. Missile alerts blared in his ears as a non stop barrage of fire was directed to him.

“Yuki here! Fox Three!” Masayuki's missiles gave locks to six enemy aircraft tailing his friend. Four of his missiles impacted as Night Glider swooped in to score the last two kills, “Tomoyo arigatō!”

“You got it! Zenji are you okay?”

“Hit hard! Left aileron is shot out. Leaking fuel on my left wing and my fly by wire is destroyed!”

“Can you bail? I'm flying over your position with Petal off my wing,” Avia flew over to Zenji as his fighter continued to smoke.

“Yes ma'am! I will fly over our allies and bail out in the forest behind their lines. Watashi no kōun o negatte,” Zenji popped his canopy and shot out as his ejection seat deployed. He drifted to the ground as his parachute landed him safely, “I'm okay! I see a human APC nearby me. EUF colors. Good luck up there!”

“Good, Steel Gunners what is your status?”

“All enemy units destroyed! We got your spaceport back! We have recaptured Edo International Spaceport!”

“Good job Steel Gunners! You've earn this victory!” Avia cheered, “You got some runway crew down there? I need to get this engine looked at.”

“You got it! Valkyrie you are cleared for landing!” one of the EUF command Sunderers radioed out to Avia. After she touched down a repair vehicle drove right up to her and enveloped her fighter in a strange aura.

“What are you doing?” Avia opened her canopy and yelled to the human ground crew.

“Repair nanites! They'll fix your engine up good as new in only a few seconds! I spent good certs on that upgrade for my repair truck!”

“You humans are the best! Thanks!” Avia closed her cockpit and used her planes magical abilities to reload her missiles and bombs. She took off with her repaired engine and rejoined the fight, “I'm back in!”

“Continue mission! Some guys still need help out there!” Zoey gave the report to all pilots as they formed back up into combat formation.

“Roger, this is the NGJTF. We're looking for action!” Avia broadcasted to the open channel.

“This is Captain Ford of the Crystal Imperial flagship Marigold. We're about to enter the bay and engage enemy ships. Requesting support.”

“Roger that! Did anyone bring air to surface missiles?”

“Apart from our standard dual role missiles we got nothing! Zenji was the only one with air to ground rocket pods and he's shot down. Morning how about you?” Petal looked to the XFA-27 of her friend.

“I've got some air to surface arms! I'll engage the enemy ships with Avia!”

“Affirmative! Should we cover your approach flight lead?” Petal asked Avia.

“You got it. Keep enemies off our tail while we bombard the enemy sea vessels!” Avia and Morning flew to the water's edge and skimmed the sea. The rest of the flight flew above them to ward off any fighters.

“Pitching up! Starting my attack run!” Avia wove in and out of the anti aircraft fire and released her guided bomblets onto the deck of the enemy destroyer in front of her. The gatling guns of the ship were useless against such small munitions and hundreds of them blanketed the deck and set it ablaze. Morning followed up with four missiles that launched from his fighter and erupted the weapons store of the enemy boat. It snapped it half and was now taking on water, “Good attack run Morning! Enemy destroyer sunk!”

“Flight lead, I got a radar blip operating high up. Wait, that isn't right. Dammit my screen's all blurry!” Feather fiddled with her radar in her ATD-X, “Anypony else having issues with their radar?”

“I have detected radar interference from high altitude. Enemy ESM aircraft detected,” Zoey gave them all the heads up, “Fighters engage!”

“Night Owl engaging! Feather, you and me hit up those jammers!” Night Glider pulled her aircraft up and punched through the clouds with Feather off her right wing.

“I see it. Watch my back while I hit it with a long range missile. Phoenix, Fox One! Fox One!” Feather fired off a semi-active missile. On her HUD she had to keep it sighted within an aiming circle to steer it towards the target. She was vulnerable in this guidance phase as Night Glider spotted three enemies coming right for her.

“Phoenix! You got bandits on your tail! I'm engaging!” Night Glider threw her plane into a sharp turn to get behind the enemies about to fire on Feather, “I've got them! Night Owl! Fox Three!”

Night Glider's missiles failed to connect as the enemy jammer fried the electronics of her weapons. They sailed harmlessly from the attacking enemies but managed to get them off of her friend's tail.

“Splash one!” Feather's missile tore into the enemy jammer aircraft and cleared the radar. She turned her plane around with a hammerhead turn and fired back at the enemies who chased her, “Thanks for the cover Night Owl! Phoenix Fox Two! Fox Two!”

She fired two missiles which impacted one of the enemies who flew in after her. In a blaze of fire and smoke the enemy plane crashed right into a battleship which knocked out the AA guns of the enemy flagship. Avia and Morning saw their chance.

“This is Valkyrie! Dawnlight, you and I hit that battleship while its guns are knocked out. Sync your attack run with me.”

“Roger Avia! I'll come in from its starboard. You attack from port!” The two planes split off for a pincer attack on the enemy fleet.

“Start the attack run!” Avia readied her bombs as the anti air fire erupted from the enemy battleship. Hundreds of shells blanketed the skies with tracer fire as the Pulsar fleet kept Avia and Morning at bay. Again Avia's plane was hit and damaged by the accurate fire coming from the battleship. Her and Morning had to break off, “Damn! They got my wing sweep mechanism! I can't punch supersonic!”

“I dodged their fire but that battleship is too accurate. We need help to take it down.”

“Those gatling guns are trashing our missiles! Fighters if you still got standard missiles left I suggest you help us out,” Avia gave her orders to her flight as they rejoined in formation, “Zoey can you do anything to that battleship to make those air defense guns stop firing?”

“I will try to hack into their systems. If you can target their radome in a simultaneous attack that should do it though.”

“Roger Zoey. Alright! You heard her, target everything you've got at their radar dish! NGJTF leader to all pony aircraft. Concentrate your attack on the enemy battleship blocking the Marigold!”

“Copy that miss Valkyrie! All Neighponese pilots defend our nation with honor! Banzai!” One of the Neighponese F-2 fighters dove into the fray and launched their missiles at the battleship.

“This is the EUF 435th tactical fighter bomber squadron! We're here to help!”

“Follow my lead! We need to succeed in the first attack!” The NGJTF planes rolled over into their dive and began their saturation attack, “All planes fire! ALL PLANES FIRE!”

The hundreds of missiles that streaked towards the battleship and its fleet covered the sea in a smokey haze left from the contrails. Cannon rounds filled the skies as both allied aircraft and Pulsar ships exchanged fire. With so many targets coming for it the battleship was hit and its radar was taken down.

“All missile defenses have been silenced! Finish it off!” Zoey gave them the status update on their HUDs. All of the aircraft turned back and sunk the ship with another combined volley of fire.

“Battleship destroyed! Battleship destroyed! Marigold! Start moving into the bay!” Avia cheered from her cockpit as she boosted away from the harbor.

“Solid copy NGJTF! Thanks for your support!”

“This is the Federation submarine Scinfaxi! We are here on operational support! NGJTF I know you're out there! Listen, we got a shitload of thermobaric burst warheads where ever you need them! Just say the word and we'll be happy to fire!”

“Scinfaxi, this is Panavia Tornado of the NGJTF. My AWACs AI has detected a flight of enemy planes diving in from the space front. I'll link you the target coords!”

“Copy that! Crew prepare for burst missile launch! Man your battle stations!”

Feather looked to her flight lead, “Avia, that's the submarine we sunk in the wargames huh?”

“Yeah! Glad it's on our side for once!” Avia smiled as a ballistic missile shot up out of the water and pierced the atmosphere, “Funny, a sight like that would normally make me shiver. But that's being put to good use.”

The massive explosion off in the distance that resulted from the burst missile crippled the attacking planes. The Neighponese capital of Edo was finally liberated as the last bastions of Pulsar troops were mopped up by reinforcements from the EUF and United Equus militaries.

“Scinfaxi here! We did it. All hostile planes shot down. Glad to be of help NGJ-ARGH!!” the radio of the Scinfaxi cut out and was replaced with gunfire and static.

“Scinfaxi! Scinfaxi respond!” Avia tried to contact the sub.

“This sub is ours now! I hope you stupid ponies hear this, say goodbye you stinking horses! Looks like this sub had a nuclear surprise they were saving for us.”

“NO!” Avia panicked as she saw another missile fire up from the water, “UPF sub has been hijacked by the Pulsar! Zoey can you confirm the warhead of that missile?!”

“Confirmed, analysis reports a 455 kiloton yield nuclear tipped MIRV warhead consisting of six re-entry vehicles! Targets unknown! We don't have anything to intercept the missile!”

Avia flashed back to Flip's death and the horror of the balefire tipped ICBMs Starlight Glimmer launched from North Equestria. She froze on the spot before Zoey snapped her out of it.

“Avia! Avia! Flight leader respond! Don't do this to me now!”

Avia shook it off and grit her teeth as tears flowed from her face, “This isn't gonna end like this. I wanna try something really stupid! Open up my canopy!”

Avia hopped out of her plane and balanced herself on the fuselage. She took off her armor and radioed out to Night Glider, “Night Owl! I'm gonna ride on your plane!”

“What are you doing commander?”

“Just shut up and follow that missile! All planes climb! Shoot down that ICBM!”

“Faster! Higher! Dammit!” Feather's plane couldn't sustain her climb as she bleed off speed, “I can't reach it!”

“Neither can I! It's getting away!” Petal yelled as her plane stalled and dropped from the climb.

“I've got engine damage! I can't catch it either!” Fenrir tried to fire his missiles but even they couldn't match the speed of the nuke as it reached the stratosphere.

“Night Glider punch your plane into high gear! I'm still hanging on!” Avia was filled with pure zealous rage with her heart set on preventing the deaths of millions of innocent lives. As Night Glider pierced through Mach 4 Avia jumped off and flew alone on her wing power. She accelerated faster and faster just barely able to reach Mach 5.

“Just a little more!” Avia thought to herself as her wings furiously beat with magical energy. In a final grunt of pain she broke past Mach 5 and surrounded herself in an orange and blue aura that radiated out in a fiery circular prism. The magical shockwave of the sonic rainboom impacted the ICBM and cut out its rocket motor. For a moment Avia hovered at the edge of space as she saw the space battle off in the distance above her home planet. Hundreds of ships both pony and human all gathered together to fight the Pulsar invasion. The ballistic missile that she stopped with her EMP pulse fell back into the atmosphere as she let herself freefall from her apex.

“WAS THAT?!” Fenrir looked up at the radiant magical aura that Avia pulled off.

“No way... She really did it!” Feather looked in awe as well, “That was a sonic rainboom!”

“Be advised! The missile is still active! I repeat! The missile is still active!”

“What?! AH!” Morning grunted as his plane caught a blast of the EMP given off from the broken magical speed barrier, “Crap! My weapons and radar are down! Anyone else?”

The others were also caught in the electromagnetic field of the rainboom. No one could shoot down the missile as it continued to fall.

“...I... Failed...” Avia cried as she continued her freefall. Morning shot past her and in a split second she caught the look in his eye. In her earpiece she heard one last whisper from her friend.

“I won't...” Morning shut off his radio and boosted upward into the flight path of the missile. He was going to ram it head on. With one final look at the photo of his family he sobbed as he thought of his sister, “Forgive me Blossom... I didn't keep my promise. Into Elysium I will fly...”

He scored a direct impact that burned up the missile and caused the warheads to malfunction. With his sacrifice he saved the lives of everyone fighting below and all those ponies who called Neighpon home.

“MORRNING!” Petal screamed as she saw his plane disintegrate into the missile.

“Avia! I got you!” Zoey performed a cobra stall to catch Avia right back into her cockpit, “I... I'm so sorry...”

“There's no time flight lead! We gotta sunk that sub! That bastard will pay for what it did to Morning!”

Avia held her tears and thought back to Flip. A flash of his smile was momentarily in her thoughts before her grief turned into anger. Through gritted teeth her boiling rage was all apparent to her squadron mates as she broadcasted to their HUDs.

“To all pony aircraft! We're gonna sunk that UPF submarine! Take it down!”

“This is the Neighponese destroyer Harumi Kurosawa! We've managed to score a direct hit on the Scinfaxi! We are detecting main ballast blow! It's surfacing!”

“This is the real thing now,” Avia looked down at the massive sub as it breached the water, “We're gonna sink that sonofabitch! ALL PLANES ATTACK!”

“NGJTF! ENGAGING!” Petal's anger soared as she dove into her attack run. With her fighter cloaked again she tried to strafe the ship with cannon fire only to get hit by the sub's deployable AA guns, “ARGH!”

“Petal you're hit! You're on fire!” Feather looked at her stricken friend as she flew close to the water and was losing engine power, “Eject Petal! Eject!”

“I...” Petal froze in fear, “...I can't... Ejection seat is toast. Circuits are fried... There goes the radar...”

“PETAL! PETAL KEEP TRYING!” Avia screamed.

“Petal... Invert and stay in the invert!” Feather radioed to the desperate pilot.

“What are you gonna do Feather?”

“I'm gonna shoot out your canopy and you drop away! Hold still!” Feather followed the limping craft as it pulled away from the battle.

“I... I don't...” Petal hesitated as her whole body shook. The warning alarms in her cockpit were zoned out as she lost hope.

“DO IT!” Feather yelled, “Please! Don't give up!”

Petal held her chest and sobbed. With her right hoof she grasped the control stick and exhaled, “Alright Feather.”

“Petal! I need you to hold still!”

“Negative, I can't control it anymore,” Petal's fighter was thrown about as her avionics and fly by wire started to fail. Feather had a slick coat of sweat as she aimed her 20mm cannon to graze Petal's cockpit.

“Petal! Duck!” she pulled the trigger as she saw her friend bend over in her seat. The cockpit glass of the F-32 shattered and Petal punched herself out, “Flight lead! Do you see her?! Do you see Petal?!”

“She's okay! I've got her!” Avia flew right beside the pegasus pilot and opened her cockpit, “Yo! Second seat in the back for you!”

“Roger Avia,” Petal took her seat behind her friend, “I'm okay, just a little shaken is all... Holy crap Feather you saved my life!”

“We can save the waterworks for later. We got a submarine to sink!” Avia nodded to her friend in the back seat, “Help me out will you? Normally Zoey would manage my weapons but I've got an idea. Zoey! Provide enhanced ESM link to all aircraft! Petal will handle my weapons you buff our allies!”

“Copy Valkyrie. ESM support is active!”

“With our electronic support that sub is gonna have a hard time hitting our missiles. Avia we're gonna help you out! Fighters keep all hostile aircraft away from the flight leader! She's the only one with air to ground arms!” Feather gave the report over the open allied channel.

“Roger!” Masayuki looked around for any fighters on the tail of his allies, “No joy! All hostile planes are destroyed.”

“Feather, you and the others go back to the airport and rearm on air to ground munitions! Night Glider say around and provide top cover for me and the Neighponese anti-ship planes!”

“Affirmative! Look out that sub is launching another missile!” Night Glider sneered as she saw the missile fly up, this time faster than the last.

“ANOTHER NUKE?!” Avia gasped.

“No, analysis confirms the Scinfaxi only carries one nuclear tipped ICBM for emergency use. Ballistic missile launched is a low yield tactical oxygen nuke with no fallout effects similar in damage to our Trinity warheads! It will decimate anything below five thousand feet within the harbor. The spaceport is outside of its blast radius.”

“You hear that! All Neighponese planes climb to above five thousand feet and stand by!” Avia pulled up from her attack run and climbed steadily above the threshold as the missile impacted, “Holy shit!”

“This is the Marigold! We suffered a direct hit! All hooves abandon ship! We're going under!”

“The Marigold is sunking! She's sunking!” Petal looked out the window to see the giant Crystal Imperial battleship list to one side and detonated in a secondary explosion. The fuel and magical radiation that leaked from the ship caught fire as the explosion happened boiling and burning the overboard sailors alive. Petal saw this through the FLIR camera of Avia's fighter, “Those ponies! They're being cooked alive!”

“Masyuki here! I've got ASM-3 anti-ship missiles. Launching now!” he fired off two missiles from his fighter as he entered the combat area. The missiles dipped to skim the surface of the water an impacted the submarine as Avia synced her attack run to disable the guns of the sub, “Good hits!”

“Roger that! Looks like we blasted all the AA guns.”

“Scinfaxi launching burst missile!” Zoey cried out to the pilots, “Ten seconds to impact!”

“Climb dammit!” Avia tried to throttle up but her wings locked in place. Without the added streamline of her wing sweep mechanism her ascent was slowed, “Pushing her as hard as I can!”

“5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Impact now!” Zoey alerted them as the NASDF fighters got caught in the blast.

“We're falling! We're all hit! Watashi wa shinitaku arimasen!” one of the Neighponese pilots screamed in horror as his plane was hit by the airburst warhead. Their whole squadron was wiped out by the blast of the ballistic missile.

“Crap! All Neighponese planes are shot down! NGJTF it's all up to us now!” Avia dove back down in her relentless attack as she carpet bombed the ship again with her fourth attack using her bomblet dispenser, “WHY! WON'T! YOU! DIE!”

“I'll hit it with a bunker buster! Petal can you lase that sub for me?” Feather radioed out to Petal.

“Copy that, let me get this FLIR ball onto it,” Petal moved the joystick in the back seat of Avia's fighter to control a camera with a mounted laser designator. She linked the data to Feather as she targeted the laser right onto the submarine, “Marked!”

“Locked! Bombs away!” Feather dropped two of her thousand pound bombs right on top of the enemy submarine. They penetrated the metal hull and delayed their explosions until they were inside, causing a massive hole to be ripped into the submarine.

In a last defiant breath the Scinfaxi tried to launch one more missile. With the missile bay doors jammed by shrapnel the missile exploded inside the submarine and caused it to snap right in half as it sunk with all hands on deck.

“Damn you ponies...”

“And fuck you too you Pulsar fuck...” Avia broadcasted to the last breath of the enemy hijackers. Avia leaned back in her seat and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Flight lead, you okay?”

“I'm not sure Fenrir...” Avia sunk further into her seat. The only thing she could hear after Fenrir's radio call was the sobbing that came from Petal in the back seat, “He... He was a model fighter pilot to the end.”

Avia formed up with her squadron for one final pass over the city.

“Everypony form up. Missing man formation...” Avia started to cry with the rest of the allied planes in her squadron, “Let's salute our ace: Captain Morning Shine!”

They flew on in a diamond shaped formation. One of the planes turned off to the right in a ceremonial salute of the fallen hero. Morning's plane now rests at the bottom of the ocean with the lost submarine marking his grave.