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.”