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!”